Combat Sports over the weekend

A lot happened during my recent absence and I can’t be fucked writing seperate articles for everything so here it is in brief format:

Hopoate outpointed Mirovic at Super Boxer last Thursday. This was by far the worst card so far with the main event somehow managing to eclipse the first fight in terms of being boring as all fuck. Mirovic did alright early but once Hopoate started landing he went into his shell and resorted to holding. He lost a point in the 9th round for repeated holding (a call I can’t dispute because I actually fell asleep in the 8th). The undercard was pretty ordinary with a bullshit stoppage for Ben Edwards (the guy maybe deserved an eight count and he was outclassed, but you’ve got to let him fight I mean it’s professional boxing, I’ve seen amateurs more outclassed then that and allowed to continue), a decent fight between Erin McGowan and Angie Parr in which McGowan won on points and a mismatch n the first fight that went the distance.

Fox Sports however gave me some more fuel for the fire I’ve lit in terms of referees sucking in this country. The Rob Medley fight was a disgrace by the referee. He took a point off for holding when the guy was punching back and doing alright even though he was losing. He repeatedly warned the import for nothing and even when Medley fouled he warned the import for doing nothing. The stoppage and the footwear was bizzare, but the other guy quit because the referee was that bad. Something seriously has to be done about refereeing in this country because we’re starting to get the reputation that Germany had a few years ago in terms of bad places to come and fight the home town fighter. If I was an overseas fighter I wouldn’t come to Australia to fight based off the recent performances. Australian officiating is that far behind the rest of the boxing world that it’s become serious.

Now for the big MMA news, Affliction: Trilogy is off and Affliction is dead as a fight promoter. They were gonna merge with Strikeforce, but Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker is on holidays and they couldn’t make the deal. So now Affliction has been bought out by the UFC with from what I understand the UFC getting the fight library, some of the contracts and first crack at signing the rest of the fighters under contract. The big possibility here is that Fedor is signed and the fight with Lesnar made, but I’m skeptical. Fedor and his management won’t have changed their tune and will want a co-promotion with M-1 Global for the fight to be made and still probably want an open contract. Vitor Belfort is likely to be signed and will be a nice addition to the middleweight picture. Affliction will now act as a major sponsor for the UFC and fighters will be allowed to wear Affliction T-shirts in the Octagon again (not when they fight of course).

Also news is that Tito Ortiz could be returning to the UFC and could be facing Rich Franklin instead of the Franklin-Henderson rematch at the main event of UFC 103. A press release has been scheduled for Saturday for some ‘big announcements.’

Boxing Breakdown: Super Boxer (23rd July)

The first batch of the Super Boxer series peaks tomorrow night with the long awaited rematch between Bob Mirovic and John Hopoate for the Australian Heavyweight title. I’m actually looking forward to this rematch a lot more then I did the first fight because I don’t have to go out to watch it and we know a bit more about Hopoate (11-3)since before the first fight. He’s had two stern tests since he stopped Mirovic (29-20-2) in battering US journeyman Cliff Couser and being battered by former WBC champion Oliver McCall. I really fought Bob fought a terrible fight the first time they met. He usually controls center ring but he gave it up against Hopoate and didn’t once try and back him up. I think Bob can win this fight if he can back Hoppa up, but whether he can at his age and the ring rust he’ll have from 10 months out of the ring is the big question. Hopoate has no doubt improved since that fight and I think this fight is his to win. I think this one goes the full ten rounds with Mirovic doing well early, but not having the speed to keep Hopoate off him or the conditioning to handle his rushes. Hopoate by unanimous decision.

The undercard had the explosive fight between kickboxing star Ben Edwards (who holds a first round knockout over Hopoate) and Royce Sio (who knocked out Solomon Haumono in one before ground and pounding his way to a DQ loss), but it’s apparently been scrapped. In the first Super Boxer women’s fight, undefeated Erin McGowan (10-0) takes on Angie Parr (2-1 plus a heap of kickboxing fights) over six rounds. Rookies Ged O’Mahny (pro debut) and Bruce MacFie (0-4) battle over four at Middleweight and Heavyweight Steve Ciappara (4-2-1) returns for the first time in over a year against Arnold Pelman (2-0-1) in a four rounder.

Bell and Pittman survive scares at Super Boxer

Both managed to win their fights convincingly on paper, but for those watching there was some shaky moments for Australian stars Tim Bell and Jamie Pittman on the Super Boxer series on Thursday night. Facing Tongan born Walter Papu’a for the OPBF/PABA Light Heavyweight titles, most anticipated the hard hitting Papu’a to go on the attack. However, it was Papu’a's fine counter punching skills that had seen him win 11 of his 14 professional fights and he racked up an early lead on points by landing several hard left hooks in the opening rounds. Bell looked at sea against a much more complete boxer, but his iron jaw and will as well as his incredible conditioning eventually broke down his opponent and he outworked him over the back half of the fight to take a unanimous decision. Papu’a looked to be an excellent boxer and it was a shame his work rate wasn’t up to par as he’d give a lot of fighters a tough fight if he had the energy to go 12 rounds like he did the first five. As for Bell, his durability is going to make him a tough fight for anyone but I think his skill level will need to improve if he’s going to take the step to world class opponents.

On the undercard, Jamie Pittman survived a rough six round fight with journeyman Frank Ciampa. After rocking Ciampa in the 2nd round, Pittman received an inadvertant thumb in the eye which caused his eye to swell heavily. Whoever his cutman is, he did an excellent job as Pittman’s eye went down through the course of the fight but Pittman never fully solved the awkward style of Ciampa and had to settle for a unanimous decision. In the other two televised fights, Bantamweight prospect Mark Quon outscored Thai import Thonthai Rajanondh over six entertaining rounds while Heavyweight prospect Andre Meunier stopped Kim Heta in the 2nd round.

In a (for some fucked up reason) non televised fight for the Australian Super Middleweight title, Les Piper outscored Luke Maloney over ten rounds to retain his title. It’s fucking stupid not to show fights like this as these are the type of guys who need the coverage. Some promoter has lost a good local main event by wasting this fight on the unaired prelims of a card like this. I’d also like to know what happened to Kariz Kariuki’s fight even though that fight was very unlikely to go past the 2nd round.

I also have a few criticisms of the coverage and officiating itself. Darrell Beattie has got to go, really what does he bring to the table for this promotion? He obviously has not the slightest idea about boxing but is only in there as a channel ten personality. The referee’s were obviously not as bad as last week, but the idiot who refereed the Quon fight needs a reality check. You aren’t the star of the show mate, those two were putting on a good clean fight and you over-refereed the fuck out of it. If one guy is holding and throwing NOTHING then you warn him for holding. If the two guys are putting on a good fight, STAY THE FUCK OUT OF IT AND LET THEM FIGHT! Some of the judging was a little dodgey as well with one judge finding a 10-8 round in favour of Bell somewhere in that fight. If you didn’t have Walter up at least 3-2 after five rounds you need to hand back your judging licence I’m afraid. Overall though the fights were all entertaining and as far as I’m concerned it beats the shit out of anything Foxtel has put on domestically in recent times.

Boxing Breakdown: Super Boxer (16th July)

Take two I guess.

Super Boxer returns this Thursday and many (myself included) hope that there aren’t as many headlines after this card because when it comes to boxing in this country, no news is good news. After the horrendous actions of people I don’t wanna even name because they disgusted me so much, a lot is riding on this card going a) without any drama and b) with some good battles. Luckily one of the main event participants is Tim Bell who is maybe the most exciting fighter in domestic boxing in this country. Bell takes on tough Tongan Walter Pupu’a for the PABA and OPBF Light Heavyweight titles. The undercard sees some of the best, but perhaps lesser known super middleweights in the country doing battle.

Tim Bell vs Walter Pupu’a
(12 rounds, OPBF/PABA/WBO Oriental Light Heavyweight titles)
This should be an absolute war! Both men are big punchers who can take tremendous amounts of punishment and both like to come forward and I see nothing else but a slug-fest for the ages in this fight. Tim Bell (16-5-1) always comes to fight and it’s that style that has seen him score wins over top domestic fighters Daniel Lovett, Sonni Michael Angelo and Kane McKay in his last three fights. He’s currently riding a five fight winning streak which also includes wins over Marc Bagero and a revenge win over Sean Connell. Bell really put himself on the radar with the win over Lovett last October in a fight that was undoubtedly fight of the year in this country last year. Pupu’a (11-3) is in the 2nd phase of his career, having compiled a 5-1 record in the mid 1990s in America before going 6-2 in his last eight since 2005. Not a whole lot is known of Walter other then he can punch and he’s well travelled so fighting in Bell’s backyard won’t phase him. There really couldn’t be a better main event considering how bad last weeks event went and this is a great chance for Bell to let the people of Australia know who he is. I think Bell will be too sharp and strong for Walter but they’ll trade hellacious bombs for the entire 12 rounds. Tim Bell by unanimous decision.

Luke Moloney vs Les Piper
(10 rounds, Australian Super Middleweight)
This is an interesting fight. Both fighters are fairly inexperienced and have fought a lower caliber of opponent so it should be interesting to see how they handle the step up in competition. Piper (9-2-3) has fought the better opposition, but hasn’t come away with a win whenever he’s stepped it up. Moloney (13-3) is riding a 10 fight winning streak, but hasn’t fought anyone of note and hasn’t really fought any experienced fighters since dropping three of his first six fights. Piper is the current Australian Super Middleweight champion and this fight is scheduled for ten rounds so I assume the belt is up for grabs in this fight. Having seen minimal amounts of both men, I’m finding it hard to make a real accurate prediction in this fight, but I’m going to lean towards the experienced fighter in Piper to win a close decision. Les Piper by split decision.

Kariz Kariuki vs Plaisakada Singwancha
(8 rounds, Super Middleweight)
A battle between two foreign born fighters, although one of them calls Australia home. Kariuki (18-7-2) hails from Kenya and represented his home country in the 2000 Olympics, staying in Australia and turning professional shortly after. He’s come into his own in 2009 with three knockout wins, the last one coming over tough African-Australian Sonni Michael Angelo in a spirited battle in April. Kariz has fought some of the tougher domestic fighters in recent years with the likes of Paul Briggs, Glenn Kelly (who Kariz dropped twice) and Jason Delisle having shared the ring with him. Kariuki possesses big punching power, with 17 of his 18 wins coming by way of knockout. Plaisakada Singwancha (36-18) had a solid start to his career racking up a 30-4 record before having his first fight in Australia where he lost to Sam Soliman by 3rd round KO. He has won only seven of his last 20 bouts, although his opposition has greatly increased and he proves a tough test for many inexperienced fighters. Kariuki doesn’t fit that description however and I expect him to make short work of his Thai opponent. Kariz Kariuki by 2nd round knockout.

Also apparently on the card is 2004 Australian Olympic Team Captain and former challenger to Felix Sturm’s WBA Middleweight title, Jamie Pittman (18-1), who reportedly takes on Frank Ciampa (7-13). Pittman should have way, way too much for Ciampa and should score a one sided stoppage victory. Australian Super Bantamweight Champion Mark Quon (6-2) battles 20 year old Thailand journeyman Thongthai Rajanondh (15-10) while Heavyweight rookies Andre Meunier (5-1)and Shane McDonald (0-1) round out the card.

Dirty Fighting and Bad Referee Spoil Super Boxer Debut

The long awaited debut of the new ‘Super Boxer’ program, which is the first free to air boxing show in Australia since ‘TV Ringside’ in the 1970s, left a sour taste in the mouths of hardcore boxing fans as illegal tactics and bad refereeing spoilt the main event and one of the co features. World title challenger Billy Dib’s antics in his fight could single-handedly have put the entire programin jeapordy of continuing. In saying that, the other two bouts on the card were top notch and exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to see.

Billy Dib TKO1 Kenichi Yamaguchi
What a complete pile of horse shit the ending of this fight was. Yamaguchi was handing Billy Dib his arse for the entire first round, including knocking him down, and then what was the second worse refereeing decision of the night took place. Dib threw a combo that was mostly blocked by Kenichi but caught him off balance and he slipped. Dib then hit him with a flush left hook from behind him that nailed him on the button and dazed him. Kenichi rose, took an 8 count, which was completely unwarranted, then after he had seemingly regained his composure (I’ve seen plenty of more hurt fighters then that continue before), referee Les Fear stopped the fight and awarded Dib a first round knockout.

This is where the real fun begins. Yamaguchi complained to the referee briefly before Billy Dib shoved Yamaguchi for no reason other then he’s a twat and then also shoved his trainer which started a minor melee in the ring. No punches were thrown and it didn’t escalate to the heights of Elomar-Kicket last year, but it very easily could have if Kenichi or his trainers didn’t do the right thing and leave the ring. Once again Billy Hussein was the only member of the entourage that started the brawl who tried to calm things down quickly. To shove someone who you just stopped in a fight is both dangerous and classless. The little opinion I had of Billy Dib as a person before this just plummetted and I really wish nothing but the worst for him in the future. To be given the opportunity he was in that he could build himself into a household name and help build boxing back up in this country and then do that, I’m sorry but you’re just a piece of shit and I have zero interest in ever watching you compete ever again.

Dominic Vea TKO7 Anthony McCracken
Excellent fight. You couldn’t have asked for a better show from these two. McCracken was outgunned, but he hung in there and tried to battle back when he could and the times Vea took a breather he took the fight to him. Vea looked a little rusty, I’ve seen him look quicker then that in previous fights but he’s been out of the ring for a few months so it was to be expected. His punching power is awesome and the way he picks his shots on the inside is superb. McCracken is a tough son of a bitch; one of the toughest in this country. It was clear from the 3rd-4th round that he wasn’t going to win but he kept in there and kept battling away. In the end Vea’s body work paid dividends and he dropped McCracken three times in the 7th with body shots which forced the ref to stop the fight. I’d be happy to watch either man fight again anytime soon.

Daniel Ammann technical draw 1st round Jamie Withers
If that doesn’t warrant an immediate disqualification, then what does? The rules state that if a delibirate illegal blow renders the opponent unable to continue, then it’s an automatic disqualification whether there’s been a warning before or not. If you can show me a clearer example of a fight that should end in an automatic disqualification, then please send it to me. The elbow Withers threw was more intentional then 99% of elbows thrown in Muay Thai. I really don’t think Withers wanted to be in there. He looked scared and nervous (and even admitted to being ‘petrified’ in the post fight interview), he didn’t want any part of looking Ammann in the eyes during the final instructions and he had a bit adrenaline dump just before the opening bell. Ammann on the other hand looked like a boxer intent on erasing a loss on his record. The fight itself was fairly even for the minute or so that it lasted, but I think Withers wanted a way out and took it. The referee again was Les Fear and he should, in my opinion, be demoted to refereeing amateur club fights rather then main card fights on television. Hopefully Ammann makes a speedy recovery (it was a big cut) and these two can do battle again.

Michael Bolling W6 Toga Letoa
Another excellent fight and credit to the matchmaker for finding such a tough opponent for Bolling. This fight will surely help him out long term as he’s battled a tough fighter who can punch and gone the distance with him. Letoa rocked Bolling in the 2nd round but Bolling showed exellent composure and came back to pound out a unanimous decision.

Hopefully next Thursdays card first of all actually stays on TV and then goes off like the Bolling and Vea fights did without any of the other shit.

“Super Boxer” 9th July Preview

Domestic boxing finally returns to Australian free to air television with the new One-HD channel’s “Superboxer” starting this Thursday at 9pm. The card has some solid fights on it with the headliner featuring world title challenger Billy Dib in a Featherweight regional title clash. The undercard sees a mini tournament between Australia’s top four cruiserweights which could likely set up a big fight in the not to distant future as well as one of the countries brightest prospects in the super middleweight division.

Billy Dib vs Kenichi Yamaguchi
(12 rounds, WBO Asia Pacific title)
Dib (22-1-0) might not be world class yet but he’s definately on his way there and at 23 years old he’s got plenty of time on his side. With his unorthodox style which utilises his handspeed and reflexes, Dib often confuses his opponents and draws openings from where there are none. However, his inexperience was shown in his only loss to date last year when he came up short against WBO Featherweight champion Steve Luevano by unanimous decision on the Hopkins-Pavlik undercard last October. Coming off a tough split decision win over Davey Browne in March, Dib takes on Japanese contender Kenichi Yamaguchi (15-1-2). Not a lot is known of Yamaguchi as he hasn’t fought outside of his hometown of Osaka, Japan but on paper he seems a step-up from some of Dib’s opponents. Dib will be looking to impress as the main event on the first free-to-air card in a long, long time and should do so against his inexperienced opponent. Billy Dib by unanimous decision.

Dominic Vea vs Anthony McCracken
(8 rounds, cruiserweight)
This will probably be fight of the night as both guys like to throw (and take) hard punches and have been in their share of wars in recent times. Vea (10-1-0) is one of the better prospects in the country with the only blemish on his record coming against Australian Cruiserweight champion Daniel Ammann in a war in 2006. The fight then was held at 86kg rather then the international limit of 91kg which the title now sits at. The two have since rematched with Vea winning a unanimous decision in an equally exciting war for the OPBF title last year. Vea is a heavy handed slugger with an iron chin who carries his power late into the fight. McCracken (10-2-0) is one of the toughest fighters in the Australian cruiserweight division with his only two losses coming against Ammann and Jamie Withers in 2007 fights. McCracken probably has the edge in skill level but Vea’s punching power more then tilts the scales in his favour and the big question will be how McCracken takes Vea’s power. I like Vea in this fight, but I think it’s going to be a war for the first two or three. I think McCracken will show a good chin early, but as Vea starts landing he’ll go into his shell a bit more and Vea will outwork him over the 2nd half of the fight for a comfortable points win. Dominic Vea by unanimous decision.

Daniel Ammann vs Jamie Withers
(6 rounds, Cruiserweight)
This is a rematch of a 2005 four rounder on an Anthony Mundine card in 2005 which was won via split decision by Withers (11-0-0). That fight was controlled by Withers, although Ammann (15-2-1) had his moments and did very well considering his inexperience at the time considering Withers had an extensive amateur background. Since that fight Ammann has risen to be the best Cruiserweight in the country for a period while Withers battled it out against (mostly) overmatched opponents on Mundine undercards. Ammann won the Australian cruiserweight title at 86kg, defended it four times including wins over Vea and McCracken, challenged for the OPBF title and most recently battered former world title challenger Mohammed Azzoui, scoring five knockdowns in the most lopsided six round decision I’ve ever seen (60-51, 60-50, 60-49). Withers is yet to be beaten and has beaten some of the same guys Ammann has, just not in the same fashion. He struggled against Anthony McCracken (over six-two minute rounds) despite winning a one sided unanimous decision (I scored that fight to him by a point). Withers also outpointed Azzoui last year, winning every round in an uninspiring performance. This is probably the best fight on the card, although I don’t think it has the potential to explode like McCracken-Vea does. Over ten rounds I think Ammann would likely stop Withers, but over six Jamie has a strong chance. I’m giving Ammann the edge as I think he is the more tested, although I think it could be close. Daniel Ammann by split decision.

I believe that will be the televised portion of the card although I’m not 100% sure. Super Middleweight prospecty Michael Bolling (6-0) is also on the card according to boxrec.com, but an opponent is not listed.
Welterweights Anthony Brownlie (2-2-0) and Alex Ahtong (2-2-2) do battle in a four rounder. Brownlie has shown to be very game in his four pro bouts, while Ahtong scored a knockout over tough journeyman Ariel Omongos last October.
Junior Welterweights Robert Whaley (1-0) and Gavin Locock (2-1-1) will fight over four rounds. Whaley will have a slight size advantage but Locock is apparently an experienced amateur with a pro win over Brendan Batty who is making a comeback after a three year absence so this should be a competitive battle.
The nights opener in the Light Heavyweight division is between Mark Pawsey (5-3-1) and Ben Wrotniak (1-0).

Just a note for any promoters, trainers or fighters out there. If you would like your fighter interviewed on this site, please email me at angryfightfan@hotmail.com or leave a comment with your email and I’ll email you. I’m very much in the interest of giving free promotion to Australian boxers who are lacking the coverage so if you would like to give your fighter, gym, fight, promotion or anything similar a plug, please give me an email.

“Super Boxer” series debuts July 9 on One HD

The first live free to air card on the new “Super Boxer” series (which is basically a return of TV Ringside for Australian fans) will take place on July 9 and will be headlined by Billy Dib. Dib will take on Japanese contender Kenichi Yamaguchi who is relatively untested, but has compiled a 15-1-2 record according to Boxrec. Dib has by far the more experience out of the two having fought for a world title, but this is a far better matchup then what a lot of fighters in Dib’s position would take on. Little is known of Kenichi so it could potentially be a hard nights work for the young Dib.

The undercard has two very very interesting matches in terms of the National Cruiserweight title picture and fights that I’m looking forward to more then the main event itself. OPBF Cruiserweight Champion Dominic Vea takes on tough Anthony McCracken in the co-main event and in the other main fight of the evening former Australian Cruiserweight Champion Daniel Ammann takes on undefeated Jamie Withers. Now a bit of back history, apart from Withers, the rest of these guys have all fought each other or are fighting each other on this card which could make for some interesting fights down the road.

Vea and Ammann have had two wars, splitting the fights with Ammann winning a majority decision back in 2006 in a defence of his National title and Vea avenging that loss in April of last year by unanimous decision. Withers has defeated both McCracken and Ammann on Mundine undercards, although he had some trouble with McCracken and Ammann was in his 5th professional fight at that stage of his career. Ammann and McCracken have also fought, with Amman emerging victorious on points after 10 rounds in an Australian title fight in 2007.

Should McCracken manage to upset Vea, he sets up a rematch against either Ammann or Withers which is a rematch itself that has been long overdue considering Withers’ reluctancy to fight off Mundine shows or in longer bouts (I’m 95% sure the McCracken fight was over six-two minute rounds). Should Vea win, he sets up a rubber match with Ammann which if you’ve seen their other two fights you would know is a main event quality fight, or he sets up a blockbuster with Withers which pits the two top contenders in the Cruiserweight division against one another. This sort of stuff is why I’m so excited that boxing is back on free to air in this country. It’s been a long while since we’ve had an interesting domestic scene without a big name like Mundine in the picture. Fights like these on the audience this will be shown on will produce our next wave of stars and give guys who 2-3 years ago were fighting in RSL’s in front of 500 people the chance to fight in front of a nationwide audience.

The shows will be on apparently every Thursday night with the likes of Sam Soliman, John Hopoate and Tim Bell likely to appear on future shows. I will be doing my best to cover the results etc on here for every show and if anyone wants to plug their fighter who is coming up on one of the shows, feel free to email me at angryfightfan@hotmail.com and we can arrange something. These are exciting times to be a fight fan in Australia.

TV Ringside making a comeback

Probably the best news for Australian boxing in a long long time, the 70′s weekly boxing program ‘TV Ringside’ will be making a comeback on the new channel ten digital station that will start July 1st. They will feature weekly boxing cards with Australian fighters making up the card and will start in July.

This is huge news for boxing in Australia if it comes off. The big problem with boxing in this country is the lack of media coverage in this sport. The sport is in the shadows so to speak as no one can watch boxing unless they actively seek it by buying tickets to local shows or paying for pay per views or a Foxtel subscription. The way the sport is set up, it’s almost impossible to attract new fans because boxing isn’t in there face. With TV Ringside back, the chances for people who don’t normally watch any boxing to be flicking through the channels and see boxing on are good and it should attract a wider audience.

The other positive this brings is that ‘lesser’ fighters can make a name for themselves and attract a wider range of sponsors with good showings on free to air TV. Guys who hold State and Australian titles and constantly fight good opposition but don’t get paid good money for it will benefit a lot by this. It’ll also help rid out the likes of Rugby League players who get paid more then proper pro boxers having one off fights which will raise the respectability of the sport in the general public’s eyes.

An open letter to the Australian Sports Media

Dear Biased Morons

In the wake of such a roller coaster ride for Australian Boxing during the first week of this month, I just wanted to say how great it is that the mainstream sports media in Australia has finally decided to cover local boxing again. The main problem I have with your coverage is what it was that you actually covered. In the past seven days we had one of our own fighters unify the titles in a weight division in which the titles had never been unified in, yet what you covered in detail to those people who aren’t as interested in boxing was a bunch of young, stupid and missguided (and probably drunk) thugs who don’t represent this great sport in any way, shape or form behaving in an appalling manner.

(For those of you who read this and don’t know what I’m referring to, check out the youtube clip below)

My main problem with the way you cover boxing is the bad message you always seem to try and send. It’s very rare that you’ll cover boxing on the news and when you do it’s because of something like this. How is boxing in this country meant to get anywhere when the only time it gets mainstream coverage is because of a rare occurance like what happened on the Central Coast last night? What sort of message does this send about boxing when you show the one card that ends in a brawl out of the countless cards that have gone smoothly that you haven’t shown? It wouldn’t annoy me as much if boxing was shown on mainstream news shows more and shown for the boxing, but your frequent attempts to label boxing as some sort of freakshow I frankly find quite insulting.

Last Sunday we saw Vic Darchinyan accomplish something that only a handful of other Australian boxers have accomplished in winning a legitimate World title, yet this achievement earned zero coverage the following morning on all of the mainstream morning shows. However, every station was quick to show an Englishmen winning his first World title in Formula One. Why would you give so much coverage to a foreigner accomplishing something like that, yet ignore one of our own when he does exactly the same thing. You give Rugby League players who come over to the sport of boxing and fight stiffs more coverage then you gave Darchinyan which I also find extremely insulting.

Imagine if you covered Rugby League’s State of Origin every year in extremely small detail yet showed every local match that had a massive punch-up involved in it? Imagine if the A-League Grand Final got a 20 second wrap-up like Darchinyan’s fight did last Sunday and then you showed a reserve match in Sydney Club Football where the local supporters who didn’t like each other decided to duke it out? This is exactly what you do when it comes to boxing. These other sports have the exact same problems when it comes to local competition, yet it’s only ever boxing that you show when things turn ugly.

Boxing is a very controversial sport and I’m not going to try and claim it isn’t no matter how big a fan of the sport I am, but the way in which you cover it makes it seem like its a place where the lowest of the low gather and carry out some sick sadistic ritual. When you cover the sport with such bias it labels people like me who appreciate the sport like the martial art that it is as freaks who get off on watching violence.

Basically all I’m trying to say is that if it’s alright for you to show local boxing on free to air news where the masses can watch it, then at least have the common courtesy to us boxing fans to show the good part of it at some stage. We have some good quality boxers in this country (who aren’t Anthony Mundine or Danny Green) like Michael Katsidis, Jamie Pittman, Daniel Geale as well as Elomar and Kickett, yet they get less coverage then you’re average Rugby League player who isn’t half the athlete that any of those guys are. Be reasonable and show the sport for what it is, not what you think it is.

Yours sincerely
‘Angry Fight Fan’

PS- if any of you have any rebuttal, my email is angryfightfan@hotmail.com

Boxing back on Free to Air in Australia

In three hours time, Australian free to air channel ‘Channel Ten’ will show Wladimir Klitschko defending his two heavyweight belts against Tony Thompson live. This is the first time since (well this is coming from a pretty unreliable source) Jesse Ferguson challenged Riddick Bowe for the title back in 1993 that a free to air Australian TV channel has shown a live Heavyweight title fight. Even though this fight is a total mismatch, this is a huge step in the right direction for Australian boxing. If enough people watch this fight, channel Ten will show more of these, which will lead Seven and Nine to rival Ten meaning we will get more boxing on free to air.

Anyway, I think Klitschko goes through Thompson pretyy quickly. I’m not going to totally rule anyone out against Wladimir Klitschko because he’s always been shaky around the whiskers, but I think Thompson will have to catch Klitschko on an off night to win this fight. Klitschko will start slow, but once that left hook finds it’s mark it’ll be a matter of time before Thompson goes to sleep. Klitschko to win by fourth round knockout.