How well would the boxing kangaroo fight off it's back?
With one night to go until the UFC makes it’s much anticipated Australian debut, everything in this country is set up for MMA to finally push boxing into the past and emerge as the future of combat sports down under. With the shoddy state of boxing in Australia at the moment, about the only thing that will stop MMA from moving past boxing would be an ugly incident either in the Octagon or in the crowd at next Sundays event. With even the head honcho’s involved with boxing not caring about it’s future, but rather trying to milk every last cent out of it right now, yet the people in charge of MMA trying to build the sport’s long term future it’s only inevitable that boxing be taken over by the new sport.
With the small coverage MMA has received in Australia it has a cult following among the people who know about it. The guys who know lots about it get their friends into it, albeit at a much smaller level. The effect of this is like that of a trail of gun powderand the UFC 110 card in Sydney tomorrow is the spark that will explode MMA into a more mainstream sport in Australia. Tomorrow’s show sold out inside of a week with probably 90% of the tickets selling before they were open to the public meaning that there will likely be a second show sometime in the not to distant future (likely next year around the same time). With hardly any big boxing fights taking place in Australia (Australia’s main promoter Angelo Hyder is stuck in the late 90s thinking that big names that Australians want to see are Roy Jones jnr, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson, three men ten years past their best), an annual UFC event will only help the sport grow. The fact that One HD has scrapped it’s “Super Boxer” series and shows next to no current boxing, yet they will show UFC 110 live tomorrow for free is also a big sign of what is to come in the future.
The bottom line is that Boxing in this country is a joke. The fact that Australians will go to the pub or fork out $50 to watch a Mundine pay per view to see him fight some fringe South American contender while some Rugby League star has a pub brawl with a guy who wouldn’t even be club level material anywhere else in the world yet they couldn’t tell you who the heavyweight champion of the world is is of major concern. Nothing is done to push boxing back into the spotlight or develop some of the upcoming fighters. Even the recent Australian version of ‘The Contender’ left out decent prospects like Jamie Pittman, a man who has the skills to be a threat on the world stage but lacks the exposure that a show like ‘The Contender’ would have given him to be able to build a following in this country. There are plenty of guys out there like Jamie Pittman who are talented boxers but just can’t build the following down here that they would have otherwise done if boxing was taken seriously. Sure Pittman is very well known to the boxing public, but do you really think the Captain of the Australian Olympic Boxing team would be struggling to get televised or even get decent fights in England or the USA? Yet guys like Sonny Bill Williams and Carl Webb get main support fights on what is probably the biggest stage in Australian boxing (the Mundine shows) and probably earn just as much!
The production value of boxing shows is also a major problem with boxing in Australia. The fact that MORON like Andy Raymond, who is a Rugby League commentator with no clue about anything boxing is the voice of the sport down here is nauseating. The ring announcers have no idea how to properly announce a show, and yes there is a proper and improper way of doing things. For one, you don’t announce the rules of the bout while the fighters are in the ring waiting to get it on (see the Green-Jones prelims for an example). You don’t announce a close decision in favour of ”the red corner” in the biggest domestic fight of the year (see Mundine-Geale decision) when no one pays any attention which corner they’re fighting out of. It’s painful watching a high profile boxing card in Australia because you can tell that the people in charge of running it have no idea what they’re doing. I rarely watch local Fox Sports boxing shows anymore because of how bad it is (that and the mismatches that they often have). You don’t need four or five ring girls dancing in the ring between rounds with dance music playing (you didn’t see this on say the Pacquiao-Cotto card for example did you?). You don’t need to show the Australian rankings after every fight and you definately don’t need to show random rounds out of insignificant fights from past local shows when you’ve got nothing else to do. One of the main strengths of the UFC is the production value. They do an amazing job of hyping up the fights with pre fight interviews, a highly energetic ring announcer and the right amount of tits and arse between rounds with the focus being more on the fighters which is what the people watching paid to see.
Should the UFC 110 card deliver tomorrow, expect to see a rise in regional MMA shows and an even further drop in local pro-am boxing cards. With more and more people already turning to kickboxing or jiu jitsu, there’s bound to be an emergence of competitors willing to try their luck with 4oz gloves instead of the 12oz gloves and headgear that amateur boxers use. There are already a number of good fighters from Australia and New Zealand (two of them fight tomorrow night on the main card) and if some of them can increase their celebrity down here to a slightly mainstream audience, something that say a victory for George Sotiropolous over Joe Stevenson tomorrow night would do, it’s only going to help the MMA cause down under. Boxing has been on a slow decline in this country since the late 80′s when we had our last batch of Australian contenders who actually fought one another. Sure there’s been a slight resurgence with the likes of Anthony Mundine and Danny Green and Daniel Geale, but our best fighters (Vic Darchinyan and Michael Katsidis) both fight overseas and have a bigger following in the USA then they do down here. No longer are the days of TV ringside where contenders were brought up through the tough local circuit and had to earn their status when fighters like Hector Thompson, Tony Mundine and Paul Ferreri gave the world champions of the day, men who are among the greatest to have ever entered a boxing ring in their respective divisions, some of the toughest fights of their career. The state of boxing today is one of prospects not learning their craft through overprotection and mismatches who end up taking the massive step up in class that they aren’t ready for and when they lose those that were paying attention to them no longer do while the rest of Australia who aren’t as into boxing as someone like me is go on watching their Mundine cards and having a laugh when the two heavyweights start trading arm punches with their chin in the air. MMA has slowly been taking over in America, and although boxing is run pretty badly over there, it’s not nearly as bad as it is down here. All that is needed to start the MMA frenzy is for the biggest promotion in the world to bring one of its shows down here to get some mainstream attention.
First of all, this was one of the best all-round boxing cards I’d watched in a long while. All four fights were good matchups and produced memorable fights. This reminded me of a UFC card that lacked a proven name but had a card full of good fights on it. I’d really like to see more of this in the future and with the competition MMA provides boxing these days I think there’s a good chance of it.
Edwin Valero KO2 Antonio Pitalua Valero made his lightweight debut a successful one, but really did it tell us anything about him we didn’t already know? Fair enough, Pitalua was a solid contender and to knock him out in the 2nd round is a good performance, but I’m not completely sold on Valero yet. We know he can hit hard, but what happens when he can’t land his shots like he’s used to? What happens when he takes a good one on the chin in return? Joan Guzman is the guy I’d like to see Valero in the ring with to answer some of these questions (thats if Guzman can make 135lbs).
Michael Katsidis TKO7 Jesus Chavez I was sort of right about Chavez, except he had a bit more early on then I anticipated. Katsidis showed little if any improvement and will still struggle against someone who can either box well or go 12 rounds at a good pace. Chavez likely would have beaten Katsidis if he was four years younger and he likely would have won easily. Katsidis needs to ditch his trainer and find a good US trainer if he wants to take it to the next level and he has the potential to do that, but most of the Australian trainers are too far behind the US trainers plus the lack of quality sparring down here will make it hard to Katsidis to be able to beat the Juan Diaz’s or Casamayor’s of the division.
Vicente Escobedo W10 Carlos Hernandez This fight was certainly a sleeper and I don’t think anyone had any idea it would turn out to be the scrap it was. Even in his advanced boxing age, Hernandez is a game son of a bitch and despite the early knockdowns (that did have him hurt badly) he continued to press forward and deliver hard shots. I really thought the scorecards should have been closer then what they were, but Escobedo was the rightful winner. Hernandez should retire as he’ll likely end up a punching bag for up and comers if he continues on and the mans had a solid career. He’s fought some of the best fighters of the last 20 years like Mayweather, Morales and Genaro Hernandez. I’m not sure what to make of Escobedo. I doubt he stands up to some of the better punchers in the division. Him vs Katsidis might make a good co main event for a big PPV later in the year.
Rolando Reyes KO5 Julio Diaz Not sure what happened for Diaz but this could end his career as a top 10 contender in this division. Reyes shocked everyone but himself with that 5th round as he was getting beaten comfortably until the stoppage. I’m not sure if Diaz had an off night or didn’t prepare or just simply got caught (I’m assuming the later) but with the talent in this division, a loss like that hurts him a lot.
Other Results from the weekend Timothey Bradley unified the WBC and WBO titles after surviving two knockdowns (one in the first, one in the last rounds) against Kendall Holt to win a close 12 round decision. Neither guy impressed me too much mainly because Bradley looked shaky when under fire and Holt rarely fired enough to win the fight. I had Bradley winning by two points (114-112) but I haven’t got a scorecard handy to post up. If I was Bradley, I’d be staying away from the likes or Urango, Torres let alone Hatton or Pacquiao as he’s just not ready to handle big punchers like them. Librado Andrade won easily by 12 round decision over Vitali Tsypko on the undercard.
Alexander Povetkin won his tuneup with Jason Estrada and is set to take on Wladimir Klitschko (should he beat David Haye in June) at the end of the year. I haven’t seen the fight but apparently he didn’t look capable of beating Wlad at this stage. I think another fight for him in the meantime would be a good idea as the end of the year is a while off and a guy a bit above Estrada’s level would be ideal to give him some more solid rounds to keep him sharp for Klitschko.
Tonight Fox Sports one features a local boxing card live from Newcastle Panthers in what is the first card of its type for the year. As far as these cards go, this is a good one with a few of the lesser known stars of Australian Boxing getting their deserved time in the spotlight as well as some up and comers getting the chance to build on their careers. In the main event, Fox Sports Fight Night regular Rob Medley will take on up and comer Tui Leveni for some regional belt that means nothing except a world ranking. Also on the card, former challenger to Felix Sturms crown Jamie Pittman meets iron chinned Josh Clenshaw and OPBF Cruiserweight champion Dominic Vea takes on former world title challenger Mohammed Azzaoui.
The main event is really a lose-lose for Medley. Leveni has only had nine pro fights and while he does hold the Australian Junior Middleweight title, his resume’ lacks any big name Australian fighters. In saying that, Leveni has shown clear domination over the guys he has been fighting, winning most of them inside the distance. In his only two fights that were televised previously, he destroyed journeyman Fili Mailata and Dion McNabbney in two rounds each. His biggest win came over undefeated Pat Rullo who Leveni took out in four for the vacant national title. Medley has fallen short in two spirited if limited efforts against world rated Isaac Hlatshwayo. He’s sort of stuck in the zone where he’s better then nearly everyone on the domestic scene but lacks the ability to make it to world class. A loss to Leveni at this stage of his career almost confirms his regional fighter tag whereas a loss to Medley for Leveni means little as long as he learns from it and doesn’t take too much punishment.
Tui Leveni has a real shot in this fight and his come forward aggressive style could work two ways. It could overpower Medley like it has done his last eight opponents or it could play into his hands and allow Medley to pick him apart. I know people who train with Leveni and they assure me his game is on the up and that he’s in good shape for this bout but the big question will be how Leveni handles Medley’s experience. Neither man will want to give ground in this fight and even though Medley is a skilled boxer, he definately prefers to be able to walk down his man. Against Leveni that could be hard although I think if he is able to back Leveni up he’ll have an easy nights work. I really think Leveni will be able to dominate Medley if he can get him on the ropes but I think Medley’s experience and conditioning will prove too much especially over a 12 round fight; Leveni has yet to fight 7 rounds let alone 12. For that reason alone I pick Medley to win this fight by close decision although don’t be surprised if he’s taken out inside five.
Jamie Pittman returns to action for the first time since that shocking mismatch on the infamous Central Coast card that ended up with a brawl. Pittmans opponent tonight is the always durable Josh Clenshaw who has only been stopped twice (not including the broken hand stoppage to Julian Holland) and both of those came early in his career. Pittman should win this one comfortably on points as he has a huge advantage in technique and his conditioning will prove too much for Clenshaw to be able to break. Pittman by shutout decision.
The other good fight on the card features two of the top national Cruiserweights in action with Dominic Vea fighting Mohammed Azzaoui. Vea has been in good form, avenging his only loss top Daniel Ammann last year and then destroying three opponents in quick time since. Azzaoui took the easy route to the top and then paid for it when he tried to hang with the big boys. After losing his gift title shot to Enzo Maccaranelli in four rounds, he has since been knocked out two more times before losing a lopsided decision to Jamie Withers in his most recent fight. I expect Vea will prove too strong and win this fight inside the first 3-4 rounds.
The full card, starts 7.30pm on Fox Sports One:
Rob Medley vs Tui Leveni (12 rounds)
Jamie Pittman vs Josh Clenshaw (8 rounds)
Dominic Vea vs Mohammed Azzaoui (6 rounds)
Steve Casserly vs Anthony Brownlee (6 rounds)
Steven Wills vs Ruben Kennedy (6 rounds)
Brendan Batty vs Lucas Mason (4 rounds)
Joel Brunker vs Troy Glover (4 rounds)
These are a little late compared to a lot of other sites, but I wanted to wait until the year was officially over before I put these up. My MMA ones will be up in a week or so. These are entirely my opinion and feel free to have a go at me in the comments section and I’ll happily debate any of my picks.
Fight of the Year- Israel Vazquez SD12 Rafael Marquez (March 1st).
Round of the Year- 4th- Israel Vazquez SD12 Rafael Marquez. Seriously if you haven’t see this fight go and see it. It’s one of my personal all-time favourite fights and considering that I’m very old school in my opinions and don’t let new fads change my picks too much that’s saying something. There’s only three fights in the last ten years that I consider up there with some of my more classic choices and this is one of them (along with Barrera-Morales I and Castillo-Corrales I). A lot of people overlook this trilogy because therse guys are only 122lbs which is complete crap. A lot of ‘fans’ say they don’t like the little guys, but seriously, where do you draw the line? If you will watch Featherweights whats the big deal with the 4lbs less for the Junior Feathers? Whats the big deal with the 21lbs to Minimumweight?
You’d all think I was crazy if I said I don’t watch anything below Cruiserweight because the next division is 25lbs smaller when those fights are usually the best yet people draw the line at other places and it’s crap. These guys in the lower classes fight just as hard, if not harder then the other guys and get little credit and anyone who has seen this fight knows exactly what I mean. These guys left it all in the ring and the action see-sawed throughout every round. Marquez got the better of the first six rounds including knocking Vazquez down in the 4th round only for Vazquez to get up and rock Marquez in return. The two then exchanged hard blows until the bell with both men getting rocked again in the final 30 seconds (youtube clip provided below). Vazquez came back to steal the fight with a 12th round knockdown, winning a split decision. There was about six or seven rounds that could have gone either way (if you scored all of them for one fighter you’re a moron I might add) and everytime I’ve watched this fight I’ve scored a few rounds different. This truly was one of the greatest fights of all-time and if you haven’t watched it, go find someone who has a copy of it and check it out. Here’s a taste and my pick for round of the year:
Honourable Mentions (Fight of the Year)- Antonio Margarito TKO11 Miguel Cotto (July 26th), Manny Pacquiao SD12 Juan Manuel Marquez (March 15th), Joel Casmayor TKO10 Michael Katsidis (March 22nd). Previous Winners- Israel Vazquez TKO6 Rafael Marquez (2007), Somsak Sithchatchawal TKO10 Mayhar Monshipour (2006), Diego Corrales TKO10 Jose Luis Castillo. Honourable Mentions (Round of the Year)- 1st- Kendall Holt KO1 Ricardo Torres, 12th- Israel Vazquez SD12 Rafael Marquez, 2nd- Antonio Margarito vs Miguel Cotto. Previous Winners- 3rd- Rafael Marquez TKO7 Israel Vazquez (2007), 10th- Somsak Sithchatchawal TKO10 Mayhar Monshipour (2006), 10th- Diego Corrales TKO10 Jose Luis Castillo (2005).
Fighter of the Year- Manny Pacquiao
Performance of the Year- Manny Pacquiao TKO8 Oscar De La Hoya (December 6th). I have to admit, I was setting this article up in late November and I had Calzaghe pencilled in to the Fighter of the Year slot expecting De La Hoya to be too big for ’The Mexecutioner’ (sorry to any Mexicans reading this but I just love that name) and Pacquiao’s performance against David Diaz down for Performance of the Year (although that was a toss-up between it and Hopkins schooling of Pavlik). Even though I made a big deal that his fight with Oscar would do nothing to his legacy should be lose, a SD over Marquez that I thought he lost and a TKO over David Diaz who I don’t rate and a loss aren’t enough to outdo Calzaghe’s downing of two legends despite one of them being more shot then Oscar. Despite plenty of people calling Oscar shot after their fight, Pacquiao definately shouldn’t have won that fight in such a one sided fashion unless he was the real deal. Despite Marquez giving Pacquiao all he could handle in their March thriller, Pacquiao proved that making 130lbs probably had something to do with it after twice moving up in weight and one sidedly knocking out two very capable fighters. So for winning new World titles in two weight divisions in 12 months and for completely dominating two very good fighters (one of them a legend) and beating a fellow top five pound for pound fighter, Pacquiao wins two of my awards this year. Honourable Mentions (Fighter of the Year)- Joe Calzaghe, Antonio Margarito, Juan Manuel Marquez. Previous Winners- Floyd Mayweather Jnr (2007), Manny Pacquiao (2006), Jermain Taylor (2005). Honourable Mentions (Performance of the Year)- Manny Pacquiao KO9 David Diaz, Bernard Hopkins UD12 Kelly Pavlik, Vic Darchinyan KO9 Cristian Mijares. Previous Winners- Ricky Hatton KO4 Jose Luis Castillo (2007), Joe Calzaghe UD12 Jeff Lacy (2006), Floyd Mayweather jnr TKO6 Arturo Gatti (2005).
Knockout of the Year- Juan Urango KO4 Carlos Vilches When it comes to knockouts, I find it best to explain it by just showing it! Enjoy!
Honourable Mentions- Antonio Margarito KO6 Kermit Cintron, Shane Mosley KO12 Ricardo Mayorga, Manny Pacquiao KO9 David Diaz. Previous Winners- Nonito Donaire KO5 Vic Darchinyan (2007), Daniel Ponce de Leon KO1 Sod Looknongyangtoy (2006), Allan Green KO1 Jaidon Codrington (2005).
Upset of the Year- Nate Campbell SD12 Juan Diaz No one seemed to be able to touch Diaz in the lightweight division and not many expected him to be beaten until he moved up a weight division. This fight was somewhat overshadowed with David Haye’s unification fight with Enzo Maccarinelli as well as Oleg Maskaev’s defence of his WBC Heavyweight strap against dangerous contender Samuel Peter (the fight was on the undercard of this bout). Campbell had won three in a row in his hot and cold career that has seen him look like one of the World’s most dangerous fighters one day and look like a complete fool the next (see Campbell-Peden I). Diaz seemed to be taking over as he usually does by the midway point of the fight with his high output of punches although Campbell stayed in the pocket with him and traded hard leather. Everything changed with one punch in the 6th round. Campbell landed a left that opened a massive cut on Diaz’s left eye and although the referee incorrectly ruled it a headbutt and docked Campbell a point, Diaz wasn’t the same fighter after that. His punch output slowed down while Campbell was spurred on by the cut and the rare weakness that Diaz ever shows in the ring. Campbell dominated the later rounds as Diaz’s eye closed shut and he took a split decision as well as Diaz’s WBA, WBO and IBF Lightweight titles. Honourable Mentions- Carlos Quintana UD12 Paul Williams, Vic Darchinyan KO9 Cristian Mijares, Breidis Prescott KO1 Amir Khan. Previous Winners- Nonito Donaire KO5 Vic Darchinyan (2007), Carlos Baldomir UD12 Zab Judah (2006), Zahir Raheem UD12 Erik Morales.
Event of the Year- Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez (By this I basically mean the biggest fight of the year without taking into account what actually happened in the ring. For example there were far better fights in 2002 then Lewis-Tyson, but that one was the highlight event of the year).
I really didn’t buy into De La Hoya-Pacquiao (as many who have read this site for a while will tell you) and I really can’t think of another fight that was as good a match-up as this one. I tend to go more for a hardcore fans perspective when picking these unless there’s an obvious pick like Lewis-Tyson or De La Hoya-Hopkins. This fight pitted the two best fighters in the 130-126lb division in a fight that had a long build up after their controversial draw in 2004. It was the culmination in a series of big fights between these two plus Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera that saw this fight as the Finale after Marquez defeated Barrera (Pacquiao also defeated him after Marquez) and Pacquiao had defeated Morales. It was sort of like Hagler-Leonard of the 80′s rivalry of those two plus Duran and Hearns although over a shorter period of time. There were plenty of big fights and one’s that received a lot more attention then this fight, but this was the fight I looked forward to the most this year. It was two top five pound for pound fighters squaring off and the fight didn’t disappoint. Honourable Mentions- Antonio Margarito vs Miguel Cotto, Kelly Pavlik vs Jermain Taylor II, Vic Darchinyan vs Cristian Mijares. (I don’t rate Calzaghe-Hopkins because even though it was a big fight, I knew it’d be as boring as all fuck as it actually was). Previous Winners- Ricky Hatton vs Floyd Mayweather jnr (2007), Joe Calzaghe vs Jeff Lacy (2006), Ricky Hatton vs Kostya Tszyu (2005).
That’s the big ones out of the road, a few I think I should touch on:
Prospect of the Year- Leonard Zappavinga First of all, I think this award is stupid. It’s not like in other sports where it’s easy to determine what a prospect is because they’ve only been playing a year. Boxing is a different sport. A prospect could be a three fight rookie or a guy with 30 fights who’s taken his time on the way up and is about to crack the big time. Second of all, I’m clearly biased. I don’t take this award that seriously so I’ll probably always pick an Australian. Zappavinga ended his year with a knockout over former two time world title challenger Tommy Browne in a fight he looked excellent in. Zappa is only 22, he is undefeated and will definately be one to watch in the new year.
Australian Fighter of the Year- Vic Darchinyan Darchinyan totally dominated two world champions with absolute ease in his new weight class and became the first Australian since Kostya Tszyu to be near the top 10 pound for pound in the World. After a controversial draw in February against Z Gorres, Darchinyan got a shot at Dimitri Kirilov’s IBF strap and won by one sided 5th round knockout. After that came a unification bout with (at least by my list) Cristian Mijares, who held the WBC and WBA titles and had wins over Jorge Arce and Alexander Munoz. Not many (I wasn’t one of them) gave Darchinyan a chance, but he brutalised Mijares over nine rounds with a great mixture of boxing and punching before knocking him out with an overhand left in the 9th. I just hope Darchinyan receives more credit and attention down here instead of joke ‘fighters’ like Anthony Mundine and John Hopoate who rob the public blind with their overpriced PPV sideshows.
One to watch in 2009- Beibut Shumenov This guy is only 7-0, but he has already beaten Montell Griffin (yes, the same one with a win over Roy Jones jnr) and Epifanio Mendoza (who gave Jeff Lacy all he could handle for 12 rounds).
And some lighter ones:
Arthur Mercante Award for Best Refereeing- Pat Russell (Vazquez-Marquez III) This was by far the best fight of the year and it could have been one of the most controversial if referee Pat Russell was having a bad night. There were several tight calls in the fight that the fight road on, and he got them all right. Russell deducted a point from Marquez for a low blow which ultimately cost Marquez a draw in the fight, however he had previously warned Marquez a number of times and had to take that point off. Had he let Marquez off the hook there it would have been unfair to Vazquez as he had warned him a few times previously and most of the shots were pretty low. The other call was the 12th round knockdown. Russell very well could have made the mistake that many a referee would have made in that situation and stopped the fight. Marquez was taking punishment on the ropes and taking a lot of it yet he wasn’t going down. He staggered into the ropes and would have fallen if they weren’t there and instead of stopping the fight he gave Marquez a count. These calls are still controversial parts of the fight, but they would have been a hell of a lot worse if Russell had say jumped in and saved Marquez in the 12th with a few seconds left.
Jersey Joe Walcott Award for Worst Refereeing- Joe Cortez (Francisco Lorenzo DQ4 Humberto Soto) (If you don’t get the reference it’s not because I hate Walcott, it’s because he refereed one Heavyweight title fight and lost complete control of the Ali-Liston rematch therefore he gets my award named after him. I actually am a big fan of Walcott so this is no cheap shot at him about his fighting, just thought I’d point that out).
Humberto Soto battered Franciso Lorenzo for three and a half rounds before dropping him in the fourth round. While going down, Lorenzo grabbed Soto’s legs prompting Soto to continue to hit him, landing a grazing shot to the back of his head. Instead of counting, Cortez ruled that Lorenzo had been hit while he was down at which point Lorenzo started faking like he was in more serious trouble as a result of the blow. Actually, Lorenzo was ready to go and all the damage was done by legal blows from Soto during the action. After viewing several replays, Cortez disqualified Soto and ruled Lorenzo as the new WBC interim champion. The WBC however would right the wrong and strip Lorenzo of his belt (one of the few controversial decisions from an ABC group that I agree with).
Eugenia Williams Award for Worst Judging Card- Doug Tucker (Cristian Mijares SD12 Jose Navarro) (Reference again is to Eugenia Williams who scored the Holyfield-Lewis first fight to Holyfield after he won maybe three rounds).
Tucker scored this fight 120-108 for Navarro. The other two judges both saw it for Mijares in a close fight. Seriously Doug, what fight were you watching? Maybe Navarro won the fight (I agreed with the other two judges) but he didn’t win every round.
George Foreman Award for Comeback of the Year- Vitali Klitschko If you come back from four years of inactivity and totally dominate one of the top contenders in your division then there’s no denying you this award. Vitali Klitschko did just that. It almost made my performance of the year honourable mentions but missed out. Klitschko came back from numerous injuries and totally dominated someone who was a very, very dangerous opponent with absolute ease. As much as I don’t like the Klitschko brothers, it was hard not to be impressed by that.
Andy Raymond Award for Worst Commentator of the Year- Andy Raymond (Fox Sports Australia) I seriously hate Andy Raymond and it’ll be a task for anyone to win this award any year apart from him. He just talks and talks and talks without ever saying anything with the slightest bit of meaning. The only Raymondism I can remember this year (if I remembered anymore I’d probably get cancer) is this: ‘Boxing under the Nitro Format this evening’
WTF does that mean?!?!?!?! At the time he was referring to the promotion as being called Nitro Fight Night or some shit, but what he actually said has zero meaning to anyone with an IQ above 50! Maybe it’s just me who gets irritated by things like this, but seriously if you’re on TV and your job is to talk you really need to know how to do it. Another thing that annoys me about him is his constant comment everytime a boxer from New South Wales fights a boxer from Queensland he calls it state of origin. On some cards when this happens four or five times he says it every fucking time. Its no wonder that boxing is seen by a lot of people in Australia as a sideshow sport that Rugby League players play to keep themselves fit in the off season when you have some moronic Rugby League commentator who knows fuckall about the sport making absolutely no sense with anything he says except when he says something that he can relate back to Rugby League like the state of origin shit.
John Ruiz Award for Worst Fight of the Year- Wladimir Klitschko UD12 Sultan Ibragimov Now this isn’t exactly the worst fight of the year, but it’s the worst one I saw that I went out of my way to watch. Ibragimov ran for dear life and Wladimir was too shit scared of being knocked out to do anything about it. The result was Wladimir winning the fight on his aggressive pawing of his jab. Valuev-Holyfield sounds worse, but you’ll have to pin my eyes open A Clockwork Orange style to get me to watch that. Bringing me to my next award:
Ruiz-McCline Award for Worst Matchup of the Year- John Ruiz vs Jameel McCline This award was originally going to be called the Ruiz-Holyfield Award out of respect for the worst boxing trilogy of all-time, then I remembered he fought McCline this year and the award will be now known as Ruiz-McCline. Now I didn’t see this fight (which is why I haven’t gouged out my eyes with a toothpick) but oh my God, who ever thought these two would make for attractive viewing needs to jab themselves in the eye with a screwdriver. Has there ever been two more boring Heavyweights? At least Wladimir Klitschko has punching power that can sometimes be exciting. These two not only have extremely boring styles, but they’re very ineffective fighters who often resort to holding. If I was managing Ruiz, after I committed suicide I’d do everything I could to keep him away from the likes of McCline who is just a fat waste of space with enough gas to punch for maybe three rounds. Matching these two up only shows the full range of boredom they can produce. Luckily I didn’t have to sit through this bout as Haye-Maccarinelli was live on one channel and by the time it had finished so had this piece of shit bit of matchmaking.
Joe Jacobs ‘We was Robbed ‘ Award for Robbery of the Year- Nicolay Valuev W12 Evander Holyfield (Joe Jacobs managed Max Schemling in the 1930s and had a famous quote ‘We was robbed, we shouldda stayed in bed’ after Schmeling lost the title to Sharkey).
I haven’t seen the fight and I don’t want to, but the whole thing is just cruel. Here’s a legend of the ring who’s battled way past his prime in a quest to re-capture the Heavyweight title before he retires and after years of not getting anywhere near it he finally gets a shot and by all accounts should have won the fight and they rob him. Now it’s probably for the good of the division that Holyfield doesn’t win the fight and ends up being killed in the ring if he puts it against one of the Klitschko’s, but to rob a man of being the first five-time champion as well as the oldest champion in history is just cruel.
And on a sadder note:
Gone but not forgotten (pictured in order below, if I left anyone out leave a comment and I’ll edit it) Yo Sam Choi- Former WBC 108lb Champion (1999-2002), lost his title to Jorge Arce in 2002. Died from injuries sustained in a fight he won in December 2007 a week later. Duilio Loi- Two-time World Junior Lightweight Champion (1960-62 and 1963), bested the great Carlos Ortiz 2-1 in their series of fights. Lost the title to Eddie Perkins in 1962 then regained it in his next fight and retired with a 115-3-8 mark. Died in January of Alzheimers. Ralph Dupas- Former World Junior Middleweight Champion (1963), also challenged Emile Griffith for the Welterweight Championship and Joe Brown for the Lightweight Championship. Defeated former World Middleweight Champion Joey Giardello and lost a disputed decision to Sugar Ray Robinson. Died in January of dememtia. Mando Ramos- Former Undisputed Lightweight Champion (1969-70) who regained the WBC title in 1972 but lost it the same year. Lost his undisputed title to Panamanian great Ismael Laguna. Died in July of natural causes. Mate Parlov- 1972 Olympic Light Heavyweight Champion, 1974 World Amateur Light Heavyweight Champion, WBC Light Heavyweight Champion (1978). First Croatian to win a World title in Boxing. Died in July 30 of lung cancer. Vic Toweel- Former World Bantamweight Champion (1950-52). First South African to win a World Championship in Boxing by defeating Manuel Ortiz. Lost his title to Australian Jimmy Carruthers in 1952. Died in August at age 80. Joey Giardello- Former World Middleweight Champion (1963-65). Fought Dick Tiger four times (winning twice) and also beat Sugar Ray Robinson and Rubin Carter to name a few. Died in September of heart failure.
They’re finally here, the long promised rankings done entirely by me based on nothing but who I think deserves to be ranked where. A few months ago I decided not to do what Ring Magazine does which is have their own champions (similar to the ABC rankings) and then 10 challengers because I really couldn’t be bothered doing the research again to find out who is the real champion. Note to all newbies; it’s not as easy as who I think the best fighter is. It’s based on who beat who and I think the whole thing will be a lot easier on me in the long run and make the chances of me putting these up every month greater then if I had to worry about champions. I may introduce them in the future, but I doubt it. One thing I was working on was having my own champions based off any 1 vs 2 fights that happen in the future or if one fighter has unified all four belts and there is a direct lineage from him to the current champion then making him champion (ie Hopkins unified all four belts, lost to Taylor who lost to Pavlik thus making Pavlik the current champion) but for now I’ll leave it as it is.
The rankings are based on all fights that happened before January 1st 2009, so if there’s a result that happened on January 1st (I’m using boxrec’s calender) then it’ll be included next month. These rankings are my own work and have absolutely no reflection on any ABC rankings or anything else but my own opinion. Please feel free to flame me in the comments section.
Weight Division (weight limit)
Ranking- Fighter
Pound for Pound 1- Manny Pacquiao
2- Joe Calzaghe
3- Juan Manuel Marquez
4- Bernard Hopkins
5- Israel Vazquez
6- Rafael Marquez
7- Paul Williams
8- Antonio Margarito
9- Ricky Hatton
10- Kelly Pavlik
Heavyweight (no limit) 1- Wladimir Klitschko
2- Vitali Klitschko
3- Ruslan Chagaev
4- Nicolay Valuev
5- Alexander Povetkin
6- David Haye
7- Samuel Peter
8- Alexander Dimitrenko
9- Sultan Ibragimov
10- Oleg Maskaev
Cruiserweight (200lbs) 1- Tomasz Adamek
2- Guillermo Jones
3- Steve Cunningham
4- Jean Marc Mormeck
5- Marco Huck
6- O’Neill Bell
7- Enzo Maccarinelli
8- Firat Arslan
9- Vadim Tokarev
10- Kryzstof Wlodarczyk
Light Heavyweight (175lbs) 1- Joe Calzaghe
2- Bernard Hopkins
3- Chad Dawson
4- Glenn Johnson
5- Antonio Tarver
6- Clinton Woods
7- Zsolt Erdei
8- Hugo Garay
9- Roy Jones jnr
10- Adrian Diaconu
Super Middleweight (168lbs) 1- Mikkel Kessler
2- Lucian Bute
3- Jermain Taylor
4- Carl Froch
5- Anthony Mundine
6- Dennis Inkin
7- Librado Andrade
8- Sakio Bika
9- Jeff Lacy
10- Markus Beyer
Middleweight (160lbs) 1- Kelly Pavlik
2- Arthur Abraham
3- Felix Sturm
4- Winky Wright
5- Khoren Gevor
6- Randy Griffin
7- Sebastian Sylvester
8- Javier Castillejo
9- Amin Asikainen
10- Daniel Geale
Junior Middleweight (154lbs) 1- Paul Williams
2- Vernon Forrest
3- Sergei Dzinziruk
4- Daniel Santos
5- Sergio Manuel Martinez
6- Verno Phillips
7- Cory Spinks
8- Sergio Mora
9- Alex Bunema
10- Joachim Alcine
Welterweight (147lbs) 1- Antonio Margarito
2- Miguel Cotto
3- Shane Mosley
4- Joshua Clottey
5- Andre Berto
6- Kermit Cintron
7- Carlos Quintana
8- Luis Collazo
9- Zab Judah
10- Mike Jones
Lightweight (135lbs) 1- Nate Campbell
2- Manny Pacquiao
3- Juan Manuel Marquez
4- Juan Diaz
5- Joel Casmayor
6- Julio Diaz
7- Joan Guzman
8- Ali Funeka
9- Antonio Pitualua
10- David Diaz
Featherweight (126lbs) 1- Chris John
2- Robert Guerrero
3- Cristobal Cruz
4- Steve Luevano
5- Thomas Mashaba
6- Guty Espadas Jnr
7- Jorge Solis
8- Mario Santiago
9- Oscar Larios
10- Hiroyuki Enoki
Junior Featherweight (122lbs) 1- Israel Vazquez
2- Rafael Marquez
3- Celestino Caballero
4- Juan Manuel Lopez
5- Poonsawat Krattindaenggym
6- Ricardo Cardoba
7- Daniel Ponce de Leon
8- Jhonny Gonzalez
9- Steve Molitor
10- Wethya Sakmuangklang
Junior Bantamweight (115lbs) 1- Vic Darchinyan
2- Fernando Montiel
3- Cristian Mijares
4- Alexander Munoz
5- Jorge Arce
6- Nobuo Nashiro
7- Z Gorres
8- Dimitri Kirilov
9- Jose Navarro
10- Pramunsak Posuwan
Flyweight (112lbs) 1- Nonito Donaire
2- Denkaosan Kaovichit
3- Daisuke Naito
4- Pongsaklek Wonjongkam
5- Omar Narvaez
6- Koki Kameda
7- Rayonta Whitfield
8- Takefumi Sakata
9- Bernard Inom
10- Jose Cesar Miranda
Junior Flyweight (108lbs) 1- Ivan Calderon
2- Edgar Soto
3- Ulises Solis
4- Hugo Cazares
5- Cesar Canchila
6- Brahim Asloum
7- Giovanni Segura
8- Juan Carlos Reveco
9- Juanito Rubillar
10- Omar Nino Romero
Minimumweight (105lbs) 1- Roman Gonzalez
2- Oleydong Sithsamerchai
3- Raul Garcia
4- Florante Condes
5- Muhammad Rachman
6- Juan Palacios
7- Donnie Nietes
8- Nkosinathi Joyi
9- Katsunari Takayama
10- Manuel Vargas
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.
Juan Diaz outfights Katsidis Juan Diaz won a 12 round split decision over Michael Katsidis for the vacant IBO title last weekend. Katsidis fought a good fight but the difference between the two fighters was that Diaz is a lot more technically sound and doesn’t rely solely on his power. However despite his 2nd consecutive loss, Katsidis was impressive particularily in his attitude after the fight. When asked if he thinks he should take a softer touch in his next fight, he responded with something to the tune of (I can’t find the exact quote ’its a 17 hour flight to the USA from Australia so I don’t want to come all this way for a soft touch.’
On the undercard Rocky Juarez stopped Jorge Barrios in round 11 of a junior featherweight contest. I haven’t seen this fight because we didn’t get it on the coverage down here.
Khan KTFO, Cook wins title
Amir Khan got exactly what he deserved for thinking that his fights are pay per view material and got KTFO (KTFO is ‘knocked the fuck out’for any NOOBs out there) in the first minute of his fight by unknown Argentinian and 9-1 underdog Breidis Prescott. I only wish that this would happen to certain Australian fighters who think their mismatches are worthy of $50 PPV prices. Now I did like Khan from the Olympics and I’d hoped he did well as a pro, but you’ve got to earn PPV slots, not just put yourself on one because you think you’re that good. Khan needs to go back to fighting on undercards against guys who will make him work and make him learn and then earn his spot. On the undercard Nicky Cook won a 12 round decision over Alex Arthur to take his WBO 130lb title.
Week of lightweights sort of ruined
Joan Guzman has failed to make weight for his fight with Nate Campbell. The fight is still on, but it won’t be for any titles and it has the potential to throw a massive spanner in the works of the best division in boxing if Guzman manages to win. With Marquez fighting Casamayor for his linear title this weekend as well, it had the potential to set-up a major fight between the winners of those two fights. Now we have to hope Campbell wins his fight for anyone to be that interested in seeing the Casamayor-Marquez winner take him on. I think Guzman will still be too classy and frustrate the very inconsistant Campbell en route to winning a decision. In the other fight I’m picking Marquez to outwork Casamayor, but its a very tight fight to call.
Other fights this weekend And theres a lot of them. First, Sergio Mora rematches with Vernon Forrest for the WBC 154lb title. I think Forrest will come out with something to prove in this fight and he needs to because a loss will probably be the end of the line for him. I’m picking Forrest to win inside the distance in this fight. Forrest KO10.
Andreas Kotelnik also makes his first defence of his WBA 140lb title, taking on Norio Kimura. With a name like Kimura I’m surprised he didn’t get into Judo instead of boxing. I’ve not heard of Kimura or know anything about him, so I assume Kotelnik beats him, probably over the 12 rounds.
Even though theres like 10 ‘world titles’ up for grabs this weekend, I’m only going to comment on the Timothy Bradley fight as well. He takes on dangerous but limited lightweight Edner Cherry in the first defence of his WBC world junior welterweight title. Despite only a 50% KO ratio, Cherry can punch. He could take the title if Bradley makes a mistake. I think Bradley will handle him pretty easily as he is a class above him. Bradley via 12 round unanimous decision.
Results from last weekend
I haven’t seen any of these fights yet. If anyone has a link to a youtube clip or something like that please let me know via comment or Email (angryfightfan@hotmail.com). Ivan Calderon defended his title with a technical decision win over Hugo Cazares. From what I understand Calderon was having a much easier time of things this time around and Cazares just couldn’t mount any sort of consistant attack on him.
In the other good matchup of last weekend, Cristian Mijares defended his WBA/WBC 115lb titles against Chatchai Sasakul with a 3rd round knockout. I really want to see Mijares in the ring with Fernando Montiel or Vic Darchinyan (I’d say it’ll be Montiel) and I’m sure that a fight between him and one of those guys could be made. Hopefully the sanctioning bodies are man enough to let the fight be for all of the titles instead of doing what they normally do and stripping them for fighting other titlists.
John Ruiz lost to Valuev again, thats all I’m going to say on the fight because thats all the mention it deserves.
Lightweight Matchups start this weekend
Former WBO, WBA and IBF lightweight champion Juan Diaz returns from his shock loss to Nate Campbell to take on former WBO interim lightweight champion Michael Katsidis this weekend. This fight should be a barnburner and if it weren’t for the UFC being on this weekend I’d be watching it live. I think Katsidis will be in the fight for 4-5 rounds but Diaz has a lot more boxing skill and that should be the difference. Katsidis is tough though and I think this fight will go the distance (at 3.5-1 I’m hoping it does as well) but Diaz will be the clear winner.
There’s an interesting fight on the undercard between junior lightweight contenders Rocky Juarez and Jorge Barrios. This is another fight that could be a war. Both guys like to come forward and mix it up on the inside and this is a tought fight to call. I’m leaning towards Barrios though because he’s the bigger, stronger man and I think it will play a big factor in the later rounds. Barrios to win this fight on points in a highly entertaining battle.
Also in action this weekend in the UK is a fight for the WBO (interim?) with British fighters Alex Arthur and Nicky Cook doing battle. Arthur should be the favourite in this fight. He’s more experienced and he has a size advantage, however Cook looked good early in his career and could have something to prove after losing to Luevano last year for the vacant WBO Featherweight title. I think Arthur will retain his title on points. Amir Khan is on the undercard against some Colombian up and comer.
Edwin Valero moving up to lightweight
The lightweight division is getting more interesting by the day with the news that WBA 130lb titlist Edwin Valero has relinquished his title and will fight for the WBC interim Lightweight title against the winner of the Antonio Pitalua-Jose Armando Santa Cruz bout. With boxers like Manny Pacquiao (assuming he comes back down after he fights Oscar), Juan Manuel Marquez, Joel Casamayor, Nate Campbell, Juan Diaz, Michael Katsidis, Joan Guzman and David Diaz already in this division, Valero is an unnecessary but more then welcome addition to the most exciting division in boxing right now.
Joey Giardello passes away
Former World Middleweight Champion Joey Giardello passed away on Thursday at the age of 78. had a twenty year professional career and defeated such great fighters as Sugar Ray Robinson, Dick Tiger and Rubin Carter just to name a few. After previously splitting fights with Dick Tiger and drawing with Gene Fuller in 1960 (in his first shot at the championship), Giardello won the third fight with Tiger and the Undisputed Middleweight Title in 1963. Despite what the movie ‘The Hurricane’ says, Giardello beat Rubin Carter in his one and only defence of the title in 1964 via 15 round decision before he lost the title to Dick Tiger in 1965. Giardello is a very underrated fighter who was among the best middleweights of all-time. RIP.
