Ivan Ivanov

Amir Khan displays overall style improvements in his UD win against Luis Collazo

Amir Khan displays overall style improvements in his UD win against Luis Collazo

Amir Khan has had 15 title fights since 2007 and his welterweight debut against Luis Collazo at MGM Grand on Saturday was no exception. His opponent was strong and game but somewhat limited as a boxer and was expected to test Khan’s ability to deal with raw power and aggression.

Khan showed progress in the way he used his speed. His fast footwork did not appear to be chaotic like in previous outings and maneuvered him in proper range and correct angle towards the heavy handed southpaw Collazo. His hand speed was purposeful this time; he delivered sharp straight shots from comfortable range combined with good movement and defensive alert. The bulky and menacing Collazo was dazzled by the fast and accurate combos and constant motion of his opponent while he was looking for an opening and trying to walk Khan down to the corner.

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The heavyweight title scene

The heavyweight title scene

There is certainly more than one heavyweight title and there are enough titles to go around for all aspiring champions. There is a shortage of credible champions however and the only one who is widely perceived as ‘the champ” is Wladimir Klitschko. The heavyweight division has turned into the “Klitschko” division and the older brother Vitali has earned even higher esteem and respect than his athletically superior but mentally “younger’ brother. Klitschko’s subscription to the championship is still a long term commitment as the 36 years old champ shows steady improvement and no signs of decline.

“Doctor Steel Hammer” is a formidable physical specimen who also maintains a strict regimen and has been in great condition even when he lost. He has 3 KO losses and his detractors have a point in bringing up his downsides. He has found a way (and proper coaching) to build a style that veils his vulnerability and uses his physical advantages to build a “firewall”of frontal power that has stupefied all opposition in the last decade.

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A retrospect of the 4th fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez – would five times be too much?

A retrospect of the 4th fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez - would five times be too much?

The 4th fight turned out to be a climatic episode of the famed rivalry and a defining moment for Juan Manuel Marquez. This was the third KO loss for Manny Pacquiao in his stellar career and normally it would mean the end of the road for a 34 years old welterweight . He has rebounded from the fiasco, rebuilt his bona fides and the dramatic turn of events has set up the stage for a 5th episode.

I’d like to focus on the knock down and KO punches thrown by Marquez in the 3rd and 6th round of the 4th fight as it was basically (but not exactly) the same shot. It appeared Marquez had adapted the punch specifically for his rival, a tailor made “Pacquiao special”. The move was designed individually for Manny Pacquiao taking into consideration his southpaw stance, fighting style, temper and usual reaction to attack. It could be argued that the KO was caused by a lucky strike, a fluke combined with lack of focus on Pacman’s part who believed (not without reason) that his opponent was finished. It has to be taken into consideration though that Marquez laboriously executed his game plan under severe stress while he was being outclassed and on the verge of being stopped by the congressman.

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Andre Ward’s situation – a personal plight or a symptom of the current state of boxing

Andre Ward's situation – a personal plight or a symptom of the current state of boxing

It has been a while since super-middleweight P4P star Andre Ward has performed and true boxing fans should be missing him. His inactivity is of legal nature, he is involved in some litigation that apparently has stalled his career. He may not be the most charismatic persona but he is a gem of a boxer, an all around pugilist in search of recognition. He is a sportsman who is currently “held hostage” by legal obstacles while he is in his prime. He has no control over his career right now and it’s a pity that natural ability and talent should be subject to a legal dispute.

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Lomachenko suffers a rude awakening in his WBO featherweight title bid against Salido

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After a confident debut in a 10 round fight, Vasyl Lomachenko attempted to make history by fighting for a title in his second fight. The fight turned out to be for a vacant title because Orlando Salido forfeited it on the scales by weighting in at 128.25 lbs. Salido did not even try to lose the extra 2.25 pounds and opted to pay the $15 000 fine rather than drain himself further. He was busy re-hydrating instead and came in at 147 pounds. Lomachenko and company were fooled from the start.

The Ukranian showed up in excellent condition and started the fight with confidence trying to work from long range. He used a lot of movement and footwork but found out his sharp shots had little effect on his rough and tough Mexican opponent. Salido kept his head low and walked through his rival’s pot shots to close in and rough him up at close range using his weight advantage.

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Adrien Broner – the showman’s showdown

broner poseAdrien Broner vs. Marcos Maidana attracted a record number of viewers according to the host network and it provided an answer to the question whether a character like Adrien Broner is good for boxing. It also answered the question whether Broner is a great boxer as the hype (mostly self-propelled) claimed.

Marcos Maidana has been in high profile fights before and he has a substantial Argentine/Latino following but he was hardly the main draw in this event. It was Adrien Broner although he had more people rooting against him than for him. Most of the viewers wanted to see Broner served right and they did not have to wait long. He has more “anti-fans” than supporters. Adrien has built a stereotype image for himself and has taken great pains to annoy everyone he can with his antics.

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Kubrat Pulev stops late sub Joey Abell to defend his IBF intercontinental title

Kubrat_PulevJoey Abell filled in for injured Sherman Williams on a week’s notice and faced undefeated Pulev in Neubrandenburg, Germany on Dec. 14. The IBF intercontinental title and Pulev’s hard-gained number 1 IBF ranking were at stake.
Abell weighed in at 248.5, Pulev at 252.8 and both appeared to be fit full-sized heavyweights. Abell’s southpaw stance was expected to give Pulev some trouble. Pulev is a notorious slow starter and this fight was no exception, his initial passive game allowed the over-matched Abell to score some decent power points in the first round.

The difference in class was obvious and Kubrat Pulev had an overwhelming technical and tactical advantage over his opponent. What he lacked was the speed and power to dispose of this “stay busy” sparring partner in a convincing fashion. Abell ran out of ideas in the first round, he ran out of steam in the second and came out fighting in survival mode in the third.

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Amateur vs. professional boxing – a mismatch or a unity?

emanuel_amateurNow that amateur boxing is on the brink of extinction (check out “The Prince and the Pauper” article), we might take a look back at it before amateur boxers turn into free lance Olympic semi-professionals. Amateur and professional styles have their specific flavors but it is still boxing and the two styles (in fact there are many) may not be as different as they seem to the naked eye.

The amateur code provides a platform where a boxer has to fight whoever comes his way with no choice or advance knowledge of his opponents. As long as he is winning he advances forward and can be a champion. No negotiations and hype are necessary to set up a championship fight. That means no promoters either, only one sanctioning body which acts as a promoter for all national federations. Politics and the suspect computer scoring system have been a problem but basically it’s very difficult to keep a good man down in the amateur circuit. The best have to fight the best all the time and there are no prima donnas who can come up with excuses for avoiding a strong opponent. Rocky Marciano and Floyd Mayweather lost several times as amateurs.

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“The Prince and the Pauper” are threatened by loss of identity

209Some highly regarded boxing experts and pundits are still using the term “amateur” in a derogatory sense towards boxers. They fail to notice that the word has a totally different meaning when applied to boxing and appear to be the amateurs per se.

The amateur sanctioning body AIBA is addressing such issues by renaming Amateur boxing to Olympic boxing and dropping the word “amateur” from all official events. They are changing the rules and are obviously aiming to merge the pro and amateur codes with very loose differentiations between the two. Like all sanctioning organizations, they are riddled by their own moral and political issues. They’d better get their scoring system right instead of renaming and depersonalizing the good old mother of boxing. If I used to be a middleweight amateur (75 kg/165 lbs) back in the day, now I have to change all my old papers to super-middleweight Olympian? Nonsense (forget about it).

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Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin sell out the Olympic arena in Moscow

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Apparently their heavyweight championship fight on October 5 will do very well at the gate as all 14 000 seats have been sold out. Tickets ranging from 90 EUR/120 US$ to 6665 EUR/9000 US$ were no longer available at the end of last week. The fight set one financial record already when Russian promoter Vladimir Hryunov bid $23,333,330 to stage the fight and outbid more than three times K2 Promotions and Sauerland Event.

Two Olympic champions in the ring should always mean a great match unless one of them is called Audley Harrison. In this case one of the champs is unbeaten while the other has three KO defeats on his record. Ironically the unbeaten Povetkin is the underdog in this fight. His last outing against a serious opponent – the cruiser weight champion Marco Huck (Muamer Hukić) – did not leave a good impression. He out boxed and out punched Huck easily but his shape was substandard and his conditioning betrayed him in the championship rounds. Only his amateur boxing skills and survival instincts helped him hear the final bell when he barely stood on his feet and fell into the arms of his corner right after the bell. After this spurious performance Povetkin boosted up his confidence with two early KO wins against softer opposition – a faded Hasim Rahman and a Polish heavyweight by the name of Andrzej Wawrzyk.

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