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Although the event was less high profile than the shows in Glasgow, Germany and the US which all had world title fights, the evening was packed with all the boxing related drama you could wish for.
Seasoned pro Mark Prince was the headline act and he showed real class when he took centre stage. The Londoner, who has called his comeback the ‘Return Of The Prince’, was actually taking part in his second bout after being absent from the ring for 14 years.
Just by hanging around, Vera was able to punish Chavez Jr. with less powerful shots and he had his face looking like he was the loser tonight instead of the winner.
The final judges scores were 114-113, 117-110, 117-110. There’s no question that Chavez Jr. deserved the decision this time around, but it’s too bad that he was given what many boxing fans saw as a gift decision over Vera last September in their previous fight. But Vera got a rematch out of that fight anyway, so it worked out about the same as him getting a win.
WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (36-3-1, 11 KO’s) gave it his best shot tonight, but it wasn’t … continue
Abraham knocked Stieglitz down in the 12th round. Before the knockdown, Stieglitz had been wobbled from a right hand from Abraham. It looked like for a second there that he might make it out of the round without going down, but Stieglitz took another big shot and that caused him to hit the canvas.
Both Chavez and Vera weighed in at approximately 167.5 pounds, with both men looking strong and having more than enough time to replenish and rehydrate, due to the unusually early 2PM EST weigh in time. After the former WBC Middleweight title holder successfully made weight, Junior held a giant replica of a voided cashiers check made out to Bryan Vera to the sum of $250,000.00.
Chavez Junior had very little to say after the official weigh in concluded.
Chavez’ team members held aloft a giant sized void penalty cheque, in reference to the fine Chavez would have had to pay had he done as some expected and came in heavy. Instead, Chavez has clearly worked hard, his body looking hard, his conditioning looking excellent. Looks can of course be deceiving, but if Chavez fights as good as he looked on the scale, it could be bad news for Vera; a fighter many felt should have been awarded the decision after the first action-packed fight between he and the Mexican star.
While former 140-pound king Amir Khan is still getting used to the frustrating fact that superstar Floyd Mayweather Junior will not be giving him a shot at his titles in his next fight (and in fact just jerked Khan around wasting his time, this despite the fact that Khan actually won the Twitter poll: ‘who should I fight: Khan or Maidana,’ that Mayweather set up so as to “let the fans decide,”) the 27-year-old has not given up complete hope of one day challenging the unbeaten master.
Taking to his Twitter account to address a number of issues, Khan today also spoke about who he may fight next. Khan first refuted the fact that British rival Kell Brook and his team have not offered him the $5 million that has been widely reported:
Ricky Burns entered the world seen when a hardnosed body punching Roman Martinez from Puerto Rico was denied a win by the Scot who after a shaky start managed to dust himself off to earn a victory.
Having faced Martinez and Katsidis, Ricky has show he can deal with pressure fighters. In this fight it will be the first time he faces a guy like Terence Crawford who can box and come forward with a deeper layer of skill than say a past opponent such as Kevin Mitchell or Paulus Moses.
No, young Julio isn’t cut from the same cloth as his father Chavez Sr. Honestly speaking the same could apply to the majority of the modern day fighters in contrast to the 200-300 fight warriors from days of old.
That said becoming a boxer is not exactly the easiest profession and for all the crap that’s been shoveled on him, most of it deserved, when in shape Junior is a solid chinned entertaining fighter that has challenged with limited success late in his fight, the lineal legitimate world titleholder and pound for pound member Sergio Martinez.
Before it was lack of competition that fans would drag Chavez Jr. through the coals for, now it’s his issues outside the ring that surfaced in the winter of 2012.
The fate of each fighter’s legacy is at stake this Saturday night when Robert Stieglitz takes on Arthur Abraham in what could be the final installment of a trilogy from the GETEC Arena in Germany.
Legacy is a word used quite often in sports. Peyton Manning’s legacy was the key talking point for pundits and fans alike in the lead up for the Super Bowl.
Nearly every time Lebron James looses a game in the playoffs or displays greatness, King James legacy is always being question and debated in the mainstream.
The legacy of boxers comes in all shapes and sizes. Some men go down as hall of famers, few become the best fighters of their generation, if remembered most boxers are seen as warriors respected for being a tough S.O.B.