It’s a debate that never seems to get old among the fans. Had 2014 Hall of Fame inductee Joe Calzaghe and Carl Froch ended up fighting back in the day, who would have won?
Most – me included – feel that Joe would have had too much for a solid – yet basic – fighter like Froch.
Too smart, too fast and too busy – he would have run rings around Carl for 12 hard rounds – yet the Nottingham man would have stood a punchers chance.
This Saturday sees the Matchroom Sport ‘Rule Britannia’ show from London’s O2, which will be co-headlined by IBF 147lb champion Kell Brook, defending his title against countryman Frankie Gavin.
Ahead of the bout, the former world amateur champion spoke to fighthype.com to say he plans on grabbing his opportunity with both hands, insisting he will get to Brook, who – just a couple of days ago – tweeted he would end Gavin inside 3 rounds.
Following last night’s history making victory for James DeGale against Andre Dirrell, his trainer – former world title challenger Jim Mc Donnell -has spoken out to say it’s the consistent work ethic of the Harlesden fighter that won him the fight in the end.
“He has worked so hard, not just for this camp but since day one. I said to him, when he first turned professional that this is the plan.”
Those of us in the UK, who started out frustrated at the fact that the live televised broadcast of tonight’s fight card was delayed by a sh***y lower tier English football play off final, actually had our spirits lifted come the end of the in-ring action, when Harlesden’s James DeGale, became the first British fighter in history to lift a professional world title following an Olympic gold medal.
One hell of an achievement.
The likable Londoner is the sole British name on an elite list of fighters that includes both Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard in accomplishing this history making feat, in a fight that was nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster for both sides – UK AND US – as the early action saw 2 stunning knockdowns in the 2nd round that left many thinking it would be an early night’s work for the Brit.
James DeGale (21-1, 14 KOs) narrowly defeated Andre Dirrell (24-2, 16 KOs) Saturday afternoon on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC from Agganis Arena in Boston to earn the super middleweight world title.
Degale had Dirrell in trouble early knocking him down twice in the second round to open up a lead on the scorecards. Dirrell fought back strongly throughout the rest of the fight by using his jab and a series of combinations to occasionally stun DeGale, but was unable to make up the gap on the scorecards. The judges’ scores were 114-112 twice and 117-109.
Andre Dirrell (24-2, 16 KOs) put in a game effort this afternoon in losing a 12 round unanimous decision to James DeGale (21-1, 14 KOs) in their fight for the vacant IBF super middleweight title Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Dirrell, 31, lost the fight despite appearing to win most of the round. His problem was he was knocked down twice by DeGale in the 2nd round.
The Russian invasion of the cruiserweight division continued on Friday night at the Luzhniki arena in Moscow. All three Russian cruiser weights, Grigory Drozd, Rakhim Chakhkiev and Dmitri Kudryashov who fought on the under-card of Povetkin/Perez stopped their opponents and established Russian as the official language of the division. Oleksandr Usyk of the Ukraine must be mentioned as a potential game-changer in the division and he speaks fluent Russian as well. Marco Huck (Muamer Hukic) has studied Russian at school in his native Serbia as a boy but it will hardly help him come to terms with the advancing troops. Huck had an extremely hard time with Dennis Lebedev and the new guard seems tougher.
Ahead of the much anticipated June 20th 145lb catchweight clash between “Showtime” Shawn Porter (25-1-1, 16ko) and fellow Ohioan motor mouth, Adrien Broner (30-1, 22ko) from the MGM Grand in Vegas – the former’s father and trainer, Kenny Porter, has spoken to BeRealtv about how the fight came together and the perceived ‘disadvantages’ the catchweight may present given his son’s naturally heavier build and weight – a notion he dismissed outright as “not an issue” while still conceding anything below 147 requires “adjustment” for Shawn to boil down to.
The fight will potentially be another jewel in the crown of Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions brand, which – thus far – is delivering on it’s promise of consistent, entertaining and most importantly competitive fights.
The main event of the action-packed card at the Luzhniki arena in Moscow last night was the shortest fight of the night. Alexander Povetkin (29-1) sandbagged highly regarded Mike Perez (21-2-1) for half a round and cemented his mandatory WBC spot by winning the WBC Silver heavyweight title. He was already number 1 in the rankings prior to the fight.
Both competitors had notable amateur background. Alexander Povetkin won Olympic gold in Athens and Perez was a successful amateur for the Cuban national team winning the World Junior Championship in 2004. He later grew up to cruiser weight but failed to secure a spot in the national team having mixed success against the top dogs. Irish boxing promoter Gary Hyde spotted him at a tournament and lured Perez into defecting from Cuba. He arranged the prospect’s escape from the Island of Freedom using the services of a Mexican cartel. Perez was required to swim offshore from Cuba and board a cartel vessel in neutral waters and he ended up being hostage for 9 days until Hyde was able to pay what the cartel demanded for Perez’s release.
When Carl Froch travelled to Mashantucket, Connecticut to defend his WBC super-middleweight crown against Jermain Taylor in 2009, he exposed an embarrassing blind spot within British boxing that was in need of rectification.
Britain’s only active World champion – at the time – travelled across the Atlantic Ocean to defend the title he won on terrestrial television – when defeating Jean Pascal unanimously over 12 rounds in one of the finest super-middleweight title fights in recent memory – only to find himself without a broadcast partnership.
What transpired was a performance that would find a home in the annals of British boxing history, the only problem, no one got to watch Froch snatch victory from the jaws of defeat live – well, not in his own country any way. This could never happen again, the country was now on board and Carl Froch has never looked back since.