One fight that boxing fans likely won’t be seeing in 2015 is a clash between two of the top British fighters at 147. Amir Khan doesn’t have a world title belt in his possession, but he’s sure acting like he has one.
Khan says he won’t be fighting the highly popular and big punching IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook because he feels that he’s not shown him the type of respect that he wants. If that wasn’t enough of a reason for Khan, he also added that Brook isn’t on the same level as him.
On the 28th of March, 1984, Murray Sutherland, with a modest record of forty-one wins, eleven losses and one draw, defeated Ernie Singletary for the vacant International Boxing Federation title, becoming the first internationally accepted world champion in the one hundred and sixty-eight pounds, super middleweight division.
A little over thirty years have passed since Scotland’s Sutherland was crowned champion, and in that time dozens of talented pugilists have graced the division. Initially boxing’s elite seemed to merely use it as a pit-stop, on the way to light heavyweight, or as simply an opportunity to capture a title in a different weight class. Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and James Toney didn’t stay long, but by the end of the 1990’s the reigns of Jones, Benn and Eubank had helped it evolve into a respected weight class in its own right.
Joe Deguardia’s Star Boxing returned to Long Island’s hottest boxing venue “The Paramount Theater” for the 16th edition of its popular boxing series “Rockin Fight” with this card absent the presence of “The Pride of Huntington” Chris Algieri who is on vacation following his big fight with Manny Pacquiao. While Algieri’s absence was felt the crowd pleasing card was left in the fine hands of Star Boxing’s power punching light welterweight Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin and Joe Deguardia’s newly signed light heavyweight Joe “The Irish Bomber” Smith Jr.
The events of the past week have been a microcosm of the world of boxing, the good, the bad and the downright unfair unfolding before us. All of the events, euphoric, frustrating and heartbreaking in equal measure, the greatest and yet cruelest of sports ever perceived in full view once more.
The Good
When Andy Lee entered the ring against unbeaten former World Amateur champion, Matt Korobov, he did so as a huge underdog. Korobov was the house fighter and champion elect, primed for big things by his promoter Top Rank at least. Whereas Lee was a fringe world level fighter beaten twice, by Brian Vera in ’08 (a defeat he avenged in ‘11) and Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr in a ridiculous weight mismatch in ‘12.
Aggressive-minded Jesus “El Jinete” Cuellar (26-1, 20 KOs), of Santa Fe, Argentina, won his ninth in a row and retained his interim WBA Featherweight Championship for a third time with a rock-solid fifth-round knockout over fellow southpaw Ruben “Kanelito” Tamayo (23-5-4, 17 KOs), of Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, in the Goossen Promotions main event Saturday on SHOWTIME BOXING on SHOWTIME EXTREME from Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton, Wash.
In the co-feature, world-ranked featherweight Gary Russell Jr. (25-1, 14 KOs), of Capitol Heights, Md., pitched a near-shutout against Christopher Martin (28-5-3, 9 KOs) of Chula Vista, Calif., winning a lopsided 10-round decision.
According to Roy Jones Jr, Floyd Mayweather Jr will have an asterisk next to his record when he leaves the game because of him having never fought Manny Pacquiao during his career. But even if Mayweather does choose to fight Pacquiao, he’ll still wind up with an asterisk on his record because Pacquiao being on the decline at this point in his career. In other words, Mayweather is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t as far as Pacquiao goes.
Jones Jr thinks Mayweather’s fighting style is boring, and he’s not impressed with what he saw of him in his two back to back fights against Marcos Maidana. Jones thinks the most exciting thing about those two fights is Mayweather getting bit by Maidana on the glove.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says that 48 million homes in China watched the mismatch between Arum’s fighter Manny Pacquiao and little known Chris Algieri last November in their fight from Macao, China. The fight was painfully one-sided from start to finish with Pacquiao beating the hapless Algieri like a drum.
It wasn’t one of the more interesting fights to watch if you’re a fan of competitive matches, but then again we knew it was going to be a mismatch going in so it wasn’t a surprise.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has no interest whatsoever in staging the mega fight between his fighter Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr on the Mexican holiday on May 2nd. According to Arum, he sees this as disrespectful to the Mexican people that Mayweather wants to fight on the May 2nd date, which is the Cinco de Mayo holiday.
Arum sees that May 2nd date belonging to Mexican fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who was not long ago easily beaten by Mayweather. The idea is Canelo will fight Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto on the May 2nd date instead of Mayweather fighting Pacquiao. Arum promotes Cotto, so it’s a win-win situation for him if that fight goes ahead on May 2nd. Arum prefers the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight to take place in April or June of next year.
Algeria’s boxing pride, Djamel Dahou made a strong case to break into the world ratings after claiming a first round knockout victory over Daniel Valenzuela on Friday night to make a successful defence of the WBC Youth Welterweight title in his home country.
Undefeated Dahou (now 13-0, 12 KOs) in fact needed only 76 seconds in Bordj Bou Arreridj to snuff out the challenge of Valenzuela (drops to 33-25-2, 21 KOs) who had shown so much promise in the opening seconds.
Boxing is a brutal sport. Of course, those of us who appreciate the subtleties of the game use colorful euphemisms to emphasize the skill rather than the violence. We call it the “Sweet Science”, or the “Noble Art”. Yet at its essence the thing that compels us to watch boxing is the controlled savagery, the idea that we can put our basest elements on display, yet do so within a set of rules which elevates it from mere barbarism to an almost divine test of skill and heart. Yet even with this emphasis on the ethereal, we expect to see the two combatants push themselves to their limits, to give everything they have and hold nothing back in the ring. Those who do so are exalted not only in victory, but in defeat as well. Those who do not, those who seek to give less than their all in the circle of truth, will find that even a win may serve as a career setback. Watching Keith “One Time” Thurman taking the path of least resistance this weekend lead me to ask myself, what exactly is the “smart fight”?