Undefeated Brock is uninspiring

23.06.06 – By Mike Casile: Calvin Vance Brock (29-0, 22 K.O.’s), “the boxing banker”, got a little face time on HBO’s, boxing after dark this weekend. He showed some flashes of his punching power, while slowly pummeling Timor Ibragimov (21-1, 13 K.O’s, 1 D) to a 12th round unanimous decision. If watching a flat footed fighter, with no real jab to speak of, follow another lackadaisical fighter for 12 boring rounds of clinching is the future of the heavyweight division, then I am going to actually start watching the World Cup Finals..

The heavyweight division is in a state of purgatory, with the four major belts being held by four equally uninspiring fighters. I am one of a few writers who believe that Mike Tyson may have been the most over rated fighter in heavyweight history, but at least he inspired us to want to watch him.

Where in this sea of dismal mediocrity, called the heavyweight division, is a fighter who wants to step up and inspire us? A legendary trainer once told me, that a boxer and his people are like a team, and that the better teams learn how to get better and how to win, and every new fight, is a “dare to be great” situation. I do not see that kind of attitude with men contending for the greatest title in sports.

On the welterweight Card before this fight, you had a seemingly invincible fighter in Joel Julio (27-0, 24 K.O.’s), against another undefeated fighter Carlos Quintana (22-0, 18 K.O’s) that really personified the meaning of inspiring. Julio came into this fight as a favorite, with HBO’s stamp, as “the next great thing”. This was Quintana’s, “dare to be great” situation, and he really made the most it. Julio seemed to chase Quintana around the ring, while Quintana maintained a brilliant, and consistent barrage of punches, making Julio look slow, sluggish, and over matched. Quintana caught one off balance early on the chin, and took the count like a man, then took the fight to Julio. Maybe if they would have played the fights in reverse order, the Brock fight wouldn’t have seemed so bad. I am a realist, and I do not expect an ALI to come along every few years, but I am sure that the current promoters in charge of making these fights, could do a better job of finding the right styles to make a good heavyweight fight.