By Ted Sares:
My defeat against Ross Puritty and my victory over Axel Schulz were the most important fights of my career. I think it was a great advantage for me to lose one fight. I feel more stabile now. I know that I made a couple of mistakes before and after the loss we repeated some and changed some of my exercises and wiped out those mistakes
—Wlad Klitschko
It bothered me to see James down like that. Me and him go way back and it was bigger than just boxing with us…
—Ann Wolfe
In recent weeks, we have seen a number of astounding upsets.
Fan-friendly Siberian Ruslan Provodnikov (19-1, 13 KO’s) was out-boxed by slick Mauricio Herrera back in January.
David Lemieux prepared for a marathon but was done in by an inexplicable sprint in Montreal. His trainer and manager stepped in and wisely saved him for another day much like Adam Booth did with David Haye when “The Haymaker” was stopped by Carl Thompson.
James Kirkland was exposed as a bully type who intimidated and overwhelmed. He was crunched by feather-fisted but smart fighter named Nobuhiro Ishida who would not be intimated. “The Mandingo Warrior” found himself in a reverse blowout. And Pops and Ann were not there to help.
Jose Manuel Lopez found that he could not cope with someone who had a better chin and he too was waxed. Orlando Salido has a deceptive record and is one tough customer.
Marcu Maidana and most everyone else sensed he would walk through Erik Morales but found out otherwise. Fortunately for “El Chino,” he survived the close one.
Andre Berto met someone who came in prepared and with tremendous will. While both showed great heart, a rejuvenated “Vicious Victor” prevailed over the fast but somewhat chinny welterweight champion by out-brawling him and taking a popular114-111, 114-112, 115-110 UD.
The unstoppable Jason Booth was finally stopped by Kiko “La Sensacion” Martinez. It was not the first time Kiko had done in a high flyer (as Bernard Dun found out in 2007)
Lee Purdy got an upset stoppage over Craig Watson and also the British welterweight title.
Back to the Drawing Board
Ruslan Provodnikov (19-1, 13 KO’s) has won two bouts since his upset loss including a stoppage over tough Ivan Popoca this past weekend. He now has Buddy McGirt in his corner and seems to have regrouped.
The question is: Can the others follow suit? I’m betting Lemieux and Berto can because they have smart people around them, but I have my doubts about “Juanma” and Kirkland. The Puerto Rican slugger can be lured into unnecessary exchanges and has a chin that has “weak” written all over it. As for Kirkland, once a bully type has been beaten, the mystique quickly disappears. However, should he decide to go back to Ann Wolfe and Pops, he just might be able to get back into the picture.
What do you think?