by Ben Hoskin: I wrote an article several weeks back that was by and large castigated by many boxing fans through the forum site. The editor joined in too by referring to me as Bob Hoskins the actor! Whilst naturally being disappointed in the feedback, boxing is all about opinions and one man’s meat is another man’s poison.
The title of the piece was pertaining to the potential crowning of New Zealand’s first heavyweight champion, namely Shane “The Mountain Warrior” Cameron. Whilst it was pointed out Jimmy Thunder had already won versions, I was referring to one of the big four belts, the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. Shane recently had a crossroads fight with Monte Barrett and scored a spectacular 4th round kayo with a beautifully timed right that could well be a contender for knockout of the year. The pre-fight ritual of trash talking was much in evidence, particularly from Monte, who seemed to be dismissive of Cameron’s challenge and this was reflected with the odds-makers who had him a warm favourite.
Barrett actually seemed intent on looking past Shane and having a third contest with David Tua which is quite topical with Ortiz’ recent reverse after focusing on Alvarez. In his victory, Cameron exorcised the demons of his defeat to David Tua in 2009 and reclaimed the WBO Asia Pacific/WBO Oriental title by defeating the man who defeated the man who defeated him.
So what now for the victor? As the current Commonwealth cruiserweight champion there are a host of options but with this recent success it seems likely he’ll stick around with the bigger boys for the chance of a challenge on one of the aforementioned belts. Take away the Ukranian brothers and the fighters suddenly become beatable. As I mentioned in my previous article, Vitali looks to be retiring after his next bout and Wladimir may follow soon after through a perceived lack of worthy challengers out there for him. From the second ranked fighter on the Ring rankings, Povetkin, trawl down the list and opportunities for stardom reveal themselves. The hardest thing for Shane at this juncture is managing to maneuver his career into “getting a shot” at a title.
His promoters must go all out now in lining up a top-ten ranked fighter so the American fight media can get to know him more. A Helenius, Fury or Adamek bout is certainly winnable for the New Zealander, which would then propel him on to challenging for the title. As us lovers of this wonderful sport are all too aware unfortunately, the most deserving of fighters do not always get the breaks. Publicity sells as is being witnessed by the showdown in England with Haye-Chisora. Media darlings continuously get advantaged with title challenges even if they’re not deserved, some even multiple times. I’m not saying Cameron is the finest heavyweight campaigning at the present time, but his lack of size is compensated by mobility, tenacity and power. If his team can position him well and the land of the long white cloud finally gets a world heavyweight champ, the always affable Shane Cameron would be a fantastic ambassador for the sport. Exciting times could be just round the corner!