Leading With The Chin: The Most Avoided Fighter In Boxing

 

Nobody at 160 seems to want any of this.

The WBC has updated their belt, but no word yet on whether, out of pure honesty, they’re going to change the name of their middleweight title to the “I Won’t Fight Gennady Golovkin Championship Of The World.”

There are a lot of titles in boxing, five for each of the seventeen divisions if you count the four major alphabet organizations and Ring magazine, then there is the pound-for-pound title, which means that at any given time there are as many as eighty-six “champions” in boxing. Combine that with catch weight title bouts, excessive numbers of PPV fights, and practically no fights taking place on network TV and it’s not hard to understand why boxing has become a fringe sport in the last 20-25 years. But worst of all is the fact that the two best guys in each division so rarely fight each other that, when they do, it’s big news. In fact, this phenomenon has become so pervasive in boxing these days that for casual fans the biggest news for the last five years is that the two best guys in the sport (and the two biggest attractions) haven’t fought each other. Ugh.

If Arum and King could get along well enough to make this happen, what does this say about Schaefer and Haymon?

There are many reasons top guys don’t fight each other. The biggest reason nowadays is the Cold War involving rival promoters and networks. That is a relatively new phenomenon, because in the past the prospect of the money to be made was enough of an incentive to bring opposing camps together to make the fights happen. What is not new at all is the phenomenon of certain fighters being avoided because they pose too great a risk without providing enough of a reward. Usually such a fighter is one of the most skilled guys in his division, and almost always he packs a huge punch, the kind of punch that can overcome a skill deficit in a blind second, but he hasn’t yet built enough of a following to entice the champion to face him. At any given time there are a small handful of guys like that in the sport, dangerous fighters who are sedulously avoided in their weight class. In boxing today, the most avoided man in the sport is undoubtedly Gennady Golovkin.

Sergio Martinez wanted none of this.

A wise, patient, fundamentally sound boxer with terrifying power in both hands, the 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist from Kazakhstan has torn through enough middleweight fringe contenders and gatekeepers in the last 2-3 years to be widely recognized over that time period as the top contender in the division. Like many prospects in the sport, he gained a toe hold in the divisional rankings by obtaining an alphabet strap after spending the first few years of his career building an undefeated record against non-descript competition. Since then he has worked his way up the ladder of gatekeepers and built a large measure of public demand for a title shot against then-champion Sergio Martinez. “Maravilla” kept saying Golovkin would get his shot, but kept finding reasons not to fight him until Miguel Cotto lifted the linear middleweight championship from Martinez last month in brutal fashion.

If this is what Cotto can do to you, it’s probably best you didn’t fight GGG.

In all likelihood, Cotto will similarly find reasons to avoid defending his middleweight title against the best middleweight in the world; in fact, in a grimly hilarious stunt, later this year Cotto will first defend his new title against Tim Bradley, a small welterweight. And next year, if all goes according to plan, he’ll defend it against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. That leaves Golovkin, for now, with a familiar dilemma – finding a suitable opponent.

Canelo has shown a willingness to take on the best challenges, but my guess is this is the last time you’ll see these guys in the ring together.

Since late 2012, shortly after his 5^th round TKO victory in his US debut on HBO against Gregorz Proksa, fans were clamoring for Golovkin to get a title shot. In the wake of that victory, champion Martinez won a dominant 12 round UD over Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., though he experienced a very scary moment in the final round when Chavez caught him with a pair of left hands, sending him to canvas. Martinez was sidelined for seven months with knee and hand injuries, but claimed he would give Golovkin a shot when he was healthy. Instead, Martinez fought England’s Martin Murray in a fight no one demanded, and was lucky to win a hometown decision against the tough but limited Brit. It was another 14 months before Martinez fought again, leaving Golovkin to scrape together stay-busy fights against fringe contenders and semi-recognizable names like Gabriel Rosado, Nobuhiro Ishida, Matthew Macklin, and Curtis Stevens, along with an off-TV fight against a guy named Osumanu Adama. And in a personal tragedy, Golovkin had to cancel a fight this past April against another fringe contender, Andy Lee, because his father died. This was followed by the failed negotiation to land a much-anticipated fight with one of boxing’s top attractions, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.

Every top fighter from 160-175 lbs would like a piece of this guy.

Short of compelling opponents and fighting in a thin division, Golovkin will be facing another fringe contender in Daniel Geale tomorrow night. Geale (30-2, 16 KO) is a game, active volume puncher who employs a lot of subtle upper body movement to find openings for quick combinations he throws from unusual angles. His style is reminiscent of Vinnie Pazienza. Geale’s only losses were highly controversial split decisions to Darren Barker and Anthony Mundine, and he avenged the loss to Mundine, but the biggest accomplishment on his resume is his 2012 split decision victory over Felix Sturm in Germany, which until then was as preposterous a proposition as getting a filet mignon at White Castle.

He better have a decent pair of track shoes tomorrow.

For all of Geale’s virtues as a fighter, this is a mismatch. Not on the level of last week’s Guillermo Rigondeaux – Sod Kokietgym fight, but nonetheless this fight is ground Golovkin has been over before. Because he’s been avoided (and will likely continue to be), and he needed a name opponent on short notice, he gets a pass, but for his next fight I’d like to see him go up or down in weight to take on a bigger challenge, or at the very least aggressively haunt Cotto until he agrees to fight him.

 

Predicition

Take this to the bank.

The only real compelling point of this fight is the fact that Golovkin (29-0, 26 KO) has knocked out his last 16 opponents over a span of 6 years, and Geale has never been stopped. Will Golovkin be able to stop Geale? I’ll be very surprised if he doesn’t. Geale isn’t a real mover; he’s got quick feet, but doesn’t generally move away from his opponents in the kind of wide arcs he’ll need to avoid Golovkin’s brutal body attack. Geale spends a lot of time in the pocket, staying in range for the most part so he can land his quick combinations from unorthodox angles. If that’s how he fights Golovkin it will be a short night. Golovkin is an excellent boxer who is capable of timing a technician and wearing down a volume puncher. I suspect Geale will try to fight his fight at first, will taste some of Golovkin’s power, particularly to the body, and will turn into a runner. But what he’ll find is that Golovkin is also adept at cutting off the ring, and when he gets Geale on the ropes, it will just be a matter of time before he tastes the canvas. If it’s a body shot that sends him down, he might be able to beat the count, but he’ll be wise not to, because he won’t be up for long, as Golovkin is as good as anyone in the sport at closing the show. I’ve got Golovkin by 3^rd round KO.

 

Heavyweight Thunder!

Is there anybody out there who can offer this man a decent challenge? Please?

It’s been a long time since the heavyweight division has offered any excitement to anyone outside an arena full of Germans who inexplicably get juiced over watching the Klitschkos pulverize overmatched opposition. American fans have been waiting for a legitimate heavyweight contender to emerge from their soil for a long time, and their eagerness was part of what made guys like Chris Arreola, Seth Mitchell, and Deontay Wilder marketable commodities. Each of those guys has their assets as fighters, but all of them except Wilder have been proven to be, at best, gatekeepers, and Wilder might be one fight away from joining them.

He’s not the best man for the job yet, and probably won’t ever be, but he’s a likable fighter who will give anyone not named Klitschko or Stiverne problems.

Lost in this triumvirate has been Bryant Jennings. Jennings (18-0, 10 KO) is a 29 year old from Philadelphia who took up boxing late in life but has parlayed his extraordinary strength and athleticism into a so far decent career as a heavyweight boxer. With only 17 amateur fights to his credit, he lacks the background in the sport that is usually mandatory for American fighters to succeed in the long run, but in this day and age a broken down football player with a good work ethic can get the backing to make a name for himself in the sport until a solid gatekeeper shows him the ropes (see Arreola versus Mitchell). That said, it’s not hard to muster a bit of enthusiasm for Jennings. He’s an anomaly among heavyweights in that he has a pretty high work rate, he likes to mix it up and throw combinations, though he’s far from reckless. He’s got fast hands, decent power, and very good upper body movement. He fights like he’s got more boxing experience than he actually has.

“Irish” Mike Perez has put his home country of Cuba behind him. Can he put a ring tragedy behind him as well?

His opponent, “Irish” Mike Perez (20-0-1, 12 KO) was a decorated amateur who defected from Cuba to Ireland in 2007. He’s by far the most accomplished and well-schooled fighter Jennings has faced to date, and a year ago I would’ve said Jennings wasn’t ready for Perez, but a huge and tragic question mark looms over Perez and the answer to the question will likely determine the winner of this fight.

Perez was half of the one of the best heavyweight fights in several years. Unfortunately, it was one of boxing’s more heart breaking tragedies as well.

Last November, Perez won a brutal, action-packed 10 round bout on HBO versus Magomed Abdusalomov. It was one of the best heavyweight fights I’d seen in years in terms of action, and both fighters displayed immense courage. They traded heavy punches in great volume in almost every round, and while Perez began to get the better of it by the middle rounds, Abdusalomov had enough moments in each round to keep the fight competitive. It appeared Magomed (or “Mago”) had a broken jaw after the second or third round; at the very least he had significant swelling on the side of his face, and his corner appeared a little disorganized between rounds. In retrospect, just about everyone said the fight should’ve been stopped at some point by his corner, the referee, or the ringside physician, but unfortunately that’s not what happened.

 

The fight lasted the 10 round limit, and Perez won a UD. Afterward Abdusalomov went to the hospital with a headache, which proved to be caused be a blood clot and swelling of his brain. To reduce the swelling, he was put in a medically induced coma, and while in the coma he suffered a stroke and came very close to death. His condition has gradually improved over the course of the last nine months, but he remains in a rehab facility in Connecticut with limited physical mobility and compromised brain function. Apparently he is able to recognize family members and knows what’s going on around him, and is able to speak in short sentences. Fans all over the world wish him the best. If you’d like to make a donation to help fund his medical costs, his recovery, and help his family, here is where to do it.

 

Prediction

Jennings should remain undefeated and part of the heavyweight discussion.

As with all tragedies, others involved must go on with their lives, which is never easy to do. In boxing, it may be particularly difficult because it’s harder for the uninjured fighter to absolve himself from any blame. There are many examples of boxers who have severely injured or even killed their opponents in the ring and were never the same afterward. Has Mike Perez joined that group? In his only fight since the Mago fight, Perez put on a lackluster performance in January in a draw against Carlos Takam. Perez claimed afterward that the Mago tragedy hadn’t affected his performance, but that’s hard to buy, though it’s understandable why he would say it. Will it affect his performance against Jennings tomorrow? That’s the major question, and I’m thinking it will. Perez has a huge advantage in terms of experience and technical skill, but Jennings is a tough and relentless fighter, the kind of guy who would need to be physically punished and hurt to keep him from coming on. I suspect Perez no longer has what it takes to slow down or discourage a fighter of Jennings’s ilk, and Jennings will be able to outwork Perez over the course of the fight to earn a majority decision victory. Jennings by MD.

 

Odds & Ends

Crawford lands a sweet lead hand uppercut on the shorter Gamboa.

Terrance Crawford showed a ton of heart, skill, and grit in his brilliant fight with Yuriorkis Gamboa last month. In a fight that is a candidate for Fight Of The Year, Round Of The Year (9^th), and Knockout Of The Year, Crawford delighted his hometown crowd in Omaha, Nebraska when he survived Gamboa’s early rounds onslaught, took the measure of his foe, and by late in the 4^th round began to time and counter the speedy and powerful Cuban. After the 4^th it was all Crawford as he dismantled the smaller man, imposed his size on him, wore him down, then knocked him down. In a thrilling 9^th round, Gamboa was rocked several times, got off the canvas and fought like the devil, rocking Crawford badly before getting knocked out. It was a great fight and an electric night. Omaha might become America’s best fight town, as long as Crawford can keep winning. Congratulations to Terrance Crawford!

Canelo’s fierce body attack impressed the judges enough to carry the day.

Kudos to Canelo Alvarez for emerging victorious in his gutsy match up with crafty Cuban southpaw Erislandy Lara. Lara pot shotted and ran all night, outpointing the slow-footed Mexican idol, but Alvarez landed the harder, more significant blows over the course of the fight and I thought won a slight majority of the rounds. One judge had it 115-113 for Canelo, another 115-113 for Lara, and Levi Martinez inexplicably had it 117-111 for Canelo. I had it 116-113 for Canelo, as I scored one of the late rounds even. There’s an argument to made for Lara winning, and he tried to make that argument himself, but it’s hard to feel sorry for a guy who, if he’d thrown more than one or two punches at a time before wheeling away from the hard-charging but slow-footed Canelo, would’ve won easily. When you’re not the star attraction in a PPV event, you have to know you need to be busier than the other guy if you expect to get a decision, especially if the A-side is throwing harder punches.

Kudos to Mayweather for giving a rematch to the guy who gave him hell.

Kudos to Floyd Mayweather for offering a rematch to Marcos Maidana. Maidana provided the toughest fight Floyd has had in years. I had Maidana winning 115-114, but I can see the decision going either way. In any case, Maidana did enough to earn a rematch, and their second fight should go a long way in determining how much truth there is in Mayweather’s contention that he “chose to” fight Maidana’s fight early on, as opposed to Maidana imposing his will on Mayweather and forcing him to battle in close range along the ropes for most of the first six rounds. I boycotted the first fight, thinking (like almost everyone else) that it was a mismatch, but it appears that age might be catching up to the pound-for-pound king, as he didn’t consistently show the same kind of lateral movement he’s had in the past. We’ll see.

Finally, the fight no one has been demanding.

Speaking of boycotts, Manny Pacquiao will be fighting Chris Algieri on PPV in November. This year there might be as many as ten PPVs, but I refuse to pay to see showcase bouts and mismatches. Fans need to draw the line somewhere and be discreet with buying PPVs, otherwise we’ll be asked to hand over our money more often for less worthy fights. We’re already on the hook for two premium cable channels, why fork over an extra $70 almost every month? Even the top attractions in the sport need to know that if they’re taking an easy touch or a stay-busy fight, just do it on regular HBO or Showtime, otherwise you’ll turn the fans against you, and maybe even the sport as a whole.

Leading With The Chin: Kudos To Canelo, Laurels To Lara

Honor & Glory indeed.

Saturday night in Las Vegas, Mexican crossover star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KO) will meet Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO) in a 12 round non-title Pay-Per-View bout between the two best junior middleweights in the world. Alvarez is an attraction, an aggressive power puncher a week shy of his 24^th birthday whose unusual pigmentation and chiseled features have helped make him an enormous star with the Mexican boxing audience. Like Oscar De LaHoya, his skill and approach to the sport appeal to male fans, while his masculine beauty attracts the ladies. He also stands poised to take over the sport as it’s biggest attraction in a year or two, when both Floyd Maweather and Manny Pacquiao are expected to retire.

“He’s not as good as me, but he is more Mexican than I am.”

Having turned pro at 15 years of age, Alvarez spent the first three years of his career honing his skills against an assortment of inexperienced boxers, though he did beat current IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez back in 2006 in Vazquez’s pro debut, then beat him in a rematch two years later when Vazquez was 21-2. Over the next couple of years Alvarez won a gaggle of minor titles in Mexico, then in 2010 began fighting in the U.S. and took on more recognizable names. Detractors are quick to point out the names Cotto and Hatton on his resume belong to the less skilled brothers of Miguel and Ricky, respectively, and that other recognizable names like Carlos Baldomir, Lovemore Ndou, Alfonso Gomez, Kermit Cintron, and Shane Mosley were all well past their prime when Alvarez beat them. All of that is true, and it’s fair to say he was built and moved carefully, but it’s also fair and true to recognize his youth and lack of amateur experience as a mitigating factor that legitimizes those decisions.

That didn’t tickle.

In September 2012 Alvarez’s star power was bravely tested more than his boxing skill when he fought Josesito Lopez on the same day and in the same town as Sergio Martinez, who was defending his middleweight title against another carefully moved Mexican attraction, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. Alvarez held his own as far as attracting a crowd that night, and he bounced the spirited but undersized Josesito Lopez off the canvas like an over-inflated basketball for five rounds before stopping him. It wasn’t until April of last year that Canelo appeared to earn his stripes when he defeated the tough and crafty southpaw, Austin Trout, by a close but clear UD. Trout was coming off a shocking upset of Miguel Cotto, so Canelo’s victory, along with his star power, landed him his mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather last September.

He looks more like he’s just been badly insulted than beaten up.

While some people thought the Mayweather-Canelo fight would be competitive, it was pretty clear Canelo wasn’t ready for a boxer of Mayweather’s caliber. The only advantage Canelo had was size, and even that was reduced by Mayweather’s insistence on a 152 lb catch weight. By the 4^th round it was clear Alvarez didn’t belong in the same ring as Mayweather, who administered a boxing lesson to the young Mexican star. But as losses go, that one wasn’t so bad for Alvarez; he wasn’t physically beaten up in a way that would take anything out of him, and the fight greatly increased his star power as it produced well over 2 million buys.

He’s come a long way.

Erislandy Lara has arrived at this fight via a very different route, though he did make a brief stop in Mexico before launching his pro career. The 31 year-old southpaw is a product of the world famous Cuban amateur system, a four time Cuban national champion and highly decorated and accomplished in world competition. In 2007 he fled the Pan Am games in Rio De Janiero but was caught, returned to Cuba, then fled via speedboat to Mexico a year later to realize his dream of turning pro. Within a year and a half he was fighting tough veterans like Darnell Boone and Grady Brewer, and he entered a 2011 fight with Carlos Molina expecting to win handily, but he turned in a lackluster performance and Molina proved to be tougher than expected. The fight was scored a draw, which seemed a significant setback at the time for Lara. Ironically, what really earned Lara respect in the pro ranks was his “loss” to Paul Williams four months after the Molina fight. In one of the worst decisions in recent memory, a majority decision was scored in Williams’s favor by three New Jersey judges, who failed to see the lopsided boxing lesson Williams received at Lara’s hands. The decision was so bad all three judges were banned by the state athletic commission afterward.

If a tie is like kissing your sister, what is a technical draw due to a headbutt?

Lara followed that with a couple of easy wins over Ronald Hearns and Freddy Hernandez, stay-busy fights he took because other junior middleweights seemed reluctant to face him. Next he faced the awkward and undefeated Vanes Martirosyan in a fight that ended in a technical draw due to cuts Martirosyan suffered as a result of accidental head butts. Lara’s performance in that fight was less than scintillating, and it appeared his lack of star power combined with his difficult, technically proficient southpaw style would prevent him from getting big fights in his weight class.

Not Lara’s finest moment, but that would come a few rounds later.

Last June Lara fought the tough but guileless Alfredo Angulo in a strong candidate for fight of the year. Lara tried to outbox the hard-charging “El Perro,” but Angulo caught him in the 4^th and 9^th rounds, dropping Lara hard with left hooks to the jaw. Lara had never been down before, but he proved his toughness by rising from both knock downs and he came back to stop Angulo in the 10^th round, who quit when a grotesque swelling formed around his left eye. Despite suffering the two knock downs, Lara was giving as good as he took, peppering the impetuous Angulo with stiff, snapping jabs and accurate, heavy straight lefts. It was a great performance by the crafty and now tough Cuban, who followed that up by dominating a fellow southpaw, Austin Trout.

Lara confuses Trout about where the canvas is and where his feet should be.

The Trout fight is what really set tomorrow’s bout into motion, as Lara appeared to beat the difficult Trout more decisively than Alvarez did, and he used this as leverage when he crashed Canelo’s post-Angulo press conference and called out the red-headed Mexican star. Alvarez had just finished pummeling the apparently shot Angulo, doing nine rounds of ferocious heavy bag work on the sluggish Angulo. To Alvarez’s credit, he accepted Lara’s challenge and made the best possible fight at junior middleweight for the fans, a risky move for a guy primed to become boxing’s next PPV king.

“Dude, DO NOT make me fight Ishe Smith. Even I don’t want to see that.”

 

What’s Not At Stake?

Shamefully, a title. While it’s weird to say a big fight where neither fighter is paying an alphabet organization a sanctioning fee is shameful, the fact is this should be for the junior middleweight championship of the world. Floyd Mayweather earned that title last September by schooling Canelo, but hasn’t fought as a junior middleweight since then and has already scheduled his bout this September against Marcos Maidana at welterweight. The honorable and correct thing to do is for Mayweather to vacate his title at that weight, or the sanctioning bodies should strip him. No title should go undefended for an entire year, and one can only imagine what keeps the WBC and WBA from stripping Mayweather and collecting sanctioning fees for this bout.

 

What Is At Stake?

Somehow I don’t think they’d call the rematch, “The Two.”

Alvarez’s future as the biggest attraction in the sport. A loss, especially a decisive one, could do substantial damage to the earning potential of Canelo. A victory would conversely go a long way toward earning him a very lucrative rematch with Floyd Mayweather. Alvarez would also have another attractive option, fighting for the middleweight title against Miguel Cotto, which could do enormously well in terms of PPV buys, especially since it would pit a Mexican versus a Puerto Rican fighter.

This is less likely to happen than “The Two,” but Lara can always dream.

For Lara, a victory could lead him to at least an argument for a fight against Mayweather, especially if the pound-for-pound king doesn’t abdicate his junior middleweight titles soon. If tomorrow’s fight does well financially and Lara wins in impressive fashion, he could be a much more marketable opponent than he has been in the past, and would be a logical opponent for the junior middleweight champ. Conversely, a defeat to Alvarez could set Lara back considerably, depending, of course, on the manner and margin of defeat.

 

Prediction

Too skilled, too crafty, and too long.

Only two outcomes would surprise me in this fight; a wide unanimous decision in favor of Alvarez, or an early KO victory in favor of either fighter. Lara is clearly the more skilled fighter, but his most obvious weakness, a susceptibility to left hooks, especially to the body, plays into Canelo’s biggest strength. Canelo’s best punch by far is his left hook, and he’s become more adept at throwing it accurately and in a timely manner to the body. But Lara’s wide advantages in terms of footwork (Lara has some of the best footwork in the entire sport) and reach (he has a four inch reach advantage) make it likely Lara will be able to stick and move through the first four rounds or so, adding some thudding straight lefts to the pursuing Mexican. Will Canelo be able to adapt and cut off the ring? If so, it will be a new wrinkle to his game against an opponent of Lara’s caliber. What’s worse for Canelo is he has a history of gassing in the mid-to-late rounds, and if he falls behind early, things could get dire for him by the 8^th round in terms of points. And Lara has deceptive power, so Canelo could also be getting marked up late in the fight. That said, I do expect Alvarez to have his moments and to hurt Lara on occasion, maybe even score a knock down as he becomes desperate. Going into the championship rounds with a big lead, Lara will likely use his footwork to elude Canelo, giving the final two rounds away to the more aggressive fighter. This may prove to be a tactical error in a fight against someone who a lot of important people are invested in, if you know what I mean. I expect Lara to win a clear and somewhat wide UD, but the scorecards to be closer than they should, perhaps even resulting in a bogus draw.

 

How Can Canelo Win?

A lot of this early along the ropes is his best chance for success.

Canelo’s best chance is to go for broke early and get Lara off his game. He should make the technician feel uncomfortable, get him on the ropes and use his wider girth to keep him there and hammer away from close range, and hope he can hurt Lara the way Angulo did. He doesn’t necessarily need to fight a dirty fight, but his game plan ought to be similar to Maidana’s against Mayweather, to make it rough and keep punching. Take Lara out of that technical style he’s been fighting his whole life, and he might be able to beat him.

 

Whatever happens, Canelo ought to be commended for taking on a tough fight like this at this point in his career.