A few weeks ago www.ringnews24.com asked unbeaten Heavyweight Deontay Wilder (24-0, 24) for an interview, sadly Wilder turned down the invitation and decided to show a lack of class in calling Ringnews24 a "second rate website". At first I, like many others, found this rather ironic as Wilder seems to love 4th and 5th rate opponents as he continues his 3rd rate career however having seen Wilder's next match up I no long see the irony.
The unbeaten, 6'7" "Bronze Bomber" is schedule to fight his 25th professional bout, and his 5th bout of 2012 against the unbeaten Damon McCreary (14-0, 10). Whilst it may have people going "well that's good isn't it? Unbeaten prospects colliding" it's sadly nothing more than a joke fight against yet another 5th rate opponent.
The 39 year old (yes 39!) McCreary may well be unbeaten but that is seriously his only selling point. He is not only 39 years old age, but has been out of the ring for almost 2 years having only fought once in the last 4 years and stands at a diminutive 5'11 (yes some 8 inches shorter than Wilder). In fact When McCreary made his debut way back in 1998 he weighed just 166lbs (effectively a Middleweight who hasn't tried to make weight) but last time out McCreary weighed in at an obese 230lbs!
Well done once again to those guiding Mr Deontay Wilder, a truly spectacular third rate Heavyweight. Someone should tell him that when he fights someone with a pulse the wider boxing public will care as many are now tired of this freak show that seems to be the career of Wilder.
Note-If any readers are overweight, in their 40's and fancy fighting an Olympic Bronze medal winner contact @BronzeBomber on twitter it's likely he'll be happy to give you a fight.
Monday 3 September 2012
Muhammad Ali-The First Darts Champion Of The Word
Whilst doing research for a recent piece on a blog about the biggest sporting upsets I stumbled upon the name Alan Evans, a Welsh Darts player who was a biggish name in the late 1970's. As I'm always one to get side tracked (far too easily) I decided to read up a little bit on Alan Evans and discovered something very, very interesting.
In 1977 Muhammad Ali the then Heavyweight Champion of the World came over to Britain and spent some time in the North East. Whilst there Ali took part in an exhibition game of darts with the aforementioned Mr Evans at the Gypsy's Green stadium in South Shields. Evan's only allowed to score on the trebles was subsequently beaten by Ali who checked out on the bulls eye before crowing himself the Darts Champion of the World.
Sadly despite becoming the self proclaimed Darts Champion of the World Ali doesn't seem to have ever defended his title and the inaugural BDO World Darts Championship was held the following year in Ali's absence with Leighton Rees winning the title against John Lowe in the final.
As a bit of self advertising, to read the Sporting Upset article please read here.
In 1977 Muhammad Ali the then Heavyweight Champion of the World came over to Britain and spent some time in the North East. Whilst there Ali took part in an exhibition game of darts with the aforementioned Mr Evans at the Gypsy's Green stadium in South Shields. Evan's only allowed to score on the trebles was subsequently beaten by Ali who checked out on the bulls eye before crowing himself the Darts Champion of the World.
Sadly despite becoming the self proclaimed Darts Champion of the World Ali doesn't seem to have ever defended his title and the inaugural BDO World Darts Championship was held the following year in Ali's absence with Leighton Rees winning the title against John Lowe in the final.
As a bit of self advertising, to read the Sporting Upset article please read here.
Sunday 1 July 2012
We're a peculiar lot us boxing fans...
...if you visit any boxing forum in the world you are almost certainly going to run into a number of "fan types" who are more fans of a certain fighter (or fighters) than they are of the sport. Whilst it's not a bad thing to be a fan of a fighter by any means (we all have our favourites) the fact they seem to care more about their fighter than the rest of the sport concerns me.
Boxing lives on it's "star attractions" the big names such as Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Sadly over the past few years the number of star attractions has dwindled to only a handful of names a drastic difference to the 1990's when we had Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr, Lennox Lewis, Prince Naseem Hamed and Sugar Shane Mosley to name just a few.
This is where the issue lies, the fans of fighters are almost cultist in their beliefs. For example Pacquiao fans are Pacquiao fans first, boxing fans second (if at all), when Pacquiao retires those fans will, on the vast part, retire with him. Likewise Mayweather fans will stop watching when Mayweather eventually turns his back on the sport. Then what?
The people watching our sport on an annual basis in the US is about to shrink, massively. When Mayweather and Pacquiao hang up their gloves their isn't likely to be someone ready to step into their shoes. Of course there is Canelo Alvarez who is being primed to take over their role but yet is completely unproven at Pay-Per View level, ditto Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Sadly when the fan base shrinks the TV slots will shrink, the money for fighters will become more limited and the opportunity for new break out fighters will diminish. Thankfully however we, as fans can do things to stop the sport from vanishing, we need to stick together. We need to tell the networks what we want, we need to help them. Rather than allowing us to force feed us rubbish (like the proposed Alvarez v Freitas fight) we need to stand up and demand things like Maidana v Matthysse, fights that will turn a sports fan into a boxing fan. We need to give exposure to unknown fighters, tell everyone about the hottest prospect you saw at the weekend, share the vicious knockouts and do all you can to get people watching our sport!
Boxing fans unite!
Boxing lives on it's "star attractions" the big names such as Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Sadly over the past few years the number of star attractions has dwindled to only a handful of names a drastic difference to the 1990's when we had Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr, Lennox Lewis, Prince Naseem Hamed and Sugar Shane Mosley to name just a few.
This is where the issue lies, the fans of fighters are almost cultist in their beliefs. For example Pacquiao fans are Pacquiao fans first, boxing fans second (if at all), when Pacquiao retires those fans will, on the vast part, retire with him. Likewise Mayweather fans will stop watching when Mayweather eventually turns his back on the sport. Then what?
The people watching our sport on an annual basis in the US is about to shrink, massively. When Mayweather and Pacquiao hang up their gloves their isn't likely to be someone ready to step into their shoes. Of course there is Canelo Alvarez who is being primed to take over their role but yet is completely unproven at Pay-Per View level, ditto Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Sadly when the fan base shrinks the TV slots will shrink, the money for fighters will become more limited and the opportunity for new break out fighters will diminish. Thankfully however we, as fans can do things to stop the sport from vanishing, we need to stick together. We need to tell the networks what we want, we need to help them. Rather than allowing us to force feed us rubbish (like the proposed Alvarez v Freitas fight) we need to stand up and demand things like Maidana v Matthysse, fights that will turn a sports fan into a boxing fan. We need to give exposure to unknown fighters, tell everyone about the hottest prospect you saw at the weekend, share the vicious knockouts and do all you can to get people watching our sport!
Boxing fans unite!
Wednesday 20 June 2012
What in the world has happened to our sport!
I was with out internet for about 4 weeks due to a huge balls up at out nearest BT Exchange and it seems like whilst I've been gone this sport has gone tits up...
Exhibit A-
Scoring Bradley v Pacquioa
What were the judges watching here? I have now seen this bout and I have no idea how 2 of the judges scored the bout to Bradley, in fact I've not idea how the score cards are possibly as close as they are. Surely everyone who has seen the bout knows that Pacquiao won so what on earth were the judges doing?
Exhibit B-
Result Quigg v Munroe
Scott Quigg's recent WBA Interin Super Bantamweight title bout with Rendall Munroe was adjudged to have been a "3rd round technical draw". Whilst under the rules of the BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) this would have been the correct decision we need to remember that the WBA rules would have over-ridden the British rules. Under the WBA rules the bout should have been a No Contest or No Decision.
Exhibit C 1-
Drugs Larry Olubamiwo
British Heavyweight Larry Olubamiwo has confessed to having been on 13 different types of performance enhancing substances over the last 6 years. How he managed to go 6 years with out a positive test would be remarkable...had he actually been forced to give a test at any point in his career prior to his fight with Sam Sexton. His drugs test after the Sexton fight actually tested positive for EPO.
Exhibit C 2-
Can't piss in Texas Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
It appears that Julio Cesar Chavez has skipped another urine test (this is just a rumour as far as I'm aware though it deserves to be included here) in Texas. Maybe poor Julio just can't piss in Texas...or maybe there is more to this story. Sadly we won't know any time soon it seems.
Exhibit A-
Scoring Bradley v Pacquioa
What were the judges watching here? I have now seen this bout and I have no idea how 2 of the judges scored the bout to Bradley, in fact I've not idea how the score cards are possibly as close as they are. Surely everyone who has seen the bout knows that Pacquiao won so what on earth were the judges doing?
Exhibit B-
Result Quigg v Munroe
Scott Quigg's recent WBA Interin Super Bantamweight title bout with Rendall Munroe was adjudged to have been a "3rd round technical draw". Whilst under the rules of the BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) this would have been the correct decision we need to remember that the WBA rules would have over-ridden the British rules. Under the WBA rules the bout should have been a No Contest or No Decision.
Exhibit C 1-
Drugs Larry Olubamiwo
British Heavyweight Larry Olubamiwo has confessed to having been on 13 different types of performance enhancing substances over the last 6 years. How he managed to go 6 years with out a positive test would be remarkable...had he actually been forced to give a test at any point in his career prior to his fight with Sam Sexton. His drugs test after the Sexton fight actually tested positive for EPO.
Exhibit C 2-
Can't piss in Texas Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
It appears that Julio Cesar Chavez has skipped another urine test (this is just a rumour as far as I'm aware though it deserves to be included here) in Texas. Maybe poor Julio just can't piss in Texas...or maybe there is more to this story. Sadly we won't know any time soon it seems.
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Haye v Chisora-Shameful
So the biggest boxing story this side of the Atlantic is that former 2-weight "World Champion" David Haye (I have always refused to accept his illegitimate WBA Heavyweight title reign) will be facing former world title challenger Dereck Chisora on a card licensed by the Federation Luxembourgeoise De Boxe. The card, dubbed "License to Thrill" may well excite some of the casual fans who two well known names, though sadly, from my point of view it's a disgusting cash grab by 3 men who have shame this sport numerous times over the years.
Firstly you have the public face of the bout and Chisora's "manager" Frank Warren. Warren has been described as a human fish and has seen many professional relationships fall apart including relationships with former IBF Light Welterweight champion Terry Marsh (who was tried for an assassination attempt on Mr Warren) and former 2-weight world champions Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe. In fact in recent months alone we've seen former Olympic Gold Medal winner James DeGale and current Light Heavyweight contender Tony Bellew having soured relations with Mr Warren.
Whilst Warren won't technically be the promoter of the bout he appears to be the man at the fore front of the bout. He's the man who owns a major stake in the TV channel that will be showing the bout (Box Nation) and he's also the man who appears to be doing the promotional work for the bout, including the announcement and the press conference for the bout earlier this week.
In recent months there have been a lot of rumours about Warren being unable to pay fighters (or at very least unable to pay in a reasonable time frame) and he has in the past declared a company bankrupt when Joe Calzaghe sued him. Yet he has managed to maintain a BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) license much to the disgust of many in the sport.
Second you have Dereck "Del Boy" Chisora, a fighter who courts controversy like no other in Britain. Chisora has bitten opponents (Paul Butlin), kissed opponents at a weigh in (Carl Baker), slapped an opponent at a weigh in (Vitali Klitschko), spat an opponents second (Wladimir Klitschko) and came in hugely over-weight for one of the biggest fights of his career (against Tyson Fury). Chisora has also been found guilty of crimes and is a man who really needs to be "taught" a lesson by serving a lengthy ban, not by effectively being out of the ring for 6 months, the general time a fighter at this level is out of the ring.
Thirdly you have David Haye a man who bored the pants off fans by throwing only a handful of punches over 12 rounds against Nikolai Valuev then followed that performance up with 2 rounds of nothing against Audley Harrison who was visibly crapping his pants and then again bored us senseless with his bout against Wladimir Klitschko before complaining about a sore toe.
As well as Haye's embarrassing "sore toe" he's also embarrassed himself with his mouth, claiming he was "the saviour of the heavyweight division" (amongst others), with his shirts (the infamous one of him holding the Klitschko brothers severed heads) and of course his actions which included throwing a tripod at Chisora earlier this year.
Sadly whilst the media may be going crazy over this bout it's nothing more than a farce that may end up making boxing a bigger joke than it already is. The introduction of the Federation Luxembourgeoise De Boxe into Britain could well lead to a second "British title" which means we could end up effectively having a very messy British title scene (much like the current world title scene with the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF titles). If we end up with multiple British titles and a split in professional British boxing, on your head be it Mr Warren, Mr Chisora and Mr Haye, it's an obvious cash grab by the 3 of you and you should all be ashamed.
Firstly you have the public face of the bout and Chisora's "manager" Frank Warren. Warren has been described as a human fish and has seen many professional relationships fall apart including relationships with former IBF Light Welterweight champion Terry Marsh (who was tried for an assassination attempt on Mr Warren) and former 2-weight world champions Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe. In fact in recent months alone we've seen former Olympic Gold Medal winner James DeGale and current Light Heavyweight contender Tony Bellew having soured relations with Mr Warren.
Whilst Warren won't technically be the promoter of the bout he appears to be the man at the fore front of the bout. He's the man who owns a major stake in the TV channel that will be showing the bout (Box Nation) and he's also the man who appears to be doing the promotional work for the bout, including the announcement and the press conference for the bout earlier this week.
In recent months there have been a lot of rumours about Warren being unable to pay fighters (or at very least unable to pay in a reasonable time frame) and he has in the past declared a company bankrupt when Joe Calzaghe sued him. Yet he has managed to maintain a BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) license much to the disgust of many in the sport.
Second you have Dereck "Del Boy" Chisora, a fighter who courts controversy like no other in Britain. Chisora has bitten opponents (Paul Butlin), kissed opponents at a weigh in (Carl Baker), slapped an opponent at a weigh in (Vitali Klitschko), spat an opponents second (Wladimir Klitschko) and came in hugely over-weight for one of the biggest fights of his career (against Tyson Fury). Chisora has also been found guilty of crimes and is a man who really needs to be "taught" a lesson by serving a lengthy ban, not by effectively being out of the ring for 6 months, the general time a fighter at this level is out of the ring.
Thirdly you have David Haye a man who bored the pants off fans by throwing only a handful of punches over 12 rounds against Nikolai Valuev then followed that performance up with 2 rounds of nothing against Audley Harrison who was visibly crapping his pants and then again bored us senseless with his bout against Wladimir Klitschko before complaining about a sore toe.
As well as Haye's embarrassing "sore toe" he's also embarrassed himself with his mouth, claiming he was "the saviour of the heavyweight division" (amongst others), with his shirts (the infamous one of him holding the Klitschko brothers severed heads) and of course his actions which included throwing a tripod at Chisora earlier this year.
Sadly whilst the media may be going crazy over this bout it's nothing more than a farce that may end up making boxing a bigger joke than it already is. The introduction of the Federation Luxembourgeoise De Boxe into Britain could well lead to a second "British title" which means we could end up effectively having a very messy British title scene (much like the current world title scene with the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF titles). If we end up with multiple British titles and a split in professional British boxing, on your head be it Mr Warren, Mr Chisora and Mr Haye, it's an obvious cash grab by the 3 of you and you should all be ashamed.
Friday 4 May 2012
Sugar Shane the man with a golden name?
We all know that in boxing your name can mean more than your real worth and in the past few years it seems that for Sugar Shane Mosley that is all he has. The former 3 weight world champion started his career with an excellent run of 38-0 whilst also winning the IBF Lightweight and WBC Welterweight titles between 1993 and 2001. He had legitimately become one of the genuine pound-for-pound fighters of the era and whilst it's true that he was lucky to get the win over Oscar De La Hoya in 2000 he was competing with some of the best in the world.
In the following decade or so however Mosley has been unable to ever get near the sort of success he once had and has gone 8-7-1-1 since knocking out Adrian Stone way back in July 2001. Losses to the likes of Vernon Forrest (twice), Winky Wright (twice), Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao are nothing to be ashamed for but the manner of the losses, especially to Pacquiao and Mayweather showed that Mosley is a fighter that is there for the taking. In fact Mosley is so show I'd not be shocked to see the horribly over-rated Saul "Canelo" Alvarez stop Mosley who is 0-2-1 in the last 3 years!
Whilst it's not unheard of for former champions to be getting undeserved chances (Jose Antonio Aguirre being another notable example) this is merely taking the mick now a days. Since the victory over Stone Mosley is 2-7 in world title bouts (or 3-7 if you include interim title fights) and at 40 years old someone needs to stop giving him these chances. Maybe it will take a KO loss to Canelo to make him think twice. Saying this however I personally would love for Shane to land a bomb on Canelo and burst that hype bubble.
In a similar "story" we've read that Mikkel Kessler will be facing Allan Green in a bout for the WBC Silver Light Heavyweight title. As with Mosley we've no idea how Green is managing to get yet another title opportunity. Green was beaten in 2 of his last 4 bouts with 1 of those losses coming in a very undeserved world title bout (where Green joined the Super 6 and faced Andre Ward) and yet he's being "rewarded" with another world title bout at a higher weight? Sorry but when will this sport start taking it's self seriously again?
I've given up ranting about robberies (which we see on a weekly basis) but I won't stop ranting full stop.
In the following decade or so however Mosley has been unable to ever get near the sort of success he once had and has gone 8-7-1-1 since knocking out Adrian Stone way back in July 2001. Losses to the likes of Vernon Forrest (twice), Winky Wright (twice), Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao are nothing to be ashamed for but the manner of the losses, especially to Pacquiao and Mayweather showed that Mosley is a fighter that is there for the taking. In fact Mosley is so show I'd not be shocked to see the horribly over-rated Saul "Canelo" Alvarez stop Mosley who is 0-2-1 in the last 3 years!
Whilst it's not unheard of for former champions to be getting undeserved chances (Jose Antonio Aguirre being another notable example) this is merely taking the mick now a days. Since the victory over Stone Mosley is 2-7 in world title bouts (or 3-7 if you include interim title fights) and at 40 years old someone needs to stop giving him these chances. Maybe it will take a KO loss to Canelo to make him think twice. Saying this however I personally would love for Shane to land a bomb on Canelo and burst that hype bubble.
In a similar "story" we've read that Mikkel Kessler will be facing Allan Green in a bout for the WBC Silver Light Heavyweight title. As with Mosley we've no idea how Green is managing to get yet another title opportunity. Green was beaten in 2 of his last 4 bouts with 1 of those losses coming in a very undeserved world title bout (where Green joined the Super 6 and faced Andre Ward) and yet he's being "rewarded" with another world title bout at a higher weight? Sorry but when will this sport start taking it's self seriously again?
I've given up ranting about robberies (which we see on a weekly basis) but I won't stop ranting full stop.
Friday 2 March 2012
Boxing's new unfortunate name?
Sometimes boxers for some reason just have names they shouldn't. The most obvious example is the always fun Eric Crumble whose record has become a thing of mockery on many boxing forums, though he was a man who lived up to his name and (excuse the pun)...crumbled. Now though he may have a rival in the form of American Cruiserweight D'Quan Morgan...yes his name starts with "DQ".
Although D'Quan Morgan has yet to be DQ'd in a bout (going 1-0-1, 1 so far) the headlines write themselves for all us boxing writers who are waiting for the day we can open up the treasure chest of puns based on his name.
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=573103&cat=boxer
Although D'Quan Morgan has yet to be DQ'd in a bout (going 1-0-1, 1 so far) the headlines write themselves for all us boxing writers who are waiting for the day we can open up the treasure chest of puns based on his name.
http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=573103&cat=boxer
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