BoxRec News Review of 2009 - A year of big highs and lows
This year British boxing fans have had more than their fair share of excitement and disappointment. We have had new world champions crowned, big fights cancelled for a host of different reasons, boxing on TV severely cut back and more top prospects coming through the ranks.
December 2008 saw Carl Froch (right, with Andre Dirrell, c Tom Casino) claim the belt he had in his sights for many a year, he got his chance and installed himself as WBC super middleweight champion in style against unbeaten Canadian Jean Pascal.
2009 saw him defend the belt successfully on two occasions, firstly in Connecticut, USA against former middleweight king Jermain Taylor. In a fight which had it’s fair share of problems making, Froch, even though he was the champion found himself being the away fighter.
Froch started slowly and found himself on the canvas in the third round. Not troubled too much by the knockdown Carl picked himself up and fought on. The next few rounds were competitive but from the ninth the momentum swung towards the Englishman.
Sitting on his stool after the eleventh Carl probably knew he needed a knockout to win.
Into the last minute of the fight, he got it! Carl landed several flush shots and Taylor’s legs crumbled. Froch had retained by knockout with seconds to go. Phew!
His second defence came as part of Showtime's Super Six tournament, against unbeaten American Andre Dirrell at home in Nottingham. In front of a capacity Trent FM arena Froch wanted to put on a performance for his loyal fans. Dirrell had different ideas. He spent the first half of the fight on his bike and made it very hard for Froch to land anything. Dirrell had more and more success in the second half and came on strong in the championship rounds.
After twelve fairly dull rounds, Froch won by split decision. This decision sparked debate on boxing forums, some thinking Dirrell had done enough to prize the belt away from Froch.
On paper 2009 will go down as a great year for Froch. With the continuation of the Super Six tournament, starting against Mikkel Kessler, 2010 promises to bring more excitement for Froch fans.
After a disastrous 2008 for Amir Khan, (left) 2009 couldn’t have been better for the Bolton lad. Three fights, three wins and a new trainer, Freddie Roach.
In a great piece of match making, future hall of famer Marco Antonio Barrera was flown over to Manchester to face Khan in his second fight after his knock out loss to Bredis Prescott. Khan went on to win; after five rounds the fight went to the score cards due to a nasty cut on Barrera’s forehead sustained in round one. Things may have been different without the cut but Khan did what he had to do and got the victory.
In July came a world title shot, to get this opportunity Khan had to move up in weight to light-welter. Andrei Kotelnik was the holder, having won the title from Welshman Gavin Rees in 2008. Was Kotelnik the best candidate to prize a title from around the lightweight/light welter divisions?
Between Roach and Khan they worked out the perfect game plan to claim the title and Khan followed it to a tee in the ring. Khan ran away with wide unanimous decision, 120-108 on one card.
It was a great performance by Khan who showed how he has matured as a fighter since his loss in 2008.
2009 ended in style for Khan with a first round blow out of unbeaten and to be honest, untested American Dmitriy Salita.
Its been six years since Lennox Lewis retired, Now we have another heavyweight world champion in London's David Haye. 2009 promised to be a huge year for Haye. Two fights were agreed against each of the Klitschko brothers, neither happened. Then Haye got a shot at 7 foot tall WBA champ Nikolai Valuev (both pictured right, c SE Photo Wende).
After months of winding up Valuev, Haye finally got in the ring with him.
Adam Booth and Haye had devised their tactics. David carried it into the ring perfectly and BoxRec News, underway for less than a month at the time, was at ringside in Nuremberg, Germany, to see it.
The size and weight difference forced David to stay away from Valuev; he maybe fought slightly negatively but he managed to carry out this uncharacteristic plan for twelve rounds. In a dramatic last round, Haye landed a haymaker which shook Valuev to his boots and his legs turned to jelly for a few seconds. No one has ever hurt Valuev like that before and I’m sure heavyweights will sit up and take notice of Haye's power now.
After the final bell had rung, had he done enough to go to Germany and get a decision by fighting on the back foot? Yes, he had. The title was coming home to England in a blaze of publicity.
Barry Hearn’s (left, c L Lustig) 'Prizefighter' tournaments have added some good action to the boxing calendar during 2009. This theme of seven 3 x 3 fights in the same night has become very popular with the fans and is pulling in good TV numbers.
Two tournaments have stood out for me this year, in May an experienced bunch of cruisers made their way to Earls Court to do battle. They did not disappoint.
Darren Corbett, Terry Dunstan , Dean Francis , John Keeton , Ovill McKenzie , Bruce Scott , Neil Simpson and Micky Steeds were contending for the huge trophy and the £25k winner's prize.
In the quarter-finals, all four bouts saw at least a knockdown. Same in the semi-finals. The final saw tournament underdog Ovill McKenzie (right) who had been campaigning at light-heavyweight in the past win the final against battler John Keeton.
What a great night's action witnessed by all. This is exactly what the fans pay their money for!
Then came the big one in October, The third heavyweight tournament. Big names Danny Williams and Audley Harrison where overwhelming pre tournament favourites. Along with Carl Baker, Coleman Barrett, Scott Belshaw, Scott Gammer, Danny Hughes and Neil Perkins this had a good blend of experience and youth to make a good show.
In a major shock Williams was out of the tournament at the first hurdle, flattened hard twice in the first round by the heaviest man in the tournament, Sheffield’s Carl Baker. Williams managed to recover and amazingly almost finished Carl off in the third and final round. Baker managed to hold on to hear the final bell. Williams was out.
Audley (left) did not experience the same problem. He won by knockout in his first fight against Scott Belshaw and won a points decision in the semi vs. Danny Hughes, scoring a knockdown in the second
Audley seemed reluctant to open up through out the tournament, but did enough to stop Coleman Barrett in the final and claim with the winner's cheque. Will 2010 finally be big Audley's year?
2009 has seen the progression of the new era of British heavyweights. These fighters are all in the early stages of their careers and have potential to create a tremendous domestic heavyweight scene in the next couple of years. We have the likes of Tyson Fury, Derek Chisora, David Price, Tom Dallas, Larry Olubamiwo and the slightly more experienced Sam Sexton. If the promoters can make these fights happen then we could be in for a treat.
We have also seen the professional debuts of the 2008 British Olympians including gold medal winner James Degale, Billy Joe Saunders and Tony Jeffries. They have all finished the year undefeated. Add former amateur world champion Frankie Gavin and highly rated George Groves to this pool of fighters and we have the best group of prospects starting out for a long time.
I would also like to give a special mention to some fighters who have produced some special performances towards the end of 2009. Matt Macklin for his first round knockout of Amin Asikainen to win the European middleweight title.
Kevin Mitchell for showing that he has another side to his boxing other than standing toe to toe. His UD win against Bredis Prescott was a master class and hopefully 2010 will be a huge year for Kevin.
In October Ryan Rhodes challenged Jamie Moore for the European light-middleweight title. After soaking up Moore’s best shots in the first few rounds Ryan came on strong to stop Moore in the seventh round. This fight should definitely be considered for domestic fight of the year.
A review of 2009 would not be complete without a mention for the three round battle between Cello Renda and Paul Samuels. This fight was brutal, both fighters landed bombs from the opening bell. The second round produced something truly amazing, a double knockdown. Two left hooks were thrown, two left hooks landed flush and both fighters went down.
Samuels stopped Renda in the third round. The rematch is scheduled for January.
Now on to the less palatable DOWNS...
23rd June 2009 saw the demise of Setanta Sports in England. The company had invested heavily in Premiership football which contributed to their downfall. This was a real knock for hardcore boxing fans, as Setanta’s coverage of boxing was first class. They had signed Joe Calzaghe and David Haye to exclusive contracts and deals with top overseas promoters including Bob Arum's Top Rank who promoted Manny Pac and Miguel Cotto and German promoter Sauerland Events.
As well as getting a chance to see the mega stars of boxing on Setanta’s screens, they also showed good quality domestic match ups on a regular basis.
How could I not give Steve Bunce and Andy Kerr a mention too? Thursday afternoons at 2.00pm have not been the same since the channel ceased broadcasting. Bunce’s Boxing Hour was close to receiving cult status. Week after week they packed the show with the biggest names in domestic boxing. The gap has never really been filled and with promoters now fighting over slots on Sky's FFN it’s the boxing fan that has lost out.
In May Ricky Hatton challenged the top P4P fighter in the world for the second time.
Once again herds of English fans invaded Las Vegas to support our man in his quest to take the P4P title from Manny Pac.
Unfortunately the result was the same as when Ricky faced Floyd Mayweather in 2007. Hatton was down in round one and looked shaken. The fight followed the same pattern in the second and ended with a brutal left hook that left Ricky flattened in the middle of the ring (right). Hatton has not fought since, but there are rumours of a comeback in 2010.
Joe Calzaghe called an end to his 16-year professional career in 2009. Joe finished up with wins over aging ring greats Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. It’s a shame Joe didn’t get the chance to fight Sven Ottke and did not hit the USA earlier in his career which really would of cemented his legendary status.
As usual, it's all over so quickly and boxing fans are left with good and bad memories - and anticipation of another great year in 2010.
Everyone at BoxRec News wishes all our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
