I am sure it is unprecedented for a world champion walk away from a title defence to take part in politics, but that appears to be what Vitali Klitschko may be about to do.
Vitali has stopped training for his September 10 defence against Tomasz Adamek and is to return to the Ukraine to lend his personal support to the campaign to secure the release from arrest of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. If Vitali does not go through with the Adamek fight, then the suggestion is that brother Wladimir will take his place in the fight against Adamek, with the Pole being given an additional payment to allow the fight to be put back and give Wladimir more time to train.
With the complex situation we have with four sanctioning bodies, this is not just an agreement between the fighters. The WBC will have to decide what they do about Vitali if he walks away from a mandatory defence. They could use their usual cop-out of “Champion in Recess" (always makes me think they stick the guy in a cupboard somewhere - and forget about him), and have Wlad and Adamek fight for the “vacant” title. However, since the brothers will never fight each other,what happens to the title when Vitali climbs out of the cupboard? Wlad is also WBA and IBF champion - and neither of those bodies has Adamek listed as a challenger, so they would have to “adjust” their ratings or their rules (yes they do have them - honest) and the whole thing becomes a mess.
Ronald Hearns is known as “The Chosen One”; well he certainly was that by the WBC. On September 17 Hearns challenges new champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr for the WBC middles title. Hearns last won a fight in October 2010 and in his last fight in February was halted in seven rounds by Felix Sturm for the WBA title. So no wins since October 2010, no wins over a rated opponent, and no fights since February, but still qualifies for a rating and a title shot, and Marco Antonio Rubio is overlooked. Not much point in fighting and winning if fighting and losing can get you a title shot.
They have also been playing some funny games with their lightweight ratings. In their June ratings (issued June 9) Brit John Murray was No 2. In their July ratings issued July 6 he fell to No 6 and in their latest ratings, issued post his loss to Kevin Mitchell, he is No 20. His original demotion was so that they could rate Jorge Linares No 2 instead and allow the fight for the vacant title with Antonio Demarco to be approved.
In fact the WBC have been going out of their way to make themselves look stupid recently. They reportedly stripped Tim Bradley of the welterweight title and announced that Erik Morales would fight Jorge Barrios for the vacant title. Then they clarify that Bradley has not been stripped but is champion in recess (this is what they do when they want to strip a champion but can’t come up with a good reason for doing so-they have a plentiful supply of cupboards) and then they say that Barrios is not in the frame. Just as well since Barrios is not in their top 15, and would almost certainly not be let out of Argentina, as he faces serious charges there. It may all have been a misunderstanding, but there is no smoke without fire, and the WBC’s reputation once again goes up in smoke.
It is a pity as the WBC is still the best of the very poor bunch, does some excellent work, and has made many important contributions to the sport.
The WBA are consistently the worst. Their last title fight saw Beibut Shumenov defending the light heavyweight title against Danny Santiago. Danny had not fought since May 2010, but made an appearance at No 15 in the WBA ratings just in time for the fight to be approved. Just blatant manipulation of their ratings. Where’s the FBI when you need them, after all, this entire travesty did take place in the USA.
It was a similar case with Jose Barboza getting to fight Brian Magee for the vacant interim super middle title. Barboza was floored twice and stopped by Jose Pinzon in October 2010. In March he beat Ulises Duarte (record 21-21-1). In April, from nowhere he appears at No 5 in the WBA ratings! What cynical rubbish the WBA perpetrates. It is a pity they can’t be charged with bringing boxing into disrepute.
Someone is kidding someone, but I am not sure who the kidder is, and who is the kidded. Don King, the master kidder, in his visit to Nicaragua, announced that if Daniel Ortega’s government would put up the money, then he could get Ricardo Mayorga a fight with Cornelius Bundrage for the IBF light middle title. Since King holds the reins on both boxers it seems a fair possibility. The fly in the ointment was a telephone conversation between Nicaraguan newspaper El Nuevo Diario with IBF Ratings Committee member Anibal Miramontes. Anibal pointed out that it was totally impossible for this fight to take place for the IBF title as Mayorga in not in the IBF ratings, and it would violate the IBF rules to have a fighter who is not rated, fighting for the title. Is Don King kidding the Nicaraguan government by asking them to finance a fight that cannot happen or is Miramontes kidding us by pretending that sanctioning bodies would never bend the rules to suit Mr. King? I guess all we can do is listen for any pronouncements from Mr. King, and watch the IBF ratings.
One way to judge the standing of a sanctioning body is to examine the quality of the fighters contesting their titles. The recent WBFoundation cruiserweight title fight in Fiji was won by Australian Peter Brennan who had a record of 7-16-4 going in, and he beat late substitute Fatu Tuimanono who was 9-10-1. That sums up the WBFoundation. Brennan was to have fought Mosese Sorovi, but Sorovi pulled out with an injury on the day before the fight. It was alleged that the promoters knew about the injury well before the fight, but did not want to let the news out as people might want their money back-nice guys.
Don’t bet on the outcome of boxing matches. Take the Lenny Zappavigna vs. Ameth Diaz fight. May 2010 Diaz is floored and halted in one round by Ji Hoon Kim. October 2010 Zappa stops Kim in 101 seconds. Obvious - Zappa will beat Diaz – only it did not work out that way with the Panamanian winning in five rounds.
There were rumors that Zappa had a lot of trouble making the weight and was actually put on a drip after the weigh-in to rehydrate, so that may have affected the young Australian.
In the previous week one Australian did come through, but just in time. Billy Dib won the vacant IBF feather title with a convincing points victory over Mexican Jorge Lacierva. The timing was important as Billy (Bilal) is a Muslim and he would have found it hard to train and fight during Ramadan.
Still on Australia, there has been a lot of publicity with regard to the next fight for Mike Katsidis. Let’s put the fight into perspective. He has chosen to fight Mexican Michael Lozada, who lasted just 72 seconds against Edwin Valero and in March lasted less than a round against Canadian youngster Pier Olivier Cote, so no Ameth Diaz here, and not much of a test.
The Vernon Paris vs. Tim Coleman fight nearly went on without the ESPN cameras being present. There was genuine bad blood between these two and they went from exchanging insults to exchanging blows when they met in the Hotel/Casino where they were based. Security had to part the two factions and base them in separate hotels, and even have them weight-in separately.
To add to the tension, Paris is trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Coleman by Roger Mayweather and the Mayweathers are not the most peace loving of families. Sometimes the fight can be an anti-climax after pre-bout antics (Fury vs. Chisora, Haye vs. Harrison) but this time the fight was a war. It seemed that Coleman brought the bad blood into the ring, but Paris fought a more controlled and tactical battle and came out the winner. However, the sport needs good fights not bad publicity.
Luis Ramon Campas, better known as “Yori Boy” really is a throwback. A pro since 1987 he has now had 99 fights and will surely make it 100 in the next few months. Although 40, he shows no signs of slowing. He won his first 56 fights before losing to Felix Trinidad for the IBF welter title in 1994, after having Trinidad on the canvas. He challenged for the WBO welter title in 1996 and then halted Raul Marquez in 1997 to win the IBF light middle title. He made four defences in twelve months, losing the title in the last of those defences to Fernando Vargas in December 1998. He has subsequently challenged unsuccessfully for the WBO, WBA and WBC light middle titles. He has had at least one contest in every year of the 24 years that he has been a pro and is currently on a streak of seven wins. A remarkable achievement which harks back to the days of Gaspar Ortega, LC Morgan, Luis Folledo etc. when 15-16 bouts a year was normal and they would go from fighting a nobody in a small town, to fighting a world rated fighter, with just a couple of weeks between the fights.
There is certainly a “Manny Pacquiao factor” affecting Philippines boxing. A few years back the Filipino’s were standard fare in Japan, Thailand and Korea. They were imported to lose and there were plenty of sub-standard fighters available for the overseas promoters to choose from. Things have changed with scope for talented young fighters to earn a living without being sent out as fodder, and many of those that do go outside the country are much better quality than the past exports. Last weekend there were five major shows in the Philippines, and young Roli Gasca, 22, already a winner over world rated Tabtimdaeng in Thailand, came back from Japan with the OPBF super bantam title. Every newspaper is full of Pacquiao’s every scratch or twitch and it is lifting the profile of boxing to heights that the Philippines has never experienced before. Apart from Manny and of course Nonito Donaire, the world ratings of the sanctioning bodies are littered with names such as Donnie Nietes, Rodel Mayol, Johnriel Casimero, Florante Condes-all ex-holders of some version of a world title-Mercito Gesta, AJ Banal, Denver Cuello, Milan Melindo, Richie Mepranum, Drian Francisco, Malcolm Tunacao, Rolly Lunas, Bernabe Concepcion, Rey Bautista, Mike Farenas etc.. These are all established fighters, but the crop of youngsters pushing up from beneath them is also impressive with Jason Pagara-19, Marlon Tapales-19, Randy Petalcorin-19, Genesis Servania-19,Rey Perez-20, Roberto Gonzalez-20, James Bacon-21,Marco Demecillo-21,Arthur Villaneuva-22 and the “old man” of the pack Lorenzo Villaneuva-25, all building impressive records thanks to the boom in boxing allowing them to develop without having to be sent out to get beaten. Amazing the impact one man can have on the total sport, much as Muhammad Ali had. Yet strangely the great Alexis Arguello never quite inspired Nicaraguan boxing in the same way, although the emergence of the Sandinista government might have had something to do with that.
Still on Pacquiao. There was a minor scare as the Filipino was hospitalised last week. However the cause was described as heartburn/acid reflux and he was only in for a short time. His value has become so high that it was surprising it did not result in a further fall in the stock markets. This is a condition that saw Pacquiao hospitalised last year but does not appear to be a serious threat.
Britain lost one it’s finest promoters with the death recently of Mike Barrett. Mike’s favourite venue was the Albert Hall in London, and I had the pleasure of attending many of Mike’s shows, and in getting to know him quite well, and to liking and respecting him. He was an integral part of the partnership comprising Jarvis Astaire, Mickey Duff and Terry Lawless and was involved in promoting Jim Watt, Mo Hope, Cornelius Boza-Edwards, Charlie Magri, Frank Bruno, Mark Kaylor, Kirkland Laing and many others.
I always felt that Mike was frustrated as he was a promoter at heart and wanted to put on the best matches he could. On the other hand Terry, as a manager, took the stance that he wanted to take the least risks for the fighters under his care, and these two stances were often incompatible. Despite their differences they oversaw a rich period for British boxing in which Mike played a significant role. R.I.P. Mike.
Miami resident Kimbo Slice found fame through some of his street fights being shown on the internet. From there he progressed to MMA fighting, and after three years in MMA he is now ready to tackle boxing. Although 37 he is convinced that he will be the saviour of heavyweight boxing. He is training in California in preparation for his first boxing contests against James Wade in Miami, Oklahoma. Whether he has the skills to make the adjustments necessary is questionable, but because of his background he is already creating some interest - but that will quickly fade if he flops.
Nicaraguan Carlos Buitrago is another fighter whose progressed will be watched. Still only 19, he has 19 wins, 14 by KO/TKO with one No Decision. He has been marked for fame by the Nicaraguan fight fraternity from a very early age, with the late Alexis Arguello singing his praise whilst he was still just 15. He turned pro at the age of 16 and fought his first ten round fight just three days after turning 18. His No 2 rating by the WBO is more than flattering, but at last the US audience may get a look at him, as he has overcome visa problems and is scheduled to fight in Hollywood, Florida on Friday night.
Coming up: Arthur Abraham returns to middleweight with a fight on November 5 and a further down the line wants to challenge Felix Sturm for the WBA title. Good fight on the Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson show sees Danny Garcia step up to face former WBO light welter champion Kendall Holt in an IBF eliminator.
Another eliminator sees Britain’s Kell Brook fight Rafal Jackiewicz in what is described as a WBA welter eliminator, curious as Brook was relegated from No 5 to No 6 in the last WBA ratings and Jackiewicz is not rated in the top15! Anthony Dirrell could be the next opponent for IBF super middle title holder Lucien Bute. Fernando Montiel returns to the ring for the first time since his crushing loss to Nonito Donaire as he faces Alvaro Perez in Ensenada on August 20. Montiel, already a three division champion, is looking to make it four by challenging for a version of the featherweight title. As mentioned above Antonio Demarco and Jorge Linares fight for the vacant WBC light title in Los Angeles on October15 and Daniel Geale makes the first defence of his IBF middleweight title against Nigerian Ermosele Albert in Tasmania on August 31. The first world title fight to be held in Tasmania.
Cuban heavy Odlanier Solis returns to the ring on October 14 in Berlin against German Varol Vekilogu. The first fight for Solis since his knee injury loss to Vitali Klitschko in March, and in Tokyo on October 31 Koki Kameda defends his WBA bantam title against unbeaten Mexican David De La Mora.
