17.05.05 – By Paul Ruby: Recently, two major boxing networks – Showtime and ESPN – have taken a bold step and elected to show elite-level main events from the Cruiserweight division. This Friday evening, O’Neill Bell takes on Dale Brown for the vacant IBF Cruiserweight title on ESPN..
On paper and in reality, it is a risky gamble for a major network to place a fight from an overlooked division in its main event. Still, there is some precedent. Until the 1980’s, only the most rabid boxing fans payed any mind to fights taking place below the lightweight limit. Around that time, though, Salvador Sanchez, Danny “Little Red” Lopez, and Azumah Nelson showed that featherweights could also make for some truly memorable scraps. Still, the progression was slow until the late-90’s when the trio of Marco Antonio Barrera, Prince Naseem Hamed, and Erik Morales propelled the featherweight and junior featherweight division into the boxing mainstream.
In the 80’s, Evander Holyfield made for great fights in the Cruiserweight division against foes like Dwight Qawi and Carlos “Sugar” DeLeon, but the division has never been able to shake its reputation as a proving ground for fighters with their sights set firmly on the big boys a few pounds north. Today, the cruiserweight division has some exciting fighters, but it does not appear to boxing’s deepest. I seriously doubt that the trio of Mormeck, Braithwaite, and Bell can hold a candle to the great fights between Barrera, Hamed, and Morales. Nonetheless, they can still make for some entertaining bouts, and we will likely be privy to one this Friday night.
O’Neill Bell will seek to claim the elusive IBF title against Brown. Now, get ready because the turns and plots twists that led up to this bout sound like something out of an episode of “Dallas” – there’s been a bunch of back-dealing and no one really knows the whole truth. O’Neill Bell has twice won IBF title eliminators, but this will be his first crack at the belt itself. In his first eliminator two years ago, Bell overcame a shaky start to stop Kelvin Davis in the 11th. Davis’ people complained that Bell hit him while he was down, and the IBF ordered a rematch. Bell chose not comply and moved on. After winning his second eliminator against the shaky-chinned Ezra Sellers, Bell set himself up for a shot against Davis and the belt (that Davis won from Sellers) this past February. Unfortunately, both Davis and Bell (particularly the former) have undergone some managerial troubles and, consequently, Davis dropped out of that rematch and vacated the belt once again. Tired of the waiting game, the IBF forced the Bell/Brown fight for the vacant title. So, that’s where we stand today. O’Neill Bell is finally getting his shot at a legitimate belt and, in my opinion, it’s long overdue.
O’Neill Bell is a talented athlete and a very good fighter. Personally, I feel he’s the most talented fighter in the cruiserweight division today. He has power that cannot be taught and moves fluidly in the ring. Bell also has the rare ability to both lead (as he did against Sellers) and counterpunch (as he did against Davis). Bell is fairly tall for a cruiserweight. From what I’ve seen, the only thing that Bell really lacks is big-fight experience. Still, he has shown flashes of being wise beyond his years. In two fights with Arthur Williams (who gave a young Chris Byrd all sorts of hell), Bell showed an ability to pick an opponent apart inside and consistently made Williams pay for not tucking his chin. Still, Bell has two weaknesses that really stem from him still being a better athlete than boxer at this point. First, he sometimes has trouble transitioning between offense and defense – he does one successfully, but often at the expense of the other. Also, Bell will sometimes abandon his jab. Personally, I feel that Bell just needs to calm down in the ring and be more faithful to his game-plan (which we just saw Winky Wright do to perfection). Bell has god-given power in both hands, but, like most taller fighters, throws more effective straight punches than hooks. In his fight with Brown, Bell will be well-served to move laterally and work behind a jab for a few rounds. With some early body work (not Bell’s specialty), he should be capable of softening the tough Canadian up enough to stop him late.
Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, this will be Dale Brown’s fourth shot at a piece of the cruiserweight title (though he’s captured a few fringe belts along the way). In each of those bouts, Brown was stopped in the later rounds. In his favor, Brown is a very good boxer, a tough guy, and has a hell of a heart. He’s a FNF favorite; he always gives his absolute best effort and shows up in shape. Typically, that has been enough for him (he is undefeated in all his non-title bouts). Brown has a good jab, keeps his hands high, and he is an effective body puncher. Unfortunately, Brown does not have much in the way of speed or power when he matched with an elite fighter. It is likely that Bell will be able to counter Brown’s punches for most of the night. Brown is a very conventional fighter, and he’s not too creative in the ring. He’s a very straight-up, north-south type boxer. His style works well against inferior opponents, but he has proven to be too predictable for elite cruiserweights.
In this fight, Bell will stop Brown in the 8th while up on the cards roughly 5 rounds to 2. Like the times he’s faced Jirov, Mormeck, and Braithwaite, Dale Brown will have enough heart, but not enough firepower to compete.
Paul Ruby’s Cruiserweight Top Ten
1. Jean-Marc Mormeck
2. O’Neill Bell
3. Wayne Braithwaite
4. Carl Thompson
5. Kelvin Davis
6. Johnny Nelson
7. Dale Brown
8. Virgil Hill (he says he’s fighting again)
9. Steve Cunningham
10 (tie). Grigory Drozd/Alexander Gurov
Lastly, good luck to the ‘Flushing Flash’ Kevin Kelley in his second return bout after a two year lay-off this tuesday night!
One last piece of info: O’Neill Bell and I share a common birthday – December 29th.
Questions? Comments? thepaulruby@hotmail.com