10.02.07 – By Andy Olsen: I suppose I could have written two articles here, one covering last nights’ action, the other highlighting the state of the fight game in Britain at present. Yet, as they are interlinked to an extent, I’ll include them both here. Basically, there’s a few ways of looking at British Boxing right now. Having just come away from watching two young British fighters give their all for the Lonsdale belt, I can certainly highlight the positives. However still shaking my head in disbelief at an announcement made just this week, I feel compelled to talk about the downside as well..
So let’s begin on a high note. The recent resurgence and renewed significance of the British title can only be a good thing for our game. It has given us some superb domestic scraps, such as the one I am about to cover. Carl Johansson and Ricky Burns gave us 12 exciting rounds, with Johansson emerging victorious in front of his adoring and vocal home fans at the Town Hall in Leeds.
From the onset, Johansson dominated the contest. His pressure throughout was too much for the challenger, who hails from Coatbridge in Scotland. He was able to neutralise Burn’s height and reach advantages (At 5’10 Burns is freakishly tall for a super-featherweight), by cleverly targeting the body and moving in with decent hooks and uppercuts. In stark contrast, Burns wasn’t allowed to get into a rhythm, swinging wildly and subsequently missing with pot-shots.
As a result, Johansson was able to take the early rounds. Burns was able to settle a little in round 5, finally using some decent combinations to the champions’ head and body. The rally was only brief however, with Johansson coming back and re-establishing his dominance. He put his opponent down in the 7th with a good left hook, and this left Burns needing a knockout on the judges’ scorecards. 3 KO’s in his 16 fight career suggested it was unlikely, and the way Johansson had taken charge meant it was even less so.
The remainder of the fight suggested that Johansson may well go onto higher honours. He put Burns down twice more, due to the volume of punches rather than the power in them. He closed the contest out effectively and deservedly was awarded the victory, by a wide margin, on all three judges’ cards. The spirit in which it was fought throughout deserves to be commended. With the exception of issuing a warning to Johansson for a stray low shot, Referee Howard Foster would surely have enjoyed the contest as much as the rest of us, only having to become involved to issue a count for the knockdown.
Johansson-Burns follows in the footsteps of other decent domestic affairs. Anyone who witnessed the Jamie Moore-Matthew Mackin fight in September will testify to the brutal yet thrilling nature of the contest. Both fighters gave their all in trying to retain/win the British light middleweight title respectively. Moore prevailed after 11 incredibly hard-fought rounds. And let us not forget the recent Lenny Daws-Barry Morrison scrap, which again featured two guys giving their all (Morrison became the champion with a split-decision win).
So what of the significance of all of this? Well, let us not forget that in days gone by, British fighters went down the route of challenging for British, Commonwealth, and European honours. These titles meant something in their own right, but they also meant the better British fighters could go on to challenge for a valid world title. This route was recognised by the British public, and the titles and route taken gave the fighters involved in such contests credibility. Also, legitimate opposition led to the fighter gaining more experience, which in turn would serve them well at the higher level.
However, the ridiculous amount of “world” titles on offer took this credibility away. Over the past few years we have seen decent British fighters taking on unheard of overseas opponents for inter-continental titles and the like. The likes of Ryan Rhodes and Wayne Alexander beating Eastern Europeans with deceiving and flattering records for such a title, then telling us it meant something did the sport no good whatsoever, in the eyes of a confused and disinterested general public. Even Ricky Hatton was not oblivious to such goings on, competing for and defending the WBU title against fighters who were clearly not in his league.
Sky TV lost the services of fighters under Frank Warrens’ Sports Network promotional banner in 2005. When this happened, they made a strategic shift, choosing to decry the meaningless titles, and instead highlight the importance of decent and significant contests. Moore, Morrison, and Johansson will testify the British title does indeed mean something today, and the way in which they and their opponents have fought for them further enhance this standing.
Terrestrial television channel ITV made an agreement with Warren, and returned to showing boxing, on a regular basis, after an absence of over a decade. Those people, myself included, who feel that ITV’s return to boxing was only a positive thing, may now find themselves revising such an opinion. At first it looked like fighters like Joe Calzaghe would become the household names, like previous, less talented fighters before them did. The initial signs were positive, with Calzaghe putting on an unforgettable master class versus the much heralded Jeff Lacy.
However, a look at the revised card of the “super show” that is taking place at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff tells us we shouldn’t be getting too excited. The initial talk was of Calzaghe taking on the likes of unbeaten Dane Mikkel Kessler. It was even mentioned that Warren and company were going to try and tempt Bernard Hopkins to prolong his career. Sadly, it was all just talk, and Calzaghe finds himself taking on the reality TV star Peter Manfredo.
I’ve chosen to be kind to Joe and Warren in this instance. He has been a World Champion for almost ten years, and always stepped a level where required. Calzaghe’s huge fan base will still be out in force, in order to see their favourite son make what should be little more than a gloved appearance (though his talk of not being motivated for this is a concern, we’ll cover that nearer the time). He gets a relatively straight forward task, and can surely look forward to taking the deserved plaudits of his adoring countrymen.
It initially looked like the undercard would still give us all value for money, with Enzo Maccarinelli taking on David Haye in a mouth watering clash for the WBO Cruiserweight title. This could have been a classic, with boxing forums such as ESB’s own highlighting the genuine 50-50 nature of the contest.
Sadly, it was too good to be true. Believe what you like, out of Haye’s representatives made new demands, or Warren made a last minute request for promotional options on Haye’s next few fights. Either way, it meant Haye didn’t sign the contract, and we were denied this match up. In addition to the boxing public, the fighters both lost out. Haye could, at least in part, have proven to us that he had learnt from his only loss, a fifth round stoppage versus Carl Thompson in 2003. Maccarinelli, through no fault of his own, hadn’t beaten the champion to claim the title, as previous titlist Johnny Nelson had retired through injury. A win over Haye would have enhanced his standing in a considerable way.
The “Rocky” feel that seems to have engulfed the show can’t be ignored. The winner of the show that the Stallone movie inspired, “the contender”, is in the main event. Sugar Ray Leonard, Stallone’s partner on the show, is training Manfredo (Freddie Roach left Manfredo upon becoming Oscar De La Hoya’s trainer for the Mayweather fight). The undercard has also became affected, as Maccarinelli has now found himself defending his title against somebody named Bobby “the Machine” Gunn. Once again, the lack of Russians named Drago in the fight game continues to be bemoaned at by promoters worldwide. I’m starting to admit to being livid right now that my parents chose not to name me Apollo or Clubber; maybe I’d have been on the card.
If he was coming off a crushing KO loss I could begin to understand it. As it stands, the sanctioning of this is beyond me; even taking into account today’s much less stringent standards. The discussion of this guy on ESB’s superb British forum needed to be verified, due to the somewhat outlandish nature of the statistics the posters have offered. I mean, he couldn’t possibly have been independently ranked as the number 168 Cruiserweight in the world, had an 11 year layoff, and been previously knocked out in two as a welterweight, surely? Sadly, the knowledgeable folks who contribute are right on the money on all counts. Gunn began his career at 147lbs in 1989. He has fought 18 times in all. He was down three times and TKO’d in a bid to win the IBA title, but it was changed to a no-decision when his opponent failed a drugs test.
Perhaps the other 167 cruisers said they were busy on the 7th April.
British boxing remains in the “could do better” category. Finally some young talent are going through the ranks the tried and tested old school way, gaining credibility and experience, entertaining us along the way. Yet when the bigger audience is watching, they get served with “world” title fights that suggest the game is in a far less healthy state than it actually is. Perhaps the BBBC should be looking into this. They could start by insisting that Maccarinelli, a guy who could well be genuine world class, gets to be involved in a decent contest in Cardiff. For his sake.