Thoughts on why Wladimir is using the WBA Title to elude Anthony Joshua

Published

8 years ago

October 20, 2016

Elude Anthony Joshua – This time last week it looked certain that IBF heavyweight title holder Anthony Joshua 17-0 (17) was going to defend his title against former lineal champ Wladimir Klitschko 64-4 (53) on December 10th. But Klitschko went off in a different direction, spurning Joshua for a Dec. 10^th match with Lucas Browne in Hamburg, Germany. The reason for spurning Joshua, according to Klitschko, is that the WBA refused to sanction the bout and he wanted the bout to be for both titles. This doesn’t make sense because with Tyson Fury giving up the lineal belt, the bout with Joshua would have been for the real title.

Over the years I’ve been a defender of Wladimir when he was the subject of some pretty staunch criticism. I grew tired of most media and fans saying he was heartless and only thrived because the heavyweight division was so pedestrian. I retorted that nobody dominates for nearly a decade like Wladimir did without being a special fighter. As a challenger and title holder, Klitschko never ducked or side-stepped anyone who was considered a threat. Never have I questioned his constitution as a fighter, never.

Sadly, because the division which Wladimir ruled was so run-of-the-mill, he never had an opportunity to take part in a super fight. In all the years that he was on top, Klitschko never confronted another fighter his size with equal reach and equal or better skill than him. That was until the UK’s Anthony Joshua emerged. I don’t think it’s the slightest reach to assume that Joshua would’ve represented the most formidable foe Wladimir had ever shared a ring with. And that I believe has a lot to do with why Wladimir had a sudden change of heart and wouldn’t go through with fighting Joshua unless the WBA title was on the line (and even then I’m not sure).

Perhaps Wladimir doesn’t think he can win and is concerned about tarnishing his legacy. Think about this. For the better part of his title reign, boxing fans longed to see Wladimir, or his brother Vitali, matched against a fighter who they didn’t tower over, and who also brought something to the ring that they had to address….such as an abundance of size, power, skill or speed. However, the reality is that that fighter never showed up. This resulted in both Klitschko brothers fighting guys I often referred to as tweeners — meaning they didn’t do any one thing particularly well, and because of that they’d be at the mercy at whatever Wladimir or Vitali dictated they do during the bout. And more often than not, that’s how their bouts unfolded.

Unlike past greats Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes who, like Wladimir Klitschko, dominated for a long period of time, Klitschko never built up the cache of forgiveness if he had a bad night. Ever since Wladimir suffered his first defeat against Ross Purrity, during his second year as a pro, Wladimir has had doubters regarding just how good he really is. In 20 years as a professional fighter, with at least half of those years as a defending title holder, Wladimir never had that career defining signature bout — something that Joshua clearly would’ve represented to him, with the only problem being that he’s now 40 years old and on the decline whereas Joshua, at 27, is entering his prime.

Had Joshua and Klitschko met, neither would’ve held a physical advantage over the other. With that, the fight would’ve come down to who could impose his will and vast skill on the other. But it’s even more than that. Who between them will take the initiative to get off first and put the other on defense? I believe that Joshua would’ve been the one who fought with the greater sense of urgency from the onset. Anthony has complete belief in his power and that he can land it. He fights with the mindset that suggests that he fully believes if he can draw first blood, he’ll not allow his opponent any chance of return once he gets them in trouble and fighting to survive. Conversely, Klitschko enters the ring with shaky confidence and approaches his bouts with steep trepidation. And that’s the wrong sign to send a young-hungry Lion the likes of Anthony Joshua. There’s no doubt in my mind that Joshua knows down to his core that Wladimir wouldn’t come out and go right at him from the opening bell. Klitschko has never approached any fighter that way. Was it plausible to believe Wladimir would change his ways against a fighter his size with faster hands and fight-altering power in either hand? No, of course not.

Wladimir knows today that belts really mean nothing. Had he fought Joshua and defeated him, it would no doubt be the defining moment of his career. However, the risk would’ve been just as dramatic. Had Klitschko fought Joshua and was stopped in dramatic fashion, as I believe he would’ve been, he never could have recovered from that. The talk the next day in most boxing circles would go something like this…..”See, Klitschko was never that good to start with. He feasted on a bunch of no-hopers who lacked boxing skill or legitimate knockout power. The first time he fought a fighter his size with equal skill and faster hands, he was demolished. Joshua proved that Wladimir was a big fish in a small pond and only excelled because the division he dominated was devoid of good fighters.” And sadly, there is some merit to that point of view.

At this time Anthony Joshua firmly looks like the future of the heavyweight division. Even in Klitschko’s prime, Joshua would have been a bad matchup for him. Simply because Joshua can do everything that Wladimir could, only he can put his punches together even faster and more fluidly. In addition to that, Joshua doesn’t enter the ring with the trepidation that Wladimir has had since he lost to Puritty. Joshua fights with total confidence and doesn’t fear letting his hands go. Granted, there are some questions surrounding just how good Joshua’s chin is. He was really shook by Dillian Whyte a couple bouts back, and Whyte isn’t close to being the puncher that Wladimir Klitschko still is. The problem for Wladimir in fighting Joshua is that Joshua would have undoubtedly gone right after him and within seconds of the bout Klitschko would’ve been on the defense. Therefore Klitschko’s experience advantage and the unknown regarding Joshua’s chin would have never come into play.

Wladimir Klitschko is a very wealthy man. Sure, he would’ve earned more money fighting Joshua than he had in any other fight during his career. But the risk was too great when the money probably wouldn’t have changed his lifestyle. He lost an ugly fight to Tyson Fury in his last bout, and along with that went his title. However, he wasn’t beaten up or embarrassed. The chances of him saying that after fighting Joshua are not in his favor. And it is for that reason I believe Klitschko used the WBA title not being on the line as his means of getting around fighting Joshua.

The question now is whether he can defeat Lucas Browne and, if so, will he continue to fight. If he does, eventually fighting Joshua will be an issue. Only then Wladimir will be that much older and Joshua will be that much more experienced and confident.

Elude Anthony Joshua – / Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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The 50 Greatest Lightweights of All Time: Part Five (10-1)

Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

9 hours ago

April 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Haney-Garcia-Redux-with-the-Focus-on-Harvey-Dock

Saturday’s skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, and yet a hugely entertaining fight fused with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were celebrated – the former for fooling all the experts and the latter for his gallant performance in a losing effort – but there were only brickbats for the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock.

Devin Haney was plainly ahead heading into the seventh frame when there was a sudden turnabout when Garcia put him on the canvas with his vaunted left hook. Moments later, Dock deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch coming out of a break. The deduction forced a temporary cease-fire that gave Haney a few precious seconds to regain his faculties. Before the round was over, Haney was on the deck twice more but these were ruled slips.

The deduction, which effectively negated the knockdown, struck many as too heavy-handed as Dock hadn’t previously issued a warning for this infraction. Moreover, many thought he could have taken a point away from Haney for excessive clinching. As for Haney’s second and third trips to the canvas in round seven, they struck this reporter – watching at home – as borderline, sufficient to give referee Dock the benefit of the doubt.

In a post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia faulted the referee for denying him the satisfaction of a TKO. “At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,” said Garcia. “He could have stopped that fight.”

Those that played the rounds proposition, placing their coin on the “under,” undoubtedly felt the same way.

The internet lit up with comments assailing Dock’s competence and/or his character. Some of the ponderings were whimsical, but they were swamped by the scurrilous screeching of dolts who find a conspiracy under every rock.

Stephen A. Smith, reputedly America’s highest-paid TV sports personality, was among those that felt a need to weigh-in: “This referee is absolutely terrible….Unreal! Horrible officiating,” tweeted Stephen A whose primary area of expertise is basketball.

Harvey Dock

Dock fought as an amateur and had one professional fight, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice on a show at a non-gaming resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that as an amateur he was merely average, but he was better than that, a New Jersey and regional amateur champion in 1993 and 1994 while a student New Jersey’s Essex County Community College where he majored in journalism.

A passionate fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he started officiating amateur fights in 1998 and six years later, at age 32, had his first documented action at the professional level, working low-level cards in New Jersey. The top boxing referees, to a far greater extent than the top judges, had long apprenticeships, having worked their way up from the boonies and Dock is no exception.

Per boxrec, Haney vs Garcia was Harvey Dock’s 364^th assignment in the pros and his forty-second world title fight. Some of those title fights were title in name only, they weren’t even main events, but, bit by bit, more lucrative offerings started coming his way.

On May 13, 2023, Dock worked his first fights in Nevada, a 4-rounder and then a 12-rounder on a card at the Cosmopolitan topped by the 140-pound title fight between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. It was the first time that this reporter got to watch Dock in the flesh.

Ironically (in hindsight), the card would be remembered for the actions of a referee, in this case Tony Weeks who handled the main event. Barroso was winning the fight on all three cards when Weeks stepped in and waived it off in the ninth round after Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and let loose a barrage of punches, none of which landed cleanly. Few “premature stoppages” were ever as garishly, nay ghoulishly, premature.

With all the brickbats raining down on Weeks, I felt a need to tamp down the noise by diverting attention away from Tony Weeks and toward Harvey Dock and took to the TSS Forum to share my thoughts. Referencing the 12-rounder, a robust junior welterweight affair between Batyr Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr, I noted that Dock’s Las Vegas debut went smoothly. He glided effortlessly around the ring, making him inconspicuous, the mark of a good referee. (This post ran on May 15, two days after the fight.)

Folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Dock was back in Las Vegas the following week to referee the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko and before the year was out, he would be tabbed to referee the biggest non-heavyweight fight of the year, the July 29 match in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

The Haney-Garcia fight wasn’t Harvey Dock’s best hour, I’ll concede that, but a closer look at his full body of work informs us that he is an outstanding referee.

—

While the Haney-Garcia bout was in progress, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curve ball, tweeting on “X” that Devin Haney would keep his title if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, was under the impression that the title would become vacant in the event that Haney lost.

Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.

FYI: The Corrales-Castillo rematch, originally scheduled for June 3, 2005 and aborted on the day prior when Castillo failed to make weight, finally came off on Oct. 8 of that year, notwithstanding the fact that Castillo failed to make weight once again, scaling three-and-a-half pounds above the lightweight limit. He knocked out Corrales in the fourth round with a left hook that Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer Kevin Iole, alluding to the movie “Blazing Saddles,” described as Mongo-esque (translation: the punch would have knocked out a horse). After initially insisting on a rubber match, which had scant chance of happening, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, Mauricio’s late father, ruled that Corrales could keep his title.

Whether or not you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman’s rationale, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.

Haney’s mandatory is Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. A bout between Haney and Martin has the earmarks of a dull fight.

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In a Shocker, Ryan Garcia Confounds the Experts and Upsets Devin Haney

Published

2 days ago

April 21, 2024

David A. Avila

In-a-Shocker-Ryan-Garcia-Confounds-the-Experts-and-Upsets-Devin-Haney

Its good to be crazy. Like a fox.

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia knocked down WBC super lightweight titlist Devin Haney three times to remind everyone of his fighting abilities in winning by majority decision on Saturday.

“I just knew what I could do,” Garcia said.

Fans will not forget the lanky kid from Victorville, California now.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) fooled everyone in playing crazy weeks before the fight, then showed shocking power to hand Haney (30-1, 15 KOs) his first loss as a professional at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Haney’s WBC super lightweight title was not at stake for Garcia because he weighed three pounds over the limit.

After Garcia seemingly acting out of control on social media, Haney’s guard must have slipped in the first round during the first few seconds as Garcia connected with that hellish left hook and Haney, with a look of shock in his eyes, almost went down. He barely survived the first round.

“He caught me with it,” said Haney.

During the next few rounds, Haney proceeded to advance toward Garcia seemingly fully aware of the lethal left hook. He used feints and rights to score with a busier approach as Garcia seemed cocked and ready to counter with a left hook.

In the fourth round it seemed Haney was confident he had regained control of the fight, but every time he opened up with more than a two-punch combination Garcia reminded him whose hands were faster and more dangerous.

Though Garcia seldom jabbed he seemed bent on looking for the right moment to unleash his deadly left hook. And every time the Southern California fighter opened up with a combination he scored and Haney dare not exchange.

A few times Haney smiled as if signifying he escaped.

In the seventh round Haney looked to punish Garcia’s body and instead was met with a three-punch combination included a left hook to the chin and down went Haney slumped on the ground. He managed to beat the count and as soon as Garcia came within reach Haney wrapped his arms around him with a python grip. Despite the warnings by referee Harvey Dock, the fallen fighter would not release and Garcia impatiently fired a weak punch during the break. The referee deducted a point from Garcia though he could have deducted a point from Haney for not obeying his instructions to release his hold. Haney actually went down three times in the round but only one was counted by the referee.

From that point on Haney was very cautious but still looking to win by decision.

Though Garcia kept using a shoulder-roll defense that left his body exposed, he would retaliate with three and four punch combinations that usually Haney could defend against other fighters.. But Garcia’s blazing combinations were too fast to defend.

In the 10^th round Haney looked to attack and was countered by Garcia’s right and a blinding left hook to the chin and another two blows that sent the former undisputed lightweight champion to the floor again.

It didn’t look good for Haney to survive.

Garcia walked into the 11^th round still composed and never out-of-control He dared Haney to exchange and when within striking distance Garcia unleashed another lightning combination and down went Haney again with a defeated look.

Both fighters had fought each other as amateurs six times so there were no surprises between them. But Garcia’s power and speed were superior and that was the difference in a professional fight.

In the final round both were cautious with Garcia’s combination punching proving too dangerous for Haney to open up. Garcia celebrated early as the round ended confident of victory.

After 12 rounds Garcia was seen the victor by majority decision 112-112, 114-110, 115-109.

“You really thought I was crazy,” Garcia told the interviewer and the crowd. “You guys hated on me.”

Other Bouts

Arnold Barboza (30-0) won a curious split decision victory over United Kingdom’s Sean McComb (18-2) in a 10-round super lightweight fight. McComb’s long reach and busy southpaw style gave Barboza trouble. But he managed to win the fight though the crowd was not pleased.

Bektemir Melikuziev (14-1, 10 KOs) defeated France’s Pierre Dibombe (22-1-1) by technical decision after eight rounds due to a cut on his eye from an accidental head butt. It was a very competitive super middleweight fight.

Costa Rica’s David Jimenez (16-1, 11 KOs) outworked John “Scrappy Ramirez (13-1, 9 KOs) in a 12-round scrap to upset the Los Angeles based fighter. After a few close rounds Jimenez simply bullied his way inside and forced Ramirez against the ropes and unloaded his guns.

After 12 rounds two judges saw it 117-111 and 116-114 all for Jimenez.

“I’m a hard-working man from Cartago I come from nothing,” said Jimenez. “My corner told me I had to work inside.”

Charles Conwell (19-0, 14 KOs) stepped on the gas early with vicious body shots and uppercuts and blasted through the resilient Nathaniel Gallimore (22-8-1, 17 KOs) for several rounds. After a brutal fifth and sixth round the referee halted the one-side beating in favor of Conwell who was fighting for the first time under the Golden Boy banner.

Another winner was Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-5) by decision over Vaughn Alexander (18-11-1) in a super middleweight match.

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Haney and Garcia: Bipolar Opposites

Published

3 days ago

April 20, 2024

TSS Press

Haney and Garcia: Bipolar Opposites

One young man flew halfway around the world to take on a world champion in his own living room; not once, but twice. The other young man quit prior to one fight, and then again during another one.

The first guy mentioned is an obedient son of an ultra-streetwise father. The type of parent where, if he doesn’t know the answer (and more times than not he most likely does), he will know where to find it. The second guy doesn’t appear to have that quality guidance scenario going on for him, which is probably for the best, because he believes he has all the answers.

The first guy is on record as saying he wants to go down in boxing history as an all-time great. The other guy? He decided not to continue in a fight while he was still sporting an undefeated record. You may think to yourself if there was ever a time to soldier through, right?

Then yesterday, that same guy missed making weight by 3.2 pounds, and seemed to be more than fine with it, to the point where he actually appeared to be quite pleased with himself.

If you haven’t heard, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia are going to share a boxing ring in a twelve round go for God knows what will be at stake by the time they actually punch off. The fact that no one from Garcia’s team has stepped in and rescued him from these unfolding events, his own personal well-being, and/or not to mention Devin Haney is, well, troubling in and of itself.

Back in the amateur days, the record shows they split six fights. They were boys back then, so it means zero. If anything, you’d want to be the older of the two, and Ryan had over a three-month age advantage. If you’ve only been on the planet for a total of 120 months or so, every extra month could be a big enough difference in strength and development. Now as world class professionals in their prime? That’s different. Younger is always better. Devin is that guy.

Haney and Garcia fought six times for free but will fight only once as professionals. Then one of them will continue with their march for historic greatness, while the other will head back to Kamp Krazy, where he’s the current Mayor.

It’s never smart to lay 8-1, 9-1 in boxing. And if you see taking Garcia as a value bet with +500 to +600 and beyond, you don’t understand value and you evidently don’t like money.

There is, however, a wagering opportunity here.

Total Rounds: Fight doesn’t go 10.5 rounds.

Take anything over +125. It’s worth a unit on a scale of 5. Logically, there are a lot of ways to cash this ticket: legitimate victory, meltdown, catching lightning in a bottle, etc. Or simply the exiting stage left of a guy who may be already plotting his next career move.

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