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Anger Management II: Chisora-Haye Signed

Published

13 years ago

May 10, 2012

fac75 120219125057-chisora-haye-brawl-00000906-story-top LONDON EYE OF THE STORM – Will it be class or glass if and when Dereck Chisora and David Haye square off, now scheduled for West Ham's Upton Park on July 14th?

Let's hope it's not a case of the fight or the fighters unraveling, because beneath all the raucous trappings, Chisora – Haye is potentially one of the the best bouts in the current heavyweight landscape. It's easy to imagine the UK lads performing at a crowd rocking level above Robert Helenius versus Tyson Fury, Ruslan Chagaev – Chris Arreola or even, in another galaxy, Klitschko versus Klitschko.

Both Haye, 25-2 (23),and Chisora, 15-3 (9),have prominent personalities and physiques.This fight will not be a hard sell. It will rightfully be the main event while sharing a spotlight with another high profile meeting of mauling mammoths, Alexander Povetkin against Hasim Rahman.

The biggest problem with the fight probably won't have anything to do with misbehavior or injury, but whether or not the announced primary promoter, Frank Warren, will be able to come to completely comfortable terms with the principals, mainly Hayemaker Inc.

A pretty good picture of what to expect during this promotion was on display at Tuesday's press conference. While separated by a wire fence type barrier the gentlemen shared a now typical exchange the sounds like an early lounge act.

“The last time I saw Haye he pulled a knife on me,” said Chisora.

“I was eating a steak,”said Haye.

One group that finds the entire proposal unacceptable, and has undertaken efforts to stop the fight from occurring, at least on UK soil,is the British Boxing Board of Control. The Board released a statement that anyone involved with the bout would have their licences suspended.

That sounds a bit prudish at this point. Let the fellows settle it in the ring, and demand an equal perentage from each purse be donated to a couple of varied worthy causes. There will probably be more bumps in the road to fruition before the actual bell sounds.

Also, there is by no means any guarantee a case resulting from the Munich fiasco is completely closed in Germany. Warren might think about having the fighters make some sort of conciliatory gesture toward the Munich authorities, apologizing for how things got out of control in the heat of a moment that will be resolved properly within the strands. Oh, and by the way officer, we'd like to invite you and some of your fine investigators to London so you can see how cooler heads behave.

Since the besieged but still colorful Sun newspaper claims official sponsorship, it may get hard to distinguish rumor from rumble.There will be plenty of splashy potential coverage on issues like who gets what corner, the order of introductions and ring walks, and stuff like the selection of gloves. It wouldn't be the worst sight to have Page 3 girls carry the round cards.

31 year old Haye was reluctant to engage with either Wladimir Klitschko or Nikolai Valuev, and while the trash talker seems less aggressive when actually stood up to, he showed, with creative use of a juice bottle and camera stand that he is not sheepish when it comes to a real street fight. Maybe, it being London and all, they could get Jagger and Richard to play “Street Fighting Man” for a theme song.

28 year old Chisora proved his mettle fighting solid competition and proved the even a losing effort can appropriately mean more than steamrolling futile foes.
From a more serious angle, the bout does contain legitimate factors regarding prominence in the heavyweight division. On their good nights, both Haye and Chisora possess the punch and the pugnacity to remain legitimate contenders in the big boy rankings.

There will be more in-depth analysis at a later point, but for now I'll just say it's not hard to picture either guy winning. Haye seems to have the smarts and skills, Chisora seems to have the brawn and the balls.

Of course,in the era of the brothers Klitschko, being a legitimate contender basically means someone who can lumber past the rest of the thundering herd. It does not necessarily imply that said contender could win half a round against either Vitali or Wladimir.

It's already been proven neither Haye or Chisora was anywhere near a match for a Klitschko.Still, a strong showing by either The Hayemaker or Del Boy could lead to a lucrative K2 rematch. Each man has that strong a “personality”, a crucial commodity in times when the Klitschko are almost desperate for opponents worthy of large scale attention.

There's no doubt that these days the talk overshadows the walk throughout many endeavors. There's a real possibility Haye and Chisora have already had their primary YouTube moment. There is also a great chance that both Haye and Chisora show up and let it all hang out.

If they fight as crazed inside the ring as they did inside the Munich media center, we could get another behemoth brawl a la George Foreman- Ron Lyle.

Chisora's attitude looks like a conking catalyst for Haye to resort to the less civilized type conduct he says he pursued during younger days.

As for the title holding Kbros, there's a good chance the siblings would make the trip to London just out of curiosity, in addition to a bit of the self-promotional style Haye introduced them to. Public curiosity alone should propel the fight to a sellout of around 40,000. Maybe a football game will break out.

You'll probably be able to get wagering lines on situations like that with all the bookies and on-line betting advertised in the UK. This contest opens a wild world of opportunities for abstract betting lines, the like of which have never been seen, even in Sparks, Nevada.

The odds of a meltdown are more likely than those of a knockdown.

Will Chisora go for the toe or will it be toe to toe trading?

That and an occasionally stinky pile of questions arise from this matchmaker's massively marketable mayhem.Whether you like titanic tilts or train wrecks, this could be a dream fight.

It could get even more interesting.

It could get even more weird.

“He glassed me!”

“My toe hurts!”

It will probably not get dull.

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Phil Woolever

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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