Articles

Giving the Public What They Want : Haye – Chisora Final Odds

Published

12 years ago

July 14, 2012

chiz WHERE THE MOUTH IS – Perhaps if Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are really serious about actually wanting to fight each other they'll take a page from the David Haye – Dereck Chisora book of self-promotion and settling your differences.If there's ever going to be a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown, somebody needs to start a brawl, not worry about contracts.

While Haye and Chisora definitely acted the part of foolish thugs in Munich, there was no acting in terms of animosity.I can tell you from firsthand knowledge that German law enforcement was still investigating the incident after Haye-Chisora was signed, announced and advertised.

The obvious solution, in a public sporting world feud, was a fair fight. The principals receive a nice payday and the fans, hopefully, get to watch a spirited slugfest.

It's silly how people who agree on the civility of two individuals, who are often very proficient assaulters,getting into a ring to conk each other into submission can then bellow of impropriety when emotions boil over, as if that's the last thing to ever be expected.

A rematch could be an even greater spectacle. Line Haye and Chisora up on opposite ends of Hamburg's “Sinful Mile”, the longest red light district in Europe. Boxing has long been described, often pridefully, as that area of the sporting spectrum, and to many this fight represents a brothel of bruises. It has been tagged an outlaw bout by top commentators.

Proper commissions are outraged.

Respectable promoters are offended.

Many fans are happy. Ticket sales, obviously, are hot.

Haye, who weighed in at a sculpted 210,and Chisora,heavy but powerful looking at 247,marketed their mayhem into quite a nice payday.

It wasn't the most diplomatic way to proceed,but if the boxers can shake hands and conduct themselves well during and after the match, it can be said they improved both bad behavior and a bad situation. It will be interesting to see if the audience embraces one guy or the other.

Chisora has pretty much established his position in the mauling marketplace, and can remain a good earner for as long as his rugged frame can keep him competitive.

For Haye however, another showing at anything less than the fair to middling form he showed against John Ruiz or Audley Harrison, and he could be disgraced in earning power. After a good spring for UK boxing it's easy for Haye's disgusted viewers to jump bandwagons with fighters like Carl Froch, Amir Kahn or Tyson Fury. Fury's claim to beating Chisora fair and square has risen in status despite Chisora losing a pair of punchouts since then.
Recent records, ruckus or reactions aside, the Chisora – Haye engagement is no train wreck.

In fact, it could be defined as a prime example of how to take care of business, both professional and personal. By comparison, negotiations for Mayweather – Pacquiao are what really jumped the tracks, into wreckage.

Haye and Chisora have simply been themselves, however you want to define that. Now we get to see them represent themselves under specifically controlled conditions.Judging from the 30,000 or so tickets sold, it isn't the most unpopular product.

This is a good heavyweight matchup between contenders battling for a spot around the middle of the current heavyweight pack. It is completely plausible that the winner could meet a Klitschko down the line. Haye, around Western Europe at least,apparently still represents a better potential payday for K2 than most other challengers in most other locations.

For Chisora, this could be the ticket to an early,comfortable retirement fund bout next. Perhaps how deeply he understands that factor represents how much of a chance he has to win. A Chisora-Wladimir Klitschko battle has already been cancelled twice, so the old “unfinished business” angle is right there if Chisora wins. Promoter Frank Warren has done such a good job building this gate and fending off obstacles it shouldn't be hard to convince K2 of the profit margin in coming to England for a party, barring tax concerns.

The fence between the men is a proven,great gimmick. One wonders if subliminal level it does inspire a bit of extra adrenaline once the barriers are down.

About the only thing that might keep this from being a wild night is if one fighter immediately hurts his hand on the other fellow's extremely hard head.

Round one will resemble the Munich press room, with more formalized proceedings.Each man is going to be at ring center quickly, trying for immediate control, and to dish out a little early pain if possible. The heavier Chisora will be mauling from each side, and Haye, remembering “glassing” success, will be aiming straight up the middle. Somewhere along the way, the busier Chisora is going to make Haye counter explosively, leaving himself (Haye)open. Somebody will get caught and dazed like that, and whoever it is probably won't get off the hook. Since Haye is slicker,quicker and carries the bigger punch he seems like a prohibitive favorite, but Chisora has demonstrated his strength and willingness to fight hard against top heavyweights.His recent form, even in loses, is better than Haye's. Measuring them solely from title fights against K2, Chisora gets a slight edge in intangibles.

So the final odds in the Wooly Sportsbook are:

Haye to Win : 7-5

Chisora to get Haye in Trouble : even

Fight to go Over 9 rounds : – 150 (more likely to go longer)

Haye by DQ within 7 :50-50

Someone to Call for a Klitschko Again :been there enough.

Either Fighter to Fail Postfight Testing : let's hope not

All lads from each camp to go out for a pint afterward : you never know, this is boxing

Therein lies the primary attraction of this fight. Either guy could go nuts.

Which takes us back to the train wreck.

Let's hope everything stays on track for a great night of heavyweight boxing in London.

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Phil Woolever

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 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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Articles

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

Published

8 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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Articles

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

Published

8 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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