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Johnathon Banks Had An “Off Night,” Promoter Explains

Published

7 years ago

June 27, 2013

Promoter Tom Loeffler was in NYC for the final presser ahead of Saturday’s clash pitting his guy, Gennady Golovkin, against Matthew Macklin. At the steakhouse Gallagher’s, I asked Loeffler to weigh in on the performance last Saturday night at Barclays Center by his heavyweight, Johnathon Banks. I was there, and it wasn’t stellar. The crowd in Brooklyn booed Banks and foe Seth Mitchell pretty viciously, for coasting during long stretches of the fight. I asked Loeffler what was up with Banks.

He said that while Team Banks didn’t want to use it as an excuse, the boxer hurt both his hands, and that affected him mightily. “But it was an off night,” he said. “And we have to give Seth credit.”

Indeed, Mitchell (on right, vs. Banks, left, at Barclays) was coming off a TKO loss to Banks, back in November, so he did what he thought he needed to do to 1) stay off his back and 2) win. No, it didn’t make for a fan-friendly show, and his hesitance, combined with Banks’ strange reticence, made it appear that at times, neither man was giving full effort. As fans, all we can properly do is ask that the people we pay to see perform give their best effort, and if they don’t, then I think paying customers have grounds for complaint. They don’t, however, in my opinion, have grounds for asserting or insinuating that Banks threw the fight. I’ve seen that theory floated on the Net, and please, that’s not fair to Banks or the game to casually throw that out there. Never mind, I don’t see how or why someone starts off OK, and looks to hurt and stop his foe, as Banks did…and only then goes on cruise control, to drop a decision. Would the bet have been EITHER KO win before three, OR decision loss?

Loeffler said fractured knuckles, one on each hand, which occured in round one and two, made Banks unable to commit to his shots. “Like most boxers, he does have a higher tolerance to pain than us, but it didn’t help during the fight,” he said. “I don’t think it was a matter of him not wanting it, wanting to win. But he couldn’t explain it. He just had an off night.”

I asked if it indicated that his heart isn’t in it, that he’d rather just train Wladimir Klitschko, rather than glove up himself. “No, Banks is one of the most mentally strong guys I know,” Loeffler said. “He’s not afraid of success. He still wants to fight.”

Many eyes will be on him in his next fight, to see if that is so. Not as many eyes as would have been on him if he’d stopped Mitchell again, and kept up the momentum from that statement fight, however…

Loeffler also offered an update on what’s next for Vitali Klitschko. The WBC heavyweight champion, he said, is counting down to a July 22 purse bid, to hash out terms to make a fight with his “mandatory,” Bermane Stiverne. Stiverne beat Cris Arreola for the right to meet Vitali, and his promoter, Don King, will co-promote the bout-in-the-works. Will a deal be hashed out before July 22, or will it go to purse bid, I asked.

“Fifty-fifty,” Loeffler answered.

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Michael Woods

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

5 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

5 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

5 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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