Avila’s Picks for Best Fighters and Moments of 2015

Published

9 years ago

December 22, 2015

BOXING’S BEST FIGHTER 2015

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin didn’t need Floyd Mayweather to retire to prove he’s the new king of boxing. He’s arrived like a comet from Kazakhstan with his “Mexican style” bent on elimination of the opposition as quick as possible. Two times he met and defeated world title challengers with crushing knockouts against Martin Murray and Willie Monroe Jr. Each time the crowds grew larger. Finally, this past October, he met Canada’s David Lemieux the owner of the IBF middleweight title in New York City. Fans quickly shelled out cash and filled 20,000 seats at Madison Square Garden. It was the first time two non-Americans sold out the historic sports palace. The middleweight championship fight was tougher than expected as Golovkin showed off his boxing skills that some doubted he possessed. Jabs, movement and counter-punches rained from the man known as “Triple G” and soon the continuous pounding could not be withstood any more from the courageous Lemieux. Now the boxing world knows all about Golovkin’s abilities. No longer do fans wonder where the next big star will come from, he’s already arrived.

Runners Up: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Sergey Kovalev, and Tyson Fury.

BEST 12-ROUND SCHEDULED FIGHT 2015

Francisco Vargas entered the ring against WBC super featherweight titlist Takashi Miura in Las Vegas on November 21. Both had reputations for high energy action. Both did not disappoint. In the opening round Vargas connected and wobbled the champion badly. It did not look good, but if you saw his fight two years ago in Mexico against Yeyo Thompson it was business as usual. Miura survived and actually turned things around. In the fourth round he knocked down Vargas with a clean one-two combination. Then he proceeded to gain momentum and nearly ended the fight with Vargas in the eighth. It seemed the ninth round would be the end for Vargas, but in a quick turn of events, it was Miura who was caught with some vicious blows and staggered to the ground. Vargas pounced on the valiant Japanese but to no avail. The crowd was in shock at how quickly the fight turned around. Have you ever heard 12,000 fans suddenly go breathless?

KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR 2015

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez met James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland in a super welterweight match that everyone and their cousin predicted would end in a knockout. They were not disappointed. Mexico’s Alvarez and Houston native Kirkland were not about to pull another Mayweather- Pacquiao bore fest and gave the more than 30,000 fans fireworks in May. Dukes were flying and heads were snapping as each had their moments. Suddenly, Alvarez connected with a right that turned Kirkland 180 degrees around and out for the count. It was a brutal and expected ending. The replay of the knockout in slow-motion showed how expert timing and technique can make a difference measured in micro-seconds. Kirkland launched a slightly wide left cross and Alvarez connected with a short quick right cross. It was over immediately. Fans cheered wildly though the fight did not reach the end of three rounds. It was exactly what they paid for and the fighters delivered. Some say it washed the stigma of stagnancy of Mayweather’s very underwhelming win that had America asking itself why they spent nearly $100 on a Mayweather fight card that had no excitement at all after the opening bell. Alvarez and Kirkland gave the fans a reason to return to boxing.

Runner up: Nonito Donaire KO of Anthony Settoul in round 2 on July 18, 2015 in Macao, China.

MOST INCREDIBLE ROUND 2015

12th round Nonito Donaire vs. Cesar Juarez

It was a fight that started slowly with Nonito Donaire winning several one-sided rounds against Mexico’s Cesar Juarez on Dec. 11 in Puerto Rico. Those were the warm up rounds. After the halfway point Juarez began warming up and Donaire’s speed started waning. Suddenly, a real fight was taking shape. It was like watching the Rocky movie as speed, reflexes and power of Donaire were being tested by strength, endurance and willpower of Juarez as fans stared awestruck as each round seemed better than the next. By the 12th and final round, Donaire seemed out of breath and the younger Juarez was near the end too. But they came out swinging from the heels with blood streaming down the face. Each expended every ounce of energy and both seemed super human in their ability to withstand crushing blows. It was mesmerizing as the final bell rang and both warriors continued firing with chests heaving. They both had nothing left to give to the fans and they had given their very best. No other round this year seemed better.

COMEBACK FIGHTER OF 2015

Tim Bradley

After fighting to a draw a year ago and losing to Manny Pacquiao, Tim “Desert Storm” Bradley seemed on the down side of his brilliant career. The Palm Springs speedster had not won a fight in two years. This summer he was matched with junior welterweight champion Jessie Vargas in a welterweight match and dominated most of the fight. In the last round, Bradley was nearly decked by Vargas and seemingly saved from a knockdown when the referee erroneously stopped the fight prematurely a few seconds before the actual bell. Maybe it was destiny. He then was matched against dangerous Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios who had earlier in the year annihilated Mike Alvarado. For the fight Bradley switched trainers and that’s usually a bad thing. But the 32-year-old seemed to benefit from the change of scenery and eager to meet Rios. It was a fight that pit two fighters on the edge of the down side. Bradley prevailed with a scintillating performance that saw him not only out-box Rios but stop the rugged warrior with body punches for a knockout win. It was a surprise ending that nobody saw coming. Bradley certainly does not seem to be waning any longer. He actually seems stronger.

Runner Up: Nonito Donaire.

WORST FIGHT CARD MONEY COULD BUY 2015

When the fight was finally made between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao a gasp was collectively made around the world. It didn’t matter what sport you followed or if you even followed sports. Everyone seemed to want to see the mega fight that had been brewing for nearly nine years. Television stations that commonly ignore boxing suddenly were asking for credentials. Entertainers and news reporters that had no clue about boxing like the Good Morning America show on ABC were talking about “the fight.” Mayweather and Pacquiao both walked away with more than $100 million each. It was staggering how many people wanted to see this fight. Suddenly, America was tuned into the world of boxing. The subsequent fight card should have tipped people to what to expect. It was a lackluster fight card that had no drama and little action. So when the main event took place and Mayweather basically did his best to avoid a fight, fans around the world were shutting down their senses by the fifth round. Pacquiao later said he had injured a shoulder before the fight. Maybe he should have waited. Or maybe, it was just too much Mayweather’s “don’t exchange punches unless it’s safe” philosophy that did Pacman in? Whatever the case the record breaking 4.5 million pay-per-view audience were treated to one of the greatest heists in boxing history. They definitely did not get their money’s worth. Who was to blame?

BEST FIGHT CARD MONEY COULD BUY 2015

Mexico’s Saul Canelo facing Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas was a surefire affair. Any time you match Mexicans against Puerto Ricans fans perk up. History has shown that matching these two countries is gasoline to fire. Just to guarantee action two more match ups featuring Mexicans against Puerto Ricans were added and they did not disappoint. Fans at the Las Vegas fight card got their money’s worth in each of the nationalistic wars. Ronny Rios vs. Jayson Velez; and Jose Martinez vs. Oscar Mojica rounded out the Mexican and Boricua wars that had flag wavers and screamers shouting from the rafters. Each was a razor close war including the main event between Cotto and Alvarez. Despite the wide scores, it seemed Cotto and Alvarez battled heavily for every single round. It was a 12-round fight that seemed to sprint to the end. The action didn’t rival Rios-Velez but did offer a competitive fight that saw Alvarez win the vacant WBC middleweight title. And if you add the Francisco Vargas versus Takashi Miura contest, overall, it was the best fight card of the year.

Runner up: Gennady Golovkin vs. David Lemieux October 17 fight card at Madison Square Garden.

TRAINER EXTRAORDINAIRE

Abel Sanchez

Abel Sanchez sits like a wizard on top of a mountain and receives prizefighters from around the world. After a short period, they emerge like sharpened Ginsu knives ready to cut and destroy all opponents. Of course not every pupil is successful but Sanchez’s numbers are impressive. At the Big Bear training camp called The Summit, he’s wheeled out fighter after fighter into the winner’s circle beginning with Golovkin and including others from all parts of the world. Not many people realize this is not his first walk around the park. Sanchez has been churning out champions for years like Terry Norris, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Lupe Aquino and several others. But now he has finally been given his due. He’s like an ambassador of the “Mexican style” that may not be defensive-minded, but he’s mindful that fans do not pay mega bucks to see someone run from a fight or seldom throw punches. Offense sells tickets, not defense. Television loves offense too. Suddenly, Sanchez is the biggest ticket in the boxing world. It’s definitely his year and Golovkin is his sword.

Runner up: Chepo Reynoso

PROMOTER EXTRAORDINAIRE

Tom Loeffler of K-2 Promotions

It’s the third consecutive year Tom Loeffler has been awarded the Best Promoter designation. Just look at Gennady Golovkin to understand the reason. Not only did Loeffler raise Golovkin from the ashes of European also-rans, he then strategically maneuvered the middleweight from obscurity to the pin up for Nike and Apple television ads. If anyone could do what Loeffler did I’d like to see it. The Los Angeles-based promoter did what a real promoter should do and used his brains and business savvy to plan and implement the course to take. So far, Golovkin stands poised to defend his IBF, WBA and IBO titles and meet Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for the WBC middleweight title in September 2016. The mega event is tentatively set. First, both fighters have other business to attend. Canelo in May against an opponent to be signed and Golovkin will be fighting at least one other opponent before meeting Alvarez. It’s Mexican style versus Mexican style. Loeffler is responsible for the boxing world discovering Triple G. Thank you Mr. Loeffler.

Runner ups: it’s a tie between Kathy Duva of Main Events and Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions.

WORST SCORING

Nicholas Walters and Jason Sosa scoring

Nicholas Walters and Jason Sosa of New Jersey clashed in a 12-round super featherweight bout that most observers felt the Jamaican did the more effective work. The judges scored it a majority draw. It came as a shock to everyone including most of the media attending the fight in Verona, New York. Once again New York judges showed their tendency to award the more local fighter with a favorable judgment to the chagrin of Walters and outsiders.

Runner up: Saul Alvarez vs. Miguel Cotto. It seems Cotto got little credit in their fight that seemed closer than the judge’s scores. I’m not saying Canelo did not win, but those scores were pretty wide.

TOP REFEREE RETIRES

Pat Russell retires this year as a ringside referee. He has been refereeing world title events for decades and throughout the years has been among the best of the best. “I’ll still be judging fights, but I’m done getting in the ring,” said Russell who lives in Southern California. Many consider Russell one of the top judges in professional boxing.

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David A. Avila

Oleksandr Usyk is the TSS 2024 Fighter of the Year

Published

12 hours ago

December 27, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Six years ago, Oleksandr Usyk was named the Sugar Ray Robinson 2018 Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Usyk, who went 3-0 in 2018, boosting his record to 16-0, was accorded this honor for becoming the first fully unified cruiserweight champion in the four-belt era.

This year, Usyk, a former Olympic gold medalist, unified the heavyweight division, becoming a unified champion twice over. On the men’s side, only two other boxers, Terence Crawford (light welterweight and welterweight) and Naoya Inoue (bantamweight and super bantamweight) have accomplished this feat.

Usyk overcame the six-foot-nine goliath Tyson Fury in May to unify the title. He then repeated his triumph seven months later with three of the four alphabet straps at stake. Both matches were staged at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fury was undefeated before Usyk caught up with him.

In the first meeting, Usyk was behind on the cards after seven frames. Fury won rounds 5-7 on all three scorecards. It appeared that the Gypsy King was wearing him down and that Usyk might not make it to the finish. But in round nine, the tide turned dramatically in his favor. In the waning moments of the round, Usyk battered Fury with 14 unanswered punches. Out on his feet, the Gypsy King was saved by the bell.

In the end the verdict was split, but there was a strong sentiment that the right guy won.

The same could be said of the rematch, a fight with fewer pregnant moments. All three judges had Usyk winning eight rounds. Yes, there were some who thought that Fury should have been given the nod but they were in a distinct minority.

Usyk’s record now stands at 23-0 (14). Per boxrec, the Ukrainian southpaw ended his amateur career on a 47-fight winning streak. He hasn’t lost in 15 years, not since losing a narrow decision to Russian veteran Egor Mekhontsev at an international tournament in Milan in September of 2009.

Oleksandr Usyk, notes Paulie Malignaggi, is that rare fighter who is effective moving backwards or forwards. He is, says Malignaggi, “not only the best heavyweight of the modern era, but perhaps the best of many…..At the very least, he could compete with any heavyweight in history.”

Some would disagree, but that’s a discussion for another day. In 2024, Oleksandr Usyk was the obvious pick for the Fighter of the Year.

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A No-Brainer: Turki Alalshikh is the TSS 2024 Promoter of the Year

Published

1 day ago

December 26, 2024

Arne K. Lang

A-No-Brainer-Turki-Alalshikh-is-the-TSS-2024-Promoter-of-the-Year

Years from now, it’s hard to say how Turki Alalshikh will be remembered.

Alalshikh, the head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Some see him as a poacher, a man who snatched away big fights that would have otherwise landed in places like Las Vegas, New York, and London, and planted them in a place with no prizefighting tradition whatsoever merely for the purpose of “sportswashing.” If that be the case, Alalshikh’s superiors, the royal family, will turn off the spigot once it is determined that this public relations campaign is no longer needed, at which time the sport will presumably recede into the doldrums from whence it came.

Be that as it may, there is no doubt that boxing is in much better shape today than it was just a few years ago and that Alalshikh, operating under the rubric of Riyadh Season, is the reason why.

One of the most persistent cavils lobbied against professional boxing is that the best match-ups never get made or else languish on the backburner beyond their “sell-by” date, cheating the fans who don’t get to see the match when both competitors are at their peak. This is a consequence of the balkanization of the sport with each promoter running his fiefdom in his own self-interest without regard to the long-term health of the sport.

With his hefty budget, Alalshikh had the carrot to compel rival promoters to put down their swords and put their most valuable properties in risky fights and he seized the opportunity. All of the sport’s top promoters – Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn (pictured below), Bob Arum, Oscar De La Hoya, Tom Brown, Ben Shalom, and others – have done business with His Excellency.

Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn Flank the big Cheese

The two most significant fights of 2024 were the first and second meetings between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. The first encounter was historic, begetting the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era. Both fights were staged in Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season, the months-long sports and entertainment festival instrumental in westernizing the region.

The Oct. 12 fight in Riyadh between undefeated light heavyweights Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol produced another unified champion. This wasn’t a great fight, but a fight good enough to command a sequel. (Beterviev, going the distance for the first time in his pro career, won a majority decision.) The do-over, buttressed by an outstanding undercard, will come to fruition on Feb. 22 in Riyadh.

Turki Alalshikh didn’t do away with pay-per-view fights, but he made them more affordable. The price tag for Usyk-Fury II in the U.S. market was $39.99. By contrast, the last PBC promotion, the Canelo vs. Berlanga fight on Amazon Prime Video, carried a tag of $89.95 for non-Prime subscribers.

Almost half the U.S. population resides in the Eastern Time Zone. For them, the main event of a Riyadh show goes in the mid- to late-afternoon. This is a great blessing to fight fans disrespected by promoters whose cards don’t end until after midnight, and that goes double for fight fans in the U.K. who can now watch more fights at a more reasonable hour instead of being forced to rouse themselves before dawn to catch an alluring match anchored in the United States.

In November, it was announced that Alalshikh had purchased The Ring magazine. The self-styled “Bible of Boxing” was previously owned by a company controlled by Oscar De La Hoya who acquired the venerable magazine in 2007.

With the news came Alalshikh’s assertion that the print edition of the magazine would be restored and that the publication “would be fully independent.”

That remains to be seen. One is reminded that Alalshikh revoked the press credential of Oliver Brown for the Joshua-Dubois fight on Sept. 21 at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium because of comments Brown made in the Daily Telegraph that cast a harsh light on the Saudi regime.

There were two national anthems that night, “God Save the King” sharing the bill, as it were, with the Saudi national anthem. Considering the venue and the all-British pairing, that rubbed many Brits the wrong way.

The Ring magazine will always be identified with Nat Fleischer who ran the magazine from its inception in 1922 until his death in 1972 at age 84. It was written of Fleischer that he was the closest thing to a czar that the sport of boxing ever had. Turki Alalshikh now inherits that mantle.

It’s never a good thing when one man wields too much power. We don’t know how history will judge Turki Alalshikh, but naming him the TSS Promoter of the Year was a no-brainer.

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The Ortiz-Bohachuk Thriller has been named the TSS 2024 Fight of The Year

Published

2 days ago

December 25, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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The Aug. 10 match in Las Vegas between Knockout artists Vergil Ortiz Jr and Serhii Bohachuk seemingly had scant chance of lasting the 12-round distance. Ortiz, the pride of Grand Prairie, Texas, was undefeated in 21 fights with 20 KOs. Bohachuk, the LA-based Ukrainian, brought a 24-1 record with 23 knockouts.

In a surprise, the fight went the full 12. And it was a doozy.

The first round, conventionally a feeling-out round, was anything but. “From the opening bell, [they] clobbered each other like those circus piledriver hammer displays,” wrote TSS ringside reporter David A. Avila.

In this opening frame, Bohachuk, the underdog in the betting, put Ortiz on the canvas with a counter left hook. Of the nature of a flash knockdown, it was initially ruled a slip by referee Harvey Dock. With the benefit of instant replay, the Nevada State Athletic Commission overruled Dock and after four rounds had elapsed, the round was retroactively scored 10-8.

Bohachuk had Ortiz on the canvas again in round eight, put there by another left hook. Ortiz was up in a jiff, but there was no arguing it was a legitimate knockdown and it was plain that Ortiz now trailed on the scorecards.

Aware of the situation, the Texan, a protégé of the noted trainer Robert Garcia, dug deep to sweep the last four rounds. But these rounds were fused with drama. “Every time it seemed the Ukrainian was about to fall,” wrote Avila, “Bohachuk would connect with one of those long right crosses.”

In the end, Ortiz eked out a majority decision. The scores were 114-112 x2 and 113-113.

Citing the constant adjustments and incredible recuperative powers of both contestants, CBS sports combat journalist Brian Campbell called the fight an instant classic. He might have also mentioned the unflagging vigor exhibited by both. According to CompuBox, Ortiz and Bohachuk threw 1579 punches combined, landing 490, numbers that were significantly higher than the early favorite for Fight of the Year, the March 2 rip-snorter at Verona, New York between featherweights Raymond Ford and Otabek Kholmatov (a win for Ford who pulled the fight out of the fire in the final minute).

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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