Will Hopkins-Kovalev Be A Repeat Of Holmes-Mercer?

Published

9 years ago

October 28, 2014

One could make the argument that no professional boxer over 40 years old has accepted a tougher assignment and challenge in the last 60 years than what 49 year old Bernard Hopkins will confront when he meets Sergey Kovalev, 31, for the WBA/WBO/IBF light heavyweight titles on November 8th.

Think about that, two months shy of his 50th birthday, Hopkins 55-6-2 (32) is taking on the most feared fighter in the division in Kovalev, who holds a 25-0-1 (23) mark.

Over the years there have been plenty of bouts where an old established champion or former champ took on a much younger champion or new title-holder. Archie Moore was 40 when he challenged 21 year old Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight title that was vacated when Rocky Marciano retired in 1955. Moore was 46 when he became 20 year old Cassius Clay’s first real test as a pro. George Foreman was 42 when he challenged 29 year old Evander Holyfield for the undisputed title after returning to the ring from a 10 year retirement. And three years after losing a unanimous decision to Holyfield, Foreman, 45, knocked out Michael Moorer, 26, for the WBA/IBF title.

However, the fight that is most analogous to Hopkins-Kovalev is the one between former WBC heavyweight champ Larry Holmes, 42, and undefeated Ray Mercer, 30, who relinquished his WBO title to accept the fight with Holmes. And the winner between the Holmes-Mercer bout would next meet Evander Holyfield for the undisputed heavyweight championship.

Holmes 53-3 (37) and Mercer 18-0 (13) fought on February 7, 1992 in Atlantic City New Jersey. And like Hopkins, Holmes was an all-time great fighter and boxer and was a 4-1 underdog against Mercer. At the time Mercer, the former Olympic gold medalist, who went 85-6 as an amateur and won every bout at the 1988 Olympics by knockout, was coming off his three most impressive showings as a pro. And the same can be said about Sergey Kovalev. In three consecutive fights Mercer won a decision over Bert Cooper (22-5), knocked out Francisco Damiani (27-0) to win the WBO heavyweight title, and then in his first defense knocked out the hard hitting Tommy Morrison (28-0) in the fifth round.

I’m not trying to compare Hopkins-Kovalev to Holmes-Mercer in style, although there are similarities. It’s more of a matter of public perception of the fighters involved at the time that each fight took place. In 1992, Mercer was seen as a beast and a very serious threat to Evander Holyfield’s title. Ray possessed a concrete chin and was thought of as being a big puncher. He was fearless and brought the heat against everybody he fought. In his fight prior to Holmes, Tommy Morrison worked Mercer over real good and caught him with shots that would’ve knocked out an elephant. But Morrison couldn’t finish Mercer and when Tommy needed a breather, Mercer exploded on his chin and registered one of the most brutal knockouts ever seen in heavyweight history.

Like Mercer, Kovalev is viewed as a big puncher and in his last few bouts stopped his opponents with jabs to the body. Also like Mercer, Kovalev is hungry for his just due and the fame and fortune that accompany it. Although, I must say, Mercer actually beat more credible opponents than Kovalev has at the same age.

Then there’s Hopkins and Holmes, who were two of the greatest middleweight and heavyweight champions in history during their title reign. Hopkins held the middleweight title 10 consecutive years, longer than any other middleweight in history, and Holmes’ title reign of seven years is only second to Joe Louis,’ circa 1937-49.

Hopkins and Holmes stylistically were boxers/technicians. Hopkins is more of a technician and Holmes was more boxer. Another thing that Bernard and Larry had in common was their attitude towards the media, in that they believed the press never understood or appreciated them for what they accomplished in the ring.

Hopkins was the next great middleweight champ after Marvin Hagler, and Holmes was the dominant heavyweight after Muhammad Ali. Whether they were a contender or a defending champion, Bernard and Larry entered the ring with the mindset that they weren’t accepted by the boxing establishment and had something to prove. And that type of disposition and outlook led them both to thrive as reigning champions.

Maybe the biggest similarity between Hopkins and Holmes is how they grew as fighters and learned how to fight smarter and pace themselves at a very advanced age, as their multitude of physical skills began to wane. They knew when to work and when to coast. They always knew where they were in the round and knew how to buy time and steal exchanges. On top of that they were both physically and mentally tough and both took a great punch. Neither ducked any fighter during their era and when the pressure was at its greatest, Bernard and Larry usually seized the moment.

All that being said, like it was before Holmes faced Mercer, most fans and a lot of the media believe Kovalev will be the fighter to finally send Hopkins into retirement. The perception of many is that Kovalev is just too young, strong, fearless and determined for Hopkins to hold off with his unconventional ring tactics and off-the-chart boxing acumen. The belief of many is that Kovalev is going to be too much for Hopkins physically and there won’t be anything Bernard will be able to do about it. But as Lee Corso on College Gameday often says, “not so fast!”

Back in the day it was very scary picking and betting against Larry Holmes, like many did before he faced Mercer. Well, that also applies to Bernard Hopkins… and maybe even more so.

On February 7, 1992, Larry Holmes, 42, took Ray Mercer, 30, to boxing school. The course lasted 12-rounds. During those rounds Holmes showed Mercer just how much he hadn’t learned about fighting at the highest level in the sport. Holmes moved when he had to, held his ground when he needed to, tied Mercer up and shut him down when the time was right, and showed how dangerous and ill-fated it was to pressure him while being straight up and in the path of his jab, cross and right leads. It really did look like a house cat toying with a church mouse. Holmes won the fight going away on all three judges’ cards, 117-112, 117-111 and 115-113. It was one of the rare fights in which the older great took apart the up- -and-coming next guy with a ton of potential.

The lesson from the Holmes-Mercer fight is, not all old greats are the same. You never know when they have that one last great moment in them. And Bernard Hopkins has taken that boxing axiom to an even higher level than Holmes did. Hopkins is a one-of-kind athlete, not just boxer. Some day time has got to run out for him, but when remembering the way Holmes dismantled Mercer 22 years ago, it’s extremely hard to predict Hopkins’ demise before the fight like so many predicted Holmes.’

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Frank Lotierzo

Ramon Cardenas Channels Micky Ward and KOs Eduardo Ramirez on ProBox

Published

3 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Ramon-Cardenas-Channels-Micky-Ward-and-KOs-Eduardo-Ramirez-on-ProBox

The Wednesday night bi-monthly series of fights on the ProBox TV platform is the best deal in boxing; the livestream is free with no strings attached! Tonight’s episode was headlined by a super bantamweight match between San Antonio’s Ramon Cardenas and Eduardo Ramirez who brought a caravan of rooters from his hometown in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.

Cardenas, coached by Joel Diaz, entered the contest ranked #4 by the WBA. He was expected to handle Ramirez with little difficulty, but this was a close, tactical fight through eight frames when lightning struck in the form of a left hook to liver the from Cardenas. Ramirez went down on one knee and wasn’t able to beat the count. It was as if Cardenas summoned the ghost of Micky Ward who had a penchant for terminating fights with the same punch that arrived out of the blue.

The official time was 1:37 of round time. Cardenas improved to 25-1 with his14th win inside the distance. Ramirez, who was stopped in the opening round by Nick “Wrecking” Ball in London in his lone previous fight outside Mexico, falls to 23-3-3.

Co-Feature

In an upset, Tijuana super welterweight Damian Sosa won a split decision over previously undefeated Marques Valle, a local area fighter who was stepping up in class in his first 10-round go. Sosa was the aggressor, repeatedly backing his taller opponent into the ropes where Valle was unable to get good leverage behind his punches.

The 25-year-old Valle, managed by the influential David McWater, was the house fighter. This was his 10^th appearance in this building. He brought a 10-0 (7) record and was hoping to emulate the success of his younger brother Dominic Valle who scored a second-round stoppage of his opponent in this ring two weeks ago, improving to 9-0. But Sosa, who brought a 24-2 record, proved to be a bridge too high.

The judges had it 97-93 and 96-94 for the Tijuana invader and a disgraceful 98-92 for the house fighter.

Also

In a fight whose abrupt ending would be echoed by the main event, 34-year-old SoCal featherweight Ronny Rios, now training in Las Vegas, returned to the ring after a 22-month hiatus and scored a fifth-round stoppage over Nicolas Polanco of the Dominican Republic.

A three-punch combo climaxed by a left hook to the liver took the breath out of Polanco who slumped to his knees and was counted out. A two-time world title challenger, Rios advanced to 34-4 (17 KOs). Polanco, 34, declined to 21-6-1. The official time was 0:54 of round five.

—

The next ProBox show (Wednesday, May 8) will have an international cast with fighters from Kazakhstan, Japan, Mongolia, and the United Kingdom. In the main event, Liverpool’s Robbie Davies Jr will make his U.S. debut against the California-based Kazakh Sergey Lipinets.

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Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

2 days 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

4 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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