Sergey Kovalev Is Clearly “FOTY” & It’s Not Even Close

Published

10 years ago

December 2, 2014

I’m not one for year-end awards and pageantry articles and columns.

In fact I don’t think I’ve ever written a year-end piece declaring who is the fighter of the year or what was the round of the year, or anything along those lines. They’re too subjective for me and there’s usually a sound argument to be constructed for multiple candidates, especially when it comes to “Fighter Of The Year.”

However, this year it’s so overwhelmingly obvious who the fighter of the year is that it requires little thought or reflection whatsoever. Before addressing who that is, let’s get the other candidates out of the way, stating with the usual stalwarts Manny Pacquiao 57-5-2 (38) and Floyd Mayweather 47-0 (26).

In 2014 Pacquiao fought a rematch with Timothy Bradley and met Chris Algieri in his last bout. Yes, Pacquiao did hand both Bradley and Algieri their first losses as a pro. But in reality, Pacquiao beat Bradley in the ring, forget the scorecards, when they fought the first time in 2012. Sure, he dominated Algieri, knocking him down six times, but Algieri is still a beginner. Not this year, Manny.

As for his rival Floyd Mayweather, he fought twice, both times against the aggressive and crude Marcos Maidana. Mayweather struggled with Maidana the first time but clearly deserved the decision he was awarded. Maidana underperformed in the rematch and Floyd practically jogged to a decision victory. Maidana was no pushover, but Mayweather was between a 7/8-1 favorite. As is the case with Pacquiao, not this year, Floyd.

WBA/IBO middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin 31-0 (28) made his mark and certified himself as an emerging star in professional boxing. He fought three times and won all three bouts by knockout. He stopped Osumanu Adama 22-3, Daniel Geale 30-2, and Marco Antonio Rubio 59-6-1. Collectively, his three opponents in 2014 entered their bouts with him 111-11-1. That’s impressive on paper, but neither Adama, Geale nor Rubio could be thought of as outstanding. Had they arrived in an earlier era, I can’t see them cracking the top-10. Golovkin did what he should’ve done against them, and that’s get rid of them in a memorable fashion in less than 12 full rounds. Not this year Gennady, but your time is coming.

WBO lightweight title holder Terence Crawford also had a breakout year. In his first bout of the year, Crawford won the WBO lightweight title against Ricky Burns. Watching Crawford out-box Burns was a sight to behold. He had an answer for everything and anything Burns tried. And it went unmentioned in the media how Crawford’s power mostly kept Burns from fully committing to his punches because he was leery about the counters coming back at him. Crawford controlled the bout from beginning to end and was awarded an overwhelming unanimous decision verdict. In his second bout of 2014, he took on the skilled and hard-punching undefeated Yuriokis Gamboa. Gamboa really tried to bring the fight in the early rounds against Crawford. His aggression and power forced Crawford to fight, more than box and pick his spots, and Crawford answered the call. When it was over, Crawford had Gamboa on the canvas four times en-route to scoring a ninth round stoppage. Sure, Gamboa was moving up in weight, but Crawford out-boxed and out-slugged the Cuban and beat him at his own game.

Five months later in his last bout of the year, Crawford ran away with the fight, scoring a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision over the tough Raymundo Beltran. Against Beltran, Crawford switched back and forth between fighting orthodox and southpaw. And in doing such, he looked as flashy and sophisticated as Floyd Mayweather and as explosive and hard to gauge as Manny Pacquiao. No doubt Terence Crawford had a great 2014 and accomplished a lot. He’s definitely at the top of the “must see” list of boxers in 2014. Had it not been for one candidate, Crawford would have a great case for fighter of the year. Maybe next year, Terence?

In professional boxing, nothing says more about a fighter and who he is than how he fared against the best level of opposition available. Today, there are not more than three or four outstanding fighters in each division. There’s even fewer hall of famers. And if you want to shrink the field even smaller, there are only four active fighters that are certified all-time greats, and they are Bernard Hopkins, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez. And only one of those four greats was defeated in the year 2014, and that was Hopkins. And the fighter who convincingly beat him was WBO light heavyweight title holder Sergey Kovalev 26-0-1 (23).

In 2014, Kovalev defeated Cedric Agnew 26-0 and Blake Caparello 19-0-1 in less than 12 complete rounds. Combined Agnew and Caparello were 45-0-1. Yes, impressive on paper, and like Golovkin’s opponents Adama, Geale and Rubio, it’s not exactly murderer’s row either. But that’s where the similarity ends, because in November, Kovalev shut out Hopkins 55-7-2 (32) over 12 rounds and even had him down and shook up twice during the bout. How many fighters can say they had Hopkins down and shut him out? That would be one, Sergey Kovalev.

Hopkins has been a champion for almost 20 years without much interruption. He has fought every elite fighter in the middleweight and light heavyweight division during his time campaigning in those classes. No, Hopkins didn’t go undefeated in every fight; however, the fights he lost were all by decision and some of them bordered on close calls and robbery. And yes, when he fought Kovalev he was two months shy of turning 50 years old. But that didn’t deter half the boxing writers polled from picking him to win, yes, even at age 49. Since he turned 40, Hopkins has controlled the pace and distance against virtually everybody he fought. He cut it close against Joe Calzaghe and Chad Dawson, but he never abandoned his style or veered away from trying to reduce their punch output while he won the only two or three meaningful exchanges of most of the rounds. But not against Kovalev. Sergey, 31, not only beat Hopkins conclusively, he is the only fighter I’ve seen force Hopkins out of his comfort zone and almost fight in desperation during the last third of the bout. When is the last time Hopkins was looking for a lottery punch to bail out a fight that he was so far behind on the cards that he couldn’t even convince himself that he was in it and deserved the decision?

This is one year that “FOTY” is obvious. I don’t care what your criteria is for determining who deserves the award, Sergey Kovalev clearly shined more than Pacquiao, Mayweather, Crawford and Golovkin and had the better year. Yes, when we look back at Hopkins career, Kovalev will be remembered as the fighter who basically retired him, and that alone is enough to win “FOTY.”

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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WBA Feather Champ Nick Ball Chops Down Rugged Ronny Rios in Liverpool

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2024

Arne K. Lang

WBA-Feather-Champ-Nick-Ball-Chops-Down-Rugged-Ronny-Rios-in-Liverpool

In his first fight in his native Liverpool since February of 2020, Nick Ball successfully defended his WBA title with a 10^th-round stoppage of SoCal veteran Ronny Rios. The five-foot-two “Wrecking Ball” was making the first defense of a world featherweight strap he won in his second stab at it, taking the belt from Raymond Ford on a split decision after previously fighting Rey Vargas to a draw in a match that many thought Ball had won.

This fight looked like it was going to be over early. Ball strafed Rios with an assortment of punches in the first two rounds, and likely came within a punch or two of ending the match in the third when he put Rios on the canvas with a short left hook and then tore after him relentlessly. But Rios, a glutton for punishment, weathered the storm and actually had some good moments in round four and five.

The brother of welterweight contender Alexis Rocha and a two-time world title challenger at 122 pounds, Rios returned to the ring in April on a ProBox card in Florida and this was his second start after being out of the ring for 28 months. He would be on the canvas twice more before the bout was halted. The punch that knocked him off his pins in round seven wasn’t a clean shot, but he would be in dire straits three rounds later when he was hammered onto the ring apron with a barrage of punches. He managed to maneuver his way back into the ring, but his corner sensibly threw in the towel when it seemed as if referee Bob Williams would let the match continue.

The official time was 2:06 of round ten. Ball improved to 21-0-1 (12 KOs). Rios, 34, declined to 34-5.

Semi-wind-up

A bout contested for a multiplicity of regional 140-pound titles produced a mild upset when Jack Rafferty wore down and eventually stopped Henry Turner whose corner pulled him out after the ninth frame.

Both fighters were undefeated coming in. Turner, now 13-1, was the better boxer and had the best of the early rounds. However, he used up a lot of energy moving side-to-side as he fought off his back foot, and Rafferty, who improved to 24-0 (15 KOs), never wavered as he continued to press forward.

The tide turned dramatically in round eight. One could see Turner’s legs getting loggy and the confidence draining from his face. The ninth round was all Rafferty. Turner was a cooked goose when Rafferty collapsed him with four unanswered body punches, but he made it to the final bell before his corner wisely pulled him out. Through the completed rounds, two of the judges had it even and the third had the vanquished Turner up by 4 points.

Other Bouts of Note

In a lightweight affair, Jadier Herrera, a highly-touted 22-year-old Cuban who had been campaigning in Dubai, advanced to 16-0 (14 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of Oliver Flores (31-6-2) a Nicaraguan southpaw making his UK debut. After two even rounds, Herrera put Flores on the deck with a left to the solar plexus. Flores spit out his mouthpiece as he lay there in obvious distress and referee Steve Gray waived the fight off as he was attempting to rise. The end came 30 seconds into round three.

In a bantamweight contest slated for 10, Liverpool’s Andrew Cain (13-1, 12 KOs) dismissed Colombia’s Lazaro Casseres at the 1:48 mark of the second round.

A stablemate and sparring partner of Nick Ball, Cain knocked Casseres to the canvas in the second round with a short uppercut and forced the stoppage later in the round when he knocked the Colombian into the ropes with a double left hook. Casseres. 27, brought an 11-1 record but had defeated only two opponents with winning records.

In a contest between super welterweights, Walter Fury pitched a 4-round shutout over Dale Arrowsmith. This was the second pro fight for the 27-year-old Fury who had his famous cousin Tyson Fury rooting him on from ringside. Stylistically, Walter resembles Tyson, but his defense is hardly as tight; he was clipped a few times.

Arrowsmith is a weekend warrior and a professional loser, a species indigenous to the British Isles. This was his twenty-fourth fight this year and his 186^th pro fight overall! His record is “illuminated” by nine wins and 10 draws.

A Queensberry Promotion, the Ball vs Rios card aired in the UK on TNT Sports and in the US on ESPN+.

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Alimkhanuly TKOs Mikhailovich and Motu TKOs O’Connell in Sydney

Published

2 days ago

October 4, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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IBF/WBO world middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, generally regarded as the best of the current crop of middleweights, retained his IBF title today in Sydney, Australia, with a ninth-round stoppage of game but overmatched Andrei Mikhailovich. The end came at the 2:45 mark of round nine.

Favored in the 8/1 range although he was in a hostile environment, Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) beat Mikhailovich to a pulp in the second round and knocked him down with one second remaining in the frame, but Mikhailovich survived the onslaught and had several good moments in the ensuing rounds as he pressed the action. However, Alimkhanuly’s punches were cleaner and one could sense that it was only a matter of time before the referee would rescue Mikhailovich from further punishment. When a short left deposited Mikhailovich on the seat of his pants on the lower strand of rope, the ref had seen enough.

Alimkhanuly, a 2016 Olympian for Kazakhstan, was making his first start since October of last year. He and Mikhailovich were slated to fight in Las Vegas in July, but the bout fell apart after the weigh-in when the Kazakh fainted from dehydration.

Owing to a technicality, Alimkhanuly’s WBO belt wasn’t at stake today. Although he has expressed an interest in unifying the title –Eislandy Lara (WBA) and Carlos Adames (WBC) are the other middleweight belt-holders — Alimkhanuly is big for the weight class and it’s a fair assumption that this was his final fight at 160.

The brave Mikhailovich, who was born in Russia but grew up in New Zealand after he and his twin brother were adopted, suffered his first pro loss, declining to 21-1.

Semi-wind-up

Topping the flimsy undercard was a scheduled 8-rounder between Mikhailovich’s stablemate Mea Motu, a 34-year-old Maori, and veteran Australian campaigner Shannon O’Connell, 41. The ladies share eight children between them (Motu, trained by her mother in her amateur days, has five).

A clash of heads in the opening round left O’Connell with a bad gash on her forehead. She had a big lump developing over her right eye when her corner threw in the towel at the 1:06 mark of round four.

Motu (20-0, 8 KOs) was set to challenge IBF/WBO world featherweight champion Ellie Scotney later this month in Manchester, England, underneath Catterall-Prograis, but that match was postponed when Scotney suffered an injury in training. Motu took this fight, which was contested at the catchweight of 125 pounds, to stay busy. O’Connell, 29-8-1, previously had a cup of coffee as a WBA world champion (haven’t we all).

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 299: Golden Boy in Saudi Arabia and More

Published

3 days ago

October 3, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 299: Golden Boy in Saudi Arabia and More

A small brigade of Mexican and Latino-American fighters gathered at the beautiful Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Their mission: to export Mexican style fighting to the Saudi Arabia desert.

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez defends the WBA cruiserweight title against WBO cruiserweight titlist Chris Billam-Smith and they will be joined by several other top Golden Boy Promotion fighters on Nov. 16 at the Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy and BOXXER promotions card called “The Venue Riyadh Season.”

Mexican fighters are known worldwide for their ferocity and durability. Ramirez, a former super middleweight champion, surprised many with his convincing win over former champion Arsen Goulamirian last March.

Now Ramirez seeks to unify the cruiserweight titles against United Kingdom’s Smith who has never fought outside of his native country.

“I will become the first Mexican cruiserweight unified champion. It’s exciting because my dream will come true this November 16,” said Ramirez.

Smith has a similar goal.

“This opportunity for me is huge,” said Smith. “I’ve been written off many times before.”

The cruiserweights will be joined by two top super lightweight warriors who’ve been itching to face each other like a pair of fighting roosters.

Arnold Barboza, an undefeated super lightweight contender from Los Angeles, has been chasing top contenders and world champions for the past six years. Former super lightweight champion Jose Ramirez simply wants action and a return to elite status.

“I’ve been wanting this fight since 2019 for whatever reason it never happened,” said Barboza. “I want to give credit and thanks to Oscar, he’s a man of his word. When I signed to Golden Boy, he said he was going to give me this fight.”

“It’s honorable Barboza saying he’s been chasing the fight since 2019. Now that he stands in the way for me to reclaim my titles it’s time to get that fight on,” said Ramirez.

Others on the Riyadh fight card include Puerto Rico’s WBO minimumweight world titlist Oscar Collazo defending against Thailand’s Thammanoon Niyomtrong, along with Oscar Duarte and lightweight contenders William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer.

One fighter missing from the card is Charles Conwell, the super welterweight contender they recently signed earlier in the year. He last performed on the Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Serhii Bohachuk clash in Las Vegas.

Conwell has similar talent to those two.

And what about the women fighters”

Yokasta Valle recently re-signed with Golden Boy Promotions. What is her next scheduled fight? She was spotted facing up against Australia’s Lulu “Bang, Bang” Hawton at a fight card. Is that on the horizon?

West Coast venues

Speaking of the Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles, its just a few buildings north of the Belasco Theater where Golden Boy was staging its club shows for several years.

A majority of the boxing media favored that location for its cozy atmosphere and proximity to LA Live. A number of prospects that developed into contenders and world champions fought there including Vergil Ortiz Jr., Ryan Garcia, Joshua Franco, and Oscar Duarte.

On any given fight night celebrities like Mario Lopez, George Lopez and others would show up in the small venue that held several hundred fans in its ornate theater setting.

The Mayan Theater and Belasco Theater are still open for business. According to one source, LA Laker owner Jeannie Buss stages a pro wrestling show at one of those theaters.

World title fight

England’s Nick Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs) defends the WBA featherweight world title against Southern California’s Ronny Rios (34-4, 17 KOs) on Saturday Oct. 5, at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. Starting time for the Queensberry and Top Rank promotion card is 11 a.m. PT.

Ball was last seen nearly toppling WBC featherweight titlist Rey Vargas but lost last March. He then defeated Ray Ford for the WBA title

Fights to Watch

Fri. ESPN+ 2 a.m. PT Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0) vs Andrei Mikhailovich (21-0)

Sat. ESPN+ 11 a.m. PT Nick Ball (20-0-1) vs Ronny Rios (34-4)

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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