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Golovkin’s Fear Realized as Canelo Escapes With a Draw

Fight fans waited two years to find out who was the better fighter between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez 49-1-2 (34) and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin 37-0-1 (33) and, at least officially, they’ll have to wait a little longer. This past weekend, with the bragging rights and titles on the line in the middleweight division, Canelo and GGG fought to a disputed draw. The judges submitted scores of 118-110 Canelo, 115-113 Golovkin and 114-114.
I scored the fight 116-112 Golovkin and can live with 115-113 at the worst. However, I don’t see any case for the fight being scored a draw, and for veteran judge Adalaide Byrd to score it inexplicably 118-110 or 10-2 in rounds for Canelo is a complete outrage! It was a highly anticipated and dramatic bout, but unfortunately it will forever be remembered for one of the most atrocious scores submitted by a judge in a big fight in a long time. It’s not the first time this has happened and it won’t be the last and I have no doubt the rematch will do even bigger numbers because of the controversy.
As for the fight….two things stand out. Canelo, 27, fought better on the move than I thought he could, and Golovkin, 35, has eroded more physically than I had thought. He had a hard time pulling the trigger even when Canelo was standing right there flat-footed in front of him. In spite of seeing Golovkin as the clear winner, I was less impressed with his showing than many others. Canelo was more effective moving and countering than I thought he’d be; it’s just that he didn’t do enough of it. He basically just pot-shotted and countered in patches just enough to survive and keep Golovkin from totally seizing the fight. Gennady fought mostly as the aggressor and he was effective but it’s not like he beat Canelo up. I’ve never seen his offense less imaginative.
Time after time he’d manage to get Canelo against the ropes when Canelo was visibly tired and looking for a breather, yet he would stand there without letting his hands go other than with a few pecking left jabs. Then with a few feints he’d try to cut loose with a wide hook to the head or a sneaky right hand, which Canelo sensed, making Golovkin miss. And perhaps the most perplexing thing about GGG’s limited offense was his lack of body punching. Why Abel Sanchez didn’t implore Gennady to go to the body is totally mystifying. Canelo tired as the fight progressed without GGG landing a single notable body punch. Golovkin did so much head hunting that it didn’t take Canelo long to figure that he only needed to cover up and protect his head because there’s nothing coming downstairs. That aided Canelo in leaps and bounds because without the body work he wasn’t worn down as much and without any trace of deception it was easier to defend and predict where Golovkin was going.
It’s no coincidence both Danny Jacobs and Canelo went the distance with Golovkin, because each has a terrific chin and GGG is stymied by fighters who can be effective on the move. Golovkin, as it’s been said here before, is one-dimensional. His inability to shine against fighters who don’t stand in front him cannot be blamed on his age; it’s always been there. The thing that can be blamed on age is his ability to get off during the bout when Canelo was planted there right in front of him. Many times they were in that position with Canelo not doing a single thing to prevent Golovkin from getting off. He wasn’t punching, nor even feigning to, and GGG couldn’t pull the trigger other than to poke him with his jab hoping to create the perfect opening. And when he took too long to get off, Canelo either moved or threw a desperate right hand to the head or body which was nothing more than a throw- away punch meant to give him some space to get off the ropes.
Golovkin’s jab was a better weapon for him than I anticipated it would be — the problem was that’s what his offense was reduced to. Canelo, who never fought the way he did before, regarding his lateral movement, did so because Golovkin was too strong for him to fight and he had to pick his spots to get off. Had I been told before the fight that Canelo could neutralize Golovkin’s offense to just a jab with his movement I would’ve never believed it.
What stands out most about Canelo’s performance is that he didn’t allow GGG to beat him up or really work him over. The downside to that — and why I, like so many others, believe he lost the fight — was that he didn’t come close to beating up Golovkin or making him do anything he didn’t want to. There was one fighter in the ring who was having success offensively, and that was Golovkin jabbing effectively. Canelo had some nice counters and nailed GGG pretty good after a big miss but those occasions were too sporadic for him to bank rounds and Golovkin out-worked him throughout the fight.
I don’t think it was a necessarily a great fight and, quite frankly, I was a little underwhelmed by both fighters. One basically looked to avoid fighting and engaging and the other offered nothing in return but a consistent left jab. The decision isn’t the worst we’ve seen aside from the 118-110 score. There was possibly one swing round (two swing rounds would be stretch as it wasn’t a difficult fight to score), but Golovkin should have had his hand raised when it was over.
Moreover, everyone knew that Canelo was the star and that if the fight went the distance Golovkin would get no favors from the judges in any of the close rounds. Team Canelo agreed to fight Golovkin at the ideal time. Oscar De La Hoya and his brain trust sensed Golovkin had slipped just enough to narrow the gap between the two. They garnered GGG was vulnerable to fighters who just don’t stand there and freeze when they get hit, and Canelo showed more diversity than anyone believed he possessed or had seen from him before. And once again smart management and fighting dangerous opponents at the right time played a major role at boxing’s highest level as to who wins.
It’s safe to say we’ll see Canelo-Golovkin II. I believe with Golovkin getting older and Canelo getting better, the window has closed for Golovkin to ever gain a victory over Canelo. Prior to the bout I said if Golovkin was ever going to beat Canelo it was on September 16th. An overwhelming majority of astute boxing observers believe GGG did beat Canelo, but in the eyes of those who matter it was a dead heat.
Canelo’s great chin, ability to box on the move and having just enough power to prevent GGG from walking through him, enabled him to survive and stem the tide enough to demand a rematch. When they meet again Canelo will be more confident and Golovkin will probably be less than he was this past weekend. If Golovkin couldn’t get the decision this time, it will be that much harder in a rematch. To win he’d have to stop Canelo and I don’t think that’s plausible.
Canelo vs Triple G / Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.
Photo credit: Tom Hogan / Golden Boy Promotions
Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com
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Arne’s Almanac: The First Boxing Writers Assoc. of America Dinner Was Quite the Shindig

The first annual dinner of the Boxing Writers Association of America was staged on April 25, 1926 in the grand ballroom of New York’s Hotel Astor, an edifice that rivaled the original Waldorf Astoria as the swankiest hotel in the city. Back then, the organization was known as the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York.
The ballroom was configured to hold 1200 for the banquet which was reportedly oversubscribed. Among those listed as agreeing to attend were the governors of six states (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Maryland) and the mayors of 10 of America’s largest cities.
In 1926, radio was in its infancy and the digital age was decades away (and inconceivable). So, every journalist who regularly covered boxing was a newspaper and/or magazine writer, editor, or cartoonist. And at this juncture in American history, there were plenty of outlets for someone who wanted to pursue a career as a sportswriter and had the requisite skills to get hired.
The following papers were represented at the inaugural boxing writers’ dinner:
New York Times
New York News
New York World
New York Sun
New York Journal
New York Post
New York Mirror
New York Telegram
New York Graphic
New York Herald Tribune
Brooklyn Eagle
Brooklyn Times
Brooklyn Standard Union
Brooklyn Citizen
Bronx Home News
This isn’t a complete list because a few of these papers, notably the New York World and the New York Journal, had strong afternoon editions that functioned as independent papers. Plus, scribes from both big national wire services (Associated Press and UPI) attended the banquet and there were undoubtedly a smattering of scribes from papers in New Jersey and Connecticut.
Back then, the event’s organizer Nat Fleischer, sports editor of the New York Telegram and the driving force behind The Ring magazine, had little choice but to limit the journalistic component of the gathering to writers in the New York metropolitan area. There wasn’t a ballroom big enough to accommodate a good-sized response if he had extended the welcome to every boxing writer in North America.
The keynote speaker at the inaugural dinner was New York’s charismatic Jazz Age mayor James J. “Jimmy” Walker, architect of the transformative Walker Law of 1920 which ushered in a new era of boxing in the Empire State with a template that would guide reformers in many other jurisdictions.
Prizefighting was then associated with hooligans. In his speech, Mayor Walker promised to rid the sport of their ilk. “Boxing, as you know, is closest to my heart,” said hizzoner. “So I tell you the police force is behind you against those who would besmirch or injure boxing. Rowdyism doesn’t belong in this town or in your game.” (In 1945, Walker would be the recipient of the Edward J. Neil Memorial Award given for meritorious service to the sport. The oldest of the BWAA awards, the previous recipients were all active or former boxers. The award, no longer issued under that title, was named for an Associated Press sportswriter and war correspondent who died from shrapnel wounds covering the Spanish Civil War.)
Another speaker was well-traveled sportswriter Wilbur Wood, then affiliated with the Brooklyn Citizen. He told the assembly that the aim of the organization was two-fold: to help defend the game against its detractors and to promote harmony among the various factions.
Of course, the 1926 dinner wouldn’t have been as well-attended without the entertainment. According to press dispatches, Broadway stars and performers from some of the city’s top nightclubs would be there to regale the attendees. Among the names bandied about were vaudeville superstars Sophie Tucker and Jimmy Durante, the latter of whom would appear with his trio, Durante, (Lou) Clayton, and (Eddie) Jackson.
There was a contraction of New York newspapers during the Great Depression. Although empirical evidence is lacking, the inaugural boxing writers dinner was likely the largest of its kind. Fifteen years later, in 1941, the event drew “more than 200” according to a news report. There was no mention of entertainment.
In 1950, for the first time, the annual dinner was opened to the public. For $25, a civilian could get a meal and mingle with some of his favorite fighters. Sugar Ray Robinson was the Edward J. Neil Award winner that year, honored for his ring exploits and for donating his purse from the Charlie Fusari fight to the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund.
There was no formal announcement when the Boxing Writers Association of Greater New York was re-christened the Boxing Writers Association of America, but by the late 1940s reporters were referencing the annual event as simply the boxing writers dinner. By then, it had become traditional to hold the annual affair in January, a practice discontinued after 1971.
The winnowing of New York’s newspaper herd plus competing banquets in other parts of the country forced Nat Fleischer’s baby to adapt. And more adaptations will be necessary in the immediate future as the future of the BWAA, as it currently exists, is threatened by new technologies. If the forthcoming BWAA dinner (April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in mid-Manhattan) were restricted to wordsmiths from the traditional print media, the gathering would be too small to cover the nut and the congregants would be drawn disproportionately from the geriatric class.
Some of those adaptations have already started. Last year, Las Vegas resident Sean Zittel, a recent UNLV graduate, had the distinction of becoming the first videographer welcomed into the BWAA. With more and more people getting their news from sound bites, rather than the written word, the videographer serves an important function.
The reporters who conducted interviews with pen and paper have gone the way of the dodo bird and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A taped interview for a “talkie” has more integrity than a story culled from a paper and pen interview because it is unfiltered. Many years ago, some reporters, after interviewing the great Joe Louis, put words in his mouth that made him seem like a dullard, words consistent with the Sambo stereotype. In other instances, the language of some athletes was reconstructed to the point where the reader would think the athlete had a second job as an English professor.
The content created by videographers is free from that bias. More of them will inevitably join the BWAA and similar organizations in the future.
Photo: Nat Fleischer is flanked by Sugar Ray Robinson and Tony Zale at the 1947 boxing writers dinner.
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Gabriela Fundora KOs Marilyn Badillo and Perez Upsets Conwell in Oceanside

It was just a numbers game for Gabriela Fundora and despite Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo’s elusive tactics it took the champion one punch to end the fight and retain her undisputed flyweight world title by knockout on Saturday.
Will it be her last flyweight defense?
Though Fundora (16-0, 8 KOs) fired dozens of misses, a single punch found Badillo (19-1-1, 3 KOs) and ended her undefeated career and first attempt at a world title at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.
Fundora, however, proves unbeatable at flyweight.
The champion entered the arena as the headliner for the Golden Boy Promotion show and stepped through the ropes with every physical advantage possible, including power.
Mexico’s Badillo was a midget compared to Fundora but proved to be as elusive as a butterfly in a menagerie for the first six rounds. As the six-inch taller Fundora connected on one punch for every dozen thrown, that single punch was a deadly reminder.
Badillo tried ducking low and slipping to the left while countering with slashing uppercuts, she found little success. She did find the body a solid target but the blows proved to be useless. And when Badillo clinched, that proved more erroneous as Fundora belted her rapidly during the tie-ups.
“She was kind of doing her ducking thing,” said Fundora describing Badillo’s defensive tactics. “I just put the pressure on. It was just like a train. We didn’t give her that break.”
The Mexican fighter tried valiantly with various maneuvers. None proved even slightly successful. Fundora remained poised and under control as she stalked the challenger.
In the seventh round Badillo seemed to take a stand and try to slug it out with Fundora. She quickly was lit up by rapid left crosses and down she went at 1:44 of the seventh round. The Mexican fighter’s corner wisely waved off the fight and referee Rudy Barragan stopped the fight and held the dazed Badillo upright.
Once again Fundora remained champion by knockout. The only question now is will she move up to super flyweight or bantamweight to challenge the bigger girls.
Perez Beats Conwell.
Mexico’s Jorge “Chino” Perez (33-4, 26 KOs) upset Charles Conwell (21-1, 15 KOs) to win by split decision after 12 rounds in their super welterweight showdown.
It was a match that paired two hard-hitting fighters whose ledgers brimmed with knockouts, but neither was able to score a knockdown against each other.
Neither fighter moved backward. It was full steam ahead with Conwell proving successful to the body and head with left hooks and Perez connecting with rights to the head and body. It was difficult to differentiate the winner.
Though Conwell seemed to be the superior defensive fighter and more accurate, two judges preferred Perez’s busier style. They gave the fight to Perez by 115-113 scores with the dissenter favoring Conwell by the same margin.
It was Conwell’s first pro loss. Maybe it will open doors for more opportunities.
Other Bouts
Tristan Kalkreuth (15-1) managed to pass a serious heat check by unanimous decision against former contender Felix Valera (24-8) after a 10-round back-and-forth heavyweight fight.
It was very close.
Kalkreuth is one of those fighters that possess all the physical tools including youth and size but never seems to be able to show it. Once again he edged past another foe but at least this time he faced an experienced fighter in Valera.
Valera had his moments especially in the middle of the 10-round fight but slowed down during the last three rounds.
One major asset for Kalkreuth was his chin. He got caught but still motored past the clever Valera. After 10 rounds two judges saw it 99-91 and one other judge 97-93 all for Kalkreuth.
Highly-rated prospect Ruslan Abdullaev (2-0) blasted past dangerous Jino Rodrigo (13- 5-2) in an eight round super lightweight fight. He nearly stopped the very tough Rodrigo in the last two rounds and won by unanimous decision.
Abdullaev is trained by Joel and Antonio Diaz in Indio.
Bakersfield prospect Joel Iriarte (7-0, 7 KOs) needed only 1:44 to knock out Puerto Rico’s Marcos Jimenez (25-12) in a welterweight bout.
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‘Krusher’ Kovalev Exits on a Winning Note: TKOs Artur Mann in his ‘Farewell Fight’

At his peak, former three-time world light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev ranked high on everyone’s pound-for-pound list. Now 42 years old – he turned 42 earlier this month – Kovalev has been largely inactive in recent years, but last night he returned to the ring in his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia, and rose to the occasion in what was billed as his farewell fight, stopping Artur Mann in the seventh frame.
Kovalev hit his peak during his first run as a world title-holder. He was 30-0-1 (26 KOs) entering first match with Andre Ward, a mark that included a 9-0 mark in world title fights. The only blemish on his record was a draw that could have been ruled a no-contest (journeyman Grover Young was unfit to continue after Kovalev knocked down in the second round what with was deemed an illegal rabbit punch). Among those nine wins were two stoppages of dangerous Haitian-Canadian campaigner Jean Pascal and a 12-round shutout over Bernard Hopkins.
Kovalev’s stature was not diminished by his loss to the undefeated Ward. All three judges had it 114-113, but the general feeling among the ringside press was that Sergey nicked it.
The rematch was also somewhat controversial. Referee Tony Weeks, who halted the match in the eighth stanza with Kovalev sitting on the lower strand of ropes, was accused of letting Ward get away with a series of low blows, including the first punch of a three-punch series of body shots that culminated in the stoppage. Sergey was wobbled by a punch to the head earlier in the round and was showing signs of fatigue, but he was still in the fight. Respected judge Steve Weisfeld had him up by three points through the completed rounds.
Sergey Kovalev was never the same after his second loss to Andre Ward, albeit he recaptured a piece of the 175-pound title twice, demolishing Vyacheslav Shabranskyy for the vacant WBO belt after Ward announced his retirement and then avenging a loss to Eleider Alvarez (TKO by 7) with a comprehensive win on points in their rematch.
Kovalev’s days as a title-holder ended on Nov. 2, 2019 when Canelo Alvarez, moving up two weight classes to pursue a title in a fourth weight division, stopped him in the 11th round, terminating what had been a relatively even fight with a hellacious left-right combination that left Krusher so discombobulated that a count was superfluous.
That fight went head-to-head with a UFC fight in New York City. DAZN, to their everlasting discredit, opted to delay the start of Canelo-Kovalev until the main event of the UFC fight was finished. The delay lasted more than an hour and Kovalev would say that he lost his psychological edge during the wait.
Kovalev had two fights in the cruiserweight class between his setback to Canelo and last night’s presumptive swan song. He outpointed Tervel Pulev in Los Angeles and lost a 10-round decision to unheralded Robin Sirwan Safar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Artur Mann, a former world title challenger – he was stopped in three rounds by Mairis Briedis in 2021 when Briedis was recognized as the top cruiserweight in the world – was unexceptional, but the 34-year-old German, born in Kazakhstan, wasn’t chopped liver either, and Kovalev’s stoppage of him will redound well to the Russian when he becomes eligible for the Boxing Hall of Fame.
Krusher almost ended the fight in the second round. He knocked Mann down hard with a short left hand and seemingly scored another knockdown before the round was over (but it was ruled a slip). Mann barely survived the round.
In the next round, a punch left Mann with a bad cut on his right eyelid, but the German came to fight and rounds three, four and five were competitive.
Kovalev had a good sixth round although there were indications that he was tiring. But in the seventh he got a second wind and unleashed a right-left combination that rolled back the clock to the days when he was one of the sport’s most feared punchers. Mann went down hard and as he staggered to his feet, his corner signaled that the fight should be stopped and the referee complied. The official time was 0:49 of round seven. It was the 30th KO for Kovalev who advanced his record to 36-5-1.
Addendum: History informs us that Farewell Fights have a habit of becoming redundant, by which we mean that boxers often get the itch to fight again after calling it quits. Have we seen the last of Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev? We woudn’t bet on it.
The complete Kovalev-Mann fight card was live-streamed on the Boxing News youtube channel.
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