A Cursed Paradigm: The Fights That Boxing Cannot Deliver

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2023

A-Cursed-Paradign-The-Fights-That-Boxing-Cannot-Deliver

A Cursed Paradigm: The Fights That Boxing Cannot Deliver

2023 is barely two months old and it has already been an outstanding year in the greatest sport. We’ve had Leigh Wood’s wonderful, painstakingly careful attempted deconstruction of Mauricio Lara ending in the disaster of a knockout; Luis Nery’s brutal, eventual dispatch of Azat Hovhannisyan; that strange mini-war between Jeremias Ponce and Subriel Matias. We are on a good run.

But all these fights, while thrilling, are not vital. They are not the hot blood of the machine. If they had not happened – if Ponce had lost instead to Jose Zepeda and Matias had instead beaten Steve Spark…well, no harm done if we are frank.

There are fights though, for which this isn’t true. No exchanges, substitutes, nor excuses are acceptable. They have to happen. And if they don’t, blood escapes the machine.

These are those fights, with a little bit about why.

Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury

Where else to start? The revelation of the date and site of this fight was promised to us by Bob Arum weeks ago; clearly Fury’s veteran promoter believed that Saudi Arabia was set to deliver. The latest, sparse intel is that this has not come to pass, with rumoured disharmony concerning both a newly constructed fight-venue and the enormous fight purses.

Meanwhile, Tyson Fury’s pre-disposition to a fifty-fifty split has melted away along with the promise of Saudi riches. A 60/40 split is the preference of Fury as regards a possible London showdown in front of 90,000, a defendable position but not one that has met with the approval of Team Usyk who have been chasing a 50% cut of whatever riches the fight delivers.

If Fury and Usyk do not meet there are essentially two competing lineal championship reigns. On the one hand there are those who didn’t recognise Tyson Fury’s last retirement and consider the Englishman lineal; on the other, there are those who considered him retired and recognised the meeting between the number one and two contenders in the form of Usyk and Anthony Joshua as swiftly crowning a new champion. It is bad enough trying to understand what is happening in a division where the WBA and WBC can recognise five champions between them at times but when the very soul of championship honours is up for grabs, the sport’s flagship division is in trouble. Usyk and Fury could go on bullying contenders between them into 2025 and we could all be none the wiser as to who the number one man is.

Will it happen? I think it will, but I have an awful feeling we will not get it next. I had an ugly suspicion that Fury’s decision to match the long-suffering Derek Chisora was as much about keeping Usyk inactive into the summer, as it was about the fight itself. Maybe I am providing too much – or too little – credit but that would at least make the fight likely for late summer, by which time Usyk will have been out of the ring for a year.

Josh Taylor-Jack Catterall

This all-British showdown would be a rematch of last February’s raucous and controversial twelve round decision that went in Josh Taylor’s favour. Jack Catterall immediately demanded a rematch, and one was agreed. The two were scheduled, after a long and winding road, to meet this month, Taylor’s divisional kingship on the line.

Taylor then reportedly detached a tendon from a bone in a foot and just like that, Catterall’s rematch had evaporated, and he had been cursed with a year out of the ring. Worse, the WBO decided that Teofimo Lopez was now the mandatory for their title at 140lbs and ordered Taylor to meet him. Taylor, fearful of losing yet another strap while he tries to get fit for the Catterall rematch, accepted. While there is something about that fight that does interest, Taylor has been hounded online and in the media about his failure to make a rematch of a fight many thought he lost.

It’s an unwinnable situation for the Scotsman. Even if he meets and defeats Lopez people will say that he should have matched Catterall, while making 140lbs becomes increasingly difficult for the division’s number one.

This is yet another example of an ABC intervening to hurt the sport. The selection of Lopez, who is 2-0 at the poundage for this decade, as mandatory, has more to do with his run at 135lbs than it does the fistic reality at 140lbs, but Taylor will argue his hands are tied. Catterall, meanwhile, has been cheated of a much-deserved title tilt and the most significant payday of his career.

Will it happen? Josh Taylor has sworn it will, but a lot could serve to derail it. I’m sure Taylor would pass if Catterall lost his next fight, yet to be announced at the time of writing, but likely to be fought at the end of the month; Taylor could easily end up tied up with Lopez for two fights; his relationship with 140lbs is an uneasy one and his last fight at that weight could be anytime, including next time. History has shown that delaying a legacy fight – and this is that for both men – is as likely to sabotage that match as enhance it.

Thammanoon Niyomtrong-Panya Pradabsri

Thammanoon Niyomtrong (24-0) lives in Surin, Thailand. Panya Pradabsri (39-1) lives a fifty-minute flight away in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok. Niyomtrong is the world’s number one at 105lbs; Pradabsri is the number two.

These are the best two fighters in the division, elite talents, who almost guarantee a high quality, dramatic fight, and there is no sign of it, nor has there been since they summitted. Neighbours in global terms, they are entwined in Bangkok’s promotional rivalries and relationships, Niyomtrong (aka Knockout CP Freshmart) promoted by Petpiya Fight Promotions, a subsidiary of Petchyindee Boxing Promotion, first and foremost a Muay Thai promoter, and a fine one. Pradabsri is promoted by Piyarat “Tung” Vachirarattanawong for – Petchyindee Boxing Promotion. This relationship, it would seem, should make the fight easier to make, not more difficult but so far this seems not to be the case.

From their modern facility on the outskirts of Bangkok, the promotional team feed fighters into ONE, the world’s premier Thai Boxing organisation and this would seem to be their chief source of income. They have a storied past, one that has carried Muay Thai from a more traditional space in the seventies to a modern arena in 2023 but their approach to boxing seems to be centred on drawing as much money as possible to Thailand and to their promotional coffers. This includes keeping their promotional crown jewels separate yet together, unbeaten as titlists even at the expense of crowning one true champion.

In a way, it is difficult to blame them. Purse bids for even bigger fights for Nyomtrong and Pradabsri tend to be around 200,000 dollars, no fortune. The 105lb division is famously one in which it is difficult to make big money.

Will it happen? Yes, it will – but not until one of the two Thais has been taken, or until there is a clear read that one of them is about to be taken. Then, and only then will these two fabulous boxers be allowed to fight.

Errol Spence-Terence Crawford

Crawford

Terence Crawford has been a welterweight since 2018; Errol Spence has been a welterweight since he turned professional in 2012. They have been ranked the top two fighters weighing 147lbs for more than fifty months and yet they have not agreed to fight.

This is an obscenity and should they eventually meet it may be a costly one for either Crawford (thirty-five years old) or Spence (thirty-three years old) as they creak past their respective primes with their fiercest opponent – one another – still ahead of them. For surely, despite the car crashes and the accusations and the counter-accusations, these two Americans will end up in the same ring on the same night at some point in the not too distant future. They have fewer excuses than the others on this list and direct access to the riches of the American television market to smooth their way through negotiations.

On the face of things, small details are the problem. Crawford had even accepted the smaller end of the purse according to ESPN, but wanted further transparency on expenses due to their being no fixed purse, presumably due to advanced agreements on percentages relating to pay-per-view money. This is the kind of tiny detail that can derail a fight worth millions of dollars, and I often think it is not the detail being argued that really counts. What really counts is that one alpha-male millionaire elite athlete might struggle to take a knee to another alpha-male millionaire elite athlete more than once, if at all.

Add Al Haymon to the managerial risk, a man who it might be said prefers to protect his fighters from what he sees as adverse risk, and we have had something of a perfect recipe for disaster. Crawford’s determination to achieve independence from a controlling promoter is admirable as is his apparent acceptance of the short end, but he is now the roadblock to what on paper is the best fight that can be made in the sport. That is a serious impediment to legacy. At the time of writing, it looks like he will be facing Alexis Rocha (22-1) the next time he steps to the ring, rather than Spence.

But will it happen? I hope so. Crawford’s age and what has been a lengthy negotiation process which has come to naught means that if Crawford signs another contract he would be thirty-six years old by the time the fight was made. Insiders have deemed the fight “unachievable” but money does talk and there are millions being left upon the table. I think looming retirement coupled with the moderate purses to be made elsewhere in the division should deliver this one.

Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol

Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol were both born in Russia, both are light-heavyweights and both pound-for-pound talents. Their styles gel, their physical assets gel and the winner would be deemed one of the very best fighters in the world and the greatest light-heavyweight champion of the modern era.

And so far, there is no sign of it being made.

The clock is very much ticking as Beterbiev is now thirty-seven years old. Next year, or the year after, he will start to fail and although the standards which are applied to older fighters are higher, unfairly, I felt that he showed small signs of slippage last time out against Anthony Yarde, who he stopped in eight.

Beterbiev and Yarde split an estimated 950,000 dollars fighting in front of a partisan London crowd with the British broadcast controlled by telecommunications giants BT. Despite being backed by that corporate wealth and 12,000 paying customers at Wembley, the two couldn’t break a million dollars.

Bivol made a similar payday for his last fight in Russia, against Umar Salamov. In front of a home crowd against a fellow Russian, these two did not get so close to a million dollars as Beterbiev did travelling to London for Yarde. To make the big money, Bivol had to tempt superstar Canelo Alvarez north to 175lbs and Beterbiev represents a much higher risk for Bivol than Alvarez did; the purse will be a fraction.

Bivol and Beterbeiv have nowhere to fight. There is no big money in Moscow and no interest in London. It may be the case that boxing can turn yet again to the Middle East, Bivol’s people have connections in Abu Dhabi, but even here Bivol’s purse barely topped 500,000 dollars. It is not clear what these men would look for in order that they meet each other but this will be the toughest fight of their respective careers.

Will it happen? I have my doubts. Bivol and Beterbiev can pocket 500,000 dollars for fighting fighters they will expect to beat in third gear. Each will need his absolute best to better the other. How much is that worth? And where will that money come from? I suspect we will miss out on this one; there is likely no greater tragedy on this list.

Three of these five pairs share a country. Some of them even share promoters – but what they all share is a determination that the risk should match the reward. Fighters don’t want to be paid the same to fight at the pinnacle as they do on the slopes and, if they do, they want compensation as control elsewhere in the mined territory of the modern boxing contract. Going all the way back the 1800s and the failure of the mighty John Sullivan to match Peter Jackson, the failure of the most important fights to come off has made its mark upon the suffering soul of boxing almost as indelible as the huge fights that happen.

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Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing

Published

3 days ago

January 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.

As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.

This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.

A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”

Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.

Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.

Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)

Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.

When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.

Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).

For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.

“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.

As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.

As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”

Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.

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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

Published

5 days ago

January 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Mizuki-Hiruta-Dominates-in-her-U.S.-Debut-and-Trinidad-Wins-Too-at-Commerce

Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Published

6 days ago

January 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

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