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Styles Make Fights: Jared Anderson’s ‘Sub-Par’ Performance in Historical Perspective

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When a highly-touted prospect turns in a performance that is inconsistent with his build-up, certain vociferous folks are quick to claim that he was always over-rated. Jared Anderson’s showing in his homecoming fight with Charles Martin engendered this reaction.

“Prince” Charles Martin briefly held a world heavyweight title, but he won the belt in a quirky fashion – his opponent’s knee gave out – and in subsequent fights was blasted out by Anthony Joshua and out-pointed by artless Adam Kownacki. Anderson, who had won all 14 of his previous bouts by knockout, dispatching all but two of his opponents within the first three rounds, was the younger man by 14 years and Martin, at age 37, took the bout on 11 days’ notice.

Anderson won a lopsided decision, winning nine of the 10 rounds on two of the scorecards and eight rounds on the other, but a common theme in post-fight stories was his defensive shortcomings. Martin hurt him in round five and buzzed him in the waning seconds of the last stanza, suggesting that he, Martin, could have won if he had let his hands go more freely in the early rounds or if the fight had been scheduled for a longer distance.

As several knowledgeable boxing observers noted, those that rushed to judgment, casting aspersions on Jared Anderson, were not well-versed in the history of boxing.

Indeed. Let’s elaborate.

Joe Louis, the immortal Brown Bomber, was extended the distance in three of his first 13 fights including 10-rounders with Adolph Wiater and Patsy Perroni.

Muhammad Ali went the distance in his first two scheduled 10-rounders which were his seventh and eighth pro fights. His opponents were Duke Sabedong and Alonzo Johnson.

The Sabedong fight didn’t erode his stature. Sabedong was “a mastodonic monument to mediocrity” in the words of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jim Seagrave, but the six-foot-six Hawaiian was known for his durability; he could soak up a lot of punishment without getting knocked off his feet. Ali’s bout with former sparring partner Alonzo Johnson, however, unleashed a torrent of abuse. Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, won comfortably but did little to impress in a match that didn’t heat up until the final two rounds.

New York Daily Mirror scribe Dan Parker, New York’s most prominent boxing writer and arguably the most influential boxing writer in the country, told his readers that the fight was a hippodrome (i.e, a fake). Perhaps so, but Parker tainted his legacy with this observation: “The superiority of the experienced Johnson over the clumsy, ineffectual Clay was glaringly obvious to anyone with the slightest knowledge of boxing.”

Brickbats in far greater abundance rained down on the brash young fighter from Louisville following his eighteenth pro fight wherein he won an unpopular 10-round decision over Doug Jones before an SRO crowd at Madison Square Garden. “The fight exposed Clay as little more than a rank amateur whose mouth was far mightier than his muscles,” said a reporter from Memphis who was in town for a college basketball tournament and had wangled a press pass. It was a popular opinion. “The kid is a bum,” said more than one disgruntled fan as he left the arena.

George Foreman was extended the distance three times in his first 16 pro fights including 10-rounders with limited Levi Forte, a Miami Beach bellman, and with reputable Argentine campaigner Gregorio Peralta. Reporters were kind to him, however, reluctant to criticize the former gold medalist whose behavior at the Mexico City Olympiad stamped him as a true American patriot, the anti-Ali.

Lennox Lewis was far more advanced than Foreman when he went the distance for the first time in a 10-round fight. Lewis was 18-0 with 17 knockouts when he opposed journeyman Levi Billups at Caesars Palace on Feb. 1, 1992.

This bout was similar in many ways to Jared Anderson’s fight with Charles Martin. Billups buzzed Lewis in the final round with a three-punch combination, but when both were still standing at the final bell it was plain that the “A side” fighter would win the decision.

The hard-to-please British writers were left with the impression that Lennox Lewis would need quite a few more fights under his belt before he was ready to successfully tackle one of the title-holders. Looking back, he needed only three before locking up his first title at the expense of Tony Tucker.

There’s an old saying in boxing that styles make fights. Depending on his agenda, a matchmaker strives to match up fighters who will provide good entertainment or make the house fighter look good, ideally both as these aren’t mutually exclusive. But it’s an inexact science that becomes more of a puzzle when a fight falls out and a fill-in is needed on short notice.

Did Charles Martin expose shortcomings in Jared Anderson? Of course, but Jared is still a near-novice and if history is any guide, his sub-par showing this past Saturday didn’t veer him off the right path. He doesn’t need to take a step back before he takes another step forward.

In boxing, mused the noted trainer and boxing writer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, the “other guy” is allowed to show up. “Prospects are supposed to have rough nights at the office during their development,” tweeted boxing writer and podcaster Michael Montero….”Everyone relax.”

Amen.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images

Arne K. Lang’s third boxing book, titled “George Dixon, Terry McGovern and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910,” rolled off the press in September of last year. Published by McFarland, the book can be ordered directly from the publisher or via Amazon.

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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.

It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.

Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.

Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.

Bustillo Wins Rematch

Applerose2

In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.

Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.

Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.

After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.

Other Bouts

In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.

A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

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Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.

SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other.  There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.

It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.

Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.

Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.

Other Bouts of Note

The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.

The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.

In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing

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Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

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Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.

In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.

In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.

Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”

He meant it as a rhetorical question.

Semi-Windup

Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.

A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.

Also

Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.

In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.

The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.

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