HITS and MISSES from Deontay Wilder’s Big Fight PPV Weekend

All eyes were on Deontay Wilder this weekend and the undefeated WBC heavyweight titleholder delivered in fine form via a sensational one-punch knockout of veteran contender Luis Ortiz.

Wilder has grown into the preeminent can’t-miss heavyweight star of today, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the 34-year-old who presumably is now heading into an early 2020 superfight rematch against lineal champion Tyson Fury.

But there was plenty of other activity over the weekend. Callum Smith defended his super middleweight title in a domestic dustup against streaking Brit John Ryder in Liverpool, and two secondary titleholders attempted their own important defenses on a Golden Boy Promotions card in Indio, California.

Here are boxing’s biggest hits and misses from another important weekend in boxing.

HIT: Deontay Wilder’s Claim to Being More Than Just a Puncher

While it’s true most people expected Wilder to stop Ortiz on Saturday night, Wilder has a way of creating such dynamic knockouts that it almost immediately causes amnesia when it comes to remembering just how big a favorite he was headed into the fight.

That’s part of what makes Wilder so special, and it’s something no other heavyweight in the world today can match.

But Wilder claims to be more than just a tremendously hard puncher, and that assertion continues to gain merit with every single title defense. While many fans and media continue to disparage the fighter for his supposed lack of boxing skill, the simple truth of the matter is that no fighter could hold a heavyweight title for almost five years and 10 defenses without being something more than just a puncher.

Wilder didn’t just swing at Ortiz like an animal until the Cuban southpaw was felled. He carefully, and arguably craftily, set Ortiz up with smart footwork and timely feints before delivering that outrageously hard punch.

So, while it might not look like anything we’ve seen before, Wilder very obviously knows what he’s doing in there.

MISS: Fox Sports Media Professionals Parroting the PBC’s Propaganda 

When the PBC pretends the WBO isn’t universally accepted as one of the four major sanctioning bodies while simultaneously presenting secondary WBA titleholders as legitimate world champions, it isn’t really doing anything different than basically every other boxing promoter has ever done.

The PBC is promoting its own interests over the truth. That happens all the time.

But not having at least one journalist on the PBC on Fox crew that refuses to comply with the company line is troubling. Moreover, it frustratingly creates more confusion than already exists in the overly complicated world title culture that plagues boxing and can only have a negative effect on efforts to create new fans.

It’s up to the media to refute promotional nonsense because left to their own devices, promoters will always choose the selfish and shortsighted thing. Boxing is confusing enough without journalists turning a blind-eye to promotional propaganda. At least one person on the PBC on Fox crew should be more than just a personality.

HIT: Huge Wins for Rene Alvarado and Xu Can in Secondary Title Bouts

The various secondary world titles in circulation around the world such as the regular WBA titles worn by junior lightweight Andrew Cancio and featherweight Xu Can headed into their bouts on Saturday night cause confusion in the sport, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any value at all.

It certainly seemed important for Rene Alvarado, who stopped Cancio in the seventh round on the 45th anniversary of fellow Nicaraguan Alexis Arguello’s win over Ruben Olivares in 1974. Alvarado was reduced to tears after the win, and the secondary title he earned will probably help him get bigger fights moving forward

It sure seems to be doing that already for China’s Xu Can who was successful in his second defense of the secondary featherweight belt he lifted off Jesus Rojas back in January. Can was virtually unknown in the boxing world outside of China until he upset Rojas in an early Fight of the Year candidate in Houston, and now he’s moving up in the sport with real momentum.

So, while it’s easy to disparage the WBA and other alphabet organizations for creating these belts, and even probably fair to say that they plague boxing by muddling up the world title picture, it’s also true to accept that they probably wouldn’t exist without at least some amount value.

MISS: Callum Smith’s Inauspicious Audition for Canelo Alvarez Fight

Callum Smith suddenly looks very beatable, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time for the undefeated WBA super middleweight champion who had to be on the short-list of options to be Canelo Alvarez’s next opponent before the weekend passed.

Last year, Smith, 29, from Liverpool, upset the field to win the 168-pound World Boxing Super Series tournament to solidify himself as the consensus No. 1 super middleweight in the world. He followed that up by dismantling former 160-pound title challenger Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam in three rounds on the massive Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz undercard in New York over the summer.

But John Ryder gave Smith all he could handle for 12 rounds, and that doesn’t bode well for Smith’s future. Heck, after seeing the diminutive Ryder (who stands 5 feet 9 inches) so easily work his way inside Smith’s freakishly long reach, I’m not sure Smith would even be all that competitive against Alvarez (also 5 feet 9 inches).

More importantly, many wondered if Smith even deserved the nod over Ryder. Judges at ringside scored the bout 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112 for Smith, but most people who watched the fight on DAZN seemed to believe Ryder was pulling the upset as it was happening.

Regardless, Smith doesn’t look fit for Alvarez right now. If anything, he should probably prove he can consistently beat the John Ryders of the world before moving up in class anytime soon.

HIT: Solid Wilder-Ortiz 2 Undercard Matchups 

The undercard bouts on Wilder-Ortiz 2 turned out to be some solid fights. While it’s easy to take something like that for granted after ponying up $75 to watch a PPV, it’s certainly not common for PPV undercards to turn out so well.

The card opened with Mexico’s Eduardo Ramirez scoring a fourth-round stoppage of Cuban stylist Leduan Barthelemy in a featherweight rematch. Barthelemy looked like the craftier technician early, but Ramirez overwhelmed him with sharp volume. The two had previously fought to a draw in 2017, but Ramirez settled that matter for good now.

Texan Brandon Figueroa and Mexico’s Julio Ceja battled to a 12-round draw for Figueroa’s secondary 126-pound title. Figueroa is a volume puncher who fights in the same manner as older brother Omar, and the 22-year-old was taking a big step up in class against Ceja. The two combined to throw 2,811 punches according to CompuBox’s unofficial statistics, and the action was top-notch for all 12 rounds.

Finally, Leo Santa Cruz defeated Houston’s Miguel Flores in Santa Cruz’s 130-pound debut for the vacant WBA title. Flores surprisingly threw more punches than the hyper-aggressive Santa Cruz, but couldn’t really overcome the wide talent gap. Still, it was another solid scrap, albeit the least entertaining of the three.

Still, it’s not often one can stay reasonably entertained through all three undercard fights of a big PPV. That would seem especially hard to pull off when one of the fights had to be scrapped during fight week thanks to the continued unprofessionalism of Luis Nery that led to the cancellation of the unbeaten Mexican’s contest against former titleholder Emmanuel Rodriguez after Nery missed weight on Friday.

So, kudos to the PBC matchmakers for making good fights.

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