Posts Tagged ‘WBA’
Brian Magee, CARL FROCH, Lucian Bute, Robin Reid, WBA, World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, World Boxing Organization
In Boxing on February 22, 2012 at 11:29 am
Only those entirely immersed in the sport are able to negotiate the labyrinthine collection of weight classes, governing bodies and titles the sport has adopted to provide measure of its participants’ success or failure. But as it adds ever more tiers and layers, so the benchmarks become ever more meaningless. Even the seemingly impeachable concept of a fighter’s record is blighted by context and controversy.
There is no longer an available method for recognising a fight’s or a fighter’s place in the sport’s hierarchy. And there is the rub. The simplest, purest sport is now engulfed in unnecessary complication. Complication that serves to ostracise the general public and push boxing to the margins of the sporting landscape. Read the rest of this entry »
audley harrison, david haye, heavyweight, Nicolay Valuev, Vitali Klitschko, WBA, Wladimir Klitschko
In Boxing, British Boxing, Olympic Boxing, Prizefighter, Sports on June 30, 2010 at 10:34 am
Despite David Haye’s protestations to the contrary the prospect of this unlikely heavyweight prizefight remains the talking point of the day in the dungeons of the internet’s boxing forums. Audley Harrison has, afterall, already sacrificed the European title in the belief that he will secure the all-British world heavyweight title fight he and television network Sky Sports appear to crave. Debuting his guest column, John Cascells reflects on the fight; why it may prove to be more challenging than the cynics presume and why he is sure it will make for must-see television. Read the rest of this entry »
audley harrison, Barry Hearn, david haye, heavyweight, Joe Louis, John Ruiz, rocky marciano, Vitaly Klitschko, WBA
In Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Mike Tyson, Prizefighter, Sports on June 23, 2010 at 12:32 pm
It was meant to be different. That was the tag-line. The sedentary waters of the heavyweight division were to be purified. David Haye wanted to fight the best heavyweights straight away, he didn’t want to procrastinate, to manoeuvre. He just wanted to know if he was the best, prove it or fail. Money was secondary. Challenge was everything. Boxing’s downtrodden masses craved the Utopia Haye was selling. He evangelised about bypassing promoters, side-stepping sanctioning bodies and the established order. Boxing is about the fighters not men in suits he might have said. He founded this alternate reality. Hayemaker. Fighters flocked to his rallying cry. Pretty girls flushed, forums hummed, fans cheered. Now, with a portion of the establishment in his possession – the WBA belt - and an unexpected level of renown that now enables him to accumulate £1-3 million pay-days for the type of rudimentary defence he once denounced, the urge to corner a Klitschko in a ring, or even at the top of an elevator has evidently subsided.
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audley harrison, david haye, heavyweight, Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Jim Jeffries, Sam Langford, Vitaly Klitschko, WBA, wbc
In Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Olympic Boxing, Sports on June 11, 2010 at 10:56 pm
In an era before nutritionists, public relations and conditioners, during that simplistic period when heavyweights ran, hit-bag, sparred, chopped wood and often took a stiff drink or three the night before a fight it is hard to imagine how they would have viewed the flimsy media battle being contested by heavyweight trio David Haye, Klitschko and heaven help us Audley Harrison. It may be nostalgic romanticism to suggest fighters like Jack Dempsey or Jim Jeffries simply signed to fight an opponent, trained and then settled it in an often gruelling, unforgiving fight, but it is with some confidence that I propose they wouldn’t have been comfortable with the shallow misinformation all parties appear to be peddling even if avoiding opponents is an oft-overlooked aspect of boxing at the beginning of the 20th century too. Read the rest of this entry »
Amir Khan, Barry McGuigan, Gavin Rees, Light-Welterweight, Paul McCloskey, Ricky Hatton, WBA
In Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports on June 9, 2010 at 2:41 pm
I was interested to read that pocket battleship Gavin Rees has been added to the under card of Paul McCloskey’s encounter with veteran Italian Giuseppe Lauri this weekend. Rees has fought once since winning the Prizefighter 140 pound tournament, defeating three former European Champions in the process, and appears to be a promotional free agent in the absence of Calzaghe Promotions and his departure from the Sports Network stable. His last tune up being deep on the Harrison v Sprott under-card put together by Matchroom Sport. Read the rest of this entry »
david haye, Don King, evander holyfield, heavyweight, Jean Pascal, John Ruiz, Lennox Lewis, Manny Pacquaio, Nicolay Valuev, ruslan chagaev, Timothy Bradley, WBA
In Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Mike Tyson, Sports on November 10, 2009 at 1:04 pm
It will not prove as easy for newly crowned WBA Heavyweight champion David Haye to sell tickets to his mandated clash with American John Ruiz in the spring as the David v Goliath showdown proved last weekend. But for all the doubters, I’d like to encourage everyone to visit YouTube and refresh their preconceptions about the 37 year old former two-time WBA champion. In short Ruiz is a different beast to the much maligned jab and grab merchant he’s often described as. Read the rest of this entry »
david haye, David v Goliath, Don King, Haye v Valuev, heavyweight, Lennox Lewis, muhammad ali, PPV, Vitali Klitschko, WBA
In Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Mike Tyson, Shop, Sports on November 4, 2009 at 4:50 pm
If promoting a fight is craft, then David Haye has used every tool in the box to generate interest in this Saturday’s fight with Nicolay Valuev. He is an effervescent self-promoter who has used eye-catching gimmicks, distasteful commentary about Valuev’s personal hygiene, appeared on every talk-show, press event and personal appearance in order to force this fight to transcend the confines of the boxing audience. And, glory be, its working. Read the rest of this entry »
Andre Dirrell, Andre Ward, Arthur Abraham, CARL FROCH, IBF, Jermain Taylor, Mikkel Kessler, Super Six, Super-Middleweight. Showtime, WBA, wbc
In Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports on July 15, 2009 at 10:05 am
In the immediate aftermath of Showtime’s exciting announcement of the Super Six tournament to be held at 168 pounds over the next two years, I asked readers to predict who they felt would emerge from the groundbreaking series as champion. As you might anticipate the outsiders, Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell only landed 2% of the votes cast but it was Danish hard-man Mikkel Kessler who fans felt most likely to prevail. 60% of the votes went to Kessler with Froch (21%), Abraham (9%) and Taylor (8%) trailing someway behind. Read the rest of this entry »
Cedric Boswell, david haye, HBO, heavyweight, IBF, IBO, Lennox Lewis, Nicolay Valuev, ruslan chagaev, Setanta, The Ring, WBA, wbc, Wladimir Klitschko
In Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Mike Tyson, Sports on June 5, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Since the disappointment of David Haye’s withdrawal from this year’s biggest heavyweight title fight and a potential record breaking event to boot it has been widely assumed Ruslan Chagaev would prove to be the natural replacement for the former Cruiserweight king. Similarly shorter than Wladimir, with a reliance on speed and movement the WBA champion is a far more obvious replacement, physically at least, than Nikolay Valuev, the near 7ft Russian who offers a polar opposite opponent than the one the younger Klitschko has spent many weeks preparing for. Bu this thesis overlooks one obvious factor, the 6ft Uzbekistan fighter is a left-hander. Read the rest of this entry »
Bernard Dunne, Brian Peters Promotions, Celestino Caballero, Frank Maloney, Rendell Munroe, Ricardo Cordoba, WBA
In Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports on March 27, 2009 at 11:17 am
I’ve written some pieces for Frank Maloney’s website in the past, and hope to again in the not to distant future, so I have a small history with the wily promoter. But I defy anyone to not to appreciate his tone and attitude in conversation with Steve Bunce on Steve’s weekly show on Setanta. The exchanges between Maloney and Brian Peters, the Irish promoter of Bernard Dunne the new WBA Super-Bantamweight champion and direct rival to Maloney’s European Champion, Rendall Munroe, in the run up to Dunne’s punishing victory over Ricardo Cordoba at the weekend certainly developed some sharp edges. Despite that, Maloney proved pragmatic and gracious in his praise for Dunne’s achievement on the popular show. Read the rest of this entry »
david haye, Hayemaker, IBF, WBA, wbc, WBO, Wladimir Klitschko
In Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports on March 27, 2009 at 10:54 am
Regular visitors will be accustomed to the acerbic analysis of Andrew Mullinder, our resident correspondent in Moscow. I’m sure Andrew has all the usual creature comforts we enjoy in the West but I prefer to adapt the usual visual triggers employed by third rate cold war thrillers to conjure an image of Andrew huddled over an ageing type writer, all fingerless gloves, one bar fires and cheap vodka, manically venting on the issues of the day from his down trodden apartment block in some mafia run ghetto. Why? Well it just makes sense of his withering contributions, and the latest, a deconstruction of the most artificially created ring moniker in boxing must have come after a slurp or two of the strong stuff. Read the rest of this entry »
Bernard Dunne, Brian Peters Promotions, Super-Bantamweight, Wayne McCullough, WBA
In Boxing, British Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports on March 25, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I know precious little of Brian Peters, he is a new name on the promotional front, so commentating too much on his latest release is not grounded in much experience of the man or his methods. However, despite that lack of history, I still think the prospect of Bernard Dunne accepting either a non-title fight or voluntary defence against Wayne McCullough (if the WBA can be coerced into ranking McCullough) is just as likely as the unification bouts Peters is professing to prefer. It simply makes too much financial sense to miss out on, particularly given the presumed lack of risk a 38 year old McCullough would present. Judge for yourselves. Read the rest of this entry »
Bernard Dunne, Celestino Caballero, Erik Morales, irish boxing, Prince Naseem Hamed, Scott Harrison, Super-Bantamweight, Wayne McCullough, WBA
In Boxing, British Boxing, Sports on March 25, 2009 at 8:30 am
It is beyond the remit of any writer, no matter how well intentioned to implore a man to retire. A fighter, regardless of the date on his birth certificate, should not be prevented from earning a living if they are physically able to do so. Wayne McCullough, that most dedicated of professionals is one such example. Despite the evidence of a waning ability the Pocket Rocket refuses to relinquish his dream of once again being crowned World Champion. As a heavyweight, his 38 years wouldn’t be the millstone they are at Super-Bantamweight where speed, stamina and volume punching are more prevalent than amongst the heavyweight molasses. Read the rest of this entry »
Amir Khan, Diego Corrales, IBF, Joan Guzman, Jose Luis Castillo, Lightweight, Nate Campbell, WBA, wbc, WBO
In Boxing, Fight Reports, Sports on October 3, 2008 at 2:34 pm
It might be the stiff wind from the Urals which makes guest writer Andrew Mullinder such a cantankerous observer of the noble art. Mullinder is not implored to write by the science or the beauty of boxing, only the muck, the politics and the fractious infrastructure of the sport evoke his withering invective. His latest target is the WBA, for whom the dietary plans of Joan Guzman appear to have been but a distant theme from a distant land. Mullinder thinks its time governing bodies started, well, governing. Read the rest of this entry »
Felix Trinidad, Mexico, Miguel Cotto, Miguel Cotto; Antonio Margarito; Floyd Mayweather; Welt, Paul Williams, Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley, WBA, Welterweight
In Boxing on July 30, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I’ve little new to add to the thousands of column inches already afforded to the outstanding contest between 
Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito last Saturday night. A tumultuous encounter that achieved that rarest of triumphs, it lived up to its promise. Both fighters were exceptional and though Margarito emerges with maximum credit for unseating the WBA Welterweight champion I believe now is the most opportune moment to applaud the performance and courage of his vanquished opponent. Read the rest of this entry »
heavyweight, John Ruiz, Nicolay Valuev, WBA
In Boxing, Mike Tyson, Sports on May 8, 2008 at 9:06 am
When consigned to history John Ruiz’ career will be much maligned, it is already. His success and resolve will be overshadowed by the snipers who point to his suffocating, ugly style, a crushing defeat to the then Zeus like David Tua in 17 seconds and a ponderous pursuit of Roy Jones Jnr. Despite these facts, and they are all facts, his rough-edges and lack of beauty, I just can’t help liking him. It’s a strange thing, attraction.
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Heavyweight Boxing, John Ruiz, WBA, WBO
In Boxing, Fight Previews, Sports on October 9, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Rugged former belt holder John Ruiz is arguably the most criticised heavyweight of his generation despite twice being the possessor of a world championship belt and holding victories over Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman and Andrew Golota. True his victory over the giant Pole was widely considered contentious but I think a little respect for Ruiz’s willingness to engage with tough opponents and overcome the humiliation of his defeats to Roy Jones and David Tua to compile a mixed but worthy record is overdue. Read the rest of this entry »
