Opinion and insight by David Payne
PRESS RELEASE 30/04/07
Hennessy Sports promoted John Murray is not surprised that his British lightweight rival Amir Khan rejected an offer to fight him this Saturday on potentially the biggest event in boxing history, despite the Olympic Silver medalist’s false claim that he ‘played’ with him in sparring. Continue reading “PR: Murray unsurprised at ‘joker’ Khan’s knock-back”
And the sky is blue, grass is green. An obvious statement of course, but the weekend corner retirement of Acelino Freitas brought down the curtain on a distinguished career and it would be sad if the hard-punching Brazilian is remembered only for quitting versus Diego Corrales and young Juan Diaz at the weekend. It would be unjust to overlook his longevity and the knockout streak of his youth.
Nobody could question the legitimacy of the venerable Jose Luis Castillo as an opponent for the Mancunian terrier Ricky Hatton in June; the 37 year old warrior is a revered fighter, capable of an outstanding punch output, an unflinching desire for combat and a rounded technical game. The clash promises high-octane, high quality toe to toe action and whatever the relative merits of the two in pound for pound terms it is a proper fight and the type Hatton urgently needs. After Castillo however, the way forward is far less clear.
Continue reading “Beyond Castillo; Is Hatton’s Cupboard Bare?”
Secondsout.com, a site with a vested interested in furthering the case for Roman Greenberg, claim the 24 year old is on a short-list of three to be Vitali Klitschko’s opponent when the big former title holder returns. Perhaps only in a fight with an elite, if rusty, professional like Klitschko will Greenberg realise just how slowly he’s been moving both in the ring and up the heavyweight ladder. His record is aesthetic, he will doubtless gleefully take the payday and those are presumably the two criteria facilitating his consideration as the sacrifical lamb. Continue reading “Set to Drown: Roman on Klitschko Short-List”
The ashen white look on Dean Powell’s face when it became clear British Light-Heavyweight champion Peter Oboh was refusing to defend his crown despite being at the venue, having made weight and with the crowd in their seats was a postcard picture. No words could convey the disbelief better than Powell’s jaw resting on his knees. Continue reading “Oboh Gets The Violin Out”
Yesterday I commented on the two-tone nature of Tomasz Bonin’s heavyweight credentials, on the one hand he had an aesthetic record of 37-1, was ranked #11 by the WBC, appeared rugged and game – on the other he had a flattering ledger with no quality on it, an unqualified ranking and at 231 pounds still looked to be carrying extra ‘timber’ of a relaxed rather than tense nature. So a certain context is required before adding to the bravado and hoopla David Haye’s devastating stoppage of the gutsy Pole has induced.
The recent press release pertaining to Peter Manfredo’s next bout caused a tremor of discomfort in my sensitive sensibilities. And this dissatisfaction centred on one key word in the brief release; controversial. In recent years the word controversial has become a broad church for a litany of different conclusions to fights. Whether points, knockout or other intervention the word controversial undermines victory, excuses defeat and adds further murk to boxing’s inherently muddy water. Continue reading “Most Over Used Words in Boxing”
A brief sabbatical broke my winning run on the long shot series. Encouraged by Oliver Fennell following the outrageous suggestion Ray Austin could derail Wladimir Klitschko a few weeks back I enjoyed greater success with Steve Forbes who should’ve been awarded the upset versus Demetrius Hopkins, then Henry Maske who returned from a 11 year hiatus to outwork WBA Cruiserweight champion Virgil Hill and Clottey pummelled Diego Corrales at Welter. So this week…
Acquaintances of mine often mock my willingness to name-check thesweetscience.com, a website set up to promote the best of boxing writing and featuring a premier roster of contributors. You see, there I go again. However, whatever the critics and cynics may suggest I’m proud of a number of the articles I submitted. In a quest to preserve them beyond any further collapse of their site. I intend to feature one of my submissions from time to time. The Solitary Life of a Boxing fan is a melancholic assessment of the life of a niche sports fan. Continue reading “Archive: The Solitary Life of a Boxing Fan”
Any promoter and fighter willing to jeopardise a mandatory shot at the consensus Cruiserweight champion by facing a legitimate ranked heavyweight in a non-title fight deserves applause. It would be easy to either discredit rugged Pole Thomasz Bonin as fortunate to be the custodian of a WBC ranking or the move to face him as an act of lunacy on David Haye’s part, but boxing fans who regularly criticise fighters for taking soft fights – you can’t have it both ways. Continue reading “David Haye Weigh In Pictures”
With the seminal bout between Oscar and Floyd just 9 days away it is easy to overlook the fact 39 year old Javier Castillejo and Felix Sturm will contest the WBA Middleweight belt this weekend and that in all reality a then youthful Sturm completely outboxed a flabby Golden Boy in his debut at 160 pounds three years ago. A performance that almost cost Oscar his multi-million pound clash with Bernard Hopkins. Since then Sturm has regrouped but remains outside the consciousness of the American audiences he shocked in 2004. Continue reading “Felix Sturm Easy to Forget”
We live in a smaller world they keep telling us, I’m not sure who ‘they’ are but the arrival of the Internet has certainly drawn all four corners of the world much closer to my, and everyone else’s, finger tips. Results from around the globe instantly accessible and no story is more than a click or two away. Imagine how hard it must have been to wait days and weeks to hear the results of fights a century ago? I digress, despite this shrinking world my residence on an Island, a relatively small one at that, always left me thinking that as a boxing fan I didn’t benefit from the economies of scale of the American fan. So many fights were unavailable to me because I was a fan of a niche sport in a different timezone. Continue reading “The Yanks Have Had Enough Too”
Few fighters demonstrate the resolve and determination regularly delivered by Arturo Gatti during his long and eventful career and precious few are held in such affection by boxing fans around the globe. A reputation for effort, entertainment and sheer bloody mindedness has earned Arturo Gatti a very special place in boxing folklore, his name etched alongside more gifted fighters because of the ‘Human Highlight Reel’ his career has become. Continue reading “Gatti to Tackle Gomez in July.”
Typically, like most people, I’m somewhere between the Luddites and the bleeding edge of technological development. I now frequent YouTube but it took me two years to acquire the requisite software to access it. However, now active I’ve utilised the ability to connect direct to my favourite clips and films from this site. Continue reading “New Feature: VodPod Video Links”
Modern day boxing is a cruel mistress. Once entangled, there is no escape. It is impossible to fall out of love with her or to find the frustration and disappointment she dispenses outweighthe rare reward of witnessing a Ward v Gatti or Moore v Macklin type contest. Boxing is a love-hate relationship, fans love boxing but boxing hates the fans. Continue reading “Rees Gets Title Shot! Someone Should Be Shot”
Staggering. The only word to describe reports Super-Middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe is considering abdicating from his ten year reign as WBO belt-holder. Following the furore surrounding his most recent defence of the much-maligned belt against over-matched American Peter Manfredo, it seems the much-publicised bout proved one mediocre contest too far for boxing fans (and possibly TV network ITV) following equally disappointing points victories over pint-sized Evans Ashira and hard-headed Sakio Bika. Continue reading “Joe Calzaghe To Vacate?”
