By Peter Silkov
When Floyd Mayweather Jr. 44-0(26kos) enters the ring at the MGM
Grand in Las Vegas this Saturday, he will be facing the biggest
challenge of his illustrious career so far, both physically and
metaphorically. In Saul ‘Canelo’ Avarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs), the world’s
number one boxer, pound-for-pound, will be squaring off against a man
thirteen years his junior, who will also be out-weighing him by at least
15 pounds by fight night.
Mayweather, in his 17-year career has faced opponents of all types,
and despite the accusations of cherry picking leveled at him by some, he
has fought the best opponents available to him, at every weight
division. Except, of course that one super-fight with a certain Mr.
Pacquiao, which may or may not finally happen one day, before everyone
gets too old. However, Mayweather has never faced an opponent with such a
size advantage, who also has an age advantage as well.
While it may seem to be clutching at straws to talk about Mayweather
aging, the fact is that ‘Money’ is now 36 years old, an age where bad
things can happen to a fighter suddenly overnight. In the build up to
this match there has been some talk about Mayweather having been floored
in sparring for the first time ever. It may be just idle propaganda, or
else there could be some truth in the rumour. Such incidents in
training can be the first sign that a fighter is slipping.
This is just the sixth fight that Mayweather has had since he stopped
Ricky Hatton in Dec 2007. Mayweather’s sparing activity has been caused
by a mixture of out of the ring domestic problems (including a
three-month jail stint last year) and Floyd’s need to allow his
notoriously fragile hands time to rest between fights. There is a fine
line between a boxer preserving himself by fighting infrequently, and a
boxer deteriorating due to lack of action. Although Mayweather seems to
have mastered walking this particular line, the longer his career
continues, the harder it will be as he ages.
At first glance, Mayweather has not shown any discernible signs of
decay in the five fights since the Hatton contest. However it is worth
noting that Floyd has used the ropes a little more in his recent fights
with Cotto and Guerrero, rather than using more of the ring as he did in
earlier fights. This slight change in style can be an indication of a
boxer ’saving’ his aging legs.
One of the reasons behind Floyd taking this fight with Alvaraez is
the mixed reception that he got after beating Gurrerro in May this year.
Despite dominating Gurrerro with a perfect display of counter-punching
and defense, there were those in the audience that night who made it
verbally clear that they expected more for their money. The fans want to
see drama and action, they want to see Mayweather put under pressure by
a fighter who has a chance of beating him.
Judged on pure skills and boxing ability, Mayweather vs. Alvarez is a
no-brainer; Mayweather is in a wholly different league when it comes
down to pure boxing skills. But there is more to this fight than simple
boxing skills, there is the size and age differential between the two
boxers, both of which could bear fruit for Alvarez.
Although there is only an one-inch height difference between
Mayweather and Alvarez, with Mayweather standing five-feet eight and
Alvarez at five-feet nine, but a look at the two men, head to head,
discloses that both boxers have very different builds. Mayweather has a
much more slender build, while Alvarez is very stocky, and heavily
muscled for a light-middle, looking far more like a middleweight or even
a super-middleweight, which, in reality…he is.
Alvarez’s size advantage cannot be over looked. Despite this fight,
rather disappointingly, having a catch weight clause, (which means that
Alvarez needs to come in at 152 rather than the usual accepted 154
weight limit), by fight night Alvarez will have rehydrated to as much as
168 pounds or more. Mayweather will find himself facing the biggest
opponent of his career on Saturday.
Alvarez also has more going for him than just his size; he has some
good skills, and is seasoned beyond his years, having turned
professional at the tender age of 15, almost eight years ago. Although
his skills are not comparable to Floyd’s, Canelo is a better technical
boxer than many give him credit for being, just how good exactly, we
will get to find out on Saturday. Much of what happens in this fight
depends upon how well Alvarez is able to use his advantages of size and
youth.
It is worth noting that Alvarez has been groomed for this moment
almost from the very beginning of his career, when those around him
first realised the potential gold mine that this redheaded Mexican could
become with a little nurturing. Aside from his fistic ability, Alvarez
is the first opponent that Mayweather has faced with a popularity which
rivals his own, since his fight with Oscar De La Hoya.
Like Oscar De La Hoya before him, (who is of course now his
promoter!) Alvarez has a crossover appeal, which spreads far beyond just
the Mexican fans.
There are those in the boxing elite who may be desperate for Alvarez
to become the new superstar of boxing. With Floyd’s career closer to its
end, than it is to its beginning, a 23-year-old who can regularly pull
in crowds of 40,000, no matter who he fights, is just what the doctor
ordered for many of the power brokers in boxing. While Floyd is still
undisputedly the number one boxer in the world, the search is already on
for his successor, and there will be those who would like to see a
passing of the torch on Saturday, from Floyd to Alvarez. The upper
echelons of boxing can be a slippery business at the best of times, and
sometimes certain people seem to get their way, despite all logic
pointing to the contrary.
Is it just a coincidence, or perhaps a bad omen for Mayweather, that
he is facing Alvarez almost 20 years to the day since Pernell Whitaker
defended his WBC World Welterweight title against the already legendary
Julio Cesar Chavez on 10th September 1993. Whitaker is a sadly
overlooked boxer today, whose overall boxing technique and defensive
skills rival those wielded today by Mayweather. On that night, against
Mexican idol Chavez, ’Sweet Pea’ gave a master class of the sweet
science, and seemed to have done more than enough to become the first
man to defeat the still unbeaten Chavez. However, the three judges saw
things differently, and instead of celebrating the crowning moment of
his career, Whitaker found himself lucky to be heading home still with
his title after the fight was ruled a draw.
Pernell was not so lucky some three years later when he defended the
same WBC World Welterweight title against a twenty-four year old Oscar
De la Hoya, and despite seemingly out boxing ‘The Golden Boy,’ in
addition to flooring, and landing the more punches, ‘Sweet Pea’ was
shorn of his title. Indeed, according to the judges on the night, the
fight wasn’t even close.
Floyd Mayweather would do well to look at these two results and heed a
warning that should come through to him from these past fights.
While Alvarez has not yet shown himself to be on a level comparable
to either Julio Cesar Chavez, or Oscar de la Hoya, his advantage in size
may well make up for the talent deficit. The truth is, that with the
crowd, and probably the judges on his side on Saturday, Alvarez may well
win rounds on aggression, even if his punches are being slipped or
blocked by Mayweather. This is a fight where Mayweather needs to
dominate in order to be sure of victory. He needs a performance similar
to the ones he produced against Ricky Hatton and Victor Ortiz, rather
than a performance akin to how he was against Miguel Cotto or even his
last fight against Robert Guerrero.
The main danger for Floyd in this fight is if he relies on his
countering and defensive skills and is not offensive enough, he could
find himself losing rounds, which he shouldn’t be losing.
There will be those who will say that a controversial draw, or win
for Alvarez would be a profitable result for everyone, as with few other
star opponents on the horizon (aside from a certain Manny Pacquiao!) a
rematch or even possible trilogy with Alvarez would be a huge
money-spinner for all.
However, Floyd enjoys being number one far too much to ever be
dragged into such thoughts. He will want to win and win well. We can
only hope that if he does so that the judges will score fairly and
appropriately.
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved.
Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
Friday, September 13, 2013
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Former World Heavyweight Champion Tommy Morrison Dies At Age Forty-Four
By Peter Silkov
There have been many tragic stories involving boxers in recent years,
but few are as dark as that of Tommy Morrison, the former WBO World
Heavyweight champion, who died on Sunday night, September 1st, in a
Nebraska Hospital.
He was just forty four years of age.
Tommy Morrison’s story is an almost stereotypical tale of of the handsome young boxer with a big punch who finds fame and fortune with his fists, and at one point has the world at his feet, but then has it all taken away from him in one savage sweep.
When Tommy Morrison co-starred in Rocky V with Sylvester Stallone in 1990 he was a 21 year old undefeated Heavyweight prospect with a record of 19-0 (17koes) who was mowing down his opposition in a manner that made some call him a ‘white Mike Tyson’. The fact that Morrison claimed to be a grand nephew of John Wayne (hence his nickname ‘The Duke’) didn’t hurt his marketability at all.
After taking part in Rocky V Morrison’s own life and career continued to become the stuff of movies, only unlike Rocky V in reality Tommy really would become heavyweight champion of the world, albeit after some ups and downs along the way.
On 8th Oct 1991 still unbeaten in 28 fights, Tommy challenged Ray Mercer for the WBO World Heavyweight Championship, and after bombarding the iron chinned Mercer for four rounds ran out of gas and was cornered and bludgeoned to unconsciousness in one of the most savage knockouts ever witnessed in modern times.
To his credit Morrison came right back from a defeat that many thought at the time to be career threatening, and despite the loss he was as popular as ever. After a run of eight victories, including exciting wars with Joe Hipp and Carl Williams, both of which displayed his flaws, but also his heart and power, and why he was so popular with the fans.
At the age of twenty four on 7th June 1993, Morrison took on the legendary George Foreman for the then- vacant WBO World heavyweight title.
In what was undoubtedly the best technical performance of his career, in front of a star-studded Las Vegas crowd, Morrison boxed to a plan, and out-jabbed and out-boxed the still formidable Foreman. It was a performance which revealed that Morrison wasn’t simply the one-dimensional slugger that he was regarded as and that there was perhaps at the age of twenty four, hope for much more.
The fighter with the film-star resume had one corner of the greatest title in sports, and seemed to have a golden future both in and out of the ring. But this is perhaps where things started to go terribly wrong for ’The Duke’. Still a very young man, Morrison began to live the kind of debauched life outside the ring normally reserved for Rock stars. His womanizing became legendary, as did his rumoured use of alcohol and other substances.
After an easy touch first defence of his title against Tim Tomashek, and just four months after his victory over Foreman, ’The Duke’ was dropped three times and stopped in the 1st round by Michael Bentt, losing both his title and a huge payday with Lennox Lewis in the process.
Morrison again came back, running up some rebuilding victories before beating Razor Ruddock in a thrilling shootout on 10th June 1995, that saw both men hurt and floored, before Morrison prevailed with a 6th round stoppage.
Four months later, the win over Ruddock gained ’The Duke’ a belated shot at Lennox Lewis, for the IBC World heavyweight title. But this time there was to be no fairytale victory for Morrison as he was floored four times and stopped in the 6th round by Lewis.
Although he was now viewed by some as being damaged goods, Morrison was still only twenty seven, with the looks and fighting style which would keep the crowds coming to see him, a new comeback was mapped out and a contract reportedly worth 38 million dollars, for three fights signed. Then on February 1996, while preparing for his first step of fistic rehabilitation, a fight against Arthur Weathers in Las Vegas, Morrison tested HIV positive. After a second test came back positive as well, Morrison called a press conference and announced his retirement from boxing and with courageous honesty blamed his reckless lifestyle and bad choices for his predicament.
Morrison had one fight in Tokyo in November 1996, saying before it that HIV could not be passed on in the ring. He stopped Marcus Rhode in two rounds and then retired again.
Facing the end of his career at the age of twenty seven must have been bad enough, but Morrison also had to contend with losing his whole life as he had known it outside the ring. In one moment he had gone from being an idol to a pariah. Years later Morrison would recall how friends and even family turned their backs on him, both metaphorically and literally. The prejudice and stigmatization must have been hard to bear for a man who had become used to being a star who had been feted and admired by everyone around him. Even his home town of Oklahoma took down the sign that they had erected on the outskirts, proclaiming Morrison as their famous son.
Perhaps with reality turning out so harsh, its not surprising that denial could be seen as a way out.
After a string of drink and drug related scrapes with the law Tommy Morrison announced a come back to boxing in 2007 and declared that he was HIV clear and had been a victim of a false positive test.
Armed with some dubious certificates that seemingly gave him the all clear, Morrison beat John Castle in two rounds on 22nd Feb 2007 in West Virginia, then a year later stopped Matt Weishaar in 3 rounds. But the comeback petered out when Morrison was asked to undergo more thorough tests to prove his HIV status.
Morrison was now talking about plots to get him out of boxing being behind his supposed positive tests and of a worldwide conspiracy regarding HIV.
Morrison continued to train until fairly recently and proclaim that he would be heavyweight champion once more if he was only given the opportunity to restart his career again.
In 2011 he married his wife Trish, who supported her husband in his claims that he was not suffering form HIV, even though his appearance began to visibly decline with each public appearance.
Morrison’s health took a turn for the worse about 18 months ago, when it is rumoured that he had pectoral implants removed after they became infected. After their removal, complications arose and according to his wife ‘The Duke’ contracted the Miller-Fisher variant of the Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disease in which the immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system and can result in paralysis and respiratory failure.
Over the past few months the rumours of Tommy Morrison being close to death have grown, along with the variously dark theories over his symptoms and the causes of them. Ironically for someone who was so isolated after his positive diagnosis seventeen years ago, Tommy Morrison’s final days were talked about and analysed world wide.
Now he is gone there are those willing to judge him for the various mistakes he made throughout his life. But few would disagree that Tommy Morrison paid a very high price for a life lived recklessly.
Tommy Morrison was not a great fighter, but he was a big-hitting crowd pleaser whose fighting skills were probably never fully realized. His final career record was 48-3-1(42kos). Unfortunately, he will now be remembered for the tragedy rather than the triumphs of his life. Another story of wasted talent and too much too soon.
In one final irony, Morrison died on the 90th anniversary of the birth of Rocky Marciano.
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
He was just forty four years of age.
Tommy Morrison’s story is an almost stereotypical tale of of the handsome young boxer with a big punch who finds fame and fortune with his fists, and at one point has the world at his feet, but then has it all taken away from him in one savage sweep.
When Tommy Morrison co-starred in Rocky V with Sylvester Stallone in 1990 he was a 21 year old undefeated Heavyweight prospect with a record of 19-0 (17koes) who was mowing down his opposition in a manner that made some call him a ‘white Mike Tyson’. The fact that Morrison claimed to be a grand nephew of John Wayne (hence his nickname ‘The Duke’) didn’t hurt his marketability at all.
After taking part in Rocky V Morrison’s own life and career continued to become the stuff of movies, only unlike Rocky V in reality Tommy really would become heavyweight champion of the world, albeit after some ups and downs along the way.
On 8th Oct 1991 still unbeaten in 28 fights, Tommy challenged Ray Mercer for the WBO World Heavyweight Championship, and after bombarding the iron chinned Mercer for four rounds ran out of gas and was cornered and bludgeoned to unconsciousness in one of the most savage knockouts ever witnessed in modern times.
To his credit Morrison came right back from a defeat that many thought at the time to be career threatening, and despite the loss he was as popular as ever. After a run of eight victories, including exciting wars with Joe Hipp and Carl Williams, both of which displayed his flaws, but also his heart and power, and why he was so popular with the fans.
At the age of twenty four on 7th June 1993, Morrison took on the legendary George Foreman for the then- vacant WBO World heavyweight title.
In what was undoubtedly the best technical performance of his career, in front of a star-studded Las Vegas crowd, Morrison boxed to a plan, and out-jabbed and out-boxed the still formidable Foreman. It was a performance which revealed that Morrison wasn’t simply the one-dimensional slugger that he was regarded as and that there was perhaps at the age of twenty four, hope for much more.
The fighter with the film-star resume had one corner of the greatest title in sports, and seemed to have a golden future both in and out of the ring. But this is perhaps where things started to go terribly wrong for ’The Duke’. Still a very young man, Morrison began to live the kind of debauched life outside the ring normally reserved for Rock stars. His womanizing became legendary, as did his rumoured use of alcohol and other substances.
After an easy touch first defence of his title against Tim Tomashek, and just four months after his victory over Foreman, ’The Duke’ was dropped three times and stopped in the 1st round by Michael Bentt, losing both his title and a huge payday with Lennox Lewis in the process.
Morrison again came back, running up some rebuilding victories before beating Razor Ruddock in a thrilling shootout on 10th June 1995, that saw both men hurt and floored, before Morrison prevailed with a 6th round stoppage.
Four months later, the win over Ruddock gained ’The Duke’ a belated shot at Lennox Lewis, for the IBC World heavyweight title. But this time there was to be no fairytale victory for Morrison as he was floored four times and stopped in the 6th round by Lewis.
Although he was now viewed by some as being damaged goods, Morrison was still only twenty seven, with the looks and fighting style which would keep the crowds coming to see him, a new comeback was mapped out and a contract reportedly worth 38 million dollars, for three fights signed. Then on February 1996, while preparing for his first step of fistic rehabilitation, a fight against Arthur Weathers in Las Vegas, Morrison tested HIV positive. After a second test came back positive as well, Morrison called a press conference and announced his retirement from boxing and with courageous honesty blamed his reckless lifestyle and bad choices for his predicament.
Morrison had one fight in Tokyo in November 1996, saying before it that HIV could not be passed on in the ring. He stopped Marcus Rhode in two rounds and then retired again.
Facing the end of his career at the age of twenty seven must have been bad enough, but Morrison also had to contend with losing his whole life as he had known it outside the ring. In one moment he had gone from being an idol to a pariah. Years later Morrison would recall how friends and even family turned their backs on him, both metaphorically and literally. The prejudice and stigmatization must have been hard to bear for a man who had become used to being a star who had been feted and admired by everyone around him. Even his home town of Oklahoma took down the sign that they had erected on the outskirts, proclaiming Morrison as their famous son.
Perhaps with reality turning out so harsh, its not surprising that denial could be seen as a way out.
After a string of drink and drug related scrapes with the law Tommy Morrison announced a come back to boxing in 2007 and declared that he was HIV clear and had been a victim of a false positive test.
Armed with some dubious certificates that seemingly gave him the all clear, Morrison beat John Castle in two rounds on 22nd Feb 2007 in West Virginia, then a year later stopped Matt Weishaar in 3 rounds. But the comeback petered out when Morrison was asked to undergo more thorough tests to prove his HIV status.
Morrison was now talking about plots to get him out of boxing being behind his supposed positive tests and of a worldwide conspiracy regarding HIV.
Morrison continued to train until fairly recently and proclaim that he would be heavyweight champion once more if he was only given the opportunity to restart his career again.
In 2011 he married his wife Trish, who supported her husband in his claims that he was not suffering form HIV, even though his appearance began to visibly decline with each public appearance.
Morrison’s health took a turn for the worse about 18 months ago, when it is rumoured that he had pectoral implants removed after they became infected. After their removal, complications arose and according to his wife ‘The Duke’ contracted the Miller-Fisher variant of the Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disease in which the immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system and can result in paralysis and respiratory failure.
Over the past few months the rumours of Tommy Morrison being close to death have grown, along with the variously dark theories over his symptoms and the causes of them. Ironically for someone who was so isolated after his positive diagnosis seventeen years ago, Tommy Morrison’s final days were talked about and analysed world wide.
Now he is gone there are those willing to judge him for the various mistakes he made throughout his life. But few would disagree that Tommy Morrison paid a very high price for a life lived recklessly.
Tommy Morrison was not a great fighter, but he was a big-hitting crowd pleaser whose fighting skills were probably never fully realized. His final career record was 48-3-1(42kos). Unfortunately, he will now be remembered for the tragedy rather than the triumphs of his life. Another story of wasted talent and too much too soon.
In one final irony, Morrison died on the 90th anniversary of the birth of Rocky Marciano.
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Requiem for a Heavyweight… Danny Williams Loses Again
By Peter Silkov
Danny Williams lost again last Friday, August 23rd, at the Pationarul Dunarea, in Romania, when Marcin Rekowski from Poland stopped him in the 4th round. Rekowski, to be fair, was unbeaten in nine contests, with eight stoppages; he is also thirty-five years old and totally unremarkable. About 10 years ago he would probably have made a decent sparring partner for Williams, but last Friday he made ’The Brixton Bomber’ look like the sparring partner. Unremarkable though he is, Rekowski made Williams stagger with just about every solid punch that he landed. There’s nothing much too really say about the fight itself, if you could really call it that, a fight.
Williams was in a state of survival mode almost from the beginning, his main focus seemed to be to try to block the slow punches coming his way that his reflexes no longer allow him to avoid. Williams started to look like a Friday drunk by the third round, as the Polish fighter’s punches had him staggering round the ring, and eventually going down to the canvas in a disorganized heap. Through it all, Williams had a bemused, almost hurt expression on his face, as if he hadn’t been expecting this at all. It was the expression of a man who has been let down by his body.
The end came in the 4th round, with Williams taking an unanswered fusillade of shots in the corner, and vainly trying to defend himself, but not punching back. Finally, the referee had seen enough and belatedly waved an end to the sad spectacle, but was it the end or will it just continue to go on and on.
Danny Williams has now lost twelve of his last sixteen fights, stretching back to late 2008, but the problem with Danny now is not whether he wins or loses, but that he is still fighting at all. William’s boxing career is now in that twilight world of the shot fighter, a fighter who is removed from relevance, and is basically a ghost of the past even though he is still boxing.
It is now been five years since Williams was a relevant fighter in the heavyweight division. As the time has passed and the losses have mounted up, ’The Brixton Bomber’ has become to resemble more and more the fading heavyweight boxer played by Anthony Quinn in ‘Requiem for a heavyweight’.
Like Quinn’s Character, Danny Williams was at one time a top-rated contender for the World Heavyweight Championship title; what’s more, he actually fought for that championship, on a one-sided and brutal night, against Vitali Klitschko. Anyone who saw Williams challenge Klitschko would never question the Brixton man’s heart, but then most people who had followed ’ The Brixton Bomber’s’ career up to then already knew that Danny Williams had a huge heart. Despite even in his prime, being an erratic, and a paradoxical fighter.
Danny Williams was once a young heavyweight with a huge talent, a talent that arguably, he never had the self-belief to truly harness into its full potential. Outside the ring, Danny Williams has always come across as a stereotypical gentle giant, and yet, underneath the surface, Williams became known as a boxing enigma. He started his career by showing that he had the size, the power, and athleticism to become a major player in the talent starved heavyweight division. It would also become clear as his career progressed that the Brixton man struggled with the demons of self-doubt regularly, and on more than one occasion admitted a dislike for boxing, a sport that he had been persuaded to take up as a youngster by his father.
This ambiguous relationship with boxing would manifest itself by giving Williams’ career a fitful and somewhat wayward nature. One fluctuating aspect of Williams’ boxing career has been his weight, which has varied variously, and increasingly, as his career has progressed.
Williams was unbeaten in fifteen contests when he fought Julius Francis for the British heavyweight title on April 4th 1999, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Even though he was the favourite to win, Williams ‘froze’ and found himself out-boxed and out-hustled, and handed his first defeat.
As would be a pattern throughout his career, Williams bounced back from his defeat to win the Commonwealth Heavyweight title by beating Harry Senior on points on December 18th1999. Then on Oct 21st, 2000, Danny won the British Heavyweight championship with a performance, which proved that despite his inconsistent temperament, he did indeed possess the heart of a warrior. In a fight that will not be forgotten anytime soon, by those who witnessed it that night, Williams knocked out Mark Potter in the 6th round, while fighting one armed after dislocating his right arm in the 3rd round. ‘The Brixton Bombers’ display of heart and determination in this contest made him a firm favourite with the fans, and marked the beginning of his period of dominance of the domestic Heavyweight scene.
Over the next two years, ‘The Brixton Bomber’ built up a trail of defenses of his British and Commonwealth titles, and brought the domestic heavyweights some much-needed exposure. Then on Febuary 8th 2003, Williams travelled to Germany to challenge the unbeaten Sanin Samil Sam for the European title, and looked low on conditioning and confidence, as he was floored three times, in crashing to a 6th round stoppage defeat.
After coming back from the Samil Sam disappointment with two successful defenses of his Commonwealth and British titles, Williams produced another enigmatic performance on Jan 24th, 2004, and lost his British and Commonwealth titles, when he allowed himself to be out-pointed by Michael Sprott, whom he had already beaten in two previous fights.
Shorn of his titles and with his prospects seemingly on the wane, ‘The Brixton Bombers’ boxing career was to take one of its most unexpected and dramatic turns.
On July 30th 2004, at Louisville Kentucky, Williams took on the legendary ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. Brought in as a stepping stone for yet another Tyson comeback, ‘The Brixton Bomber’ withstood an almost vintage early bombardment from the former world champion, but instead of folding, fought back, and in the 4th round pummelled a tiring Tyson to the canvas for the full count.
Danny’s victory over Tyson took his profile to another level, especially at home, for a while he became a celebrity, garnering as much publicity as if he had actually won the world championship itself.
Five heady months after beating Tyson, ‘The Brixton Bomber’ was given the chance to do just that, win the World Heavyweight Championship, when he faced Vitali Klitschko, for his WBC World title. However, Williams’ title shot in the gaudy arena that is Las Vegas, turned out to be poisoned chalice, as he seemed to freeze on his biggest of nights, and found himself taking a spiteful pounding from a peak Vitali Klitschko. Danny was floored four times and showed courage beyond the call of duty, as he repeatedly got up, only to take more punishment. Williams’ predicament was not helped by his chaotic corner, and the end finally came when the fight was mercifully stopped in the 8th round.
This would be both the high point and low point of Williams career. He earned praise for his immense courage, but for the first time, there were some voices calling for him to consider retirement in the face of such a punishing defeat.
Although Williams came back to regain his Commonwealth and British titles with wins over Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton, he looked unimpressive in doing so, as if his previous ambiguity with boxing had grown into an overwhelming dislike. He looked like someone who would rather be somewhere else.
Losses to Harrison and Skelton in rematches in 2006 seemed to bear out the fact that Danny Williams no longer wanted to be inside a boxing ring. The spark and desire seemed to have deserted him. Once an entertaining fighter to watch, Williams’ fights were becoming exercises in long mauls, not helped by his increasing weight, which seemed only to heighten ‘The Brixton Bombers’ loss of speed and activity inside the ring.
Then once again, Williams dragged his career back on track on March 2nd, 2007, when he got himself down to his lightest weight in years at 228 pounds, and regained the British Heavyweight championship, by knocking out Scott Gammer in nine rounds.
It was a performance that left some believing that Williams had sorted out his demons and still had much to offer. These hopes were quashed almost from their start though, as Williams talked about retirement directly after the fight, saying that he wished to end his career on a high.
However, ‘The Brixton Bomber’ ultimately decided against retirement after the Gammer victory, with hindsight though, it would probably have been the best time for Williams to retire, because his career has been in an ever deepening decline ever since. The Gammer fight would be the last time that Williams approached anything like his peak form.
Over the next twenty months, Williams ran up a string of wins over middling opposition, including a defense of his British title against John Mcdermott, but despite the wins, Williams seemed to be struggling in every fight.
The writing was on the wall on November 8th, 2008, when ‘The Brixton Bomber’ was stopped by the tough, but limited, Albert Sosnowski in 8 rounds, his punch resistance seeming more and more suspect.
Retirement is hard for fighters at any time of their career, ever more so when they still hold a title of some description. Williams was still the British champion at this point, and followed the defeat by Sosnowski by successfully defending the British title again on May 2nd, 2009, winning a controversial decision, after a 12 round struggle with John Mcdermott.
Five months later, Williams was floored and out pointed in 3rds by novice Carl Barker, in the first round of the popular Prizefighter tournament.
By now, Danny was saying that he was a shot fighter, and in the build up to his May 15th, 2010 British title defense against the unbeaten Dereck Chisora, he talked about retirement and becoming a bodyguard. It was no surprise when Chisora made short, but brutal work of Williams, taking his British championship by flooring him twice, and stopping him in the 2nd round. After the fight, to the relief of his many fans, Williams duly announced his retirement.
It should have ended there, and in a way, it did, because the Danny Williams entering the ring today is not the Danny Williams who beat Mark Potter and Mike Tyson, or who lost to Vitali Klitshko. He is not even the Danny Williams who out-pointed John
Mcdermott twice at the end of his last British championship reign.
Following his defeat by Dereck Chisora, ‘The Brixton Bomber’ stayed in retirement for ten months, before reappearing in Germany and winning two fights against very limited opposition. In his next fight on June 25th, 2011, Williams stepped in with undefeated prospect, Manuel Charr, and was stopped in seven rounds.
There followed a six rounds points win over former Cruiserweight world champion Alfred Cole, in Sweden; Cole was now forty-seven years old and having his first fight for two years. On December 2nd, 2011, Williams travelled to Spain and faced another ‘prospect’ in Leif Larsen, and was stopped in the 2nd round, after being floored three times.
After a nine month lay off, it started again. Since the Larsen defeat, Williams has lost seven fights in a row, being stopped three times and floored at least six times. It is interesting and a little disturbing that all Williams fights have taken place in variously obscure rings throughout Europe and Eastern Europe, for it is very unlikely that he would be granted a license at this point by the British Boxing Board of Control.
So Danny fights in various places throughout Europe, whose various commissions are not as ‘fussy’ as the British Boxing Board of Control.
There is a tragic irony in a fighter who talked so often about his mixed feelings for the sport, continuing to fight on long after he should walk away. Boxing is littered with stories of fighters who fought on past the time when their legs and punch resistance had long since gone. One more story to the collection will not make much difference, but it doesn’t make it any less sad.
It must be hard to walk away from the only occupation that you have known all your adult life, while still a relatively young man. How easy is it for an ex-boxer to find decent employment outside of boxing? While, a now retired Mike Tyson, can make a living out of telling stories about the highs and lows of his incredible life and career, many of his former opponents are all but forgotten to the public in general.
Some of Danny’s recent fights in Europe have been built up with promotional boasts about him being the man who beat Mike Tyson. But that fighter is long gone.
Danny fights now in a kind of surreal underworld of boxing, being used to pad the records of young prospects, in makeshift rings set up in variously obscure locations.
Some would think he must be fighting for the money, but would it really be that much at this point? It must be more than just the money; it must be about holding on to something more than simply money.
When boxers retire, they are giving up part of their mortal life, in essence, a part of them dies, their athletic selves, and with it, perhaps many of the hopes, and dreams that they have held for most of their lives.
Should we then really be so surprised that a boxer will find it so hard to walk away?
With every fight now, Danny Williams promises it will be his last. He seems to be a man torn. It must be hard to stay away when the phone keeps ringing and there are more young heavyweights scattered around Europe needing to pad their records with a name, especially a name that once beat Mike Tyson.
Boxing is littered with the stories of fighters who fought on too long and paid a heavy price with their health later on. The punchy ex-fighter is a stereotype, but he is a reality too, often because of promoters and matchmakers who ring him up with offers for fights, when all he should be doing is watching at ringside.
Every time Danny Williams promises to retire now, there are many who hope he will finally be able to walk away. There are many who are tired of seeing Danny getting beaten and hurt, but then who are we to tell a man how to make a living in this world.
Danny Williams is scheduled to fight again on October 5th, 2013 in Germany.
Watch the classic Tyson Vs. Williams fight:
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
Danny Williams lost again last Friday, August 23rd, at the Pationarul Dunarea, in Romania, when Marcin Rekowski from Poland stopped him in the 4th round. Rekowski, to be fair, was unbeaten in nine contests, with eight stoppages; he is also thirty-five years old and totally unremarkable. About 10 years ago he would probably have made a decent sparring partner for Williams, but last Friday he made ’The Brixton Bomber’ look like the sparring partner. Unremarkable though he is, Rekowski made Williams stagger with just about every solid punch that he landed. There’s nothing much too really say about the fight itself, if you could really call it that, a fight.
The end came in the 4th round, with Williams taking an unanswered fusillade of shots in the corner, and vainly trying to defend himself, but not punching back. Finally, the referee had seen enough and belatedly waved an end to the sad spectacle, but was it the end or will it just continue to go on and on.
Danny Williams has now lost twelve of his last sixteen fights, stretching back to late 2008, but the problem with Danny now is not whether he wins or loses, but that he is still fighting at all. William’s boxing career is now in that twilight world of the shot fighter, a fighter who is removed from relevance, and is basically a ghost of the past even though he is still boxing.
It is now been five years since Williams was a relevant fighter in the heavyweight division. As the time has passed and the losses have mounted up, ’The Brixton Bomber’ has become to resemble more and more the fading heavyweight boxer played by Anthony Quinn in ‘Requiem for a heavyweight’.
Like Quinn’s Character, Danny Williams was at one time a top-rated contender for the World Heavyweight Championship title; what’s more, he actually fought for that championship, on a one-sided and brutal night, against Vitali Klitschko. Anyone who saw Williams challenge Klitschko would never question the Brixton man’s heart, but then most people who had followed ’ The Brixton Bomber’s’ career up to then already knew that Danny Williams had a huge heart. Despite even in his prime, being an erratic, and a paradoxical fighter.
Danny Williams was once a young heavyweight with a huge talent, a talent that arguably, he never had the self-belief to truly harness into its full potential. Outside the ring, Danny Williams has always come across as a stereotypical gentle giant, and yet, underneath the surface, Williams became known as a boxing enigma. He started his career by showing that he had the size, the power, and athleticism to become a major player in the talent starved heavyweight division. It would also become clear as his career progressed that the Brixton man struggled with the demons of self-doubt regularly, and on more than one occasion admitted a dislike for boxing, a sport that he had been persuaded to take up as a youngster by his father.
This ambiguous relationship with boxing would manifest itself by giving Williams’ career a fitful and somewhat wayward nature. One fluctuating aspect of Williams’ boxing career has been his weight, which has varied variously, and increasingly, as his career has progressed.
Williams was unbeaten in fifteen contests when he fought Julius Francis for the British heavyweight title on April 4th 1999, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Even though he was the favourite to win, Williams ‘froze’ and found himself out-boxed and out-hustled, and handed his first defeat.
As would be a pattern throughout his career, Williams bounced back from his defeat to win the Commonwealth Heavyweight title by beating Harry Senior on points on December 18th1999. Then on Oct 21st, 2000, Danny won the British Heavyweight championship with a performance, which proved that despite his inconsistent temperament, he did indeed possess the heart of a warrior. In a fight that will not be forgotten anytime soon, by those who witnessed it that night, Williams knocked out Mark Potter in the 6th round, while fighting one armed after dislocating his right arm in the 3rd round. ‘The Brixton Bombers’ display of heart and determination in this contest made him a firm favourite with the fans, and marked the beginning of his period of dominance of the domestic Heavyweight scene.
Over the next two years, ‘The Brixton Bomber’ built up a trail of defenses of his British and Commonwealth titles, and brought the domestic heavyweights some much-needed exposure. Then on Febuary 8th 2003, Williams travelled to Germany to challenge the unbeaten Sanin Samil Sam for the European title, and looked low on conditioning and confidence, as he was floored three times, in crashing to a 6th round stoppage defeat.
After coming back from the Samil Sam disappointment with two successful defenses of his Commonwealth and British titles, Williams produced another enigmatic performance on Jan 24th, 2004, and lost his British and Commonwealth titles, when he allowed himself to be out-pointed by Michael Sprott, whom he had already beaten in two previous fights.
Shorn of his titles and with his prospects seemingly on the wane, ‘The Brixton Bombers’ boxing career was to take one of its most unexpected and dramatic turns.
On July 30th 2004, at Louisville Kentucky, Williams took on the legendary ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. Brought in as a stepping stone for yet another Tyson comeback, ‘The Brixton Bomber’ withstood an almost vintage early bombardment from the former world champion, but instead of folding, fought back, and in the 4th round pummelled a tiring Tyson to the canvas for the full count.
Danny’s victory over Tyson took his profile to another level, especially at home, for a while he became a celebrity, garnering as much publicity as if he had actually won the world championship itself.
Five heady months after beating Tyson, ‘The Brixton Bomber’ was given the chance to do just that, win the World Heavyweight Championship, when he faced Vitali Klitschko, for his WBC World title. However, Williams’ title shot in the gaudy arena that is Las Vegas, turned out to be poisoned chalice, as he seemed to freeze on his biggest of nights, and found himself taking a spiteful pounding from a peak Vitali Klitschko. Danny was floored four times and showed courage beyond the call of duty, as he repeatedly got up, only to take more punishment. Williams’ predicament was not helped by his chaotic corner, and the end finally came when the fight was mercifully stopped in the 8th round.
This would be both the high point and low point of Williams career. He earned praise for his immense courage, but for the first time, there were some voices calling for him to consider retirement in the face of such a punishing defeat.
Although Williams came back to regain his Commonwealth and British titles with wins over Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton, he looked unimpressive in doing so, as if his previous ambiguity with boxing had grown into an overwhelming dislike. He looked like someone who would rather be somewhere else.
Losses to Harrison and Skelton in rematches in 2006 seemed to bear out the fact that Danny Williams no longer wanted to be inside a boxing ring. The spark and desire seemed to have deserted him. Once an entertaining fighter to watch, Williams’ fights were becoming exercises in long mauls, not helped by his increasing weight, which seemed only to heighten ‘The Brixton Bombers’ loss of speed and activity inside the ring.
Then once again, Williams dragged his career back on track on March 2nd, 2007, when he got himself down to his lightest weight in years at 228 pounds, and regained the British Heavyweight championship, by knocking out Scott Gammer in nine rounds.
It was a performance that left some believing that Williams had sorted out his demons and still had much to offer. These hopes were quashed almost from their start though, as Williams talked about retirement directly after the fight, saying that he wished to end his career on a high.
However, ‘The Brixton Bomber’ ultimately decided against retirement after the Gammer victory, with hindsight though, it would probably have been the best time for Williams to retire, because his career has been in an ever deepening decline ever since. The Gammer fight would be the last time that Williams approached anything like his peak form.
Over the next twenty months, Williams ran up a string of wins over middling opposition, including a defense of his British title against John Mcdermott, but despite the wins, Williams seemed to be struggling in every fight.
The writing was on the wall on November 8th, 2008, when ‘The Brixton Bomber’ was stopped by the tough, but limited, Albert Sosnowski in 8 rounds, his punch resistance seeming more and more suspect.
Retirement is hard for fighters at any time of their career, ever more so when they still hold a title of some description. Williams was still the British champion at this point, and followed the defeat by Sosnowski by successfully defending the British title again on May 2nd, 2009, winning a controversial decision, after a 12 round struggle with John Mcdermott.
Five months later, Williams was floored and out pointed in 3rds by novice Carl Barker, in the first round of the popular Prizefighter tournament.
By now, Danny was saying that he was a shot fighter, and in the build up to his May 15th, 2010 British title defense against the unbeaten Dereck Chisora, he talked about retirement and becoming a bodyguard. It was no surprise when Chisora made short, but brutal work of Williams, taking his British championship by flooring him twice, and stopping him in the 2nd round. After the fight, to the relief of his many fans, Williams duly announced his retirement.
It should have ended there, and in a way, it did, because the Danny Williams entering the ring today is not the Danny Williams who beat Mark Potter and Mike Tyson, or who lost to Vitali Klitshko. He is not even the Danny Williams who out-pointed John
Mcdermott twice at the end of his last British championship reign.
Following his defeat by Dereck Chisora, ‘The Brixton Bomber’ stayed in retirement for ten months, before reappearing in Germany and winning two fights against very limited opposition. In his next fight on June 25th, 2011, Williams stepped in with undefeated prospect, Manuel Charr, and was stopped in seven rounds.
There followed a six rounds points win over former Cruiserweight world champion Alfred Cole, in Sweden; Cole was now forty-seven years old and having his first fight for two years. On December 2nd, 2011, Williams travelled to Spain and faced another ‘prospect’ in Leif Larsen, and was stopped in the 2nd round, after being floored three times.
After a nine month lay off, it started again. Since the Larsen defeat, Williams has lost seven fights in a row, being stopped three times and floored at least six times. It is interesting and a little disturbing that all Williams fights have taken place in variously obscure rings throughout Europe and Eastern Europe, for it is very unlikely that he would be granted a license at this point by the British Boxing Board of Control.
So Danny fights in various places throughout Europe, whose various commissions are not as ‘fussy’ as the British Boxing Board of Control.
There is a tragic irony in a fighter who talked so often about his mixed feelings for the sport, continuing to fight on long after he should walk away. Boxing is littered with stories of fighters who fought on past the time when their legs and punch resistance had long since gone. One more story to the collection will not make much difference, but it doesn’t make it any less sad.
It must be hard to walk away from the only occupation that you have known all your adult life, while still a relatively young man. How easy is it for an ex-boxer to find decent employment outside of boxing? While, a now retired Mike Tyson, can make a living out of telling stories about the highs and lows of his incredible life and career, many of his former opponents are all but forgotten to the public in general.
Some of Danny’s recent fights in Europe have been built up with promotional boasts about him being the man who beat Mike Tyson. But that fighter is long gone.
Danny fights now in a kind of surreal underworld of boxing, being used to pad the records of young prospects, in makeshift rings set up in variously obscure locations.
Some would think he must be fighting for the money, but would it really be that much at this point? It must be more than just the money; it must be about holding on to something more than simply money.
When boxers retire, they are giving up part of their mortal life, in essence, a part of them dies, their athletic selves, and with it, perhaps many of the hopes, and dreams that they have held for most of their lives.
Should we then really be so surprised that a boxer will find it so hard to walk away?
With every fight now, Danny Williams promises it will be his last. He seems to be a man torn. It must be hard to stay away when the phone keeps ringing and there are more young heavyweights scattered around Europe needing to pad their records with a name, especially a name that once beat Mike Tyson.
Boxing is littered with the stories of fighters who fought on too long and paid a heavy price with their health later on. The punchy ex-fighter is a stereotype, but he is a reality too, often because of promoters and matchmakers who ring him up with offers for fights, when all he should be doing is watching at ringside.
Every time Danny Williams promises to retire now, there are many who hope he will finally be able to walk away. There are many who are tired of seeing Danny getting beaten and hurt, but then who are we to tell a man how to make a living in this world.
Danny Williams is scheduled to fight again on October 5th, 2013 in Germany.
Watch the classic Tyson Vs. Williams fight:
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
Monday, August 26, 2013
Dennis Andries…The Journeyman Who Became a Three-Time World Champion
Boxing is one of the toughest of all physical sports, one where the participants need to be endowed with a range of physical attributes and talents. It is often overlooked how important mental strength is within boxing and how mental and spiritual determination can overcome physical shortcomings. The history of boxing is littered with the broken dreams of men who had the physical talents, but not the crucial mental and spiritual strength to succeed in the hardest of sports. Often in boxing, it is the strongest of mind, rather than simply the strongest of body, which ultimately triumphs.
Dennis Andries was one such fighter, whose mental strength was the foundation of his tremendous success, in an extraordinary career, which saw him rise from a domestic journeyman who struggled to get fights, to a three-time World light-heavyweight champion. Despite the success and overcoming more than his fair share of setbacks and rough times during his career, Andries was to find that he would never gain the kind of recognition and affection with the fans that some other fighters, who had achieved far less, managed to gain.
Andries was born in Guyana, on November 5, 1953, and had a tough childhood, when his parents relocated to Britain and then split up; he later described himself as being a ‘wild kid.’ Like many wild kids before and after him, Andries found himself drawn into boxing, but at a later age than most; Andries was already 25 years old when he turned professional in 1978, after a rudimentary amateur career.
Fighting at light heavyweight, Andries’ career was tough from the start, operating in a traditionally unfashionable division, Dennis soon found that his brawling style made him an unfashionable fighter, both with the fans, and with possible opponents.
There were no easy fights and no padding of the record. With no big-time promoter or managerial connections, Andries was thrown into the deep end from early on, often made to take fights at short notice against opponents who were higher ranked and had much more experience.
In just his ninth professional fight, Andries came in at short notice to face Bunny Johnson, who was the ex-heavyweight and current light-heavyweight British champion, in an over the weight non-title match. Andries lost on points after 10 grueling rounds, but despite losing, had showed his toughness by giving the reigning British champion an awkward night.
After a run of four wins, Andries met Johnson again on the February 27, 1980, this time for Johnson’s British light-heavyweight title, at the ironically named Adult Ballroom, in Staffordshire. Unfortunately, the spectators witnessed a fight that was a long way from a majestic dance, as Andries’ dogged, yet, clumsy brawling, and Johnson’s defensive counter-punching; combined to produce that most-dreaded of all things; for both boxing fans and fighters alike…the stinker. Some scribes of the time called it the worst title fight in living memory. They openly ridiculed the clumsy efforts of the challenger Andries, delighting in recalling how on several times he almost threw himself down to the canvas when missing one of his wild punches. What the scribes mostly neglected to mention or totally overlooked, was that, despite the rawness of his title challenge, Andries had lost by a mere point.
Undaunted by the defeat or the criticism, Andries plugged on with an attitude that made him a throwback to the early days of boxing. He learned from defeats and victories alike
Thirteen months after his defeat by Johnson, Andries finally got his hand onto his first title, when he out-pointed Shaun Chalcraft, over ten rounds, for the Southern Area Light-heavyweight title. This was a title that is generally considered a gateway for receiving a shot at the higher domestic titles, such as the British, and Commonwealth championships.
Andries had repositioned himself in line for another British title shot, at the same time, his reputation as a relentlessly stubborn hard hitter, albeit, clumsy and raw, was already scaring away many prospective opponents. Managers tried their best to steer their fighters away from the wild-swinging man, now known as the “Hackney Rock.” Even at this unglamorous stage of his career, Dennis’ toughness was not in dispute.
So, Andries found himself struggling for fights, even with the Southern area title as bait.
It was during this time in late 1981, when opponents were hard to come by, that Andries took on the future British heavyweight champion David Pearce, and giving away a stone, found himself stopped in the 7th round. This was the first stoppage defeat of Andries’ career, and he would not be stopped again until he met Thomas Hearn’s, some six years, and a whole career turnaround later.
As would be the case though out his career, Andries just dusted himself off after the Pearce defeat, and got back into the gym.
On March 15, 1982, Andries got his second crack at the British title, this time facing Tom Collins for the now vacant title. Andries had already fought Collins twice previously, winning both, the first via a decision, the second on a 6th round knockout.
However, if these two victories were supposed to make things easier for Andries, it didn’t quite turn out that way. After making the busier start, against a constantly retreating Collins, Andries began to tire after the first 6 rounds, punching himself out with his wild swings that sometimes missed by embarrassing margins. After hardly throwing a punch for the first six stanzas, Collins got his jab going, proceeded to outbox the tiring Andries over the rest of the fight, and flooring him in each of the last two rounds.
Again, as in his previous attempt at the British championship, the boxing press was scathing of the performances of both men and marked the fight out as a clear indicator of the paucity of talent within the domestic light-heavyweight division.
Andries had now failed in two attempts at winning the British championship; not many fighters get a third attempt. Although he still held the Southern Area title, the Hackney Rock found himself struggling for opponents willing to risk their often clean, but padded records against him. At this point in his career, it would have been easy for Andries to go the same way of many boxers whom fail to win titles after one or two attempts. They tend to either slowly fade away, or else settle for being a journeyman, for younger and still ambitious fighters. But, ‘The Hackney Rock’ was made of sterner stuff.
With a grim resourcefulness, Andries came up with the idea of going missing from the gym for weeks at a time, to give the impression that this hardest of workers was beginning to shirk on his training, and was ready for the taking. What people didn’t know…Andries was training in secret in an amateur gym, whose members were sworn to secrecy.
Eventually, Andries’ stubbornness gained him a third crack at the British title, on January 26, 1984. Andries made it third-time lucky, when he became British Light-heavyweight champion, by this time, out-hustling the defending champion, Tom Collins, over 12 grueling rounds. Three months later, Andres successfully defended the title against Collins, in what was the pair’s 5th and final fight against each other. Again, Andries won a close and grueling fight on points. The boxing scribes were now calling Andries an overachiever and a ’Cinderella man’ for becoming British champion at over thirty years of age.
Finally becoming a champion had an effect upon Andries, he was still wild and liable to lose his balance sometimes when throwing a punch, but there was an added confidence and belief in his ring work now. If the doubters had thought that Andries would be happy to be British champion for a while, before either passing on the title to some rising young gun, or else riding off into the sunset of his own violation, they were wrong! The Hackney based Guyana had a lot more ambition than people would have believed.
Before December 1985, Andries ran up a number of solid wins, including three victories in America. He challenged the skilful Frenchman Alex Blanchard, for the European Light-heavyweight title. Before the fight, Andries was given little chance of victory, by the scribes, who considered him to have outdone himself by winning the British title. The general consensus was that the European championship was just a little out of Andries’ league, and he was the decided underdog against the beanpole 6-foot plus champion, who could both box and punch.
Again, the scribes were wrong. Although Andries failed to win the title after he was held to a controversial draw, he left no doubt that he belonged in this class by giving the highly rated Blanchard all he could handle in a stirring fight, which saw both boxers hit the deck.
This fight proved to be the breakthrough for Andries, he was now world-rated, but seen as a tough, but limited, opponent by the division’s top men. Perhaps this is why American J.B Williamson was persuaded to come over and defend his WBC world light-heavyweight title against Andries in London. Although Andries was the hometown man, he once again found little encouragement in the boxing press. He found himself being branded a heavy underdog, amid predictions that his direct and basic style would lead to him being outclassed. Some questioned whether he deserved to be fighting for the world championship at all.
Not for the last time, Andries turned the negative predictions of his critics back upon them, when on April 30, 1986, he beat J.B Williamson at the Picketts Lock Stadium, London, on a split-decision, to become world champion at thirty-two years of age.
Even as world champion, Andries would remain an underdog. When it was announced that his first title defense would be an all-British clash, with the very popular and highly thought of, Commonwealth Middleweight champion, Tony Sibson, the champion was once more viewed by the majority as the underdog. Andries bristled at the assumption that he could be beaten by a middleweight, and gave Sibson a one-sided beating, flooring “Sibbo” three times, before the fight was stopped in the 10th round.
However, Andries world title reign would come down with a thud, when six months later, he faced the already legendary Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns in Hearns’ hometown of Detroit. Hearns was coming back from his classic three rounds of mayhem with Marvin Hagler and looking for his third world championship. It was a painful experience for Andries, as he found himself outclassed by The Hitman’s speed, skill and power, and was down six times, four times in the 6th, once in the 9th, and once in the 10th round, after which, the referee finally stopped the fight.
Although he lost his title, Andries gave an astonishing display of heart and toughness by getting up from the knockdowns and continuing to literally throw himself into attacks on Hearns. Ironically, the end finally came in the 10th round, after an Andries’ hook seemed to have momentarily floored Hearns, only for Andries to tumble down again to the canvas, more from exhaustion than a punch. Although he once again regained his feet, the referee decided he had seen enough. Despite this, there were those who believed that Hearns had punched himself out and were at the point of exhaustion.
After losing his world championship in such a punishing manner, most people thought that this was the end of the line for Andries, or that at most, he would return to the domestic scene to see out the reminder of his career. Instead, Andries wrong-footed everyone…yet again. In a brave and audacious move, Andries relocated to America, and joined Thomas Hearns’ famed Kronk gym, persuading trainer Emanuel Steward to take him under his wing. Andries won the respect of his fellow Kronk fighters. Many set out to teach the limey a lesson in sparring, and send him home to England, only to find that Andries could take it, as well as dish it out, but he usually dished out far more than he took.
Emanuel Steward would later say, regarding Andries, in reference to the belief that ‘you can’t teach old dog new tricks,’ that Andries, when he joined the Kronk gym, didn’t know any tricks.
After seven months out of the ring following the Hearns loss, Andries came back, with the same dogged determination, but also with some new tricks, and new belief. Andries was now a smoother, more polished fighter, with a larger range of shots. The hard rounds of sparring in the Kronk gym boosted his natural strength and fitness. Far from being over, Andries’ career was about to hit its peak.
After running up a string of victories, including a 10 round point’s victory over former IBF world light-heavyweight champion Bobby Czyz, Andries found himself back in title contention. On February 21, 1989, at the Convention Center in Tucson, Arizona, he took on the unbeaten and highly touted Tony Willis, for the vacant WBC world light-heavyweight championship. Andries won on a 5th round stoppage and yet again, his disbelievers were proven wrong!
Andries’ second reign as world champion was brief. Four months later, on June 24,1989, he would meet Australian Jeff Harding for the first of a trilogy of fights between the two; fights that were all out and out barnstormers, which rank with the best ever seen in the division.
In their first fight, Andries started fast, and throughout the wild fight unloaded his punches almost at will upon the iron chinned Australian, but then slowly tired, as Harding’s wicked body punching began to take their toll. In an epic 11th round, Andries put everything he had left into a savage attack upon Harding, only for the battered challenger to come back with a vicious attack of his own, and have the champion hurt at the end of the round. Going into the 12th and final round, Andries was ahead on points, but had nothing left in his legs. Harding, covered in blood from severe eye cuts, came forward with a brutal attack, to floor Andries twice, and then have him hanging helplessly upon the ropes, provoking the referee to end the fight. Ironically, Andries had gone into this fight the favourite, after Harding came in as a late replacement for Donny Lalonde.
The critics were lining up now to bury Andries’ boxing career. At almost 36, there couldn’t be any more comebacks, could there be?
Following two solid wins over fringe contenders, Andries faced Jeff Harding for the second time, this time as a clear underdog against his eleven years younger opponent.
On July 28, 1990, at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, and Dennis Andries became World light-heavyweight champion for the third time, when he regained the WBC title by knocking out Harding in the 7th round. In a replay of their first fight, both boxers had gone toe-to- toe from the start, with Andries out-punching the champion early on, but beginning to tire in the 5th round, as Harding started to come on. After a frenetic 6th round, Andries came out blazing in the 7th round, like a man who wouldn’t be denied, forcing Harding to the ropes, he landed a huge uppercut, and one of his patented looping right hands to floor the iron Aussie. Although Harding got to his knee by the count of nine, he could not beat the count, and Andries was world champion for a third time at the age of thirty-six.
Andries became only the second man to win the World light heavyweight titles three times, the other being Marvin Johnson.
In this his third reign, Andries remained busy, successfully defending the title against Sergio Daniel Merani, who he stopped in the 4th round in London, and then going to Australia to defend against Guy Waters, who he beat comfortably on points.
Then on September 11, 1991, Andries defended his title against Harding again, in the pair’s third and final bout, fighting in the unusual setting of the Hammersmith Odeon, Cinema in London. The two men fought out 12 rounds of the hardest, and most unforgiving of wars, which made the fight scenes of the Rocky films positively boring by comparison. Again, Andries made the stronger start, with the iron Aussie seemingly getting stronger as the fight wore on, but with many of the rounds hard to split between Andries’ wilder, more powerful punches, and Harding straighter, more precise shots. Andries’ punches that seemed to do more damage in the course of the fight, with Harding again bloodied and battered by the end. Harding made the stronger finish, with the almost thirty-eight year old Dennis Andries visibly wilting in the final two rounds.
In the end, Harding was adjudged a contentious winner on points, by a majority decision, with one judge seeing the fight a draw. Dennis Andries had lost his world title for the third and last time.
This was still not quite the end for The Hackney Rock, although at 38 years of age, and after the wars with Harding, his career slipped into a lower gear. Perhaps in a final bow to age, Andries now stepped up to the cruiserweight division and for the remaining five years of his career would fight in England and Europe.
Now, Andries was taking on men both younger and bigger than him, but still able to handle most of them. In early 1992, he lost a debatable decision to the very useful Akim Tafer for the European Cruiserweight championship in France. Andries never had much luck with European titles it seems.
After his final fight with Jeff Harding, Andries went 10(6kos)-5 in his final 15 fights, and included in his victories was a 4th round stoppage win over Crawford Ashley, who was the holder of Andries’ old British light-heavyweight title.
On January 21, 1995 Andries became the oldest man ever to win a British championship when he out-pointed Denzil Browne for the British Cruiserweight title in Glasgow Scotland. Andries held onto the British title for four months, until being out-pointed by Terry Dunstan, who had been twelve years old when Andries had first fought for the British light-heavyweight championship.
The fighting spirit was still strong, but the body was slowing down now, and Andries lost a rematch to Dunstan in February 1996, although still competitive, Andries was no longer able to fight at the high tempo of his peak.
In December 1996, a month past his forty third birthday, fighting again for the British Cruiserweight title (which Dunstan had vacated) Andries was stopped in the 7th round by Johnny Nelson, in front of Nelson’s home fans in Sheffield. Nelson would later win the WBO world cruierweight title.
This was finally the end of the road for the Hackney Rock. After a career spanning 18 years, Andries had compiled a record of 49(30kos)-14-2 with 10 of his defeats coming either in the first three years or the last five years of his career.
Dennis Andries is a prime example of what determination and dedication can achieve in the face of criticism and defeat. Told more than once by critics that he couldn’t box correctly, he proved he could fight and fight with the best. Almost seventeen years since his last contest, Andries is still generally overlooked often in favour of fighters who had easier, but more high profile careers, yet, did not achieve half as much as he did. But, those who appreciate the genuine warriors of boxing know that Andries was one of Britain’s toughest, and that he carved out a permanent mark in boxing history.
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved.
Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
Some exciting videos of Andries fights...check them out!
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Sergey Kovalev On Top Of The World After Crushing Cleverly
By Peter Silkov
Sergey Kovalev (22-0-1, 20 KOs) had arrived in Cardiff Wales with the quiet aura of a gunslinger who comes into town determined to prove himself a faster gun than the local hero.
( Photo from Dailymail.co.uk)
There were those who doubted Kovalev’s reputation and pointed to the
lack of many genuine world class names on his resume. Also, a lack of
experience, due to miniscule amount of rounds he had built up over the
course of twenty-two professional fights.
During the build up to his fight with Nathan Cleverly (26-1, 12 KOs), the Russian challenger said little in reply to the doubters, except to tell them to watch him at work in the ring before they make their minds up about him. Last night, after four rounds at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Wales, about 6000 spectators, and millions of TV viewers’ world wide, were left in no doubt about Kovalev’s credentials, and how his alias of ‘Krusher’ is so well fitting.
During the short fight, Kovalev produced a performance against Cleverly, which was chilling in its skilful brutality. The Russian also showed that his powerful attacks are built upon the foundation of strong technique, including an excellent jab.
Kovalev showed that even at the highest level, opponents are going to have trouble lasting more than a handful of rounds with him, let alone defeating him.
With the roar of his home fans following him to the ring, Cleverly looked hyped up, as he climbed through the ropes and encouraged the crowd, by pumping his right fist in the air. This was a huge occasion for Cleverly, who described himself as having trained for this fight as if he were the challenger rather than Kovalev, and with hindsight, it might have been better for Cleverly to have entered the ring with a cooler head. The support of a home crowd can be an invaluable advantage, but it can also be an added pressure, especially on occasions when a clear head is needed most of all.
Kovalev was impassive during the ring announcements, the Russian seemed oblivious to the crowd, all of whom were behind the defending champion, except for his own entourage, and a smattering of about two dozen Russians, amongst the spectators.
The action began at a fast pace, and if we didn’t know already, Kovalev displayed clearly, from the start, that he is not a one-dimensional slugger, but has a good jab and a smooth relaxed style. Both men spent the first round trying to take control of the centre of the ring, and using their jabs. Cleverly, surprisingly, was electing to stand right in front of the Russian and attempted to force him back with his jab, while keeping a high guard against Kovalev’s own punches. The Russian largely stood his ground, however, and was the busier fighter, using his jabs to probe the Cleverly defense, and landing some early right hands to the body.
In the 2nd round, Cleverly continued to stay in front of Kovalev, rather than offer lateral movement or attempt to get on the inside, and force Kovalev back that way. The challenger stayed busy with his jab, while bringing in more of his patented right hands, with some good shots landing to the body. All Kovalev’s punches seem to carry weight, but in addition to this, they are also surprisingly swift and accurate.
Although Cleverly kept his guard high during the 2nd, there were already signs that he would need more than this too contain the man in front of him, and that the tactic to try and force Kovalev back so early was premature at best.
Cleverly did find some success in the 2nd with the jab, as midway through the round Kovalev was cut over his right eye, and for a brief moment the Russian seemed slightly disturbed by the sight of his own blood as he pawed at the eye with his right glove. However, this would prove to be a false dawn for Cleverly, as the challenger regained his composure, and continued his impressive work.
The 3rd round began with the same pattern as the first two, but with the Russian challenger now introducing more right hands into his work and inexorably increasing his already high work rate. When the end came, it was dramatic and brutal.
Kovalev’s, switching from head to body, was making chinks in Cleverly’s defense. He was hurt first by a left hand, and then driven momentarily into the ropes by a right-left combination, before finally being dropped by two right hands to the head.
Cleverly got up almost immediately, which was a mistake, but did not look overly hurt at this point, as he took what seemed like a rather long mandatory eight count from referee Terry O’Connor. Kovalev was fully unleashed now, as Cleverly tried to use the ring to escape his tormentor, he was clipped by a left, then more solidly, by a right, and went down again, slumping first to his knees, then onto his face.
Again, Cleverly showed his innate toughness, by regaining his feet almost immediately, but this time, he was out on his feet and on wobbly legs as the referee again gave him the standing eight count. As the action resumed, it became obvious that Cleverly had nothing left, as he struggled to stay on his feel, and tried to grab hold of Kovalev, as the Russian came in for the finish. Cleverly started to wilt, as soon as Kovalev landed with some more punches to the head and body, and at this point, referee O’Connor forced himself between the two fighters, grabbed hold of Cleverly, and waved his arms as if he was stopping the fight. With the action paused, and the fight seemingly over, the sound of the bell ended the round. At this point, the referee’s actions descended into farce, as he literally carried the dazed Cleverly to his corner, and deposited him onto his stool. He sat head bowed and seemingly oblivious to what was going on. By now, there was a general confusion over whether referee O’Connor had actually stopped the fight or not. Unfortunately, even the referee himself seemed to be confused. After some hurried seconds, it seemed to be decided that the fight was still on and that Cleverly would come out for the 4th round. Whether it was wise to allow Cleverly out for the 4th has to be balanced between the importance of the fight and the safety of the fighter’s health.
Although Cleverly had regained enough of his senses to respond to his corner, he was very much still in a fog, and this became apparent as soon as he literally staggered out for the 4th round. Kovalev unloaded both hands on Cleverly, as the Welshman blindly tried to elude him on rubber legs, and although bravely standing up under the barrage, Cleverly was driven defenseless into the ropes, and was about to go down to the canvas once again, before the referee mercifully stepped in and finally stopped the fight, as he should have done a round earlier.
Kovalev had shown just why he is called the ‘Krusher’ as he had promised in the build up to the fight. There can be few fighters with a more apt nickname.
In his post fight interview, the new champion dedicated his victory to his friends and fans, in a victory speech, which indicated he is a classy operator outside of the ring, as well as within it.
It might seem strange to compliment a fighter, who has won all but four, of his twenty-two victories in the first three rounds on his patience, but Kovalev has an impressive coolness about him in the ring. He is never rushed or messy, especially when he has an opponent hurt, and it is this composure, which makes him even more formidable.
There have already been comparisons drawn between Kovalev and WBA middleweight Champion and TV favourite, Gennady Golovkin. Both have similarly destructive fighting styles, but Kovalev if anything, seems to be the more destructive by far. In fact, he may well now be the most destructive puncher, pound for pound, in the world, and like his fellow eastern block sensation Golovkin, the ’Krusher’ looks set for big things in the future.
For Cleverly, it will be a long way back, but at twenty-six years old, he has the time to learn from this defeat and rebuild his career. While, almost inevitably, Cleverly is now being criticised as having been overprotected during his career, up until this point, its worth remembering that Kovalev himself had hardly mixed at world level himself, aside from his wins over-faded Gabriel Campillo, and the largely unproven Cornelius White.
Had Cleverly beaten Kovalev, its likely the Russian would have been branded as overprotected fighter with a padded record, who was never as good as his reputation, much like Lucian Bute is now regarded since his loss to Carl Froch.
However, after Saturday night, it is no exaggeration to say that not only is Sergey Kovalev as good as his reputation, he is if anything better.
There was good action in the two other title fights on the Motorpoint Arena bill…
Enzo Maccarinelli (37-6, 29kos)-6 won the Commonwealth Light-heavyweight championship from Orvill Mckenzie (21-12, 10kos), with a brutal left uppercut in the 11th round, which left Mckenzie out on his feet on the ropes, with his head bowed down. It was a dramatic end to what had been a grueling contest, which had ebbed and flowed, throughout, right up to the end. This was a rematch between the two men, after their first meeting for Mckenzie’s title in November last year ended on a controversial second round stoppage in favour of Mckenzie.
For Maccarinelli, the victory breathed new life into a career, which had come off the rails, after he lost his WBO world cruiserweight title to David Haye in 2008, by a second round stoppage. Further, inside the distance defeats, following the loss to Haye had provoked many in the boxing fraternity to advise Maccarinelli to retire. Enzo’s subsequent move down to the light heavyweight division seemed to have reached an ignominious end last November, after his controversial defeat by Mckenzie, but the rematch turned out to be Maccarinelli’s redemption.
With a title once more to his name, Maccarinelli may now look towards ending his career with one more big fight. In the past, there has been talk of a clash with fellow Welshman Nathan Cleverly, and while up until Saturday night, this would have looked to be a mismatch for Cleverly, it may now be a fight that would make sense, and stir interest, especially in Wales.
At super-featherweight, Stephen Smith (17-1, 10 KOs) produced a perfect left hook to knockout Cardiff favourite Gary Buckland (27-3, 9kos), and win the British super-featherweight championship. Stephen Smith is the brother of Paul Smith, who holds the British super-middleweight championship. Smith had spent the fight up until then, on the back foot, looking to counter rushes of the aggressive Buckland. For the first three rounds, the defending champion looked to be in control, as Smith showed good movement, but was mostly on the defensive. However, in the 4th round, a left hand counter from Smith seemed to momentarily shake Buckland, and Smith opened up for a bit, before going back onto the counter. In the 5th round, Buckland seemed recovered from the previous round, and was bustling forward, and pressuring the retreating Smith, when he was caught by a beautiful left hook, which saw him fall flat onto his face out cold, in a manner reminiscent of Manny Pacquiao’s defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez.
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved.
Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
Sergey Kovalev (22-0-1, 20 KOs) had arrived in Cardiff Wales with the quiet aura of a gunslinger who comes into town determined to prove himself a faster gun than the local hero.
During the build up to his fight with Nathan Cleverly (26-1, 12 KOs), the Russian challenger said little in reply to the doubters, except to tell them to watch him at work in the ring before they make their minds up about him. Last night, after four rounds at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Wales, about 6000 spectators, and millions of TV viewers’ world wide, were left in no doubt about Kovalev’s credentials, and how his alias of ‘Krusher’ is so well fitting.
During the short fight, Kovalev produced a performance against Cleverly, which was chilling in its skilful brutality. The Russian also showed that his powerful attacks are built upon the foundation of strong technique, including an excellent jab.
Kovalev showed that even at the highest level, opponents are going to have trouble lasting more than a handful of rounds with him, let alone defeating him.
With the roar of his home fans following him to the ring, Cleverly looked hyped up, as he climbed through the ropes and encouraged the crowd, by pumping his right fist in the air. This was a huge occasion for Cleverly, who described himself as having trained for this fight as if he were the challenger rather than Kovalev, and with hindsight, it might have been better for Cleverly to have entered the ring with a cooler head. The support of a home crowd can be an invaluable advantage, but it can also be an added pressure, especially on occasions when a clear head is needed most of all.
Kovalev was impassive during the ring announcements, the Russian seemed oblivious to the crowd, all of whom were behind the defending champion, except for his own entourage, and a smattering of about two dozen Russians, amongst the spectators.
The action began at a fast pace, and if we didn’t know already, Kovalev displayed clearly, from the start, that he is not a one-dimensional slugger, but has a good jab and a smooth relaxed style. Both men spent the first round trying to take control of the centre of the ring, and using their jabs. Cleverly, surprisingly, was electing to stand right in front of the Russian and attempted to force him back with his jab, while keeping a high guard against Kovalev’s own punches. The Russian largely stood his ground, however, and was the busier fighter, using his jabs to probe the Cleverly defense, and landing some early right hands to the body.
In the 2nd round, Cleverly continued to stay in front of Kovalev, rather than offer lateral movement or attempt to get on the inside, and force Kovalev back that way. The challenger stayed busy with his jab, while bringing in more of his patented right hands, with some good shots landing to the body. All Kovalev’s punches seem to carry weight, but in addition to this, they are also surprisingly swift and accurate.
Although Cleverly kept his guard high during the 2nd, there were already signs that he would need more than this too contain the man in front of him, and that the tactic to try and force Kovalev back so early was premature at best.
Cleverly did find some success in the 2nd with the jab, as midway through the round Kovalev was cut over his right eye, and for a brief moment the Russian seemed slightly disturbed by the sight of his own blood as he pawed at the eye with his right glove. However, this would prove to be a false dawn for Cleverly, as the challenger regained his composure, and continued his impressive work.
The 3rd round began with the same pattern as the first two, but with the Russian challenger now introducing more right hands into his work and inexorably increasing his already high work rate. When the end came, it was dramatic and brutal.
Kovalev’s, switching from head to body, was making chinks in Cleverly’s defense. He was hurt first by a left hand, and then driven momentarily into the ropes by a right-left combination, before finally being dropped by two right hands to the head.
Cleverly got up almost immediately, which was a mistake, but did not look overly hurt at this point, as he took what seemed like a rather long mandatory eight count from referee Terry O’Connor. Kovalev was fully unleashed now, as Cleverly tried to use the ring to escape his tormentor, he was clipped by a left, then more solidly, by a right, and went down again, slumping first to his knees, then onto his face.
Again, Cleverly showed his innate toughness, by regaining his feet almost immediately, but this time, he was out on his feet and on wobbly legs as the referee again gave him the standing eight count. As the action resumed, it became obvious that Cleverly had nothing left, as he struggled to stay on his feel, and tried to grab hold of Kovalev, as the Russian came in for the finish. Cleverly started to wilt, as soon as Kovalev landed with some more punches to the head and body, and at this point, referee O’Connor forced himself between the two fighters, grabbed hold of Cleverly, and waved his arms as if he was stopping the fight. With the action paused, and the fight seemingly over, the sound of the bell ended the round. At this point, the referee’s actions descended into farce, as he literally carried the dazed Cleverly to his corner, and deposited him onto his stool. He sat head bowed and seemingly oblivious to what was going on. By now, there was a general confusion over whether referee O’Connor had actually stopped the fight or not. Unfortunately, even the referee himself seemed to be confused. After some hurried seconds, it seemed to be decided that the fight was still on and that Cleverly would come out for the 4th round. Whether it was wise to allow Cleverly out for the 4th has to be balanced between the importance of the fight and the safety of the fighter’s health.
Although Cleverly had regained enough of his senses to respond to his corner, he was very much still in a fog, and this became apparent as soon as he literally staggered out for the 4th round. Kovalev unloaded both hands on Cleverly, as the Welshman blindly tried to elude him on rubber legs, and although bravely standing up under the barrage, Cleverly was driven defenseless into the ropes, and was about to go down to the canvas once again, before the referee mercifully stepped in and finally stopped the fight, as he should have done a round earlier.
Kovalev had shown just why he is called the ‘Krusher’ as he had promised in the build up to the fight. There can be few fighters with a more apt nickname.
In his post fight interview, the new champion dedicated his victory to his friends and fans, in a victory speech, which indicated he is a classy operator outside of the ring, as well as within it.
It might seem strange to compliment a fighter, who has won all but four, of his twenty-two victories in the first three rounds on his patience, but Kovalev has an impressive coolness about him in the ring. He is never rushed or messy, especially when he has an opponent hurt, and it is this composure, which makes him even more formidable.
There have already been comparisons drawn between Kovalev and WBA middleweight Champion and TV favourite, Gennady Golovkin. Both have similarly destructive fighting styles, but Kovalev if anything, seems to be the more destructive by far. In fact, he may well now be the most destructive puncher, pound for pound, in the world, and like his fellow eastern block sensation Golovkin, the ’Krusher’ looks set for big things in the future.
For Cleverly, it will be a long way back, but at twenty-six years old, he has the time to learn from this defeat and rebuild his career. While, almost inevitably, Cleverly is now being criticised as having been overprotected during his career, up until this point, its worth remembering that Kovalev himself had hardly mixed at world level himself, aside from his wins over-faded Gabriel Campillo, and the largely unproven Cornelius White.
Had Cleverly beaten Kovalev, its likely the Russian would have been branded as overprotected fighter with a padded record, who was never as good as his reputation, much like Lucian Bute is now regarded since his loss to Carl Froch.
However, after Saturday night, it is no exaggeration to say that not only is Sergey Kovalev as good as his reputation, he is if anything better.
There was good action in the two other title fights on the Motorpoint Arena bill…
Enzo Maccarinelli (37-6, 29kos)-6 won the Commonwealth Light-heavyweight championship from Orvill Mckenzie (21-12, 10kos), with a brutal left uppercut in the 11th round, which left Mckenzie out on his feet on the ropes, with his head bowed down. It was a dramatic end to what had been a grueling contest, which had ebbed and flowed, throughout, right up to the end. This was a rematch between the two men, after their first meeting for Mckenzie’s title in November last year ended on a controversial second round stoppage in favour of Mckenzie.
For Maccarinelli, the victory breathed new life into a career, which had come off the rails, after he lost his WBO world cruiserweight title to David Haye in 2008, by a second round stoppage. Further, inside the distance defeats, following the loss to Haye had provoked many in the boxing fraternity to advise Maccarinelli to retire. Enzo’s subsequent move down to the light heavyweight division seemed to have reached an ignominious end last November, after his controversial defeat by Mckenzie, but the rematch turned out to be Maccarinelli’s redemption.
With a title once more to his name, Maccarinelli may now look towards ending his career with one more big fight. In the past, there has been talk of a clash with fellow Welshman Nathan Cleverly, and while up until Saturday night, this would have looked to be a mismatch for Cleverly, it may now be a fight that would make sense, and stir interest, especially in Wales.
At super-featherweight, Stephen Smith (17-1, 10 KOs) produced a perfect left hook to knockout Cardiff favourite Gary Buckland (27-3, 9kos), and win the British super-featherweight championship. Stephen Smith is the brother of Paul Smith, who holds the British super-middleweight championship. Smith had spent the fight up until then, on the back foot, looking to counter rushes of the aggressive Buckland. For the first three rounds, the defending champion looked to be in control, as Smith showed good movement, but was mostly on the defensive. However, in the 4th round, a left hand counter from Smith seemed to momentarily shake Buckland, and Smith opened up for a bit, before going back onto the counter. In the 5th round, Buckland seemed recovered from the previous round, and was bustling forward, and pressuring the retreating Smith, when he was caught by a beautiful left hook, which saw him fall flat onto his face out cold, in a manner reminiscent of Manny Pacquiao’s defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez.
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved.
Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Nathan Cleverly Needs To Box Clever Against Big Punching Kovalev
By Peter Silkov
When Nathan Cleverly 26-0 (12kos) enters the ring this Saturday night at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales, for the 6th defense of his WBO world light heavyweight title, he will be facing his toughest challenger yet, in unbeaten Russian Sergey Kovalev 21-0-1 (19kos).nathan-cleverly-
Cleverly is going into this fight, in the unusual position of being a slight betting underdog against his challenger, such is the reputation, which the Florida based Russian, brings with him. Kovalev is known as ‘Krusher’ because of his explosive punching power, which has seen him score 19 koes in his 21 victories, with only three of his contests going past the 3rd round. Kovalev is a well-schooled, boxer-puncher, who carries a heavy dig in both hands, but especially in the right.
Although it is still early days for Kovalev, he does bare some similarities with WBA Middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin. Like the Kazakhstan born Golovkin, the ‘Krusher’ is an extremely aggressive boxer, who can back up his big punch with sound technical skills. Kovalev is an excellent punch-picker, and despite his aggressive style, does not waste many shots. He likes to break down his opponents by switching from body to head and back again, using jabs, hooks and straight rights, and when he has his opponent hurt, he has shown himself to be a quick and merciless finisher. Kovalev’s technical acumen has been helped hugely by his trainer, ex-world light-middleweight champion John David Jackson, who was one of the most technically astute boxers of the 80s.
For Cleverly, this is a fight, that could help him break through to the next level and gain the star status, and recognition that he craves. Cleverly’s idol, and the fighter whom he would like so much to emulate, is fellow Welshman, Joe Calzaghe, the former WBO world super-middleweight champion, who retired undefeated after 46 contests in 2008. However, Cleverly would like to avoid the more negative aspects of Calzaghes career, which saw Calzaghe often struggle for big fights during his lengthy title reign; an issue that has continued to dog Calzaghe since his retirement.
Unfortunately, for Calzaghe, his biggest fights only came at the tail end of his career, and his reputation and legacy, has suffered because of it. Cleverly wants to get the big fights earlier in his career and there are potential big fights out available, against the likes of Carl Froch, Bernard Hopkins, and Adonis Stevens. First, Cleverly has to negotiate his way past the dangerous Kovalev. This is a fight, which can open doors for Cleverly if he wins, especially if he wins impressively against a fighter with Kovalev’s destructive reputation.
The Florida based Russian has already built up a good reputation in America and many expect him to be too good and too powerful for the Welshman. Kovalev’s biggest victory so far is his impressive destruction of former WBA world light-heavyweight champion, Gabriel Campillo, whom he stopped in three rounds, flooring the usually, slippery and durable ex-champion, three times in the process. Kovalev has also shown the strength of character to continue his career, despite the tragic death of Roman Simakov, who passed away from injuries suffered in their fight in Dec 2011. After taking some time off to come to terms with the tragedy, Kovalev returned to the ring after six months and resumed his inexorable climb to the top. Now, only Nathan Cleverly stands in his way to becoming a world champion.
For Cleverly, this is a chance for him to show whether he can rise to the challenge of being the underdog in such a big fight, will this bring the best out of Cleverly or will he falter. Over the past few years, Cleverly has seen fellow Brit fighter WBA and IBF Super-middleweight champion, Carl Froch, gain plaudits from an impressive run of fights against the best in his division. Cleverly knows that, he too, needs to meet and beat the best in his own division, if he is to gain the kind of recognition that Froch has attained lately.
Looking at Cleverly and Kovalev together, both fighters are well matched in a number of ways, which is promising for the potential spectator. This match has all the hallmarks of a close and entertaining contest. Both men like to throw combinations, but while Kovalev has a definite edge in punching power, Cleverly has an edge in hand speed. Cleverly also has the edge in footwork, to the slower Russian. This is a fight that could be an excellent mixture of styles, but its result may well rest upon Cleverly’s choice of tactics. If Cleverly opts to slug it out with Kovalev, then the result, despite his good chin, may well be disastrous. Cleverly’s soundest option, tactically speaking, is to box through the early rounds, draw the fire of Kovalev, and then come on stronger and more aggressively in the later rounds. Although he is actually four years younger than his Russian challenger, Cleverly is much more seasoned in longer fights, having travelled the full 12 rounds five times so far during his career. This could well be a crucial edge in the Welshman’s favour, should the fight enter the late rounds on Saturday. For all his power and talent, Kovalev may find himself struggling if he is taken into the later rounds, which he is so unused too.
Some people have drawn comparisons between this match and Joe Calzaghe’s fight with Jeff lacy. In what was a unification fight for the IBF and WBO world super-middleweight titles, Calzaghe was the underdog, and was expected by many to be overwhelmed by the powerful, big punching, Lacy, who was regarded as one of the future stars of boxing. When both men got into the ring however, Calzaghe gave one of the best performances of his career, to out-box, and out-punch Lacy, so viciously and thoroughly, that the American was never the same fighter again.
Although Kovalev is not held in such high regard, as Lacy was prior to his fight with Calzaghe, he has been building a good following in America, and many believe that he is destined to become the new star of the 175 division, once he takes the WBO title from Cleverly.
Nathan Cleverly will be aiming to produce against Kovalev, something similar to what Calzaghe did against Lacy. Unlike Calzaghe, when he fought Lacy, Cleverly will be facing Kovalev in front of his own Welsh supporters in Cardiff.
It is no coincidence that Cleverly bares a resemblance to Calzaghe in his fighting style, as he was trained early in his career by Calzaghe’s father, and has adopted a similar busy, and fast handed, combination based, box-fighter style. Victory on Saturday night will go some way to placing Cleverly amongst the elite champions of today, and closer to emulating his idol Calzaghe himself.
This is a fight, which promises to be perhaps something a little special, with both fighters penchant for punching in combinations, the chances of some good exchanges seem high. Although Cleverly would be best advised to use his speed and boxing ability for much of the fight, it is inevitable that, at some point, he will have to stand his ground, and trade with Kovalev. Indeed, it would be a good strategy for Cleverly to try and push Kovalev back, and see how effective the big punching Russian is on the backfoot. In a year, where we have seen a number of exciting clashes between top fighters, this is another title fight, which could show us just how good boxing can be when the top fighters are allowed to fight each other. At the end of it, the light heavyweights may well have a new star in their midst, a man who will be either a new champion, or else a champion who has finally broken out of the shadows.
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved.
Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
Cleverly is going into this fight, in the unusual position of being a slight betting underdog against his challenger, such is the reputation, which the Florida based Russian, brings with him. Kovalev is known as ‘Krusher’ because of his explosive punching power, which has seen him score 19 koes in his 21 victories, with only three of his contests going past the 3rd round. Kovalev is a well-schooled, boxer-puncher, who carries a heavy dig in both hands, but especially in the right.
Although it is still early days for Kovalev, he does bare some similarities with WBA Middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin. Like the Kazakhstan born Golovkin, the ‘Krusher’ is an extremely aggressive boxer, who can back up his big punch with sound technical skills. Kovalev is an excellent punch-picker, and despite his aggressive style, does not waste many shots. He likes to break down his opponents by switching from body to head and back again, using jabs, hooks and straight rights, and when he has his opponent hurt, he has shown himself to be a quick and merciless finisher. Kovalev’s technical acumen has been helped hugely by his trainer, ex-world light-middleweight champion John David Jackson, who was one of the most technically astute boxers of the 80s.
For Cleverly, this is a fight, that could help him break through to the next level and gain the star status, and recognition that he craves. Cleverly’s idol, and the fighter whom he would like so much to emulate, is fellow Welshman, Joe Calzaghe, the former WBO world super-middleweight champion, who retired undefeated after 46 contests in 2008. However, Cleverly would like to avoid the more negative aspects of Calzaghes career, which saw Calzaghe often struggle for big fights during his lengthy title reign; an issue that has continued to dog Calzaghe since his retirement.
Unfortunately, for Calzaghe, his biggest fights only came at the tail end of his career, and his reputation and legacy, has suffered because of it. Cleverly wants to get the big fights earlier in his career and there are potential big fights out available, against the likes of Carl Froch, Bernard Hopkins, and Adonis Stevens. First, Cleverly has to negotiate his way past the dangerous Kovalev. This is a fight, which can open doors for Cleverly if he wins, especially if he wins impressively against a fighter with Kovalev’s destructive reputation.
The Florida based Russian has already built up a good reputation in America and many expect him to be too good and too powerful for the Welshman. Kovalev’s biggest victory so far is his impressive destruction of former WBA world light-heavyweight champion, Gabriel Campillo, whom he stopped in three rounds, flooring the usually, slippery and durable ex-champion, three times in the process. Kovalev has also shown the strength of character to continue his career, despite the tragic death of Roman Simakov, who passed away from injuries suffered in their fight in Dec 2011. After taking some time off to come to terms with the tragedy, Kovalev returned to the ring after six months and resumed his inexorable climb to the top. Now, only Nathan Cleverly stands in his way to becoming a world champion.
For Cleverly, this is a chance for him to show whether he can rise to the challenge of being the underdog in such a big fight, will this bring the best out of Cleverly or will he falter. Over the past few years, Cleverly has seen fellow Brit fighter WBA and IBF Super-middleweight champion, Carl Froch, gain plaudits from an impressive run of fights against the best in his division. Cleverly knows that, he too, needs to meet and beat the best in his own division, if he is to gain the kind of recognition that Froch has attained lately.
Looking at Cleverly and Kovalev together, both fighters are well matched in a number of ways, which is promising for the potential spectator. This match has all the hallmarks of a close and entertaining contest. Both men like to throw combinations, but while Kovalev has a definite edge in punching power, Cleverly has an edge in hand speed. Cleverly also has the edge in footwork, to the slower Russian. This is a fight that could be an excellent mixture of styles, but its result may well rest upon Cleverly’s choice of tactics. If Cleverly opts to slug it out with Kovalev, then the result, despite his good chin, may well be disastrous. Cleverly’s soundest option, tactically speaking, is to box through the early rounds, draw the fire of Kovalev, and then come on stronger and more aggressively in the later rounds. Although he is actually four years younger than his Russian challenger, Cleverly is much more seasoned in longer fights, having travelled the full 12 rounds five times so far during his career. This could well be a crucial edge in the Welshman’s favour, should the fight enter the late rounds on Saturday. For all his power and talent, Kovalev may find himself struggling if he is taken into the later rounds, which he is so unused too.
Some people have drawn comparisons between this match and Joe Calzaghe’s fight with Jeff lacy. In what was a unification fight for the IBF and WBO world super-middleweight titles, Calzaghe was the underdog, and was expected by many to be overwhelmed by the powerful, big punching, Lacy, who was regarded as one of the future stars of boxing. When both men got into the ring however, Calzaghe gave one of the best performances of his career, to out-box, and out-punch Lacy, so viciously and thoroughly, that the American was never the same fighter again.
Although Kovalev is not held in such high regard, as Lacy was prior to his fight with Calzaghe, he has been building a good following in America, and many believe that he is destined to become the new star of the 175 division, once he takes the WBO title from Cleverly.
Nathan Cleverly will be aiming to produce against Kovalev, something similar to what Calzaghe did against Lacy. Unlike Calzaghe, when he fought Lacy, Cleverly will be facing Kovalev in front of his own Welsh supporters in Cardiff.
It is no coincidence that Cleverly bares a resemblance to Calzaghe in his fighting style, as he was trained early in his career by Calzaghe’s father, and has adopted a similar busy, and fast handed, combination based, box-fighter style. Victory on Saturday night will go some way to placing Cleverly amongst the elite champions of today, and closer to emulating his idol Calzaghe himself.
This is a fight, which promises to be perhaps something a little special, with both fighters penchant for punching in combinations, the chances of some good exchanges seem high. Although Cleverly would be best advised to use his speed and boxing ability for much of the fight, it is inevitable that, at some point, he will have to stand his ground, and trade with Kovalev. Indeed, it would be a good strategy for Cleverly to try and push Kovalev back, and see how effective the big punching Russian is on the backfoot. In a year, where we have seen a number of exciting clashes between top fighters, this is another title fight, which could show us just how good boxing can be when the top fighters are allowed to fight each other. At the end of it, the light heavyweights may well have a new star in their midst, a man who will be either a new champion, or else a champion who has finally broken out of the shadows.
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved.
Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
Monday, August 12, 2013
Deontay Wilder Slaughters The White Wolf In Ugly Mismatch
By Peter Silkov
Deontay Wilder scored the seventeenth 1st round knockout of his career last night, when he demolished Siarhei Liakhovich in a frightening fashion, at the Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California. It was yet another quick notch upon Wilder’s fistic resume and has inevitably provoked debate over whether Wilder will be the man to lead American heavyweight boxing back to the promised land. The ‘fight’ if you could really call it that, was brief, but brutal, and had the smell of an execution about it.
After some perfunctory feeling out punches from each, including a few good jabs by Wilder, a jab followed by a hard right, drove Liakhovich into the ropes, where two huge right hands landed to the side of the Belarusian’s head. It’s probably fortunate that the second right only landed glancingly, as Liakhovich was already on his way down to the canvas at this point, tumbling upon his back like a Friday drunk. Boxing is a sport of beauty and brutality, and sometimes it is most exhilarating when two polar opposites mix together, but at other times, the brutality will rise up it’s head with no redeeming companion. There was certainly nothing beautiful or exhilarating seeing the way Liakhovich shook and failed his legs and arms in the air for a couple of awful seconds as he lay on the canvas, as if he had been tazered. The ’White Wolfs’ disturbing motion was only calmed after referee Tom Taylor took hold of his head and cradled it until the arrival of the doctor.
Knockouts are a part of boxing and often one of it’s most exciting aspects, but this was an ’ugly’ knockout of a fighter, whom most suspected, was being led in for the slaughter. While Wilder’s promoters, Golden Boy Promotions, hailed this match as his biggest challenge, yet, against a former world champion, known for his strength and grit, those in-the-know, looked past the promotional guff, and realised that Liakhovich had not fought in seventeen months, and has been ’shot’ for far longer than that. True, no other fighter has ever dismissed Liakhovich in such a manner as this, and yet at the same time, the Belarusian’s punishing defeats in his past two contests, allied with his age and inactivity made him a prime candidate for such destruction, at the fists of a fighter like Wilder. So, in many ways, ’The White Wolf’ was an ideal opponent for ’The Bronze Bomber’ at this stage of his career, another early rounds knockout, and against a former champion, albeit a faded one.
Aside for the good padding, this win will add to Wilder’s resume, and the highlight reel appeal to some of its ending, this match had told us little about how good ’The Bronze Bomber’ is beyond his punching power. The history of boxing, especially the heavyweight division, is littered with the tales of fighters who were knocking out handpicked opponents with ease, until one day they finally came up against someone who could take it and fight back, and then suddenly things turned awry.
Wilder need only look at the recent experiences of England’s David Price, to see an example of a fighter who was at one point riding high on a string of impressive knockouts, only to see everything fall to pieces when he was finally tested himself.
Of course Wilder has had problems of his own recently, albeit outside of the ring, rather than inside it, and in many ways this match was an exercise in getting the Deontay Wilder story back on track, and recent bad news and misunderstandings into the past.
The questions remain the same…how will Wilder, the fighter, react when he comes up against a fighter who can take his punches and punch him back, or even how would he react if he was hit first? Then there are issues about stamina and mental toughness. It takes far more than the ability to knock men out to reach the top in boxing, to be a significant success, a fighter needs to have far more depth, and he is unable to either show or develop such a depth when dismissing overmatched opposition in one or two rounds.
Despite the dearth of talent in the heavyweight division over the past decade, there are some promising shoots of growth within the division now, and certainly far better and more equal matches out there for Wilder to consider in the coming months, if he is really to become a serious contender for the Heavyweight crown. ’The Bronze Bomber’ can punch, but we already knew that, the question is can he fight? Unfortunately, this was a question that faded warrior Liakhovich was unable to ask.
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved.
Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
After some perfunctory feeling out punches from each, including a few good jabs by Wilder, a jab followed by a hard right, drove Liakhovich into the ropes, where two huge right hands landed to the side of the Belarusian’s head. It’s probably fortunate that the second right only landed glancingly, as Liakhovich was already on his way down to the canvas at this point, tumbling upon his back like a Friday drunk. Boxing is a sport of beauty and brutality, and sometimes it is most exhilarating when two polar opposites mix together, but at other times, the brutality will rise up it’s head with no redeeming companion. There was certainly nothing beautiful or exhilarating seeing the way Liakhovich shook and failed his legs and arms in the air for a couple of awful seconds as he lay on the canvas, as if he had been tazered. The ’White Wolfs’ disturbing motion was only calmed after referee Tom Taylor took hold of his head and cradled it until the arrival of the doctor.
Knockouts are a part of boxing and often one of it’s most exciting aspects, but this was an ’ugly’ knockout of a fighter, whom most suspected, was being led in for the slaughter. While Wilder’s promoters, Golden Boy Promotions, hailed this match as his biggest challenge, yet, against a former world champion, known for his strength and grit, those in-the-know, looked past the promotional guff, and realised that Liakhovich had not fought in seventeen months, and has been ’shot’ for far longer than that. True, no other fighter has ever dismissed Liakhovich in such a manner as this, and yet at the same time, the Belarusian’s punishing defeats in his past two contests, allied with his age and inactivity made him a prime candidate for such destruction, at the fists of a fighter like Wilder. So, in many ways, ’The White Wolf’ was an ideal opponent for ’The Bronze Bomber’ at this stage of his career, another early rounds knockout, and against a former champion, albeit a faded one.
Aside for the good padding, this win will add to Wilder’s resume, and the highlight reel appeal to some of its ending, this match had told us little about how good ’The Bronze Bomber’ is beyond his punching power. The history of boxing, especially the heavyweight division, is littered with the tales of fighters who were knocking out handpicked opponents with ease, until one day they finally came up against someone who could take it and fight back, and then suddenly things turned awry.
Wilder need only look at the recent experiences of England’s David Price, to see an example of a fighter who was at one point riding high on a string of impressive knockouts, only to see everything fall to pieces when he was finally tested himself.
Of course Wilder has had problems of his own recently, albeit outside of the ring, rather than inside it, and in many ways this match was an exercise in getting the Deontay Wilder story back on track, and recent bad news and misunderstandings into the past.
The questions remain the same…how will Wilder, the fighter, react when he comes up against a fighter who can take his punches and punch him back, or even how would he react if he was hit first? Then there are issues about stamina and mental toughness. It takes far more than the ability to knock men out to reach the top in boxing, to be a significant success, a fighter needs to have far more depth, and he is unable to either show or develop such a depth when dismissing overmatched opposition in one or two rounds.
Despite the dearth of talent in the heavyweight division over the past decade, there are some promising shoots of growth within the division now, and certainly far better and more equal matches out there for Wilder to consider in the coming months, if he is really to become a serious contender for the Heavyweight crown. ’The Bronze Bomber’ can punch, but we already knew that, the question is can he fight? Unfortunately, this was a question that faded warrior Liakhovich was unable to ask.
Copyright © 2013 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved.
Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com
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