A Heavyweight Curse

Any fighter hoping to earn mention among heavyweight greats from yesteryear is met with critical eyes, and must endure likely unfair comparisons to former champions and contenders.

Many of the most famous fighters in boxing cut their teeth in the heavyweight division. And until the wave of popularity currently driving mixed martial arts rolled into town, the Heavyweight Champion of the World (especially when there was only one) was the consensus "baddest man on the planet."

Lennox Lewis, for example, was plagued by such comparisons throughout his respectable career. It didn't help that he had the personality of a wet shoe, and settled into a more cautious and safety-first style before retiring in February 2004. Aside from that though, he was unlucky enough to succeed more exciting and famous American champs Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, among a number of other belt-holders generally glossed over by boxing historians.

Whether or not the big men of yore were actually better fighters worthy of the nostalgic invincibility is of course fairly subjective, though the overall toughness of the division in particular eras isn't quite as difficult to determine.

Current unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko finds himself in the unfortunate position of dominating what is potentially the worst heavyweight division ever.

In the wake of his tenth round knockout of former victim Sam Peter, the lament over Wlad's defensive - and at times downright John Ruiz-esque - recent performances seems to be at its peak.

Carrying a record of 55-3 (49 KO), the Ukrainian rose to fame fighting mainly in Germany, known for his offensive tools and crushing punching power, even in his dangerous jab. Wlad suffered his first setback in an eleventh round TKO loss to journeyman Ross Puritty in 1998, though the loss is generally written off as a lesson learned, as Wladimir was exhausted by the ninth round, and big brother Vitali avenged the blemish for him anyways.

Between his first loss and 2003, Wlad rebuilt in Germany (and to a lesser extent in the US) by trouncing hapless European pugs overseas, and questionable opposition in the States, garnering the attention of HBO along the way.

As Lennox Lewis neared retirement, both Klitschko brothers were thought to be the next generation of athletic big men, though Wladimir was generally billed as the better fighter.

Corrie Sanders crashed HBO's party as a late sub opponent in March of 2003, stopping Wladimir in two rounds, knocking him down four times in front of an Arena of Klitschko fans in Germany. The tape-delay broadcast seemed to give American boxing fans proper ammunition for discrediting the younger brother.

After again retreating overseas and hooking up with famed Kronk Gym trainer Manny Steward, Wlad returned to HBO, facing Lamon Brewster in the main event to the first welterweight fight between Cory Spinks and Zab Judah. A notable amateur but underachieving pro, Brewster was expected to stroll his way to a loss as he had against Cliff Etienne (in a great heavyweight brawl), and Charles Shufford.

Disaster struck for a second time, as Wlad was TKO'd in 5 after beating the hell out of Brewster for the first three and a half rounds. By the fifth round, Klitschko could barely stand up, much less survive the flush left hooks bouncing off his head.

Steward would later attribute the loss to Wlad's body being covered by too much vaseline, which apparently didn't allow him to sweat enough.

Since the surprise defeat to Brewster, Wladmir has rattled off twelve straight wins, including a bludgeoning of his most recent conqueror. Despite going the distance only twice in twelve fights, the criticism has been plenty thick, and understandably so for reasons mentioned earlier.

Wlad's career as a whole seems to be easily split into two parts: the robotic walk in the park leading up to the Brewster loss, and the style adjustments under Steward thereafter.

Steward's early influence was evident in tough wins against DeVarryl Williamson and Sam Peter the first time around, but Wlad uncomfortably and improperly clutched from the wrong distance and at the wrong times.

Following the first struggle against Peter that saw Wlad knocked down three times in three separate rounds, Wlad rebounded with a seven-round destruction of Chris Byrd, who he had previously beaten down amid mild controversy (Byrd claimed the 6'6" younger brother had tampered with his gloves or placed a foreign substance on them which blinded Byrd early in the fight), and took his IBF title in April of 2006.

In the four-plus years since stampeding Byrd, Wlad has defended his title nine times, eight by stoppage.

Essentially clearing out much of the division, Wlad's recent defenses have been against either opponents fulfilling sanctioning organization obligations, or fellow titlists: Ruslan Chagaev and Sultan Ibragimov, both of whom came into their matches unbeaten. Chagaev was named WBA "champion in recess" by the organization ahead of the fight, thus his belt was not on the line.

Regardless, Wladimir Klitschko has not lost more than a handful of rounds against nine of the best available opponents.

At the end of the day, most complaints seem to center around the addition of clinching and measuring with the jab to Wlad's game.

It may not be pretty - in fact, a number of fighters have been blasted by fans and boxing scribes alike for excessive holding - but it's difficult to argue with a 90% knockout ratio, win or lose.

When you tune in to a Wladimir Klitschko bout, there's a ninety percent chance you'll get to see a stoppage either way. Avoiding a snooze on the ride there is, admittedly, the difficult part.

Past that, which again is not easily overlooked by most fans and critics, Wlad has two other major strikes against him: he refuses to fight his big brother Vitali, who holds every splintered version of the WBC Heavyweight belt imaginable, and that he is ruler of a division that Lennox Lewis left without a clear successor.

As to the first affliction, not wanting to fight your own brother is regrettable, but probably understandable.

The second part likely accounts for much of the underlying criticism.

Two notable former champions that underwent harsh judgment during their respective reigns? Larry Holmes, and none other than Lennox Lewis.

Holmes was pestered by objections over his opposition through much of his impressive title reign, and not to mention constant comparisons to his predecessor, Muhammad Ali. "The Easton Assassin" Holmes took most of the questions regarding his chin, flat performances, clowning, and inability to become equal with his idol Ali in stride.

A lack of strong roots appeared to prevent Lewis from gaining a strong following early in his career. A stoppage loss to inconsistent quasi-contender Oliver McCall derailed much of his momentum, and any sort of confidence in Lewis as a potential tough champion was questioned as a result. That is, until his final matchup against Wlad's big brother, where Lennox was forced to fight his way back from a deficit on the scorecards and destroy Vitali's facial tissue.

It seems many Ali fans still feel bitter toward Holmes for all but closing the book on "The Greatest"'s career, and a number of folks still vividly recall the images of Lewis getting flattened by both Hasim Rahman and Oliver McCall, but history has smiled upon both men.

In hindsight, Holmes in generally seen as one of the more dominant and skilled champions of the current era, and the same fans who dubbed Lewis a champion without much charm, personality or enduring quality often fondly remember the last time there was an unquestionable, universal heavyweight champion.

But Lennox Lewis clearly bested Holyfield in 1999 (horrible split-decision draw notwithstanding), and Larry Holmes was able to cement his championship claim by sending Ali into "early" retirement (similar to how Marciano wasn't viewed as a "complete" champ until smashing Joe Louis).

While big brother Vitali was given the opportunity to forcefully inherit the heavyweight championship from Lennox Lewis, Wladimir was not afforded the same luxury.

The lack of a concrete champion leading up to his current reign, or even just "best of the division," has made Wlad's transition from post-champ scrambler to dominant kingpin a hard sell. And the dearth of exciting contenders in the division means it's not likely to get much easier.

Although heavyweight has suffered through a solid decade of woeful competition, one fighter has clawed his way to the top of the heap and led by example as a well-spoken, well-educated and respectful champion, training like a beast and coming into every fight in outstanding condition, willing to go a full twelve rounds.

Ultimately, when the the dust from this pitiful division has settled, Wladimir's stylistic faults may just be overlooked, and his career accomplishments embraced.

In a chaotic division sickened by corrupt alphabet organizations and blown-up smaller fighters trying to pull in heavyweight purses, some measure of clarity eventually counts for something.

Boxing Clutter 9/20/10

For months both boxing fans and journalists have claimed 2010 has been an especially uneventful and disappointing year for the sport.

Personally I've been able to enjoy boxing quite a bit this year. A couple of fights have been surprisingly exciting, and a number have lived up to their pre-fight expectations.

True enough, the heavyweight division is still putrid, the Super Six at 168 has all but fallen apart, some high profile matches (and rematches) haven't gotten past the "When, Where and How Much?" stage, and as usual, the controversy never fails.

The sport lives to lose another fan, just like every year.

Especially with the extra-curricular activities.

"Money" May 6's and 7's

Floyd "Money" Mayweather, one half of maybe the biggest single disappointment of 2010, seems to continue his downward spiral into the Riddick Bowe "Kidnap your wife and kids" territory.

Fans had plenty of reasons to be annoyed with Mayweather years ago, but he's been especially aggravating since late 2009.

Following a lackluster decision win over the much smaller Juan Manuel Marquez last September and Manny Pacquiao's eleven-and-a-half round bludgeoning of Miguel Cotto in November, it seemed as if, for the first time in many years, the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport would meet in the ring without having to mess with catchweights.

What ensued was a massive boxing media joke, as both fighters made JLo-like demands and the fight fell through, but not before slinging mud back and forth.

Rather than fight, both guys did what any spoiled diva would do: make a boatload of money against different well-hyped opponents.

Take two on negotiations didn't go much better through Spring and early Summer 2010, though Floyd seemed to dispute that they even took place.

Mayweather seesawed between claiming he would take the rest of the year off, and saying he wanted to fight...until earlier this month.

On September 2, Floyd delivered an embarrassingly awkward rant on a streaming video website called Ustream. The video itself was fairly laughable, easily dismissed by most fans. The situation devolved quickly for Floyd though, as his inappropriate (and incorrect) racial remarks in the video caught the attention of mainstream news and sports websites more than happy to paint the undefeated and semi-active fighter in a negative light.

It's not exactly like he has trouble doing that for himself though.

Floyd offered up a half-hearted apology a few days later. Forgiven, forgotten...right?

A week later on September 9, it was reported on various news sites that Floyd was wanted for questioning in an alleged domestic violence incident with his "baby momma" Josie Harris, who also claimed the financially-troubled Floyd took her iPhone during the encounter earlier that morning, after threatening Harris and their two sons, ages 9 and 10, with physical violence.

A few weeks later, Mayweather now finds himself charged with eight separate counts in Nevada stemming from his confrontation with Harris, and may be sentenced to 34 years if convicted on all counts.

Ike Ibeabuchi and Oliver McCall at least had drugs and likely legitimate psychological issues to blame for their breakdowns. Riddick Bowe claimed in court that too many punches to the head caused his.

It seems Floyd's excuse may be having too much free time on his brittle hands.

According to Floyd's attorney Richard Wright, the fighter isn't expected to serve more than a week or two in jail, if any time at all.

In terms of years vs months or days to serve, I'm not sure which would be better, as Floyd might not be quite as good for he sport as he says he is.

Showtime Bantamweight Tournament Official

Giving credit where it's due, promoter Gary Shaw played a big role in finalizing Showtime's upcoming bantamweight tournament.

The first round of the single-elimination tournament has officially been set for December 11 in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Headlining the Showtime telecast will be super flyweight belt-holder Vic Darchinyan against unbeaten Abner Mares, who recently challenged Yonnhy Perez for his IBF bantamweight strap. Perez will be defending his belt against Joseph Agbeko in a rematch of their October 2009 fight in the supporting bout.

Shaw, Golden Boy Promotions and Don King collaborated to make the tournament happen, and while a few of the best bantamweights around aren't participating, there's no question the four fighters involved are at least among the best in the division. And after all, top fighters squaring off is what we fans ask for.

Gary Shaw in particular deserves a bit of extra credit, as the reputation of two of his main fighters is at stake, and because I've been especially critical of him as a promoter over the years.

Showtime's tournament may not crown a bantamweight champion, but it brings us a step closer to it, and proves that, under the right circumstances, rival promoters can indeed work together.

Prediction? Pain.

Of the four guys entering the tourney, all can bang a bit, none are particularly vulnerable (though Darchinyan may be nearing the end of his prime, if not there already, and a bit out-sized), and they generally make for good, entertaining fights.

And as I've mentioned before, I expect this single-elimination format to work better than Showtime's Super Six that has all but fallen apart.

Completing the Mexican/Filipino Fab Four?

Just as the original welterweight/middleweight "Fab Four" carried on well past the primes of Hagler, Hearns, Leonard and Duran, the newest featherweight/lightweight version may be coming full circle a good half-decade too late.

Manny Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales have already produced a handful of outstanding fights between them, with Marquez vs Morales being the last fight necessary to make it an official "Fab Four."

According to BoxingScene.com, Tijuana native Morales had essentially called out lightweight ruler Juan Manuel Marquez ahead of his six-round beatdown of UK fringe contender Willie Limond.

The Limond fight was contested with the vacant (and laugh-worthy) WBC Silver 140-lb. title, which basically set Morales up for a shot at Humberto Soto's WBC lightweight title.

In the BoxingScene article just linked, Morales seems to downplay a potential matchup with Soto in favor of a showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez. Although a win over Soto would make Morales the first Mexican to win titles in four divisions, "El Terrible" correctly asserted that a Marquez fight would not only be more meaningful to his legacy, but more attractive to fans.

As for Morales, most tend to agree he's looked faded and like a fighter lacking endurance in his recent fights, but the man still sports his signature body attack and warrior instincts.

If the 34-year old insists on continuing to fight, and it appears that he will, challenging and aging (but still impressive) Marquez for a legitimate title should at least answer a number of questions. But it may not give the fans many clues as to how a fight in their respective primes would have played out.

Haye-Harrison Managing to Offend Almost Everyone

Including fans.

Speaking of inappropriate behavior, David Haye seems to have adopted two of Floyd Mayweather's habits: completely discrediting undeserving opponents pre-fight, and offending human rights groups.

Aside from the fact that Haye pledged to never give Audley Harrison the opportunity to make money off him, changed his mind, and seems to be laughingly antagonizing boxing fans about it in every interview, Haye outdid his own comical performance against Nikolai Valuev by dropping the "gang rape"-bomb in reference to what the outcome of his upcoming bout will be.

Don't get me wrong, because both Floyd and Haye were ultimately doing what countless other fighters before them have done by hurling borderline insults at other fighters. But especially outspoken athletes tend to draw inordinate amounts of criticism, and more so when they're extraordinary talents.

Haye talked up potential bouts with the Klitschko brothers even in his cruiserweight days, and his heavyweight assault was a highly anticipated move, expected to bring life to the dreadful division.

Though initial offers from the Klitschko's were indeed somewhat insane, Haye has lowered his output considerably - both in-ring and in terms of the frequency of his fights - since contemplating his move to heavyweight, and hasn't exactly brought the unbridled wrath he had us hoping for.

A surprisingly dull showing in his November 2009 WBA title-winning effort against Valuev seemed a disappointing consolation to the canceled bout with Wladimir in June, where Haye seemed to indicate a hand injury might not have been as bad as advertised, and instead he simply didn't like the contractual terms.

A foul-filled follow up against John Ruiz at least came with a measure of silver lining, as the Brit may have finally retired a guy with a truly horrific style.

Recently turning down a 50% take against Wladimir may be the most disappointing aspect, though. Haye keeps mimicking Floyd, shrugging off a reasonable offer in order to face a nearly harmless foe - or no foe at all, in Floyd's case.

Despite vowing to retire before 2012, Haye insists that his competition post-Audley will be nothing but class.

I think I've heard this tune before.

Random Classics: Ray Mancini vs Arturo Frias

It's been deservedly referred to as one of the best one-round fights ever.

And it was on CBS Sports on a Saturday.

Oh, boxing. What happened?

That's a rhetorical question.

Arturo Frias showed up in the mid- and late-70's at the famed Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, generally fighting often, and went undefeated until 1981. His first loss, a majority decision verdict against former WBA Lightweight Champ Ernesto Espana in Venezuela, was also the first time he'd fought outside of Southern California.

After going back to his "SoCal" roots and rebounding with two wins, and taking advantage of a WBA Lightweight ranking that wasn't altered despite his loss to Espana, Frias challenged Claude Noel for his WBA Lightweight Championship. It was the belt initially vacated by Roberto Duran in 1979, then vacated by the annoying Sean O'Grady for not facing Noel, with the belt also having a couple of other temporary babysitters in between.

Even though he wasn't a big puncher, Frias was able to stop Noel in the eighth round of their matchup, then avenge his lone defeat to Espana by technical decision, gaining the WBA title and defending it for the first time, all in less than two months.

Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini likewise lost for the first time in 1981, except he lost to a consensus great to all-time great fighter in Alexis Arguello.

Mancini's brawling style and good punching power made him extremely fan-friendly and got him on television before too long. The Youngstown, Ohio native was 20-0 with 15 KO's going into his first loss to Arguello, who then held the WBC Lightweight title.

Mancini gave a great account of himself and pushed the much taller champ back in many rounds, but ultimately was TKO'd in round fourteen.

Just three months later, Mancini bounced back with a knockout win, then another less than two months after that.

Mancini and Frias met in the ring on May 8, 1982.

Following the opening bell, a short "feeling out process" took place with both fighters mostly jabbing.

Less than three minutes later, both fighters' faces were disasters in the making, and Frias found himself wearing a white terry cloth over his head and wondering where it all went wrong for him.

From Graham Houston's archives at ESPN:

Needless to say, it took you longer to read this stuff than it took you to watch the fight itself.

Watch the videos below and enjoy.

Boxing/MMA Clutter 9/1/10

While MMA always seems to be rolling on, boxing doesn't have a whole lot of action on tap for the coming months. At least, not in terms of "big fight" action.

But has boxing really been a mainstream type of sport the last decade or so?

HBO Spending Wisely?

I may as well get it out of the way:

HBO will be (and is) filming a 24/7 series for the upcoming Pacquiao vs Margarito fight.

According to some relatively "inside" sources, HBO spends a pretty penny on those 24/7 shows. Now, the production value of each episode generally seems to be top-notch, just like most of HBO's programming. But you have to question the decision making at HBO, doing 24/7 shows for fights like Mayweather vs Marquez and this one.

While both are exciting fighters, neither guy speaks English all that well (even though the beauty of controlled in-ring violence transcends language), neither has a particularly interesting personality...and should the fight even be happening?

The most scintillating portion of each episode will be either when they focus on Floyd Mayweather, or when each guy is bitching about the other's suspected cheating.

It's not like HBO has a slew of other great upcoming fights to spend that money on, but maybe if they saved that coin they would.

Bantamweight Continues to Shine

According to BoxingScene.com, a fight between WBA champion Anselmo Moreno and former WBC champion Hozumi Hasegawa is in the early stages of negotiations.

The Bantamweight division just keeps on delivering the goods, whether or not this fight comes through.

A number of sources have reported that Showtime will host a "Super Six"-like tournament at 118, only with 4 fighters: Abner Mares, Vic Darchinyan, Yonnhy Perez and Joseph Agbeko. Unfortunately Hasegawa was approached but supposedly turned down an offer to participate, and Bob Arum chose not to allow his fighters Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel to join.

Young (and talented) Koki Kameda may be staying at Bantam, undefeated Russian Alexander Bakhtin should be in line for a WBC title shot soon, and veterans Jorge Arce, Eric Morel and Gerry Penalosa seem to be refusing to go away.

And they say the 140 lb. division is good.

Obviously getting all of these guys to face each other is the difficult part, but a 4-fighter, 2-card format should prove to make more sense than the points system currently being used by the Super Six, and it won't tie up the involved fighters for nearly as long. While the tournament format seems to have backfired a bit for the Super Six at 168 lbs., in the end this proposed 118 lb. tournament will force good fighters to face each other, which is more than you can say for most other divisions and most other TV networks.

Past that, the depth of the division is such that almost anything should be at least interesting, if not enough to make you salivate a little.

UFC 118 Fails to Impress

Frankie Edgar's first defeat of UFC Lightweight champion BJ Penn was fairly surprising, but a complete shutout of the former champ in the rematch last Saturday night didn't even seem to be on the table, as far as pre-fight predictions went.

It happened all the same, as Edgar completely dominated Penn on their feet and on the ground. Penn seemed almost bored and complacent at times, refusing to engage standing up, and mostly stalling in a type of spider guard on the ground. BJ attempted to work an omoplata and triangle every so often, but fell victim to Edgar's activity once again.

While Penn's attempt at vengeance headlined the card, the buzz centered around a mixed martial artist vs boxer matchup between veterans Randy Couture and James Toney, respectively.

Predictably, the boxer Toney was taken down with a simple ankle pick from very far out, almost pounded out on the ground, and then easily submitted via arm triangle, courtesy of the mixed martial artist Couture.

Educated fight fans learned nothing new, as two faded once-were's got together under circumstances that gave one guy a heavy advantage over the other.

In other action, Gray Maynard earned a shot at Frankie Edgar's championship with a ho-hum unanimous decision win over former title challenger Kenny Florian. The wrestler Maynard got the takedown early and often, refusing to give Florian much room, but not doing a ton of damage.

Submission wiz Demian Maia had to settle for a decision win over Mario Miranda, who never seemed to get going on his feet and was forced to simply defend on the ground.

Nate Diaz, the younger of the Diaz brothers, beat the crap out of exciting slugger Marcus Davis for 2+ rounds and swelled his eyes up something terrible, before choking him unconscious with an arm-in guillotine in the third round.

Upcoming 119 should be better than this past weekend's mismatchapalooza 2010.

Segura Destroys Calderon in War

Before the fight, many had suggested the dominant Puerto Rican little man Calderon, who seemed on the brink of PFP-level talent and ability despite almost zero punching power, had looked vulnerable in recent fights and couldn't be far from the end of his career.

True or not, Calderon tasted defeat for the first time at the hands of the hard-punching Mexican, Giovanni Segura.

Segura also snagged Calderon's WBO Light Flyweight title, while bringing his own WBA title to the unification match.

The likely "Fight of the Year" contender featured back-and-forth action, brawling, shifts in momentum for both guys, and a decisive and exciting ending.

Calderon tried to use his speed and slickness to make it a boxing match early on, but Segura eventually caught up after a few rounds of pursuing the former longtime WBO Minimumweight champ. Trading in the middle rounds appeared to slow Calderon down just enough for Segura to do real damage, before Calderon smartly went back to moving just out of range again.

Segura caught up once again in the eighth round, flooring Calderon for the full count with a series of brutal body shots.

With the win, Segura also took Calderon's "Ring Magazine" title.

Here's the last round, including the knockout:

Hopkins Creeps Back into Light Heavyweight Picture

Despite coming off another dull performance, 45-year old Middleweight great Bernard Hopkins is apparently in the running to face newly-crowned Light Heavyweight champ Jean Pascal.

It seems odd that Pascal would be quickly shuffled into a fight that could kill any possible momentum coming off a career-defining victory against Chad Dawson.

Hopkins defeated Roy Jones Jr. this past April in a lackluster rematch of their tactical 1993 fight, which followed an equally-lame performance in a unanimous decision win over Librado Andrade's less-talented little brother, Enrique Ornelas.

In a Light Heavyweight division that finally seems to be capable of producing compelling fights, I'm just not sure why this fight would be made. Hopkins has a very negative style that sucks the life and activity out of just about any fight, and it's a significant risk for Pascal. Additionally, the thought of Hopkins holding a title hostage and defending it once a year, quite frankly, sucks.

Doesn't do much good for the sport either.