June 22, 2009
SUNDAY, JUNE 21: The ending of Saturday’s heavyweight title fight raises the question of whether it should be considered a nine rounds win for Wladimir Klitschko or a stoppage in the 10th.
Graham Says
About Graham
Born in England in 1942. Life as a boxing writer began with a weekly column in a newspaper called the South London Advertiser in the early 1960s. Moved to the far bigger-circulation South London Press, writing a twice-weekly boxing section, in 1966. Joined the weekly Boxing News in 1970 and became editor in 1972. Moved across the pond in 1977 for marriage-related reasons and covered the American scene for Boxing News until joining Boxing Monthly in 1990. ...
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Featured Story
MEZAACHE: faces tough mandatory defence.
Mezaache -150; Kudriavtsev +130
Over 11.5 -220; under 11.5 +190
French fighters have scored major upsets this year in European title bouts in Britain, with Malik Bouziane outpointing Ian Napa to win the bantam title and Anthony Mezaache defeating Jon Thaxton for the lightweight belt. Bouziane has since made a successful defence back home in France when he outpointed Carmelo Ballone, and on Friday it’s the turn of Mezaache, who puts his lightweight title at stake against his mandatory challenger, Andrei Kudriavstev of Ukraine, in Levallois-Perret on the same show as Souleymane M’baye’s title bout with Colin Lynes.
Previews
M'baye -195; Lynes +165
Over 10.5 -175; under 10.5 +145
French junior welterweight Souleymane M’baye has lately slid into the role of under achiever. A former WBA champion, he has hand speed and boxing ability, but too often he either fights down to the level of his opponent or blows fights that he seems well-placed to win.
Drozd -750; Wilson +450
Over 10.5 -190; under 10.5 +150
Russian cruiserweight Grigroy Drozd was somewhat exposed in his biggest fight when sturdy southpaw Firat Arslan stopped him in the fifth round. It was a surprising meltdown. Drozd starting well, moving around Arslan and putting his punches together to pile up points, but in the fourth round Drozd seemed to be running out of stamina, and in the fifth the Russian boxer wasn’t fighting back at all, causing referee Terry O’Connor to stop what had become a one-sided fight.
Ortiz -300; Maidana +250
Over 9.5 +120; under 9.5 -140
One of the most talented and exciting young stars in boxing gets his toughest test — on paper anyway — when “Vicious” Victor Ortiz headlines Saturday’s Boxing After Dark show on HBO in a 12-round WBA interim 140-pound title fight against Argentina’s Marcos Maidana.
Lopez -1800; Lontchi +800
Over 5.5 +135; under 5.5 -155
Juan Manuel Lopez, looking every inch the next Puerto Rican superstar, headlines Top Rank’s Latin Fury 9 PPV show at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday and fans will be looking forward to another power-punching display from the undefeated southpaw.
Reports
Argentina’s slugging junior welterweight Marcos Maidana was the star of the weekend in his dramatic, back-from-the-brink win over Victor Ortiz televised on HBO from Los Angeles, while in Berlin (seen in delayed form on Showtime) middleweight champion Arthur Abraham showed his punching power after a slow start when he battered a game Mahir Oral in 10 rounds.
It was the mixture as before from “Dr. Steelhammer” Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday in Germany, a steady softening-up process and then a finishing barrage when his opponent was wilting and waiting to be stopped.
If every fight was as good as the one between Jean Pascal and Adrian Diaconu on Friday night, boxing would surely mount a comeback. Unfortunately, though, fights such as this tend to be few and far between.
Jack Broughton called it “milling on the retreat”, and the long-departed bare-knuckle great might have given a nod of approval to Miguel Cotto’s use of movement and smart boxing as the bloodied Puerto Rican outscored Joshua Clottey in Saturday night’s welterweight title fight at Madison Square Garden.