THURSDAY, JAN. 21, 2010: Few things are as frustrating for a boxing fan as having a fight scheduled only for it to be postponed or cancelled. When it is a mega event such as the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout, the disappointment is particularly acute.
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. ...
MOREEmail: graham@fightwriter.com
You know those boxing skills that Edwin Valero wasn’t supposed to have? Well, he showed them on Saturday night as he outboxed, outfought and finally overpowered a game and durable Antonio DeMarco in their lightweight title bout in Mexico.
Lightweight champ Edwin Valero is one of those “force of nature” fighters. He isn’t classy, nor is he especially quick, but he brings an almost frightening power and intensity to his fights. Valero is difficult to discourage and it is hard to hold him off. He has shown a patience and maturity in his recent fights after starting his professional career with 18 first-round knockouts. On Saturday in Mexico Valero defends his WBC title for the second time when he meets Antonio DeMarco in an all-southpaw fight, with Showtime televising.
I’m a believer in the saying that a change can be as good as a rest. In boxing, as in life, a change can work wonders. It can see a kind of renewal in an individual. Take Brian Magee, the Irish 168-pounder. He had a successful career training under the experienced and knowledgeable Harry Hawkins but last week, guided for the first time by Panamanian trainer Bernardo Checa, it was as if Magee took his boxing to its highest level yet when he dominated Mads Larsen in Denmark.
Lightweight prospects clash in the main event on Top Rank Live! on Saturday when undefeated Brandon Rios meets one-beaten Jorge Teron in a 10-rounder for the vacant NABF title. Rios, 23, a U.S. amateur champion in the featherweight division, showed improved form last October when stopping Manuel Perez in seven rounds, dominating the fighter who had previously held him to a draw. Manager Cameron Dunkin tells me that Rios has a new dedication to his boxing now that he has settled into married life in Oxnard, CA, and it showed in the blood-spattered win over Perez, whose nose was crunched by a series of uppercuts.
More than two decades ago Evander Holyfield started his professional career as a light-heavyweight, moved up in weight to become cruiserweight champion and then went on to achieve heavyweight glory — to the surprise of the many who thought he lacked the natural size to beat the big men.
I’m not one to bash judges. I thought Juan Diaz beat Paulie Malignaggi in Houston. I had Nikolai Valuev eking out the win over Evander Holyfield. I made Ali Funeka beat Joan Guzman by only 115-113 — not the landslide that most saw. I didn’t think Felix Sturm was robbed against Oscar De La Hoya.
We no longer have Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. to look forward to, but boxing has a way of coming up with compelling contests just when they are most needed. It’s not Pacquaio-Mayweather, but a projected featherweight title bout between Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa is a meeting to be eagerly anticipated.
Every so often what looks like a routine title defence becomes a life and death struggle for the champion. It happened in Germany on Saturday when Jürgen Brähmer had to survive a bad cut over the right eye and a 10th round from hell to win a unanimous but bitterly hard-earned points win over Russia’s unheralded Dmitriy Sukhotsky.
Just when things seemed to be going well for Alejandro Valdez in his bantamweight title bout against Nehomar Cermeno, he got caught, hurt and stopped in the 11th round. That’s boxing. These things happen.
