July Monthly Wrapup
Mark E. Ortega
Leave-it-in-the-ring.com
August 1, 2011
On the first day of each month at Leave
it in the Ring, lead writer Mark Ortega will be doing a summing-up of
the previous month's action for those that may have missed out on
some of it, or just want to relive some of it.
Fighter of the Month – Amir Khan
Though he beat a
fighter in Zab Judah who had never won against a marquee name in his
entire career [despite getting numerous opportunities], Khan
instantly jumped to the top of the Ring Magazine 140 pound rankings
with his fifth-round stoppage of Zab. Khan likely put himself in the
running for a Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight should Floyd beat Victor
Ortiz like he is supposed to this September.
Best Scrap – Pawel Wolak D10
Delvin Rodriguez [ESPN, July 15]
Many people felt
going in that this 154 pound crossroads fight had the potential to be
a good one, but few really expected it to be the barnburner it turned
out to be. Aided by a raucous crowd at the Roseland Ballroom in New
York, Wolak and Rodriguez traded blows like they were trading cards
for ten rounds at a sweltering pace. Wolak played the part of the
bigger more natural 154 pounder while Rodriguez was fighting for the
first time above welterweight after losing three of his previous four
bouts [albeit all of them by close decision]. Though Wolak is
considered Top 10 at junior middleweight by both Ring and ESPN as
well as many of the top sanctioning bodies, he had a tougher than
expected time with Delvin who was able to handle the offensive output
of the Polish prospect who threw nearly 100 punches a round. In round
seven, Wolak's eye turned “Rahmanesque”, as ESPN commentator Joe
Tessitore would claim, yet he would fight through the grotesqueness
and stand his ground. One judge felt that Rodriguez was the better
man at the end of the night but was overruled by two even scorecards.
A draw seemed like a fair verdict and it could mean good news for
fight fans as it had everyone clamoring for a second go-around that
is tentatively being shopped for the Cotto-Margarito undercard in
December. Neither guy seems to possess world class abilities but none
can argue they exceed that level in terms of heart and will.
Runner-Up:
Brandon Rios TKO3 Urbano Antillon [Showtime, July 9]
Though the level
of competition was higher than that of Wolak-Rodriguez, the gap in
competitiveness between the two fighters was much wider as Rios
swarmed Antillon early on. Antillon, to his credit, fought fire with
fire but was just outgunned. Rios is a welterweight fighting at 135
and packed a heavier punch than Humberto Soto did against Antillon
last December. It was a pretty one-sided fight but it was fireworks
for as long as it lasted. Had it gone a few more rounds it could have
possibly unseated Wolak-Rodriguez but it just didn't last long enough
to make the number one spot.
Honorable
Mentions: Jesus
Gonzalez UD12 Francisco Sierra [ESPN, 7/8], Kevin Mitchell TKO8 John
Murray [SKY, 7/16], Sebastian Lujan KO9 Mark Melligen [ESPN, 7/1],
Diego Magdaleno UD10 Alejandro Perez [SHO, 7/15]
Biggest Climber – Erislandy Lara
Though
officially a loser by majority decision, there is not a soul outside
of the three judges in Atlantic City [and Sports Illustrated's Chris
Mannix] who felt that Paul Williams was the better man on July 9th
against Cuban southpaw Erislandy Lara. Lara, who himself had earned a
questionable draw against Carlos Molina earlier this year, saw his
stock rise exponentially after he tattooed Williams with left hands
for twelve rounds despite being the much smaller man. He had the
ringside commentary team at HBO begging for the fight to be stopped
due to concerns for Williams' health yet somehow walked away the
loser. Many felt going in that Lara was in over his head against the
much more experienced professional Williams, who had tangled with
some of the top names from 147-160 over the last five years while
Lara struggled with a perceived gatekeeper type opponent in Molina.
Lara also saw his stock rise due to Molina taking apart contender
Kermit Cintron on the very same night, making his draw look a little
better. Despite the loss, Lara will probably get another big fight
opportunity before the year is over and no one can argue that he
doesn't deserve one.
Runner-Up:
Carlos Molina
As mentioned just
previously, Molina was not considered a top contender at 154 pounds
and was being used as a way to position Cintron for a big fight at
junior middleweight within his new stable at Top Rank. Molina
thwarted those plans by dominating Cintron over ten lopsided rounds,
staking his claim as a top ten fighter at 154 pounds. A rematch with
Lara could take on new life as a legitimate clash at 154 rather than
the showcase bout it was being sold as earlier this year on ESPN.
Credit must be given to Molina who has gone through hell to get to
his current standing. Early in his career he was matched terribly as
a B-side for other up-and-coming fighters. Later, he was stalled by
inactivity due to a promotional spat. For Molina to be in the
position he is, that's somewhat of a miracle.
Runner-Up:
Antonio Tarver
Tarver had the difficult task of traveling to Australia and taking on
Danny Green in a cruiserweight fight for the lightly regarded IBO
belt. Tarver was a 3-to-1 underdog leading up to the fight and ended
up dominating Green en route to a tenth-round TKO. Tarver dropped
Green early in the bout and outboxed him for the remainder minus a
shaky seventh that saw Green do some damage. Tarver went from being
thought of as finished to being right in line for either a title grab
at cruiserweight should he choose to go that route or potentially a
big money rematch with Bernard Hopkins. Tarver against Steve
Cunningham would be a fantastic bout for Cunningham's IBF
cruiserweight title and would be the biggest fight in the division
for the United States.
Honorable
Mentions: Kevin
Mitchell, Rico Ramos, Sebastian Lujan, Delvin Rodriguez
Biggest Decliner – David Haye
There
are few out there who want to see David Haye in the ring again
despite him lasting the distance against Wladimir Klitschko in their
July 2nd
unification. The way he trashtalked his way to a massive payday and
then did not come close to delivering on what he said he would has
him on the outs with all but a handful of fight fans. It would have
been one thing if Haye had talked trash and then got knocked out
fighting the way he said he would. That would have been acceptable.
But for Haye to claim he was going to obliterate the younger
Klitschko and then go in and instead cautiously dance for twelve
rounds, that is inexcusable. Not to mention the fact that he blamed
it on his little baby toe as for the reason why he fought as
heartlessly as he did. His performance set back heavyweight boxing
another 50 years, which could have gone without another disservice.
It also earned the ire of boxing fans everywhere as it gave ESPN
columnist Dan Rafael, who has no love lost for Haye, an opportunity
to make an infinite amount of terrible jokes at the expense of the
Brit.
Runner-Up: Paul
Williams
If not for the biggest non-performance of the decade so far, Williams
would occupy the top spot with ease. Despite officially being
declared the winner against Erislandy Lara, there is little doubt in
most people's minds that the sun has set on the career of the 30-year
old Williams. In one fell swoop, Williams went from “the most
avoided fighter in boxing” to a fighter that had everyone with so
much as a foot in the welterweight, junior middleweight, and
middleweight divisions begging for a fight with him. Twitter was lit
up with fighters of all types claiming they would end Williams'
career, and who could argue? He ate far too many flush left hands
than is healthy, had the commentating crew begging for the fight to
be stopped to save his health. Max Kellerman went so far as to
inappropriately ask Williams trainer George Peterson whether or not
this is the last we would see of Paul...in the MIDDLE of the fight!
It serves Williams worse that he got the win in this one, as it
turned fans against him. Heading into the final two rounds, Peterson
said “You need a knockout” and Williams responded “I know,”
then claimed in the post-fight interview that he thought he won.
Let's hope for Williams' health that it is the last we see of him in
a professional boxing ring.
Honorable
Mentions: Zab
Judah, Danny Green, Kermit Cintron, Celestino Caballero, John Murray,
Frankie Gavin
Best Knockout – Lucian Bute KO4
Jean Paul Mendy, July 9th
While fans await
the culmination of the Showtime Super Six tournament later this year,
IBF 168-pound champion Lucian Bute made another defense of his belt,
this time in his homeland of Romania, where he had only fought once
before early on in his career. Mendy was never in the fight and saw
his title opportunity come to a screeching halt as a left hook sent
the Frenchman face first into the canvas. It was eerily similar to
how Sergio Martinez stopped Paul Williams in two last year for
Knockout of the Year.
Runner-Up: Rico
Ramos KO7 Akifumi Shimoda [7/9]
Later on that same
evening, undefeated super bantamweight Rico Ramos would score a
highlight reel stoppage of defending WBA 122-pound champion Akifumi
Shimoda in Atlantic City. Ramos had lost the first six rounds on one
card and five of the first six on the other two before scoring a
sudden and shocking left handed knockout of Shimoda midway through
the seventh. Ramos showed tremendous poise for a fighter who was in
danger of squandering his first big opportunity on HBO, never getting
noticeably bothered. Ramos, who is not known for one-punch power [11
knockouts in 20 wins], saw his veteran opponent tiring after
expelling a heavy workrate through the first course of the fight and
finally jumped on him, opening up his offense to the point where he
found the left hand right where he needed it, on the chin of the
Japanese champion.
Honorable
Mention: Sebastian
Lujan KO9 Mark Melligen [7/1], Mariusz Wach KO4 Kevin McBride [7/29]
Worst Robbery – Paul Williams MD12
Erislandy Lara, July 9th
Without
a doubt, Williams-Lara goes down as the worst decision of the month,
will likely hold that title for 2011, and probably is one of the
worst of the millennium. It may be the worst dating back to the first
Holyfield-Lewis fight more than ten years ago, which ironically is
the last time a judge was suspended for an awful scoring as her
115-113 card in favor of Holyfield ranks amongst the worst in the
sport. In Williams-Lara, all
three
judges were suspended even though the New Jersey State Control Board
could find no traces of corruption. The judges in question will be
forced to go through some extra training before they are allowed to
judge a professional fight again, though if you ask ESPN analyst
Teddy Atlas they shouldn't get another opportunity. And how can you
say he is wrong? Williams was dominated from pillar to post and may
have seen his physical condition suffer heavy deterioration as a
result. The scores of 116-114, 115-114, and 114-114 did not properly
represent the action in the ring. That NO judge felt Lara won the
fight is absolutely atrocious and left a bitter taste in every fight
fan's mouth. This is the kind of decision that drives fans away from
boxing.
Runner-Up:
Jonathan Victor Barros SD12 Celestino Caballero [7/2]
Defending his title in his native Argentina, Barros was more active
and more aggressive but suffered two knockdowns yet prevailed by
115-111 and 114-112 on two scorecards to retain his WBA 126-pound
title against Caballero, who may have seen his last opportunity.
Caballero claimed if nothing was done about the fallacy he would quit
boxing for good. Viewing this fight live, I thought Caballero did
more than enough to earn the nod but on a second viewing my scoring
was a little closer. Though not in the same stratosphere of a
Williams-Lara, awarding a fight to the guy who is ineffectively
aggressive is not doing a service to the sport.
Honorable
Mention: Randy
Caballero UD8 Alexis Santiago [scores far too wide, this was not a
shutout, could have been a draw]
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