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So now that the last 3 big ticket title fights in boxing turned out to be non-competitive and ultimately questionable, let's summarize:
Mayweather Vs. Alvarez - Boring, non-competitive fight. Mayweather controlled the distance with his jab and movement/shoulder roll as expected. Alvarez could not find Mayweather as he said in the post fight interview. He was not experienced enough to fight Mayweather and realistically probably shouldn't have won against Austin Trout. That fight was much closer to a draw and certainly not a defining victory over Trout. One score card had him so ridiculously ahead on points that it would be hard not to think it was a fixed card. Boxing fans should've known that seeing Alvarez had trouble with Trout, he would have very little chance to beat Mayweather. Unfortunately the fight went ahead as scheduled because of the "star power" of both fighters making it a big attraction for the fans and an even big purse for those involved.
Klitschko Vs. Povetkin - Worse than the Mayweather Alvarez fight and even less entertaining. For all of its problems, at least the Mayweather Alvarez fight had continued action at some points. Due to the relentless clinching by the Klitschko, coupled with his dirty inside work including constant head locking and leaning on Povetkin, this fight was null and void. After a few rounds of unsuccessful pressure by Povetkin, thwarted by Klitschko's constant grabbing and illegal inside work, Povetkin looked like a frustrated bull, constantly jarring for inside position but doing very little once inside only to be worn down a little more each time for his effort. Any decent referee should've been warning Klitschko early about his inside work but strangely no warning was given until the 11th round when Klitschko was finally deducted a point for his grabbing and leaning. It was an archetypal example of "too little too late" for Povetkin as Klitschko already had the fight in the bag and had scored questionable knock downs where at least 3 of the 4 looked more like a slip. Not only was the Klitschko Povetkin fight a sad excuse for a professional bout, it was quite possibly and somewhat surprisingly a new low for boxing and a prime contender for the worst heavyweight title bout of all time.
Marquez Vs. Bradley - This fight may have appeared at times to have some semblance of action but in the end it was a lackluster and questionable event and quite possibly the biggest disappointment of the three title fights. Bradley fought as expected using his speed and movement as well as bringing a few elements to the ring that he borrowed from Floyd Mayweather who defeated Marquez and ultimately controlled that fight with his jab, lateral movement and shoulder roll just like Floyd versus Marquez & Alvarez. Although he appeared to be successful throughout the fight, it is debatable whether Bradley did any serious damage as Marquez rarely looked phased until the final seconds of the fight when Bradley apparently wobbled Marquez during the final exchange. Marquez appeared slow and ineffective throughout the bulk of the fight and made no attempt to throw combinations at Bradley. Whenever he threw a punch that landed solid, it seemed to momentarily stun or back up Bradley. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Marquez, who has been known as a warrior throughout his career, seemed unwilling to take advantage and like Pacquiao versus Bradley did not capitalize on landing a good punch by following it up with anything significant. It's safe to say that Pacquiao was busier than Marquez vs. Bradley and he was winning the fight without a knockdown on the ringside spectators' score cards but not on the cards of those who mattered, the judges. The biggest difference between Bradley Marquez and Bradley Pacquiao was that Pacquiao at least deserved to win and Marquez didn't make any attempt. It's of my honest opinion that this fight may well have been fixed as well. Other than Marquez's lack of action, the other questionable elements of this fight included the lathering of vaseline that Nacho Berstein covered Marquez with. As Harold Lederman noted, Marquez looked like a greased pig as a result with vaseline in his hair and all over his body until the ref noticed it and removed it from his body only! Berstein also kept telling Marquez that he was winning the fight even close to the end when it appeared that Bradly had dominated the bulk of the bout with his jab and movement. In what was quite possibly a pathetic attempt to end the fight with some action, with about ten seconds left in the fight, both Bradley and Marquez came together and threw a barrage of punches, the most consistent action in the whole fight and the only time I can remember that Marquez threw more than one or two punches at the same time. As the fight ended it appeared that Bradley caught Marquez with a solid punch that wobbled him. It all seemed a bit phony to me. In the end it didn't really matter because it was just another disappointing high stakes title fight. The only thing that makes me feel better about it is that I didn't pay big money to actually go see the event in person like the thousands who were there.
Sadly, the current state of professional boxing makes me long for the days when the honorable Don King was the top boxing promoter and the boxers where getting ripped off worse than the fans. Now the big names in boxing still have all the money but those names are of boxer-promoters such as Floyd Mayweather and the big fights are worse than ever.
How many more uncompetitive, forgettable and ultimately questionable title fights will it take before people stop paying money to go see these so called main events? Perhaps no amount will suffice as it's just another day in the wide world of professional boxing.
Mayweather Vs. Alvarez - Boring, non-competitive fight. Mayweather controlled the distance with his jab and movement/shoulder roll as expected. Alvarez could not find Mayweather as he said in the post fight interview. He was not experienced enough to fight Mayweather and realistically probably shouldn't have won against Austin Trout. That fight was much closer to a draw and certainly not a defining victory over Trout. One score card had him so ridiculously ahead on points that it would be hard not to think it was a fixed card. Boxing fans should've known that seeing Alvarez had trouble with Trout, he would have very little chance to beat Mayweather. Unfortunately the fight went ahead as scheduled because of the "star power" of both fighters making it a big attraction for the fans and an even big purse for those involved.
Klitschko Vs. Povetkin - Worse than the Mayweather Alvarez fight and even less entertaining. For all of its problems, at least the Mayweather Alvarez fight had continued action at some points. Due to the relentless clinching by the Klitschko, coupled with his dirty inside work including constant head locking and leaning on Povetkin, this fight was null and void. After a few rounds of unsuccessful pressure by Povetkin, thwarted by Klitschko's constant grabbing and illegal inside work, Povetkin looked like a frustrated bull, constantly jarring for inside position but doing very little once inside only to be worn down a little more each time for his effort. Any decent referee should've been warning Klitschko early about his inside work but strangely no warning was given until the 11th round when Klitschko was finally deducted a point for his grabbing and leaning. It was an archetypal example of "too little too late" for Povetkin as Klitschko already had the fight in the bag and had scored questionable knock downs where at least 3 of the 4 looked more like a slip. Not only was the Klitschko Povetkin fight a sad excuse for a professional bout, it was quite possibly and somewhat surprisingly a new low for boxing and a prime contender for the worst heavyweight title bout of all time.
Marquez Vs. Bradley - This fight may have appeared at times to have some semblance of action but in the end it was a lackluster and questionable event and quite possibly the biggest disappointment of the three title fights. Bradley fought as expected using his speed and movement as well as bringing a few elements to the ring that he borrowed from Floyd Mayweather who defeated Marquez and ultimately controlled that fight with his jab, lateral movement and shoulder roll just like Floyd versus Marquez & Alvarez. Although he appeared to be successful throughout the fight, it is debatable whether Bradley did any serious damage as Marquez rarely looked phased until the final seconds of the fight when Bradley apparently wobbled Marquez during the final exchange. Marquez appeared slow and ineffective throughout the bulk of the fight and made no attempt to throw combinations at Bradley. Whenever he threw a punch that landed solid, it seemed to momentarily stun or back up Bradley. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Marquez, who has been known as a warrior throughout his career, seemed unwilling to take advantage and like Pacquiao versus Bradley did not capitalize on landing a good punch by following it up with anything significant. It's safe to say that Pacquiao was busier than Marquez vs. Bradley and he was winning the fight without a knockdown on the ringside spectators' score cards but not on the cards of those who mattered, the judges. The biggest difference between Bradley Marquez and Bradley Pacquiao was that Pacquiao at least deserved to win and Marquez didn't make any attempt. It's of my honest opinion that this fight may well have been fixed as well. Other than Marquez's lack of action, the other questionable elements of this fight included the lathering of vaseline that Nacho Berstein covered Marquez with. As Harold Lederman noted, Marquez looked like a greased pig as a result with vaseline in his hair and all over his body until the ref noticed it and removed it from his body only! Berstein also kept telling Marquez that he was winning the fight even close to the end when it appeared that Bradly had dominated the bulk of the bout with his jab and movement. In what was quite possibly a pathetic attempt to end the fight with some action, with about ten seconds left in the fight, both Bradley and Marquez came together and threw a barrage of punches, the most consistent action in the whole fight and the only time I can remember that Marquez threw more than one or two punches at the same time. As the fight ended it appeared that Bradley caught Marquez with a solid punch that wobbled him. It all seemed a bit phony to me. In the end it didn't really matter because it was just another disappointing high stakes title fight. The only thing that makes me feel better about it is that I didn't pay big money to actually go see the event in person like the thousands who were there.
Sadly, the current state of professional boxing makes me long for the days when the honorable Don King was the top boxing promoter and the boxers where getting ripped off worse than the fans. Now the big names in boxing still have all the money but those names are of boxer-promoters such as Floyd Mayweather and the big fights are worse than ever.
How many more uncompetitive, forgettable and ultimately questionable title fights will it take before people stop paying money to go see these so called main events? Perhaps no amount will suffice as it's just another day in the wide world of professional boxing.
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