British boxing back to chief patrons for bumper weekend
By Terence Dooley
After a euphotic two-week period during which boxing made its way back to terrestrial TV, it reverted back to Sky TV and BoxNation over the weekend to remind fans where their bread is buttered when it comes to long-time support of the sport.
Sure, the fact Gennady Golovkin-Martin Murray and Carl Frampton versus Chris Avaolos were on free-to-air TV (Channel 5 and ITV respectively) was a nice post-January bonus. However, it is the patronage of Sky and BoxNation that has ensured a constant stream of shows for U.K. viewers—last weekend the two channels put on three shows between them to remind subscribers that they kept faith in the sport when terrestrial TV walked away.
BoxNation kicked off the weekend with a show at Liverpool’s Echo Arena. It was supposed to usher in a new world champion as Paul Butler went for his second IBF world title, this time at Super flyweight, but the 26-year-old’s dream was ripped apart by South Africa’s Zolani Tete, who prevailed courtesy of a wonderful left uppercut in round. Butler, 17-1 (8), managed to get up yet it was clear to see that he was in no position to continue.
A 2-1 underdog going in, the visitor was better in every department. Butler was disappointed afterwards, but did the right thing by coming down for an interview following his defeat. Sometimes you meet someone who is better than you. That was the case on Saturday; how Butler responds to it will make him or break him. He shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water, though, and look to make immediate changes, as fighters often do—he’s looked good with Anthony Farnell and Warren during his career to date.
I tend to avoid the pro-Hearn/pro-Warren Twitter nonsense yet read that some people celebrated Butler’s knockout due to his link with Frank Warren. That is crazy. It is OK for people to celebrate the beauty of the KO, because it was stunning, but the schadenfreude around the sport right now has reached its breaking point. Revelling in a KO for no reason other than trying to gain the attention of a particular promoter is sad however you cut it.
Some people think they are either real or virtual mates with promoters. Promoter do not have mates, they have customers and a customer has the right to select and use any product. Boxing is the product; it is just supplied by a few different companies, so it seems odd to favour one channel over another due to the main promoter on it, rather than going on a fight-by-fight basis.
If you don’t like, say, BoxNation as a channel, then I’m not sure how you can say you like boxing, as that’s all they show. If you lived in a village that only had two shops, you wouldn’t boycott one if you did not like the owner. What if the other one ran out of milk or toilet paper every fortnight? It’s a ludicrous situation, sad in some respects and amusing in others.
Back to the fight itself, Butler needs to look at what Tete, 20-3 (17), did to him, be brave enough not to make excuses and learn from it. He will benefit in the end. Warren believes his man can emulate Amir Khan, who overcame a stunning KO against Breidis Prescott before moving to world title level.
“It's not the end of the world as fighters lose fights all the time,” said Warren when speaking to Alex Steedman during BoxNation’s broadcast. “Look at Amir Khan. He got knocked out by Breidis Prescott in one round and he went on to win multiple world titles. Butler will recover from this fight and come back strong. He's still a young man and he's got it all in front of him, but he must learn from his mistakes.”
Anthony Farnell, his trainer, also believes he can come back from Friday’s setback. “Paul told me that the first jab to the body really hurt him and, after that, he thought too much rather than let his hands go instinctively. He just couldn't reach him,” stated 'Arnie' when speaking to Glynn Evans from BoxNation.
“He finds southpaws difficult and struggled in sparring, but you need to overcome these obstacles if you want to make history. He got beat by one of the best. No complaints. Paul's hero Marco Antonio Barrera got beaten twice by Junior Jones early in his career, once by knockout, and look what he achieved. After a good rest, we'll be back.”
“Tete was very good and the better man won on the night," was Butler’s take on the loss. “He was very awkward and rangy and didn't let me settle throughout the fight. He's a very big kid and we knew his power by his record before we went into the fight, but I sensed it after the first shot he landed. He's a great champion and I'm sure he'll go and unify the division.”
As for Tete, he reminded me of “The Atomic Spider”, Tshifhiwa Munyai, similar build, largely unheralded yet turned out to be a dangerous import. Butler may want to take a leaf out of his book. Tete lost to Moruti Mthalane by fifth-round TKO in 2010 for the IBF flyweight title. Then he dropped a majority decision to Juan Alberto Rosas in an IBF Super flyweight eliminator; he lost a split decision in his next eliminator, Roberto Domingo Sosa, before earning his crack at, and winning, the vacant title by beating Teiru Kinoshita.
Those losses made him the fighter he is now, and the 27-year-old looks a good one on Friday’s showing. Tete’s been stopped, suffered knockdowns and come back from adversity—it is time for Butler, 26, to prove he can do the same. Sure, the cloak of invincibility he wore as an undefeated fighter is gone forever, but that might not be a big thing as he’ll learn that sometimes you’re out-gunned in most, if not all, departments so have to find another way to get the victory.
“I am dedicating this fight to my mother," stated the jubilant titlist. “She has no legs and I told my promoter and manager that I want to buy her legs with my earnings.”
The bumper boxing weekend continued on Saturday afternoon when BoxNation carried Zou Shiming's IBF flyweight challenge to Thailand's Amnat Ruenroeng broadcast—the fight took place in Macau, China and, like Butler, Shiming enjoyed home advantage only to lose the fight (L12).
As soon as the result came in, there were a few cries of, ‘What does this mean for the Macau boxing scene?’ Although it is not an ideal result, there is a show set for July 18 featuring Shiming’s comeback and a supporting cast that includes Ik Yang. This schedule, along with Rex Tso’s rise, is a sign that they’re not just going to build the Macau scene on one fighter—that’s like building a sandcastle on a plate of jelly and expecting it to stay intact during a gale force wind.
Indeed, the Manchester boxing scene blew up courtesy of Ricky Hatton; however, he came through with Anthony Farnell and Michael Gomez, amongst others, so, as was the case with Farnell and Gomez, a loss to one of the hometown fighters carrying this scene was not the end of the boxing in Manchester.
Shiming, 33, hasn’t looked great as a pro, I felt that the two time Olympic Gold Medallist remained an amateur for too long plus Amnat, 15-0 (5) was a worthy titlist going in as well as a deserved winner. It is always good when the judges get a decision right, although that’s a sad commentary on the level of judging within boxing.
Shiming’s team probably looked at the split decision and knockdown in the title-holder’s last fight (the win over McWilliams Arroyo in September) and thought: ‘We’ll put him on his behind and take a decision.’ They got the first part right, the 35-year-old was down early, but he looked a long way off making the second part come true and falls to 6-1 (1).
People need not worry, the Macau scene can survive this and Boxing Monthly’s Mark Butcher does not need to tear up his passport just yet.
Luke Campbell MBE and Tommy Coyle carried Sky’s card on Saturday night as they continued to build a mooted summer showdown, although, for many, it’s a fight that didn’t need too much of a build-up and should have been done and dusted by now. Campbell, though, has had out-of-the ring distractions due to his father’s recent health issues and was touch-and-go for the show.
Campbell, 10-0 (8), may have cruised in the ring without having to take too much fire, but he showed a lot of heart in overcoming what is going on in his personal life to ensure that he got a run out before meeting Coyle. Levis Morales, 11-2-1 (4), didn’t present much of a challenge to the 27-year-old, who spoke openly and honestly about his decision to take the fight on Friday afternoon.
“It took a bit of thinking over to make the decision to fight, but it is what I love to do and it is what keeps my family focused,” he said. “They are excited for me to get in the ring and do what I do best. It is one of those things, I want everything to be normal—I am getting on with what I am doing.
“My Dad is stable, there is no point going into depth about it because I don’t really know what I am talking about and there is a lot more to it. I am doing fine; I always want everything to be on my toes. I would rather have all the pressure on me because I have done since a young age. I can cope with things and deal with some things and when the going gets tough, I would rather everything on me and not on my family. I would rather take that pressure.”
British soldiers were known as Tommies during WW1. Writers wrote poems about their bravery. Like the Tommies, Campbell’s Hull rival Tommy Coyle spends an awful lot of time in the trenches. He found himself on the floor in the second round of his warm-up fight against former British lightweight champion Martin Gethin.
Still, Coyle’s been on the floor before, getting up four times against Daniel Eduardo Brizuela in last year’s February thriller—he put enough pressure on Gethin, 25-7-1 (11), to injure the former contender’s ear, forcing him to withdraw for the second time in three fights.
“Sorry it was a short night but let's all look forward to the summer showdown with Luke Campbell,” said Coyle, 21-2 (10), when addressing his fans. “I love fighting. I love getting in this ring. I'd have loved going 12 rounds tonight. I can look forward to Luke Campbell though.”
He added: “Listen, Luke has got another stoppage there, but you know what? Luke’s my pal, you all know that. We’re from the same city, we have been all over the world together, but he has not been in with nobody yet—I think I’m going to knock him out. Afterwards, we’ll shake hands.”
Jamie Moore, Coyle’s trainer, had to issue advice from the ring apron due to recent surgery on the leg he injured during last summer’s shooting attack in Marbella—a near-tragic case of mistaken identity.
The Salford born and bred trainer earned his spurs by upsetting the then-undefeated Michael Jones in 2003, a decision win, and he will have to come up with a punch perfect plan if Coyle is to earn an upset over Campbell. Even then, he will have to hope and pray that Coyle, 25, implements that plan, rather than seeing red and going to the trenches once again. It is a tricky task for the Salfordian, but one he will no doubt relish as his new career continues to develop.
Please send news and views to @Terryboxing.
