By David P. Greisman
Boxing has spoiled us with a resurgence that has provided a wealth of highlights in the first six months of 2005, thanks in large part to pugilists such as Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales, Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao. Yet it would be a shame to limit the credit to the participants of the two best fights so far this year, especially when others of note have stepped up to the plate to shine a positive light on an oft-maligned sport.
Titlists have defended their belts; challengers have worked diligently to become champions; and prospects, including a fresh class of Olympians-turned-professionals, have fought often against increasingly difficult opposition in the hope of becoming the next star, yearning the accolades that accompany achievements.
That's not to say that there hasn't been a fair share of dubiousness present, especially considering the characters and personalities that find themselves attracted to the sweet science like moths to flame, irritating and infuriating, parasitically drawing attention their way. When periodicals like Sports Illustrated
Boxing has spoiled us with a resurgence that has provided a wealth of highlights in the first six months of 2005, thanks in large part to pugilists such as Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales, Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao. Yet it would be a shame to limit the credit to the participants of the two best fights so far this year, especially when others of note have stepped up to the plate to shine a positive light on an oft-maligned sport.
Titlists have defended their belts; challengers have worked diligently to become champions; and prospects, including a fresh class of Olympians-turned-professionals, have fought often against increasingly difficult opposition in the hope of becoming the next star, yearning the accolades that accompany achievements.
That's not to say that there hasn't been a fair share of dubiousness present, especially considering the characters and personalities that find themselves attracted to the sweet science like moths to flame, irritating and infuriating, parasitically drawing attention their way. When periodicals like Sports Illustrated
ignore Corrales and Castillo completely but find space for Tonya Harding and Mike Tyson, one can understand, with frustration, why boxing remains, in the eyes of many, a niche sport.
In this week's monstrous edition of Fighting Words, I bring a critical eye to the events that have taken place in the ring over the first 182 days, using hindsight to analyze how, say, a eight-round junior bantamweight match in January could set in motion events that would land Ruben Contreras in a coma four months later. Fights that were important or interesting will be spotlighted or denigrated, and rookie careers will be tracked. And within The 10 Count
In this week's monstrous edition of Fighting Words, I bring a critical eye to the events that have taken place in the ring over the first 182 days, using hindsight to analyze how, say, a eight-round junior bantamweight match in January could set in motion events that would land Ruben Contreras in a coma four months later. Fights that were important or interesting will be spotlighted or denigrated, and rookie careers will be tracked. And within The 10 Count
will be my semi-annual awards, a chance to take legitimate shots and give due praise to those that deserve each.
January
The year got off to a rough start with a controversial hometown decision, as Japan's Katsushige Kawashima, the WBC super flyweight beltholder, received a split decision in Tokyo over Jose Navarro. Rather quickly afterwards, a match was set up for July pitting Kawashima against fellow countryman Masamori Tokuyama, the man who had lost his belt to Kawashima via first round technical knockout in June 2004. This meant that Navarro, who had to take the long flight home with nothing to show for his effort, would have to wait and see if he would get the rematch that he is justified to receive but that the sanctioning body was unwilling to mandate.
Contenders Juan Diaz, Calvin Brock, Samuel Peter and Kassim Ouma made appearances in the ring, as Diaz defended his lightweight belt successfully against Billy Irwin while Ouma outworked Kofi Jantuah to retain his junior middleweight title. Brock and Peter, two men being feted as the future of the heavyweight division, respectively knocked out Clifford Etienne and Yanqui Diaz.
Three Olympians would make their debuts: Andre Dirrell, the American bronze medalist in the middleweight division, now competing as a super middleweight, beat Carlos Jones; Abner Mares, a super bantamweight who represented Mexico as a bantamweight, was defeated in the round of 32 but received the gift of being promoted by Oscar De La Hoya, knocked out Luis Malave; and Victor Bisbal, a Puerto Rican super heavyweight (and current heavyweight) that lost in the round of 16, outpointed Doug Robertson. Also, Andre Berto, a Floridian junior middleweight that fought in the Olympics for Haiti as a welterweight, won in his second and third professional bouts against Joseph Benjamin and Edgar Galvan.
Ike Quartey ended his five-year layoff on a card in his native Ghana, knocking out Clint McNeil.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. knocked out Henry Bruseles, giving HBO's broadcast team his Super Bowl picks in the process, and a week later Arturo Gatti stopped Jesse James Leija to set up his June pay-per-view with the undefeated “Pretty Boy Floyd.”
Tonya Harding fought a man, beating him, although she did not throw a hubcap at her opponent like she once did to a former boyfriend.
The Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. squash spree continued into 2005, as the baby-faced child of a legend faced ham-and-eggers and inexperienced opponents so as to counter his lack of an amateur career. Chavez moved to 15-0 with a knockout of the 2-0 Jose Cruz.
Will Grigsby, a one-time junior flyweight champion, earned an eight-round decision victory over journeyman Ruben Contreras. Both men fought at 115 pounds, but in each of their next bouts they would step down two weight classes to junior flyweight. Contreras had been competitive with a good level of competition as of late, further exemplified by Grigsby's regaining a title with a May 14 win over Victor Burgos. His performances would do Contreras harm, though, on May 28, when after a TKO loss to Brian Viloria, Contreras would end up fighting for his life in a medically induced coma.
Contenders Juan Diaz, Calvin Brock, Samuel Peter and Kassim Ouma made appearances in the ring, as Diaz defended his lightweight belt successfully against Billy Irwin while Ouma outworked Kofi Jantuah to retain his junior middleweight title. Brock and Peter, two men being feted as the future of the heavyweight division, respectively knocked out Clifford Etienne and Yanqui Diaz.
Three Olympians would make their debuts: Andre Dirrell, the American bronze medalist in the middleweight division, now competing as a super middleweight, beat Carlos Jones; Abner Mares, a super bantamweight who represented Mexico as a bantamweight, was defeated in the round of 32 but received the gift of being promoted by Oscar De La Hoya, knocked out Luis Malave; and Victor Bisbal, a Puerto Rican super heavyweight (and current heavyweight) that lost in the round of 16, outpointed Doug Robertson. Also, Andre Berto, a Floridian junior middleweight that fought in the Olympics for Haiti as a welterweight, won in his second and third professional bouts against Joseph Benjamin and Edgar Galvan.
Ike Quartey ended his five-year layoff on a card in his native Ghana, knocking out Clint McNeil.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. knocked out Henry Bruseles, giving HBO's broadcast team his Super Bowl picks in the process, and a week later Arturo Gatti stopped Jesse James Leija to set up his June pay-per-view with the undefeated “Pretty Boy Floyd.”
Tonya Harding fought a man, beating him, although she did not throw a hubcap at her opponent like she once did to a former boyfriend.
The Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. squash spree continued into 2005, as the baby-faced child of a legend faced ham-and-eggers and inexperienced opponents so as to counter his lack of an amateur career. Chavez moved to 15-0 with a knockout of the 2-0 Jose Cruz.
Will Grigsby, a one-time junior flyweight champion, earned an eight-round decision victory over journeyman Ruben Contreras. Both men fought at 115 pounds, but in each of their next bouts they would step down two weight classes to junior flyweight. Contreras had been competitive with a good level of competition as of late, further exemplified by Grigsby's regaining a title with a May 14 win over Victor Burgos. His performances would do Contreras harm, though, on May 28, when after a TKO loss to Brian Viloria, Contreras would end up fighting for his life in a medically induced coma.
February
The welterweight scene was shaken up on Showtime's first major card of the year when Zab Judah exacted revenge for last year's loss to Cory Spinks by knocking him out and taking his three belts. Judah showed patience and maturity, as well as signs that his power and speed had accompanied his ascent in weight.
The first decent scrap of the year came as 122-pound titlist Oscar Larios won a twelve-round decision over Wayne McCullough, a fight entertaining enough to warrant a rematch on the undercard of July 16's Bernard Hopkins/Jermain Taylor PPV.
Speaking of Hopkins and Taylor, their bout was set up when the Executioner won his usual decision by dismantling Howard Eastman, and on the undercard Taylor whooped Daniel Edouard.
Fabrice Tiozzo sent Darius Michalczewski back into retirement with a successful defense of his light heavyweight belt.
Antonio Margarito received a tune-up victory before his April ESPN PPV showdown with Kermit Cintron, nearly knocking off Sebastian Lujan's ear in the process, albeit with his gloves and not Mike Tyson-like with his teeth.
Andre Ward, the lone American boxer to earn Olympic gold in 2004 (Ward did so as a light heavyweight), had his second professional fight, a six-round decision over Kenny Kost, as Ward dropped some pounds while trying to decide whether to be a middleweight or super middleweight. Vicente Escobedo, an American who competed as a lightweight and lost in the round of 16, began his career as a super featherweight with a knockout of Abraham Verdugo.
Other prospects in action included Andre Dirrell, Abner Mares, Victor Bisbal and Andre Berto, all of which were victorious.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. met another squashee, Leroy Newton, who dropped to 5-6 while Chavez notched his sixteenth win.
Miguel Cotto received a scare against DeMarcus Corley when a right hook to Cotto's left ear caused the junior welterweight titlist to go into survival mode. Cotto made it out of the round, and had Corley outgunned, but a still-competitive fight was cut short by a completely clueless referee.
And Nate Campbell continued his decline, losing his rematch to Robbie Peden, again by knockout. The year prior, Campbell had Peden hurt but invited his foe to hit him, a show of machismo that backfired as the punch knocked Campbell out. Peden's second win over Campbell would earn him the IBF belt and a September unification showdown with Marco Antonio Barrera, while Campbell would move to lightweight, defeat a journeyman in April and lose to Francisco Lorenzo in June.
The first decent scrap of the year came as 122-pound titlist Oscar Larios won a twelve-round decision over Wayne McCullough, a fight entertaining enough to warrant a rematch on the undercard of July 16's Bernard Hopkins/Jermain Taylor PPV.
Speaking of Hopkins and Taylor, their bout was set up when the Executioner won his usual decision by dismantling Howard Eastman, and on the undercard Taylor whooped Daniel Edouard.
Fabrice Tiozzo sent Darius Michalczewski back into retirement with a successful defense of his light heavyweight belt.
Antonio Margarito received a tune-up victory before his April ESPN PPV showdown with Kermit Cintron, nearly knocking off Sebastian Lujan's ear in the process, albeit with his gloves and not Mike Tyson-like with his teeth.
Andre Ward, the lone American boxer to earn Olympic gold in 2004 (Ward did so as a light heavyweight), had his second professional fight, a six-round decision over Kenny Kost, as Ward dropped some pounds while trying to decide whether to be a middleweight or super middleweight. Vicente Escobedo, an American who competed as a lightweight and lost in the round of 16, began his career as a super featherweight with a knockout of Abraham Verdugo.
Other prospects in action included Andre Dirrell, Abner Mares, Victor Bisbal and Andre Berto, all of which were victorious.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. met another squashee, Leroy Newton, who dropped to 5-6 while Chavez notched his sixteenth win.
Miguel Cotto received a scare against DeMarcus Corley when a right hook to Cotto's left ear caused the junior welterweight titlist to go into survival mode. Cotto made it out of the round, and had Corley outgunned, but a still-competitive fight was cut short by a completely clueless referee.
And Nate Campbell continued his decline, losing his rematch to Robbie Peden, again by knockout. The year prior, Campbell had Peden hurt but invited his foe to hit him, a show of machismo that backfired as the punch knocked Campbell out. Peden's second win over Campbell would earn him the IBF belt and a September unification showdown with Marco Antonio Barrera, while Campbell would move to lightweight, defeat a journeyman in April and lose to Francisco Lorenzo in June.
March
Jose Luis Castillo continued his dominance at lightweight by picking apart Julio Diaz, winning by tenth round TKO, setting the table for Castillo's amazing May match with Diego Corrales.
The first two entries for Fight of the Year would take place on the same card. First up was Jorge Arce against Hussein Hussein, as Arce, a mini-Mayorga that loves a back-and-forth scrap, overpowered Hussein en route to Jeff Fenech stepping into the ring in the tenth round to protect his outmatched fighter. Like February's Larios/McCullough, the fight was good enough that the powers-that-be have decided that a rematch should occur, this one on the undercard of Corrales/Castillo II (should it take place) in October.
But Arce/Hussein would be outdone by the main event, as Erik Morales used his experience and his brain to beat Manny Pacquiao by decision. In the final round, Morales would turn southpaw and go toe-to-toe with Pacquiao, getting rocked but still going all-out, just to give viewers a high note to end the night with.
Fernando Vargas and David Tua made their returns to the ring, with Vargas struggling to shake off a tremendous amount of ring rust while outpointing Raymond Joval, while Tua knocked out Talmadge Griffis in the tenth and final round in front of his native New Zealanders.
Kevin McBride, a limited heavyweight journeyman if there ever was one, beat the even-lesser-skilled Kevin Montiy. Just three months later, McBride would be in the ring with Mike Tyson, and many thought that he would be playing the role of sacrificial lamb.
Felix Sturm, who was ripped off of a decision in 2004 against Oscar De La Hoya, continued to fight on the edge of obscurity by staying in his native Europe, getting a second-round knockout of Bert Schenk.
Andre Dirrell knocked out Jacob Rodriguez, sharing the card with his brother Anthony and moving to 3-0.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. wiped the mat with Ryan Maraldo, the loss moving Maraldo to 17-16-1, Chavez receiving win number 17.
The first two entries for Fight of the Year would take place on the same card. First up was Jorge Arce against Hussein Hussein, as Arce, a mini-Mayorga that loves a back-and-forth scrap, overpowered Hussein en route to Jeff Fenech stepping into the ring in the tenth round to protect his outmatched fighter. Like February's Larios/McCullough, the fight was good enough that the powers-that-be have decided that a rematch should occur, this one on the undercard of Corrales/Castillo II (should it take place) in October.
But Arce/Hussein would be outdone by the main event, as Erik Morales used his experience and his brain to beat Manny Pacquiao by decision. In the final round, Morales would turn southpaw and go toe-to-toe with Pacquiao, getting rocked but still going all-out, just to give viewers a high note to end the night with.
Fernando Vargas and David Tua made their returns to the ring, with Vargas struggling to shake off a tremendous amount of ring rust while outpointing Raymond Joval, while Tua knocked out Talmadge Griffis in the tenth and final round in front of his native New Zealanders.
Kevin McBride, a limited heavyweight journeyman if there ever was one, beat the even-lesser-skilled Kevin Montiy. Just three months later, McBride would be in the ring with Mike Tyson, and many thought that he would be playing the role of sacrificial lamb.
Felix Sturm, who was ripped off of a decision in 2004 against Oscar De La Hoya, continued to fight on the edge of obscurity by staying in his native Europe, getting a second-round knockout of Bert Schenk.
Andre Dirrell knocked out Jacob Rodriguez, sharing the card with his brother Anthony and moving to 3-0.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. wiped the mat with Ryan Maraldo, the loss moving Maraldo to 17-16-1, Chavez receiving win number 17.
April
For a brief period, the cruiserweight division received some attention by headlining a Showtime card, on which Jean-Marc Mormeck defeated Wayne Braithwaite to unify their two titles.
Many stepped between the ropes that should think long and hard about retiring:
- Riddick Bowe eked out a decision over Billy Zumbun, and looked much heavier than the 280 pounds he claimed to be at weigh-in.
- Vassiliy Jirov beat Forest Neal, but showed that he had dropped from one-time cruiserweight king to a punisher of heavyweight tomato cans, going from heartbreaking loss to James Toney to being an opponent for Joe Mesi and a victim of a Michael Moorer knockout.
- Johnny Tapia won his rematch against Frankie Archuleta, somehow earning him a July title opportunity against Israel Vazquez.
- Dominick Guinn continued his sleepwalking streak, underperforming his way to a majority draw with Friday Ahunanya.
A pay-per-view featuring Marco Antonio Barrera against mandatory foe Mzonke Fana was purchased by few, while ESPN's first foray into pricy televised fight cards was a success, as Antonio Margarito destroyed Kermit Cintron (sending a demoralized Cintron back to the drawing board), Shane Mosley outpointed David Estrada, and Calvin Brock rose from the canvass to beat Jameel McCline via decision. The flop of the Barrera PPV and the success of ESPN's were both for good reasons, as fans began to watch their wallets, especially as more PPV shows percolated on the horizon.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. improved to 18-0 with a knockout of 5-0-1 Travis Hartman.
Andre Dirrell, Abner Mares, Andre Ward and Vicente Escobedo received more experience while remaining unbeaten.
On the final day of the month, James Toney won a decision over John Ruiz, Ruiz retired, and fans rejoiced. In May, though, James Toney lost the WBA title due to testing positive for steroids, and Ruiz came out of retirement and received his belt back, and fans cried.
Many stepped between the ropes that should think long and hard about retiring:
- Riddick Bowe eked out a decision over Billy Zumbun, and looked much heavier than the 280 pounds he claimed to be at weigh-in.
- Vassiliy Jirov beat Forest Neal, but showed that he had dropped from one-time cruiserweight king to a punisher of heavyweight tomato cans, going from heartbreaking loss to James Toney to being an opponent for Joe Mesi and a victim of a Michael Moorer knockout.
- Johnny Tapia won his rematch against Frankie Archuleta, somehow earning him a July title opportunity against Israel Vazquez.
- Dominick Guinn continued his sleepwalking streak, underperforming his way to a majority draw with Friday Ahunanya.
A pay-per-view featuring Marco Antonio Barrera against mandatory foe Mzonke Fana was purchased by few, while ESPN's first foray into pricy televised fight cards was a success, as Antonio Margarito destroyed Kermit Cintron (sending a demoralized Cintron back to the drawing board), Shane Mosley outpointed David Estrada, and Calvin Brock rose from the canvass to beat Jameel McCline via decision. The flop of the Barrera PPV and the success of ESPN's were both for good reasons, as fans began to watch their wallets, especially as more PPV shows percolated on the horizon.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. improved to 18-0 with a knockout of 5-0-1 Travis Hartman.
Andre Dirrell, Abner Mares, Andre Ward and Vicente Escobedo received more experience while remaining unbeaten.
On the final day of the month, James Toney won a decision over John Ruiz, Ruiz retired, and fans rejoiced. In May, though, James Toney lost the WBA title due to testing positive for steroids, and Ruiz came out of retirement and received his belt back, and fans cried.
May
The best fight of the year occurred on the first Saturday, with ten brutal rounds between Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales ending with Corrales coming back from two knockdowns in round ten to force a stoppage with Castillo defenseless on the ropes. Castillo and Corrales played in front of plenty of empty seats, but as buzz spread and people caught the fight on television re-airings, their reputations, skills and heart earned high praise. Some complained about Corrales's losing his mouthpiece twice, and referee Tony Weeks's stoppage, but rules were followed and Weeks made the right decisions. Round eleven of Corrales/Castillo may commence in October, and there is little doubt that it will take place in front of a full house and on a tremendous amount of television screens.
A week later, Winky Wright shut out Felix Trinidad, using his jab to absolutely dominate Tito, backing up the proud Puerto Rican and sending him back into retirement. A skilled boxer that has been avoided for years, Wright may again face the same frustration, as middleweight king Bernard Hopkins shows little desire to face him before Hopkins retires. Still, recently Oscar De Le Hoya announced whom he would like to face when he fights next in 2006, and Winky's name was on the list. On paper, it seems like a bad choice for De La Hoya, especially as the Golden Boy has shown recent difficulty in defending against the jab.
The second major controversial decision of the year left cruiserweight Dale Brown steamed and without a mandated rematch, as judges left him victim and O'Neil Bell as victor.
The victim of the first, Jose Navarro, returned to the ring with a knockout of Miguel Del Valle, the same man he had beaten with the same result just prior to Navarro's loss to Kawashima.
Zab Judah steamrolled over mandatory Cosme Rivera in three, and Lamon Brewster sent Andrew Golota thrice in the first round. Judah will likely get to defend next in America, while as a result of negotiations by promoter Don King (and the month's result seeing Luan Krasniqi defeat Lance Whitaker to become Brewster's mandatory WBO defense), Brewster will have to journey to Germany.
Jorge Castro won a seventh round TKO over Derrick Harmon to earn himself a shot at WBA light heavyweight titlist Fabrice Tiozzo, but it would be made moot in June after a car accident left Castro in a coma.
Edwin Valero, the phenomenon highly touted by MaxBoxing.com's Doug Fischer who was banned from fighting in America after it was revealed that he had undergone surgery years back following a head injury from a motorcycle accident, surfaced in South America with another first-round knockout win.
The aforementioned fight between Ruben Contreras and Brian Viloria took place on the undercard of the Julio Cesar Chavez “Adios” pay-per-view, after which Contreras was hospitalized and placed in a medically induced coma.
Also on that card, which was headlined with Chavez Senior outpointing Ivan Robinson, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. needed all of forty-two seconds to dispatch Adam Wynant (who dropped to 9-4-1) and get his nineteenth win, and Jesus Chavez (no relation) won a gritty split decision over Carlos Hernandez in an entertaining scrap. Keeping with the year's theme, Jesus Chavez and Hernandez should have a rematch on the Corrales/Castillo II undercard.
Vicente Escobedo and Andre Berto continued their post-Olympic careers with wins number four and five, respectively.
And other prospects received major exposure on the reality show The Contender
A week later, Winky Wright shut out Felix Trinidad, using his jab to absolutely dominate Tito, backing up the proud Puerto Rican and sending him back into retirement. A skilled boxer that has been avoided for years, Wright may again face the same frustration, as middleweight king Bernard Hopkins shows little desire to face him before Hopkins retires. Still, recently Oscar De Le Hoya announced whom he would like to face when he fights next in 2006, and Winky's name was on the list. On paper, it seems like a bad choice for De La Hoya, especially as the Golden Boy has shown recent difficulty in defending against the jab.
The second major controversial decision of the year left cruiserweight Dale Brown steamed and without a mandated rematch, as judges left him victim and O'Neil Bell as victor.
The victim of the first, Jose Navarro, returned to the ring with a knockout of Miguel Del Valle, the same man he had beaten with the same result just prior to Navarro's loss to Kawashima.
Zab Judah steamrolled over mandatory Cosme Rivera in three, and Lamon Brewster sent Andrew Golota thrice in the first round. Judah will likely get to defend next in America, while as a result of negotiations by promoter Don King (and the month's result seeing Luan Krasniqi defeat Lance Whitaker to become Brewster's mandatory WBO defense), Brewster will have to journey to Germany.
Jorge Castro won a seventh round TKO over Derrick Harmon to earn himself a shot at WBA light heavyweight titlist Fabrice Tiozzo, but it would be made moot in June after a car accident left Castro in a coma.
Edwin Valero, the phenomenon highly touted by MaxBoxing.com's Doug Fischer who was banned from fighting in America after it was revealed that he had undergone surgery years back following a head injury from a motorcycle accident, surfaced in South America with another first-round knockout win.
The aforementioned fight between Ruben Contreras and Brian Viloria took place on the undercard of the Julio Cesar Chavez “Adios” pay-per-view, after which Contreras was hospitalized and placed in a medically induced coma.
Also on that card, which was headlined with Chavez Senior outpointing Ivan Robinson, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. needed all of forty-two seconds to dispatch Adam Wynant (who dropped to 9-4-1) and get his nineteenth win, and Jesus Chavez (no relation) won a gritty split decision over Carlos Hernandez in an entertaining scrap. Keeping with the year's theme, Jesus Chavez and Hernandez should have a rematch on the Corrales/Castillo II undercard.
Vicente Escobedo and Andre Berto continued their post-Olympic careers with wins number four and five, respectively.
And other prospects received major exposure on the reality show The Contender
, which culminated in May with a live finale, on which Sergio Mora defeated Peter Manfredo Jr. to win one million dollars. Mora did much more for his boxing career than executive producer Sylvester Stallone did for his play-by-play calling future.
June
Attention turned to Manchester at the beginning of the month, where first Scott Harrison knocked out Michael Brodie with a body shot, and the night following hometown hero Ricky Hatton used aggression and questionable tactics to intelligently force Kostya Tszyu to age in the ring and quit on his stool. With the victory, Hatton launched himself to the forefront of the junior welterweight division, and the 140-pound scene would continue to change as the month continued.
Arturo Gatti would lose his belt to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a virtual wipeout, and on the undercard Carlos Maussa knocked out an over-trained and under-focused Vivian Harris.
Miguel Cotto ended up as the only beltholder at 140 to retain his title when he forced his Olympic conqueror, Muhammed Abdullaev, to decide not to continue after his right eye completely closed.
Speaking of quitting, Mike Tyson did so after the sixth round of his bout with Kevin McBride, showing that he had fallen much further than most pundits had realized.
On the undercard of Tyson/McBride, Hussein Hussein made his return to the ring, beating Evaristo Primero in lackluster fashion. Hussein wasn't the only one to come back from a debilitating loss in June, as Julio Diaz did the same, albeit in a much more impressive fashion, as Diaz rebuilt his confidence with a first-round knockout. Danny Williams, last seen in 2004 as a punching bag for Vitali Klitschko, kayoed Zoltan Petranyi in three. And Sharmba Mitchell stepped up to welterweight after his 2004 knockout loss to Kostya Tszyu, receiving a technical decision victory over Chris Smith thanks to a nasty cut from a head butt.
While heavyweight wannabes Audley Harrison and Kirk Johnson won their separate bouts in June, Calvin Brock stayed busy by beating Kenny Craven, awaiting his hopeful eventual coronation atop the division.
Jose Navarro counted himself out in his loss to Bobby Pacquiao, and Nate Campbell received another loss, counting himself out of future legitimacy.
Ike Quartey's second bout since his long layoff was a win over a very good 154-pounder, Verno Phillips, although Phillips had Quartey in trouble in the ninth round and the fight could have (or should have) been scored a draw, if not for a knockdown missed by the referee.
Antonio Tarver and Buddy McGirt came up with a game plan for Tarver to defeat Glencoffe Johnson in a rematch of Johnson's December victory, and Tarver intelligently carried it out to even up the record between the two.
Joel Casamayor and “Kid Diamond” Almazbek Raiymkulov battled to a draw, proving that Casamayor still belonged in contention and that Raiymkulov was worthwhile of moving from prospect to contender.
Felix Sturm defeated Jorge Sendra, earning him a mandatory shot at the WBA champion. Unfortunately, this likely means that Sturm will face “regular” champion Maselino Masoe, not “super” champion Bernard Hopkins.
Basketball professional Kendall Gill put down a basketball and put down his first opponent in the ring. Oleg Maskaev put down Livin Castillo but hopefully will not be put down on paper as the next opponent for Vitali Klitschko.
Abner Mares, Andre Ward, Andre Berto and Victor Bisbal continued their development from amateurs to professionals.
Lastly, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. defeated squashee number six for 2005, knocking out 21-6-2 Ruben Galvan, earning Chavez his twentieth win and his tenth kayo in a row.
Arturo Gatti would lose his belt to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a virtual wipeout, and on the undercard Carlos Maussa knocked out an over-trained and under-focused Vivian Harris.
Miguel Cotto ended up as the only beltholder at 140 to retain his title when he forced his Olympic conqueror, Muhammed Abdullaev, to decide not to continue after his right eye completely closed.
Speaking of quitting, Mike Tyson did so after the sixth round of his bout with Kevin McBride, showing that he had fallen much further than most pundits had realized.
On the undercard of Tyson/McBride, Hussein Hussein made his return to the ring, beating Evaristo Primero in lackluster fashion. Hussein wasn't the only one to come back from a debilitating loss in June, as Julio Diaz did the same, albeit in a much more impressive fashion, as Diaz rebuilt his confidence with a first-round knockout. Danny Williams, last seen in 2004 as a punching bag for Vitali Klitschko, kayoed Zoltan Petranyi in three. And Sharmba Mitchell stepped up to welterweight after his 2004 knockout loss to Kostya Tszyu, receiving a technical decision victory over Chris Smith thanks to a nasty cut from a head butt.
While heavyweight wannabes Audley Harrison and Kirk Johnson won their separate bouts in June, Calvin Brock stayed busy by beating Kenny Craven, awaiting his hopeful eventual coronation atop the division.
Jose Navarro counted himself out in his loss to Bobby Pacquiao, and Nate Campbell received another loss, counting himself out of future legitimacy.
Ike Quartey's second bout since his long layoff was a win over a very good 154-pounder, Verno Phillips, although Phillips had Quartey in trouble in the ninth round and the fight could have (or should have) been scored a draw, if not for a knockdown missed by the referee.
Antonio Tarver and Buddy McGirt came up with a game plan for Tarver to defeat Glencoffe Johnson in a rematch of Johnson's December victory, and Tarver intelligently carried it out to even up the record between the two.
Joel Casamayor and “Kid Diamond” Almazbek Raiymkulov battled to a draw, proving that Casamayor still belonged in contention and that Raiymkulov was worthwhile of moving from prospect to contender.
Felix Sturm defeated Jorge Sendra, earning him a mandatory shot at the WBA champion. Unfortunately, this likely means that Sturm will face “regular” champion Maselino Masoe, not “super” champion Bernard Hopkins.
Basketball professional Kendall Gill put down a basketball and put down his first opponent in the ring. Oleg Maskaev put down Livin Castillo but hopefully will not be put down on paper as the next opponent for Vitali Klitschko.
Abner Mares, Andre Ward, Andre Berto and Victor Bisbal continued their development from amateurs to professionals.
Lastly, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. defeated squashee number six for 2005, knocking out 21-6-2 Ruben Galvan, earning Chavez his twentieth win and his tenth kayo in a row.
The 10 Count - Semi-Annual Awards Edition
1. The “I Just Wanted to Give Everyone a Show” Award: To Erik Morales, who could have just boxed round twelve against Manny Pacquiao to earn his unanimous decision, and no one would have thought twice about it. Instead, Morales turned southpaw and went warrior-to-warrior with Pacquiao, and afterwards told interviewer Larry Merchant that he did so just to give fans something to enjoy.
2. The “I Just Wish I Could Give Everyone a Refund” Award: To Mike Tyson, who following his retiring on the stool against Kevin McBride, said that he wished that there was a way that he could give a refund to those that spent their money to see him fight, not quit.
3. The “Stool Sample” Award: To Kostya Tszyu and Mike Tyson, but not Muhammed Abdullaev, for quitting in their corners before their fights were over. For Abdullaev, his decision was proper; Miguel Cotto is enough to go against with two good eyes, but when one is half-blind, it is a time to call it a night.
4. The “Aretha” Award: To Zab Judah and Ricky Hatton, who with their respective TKO victories over Cory Spinks and Kostya Tszyu have earned tremendous r-e-s-p-e-c-t and propelled them to the top of their divisions. Judah had been plagued by criticism over his maturity, a lack thereof that had hindered his considerable talent, but now Zab holds three of the four welterweight titles and is awaiting his chance to face another major opponent. As for Hatton, some had thought that he had been feasting upon leftovers from Tszyu and Sharmba Mitchell, but in finding a manner to smother the former 140-lb. king, Hatton is now the man to beat in a deep weight class.
5. Best Network: To Showtime, which has set the standard with their America's Fight Night series, which so far this year has given good fights in Spinks/Judah, Castillo/Diaz, Mormeck/Braithwaite, Castillo/Corrales and Hatton/Tszyu. I do have to say that Showtime's July entry, featuring Samuel Peter against Taurus Sykes, was lacking, especially in comparison to the previous five.
6. Fight-of-the-Half Year: To Diego Corrales/Jose Luis Castillo. And if this isn't a repeat entry for the full year's awards after December, then it will take a completely amazing battle, possibly their rematch, to replace it.
7. Fighter-of-the-Half-Year: This is difficult to decide on, considering how most boxers haven't entered the ring more than once at this point in the year, so in choosing my winner, I must pick the man that had the best, most decisive performance. So, to Winky Wright, in utterly demolishing Felix Trinidad, embarrassing Tito over twelve rounds, rendering him offensively impotent in a more prolonged and distinctive manner than did Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Arturo Gatti.
8. Best Line: To HBO's Larry Merchant, who on Eliseo Castillo's lack of offense during Castillo's April 23 loss to Wladimir Klitschko, said of the refugee, “He used his arms more when paddling away from Cuba.”
9. Worst Line: To Tommy Gallagher, head trainer on NBC's The Contender
2. The “I Just Wish I Could Give Everyone a Refund” Award: To Mike Tyson, who following his retiring on the stool against Kevin McBride, said that he wished that there was a way that he could give a refund to those that spent their money to see him fight, not quit.
3. The “Stool Sample” Award: To Kostya Tszyu and Mike Tyson, but not Muhammed Abdullaev, for quitting in their corners before their fights were over. For Abdullaev, his decision was proper; Miguel Cotto is enough to go against with two good eyes, but when one is half-blind, it is a time to call it a night.
4. The “Aretha” Award: To Zab Judah and Ricky Hatton, who with their respective TKO victories over Cory Spinks and Kostya Tszyu have earned tremendous r-e-s-p-e-c-t and propelled them to the top of their divisions. Judah had been plagued by criticism over his maturity, a lack thereof that had hindered his considerable talent, but now Zab holds three of the four welterweight titles and is awaiting his chance to face another major opponent. As for Hatton, some had thought that he had been feasting upon leftovers from Tszyu and Sharmba Mitchell, but in finding a manner to smother the former 140-lb. king, Hatton is now the man to beat in a deep weight class.
5. Best Network: To Showtime, which has set the standard with their America's Fight Night series, which so far this year has given good fights in Spinks/Judah, Castillo/Diaz, Mormeck/Braithwaite, Castillo/Corrales and Hatton/Tszyu. I do have to say that Showtime's July entry, featuring Samuel Peter against Taurus Sykes, was lacking, especially in comparison to the previous five.
6. Fight-of-the-Half Year: To Diego Corrales/Jose Luis Castillo. And if this isn't a repeat entry for the full year's awards after December, then it will take a completely amazing battle, possibly their rematch, to replace it.
7. Fighter-of-the-Half-Year: This is difficult to decide on, considering how most boxers haven't entered the ring more than once at this point in the year, so in choosing my winner, I must pick the man that had the best, most decisive performance. So, to Winky Wright, in utterly demolishing Felix Trinidad, embarrassing Tito over twelve rounds, rendering him offensively impotent in a more prolonged and distinctive manner than did Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Arturo Gatti.
8. Best Line: To HBO's Larry Merchant, who on Eliseo Castillo's lack of offense during Castillo's April 23 loss to Wladimir Klitschko, said of the refugee, “He used his arms more when paddling away from Cuba.”
9. Worst Line: To Tommy Gallagher, head trainer on NBC's The Contender
, who during a challenge that obviously served the purpose of product placement, said, “Don't scratch them Toyotas.”
10. Promoter-of-the-Half-Year: To Don King Promotions, the company that so far this year has done Spinks/Judah in St. Louis, Brewster/Golota in Chicago and Wright/Trinidad. Don King has found success doing shows that will draw considerable hometown crowds to locations not normally associated with boxing. Also important, King has yet to try and foist one of his horrible pay-per-views on us featuring John Ruiz and Chris Byrd. Wright/Trinidad deserved our money, and its undercard was pretty decent, too.
10. Promoter-of-the-Half-Year: To Don King Promotions, the company that so far this year has done Spinks/Judah in St. Louis, Brewster/Golota in Chicago and Wright/Trinidad. Don King has found success doing shows that will draw considerable hometown crowds to locations not normally associated with boxing. Also important, King has yet to try and foist one of his horrible pay-per-views on us featuring John Ruiz and Chris Byrd. Wright/Trinidad deserved our money, and its undercard was pretty decent, too.
Next Week's Fighting Words - Hopkins/Taylor Preview
In next week's edition of Fighting Words
In next week's edition of Fighting Words
, I shall preview the July 16 pay-per-view featuring Bernard Hopkins's twenty-first title defense, this one against middleweight prospect Jermain Taylor. Hopkins is facing an opponent that is young and hungry and has nothing to lose and everything to gain, but Taylor is also facing his toughest, craftiest opponent yet. Look for a further, more detailed breakdown next week.
