By David P. Greisman
It was a night of should-haves and supposed-to-be’s. It was a fight card on which a former junior welterweight prospect-turned-contender-turned-titlist should have taken care of a mandatory challenger, setting up future mega-showdowns with the other 140-lb. champions. It had an event that was supposed to be the deciding bout for which man would be the heavyweight heir apparent, twelve rounds for the number one spot of two sanctioning bodies.
It was a night that ended with just as many questions and answers, mixed verdicts that serve to confuse, rather than to settle and conclude.
This week’s edition of Fighting Words evaluates this past weekend’s big fight card, assessing the performances of Miguel Cotto, Ricardo Torres, Wladimir Klitschko and Samuel Peter. Chins were tested, weaknesses were exposed, and as a result, two entertaining, intriguing bouts occurred.
With a heavy heart, The 10 Count will toll in tribute for Leavander Johnson, who passed away last Thursday from injuries sustained in his title defense against Jesus Chavez. It’s quite awkward and difficult to get on with business after such a tragedy, and thus it is essential to remember Johnson as the champion and warrior that he was.
Miguel Cotto: C+
Undefeated and making his fourth title defense since earning the WBO belt about a year ago, Miguel Cotto couldn’t have expected the trouble he ended up receiving from Ricardo Torres.
Torres, a late replacement for an injured Gianluca Branco, was an unheralded number one contender, a Colombian with an unblemished record, twenty-six knockouts in twenty-eight fights. His ledger, though, was full of apparent patsies with a combined record of 85-145-4, only six of whom had accomplished more wins than losses.
Cotto had familiarity with Torres, as well, having defeated him in the amateur ranks, a good sign considering that since turning professional, Cotto had disposed of other former amateur foes Muhammed Abdullaev and Kelson Pinto.
Branco’s hand injury was supposed to have been a blessing in disguise, a chance for Cotto to do away with his WBO mandatory and allow 2006 to be focused on possible unification bouts with Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather Jr. All he needed to do was get past his opponent, and hope that Torres wouldn’t play the spoiler like late replacement Humberto Soto had done to featherweight contender Rocky Juarez.
As the first round got underway, everything seemed to be going to plan, as Cotto unleashed a combination that sent Torres to the canvas, albeit only for a flash knockdown. But as Cotto trapped Torres on the ropes, he opened himself up for a right hook that wobbled him almost as badly as he’d been by DeMarcus Corley this past February.
Cotto would hit the mat himself for the first time in his career in Round Two, and the fight was on, an exciting match where each man would find his rival wobbled and trade punches, only to find themselves on the receiving end of some heavy-handed punishment.
In the end, it was Cotto’s consistent investment in a body attack that paid dividends, sapping Torres’s energy until he couldn’t lift himself from the ground after a Cotto combination in the seventh round. Referee David Fields counted to ten, Miguel Cotto bent over backwards in jubilant celebration, and a career-defining moment had been cemented in history.
But at what cost? Sure, Cotto may finally achieve a fan following slightly resembling that of his countryman Felix Trinidad by participating in a bout approximating Trinidad’s throwdown with Fernando Vargas. But while it took technicians like Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright to exploit Trinidad’s flaws, Cotto’s deficiencies have been magnified during his wins over Torres, Corley and Lovemore N’Dou.
Cotto has shown heart and guts in overcoming adversity and working to ensure the win, important aspects of a true champion, but in the process he’s lost his Cus D’Amato trademark peek-a-boo style of boxing, subsequently opening up his defense. His fantastic left hook to the body invites counter right hands up top, and Cotto may need to evaluate the risk-reward ratio of that proposition.
Ricardo Torres: B+
I’m sure this invites the question as to how I can grade the defeated fighter higher than the victor.
But the expectations for Torres were much lower than those of Cotto going into Saturday, partially from a lack of exposure thanks to his only fight outside of Colombia being his last one, a third round stoppage of Edwin Vazquez in Puerto Rico.
Torres showed that his high knockout percentage was no statistical oddity, proved that even though his body was less defined than Cotto’s, he could still crack, and he may have held the power advantage over Cotto.
By performing so competitively, at times appearing that he may be on the verge of an upset, Torres justified his high ranking by the WBO, and he will now either be avoided by aspiring contenders or have earned future shots and further prominence.
Let’s hope it’s the latter.
Wladimir Klitschko: B-
The question marks surrounding Wladimir Klitschko as he entered his fight with Samuel Peter concerned his conditioning, his chin and his confidence. The answers, afterwards, respectively? Excellent, decent, and not quite back fully.
Klitschko went twelve rounds with an aggressive, dangerous opponent, and averaged just under forty-four punches per stanza. Although at times his mouth was gaping, and he was gasping for air, he didn’t fall flat on his face, like he’d done literally the fifth round with Lamon Brewster.
He took some major shots from Peter but generally kept his wits about him. Sure, he was floored thrice, but those occurrences seemed to be from rabbit punches and general wrestling. And when he was buzzed, it was forgivable; this is the heavyweight division, and Samuel Peter appears to be one of the hardest punchers out there.
As for Klitschko’s confidence, there’s still some rebuilding left to do. He came out magnificently, controlling Peter with his jab and thudding right crosses, imposing a tremendous size advantage upon his foe. But other times Klitschko looked like he was downright afraid to be hit, and he went into panic mode (wisely so) whenever his back was close to being on the ropes. The problem is that when trouble struck, like after the knockdowns or when he was being fouled, his nerves went haywire, causing his legs to shake and his instincts to be overwhelmed by fear.
Klitschko won ugly, holding often and leaning his weight down whenever possible, a strategic habit that Emanuel Steward instilled in Lennox Lewis that always drove me crazy. His win against Peter came against a rising contender who loves to punch, and perhaps the victory can work to continue to restore his confidence, and in turn his chin and conditioning.
Samuel Peter: C-
It’s difficult to tell if the results mean that Samuel Peter’s been exposed, or just that his opponent and the style that Klitschko utilized contributed to how poorly the Nigerian looked.
Peter’s punches are slow, wide and wild, meaning that Klitschko was able to dodge or pick off seventy-seven percent of what was thrown at him. Very rarely did Peter land cleanly, and on those sporadic occasions, they bombed to the back of Wladimir’s head.
What was interesting, though perhaps not intentional, was that occasionally when Peter would miss, his punches would take him so far as to set up for the next huge hook. One buzzing of Klitschko came when the Ukrainian mistakenly ducked under a shot, dropping his chin into the target range for Peter’s follow up.
Peter’s immobility, his tendency to wade in, left him open to be peppered by repeated one-twos from Klitschko, but it is a positive sign that except for swelling, Peter wasn’t seriously hurt by a punch until the twelfth and final round.
This was Peter’s first upper-level test, but it may not be fair to judge him wholly off of this performance, considering the manner in which Klitschko dwarfed him. Shorter opponents may not be able to use their height to assault him from above while forcing Peter to reach with his power punches.
When taking into account that Samuel Peter is only 25, and still learning, his future could be bright for himself and frightening for others.
The 10 Count – Celebrating, Remembering Leavander Johnson
1. Leavander Johnson, a father of four, an accomplished amateur, a longtime professional, a constant warrior, a champion.
2. Jermain Taylor remembered in a press release that, following his (Taylor’s) defeat of Bernard Hopkins in July, he was to make a public appearance but had yet to receive his IBF championship belt. Johnson lent Taylor his own belt, the title that he had waited for so many years to earn. Said Taylor: “Boxing has lost not only a world champion, but it lost a world-class man.”
3. As noted on the HBO broadcast, more than a quarter of a million dollars has already been pledged to support Johnson’s children, hopefully with more to come.
4. Due in part to Johnson’s tragic passing, Nevada boxing officials will form a panel to look into what happened with him, as well as with other boxing injuries, in an attempt to make the sport safer and to prevent more tragedies.
5. Jesus Chavez has reportedly pledged to give portions of his purses from future defenses of the IBF belt to the Leavander Fund.
6. Even in defeat, Johnson protested the stoppage, wanting to go out with honor, defend his title for the distance, go out with pride.
7. Leavander, in our eyes, you’ll always have your honor and pride.
8. Leavander Johnson.
9. 12/24/69 – 9/22/05.
10. Rest in peace, champ. Rest in peace.
