By Cliff Rold
Before addressing the bigger headlines of the weekend…
It’s not often you see a fighter make his big stage debut by letting one of his cornermen brush his hair during the ring intros. The great Benny Leonard was once, according to legend, able to fight without getting his hair mussed, and that was almost a century ago. One presumes the hairs were in place before he got to the ring.
Is the quick brush what passes for swag these days? Or does backing it up in the ring with a performance worthy of making sure one’s hairs were in place matter as well? If the latter is true, Jr. Lightweight Adrien Broner (20-0, 16 KO) might not quite be ready for prime time.
Giving what can best be described as a mostly unentertaining Floyd Mayweather impersonation, Broner spent an awful lot of time not fighting on Saturday only to have his hand raised in victory at the end of ten rounds.
Former Jr. Featherweight titlist Daniel Ponce De Leon (41-3, 34 KO) deserved better. So be it. The decision was wrong from this vantage point, but there were tight rounds. It was, reasonably, a 6-4 type fight either way. Judge Tony Crebs saw Broner win nine rounds. That scorecard is worse than wrong.
If that’s the best Crebs can do, then he has no business judging serious fights. That is a disgraceful scorecard.
One suspects that Saturday was not the best Broner can do. The youngster has obvious talent. For now, he needs to head back to the film room, check out his antics before the fight, and then see what he produced in the ring. After that, maybe breaking out a copy of Bull Durham is in order. Fast-forward to the scene where Tim Robbins (Nuke) and Kevin Costner (Crash) discuss the importance of clean shower shoes, at least until Nuke is slaying them in the majors.
The application of that moral to this story: there is nothing wrong with playing the showman, but make damn sure to put on a show.
…back to the headlines.
There are new beltholders at 154 and 140 lbs. The former division welcomes Saul Alvarez (36-0-1, 26 KO) to its belted ranks and seeing how happy WBC President Jose Sulaiman was to snap the Green bauble across the latest Mexican sensation was a picture worth a thousand words.
Or worth at least whatever the going rate for sanctioning fees is these days.
Alvarez is no World Champion. Let that be clear. He won a vacant belt, after missing a catchweight, against a guy who doesn’t even fight at Jr. Middleweight seriously. Matthew Hatton was a fun opponent but not a title worthy one. Alvarez needs now to make the belt mean something.
For opponents, that won’t be hard. “Canelo” puts asses in seats and, in a Jr. Middleweight field not exactly exploding with a depth of talent, can continue to grow professionally while getting the world used to him as a champion. Winning, and entertaining, will make where this belt came from disappear. The 20-year old from Mexico could use some help on his defense. Everything else pretty much screams star.
At Jr. Welterweight, Zab Judah’s return to the division culminated with regaining the IBF belt he wore a decade ago. Judah (41-6, 28 KO) landed one of the best counter left hands of his career to do it, all but ending the fight with the shot even if Kaizer Mabuza (23-7-3, 14 KO) made it through a count to take a few more shots.
Mabuza had won eight straight. Now it is Judah at five in a row. At 33, Judah suddenly and easily is a viable player in a deep field at 140 lbs. Timothy Bradley (WBC/WBO) and Amir Khan (WBA) appear headed for each other and hold three of the four most sought after straps. Judah is now the most likely target for everyone else.
And a solid payday for either of the other two titlists as well.
The business of boxing at Jr. Middleweight and Jr. Welterweight definitely picked up this weekend.
Ratings Impact
154: Alvarez stays where he was in the rankings. What he does with his belt from here will determine when and where he moves.
140: Judah moves into the #6 spot previously occupied by Mabuza.
How this all lays out, and the critical results from the week, are found in the updated ratings.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
