By Cliff Rold
The Golden Boy walked away on April 15 commanding the headlines one last time and, perhaps, symbolizing other events in the month. Stalwart veterans of his era, Winky Wright (against Paul Williams) and Gerry Penalosa (against Juan Manuel Lopez) suffered the worst losses of their respective careers in April as well. Add it all together and the question begging to be asked?
Is this the beginning of the end?
Not the end of boxing or anything silly like that. No, we ask if this is, finally, the beginning of the end of boxing’s latest ‘era.’ It’s normal for the young to rise and replace the old but we’ve had some stingy veterans in recent years. Maybe the new blood is finally flowing strong enough, is finally getting good enough, to make a new age in the sweet science.
To be continued on that one…
There was also just good ol’ well matched action this month and in the two premiere fights of April, U.S. Olympic teammates in the year 2000 saw their careers go in different directions in dual Fight of the Month candidates.
Here’s a look back with April’s month in review.
Fighter of the Month: Brian Viloria
There were a number of quality candidates for April’s top honors, Lopez and Williams among them, but the newly minted IBF Jr. Flyweight titlist Viloria stood just a little higher than the crowd. Turned professional on ESPN2 in 2001, Viloria seemed well on his way to putting an early Olympic exit behind him and reaching for stardom. He had his good nights and off night, but he kept winning though a WBC title win in 2005. Adversity in losses to Omar Nino and Edgar Sosa in 2006 and 2007 left Viloria appearing damaged but he did what far too few do lately.
He got off TV for the most part, got himself some wins, and then challenged the hottest player in his division. Squaring off April 19th, then-titlist Ulises Solis entered the ring undefeated since 2004 with eight title defenses already under his belt. Viloria fought like he was supposed to, like he didn’t care, and together he and Solis produced a crowd pleasing little war. In the end it was the right hand of Viloria leaving Solis flat in round eleven and, boom, just like that Viloria was within reach of serious stardom again. In his class, one of the world’s pound-for-pound best, Ivan Calderon, sits atop the class. It’s been over a decade since two fighters of such small stature could matter and make money together. We’ll see if these two can eventually make that happen.
For now, the resurrection and redemption of Viloria is enough to merit top honors for April. Those who will disagree might be looking at the winner of the month’s best fight and he is as deserving as any.
Fight of the Month: Carl Froch-Jermain Taylor
Just as the competition for Fighter of the Month was close, so too was the picking of April’s best fight. Viloria’s win over Solis was Fight of the Year candidate; so was this. At the end of the day, the only thing that seemed fair was to split the bill.
Gotta’ love a month with choices like these.
As recapped by BoxingScene’s T.K. Stewart at https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=19601
In an amazing display of guts and perseverance, Carl Froch rescued his title with 14 seconds left in the twelfth and final round to stop Jermain Taylor in what very well may go down as the comeback of the year - within a fight.
Down on two official judges' scorecards, by scores of 106-102, (he was leading 106-102 on the third card) Froch needed a knockout to retain his title and he was finally able to put together a powerful combination of punches to drop Taylor in the final round. In an amazing last round stoppage victory to retain his title, similar to Jake LaMotta vs. Laurent Dauthuille in 1950, Carl Froch held onto the green belt of the WBC title in positively stunning fashion.
Lamotta stopped Dauthuille with 13 seconds left in the 15th round to retain his middleweight title in Detroit, Michigan.
Froch did the same feat tonight - with 14 seconds to spare.
From the first bell, Froch was unable to deal with Jermain Taylor's faster hands and better overall boxing skills. Everything was working for Taylor on this night and he was consistently able to nail the Englishman with right hands over his habitually low left. Taylor punished Froch and made it a very long night for the man from Nottingham.
After winning the first two frames, the third round saw Taylor connect with a colossal right hand that dropped Froch for the first time in his boxing career – amateur or professional. Froch rose at referee Michael Ortega's count of eight and managed to last out the round.
Say this though: Carl Froch has an amazing chin, and for the next several rounds he was able to absorb everything Jermain Taylor threw – and it was substantial. The only thing that kept Froch in the fight tonight was his uncanny ability to take a solid shot to the chin. Taylor put it all together for most of the fight as he was impressive, especially with his left jab. Taylor was able to work everything off the punch – right hands, left hooks and a few uppercuts sprinkled in for good measure.
After nine rounds, Froch had only won the ninth on my card. It appeared as though Taylor may have hurt his right hand somewhere around the seventh as he stopped throwing the punch with frequency. It allowed Froch some degree of success and got him back into the fight – but barely. Froch won the tenth and eleventh rounds on my card as well as Taylor seemed to be resting a bit.
The eleventh was a great round as both men unloaded their heavy artillery and each landed bomb after bomb. Both men appeared hurt on separate occasions. It set up a final round that very well may go down in the history books.
A Froch right hand did the damage, and Taylor went down hard in a corner. It appeared as though he wasn't going to beat the count, but Taylor did manage to get to climb to his feet, and referee Michael Ortega let it continue. Taylor was defenseless, however, and Froch landed bomb after bomb. The referee gave Taylor every chance to continue. Froch pinned Taylor against the ropes and unloaded his arsenal, forcing the referee to step in and save Taylor from further abuse.
“This was my first defense in America – and my first of big fights in America. Robert McCracken [his trainer] told me I needed to have a big round. You saw it – everybody saw it.”
Indeed we did.
Critical Results and the Month ahead
Using a formula inspired by the college football BCS, quarterly divisional ratings have been compiled at Boxing Scene since 2008. The full second quarter BoxingScene ratings can be found at: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=19217
Below, the key results for April and significant matches on tap for the month of May:
Heavyweight (201 lbs. – Unlimited)
04/04: #5 Alexander Povetkin (17-0, 12 KO) UD10 Jason Estrada (15-2, 3 KO)
04/11: #9 Cristobal Arreola (27-0, 24 KO) KO4 Jameel McCline (39-10-3, 23 KO)
Scheduled for May
05/30: #3 Ruslan Chagaev (25-0, 17 KO, WBA) vs. #4 Nicolay Valuev (50-1, 34 KO, WBA)
Cruiserweight (176-200 lbs.)
No BoxingScene rated fighters competed in April.
Scheduled for May
05/09: #5 Marco Huck (24-1, 19 KO) vs. Vitaly Rusal (23-0, 16 KO)
05/16: #4 Giacobbe Fragomeni (26-1, 10 KO, WBC) vs. #8 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (41-2, 31 KO)
05/16: #6 Victor Ramirez (14-1, 12 KO, WBO) vs. Ali Ismailov (15-1-1, 11 KO)
Light Heavyweight (169-175 lbs.)
04/04: #4 Adrian Diaconu (26-0, 15 KO, WBC) UD8 David Whittom (10-8-1, 6 KO); non-title
Scheduled for May
05/09: #1 Chad Dawson (27-0, 17 KO, IBF) vs. #6 Antonio Tarver (27-5, 19 KO)
Super Middleweight (161-168 lbs.)
04/04: #7 Librado Andrade (28-2, 21 KO) UD12 Vitali Tsypko (22-3, 12 KO)
04/25: #3 Carl Froch (25-0, 20 KO, WBC) TKO12 #4 Jermain Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KO)
04/25: #5 Karoly Balzsay (21-0, 15 KO, WBO) TKO11 Masselino Masoe (29-6, 27 KO)
Scheduled for May
05/16: #10 Andre Ward (18-0, 11 KO) vs. Edison Miranda (32-3, 28 KO)
Middleweight (155-160 lbs.)
04/04: #10 Javier Castillejo (62-8-1, 43 KO) D10 Pablo Navascues (23-1-1, 16 KO)
04/11: #1 at Jr. Middleweight Paul Williams (37-1, 27 KO) UD12 Winky Wright (51-5-1, 25 KO)
04/24: Billy Lyell (19-7, 3 KO) SD10 John Duddy (26-1, 17 KO)
04/25: #3 Felix Sturm (32-2-1, 14 KO, WBA) TKO7 Koji Sato (14-1, 13 KO)
Scheduled for May
05/27: #6 Daniel Geale (21-0, 13 KO) vs. Anthony Mundine (35-3, 23 KO)
Jr. Middleweight (148-154 lbs.)
04/24: #8 Cory Spinks (37-5, 11 KO) SD12 DeAndre Latimore (19-2, 16 KO); vacant IBF belt
Scheduled for May
05/30: #7 Alfredo Angulo (15-0, 12 KO) vs. Kermit Cintron (30-2-1, 27 KO)
Welterweight (141-147 lbs.)
04/10: Vyacheslav Senchenko (29-0, 20 KO) UD12 #5 Yuri Nuzhenko (28-1-1, 13 KO, WBA)
Scheduled for May
05/30: #4 Andre Berto (24-0, 19 KO, WBC) vs. #4 at 140 Juan Urango (21-1-1, 16 KO, IBF)
Jr. Welterweight (136-140 lbs.)
04/04: #1 Timothy Bradley (24-0, 11 KO, WBC) UD12 #2 Kendall Holt (25-3, 13 KO, WBO)
04/25: #7 Paulie Malignaggi (25-2, 5 KO) UD8 Christopher Fernandez (16-7, 9 KO)
Scheduled for May
05/02: World Champion Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KO, Lineal/Ring) vs. #8 Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KO)
Lightweight (131-135 lbs.)
04/04: Rolando Reyes (31-4-2, 20 KO) TKO5 #3 Julio Diaz (36-5, 26 KO)
04/04: Edwin Valero (25-0, 25 KO) TKO2 #7 Antonio Pitalua (46-4, 40 KO); vacant WBC belt
04/04: #10 Michael Katsidis (25-2, 21 KO) RTD7 Jesus Chavez (44-5, 30 KO)
No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in May
Jr. Lightweight (127-130 lbs.)
04/18: #9 Malcolm Klassen (24-4-2, 15 KO) TKO7 #2 Cassius Baloyi (36-4-1, 19 KO, IBF)
Scheduled for May
05/01: #6 Urbano Antillon (25-0, 18 KO) vs. Tyrone Harris (23-4, 15 KO)
05/02: #1 Humberto Soto (47-7-2, 30 KO, WBC) vs. Benoit Gaudet (20-1, 7 KO)
Featherweight (123-126 lbs.)
04/17: #7 Yuriorkis Gamboa (15-0, 13 KO) TKO10 Jose Rojas (25-7-1, 17 KO); interim WBA
No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in May
Jr. Featherweight (119-122 lbs.)
04/25: #2 Juan Manuel Lopez (25-0, 23 KO, WBO) RTD9 #3 at Bantamweight Gerry Penalosa (54-7-2, 36 KO, WBO)
04/25: #8 Daniel Ponce De Leon (35-2, 31 KO) UD12 Marlon Aguilar (21-7-1, 16 KO)
04/30: #1 Celestino Caballero (32-2, 22 KO, WBA Super/IBF) SD12 Jeffrey Mathebula (22-2-2, 12 KO)
04/30: #7 Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym (38-1, 27 KO) TKO9 Rafael Hernandez (11-3-1, 10 KO); vacant WBA regular belt
Scheduled for May
05/02: #10 Rendall Munroe (18-1, 8 KO) vs. Issac Netty (3-2-1, 1 KO)
05/23: #5 Toshiaki Nishioka (33-4-3, 20 KO, WBC) vs. #6 Jhonny Gonzalez (40-6, 34 KO)
Bantamweight (116-118 lbs.)
04/18: #7 Silence Mabuza (22-2, 18 KO) vs. Yonnhy Perez (18-0, 13 KO)
Scheduled for May
05/02: #2 Anselmo Moreno (24-1-1, 8 KO, WBA) vs. #6 Wladimir Sidorenko (21-1-2, 7 KO)
05/02: #8 Abner Mares (17-0, 10 KO) vs. Jonathan Perez (14-5, 11 KO)
Jr. Bantamweight (113-115 lbs.)
04/11: #1 Nobuo Nashiro (13-1, 8 KO, WBA Regular) TKO8 Konosuke Tomiyama (18-2, 6 KO)
No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in May
Flyweight (109-112 lbs.)
04/18: #1 Nonito Donaire (21-1, 14 KO, IBF) TKO4 #8 at Jr. Bantamweight Raul Martinez (24-1, 14 KO)
04/18: #9 Moruti Mthalane (23-2, 16 KO) KO3 Lehlohonolo Ramagole (6-2, 4 KO)
04/24: #4 Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (72-3-1, 38 KO) UD12 #6 Julio Cesar Miranda (29-4-1, 22 KO); interim WBC
04/30: Luis Concepcion (17-1, 12 KO) TKO1 Ernesto Castro (10-9-2, 8 KO)
Scheduled for May
05/26: World Champion Daisuke Naito (34-2-3, 33 KO, Lineal/WBC) vs. Xiong Zhao Zhong (12-1-1, 8 KO)
05/26: #3 Denkaosan Kaovichit (46-1-1, 20 KO, WBA) vs. Hiroyuki Hisataka (17-7-1, 6 KO)
Jr. Flyweight (106-108 lbs.)
04/04: #2 Edgar Sosa (35-5, 19 KO, WBC) TKO4 Pornsawan Porpramook (21-3, 16 KO)
04/18: Brian Viloria (25-2, 15 KO) KO11 #1 Ulises Solis (28-2-2, IBF)
04/25: Edren Dapudong (14-2, 8 KO) TKO7 #10 Bert Batawang (48-12-1, 36 KO)
04/27: #4 Brahim Asloum (24-2, 10 KO, WBA) KO3 Humberto Pool (15-8-3, 9 KO)
Scheduled for May
05/16: #6 Omar Nino (27-3-1, 11 KO) vs. #9 Juanito Rubillar (46-11-7, 22 KO)
Strawweight (105 lbs.)
04/11: #3 Raul Garcia (26-0, 15 KO, IBF) TKO6 Ronald Barrera (26-6-1, 16 KO)
No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in May
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
