Seems Just Like Yesterday…And Yesterday Sucked

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Boxing in 2010 had a lot of positives.

Sometimes it was easy to miss them.

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Boxing is a funny thing from the perspective of the audience. It’s event driven with only the most rare of fistic gems capable of making the educated fight fan the center of the office sports chatter. Mega-fights bridge the gap between boxing and the real world of sports in the 21st Century.

In 2010, the mega-fights teased but never came home to us. No matter how strong the year closed, no matter how good the year was for those appreciative of great boxing no matter the star power, what didn’t happen loomed larger than what did.

It wasn’t the only problem.

2010 was also a year plagued with cancellations, postponements, and replacement players. Every year has those but, in a year where the biggest fights (in this case, at Heavyweight and Welterweight) never came together, seeing two key players leave the Super Six Super Middleweight tournament or being forced to wait a little longer on Juan Manuel Lopez-Rafael Marquez stung more than usual.

2011 is entered with the question of what will be different. The answer, in week one anyways, has been not a hell of a lot.

Yet.

First came the year’s premiere major cancellation.

WBO Light Heavyweight titlist Juergen Braehmer was scheduled to face WBA titlist Beibut Shumenov in a unification fight (not to be confused with the real World title held by Jean Pascal but still cool in its own right) on January 8. For Shumenov, the home court advantage in Kazakhstan was either going to be the setting for a coming out party or a local burial.

Sure, it was way under the radar in the U.S., but hardcore fight followers knew it was coming. With little else on the fistic schedule for the moment, it was going to be an early year treat.

Was.

Braehmer’s adventures in Kazakhstan, if believed at pure face value, went like this: He came, he got the runs, and he ran right back home to Germany.

Before the opening bell.

He wasn’t coming back.

The full story of the implosion of Shumenov-Braehmer remains to be told. That it is not happening makes it enough like so much of 2010 to make it the worst kind of déjà vu.

The day after the cancellation, fans found out that negotiations between World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko and WBA beltholder David Haye culminated with the signing of the biggest Heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson.

Just kidding.

No, once again, Klitschko-Haye remains a war of words instead of leather. This fight has failed to happen so many time since 2009 that every time their two names are heard, it’s okay to look around for Bill Murray and wonder if it’s Groundhog Day.

There’s a school of thought that says the essence of the big fight is the build. Teasing it, taking it away, and then finally delivering pays.

It pays a lot.

When Mike Tyson was originally slated to face Evander Holyfield in 1990, some estimates had the fight being a $70 million dollar windfall. When they finally faced off in 1996 and 1997, they topped that number twice. Ray Leonard-Marvin Hagler was built for over five years and no one went broke at the end.

Klitschko-Haye, outside the U.S., could be of equivalent stature. But it’s fair to wonder if this one is going the way of Riddick Bowe-Lennox Lewis after the latest round of ‘not yet’ and ‘not now.’

Is this what 2011 will be then? Are we to see another year of good fights and solid matches but no consummation on the events that can cross the game over? Or is this merely a hangover of the year gone by?

There are signs of both. By all accounts, the fighters were not holding up Klitschko-Haye. It was a matter of TV dates to maximize revenue. That’s a workable dilemma. The camps of the fighters are back to trading barbs and it’s getting uglier by the day…less workable.

The world might have to settle for Wlad versus another former Cruiserweight champion in Tomasz Adamek. That’s a more optimistic place to be than the dwelling spots of fans still dreaming of Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Even if the first full week of Sweet Science 2011 feels like the worst of last year, like the least of yesterdays, keep in mind there are 51 weeks remaining to wash this away and one dose of bad news might have been a winking bit of the business.

It won’t bring back Shumenov-Braehmer, won’t make Klitschko and Haye stop posing and preening at each other, but, hey, at least no one announced a new Super Six member or that Timothy Bradley got a really bad splinter or something.

In other words, it could be worse.

Knock on wood.

Weekly Ledger

But wait, there’s more, most of it contributions to Year-End Awards Stuff…

Cliff’s Notes…
Eric Morel has expressed interest in challenging Koki Kameda for his new WBA Bantamweight belt. Nonito Donaire opened himself to a future with Kameda in it should he get by Fernando Montiel in February. It’s incredible how easy it is to get called out when the better part of a fairly populous nation watches every second you spend in the ring…It’s a New Year and still don’t care about Money Pacquiao versus Shane Mosley…Oddly, the crystallizing Juan Manuel Marquez-Erik Morales fight is looked forward to…Congrats to the University of Wisconsin for covering the spread against the Lil’ Sisters of the Poor. Congrats to TCU for being no one’s little anything…It’s great that a rematch is going to be forced between Luis Lazarte and Ulises Solis but only if this time no one (Solis for instance) gets highway robbed.

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

Comments

crold1Mon Jan 10, 2011, 1:39 AM UTC

I know, you were one of the very few journalists who were, and I appreciated it. But I can't go along with you on this one. I think it's more a case of lack of trust than getting even, and I don't blame him. In 2009, Wlad wanted to fight in March but waited until June because Haye insisted on it. Then Haye pulled out at the last moment, citing an injury which you've implicitly stated was bogus, leaving Wlad to scrabble around for a credible opponent at two weeks notice. Furthermore, Haye had said he could deliver a football stadium in the UK as a venue, then backtracked with little notice, leaving K2 to pick up the pieces of that too. Then Haye pulled out of fighting Vitali in September the same year, after agreeing contract terms, and only one day before those contracts were due to be signed, either because he thought he could make more money in the long run by fighting Valuev first, or because he decided he wanted to be able to call himself a World Champion without having to take any major risks. Whether you think his reason for pulling out of the Vitali fight was justifiable or not, the timing of his pull-out was not justifiable. It meant the K bros would never again trust Haye's word. And in the light of that lack of trust, I don't blame Wlad for wanting a stay busy fight in April before fighting Haye in July - he simply thinks there's a chance Haye would pull out again. And as you stated in your post, there's no reason whatsoever why Wlad couldn't have met that commitment to fight in April and July, and no reason why Haye couldn't have met the July date either (as he wouldn't have been forced to fight Chagaev first as he claims he would). I wish I could agree but I would bet all I own that Haye means what he says for once, and that he'll retire without fighting a Klitschko. Haye was offered the opportunity to sign now to fight Vitali in July but turned it down. It's far from unprecedented to sign to fight someone who is fighting someone else first. He MIGHT retire without fighting a K bro, but I'll be floored if he retires and stays that way after this October.

Dave_RadoMon Jan 10, 2011, 1:26 AM UTC

I've been FIRM in the "Haye is holding up the show" camp for over a year. I know, you were one of the very few journalists who were, and I appreciated it. But I can't go along with you on this one. Wlad declaring July too long to wait for a fight smacked more of getting even for the 2009 pull outs I think it's more a case of lack of trust than getting even, and I don't blame him. In 2009, Wlad wanted to fight in March but waited until June because Haye insisted on it. Then Haye pulled out at the last moment, citing an injury which you've implicitly stated was bogus, leaving Wlad to scrabble around for a credible opponent at two weeks notice. Furthermore, Haye had said he could deliver a football stadium in the UK as a venue, then backtracked with little notice, leaving K2 to pick up the pieces of that, too. Then Haye pulled out of fighting Vitali in September the same year, after agreeing contract terms, and only one day before those contracts were due to be signed - either because he thought he could make more money in the long run by fighting Valuev first, or because he decided he wanted to be able to call himself a World Champion without having to take any major risks (depending on your point of view). Whether you think his reason for pulling out of the Vitali fight was justifiable or not, the timing of his pull-out was not justifiable. It meant the K bros would never again trust Haye's word. And in the light of that lack of trust, I don't blame Wlad for wanting a stay busy fight in April before fighting Haye in July - he simply thinks there's a chance Haye would pull out again. And as you stated in your post, there's no reason whatsoever why Wlad couldn't have met that commitment to fight in April and July, and no reason why Haye couldn't have met the July date either (as he wouldn't have been forced to fight Chagaev first as he claims he would). Wlad is playing the I'm the real champ card; Haye is playing the "the revenue I'm brining is more' card. I think they'll work it out at some point. I wish I could agree but I would bet all I own that Haye means what he says for once, and that he'll retire without fighting a Klitschko. As to Vitali, nothing is happening there until the signed Solis fight is out of the way. Haye was offered the opportunity to sign now to fight Vitali in July but turned it down. It's far from unprecedented to sign to fight someone who is fighting someone else first.

crold1Sun Jan 9, 2011, 6:11 PM UTC

You seem to me to be willing to give Haye the benefit of every possible sliver of doubt. He recently stated unequivocally the he has no interest in fighting either brother, ever, and that he will fight Chagaev and then retire. That won't maximise his revenue, it will mean he will miss out on by far the biggest payday of his career. I don't see how anyone can objectively conclude anything other than that he was simply looking for an excuse to get out of a fight he doesn't fancy because he knows he'd be humiliated in the ring. He claims that he couldn't fight Wlad in July because he would have to fight Chagaev first, but that simply isn't true. If he signed now to fight Wlad in July (just as Adamek is apparently about to sign to fight Wlad in September, following Haye's pulling out), the WBA would almost certainly have accepted that unification and would not have forced Haye to fight Chagaev first. And even in the unlikely event that the WBA did enforce the mandatory, Chagaev would certainly have taken step-aside money if he'd been offered a good deal, (just as Ruiz did so that Haye could fight Valuev) - and there's a big enough pot to pay Chagaev a very good step aside fee while still giving Haye by far the biggest payday of his career. So there's no reason whatsoever why the fact that Wlad is fighting Chisora in April prevented Haye from signing to fight Wlad in July. Furthermore, Haye hasn't even tried to come up with an excuse for not fighting Vitali in July. (He turned that fight down as well, not just a fight with Wlad on that date). Finally, if he had a problem with July, there's no reason why he couldn't have signed now to fight one of the brothers in September - as Adamek is about to do. There was no problem with TV dates for a September fight. Bottom line, Haye simply wants to retire with a paper belt still round his waist and has shown great ingenuity in coming up with one excuse after another over two years for not fighting either brother, and in persuading many journalists and much of the public that he's sincere. DR: I've been FIRM in the "Haye is holding up the show" camp for over a year. I think this time was a little different and I think there's game getting run on both sides by a couple big ego teams. Wlad declaring July too long to wait for a fight smacked more of getting even for the 2009 pull outs (which, to be fair, resulted when Haye found out he was likely to not get paid for fighting because of network problems) than any realistic need to fight (though I think, as well, it should be said there is NO reason he can't take both those fights in that time span and be fine so I can't see why Haye wouldn't wait). Wlad is playing the I'm the real champ card; Haye is playing the "the revenue I'm brining is more' card. I think they'll work it out at some point. As to Vitali, nothing is happening there until the signed Solis fight is out of the way. Let's see how this plays out by year's end. The words that come from fighters and their camps on these things don't have a great track record historically except for the part where they charge the max for the people to see it.

Dave_RadoSun Jan 9, 2011, 5:18 PM UTC

By Cliff Rold - By all accounts, the fighters were not holding up Klitschko-Haye. It was a matter of TV dates to maximize revenue. You seem to me to be willing to give Haye the benefit of every possible sliver of doubt. He recently stated unequivocally the he has no interest in fighting either brother, ever, and that he will fight Chagaev and then retire. That won't maximise his revenue, it will mean he will miss out on by far the biggest payday of his career. I don't see how anyone can objectively conclude anything other than that he was simply looking for an excuse to get out of a fight he doesn't fancy because he knows he'd be humiliated in the ring. He claims that he couldn't fight Wlad in July because he would have to fight Chagaev first, but that simply isn't true. If he signed now to fight Wlad in July (just as Adamek is apparently about to sign to fight Wlad in September, following Haye's pulling out), the WBA would almost certainly have accepted that unification and would not have forced Haye to fight Chagaev first. And even in the unlikely event that the WBA did enforce the mandatory, Chagaev would certainly have taken step-aside money if he'd been offered a good deal, (just as Ruiz did so that Haye could fight Valuev) - and there's a big enough pot to pay Chagaev a very good step aside fee while still giving Haye by far the biggest payday of his career. So there's no reason whatsoever why the fact that Wlad is fighting Chisora in April prevented Haye from signing to fight Wlad in July. Furthermore, Haye hasn't even tried to come up with an excuse for not fighting Vitali in July. (He turned that fight down as well, not just a fight with Wlad on that date). Finally, if he had a problem with July, there's no reason why he couldn't have signed now to fight one of the brothers in September - as Adamek is about to do. There was no problem with TV dates for a September fight. Bottom line, Haye simply wants to retire with a paper belt still round his waist and has shown great ingenuity in coming up with one excuse after another over two years for not fighting either brother, and in persuading many journalists and much of the public that he's sincere.

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