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By Jake Donovan - Say what you want about Showtime and the bad luck that seems to surround tournaments that include their stamp.
For the moment, their two current series – both of which were targeted to wrap up around this time – are struggling to find closure, but continue to provide storylines galore.
The latest headline grabber came Saturday evening in downtown Los Angeles, when a makeshift main event saw the resurrection of one career and perhaps the declination of another.
Former two-division world champion Vic Darchinyan scored his first meaningful bantamweight win with a thorough beat down of recently dethroned champ Yonnhy Perez in a bout that ended early due to a cut, but whose outcome was never in doubt.
Entering the four-man tournament, it appeared as if Darchinyan was assigned to the role of aged veteran whose name would look good on the resumes of fresher fighters Perez and Abner Mares.
After Saturday, the tournament has instead served as salvation for the transplanted Armenian, while Perez – barely four months removed from a stay as bantamweight titlist - needs to sit down and think long and hard about his next move.
The turn of events isn’t unlike what has come of Showtime’s far more publicized tournament, the Super Six World Boxing Classic involving several of the world’s top super middleweight fighters.
Fighters like Andre Ward and Carl Froch have enjoyed the best of what the round-robin series has to offer – reaping the benefits of watching major risks pay off heavily in their favor.
Ward entered the Super Six as a promising undefeated fighter and a Gold medal winner in the 2004 U.S. Summer Olympics, but lacked the notable wins necessary to convince fans to take his career seriously.
That dynamic changed the moment he registered a career-defining win over Mikkel Kessler in Stage One of the tournament, quickly advancing to the top of the class. Wins over Allan Green and Sakio Bika haven’t done much to elevate his status, but have been enough to hold ground.
In far less dominant fashion, Froch has risen towards the top thanks to his gritty no-nonsense style that has produced wins over Andre Dirrell and Arthur Abraham, two fighters who have since floundered and whose careers are in disarray, though for completely different reasons.
Dirrell has since dropped out of the tournament, though whose reasons have been called into question due to his being less than forthcoming with the details surrounding his medical leave of absence. [Click Here To Read More]
For the moment, their two current series – both of which were targeted to wrap up around this time – are struggling to find closure, but continue to provide storylines galore.
The latest headline grabber came Saturday evening in downtown Los Angeles, when a makeshift main event saw the resurrection of one career and perhaps the declination of another.
Former two-division world champion Vic Darchinyan scored his first meaningful bantamweight win with a thorough beat down of recently dethroned champ Yonnhy Perez in a bout that ended early due to a cut, but whose outcome was never in doubt.
Entering the four-man tournament, it appeared as if Darchinyan was assigned to the role of aged veteran whose name would look good on the resumes of fresher fighters Perez and Abner Mares.
After Saturday, the tournament has instead served as salvation for the transplanted Armenian, while Perez – barely four months removed from a stay as bantamweight titlist - needs to sit down and think long and hard about his next move.
The turn of events isn’t unlike what has come of Showtime’s far more publicized tournament, the Super Six World Boxing Classic involving several of the world’s top super middleweight fighters.
Fighters like Andre Ward and Carl Froch have enjoyed the best of what the round-robin series has to offer – reaping the benefits of watching major risks pay off heavily in their favor.
Ward entered the Super Six as a promising undefeated fighter and a Gold medal winner in the 2004 U.S. Summer Olympics, but lacked the notable wins necessary to convince fans to take his career seriously.
That dynamic changed the moment he registered a career-defining win over Mikkel Kessler in Stage One of the tournament, quickly advancing to the top of the class. Wins over Allan Green and Sakio Bika haven’t done much to elevate his status, but have been enough to hold ground.
In far less dominant fashion, Froch has risen towards the top thanks to his gritty no-nonsense style that has produced wins over Andre Dirrell and Arthur Abraham, two fighters who have since floundered and whose careers are in disarray, though for completely different reasons.
Dirrell has since dropped out of the tournament, though whose reasons have been called into question due to his being less than forthcoming with the details surrounding his medical leave of absence. [Click Here To Read More]
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