A roundup of the past week’s notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Atlantic City, N.J.
Andre Ward W12 Carl Froch |
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Unifies world super middleweight title Scores: 118-110, 115-113 (twice) Records: Ward (25-0, 13 KOs); Froch (28-2, 20 KOs) |
| Rafael’s remark: When Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic began 26 months ago, the landscape at 168 pounds was far different than it is today. The pre-tournament favorite was then-titleholder Mikkel Kessler with Arthur Abraham, the powerful middleweight titlist who was moving up in weight for the tourney, the second choice. England’s Froch was a well-respected titleholder also expected to do well. And then there were the three Americans, Jermain Taylor (big name, fading ability) and 2004 Olympic medalists Ward (gold) and Andre Dirrell (bronze), who were the young, unproven prospects. Two-plus years later, it is Ward who not only stands at the top of the heap as the clear-cut unified super middleweight world champion and Super Six winner, he is also now a bona fide pound-for-pound top five fighter in the world.
Ward’s utterly dominant trip through the tournament — which included wipeout decisions against Kessler (to win a title via 11th-round technical decision), Allan Green, Sakio Bika (officially outside the tournament when Dirrell dropped out and was not replaced) and Abraham (in the semifinals) — concluded with a masterpiece of boxing and fighting against Froch. It was a tremendous performance made even more impressive when you consider that Ward, 27, of Oakland, Calif., fought with a bum left hand that he had injured in training camp and aggravated in the sixth round when he landed one of his numerous hooks on Froch’s hard head. Let’s be clear about one thing — the scorecards turned in by judges Craig Metcalfe of Canada and American John Stewart were an absolute joke. Surprisingly, it was British judge John Keane, who ostensibly was supposed to be Froch’s judge, who had it right at 118-110. Stewart’s card should not just be swept under the rug because Ward won. While Metcalfe’s card was pathetic, he at least had Froch winning the late rounds to close the gap, which is when Froch had what little success he had. Stewart’s card, however, is an abomination of abominations. He gave Froch four of the first five rounds (when Ward was his most dominant) and still had him leading after seven rounds. That is cause for an investigation by New Jersey officials, who suspended the three judges who were so horrible in the Paul Williams-Erislandy Lara disgrace in July for their indefensible scorecards. Judging aside, Ward, who made $900,000, thoroughly dominated. His could not miss with his left hook and his right hand, jab and body work were also excellent. He fought on the inside, where Froch was supposed to be superior, and tattooed him from the outside. The CompuBox statistics back up Ward’s domination offensively and defensively as he landed 243 of 573 blows (42 percent) while Froch, 34, was limited to landing 156 of 683 punches (23 percent). It was the best performance of Ward’s career and the kind of high-profile victory that likely will earn him 2011 fighter of the year honors. Froch, who made $600,000 plus a share of British television money, navigated a tough road to the final. He took a tight split decision from Dirrell in England, lost a rough fight in Denmark to Kessler and bounced back with a dominant win against Abraham and a majority decision against Glen Johnson in the semifinals. Against Ward, he could do almost nothing and, to Froch’s credit, he was humble in defeat and gave Ward all the credit he deserved. Ward continued a 15-year winning streak that dates to when he was a 12-year-old amateur. Losing is just an alien concept to him and his career-long trainer, Virgil Hunter, who has not always gotten a lot of credit for Ward’s development, surely deserves it. Froch said he would like to next fight back home in England and there are still attractive fights for him. He shouldn’t be written off. After his brutal seven-fight run, dating to before the tournament, he certainly deserves a bit of a break in whomever he picks to fight next. Ward, now atop the mountain, will have options too. Obviously, the biggest fight in the division is for him to face titleholder Lucian Bute of Montreal, who was ringside, is signed to Showtime and really wants the fight. However, Ward said afterward that it was no guarantee and that he believed Bute should have to beat an A-level opponent first (which could mean a Bute-Froch fight first). Ward also said he would consider a trip to light heavyweight for the “right” fight. Ward can pick whomever he wants. He has earned that right to go with his status as an elite champion and one of the very best in boxing. |
Records: Brook (26-0, 18 KOs); Galarza (18-3, 14 KOs) |
| Rafael’s remark: Brook, 25, is a rising contender who has been getting a lot of buzz in England, especially after back-to-back dominant wins this year, first a lopsided decision against tough gatekeeper and former junior welterweight titlist Lovemore N’Dou followed by a sixth-round knockout Rafal Jackiewicz, the former European champion and world title challenger, who had never previously been stopped. Brook could get a title opportunity in 2012 as he is being brought along well by promoter Eddie Hearn, who also wanted to introduce him in the United States and let the media and Showtime television executives get a look at him. So Hearn, who also promotes Carl Froch, put Brook on the undercard of Froch’s big fight with Andre Ward. Brook looked a little tight and said he had some nerves in making his American debut against Galarza, a very limited (but tough) 29-year-old from Antioch, Tenn. Whatever nerves Brook did have, it did not impact his ability to outclass Galarza, who took a pounding. Brook, whose speed is a bit suspect, was nonetheless very accurate with his punches (landed 44 percent to Galarza’s 15 percent) against an opponent made to order. He was landing all kinds of shots with both hands in the fifth round and had Galarza on the ropes when referee Alan Huggins intervened at 1 minute, 38 seconds. All in all, a decent U.S. debut from a fighter we’d like to see more of. |
Saturday at Thackerville, Okla.
Scores: 100-90 (three times) Records: Marroquin (21-1, 14 KOs); Valcarcel (12-4-4, 5 KOs) |
| Rafael’s remark: Top Rank has long considered Marroquin, 22, of Dallas, one of its top prospects, so it was a surprise when he lost a bloody 10-round split decision to Frankie Leal in April in a big upset. Marroquin is putting the loss in the rearview mirror as he returned to easily outpoint Jose Angel Beranza in an eight-rounder in July and authored a shutout of Valcarcel in the main event of the final “Top Rank Live” of the year. Marroquin looked sharp in the fast-paced fight. He started quickly and never let up as he dominated the game Valcarcel. Marroquin beat him to the punch all night, worked with both hands well and fired numerous stiff shots and combinations. Marroquin took some shots in return and had a little bruising on his face, but he did way more damage than he took. This was another good performance for Marroquin, who can look forward to stepping up his level of opposition in the new year as he continues to rebound from the loss, which, ultimately, figures to be a good learning experience for him. Valcarcel, 30, of Puerto Rico, lost his second 10-round decision in a row. |
Saturday at Ciudad Obregon, Mexico
Records: Salido (37-11-2, 25 KOs); Haya (14-5, 8 KOs) |
| Rafael’s remark: In April, Salido pulled off one of the upsets of the year when he went to Puerto Rico and knocked out Juan Manuel Lopez to claim a featherweight title. A rematch is likely to happen in March on Showtime, but Salido has stayed busy waiting for it. He defended his title in July with an 11th-round knockout win and took this nontitle bout at junior lightweight in his hometown as a supposed tune-up. But Salido courted disaster with this far tougher fight than expected against the unknown Haya, 22, of the Philippines, who almost derailed Salido’s rematch. It was a very good fight filled with exciting exchanges. When they were going at it toe-to-toe in the third round, with Salido getting the better of the action, he suddenly got knocked down courtesy of a wild left hand on the chin from Haya, who blasted him after taking several shots of his own. Salido beat the count and appeared clear headed as the round ended a few seconds later. But 10 seconds into the fourth round, Salido was down again on his rear end after eating a wide-open straight left hand. He beat the count and seemed OK and they went back to battling back and forth. As the fight wore on Salido began to take over as Haya began to fade. He had Haya in big trouble in the seventh round and finished him 35 seconds into the eight round when he badly hurt him with a right hand. Haya staggered back into the ropes and Salido landed a couple of more punches as Haya went down to his backside. But the damage had been done by that right hand. Haya beat the count, but was in no shape to go on and the fight was called off. Onto the rematch with Lopez. |
Records: Mijares (44-6-2, 20 KOs); Valdez (25-7-2, 19 KOs) |
| Rafael’s remark: Mijares, 30, of Mexico, is a former dominant junior bantamweight champion. But then he lost three fights in a row, his belts to Vic Darchinyan by ninth-round knockout in 2008 and then back-to-back decisions to Nehomar Cermeno in interim bantamweight title bouts. Since then, however, Mijares has won eight fights in a row, including winning another version of the junior bantamweight title before vacating it after one defense and moving up in weight. Mijares continued to roll along as he stopped Valdez, 30, also of Mexico at 1 minute, 24 seconds of the third round. Valdez, 28, of Mexico, lost his second fight in a row by knockout inside four rounds and for the third time in four fights. He has lost mainly to quality opponents such as Mijares, Rico Ramos (who would later win a junior featherweight title), Hozumi Hasegawa (in a featherweight title bout) and Nehomar Cermeno (in an interim bantamweight title bout). |