The heavyweight division is at the forefront of boxing once again. Shannon Briggs brought a title back to the United States last week. This week, Wladimir Klitschko defends his world title against undefeated American Calvin Brock. Also, Evander Holyfield continues his comeback for a world title. Like it or not the heavyweights are back.
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Calvin Brock
Klitschko is regarded as the best heavyweight boxer in the world and is rated #1 by Ring Magazine. He has recent victories over Chris Byrd and Samuel Peter. Knockout is the name of the game for Wladimir. Only five of his 46 wins went the distance and all three of his losses were by TKO. His weak chin was on display against Peter when he was put down three times even though he rallied for a unanimous decision. The X-factor for Klitschko is his trainer Emanuel Steward. Hands down, Steward is the best trainer in boxing and has been for thirty years. Klitschko is hard to beat without Steward but his new trainer took him to another level.
Calvin Brock is an undefeated American that was previously a banker before turning professional in boxing. His undefeated record is filled with a lot of fluff as his best two opponents are Jameel McCline and Timor Ibragimov. Brock can be boring at times and that was shown in his last fight with Ibragimov. He must not worry about outboxing Wladimir because he can’t. Brock needs to exploit that weak chin if he wants to win.
Officially, the IBF and IBO Heavyweight titles are on the line but the winner could be considered the number one heavyweight in the world. The fight is in Madison Square Garden but the Ukranian Klitschko is the clear crowd favorite.
Calvin Brock looked awkward in the first two rounds. The announcers hinted at nerves and that’s probably accurate. Wladimir established his jab early as expected. Klitschko has a four inch reach advantage over Brock and used it wisely. Klitschko’s jabbing + Brock’s clumsiness = fans booing by the fourth round.
Brock’s gameplan seemed to be to go for the body. It produced a lot of clinches and it was clear Wladimir wanted no part of that. Every time Calvin clinched, Wladimir would give a little push as they broke or lean on Brock to make him support his weight. Little tricks like that sometimes convince your opponent to stop clinching. Klitschko’s pecking jab just had to be annoying. Brock started to develop some swelling under his left eye in the fifth round due to the constant jabbing. It probably would have helped if Brock moved his head at all. He just stood in front of Klitschko and let him jab him in the face.
An accidental headbutt opened up a cut to the side of Klitschko’s left eye in the sixth round. Maybe it was the blood, but the action picked up from that point. A right straight from Klitschko in the seventh dazed Brock. Wladimir started throwing wild haymakers in anticipation of a knockout. A few more clean shots proved Brock was indeed out of it and he went down hard. Brock was up at 9 but in no condition to continue. Klitschko retained his titles and cemented his name as the best heavyweight in the world.
Evander Holyfield vs. Fres Oquendo
Holyfield is intent on getting the world heavyweight title back and given the current state of the division, a fight against a current champion would be big news. Holyfield needs to get to that point though and I don’t believe he has it in him. Holyfield needs to prove he can beat fighters better than Jeremy Bates.
Fres Oquendo is a much more credible opponent than Bates. Oquendo was 26-3 coming into this fight with his three losses coming to David Tua, Chris Byrd, and John Ruiz. This fight would be an accurate assessment regarding Evander Holyfield’s standing in the heavyweight division.
Evander wants to send a message to those that doubt his comeback. That message was received loud and clear when he put Oquendo to the canvas in the first round. Oquendo landed the first big shot of the night in the first round but Evander made his retaliatory punch count for more. Oquendo answered the count but remained hesitant for the rest of the fight. A 12-round fight. That means, boys and girls, that Fres Oquendo did nothing for twelve rounds.
Holyfield took advantage of Oquendo’s inactivity in what amounted to a gift victory for Holyfield. The fight went the distance and Holyfield was awarded with a unanimous decision victory. There were roughly 10,000 people in attendance at the Alamodome in San Antonio and the fight was broadcast on Fox Sports PPV.
Oquendo stormed out of the ring when the decision was announced and he legitimately feels he was cheated. “It was robbery,” Oquendo said. “I thought it should have been unanimous. Unanimous in my favor. I beat him fair and square. I boxed his ears off but I didn’t get it.”
No Fres. Evander was missing that part of his ear before he got into the ring with you.
“I have a goal,” Holyfield said regarding his comeback. “And the point of reaching every goal, a lot of people have setbacks. The strong people who stay No. 1 the longest time, they have more setbacks than anybody. But they overcame the setbacks. They just didn’t quit. This whole world would be successful if everybody stopped quitting.”
That’s a sweet message for the kids but The Little Engine That Could pretty much covers that issue without having to be punched in the head. Evande’s next fight is tentatively scheduled for January in his hometown of Atlanta, GA. No opponent has been announced so it may turn out to be more of a showcase for his hometown fans.
Other Results From The Week
– Canadian Steve Molitor captured the vacant IBF Super Bantamweight Title with a fifth round KO of Michael Hunter.
– Heavyweight Sinan Samil Sam defeated Bob Mirovic by unanimous decision.
– American cruiserweight Rico Hoye scored a 10th round TKO of Sam Hill.
– Oscar Diaz lost to my favorite name in boxing, Golden Johnson, by 11th round TKO in their welterweight contest.
– Manuel Medina won an IBF Super Featherweight Eliminator against former world champion Kevin Kelley. Medina was just involved in an undeserving IBF title fight and now it seems like he’s at it again.
– Laila Ali won easily over Shelley Burton in front of her father at Madison Square Garden.
– Middleweight prospect Andy Lee out of Ireland remained undefeated with a six round unanimous decision over Dennis Sharpe.
– Hozumi Hasegawa successfully defended his WBC Bantamweight Title with a unanimous decision over Genaro Garcia.
