Big
Story #1: Bradley-Provodnikov
Tim
Bradley, making his return to the ring nine months after his disputed win over
Manny Pacquiao, waged a fierce war with Ruslan Provodnikov that turned out to
be a
fight for the ages. Bradley was hurt in round 1
and faced serious trouble from the heavy-handed pressure fighter in rounds 2,
6, and 12. He was knocked down in the final seconds of the 12th but made it
back to his feet to hear the final bell. In other rounds, Bradley boxed
beautifully and hit Provodnikov at-will with his full arsenal of punches; he
scratched out a close, unanimous decision. It was an unforgettable fight filled
with drama, momentum shifts and carnage.
Big
Story #2: HBO pulls the plug on Golden Boy
After
seeing a steady defection of Golden Boy fighters to Showtime, HBO took the
unusual step of publicly announcing that it would no longer be in business
with the promoter. Following the doctrine of preemption, HBO turned the tides
on Golden Boy and further disassociated itself from influential advisor Al
Haymon, and his large stable of fighters.
A
Damn Good Month:
Mike
Alvarado: Surviving
some vicious shots from Brandon Rios early in their rematch, Alvarado boxed his
way to a victory and pulled off the upset. Alvarado made many changes for the rematch, including
shortening his punches, changing his stance and reducing his punch output.
Alvarado impressed a lot of people with his boxing intelligence, discipline and
coachability.
Tim
Bradley: Bradley
completely wiped away the bitter taste of his "victory" over Pacquiao
with his rousing performance against Provodnikov. Showing heart, toughness and
skills (if not quite intelligence), Bradley captivated the imagination of the
boxing public with his gutty effort. It was the type of spirited performance
that will help broaden his appeal within the sport.
Juan
Estrada: In
six months, Estrada has gone from an obscure light flyweight to the best
flyweight in the world. Just 22, Estrada outslugged pound-for-pound fighter
Brian Viloria to earn a decisive victory. The Mexican featured a complete
offensive arsenal, tricky upper body movement and good hand speed. Estrada may
have a big money fight later this year in a rematch against Roman Gonzalez –
Estrada lost a competitive decision last year.
Rudy
Hernandez: Doing
double duty in the Alvarado fight, Hernandez made sure that a bad cut didn't
come into play in the second half of the fight and also provided crucial
instruction in the corner. Consistently emphasizing that Alvarado needed to box,
Hernandez, who was the assistant trainer but took the lead in the corner, did a
great job in guiding Alvarado to victory.
Bernard
Hopkins: The
ageless one continues – this time earning a victory and another
title crown by defeating Tavoris Cloud. It wasn't among the best
performances of Hopkins' career, but he featured enough combination punching
and cunning to neutralize Cloud's offense. He's now at the point of his career
where he's breaking his own records.
Macau:
The Chinese
administrative district hosted its largest international professional boxing
card to date. By all accounts the Zou Shiming-headlined, Top Rank promotion
was a resounding success. Macau, which has ritzy casinos on par with Las Vegas,
will be a player for Pacquiao's next fight.
Roman
Martinez: The
two-time junior lightweight titlist always seems beatable and his fight against
Diego Magdaleno was no different. However, Martinez scored a picture perfect
knockdown in the fourth and dominated late to win a split decision.
Although not blessed with an inordinate amount of hand speed or skill,
Martinez's power and pressure make him a tough opponent for anyone at 130 lbs.
Ruslan
Provodnikov:
Although Provodnikov didn't come away with the victory over Bradley, he
demonstrated his power, even after moving up to the welterweight limit. Despite the loss, Provodnikov ensured that he will be an in-demand fighter on
premium television.
Zou
Shiming: Yes,
he's 32 and it may be too late to make an impact in a highly competitive
flyweight division. But symbolically, Shiming’s professional debut will be
remembered as a pivotal moment for Chinese boxing.
Robert
Stieglitz: Stieglitz
came out firing in his rematch against Arthur Abraham and effectively closed
Abraham's left eye by the end of the second round. Abraham didn't answer the
bell for the fourth and Stieglitz reclaimed his super middleweight belt.
Top
Rank: Had a
big month on two fronts. First, the company put on three memorable cards with
Bradley-Provodnikov, Rios-Alvarado II and the Zou Shiming card from Macau.
Second, HBO was impressed enough with its non-Golden Boy product that it
expelled Top Rank's bitter rival from its airwaves. A great development for Top
Rank, the company now becomes HBO's most frequent content provider.
Shinsuke
Yamanaka: The
southpaw, heavy hitter from Japan made a stirring defense of his bantamweight
belt by knocking out Malcolm Tunacao in the 12th round. Scoring three knockdowns
in the fight, Yamanaka demonstrated his expert timing and countering. His
straight left hand is special.
Other
fighters looking good: Terence
Crawford, Keith Thurman and Akira Yaegashi
Not
The Best Month Not The Worst Month:
Isaac
Chilemba: Chilemba
wound up with a draw against Tony Bellew. Conventional wisdom states that a fighter who gets a draw on the road most likely won the fight,
and in this case that's true. Chilemba did enough to earn the victory but he
was too deliberative starting out. He could have picked up a few more rounds in
the judges' eyes by letting his hands go more often.
Golden
Boy: It's
never a good thing when the biggest U.S. boxing network doesn't want to do
business with you. Yes, Golden Boy will be fine, but this new reality with HBO
means fewer dates for its premium fighters, not the goal of
a promoter. Golden Boy ended the month by announcing a new deal with Fox to
start a 24-fight series with its rebranded sports network – a big coup for the
promoter.
HBO: The network had an excellent month
with Bradley-Provodnikov and Rios-Alvarado II. However, it's not a good sign
when some of the most compelling names in the sport will be fighting on
Showtime. HBO may be able to save face and further develop its boxing program,
but Showtime is here to stay as a well-funded and ambitious rival.
Pat
Russell: The
California referee had a mixed performance in Bradley-Provodnikov. He missed an
early knockdown, which, if called correctly, would have changed the fight to a
draw. However, Russell let the fight go 12 rounds when many
refs would have stopped it in the second or sixth. Russell
deserves a lot of credit for the memorable fight.
Brian
Viloria:
Viloria lost decisively to Juan Estrada, slowing down in the second half of the
fight, unable to match Estrada's punch volume or intensity. However, Viloria
had some great moments in the early rounds and landed some enormous bombs. He
should have used movement earlier in the fight, which would have reduced the
amount of blows he absorbed, enabling him to stay fresh in the late rounds.
Arthur
Abraham: Abraham's
proclivities for slow starts caught up with him as Stieglitz jumped on him and
closed his eye by the second round. Abraham never really got into the fight and
his usual strategy of gradually easing his way into a fight turned disastrous.
Tony
Bellew: Bellew
had a winnable fight against Chilemba and then decided not to move his hands in
the second half. For a guy who is so boisterous in the lead-up to his fights,
Bellew was downright docile through much of the match. Not a good performance
in front of his home crowd.
Don
King: The
famed promoter had his most visible fighter lose and the days of Don King
fighters appearing on premium television may finally be coming to a close.
Don't cry for King; he's had a legendary career. But his time as a top promoter
has ended, and even the remnants of his once mighty Kingdom have fallen by the wayside.
Diego
Magdaleno: Fighting
for his first title, Magdaleno boxed well in the first half of his bout against
Roman Martinez. But gradually his confidence eroded and he refused to be as
aggressive as he should've been down the stretch. He lost a split decision. If he fought with more intensity, he'd be the champ.
Brandon
Rios: On one
hand, Rios acquitted himself well in his loss to Alvarado in the rematch. He
hurt Alvarado on numerous occasions and demonstrated his grit and
relentlessness. However, the fight illustrated Rios' inability to consistently
cut off the ring. Now, there is no more talk of him facing Pacquiao later on in
the year. Through that prism, last month was a major setback.
Bad
Judging:
Levi
Martinez: (115-113
for Viloria over Estrada) I'm not sure that Viloria's family could even find
seven rounds to give to its man. In fairness, this was the fourth of five
fights that Martinez had to judge on the day, an abominable practice that helps
explain, not excuse, his performance.
Charlie
Fitch: After
the seventh round of Vera-Bondorovas, Fitch went into Bondorovas' corner and
asked him if he wanted to continue. The fighter had suffered a pretty bad cut
in the sixth round. Fitch heard something in the corner and immediately waved
off the fight, giving Vera the win. Bondorovas' Ukrainian cornermen went apoplectic
and claimed that they misunderstood Fitch's question. Ultimately, Fitch was way
too quick to pull the trigger and didn't adequately explain the situation or
listen for appropriate feedback. Not his best moment as a professional.
Adam Abramowitz is the head writer and founder of saturdaynightboxing.com.
He is also a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
Contact Adam at saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com
@snboxing on twitter
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Nice roundup Rundown :-) Adam... would love to read 1 every month ;-)
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