147: A great division or a diluted mess?

Floyd “Money” Mayweather

By George Ogier

In the absence of a thriving heavyweight scene boxing fans and the media alike are keen to anoint a weight class as the sport’s “glamour” division. The recent dominance of both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao have led many to suggest that the 147lb stars of welterweight boxing are today’s kings but is that reputation deserved?

There can be little doubt that Mayweather and Pacquiao are the pre-eminent fighters of this generation. Both men have risen through the weights and now, more often than not fight around the 147lb mark. They are responsible for some of the biggest PPV figures of recent years and all this without ever facing each other. Does the mere existence of both men mean that the welterweight division is the most exciting?

The events of the past few weeks have served to turn the welterweight boxing on its head. Pacquiao lost a shocking decision to Tim Bradley, Randall Bailey knocked out Mike Jones and Josesito Lopez forced Victor Ortiz to quit on his stool with a broken jaw. Whatever you think of the judges from Pacquiao- Bradley, the division has been front and centre in terms of news coverage.

It is only really the depressing emergence of rampant PED use within the sport that has taken the shine off some enthralling fights of late. Suspicion still surrounds Julio Cesar Chavez Jr after his victory over Andy Lee. There have also been positive drug tests for the likes of Antonio Tarver, Andre Berto and Lamont Peterson.

Beyond the thrill of watching the enormous talents of Pacquiao and Mayweather there is a generation of more than capable talent at 147lb. Fans were treated to a Rocky-style storyline as Lopez met Ortiz on Saturday. Paulie Malignaggi fought in Ukraine and captured the WBA title. Here in Britain we have the mercurial Kell Brook and the very real prospect of Bolton’s Amir Khan moving up from light welterweight.

Therein lies the strength of the welterweight division. It isn’t so much about Pacquiao and Mayweather and more about what is bubbling just under the surface. Yes, everyone wants to dine at the top table in terms of fighting the two figureheads but the battle to get that honour is equally compelling.

The race to win a payday against Pacquiao and Mayweather provides great sporting drama. However, the inability of Floyd and Manny to actually fight rather than just snipe through the media is a problem. It has created a situation whereby there is little for other fighters to aim at in becoming the best. In many other weight classes there are universally accepted “top dogs”. To get to the title you have to beat the man who beat the man.

Andre Ward

Wladimir Klitschko is head and shoulders (and probably chest too) above all other heavyweights. Andre Ward has proven that he is the premier super middleweight fighter on the planet. Just below Ward you’ll be hard pushed to find anyone that doesn’t believe Sergio Martinez to currently be the world’s greatest middleweight.

At 147lbs there just isn’t that pinnacle, a summit of human endeavour. If you beat Floyd or Manny (fairly) then you are merely part of the alphabet soup of titles. It has become a twin peaks of achievement and like David Lynch’s masterpiece it can be hard keep track of what is happening.

Both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are destined to be remembered as all time greats. Nonetheless, that undeniable fact should not mask an addition to both men’s legacies. By not meeting in the ring they are robbing a new generation of fighters the chance to call themselves the undisputed champion.

In terms of talent and sheer popularity the welterweight scene is the most exciting at the moment. However, individual contests do not shape the whole boxing story. Fans want to know who is the best, they want to see one man rise above all others to become champion. The 147lb scene is currently throwing up some fantastic contests. Sadly, the confusion at the top of a very congested pile is diluting many people’s enjoyment of a golden era.

Split Decision: Quigg v Munroe ends in bloody disappointment

By George Ogier

Rendall Munroe during his post fight interview.

Saturday’s much-anticipated super bantamweight clash between Scott Quigg and Rendall Munroe ended in bloody disappointment after an accidental clash of heads. The fight was ruled a technical draw and we’re back where we started in terms of defining the division.

Much had been made of the battle to decide Britain’s premier 122lb fighter. Munroe, the experienced campaigner faced off against one of the new generation in Quigg. Despite Quigg’s British title it was Munroe that sat atop of the domestic rankings going into this bout.

Rendall Munroe had regarded his opponent with little more than casual disdain in the run up to Saturday’s contest. Munroe felt, with some justification that he was the forgotten man of British boxing. Scott Quigg on the other hand was keen to cement his place as a genuine rising star.

A virtually partisan crowd at Manchester’s Velodrome met Munroe’s ring walk with apparent indifference. Predictably, the arrival of Bury boxer Quigg resulted in a slightly more vocal welcome. Strangely this fight wasn’t for Quigg’s British belt. Instead the two men were competing for the distinctly uninspiring interim WBA world super bantamweight title.

The fight itself was a genuine pick ’em affair. Fans and experts alike were split when it came to deciding the favourite before the first bell. Unsurprisingly, when the first bell sounded it was seasoned campaigner Munroe who settled into an early rhythm.

Scott Quigg’s game plan was to make Munroe miss with his attacks and then capitalise on that inaccuracy with counters. This had a limited success in the first stanza and Munroe bossed Quigg around the ring, catching him with some sharp, clipping shots.

Quigg’s strategy was much more effective in the second round. The British champion visibly grew in confidence and at times he had Munroe chasing shadows. At the same time Quigg was finding his own range and landing eye-catching shots himself.

Most observers had the fight all square as the third round began. However, what was shaping up to be a promising fight came to an abrupt end. What at first seemed to be a fairly innocuous clash of heads soon showed itself to be much worse.

Rendall Munroe’s right eyebrow was split almost completely and the ringside doctor had no hesitation in waving the fight off. An understandably angry Munroe turned the air blue with a string of expletives but there wasn’t any malice towards Quigg. As Munroe said himself after the fight, that’s boxing.

As disappointed as we all are at the outcome the safety of any fighters must be paramount in the minds of authorities. Sadly, not everyone in the arena was of the same opinion and trouble flared up in the crowd as the fight was called off. As a result there were reports of ambulance services being called to attend to some crowd members.

All in all it was a rather unedifying end to a fight which had promised so much. There was a talk of a rematch immediately after the bout but TV money may be a stumbling block. This promotion was the last in Ricky Hatton’s deal with Sky Sports. Hatton Promotions have yet to announce a deal with an alternative broadcaster so we will have to wait and see what the future holds for both Scott Quigg and Rendall Munroe.

Broken Records: The latest instalment Of Haye and Chisora

Neighbourly Dispute

By George Ogier

Yesterday saw another round of a media circus encompassing the impending David Haye v. Dereck Chisora fight at Upton Park in July. What did we learn from the latest press conference? In all honesty, very little.

Once again the two men were separated by a metal fence. This time thought it was slightly shorter than the one used when they fight was initially announced. As a result we were left with a bizarre situation in which Haye and Chisora peered at each other over the top like two fractious neighbours disputing boundary lines.

The event itself was hosted by BoxNation commentator, John Rawling. Rawling started by saying that the event would be donating a sizeable sum of money to the music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins.

On the face of it this is a noble gesture. However, the cynics amongst us might consider it a shrewd PR move as well. If the BBBofC gets its wish and the fight is cancelled then Frank Warren will be able to claim that the Board is seriously harming a charity’s finances.

With little more than a month until fight night ticket sales appear to be brisk. Warren claimed that upwards of 30,000 tickets have already been sold. Whether or not the announced undercard increases these sales remains to be seen.

The WBA heavyweight clash between Alexander Povetkin and Hasim Rahman was confirmed. I can only imagine that the winner of that fight will face the winner of Haye and Chisora. Also confirmed were appearances for Matthew Hall, Liam Walsh and most intriguingly of all, former amateur star Frankie Gavin.

Despite not making the cut for the 2008 Olympics due to weight issues Frankie Gavin turned pro in the same explosion of publicity that caught the likes of James DeGale and Billy Joe Saunders. Since then though it’s been a catalogue of problems for the former amateur world champion.

Frankie Gavin

Gavin won his amateur title at lightweight and has since had trouble with the scales. This seems to have continued with his Upton Park fight being made at a catch weight of 148lbs. It is beginning to look as though Gavin is running out of chances to make it as a professional fighter. Far and away the most talented boxer of that generation it would be a shame if Gavin didn’t make that successful switch to the paid ranks.

As for the main protagonists there was an inescapable feeling of having seen it all before. Dereck Chisora was his usual louche self while David Haye predicted himself into a corner once more.

On the face of it there is no way that these two men should be in the centre of media frenzy. Dereck Chisora is an exhibitionist who might actually do better as a fighter if he was ignored. David Haye clearly tries to portray himself as suave, sophisticated and witty. He merely comes across like a painfully dull broken record.

The usual platitudes were trotted out by both fighters. Haye claimed he was going to knock Chisora out and that the last thing Dereck would see is the lights above the ring and the referee counting to ten. David says this an awful lot in the lead up to fights but he hasn’t actually knocked anyone out since Alexander Gurov in 2005.

Haye obviously likes to think he selling a fight by making these grandiose claims. Ironically this is the one fight that needs no extra publicity whatsoever. News channels are still showing footage of events in Munich and newspapers are following the story in ways boxing hasn’t seen for years.

I am looking forward to the fight as much as anyone but I’d happily see both men kept in isolation until July 14^th. It has nothing to do with the possibility of pre fight trouble and everything to do with the fact that we’ve heard this all somewhere before.

Easy Target: Can Quigg avoid the Gallagher trap?

Rendall Munroe

By George Ogier

In the aftermath of the Manny Pacquiao versus Tim Bradley fight boxing apparently died for the umpteenth time. For those who aren’t prepared to poke the sport’s bloated corpse with a stick just yet there is a huge weekend of boxing coming up.

Over in Texas Ireland’s Andy Lee will take on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr for the Mexican’s WBC middleweight title. A little closer to home at Manchester’s Velodrome there are two great fights in store.

Sheffield’s Ryan Rhodes will take on the undefeated Sergey Rabchenko for the vacant EBU light middleweight title. However, it’s the top of the bill clash between Rendall Munroe and Scott Quigg which has garnered the most media attention in the UK and rightly so.

The fight itself will be for the frustratingly irrelevant Interim WBA world super bantamweight title. More importantly it will decide who is the best 122lb boxer in Britain. Scott Quigg is currently the British champion but it is former world title challenger Munroe who is still regarded as the UK’s best in the division.

The domestic super bantamweight scene is one of the most thriving weight classes in the country. Beyond Quigg and Munroe there is Belfast’s Carl Frampton and the emerging Kid Galahad from Sheffield.

Much of the media spotlight of late has been focussed on the ongoing war of words between Quigg and Frampton. As a result Rendall Munroe clearly feels like the forgotten man and he views Saturday as the time to put this right.

“They’re [Quigg/Frampton] the up and coming prospects. People think I’m dead in the dark, I’m getting old. It ain’t happening, I’m a young man still. Right about now I’m looking at bigger thing, I’m interested in winning world titles”.

Munroe has a point. Ever since losing his world title challenge to Toshiaki Nishioka in Japan in 2010 Rendall has had a very low profile. Managerial changes and one or two mediocre performances have meant that Munroe has drifted from the boxing public’s consciousness.

Obviously there are can be outside influences that affect a fighter’s career. Nonetheless Munroe must take responsibility for some of his career stagnation. Struggling to look good against a previously poor Ryuta Miyagi will not endear you to many people. Rendall Munroe is still rightfully Britain’s number one but it is up to him to reinforce that position.

Scott Quigg

In Scott Quigg, Munroe faces a man almost ten years his junior. With a relentless, come forward style Quigg is unlikely to give Munroe a moment’s peace on Saturday. Whilst Quigg will be keen to put pressure on his opponent it is worth remembering the lessons doled out during his last fight.

Quigg was put down by a Jamie Arthur counter punch when the two met in February. That came just as Quigg had begun to turn the screw on Arthur. While Rendall Munroe is far from the polished and slick speed merchant he has claimed in the past, he is fast enough to punish Quigg’s mistakes.

The knock down against Arthur has posed another question too. Will Scott Quigg eventually fall into a trap that has snared many of his gym mates recently? Quigg is trained by Joe Gallagher and a disturbing pattern is emerging amongst Gallagher’s most talented boxers in the last 18 months.

Gallagher trains his charges to fight in a high pressure, come forward style but opposing coaches appear to have found the antidote to such tactics. John Murray, Paul Smith and perhaps most surprisingly of all Anthony Crolla have all been stopped or knocked out by more technical boxers recently.

Murray was beaten by Kevin Mitchell in many people’s fight of 2011. Smith was knocked out by George Groves in under 2 rounds and Crolla lost his British lightweight title to Derry Matthews. On each occasion the Gallagher fighter has been far too easy to hit. Against someone like Munroe who has fought at world level this could be a huge problem for Quigg.

I have never been much of Rendall Munroe fan. I gave him enormous credit for winning the European title against Kiko Martinez in 2008 but he’s never been a fighter I’ve particularly enjoyed watching. Rendall’s bullish nature ahead of this bout hasn’t boosted my estimation of him either.

In fairness to Munroe he was the best super bantamweight in Europe by a distance for two years. Although he hasn’t covered himself in glory since the Nishioka fight I have a feeling Rendall will be too wily for Quigg on Saturday. I expect Munroe to win comfortably on points and prove he is still the best in Britain.

Buglioni’s Army: The Only Way Is Frankie

By George Ogier

David Beckham, Oscar De La Hoya, Anna Kournikova. All three have made vast amounts of money from a mixture of sporting prowess and looks good enough to have graced magazine covers the world over.

Kournikova made the sort of money that most tennis stars can only dream of. All this in spite of never winning a major tournament. Sport and beauty go hand in hand and it isn’t always the former that gets you noticed first.

De La Hoya was famous for drawing huge female audiences to his fights. The Golden Boy was fortunate enough to have the ability to match his Telenovela looks and is a shoe-in for boxing’s hall of fame. However, there are boxers with only a sliver of Oscar’s gifts in the ring who have carved out a name for themselves based more on their looks.

Gary Stretch

British fighter Gary Stretch is a prime example of this. Stretch won twenty-three of twenty-five professional contests. He was the British light-middleweight champion and even fought Chris Eubank for his middleweight world title. The bout was billed as Beauty v. The Beast and although Stretch lost that fight it was a nice addition to his CV.

Now Gary Stretch is more famous as an actor than he ever was as a fighter. Roles in the superb Dead Man’s Shoes and the not-so-superb Alexander are just two more career highlights. In addition to this Gary was modelling for the likes of Calvin Klein and Versace. It’s safe to say that Stretch is more famous for his face than his fists.

It’s almost two decades since Gary Stretch last appeared in a boxing ring. Last weekend saw the latest episode in the career of a fighter that might one day rival Stretch in the poster-boy stakes. After only five paid fights the British boxing scene is already unavoidably aware of Enfield’s Frank Buglioni.

A talented amateur, for a while Buglioni harboured hopes of fighting for Great Britain at London 2012 but after being cut from a preliminary squad the 23 year-old Londoner made the decision to turn pro.

Signed to Frank Warren’s promotional company, Buglioni has  had five of his professional bouts televised. On each of these occasions, one thing has stood out beyond even Frank’s raw talent. His fans.

One of the biggest issues for young fighters making their way in the paid ranks is audiences. Unless a boxer has had a high-profile amateur background selling tickets is as big a part of their life as training. A decent prospect is judged on their ability to put bums on seats at their fights as well as on boxing talent. Any young tyro with a following will catch a promoter’s eye.

Even in Buglioni’s amateur days he always had vociferous backing and this has transferred to his professional career. Hordes of baying identikit young men seem to make up the majority of “Team Buglioni”. It resembles a casting for The Only Way is Essex at times, chinos and side partings as far as the eye can see. And the best part? Boxing is all the better for it.

Frank Buglioni

With all the political machinations at the elite level of sport recently many have claimed boxing is dying. In Frank Buglioni the sport is alive and kicking. A well-spoken, affable and polite young man, he can clearly box and will only get better under the tutelage of legendary father and son team, Jimmy and Mark Tibbs.

Buglioni’s fan are loyal and will follow their dashing and handsome young leader wherever he might go. It’s not necessarily a regional thing either. His fans come from all over London and unlike say, Tony Jeffries selling tickets in Sunderland, Buglioni’s army follow the man rather than the city. The Enfield talent has a long way to go in building a fan base to rival Britain’s favourite boxing son, Ricky Hatton but it’s a fantastic start.

Buglioni’s last outing was on Friday night in a tough points decision over Jody Meikle at York Hall. The former amateur star won every round but couldn’t stop his seasoned opponent and got caught by some silly shots. However, it is worth reiterating the point that this was only Frank’s fifth pro fight. The timing and defence will improve and allied to some reasonably heavy hands Buglioni is a true star in the making.

Hey Joe: Is Carl Froch Poisoning His Own Legacy?

By George Ogier

Sport has the capacity to distort our tolerance of the socially acceptable. We find ourselves cheering for people who on a normal day we might cross the street to avoid. The recently highlighted behaviour of Luis Suarez is a case in point.

Suarez is an outrageously gifted footballer who was seen to break written and unwritten codes of moral and social conduct. In spite of this people rushed to his defence, why? Mainly because he is good at a sport we love and that can often warp our judgement.

I try very hard to look beyond the personality of a sporting star when assessing their abilities but it can be difficult. I have never been a particularly ardent fan of Carl Froch and more often than not it is as a result of his behaviour outside the ring.

Froch is in no way a bad role model. Never in trouble with the authorities. an apparent family man with a cast iron will to succeed. My issue lies with the fact that every achievement in Carl’s career is overshadowed by a desire for legitimacy. That desire tends to manifest itself in one name, Joe Calzaghe.

I, like many others last weekend expected Carl Froch to be beaten comfortably by Lucian Bute. Unless you’ve recently taken a holiday to the Easter Islands you know how that turned out. Froch destroyed Bute inside five rounds in what many feel was the defining fight of Carl’s career.

For once this would be a chance for anti-Froch cynics like myself to heap praise on the Nottingham man. Rightly so, too. Carl fought in a fashion that I wasn’t convinced he could produce at the elite level. Fast, strong and in complete control. Bute had no answer to the machine that stood in the opposite corner of the ring that night.

I had suggested before the fight that Carl’s whirlwind tour of world title fights might not have been as prestigious as he would have us believe. Froch had made hard work of the Jean Pascal fight with loose defence. Jermain Taylor was a decent conditioning trainer away from a comprehensive points win against Carl. Arthur Abraham is a blown up middleweight and Glen Johnson an old man who hadn’t fought at 168lbs since beating Toks Owoh in 2000.

All of those criticisms were blown out of the water at the weekend and for once we just had to tip our hats to Froch. Yet, less than 72 hours after the fight, rather than basking in the glory of a victory few thought possible Carl was up to his old tricks.

Froch appeared in an interview with BBC’s 5 Live and once again the elephant in the room was Joe Calzaghe;

“I’ll go down in the history books and I’ll be remembered forever and ever unlike other fighters, and I’m not going to mention any names, who have got undefeated records or retire undefeated and you say to yourself ‘Who did he box? He didn’t box him, he swerved him, he boxed him when he was past his best’”.

Calzaghe has been an unhealthy obsession for Carl Froch ever since Froch was the British super middleweight champion in 2004. Even now, after all his personal success Carl appears hellbent on being defined by how his achievements match up against Joe’s. It is all rather unedifying and unbecoming of the world-class sportsman that Froch clearly is.

It would be unfair to heap complete responsibility for this state of affairs on Carl. Throughout his career he has been almost goaded by reporters into taking about Calzaghe. However, rather than simply ignoring the issue Froch insists on labouring the point to a new level of awkwardness.

Along with Calzaghe, the name of Jeff Lacy has appeared a lot amongst the fallout from the Lucian Bute contest. Many still see the victory over Lacy as Calzaghe’s defining performance and predictably there are people, myself included that have drawn a comparison between the two fights. Carl himself was quick to wade in to the Lacy debate;

“I’m not taking anything away from Joe Calzaghe but Jeff Lacy was massively overrated. Jermain Taylor used Lacy as a warm up fight before fighting me and Taylor didn’t see the final bell in my fight.”

Carl Froch’s version of events may be true but as with a lot of his rhetoric they don’t tell the whole story. Joe Calzaghe beat Lacy so comprehensively that the American was never the same fighter after that. The Jeff Lacy that entered the ring against Jermain Taylor was a very different man from the one that faced Joe Calzaghe two years earlier.

As Elton John once said, it’s a sad, sad situation. Carl Froch is an immensely talented boxer. Heart in abundance and a chin that wouldn’t be out-of-place on Mount Rushmore. Unfortunately it is his fixation with Calzaghe that is poisoning many fans’ opinions. Rather than be proud of his achievements Carl is damaging his legacy by forcing comparisons that will almost always end unfavourably for him.

I had hoped to write about the positive side of Carl Froch, the boxer after his amazing display on Saturday. However, Carl Froch, the man only has himself to blame for the fact that it has become virtually impossible to do so.

You can listen to the full Carl Froch 5 Live interview here. 

The Death Of Boxing: Are things really that bad?

There has been an almost gleeful cry from some corners of late, “boxing is dead!”. Many seem to be of the opinion that a fight between two British heavyweights has signalled the end of the sport as we know it.

Much has been said about the fight between David Haye and Dereck Chisora. From, “a slap in the face of the British Boxing Board of Control” to, “a disgusting farce”. I have made my feelings clear on the subject of Haye v. Chisora but attitudes towards it appear to have pervaded the rest of the sport.

We are in an era when boxing has a real battle on its hands to retain an audience. The lack of coverage from terrestrial TV coupled with the rise of companies like the UFC mean that boxing faces a struggle to attract viewers. Or does it?

Almost two weeks ago Floyd Mayweather’s bout with Miguel Cotto became one of the most watched fights in pay-per-view history with 1.5 million buys in the US alone. The public appetite for boxing is still there, clearly. However, the sport is shown almost exclusively on subscription channels. Many are not willing to pay extra for something many only have a passing interest in.

The birth of the Frank Warren backed BoxNation channel appears to have alienated even more fans. The initial reaction to Haye v. Chisora seemed to centre around the issue that it was a money making exercise based on PPV figures.

Let us be absolutely clear on this, Haye v. Chisora is as much a PPV event as the Premier League football on Sky Sports. The fight will appear on a subscription channel, just as any show on Sky does. Yes, you will have to subscribe to that channel but calling it a PPV event is wrong. The England cricket team’s upcoming test series with the West Indies is on a subscription channel. Do we refer to that as pay-per-view?

One of my biggest frustrations over the Haye/Chisora contest is the fact that people who have shown little or no interest in boxing to this point now have an opinion. We have heard the likes of Michael Vaughan and Marina Hyde explaining how terrible events at Upton Park will be.

People are completely within their rights to disagree with the fact that this fight is happening. It saddens me that so many of these views seem to be emanating from an ever-growing bandwagon of ignorance.

I hope people make an effort to see that there is a huge boxing world beyond the likes of Haye and Chisora. There are fantastic matches being fought in a sporting spirit all over the planet every week.

When I mentioned this on Twitter a football fan replied by saying that, “it’s up to boxing to make us care”.

I began to wonder if it really was up to boxing to try and attract new fans beyond what the sport itself offers. Football hasn’t made any particularly radical changes in the last thirty years in an attempt to keep fans interested. The biggest difference is arguably the Champions League, an exercise in money-making rather a fan driven initiative.

There is a public perception that boxing on TV is harder to find than Lord Lucan. That is simply not true. Most football fans I know subscribe to Sky Sports, that in itself gets you at least twenty live fight cards a year, often more. Eurosport shows live and pre-recorded contests too.

Even if you don’t have satellite or cable TV, Channel 5 have done brilliantly with Tyson Fury shows, incorporating Chris Eubank Jr’s early career on many broadcasts. It may be true that BoxNation have taken a niche sport and made it even more inaccessible. It has also given boxing fans a wider range of fights to watch and given us fantastic studio analysis from the likes of Spencer Fearon and Steve Lillis.

This weekend unbeaten Olympic medallist David Price takes on Sam Sexton for the vacant British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles. It’s on Sky Sports 1, a channel many reading this will already have access to. There is a wealth of boxing available to watch on TV in one form or another.

The sport of boxing has done itself no favours in the last week or so but scratch the surface of the recent media frenzy and there is a vibrant and healthy sport just underneath. The added bonus? That in all likelihood it is only a wallet-soothing channel change away.

Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr: We are lucky to have him

“It’s not a black thing, it’s not a white thing. It’s a green thing.”

– The gospel according to Floyd “Money” Mayweather

On May 5^th Floyd Mayweather will face Miguel Cotto for the WBA Super World light middleweight title. Mayweather is a man who divides opinion among fans. In criticising Floyd’s lifestyle are we too quick to dismiss the talents of a truly brilliant boxer?

Many find Mayweather’s obsession with money vulgar and feel it reflects badly on the sport. Others are more forgiving, thanking their lucky stars that we live in an age where such a talented fighter is still operating. Either way, everyone has an opinion on Floyd, in and out of the ring.

Whilst there can be no doubt that this is an era defined in part by Floyd Mayweather it is also an era in which boxing is becoming a niche sport. Despite the rise of Tyson Fury on Channel 5 we have also seen Sky Sports unceremoniously dump Hatton Promotions from their boxing coverage. Ask an average sports fan what they know about Mayweather. The response is likely to include the lack of a fight with Manny Pacquiao or Floyd’s upcoming stint in prison.

Sadly, both topics represent a large slice of Mayweather’s public persona. However, this state of affairs is entirely justified. The Pacquiao issue has been raging for years and looks no nearer to being resolved in the ring. The prison case is far more serious. On June 1^st Mayweather will begin a 90 day sentence at Clark County Jail. Floyd entered a guilty plea to charges of Battery Domestic Violence against the mother of his children.

It is virtually impossible to put both concerns aside, even in a sporting context. Many see Mayweather’s legacy as tarnished for not fighting Pacquiao. The court case and subsequent sentence was even moved around to allow for the bout to take place. Beyond these yardsticks by which we judge Floyd though, can people really focus on the boxer alone?

It seems fitting that a man with the middle name of Joy should bring so much pleasure to so many fans. Everyone wants to see “Money” fight. You may have different reasons for doing so but it is hard to take your eyes off him in the ring.

I have watched boxing regularly for more than 20 years. In that time I do not think there has been more naturally talented fighter than Floyd Mayweather. The nature of sports debate means plenty would disagree but Floyd’s ring craft is utterly phenomenal.

Mayweather was an Olympic bronze medallist in Atlanta ’96. He has used that amateur pedigree has a springboard to a stellar paid career. A world champion in his eighteenth professional fight, Floyd has claimed titles at four other weights besides.

A popular line is that Floyd has no chin, “catch him and you’ll knock him out”. Plenty of people have hit Floyd very hard and yet he only has one knock down on his record. The moment in question didn’t even come as a result of Mayweather getting hit. Floyd damaged his hand throwing a left hook against Carlos Hernandez and touched down, overcome by the pain.

That’s forty-two fights and forty-two victories. Along the way Mayweather has beaten, among others Oscar De la Hoya, Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales, Arturo Gatti and Ricky Hatton. Floyd has risen from super featherweight to light middleweight and still people are queueing up to claim he’s not that good.

There are those that accept Floyd’s talent but maintain that without a Pacquiao fight his legacy will be forever damaged. This may be true but listening to Mayweather’s reasoning as to why it hasn’t happened is enlightening. On his claim that Pacquiao has been using performance enhancing drugs, “I’m going up in weight but I’m not just walking through no damn fighters. This mother****** was 106lbs and he’s just walking through Cotto. Cotto can’t knock down Mosley but he can? Come on man?”

If Mayweather truly believes that Manny Pacquiao is using PEDs then his reticence to face the Filipino is understandable. This isn’t athletics where drug use means a better solo performance. This is a sport where one man’s capacity to damage another might be increased by 30%. There is a health issue for both men involved, not just the drug user.

I am not for one minute suggesting that Manny Pacquiao has cheated with the assistance of PEDs. However, if there is a grain of doubt in Mayweather’s mind, not fighting Pacquiao is justifiable.

Boxing history is littered with fights that never happened. It is incredibly frustrating that Mayweather and Pacquiao seem destined to forever circle each other beyond the ring. Look past the Pacquiao issue though and we are left with an outrageously gifted boxer in Floyd Mayweather. He has defeated a long list of future hall of fame inductees and he has looked superb in doing it.

Floyd isn’t the first professional sportsman to have an extravagant life and an unashamed love of the dollar. He most definitely won’t be the last. On May 5^th, whatever your thoughts on Mayweather the man, just take a second to appreciate Mayweather the boxer.

Tyson Fury: Choose Your Own Adventure

By George Ogier

During the 1980s many young children had their heads buried in the popular ”Choose Your Own Adventure” books. The premise was simple, readers assumed the role of the book’s protagonist in a fantasy world of wizards, maidens and dragons.

As the story progressed you were offered choices on how best to take the tale forward. The resulting decisions generally culminated in a glorious victory against the forces of evil or an ignominious demise at the teeth of a terrible monster.

Imagine carrying this idea over to the world of modern day boxing. Our hero, or perhaps anti-hero in this case is a man called Tyson Fury. Against a tide of mostly mediocre opponents and public brickbats Fury has risen to claim the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles. In the face scorn and derision Fury has labelled himself a “fighting man”. A champion who would take on all-comers.

With that in mind, place yourself in the role of Fury and decide how you would like this adventure to progress. You can fight David Price, the mandatory challenger for both the British and Commonwealth titles. This will be hard but it’s an ideal chance to prove doubters wrong and cement your claim as Britain’s premier heavyweight.

Alternatively, you can vacate both titles to avoid Price and claim that you’re chasing bigger fights. That first big contest, who will the opponent be? Martin Rogan, an over-the-hill Belfast cab driver who hasn’t fought for 18 months and who hasn’t beaten anyone of note for over 3 years. You decide!

In a fantasy world many observers would opt for the first choice. Sadly we do not live in such a magical place and as a result Tyson Fury will face Martin Rogan this Saturday for the Irish Heavyweight title.

There is another side to this story and in fairness to Tyson Fury it isn’t just about running scared, well, not completely. Fury’s deal to fight on Channel 5 is dependent on the erstwhile champion’s success. As it stands, Tyson remains unbeaten and it makes no commercial sense to fight a dangerous opponent like Price.

Tyson Fury has been mentioned as a possible world title contender for a while now. The majority of those claims have come from Fury’s promoter, Mick Hennessy. Whilst Hennessy’s tall talk isn’t particularly shocking, it has raised a few eyebrows to see Fury’s name being used by the Klitschko brothers.

In an era when credible heavyweight challengers are few and far between it should come as no surprise that Fury is on the radar of Wlad and Vitali. Tyson brings a 17-0 record to the table. He has also beaten Dereck Chisora, a man who put up a great showing against Vitali.

The Klitschkos are running out of people to box. There are only so many blown up cruiserweights for them to knock out. It is up to Tyson Fury to keep himself in the best possible to position to hit the big time against either of the Ukrainian brothers.

As we are told time and time again by promoters, boxing is a business. There can be no doubt that Tyson Fury versus David Price would sell out most UK arenas. However, that sort of money would pale in comparison to money that Fury would get for a world title fight.

By remaining unbeaten Fury keeps himself near the front of the queue for such a payday. With a young family to look after it is hard to begrudge him that choice. Avoiding David Price does damage British boxing’s integrity but perhaps Tyson Fury is a little bit smarter than people are giving him credit for.

Please Stop: Should We Call Time On Punch Drunk Enzo?

By George Ogier

Certain people may suggest otherwise but brutal knockouts are a boxing audience’s primary pay off. A huge percentage of fans watch the sport hoping to see one fighter triumph via the big finish.

YouTube is a perfect barometer of this inescapable fact. Mention Usman Ahmed to most people and they won’t have a clue who you’re talking about. Whilst perhaps not knowing his name, there is a reasonable chance that they will have seen Ahmed on YouTube. He became an Internet sensation after an elaborate ring entrance was followed up by Ahmed getting brutally knocked out in the first round.

In all probability, Zab Judah will end up an inductee of boxing’s hall of fame. Whilst Judah’s talent can never be in doubt the video of his crazy dance upon being knocked down by Kostya Tszyu will follow him to his grave. Almost two million people have watched the Judah clip and more than six million have watched the Usman Ahmed video. Proof that however it comes about, people love a knockout.

It would be a lie for me to claim to that I don’t enjoy seeing a boxer sent to the canvas on occasion. However, there have been some knockouts over the years that have made me uneasy to say the least. In recent times Manny Pacquiao’s abrupt disposal of Ricky Hatton silenced me. I was equally disturbed by David Haye’s remorseless destruction of Enzo Maccarinelli in 2008.

Many feel that Enzo never truly recovered from his defeat to Haye. Maccarinelli’s most recent outing on Saturday only added fuel to that fire.

Maccarinelli challenged Bulwell’s Shane McPhilbin for the British cruiserweight title in Wolverhampton on Saturday night. Enzo was knocked down twice on his way to a unanimous points decision win but that doesn’t begin to tell the whole story.

Maccarinelli got a huge slice of luck when the first round was mysteriously cut short by 47 seconds. This after Enzo had been floored heavily by McPhilbin. The Welshman was down again in the third round but rallied throughout the rest of the bout to claim victory.

The fight is now under investigation by the British Boxing Board of Control as a result of the truncated first round. The likelihood is that the Board will call for a rematch and Maccarinelli himself has said he would welcome such a decision. Whilst a rematch would sell tickets and ignite the fans’ interest, is it in Enzo’s best interests to keep boxing?

In another time Enzo Maccarinelli would have been an unrivalled superstar of Welsh boxing. Unfortunately for the big Swansea man his career has straddled that of two separate world champions from the principality.

Maccarinelli’s initial ascent to the WBO cruiserweight title was forever in the shadow of gym mate, Joe Calzaghe. Enzo’s attempted rise to the top in the wake of his defeat to David Haye has also taken a back seat in the affections of Welsh boxing fans. In this instance it is the burgeoning career of Nathan Cleverly that has stolen Enzo’s limelight.

We have now reached a situation where it isn’t just other boxers that are clouding people’s memories of Maccarinelli. It is performances from the man himself too. Nonetheless, it should never have been allowed to reach this stage.

Enzo Maccarinelli

Enzo Maccarinelli is the one of the most popular men in British boxing. Genial, polite, thoughtful and gracious in victory as well as defeat. At a time when boxing has suffered from serious image problems there are worse people to hold up as a role model than Enzo.

Maccarinelli’s recent work on fledgling boxing channel BoxNation has shown that he could carve a decent post-fight career for himself in the media. In spite of this new avenue of employment we are still talking about a rematch with McPhilbin and worse still, a possible all Welsh showdown with Nathan Cleverly.

Maccarinelli has participated in ten fights since his contest with David Haye. In four of those bouts the Welshman has been hurt badly. Losses against Ola Afolabi, Denis Lebedev and Alexander Frenkel have all made for uncomfortable viewing.

In each of these contests Enzo had given a decent account of himself and then got caught with a huge shot. There’s no disgrace in getting clocked by the one you never see coming but worryingly it is becoming a habit for Maccarinelli. With all due respect to the fighters dishing the big hits out, the quality of opposition is dipping each time as well.

Enzo has never been particularly hard to hit. In his early career he was knocked out by Lee Swaby, a warning of future results, perhaps. When a boxer is that easy to catch with big shots then punch resistance is key. It would appear that Maccarinelli no longer has the necessary resilience to absorb such punishment.

I am a huge fan of Enzo Maccarinelli, the boxer, the commentator and the man. His raw honesty has endeared him to many people in and around the sport of boxing. One of life’s biggest challenges is to know when to quit. Telling another adult how to conduct his or her life is also a tough task to undertake.

I would hate to see Enzo pulled away from the sport he so clearly loves. At the same time, to suffer lasting damage as a result of fighting on for too long would be a tragedy. Maccarinelli claimed the British cruiserweight title on Saturday night. It was a belt that Enzo’s recently deceased father was desperate for his to win. Perhaps now would be a fitting juncture to call time on a career that has entertained so many.