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This Week in Boxing.By Jim Cawkwell May 16th, 2005 All Boxing Articles, Boxing Previews
SaddoBoxing cannot and rolls into action once again on Tuesday as former featherweight champion aims for his second win this year Kevin Kelley against Jose Reyes. Kelley was a world featherweight champion long before facing up to Naseem Hamed, and yet, it is the image of his epic shootout with Hamed that endures in the mind. At thirty-seven-years-old, and with several more losses since then, including authoritative beatings from Mexican legends Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, one wonders why Kelley remains in the game. Perhaps, in some secluded corner of his mind, “The Flushing Flash” truly believes he can do some business on the world stage. If he can, he will have to find a way past Reyes whose record currently stands at seventeen wins and one early career loss. Anthony “The Messenger” Thompson enters the fray once again this week, hoping to deliver the good word that he is one to watch in the future. Hailing from Philadelphia, Thompson reeled off fifteen quick wins before falling in three rounds to Grady Brewer. Thompson is only twenty-three-years-old, but even so, it seems that Jerome Ellis, with a record of three wins, two losses and a draw is a ridiculously soft touch for the once-touted prospect. Thompson is a religious fighter, much in the vein of current featherweight star Robert Guerrero, but he must practice what he preaches in the ring where it counts if he is to make believers out of the boxing world. On Friday, we have the fight for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title between O’Neill Bell and Dale Brown. The title, stripped from former champion Kelvin Davis, will fall to either Bell, who holds a stoppage win over Davis. Furthermore, Bell currently boasts a record of twenty-three wins against one early career loss, with twenty-two knockouts including wins over such fighters as Ezra Sellers, Derrick Harmon, Ernest Mateen and Jason Robinson. “Cowboy” Brown knows a thing or two about world-class competition, as all of his three losses came in losing efforts to three of the outstanding cruiserweight champions of the past five years in Vassiliy Jirov, Wayne Braithwaite and Jean Marc Mormeck; unfortunately for Brown, he was stopped on each of those occasions. If Bell is the real deal, he will overcome Brown and make his way towards a high-profile fight with one of the other champions, or perhaps Brown shall finally realize his world title dream. Light welterweight standout of the Cestus Management group Mike Arnaoutis is back in the ring this week, against Marco Angel Perez. Much is expected of Arnaoutis who already brings some intrigue to the ring in his relatively young career, but he must defeat Perez before any other plans take effect. The good news for Arnaoutis is that Perez has six losses including one disqualification and five stoppage defeats. The very same night, in San Antonio, Texas, former Olympian Jose Navarro attempts to get himself back in the world championship order since losing a bid for the WBC super flyweight title to current champion Katsushige Kawashima of Japan. Navarro must put all of his disappointment behind him, as he must realize that the Far East is where many titles go and do not return for many years, lost in the confusion of senseless title defenses not seen in the Western market. Navarro should concentrate his efforts under the spotlight of Golden Boy Promotions and focus on acquiring another championship. Navarro’s talent should being him a championship, allowing him to force the lighter weight champions of other organizations to come to him. Mexican middleweight Marco Antonio Rubio takes on Pedro Ortega this week as he continues to try to reform his career in the wake of a devastating knockout loss to Africa’s Kofi Jantuah. Rubio is on the right track, having beaten heralded Colombian JC Candelo in his last fight, and with losses to Kelly Pavlik, Kassim Ouma and Tito Mendoza, Ortega may not put up too much of an obstacle for Rubio to surpass. Over in jolly old England, we have an interesting fight for the British bantamweight title as Martin Power takes on Dale Robinson. Power is undefeated and a much talked about prospect U.K. circles, but Robinson knows his way around the ring, having acquitted himself well against international competition as a flyweight. Finally, we come to Saturday and the fight card taking place in Chicago, Illinois, where “Foul Pole” Andrew Golota attempts to win a world title on his fourth attempt against current WBO heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster. The champion’s current form has been less than impressive in truth, and Golota’s last showing as a dominant one in decking WBA champion John Ruiz; however, as usual, the judges managed to find a way to deny a Ruiz opponent. Brewster has this chance to reclaim some of the respect he gained by coming back from the brink against Wladimir Klitschko to claim the title, and in an added piece of interest, if Golota loses, it will surely mean his retirement from boxing. Also on the card, top-ranked Australian light heavyweight fighter Paul Briggs comes across his first world championship fight as he attempts to land the WBC belt against undefeated Polish fighter Tomasz Adamek. Both of these fighters look to be heavy hitters, and a win for either man places them in a prime position to compete against the winner of the Glen Johnson-Antonio Tarver rematch happening later this year. That is it for this edition of “This Week in Boxing,” please make sure to tune in next week as Sergio Martinez makes his debut hosting this feature. Jim Cawkwell can be reached at jimcawkwell@yahoo.co.uk Related Boxing Articles...
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