Boxing News

Boxing Perspective: Miguel Cotto vs. Michael Jennings

By Tam Seddon January 15th, 2009 All Boxing Articles

Miguel Cotto started the year 2008 as the man to beat at 147 pounds with a hard fought win over the highly rated Shane Mosley. When Cotto entered the 147 pound weight class, some people criticised that he simply wasnʼt big enough for the welterweights and that the larger fighters would be too much for him to handle.

Cotto answered the critics with a sheer dominant performance over fellow countryman Carlos Quintana. Cotto looked really strong at the weight and with his later performances at 140 pounds, the 147 move was essential for. He showed that night that he was the future of the 147 pound weight class and defended his title four times enroute to the Antonio Margarito clash.

The fight which really appealed to me was the Zab Judah fight in June, 2007; it really did show that Cotto was on track to becoming the best welterweight in the world. With Floyd Mayweather Jr avoiding fighters like Cotto, Paul Williams and Margarito, it was time for the weight class to start really sorting out who was the best.

The p4p number one was interested in the come-forward pressure style of Cotto or Margarito, but I personally think he was put off by the size of Williams above everything else. The only way in which Cotto would ever get a shot at Floyd would be to go after the other elite 147 pound fighters.

In July, 2008, Cotto got a shot against Margarito, who many still believe was the best 147 pound fighter at the time. In my opinion, going into that fight, Margarito was the third best welterweight behind Cotto and Williams, who had beaten Margarito a year prior to this fight.

The status of these elite fighters is what made this fight really what it was. Everything to gain and lose from this very important fight and that is what was shown from start to finish. Cotto canʼt have anything taken away from him in that fight as his game plan was so effective for the first six rounds. More...

Boxing Spotlight: The British Light Middleweights

By Tam Seddon October 27th, 2008 All Boxing Articles

The domestic 154 pound weight class is really looking like it can have the potential to have some great match ups in the coming years. The talent is beaming from this division and I think it can't be ignored. As a fan of British boxing, I believe this has to be one of our strongest weight classes.

Jamie Moore, 30-3 (21), who is from Salford, looks like he's on the make or break point of his career. He looks as if he's entering the world level and he needs that push to get him out of the domestic scene. At 29 years old, Jamie offers a lot at the 154 world level and having only gone the distance twice in nearly six years shows he has power.

His most noticeable victories were over Matthew Macklin, which could have been Fight of the Year and was memorable to anybody who follows British boxing. How Moore and Macklin continued to fight at that high of a work rate was beyond me.

A former British and Commonwealth Champion, Moore also has a great victory over Sebastian Andres Lujan, who recently handed the great Jose Luis Castillo a one sided drubbing. Although 2008, in terms of opposition, has been disappointing for Moore, I believe 2009 is going to be where he really pushes his career.

Another exciting 154 pound prospect is the experienced British Champion Ryan Rhodes 40-4 (27). I believe Rhodes has found his best weight class if he wants to succeed in his remaining years. He's 31 years old, but he's coming off two great victories, against Gary Woolcombe and Jamie Coyle.

The Woolcombe fight showed that Rhodes is going to be around causing all sorts of problems for the British 154 weight class, and his age certainly doesn't show that he will have problems with the other domestic level fighters. Rhodes, like Moore, is as at the make or break part of his career and with his next fight against top ranked light middleweight Vincent Vuma, it shows that he cant afford to lose anything at this later stage of his career.

The Vuma fight is for the WBC international belt and if Rhodes can win this, it will certainly boost his WBC ratings and he may get a world title shot if he can get some good wins in 2009.

A fighter who has really impressed me over the last few years has to be Bradley Pryce, 27-6 (17). Seven straight victories after his close defeat to world ranked Mick Jennings shows that Pryce is on the warpath to fight the best at 154. More...

David Haye Will Face Monte Barrett At Heavyweight

By Tam Seddon September 26th, 2008 All Boxing Articles

David Haye has now begun his heavyweight campaign after successfully establishing himself as the world's top cruiserweight. His win over Enzo Maccarinelli proved that Haye has done enough at the weight and he can now move up to the heavyweight division.

The second round stoppage was career defining for Haye as the match up had been in anticipation for years. I give Haye great respect for taking that fight because he had problems with the weight and he really had to train hard to make the 200 lb limit. With Haye walking around at over 16 stone [224 lb] in between fights, you can see how much of a big ask it was for him to lose that weight. But he did it and beat Enzo in great knockout style to win the unified cruiserweight crown.

The heavyweight division isn't new for Haye. In early 2007, Haye beat Tomasz Bonin of Poland in brutal knockout fashion. Three knockdowns inside the first round prompted the referee to stop the fight and it was a great start for Haye, who was seeing himself into the weight class. Although Bonin wasn't the best of fighters ,he still held a record of 37 wins and only one loss, to Audley Harrison, who took nine rounds to beat him. It showed how dominant Haye really is over the British heavyweight scene because he got the job done in 105 seconds!

Haye is chasing his dream fight with Wladimir Klitschko and is on the warpath to make this fight happen. David even confronted him at the airport to ask him face to face for the match up. Wladimir knows he has to defend his belt in order to keep hold of it, so he was forced to face mandatory challenger Tony Thompson in a rather boring affair. Wladimir now has to face up and coming prospect Alexander Povetkin in his next fight and Haye questions if Wladimir is capable of beating the young Russian.

I believe Klitschko has been very unlucky with criticism recently. It's really not his fault if fighters get in the ring with him to simply survive and it makes him look bad because of that. During his last two outings, I believe, he was fully in control of the fight sand Sultan Ibragimov was happy to say he didn't get stopped by Klitschko.

Haye is exploiting the fact that the heavyweight devision is really in need of a hero. Ever since Lennox Lewis left in 2003, there hasn't been a legitimate champion in my opinion and the division has been left wide open since that departure. Haye fully believes he has what it takes to be the best in the division and to do that, he simply wants to fight the best a heavyweight. If it was up to Haye, I do believe he would fight Wladimir today, but that not going to happen for the time being.

Haye was told he needs to prove himself as a genuine heavyweight contender by Klitschko because Thompson and Povetkin did genuinely prove themselves. Although Haye is a big name in the cruiserweight division, he hasn't yet had a convincing win at heavyweight to prove to Wladimir that he should share a ring with him. More...

Boxing Perspective: Ricky Hatton

By Tam Seddon September 19th, 2008 All Boxing Articles

© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

Ricky Hatton returned to the ring against Juan Lazcano in May of this year, looking to get his career back on track. After starting 2008 with a knockout loss to pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather, some people were really questioning Hatton's abilities to fight at the top again.

With constant criticism about Hatton's weight and him having to loose over two stone [28 lb] per fight, people were questioning if he would have the stamina to carry on fighting in the future.

The simple response by Hatton was very funny; he came into the ring wearing a fat suit for his homecoming fight with Lazcano. Ricky claimed he didn't put on as much weight in this fight and really did work hard on his build up to the contest. Coming off a first defeat in a career is very hard to take and it can mentally affect some fighters. But did it affect the hitman? No it didn't.

In my opinion, Hatton won every single round and put on a performance similar to one against Ray Oliveira. The stamina issue was answered, Hatton boxed 12 solid rounds and didn't look as if he was tiring. Post Kotsya Tszyu fights showed that Hatton would be "hugging" to get back some energy, but not in the Lazcano fight. More...

Boxing Perspective: Carl Froch

By Tam Seddon September 8th, 2008 All Boxing Articles

The year 2008 was potentially Carl Froch's chance to make some good progress in the 168 pound weight class. After a very convincing win against former world champion Robin Reid in late 2007, Froch was ready for the step up he needed to launch himself as the genuine contender at super middleweight.

Froch had been rumoured to be fighting Joe Calzaghe, but the bout could not been agreed upon due to financial issues for both camps. The next fight set up for Froch was Dennis Inkin, who was ranked number two by the WBC.

The fight was to be an eliminator to fight for the vacant belt, which Calzaghe had recently gave up to fight Bernard Hopkins at light heavyweight. Inkin boasted a record of 32 wins with 24 inside the distance and looked like the test that Froch needed to push his world title hopes. But due to illness, the fight had to be postponed because Inkin had the flu.

Froch got straight back into camp and had the best training of his career in Tenerife and was ready for Inkin. But the week before the fight, Inkin pulled out again, due to an injury. Although he was very disappointed with not getting the fight with Inkin, it's very likely they will fight down the line. Some question whether Inkin was ready for the step up, having pulled out twice.

Froch had been inactive for six months and he needed a fight to keep him busy, so Rubin Williams, 28-5, had stepped up to the challenge a week before fight night as Inkin's replacement. Two days before the fight, Williams pulled out, due to travelling difficulties and not being able to leave the USA.

Froch was stuck with not having a fight or facing a no-named boxer in Albert Rybacki, 15-0. Carl took the fight on the grounds that he wanted to keep active, and impress his loyal fans of Nottingham to a knockout display.

From round one, it was clear that Rybacki was out of Froch's class. A sheer dominant display for four rounds showed that Froch is more than ready for the step up he needs.

Froch has proved over the last few years that he does not belong at the domestic level. 2008 is the year that "The Cobra" is going for the world title, ranked number one by the WBC, he is in line to fight for the vacant belt. More...