The State of British Boxing: Young Tiger, Old Lions Part II.

Joe Calzaghe (39-0) kept alive his mega-fight ambitions last weekend with a repeat victory over former first round knockout victim Mario Veit (45-2). The long reigning Welsh champion showed his mettle by traveling into hostile territory for only the second time in his career,

as he put his title on the line against the much improved number-one challenger and hometown favorite. Defending his WBO super middleweight crown for the sixteenth time in front of an 8000 strong crowd inside the Volkswagenhalle in Braunschweig, near Hanover, Calzaghe reaffirmed his superiority over the lanky German with another convincing stoppage, this time in the sixth frame. With the win, the door now opens for a potential unification clash with IBF title-holder, Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy, later on in the year. It is a fight that Joe needs desperately; his stagnating career has had the reek of wasted talent for more than a few years now and a big fight, and more importantly a big win, is the only way to restore his waning credibility as a legitimate champion.

The frustratingly long line of substandard opponents challenging for Calzaghe’s belt have not only had a regressive effect on his standing in the sport, but the quality of his performances seemed to have been suffering as well prior to his recent return to form in Germany. His scrappy defense against Kabary Salem in particular left a sour taste in the mouths of those who, like me, know how good Calzaghe can be when he has his head screwed on properly. For twelve ugly, uneventful rounds, we witnessed a highly skilled champion with a wealth of experience fight down to his considerably less talented challengers’ level; Calzaghe was sucked into a cesspit of mediocrity and it became an uphill struggle against a guy who, if truth be told, should not have even been in the same ring as him outside of a sparring partner capacity. The gap in class between the two is/should have been that wide. You know the saying, “you are what you eat,” well, for a boxer, it can often be, “you are who you fight.” Watching Calzaghe lunge in with poorly timed and amateurish attacks against the raw and limited Salem, it was a notion that suddenly rang alarmingly true. He had become what he was competing against: a C level fighter.

Thankfully, he was able to raise his game on Saturday night and finally rid himself of Veit; I have a feeling that Mario and his team will not be clamoring for a third meeting anytime soon. It was a performance that Calzaghe should be very pleased with, and although the result in itself won’t have done anything to raise his profile across the Atlantic or anywhere else for that matter, at least he has shown that he is willing to fight outside of his comfort zone and take on challenges. I questioned that about him, I believed that he lacked ambition and had perhaps even lost some of his desire for the sport. In recent interviews though, the fighter has been quick to squash any and all such suggestions before they even reached his ears. He told us how, since Christmas, he has lived in the gym. He has described to us of the anger that he felt at the last-minute cancellation of his voluntary defense against Irishman Brian Magee. And in regards to his future, he has continued to express a convincing desire to make 2005 the year in which he finally participates in meaningful fights.

Bet I know what you are thinking, we have heard it all before and nothing ever materializes; what is different this time? To that, all I can say is that we have to forget about the past and trust in the present. Calzaghe-Lacy looks to be a done deal if the American takes care of Robin Reid in his next defense. Having learnt a thing or two from past let downs, it would probably be wise at this stage not to raise our hopes too high, as nothing has been inked yet. On the positive side though, reportedly, both teams are strongly committed to making the fight a reality, which if nothing else, is encouraging news.

The undefeated Lacy has made an amazingly swift transition from touted prospect to established world champion in the past seven months or so; his status has skyrocketed in the wake of a string of impressive victories over highly rated contenders Syd Vanderpool, Omar Sheika and Rubin Williams. The St. Petersburg, Florida native has emerged as the new force in the division and with fewer than twenty fights, has been keeping busy wowing crowds with his free-swinging style and fearsome repertoire of crunching hooks and debilitating uppercuts. If a match between him and Calzaghe does come to fruition as expected, it will mark by far and away the biggest and most significant super-middleweight collision since….I can’t even remember when, lets just say for a long, long time. But wait a minute, am I overlooking a certain somebody?

Robin Reid (38-4-1), despite being a substantial underdog (and rightly so I may add), is not going to be lying down when he meets Lacy in June as he is, one would assume, acutely aware that this upcoming title fight could well represent his last bite at the big-time. With that in mind, I think a small amount of foolishness must be present to totally dismiss the possibility of an upset; not only does the British challenger have former world championship credentials, he possesses two innate qualities which serve to make him a threat to anyone that he squares off against. Without exception, Reid takes into the ring with him a chin forged of iron and explosive power in his right fist. Age has admittedly robbed him of some of his speed and mobility, but against Lacy, I do not expect that he will be doing a great deal of chasing. The two are going to lock horns in the centre of the ring and go at it tooth and nail until the final bell, or until one of them relents to the others will.

Let me say this, five years ago I would have fancied Reid by late round stoppage, but after watching videos of his last couple of fights, it is glaringly obvious that he has lost a step. Try as I might, I just cannot picture him out-punching the younger champion and keeping up with the furious pace that he is bound to set. Reid still has a punchers chance but the most likely scenario is that he fades in the second half of the contest and is either stopped on his feet or drops a wide decision.

The younger version of Reid that I was referring to was good enough to almost give Joe Calzaghe his first loss when they crossed paths in 1999, he walked away from their grueling encounter with a split decision loss, but there are those who still persistently claim that the wrong man got the nod. Just say that he is able to turn back the clock and dethrone Lacy, a rematch with Calzaghe would be huge in this country. I am not sure quite how much it would contribute to the enhancement of Joe’s legacy, but it is a fight that we would all pay good money to see again. That is one possibility, however, as you know my money is not on Reid to pull it off; I will of course be rooting for him, although I doubt somehow that my shouts of encouragement will help him against Lacy. If he does lose as I expect, a domestic dust-up between him and Carl Froch should be his next move. Young tiger against old lion, it is a match-up full of intrigue as the two gladiators are currently sitting at opposite spectrums in their respective careers; Froch is coming up, and Reid, who is obviously slightly past his peak, would provide the ultimate acid test for us to see just how good the cocky British champion really is. It would be a great fight to watch and I really hope that we do not have to wait too long for it to happen.

I have made the decision to refrain from getting into any analysis of the proposed Calzaghe-Lacy fight until it is official, in the hope of lessening my potential disappointment if negotiations fall through down the road. Let’s just wait and see what happens, and if the fight is still on in a couple of months, then maybe we can start getting excited.

Next week, I am going to be saying a few things about British middleweight Howard Eastman. Stay tuned.

Don Caputo can be reached at don_caputo@hotmail.com