Boxing 101: A Quick Review

Well we are past the first half of the year. Many things have changed, many remain the same. Some for the worse, some for the better. More importantly, I think there have been some lessons to be learned by some of the fighters themselves. It seems that they missed the lesson first time around, so we will give them a short review. Hopefully they will be able to use some of it to have a better second half of the year.

Let’s begin Boxing 101.

The Basics: There are 5 basic things needed to become a boxer. Without these 5 things, you will never succeed as a fighter.

They are –

1. Hard Work
2. Dedication
3. Desire
4. Willingness
5. Heart.

The fifth may be the most important of them all.

These 5 things are the foundation of a fighter. You take these things and build a complete fighter. As long as a fighter has these basics, they can be taught to become better. He can learn to perfect his craft. With the right people around, as long as the fighter has these 5 things, he can be made into a champion.

Starting out: Once a fighter starts out and begins to progress after his 15th or 16th win, he will start to get the attention of the press. The more press they get, the more of a draw they become. The bigger the draw, the bigger the paydays. The bigger the paydays, the harder the fights.

Once the fighter makes it to the top 10, his career Really begins. For some fighters, the reality of making it to the top 10 sets in quickly. They find out soon it is either sink or swim time. On some occasions, they do not find out until later, but when they do, it is usually with disastrous consequences.

There are 4 basic categories a boxer can fall into if he isn’t able to maintain elite status once the time arrives. Even after winning a title, a fighter can find out the top is not where he belongs. Let’s review these 4 categories.

A fighter with potential and a winning record will eventually make it to the top 10. The path there is a different story. Some guys earn their way by fighting the best in their path and actually earning their ranking. Others build their records up with soft opponents, mostly against guys who are really part time fighters and have losing records; mostly the records contain more losses than wins.

With a quantity of wins, you can make it to the top 10. Problem is, once there you find out the guys already there can really fight! Most guys who fall victim to this usually disappear after one really big fight that ends up with a KO loss. They are called Pretenders. Though some of these fighters may have been real top 10 material at one time, they mostly end up ruined in the sport because they took the wrong path.

The next category is called the Contender. These are guys who belong among the top 10, but not quite at the top. They usually can give any champion a run for his money. On the right night, they can even become Champion, but more often they are the guy that “If” you can’t beat you, will not become champion, rather than the guy “To” beat. There is no shame in being a contender. Jerry Quarry may have been one of the greatest contenders of all time and he was a hell of a fighter and a real nice guy who in any other era would have been champion.

The next category is a deceiving one. This is the Paper Champion. These are guys who have the padded record and make it to a title shot in a weak division. They win their belts from either champions on their way down or from guys just like themselves that they just happen to be a little bit better than. This type of champion is a black eye on the sport. The career of this type of fighter is more of a farce and takes status away from the title they hold. Ingmar Johansson is one of the more famous heavyweight “Paper Champions”. His whole career was based on a lucky night against Floyd Patterson.

The last category is the Wasted Talent category. This is a fighter who has all the goods and makes use of them. Except they tend to have swollen heads and start to think they are above others. They act as though they shouldn’t have to work as hard as others because of their natural talent. When things don’t go their way, it is everyone else’s fault but theirs. This is the worst thing to be a fighter of “Wasted Talent” because the only one who throws it all away is you. In a way, it is an insult to the guys who work twice as hard to earn their victories. These guys take the chance for greatness and throw it away.

Now the review is over, it’s time to give examples to the fighters who missed the class first time around and show them what category their careers fall into right now. With any luck they’ll take notes, study this lesson and improve on the second half of the year. If they don’t capitalize on this, I promise things are going to get worse for them all. Let’s begin

Wasted Talent: Former two division king Zab Judah is the perfect example of this, for two reasons. One, he repeated his mistakes and two, he choked when he was given the chance to resurrect himself. Judah is one of the most gifted fighters in the world. He is fast, he is strong, Judah can box and when needed, he can brawl. The problem is that he’s cocky!

Judah was over confident when he fought the 140lb legend Kostya Tszyu. He forgot who Tszyu was and got sloppy, leaving his hands down and went straight back. Tszyu put him on the canvas and ended Zab’s reign. Judah then threw a tantrum and got himself suspended for a year.

On his return he seemed to mature. His loss to then Welterweight Champion Corey Spinks motivated him to train harder and he came back to dominate the soft hitting, overconfident Spinks.

Now once again champion, Judah started to cement his status and was looking for a mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather. In a warm up defense of his title, Judah was to face the seemingly safe Carlos Baldomir. Baldomir, however, surprised Zab and won a rather one sided decision. Judah had failed to train properly, spending all his time promoting the fight instead, and acting as though he already won. Baldomir, a rugged veteran who has been there before, took the bout serious, taking Judah’s pride and titles in the process. Baldomir is in no way a! better fighter than Zab but Judah took him too lightly.

Judah was then given the chance to redeem himself against Mayweather. He controlled the first part of the fight but once things got a little difficult, Judah again melted down and started to hit low and hold, ultimately losing a unanimous decision.

Judah causes his own problems. Losing is part of sports; you have to deal with it and rebound. If things don’t go your way, you can’t throw tantrums. Judah can rebound and maintain: he did it in the Spinks fights. Judah is always one inch away from greatness but he wastes it with his antics and attitude. He is Wasted Talent!

Ricardo Mayorga is this sports’ ultimate Contender. He has had a world title, he has fought some of the best the sport has to offer, and he is entertaining and always gives it his all. Mayorga will never let you take it. To beat Mayorga, you have to be on your game and never underestimate him. He has the power to KO any fighter, at anytime. If he catches you in a lapse, he will knock you out!

Ricardo sometimes bites off more than he can chew. He is in no way a master boxer, but is a great brawler. You wouldn’t want to street fight the guy. He is in no doubt a top 10 fighter in what ever division he fights in, but he is in no way elite; making choices like fighting Trinidad and De La Hoya, almost back to back. Then, making sure he pisses them off to the fullest before the fights are not always the best choices to make. Ricardo, these guys have been at the top a long time. You are not going to rattle them and you are definitely not going to intimidate them. Why infuriate them?

Mayorga will always be a contender to never be taken lightly. He does need to pick his battles a little more carefully, though. He may have a chance at one more title in his career. With Oscar about to exit and Winky at 160, Ricardo is capable of beating most other guys in his division.

I have to be honest here. I am never sorry to see a Pretender go into hiatus, especially one with a big mouth. Paul Malignaggi found out that just because you have a winning record and a big mouth, you are not destined to become champion. Malignaggi is a decent fighter, don’t get me wrong, but he is more of a Hector Camacho Jr type of guy. He can put on a good show but is not the Show Stopper!

Like Camacho, Malignaggi found out when you face a legit fighter you have to Fight! Paul learned this against undefeated WBO Champion Miguel Cotto. Malignaggi taunted Cotto, calling him over rated and in an interview with Everlast, promised to KO Cotto. Funny thing about that is that Malignaggi only has 5 KO’s on his record.

Though Malignaggi had his moments against Cotto, he was put on his tail end. Had his nose broken and jaw swollen like a grapefruit for his troubles. The kid from NYC found out that saying isn’t doing. If he takes some time off and rebuilds, he will have a bright future. Right now, he is still realizing Cotto is the champ for a reason.

The final lesson for the day is one of Illusion. It is the lesson missed by Antonio Tarver. In my opinion, Tarver has never been impressive. Any thunder he may have had by knocking out Roy Jones was silenced when Glen Johnson did the same exact thing, but in more devastating fashion. Tarver’s biggest win before the Jones win was over Eric Harding, who he had previously lost to. At 38 years old, he still only has had 32 pro fights.

Tarver actually believes his win over Roy Jones has proven his greatness. Truth is, Jones was due for a fall. He had been fighting soft opposition for years and he had just dropped a lot of weight after the Ruiz fight at heavyweight. The Jones that Tarver beat was not a peak Roy Jones, Jr. Tarver’s trading belts with Glen Johnson, who is really nothing more than a top caliber journeyman, is also no career highlight.

His win over a faded Montel Griffith again proves the Paper Champion theory. Tarver has never beaten a top caliber opponent during their prime. He has even taunted Mike Tyson with challenges. A washed up, out of shape Tyson, who actually quit in his last fight. Also, Tarver has been playing World Champion in the forthcoming film Rocky 6. In which Rocky Balboa loses his monthly Social Security check and has to make a comeback so he and Adrian have money to buy groceries.

Tarver plays Mason Dixon (where do they get these names?) Heavyweight Champion of the world. This however does not make you heavyweight champion of the world. Sadly, I don’t think Tarver knows this. The way he spoke about Bernard Hopkins and the knockout win he promised. Saying how he would be the one to send B-Hop away was very disrespectful. Hopkins took this fight very serious. He had a nutritionists help him bulk up to 175. He trained hard. He showed Tarver why talking isn’t doing.

Antonio soon found out that the former Middleweight Champion holds the record for the most defenses for a reason, beyond what he has to say. Tarver also found out that Hopkins and Jones are not the same fighter. When all was over, Tarver was left embarrassed with his face swollen and wore glasses to hide his eyes in public.

All he had to say in his defense was “I didn’t seem to have the pop in my punches tonight”. Tarver meets the Paper Champion criteria in every way. Won title in weak division, beat a fighter on his way down and never beat a world class fighter in his prime.

The reality of it all can be hard on a fighter’s ego. Thank God Tarver’s ego is very big. Yet at 38, his time is short.

I hope this review was helpful. I hope the fighters who missed this class the first time have paid attention. They might learn from their mistakes if they did. The second half of the year will be a test to find out if they did or not.

Boxing 101 is now over. Class Dismissed.