The Fans’ Voice.

Welcome to The Fans Voice, a look back at the hot topics and big talking points of the week from the SaddoBoxing.com forum members. If you have an opinion and want to be heard, why not join today and be part of one of the biggest and best boxing sites on the net.

Brewster vs. Golota.

Total shock was the resounding response from the forum as “Relentless” Lamon Brewster whacked out Andrew Golota in under a minute to retain his WBO heavyweight title. In what many thought would be a fifty-fifty fight, Brewster never gave Golota a chance to get started as he downed the Pole three times in quick succession, all with left hooks. Following the pattern set by Lennox Lewis, Brewster was all over Golota like a rash and the first left hook (the pick of the bunch by the way) scrambled Golota’s circuits and he was left on the deck not knowing what had hit him, Golota never recovered and two further knockdowns brought the referee’s intervention after just fifty-three seconds. This was Golota’s third straight tilt at a title and whilst he might have a moan or two about his previous efforts, there can be no arguments about this one; it is difficult to see where Golota goes from here and you would not be surprised if he retires. Brewster on the other hand made a big impression; the Klitschko fight aside, Brewster has a very uninspiring record with losses against Clifford Etienne and Charles Shufford, but new trainer Jessie Reid has Brewster believing that he can do real damage with his vaunted left hook, and do damage he did to Andrew Golota. The commentary team asked before the fight if either of the fighters could do something to make us want to watch them again; I think Lamon Brewster did exactly that.

Lewis retired rather than rematch Klitschko.

OK, OK so it was just about two years ago, but us boxing fans do like an argument and this subject certainly sparks one. If speculating was an Olympic event it would be won with ease by a boxing fan, we are tops when it comes to what would, could or might have been. “Klitschko would have knocked him out if it had gone one more round, did you see how heavily Lennox hit his stool at the end of the sixth?” Then there is “Lewis was beginning to take over, he would have knocked Vitali out in the next round.” So one thing we are sure of, one of them was getting knocked out in the next frame, no ifs or buts, someone was going out, we just cannot decide who that’s all. In all honesty, we have no idea, but it is a lot of fun pretending that we do, whilst the record books say Lewis won by TKO6, Klitschko also did some winning of his own, OK so moral victories cannot go on your record, but he silenced a few critics and gained some fans that night.

For what it’s worth, I agree with his retirement, he had been fighting for fourteen years and if he felt it was time to stop, then it was time to stop, we should all wish him well and send him on his way. I understand that some people were pissed off with Lewis for taking so long to make his decision, but I don’t think for a minute he did it intentionally to deny Klitschko, I think it was merely an intelligent man taking his time over a very difficult decision.

I think the real problem lies in the fact that there was no proper changing of the guard, had Klitschko defeated Lewis it would have been a neat and tidy transition from one dominant champion to another. Unfortunately, Lewis winning and then retiring denied us and Klitschko that natural shift, and we are left with a champion who for all his pluses could not beat Lewis at his worst. Despite the best efforts of some to change his mind, Lewis has remained good to his word and has retired with his health, wealth and faculties intact, he is a family man now and continues his life without boxing, although he is a frequent ringside spectator, in the words of Rocky Balboa he is “officially expired.” Did Lewis retire rather than rematch Klitschko? I don’t think so, but it was a factor…….probably.

Great Knockouts.

Whilst we all marvel at the silky skills of a “Winky” Wright or a Floyd Mayweather, nothing beats the thrill of a big knockout; here are some of the favourites from the SaddoBoxing forum members.

Julian Jackson KO4 Herol Graham, 1990 Benalmadena Spain.

Herol “Bomber” Graham took on American banger Julian Jackson for the vacant WBC middleweight title, and needed just three rounds to run rings around Jackson and have him on the verge of defeat. With a badly swollen left eye Jackson switched to fighting southpaw in a desperate attempt to stay afloat. Graham had Jackson pinned in a neutral corner and moved in for the kill when Jackson unleashed a blockbuster right hook that pole-axed Graham, Herol was out in mid air and when he crash landed he remained there for five minutes, Jackson hadn’t laid a glove on Graham up to that point. In some people’s eyes, Graham holds the unenviable title of being the best British boxer never to win a world title.

Mike McCallum KO5 Donald Curry, 1987 Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

Mike McCallum defended his WBA light middleweight title against former undisputed welterweight champion Donald Curry. Curry had moved up to light middleweight after suffering a shocking loss to Lloyd Honeyghan and was doing well against “The Bodysnatcher.” Curry was on the attack and McCallum had dipped low to avoid the punches, when he rose, Curry pulled away and he got nailed with a picture perfect left hook, Curry hit the canvass hard and his head bounced off the surface; Mike McCallum was a relieved man.

James “Buster’ Douglas KO10 Mike Tyson, 1990 Tokyo Dome Tokyo Japan.

James “Buster” Douglas challenged Mike Tyson for the undisputed heavyweight title, a fight no one gave him a hope of winning. This was supposed to be another demonstration of Tyson at the peak of his powers, it was meant to be a quick payday whilst a fight with Evander Holyfield was negotiated but it soon turned into a nightmare.

Douglas turned in the performance of his life as he knocked out Tyson in the tenth round; no one forgets the picture of Tyson on his hands and knees searching for his gum-shield in the corner while being counted out. Tyson made a grab for the referee in order to get up, the fact that he got up at all is amazing, the finishing punches were powerful enough but the uppercut that got the ball rolling almost decapitated Tyson. The blueprint for how to beat Mike Tyson was executed perfectly by Douglas, only he and his team knew that he was capable of doing it.

Ray Mercer TKO5 Tommy Morrison, 1991 Convention Center Atlantic City.

OK so technically this is not a knockout, but this one is very popular as it is one of the most brutal stoppages I and many forum members have ever seen. Defending his WBO heavyweight title, Ray Mercer pinned Tommy Morrison in a corner and unleashed a torrent of punches which all seemed to connect flush on the chin, Morrison received fifteen unanswered blows before the referee’s intervention came, way too many for my money. It was a vicious ending with Morrison having to be carried back to his stool. When Morrison was taken back to his corner he continued to offer a guard, he had no idea what had just happened, he thought he was still in the fight. Morrison would go on to later win the WBO title beating George Foreman over twelve lopsided rounds.

David Tua KO1 John Ruiz, 1996 Convention Center Atlantic City.

David Tua was trying to make a name for himself on the bill titled “Night of the young heavyweights,” and make a name he did as he obliterated fellow prospect John Ruiz in nineteen seconds of brutality that brought comparisons with Mike Tyson, and not just because of his body shape. Starting quickly, the stocky Tua hammered Ruiz with a left hook that drove him into his own corner and that is where he stayed as Tua let fly with both fists and Ruiz slumped to the floor. Whilst in the act of falling Ruiz was nailed with a right hook that would normally have missed and it completely relieved Ruiz of any sense he might still have had. Oddly enough, it would be Ruiz to go on and claim world honours whilst Tua missed out in his only world title challenge.

The Contender.

The contender drew to a close stateside so anyone wanting to avoid the result, stop reading now. In front of a star-studded crowd at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Sergio Mora handily defeated Peter Manfredo over eight rounds, to claim the $1 million prize and title of “The Contender.” Being in the United Kingdom, I have only seen up to the final four but resigned myself to the fact that I would know the results long before viewing it, the only way to avoid it was to refrain from using the internet for a while and I can’t have that. We already know that The Contender wont be returning, poor viewing figures have put a block on that, I’m sure the suicide of one of its participants (Najai Turpin) didn’t help either.

For what it’s worth, I think it has been a thoroughly entertaining programme, OK so the editing was a bit over the top, the format made good fighters look ragged at times and there have been plenty of moans and groans from some of the other “Contenders,” but hey, you sign the contract you live with it, no one forced their hand, they all took their shot and for some it didn’t work out, that’s the name of the game. Whilst many people moan about the contender they can’t stop watching, the very same people who passed negative comments on day one, were the very same people passing the very same comments on the final day that has to say something doesn’t it? Congratulations Sergio.

OK folks it’s been a struggle but I have managed to avoid the mountains of posts regarding a certain match up at light welterweight that is coming up shortly. Be sure to check out next week’s edition as we conduct a SaddoBoxing forum member’s poll and talk about all things Kostya Tszyu and Ricky Hatton, I can’t wait.

Matt Cotterell can be reached at mattcotterell@blueyonder.co.uk