WEEKEND BOXING WRAP-UP & VIDEOS

Posted on | June 30, 2009 | No Comments

by: Patrick McElligott

There were three solid televised fights this weekend. Each of the three fights was entertaining, and will help define both the rankings and future bouts in important weight classes. More, the third fight rates as among the best of 2009, and will likely provide the winning entry for “round of the year.”

On Friday, June 26, ESPN provided boxing fans with an interesting middleweight bout between undefeated prospect Daniel Jacobs and tough George Walton. Jacobs continued to show his developing skills in the professional ranks, in scoring an 8th round TKO over Walton, who had never been stopped before. Jacobs, who was among the very best amateurs in the United States, appears likely to be challenging the best in the division within a year. He is only 22 years old, and at 6’ 1″ may well grow into the super middleweight division in the future. Jacobs is an engaging young man, who has an impressive appreciation for controlling the action inside the ring. I think he has as much or more potential as any of the young, up-and-coming contenders.

On Saturday, Showtime featured same-day coverage of IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham’s 10 round TKO of Mahir Oral. The fight was relatively slow-paced, with Oral showing good skills. He was backing Abraham up much of the time, as both men concentrated almost exclusively on straight punches to the head. At times, the challenger was able to knock Abraham off balance, although he did not appear to ever hurt him.

That the fight was more difficult than the announcers on Showtime realized was evident when listening to Abraham’s corner men between rounds. Even after hurting Oral in the middle rounds, Abraham appeared to tire after throwing a couple of combinations. This was probably due to the efforts to make the weight limit; Abraham will likely be moving up to the super middleweight division.

After the bout was stopped, Abraham said that he plans to come to the US to compete against the big names here. Certainly, that’s how he can make the big money. Still, there are questions about him. On one hand, he is an intense competitor: he is very strong, has good defensive skills, and as he proved in the first Miranda fight, he can withstand pain and injury. However, there are times when watching the Armenian strongman when I am reminded of the heavyweight Jose Manuel Ibar Urtain, who created excitement in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. Urtain, who came from a family of champion “rock-lifters” from Spain, was a powerhouse who was The Ring magazine’s “fighter of the month” in the summer of 1970. He won 33 of his first 34 fights by knockout (losing one DQ for a low blow), before being exposed as having too limited of skills to compete at the top level by England’s Henry Cooper.

In the most exciting fight of the weekend, HBO’s BAD (Boxing After Dark) presented a war between interim WBA junior welterweight champion Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana. As most boxing fans know by now, they “traded” knockdowns in the first round; Ortiz scored two more knockdowns in the second; and Maidana battered Ortiz in the fifth, opening a serious cut over his right eye, and finishing it in the opening of round six (Ortiz went down, rose with a large swelling under his left eye, and was stopped).

After the fight – both before and after interviewing Ortiz – Max Kellerman said some negative things about the defeated warrior. I’d like to take a moment to address these for a couple of reasons. First, by finding fault with Ortiz, Max’s comments take away from the credit that Maidana absolutely deserves. I’m sure Max did not mean to do this, but it was there. And both Maidana and Ortiz should be respected fully for their roles in one of the most action-packed fights anyone will ever see.

Second, while Max is a good historian, and is correct in statements about some great fighters who respond to being hit hard by landing two hard shots, and some fight on until they are counted out, he missed the far more important points. This is, I assume, because he is an HBO employee, and HBO was investing in Ortiz’s future.

However, many great fighters have been “boxers,” rather than “sluggers.” There are distinct advantages to hitting and not being hit. There are reasons to tie-up after being stunned. And, as Max noted at the end of the second round, none other than Oscar de la Hoya was signaling to Ortiz to use his head.

When Ortiz let Maidana lead, he hurt him with counter punches. In fact, he decked him three times by punching inside Maidana’s wider shots. But when Ortiz led, Maidana got the better of him.

Ortiz told Max that in training, he was thinking he could knock Maidana out. His trainers should have been aware of this. Likewise, they should have been telling Ortiz to allow Maidana to lead – and noted how frequently, when Maidana threw a right cross, he was so off-balance that he stepped forward with his right foot. Ortiz’s corner should have been precise in instructing him to jab, and move side-to-side. Instead, they kept telling him to remember what they did in training. A hurt fighter is not going to be capable of focusing on what happened in training during the brief rest periods. A good corner will focus on two or three things (at most) that the fighter needs to do in the upcoming round. “Jab, counter, then move out side-to-side.” Now, maybe Maidana would still have won. Or maybe it would have been a less exciting fight. But those simple instructions, all things that the talented young Ortiz is fully capable of, might have made a big difference. It’s no coincidence that great fighters – both boxers and sluggers — always have great corner men.

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