It is now July and with more than half of the year behind us this is a good opportunity to reflect on some of the fights that have come and gone. This has been a year for upsets and it has been, for me at least, one of the more enjoyable years I have experienced as a boxing fan. There have been two high-profile wars, one fight that was so one-sided that you could say it barely qualified as a “fight”, and two champions have fallen. So lets start with what was chronologically the first fight of the five.
March 19th: Erik Morales (47-2) vs. Manny Pacquiao (39-2-2)
This fight was hyped as a war and did not disappoint, despite the fact that Morales smartly chose to box against the heavy-handed Pacquiao. Morales showed everyone that his talent has not waned in the least despite his high profile wars against Marco Antonio Barrera and kept his composure throughout the fight, even when Pacquiao was trying to draw him into a war. I thought Morales looked much better in this fight than he did in his previous outing against Barrera, which had only occurred a few months earlier. It was a dominating performance from Morales and Pacquiao may want to consider moving back down in weight and working on developing a wider range of skills so that he can have a ‘B’ plan when his punching power isn’t working. Morales remains a great all-around fighter and Pacquiao is still a little one-sided but it looks likely that there will be a rematch sometime in the near future. I don’t see the outcome of a rematch being much different but I would love to see it nonetheless. I think Morales’s boxing ability, great chin, longer reach, and vast experience against top competition may be too much for Pacquiao even in a rematch.
May 5th: Deigo Corrales (39-2) vs. Jose Luis Castillo (52-6-1)
This fight looks like the shoe-in for Fight of the Year and round 10 should be Round of the Year. This fight was a war from the opening bell and in round 10 Castillo dropped Corrales, who beat the count and spit out his mouthpiece, gaining himself a few extra seconds to recover. Castillo would drop Corrales again shortly thereafter and Corrales would spit out his mouthpiece again, again buying himself some extra time. Things changed drastically after the second knockdown though. Castillo went looking for the knockout, left himself open, and Corrales caught him. Castillo was hurt and got pinned on the ropes, where Corrales peppered him with shots that were snapping his head around. When Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight Castillo looked out on his feet. This fight was the very definition of a “war” and was a credit to the sport. Both men proved themselves to be true warriors and took a lot of damage and it is rather surprising that they have chosen October for the rematch since both fighters could probably use a little more time to recover.
May 14th: Ronald Wright (48-3) vs. Felix Trinidad (42-1)
This was hyped quite a bit after the beating Trinidad laid on Mayorga and following Wright’s two wins over Shane Mosley but didn’t really live up to it. Wright jabbed the living hell out of Trinidad for 12 rounds and only lost one round on two of the judges’ scorecards. Even that round was debatable. Trinidad looked really one-dimensional and Wright looked impressive and proved why he deserves to be ranked amongst the top fighters pound-for-pound. Wright did not really land anything heavy on Trinidad and never looked close to getting a ko but I was glued to my seat because I really didn’t believe that Trinidad could be dominated that fully. Trinidad’s father and trainer retired shortly after the fight, leading to Trinidad himself retiring once again, after only fighting twice in his “comeback”. He will hopefully stay retired this time but in boxing you can’t really write off fighters making a comeback until they are in their late 50’s. Conversely, Wright deserves some big paydays before he retires but there may not be all that many fighters jumping at the idea of fighting a dangerous, awkward southpaw who doesn’t pull in the big money.
June 4th: Ricky Hatton (38-0) vs. Kostya Tszyu (31-1)
As far as significance goes this match was probably one of the biggest matches of 2005 so far. The setting was a bit unreal since Tszyu agreed to fight Hatton on his own turf at Manchester’s MEN Arena. The fight was sold-out and the arena was largely pro-Hatton and to make things even more unreal the match was held at 2 a.m. so that it could be broadcast primetime in the US. Not too many people thought Hatton had much of a chance in this fight but Hatton was there to show people differently. The match was dirty and both fighters fouled quite a bit but Hatton dominated Tszyu, at least in my estimation, particularly going into the later rounds. I never expected that Tszyu would choose not to answer the bell for the final round though. Tszyu was gracious in defeat and the fight, despite being a bit dirty, demonstrated the good side of boxing. Both men gave their all but Hatton was younger and hungrier. After the fight there were complaints that the ref let Hatton get away with too much and even suggestions that a different referee would have resulted in a different outcome. I think this is unlikely but only future tests against top competition will show the true character of Hatton. Tszyu should probably retire at this point since in recent interviews he does not seem all that hungry and seems happier to stay at home with his family. This fight was one for the ages though.
July 16th: Bernard Hopkins (46-2-1) vs. Jermain Taylor (23-0)
Based on who you were rooting for it is pretty easy to score this fight either way. Personally, and despite being a Hopkins fan, I thought Taylor won this fight by doing enough in the first 7 or so rounds. I should qualify this statement though because while I thought Taylor won the fight I also thought he was helped immensely by Hopkins lack of activity. It is possible that his inactivity was out of respect for Taylor’s skills and power but based on Hopkins last few performances it is obvious that he always starts slow. Taylor just started fast enough to put the early rounds in the bank and Hopkins could not get the ko or catch-up. There was a rematch clause and hopefully the next fight will be more explosive or at the very least less of a chess match for the first half of the fight. Either way, Hopkins’s winning streak is at an end and his belts are all gone and Taylor stands atop the middleweight division. Can Hopkins bring more to the rematch?
Honorable Mention
The Tyson debacle deserves a mention I guess although Tyson fights barely qualify as boxing matches anymore. He remains one of the few fighters that can make the evening news but it looks like McBride may have been the nail in the coffin of Tyson’s career. Hopefully. The media is obsessed with Mike so no matter what he does (there are rumors of a porno) we will be sure to her about it.
The Jorge Arce-Hussein Hussein fight on the undercard of Morales-Pacquiao also deserves mention since it as one of the more exciting fights of the year, although in a weight class that is often overlooked. Arce is a character (he came out sucking on a lollipop, A LOLLIPOP!!) and can hopefully draw some exposure to the flyweight division. Or at least gain some exposure for Arce himself. A rematch against Hussein Hussein is scheduled for October 8th in the year but Arce will have to get by Angel Priolo first on July 30th.
I know that I have omitted a lot of other good fights but these are the fights that I think have defined 2005 so far. It has been a great year to be a boxing fan and we still have 4 months to go!!!
