As I stated previously (and to slightly alter a Bill Clinton quote): There is nothing wrong with boxing that cannot be cured by what is right with boxing.
During a big boxing weekend, there was plenty wrong to single out:
– James Toney, an idol of anyone who truly loves and respects the actual art of prize fighting, culminated eight years of binge eating and self-denial with an utterly embarrassing performance against Denis Lebedev.
– Lucian Bute absolutely dominated one of the sport’s most endearing figures, Glen Johnson. It was The Road Warrior’s second straight loss at the elite level and a sign that, no matter how hard we wish it not to be true, his days as a real challenger are done.
– Peter Quillin-Craig McEwan was a solid fight, but tainted with a very early stoppage. “Kid Chocolate” probably would have gone on to win anyway, but he deserved a chance to close the show the right way in his HBO debut and McEwan deserved a chance to take Quillin into deep waters.
– Guillermo Jones made only the second defense of his WBA cruiserweight title since winning the belt in 2008- against a guy in Michael Marrone, who has never even fought at cruiserweight! How Jones gets away with keeping the belt is beyond explanation.
