It was a fun fight to watch as well as attend, but it was far too one-sided to even enter the conversation of comparison to ?The Fight??
Thanks and seas of gratitude are due in the direction of last Saturday?s memorable and action packed showdown between Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez and James ?Mandingo Warrior? Kirkland. The raucous crowd who flocked to Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston consisted of over 31,000 mostly (and understandably so) pro Canelo supporters who made enough of a Gulf Coast ruckus to make the brass of the Atlanta Falcons blush with envy. There was no need to pump fake noise into the facility on this night. Furthermore and even more so to the testament and iron will of hardened boxing fans, many of them had been there for nearly ten hours by the time the two fighters took to the ring for the main event.
At night?s end, the aluminum stacks of tall boys that adorned just about every aisle in the building left the place looking like it was actually the fabled ?Texxas Jam? daylong rock festival that had just visited. In any case, the evening?s showcase attraction lived up to the hype. The roughly seven-minute affair was all action and excitement from the opening bell, although the final statistics as well as mere observation demonstrated that it was the redheaded superstar from Jalisco state who was in control for the vast majority of the bout.
Nevertheless, some fans as well as the highly decorated legend of pugilism who is now at the head of a certain southern California boxing promotional powerhouse was quick to put the evening?s contest alongside a day etched into sporting history. April 15, 1985. More to the point, Oscar De La Hoya openly boasted, ?We just saw the Hagler versus Hearns of the 21st Century? at the post-fight press conference in the tightly packed ?Diamond Room? inside the Houston Astros? home stadium. As a promoter, it?s rightfully his job to call it as he sees it in an effort to not only boost the profile of his successful firm, but the sport of boxing as well. It?s commendable, to be sure, but it?s a bit myopic. A case of the blinders in boxing is nothing new.
Still though, it?s sacrilege across the hallowed halls of just about any gym to do so. Why compare an exciting fight which took place on the heels of a flat and pungent bomb which tainted Las Vegas just seven days earlier to the greatest three rounds in boxing history? It?s easy to do such a thing, especially when jilted customers who forked out a C note to watch Mayweather vs. Pacquiao deserved some sort of refund, be it monetarily or meaningful in some other fashion. Had the ?Fight of the Century? which took place on the second of May been an absolute throwdown (even though most of us knew that was a pipe dream), then the three round, nontitle clash in Houston one week later would have been the chaser to the exhilarating shot of Jaeger.
Instead, it was the valiant knight which ?rescued? the sport in its most dire hour just in the nick of time. Bollocks. Boxing wasn?t dead, although perhaps next time the phonies who dictate what the market will bear at the expense of the real fans will stay away. Do we ever see Jay Z, Tom Brady, Robert De Niro or Michael Jordan, for example, at a night of fights down at the local armory? Of course not, although the presence of Jordan did in fact solidify the presence of at least one ?TBE? in the MGM Grand Garden Arena that night. Many of us are either too young to remember or just didn?t see the bout between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas ?Hit Man? Hearns when and as it happened that Monday spring evening in Sin City.
It?s now a case of nostalgia to the highest degree and the standard to which many of today?s slugfests are measured. Canelo versus Kirkland was a great night for the fans of boxing as well as a great rebound from the failed first date in the Nevada desert just a week earlier. It was a fun fight to watch as well as attend, but it was far too one-sided to even enter the conversation of comparison to ?The Fight,? as it was called back in 1985. Tommy Hearns stunned Hagler in the opening seconds of the bout. Marvin fought his way back and eventually made Tommy change his tactics overall, took advantage of a Hearns broken right hand and battled through a bad cut on the bridge of his nose.
Hagler won the opening round on two of the three judges? scorecards, although the ?Hit Man? could have easily taken it. By contrast, James Kirkland was never in control of the contest. For the most part, Marvin assumed control in the second as he switched back and forth from orthodox to southpaw. His right jab was landing as Hearns was essentially forced to box and not brawl. He was ticked off for all the years he wasn?t shown the respect he rightfully deserved in the fighting arts. Canelo was clearly the better fighter last Saturday in Houston. James Kirkland is a crowd-pleasing and exciting boxer, yet his inability that night to adapt and overcome was in large part due to his tendency to square his shoulders and almost push his jab.
He walked right into an Alvarez uppercut in the third round after he seemingly lifted his right arm up as opposed to jabbing away. He may have been tired, hurt or something similar. We may never know why and more to the point, most of us don?t know what it is like to be in a boxing ring. The 1985 bout in Las Vegas was in danger of being stopped in the third round as referee Richard Steele beckoned the ringside physician to look at the damage to Hagler?s nose. Feeling the urgency, Marvin went after Tommy. He got the ball rolling via an overhand right that almost caused his adversary from Detroit to pirouette into the ropes. Then came the titanic right cross which may as well have started at the fountains out in front of Caesars Palace to send Tommy Hearns to the canvas for the fight?s one and only knockdown. That was that and that was it.
With all due respect to anyone who gets in the ring, please don?t insult our collective intelligence of the world?s greatest sport by claiming that Canelo versus Kirkland was as captivating as Hagler versus Hearns. Sure, they both ended with a power shot from the right gloves of Hagler and Alvarez, respectively. Just don?t as they say, ?go there.? Next, please. Hagler/Hearns, Corrales/Castillo I, Marquez/Vazquez, Gatti/Ward are the stuff of legend. They gave us nights which Floyd Mayweather will never do, likely because he?ll never have to do so.
The majority of the fans of Canelo Alvarez probably didn?t think they were witnessing a bout on par with the one from ?85. Chances are they were just in a state of elation over another exciting win. We got a great bout last Saturday. We were served a not so great one a week prior. It?s as simple as that.
