Revenge was the daily special this past Saturday with both Showtime and HBO serving it up hot and cold. First we had the Klitschko vs. Brewster rematch, three years removed from the original and featuring a relaxed, patient Klitschko and a Brewster who was returning from both a 15 month layoff and two retinal surgeries. Coming into the bout, HBO did all it could to make this seem unlike the foregone conclusion it was but once the bell rang and we got past the first minute or so, the outcome seemed as inevitable as Brewster eating another jab from Wladimir.
For all the talk of redemption coming out of the bout, it seemed odd that so much could be made of a victory over an opponent most members of the media and hardcore fans alike picked to lose both times around. Brewster looked flat on his feet without the explosiveness that marked both his victories and defeats in his last few bouts since defeating Klitschko. “It is what it is,” Brewster’s trainer Buddy McGirt would say when questioned by Larry Merchant regarding the possibility that a title match against one of the most dangerous offensive fighters in the heavyweight division may have been too much too soon. Hard to tell exactly what that means. Was “it” a payday or was “ it” simply corporate boxing at it’s worst? Probably a little both, sad to say.
Thankfully, next weekend HBO turns back the clock to the edge of your seat days of yore when it features a welterweight triple-header featuring Kermit Cintron, Arturo Gatti and the much anticipated Antonio Margarito vs. Paul Williams showdown. Hard to pick who wins any of these three bouts and that’s a good thing.
Over on Showtime last Saturday night, a revenge match of a different kind was going down. Vic Darchinyan vs. Nonito Donaire was that rare “you took my brother out, prepare to get KTFO“ revenge bout. Last year, Armenian-born badass Darchinyan ran roughshod over older brother Glenn Donaire in six rounds of brutality that forced Glenn to withdraw from the bout due to a broken jaw. The bout, to Darchinyan’s open disgust, would be called a technical decision instead of the knockout that he felt he was on his way to getting. Much trash would be talked. After losing a scheduled opponent, young up-and-comer Nonito would take his speedy boxer/puncher ways into the ring against the power punching and very unorthodox lefty Darchinyan. Many in the boxing press and many boxing fans ignored this one as yet another foregone conclusion for the undefeated southpaw. It was exactly that which fueled young Donaire as he came out firing from the first bell until he stunned Darchinyan in the third with a left hook that landed all night. Finally in the fifth Donaire would catch the wide punching Darchinyan right on the chin with that same left hook and send Vic sprawling to the canvas. Valiantly he would try and rise but would ultimately stumble into the ropes and referee Ed Claudio would mercifully halt the action. How sweet it must have been for the classy Donaire, who embraced his brother Glenn who sat nervously at ringside throughout the fight but was beside himself afterwards. Donaire gave all praise to his opponent who it seems was so removed from his senses that he barely acknowledged a knockdown much less the man who put him there.
We Be Causing Problems
Just when you thought the WBC was getting its house in order by guiding the Maskaev vs. Peter fight through the Vitali Klitschko forest of uncertainty and finally putting pressure on a Taylor vs. Pavlik fight (after making Pavlik fight two eliminators ala Sam Peter), it rears it ugly, corrupt head with two more nasty stains on the boxing landscape. Mandatory challenger Humberto Soto, who many boxing fans and insiders consider to be one of the world’s most dangerous 130-pounders, is about to have his WBC number one contender status passed over now that Top Rank (his promoter) and Golden Boy Promotions (you know, the promotional group that is going to “clean up boxing”) have ended their legal battles over Manny Pacquiao and have begun proceedings toward a much more lucrative rematch between Marco Antonio Barrera and the Filipino superstar. Soto, as reported by Fightnews.com, has threatened to sue to gain compensation for this oversight as he paid sanctioning fees to gain the “honor” and ranking of number one contender for the WBC. Want to bet he ends up settling for a second “final” eliminator bout? Here is hoping Soto and fighters like him, who will undoubtedly face similar situations in the future, take the lawsuit approach with this group as well as the rest of the alphabelt gangs. Enough is enough and it is about time we got rid of them altogether.
The other ugliness the WBC is foisting on us is the new status of the Vernon Forrest vs. Carlos Baldomir bout. In the wake of Floyd Mayweather Jr. abdicating the paper WBC title belt he got off of Oscar De La Hoya, WBC President Jose Sulaiman has deemed this bout a title eliminator. Considering neither man has done anything at junior welterweight to warrant getting a title shot (and no, having held the belt at welterweight does not constitute an automatic shot in my opinion), the only conclusion I can draw from this is that to the WBC, a day a belt is without a champion is a day without receiving a sanctioning fee. When will they start enforcing uniformity to their very own rules? When will boxing be able to finally rid our sport of these useless entities?
