In the wake of the depression caused by the alleged fight between heavyweights Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye, boxing needed a stimulus package that would ease fans? lingering disappointment. This past Saturday?s slate of ring action accomplished that task ? more or less.
More: WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios defended his title with a brutal third-round stoppage of tough challenger Urbano Antillon. It was a war while it lasted, and a three-round war beats the hell out of a 12-round bore like Klitschko-Haye. Antillon tried to give as much as he got from Rios. His problem was that Rios had so much more to give. Rios has now established himself as a hot commodity in the lightweight division. A move upward to the talent-laden junior-welterweights could be his next step.
Less: Paul Williams had a lot of questions to answer as he went into his junior-middleweight bout with undefeated Cuban Erislandy Lara. Has he overcome the effects of the shocking second-round kayo Sergio Martinez hung on him last year? Can he change his style to correct the defensive lapses that leave him vulnerable? Did he peak when he defeated defensive master Winky Wright two years ago? Williams won a majority decision over Lara, but the scoring prompted yet another question: How could the judges have gotten it so wrong? Most observers believed Lara did more than enough to secure the win. Decisions like this are the subprime mortgages of boxing.
More: Speaking of junior-middleweights, Carlos Molina went into his 10-rounder against big-name Kermit Cintron as a live underdog. Molina was a fringe contender ? better than a journeyman, but not yet ready for the Top 10. Well, he?s sure ready now. He thoroughly outworked Cintron, who has seen better days but was still thought to have enough left to handle the likes of Molina. As it turns out, he didn?t, and now Molina is in a good position. Matches with Williams and Lara could well be in his future, and maybe a title shot, too.
Less: The less flab heavyweight contender Chris Arreola totes around his midsection, the better he performs. Weighing in at 236 lb, he pounded out a 10-round win over durable veteran Friday Ahunanya, adding to the string of victories he?s earned since losing to Tomasz Adamek. Arreola had previously gone in as high as 263, too much for even his 6?4? frame. Now Arreola may be in line for a shot at Wladimir Klitschko. Arreola has already been stopped by Wladimir?s brother Vitali. Even so, Chris would put up more of an effort against Wladimir than Haye managed.
More: IBF super-middleweight champion Lucian Bute made short work of Jean Paul Mendy, blasting his challenger out in the fourth round. Mendy was undefeated, and ranked as the IBF?s Number One contender. But his biggest win came by disqualification after Sakio Bika floored him, then hit him while he was down. Mendy didn?t stand a chance against Bute, who is basically marking time as he waits to take on the winner of the Andre Ward-Carl Froch Super Six final. What a stimulus that fight will be!
Aside from the deplorable Williams-Lara decision, this weekend made up much of the ground lost when Haye failed to back up the smack he yakked before entering the ring with Klitschko.
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His latest novel, Damballa, which centers around a fictional heavyweight title bout, is available at www.gopulp.info.
