RingSide Report

World News, Social Issues, Politics, Entertainment and Sports

Canelo Alvarez Vs Amir Khan, Roy Jones JR’s Latest Fiasco, Ray Mancini and the Lost Era of 15 Round Championship Fights & Leon Spinks vs Muhammad Ali, an Upset That Rocked the Boxing World

400px-Ali-Spinks_1_U1924866By Dave “Mythical” Siderski

Canelo vs Khan

Now we know who so-called lineal Middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez will defend against first and I am hardly inspired. I’m with my colleagues Andrew “Drew the Picture” Hames and Roy “Sharpshooter” Bennett here. This is a complete mismatch. Amir Khan is an excellent fighter but also a blown up JR Welterweight. Can you imagine Marvelous Marvin Hagler facing Aaron Pryor in the 1980’s? Ouch! Also, as I’ve said before, this catch weight stuff is complete BS. We should be calling this the Super JR I don’t have the balls to face a true Middleweight championship. I can’t believe HBO is actually going to sell this to the public as a pay-per-view. Canelo-Khan is proof positive that two big names do not always equate to a great fight. One thing is certain, there’s no way in hell I’m paying for this one. That’s for damn sure.

Roy Jones, JR: Are You Flipping Kidding Me?

Now we move on to the completely insane. 47 year old Roy Jones JR, last seen getting starched by Enzo Maccarinelli, will apparently return to the ring on the March 20th as part of a pay-per-view event to take place in Phoenix, Arizona. This time he will square off against a fan, to be chosen as part of a contest and who will have the chance to win $100,000 if he is able to knockout RJJ. My God how the mighty have fallen. When Roy was stopped by Maccarinelli, I wrote that it would be criminal for any boxing commission to allow him to return to the ring. But this! This is beyond my wildest dreams or nightmares. Words simply cannot express what a travesty this is, or will be, if it comes off. In other sports news today, the Cleveland Browns have signed 72 year old hall of fame quarterback Joe Namath to be their starting quarterback for next season.

Ray Mancini and the 15 Round Championship Limit

I enjoyed Jessie “New School” Wright’s recent RSR interview with Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini. This guy brought excitement and passion to the ring each time out and I loved to watch him fight back in 1980’s. Ray, for what it’s worth, I thought you deserved the decision over Camacho in 1989.
I was especially interested in reading Ray’s comments about the 15 round limit: “The true championship distance is 15 rounds……….Nowadays they’ll never know what they’re able to do because they’ll never have to.” I hated it when the championship distance was changed from 15 to 12 rounds. The change was politically motivated at the time and had little to do with ensuring fighter safety. As Ray points out, many of the classics in boxing history would have turned out very differently if they’d been conducted over 12 rounds.

This all said, I’ve been rethinking my position on this in recent months. I agree that no one has definitively proven a correlation between the 3 extra rounds and the risk of death or [immediate] permanent injury in the ring. However, even we accept this as fact, what about the cumulative long-term impact of those nine extra minutes of punishment? We just don’t know and the recent research around CTE gives me pause here. Thus, I’m forced to conclude, reluctantly, that the modern 12 round championship limit probably does more good than harm for the sport of boxing.

Looking Back at Ali-Spinks

Today is February 15th and it’s the 38th anniversary of Leon Spinks’ shocking 15 round Heavyweight championship victory over the one and only Muhammad Ali. This might have been the greatest upset in Heavyweight boxing history prior to Tyson-Douglas. Entering the fight, Leon had a mere 7 professional fights. Ali had slipped more than we realized and Spinks was just too young and energetic for the aging 36 year old champ. Unfortunately, for Leon this might have been the worst thing that could have happened to his career. He lacked the maturity to handle success and, at 195 lbs., was too small even back then for the Heavyweight division.

Ali went on to prevail in a rematch 7 months later and Spinks’ career spiraled downward. He was destroyed in one round by Gerrie Coetzee in 1979 and then in three by the legendary Larry Holmes two years later. Spinks would go on to try to revive his career as a Cruiserweight but the damage was already done. Leon ultimately retired with a pedestrian record of 26-17-3, 14 KOs. I have to wonder how his career might have turned out differently had he campaigned his entire career at Cruiserweight and gained more experience prior to challenging for a title. That said, Leon’s historic accomplishment on the night of February 15, 1978, is beyond dispute.

Well boxing fans, those are my thoughts for this weekend. As always, I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Peace out!

[si-contact-form form=’1′]

Leave a Reply