The Week That Was – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of British Boxing
By Faisal “Fayz” Masood
It’s been a mixed bag this past week for British boxing. It’s had some good news, some bad news and something in between as two World champions and a future prospect all stepped into the squared circle for one last bout hoping for some extra Christmas cheer.
The first of these World champions was the Super Middleweight IBF Champion James DeGale. ‘Chunky’ was returning to ring for the first time since a majority draw against Badou Jack in the beginning of the year, a fight which kick started 2017 with a back and forth tussle between two champions. Unfortunately for DeGale he sustained an injury which meant he was unable to fight and having undergone shoulder surgery he deemed he was finally fit to fight at the end of the year. His opponent would be the 34yr old American Caleb Truax.
This was a fight DeGale was largely expected to win, although DeGale hadn’t looked his best in the past couple of fights, Truax was not seen as a threat to take the title from him. Caleb Truax isn’t a bad fighter, but he is an honest fighter seen as middle of the pack, he will win fights and pick up a good record in the process, but everytime he takes a step up in class, he will inevitably fall short. This was seen in his fights against Jermain Taylor, Daniel Jacobs and Anthony Dirrell, the only three losses of his 34 fight career.
As the fight wore on though, it was clear DeGale had rushed himself back into the ring. DeGale looked sloppy, often fighting on the ropes, a clear sign he was not in the best condition to be participating in a 12 round bout. Combine this with Truax’s game plan, which was to pressure DeGale, forcing him to fight and expend energy then you’ve got the recipe for disaster for the IBF champion and by the end of the night DeGale was the former IBF champion. Truax had wrenched the title from Degale with a majority decision.
For DeGale, the new year will bring new questions. In February he turns 32 and all questions of a potential rematch with another champion George Groves, who had inflicted the first loss on his record will be put on hold. Also put on hold is another big money domestic clash, a fight with Chris Eubank Jnr. For DeGale this is all the more painful having recently criticised numerous boxers both past and present, he finds himself with very little sympathy from the boxing fraternity. On hindsight, DeGale must be thinking he should have seen out the new year and returned to the ring in early 2018.
Next up during the week was Conor Benn. The 21yr old is the son of the legendary “Dark Destroyer” Nigel Benn and 2017 had been a good year for him, in each progressive fight, the welterweight was looking better and better and sharper and sharper. In four fights this year, Conor had won them all with ease and all within the distance. He would end the year fighting for the fifth time in a fight scheduled for six rounds against Frenchman Cedrick Peynaud, owner of a 5-4-3 record.
By the end of the fight though, there were those already calling it one of the fights of the year. In the first round the crowd were left stunned when Benn was floored twice, this was not how the fight was supposed to go for someone being tipped as a future world champion. The young 21yr old though showed heart and resolve as he gradually clawed himself back into the fight and returned the favour in rounds five and six, flooring his opponent with clean crisp shots.
The result though was anything but ‘clean’. Benn had stolen the win by a score of 57-54. In a fight he was knocked down twice in the opening round, a very likely 10-7 round he somehow was seen as a three point winner. The majority of views seemed to agree either it was a draw or Benn squeaked home by a point. Benn will learn from the experience and although his record came out preserved, the same could not be said for his face. The next day Benn revealed his gruesome injuries, both eyes swollen shut. Perhaps the Christmas spirit had already got to him and he was looking ahead to the new year or maybe five fights in the five months was one too many. I expect Benn to take a well deserved break and resume his impressive career looking better than ever in his next fight.
Enter Billy Joe Saunders to redeem British boxing and end the year on a high note. The man they call ‘BJS’ has his fair share of haters, including the men he is going up against but he is still undefeated, the reigning WBO Middleweight champion and has been for two years despite relative inactivity, fighting just once in 2016 he would take on the hard hitting David Lemieux on December 16 for just his second bout of 2017.
Saunders is a skilled fighter, his skills have often gone overlooked and underestimated but he would be appreciated this night against Lemieux as he put on a boxing masterclass and befuddled a very capable and highly rated fighter in David Lemieux. The big punching but slow moving Canadian had the perfect style for BJS, who was able to dance around the ring and have Lemieux punching fresh air for 12 rounds. The stats show Lemieux was only able to land a paltry 67 punches over the course of the fight and one scorecard had BJS winning every round of the fight.
Saunders would yet again call out Gennady Golovkin, knowing how much triple GGG desires all of the belts in the middleweight division and with the boxing clinic he put on Saturday night, he has put himself in the driving seat for some potential mouth-watering clashes in 2018.
So that was the week that was for British boxing, all’s well that ends well, we saw the good, the bad and the ugly in what was a busy week for British fighters. It now sets us up well for the new year, with a host of great fights to look forward to!
Check out Fayz’s available books for download on Amazon. He also runs his own Personal Training site and blog over at Fayz Fitness.
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