Boxing’s Hot Topics…
By Faisal “Fayz” Masood
It’s been a busy week for boxing with two of its biggest draws both featuring in the news, one for good reasons and the other for not so good reasons. I take a look at some of the big news from the world of boxing this past week.
Anthony Joshua is still the King
The time had finally arrived for the WBO champion Joseph Parker to try and prove his claim that Anthony Joshua has a glass jaw. A packed stadium in Cardiff played host to this heavyweight clash between two unbeaten world champions boasting 44 wins between them and 38 KO’s.
The highly anticipated fight had an equally enthralling build up but did anyone really believe Joseph Parker possessed the power to knock out Anthony Joshua? Parker seemed convinced in the build up that a knock out would be the cause of his victory come Saturday night but “AJ” had other plans….
Joshua had come into this fight 12lbs lighter than he did in his previous showing against the tough Carlos Takam, a wise move because Parker is known for his speed and Joshua and his team must have figured that the New Zealander’s best chance of winning would be to stick and move, so perhaps Joshua knew he might have to do a lot of chasing in this fight so coming in lighter would help the cause.
Despite being known for his power, “AJ” turned the tables in this fight and fought a safe game, with a 6in reach advantage it firmly put the onus on Parker to close the gap and get to the champion but he was unable to get behind Joshua’s stiff jab. Parker had his moments but they were brief and flirting. It didn’t help his cause that whenever he was able to get in close and set up inside, the referee pulled the fighters apart. The end result was that Joshua was content to jab his way to victory, having no need to take risks and step up much in gears. For all the talk from Parkers camp about Joshua’s chin and stamina, Parker never really was able to land many clean shots on Joshua and he was never able to force the pace. By the time the fight ended, Joshua looked like he could have easily fought on for another few rounds.
Since toppling Wladmir Klitschko in a fight which breathed life into the heavyweight division, AJ has been involved in two almost anti-climatic fights but the truth is, neither Parker or Takam have been good enough on the night to stretch Joshua, he has won both fights handily and with plenty to spare, fighting a smart game in each fight.
Parker has suffered his first loss as well as losing his WBO belt but he is young enough and good enough to come again. One suspects there are a lot of things he would have done different in hindsight but there are still some exciting fights ahead for him. Who knows, we may see him on an Anthony Joshua undercard in future and again sharing the ring with the champion.
For “AJ” there really only are two names the fans want to see him with, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury….
Povetkin Puts The Heavyweights On Notice
When David Price agreed to fight Alexander Povetkin everyone knew this was a huge fight for both. Price could put his past demons behind him with a win and catapult his way to a big name fight and Povetkin could finally get the break he was looking for after failed drugs test had ended his chances of fighting Deontay Wilder in the past, at 38yrs old time was certainly running short for the Russian so a win was needed here in order to get his name in the frame for a fight with a top contender or even a champion. With just one loss on his record, against Wladmir Klitschko, Povetkin was certainly coming in confident and ready to make a statement against the 6’8in David Price.
David Price’s claim to fame has arguably being a sparring story, when it was confirmed a young Anthony Joshua was knocked out by Price in sparring.
Despite a fast start to his career, Price’s career took a backward step with some brutal knock outs which had everyone questioning the chin of the heavyweight giant. Price could take some consolation that three of his defeats had come against fighters who had tested positive for banned substances (with another ruled a no contest)
He would be fighting another opponent with a history of failed tests, and this was a fighter far more dangerous than any other he had faced, his chin would surely be tested against a former world champion…….
In a see saw battle Povetkin dropped Price with a right hand in round three, with the crowd mostly backing Price they were relieved to see Price get straight up from the shot and come back to end the round on top, knocking Povetkin across the ring with a left hook. The end though came in a familiar fashion for Price. A right hand stunned Price which left him defenseless, with his hands dropping from the shot, Povetkin pounced on his opportunity and landed a left hook which sent Price thudding to the canvas. The referee didn’t have to count and waved the fight off in round five. With the win Povetkin improved to 34-1 24 KO’s and could now possibly face either of Anthony Joshua or Dillian Whyte.
Canelo Can’t – Rematch with Golovkin Called Off
Canelo Alvarez has pulled out of the much awaited rematch with middleweight King Gennady Golovkin. In the end it comes as no surprise, there was too much stigma around the fight after Canelo’s two failed drugs test for the asthmatic drug Clenbuterol and when Golovkins outburst hit the headlines, saying what many were thinking, it made it very hard for the fight to go ahead without there being any feeling of ill will between the fighters and their camps. The move is understandable, whilst investigations continue it is the right choice to wave off the fight. Lets be honest, would you want to fight someone knowing they had gained a competitive edge through drugs, whether it was intentional or not, the effect it must have on a fighters psyche, knowing they are not fighting on a level playing field is enough to dishearten a fighter especially when it comes to two of the best and most dangerous fighters in the world, knowing all the hard work they put in might not be enough.
Golovkin though has said he will fight on and headline the event slated for May 5 with an announcement on the name of his opponent due to be named soon. For Canelo it remains to be seen how he comes out of this, it is easy to say he is an extremely talented fighter and possibly boxings biggest draw, it is quite obvious with the talent and skill he possesses he would be one of the worlds best whether he was taking clen or not but the fact remains he failed the tests and something needs to come out of this investigation, whether that is good news for Canelo or bad news for boxing, we will soon find out.
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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