{"id":2076,"date":"2010-04-14T00:00:17","date_gmt":"2010-04-14T04:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ringsidereport.com\/?p=2076"},"modified":"2010-04-14T00:00:17","modified_gmt":"2010-04-14T04:00:17","slug":"joan-guzman-the-nowhere-man-of-boxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=2076","title":{"rendered":"Joan Guzman: The Nowhere Man of Boxing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Mike \u201cRubber Warrior\u201d Plunkett<\/strong><\/p>\n

Several months ago I wrote an article which detailed my personal discovery of Joan Guzman, a talented and highly successful two-division world champion who had been on the radar for several years. In it I detailed how up to that point I had never really taken the time to fully acquaint myself with the exceptionally talented Dominican, or had sat down to review his accomplishments in the ring. Understanding that he was once again on track to fight for yet another major world championship, I set out to review Guzman and many of his key career bouts in the weeks leading up to his date with ring destiny.<\/p>\n

After taking in a dozen of his previous bouts over those few weeks I came away not only more than a little impressed, I considered myself a fan. My summary of him as a fighter had been formed from what I saw in those bouts, bouts I had let slip by in previous years when my focus was elsewhere in the sport; \u201cTalented, accomplished and as I would go on to learn, more than just a little noteworthy, Joan Guzman was a two-division champion I\u2019d sometimes read or heard about but hadn\u2019t really followed. Boasting a perfect record of 29-0, 17 KO\u2019s, and having won titles at super bantamweight and super featherweight, Guzman is considered one of the very best fighters in the world in the lower weight divisions. His natural athleticism, extraordinary reflexes, strong chin and uncanny skill set have allowed him to dominate his opposition. He possesses some of the quickest hands in the business and boasts a defense as tough and impenetrable as Kevlar, the material used to fashion bullet-proof vests.\u00a0 He\u2019s known to rely heavily on his ability to slip shots to set up his own attack, something he does effectively on the inside or from long range\u201d.<\/p>\n

That was last year. Since that summary was written Joan Guzman has fought two very controversial bouts to less than scintillating results. In fact it could be stated quite accurately that Guzman\u2019s career has strayed well beyond its originally forecasted path, finding itself today adrift in uncharted waters complicated by the reality that as a serious force in the sport and as a professional, Joan Guzman has lost almost all credibility.
\nOn November 28th 2009 Guzman was set to challenge South Africa\u2019s Ali Funeka for the vacant IBF lightweight title. It was for both fighters a pivotal moment rarely realized among men that make their living fighting for pay; an opportunity for a major world championship and all of the glory and benefits that go along with it. In Funeka\u2019s case it could be viewed as something a little more than just a mere opportunity given the fact that he came within mere inches of winning a world title nine months before in a losing effort, albeit it controversially, to Nate Campbell, for his lightweight titles. In Guzman\u2019s case however, it was more than just a match for a vacant lightweight world title. It was the opportunity to make history as a three-division world champion, the first such ever from the Dominican Republic. It was this march towards history and enhanced legacy that prompted me to brush-up on Guzman so as to get familiar with who he was as this much talked about talent relative to what he was about to accomplish in the sport. Then it all suddenly seemed to unravel.<\/p>\n

In their first contest which was televised by cable giant HBO, the long periods of inactivity Guzman had enjoyed leading up to his fateful first meeting with Funeka complicated the challenge presented by the physically imposing South African. Standing a freakish 6\u20191 with a 72\u201d reach, Funeka was not only difficult to deal with in the tactical sense, his level of talent and power presented a significant risk every time the 5\u20197 Guzman tried to box inside, his only really hope given his 5-inch deficit in reach. Guzman looked relatively sharp early but was cut badly by a clash of heads. In the middle rounds the momentum took a turn and Funeka established control, bloodying Guzman\u2019s nose and hurting him on at least two occasions. Later in the contest, and after having absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment, a battered and bloody Guzman continued to chance disaster trying to get his punches off in close, finally going for broke in the twelfth, pressing forward and trading shots in the hope of scoring a last-second knockout in order to pull out the win. The bigger Funeka managed to hold him off just enough, pounding him until the final bell. Amazingly, the bout was declared a majority draw, with the one sane card scoring Funeka as the point\u2019s winner with 116-112 tally.<\/p>\n

As ludicrous as the result had been in their first contest, Joan Guzman had officially dodged a bullet. At 33 years of age Father Time was close by and looking to collect on dues. When the rematch with Ali Funeka was signed for March 27th 2010, just four months after their first encounter, I wondered if the \u201cSycuan Warrior\u201d would find a way to make good on the lucky reprieve that the result of the first contest had been, and show up conditioned, focused and minus any accumulated ring rust. However, what ultimately transpired dumbfounded me.<\/p>\n

Ali Funeka was expected by many to correct the mistakes made in the first contest and establish his dominance very early in the rematch. Many called for him to finally win the lightweight title he had been denied in his first meeting with Guzman, and before that with Nate Campbell. At the weigh-in a dry looking Funeka raised his arms in anticipation of victory, coming in exactly at the division limit of 135lbs. He had done everything in his power to honor the mandate of the lightweight title, the expectations of fans around the world and to show professional respect to his worthy opponent. But none of that would be forthcoming from Guzman once he stepped onto the scale.<\/p>\n

Weighing-in well beyond the light welterweight limit, Guzman tipped the scale at 144lbs, nine pounds beyond the lightweight limit and a weight two divisions above where he should have been for a contracted event and world title contest. Credit to Funeka for not opting out of the opportunity given the surprising weigh-in result, \u201cRush Hour\u201d opted to move forward with the match with the revised rules deeming that the IBF lightweight title was only up for grabs and available to Funeka if he emerged victorious. For Guzman, a win would only be a win. He would not be entitled to a championship that he failed to make weight for, thus excluding himself the opportunity to become a three-division champion.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t just above weight, not even close. He was well beyond weight, a reality that begged the question of why his team didn\u2019t properly monitor or control his progress, and why the fighter himself didn\u2019t ensure professional preparation. However, such questions presuppose that in fact Team Guzman had made an error, a miscalculation on the road to meeting the obligation of making weight, and drying out as much as his opponent.
\nIn the case of Joan Guzman, history paints a telling picture where professional preparation for a significant challenge is concerned. In September 2008, Guzman weighed-in 4lbs. beyond the lightweight limit for his challenge of then-lightweight champion Nate Campbell. Claiming an inability to make the weight and citing dubious health issues, the bout ultimately collapsed.<\/p>\n

This latest episode of failure to make weight seems the inverse of the Campbell debacle. Guzman was all too happy to move forward with the contest given his fortification relative to his dried-out opponent. In the bout itself, Guzman managed to edge the game Funeka by split decision, even managing to overpower him at points in close, flooring him along the way. He wasn\u2019t pounded by Funeka the way he had been in the first contest, coming out of it all smiles, his undefeated 30-0-1,17 KO\u2019s, record intact. Another bullet had been dodged, but at what cost?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t believe Team Guzman ever intended to make weight. I believe they were more concerned with staying undefeated and marketable. I believe the whole purpose of the bout was to correct the blemish of the first result and prove the \u201cSycuan Warrior\u201d superior. In the course of doing this, Guzman\u2019s reputation among the boxing fraternity was immensely damaged. His credibility as a professional is now at the zero-point. He and his team have demonstrated disrespect on many fronts. Disrespect towards those that promoted the event, disrespect towards fans, disrespect to the sanctioning body and of course disrespect to Ali Funeka. By doing all of this, they may have preserved the \u201czero\u201d associated with the loss column but they have likely cut off valuable avenues for further career advancement, sullied the name of Golden Boy Productions in the process and taken away any perceived shortcuts towards beating Father Time\u2019s agenda to make good on outstanding dues.<\/p>\n

Looking back I find it strange that the moment I took the time to acquaint myself with Joan Guzman his career as an upstanding warrior seemed to take a sudden nose dive. If you look back just a few short years ago at his comprehensive disrobing of Humberto Soto in defense of his WBO super featherweight crown, the current WBC lightweight champion was utterly outclassed and routed. Watching that bout, you get a sense of the upright brilliance there once was. In fact, I called that showing an approximate of what Floyd Mayweather, JR., versus Antonio Margarito would have been, had that big money welterweight clash come off as anticipated some five years ago. The \u201cSycuan Warrior\u201d was simply that smooth, that gifted and that good. Today, with the clock ticking and his undefeated record notwithstanding, Joan Guzman is the nowhere man of boxing, his career and credentials in doubt and his go-forward prospects unknown. And he has nobody to blame but himself.<\/p>\n

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By Mike \u201cRubber Warrior\u201d Plunkett Several months ago I wrote an article which detailed my personal discovery of Joan Guzman, a talented and highly successful two-division world champion who had been on the radar for several years. In it I detailed how up to that point I had never really taken the time to fully […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[105,386,768],"class_list":["post-2076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-boxing","tag-joan-guzman","tag-world-champion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2076\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}