BY: Ricky Ray Taylor

Every once in a great while a match-up catapults to the surface that gets us salivating at the mere thought of it.  Although this weekends contest is about 5 years past what it could have been, in most boxing circles the JONES-CALZAGHE duel is no exception. 

In August of 2003, Jones was proudly sitting on top of boxing’s pound-for-pound list.  He actually was there for so long that his bones were beginning to creak. Jones had absolutely destroyed everyone in his path for 6 1/2 years in fights that were sometimes so lopsided that it left the casual Boxing “fan” questioning the abilities of his opposition.  Nobody had a clue or seemed to pay attention to the fact that the combined record of Jones opponents within this 6 1/2 year run was 417-22; and 14 of those fights were for World Championships against mandatory qualified contenders.  In fact the only issue people seemed to sink their teeth into regarding Roy Jones career was that he “just didn’t have anyone decent to fight”. 

After winning a relatively controversial majority decision to Antonio Tarver in November of ‘03, for the first time we began to see some kinks in Jones armor.  There just always seemed to be something about the loudmouth Tarver that Roy couldn’t seem to completely conquer.  Perhaps it was the fact that Tarver showed absolutely no fear of Roy? 

 Regardless, the fight was finally close - so close that an immediate rematch was declared by the screaming-Tarver as well as all of boxing’s sanctioning bodies.

The second time around shocked us all as we witnessed yet another great champ be humbled by the brutality of our sport. 

Two more losses followed by 2 wins verses B- fighters and a grand finale victory over an aging Trinidad have done little to recapture the legacy we once knew.

Funny, but by the time Jones was decapitated by Tarver - Joe Calzaghe was 35-0 and creating quite a legacy of his own across the pond. He has been calling out Roy for years.  Understandably so, Jones handlers weren’t hearing him.  They saw what happened to Kostya & Chris Byrd and wanted nothing to do with reliving the nightmare of what happened in the Olympics.  Besides, Roy had troubles of his own in America battling the naysayers ~ and fighting an undefeated Welshman Calzaghe who nobody even heard of would only supply more rocks to the throwers if he were to beat him up.  It was basically a lose-lose for Jones to fight Calzaghe.

Enter Jeff Lacy, at 21-0, Lacy traveled across the seas to take on Calzaghe in front of an International television audience.  The fight was a beat down of cosmic proportions however, in Calzaghe’s favor!  Calzaghe busted up 3 more victims before sizing up Bernard Hopkins in front of an American viewing audience. 

 Now however, the shoe is on the other foot with Calzaghe sitting atop of boxing’s pound 4 pound 4 list, it’s Jones calling out Calzaghe.  Fortunately for Jones, Calzaghe obliged.

Now, finally there’s reason for Calzaghe and Jones to get it on.  The big question however is “how much does Jones have left in the tank”?

Diamond Boxing presents the month of October in review: 

Upset of the Month – Hopkins over Pavlik

When you reflect back on the month of October, definitely your first thought would be how the ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins upset the younger Kelly Pavlik. Actually Hopkins went beyond expectations he dominated Pavlik round after round Hopkins schooled Pavlik in the art of boxing. Hopkins was quicker especially with his hand speed, was first to land and demonstrated a variety of different punches. Hopkins blooded Pavlik who required stitches afterwards, Hopkins even landed a windmill styled right as he toyed with Pavlik towards the end of the bout.

It was pure one sided even the judges agreed scoring unanimously the decision for Hopkins, one judge Alan Rubinstein gave all the rounds to Hopkins while the other two judges had Hopkins winning 118 -108 and 117-109. When you look back at the final punch stats they coincide with the scoring Hopkins landed 32% of his punches while Pavlik landed at a measly 23%. The power shot results also reflected the mere dominance of Hopkins who connected at a 49% rate compared to Pavlik’s 26%. At the end of the bout Hopkins glared into the media section staring at his critics who doubted he could beat the undefeated Pavlik. Hopkins now has his sights set on Roy Jones Jr.and for now on we are sure all the media will not overlook the ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins.

The Next Pound 4 Pound Champ – Dawson over Tarver

Featured on October 11th was “Bad” Chad Dawson against Antonio Tarver in a light heavy weight battle from Vegas for Tarver’s IBF belt. Once again it was young against old, Dawson is only 26 while Tarver is 13 years his senior at 39. This one was a one sided match as Dawson took the action to Tarver who was on the defense all night. Dawson was classified by Floyd Mayweather Jr. who was in attendance as the number one pound for pound champ in the world lived up to Mayweather’s expectations. Dawson demonstrated his combination of speed and power throughout the bout and was able to drop Tarver in  the twelve with a solid uppercut. Dawson went on to record a unanimous decision victory.  

Lame Duck of the Month – Klitschko over Peter

In October we had to endure many one sided matches but no other was more difficult to watch than the Vitali Klitschko – Samuel Peter heavyweight showdown from Berlin, Germany. Klitschko coming back after a four year layoff and looking capture the WBC Title. Klitscko is the older brother of WBO, IBF and IBO champion Wladimir, a win by Vitali would allow the Klitscko to reach their dream of holding championship belts at the same time. Vitali delivered and from the opening bell there was no doubt that he was prepared and in great shape. Klitscko started early plucking away at Peter and landing at will. Peter who was on the defense all night, finally gave up after the eighth round and did not come out for the ninth. Vitali was declared the winner by TKO and the brotherly celebration began. The most excitement in this one came the way of the pre-fight ceremonies with the Pussycat Dolls performing and former heavyweight champions Holyfield, Forman, Tyson, Frazier and Lewis presenting Klitscko with supporting messages via video.

 

 

The Controversy of the Month– Bute over Andrade

The month did not pass without controversy in a bout broadcasted live on Showtime, Canadian fan favorite Lucian Bute survived a last second knockdown by the hands of Librado Andrade. Through eleven rounds Bute fighting in his hometown executed a solid game plan and dominated Andrade. With a significant lead going into the twelve and final round Bute simply had to stay out of arms way from rugged Andrade. Going into the twelve Andrade knew only one way to get a victory was by knockout. Andrade stalked Bute throughout the twelve round, continuously moving forward and snapping solid blows onto the face of Bute who made the mistake of trying to end the fight in impressive fashion.

With several seconds remaining in the final round Andrade hurt his prey, Bute was staggered by several solid blows, driving him backwards onto the canvas. This was the first time in his career Bute was knocked down. Referee Marlon Wright seemed to pickup the knockdown count very late, he began counting several seconds after Bute hit the canvas. As Wright began to count Bute out, he suddenly turned to Andrade and warned him to stay in the neutral corner allowing several more seconds of recovery time for Bute. After all was said and done twenty five seconds passed and Bute finally arose with Wright only on a six count. As Bute appeared unable to continue the final bell rang, saving Bute and his perfect record. Bute went on to receive a unanimous decision from the judges winning on all three of the judges cards by the scores of 115-110,112-109 and 115-111.Afterwards Andrade said “He was completely out””I did not come out of the corner”. So once again controversy rules over a championship fight.

British Star of the Month – Thaxton over Melero Diaz 

October has been an interesting month for British boxing with some great bouts and extremely interesting developments, the star of the month belongs to Jon Thaxton (34-8-0).Thaxton won the vacant Lightweight European Title in explosive fashion against Juan Carlos Melero Diaz (36-1-0). Thaxton disposed of his opponent with a KO in 2:29 of the 3rd after a spectacular right hook from an unorthodox stance connected beautifully sending Melero Diaz down for the count. The shot came out of nowhere showing why Amir Khan is staying well clear of Thaxton. With this fantastic performance by thirty-four year old Thaxton we are declaring him our British Boxing Star of the Month,

The Bling of the Ring – Scoops and News

Oscar De La Hoya – Announced his new training team which includes Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain and The Legendary Angelo Dundee as a special consultant as he prepares for his December 6th show down with Manny Pacquiao.

It is now official that Amir Khan (18-1-0) will return to the ring for a bout against tough opponent Oisin Fagan (22-5-0) on Saturday 6th December at the ExCel Arena London without his new trainer Freddie Roach as it clashes with the mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya.

The Worlds worst boxer Peter Buckley retires after winning his first bout since 2002. On October 31^st Buckley who has 257 loses won in Birmingham, England his last bout before retiring. Buckley ends his career with a record of 31-257-12.

Cruiserweight now heavyweight David Haye finally announced his opponent for his heavyweight debut scheduled for November 15^th.Haye will take on American Monte Barrett.

Also it has been made official that Hennessy Sports have offered Joe Calzaghe £5million to fight Carl Froch early next year in Cardiff.First Calzaghe needs to get by Roy Jones Jr. on November 8th.

World Amateur Lightweight World Champion Frankie Gavin is turning professional with Frank Warren at the start of November and will be trained by Anthony Farnell with his professional debut likely to be in February 2009.

More great features can be found on http://www.diamondboxing.com/

 

 

Mission Accomplished Ballagou Captures Belt at “KnockOut Poverty’ Event

Ringside Reporting: Diane Bennett – Diamond Boxing

A few missions were accomplished last night in New York City at the “KnockOut Poverty” landmark event which was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom. With many great performers inside and outside of the ring the night was a great hit. Lots of money was raised for the charitable organization, All for Africa which, helps fight poverty in Africa. With star performers on hand the boxing got started with the Continental Africa Cruiserweight Championship belt on the line. The bout pitted Jaffa “The African Assassin” Ballagou from Toga against tough veteran Manu Ntoh from Cameroon. The bout was original scheduled for eight rounds however, due to the cancellation of other fights previously scheduled this bout was changed to twelve rounds. Ballagou who has been absent from the ring for two years due to promotional and managerial issues got off to a very slow start, showing some ring rust do to the long layoff. Ballagou also had to deal with the powerful Ntoh who is a multiple World Muay Thai champion and has only been knocked out 3 times in 33 professional boxing matches. Ballagou felt Ntoh power in the very first round when Ntoh connected with viscous shots that landed Ballagou to the canvas. Ballagou was able to survive the first round knockdown, he still was very lackluster throughout the early rounds, between a few of the early rounds referee Eddie Claudio even had to tell Ballagou that he had to show more action. Ballagou was able to gain some momentum and appeared to be getting some of his old swagger back towards the latter part of round 3.

In round 4 Ballagou was able to even the knockout score recording a knockout of his own. Ballagou kept things going in rounds 5 and 6 then appeared tire out after the 6th. Ntoh who was game throughout, picking his spots to load up and often connecting with hard body shots, was ahead on the scoring cards going into the 11th round. In the 11th knowing he most likely needed a knockout to win the belt Ballagou staggered the fatigued warrior Ntoh with a left he was then able to finish Ntoh off with set of combinations, the referee stopped the bout at the 2:47 mark of the roind. The delighted Ballagou afterwards spoke about his early rust and plans to get right back into training at Church Street Gym. Ballagou is hopeful that his new management team can act quickly and start planning his next bout. He says he will continue to work on building up his endurance and that he will take on anyone in the light heavyweight division, mentioning the names of Roy Jones Jr., Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson. Oddly enough Glen Johnson was in attendance watching this bout.

The shortened boxing card which was narrowed down to only two bouts due to visa problems and illness of participants. However, the second bout on the card did not short change the fans. Former Olympian Eromosele “Bad Boy” Albert faced Ossie Duran in a twelve rounder for the IBF Continental Africa light middleweight title. This one was a slugfest right from the opening bell, both fighters gave it there all, landing barrages of punches throughout all 12 rounds. Both fighters left their jabs at home and were just throwing heat at each other. They battered each other, not discriminating against either the head or the body, landing to all places. As the match ended it appeared that Duran was a little more active landing the cleaner shots, but the judges scored this one a draw. The cards showed a big disparity in the scoring one judge had it 116 - 112 Duran another had it 117-111 Albert and the third judge scored the bout even at 114 -114.Diamond Boxing had this one 7 rounds to 5 for Duran (115 – 113).

 

The completive bouts were presented by Bob Duffy’s Ring promotions and the night also featured outstanding musical performances. Headlining the musical festivities was Grammy Winner and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Youssou N’Dour who impressed the crowd with his entertaining performance. The night was kicked off with an amazing African dance routine highlighted by bongo and acrobatic performances. Diamond Boxing has proudly contributed to the All for Africa cause to view the on-line charity auction http://www.allforafrica.org/.

Photos By: Robert Epstein