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 31st 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 15th.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.
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