A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
Anthony Joshua might’ve found his perfect blend of boxing and aggression.
The heavyweight titleholder’s stunning knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in June of last year evidently changed him into a more disciplined fighter, one who doesn’t take unnecessary risks in the ring.
He took that to an extreme in the rematch with Ruiz, boxing cautiously to win a wide decision and regain his titles.
On Saturday, he found a balance of risk and reward. He outboxed Kubrat Pulev, patiently setting up power punches and then landing them when he saw openings. The result: He put Pulev down four times, scored a brutal ninth-round knockout and took few punches himself.
Not a bad night’s work.
Now, it’s important to consider the opponent. Pulev looked his age, 39. Most notably, he was slower than I expected him to be. Joshua seemed to see almost all of Pulev’s right-hand power shots coming and had more than enough time to get out of the way.
To be sure, Pulev was a step down from a reasonably fit Ruiz, who’s far more explosive and powerful than Saturday’s loser.
Still, the Bulgarian has to be seen as a solid foe based on his resume. And Joshua handled him with ease, which was an important step for him after a difficult 2019.
I’m going to pick fellow titleholder and countryman Tyson Fury to beat Joshua every day of the week. The Gypsy King is both a better boxer and mentally tougher than his rival, whose only advantage is his punching power.
That said, I think the version of Joshua we saw on Saturday has a chance to beat Fury. He’s a good enough boxer and has enough experience to create opportunities to land big punches.
And he if they land? Well, let’s hope they make the fight as early as possible next year.
***
BAD
The handlers of Joshua and Fury are optimistic that a deal on a title-unification fight is within easy reach, which is good news. That’s the biggest-possible fight in boxing. It has to happen ASAP.
The bad news is that the WBO title — currently held by Joshua — might not be at stake, meaning the tantalizing concept of a four-belt, undisputed heavyweight champion could go out the window.
The WBO and Usyk, it’s mandatory challenger, have said they’re unwilling to step aside so Joshua can fight Fury for that belt. They already allowed Joshua to face to Pulev, his IBF mandatory. They say they’re not going to be so generous again.
And one can understand Usyk’s position. Joshua and Fury intend to fight twice next year, meaning the Ukrainian wouldn’t get his shot at the title until 2022. And even a single Joshua-Fury fight would leave Usyk out of the picture until late next year.
The problem for Usyk is that Joshua and Fury seem to have made up their minds, which means that the WBO could strip Joshua of his belt.
If that happens, then only three belts – Joshua’s IBF and WBA, Fury’s WBC – would be on the line when they meet. That’s fine. The winner will be universally seen as the undisputed heavyweight champion regardless of whether the WBO is at the party.
At the same time, it would leave the heavyweight championship fractured, which isn’t ideal.
Usyk would fight for the vacant title, perhaps against No. 2-ranked Joe Joyce. The winner would not be recognized by responsible pundits and fans as a legitimate heavyweight “champion” but that’s what the WBO, the winner, the winner’s promoter and others invested in him will call him.
That diminishes the Joshua-Fury winner’s claim to the championship ever so slightly, which is a shame. The fans deserve one genuine heavyweight champion.
***
WORSE
I was hoping that WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman would come to his senses and abandon the idea of the new “bridgerweight” division between cruiserweight and heavyweight, which has a limit of 224 pounds.
He didn’t. He unveiled his rankings this past week. Here they are:
- Oscar Rivas
- Ryad Merhy
- Kevin Lerena
- Dmitry Kudryashov
- Evgeny Romanov
- Bryant Jennings
- Artur Szpilka
- Alen Babic
- Joel Tambwe Djeko
- Shigabudin Aliev
- Marco Huck
- Bilal Laggoune
- Samuel Kadje
- Rashid Kodzoev
- Isaac Chamberlain
I’ll reiterate that I understand Sulaiman’s thinking. The new division provides a comfortable landing spot for small heavyweights who can’t compete with behemoths like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
The problems are many, though. The one that bothers me most is that it adds to the glut of so-called titleholders. As it was, with four major sanctioning bodies and 17 divisions, we had 68 championship slots. And that’s not counting the growing number of secondary titles that some people take seriously.
Now, with the new division, we’re adding another title. And if the other sanctioning bodies follow suit – and they probably will – you can three more to that.
When does the madness end?
I had an idea for Sulaiman. OK, if you’re going to add a division, then you must remove one. I suggested he eliminate strawweight. The smallest fighters would have to fight at 108 pounds instead of 105. Sorry.
That way Sulaiman could put to rest the notion that he created the division as a way of making more money. Remember: Fighters must pay for the privilege of fighting for a championship, however dubious that title might be.
Sulaiman named the division after a boy named Bridger who was injured while protecting his sister from an attacking dog. Nice gesture, indeed. However, the name is inconsistent with the more generic labels of the other divisions, although the word “bridge” obviously works more than one way.
If nothing else, Mauricio, change the name. Super cruiserweight makes more sense long term.
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