A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
Vergil Ortiz gave his most-impressive performance on Saturday in Frisco, Texas, not far from his hometown of Dallas.
The fight wasn’t his easiest. That was the work of rugged opponent Egidijus Kavaliauskas, who pushed Ortiz harder than anyone else had early the fight. That included a right uppercut that hurt Ortiz in Round 2.
However, Ortiz overcame the resistance and methodically fought behind his powerful jab to break down Kavaliauskas and ultimately put him down five times. By Round 8, the Lithuanian was finished. He went down four times before referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight, giving Ortiz his 18th knockout in 18 fights.
Ortiz looked like a seasoned veteran even though he’s only 23 years old.
What now? He has beaten Maurice Hooker and Kavaliauskas (22-2, 18 KOs) in succession, which seems to demonstrate that he’s ready for the best in division.
He’s ranked No. 1 by the WBO, meaning he’s first in line to challenge champion Terence Crawford, who stopped Kavaliauskas in nine rounds in December 2019. However, citing boxing politics, he wouldn’t predict what might be next for him.
He simply said he’s ready and willing to face anyone who fights at 147 pounds. Whomever is next had better be ready for him.
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BAD
Sometimes boxers and fans have competing interests.
The primary objective of every fighter is to have his hand raised after his or her fight, regardless of how that might look. The wish of every fan is to be entertained.
Guillermo Rigondeaux is good at the former, lousy at the latter.
The two-time Olympic champion from Cuba served up another dud on Saturday in Carson, Calif., where he frustrated both 118-pound titleholder John Riel Casimero (31-4, 21 KOs) and those watching by running the entire 12-rounder.
The fight was competitive because Rigondeaux landed shots here and there – 44 total, according to CompuBox – and was an elusive target for Casimero, who connected on only 47 punches.
One judge scored it for Rigondeaux (115-113) but two had Casimero winning (117-111 and 116-112), giving Casimero the victory. Boxing Junkie scored it 114-114, a draw.
However, the contest was almost completely devoid of action as a result of Rigondeaux’s tactics, a fact that was met with vociferous booing from around the third round on. The fans weren’t happy.
Rigondeaux, 40, was unapologetic afterward, a stance that can be justified. He thought his best chance to win a major title was to fight as he did, which is understandable. And he thought he did enough to win the fight.
Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. One thing is obvious: Few will have felt sorry for Rigondeaux (20-2, 13 KOs) after he ran for an entire world championship fight.
He was asked afterward whether he would continue to fight. He replied by saying that he had just proved he could compete with an elite young opponent, meaning he plans to go on with his career.
But who’s going to want to watch?
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WORSE
The summer had served up a number of disappointments.
It was announced early in the week that welterweight titleholder Errol Spence Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs) suffered a retinal tear and had to pull out of his anticipated showdown with Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) on Aug. 21 in Las Vegas.
A few days later, the Aug. 28 fight between super middleweight contender David Benavidez and Jose Uzcategui was postponed after Benavidez tested positive for COVID-19.
And, of course, those news items followed the postponement of the third fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, which was set for July 24. Fury also tested positive for the coronavirus.
The difference between Pacquiao-Spence and the other two aforementioned fights is that it might never happen.
Pacquiao, who will now fight titleholder Yordenis Ugas, is 42 and nearing the end of his career. Any of his fights could be his last, although Spence has said he hopes to fight the winner of the upcoming fight.
Ugas (26-4, 12 KOs) is legitimate opponent for Pacquiao, who is coming off his sensational victory over Keith Thurman two years ago. The Cuban is an excellent all-around fighter, with victories over Amir Imam, Jamal James, Bryant Perrella, Thomas Dulorme and Abel Ramos.
And some believe he deserved the decision when he challenged then-titleholder Shawn Porter in March 2019.
That said, Pacquiao-Ugas doesn’t have the same cache that Pacquiao-Spence had. Perhaps the latter fight can still happen.
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RABBIT PUNCHES
I have no faith in the WBA – the worst of the dreaded sanctioning bodies – but I applaud President Gilberto Mendoza’s decision to suspend judge Gloria Martinez Rizzo and order an immediate rematch between Mykal Fox and Gabriel Maestre.
Mendoza also has taken steps to reduce his ridiculous number of titles, which is another positive.
Fox seemed to outbox Maestre on the Eimantas Stanionis–Luis Collazo card on Aug. 7 but lost a unanimous decision. Martinez Rizzo’s score of 117-110 for Maestre was particularly outrageous to most viewers, who were convinced Fox deserved the decision. Later, racist tweets posted by Martinez Rizzo were uncovered. Fox is black.
I hope that Martinez Rizzo never again serves any function in boxing. …
One must feel for Emmanuel Rodriguez (19-2, 12 KOs) and Gary Antonio Russell (18-0, 12 KOs). The 118-pounders were only seconds into their title eliminator on the Casimero-Rigondeaux card when a clash of heads injured Rodriguez and ended the fight, which was a no-contest. Let’s hope they can reschedule the fight soon. …
Bantamweight contender Rau’shee Warren, 34, demonstrated on the Casimero-Rigondeaux card that he’s not finished as an elite fighter. The three-time U.S. Olympian and former 118-pound titleholder unleashed surprising power to put Damien Vazquez (15-3-1, 8 KOs) down twice in the first round and stop him in the second. Warren (19-3, 5 KOs) hadn’t stopped an opponent since 2015. …
Nico Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, is a nice story but we must be careful not to burden the 21-year-old with high expectations. He stopped Jordan Weeks (4-2, 2 KOs) in the first round of his pro debut on the Joshua Franco–Andrew Moloney card Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., demonstrating some impressive power in the process. However, he is in the early stages of his development. We’ll see how things go. …
Franco (18-1-2, 8 KOs) did a nice job of wrapping up his trilogy with Moloney (21-2, 14 KOs), outboxing the Aussie to win a clear decision and putting himself in a strong position to fight for a legitimate world title. Many believe Moloney deserved to win their first fight, which Franco nabbed by a close decision. Their second fight was a no-contest stemming from an accidental clash of heads. Moloney was devastated afterward but he shouldn’t be so hard on himself. He demonstrated again that he’s a capable fighter. He’ll be back.
Meanwhile, 118-pound contender Jason Moloney (22-2, 18 KOs), Andrew’s twin, bounced back from his knockout loss to Naoya Inoue by outpointing Joshua Greer (22-3-2, 12 KOs).
