Timothy "Desert Storm Bradley"
The mess at junior welterweight
typifies
boxing's problems
By Rizwaan Zahid
of The Boxing Amusement Park
After Amir Khan’s win over Paulie
Malignaggi on May 15, the British boxing star expressed his
interest in having a tournament at 140, ala Showtime's Super Six
Classic for super middleweights. The proposal was that Khan
would fight Marcos Maidana and Devon Alexander would fight
Timothy Bradley. Three weeks later, that idea seems like it was
ages ago as all four fighters are all taking different paths.
Maidana was
originally scheduled to fight Bradley, but pulled out with an
injury. They rescheduled, only for Maidana to claim injury
again. Now recent news is that Maidana didn’t have a back
injury, but, rather, a promotional dispute. In short, he wanted
more money for the Bradley fight and used the back injury to get
out of a proposed date with Amir Khan for July 31st. Now,
although that proposal for a fight was pretty useless with
Maidana supposedly injured, the new information brings to light
the fact that Maidana did not fight Khan because of financial
issues with his promoter. Although Khan was avoiding Maidana
before, it did seem like he wanted the fight now.
As for Khan himself,
it seemed as if he was going to fight Michael Katsidis after the
Aussie defeated another Brit, Kevin Mitchell. But Katsidis
reportedly would not be offered enough to go up to 140, and
instead is likely to fight the winner of Marquez-Diaz.
Katsidis' trainer, Brendon Smith, insists they haven’t received
an offer and they would indeed take a fight with Khan. Also, in
the latest published interview with Katsidis, he has indicated
that he is interested in fighting Khan. Right now, though, Khan
is rumored to be lining up a fight with Joel Casamayor. The
former champion Casamayor has said the fight “is a go,” although
it has not been made official yet.
Timothy Bradley has not
expressed interest in fighting in the tournament, but says he'd
participate if the money was right. Bradley instead appears to
be looking for major paydays against the likes of Floyd
Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
In my book at least, he doesn't yet deserve a major payday.
Devon Alexander has repeatedly shown an interest in fighting
Bradley, but with the Maidana fight falling through, Bradley
will now go up to 147 to fight undefeated but untested Luis
Carlos Abregu next month.
Many networks may not want
to showcase Devon Alexander, a Don King fighter. HBO and
Showtime have tried for years to keep King away from their
telecasts and promoting major fights. Alexander will now fight
another Don King Promotions fighter, Andrei Kotelnik. Although
Kotelnik is a good opponent, he’s not one of the great fighters
people would like to see Alexander take on.
It’s simply amazing how
quickly boxing can shoot itself in the foot so many times.
There is no one individual
to blame for causing this mess, but fights the fans want are
becoming diamonds in the rough -- so deeply embedded, in fact,
that it’s nearly impossible to get to the diamonds.
That is what boxing is becoming, it seems. A major fight is a
surprisem rather then expected. These fighters are young and
have the chance to put boxing pack on a straight path. They’re
all talented and have the skills to be the best. But there’s no
way we will find out who is the best unless they fight.
Steve "USS" Cunningham |
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Troy Ross, Steve Cunningham
collide at a crossroad
By Rizwaan Zahid
of The Boxing Amusement Park
Troy Ross and Steve Cunningham are
Canadian and American respectively, yet for Saturday’s
vacant IBF cruiserweight title bout the two will be fighting
in Germany. Why are two of the top cruiserweights fighting
on another continent when they are entertaining and highly
skilled?
Neither fighter has had many HBO or
Showtime events in which they were showcased. Cunningham, a
Philadelphia native, has travelled to his opponent’s
backyard numerous times, especially in the past couple of
years. After losing a controversial decision to Krzysztof
Wlodarczyk in his native Poland, Cunningham went back six
months later to win a majority decision in the rematch.
Later in the year, Cunningham went on the road again to
Germany to take on local star Marco Huck and beat him
convincingly by a 12th-round TKO.
Along came Tomasz Adamek. In a late
candidate for Fight of the Year, Adamek took home a close
split decision. The brutal war was not on HBO’s Boxing After
Dark or Showtime Boxing, but on Versus on a Thursday night.
Cunningham is now signed with German promotion company
Sauderland Events, so while he may not be on HBO Boxing
anytime soon, he has at least made a mark on German boxing.
That nation already knows him quite well after his
destructive win over Huck.
The route to this title shot has been
nothing short of arduous for Troy Ross. Difficult,
problematic, tough, demanding… all these words give an
indication as to just how determined Ross had to be to
continue fighting. Ross was a two-time Olympian for Canada
and five years ago retired from the sport. Why? Simply
because he wasn’t able to book any meaningful fights. Ross
won the reality TV series "The Contender" last year and
showed what television networks have been missing all this
time. I had the pleasure of doing an interview with him last
year, and perhaps it’s his soft-spoken manner that does not
get him on the big fight cards. He doesn’t talk as much as
Mayweather and is not a politician like Pacquiao. Ross, a
Brampton, Ontario resident, does not have the simple luxury
that most fighters have by fighting in their hometown or
around the surrounding area.
For both fighters, this is a
make-or-break fight in many ways. Cunningham will be 34 next
month and Ross will be 35. Ironically their birthdays are
only two days apart. They've had similar struggles, and, at
their age, will recognize the importance of this fight.
For Cunningham, it’s the chance to
shine in front of his new German fans. For Ross, it’s the
dream he’s been chasing since turning pro, and a win could
put North America on notice.
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