Snips and Snipes 12 August 2014

Deontay Wilder will be in action again this weekend when he faces Jason Gavern in Carson, California. Wilder is now the WBC No 1 so should be ready to face some top quality opposition. That would be a pleasant change-but it isn’t happening. I guess it is understandable not to take any chances with a world title fight there for him but Gavern is 37, has lost inside the distance 7 times, and lasted less than a round against Amir Mansour last year. In his last fight in November he lost in the final of the heavyweight Prizefighter tournament in London to 38-year-old Michael Sprott. Just once it would be nice to see his team actually take a fight with a 1% risk involved. If Wilder wins the rumour is that the WBC will improve his rating to Triple A No 1+ Universal/Global/Interim contender. His management has to be admired in the way that they have steered him to this elevated position by avoiding anyone under 35, who is rated, is a puncher, can move etc. There is no truth to the claim that they have a doctor on the team who is not there to look after Wilder’s health but ensure that any potential opponent is breathing-just, and can’t be classified as fit or able. Okay wide over exaggeration but it is irritating that an American heavyweight who looks to be a devastating puncher with great hand speed, the very things that the division is crying out for, is an unknown quantity because he has never faced a serious test-but is rated No 1 by a sanctioning body. If you don’t agree then just give me the name of one guy he has beaten who you would consider as proof he should be No 1.How you win is important but who you beat is the real measure.

After his controversial loss to Ricky Burns last September it’s only right that Ray Beltran gets another shot at the WBO light title. He tackles champion Terrence Crawford in Omaha on November 29. A tough one for Sugar.

The WBA and WBC enjoyed some positive publicity over their refusal to accept Rod Salka as a challenger for Danny Garcia. Good decision but one swallow does not make a summer. After all in November the WBC sanctioned Thai Lookrak Kiatmungme as a challenger for their strawweight champion Xiong Zhao Zhong even though Lookrak had lost 4 of his last 5 fights, including his last two, in one of which he was knocked out in one round by a guy who was not in their top 40.

Even worse the WBA now rate Shannon Briggs at No 14. His four comeback fights have seen him beat Maurenzo Smith (36-year-old with just one win in his last eight fights including two first round losses), (Francisco Mireles a much younger 32 who two fighta before facing Briggs was blown away in 59 seconds by Mike Hunter in Hunter’s second pro fight) Matt Greer (37 and 2-6 in his last 8 fights  with all six losses by KO/TKO) and Brazilian Raphael Zumbano ( a guy with a good chin but a loser against a guy with a 7-6 record before fighting Briggs). The WBA have an excuse-by beating Zumbano Briggs won the NABA title so that entitle him to a rating. What a farce but I do admire the way that the WBA always manage to live down to their abysmal reputation.

They are at it again with the fight between Jesus Cuellar and Juan Manuel Lopez for Cuellar’s interim WBA featherweight title on 11 September in Las Vegas. Although the Puerto Rican was floored and stopped in three rounds in by Francisco Vargas in July at super feather and although he appears nowhere in their ratings the fight is approved. That is because you can challenge for the interim title even if you are not rated which devalues the title completely. I just wish they would spend some of their sanctioning money in a dictionary where interim is defined as “temporary or provisional”. Mind you, that’s the Oxford English dictionary. In the Panamanian dictionary it is described as “just another excuse for sanctioning fees”

Eduardo Lamazon once the WBC Secretary, is now a boxing analyst, a friend from my WBC days and one of the nicest people in boxing, Lamazon recently said that there are now 2000 titles in boxing. They way things are his information was probably out of date by the end of his press conference.

Whilst rejoicing in the way that Daniel Jacobs has fought back so magnificently against cancer I was saddened to hear that Australian Troy Waters is battling with leukemia. Hopefully the 49-year-old former Australian and Commonwealth champion and world title challenger, one of three fighting brothers, can also emerge victorious from his battle.

Former WBC bantam champion Victor Rabanales is fighting hard against addiction to alcohol. He is getting support from Carlos Zarate who trod the same path himself. I still smile about the fact that Victor actually bought a volcano. Bet it was a struggle to get home insurance on that. Hopefully with the support of the fight community in Mexico it is a battle he is winning.

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and the Mexican DF Boxing Commission quickly found that out. A manager protested about the decision against one of his fighters. The Commission viewed the video and agreed and suspended the officials involved. Since then managers have been beating down their door looking for injustices to be overturned. Even good intentions have consequences.

Better news of an ex-boxer was that former WBO super flyweight champion Ivan “Choko” Hernandez has been appointed as President to the Ensenada Boxing Commission. I can still remember that his eighth round kayo of Marc Johnson in 2004 for the WBO title was a real shock upset.

“The Duke” may no longer be with us, but the family tradition carries on. Trey Lippe Morrison, the son of the late Tommy, is also a heavyweight and is 3-0 with all three wins by KO/TKO, two in the first round and one in the second. In addition another son, Kenzie

Witt is said to be turning pro. I had the privilege of meeting Tommy at the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was very popular and fan friendly.

Boxers rewards for fighting come in various forms, but mostly money. Ghanaians Brahim Kamoko and Ayitey Powers put on a good fight in Accra in May. They got paid their purses and it was such a good fight that the family of former President Jerry John Rawlings presented each with 20 bags of rice and ten cartons of chickens. Different I know but from the experiences of my own family who are working out there and loving it in that friendly country things are done differently.

Former WBC welter champion Andre Berto is ready to return to the ring. He suffered a shoulder injury in his loss to Jesus Soto Karass in July which required surgery. His return in scheduled for 6 September in Cincinnati with no opponent nominated yet.

Antonio Tarver is also going to be back in action, he faces Jonathan banks in Hidalgo, Texas on 29 September. The former IBF/WBA/WBC light heavy champion is 45 and it will be his first fight since beating Mike Sheppard for the interim NABA heavy title in November. Banks, 32, will be having his first fight since losing to Seth Mitchell in June last year.

Sam Soliman is still searching for a way into the big money but he has a defence against Jermain Taylor in Las Vegas in December. It is not a big fight but it is a good one. Strangely even though he has not fought since December and was not in the IBF ratings in May Taylor suddenly appears in their latest ratings. Surprise, surprise!

Tomoko Kameda defends his WBO bantam title against interim champion Alejandro Hernandez in Chicago on 1 November. The bidding for the fight was won by Warriors Boxing representing Kameda. They won with a bid of $603,000 against a much lower bid of $151,000 from All Star Boxing on behalf of Hernandez. That’s the downside of sealed bids. When they are opened you realise you could have bid $450,000 less and still won the bidding. Kameda gets 80% and Hernandez 20%. Kameda recently signed with Al Haymon so has powerful backing.

The latest on Saul Alvarez is that he will fight again in December in San Antonio but no opponent yet. The aim/wish is a fight with Miguel Cotto in 2015.

After his controversial loss to Brandon Rios Diego Chaves gets a quick bit of compensation from Top Rank who aim to put him on their 22 November show in Macau. A number of names are in the hat including Mike Alvarado, Carlos Abregu and Ruslan Provodnikov.

On 1 August in the Thomas Williams vs. Gabriel Campillo fight we saw unbeaten Williams cut for the first time in his career and the confidence just drained out of him so that he lost a fight he was quite capable of winning. Last weekend in South Africa we saw young Ryno Liebenberg badly cut in the first round of his fight against Denis Grachev but suck it up, deal with it, get on with the fight and get the win he deserved. It is when something like those cuts happen that the men in the corner earn their money. Yes the cut specialists, but mostly the trainer and chief second who prevents any panic, changes the game plan if necessary, makes the fighter focused and sends him back out of the corner with his confidence intact. That was the achievement of Colin Nathan of the Hot Box gym for his boxer Liebenberg. He is a guy who works at his craft and is one of the best young trainers in boxing today. The fighter has to do the fighting, but the trainer has to imbue him with that can do philosophy.

Good to see boxing legends Roberto Duran and Evander Holyfield inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall Of Fame. It was a nice touch that both Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray Leonard were there to witness the induction of their great rivals. Both Roberto and Evander have had their troubles recently but they looked well and happy as they received the honour they so richly deserve.

Frank Maloney’s decision to have a sex change operation has been splashed across the papers and web sites. I can’t even begin to imagine the trauma Kellie, as she is now known, went through living in such a macho environment and struggling to come to terms with the truth she was realising. Hopefully now she has come to terms with her sexuality and once the blare of publicity is over she can settle down to a happy and healthy life and hopefully return to boxing again.

Poor old Boxing South Africa (BSA). They seem to lurch from one controversy to another and in some cases it is again the good intentions to hell bit. The BSA rules call for purses for a show to be deposited with them 30 days or 14 days before a show. When that deadline passed for a show in Port Elizabeth on August 2 the BSA cancelled the show. The organiser of the event challenged the decision in the Gauteng High court but lost. Meanwhile with the fighters were in place and the weigh-in completed so the local representative went to court in Port Elizabeth and got the ban overturned. After all of this the local Promoters Association are calling for the resignation of the chairman of BSA. It strikes me that the promoter knew the rules and should have complied-but did not so BSA were within their rights according to their rules. However it is just one more example of a sport involved in internal strife with the promoters vs. BSA and it is harming the sport down there.