-Scott’s On the Spot Weekly Boxing Report-
This past weekend was a low-key one by most standards. At the same time, it was an active couple of days on the world stage…
On Thursday, still-useful Kali Meehan, 36-4-1, scored a decision win over Evans Quinn, 18-5-1—and winless in his last 4. With such a dearth of young talent in the heavyweight division, old retrograde contenders like Meehan continue to remain in the picture. It’s not difficult to imagine an even bleaker situation, say, 10 years from now.
Now the Klitschko brothers are poised to face two more carcasses being dragged back into the picture: Sam Peter (vs. Wladimir next week) and Shannon Briggs (vs. Vitali). How did Briggs work his way back into contention exactly? And for Peter, he has already dogged it twice and I won’t go along a third time. Against Vitali, he put forth one of the most tepid efforts ever seen by a man fighting for a title. Then in a big fight against Eddie Chambers, he shows up at 265 pounds and stinks up the joint. Why arrive for those two fights in such poor condition, then manage to get in shape for nothing fights like he did in his last four bouts?
I have no room on my plate for head cases. I’m turned off. Maybe the fact that he was competitive against Wladimir the first time, dropping him multiple times, makes this match interesting. I say Wlad blasts him out this Saturday in fairly easy fashion.
On the Other End of the Spectrum…
Lighter-weight enthusiasts always scour the results of the little guys, looking for the next diamond-in-the-rough—and maybe the next Ricardo Lopez. At 105 pounds, the 3 top guys are undefeated and two of them were in action this weekend. Nicaraguan Roman Gonzalez, 26-0 (22 KOs), won a non-title bout (whatever happened to those?) by knockout. Thai Oleydong Sithsamerchai fought to a draw with countryman Pornsawan Porpramook and is now 34-0-1. While this pair and South African Nkosinathi Joyi are a talented group of young titlists, they will probably never gain appeal in the west.
A busy week also took place one division north at 108, with titlists Omar Nino Romero and Luis Lazarte each making defenses. Romero, coming off a stirring title-winning decision over Rodel Mayol, stopped retread contender Ronald Barrera (now 0-5 in title fights) after 6 one-sided rounds. Lazarte, 39, who incredibly won a title on his 6th attempt, defended his IBF belt with a decision over Nerys Espinoza.
In a year of upsets, Scotland’s Ricky Burns continued the pattern by defeating favored and unbeaten WBO 130-pound champ Roman Martinez. Burns, now 29-2 (7 KOs), was dropped by a hard right in the opening round, but dusted himself off and edged Martinez in a really good fight held in Glasgow. Burns had looked shaky recently, but seemed inspired by the supportive crowd and world title implications. The 130-pound class, always a haven of good fighters and matchups, might be at its weakest in recent memory. Still, Burns-Martinez was a stirring encounter.
Jan Zaveck, 30-1, avenged his only defeat with a majority decision in his home country of Slovenia over Rafal Jackiewicz (36-9-1). The IBF Welterweight champion surged late to pin the first loss on Jackiewicz in 21 fights. Jackiewicz started his career 15-8-1.
WBA Middleweight Champion Felix Sturm registered another defense by beating Giovanni Lorenzo by unanimous decision. Lorenzo, who talked tremendous smack leading up to the fight, was unable to get anything going until it was too late. Sturm, in his first fight in over a year, was able to control long stretches of the bout with his jab and greater polish. Nothing against Sturm, who is a fine fighter and has beaten some decent opponents, but maybe he should take on some meaningful fights before it’s too late. To this date, his only two losses are a disputed decision to De La Hoya in 2004 and an avenged defeat to Javier Castillejo.
Looking Ahead…
In addition to Klitschko-Peter II, next week has some good action.
Erik Morales takes on Willie Limond in Step 2 on a comeback no one is really excited about. As long as he takes on opponents like this, everything should be okay, but I shudder to think of him taking another beating, which is all but an inevitability at this point.
Jason Booth tries to spring another UK upset, as he takes on titlist Steve Molitor—who is looking to re-establish himself after a disastrous loss to Celestino Caballero a few years back.
On HBO, Yuriorkis Gamboa fights a unification bout with tough vet Orlando Salido. In an intriguing bout between undefeated lightweights, Anthony Peterson, 30-0 (20 KOs), takes on Brandon Rios, 24-0 (18 KOs).
