Boxing Clever
On Wednesday, in the aftermath of scenes in Munich that brought the sport into disrepute, Dereck Chisora had his boxing licence revoked by the BBBC.
The decision originally caused a level of confusion for fans and press alike. What did it actually mean? How long was he banned for? When could he fight again?
After taking a while to think about it, I think the decision is self explanatory. Chisora is banned for as long as the BBBC want him to be. They describe ‘Del Boy’ as ‘not a fit and proper person to hold a licence’. They are not wanting to ban him for life, yet they don’t want him waltzing back in six months as if nothing has happened, all set to shame the sport once again.
Chisora is not being punished just for the famous brawl with David Haye. He is also being banned for his pre fight slap on Vitali and his vile spit in Wladimir’s face before the first bell. This is as well as the threat to burn and shoot David Haye after the brawl. Add onto that his history of biting opponents in the ring and kissing them at a weigh-in, it is no surprise that the powers that be want him ‘cured’ before he steps foot in the ring again.
Many people are talking about how this is not binding to other countries such as the US. Chisora himself tweeted ‘three words, M G M’ in the aftermath of the verdict. Sadly for Dereck, a man with a criminal record (yes, he has been done for domestic abuse as well) is very unlikely to be allowed to fight in the US, or even enter the country. Nations in the EU are also more than likely to adhere to the decision of the BBBC and refuse a licence, should he choose to apply.
It is time for Dereck Chisora to be a man and face up to his problems. He has obviously got anger issues Some would even say mental problems. He needs to take some time away and work on these things and come back stronger.
Let’s remember, he put in a decent performance against Vitali. In a division devoid of talent he is a welcome acquisition. But that cannot be at the expense of the sport in general. We wish him luck.
Lets us move onto David Haye. The board had no jurisdiction over him as he doesn’t hold a license anyway. They have said that the incident will be taken into consideration if he looks to reapply for one. I thoroughly expect David to be re-licensed in the next few months. The intervening time will count as his punishment period and the Haye-Vitali fight will go ahead.
This will make sense as David is just being done for having the brawl with Chisora. Dereck, as previously stated, is being punished for a long list of offences.
Let us remember however that it was David who threw the first punch in that infamous altercation. The rush in some circles to defend Haye yet slaughter Chisora is pathetic. Some of these people are nothing but fan boys who would round on you when you even implied that Wlad would be able to out box David last year. As an industry, when these kind of incidents happen, we need to forget who we support and look after the game in general.
I’m sure we would all like to draw a line under this unsavoury incident once and for all.
Onto the action, and what a great week it has been for Ricky Burns. The world lightweight champion dominated ex title holder Paulus Moses on Saturday night and in doing so furthered his reputation as one of the biggest names in British, and world boxing.
Next up for Burns is more than likely to be a big clash against domestic rival Kevin Mitchell in the Summer. Once upon a time this would have been seen as a walkover for Mitchell. Kevin has always been regarded as a ‘world class’ fighter destined for greatness. Sadly, despite some decent wins, his out of ring activities have always got in the way.
Burns on the other hand was never seen as this level of fighter. A pro since 2001, I remember when, in 2005 him beating Graham Earl was seen as a massive shock. Losing to Alex Arthur and Carl Johanneson in his next two steps up seemed to confirm that he really wasn’t that ‘elite’ level of boxer.
Move on to 2012 and Burns has hit the big time. Mitchell is the one who is trailing in his wake. Some will see it as a clash between the man who has made the most of his talents and the man who seems intent on wasting his. That may seem slightly unfair to both but does have an element of truth to it.
This will truly be a 50/50 fight and none of us can wait. Who will actually win is going to divide public opinion massively. I, for one am struggling with that one.
On Saturday night we have the ‘War of the Roses.’ The big Welterweight clash between Kell Brook and Matthew Hatton has really gripped the public’s imagination and certainly looks an intriguing encounter. The classy skills of of Brook versus the hard work and determination of Hatton.
For me Brook wins this 99 times out of 100. Kell is faster and hits harder. Styles make fights and this is all wrong for Matthew. Hatton has come a long way from being regarded as Ricky’s ‘crap little Brother’ on the big MEN Arena shows back in the early 2000′s. He has gone on to win a European title and he hung tough against possible future megastar Saul Alvarez in a failed world title bid last year.
Sadly for Matthew he will need more than his undoubted toughness to beat Brook. Kell just seems to do everything better. Consequently he will win widely on points.
Just like Ricky Burns though, I am sick of writing Matthew Hatton off. Don’t be surprised to see the words shoved down my throat this time next week
Finally for today, we have the big world super-middleweight clash between Sergio Martinez and Matthew Macklin. The fight, on St Patrick’s Day in America, has gained interest on both sides of the Atlantic and many people are picking Macklin to actually do it. Their belief is reinforced by his excellent, if unsuccessful performance against Felix Sturm in Germany last year. Plus Martinez seemed to struggle for a while against Macklin’s big domestic rival Darren Barker last time out.
Unfortunately I feel that Macklin will be in for a disappointment. Barker had the benefit of being a mover. He was able to go in and out of range extremely well, though even he was finally knocked out in the eleventh.
Macklin has always been more of an aggressive fighter that Barker. I see him staying in range more, getting busted up and getting knocked out.
I really hope I am wrong. We will see.
So it’s on to the weekend. It really is a massive couple of days with some great fights. And after all the rubbish that has been spoken about the sport recently, isn’t that what it is all really about?
