What is in a name...?

God is this ever a bad week for boxing, Paul Green makes his comeback to face Danny Green in a bout that should NEVER have been allowed to happen. If Briggsy gets hurt heads need to roll. Other than that oddity the only other “major” talking point seems to be the meeting of Kazakh born US based Light Heavyweight Beibut Shumenov and Ukrainian Vyacheslav Uzelkov in the US. Although Shumenov (9-1) is the current WBA champion at 175lbs I've yet to speak to anyone that felt he deserved the decision over Gabriel Campillo in their rematch (in fact at one point the commentator said “Shumenov didn't do much in that round other than get punched in the face an awful lot”). The fight was described by a friend as “Worst decision of the last two centuries.”I'd expect Uzelkov to stop Shumenov inside 8.

So with that done and the only 2 fights worth talking about done I need something else...so what's in a name?
Just because theirs not any great fights this week it doesn't stop nicknames and real names being fun and interesting, this weeks sees the following fight:
Brad Pitt (Australian Cruiserweight)
Rich “Super” Power (American Heavyweight)
Yodchanchai Nakornloung Promotion (Thai Super Flyweight)-Although Thais often take the Gym name, never seen one taking the promoters name
Ocean Sor Jitty gym (another Thai Super Flyweight)
Leonardo Zappavigna (Australian Lightweight better known as Lenny Zappa)
Angel Estrada (American Light Welterweight)-Scary name that Angel...
Vashon Living (American Super Middleweight, female)-Not sure why but the name made me giggle
Kentaro Maimongkol Promotion (Thai Flyweight)
Johnson McLumpha (British fight debuting on Friday)-Sorry but that really is a fantastic name
Xavier Tolliver (American Welterweight who's nick name is “The X Man”)
Adonis Inman (American who debuts against Christian Hamlett)
Willie Fortune (American Middleweight)-Bet he's a rich Dick.

And I kid you not here Lane Staal is fighting Guy Packer...imagine the puns that a better writer would give you...

Not necessarily funny but Steve Collins fights...he's not a ginger Irishman but an American Heavyweight

Like boxing to the Yankee Stadium, I am back

Having had things popping up recently I've not managed to update this in a while which is a shame as I've managed to reel off work all week despite having things going on. Though it's with Yankee Stadium in mind and the recent Miguel Cotto v Yuri Foreman fight that brings me to thinking about the home of the great American game, that, like boxing, you stole from us Brits. Sadly one thing we Brits can't claim is the greatest heavyweight of all time, that was Joe Louis. So what happens when you put Joe in the home of baseball? Well...

It was against Primo Canera that Louis would make his debut in the stadium, scoring a 6th round TKO. He would follow this up by beating Max Baer  in 4 rounds in what was the first fight for Baer since losing his title. Louis made the former champion pay, as he established the stadium as his own home stadium, it could well have been renamed "Bomber Stadium" after the Brown Bomber destroyed Jack Sharkey there in 1936 having suffered his first career loss at the hands of Max Schmeling.

Having won the title at Comiskey Park against James J Braddock  his first defence was at home of the Yankees where he out pointed the fine Welshman Tommy Farr before extracting revenge against Schmeling in their rematch a year after winning the title was vicious and painful for the German though others were treat  to a similar fate. Tony Galento would put Louis down before being stopped in the stadium that Louis ruled with Arturo Godoy being the last defence Louis would have there before the war.

After the War Louis was back on the hallowed turf and knocking opponents out of there, with Billy Conn lasting into the 8th round whilst Tami Mauriello put on one of the most exciting brawls with Louis even if it was short lived. Louis would score his last defence there against Jersey Joe Walcott in 1948 before losing in his comeback to Ezzard Charles and not fighting there again having run up a 9-2 record in the venue.

Like many Louis fights there their Cotto v Foreman fight was a good watch and well worth chasing down if you've not already seen it.

For those interested in Louis' fights:
The Schmeling rematch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6StIjEli_vU

The Galento fight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdpZQHZlSWQ (pt 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQhaI21fS-c&feature=related (pt 2)

The Mauriello fight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUzJaokX_N8

Withe others available.

A look forward and a look backwards

So with this weekend being the biggest test of Nathan Cleverly's career as well as being the biggest test for Khetag Kozaev against the tough Makhankov (fight previewed in more detail here) could be one to keep a look out for in regards of the result. However some thing that boxing fans often forget is the true warriors of yesteryear, not those of the 1960's and 70's, the likes of Frazier, Foreman and of course Ali who will never be forgotten but those from back in the days of the prewar warriors. Fighters like Sullivan, Corbett, Fitzsimmons and Jeffries have established places in history, though the same can't be said about the forgotten sailor, Tom Sharkey the teak tough  Irish warrior.

As a result of this piece I've decided to take a look at the greatest Irish "boxers" of all time in an article for both Helium and associated content. Surprisingly the list of names I've been thinking (which I have included Sharkey and Peter Maher for) is actually longer than I personally expected (despite the article only including 5 in the final list). Having done similar lists for "English born" and "Scottish born" fighter this may become a weekly or a monthly thing looking at the top fighters from not only the specific eras but also nations and even areas in the future. An interesting subject despite what many may feel, it seems certain countries do have peculiar penchant for producing more than their fair share of top class talent. Puerto Rico for example have an alarming amount of top fighters, ditto for the Philippines (especially at the moment), whilst Russia and China have been sleeping giants in the sport. Although it's true the East are an arising force in boxing you'd expect with their size that they would have already started the charge and base it from Russia not through Germany.

The heavyweight kings of the 1890's

For those that did the first quiz in the heavyweight series, they may be interested in this article on the top heavyweight fighters of the 1890's, according to Helium.com this is actually a "history" article and not a sports article but whatever. For those who are fans of learning the old stuff in boxing, Tom Sharkey may well be one of the most forgotten fighters in the history of the sport and so expect an article on him when www.ringnews24.com is up and running. For those who would rather have a quiz the second part of my Heavyweight Boxing Quiz is now on Hubpages as is the 3rd and 4th (Joe Louis and the Post Louis era) parts which will go up over the next few days.

So what about this coming weekend, say what you want but it's the biggest fight in Nathan Cleverly's short career, one that promises to be one of the greatest in British history, as he takes on the Italian veteran Antonio Brancalion on Saturday. A fight that I may be able to preview some time before Saturday. Also on the same card are a bunch of the hottest British prospects in Kevin Mitchell, James DeGale, Frankie Gavin and Derek Chisora as well as the Walsh brothers. One I'm taking a personal interest in is the fight with the young KO machine Khetag Kozaev who's 8-0 (8KO's) record has come against mainly poor fighters but he's just 19. His opponent is the relatively tough Konstantin Makhankov who has been stopped once in 34 fights, that was when Makhankov's corner threw in the towel against Victor Oganov. A 9th straight stoppage for Kozaev will quickly see him getting a huge win for a man so young.

In America, Las Vegas to be precise there is an enthralling card that features several big names and a few intriguing contests:
Nonito Donaire v Gerson Guerrero (Prediction-a barn burner with Donaire winning late in an enthralling contests)
Fernando Montiel v Ciso Morale (Prediction- Montiel every day and twice on Sunday's, not sure what the 22 year old "Kid Terrible" has done to deserve this fight)
Gerry Penalosa v Eric Morel (Prediction- I think Penalosa will win this but it will be a classic fight that will almost certainly go under the radar. Definitely one of Penalosa's final fights of a brilliant career)
Bernabe Concepcion v Mario Santiago (Prediction- One I'm not sure on but it's a great fight between 2 young stars in the making)
Also on that card is Matt Korobov.

Boxing is dead? Hardly.

This blog may not see an immediate update after the fights due to the wonderful woman in my life being one whom isn't a big fight girl, though it will be updated sometime afterwards. Hopefully with a preview of both the Kozaev and the Cleverly fights.

In The Corner with the Sad Boy

With boxing in it's current guise, that of a sport which seems to have not yet managed to replace the out going fighters, one of the smartest things that American TV networks seemed to have started doing is showing more and more none American fights. Although they've always shown the top world wide fighters, those like Manny Pacquaio and Marco Antonio Barrera they've often been brought along on other fighters backs. Though this year has seen Juan Manuel Lopez, Yuriorkis Gamboa both furthering their careers, though more tellingly have been the recent world title fights that haven't been on PPV. The fight between Beibut Shumenov and Gabriel Campillo was the first and that was recently followed by Edwin Valero's recent fight against Antonio DeMarco...are we seeing a move by the networks? (full article on the subject is here).

Whats recently been in my head is a series of quizzes about boxing, the first of which is currently on hubpages and based on the very early heavyweight history. Feel free to try it out here, with a new one coming probably tomorrow on the next era of the division if the heavyweight ones are a success  it's likely they'll be followed up by another weight division.