Treat in store for fight fans

After the travesty of Haye v Harrison last month, a fight that simply never should have happened, boxing fans tuning into Frank Warren's 30th anniversary fistic extravaganza tonight are in for treat.

Top of the bill in Liverpool is Olympic gold-medallist James 'Chunky' DeGale against home-town favourite and former 'contender' Paul 'Smigga' Smith. Now I'm a big fan of Degale and he was hugely impressive last time out against Carl Dilks on Warren's 'Magnificent 7' bill. But he's only fought as a professional eight times and many people think he may have bitten off more than he can chew against Smith. Frank Warren won't mind what happens. Both fighters are part of his stable, although Degale is surely the better prospect. Still, Smith will have vocal support tonight inside the Echo Arena and Skybet's 9-2 about a Smith victory is grossly overpriced.

In Las Vegas meanwhile, Amir 'King Khan' takes on highly-rated Argentinian Marcos Maidana. I'm going to have to put the coffee on to stay awake (the fight is scheduled to start at 3am) but this has all the makings of a classic. Maidana has an impressive 90 per cent knock-out rate and is unlikely to rein in his big-hitting style now he's hit the bright lights of Vegas. Expect fireworks right from the start. Khan has turned into a top notch fighter under Freddie Roach and happens to have the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world as a sparring partner - Manny Pacquiao. I think Khan will be too slick for Maidana on the night but the Argentine is a tough nut to crack and it might be worth a punt on Sporting Bet's standout 11/4 on a Khan decision.

PREVIEW: Haye vs Harrison

In case you weren't aware, there's a big pay-per-view fight on telly tonight. But while boxing fans the world over will be staying up late to watch ring superstar Manny Pacquiao, British fans have been caught up in the hype surrounding the Haye vs Harrison knock-about in Manchester. And why not, it's a genuine all-British world title fight (albeit for the less respected WBA version of the heavyweight title) between two former friends who clearly despise each other. Look, you see, even I've bought into the hype. But back in September I called this fight a 'farce' and I stand by that. There's a very good reason the promo material for this fight keeps showing slow-motion footage of Harrison's crushing 12th round knockout of Michael Sprott; it's probably the only decent punch he's thrown in the last ten years. I exaggerate, but only slightly.
People forget that Harrison had probably lost every round up to that point and was staring, not for the first time, at boxing oblivion. But from somewhere he pulled out an absolute peach of a punch to set himself up for an unlikely shot at a heavyweight title.
Don't get me wrong, I don't blame David Haye for taking this fight. There's clearly plenty of public interest in seeing them get it on (motivated I suspect by a desire to see a perennial boxing bogeyman get his comeuppance) and Haye is due a big payday. The Klitschkos will still be there in a few months time and Haye knows, everyone knows, that he will have to fight them at some point. Why not pad out his 24-1 record against a former Olympic gold-medalist?
Harrison may be big, but he's slow, and Haye can duck and weave with the best of them. Some people seem to be predicting a Harrison victory on the back of a single punch against a second-rate opponent. I don't see lightning striking twice and I predict a Haye victory inside the first three rounds, available at 5/2 with Betfred.

PREVIEW: Pacquiao vs Margarito

Earlier this year, November was penciled in as possible date for the Pacquiao v Mayweather superfight that all fans want to see and that boxing badly needs. That fight still hasn't happened, as everyone knows, and when this somewhat unlikely match-up was announced instead, I have to confess, I was a little underwhelmed by the prospect. However, as the fight has got closer, I've started to get excited, as I do whenever the dynamic little Filipino enters the ring. Already assured of his place in boxing history and with an era-defining fight with Mayweather still out of reach, Pacquiao has been pursuing, what you might call, other interests. Like, being elected to the House of Representatives in the Philippines.
There are suggestions from the Pacquiao camp that his training hasn't been as vigorous as usual and trainer Freddie Roach isn't happy. In contrast, Antonio Margarito is that most dangerous of beasts, someone with pretty much nothing to lose (I'd argue Harrison is the same, although more of that later). He weighed in five pounds heavier than Pacquiao and could enter the ring with as much as 15-20 pounds over the smaller man. But size alone isn't everything, as Pacquiao has proved time and again in his relentless rise through the weight divisions. It's been well over two years since Margarito put in a decent shift, and even that victory against Cotto looks slightly dubious in light of what happened before the Mosley fight. Still, he's tall and rangy, an awkward customer with a decent chin and I don't expect Manny to have an easy night in Texas. He'll still win, and I think he'll do so inside the distance: 4-7 with Bet365.
Skybet offer 4-1 on a Pacquiao victory in rounds 7, 8 or 9 and that's the Twelfth Round selection.

Haye v Harrison takes us into realm of the absurd

The big news in boxing this week is that David Haye will fight Audley 'A-Force' Harrison at the MEN Arena in Manchester on November 13. There are so many things wrong with that sentence, I hardly know where to start.
Perhaps the least obvious though, is the location. Why Manchester for God's sake? I've got nothing against the city, apart from a certain football team I'm not going to mention, but why on earth have they chosen to stage a fight between two London fighters, with big London-based support, in er, Manchester. It makes as much sense as moving the Manchester derby to bloody Wembley.
Anyway, that said, it's an intriguing proposition wherever it's held. Harrison is best described as a joke without a punchline, while Haye is obviously taking time out from his oft-stated mission to 'clean up the heavyweight division'. Some have said, rather unkindly, that Mr Harrison doesn't deserve a shot at the title. Which may be true but at least he holds the European heavyweight title and the fight is of interest to British fans if only to enjoy the spectacle of two former friends swinging their fists at each other. But before all that, we've the even bigger spectacle of Haye/Harrison 'trash-talking' in the media to look forward to, for ooh, the next eight weeks or so. Harrison, who will be 39 when he climbs into the ring, certainly talks a good game, as he proved at the press conference. And apparently he does still have some fans, as proved by his appearance on Soccer AM this morning. Will whoever these people are please make themselves known at reception...

In other news, one of the men who Haye should have been fighting, Wladimir Klitschko, defends his IBF/WBO/IBO world titles tonight against Nigerian Samuel Peter. In their last meeting five years ago, Peter managed to put Klitschko on the canvas three times before eventually losing on points. However, having reviewed the footage just now on YouTube, they looked like pretty soft knock-downs, and I don't think the big Ukrainian was ever in real trouble. Still, it's probably the most-entertaining encounter the younger Klitschko has been involved in for the past few years, which isn't saying a lot considering he's played a starring role in some of the biggest boxing snooze-athons of all time. While Peter has an impressive 73% knock-out rate, I don't think he'll pull it off tonight and old Wlad will probably wrestle his way to another points win (2/1 Betfred), taking another little piece of boxing's ravaged soul with him.

Marquez v Diaz II and a new dawn....

After a fairly quiet summer on the blogging front - ok I'll admit it, I got distracted by another sport where the only gloves on show are worn by goalkeepers - big time boxing makes a come back tonight in Las Vegas.
Juan Manual Marquez's 2009 encounter with Juan 'El Torito' Diaz was an almighty bust-up rightly named 'Fight of the Year' by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Marquez eventually triumphed in the ninth round but only after some barely believable exchanges which left both men bruised and bloodied.
It's not surprising then that fight fans all over the world are looking forward to their re-match tonight. But after the all-out-war they gave us in the first fight it's hard to see how tonight's match-up can be anything other than a disappointment. I hope I'm wrong and given their contrasting styles - Marquez more of a counter-puncher, Diaz doesn't have a reverse gear - there's every chance we could have another classic on our hands. Marquez was well beaten by Mayweather in his last outing, but there's no disgrace in that, while Diaz lost his recent re-match to Paulie Malignaggi. Enough said. Marquez has to be preferred and Sporting Bet's 2-1 that he wins in rounds 7-12 offers the best value.
An interesting sub-plot of this fight for British fans is that if Juan Manual Marquez wins he is very likely to be Amir Khan's next opponent at light-welterweight.
Tonight's fight also marks a major milestone for me personally in that for the first time ever I will be able to watch it legally, in my own home, on Sky Sports. Thanks to BT Vision's deal with Sky I no longer have to stay up late, trawling the internet to find an illegal stream with Chinese commentary or have to wait until someone loads it onto YouTube the next day. Thank you BT.

Sucker Punch: Boxing and the Arts

There are those, myself included, who consider boxing an art form. But even if the sweet subtleties of the fight game are lost on many people, the arts seemingly can’t get enough of the sport. Rarely a week goes by without the release of a new coffee-table book of black and white photos of Muhammad Ali and the sport of boxing has already given us some truly memorable films. I recently watched Humphrey Bogart in The Harder They Fall, a classic sporting film noir about the (thinly-disguised) career of Italian giant Primo Carnera, and I’ve just begun reading Michael DeLisa’s Cinderella Man, the story of heavyweight champion James J Braddock.
However, if it’s not unusual to come across artistic depictions of boxing in books, films and on television, one place I never expected to find it was in the theatre.
Sucker Punch by Roy Williams has just finished a highly successful run at the Royal Court Theatre in London and when I went to see it a couple of weeks ago it absolutely blew me away. I can’t recall a more visceral, affecting experience at the theatre, ever. Even my wife enjoyed it.
The intimate theatre - it barely holds 50 people - had been transformed into a boxing gym with a ring at its centre and the audience on either side. The action is set in London against the backdrop of Thatcher’s Britain and the race riots in Brixton and Broadwater. Two friends, Leon and Troy, end up working at a south London boxing gym run by old-school trainer Charlie Maggs who takes them under his wing and tries to mould them into contenders. Troy bristles under Charlie’s subtle-as-a-sledgehammer training regime and barely concealed racism while Leon is happy to bite his tongue and ignore his trainer’s many faults in the hope of receiving some paternal warmth lacking from his own father.
After the pair fall out their lives go in very directions and Troy moves to America. But both find success in the ring and the scene is set for a final showdown between the two former friends. Almost every critic has written something along the lines of 'this play packs an emotional punch', which it does, but the play also succeeds on a number of levels. It is about race, the black British experience, the sport of boxing, identity, friendship. Both fighters are a pastiche of well-known British boxers from the 80s but probably the most obvious comparison is with Chris Eubank (Leon) and Nigel Benn (Troy). Although Eubank came from an impoverished background and had been taken into care as a youngster, he adopted the manner and dress of an upper-class English gentleman and even purchased the title of Lord of the Manor. In contrast, his great rival, Essex-born Nigel Benn, was considered somehow more ‘real’ by many people. A rough-and-ready character who wore his heart on his sleeve. Their epic rivalry split the nation and culminated in two mega fights in Birmingham and Manchester. But the comparisons with the protagonists of Sucker Punch don’t bear much scrutiny. These two weren’t childhood friends, although they did come to despise each other, and it was Eubank not Benn who like Troy took up boxing after moving to America from London.
However, the play is a triumph and I can see it being made into a successful film one day. The performances are all first rate, particularly Daniel Kaluuya as Leon who is barely off-stage for the entire 90-minute production. As I say, it's just finished its first run but when it reappears, go and see it. You won't regret it.

Preview: Kevin Mitchell v Michael Katsidis

There are two big fights this weekend involving up-and-coming British fighters. In New York, Amir Khan takes on Paulie Malignaggi, while a little closer to home, at West Ham's Upton Park, local boy Kevin Mitchell fights Michael Katsidis for the WBO interim lightweight title. There's little doubt in my mind who has the more difficult task (Mitchell) and which fight will prove the more entertaining (Mitchell again.)
Unbeaten in 31 fights, Kevin Mitchell is a great little fighter: tidy, compact, but with a sting in the tail, as his last outing against Ignacio Mendoza proved. But despite impressive wins against Mendoza and Breidis Prescott among others, the suspicion remains that Mitchell may have moved up in class too soon. Graham Earl, knocked out in five rounds by Katsidis in 2007, certainly thinks so. Katsidis (pictured above) is a warrior in every sense of the word, and his Greek father even hails from the same village in Greece which is thought to have been the birthplace of Achilles. He will care not a jot that Mitchell is fighting in front of an expected 30,000 fans at the home of his beloved West Ham and will try and take him into the trenches from the start. The bookies make Mitchell a slight favourite overall but SkyBet quote both fighters at 2/1 to win by TKO or KO. My feeling is that it could go either way - sorry for stating the obvious - but I expect a war and fancy SkyBet's generous 6/1 on both fighters hitting the canvas at some point during the fight.

Preview: Amir Khan v Paulie Malignaggi

Visa problems aside, Amir Khan will make the journey to the spiritual home of boxing on Saturday, New York's Madison Square Garden, to take on Brooklyn-born Paulie Malignaggi.
One of two big fights this weekend featuring British fighters, the other being Kevin Mitchell's title fight at Upton Park against Michael Katisidis, more of which later, the bookies make Khan a 1/5 favourite to defeat the New York man in front of his own fans.
Malignaggi is a bit of a slapper, by which I mean to say he doesn't punch very hard not that he's loose of morals, and the facts bear this out. Paulie has won 27 of his 30 fights but only five of those wins came by way of knock-out. Having said that, he's a pretty durable fellow and came out of two tough fights against Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz with his reputation enhanced. He has only been stopped once, by Britain's own Ricky Hatton back in 2008, and even that defeat went down in the record books as a 'technical' knock-out after his corner threw in the towel at the start of the 11th.
Hatton was nowhere near his best that night, but easily outclassed the 'Magic Man'.
I expect Khan to win comfortably but I wouldn't be surprised if brave Malignaggi refuses to go down easily in front of his own supporters and takes the fight to the scorecards. Sporting Bet's 13/10 about a Khan decision is the stand-out bet, with a saver on a Khan stoppage in rounds 10,11,or 12 at 13/2 with Bet365 advised.

Mayweather a bridge too far for Sugar Shane

I must admit I thought Floyd Mayweather Jr would cruise to a comfortable points win over 38-year-old 'Sugar' Shane Mosley and well, I wasn't far off. The scorecards at the end of the night reflected Mayweather's dominance with two judges scoring the fight 119 to 109 and a third giving to it to 'Pretty Boy' by a slightly narrower 118 to 110.
But that doesn't tell the whole story. In the second round 'Sugar' Shane landed two sweet right hands that had the self-proclaimed 'best-fighter-in-the-world' wobbling at the knee and holding on. For a brief moment, with the crowd brought to its feet, it looked like the unthinkable might happen. Sadly from Shane Mosley's point-of-view it was not to be and Floyd Mayweather Jr regained his composure and put on the boxing exhibition we'd all expected of him. Slick, quick, a master of the defensive arts, Mayweather got on his bike and slipped in and out of range with consummate ease. The 14 months since Sugar Shane demolished Antonio Margarito seemed to have aged him 14 years and he tired rapidly after his second round heroics came to nothing.
But for all his dominance Mayweather never really looked like finishing off Mosley inside the distance and I'd be inclined to agree with Manny Pacquiao's assessment of the fight. No one has really taken Mayweather into the trenches and tested his fighting heart in the way that I believe Pacquiao certainly would.
That fight now has to happen. There can be no more delays, false-starts or fudges. Fight fans deserve to see the world's two greatest fighters - two of the greatest ever - going head-to-head. If Floyd Mayweather's blocking tactics were intended to raise the stakes (and I believe that is exactly what 'Money Man' intended) then it's worked. Expectations ahead of a fight with Pacquiao are at fever-pitch. When seasoned boxing writers like Kevin Mitchell in The Guardian are comparing it to another Ali-Frazier, you know we're in for a treat.

Where now for Carl Froch?

I wasn't altogether surprised when I heard the news that Carl Froch had lost his first professional fight to the formidable Dane Mikkel Kessler last weekend. Froch had looked well below par in his previous 'Super-Six' outing against Andre Dirrell and it was always going to be tough taking on the remarkably durable Kessler in his own backyard.
Froch's preparation for the fight was further hampered by an ear infection and the volcanic ash situation but the Nottingham-man, to his credit, has never been one for excuses. Having finally watched the fight - it's been a busy week, don't ask - I have some sympathy with those members of Froch's camp who have complained about the scoring. To be honest, I think the verdict was a fair one. Froch has an infuriating habit of keeping his hands dangling near his waist and a tendency to stand back and admire his handiwork after landing big shots instead of pressing home his advantage and finishing the job. He didn't do enough to keep his WBC title and he probably knows it. Having said that I have no clue how one of the judges scored the fight 117-111 to Kessler. Was he watching the same fight? Most of the rounds were pretty close and Froch had the better of the early exchanges in what was, at times, an enthralling fight. The last two rounds in particular will live long in the memory and marked perhaps the first time this Super-Six contest has really kicked into life. Froch has nothing to be ashamed of, none of the fighters taking part in the contest have won away from home so far and it was always going to be a big ask taking on Kessler in front of 10,000 partisan Danes. With a 1-1 record from his first two fights in the competition, Froch is far from out of it, and could still figure in the final reckoning to decide the world's best super-middleweight. Unless, as reports suggest, he rules himself out of the competition because of a dispute over the venue of his next fight with Arthur Abraham. That would be foolish.

The tragedy of Edwin Valero

I felt almost physically sick when I heard the news that Venezuelan boxer Edwin Valero had been found dead in his police cell, a day after his arrest for murdering his wife. In these days of tabloid hyberbole when the word 'tragedy' is applied to the most mundane of mishaps, this is a tragedy in the true sense of the word.
Valero - a boxer I have regularly championed on this blog - was a fighter blessed with supreme natural talents and cursed by poverty, drug addiction and a violent, abusive temperament which spilled out of the ring with truly devastating consequences. He won all of his 27 professional fights inside the distance and was just starting to gain wider recognition. In Venezuela of course, he was a national hero, a symbol of defiance and closely linked to President Hugo Chavez, an image of whom he had tattooed across his chest.
Plenty of people will point the finger; at the authorities who denied him a license to fight in the US, at the people who surrounded and glorified him while turning a blind eye to his appalling behaviour, and at the sport of boxing itself. Valero is the third high-profile boxer to take his own life in recent times, following the suicides of Alex Arguello and Arturo Gatti. But at the end of the day no one is to blame but Edwin Valero himself, who has murdered his own wife, orphaned his children and thrown away the gifts God gave him. It will be interesting to see what happens now. His millions of fans in Venezuela will want to give him, and will probably get, a hero's farewell at his funeral, but the man was a murderer. In the end, suicide, as Bob Arum notes, was the only option open to him once he had sobered up and realised the enormity of what he had done. What an unspeakable tragedy for everyone concerned.

Twelfth Round-up: Haye overcomes Ruiz and B-Hop beats up Jones

David Haye's self-proclaimed mission to clean-up the heavyweight division remains on track after a ninth-round victory over 38 year-old John Ruiz at Manchester's MEN Arena.
As I predicted, Haye landed bombs and Ruiz kept gamely plodding forward until his corner had seen enough and threw in the towel. Ruiz deserves credit for staying upright as long he did as Haye landed with big, trademark rights and lefts from the very first round. I'm not a huge fan of the way Haye keeps his leading left hand dangling down near his waist, but the WBA champion was far to quick for the veteran and he could have had his hands behind his back and still whipped-in hooks faster than Ruiz.
Twelfth Round predicted a knock-out in the later rounds (and you could have got 9-1 on a stoppage in rounds 10,11 or 12) but in the end Ruiz's corner decided, wisely, that their man didn't have anyting more to prove by staying in until the bitter end. It was only Ruiz's second loss inside the distance in an 18-year career. Haye must now sidestep a contracted re-match with Valuev before he can get at one of the Klitschko brothers, probably Wladimir, in a Wembley super-fight later this year.
Across the Atlantic, a 45 year-old Bernard Hopkins beat a 41 year-old Roy Jones Jr in a middle-aged match-up of dubious merit. Hopkins's points victory was predicted here on the 3rd February, as was Pacquiao's recent points win over Clottey at a healthy 15/8. If it's boxing betting tips you're after, look now further than Twelfth Round where in the next few weeks we'll be previewing Froch v Kessler, Mayweather v Mosley and Khan v Malignaggi.

Haye has enough to crush Ruiz

David Haye will defend his WBA heavyweight title this weekend against the 'Quiet Man' John Ruiz. The last person I can remember applying that label to themselves was Iain Duncan-Smith and look at what happened to him.
When the fight was first announced I thought at the time, and I still think, that Ruiz would be a tailor-made opponent for Haye. As a heavyweight he's on the small side and at 6ft 2in he's an inch shorter than the champion. Ruiz is now 38 years old and never possessed the fastest hands in the business even when he was in his prime. On the face of it then, the Hayemaker should walk straight through the challenger and add a 22nd knock-out victim to his CV in what is only his 25th fight. The bookies reflect that belief and Bet365 offer a best-priced 8/11 on a Haye victory coming by way of KO, TKO or DQ.
Having said all that, I will put the case for the defence. Ruiz has lost eight times in his 54-fight career but has only been stopped once: an astonishing ten-second destruction at the hands of the 5ft 10in New Zealander David Tua back in 1996. Tua went on to challenge Lennox Lewis for the heavyweight world championship, losing on points. Coincidentally he returns to action this Friday against, ahem, Friday Ahunanya for something called the WBO Oriental heavyweight title.
But going back to Ruiz, he has fought 26 times since the Tua nightmare and has never been stopped, including three epic battles with Evander Holyfield which all went the distance and ended in a win, a loss and a draw. Crucially, 11 of Ruiz's last 15 fights have gone to the scorecards and he has the experience and sheer awkwardness to make Haye's night difficult. Ladbrokes and a few others offer 11/4 on a Haye points win which is good value but I still have a sneaky suspicion Haye will land at least one of his Hayemakers during the course of the night and it will be interesting to see whether Ruiz's 38 year old legs can survive the wobble. My guess is they won't, especially if it comes late on, and Bet365's 9-1 on a Haye knock-out coming in rounds 10,11 or 12 is a real tempter.

Goodbye 'Arry

Sad news has just reached me that Harry Carpenter, the BBC's legendary boxing commentator, has died at the age of 84. Harry will probably be best remembered for the double act he formed with Frank 'D'ya know what I mean 'Arry?' Bruno (pictured above). There's some great footage here of Frank's heavyweight title fight with Tyson in 1989 and the moment when, for once, Harry let his professionalism slip and shouted : "Get in there Frank"- as Bruno landed a left hook flush on Tyson's chin. There's also a nice film of Harry verbally sparring with a young Cassius Clay ahead of his trip to London to fight Henry Cooper.
How strange that both Harry and his ITV counterpart Reg Gutteridge should die in the same year, within months of each other, and both at the age of 84. They will both be greatly missed by the sport of boxing and a little of that magic of yesteryear has been lost forever.

Preview: Pacquiao v Clottey

A big sense of 'what if' hangs over this fight because if everything had gone to plan this would have been the big one, the fight every fan really wanted to see: Pacquiao v Mayweather. But when negotiations broke down earlier this year the Pacquiao camp alighted on Clottey as a worthy opponent for the Pac-Man while Mayweather has agreed to fight 'Sugar' Shane Moseley in May.

Still, now the Pacquiao fight is upon us, there's a genuine sense of excitement as there is every time this pocket powerhouse steps into the ring. His opponent, the Ghanaian Joshua Clottey, is strong and won't go down easily in the manner of Ricky Hatton. And as Boxing News's Tris Dixon reports, he could enter the ring at anything up to 165 pounds, making him easily the biggest opponent Pacquiao has ever faced.

Clottey has only lost three times in 38 fights and has never been knocked out, losing on points to Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito and suffering a disqualification against Carlos Manuel Baldomir at Wembley Arena back in 1999. Having said that, Pacquiao has never looked better according to coach Freddie Roach and was in devastating form against Cotto last time out. But this is only Pacquiao's second fight at welterweight and Cotto was just two minutes away from going to the scorecards when Pacquiao overwhelmed him with a flurry of high speed punches in the twelfth round.

Clottey believes that Pacquiao has been distracted by the Mayweather business and the fact that he is contesting a congressional seat in his native Philippines in May, something Manny vigourously denies.

However I wouldn't be surprised if Clottey goes the distance and with the bookies making Manny a best-priced 1/6 favourite overall I think the 15/8 on offer for a Paquiao points victory with Skybet, Paddy Power or Ladbrokes represents good value.

Is Valero the new Duran?

I recently finished reading Christian Giudice's excellent biography of Panamanian legend Roberto Duran: Hands of Stone The Life and Legend of Roberto Duran.
Duran, in case you didn't know, was the all-action lightweight champion of the world in the 1970s who moved up the weights to fight a serious of epic battles against modern greats like Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns.
His story is well worth reading, even for non-boxing fans, and Duran comes across as a larger-than-life character whose rise from poverty to the dizzy heights of Vegas and beyond is the stuff of boxing legend.
Unfortunately, Duran was generous to a fault, and gave away or spent the millions he made from boxing. He fought on well past his prime and finally retired after a car crash in 2001 at the age of 50 having won an astonishing 103 professional fights.
By that time thoughts had already turned to who would be his natural successor. In some ways, the most obvious comparison stylistically is with Manny Pacquiao. The Filipino's journey up the weight divisions from Fly- to Welterweight whilst retaining his phenomenal punching power has echoes of Duran's story. But another man in the frame is the current lightweight champion, Edwin Valero.
Like Duran, Valero spent the early part of his career smashing his way through domestic opposition of sometimes variable quality. After 27 fights the Venezuelan has an enviable 100 per cent knock-out record and recently retained his WBC title with a ninth round stoppage over number one contender Antonio DeMarco (despite receiving a huge gash across his forehead in the second after DeMarco accidentally elbowed him).
The comparisons between the two Latin fighters don't end there. Both men had absent fathers from a young age: Valero's old man left when he was seven, Duran's father - a Mexican-American soldier - left when he was even younger. Both men are national heroes in their home countries and while Valero is wrapped in the paternal embrace of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, Duran was exploited by his country's own military strong men. Finally, both are known for their exuberant, some might even say, reckless personalities and no-holds-barred fighting styles.
However, in the cold light of day, I don't see Valero becoming another Duran, although I believe he has some great qualities and a lot left to achieve in the sport. At this stage of their respective careers, Duran had won his first 27 fights by the age of 20, while it's taken Valero, 28, eight years longer to reach 27-0. On the flip side, Duran picked up the lightweight crown in his 29th fight against Scotland's Ken Buchanan, while Valero has already made two successful title defences.
Duran, known as Manos de Piedra to his many fans, had a reputation as a bit of a wild man, able to throw bombs with both hands but people sometimes forget he also possessed superb defensive skills. Valero certainly has heavy hands - although it's debatable whether he could knock out a horse as Duran is reputed to have done - but at times his defensive skills are lacking and the suspicion remains he could be found wanting against a high-quality opponent. Whatever happens, he's one to watch out for because, like Duran, his career will never be boring.

Britain's undefeated stars: Mitchell & Cleverly

Ask the man in the street to name a current British boxer and they'll probably cite David Haye, Amir Khan or even Ricky Hatton. But this weekend two British boxers battered their way to impressive knock-out victories and in doing so earned the right to dine at world boxing's top table.
Dagenham's undefeated lightweight Kevin Mitchell needed less than two rounds to dispose of Ignacio Mendoza at Wembley on Saturday night (you can watch the fight here) to take his professional record to 31-0 (23 of those victories coming inside the distance). In doing so he set himself up for a mouth-watering world title fight against the Australian Michael Katsidis this summer, perhaps at West Ham's Upton Park.
Meanwhile, former Calzaghe stablemate Nathan Cleverly (pictured) added the European light-heavyweight title to his British and Commonwealth belts with a fifth round stoppage over Italy's Antonio Brancalion. Cleverly is a heavy-handed boxer who's looked pretty comfortable during his 19 fight, spotless career. At only 22 years of age he's still got a long way to go in the sport but before he defends his European title this summer he's going to complete his university finals. Clever lad (pun intended). After that, it's on to bigger and better things.

Hopkins to win battle of the forty-somethings

I've got mixed feelings about the news that a date has been set for the long-awaited Bernard Hopkins v Roy Jones Jr rematch. On the one hand, a second fight between these two venerable old warriors is long overdue and even now, they're both popular at the box office. On the other hand, the fact that we're getting excited at all about Roy Jones at this stage of his career should be a cause for concern. After all he's lost five out of his last ten fights and was destroyed in the first round by Australian journeyman Danny Green in his last outing.
Meanwhile Bernard 'The Executioner' Hopkins beat the much-fancied Kelly Pavlik back in 2008 and put Calzaghe on his backside in the first round of their fight in the same year, before losing on points. At 45-years of age, Hopkins is the older man by four years but always looks in excellent condition and the bookmakers make him a 1/6 favourite when the two meet in April this year. Skybet's 4/5 on a Hopkins decision looks the most sensible option.
By the time these two middle-aged gents climb into the ring in Las Vegas on 3 April it will be an astonishing 17 years since they last fought in Washington DC's RFK Stadium on 22 May, 1993. Jones took a unanimous decision that day to claim the vacant IBF middleweight title but only pride will be at stake this time round.
It got me thinking though, what's the longest gap between boxing rematches?
The former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes has a good claim to being one of the most underrated boxers of all time. He won his first 48 fights and had more successful title defences than any other heavyweight bar Joe Louis.
There were an astonishing 21 years between his WBC title clash with Mike Weaver at Madison Square Garden in 1979 and their next meeting in the slightly less glamourous surroundings of Biloxi, Mississippi in 2000. There were 15 years between his two fights with James 'Bonecrusher' Smith (1984 & 1999). Holmes retired (again) in 2001 at the age of 52.

Ignorant residents of South Kensington need a history lesson

It's not often I get really riled by something I've read in a newspaper but when I came across this story yesterday I almost fell off my chair.
This morning's Sun newspaper carries the headline: RESIDENTS BATTLE TO KO HALL PLANS
It begins: Local residents are fighting to stop boxing returning to London's Royal Albert Hall.
Ah, "local residents". Having worked as a reporter on a local newspaper I know this phrase all too well. I can't count the amount of stories I've written about "local residents" opposing a new development or "local residents" having a moan or "local residents" saying "that's all very well but not-in-my-back-yard".
Now the "local residents" of South Kensington, one of London's most affluent areas, have got their knickers in a twist over plans to return boxing to the Royal Albert Hall. If any of these residents had lived there for longer than ten years they would know that boxing has always taken place there. Well, at least since 11th December 1918 when the Welsh flyweight legend Jimmy "The Mighty Atom" Wilde appeared on the card.
Boxing has been staged at the Royal Albert Hall as recently as 1999 when Julius Francis defeated Danny Williams for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight title and a certain Ricky Hatton featured on the undercard. In fact, most of the great British fighters of the past 90 years have fought at the Hall at some point in their careers. Lennox Lewis, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist, made his professional debut at the Royal Albert Hall in 1989. British heavyweight champ Joe Bugner fought at least a quarter of his 83 bouts at the Hall, Frank Bruno fought there, as did Sir Henry Cooper and greats such as Jack "Kid" Berg, Randy Turpin and Ken Buchanan. Nigel Benn defeated Anthony Logan in a classic tear-up at the Hall in 1988.
What this all boils down to is simple prejudice. As one of the residents says herself: "The type of people attending boxing matches aren't going to be your average Prom-goer". So it's alright for people to attend classical music concerts, or even tennis matches, but not boxing. There is an underlying belief that people who choose to watch boxing are "undesirable" types. Now, it may be true that boxing sometimes attracts a noisy element, witness Hatton's traveling army of fans, but are they really any worse than people attending a rock concert? And what if they are? Haven't they paid their taxes the same as everyone else? Millions of pounds of public money are poured into "the arts" every year for events which frankly, have limited public appeal. A British or World title fight at Royal Albert Hall would have been in the past and could be in the future, one of the highlights of the sporting calendar.
In fact, the only reason boxing hasn't been held at the Hall in recent years is because of a clerical error on the part of the Hall's management who simply forgot to tick a box when reapplying for a license in 2005.
Let's hope Mr Justice McCombe, who is hearing this appeal, sees sense and throws it out without a second thought.

Boxing idioms go the distance

You wouldn't know it today but the sport of boxing has had a huge influence on our culture. In the period between the wars and in the 'golden age' of the Fifties and Sixties, boxing was perhaps the only sport which crossed national, class, and racial boundaries. That is the reason that people like Muhammad Ali are truly global stars in a way that Pele, for all his fame in footballing circles, could never be ('soccer' has never captured the popular imagination in North America).
However, one area where boxing's enormous impact is still felt is the English language. It occurred to me the other day when I heard someone with little or no knowledge of boxing talking about "throwing in the towel". I wondered if she knew where the expression came from or whether, as seems more likely, it has just become a part of our everyday language. So, sad as it seems, I sat down to compile a list of all the boxing idioms still in use today.
Here goes:

on the ropes
out for the count
saved by the bell
to come out swinging
to take it on the chin
to beat someone to the punch
blow-by-blow
down-and-out
glass jaw
to go the distance
to have someone in your corner
to describe somone as a "heavy-hitter" or a "heavyweight"
below the belt/low blow
in-fighting
KO
TKO
knock-out
to describe someone as a "lightweight"
to give someone "the old one-two"
to pull your punches
punch drunk
to take a ringside seat
to roll with the punches
sparring partner
sucker punch
to square up / square off
the gloves are off
to throw in the towel
to throw one's hat in the ring (apparently this was how early fights started)

If you can think of any more to add to the list, then let me know. I'm sure there are loads I haven't thought of.

Boxing namesakes

"Norton retains his British and Commonwealth titles" - ran the boxing headlines on Saturday morning, yet, sadly, the Norton they referred to was not me but British cruiserweight Rob Norton (pictured above right).

The Stourbridge southpaw fought out a lacklustre draw with his British rival David Dolan, less than a year after beating him on points in a bruising encounter back in February 2009, to hold on to his belts. Norton improved his record to 32-4-2, very respectable it has to be said but at 38 years old it's hard to see where he can go from here.

A far more illustrious namesake from boxing history is of course the former heavyweight champion and boxing hall-of-famer Ken "Jaw Breaker" Norton (pictured left).

Norton inflicted only the second defeat of Muhammad Ali's career when the pair met for the first time in 1973. Norton broke Ali's jaw in that fight - hence the nickname - to take the old NABF heavyweight title. Norton went on to fight Ali twice more, losing both, although their third fight at Yankee Stadium in 1976 is one of the most hotly disputed decisions of all time.

Norton was a tough guy, and went on to have a brutal encounter with Larry Holmes for the WBC title in 1978, again, losing on points. His son Ken Jr enjoyed a highly successful career in American football.

The excellent website boxrec.com lists four boxers actually called Tommy Norton (that's my name in case you hadn't guessed) although sadly they don't have a single victory between them.

Berto cancels Mosley fight after Haitian tragedy

One of the first big fights of the year, 'Sugar' Shane Mosley against Andre Berto, has been called off after Berto lost several members of his extended family in the Haitian earthquake. The news left him physically and emotionally drained and unsurprisingly he couldn't find the motivation to train or focus on the fight.
Tragedies such as that which has befallen Haiti, already a country on its knees, certainly put sport in perspective.
Mosley, coming off the back of an impressive win over Antonio Margarito (albeit almost a year ago) may now face Floyd Mayweather after the latter's superfight with Pacquiao hit the buffers earlier this month.

You can donate to Disasters Emergency Committee here.

Taylor pulls out of 'Super-Six' tournament

Showtime's Super Six round-robin tournament, a rare example in boxing of managers and promoters putting aside their differences for the good of the sport, has been dealt a blow by the news that Jermain 'Bad Intentions' Taylor has pulled out of the tournament.
The 31-year old lost his first and only fight in the competition, a twelfth round KO to Arthur Abraham in Germany and was also on the receiving end of a quite stunning twelfth round stoppage to Britain's Carl Froch - who was losing on points at the time - in a pre-tournament fight back in April '09.
His withdrawal gives organisers a headache because the tournament now has an uneven number of fighters and points have already been awarded to Abraham on the back of his victory over Taylor.
Possible replacements have already been mentioned including the Australian Sakio 'The Scorpion' Bika who fights Allan Green on the 5 February, Green himself should he win that contest and Lucian Bute, the undefeated IBF title holder.
Whoever replaces him will, I suppose, start at the bottom of the table alongside fellow group stage 1 losers Andre Dirrel and Mikkel Kessler.
Kessler's fight against Carl Froch is set for April 17 in Copenhagen and promises to be the biggest bust-up since the world's politicians descended on the Danish capital for climate talks last year.
Taylor meanwhile has some rebuilding to do after four defeats in his last five outings including two demoralising reversals to Kelly Pavlik.

Calzaghe in 2007: "I'll never fight Roy Jones"

Hold the phone! More stunning revelations from Calzaghe's autobiography 'No ordinary Joe' which I'm reading at the moment. First there was the shock disclosure, within the very first chapter, that Joe would "never" appear on Strictly Come Dancing now in chapter 8, or 'Round 8' as it's called in the book I came across this:

"By this stage (2006) Roy Jones had been knocked out by Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver and, although he's still active, I would never want to fight him now. He's not the same fighter and I'd have nothing to gain by beating a shadow of what he once was. Jones was a great fighter in his day and a great name, but he's been knocked out twice, knocked out cold. What would I gain by knocking him out for a third time?"

Fast forward to November 2008 and a 39-year-old Jones was still dangerous enough to put Calzaghe on his backside in the first round of their clash at Madison Square Garden before Joe went on to win convincingly on points in what turned out to be his last fight. In the book Calzaghe insinuates that Jones's demise was due to steroids or the lack of them after the revelation that he had failed a test some years ago. Jones was recently knocked out for the third time in his career by Australian journeyman Danny Green in what may, if he has any sense, be his last fight. But if the Calzaghe book proves anything it's that in boxing you should never say never.