Dislocating the Champ: Sturm vs Barker results and analysis

Just as the bout was warming up, it was over…

Felix Sturm once again became a world champion, stopping Darren Barkr in the second round after the Essex man’s corner threw in the towel.

Early on the bout looked like it was going to be a brawl. Putting all of us pundits who said he was too old and his style a little too inactive to bring him a victory on notice, Felix exploded out of the gate being more aggressive then I’ve seen from him in years. He landed two good hooks within the first 10 seconds and didn’t stop, continuing to use his jab aggressively at distance and then stepping forward with powerful straights and hooks. Barker stood his ground and brawled back, looking for big uppercuts (which admittedly generally missed) and putting together some hurtful body shots, but Sturm had laid a marker down and was the clear winner of the first round. What we didn’t know was that the seeds of Barker’s defeat had allowed been sown; his hip had been tweaked in the round and he told his corner that he thought it had gone.

The second round started much the same way, but now it was Barker that was the aggressor and the better of the two. He pushed Sturm back, sometimes with punches, sometimes physically, and kept hammering shots to the body. Considering the high pace and the nature of the shots it looked like Barker was looking to test Sturm’s conditioning and drag the veteran deep.

But he never got the chance.

Midway through the round Sturm threw a short but sharp counter straight that landed right on Barker’s temple and wobbled the champion. That was bad enough… but the real damage came from the wobble, not the blow or the immediate follow up punches that sent him to the ground. The punch forced him to move in an awkward way and it was immediately apparent that something had happened to his hip… and Barker has had to had operations on both his hips due to injuries there previously. Barker regained his feet (while holding his hip) without much trouble but he clearly couldn’t move and could barely put any weight on his right leg. Sturm forced the issue and dropped him again, Barker gesticulated to her corner, returned to his feet, took a few more punches and was just about to fire back when his corner threw in the towel.

And that was that.

Our Man in Stuttgart: Barker vs Sturm preview, prediction and analysis

Not so very long ago it was received wisdom in boxing circles that a boxer based outside of Germany never went to Germany voluntarily. If the champion was there and you wanted a title shot then you were forced to eventually but otherwise, whatever the money, it wasn’t worth it. As the old phrase goes, you had to knock out the home fighter to get a draw. If you did go to Germany to box you went there expecting to lose but hopefully with a nice payday for your troubles. Which all seemingly makes it rather strange that Darren Barker would make his first defence of his IBF Middleweight Title against Felix Sturm in Stuttgart? After all, isn’t one of the benefits of being champion that you don’t have to go to places like Germany and risk home-town decisions to the local fighter?

These times, they are a’changing…

So why is Darren Barker, having finally fulfilled his dream of winning a world title, having finally got the reward he wanted after years of toil, willing to risk it by going to Germany?

First off, the money point still remains. Both Barker and his promoter Eddie Hearn have been open out this; they were offered a lot of cash to box in Germany. Considering the price that boxing extracts from those who take part, I don’t think any of us can be too dismissive of a boxer taking the highest paying option. Barker may only be 31 but he’s already had to put his career on hold twice due to serious injuries and with that in mind I’m not going to complain about him feathering his nest.

Secondly, while Germany’s reputation may be infamous, how true is it? And how true is it in relation to Felix Sturm?

Mayweather Jr vs Khan rears its head again.

I was literally in the process of writing a post setting out possible opponents for Floyd Mayweather and listing Amir Khan as an option but a somewhat unlikely one.

And this came out…

Saying that a Floyd Mayweather Jr -Amir Khan fight would “have a huge crowd of Brits showing up wherever the fight would take place,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefersaid that he would “have to see if that fight can be done.”

“With Amir, there is no secret that he and his team are pursuing a Mayweather fight, and Floyd Mayweather, right now, is enjoying his time off. We’re working on it to see if, in fact, it can be done.”

I’d stress this doesn’t necessarily make it a done deal; Mayweather Jr has floated possible opponent names in the past to see what the reaction is only to choose someone else (Devon Alexander was the last to get that treatment), but with Schaefer and Golden Boy saying it rather than someone from the immediate vicinity of Mayweather Jr this is bit more solid a commitment.

Weekend Roundup: Stevenson, Bellew, Kovalev, Chisora

In the most high profile bout of the weekend Adonis Stevenson hunted down and eventually stopped a game but outmatched Tony Bellew in six rounds. Stevenson has always had power and athleticism but under the tutelage of first the dearly departed Emanuel Steward and now Javon Sugar Hill he’s added a level of craft and finesse to his work. No-one’s going to mistake him for the second coming of Sugar Rat Robinson but he’s no longer the crude and limited puncher his early career indicated. Bellew himself has also gone through a transformation, starting his domestic career as a pure slugger with limited stamina and a questionable chin largel down to the vast amount of weight he cut. He suffered a wake-up call in a bout with Ovil McKenzie where he was dropped twice and since then has adapted his style to be more of a mobile boxer puncher, using lateral movement and a high workrate to avoid, bemuse and frustrate opponents.

The bout had some bad blood going into it as Bellew based his pre-fight hype around Stevenson’s less than enamouring past (he has a conviction for essentially pimping) and there was the sort of handbags that every so often appear at boxing weigh ins, but rather than the bout exploding into some massive brawl from the off, instead it quickly fell into a pattern. Stevenson stalked Bellew while Bellew looked to hit, move and counter. For a couple of rounds Bellew had some real success, finding a home for his own right hand, but Stevenson was winning rounds based on activity and in truth there was always a sense that it would only take one shot from the Canadian to end it. That sense was proven correct in the sixth when Stevenson dropped Bellew with a left hand and then finished him with another two lefts in the follow up flurry that had Bellew out on his feet. Stevenson was the deserved favourite and did nothing to particularly stand out but it was still a solid performance from a much improved boxer.

Mundine vs Mosely: Results and Analysis

In a match that no-one really wanted and was mired in controversy anyway (and that’s to say nothing of the cancelled undercard bouts), Anthony Mundine was the first man to stop the legendary Shane Mosley following an injury after a one-sided bout.

We all know that Mosely has little left and it was apparent from the opening bell. There was one good punch in the second round and a few nasty looking bodyshots but they were few and far between. Mundine controlled the bout on both the inside and the outside, spiking Mosely with a sharp jab and a straight right and then sneaking in shots on the inside including some tasty uppercuts. Mundine comfortably won every round and at times actually seemed to wobble the notoriously iron chinned Mosely. Mention was made in Mosely’s corner of an injured back and eventually the referee called in the doctor and stopped the bout due to back spasms. It was an underwhelming ending to the bout but in truth Mosely had shown nothing and it was better to get him out of there then let him take another 100 punches to the had.

Froch vs Groves: Analysis and Opinion

So by now, I’m sure everyone is aware of the controversy over Carl Froch stopping George Groves on Saturday night.

I’ve deliberately avoided writing anything too substantive on the subject for a day or two. All too often people immediately reach for their keyboards (a testament to the times we live in) whenever something like this happens and before you know it there’s a thousand voices screaming a thousand things. I wanted a chance to sit back, clear it from my mind (helped out by Pacquiao’s performance the same night) and then rewatch the entire bout a few times before putting my thoughts on paper.

But anyway, let’s focus on the big point straight away.

The stoppage was early. Not quite ridiculously early, but pretty close to it. Early even by Britain notoriously quick standards. It was early and it was wrong and it should never have happened. Let’s keep that in mind throughout.

Pacquiao vs Rios results and analysis

Did anyone expect a different winner?

You know a doorstop attached to the wall? One the sits there unmoving, has the door crash into it again and again, get chipped, splintered and broken down… but every so often you stub your toe on it? That’s Brandon Rios. He was a cricket ball bowled by the England team; more in hope than expectation and then blocked, parried, hit and occasionally smashed to long on while sticking around for over after over despite the damage done to it… and every so often glancing painfully off a hand.

Manny Pacquiao won and won easily. He was too quick, too sharp, too accurate, too fast with his hands and feet and too slick. That’s not really surprising. If a bigger, stronger, more powerful and more experienced Margarito… a man who had actually shown the ability to track down fairly quick boxers previously… couldn’t really do anything to Pacquiao there was no reason to suspect Rios would be able to. The pre-fight discussion was all about how Rios was tailor made for Pac and the fight simply showed that to be true. Rios was slow, flat footed, befuddled by movement, defensively weak and simply outclassed. He tried to box in the first round and that didn’t work. He went back to his brawling and didn’t do much better. He had no answers to Pacquiao’s speed, to his combinations or to his movement. Frankly I wouldn’t have objected if his corner pulled him out after about seven rounds… there was no indication anything would change going forward and… unsurprisingly… it didn’t.

The other… other… card on Saturday: Hernandez vs Alekseev, Gutknecht vs Sukhotsky and Boystov vs Leapai preview, prediction and analysis

Somewhat understandably in the light of Pacquaio vs Rios and Froch vs Groves, there hasn’t been a vast amount of interest in the other bouts going on this weekend. That’s somewhat unfortunate as there’s a pretty decent card from Germany this Saturday night that may well be worth a watch.

The main event sees Yoan Pablo Hernandez defend his IBF 200lbs title against Alexander Alekseev. Hernandez had a solid amateur career and appeared to be well set for a great run as a pro until a surprising upset loss to Wayne Braithwaite. He quietly rebuilt his career and then burst back into prominence with two wins over Steve Cunningham to win and then defend the world title he now holds. The second bout in particular was a great bout to watch. A good athlete, technically sound and still fairly young, the only real questions about Hernandez have been the standard accusations against defected Cubans; gorged on freedom does he really care about his boxing career that much?

Alekseev’s career mimics Hernandez’ in some ways. An excellent amateur himself, highlighted by winning a world title, he’s seen his progression as pro stalled by some key losses, notably being demolished in short order by Denis Lebedev. A fairly stereotypical European boxer with an upright style, Alekseev uses his jab and straight right well but tends to struggle when opponents can really pressure him.

Prediction: Hernandez by Decision.

Pacquiao vs Rios Undercard featuring Gradovich, Dib, Ruiz Jr, Shiming and Verdejo: Preview, predictions and analysis

I’ve complained before about some pretty underwhelming undercards in boxing, and here we are with yet another pretty underwhelming undercard. It consists of two showcase bouts where amateur stars will beat boxers who shouldn’t be in the ring with them, one heavyweight bout that should on paper be fairly exciting but doesn’t really mean much in the division and a world title rematch between two boxers no-one really likes or wants to see.

Can you tell my excitement? Predicted winners in bold with analysis under the cut…

Evgeny Gradovich vs Billy Dib : Decision

Andy Ruiz Jr vs Tor Hamer : Late TKO

Zou Shiming vs Juan Tozcano : Decision

Felix Verdejo vs Petchsamuthr Duanaaymukdahan : TKO

Can Saint George drives the Cobra out of England: Froch vs Groves prediction and analysis

Excuse me mixing up my saints (and species of snake… and countries) in the headline… I was struggling for one.

Regardless of my own linguistic frailities, come Saturday much of the boxing media will be focused on China and a certain Manny Pacquiao making his comeback. But a significant amount will also be looking to England and an intruiging 168lbs bout between Carl “the Cobra” Froch and “Saint” George Groves.

People have come to know Froch well over recent years. At first glance he’s a brawler with decent power, an iron chin and an unbreakable will and to this day some people have written him off as simply being nothing more then that. But the truth is, that’s not the case and while no-one is mistaking him for Willie Pep reborn he has a certain amount of class and guile in his ring craft. He can use his jab well, put together powerful combinations, box on the inside and outside and has some underrated footwork. There are still holes in his game of course; his punches have a little too much loop to them, his head movement (and general defence) is at best limited, he still has a tendency to lunge forward into shots and he struggles to transition quickly between ranges and from offence to defence… but over the last few years he’s shown quite how talented his is.