Rule Britannia – Live Report!
Lee Selby Vs Evgeny Gradovich
Lee Selby boxed wonderfully to outclass Evgeny Gradovich in a mostly one sided affair. The Welshman used an incredible array of skill to box on the back foot and punish his Mexican counterpart, who was leaping in trying to initiate an attack. However, Selby’s lateral movement, timing and combination punching, prevented Gradovich from coming forward as the aggressor through the 8 rounds.
The start of the fight was exactly the same as the end. Gradovich, as he is noted, was the come forward fighter, hoping to pin down the challenger with aggression and pressure. Yet stamina and movement that Selby showed while boxing on the back foot was a beautiful to watch as he picked off his opponent with sharp jabs vicious uppercuts. This was added with the timing of the counter punches that staggered the champion in the 6th round and hinted to the crowd that the end was near and the gulf in class was clear. Although Gradovich was clearly hurt in the 6th round, the Welshman remained composed and systematically continued to work at the routine pace knowing that the accumulation of punches would end up planting thoughts in the referees head,
The ends came in the 8th round, when an accidental clash of heads forced the referee to take Gradovich to the doctors. The decision was made to call off the fight to prevent further damage and was hence taken to the judges scorecard. Although it was clear who won, for formalities the judges handed in their scorecards of 79-73, 80-72, 79-73 Unanimous technical decision in favor of the new IBF featherweight champion of the world. The 12th man from Wales to reach such a wonderfully acclaimed feet.
JORGE LINARES VS KEVIN MITCHELL – WBC LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE
ROUND 1: An equal opening round. Mitchell starting things off quickly. Landing 2 goof left hooks in the opening minutes. He was then placed on the back foot as Jorge Linares came on strong landing clean combinations in the latter stages.
ROUND 2: Good round for Mitchell as he is now thinking before initiating attacks. Linares quiet for the majority of the round but came back strong again with a right hand in the last 30 seconds.
ROUND 3: A real thinking mans fight. Both fighters thinking of ways to try and get in and land effective shots. Linares pawing with his jab but its Mitchell with the eye catching shots.
ROUND4: Linares taking the initiative and coming in with short burst before moving back to avoid the incoming counters. Mitchell teeing off in the last minute but Linares ended with a solid body shot,
ROUND 5: AND DOWN GOES LINARES! The champion is down with a cracking combination by Mitchell in the early stages in the round, The right hand was followed by a brutal left!
ROUND 6: Linares has recovered and Mitchell is much more aware. Not a busy round but both are again looking to find ways to land scoring punches.
ROUND 7: Efficiency is the word. Mitchell sticking to the game plan very well and forcing Linares to miss. The challenger is biding his time and waiting for his opponent to lunge in before countering.
ROUND 8: The champ is taking over. Linares with some beautifully effective jabs and combination, preventing Mitchell from coming forward. Nice fight.
ROUND 9: Both fighters having there moments in this round. Linares started off the better getting behind his jab and using his speed to counter Mitchell. Challenger with a good combination at the end.
ROUND 10: THE FIGHT HAS BEEN STOPPED! Kevin Mitchell is onto the receiving end of some brutal combination punches. Hurt and swollen, the referee had no choice but top stop the fight. A great comeback from Linares, who keeps his WBC lightweight belt.
ANTHONY JOSHUA VS KEVIN ANDERSON…I MEAN JOHNSON.
ROUND 1: WHAT A STATEMENT – Joshua floors Johnson and then obliterates him with a flurry of punches
ROUND 2: AND ITS ALL OVER! Johnson was throwing absolutely nothing in the 2nd round and was on the end of a free punching monster that is Joshua. Another simple combination of left and rights forces Ian John Lewis to stop the fight.
He doesn’t just have power. Joshua has speed, timing and best of all accuracy. His tenacity and ferociousness is something many do not have, but the way in which he dives in, is clever and tactful. He is a force to reckon with and will be incredibly difficult to beat.
KELL BROOK VS FRANKIE GAVIN – IBF WELTERWEIGHT TITLE
ROUND 1: Tentative first round, but it is clear to see that Brook wants to come forward to start attacks while Gavin waits to counter.
ROUND 2: Gavin showing good upper body movement to sway away from most of Brooks punches. He then comes back with a clinch to prevent further attacks. Brooks lands a few good straight rights
ROUND 3: Gavin reluctant to do anything other then use the jab. Meanwhile Kell Brook is finding rhythm and range with uppercuts and straight rights.
ROUND 4: Brook closing the ring incredibly well and suffocating the space from the challenger. In the latter stages, the champion had more leverage in the punches and landing at will.
ROUND 5: The gulf in class is becoming apparent. Gavin is throwing single shots rather than combinations which is making it easy for Brook. The Sheffield man cannot miss with the uppercut.
ROUND 6: AND ITS OVER! Inevitably, as we all thought, Brook was in a different class. A Right hand wobbled Gavin and the challenger turned around as if he wanted no more. After a flurry of punches from Brook, Gavin slumped to his feet and the referee called the fight off.
To conclude, tonight was a good night for British boxing. We saw the rise of a sensation in Lee Selby, who captured the IBF featherweight title. However, this was met with the heartbreak of seeing Kevin Mitchell stopped by Jorge Linares in a equally balanced and exciting fight. Anthony Joshua made an emphatic statement by stopping Kevin Johnson in the 2nd round. Although a win was expected, stopping the veteran Johnson, so early was a surprise most never saw coming. Finally, to cap the night off, Kell Brook won a sparring session like fight in completely outclassing and out powering Frankie Gavin.
2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,800 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 47 trips to carry that many people.
GLOBAL BOXING’S 2014 AWARDS
Like previous years, this year has had its ups and down. We saw some brilliant fights and the rise of some exciting prospects, but these were met with promotional warfare and protective matchmaking. But as singer Andy Williams would say “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” as this is the time we get to sit and recap about the highlights of 2014 of the greatest sport on earth! Read the rest of this entry »
MAIDANA – UNDER THE TUTELAGE OF GARCIA
The recent rise of Marcos Maidana has been apparent. His journey prior to meeting with Robert Garcia was filled with determination, frustration and eventually stagnation. Wins over Victor Ortiz, DeMarcus Corley and Eric Morales not only showed that he could dig deep within himself to come through tough times but also demonstrated that he was more than capable moving up the ‘quality’ ladder. However, the lack of skill was beginning to become evident and after a one sided unanimous decision loss to Devon Alexander, Maidana knew a change had to be made. Read the rest of this entry »
MACHISMO
There are many boxers today that possess an incredible array of skills that forced us to label this sport, the sweet science. Timing, speed, balance and accuracy is somewhat poetic in its nature, even though an observer who has no interest in the sport may label is barbaric. Yet, for the avid supporters of boxing, seeing Floyd Mayweather turn into defensive wizard at 5am (UK time) enhances how brilliant this sport really is. However, these technical magicians are sometime flawed. Instead of capitalising on their magnificence, they are swayed to a dark side by a sprit deep within them called machismo. This is the reason we get to witness Timothy Bradley in a gladiator style battle with Ruslan Provodnikov and Tommy Hearns go all guns blazing at Marvin Hagler. Read the rest of this entry »
JUST THE TWO OF US – CARL FROCH VS GEORGE GROVES – THE PREVIEW
There are currently three groups of fans in the boxing world today. Those that believe that the WBA and IBF champion Carl Froch (32, 2, 23KO’s) will bully away victory from his less experienced rival. There are those who believe the movement, speed and sharpness of challenger George Groves (19, 1, 15KO’s) will combine with his youthful exuberance to overwhelm the champion. Then there are those who have absolutely no idea which way this fight will sway. The one thing these three groups will agree on is that, come Saturday night we are in for a battle of epic proportions. Read the rest of this entry »
CARL FROCH VS GEORGE GROVES – THE MIND GAMES
Before I start talking about the above subject matter I would just like to state that I am no psychological expert, nor do I specialise on in the inner workings of the mind. I am a boxing fan trying to break down the mind games of this monstrous fight on Saturday night. Read the rest of this entry »
GEORGE GROVES PUBLIC WORKOUT – SHEPHERDS BUSH
Global Boxing were fortunate enough to attend the public workout for George Groves’ rematch against the Cobra, Carl Froch. Amongst those in attendance were WBC Champion Sakio Bika, Former world champion Paulie Malignaggi and British super middleweight champion Paul Smith Junior.
Along with Groves, Anthony Joshua, James Degale and Kevin Mitchell also performed their respective workouts inside Westfield shipping centre. Here are some of the photos of the busy day in London. Read the rest of this entry »
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE AS CHRIS JENKINS EYES A SHOT AT THE BRITISH TITLE
For Chris Jenkins (13, 0, 5 KO’s) time is on his side. The Welshman steps into the ring against Asan Yuseinov in the Rhydycar leisure centre in his home country of Wales, determined to take one step further to contest for the coveted British light welterweight title. So far the career of ‘Rok n Rolla’ has gone to plan as he has remained undefeated in his 13 professional bouts, becoming Prizefighter champion along the way. Yet, the dreams and aspirations of a 25 year old do not rest with a £32,000 cash prize and a gleaming trophy. The aim is to progress his way through a hotly contested division and fight for a title currently held by Driffield’s, Curtis Woodhouse. Read the rest of this entry »
THE WEAPON OF INTIMIDATION
Having a psychological edge over an opponent moments before the first bell has rung is an advantage and a tactic that has been used since we can remember. Joe Louis uttered the famous phrase “he can run but he can’t hide” in his bout against Billy Conn, while Roberto Duran played the physiological games to get into the head of Sugar Ray Leonard in their first fight. It’s a tactic that still goes on today. Sometimes they work and on other occasions the ‘trash talker’ is left eating humble pie. Anyone can have the mental edge over their opponent, but a few have used the unique weapon of intimidation to win the fight before a punch has been thrown. Read the rest of this entry »
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