'Knockout Chaos' autopsy report and tons more random thoughts
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A whole bunch of boxing random thoughts…
Let’s start with the “Knockout Chaos” card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We can get this out of the way immediately: Anthony Joshua’s spectacular second-round knockout of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is obviously the leader for KO of the year at this point.
AJ did what Tyson Fury, the heavyweight champ, was supposed to do but couldn’t come close to doing against Ngannou, a devastating MMA fighter but novice boxer making his pro debut against Fury in October. In my view, Fury didn’t take Ngannou seriously at all, was not in top shape when he got knocked down and escaped with a heavily disputed split decision.
Joshua, who scored two clean knockdowns before the finishing right hand, saw what Ngannou did against Fury and took him seriously. He was in great shape and he and trainer Ben Davison had 10 rounds of Ngannou video against Fury to scout whereas Fury had no video of Ngannou other than his UFC fights, which probably wouldn’t have helped.
Even though Ngannou got blasted into another dimension it should not diminish what he did against Fury. If he’s going to be criticized for his performance against Joshua he should still be praised for how well he did against Fury.
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Ngannou said he wants to continue in boxing (as well as also fight in MMA) but if he is going to box again he needs to sure up his fundamentals. Here’s just one example that you don’t have to be a trainer to spot: His left hand was dangling in no man’s land when Joshua came over it with the huge right hand. Ngannou’s left hand was of no use as he wasn’t defending with it or attacking with it. That’s a rookie mistake and the sort of thing that needs to be drilled on over and over and over until it’s muscle memory.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again: Joshua has the best resume of any active heavyweight and it’s not really close in my view. He owns wins over all-time great Wladimir Klitschko (by knockout in a fight of the year), then-undefeated Joseph Parker (in a 2018 title unification victory that has aged very well considering Parker’s resurgence); Dillian Whyte, Charles Martin and Dominic Breazeale, all of whom were undefeated at the time; Alexander Povetkin (by knockout when his only previous loss then was a decision to Klitschko); Andy Ruiz Jr. via one-sided decision in their rematch; Kubrat Pulev (whose only other loss at the time was to Klitschko); and Otto Wallin via dominant knockout when his only previous loss was a decision to Fury four years earlier.
Inactivity is the ruination of fighters and it’s been getting worse and worse in recent years. It’s bad for the sport and terrible for the fighters, who see their careers waste away. They only have a relatively short window to make their money and legacy. An active fighter, conversely, stays in the groove, doesn’t need such long camps to get ready, stays in a boxing frame of mind and in the public and media spotlight, remains close to their optimal weight, and keeps their bank account growing. Joshua and Parker are prime examples of how important activity is. Joshua was razor sharp blasting out Ngannou in his fourth fight in 11 months. Prior to that Joshua had just five fights in four years — and lost twice. Parker got dropped twice but otherwise was sharp against Zhilei Zhang in an upset decision. It was Parker’s fifth fight in the 14 months since being stopped by Joe Joyce, whom Parker fought coming off of a nine-month layoff. Say it with me people: Activity matters.
I’ve heard some grumbling from fans that Joshua agreed to fight Ngannou in a “circus fight” instead of fighting a legitimate top contender. Those dopes should remember that he was supposed to be fighting Deontay Wilder but Wilder blew the fight when he lost to Parker on their doubleheader in December. That’s not AJ’s fault, so he took the biggest profile and money fight available to him while he waits for his most likely other options: the Fury-Oleksandr Usyk winner or Filip Hrgovic for the soon-to-be vacant IBF title.
Parker’s pairing with trainer Andy Lee has obviously been a great success. Just in his last two fights, Parker has scored the two biggest wins of his career, both upsets, in a lopsided decision over Wilder in December and a close but deserved decision over Zhang in the Joshua-Ngannou co-feature, despite two knockdowns, to claim the WBO interim heavyweight title. I’m not sure there are two better back-to-back wins in the heavyweight division in recent times.
Lee has been a big part of Parker’s recent success and it brings joy to my heart that the former middleweight titleholder, who I have known and liked since he turned pro, has decided to remain in boxing as a trainer after his retirement from the ring. The reason is because it means the teachings of his Yoda-like mentor and my friend, the late, great Emanuel Steward, lives on as does his revered Kronk Gym, where Andy trained under Emanuel’s tutelage. Lee is a young man and hopefully he will be around for decades training fighters and that some of them will go on to be great trainers also and forever carry Steward’s spirit with them.
Nick Ball fought a good fight in his draw challenging WBC featherweight titlist Rey Vargas, who put so many early rounds in the bank he was able to overcome two knockdowns to save his title. I thought Ball eked it out but in no way was the result a robbery as Ball promoter Frank Warren complained afterward. Ball remains undefeated and will be back. He’s exciting and good. But, for his sake, I hope he starts fighting a little earlier next time. He gave away probably five of the first six rounds. Vargas looks like he’s getting a bit long in the tooth to me, but he still only has one loss, and that was a decision up at junior lightweight to O’Shaquie Foster for the vacant WBC title last year.
After a slow start, Israil Madrimov looked pretty good in a fifth-round knockout of Magomed Kurbanov to win the vacant WBA junior middleweight title. He has an excellent right hand and bounced it off Kurbanov’s head several times to get the stoppage. His emergence adds another interesting fighter to the top of a division that has undergone a facelift in recent times. I’d definitely be down for a Madrimov title defense against Vergil Ortiz Jr.
The “Knockout Chaos” pay-per-view began at 10 a.m. ET. It didn’t end until nearly 8 p.m. ET. The timing sheet called for the main event to start at approximately 6:20 p.m. ET but they blew that completely. I love boxing but that was waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too long of a show. It was exacerbated by soul-crushingly long breaks between fights that were a million percent unnecessary. What in the world were the producers thinking? It was nearly 4 a.m. Saudi time when it ended. Does anyone who produces boxing telecasts ever actually think about the fans, be it those watching on a screen or in the arena? Let’s work on the timing of these events please.
Now on to Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. (I still can’t believe I wrote that.) The mere mention stirs many thoughts and emotions ranging from, “Oh my goodness! That’s a huge, huge event!” to “Oh my goodness! That’s an absolute train wreck waiting to happen.” Whatever happens at least it’s not a pay-per-view. I love that Netflix is putting on a boxing event no matter how outlandish it may seem given that Paul is a fresh, strong 27-year-old and Tyson is soon to be 58, has not had an actual fight in 19 years, last had an exhibition in 2020, and sometimes walks with a cane. Nothing has been announced yet on whether it will be an official fight or an exhibition, but I personally hope it is not an official fight. This is not the late ‘80s version of Tyson or even mid-90s post-prison Tyson. The Tyson I covered at the start of my career quit or was knocked out in three of his last four fights. He isn’t going to be better nearly 20 years later. Still, it’s going to be a huge event.
Tyson, whose marijuana use is part of his persona, probably will need to lay off it for a bit given the fight with Paul will be in Texas, which recently suspended Keyshawn Davis and changed his win to a no contest for testing positive for the drug after the fight. The biggest upset of Paul-Tyson might be if Tyson passes the drug test.
I’m pretty confident that Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia will be an outstanding action fight. It’s not the Canelo-David Benavidez fight I and most others wanted, but it is an acceptable No. 2.
For those who declared PBC dead and wrote off Al Haymon a couple of weeks ago when he couldn’t close a deal with Canelo for the second fight of their three-fight deal and he walked only to return to PBC, albeit on a restructured one-fight deal, I will say yet again: Underestimate Haymon at your own peril.
Oscar Valdez vs. Liam Wilson is also going to be a good action fight.
I just loved the recent Otabek Kholmatov-Raymond Ford fight.
P4P king Terence Crawford is in a tough spot. The welterweight champion has no big-money fight in his own division because he destroyed Errol Spence Jr. so badly that a rematch has no commercial value and as interesting as it would be to see him fight Boots Ennis, that has little commercial value either, because Ennis doesn’t have a name outside the hardcore fans. There is no junior welterweight that could move up in weight that anyone would give much of a chance to beat Crawford, no offense Teofimo Lopez. At junior middleweight, Jermell Charlo is out of the picture with his issues outside the ring and doubt he will ever fight again at 154 after having his last fight at 168. The winner of Tim Tszyu-Keith Thurman would be an ideal Crawford opponent, especially if it’s Tszyu, but that fight still has to take place. It leaves Crawford, who isn’t a big enough star to do serious pay-per-view numbers without a quality dance partner, with the prospect of a fight with middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. that is in discussions. I don’t hate it but I can’t say that I love it either. And it’s certainly not a fight that will move the masses to spend $75 for a pay-per-view.
Speaking of Charlo, because of his career uncertainty and another long layoff likely looming — and no clarity on if he will ever fight again at junior middleweight — he has been relieved of his remaining sanctioning body belts and re-classified as a “champion in recess” by the WBC and WBA. That makes him the first ever unified champion in recess!!!!! Sanctioning body wonders will never cease!!!
I miss the days when Gennadiy Golovkin and fellow future Hall of Famer Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez were in their primes, knocking out quality opponents as the most exciting fighters in the world, and battling each other for No. 1 pound-for-pound status while fighting on the same HBO cards. Truly good times.
Manny Pacquiao-Conor Benn? Weird fight out of nowhere. Let’s see if they get it done.
A few dream fights:
Pacquiao vs. Julio Cesar Chavez (at 130, 135 or 140)
Miguel Cotto vs. Kostya Tszyu
Alexis Arguello vs. Salvador Sanchez (I’d up give a finger or two see this.)
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Floyd Mayweather
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Donald Curry
Ryan Garcia’s recent erratic and unhinged behavior and slew of wild social media posts and videos are concerning, especially with a very tough fight coming up against Devin Haney. I still have my doubts he makes it to the post on April 20.
Heavyweight contender Jared Anderson seems determined to destroy his career and perhaps his life all on his own. It's really sad to him unravel like this.
It was no fun seeing onetime heavyweight contender Adam Kownacki, who seemed destined for a title shot, get taken out in 45 seconds for a fifth loss in a row (four by KO). It’s over for him and it has been, but he seems to be the only one who doesn’t realize it. I’m not one to typically tell a fighter to retire but I hope he does. He’s a good guy, he has a young family, and he has made several million dollars despite having never fought for a world title.
Paging Eimantas Stanionis. It will be two years without a fight next month despite holding the WBA “regular” welterweight title. Yes, his schedule was messed up by his appendectomy and torpedoed by fight cancellations, but still — two years?
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Joshua-Ngannou photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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