When the impossible happens
In boxing, you can always be sure that a big upset is just around the corner
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Out of the blue
THE LONG READ
I’ll admit that I was fully prepared for the Kid Galahad vs Kiko Martinez show to be a total non-event. On paper, the Matchroom card in Sheffield on November 13th looked like a stinker. Boxing, however, has an incredible innate ability to surprise in a way no other, more organised, sport can match.
For the first four rounds, things seemed to be going pretty completely to script; Galahad appeared a level above in front of his hometown crowd in the first defence of his newly-won IBF featherweight crown, catching Kiko clean on multiple occasions with a range of offence, seemingly a step ahead of the ageing Spaniard. As Mike Costello noted on commentary, this was looking like it would be a “systematic breakdown, round after round after round”. Martinez offered little in return, his athletic peak having been and gone years ago. Everything was in its right place.
Suddenly, towards the end of the fifth, Kiko connected with an overhand right which dropped Galahad hard. If there had been any more time left before the bell, it would have been over there and then. Martinez repeated the shot with the first punch of the sixth round, which ended the fight without a count. A spectacular finish, a bolt from the blue. Within seconds, what felt like one of the year’s dullest main events in UK boxing had become one of its most notable.
I dismissed Kiko’s chances of a result beforehand. Obviously, I was wrong. I can take some solace in the fact that far more esteemed boxing scribes than I did similar, but I was genuinely delighted that Martinez managed to show us all up with a truly spectacular sixth-round KO to claim the IBF featherweight title and become a two-weight world champion. A Galahad stoppage was a certainty (betting odds had a Kid victory at 1-20 beforehand)...until it wasn’t.
2021 has been a banner year for shock results. Kiko Martinez wasn’t the only high-profile upset on Matchroom’s November 13th show, as unheralded Alycia Baumgardner trounced and stopped Terri Harper to rip the WBC super featherweight title from ‘Belter’, in quite literally shocking fashion. Rarely have I seen a fighter completely knocked out on their feet like that. Now - seemingly from out of nowhere - we have a potential star on our hands in the form of Baumgardner. Thrilling stuff, a night for the underdogs on a show which didn’t seem up to much at all on first inspection. The power of the upset in action.
Kiko Martinez isn’t even the only Spanish boxer to head into the main event of a DAZN show a huge underdog and surprise the world. Just a month earlier, Sandor Martin - who had never previously fought outside of Europe - walked into Fresno, California as an apparent no-hoper for his clash with former four-division world champion Mikey Garcia, a contest which was supposed to be little more than a tune-up for the one-time pound-for-pound contender. Prior to the fight, Garcia was another 1-20 betting favourite - most American commentators proclaimed the fight a waste of time, despite Martin being the European champion, similar to British boxing’s general viewpoint prior to Mauricio Lara’s upset of Josh Warrington in February this year.
Mikey (whose only previous loss came when he jumped up two divisions to drop a wide decision to Errol Spence in 2019) only needed to turn up to rack up the 41st win of his 42-fight career.
Only life is rarely a throughline; Martin well and truly turned over the apple cart by outboxing Garcia throughout the majority of the 10 round contest to obtain a clear, though not unanimous, decision. Those punters who took the risk were laughing all the way to the bank.
The lineage of the upset is at the heart of boxing’s history. I’m not talking about matchmaking in which one fighter is a favourite but both are still considered amongst their division’s best or pretty evenly matched. These are those fights in which one boxer is seen as so superior, either because their opponent is past-it, or never-was, that it’s not even really a two-person race. Those are the moments where nuggets of gold can really be found.
Everyone knows the big ones - Buster Douglas stopping the unstoppable Mike Tyson in the Tokyo Dome in 1990 is the stuff of legend, as is George Foreman’s one-punch knockout of Michael Moorer in 1994 to become heavyweight champion of the world at the age of 45. Foreman himself losing the Rumble in the Jungle to a supposedly finished Muhammad Ali in 1974 is in boxing folklore as well. Mike Tyson was also stopped by a ‘washed-up’ Evander Holyfield in 1996 in a result seemingly nobody saw coming. With Tyson being seen as unbeatable once again after his release from prison in 1995 and Holyfield little more than a name, you could have got 25-1 on a victory for ‘The Real Deal’ on the night. Holyfield owned Tyson throughout, however, and systematically took the mystique of ‘Iron’ Mike apart before ending it in the 11th round.
Lennox Lewis suffered not one but two shock knockout defeats during the course of his hall of fame career. He walked in a heavy favourite and world champion both when he met Oliver McCall in London in 1994 and when he travelled to South Africa in 2001 to face Hasim Rahman. On both occasions, Lennox was knocked out in what felt like earth-shattering results at the time. Lewis would avenge both losses - McCall in the most unusual fashion imaginable - but these upsets will live in infamy for generations. Watching dumbfounded with my dad as Lennox was obliterated by Rahman in their first fight is certainly a boxing memory I’ll never forget.
In March 2003, WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko was being lined up by HBO as a major new star attraction when Corrie Sanders was plucked from the lower reaches of the WBO’s rankings to share the ring with ‘Dr Steelhammer’. The event was even called The Next Big Thing in US promotional copy; clearly, Wlad was going places and Sanders was a supporting player. Having fought less than three rounds in almost three years, and before a huge crowd in Klitschko’s adopted Germany, Corrie wasn’t given much chance of doing anything. A Wladimir win was another 1-20 betting certainty.
Forsake those odds. This ended up being a cult classic of the upset genre, a treat for the connoisseur of the coupon-buster, as the big-punching Sanders dropped Klitschko in under a minute, with three more knockdowns occurring before the referee waved things off early in the second round.
Klitschko would react well to this humbling defeat, and the later fifth-round stoppage loss to Lamon Brewster, to go on to dominate the heavyweight division, and Sanders would be stopped by brother Vitali a year later. This night, however, will forever be Corrie’s moment.
As boxing fans, we should really learn more from history more to expect the unexpected. In the Summer of 2019, I was so convinced Anthony Joshua would beat Andy Ruiz Jr. in a straightforward fashion that I didn’t bother to stay up for the fight live. Instead, I woke up the next morning and almost spat out my Weetabix as I took in the bizarre spectacle of 25-1 outsider Ruiz rising from the canvas himself to drop AJ four times en route to a seventh-round stoppage win. From being a late replacement just there to make up the numbers, Andy Ruiz was the unified heavyweight champion of the world.
There will be plenty of upsets which I haven’t mentioned here, the sport is littered with them. Who knows, we could see one or more before the end of this year alone.
Writing this piece, and looking back at some of this year’s underdog triumphs, has reiterated to me that it’s important in boxing - as in life - to block out the noise on occasion and draw your own conclusions. The truth is that these huge upsets are rarely completely out of the blue, there are often mitigating circumstances.
Mike Tyson’s crazed, hard-partying Japanese ‘holiday’, combined with Buster Douglas dedicating himself like never before in the wake of his mother’s death, meant that a 42-1 surprise result in Japan was actually a distinct possibility in hindsight. Lennox Lewis dismissed Oliver McCall in ‘94, more interested in negotiating for a fight with Riddick Bowe at the time. He also arrived late in South Africa for the first Hasim Rahman bout, meaning he was completely unprepared for the impact of the high altitude he would face, and weeks after his opponent had set up base in the country. Lewis seemed more concerned about prioritising staying in Vegas for his cameo in Ocean’s Eleven.
It also wasn’t impossible to see that Mikey Garcia was perhaps not ideally prepared for the challenge of Sandor Martin; his weight having fluctuated majorly over the last 18 months and the full impact of his move up to welterweight to ‘dare to be great’ against Errol Spence has not yet become clear. That his Spanish opponent had been unfairly dismissed by an under-researched American audience was also a possible red flag, he was worth a punt even if nothing more.
Knowing these details in advance can make it somewhat easier to predict the unexpected - even if boxers are predicated to state that every pre-fight camp is the best one they’ve ever had, that is often not the case.
Sometimes, no-hopers are genuinely just that. Equally, at the same time, if an underdog has proved that they have talent, then there will always be the potential for them to upend the odds, no matter how tall the task may seem, especially if the circumstances around the build-up could swing the difference.
In amongst all the chaos in the business of boxing, it’s sometimes easy to forget just why we love the fight game. These totally unexpected results, where a fighter with purportedly no chance completely upends the form book and delivers a win from seemingly out of nowhere, remind us of exactly what it is that makes us so passionate about this crazy sport. They cut through the nonsense and reinvigorate our passion. One fight, even just one punch, can change everything for both victor and victim, and that speaks to the very core of why there is no sport like boxing.
THE BOXING AGENDA
Thoughts on the boxing newswire…
Terence Crawford successfully defended his WBO welterweight title against Shawn Porter in an excellent clash last weekend. ‘Bud’ reiterated his status as one of the sport’s elite whilst also achieving the best win of his career - and becoming the first man to stop Porter in the process. I thought a lot of the rounds were close, tough to score in many ways, but Crawford proved his ability to maintain his power late in fights and come on strong down the stretch by knocking down Porter twice in the 10th round, with Shawn’s father and trainer Kenny Porter waving the white flag moments later. For Crawford, a promotional free agent now having finished his Top Rank deal with this fight, his aim will be to cement his legacy over his next couple of fights; whether one of those will be with Errol Spence remains to be seen, it would be an immense event but I remained unconvinced PBC want Spence to take that risk while Crawford remains at the peak of his powers. For Porter, who announced his retirement at the post-show press conference, he can look back on an excellent career in which he fought the best of his generation in his weight class, with a resume that holds up against anyone else in the modern age for number of challenges accepted. A throwback fighter, taking on all comers, boxing could benefit from more Shawn Porters coming through in the future…
Less than a year after beginning his quest to become the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world, Canelo Alvarez completed the task in early November with his 11th round knockout of a game (but, as expected, under-prepared at the elite level) Caleb Plant at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. An intriguing fight, especially for the first few rounds wherein Plant’s fluid motion and shot selection caused Saul genuine issues, the end result and scale of event reaffirmed Canelo’s status as the leading light of the sport. Thankfully, I went with my gut and doubled down on a late Alvarez stoppage too, something which I am sure the man himself will be delighted about.
I was planning to look at Canelo’s options for what to do next in a bit more detail, however in the words of Ferris Bueller, life moves pretty fast - and that goes double when it comes to boxing. Little more than a week after becoming undisputed middleweight champion of the world, we already know boxing’s kingpin’s next move. Manager and trainer Eddy Reynoso appeared at the recent WBC convention to request a mandate for Alvarez to step up to challenge WBC cruiserweight champion Junior Ilunga Makabu, a request which was approved. There will be those who will dismiss this move as cherry-picking, and I’ve seen a fair amount of negative sentiment around the proposed bout, but for a fighter to go up from super middleweight to cruiserweight and face a legitimate champion is a real challenge. Yes, Makabu might not be the division’s very best but could it ever be reasonable to expect Canelo to jump up two divisions and immediately challenge Mairis Breidis, for example? Honestly not really. British fans will remember Makabu losing a WBC title fight to Tony Bellew in just three rounds in Liverpool back in 2016, however that is the last time he didn’t win, and he is a fierce puncher who will have numerous physical advantages over Canelo. Clearly Saul’s team see a route to victory, viewing him as the weakest of the current cruiserweight title holders, so technically he could be accused of cherry-picking - but for me, this is a very intriguing, challenging contest which basically nobody predicted. There is a slight issue in relation to Makabu’s mandatory challenger Thabiso Mchunu, however with the potential money generated by Canelo’s cruiserweight challenge that could surely be resolved soon.
Makabu is promoted by Don King (yes, that Don King), which adds another interesting subplot as the most controversial boxing promoter ever - and what an accolade that is - looks to be returning to the spotlight. Should both sides agree to the bout, and navigate the mandatory situation, then this is likely to happen in May 2022. Victory would of course mean a world title in a fifth weight class for former junior middleweight Canelo, a pretty incredible achievement. Alvarez’s jump up the divisions will be reminiscent of ex-middleweight king Roy Jones Jr.‘s WBA heavyweight title win against John Ruiz back in 2003, a historic night which I looked back on earlier this year.
THE NEXT ROUND
A far-from-exhaustive rundown of upcoming highlights of the boxing calendar…
27th November 2021
Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr.
Promoter: Matchroom / TV: DAZN (UK and US)
It’s finally here; the lightweight title defence nobody was clamouring for which has spent the large part of 2021 being announced and cancelled - mostly due to Triller summarily failing to deliver on promoting the fight after their huge winning purse bid in February appeared to shake up the sport - eventually happens on a Matchroom show in New York on DAZN. Under Triller’s guidance, it was set for Miami in June, then Lopez pulled out due to testing positive for Covid, after which attempts were made to place it in Australia (during a time when the country was in lockdown), Saudi Arabia and Dubai, before it was agreed for Lopez’s hometown of New York City. Triller’s numerous attempts at getting in an Autumn date in NYC proved futile though, largely due to mismanagement of the situation on their part. Finally, mercifully, the IBF intervened in early October (Kambosos is their mandatory challenger, which is why the fight is happening in the first place) and put everyone out of their misery by finding Triller in default of their duties, with Matchroom taking on promotional responsibilities. Neither Lopez nor Kambosos are under Eddie Hearn’s umbrella, but that’s the weird world of purse bids for you. When I covered the bidding process back in March, who would have thought it would come to this. Actually, perhaps that should have been expected, this is boxing after all - the Wild West of sport.
READ: Boxing’s chaos theory - Teofimo, purse bids and the fundamental chaos at the heart of the sport
Now that the fight has a promoter, a broadcaster and a location (Hulu Theatre @ Madison Square Garden) for this weekend, we can be confident that it is a real bout and not just a figment of our imagination. The fact that there is some genuine bad blood, ingratiated in part thanks to the multiple delays but also demonstrated in the press conferences and media appearances (the first of which took place way back in April), will make for a fiery affair. It’s a bout which - while far from the best the lightweight division could possibly muster - should deliver, for as long as it lasts. Lopez, the unified IBF, WBO and WBA lightweight champion, has lost a lot of momentum due to the promotional chaos of this bout, but he is still the man who came in as a huge underdog and outthought and outfought Vasyl Lomachenko so impressively to win those belts last year via unanimous decision, in just his sixteenth professional fight. He is the full package, one of the most exciting young fighters in the sport, possessing the speed and power to cause huge problems for anyone in and around his weight class, and being just 24 years of age has the potential to improve further still. He is rightly a huge favourite against Kambosos, with the Australian at best 5/1 with bookmakers to cause the upset. ‘Ferocious’ claimed the mandatory position via a clear points win over Lee Selby in the UK in October last year, a fight which proved both that he can deliver as the away fighter and that his stamina allows him to improve the longer bouts go on. Kambosos is a trusted sparring partner of Manny Pacquiao, however he is stepping up a level or three here compared to his previous opposition. This could be a competitive showdown while it lasts, Kambosos is arriving with belief and the delays might theoretically make an upset more likely - but I still expect the class of Lopez to shine through here. Kambosos may have more success if Lopez hasn’t prepared as well as we could have but the sensible thought process still has to be Teofimo making a successful first defence of his crown, most likely by stoppage in the mid-to-late rounds. Class should tell, in the end. As I’ve attempted to demonstrate already in this edition, though, you can never say never in this sport.
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Triller Fight Club: Triad Combat
Promoter: Triller / TV: FITE TV (UK and US)
Speaking of Triller…they are, in fact, promoting their own show this weekend after all. Looking to rebound after completely jumping the shark with their horrible Holyfield vs Belfort-headlined, Donald Trump-approved September Fight Club card - a show I broke down in all its gory detail - they’ve thrown out something completely from leftfield by attempting to establish a new combat sport in the form of Triad Combat. Rather than their recent attempts to chuck in boxers vs MMA fighters under boxing rules, this time they have fudged together a hybrid concept that combines the two. We know that the event will involve a new triangular ring (a move which has seen rival bare-knuckle outfit BYB launch a legal challenge against Triller claiming they own a patent for a three-sided fight structure) and Triller have set out some ground rules for the bouts; essentially what we are looking at is boxing in a confined space with MMA gloves and clinches…
Former two-time world title challenger Kubrat Pulev competes with UFC legend Frank Mir in the main event, and there are a few other at least vaguely recognisable names from both codes (Matt Mitrione, Brian Vera) on the undercard. There is also a team element, with Shannon Briggs ‘captaining’ the boxers and Quinton Jackson leading the mixed martial artists, presumably with the aim of setting up a future Triller contest between those two). Let’s go champ indeed. Points will be awarded for wins and the method of victory, with one team emerging victorious at the end. Trying to keep a positive mindset here, Triller could have struck gold with a genius concept that will establish another successful combat sport strand, although really that seems about as likely as the notion that this show will “shatter all existing pay-per-view records”, as was ludicrously claimed in their press release announcing the show. It’s more likely that this could be another cluster of epic proportions from the Triller headless chicken factory, though the uniqueness of seeing the format for the first time makes it somewhat intriguing I guess. Metallica will be the musical headliners, which should at least ensure a decent crowd in attendance, but the average age of a Metallica fan doesn’t exactly chime with Triller’s supposed under-30s target audience. I can’t see how they could possibly turn a profit on the event - given that Triad Combat was announced to little fanfare just a month ago, Metallica certainly don’t come cheap (and neither does host Nick Cannon, or for that matter Michael Buffer), and the potential audiences for the show in both boxing and MMA seem to have reacted with either disdain or mockery. Triller is a wild company for sure, their endgame is completely unclear at this stage.
Triller also have their next, all-heavyweight TrillerVerz show for early December on FITE TV, so they’re not out of the straight-up boxing game yet either. Who knows what they’ll be cooking up in 2022; not sure whether to be fascinated or terrified. Perhaps a mix of both.
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