My Two Cents: Guzman, Wilder, Broner, Mayweather retirement

By Gavin Duthie - 08/27/2015 - Comments

broner6677By Gav Duthie: After being inactive for a little while on the writing front and a lack of top level boxing recently I thought I would give my thoughts on a few of the recent boxing stories in the press.

Joan Guzman retires

The wasted talent of Joan Guzman can only be blamed on one man, himself. The man from the Dominican Republic missed weight several times, failed drug tests and was extremely inactive through his career. Nevertheless I feel a sadness towards any boxer with unfulfilled potential. The 39-year-old fell short of a full retirement but its safe to say he will unlikely box again. Boasting an amateur record of 310-10 and a pro record of 34-1-1 (21) he was a three weight world champion but never really had that career defining fight. He made his debut in 1997 so essentially 36 fights in 18 years which isn’t good enough. He has only fought once since his solitary loss to Khabib Allakhverdiev in 2012. His best win was probably a split decision victory over Jorge Rodrigo Barrios (He should have won a comfortable UD) but he missed a lot of big fights. The likes of Freitas, Casamayor, Corrales, Castillo and he was even linked with Amir Khan after the Garcia loss. He says he wants to stay in boxing and give something back. Hopefully he can make a lasting contribution now that his amazing skills failed to do so in the ring.

Deontay Wilder v Johann Duhaupas

It seems as if Al Haymon wants people to not like Deontay Wilder 34-0 (33) with the announcement that he will defend his WBC title against Johann Duhapas 32-2 (20). His only decent win was his last outing against Manuel Charr who just got knocked out by a cruiserweight on saturday night. The Frenchman is #12 with the WBC which was the same ranking as last challenger Eric Molina. I’m pretty sure from #1-11 are wandering what they need to do to get a title shot. The WBC need to enforce the Povetkin mandatory after this one. I feel for Deontay also because its lose-lose. If we wins by 1st round KO media and fans will say thats what we expected, if he struggles he will get criticized. For Deontay’s third defence it really needs a big step up in class.

Adrien Broner 30-2 (22) at a crossroads

If he beats Khabib Allakhverdiev 19-1 (9) then he becomes a 4-weight world champion if he loses he could be finished at the top level. It seems bizarre to say Broner is in a crossroads fight at 26 but thats how it feels to me. Broner had been banging on about taking over boxing for so long he set himself up for a huge fall with defeats to Maidana and Porter. His Russian opponent is string and his solitary loss to Jessie Vargas was a close fight. Adrien can definitely solve some of his problems with a win but he needs to work harder. There are great fights available in the division such as Peterson, Matthyse, Provodnikov but he needs to win this one first.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. should retire after Andre Berto

One thing Floyd Mayweather Jr. seems to love to do almost as much as count his money is keep us guessing. He can be very cryptic with his comments and leaves us guessing as to who he is fighting. I fear after the Andre Berto fight on September 12th (assuming he wins) he won’t officially announce his retirement. That will leave the likes of Amir Khan, Kell Brook and Keith Thurman still chasing him when they should concentrate on the future and fighting each other. He has no reason left to continue, Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 is not a record even Argentine IBF light welterweight champion Cesar Cuenca 48-0 (2) shares the same record as Floyd. Julio Cesar Chavez first loss was at 89-0 even Yori Boy Campos was 56-0 when Felix Trinidad knocked him out. Plenty boxers of former eras have retired undefeated. Mayweather’s legacy is his list of opponents not the numbers. I hope ge retires and lets the next generation flourish.



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