By Alex McMillan: Fans of boxing have been absolutely spoiled over the last few months; genuine world class match-ups week after week have thrilled long into the hours of Sunday mornings (in the UK at least); we’ve had the masterclass of Marquez against Casamayor, the incredible grit and fire of Antonio Margarito wearing down Miguel Cotto, and even the disappointments of prematurely ended bouts like Judah vs. Clottey or Ivan Calderon vs. Hugo Cazares. With that in mind – and so many other promising bouts to come this autumn – it’s fair to say that last Saturday’s televised British light-middleweight title fight was less than a sparkling highlight in the year’s calendar. While it’s certainly not the case that I wasn’t looking forward to it, it is fair to say I tuned in in lieu of any truly top class action available elsewhere.
And I have to say, I’m delighted I did. Not exclusively for positive reasons, but mostly so. Ryan Rhodes, the defending champion, is a character I’d thought a couple of years ago had simply slipped off the radar; a fighter who – like so many fighters (and if I’m not being overly harsh, far too many British fighters) – displayed glimpses of real class, real potential at the early stage of his career, sadly to be found wanting when the class of his opponents was elevated to world or close-to-world class level. His loss to Otis Grant (who subsequently went ten rounds with a peak Roy Jones) is now a staggering eleven years ago. Far more devastating though, in terms of his career, was his KO defeat two years later at the hands of Jason Matthews, a defeat from which it seemed Rhodes’ career would never recover.
Recover it did though, after a prolonged spell in the doldrums, to the extent that he now holds the British title, still a well respected and much sought after belt, making his first defence against Scotland’s Jamie Coyle, a fighter who, I honestly admit, I’d never actually once watched previously. After five or six minutes of this bout, it’s fair to say I never wanted to watch him for another second. Rhodes, slick and eager to please, piled combinations of shots from all sorts of angles as Coyle stood apprehensively before him, his hands held high but shaking visibly, his feet seemingly rooted to the same spot, and crucially, to the same distance between himself and the champ. For both the opening rounds and most of the third he seemed unwilling or incapable either of stepping back to force Rhodes to come after him, or of stepping forward and pressing the fight, if nothing else creating a challenge for the champion in the process. By the end of the third round I was cursing the promoters of this ‘contest’ for putting on such an obvious mismatch. But boxing, as we know, has a habit of surprising us all.
Whether he was attempting to pace himself – having never before gone beyond eight rounds – or simply intending on seeing what Rhodes’ own approach would be to the bout, Coyle from somewhere started digging out some hefty (if rather deliberate) combinations, finding an increasingly easier target to hit in Rhodes, who for his part seemed flummoxed by Coyle’s willingness to stand and trade blow for blow. Rounds five and six went clearly to the Scot, at which point Rhodes really looked to be struggling. My mind was cast to the astonishing Young Muttley vs. Kevin Anderson fight of June 2006 where, in similar circumstances, the Scot withstood an incredible barrage of shots before forcing the stoppage in the later rounds. Unfortunately for Coyle though, he just lacked the cutting edge. As the rounds wore on it became apparent that while he could take anything the leaner, far better skilled Rhodes had to offer – constantly surprising both his opponent and everyone watching by mounting retaliatory combinations when it seemed he’d finally been broken – it was equally clear he couldn’t make any substantial dent in the champion’s armour. By the end of round nine, only Coyle knows what was keeping him going. Perhaps pride; perhaps the sound of his traveling fans, down from Bannockburn (where else?) roaring the tartan army anthem (‘we’ll be coming’ – a Scottish football chant for those who don’t know) or perhaps, as he indicated in his post-fight interview, it was the idea of his two children sitting in the crowd that forced his will. What was incredible to think of though, as the minutes wore on, was how Coyle had somehow been stopped twice previously in his career, by Francis Jones and Karl David, fighters unquestionably far more limited than Rhodes?
In recent times the likes of Mickey Ward, Ben Tackie and Wayne McCullogh have created legends of themselves through their abilities to stand up to severe, almost superhuman levels of pressure, only to shrug it off and immediately dish out some of their own pain. But each of these fighters (albeit to varying degrees) are making good sums of money for their heroic efforts; in some cases excellent money. One wonders exactly how much Coyle would have received for his incredible show of courage last Saturday night? By the eleventh round I found myself hoping that he wouldn’t have to suffer the KO he was so hell-bent on avoiding, while hoping far more of course that it wouldn’t take something far worse than a KO for the fight to be stopped. And ultimately, the issue of safety in the sport again raises its head. Plainly, Coyle was desperate to go the distance, fantastically determined to put on this incredible display of heart. The question isn‘t whether such a fighter knows the risks of the sport – of course he does. The question is whether or not the decision to end the bout should in all good conscience be taken out of their hands. Coyle is a prize fighter; it takes guts, ability and steely will, but no-one ever pretended it took any real degree of selflessness or medical intelligence. Quite why his corner, in a fight he couldn’t win, with the guy’s kids in the crowd, failed to throw the towel in is beyond me. But he made it, fair play to him, in what should surely prove to be his last ever performance.
In troubled times for Scottish boxing, as Scott Harrison serves time and Alex Arthur angles for a rematch after an uncharacteristically lax showing when losing his super featherweight crown to Nicky Cook this past month, it was humbling to see the determination on the part of Coyle – well beaten in the end by Rhodes, it has to be said. Far more humbling (demonstrative too of what a paradoxical, brutal yet touching sport the fight game can be) was the sight of the Scotsman close to tears at the end of the fight, frustrated with his performance, convinced he could‘ve offered much more. Having never seen him fight before, I’m open to persuasion, but I hope his management have far more sense than to ever allow him to demonstrate such ferocious heart again. For all the great things these past months have shown us of boxing, we’ve seen the constant downside to it too; the likes of Joan Guzman failing at the last minute to make weight, the unending tedium of bad mouthing and money squabbles, even (arguably) the disappointment that Oscar de la Hoya fighting a guy naturally a few clear weight divisions below him seems to have captured the world’s imagination where the greatest prize fights fail to; one wonders what a guy like Coyle might make of it all, once he’s made the call to his cable company to subscribe to pay-per-view and tuned in to the glitz and glamour of another pugilist ’extravaganza!’
As for Rhodes, who has become a far more likeable – if sadly unfulfilled – talent over the years, his stop-start career goes on. He certainly still has the skills, the speed, the ambition, yet that often indefinable something that all the greatest fighters possess still seems lacking. It’s no shame of course, to be unable to force a stoppage against a guy who simply refuses to move his face out the way of your shots or fall over, but what’s far more concerning for Rhodes must be the ease and frequency with which Coyle was able to land clean retaliations. Perhaps there’s a world title out there for him yet, perhaps not. Like all of these other fighters propping up the ranks of the superstars who thrill us most Saturday nights and Sunday mornings Rhodes deserves every credit for his longevity, self belief and resilience. In different ways it was great to see both these guys share a truly memorable British title fight. While very few column inches were dictated to the fight in the subsequent day’s newspapers (even in Coyle’s home nation) they are each every bit as deserving of our praise – as genuine boxing fans – as all the De la Hoya’s, Margarito’s and Pacquiao’s of the sport.
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