In the Gutter

09/29/2013 by Jamie Eskdale

chavez200 By Jamie Eskdale: 2 weeks have passed since the controversy of one of the judges scoring of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight in Las Vegas on September 14th.

2 weeks isn’t a long time, particularly in boxing where fights generally happen on a weekend. However, this is how long it has taken for the latest controversy to appear. Ladies and Gentlemen strap yourselves in for the roller-coaster ride that is professional boxing.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been accused many times of living off of his famous fighting fathers’ name. He has been accused many times of being given an easy ride by the WBC who’s president Jose Sulaiman is not only a close friend of his fathers but also his Godfather.

Poor judging

09/24/2013 by Jamie Eskdale

By Jamie Eskdale: In recent weeks we’ve seen for lack of a better phrase some questionable judging in big fights. Having let the dust settle and watch the outrage subside a little I thought now would be the time to write about these types of decisions and why they keep happening.

Heart v skills

08/09/2013 by Jamie Eskdale

By Jamie Eskdale: To have heart in the boxing context defines one’s ability to take punches, react positively in the face of adversity, take a victory from the jaws of defeat, to ‘suck it up’, being able to take a degree of punishment and come back. To posses courage, intensity, will and desire.

To question a fighters’ heart is almost like questioning his manhood. I think I would be correct in saying most fighter would rather get knocked out than be regarded as a quitter.where giving in or quitting is seen as an easy way out. The very minimum the fans expect from a boxer is heart.

There are plenty of examples past and present of fighters who have been accused of lacking heart. Kermit Cintron, Audley Harrison, Zab Judah, Devon Alexander, and Jose Gonzales.

When does the 0 have to go?

07/09/2013 by Jamie Eskdale

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Jamie Eskdale: When you first hear of a boxer be it a young contender, a foreign fighter or just someone hyped by a promotional stable generally the first thing you look at is the fighters’ record. 9 times out of 10 these guys will have a perfect record. A 0 in the L column is usually a given. But is it really all that impressive to be undefeated? What does it actually stand for?

Take a look around the sport right now and you will see a whole host of fighters with unbeaten records from untested heavyweights Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder to Adrien Broner, Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin right all the way up to the man who sits atop the tree Floyd Mayweather Jnr.

Is Amir Khan Shot?

06/06/2013 by Jamie Eskdale

khan52 By Jamie Eskdale: Amir Khan has been very vocal these past 4 or 5 weeks of his intention of fighting Floyd Mayweather Junior next year. After his last performance against Julio Diaz it would seem absurd to think that Amir is now 1 fight away from a Mayweather bout. But this folks is the corrupt world of professional boxing were nothing should surprise us anymore.

Khan first came to prominence in 2004 Athens Olympic Games winning a silver medal at the age of 17. He turned professional fairly quickly making his pro debut the following year in the summer of 2005.

Calzaghe: Avoider or Avoided?

05/14/2013 by Jamie Eskdale

By Jamie Eskdale: Joe Calzaghe retired from boxing in February 2009 so I am perhaps going over old ground here. However I am still interested to know people’s opinion on the Welshman.

Joe Calzaghe was WBO Super Middleweight champion for 10 years. He successfully defended the title 21 times. Throughout his career he also held the WBC WBA and IBF versions of the Super Middleweight title and also held the ring title at Super Middleweight and also Light Heavyweight.

In 1997 Joe fought Chris Eubank for the vacant WBO Super Middleweight title.The title was vacated by Steve Collins claiming injury. Though many people at the time claimed he wanted nothing to do with Calzaghe. Collins later retired.

The Klitschkos with no one to fight

05/05/2013 by Jamie Eskdale

wlad#4 By Jamie Eskdale: I will try and examine other issues affecting boxing. Anyone who read my last article will know that I think boxing is currently in a precarious position, we have a situation where 4 governing bodies, promoters and television networks more or less run the sport.

Our Heavyweight division is in quite a dire state. Recently though on various boxing forums and websites(including this one) I have seen people talking it up. I think the general consensus is the Klitschko brothers are nearing the end, wait until their retired and it will breathe new life into the division.

1 sport 1 governing body

05/03/2013 by Jamie Eskdale

By Jamie Eskdale: The world of boxing as we know it is quite a complex land. With many weight classes with some being separated with as little as 3 pounds(flyweight – super flyweight) and multiple ‘world’ champions per weight class it can all get a little confusing.

The curious case of Andre Dirrell

05/02/2013 by Jamie Eskdale

By Jamie Eskdale: Back in 2009 two young American fighters by the name of Andre looked certain to take the super middleweight division by storm. They both entered the super 6 boxing classic tournament with high expectations of becoming the finest super middleweight on the planet. Andre Ward would accomplish this dream looking untouchable, but what has happened to Andre Dirrell?

Dirrell was a gifted amateur qualifying to compete at the 2004 Olympics by winning the AIBA American Olympic qualifying tournament. He would then go on and give a good account of himself at the Olympics, winning bronze at the 2004 Athens games.

Audley Harrison announces retirement

05/01/2013 by Jamie Eskdale

By Jamie Eskdale: As British heavyweight Audley Harrison announces his retirement from boxing following a 1st round knockout loss to Deontay Wilder last Saturday night, lets have a look at his career.

Mention Audley Harrison’s name to boxing fans and non boxing fans alike and you would most likely be met with a snicker. ‘A Force’ or A Farce as most people referred to him seemed to have it all but where did it all go wrong?

Audley was a highly accomplished amateur and boasted a record of 46-8. Harrison won Gold at the 1998 Commonwealth games and Gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics creating a real buzz about him. He was awarded an MBE from the Queen soon after and turned professional landing a reported 10 fight £1,000,000 from the BBC.