By Donavan Leonard: When WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (8-1, 6 KOs) steps into the ring this Saturday August 5th on ESPN, it will not be against an opponent for whom anyone wished. Lomachenko and his team had tried to lure Orlando Salido back into the ring so that he could avenge his only professional defeat.
By Donavan Leonard: Boxing is a fringe sport with a limited number of casual viewers and a much smaller cadre of dedicated fans—those who can name more than five or six current champions out of the sixty-eight possible slots. Other barriers to following the sport include constantly changing champions, worldwide nationalities (and with it, worldwide names), lack of cohesive schedules, and most importantly, lack of coverage by the general sports media. One of the most often-mentioned “cures” for “fixing boxing”, meaning to help keep boxing in the mainstream discussion, is that of “the best fighting the best”. What does this mean? And does it really matter?
By Donavan Leonard: Boxing ain’t what it used to be. Although fans do not truly long for a revisit of the “bum of the month” tour, more activity by the top fighters would certainly be appreciated. As recently as 2013 Gennady Golovkin fought four times in one calendar year.
By Donavan Leonard: Sergey Kovalev wore a cap to the final press conference with the word “WAR” emblazoned across the front. Unfortunately for Kovalev, he did not appear to understand the full meaning of the word the following night in the ring with Andre Ward. As has been well documented, Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) retained his titles with an 8th round TKO victory over Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs). Unfortunately, the discussions have been more about the low blows, the ineptitude of the referee, and the quick stoppage than about the performance of Ward.
By Donavan Leonard: Saturday June 17th Sergey Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs) and Andre Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) will square off once again to determine the holder of the most belts in the light heavyweight division. Much has been documented about the controversial scoring in the first fight, where Ward was deemed the winner by identical scores of 114-113 despite throwing 137 fewer punches, connecting on 10 fewer punches, and being knocked down by Kovalev.
By Donavan Leonard – This weekend in boxing was low on marquee names but still held plenty of action. Ryan Burnett (17-0, 9 KOs) of Northern Ireland continued his ascent through the paid ranks, capturing the IBF Bantamweight title from England’s Lee Haskins. It was a dominating performance, with Burnett dropping Haskins in the 6th round and again in the 11th round. Unfortunately there has been more talk about the absurdity of judge Clark Sammartino’s scorecard than about the fight itself. While the other two judges scored the bout 119-107 for Burnett, his card read 118-108 for Haskins. It is believed that he confused the fighters, which is hopefully the case. His scorecard made an impression on British Boxing Board of control commissioner Robert Smith, who stated that Sammartino will no longer be allowed to judge fights in his country.
By Donavan Leonard: The Marquis of Queensbury Rules for boxing were written long before Andre Ward’s parents were born. The World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association were formed long before Andre Ward was born. The ideals of “clean punching”, “effective aggression”, “ring generalship”, and “defense” were placed into the verbiage of scoring a professional boxing match long before Andre Ward laced up his first glove. Therefore the “blame” for his ability to win within the rules of the sport by which he has made his living cannot be placed on his shoulders.
By Donavan Leonard: WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (29-1, 24 KOs), reminded challenger Andrzej Fonfara (29-5, 17 KOs) of two time-tested adages. “Don’t tug on Superman’s cape”, and “Be careful what you wish for..you might get it”.
By Donavan Leonard: 2017 has been a banner year for boxing, and there are still a few more highly-anticipated bouts on the calendar. This bonanza has extended over many divisions, with marquee bouts (biggest names/unifications) that have been held or are scheduled in: Heavyweight (Anthony Joshua-Vladimir Klitschko), Light Heavyweight (Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev 2), Super Middleweight (Badou Jack-James DeGale), Middleweight (Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez), Welterweight (Errol Spence Jr.-Kell Brook, Danny Garcia-Keith Thurman), and Featherweight (Leo Santa Cruz-Carl Frampton). However, not all of the weight classes have enjoyed a showcase fight.
By Donavan Leonard: Yet another great weekend for boxing with the Errol Spence Jr. win over Kell Brook. Though not as jam-packed with big bouts as last weekend, it could hardly be called disappointing when the “main event” of the weekend drew over 27,000 fans to Sheffield, England. Kell Brook (36-2, 25 KOs) lost his IBF welterweight title via eleventh-round TKO to Errol Spence, Jr. (22-0, 19 KOs) in a great matchup that featured high-level boxing, a tremendous atmosphere, and a clear ending.