Don’t Call It a Comeback
There seems to have been a resurgence in boxing, if I use the saying ‘when the heavyweight division is strong then boxing is strong’. If that is the case then boxing is very strong at the moment.
The heavy weight division is stacked at the moment with names like Joshua, Wilder, Bellew, Breazeale, Parker, Dubious. There is also the middle weight division with Canelo, GGG (Gennady Golovkin), Jacobs and Lemieux. Then a couple of other boxers who are great to watch Lomachenko, Katie Taylor
There seems to have been more anticipated fights this year then there has been over the last 5 years combined. The most anticipated fight of the year was GGG v Canelo, which lived up to the hype and was a great fight to watch. Anthony Joshua vs Klitschko was one of the best heavyweight title fights in history. Joshua is filling stadiums like no heavyweight for 20 years. Then the New Zealand public has taken to Joseph Parker and there is always a lot of chat when his fights are announced.
Even though this fight has not been announced I can’t wait for Joshua v Wilder. This fight I just can’t pick, Joshua is the better boxer but Wilder is the better fighter. They both have nuclear weapons in their gloves and can end the fight at any time. Joshua never looks rushed and has a very technical style. He doesn’t do anything that is that flash, keeps his hands up and throws nice clean punches that will end your night if they land. Joshua’s head movement is just enough to stay out of trouble but is not a big part of his overall game. He never gets caught up in the fight and just sticks to the routine and wears the opponent down, then lands that big shot and it is over, in short he makes it look easy. Wilder on the other hand does throw out his jab and solid punches but he throws them from his hip, shoulder or chin. He has swagger and hams it up during the fight, then when he lands a good punch he gets very wild and gets the finish, I still think he is the best finisher in boxing right now. For Wilder to win he needs to get under Joshua’s skin during the prefight build up in the hope of drawing Joshua in to a fight. If Wilder turns it in to a fight then he stands a very good chance, but if he tries to out box Joshua the Joshua will win. Either way this is the biggest heavyweight fight in years. Then the winner will go for Parker to unify the titles, sorry Parker fans, either of those two fighters will be too much for Parker and we will have a unified heavyweight champ.
I want to see Parker fight one of the other big names in the heavyweight division, but it seems that his management are trying to keep his belt until he gets to fight against either Wilder or Joshua to make some money. The money fight is against Joshua compared to Wilder who is not as well known outside of the US. You can’t really blame Parker’s management for doing this, it is just not as entertaining for the fans. Then there is the young Daniel Dubious who is a very exciting prospect and hits like a freight train, he is going to make massive waves in the heavyweight division.
Other fighters that I always look forward to watching, Lomachenko who is just another level, he has had 9 pro fights and is ranked #3 on the pound for pound best in boxing. The things he can do in the ring amaze me and I have never seen anyone make professional boxers look so out classed. He is just a pure pleasure to watch and makes you think why doesn’t everyone do that. Then GGG just how he makes it look so easy, what he does should not work. GGG takes away his opponents job just by walking forward as he counters their jab then after a few rounds the opponent is very hesitant to throw and just lets him walk in. When you watch GGG fight it makes you wonder why I can’t I do that? Canelo he is just very technical and puts his hands where they need to be, keeps his hands up punches hard and throws lots of combos with level changes just a very go forward fighter to watch. Katie Taylor, she is just a beast and her left hook, either head or body, is devastating she has very tight hard punches and is technically brilliant.
We are still a while away from matching the hay day of boxing with the four horseman Leonard, Duran, Haggler and Hearns. However It is so good to have people talking about boxing again and looking forward to fights. People are always asking me who will win in Parker v Joshua. At the end of the day boxing has been around 400 years at least (16th Century in the UK) and has had many up’s and downs including pro boxing being outlawed in some countries. People thought that MMA would kill boxing and that was looking the case 5 years ago. Boxing has a lot of life to give yet, and for all the MMA fans that have a go at boxing remember that MMA’s highest earner had to go pick a fight with a boxer to make big money. Boxing has a lot more money for the popular fighters and I do hope that MMA fighters do make the big money in the very near future. As boxing never left we definitely can’t call it a comeback in the immortal words of LL Cool J “don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years”
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor