America's Hero.....Betrayed

Preceding the utterly boring Klitschko/Ibragamov was a fantastic program about Joe Louis. Joe Louis was the second major black heavyweight, following Jack Johnson. Jack Johnson was a man who had gold teeth, taunted his opponents, and had an affinity for white women (seen as a major taboo at the time). These qualities made him hated by members of white society and every time he would beat a white heavyweight there would normally be a riot following the fight. From the beginning of his career Joe Louis was taught to be the opposite of Johnson in order to gain acceptance into white America.

Louis was gain acceptance and eventually the love of everyone in America following his two fights against the german boxer, Max Schmeling. Schmeling became the posterchild for Hitler and Nazi Germany and when fought Joe Louis for the first time, the whole world was watching.

Louis lost his first bout with Schmeling, but would avenge this loss later with a quick knockout of the german heavyweight.

Joe Louis was one of the most generous athletes in the history of sports. Whenever anyone asked him for an autograph or for money, he would give it to them no questions asked. Even though he made a ridiculous amount of money during his career (I'm talking in the millions and this was in the 40's and 50's), he ended up with hardly anything because he was supporting so many people. During WWII he would use his own money in order to set up boxing matches to entertain the trooops. As he grew older the IRS began pursuing him for failure to pay taxes causing Louis to continue fighting even when he was old and should have retired in order to pay his debt. He grew so desperate to get money that he wrestled and sold soft drinks. While he was deep in debt his old rival, Max Schemiling even loaned him money to try and help him out (the two became good friends later in life). Louis died in 1981 of a heart attack and is currently buried in Arlington National Cemetary. Louis truely is an American hero, even if he wasn't treated as one during his latter years.

Fun Fact: Joe Louis was friends with drug dealer Frank Lucas (The guy that Denzel Washington played in American Gangster)

Klitschko Dominates in Decision Victory

Well boxing fans finally got a unification bout between two of the sport's top heavyweights. It might not have been exciting or dramatic, but Wladimir Klitschko absolutely dominated this fight from the first round. He was cautious but effective, using his longer reach he was able constantly stick the jab right into Sultan Ibragamov's face the whole night. Klitschko felt very comfortable standing in the middle of the ring and throwing straight right hands only sparingly. As a fan of boxing I was anxiously waiting for Klitschko to knock the smaller Ibragamov out, but it looked as though he was satisfied to just get the victory.

Ibragamov could not get anything done the entire night, with the majority of his punches landing on Klitschko's shoulder or back, rather than his face. In one instance a frustrated Ibragamov basically tackled Klitschko; however, Wladimir maintained his cool and won the fight easily. In an odd moment, Klitschko's trainer Emanuel Stewart told his fighter to look for a knockout, something very uncharacteristic for a trainer to say considering it would leave his fighter open for more punches. Stewart understands that with many boxing writers labeling Klitschko as "the real heavyweight champion", he not only has to win, he has to win in entertaining fashion.

Any fan that watched this fight would've been dissapointed by the lack of action from Klitschko; however, it was a necessary first step towards a unified heavyweight champion. Following the fight Klitschko stated, as he has before, that it is his dream for him and his brother, Vitali Klitschko to hold heavyweight championship belts at the same time. Asked if they would ever fight each other, he brushed it aside and said he would wait and see what happens.

Valuev Wins

Nicolay Valuev, the one on the right, is the tallest fighter ever in the history of heavyweight boxing standing at 7'0 tall. He held one of the championship belts before losing it to Ruslan Chagev in his first career defeat. Saturday, Valuev fought against former champ Sergei Liakhovich with the winner of the fight becoming the mandatory challenger for Chagev.

Throughout the night Valuev proved to be the better fighter and ultimately came out victorious, setting up a rematch with the man that beat him last year. I don't think that Valuev is the best heavyweight fighting today, in fact I don't think he is in the top 3; however, you cannot help but be interested in a boxer that is so physically imposing.

This picture was taken of the fight in which Valuev won his title against John Ruiz. I found it funny because A) It looks like the two fighters are having a tender hug in the middle of the ring and B) Valuev has so much hair it looks like he is wearing a sweater

For additonal information about Nikolay Valuev: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-boxer27jan27,0,4797801.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Here is a youtube clip of him in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFB3Gyad5zg&feature=related

Pavlik Victorious Again

Well I guess it's a good thing I am not a betting man, because I would have been out some money based on my prediction of the outcome of Saturday night's fight. I did not want to shell out the 40 dollars for the pay-per-view fight because I am a starving college student, but I will be able to watch it when HBO replays it. From what I have read, the fight was very close throughout, with Pavlik being the much more active of the two. Taylor was very gracious in defeat and it is believed that he might move up in weight and fight in the super middleweight divison.

Benard Hopkins, whom Taylor defeated twice is set to fight super middleweight champ Joel Calzaghe on April 19th. It would be interesting if Taylor does decide to make the jump to super middleweight and Hopkins wins his bout with Calzaghe even though a third Taylor/Hopkins fight is highly unlikely.

Pavlik vs. Taylor II

Jermaine Taylor will step into the ring tonight and try to get revenge for the only loss on his resume. Less than a year ago Taylor fought the undeafeated Kelly Pavlik and at the beginning of the fight it looked as though he was going to knock Pavlik out. However, Pavlik was able to rally with a ferocious combination that left Taylor sinking into the corner of the ring like a rag doll.

Following the loss Jermaine Taylor broke ties with his hall of fame trainer, Emanuel Stuart and it remains to be seen if he will be able to come back from such a devastating defeat.

Pavlik is a very entertaining fighter and there are already whispers that if he wins his fight against Taylor then he would go on to fight Felix Trinidad, who recently lost to Roy Jones Jr. In my opinion Pavlik is running the risk of being overconfident since he knocked out Taylor in his last fight, and is looking ahead to his next payday.

Fight Prediction: Taylor, fighting with a new trainer and as a challenger will be much more determined tonight and will win by knockout.

Boxing Upset

That's why they fight the fights. If every boxer that was a big favorite to win their match came out victorious there would not be any drama and there would not be the chance for upsets, such as the one that happened Saturday night. Carlos Quintana was an 8-1 underdog going into his match against welterweight champion Paul Williams. However, he was unfazed by the betting line in Vegas and came into the ring as a confident and determined fighter. Using slick footwork and fast counter shots, Quintana was able to get past Williams ridiculously long reach (even though he is only a welterweight his reach is two inches LONGER than heavyweight hall of famer Muhammed Ali) and connected with clean punches. Williams face showed the result of these punches, having cuts opened above both his eyes and a large amount of swelling as well. Kudos to Quintana to have the guts to take on such a dangerous opponent after being knocked out by Miguel Cotto in the 5th round of his last major fight. I am a huge fan of Paul Williams, but since he no longer has a title belt there is no incentive for fighters like Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto to fight him, unless to puts together a string of victories.

Unifying the Heavyweight Division

On February 23, Wladimir Klitschko will step into the ring against a fellow title holder in Sultan Ibragamov and give boxing fans something that they have waited years for, a heavyweight unification bout. Since Lennox Lewis retired as a boxer the heavyweight division has been lacking fights between notable boxers, and as a result fans have had to suffer through years of brutally boring matches with more clinching than actual fighting.

Hopefully at the end of the night on the 23rd, not only will we have one heavyweight champion holding two titles, but we would have just witnessed an exciting and entertaining fight.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya 2

The rematch of the most successful fight of 2007 is on again in 2008. Last year Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought against Oscar De La Hoya and came out victorious by way of a decision. Although both fighters claimed they were considering retirement after the fight, they both came to the conclusion that a rematch made the most dollars and sense. Even though I would have personally preferred De La Hoya to fight the up and coming Puerto Rican fighter, Miguel Cotto, I am a perfectly happen boxing fan to see this fight get made.

Following his victory over Oscar De La Hoya, Mayweather decided to not to retire, and instead fought against the then undeafeated Ricky Hatton. Mayweather, who is known as a quick counterpuncher who doesn't push the action, knocked out Hatton in dramatic fashion and proved he is the best boxer in the world. (While he was training for the Hatton fight he was also competing on ABC's Dancing With the Stars which seems to be at the opposite end of the spectrum from boxing) This fight, along with many others, should make 2008 a year in boxing to remember.