The Best of Enemies?

After a relatively quiet year in the boxing world, fight fans are clinging desperately to the hope that November will provide a rare dose of intriguing and high-profile matchups. The packed boxing season kicked off in spectacular fashion last Saturday with a fierce battle between Puerto Rican knockout artist Juan Manuel Lopez (30-0, 27 KOs) and battle-hardened Mexican Rafael Marquez (39-6, 35 KOs) for Lopez’s WBO world featherweight crown. With many expecting the undefeated champion to dominate with power punching proven by his impressive knockout record, Marquez proved resilient and the two exchanged bombs to the chin over and over again, both looking more greedy for the fight with each punch eaten. The excitement ended with misfortune however, as Marquez was forced to retire in his corner with a shoulder injury, handing the Puerto Rican a well-earned eighth-round stoppage victory. The man they call ‘JuanMa’ retained his title, putting to bed any questions about the sturdiness of his chin, and continues to gain global popularity for his power and willingness to exchange. Rafael Marquez will have to regroup but will be buoyed by the fact that the key word coming out of every spectator’s mouth that night was ‘rematch’. Marquez and his corner, meanwhile, will have to look at how many more wars the 35-year olds body is capable of enduring.

The fight on the lips of most British fans however will take place this Saturday. Dubbed the biggest British fight since Bruno-Lewis, when David Haye (24-1, 22 KOs) and Audley Harrison (27-4, 20 KOs) step in to the ring it will be only the third time in history two Brits have fought for a world heavyweight crown. Despite the endless TV appearances of both fighters, the 20,000 MEN Arena sell-out and the significance of Haye and Harrison as credible heavyweights, many purists believe the world title fight to be a pale imitation of all British match-ups of yesteryear, and with some validity. Harrison goes in to the fight with question marks over his credibility as a world-level boxer. Since winning his Sydey Olympic Gold in 2000 the optimism of a talented heavyweight faded rather sourly with an unspectacular professional career characterised by soft opponents and even softer performances. Harrison’s supposed comeback since losing to Belfast taxi driver Martin Rogan in December 2008 has an equally unspectacular feel – he won a Prizefighter tournament of relative amateurs and then pulled off a bizarre last-gasp win over Michael Sprott (35-15, 17 KOs) in a fight in which he was being dominated, though with an injured pectoral muscle. None of the opponents faced in the last year go near the top 30 ranked lists of heavyweights and Harrison has hardly looked red-hot defeating them, so his chance at world title glory has been met with a degree of bemusement.

David Haye’s part in the fight has also drawn criticism from fight fans. Having been world champion at cruiserweight and then shown impressive wins over Russian giant Valuev and more recently John Ruiz, the boxing world was edge-on-seats waiting for a bout with either of the brothers Klitshko. Haye had already pulled out of one confirmed fight with a back injury, and since announcing his boxing career hereafter would be short and the shallow pool of talent in the heavyweight divisions, there was an understandable degree of consternation when he instead chose to take the Harrison fight. The fight makes sense for Haye; he can cash in on the novelty of an all-British fight and create more hype for himself in time for the second round of negotiations with the Klitschkos. The only problem is that anything less than an early stoppage victory will generate grave doubts over his ability at the highest level, and British fight fans are likely to get more and more impatient the longer they wait for a competitive showdown. Sadly, most will be tuning in on Saturday hoping to see the death knell rang on Audley Harrison’s bumpy and largely unsuccessful career.

Fight fans looking for a tastier demonstration of elite-level boxing should look 4,000 miles across the Atlantic, also on Saturday, to a mouth-watering clash in Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Texas. Newly-elected Philippine Congressman and pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) and Mexico’s Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) go 12 rounds for the vacant WBC Super Welterweight title. Margarito’s credibility as a challenger has been questioned even more than Harrison’s, though not on grounds of ability. The Mexican fighter was the centre of a huge controversy when, in January 2009, his opponent Shane Mosley’s trainer Naazim Richardson observed an illegal substance in Margarito’s hand wrapping. The substance was later compared with ‘plaster of Paris’, a glove-hardening device known to have deadly effects, and Margarito and his trainer subsequently had their boxing licenses revoked for one year. In the eyes of many fans the actions amount to effective attempted murder and Margarito’s claims of having no knowledge of the wrapping have drawn very few believers, so the opportunity of a world title fight so soon have many up-in-arms. The fight itself though, is undeniably intriguing. Everyone knows about Manny’s speed and all-angle punching, but no so many are taking notice of Margarito’s advantages, particularly in the physical department. ‘Toni’ is bigger than any of Pacquiao’s previous opponents; he is five and a half inches taller and by fight night is expected to weigh as much as 20 pounds more. Combine that with his granite chin, relentless pressure and legendary endurance, and it looks as though the pound for pound king has a lot more on his plate than initially thought.

The next few weeks offer significant fights for virtually every major British fighter – Khan will come against his first solid puncher since the catastrophic Prescott bout in Maidana, and Froch looks to reignite the dwindling Super Six Tournament against Arthur Abraham, as well as a host of showdowns across the pond. Let’s hope at least some of them offer some ‘fight of the year’ nominations, otherwise the award might have to be skipped to 2011.