Inside HBO Boxing

How Much Can Change in Three Years?

2013-05-16T13:00:01Z

by Eric Raskin

Mikkel Kessler, Carl Froch

When Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler renew hostilities on March 25, it will have been three years, one month, and one day since they first fought. In that initial affair, Kessler won a close, unanimous decision in his native Denmark. But a lot can change in three years, and with the rematch set for London’s O2 Arena, Englishman Froch is listed as about a 2-1 favorite.

Standard rematch protocol following a very close, entertaining first fight, which is what Kessler-Froch I was, is to arrange an immediate rematch. That wasn’t an option here because Kessler-Froch I took place as part of the “Super Six” tournament and both men were pre-committed to other future fights. So this could never be like Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward or Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez, classic rivalries in which three bouts were crammed into just 12 or 13 months. If there was going to be a Kessler-Froch rematch, there would be time for the rivalry to breathe first.

Maybe that’s not boxing’s standard protocol, but it does happen. There have been plenty of famous fights throughout history that led to a rematch three or more years later.

Probably the most well known case is Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns. In 1981, they met to unify the welterweight championship. It wasn’t until 1989, when they were super middleweights, that they shared the ring again. Though both were somewhat diminished as fighters by the time they rematched in their 30s, the product was similar: a close, dramatic, action-packed fight. In the first fight, Leonard rallied late to win by 14th-round TKO. He might done the same in the rematch—but it was only scheduled for 12 rounds, so Sugar Ray ran out of time and the bout was ruled a draw.

If the eight years between Leonard-Hearns fights sounds like a lot, that’s nothing compared to the 17 years separating Roy Jones’ 1993 win over Bernard Hopkins and the revenge Hopkins exacted in 2010. When that much time passes, it’s almost certain that circumstances will be wildly different by the second go-round. In this case, Jones was all but spent and coming off a first-round knockout loss just four months earlier, and the rematch was an embarrassment all the way around.

In most cases, however, the result doesn’t change from the first fight to the second. History repeats itself, often more quickly and less memorably.

Julio Cesar Chavez defeated Meldrick Taylor via controversial 12th-round stoppage in 1990 in arguably the best fight of the decade. Four years later, Taylor was no longer an elite boxer and was dispatched in eight one-sided rounds.

When Billy Conn challenged Joe Louis for the heavyweight championship in 1941, he led on the cards before Louis caught up with him in round 13 of a legendary duel. World War II got in the way of a rematch and forced them to wait until 1946, by which time Conn was rusty, old, or both, and Louis dominated the eight rounds that the fight lasted.

Joe Frazier’s first fight with Jerry Quarry, in the summer of ’69, was not exactly summer-of-love-appropriate, as Frazier won on cuts in seven rounds in a bruising Fight of the Year. When they fought again in ’74, the battle was almost as violent as their first but a bit shorter, ending with Frazier’s hand raised in the fifth.

If Frazier had Quarry’s number, so too did George Foreman have Frazier’s. In the iconic “Down goes Frazier!” fight in 1973, Foreman stomped Smokin’ Joe in two rounds to capture the heavyweight crown. Frazier lasted longer when they went at it a second time in ’76, but he was no more competitive, getting wiped out in five rounds.

The general perception is that Froch is closer to his prime right now than Kessler is, which is why the man who lost the first time is favored on May 25. But sometimes time changes nothing and the style matchup assures the same type of fight no matter how many times they do it. If that turns out to be the case with Kessler and Froch, no fight fan will complain.

Froch, Kessler Reignite Three-Year-Old Rivalry

2013-05-15T01:10:00Z

by Kiearn Mulvaney

In the immediate aftermath of his first, back-and-forth, give-and-take tussle with Mikkel Kessler, before the rationalization and defiance kicked back in, Carl Froch’s eyes told the story. So too did his words.

Appearing uncharacteristically downcast, the preternaturally super-confident Englishman looked at girlfriend Rachel Cordingly as the two embraced in the ring.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Cordingley’s response – a disbelieving “What?” – was more than the effort by a loving partner to be consoling; it was a genuine and legitimate expression of disbelief that, after 12 rounds of Herculean effort, Froch could possibly feel that, win or lose, he had failed in any possible way.

The judges’ scorecards provided the explanation for Froch’s apology: Kessler had won a unanimous decision. But it had been a truly titanic battle, one that most neutral observers considered to be closer to the 115-113 card of Guido Cavellari than Roger Tilleman’s 117-111. As the disappointment ebbed, Froch’s swagger ultimately returned with the assertion that had the fight been in England rather than Kessler’s Denmark, the result might have been different.

He has the opportunity to put that theory to the test on May 25 when, three years after their initial encounter, super-middleweights Froch and Kessler clash again, this time in London, on HBO World Championship Boxing.

Read the Complete Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler Fight Overview on HBO.com

Five Fighters Follow a Familiar Outline

2013-05-10T15:40:23Z

by Kieran Mulvaney

When boxing fans of a certain age look back on what is generally regarded as the most recent Golden Era of boxing, they reflect not only on the fact that the sport then boasted a quintet of exceptional talent – Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler and Wilfred Benitez – but that they (and this must always be pointed out with earnest, brow-furrowed emphasis) fought each other.

Of course, they did not always fight each other at the perfect time. Leonard had hinted at wanting to fight Hagler earlier than he did, and in November 1982 even held a press conference that everyone expected was to declare his challenge to the middleweight champion – heck, he even specifically invited Hagler for the occasion – only to instead announce his retirement from boxing (his first of many, as it turned out). Not until almost three years later, after he saw signs of rust in Hagler’s aging chassis, did Leonard emerge from what was already his second retirement to stick-and-move his way to the middleweight crown. None of them fought Duran at anything close to the Panamanian’s prime – except for Leonard, which is one reason why he is the only one of the group to lose to him. And Leonard, Duran and Hearns continued to fight each other long past the time when they should have been warming their feet in comfy slippers by the fireside.

But still, at their peak, they locked horns with enough skill and tenacity to burn themselves into the sport’s lore. “No mas!” and “You’re blowing it, son!” are shorthand for the second Leonard-Duran contest and Leonard’s comeback victory in his first battle with Hearns. The two-plus rounds in which Hagler and Hearns went to war are reverently regarded still as perhaps the greatest eight minutes or so in boxing history.

(Benitez is the Joey Bishop or Peter Lawford of this pugilistic Rat Pack, but he played his role with skill, losing to Leonard and Hearns and defeating Duran.)

It would be premature – and to many, borderline sacrilegious – to compare any group of fighters around the welterweight division to those legends of 1980s vintage, but there is a nice five-person round-robin rivalry underway that kicks into high gear with a pair of bouts later this year: one in Las Vegas, one in Macau.

Timothy Bradley spent plenty enough time calling for a big fight; his 2011 meeting with Devon Alexander was expected to be it, but turned out to be a damp squib. His challenge the following year for Manny Pacquiao’s welterweight crown was his first shot on the biggest of big stages, but it didn’t exactly work out the way he wanted. He appeared to lose the fight, albeit valiantly; instead he was awarded a victory that earned him opprobrium from fight fans. He emerged from seclusion to engage in an enthralling Fight-of-the-Year-quality battle with Ruslan Provodnikov, and now earns another turn in the spotlight, against Juan Manuel Marquez.

Bradley is one of the few guys Marquez hasn’t fought so far in a career that has included tilts against Marco Antonio Barrera, Floyd Mayweather and, of course, on four separate occasions Manny Pacquiao. After their rivalry reached its violent crescendo last December, there was inevitably an assumption that Marquez and Pacquiao would tangle a fifth time, but Marquez apparently thought about the last scene of their rivalry – in which Pacquiao lay face-first and unconscious on the canvas – and decided that he was quite happy to leave it there, at least for now.

So Marquez fights Bradley in Las Vegas, and in China Pacquiao will fight Brandon Rios, who is himself in the midst of an epic rivalry with Mike Alvarado. Having stopped Alvarado in their first encounter last year (in what would surely have been Fight of the Year had it not been for Pacquiao-Marquez IV), he lost a decision in another Fight-of-the-Year caliber matchup in March. For now, while he heals from hand surgery, Alvarado is on the outside looking in, but there's a good chance he'll be up next for the winner of either of these two contests.

Five men, fighting each other, and creating epic battles and unforgettable moments along the way.

Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it?

Sergio Martinez Loses a Step but Retains Title

2013-04-28T02:46:48Z

by Michael Gluckstadt

Martin Murray, Sergio Martinez - Photo Credit: Will Hart (Click for Slideshow)

Sergio Martinez’s triumphant return to Argentina was nearly spoiled by the Englishman Martin Murray in a fight that raises questions about how much the 38-year-old middleweight champion has left. In front of 40,000 of his screaming, rain-soaked countrymen at Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires, “Maravilla” was stretched to his absolute limit, touching the canvas numerous times--though only one of them ruled an official knockdown--en route to a too-close-for-comfort unanimous victory.

After a rough middle patch, Martinez needed the last two rounds to secure the win. He called on his famous reserve strength and received encouragement from the crowd, ultimately taking them both and netting himself scores of 115-112 across all three judges’ scorecards.

The night had started out strong for Martinez, who came out to a frenzied crowd and explosive fireworks display. With heavy bursts of rain and the occasional flash of lightning, he remained unfazed in the ring. A day earlier with reports of a storm swirling, Martinez had remarked, “The weather won’t bother me; he has to fight in it too.”

Read the Complete Sergio Martinez vs. Martin Murray Fight Recap on HBO.com.

On the Scene: Photos from Buenos Aires

2013-04-27T03:35:29Z

Photos by Will Hart

Click for Slideshow

On street corners and television screens across Argentina, the name Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez is on everybody’s lips. The Argentine fighter has returned home to take on Martin Murray at Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires –his first fight on his native soil in over ten years. In the week leading up to tonight’s fight, HBO.com photographer Will Hart captured scenes from across the city.

View the Complete Slideshow on HBO.com.

From the Weigh-in: Martinez Carries the Weight of His Nation

2013-04-26T17:25:30Z

by Michael Gluckstadt

Sergio Martinez - Photo Credit: Will Hart (click for slideshow)

The image of Sergio Martinez—arm outstretched in a fighter’s pose, with the flag of Argentina rising behind him—is plastered all over the city of Buenos Aires. His opponent this Saturday night, England’s Martin Murray, is a textual footnote; his name smaller than the event’s tagline, Un Evento Histórico: Por El Honor y la Gloria. When Martinez removed his track jacket prior to weighing in, revealing a custom-made “Maravilla” jersey in the style of the national soccer team, the implication couldn’t be clearer—come Saturday night, he will by fighting with the weight of his country on his back.

The Salon Libertodor at the Sheraton Hotel felt more like a rock concert than a preliminary boxing event, as hundreds of Martinez’s fellow countrymen eagerly awaited a chance to spot the star. Murray’s fans, for their part, weren’t exactly quiet. An extremely vocal minority, they loudly chanted an altered version of the Ricky Hatton song, itself a take-off on “Winter Wonderland,” that began, “There’s only one Martin Murray.” Martin, the top-ranked fighter in former world champ-turned-promoter Hatton’s stable, has yet to lose a fight, and his high punch output could prove threatening to Martinez, who has shown the slightest signs of slowing down.

But the story here, as evidenced by a two-story poster hanging in the city’s center, is clearly Martinez. Though not quite the prodigal son, Martinez left Argentina in 2002 in search of better opportunities in Spain. Twenty-eight fights later, he’s returned as a pound-for-pound contender and a hometown hero. He’s never had the chance to fight in front of his fans as the reigning middleweight champ, and for most of the nearly 50,000 Argentines who will be at the Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield Saturday night, it will be their first-time rooting on Maravilla on their home soil.

On the scales, Murray weighed in at 159.6 pounds. Martinez is carrying 159.4 pounds and the hopes and expectations of a nation.

Click to View Weigh-In Slideshow at HBO.com.

Raskin & Mulvaney’s Fight Week Stat Chat

2013-04-25T16:28:14Z

by Eric Raskin and Kieran Mulvaney

The number getting the most attention as we head into the Sergio Martinez-Martin Murray fight is 48,000 --the estimated number of fans that will be in attendance at a soccer stadium in Argentina. But there are plenty of other numbers worth talking about, and CompuBox has compiled them all and presented the most interesting data to HBO Boxing Insiders Eric Raskin and Kieran Mulvaney. The two fight writers sat down this week to discuss what the numbers mean for Saturday’s showdown:

Raskin: Well, Kieran, it’s that time again—fight week, with the middleweight championship of the world on the line. I’ll start our chat with a self-plug of sorts and reference the overview I wrote for HBO.com, where I suggested Martinez is getting older (what insight by me!) and won’t have any more easy fights. The CompuBox numbers support that theory, in that in his last four CompuBox-tracked fights, Sergio has shown defensive slippage, getting hit with 5% more of his opponents’ jabs and 5% more of their power punches than in the four fights prior to that. What do you make of that pattern and my theory that he’s done having easy fights?

Mulvaney: He had 11.5 rounds of a fairly easy fight last time out, but then Cheech and Chong were never known for their fighting prowess. But yes, I agree: Macklin and Barker both made him work hard for his wins, and I expect much the same from Martin Murray, who is an active pressure fighter who is well schooled in the fundamentals.

Raskin: Speaking of how active Murray is, in the limited number of fights he’s had tracked by CompuBox, he’s thrown 20 punches more per round than Martinez. However, we’ve seen almost every one of Martinez’s opponent’s output drop against “Maravilla.” Do you think Murray will be able to buck that trend and throw anywhere near his usual 82.6 punches per round?

Mulvaney: That has to be the key to his success, right? Come forward with a high guard, working behind a jab. And with his hands down, Martinez must seem such an inviting target. But I suspect one of the things that causes his opponents’ punch output to drop against him is his terrific movement in the ring, combined with his frequently unorthodox style. I suspect it causes his opponents to have to reset more often than they would like, and think twice about what they’re doing.

Raskin: So if you had to say which aspect of Martinez’s game it is that’s primarily responsible for handcuffing his opponents, would you give the credit more to his offense or his defense?

Mulvaney: It’s his offense, I think, in that his movement—which I think is key—is not just him getting out of the way, it’s him getting into position to launch punches from angles. One thing that surprised me a little actually was how many jabs he throws—not as many as Murray, but higher than the middleweight average. It shows that, even for an unconventional fighter, that most fundamental of punches is important for him to set everything up.

Raskin: Yes, I’m glad you brought up the jab. He threw 41.8 per round against Chavez, and 50.7 per round against Dzinziruk! And he landed 140 jabs over the course of the fight against Chavez—most guys don’t THROW 140 jabs in a fight, much less land that many. But as you point out, Murray has a good, busy jab as well. Can he win this fight without winning the battle of the jabs? Especially in Argentina, where he can’t expect the benefit of the doubt in close rounds?

Mulvaney: What’s interesting to me is that Murray throws a lot of jabs but on average lands relatively few of them—and that’s against lesser opponents than Martinez. It suggests he uses it mostly as a range-finder, and to keep his foes’ guards up so he can nail them with power punches. I don’t think that kind of jab is going to be very effective against Martinez—unless, and here we return to your opening comment, Sergio’s legs can’t move as well as they used to and he finds himself in front of Murray more.

Raskin: You’re right that the jab is there to set up the power punches, and getting back to the winning-a-decision-in-Argentina thing, it’s hard to see Murray winning rounds without landing impactful power shots. A busy jab that doesn’t land a whole lot isn’t going to secure him any points. So, final question: Obviously, Martinez is the favorite, but if Murray is to pull the upset, would you consider a knockout or a decision the more realistic scenario?

Mulvaney: As you said, you have to figure it’s going to be hard to get a decision in Argentina—especially for a British fighter. But Martinez does get hit, as we’ve seen and as the CompuBox figures show. He’s been down a bunch. One of these times, he’s going to walk into something and not get up—and I think that’s Murray’s best hope of winning on Saturday night.

Raskin: And one of these times, I’m going to walk you into a tough question you don’t get up from—but it didn’t happen on this occasion, you were on your game again. Pleasure chatting with you Kieran, and enjoy the tripleheader on Saturday night.

Read the Complete Martinez vs. Murray CompuBox Analysis at HBO.com

Martinez-Murray: Undercard Overview

2013-04-24T17:25:11Z

by Eric Raskin

On the undercard of the Martinez-Murray fight in Buenos Aires, another of Argentina's top fighters, Luis Carlos Abregu, takes part in a battle of once-beaten welterweights when he meets Montreal's Antonin Decarie. Abregu's lone loss, a competitive battle with Tim Bradley in 2010, is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. But it's his latest win that is truly eye-catching, a seventh-round TKO of formerly 16-0 prospect Thomas Dulorme last October. Interestingly, Decarie can match that win: Last September, he too upended a 16-0 prospect, stopping Alex Perez in six rounds. Decarie isn't typically a knockout puncher and that, combined with Abregu's hometown advantage, make him the underdog here. But this still has the makings of a fun and highly competitive stage-setter for the Martinez-Murray main event.

And in the broadcast opener, emanating from Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, heavyweight contender Chris Arreola ends a 14-month layoff to start what might be one last run at a title shot when he takes on heavy-handed Bermane Stiverne. This fight has been scheduled and postponed twice already, but the waiting should be worth it once these two aggressive-but-flawed knockout punchers start letting their hands go.

Uneasy Lies the Crown

2013-04-22T11:37:29Z

by Eric Raskin

You might not be familiar with middleweight title challenger Martin Murray, but he poses a very real threat to champion Sergio Martinez—in part because everyone poses a threat to "Maravilla" from here on out.

One fight can be a fluke. Two fights can be a coincidence. But three fights? That's a pattern. That's a trend. In a sport in which the typical championship-level fighter competes twice a year on average, three fights qualifies as a sample size from which meaningful information can be extrapolated.

And based on his last three fights, there's a very real conclusion to be drawn about Sergio Martinez: He's probably done having easy nights in the ring.

Read the Complete Sergio Martinez vs. Martin Murray Fight Overview on HBO.com.

After an 11-Year Road Trip, Sergio Martinez Comes Home

2013-04-18T10:28:24Z

by Kieran Mulvaney

When Sergio Martinez last fought in his native Argentina, he was the country’s welterweight champion but largely unknown outside his native land. Of the 25 professional bouts he had contested prior to meeting compatriot Francisco Mora on February 2, 2002, 24 had been in his home nation. The one time he ventured onto foreign soil, the experience was a negative one: fighting Mexico’s Antonio Margarito on the undercard of the first clash between Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas, he was dropped early and stopped in the seventh round. It was, to that point, his only defeat; after overcoming Mora via unanimous decision, Martinez boasted a career mark of 24-1-1.

In the decade or so since, he has gone 26-1-1; when he enters the ring in front of his home fans in Buenos Aires for the first time in 11 years on April 27, it will be not as a domestic-level welterweight but as the undisputed middleweight champion of the world and, by general acclamation, one of the three or four best fighters in the sport.

That’s a tribute to the skill and dedication that Martinez has shown since he first pulled on a pair of boxing gloves at the remarkably advanced age of 20. It is also a validation of the decision he made after the Mora fight, to take his talent on the road and leave his homeland behind him in search of greater glory.

Though Argentina can lay claim to genuine greats like Carlos Monzon and highly regarded cotemporary warriors like Lucas Matthyse and Marcos Maidana, it is not exactly a hotbed of boxing fame and fortune. That said, neither is Spain, which is where Martinez headed to take his career to the next level; but it is where he met brothers Gabriel and Pablo Sarmiento, the former taking over his training for many years and the latter working in his corner now.

He fought 12 times in total in Spain, rarely against especially distinguished opposition; but he did make a name for himself in three bouts in England, which netted him a minor junior middleweight world title and played a role in his ultimately being given the opportunity to showcase his skills in the United States, which he has been doing ever since.

The Stateside roll call is familiar: a draw against Kermit Cintron in a fight that he really should have won -- twice; the close defeat to Paul Williams followed by the jaw-dropping one-punch knockout win in the rematch; defeats of Kelly Pavlik, Sergiy Dzinziruk, Darren Barker and Matthew Macklin; and, most recently, eleven-and-a-half utterly dominant rounds against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., capped by a half-round white-knuckle ride of terror as a desperate Chavez knocked him down and pushed forward in search of a most unlikely win.

So it is, at least in terms of achievement and appreciation, a very different Sergio Martinez who will take on Martin Murray at the Estadio Jose Amalfitani on the 27^th than the one who left over a decade ago. This time, his home supporters will cheer him with extra gusto, not just because it has been such a long time since they saw him last, not just because he is now among the best of the best of the best, but because they will know that this engagement will be for one night only. Assuming he defeats Murray --and it will be no easy task -- Martinez will hit the road again, returning to the States for bigger money, higher-profile dates: a Chavez rematch, perhaps, or a mouthwatering clash with Gennady Golovkin.

But such prospects lie in the future. Right now, Sergio Martinez is finally coming home.