Examining An Exciting Weekend of “World Title Fights”

October 17th, 2017
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When discussing boxing, the phrase “world title fight” has become more watered down than an Applebee’s Dollarita (How a Dollarita is Made). This weekend featured 6 world title fights, but most fans realize that this is the product of a sport over saturated with titles. With 17 divisions and 4 major belts in each division there are 68 world title belts up for grabs at any time. This doesn’t even count the ridiculous multiple champion system of the WBA. That being said, I think this weekend represented a positive change in regards to this problem. All 3 cards appeared to be setup with the intention of arranging more desired clashes where the best fight the best.

The first card featured WBA super middleweight champion George Groves (27-3-0) taking on Jamie Cox (24-1-0) in the World Boxing Super Series. Groves took down Cox in the 4th with a rib-busting body blow that sent shock waves through the challenger’s mid-section.

Needless to say, Cox did not beat the count. This sets up a highly anticipated semi-final matchup with the talented Chris Eubank Jr. who delivered a spectacular KO of his own just a week ago.

The second card was a featherweight showcase highlighting WBA “regular” champ Abner Mares (31-2-1) and WBA “super” champ Leo Santa Cruz (34-1-1). The event was arranged with the expectation that the two men would agree to a rematch of their exciting 2015 bout as long as each emerged victorious. This was not an issue as both men handled their opponents in dominant fashion to retain their titles. Mares did his best Mr. Blonde impression carving up Andres Gutierrez (35-2-1) and opening a bad cut over his eye.

This eventually forced the ref and doctor to stop the fight in the 10th and go to the scorecards which were heavily in favor of Mares as expected. Santa Cruz stopped his opponent Chris Avalos (27-6-0) in the 8th when the ref decided to call it as the volume puncher was landing clean and often on the granite chin of Avalos. Let’s hope both sides can now agree on terms and set a date for early 2018.

To close out the busy day of fights, Showtime featured a triple header that included 3 of the junior middleweight champions. All of the current belt holders (Hurd, Charlo, & Lara) retained their titles but did so in very different fashions. Jarrett Hurd (21-0-0) stopped the veteran Austin Trout (30-4-0) for the 1st time in Trout’s career during the 10th round of an exciting back and forth affair. Jermell Charlo (30-0-0) scored a shocking 1st round KO against formerly undefeated top prospect Erickson Lubin (18-1-0). Finally, Erislandy Lara (25-2-2) put on a dominant yet brutally boring display against Terrell Gausha (20-1-0) in the final bout that had fans begging for its merciful completion.

Sticking with the theme of unifying belts, Charlo called out Hurd after the fight stating that he wants another title. He was asked straight up if he wanted Hurd or Lara and wisely chose Hurd who creates a far more marketable matchup than a bout with the infuriating and elusive Cuban champ Lara.

As a side note, Jermell Charlo and his identical twin brother Jermall Charlo (26-0-0) are my favorite tag team combo since the Buswhackers.

Someone in Lubin’s camp pulled a Bobby Knight and threw a chair at Jermall after the fight. This led to a little dust-up followed by an electric post fight interview. Watch out for these brothers who have both already held titles and have a combined record of 56-0.

(Start at 4:25)

 

Let’s face it, boxing will never get down to one champion per division. That’s just the reality of the situation. This isn’t Highlander, there can be more than one. There is too much money to be made by slapping the designation world title fight on a bout as a main selling point. We are never going to see less organizations or weight classes so stop acting like that is a solution. Nothing that affects the bottom line is ever a solution when it comes to boxing. The best we can hope for is the unification of some of these belts so that the number of champions are reduced. This is the only way that the term “world title fight” will regain some value and validity in the sport.

Bonus KO’s Of The Week

Jermell Charlo KO’s Erickson Lubin in the 1st

John Ryder KO’s Patrick Nielson in the 5th

 

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