By Troy Ondrizek
FightNightNews Senior staff
writer
November 4th, this is the
date that will define this
boxing year. Or at least has
the possibility to deliver
the most meaningful fights
in the sport.
With two of the most
recognizable divisions
(Heavyweight, Welterweight)
putting some of their most
recognizable fighters on
display, we as fans are
truly blessed.
Shannon Briggs and Sergei
Liakhovich are the two
heavyweights banging gloves
and Briggs is quite possibly
the most notable heavyweight
in the sport today, he is up
there in notoriety with
fighters like James Toney
and Evander Holyfield.
As for the little men with big
heart, we have P4P champ Floyd
Mayweather Jr. squaring off with the
sentimental favorite Carlos
Baldomir. Briggs and Liakhovich are
battling for Liakhovich’s WBO title,
Liakhovich participated earlier this
year in the most exhilarating
heavyweight title fight thus far in
his championship effort to take
Lamon Brewster’s belt.
Now Liakhovich is taking on knockout
artist Shannon Briggs, in a fight
that won’t disappoint. Mayweather
won a bogus title (since stripped
from Mayweather) from Zab Judah
earlier this year at the
welterweight level, but that title
was only up for grabs because Carlos
Baldomir couldn’t afford to pay the
sanctioning fees in his title
winning fight with Judah on January
7th to claim the IBF strap. Baldomir
is the true champion at the
welterweight level and now the best
fighter in the sport is finally
fighting a recognized champion and
is taking on a tough customer.
Okay, the foundation for the
fighters has been set for the
weekend, now it’s time to talk about
important stuff. HBO and Showtime
are squaring off, vying for viewers’
attention with their perspective
contest. HBO came out
blazing with this long due title
fight for Mayweather, and Baldomir
deserves this exposure and
Mayweather has finally lived up to
the expectations of fans and critics
for the P4P champion to fight the
toughest competition available, and
Baldomir is every bit as tough as
there is in the welterweight
division.
Showtime has countered with a
potentially electric heavyweight
title fight, and even though the
heavyweight title is fractured,
there is still interest in this
affair, and to make the pot sweeter,
Showtime made this fight available
free to Showtime subscribers, while
the HBO fight is PPV. I will say
this; Baldomir/Mayweather is worthy
of PPV; one of the few PPV’s that
actually is worth seeing, while
Liakhovich/Briggs, isn’t a PPV
worthy bout, it is most definitely
worth me viewing for free on
Saturday night.
The connotations of either
contest will last for a long
time in either division. So
let’s break the down and see
exactly what each holds for
the sport and the
perspective divisions. First
we’ll talk about the
heavyweight contest. Sergei
Liakhovich is the winner of
the Shelly Finkel gamble.
Finkel toyed with Shannon
Briggs’ heavyweight future
for the better part of two
months, telling Scott Hirsch
and Briggs that they were
going to fight Finkel’s
client IBF champion Wladimir
Klitschko in November.
Finkel though wanted the
most money for himself and
the easiest defense for
Klitschko. Finkel tried to
get a unification fight with
Oleg Maskaev, who had just
defeated Hasim Rahman in a
tough contest. Meanwhile
Klitschko blew out Chris
Byrd back in April to claim
his IBF crown. Maskaev
declined and subsequently
took a joke of a title
defense, but that is for a
later debate. So American
Calvin Brock stepped in and
replaced Shannon Briggs as
Klitschko’s November 11th
opponent. This left Briggs
swaying in the breeze with
no fight and time wasted.
Don King seized upon the
moment and signed Briggs and
immediately put him in
against King’s fighter
Liakhovich.
The ultimate winner in all of this
is Sergei Liakhovich. I say this
because even though I feel that
Calvin Brock is a better fighter
than Shannon Briggs, Briggs
definitely had a good puncher’s
chance against Klitschko. Briggs has
fast hands and hits like a Mikken.
Klitschko is a bit chinny and Brock
is the heavyweight version of
Baldomir, just minus the internal
fire and chin that “Tata” possess.
So how does Sergei win here? Well
Brock would’ve been a more technical
battle and I give the nod to
Liakhovich no doubt in that one, but
it would’ve been a relatively boring
bout and probably gone the distance.
As for a fight with Briggs, well the
notoriety that Briggs brings is huge
exposure, and a KO victory over the
dynamic puncher would boost
Liakhovich’s popularity much farther
than Klitschko can dream in his
fight with Brock.
Briggs, while possessing power and
speed, he has too much muscle. Sure
muscle and strength are needed, but
too much muscle and valuable
calories and subsequent energy will
be burned much earlier than needed.
So stamina as always will be an
issue for Briggs, and Briggs isn’t
the best technician, while a quality
one, Briggs loses form as the fight
wears on because of his stamina.
Also Briggs’ chin, while not near as
weak as most would like to think, it
isn’t near the level of Brewster’s.
Briggs is easy to hit, and those
shots accumulate, so Liakhovich has
everything needed for a signature
win.
Briggs could knock almost anything
out, and that includes a water
buffalo. Problem is, “The White
Wolf” is very solid technically and
isn’t the easiest to hit, though he
isn’t the hardest to hit either, but
as a fail-safe, Liakhovich has a
sturdy chin and good stamina, and
one hell of a heart. All of which
doesn’t bode well for Briggs, but
“The Cannon” isn’t deterred, he knew
what he was up against to begin
with, and has been training with
former Liakhovich trainer Chuck
McGregor to help him shake that
underachiever label, and to remove
himself as an answer to the trivia
question of, who is the only linear
champion to never have won a title
belt?
This fight will start fast, as most
of Briggs’ fights do. Liakhovich
will need to weather the storm and
make the
seas a little difficult for Briggs
to navigate from time to time.
Liakhovich will then need to
pressure Briggs and
keep him using his legs; Briggs will
need to counter Liakhovich later on
if he doesn’t score the early KO.
Liakhovich loves to use his lead
right to the body, which is the
perfect opportunity for Briggs to
counter with a
left hook and stun Liakhovich.
Liakhovich is also prone to being
hit with rights, and that is the
money punch of Briggs. This is a
battle of Liakhovich’s technique and
chin; versus the intelligence and
power of Briggs. I predict a hell of
a fight and one that should have an
incredibility positive impact for
the stagnate heavyweight division.
I mean if Briggs wins, then a very
marketable champion he will be, and
it will take money for unification
to happen, for right now there is
more money in a fractured division
then there is in a unified one. If
Liakhovich wins, then a champion
with the highest integrity will he
be, and a KO victory over Briggs
would make him marketable enough for
people to pay to see him fight more
often, and that will put pressure on
the likes Klitschko to face the
ballsy Belarusian.
Wow, I’m all hyped up over
the big-boys fighting, let
me shift gears and focus on
the beautiful artistic side
of the sweet science.
“Pretty Boy” Floyd is hands
down no doubt the best
technical fighter in the
game today. With pedigree
seemingly stemming from
Alyadar, combined with the
winning results of Affirmed;
PBF is a fighter that can
transcend time.
Problem is, PBF knows this
and acts like a spoiled
eight year-old girl. PBF
seemingly refuses to fight
the toughest competition
saying that they aren’t big
enough names for him. Purist
and fans alike really just
want Mayweather to shut-up
and fight already. Finally
he is fighting a recognized
champion who is as tough a
test as the pugilistic
specimen has ever faced.
Baldomir hasn’t lost since
late 1998, and has exploded
onto the scene this year.
Back in January, Baldomir,
while being brought in as a
warm-up fight for Judah
before he fought Mayweather;
Baldomir came in and fought
tough early on and then
poured the pressure on and
he made Judah dance all over
the ring.
I love seeing the “Judah Dance”, it
is a mixture of what Foreman did in
Zaire and what Berbick (God rest his
soul) performed in Tyson’s title
winning fight. I digress, Judah went
on to lose to Mayweather following
that fight and Baldomir took on
former PBF punching bag Arturo Gatti.
Many took Baldomir as a fluke and
favored the Canadian “Thunder”. I
for one took my money to the sports
book and placed it confidently on
Baldomir in that fight, and because
of that decision, Baldomir bought my
ex-girlfriend a Tiffany necklace,
damn you “Tata”. Baldomir basically
blasted Gatti in his adopted
hometown of Atlantic City.
Gatti was never in the fight and
Baldomir put him away with a
dramatic left hook in the ninth, the
next few seconds were just a mere
formality of Gatti’s heart
overpowering his senses. So with two
upset victories, Baldomir has thrust
himself into the world spotlight and
his willingness to fight anybody
anywhere and thus endeared him to
the hearts of fight fans everywhere,
including me.
Mayweather has his chance to
make himself a modern
legend.
Judah and Gatti will not do
much to cement a legacy, but
an impressive victory over a
tough streaking champion
like Baldomir will give
validity to Mayweather’s
claims of greatness.
Now my heart picks Baldomir
in this contest, but my
wallet and the logical part
of my brain scream
Mayweather. Baldomir will
never be deterred in this
contest, he will pressure
Mayweather and he won’t back
down. It will be tough for
PBF; PBF had problems with
Jose Luis Castillo, and
Baldomir fights in a similar
but more controlled style.
Mayweather definitely has
the hand-speed to keep
Baldomir off-balance and to
shoot and move. Focus of the
highest quality will be
needed for Mayweather to
stick to this type of
gameplan, for Baldomir will
never relent.
For
some elite fighters, their ego will
overcome their minds, and they would
try to stand and trade with
Baldomir; that is not the best idea
in the world, sure Baldomir isn’t
the best puncher, but he could take
Shannon Briggs’ punches and keep
coming.
Luckily for Mayweather he has the
uncanny ability to adjust to any
style and the experience and ring
generalship to not deviate from a
successful gameplan and the ability
to not get sucked into Baldomir’s
fight. Mayweather should win this
fight and finally have a linear
title to his name at a higher weight
class.
However, if Baldomir should win this
fight, he would have beaten Zab
Judah, Arturo Gatti, and Floyd
Mayweather Jr., all in the same
year. Hands down Carlos Baldomir
would be the fighter of the year,
there is no argument for that. A
linear champion, a fan favorite gun
slinger, and the P4P champion, yeah
that equals fighter of the year.
These two high-profile fights are
exactly what the fight fan deserves.
And both in the same weekend is
great. The only problem is that both
are being fought at the same exact
time and on competing networks. That
sucks, but view as you would like. I
am going to save a little money and
view Liakhovich/Briggs for free, and
tape Baldomir/Mayweather at a
friend’s house and watch it in the
morning or later in the night. All I
know is that this weekend will
define two weight divisions and
possibly liberate the sport. So I’m
going to celebrate the 4th and
remember it for at least some time
until boxing gets it act together
and gives me something greater to
cheer about.
