BOXING ALL OVER THE WORLD

Fighting breaks out from Cali all the way to Denmark

Its good to put the focus back on boxing action after having to hear about the depressing murder suicide of Edwin Valero and his beautiful wife. The Blackeyed View decides to lead into this week reporting on the good and there was much good to report on this weekend as there were three fights of significance that took place in California and in Denmark. First in California a true heavyweight slugfest took place between heavyweight newcomer Tomasz Adamek fighting for only the third time in the division and former world title challenger Cris Arreola. Adamek the former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion was outweighed by the naturally bigger Arreola by 33 1/2 pounds. He hoped to match the hard punching Arreola's power and size with speed and mobility but the resident of Riverside, California was determined to outpunch his Polish rival and that had the makings of a good old fashioned shootout.

Adamek was able to use his quicker hands to outbox Arreola in the first four rounds but you could tell that he felt Arreola's edge in power with every connected punch. The bigger man rocked Adamek in the fourth and sixth rounds and had him on queer street but the determined Polish fighter hung on to survive. Adamek tried to make himself an elusive target for his opponent but those who have seen Adamek throughout his career can tell that this style is not his strong suit and it would only be a matter of time before he would follow his instincts to stand his ground and trade punches. Still Adamek's work was beginning to show on his rival's face as Arreola's eyes starting to close and his face was getting puffy from his opponents pot shotting.

Arreola almost broke through for a KO win in the tenth when he had Adamek hanging by a string after connecting with a vicious combination to the head but failed to capitalize when he injured his hand. Adamek (41-1, 27 KOs) ever the opportunist pounced on the wounded Californian in the last two rounds and was able to squeak out a majority decision win much to the dismay of the pro Arreola (28-2) hometown crowd. This was only the second loss in Arreola's career the first coming in his only title try against Vitaly Klitschko and Adamek's third straight win in the land of the heavies, a rematch between the two is a natural.

This was a fight that the heavyweight division needed. Two evenly matched opponents who provide action packed fights going at each other. Even the setting worked for this fight as the majority pro Arreola crowd traded cheers and jeers with the significant Polish fans that traveled to support their man. Adamek dedicated the fight to the memory of the late Polish president and the victims of the air crash that claimed their lives.

On the under card explosive welterweight Alfredo 'El Perro' Angulo knocked out former hot prospect and knockout artist himself Joel 'Lovechild' Julio in the eleventh round of a hotly contested fight.

Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament continued in Denmark with the WBC Super middleweight championship on the line as the defending champion from England Carl "the Cobra' Froch took on former champ Mikkel Kessler on Kessler's home turf. These two fought with desperation as Kessler needed to win to have any hopes of advancing in the tournament and Froch was desperate to keep his title and undefeated record.

Kessler was determined to establish his jab early and be the aggressor while Froch was content to play the part of the cobra waiting in the wings to strike. Both men had their moments in the early rounds with none able to take the early advantage. Froch was able to make his counter punches count as his power was showing early against his foe, while Kessler maintained consistent pressure. Froch was able to cause Kessler to take an early tumble in the sixth but it was ruled a slip by the referee. At that point it appeared that Froch had established a power edge mentally over Kessler as his shots seemed to be delivered with more venom.

Froch was able to cut the Dane over the left eye in the later rounds possibly reopening a wound from Kessler's last fight. That is when Kessler's trainer Jimmy Montoya began to spur on his fighter to press the attack which he did in the later rounds. Froch sustained a cut to the bridge of his nose that gave the appearance of a broken nose and his punch output began to dip substantially. The last two rounds were high drama as both men were rocked and appeared to be on the verge of being stopped by the other. Froch and Kessler battled it out near the ropes at the end of the final round and the fight at that point was a toss up with maybe a slight edge to the defending champion.

After a long delay the scorecards were read and what looked to be a very close contest was not seen that way by two of the judges at ringside. One judge had it a reasonable 115-113 for Kessler while the other two judges from Belgium gave the fight and the championship to Mikkel Kessler by ridiculously wide margins of 117-111 and 116-112. After the fight Froch seemed to be at peace with the decision as he voiced his belief that he would have had a tough time getting a decision win in his rival's hometown.

The scoreboards for the World Boxing Classic has one leader (Arthur Abraham) atop with 3 points and four fighters tied with 2 points a piece while one fighter (Allan Green) has zero points. Round two of the tournament continues in June as Andre Ward takes on late entry Allan Green.

And now the bad.....

I would be remiss not to mention the latest in the sad story involving former lightweight champion Edwin Valero. As reported in the last edition of the Blackeyed View , Edwin Valero was taken into custody following his admission to murdering his 24 year old wife Jennifer Carolina Viera on Sunday morning in a hotel located in Valencia, Venezuela. Viera was found dead by multiple stab wounds. The former champ was said to have told hotel security upon leaving the hotel that he had killed his wife. He was later picked up by Venezuelan police. Valero was taken to a police station in the town of Carabobo where he committed suicide in his jail cell that night. According to chief of police Wilmer Flores an inmate alerted the guards to Valero's cell were he was found hanging by the neck by his own jogging pants. He showed signs of life but the medics where unable to revive him.

Valero had a recent history of domestic abuse problems as he was arrested in March of allegedly hitting his wife which caused injuries that included a punctured lung and broken ribs. Ms. Viera refused to press charges on her husband telling police and hospital workers that her injuries were caused by a fall. Valero was the WBC lightweight champion with an impressive record of 27 wins no losses and all his wins coming by knockout. He recently relinquished his lightweight title to move up in weight and was projected to be an opponent for Manny Pacquiao. The deaths leave boxing fans lamenting the end of a once promising career and more importantly leaves two children ages 5 and 8 without parents.

Observations

• KA POW! That was the sound heard by those privileged enough to watch the knockout blow from the right hand of Alfred Angulo that took out Joel Julio in the eleventh round. I could almost see one of those big KA POW signs that filled up the TV screen every time Batman & Robin hit one of the villains in the campy old Batman TV series.



• When it took seemingly forever to hand in the scorecards during the Froch-Kessler fight you could almost sense that one of those hometown screw jobs was in effect. Now for such a close fight I could live with 115-113 for Kessler but do the Belgium judges have to make it so obvious by handing in alternate universe scores of 116-112 and 117-111? I mean seriously, does up mean down in their world?
  
  
  
• There are fights and then there are super fights. The match up between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley qualifies as a super fight. Mayweather has stepped up and risked all three times in his career. The first time was against Diego Corrales when 'Chico' was an undefeated wrecking ball that physically resembled a junior lightweight version of Tommy Hearns. The second time was when he engaged Jose Luis Castillo in a rematch after Castillo was robbed of victory in the first fight. This fight against Shane Mosley is his third riskiest move and he should get kudos for agreeing to this fight. Yes Shane Mosley is 38 years old and the Margarito fight may have deceivingly made him look indestructible, but he is still Sugar Shane Mosley. Who am I picking? My heart says Mosley and has convinced my head to go along with that pick.





• I really like Tomasz Adamek but seeing him struggle for the second time with what for the heavyweight division would classify as average height boxers, I now realize that he has little chance to win against any of the Klitschkos. He hasn't really carried his power up in weight and the larger the opponent the more he tends to box from the outside which would be a mistake against the Ukranian brothers. He has a much better shot at WBA champ David Haye who is his size and will be there to brawl with him.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE MOMENT

Speaking of one Tommy 'the Hitman' Hearns I'm reminded of one boxing moment that I would not tarnish with gambling, predictions, or trash talk. Its the three round war known in boxing lore as simply HAGLER-HEARNS. If I could get into my hot tub time machine I would use all my ill gotten gains to get myself a ringside seat to this fight. Although Hearns lost, both men covered themselves in glory for all time with this violent classic that will stand the test of time for all times when it comes to the subject of greatest fight you've ever seen. The following is but a sample of the smorgasbord of violence offered on April 15, 1985.