Boxing Matters: Anthony Joshua Fight Night

Saturday night saw a great advert for British boxing with Sky Box Office showing Anthony Joshua's fist defence as Heavyweight Champion and a great supporting fight card. Although UFC is my favourite contact sport and has been so for about a year now I've been watching boxing on and off for about thirty years now. I always preferred the middleweight and super-middleweight divisions as they served up the perfect mixture of speed and power. The lighter weights has speed but little punching power while until the emergence of Mike Tyson the heavyweight division was a lot of hugging with the occasional punch. I was lucky enough to get into boxing in the eighties when there were a number of clashes between four of the greatest boxers for all time; Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvellous Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hitman Hearns and Roberto Duran (who I don't remember having a nickname but he was as hard as nails). That stirred my interest in boxing and a few years later I became a big fan of a British boxer who would win the WBO middleweight belt and later the WBC super-middleweight belt – Nigel Benn. Benn is famous for a rivalry with another legend of British boxing Chris Eubank and the sons of both boxers were in action at the O2 Arena at the weekend.

BENN vs EUBANK : THE HISTORY

Benn won the WBO middleweight belt from American Doug DeWitt in Atlantic City in April 1990 just ten days after my eighteenth birthday. The Brit wasn't a stylish, technical boxer but more of a fighter and a slugger. He had more heart than just about any fighter I've supported before or since though. After a successful defence against another American, Iran Barkley, in August 1990 he was lined up to fight fellow Brit Chris Eubank at NEC Birmingham in November. These days you're lucky if a fighter has more than two bouts per year but since losing the Commonwealth middleweight belt to Michael Watson in May 1989 Benn had fought three fights in USA before the DeWitt clash in October 1989, December 1989 and January 1990 and Eubank would be his sixth fight in eleven months. For Eubank it would be his seventh fight in the same amount of time, having also won the WBC International middleweight title from Hugo Corti in March 1990. After beating both Britain's Kid Mile and Brazilian Reginaldo Dos Santos in September of 1990 Eubank came into the clash with a 24-0 record while Benn was 27-1 with his only loss being to Watson. Their first clash in November 1990 was a classic that will live long in my memory. A great example of two warriors with a genuine dislike for each other leaving nothing in the locker with a perfect mix of styles. The fighter Nigel 'The Dark Destroyer' Benn and the boxer Chris 'Simply The Best' Eubank. In a fantastic ninth round Eubank was down early on but finished stronger and staggered Benn with a left hook before continuing the damage in a corner before the referee stopped the fight. Eubank retained his unbeaten record, won the WBO middleweight belt and Benn had lost his title to his bitter rival.

It took three years to get a re-match between the pair which was the eagerly anticipated Judgement Day fight in October 1993. By that time Eubank had defended the belt he won from Benn against Canadian Dan Sherry and fellow Brits Gary Stretch and Michael Watson (the one that beat Benn for the Commonwealth belt). The win against Watson was on points and the next fight for both would be a re-match for the vacant WBO super-middleweight title three months later. Eubank won the fight by TKO in the twelfth round and Watson collapsed in the ring before spending 40 days in a coma and receiving surgery to remove a blood clot to the brain. Eubank was clearly disturbed by the event and for the rest of his career he has said that he lost his ruthless streak when chances presented themselves. After that night Eubank defended the WBO super-middleweight belt seven times before facing Benn for the second time with a 35-0-1 record after a draw with Ray Close in the last fight. After the loss to Eubank there were six fights for Benn to get his career back on track with wins including Milo and Sherry (former Eubank opponents) and a great points win over 'Sugar Boy' Malinga. That set up a challenge for the WBC super-middleweight belt against Italy's Mauro Galvano which he won with a fourth round stoppage. After beating Britain's Nicky Piper & Lou Gent and Galvano again (this time on points) he went to try and unify the WBO and WBC belts against Eubank with a record of 37-2. The re-match was at Old Trafford, Manchester in front of 42,000 fight fans and although the fight itself was probably not as good as the first encounter the final round (it went the distance) was a thrilling classic. In the end one judge went for each fighter and the third for a draw so it was a draw overall and each fighter kept their own belt. Benn had failed to beat Eubank for a second time and unfortunately the two never faced each other again.

Eubank defended his title six more times successfully before losing to Ireland's Steve Collins in March 1995. Benn himself had five more successful defences of the WBC belt but then would lose to 'Sugar Boy' Malinga on points in March 1996. He challenged Steve Collins for the WBO belt in July 1996 losing on points and tried a rematch in November 1996 before being withdrawn in the sixth round. He would retire from boxing with a record of 42-5-1. After Collins retired in July 1997 Eubank met a young Joe Calzaghe in Sheffield four months later for the vacant WBO belt. The Welsh fighter won by unanimous decision and fought until 2008 when he retired with an undefeated record. Eubank fought twice more and like Benn his last two fights would be against the same man, this time Carl Thompson. Thompson won both and in some form of unity in July 1998 Eubank, like Benn, retired on his stool in his last bout and retired with a record of 45-5-2.

THE JUNIORS

Nigel Benn's son Conor was in his third professional fight on the under-card at the O2 and continued his unbeaten record with a first round win over the Czech fighter Lukas Radic. It can't be easy fighting in such a prestigious event so early in your career, not only at a venue like that but also on a Sky Box Office card. That pressure would be intensified by carrying the name of a fighter like Nigel Benn but there's no denying that name also helped him onto that same under-card. He coped well with the pressure though dispatched his opponent with ease. To be fair the referee could have stopped the fight sooner and it was a little worrying when Benn's opponent didn't get up after hitting the deck. As soon as he realised Radic was not up and about Benn stopped celebrating and went to check on his opponent with genuine concern. Great credit should go to the young man who waited for Radic to recover to his feet before giving him an embrace to say he was glad he's okay then celebrating the win properly. I've seen many fighters young and old still celebrating and show-boating while the other boxer was prone and being provided oxygen so it was nice to see a respectful fighter at the end of this contest.

On the same night we saw Chris Eubank Jr. successfully defend his British middleweight title against Welsh fighter Tom Doran. His father never held a British belt and it was Chris' first defence since taking the belt from Nick Blackwell in March of this year. That fight nearly ended in tragedy after Blackwell suffered a bleed on the skull which put him in a coma for a week and prematurely ended his career. Twenty-six year old Eubank Jr. had lost a challenge for the British, Commonwealth and European middleweight titles to Billy Joe Saunders in November 2014 and after winning five fights since he faced Doran with a 22-1 record. He has all the showmanship of his father who stays by his side at all times to protect his son's career. He even said at the pre-event press conference that he though Nigel Benn should be closer to Conor to protect him from 'outside influences' which brought an angry response from the young man; “who are you to talk about me?” he demanded, saying he could talk about his dad by all means but not about him. The entrance music may no longer be Tina Turner's 'Simply The Best' but the Eubank trademark entrance leap over the ropes remains as does the same swagger and poise in the ring. Junior knocked the previously unbeaten Doran down at least three times in the fourth round before the referee finally stopped the fight after the Welshman had been consummately dismantled. Eubank hit him with such devastating body shots that a punch to the stomach or chest alone sent Doran to the canvas by the end. There are many greater tests ahead for Eubank Jr. but this was a fantastic display from him with showmanship equal to his boxing skills. Fighting like Eubank Sr. only works if you really are that good and time will tell on that factor but so far he has the ability to live up to his ego. He certainly doesn't lack confidence and again took the opportunity to call out the world's number one ranked middleweight fighter, Gennady Golovkin. The Kazakhstani fighter has an unbeaten 35-0 record to go with his WBA, WBC, IBF and IBO belts. If that match does not come then a re-match with Saunders is another possibility.

GROVES WINS BATTLE OF BRITAIN

George Groves is one fighter I've changed my opinion on over the years. As I don't follow boxing that closely in recent years I hadn't heard of him before his much publicised first bout with Carl Froch. As a former holder of the Commonwealth super-middleweight belt Groves came into that fight in November 2013 with a 19-0 record including a win over current IBF super-middleweight champion James De Gale. I'd seen some of Froch's previous fights as he had a chequered history with the super-middleweight world titles. He first won the vacant WBC belt beating Canada's Jean Pascal in December 2008 then losing it to Dane Mikkel Kessler in April 2010. He won back the vacant WBC belt in his next fight against Germany's Arthur Abraham seven months later but lost it to American Andre Ward in December 2011. By the time he fought Groves he'd won the IBF title from Romanian Lucian Bute in May 2012 and the WBA title from Kessler in a great rematch in May 2013 which retired the Dane (his 46-3 record only had losses to Froch, Ward and Calzaghe). I was therefore more in the Froch camp than the Groves camp when the pair first met but all that changed by the end of the fight. The ending was controversial as many (including myself) thought that Groves out-boxed Froch (who had clearly underestimated his opponent) for most of the fight until the referee stopped the fight too early once the champion exerted a little bit of dominance in the ninth round. Groves was not that hurt and deserved the rematch he got by which time I was a firm fan of his and didn't like Froch's character in the media after the first fight or the build-up to the second. Unfortunately Froch was the better fighter in that one and, in what turned out to be his last fight, he won with a TKO in the eighth round. Last September Groves took on Sweden's Badou Jack at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas for the WBC super-middleweight title and only lost on a split decision. On Saturday he fought Martin Murray for a defence of the WBA International title he won from David Brophy in April with the promise of another world title shot on the cards.

Groves may have fought three world title bouts but Murray has failed in four previous attempts to win one. In December 2011 he drew with German Felix Sturm who therefore retained his WBA middleweight title, in April 2013 he lost to Sergio Martinez of Argentina by unanimous decision for the WBC middleweight belt, in February 2015 he lost to Golovkin by TKO in the penultimate round for the IBO middleweight title and after stepping up a weight division he was beaten by Abraham in Hanover for the WBO super-middleweight belt. After a warm-up fight with Belgium's Cedric Spera in early May he carried a 33-3-1 record into the Groves fight at the age of 33.

In the early rounds on Saturday it looked like Murray's tactics were to absorb punishment and allow Groves to punch himself out with the aim of coming on strong at the end of the fight. Groves' stamina has been questioned before but this was still a risky tactic. The bookies had Groves as the odds on favourite but I'd also read some experts saying this fight could go either way. The first three rounds all went against Murray as he covered up and took punches without throwing much back. He came back firing in the fourth round and probably took that one but then once again Groves put him on the ropes and started ticking off the rounds. Murray survived onslaughts in the seventh and ninth rounds but only just. I haven't seen a lot of Groves but this was as good as I've seen him and he knew himself that he'd done well after the fight. The fight went the full twelve rounds which is a credit to Murray's endurance but all three judges scored the bout 118-110 in favour of Groves.

ALSO ON THE CARD

There was an impressive professional debut for former GB Olympian Felix Cash who won a four round contest on points even though it looked like he'd have the fight over in the first. A few times his enthusiasm got the better of him and his shots were wild and he was also warned by the referee on a couple of occasions. Dillian Whyte had his first fight since losing his unbeaten record to Joshua in December of last year and beat Croatian Ivica Bacurin with a sixth round knock out. Another former Olympian boxer Anthony Ogogo continued his undefeated streak to 10-0 with a win over another Croatian, Frane Radnic.

THE MAIN EVENT

So a little bit later than scheduled we got to see the star attraction Anthony Joshua take on American Dominic Breazeale in defence of his IBF heavyweight title. Both fighters went into the bout with unbeaten records: Joshua 16-0 at the age of 26 and Breazeale 17-0 at the age of 30.

I've said earlier how the middleweight and super-middleweight divisions were more my 'thing' but the reason I like Joshua so much is because he doesn't fight like a heavyweight. He has the speed and mobility of a lighter fighter (if not super-middleweight then certainly a cruiserweight) but the power and size of a heavyweight. I really do think he's the most exciting fighter to hit the heavyweight division since Mike Tyson as since then (from the limited amount I've seen and read) we've a lot of lumbering fighters at the top and a couple of Ukrainian boxers who fight for the points rather than the KO. There has been the odd exception of course as David Haye briefly held the WBA title after beating the ridiculous giant Nikolai Valuev of Russia before losing to Wladimir Klitschko on points (of course) in Hamburg in July 2011. Since then the 35 year-old has fought only three times with wins against Dereck Chisora in 2012 then after a four year break Australian Mark de Mori and Switzerland's Arnold Gjergjaj earlier this year. He's scheduled to fight popular loudmouth American Shannon Briggs in October and still says that he could beat both Joshua and Britain's other heavyweight champion Tyson Fury if he gets the chance. I liked Fury on the way up but the more successful he became the more he said or did stupid things and he really is a hard fighter to like. Whether he has the goods to back up his words still needs to be proven as he won the title from an ageing Klitschko who had under-estimated him.

Going back to things I like about Joshua though, the way that he takes it one step at a time and knows his limits and that he is still developing and learning. He has confidence in his abilities but knows when to fight the right people at the right time. Whether Eubank Jr. calling out someone like Golovkin is a good idea or not it isn't the sort of thing you see Joshua doing. In the ring though it's a different story.

Even in the first round I think Breazeale knew this was the end of his undefeated record. He was getting picked off by Joshua too often and was already starting to swell on the right eye. When he did throw back he missed and that left him open for Joshua again who even in the clinches rocked him with powerful uppercuts. At the end of each round the American would try and antagonise Joshua but the champion was having none of it. By the end of the sixth round Joshua was in total control and the only blemish was a bleeding nose which could have come from a punch of a clash of heads. Whatever it came from though is spurned him on to finish the fight. Breazeale was down in the seventh round but got back up on unsteady legs after a combination of punches from Joshua. There wasn't enough time to get to the bell for a respite though and just seconds later he was back on the canvas and the referee stopped the fight.

Where Joshua goes next we wait to see. Certainly Haye says he is interested but is he really one to consider? At 35 he sounds more like a fighter on one last chance to make money from a big fight before calling it a day which is why fighting 44 year-old Briggs in October is a gamble – both fighters are entering the last chance saloon. Fury always says he can beat Joshua and he does have good speed and power. Whether he could cope with Joshua is a different matter. The one I want to see is Deontay Wilder, the unbeaten American with a WBC belt and a 36-0 record.