Boxing Asylum

Boxing fans, and Nuthouse podcast panel members, Paul Webb,  Andy Paterson (@AndyP792), Adam Smith (@Smido11) and Kurt Ward (@BoxingAsylum), look back at the year 2015. 


Your highlight of the year?

Paul: It may have been for a Panamanian title which carries less worth than Adam's pound for pound rankings but seeing Anthony Crolla become a world champion is easily my highlight of 2015. Coming off a horrific injury suffered whilst tackling a burglar, the Manchester based lightweight had his shot postponed and when it finally happened he was the victim of poor judging as Darleys Perez escaped with an undeserved majority draw. Crolla, who is well known as one of the nicest guys in the sport, got his rematch and won with an impressive knockout. It was a genuine feel good story in a sport that hasn't had enough this year.

Adam: Personal highlight was being at Madison Square Garden for Gennady Golovkin vs  David Lemieux and Roman Gonzalez vs Brian Viloria.  Although it was the low point of my chaotic betting year, Tyson Fury beating Wladimir Klitschko has to be on my highlights list. An outstanding achievement against one of the most dominant champions in the sport. Terry Flanagan deserves a mention. He's had a cracking year with a sensational win over Diego Magdaleno possibly the performance of the year by a Brit. 

The best fights this year for me were, in no particular order, Jean Pascal vs Yunieski Gonzalez, Francisco  Vargas vs Takashi Miura, Nonito Donaire vs Cesar Juarez and Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte. 

Andy: Historically, we’ve had a fair bit of change. Tyson Fury ending Wladimir Klitschko’s 10 years of dominance, Canelo Alvarez picking up the lineal middleweight title (catchweight or not), Gennady Golovkin continuing to show that he may be a near perfect fighting machine and Roman Gonzalez finally starting to get more mainstream respect, however, it has to be Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao finally squaring off. We finally got closure to a six-year waltz towards the fight.

Kurt: Seeing Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao finally square off was the highlight for me. Sure, the fight wasn't the spectacle we all hoped it would be with a huge audience around the globe tuning in, but the buildup and anticipation for a fight many (me included) never thought would happen made it the must see event of the year.

Also a mention to Tyson Fury for his incredible victory in Germany over one of the most dominant heavyweight champions in history. As a Wlad fan I was obviously disappointed in not only the loss, but the lackluster way he lost, yet I couldn't help feeling happy for Tyson after his interview in the ring.


Biggest let down of 2015?

Paul: Maybe it was never going to come close to the expectations of the millions watching, but it has to be said that with the eyes of the world on boxing on May 2nd, Mayweather Pacquiao did very little to help the sport. A commercial juggernaut that left both fighters set for life several times over but many fans feeling short changed, some would go a lot stronger but I enjoyed the fight. It was never going to be Gatti Ward but so few mega PPV events actually deliver and we did at least get the answer to what seemed a never ending question of who is the best boxer in the world, It was Floyd. It was always Floyd.

Adam: Kell Brook. 2015 should have been a year where the undefeated welterweight belt holder capitalised on the departures of Mayweather and Pacquiao, he didn't. An early mandatory and a quick 'for the fans' reappearance against Frankie Gavin was no way near good enough. Even the scheduled fight against Diego Chaves was a disappointment for me. I'm not confident for 2016 either. 

Andy: Mayweather-Pacquiao, because I’ve never felt so fatigued in all my life towards boxing in the build-up to that fight. Not only did the fight not deliver, we then had the blowback to deal with after Pacquiao needed shoulder surgery because he was injured going into the fight and Mayweather for using an illegal IV to rehydrate himself.

Kurt: Easy - the constant stream of shitty fights/cards being made in 2015. The bar should be set high with promoters, fans and broadcasters with everyone wanting to see the highest quality match ups, sadly as I type this the bar is probably level with a dwarf’s kneecap. And until we all demand better that’s where it will stay.

Promoters seemingly more interested in getting one over a rival than making and promoting great fights has seen many horrible matches here and across the pond. It simply isn’t good enough and we need a big improvement in 2016. Let's demand it. 

Realistic fight you want to see in 2016?

Paul: Khan-Brook surely has to happen this year! Neither fighter had a good year for different reasons and with Mayweather retired, Pacquiao looking elsewhere and no other way for either to make as much money, a summer showdown makes 100% sense.

A lot of people want to see Roman Gonzalez unify against Juan Estrada but I want to see him face the tricky, dirty but supremely talented Amnat Ruenroeng. Its not a fight HBO will clamour for but its an intriguing fight, If Gonzalez was able to put away the IBF champion he cements his P4P number one status.

Fury vs Joshua - if Fury comes through a rematch with Klitschko then no fight is bigger than him vs the stubhub heavyweight, I would love to see this.

Adam: Roman Gonzalez vs Juan Estrada. The three belt holders at flyweight are all fantastic in their own way and these two have already danced once. Estrada was the last person to even remotely test the undefeated Gonzalez back in 2012 and I'd love to see it again. 

Andy: I wouldn’t mind seeing rematches with Ruslan Provodnikov and Lucas Matthysse, Francisco Vargas and Takashir Miura and, regardless of level, Frank Buglioni vs Lee Markham.

Roman Gonzalez seems to be after the big paydays and with HBO anointing him as P4P then I remain hopeful that the Juan Estrada rematch happens. A few weeks back it seemed like we could get Sergey Kovalev vs Andre Ward in 2016. That fight has to happen, for me that will crown the successor to Mayweather’s throne of P4P #1.

Kurt: Two fights for me which could, and should, be made in 2016. The first is Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin. I’m sick of catchweight fights, I just want the best fighting the best and these two are the best at 160lbs. Canelo might pretend he’s not a middleweight, or his body isn’t ready for middleweight, but that’s exactly what he is and the pressure will mount on him, especially with his Mexican supporters, to make the fight we all want to see.

The second is Kell Brook and Amir Khan. Amir didn’t get the Mayweather fight and it’s looking increasingly likely he won’t get the Pacquiao one either so it’s now time to make the next best and biggest fight out there. Brook will have to defend his title in a poor mandatory against Kevin Bizier in February and we will hopefully see Khan out around that time too. Then both can look ahead to a summer showdown. 

Promoter/Network bollocks aside - dream fight of 2016

Paul: There are less network promoter problems then there were heading in to 2015, Golden Boy and Top Rank seem to have rebuilt the relationship which just leaves PBC out of negotiation reach. The UK still has the great Sky Boxnation, Hearn Warren divide. A unification between Terry Flanagan and Anthony Crolla is as likely as Jermain Taylor seeing daylight again but it has so much going for it, two world champions both from Manchester. It would be a huge fight, I won't hold my breath it happens.

Adam: Canelo vs GGG. The Mexican is the only thing stopping this fight falling under the realistic category. I was once confident Canelo would fight GGG but the talk before and after the Cotto fight worries and frustrates me. Middleweight is 160lbs!

It'd be a nightmare bout for me as both are right up there amongst my favourite fighters. 

Kovalev Stevenson a close second.

Andy:  Sergey Kovalev vs Adonis Stevenson…Stevenson we know isn’t the strongest around the beard and I have a nagging feeling Kovalev is hiding a bit of glass but that makes no difference, Kovalev is not a man to trifle with. Jean Pascal’s comments have seen Kovalev retort that he would “like to destroy Pascal as a boxer forever”. Stevenson could see a whole other level of brutality for previous actions and comments.

Kurt: Same as last year for me – Adonis Stevenson Vs Sergey Kovalev. I don’t really care who is to blame for it not happening, all I know is that we the fans are missing out on a fight between two ridiculous punchers in a fight that would have us all on the edge of our seat knowing the end can come at any second. Boxing needs exciting fights like this to be made. I didn’t think we would see it in 2015, and sadly I don’t see it happening next year either. I hope I’m wrong.

Thoughts on PPV in 2016?

Paul: I hate PPV , I don't care how many Rolex's it buys those involved it is an awful concept that plagues the sport and it's fans, however, there is no getting away from the fact it is here to stay. Quigg Frampton February 27th will be PPV, Joshua's fight on April 9th will be PPV, Klitschko Fury 2 will be PPV and that's just the first half of the year. Hearn and Sky love the PPV model, it's the only reason Sky bother to show boxing and in 2016 it will be used more and more frequently. I have long complained about its unnecessary over use but I am very much in the minority, if reports are to be believed that Joshua Whyte did 400,000 buys then it's clear enough people are happy to pay the money, until that stops happening nothing will change.

Adam: Four PPVs in Britain this year, two of which were Matchroom promoted. Not too bad on the face of it. But, as headline fights, we've had Kell Brook vs Frankie Gavin and a heavyweight British title fight. That'll be £30+ please. 

Anthony Joshua is a PPV fighter from now on. Get used to it. Matchroom and Sky Sports Boxing are two fold in my eyes; 1) Anthony Joshua, 2) everyone else. 

The fact the likes of Kevin Mitchell and Tony Bellew are used as PPV make weights is pretty horrendous but no longer surprising. Matchroom now have the stable and contacts to put on 'stacked' cards that the casuals will love at the drop of a hat. I think we'll get four PPVs in 2016. Quigg Vs Frampton, AJ in April, summer (hopefully Brook vs Khant) and Christmas Cracker IV.

Andy: My thoughts on PPV are well known, unless it is an elite main event with a top quality undercard then it shouldn’t be PPV. A lot of the regular Sky cards have been absolutely deplorable this year, whilst it seems the supposed “better” fights are getting shunted on to PPV. 

Kurt: It comes down to the bar being set so low again for me. No fan out there would have any issue with certain fights being PPV, the massive events where fighters need to earn a huge amount of money. We get that. We’d obviously love to see these huge fights on terrestrial television but it just won’t happen. Hatton/Mayweather, Hatton/Pacquiao, Klitschko/Haye, these are the fights we understand being PPV. ‘Stacked’ cards full of domestic fights is where many have a problem. But make no mistake, over the years there have been some garbage PPV events with Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren putting on some right stinkers, but it doesn’t matter how poor we think they are, the buy rate is all that matters. If they shift buys then why wouldn’t they continue to do it?

The amount of British 'world champions'

Paul: Britain has plenty of TV channels showing the sport, a solid if sometimes frustrating board of control, some great gyms, some good trainers, smart promoters and terrific amateur set up, all of those things have culminated in this incredible success at world level. Of course, behind some of these titles there are some that have question marks, Haskins through no fault of his own won his on the scales, Liam Smiths WBO belt was gift wrapped in the form of John Thompson, similar for Flanagan who had his win overshadowed by Zepeda's inury.  Quigg and McDonnell have pretend WBA regular titles but both have proven themselves at 'world level'. Fury shook up the world, Brook beat a genuine champ, as did Selby and Frampton. Degale has had a terrific year and Crolla's rise has been remarkable, British boxing is booming I am expecting more in 2016.

Adam: To have 12 world title holders at the end of 2015 is an absolutely brilliant achievement for the whole of British boxing. Across multiple promoters, trainers and TV channels. 

I'm 100% with Tyson Fury on this one as we now have 'British world title' fighters. The uncontrolled and unregulated expansion of 'world title' belts has certainly reduced the value of any given belt. And how many of our world title holders can we say are the best in their division? Tyson Fury is the only one of the 12 we can confidently say is the best at his weight. Jamie McDonnell and James DeGale could well be the best in their division but need to prove it.

Andy: It will probably stay around the same give or take and supposing we are ignoring the mess the Panamanians have created. One will drop off after Frampton-Quigg however Stephen Smith could bring it back up. 
No doubt the majority of the current title holders will be matched cautiously throughout the year with the odd surprise or two, perhaps Joshua might get a vacant title shot, Callum Smith I don’t suspect will fight for a title, Paul Butler is in a division where all the title holders would all prove to be difficult opposition. It really depends on the ABC politics because we all know a “world title” can be plucked out of nowhere in boxing.

Kurt: Just another annoying part of the sport for me. Today a fighter can become a world champion while fans are still waiting to see that fighter face someone they’ve heard of before. I just can’t understand how we can give the same title of world champion to Tyson Fury and Liam Smith, for instance. One had to go to Germany to face the best fighter in his weight class in the world, the other had to face someone on a much lower level. It’s not Smith’s fault, of course, he has done everything asked of him, but it’s just the state of the governing bodies and dilution of the term ‘world champion’ for me. 

British boxing is doing great at the moment, there’s so much boxing on different platforms, there’s big fights that hopefully will be made, and we have fighters holding titles that can put them in line for good fights against top fighters. That’s all I want to see. 

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