Boxing's Overrated and Under Appreciated

by Jeff Pryor

In a sport where there is no longterm mandatory schedule, where we don't get to see Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, where the best may never fight the best, and where often times a win or a loss comes down to the opinions of three spectators, (and rarely a Sergio Martinez left hand or a Marquez laser combination), very often the fans are left to interpret the facts themselves to figure out who is good, who is bad and who is living on borrowed time in the sport of boxing.

Celestino Caballero's recent upset loss to unranked hard luck Jason Litzau, is only the latest in a long line of highly touted fighters turning out to be pugilistic smoke and mirrors. Caballero had been listed on many pound for pound lists and facing Litzau "The American Boy", was supposed to be a "man vs. boy" proposition for the Panamanian pugilist. Instead Caballero looked amaturish at times, unable to cope with someone his own height, and seemingly lacking fundamental balance and technique, without his customary size advantage to cover his deficiencies. The type of fighter that sits amongst the sports elite wouldn't step into the ring until later that night when Juan Manual Marquez put on his stirring performance against Michael Katsidis.

Caballero is no longer overrated. In fact, after his listless performance, he should be happy just to be rated period. One fighter filling his vacant slot on pound for pound lists, and who fought that same night, ironically, is the first of several fighters I'd like to point out, may be getting overrated by some overzealous fans and pundits.

Andre Ward

Has been deemed by many as the class of the Super Middleweight division. Since he dethroned Mikkel Kessler little more than a year ago, in an eye opening performance against the Super Six favorite and de-facto 168lb. kingpin after Calzaghe retired, Ward has been thrust to the top of the division and into the rarified air of pound for pound lists around the sport.

The self proclaimed "Son of God" is no doubt a talented fighter, but examining his last three victories a little closer allows for some interesting points to be brought up, and makes one wonder if there hasn't indeed been a divine hand setting up some nice situations for him...

Firstly, the Mikkel Kessler that he fought looked half dead during his walk in to the match. While Joe Calzaghe fritted away much of his reign over the division, fighting no hopers, Kessler was clearing out the division, fighting guys like Anthony Mundine, Markus Beyer and Librado Andrade to establish himself as the motivated force in the division. After failing in his challenge to Calzaghe, Kessler was treading water a decade into his career when the Super Six popped up. In against Ward that evening, Kessler looked slow and stiff, tired and powerless; in short, he looked like a guy who was at the end of a long, hard fought career. He didn't look prepared for his opponent, or for the way his body was acting.

Some may point out that Kessler won his next fight, against Carl Froch, showing he still had something left. My interpretation of that bout was that in Denmark, his homeland, Kessler got a bit of a gift decision, but fought his heart out for it. On that night he still looked lackluster compared to what he was in his heyday, but he seemed to have acknowledged where he was physically at that stage of his career and was prepared to compensate for it with will and heart. Something he seemed ill prepared to muster at all in his previous bout.

If Kessler may have beaten Froch with the aid of a home-ring advantage, it should at least be noted that Ward has enjoyed that same hometown support having fought all of his big fights in Oakland. In fact you have to go back eight fights to find a fight outside of California for Ward.

Ward's second bout of the Super Six came against substitute fighter Allan Green. In for Jermain Taylor who bowed out early, Allan Green is by far the least accomplished fighter in the tournament. Notorious for his near decapitation of Jaidon Codrington half a decade ago, Green has failed to live up to virtually all of the expectations that were put on him. Ward easily outpointed Green in a fairly pedestrian bout. Interestingly Glen Johnson, never known as a heavy hitter, shocking Roy Jones KO aside, was able to deck Allan Green upon entering the tournament for the shopworn Kessler. The nearly 42 year old Johnson upstaged Ward's victory with an unexpected knockout that signaled his entrance as a force in the tournament.

And finally Ward recently faced down Sakio Bika, a tough gritty fighter, who may be among the most crude warriors to be considered a credible opponent in the sport today. Bika's wide bombs were off balance and rarely if ever landed. On the other hand Ward didn't land much to speak of either. The bout was a foul filled wrestling match that might've looked more like a slow dance if someone happened to walk into the living room and catch a glance of it in their periphery. Bika's claim to fame is roughing up Calzaghe a little in his title challenge a few years back. Joe was handling things easily until he cracked his hand on the tough Cameroon's head and then had trouble keeping the lug off him.

What all this adds up to is this; my summation of Andre Ward...He's quick handed and willing to fight dirty, but he has developed a penchant for grappling on the inside and throwing one punch at a time. Kind of like the worst parts of Ricky Hatton and Bernard Hopkins fused together into a maddening concoction that isn't as exciting as the physical tools should seem to make him.

We'll know how good Ward really is when he meets an A-lister on top of his A-game. Until then he's battling it out for supremacy of the Super Middleweight division with our next overrated fighter...

Lucien Bute

Another fellow who is cropping up on pound for pound lists and is generally ranked as the top fighter at 168lbs. He certainly didn't earn either of those distinctions in the ring however. Calzaghe retired, Kessler has faded, and Bute seems talented. That's really what's placed him at the top of the heap.

Looking at his competition, he lacks a signature win. Many of the recognizable names on his resume are former middleweights at best; guys like Jesse Brinkley, Edison Miranda, Fulgencia Zuniga, William Joppy... If you've heard of any of those guys, it's only because you've seen them lose to someone else before Bute faced them, usually via spectacular knock out.

The only real bouts to respect on Bute's resume are a win over the aforementioned Sakio Bika whom he outpointed back in 2007 and his two bouts with Librado Andrade.

Here's where the fun begins with Bute. Andrade poured the pressure on a beautifully boxing Bute in their first go around. By mid-fight, Bute was holding on to Andrade whenever possible to slow him down and Andrade's punches were starting to thud into the more talented pugilist.The quickly fading Bute, and the hard charging Andrade set the stage for a 12th round that ended amongst tumultuous circumstances.

As seconds ran down on the bout, Bute was hammered to the mat, exhausted and seemingly broken from the non-stop Mexi-Cali fighter. With the help of an, at best, callous referee, Bute escaped with a victory, out on his feet, unable to stand without aid and all but unconscious. It's fair to say that would that fight have been outside of Bute's adopted home, the outcome very likely would have delivered his first loss via KO.

In the rematch, which Bute did not seem eager to sign on for, over a year later, the fight seemed to be falling into much the same pattern. Andrade started slow, but was actually doing better than in the previous bout at a similar time. Then lightning struck in the form of a crisp Bute cross. An impressive rebuttal to the previous bout, knocking out Andrade inside of four rounds. Still, each has been knocked out by the other, Bute's just the only one to get credit for it.

Bute lends himself to praise easily, because he has great skill and appears to have a decent punch to go along with it. It's easy to imagine him handling many talented fighter with his sharp punching. Imagining is all there is to it at the moment however, as he has yet to face another legitimate Champion or top flight fighter.

Nonito Donaire

He's the other Filipino, the guy that has shown a single flash of brilliance, and then largely squandered that momentum. Few were predicting that Nonito would do much better than his brother did against Darchinyan, Glen Donaire had earlier had his jaw busted by the Armenian bully and now it would be brothers turn. Almost immediately, you could see that this Donaire was a different animal. He was bigger and faster than Darchinyan, seemingly belonging in another weight class.

Aside from his physical advantages, he also faced Darchinyan at the peak of Vic's hubris. There was no pretense of defense or movement at that time for "The Raging Bull", he slung his arm back to his waist and whacked away, leaping forward at will. Donaire timed him with a perfect hook, and well... KO Victim of the year award? Meet Vic Darchinyan.

The ingredients for that upset are pretty apparent in retrospect. A bigger guy... who's also faster... in with an overconfident boorish pug who has a disdain for defense. To be sure it was a brilliant fight and a glorious evening for Donaire. That unfortunately is the apex of Nonito's career which will be ten years long in two months.

Since upending Darchinyan, Donaire has fought few opponents that should have pushed him much. Rafael Concepcion managed to make it close on the scorecards against Donaire last year. Interestingly, Donaire's next likely opponent, Fernando Montiel, dispatched Concepcion in 3 rounds this past summer.

His latest conquest Volodymyr Sydorenko is now a very pedestrian 4-3-2 in his last 9 fights after the loss, but Donaire's been highly lauded for the knock out. The Ring Magazine has had him in their top ten pound for pound for some time now. In fact the only fighters "The Boxing Bible" deems better than Donaire are Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Sergio Martinez, and Juan Manuel Marquez. Lofty company for what so far, has been a one hit wonder.

I'll leave the last word to Donaire, who, to his credit is smart enough to know better "I’m really flattered by THE RING’s ranking," Donaire said recently at a media workout. "I’m honored by it and by any other website or magazine that ranks me with the best in the sport, but I don’t think I deserve it yet. I have to fight more elite fighters to deserve it."

So these men, at this moment, may be the most overrated in boxing. To offset this I'd like to look at one worthy warrior's recent record and make a case that he has done more than them to deserve some credit.

Carl Froch

Over the last two years, Froch has fought Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler and Arthur Abraham. He has come out of that run 4-1.

Since his war with Carl Froch, Jean Pascal has gone on to a bigger division and defeated tough belt holder Adrian Diaconu twice, as well as unseating Chad Dawson, a pound for pound entrant, as the heir apparent and undisputed top dog at Light Heavyweight. Pascal himself could be on an underrated list and has certainly done more than Ward, Bute, or Donaire have.

Froch met Pascal toe to toe and for 12 brutal rounds they put on a spectacular display of warfare in the ring. Froch proved he was as fearless a warrior as there is in the game today, and Pascal did much the same, proving that he was much more than the Roy Jones wannabe he seemed on Friday Night Fights.

As the Super Six began, Andre Dirrell was up first for Froch. Dirrel may be among the most physically gifted athletes to step into the ring in decades, but against "The Cobra" he seemed downright scared at times, unwilling to engage, taking knees, and holding on for huge chunks of the bout. While Dirrel's flighty style managed to frustrate Froch, he did little to show he was there to fight. Froch was born to fight and pulled out a narrow, ugly decision.

Jermain Taylor and Arthur Abraham were former respected Middleweight champions. Froch came off the deck to KO Taylor, in an exciting slugfest, and more impressively white washed Arthur Abraham over 12 rounds. Not only did he beat Abraham, he beat him down mentally. "King" Arthur may never be the same.

As earlier mentioned, a rejuvenated Kessler pulled out a close one against Froch, in Denmark serving as Carl's only loss over the course of this run of top competition. A close fight that many feel Froch would have won, were it on neutral ground.

It could be argued that Froch has already faced more top flight competition in five title fights than Calzaghe did during his entire ten year championship run. If he finishes off the Super Six by beating the wily gunslinger Glen Johnson, and the cagey Andre Ward, perhaps then he will get his due.

Until then, think about this... between Bute, Ward and Donaire.... hell, pool them together, combine the big names on their resumes. How do they stack up against just Froch's big wins?

You might be able to make an argument either way. One guys resume vs. three. It's debatable.

And if it's even debatable, well?... There's your answer.

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