THE thrills and spills travelled from Australia to America over the weekend as the girls dished out lower-weight action and a former world titlist had his hands full with a domestic banger.
The only way was up Stateside as the ‘Towering Inferno’ lit a spark in the early rounds and finished off his challenger quickly. The judges, meanwhile, did not cover themselves in glory early in the card. Let’s see who won and lost the week.
Boxing winners of the week
Tiara Brown –
Cookies, cupcakes and ice cream were on the menu for clean-living Tiara Brown, who praised God and thanked her team profusely as she struggled to take in the moment. Credit to the American and her backers for devising and carrying out the perfect gameplan to snag that world belt off Skye on away soil.
Sebastian Fundora –
The ‘Towering Inferno’ is boxing’s tallest world champion, according to a PBC graphic that even placed him above the heavyweight and cruiserweight kings. Fundora is a likeable, charming guy who fights with malice. The family story is heartwarming, too. How can the man once dismissed as a sideshow not be a winner after battering Chordale Booker?
Jake Wyllie –
Stepping in at just a few days’ notice, Wyllie jumped up from Australian domestic level to prove his worth against George Kambosos. Towards the back end of the fight, super-fit Wyllie was fighting on more or less even terms with ‘Ferocious’.
After suggesting Eddie Hearn would reimburse him for the tickets he had bought to the show, the stand-in cheekily asked for a contract. Hearn said Matchroom would snap him up on Monday morning. A fine reward for his efforts.
Jesus Ramos –
Showing that a loss need not define a career, young gun Jesus Ramos has shaken off the Erickson Lubin defeat with impressive maturity. The powerful southpaw gets better with every outing. Credit to Guido Schramm for taking everything he could, but Ramos was too strong.
Sampson Lewkowicz –
The anti-Turki factions are starting to form as the sceptical and the scorned speak out or gently nudge out of range from the Saudi daisy cutter as the Riyadh cash becomes more restricted or attached to electrified strings.
Paulie Malignaggi recorded an unsubtle video this week and savvy Sampson told the ‘boxing baby’ Alalshikh to come and negotiate if he wants to make a deal over Bivol-Benavidez. No messing from the veteran Uruguayan manager, who stated that Saudi is not Vegas and the Interim belt is no longer enough for them. Shots fired.
Boxing losers of the week
Skye Nicolson –
As much joy as Tiara Brown felt, poor old Skye Nicolson would’ve been feeling the opposite. Losing her WBC title on home soil, Skye probably felt she had done enough in a “styles make fights” encounter. Two of the judges thought otherwise and left her reeling in the aftermath of a first defeat.
Elijah Garcia –
It seems a little harsh to name Elijah Garcia a “loser” because he won his fight with Terrell Gausha. However, it seemed to all but two of the judges that Garcia had lost the contest. Adding to his misery is the fact that Gausha, like Kyrone Davis before him, seemingly exposed stylistic flaws in the 21-year-old that others will now attempt to exploit.
Judges Don Trella and Zachary Young –
The two men responsible for the above issues, Trella and Young, managed to help Garcia scrape through his bout with Gausha. Amazon Prime commentator Mauro Ranallo thundered about judging accountability as Gausha trudged off disconsolately.
The Sport of Boxing –
It’s been a tough 48 hours for the entire sport after heavyweight legend George Foreman passed away. That news was followed by the death of journalistic giant Colin Hart and then former lightweight world champion Livingstone Bramble. With one coming so closely after another, it felt like a three-punch combination across the weekend.
