Stiverne/Arreola II - A Classic Heavyweight Title Fight & Jack Reiss Helps

It is interesting that the true champion of the heavyweight division, Wladimir Klitschko, may never hear that he was in a classic title fight, or any classic fight at all, despite his Hall of Fame lock of a career, yet Bermane Stiverne and Chris Arreola get to say it. Neither gets to call themselves the top heavyweight in the division for now but they both get to have that badge of honour over the champion. Last night, with Pete Rose, Mario Lopez and Deontay Wilder in attendance, and Don King waiting to get back a major heavyweight titlist after so long, Bermane Stiverne, trailing on most cards that I've seen, in a genuine heavyweight dustup, found the equilibrium button on Cristobal Arreola. Two men battled for some history as one tried to be the first Haitian-born fighter to earn a major heavyweight title and the other tried to be the first Mexican-blooded fighter to do it.

Stiverne beat Arreola convincingly again, sure enough, but this time he was losing and this time he knocked his man out. It didn't play out like many saw it-a perfect repeat. It took dramatic twists and turns. Contrary to Stiverne's bizarre post-fight assessment that he'd only been hit with one decent punch (a body shot) during the night after taking quite a few bombs which clearly caught his attention, both fighters landed huge punches from the opening round. Arreola took an early and aggressive lead and then at the end of round one Stiverne found a few left hooks that shook Arreola up. In the second it turned back in Arreola's favour as he drove Stiverne to the ropes. Arreola's jab was excellent in this fight, and Stiverne was excellent at timing it at the tail end. It was exciting, tense action. Referee Jack Reiss did an exemplary job and knowing the resilience of Arreola, he gave him a chance that some may have disagreed with, and perhaps it would have been questioned if something medically traumatic had occurred. Thankfully, we did not have an Abdusalamov moment in this one, brutal as it was.


The decision by Reiss that I'm mentioning is following the second knockdown, where Arreola got up and clearly didn't have his balance. He wobbles, you see. He's not quite right upon rising. It's a small thing, perhaps, in the grand scheme of the event, but it is absolutely not an insignificant thing. It reminded me a lot of a Tim Bradley knockdown suffered at the hands of Ruslan Provodnikov where many a ref would've said that was it, "You got up, son, but you're not all there. Good try. But no more." The referee that night gave Tim, a man known for having inspirational tenacity even before that match, a questionable chance to continue. And Bradley won. Raul Caiz Senior played a part in a classic that night by making a judgment call involving a supremely resilient fighter. Jack Reiss gave Chris Arreola that chance to come back. Chris mentioned that maybe he was stopped prematurely. But I hope he sees in hindsight that if anything, he was given the perfect amount of opportunity by Reiss, who could've stopped it sooner and been thoroughly justified. This is a chance that these days you don't see in a lot of big United Kingdom fights, a place which has become notorious among the hardcore of boxing fans for contentious stoppages, with fans being disturbed by the thought that fights of all levels are given premature endings on the regular. And not out of cautious refereeing but out of bad refereeing. Out of either "hometown" corruption or blatant incompetence. I use the UK as an example because I can't go two weeks without hearing the term "British stoppage" and Jack Reiss is the kind of guy I'd like to see teaching a course in the UK after Saturday night.

Now, one of the reasons why I support this decision and think it was good work, even in retrospect, knowing now that Arreola would still be stopped soon after, is that A. Arreola did go the distance with Stiverne previously and B. Arreola's history must give context, as he's so well known to his followers for roaring back after being hurt and pulling out victories. A fighter's history matters. Like Bradley's history mattered in the Provodnikov match, Arreola's history mattered here, no matter what would happen; he should've gotten that chance, I say. Some guys fight well while hurt and if you have that ability, if you're known not to freeze up, defenselessly, when hurt, even in a questionable circumstance, with so much on the line, you should probably be given the benefit of the doubt if your corner doesn't throw in the towel. You had too hotly a contested match with too proven a fighter to stop it there. Split seconds matter in recovering during a match and even though the referee is within his right to call a fight if a man gets up wobbling and stumbling, he does not have to. And if the context is on the side of the fighter, the ref shouldn't call it. If you've proven your mettle in these situations, even though it's dangerous, it can still be a good call on the referee's part to give you more leeway than an unproven fighter might get, or in a fight that isn't particularly competitive. I support Jack Reiss, and think he did a great job here and saved the match from a lot of what-ifs. 

So, the boxing world can applaud two true warriors for putting on a classic, one true warrior for making history, one fine referee for wisdom, and arguably boxing's greatest hairdo for a huge promoter victory in his old age.



Work that bag,
Basement Gym Boxing

 
Thanks for stopping by our place. Here are some other pages you might enjoy:

Deontay Wilder Dances. A lot.

Roy Jones Junior celebrates stopping Merqui, who is anti-celebrating by shoving the referee in anger


Bernard Hopkins stares down Don King at a weigh-in, after years of animosity

Luis Ortiz: Yet Another Puzzling Cuban Heavyweight, And In Puzzling FS1 Choice

Cuban heavyweight prospect, Luis Ortiz, a tank of a man, to be sure, is 35-years-old, since March of this year. 35-years-old. He has been a professional fighter for over four years. He turned pro off of hundreds of amateur fights. It was just a few months shy of fourteen years ago when young Wladimir Klitschko, the current 38-year-old heavyweight champion of the world, beat up a 23-1 Monte Barrett. It was about seven years ago that now retired Nikolay Valuev stopped Barrett in their fight. It was about five years ago when David Haye, who could now be forced into retirement by a broken down shoulder, took Barrett out in what was commonly referred to as a lackluster campaign to get the best deal in a shot at Klitschko's world title. Barrett was then knocked out by Odlanier Solis and unanimously decisioned by Alexander Ustinov the following year. Three consecutive losses to prospects there. It was about two years ago when Barrett last fought, getting viciously knocked out by underdog Shane Cameron, and about three since he last won a fight, against what is hopefully a now finally retired David Tua.

This version of Monte Barrett, this is a big fight for Luis Ortiz, after four years as a professional. He's only three years younger than the current heavyweight champion, note it, who has been among the sport's longest reigning champions and thought to be nearing the end of the road himself. This, this was FS1's choice of a main event. An almost surefire mismatch for a heavyweight prospect that wasn't even slightly hot and whose fights are even an obscurity on youtube.com, let alone cable television. I am puzzled by both Ortiz's career and FS1's choice in main events. But, that said, I was still glad to see Ortiz's fight televised. I was. I think he's interesting. 

Is Luis Ortiz a much hyped prospect? Not at all. As I said, he lives in relative obscurity, even to boxing's fans, and even to boxing's hardcore heavyweight fans. Is he a no-hoper who hasn't shown enough skill to get noticed? Oh no. I think he's highly capable and could be-isn't yet, hasn't been-but could be an interesting part of the heavyweight landscape. Is he one of those purported to be too small for the "super" heayweights and too big for cruiserweight? Nope. He's a fullly-sized, made-to-order heavyweight, at 6'4 and 240ish pounds of pretty natural looking bulk, with a wide back and hips. No one is asking him what weight class he is in, I don't think. "The real King Kong" is not an ironic size nickname he's got.

So, why is Monte Barrett, albeit a former title challenger and very solid name, but at 42, inactive, many times decimated, a step up of any kind for Ortiz in the eyes of most? And why is Luis Ortiz known to so few? I don't have the answer. He is, yet another, Cuban heavyweight oddity. For Cuban oddity, he matches Odlanier Solis, another natural heavyweight, with an even finer amateur background, who has actually gotten the opportunities for big professional fights, and displayed some excellent skills. Solis? Can't seem to bring it all together for conditioning and determination. Ortiz? Again, he's just stepped up to a highly worn version of Monte Barrett. These careers do not reflect talent levels.

I honestly think a lot of these Cuban heavyweights with hundreds of amateur fights have simply burned out their competitive desires by the time they turn pro. I recall seeing Solis, in one of his earliest pro fights on television and thinking 'Is this really the guy I saw against David Haye in the amateurs?' and as I watch him now, against the likes of Tony Thompson, getting outworked by a fat man in his forties, I think 'Is this really the guy I saw against David Haye in the amateurs?' I hope Ortiz does not provide similar determination and dedication, should he get a reasonably big fight to test him.


What did he do with Barrett on his main event opportunity? He decisively had him out-gunned and out-skilled and took advantage, never looking like it was any more serious than you'd think it was. It doesn't mean that much at this stage but I must wonder why this got a serious television date and whether or not he's going to have a serious fight sometime soon. All fights are serious, but you know I mean seriously enough to be considered a world class of fight. Oh, if this had happened in late 2011, with Barret coming off of his Tua victory and Ortiz barely into his pro career, instead of four years into it, I could understand some intrigue in the match, I suppose, a little. Enough for a random main event on FS1, at least. But this left a bitter taste in my mouth, I suppose.

He stumbled and cut Barrett with a big left in the first round and you could tell by their body language what was likely. He stumbled Barrett in the second with another big left. Barrett seemed to take the punches better in the third. He took them just the same. He just reacted better and landed a few. In the fourth, Referee Raul Caiz Senior called the fight in an oddly quick way as Barrett looked in pain, going down to a knee, after taking a shot to the nose (I assumed it broke the nose immediately, the way it looked). I don't have much  problem with the stoppage, as I'm sure the referee knew Barrett was not taking the punches well from round one anyway. If he had a broken nose on top of that, what was likely to be gained by letting it continue?

So, for Ortiz: Good performance against an opponent that is almost certainly with one foot and three quarters of another foot out of the sport. But still a good performance. Calm but not passive. Dominant but damaging (no amateurish shoe-shining for points). Very professional. 

For Barrett: Is he finally done with a career full of taking the hard road? Because, it seems like he always has, and with little benefit. I used to have a little admiration for it but now it's turned to wariness when I see him set up in these matches. I have no urge to see him walk in, deck stacked against him, and get stepped on like a, well, a stepping stone, for some new prospect. And I don't support FS1 or any other channel giving the status of a main event to another instance of this. Granted, it's going to happen as long as boxing exists, these kinds of matches, but hasn't it happened enough to Monte Barrett on television? I hope he's able to retire after this and decides to do it. He may never have been a major title holder but Barrett has been a good road warrior and done a lot.



Work that bag,
Basement Gym Boxing