Boxing: So Far in 2019

Boxing: So Far in 2019

By Michael Rueda

Sadly I feel we have to start with the extremely sad news of the fighters who have passed away in the recent weeks and months.

Maxim Dadashev, Hugo Santillan, and Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker. We lost them within a span of a little over 10 days.

Whitaker we lost in a terrible accident. The other two we lost with them giving every single ounce in the ring and then having nothing left to give. We love the sport, it is beautiful and amazing, but it’s also exceedingly violent and a heavy price is sometimes paid, the sport can be hard to love at times.

The loss of these fighters made me do a bit of a sit back as I had actually met Maxim and talked with him and seen his improvements as a fighter and when I witnessed essentially his last few moments it had an effect on me.

Do I still love the sport? Do I still want to watch it? Well I do and I will continue to watch it. The outpouring from fans and so many boxers for these fighters who lost their lives was beautiful and it just made me realise the sport we love is highly dangerous.

But the fighters who step in the ring know the very real dangers of what they do, they truly are a different breed.

This year so far has given us many great upsets and there have been too many to list them all, so here is a little selection.

1: Ruiz vs Joshua

Anthony Joshua outside of Canelo Alvarez is the worldwide star. He had set a match with American Jarell Miller, but after multiple failed tests Miller was removed and other opponents said no. Ruiz who had fought on April 20th called for the fight and was given the shot.

Most in the media and fans alike did not give Ruiz a shot, but some did acknowledge his skill and hand speed could provide some trouble. Joshua was steady early and landed a booming knockdown in round 3 and many said that’s all. Ruiz didn’t abide responded by returning the favour and dropped Joshua twice in the round and later on in round 7 dropped Joshua two more times and the boxing world was stunned.

2: Cancio vs Machado

Andrew Cancio was looked at going into this fight as a bit of a stay busy fight. He had been recently retired has a day job and Machado was an undefeated Puerto Rican fighter under the guidance of Freddie Roach. He had plans and ideas going forward. Cancio had his own. Machado dropped Cancio early and you say oh well there it is, but Cancio decided to change it all. In round 4 Cancio dropped Machado with a vicious body shot and followed it up with two more knockdowns and the fight was stopped. Cancio won a rematch a few months later to solidify his first victory.

3: Cano vs Linares

In the fight previous to this Jorge Linares had given a valiant effort in knocking down pound for pound great Vasiliy Lomachenko before being stopped in 11 rounds. For this fight with Cano he took on a battle tested strong hitting veteran.

Linares had moved up for this fight and was trying to win and immediately get a big fight in this weight class, but Cano said no. Cano dropped Linares 3 times in the first round and the crowd was stunned as it was called off and Linares saw his quick venture to 140 crash and burn.

4: Jean Pascal vs Marcus Browne

Now this one in comparison to the others may be the most stunning as Pascal had recently retired, came back a bit and had lost a recent match with Dmitry Bivol.

Pascal is a solid name, but a fighter who many saw as past his prime. Browne, on the other hand was a mandatory, but legal issues made his shot for the moment slide away, so he was back winning a tough fight against Badou Jack earlier in the year was looking to go from this into a title fight.

Browne was actually winning the fight outlanding Pascal by double, but he was dropped 3 different times and caused him to drop those points and in the 8th round following a bad cut to Browne the fight was stopped and Pascal won a Technical Decision and Browne lost for the first time.

More than likely this fight will have a rematch after the cut from Browne fully heals, but in the meantime it lands on the upset list.