Post by Onyango Oloo on Sept 12, 2005 21:09:48 GMT 3
Here is an excerpt from a report posted on East Side Boxing.Com:
Joe Calzaghe Fails To Electrify In Cardiff
11.09.05 - By Fadi Khawaja
...The grand finale was upon us and the stadium was humid, packed and loud. This was the coup de grace but it failed to hit the mark. The first round saw Calzaghe come out boxing with a good strong southpaw jab. Calzaghe picked up on the fact he is stronger than Ashira and goes on the offensive, bossing Ashira around on the inside. At one point he let off a barrage of punches indicating he wanted an early night. Calzaghe got the crowd interested when a straight left makes Ashiras knees buckle.
The fight was in the bag as every time Ashira would step in Calzaghe would simply pick him off with his fast jab. As the fight progressed it saw Calzaghe disrespect Ashira but not directly. Initially he came out with hands high but the right hand quickly dropped. It is something Roy Jones Junior does; when his opponent is threatening he’ll fight with his hands up but as soon as he works them out or they are no longer a threat, down the hands go. Being the bigger fighter Calzaghe got physical making it an affair on the inside but not reminiscent of Corrales-Castillo. In the third, Calzaghe was outworking Ashira but his shots were landing on the gloves and so he should have gone to the body as it seemed the most open place. I noted ‘if JC turns his shots over he can finish’ but this is a flaw that has been with Calzaghe for a long time and will not change. He loops his shots, landing with the inside of his fist but he hasn’t got the footwork of Roy Jones to be able to continuously be at correct range with his feet so that the knuckles land.
Calzaghe was made to pay once when he traded a looping hook with compact hook from Byron Mitchell, this saw the latter winning that exchange, dumping Calzaghe on the seat of his pants for the first time in his career. Midway through the fight Calzaghe and Ashira fell into a pattern; they elected to trade on the inside with combinations that had no conviction on them. Ashira reminds me of Joe Frazier but he lacks the work rate, strength, trademark punch and chin to competently carry out this style. Like Muhammad Ali in the Frazier rematch, Calzaghe leaned or clinched Ashira when he started to bob and weave low to get on the inside. After the midway point Calzaghe’s style of fighting became repetitive. It saw him establish dominance with his right hand so to dictate the pace, a pace a fellow reporter called ‘boring’.
I talked to the reporter seated next to me and we highlight on Calzaghes punches lacking power and allude to the fact it is no secret he struggle to make weight. Much like Winky Wright versus Felix Trinidad the fight became repetitive to the extent that if you’ve seen one round you’ve seen them all. Calzaghe and Ashira are giving me nothing to write about so my eyes began to wonder. As I look around I see Frank Warren and Don King look at each other and sigh, it goes to show that even though promoters have vested interests, they still see the same fight everyone else does. I note in round ten that in the past few rounds every time Calzaghe comes back to his corner he shrugs as if to say ‘it is not working’. Perhaps his father was asking him do something but he was not being able to put the instructions into action. The finishing was protocol; the fight was never in doubt, it was a shutout.
I was intrigued to whether Calzaghes hand was injured or whether he was weight drained because I was expecting a twelfth round surge to try and close the show but my wish was not granted. Calzaghe with his fast hands is a talent but it is possible his best days are behind him or his hand possibly being injured really did hamper his performance.
So there you have it, the show didn’t finish with a bang but it was a good evening with a solid under card that followed the script.
It was the night of the undefeated as everyone on the bill who won was undefeated except for Gary Lockett who was technically undefeated having an avenged his split decision loss to Yuri Tsarenko.
Results:
Super Middleweight – Joe Calzaghe UD12 Evans Ashira
Referees: Mark Nelson / Judge: Renato Caddeo 120-107 / Judge: Henk Adriaansen 120-108 | Judge: Paul Thomas 120-108
WBO Super Middleweight Title
Joe Calzaghe Fails To Electrify In Cardiff
11.09.05 - By Fadi Khawaja
...The grand finale was upon us and the stadium was humid, packed and loud. This was the coup de grace but it failed to hit the mark. The first round saw Calzaghe come out boxing with a good strong southpaw jab. Calzaghe picked up on the fact he is stronger than Ashira and goes on the offensive, bossing Ashira around on the inside. At one point he let off a barrage of punches indicating he wanted an early night. Calzaghe got the crowd interested when a straight left makes Ashiras knees buckle.
The fight was in the bag as every time Ashira would step in Calzaghe would simply pick him off with his fast jab. As the fight progressed it saw Calzaghe disrespect Ashira but not directly. Initially he came out with hands high but the right hand quickly dropped. It is something Roy Jones Junior does; when his opponent is threatening he’ll fight with his hands up but as soon as he works them out or they are no longer a threat, down the hands go. Being the bigger fighter Calzaghe got physical making it an affair on the inside but not reminiscent of Corrales-Castillo. In the third, Calzaghe was outworking Ashira but his shots were landing on the gloves and so he should have gone to the body as it seemed the most open place. I noted ‘if JC turns his shots over he can finish’ but this is a flaw that has been with Calzaghe for a long time and will not change. He loops his shots, landing with the inside of his fist but he hasn’t got the footwork of Roy Jones to be able to continuously be at correct range with his feet so that the knuckles land.
Calzaghe was made to pay once when he traded a looping hook with compact hook from Byron Mitchell, this saw the latter winning that exchange, dumping Calzaghe on the seat of his pants for the first time in his career. Midway through the fight Calzaghe and Ashira fell into a pattern; they elected to trade on the inside with combinations that had no conviction on them. Ashira reminds me of Joe Frazier but he lacks the work rate, strength, trademark punch and chin to competently carry out this style. Like Muhammad Ali in the Frazier rematch, Calzaghe leaned or clinched Ashira when he started to bob and weave low to get on the inside. After the midway point Calzaghe’s style of fighting became repetitive. It saw him establish dominance with his right hand so to dictate the pace, a pace a fellow reporter called ‘boring’.
I talked to the reporter seated next to me and we highlight on Calzaghes punches lacking power and allude to the fact it is no secret he struggle to make weight. Much like Winky Wright versus Felix Trinidad the fight became repetitive to the extent that if you’ve seen one round you’ve seen them all. Calzaghe and Ashira are giving me nothing to write about so my eyes began to wonder. As I look around I see Frank Warren and Don King look at each other and sigh, it goes to show that even though promoters have vested interests, they still see the same fight everyone else does. I note in round ten that in the past few rounds every time Calzaghe comes back to his corner he shrugs as if to say ‘it is not working’. Perhaps his father was asking him do something but he was not being able to put the instructions into action. The finishing was protocol; the fight was never in doubt, it was a shutout.
I was intrigued to whether Calzaghes hand was injured or whether he was weight drained because I was expecting a twelfth round surge to try and close the show but my wish was not granted. Calzaghe with his fast hands is a talent but it is possible his best days are behind him or his hand possibly being injured really did hamper his performance.
So there you have it, the show didn’t finish with a bang but it was a good evening with a solid under card that followed the script.
It was the night of the undefeated as everyone on the bill who won was undefeated except for Gary Lockett who was technically undefeated having an avenged his split decision loss to Yuri Tsarenko.
Results:
Super Middleweight – Joe Calzaghe UD12 Evans Ashira
Referees: Mark Nelson / Judge: Renato Caddeo 120-107 / Judge: Henk Adriaansen 120-108 | Judge: Paul Thomas 120-108
WBO Super Middleweight Title