Snips and Snipes 3 November 2022: Boxing Convention Season
By Eric Armit
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 05 Nov 2022
The sanctioning body Convention season is upon us. The Conventions are not so dissimilar to political Conventions. Because they only happen once a year there are always situations that have built up and the Convention is the place where people get a chance to air their views and state their case. A lot of important decisions will be made regarding champion’s obligations and agreement of challengers/ eliminators always a session that sees harsh words spoken as promoters fight over the decisions.
There will be deals done in quiet corners. The Ratings Committee will attempt the impossible task of pleasing everyone and then be prepared to fight their corner when delegates try to skew the ratings to favour their own boxer. There will a lot of work of which general attendees will see very little but that are important. The shared learning at the Ring Official’s and Medical seminars are important as it is the only time when shared experiences from the various people involved can get aired. They are not the sexiest part of the Convention but in some ways every bit as important as any other sessions.
Each of the sanctioning bodies will also give a presentation on the charity work they are doing and all four bodies deserve credit for that. There is a “star gazing” side with the honouring of various fighters and the attendance of many more all accessible to attendees as at the Hallof Fame. There are various dinners which can actually present an opportunity to build bridges and mend fences and for those who are directly involved in whichever sanctioning body a family spirit is engendered with strong ties. It is also difficult to anticipate what might happen.
In my time with the WBC Ratings Committee, I saw a delegation get up and walkout before the Convention business even started-the Convention was being held in their country! I saw two members of a US Commission rolling around swapping punches on a casino floor (long, long time ago and names never to be revealed so don’t ask). I have seen Hector Camacho in spangled pedal pants jiving the night away. I have seen the Chairman of the Ratings Committee get into an argument with Jose Sulaiman over the heavyweight division and stomp from the Convention stage leaving me to present the Ratings. In the context of the ratings at the Convention I had the late Mickey Duff’s arm around my shoulder-and also shouting in my face. I had Bob Arum verbally tearing strips off me and lost every argument I ever had with Don King. All part of the rich tapestry that is the annual sanctioning body Convention.
The WBC Bridgerweight division really has had problems getting off the ground and is still stumbling along. The first fight for a Bridgerweight title was for the WBC Latino belt in April 2021 and the first for the main title in October 2021 when Oscar Rivas outpointed Ryan Rozicki who was just a cruiserweight who beefed up to fight Rivas and was 19lbs lighter than Rivas. It looked as though South African Kevin Lerena might be interested in challenging for the tile but he has moved up to heavyweight. It also looked as though Rivas would defend the title against Pole Lukasz Rozanski in Colombia but that has fallen through due to the promoter not meeting his obligations amidst allegations of some shady dealings. The hope now is that perhaps a Polish promoter might pick up the Rivas vs. Rozanski fight and save the day. The division won’t disappear as no division adopted in the modern era has but the WBC are still the only body recognising the division and neither Box Rec nor Ring Magazine give it any recognition. I guess the good news is that with Bridgerweight filling the “gap” between cruiserweight and heavyweight (200-224 lbs) and the introduction of the Atomweight (102lbs) division there is no room for any more divisions-I hope.
With the receipts from Saul Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin III and Deontay Wilder vs. Robert Helenius falling short of expectation I fear for the financial outcome for Tyson Fury vs. Dereck Chisora but one good thing that will come out of it is a suitable reward for Chisora who in fifteen years as a pro has never dodged an opponent. No, he doesn’t deserve a title shot but he does deserve whatever he is paid for this fight.
The WBA lightweight title fight in Abu Dhabi on Saturday between Dmitrii Bivol and Gilberto Ramirez is a great pairing. Difficult to pick a winner. Bivol had the style and intelligence to beat Saul Alvarez but whether it will be the same against a totally different 6’2 ½” southpaw Gilberto Ramirez we will have to wait and see. It’s great to see a title being contested by fighters with combined records of 64-0. If Bivol retains the title there will be no quick return against Alvarez as he has said that he wants his wrist to heal properly and may not fight again until September next year. Since his fight with Golovkin was in September this year that will mean a year without a genuine title fight in the super middleweight division.
I feel a spate of temporary (interim) title fights coming over the hill. I bet the WBA are kicking themselves for dropping their temporary titles. The secondary WBA super middleweight title holder David Morrell defends against Aidos Yerbossynuly on Saturday. At this stage Cuban Morrell and Yerbossynuly have such low profiles that this is one fight that has not set the world alight. Interesting fights on the undercard will see England’s Chantelle Cameron and Chicago’s Jessica McCaskill contest the nap hand of female titles at super lightweight. McCaskill holds the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC and WBO belts at welterweight. Cameron will be putting her IBF and WBC super lightweight belts on the line and they will also fight for the vacant IBO, WBA and WBO belts so yet another unifier for the female titles. In another title bout Zelfa Barrett and Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov will contest the vacant IBF super featherweight title.
The nickname of “Barbie” might give people the wrong impression of the legendary Mexican female fighter Mariana Juarez. Now 42 and after 71 fights and more than 527 rounds in a 24-year career she has obviously planned well for the future and last month graduated with a Batchelor of Arts in Business Administration. No barbie doll for sure but a smart and accomplished woman.
When is a riot not a riot-when a publicist says so. The Ghanaian Board have been running a Boxing League pitting gyms against each other as part of a plan to develop boxing there. Unfortunately at the last league tournament when a boxer lost, his coach encouraged his team’s supporters to protest, they then “invaded the ring, broke chairs and tables and threw water bottles and missiles at innocent ring officials in the ring. Some spectators and dignitaries at the ring side. “The Ghana Borad have taken strong action handing the coach a one year ban and a fine. The publicist descried what occurred as a “misunderstanding”. I guess his idea of a riot might need the use of AK47’s and RPG’s to qualify.
Sorry to hear that former IBF featherweight champion Billy Dib is fighting stomach cancer. Billy lost his wife to Leukaemia six years ago. An investigation of stomach pains he was having revealed a cancerous tumour. He has had surgery for the removal of the tumour and is recovering. Best wishes for this battle Billy.
Sometimes you look at a scheduled fight and think WHAT! One such is Jarrell Miller fighting in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania tomorrow night-4 November - against Awadh Tamim very strange.
The EBU have put the fight between Peter Kadiru and Agit Kabayel for purse offers by 17 November. Kabayel is a former undefeated champion and it looks a very risky fight for Kadiru.
Top Photo: An award presentation during one of the WBO's annual convention.
About the Author
Born in Scotland, Eric Armit started working with Boxing News magazine in the UK in the late 1960’s initially doing records for their Boxing News Annual and compiling World, European and Commonwealth ratings for the magazine. He wrote his first feature article for Boxing News in 1973 and wrote a “World Scene” weekly column for the magazine from the late 1970’s until 2004. Armit wrote a monthly column for Boxing Digest in the USA and contributed pieces to magazines in Mexico, Italy, Australia, Spain, Argentina and other countries. Armit now writes a Weekly Report covering every major fight around the world and a bi-weekly Snips & Snipes column plus occasional general interest articles with these being taken up by boxing sites around the world. He was a member of the inaugural WBC Ratings Committee and a technical advisor to the EBU Ratings Committee and was consulted by John McCain’s research team when they were drafting the Ali Act. He is a Director and former Chairman of the Commonwealth Boxing Council. Armit has been nominated to the International Boxing Hall of Fame the past two years (2019 and 2020) to which he said, “Being on the list is an unbelievably huge honour.”
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eric Armit.
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