TalkingBoxing Articles
Calvin Brock: America’s Last Heavyweight Hope
THURS, October 26 JULIUS STECKER -
Heavyweights are usually what drive the sport of boxing. There is nothing in sports quite like sitting ringside watching two Goliaths engage in a battle royal, trying to prove who is the better man. It is what gravitated sports fans to the division since the turn of the 20th century. But instead of a division being inhabited by the likes of Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Joe Frazier, and Muhammad Ali. It is now littered with the names of Oleg Maskeav, Nicolay Valuev, Wladimir Klitschko and Sergei Liakhovich. Names most people can’t even pronounce and fighters most people don’t even know. But folks these are your heavyweight champions, not names out of an Eastern European yellow pages.
Out of the heavyweight clutter we call contenders, sits a name and a man with promise. He goes by the name Calvin Brock. He is 29-0, with 22 KO’s, he is a former U.S. Olympian, and he holds a business degree from Charlotte University. But judging by most people’s knowledge of the fight game, most individuals outside of boxing probably have no clue who Brock is either. The boxing banker, as he is called, will get his opportunity at a title trinket and national respectability, when he engages Wladimir Klitschsko (46-3) for the IBF Heavyweight Title on Saturday November 11th at the legendary Madison Square Garden televised live on HBO boxing. Brock feels he is ready for this shot at Klitschko.
“I am just going in the there to win, I don’t care how I do it, whether it is by knockout or decision,” explained Brock. “I am having an excellent training camp.”
Going into this fight Brock is the underdog. In Klitschko he is facing an opponent who will have the edge in experience, punching power, and most other natural tools. But the area where Brock will have a big advantage is in the area of heart and fortitude. Those attributes were put on display when he fought top rated Jameel McCline in April of 2005. On that night he engaged the bigger and stronger McCline and controlled the majority of the fight with his speed and accuracy. In the 7th round he was hit with an excellent left hook that would have ended that night for most other heavyweights. But Brock is not most other heavyweights. He went down, shook it off, and he out-fought McCline the remainder of the fight. Winning a clear-cut decision. Brock will be counting on that determination to carry the day against Wladimir.
Ring Magazine currently rates Brock as the 9th best Heavyweight and Klitschko as the number 1 heavyweight. But many pundits feel that Brock is not ready, not seasoned enough for this fight. But those people said the same thing before the McCline fight, so Brock is not surprised.
“When I win it will be surprise for everybody else, but it won’t be a surprise to me,” said Brock. “I will win, and I will then be one of the best fighters in the world pound for pound.”
As Brock closes preparations on this fight, he knows he will be in for the fight of his life. If he wins, Brock will be the marquee man in the division, and maybe the heavyweight fighter boxing desperately needs.
Mayweather Returns November 4th
In the words of Dallas Cowboy’s wide receiver Terrell Owens, “Get your popcorn ready.” Boxing’s best and most talented fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. (36-0) returns looking to lay claim to the lineal and Ring Magazine Welterweight Crown. He will be taking on the hard-nosed champion Carlos Baldomir (43-9-6) November 4th at the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas live on HBO PPV in what promises to be an interesting fight.
Pretty Boy Floyd will be looking to put on a spectacular performance, hoping to set up super fights with the likes of Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley. Baldomir, who is coming off upsets wins over Zab Judah and Arturo Gatti, will be looking to pull the upset and prevent those super fights from happening. He was quoted in a recent conference call.
“Basically I do think he is the best fighter out there - as far as talent, but I think once we get together I think that I’m going to come out with the victory,” stated Baldomir.
Baldomir may feel he is going to win, but conventional thinking is that he won’t. Mayweather Jr. is better in every facet, and he should win this fight hands down, with the prospect of bigger fights on the horizon.
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