Stevenson & Hernandez Latest to Be Stripped of Titles
It’s a sad time for boxing when a number of its greatest talents are being stripped of the accolades they worked so hard to capture. Why it happens is beyond the scope of this article, so I’ll just skip to the facts while I can still muster the enthusiasm to write about the tedious subject of shiny, gold things.
Adonis Stevenson and Yoan Pablo Hernandez have been stripped of their RING world titles. Why this has happened is very simple. To maintain possession of a world title, generally speaking, boxers must fight regularly (at least every 18 months) and against decent opposition/mandatory challengers. But neither man has been.
Hernandez has barely thought since 2012, but, to be fair, he has been plagued with numerous injuries. Stevenson, on the other hand, has been facing a band of fringe contenders since defeating Chad Dawson in 2013. And no, I cannot be bothered to write a list of the fringe contenders.
Boxing certainly needs a cleanup in this area. With Guillermo Rigondeaux being recently stripped of his WBA variety, and Miguel Cotto basically telling the WBC to stick their title up their backside last week, now is the time for reform. Whatever that may be.
David Haye to Face Mark de Mori in January
The ‘Hayemaker’ actually did it. After failing to do good on his comeback promises on several occasions, the two-weight champ finally made his return to the ring official. Haye, now 35, will be resuming his ‘glamour division’ campaign, set to face Mark de Mori on January 16th.
So, is this a good fight to help shake off three years of ring rust (due to a shoulder injury) with? And more importantly, who the heck is de Mori? To be fair, de Mori doesn’t look all that bad. He’s a bona fide contender-type, but Haye could have picked far worse. De Mori, 33, carries a 79% KO ratio from his 33 ring outings, which means he can bang. He’s also on a 21 fight winning streak.
Will it be enough to conquer Haye? Probably not. But let’s remember the alternatives could have easily been Derek Chisora or…I don’t know…Audley Harrison?
Now approaching the twilight of his career, at least we know Haye will be targeting some of the division’s biggest names soon, probably starting in his next bout. Fights with countrymen such as Dillian Whyte, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua shouldn’t be too hard to make. In fact, provided Haye beats de Mori – and looks good – we can all expect one of those clashes to come together in 2016.
Anthony Joshua Backing Wladimir Klitschko at Weekend
It’s not the most patriotic of statements to come out with, but at least the uber prospect is being honest. Joshua, who is set to collide with rival Dillian Whyte in December, believes Wladimir Klitschko will trump Tyson Fury on Saturday.
Joshua, an Olympic gold medalist and devastating power puncher, also said he expects Fury to pile on the pressure from the onset, making the most of his opportunity in Dusseldorf. Should Fury prevail, he’d clear Klitschko’s bursting trophy cabinet, capturing the IBF, WBA, WBO and RING titles.
“It will be a great fight and it’s brilliant for boxing both in Britain and on the world stage,” Joshua told The RING. “Tyson and Wladimir are two very different personalities which makes it even more interesting for the casual fan. The result is difficult to call, both have knockouts on their record and anything can happen in heavyweight boxing.
“The fight will be action packed right from round one. I think Fury will come out with nothing to lose, his style is to throw a lot of punches but ultimately I think Klitschko’s class will shine through and he will win.”
What’s your take on The RING’s decision to strip Adonis Stevenson and Yoan Pablo Hernandez, the news of David Haye’s comeback, and Anthony Joshua’s Klitschko vs Fury prediction? Unload your thoughts in the comments.
Stripping titles from non-contenders is absolutely necessary for boxing titles to be meaningful. Real contenders who want to challenge title holders should be given that opportunity within a reasonable amount of time. Let’s face it, the competition in light heavyweight is just too stiff for Stevenson, when you’ve got guys like Kovalev and Beterbiev chomping on the bit. Cotto played that game in the middleweight division and Alvarez may be waiting for Golovkin to get old with his catch weight gambit. Ward rested on his celebrity laurels too long in the super-middleweight division but got a load of guts when he moved up in weight to take on Kovalev. Wilder was doing the chicken bum run in the heavyweight division but WBC finally got wise and made him take on a real challenger in Povetkin. Klitschko is consistently taking on decent opponents and likely beat Fury like Joshua says. Joshua will be unstoppable likely take all Klitschko’s titles in a few years.
Thanks for the comment, Roy. Sounds like you know your stuff. Personally, I’d love to see sanctioning bodies put a lot more pressure on their champions. Would it be asking too much for them to force their champions to face a mandatory challenger in every title defense? Perhaps I’m dreaming, and perhaps there’d be a lot of vacant world titles if that was the case!