On June 20, 1980 Montreal 1976 Olympic gold medalist Sugar Ray Leonard faced the greatest lightweight of all time Roberto Duran thus kicking off the golden age of middleweights, an era chronicled by George Kimball in his forthcoming book Four Kings. Duran outlasted Leonard in the Brawl in Montreal winning a narrow 15-round decision. Leonard, who had turned pro immediately after Games, was now 27-1 and had just lost the WBC welterweight belt.

On June 20, 2008 Athens 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward faced the serviceable Dominican fighter Jerson Ravelo winning with an 8th round TKO. Ward, who had turned pro immediately after the Games, is now 16-0, has no title, and is unranked in Ring Magazine’s list of the top 10 super middleweights.

Andre Ward was the only United States boxing gold medalist in 2004 and with that comes expectations and comparisons. His career is currently moving on a glacial pace. Is it indicative of a lack of ambition, a different more babying era of sport, a lack of talent, or poor promotion? Maybe all of the above. Ward looked average, sloppy, and undisciplined in defeating Ravelo. He needs to increase the quality of competition, the frequency of his bouts, and his learning curve if he is to live up to his possibilities.

Maybe comparing the light heavyweight medal winning Ward to the light welterweight winning Leonard is unfair. OK. In 1976 Leon Spinks won the light heavyweight gold medal. Less than two years after his Montreal win Spinks faced Muhammed Ali for the heavyweight championship of the world. Spinks shockingly defeated the “greatest of all time” and became the undisputed champ in only his eighth pro fight.

Ward’s eighth fight was a six round 2006 unanimous decision win against Kendall Gould. From 2004-06 Gould was 2-8.

Below is a youtube video of Ward’s KO of Jerson Ravelo:

Photo Source: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Olympian Andre Ward Finally Takes a Small Step Up

In the mail today I received an advanced copy of George Kimball’s forthcoming book Four Kings. The book profiles the four great middleweights of what the book’s subtitle refers to as “The Last Great Era of Boxing”: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, and Duran. No first names are needed.

I’m usually the first person to dismiss and be angered by baby boomer claims that athletes were different then and that their era of sports was the best. The glorious eighties. Problem is that when I am confronted with their challenge of “well then, whose a great middleweight now?” I can only stammer back with Kelly Pavlik.

I’m not saying The Ghost isn’t as talented as those luminaries but what evidence do I have? I guess Jermain Taylor but his fight two Saturday’s ago against Gary Lockett was so appalling and such a mismatch that I didn’t blog about it. It wasn’t exactly news.

Pavlik’s biggest excuse is that he’s only 26 and still has time. What’s Joe Calzaghe’s excuse? He’s spent his whole career running from the top competition, sequestering himself in the Welsh countryside. Talks continue to fester about him fighting 39-year-old Roy Jones, Jr. and skipping out on Pavlik. “It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that (Pavlik and I) will face each other, but I think Jones is the right fight for me at the moment.” Calzaghe told reporters.

What he’s telling boxing and his fans is that he doesn’t and never has cared about them or the greater context of his sport.

And that’s his priority. It’s his body that he’s putting on the line and his career he has to look after. Is that fair to us as fans? Does it really matter?

All we can hope for is that another talented set of fighters come again and choose to fight each other in their primes. Is that such a crazy concept?

Photo Source: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

When Will Another Four Kings Ever Return?