By: Sean Crose
If you follow boxing you surely know by now that this past weekend proved to largely be a dud. Ryan Garcia got dropped by Rolly Romero, then let Romero essentially cruise to a decision win. It was a huge upset, but many fans were disappointed. Yet Devin Haney, shockingly, managed to perform less impressively than Garcia. While fighting Jose Ramirez, it almost looked like Haney was trying to imitate Muhammad Ali at Ali’s fleet footed best. The difference was that Ali snapped off jabs as he bounced around the ring. Haney seemed to be unaware of that fact. Sure, the former lightweight king won the fight, but he clearly didn’t win over new fans.
All of this went down Friday in Times Square, a well intended choice of venue that proved to be awkward. The following night, in Saudi Arabia, Canelo Alvarez faced an obscure titlist named William Scull, a man who also bounced around refusing to throw. As has been pointed out, Scull seemed quite happy with his performance. Again, though, it was like Ali floating like a butterfly while refusing to sting like a bee. Some felt Scull should have won since Canelo didn’t handle him well. Scull was a nightmare opponent for anyone in that he barely did anything effectively. Avoiding an opponent and running from one are two distinct things, which is why Canelo got the win from the judges. Scull either didn’t realize that or didn’t care.
Fortunately, Naoya Inoue and Ramon Cardenes kept the weekend from being a total dud by going to war Sunday evening in Vegas. Cardenes dropped Inoue early on, then proceeded to give the man a real fight. The forceful Inoue rose to the occasion after rising from the mat, ultimately winning a war of attrition via stoppage. Unfortunately, however, Inoue and Cardenes (with the addition of Teofimo Lopez, who looked great in Times Square on Friday) were the exception last weekend rather than the rule. Looking at Friday, Saturday and Sunday objectively, it’s worth asking what went wrong. For that answer, one must look for Garcia, Haney, Scull and Canelo for answers. People can blame Turki Al-Sheikh for Friday’s fiasco all they want, but the truth is he’s only guilty for putting on a great card in a bad location Friday. It’s not his fault Canelo and Haney decided to underperform. Or that Canelo couldn’t stop Scull.
So why did these esteemed pros underperform? Haney is taking a lot of criticism, but the truth is that he was beaten so badly by a (intentionally or not) juiced Garcia a year ago that he’s lost his confidence and is likely gun shy. Let’s hope he warms back up to being in combat. Garcia is a more complex matter. He’s long suffered from some outside the ring issues, so that certainly may have had something to do with the loss to Romero. Then again, fighting clean may have had something to do with the defeat, as well. Either way, there’s no sugar coating that he has some work to do if he wants to return to the ring. As for Scull, people are saying he had no interest in fighting. I think he felt he WAS fighting. That’s on him and his team, though. Perhaps if he threw more, things would have turned out differently.
Which leads us to Canelo. The truth is that it’s hard to face a man who doesn’t wish to fight. As for those who feel a younger version of Canelo would have performed better, they may well be right. No one can beat Father Time, though, and it may be a stretch to call Canelo a lazy fighter. Now that he’s set to fight Terence Crawford in September, Canelo’s going to want to look better than he did on Saturday night in Vegas. Without doubt Crawford will come prepared – and he won’t be running around the ring, either.
When seen as a whole it appears last weekend was just “one of those things.” What if it wasn’t, though? What if there were more to it than fighters simply having bad nights at the same time? Haney is 26. So is Garcia. Could it be that the argument that people throw around is true – that younger fighters don’t have heart today – that when things go south they fall apart? It might be, but that’s quite an accusation to make. Again, it might be true, but it’s also worth remembering that Garcia and Haney may have brought some extra luggage into the ring with them on Friday. Let’s also not forget that 29 year old Cardenas fought like a warrior on Sunday. We’re going to need some more evidence before we dismiss an entire generation of talented fighters. At the moment, however, the future might not look nearly as bright for some of this weekend’s star attractions than it did a week ago.