WildWaylon wrote:Would you carefully select opponents for your prospects until you thought they were up to challenging for a title ? - Would you help them to avoid certain fighters so they remain unbeaten ? - We have all been critical saying he over protects his fighters and matches them against opponents who they are unlikely to lose to ie Calzaghe/Manfredo Macca/Gunn - Q1 would you have done things differently? and Q2 do you think he is making better matches since he lost his exclusive contract with ITV and moved to Setanta? - Q3 Do you think he deserves his award?
Good questions, Waylon. My attempts at answers as follows:
1. I think it is wise not to match prospects too tough too soon. Extreme examples would be David Reid and Fernando Vargas who suffered brutal beatings at the fists of Trinidad and, consequently, ended up ruined before entering their primes. There is, of course, the opposite extreme which sees fighters over-protected for too long and ill-prepared for the step-up in class when it finally arrives. A case in point might be Nicky Cook who was 27-0 - his 27th win coming against the decent, but decidedly ordinary Harry Ramogoadi - when entering the lion's den for his 28th contest against a world-class operator in Steve Luevano and, despite the number of ‘W’s and the ‘0’ in the ‘L’ column, found himself out of his depth. In such cases, the preservation of the '0' at all costs can backfire and a devastating first loss can impact negatively on a fighter’s self-confidence. I hope Kevin Mitchell isn’t going the same way: 24-0, but, with all due respect to his opponents, he has faced nobody of note. The Johanneson fight would have been a step in the right direction, but even Carl, good domestic fighter though he is, falls short at European level and, if Mitchell is to mix in world class at some point, he should have moved beyond the Commonwealth belt he currently holds.
On the other hand, not all SN fighters are progressed slowly. Hamed was taking the European crown from world-class veteran Belcastro after just a dozen fights and Amir Khan is moving along nicely, although with apparent avoidance of punchers. Hatton’s learning curve was excellent, although some stages of his development lasted too long and he seemed to be treading water before taking that plunge into the deep end. As for Calzaghe, he was ready for the big time years ago. It’s a shame it’s only happening in the twilight of his career.
2. Yes. Calzaghe-Kessler, Haye-Enzo, Calzaghe-BHop are excellent matchups. Arthur-Foster Jr, was a terrific fight, too, but, so far, the undercards leave a lot to be desired. Looking back to around the mid-90s, some of SN’s shows had tremendous strength in depth. This is one I posted a few months ago:
November 9th 1996, Nynex Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom
Naseem Hamed W Remigio Daniel Molina TKO 2
Ronald Wright W Ensley Bingham UD 12
Steve Collins W Nigel Benn TKO 6
Carl Thompson W Jason Nicholson PTS 8
Michael Brodie W Miguel Matthews PTS 6
Brian Coleman L Mark Haslam PTS 6
Danny Williams W Michael Murray TKO 1
Michael Gomez W David Morris PTS 4
Terry Dunstan W Sergio Daniel Merani KO 3
Herbie Hide W Frankie Swindell KO 1
So, yes, I do think the big matches are much better since the move to Setanta, but a return to shows of the overall quality above is long overdue,
3. After due consideration, yes, I think he does deserve his award. He’s still here, the major force in British boxing and, although the matchmaking is often criticised, some major fights have been made over the years. If you factor in the efforts he’s made to ensure boxers’ safety through improved medical facilities etc., then I would find it difficult to argue that his contribution isn’t worthy.