Calvin Brock vs. Timur Ibragimov - Revision history

Artur128: Replaced content with "300px 1069746 '''WBC Fecarbox Heavyweight Title''' '''IBA Continental Heavyweight Title''' *'''Aired on:''' ''HBO Boxing After Dark''"

2023-08-06T12:48:12Z

Replaced content with "right|300px <fight>1069746</fight> *'''WBC Fecarbox Heavyweight Title''' *'''IBA Continental Heavyweight Title''' *'''Aired on:''' ''HBO Boxing After Dark''"

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:48, 6 August 2023
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	*'''[[IBA]] Continental Heavyweight Title'''		*'''[[IBA]] Continental Heavyweight Title'''
	*'''Aired on:''' ''[[HBO Boxing After Dark]]''		*'''Aired on:''' ''[[HBO Boxing After Dark]]''

	~~<big>'''Banking on Brock'''</big>~~

	~~<small>By Kevin Kincade, ''Boxing Scene'', June 23, 2006</small>~~

	~~By Kevin Kincade~~

	When you start going down the list of American Heavyweight hopefuls you realize what a short trip it actually is; you've got Calvin Brock followed by miles and miles of daylight. Oh sure, there are those who cling onto the last thread of hope that Shannon Briggs will finally realize his potential without recognizing that his losses to Foreman and Lewis were as close as he'll ever come to glory. Yes, he did lose to Foreman, regardless of the opinions and scorecards of Larry Layton, Calvin Claxton, and Steve Weisfeld. Others are sailing on the U.S.S. Toney in hopes of reaching the land of champagne wishes and caviar dreams without realizing they might as well be on board the H.M.S. Titanic. "Lights Out" has already been there, done that, and bought the T-Shirt; then ate his way out of it and moved up to XXL. Dominick Guinn? Okay, I won't belabor the obvious; you get the idea.

	To hammer today's reoccurring theme even deeper into the ground: these are not the brightest days for American heavyweight boxing; which is why the time is right for Calvin Brock to make some noise and take ownership of his place in the pantheon. Brock, as most heavyweight prospects who are not Mike Tyson, has been moved along at a deliberate pace, not unlike a snail's; but, so far, it's been effective. In April of last year, Brock took on his toughest opponent to date, Jameel "Big Time" McCline, who had just gone twelve tough rounds with then IBF title-holder, Chris Byrd. Against McCline, Brock showed good technical skills as well as a will to win and a decent punch.

	In the McCline affair, Brock had to pick himself off the canvas and rally back to capture a unanimous decision over the course of 10 rounds. He's nothing fancy; but he's a solid blue-collar boxer-puncher with heart and skill.

	At 6' 1" and approximately 220 Lbs, Brock may be smallish by today's heavyweight standards; but over the course of history, he's about the perfect size for a big man. He's just big enough to carry dynamite in his fists and, if properly conditioned, should be quicker and more durable than the behemoths who stalk the heavyweight landscape. People forget that the great Joe Louis stood at 6' 2"and weighed around 200 Lbs in his prime, the formidable Sonny Liston was only 6' 1", 215, Dempsey was 6' 1" and rarely weighed above 189Lbs, Evander Holyfield stood 6' 2" and averaged around 215 Lbs. It's only over the last 15 years that we've followed Jack up the beanstalk and entered into the age of giants.

	Believe it or not, there have always been really big men in the heavyweight division; but more often than not, they fell to smaller, better skilled fighters. Brock, if nothing else, is a skilled technician; and he is more than merely a well schooled heavyweight. He showed against McCline, a huge man in his own right, that he had the heart of a champion by getting off the canvas and firing back; and he displayed real knock-out power against the usually durable Zuri Lawrence by taking his man out with one perfectly devastating left hook.

	The problem with Brock, as it is with most fighters, is he hasn't been seen due to Network Television's essential black-out on boxing, deeming the sport incapable of securing enough of a viewership to feed their hungry wallets despite the relative success of "The Contender" and the subsequent stardom of it's participants. So, as a result, most boxing fans know about Brock in name only; and because Brock is very meticulous at his craft and not as boisterous as Muhammad Ali or as controversial or devastating in the ring as Mike Tyson, he's considered nothing special. Let's get one thing straight.

	Fighters such as Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson only come along once in a lifetime and it is unfair to judge any fighter by the standards they set. Also, let's not forget, the great Larry Holmes was a very workmanlike heavyweight, yet after he won the title in a gut-wrenching war with Ken Norton, he held onto it for seven years and is now considered by most as one of the top five heavyweights to ever don gloves.

	The good news is, Saturday night; the "Boxing Banker" will be making his HBO debut on "Boxing After Dark" against another undefeated prospect, Timor Ibragimov. Who is Timor Ibragimov? He's practically a mirror image of Brock from a style perspective, with more emphasis on his boxing game than on getting the kayo, as is reflected by his 21-0-1 (13) record. Physically, he's also about the same size as Brock, another "smallish" heavyweight, by comparison to Klitschko, Valuev, and a few other skyscrapers. Timor, while undefeated, is not as highly touted as his cousin, Sultan; but that would be due primarily to the public's preference for power over patience.

	Don't forget, though, Sergei Lyakhovich wasn't exactly "highly touted" when he climbed into a Cleveland ring against Lamon Brewster a few months back and took his WBO strap. It may be a bad habit to generalize; but if recent history means anything, these former bloc fighters all seem to have had the iron in the former Iron Curtain transplanted into their will to win. If Brock is smart (and he appears to be) he had better not walk into this weekend's bout thinking a "W" is a gimme. As HBO's Larry Merchant once said, "An undefeated fighter doesn't know how to lose"; and both of these men are proud of their "0".

	Brock-Ibragimov should be extremely interesting from a style-perspective as well as from a motivational perspective. If Brock chalks up a victory, American prize fighters will have effectively fired back at the Soviet Invasion. In the past seven months, our century-long dominance of boxing's glamour division has been under arduous assault from our former Cold-War opposition and now American heavies are the one's being frozen out of the title picture…..Hasim Rahman excluded, for the moment.

	Last December, the seven foot Russian anomaly, Nicolay Valuev, relieved John Ruiz of his WBA strap…..of course, most of the boxing public was relieved to see Jawny relieved of the belt as well; but that's beside the point. Then, in April, the new October Revolution continued to advance by shocking the boxing world as well as Lamon Brewster when unheralded Sergei Lyakhovich of Belarus out boxed and out punched the iron-chinned and steel-willed WBO Champion for his quarter of the crown. And even though most knew the outcome of Klitschko-Byrd II was practically a foregone conclusion, it still hurt the old American pride to see yet another piece of the puzzle depart these shores.

	If Russia's Oleg Maskaev can banish Rahman from the ring in August as he did in 1999, Boxing's Bolsheviks will have effectively put the heavyweight division in a big ole' Russian Bear hug, ala Ivan Koloff.

	True, Timor Ibragimov is considered a minor player in the game at the moment; but with a victory over the 31 year old Uzbekistani, Brock can take one more step towards building his fan base and capturing the World Heavyweight Championship, which he plans to unify. That ultimate goal may be a ways off; but every journey starts with the first step, which Brock will take should he defeat Timor Saturday night.

	The history of the sport of boxing and its participants' fan bases is one that runs parallel with the many cultures and ethnicities that make up the peoples of this little blue ball upon which we all live. True, we are all one people in one sense; but we also have roots we can trace and nationalism with which we identify. I, for one, am Irish in heritage and lineage; and take pride from somewhere deep in my essence whenever an Irish fighter does well in the ring. Some of my closest friends have German ancestry and, consequentially, love German food and other things, German.

	Pride in one's roots is only natural, for if we lose touch with where we came from we would be a shiftless people, with no sense of identity. Americans are an unusual lot, for we are a nation of many nationalities; but, somehow, we manage to be proud of our lineage as well as our unified identity as Americans.

	In the early decades of the last century in the States, it was not uncommon for local promoters to match fighters based on their ethnicity for the purpose of ensuring a large gate. Quite regularly you would see an Irish fighter paired against a Jewish fighter or an Italian taking on a Pole; and the fans of each contestant would turn out in droves to show their support for their kinsman.

	So, all of that being said, in light of the recent growth of the sport on a global scale, there will be more and more world-class contests in which the participants are from different countries; and that's good for boxing. Now, instead of small American promoters capitalizing on ethnicities by matching fighters based on family nationality, boxers of different nationalities will clash simply because that many more countries have top-notch prize fighters; the more things change, the more they remain the same, as the old cliché goes. Americans may no longer rule the roost; but at least we're still in the game….unlike our soccer team in the World Cup.

	As of this writing, Calvin Brock is the only noteworthy American heavyweight prospect in a sea of Red, and that's not to say there isn't some young prospect out there who hasn't stepped into the spotlight, yet. With the wealth of TV coverage the sport receives these days (that's sarcasm, by the way), it's entirely possible that someone has gone overlooked; but of those whom we have seen, Brock is the best of the bunch and has the most potential. Dominick Guinn has been listless and uninspiring as of late; to say nothing of his losing streak which just ended with his recent win over another underachiever, Britain's Audley Harrison. Joe Mesi, who was nearly knocked out of the sport permanently by former Cruiserweight Champion, Vasily Jirov, is embarking on a comeback; but more are concerned with his health than are hailing his return.

	Hasim Rahman is still a titleholder; but judging by his last two fights against Toney and Barrett, or, more specifically, his history over the last five years, his time at the top is limited. James Toney, as someone remarked following the draw with Rahman, "is a great fighter; but will never be a great heavyweight"; he's 37 and can't seem to keep control of his girth.

	Lamon Brewster will most assuredly have all eyes upon him once his own eye heals and he returns to action; but "Relentless" Lamon is quite accurately perceived as a blood and guts warrior, who can be out boxed. In every title fight he was involved with besides the Golota blow-out, he fell behind and had to come back from a points-deficit and either stop his opponent, as he did against Klitschko and Krasniqi or win a controversial decision, as he did against Meehan.

	For Americans, the heavyweight pickings are as slim as they've ever been. Outside of former WBO titlist, Lamon Brewster, Brock is all we've got in terms of American opposition to this tide of former Soviet State fighters dominating the heavyweight realm. The good news is Americans have never been the type to shy away from a little competition. Even though we are getting our butts kicked in the World Cup, our boys are still plucking away, despite all odds. I'm not a soccer fan; but it does sting my American pride to see my country's team have their collective rear-ends handed to them on the world stage. Which brings me back to boxing and Calvin Brock.

	"The Boxing Banker" is 28-0 (22) and was very impressive in his biggest test against McCline last year; and while dullish in the early going against Lawrence in his last fight, he woke the fans up when he put Zuri to sleep. He's intelligent, he's confident; and what's more important, is he's apparently got the skills and grit to come out on top. If you take Guinn, Mesi, Rahman, & Toney out of the picture, Brewster and Brock, a banger and a boxer-puncher, are all that's left.

	Calvin knows he has to build a following and is laying the groundwork by taking on Ibragimov on HBO. His comments on the upcoming bout, lead one to believe he is really going to try to make an impression. He has said he eventually wants to not only win a belt; but unify the title, which will be no easy task, judging by the competition. Lyakhovich was as gutsy as you could hope for a fighter to be against Brewster. Wladimir is big, powerful, and knows how to use all of his assets, which makes him the most dangerous force in the division at the moment. Valuev, well, he's big….REALLY BIG, which presents its own set of problems for any man who climbs into the ring with him.

	As a banker, Brock knows the importance of investments; and wants the fans to invest in him as their fighter, which will create a demand to see him and sub sequentially, increase his paychecks. One has to think he is keeping all of this in mind as he faces Timor Ibragimov Saturday night, for that will be the first time many American fight fans will get a chance to see Calvin in action. What better collateral could Calvin show his would-be investors than cashing in on the opportunity to strike a blow for American boxing against the Soviet Invasion?

	Calvin's already cornered the market of the immediate future in the American heavyweight sock-exchange; but his performance on Saturday night could determine whether or not American fans decide whether or not to put any stock in Brock.[https://www.boxingscene.com/banking-on-brock--4538]

	~~<big>'''Brock beats Ibragimov, still undefeated at 29-0'''</big>~~

	~~<small>By ''Associated Press'', June 25, 2006</small>~~

	~~LAS VEGAS -- Unbeaten Calvin Brock won a unanimous decision Saturday against Timur Ibragimov in a heavyweight bout that lacked punch.~~

	~~The crowd booed often as neither man seemed energetic in temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees in the outdoor arena at Caesars Palace.~~

	~~The biggest ovation of the night came in the 11th round when Brock (29-0, 22 KOs) twice slipped to the canvas.~~

	~~The judges unanimously picked Brock by scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 115-113.~~

	Neither fighter seemed willing to trade blows, though Brock occasionally landed a right hand. Ibragimov, from Hallandale, Fla. (21-1-1, 13 KOs), spent most of the night backing up after Brock landed a solid right cross near the end of the fifth.

	"I told [promoter] Carl Moretti when the fight was first made that this could be a stinker," said Brock, from Charlotte, N.C. "Listen, the guy is a safety-first boxer and its not easy to knock out a guy like that."

	~~Brock weighed in at 224 pounds, while Ibragimov was at 219 pounds.~~

	~~In the co-feature, Puerto Rican Carlos Quintana survived a first-round knockdown and handed highly regarded Colombian prospect Joel Julio his first loss in a 12-round welterweight bout.~~

	~~Quintana (23-0, 18 KOs) befuddled Julio (27-1, 24 KOs) with his left-handed style and landed several hard shots that appeared to hurt the Colombian.~~

	~~Both weighed in at 145 pounds.[https://www.espn.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2499854]~~

Artur128 at 18:44, 27 July 2023

2023-07-27T18:44:58Z

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 *'''[[IBA]] Continental Heavyweight Title'''
 *'''Aired on:''' ''[[HBO Boxing After Dark]]''
 <big>'''Brock beats Ibragimov, still undefeated at 29-0'''</big>

Artur128: Artur128 moved page Calvin Brock vs. Timor Ibragimov to Calvin Brock vs. Timur Ibragimov

2023-07-27T18:40:17Z

Artur128 moved page Calvin Brock vs. Timor Ibragimov to Calvin Brock vs. Timur Ibragimov

← Older revision	Revision as of 18:40, 27 July 2023
(No difference)

Artur128 at 18:34, 27 July 2023

2023-07-27T18:34:18Z

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 *'''[[IBA]] Continental Heavyweight Title'''
 *'''Aired on:''' ''[[HBO Boxing After Dark]]''
-== Notes ==
-According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], this bout was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round.
+<big>'''Brock beats Ibragimov, still undefeated at 29-0'''</big>
-The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters' reluctance to throw heavy blows.

Ric at 00:20, 26 November 2014

2014-11-26T00:20:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:20, 26 November 2014
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			[[File:Calvin Brock vs. Timor Ibragimov (poster).jpg\|right\|300px]]
	<fight>1069746</fight>		<fight>1069746</fight>
	*'''[[WBC]] [[Fecarbox]] Heavyweight Title'''		*'''[[WBC]] [[Fecarbox]] Heavyweight Title'''
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	*'''Aired on:''' ''[[HBO Boxing After Dark]]''		*'''Aired on:''' ''[[HBO Boxing After Dark]]''
	== Notes ==		== Notes ==
	~~[[File:Calvin Brock vs. Timor Ibragimov (poster).jpg\|right\|300px]]~~
	According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], this bout was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round.		According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], this bout was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round.
	The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters' reluctance to throw heavy blows.		The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters' reluctance to throw heavy blows.

Slugger at 11:31, 9 October 2010

2010-10-09T11:31:57Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:31, 9 October 2010
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	<fight>1069746</fight>		<fight>1069746</fight>
	* '''[[WBC]] [[Fecarbox]] Heavyweight Title'''		*'''[[WBC]] [[Fecarbox]] Heavyweight Title'''
	* '''[[IBA]] Continental Heavyweight Title'''		*'''[[IBA]] Continental Heavyweight Title'''
	* ~~Weights~~: Brock ~~224,~~ Ibragimov ~~219~~		*'''Aired on:''' ''[[HBO Boxing After Dark]]''
			== Notes ==
			[[File:Calvin Brock vs. Timor Ibragimov (poster).jpg\|right\|300px]]
	According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], this bout was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round.		According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], this bout was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round.
	The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters' reluctance to throw heavy blows.		The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters' reluctance to throw heavy blows.

Rowdytimothy: remove double entry of officials

2008-04-18T22:58:10Z

remove double entry of officials

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:58, 18 April 2008
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	* '''[[IBA]] Continental Heavyweight Title'''		* '''[[IBA]] Continental Heavyweight Title'''
	* Weights: Brock 224, Ibragimov 219		* Weights: Brock 224, Ibragimov 219
	* Referee: [[Vic Drakulich]]
	* Judge: [[Adalaide Byrd]] 119-109 \| Judge: [[Lou Filippo]] 117-111 \| Judge: [[Robert Hoyle]] 115-113

	According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], this bout was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round.		According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], this bout was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round.
	The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters' reluctance to throw heavy blows.		The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters' reluctance to throw heavy blows.

Ric at 17:41, 21 October 2006

2006-10-21T17:41:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:41, 21 October 2006
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	According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], this bout was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round.		According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], this bout was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round.
	The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters reluctance to throw heavy blows.		The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters' reluctance to throw heavy blows.

Ric: Fight:1069746 moved to Calvin Brock vs. Timor Ibragimov

2006-10-21T17:27:45Z

Fight:1069746 moved to Calvin Brock vs. Timor Ibragimov

← Older revision	Revision as of 17:27, 21 October 2006
(No difference)

Ric: more factoids

2006-10-21T17:26:43Z

more factoids

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:26, 21 October 2006
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	<fight>1069746</fight>		<fight>1069746</fight>
			* '''[[WBC]] [[Fecarbox]] Heavyweight Title'''
			* '''[[IBA]] Continental Heavyweight Title'''
			* Weights: Brock 224, Ibragimov 219
			* Referee: [[Vic Drakulich]]
			* Judge: [[Adalaide Byrd]] 119-109 \| Judge: [[Lou Filippo]] 117-111 \| Judge: [[Robert Hoyle]] 115-113

	According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], ~~the fight~~ was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters reluctance to throw heavy blows.		According to [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2491444 ESPN's recap of the fight], this bout was defensive in nature, with Ibragimov mainly trying to keep Brock from landing his right. Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round.
			The ring temperature was supposedly as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the outdoor arena at Caesar's Palace, so that may have contributed to both fighters reluctance to throw heavy blows.
	~~Brock slipped twice in the 11<sup>th</sup> round~~.