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The Age, Australia
Oct 10 2005
Year of great boxing promise now rings hollow
By Stathi Paxinos
October 10, 2005
AUSTRALIAN flyweight Hussein Hussein's fate against Jorge Arce for
the World Boxing Council interim world title yesterday reflected the
way of Australian boxing this year.
There had been great anticipation surrounding the fight because their
first encounter in March was regarded as one of the fights of the
year. But, by near the end of the second round and after two
knock-downs, Hussein's corner man, Jeff Fenech, had seen enough and
threw in the towel.
It was another blow to the promise that Australian boxing had shown
at the start of the year when the fight fraternity proclaimed that
half a dozen Australian fighters could hold world titles this year.
Such predictions now appear a touch optimistic as 2005 has, instead,
produced a succession of shattered dreams with Danny Green, Anthony
Mundine, Paul Briggs and Tommy Browne all losing shots at major world
titles.
Junior-lightweight Robbie Peden won the International Boxing
Federation belt in spectacular fashion only to lose it last month
against one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world - Marco
Antonio Barrera.
The unthinkable also occurred when junior-welterweight
king Kostya Tszyu quit on his stool after being hammered for 11
rounds by English challenger Ricky Hatton. That leaves Australia with
one champion of a recognised belt - Armenian-born Vic Darchinyan, who
has twice defended the IBF flyweight title he won last December.
Australian light-heavyweight Paul Murdoch will be fighting for the
World Boxing Association title in December but is the outsider
against multiple world champion Fabrice Tiozzo.
So, a year that started with such promise for local boxing is heading
towards a sobering finale, although the prospect of the long-awaited
match-up between Green and Mundine early next year has provided a
much-needed attraction.
And it is also fitting that Sam Soliman will take a step towards
finally earning that elusive middleweight world title shot.
The Soliman camp confirmed at the weekend that the 31-year-old IBF
No. 1 contender had signed a deal to take on his WBC and WBA
equivalent Ronald "Winky" Wright with the winner earning the
mandatory challenger position against the victor of the rematch
between world champion Jermain Taylor and Bernard Hopkins.
Soliman is regarded as an awkward fighter who has posed too big a
risk for comparatively small financial rewards to big-name fighters.
Soliman earned a mandatory challenge for Hopkins' IBF belt earlier
this year but Hopkins, who ruled the middleweight division for a
decade, was granted an exception by the sanctioning body and was
allowed to accept a big-dollar challenge from Sydney Olympian Taylor.
Hopkins subsequently lost his WBA, WBC, IBF and World Boxing
Organisation belts to Taylor and the pair are set for a rematch in
early December.
Soliman's fight against Wright, a former junior-middleweight world
champion, will be held on December 11 in Connecticut in the US -
which will make it a huge weekend for Australian boxing.
It has also been set down for the joint Green and Mundine card in
Perth, which will act as a warm-up for the pair's fight next year.
Victories by all three Australians would set up another exciting year
for local boxing.
Oct 10 2005
Year of great boxing promise now rings hollow
By Stathi Paxinos
October 10, 2005
AUSTRALIAN flyweight Hussein Hussein's fate against Jorge Arce for
the World Boxing Council interim world title yesterday reflected the
way of Australian boxing this year.
There had been great anticipation surrounding the fight because their
first encounter in March was regarded as one of the fights of the
year. But, by near the end of the second round and after two
knock-downs, Hussein's corner man, Jeff Fenech, had seen enough and
threw in the towel.
It was another blow to the promise that Australian boxing had shown
at the start of the year when the fight fraternity proclaimed that
half a dozen Australian fighters could hold world titles this year.
Such predictions now appear a touch optimistic as 2005 has, instead,
produced a succession of shattered dreams with Danny Green, Anthony
Mundine, Paul Briggs and Tommy Browne all losing shots at major world
titles.
Junior-lightweight Robbie Peden won the International Boxing
Federation belt in spectacular fashion only to lose it last month
against one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world - Marco
Antonio Barrera.
The unthinkable also occurred when junior-welterweight
king Kostya Tszyu quit on his stool after being hammered for 11
rounds by English challenger Ricky Hatton. That leaves Australia with
one champion of a recognised belt - Armenian-born Vic Darchinyan, who
has twice defended the IBF flyweight title he won last December.
Australian light-heavyweight Paul Murdoch will be fighting for the
World Boxing Association title in December but is the outsider
against multiple world champion Fabrice Tiozzo.
So, a year that started with such promise for local boxing is heading
towards a sobering finale, although the prospect of the long-awaited
match-up between Green and Mundine early next year has provided a
much-needed attraction.
And it is also fitting that Sam Soliman will take a step towards
finally earning that elusive middleweight world title shot.
The Soliman camp confirmed at the weekend that the 31-year-old IBF
No. 1 contender had signed a deal to take on his WBC and WBA
equivalent Ronald "Winky" Wright with the winner earning the
mandatory challenger position against the victor of the rematch
between world champion Jermain Taylor and Bernard Hopkins.
Soliman is regarded as an awkward fighter who has posed too big a
risk for comparatively small financial rewards to big-name fighters.
Soliman earned a mandatory challenge for Hopkins' IBF belt earlier
this year but Hopkins, who ruled the middleweight division for a
decade, was granted an exception by the sanctioning body and was
allowed to accept a big-dollar challenge from Sydney Olympian Taylor.
Hopkins subsequently lost his WBA, WBC, IBF and World Boxing
Organisation belts to Taylor and the pair are set for a rematch in
early December.
Soliman's fight against Wright, a former junior-middleweight world
champion, will be held on December 11 in Connecticut in the US -
which will make it a huge weekend for Australian boxing.
It has also been set down for the joint Green and Mundine card in
Perth, which will act as a warm-up for the pair's fight next year.
Victories by all three Australians would set up another exciting year
for local boxing.