Matthew Rhodes

Guardian — If I were to say " Thrilla in Manilla", most boxing fans would know what I was talking about immediately. If I were to say " the Rumble in the Jungle" the same thing would happen. If I were to mention " the Fight of the Century" there may be a brief moment of confusion while fans pondered whether I was discussing Jack Johnson v James Jeffries, Joe Louis v Max Schmelling or Joe Frazier v Muhammed Ali. But once it was clear which of the bouts I was referring to, I imagine most boxing fans and many casual fans would know the fight.

slipthejab.wordpress.com — It seemed like one of those mad questions that only arises after a few many drinks or one too many comments on the internet. Who would win in a fight, controversial yet talented dual code rugby superstar Sonny Bill Williams or erstwhile world title challenger Frans "The White Buffalo" Botha? And yet here I was, watching the pair stand in opposite corners of the ring, eyeballing each other and preparing to touch gloves.

slipthejab.wordpress.com — Can a boxer who is 33-1 and held titles in two weightclasses be considered a waste of talent? The recent news that the "Khanqueror" Breidis Prescott will be taking on Khabib Allakhverdiev (and even in the world of terrible boxing nicknames "Khanqueror" stands out as one of the worst) made me think for a moment of the man Allakhverdiev beat to win the WBA 140lbs belt he now defends. Mention the name "Joan Guzman" to most boxing fans these days and I'm sure the general reaction would be a shrug of the shoulders and a general look of confusion.

slipthejab.wordpress.com — Boxing is far too often a sport for bandwagons and main events. We virtually all tune in to see the Manny Pacquiao's or the Floyd Mayweather's of the world. Regardless of whether we're really fans of the fighters involved the mere fact that their fights are large scale events draws eyeballs. We often tune in to see people with momentum on their side regardless of whether we are fans or not. Sometimes its veterans finally getting their time in the spotlight such as Sergio Martinez, sometimes its hyped prospects who we want to see develop like Kirkland. Sometimes it’s just because we want to see what the hell everyone else is finding so interest like Saul Alvarez. Sometimes we tune in because we think a fight will be great to watch, regardless of whether we like the fighters involved. I’m not a fan of Vasquez or Marquez but I watched all four of their fights because I thought they’d be classics (and 3 were). This isn’t about those fighters or those fights. This is about the boxers who are the equivalent of your favourite sports team. It doesn’t matter how badly they do, it doesn’t matter how boring their fights are, it doesn’t matter whether they’re battling it out under the shining lights or in the dimmest of bingo halls and it doesn’t matter if no-one knows who the hell they are. That doesn’t mean they can’t be champions. It doesn’t mean they can’t be scrubs. To pre-empt a name I think may well be suggested it’s about the Emmanuel Augustus’s of this world. It doesn’t mean they still have to box.

slipthejab.wordpress.com — A week can be a long time in boxing. Enough time to get a title shot, lose a title shot and then get another one. Cleverly all dressed up and ready to go... Nathan Cleverly is one of the UK's two World Champions, a young fighter with a world of potential within his lean frame. With much hullabaloo his next defence of the WBO World Title he lays claim to was announced. He would defend his belt at the Royal Albert Hall, a place most recently known for concertos over concussions but once upon a time somewhat of a Mecca for British boxing, the place where Lennox Lewis developed and where Mike McCallum fought for world titles against the likes of Herol Graham and Michael Watson.

slipthejab.wordpress.com — As a UK boxing fan, I am in a pretty privileged position; between the various different broadcasters I have the ability to watch almost every meaningful card from either the US or Europe as well as our own domestic events, to say nothing for the opportunity the internet has provided for me to watch obscure cards that are not officially televised over here. Partly because of this it is remarkably easy to become self-righteous about the nature of events in different countries, notably regarding the judging and refereeing.

slipthejab.wordpress.com — Recent months have given us a number of high profile boxers splitting with their long term trainers; from Khan's ill-tempered break up with Roach to the recent story that Andre Berto is firing Tony Morgan. There was a lot of discussion about Berto's recent move, discussion that prompted me to write this article. In brief, several commentators seemed to think that Berto making a change is fairly pointless. That Berto is 29 years old and has been trained in a single style since he was about 9 years old. That he's had 30 bouts, nine of them for world titles. That he only really ever boxes twice a year at best. In short, that he’s too old, too set in his ways and doesn’t box enough to be able to change his style and therefore it’s a pointless move to change trainers. I disagree. That’s not to say that Berto changing trainers will reignite his career or even be a success… but I do think people misunderstand quite what a trainer has to do.

slipthejab.wordpress.com — The next opponent for Amir Khan has been announced. Let me start out by saying that Julio Diaz is a clear improvement on the limited Carlos Molina who Khan comprehensively defeated in his return to action after his brutal loss to Danny Garcia. Yet he, on paper, shouldn't be a threat to Khan in his British return. So who is Julio Diaz?

slipthejab.wordpress.com — I dealt with the boxing side of things relating to the announced Amir Khan vs Julio Diaz bout in an earlier post but it strikes me there are some business aspects to look at as well.