Weekend Action!
Sanchez squeezes by Corley, Arreola and Williams make a statement, Plus Review of HBO Thrilla in Manila
By Tom Donelson

April 12, 2009

Sanchez squeezes by Corley

Puerto Rican prospect Hector Sanchez came into his fight with Demarcus Corley as a fighter with much to show and DeMarcus Corley was simply fighting for his career. Corley have fought the best fighters in the junior Welterweight but the reason that Team Sanchez picked Corley because they believed that Corley was a finished fighter at 34. Having lost six of his last eight fights, Corley faced a career spiraling from being a contender to a mere opponent.
Corley problem was twofold. The first was that Hector Sanchez stood over six feet and had a big reach for which Corley needed to penetrate. The second problem, Corley was a boxer and not used to be the pursuer. He had to change his instinct and stay right on Sanchez’s chest.
In the opening round, Sanchez fail to use his height to its fullest advantage as Corley found that he could penetrate the taller Puerto Rican fighter defenses and showed Sanchez that he wasn’t quite finished as a fighter. In the opening minute of the third round a right hand hook sent the younger Sanchez sprawling on the canvas. Sanchez spent the next two minutes running and Corley chasing.
From this point, Corley appeared to have the advantage as he repeatedly sat on Sanchez’s chest but he made a crucial error. He would trap Sanchez on the rope or pound Sanchez with body combinations but he would retreat before starting the process all over. Those moments that he moved out of Sanchez range, he allowed Sanchez to stay in the fight and use his height to counter Corley. Both fighters essentially connected on the same amount of punches but Corley was the more active whereas Sanchez more accurate. Corley fought the fight on his term but he did just enough to allow the judges to award the decision to the undefeated Sanchez.
In fights of this magnitude, prospects get the advantages of close rounds against the grizzly veteran on the down side. Sanchez got the benefit of the doubt in close rounds and every round from the fourth round to the final stanza were close rounds.
Corley may have won the fight in the ring but by occasionally retreating, he gave Sanchez enough opportunity to counter attack. As for Sanchez, he showed that he had much to learn as he failed to use his height to its fullest advantage. Sanchez has an excellent uppercut which proved to an effective punch but he needs to use his jab more effectively plus he appeared confuse at times by Corley’s southpaw stances. As for Corley, he had his opportunity to take control of the fight but he allowed Sanchez off the hook. Sanchez won his 18th fight but he still showed that he is far from being a contender.
In the main event, David Lopez fought Ossie Duran in a battle of top ten Middleweights but it was not a battle of elites. This fight featured an ironic twist. Lopez, the bigger fighter with more knockouts, played boxer and Duran, who had only 9 knockouts in 23 wins, was the considered the slugger. And both fighters played those roles to its perfection. Lopez moved side to side and often confused Duran. When Lopez stood in front of Duran, he allowed Duran to nail him with straight rights. While Duran was the lighter puncher, he was the aggressor throughout the fight and it was Lopez who feared Duran power; not the other way around. Sometimes statistic don’t tell the whole truth and sometimes what is on paper will not be reflected in the ring.
Lopez fought as a Middleweight most of his career and even fought as light heavyweight. Duran began as a junior welterweight and he was fighting at his highest weight. With these stats in mind, it would be assume that Lopez would win by knockout but never in this fight did Lopez have Duran in trouble but then Duran never could seriously threaten his bigger opponent. Lopez won a unanimous decision and his goal of fighting for a portion of the junior Middleweight division within reach. Lopez moved down to the junior Middleweights for he felt that a junior Middleweight title could be more easily obtained. In the Middleweight, he did not have the firepower to beat either Kelly Pavlik or Arthur Abraham, the two best fighters in the division. As his fight with Duran demonstrate, he is not bringing increase power against the smaller fighters that he will be facing. So it will be up to his boxing skills to win that coveted championship.

Arreola and Williams make a statement

McCline came out of retirement to earn a paycheck against Arreola and as Larry Merchant noted this was a Heavyweight bout in which “both men came in the fight overweight.” In the opening minutes of the battle of the soft bellies, Arreola attacked McCline's body and McCline used his jab while attempting at fighting tall. At end of the first round, Arreola gained the upper hand as his body shots were followed by head shots that made McCline grimaced.
In the second round, Arreola body shots forced McCline on the corner while McCline occasionally scored with jabs but Arreola constant pressure forced McCline to retreat in a defensive posture. In the third round, McCline nailed Arreola with a left hook that staggered his younger opponent. Both men laid some power shots on each other but in the last minute, McCline got the better of the exchanges. It looked like McCline started to get the better of his younger opponent.
In the fourth round, Arreola maintained the aggressive style that served him in the first two rounds. In the first minute, he punished McCline with body shots before slipping two hard rights to McCline’s head; sending McCline down for the count. Just like that, it was over and McCline didn’t even attempt to get up.
What did this fight prove? Hard to say since it is hard to know how much McCline had left as a fighter, but Arreola did do two things. He took McCline’s good left hooks delivered in the third round and fought back. In the fourth round, he finished McCline when he had McCline in trouble. McCline is past his prime but he is a Heavyweight who had fought some of the best and last year, he nearly stopped Samuel Peter when he knocked Peter down three times only to wilt down the stretch. McCline could not keep Arreola off him nor could he hurt him like he did Peter the year before.
Last year, Arreola fought weighting 235 pounds and now he is fighting 255 pounds. His own team wanted him to be ten pound lighter and this could be his Achilles heel. Peter shows what happens when a fighter fights at a weight higher than optimal. Peter began his career fighting at 230 pounds and Peter weighed 260 pounds in a key lost to Chamber.
Arreola does have one nice promotional niche, he is of Hispanic descent. Considering that Hispanics are important demographics when it comes to boxing promotion and Arreola could become a big star in the division and give the Heavyweight division a needed boost. For the Heavyweight division, Arreola has the potential to regain focus on the premier division but he has to win a share of the title first before challenging the Klitschko’s brothers.
Paul Williams fought his first Middleweight bout against the veteran Winky Wright, in a fight between guys that other fighters tended to avoid. Williams provided a challenge for any top Welterweight and junior Middleweight with his long wingspan and the additional factor that he is yet a superstar with great economic potential; making a fight with him a risk with little economic return adds to reason for avoidance.
In the opening round, the trend was set as Paul Williams threw twice as many punches and connected twice as many punches. Throughout the bout, Williams used volumes to overwhelm Wright defenses but throughout the early rounds, Wright would occasionally nail Williams with right hand hook; so Wright had his moment.
Wright best chances came when Williams would fight on the inside. For a tall man, Williams showed instinct for inside fighting but on those occasions that Williams moved out, he moved out straight and making himself vulnerable to Wright’s straight left. Williams own corner wanted him to move and jab; forcing Wright to chase. On one occasion, Williams corner extorted, “Wright has old leg, don’t make it easy for him. Move.” In the tenth round, Wright grimaced from an onslaught that started with the body shots before numerous head shots in the last thirty seconds. Williams came up through Wright gloves, neutralizing Wright defensive style.
In the final round, Williams threw series of combinations in a go for broke style with the idea of stopping Wright but Wright managed to nail Williams with a straight left after being hit with a combination. Williams chose not to play it safe and took risks. Williams continued to throw punches from different angles and with 20 seconds left, Williams nearly stopped Wright but Wright was still standing as the final bell ranged.
Williams showed that he was legitimate Middleweight and serious contender for any title from Welterweight to Middleweight. (He had won the Welterweight title but had yet to fight for a title in the junior Middleweight and Middleweight division.)
Williams showed strength with inexhaustible energy as he threw nearly 100 punches per round and never tired out but the question that remains, could he get away fighting on the inside with Kelly Pavilk or Arthur Abraham, harder puncher than Wright? Williams is ready for a championship fight with the two best Middleweights and he has the quickness and speed to pull off an upset. Williams has options but his best option for a big money fights is go for Middleweight title.

Thrilla in Manila

The HBO special Thrilla in Manila tells the story of the Ali-Frazier rivalry from Joe Frazier’s point of view. Smoking Joe Frazier was an underappreciated heavyweight, who never got the credit he deserved and overshadowed by Muhammad Ali. The special lays out the uglier side of Ali and demonstrating what author Thomas Hauser once noted, “Ali and Frazier bought the best of each other in the ring and the worse outside the ring.”

Joe Frazier would have dominated in most eras of boxing. He was the Mike Tyson of his era, a man whose left hook crushed anything human it came in contact with. He was a perpetual machine, always moving, always punching, and never stopping. Frazier would attack and keep pecking away at his opponent and he was the foil that made Ali great.

Many of opponents would start boxing and moving before succumbing to Frazier’s pressure. When Buster Mathias fought Frazier, Mathias gained the advantage in the early rounds. Mathias was 5 inches taller and considerably heavier. As the fight progressed, Mathias was no longer effective. Moments on the rope became longer and the movement that was present at the beginning of the fight ceased to exist. Frazier finished Mathias off in the eleventh but the fight was decided long ago.

His high point was his demolition over Jimmy Ellis followed by his victory over Ali in the fight of the century. Against Ellis, he lost the first two rounds but in the fourth, Jimmy Ellis dream of uniting the championship ended as he went down twice. As Ellis staggered back to his corner, Ellis trainer Angelo Dundee threw in the towel.

What the special brought out, Joe Frazier was in Ali’s corner when Ali fought the United States government and not allowed to fight in Ali’s exile. Frazier not only supported Ali but he even lent him money. When Frazier set to fight Ali, he found himself a victim of the Ali treatment. Ali viewed Frazier as the symbol of his own plight and his criticism of Frazier crossed racial lines including calling the his rival an Uncle Tom and before the Manila fight, he called Frazier an gorilla as he declared that in the “Thrilla in Manila, come see me defeat the gorilla in Manila.” For Frazier this was the last insult to endure.

The HBO special makes the case that Ali considered himself superior to Frazier and nothing more than tool of White America as Frazier career was financed by many white business out of Philadelphia (even though the special forgot to mention that Ali’s career had a similar start and when Ali was in exile from the ring; at least one of those white businessman aided Ali as well.)

After Ali joined the Nation of Islam, The Nation of Islam took over his management and as one Ali corner man; Freddie Pacheco admitted that Nation of Islam manipulated Ali’s career and even his political opposition to the Vietnam War and the draft.

His victory over Ali in their first fight had its price. After a week of hospitalization, Frazier was never the same. After defending his title against non-descript fighters, he faced George Foreman. In one of the most one-sided fights, George Foreman knocked Joe Frazier down six times in less than two rounds. As Cosell uttered his famous, “Down go Frazier, Down go Frazier,” Frazier reign as champion ended.

Frazier would bounce back with a victory over Joe Bugner but he lost his second bout with Ali in a fast pace battle that was lost in the shadow of his two other fights of Ali. The second fight was an elimination fight between Ali and Frazier for the right to face Foreman. In contrast to the other two fights, this fight lacked the brutality of the Ali-Frazier Super fight I or the thrilla in Manila. This fight, however, was as good as fight as any in the 70’s but rarely remembered since the stake appeared not as high. However, for both fighters, this fight meant one more chance at the heavyweight crown and Ali pulled out the victory in a close decision. In the build up to the second fight, Ali was just as brutal as in the first fight.

One of the most interesting ironies of Ali’s career was that he dissed his black opponents far more than his white opponents. He tortured and taunted Floyd Patterson in their first fight, literally beating the life out of Ernie Terrell in their match in 1966. In Ali’s defense, these opponents were dismissive of his conversion to Black Muslims, and his battles against them were as much a holy war as a boxing match. But his worst treatment was reserved for Joe Frazier. While Frazier originally supported Ali’s cause after Ali was stripped of his title, their relationship would soon switch to outright hatred, especially from Frazier’s point of view. Ali, in gearing up for the first match, used racial epithets in describing Frazier, declaring him an Uncle Tom. As one Ali corner man would say later, Frazier was raging black. When he was not calling Frazier an Uncle Tom, he was calling Frazier stupid and ugly. Later Ali would claim this was to draw attendance, but Joe Frazier viewed this attack personally. His children would feel the brunt of Ali’s attacks with attacks from their schoolmates. For Frazier, defeating Ali was about more than keeping his championship; it was about restoring his honor.

Their third bout was not just about the championship of the world but each other. Ali gave Frazier a third shot simply because he viewed Frazier as a shot fighter and considered this a good pay day. What boxing fans witnessed one of the brutal championship fights in boxing history. Over a period of 14 rounds, both men essentially beat the last ounce of greatness out of each other. In the early round, Ali dominated and even buckled Frazier knees a couple of times with sharp rights. Starting in the fifth round, Frazier hit Ali in the body and from this point, it become a fight fought in the trenches with Frazier gaining the upper hand. As Frazier noted,” When you hit the organs, you can’t move.” Frazier attacks forced Ali to stand and fight. It became a fight to the death.

In the tenth round, Ali told his corner that this was what death must be like. The key factor going into the stretch run of the fight was that Ali’s punches closed Frazier right eye and unknown to the public, Frazier was partially blind in one eye. He was essentially a blind fighter by the end of the fight.

Frazier could not see the Ali lethal right hand and starting in the twelve round, Ali right hand found its mark routinely. In the thirteenth round, an Ali sent Frazier mouthpiece into the front row and Ali continued pounding Frazier in the fourteenth round. Frazier had to be shown the direction to his corner but what would happen over the next minute proved to be a surreal theatre. Despite nearly flooring Frazier, Ali wanted his corner to cut the gloves and surrender. In Frazier corner, Eddie Futch stopped the fight over Frazier’s protest. Futch knew that in a fifteenth round, one of those two fighters could be carried out in a body bag and his fighter could no longer see Ali’s punches coming.

After the fight, Ali apologized to Frazier son for his past treatment of his dad and to pass this apology on to his father. Frazier refused to accept the apology and even to this day, Frazier remains bitter toward his rival. As for Ali, this fight marked a turning point as Ali began to relinquish his own anger toward Frazier and America as well. He turned away from the separatist vision of the Nation of Islam toward a more universal view of racial relations. He accepted an integrationist view of race. Yet in the movie, Freddie Pacheco declared Frazier stupid. Stupid for fighting Ali in the fourteenth round when he should have conceded and stupid for fighting all those years with a partially blind eye; Pacheco symbolized the arrogance of the Ali’s camp toward Ali. (In fairness to Pacheco, he noted in an interview on another program that Frazier was all raging black and much of the criticism toward Frazier was unfair. It is hard to say what the producer of the documentary cut out in the editing process. There is no doubt that Pacheco respected Frazier based on past interviews and Pacheco place in this documentary was to represent the Ali’s position toward Frazier. Pacheco also left Ali after the Frazier fight since he felt that Ali needed to retire based on his health after the fight. Pacheco saw the damage that this fight did to both fighters.)

Ali-Frazier symbolized the divide between America in the late 60’s and early 70’s; but Frazier never asked to part of the battle. Instead he was forced in a role that he didn’t seek. By the third fight, it ceased to be a battle that transcended politics but a battle between two men who disliked each other with a passion. Ali would make the first move toward reconciliation and today Ali is no longer the angry fighter insulted Frazier. Ali moved toward America and America moved toward Ali but Frazier still feels the pain of Ali’s barbs. Frazier was denied proper recognition as a great fighter of his era. Today, we recognize Frazier greatness and that he was part of an era that giant of the sports fought within the ring of the Heavyweight division. There was never a greater period for Heavyweight division than the late 60’s and throughout the 70’s. What we remembered about this era was not just what happened in the ring but the political winds that blew outside the ring.

I contrast Frazier with Foreman, who not only made peace with his own past failures in the Ali's era but has moved on to become an America icon in his own right. Maybe, Foreman peace came from winning back the title in the 90's twenty one years later but even before his fight with Michael Moorer; Foreman had obtained his own inner peace. Hopefully, Frazier will garner a similar peace before he dies for he accomplished much in his career to be proud of.