Tales From The Other Side of The Atlantic 07.28.09: Anthony Small, Bernard Dunne's Next Title Defense, More
Posted by David M. Lee on 07.28.2009
In the last ever edition of Tales From The Other Side, I discuss new British star Anthony Small, Bernard Dunne's next title defense and a ludicrous "world" title fight at light-heavyweight.
Anthony Small...... Star of The Future?
On the undercard of Amir Khan's world title victory over Andreas Kotelnik, Deptford's Anthony Small produced the best performance of his career to defuse Manchester power puncher Matthew Hall and stop him in the eighth round. It looked a "pick 'em" on paper and Hall was even a firm favorite with some bookmakers, but in truth he looked out of his depth against the super slick, super fast and super confident Small.
Hall had been dubbed, by some, as the British version of Mike Tyson, but against Small he looked more like the British version of Jeff Lacy. One-dimensional, plodding and no answer to a speedy counter-puncher. Before the bout, Small had been playing constant mind games with Hall. I did mention that Small was "super confident", well that's probably an understatement.
If words were money, then Small would be a multi-billionaire. He never shuts up, God bless him. But, despite a controversial stoppage loss to Bradley Pryce a few years ago, he has backed up all his brash talk thus far in his career. His style is not to everyone's liking, however. "I'm like Marmite", says Small. Marmite, for those who do not know, is a British savory spread that, like Small, is an acquired taste. I can't stand Marmite personally, but I'm beginning to warm to Anthony Small. It's clear there's no malice behind his trash talk and he does possess considerable talent.
I'd like to see him cut out some of the childish in-ring antics though. It's unnecessary and disrespectful to his opponents. He's also guilty of spoiling up close, something most referees will not allow him to get away with at a higher level. But it'll be interesting to see where Small goes from here. Whatever happens, I'll certainly be watching with interest.
Macklin vs. Barker Off?
Sigh, it always looked too good to be true and now it appears it is. The British and Commonwealth middleweight title match between Matthew Macklin and Darren Barker now looks to be off, as according to Boxing News, Macklin looks to set to face Amin Asikainen for the vacant European title. One cannot blame Macklin of course, this is a chance for him to gatecrash the world scene, as Asikainen is world rated and holds a victory over Sebastian Sylvester (although Sylvester did later avenge that defeat). But its just a shame that potentially one of the best domestic contests to happen in years now looks likely to have fallen through. Oh well, that's boxing for you.
Dunne's Next Title Defense Looks Set For Dublin
WBA super-bantamweight champion Bernard Dunne will most likely defend his newly won crown against Thailand's Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym in Dublin sometime in September, after his promoter Brian Peters won the right to stage the bout. This is crucial, as Dunne relies heavily on the support of his devoted Irish fans and it is extremely difficult to get a points victory against a Thai boxer in Thailand. Seeing how Dunne is not a massive puncher, the chances are that this is going the distance and it must be a huge relief for the Irishman that he does not have to worry about dubious judging. Dunne won the WBA title by stopping Panama's Ricardo Cordoba in the 11th round in a Fight of the Year candidate last March.
Woods Gets Another shot at the Title.
Clinton Woods gets the chance to regain the IBF light-heavyweight title on August 28th when he takes on unbeaten Tavoris Cloud in Florida. No disrespect to Woods, who's one of the most likeable blokes in boxing, but how the IBF can put this fight together while keeping a straight face is beyond belief. Chad Dawson rightly chose to vacate the title rather than face unproven mandatory Cloud, as no major network were interested in that fight. Why would they be? So now the IBF, in their infinite wisdom, have put together a fight between the unheralded Cloud and a guy who lost nearly every round to an ancient Antonio Tarver. The same Tarver who was subsequently trounced, twice, by the aforementioned Dawson. And we're supposed to refer to the winner as a world champion? The IBF folks, don't you just love them?
And that concludes Tales From the Otherside for now and ever. I'm going to be starting a new column next week. It'll be something different, that much I can guarantee you. So look out for that and I hope you enjoyed this column while it lasted. See you soon.
