Terrific super fight in the works

Posted on July 14, 2015 by ClintonV

Masterful fighter Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Irishman Gary Hyde, the manager of unified super-bantamweight world champion Guillermo “The Jackal” Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KOs), has accepted in principal the offer made by Egis Klimas, manager of World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (4-1, 2 KOs), for a super fight.

Rigondeaux is the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) Super, WBO and The Ring magazine’s super bantamweight champion.

Cuban-native Rigondeaux, who now lives in Miami, and Ukrainian-born Lomachenko are both two-time Olympic gold medalists.

“Rigo will fight Lomachenko at a catchweight of 124 pounds, which should be no problem for Lomachenko because he weighed 125 pounds for one of his professional fights,” Hyde said. “Rigo is a small 122-pounder who could make 118 without much trouble, but he would be giving away size and weight advantages to face Lomachenko.

“We would insist on a rehydration clause of 135 pounds for fight night. If Klimas agrees to this, then, we have a fight. Lomachenko is a masterful fighter like Rigo and this match-up will be a classic. We have a pair of two-time Olympic gold medalists and current world champions going at it. I believe Rigo is the more ferocious of the two fighters and will dominate Lomachenko. Klimas, you know what you must do to make the fight, just pick up the phone and call me. Rigo is ready.”

Love the mavericks, not the morons

Posted on July 13, 2015 by ClintonV

Just to be clear, Nick Kyrgios is an idiot.

This is the bloke who tanked in his Wimbledon match against Richard Gasquet and routinely behaves badly. He smashes tennis racquets, swears and sulks at press conferences.

The Australian isn’t simply a misguided 20-year-old trying to navigate the choppy waters of international sport. He’s a brat – granted, a talented one – who demands to be indulged.

There’s nothing remotely classy or clever about what he does and says.

Make no mistake, Mavericks in sport are welcome. Often, the more outrageous the better.

These are gifted athletes who participate with a cavalier spirit, often against the grain of convention. Locally, names that come to mind are James Small, Herschelle Gibbs and Benni McCarthy. Square pegs in round holes, they revelled in being contrary. They stuck out because of the tactical and cultural conservatism that permeates our sport. They dared to be different.

Small was the impish rebel, Gibbs was madness dressed in cricket clothes and McCarthy was the perennial bad boy who became the fat boy. And we adored them for their overpowering personalities and left-of-centre thinking.

Remarkably, I can’t think of a single local sportsman who fits the bill now. Safe, serious, staid is what’s rolled out. Too bad.

Mavericks abound in world sport. Muhammad Ali was the most outrageous of them all, blending immense personality with force of achievement. America took a while to warm to him, but pretty soon became hooked on his genius. Fast with his hands and fast with his mouth, Ali set the standard for all others.

Seve Ballesteros was only ever a maverick, bringing style and sass and an adventurer’s spirit to golf. Others have followed, not least cigar-toting Miguel Angel Jiminez, who clearly looks at the world through a lens different to any of us.

The biggest maverick in rugby is Australia’s Nick Cummins. In a world of anodyne media conferences and sound bites, he deserves to be honoured for his entertainment value. The “Honey Badger”, who wears a 1970s-styled headband à la JPR Williams, is a fantastic player and a mad-cap character. He’s also a font of zany quotes.

Try this lot for starters:

“He’s a pretty quick rooster alright” (on marking Springbok speedster Bryan Habana).

“You gotta be like a midget in a urinal, you gotta be on your toes.”

“I was busier than a one-armed bricklayer in Baghdad.”

“Sweating like a gypsy with a mortgage.”

That stuff is gold when you’re trying to market a sport, as rugby union is doing Down Under.

This week The Australian newspaper asked of Kyrgios “Breath of fresh air or total dickhead?”

It was a fair question because while sport desperately needs characters they shouldn’t be styled like the deluded Kyrgios.

John McEnroe straddled the fine line between maverick and moron, but we forgave him because it’s as if we saw ourselves in him. He was moody and petulant and challenged authority, but he brought flair and energy to tennis. There was ingenuity in his tart verbal blasts. He was crazier than a bucket of snakes, so anti-establishment, we couldn’t help but roar with laughter. He milked it for all it was worth.

He also backed it up by producing tennis that won seven majors.

There was an undeniable charm and style to McEnroe whereas there is none of that with the artless Kyrgios.

The same is true of Kevin Pietersen. No-one will deny his skill and shtick, but anyone who read his book can see there’s a malevolent edge to him. It’s fine to criticise and banter, but disloyalty and a duplicitous nature don’t belong in team sport.

It’s hard to warm to the Maritzburg old boy, who is too self-absorbed to know better.

Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather jnr is much the same. He’s so outrageously talented it’s almost as if another set of rules apply. When you factor in the assault charges and misogynistic behaviour, it’s pretty clear that he’s beyond the pale. Not much to like there.

The reason he’s got away with it for so long is because he’s royal game – no-one dare touch the most powerful figure in boxing.

Mavericks? Bring them on.

Idiots? No thanks. – © Sunday Tribune

Boxing’s alphabet soup beyond a joke

Posted on July 9, 2015 by ClintonV

Only those who don’t understand boxing were surprised by the news that the WBO was stripping Floyd Mayweather jnr of its welterweight title belt.

On news value alone, it shouldn’t have caused a ripple. The World Boxing Organisation, like its more familiar brethren the WBC, WBA and IBF, is a venal organisation that exists only because boxing is the only sport that still runs as if it was the Wild West. There is no over-arching “world” organisation, which means that anyone could start their own organisation. Many have.

Here’s a list of some of the organisations who pretend to have the boxers’ interests at heart: Global Boxing Council, Global Boxing Federation, Global Boxing Organisation, Global Boxing Union, International Boxing Association, International Boxing Council, International Boxing Federation, International Boxing League, International Boxing Organisation, International Boxing Union, Trans America Boxing, Transcontinental World Boxing Association, Universal Boxing Council, Universal Boxing Organisation, World Athletic Association, World Boxing Association, World Boxing Board, World Boxing Bureau, World Boxing Council, World Boxing Federation, World Boxing Foundation, World Boxing League, World Boxing Organisation, World Boxing Union, World Combat Organisation, World Professional Boxing Federation and the World Sports Organisation.

Madness, plain and simple.

These organisations leech off fighters and cost promoters tens of thousands with their demands for sanctioning fees. The WBO spat the dummy because Mayweather wouldn’t cough up $200 000 (around R2-million) for its coffers. Not to mention the promoters who are fleeced big money for boxing officials who expect to travel first class and be put up in five-star accommodation.

They are all as bad as each other. They exist because boxing is largely a free-for-all and people who ought to know better are seduced by shiny boxing belts, even if many mean next to nothing.

The irony with Mayweather is that he brought prestige to the belts. He needed them like a hole in the head. They were no more than shiny trinkets to the world’s best boxer.

Mayweather’s stock wouldn’t be affected by even one percent. People who understand boxing know exactly who the real champions are. Title belts may be nice to look at, but they don’t mean a whole lot.

Sorry Kev, ballsy Samoa get the prize

Posted on July 8, 2015 by ClintonV

As ballsy as Kevin Anderson was against tennis maestro Novak Djokovic, the best feel-good sports moment of the week came from faraway Apia in Samoa.

That’s when the All Blacks came to town, finally honouring the splendid tradition of Samoan rugby, the ancestral home of so many New Zealanders.

All week long the All Blacks were feted, which was only to be expected: it took 91 long years to get them there.

Eight thousand souls squeezed into the tiny stadium, plus a couple more standing on nearby roofs, anxious to see the action amid a postcard setting of rolling hills and seaside waves. As the Siva Tau and Ka Mate hakas ensued, the enormity of the occasion truly dawned. This was rugby’s brotherhood writ large.

Samoa may not bring cash or status to the party, but they bring history and ritual and thunderous ability. Heaven knows, New Zealand rugby owes them. Take a bow Michael Jones, Olo Brown, Frank Bunce, Julian Savea, Va’aiga Tuigamala and many more who have Samoan blood coursing through their veins.

The match was typically early-season stuff with dropped passes and over-weighted kicks the order of the day. But the sides got stuck into each other and Samoa provided the heavy ammo with some belting tackles. Long may they rattle the bones.

While they never quite threatened to win, Samoa proved emphatically that they deserve a seat at the top table. Luke Romano’s hideously swollen eye was testament to the physical bashing the All Blacks absorbed.

The Boks play the great island nation on September 26.

It could get rough out there.

SA’s real black diamonds on the fast track

Posted on July 6, 2015 by ClintonV

The irony of South African athletics is glorious. While the mother body limps along like an exhausted Comrades runner, the athletes themselves are smashing records and setting remarkable new standards.

The emergence of athletes like Akani Simbine, Anaso Jabodwana, Wayde van Niekerk and Henricho Bruintjies has brought fresh energy to local athletics and heralds a golden new era in sprinting.

The odd man out is Simon Magakwe, who blew the SA 100m record away last year with a 9,98sec finish, only to be slapped with a two-year doping ban.

Bruintjies recently ran 10,06sec, the fastest 100m ever run by a South African overseas – until last Wednesday night. That’s because Simbine became just the second SA man to sub sub-10 seconds (9,99) at a track meet in Slovenia.

Last month, Van Niekerk broke two SA records within one week, the seldom run 300m, and the 400m.

Not to be left out, Jabodwana smashed the SA 200m record, running 20,04sec for the 200m in the US in May.

Not unexpectedly, athletics is enjoying a rise in popularity with growing interest in the feats of SA’s real black diamonds. After too long, the public has begun to talk about athletics again.

As former 10,08sec sprinter Mathew Quinn points out, there’s not a single common denominator to attribute this emergence of world class sprinters to.

“They’re big and strong, sure, but they each have vastly different approaches. The one thing they definitely do differently to us is train far smarter. They don’t just rock up at the track and try to run fast, as we did. They use serious technique now.”

Quinn, a world championship relay gold medalist in 2001, explains that Jabodwana benefits from world class facilities and science at the World Athletics Centre in the US.

“Everything in Arizona is based on technique. Athletes are broken down bit by bit and trained to run correctly, not just fast.”

Van Niekerk, however, is far different. “His coach is an old tannie who still uses old-school methods. For instance, I saw a pic of him last week doing hill runs in Italy.”

The ex-Durban sprinter points out, too, that Simbine’s coach lives in Kempton Park while the athlete himself is based in Pretoria. They meet up three times a week with Simbine training on his own the rest of the time.

“The thing I love is their attitude to succeed. They run consistently well and without injury. And they can do this whether or not Usain Bolt or Justin Gatlin is in the field. Nothing fazes them.”

At least two of the sprinters have clearly benefited from scholarships from Pretoria University: Bruintjies and Simbine. Tukkies is a haven for elite-level athletes thanks to housing the High Performance Centre, an environment geared towards excellence with specialists to be found at every turn. All athletes need worry about is their sport; everything else is taken care of.

There’s empirical evidence that the athletes’ success spurs one another on. Much like waiting all day for a bus, only for two to come along at once, success follows success. Theirs is a virtuous rivalry because the athletes push and encourage one another with the common goal of going faster.

Behind this lot is another name threatening to soon break out. Under-17 star Gift Leotlela, yet another Tuks prodigy, recently set an age-group record of 20,63sec for 200m. Although he won’t be ripe for Rio next year, that sort of pace puts him in the mix for Tokyo in 2020. He’ll definitely run faster.

This will all come as an early Christmas present to the suits at Athletics South Africa. Head office has often flirted with chaos and bankruptcy – they must still handle a R10-million judgment awarded in favour of injured pole vaulter Jan Blignaut – and taken a dive in public confidence.

The athletes tend to succeed despite, rather than because of, ASA.

The world championships take place next month, the Olympics next year. The challenge is for local administrators to harness this surge in popularity and enable athletics to regain the public profile it had 20 and more years ago.

The athletes are there, emphatically. The appetite is there. The facilities are there.

* Subsequent to the writing of this column, Bruintjies smashed the SA 100m record, clocking 9,97sec in Switzerland on Sunday.

The day before, Van Niekerk smashed the 400m mark in Paris when he beat Olympic champion Kirani James in a time of 43,96sec.

Amateur boxing down, almost out

Posted on July 3, 2015 by ClintonV

The South African amateur boxing championships take place next week.

Where? Who knows. When? Who knows.

I only know about it because a professional fighter mentioned it to me.

Amateur boxing enjoys the lowest profile of almost any sport out there. It’s a quaint sub-culture all of its own. There are small gyms dotted around town, tournaments apparently take place fairly often and a couple of youngsters even turn professional every year.

Having attended the session where boxers apply for their pro licenses earlier this year, it was painfully obvious that pickings were thin.

I heard the other day that government is throwing R10-million the way of amateur boxing, presumably to get things fired up ahead of Rio next year.

The SA National Boxing Organisation ought to spend a bit of that cash on marketing. One look at their website offers a suitable metaphor for the game in South Africa – it’s a miserable-looking little thing last updated two years ago.

Its “organisational strategic plan” sounds promising, but the link reveals . . . nothing (see accompanying photograph).

Probably because it doesn’t exist. Obviously.

You sense that this complacency abounds across the amateur discipline. And you would be right. Former South African welterweight champion Harold Volbrecht, who developed in the amateurs in the 1970s and enjoyed a prolific pro career, has become a leading trainer. Yesterday, he told a local website that amateur training was “pathetic”.

It must be. Prior to international readmission in the early 1990s, boxing had accrued more medals than any other sporting discipline at the Olympic Games. In six Games since, the haul has been zero.

You wonder where the next Hekkie Budler or Zolani Tete might emerge from. The pro trainers constantly scout the amateur shows, but they all grumble about the poor standards.

Like a worn-out journeyman, the slog continues.

SA tennis ace is done – deal with it

Posted on July 1, 2015 by ClintonV

Kevin Anderson doesn’t want to play for South Africa.

The more Tennis South Africa jumps up and down about it, the more he digs his heels in.

Both sides have a case. Anderson is South Africa’s top player and TSA desperately need him, both as an active participant and as a beacon to local youngsters.

Anderson, though, is US-based and travelling here would put a serious spoke in his wheels. He’s on the world tour and any deviation from his carefully-planned itinerary could blow up in his face.

The two parties have had a love-hate relationship for years, suffice to say that Anderson can be cranky and disagreeable. Top-end sportsmen are allowed this indulgence.

What happens now is that with Anderson ducking out of Davis Cup competition, while still avowing himself as a proud South African, he will also miss out on the Rio Olympics too.

This is too bad.

South Africa should now get used to the idea that Anderson is not coming back. It’s not worth begging and pleading with him when he emphatically doesn’t want to play.

Deal with it, move on.

Mumble in the Jungle

A wry look at the world

Monthly Archives: July 2015