From: sxl@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Simon Lau)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.misc
Subject: Boxing:SuperMiddleweights (Nunn, Eubank, Barkley, Benn)
Summary: Boxing
Date: 7 Oct 92 20:35:01 GMT
Expires: Fri, 30 Oct 1992 00:00:00 GMT
Reply-To: sxl@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Simon Lau)
Followup-To: rec.sport.misc
Organization: Laboratory for the Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh U


Hmmm, it would seem that the SuperMiddleweight scene could well
be taking off, especially after recent title fights. Here's a summary :


Michael Nunn (US) bt Victor Cordoba (PAN) to win the WBA title
narrowly on points after Nunn was floored in the tenth (?) round.
If I remember (correct me if I'm wrong) one judge gave Cordoba the fight
by two rounds and the other two gave Nunn the edge by one round.
In fact, if Cordoba had fought less conservatively in the last round,
he would have won an unanimous decision.
This was actually quite an impressive win for Nunn after coming off a
ten month layoff, more so because Cordoba is an excellent counterpuncher
with impressive power. I'm still not sure if he's back to his best
though. Before the fight, there were rumours (Boxing Weekly) that his
weight had gone up to 15 stone ! Visual evidence showed that he was quite
flabby around the middle.

Nigel Benn (ENG) bt Mauro Galvano (ITA) to win the WBC title.
This fight took place near Rome in front of a partisan crowd.
What this fight almost proved was the following truism (well nearly true) : 

      You have to knock out an Itallian to get a draw.

provided the the one doing the damage isn't also Itallian of course :-) .

Benn went straight after the body for the first two rounds, managing to land
good solid right handers to the head surprisingly frequently as well.
Galvano was trying to spoil the fight as usual - he would just circle
around and throw his jab, and if Benn too got close he would grab hold for 
dear life. It was in the second round that a cut opened up over an eye of
Galvano's. The third round was quite amusing; Galvano who had been fighting
dirty during the fight (he hit Benn flush with an elbow) pushed Benn
through the ropes and managed to land a right as he fell through.

The referee should have cautioned Galvano. Anyhow Galvano's cut had worsened 
during the round and he refused to come out for the fourth. Actually,
Galvano had wanted to come out but his manager (or trainer) called the
ring doctor over before the start of the fourth in the hope of trying to
cheat a technical draw out of the situation : this 'no contest' can happen if 
an illegal blow forces the contest to be stopped before 4 rounds. After that
it goes to the cards.

Galvano's team claimed the cut had been caused by a head butt but the referee
(Joe Cortez (US)) and Barry Hearn (Benn's manager/promoter) claimed it had been
a legal right hand that done the damage. 

Benn had trained 13 weeks for the fight and his emotions changed from 
jubilation to despair and then finally back to jubilation as the officials
finally agreed that Benn was the new champion after some 15 mins wait.
Galvano also finally admitted that it had been a right hand that had opened the
cut.
	
Straight after the announcement, Benn walked over to Chris Eubank (WBO holder),
punched then clasped Eubank's hand and declared : "NOW we can do business".

The crowd got a teensy weensy bit upset at the eventual outcome
and hurled missiles (coins, bottles etc.) as Benn ran back to 
his dressing room (protected byhis entourage). 

And so ended another commonplace event in the land of fair play.
For any Itallians reading this : hey, no offense man :-)


Chris Eubank (ENG) bt Tony Thornton (US) on points to retain his WBO title.
The fight was much closer than the comfortable points margin given by
the judges. Although most of the newspapers I read had Eubank the winner
by one round, there were a couple that had it either a draw or a one round
win for Thornton.

Normally, Eubank is very powerful, but for most of the fight he found it
hard to make Thornton blink. This was due to Thornton's rock hard chin
plus a good-peek-a-boo style defence.
The exceptions were the end of the 9th (bell stopped assault by Eubank)
and beginning of the 10th rounds (Thornton had to grab hold).
For each of the last two rounds, Eubank did some good early work but then 
contented himself by running away for the rest of the duration (literally
in the 12th !).

Early on in the fight, Eubank showed some of his true potential by boxing
beautifully but seemed to run out of ideas or steam or both after that.
Whether this was because of Thornton's relentless grinding pressure it's
hard to say, but it looked like a tired Eubank out there towards the end.
Still, the fight did show that he posseses a superb left jab, and once again,
the grit and determination to see it through.
It was his 9th WBO title fight in 22 months and he'll be fighting again
in just 2 months time - probably against Juan Carlos Gimenez (ARG)

I once heard an interview with Eubank when he said that he eats everything.
Hmmm, Ignoring possible burn-out for the moment, I wonder if this could be 
the source of his stamina problems - maybe it's time he changed his diet.
Just for the record, he has went the distance in 3 of his last 4 fights.
Does this suggest that his power is going or that his opponents are limited
but durable types.


Over the summer I watched Eubank Vs Benn (first and so far only encounter)
quite a few times, which has more than slightly whetted my appetite for 
their long awaited rematch. Any opinions on the likelihood of their
surely inevitable unification bout ?

Benn was also interested in fighting Iran Barkley again, having already
stopped Barkley in 1 round 2 years ago. This would be a hellish fight
on the basis of what happened last time out. Comments welcome ?

Current SuperMiddleweight 'World' Champions :

WBC                WBA                IBF                WBO
Nigel Benn(ENG)    Michael Nunn(US)   Iran Barkley(US)   Chris Eubank(ENG)

With James Toney moving up, this division could see some sparks flying pretty
soon.

Simon.