Khan-Garcia Aftermath

Danny Garcia pulled one of the upsets of the year last night, knocking out Amir "King" Khan in the fourth round of their 140 lb title unification.

Khan out-boxed Garcia in the first two rounds, proving faster and more active.  Though  impressive, some ring-siders prophetically noted that he was a little too aggressive.  In round 3, Khan's aggression played into Garcia's hands as Garcia landed a left hand counter bomb that sent Khan to the canvas.  Though Khan got up from the punch, he never fully recovered, and referee Kenny Bayless stopped the contest toward the end of round 4.

Whoa.

In one fell swoop, the undefeated Danny Garcia has become the face of the division and Amir Khan is looking at back-to-back losses.  So what's next for both?

For Garcia, any fight in the division makes sense for him.  The public has just become aware of him, and all he needs is activity, to gain more familiarity.  People will watch.  In my opinion, some compelling matches might be against Marcos Maidana and Juan Manuel Marquez.

Khan needs to clear his head and pick smart fights to get himself back into contention.  A lot of people are going to give up on him after this loss, so he has to start afresh.  After a good break, he should fight frequently—once a month—taking out lesser contenders to regain his own confidence.  After that, it may be appropriate to consider rematches against Marcos Maidana and Lamont Peterson.  Then Danny Garcia.

What we witnessed this weekend was a fine example of one of the most intriguing aspects of the sport: the fact that one punch can change everything.  Of late, we've seen fights where the ultimate winner—or ultimate deserving winner—appeared as such throughout the fight.  Those can be fun, but in my opinion nothing is as special as boxing's theater of the unexpected.  Not as pertains to unexpected decisions—those are pesky.  I'm talking about unexpected, sudden, violent shifts in momentum during the action of a bout.

In this particular case, the violent shift, a counter left hook, not only changed the tide of the fight; it changed the whole landscape of the division.  A little known fighter before the fight is now one of the top guys at 140 pounds.  A potential Mayweather opponent before the fight is facing a blow to his career from which he may never recover.  This is boxing, ladies and gentlemen.

-JD

Sergio Martinez

Everybody loves a good knockout.  And yeah, his was awesome.

And, yeah, his KO gave the sport of boxing a good shot in the arm in terms of publicity, which it needed desperately.  What's upsetting is that good knockouts come so infrequently on the championship level these days that viewers--from everyday YouTubers to casual fans to professional analysists--blow them into the stratosphere when they do happen.  Such is the case with Sergio Martinez's KO against Paul Williams last November.

Sergio Martinez loves a good fight.  His spirit in the ring is reminiscent of Evander Holyfield's, in the sense that he's turned on by genuine competition.  His first fight with Paul Williams and his conquest of Kelly Pavlik show the best of this.  Simply said, he's a skilled, exciting, all around great fighter.  But you can't overlook the basic facts here--he can be matched!  Pavlik had him on the canvas, and Williams won the first fight, close as it was.  I got the sense that everybody forgot about this after his epic KO.

Does Martinez deserve to be ranked within the top 10 pound-for-pound right now?  Probably.  He's certainly one of the best professional boxers out there.  Does he deserve to be at the number 3 spot, as The Ring has him?  Well, that's iffy if you ask me--depends on where others are ranked.  He's certainly behind Pacquiao; I think that goes without saying.  Putting him ahead of Nonito Donaire makes sense; the Filipino Bantamweight, impressive as he is, still has room for improvement.  And he ought to be ahead of Floyd, who's on the verge of a full year of inactivity, but somehow The Ring keeps him at number 2.

But how about Juan Manuel Marquez?  Marquez is one of the most technical aggressors ever in the sport of boxing, and he's a ton of fun to watch.  I'd venture to say that if Marquez and Martinez were in the same weight class, Marquez would win.  (It would actually be a great fight.)  He has the smarter punches and a more overwhelming volume of them.  But Marquez hasn't had a jaw-dropping knockout in years.  And yet to me it goes without saying that Marquez is ahead of Martinez pound-for-pound.  But very few (non-Mexican) followers of the sport would agree, and that's because of the Williams KO.  I think similar cases could be made for Timothy Bradley, who's work ethic in the ring is matched by no one except Pacquiao and perhaps Mayweather; and Amir Khan, who's speed on offense is simply stunning but who's one loss has kept him out of The Ring's top 10.

What Martinez needs right now is a real test, if not just to prove that his popularity boost was no fluke.  KOs are terrific but they certainly aren't everything.

-JD