In Cardiff, Wales, super middleweight champ
Joe Calzaghe (43-0) remained undefeated with an easy third-round TKO of
Peter Manfredo Jr. (26-4) from
season one of The Contender. Alphabet titles don't count for much but it's nevertheless impressive that this was Calzaghe's 20th successful defense of his WBO belt. It took Calzaghe about a round to figure out the slower Manfredo but once he did, it was only a matter of time. Calzaghe threw combinations in such rapid succession that Manfredo literally couldn't get his punches off. Midway through the third round, Calzaghe threw 31 unanswered punches and - despite the fact Manfredo wasn't hurt at all - referee Terry O'Connor jumped in to stop the fight. The premature stoppage likely saved Manfredo from a long night of eating punches but it also denied an adoring crowd of 35,000 the pleasure of watching their hometown hero pound on an overmatched opponent for a few more rounds. Calzaghe needs to secure a big fight with
Mikkel Kessler,
Bernard Hopkins or
Jermain Taylor. Manfredo needs to move back to 160 and stick to fighting opponents like
Sergio Mora and
Alfonso Gomez.
In Springfield, Missouri, Joshua Clottey (31-2) gave Diego Corrales (40-5) a rude introduction to the welterweight division, pounding the former two-division champ for ten rounds en route to a lopsided unanimous decision win (100-87, 98-89 and 97-90). Corrales absorbed punishment from the first round to the final bell but never backed down. Clottey knocked Corrales down in both the ninth and tenth rounds with Corrales penalized an extra point for spitting out his mouthpiece (sound familiar?) after the second knock down. Clottey deserves a shot at IBF champ Kermit Cintron. Corrales is not going to have success against top ten welterweights and should either figure out a way to make weight at 140 or consider hanging up his gloves. He's lost three in a row now and, while his courage gives him the ability to make almost any fight entertaining, it's also going to get him hurt if he sticks around too long ...
Comments
Talk about right on the money. Calzaghe and Kessler would be some fight as long as it were not in the UK. Amir Kahn got shortchanged on that Calzaghe premature blowout with a stiff from a track team. Corrales people should have picked someone easier than Clottey.
Premature stoppage of Manfredo saved him from a potential hammering. Corrales showed an impressive ability to absorb Clotteys punches. Maybe his previous stoppage losses were due to weight loss weakness. Perhaps there is still some championship contention for Diego but I feel it has to be at light welter. In any event thanks for some great fights.
Great site. You are doing a great job. You also write with a bit of class. I notice you never call any fighter a bum. You always treat them with dignity. Rare today
This is definite a dark foreshadow, perhaps a bit of prophecy at the end of your paragraph. You stated, “while his courage gives him the ability to make almost any fight entertaining, it’s also going to get him hurt if he sticks around too long …
If he were ever so lucky to be able to stick around…