The good, the bad and the ugly
Boxing gave us an eventful, exciting, yet contentious weekend both in Britain and across the pond.
It was KSI who wrote the headlines in the UK as he elbowed his way to victory over Joe Fournier at a packed-out Wembley Arena.
It was a sour end to what was a night calculated to deliver KSI his best win.
In round two of his fight with ex-pro Fournier, he landed a big right-hook, only to follow up with an elbow that clocked his opponent round the face.
The hit sent Fournier to the canvas, and he was unable to beat the count and continue.
Despite replays showing the clear elbow, KSI and team refused to acknowledge the incident, instead moving straight into the promotional playground with Tommy Fury.
The pair faced-off in the ring post-fight, and are now likely to run a huge date in the summer, which would determine who sits at the top of the influencer boxing food chain.
Whatever you think of KSI, his willingness to chase challenge has to be admired. Fury’s win over Jake Paul will now be the benchmark to which KSI has to better.
But until then, he will have to take hits for the elbow that training partner Michael Venom Page would be proud of.
I will say, if those involved in ‘influencer’ boxing are going to champion KSI, advocating the idea that he will bring new eyes to the sport, then can we at least ensure he does it properly?
As for ‘proper’ boxing, well, we are the ones who delivered Joe Fournier.
Maybe we need a better leg to stand on.
There was also one of the knockouts of the year this weekend as Ellis Zorro punched Hosea Burton into potential retirement in their bruising cruiserweight battle at York Hall.
The pair shared six even rounds, brutal enough to which they were consequently wearing each other’s blood.
But it was round seven in which the curtains were drawn, and maybe not just on this fight.
Burton’s pre-fight promise of retirement was a nugget of encouragement for Zorro, who with a chopping right hand may have delivered Burton’s answer for him. It was a peach of a shot.
And in no way was it recoverable.
Zorro had won his maiden title, and had done so in the most spectacular fashion possible. It is a maiden title that gives him power amongst a division of tasty domestic dustups.
This could be a real fun journey.
To Las Vegas, where Rolly Romero was crowned the new WBA champion at 140lbs.
But, if there was ever a sentence that didn’t tell the story, that was it.
Whilst one man was crowned world champion, another was crowned court jester. Welcome to the fold Tony Weeks. The veteran referee stopped the highly competitive fight in round ten, despite Ismael Barroso taking not a single clean punch.
It was a bizarre ending to a fight that had exceeded expectations. What was seen by many as a gift-wrapped world title for Rolly had turned into a competitive fight in which both men had hit the deck.
At the time of the stoppage, Barroso was ahead on all three of the judges’ scorecards.
Rolly, to his credit, was first to admit that Weeks acted prematurely.
It was only in November of last year that the 860-bout referee oversaw 12 rounds of brutal action between David Morrell Jr. and Aidos Yerbossynully - the latter being placed in an induced coma soon after.
Maybe his judgement was clouded, and Rolly just happened to be the beneficiary.
Either way, this is a fight that we need to see again if we are to uphold boxing as a model of rectitude.
Five-hundred miles north, Zhanibek Alimkhanuly defended his WBO middleweight world title with the mauling of Steven Butler. Coming in at a career lightest, the Kazakh wasted no time in throwing with purpose.
Butler simply had no answer.
The champion’s left uppercut will sit as a torturous reminder for Butler of just how out of his depth he really was. It was this exact shot that exposed the Canadian’s vulnerability as he hit the canvas three times en route to defeat.
All three of these came in round two, with the last one being enough to end what turned out to be something of a mismatch.
It was a welcome statement performance from Zhanibek, who now eyes the likes of Jermall Charlo, and the one he calls ‘Canela’.
However, on Saturday’s viewing, he could be quite an easy swerve.
Jason Moloney found out that third time is a charm as he beat Vincent Astrolabio to become WBO bantamweight champion. It was a chance Moloney needed to grab with both hands - something made increasingly difficult by the breaking of his right one in round three.
Armed with his jab and his two feet, the Australian kept his range and nipped away at Astrolabio. The Filipino fighter was unable to land anything of note or in volume.
If anything, he was lucky to be awarded a draw on one of the scorecards.
But it was a scorecard nullified by the two in favour of Moloney, who will now have to sit on his hands and watch as twin brother Andrew goes for world title glory in Las Vegas.
If he is to do so, they will be only the third pair of twins to hold world titles simultaneously. A quite spectacular achievement.
Oscar Bevis