|
|
|
|
Friday,
May 26 BERBICK W12 SUTCLIFFE
It was the first major fight in Vancouver in
several years. Unfortunately
the main event didn't leave us much to talk about.
Canadian Champion, and former World Champion Trevor Berbick
was able to club his way to a unanimous decision over Nanaimo's
Shane "Kid Thunder" Sutcliffe in a very uneventful
fight. Berbick looked like your typical old fighter throughout the
bout, he crossed his arms like Foreman and Norton, and is even
starting to resemble an old Muhammed Ali, minus the charisma.
(A more interesting fight would have been Berbick today
against the Ali that Berbick beat 20 years ago).
Each round of the fight looked the same, Sutcliffe would
start off by throwing weak jabs and sloppy hooks that did no
damage while Berbick would attempt to get in close and fire his
huge hooks with all of his 256 pounds behind them.
Berbick managed to stun Sutcliffe several times throughout
the fight but the challenger was able to weather the storm each
time. Sutcliffe's
biggest mistake was not going to the body early.
Berbick wasn't in terribly good shape and if Sutcliffe went
hard to the body early in the fight, the 49 year old Berbick would
have really slowed down. "Kid
Thunder" showed very little punching power and didn't seem to
land a good hard punch all night.
After 12 rounds the fight went to the
judges who scored a unanimous decision for Berbick
(115-113, 115-113, 117-112). Berbick's record is now 50-11-1 (33
KO's) while Sutcliffe's falls to 22-7-1 (13 KO's) For Shane Sutcliffe,
this is probably the end of a promising career.
This is now Sutcliffe's fifth consecutive loss and there is
little hope of Sutcliffe ever becoming a top contender.
For Berbick, who knows what is next?
Berbick could possibly be as old as 50, and you have to
wonder how much he has left.
There have been talks about him possibly defending his
title against Donovan "Razor" Ruddock, or even fighting
against former champion Larry Holmes in a battle of the aged.
Either bout would draw a huge crowd in the fight-starved
city of Vancouver. There
is also speculation that Uriah Grant, the former IBF cruiserweight
champion, and close friend of Trevor Berbick, will be making his
way to Vancouver. But
unless its for Grant-Hearns II, there probably wouldn't be much
local interest. While Berbick is the Canadian Heavyweight Champion, that doesn't necessarily make him the best Canadian heavyweight. Kirk Johnson and David Defiagbon are both very promising and unbeaten fighters. Kirk Johnson 29-0-1 (21 KO's) is already regarded as being a top 10 contender by most boxing experts, but a recent injury has left him inactive for quite a while. Then there's the 1996 Olympic silver medalist David Defiagbon 12-0. Defiagbon is still early in his career, but is already showing great promise. One thing is for sure, Berbick had better hope that neither Johnson or Defiagbon decide they want to be Canadian Champion. |
