Friday night at the Bell Centre Lucien Bute defended his IBF World Super-Middleweight championship against an aging William Joppy. I don't want to diminish the considerable skills of Bute but being champion in the International Boxing Federation carries about as much weight as a dieting supermodel.
As we've said before, the only true rankings in boxing are carried by Ring Magazine. Joppy, who had a fair amount of success a few years ago was not included in their top 10 contenders.
That said; Bute went into last night's fight ranked as the third in his division behind one of the greatest champions of all time, Joe Calzaghe and Denmark's Mikkel Kessler.
But this is not about Bute. This is about this city, a city that has showcased in the past the likes of Johnny Greco, Yvon Durelle, Donato Paduano and the Hilton Brothers and has resurfaced as North America's boxing mecca. You can mention Las Vegas and Atlantic City where championship cards draw big crowds. But everything in the ring in those cities is imported.
Montreal consistantly puts locally developed boxers in the ring in front of major crowds. Not only do we have Bute and Joachim Alcine high up in the world rankings, but in the pipeline is a farm system of young boxers ready to tgake their place.
It is said that Montreal is an "event city". The 14 thousand at the Bell Centre Friday night tells us that Montrealers consider boxing to be a "big event".
1 comment:
Ron. Can I call you Ronnie? Ron it is.
With your experience you have to "work" your blog better. It takes a bit of work but at least you have the "expertise" angle in your favour.
Just a thought. I'm around the "sphere" if you need anything. Just call me Batman.
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