Let’s Go Green…but not in the Ring!

Let’s Go Green…but not in the Ring!

By Benny Henderson Jr., Doghouse Boxing (Mar 2, 2009)

Recycle: to repeat a process, or pass something through a process again.

Going green, recycling, reducing your carbon footprint; it is something that affects the entire world, it is good to see people doing their part to make the world a much better, cleaner and more suitable place for humanity, and it is truly a blessing to witness the fight world, particularly the heavyweight division, in doing their part in recycling…oops, I sense a bit of sarcasm.

This is the deal, the thorn in my side, my gripe of the day, instead of producing new names, younger fighters or adding something to the division, they keep on recycling.

How many times can one fighter get ranked in the top fifteen, become the mandatory challenger, fight for the mandatory spot or even go as far as fight consecutively for a world title? In the 2004-2005 season, Andrew Golota went 0-2-1 in three consecutive title shots.

Do you realize since the summer of 2000, John Ruiz has had twelve dealings with the WBA title, which include three eliminators, two titles, three losses, a couple of draws and defenses? And that he will now battle the winner between Ruslan Chagaev vs. Nicolay Valuev for the WBA strap, who both have wins over Ruiz, with the big guy Valauev having two?

After Evander Holyfield made his comeback to the ring the summer of 2006, and earning four consecutive victories over “whose that’s” and “has beens”

got not one, but two title shots, both losses.

Shall I go on?

All round nice guy Jameel McCline has had three title shots in his last four fights, in which he produced a 1-3 record, one was for the title, the rest were eliminators. He just signed to battle unbeaten Chris Arreola, a fight that is winnable in my book, and if victorious…bam, peep this, another title shot.

Holy cow, former one hit wonder and WBC/IBF/IBO heavyweight titlist Hasim Rahman, has had five eliminators and two title shots since his loss to Lennox Lewis. Rahman’s former foe, Oleg Maskaev, whose last win was over a 23-11 Robert Hawkins, if victorious March 14th over a 17-2 Rich Boruff, well he is the mandatory for Vitali Klitschko.

The recycling business has been prosperous for the heavyweight division, that is if you are an old dog in the sport, not so rewarding for the fight fan who has to deal with the repeated process of BS the commissions allow.

Michael Grant holds a top fifteen spot in the IBF, hey, give it up for the big man, he has seven consecutive W’s. Too bad the biggest win is over Paul Marinaccio, other than that it was Billy Zumbrun. James Toney, DaVarryl Williamson who was laid to sleep by Kali Meehan, and last win was against an 8-8 cat, still holds a top spot.

There are names out in the division more deserving of a top spot or title shot than the ones mentioned above. The fans and the young guns in the heavyweight division all suffer from the recycling of heavyweights, if we are ever going to bring the division back to a powerhouse, we have to builder a stronger foundation, that means out with the old in with the new.

Recycling is great, cans here, bottles there, we can all do our part in keeping this world turning, so hey, let’s go green…but not in the ring!

You can listen to Bob Carroll, Butch and “THE Big Dog” Benny Henderson Jr. every Wednesday night from 6-7pm EST on Fightin’ Words Radio Show. To listen live via the internet, go to www.1490wwpr.com and look for the ‘listen here’ tab. Don't forget to check out the Fightin' Words Radio Show website, www.fightinwordsonline.com

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