The World Boxing Association, the oldest of the sanctioning bodies that we refer to as “alphabets” these days recognizes 17 weight classes in professional boxing today. Nevertheless, at the end of 2011 they had somehow managed to crown 37 world champions in these weight classes! Between elevating some champions to “Super Champion” status and undermining others with the introduction of Interim Champions they have managed, on their own, to average more than two champions per weight class. Now, in his Christmas message the President of the WBA did respond to the criticism that this situation is understandably drawing and he made some fair points in the defence of his organization that I will consider later on. He also intimated that the group would look closely at the legitimacy of Interim Champions in future and even hinted that they may be removed altogether if necessary. However, it is the Super Champions that really annoy me at the moment.

By and large, the WBA recognizes somebody as a “Super Champion” when they hold more than one of the big four alphabet belts. This in itself is fair enough. However, what they then do is vacate the “regular” WBA title, allowing them to crown two world champions simultaneously! For example, when David Haye lost to Wladimir Klitschko, Klitschko became the WBA Heavyweight Champion. However, since he was already the IBF, IBO and WBO Champion the WBA immediately installed Klitschko as Super Champion and then sanctioned a match between Ruslan Chagaev and Alexander Povetkin for the regular title, meaning that Wladimir Klitschko is now the WBA Heavyweight Super Champion and Alexander Povetkin is the WBA Heavyweight Champion! How ludicrous is that? The reason for this insane behaviour, of course, is that the WBA get to sanction more Championship matches and thereby earn more sanctioning fees. The fact that this is ruining boxing is seemingly just a sad side effect.

Interim Champions, while also annoying, are not quite such a problem in my eyes. Basically, an Interim Champion is crowned if the current champion is expected to vacate his belt or in danger of being stripped of it for some reason. Where the champion’s status is thus in doubt and Interim Champion is crowned who is awarded the full championship at the relevant time, if the champion does not fight him before then. Personally, I don’t see why we can’t just call these guys Number One Contenders but at least the logic is clear. Moreover, the WBA are by no means the only ones doing this. The WBO frequently crown Interim Champions as well. Personally, I just think that Interim Championships should not carry any recognition as being actual world titles. I don’t think that an Interim Champion should be allowed to call himself any kind of World Champion until, and unless, he is acknowledged as being the full World Champion by the relevant sanctioning body.

Another group muddying the waters are the WBC, the second oldest and in many ways the most widely known of the sanctioning bodies. They also recognize Interim Champions but they didn’t like the sound of that so they changed the name to WBC Silver Champion! This, said WBC President Jose Sulaiman, would add value to fights that could not be for a WBC Championship but would nevertheless be of great significance. He did not mention anything about how this would dilute the significance of championship belts in general. But wait, there’s more! Since this alone would not do enough to actually confuse the title picture, the WBC also decided to add some more title belts.

The first of these is the WBC Diamond belt and this is actually not a bad idea at all. It is just that, thanks to the extreme proliferation of belts generally people often mistake the significance of the Diamond Belt. A Diamond Belt is awarded to commemorate an especially great fight. It cannot be defended in the ring and is therefore not a championship belt as such. It is a one-time only trophy awarded to a boxer to celebrate a particular accomplishment. As such, I like the idea but wish some other trophy, rather than a championship belt, could have been chosen. Much more annoying, however, is the creation of the “Champion Emeritus”.

The WBC can, at their discretion, make one or more boxers Champion Emeritus at each weight class. This is an award for life and is intended to honour the great WBC Champions. However, with no real standard of entry it just adds yet more confusion to the title picture. Vitali Klitschko, for example, is a fair example of a great WBC Champion. He has held that belt on more than one occasion for a long time. If the WBC wishes to honour him for that, fair enough. The same goes for Lennox Lewis. Why, though can people like Sergio Martinez be awarded the same honour after holding a WBC title for less than a year? The answer is simple. When a WBC Champion may possibly lose the belt due to injury or some other non-ring related reason they can now make that man a Champion Emeritus, allowing them to vacate his title while still recognizing him as a champion and also guaranteeing him a title shot should he later decide he wants one. This was the case when an eye injury forced Mikkel Kessler to vacate the WBC Super-Middleweight Championship.

Between all this and with the IBF frequently making their champions face ludicrous mandatory defences or lose their belts whenever they become unified champions, as when they stripped Joe Calzaghe of the title soon after he won it, thereby ensuring that their next champion had zero credibility, it is entirely possible that each weight class could have nine or more “world champions” just from the big four sanctioning bodies alone! Apart from the obvious reason that more champions equals more sanctioning fees, why is this? Moreover, what can and should be done about it? The first question is relatively simple to answer and was indeed addressed by the WBA President last month.

In a word, the reason for this crazy proliferation of titles is this: television. TV companies are the guys that stump up the bulk of the money for boxing today and they want title fights. They have decided that, with a very few exceptions, their audience only want to watch title fights so they want as many fights as possible to fall into that category. If that means creating more and more irrelevant titles until every boxer vaguely worthy of the label “world level” has a belt of his own then so be it. As Gilberto Mendoza said, even if the WBA did away with all of its Interim Champions that would not remove this demand and other organizations would simply fill the void. So, what is to be done? The obvious solution for us, as fans, is simply to make sure that we watch every good non-title bout that is on TV. If TV producers can see that non-title boxing is a worthy attraction then they will stop putting pressure on sanctioning bodies to create championships and start putting pressure on them to make worthy matches.

However, I also think that the ultimate goal of every fight fan is to reach that time when we only have one real world champion and, ultimately, for that to happen, we need to have only one sanctioning body. If national boxing bodies, like the British Board of Boxing Control could just endorse one of the sanctioning bodies and refuse to recognize the others then, eventually, I think we would get to that stage. Maybe Governments could have a role to play in this as well. Someone has to regulate boxing at some point and it clearly will not happen from within. In the spirit of this, therefore, I will take the first step myself. Soon, Marshall Law will only recognize one sanctioning body. I will, of course, still point out who holds what, and so on but only one group will have the honour of having their titlists dignified with the name “World Champion” and on these pages.

The question, of course, is which one? I will make the case for and against each possible arbiter and then you, my readers will help me choose. In my next article I’ll look at some of the contenders. See you then!

The plain fact of the matter is that the modern heavyweights have become so big that frankly stupid fights are being made. Back in the seventies, even George Foreman was usually no more than 20-25 pounds heavier than his opponents. These days, with the heavyweight division including any boxer of 200 pounds or more, ludicrous mismatches seem to be more and more frequent. Something needs to be done and the only sensible solution that I can see is a wholesale redefinition of weight limits. The weight limits, as they are currently set by most boxing organisations, are woefully out of date. The light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds just does not reflect reality anymore. That is 15 pounds lower than the average man’s body weight today, according to the most recent data that I was able to find online! Even allowing for couch potatoes distorting the average, it is clear that something is out of whack.

I would personally advocate the minimum weight for heavyweights being reset to 230 pounds. I would put cruiserweights at 210, light heavyweights at 200, super middleweights at 190 and just keep going down by 10 pounds for each weight class below this until welterweight, which would now be 160. After this, I would keep going down in 5-pound units, to reflect the greater difference a pound makes at lower weights. Others might offer different scales. The problem, of course, is that this would require all of the alphabets to acknowledge and agree to the new limits, and would mean that most of the championships would have to be declared vacant and fought out once more. Then again, think what a money-spinner that could be!

This redefinition of boxing, long overdue in certain weight classes (the light heavyweight limit has remained the same for almost one hundred years), would give the sport a chance to re-launch itself. With the right hype and marketing push it would be a real chance to win back some of the viewers that the sport has lost. Sadly, I can’t see it happening as the governing bodies in boxing are generally incapable of acting in concert and rarely show anything resembling vision. Nevertheless, something has to change because, as it stands we know that a good big ‘un will always beat a good little ‘un. For some reason, however, we seem to be determined to keep testing that theory.

LDN continues to grow in popularity as the success of this event shows. Queues were long and the demand for tickets was such that more chairs were being brought in and set up mere minutes before show time. The total crowd was around about 400, much bigger than the crowds at the promotion’s last shows in this area, which is a testament to the success of the promotion. Come 7:30 it was time for the first match, which saw former British Champion Yorghos taking on Chris St Clair. This was very much England versus Greece, as Yorghos showed no respect for the nation he once represented as champion, instead constantly harping on about his princely ancestry in Greece. The match itself was a good opener to the show and was a tale of the bigger and stronger Yorghos dominating his young opponent for much of the match, only for St Clair’s impressive determination and will power to keep forcing his way back into the match.

For those of you that have never attended a wrestling show live, I can only tell you that, once you do, your respect for the wrestlers will increase tenfold. Television does not do the impact of slams on the canvas justice. The noise will surprise you if you have not been there before. The bout spilled out of the ring on more than one occasion. Early on St Clair managed to throw Yorghos out onto the hard floor mere feet from me, following it up with a suicide dive that caught the Greek just as he was rising. The thud of the impact of flesh on floor was enough to make one wince in sympathy. Make no mistake about it, these men are tough. Inevitably, his inability to put the younger man away began to frustrate Yorghos and he began resorting to dodgy tactics. Finally, he secured the pinfall by resting his feet on the ropes to give himself an unfair advantage. Utterly shamelessly, he then gloated as if he’d just won the British Championship. I did not appreciate having his Greek flag dragged over my head either!

Next up was one of the most popular products of the LDN Academy, the Peckham Playboy himself, Hakan. He, however, was facing a stern test, taking on feared masked wrestler The Dark Lord, accompanied as always by his Manager. Yet to be pinned or forced to submit, The Dark Lord is a tough prospect for anybody but Hakan is hardly the sort to be intimidated. I expected this match to be a case of The Dark Lord trying to “ground and pound” the quick, high-flying Hakan but the match quickly took a different turn, spilling out of the ring and turning into an all-out brawl. The Dark Lord wasted no time at all in breaking rules, picking up the ring steps and slamming them into Hakan, who also had to deal with cheap shots from the Manager’s walking stick, chair shots and goodness knows what else! Realising that he was in a war, Hakan wisely fought fire with fire and made sure that The Dark Lord soon found out that weapons can just as easily be used against you.

This brutal affair did eventually return to the ring where, ultimately, it turned out to be the relentless assault of The Dark Lord that was most effective. The unfortunate Hakan was eventually caught in a sleeper (or rather, choke) hold and knocked out, putting another notch in The Dark Lord’s win column. The valiant Hakan eventually insisted on leaving the ring unassisted, the vicious red welt on his back a grisly testament to the punishment that he had just endured. Nevertheless, he wasn’t quite done with The Dark Lord, as we were to find out later on.

However, following that it was time for tag-team action, pitting Capital Champion Richard Parliament and his partner, William Gaylord (pronounced g’lord, apparently, although neither the audience nor ring announcer Mr Bagga were having any of that) against Joshua Jackson and local hero Billy Reynolds, better known as B-Rey. This match was tremendously entertaining, not least for the way that Parliament and Gaylord were losing their rags as the crowd taunted them. Indeed, Richard Parliament impresses me more every time I see him wrestle. His ability to rile up a crowd is second to none in the British business at this moment; the more so as he is utterly unbridled in his response, thereby egging them on to still greater catcalls and boos. His excellent gimmick is, of course, a major factor in this, as it provides him with a never-ending source of material, such as his claim at this show that he had hacked the phones of his opponents in order to get inside information on their strategy. Nevertheless, it is Parliament’s commitment to the gimmick and willingness to engage with the crowd that is making him a success, not the gimmick itself. Knowing that he was coming back after a recently fractured rib only increases my admiration. If you are a British wrestling fan and you haven’t seen this man yet, make sure that you do.

Another man that is improving is B-Rey. It’s about two years since I last saw him work and, while he was good then, he seems to have come on a bundle since. His style is more balanced now and he worked well as the good guy in this match. The match was a good example of tag team wrestling psychology. Once the villains got the upper hand they worked over Jackson in the ring while the crowd got more and more desperate to see B-Rey make the tag. Gaylord and Parliament kept Jackson isolated as long as possible, even distracting the referee so that we got the old favourite “ref didn’t see the tag” spot when Jackson finally managed to make it back to his corner. When B-Rey eventually did receive the hot tag the crowd went nuts and he cleaned house effectively until the bad guys again managed to get an unfair advantage. From there it was B-Rey’s turn to be the good guy in peril until the momentum turned and the hometown hero was able to get the pinfall, to the utter delight of the audience. That took us up to the interval, but Mr Bagga assured us that we would see all of those wrestlers again as our main event would be an over-the-top-rope Royal Rumble style Battle Royal.

After the interval and a much needed drink (Mr Bagga wasn’t the only person losing his voice that night!) I settled back in ready for the big British Championship match. This match was contested under traditional British Mountevans rules (named after Admiral Lord Mountevans), which differ somewhat from the rules of American pro wrestling. This would be a match consisting of 6 3-minute rounds, the winner to be determined by scoring two pinfalls, two submissions or a knockout. Each round ends after 3 minutes is up or as soon as a fall is scored. If the result is a draw at the end of the sixth round then the champion retains his title. Many of the younger fans would have been seeing this type of match, which used to be the norm when I was a kid, for the first time. It does lead to a very different type of match. First to come out was Travis, who emerged with his customary exuberance, high-fiving all and sundry, including yours truly (though I am sure he did not recognize me, being half-concussed when I interviewed him last year!) and seemingly the same crowd-pleasing individual he always has been.

Johnny Kidd entered the ring next, looking in terrific shape as always, even though it is now over thirty-three years since he made his debut. Both men received a terrific reception from the audience. As is usual in these matches, the first round was pretty low-key, each man feeling the other out and pacing themselves for all six rounds. A few of the younger members of the audience, unused to this style got a little frustrated at this point but of course, the action picked up in intensity in the second round. The wrestling skill of both men was a joy to behold as they worked through hold and counter-hold, seemingly evenly matched. However, in the second round Kidd trapped Travis in a pinning combination and secured the first fall. At that point, Travis snapped. What had been a fair and sportsmanlike contest suddenly became anything but as Travis resorted to any measures to hold on to his title.

Perhaps the younger man had been taking his legendary opponent lightly? Whatever the case, at this point he knew that he had a real struggle ahead if he was to hold onto his championship so, as far as he was concerned, it was anything goes. He was spitting water in Kidd’s face, using objects as weapons, blind-siding the veteran at the beginning of rounds, anything he could get away with in fact and, in the end, he was lucky not to be disqualified. Nevertheless, it worked, to an extent. Travis soon secured the equalising fall when he forced a submission out of Kidd and the bout was perfectly poised as they headed into the final round. It was impossible to call at this point but as the time ran down, it was the old stager Johnny Kidd that shocked the nation by securing his second pinfall and winning the British Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his illustrious career.

Travis, of course was desperately disappointed but that does not excuse his unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of the match. It is the tradition in British wrestling that a new champion has the belt placed around his waist by his defeated predecessor. Travis seemingly agreed to do this, only to take the opportunity to deliver another cheap shot to the new champion. Kidd then took the opportunity to tell Travis a few home truths about how his behaviour had degenerated over the last few months, the upshot of which was the news that Kidd will give Travis a rematch within the next thirty days. Keep up with the schedule on the LDN website to find out when this match will occur because I guarantee that it will be a cracker. Incidentally, for American fans, if you are anywhere near Reading, PA on the 30^th of July, Johnny Kidd will be wrestling at Chikara’s upcoming Chikarasaurus Rex – King of Sequel event, taking on the equally legendary Johnny Saint.

Finally, it was time for the main event in which eight men would battle it out to be the last man standing in an over the top rope battle royal. It will surprise nobody to learn that the vast majority of the crowd were willing B-Rey on in this one and indeed, when we got down to the final three he was still there, battling it out with Hakan and The Dark Lord, whose battle went on as though their match had never ended. For B-Rey, it was not to be this time, however, as The Dark Lord first knocked Hakan over one rope and then threw B-Rey out at the other side of the ring. However, unbeknownst to the masked man, Hakan was clinging on to the top rope and lifting himself up – neither of his feet had touched the floor. As he skinned the cat, Shawn Michaels style, The Dark Lord realised his mistake and came charging in, only for Hakan to catch his head between his feet and rana him out of the ring, a la Rey Mysterio. The Dark Lord may not have been pinned yet but he was not the winner in this battle.

The issue between Hakan and The Dark Lord was clearly not over and one got the impression that they would fight all night if allowed. It was left to Mr Bagga to step in and solve this problem and he did so with a blockbuster announcement. LDN will return to Staines in January and when they do, Hakan and The Dark Lord will meet once more. This time, however, the loser will be fired from the company. What’s more, the match will be a Ladder Match! Again, keep an eye on the LDN website to make sure that you don’t miss out on this one. All in all, this was probably the best LDN show that I have attended yet. The fact that we got to see the British Championship itself change hands was simply the icing on the cake. As usual, the show took in a number of styles but for me there can be no doubt that the match of the night was Johnny Kidd’s victory over Travis.

If you would like to know more about the old days of British wrestling, then check out my earlier article Everything Stops At Four ‘O’Clock!

When did the WBO start getting recognition as a major sanctioning body in boxing?

That really depends on recognition by whom. By and large, though, I’d say around about 2000.

Why are there so many heavyweight boxing titles?

Purely and simply, because of money. Sanctioning boxing matches is a good way to make money in the sport, which is why so many have tried it. In fairness, some of the organisations have sprung up because their founders were frustrated by the confused championship scene in boxing and they thought that they might be able to clear things up.

Has John Cena faced The Undertaker in a match?

Yes, John Cena has wrestled The Undertaker on numerous occasions, mostly on Raw and Smackdown. Their highest profile clash was probably the pay per view match between the two at Vengeance in 2003, quite early on in Cena’s career. The Undertaker won that one.

Why was Mike Tyson never WBO Champion?

During Tyson’s peak years the WBO belt was not highly regarded and was frankly, not worth Tyson’s time. The WBO actually came into existence when Tyson was already the holder of the IBF, WBA and WBC titles, then the “big three” of boxing. By the time that the WBO title had the credibility that Tyson required, he was almost spent as a boxer. His last title bout came in 2002 and his last victory in 2003.

Who are the five British Heavyweight boxing champions since 1990?

They are: Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno, Herbie Hide, Henry Akinwande and David Haye. It should be pointed out that Hide and Akinwande only held the WBO title, at a time when it was not widely regarded as a “real” boxing championship.

Will Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko fight each other?

No! They have been very clear on this point.

How many belts does Floyd Mayweather hold?

Currently, none. When he announced his retirement after beating Ricky Hatton he vacated his WBC Welterweight Championship. He gets the chance to get it back when he takes on Victor Ortiz in September. In total, he has held the WBC title at Super-Featherweight, Lightweight, Light-Welterweight, Welterweight and Light-Middleweight, as well as the IBF title at Welterweight.

When was the final time that The Rock faced Steve Austin in a match?

That would be their clash at Wrestlemania 19. The Rock won.

How do they do chair shots in pro wrestling?

They hit each other with chairs. It’s really quite simple!

What did Robin Reid achieve in boxing?

Quite a lot! The Grim Reaper, as he was known, held numerous titles of varying importance but his greatest achievement was winning the WBC Super-Middleweight Championship in 1996. The fact that he did this outside his own country, beating Italy’s Vincenzo Nardiello in Milan, made it all the more impressive. Reid also had runs with the relatively unimportant WBF and IBO titles. He probably should have achieved more but was robbed of his chance to take the WBA and IBF titles from German Sven Ottke by some of the most disgracefully one-sided refereeing I have ever seen in a boxing ring. Reid is also probably the man that came closest to beating Joe Calzaghe, taking him to a split decision when they met. As an amateur, Reid won a Bronze Medal at the 1992 Olympic Games. Still fighting today at forty years old, Reid won his last fight.

Should chair shots to the head be allowed in professional wrestling?

In my opinion, no. They are too dangerous and not worth the risk to the wrestlers’ health. I don’t mind protected chair shots, where the wrestler puts a hand up to deflect the blow from his head but unprotected shots are just unnecessary.

Had Haye actually won, the outlook would have been quite promising. Almost certainly, we would have already been enjoying the build-up to another super-fight, pitting Haye against Wladimir’s big brother, Vitali. The certain knowledge that the Klitschkos will never fight each other means that there is no such fight to look forward to now. Not that I am complaining about the result. Wladimir won by virtue of being the better man on the night, better in every department come to that. I honestly think that Haye could not be given a single round. His vaunted speed availed him nothing, as Wladimir proved that, for a big guy, he can throw a shot pretty quickly himself. Every time Haye did manage to tag the big man, Klitschko neatly got himself out of trouble. Haye was never able to follow up. Moreover, Haye’s constant complaining to the referee was tiresome in the extreme and smacked of a man that lacked any real certainty.

No, all credit to Wladimir, who finally laid to rest all the doubts caused by a couple of defeats that, in all fairness, took place years ago. Nevertheless, I could wish that Haye had won. Where do we go from here? Wladimir is already talking about possibly facing the winner of the Dereck Chisora-Tyson Fury bout for the British Heavyweight title. We can answer that by simply asking this question? Could either of those men beat David Haye? No, is the obvious answer. Why then, should either man be put in the ring with a guy that utterly dominated him? Chisora and Fury are part of a group of young British heavyweights that may one day be world level fighters – David Price is the best prospect of all, in my book – but right now they are at domestic or European level. In truth, by the time they are ready, the Klitschkos will probably both have retired.

So, who does that leave? Odlanier Solis may not recover from the injury that he suffered in his fight with Vitali and, even if he does, his credibility was shot to pieces by that incident. The likes of John Ruiz, Ruslan Chagaev and Samuel Peter are finished, either actually retired or thinking about it. Nikolai Valuev has not fought since Haye beat him almost two years ago. Even if his health problems clear up, he may well be more interested in making movies than boxing and even if he hid come back to boxing, he’s simply not that good. A look at the rankings for the big four organizations shows that there really isn’t much quality around. Chris Arreola or Alexander Povetkin might be worth a shot but neither really set the pulse racing. The only really credible contender left out there is Tomasz Adamek, currently recognized as top contender by the WBC and WBO, and scheduled to face Vitali Klitschko in September.

The sad truth is, however, that I can’t see Adamek winning this one. Age looks to be catching up with the Pole, who is a former cruiserweight, like David Haye. He has been gearing up for the Klitschko fight by taking on big guys but looked ordinary in beating giant Irishman Kevin McBride last time out. What is worrying about that is that the only thing McBride has in common with Vitali is size – he is not to be compared with him as a boxer. I expect that Vitali will comfortably beat Adamek and then that will be it. Heavyweight boxing will be without anything even resembling a “money” fight. Indeed, as ludicrous as it may seem, I do worry that Evander Holyfield may end up in a title fight again. His name value, and the “car-crash TV” appeal of such a fight might just see it happen in the absence of any credible challengers. I hope not, because I fear for Holyfield against a Klitschko.

Oddly enough, Wladimir said that his victory over Haye was a victory for boxing but the only hope that I can see for heavyweight boxing now is that the Klitschkos retire. Once they are gone, the belts will be vacant and quickly filled by different fighters. We may then have some unification matches to look forward to again. Until then, the only other possibility is that Vitali retires after beating Adamek and we get to see Wladimir go after the WBC belt, to try and hold all of the big four at once. That might be entertaining. Of course, if Adamek beats Vitali then all of this will change, so here’s hoping!

As for Haye, if I were him I would stick to the decision that he already made and retire. The rematch that he is already talking about seems pointless to me; broken toe or not, I can see no reason why Haye should do any better the second time around. Going into this fight we all had questions. Could Haye cope with the size difference? Could Wladimir take Haye’s power? Could Haye take Klitschko’s? Could Wladimir cope with Haye’s speed? All of the questions were definitively answered on Saturday. However, Haye will be tempted to fight on, not just for money and wounded pride but because he probably, quite rightly, fears that he will not get the respect he deserves if he retires now.

Any assessment of David Haye’s career must start with his cruiserweight accomplishments. As a cruiser, Haye was beaten only once, relatively early in his career, by a respected former champion in Carl Thompson. He then went on to rule the division, unifying the WBA, WBC and WBO titles. Only then did he step up to heavyweight, at which point he won, and successfully defended twice, the WBA title. His second defeat came on Saturday. It’s a fine career, one to be proud of. The problem is that it is Saturday’s defeat that people will remember more than anything else about David Haye. That is why I think that he may go on. If he does, he may surprise me. He is still young and maybe he would be able to beat Klitschko in a rematch. I doubt it, though. I think he should stay smart, retire young, enjoy his money and be satisfied with a legacy that, really, is respectable enough as it is.

It wasn’t just what Punk said that stunned everybody. It was not merely the fact that, in just under seven minutes he broke every unwritten rule in the company, from mentioning rival promotions, personally insulting Triple H and Stephanie, referring to himself as a wrestler (again) rather than a superstar and, perhaps worst of all, deriding the business acumen of Vincent Kennedy McMahon himself. No, it was the fact that he was allowed to speak for so long before his microphone was finally cut that has got seemingly every WWE fan asking themselves the same question: was it real? How much, if any, of this was pre-planned? The other question that many are asking is this: was this promo the start of a fundamental shift in WWE programming?

As far as the question of reality goes, I tend to agree with Sean Waltman (who gave a brilliant take on the whole show over on his new website, realxpac.com) and JBL, both of whom posed the question “does it matter?” Rather than worrying about whether or not this was “real”, why not just enjoy the fact that Raw provided us with an utterly unexpected moment and see where it goes from here? Personally, I treat everything as if it is “real”, just like I do when watching a movie. That enables me to enjoy the show. However, if I had to give an answer, I tend in these situations to always be guided by a quote from Jeff Jarrett – “everything you see on television [in wrestling] is a work”. I think that this material was largely, if not entirely, cleared in advance. People may accuse Vince McMahon of being blind to his own failings but one thing is certainly true and has been demonstrated many times over the years: he is aware of the criticisms that are levelled at him and he is not afraid to acknowledge them inside his own programming.

There is no reason to think, at the moment, that this is anything other than a great angle, trading off the facts that Punk’s contract is almost up and he is known to be an outspoken man. The main event at “Money in the Bank” between John Cena and CM Punk is now no longer merely “good guy versus bad guy”, it is “corporate versus independent”, “entertainment versus wrestling” and so much more. Dave Lagana speculated on his podcast that this promo probably sold 50 to 100 thousand pay per views on its own – I agree wholeheartedly. Last week, the main event was a little underwhelming. Sure, it was Punk versus Cena but since Punk has already announced that he is leaving after “Money in the Bank”, nobody would expect him to actually beat John Cena. Now, it has suddenly become must-see. If that was not planned by WWE it was certainly a huge stroke of luck on their part!

By and large, this was a good Raw generally. One thing that I am really enjoying lately is the way that the crowd are getting behind Alex Riley. The huge pop that he got when he finally snapped and battered The Miz a few weeks back does not seem to have been merely a one night deal based on the crowd’s hatred of Miz. It seems to me that Riley is actually connecting with the audience. Thus far, his development has been handled well. He has been allowed to look strong and win more than he loses, giving the fans a reason to believe in him. His tornado tag match this week, with Rey Mysterio against Jack Swagger and The Miz was the best match of the night, and one of the best matches I can remember seeing on Raw in some time. I hope that it continues.

Another thing that I am really enjoying is the push of Mark Henry as an absolute wrecking machine. This is how Henry should have been presented years ago, rather than as the comedy, cuddly figure he too often has been. The man is, physically, an absolute beast and I am loving seeing that utilised so effectively. Henry has lost weight and seems to have a transformed attitude these days. For much of his career he has been a guy that I could take or leave as a fan. The all-important factor in this business is drawing money and I can only say personally that Mark Henry has never drawn my money in the past. This Mark Henry, however, is a man that I will definitely pay to see.

Yet another guy seizing the moment is R-Truth. His heel turn has just been outstanding and he portrays his new character perfectly. The fact that he is talking to imaginary “Little Jimmy” now is just making this even better. If there is one major flaw in WWE at the moment it is simply that they do not seem to have many heroes to match this glorious array of villains. That could change, however. There may be good opportunities soon for the likes of Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan. A face turn for Sheamus may well be in the offing, too. Speaking as someone who frequently watched Sheamus playing the good guy back in Irish Whip Wrestling, I think that the big Irishman could be a really effective hero on Smackdown. I just hope that he doesn’t get paired up with Hornswoggle! That’s it for now. I’ll be back soon.

Who is more popular, The Rock or Stone Cold?

This isn’t really a question with a straightforward answer. It really depends on context. Who is the more popular actor? Or wrestler? Or TV personality? At the height of their popularity or now? I would say that, in the wrestling business Stone Cold was the most popular man in the business during his peak run across 1998 and 1999. The Rock was a close second. Overall, I would say that, along with Hulk Hogan, they are the three most popular wrestlers of the modern (post-Wrestlemania) era.

Who are your top ten British Middleweights of the 1990s?

1 Chris Eubank

2 Nigel Benn

3 Michael Watson

4 Herol Graham

5 Howard Eastman

6 Richie Woodhall

7 Glenn Catley

8 Neville Brown

9 Frank Grant

10 Gary Stretch

Is the IBO Championship a genuine title?

The IBO, or International Boxing Organization, is currently what we might term the biggest of the little guys among the alphabets that “run” boxing. Generally, boxing writers and experts do not consider an IBO Championship to be a “real” world championship. Largely, the IBF, WBA and WBC have that recognition, with most writers these days also considering the WBO to be on that level as well. The IBO would come next after the WBO and, while they do not have the same cachet as the “big four” as yet, they certainly have more credibility than any of the other organizations around.

Are the chairs used in pro wrestling fake?

This is a question that comes up time and again. The answer is, no, they are real metal folding chairs.

Which is more prestigious, the British or Commonwealth boxing title?

Good question! Obviously, at face value the Commonwealth title must be considered more impressive since a far greater number of boxers are allowed to fight for it. However, the British title has a longer lineage and I would guess that most British fighters spend much more time hoping to win a British Championship than they ever do a Commonwealth. In practical terms, they are of roughly equal significance in terms of gauging the ability of a fighter and his potential to draw viewers and get big match-ups. I would probably just lean towards the Commonwealth title over all.

How many belts can a boxer hold?

As many as they like – there is no upper limit. However, in practical terms it is difficult to keep lots of belts at one time. Let’s say a boxer is WBA and WBO Middleweight Champion. That boxer could easily find himself being ordered to defend his title against two different boxers by the two different organizations, forcing him to be stripped of at least one title. If belts are held at different weights it gets even more difficult, since the alphabets will insist that their titles are defended every so often and that would mean the fighter having to constantly make different weights for different fights.

Which two boxers were the only two to beat Ricky Hatton?

Two of the best, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Junior.

How many belts does Pacquiao hold?

At the moment, just the one: the WBO Welterweight Championship. He has in the past won WBC titles at Flyweight, Super Featherweight, Lightweight and Light Middleweight, as well as the IBF Super Bantamweight Championship.

That will do for now. Hope you enjoyed these!

Unfortunately, DeGale didn’t have a plan b. For all his bravado and bluster it seemed to me that he was over cautious, too wary of Groves’ counters. He said afterwards that he hadn’t wanted to make a mistake, which is understandable. Yet what he needed to do was jump on Groves and take a few to give a few. From about the ninth DeGale did start to do that but only in little bursts – there was no sustained barrage and Groves was always able to ride out the brief storm and then go back to his game plan. Frank Warren, DeGale’s promoter afterwards said that DeGale had “given away” the fight and in many ways I think he was right. I suspect that DeGale is the more powerful of the two and would have triumphed in a slugfest but he never really went looking for Groves. Warren also stated that he thought the British Board of Boxing Control should order and immediate re-match. Certainly, the decision was close enough to warrant a re-match but there was no controversy here, just closeness. I personally would be willing to watch the pair fight again but I do not see what is in it for Groves at this point.

Elsewhere on the card, young prospect Billy Joe Saunders looked absolutely dazzling in taking apart the hapless Kevin Hammond. Hammond has since announced his retirement, due to health issues, so we wish him all the best. Frankly, I hardly know how he managed to complete the first round, in which Saunders threw over one hundred punches. Frankie Gavin looked less impressive in his clash with Young Mutley, which was certainly the big disappointment of the night. Mutley seemed interested only in spoiling Gavin’s work and staying in there, never really pushing himself to try and win the fight, and Gavin seemed unable to do more than merely outwork his veteran opponent. The bout progressed tediously but inevitably towards a wide points victory for “Funtime”, who will go on to bigger and better things and probably be better for this frustrating experience.

Britain’s newest world champion, WBO Light-Heavyweight Champion Nathan Cleverly was his usual reckless, exciting self in what was shaping up as a rather enjoyable bout until the referee, somewhat prematurely in my eyes, stopped it in the fourth. I have seen some writers praising the ref for sparing challenger Aleksy Kuziemski punishment in a fight it looked increasingly obvious that he would not win and I have some sympathy with that as the welfare of boxers must always be our priority. However, in this case I think the referee did jump in too early, as there was no way that the Pole could be said to be “in no condition to continue”. Saying that “he would have just got stopped anyway” is tantamount to predicting the outcome of the fight and if we are going to allow referees to do that we may as well save everybody the bother of being hit and just ask the ref to tell us the winner before the fight. Who knows what might have happened had the fight continued? As it happens, I agree that Kuziemski probably would have been stopped but that’s boxing.

Cleverly wants the big fights now, understandably, and one name that he mentioned after his latest victory was that of Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins once again rolled back the years later that evening to soundly whip Jean Pascal and take the WBC Light-Heavyweight crown, making him the oldest real world champion in boxing history. Having watched both fights I have to say that, as much as I like Cleverly, he is not ready for Hopkins yet. Hopkins is a physical miracle and at forty-six years old is legitimately as good as anybody out there. Cleverly needs to learn how to defend before he gets in the ring with someone like B-Hop. There are, however, plenty of good fights out there for the Welshman and, at only twenty-four, there is no reason why he cannot improve and go on to have a really impressive career. Hopkins will face Chad Dawson next and, on the evidence of Dawson’s performance on Saturday, should have no trouble defying the age gap once again.

From one seemingly ageless legend to a legend that age has brutally overtaken. Roy Jones continued his quest to get himself badly hurt this weekend when he clashed with Dennis Lebedev, currently the number four ranked cruiserweight according to the Ring magazine and WBO Interim Champion. Age has not entirely dimmed the skills of Jones and by the tenth round one judge actually had him leading this contest. This, however, was rendered academic when the big punching Russian trapped Jones on the ropes and let fly with a barrage of punches that doubled Jones over. The referee had seen enough and stepped in but, even as he waved the fight off, Lebedev released one last shot that sent Jones firmly to the canvas and savagely underscored the truth of this contest. Jones did not move for some time after and smelling salts were used to bring him round. Although he claimed to be fine afterwards, it was extremely worrying to watch. Jones has lost his last three now and been twice stopped by fighters who just do not belong in his class. That is why I will conclude this offering with a personal message to Jones.

“Please, please STOP before you get seriously hurt! You have nothing left to prove. You are one of, if not the greatest of all time. You have been world champion at Middleweight, Super-Middleweight, Light-Heavyweight and even Heavyweight! What more can you possibly do? If you are trying to match Bernard Hopkins, forget about it. Not one man in a million could do what he does but that cannot tarnish your legacy. Please retire so that we can enjoy your career as a feel-good story, not a tragedy. Boxing has too many of those already.”

To this I say: so what? Frank Warren is a promoter – it is job to promote his fighters. If he can build interest in Cleverly’s next fight then at least he will be salvaging something from this wreck. Those that claim that Bellew is being handed an opportunity that he doesn’t deserve should look at it this way: even if all of their suspicions are confirmed, Bellew still has to beat Ovill McKenzie in July to secure this fight. If he does that, he will be British and Commonwealth Champion, as well as unbeaten. Granted, I still don’t think that quite puts him in world league but it’s not so far away as to be ridiculous. Not that there is any guarantee that he will beat McKenzie. What is more important in my eyes is what this means for Cleverly and, put simply, it means his Saturday night just got harder again.

Kuziemski is a totally different proposition to Bellew. The WBO, IBF and IBO all have the Pole ranked higher than Bellew, with only the WBC disagreeing. In the computerized rankings of the IBO Kuziemski comes in a full ten places ahead of Bellew, being ranked 16 as opposed to 26. Kuziemski has a decent record of 21 and 2, with the 2 defeats coming against decent opposition, WBO Intercontinental Champion Dmitry Sukhotsky and Jurgen Braehmer himself. Although he lacks the knockout power possessed by Bellew he is in every other way a tougher proposition. At 34 he is getting a little long in the tooth but that may play in his favour; after all, he knows that this is likely his last shot at the big time. The bottom line is this: with two days notice, having spent weeks preparing for southpaw Braehmer Cleverly finds himself facing a (presumably) hungry orthodox fighter about whom he probably knows very little. While I would generally say that Kuziemski should pose no real threat to Cleverly, it is just possible that all of this disruption could give the Pole his chance.

Elsewhere on the card the exciting Frankie Gavin takes on the former British Light-Welterweight and Welterweight Champion, Young Mutley, in what should be a very enjoyable bout. This is for the WBO Intercontinental Welterweight Championship and should be a good barometer for measuring Gavin’s progress. Now 9 and 0 with 8 coming by way of KO, Gavin has certainly started his career the right way. Mutley, these days not quite so young, should provide a good test in what is only Gavin’s second scheduled twelve rounder. Thus far, Gavin has not gone beyond seven rounds. It might be interesting to see how he handles things if Mutley takes him further. Another highly rated prospect, Billy Joe Saunders, continues his development on this show, taking on Kevin Hammond in an eight round contest. Hammond, coming off of five straight defeats, should pose no real problems for the youngster.

All in all, therefore, we have a showcase for a youngster, a test for Frankie Gavin, a potentially tricky first defence for Nathan Cleverly and the most hotly anticipated grudge match in UK boxing this year between James DeGale and George Groves. Add to that the possibility of seeing Sam Sexton and Bradley Skeete in action and what you have is a pretty entertaining card on Sky. Is it, however, a pay per view card? That is the six million dollar question. It’s a tough call. We’ve paid for worse but not on purpose! To all those people blaming Frank Warren, however, I feel it’s time to ease off. It is Sky’s call, not his, whether or not this event stays on pay per view. It is not Frank’s fault that Braehmer pulled out and, honestly, it is a testament to Frank’s connections that he always manages to sort reasonably credible replacements so quickly in these situations. If you are buying this, buy it for Frankie Gavin and DeGale-Groves because I think they are fights that are unlikely to disappoint. Cleverly-Kuziemski is harder to predict – it could be boring or it could be great. If that fight delivers then I suspect all will be forgiven. Personally, I’ll be watching.

Frank, of course, has delivered with his usual promptness and Commonwealth Champion Tony Bellew has been brought in to replace Braehmer. Bellew has been calling Cleverly out for some time so this match does have a bit of genuine needle. First, however, a few thoughts on what the future holds for Jurgen Braehmer. This is the third time in his last four fights that Braehmer has pulled out at the last minute, this time because of an eye injury that, according to Frank Warren, was not mentioned on the medical reports sent to him by Braehmer’s team. Understandably, Warren demanded that the WBO strip Braehmer of the title and award it to Cleverly, who was already the WBO Interim Champion. This has now taken place and Cleverly is officially the WBO Light-Heavyweight Champion. To me, this seems potentially career ending for Braehmer.

Already close to 33 years old, the German is probably heading towards the end of his career anyway. Moreover, one seriously has to question his ambition at this stage. It wasn’t too long ago that he pulled out of a fight with WBA Champion Beibut Shumenov. What kind of fighter turns down a unification fight? Many champions spend frustrated years trying to arrange such opportunities – walking away from one seems almost incomprehensible. Maybe Braehmer has just been unlucky and all of his travails have been genuine. It seems unlikely. As Oscar Wilde might have said, to pull out of one fight may be regarded as a misfortune, to pull out of two looks like carelessness. Braehmer has now pulled out of three in two years. What promoter would want to deal with him now?

The real winner in this is Tony Bellew, of course, who suddenly finds himself in a World Championship bout with a man he has been chasing for over a year. Nathan Cleverly has spent weeks preparing himself for southpaw Braehmer, only to find with two days to go that he will be facing an orthodox fighter after all. Cleverly has revealed that he has done some sparring with orthodox fighters, no doubt hedging his bets against the possibility that Braehmer would pull a stunt like this but there is no getting away from the fact that he was not expecting Bellew. Nevertheless, I still expect Cleverly to have too much for Bellew. The Commonwealth Champion was not expecting to fight until July and will now have to cut weight in a hurry, which could leave him vulnerable.

What doesn’t help “Bomber” Bellew is the fact that he is already worryingly vulnerable in my eyes. Sure has knockout power and he is unbeaten in his fifteen pro fights but the fact remains that he has also already hit the canvas four times, three of those in his last two fights. At domestic level Bellew is showing a lot of power and a lot of heart but he is too easy to hit and his chin is suspect. Cleverly has been fighting for some time above domestic level and has shown that he can fight in a variety of ways, out-pointing an awkward opponent last time out and blasting out WBO top ten ranked Karo Murat in a war late last year. Bellew may be able to take advantage of Cleverly’s disappointment and lack of preparation but I doubt it. Bellew was extremely fortunate not to have been stopped in the second round of his last fight with Ovill McKenzie. I cannot see him beating Cleverly. I go for the Welshman to stop his replacement opponent between rounds six and nine.

However, in many people’s eyes the star attraction on this card is the long-awaited showdown between mouthy Olympic Gold Medallist James DeGale and the man who beat him as an amateur, George Groves. This Super-Middleweight clash has brought back memories of Benn-Eubank thanks to the legitimate bad blood between the fighters and has everyone talking. In terms of championships, DeGale is currently the British Champion while Groves holds the Commonwealth title but this bout is not about belts. This is about bragging rights and about two young British fighters tipped for great things proving which of them is really destined for greatness. It’s a fascinating contest. DeGale is widely regarded as the favourite. He has risen smoothly to every challenge since turning pro and looked sensational in dismantling former British Champion Paul Smith, who is no mug by anybody’s standards. Groves, on the other hand, had to climb off the canvas to beat Kenny Anderson for the Commonwealth title but is that a positive or a negative? Has Groves been tested in adversity while DeGale has yet to face it, or has Groves been exposed while DeGale has not?

I go for DeGale here. Boxing Monthly recently polled thirty-one British trainers and twenty-nine of them came down on DeGale’s side, even though many of them would rather the personable Groves taught the cocky DeGale a lesson. You just can’t argue with that kind of expertise. I was also struck by how many people had identified the same flaws in Groves’ game. Groves is trained by Adam Booth, David Haye’s trainer, and several observers have suggested that Groves is actually hampering his own development by trying to fight like David, rather than playing to his own strengths. We will find out on Saturday night. I expect a good fight, whatever happens. Both men are quick, skilful and like to look good winning, so I don’t think that this will be dull. However, I think it is important to remember that this is not the end for these fighters. Unless the loser is absolutely annihilated, blasted out in a round or two, or totally schooled in a shutout points decision this is a fight that the loser can come back from. Groves is twenty-two, DeGale twenty-four. Neither man is close to his peak yet and I have every hope that we may one day see a rematch in which each man holds a world title – just like Benn and Eubank.

So, two potentially entertaining fights but both domestic level attractions really, even if one is actually for a world title. Have Sky done the right thing by leaving it on Box Office? Amir Khan must be puzzled by the fact that Sky think that this card is worthy of pay per view while his, which featured world-rated Rendall Munroe and a British title fight on the undercard, was not. Sure, Saturday also features exciting talent Frankie Gavin but as far as I can tell the general feeling among British boxing fans is that this fight should be downgraded from pay per view. Most boxing fans wait until the last couple of days to order pay per view events, or not as the case may be, and I suspect that Sky are going to get burned here. They will be relying on the must-see buzz built up around DeGale-Groves to persuade people to buy the show but the buy rate is definitely going to take a hit. How much of one is the question.

It is a worrying time for British boxing. If Sky get badly burned here, hot on the heels of the Khan fiasco and with the ill feeling over the Audley Harrison-David Haye card still fresh in people’s minds one wonders how much longer they will persist with a boxing division that seems increasingly to be more trouble than it’s worth. Without Sky boxing is dead in this country, since ITV and the BBC have shown that they are not interested anymore so we could use some good nights to pay back the faith in the sport shown by Adam Smith and his team at Sky Sports. So personally, I will be buying this show. It’s still going to be an enjoyable card with good boxing and some meaningful matches and that’s what really matters, after all.