2010 -- A Tough Year For Hyped American Boxers

While the international influence of The Sweet Science continues to grow -- evidenced by the Klitschko Brothers, Manny Pacquiao, Sergio Martinez, David Haye, Jean Pascal and numerous others -- 2010 has been a relatively tough year for their American counterparts, particularly those who seemed to be on the path to greatness.

There are exceptions, of course, such as Andre Ward, James Kirkland and Tavoris Cloud. While Ward is gaining recognition for his success in the Super Six tournament, he is still not widely known to the casual viewer and the rap that he will only fight in his hometown of Oakland, California doesn't seem to be winning over any skeptics.

Cloud and Kirkland remain largely unknown beyond boxing circles. Hopefully they will gain more prominence as their careers continue.

Three fighters typify the difficult year for American boxing: Daniel Jacobs, Chad Dawson, and Paul Williams.

* Daniel Jacobs

Jacobs, a middleweight from Brooklyn, was on a fairly fast track for stardom. Possibly a bit too fast, in hindsight, after his handlers set up a July 31, 2010 match against Russian Dmitry Pirog.

Pirog systematically broke down the talented Jacobs en route to a dramatic 5th-round KO victory on the undercard of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz II event.

* Chad Dawson

No less than Floyd Mayweather, Jr. had recently proclaimed Chad Dawson as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. Critics weren't so high on the super middleweight, however, because of what they felt was Dawson's ducking of fighters such as Cloud and Adrian Diaconu.

Still, the talented light heavyweight was sought after by both Showtime and HBO. There appeared to be a kind of unspoken feeling that Dawson could be "The Next Big Thing" in American boxing, possibly a replacement for when Floyd Mayweather decided to hang up his gloves for good.

Unfortunately for the former champion, such dreams were halted on August 14, 2010. Jean Pascal outboxed and outfought a timid Dawson, whose attempt to come on late in the fight proved for naught as Dawson suffered a bad cut and a technical decision loss in the bout.

* Paul Williams

The most recent hyped American prospect to suffer a 2010 setback is the formerly "Most Feared Man In Boxing," Paul Williams.

Williams, a lanky southpaw who fights between welterweight and middleweight, has been widely heralded as one of the best fighters in the sport. And deservedly so. But like Dawson and Jacobs, 2010 proved to be the year when the Williams train hit the proverbial wall.

In a rematch of their classic first encounter, Williams and middleweight champion Sergio Martinez squared off this past Saturday, November 20th, in Atlantic City. Many boxing scribes who felt unsatisfied after the Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito bout the week previous circled this fight for their readers, proclaiming that it showed what was right and good in the sport, and that it was likely to prove more competitive than the Pacquiao domination just witnessed.

Sadly, that was not the case. As Martinez would tell anyone who would listen beforehand, he was confident that he would stop Williams in the rematch. And, in the second round of the bout, he did just that with what is likely to be regarded as the "Knockout Of The Year" by fans and writers.

In truth, Martinez had been more dominant than had Pacquiao against Margarito. Pacquiao nearly went down from body shots in his own fight, whereas Martinez was never slightly fazed against Williams.

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Here's hoping that 2011 will prove better for the USA's crop of professional fighters. For those who say that the best American talent is off playing football or basketball, the rest of the world may be looking on to America and thinking: "We don't know where they are, but they don't seem to be boxing."

Time will tell.

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Other Americans with a tough 2010: Kelly Pavlik

Other Americans who thrived in 2010: Tim Bradley

Status unknown: Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (Vacationing? Retired?)

 

The biggest surprise for me was Dawson. He really got exposed pretty badly by Pascal, IMO. The same Pascal whom Froch beat.

 

Certainly.

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The picture, and the result, doesn't square with the hype of being the "Most Feared Man In Boxing." Following this devastating result, that title is not likely to ever be applied to Paul Williams again.

As far as being a prospect, everyone who hasn't reached the pinnacle of the sport is a prospect. That is, there is the possibility that they could become, say, the face of the sport. Or the top pound-for-pound fighter.

Many felt that Paul Williams had this potential, even after the loss to Quintana. And even after the first Martinez fight highlighted some of Williams' weaknesses.

I'm not saying Paul Williams can't or won't come back from this loss. But the hype of him being incredibly feared, and his prospects of being a Floyd- or Manny-type fighter, have been diminished because of the emphatic nature of this loss. He's still trying to find a fan base, still trying to build a name to casual fans. This isn't Duran getting leveled by Hearns, this is a guy who was/is still trying to find his niche in the sport, even with all his success.
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