Aussie boxing set for badly-needed boost

Australia's much-maligned boxing industry is set for a significant boost, with an
unprecedented burst of big fight activity among its premier protagonists over the
next six weeks.
Starting with two world title eliminators in Sydney this Sunday, all of the top
eight Australian pound-for-pound fighters as ranked by boxing website SecondsOut.com
will be in action in a period up to December 12.
If you are looking for a snappy title to describe the period you could do worse than
`who dares wins'.
In an era when jaded fight fans are used to Australian boxers being more protected
than the average panda, the most significant aspect of the coming flurry of activity
is that several local pugilists could actually lose.
The combined records of the eight boxers is 221 wins, 15 losses and four draws.
Perhaps predictably, the fighters in the vanguard of the Australian boxing front
will be established road warriors Vic Darchinyan, Michael Katsidis, Lovemore Ndou
and Sakio Bika.
All will be fighting away from home against formidable opposition and, in the cases
of Katsidis and Bika, will definitely start underdogs when they step into the ring
on November 27.
American-based Queenslander Katsidis (27-2, 22KOs) has the toughest task, coming up
against Mexican superstar and three-division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez
(51-5-1, 37KOs), who will be defending his WBA Super and WBO Lightweight titles
against the Australian in Las Vegas.
On the same night in Oakland, California, Bika (28-4-2, 19KOs) tackles unbeaten
American Andre Ward (22-0, 13KOs) for the WBA world super middleweight title.
Fast forward two weeks and Darchinyan, Australia's best-credentialled current
fighter (35-2-1, 24KOs), puts his IBO bantamweight world title on the line against
unbeaten Mexican Abner Mares (20-0-1, 13KOs) in Leon, Mexico.
Also in Mexico, Australia's IBO lightweight world champion Ndou (48-11-2, 31KOs)
will go up against emerging sensation Saul Alvarez (34-0-1, 26KOs) on December 4.
Back on the home front, old adversaries Danny Green and Anthony Mundine will also be
in action.
Green (30-3, 27KOs) defends his IBO cruiserweight world title on November 17 against
American BJ Flores (24-0-1, 15KOs) in Perth.
After easy wins in his last three fights, Green is expected to face tougher
opposition against a bigger fighter, who used to be a heavyweight.
Mundine (40-3, 24KOs) would appear to have the easiest task of the eight
Australians, up against his vastly experienced compatriot Garth Wood (9-1-1, 5KOs)
on December 8.
And the packed schedule starts on Sunday at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre,
which will host arguably the most attractive Australian promotion of the year to
date.
Daniel Geale (23-1, 14KOs) faces the toughest task of his career against Russia's
former IBF light middleweight world champion Roman Karmazin (40-3-2, 26KOs) in an
IBF middleweight title eliminator.
Karmazin is coming off a draw with the current IBF middleweight world champion
Sebastian Sylvester in Germany.
Sharing top billing is Sydney's exciting young Lenny Zappavigna (24-0, 16KOs), who
fights tough Korean Ji-Hoon Kim (21-6, 18KOs) in an IBF lightweight world title
eliminator.
Boxing author and SecondsOut.com editor Paul Upham couldn't recall another time when
so many top Australian fighters were taking on difficult opponents in such a short
span of time.
"It's a great run of Australian talent in fights against very good opposition,"
UPham said.
"We've had a lot of one-off big fights for Australians but I don't recall an
extended run over a two-month period where we've had so many of our top guys
appearing.
"It's a period where most of Australia's best boxers will perform in fights where
they are not guaranteed wins and they are going in as underdogs and if they do win
their careers will be significantly enhanced."
Australian boxing is in need of a tonic after a rough few months.
The furore surrounding the Green-Paul Briggs fight generated plenty of negative
publicity, while Australia didn't win a single medal in a miserable Commonwealth
Games performance.
However, there was one recent shaft of light for the embattled sport in the final
quarter of the year.
Perth battler Erin McGowan became only the second Australian woman to win a
universally recognised world title when she captured the vacant WBO lightweight
crown with a unanimous points win over England's Lyndsey Scragg in Joondalup on
October 9.
The importance to Australian boxing of the next few weeks was acknowledged by triple
world champion Jeff Fenech.
"The boxers will do their job, but we need the support from the public and media,
because we are going under," Fenech warned.
While Australian boxing has endured its share of controversies and self-inflicted
low blows, Upham argues the last decade was a golden era for the sport in this
country.
In his newly released book "Undisputed", Upham says the last decade compares
favourably to previous eras.
He says Mundine's much publicised switch from rugby league helped galvanise the
sport along with the arrival in Australia of fighters like Darchinyan and Bika, who
opted to stay in Australia after representing their Armenia and Cameroon
respectively at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Those Games also produced future home grown professional talent in Green, Katsidis
and Geale.