Crolla's Column: Back to Normal, for Now
They certainly know how to put on an event in Texas, but I’m very glad it’s over and I have absolutely no desire to ever see Mike Tyson in a boxing ring again. Firstly, I’m just glad the fight with Jake Paul ended with nobody getting hurt.
Mike actually looked alright for about a minute, and then it became an uncomfortable watch. Jake Paul won the fight pretty easily. It wasn’t really a surprise, if Paul had stepped up the gas he could have ended it. It could’ve finished nastily.
We all know what Jake Paul is about, and good luck to him. But what I do find odd, and this is probably an unpopular opinion, but Tyson hasn’t taken any blame for this farce! He’s picked up a ridiculous pay day, he’s a legend in the sport but he has to take some responsibly for this. If it wasn’t Tyson, it’d be someone else, but he’s been part of this circus.
There are very few former fighters who’d turn down a massive pay day to get in the ring with a lad who is not very good but says lots of silly things! There’s been a bit of back and forth between Carl Froch and Jake – now if that one was to happen, I’m pretty sure a long-retired Froch still irons him out!
The co-main event lived up to its billing. With the point deduction, I had Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano as a draw. I thought the deduction against Katie was very harsh, but I can understand why many believe Serrano won. These two have put on two unbelievable fights. They are so well matched and are two of the greatest to ever do it. If they have a third fight, I reckon it’d be the same again – a flip of a coin to decide the winner!
In Saudi, Chris Billam-Smith’s fantastic run came to an end against Zurdo Ramirez. But look, Chris couldn’t do any more than has been asked of him. He has massively overachieved – and that is a huge compliment. Nobody could ever question the size of his nuts!
He was strong early on, but Ramirez surprised me – I probably underestimated him to be honest. I know Chris broke his hand early on and had cuts and stuck with it. This lad has never ducked a challenge, and I’m delighted he reached the heights he has. He deserves so much praise for everything he’s done.
This weekend my fighter Levi Kinsiona is in action against Ben Marksby on the channel Five card in Newcastle. Levi had a couple of blips early on in his career when I don’t believe he was matched right. He’s made improvements and although he goes in there as an underdog, I think he’s a very live one!
The main event is Harlem Eubank against Frenchman Nurali Erdogan. I’ve watched Erdogan a few times and the thing that stands out about him is his incredible engine. He’s not the most skilful, but if he’s still in there after six rounds, he could cause Harlem problems. That said, I expect Harlem to be a bit too sharp for Erdogan. It won’t be plain sailing, but I think Harlem wins on points.
Keep an eye out for Dan Toward who’s also on the bill. He’s trained by Dave Coldwell and has been in our gym to spar a few times. He’s a good lad.
Finally, it’s now less than a month to go until we get that mega card in Riyadh and the Usyk v Fury rematch. I cannot wait. I saw Tyson last month and I liked everything he was saying. He seemed a lot more serious, no clowning around, and he’s not been as active on social media which is another good sign.
Also, the build-up didn’t help him last time – there was too much going on during fight week with all the shenanigans between the two camps – headbutts and all that! The public mood turned against Tyson a bit as a result of all that and it will have affected him.
Tyson can absolutely get revenge, and he showed how he could win in the first fight. With how the fight finished though, it’s hard to not have Usyk as the favourite. It is fascinating though, because if Tyson stays switched on, has a bit more discipline, it can happen.
