Griffin accepts reality as career enters final chapter

He’s a former policeman, a reality TV star, a published author and a mixed martial artist of some repute. But popular UFC light-heavyweight Forrest Griffin is also, as he puts it, “a painful realist.”

This week, in the latest instalment of his fascinating UFC 134 blog, Griffin did what many fighters find impossible: he accepted his own mortality.

With the sort of brutal honesty for which he is renowned, the Ohio native admitted for the first time that his career is in decline:

“It quit being fun when I realized I wasn’t getting better. I’m plateauing or almost getting worse sometimes. One of the essential elements to have in this is your perceived expectation of the future, and I’m a painful realist, so I realized that I’m not going to get better; this is it. It’s only gonna get worse from here on and you fight as much as you can, you fight until you don’t have it anymore, and then you fight a couple more times after that.”

The last line is particularly striking.

In the past year, fan favourites such as Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva have effectively been retired by UFC boss Dana White after painful losing streaks. Despite their protestations to the contrary, White felt that their best days in the Octagon were long gone, fearing that their bravery would result in permanent damage.

Boxing too is littered with fighters who refuse to accept the inevitable. Some of the sport’s biggest names such as Roy Jones, Jr. and Evander Holyfield plough on despite their advancing years.

Both are mere shadows of their former selves but remain convinced that they can still reach the heights they scaled previously in their illustrious careers.

Jones and Holyfield have claimed many big-name scalps, but in the battle with Old Father Time, there is only one winner. Pundits and fans accuse them of tarnishing their legacies by continuing to pursue a goal which is becoming increasingly unreachable.

Forrest Griffin seems unlikely to follow their lead.

Too often a fighter will trot out well-worn clichés about a “great training camp” and being in “the best shape of their career” before a contest.

There will doubtless be some sports psychologists out there who will claim that Griffin’s brand of honesty borders on defeatism; merely playing into the  hands of his opponent on Saturday, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Rather, Griffin should be respected for having the honesty and the perspective to evaluate his abilities in the cold light of day.

It’s the same honesty in the Octagon that has endeared him to millions of UFC fans. They appreciate the feats of a man who’s given them such notable wars with Stephan Bonnar, Tito Ortiz and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson amongst others.

Through hard work and determination, Forrest Griffin has earned his reputation as a true warrior of the sport, a fighter unafraid to go toe-to-toe with anyone the UFC puts in front of him.

So if Mauricio Rua thinks that he’s given up already, then he should definitely think again.

Ralph Welch

Twitter: @ralphwelch

Season’s beatings

August brings the traditional boxing season come to an end. Let’s look back at some of the highlights of 2010/11…

Fury-ous Five go boxing

Channel 5 brought boxing back to the masses, by televising the domestic dust-up between Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora. For those of us old enough to remember, it evoked memories of the early nineties when Eubank and Benn brought the UK to a standstill on ITV.

Boxing has been criminally ignored by terrestrial stations since then, and it’s only thanks to the passion and expertise of Sky Sports that the sport has prospered. Fans have clamoured for terrestrial stations to invest in boxing and bring it back to the mainstream, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears - until Channel 5 took a gamble on the British heavyweight title bout, promoted by Mick Hennessy.

They were rewarded handsomely. Nearly three million viewers tuned in to see a good old-fashioned domestic dust-up and they had the highest viewing figures in their timeslot.

Hennessy insists that we’ll see more of Fury, and more boxing in general, on Channel 5.

And we couldn’t be happier.

The Wrath of Khan

Amir Khan’s rise to the upper echelons of the boxing world shows no sign of abating.

The ghosts of that brutal KO at the hands of Breidis Prescott in 2008 were exorcised as Khan survived some heart-stopping moments against Marcos Maidana. The big-punching Argentine had the Bolton man in huge trouble in a ferocious tenth round assault but Khan gritted his teeth and proved his critics wrong.

His subsequent domination of Zab Judah gained him further recognition from the all-important US market and it seems a future contest with Floyd Mayweather is a genuine possibility.

When Khan won an Olympic silver medal at the Athens in 2004, many predicted him to become one of Britain’s best-ever fighters. 2012 could be the year that he fulfils that destiny.

Sky is the limit for Froch

He’s been one of the most cruelly under-exposed fighters of recent times, but now Carl Froch seems destined for the global recognition he richly deserves.

His streak of fights reads like a who’s who of the super-middleweight division: Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham and Glen Johnson. Froch has packed his bags and travelled the globe to take on all-comers.

The Nottingham man now faces Andre Ward in the final of the troubled Super Six tournament. After that, a huge homecoming fight in Britain seems on the cards.

Now under new management, as part of the growing Matchroom stable, and back on Sky TV, the next year promises big things for “The Cobra”.

Hopkins KOs Old Father Time

He’s 46 years old, one of the most enigmatic fighters of his generation, and now the he’s the oldest world champion of all time. Bernard Hopkins defeated Jean Pascal, a full eighteen years his junior, for the WBC light-heavyweight strap and solidified his legacy as one of the greatest of all time.

He’s the most masterful defensive technician in the game, rarely takes a clean punch and has the uncanny ability of nullifying the best weapons in his opponent’s arsenal.

Next up is Chad Dawson and Hopkins, who famously promised his mother that he’d retire at 40, is showing no sign of letting up.

Mitchell chooses the right path

July 18, 2010

“Using the power of decision gives you the capacity to get past any excuse to change any, and every, part of your life in an instant.”  ~Anthony Robbins

As Kevin Mitchell savours Saturday’s thrilling victory over John Murray, he would do well to reflect on two key moments that changed the course of his career, and indeed his life.

The first of these moments occurred approximately six months ago. Slumped in an East End bar, and by his own admission £100k poorer after an eight-month drinking binge, the Dagenham man was trapped in a downward spiral of depression. 

His relationship with Amanda, the mother of his two children, had disintegrated and seriously upset the preparations for his world title tilt against Australian Michael Katsidis in May 2010. Mitchell kept his home turmoil secret from trainer Jimmy Tibbs until moments before the fight. Tibbs watched on powerlessly as his under-prepared charge duly suffered a brutal KO in front of his adoring West Ham public. 

Humiliated and heartbroken, Mitchell joined the long list of sportsmen who sought solace in alcohol – and found none.

At that particular moment, Mitchell was confronted by his parents, estranged for many years, but united in their concern for their son. The story goes that Mitchell was dragged from the premises and given an ultimatum: give up drinking or give up on everything you’ve worked so hard for.

Mitchell listened and made a choice.

It was the right one.

He reunited with Tibbs, the man who’d guided him so carefully to the brink of global recognition. Still upset about what had unfolded in the dressing room before the Katsidis fight, Tibbs laid out the terms for their reconciliation; all or nothing. No booze, no distractions. Total dedication. 

Fast forward six months to Saturday night at Liverpool’s Echo Arena. Mitchell once again found himself on the brink as he returned to his corner after a fifth round mauling at the hands of rival John Murray.

The unbeaten Mancunian had dragged Mitchell into a dogfight, exactly what the Londoner had hoped to avoid, and was winning. Another big round could force a stoppage. A stoppage that would launch Murray’s career into boxing’s stratosphere and almost certainly consign Mitchell’s to the scrapheap.

Unlike his battle with alcohol, this particular moment of truth offered no time for lengthy introspection. Mitchell had less than 60 seconds to make two choices: Did he have the mental strength to recover from adversity? Was he ready to place his faith in the tutelage of Jimmy Tibbs?

The answer was emphatic.

Mitchell’s trainer sent him out with a clear message; follow the gameplan. Do what you do best. Box behind the jab and out manoeuvre Murray.

A huge seventh round was swiftly followed by a ruthless start to the eighth as Murray, who’d not been hurt in his previous 31 bouts, visited the canvas for the first time in his career. And from the jaws of defeat, Mitchell snatched victory.

The general belief is that at sport’s highest levels, where physical prowess is all but equal amongst the top competitors, the difference between victory and defeat can be in the mind.

On Saturday night, Kevin Mitchell showed the boxing world reserves of mental strength that many doubted he still possessed.

And we were happy to be proved wrong.

Ralph Welch

Follow on twitter: @ralphwelch

Brawls, Knockouts and Controversy - Boxing returns to form

It’s been a week of introspection in the boxing universe.

Seven days previously the two most powerful pugilists on the planet had met in the Hamburg Arena. It was a fight two years in the making. A fight that had captured the imagination of the entire world. A fight that had commanded more global headlines and column inches than any other in recent times.

If you believed the hype, and it was inescapable, this was the fight that was going to re-ignite the public’s passion for boxing’s flagship division.

Ultimately this titanic battle would indeed go down in history. Not for the bravery and mastery of the combatants, but for the fragility of a little toe.

It left many fans asking the question: should we ever believe the hype?

Thank goodness then for Brandon Rios.

This past Saturday the WBA lightweight champion and arch-rival Urbano Antillon gave us a toe-to-toe war that will live long in the memory. More importantly, it restored our faith in the pre-fight posturing that is so crucial to the sport.

In this case, the trash talk had been particularly aggressive. In several spicy press exchanges Rios alleged that Antillon had insulted his wife, and duly vowed revenge. For his part, Antillon promised to meet his foe in the centre of the ring and settle their differences the old-fashioned way.

It was a promise that boxing fans had heard seven days previously. Only this time it most definitely delivered.

The only disappointment was that the fight didn’t last longer. For eight minutes and forty-nine seconds we were treated to a battle of such frenetic, ferocious intensity that it provoked memories of the famous Gatti –Ward trilogy of the previous decade.

After a stunned Antillon was felled for a second time, the referee wisely called the contest to a close.

But unlike Haye or Klitschko, when these two men lace up their gloves again, we’ll all be watching.

Williams return impresses judges, but not the fans

Returning from a devastating knockout is perhaps the ultimate test of any fighter.

Many pundits had questioned whether Paul “The Punisher” Williams would have the mental strength to pick up the pieces of a career that had been so violently shattered by Sergio Martinez in November 2010.

On Saturday night, Williams (40-2) returned the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, the scene of that Halloween nightmare and sought to exorcise the ghosts that have haunted him since.

He faced a difficult challenger in unbeaten Cuban Erislandy Lara, but one that he was expected to beat comfortably.

In truth, over twelve rounds it was hard to make any kind of case for a Williams victory. Lara landed more punches and power shots, leaving Williams bruised and battered. At the final bell, “the Punisher” was left hoping for a huge slice of fortune in a venue which had been so brutally unforgiving in the past.

Except that on this night the gods of fortune favoured him. The officials gifted him a highly questionable decision met with disbelief in the arena, and widespread cries of highway robbery amongst boxing commentators.

The vitriol directed towards Williams from some quarters has been relentless. He’s gone from being a former champion with a point to prove to a has-been fighter who stole a decision. Even by boxing standards, it’s a remarkable fall from grace.

Given the context in which Paul Williams fought, I suggest that it’s unfair. After all, he didn’t judge the fight. He entered the ring trying desperately to resurrect his career. As his dreams of a glorious comeback seemed to slip away with each attack, he didn’t give up. He gritted his teeth and hung in there, hoping that the unlikeliest of decisions would go his way.

Whatever the result, whatever our opinion of the judges, on Saturday night in Atlantic City Paul Williams epitomised the bravery and courage that makes boxers such a special breed.

For that at least, he deserves nothing but praise.