3/10/07 - Jim Amato AFTER MANFREDO FALLS, WILL WE SEE CALZAGHE - KESSLER ? By Jim Amato article written 3-26-07 Mikkel Kessler is 28 years old. He sports a 39-0 record. He is the WBA and WBC super middleweight titleholder. All that is missing is world wide recognition. HBO was smart enough to air his recent defense in Denmark, a one sided drubbing of previously undefeated Librado Andrade. That was the first step toward Mikkel being known on this side of the Atlantic. Hopefully the next step will be a unification bout with unbeaten WBO champion Joe Calzaghe. That is if Joe overcomes the challenge of Peter Manfredo Jr. on April 7th in Cardiff, Wales. Calzaghe is a solid favorite to win that fight and rightfully so. Calzaghe won over the American boxing public when he dominated the highly regarded Jeff Lacy. He has done little though to build on the prestige since he gained with that victory. Calzaghe needs Kessler but Kessler needs Calzaghe more. Will this highly anticipated fight ever be made ? Calzaghe has made it clear that if he beats Manfredo he wants middleweight champion Jermain Taylor or the winner of Bernard Hopkins - Winky Wright. Even Roy Jones Jr. has been mentioned. Kessler doesn't seem to be on Joe's radar. The Andrade bout was an HBO showcase for Kessler. Mikkel won 120-108 on all three cards. Kessler jabbed, he moved, he punched in beautiful combinations, he gave a boxing clinic. Even though Andrade was unbeaten he was far from the caliber of a Joe Calzaghe. Still HBO stirred up interest in future Kessler matches, hopefully against Calzaghe. Will see... Kessler is quite younger then Calzaghe. He is very strong and he is a solid puncher. He has a good jab and he boxes well. He is able to open up with both hands with great accuracy. That sounds like a winning formula for Mikkel against Calzaghe. The thing is that Joe is no ordinary Joe. Calzaghe has outstanding hand speed and he too is very accurate. He is also very awkward and not easy to tag with power shots. Also Joe has been in with better opposition. If Calzaghe - Kessler is made this year I still have to go with Joe. Unless Calzaghe ages overnight I just see him having too much savvy for the upstart to beat him. More then likely though, we probably won't see this match made and that's a shame. 
 LOU SAVARESE : AN ILL FATED COMEBACK ? By Jim Amato article written 3-29-07 On April 5th former heavyweight contender Lou Savarese will have his third fight since 2004 when he meets Matt Hicks ( 10-1 with 10 KO's ) in Houston. Hicks' only loss was by knockout to J.D. Chapman in 2006 Big Lou will turn 42 in July. He has a very respectable 45-6 record with 37 knockouts. Lou turned pro in 1989 and racked up 36 straight wins. His most important victories were kayos over Olian Alexander and Buster Mathis Jr. In 1997 Lou met linear heavyweight champion George Foreman for the WBU version of the title. Lou lost a hard fought split decision. It was Big George's last win. That was the beginning of phase two of Lou's career. Counting the loss to Foreman he would go 9-6 for the rest of his career up until now. After his loss to Foreman, Lou was surprisingly halted in five by David Izon. Two fights later in 1998 he flattened former champion James " Buster " Douglas to win the IBA version of the heavyweight crown. Next came a split decision win over Lance Whitaker. Lou would then lose a decision to unbeaten Michael Grant. Next up...Mike Tyson. This was the year 2000 and although Tyson was no longer the " Tyson " of lore, he still had something left. He caught Lou early and stopped him in the first round. It was a very disappointing loss for Savarese but he came back with a four fight win streak that included a five round demolition of former champ " Terrible " Tim Witherspoon. Just when it looked like Lou's career was back on track he was savaged in four rounds by the talented but under achieving Kirk Johnson. In Lou's next contest he was outscored by the then undefeated Leo Nolan. That was in 2004. Lou has since knocked out Marcus Rhode and Travis Fulton. Those wins hardly sent a ripple through the almost stagnant heavyweight ranks. A win over Hicks will not shake up the division either but it will keep Lou on a path that he hopes will lead to the heavyweight title. How far will Lou go on the comeback trail ? Hard to tell. Good match making could prolong it and if he racks up enough wins to get ranked you just never know. He might end up in the right place at the right time. Less deserving boxers have received heavyweight title shots in the last couple of years. My guess is that it won't happen although I could see Lou paired with guys like Andrew Golota, Tommy Morrison, Joe Mesi or Michael Moorer. What about Holyfield-Savarese ? Lou has been in with former champions Foreman, Douglas, Tyson and Witherspoon. Why not add Moorer or Evander to his list ? The bottom line is that I can not for see Lou ever putting together enough solid wins to earn a title shot. I like Lou. I've always been a fan of his because he always came to fight. I hope he makes some money and that he does not get hurt. jimsboxing@zoominternet.net
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