Those heavyweight clashes

Football has presented a number of shocks this weekend although it is not a sport that is isolated in this regard.

In Spain, Barcelona were held to a 2-2 home draw against Deportivo La Coruna while Real Madrid lost 1-0 to Villareal, leaving them five points adrift of the leaders.

In the English Premiership, with holders Chelsea already languishing marginally above the relegation zone, Bournemouth and Newcastle United leaped clear from the bottom three with victories over European hopefuls Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, respectively. Manchester City and Liverpool both needed late goals to salvage their results.

Yet, it is in the combat arena where dynasties have been overturned over the course of the last month, culminating in seismic shocks last weekend.

Wladimir Klitschko has reigned undefeated for a decade notching 23 successful title defences, the second highest in history behind Joe Lewis with 25 – but ahead of Larry Holmes (20) and Mohammed Ali (19).

However, on the last weekend of November he lost to Tyson Fury by unanimous decision, in the process handing over his WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO Super Heavyweight crowns. A rematch beckons next year meaning the other fighters keen to place their own gloves on the belts will have to wait to see whether the controversial new champion can deliver again.

One name being talked about is another Olympic champion (Klitschko won gold in 1996), Anthony Joshua, who claimed the British title last weekend. While the Fury victory left boxing enthusiasts disgruntled due to the lack of action with strategy the key, Joshua had them purring with excitement as a vicious uppercut left Dillian Whyte dazed and dangling from the ringside ropes.

Fight fans love savagery and brutality, particularly in the heavyweight divisions and Joshua delivered a performance that proves he is still able to deliver powerful blows in the middle rounds while having a ‘strong chin’.

Over in the octagon of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Ronda Rousey has taken women’s fighting to a new level in the public conscious, her popularity warranting headline bouts on six occasions. The scowling 28-year-old was the first American woman to win an Olympic judo medal (bronze in 2008) although turned to MMA, initially fighting with Strikeforce only to become the first woman to sign for the UFC.

‘Rowdy’ really shot to prominence in February this year when she defeated Cat Zingano in only 14 seconds via armbar, the fastest victory in UFC history, following this with a relatively sluggish 34-second defeat of Beth Correia.

Many predicted that her sixth defence, against Holly Holm in Australia, would be an interesting match of styles. Rousey was unable to adopt her usual tactic of taking down her opponent with Holm successfully repelling each attempt and using her superior striking to inflict the first defeat of Rousey’s MMA career.

The brutal assault from Holm left Rousey missing teeth and requiring cosmetic surgery meaning it will be months before she is able to ‘bite an apple, let alone fight’.

This is where money overtakes common sense. Holm is eager to defend her title and fight regularly but has been ordered by the UFC paymasters to wait for a Rousey re-match.

Last weekend saw two further upsets at UFC 194. Chris Weidman, who had gained the middle-weight title by defeating the legend that was Anderson Silva before retaining the belt in a rematch that left the Brazilian’s fibula and tibia snapped, lost his crown to Luke Rockhold in his first career defeat.

Most forms of fighting generally bring a large amount of posturing with combatants encouraged to threaten their opponents to varying degrees. However, Irishman Conor McGregor has taken that to a new level.

Last weekend he faced another Brazilian legend, Jose Aldo, who has been undefeated for 10 years across 18 bouts and is the number one-ranked ‘pound for pound’ fighter across all weight divisions.

Ahead of the fight ‘Mystic Mac’ had predicted that Aldo would ‘overload on a right at which point McGregor would hit him with a left hook’. He also claimed that this would happen early in the fight and that this would end the fight.

Given the Brazilian’s previous record the Irishman was mocked. None imagined that he would break the world record for the fastest finish in history (13 seconds)and be proven correct with his prediction in the process.

McGregor is accumulating fans worldwide as he speaks without reference to publicists, saying exactly what is on his mind – although this has been restricted to his fights, unlike Tyson Fury who has courted controversy out of the ring since winning his title.

The Irishman who has pushed the UFC to new heights thanks to his multitude of travelling fans, now wants to move up a weight division while retaining his featherweight crown with the aim of holding two belts at the same time.

It is something he has predicted. Few would now bet against him!