Adam Azim, Dalton Smith, Jack Catterall and Josh Taylor all make appearances at super-lightweight in the world rankings of one or more of the sanctioning bodies. That is an impressive statistic.
Azim fights this Saturday at Wembley Arena, Smith fought last Saturday in Nottingham, and Catterall is in a hard, hard final eliminator in Manchester in two weeks. It’s a crowded and confused marketplace, to be honest.
Azim against Smith has been talked about for over a year, deals have been placed on the table, and the fight is – according to Smith – gone. “They don’t want it,” said Smith. Obviously, the Azim line is different. The truth in boxing is always a bit elusive.
Smith won the European title last Saturday with a nasty first-round stoppage of Walid Ouizza; it was too easy, but on paper it looked like it would be a decent test for a few rounds. After the fight, Smith told his promoter, Eddie Hearn, to get him a world-title fight. It was Smith’s third stoppage in a row and right now, at 27 years old and unbeaten in 17 fights, he looks ready for any of the best at his weight.
Azim will probably have a similar win on Saturday, when he fights the Kazakh veteran Sergey Lipinets for a version of the world title, in what will only be his 13th fight. Azim is 22, by far the youngest of the 30 or more men ranked at his weight in the world. This should be the last fight before Azim meets one of the top 25 boxers in the division. Lipinets, even at 35, is far from finished.
In the newly developed spirit of cooperation that now exists in British boxing, it should be easy to get boxers from rival promotional companies together. However, it has been extremely difficult to get Azim, promoted by Boxxer, in a fight with Smith, promoted by Matchroom. Personally, I’m not so sure there is any great rush; at 22, Azim is still a baby in boxing terms.
The super-lightweight division, still often referred to by its traditional name of light-welter, is a compelling division, but a bit confusing at first glance. Obviously, there are four champions at the head of the four main sanctioning bodies; The Ring magazine has selected a top 12 and it varies slightly from the one selected by Boxrec, the online statisticians to the trade. The Ring has a different No 1 and shares a total of eight men with Boxrec, which is not bad.
Once the top-12 rankings at the four main sanctioning bodies are introduced, the mayhem starts. There are 33 different boxers in the top 12 of the WBO, IBF, WBC and WBA. It’s a fine mess; a comedy, to tell the truth. There is no science involved in the compilation of the ratings; men and women get together at the conventions held each year by the different sanctioning bodies at a luxurious resort and, over cocktails and meals, they wrangle. It really is that basic, sorry.
The best fight at the weight involving a British boxer will be on 15 February in Manchester when Catterall, who is universally rated in the top five by the leading sanctioning bodies – and so-called independent ranking authorities – meets the unbeaten Arnold Barboza Jr in a title eliminator.
Barboza Jr has beaten a series of good men to get into position and Catterall had two fine wins last year. This fight closely resembles the annual showdowns between two genuine world-ranked fighters that dominated the British boxing scene in the Seventies and Eighties. It deserves exposure, it’s a very hard fight.
If the former undisputed champion, Josh Taylor, does return at his old poundage, then he walks into a fight with any of the three; a third with Catterall is good, but a meeting with either Smith or Azim would be exceptional. The men at 10 stone can give us a good few years of domestic showdowns, and that is what the business needs.
Smith started the year last Saturday, Azim will continue the momentum this Saturday, and then it will be Catterall’s turn. It’s a damn fine time to be 10 stone in British boxing.
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