It’s not unusual for a boxer to be arrogant, it’s a sport where you have to be a hundred per cent confident in your own abilities, but Anthony Small has so much arrogance he makes Floyd Mayweather appear humble.
We are talking about a man who calls himself “Sugar Ray Clay Jones Jnr” after his hero’s Sugar Ray Robinson, Cassius Clay and Roy Jones Jnr, that is akin to turning up for your first maths lesson and calling yourself Albert Einstein Newton Galileo.
There is defiantly talent in Small, but the Londoner has this bizarre bouncy-cocky style, gloves at his side giving it the old razzle-dazzle. He’s done it his whole career, often neglecting the fundamentals as a result. Fair play to him for wanting to entertain, but if he concentrated on boxing basics a bit more he could have taken his career further than the domestic divisions a lot sooner.
Small has described himself as “like Marmite”, which is the ultimate cliché. It’s something you would expect to hear from a fame-hungry wannabe on a reality TV show. I suppose Small does have bit of the “love him or hate him” about him. He can throw combinations and when he boxes he does it very well, but other times he looks bored and lazy. Tonight his British light-middleweight title is on the line and the 28-year old will be keen to retain it with a win over Sam Webb in Dagenham.
In his last fight against Thomas McDonagh we saw the worst of Small as he danced about the baffled looking fighter from Manchester. He took the decision that night but will need to be on better form against Webb. This is arguably the biggest test of Small’s career, Webb has only suffered one defeat in 16 and also beat McDonagh, but in more convincing fashion than Small.
Born on the Isle of Dogs, Webb will see this local derby as the biggest opportunity of his career and will be relying on Small getting complacent so he can take the bout on points. Small will be aware of this and a knockout will be top of his list of priorities. It is actually Webb who has the bragging rights with two wins over Small at amateur level, but this is the pro’s now, a different ball game.
Small fanned the flames at the weigh-in by bringing a bag of gifts for Webb, flowers for his mum and chocolates for his sisters so they won’t be sad when he wins. Typical Small, but also as far as antagonising gestures go, it’s quite a thoughtful one.
It’s a double-header tonight as Hatton returns to the ring. No, of course not that one, little brother Mathew continues his progressing career with a fight against Gianluca Branco for the vacant European-welterweight belt. It is actually a return of sorts for Ricky Hatton, this is a Hatton Promotion’s card and you can’t help but feel nepotism has played a big part throughout Matthew Hatton’s career. Like Mark Holmes, Roger Leonard and Rahman Ali, Hatton has featured heavily on his brother’s undercard and probably got further than he should have as a result.
That’s not to say Hatton is a bad fighter, he’s just not particularly good. He got breaks he might not deserve as much as others, for instance he got this European title-shot ahead of “Young boxer of the year 2009” and outstanding British prospect Kell Brook. He doesn’t possess Ricky’s raw hand speed and aggression, fighting with a slower and more orthodox style and to be honest the majority of his fights have been against poor opposition.
Branco has seen better days but, there’s no denying the Italian warhorse’s 43-2-1 record is impressive. His only defeats came at the hands of Arturo Gatti and Miguel Cotto, so not exactly shameful. Branco’s a bit of a scrapper; he’ll fight on the inside and will close down the ring, a very awkward customer to face.
It is all a bit convenient that Hatton has this European title shot without really beating anyone credible. Also Branco may have plenty of pedigree, but the fact is he is almost 40. A lot of fighters wait there whole careers for an opportunity like this and Hatton should be well aware of that when he steps in to the ring tonight.
Branco is a veteran but he knows all the tricks of the trade and will by an extremely tricky customer for a fighter of Hatton’s calibre. Also Hatton only fought last month and hasn’t had long to prepare for this, it’s the biggest fight of his life but realistically Branco should take this anytime from round seven and if not he will win on points.
So it’s a night of big issues. Small will be hoping for a big performance to prove his not just a big ego, while Hatton will be hopping he won’t blow his big opportunity given to him by his big brother.
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