Of Mayweather, right hands and surprises

Not many fighters have thrown a better right hand than the one with which Carl Froch knocked out George Groves in front of 82,000 people at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night, 31 May, 2014: a perfect punch to settle what had been an imperfect argument. Six months earlier when they fought in Manchester, Groves reckoned he was a victim of a hasty intervention by the referee Howard Foster. He never the less got his rematch, not to mention £2mn, the biggest purse of his career. This time, there would be no argument. Froch set up the finish with a double left-hand feint, inviting Groves to guard the right side of his jaw and, thus distracted, the challenger did not see the piledriver right cross that crashed on to his unprotected chin, leaving him in an undignified heap seven seconds from the end of the eighth round.

Floyd Mayweather’s charity to fallen friends knew no bounds in 2014. After the LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling was taped telling his mistress it was OK for her to sleep with black people but “not to bring them to my games”, the NBA banned him for life, fined him $2.5mn and forced him to sell the club. Floyd, a regular Clippers guest of Sterling’s at the Staples Center, near his LA property, said of the disgraced eccentric: “Him and his wife has always been respectful to me and always treated me like a gentleman. The recording, that may not have been right, but I’m only going by how he has treated me.”

Mayweather, preparing for his second fight against Marcos Maidana in September, took his understanding of human frailty to a higher plane – and his mistrust of technology a step backwards – when asked what he thought about the viral-class video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking his girlfriend unconscious, then dragging her by her hair out of a lift . “There’s a lot worse things that go on in other people’s households,” Mayweather opined, ludicrously. “It’s just not caught on video.” He further reckoned the NFL should not have fired Rice. After conferring with his people, Floyd did something he doesn’t often do: admit he was wrong.

It was the latest of nights at the ExCel Arena in London when Billy Joe Saunders beat Chris Eubank Jr, and Tyson Fury beat Dereck Chisora : so late, in fact, some of us were still stuck in a one-hour traffic jam in a car park at 3am, long after the trains and buses had stopped. Still, the night will forever be remembered for Eubank Sr, dressed like a catwalk peacock and strutting between rounds with all his old hauteur and flashing cufflinks intact while his long-suffering friend, Ronnie Davies, told Chris’s son, Junior, trailing on points but determined to do his own thing: “Don’t tell me to shut up, you’ve got to go out there and work, and start throwing punches.”

Never listen to what boxing folk say before a fight, but take heed of what they say and do later. Billy Joe Saunders: “If I couldn’t beat Chris Eubank Jr in five rounds, I swear on my son’s life, I’d give up boxing. My dad would probably beat me with a chain if I didn’t beat him in five rounds.” Bill won – and will prepare for a world title fight in 2015 after a quiet Christmas with friends and family, including his dad, on their Hatfield site. Then there was the trainer Don Charles on Dereck Chisora’s mindset before he lost in 10 one-sided rounds to Tyson Fury: “He’s more determined than I’ve ever seen him before.” Don also threatened to retire if Delboy lost. I hope he reconsiders. One of the good guys.

Amir Khan looked as good as he has done in years schooling Devon Alexander in what was billed as an audition for a shot at Mayweather, and surprised even his harshest critics with his discipline over 12 rounds on his debut in an MGM Grand Las Vegas headliner. The three ringside judges (sometimes the most dangerous people in boxing) were near unanimous in their judgment, giving him 33 of their 36 rounds overall. But did Khan look so good he might scare Mayweather off? He’s more likely to get Brook than Mayweather.

Kell Brook travelled to Los Angeles and finally won his world title, leaving the champion Shawn Porter so befuddled he would say months later: “I’m still getting over it.” Three weeks after the fight, however, the new champion inadvisedly accepted the hospitality of a stranger while on holiday in Tenerife and suffered a brutal machete attack. “I really thought I was going to die,” Brook said. There were unprovoked assaults, also, on Jamie Moore, shot in the kneecaps while holidaying in Marbella, then this week on Anthony Crolla, who is recovering in hospital after trying to apprehend burglars near his home near Manchester. Crolla, one of the nicest men in sport, was due to fight for the world title against the Cuban Richard Abril on 23 January.

Mayweather, meanwhile, again dangled the carrot in front of Manny Pacquiao. Infuriatingly, he left us all talking about the subject we say we hate talking about. The fight that should have happened five years ago remains the most intriguing match-up in the business, even though few give Manny a chance. I’m not so sure. Freddie Roach is convinced Floyd’s legs are fast failing him, as witnessed by how he could not get out of the way of some of Marcos Maidana’s clumsiest onslaughts.

There is another intriguing fight in the offing in 2015, one with realistic chances of happening. After Andy Lee’s stirring stoppage win over the Russian Matt Korobov in Las Vegas at the weekend, the Limerick southpaw owns the WBO middleweight belt – and is mandated to defend it against fellow Traveller Billy Joe Saunders. The new champion, whose quiet demeanour belies much fighting grit (and a wicked right hook), is determined to have that fight in Ireland, probably Dublin. Frank Warren, who showed the fight on BoxNation, said this week it will happen. Fingers crossed for a bit of boxing history – and a wild weekend in Dublin.