The Coin Flips One Way - Then Another

Last Saturday night we were treated to boxing's two-sided coin - the good and the bad.

Earlier in the evening the coin landed the right way as WBO Light-Heavyweight Champion Nathan Cleverly and Tony Bellew traded a blur of blows in a see-saw battle which soared and dipped thrillingly as the contest went one way and then another.

It really was a special evening of fighting at Liverpool's Echo Arena as hometown favourite Bellew showed he could walk the walk after months of talking, or rather shouting and spitting out fury. He was able to harness his impulsiveness to deliver an impressive performance.

He lost, yes. But showed he belongs at world title level and it was a close contest which could have perhaps gone in his favour on another night. It might be a blessing in disguise for The Bomber, who can learn from what he did right and at times wrong. He should be able to come again at this level - as long as he can maintain the rigours of squeezing himself down to light-heavyweight.

As for Cleverly, he must gain credit. He mixed it up and scrapped with a big hitting unbeaten fighter and he came up with a victory. Let's not forget he went into his opponent's backyard and he appeared unfazed by the heated atmosphere. Rather he seemed to relish it.

Here's to Cleverly and Bellew for putting on a brilliant spectacle. Wonderful.

Later on Saturday night the boxing coin swung back to bad.

'Bad' Chad Dawson earned a hollow victory (which was later overturned and ruled a technical draw several days later) after flinging the crafty fox Bernard Hopkins to the ground in the second round. The referee ended the contest in the second round, ruling Hopkins could not continue after injuring his shoulder in the fall. Dawson was (at the time) given a second round TKO.

There was a mass of confusion in the aftermath that did not nothing for boxing's reputation. Hopkins said the referee had pulled him out and that he was willing to continue. Dawson - who had looked commanding in the short space of time the fight had lasted - was ungracious as he baited Hopkins, labelling him a coward and shouting abuse his way.

It was an ugly contest that turned into a disaster. The milk turned sour.

Well, that's boxing for you.

Tony Bellew: A British Vargas?

One might be a Mexican-American who has mixed with Hispanic gangs, Hollywood movie stars and some world-class world champions and the other might be a former doorman from Liverpool with a penchant for Everton tracksuits - but believe it or not, Fernando Vargas and Tony Bellew seem cut from a similar cloth.

For one, Bellew - as Vargas would be proud to say of himself - likes to "spit flames".

He appears to revel in hot, crackly press conferences where his mouth runs off some rough and ready words for his opponent. He stands tall and proud and refuses to back down.

That's an approach that was popular with Vargas, who had a crazy fanbase in his heyday, and appears to be doing Bellew no harm at this stage of his career. It's helped manoevure him, perhaps somewhat undeservedly, to the front of the queue to face WBO Welsh World Champion Nathan Cleverly.

The two had been slated to meet in May when Bellew was willing to step in as a last-minute replacement for Jurgen Braehmer, who had pulled out. The weight was too much to cut for Bellew but he left his mark after squaring up to Cleverly and labelling him a "f****** rat" on live TV.

Like Vargas - who was just 14-0 when he fought for a world title - Bellew has had a relatively short amount of fights, going unbeaten in 16. Similar to the former light-middleweight champion from Oxnaed, he packs a punch but has appeared reckless at times and paid for it when he visited the canvas twice against the underrated hot-and-cold Ovill McKenzie last year.

And like Vargas too, there's a feeling Bellew - for all his admirable passion and pride, not to mention ability - could be investing too much emotion in a fight when he takes on the colder, clinical Nathan Cleverly. Too much emotion can leave a fighter too exposed and vulnerable and that could well be the case with Bomber.

Will Bellew's investment in mind games pay off? The proof will be in the pudding when the pair meet next month in Bellew's back yard.

Bellew has provided the spice but Cleverly will no doubt feel revenge is a dish best served cold.

Amir Khan's Talents Worthy Of Recognition

Amir Khan has a talent that deserves celebration in Britain - and yet in the popularity stakes the fast and furious fighter from Bolton is found wanting.

That is a shame, for his swift disposal of crafty and dangerous veteran Zab Judah was a wonderful showcase of his speedy combinations and growing ability at the age of just 24.

There are many factors - some explained, some unexplained - as to why Khan does not get the thousands upon thousands of fans splashing their savings on trips across the pond in the same way Ricky Hatton did.

Arguably Khan is much more talented proposition in the ring and he's beginning to build a record that could match up to Hatton's - Andriy Kotelnik, Paulie Malignaggi, Marcos Maidana and Judah have all been world champions - although he lacks a name like Kostya Tszyu.

It's fair to say a lot of the problems stem from an out-of-the-ring persona. Some of this is fair and some of it grossly unfair.

Starting with the latter, there have been accusations of racism against a fighter of Pakistani heritage. This is a not unreasonable point and there's no doubting elements of prejudice among some, a small minority, exist.

Moving on other reasons why Khan does not attract the popularity he deserves and it's worth considering the way Khan has conducted himself - or perhaps more importantly, how 'Team Khan' have conducted themselves.

There's no shame in trying to make a decent living from an unforgiving sport but the way in which Khan Promotions cut themselves off from Sky TV before the Paul McCloskey fight was shameful. Originally scheduled for Sky's Pay-Per-View, there had been suggestions that Khan Promotions were unwilling to pay a decent wage to fighters for the undercard on the bill. Whether this was true or not remains unclear but a number of decent boxers dropped out beforehand and we were left with a fight night that was not worth paying around £15 for to see on TV.

Sky were quick to acknowledge this fact and refused to put the broadcase on pay-per-view - a relief for fight fans suffering cash flow issues in the times of a credit crunch.

'Team Khan' thought otherwise and decided to stick the McCloskey bout on Primetime, which is a little-known pay-per-view satellite station in the UK. It left a bad taste. If you're going to make fight fans pay for something, at least have something worth paying for.

Then in the aftermath of this contest there was more bad feeling as Khan and his entourage taunted McCloskey in a bad-tempered post-fight press conference, who despite being soundly behind was ludicrously stopped halfway through with a paper-thin cut.

Khan's message was: "Shut up, listen to the champion, he's talking." Or words to that effect.

Since that fight Khan and his team have refused to do business with Sky and the Judah fight was left somewhere in space for British fight fans - or a channel known as Primetime, where it costs about £15 to see the show on TV. Worse still, there were complaints that Primetime's internet broadcast was shaky and grainy and slow.

But despite the perceived attitude and arrogance, Khan has something special and deserves respect for the way he his career has soared after teaming up with Freddie Roach. When they first got together Khan was picking up the pieces of a reputation smashed in one round by Breidis Prescott.

Khan was humble to go to a gym where he would start lower down the pecking order with a lot to prove. He got his head down and is on course to be recognised as a British boxer worthy of acclaim in the history books.

Being humble helps with the British. Can Amir Khan achieve stardom - and have popularity in the UK at the same time? That question has not been resolved.