Fast jabs...

It has been a long while since I’ve posted here on the blog so I’ll journey down memory lane for the past two months.

“The World Awaits” stunk. Plain and simple. The best part of this fight was HBO’s documentaries 24/7 which chronicled the daily workouts and lives of Mayweather and Delahoya. I thought it was draw. Clearly Delahoya could have won if not for his usual late round fade. What is up with that guy? He’s wound up soooo tight, its no surprise he fades in the latter rounds and has throughout his career. As for Mayweather Jr., no one really cares about who he fights or when he fights. Poor guy has no personality and seeks to piggy back on other celebrities’ notoriety (example, hanging out with “Fiddy” and some other rap stars I’ve never heard of.)

Delahoya needs to retire even though he won’t. My prediction? He’ll fight *Contender* star Sergio Mora if the "Snake" wins a title anytime soon (although the rumor is that he’ll be fighting Shane Mosley again…Ugh..)

Mayweather? I don’t buy the crap that he’s retiring (and neither does anyone else.) My take is that he’ll fight another Golden Boy alum Mosley…But for the record and if he’s as smart as he claims I do think he’d outbox the robotic Jermain Taylor rather easily.

Speaking of Taylor, I cannot recall ever seeing a fighter regress so badly during his prime athletic years. Other *web writers* state that he has suffered a decrease in confidence from back to back nail biters versus Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright. I think it is *guilt* from firing Pat Burns.

Burns was the jockey behind Taylor for his wins against Hopkins and it didn’t seem like he was regressing until the reins were turned over to Emanuel Steward. I think the Burns trained Taylor could have handled Wright (albeit barely) and would have knocked out Ouma and Cory Spinks.

Taylor was simply awful against Spinks. What was more appalling than the decision was the blatant cheerleading by HBO company man Lampley. I mean, come on…Spinks WON that fight handily. He made Taylor fight his fight, limited the exchanges and did what a little man was a supposed to do. They say he ran but, what the hell else did they expect??? Did they expect a guy who began his career at 140 lbs to stand and slug with the 6’1”, 160 pound Taylor!!!?? Spinks executed his game plan and Taylor couldn’t do anything with him. Taylor LOST even though two of the judges saw otherwise. After the decision was announced Lampley defamed Judge Flaherty who had his scorecard misread by the ring announcer, calling it 111-07 which in fact should have read 117-111 Spinks. Lampley stated to both Lewis and Merchant that “Flaherty should not be allowed to judge a major fight on that basis”. Yeah, right, why don’t you try calling a fight squarely, Jim?

Not to berate the talent of Lampley, he is the best color man in the business and he knows how to bring excitement with his call…But, last night’s effort was bad.

The word is that HBO is replacing Larry Merchant with (shudder) Max Kellerman. I am assuming they are no doubt trying to bring in a younger demographic or at least trying to make boxing appear more hip by having a young guy like Kellerman in the booth. I think Merchant’s reference to the Southern hip-hop phrase “crunk” or is it “krunk” during the broadcast was his way of saying he can use new and hip references to his commentary. He really does not need to do that.

Merchant is an institution to boxing and should be allowed to stay in that job for as long as he wants.

Kellerman has his merits when it comes to his unmatched enthusiasm for the sport but he talks in non-sequiturs and often leaves me scratching my head. I don’t think he’d be the right guy to replace Merchant.

Kelly Pavlik? The next middleweight champion of the world…Maybe…Taylor would be *up* to fight him…Maybe…Obviously it would be a completely different bout than Taylor-Cory Spinks. I do favor Pavlik. I do not think the current version of Taylor could have handled Miranda the way Pavlik did. Look for Taylor to avoid Pavlik and go up to fight Calzaghe. His reign will be short-lived from here on in.

The REAL fight of the year

Larry Merchant said it best when he described the Marquez-Barrera bout as being transported back to the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium in the 70s…Memories of Ruben Olivares, Carlos Zarate, Danny Lopez and Bobby Chacon were like ghostly apparitions smiling down at the performances of both Barrera and Marquez.

I did think Marquez slightly edged out Barrera. Barrera looked gassed out in the final round and Marquez pressed the issue. The final round was the clincher for me. But you can make a very strong argument that the bout could have been scored a draw. I never pay too much attention to punch stat numbers but I have never seen the punches landed/punches thrown numbers so close.

Marquez came damn close to downing Barrera in the 7th round. Definitely the best round of the year thus far. Barrera didn’t cop out and hold on though. He threw this perfect right hand which felled Marquez. Marquez pitched forward and outstretched his arms to break his fall. His head still propped up, Barrera stood above him and clobbered him again while he was down.

To Marquez’ credit, he fought on without complaint. This is what separates a great fighter from the mediocre. How many fighters have you seen being the victim of a blatant foul (Luis Santana, MMA’s Renzo Gracie) only to use that as an excuse not to continue. Marquez didn’t even complain. He got up and went at his opponent with savage zeal in the next round.

Emanuel Steward was the only one of the commentators to pick up on the foul but it was after the fight, stating that it was adrenaline that kept Barrera punching. Lampley only made a perfunctory comment when watching the foul on a replay. It brought to mind a fight between Nigel Benn and Iran Barkley in the early 90s where Benn hit Barkley in much the same way Barrera hit Marquez and Alex Wallau of ABC went self righteously berserk. No such response from the HBO team.

Nady noticed the foul and took a point away. But he inexplicably did not count the knockdown which would presumably have given Barrera an extra point.

This is all academic, however, because the scores were lopsided in favor of Marquez. I don’t know what fight they were watching, one judge had it 118-110 which means he only gave two rounds to Barrera (huh?)

All things aside, this was an incredible fight with shifts in momentum and the ending was always in doubt. It was a throwback fight and it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Mexican boxers are without peer in this sport.

The Fight Of The Year until...

The scorecards were read during the OPEN SCORING.

Mormeck and Bell went at it just as advertised. But after the scorecards were read the fight seemed to take a different turn. Mormeck was almost stopped in the sixth but had done enough to have an early lead. After the scorecards were read after the eighth round I believe, Mormeck decided it was time to play the Dean Smith four corner offense.

So the final four rounds were dreadful and totally offset the first eight. Mormeck ran away from Bell. I do not believe he won the fight. This was like a smaller scale version of Oliver McCall-Frank Bruno if you remember (I'm still trying to forget) that heavyweight title tiff...

The announcing team of Col. Bob Sheridan and "Jean Phillipe" were comical. Sheridan would scream and yell every time Mormeck so much as passed gas. "Jean Phillipe" called Sheridan "Arthur Mercante" at the start of their broadcast. At least I think he did. I didn't understand a word this dude said. French people should not be allowed to speak English because it still sounds like a foreign language.

On the bright side though were those first eight rounds. I noted that today's Cruiserweight is probably akin to the Heavyweights of yesteryear before the Super Heavyweights took over around the early 90s. Mormeck's physique reminded me of former WBA titlist Mike Weaver who weighed around 202 in his prime. Joe Frazier weighed only 205 lbs. Ali and Holmes weighed in at 215 during their primes. So these guys fighting around 200 lbs should be called Heavyweights and the Klitschkos and Valuevs should be termed the Super Heavyweights...Time for a new weight designation like they have in the amateurs.

Predictions for "FEARLESS"

Well if the Rafa Marquez-Izzy Vasquez tiff merits a wow this match up deserves a standing ovation from every true fight fan in America. What I love about Latin fighters is that they don't duck anyone. The fact that these two champions are fighting each other, particularly Barrera, is commendable.

I have no pick in this one. You have to be clairvoyant to pick a winner here. Barrera is a Mexican version of Bernard Hopkins. His brain is a calculator and he is arguably the smartest boxer in the sport when it comes to adjusting to certain styles. Marquez has come into his own in recent years and I have found him to be a highly exciting boxer to watch. He has more to gain than Barrera here and I suspect he will be fighting the best fight of his life. So I have no pick here, if you put a gun to my head I'll call it a draw.

Undercard picks:

I think Ponce De Leon will smash Gerry Penalosa. Older fighters cannot deal with powerful wrecking balls like De Leon anymore than they can deal with speed. Penalosa is not exactly spent but he would have to be at his prime best to deal with De Leon.

Demetrius Hopkins over Steve Forbes. Forbes went life and death with John Brown who is a junior lightweight. 'Nuff said. Hopkins is a young junior welter/welter coming into his own. I wouldn't be surprised if he scored a stoppage here.

O'Neil Bell versus Jean Marc Mormeck Part Deux

Excited about this one! This was a barn burner last year. Bell evidently has had some "issues" as it was reported he chased down his sparring partner with a hatchet. Yes, a real hatchet. Maybe he was watching too many episodes of Friday the 13th?

My pick? Its just a slight hunch Mormeck will pace himself a little better this time. The last go around he was beating Bell from pillar to post before the gas tank ran out. I'm like 55/45 Mormeck, probably by decision.

The feeble challenge of Ray Austin

Pathetic.

That’s the first word that came to mind if I had to describe Ray Austin’s challenge of Wladmir Klitschko this past weekend.

Ray Austin was Klitschko’s mandatory. Apparently, as the premier heavyweight champion he has no clout as being able to pick his opponents. I don’t blame him for taking the fight. The guy had an arena full of Germans screaming for him and he made at least a million for less than two rounds of work. Nice work if you can get it.

But how in the hell did Austin qualify as a mandatory? The fact that Don King led him into the ring Saturday night provides the first and only clue we’ll need.

Austin is a non-descript thirty-six year old heavyweight whose high water mark in boxing was appearing on Cedric Kushner’s “Thunderbox” series a few years ago. He did some prison time, ended up working in a manufacturing factory for twelve hours a day then achieved some marginal success in boxing. He does not possess the talent to be on HBO. His ring walk lasted longer than his time in the ring, being blasted into unconsciousness by Klitschko's first serious punch.

I know this has been said before but…What in the world has happened to the American heavyweight? Bert Randolph Sugar frequently comments that the best American heavyweight in the world is “the linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, Ray Lewis.”

Implicit in his statement is an assertion that the majority of today’s big men go into football not boxing. He may be right. But the biggest hit to American boxers in general is the depletion of our amateur boxing program. It needs a major overhaul and has to be promoted similarly to the way it was in the 1970s. Amateur boxing still thrives in other countries (the former Soviet Union, Cuba). Yes, I know this is a viewpoint that has been pointed out endlessly but watching Ray Austin’s feeble attempt it really made me think how pathetic Americans have become in boxing, particularly in the heavyweight division. Who do we have? James Toney? Hasim Rahman? Calvin Brock? Ugh!

So what we are seeing is the logical conclusion to the negligence of our amateur boxing programs. What is happening in the heavyweight division will eventually have a spill over effect to the rest of boxing’s divisions. The lower weight classifications are dominated by Mexicans and Pan-Asians. The heavier weight classifications are dominated by Europeans (ugh..) That leaves the middle divisions, middleweight through welterweight. We still have notable Americans in these divisions but it will be interesting to see how long that even lasts. They are starting to grow them bigger in Mexico.

Marquez versus Vasquez and the Lord of the Flyweights

I won’t call myself a prophet even though I went four for four on last night’s predictions. There were only two bouts that were competitive match-ups.

I like the competitive spirit and tenacity of Miranda. Aside from that 8th round knockdown he beat the crap out of Green. He would have had a stoppage had this been a 12 rounder. He’s being hyped as a power puncher but he’s more of a grinder. His aggression and pressure are what leads to his knockouts. I do think he would be highly competitive against Jermain Taylor and that is a bout I would pay to see.

Cotto’s bout against Urkal was a snooze-fest. Cotto felt no threat from Urkal and pretty much fought the bout on half speed. The intensity he had against Quintana wasn’t there simply because it wasn’t needed. Urkal wasn’t a threat. I do agree with Jim Lampley in that the open scoring was certainly a factor in the corner’s decision to throw in the towel.

Which was needed in the Vic Darchinyan-Victor Burgos fight on Showtime. This was sick, Darchinyan was literally cranking up a monster left cross and Burgos simply couldn’t avoid it to save his life (literally). I have never seen such a size disparity in a flyweight bout. This fight should have been stopped as early as the third and no later than the tenth. The referee, and the ringside physician never made the slightest move to stop this bout. The normally excellent announcing team of Steve Albert and Al Bernstein made no mention that this was a complete mismatch. You wonder sometimes if these announcers try to make the fight sound more competitive than it really is as they don't want to upset the company that they work for. This was sick.

All I can say is "Wow" regarding the Marquez-Vasquez bout. This bout was a throwback to the great Mexican rivalries of yesteryear. Admittedly, I didn’t think it would be as competitive as it became. For two rounds, I felt like a genius as Marquez was surgically chopping down Vasquez. In the third, Vasquez showed the same grit and firepower that bailed him out against Jhonny Gonzalez as he nailed Marquez with a left hook that he never saw coming. Marquez was seriously hurt and short-circuited. From there on, it became a damn good slugfest. Vasquez ended up quitting in the 8th because of the broken nose but it was a valiant effort. His nose looked broken in multiple places and simply looked grotesque. An early candidate for fight of the year but I doubt it will stand as the ending was too anti-climactic.

Tonight's fights, the March 3rd Quadruple header

Real quick my picks for all of tonight’s fights.

Edison Miranda versus Allan Green: This is one fight where you really have to be clairvoyant. Green is the bigger guy and better boxer. Miranda is the slugger with what seems to be a never say die attitude. Word is that he did beat Arthur Abraham in German. I’m going with Miranda only by the slimmest of margins.

Miguel Cotto versus Oktay Urkel. HBO needs to fire its webmaster and ad man. They describe Oktay Urkel as a "knockout artest", you read it right, "artest". Easy win for Cotto as he already has Judah lined up.

Vic Darchinyan versus Victor Burgos: Darchinyan by knockout even though I haven’t seen Burgos fight. "They", meaning his promoters obviously want to build Vicious Vic up for a payday versus one of the other belt holders.

Rafael Marquez versus Israel Vasquez: Ahhhh…This is what we’ve been waiting for. A fight of the year candidate to die hard fans. That being said, I’m predicting a surprisingly one sided victory for Rafa. Vasquez was being out-boxed by Jhonny Gonzallez in what I thought was the fight of the year candidate last year. Marquez is more hardy than Gonzalez, more technically sound and definitely punches harder. I predict he finishes the job Gonzalez started and becomes a two division champ.

A short note, on any other night I would splurge and pay to watch UFC 68 with Sylvia taking on Couture. There has to be a cross-over fan base in boxing and mixed martial arts so I don’t know why they would compete head on with two boxing shows. C’est la vie, I won’t be watching the UFC tonight.

Mosley w12 Collazo

Mosley has slipped obviously but he still has enough to beat the likes of Collazo. Mosley is the veteran now, he can no longer overwhelm his opponents with athleticism but now has gone the Bernard Hopkins route of beating his opponents with guile and occasional flashes of his old self.


I thought Mosley would knock out Collazo. Collazo was blasted out by Edwin Cassiani earlier in his career and I figured it was a matter of time before his chin was exposed again. But, defensively he has improved and he is a world class fighter.


Their styles didn’t mesh well. Put in Kermit Cintron against Mosley and you’ll have a much better bout.


Again, this was one of those fights that settled into a rhythm and I lost interest around the sixth round or so. No drama with these two, just a workman-like performance by “Sugar” Shane.


C+