Maybe I'm Too Hard on Pretty Boy

Yes, I bash Pretty Boy almost every chance I get. After watching 24/7, I started hating him with a passion. He's such a cocky asshole, and an idiot. His entourage is gigantic, and I think he's got about 20 people on his payroll that he's probably never even talked to. He's your stereotypical "black boxer", which was fine, until I realized the roots of the stereotype.

Sugar Ray Robinson, regarded as the greatest boxer of all time by most, was the first "Floyd Mayweather Jr." all the way back in the 40's and 50's. His record of 128-1-2( before his first retirement in 1951) is absolutely nuts. He’s the reason the term “Pound for Pound” was invented and now held by Pretty Boy. Boxing fans only hear about all of Sugar Ray's allocates in the ring, so I bet you didn't know that:

[Sugar Ray Robinson] was the pioneer of boxing's bigger-than-life entourages, including a secretary, barber, masseur, voice coach, a coterie of trainers, beautiful women, a dwarf mascot and lifelong manager George Gainford.

Yes, he had a dwarf mascot that cheered for him at fights, which ultimately dwarfs (pun entirely intended and gay) even this ridiculous Pretty Boy Floyd clip (watch the first 2 minutes):



I guess I would have hated Sugar Ray Robinson as well. I'm going to try to be a little less critical of Floyd now that I know boxing has a rich history of ridiculousness. I was under the impression that the guys 50-60 years ago just went out and fought. I didn't know they were driving around flamingo Pink Cadillacs.

When Robinson later returned to Paris in 1962—where he was still a national hero—to get him to cross the seas the French had to promise to bring over his masseur, his hairdresser, a guy who whistled while he trained, and his trademark Cadillac.

Can you imagine being the guy who gets paid for whistling as someone boxes? Absolutely nuts, and read this quote taken from 'Pound for Pound: A Biography of Sugar Ray Robinson''

Ego was part of what made Robinson great, and it also drove his considerable personal excesses, including insatiable womanizing, lavish spending, and a preening narcissism not immediately distinguishable from that of a child.

If I hadn't told you that quote was from Robinson's biography, you might have assumed I was talking about Floyd. Sadly, PBF possesses strikingly similar characteristics to the greatest fighter of all time.

Pound For Pound
Sugar Ray-Wiki

1982: Boxing's Year

I just realized I was watching fights that were 25 years old, which I had no problem with until I realized I was born in December of 83’. Now I feel old, and Jesus, that scares the shit out of me, but anyway I wanted to write about what many people call “The Greatest Year” in boxing history. I was reading a write-up on Boxing Scene about the recent resurgence of the Junior Bantamweight (122lbs) division, and stumbled upon the seemingly meaningless year of 1982. I call it meaningless because I wasn’t roaming the streets yet, and I think we can all agree that my presence has made things a little (to a lot) better.

Modesty aside, I want to briefly mention how exciting the Junior Bantamweight Division has become recently with the brutal and entertaining Vasquez vs. Marquez II, and Daniel Ponce De Leon’s impressive victory over Rey Bautista this past weekend. Boxing fans haven’t been this excited about the division since Morales and Barrera were kicking the shit out of each other. I’ll say it one more time, Vasquez vs. Marquez II was one of the top three fights of 2007, and if it had went a little longer, no other fight from this year would be considered ( and yes, that includes Cotto vs. Judah.) These guys went at it, and the theatrics, aided by Vasquez’s blood-covered face and both fighters’ relentless, hard punching, were really something to see. I need to stop talking about the fight before I have a naughty boxing dream. I’m so honest I would have to admit it to my legion of readers.

Now, as I continued reading the article I stumbled across a 1982 Junior Bantamweight fight that ranked 3^rd on “The Best Fights of 1982”. The fight was between Wilfredo Gomez and Lupe Pintor. Gomez was the king of the super bantam’s for over 5 years with 17 successful title defenses. His fight with Pintor would have been tops in almost any other year At least watch the lst 20 seconds of the video, one of Gomez's handlers runs across the ring and carries him back to the corner. My grandma always said actions speak louder than words, so take a look at the fight.

The #2 fight of 1982 took place when Aaron Pryor and Alexis Arguello faced off in a 15 round title fight that was filled with hard-hitting and a fair share of controversy. Pryor’s trainer, some guy named Panama, definitely wanted Pryor to drink out a specific water bottle and made sure it happened. I have to think Pryor was aided by some outside help as he consistently ran out for the bell for every round, whereas most fighters would have been crawling out of the corner after the abuse he was taking. These three videos document the entire fight, and are well worth the watch. (Link to entire fight)

The #1 fight doesn’t need to much talking up. Bobby Chacon and Bazooka Limon’s war was unbelievable and the 80’s club music playing in the youtube clip definitely add to the intensity. (No, I’m not being sarcastic.) When Chacon finally scored the 15^th round knockdown, I almost pooped by boxing pants. Limon had one of the best chins in the history of boxing, and it seemed like it would take a miracle to get him down.I haven’t found the entire fight yet, but when I do, I’ll be sure to post it. Limon actually got up from the knockdown as Chacon ultimately won a close, but unanimous decision. It was the 4^th time the two fighters had squared off. Please watch this as it is well worth the 6 minutes.

Wow, 1982 did produce a few great fights. The three mentioned all took place over the course of a month, and none of them were on pay-per-view. Oh, the good old days. I hope you all enjoyed that. I’m sorry about the 50 videos embedded in this post, but “actions are louder than words”, especially when the actions are those being carried out by the fighters, and the words are coming from some skinny kid who would probably get his ass kicked by either Williams sister.

Boxing Scene

The Fight to Help Boxing a Little Bit

Yesterday, Felix Trinidad and Roy Jones Jr. signed on to fight each other in what they consider to be a super-fight. Trinidad hasn't been in the ring since 2005 when he was manhandled by Winky Wright. Jones fought last month beating then undefeated, and overrated, Anthony Hanshaw. Don King will be promoting what he calls "the People's Championship."

Roy Jones Jr. at the age of 38 is getting a bit long in the tooth, but he is still one of the biggest draws in boxing today. He was one of the most dominating boxers in history throughout the 1990's, up until 2004. In 2003, he became the first fighter in 106 years to hold the heavyweight title after having held the middleweight title previously. To do that he beat John Ruiz by unanimous decision, Ruiz weighed 226lbs to Jones' 193. After this fight he and Tiger Woods became best friends. In 2004, however, Jones' legend lost some luster as he lost in a rematch to Antonio Tarver, the guy who lost to Rocky Balboa. He then lost the rubber match in that series in 2005, and has been trying to rebuild his reputation ever since.

Felix Trinidad, age 34, hasn't been in the ring since 2005 and does not plan on participating in a warm-up fight before the January bout with Roy Jones Jr, strike one. Trinidad has only won two fights in the last six years. In his fight with Wright in 2005 he lost a decision 120-107, pretty bad. His best fight was back in 1999 when he beat Oscar De la Hoya by a decision. Oh, he may also be a cheater, back in 2001 he was caught by Bernard Hopkins for illegally taping his hands. Apparently, the way he was folding the tape gave it the same effect as brass knuckles. There is a belief that this style of taping is what allowed him to be so dominant in his previous fights, strike two. He doesn't speak English, strike three.

Trinidad's out. I just don't see him being able to compete with Roy Jones Jr. even with the age difference. This fight will be fought at 170lbs which is ten pounds heavier than Trinidad has ever fought and only five pounds less than Roy Jones Jr's weight in last months fight versus Hanshaw. But we'll save the official predictions for January.

USA Today

World Cup (of Boxing) Preview

Tonight at 10:00 PM on HBO, Daniel Ponce De Leon and Rey Bautista meet for the WBO junior featherwight title in the main event. Ponce De Leon attempts to defend Mexico's World Cup that they obtained last year when they kicked Thailand's ass. Golden Boy Promotions is involved, which suggests that Oscar is running out of unique ways to promote his fights. A World Cup should include, well, more than two countries. Nonetheless, I'm excited about the fight as the lighter weight classes tend to produce more action fights then other higher divisions. If this fight is anything like Marquez vs. Vasquez II from last week, we are all in for a treat.

Ponce De Leon comes into the fight with three succesful title defenses and a career record of (31-1 28 KOs). His oppotnent Bautsista, only 20 years old, boasts a record of (23-0 17 KOs). Bautista wants to prove he is one of the best up and coming "pound for pound" fighters in the world. His punching power in the lower divisions is only rivaled by Manny Pacquiao.

In fact, Pacquiao's 2003 fight with Marco Antonio Barrera started this Mexico vs. [Insert name of another country] World Cup battle. This year Mexico's foe happens to be the Phillipines. The fight between Ponce De Leon and Bautista is one of 7 fights on the card.

The undercards consist of:

Davao City’s Gabi (29-3-1, 21 KO’s) versus Mexico City’s Jose Angel Beranza (30-9-2, 25 KO’s)
Banal (13-0-1, 10 KO’s) of Ermita versus Eric Ortiz (26-6-1, 17 KO’s) of Mexico City
Domingo (27-16-3 11 KO’s) of Libac versus Mexican Miguel Roman (22-0 16 KO’s)
Batawang (50-6, 34 KO’s) of Cebu versus Mexico City boxer Gerardo Verde (15-4, 11 KO’s)
Gorres (26-2-1, 14 KOs) of Mandaue City versus Mexico City’s Gerson Guerrero (33-7 25 KO’s)
Gerry Penalosa (51-6-2, 34 KO’s) of Manila versus Jhonny Gonzalez (34-5, 29 KO’s) of Mexico City

The team that wins the most number of fights wins the $500,000 World Cup and will be awarded a specially-designed trophy made by IceLink. It will be aired on ABS-CBN on August 12, 2007.

I don't think Mexicans and Filipino's hate each other yet, but hey, this is a start. The winning country gets money and a trophy. Money always causes problems between counries, and when you throw in a trophy, war is soon to follow. I hope I did an adequate job of getting everyone pumped up for the fight night. If not check out this promotional video. I don't know what they are saying, but it seems pretty freakin intense.



HBO Sports
Boxing Scene

James "Lights Out" Toney: There's a Dart in Your Neck

James “Lights Out” Toney’s year long suspension has been reduced to six months after the California State Athletic Commission voted 6-1 in favor of the lighter punishment. If you remember, “Lights Out” and his opponent both tested positive for performance enhancers after their May 24th fight in San Jose. Toney ultimately won the fight by spilt decision, and every one assumed the match-up was fair as both fighters were both using steroids.

Well Toney’s opponent, Danny Batchelder, might have a complaint now that new information reveals Toney was on “boldenone, which {is} a fat-reducing medication for horses and can only be prescribed by veterinarians.”

So, James Toney was using the animal equivalent of Fat Predator in an attempt to lose weight for his fight against Batchelder. I don’t know what’s more shocking, Toney taking Barbaroids or the California State commission reducing his suspension after this information was revealed.

I started doing a little investigating and found out that boldenone is a little more common than you think. In fact BodyBuilding.com, had this to say about boldenone.

“For something that is generally injected into cows, horses and dogs boldenone is quite a popular and well-liked drug by most bodybuilders because of its unique make-up.”


Now that’s special. I just wish Toney would have done a little more investigating before juicing up. One simple google search told me that boldenone is “easily detectable in blood tests due to its long metabloic half-life. Trace amounts of the drug can easily be detected for months after discontinued use.”

I’m not 100% sure what “long metabolic half-life” means, but I’d guess you shouldn’t take it if you think you might get tested right after a fight. “Lights Out” didn’t learn his lesson after all. Just a little over two years ago, Toney was stripped of his victory of John Ruiz for testing positive for another anabolic steroid during…wait for it…..another post-fight steroid test! Toney’s won 70 fights in his career. I can only imagine how many of those victories were juice induced.

Too bad Vick didn’t get a hold of this veterinarian who was supplying Toney with the animal steroids. He wouldn’t have had to kill so many dogs. Oh, will the Vick funny ever end? Seriously though, those dog fights would have been more entertaining.

BoxingScene

I Want to Fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

“I will beat him all the way back to England.” This quote came from the “retired” Floyd Mayweather, Jr. a little over a month ago, and no, he wasn’t talking about David Beckham. Shockingly, Floyd is ready to jump back in the ring, and the fight is being promoted by Golden Boy. Wow, Floyd really is sincere in what he says. He ragged on Golden Boy Promotions and said he was done with boxing. Three months later, he’s announced another fight with them.

As suspected, “Pretty Boy” will meet Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton on December 8th at the MGM Grand in Vegas. Yippie! Hatton has already said he’s going to fight at his junior welterweight size of 140 lbs. This means he’ll be fighting not only a quicker, more skilled fighter, but one that weighs 7 lbs more. Mayweather will almost certainly come in at the 147 lb. requirement as he realizes that Hatton (or any one for that matter) isn’t going to be able to beat him with speed. This is such a ridiculous fight. If money didn’t exist, there would no plausible explanation for it.

Mayweather said he’s going to knock Hatton out, and unfortunately I think he’s right! I mentioned this many articles ago when the fight seemed to be in the workings, but I’ll say it again: on fight night, Ricky Hatton’s face will be a dart board, and Mayweather will be throwing bull’s eyes. How can Ricky expect to use his style of always moving forward and bullying if he’s 7lbs lighter than Floyd? I just don’t get it. Mayweather has faster hands/better foot speed than anyone in boxing, so trying to beat him with those two things is like buying diapers 2hrs after taking an ALLI.

Look how Castillo (almost) beat Floyd. He just kept moving forward and bullying Mayweather. He wouldn’t let Floyd off the ropes. He was bigger, and Floyd didn’t know what to do. Hatton’s only chance is taking a similar approach. Bulk up, take chances, catch Floyd on the ropes, and turn it into a fight.

I’ll just come out now and predict a knockout in the middle rounds. I don’t think Hatton’s going to be able to do anything! He doesn’t move his head and walks right into big punches. Floyd isn’t a power puncher, but with his technical prowess, he will slowly dismantle Hatton. I can’t wait to see Hatton’s face in between the 4th and 5th round if he’s still in the fight. He’s going to look ridiculous.

I just wish Floyd would have taken a fight with Cotto! I swear that article about PBF dodging fights and being overrated is coming. If he keeps it up, I might just have to challenge him myself. I could get down to 147 lbs in 1 month. Hell, it’s only 12 pounds.


This Weekend: Eric Morales (48-5) and David Diaz (32-1) are fighting in Chicago Saturday night at the Rosemont Horizon (I don’t know the new name of the arena, so I’m still calling it by the old one). Morales goes after his fourth world title in a fourth diffrent weight class, and Diaz is attempting to measure himself against one of boxing’s true legends. I still haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to go to this fight, but if I do, I will keep a running journal. I wish I had a laptop, so I could do some ringside blogging, and then have my “corner man” translate it into Spanish. Please check out HBO on Demand (if you have it) and watch the short highlight reel of Morales. If not, got to Youtube and check out some highlights of him vs. Marco Antonio Barrera. He has been in some freakin’ battles. The man is a warrior, but at 31 he may have already fought too many times and taken too many big punches.

I think Diaz is actually older than Morales, but he’s a lot fresher. He’s fought lesser opponents and hasn’t taken the same abuse dished out to Morales by Barrera and Manny Pacquiao 3x apiece. I haven’t even begun breaking down the fight yet, so you’ll have to wait on my prediction. On the undercard, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., an up and coming undefeated welterweight and son of the boxing legend Chavez Sr., will try to show he’s more than just a name. He fought on the Cotto v. Judah undercard, and was impressive from what I remember. I think this one could be worth the PPV cash if you get 4-5 people to throw down on it. HBO will give you three hours of coverage for 5-7 bucks a pop. Kind of like going to a movie, minus all of the sweet Bruce Willis Jackass comments!. (Inside joke)

Four Sided Fight Night

I didn’t think anything, let alone boxing, could ever match the liveliness and exhilaration that is the octagon. Sorry, I mean Octagon. In fact, I’ve found my best articles are written when I construct a stop sign shaped outline around my desk and computer. My keystrokes get sharper, my mouse clicks more punishing, and my backspaces less frequent. Saying all of that, this boxing thing, even though held in a shape that is only half of what the Octagon is and ever will be, proved me wrong. I just hope Chuck Liddell doesn’t blog on Sundays!

Saturday’s HBO coverage went coat to coast with fights from Atlantic City to California and produced a night full of action, laughs, and the usual HBO boxing stupidity. The night started in Atlantic City at 9:00pm when Kermit Cintron and Walter Matthysse took their nearly unblemished records into the ring for a fight that many fans had high hopes for. Cintron boasted a record of (27-1) with 26 KO’s, and Matthysse had been almost as equally impressive with a combined record of (26-1) with 25 KO’s.

From the bell, Cintron seemed to be landing the crisper, more accurate punches and scored his first knockdown of the fight during the final minute of the 1st round. Matthysse was down for the first time in his career, but I’m here to tell you it wouldn’t be his last. Just moments into the 2^nd round Cintron landed another brutal combination that sent Matthysse to his knees. He would have been best served staying down as Cintron finished him off about 10 seconds later with a vicious uppercut and a decisive right hand that left Matthysse lying motionless on the mat. Now that’s what I’m talking about! Cintron, whose career had been derailed by the beating he took from Margarito two years ago, had again established himself as one of the top welterweights. He called out Shane Mosley during Larry Merchant’s stirring interview immediately following the fight and could be setting himself up for a big payday after his performance.

Needless to say, I was fired up! The Octagon wasn’t going to control me anymore. I’ve since vowed to run every stop sign for the next month to prove to myself that I’ve completely moved on.

The next fight on the Atlantic City card featured Arturo Gatti and Alfonso Gomez. Gatti, 35 yrs old, came into the fight with a record of (40-8-1). In many circles, he is considered the most exciting fighter of the last decade. I advise anyone to watch his epic trilogy with Mickey Ward if you don’t believe me. Gatti was at the very end of his career, but his camp believed Gomez was the perfect opponent. Gomez came into the fight with a very unimpressive record of (16-3-1), scoring only 7 KO’s. His most noteworthy accomplishment was finsihing third on the garbage that is ESPN’s “The Contender”. He wasn’t known for being a big time puncher and hadn’t fought anyone as seasoned as Gatti.

Saying all that, Gatti believed he would be able to give his legions of fans one more knockdown, drag out fight; while not putting himself in danger of further damaging the punching bag that is his brain.

He was very wrong. Gomez came out strong and continued pressing the action with a relentless assault of straight left jabs and quick rights to Gatti’s exposed left side. Gomez occasionally mixed in a sharp left hook to the body, and Arturo looked like he had fought one too many times. I had given all 6 rounds to Gomez already, and the 7^th round produced the stoppage that was becoming more and more inevitable as the fight wore on. Gomez landed a number of blistering combinations that left Gatti defenseless. As Gatti scrambled around the ring helplessly trying to avoid being finished, Gomez caught him on the ropes and delivered a huge right hand that further opened a massive cut on Gatti’s upper lip. Gatti’s blood shot onto Gomez’s shoulder, and he feel to the mat face first. The NJ boxing commissioner ran into the ring, and the fight was stopped. Gomez scored the knockout and proved a lot of people wrong; including me! Gatti had fought for the last time. He would announce his retirement to Max Kellerman moments after the fight. Congratulations Gatti, you had a terrific career!

Before I get into Margarito vs. Williams, I’d like to briefly comment on HBO’s boxing team and my belief that they are intentionally trying to get me to turn the channel during their coverage:

1. Jim Lampley, who heads the coverage, is one red nose and wig away from full party clown status. Not a famous one like Bozo, but one of those who works local birthday parties and drives around a beat up Astro Minivan with a plastic bag covering a busted out window. His commentary is unexciting and uninformative. He brings absolutely nothing to the table (I felt really weird making Lampley look like a clown.)

2. Larry Merchant, the resident old timer of the group, might be even more annoying than Lampley. My ears start bleeding every time he starts out on one of his 5 minute mumbles. I’d rather listen to a really angry Edward Scissorhands scratch a chalkboard. (forced joke) Euthanasia never seemed more appropriate. (Just right)

3. Manny Steward is a decent trainer and is somewhat informative at times, but he too puts together long streams of incoherent mess. Remember, he was the guy who didn’t even know what round it was when he was in Klitchsko’s corner for the Brewster fight a couple weeks ago saying, “I told you we could finish him off in the 7^th. Let’s get him this round. Wasn’t that the 6^th round?” His quote was in between rounds 3 and 4.

4. Max Kellerman is the only commentator who keeps me sane. However, some of his analogy’s tonight were a stretch to say the least, and it looked like he had a little herpes flare up on the left corner of his lip. Thank god I can’t afford HD!

Back to the fighting. The featured bout between Margarito and Williams lived up to its hype. I decided to test my boxing knowledge and keep a scorecard of the fight.

Here	it is	:
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
PW10	10	10	9	10	10	9	9	10	9	9	10	115
AM9	9	9	10	9	9	10	10	9	10	10	9	113

I thought Williams came out and really had Margarito on his heels. He dominated the early action with his quick jabs and countless punch angles. He kept Margarito at perfect distance and used his speed, height, and reach advantages for the first four rounds. I actually considered giving Williams the 4^th round as well, but Margarito landed a couple decent shots and finished strong. The middle rounds were a lot closer as Margarito gained confidence and let his hands go a little more. He was able to get to Williams a few times, but Williams continued to throw more punches. He was throwing 2 times the punches of Margarito and landed nearly the same percentage. Round 11 produced the most drama as Margarito put together three or four huge flurries that almost had Williams in big trouble. He landed 5-7 huge straight rights, and I was beginning to think Williams wasn’t going to be able to hold in. It was the first time one of William's fights had gone into the “championship” rounds and it showed. He was in deep water, but did just enough to hold on. I was impressed by Williams as he handled Margarito’s onslaught and proved he was willing to trade punches with the fighter both Pretty Boy and Mosley have ducked for the last two years! The fight was up for grabs in Round 12, but Williams reasserted his distance and jab and was able to prevent Margarito from getting in close.

The two California judges scored the fight as I did 115-113 in favor of Willaims, while another had it at 116-112. Williams escaped with a unanimous decision and solidified himself as one of the upper echelon welterweights. It’s back to the drawing bored for Margarito as he won’t be able to fight Cotto now. I am looking forward to seeing how the Welterweight division plays out over the next few months as it is stacked with worthy fighters who all want a shot at Floyd’s pound for pound title.

Winky Wright and Bernard Hopkins face off next week on PPV. Do yourself a favor and keep your money unless you want to see two men fight who’s ages, when combined, equal death. That’s all for now!

A Fight Worth Watching

It's amazing how after a the popularity and financial success of the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight, the up coming Cotto (29-0, 24 KOs)-Judah (34-4 25 KOs) fight can receive so little attention from the mainstream sports media. This fight is guaranteed to be every bit as exciting and entertaing as the bout between Golden Boy and Pretty Boy.

Defending champ, Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto (5'8'' 147lbs.), is a relentless, powerful body puncher who style revolves around attempting to puncture his opponents internal organs. From what I've read he has a great left hook and serious knockout potential--not from punches to the head but rather well placed shots to the liver. His main weakness is that his defense can be described as shaky at best.

Challenging Cotto for the title is 29 year old Zab Judah (5'7'' 146 3/4lbs) from Brooklyn. He draws many comparisons to Money Mayweather, and rightfully so. His hand speed is probably second only to Floyd and he may even exceed him in cockiness (who would have thought that was possible?). It was actually in his fight against Mayweather that he was suspended for hitting him way below the belt and then in the back of the head, inciting a brawl in the ring. Judah has tremendous athletic ability, but sometimes he seems like his own worst enemy.

Will Cotto's body shots take their toll and cause Judah to lower his hands in the later rounds opening him up to a potential knockout? Will Judah outbox Cotto with the technical skill he is capable of displaying? Or will his lack of discipline cause him to lose focus?

The only thing this fight will be lacking is 50 Cent--who I think we can all agree makes everything better. Still this fight has the makings of a classic for a true boxing fan and promises to be well worth the cost of the HBO pay-per-view. Saturday, 9 o'clock. Watch it.