Big Bad Chad: “The Light Heavyweight’s Worst Nightmare”

by Gary Fisher (aka Justfish1)

With everybody talking about Calzaghe’s big win against an over-the-hill shot fighter Roy Jones and Hopkins’ win over a young, over-his-best-weight class Pavlik, everybody is forgetting about a sensation who’s been fighting in both guys’ shadow the last couple of years: “Bad”Chad Dawson.

That’s right, you heard me, Bad Chad Dawson. While both Calzaghe and Hopkins have been dishing up some extra cash the last few years, Dawson’s been cleaning up the Light Heavyweight Division. Dawson has beaten the best in the division. He’s beaten Thomas Adamek, Glen Johnson and has beaten-down Antonio Tarver. So what about giving a Dawson a shot at making some noise and giving us die hard boxing fans a fight or two we would love to see?

Dawson v.s Calzaghe would be awesome to see but we all know Calzaghe is probably visiting Felix “Tito” Trinidad in Puerto Rico to discuss a possible comeback or maybe Joe is visiting a couple of boxing clubs in Wales somewhere looking for the next club fighter to add to his legendary resume of fighter so he can continue to toot his own horn. Joe, do us a favor and instead of showing up at all the big boxing events and sticking your face in all the cameras and telling everybody that you deserve more respect than what’s been given to you, “Fight Dawson”. If I’m not mistaken Dawson is calling you out.

Then we have Bernard Hopkins who is so worried about making an extra buck and so worried about everybody doubting him every time he fights somebody. So give us what we want and finally shut up all the critics and go out with a bang. Don’t get me wrong, Hopkins has been having everybody eat their words. Yeah, he beat Pavlik convincingly, No doubt, but let’s be honest- Pavlik was 10 pounds over his normal weight class and yes I’m with him, I think he beat Calzaghe but let’s not fool ourselves, let’s take a trip down the lack luster resume of Calzaghe. Yes I know I got sick to my stomach too when I looked at it myself. So, Bernard, put the icing on the cake and fight the Light Heavyweights’ worst nightmare.

I know some of you guys that are reading the blog right now are fuming, Let’s be honest we’ve paid lots of money to watch these guys in action and I think Joe and Bernard owe us diehard fight fans the fight we all want to see. So, Joe and Bernard, do us a favor and fight the Light Heavyweights’ worst nightmare: “Bad” Chad Dawson.

Arreola vs. Walker: A Heavy Burden for Young, American Heavyweights

by Damon Ealy (aka PghWindmill)

This weekend’s HBOs “Boxing After Dark” show from Ontario, California, is about Paul Williams vs. Verno Phillips, a WBO junior middleweight title fight with its own story lines. But I’ll be tuning in for the opener, Cristobal Arreola versus Travis Walker. And I’m not making any promises, but I’m suggesting you show up on time, too, and give the heavyweights a chance to set the stage for the main event—and just maybe outshine it.

It’s rare anymore that the heavies even get on the pay-cable broadcasts, and the division is automatically derided by purists, by casual fans—other fighters don’t even respect the division. Paulie Malignaggi, in an “ooh”-evoking dis (well, I went “Ooh,” anyway) leading up to last weekend’s junior welter showdown, said of Ricky Hatton: “Hatton is a limited fighter. He can’t box. I’m not going to criticize him personally, because I really like Ricky. I just don’t think he’s much of a fighter, or was ever much of a fighter. I’m not just talking out of I disagree here. He’s the John Ruiz of the junior welterweight class.”

Hell, the heavyweights themselves goof on the division. American heavyweight Lamon Brewster: “I think the heavyweight division is watered down … I think the American heavyweights are lazy.”

But Arreola-Walker is a compelling fight if for no other reason than it features two examples of what everybody and their favorite boxing commentator say is missing from the game today: Young. American. Heavyweights. Both Arreola and Walker are under 30, and they’ve got exactly one pro loss between them.

That loss is Walker’s. It came to 11-1, 282-pound T.J. Wilson in an October 2007 fight broadcast on Showtime. Wilson felt Walker out for all of three seconds or so, then backed him into a corner and started whaling away. Walker might tell the story differently, but the video shows him getting caught flush, firing back with a couple of get-off-me wild ones, stepping back, dropping his hands, and catching a couple more clean in the gob. Fifteen seconds into the fight is when ref Raul Caiz Sr. jumps in and waves it off. He’s protecting a fighter when he does it.

Still, Walker wasn’t cut, he wasn’t staggered—and for crying out loud, give us at least a round, ref. A heavyweight bout on Showtime is about as rare as a Paul Malignaggi cross that someone actually feels. (Not to kick a guy when he’s down, but that one’s for John Ruiz.)

Walker got his wish for a rematch with Wilson later that winter and stopped him in the second round. Since then, he’s fought only 27 more for-money seconds, stopping 8-19-1 Wallace McDaniel in September of this year. And Cris Arreola made sure to point that out at this fight’s press conference.

But the shine might be coming off of Cris Arreola just a little bit. Last time out, he made quick enough work of Chazz Witherspoon, winning probably every of the nine minutes of the fight. But for as hard-charging a reputation as Arreola has as a fighter (25 wins, 22 by stoppage—and two wins by DQ over guys who were going to fall sooner or later), he’s a relatively low-key personality. And living up to the inevitable Tyson comparisons is hard when your midsection looks even a little soft, even if you do knock guys out and even if you do talk hard when you’re supposed to. There’s pressure on Arreola to be the guy—not just the American who saves the heavyweight division, but the first Mexican-American to do that. He might be feeling it. It’d be the sport’s loss if trying to live up to his press was part of his undoing.

Walker’s resume won’t blow you away. You can’t take seriously a guy who allowed himself to be buzzed in the opening seconds of a big-time fight? I can’t say I blame you. For what it’s worth, though, Walker’s got top-15 rankings from the WBC and the IBF. (Arreola averages about #5 across the big four sanctioners and is ranked #13 among Heavyweights in the BTBC’s World Rankings) There aren’t any Hall of Famers in Arreola’s wake either, and Walker does own a win over Olympian Jason “Big Six” Estrada, one of only a handful of guys whose name comes up when young, quality American heavyweights are the topic. The 2006 majority-decision win for Walker still stands as Estrada’s only pro loss.

But Walker may just have learned some practical lessons that will make him Cris Arreola’s most legitimate test to date. If Walker wins, you can say you saw the heavyweight upset of 2008. If he loses, you can say you knew about Cris Arreola back when he was still knocking out bums.

Being Paul Williams

by Paul Magno

Paul Williams’ ring nickname is “The Punisher,” but it very well could be “The Dalai Lama” since everywhere Williams’ goes he brings peace and tranquility. His very presence causes aggressive tough guys like Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto and even Kelly Pavlik to suddenly become peace-loving pacifists while veteran warriors like Shane Mosley turn into gentle creatures looking to live a peacful co-existence with the lanky kid from Augusta, Georgia. Nobody, not even in the bloody sport of Boxing, seems to be in the mood to fight when the name Paul Williams is mentioned.

The sad truth for Williams is that fight managers will never be too eager to match their guys up with a 6′1″ southpaw Welterweight with an odd style and an 82 inch reach. There’s too much of a chance that their fighters will look horrible and, frankly, there’s simply not enough money in fighting Williams to make the risk worthwhile.

So, Paul Williams finds himself in a Catch 22 situation- He can only get the big fights by becoming a big enough draw, but he can only make himself a draw by getting the big fights. What’s a fighter to do?

If this were a couple of decades ago, his people would say to just stay busy and beat everyone available in his division until eliminating all competition for the guys avoiding him. In other words, turn himself into their only real opponent by beating the snot out of all the others. And, certainly, while the top 3 or 4 guys pretend that Williams doesn’t exist, there are credible, ranked opponents who would be willing to take the risk of fighting a guy like Williams. Just looking at the BTBC Welterweight rankings (http://www.btbc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rankings&action=display&thread=48), names like Cintron, Baldomir and Bonsu stand out as solid fights to help make Williams unavoidable.

However, this is 2008 and things are very different. This is an era where auto industry CEO’s take private jets to meetings where they’re asking for a government bail out. This is an era where people take out mortgages they know they can’t pay, given to them by banks that don’t expect them to be able to. The current atmosphere is one of entitlement, so why should the world of Boxing be any different?

Williams has only been in the ring with 2 fighters who could be classified “world class,” but this doesn’t stop him from feeling that his dues have been paid and that he’s entitled to the big paydays against the top dogs. That’s why him and his people have been testing the waters in other divisions and, maybe, toying with the idea of being simultaneously active in 3 weight divisions: Welter, Jr Middle and Middleweight.

So far this year, he has 2 fights at 147, one at 160 and coming this Saturday, an interim title fight for the 154 lb. crown against veteran Verno Phillips. And, while it’s impressive to have 3 solid wins in 3 seperate weight classes in one year (Carlos Quintana, Andy Kolle and , possibly, Phillips), you can’t help but see the word “gimmick” written all over this approach. Actually, in the long-run, by jumping around so much, he may be making it easier for fighters to avoid him. After all, he’s bound to slip in the rankings as he divides himself in 3 and has already been forced to vacate his WBO Welterweight crown.

Williams is young (27) and has the frame to handle the weight changes, but what about in 3 or 4 years? Will Williams eventually settle into just one weight class and begin take it apart the hard way, or will he always be destined to wander Boxing’s proverbial roadside, looking for whatever decent fight that comes his way?

Win, lose or draw on Saturday, we won’t have that answer, but Williams will have a decent payday and an HBO main event. For now, that’s the best a world class fighter without a world class name can hope for.

The Standing 8 Count (11/23/08)

by Madcow

The Madcow is back for another action-packed round full of low blows and cheap shots.

Ricky Hatton sure beat the snot out of the “Magic Man” Paulie Malignaggi last night. It was a surprisingly one-sided beat down and, best of all, it gave hope to all red-faced drunks everywhere. I know I will look at Hatton as a source of inspiration everytime I guzzle down a pint of my favorite ale and shove a greasy piece of fried food down my throat.

What’s next for Hatton? A massive payday against his bossman, Oscar De la Hoya as Hatton becomes the latest step on Oscar’s road to destroying his own legacy.

What’s next for Malignaggi? Versus, Shobox or a hosting gig at the Olive Garden.

Now that we’re somewhat on the subject, what’s the deal with UK fighters and rabbit-punching? We saw it in the Hatton fight and in the David Haye and Joe Calzaghe fights. These Brits sure like to smack people behind the head. If someone can figure out why a shot to the base of the skull is part of their game plan, please let me know.

Antonio Margarito has become the most deadly boxer at 147. Not because of his in-ring abilities, but because of his utter inability to actually sign his name on a contract to fight. Last week, Margarito passed on yet another big fight when he turned down 2 million dollars to fight Shane Mosley in January. That’s three big fights that Margarito has turned down in his 4 month reign as King of the Welters. Paul Williams, Joshua Clottey and Shane Mosley should just go about their business as if Margarito never existed. Otherwise, the Tijauna Tornado’s reluctant warrior act will destroy Boxing’s best division.

Speaking of Williams, he takes a crack at a title at 154 this coming weekend when he goes up against the elderly Verno Pillips. The bad news for Williams? Even if he wins the strap, he’ll find a Jr. Middleweight division even more devoid of a big money fight for him than 147.

Chris Arreola will be taking on Travis Walker on next week’s Williams/Phillips undercard. Arreola is probably Boxing’s hungriest young fighter…Hungry for pizza, hungry for Ding Dongs, hungry for Babrbecue Pork Skins…etc. Rumor has it that Arreola’s heavy bags are filled with the cream from thousands of Twinkies.

Lennox Lewis nixed rumors of a potential comeback this week. The rumors originated from the Vitali Klitschko camp because, quite obiously, Lewis is the only fight that Vitali wants to make. Klitschko needs to decide on whether he’s a real, pro fighter or a professional Lennox hunter. He’s the WBC champ and should be at least pretending to care about the title.

Celestino Caballero did to Steve Molitor what every visiting fighter has to do when stepping into Europe, Asia or Canada- starch his opponent and take him out, leaving nothing for the judges and ref to screw with. The Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen-skinny Caballero attacked Molitor like the Canadian champ had stolen his sandwich. Caballero vs. Israel Vazquez will be awesome if it ever happens.

If there is any doubt that the Heavyweight division is on death’s door, just take a gander at the grim reaper death roll of fighters making their comebacks: Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, Frans Botha, Michael Grant, Bruce Seldon. Sounds more like the roster for some lame 90’s video game than a list of still-active fighters. Sadly, these guys will hang on until someone can tear them to shreds and, also sadly, the current crop of heavies aren’t even good enough to do that.

Authorities in Wales are reportedly considering erecting a statue to  Joe Calzaghe. Ironically, the monument will be erected in the same park where many of Joe’s opponents currently sleep. Tocker Pudwill was unavailable for comment.

Well, I’m gonna do a Buddy McGirt and throw in the towel for this latest edition of The Standing 8 Count. Check in next week for our detailed preview of the “Dream Fight:” Oscar De la Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao…yeah, right.

Wildcards at 140

by Paul Magno

The so-called experts rarely agree on anything in Boxing, but when it comes to the Jr. Welterweight division, the Boxing world’s inteligencia agrees on 3 basic truths:

 1) The winner of Ricky Hatton vs. Paulie Malignaggi will be the undisputed #1 guy in the division.

 2) The winner’s main rival will be WBC champ, Timothy Bradley. 

and

 3) The winner of Holt/Torres 3 and Andreas Kotelnik will be notable and worthy rivals, but unlikely to take control of the division. 

 So, from reading this, you’d think that the 140 lb. division is a tightly-wrapped ball of pre-welter predictability. Well, not exactly. Here are some wildcards at 140 who could mix things up and turn the division on its ears:

 

Herman Ngoudjo: Nobody at 140 has been in tougher, sooner than this adopted Canadian. With less than 20 fights under his belt, he has already faced: Emanuel Augustus, Jose Luis Castillo, Randall Bailey, Souleymane M’baye and Paulie Malignaggi. He’s 3-2 against the stiff competition, but both of his losses were controversial affairs that could’ve gone either way. Ngoudjo is set to do battle with Colombian strongman, Juan Urango for the vacant IBF strap in January and, whether he wins or not, will be a tough, poised rival for anyone looking to dominate the Jr. Welterweight division.

Demetrius Hopkins: One of the finest, best-skilled boxers in the division, Hopkins is a threat to beat any of the very best. If he becomes more active, and resists the urge to take a stab at 147, there will be few who can stand in the way of a D-Hop assault on 140. Keeping him active is the main goal for his team.

Randall Bailey: Bailey’s not the same free-swinging KO artist that he was back in ‘03. That version of Bailey was little more than a tough kid with a monstrous right hand. After suffering several defeats at the hands of the division’s top dogs, he went back to school and worked on the weakest parts of his game. To his credit, the 34 year old Bailey of 2008 has developed some pretty solid skills to go along with that one-punch power and has had the success to prove it. The only blemish on his post-conversion record was a tight and controversial loss against Herman Ngoudjo in Canada during a bout that saw everything from weird officiating to a lightning storm-caused black-out in the outdoor stadium.

 

Manny Pacquiao: No doubt that the reigning Pound 4 Pound King brings excitement everywhere he goes, but the thought of what he may be able to do at 140 has been debated on message boards and in gyms across the world. After his catchweight fight with De la Hoya in December, The Pacman may very well make a stop at 140 as he works his way back down to 135. Pacquiao/Hatton is a lot more attractive than Pacquiao/Malignaggi, but Manny has the ability to shake things up considerably if he were to campaign at 140 for any significant period of time.

Zab Judah: Judah, with his power and hand speed moving down from Welterweight, will instantly be considered a major threat to any and all champions at 140. Judah’s name will bring in more attention (and money) than almost anyone else at 140, so it’s a given that he’ll get his shots if he plans on making the Jr. Weters his home. How will an average Jr. Welter punch feel after he has taken shots by the likes of Cotto and Clottey?

Lamont Peterson: A quick, sharp, mobile Jr. Welter backed up by Top Rank? The kid will be at the top soon and he has the skill set to become the King sooner rather than later.

Junior Witter: I wouldn’ t count out the awkward, crafty Witter just yet, Junior’s got the name to score another big fight and the frustrating style to steal a win over most of the top guys at 140.

Mike Alvarado:  The pressure-fighting Alvarado makes for compelling, competitive fights. Before long, he’ll be making serious waves at the deep end of the top 10 list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hatton vs. Malignaggi: Battle of the Party Boys

by Paul Magno

Imagine there’s some place in the universe where a stereotypical English pub exists alongside a Long Island night club. Now, let’s imagine what the cultural mish-mosh would look like if both establishments let out at the same time. Imagine the conflicts and battles as both cross-sections of humanity cross paths. Now, you can understand what most fans are looking forward to when Ricky Hatton and Paulie Malignaggi clash this Saturday, November 22^nd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Neither fighter is considered much of a fan favorite outside of their own personal fan base. Hatton’s mauling style makes him tough to love for most tastes while Malignaggi’s defense-first mindset is a bore for many.

While the combination of both styles suggests a possible letdown as a hugger meets a runner, the clash of cultures and personal aesthetics makes this bout interesting: Bangers vs. Coney Island Dogs, Fish and Chips vs. NY Style Pizza, Oasis vs. Bon Jovi, Manchester United vs. The New York Yankees.

Aside from the sociological angle, this will also be the meeting between the 2 top ranked Jr. Welterweights in the sport. Although neither holds a recognized world title at the moment, Malignaggi and Hatton are rated #1 and #2 respectively by the BTBC World Rankings and are in every other reputable rankings as top 3, at worst. The winner will be the undisputed king of the 140 pounders.

Another factor that might turn this one into a surprisingly good fight is the fact that both fighters are coming off a couple of less-than-solid performances. Hatton was KO’d by Floyd Mayweather in his ill-advised move up to the Welterweight division and he followed that up with a solid, but hardly awe-inspiring performance against the unranked Juan Lazcano. Malignaggi, on the other hand, was riding high after winning the IBF crown against Lovemore Ndou in a one-sided boxing lesson. However, he followed that dominance up with a controversial UD win over Herman Ngoudjo and a flat performance against the same Ndou he dominated months earlier.

Along the way, both fighters had their distractions. Hatton with his drinking and the firing of his long-time trainer Billy Graham in favor of Floyd Mayweather Sr. Malignaggi with his off-putting and distracting hair styles. But make no mistake about it, the winner of this bout will be the undisputed #1 Jr. Welterweight in the world- at least for the time being.

While most experts acknowledge the fact that the winner of this fight will be #1, most also believe that the winner’s reign as top dog in the division will be a short one as heir apparent, Timothy Bradley, already a belt holder, is biding his time and waiting for the chance to pounce on either guy.

Bradley performed a minor miracle by snatching the WBC title from awkward Brit Junior Witter in Witter’s own back yard. He followed up that title-winning performance by executing a one-sided mugging of tough veteran Edner Cherry. Bradley has the style, skill and temperament to be the next top dog at 140, but he’ll have to wait for now because a new monarch will be crowned this Saturday.

And that new king will either drink too much or look in the mirror to excess; Hug or run; Joke or Brag. But no matter which party boy wins, it will be well-deserved and he will be the rightful king of his division.

One undisputed champion for an entire division? What a refreshing sentence to type. All Hail The Party Boys….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Standing 8 Count (11/16/08)

by Madcow

All Hail Me- the maddest, baddest bovine to ever go ’round the world twice in one hour without ever leaving his hotel room!

Last night Jermain Taylor won a lopsided decision over Jeff Lacy in a battle between two of Boxing’s biggest child-men. The title of that card should’ve been “Arrested Development” because it was full of some of Boxing’ dumbest, most unteachable goofballs- Taylor, Lacy, Kermit Cintron, Allan Green, Chazz Witherspoon. The combined intelligence of these 5 lunk-heads is enough to make the case for future stem-cell research. Maybe, some day, we’ll find the cure for fighters who simply can’t remember fundamental Boxing technique.

David Haye passed his first Heavyweight test against Monte Barrett. Upon first viewing, this was an impressive peformance but then I realized that even I looked impressive when I video taped myself slapping around one of my piss-drunk drinking buddies. Lets see what Haye does against someone who wasn’t KO’d in 2 by Cliff Couser.

Hayemaker promotions should’ve paid Barrett a little extra for falling flat on his face while trying to jump the ropes in his entrance. That was the highlight of Barrett’s fight and the only thing compelling about his entire performance.

The Boxing world is still waiting for Antonio Margarito to put his Juan Hancocko on the contract to fight Shane Mosley. If anyone has seen Margarito, please contact Top Rank; Bob Arum is very concerned. Margarito is Mexican, slightly under 6 ft tall, 147 lbs, medium complexion and, oh yeah, everyone’s “afraid” to fight him…

And, along the same lines, will someone please fight Paul Williams? I can’t stand his whining anymore so somebody please throw a million-dollar payday his way.

Williams, if he’s serious about getting a big payday, should do what a normal fighter with proper managemnt would do- fight anyone and everyone in order to build a name, even if he has to fight an entire legion of scrubs. This did wonders for Joe Calzaghe and even earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame. I wonder what Tocker Pudwill is up to these days?

Coming off of his slap-happy beat-down, Roy Jones is placing the blame for his loss on his cut man. Very, very weak. The only people, aside from Jones himself, responsible for his loss are Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson, for scrambling his neurons and his father, Roy Jones Sr., for not making him learn some fundamentals for when his speed was gone.

Ricky Hatton vs. Paulie Malignaggi is next week, but before we let the hype envelope us, lets remember that Hatton prefers to hold rather than fight while Malignaggi prefers to run. The only challenge involved in this bout will be the challenge to stay awake past the 8th.

If I were Malignaggi’s trainer I’d recommend him to cover his entire body with KY lubricant so that when Hatton grasps at him hungrily, Paulie will just slip away.

All set for Oscar De la Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao? Yeah, me neither.

Just when the WBO was making strides to become more legitimate (as legitimate as an alphabet soup organization can be, anyway), they make the beyond-questionable ruling to make Don King’s newly-signed Marco Antonio Barrera their #1 rated Lightweight. I wonder how much this cost King? I wonder how much it would cost to make me their #1 ranked Bantamweight?

As a favor to the bossman and administrator of this blog and the accompanying message board, Paul Magno, I promised to remind everyone that the Boxing Times Blue Corner is changing homes and becoming simply the BTBC. The change takes place tonight, officially at midnight. Give it a try. It really is a damn good board and Paul works very hard at keeping the joint jumping. I haven’t seen someone work so hard for free since I worked my entire Junior and Senior years of High School to get to 3rd base with a slightly pudgy Jessica Strutton.

The new location of the BTBC message board is: www.btbc.proboards.com.

Ok, Kiddies, that’s all for me this week. This Bovine Casanova is off to do nasty things with bad, bad girls… See ya next week.

To Fans and Friends of the Boxing Times Blue Corner

When the old Boxing Times website put up their forum, The Blue Corner, many of us fans of the site and fans of John Gregg’s podcast registered with the hope of having a forum made in the image of Mr. Gregg himself- fair, even-tempered and civil. We registered with the hope of finding a place to talk Boxing that wasn’t full of the same internet tough guys who plague so many other boards. We indeed found a home; a place where we wouldn’t have to endure flame wars and silly ramblings from people who enjoyed their own posts more than the sport itself.

When I was named administrator of said forum, I was intent on continuing the tone of civility and fair play- even against my worst argument-loving instincts. Along the way, with the input of the regulars on the board, we built the Boxing Times Blue Corner into ,what I consider to be, the best Boxing forum around. All of this with the gracious permission of John Gregg and Mike Rouan, who continued to host the forum despite having shut down the website.

However, due to legal issues, our forum can no longer be hosted on the Boxing Times website. This was inevitable and something that I was preparing for eventually. Therefore, we will be packing our things and moving our board to another location- a move that will be very beneficial to us as we expand and make improvements to both the board and our blog.

Our new board will have all of the same features that we currently enjoy, plus a few new ones such as an integrated live chat and better tech support to prevent the outages we used to endure in our old home. Nothing will be any different: same lay-out, same boards, same features.

So, this is not an ending at all, just a move. What will be ending, however, is our formal relationship with John Gregg and Mike Rouan and The Boxing Times. I cannot express my gratitude to them for affording us this opportunity and allowing us to keep it going long after their website was a thing of the past. In providing us this opportunity, they have helped keep the sport of Boxing on the minds of hundreds of registered forum members.

I believe that we at the BTBC are headed for bigger things, but even if we only end up being a few dozen hardcore fans talking about and debating Boxing- Then, The Boxing Times crew did enough. We are happy to have found each other and even through the heated debates, we are better for the interactons we have had with one another.

A special thanks to Mike Rouan, our tech guru, who literally kept the board from blowing up. Mike, although off the clock, never denied my urgent e-mails for help at odd hours of the day and night. Even now, he has graciously offered to archive our old board so that we can have a place online to look back on our old posts and debates.

So, to fans and friends of The Boxing Times Blue Corner, I want to welcome you to our new home this Monday, the 17th of November and I hope that each and every member of our old forum takes the time to register for an account on the new board. I also hope that some new members who read this blog and would also appreciate an intelligent place to talk Boxing will join up.

For early registration, click here: http://www.btbc.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=register. I suggest you registering your screen name now, before it slips your mind.

The name of our new board will be “The BTBC” and, at least for the time-being, you will still be able to access the new board by typing www.boxingtimes.com into your web browser. However, the official url of the new board will be: http://www.btbc.proboards.com/.

Come on in and look around. Starting Monday, the 17th:

• New threads will be added
• A new board champion may be crowned
• The TV listing will be updated
• The Hatton vs Malignaggi Official Prediction Thread Will Be Up
• We will begin the process of putting together a new Pound 4 Pound list
• We will announce a new, improved way of viewing free PPV events
• And a few other surprises!

Until then, keep posting in our normal board and as of midnight, November 17th, we will hopefully all switch over.

I’ll see you there!

WETSU,

Paul

The Standing 8 Count (11/09/08)

by Madcow

I’ll kick this off quickly because I’ve got a pizza on the way:

What do Roy Jones and John Lennon have in common? They were both shot in New York. [Ouch! I almost censored that one- Paul]

Jones has been shot, or done, finished, finito, “stick a fork in his ass” over since 2003. What was the point of having him beaten up on Worldwide TV? Was building up Joe Calzaghe’s padded record worth the humiliation of a one-time legend? I hope everyone got paid real well because this whole farce was sickening from the pre-fight hype that made this fight seem almost legit right down to the one-sided beat down of a guy who simply couldn’t defend himself anymore.

On a related note- Next week I will be fighting Muhammad Ali to become the new “Greatest of All-Time” and the following week I’ll be playing a game of fast pitch against 77 year old Willie Mays to determine the best baseball player in history.

Last Night Calzaghe proved that he could beat a faded and shot former champion- Congratulations. Now, maybe he’ll take his smug puss and Oscar De la Hoya’s magazine championship and just go away.

Now, will people please stop talking about how good Emanuel Augustus is? Augustus got beat by “El Gato” Figueroa on the Jones-Calzaghe undercard for loss #30. After losing 30 of about 70 fights, you have to admit that maybe the problem is you- You’re either not good enough to win or not smart enough to pick the right fights. It’s not a matter of “When he’s motivated, he’s world-class.” The truth about Augustus is that he’s just good enough to lose respectfully and little more.

Zab Judah beat journeyman Ernest Johnson on the same undercard. The only problems? Neither fighter could make the 140 limit, so the bout was officially at Welterweight and, besides that, Judah looked as sloppy and unfocused as usual. So… Judah’s Jr. Welter comeback was neither a comeback nor a Jr. Welterweight bout.

Telefutura announced that they were yanking the plug on their Solo Boxeo series, which was one of the better boxing shows in existence. I’m sure going to miss the between-rounds commercials for Mexican soap operas and badly-dubbed B-level American action movies.

David Haye, in preparation for his November 15th fight with Monte Barrett, is going old-school and abstaining from sexual activity with his wife. It’s a tough sacrifice to make, but not too hard considering that, as soon as he gets hit with a legit Heavyweight punch, Mr. Haye will be royally fucked.

It looks as though Shane Mosley vs. Antonio Margarito is nearly a done deal for January 24th. From all reports, the only thing missing is Margarito’s scraggly “X” on the dotted line. Margarito will apparently sign the contract as soon as he finishes his “Why doesn’t anyone know who I am yet?” World Tour.

I never thought I’d say this, but I sure do miss Floyd Mayweather. I may have not agreed with who he fought, but at least he fought. This current crop of Welterweights is about as motivated as a crew of veteran teamsters on a movie set.

Speaking of motivation, have you seen anyone more motivated than Vic Darchinyan? The little guy’s been calling everyone out and actually meaning it. Whether it be Nonito Donaire, Jorge Arce or Fernando Montiel I believe Darchinyan would fight all of them in the same week if they wanted. I wish other fighters had his attitude.

De la Hoya vs Pacquiao Update: With just under a month to go before the “big” showdown between Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao… I still don’t care. This baloney-encrusted waste of time holds about as much interest for me as the Mini-Me Sex Tape.

Before I go I have to make an announcement: Due to popular demand, I will be writing another semi-regular column for this blog focusing on the many e-mails I get, which is currently about a 30-70 split betweem fan mail and hate mail/death threats. I finally got my own e-mail, so that my jefe, Paul, can stop being swamped with spell-check exploding, poorly-worded “screw you” messages.

Send your e-mails with questions or comments to: madcow_loves_u@yahoo.com

No subject is taboo and I will answer everything as honestly as a cigar-smoking, Jack Daniels-drinking whore monger can. The chosen e-mails will be featured on the brand, spankin’ new semi-regular column: Madcow’s Mail Sack. Fire away guys.

Until next time, sees ya when I sees ya…Now, where the hell’s my pizza?

Dissecting Joe Calzaghe

By Paul Magno

Numbers aren’t always trustworthy.

Show me any lie or half-truth and there is likely a “fair” or “impartial” statistic to back it up. It’s only when we shine a light on the reality behind the numbers that we began to see the real picture.

Such is the case with Joe Calzaghe, Ring Magazine’s Light Heavyweight Champ and Wales’ hometown hero. His record currently stands at an impressive 45-0 with a record-setting string of 21 title defenses as the WBO Super Middleweight Champ, but the numbers alone don’t tell the whole story of the man who is playing the role of elder statesman living legend.

So, I have set out to examine Calzaghe’s record-setting title reign to determine the true story behind the smoke and mirrors. I will list Calzaghe’s defenses , as well as a summary of each fighter’s pre-Calzaghe accomplishments that got them a shot at Joe and his title. We´ll begin with his title shot for the vacant 168 lb. title.

10/11/97 Chris Eubank- Although a recognizable name, Eubank was well past his prime, hadn’t had a significant win against a top fighter in over 3 years and would go on to lose his next 2 fights after Joe. To be fair to Calzaghe, Eubank was a substitute for the injured Steve Collins and Calzaghe had no say as to who he would fight for the title.

1/24/98 Branko Sobot- Joe’s first title defense had only one previous fight at 168 lbs.- and that was 8 fights and nearly 2 years earlier

4/25/98 Juan Carlos Gimenez Ferreyra- His last 4 opponents before Calzaghe had a combined record of 20-25-6. A win over a 1-11-2 fighter earned him his shot at Calzaghe’s world title.

2/13/99 Robin Reid- A loss to Thulani Malinga and a win over an 8-3 foe in his 2 previous bouts was enough to get him a shot.

6/5/99 Rick Thornberry- His previous 5 opponents before Calzaghe had a combined record of 29-68-6. Thornberry was so bad that Sven Ottke fought him 2 fights later.

1/29/00 David Starie- No wins of note  are on Mr. Starie’s resume. A win over the dreaded, 16-9, Teymuraz Kekelidze earned him his shot at the WBO crown.

8/12/00 Omar Sheika- Dim-witted, but deserving club fighter. A case could be made for this defense since Sheika had just scored a controversial upset against Glen Johnson in his fight previous to the Calzaghe bout. However, Sheika would go on to have a 7-6 record when he stepped-up his level of opposition.

12/16/00 Richie Woodhall- How did a loss to Markus Beyer 14 months prior earn him a shot at Calzaghe’s title?

4/28/01 Mario Veit- Up until the point of qualifying for this title opportunity, Mr. Veit had no wins of note against anything resembling a top Super Middleweight.

10/13/01 Will McIntyre- His last 5 opponents’ combined record before his fight with Calzaghe: 55-53-6.

4/20/02 Charles Brewer- Faded former champ was 2-2 in his 4 fights prior to Calzaghe. His 3rd round KO loss to Antwun Echols led to him getting the title shot less than a year later.

8/17/02 Miguel Angel Jimenez- His last 4 opponent’s combined record of 37-51-9 begged for an immediate title shot against Joe.

12/14/02 Tocker Pudwill- Tocker’s previous 4 opponents before Calzaghe had a combined record of 33-199-9. To be fair, Pudwill was a substitute for the injured Thomas Tate, who had somehow qualified for a title shot by being shut-out 6 months earlier in an easy UD by Sven Ottke.

6/28/03 Byron Mitchell- To continue a trend, a loss to Sven Ottke in his previous bout earned him a shot at Calzaghe’s title.

2/21/04 Mger Mkrtchian- With no wins over top Super Middleweights, his victory over the 2-3-1 Jozsef Balazs made him a must-fight opponent for Joe.

10/22/04 Kabary Salem- A No Contest and a loss in his 2 previous fights earned him a bout with the reigning WBO 168 lb. champ.

5/7/05 Mario Veit- A rematch of the guy he KO’d in the 1st round a few years earlier. This time Veit would make it into the 6th.

9/10/05 Evans Ashira- Ashira had only fought one fight, 2 years prior, at 168 in his previous 25 bouts. Went the distance with Joe after being KO’d in 2 at Middlweight just 2 fights earlier.

3/4/06 Jeff Lacy- A title unification with the IBF champ, who had not yet had a defense against a top 168 pounder. After 10 months without defending the IBF title, he vacated the title. Apparently, recent KO victims and unknown club fighters weren’t as readily available in the IBF Top 10 list.

10/14/06 Sakio Bika- Up to that point, his one and only fight at 168 lbs. in 4 years was a draw with Markus Beyer. That was enough to draw Calzaghe’s interest.

4/7/07 Peter Manfredo Jr. – With only 2 Super Middleweight fights in the previous 6 years and after 2 high-profile losses to Sergio Mora, he finally met Joe’s requirements and earned a shot at the title.

11/3/07 Mikkel Kessler- Calzaghe’s crowning glory and the only name on his defense list that was truly a risk.

After abandoning the Super Middleweight division he moved up to beat 43-year old Bernard Hopkins via split decision and he’s currently set to take on the 39-year old Roy Jones Jr.- a one-time legend who hasn’t beaten a top opponent in over 5 years.

When looking back on the true story of Joe Calzaghe’s career, you can’t help but wonder what could’ve been. How talented was he? How far could he have gone against real opposition?

We’ll never know now, but if he had names like Roy Jones Jr, Glen Johnson, Anthony Mundine, Markus Beyer and Eric Lucas on his resume instead of guys like Ashira, Sobot and Thornberry we would’ve had a real gauge of where Calzaghe’s skill level was.

Instead, Calzaghe will always be the Sadaharu Oh of professional prize fighting. Oh was the Japanese Home Run King with 868 home runs, but he never, ever hit a Major League fastball.

The Standing 8 Count (11/02/08)

by Madcow

Another hung-over Sunday with more egg on my face than when I passed out at the Circus Circus Breakfast Buffet. Vic Darchinyan, the baddest Armenian on the planet, beat up, punked-out and got rid off Pound 4 Pound darling, Cristian Mijares. I don’t know if it was a question of Mijares taking him lightly or of Darchinyan improving his ring style, but what was clear was that we saw a major league ass-whupping.

I was asking myself before the fight, just how many so-called Boxing experts had actually seen Mijares fight before putting him on their Pound 4 Pound lists? Probably not many, so, for those who hadn’t seen him fight before- the fight on Saturday was not at all representative of how Mijares usually fights. i.e. He usually doesn’t get his ass beat.

This coming Saturday’s Celebrity Boxing Showdown between Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones is sure to set records. I wonder what the world record is for requested refunds from a PPV show?

With all the slapping and pecking that’s sure to take place in Calzaghe vs. Jones, the fights gonna look more like a riot at a Clay Aiken concert than a professional prize fight. I’d be willing to bet that there won’t be more than 3 meaningful punches, total, per round.

If you just have 6 months to live, I recommend you buying the Calzaghe/Jones fight. Those 36 minutes will seem like a week and a half.

Wladimir Klitschko found a suitable substitute for Alexander Povetkin on December 13th- Hasim Rahman. Somebody has to really explain the actual definition of “Suitable Substitute” to the Klitschko camp. For crissake, Rahman was the guy who quit against James Toney and then whined his way to a No Contest…How did he get this break? Well, maybe the guy’ll get lucky and bring home the belt…The reign of King Rahman II…Yikes!

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. headlined a PPV against Minnesota’s toughest high school janitor, Matt Vanda. This same PPV featured 3 other virtually meaningless, one-sided bouts. Who said the economy was bad? If this show had more than 25,000 buys, we need to up everyone’s taxes because, obviously, too many people have too much money to throw away.

People are calling for sanctions against Bute vs. Andrade ref, Marlon B. Wright after the disgusting job he did in officiating that bout. What was more disgusting is that the guy couldn’t even cheat right. His push to save Bute came after the bell, when Bute was already up. So, what he did was totally pointless. There’s nothing worse than a stupid crook- If you’re gonna rob someone, at least be smart about it.

Antonio Margarito vs. Shane Mosley looks like a possibility after all. Here’s hoping we get at least one decent Welterweight fight next year because, from the looks of things, nobody’s planning on fighting in ‘09. They’re either all waiting to get the call from Oscar De la Hoya or Floyd Mayweather or they’ve suddenly become Buddhist monks.

Speaking of “He of the Golden Fishnets,” Oscar’s “big” news last week was the addition of Angelo Dundee to his corner. Whoopee! The biggest story coming from this piece of news is how Oscar is going to go about making the ring wheelchair accessible.

There will be a “big” Heavyweight double-header taking place this week in China as Andrew “The Ball Punisher” Golota takes on Ray “Please Don’t Hit Me in the Balls” Austin and Jameel “The Recline” McCline fat-dances with “Mr. Who?” Mike Mollo. This may be George Bush’s last push for world domination before he’s out of office- Put the Chinese to sleep with these fugly duds…then send in the troops for any easy win…and all the Sweet and Sour Chicken we can eat! USA! USA! USA!

Well, that’s all for this week. I gotta go and drop off some used Chinese food in my toilet and check up on the latest 4 month old news from Ring Magazine…apparently Cotto and Margarito are gonna fight! I wonder who’s gonna win?

Later, Gators…

Monthly Awards- October ‘08

Fighter of the Month:

Bernard Hopkins- This was an obvious choice. No other fighter was as dominant in a big fight this month and no other victory was less likely. The 43 year old Executioner outclassed and easily beat a 26 year old phenom while showing class and dignity during the entire event. This should serve as a notice to the legion of Hopkins’ critics- Never count out the old pro and never underestimate the importance of actually learning the art of Boxing.

I sincerely hope that the revisionist historians of the sport don’t start downplaying Hopkins’ win as a defeat of an overrated, crude one-dimensional puncher. The fact of the matter is that every respected Pound 4 Pound list had Pavlik in their Top 10…and many had them in their Top 5.

So, what’s next for Hopkins? Whatever he wants…Who’s gonna tell him “no?”

 

Bum of the Month:

Samuel Peter- Here’s a guy who was punked out at every opportunity during the promotion of his bout with Vitali Klitschko. He was disrespected and made to look like the 10th ranked challenger instead of the reigning WBC World Heavyweight Champ. The German press made it seem that the fight was just a formality, that it was just a matter of Vitali stepping into the ring to claim his title.

The stage sure seemed to be set for the entrance of one enraged Samuel Peter. However, instead of the “Nigerian Nightmare,” we got more of a sleepy daydream as Peter plodded his way through 8 losing rounds and then quit on his stool after the WBC’s open scoring system made it known that he was way behind on the scorecards.

Being outclassed is one thing and a point could certainly be made that Klitschko was just a much better fighter, but Peter didn’t even try. It was a disgraceful effort from a reigning world champ.

 

Boxing Times Thread of the Month:

Who beats Floyd out of today’s fighters?

-Started by PBD

http://boxingtimes.com/bluecorner/index.php?topic=1078.0

Love him or hate him, there are few figures in Boxing who provoke a greater response than Floyd Mayweather. This was a thread about how well today’s top fighters would do against an active Mayweather.

To be honest, this was the toughest choice for this month’s awards. There were almost too many choice threads to choose from.

Check out our board and register if you want to be part of Boxing’s best Pound 4 Pound fan forum:

http://boxingtimes.com/bluecorner/index.php