The Controversial Fight Series: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Jose Luis Castillo I

by Paul Magno/zd

(The Controversial Fight Series will be a semi-regular feature on The Blue Corner where we re-examine some of the more controversial bouts in the sport’s history and hopefully come away with a better understanding of the truth behind the heated debates.)

April 20th, 2002

Jose Luis Castillo was coming into the fight the defending WBC Lightweight champ after having beaten reigning champ Stevie Johnston and former champ Cesar Bazan. Despite being the reigning champ, Castillo was the underdog and he definitely carried a chip on his shoulder while making the long walk to the ring. Backed by years of tutelage as a friend and sparring partnerof Julio Cesar Chavez, Castillo put forth an epic effort that, at least on paper, came up short in stopping the runaway train called Floyd Mayweather Jr….or did he come up short at all? Should he have gotten the nod in a bout where he dominatedthe punch stat numbers?

Floyd Mayweather was the WBC Super Featherweight champ with 8 successful defenses under his belt and a list of victims that included a dizzying array of quality fighters such as Diego Corrales, Genaro Hernandez, Goyo Vargas, Famoso Hernandez and, the fight before the Castillo bout, a TKO of the durable Jesus Chavez. There was no doubt that Mayweather came into the ring with a sense of entitlement. What he discovered was a champion who fought with the urgency of a contender and someone who made for a much tougher fight than anticipated. But Mayweather’s control of the first half of the bout and his slickness and skill earned him enough points to stay ahead of Castillo despite the Mexican’s push…or did it?

Paul, an unabashed Mayweather supporter and Zd, a dedicated Mayweather critic, will dissect the fight round by round in an effort to get at the truth and then…you can be the final judge.

Round 1

Zd: Mayweather dominated the round with his speed and accurate punching as he was the aggressor, Castillo was ineffective, looking lost at times, and getting counterd. Castillo was bleeding from his nose by the end of the round, Dominant round for Mayweather. (Round: Mayweather 10-9)

Paul: Mayweather controlled this round with his hand/foot speed He scored several solid potshots from the outside and controlled the pace nicely. Castillo had a few near misses, but no real, effective punches. (Round: Mayweather 10-9)

Round 2

Zd: Mayweather was the aggressor in the beginning of the round. Castillo tripped over his own feet while walking backwards and getting caught with a left hook from Mayweather with 2:38 on the clock, the ref didn’t rule it a knockdown, Mayweather continued to dominate with his quick feet, coming in and out, staying away from castillo’s punches. There was a clash of head in 1:58 in which Mayweather got a slight cut above his left eye, after that, Castillo’s aggression started to be a little more effective, catching Mayweather with some punches, but Mayweather took control of the round again to win it. (Round: Mayweather 10-9, Total: Mayweather 20-18)

Paul: Better round for Castillo. A cut-causing headbutt and Mayweather’s apparent shoulder problems may have distracted Mayweather. It was a close round, but Mayweather landed the cleaner shot and displayed more ring generalship. (Round: Mayweather, Total: Mayweather 20-18)

Round 3

Zd: Mayweather controlled the round by staying on the outside, and jabbing effectively to the head and body keeping Castillo at distance for most of the round, Castillo was able to get on the inside a couple of times using good head movement landing some good shots, Mayweather continued to effectively pot shot his way through the round landing some good shots of his own. (Round: Mayweather 10-9, Total: Mayweather 30-27)

Paul: The round boiled down to Castillo’s one effective scoring punch vs. 2:58 of sharp defense and solid jabs to the head and body by Mayweather…lots of near misses for Castillo. (Round: Mayweather 10-9, Total: Mayweather 30-27)

Round 4

Zd: Mayweather was the more active fighter, dominating from the outside with some good jabs and lead rights in the first half of the round, in the second half Mayweather was still the more active fighter, but couldn’t land anything, Castillo showed good defense as he moved forward making Mayweather miss. (Round: Mayweather 10-9, Total: Mayweather 40-36)

Paul: Larry Merchant starts with the…“I’m have the impression that this is much rougher going for Mayweather than he anticipated…” line.

Castillo gets sharper with his punches and seems to be cutting the distance He lands a handful of nice punches…Mayweather moves decently and lands just enough to win a very close round. (Round: Mayweather 10-9, Total: Mayweather 40-36)

Round 5

Zd: Mayweather was fighting from the outside using his jab, but Castillo used some good head movement, and defense to get inside and be more effective, Catching most of Mayweather’s punches with his gloves or slipping his head, and being able to land more punches , and be more effective than Mayweather. (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Mayweather 49-46)

Paul: Most of the round followed a pattern of decent work by Castillo followed by better follow-up by Mayweather…Castillo had a nice last 20 seconds…Made it close, but not enough for the round. (Round: Mayweather 10-9, Total Mayweather 50-45)

Round 6

Zd: Castillo dominated the round by being the aggressor and showing excellent defense, by hardly letting any punches through going forward, out landing Mayweather, and landing the cleaner, harder punches. (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Mayweather 58-56)

Paul: A Good, solid round for Castillo He scored some effective punches, and was effective at crowding Mayweather. (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Mayweather 59-55)

Round 7

Zd: Castillo’s aggression was effective, using head movement to get in the inside and land some good shots, outlanding, and dominating Mayweather in the round. (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Mayweather 67-66)

Paul: Great round for Castillo. Excellent body work and good crowding of the quicker Mayweather. Mayweather has a couple of good moments, but this is Castillo’s round…possibly the best round against Mayweather, ever. (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Mayweather 68-65)

Round 8

Zd: Both fighters trading shots throughout the round, Castillo being more effective again by landing more and more meaningful shots, but gets a point deducted at the end of the round for hitting on the break. (Round: Even, Total: Mayweather 76-75)

Paul: Good comeback round for Mayweather. Castillo has some moments, but Maweather’r ring generalship wins a very close round. Ref deducts a point from Castillo for blatant hitting on the break. (Round: Mayweather 10-8, Total: Mayweather 78-73)

Round 9

Zd: The round was all Castillo, whose ring generalship and power won the round. At the end of the round, Mayweather hits Castillo after the bell, the referee looked as though he was going to take a point away from Mayweather, but didn’t. (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Even 85-85)

Paul: Merchant takes aim at referee Vic Drakulich, obviously angered over the point deduction…Lampley adds a comment about a possible Vegas robbery since Mayweather is from Vegas…Good round for Castillo, nothing spectacular, but did enough to win. (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Mayweather 87-83)

Round 10

Zd: Castillo won the round by pressing Mayweather with body shots and power, Mayweather took to using his elbow and was warned a few times and by the end of the round, had a point taken for it. (Round: Castillo 10-8, Total: Castillo 95-93)

Paul: Very nice Mayweather round negated by a questionable point deduction for pushing off with the elbow. Mayweather fought his round, but it ends up even…everybody at HBO seemed to think this was a Castillo round, it wasn’t (Round: Even, Total: Mayweather 96-92)

Round 11

Zd: Roger Mayweather instructed Floyd to stand and punch, perhaps an indication that his trainer was concerned that Floyd may have been behind at that late point in the fight. Close round but Castillo dominated Mayweather by standing his ground and outlanding Mayweather with the harder shots. (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Castillo 105-102)

Paul: Close round, but edge goes to Castillo, who managed to fight his fight at close quarters and land some effective shots, mostly to the body. (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Mayweather 105-102)

Round 12

Zd: Castillo seemed full of energy and was out working Mayweather, scoring with the heavier handed shots. As the last bell rang, both fighters continued to brawl and had to be separated by the referee. (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Castillo 115-111)

Paul: Solid round for both fighters. HBO commentary presents the image of a dominant Castillo round, but most of Castillo’s shots are low or near misses up top. Still, a slight edge to Castillo. The HBO crew delivers Mayweather’s obituary towards the end of the round. An image that sums up the commentary throughout the fight: Castillo with his hands raised, Merchant: “The way its supposed to be!” (Round: Castillo 10-9, Total: Mayweather 114-112)

Zd’s Closing Statements:

After outlanding Castillo 48-27 in first 4 rounds (swept rounds on all cards), Mayweather was outlanded in every round after, including 26-11 in round 7, 35-20 in round 11. Castillo also had edge in power connects in every round, therefore Jose Luis Castillo won the fight against Mayweather with ring generalship, and command of the fight, being able to outland, score the harder cleaner shots, and dominate Mayweather with his defense while being the agressor utilizing superb head and body movement to make Mayweather miss, as well as using his gloves to block most of Mayweather’s shots.

Paul’s Closing Statements:

There’s nobody claiming that this wasn’t a close fight and there’s nobody denying that this was probably Mayweather’s toughest fight, but to say that Mayweather actually lost the fight? Well, that takes a little bit of questionable statistic manipulation and a whole lot of wishful thinking.

Mayweather controlled the first half of the fight, winning 5 of the first 6 rounds on my scorecard. Castillo came on strong in the second half, but to say that Castillo swept the last 6 rounds (which he needed to do to get the decision) is to deny the fact, along the way, Mayweather didn’t use his defense and ring generalship to win at least 2 of the final 6…and maybe more. The 8th and 10th rounds, especially, were examples of Castillo’s aggression resulting in a lot of near misses and non-scoring low blows while Mayweather maintained his head and did what he had to do to win. Yet, the momentum towards a Castillo upset was already at steam engine force and the HBO commentating crew, sniffing a story or perhaps harboring a grudge, gave everything possible to Castillo.

Merchant and Lampley gushed over every move that Castillo made and gave him credit for every punch, whether it actually landed or not. The end result of their cheerleading was to turn a very close fight into a one-sided beating of Mayweather. Their call affected the viewing public’s perception of the fight and the evidence was presented in the Mayweather/Castillo rematch where both fighters basically fought the same fight with a less hot-under-the-collar Merchant and Lampley presiding and, as a result, everyone in the public rightfully accepted the fight as a Mayweather win.

And as far as punch stats go- remember, a fight is judged on the merit of each individual round and not via accumulation of punches. The anti-Mayweather people point to Castillo’s edge in power punches over 12, but it should be pointed out that Mayweather, in this fight, was using a very sharp “attacking” jab, so, many of his most effective punches weren’t being registered as power shots despite the fact that they were being used as such. Mayweather’s jab, in this bout, outlanded Castillo’s at a rate of about 3 to 1.

Mayweather may have lost the statistical contest, but he won enough rounds to take a rightful victory.

(To judge this fight for yourself check it out on our BTBC YouTube page, in the “Favorites” section: http://www.youtube.com/user/BTBlueCorner)

2008: Year-End Awards

by Paul Magno

2008 was a solid year for the sport, sprinkled with a handful of surprising upsets and exciting battles. We saw some of the biggest names in the sport have their flames extinguished and we saw the lighting and passing of the torch to a number of younger names. 

In retrospect, 2008 will go down as a year of transition; A year in which we saw David Haye emerge as a factor in a stagnant Heavyweight division, Antonio Margarito battle his way to the top of a stacked Welterweight division; We saw young talents like Juan Manuel Lopez, Paul Williams and Chad Dawson become world-class players and an old war horse like Bernard Hopkins fight the odds to stay a Pound for Pound legend. Established stars like Manny Pacquiao, Joe Calzaghe and Juan Manuel Marquez moved up in weight and made a mark in their new divisions and Vitali Klitschko came back strong after a 4 year retirement to embarrass the reigning WBC World Champ. 2008 will be a year to remember if ony for the fact that it sets the table nicely for a very combustible 2009!

Without further ado, here are the Best of the Best in 2008:

Fighter of the Year:  Manny Pacquiao 

Even before his shockingly dominant win over Oscar De la Hoya, Manny was a solid candidate for this award with a disputed win over Juan Manuel Marquez and a brutal beat down of Lightweight title holder, David Diaz. The win against Oscar made him a clear and obvious choice and with an impressive list of potential opponents in ‘09, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back in this category again next year.

Runners Up:  Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams

 

 

 

 Fight of the Year:  Israel Vazquez vs. Rafael Marquez 3

With 13 rounds and 2 fights between them, there was no loss in passion when these two warriors met for the tie-breaker in their series. The fight itself was classic, Rocky-style action with both fighters changing advantages over the course of the 12 round bout. Both warriors fought deserately to prove their superiority and, quite probably, left a bit of themselves in the ring that night. Whatever they made for that war, they should’ve been paid double.

Runners Up:  Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto,  Joel Casamayor vs. Michael Katsidis, Rogers Mtagwa vs. Tomas Villa

Event of the Year:  The Dream Match

No other event captured as much attention as this showdown between the sport’s biggest draw in De la Hoya and the sport’s Pound for Pound best in Pacquiao. The mainstream press covered the bout and even the hardcore Boxing press reported on every detail leading up to the fight, often reporting with the fervor of gossip columnists instead of  sports journalists. The 1.25 million buys close to Christmas and in a struggling economy proved just how much this event captured the public’s imagination.

Runner Up: The Margarito/Cotto PPV

 

 

 Knockout of the Year: Edison Miranda KO 3 David Banks

With potential opponent, Jean Pascal in the crowd, Miranda cracked Banks with an overhand right that left Banks dangling on the second rope, halfway in the ring and halfway out. The actual sound of the punch was like a rifle or a small grenade going off…and it effectively stalled talks with Pascal for a future fight.

Runners Up:  Paul Williams KO 1 Andy Kolle, Breidis Prescott KO 1 Amir Khan

 

Round of the Year: Kandall Holt vs. Ricardo Torres (Round 1)

3 total knockdowns, a controversial headbutt and a brutal KO…all in a little over than a minute! ‘Nuff said.

Runners Up: Israel Vazquez vs. Rafael Marquez 3 (Rd. 12), Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Matt Vanda 1 ( Rd. 10)

 

The Pernell Whitaker Virtuoso Award:  Bernard Hopkins

An absolutely masterful performance by a fighter who was supposed to finally get retired by a younger, hungrier Kelly Pavlik. Hopkins proved his critics wrong and the 43 year old virtuoso went on to win almost every minute of every round, even offering helpful advice to Pavlik after the thrashing.  School was in session and B-Hop is still Boxing’s head professor.

Runners Up: Nate Campbell (vs Juan Diaz), Juan Manuel Marquez (vs. Joel Casamayor), Carlos Quintana (vs. Paul Williams 1)

 

 

The Oliver McCall Puzzling Non-Performance in a Prime Time Drama Award:  Samuel Peter

“The Nigerian Nightmare” slept his way through 8 listless rounds before passivley quiting on his stool. This, after being mocked and belittled during the entire publicity push for his fight with Vitali Klitschko. Did I mention that Peter was the defending world champ in this one?

Runners Up:  Cory Spinks (vs. Verno Phillips), Cristian Mijares (vs. Vic Darchinyan, Nikolay Valuev (vs. Evander Holyfield)

 

Breakthrough Fighter of the Year:  Juan Manuel Lopez

In 2008, Juanma beat a fellow prosect (Jonathan Oquendo), a reigning world champ (Daniel Ponce de Leon) and two tough fringe contenders in high-profile bouts (Cesar Figueroa, Sergio Medina)…and he did all this while fighting a total of 6 rounds. Lopez has blasted his way into the hearts of Puerto Rican fans and has made his presence known to all Boxing fans, everywhere.

Runners Up: Alfredo Angulo, Carl Froch

 

 

Upset of the Year: Manny Pacquiao RTD 8 Oscar De la Hoya

Few gave the much smaller Pacquiao a chance against the naturally larger De la Hoya. Those who tuned in, saw a masterful performance by Manny against an Oscar who may or may not have been weight-drained. Whatever the case, the end result was shocking and the biggest upset of the year.

Runners Up: Vic Darchinyan KO 9 Cristian Mijares, Breidis Prescott KO 1 Amir Khan

 

Robbery of the Year: Nikolay Valuev MD Evander Holyfield

This could go both ways, a robbery on two fronts. The judges’ decision was horrible and they literally stole the fight from Holyfield and The fight itself was so dreadful and dreary that the PPV asking price of 25 bucks and the price of the arena seat could be considered theft in and of itself…

Runner Up: The Dream Match PPV, Boxing Fans Losing ESPN Wednesday Night Fights and Solo Boxeo

 

The George A. Romero Gore Award:  Jorge Barrios

Barrios’ lips was literally shredded by Rocky Juarez in their bout. The end result looked like something from the Director’s Cut of Night of the Living Dead. Truly Gruesome.

Runner Up: Miguel Cotto’s Battered Face After the Margarito Fight.

 

Much Ado About Nothing: Andy Lee

After much hype, Emanuel Steward’s kid was outfought by journeyman Brian Vera on national TV. Not good.

Runners Up: John Duddy, Yan Barthelemy, Rey Bautista

 

Moment of the Year: A Victorious Hopkins Staring Down the Press

2008’s moment of the year came when Hopkins went over to the side of the ring after his win against Pavlik and stared down his critics and doubters. Poignant, defiant, angered…whatever you want to call it, it was B-Hop taking something back from his critics and summing up an entire career with one emotional glare.

Runners Up: Oscar De la Hoya Slumped in his Corner, Miguel Cotto Taking a Knee vs. Margarito

The Instant Karma Award: Oscar De la Hoya

In what was a cynical attempt at closing out his career with an “easy” win against a respected and combustible, but smaller Pacquiao, Oscar was surprised and soon found himself over his head. He was battered and embarrassed by his hand-picked foe and forced to humbly retire.

Runners Up: Cristian Mijares Taking Vic Darchinyan as a Joke, The Calzaghe/Jones PPV Buy Rate.

 

 

 

 

 The Piss or Get Off The Pot Award:  The Heavyweight Division

Quite literally, the once-proud Heavyweight Division now consists of a bunch of big guys just waiting around for their money fights to materialize. The contenders aren’t fighting each other and the champions are hand-picking their foes..or simply not fighting at all.

Runners Up: Ronald Hearns, Allan Green 

 

Trainer of  The Year: Freddie Roach

For his work with Pacquiao as well as a handful of other solid fighters, Freddie deserves this honor. Kudos to a class guy who understands that its his job to enhance a fighter’s natural abilities and not implant his own ideas and aesthetic into their head.

Runner Up: Floyd Mayweather Sr.

 

The George W. Bush “What Were They Thinking” Award: Paulie Malignaggi and his Dreadlocks

Ugly, stupid and In the Way…Otherwise, a brilliant hairstyle idea for Malignaggi’s UK debut in the build up to his fight with Ricky Hatton.

Runners Up: Kelly Pavlik deciding to Fight Bernard Hopkins, Steve Molitor Signing to Fight Celestino Caballero

 

King Trash Talk: Vic Darchinyan

“I can’t get enough of Mexican fighters. They bounce real good off the canvas when I hit them…Defeating Arce won’t take much training. It won’t even be a fight for me –more like pest control. I’m going to swat that Spanish Fly. How do you take a guy like Arce seriously? He sucks on lollipops and wears a cowboy hat from a toy store. I can picture him running around his house on a broom pretending he’s riding a horse. He’s a regular Schlepalong Cassidy. Arce is going to be my human piñata. Our fight will be like a Chihuahua against a bull…a raging bull!”

Runner Up: Nate Campbell

The Dr. Evil Laughable Villain Award: Referee Marlon B. Wright

Not only was the Canadian Wright trying his best to handcuff Librado Andrade all night in his bout with Canada’s own Lucian Bute, he tried to seal the deal with an inept attempt to save the out-on-his feet Bute’s behind by spending nearly 30 seconds chasing Andrade back to his corner following a knockdown. The pisser? It was unnecessary since Bute was already up and saved by the bell in the last and final round. Wright just looked like an idiot, too slow to even cheat properly.

Runner Up: The WBO for instantly rating Marco Antonio Barrera #1 contender when he signed with Don King.

 

 

Mismatch of the Year: Miguel Cotto vs. Alfonso Gomez

This was a mismatch from the time it was signed and it culminated with a dominant performance from Cotto which saw him sigh, roll his eyes and practically yawn his way through 5 one-sided rounds. If he had been wearing a watch, he would’ve been checking the time while beating on the hapless Gomez. Proving that the fans aren’t stupid, this HBO show became the lowest rated Boxing event in the network’s history.

Runner Up: Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Cesar Fuguroa

 

The Judge Judy Inept Judge Award: Doug Tucker (120-108 Jose Navarro over Cristian Mijares)

In a bout that the other two judges (and the rest of the world) saw Mijares winning solidly, Tucker found a way to give every round to Jose Navarro. Maybe he was facing the wrong direction?

Runner Up: All 3 Judges in the Holyfield/Valuev Fight

 

The “Hey, That Guy Drives My Bus!” Award: Chad  Van Sickle (vs. Odlanier Solis)

Boxing’s own Ralph Kramden briefly saw the spotlight before being beaten to a pulp by Solis.

 

The Big Bully Award: Pongsaklek Wonjongkam 

This former WBC Flyweight Champ decided to take the path of least resistance after losing his title and then drawing with the new champ in a rematch. This 70 fight veteran fought 0-2 Akbar Mohammadpour in his next fight. He then fought back to back bouts against Danny Sutton and Amir Jordan, two fighters making their ring debut against the former world champ. Needless to say, Wonjongkam is 3-0 in his comeback campaign.

Will Shine in ‘09: Chad Dawson, Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Lopez, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jorge Linares, Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland, Mike Alvarado, Victor Ortiz, Urbano Antillon, Abner Mares, Odlanier Solis, Cris Arreola

Stick a Fork in ‘em, They’re Done: Roy Jones, Oscar De la Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Chris Byrd, Evander Holyfield, Marco Antonio Barrera, Yori Boy Campas, Kevin Kelley, Stevie Jonhston

Future Champ, 2031: Julian “Lights Out” Escobedo:

Ok, indulge me…This is my nephew, Julian, in his Halloween costume…But he does indeed throw a wicked left hook and he’s been known to do his share of biting in clinches.All he needs is to perfect his Uncle Paul’s Shoulder Roll and he’ll be defeating all comers…Watch out world… The New “Lights Out” is on his way!!!

 

 

 

 

 

To all the Friends and Fans of The Blue Corner (The BTBC): 2008 has been a blast and we can’t wait to see what happens in ‘09…Take Care and have a Happy New Year!

For Video of some of our Award Winners, check out our YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BTBlueCorner

To Debate or Discuss anything written here, feel free to drop by Boxing’s Pound 4 Pound Best Boxing Forum, The BTBC: http://www.btbc.proboards.com/index.cgi

The Standing 8 Count (12/21/08)

by Madcow

HO HO HO!!! Santa Madcow is here to deliver all the kiddies their weekly sack of bovine wisdom. As I write this, snowflakes are falling outside the window of my heavily-fortified bunker and chestnuts are roasting over an open sterno flame- It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas.

What didn’t smell so good was the judges’ scorecards in the Evander Holyfield/Nikolay Valuev bout yesterday. Madcow’s patented “Score ‘0′ Matic” surgically-implanted brain chip had the fight scored 118-110 for the father of 11 and, actually, a case could even be made for Holyfield pitching the shutout. Instead, Valuev won a majority decision in the robbery of the year. I guess that’s what you get when you host a title fight in a neutral country like Switzerland. Maybe the judges didn’t want to take sides.

But Evander should look on the bright side. That 600K that he made is enough to pay his child support for at least a month!

For those who didn’t see the fight, I don’t want anyone to think that this was a classic…a good fight…or even a bearable fight. This abomination for the bogus WBA interim title was one of the worst fights of the year. With minute upon minute of Holyfield circling, doing nothing, and Valuev waiting and doing nothing, this bout made the previous week’s Toney/Oquendo look like Vazquez/Marquez.

Rumor has it that Antonio Margarito weighed over 200 lbs at the time his fight with Shane Mosley was finally put together and that he’s still battling to get back down. With the holidays coming and many,many pesos still in his pocket, getting 100% ready for his January 24th date may be a tougher than anticipated task. Some fighters are better champions than challengers, raising the level of their game with a title belt around their waists while some get a taste of big money and big fame and let it go to their heads. Fat Tony is starting to make a case for the latter.

Talks are on their way for a title unification between Kelly Pavlik and Arthur Abraham, possibly in the Summer. With all the great fights getting made next year, my letter to Santa will be the shortest ever. Actually, my list will be reduced to just one item- my yearly request for a drunken Scarlet Johanson to be delivered to my bunker in a shopping cart full of Jack Daniels bottles.

Rumors are still swirling around about  a Floyd Mayweather Jr. comeback in 2009, probably against Manny Pacquiao. The issue, as is usually the case, will revolve around money and how of it there is to pay Mayweather. Just to facilitate negotiations, I’m organizing a crew of burglars to put together another 7 million dollar heist on Pretty Boy Floyd’s mansion. If there’s anyone who wants in, just drop me a line.

Adios Solo Boxeo. Good fights on a regular weekly schedule are hard to come by. The Telefutura show will be missed now that they aired their last show on Friday. For the last two days, I’ve found myself just staring at Mexican soap operas, shaking my head in disbelief with tears welling in my eyes. In memory of one of my favorite boxing shows, this Friday I will order-in a burrito and some tacos al pastor from my favorite Mexican restaurant. I will cry…and fart…the whole night.

Well, Santa Madcow has to deliver a package to one of his “elves” at the massage parlor, so I must cut it short for now…This week you’ll get a double dose of Madcow as I will be sending in a feature piece during the week- So you better watch out!

From the entire production staff of The Standing 8 Count (Me, My ladies and The cross-eyed homeless broad who sells me pens at the stoplight near my house), Merry X-Mas!!!

Finding a Reason to Fight: Evander Holyfield’s Biggest Battle

by Damon Ealy (aka PghWindmill)

In the spring of 1994, Evander Holyfield’s personal physician gave him very bad news. Worse news, even, than had come down from the Caesars Palace loudspeakers just days earlier, announcing the majority-decision loss of his WBA and IBF titles to Michael Moorer: The best body in the heavyweight division had a defective heart, with weakened arteries and literally with a hole in it. Holyfield, warrior, would have to retire. And he did so without complaint. He’d earned about $100 million as a professional, $10 million of it from the Moorer fight. He had reasons to walk away. He said at the time, “I wasn’t afraid at all, but it gave me a reason to get out of boxing. And I said, ‘My head is right. Ain’t nothing wrong with me. I got money. So what’s the big deal?”

These were reasons that rational people could go along with. But a couple of months later, large-livin’ evangelist

Benny Hinn filled the hole in Holy’s heart. That’s the ticket.

Benny Hinn touched Holyfield in Philadelphia. A “warm feeling” went through Holyfield’s chest. (“Holyfield ‘Healed’ for Return,” The New York Times, June 14, 2004) His Georgia doctors noted some improvement. He started considering a return. Then, in the fall, Mayo Clinic doctors let Holyfield know: there’d never even been any heart defect.

He had reasons to come back. He was still in his typical great shape. Belts were there for the taking. Most importantly, there were fights to be made with the biggest boxing names of the generation, major-money fights with Tyson and Lewis. A rubber match with Riddick Bowe. At the time, the estimation that he could double his career earnings might have seemed a conservative one to Holyfield. (Turns out he’s made about $200 million in his career, including $35 million for the second Tyson fight.)

“I wasn’t afraid at all, but it gave me a reason to get out of boxing. And I said, ‘My head is right. Ain’t nothing wrong with me. I got money. So what’s the big deal?”

 In 2008, Holyfield’s December 20 opponent, Nikolay Valuev, is the big deal. Literally. Seven feet tall and fighting at about 320 pounds, he puts Holyfield at about a 10-inch, hundred-pound deficit. In his last two fights, Holyfield looked pretty sharp against an admittedly on-his-way-out Lou Savarese, tired and slow in a WBO title bout against Sultan Ibragimov. Is there still a “Real Deal” to show up in Switzerland?

If we can safely assume one thing about Holyfield, it’s that he’s not afraid of Nikolay Valuev. That “warrior” tag that sticks to Holyfield? It’s a deserved one—and, we’re constantly reminded leading up to this fight, one that the fighter earned a long time ago. His is a pro career that started in 1984, the year heavyweight Raphael Butler, last seen on the Toney-Oquendo Versus undercard, was born. (And I think most of us would take Holyfield in that fight, if we’re just talking hypotheticals here.) Besides, Holyfield (and the world) knows a little more about Valuev than did Clifford “the Black Rhino” Etienne, who in 2005 went to Germany to fight a pre-title Valuev and somewhat famously tried to find a way of avoiding all confrontation with “the Russian Giant.”

     “[A]t the scales he realized what he would be up against in a little more than 24 hours. [A 112-pound] disadvantage and a whole foot in height was not Etienne’s idea of a fair fight. That evening he arrived in the hotel bar and began drinking. ‘Nobody told me I was taking on Bigfoot,’ he cried. Returning to his room, he packed his bags, rang his manager and told him he was on the first plane home. Only Henry Akinwande ’s ability to block the door prevented him from doing so. ‘It won’t be so bad,’ the British heavyweight assured him, and indeed it might have been worse, for Valuev took him out in three rounds.” (“The Big Interview: Nikolay Valuev,” The Sunday Times, January 15, 2006)

Holyfield and his people, naturally, say his condition is as good as ever. At 46 years old, is it good enough to outwork Valuev over 12 rounds? It’s happened to Valuev—in his lone loss, to 6’2” left-hander Ruslan Chagaev, in 2007. Valuev finished that 12-rounder tired. And he’s never faced anyone with the pro experience of Holyfield. (And yeah, John Ruiz’s 43-8-1, one NC, equals 53 bouts in number, but it’s just not quite the 53 of Holyfield’s 42-9-2.)

We know Holyfield won’t come in needing a calming influence. He won’t drop his left hand to welcome a running-start lead right from Valuev, as Monte Barrett did in 2006. And the old man probably won’t even blow his knee out trying to throw a punch (Jameel McCline) or try to square up and slug it out with Valuev à la Gerald Nobles from South Philly. Nobles was psychotic, ballsy, proud or some combination enough to try that in the early rounds of his ’04 meeting with Valuev—and was even up on the scorecards going into the fourth, when he was DQ’ed for low blows, which probably felt to Nobles more or less like straight punches. 

Monte Barrett fought valiantly before going out in the 11th.

“I wasn’t afraid at all, but it gave me a reason to get out of boxing. And I said, ‘My head is right. Ain’t nothing wrong with me. I got money. So what’s the big deal?”

 

In 2007, Holyfield nearly lost his home to foreclosure. In 2008, he fell badly behind on child support payments and faced jail. He’s flirted with bankruptcy. The $600,000 to $750,000 that he makes for his next fight will barely cover his per annum for child support (estimated at a half a million). Best-case scenario: For dealing with Nikolay Valuev in Switzerland for anywhere up to 36 minutes, Holyfield is getting roughly 2% of what he got in 1997 in Las Vegas for dealing with Mike Tyson for two-plus rounds—and sacrificing a bit of his outer ear.

No way is Holyfield scared. And the consensus is that his head is still more or less right, that there isn’t anything wrong with him—for now. But in ’08, Holyfield don’t got money. That’s the bigger deal today, bigger even than Valuev. Holyfield is saying the right things—that the financial issues are behind him now, that he’d fight for free because he’s on a mission to unify the belts by the end of next year. But if that were really the case, the former WBC, WBA and IBF champion, the 46-year-old, former 35-million-dollar man wouldn’t be fighting Nikolay Valuev in Switzerland. Not for this kind of purse.

The Standing 8 Count (12/14/08)

by Madcow

Ex-wives be damned, Madcow is back and ready to be the proverbial turd in Boxing’s punch bowl.

If there’s one thing Madcow loves it’s boxers who actually know how to box; Guys who take the time to learn the difference between an uppercut and a cold cut. This week we got two big fights featuring guys who actually know how to execute their own styles. Hell, most fighters these days aren’t even disciplined enough to have styles much less execute them.

Steve Cunningham and Tomasz Adamek put on one of the fights of the year last Thursday, A back and forth war that had the boxer boxing, the slugger slugging and the fans going crazy. Adamek came out the winner, but this is a no-brainer for a rematch in 2009.

Also, Kendall Holt and Demetrius Hopkins had their own textbook display of boxing skill on Saturday. While this one wasn’t as exciting as the Adamek/Cunningham battle, it was a fight between two real, professional fighters in their primes. After watching so many fights featuring so many fighters who look like UFC flailing “strikers,” to see two real fighters is a sight for sore eyes. Next up for the winner, Holt, is another pleasing fight against fellow belt holder- Timothy Bradley.

Speaking of  boxers who know how to box,  James Toney beat Fres Oquendo via controversial split decision.  As a boxing purist, I love Toney and his old-school skills, but it’s time to hang ‘em up. If you can barely muster up a win against a fringe guy like Oquendo, what chance do you have against the best of the division? Toney belongs at Cruiserweight or below. If Toney had been able to resist the third and fourth trips to the buffet, he’d be doing what Bernard Hopkins is doing right now- giving kids boxing lessons and making waves post-40th birthday.

Is it possible to get a refund on a “free” HBO fight? Wladamir Klitschko easily put away a Hasim Rahman who, to be Madcow honest, wasn’t there to win. This fight was as close to a fixed fight as possible without atually being a set-up. Rahman was there for the payday and, really, did just enough to not be accused of taking a dive. Fighters who don’t even try to win when they get a shot at the title are a disgrace. Rahman, Samuel Peter and anyone else like that should be crossed off any rankings foolish enough to have them listed.

“Duck Dodgers” Joe Calzaghe declared Boxing to be a dying sport after being confronted with the pathetic PPV numbers of his farce fight against a shot Roy Jones. On this matter, I trust Calzaghe. Lord knows he’s done his part to throw the sport under the bus. If we had 100 “champions” like him, the sport would more resemble competitive badminton than professional boxing. Imagine the toll of having a bunch of chumps like Calzaghe at the helm! The taxi driver industry and Wales’ local Walmarts would go broke from the Calzaghe clones beating up their workers.

Speaking of things too hideous to imagine Evander Holyfield’s rickety old bones are being harvested once again for a title shot against boxing’s missing link, Nikoley Valuev. Even more obscene than the signing of this fight is the fact that they’re putting it on PPV in the US and Canada. Drop me an e-mail if you plan on ordering this fight and I’ll be sure to forward your address to the nearest mental health facility.

2008 is ending with a wimper, but I am literally salivating at the thought of 2009. In the first 2 months of next year there are at least a half dozen fights I can’t wait to sink my teeth into. Let’s blow off this Holiday Season crap and let’s get right to the action!

Gotta run and find some Yule Tide cheer at the local massage parlor…Ho, Ho, Ho!!!

Later.

Studs, Duds and Thuds: This Week in Boxing

by Paul Magno

In the last real week of competitive Boxing action in 2008, we’ll have a few interesting match-ups; Some have the potential to be quite good and, some, to be kind, do not.

Here’s a preview of a week of Studs, Duds and Thuds:

Studs:

Steve Cunningham vs. Thomas Adamek: The Cruiserweights are Boxing’s Rodney Dangerfeld division- No respect; So close to the glory of Heavyweight, yet so far away in the eyes of the public. Here’s a chance to boost the division up a notch this Thursday on Versus with a contest featuring arguably the divison’s best boxer against the division’s toughest fighter.

Cunningham is the reigning IBF champ and has been fighting in Europe against some of the very best; Adamek is a dangeous challenger looking to follow up is stoppage of ex-champ O’Neil Bell with a title win. Two prime fighters with complimentary styles means a quality tussle on free TV.

Kendall Holt vs Demetrius Hopkins: While the previously scheduled Holt vs. Ricardo Torres Part 3 would’ve been a roller coaster, this bout is good for the fact that it will feature two talented and skilled boxers practicing their art with Holt’s world title in the balance. Kudos to Showtime for finding a repacement who is actually better than the previously booked fighter.

Andre Ward, Devon Alexander, Urbano Antillon: This week we’ll also get a chance to see televised bouts featuring these future stars. They’re all fighting stepping stone-type fighters, but we’ll get a good glimpse at 3 fighters who will be making their move in ‘09.

Duds

James Toney vs. Fres Oquendo: This Versus Heavyweight main event was supposed to feature TonyThompson and Jame Toney  in a somewhat meaningful, crossroads fight between two veteran big men. Well, Thomspson pulled out and Fres Oquendo stepped. So the original fight, which promised to be a bit of a snoozer, suddenly becomes  less important and, with Oquendo aboard, the action promises to be just a bit less heated.

On the positive side, at least Versus didn’t just cancel the show outright, robbing us of the chance to see Andre Ward in the co-feature.

 

Thuds

Wladimir Klitchko vs. Hasim Rahman: This Saturday afternoon encounter has the word “mismatch” written all over it. Rahman, substituting for the injured original opponent, AlexanderPovetkin, will be giving it his all in what has to be his last big chance at the sport’s top prize. Unfortunately, his “all” will not be enough to prevent him from “thudding” to the canvas. The only questions in this fight are whether Klitschko’s need to impress will override his caution and how long after Rahman gets tagged good will he go down.

The best thing to be said of this encouter is that it’s going to be aired live on HBO in the afternoon and won’t be competing with the other Heavyweight fight later on Versus.

 

All in all, a good week for us fans and a solid week with which to close out a solid 2008. For exact times , networks and dates check out the BTBC TV Boxing Schedule: http://www.btbc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tv&action=display&thread=234&page=1

The Golden Boy’s Legacy and the Damage Done

by Paul Magno

This is not about Oscar De la Hoya’s legacy as a fighter- that subject has been beat to death by now. 22-6 against world class opposition, the 6 losses coming to 5 first-ballot Hall of Famers, etc…Either you respect him or you don’t and there are no minds changing one way or the other.

However, how about Oscar’s reputation as an ambassador for the sport; As someone ready and willing to use his fame to put a positive spin on Boxing and reward us fans for our loyalty? This is part of the article I was writing before Pacquiao pulled off the upset:

In the beginning I always stated that there was no way Oscar could damage his legacy with only one fight…Now, I’m not so sure because its not just ONE fight anymore. Oscar, by seeking this irrelevant and vanity-driven fight, is robbing the sport of any number of important, quality fights such as Pacquiao vs. Nate Campbell, Pacquaio vs. Juan Diaz, Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez 3 and, on his own side of the coin, he’s taken away the intriguing match-ups that he, himself could’ve booked for the closing chapters of his career like Oscar vs. Margarito, Oscar vs. Cotto or Oscar vs. Any of the Young Lions at 154. And not only is Oscar stabbing the 154, 147 and 135 lb weight classes in the eye with a nonsense fight, but he’s also strongly hinted at the fact that his next foe will be 140lb leader Ricky Hatton, thereby robbing the sport of quality and logical Jr. Welter fights such as Hatton vs. Bradley, Hatton vs., the winner of Holt/Torres 3 and the much less illogical, Hatton vs. Pacquiao.

Although some of the specifics have changed due to the outcome of the fight, the sentiment remains in tact.

Oscar chose to close out his career with what he thought were easy encounters against smaller opponents and he was more than willing to hard-sell those nonsense fights as legitimate, competitive fights to casual fans who may have not known any better. In essence, aside from directly standing in the way of quality fights for us hardcore fans, he was selling out the future of the sport in order to make a couple of quick scores. That says something about the way he thinks, at least at this last stage of his career.

Golden Boy Promotions has done a decent job of  providing quality fights, but nowhere near as good as their initial push indicated. Most Golden Boy cards are now characterized by old fighters in the main event, supported by younger fighters in massive mismatches underneath. The talent is there to make good contests all around, but the desire to give more bang for the buck is, obviously, not. Oscar’s company isn’t the only who practices the art of the short-change, but Oscar boasted that his company was going to be different; A company by the fighters, for the fans and of benefit to both. This has not been the case and, from the way Oscar had been pushing things, he wasn’t even trying to keep his earlier promises.

Here’s hoping that the loss on Saturday brought some humility to Oscar and knocked some sense into his head. Maybe his failed attempt at manipulation of the masses will make him realize that the best strategy for Boxing dominance is to put together quality fighters in quality fights.

 

But what about his legacy?

As a fighter, his legacy is untouchable- Easy first-ballot Hall of Famer and one of the best of this modern era. However, I can no longer count him as a friend and ambassador of the sport, not when his last move as an active participant was such a cynical and manipulative ploy. What’s sad is that he openly and gleefully chose to denigrate the very thing that made him the success he is today.

The next time Oscar looks into the camera and smiles his golden smile while promoting an upcoming fight, will you believe what comes from his mouth? Will you be able to take him at face value and overlook the scam he tried to pull on you?  I know I won’t…not anymore.

The Standing 8 Count (12/7/08)

by Madcow

It’s me, your most splendid bovine columnist, itching to lose more friends and influence more enemies.

Congratulations to Manny Pacquiao on his dominant win over Oscar de la Hoya last night. Manny beat Oscar like his work visa depended on it.

I was completely unprepared to see De la Hoya dominated like that. I have to admit, it kind of disturbed me. I’ve never been a fan of the Golden Boy’s, but to see him get spanked around the ring and forced to quit was a little like watching your high school bully get the electric chair- Fun in theory, but quite sad when its carried out.

Manny and trainer Freddy Roach, on the other hand, deserve all the credit in the world for coming up with a strategy to show the world just how shot Oscar was.

Some Thoughts on The Dream Match:

If Manny outweighed Oscar, as announced, by 1.5 pounds, I’ll be damned to eating three squares at the Circus Circus buffet for a year. Nice try guys, but Oscar was clearly bigger than Manny.

Manny, beating on Oscar, looked like when Popeye would eat his Spinach and suddenly turn into a tornado of fists, beating the spit out of Bluto. Somebody should check Pacquiao’s pee test for traces of a green, leafy substance

Did anyone catch a glimpse of Oscar’s chicken legs? I just kept thinking to myself, “Now, how in the world is he going to fit into his fishnets?”

The undercard, per Golden Boy standards and practices, was pitiful. Three mismatches, totaling less than 15 minutes of action (including introductions). I wish the main event would’ve gone on at least another round so that Oscar could’ve been made to pay for this crap a little while longer.

Next for Manny Pacquiao? Probably Ricky Hatton in the early Spring of ‘09.

Next for Oscar de la Hoya? A trip to the vault to roll around in his money and a day at the spa to make him feel like        “Goldie” again.

Israel Vazquez vs. Juan Manuel Lopez looks like a sure thing next year, leading me to believe that next year will be a golden year in boxing (No pun intended). Good match ups, fewer pay per views and everybody scrambling and working harder for our buck. The recession may have screwed up my Christmas this year, but it could make for a great year in Boxing.

It was a double win for Freddy Roach yesterday as his new client, Amir Khan destroyed Irish club fighter, Oisin Fagan. Ok, congrats for beating a bum, but what about someone who can punch? I still say the first time he gets tagged hard again, Khan will go down faster than the stock market if George Bush were to become Obama’s economic advisor.

Also in the UK yesterday, Carl Froch beat the poor man’s Roy Jones, Jean Pascal, in a pretty good scuffle to capture the WBC 168 lb. title. Jermain Taylor is now Froch’s mandatory. I’ve asked it before and I’ll ask it again, what’s the deal with British boxers and rabbit punching? Why is every big British fight overloaded with illegal shots to the back of the head?

Hasim Rahman is all ready to fight Wladimir Klitschko next Saturday. Bad Omen #1: The movie playing on Rahman’s flight over? Dead Man Walking. Bad Omen #2: The amubulance crew to be used at the fight has been making practice runs to the closest area hospital all week.

Tony Thompson has pulled out of his bout with James Toney this Saturday and has been replaced by Fres Oquendo. That’s a little like hearing, “All we have to eat is rice cakes. Ooops…Turns out they’re diet rice cakes!” My prediction for this fight? Little pools of drool round your face as you sleep very soundly.

Closing thought for this week: Never pay 55 bucks for something that doesn’t either fill your belly, satisfy your lust or make you smarter.

That’s all for now. There’s a bottle of something with my name on it…Sees ya when I sees ya.

Monthly Awards- November ‘08

Fighter of the Month:

Vic Darchinyan- The heavy-handed Armenian buzzsaw was an oddity, a curiosity. He had a nice run as IBF Flyweight champ- over two and a half years to be exact, but after being knocked senseless by Nonito Donaire in July of ‘07, it was safe to say that maybe we had seen the last of Vic Darchinyan as a serious player.

Darchinyan went about his business, winning a couple of tune-ups, then drawing with Filipino star Z Gorres (in the Philippines!) and finally beating tough veteran Dimitri Kirilov for the vacant IBF Super Flyweight Title. When the opportunity arose to unify titles against reigning WBC and WBA world champ and Pound for Pound darling, Cristian Mijares, Darchinyan jumped at the chance.

Few of the experts gave Darchinyan a chance against the slick southpaw and some downright laughed at the idea of the crude brawler being able to upset Mijares.

Among those who laughed was Mijares himself, who had the smuggest of smirks on his face throughout the pre-fight publicity, right up until the opening bell, even having to contain the giggles during the introductions and pre-fight instructions.

Once the fight started, Darchinyan helped cure Mijares’ case of the giggles and pummeled the reigning champ in a one-sided slaughter until the Mexican had nothing left in his battered body.

Darchinyan, in proving his critics wrong over 9 violent rounds, also made it clear that he wanted to keep proving them wrong. After the biggest win of his career, the new IBF, WBA and WBC Super Flyweight Champ, called out everyone remotely within his weight class. He’s currently scheduled to fight Mexican toughman Jorge Arce in early ‘09.

 

Bum of the Month:

The Boxing Press- It’s one thing to turn a blind eye to the nonsense Oscar De la Hoya/Manny Pacquiao fight on the 6th of December, but to actively promote it by publishing every bogus piece of propaganda issued from both camps is just, plain irresponsible.

Where did the few, hard-nosed boxing writers go? Why did so many respectable sources of information: Fightnews, Maxboxing, Boxingscene- even ESPN suddenly begin to treat this con job as if Oscar were 8 years younger and Antonio Margarito had replaced Pacquiao?

The answer is simple- Their criticism dissipated as the Golden Boy and Top Rank advertising money started coming in, thus proving that not only do the promoters have the sanctioning bodies in their back pockets, but that the boxing press is right there alongside them.

 

Boxing Times Thread of the Month:

The Great Mayweather Debate

-Started by Paul Magno

http://www.btbc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=68&page=1

Despite moving to a new board, the Mayweather debate continues as some of the BTBC’s resident Mayweather haters clash with some of the Mayweather defenders in an all-out battle for ultimate say on the life and times of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

To check out our new and improved board, just click here and dive right in:

 http://www.btbc.proboards.com/index.cgi

The De la Hoya/ Pacquiao Event: When an Unstoppable Farce Meets an Irrelevant Object

by Paul Magno

In all my time around the sport of boxing, I have never seen such a cynical attempt at matchmaking as the upcoming Oscar de la Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao bout this Saturday. This is the first major PPV main event designed with ONLY the non-hardcore fan in mind. On paper, to any very casual fan, the matching of boxing’s biggest name against the current Pound for Pound best is exciting…but the real fans know differently…The “real” fans who have actually paid through the years to see Oscar fight a couple of dozen main events and who have followed Pacquiao’s career from the time he first made his big splash in America with a surprisingly dominant Featherweight win over Marco Antonio Barrera…we know.

Golden Boy and Top Rank, the sport’s top two promotional companies have been laying it on thick, hard-selling the so-called “Dream Match” from even before the fight was officially signed. We have had to endure one extremely weak publicity ploy after another. One day, Oscar has a beef with Freddy Roach, then a story is “leaked” out of Oscar’s camp that he has been getting owned by smaller fighters, then it’s “leaked” that Manny has been destroying much larger sparring partners, then they wheel in the Medicare-taking, retired Angelo Dundee…There have been more bad storylines injected into this farce than what we see in a years worth of WWE Monday Night Raw.

All of these stories, plus the 24/7 series on HBO, 100% dedicated to distorting or downright erasing the fact that this bout is most likely a major mismatch.

While its true that Pacquiao is the consensus #1 ranked pound for pound fighter in the world, you can’t forget the fact that he is just so much smaller than De la Hoya. After all, Pacquiao is a guy who made his pro debut at 106 lbs and was knocked out just 9 years ago at 113 lbs before finding his professional niche between 125-130 lbs. His heaviest weight to date was in his sole Lightweight effort against defending WBC champ, David Diaz. In that bout, it took Pacquiao a great deal of effort to dent up and finally put away the limited Diaz; A Diaz, by the way, who never really injected himself into the fight and seemed content to just hang on for as long as possible.

Now, Manny’s jumping two more weight classes to fight someone much larger, stronger and infinitely more skilled than David Diaz. He’s not only moving up to fight a much better fighter than Diaz, but he’s moving up to fight someone in De la Hoya who has an overall more versatile skill-set than even his own.

Oscar De la Hoya made his pro debut as a freakishly large Lightweight and eventually won titles at every division from Super Featherweight to Middleweight until he settled into his ideal size of 147 to 154. How will Oscar, someone who has fought twice at 160 lbs, against Bernard Hopkins and Felix Sturm, be able to handle the shots of a hard-hitting natural Super Featherweight? Simple logic would tell you that Oscar should be able to withstand anything in Pacquiao’s arsenal and that Manny’s only chance to adversely affect Oscar would be through landing massive volumes of punches- a feat that nobody has ever accomplished in Oscar’s career.

But what happens when/if Oscar connects flush against Manny? Although he has a solid chin, Pacquiao has been hurt before and he’s been hurt by a Flyweight, a Featherweight and a Super Featherweight. While his natural quickness advantage and his southpaw style may allow him to avoid some of Oscar’s best shots, Manny is by no means a defensive genius. He WILL eventually get caught flush. The only question will be how many times will Manny be able to get pegged by a strong Jr. Middleweight before he can no longer absorb the punishment.

 

I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from buying this PPV. I just don’t want any casual fan buying this fight under the impression that it’s a real, competitive bout. The 55 or 60 dollar bill is a pretty steep price to pay for what will essentially be a novelty fight.

With no titles on the line, no relevancy for either fighter’s true division and no history between the two, all the pre-fight hype seems rather silly. Usually a fight has some sort of storyline, some sort of sense of history or sense of importance to the sport- This one has none of that.

This “Dream Match” between boxing’s biggest draw and its most respected fighter seems to be only about the money- how much each fighter can make individually and how much they can con us into handing over for a fight that, literally, means nothing.

The Standing 8 Count (11/30/08)

by Madcow

Paul Williams did what he had to do last night and took out 39 year old 3-time champ Verno Phillips and he did it in a way that would put to shame some of the tougher guys in his weight range. C’mon guys, fight this kid and lets see if he’s really the real deal. Otherwise, we’ll have to deal with a chorus of “callings out” and plethora of ducking accusations and one vacated title after another as Williams jumps around looking for a decent payday.

The belt that Williams won last night was the WBO Interim Jr. Middleweight Title, which begs the question: Why did the WBO need an interim title? I thought an interim title was when the actual champ was hurt and unable to defend his belt for an extended period of time. Sergiy Dzinziruk is the full-blown WBO 154 lb. champ and has been defending is belt just fine, most recently, against Joel Julio just two weeks ago. Oh wait, the X-mas season is approaching and the pigs in the WBO front office must’ve needed some more sanctioning slop to feed their fat little piggies at home.

Speaking of little pigges, the undercard last night featured Chris “A Buffet’s Nightmare” Arreola as he pummeled hopeless Travis Walker into Boxing’s equivalent of left-over Thanksgiving stuffing. This fight resembled the wedding night with my first wife- a little over 6 minutes of ultimately unsatisfying action between two sweaty, homely behemoths.

Looking back, my first wife and Arreola share a couple of things in common: A train-wreck face and a pair of not-so-perky Double D’s.

Oscar De la Hoya went on record this week as saying that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be looked down upon because “He never took risks.” This would carry a lot more weight if it weren’t coming from someone on the verge of fighting somebody 3 weight classes smaller than him in what he’s trying to peddle as the defining fight of his career.

Speaking of the Duck that Lays the Golden Eggs- “The Dream Match” with Manny Pacquiao is coming this Saturday with an asking price of 55 bucks. I have nothing to say about the fight itself, but if this fraud sells more than a million pay per views, the recession should be officially cancelled. 55 bucks! Man, that’ll get you two “round the world” sessions and a Big Mac Meal at the Manilla McDonalds. You’d still get screwed for the 55 dollars, but it’ll be a fun screwing.

Carl Froch and Jean Pascal will be fighting next Saturday as well. They’ll be going for the WBC Super Middleweight title. For those unfamiliar with Froch and Pascal- Froch has patterned his style after Tommy Hearns and Pascal seems to have tried to emulate Roy Jones. So, just imagine a prime Hearns against a prime Jones…just much, much suckier.

The winner of Froch and Pascal has to fight #1 contender Jermain Taylor. In my humble opinion, the best 168 pounder was already determined a couple of weeks ago when Taylor beat the remaining one-dimension out of Jeff Lacy.

Vic Darchinyan went on a tirade this week and really let future opponent,  Jorge Arce, have it. Among the many things he said was that Mexicans bounce nicely off the canvas and that Arce had to buy his cowboy hats in a toy store. Funny stuff and I’m the last one to chastise someone for trash talking, but Darchinyan better hope that Arce’s best days are behind him.

As Hasim Rahman prepares for his title shot against Wladimir Klitschko on the 13th, he should be getting all his things together. Travel kit? Check. Gloves and Wraps? Check. Two pairs of comfortable boxing shoes? Check. Notification of next of kin and changes in living will?

Ok, I’m off to see a man about a horse…Ok, not really. I have to take a crap.

See ya when I sees ya.