Madcow’s Standing 8 Count (6/29/09)

by Madcow

Aside from actually being written, this week’s column will be a little different.

Last week, as you all know, Michael Jackson died. I have had a special relationship throughout my life with Jackson. No, I never got to visit Neverland ranch as a child and I was never able to share a can of Jesus Juice with the “one-gloved-one.”

My connection with Jackson isn’t even about music. Actually, I’m luke warm to his talents.

No. My link with Jackson goes directly through Lori C, Madcow’s first love and a very fine looking High School Junior with bubble gum lip gloss and a teddy bear backpack.

I had taken “Ms. C” to the Junior Prom and, to spare all the details, that was the night your favorite bovine became a man.

On the way home, I turned on the radio in my clunker in absolute glee and the first song on the radio was “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson. Not my type of music, but on that particular night, it was the greatest song I had ever heard.

So, this column is dedicated to Michael Jackson, “Billie Jean,” and beautiful Lori C, who was more woman at 17 than all 3 of my wives put together. But enough with this sappy crap.

In a “Thriller,” Marcos Maidana overcame knockdowns and all obstacles to force Victor Ortiz into submission. Now, after an embarrassing quit job and a non-fighter-like post-fight interview, Ortiz has to seriously take a look at the “Man in the Mirror” and decide if he really wants to continue fighting or if he just wants to “Beat It.“

“Smooth Criminal,” Oscar De la Hoya desperately tried to spin Ortiz’s quit job into something quite the opposite, but nobody is buying it. Overall, it hasn’t been a good time to be a Golden Boy prospect. Abner Mares split, Ortiz was just crushed and “King of Pop,” James Kirkland is eating bologna and mayonaise sandwiches behind bars.

“Remember the Time” when PPV dates were reserved for only the elite fights, the best of the best? The Latin Fury show this Saturday was just, plain “Bad.” I would like to run into the chump who paid 35 bucks to see this suck-fest so I can sell him some bumper car tickets at Neverland Ranch. Wake me up when Juanma Lopez starts fighting someone with a pulse.

Arthur Abraham defended his title against some guy named Oral on Showtime Saturday. I’m sorry, but the only thing I’m watching with the name “Oral” on it is a PPV movie from The Spice Channel.

Everything else this Summer has been a big let-down. Cancelled or postponed fights, combined with weak matchups. Boxing is in a serious “Jam” and needs to fix things fast or, maybe next year, there won’t be anyone buying these shows for broadcast.

Well, seeing that its been a slow news Summer and that I’ve exhausted my Michael Jackson references, I think I’ll end this special edition of Madcow’s Standing 8 Count.

Besides, I’ve just called the escort service and told them to send their best; Doesn’t matter if they’re “Black or White,” I just “Wanna be Startin’ Somethin’.” Now, “Leave Me Alone.”

RIP Michael

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Kelly Pavlik: Anatomy of a Fallen Star

by Paul Magno

Buried among the Pacquiao-Cotto-Mayweather headlines is the sad story of Kelly Pavlik and his decision to check into an alcohol rehabilitation center yesterday.

This piece of news is a fittingly sad ending to Pavlik’s wild 2-year ride from unknown Ohio toughman to unlikely world champion superstar to inactive and demoralized divisional “also ran.”

The Youngstown, Ohio native achieved his fame the old fashioned way: By fighting hard, fighting often and slowly working his way into the public eye.

Pavlik fought on every undercard imaginable- From Mexican fight cards on Telemundo to ESPN undercards to local televised boxing shows where there were probably more people at the live event than watching on TV. Wherever there was a show, Kelly Pavlik was willing to fight.

So, by the time he fought his way up to his first title eliminator bout against Edison Miranda on HBO, most hardcore fight fans had seen Pavlik at least a couple of times and were aware that this was a gutsy, blue collar fighter who came to hit hard and knock his opponents out.

“The Ghost” took the fight to the back alley brawler, Miranda, and eventually beat the tough Colombian down in an exciting encounter which stood out glowingly next to that card’s lackluster main event of Jermain Taylor vs. Cory Spinks.

Pavlik’s next fight was the high point of his career as he battled back from a hard knock down in the second round and went on to grab the WBO and WBC Middleweight Titles from Taylor via seventh round TKO.

Next came the career mismanagement that would cost Pavlik his undefeated record, his status as an upcoming superstar and, quite possibly, his very peace of mind.

Bob Arum and Top Rank, Pavlik’s promotional company, immediately took their developing star and put him on PPV in a non-title rematch against Jermain Taylor at Super Middleweight. The event sold moderately well, but it was not the move of someone looking after the long-term career success of their new star. Other than another notch on his record and a nice payday, Pavlik got very little from this bout that played out in front of a fraction of the audience that would’ve been available to him on HBO.

Next, came a mandatory defense against WBO #1 challenger, the hapless, Gary Lockett. Kelly disposed of the Brit in three lopsided rounds that did little to endear him to HBO fans who were looking to see their new hero in yet another war.

Then came one of the worst decisions ever made by a management team regarding a young, rising star. They decided to accept the challenge of the 43-year old legend, Bernard Hopkins.

“The Executioner” Hopkins was famous for taking fighters and literally turning them to mush by negating every weapon in their arsenal. Even in defeat, the veteran always managed to nullify his opponents’ best weapons and make them look horrible. Nobody since a prime Roy Jones Jr. in 1993 has looked good against Hopkins. Not only was the relatively one-dimensional Pavlik signed to fight the old pro, but he would do so at a catchweight of 170 lbs., two weight classes and ten pounds above his normal fighting weight.

By now everyone knows what happened: Hopkins twisted the kid up and schooled him over 12 one-sided rounds. And to add insult to injury, the PPVshow was a total bust and didn’t even reach 200,000 buys.

So, with a bruised ego and a refusal from HBO to air his next bout (another mandatory defense of the 160 lb. crown against Marco Antonio Rubio), Pavlik once again went to PPVin another poorly-received event that saw him share the bill with another rebounding star, Miguel Cotto.

Since then, his bout against The Contender’s Season One winner, Sergio Mora, originally proposed for the 27th of June, was postponed due to a staph infection, but very well could’ve been postponed due to Pavlik’s growing personal problems or the poor early reception of Sergio Mora as an opponent.

In about a period of two years, Pavlik has run the full gamut of boxing highs and lows.

Before the ill-conceived Hopkins bout, one could point to Pavlik’s career as an example of how careers used to be built; of how a career should be built. Pavlik’s rise to stardom was based on Free TV exposure against a wide range of opponents and packaged around a hard-working, likeable kid from a blue collar town that should not be producing stars.

Somewhere along the way, greed got mixed into the equation and Top Rank/Team Pavlik opted for the quick buck rather than the slow, but steady rise to superstardomthat would’ve resulted from increased exposure on “free” HBO.

Lost in the mix was a kid in his mid-20’s dealing with sudden stardom and immediate demoralization- all over the course of twenty four short months.

“The Ghost” is a fighter in every sense of the word, so there’s no doubt that he will be back.

But before Kelly Pavlik can regain his boxing mojo, he’ll have to fight the fight of his life, against the toughest opponent imagineable…himself.

Madcow’s Standing 8 Count (6/8/09)

by Madcow

Here I am, your favorite bovine boxing columnist, rockin’ you like a mother frickin’ hurricane, with several axes to grind and a massive inferiority complex (not to mention a substance abuse problem, a weight problem, several dozen outstanding parking tickets and a sexual addiction that makes David Carradine look like Fred Rogers)!

Sorry for last week’s lack of a column, but I was knee-deep in Polynesian trim and I honestly didn’t feel like writing another column on a slow news week.

But then, as if delivered from heaven directly to my bloodshot eyes, David Haye gives me enough material for several month’s worth of columns!

By now, I’m sure you all know, but Haye pulled out of his Heavyweight title fight against Wladimir Klitschko, leaving behind a stadium’s worth of sold tickets, several million dollars and about 50,000 dumb T-shirts where Haye is ripping the heads off of the Klitschko Bros.

Now, it’s just Haye who’s getting a virtual decapitation from fans and media for talking so much trash and backing out at the last minute.

Don’t buy the injury talk, this Madcow can smell cold feet when their rubbed up against his nose. Haye wrote a check that his sack couldn’t cash.

Now, Wlad has an opponent in Ruslan Chagaev who may have Hepatitis, but isn’t suffering from “yellow” fever. I say Klit, as a punishment, makes Haye fight Chris Arreola, Alexander Povetkin and Samuel Peter before getting back into contention.

All in all, though, this is a good thing since it saves me the 5 minutes the fight would’ve lasted before Klitschko separated Haye’s flapping jaw from his head.

Ahhhhh. It’s good to be back!

Message boards and websites are on fire all over the net about the upcoming Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez fight. I’ve heard both sides and here’s the official decision from Madcow:

Mayweather’s entitled to a tune-up fight and even a mini-Marquez is not bad at all for a tune-up. If Mayweather isn’t making a serious effort to fight someone named Pacquiao, Cotto, Mosley or Williams next, then he deserves the wrath of the world.

Doesn’t it seem that Manny Pacquiao’s people know deep down inside that the dog and pony show is just about up? His people want nothing to do with a real Welterweight fight, they’re already dismissing the idea of a Mayweather fight and they’re going to price themselves out of any fight against a legit 140 lb. fighter.

On a similar note, if any Welter melts down to meet Pacquiao’s crazy demands, they are goofy and deserve the dehydrated beating they’ll get. Hear that, Shane Mosley?

David Tua announced that he’ll officially be changing his ring name from “Tuaman” to “The Tuaminator.” Can Madcow make a few more name change suggestions? How about “Tua Years Since He’s Last Fought,” “It’s Tua Bad He Doesn’t Get Off His Fat Ass and Fight, ” or “I Wouldn’t Pay Tua Cents to Watch Him Fight Shane Cameron?”

Alfredo Angulo, buddy, how the hell could you lose to Kermit “I’m Too Sensitive” Cintron?

Kelly Pavlik re-signed with Top Rank after they spent the last 18-months burying the kid against weak opposition on bogus cards and allowing him to get within spitting distance of a slick spoiler like Bernard Hopkins. Maybe Pavlik is the “take the money and run” type of fighter after all. Kelly, how many pick up trucks and “Best of Bob Seeger” CDs can you buy?

John Ruiz is still whining about not getting another shot at the Heavyweight title and about not getting the respect he thinks he deserves. Well, this cure for insomnia has had almost a dozen world title fights in his putrid career and, combined, they’ve produced less excitement than the first round of any James Kirkland bout. Go away, Ruiz and take your garbage attitude and style with you. You are to Boxing what Stryper was to Death Metal.

Alright, kiddies, all out of venom for this week. See ya next Sunday and, remember, support the BTBC. I have it on good word that this Summer will make or break our community. Let’s keep stickin’ it to the man. F*ck You Fightnews and Max Boxing! Madcow’s gonna rape Boxingscene’s mother!

Peace and Love.

Monthly Awards- May ‘09

Fighter of the Month:

Manny Pacquiao- This was a no-brainer.

With Pacquiao’s 2nd round destruction of Ricky Hatton, to pick anyone else as FOM would be a crime. While many felt that Pacquiao would win handily, few thought that he would dominate so quickly and so violently.

The talk around boxing is that Manny’s trying to lure Welterweights Miguel Cotto or Shane Mosley down to a catchweight of 143-142 lbs. If that’s the case, expect Manny to have a better chance of doing to them what he did to Hatton than if he had to fight them on equal terms.

While the catchweght bouts would make money and be smart business, here’s hoping that Pacquiao takes his role as lineal 140 lb. title seriously and decides to defend it against some of the best in the Jr. Welterweight division.

And, of course, hopefully Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s in his plans as well…

Bum of the Month:

The WBA- The oldest sanctioning body deserves this dubious honor for putting up with one of the most frustrating title reigns in recent memory- The title reign of Ruslan Chagaev.

With all the injuries and illnesses, it’s about time the WBA puts its foot down and officially strips this reluctant warrior. Chagaev has only defended the title twice in two years and has repeatedly pushed back or completely pulled out of big fights. To have him wearing their belt makes the entire organization look bad.

Make Nikolai Valuev the full champ. While Valuev is an abomination as well, at least he’ll fight once in awhile…

And while you’re at it, WBA, please get rid of those stupid “Super” and “Regular” Champion designations- It makes you look desperate for sanctioning fee money…

The BTBC Thread of the Month:

Money May vs. Kenny

http://www.btbc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1376

by: LatinAce

The Brian Kenny/Floyd Mayweather interview heats up the board and inspires debates ranging from Mayweather’s resume and Kenny’s credentials to the upcoming Mayweather/Marquez bout and the general state of the Welterweight division.

Love him or hate him (and it’s mostly the latter), Floyd Mayweather inspires heated debate.