HBO Pay-Per-View’s ‘Parade of Champions’ event at the MGM Grand on Saturday, September 17th gave the full range of outcomes: tragedy, a new champion crowned, a legend preserved and a favorite fighter taking a step back towards greatness.

Peden vs. Barrera: Not Peden’s Time

Robby Peden (25-3, 14 KOs) and Marco Antonio Barrera (61-4, 42 KOs) went twelve long rounds to unify Peden’s IBF and Barrera’s WBC World Super Featherweight Titles. The main event got off to a rocking start with Australian Aboriginal music and Jon Secada, who sang the Mexican and U.S. national anthems and gave the ladies in the crowd a rare moment to swoon. (For more on Secada, visit his web site here).

Odds makers and fans had not given Peden much of a chance, and while the Australian-born fighter hung in for twelve rounds, he was clearly out-punched and out-boxed from early on. Peden came out showing energy and moving aggressively around the ring in the first three rounds. He was trying to perform to quiet the boisterous crowd, which was clearly backing Barrera and continually chanting to cheer the Mexican warrior on.

By the third round, Peden had worked up enough steam that he won the closely contested round on all three judges’ cards. Unfortunately, it already seemed as though Peden was off his traditional style, a style in which he throws heavily and frequently, and using a strategy that seemingly wouldn’t serve him well against Barrera. Peden was constantly waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The problem was that in between Peden’s well-timed shots, Barrera was throwing a thunderstorm of punches, most of which were connecting with Peden’s head. In fact, despite a history of bombing away his punches, Peden only threw 503 punches all night, compared to  Barrera’s 725. Worse than that, Peden was only able to connect on 17% of his punches, landing just 87 punches over 12 rounds. Barrera, fighting against a stationary target in Peden, who had his hands down for almost the entire fight, connected on 300 punches, a whopping 41%, pummeling  Peden round after round.

In the fourth round, Peden opened up a cut over Barrera’s left eye, but it was an inconsequential injury that didn’t seemed to impact Barrera’s game. In round 10, Barrera was penalized a point for low blows. Nothing seemed to matter or turn the tide, however; Peden continued to move poorly and throw a minimal amount of punches, making himself an easy target for Barrera. The fight was slow and steady, even drawing boo’s from a crowd hoping to see action. In the final round, Barrera finally came out full speed, but he was so far ahead on the scorecards at that point that he could have danced the entire round and still won a clear decision. The fight went to the judges after the twelfth round where all three judges scored the fight unanimously at 118-109, giving Peden the third round only.

Said Peden after the fight, while promising he’d be back and fighting soon, ‘I got beat by a legend tonight, there’s no disgrace in that.’

Barrera, though happy to have won, was moved by fighting his close friend and sparring partner. Said Barrera of Peden, ‘We are friends, not only for today but forever,’ adding some greeting-card tenderness to an otherwise uninspired twelve round event. Fans might like to see the two friends fight again if Peden could show up with his game on. Next on tap for Barrera, however, will be a bigger name fight, probably with a bigger purse involved, though nothing has been set up yet. Hopes for a fourth Barrera – Morales fight seem unlikely, as words between Barrera promoter Oscar de la Hoya and Morales’ promoter, Bob Arum, continue. When asked about another Barrera-Morales rematch, De la Hoya was clear. “Let me say it again because it is the truth. We offered a fourth fight with Morales and they refused it.” Bob Arum has denied that the fight was offered. One thing is clear, somebody either has liar’s syndrome or short-term memory problems, and I’ll leave it to you to figure out who is lying or just doesn’t remember. Fortunately, there is no shortage of fighters wanting to take Barrera on, whether the Morales situation can be resolved or not.

The Peden vs. Barrera fight ended as expected, though the path there was less exciting and powerful than anticipated. But that seemed to be the theme for much of the night of the ‘Parade of Champions.’

Mosley vs. Cruz: Maybe Sugar Shane Really is Back

I’ve been skeptical about whether Shane Mosley (41-4, 35 KOs) is really back in form at 148 pounds and ready to make a run at the champion-level fighters he used to fight (and beat) with regularity. However, against a powerful and game Jose Cruz (32-1-2, 27 KOs) Mosley looked better than he’s looked in years, landing solid punches and controlling pace and action throughout.

Mosley has always stated that he’s more of a boxer than a brawler. His emphasis on strategy on this night created a bout that was short on exciting action but long on Mosley maneuvering slickly, avoiding blows from a slower Cruz and landing enough punches in the openings to control the fight. Mosley threw far less punches (452) in the 10 rounds of fighting than did Cruz (738), but because of his speed and patience, Mosley landed 38% of his punches compared to Cruz’s 15%. The fight went to the scorecards after the tenth and final round, with Mosley winning a unanimous decision at 98-92, 96-94 and 97-93. Cruz clearly won the seventh round and the final round as he tried to rally to get a late knockdown.

Cruz obviously struggled against Mosley’s superior speed both defensively and offensively. However, according to Mosley after the fight, Cruz’s lack of speed was compensated for by the power of his punch. Said Mosley “Cruz seemed very slow compared to my speed, but he had very heavy hands. He could catch me on the end of a combination with one of those heavy hands and
that’s what I was working to try to avoid.”

The big question for Mosley after this showing as a co-feature event in a ten-rounder against a strong fighter is “Is Shane Mosley really back?” Mosley’s promoter, Oscar de la Hoya thinks so, saying “I think Shane Mosley is right on track to get to big fights. He wants to get back on top at 147.”

Mosley is patient enough and willing to take things one-step at a time. “I’m going to look at the tapes and see exactly how I look, since you never really can tell,” the fighter said, “There are a lot of great fights out there.”

Of course, when pressed about whom he’d like to fight next, Mosley was evasive, stating he’ll fight “Whoever pays the most!” (Probably because it takes a big purse to fund Mosley’s high-end fashion corner warm-up outfits and post-fight suits. He clearly won the best-dressed fighter award for the night.) One thing is for sure: While Shane Mosley didn’t look like a replica of the old he-may-knock-you-out-at-any-moment Shane Mosley, he looked better than he’s looked in quite some time and ready to take on some bigger name challenges. Is Shane Mosley back? I’m still not sure, but I am curious enough that I’d buy a pay-per-view card to see him take a shot at one of the top three welterweights. Considering I’m cheap and usually watch my pay-per-view events at a sports bar, that’s saying a lot.

Johnson vs. Chavez: A Sad Bout for Boxing

What started out seeming like the most exciting match of the night ended up being the most tragic. Levander Johnson (34-5-2, 26 KOs) met up with Jesus Chavez (42-3, 29 KOs) for Johnson’s  IBF Lightweight World Title in a bout full of punches and ring action, with Johnson throwing 577 punches and Chavez throwing 959 punches. Unfortunately, despite Johnson’s gameness, Chavez connected on a whopping 409 punches, pummeling away the taller Johnson repeatedly. After a particularly brutal flurry during which Johnson seemed to have stopped fighting back, referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight and declared it a TKO win for Chavez at 0:38 of the eleventh round.

Chavez fought an undeniably smart fight. Having come up in weight to 135 to challenge Johnson for the IBF World Championship, Chavez effectively worked Johnson into the ropes at every chance to negate Johnson’s height and reach advantage.  

Chavez kept Johnson on the ropes long enough to make sure that Johnson could never get back into a rhythm with his jab and follow-up when the two fighters did get back out into the open ring. The strategy worked, and Chavez never let Johnson get into the fight for even a moment, despite the fact that Johnson was more than willing to continue throwing punches. Said Chavez of the fight, “I thought that we did our homework in the gym and then we applied it.”

Chavez seemed almost overwhelmed by his win at points, stating post-fight, “I never expected to become two-time champion of the world. I am always gambling in boxing, and this was the biggest gamble of my life in boxing.” When asked if he felt like he was in his prime now, Chavez was definitive, “I’m definitely not in my prime because I am thirty-two years old, but maybe I am a late bloomer.”

Yes, that’s how I often make myself feel good about my age, too! Late bloomer!

Sadly, though, Chavez’s superior performance in the ring was overshadowed by the tragic events following the bout. After returning to his dressing room and being examined by ring medics, Johnson was transported to the nearest medical facility where he underwent emergency brain surgery for a sub-dermal hematoma. A coma was induced in order to stop the swelling and clotting. At the time of this writing, Johnson was still in recovery at the ICU, and everybody’s best wishes are with him. Said Chavez, “My prayers and thoughts go out to Levander Johnson. I’m thinking about him.”

Johnson’s injury came as a surprise to fans and spectators. Until the eleventh round, though he was clearly behind on the cards, Johnson was engaged and throwing punches and responding to the fight. Depending on the long-term outcome of his injury, there will no doubt be speculation as to whether, given that Johnson had been hit over 400 times before the fight was called, should that fight have been ended sooner. I can tell you that from where I was sitting, prior to the eleventh, Johnson seemed to be no woozier than a fighter typically would be that late in a fight.

BraggingRightsCorner also extends their thoughts to Levander Johnson and his family.

End Notes

If you missed the action on pay-per-view, the Peden/Barrera and Mosley/Cruz fights will be shown again on Friday, September 23rd on HBO2 at 11pm.

Golden Boy Promotions donated $10 a punch to Hurricane Katrina relief, with a total donation of over $13000.

MGM Grand Arena attendance for the fight was 10215.