Forget the introductions and formalities, you know who this is. It's your boy and I'm starting off 2011 in a column format. Gotta get my consistency on and comment on what the hard game is bringing us inside and outside of the ring on the steady. Yes, this means a damned schedule. For those of you who get even a little bit from what I spit, I'll be cranking one of these out weekly which is why I got the corny date at the end of my byline. Up there. Since my piece on B-Hops ignorant "cultural styles" rant the old man actually fought a fight you didn't fall asleep watching so I'll also be giving props to Philly's finest. At the risk of rambling on any further I'll get this load in my gloves and start swinging.

Bradley vs. Alexander....

Men have we been starved for the first real fight of the year, you know the kind featuring hungry battlers who don't require prune juice. Bradley vs. Alexander is a "pick 'em" if I ever saw one, the kind of litmus test we want to see young championship caliber fighters engage in. The fact that this fight going forward can create a star, that there is actual "beef" is sadly lost because of the attention the inept promotion is getting. This bout is also overshadowed by the Pacquiao desertion to Showtime and whispers that HBO overpaid for it in light of this development. Michigan? A depressed state that neither fighter hails from is hosting by way of a fee I'm sure the lead promoter put in Gary Shaw's IRA.

Yeah it was cool to see Tommy Hearns working the mitts with Bradley but "The Hitman" can outdraw the 140lb. kingpins in Michigan tomorrow!  It's not as if  "Tha Lou" isn't proven; over the last decade St. Louis has become a solid fight town that WILL turn out for Devon Alexander. It was such a natural I reserved a spare bedroom at my baby sister's house in the St. Louis suburbs. Excuse me for assuming boxing promoters would stage a bout where they can generate a live gate.  I didn't ponder that all rationality would go out the window and people actually showing up wouldn't matter. You can't dismiss a guaranteed turnout in these economic times, even the NFL is losing folks at the gate. Hey Tim, got a concern with hometown decisions? Pick the judges and refs; don't fight in front of crickets on cable TV.  

Holyfield fought, and that was that...

Roger Mayweather avoids jail time...

When Pacquiao vs. Mosley was signed, my thought from a fan perspective was: this can be an opportunity. This is a chance for fans to show some muscle and the power of social media when integrated with protest. We can devalue this "product" and make it unmarketable to mainstream fans by getting the word out. "Joe Six-Pack" is not aware Mosley is aging in dog years and truly shouldn't be considered for ANOTHER high profile (paying) bout. I would gladly participate in helping them with a few choice links of the scared old man that Mayweather took apart last year. Only in boxing do promoters take one punch and market the hell out of it as if it were a good showing. Enter Showtime/CBS and now I'm conflicted, caught between a worthy cause and the long-term health of the sport I love. The Showtime deal is juicy (sorry HBO) with March Madness exposure and talk show appearances along with the Showtime "Fight Camp 360" documentary series. Frankly I've felt for a while that HBO was looking like an easy mark for ESPN, with one serious swipe the world wide leader can jack the complacent network and essentially take the sport. HBO is blessed that "the" bully never looked their way, I mean seriously they made poker a heavily sponsored "sport." Now we have a deal in place that could open the door for boxing to over 100 million homes and usher in a 1980's era landscape. However, this kind of commitment to make Manny a Rock Star is short sighted because what Arum is serving them isn't compelling. Yeah, I said it, why should we be gung ho over seeing Manny become a "Rock Star" on a medium that requires overall quality? For starters Cotto vs. Mayorga is going to serve as a test pilot for this union. Yes, while Sergio Martinez is languishing waiting for big names, Mayorga gets a platform to display  his exquisite skills in "jackassery' because lord knows he cant fight anymore.

If the goal is to make one guy a star, where's the incentive for CBS to stay in the boxing business? Will there be a free card the weekend of the bout that reinvigorates mainstream interest in boxing? To show you how committed the Pacquiao team is to "stacking the deck," Freddie Roach is calling for more extensive blood testing for Mosley than Mayweather required. If you really want to kick down the door with this deal you don't test Mosley, as a matter of fact his EPO should be covered by Top Rank to guarantee a barnburner. Ever notice when talking to mainstream outlets Arum talks about bringing boxing back to free TV but the message to us is "Manny's going to be huge." ESPN's "Around the Horn" covered the topic Thursday and guess what? They're not buying anything that isn't involving Floyd Mayweather.

Consider this, Roger Goodell, the most powerful man in sports, responded to a disgruntled fan's e-mail with a phone call last week. He knows he is caretaker of the countries most popular sport, the NFL by far can buy boxing 10 times over. Yet, lesser men in our sport don't feel they owe us a damned thing. The NFL is a socialist entity where cities like Green Bay and Pittsburgh will surely generate the highest rated Super Bowl ever. Power mongers in boxing want a monopoly similar to baseball's, the only problem is New York and Boston at least have to play one another.

Told you I was going to give the old man props and I didn't bail out on my word. I'm a man damnit. Hopkins schooled Pascal, pulling himself up from five points down and validating his license to do battle as well as get discounts at Denny's. I feel for "Bad Chad" Dawson but he has no case for a spot in line in front of the Philly legend. There's plenty to do and if he wants to stay busy he can take on the winner of Yusef Mack/Otis Griffin or see if he can get a crack at rugged Tavoris Cloud. Sitting around waiting on Bernard Hopkins (he'll win the rematch easier) will be futile because Nard wanted no part of him in the first place. I'm afraid to comment on the WBC doing the right thing because I know this is but a rare speck of reason in the grand scheme of things.

So now Andre Berto can make 140lb after slapping around a succession of chumps and forgetting how to spell "Collazo." The funny thing is I can't understand why GBP would cash Victor Ortiz out like that; he's not elite but he's a good looking Mexican kid you can market. Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams deserve HBO's support and build up to a third bout. They send their cameras to Klitschko's turf; why not a double bill in Argentina featuring a Lucas Matthysse vs. Marcos Maidana clash? Speaking of Matthysse, his eighth round TKO vs. "Chop Chop" Corley was a referendum on forced retirement. Corley, like a lot of shopworn veterans is in a severe pickle, He went down 8 times vs. Matthysse. In his quest to care for his children he may not be able to enjoy them. I'd love to see Amir Kahn tackle a slickster like Lamont Peterson and see if he can upstage his stable mate (Ortiz) with a definitive win on HBO. Tim Bradley won't be the only shredded physique on the airwaves Saturday night. Forty-eight years old Herschel Walker will be taking on Scott Carson in his second Strikeforce MMA bout on Showtime. If Juan Manuel Marquez is reduced to fighting Eric Morales he should get a "walk away" check from Manny Pacquiao added to his purse. Big props to John Duddy, he wasn't feeling it and he responded according to his truth. No need to fight trumped up Irish showdowns and padding everybody else's pocket, if he has saved well he should enjoy his life. 

That's it, I'm thru, now cut 'em off before the Commission rep comes in here.

For Fight Recaps between January and June 2010, click here...

For Fight Recaps between January and May 2009, click here... Fight Recaps - Part I - (January-May 2009)