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As the month of September approaches, us
in the boxing galaxy wait in anticipation for our own
unofficial playoff system. Like college football, boxing
fans complained for years that the best must fight the best,
to the deaf ears of powerbrokers. Free of red tape (million
dollar sponsorship) the sweet science seems to have been
spurned forward by the UFC and its adorable Svengali Dana
White. Ain't that something? It always takes someone outside
of your family to make you see when your house ain't in
order. Like he was saying something my homie “Chicken
Grease” ain't said a million times. In the coming months
matters will be settled at 160 lbs., 168 lbs. and the
lightweight/welterweight divisions begin their first round
of single elimination “playoffs.” Samuel Peter will get his
shot (and it’s going to hurt) as well as Evander Holyfield
finally fighting a live body for a belt. Maybe this will put
Evander on planet Earth with the rest of us, but I doubt it.
Me? I’m going to be where you are taking
it all in, on the couch, give or take a few press credentials
(pssst Elisa holla at yo boy) here and there. I’ll have a
lot to say, as a matter of fact since I’m feelin' myself
right now I’m gonna give ya’ll my calls on the rest of 2007.
That way you can hit me with your responses throughout the
holiday season. Disclaimer: All e-mails hailing me as a
boxing savant with other worldly knowledge have a 100 word
minimum; all e-mails calling me an idiot must be limited to
one sentence. Capish? Now without further delay allow me to
proceed to give boxing fans what they need! The Full Pad
work.
The showdown for THE middleweight
championship of the world (Taylor vs. Pavlik) will be the
Razorback's last go at 160 lbs. The run as a “champ” has
been a strange ride for Jermain; to think his last defense
of the belt is a “prove something” bout. To listen to
revisionist talk about his bouts with Hopkins and Wright
you’d think the kid was Davey Moore. For someone who was
supposedly ruined by B-Hop I’ve yet to see anyone cleanly
whip his ass. Tread lightly Kelly, use your jab and don’t
believe the hype cus if this kid weren’t the goods someone
would have dominated him by now. Now, Emmanuel Steward has
publicly declared that Hopkins proved to be the “better
fighter” in his two fights with Taylor. Jermain, cut his ass
loose now! Just because he’s a genius doesn’t mean he’s
right for you. You see a lot of great coaches in other
sports get axed because the owner was smart enough to
recognize it was a bad marriage. If Bill Parcells can get
fired so can Manny Steward, so tell him to kick rocks.
Besides a lot of so called celebrity trainers don’t have the
time to devote to you and they're hell on the wallet.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission,
Boxing;s version of the “Wizard of Oz,” let Bernard Hopkins
know what it thinks of his WWE shtick. Some would call it
harsh but let’s sit back and think about the “big picture.”
Bernard wanted to strum up PPV buys that will benefit him
directly. That’s short money. Golden Boy, which opened
corporate doors back in May (“The World Awaits”) with great
sponsorship will commandeer boxing's resurgence with free
network TV in the future. That’s the long play. Even Oscar
knows he can’t end his career without at least one fight on
free cable. When Don King trots out Ricardo Mayorga to start
a press conference brawl, that’s one thing; all parties
including Fernando Vargas are desperate and I understand.
But, when a Golden Boy “partner,” a company that may take us
back into American homes on Saturday afternoon starts a
brawl, that’s another. So Bernard, take a tip from me, the
long-term health of the sport will make you more money than
you’ve ever seen in trunks. Getting exposure on Sports
Center for staging an admitted farce of a dustup takes the
sport back that much further in public perception.
Vernon Forrest did a great job on Friday
Night Fights back in August but I take exception to his
checking of Joe Tessitore for calling him a “belt holder.”
Hey Vernon, in order to change the culture of boxing, guys
of your stature need to refrain from calling themselves
“champions” until they’ve unified. The fighters who know
what it means to be “undisputed” need to be the grown ups
and stop counting knocking off a welterweight for a VACATED
Jr. Middleweight belt as an “achievement.” I know some of
Vernon’s attitude is probably coming from a place of
frustration as injuries have derailed him, but he must
abstain. In the same segment the classy Georgia native made
it clear that he wants another shot at Mayorga to avenge a
prior defeat. That’s cool, but please Viper, keep it on a
Showtime undercard, don’t let Don King convince you that
it’s a PPV worthy bout.
And from the when 'keeping it real goes
wrong' file, Michael Vick plead guilty to federal dog
fighting/animal cruelty charges. I don’t think we have to go
into what was wrong with what that brotha was involved in,
but from a cultural standpoint I hope this was a watershed
moment towards inciting a “rematurization” in young black
males. Too many times we in boxing have heard our most
gifted athlete say the word “real” to defend his often
boorish conduct. Disclaimer: The word “real” is code for
profanity laced, materialistic, and disrespectful
(misogynistic) behavior towards women and now we find
cruelty towards animals too. I’ve got a positive vibe about
this moment in history, as it comes right on the heels of
the death of the “N" word and “Fiddy” publicly issuing the
G-Unit their walking papers. Instead of pondering “why”
Michael Vick and Floyd Mayweather surround themselves with
cats like Purnell Peace, we need to turn our eyes to the
communities that produce them. We need to address the
environments that make these otherwise bright young men
insecure enough to insulate themselves with thugs.
Somehow Roy Jones jr. injects himself in
the Vick controversy by accusing the media of trying to
destroy Michael Vick “over a dog.” Roy, a first rate country
boy and avid cockfighter, may be a little biased in his
defense of Vick. I don’t applaud the “lynch mob” mentality
that some have used as a shield to dehumanize Vick but I
believe he needs to learn from his conduct.
However, Jones and Vick are blessed with
similar otherworldly physical attributes that allowed them
to flourish (sometimes easily) in violent arenas. Roy can
dictate who he fights and once in the ring use his guile to
manage how much punishment he absorbs. Vick can negotiate
space and escape from the pocket while slower “mortals”
suffer crushing sacks. In other words, both men can be
“avoidant” of contact and live to fight or play another day.
The same can’t be said for the animals
they trained. They are robbed of choice and the owner gets
to determine the animal's fate if it is deemed “avoidant.”
What if Roy had been “put down” and deemed unworthy of
procreating after Tarver starched him? His “avoidance” when
having Tarver hurt in the third fight would be unacceptable
of a dog or a chicken, yet he survived to give his own
“account” of his thought process. What if Vick was forced to
stay in the pocket by a crude contraption to prove his
mettle on the Football Field? Would they understand then? By
all means I don’t want my words to be perceived as “piling
on,” my heart goes out to Vick and allow me to be the first
to say “let the healing begin.”
And Now for my Predictions for the Rest
of 2007
For whatever it means, Vargas will do to
Mayorga what elite fighters have done to boxing's crash test
dummy, hit him. But Vargas is heavy-handed and his “crisp”
days are long past him, so this will go entertaining rounds.
Don’t get it twisted fight fans, severe Anemia is no joke, I
just think it’s a sign that Vargas is no longer healthy
enough to get into the kind of shape required in boxing.
Look for Mayorga to “survive” (as it will be his last fight
too) and lose by UD.
Marquez is on the cusp of big things, a
rematch with the winner of Barrera vs. Pacquiao and the
notoriety that escaped him for years. He won’t let a one
dimensional guy like Juarez get in his way. I see him
knocking the tough kid out late, just to prove he’s headliner
material. On the undercard Kassim Ouma runs through Sergio
Mora like a diuretic (Ouma by UD) and proves that the
“Contender” blew his chance to “cash out” against Jermain
Taylor. The other contender, Steve Forbes, (Forbes by UD) will
school Panchito Bojado who may be moving a little too fast
in his comeback campaign. Stevie deserves exposure after
getting robbed of a victory against “D-Hop” and GBP knows
it. Either way, I don’t want to see the Golden Boy or the
Sugar Man as ring card “girls” but then again many female
fight fans may disagree.
This fight will end in double injury,
just too much fragile mass in one place. But all jokes aside,
I like McCline to out hustle big brother “Iron Fist” in a
very ugly bout.
This is a pick 'em but I like the country
boy in this one, “if” he decides to move his hands. If not,
Pavlik will box his ears off and hurt him late, but it’s up
to Jermain. I like Taylor by SD but I would not be surprised
if Pavlik pulled this one out. I’ll be back home
celebrating my daughter's 18th birthday and reminding her
that she’s still my little girl.
The Golden Boy/Top Rank merger will
generate shockwaves in the fistic galaxy when Manny Pacquiao
proves once and for all to be a force of nature. Barrera
will put up a gallant first half effort because he’s an ALL
TIME great but the Pacman will gobble him up down the
stretch. Pacquiao vs. Marquez 2 will be signed before the
post fight buffet is set up and Barrera will start promoting
it immediately. The post fight presser will actually save
money by doubling as a lead in to the Marquez fight, now
that’s pimpin!
Crazy dogfighters starve pit bulls to
“make 'em mean” so I can only surmise that starving a 250 lbs.
puncher (of opportunity) will only lead to bad things. Not
since the days of Iron Mike have I ever viewed a Heavyweight
title bout as a coronation. Had Maskaev not given Samuel
Peter the run around he might have had a chance. Now he’s
put himself on a launching pad and I see him hitting the
canvas for good between rounds 3 and 5. Only his experience
in big fights will allow him to stand upright for that long.
He will lose and look old doing it and
then say “it wasn’t the right style for me” and “I just have
to get back in line.” But, Sports Center will cover this
delusion and give us a little mainstream exposure for the
day. And for the second week in a row boxing fans have to
Tivo a fight on a rival network. Thanks for the
consideration guys. Memo to Warrior's Boxing and Main Events,
take the ESPN Classic deal! Beggars can’t be choosers, if
“Holy” pulls the upset, the tie-in with ESPN will make his
next “fight” (see beating) huge. ESPN will rebroadcast on
ESPN2 over and over again and if the ex-champ looks
remotely like he did in his prime you, my friend, have the
proverbial blank check.
I’m fond of Juan Diaz’s style and I don’t
think Julio is the type of puncher that can puncture the
Texan's “earmuff” defense. Juan will chase him for a while
but like most of his opponents Julio will be overwhelmed by
the kid’s commitment to keep coming. I like Juan Diaz by UD, setting up a big 2008 showdown with the “real” man at 135,
Joel Casamayor. Memo to Joel; stop calling out Michael
Katsidis because (Rocky’s trainer Mickey voice) “he’ll knock ya into next week, kid.”
Ok, I will flip flop about 3 times between
now and November so this call is “as of today.” As of today
I like Calzaghe because I think he has a Tiger Woods
approach to big fights. The Welshman considers this fight a
“major” and he will approach it as such. Calzaghe will set a
pace that Kessler didn’t believe Joe still possessed and
that will break Kessler’s will late. I like Calzaghe by late
stoppage.
Cotto is a rugged, competent young
champion with a body attack reminiscent of a young Chavez.
But, his effectiveness is contingent on being the aggressor;
his charges are usually met with his opponent’s trying to
escape. Cotto is dealing with pound for pound one of the
physically strongest guys in the sport, so when he comes in
and is met with strength he will panic. Cotto can lay wood
on a guy but he’s never dealt with a faster fighter who just
may be able to make him go backwards. In the words of Teddy
Atlas, Mosley has the “temperament” to not just outclass
Cotto with speed, but outfight him. It will be fireworks
while it lasts, Mosley by KO round 8.
Kudos to HBO! And they will be repaid
with this Fight of the Year candidate. I like Soto, he’s
long and though. Slicker Guzman is a tough SOB who will be
goaded into a fight. Guzman’s early boxing will put him
ahead on the cards but somewhere in the middle of the fight
Soto will come on and make him fight. Soto will win the
“championship rounds” in route to a disputed SD.
And Last but Not Least...
Ricky Hatton will not be broken by Floyd's
superiority. Floyd will be reacquainted with what it is like
to have a young stud hunting him. And he won’t like it, but
we will because Floyd will show the whole repertoire of
gifts that we know he has. I like Floyd by UD but he will
get bumpy and lumpy, possibly winning fans he couldn’t sway
with past “exhibitions.” Hatton will lose little market
value, and he’ll get his shot at De La Hoya in May 2008.
For his trouble Floyd will fight a tough as nails Mosley and
watch his two prior victims generate more PPV sales than his
war with the Sugar Man.
Questions? Comments? Email Martin Wade
here
8-27-2007
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