Martin
Wade's Loaded Gloves for the Week ending
February 20, 2011
First
of all I want to thank Strike force MMA
for holding a brotha down last weekend;
anybody out there secretly dream about
Gus Johnson doing their birthday party?
Really? Oh, so it's just me. Condolences
to Fedor Emelianenko, he's a legendary
champion and I wish him nothing but the
best if he chooses to shut it down.
Tonight we get Montiel vs. Donaire so
hopefully you boxing freaks will tune in
to peep at what a real Super Fight is. I
got a big homie who is genuinely
irritated by any fight commencing at
less than 147lbs., his argument is he
refuses to watch fighters smaller than
his wife. The first and only time he
took interest in smaller fighters was a
decade ago when Barrera "clowned" Nasim
Hamed; and he only watched that because
he hated Hamed. So this leaves only
those of us who know, and hopefully those
who don't get it won't cost us a future
of solid programming regardless of size.
I never for the life of me understood
why fans would prefer an over hyped
fight between guys that don't bring it
over two battlers who put it out there.
Montiel has a lot to prove and Donaire
(after 3 years) can finally build on his
five round destruction of Vic
Darchinyan.
Battle
of the Bantamweights
We'll
probably see a skill level that makes us
feel ashamed of the medium rare product
we touted as "super" a couple of weeks
ago. Montiel was given a green light by
(HBO) back in 2003 and the only thing
memorable about it was the fact that he
was rocking the John Stockton short
shorts. He also let a faded Mark Johnson
take him to school which I'm sure didn't
go with GBP's plans to build him into a
star attraction. The Los Mochis native
then augmented his style to create a
market for his services and he claims
that is why we are here today. You have
to feel for bantamweights, no matter how
many welters and middleweights stink it
up on TV, HBO isn't in the leveraged
position to mandate; they stand and
trade more. Bigger fighters (I'm not
saying any names) go on HBO, stink it up
and then argue with Merchant about what
he just saw with no fear of retribution.
Needless to say Montiel is a well
rounded talent; a little tweak to his
style wasn't going to make him any less
effective. In his last fight vs. Jovanny
Soto he showed that he can bring the pop,
so don't think the shredded "Cohulito"
will just concede the puncher role to
the Filipino. Donaire; who eviscerated
Vic Darchinyan back in 2007 at flyweight
seemed to drop off of the radar. Now
when I say "radar" I'm talking about
American TV and the two networks that
showcase boxing talent. He isn't as
visible as Montiel in the last several
weeks but he is prepared to take what he
believes to be his this Saturday. He's
coming to KO Montiel inside of six and I
like the strategy because he's a
Bantamweight fighting for future dates
and purses. The winner will definitely
be in line to make that phone call to
the Showtime Sports to see if they can
crash the Bantamweight party they have
going on over there. Also, look out for
the uber torso Mike Jones in his attempt
to correct a lackluster performance in
his first fight versus Jesus Soto Karrass. It
looks good on paper but must say this;
that kid (Jones) is too damned big to
not be leaving something on the scale.
At 6' 0" with the shoulders and back of a
light heavyweight, I can't see him
looking any less sluggish than in his last
fight at 147lbs. Whatever the goal is,
it failed because he's too far from
enticing Berto (who's looking down the
scale) or any of the names at
welterweight to even knowing his name.
Hopefully the Jones camp have the
foresight to take this check and get on
with it because the guy can be a player
at the Jr. Middleweight limit.
Let
the selling begin!
Manny
and Shane on the road, whipping up a
frenzy with their friendly gestures and
million dollar smiles as they lie to
you. The latest spin is that Shane does
well with guys who come to him. Sounds
familiar? That's because once Evander
jumped the shark that was his excuse/mantra to legitimize his continuing to
fight. Let me decipher the words better
for you: "Stand still and let me hit you," aka the old guy at the hoop gym that
complains that the youngsters should
walk it up more. Shane even said that he
feels like he's doing Floyd Mayweather's
dirty work. Really? That's funny because
to me it looks as if Mosley simply
because he is a known quantity is
profiting off of Floyd's negotiating
position. Trying to sell a so-called
Super Fight on the premise that anybody
when hit can be hurt (when you know who
that will be) isn't inspiring me to
write any "Mosley's got a shot" articles
anytime soon. I did that last year and
what I say (I'll keep saying it) was not
a bad style match up! I saw an old man
who flinched and caved when Mayweather
walked to him; don't forget Floyd
isn't jumping around in there anymore.
Want to know how unwarranted this fight
is? I'm not sure if Mayweather vs.
Pacquiao isn't at its past due date. I'm not sure (correct me if you want)
but Super Fights NEVER seem to transpire
between two rich guys in their mid-to-
late thirties. Manny is still young
enough to beat up guys like Shane but if
he is around trolling for corpses in two
years a guy like Amir Khan will beat him
up. I would LOVE to be a part of an
uprising that took this landmark deal
and reduced it to worthless purely on
the strength of protest. Social
Networking ousted a dictator of 30 years
in Egypt; and we can't get the fights we
want? Really?
And
speaking of Social Networking
Floyd
Mayweather is tweeting more than shout
outs to 50 Cent and professional
homies, which is a good thing. I don't
know how long this legal matter is going
to sideline the champ but the more he
says about boxing the better. Plenty of
boxers (Omar Henry, Zab Judah) are using
Twitter and Facebook effectively to
bridge the gap between fighter and fan
which I applaud. But sometimes it can
backfire on you and those 140 characters
have a way of framing you as a dumbass
when you thought you were being clever.
Wars have broken out between fighters
and I'm sure promoters as well as
commissioners view the medium as
deterrent to keeping the sausage-making
private. Fighters are proud, the last
thing a promoter or manager wants to see
is his fighter popping off about one
thing and he's working on another.
Earlier this week Floyd
Mayweather tweeted out youtube videos of
all of Manny Pacquiao's losses- and I'm
sure he felt like Johnny Cochran. To me
it went off like his infamous Ustream
rant; it only appealed to sycophants and
fans. My first response was "and?" I'm
sure there's video of you where you
appear different than you are today. Explain how this gets the fight
done?" I
once showed a friend (and recent Floyd
convert) a video of Floyd at 130lbs and
his jaw dropped when he saw how many
combinations he used to throw. This is
what makes the whole thing silly,
fighters mature and change like people
in other fields. Floyd's rationalization
about wins and losses pretty much
renders him inferior to Joe Calzaghe and
Rocky Marciano. I mean they do have more
wins, right? As usual Manny Pacquiao's
response was characteristically classy
and positive; the Filipino only wished
Floyd could come back and do what he
does best. If this debate manifests
itself similarly in the ring I see
Floyd's "0" going due to him being too
emotional and unusually reckless. Floyd
needs a Twitter ghostwriter to form his
arguments and keep it clever and funny,
you know, somebody like.....ME!
Manny
Pacquiao wants you to believe him
Another
interesting quote from this past week
was Manny Pacquiao answering the PED
question with "you have to believe me."
Ideally he is correct, unlike Shane he's
never tested positive and the only
accusations flying his way literally
come from a family of men who are no
strangers to law enforcement. Yet,
without jumping on Floyd's bandwagon of
"I just want everybody to compete
cleanly" I have to view Manny's naiveté
as a negative in this situation. You
see, no matter how malicious the act of
throwing out the innuendo is the most
important thing is where Floyd
threw it. Manny is more beloved in
America than Floyd, but Floyd is an
American and he knows the suspicious
terrain. We are long past "you have to
believe me" in this culture, our
innocence was stripped from us a long
time ago when Richard Nixon told us he
was not a crook. Since then we've seen
all manner of institutions defiled by
the must win society we've created.
Boxing was dirty long before Kennedy
called Marylyn on the bat phone, so much
so that Cassius Clay our deity may have
fought a mafia fixed fight against Sonny
Liston. Our sacred records in baseball
mean nothing and our beloved Football is
too important to look behind the same
curtain because we love our violence too
much. Pacquiao can't deal with one side
of American celebrity and then ignore
the pessimism and cynical attacks from
rivals. Floyd Mayweather may ultimately
hurt himself in this war of wills, but
don't utter the words (on American soil)
"you must believe me." This is the
United States of Alternative Reality and
I'm not sure the average American trusts
himself.
In
Business and in Love
How
many couples are born out of careless
spouses neglect? How many great business
models are based on another's
ineptitude? Boxing, the fractured
laughing stock of American sports is in
an advantageous position if Goliath (The
NFL) takes a knee. Collision sports are
like gateway drugs, the guy who loves
big NFL hits usually likes a big fight
no matter the discipline. The NFL owners
have made it clear that this isn't a CBA
negotiation, this is a takeover and it
won't be pretty. Boxing power brokers
should be watching the proceedings like
a predator waiting to pounce. They just
brought in a Federal Intervention
mediator (write that down Floyd, Manny)
to try and force both sides to play nice
and get this thing settled. If boxing
promoters have any foresight they raid
the networks looking for prime real
estate in September because we're going
to have our first March Super Bowl in
2012. Jerry Jones knows this; you think
Mayweather and Arum were in his box by
coincidence on Super Bowl Sunday? If
there was ever a good time to present
network TV with quality cards in the
fall it is now, to hell with the
football players. If Arum can provide
CBS with a couple of great Sunday
afternoon cards in September to a
collision starved audience he can only
win fans. The 1980's wasn't great
because of the cream at the top;
arguably the cream will be great in
every era despite our limited
opportunity to see them. The 80's was a
glamorous period because of the middle-class, the tough contenders you could
catch on a Saturday afternoon after
Little League. Did I just say that?
Damnit, I'm aging myself.
Stealing the last Round
Pernell
Whitaker went all Zen earlier this week
claiming he won't be teaching Zab Judah
but helping him re-learn who he already
is. I don't know if it made so much
sense; it should have occurred much
earlier in Judah's career. I honestly
think "Super" always fancied himself a
puncher and he's not as naturally
defensive as Whitaker thinks he is.
Freddie Roach claims the goal is to beat
Mosley in a more dominant fashion than
Mayweather -this bullshit will never end.
Morales vs. Maidana is a PPV; and they
should call it "Bend over, this wont
hurt a bit." It will be a test of your
ethical backbone as farces like this one
are always supported by interesting
bouts. Katsidis vs. Guerrero is the kind
of match-up you want to see the Ghost in
because the Aussie will make anyone
fight to survive. ESPN got into 3D
boxing last night while broadcasting
Shawn Porters UD vs. Anges Adjaho on
Friday Night Fights. We have got to be
the most economically pimp-slapped fan
base in sports, if it ain't the PPVs and
premium channels now we got to buy funny
glasses. David Haye is ripping the
Klitschkos again and no, this isn't
2009. I'm not sure where to go with this
one but I'm damn sure they want his ass
and they want him bad. I'm not even sure
if it's viable to us anymore but I'm
pretty sure at this point either brother
would fight him in a parking lot if
given the chance. Haye claims he tried
to shame them into the ring with no
success. I believe he did succeed which
is why we are here today. The
Filipino/Mexican rivalry is blowing up,
Calling Puerto Rico..."Hello, where you at
Boricua?
What?
How do I know what's in my wraps? My
trainer lays all that stuff out for me,
I'm just focusing on what the hell I
need to do.
