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Was "The Ghost" yellow?
There’s been a lot of chatter
within boxing circles about Robert Guerrero’s “enthusiasm” in
having last week's bout against Daud Yordan declared a no
contest. Man, that’s a hard one to call, even from Mr. “that’s
right, I said it” himself. First of all it has been pointed out
that guys like Arturo Gatti have made a living fighting with
cuts. I would even venture to say that “Thunder” viewed blood as
an opening bell so to speak. The whole issue is subjective but I
will say this, Yordan even with a small sample size looked to be
the kind of slickster that could bother the Ghost. It’s one thing
to be cut against a guy more limited and telegraphic than you;
it’s another to be cut by a guy that could be a sharpshooter.
Marquez was cut against Diaz but he knew he could dial up his
defense and Juan Diaz was pretty much becoming predictable at
that point. Now, Diaz being cut against a cerebral, accurate
combination puncher ultimately turned into a big problem. I’d
rather call this one a subjective “wash” and give Guerrero a pass
on the decision to shut it down. I also say this because I would
pass out at the sight of my own blood like a sista catching the
Holy Ghost on Sunday morning. Did anyone get the sense that Teddy
Atlas was hating on his former co-trainer Kevin Rooney during the
Friday Night Fights broadcast? It seemed like the more Atlas
hated on the peek-a-boo style, the better the overmatched Rooney
pupil did.
No Montreal Cuisine
Fulgencio Zuniga’s people have
every right to question a Montreal referee being in place for his
battle with Lucian Bute Friday night on Showtime. Like I’ve said
before, good for Bute and the sport that he can draw but more
should be done to eliminate the instances of favoritism.
Different conference refs are used all the time in the other
sports so boxing should step up their game. To Bute's credit he
says he wouldn’t care if the referee was from Columbia, Zuniga’s
home country.
March 21 Klitschko vs. Gomez
The big man, fresh off of taking
Samuel Peter's lunch money is doing the right thing by staying
busy. That the broadcast will be an afternoon feed from ESPN is
also encouraging, look for the network to give this fight the
championship treatment. Gomez, the “Black Panther,” was a very
solid cruiserweight and thought to be an interesting interloper
to the division a couple of years ago. The same intrigue that
surrounds David Haye used to surround the Cuban so I look for the
cocky Gomez to bring his deep skill set to the afternoon
festivities. Klitschko is a year older and if Gomez can come in
shape and use movement and angles this fight could get
interesting. Meanwhile, baby brother can’t seem to get anything
put together with David Haye or Chris Arreola. Note to David
Haye, boxing history is filled with guys that made concessions
to get the fight they KNEW they would win. This kind of faith is
with the understanding that the money would come in buckets once
they beat “the man.” Although history has shown that sometimes it
doesn’t work out this way, David Haye (if he wins) will be a real
star. Why not let the champ have his, that way when you beat him
and he comes back to the table you can get yours. In my not so
humble opinion it appears that Haye's people are negotiating as
if the cocky Brit is about to take a beating. If I were in camp
Arreola I would go forward with the April 11th Jameel
McCline engagement, the veteran will provide Arreola with a
glimpse of what a gigantic athlete looks like. Maybe this
experience (if he survives it) will put a very talented young man
on the treadmill.
March 21st Roy Jones vs. Omar
Sheika
Roy is asking you to pay PPV
prices in this economy to see him fight an inactive, “chinny”
career super middleweight. Inactive since 2007 I’m not even sure
if Sheika can stay upright against jailed nemesis Scott
Pemberton, let alone a very faded Jones. To sweeten the pot,
Square Ring is working through a respected boxing website and
providing MMA action as well. BJ Penn, in MMA circles is a great
fighter; his rivalry with Sean Shirk captivated MMA message
boards for most of last year. I don’t know what to make of it and
I don’t believe you need me to call it what it is. So, I’ll
qualify it like this: If you want to see boxing succeed on the
internet, miss your MMA buddies, have no outstanding bills,
girlfriends, child support and you really want to see Roy go out
“right”- knock yourself out. I will warn you though, if enough of
you order and Roy wins, he will be catapulted into discussions
with a whole slew of people he can no longer beat and you will be
angry he didn’t walk away. The more resources you contribute to
this phase of his career, the less available for guys like Glenn
Johnson who deserve to fight for 175 lb. supremacy. Given these
hard economic times I wouldn’t blame any of you for once (and for
all-time) showing the likes of Roy Jones the door. Remember when
your money was right and you could afford to order PPV’s
irresponsibly, shrug to yourself and rationalize it by saying you
love this fighter or that fighter? Well, this might not be that
time.
March 27th Samuel
Peter vs. Eddie Chambers
Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s
right hand ace once said, “never let a crisis go to waste.” ESPN
seems to be following that script to the letter, coming back with
a great crossroads/ boxer vs. puncher match up. We may have our
complaints about the “big boys” but both Peter and Chambers have
given us enough to perk up when they square off. Both guys
stylistically resemble their forbearers Chris Byrd and David Tua;
whether they will suffer the same limitations will be interesting
to find out. Peter has got to get back in the win column, his
non-performance against “Big Brother Iron fist” put his whole
career in question. I would have preferred an easier target for
him but we can all take solace in the fact that Chambers is more
of a stationary fighter than Chris Byrd ever was. Chambers,
Philadelphia tough, can always use a victory over a name puncher
to solidify his case as a legit Heavyweight contender. I’m
leaning towards a nip and tuck affair with Peters getting through
Chamber’s high guard in the later rounds to get him out of there.
The great thing about two live fighters taking on this challenge
on ESPN is the fact that both have drank from the premium network
well. Neither guy, no matter what the ratings are, want to end up
being relegated to ESPN- make no mistake, they are fighting to
get off the island.
In like a lion and out like
a what?
Historically (that means May)
we’ll all look back on this month as the month of two many damned
PPV’s. I haven’t even mentioned Nonito Donaire vs. Raul Martinez
on the 21st. Bob Arum continues the “moving” of JCC
Jr. on another Latin Fury PPV on the 28th of March.
I’m saving my money for Golden Boy's “Lightweight Lightening” on
April 4th, hopefully the very successful man behind
this promotion wont swipe up another Fall PPV date to get another
mortality memo. I know looking at the remainder of this month
would make one think there’s not a lot of substance but look at
it this way... You got the Marquez masterpiece and my birthday
all in the first week!. What more can you ask for?
3-12-2009
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