Chris John landed a whole bunch of these against Rocky Juarez, but still only came away with a draw.This week’s Heavyweight musings from a Strawweight brain:
1. Score one for the old-timers!
I have to admit, when I see guys my age garnering impressive fistic victories, it makes my trips to the chiropractor feel a little less geriatric. So give it up for Juan Manuel Marquez & Glencoffe Johnson, both of which prove that the 38+ club (Bernard Hopkins, Director) is still alive and kicking! First, Johnson avenged one of his many previous atrociously-scored defeats Friday night in a Light Heavyweight bout against Daniel “How can I only be five months older than my brother Zab?” Judah. The 40-year old ageless one just keeps on ticking, and his work rate seems to actually be getting BETTER with age. Not to mention after each fight he vows to “keep pressin’ on as always, mon!” in that awesome vernacular of the islands. Here’s hoping that he gets the one big payday he yet deserves, but my guess is everyone in the 175-pound division will be avoiding him like the plague, as always.
As for Marquez, 38, is it time for Mexican fans to put him up there with J.C. Superstar already? Forget Lightweights, I don’t know how many fighters in any division could stand up to what Juan Diaz threw at him in the first six rounds, let alone come back and knock Diaz silly in the 9th round. He’s better than Morales or Barrera were, and many think he’s beaten Pacquiao twice already, so he may be the best pound-for-pound right now at almost 40. That’s something the others cannot say. Was there any other 135-pound fighter that Diaz would have lost to with his performance Saturday? Not likely. Watch Marquez while he’s still around, folks, because you are watching one of the greatest Mexican warriors ever.
2. That guy with two first names can fight.
After watching Featherweight Chris John somehow come out of his fight against Rocky Juarez with a draw on the undercard of Marquez-Diaz, I’m more and more inclined to believe that John’s victory over Marquez in Indonesia last year may not have been the robbery we’ve heard from some circles. John can really box, and he’s an incredibly accurate puncher; although Juarez fought his best fight in a few years, I still am not sure how all three judges found six rounds to give to Rocky. I had four, but John sure dominated the middle rounds. Maybe since this fight was in Juarez’ hometown of Houston, maybe they can take the rematch back to Borneo (John’s from Indonesia), the site of John’s victory over Marquez.
3. Where do they hold a fight in Borneo, anyway?
Maybe I should be a little more worldly (or get on worldatlas.com occasionally), but isn’t Borneo like 90% rain forest or something? It seems every time the National Geographic Channel needs to find giant lizards or a lost tribe of pygmies, they start pitching tents on some mountain there. If I’m right, I think that the remains of those hobbit people were found there, too. And you thought fan man was bad? Wait until some flying baboon jumps into Don King’s hair in the middle of the 5th round….
4. Happy to be back in Y-town!
If I’m the next middleweight invited to fight world champ Kelly Pavlik in his hometown of Youngstown, I think I’ll be like NFL teams looking at Ray Lewis and just take a pass. His win (if not that raucous crown in Y-town) over Marco Antonio Rubio a week ago last Saturday was pretty impressive, especially for a comeback fight. Like Miguel Cotto, you never know what a fighter will look like after his first setback, and Pavlik passed with flying colors. I will say one thing, however; Rubio really disappointed me; for some reason, I just expected more. Sure, he was going to be outclassed most likely, but is this the same guy that beat Enrique Ornelas and knocked out Jose Luis Zertuche? After about the second round, Rubio looked like he was just trying not to get knocked out, which of course, he eventually did. I don’t know what the strategy was going into that fight from the Rubio camp, but against Pavlik, you better come with something stronger than that. Here’s hoping Kelly and Arthur Abraham can come to some agreement soon. Who wouldn’t like that fight?
5. Undercard bout: Ray Mancini vs. English.
You can’t argue with the sheer enthusiasm of Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini when he does color commentary (as in the Pavlik fight with Mr. Smooth, Nick Charles), and he was the natural selection being Youngstown’s first fistic hero before Pavlik. However, a complete English sentence and Mancini looked to have parted ways back when he was knocking out Bobby Chacon in ‘84. Is it just me, or does it sound like Ray’s brain just wants him to get to the next thought thisfast sohedoesn'thave timetofinishwhat he'salreadysaying? Man, I was as wiped out as Rubio was at the end of 9 rounds just trying to keep up with Ray! And I still don’t know what a “stickle de move” is, either. English TKO 5.
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