The Finito Q & A – February edition

Wladamir Klitschko may be able to fill a European arena, but American eyes won't be seeing his fight against Eddie Chambers unless it's via the Internet.

This month’s ten burning questions, from Victor Ortiz on the comeback trail to a bunch of can’t-watch TV:

Q: Is it really true that the Finito is a year old now?

A: Yes, believe it or not, somehow I have managed to keep my heavyweight musings from a strawweight brain going since Feb. 24 of 2009! From my initial ramblings about how Bob Arum was doing Miguel Cotto no favors by defending Antonio Margarito and his loaded gloves, the last year just flew by. I guess that means there was a lot to talk about in the fight game, which is always great thing. Good and bad, this is still a lot of fun. Blogs have given the fan a voice, and that can never be discounted. It is our passion as fans that keeps boxing going.

Q: Well, it certainly doesn’t seem that the boxing establishment helps itself out much in that regard. Is it accurate that the Wlad Klitschko-Eddie Chambers fight isn’t on American TV?

A: As of right now, that is unfortunately true. As much as I think the TV networks here are fairly stupid for not grabbing what I think will be a pretty good fight, the Klitschko camp is equally as clueless. The heavyweight champion defending his championship against the number three ranked man in his division on a webcast feed? Really? If nothing else, you would think someone would have set up some kind of terrestrial Pay-Per-View or something. All this does is make the heavyweight championship even more devalued. Klitschko may not care as long as he packs arenas in Europe, but this really shafts Chambers, who is American and deserves better exposure than this.

Q: Speaking of TV problems, wasn’t the Fight Night Club show with Victor Ortiz supposed to be on Thursday on FSN in the States? I couldn’t find it anywhere.

A: That’s because it wasn’t on [I]anywhere[/I], at least that night. I get the massive DirecTV package with about 50 FSN affiliates, and it wasn’t on a single one of those. It wasn’t until Friday night (when I already was at work), did I happen to stumble across it - right in the middle of the show, of course! I eventually caught it on replay, but this was another shoddy promotional job by Golden Boy and FSN. Most of the FSN affiliates were locked into showing some college hoops Thursday night, anyway, so Fight Night Club was never going to be shown then. You would think at least someone would have mentioned that fact somewhere. At least when ESPN maddeningly changes their starting times for Friday Night Fights, it’s still on Friday night! Oh, the trials and tribulations of being a boxing fan…

Q: Provided that anyone did get to see it, then, was Victor’s tenth-round KO of Hector Alatorre anything to suggest Ortiz is back?

A: It sure didn’t look like it, and Alatorre was a clear step down from Antonio Diaz, Ortiz’ last opponent. Alatorre wasn’t even in that good a shape, and while the uppercut from Ortiz that ended it was impressive, you would think that could have happened six rounds earlier. During the telecast, commentator Doug Fischer said that Golden Boy wanted Ortiz fighting Timothy Bradley by year’s end. Anyone see that as a competitive fight right now? It’s really hard to bang on a guy for a win, but Ortiz just doesn’t look like he did prior to his knockout at the hands of Marcos Maidana. He used to steamroll whoever was put in front of him; he still wins now, but it feels like a cautious performance rather than pure killer instinct.

Q: Going back a week or so, what did you think of Giovani Segura’s awesome KO of Walter Tello? Is Segura for real?

A: He’s as real as it gets at 108 pounds, which normally has a dearth of huge stars. He’s exciting, gives a great effort, a good interview, and seems to be an all-around cool guy. However, he finds himself channeling Arturo Gatti too much, and gets hit a lot. While that is fun for everyone except his family, he’ll have to clean that up if he wants to beat Ivan Calderon, who is likely his next opponent. If Segura can’t knock Calderon out, he’ll get hit with more punches than there are Saw movies. And let’s not talk about a fight against Roman Gonzalez, which also has been rumored. Someone’s headed for Queer Street for sure in that one, and it might be Segura.

Q: OK, onto the PPV from this weekend. Is Rodel Mayol destined to have a bizarre ending to every fight he’s involved in now?

A: You’d have to consult some boxing oracle about fistic destiny, but there’s no denying that the last four fights Mayol has had ended pretty strangely. First, there were the two premature head-butt endings with Ivan Calderon. Then, there was his butt-then-knockout combination that worked against Edgar Sosa. Now, his 108-pound title tilt with Omar Nino Romero goes to a no-contest. In case you missed it, Nino hit Mayo low in the third round. While Mayol was complaining about the hit and referee Vic Drakulich was halting the action, Nino walked up and cranked the Filipino with a left that knocked him almost cold. Drakulich even had his hands on Nino to restrain him when the last punch was fired. Nino initially thought he won, but Drakulich correctly ruled the fight a no-contest, or technical draw in Mexico. Very strange stuff.

Q: But the PPV commentators Col. Bob Sheridan and Benny Ricardo seemed to think that Mayol should have been protecting himself at all times and Nino deserved the knockout win despite the foul. Is there an argument for that?

A: Not a strong one, and this is from Sheridan, who once said the Laila Ali-Jacqui Frazier-Lyde fight was the best fight in the history of boxing (he’ll never live that one down in my book). Ricardo also contended that Nino probably didn’t understand Drakulich when he said, “stop” because it wasn’t the Spanish “alto”. Nino is a veteran of 34 fights and has fought in the U.S. before, so I don’t buy that for a minute. Nino probably knew he had hit Mayol low, so he shouldn’t be too surprised his subsequent divebomb attack was ruled illegal. It’s standard refereeing, based on advantage/disadvantage. You can’t gain an advantage with a low blow and then use that to knock a guy out. Drakulich did the right thing in some tough circumstances (in front of a Mexican crowd rooting like hell for Nino), which is a plus in this case for boxing.

Q: What was up with those Arroyo brothers on the undercard, McJoe and McWilliams? Are those names real?

A: Yeah, and both their names make me want to go to McDonalds for a Big Mac. Isn’t a McJoe what they call coffee now at Mickey D’s? Now granted, the brothers are from Puerto Rico, but last time I checked, you can hit the Golden Arches there, too. Maybe the Arroyos figured if their sons got famous, it was an endorsement deal waiting to happen. Still, these two will have to be placed alongside Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Vladamir Guerrero in the pantheon of confusing mixed nationalities between first and last name. The best? Carlos Elliott, a Japanese cruiserweight from the 90’s. I still haven’t figured that one out.

Q: Did you see that judge Pierre Benoist weighed in with another questionable scorecard in the Gabriel Rosado-Saul Roman fight on Saturday’s Top Rank card? How does he keep getting fights?

A: My guess is he has pictures of someone at Top Rank doing something with somebody’s wife (or husband or both) that they’d rather not have made public. If you remember, Benoist was the guy that submitted a near-shutout scorecard for Paul Williams in his fight with Sergio Martinez, which was a very close fight. Even after the hue and cry surrounding that fiasco, Benoist was at it again, giving Roman a 97-93 edge when both judges had it for Rosado 96-94. It was a fairly close fight, but not seven rounds to three in Roman’s favor kind of close. Rosado had at least four rounds where he stunned Roman, so where Benoist found only three rounds to give to the Philly fighter is anyone’s guess. Let’s hope someone sends him back to Canada to judge figure skating and get him out of boxing’s hair once and for all.

Q: Word has it that Floyd Mayweather hasn’t said anything crazy this week. Is something wrong?

A: Maybe “Money” has been feeling under the weather this week, I don’t know. After comparing himself to Martin Luther King and Malcom X, I was sure that he’d find other allusions to his greatness. His stance against steroids was revolutionary like George Washington. He’s looking to reform boxing a la the original Martin Luther. He’s standing against boxing tyranny like Winston Churchill stood against the Third Reich. He has more kids than John & Kate Plus Eight. Whatever. I’m sure Floyd will be back with something totally nonsensical soon, and if he doesn’t, his old man or uncle Roger will do the honors. It’s only a matter of time, isn’t it?

The Finito Flash – Mayweather from Mars, Roy Jones from Mars, too

The Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones press conference last week was held debate-style. While both fighters repeatedly said the public wanted this fight, that fact may be what should actually up for debate.

_

Some quick thoughts about current goings-on in the Sweet Science:

Floyd Mayweather continually says he cannot understand why he isn’t given more respect by fans and the boxing community. Even if you were giving “Money” major props for standing his ground against Manny Pacquiao in regards to Olympic-style drug testing, Mayweather then has to take it a step further with this gem (to Grand Rapids Press and Ring Magazine reporter David Mayo):

“If it was all about money for me, I would’ve said ‘I don’t care what Manny Pacquiao does, just give me the money, I’ll take it,’ ” he said. “But it’s me taking a stand for something that means something. And it’s for the fighters who are up and coming.

“It’s sort of the same stance Martin Luther King and Malcolm X made, so we could have freedoms, so everybody could tell the world that we’re equal. The only thing I’m saying is that we are equal. So if you’re not on nothing and I’m not on nothing, then let’s go take the test. That’s all I’m saying."

So let me get this straight then, Floyd. So your stand against standard drug testing for slightly more rigid drug testing (in a sporting contest, no less) somehow compares to civil rights leaders fighting for a race of people to be able to attend the same schools as their white counterparts? Are you from another planet or something? You would think that having two uncles and a father involved in the sport (giving uncle Jeff a pass) who lived through the civil rights era might give Floyd some badly needed perspective, but that would be like asking John Ruiz to go through an entire minute without clinching. Chances are Roger and Floyd, Sr. probably don’t even remember the 60’s. And Mr. Mayo, please don’t go asking them.

Let’s not even ponder what Floyd considers “freedom” to be. Maybe he needs to go to North Korea or Krygyzstan, where he wouldn’t even be allowed to make such comments publicly. Fairness, as in sports drug testing, and freedom, as in having free speech, aren’t even close to the same thing.

Floyd, in his quest to make news again whenever someone stops talking about him for five minutes, personifies the out-of-touch athlete perfectly. If he hasn’t learned by this point to be careful to whom he compares himself, he never will. What’s next? The next time he decides not to take a fight, is Mayweather going to say he’s being non-violent like Ghandi?

And remember, Manny Pacquiao, this is the man you were worried was smearing your reputation. Still feel like suing?

_

/

_

The best part about the press tour that began last week for the long awaited (?) rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones is hearing the two try and explain why anyone should be interested in this fight. Forget that their fight in ’93 was nothing much to write home about, or that Hopkins is now 45 and Jones recently got his head handed to him the last time he stepped into a ring. Like every fight that has ever been signed, it’s “what the people wanted”, right?

Said Jones: "We're giving the fans what they want to see. They deserve this fight and why not supply the fans with what they demand? Now I can finally terminate the Executioner once and for all. My new nickname for this fight will be - The Terminator."

You know what the fans want to see? Mayweather-Paquiao. You know what fans wanted to see ten years ago? Jones-Hopkins. Just because you guys took longer to fight again than Guns N’ Roses took to make Chinese Democracy does not entitle you to the same fervor that would have been the case back in 2000. Besides, if Roy Jones wanted to supply the fans with what they truly demand, how about giving everyone their money back for that terrible fight he had with Jeff Lacy? There were more than a few who demanded a return for their PPV dollars for that one…

_

/

_

Now that we’ve all spent the week reliving the incredible Buster Douglas-Mike Tyson upset of 20 years ago (has it really been that long?), it’s interesting to reflect upon just how a single fight can change everything. Unlike maybe any other sport there is, one night in the ring can send careers in directions inconceivable the day before.

Buster Douglas, unknown journeyman, goes from obscurity to greatness, beating the invincible “Iron” Mike as a dedication to his recently deceased mother. He then throws it all away, falling out of shape and losing his championship to Evander Holyfield in his very next fight. From there, the parties, women and alcohol become an uncontrollable roller coaster ride, pushing him out of the sport. He nearly dies four years later from a diabetic coma, at nearly 450 pounds. He then dedicates his life to beating the disease, writing a book on his struggles that he and his family still have in overcoming it. Douglas has said that beating Tyson was nothing compared to some of the other issues he had to overcome in his life afterwards. He’s lucky to be alive, and a Tyson right hand may have been the least of his problems.

For all the press that Tyson has received in the past for his topsy-turvy life since that night, Douglas may have had just as unlikely a road to where he currently resides. The only difference may be Buster’s lack of facial tattoos!

The Finito Five 2/11/09

Edwin Valero and his mighty gash pounded out a victory over Antonio DeMarco Saturday. No word yet on whether Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez approved of the victory, or would be appointing Valero to a cabinet position.

Tattooing your brain with boxing opinions, it’s the Finito Five!

1. Valero gets gashed, then gashes DeMarco

To many a trained boxing eye, bawdy records and knockout totals are only impressive as the competition they come against. Many times, in order to justify that record, fighters will need to back up that record against opponents highly regarded enough to make everyone take notice. While the Venezuelan lightweight Edwin Valero has compiled an eye-catching 27-0 record with all knockouts, those wins have come against fairly anonymous competition. Well, with his grueling stoppage of the excellent Antonio DeMarco in Monterrey, Mexico, last Saturday, it may be time to sit up and take notice. It wasn’t just the fact that Valero knocked DeMarco out, it was the heart and guts he showed in doing so that has everyone talking. If you saw only the first six rounds of the fight, you might have thought that the Man With Hugo Chavez On His Chest had finally faced a real opponent, and his stock was about to take a huge hit. DeMarco, a much taller fighter, was landing his share of punches while basically keeping Valero at bay. He was not getting knocked out inside of four rounds like most of Valero’s opponents, either. Add to that a massive gash to Valero’s forehead caused by an accidental elbow in round two (apparently, in Mexico, it takes more blood than a battle scene in 300 to stop a fight there) that caused his face to become the proverbial crimson mask. Still, Valero fought through it, and started to put a serious beating on DeMarco after round six, so much so that the Mexican withered under the assault and stopped on his stool after round nine. Of course, the stupid open scoring system the WBC uses announced that DeMarco was behind 98-91 after eight rounds, so that probably helped make his decision to quit that much easier.

Still, at this point, while this single fight is not enough for anyone to gauge whether Valero is the goods or not, we now know he has the heart to get in tough and persevere against a quality opponent. His toughest opponent may be his visa and past health problems, as he still can’t get licensed in the United States bar Texas, and to become truly big, he’ll have get his foot in the door in Las Vegas. Either way, Valero has proven that he’s certainly a boatload of fun to watch, and if he can get on TV more frequently, people will tune in. For DeMarco, however, this wasn’t a good night. While he was able to fend off Valero for the first handful of rounds, his size and reach should have been more effective, and wasn’t. This could have been a big feather in his cap, and he knew it. While Valero is certainly trending up, we’ll have to see if DeMarco can bounce back from this career crossroads. At least when DeMarco does it, most fans will be able to see it. With Valero, we can only hope.

2. But does Hugo Chavez have a left hook like JC Superstar?

Speaking of that Hugo Chavez tattoo on Valero’s chest (which covers practically the whole thing), why hasn’t anybody asked him about it yet? Tyson puts a Mao tattoo on his arm, and then another one of Che Guevara (several boxers have this, too), and the press can’t stop asking him about it. Somehow though, Valero can display his tribute to socialist governance with nary a question? Look, there’s been many a drunken night that ended up with misguided tattoo of some head of state (who the hell is Angela Merkel and why is she on my stomach?), but it would be interesting to at least hear Valero’s reasoning. Even better yet, being that boxing is such a capitalist endeavor in the first place, why don’t Bob Arum and Don King have tattoos of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett on their chests? My only hope is that Valero didn’t ask for Julio Ceasar Chavez on his chest, only to end up with his country’s leader instead. One thing we do know about Hugo Chavez is that no trainer would ever have to tell him to go to his left!

3. Adamek attacks the heavyweight ranks

It has been written in this space before that Thomasz Adamek would serve the boxing public better as a top cruiserweight than another small heavyweight on Planet Klitschko. Regardless of that or anyone else’s wishes, the Pole looks destined to ply his trade with the Big Boys of boxing full time. Showing up at a meaty but natural-looking 220 pounds, Adamek turned in a solid performance against the decent former U.S. Olympian Jason Estrada Saturday, winning a 12-round decision. Disregarding his first heavyweight foray against the over-the-hill Andrew Golota, this was his true debut against someone over 190 pounds. He didn’t disappoint the New Jersey crowd, which had enough Polish people in attendance that they must have been checking visas at the door along with tickets. Although Estrada put on his usual act of being shocked and befuddled at a fight he clearly lost, give Adamek credit; he has good hand speed for a heavy and can throw good combinations to the body, which he did often. He also can take a heavyweight punch, which he displayed when Estrada cracked him in round ten. As good as this performance was, however, all things heavyweight are measured against the Klitschko brothers. Would this showing have been enough to make Vitali or Wladamir take notice? Not yet, and only time will tell if Adamek can change that.

4. Giving fight fans more of what they want

It has been written in this space many times just how TV networks manage to mess with or mess up the fight game, so it’s only fair to praise them when they get things right. After it was thought that Fox Sports Net (U.S.) had left boxing permanently, Bob Arum and Top Rank has brought it back with a vengeance with no less that three new shows a month! The new Top Rank Live series has already given us such excellent fare as Brandon Rios’ superb knockout of Jorge Teron, Vanes Martirosyan and Kassim Ouma’s pitched battle, plus the return of Jorge Arce to the big stage. Add to that upcoming fights featuring Giovani Segura (and his famously disgraced trainer, Javier Capetillo), Victor Ortiz and Mike Jones, and this new series is quickly becoming must-see TV. Every week likely won’t be PPV-level fights, but when Arum has given us crap like Julio Ceasar Chavez Jr.-Troy Rowland on a major PPV undercard (Pacquiao-Cotto) before, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. At least it should be on the level of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. Speaking of which, a quick kudos to FNF for grabbing the Glen Johnson-Yusaf Mack 175-pound tilt off the cancelled Mosley-Berto scrap heap. No one was sure if Johnson was on the way out or not, but that convincing knockout of the streaking Mack was a good return to form; thanks to quick thinking on the Worldwide Leader’s part, boxing fans were able to see it.

5. The return of Finito!

Thanks to Jorge “Travieso” Arce’s early technical decision win against Angky Ankota on the Top Rank Live show recently, boxing fans got to see a real treat. Of course, given the name of this blog, there’s a bias, but none other than Alonso “Finito” Lopez, son of Hall Of Famer Ricardo “Finito” Lopez was given some screen time in his third pro fight. If anyone blinked thinking they were seeing the old man, they could hardly be blamed; Alonso is the spitting image of his father. It’s amazing that his mother can tell them apart, because the rest of us would have serious trouble. He even fights like his father, albeit a little more raw and a little less accurate, but the slight hop in his movement, hands held mid-high and combination punching are all there. Of course, it helped that his opponent, Sergio Cruz, was determined to make an impression in his professional debut by swinging so wildly he looked like he was playing Jai Halai rather than boxing. Still, Lopez scored a third-round knockout worthy of his dad’s (and this blog’s) name. It’s going to be nearly impossible to go undefeated in 52 fights like his father, but as long as he’s any bit better or more exciting than the underwhelming Julio Caesar Chavez, Jr., it should be fun to watch Alonso’s rise.

The Finito Q & A – January edition

Yuriorkis Gamboa looked spectacular in wiping out Roger Mtagwa Saturday. As to Gamboa's chances of doing the same to the pictured Juan Manuel Lopez after his victory over Steve Luevano, Bob Arum said hurry up and wait.

-

-

This month’s ten burning questions, from Juanma and Gamboa on a collision course to some shady fight cancellations:

Q: So what happened to last month’s burning questions? Where was the Q & A for December?

A: Look, some of have lives, so relax. Not only has the last month been short of any real action save the Mayweather-Pacquiao debacle, but it was also the Christmas season, man! Throw in a cold that kept me out of action for a good part of those holidays, and it was a slow month. Besides, if anyone’s really on pins and needles waiting for this column, they should seek help immediately.

Q: Fine, on to the fight that didn’t happen, then. You said a few weeks ago that Pac Man and “Money” Mayweather would eventually fight because they couldn’t pass the money up. Still believe that?

A: Yes, but unfortunately, that time is probably not anytime soon. One or both of them will probably need cash at some point enough to let bygones be bygones, but like Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, who knows how long it will be from now? Five years? Ten years? Those two lunkheads passed up a golden opportunity for themselves and the sport, and no boxing fan will ever forget what could have been. Everyone’s still steaming over this.

Q: But what about Pacquiao-Clottey and Mayweather-Mosley? Aren’t those pretty good replacement fights?

A: Sure, but that’s a bit like saying you got a BMW instead of a Bentley. Not bad, but not nearly as impressive as it could have been. While both fights aren’t subpar, it will be interesting to see what the PPV numbers will be for these cards with fans in such an agitated state. Give credit to both fighters for not taking soft touches (especially with Mayweather taking on a real top-notch 147-pounder finally), but again, this is not what we were getting our hopes up for. Really, if Clottey can’t beat Cotto, who Pac Man wrecked, is anyone seriously worried about Manny’s chances? I’ll be much more interested to see what Mosley does against Pretty Boy.

Q: So what will be the actual fallout from this fight not being made?

A: A whole lot of things. First off, boxing will be on the mainstream media’s back burner again, probably for a while. Secondly, it will take some time before boxing fans shell out big money for either guy again. Top Rank and Golden Boy will probably be in for a rude awakening when it comes to that. Furthermore, this whole deal has killed the relationship between both promotional companies, so it’s going to be a while before we see any fighters from each stable fight each other. Given how many good fighters each company has, that might actually be the most damaging aspect to the sport going forward.

Q: On to the in-ring action. Just how good did Yuriorkis Gamboa and Juan Manuel Lopez look this weekend?

A: Awesomely good. The fact that Gamboa wiped out the tough-as-Beruit Roger Mtagwa (who is apparently not Rogers anymore) inside of two was simply amazing. Gamboa was not reckless at all, which he had been in previous fights, giving him an air of real vulnerability. Gamboa’s hands are the fastest we’ve seen in a while. And while Lopez looked great beating Steven Luevano, who is himself an excellent fighter, no doubt Gamboa took the show. He absolutely killed a guy that almost beat Lopez late last year, and if I were JuanMa, I’d be more than a bit worried about their future fight.

Q: Speaking of that, why did Bob Arum of Top Rank say afterwards that the both guys would have other tune-up fights before fighting each other? Wasn’t that what this card was all about?

A: This is Arum pretzel logic, which is why it has me worried. All we heard for the last couple of months was that the whole idea behind Saturday night’s card was to get both guys positioned to fight each other as long as they won. Now, Arum suddenly acts like that was never even in his plans, which is ridiculous. Look, if Gamboa really needs more seasoning, that’s fine; but let’s make sure he’s fighting credible opponents during that time. It would not be unlike Arum to milk this thing for an extra year having Gamboa and Lopez fight soft touches to “build up” momentum for the eventual fight. Who wants that? If they’re ready, they’re ready; Gamboa fighting guys with less ability then Mtagwa is not going impress or fool anyone. Besides, if you had no intention to have these guys fight next, then don’t say it in the first place! But that would make too much sense, wouldn’t it?

Q: Back in October, after Juan Carlos Salgado’s upset win over uber-prospect Jorge Linares got him a 130-pound title, you said that we should wait for a rematch before judging Linares. Well, now that Salgado got upset by unheralded Takashi Uchiyama a couple of weekends ago, what does that now say about that loss?

A: Right now, it says that Linares a bad loss on his record. Granted, Linares really just got stunned in the first round by Salgado; however, judging by the way Salgado just got dominated by a fighter with only 14 pro fights, he might be a one-shot wonder. Salgado was really never in the fight at all, looked lost at times, and succumbed to a continual left hook he couldn’t stop all fight. Maybe Linares will get that rematch with Salgado eventually. If he does, he better take Salgado out with the same authority, or boxing fans will all be wondering if Linares is really the goods.

Q: So is Brian Viloria now no longer the goods? He lost his jr. flyweight title to someone named Carlos Tamara Saturday in the Philippines.

A: If there’s a bigger enigma in boxing than the former U.S. Olympian, I have yet to see it. Viloria should have everything it takes to rule the 108-pound ranks, but he just can’t seem to show up for two big fights in a row. Remember, Viloria won the title last April with an awesome knockout of Ulises Solis, who Tamara couldn’t beat on his best day. There’s no reason that Viloria should have had this much trouble with Tamara, let alone getting starched by him. The “Hawaiian Punch” controlled the first two-thirds of the fight for the most part, so it's baffling that he could have found any way to lose it. Also, after being so strong in the later rounds last time out, he was out of gas in round twelve, and got knocked out because of it. I don’t know if this was a training issue or what, but Team Viloria needs to figure out what happened quickly. If not, Viloria will be treading water for the rest of his career. And that would be a total waste. It’s not like good American 108-pounders grow on trees (maybe just near pineapple trees).

Q: Antonio Margarito is also coming back to fight Carson Jones on the Pacquiao-Clottey undercard. Jones is also advocating his reinstatement. What does this say about boxing?

A: Well, I can tell you what it says about the Texas commission: They would apparently license Satan if he applied, horns and all. Forget the fact that Margarito hasn’t even gone in front of the California commission, where his original loaded-gloves transgression had taken place. The same people that gave us the Diaz-Malignaggi I debacle aren’t even going to make Margacheato explain himself before giving him the go ahead. Unbelievable. As for Carson Jones, he can say that canceling his fight Margarito would take food off his table, but it’s not like Margarito is the only damn big-name guy he can fight to make a name for himself. I understand his point, but he needs to realize that Margarito probably took food off a lot of fighter’s tables when he loaded his gloves. Maybe Jones should talk to Kermit Cintron, who had a bunch of potential big paydays derailed by two knockout losses to Margarito. Not only has Cintron never looked like that in any fight other than those two, it’s taken him a good five years to recover his career from that first loss, and it probably will never be what it could have been. Margarito needs to answer for that before any reinstatement is done.

Q: Then what do you make of the rumors that both Andre Berto and Jermain Taylor getting payoffs to pull out of their respective upcoming fights?

A: Step-aside money is one of the things I absolutely hate in boxing more than just about anything else. The reason I hate it so much is because it is usually hidden by some B.S. altruistic, save-the-whales reason for the fighter stepping aside, when it’s just about the greenbacks. So all of a sudden Taylor, after being told by everyone his chin is now made of glass, decides to graciously hang up his gloves? Come on. To no one’s surprise, he made it clear that this was only a temporary break; so it only makes sense that he would voluntarily pass up two huge paydays in the Super Six tourney, right? Worse yet, in Berto’s case, his reason for pulling out of the fight was due to his concern for relatives affected by that devastating earthquake in Haiti last week. While I believe that to be true, reports of a payoff to free up Mosley to fight Mayweather just smell bad. Even if everything’s above board, taking a payoff at the same time you’re telling everyone that you’re too grief-stricken to fight looks terrible. Berto’s management team should be a hell of a lot smarter than that. It would be nice if all these payoffs either went away or had to be made public. Then everyone would get the truth.