The Finito Q & A – March edition

The Super Six super middleweight tournament was turned on its ear after Arthur Abraham decided that Andre Dirrell ought to fight while on his knees, too.

This month’s ten burning questions, from Arthur Abraham’s stupid punch to Matt Godfrey’s stupid career moves:

Q: So the Finito picked another one correctly in the Super Six super middleweight tournament, but didn’t predict it would be by DQ. How could you have missed that one?

A: Uhhh, because no one else figured Arthur Abraham would go Andrew Golota and crank Andre Dirrell while he was knees-down on the canvas! While there have certainly been some surprising results with this tourney so far, this was by far the strangest. Regardless of the outcome, Dirrell really deserved this one; he did all the things that would have put him over the top in his last fight against Carl Froch. Dirrell stood and fought more, and moved only when it was effective. He thoroughly befuddled Abraham, and proved that the Armenian may not be the world-beater we all thought he was after he knocked out Jermain Taylor. Showtime analyst Antonio Tarver predicted just before the fight that the speed and movement of Dirrell would give Abraham problems; kudos to him, he was exactly right. Abraham, a real veteran, got frustrated by the eleventh round and made a stupid mistake.

Q: Was it surprising to you, then, that Abraham accused Dirrell of acting in the post fight, saying that he wasn’t really hurt?

A: Yes, it was, and even though Abraham is considered to be a good guy, that was not his best moment. Granted, he was probably pissed that he lost and got dominated along the way, but wasn’t he watching Dirrell spasm on the canvas after he hit him illegally? It was clear to everyone except Abraham’s corner that Dirrell was in some serious trouble, especially since Dirrell still couldn’t grasp that he had won the fight despite being told so multiple times. Sure, it was the heat of the moment and Abraham was still emotional at the impact of his first career (and title) loss, but that accusation was really out of line. I hope Abraham apologizes at some point for it. He could have shortened Dirrell’s career with that shot.

Q: So what does this mean for the Super Six going forward?

A: It means that it’s really anyone’s tournament to win, as everyone has gotten on the scoreboard except Allan Green, who has not yet fought. It is becoming clearer that all fighters are very near the same talent level, and depending on the matchup, any of them might win on any given night. Dirrell showed that he has as much talent as anyone, and his next fight against Andre Ward should generate huge excitement. If Green somehow beats Ward in June, the third round of this thing could be a win and you’re in kind of deal.

Q: On to other fights of the weekend. Is Marcos Maidana the most dangerous man at 140 pounds after his knockout of Victor Cayo Saturday?

A: There are a lot of dangerous fighters at junior welterweight, but it’s fair to say there aren’t too many lining up to get a piece of the Argentinean. Freddie Roach didn’t want Amir Khan on the same continent as Maidana, and Team Khan managed to maneuver the situation so that Khan didn’t have to face Maidana despite his being Khan’s mandatory title challenger. Regardless of how spurious that might have been, Maidana’s clearly one of the most fearsome punchers in any weight division. Cayo, while being a little young and technically challenged, is a good fighter, but couldn’t hang with Maidana’s relentless pressure. That body shot he landed on Cayo hurt even to watch. I’m sure it was hard for Khan to watch, too. Don’t be surprised if the Brit gives up his title rather than face him.

Q: In the fight before Maidana-Cayo on HBO’s Boxing After Dark, Joan Guzman beat Ali Funeka despite weighing in at 144 pounds for a 135-pound fight. Since this is Guzman’s third straight fight where he hasn’t made weight, what should happen to him?

A: Although this isn’t an actual rule, they should make these repeated offenses suspendable just like failed drug tests or loaded gloves. I mean, how obvious was this? He showed up heavy for his fight with Funeka the first time, got his butt kicked (he even escaped with a gift draw), so he shows up even heavier for the next fight to further his advantage? If he lost or drew again, was he going to keep showing up heavier until he eventually won? Anyone watching the fight could tell that the extra weight made Guzman able to dish out and take punishment he could not handle the first time they fought. Some commission should put Guzman on the shelf for a while until he decides if he wants to be a real sportsman, not a guy who shows up at whatever weight cheeseburgers will allow. The worst part is that Funeka may be the best 135-pounder out there, but his last three fights (a KO loss to Nate Campbell, as well) have been against guys who couldn’t make the weight. Not too fair in my book.

Q: Erik Morales came out of retirement Saturday to beat Jose Alfaro at welterweight. He has repeatedly said he wants to win a fourth world title as an impetus for his comeback. Any chance of that happening?

A: Well, that really depends on your definition of what a “world” title is. Sure, he could probably beat some sap for an IBO or WBF title, but in terms of Morales ever beating someone of note (especially at 140 pounds) title or not, he might grow horns before that happens. Remember, “El Terrible” did most of his damage at 126 pounds and lower, and to see him running around looking like the Pillsbury Dough Boy against the middling Alfaro is not conjuring up any visions of his win against Manny Pacquiao. When Morales retired, he was looking pretty washed up, and this fight did nothing to say that’s changed at all.

Q: Going back ten days or so, were you surprised at Eddie Chambers lack of, well, anything positive against Wladamir Klitschko in their heavyweight bout? You had been talking up Chambers lately.

A: Yeah, and I was as floored as anyone at his non-performance. With the Klitschkos, they are such good athletes that you have to match their athleticism, which I really thought Chambers could. But once it became apparent that “Fast” Eddie was anything but, it was over before it started. You simply can’t stand there at the end of Wlad’s punching range and not move your head or body. You’ll get killed. It says something, too, that Klitschko didn’t have to throw a single left hook until round twelve (at trainer Emmanuel Steward’s prodding), and when he did, it cleaned Chambers’ clock. I don’t know what it is about those Klitschko brothers, but they can get confident, talented fighters to freeze in their tracks like deer. I just thought Chambers would not be one of those.

Q: Now let’s head out of the ring for a second. Lightweight sensation Edwin Valero recently ended up in a rehab facility for alcohol abuse. How is this going to affect his career?

A: It largely depends on whether this is going to be a six-month stay as planned or if it carries on longer. Valero is sure as hell not doing himself any favors. Bad enough he had that DUI recently, but now Valero might have had some domestic assault issues. He was apparently at the hospital with his wife, who had a punctured lung and broken ribs; when Valero told doctors that his wife fell down the stairs (Isn’t that the most cliché excuse ever? Did the dog eat his homework, too?), he went nuts when they didn’t believe him. If he ended up in rehab for this incident, it’s a good bet he was loaded at the hospital, too. Man, if it’s not licensing issues with Valero, it’s brain scans and now alcohol. If he doesn’t get it straight soon, his entire promising career may need the rehab.

Q: So what happened to Friday Night Fights last week? I thought they had saved the Steve Cunningham-Matt Godfrey cruiserweight title bout in time for their to be a show.

A: According to ESPN’s Dan Rafael, the fight almost was saved by Main Events, who regained the purse bid after Don King couldn’t come to terms with ESPN. The Duvas at Main Events tried working with a local promoter in Chicago to move the fight there within a few days of King’s annulment, but even when that came together, Godfrey’s camp decided not to go through with the fight after all. Godfrey’s people said that the interruption in training and general letdown made it so that he couldn’t go through with the fight.

Q: But wasn’t this fight for the IBF title? Why would Godfrey not go through with it if the fight was still on the same date?

A: Because Godfrey either got some bad advice or won’t be getting accepted into MENSA anytime soon. First of all, what interruption in training is he talking about? He shouldn’t be sparring in the week leading up to the fight, anyway, and it was two days the fight was in limbo at the most. As far as any letdown, how could it be a letdown when his world title opportunity is still on? So it’s somehow less of a letdown to ditch the fight entirely? The IBF even dropped him from their rankings, as was their rule, if Godfrey had bothered to check. Smooth move, Ex-Lax. It’s not like title opportunities grow on trees (well, unless you’re John Ruiz or Rocky Juarez).

News and Views: The Pacquiao-Clottey weekend

While Manny Paquiao tried to engage Joshua Clottey during their fight at Cowboys Stadium Saturday, Clottey was clearly determined to leave Pac-Man at the altar.

Some thoughts on the recent happenings in the world of the Sweet Science:

News: Manny Pacquiao pounds out a 12-round unanimous decision over Joshua Clottey.

Views: Pac-man has shown once again why he deserves to be at the top of pound-for-pound mountain. Even though Clottey basically decided to cover up and play defense for almost two-thirds of every round, Pacquiao still found a way to land punches and work his way in when he could. He never wavered from his game plan, and by the last couple of rounds, he was scoring frequently enough to make the Ghanian look wobbly and beaten. Regardless of how you feel about his part in the Mayweather negotiations, fight after fight, Pacquiao still finds a way to improve on his last performance and dominate his man. Add to that a pleasing action-based style, and that makes his fights worth watching every time out.

News: Manny Pacquiao outlands Clottey 246 to 108, throwing 832 more punches en route to his victory.

Views: Clottey better have enjoyed his time in the spotlight, because that’s likely the last he will taste of it. Put simply, Clottey didn’t show up with the will to win, and that is inexcusable for a fight and promotion of this magnitude. All he did was basically put the earmuffs on for most each round, throwing a few punches here and there. While you could give him the benefit of the doubt in terms of feeling Pacquiao out early on, when Clottey’s trainer, Lenny DeJesus, made it clear in between rounds that it wasn’t the game plan, it was apparent Clottey had made his mind up earlier as to how he ’d fight. You know damn well that Arum would never have had Clottey anywhere near the ring if he’d have known what kind of effort he’d be putting forth. Clottey has been known to take rounds off before, but this kind of thing likely has irreparably damaged his career and future earning potential. If you’re not going to try and win, who would want to see you fight?

News: The fight, nicknamed “The Event” packed more than 50,000 into Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

Views: Can this possibly silence a critic or two as to whether boxing is dead? This fight ended up being the third-largest indoor crowd for a U.S. boxing match ever, and that is something significant. Manny Pacquiao is a bona-fide star, and even the stench of the Mayweather fight cancellation couldn’t stop the fans from coming out in droves. While the PPV numbers won’t come out for a bit yet, it’s safe to say that Oscar De La Hoya’s mantle has indeed been passed. The most famous man in the Phillipines is quickly becoming a household name everywhere else, which is just what boxing has needed.

News: “The Event” undercard featured Humberto Soto defeating David Diaz (lightweight), Alfonso Gomez making Jose Luis Castillo (welterweight) quit on his stool and John Duddy pounding out a decision against Michael Medina (middleweight).

Views: Remember when there used to be a fight or two on a Top Rank undercard that anyone was interested in? Just because Soto-Diaz is an improvement on the awful Julio Ceasar Chavez, Jr.-Troy Rowland dreck that passed for a co-feature at Paquiao-Clottey last year doesn’t mean it was passable.Perhaps Arum thinks boxing fans have short memories. Perhaps he took the ugliest girl to his junior prom so he could live with taking the second-ugliest to his senior prom. The three undercard fights that were broadcast were Top Rank Live-level fights, and wouldn’t be good enough for HBO or Showtime. So why show them here? The guess is that Arum knows he can get away with it, and as long as fans buy the main event, he can continue to do this kind of thing. Arum’s just lucky he has Pacquiao to carry the promotion, otherwise he’d probably be losing money, at least in terms of PPV buys.

News: Cruiserweight Marko Huck wipes out Adam “Swamp Donkey” Richards in three rounds on German soil.

Views: As much of an Internet sensation as the “Swamp Donkey” has been, it’s clear that he doesn’t have all that much talent. He looked lost and outclassed against the talented Huck, who pretty much had his way with Richards from the opening bell. This is the first serious step up in competition for the Donkey, and it could be his last. That doesn’t mean that he won’t make great fights on a Friday Night Fights or Top Rank Live card against like opposition, it just means that he shouldn’t be fighting guys in the top ten at 190 pounds. Still, Richards deserved his chance and the payday he received, so kudos to him. He’ll still be fun to watch, and probably expose a prospect or two along the way.

News: Andre Ward postpones his Super Six fight with Allan Green on April 24 due to a knee injury amid allegations from Green and promoter Lou DiBella that Ward’s camp was planning to sink the fight.

Views: Please, can we just have one postponement that doesn’t cause everyone to demand a federal ethics investigation? Ward is one of the biggest class acts in all of boxing, while Green is one of the biggest loudmouths. No one with any sense should doubt that Ward is legitimately hurt, and he also has no track record of canceling fights. DiBella, while upset as to how he heard about the cancellation (he said he didn’t hear it from Dan Goossen, Ward’s promoter), should be glad he’s even getting another piece of cheese. His first man, Jermain Taylor, was knocked out of the tournament by Arthur Abraham, if you remember. Does anyone really think that after soundly beating the excellent Mikkel Kessler that Ward’s afraid to fight Green, who barely beat Tarvis Simms in his last fight? Everyone just needs to relax and do this again when Ward’s ready to go. If nothing else, it will be Green’s biggest money fight (and biggest opportunity), so he should keep the complaints to a minimum.

The Finito Five 3/11/10

Does this look like a man who's ready to tackle the octagon? For once, MMA & boxing fans both can have a laugh over James Toney's latest attempt to resurrect his faded career.

Bigger than Pac-Man-Clottey in Texas Stadium , it’s the Finito Five!

1. Alexander makes his 140-lb statement

When you look around the jr. welterweight division, the names of great fighters abound. Timothy Bradley, Ricky Hatton, Marcos Maidana, Amir Khan, Nate Campbell and Paul Malignaggi are just a few of them. While many didn’t know where St. Louis’ Devon Alexander fit into that mix, his statement eighth-round KO of the extremely tough Juan Urango showed that he does indeed belong. While the boxing public has raved about Alexander’s in-your-face style, power and toughness, his signature win over Junior Witter didn’t convince everyone. Many thought that the British Witter was used goods, and that Bradley had already beat the fight out of him back in 2008. With Urango, however, here was a guy that had only ever lost to Andre Berto and Hatton. The Columbian is also built like an NFL linebacker (as a Detroit Lion’s fan, I’d like to be the first to give him a tryout), has excellent power, durability and is just one of those fighters who you have to defeat in order get to the elite level at 140 pounds. Given Urango’s bludgeoning of Randall Bailey in the Friday Night Fight’s finale last year, it figured to be test for Alexander.

Truth is, until the knockout, Urango did test “Alexander the Great”. Alexander landed quite a bit early and showed great range with his uppercut, but was unable to get the big guy out of there. Urango actually bounced back by round five, and was landing some good shots of his own. If Devon couldn’t get Urango to the canvas, it figured to be a long night, win or not. Then, out of seemingly left field, Alexander unleashed the fury, just leveling the Columbian with an uppercut that sent him down to the canvas, then finishing him off with a second helping. That kind of punch and that kind of power will do some major damage at 140 or 147, so it’s worth seeing what he might do against any of the names listed above. Either way, Alexander has proven that he can beat whom he needs to beat; now we’ll see if he can beat those that are supposed to beat him.

2. I know that’s not Corey Haim you’re staring at in the tenth row…

Ring card girls are part of boxing. A good part. A very good part, in fact. Nothing like juxtaposing two guys beating the crap of each other with a woman parading around in next to nothing. We’re all staring at her, and she knows it. The question is, what the hell is she staring at? Not sure if you’ve noticed, but watch the next Top Rank Live show, and vex yourself while trying to figure out what these girls are looking at. What are you talking about, you ask? Just watch them before and after fights; with fighters and entourage parading around the ring right in front of them, these girls keep staring into space like no one’s even there. They don’t seem to stare at anything, and it’s honestly pretty creepy. I don’t know if this is standard ring-card girl training (at the Ring-Card Girl Academy in Las Vegas, natch), but these girls are much better smiling and winking at people rather than looking like an extra in Zombieland. After getting a DQ win, featherweight Andres Romero did two back flips literally a few feet in front of one ring-card girl, who didn’t even blink, flinch or otherwise pay any attention to it. Man, when doing back flips over a girl gets you only a blank stare, all guys are in trouble!

3. The Mayweather-Mosley bout starts with its own low blow

While everyone will have a chance to digest Joshua Clottey’s Chance Of a Lifetime bout against Manny Pacquiao this weekend (what is he, Rocky Balboa or something?), also in the public eye were Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley, who will have their own business in May. While no one’s forgetting the fight that should have been made with Pacquiao, “Money” Mayweather taking on a legit 147-pounder has everyone intrigued, and rightly so. However, one would figure that after all the random steroids testing wrangling in his negotiations with Pacquiao, surely Mayweather fighting a guy who has admitted to using steroids himself unknowingly (part of the BALCO scandal in the U.S.) would be fodder for some prefight trash-talk. Oh no, instead it was Floyd claiming that Mosley may be fighting because he’s lost money in his recent divorce. Forget that Mayweather came out of retirement himself for thinly-veiled money reasons of his own (the IRS can be very persuasive), just going there was enough to get “Sugar” Shane riled up. Now, instead of just having a promising matchup, boxing fans will likely get treated to a real grudge match. It makes you wonder, though, if Floyd manages to alienate everyone around him, who will give his Hall Of Fame introduction speech? God help us if it’s Floyd, Sr. or uncle Roger – that will be the first speech with more beeps than words.

4. Darchinyan meets his match (sort of)

At 115 pounds, there’s nothing more dangerous than a Vic Darchinyan left hand, which has ended the hopes of many a fighter. Even if the Armenian is never going to be the second coming of Ricardo Lopez, his sheer will and power have won out every time with only two exceptions (Nonito Donaire and Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko). So it was to everyone’s surprise that the unheralded Rodrigo Guerrero managed to not only take Darchinyan’s best punches, but also actually make it to the end of the fight. Keep in mind those who have gone down to Darchinyan’s power: Christian Mijares, Jorge Arce, Dmitry Kirilov and Irene Pacheco. None of those top guys could survive, but somehow Guerrero did, absorbing huge punishment in the process. While the outcome was never in doubt, and the “Raging Bull” turned in an outstanding performance, give Guerrero credit for doing something that many better fighters have not. Unfortunately, this is one of those beatings that may end Guerrero’s career early (he only had 14 fights coming in). Darchinyan, however, should now have bigger fish to fry; if he is moving up to 118, a rematch with Donaire needs to happen. While Donaire landed a great punch in an upset three years ago, it’s time to see if that was a lucky shot or if the “Filipino Flash” is the better man. Boxing fans sure would like to know.

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5. MMA must stand for Many Meals Available

Why does it seem lately that the only thing the MMA & boxing have in common is that washed up fighters in each sport think they can try the other? Of course, fans of both sports tend to think the other is child’s play, but that’s just about as accurate as a Ricardo Mayorga right hand, which is to say not at all. Speaking of Mayorga, since he has no career left in the Sweet Science, now he thinks he can ply his smoking, trash talking Nicaraguan self in the octagon. Same with Shannon Briggs, who seemingly can’t figure out why he hasn’t gotten a shot against the Klitschkos when he couldn’t get by Sultan “What, me, Hepatitis?” Ibragimov, is also going MMA. And, yes, now James Toney has been going the rounds with Dana White and UFC in the last couple of weeks. It has been reported that White did offer Toney an actual contract after Toney confronted White after UFC 108. While that may look like a ridiculous move by White, Toney actually turned the contract down after he asked for one in the first place. Chances are Toney thought that UFC stood for Unlimited Food Court, for which his ever-increasing poundage would be tailor made.