The Finito Five 7/29/10

Welterweight Timothy Bradley says he's ready for everyone from Amir Khan to Manny Pacquiao himself. The difference is, unlike many fighters who call others out, Bradley will actually fight them. He might just give these guys more then they bargained for, as well.

Able to take the shots better than Paul Briggs (imagine how short a column this would be otherwise), it’s the Finito Five!

1. The megafight that’s turning into the megajoke

After a while, one has to wonder just how much blog space need be devoted to a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight that continues not to happen. It was said in this space that no news was good news (and it probably was), but when Top Rank’s Bob Arum started to open up his trap earlier this month and set a deadline of July 17 for Mayweather to agree to the fight, you knew it wasn’t going to happen. With a nice dog-and-pony show disguised as a 3am (EST) press conference that morning, Arum told everyone what we knew already: The fight was off, and Pac-Man was exploring other options. That next option is either “Fists of Plaster” Antonio Margarito or a rematch with Miguel Cotto. Anyone else want to see any of those fights? Yeah, me neither. Margarito really shouldn’t be rewarded with a big payday for his transgressions, and he’s not even licensed in the United States to begin with. Where would their fight need to be in that case? Margarito’s home country of Mexico? That would be stupid. The Philippines? Maybe, but it’s not easy to put on a big PPV event there (not as easy as Las Vegas, at least). With Cotto, that’s already been done, and I haven’t met one boxing fan who thinks the outcome would be any different.

The worst part about these negotiations is that no one can seem to agree on whether the negotiations actually happened in the first place. You have Top Rank saying that they did negotiate with HBO’s Ross Greenburg and Mayweather’s adviser, Al Haymon, while you have Mayweather’s other adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, saying no negotiations ever took place. So everyone’s running around saying this and that, so what does Mayweather have to say? Oh, yeah - nothing. Whenever “Money” has been interviewed about the subject, he deflects the question, saying he’s just enjoying his summer. Thanks, Floyd, but that’s a big slap in the face to your fans and boxing fans in general. It’s pretty obvious at this point that Mayweather has no respect for either. One thing is for certain: If Floyd doesn’t get off his duff and take the Pacquiao fight in the next year, it will forever tarnish that legacy that Mayweather holds so dear. No matter what he accomplished in the ring, 30 years from now it will be the fight he didn't take that will define Mayweather’s legacy.

2. Col. Bob and the new math

Ahh, you’ve got to love an Integrated Sports PPV. Why put up with all the boring professionalism and accuracy of Jim Lampley at HBO or Nick Charles of Showtime (get well, my man) when you can have crazy Uncle Bob and Benny “and the Jets” Ricardo making each fight a two-drink minimum? Well, the titanic heavyweight tilt that was David Tua-Monte Barrett gave Col. Bob a chance to impart his vast boxing knowledge to the masses (when he wasn’t calling Barrett a great warrior enough times that you thought Tua must have been in the ring with Spartacus, anyway). Among the wit and wisdom put forth during the fight:

1. Round 10 is apparently the start of the championship rounds (I guess title eliminators must be nine rounds now).

2. There were millions on the line in the fight (what, did someone have some seven-figure action on Tua at the betting window?)

3. 40 percent of judges disagree on close rounds. (? – I mean, really – ?)

If you didn’t understand that last one, neither did I. He said it at least three times during the main event, and it made about as much sense as Ray Mancini discussing the Crimean War each time. If you take at face value that each close round is 10-9 either way, how can only 40 percent of judges disagree when there are only two ways to vote? Are these 40 percent disagreeing with the other 60 percent or with each other? If he means those 40 percent disagree with each other, then it’s 20 percent voting for fighter X and 20 percent voting for fighter Y, while the other 60 percent must be voting for the ring card girl or something, because otherwise it would be 80-20. Makes the head spin, huh?

3. Timothy Bradley is a bad, bad man

With the aforementioned blather about Pac-Man and Mayweather not fighting and looking for other dance partners, here’s betting that jr. welterweight Timothy Bradley’s phone will not be ringing off the hook. Why, you ask? Well if you saw Bradley’s dismantling of tough Luis Carlos Abregu ten days ago at 147 pounds (he’s a 140-pound titlist), this is a guy who could be giving either of those two big problems. Even though Bradley was unheralded until he went to England and beat Junior Witter a few years ago, he’s showing with each fight that he’s a buzzsaw that won’t easily be beaten. He’s got quite a good package: Fast hands, great work rate, honest power, ring generalship and solid defense. In other words, he’s the most complete fighter at 140 or 147 not named Pacquiao or Mayweather. And most important of all is the fact that Bradley wants it. Bad. He looks like a guy fighting to put food on his table every time he steps into the ring. When you consider the posturing that has taken place over the last year between Manny and Floyd, it’s nice to see someone running around saying “bring ‘em on!” finally. If the megafight can’t be made, let’s hope that Bradley gets a crack at making one of those guys regret not taking the millions.

4. Does the main event or undercard make a PPV worthy?

When I first heard about the rematch between lightweights Juan Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez, it seemed like a fun action-packed fight that would do HBO proud. Diaz wasn’t going to come out a winner any more than he did the first time, but that’s all right; that’s why I have my HBO subscription. When I found out the fight was on PPV, it suddenly became less attractive. Was this fight really PPV-worthy for $50? While both are really good fighters, Diaz has been coming up short of a big win for about two years now, while Marquez is starting to look a little long in the tooth. The Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez fight deserved to be on PPV more than this fight does. So about the time I became convinced that no one would buy it, HBO then goes and put some excellent fights on the undercard. Daniel Jacobs and Dmitry Pirog at 160 pounds (both undefeated), jr. welterweights Joel Casamayor and Robert Guerrero (a must win for both guys) plus Jorge Linares-Rocky Martinez at lightweight (Linares’ first big fight in the U.S.) all round out a fabulous card before we even get to the main event. HBO’s Greenberg has promised fans card like this for a while now, and it looks like he’s finally delivered. Chances are this PPV might be worth the money far more than any other show in recent years for that reason. Although after seeing such undercard fare as Julio Ceasar Chavez, Jr. and Troy Rowland recently, maybe HBO is figuring that boxing fans have lowered their standards enough to jump at it. Either way, it’s good to have a show where each fight is worth watching.

5. That Danny Green sure throws a mean jab…

Thanks, Paul Briggs, the Sweet Science hadn’t seen an honest-to-God dive in a while, but that void has now been filled. Most boxing fans probably didn’t figure it would be Briggs, he of two actual competitive performances against Tomasz Adamek, that would fold up like a deck chair after one glancing shot to the forehead. For those who haven’t seen it, a mere 30 seconds into the fight, Briggs was (sort of) jabbed in the forehead by Green after partially blocking the punch. It was literally the first punch that Green landed, and Briggs went to his knees like he had a reservation for dinner across town, not even attempting to beat the ten count. While Green went ballistic after the fight (he said his dog had bigger stones than Briggs!), he was seen begging off those comments the next day saying that Briggs did indeed get hit with a punch. And, yeah, Briggs did get hit, but only one of two things are possible: Either Briggs should never have been licensed to fight if he couldn’t take that kind of punch, or he took a first class, Olympic-style dive (I give him a 9.5, by the way). Seems strange that Briggs could survive all that sparring in training, but couldn’t take a punch on fight night, huh? It also doesn’t help Briggs that some big money reportedly came in on Green by first round KO, either. Something smells rotten, and Briggs has forever besmirched himself with this pathetic performance. Way to destroy your name and legacy forever, dummy.

The Finito Q & A – July edition

If this guy (Shannon "punch me harder" Briggs) can get a title shot against Vitali Klitschko, does that mean that Razor Ruddock will face Wladamir next? We can only hope.

This month’s burning fistic questions, from the slow summer to the quick MMA death of James Toney:

Q: So what gives with the slow boxing schedule this summer? It seems there’s been a lack of big fights lately.

A: Welcome to boxing, which while it has no off-season, does tend to take a couple of months off from time to time. It’s true, since the beginning of May, there hasn’t been much except the Andre Ward-Allan Green Super Six fight, and that wasn’t much of a fight. I don’t think it’s anything intentional by promoters, really, it’s just scheduling, and all the big names are in the middle of their next big fight. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if the soccer (oh, excuse me, football) World Cup has something to do with it, especially outside the U.S. With countries practically shutting down for days at a time while their country marches through the tournament, it’s not the best time to be promoting fights. It’s the same reason you don’t see a lot of U.S. boxing shows during the NCAA basketball tournament in March.

Q: What about the big names of Pacquiao and Mayweather? Is all the silence from both camps good or bad for the fight actually happening?

A: At this point, it’s a very good thing. One of the biggest issues during the last set of negotiations was all the carping about blood testing, lawsuits, event sites, you name it. When you’re putting together a megafight like this, with so many variables that each side has to agree on, doing it through the media is not the best way to go. All it did was tick both sides off at various times, so there was too much rancor built up when they actually had to head to the negotiating table privately. Frankly I’m amazed that Golden Boy and Top Rank can even keep it civil after the bad blood the last time around. Still, if everyone (including the fighters) can act like grown-ups here, this can get done and everyone can make a boatload of money.

Q: OK, on to some fights that actually happened this past weekend. Juan Manuel Lopez blew out Bernabe Concepcion in two rounds Saturday too keep his 126-pound belt. Does that mean that his near stumble against Rogers Mtagwa was just a bad night?

A: It was either a bad night or a bad stylistic matchup for Juanma, but if he keeps wiping out really good fighters like Concepcion, that Mtagwa fight gets farther and farther in the rear-view mirror. Much like Lopez’ countryman, Felix Trinidad, he sometimes gets lax and can be hit, which would explain how Concepcion was able to send Juanma to the canvas in the first round after he seemingly had the Filipino just about out on his feet. The flaws in Lopez’ game makes for some high drama, while the dynamite in his fists make for some outstanding finishes. It’s a great combination.

Q: So what happens when Juanma steps in the ring with Rafael Marquez in a few months?

A: You’ve got to like the Puerto Rican in this one. Although Marquez is one of my personally favorite fighters, I’m not sure the Mexican has enough left any more to overcome the offensive onslaught that Lopez is going to bring. If it was 2004, I think Rafa wins, but in 2010, Juanma has too much. I will say, however, that as long as this fight lasts, Marquez will get his licks in, and it won’t be an easy night for either guy.

Q: During the opening fight on Saturday, Showtime shockingly revealed that Nonito Donaire was using Victor Conte, former president of BALCO, as his nutritionist. Is that a smart move?

A: Only if you think that announcing Lindsay Lohan is your AA sponsor is smart. Seriously, there are no other nutritionists in the world better than a guy who plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids? Not only did this Conte’s company nearly take down Sugar Shane Mosley, it’s been linked to some nefarious dealings with Barry Bonds as well as disgraced Olympic athletes Kelli White and Marion Jones. Now granted, Donaire is not as big a name as Mosley or any of those other athletes, but why take the risk? This guy has smeared more reputations than a Kitty Kelly tell-all biography, and he wasn’t even trying! It’s always good to have someone on retainer to help you achieve your best athletic performance possible, but there has to be a more hassle-free option out there than Conte.

Q: Let’s go back to Shobox on Friday night, where the possible rising star matchup of welterweights Mike Jones and Atwone Smith was nuked after Smith lost to Lanardo Tyner. Any chance Jones fights Tyner now? And what does this do to Smith’s career?

A: Well, if you believe Smith’s promoter, Lou Dibella, Smith was very sick leading up to the fight. From the eye test, it did look like Smith uncharacteristically ran out of gas around round six, so it’s probably likely that he wasn’t 100 percent. Tyner showed that he’s the kind of guy you’d better be at 100 percent to fight, because he’ll beat you if you’re not. Still, I don’t think that this will either ruin Smith’s career or get Tyner an automatic shot at Jones. Most likely what will happen is a rematch between the two, while Jones gets a shot at Andre Berto. Either way, we all win, because I’d certainly like to see both of those fights on the same card. Are you listening, Showtime?

Q: German promotional company Universum has decided to make their own YouTube page, posting the company’s recent fights as well as those from years back. Why aren’t more promoters doing this?

A: Honestly, I think it has more to do with how some promoters are organized than anything else. If you have ever seen Universum-Box work, they are very much like a true multinational corporation in how they are run, and they obviously have seen the benefit in giving fans around the world the ability to see their fighters (especially those who can’t get the German telecasts). They have fights with the Klitschkos, Jurgen Braehmer, Sebastian Zbik and Vitali Tajbert, just to name a few. Other promoters, by contrast, seem to think that once a show has aired, nothing more needs to be done with it. This is especially troublesome with large PPV events. With those, we normally get to see a replay of the main event on HBO or Showtime, but the undercard fights tend to disappear into the ether, never to be seen again. Before the Internet, fans rarely got to see those fights unless you knew someone who taped it. You can’t tell me that Top Rank, Golden Boy, and Goossen-Tutor couldn’t do the same thing Universum has done. It’s time for them to get it together. If I can upload my own videos to YouTube, it can’t be too much of a problem for them to do the same.

Q: In a blockbuster announcement on Friday Night Fights, Teddy Atlas said that Vitali Klitschko’s next opponent will likely be Shannon Briggs. Any interest in that?

A: Let’s put it this way – I’d rather walk out to my deck, pull up a chair, grab a soda and wait for the gray aliens to land on my lawn than see any fight with Shannon Briggs. It’s bad enough that the Klitschkos have no one to fight (see Albert Sosnowski), but what the hell has Briggs done since he fought George Foreman back in the 90’s? Grow longer dreadlocks? Even in this horrid collection of sad sacks that pass for heavyweight contenders these days, Briggs isn’t even high up on[I] that[/I] list. What a joke.

Q: So James Toney is going to try his hand at MMA, taking on legend Randy Couture next month. What’s the chance he survives the fight without serious bodily harm?

A: About the same chance that Toney has of passing a Dunkin’ Donuts without snacking on an apple fritter! Seriously, I’m not an MMA fan at all, and I know that Toney’s going to get killed inside of a minute. Bravado is all fine and good, and “Lights Out” has plenty of that, but does anyone seriously think Couture is not out to prove MMA’s dominance by ripping Toney’s head off? It would practically be a disgrace for a decorated MMA guy like Couture to lose to an out of shape rookie like Toney, whose best boxing days have been behind him for about five years now. The people making money on this fight are the two fighters and whatever hospital Toney ends up in afterwards. Humpty Dumpty has a better chance of getting reassembled before Toney does.

The Finito Flash – Green looks green and Superstar, Jr. finally doesn’t

Allan Green's trainer John David Jackson can lift his fighter high in the air after a win, but Green's Super Six no-show against Andre Ward and subsequent excuses of overtraining will make it harder for Jackson to lift Green and the bus Green threw him under.

A couple of thoughts about current goings-on in the Sweet Science:

It been about ten days since Andre Ward’s pasting of the apparently overhyped Allan Green, and I’m still amazed at just how uncompetitive that fight was. Yes, Green has been roundly criticized in this space before about running his mouth too much, telling all who would listen that Ward’s a chump and that the Super Six organizers had the intelligence of a snail for lacking the foresight to put Green in the tournament in the first place. Still, given that Green’s only loss was to dangerous (if limited in the boxing department) Edison Miranda when Green was truly sick during the fight, you had to figure all the talk was backing something up. It’s one thing to be dominated by a fighter the class of Ward (Mikkel Kessler was, and no one’s throwing him on the scrap heap, to my knowledge), but it was Green’s utter inability to do any sort of damage to the Oakland native that now has people asking some hard questions.

It’s also didn’t help that the excuse train was already leaving the station by the time the fight was over. Green told Showtime’s Jim Gray that his poor performance was likely due to his overtraining (the fight had been postponed due to a Ward knee injury) since late last year and coming in light at 166. Now I don’t know about you, but doesn’t that sound a little bit like he’s throwing his trainer John David Jackson under the bus? Jackson is a former world titleist and first-class trainer, so one would think he would know if his fighter was getting spent and dial it back a little in the weeks leading up to the fight. If you’ve trained for this fight three times essentially, which is what Green claims, why would you need the same strenuous camp? Hasn’t most everything been covered at that point?

Also, does this mean that Green is nothing but a knock out artist with little else, a la Randall Bailey? Bailey has howitzers in both fists, but he never has achieved greatness simply because he can’t win without landing the big punch. It still remains to be seen whether this is Green’s fate, but he certainly looked like a rank amateur when faced with the versatility of Ward’s attack. No adjustments were made, and all Green did was get more and more frustrated (and less competitive) as the fight wore on. Comparatively, Kessler did make adjustments during his bout with Ward, but the Dane was just unable to pull the trigger and execute his game plan. Green looked like he hadn’t even brought the gun with him.

What does this mean for the Super Six going forward? If this is all Green is capable of doing, you have to believe that Kessler is licking his chops and liking his chances of getting to the semifinals. If you’re Andre Dirrell, Carl Froch, or Arthur Abraham, you have to be thinking that with Kessler and Ward in, one of the three is going to be left out. It’s just too bad that the Super Six became the Super Five because of Jermain Taylor and Allan Green. Maybe boxing fans will get lucky and Green will find the juice to be competitive. If not, Green risks being downgraded from main-event status permanently.

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There maybe be no fighter who has taken more shots at Julio Caesar Chavez, Jr. than the media, including this space right here. To this point, JC Superstar’s oldest kid has treated us to a bunch of PPV megafights against the likes of Jason LeHoullier, Matt Vanda (twice!) and Jose Celaya, all of which had most boxing fans interested in the real fighters on his undercards than any of “main events” that Chavez was in. Throw that in with his sleep-inducing fight against Troy Rowland on the Pacquiao-Cotto undercard, where the most exciting thing about it was Jr. testing positive for a banned diuretic and getting a seven-month suspension, and there hasn’t been any real compelling reason to see one of his fights. As a matter of fact, he’s been more of a Butterbean-type attraction than a real fighter climbing the rankings.

So when uber-trainer Freddie Roach proclaimed that he’d seen a lot in the kid after deciding to train him some weeks back, it was with met with more than a little skepticism by boxing fans and media alike. But give the kid (and Freddie) credit, he actually resembled a decent fighter last Saturday against Irish John Duddy, as Jr. busted him up pretty good en route to a unanimous decision. Chavez actually sported an effective jab, one he employed nearly the whole fight and he looked to be in real shape for the first time anyone can remember. This performance was not joke-worthy, but rather an actual display of boxing and punching that produced a fun and exciting fight for once. This might be the one of the few times in his career that Chavez displayed some things that would make anyone want to see more of him.

Now does this mean that Jr.’s arrived? Not really, because while Duddy was a credible opponent, he’s looking more and more like a B-level fighter, and hasn’t met a punch that he couldn’t get hit with. Still, this is a step in the right direction, and with some more tutelage from Roach, you could conceivably step Chavez up into a fight with someone in the top 15 at middleweight to see how he would do. Even if Chavez is not the level of a Paul Williams or Sergio Martinez, seeing him fight credible fights against credible opponents is a breath of fresh air.