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.
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