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.

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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?

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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…

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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.

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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.

Pacquiao and Mayweather – an opportunity squandered now, a reputation damaged forever

Unfortunately, boxing fans will not see Floyd Mayweather on this podium with Manny Pacquiao, as Mayweather will instead take on Paulie Malignaggi on March 13. While both fighters have tried to spin the fight's demise as the other's fault, there's plenty of blame to go around for each of them.

Thank you so much, gentleman. The sad part regarding the uncontrollable egos of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather (and their camps) run amok is that it didn’t just lead to the cancellation of an important fight; the sport of boxing is used to that. What it has led to is the denial of something far more rare: A chance for boxing to reenter the public consciousness, if for only a time. This would have been a chance for mainstream media outlets to temporarily turn their attention away from the MMA, NFL or even the Tiger Woods Bimbo Of the Month Club to focus on the Sweet Science. Yes, on boxing! Really! This also would have been a chance for fight fans to have an event to remember for the ages, a “Do you remember where you were?” moment when the two best pound-for-pound fighters went at it in their primes. It’s funny, actually; had they fought, the excitement would focus around who would lose. When this fight became null and void, it made losers out of everyone.

Various boxing scribes and talking heads will tell you that the fans were the ones who lost, that it’s a blow to boxing that will take a long time from which to heal. There is truth to that. As mainstream media indifference rears its ugly head because they don’t care two bits about Pac-Man fighting Joshua Clottey, as the mantra of Boxing Can’t Get Out Of Its Own Way is chanted time after time by these people, the boxing world will be forced to lament what could have been. But boxing will survive with more great fights (see Berto-Mosley) and more great events, like it always has. While that same mainstream media will blame boxing for this latest debacle, the boxing public knows better. That’s where Pacquiao and Mayweather are in for a very rude awakening.

First off, all Mayweather’s demands of Pacquiao come off as a guy who really doesn’t want to fight unless he has all the advantages. He came in heavy for his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, who was a lighter weight fighter, anyway. Floyd also has a recent track record of fighting guys lighter than he is or, if they are equal in weight, will be a safer touch. He has an undefeated record that he doesn’t want to lose. Now he wants special blood testing. Fine. Maybe Floyd really did have a legitimate concern, but all this smacks of to many is Floyd having a big out should the fight not happen. Now Floyd can go around and tell everyone that he wanted to fight, but Pacquiao just wouldn’t, as if the Filipino was afraid of him or something. What Mayweather’s proven with this whole situation is that while being an incredible talent in the ring, he has no heart or guts outside of it. Mayweather will get to Canestota, New York, one day, but will anyone put him in the same category as Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson or Roberto Duran? No way. Those guys didn’t duck people nor waste anyone’s time trying to protect some mythical undefeated legacy. The greatest fighters are that way because they overcome adversity; Mayweather is determined never to face it. Whether actually true or not, the spectre that Mayweather is afraid to fight Pacquiao will continue to gain more traction, even as Floyd continues to scoff at the notion.

Pacquiao, by contrast, had the most to lose, and lost it. Yes, he will always be beloved by the Filipino fans and their throng. Yes, he will always be an exciting, breathtaking fighter to watch. But will he be thought of fondly as a gladiator like Marvin Hagler or Thomas Hearns now? Hardly. He has destroyed all that. His petulant response to Mayweather’s demands exposed his absolute lack of awareness of the event or what it means to boxing. Pacquiao couldn’t even be bothered to be in the U.S. as the biggest fight he will likely ever have circled the drain. At least with Mayweather, you knew he cared more about himself than anything else; with Manny, everyone expected more. Instead of being the warrior that would say damn the torpedoes, take the stupid blood test, and kick Mayweather’s pompous ass around the ring, Pacquiao instead chose to file a lawsuit. Never mind that no one before or after had seriously questioned whether Pacquiao was clean or not, or that taking these blood tests would have proven Mayweather to be the pompous loudmouth that he is (and more defense for his suit, anyway). No, instead, it was all about MANNY being pissed off, and if MANNY’S pissed, then, well, there’s not going to be any fight. The big, bad Mayweather has said something not nice, so it’s time to screw all boxing fans while we sue that meany! All this does is make people wonder if Pacquiao really does have something to hide, not the opposite.

To a boxing fan’s trained eye, all this whole matter did was expose both fighters for the egotistical divas that they are. Maybe this was expected to a degree from Floyd, but startling was the revelation that the friendly, smiling, Manny-of-the-World Pacquiao could be so petulant and thin-skinned. Since both men have come out with statements apologizing to the fans and blaming the other guy (I confess – it’s his fault!), it’s clear that neither of them truly get it at all. No fight fan, unless they are a die-hard apologist of either fighter, is going to take a side. They have enough blame to put on both men. Boxing is used to having it’s reputation hit; what’s happened here is that the reputations of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather have been irreconcilably damaged.

So, on March 13, both fighters will be in separate fights in separate venues against separate opponents that no one will be really excited about. Maybe Tommy Hearns or Marvin Hagler will be at one of the arenas. If so, there will likely be hands shaken, pictures taken and congratulations on those three great rounds in ‘85 that we’ve remembered for so many years. And maybe, as the action goes on in the ring, someone in the stands will have a hard time envisioning Hagler and Hearns calling off their incredible fight by letting their egos trump their greatness. Too bad the same can’t be said for Mayweather and Pacquiao. Here’s hoping they eventually get it done so that this debacle doesn’t burden their legacies forever.

The Boxing Truth

While the Pacquiao-Mayweather tilt may appear to be on the ropes now, a little less hipocracy from Mayweather and a little thicker skin from Pac-Man would save this fight. Both parties need to acknowledge the Truth.

The Truth? During the holiday season? Yes, friends, so close to the time we all fib to our kids that there’s a man in a red suit flying in a sleigh driven by reindeer dropping off presents to them, it’s time for a little levity. We need to get a little serious as we dive into our egg nog, which may or may not be spiced with some liquid Truth of its own. With all the spin and hot air flowing around the Sweet Science, it’s time to sort through the hype. Here are some pre-Christmas harsh realities of the fistic world:

Truth #1: Floyd Mayweather and his father having any concerns about another fighter’s use of illegal drugs is laughable.

It looks a whole lot like Floyd, Sr. forgot where he was for three years in the early 90’s. That would be in jail for smuggling cocaine into the U.S. Yes, in case everyone’s forgotten, he’s a convicted felon. Not only that, his brother (and Floyd Jr.’s uncle) Roger Mayweather may not be able to train Floyd for his showdown with Pac-Man because may be in the clink himself for allegedly choking and battering a female fighter earlier this year. And everyone’s taking the allegations of these guys seriously? Also keep in mind that Floyd, Jr.’s assertions of wanting this Olympic-style drug testing for fairness reasons comes from a guy that didn’t bother to make weight for his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, where he came in two pounds heavy in a fight in which he already had a distinct size advantage. How fair was that to Marquez? “Practice what you preach” is not a credo that the Mayweather clan subscribes to, and hasn’t for some time.

Truth #2: Manny Pacquiao needs to grow up a little bit.

All of this hubbub could have been avoided, however, if Pacquiao and his camp pointed any of this out to the relatively clueless mainstream media. Boxing scribes and fans already know to take a Mayweather statement with a grain of salt; however, since this fight has already garnered a great deal of international media attention (which actually is a good thing), a lot of what has been alleged about Pacquiao has been given gravitas it doesn’t deserve. Manny and his camp should know this, but instead, they’ve been acting overly offended and defensive about the whole matter. Pacquiao’s now calling the fight off one minute, threatening to sue Mayweather the next, screaming about how his image has been tarnished, etc. Instead of being so petulant, Manny needs to realize that he’s being called a cheat by a group of people who don’t have any credibility in the first place. How Pacquiao’s reacting is likely exactly how the Mayweather camp wanted him to; it’s like a little brother who tries to needle you a hundred different ways so one will eventually get to you. Pacquiao needs to understand that they’ll only get into his head if he lets them, and he’s definitely letting them.

Truth #3: The fight will still get made.

Does anyone really think, with a likely figure of $200 million to be made on this blockbuster bout, that this fight won’t get made? Please. Everyone has been wringing their hands all week about weather Boxing’s Biggest Fight Ever might be in doubt, as if this was some Pavlik-Williams bout that might be in jeopardy. Floyd might be full of it most of the time, but he’s not stupid, and neither is Golden Boy Promotions or Bob Arum at Top Rank. While boxing fans like to think that this fight needs to be made solely to help bring boxing back to the mainstream (if only for a time), the reality is different. In Truth, there will be so much money floating around for everyone from the promoter to the street vendor, all concerned have too much green to lose not to make the fight happen. The only wildcard in this situation may be Pacquiao himself, who gives away so much of his money already that it may not be the determining factor for him in deciding whether or not to take the fight. Either way, come hell or high water, this fight will get made.

Truth #4: Gus Johnson needs to go. He’s terrible.

For all of us NFL fans out there who’ve had to suffer through torturous NFL games with Johnson as the lead commentator, we already knew what was going to happen when Showtime hired him for their Showtime Championship Boxing series. It’s not that Johnson doesn’t know either game. It’s not that Gus doesn’t make sense or can’t get his point across. It’s just that HE SHOUTS AT DAMN NEAR EVERTHING THAT HAPPENS!!!! And that’s not to be mistaken for enthusiasm. Joe Tessitore has enthusiasm. When he gets excited during Friday Night Fights, he pulls the viewer, Teddy Atlas, and half of the arena crowd right into the action. When Gus gets excited, we’re with him at first, but by the 50th time he does it within 12 rounds, our nerves are frazzled. He’s excruciating to listen to because of that. Half the time when something significant actually does happen in the fight, no one knows if it’s legit because they’ve heard Johnson lose it so many times prior to that moment. During the Timothy Bradley-Lamont Peterson fight earlier this month, Gus must have had Peterson almost knocked out about ten different times, which was not anywhere close to the case. Boxing fans need commentators who can be their eyes and ears from the arena, and if those commentators can’t tell the difference between a good punch and a fight-ending one, then it’s time to get someone new. I hate to say this about a fellow Michigander like Johnson (who really is a good guy by all accounts), but Steve Albert needs to be reinstated to full-time duty yesterday.

Truth #5: Russ Anber’s treatment of Jean Pascal’s shoulder in his fight with Adrian Diaconu was nothing short of disgraceful.

Yes, Russ Anber is Canada’s Mr. Boxing, writes an excellent column for tsn.ca, and has helped promote the sport in North America. But his actions as chief second and subsequent column about Pascal’s recent win over Diaconu to retain his 168-pound title were head-scratching. Pascal separated his shoulder no less than three times during the fight, with the final time in round ten being so bad that he was literally slumped over to one side when he came back to the corner. Both Anber and head trainer Marc Ramsey, rather than saying that the third time’s enough, actually helped pop the shoulder back into place in the corner so Pascal could continue, which Pascal did, primarily with one hand. Yes, Pascal won the fight, but it was revealed afterwards that the super middleweight titleist had a bone fragment loose in his shoulder, which eventually required surgery on his labrum. While the surgery was a success, the question has to be asked: Would that have been necessary had the corner stopped the fight when the injury became apparent? And why wasn’t this even talked about in the media post-fight? Anber then wrote a blog on tsn.ca talking about Pascal’s heart and toughness in gutting out a victory, as if he had no say how any of it had played out. Nowhere in the column was it mentioned that there was any concern for Pascal’s safety or long-term health, just that his shoulder made its way back into the socket. Somehow, it’s hart to envision Teddy Atlas or Freddie Roach pushing a fighter out of his corner who had separated his shoulder that many times. As it is, Pascal is now out of action for two to three more months before he can begin training. It’s tough to know for sure, but given the different types of shoulder injuries due to separations by athletes over the years, Pascal looks to have gotten off lightly. Perhaps Anber should remember that the next time one of his fighters is injured in the ring.

…and that’s the Truth. Have a happy New Year!

The Finito Five 12/9/09

Koki Kameda pounds at the flattest nose in the history of boxing belonging to Daisuke Naito during their flyweight superfight. Unfortunately, Naito couldn't pound some manners into Kameda despite repeated attempts.

Spreading more merriment than jolly ‘ol St. Nick, it’s the Finito Five!

1. Danny Green lays the TNT on Roy Jones and B-Hop

It’s truly amazing how fate can step into a boxing ring sometimes. For years, since their 1993 snoozer of a fight, Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins have been talking about fighting each other, especially after Hopkins joined Jones on the pound-for-pound list back in the late 1990’s. After Hopkins dismantled Felix Trinidad in 2001, both fighters were in their primes, and boxing fans were demanding a rematch. The only problem was that Hopkins and Jones were doing a whole lot of talking and not enough negotiating. While Jones, like he always did in those days, talked about being the main attraction and getting main attraction money, Hopkins took his usual “I won’t be screwed by the boxing establishment” tack, essentially not giving in to any of the demands of Team Jones. As a result, nothing happened for years until recently, when a shaky 40-year old Jones and a 45-year old Hopkins (who’s still on most pound-for-pound lists for some reason) decided that early 2010 was the time. The only obstacle? Jones had to defeat cruiserweight Danny Green in Australia Wednesday, while Hopkins had to get past tough Enrique Ornelas at 175-pounds in the United States the same night. This Finito space had intended to be about how relevant the fight was going to be so many years after the first one had taken place, especially regarding how shot Jones was after more than a few KO losses this decade.

Well, thanks to Danny Green, none of that matters now, as he completely wiped out Jones inside of a round, upsetting the proverbial apple cart. If there was any debate about Jones being done, there should be none whatsoever now. Green, who is decent, but couldn’t hang even a little bit with a 2000 version of Jones, cracked Roy with one right hand about 75 seconds in, and it was essentially over. All credit to Green for getting it done, but Jones clearly can’t take a solid punch any more. While Hopkins did pound out a workmanlike decision over Ornelas for his part, it’s now time for B-Hop to face someone like Green or Tomasz Adamek, which would be much more compelling. For Jones, here’s hoping he decides to retire until getting that Hall Of Fame call from Canestota in 2015.

2. A little objectivity, anyone?

Many a boxing fan has had issues with the commentary of the HBO broadcast team of Lampley-Merchant-Steward or the Sky Sports team of Adam Smith and Jim Watt from time to time, even though both teams are the sport’s standard bearers. However, if you think they’re so bad, try the Australian Foxtel-TV trio of Andy Raymond, Barry Michael and Paul Briggs, who called the Jones-Green fight Wednesday. Among the gems heard during the fight:
Raymond, after Jones was knocked down: “When you beat a legend, you become a legend, and Danny Green is on the verge of history!”
Raymond, after Green won: “Danny Green has conquered Australia and the world!”
Michael, during the wrap-up: “This is the greatest win in the history of Australian boxing.”
Huh? Seriously? First off, just because you beat a legend that was in his prime ten years ago doesn’t make you as great as he was. By that logic, you should be able to go to Berrien Springs, Michigan and kick Muhammad Ali’s ass and call yourself the Greatest. Secondly, how did Green conquer Australia exactly by beating a dude from Florida? Doesn’t the fact that Green already lost to Anthony Mundine, a fellow Aussie, mean that Mundine should be the best Down Under, at the very least? And if Green’s is the greatest win in the history of the country, I guess all the wins that Jeff Fenech and Kostya Tszyu have over Hall Of Famers during their careers don’t mean so much, eh? Sounds like someone should test Foxtel’s boys for hyperbolic steroid use!

3. The battle of Japan reaches its anticlimax

What many sportswriters in the United States still can’t understand is how boxing can still grip a nation when it’s not theirs. When Tomasz Adamek-Andrew Golota puts a nation (Poland) on hold for an entire afternoon, it’s still an important statement on the hold the Sweet Science still has in some parts of the world. Add to that the 112-pound megafight between Koki Kameda and titleholder Daisuke Naito on Nov. 29, which may qualify as the most mega of any fight in any country in the last 20 years. Going into the fight, it had it all the makings of the classic grudge match; a controversial, foul-filled fight between Kameda’s brother, Daiki, and Naito, which ended up with Daiki suspended for a year. Kameda reportedly told his brother to use his elbows on Naito! It’s not clear what Naito may have done to engender this wrath (other than Kameda despising Naito having the flattest nose on earth), but it certainly didn’t translate to a great fight. Kameda moved very well, landing his punches everywhere on a confused Naito, who just couldn’t generate the offense that would have made this one special. While there were some good exchanges, there wasn’t much doubt at the end of the fight, both as to the winner and who was the most arrogant Japanese guy since Boleo Yeung in Bloodsport (who we all know isn’t really Japanese, anyway). Kameda might be a big star in Japan, but he shows an incredible lack of class during fights that would make Floyd Mayweather, Jr. proud, including a refusal to touch gloves or even acknowledge Naito and his effort after the fight. Since this fight did over a 50 share (yes, that means over 50 percent of Japanese TV’s that were on!), let’s hope the next Battle For Japan lives up to its billing.

4. Paul Williams finally meets his match

Forget Carlos Quintana when talking about Paul Williams; that was clearly an off night for “The Punisher”. Other than that, the man has beaten down Antonio Margarito (likely with his loaded gloves), Winky Wright, Verno Phillips and Quintana in a rematch. Well, last Saturday night, he finally found a worthy opponent that he couldn’t just walk over, that in Spain’s Sergio Martinez. While it was obvious that these were the two best jr. middleweights in the world (although the fight was fought above 154), no one could have expected the slugfest that resulted. Williams was not only knocked down in the first round, but actually got rocked a couple of times, as Martinez displayed excellent use of angles in getting to his 6’2” opponent. What this fight also showed was that Williams is more than up to facing adversity, as he gave it right back to the Spaniard, tiring Martinez out late in the fight as Williams came back from a couple of bad cuts. Ultimately, while Williams got the decision, it could have gone either way (throw out the fact that Pierre Benoist had an awful 119-110 scorecard he apparently scored from Williams’ house in front of his family), and there now will likely be a much-anticipated rematch. With all of the ducking that fighters have been doing to Williams, it’s good that he’s now found an opponent he can truly test his greatness against. With the grueling nature of this fight, it will be interesting to see how that will change each fighter by the time they step into the ring against each other for a second time.

5. Maybe this rematch shouldn’t be made, either

Lost in the shuffle a bit during an incredibly exciting last 30 days in boxing is that Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez are going to get it on for a fourth time. And who could argue, right? These two waged three of the greatest fights that the 122-pound division (or any other division, for that matter) had ever seen, each one memorable for it’s brutality and gladiator-style action. Even the boxing press seems fairly amped up for this fight, to take place in early 2010. However, has anyone asked just how much that great trilogy has taken out of these guys? Anyone who saw Vazquez’ struggling performance against Angel Priolo in October has to wonder just what a rematch will accomplish other than shortening their careers further. If Vazquez is on the downslope of his career, a fight like this may end it; for Marquez, he has only to look to his brother Juan Manuel to see what taking care of yourself can lead to in your late 30’s – more big time fights and a longer career. Trilogies are common in boxing for a reason; they settle the debate as to who is better, and then fighters move on. Both Vazquez and Marquez are as on par with each other as you can get, a fact that won’t change if they fight a hundred times. Let’s not ruin potential intriguing fights with Juan Manuel Lopez, Chris John or Yuriorkis Gamboa by putting these guys in a fight that might beat them out of action for another sixteen months, if not permanently.

The Finito Q & A – November edition

Andre Ward seems to be making Mikkel Kessler rather unhappy here with his punches, something we're fairly sure Kessler missed when he complained about head butts and officiating afterward.

This month’s bevy of burning fistic questions, from Ward’s massive upset to Manny’s mummy-like singing performance:

Q: So after the Andre Ward’s surprising upset of Mikkel Kessler, looks like you picked the first-round winners of the Super Six tournament correctly. Are you going to gloat now, smart guy?

A: To be fair, I didn’t predict everything correctly. I said Carl Froch would knock out Andre Dirrell, and there was about as much chance of a KO in that fight as there was of Yuriorkis Gamboa defecting back to Cuba. Still, it was nice to see Ward really come through better than even I had thought possible. What a performance! Taking apart Kessler, who many considered the tournament favorite, was unexpected to say the least. Those two might still be the best in the Super Six, so maybe Kessler gets another chance at Ward eventually. Still, you have to like Ward’s win as the most impressive of the tourney so far.

Q: What about Kessler’s assertions after the fight that Ward’s headbutting and referee Jack Reiss cost him the fight? Valid, or are you going to give us one of your analogies again?

A: Analogy time! Kessler saying that the butts and refereeing cost him the fight is like saying Carl Froch’s girlfriend is hot because of her great teeth; there is some truth there, but it’s pretty low on the list of factors. The main reason Ward won was because he pounded Kessler all over the ring; sure the head butts didn’t help matters, but that didn’t determine the fight. Kessler had a bad night, while Ward had an outstanding one, simple as that.

Q: So who’s the favorite going into the second round of the Super Six?

A: It has to be Ward. As excellent as Arthur Abraham’s win over Jermain Taylor was, Taylor looks close to done. Ward beat a better fighter right now, so you have to like his momentum. However, the points lead is still Abraham’s at 3 until someone passes or ties him.

Q: That must mean that you aren’t rating Froch’s win very highly. After more than a month, are you still holding on to the notion that Dirrell won?

A: Yes! It wasn’t a huge screwjob or anything like that, but after watching the fight numerous times, I still don’t know how Froch could have won any of the first six rounds. He did nothing. That means it could have been a draw at best for him from that point with no knockdowns. I’m not going to continue screaming to the rafters on this one, but neither will I give Froch a whole lot of credit for that performance. We need to see more of the Froch that beat Taylor from this point on.

Q: Did you hear that Top Rank head Bob Arum flipped ESPN’s Dan Rafael the bird at the Pacquiao-Cotto fight for his negative comments about the undercard? What was up with that?

A: Well, all boxing fans should have flipped Arum the bird for that lame undercard. It looks like Arum couldn’t take the fact that Rafael called him to the carpet on it, and because Arum acts like a jerk about half the time, you get incidents like these. Come on, Julio Ceasar Chavez, Jr.-Troy Rowland as the co-feature for one of the biggest fights of the year? Please. Look I love Rowland, who lives about 20 minutes from my house, but the guy was just barely back after a 3-plus year layoff. He didn’t deserve to be there, and Chavez sure as hell didn’t, either. When you’re paying one of your fighters less than $50 grand (Rowland, of course) to be on the lead-in fight to a major PPV headliner, then it shouldn’t be on the card. The fact that the most talked about fight on the undercard was the Matt Korobov bout, which wasn’t even televised, should tell you something about the strength of it.

Q: Did you see that Rodel Mayol had another head butt issue in his fight against Edgar Sosa? Is this a trend, or just another coincidence?

A: This looks like a real trend, one that referees should put a stop to right away. Mayol is not intentionally butting fighters, but he is far too reckless with his head. If I were Sosa, who clearly never recovered from the butt and was actually down on the canvas for more than a minute trying to recover, I’d launch a protest to try and get a rematch. Sosa lost his 108-pound title in the fight, as well. It’s one thing when a possible style matchup caused his two fights against Ivan Calderon to be stopped due to headbutts, but it’s another thing when it’s happening every fight.

Q: So what should have been done after the butt happened?

A: A no-contest should have been ruled, simple as that. I don’t know why referees are so afraid to do this when an unintentional foul is committed. This wasn’t the same situation as with the Kendall Holt-Ricardo Torres rematch; in that fight, everything happened inside a minute, with no time to evaluate Torres properly. In this case, however, Sosa being prone on the canvas and barely able to stand the entire rest of the first round should have clued referee Roberto Ramirez in. Ramirez actually ruled the butt intentional and deducted a point; he should have taken it a step further and stopped it altogether.

Q: How in the world did Dimitri Sartison get a 168-pound title from the WBA by beating Stjepan Bozic in Germany this weekend? I thought Ward won that title from Kessler that same day!

A: That’s because the WBA (and the rest of the alphabelt soup gangs) only cares about getting money from fighters, not who represents them as champion. They have a designation called “super champion” they give to some fighters when they unify belts with another organization. The fact that Kessler had no other belts going into the Ward fight didn’t matter, they just elevated him to “super champion” anyway. And because Sartison and Bozic were dumb enough to fall for it, they paid sanctioning fees to the WBA to fight for their “regular belt”. I hope Sartison carries that baby around with pride; because only his family will think that he’s the champ and Ward isn’t.

Q: Giovani Segura now has 18 KO’s out of his 22 wins, pretty good for a jr. flyweight. Given that he still seems to be sticking around with Antonio Margarito’s former trainer, Javier Capetillo, how far is he going to go?

A: Not far enough, and that’s unfortunate. The sky should be the limit for Segura, who has some real panache and a flair for the dramatic, but as long as he’s with Capetillo, he can only go so far. He absolutely crushed Sonny Boy Jaro with a left to the body in the first round of their fight Saturday, a punch most guys his size do not have. While I totally believe that his power is legitimate, having a guy who has been caught loading gloves training you is just not smart; it casts doubt on every knockout you have. Segura, who lives in California, can’t even fight there because of Capetillo’s ban; so unless it’s against someone willing to fight him in Mexico, it’s not going to happen. He’s a young guy that probably wants to be loyal to his trainer, but it’s not worth doing that at the expense of your career.

Q: After the Cotto fight, Pacquiao gave a concert, singing for the gathered crowd with half his head bandaged. Strangest thing you’ve ever seen in boxing?

A: No, not the strangest (fan man at Holyfield-Bowe still takes the cake for me), but it’s definitely up there. Listen, I know Pac-Man can sing and wanted to give a concert at Madison Square Garden soooo bad, but who thought this was a good idea? It either shows no respect for the fact that Cotto might have seriously hurt Manny (which he came damn close to doing), or at best, assumed that after a grueling fight, he could still give some kind of great performance. No offense, but if I go see Bruce Springsteen, I sure as hell don’t want to do it after he just ran the Boston Marathon! You must want to see Pacquiao sing pretty badly to take in his show under those circumstances. He still probably looked better than Cher, though…