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.

The Finito Q & A – February edition

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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!