The Blackeyed View

Cotto stops a defiant Mayorga in 12 rounds

2011-03-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

The result of last Saturday's clash between Miguel Cotto and Ricardo Mayorga was expected by many but the way it went down was not. What was expected to be a short entertaining firefight between a skilled but vulnerable champion and an unskilled, faded loud mouth turned out to be a true battle for the WBA junior middleweight belt. Although Cotto won the majority of the rounds make no mistake about it, the belt was in jeopardy and Mayorga's powerpunches kept Cotto in harm's way in every round. It was a rejuvenated Mayorga, who looked better than he has in years that showed up in Las Vegas bringing along his usual bravado and array of power punches thrown from every angle. It was said that he trained very hard during camp and his trainer worked on getting him to shorten his punches and it showed during the fight as he looked to be in fighting shape and there was a bit more sharpness to his usual wild swings. Mayorga actually launched some nifty combinations and bodywork in an honest attempt to rip the belt away from the champion.

It took nothing less than Cotto's A game to repel this challenge and that was exactly what the champion was able to offer in this fight. Cotto brilliantly executed his game plan of sticking and moving, piling up points with his precise jabs, left hooks, and body punches all the while resisting to engage in the brawl that Mayorga desperately sought to have a chance to land his home run punch. Mayorga displayed his iron chin during the fight as he soaked up a lot left hooks and some solid rights thrown with Cotto's newly surgically reconstructed right shoulder.

The first three rounds were tight with Cotto having gained the lead on the judges cards on the basis of landing more punches with Mayorga close behind. Each round was laced with danger as both men attempted to knock each other's blocks off, each punch thrown with bad intentions despite the opinion of one 'Iron' Mike Tyson who was not impressed when asked by SHOWTIME's roaming reporter Jim Gray. The fourth round was won by Mayorga as he stepped up the pressure and forced Cotto to retreat after landing some attention grabbing uppercuts. The challenger was beginning to cement his challenge as a serious bid for victory in this round and Cotto was put on notice to stick to his game plan and put pressure of his own in the following rounds.

The middle rounds saw a decrease in the output of Mayorga has he began to fight in spurts as his body began to let him know that he know longer was the wildman of his youth, meanwhile the younger champion maintained his steady offerings of jabs, hooks, and body blows that would continue to win him rounds. Mayorga came back to life in the seventh round and had his best chance in the tenth round when he stunned Cotto with a chopping right that had the champion reeling and looking to escape danger. The champ survived Mayorga's onslaught and reasserted himself in the eleventh.

Going into the last round Mayorga's corner told him that he needed a knockout in order to win the fight and Mayorga came out determined to make his final stand. Cotto was equal to the task and to his credit was willing to engage Mayorga in the brawl that he so craved like the fighting champion that he is. With both men unloading their guns, Cotto landed a left hook flush to the jaw of Mayorga as he threw a shot of his own that sent him to one knee holding on to his left hand in pain. The referee, Robert Byrd, correctly ruled it a knockdown and began the count. Mayorga beat the count and attempted to fire back but moments later retreated to a corner and with body language indicated to the ref that he could not continue and the official ruled it so giving the champion the victory by stoppage.

Cotto improved to 36-2 with 29 knockouts while Mayorga fell to 29-8-1. After the fight Mayorga explained that he fell to his knees not from the hook that crashed on his jaw but because of an injury suffered to his left hand, which was later revealed to be a dislocated thumb; "I hate the way this fight ended. I tried to finish the final round but the pain in my hand was too much." He then gave credit to Cotto calling him a great champion and thanked him for the opportunity at his belt and asking his forgiveness for all the pre-fight taunting which he explained that he did to promote the fight. He also announced his retirement from boxing.

Cotto commented; "The game plan was to not get caught up in any of his antics. He was very heavy handed, I felt his punches the whole fight.It was a good fight with an amazing finish."

The Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga fight will be rebroadcast this Saturday night on SHOWTIME before the Lucian Bute-Brian Maghee main event.

With the win Cotto's next opponent appears to be Antonio Margarito in a rematch of their fight in which Margarito stopped Cotto, a result that became clouded in doubt the moment Margarito was caught with loaded fists before his fight with Shane Mosley. Cotto has said in the past that he was opposed to having Margarito make any money off of a rematch with him due to his suspicions of having been hit with loaded gloves himself. He has since backed off those comments and appears open to the possibility for a rematch. His disdain for the man remains apparent as he refused to shake hands with the Mexican who was called onto the podium during the post fight press conference. If looks could kill Margarito would have been slain over and over again by the glare given to him by Cotto while he addressed the press.

A quick assessment of Cotto's second fight at junior middleweight shows a fighter that is becoming more comfortable with the weight and his trainer Emanuel Steward. In Cotto's first fight at the weight he fought a taller, rangier fighter in Yuri Foreman who had the ability to use his reach and mobility to rack up a points win but lacked the power to test his punch resistance at that weight. He was able to follow his new trainer's game plan to take away the taller man's reach by working his jab in effectively and allowing his won power punches to get in there and do the rest. In his second fight he showed a good chin by withstanding some blistering blows from a bigger man and the ability to wriggle out of danger when in trouble. He also showed his complete faith in the Steward game plan by remaining disciplined enough to follow it in the face of the storm. It paid off in the form of a knockout win. I initially had my doubts about Cotto at junior middleweight but I now see him as a formidable force at that weight class with the ability to rule their as long as he avoids Sergio Martinez. That fight would probably be his undoing at that weight class although I wouldn't count out this brave champion completely.

Speaking of Sergio Martinez......

Sergio Martinez dominates Sergiy Dzinziruk

Last Saturday was one of those nights in which boxing shoots itself in the foot by putting on competing boxing cards. On the night that two of the more popular fighters in the sport are set to fight (Cotto/Mayorga), HBO decides its a good time to showcase the undisputed middleweight champion of the world Sergio Martinez. This is not good for boxing as Martinez is one of the hidden gems in the game and needs to be discovered by the masses and you don't do that by pitting his fight against a pay per view that features two already known commodities that are known to draw fans. And on top of it all, HBO sets up Martinez in a good match up against an undefeated legit menace from Europe in Dzinziruk who happens to be the WBO junior middleweight champ (that belt was not on the line). This is a fight that begged to be seen but forced boxing fans to choose sides. With the constant wait between solid fights there are plenty of dates that could have been chosen for these fights, HBO and SHOWTIME there is no need for this!

Back to the fight itself. Martinez's handlers were very vocal about their opposition to facing Dzinziruk whom was forced on them by HBO. They were wary about everything from the man being a champ, to his southpaw style, to his unbeaten record and his status as an unknown commodity. But being the cool level headed customer that he is, the middleweight champ calmed his managers and accepted the assignment, looking at it as a puzzle to solve.

It was a joy to watch Martinez go to work on figuring out Dzinziruk, bouncing in and out potshotting his man. You could see the challenger trying to keep up and the difficulty in figuring out the moving target in front of him. Martinez finally got to his man in the fourth forcing the challenger from the Ukraine to a knee after connecting with what appeared to be the lightest of punches to the top of his head. Dzinziruk argued vehemently that it was a slip but the ref ruled it a knockdown and the Ukrainian proceeded to follow downward spiral for the rest of the fight.

At the end of the fifth round the challenger was downed by a left hand seconds before the bell and got up smiling but shaken. The man from Argentina would knock down his foe for the third time in the eight round prompting the referee to call a halt to the bout at 1:43 of the eight round.

Dzinziruk suffered his first loss in 38 fights while Martinez improved to 47-2-2 with 26 KOs. The 2010 Fighter of the Year would then call out everyone from Mayweather to Pacquiao after the fight. At this rate Martinez who is firmly entrenched among the top three best pound for pound fighters in the world is poised to take over the top spot if he keeps taking on and defeating top quality opposition.

The Undercards

Two noteworthy fights on the undercards of both of the above mentioned cards that I would like to talk about. First on the Cotto-Mayorga undercard, Yuri Foreman staged his comeback fight against Pawel Wolak a brawler from Chicago with one loss on his record. Foreman was attempting to get back on the winning track following his loss to Cotto last year in which he suffered a knee injury but instead would suffer a devastating loss in which his corner had to intervene to stop the fight in which he suffered a sustained beating for six rounds. Although medically cleared to fight, it was obvious that his old movement may have left him following his leg injury as he was unable to use his legs to great effect and was forced to fight in the danger zone.

Wolak (29-1) who suffered major swelling and bruising to the face as testament that Foreman did fight back, was able to put constant pressure on Foreman which forced to him to stand and trade. This worked perfectly into Wolak's hands and he was able to impose his type of fight which ultimately put him the winner's circle. When asked after the fight about his future in boxing, Foreman (28-2) responded that he would rest before deciding his future in the sport.

There was a fire fight on the HBO undercard dubbed 'the Celtic War' pitting Ireland's once beaten Andy Lee against Scotland's undefeated Craig McEwan. The fight was scheduled for ten rounds and was an entertaining battle throughout. Andy Lee was one of these fighters that I had heard stories about early in his career. He was touted as the future of the middleweight division, the next knockout machine out of the famed Kronk gym that produced Thomas Hearns and the first left handed heavyweight champ Michael Moorer. But each time I saw him in action he simply failed to impress as he was knocked out on a fight on ESPN and would win in less than scintillating fashion in another televised bout. The only impression he seemed to make on me is that the longer his fights go, the more he starts to resemble actor and former New Kid On the Block member Donnie Wahlberg.

So it didn't surprise me any to see him lose control of this fight early on as McEwan put it on him with a mix of hooks and solid rights thrown fast and heavy. Lee appeared for the most part content to set traps for McEwan to walk into and had a few of those traps succeed but never enough to win him rounds. He also had an annoying tendency to keep his guard down all but inviting punches which McEwan had no problems delivering. McEwan dominated the first half of this fight until Lee began to wake up by the sixth round and finally decided to start throwing back with greater frequency.

Down in the fight Lee broke through in the ninth round, clearly hurting McEwan who had to hold on to survive the round. Seemingly needing a knockout to win the fight, Lee who at this point resembled the freakishly ragged version of Donnie Wahlberg from the movie 'The Sixth Sense', did not appear to have the energy to get the coveted come from behind knock out he needed but plugged on until......it happened. As if to justify past praises heaped on the man, the Gods of boxing bestowed upon Lee the hammer of Thor in the form of his left hand that came booming down on McEwan forcing him to a knee and then onto his back at which point the ref stopped the fight. Lee had won the 'Celtic War' in dramatic fashion proving himself worthy of the attention of the boxing public. The man may never become champion, but he is not without skill, not without heart, and definitely not without the power to change his destiny. I love these exhilarating endings.

Filipino rising

In covering the Sergio Martinez fight in the earlier segment, I mentioned the top three pound for pound fighters in the world. Martinez is one of them, he is number three. Then there is one and two being Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. respectively. But there is another Filipino fighter creeping up and threatening to overtake the spot of any of these three fighters, and that fighter is 'The Filipino Flash' Nonito Donaire.

This unassuming, lanky, school boy looking kid is actually very lethal. He is an undefeated bantamweight who has the height, skill, and power to rise up the weight classes like his idol Manny Pacquiao who he has publicly sworn never to fight. The boxing world first took notice of this dynamo when he was scheduled to fight the dangerous 'Raging Bull' Vic Darchinyan in 2007 who was rampaging thru the smaller weights. Darchinyan had previously savaged Nonito's older brother Glenn Donaire and the younger brother promised to avenge that loss. At the time no one took his vow of vengeance seriously because Darchinyan was such a little wrecking ball that nothing seemed to stop him. Until he ran into the Filipino Flash that is. Donaire took five rounds to figure out Darchinyan's crab like fighting stance and set him up to run into a left hook that he did not see coming and sent the Armenian superman crashing back down to earth.

That spectacular knockout win over Darchinyan started a run of quality knockout wins over quality opponents that made everyone take notice of the mix of speed, skill and power displayed by Donaire that saw him rise up the rankings of the top fighters of the world as he collected wins, scalps, and title belts. It has been 11 years since he has tasted defeat and along the way he has faced and beaten every fighting style imaginable, facing off against prospects, veterans, speedsters, powerpunchers, champions and former champions.

This all led up to his first super fight this February against WBC & WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel of Mexico who was on an amazing run of his own. Montiel was a solid champion who faced off against the best boxers of the lower weight classes. This was called an even fight by the odds makers going in and had the air of mystery attached to it as you honestly did not know what would happen once the bell rang. It was the immovable object versus the irresistable force.

When the bell rang the height and reach advantages for Donaire were plain to see, but what was alarming was the speed which the Filipino enjoyed over his Mexican rival. He was literally operating like a Flash of light going in, out and around Montiel without necesarrilly landing much but landing hard when he did. From the onset it looked like it would be a tough assignment for the champ.

In the second round Montiel appeared to close the gap, getting his left hook close enough to land a few shots to the body and to the head of the challenger. Donaire began to back up and look for more space to operate as Montiel closed in. It started to happen, the veteran champ was making the adjustments that an experience pro makes when faced with adversity, he was applying the pressure, he was taking it to the challenger....it was an illusion. Donaire set up an exchange with Montiel in which he fired a left hook that exploded on the jaw of the soon to be ex champion and produced a highlight reel knockdown that saw Montiel flopping on the floor desperately trying to regain his senses looking like a fish out of water.

To his credit Montiel beat the count at nine but had to be saved from Donaire's follow up barrage as 'The Filipino Flash' recorded a 2nd round TKO to become the undisputed champion of the bantamweights. One thing that will definitely help Donaire gain fans in the states is that he is a Filipino-American, he speaks english perfectly having been raised in the USA and he is a very clever guy who comes off likeable in his interviews. Plus he is quoteable as proven by his in-ring interview after the fight with HBO commentator Max Kellerman who asked him how he was able to knock out Montiel just as the Mexican had gotten into his rythmn. Donaire's reply was priceless; "The rythmn was given to him. I had to study him to see where his head was going to be for the knockout." When asked by Kellerman if he was operating in the Matrix like the similairly titled movie, Donaire responded; "Yes I'm in the Matrix. Guys think I'm crazy when I say this, but things slow down for me in the ring and I can see everything in slow motion."

Awesome.

This guy is going to be a star. His combination of speed, skill, power with a frame that can support a climb up in weights point to a bright future. The boxing fanatic's mind drools at the prospect of fights that might be made on his path to greatness. There is the winner of SHOWTIME'S Bantamweight tournament (Abner Mares or Joseph Agbeko), a few pounds away you have the dynamic duo of Yuorkis Gamboa and Juan Manuel Lopez, veteran featherweight champ Chris John, a raid of the lightweights before entering the junior welterweights where he will find Amir Khan, Tim Bradley, and Marcus Maidana and then dare we dream Floyd Mayweather Jr. who might find Donaire too small to resist?

The Blackeyed View's TV Recommendation

This mention is way overdue but better late than never. From the FX Channel which has produced a steady stream of awesome dramatic television from such as The Shield, Damages, Sons of Anarchy and Justified to name a few, comes a new series which spotlights boxing called Lights Out. Its the story about retired heavyweight champion Patrick 'Lights' Leary who five years into his retirement is faced with the prospect of having to make a come back when his family is threatened by the loss of his career earnings thru the mismanagement of his well meaning but irresponsible younger brother Johnny.

This show refuses to pigeon hole itself in previously explored boxing territory and instead focuses on telling a story using fully developed characters that you will care about as any good drama would. As a boxing fan you will enjoy seeing what goes into building or in this case rebuilding a championship fighter, you will rage at getting a glimpse of the back door dealings between managers and promoters, and be surprised at the complex relationships between rivals. One of the most interesting aspects of the show is the interactions between the Leary and his nemesis Death Row Reynolds who won the last fight of Leary's career. Its an angle that is seldom explored in boxing movies or tv shows.

Fans of past HBO tv shows the Wire and Oz will recognize some actors on this show. The cast is solid headed by its leading man Holt McCallany who has committed himself body and soul into the role of Lights Leary getting himself in tremendous shape and using all the experience of a 20 year career in film to flesh out a character we can all get behind. Veteran actor Stacy Keach plays Leary's trainer and father with great depth as he potrays a veteran fighter/trainer who has his rough edges but is at the same time a tender father and grandfather when situation is required or brought out of him. Catherin McCormack plays Light's wife which is his rock and Pablo Schrieber as Johnny the brother that is both the bane of his existence and the part of his life he can't live without.

The best way to describe this show is to take Rocky, add three parts Sopranos, mix in some of The Wire and a touch of The Sheild and you get Lights Out. Just when you know where its going the show throws you a new twist. Here is a sample of some of its plotlines; the comeback of a 40 year old athlete, the underworld boss who takes an interest in Leary's comeback and makes himself necessarry and what will be the eventual consequences of this, the crazy boxing guru trainer, the as of yet unexplained reason that caused Leary to lose to Death Row Reynolds when he had him ready for the KO in the last seconds of the fight, sex, drugs, pugilistic dementia corruption and redemption. Its just to much to name in one segment about this show.

It is beyond worth watching if you are a boxing fan and a must see if you are a fan of dramatic, gritty television. It airs Tuesday nights at ten on FX. To catch up on all the episodes go to fxnetworks.com where you can see all their episodes.

FIGHTS THIS WEEKEND

This Saturday March 19th live on SHOWTIME Super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute fights against Brian MaGee. The replay of Cotto-Mayorga will be replayed before this fight.

Vitaly Klitschko defense of the WBC heavyweight belt against Cuban Odalnier Solis will be broadcast by EPIX and will be shown live on the huge teleprompter on Times Square at 6PM.

"Say hello to the bad guy..."

2011-03-11T13:22:00.000-08:00

The title of this latest post is a line in the classic Al Pacino anti-hero movie Scarface and when I've heard it mentioned on TV over the the past few years it has made me think of Nicaraguan bad ass Ricardo 'El Matador" Mayorga. The former welter weight champion of the world and conqueror of Fernando Vargas and the late Vernon Forrest is involved in a major pay per view fight against WBA junior middleweight ruler Miguel Cotto, which at age 38 with 7 losses on his ledger is a major victory of and in itself. But as usual Mayorga wants more, he dares to dream big always and aspires to capture the WBA belt by spectacular KO no less and ascend to bigger fights against the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., all the while proudly wearing the black hat of the villain to promote this fight, attacking Cotto at every press stop as is his modus operandi.

Many in the media, along with fans and the usual gaggle of boxing 'experts' deride this fight as being nothing more than a hyped up mismatch between a skilled champion who although is fighting the label of damaged goods due to the violent nature of his two defeats, is still a level above the non-skilled faded blowhard that is being offered up as a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter. I personally don't get this logic and am not buying into the thinking that there is no method to the madness of Mayorga. El Matador who fights more like a raging bull, is a former world champion that earned that title by blasting out two highly skilled boxers in Andrew 'Six Heads' Lewis and Vernon Forrest, his only losses have come against the cream of the crop (Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley) in fights in which he gave each man hell, a debatable points deduction loss against Cory Spinks and a few learning experience losses early in his career. The man always comes to fight if not always comes in shape, brings the action at all times and never quits. His swing for the fences style more often than not leads to the knockouts that all boxing fans crave and that the sport needs to lure in new fans.

So why the knock on this man by fans and media alike? By most accounts it is the trash talking that gets Mayorga on people's bad side. Many, including Miguel Cotto, have slighted Mayorga for talking the talk but not being able to back it up with winning results. Some media members in particular have ripped the man for his rants and antics during the promotions of his fights. This is the height of hypocrisy. Most reporters who cover boxing pray for a man like this, without him what you normally get in a boxing press conference is something like the recent Manny Pacuiao vs Shane Mosley love fest in New York (on Valentine's Day no less!) promoting their fight in which Mosley could not get Manny to admit that he wanted to knock him out. Not even their stare down was full of any indication that sparks will fly on fight night as the two good guys could not stare at each other without laughing.

This is where a guy like Mayorga sparks things up. His verbal attacks on his rival boxers, trainers, and promoters are becoming stuff of legend. He routinely keeps the audience in attendance (same fans and media that go against him) in stitches and effectively riles up his foes. Here are a few of his classic verbage:

Against Vernon Forrest: "Tell Forrest whether he runs, stops or bends over, whatever he does, I will knock him out in two rounds." --- "Not even Forrest's dog is going to recognize him when he goes home." --- (In the rematch) "I am upset because he (Forrest) did not call me for Father's Day. I am going to give him a whipping because I did not get my present."

Against Fernando Vargas: "Your as fat as my 11 year old son's ass." --- "After I kill Vargas, I will volunteer to be the step-dad to Vargas' kids after his death." --- "I had a dream last night that I threw a rotten orange at Fernando Vargas and hit him in the chin and he went down and he didn't get back up. That's what is going to happen on September 8th."

Against Oscar De La Hoya: "You remind me of an old lady that's past her prime that should be sitting home in a rocking chair doing nothing." --- "When we were doing the HBO shoot, I remember him (Oscar) saying that he was going to take this belt away from me,...I go, 'The only way your going to take this belt away from me is if you let me have your wife for a night and I'll let you have the belt for an hour." --- and last but not least "After I knock you out Oscar, I look forward to drinking the warm milk from your wife's breast."

Sure these comments are crass, lack class, and some are not intended for kids but you have to admit they are eye catching and a heck of a lot more interesting for a reporter to write about and reader to read about then a discussion on cutting off the ring and using the jab. And I don't want anyone to confuse Mayorga's trash talking with that of Floyd Mayweather or Roy Jones Jr., both of which bragged about destroying opponents yet consistently have refused to close out their foes with the resounding KO or refuse to fight the best available opposition. Mayorga talks about knocking everyone out and goes out and tries to do just that every time. And whatever you think about the man, he is a big game hunter and only targets the biggest and the baddest.

Of the three victims of Mayorga's insults (read above) only Oscar De La Hoya was able to gain a full measure of revenge overwhelming Mayorga with speed, skill, and power to knock out the Nicaraguan. The knock against Mayorga about not being able to deliver on his threats is misguided when you stop and think that when you challenge a murderous line up your not going to be able to strike out every single hitter. Cotto is not Oscar De La Hoya in terms of speed or power, but he does possess the discipline and fighting heart of the Golden Boy. There is no denying that Cotto is the more skilled fighter between the two. He has a better grip of the fundamentals, has Olympic pedigree and more amateur experience. But there are many signs that point to a possible upset that makes this a legitimate fight despite the naysayers.

Mayorga is 38 years old which in this sport can be considered over the hill but that is balanced out by the beatings that Cotto has taken in his career and the time off Mayorga has had between his last KO loss (to Mosley in 2008). Cotto has received many punches, cuts, and injuries in some of his biggest wins (against Ricardo Torres, Joshua Clottey, Zab Judah, and Shane Mosley) and has received depleting beatings in his losses against Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito. In the Margarito fight in particular the concern is that we will never know if the Mexican won that fight with the use of loaded gloves to deliver that beating as he tried to do (whether he admits it or not) against Mosley. That is a lot for a fighter to recover from and fighting Yuri Foreman who is not known for his power is not a true test of punch resistance. Mayorga will be that test.

Another positive sign for this fight is the reunion of Mayorga and his original trainer Al Bonnani who trained Ricardo for his signature wins against 'Six Heads' Lewis and Vernon Forrest. Bonnani has gotten Mayorga in the best fighting shape possible and has set realistic goals for conditioning and shortening his man's punches. As a result Mayorga appears fit and much more motivated for this fight than he has in his last camp in which he was training to take on a mixed martial artist. In that camp he appeared fat and way too loose. Not the case for this fight.

Then there is the old adage of styles make fights. I have seen Cotto's entire professional career, I've seen him fight southpaws, brawlers, speedsters, technicians, veterans, and boxer punchers. I can't vouch for his amateur career but in the pros I have never seen him face off against someone as unpredictable and wild as Mayorga who throws punches from weird angles with power. Think of Naseem Hamed, pound for pound I believe 'The Prince' had a bit more power than Mayorga in his division but both were similar in that they threw hard from all angles. Hamed dispatched many more polished technicians this way (Tom 'Boom Boom' Johnson, Wilfrido Vasquez) as has Mayorga. I don't know if Cotto has ever faced a guy like this and we won't really know how he will react to that style.

Lastly it appears that Mayorga has gotten under his skin. The usually stoic Miguel Cotto has responded to some Mayorga's constant insults in kind which is not his norm to do. In the last press conference in Vegas this week he refused to pose with Mayorga for the traditional stare down photo shoots, telling Mayorga to pose with his mother. Totally unlike Cotto is usually a complete gentleman but understandable because Mayorga is just the type of guy to bring out the worst in you. Exactly what 'El Matador' wants. Cotto has vowed to knock out Mayorga in a few rounds, promising a wipe out. This plays well for a 38 year old power puncher who does not want to chase down his opponent and would rather stand and trade to see who falls first. In a fight like that anything can happen.
All that being said I might be completely wrong about Mayorga's chances and Cotto certainly has the tools to produce a spectacular blow out win. If he does he will have deserved it because no one is ever in 'easy' with Ricardo Mayorga. And should Cotto win he will also deserve the glory for he has represented this sport with class, dignity, honor, and courage. But call me crazy, call me a rebel, call me what you will, I'm going with the bad guy on this one.

Miguel Cotto vs Ricardo Mayorga, March 12th on Showtime Pay Per View Boxing

2011-01-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

First things first......We had a chock full of boxing this past weekend to get to and it was a classic case of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The Good; there was an excellent match up of junior welterweight champions in a unification bout featured on HBO this past Saturday that saw WBO champion Tim Bradley against WBC champion Devon Alexander. The Bad was that Alexander is a southpaw and Bradley is bald which for some reason always adds up to a fight chock full of headbutts. Add to that the old styles makes fights adage which prevented these two guys from creating an entertaining fight for the fans which was strange since Bradley is a scrappy boxer-puncher and Alexander a boxer with power, you would think their styles would add up to action but it didn't. One day in a separate column I will explore why is it that fights involving bald fighters seem to always loom with the threat of heads colliding. Head butting in fights involving southpaw fighters is almost always a given because of the awkward footwork that leads to the frequent head smashing but its a mystery to me why bald fighters seem to induce almost as much head collisions as the left handed boxers.

The fight was tactical from the start as Bradley assumed the role of the bull and Alexander the matador. The 'bull' was getting the better of the matador in this encounter as the shorter Bradley waded in with short hooks (and at times his head) to get in close to Alexander and negate his offense. Bradley landed the cleaner more eye popping shots and put constant pressure on Alexander who did manage to get in a few counterpunches but nothing big enough to sway the judges to his side. Eventually an accidental head butt would open a nasty cut over the right eye of Alexander that forced his corner to stop the fight on the advice of the ringside doctor who could not get Alexander to open his eye for him to check. The judges cards were added up giving Tim Bradley the win and pick of the litter in the junior welterweight division.

What was billed to be a classic in the making between these two undefeated fighters turned into a dud, which was unfortunate for those who wanted to turn people onto boxing expecting these two good, young undefeated boxers to showcase the sport. But Alexander is young enough to recover and learn from this defeat and Bradley should provide some good fights now with Amir Khan, Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. who are all now on his radar based on this big win for him.

Now to the Ugly.... Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the son of the man considered to be the greatest boxer to have ever come out of Mexico fought this weekend against a journeyman named Billy Lyell with a record of 22-9 and won a unanimous ten round decision.......on pay per view!

Chavez with a record of 42-0 has only John Duddy as a name fighter on his resume and yet has been fighting on pay per view almost his entire career. Far be it from me to deny any boxer a pay day but I feel that this type of promoting devalues the whole system of pay per view and is a complete sham on those foolish enough to pay for the event which is basically an undercard fight. Chavez himself is being hurt with the matchmaking as he is not being tested as a boxer in the usual way. The usual way involves early match ups with fighters with varying degrees of skill, that in order would rank like this: fighters with losing records, fellow novices, veteran fighters past their primes, gate keepers, former world champs, contenders, then the champs. Chavez Jr has faced a steady diet of brawlers with losing records who have no power and even then one of them managed to pull out a draw against Chavez. This has stunted his growth as a fighter and has kept him at one level. There is talk of Chavez challenging Sebastian Zibik of Germany for the WBC middleweight belt or WBA junior middleweight champ Miguel Cotto. I don't believe he is ready for either man, here is hoping that he proves me wrong.

The Calm versus the Storm.....

I recently attended the New York press conference at BB King's in Times Square announcing the March 12th showdown between WBA junior middleweight king Miguel Cotto and former two time champ Nicaraguan wild man Ricardo Mayorga. For every negative thing you may read about Ricardo Mayorga and his promoter Don King you have to believe me when I tell you that the boxing media loves those two guys. This was a highly anticipated press conference on the boxing calendar and its not because of Cotto who is a true gentleman and champion but its Mayorga and King that make it a must see event. Mayorga is known for trying to do whatever it takes to rile up his opponents during the promotion of every fight and the things he says border between the tasteless and the outlandish. GOOD! Ask yourself what do you prefer, hearing Mayorga question his opponents manhood while threatening to knock them out or hearing how Alex Rodriguez respects every member of the Boston Red Sox?

It pains me to read or listen to folks who complain that guys like Mayorga shame the sport of boxing with their antics, those people miss the point of sports in my book, sports after all is a form of entertainment. Entertainment is the key word people and no one entertains better than Mayorga and King in the sport of boxing. Some gems offered by Mayorga; "As a human being I respect you but as a fighter I have never liked you. I will retire you. Even your fat friend will be happy" about Emmanuel Steward, Cotto's trainer who was laughing at Mayorga's barbs the whole time; " I see you have a new girlfriend. Your perfect together. Two losers." and then this; "Puerto Rico will be wearing black on March 12th because it will be your funeral".

Don King is simply a walking, breathing, always talking neon sign. Now in his 70s and with a little bit less hair he is still a dynamo who really did not need a microphone as his voice could be heard all over BB King's. He carried what seemed to be a flag for every country in the world so he could wave that flag at the right time. He spoke about the rivalry he's had with Cotto's promoter Bob Arum and how he loves it when his fighters beat an Arum fighter which Mayorga has vowed to do for him. King and Mayorga definitely added to this promotion that would otherwise come off as a public service announcement.

Mayorga's taunts even brought the usually stoic Cotto to life who, while maintaining his cool, stepped up to the podium and in a very animated way accused Mayorga of being a clown who has failed in every big fight. Cotto's best line referred to Mayorga being a one hit wonder by saying ; "After the upset of Vernon Forrest, Ricardo Mayorga was no more."

Now to assess the fight itself. Many boxing fans and members of the media have criticized this match up as a soft touch for Miguel Cotto suggesting that Sergio Martinez should be the one to fight the Puertorican champion. I am not among those detractors. Miguel Cotto has served boxing honorably and has been through some of the most hellacious wars in the past few years. You can trace it back to the pounding he got from Antonio Margarito in which we will never know if Margarito used loaded gloves or not. After an easy comeback fight against speedster Michael Jennings, Cotto was once again matched tough against Joshua Clottey. The African hurt Cotto but failed to put forth enough punches to win the decision on the judges cards in a fight that was supposed to be the set up for the Manny Pacquiao fight! Once Cotto faced the Filipino fighter he was no longer the same boxer who was running through the welterweight division and he was stopped in that fight. I see no problem with Cotto being matched up easier to rebuild his confidence.

That being said, Mayorga is no walk in the park for anyone. To suggest that he is a steppingstone will only fuel the usually volatile Mayorga's fire some more. The man still carries power to hurt his opponents and was able to push Shane Mosley to the limit a few years ago before being stopped in the last seconds of their fight. If Cotto wins, his promoter is looking at possible rematches with Margarito and Pacquiao. If Mayorga wins, his career will be rejuvenated and he will get himself back into the big fight mix. Emmanuel Steward will have Cotto ready for sure and Cotto is professional enough to not overlook Mayorga but nothing can prepare the body to absorb what it can no longer absorb. Mayorga believes Cotto is shot and will look to test his chin and his heart. I believe Cotto is up to the test and regardless of who wins, this fight has excitement written all over it. Its a winner in my book.

The Blackeyed View's movie review of THE FIGHTER

Its been my personal tradition for the past fifteen years to try to see all the Oscar nominated films each year which has since become a burden on the wallet due to their expansion from five films to seven to now ten films. So I was happy to see that THE FIGHTER was nominated because it suddenly bonded two of my favorite things; boxing and the movies. The film tells the true story of New England boxer Mickey Ward, he of the famed Gatti-Ward boxing trilogy, and his rise to prominence in the face of adversities which take shape in the form of his mother and brother who threaten his boxing career and love life thru mismanagement. I went into the film not expecting much in the way of accurate fight choreography (in my opinion there hasn't been a decently choreographed fight film since Rocky 1 & 2) but had high hopes for the acting due to the strong cast starting with Christian Bale in the role of Dicky Englund the drug addicted ex fighter brother of the main character Mickey Ward (played by Mark Whalberg). I ended up being surprised on both ends.

This film offered the most accurate fight sequences of any boxing film I have seen to date. Mark Wahlberg does not look like Mickey Ward but he obviously worked hard to perfect Ward's left hook to the body. I have seen all of Ward's big fights and its uncanny how on the money Wahlberg is with his version of that left hook. The fights in the movie had an added piece of authenticity as the original HBO commentary and digital effects where incorporated into the film. The fights themselves played out on film exactly as they did in real life. To prove this all you have to do is look on youtube. The climactic fight in the end between Ward and Shea O'Neary in England went down exactly on film as it did in that ring in England years ago and the actor they got to play O'Neary was his exact twin. The attention to boxing detail in this film gets the utmost high marks from me.

But the man who threatened to steal the movie was actor Christian Bale who portrayed the part of Dickey Englund, Ward's older brother a former boxer himself who was once the pride of New England turned trainer who also suffers from drug addiction. Dickey's drug problems lead to a series of bad business decisions that threaten Ward's growth as a fighter. Bale lost a lot of weight for this role, looking nothing like the Bruce Wayne he plays in the Batman movies, and he makes the Dickey Englund character a polarizing focal point for both the audience's sympathy and revulsion. His character's downfall and ultimate redemption is as much a major part of the plot of this movie as Ward's story. Bale's efforts have been recognized in the form of Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for best supporting actor and if he wins that prize it will be well deserved.

The movie is filled with enough family drama to fill a week's worth of Maury Povich and Jerry Springer shows. This along with an accurate look at the behind the scenes look at a boxer's existence from the training end to the business end makes it a thoroughly entertaining package.

I'm giving THE FIGHTER ......lets see what I will go with, can't go with thumbs up, can't go with apples, and I could only give two black eyes sooooo......I will give THE FIGHTER out of a possible 5 left hooks, 4 left hooks. Go see it!

Rebooting.......

2011-01-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

They say the brain is really a complex computer that commands every muscle, every memory and every intention of a living human or animal. If this is true then we are all subject to the same freezing, loading, shut down, interruptions that afflict your every day PC, MAC, Laptop, or Blackberry. These interruptions of service may come in the form of strokes, daydreams, 'blonde' moments, blackouts, etc, brought about by any number of traumatic circumstances or chemical stimulants. I, your humble caretaker of the Blackeyed View, experience just such an occurrence following a car accident in June of 2010.

Luckily no one was hurt but strangely it was enough to practically wipe out all the plans I had before or after the incident. I honestly couldn't remember what I had planned to do that weekend or some of the projects I set for myself before and after the fender bender. It only started coming to me weeks later in the form of clues that came across my path (an ad for BBQ ribs, the date of the 26th, limes) and it took me months to get it all sorted out. One thing is for sure, the whole experience set me back on this blog by months but like all good boxers I'm attempting the comeback and I'm starting it the only logical way that I can, by summing up the rest of 2010.

Since we are still in January I think I can get away with a look back at the year that just ended before I begin reporting on the current stuff. My brain, the complex computer that scientists claim it to be is rebooting.

When last I blogged, Miguel Cotto had won the WBA junior middleweight strap from Yuri Foreman at Yankee Stadium on June 5th so I will pick up from there. So without further adieu to the loyal and patient readers of the Blackeyed View I give you......

THE BEST OF THE REST OF 2010

June: The World Boxing Classic Super Six tournament raged on in California as Oakland's native son Andre Ward defended his WBA super middleweight belt by bullying Allan Green, who entered the Super Six as a replacement for the retired Jermain Taylor, into a unanimous decision defeat. Andre looked very impressive and earned his status as the favorite to win the tourney...... Emerging Puerto Rican featherweight superstar Juan Manuel Lopez once again took fans in San Juan on an exciting roller coaster ride in his fight on that island against Bernardo Concepcion of the Philippines. After dominating the early moments of the first round and dropping the Filipino with a left hook Lopez is himself felled to the canvas by a counter hook by Concepcion. Lopez gets up to drop his foe twice more bringing an end to the fight in the first round and setting up a big fight with Rafael Marquez down the road. The heir to Manny Pacquiao's throne in the Philippines, Nonito Donaire fought on the undercard impressively stopping Mexico's Hernan Marquez in the eighth round..... In a battle of junior middleweights Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. rumbled his way to a unanimous but competitive win over popular Irish fighter John Duddy at the Alamodome in Texas. It would turn out to be Duddy's final fight as he announced his retirement in January of 2011.... IBF light heavyweight champ Tavoris Cloud survived a spirited challenge from rugged veteran Glen Johnson by decision after stunning Johnson in the early rounds and surviving a rally by the Jamaican contender in St. Louis. in the main event of that card Devon Alexander making the first defense of his IBF & WBC junior welterweight belts had a gut check fight against former belt holder Andreas Kotelnik from the Ukraine. Kotelnik pressured the champ from bell to bell and Alexander had problems solving the Ukrainian's style. In what could be construed as home cooking for St. Louis' native son all three judge's cards read 116 to 112 in favor of Alexander who proceeded to call out WBO champion Tim Bradley.

FIGHTER OF THE MONTH: Juan Manuel Lopez

July: This month saw a dry spell for the sport of boxing as no fights of significance took place during this time.

NO FIGHTER OF THE MONTH

August: Tomasz Adamek faced off against Michael Grant. Adamek a former light heavy and cruiserweight champion continued his foray into the heavyweight division and looked to test himself against an opponent he felt most resembled the giant Klitschko brothers. Enter former world title challenger Michael Grant who at 6'5 and 260 pounds represented the biggest fighter Adamek has faced. The Polish boxer won his match but paid a physical toll for the experiment as his face was a lumpy mess from absorbing some powerful blows.... Canada was the stage for a battle between the top two light heavyweights in the world Chad Dawson and Jean Pascal. Dawson was the undefeated favorite but paid the price for never going in for the kill as Pascal's aggressiveness and busier punch output won him the judge's nod and recognition as the number one man at the weight....UPSET! Long reigning undefeated technician Ivan Calderon lost his first fight and junior flyweight title to Mexican underdog Giovani Segura by eighth round knockout in an exciting brawl in front of his home crowd in Puerto Rico.

FIGHTER OF THE MONTH: Giovani Segura

September: Shane Mosley returned to the ring in what was expected to be a 'put him right back on track' fight against former junior middleweight champ Sergio Mora the winner of the first CONTENDER TV show on NBC. But Mora's slippery style proved too tough a nut to crack and Mosley had to settle for an unsatisfying draw in a fight that was as disappointing to the fans as it must have been for Mosley.... Rookie Saul Alvarez, who many are touting as the next big thing out of Mexico, impressively knocked out the iron chinned former welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir.... Even a rededicated and motivated Sam Peter could do nothing more than take punishment against the World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko who had an easier go at it in this rematch breaking down the Nigerian into a tenth round KO defeat in Germany.

FIGHTER OF THE MONTH: Wladimir Klitschko

October: Former light heavyweight champ Antonio Tarver tried to rediscover his magic in the heavyweight division fighting in Miami against Dominican heavyweight Nagy Aquilera scoring a decision win in which he displayed little heavyweight power..... Canadian power puncher David Lemieux blew out Hector Camacho Jr. in the first round in Quebec to set himself up as a player in the middleweight division.....Lucian Bute continued to show why it was a mistake to leave him out of the Super Six by knocking out another tough opponent in Jesse Brinkley in defense of his IBF super middleweight title.... WBC heavyweight champ Vitaly Klitschko pounded on Shannon Briggs for 12 rounds to win a unanimous decision in a fight that most observers believe should have been stopped earlier.... Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. is proving to be every bit as solid as his father by taking out dangerous Ivan Hernandez in 11 rounds in defense of his WBO super bantamweight belt.

FIGHTER OF THE MONTH: Wilfredo Vasquez Jr.

November: Now we're talking! November was the hottest month of the year for boxing as there was no shortage of big fights lined up which kicked off with a huge bang in Las Vegas as Juan Manuel Lopez tested himself against Mexican warrior Rafael Marquez who came up in weight for this fight. Lopez enjoyed advantages in youth, speed, and size over his veteran foe but was stunned several times during the fight. Lopez survived some rough spots to overtake Marquez and force a stoppage in the eighth round after Marquez claimed a shoulder injury..... Glen Johnson entered into the Super Six tournament to replace the injured Mikkel Kessler and impressively knocked out Allan Green in 8 rounds eliminating him from the World Boxing Classic.... a recommitted Zab Judah survived a late knockdown to eke out a controversial decision win over Argentinean banger Lucas Mathysse.... British heavyweight David Haye stopped over matched Audley Harrison in three..... Boxing's pound for pound best Manny Pacquiao packed Dallas Cowboys stadium once more to defeat the much bigger Antonio Margarito and pick up the vacant WBC junior middleweight belt to win his eight championship in eight weight classes. Pac-man used his superior speed and boxing skills to dart in and out of danger and bust up Margarito who despite losing enjoyed some success against Pacquiao particularly to the body before losing by lopsided decision....The rematch for the Blackeyed View's 2009 fight of the year yielded a shocking result as World middleweight champion Sergio Martinez suddenly knocked out Paul Williams in the second round just as the action was heating up in Atlantic City......In a white wash, Carl Froch of England outboxed Arthur Abraham to win a decision in dominant fashion and recapture the vacated WBC super middleweight belt.....In a non-Super Six fight, Andre Ward defended his WBA belt in a tough fight against veteran Sakio Bika who gave Ward all he could handle in a decision win. Ward will next fight Abraham as Froch meets Glen Johnson in the next stage of the tournament.....Andre Berto blasted welterweight Freddy Hernandez in one round.....Jason Litzau sprung an upset decision victory over the favored Celestino Caballero in a battle of junior lightweights.... It took every bit of experience of a 17 year career for Juan Manuel Marquez to weather the storm of an inspired Michael Katsidis who dropped the the lightweight champion in the third round and gave him hell for the duration of the fight. The fight would last nine rounds as Marquez, ever the master boxer, made adjustments in the middle of some fierce exchanges to find the winning combination to subdue his challenger. In the case of Katsidis it was body work that set up vicious uppercuts that snapped the head of the challenger back in violent ways that eventually prompted the referee to stop the fight and give Marquez one of his most memorable wins to date.

FIGHTER OF THE MONTH: 3 way tie between Sergio Martinez/ Juanma Lopez/ Juan Manuel Marquez

December: The month started out with a scorcher that was featured on the undercard but easily surpassed the main even in terms of action as Humberto Soto defended his WBC lightweight title against tough man Urbano Antillon who let it all hang out in an all out effort to capture the belt. Antillon elevated his game to levels he had never shown before to match the skills of Soto and produce a fight of the year candidate worthy of a Rocky movie only to lose by decision...... Young junior middleweight Saul Alvarez continued his development by taking on the durable Lovemore Ndou who extended the youngster for 12 rounds in a tough fight which was won by Alvarez....The heavyweight experiment of Tomasz Adamek continued as he chose a fighter much closer to his size in brawler Vinny Maddalone after his rough experience with the giant Michael Grant to fight with and it paid off in the form of an exciting 5th round KO victory for the Polish hope..... Amir Khan stepped up to the plate putting up his WBA junior welterweight title against murderous puncher Marcus Maidana. After hitting the deck in the first round from an Amir Khan body shot and later being deducted a point for throwing an errant elbow, Maidana rallied his way back into the fight by the middle rounds and Khan started to wilt under the intense pressure. In the tenth round Maidana had the champ out on his feet but Khan did all he could to survive to here the next bell. he kept up with Maidana in the next two rounds and managed to get the points win in a gutsy effort..... Looking to improve on their boxing tournament concepts, SHOWTIME launched its bantamweight tournament opting for an elimination round robin style as opposed to the points system of the Super Six using four of the best in that division. In the first round we had Abner Mares overcoming a knockdown and cuts to outpoint Vic Darchinyan and Joseph Agbeko regaining the IBF title he previously lost to Yohnny Perez in a rematch by decision.....The month's action ended in Quebec, Canada as the light heavyweight champion of the world Jean Pascal took on the challenge of the wily former champ Bernard Hopkins who at the age of 45 was looking to become the oldest fighter to ever win a major title. After scoring knockdowns in the first two rounds, Pascal had to weather the storm that back at him as Hopkins used his experience to adjust and take over the fight by the fourth round with an aggressive attack that hasn't been seen from him in years. Unfortunately for the challenger he could not overcome the early knockdowns on the judges cards and the bout was declared a draw after 12 rounds with the champion retaining his title.

FIGHTER OF THE MONTH: Bernard Hopkins

And now the Blackeyed View selects the best of 2010

2010 Prospect of the year

It's hard to call a fighter with over 30 fights under his belt a rookie so we will agree that young Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez the prized prospect of Golden Boy Promotions had a breakout year in 2010. Alvarez engaged in five fights this year, four of which he won by stoppage. his last two fights where significant wins as they both tested him and built him up as a fighter on the rise with a grueling decision win over durable opponent Lovemore Ndou and a chilling 6th round knockout of the highlight reel kind of iron jawed Carlos Baldomir that has gotten everyone high on the potential of 'Canelo'.

2010 Round of the year

When Juan Manuel Marquez and Michael Katsidis tangled for the first two rounds of their lightweight championship bout they set a pace for a classic brawler versus boxer matchup. But in the third round when Katisidis landed a left hook that put Marquez on his back that set the pace for World War 3 in the form of nine hellish rounds that was won by Marquez and won their firestarting third round the round of the year honors.

2010 Knockout of the year

In this category there was no competition, there was no doubt from the moment Paul Williams hit the canvas face first in the second round of his rematch with Sergio Martinez that this was the knockout of the year.

2010 Fight of the year

There was so many fight candidates in this category particularly towards the end of the year that its almost forgivable to overlook some of the gems that took place earlier in the year like the clash of Europeans Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler in March won by Kessler who pulled it out with everything on the line in the dramatic last round. Other contenders included Juanma Lopez's savage coming of age win against Rafael Marquez, Manny Pacquiao's exciting domination over the larger Antonio Margarito that was rife with danger, Amir Khan's life and death struggle against Marcus Maidana and Juan Manuel Marquez's masterful performance against the younger Katsidis.

But it was a fight between boxers who are known mostly to the hardcore boxing fans that was featured on the undercard of a canceled Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. card that took top prize in this category. WBC lightweight champion Humberto Soto, a long time avoided threat in the lighter weights who has hovered around the top 20 pound for pound fighters in the sport for years defended his belt against perennial contender Urbano Antillon who was facing perhaps his last title opportunity after previous failed attempts. Soto was looking to showcase himself as a future opponent for the bigger names in and around his weight class but Antillon was looking to fight for his very existence as a pro boxer and put up a fight he'd never before exhibit against a fighter that was a level or two above him. Soto retained his title by close decision but Antillon gained a rematch and a second life as a fighter in glorious defeat.

2010 Fighter of the year

Without a doubt Manny Pacquiao has been the face of boxing for the past three years and although he could not make the biggest possible fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., he still carried the sport on his shoulders by shining the spotlight of the sports world on boxing. He made an event of fighting at Dallas Cowboys stadium twice this year dominating his two opponents and in the process made history by winning his eighth title in as many weight classes.

His rival Juan Manuel Marquez had a tougher assignment as he looked to restore his image after being shut out by Mayweather in a welterweight bout in 2009. He succeeded in glorious fashion by returning to the lightweights where he is king to successfully defend his throne against two young lions in Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis in exciting fashion to prove his worth and retain his position as Pacquiao's number one threat.

Juan Manuel Lopez had a breakout performance against Rafael Marquez along with two thrilling wins this year. Givoani Segura upset the previously unbeaten Ivan Calderon and Fernando Montiel won and defended championships to emerge at the top of his division.

But the boxer who accomplished the most in 2010 was the marvel from Argentina, the current middleweight champion of the world Sergio Martinez who went up in weight from the junior middleweights (where he is still a beltholder) to unseat Kelly Pavlik for the crown and thenavenged his previous loss to Paul Williams by 2nd round knockout to retain his middleweight title. While Pacquiao faced boxers who were physically bigger than him, his superior speed and skills made mismatches of those fights as Joshua Clottey was reduced to a trigger shy target and Margarito a lumbering punching bag. Juan Manuel Marquez was favored to win both of his fights this year and in Juanma's biggest win over Rafael Marquez he was faced with an opponent who was coming up in weight and thought to be shot after many wars. Meanwhile the 35 year old Martinez faced off against younger and bigger foes at their primes or close to it. The powerful Pavlik had only one loss coming into the fight and managed to drop Martinez before the Argentinean stepped on the gas to outbox Pavlik. Willaims also came into his fight with Martinez with one loss and many expected him to respond in the same way he did with the last boxer who gave him problems; a quick knockout. But it was Williams who was rubbed out early in a stunner that boosted Martinez into the top three pound for pound fighters in the world and secured his position as the fighter of the year.

Whew! That was a lot of catching up. That's all for now. The next post will be on Thursday where I will offer my thoughts on the upcoming Miguel Cotto vs Ricardo Mayorga match up in March, offer my review of the film THE FIGHTER, and pick my winner of this Saturday's unification clash between junior welterweight champions Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley.

Big time boxing returns to Yankee Stadium

2010-06-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

20,272 flock to Yankee Stadium to watch Miguel Cotto defeat Yuri Foreman...twice in the same fight

Boxing returned to Yankee stadium after 34 years. The last time there was a championship fight at Yankee stadium was in September 1976 when Muhammad Ali retained the heavyweight championship of the world in a close decision against Ken Norton and the stadium was located across the street from where the new home of Yankees stands today. Boxing made its debut at the new stadium this past Saturday June 5th and it offered a great pairing of boxers that attracted the support of various sectors of the sports world. You had the Puertorican and Jewish communities, boxing fans, and the curious who were not sure what kind of spectacle the Yankees organization could put together by hosting a boxing event.

In the main event you had the hero of Caguas, Puerto Rico the three time champion Miguel Cotto facing off against the first champion that Israel has had in 75 years, Yuri Foreman the WBA junior middleweight champion, in search of a championship in a third weight class. As expected the stadium filled up with many Puertorican fans that were ultra vocal in their support for their idol. Yuri Foreman who is studying to become a rabbi this year, had his supporters on hand as well from the significant Jewish population in New York city and he also had the motivation to succeed for one special fan, 12 year old Scotty Ballan who celebrated his bar mitzvah earlier in the evening at the stadium. With a mix of salsa music and the sounds of the traditional Jewish war horn, the shofar, the two boxers would get it on.

For Cotto a loss would surely be the end to a terrific career that saw him represent Puerto Rico in the 2000 Olympics, win three world championships in the pros, and face off against some the greats of the game like Shane Mosley, Manny Pacquiao, Zab Judah, and Antonio Margarito. His only two losses were brutal stoppages, the kind of beatings that cut boxing careers short. Based on those losses, his decision to move up in weight to face bigger men seemed like a very dangerous proposition. But Cotto fed off of the doubts of others to give an inspired performance on Saturday night that ranks as one of the best showings of his career.

From the opening bell Cotto appeared confident and sharp throwing punches with more speed and pop then his opponent. He impressed most with the efficiency of his jab that snapped Foreman's head back despite lacking the arm reach of his foe. The defending champion used every inch of the squared circle to his advantage as he tried to use constant movement to frustrate his challenger but in following that strategy he sacrificed his offense and his physical advantages as the larger man allowing the smaller Cotto to play the role of the aggressor. This pattern would continue through out the fight, Cotto on the attack and Foreman on the retreat attempting to counter. Cotto connected with jabs, hooks, and uppercuts while Foreman got off some sneaky right hands occasionally. Cotto caught the champion with a right hand in the second round that buckled the legs of the Israeli and in the third round the challenger sent Foreman's mouthpiece flying after connecting with a flurry. Foreman answered back in the fourth round getting off two combinations that both ended with straight rights that rocked Cotto. But even in the midst of that upswing the champion suffered a loss as he began to bleed from the nose. Cotto dominated the fifth round with effective counterpunching and then won the sixth when Foreman could not keep up with Cotto's punch output.

The seventh round is where all of the drama of this fight truly began as Foreman's strategy of constant motion betrayed him causing him to slip to the canvas and injure his right knee (it was learned later that he had aggravated an old knee injury incurred in Israel years ago). Upon rising it was obvious that Foreman's mobility was seriously hampered as he could barely put any weight on the leg. The referee allowed him some time to walk it off but to no avail, the movement that kept him from danger was no longer there and upon resuming the action Foreman was forced to stand and trade against the powerful Cotto. In those moments Yankee Stadium erupted with the emotion of 20, 000 plus watching two gladiators go after each other fiercely. Cotto was getting the better of the exchanges but with no hope of escape, Foreman put up a brave stand and valiantly fired back earning the respect of all who were witness. The action continued this way until the bell signaled the end of the round and Foreman limped away to his corner in dire trouble.

In the eight round Foreman was attacked by Cotto who's pressure was so intense it forced the champion to retreat and in doing so he slipped again making his condition worse. Foreman was now a sitting duck and in the middle of another exchange going against him, a white towel was thrown in from his corner which is the traditional symbol of surrender in this sport, and it appeared that Miguel Cotto had won by TKO. The ring filled up with the usual suspects and the fighters even congratulated each other and that is when the whole thing took a turn into the bizarre. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. made the rare call of dismissing the towel, clearing the ring and restarting the fight. Ring announcer Michael Buffer announced that the ref ruled that the towel was thrown from an outside source and there for did not count. After inexplicably giving Foreman several minutes to recuperate, the action resumed with Cotto back on the attack on a hobbled junior middleweight champion who looked increasingly in deep water. Foreman survived the round and had to look forward to fighting round 9 on one leg. The fight mercifully ended forty seconds into the ninth round when Cotto caught Foreman with a vintage left hook to the rib cage sending him sprawling to the canvas and forcing the ref to stop the fight.

Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs) became a champion once again while Yuri Foreman (28-1, 8 KOs) suffered his first loss as a pro. After the fight all questions where aimed at referee Arthur Mercante Jr. who was justifiably put at the center of controversy for his decision to ignore the towel of surrender. His official response was that the towel was thrown in from the audience and he felt that the defending champ was still in the fight at the time and did not deserve to end the fight that way. A replay which was televised by HBO and shown on the big screen at Yankee stadium clearly contradicted the ref by showing that it was Foreman's trainer Joe Grier who threw in the towel. During the post fight press conference Grier admitted that he threw in the towel to save his man, despite the vehement denials of promoter Bob Arum. When asked about the controversy, the new champion responded; " I understand that I beat Yuri Foreman twice tonight." The win guarantees more big money fights for Cotto and rematches with Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito were tossed about as possible future events.

Promoter Bob Arum declared the stadium slugfest a success and he can legitimately make that claim when you consider the attention that it brought the sport from the mainstream media and the presence of celebrities from the entertainment and sports world. On hand were actors Liev Schriber and Naomi Watts, director Spike Lee, salsa singer Frankie Negron, from the NY Giants Brandon Jacobs, from baseball Darryl Strawberry and Tommy Lasorda, boxers Manny Pacquiao and Tommy Hearns. Arum thanked the Yankees organization and spoke of his desire to bring another fight to the stadium.

Observations

The result of the first ever boxing fight at the new Yankee Stadium reads as follows: Christian Martinez (4-0, 4 KOs) winner by TKO in the fourth round over Jonathan Cuba (2-2, 2 KOs)
As it turns out the rules of the New York State Athletic Commission backs up referee Arthur Mercante's decision to dismiss a towel thrown in from a boxer's corner. The rules state that only the referee or member of the NYSAC can stop a fight in the state of New York. Well just because its a rule doesn't make it right. Initially the ref's reasoning for stopping the fight had nothing to do with this rule. He was quoted as saying that he felt the towel came in from the crowd and he also felt that Foreman's leg was not the issue that nearly everyone watching at home and at the stadium felt that it was. This is the same ref who officiated a fight aboard the Intrepid in New York in which light heavyweight Beethaeven Scottland lost his life. The man was a sitting duck, yes he was throwing punches but he no longer had the ability to dodge the incoming punches. His whole game plan was shattered and with only eight KOs to his resume, a shot to get the hail mary knockout win was way out of reach. The rule is also fundamentally wrong in my opinion. How can a ref or a member of any commission no the condition of a fighter more than his own trainer? A trainer is with his fighter for the majority of his career or at least for the length of time it takes to get ready for the fight while a ref or commission member might only see that fighter one time. If there is one good thing that this controversy has brought to light it is the knowledge that this rule is on the books, now someone needs to correct it.

Another thing that I feel compelled to point out was a total lack of respect shown by some of the Cotto fans at the stadium that decided to boo the singing of the Israeli national anthem. I don't know how this came off on HBO because I know that at the stadium they decided to turn up the volume when the Israeli singer sang and combined with her Opera style voice it was pretty loud. But you cold still hear the boos from the some of the fans. Just a total lack of class. Mind you I said some of the Cotto fans and not Puertorican fans because I would never classify a whole people as unruly. I've been to Puerto Rico and the people were sweet and welcoming. Whatever you feel about a certain country and whether you agree with its politics or not the respectful and decent thing to do is to not interfere with the singing of their national anthem. When you boo another nation's anthem, you are not representing yourself , your country, or Miguel Cotto in a good way. Cotto comes off as a very serious and dignified young man and I don't think he would approve of those who booed the singing of the Israeli national anthem.

On a personal note: Big time fighting at Yankee Stadium, A MAJOR PLUS, YES, YES LETS DO IT AGAIN! The atmosphere at the ballpark was electric and it just felt like you were at a huge outdoor block party with the music and all the people walking around dressed to the hilt. Even the weather, which was hot and sticky earlier cooperated and beame pleasant. It was more than a night at the fights, it was a party.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE MOMENT

I had so much fun at the fight at Yankee Stadium this weekend that if I could get on my very own time traveling Hot Tub Time Machine I would go back to 1976 to watch the last fight that was hosted by the New York Yankees. This one was between Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton in the days of 15 rounders at the old stadium home of Reggie, Munson, Martin, Mattingly, Winfield, and Torre's championship squads.

The Blackeyed Interview with Miguel Cotto

2010-06-02T03:27:00.000-07:00

"We've come to win, we prepared to win, and we're not leaving without the win."Miguel Cotto showed up this Tuesday four days before his fight with WBA middleweight champ Yuri Foreman in Yankee stadium to promote his "What do you fight for?" campaign at the sporting goods store Modell's in Times Square. The campaign is a line of t-shirts by EVERLAST that display the mission statement and the Puertorican flag which depicts what Cotto fights for. Sales of the t-shirts benefit the El Angel de Miguel Cotto foundation, an organization set up to combat childhood obesity. This Saturday night June 5th will be a night of firsts for the former champion, his first fight at junior middleweight, his first fight with new trainer Emannuel Steward, and his first fight at Yankee stadium. The Puertorican idol granted the Blackeyed View a few moments to discuss those topics and more.

The Blackeyed View: For this fight you have brought in Emmanuel Steward who is best known for working with tall, rangy fighters like Thomas Hearns and Lennox Lewis. How has this new training camp worked out for you and how is the new relationship?

Miguel Cotto: Thank God it has been very good. The chemistry, the way we relate to each other. We now know he is part of our team and that is how we have treated each other.

TBV: Junior middleweight is also something new for you. Why the switch? Where you having trouble making 147 pounds?

MC: Not at all, there was never a problem making welterweight. The fact is that this is a business and we found more opportunities at 154 [lbs] so we went up.

TBV: Yuri Foreman is the naturally bigger man in this fight. How do you plan to deal with his advantages in weight and height?

MC: We've worked hard to take advantage of any mistake he will make or anything else he will bring on Saturday night so we're confident that victory is ours.

TBV: Did you ever imagine that you would fight at Yankee stadium? What does it mean to you?

MC: I never imagined that I would be fighting at Yankee Stadium. For me its an honor if not the biggest honor of my career to be facing Yuri Foreman at the first boxing event at the new Yankee stadium. For me its a pleasure.

TBV: For all of your career you have counted on the support of the Hispanic community of New York, in particular the Puertorican fans. Explain what their support means to you.

MC: Its very important to me because the Latino fans have always shown me support, especially the Puertorican fans that come from the island that I come from and I know that on Saturday they will be present at Yankee stadium.

TBV: For the past six or seven years you have been an important part of the Puertorican day parade festivities in New York. Now there is a controversy stemming from the election of Puertorican telenovela actor Osvaldo Rios as international godfather of the parade for his serving a 3 month prison sentence for assaulting his girlfriend in Puerto Rico in 1996. There are those who want to boycott the parade until the organizers remove Mr. Rios from his position and there are those who say the man has paid his debt and deserves forgiveness. What is your opinion?

MC: I was not aware of the controversy but I understand that for those things there are prisons that are supposed to be rehabilitation systems to rehabilitate those who have committed errors. I also understand that from 1996 to now we are talking about 14 years ago more or less and there has not been another incident. If he has been rehabilitated then he is rehabilitated. Who hasn't committed a mistake in this life? The important thing is to rise and admit the wrong and never do it again.

TBV: The sales of the t-shirts benefit an organization to combat childhood obesity. is there something in your life that has inspired you to take up this cause?

MC: I was a product of childhood obesity in my youth and due to that I decided to take up this cause.

TBV: What will be the result of your fight this Saturday night?

MC: We've come to win, we prepared to win, and we're not leaving without the win.

Observations:

Before this interview with Cotto, I was a little doubtful about his chances for success at this higher weight. I ran into him coming out of Kingsway gym in Manhattan a few years ago as he was in town training for his fight with Joshua Clottey and I remember thinking to myself how small he looked in regular street clothes. But the Cotto I saw on Tuesday is a bigger, even more muscular looking version of himself and I now feel better about his chances.

Tuesday was a wild day for me, I did not stop moving until I went to bed late that night. After my morning workout I headed to Yankee stadium to pick up my press pass for the fight on Saturday. It was 85 or 88 degrees and the sun was at its brightest, so even the walk from the car that dropped me off to the Yankee press gate was a hot stroll. I had a buddy who did me the favor of dropping me off at the stadium and my plan was to then catch the train downtown to interview Cotto. Well the first monkey wrench was thrown into my plans when the attendant informed that the passes were being given out at another site in downtown Manhattan. No problem I thought, I'm headed there anyway. The second major hurdle to overcome came to me at the train station as I dug into my pockets to reach for my train fare and realized that there was nothing in my pockets. No money, no ATM card, no metro card, nothing. I had left the house with nothing in my pockets! Kids, this is what happens when you forgo breakfast. So I had to walk over the bridge from the Bronx to Manhattan and take the FDR drive highway to the last exit on foot in 88 degree weather with the sun beaming on my face. I've driven on the FDR before and often times as I've sped along, I've always feared that someone would run across the highway to get to the other side. I never imagined that person would turn out to be me! So yes, I had adventures on the highway and felt like one of those guys on those nature survival shows, just to get this interview with Miguel Cotto. Someone said there would be days like this.

Last Saturday night heavyweight Vitali Klitschko defended his WBC heavyweight title by knocking out Albert Sonowoski in the tenth round in Germany. This news did not make any of the mainstream media in the states. Nor was it carried by any of the main boxing broadcast channels as most boxing insiders in the United States don't seem to care what the Klitschko brothers do. My fear is that I am also starting to lose interest. I don't want to be that way but there fights are starting to seem like far gone conclusions.

Don King is gangster, Marquez-Vazquez rivalry, the role of friends.....

2010-05-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

The Blackeyed View took a two week hiatus to gather itself from the many lumps it took in that time span, but like Rocky Balboa once said, 'Its not how many times you get knocked down, its about how many times you get up...", I'm back and attempting to catch you all up with this wonderful sport that I always fall back to for comfort. Lots to talk about since my last post.......

Don King is gangster.....

My last post was an exclusive interview with former world champion Ricardo Mayorga on his excursion into the world of mixed martial arts which was slated to take place on May 15th in Fayetteville against veteran MMA fighter Din Thomas in the main event of a card promoted by Shine Fight promotions. Things quickly came apart once Don King entered the picture.

Don King has promoted Mayorga's biggest fights and went before a judge in a Florida courtroom to prove that he had a three year contract with Ricardo Mayorga and therefore could not allow Mayorga to participate in the MMA fight. Mayorga contends that King had not fulfilled his commitment of three fights a year for him and the often times bombastic promoter countered by securing Mayorga a title fight against WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm in Germany this coming September. King argued that any result coming from the participation of Mayorga in the MMA fight may hinder his ability to promote Mayorga's fight with Sturm in the fall. The judge decided to uphold King's position with the provision that King cover a 1 million bond within the next 2 hours. This being a Saturday afternoon and the banks closing in two hours it seemed an impossibility but only in America is there a Don King. King returned within the hour with two duffel bags filled with exactly 1 million dollars! The judge enforced the injunction and threatened the promoters with serious legal ramifications if they would go through with the main event. Things got worse for the folks at Shine Fight Promotions as they were in Florida facing off with King they did not file the necessary paperwork in time with the North Carolina athletic commission to show that they would have medical staff on hand and the commission shut down the entire card. The promoters were forced to cancel the card and pay their athletes without making a profit. The lesson here is, even at his advanced age, don't mess with Don King.

The worse case scenario for the MMA folks but a gain of sorts for boxing as we get our Nicaraguan wild man back in the ring where he belongs. Although Mayorga would have tried his best, its doubtful that he took the time to learn the grappling aspect of MMA and his opponent had been quoted as saying he was intent on taking Mayorga down for a submission hold. As wild as Mayorga is he is best suited for boxing as he can still surprise many, he took Shane Mosley to the limit before succumbing and he has the style to rattle a conventional fighter like Sturm. Felix Sturm is a stand up European style fighter who works behind the jab and carries little pop in his punches, he is best known for losing a controversial decision to Oscar De La Hoya that almost ruined his mega fight with Bernard Hopkins in his first fight at middleweight.

Marquez-Vazquez rivalry ends tied at 2-2

It is fitting that one of the most intense and violent rivalries in all of sports ended up tied with neither man able to claim complete dominance over the other. Rafael Marquez (39-5, 35 KOs) and Israel Vazquez (44-5, 33 KOs) engaged in four of the most brutal fights that most certainly has shortened the careers of both men especially Vazquez. What should absolutely be their final fight took place on May 22nd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA and was won by Marquez when referee Raul Caiz, Jr. stopped the fight in the third round after ruling that Vazquez could no longer defend himself after suffering two nasty cuts that impaired his vision.

The Marquez-Vazquez rivalry featured three stoppage wins, two fights of the year, a dramatic come from behind decision win brought on by a last round knockdown, buckets of blood spilled by both combatants, knockdowns suffered by both men in every fight, momentum changes, and a well deserved place in the boxing hall of fame for both men when they retire.

The following video serves to catch every one up on the first three historic fights.

Their final fight that came two years after their last encounter was evidence enough for Vazquez's manager to declare that his man had fought his last fight. Marquez moved behind a sharp jab and used hooks and uppercuts to bust open a cut over Vazquez's left eye in the first round. In the second round an accidental headbutt worsened Vazquez's wound and they another cut was opened on the right eye by the end of the round by Marquez's precise punching. Although injured, Vazquez's left hook broke through to stagger his rival a few times in the second round enough to win it on the judge's card. Undeterred and inspired by the cuts on his opponent's face, Marquez came out guns a blazing in the third firing combinations that would bring Vazquez to his knees. The gutsy Vazquez could no longer see where the punches where coming from and could do nothing but cover his face as Marquez rained fists on his head. The referee had no choice but to stop the slaughter in the third round.

In his past five fights, Vazquez has been prone to cuts and even underwent eye surgery to repair a detached retina. In this fight he was cut almost upon contact and will probably suffer more cut stoppages if he continues to fight. His manager declared after the fight that his man would retire, but Vazquez himself was non committal after the fight. But in the name of common sense and for the good of the sport and both men, this rivalry should end tied. The sport and the fans can ask no more of these two warriors.

Observations

On May 15th Amir Khan made his US debut on the big stage of Madison Square Garden on HBO defending his WBC Junior welterweight title against Brooklyn's own Paulie Malignaggi and won by TKO in the 11th round. The eleventh round has been unlucky for Malignaggi when facing British fighters as that was also the round in which he was downed by Ricky Hatton. The plucky fighter who looks like he could walk onto the set of MTV's Jersey Shore, was outboxed by his younger foe and may now have to settle for serving as the gate keeper of the junior welterweight division. As for Khan, during his post fight interview he called out for an elimination tournament in his weight class involving some of the top fighters including Devon Alexander, Timothy Bradley, and Marcus Maidana. An excellent idea.

On Tuesday May 25th, WBA junior middleweight champ Yuri Foreman held a public workout at world famous Gleason's gym in Brooklyn to promote his upcoming title defense against Puertorican idol Miguel Cotto. Going through his boxing routine, Foreman looked sturdy and technically solid. But I think I am suffering from advanced dementia of some kind because as I watched him workout I was deluding myself into thinking the following thoughts...."he's not that fast, I can catch him." I think I need to step in the ring soon and get a reality check.
Legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum was on hand at the public workout to promote the upcoming fight and all things Manny Pacquiao. He seemed to gleam most when speaking of Pacquiao or the prospect of a Foreman win and what it could do for Foreman as an attraction. After seeing his other would be white hope fighter Kelly Pavlik lose big fights, Arum would love to see Foreman succeed where Pavlik may have failed. Here is hoping that both Pavlik and Foreman have successful careers as boxing needs folks of all strokes to bring in the masses at large.

This Saturday May 29th, Vitaly Klitschko (41-2, 37 KOs) will defend his WBC heavyweight crown against former European champion Albert Sosnowski (45-2-1, 27 KOs) from Poland. The fight will take place in Germany and will be available on PPV. Once again a major heavyweight fight by a Klitschko is being boycotted by the major boxing networks. When will they continue to act like these guys don't exist? Its a heavyweight shame.

Friends...........

This blog's main focus is on boxing but from time to time I like to use it to expound my views on any number of topics. I'd like to do that right now. Events of the past couple of months have forced me to reevaluate my relationship with some people that I have called 'friends'. I've gone back and forth on the issue, shuttling between distancing myself from people, ex communicating them, forgiving them, accepting them, sending them to hell, or accepting them for who they are. After consulting with some people who's opinions I do respect I have come to a working theory that choose to apply.

I have always believed that in this lifetime you will meet a small core group of people that you can truly call your friends. That core group can be as small as two people or as large as maybe four or five if your lucky. These are the people who you can count on 100% of the time. The ones that will truly have your back. The rest fall under categories. There are the acquaintances, the fair weather friends, the flakes, the party people, and the hook ups. The acquaintances are well meaning people who are usually pleasant to be around but should not be counted on and don't have time to take from their schedules to deal with you. The fair weather friends and the party people tend to show up in the same scenes, usually you see them at get togethers, parties, sporting events and when they see you they will drunkenly declare themselves your best friends and brothers or sisters. But when the party is over, you don't see them till the next event. The hook ups are useful in that you call them because they are a source of something, you usually don't reach out to them unless you need something that only they can provide, whatever that may be. You don't want to be a hook up. Lastly there are the flakes, the most maddening of people, the ones that you mistake as true friends and find out the hard way that they cannot be counted on. The flakes will drive you mad if you let them and at all times MUST be put in perspective.

It helps me to look at things this way, my life is a movie, there are principal characters in that movie and the flakes, hook ups, acquaintances, fair weather friends, and party people are all bit players that have cameo roles in the movie of my life. Calling yourself a friend on my facebook page does not automatically get you a starring role in my film. Not everyone has a big role but every role is important to make up the movie of my life. This is how I have had to deal in order to not break communications with some of my 'friends'. Some of my true friends will read this and some may not. Anyone else who reads this I ask you to think about what role you play in my movie and what role your friends play in the movie of your life.

El Matador looks for new worlds to conquer

2010-05-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

The Black Eyed View exclusive interview with the Nicaraguan strong man as he looks to invade the world of mixed martial arts
'El Matador' Ricardo Mayorga has long been one of boxing's most colorful and exciting personalities in the sport of boxing, winning as many fans as critics along the way for the way he taunts his way into his opponent's skin, his wild punching style, and his penchant for beer drinking and smoking after fights which was famously displayed on one of his HBO fights before a national TV audience. Mayorga has won championships in multiple weight classes and faced off with some of the most famous names between the middleweight and welterweight divisions such as Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas, and the late Vernon Forrest.

Now Mayorga looks to test his mettle in the world of mixed martial arts as he faces off against veteran MMA fighter Din Thomas (25-8) on Saturday May 15th at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina under the flag of Shine Fight promotions. In typical Mayorga fashion he has declared that it is appropriate for him to be fighting at the Crown Coliseum as he has already been crowned a king in boxing and he will be crowned a king this Saturday night after taking out Din Thomas. 'El Matador' from Nicaragua with a record of 28 wins 7 losses and 1 draw has accomplished much in boxing and fans want to know if his participation in MMA signals the end of his involvement in boxing. The Blackeyed View recently caught up with the former champ by phone after a workout to interview him for IMPACTO Latin News. The interview was conducted in Mayorga's native tongue Spanish and the following is the English translation.

The BlackEyed View: Let's start with the one question your fans want to know. Will you return to boxing?

Ricardo Mayorga: Of course I will. Definitely.

TBEV: How did the idea to get involved in MMA come about?

RM: Well I've always loved to fight. As they say, those who are raised up in a poor neighborhood must know how to fight. I loved to fight and I fought often in the street before I became a boxer. I've always fought in boxing. I was given the opportunity [to fight in MMA] and I like it.

TBEV: Have you studied well the different disciplines involved in this sport [MMA] which uses lots of wrestling and judo holds?

RM: Of course, definitely, I have trained a lot.

TBEV: So you have cut out the smoking and the beer drinking?

RM: [Laughing] Yes of course, at once, absolutely.

TBEV: Your opponent Din Thomas is a veteran with lots of experience, how will you combat that experience and what do you think of him?

RM: Well I'm not going to take his experience lightly but I know that he will not be able to take me down and I will knock him out quickly.

TBEV: Many think that the greatest triumph of your career was when you defeated Vernon Forrest when he was at the prime of his powers. Last year Vernon was tragically killed in an attempted robbery. What can you tell us about Vernon Forrest the person and the fighter?

RM: Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to share moments with Forrest as a person outside of the ring but as a fighter I feel that Vernon was really strong and a great fighter.

TBEV: Nicaragua also lost a great idol of the sport last year when Alexis Arguello lost his life in what authorities have ruled a suicide. There has been reports mixed with rumors on the internet and other forms of media of a rift between the two of you. We'd like to get your thoughts on the ex champ and his loss.

RM: Well I don't like to speak on politics and rumors and regrettably he passed away. The fact is with Alexis Arguello I don't know what his problem with me was, I had nothing to do with him back then. The last word on Arguello that I can say is that he was a great fighter.

TBEV: One of your rivals, Shane Mosley recently lost to Floyd Mayweather two weeks ago. He appeared apprehensive and did not throw enough punches. Throwing punches has never been a problem for you, if offered a fight with Mayweather would you accept ......

RM: I've been actively looking for that fight with Mayweather.

TBEV: ....and what would you do differently than the others who have faced Mayweather?

RM: Throw more punches, you have to hit him with more punches. He [Mosley] had his chance to win against Mayweather, Floyd wasn't running but what happened was that he[Mosley] stopped punching and so he lost.

TBEV: How much longer will you keep fighting and what are your plans once your done?

RM: Two more years. The truth is I would like to retire from fighting altogether. The truth is I wouldn't want to be a promoter or a trainer at all. I would like to put up two good business and that's it.

TBEV: Thank you Ricardo for your time and we wish you the best of luck in your fight and hope to see you back in the sport of boxing very soon.

RM: I appreciate everything but as for luck, wish Din Thomas luck, I don't look for luck let others look for it.

Ricardo Mayorga vs Din Thomas will be seen live at 9 PM eastern on pay per view distributed by MultiVision Media this Saturday May 15th from the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster by calling 800-736-1420. Contact your local cable company or satellite provider to order.

Miracle knockout punch at "the Hassle in the Castle"

2010-05-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

Good intentions mix with bad ones at boxing benefit event

Huntington, NY: As a boxing reporter you don't show up to a boxing card with the intentions of writing abut an undercard boxer with a losing record facing a vicious punching fighter on the undercard of a benefit event. But when that fighter does what Bryan Abraham (2-3-1, 1 KO) did Saturday night to James Hope (6-5, 4 KOs) he becomes the lead story. The Oheka Castle in Huntington, NY was host to a boxing card that was put together to benefit the Shea Megale Trust to combat Spinal Muscular Atrophy and had former super middleweight titlist Byron 'Gator' Mitchell facing Otis Griffin in the main event but what everyone was talking about when all was said and done was the once in a lifetime money shot delivered by Bryan Abraham on the undercard. This was a night of boxing that saw five fights out of six end by knockout and the one fight that went the distance turned out to be an exciting upset decision win, so to be able to steal the show you had to have done something big and that is exactly what Abraham did.

Abraham entered the fight with one win in four fights going in against James Hope who had the better record and who bore a physical resemblance to Pernell Whitaker who was seated at ringside. Hope was the more aggressive fighter and had Abraham busted up in the first round by landing vicious hooks to the face and the body. By the second round it appeared that Abraham had sustained a broken nose as Hope continued to pour on the pressure, effectively cutting off the ring on Abraham offering no respite from the beating he was administering. By the third round many at ringside began to wonder if the fight should continue as Abraham was clearly out of the fight and taking ungodly amounts of punishment from his tormentor. luckily for him this junior welterweight bout was scheduled for only four rounds and being desperately behind Abraham was within his rights to suspect that perhaps his opponent would let up in the final round as the fight was clearly in the bag for him at this juncture but Hope's killer instinct demanded that he go for the knockout win. As the signal alerting the fighters that ten seconds remained in the round sounded off Hope could have backed off but instead he turned on the juice even more, swinging for the fences and then it happened....Abraham nailed him with a right simultaneously as the bell sounded to end the fight. Hope pitched forward and then fell flat on his back!

The crowd went wild, Abraham looked on bewildered by what just happened as the ref seemed confused for a second then began to count to ten. James Hope valiantly tried to get to his feet to beat the count but fell down a second time as the count reached ten. The unlikely underdog leaped in the air and the crowd basked in the one in a million movie script ending hail Mary shot that they had just witnessed.

In the main event, Otis Griffin (22-6-2, 9 KOs) scored an upset eight round TKO win over Byron 'Gator' Mitchell (28-6-1, 21 KOs) for the USBA light heavyweight title when Griffin caught Mitchell up against the ropes and connected with several unanswered right hands until the ref intervened. Also on the card former heavyweight contender Michael Grant (46-3, 34 KOs) scored a first round knockout over Kevin Burnett (13-4-1, 8 KOs).

There was a benefit auction of sports memorabilia and the sports stars came out to lend their support for the Shea Magale Trust for the awareness of Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Among them were members of the 1984 Olympic boxing team former world heavyweight champion Evander 'the Real Deal' Holyfield, former world champions Pernell 'Sweet Pea' Whitaker, Mark Breland and Olympic medalist former heavyweight contender Tyrell Biggs. Also on hand was former heavyweight contender 'Gentlemen' Gerry Cooney, New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs and the legendary boxing trainer Lou Duva was honored on the occasion of his 88th birthday.

Observations

The Paul Williams vs Kermit Cintron fight that was aired this Saturday on HBO had such an unsatisfactory ending that there isn't much to say about it so I will sum it up quickly. Cintron seemed to have the edge barely on Williams in the first two rounds simply by worrying Williams enough to slow down the pace of the fight to Cintron's pace. Williams started to warm to the task a bit in the the third enough to possibly shade that round. But in the fourth just as things began to heat up, the fighters got their feet tangled and proceeded to fall down. Williams hit the canvas while Cintron flew out of the ring and hit the TV announce table and was ruled unfit to continue by ringside medics despite his protestations. Under California rules after three completed rounds in the event of an odd stoppage the scorecards are used to determine the winner. In this case the decision went to Paul Williams who could not have been too happy about how the whole thing went down. A rematch between the two is now a possibility.

The come from behind knockout win produced by Bryan Abraham is unlike anything I have ever heard about. The closest thing I can think of is when Julio Cesar Chavez fought Meldrick Taylor in 1990 and losing every round managed to drop a badly hurt Taylor with 2 seconds left in the fight. But even in that case there were 2 seconds left and the ref stopped the fight, in the Abraham-Hope fight there was no time, the punch landed exactly as the bell rang. In New York you cannot be saved by the bell and it took a second for the ref to remember but in all honesty I think his reaction was shared by everyone at the Oheka Castle, a sense of total disbelief. This was a hail Mary game winning touchdown, hole in one(yes Golf!), walk off home run, last second three pointer, Pele back flip kick goal all rolled in one. And here is some highlights of the closest thing I can think of to this, although the Abraham-Hope ending tops even this legendary result.

About eight or it even could have been ten years ago I met former heavyweight contender Gerry Cooney on the subway station in New York City, I approached him and we had a pleasant conversation until he got off at the next stop. This past Saturday as I entered Oheka Castle and admittedly marveled at the opulent surroundings and the star studded crowd I spotted Gerry sitting with all these big wig types. What happened next was a pleasant surprise as Gerry called me out from across the hall and asked me to come over. He stood up and greeted me like an old friend. So many years had passed and the guy remembered my name and conversation from a chance meeting in a New York city subway. He truly lives up to his boxing nickname 'Gentleman' Gerry Cooney.

A fight broke out after the main event that saw Otis griffin stop Byron Mitchell between the fighter's significant others. Mitchell's wife argued that some of the right hands that Griffin threw were illegal rabbit punches and Griffin's girlfriend took offense to the accusation that her man was fouling. The two women approached each other and assumed fighting positions at ringside and had to be separated by ringside officials. Griffin's girlfriend grabbed hold of a chair and was getting ready to launch it before officials intervened. If the promoter's of this event convince these two to get in the ring for 'the Hassle in the Castle Part 2' I will be so there!

Hot Tub Time Machine Moment: This is the part of our segment in which the Blackeyed View likes to imagine getting into that hot tub time machine of the recent film and traveling back in time to a select sports moment to either appreciate or alter the result. For this HTTM moment I would like to go no further than last Saturday night at the Oheka Castle for 'the Hassle in the Castle' boxing event to right two major wrongs that were committed I am sad to say by me. You see I'm new to all this and prone to some amateur mistakes that hopefully will not repeat themselves again. One of the mistakes I cannot correct without the use of a time machine while the other blunder I hope to make amends for right now.

The co-featured attraction saw Michael Grant defeat Kevin Burnett via what some ringsiders felt was a premature first round stoppage. Moments before the beginning of the main event I decided to visit the desert tray, as I walked myself to the other end of the hall I passed by a tall bearded heavyweight wearing a hat that I mistook for Grant and I congratulated him for doing a job well done. As I continued on I saw Michael Grant standing near the other side of the desert tray and that is when I realized...I just congratulated Grant's opponent Kevin Burnett for losing by KO! I was so embarrassed I didn't know what to say, I wanted to apologize but felt like a complete fool and could not look at Burnett in the eyes again. If by chance he reads this I want to apologize profusely for the error. I would never sarcastically belittle the efforts of any fighter who gets in that ring. I feel terrible about it and I hope he can accept my heartfelt apologies.

My next blunder requires the use of the time machine. I charged my camera all night in preparation for this event and I expected to take many pictures. The moment I took out my camera on Saturday it would not turn on. I took out the battery and put it back in but no deal. I was livid, so many boxing legends on hand and me without the use of a digital camera. So I had to resort to a camera phone to take some pictures. Mr. Ray Bailey who was the ringside photographer was kind enough to email me two pictures of the main event so that I could have something to use. I was able to take some photos that only serve as a reminder of how cool those shots would have been had I taken them with the digital camera. The picture I have up of Bryan Abraham is of a previous fight as no one took pictures of his fight because no one expected the surprise ending to that fight. I thought that my camera was damaged but imagine my surprise when upon further inspection the next morning it turns out that I put in the camera battery backwards!!! So my stupidity becomes this week's Hot Tub Time Machine moment as I wish that I could go back in time and put that camera battery in the correct way. And so to entertain you and punish myself I will let you take a look at the best of the bad pictures that could have been awesome pictures if I hadn't been so careless........

Ring card girls

Your humble narrator vs Holyfield and Gerry Cooney

Round 2

Finally......
Two things to mention first for more information on the Shea
Magale Trust or to send donations to this worthy cause to raise funds for the
research of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) you can write to:
The Shea Megale Fund Corporation
c/o 6302 Rockbridge Place
Centerville, VA 20120

There is also a website for more information at http://www.walkforshea.com/ but this
website will be taken down soon.

Stay tuned for the next Blackeyed View as we
interview wildman Ricardo Mayorga as he looks to represent boxing in the world
of mixed martial arts this weekend taking on veteran Din Thomas!

TOP TEN FILMS ABOUT BOXING

2010-05-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

The official top ten boxing movie list of the Blackeyed View

I have been wanting to expand on other topics with just the right touch of boxing added to stay true to the core of this blog but I have to admit that lately boxing has been coming at me from all sides. From the recent mega fight involving Mayweather and Mosley, to my recent interview (to be posted at a later date) with Nicaraguan wild man Ricardo Mayorga, not to mention that I have returned to my boxing gym last week and have been getting some rounds in. And so it was that once again on the treadmill (where a lot of my best ideas are given genesis) I was thinking about the movie Raging Bull a modern masterpiece directed by the great Martin Scorsese, in particular the opening scene in which the star Robert Deniro was jumping in place in slow motion while this cool musical score was playing. I like to use imagery like that to push myself during my workouts you see and it made me remember what a great film it was. Was it the best movie about boxing that I ever saw was my next question and that forced me to comprise a list. I love lists about best this or best that, any list entertains me, top ten best soups, best movies, best dressed, etc. So I thought it would be fun to come up with the Blackeyed View's top ten best boxing films of all times. I will start in descending order.

10. Don King: Only in America (1997) : This film was made for TV by HBO where it was aired and was not shown in theaters. It focused on the rise of famous boxing promoter Don King played by Ving Rhaimes. In this film Rhaimes shows his full range as an actor as he tackles a character that can go from pompous huckster, to preacher, to saint and quickly to devil in the time that a flipped coin takes to land. Many boxing greats are covered in this film including the likes of Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes.

9. Million Dollar Baby (2004) : Directing and starring the legendary Clint Eastwood along with the Hillary Swank who took the Oscar for best actress for this movie. This movie vividly showed the bond that can form between fighter and trainer when they work closely together, in this case Swank the fighter and Eastwood the cantankerous old trainer who has been burned before by other fighters. Its a tear jerker and definitely not to be viewed by those who are experiencing suicidal thoughts. But an excellent, excellent film none the less.

8. Fat City (1972) : This little known movie directed by John Huston adapted from the novel Fat City by Leonard Gardner starred a young Stacy Keach as a past his prime fighter struggling to make ends meet during one of the many rough patches in the history of this country. He comes to grips with the one sided nature of his relationship with his former manager played by Nicholas Colasanto (the Coach for all you CHEERS fans) and encounters a young boxer played by Jeff Bridges (forever to be known to me as the Dude from the Big Lebowski) who is a reflection to him of his own lost promise. Its a gritty film that will suck you in, enjoy the music of this clip...

7. Diggstown (1992) : This film has been described as Rocky meets the Sting as con man James Woods enlists the aid of a former boxer "Honey Boy" Roy Palmer played by Louis Gossett Jr. to take down local big shot Bruce Dern, placing a huge bet that Palmer can defeat ten men in 24 hours. This movie has a little bit of everything from comedy to drama, action and for sure a stellar cast including former heavyweight boxers Randal "Tex' Cobb and Alex Garcia.

6. On the Waterfront (1954) : This movie won all kinds of awards and stars Hollywood royalty Marlon Brando as a faded mob controlled boxer asked to stand up against the mob and his own brother by a neighborhood priest played by Karl Mulden. This is where one of the most iconic lines in movie history is uttered by Brando's character; " I coulda been somebody, I coulda been a contender."

5. Somebody up there likes me (1956) : I saw a lot of black and white movies in my youth because back then the networks still aired them, for some reason they would rather air the same episode of Saved By the Bell then any classic black and white films or shows nowadays. This movie was the screen bio of the life of hall of fame boxer Rocky Graziano played by the great Paul Newman and gave the viewer a chance to experience the backdrop behind one of the greatest boxing rivalries of all time Graziano vs Tony Zale.

4. Rocky 2 (1979) : This is where Rocky wins! Starring Sylvester Stallone in the title character as forces beyond his control lead him back to the ring to face world heavyweight champ Apollo Creed in a fight for his future, his family, and his life. Who doesn't get behind Rocky in this one, who? Who doesn't get inspired to train when you hear the Rocky theme music? Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!

3. The Champ (1979) : Long before ET The Extra Terrestrial had the children of the 80's crying in their movie theater seats ("don't die ET!") this movie cracked open the waterworks on anyone who saw the ending scene of this film starring Jon Voight as a boxer during a time when believe it or not he was considered a sex symbol and little Ricky Schroeder, the cute little blond haired boy who would go on to star in his own TV show Silver Spoons, his son who he fights to keep custody of as hard as he fights in the ring. To my memory this film contains the saddest scene that I ever saw and you got to remember that I was a child when I saw it.

2. Raging Bull (1980) : The Goodfellas of boxing movies. You take Scorsese, Deniro, and Joe Pesci and you get gold every time. This portrayal of the life of hall of fame middleweight champ Jake Lamotta is a study of a man battling inner demons with the boxing world in the 50's and 60's as the setting. Lamotta himself was brought in as a consultant to the film. As said before a modern masterpiece. Here is the clip that was on my mind while I was on the treadmill today.

1. Rocky (1976) : What else would the Blackeyed View pick as its top boxing film of all time but Rocky. The ultimate underdog story. This film is a testament to the human spirit that carries so many lessons within such as making the best out of life's opportunities, never giving up, redemption, and second chances. It has the best musical score out of any of the boxing films on this list or any other and it was no fluke as it won Academy awards for best picture and best director and made an Oscar nominee out of Sylvester Stallone for best actor and best written screenplay. This movie stands the test of time and will do so for generations to come.

Honorable mentions:

TYSON (2009) the documentary of the former baddest man on the planet is a compelling view in which Mike Tyson bares his soul and forces some to reassess their original opinion of the man.

Girlfight (2000) is the movie debut of Michelle Rodriguez in the story of a young woman finding haven within the confines of the ring from her abusive father at home.

ALI (2001) had bad timing for me, as most of the material in this film was covered ad naseum in the many biopics, sports specials, and documentaries including the excellent When We Were Kings during the years leading up to this film. Despite strong performances by Will Smith and Jamie Fox this film did not offer anything new for boxing fans to get excited about.

Cinderella Man (2005)the story of James Braddock had a great cast in Russel Crow, Paul Giamatti, and Renee Zellwiger but Giamatti was not convincing enough for me, kind of forced his character. But where the film loses major points for me as a boxing fan is in its portrayal of former champ Max Baer as boxer who enjoyed the fact that he caused the in ring deaths of several boxers. Anybody who knows boxing will tell you that no boxer ever wants to kill another fighter. Its the furthest thing from their minds and no boxer who ever killed another would ever brag about it.

Well there you have it my pick for top ten best boxing films of all time. I welcome your comments, disagreements and for you to share your own top ten list of boxing films.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. dominates Shane Mosley

2010-05-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

After a scare in the 2nd round it was smooth sailing for Mayweather

Two things happened Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas that rarely occur, one was Floyd Mayweather Jr. being rocked by a clean right hand that caused his knees to buckle and the second rarity was to see Shane Mosley sapped of his fighting spirit.

As most fighters who have fought 'Money' before him, Shane Mosley grew progressively confused as the fight wore on but not before putting a scare into his opponent and his supporters in the second round. After an uneventful first round that HBO ringside judge Harold Ledermen gave to Mosley, the undefeated Mayweather was rocked by a Mosley right hand that made him weak at the knees and forced him to hold on to Mosley. Shane followed it up seconds later with another right hand that almost toppled his opponent bringing the MGM Grand Arena audience to their feet. Mosley pressed for the knockout but Mayweather used his defensive skills to weather the storm and was looking strong by the end of the fight having nailed Mosley with some good looking counter right hands. That was the last the world would see of the old Sugar Shane Mosley for the rest of the night.

Mayweather was back in the fight in a big way during the third round playing the part of the aggressor as Mosley began to fight in retreat. Mosley looked tentative and off his game throughout the bout. He appeared to be too concerned with out feigning his foe and fell into playing Mayweather's game which allowed Floyd to assume the role of the stalker as Mosley tried in vain to avoid his rival's punches. Mayweather was able to sweep the rest of the rounds based on both his offensive and counter punching connects.

This was the night that the 38 year old Shane Mosley grew old overnight as he appeared gassed by the fifth round and was in danger of being stopped in the later rounds. His trainer Nazim Richardson tried vehemently to revive his man in between rounds but Mosley was not responsive. Mayweather's speed was too much for Mosley as he was picked apart losing a unanimous decision. The judges rendered scores of 119-109, 119-109, and 118-110.

After the fight Mayweather was asked by HBO commentator Larry Merchant what it would take for him to fight Manny Pacquiao, the one man perceived to be the only challenge left out there, Mayweather responded, "If Manny takes the tests we can make the fight happen. If he doesn't we don't have a fight"

OBSERVATIONS

Never thought I would see an offensive force like Mosley forced to go against his nature and fight in retreat for twelve rounds. Wasn't the fight supposed to be about Mosley chasing and Mayweather defending? I got to hand it to Mayweather for going on the attack but at the same time I have to say Mosley looked off all night. If Pacquiao saw this fight, I wonder if he will think that Mosley may have been affected by the constant drawing of blood to satisfy the Olympic anti doping requirements that were put in on the insistence of team Mayweather. Pacquiao blames his last defeat on feeling weak after having blood drawn the night before the fight and if he makes this connection and its somehow proven you almost can't blame him for being reluctant to submit to this type of testing.

Many people have said it and last night's fight confirms it. Shane Mosley is too nice. Throughout the fight he was too willing to touch gloves, hug Mayweather, and talk to his foe during the fight. He was just altogether way too compliant. it was maddening to see Mosley accord Mayweather all sorts of pleasantries during the fight. Its not as if 'Money' is the most adorable guy in boxing, he had been trashing Mosley all thru the build up of this fight, Mosley had to know that if he lost Mayweather would eventually proceed to declare that he destroyed Shane Mosley. Where was the fire in Mosley? If he was going to grow old over night he was better served to grow into a grouchy old man.

Every time Mayweather declares that Pacquiao must submit to drug testing and states that he wants an even playing field he throws dirt on Pacquiao's reputation. This without a shred of evidence, any prior incident, or so much as an accusation from a former Pacquiao opponent. This is simply heinous.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE MOMENT

I learned recently that I might be interviewing former welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga. The Nicaraguan strong man will be participating in a MMA match for the first time in North Carolina on May 15th. He is more famous for his wild style, cigarette smoking training regimen and playing the part of the villain against some of the heroes of boxing like Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, and Shane Mosley. The highest of his highs occurred when he knocked out the late Vernon Forrest to claim the welterweight title when Forrest had just defeated boxing's top dog at the time Shane Mosley. Mayorga has always been a favorite of mine and if I could get into my hot tub time machine I would go back to October 2, 2004 and tell Mayorga to for the love of God not ask Felix Trinidad to hit him in the face with this best shot. Before that Mayorga was doing well in the fight but after letting Trinidad hit him with his left hook point blank in the face, he was fighting at maybe 60%. But even at 60% Mayorga was keeping it close until Trinidad connected with some low blows that effectively sapped what remained of Mayorga's reserves and set him up for the finishing body blows.

Even though it was a crazy, stupid mistake, its part of what I and many others loved about Mayorga..the insolence! The nerve, the gall! Even so I would arrive in my hot tub time machine and tell him not to do it. And here is the reason why.....

BOXING ALL OVER THE WORLD

2010-04-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

Fighting breaks out from Cali all the way to Denmark

Its good to put the focus back on boxing action after having to hear about the depressing murder suicide of Edwin Valero and his beautiful wife. The Blackeyed View decides to lead into this week reporting on the good and there was much good to report on this weekend as there were three fights of significance that took place in California and in Denmark. First in California a true heavyweight slugfest took place between heavyweight newcomer Tomasz Adamek fighting for only the third time in the division and former world title challenger Cris Arreola. Adamek the former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion was outweighed by the naturally bigger Arreola by 33 1/2 pounds. He hoped to match the hard punching Arreola's power and size with speed and mobility but the resident of Riverside, California was determined to outpunch his Polish rival and that had the makings of a good old fashioned shootout.

Adamek was able to use his quicker hands to outbox Arreola in the first four rounds but you could tell that he felt Arreola's edge in power with every connected punch. The bigger man rocked Adamek in the fourth and sixth rounds and had him on queer street but the determined Polish fighter hung on to survive. Adamek tried to make himself an elusive target for his opponent but those who have seen Adamek throughout his career can tell that this style is not his strong suit and it would only be a matter of time before he would follow his instincts to stand his ground and trade punches. Still Adamek's work was beginning to show on his rival's face as Arreola's eyes starting to close and his face was getting puffy from his opponents pot shotting.

Arreola almost broke through for a KO win in the tenth when he had Adamek hanging by a string after connecting with a vicious combination to the head but failed to capitalize when he injured his hand. Adamek (41-1, 27 KOs) ever the opportunist pounced on the wounded Californian in the last two rounds and was able to squeak out a majority decision win much to the dismay of the pro Arreola (28-2) hometown crowd. This was only the second loss in Arreola's career the first coming in his only title try against Vitaly Klitschko and Adamek's third straight win in the land of the heavies, a rematch between the two is a natural.

This was a fight that the heavyweight division needed. Two evenly matched opponents who provide action packed fights going at each other. Even the setting worked for this fight as the majority pro Arreola crowd traded cheers and jeers with the significant Polish fans that traveled to support their man. Adamek dedicated the fight to the memory of the late Polish president and the victims of the air crash that claimed their lives.

On the under card explosive welterweight Alfredo 'El Perro' Angulo knocked out former hot prospect and knockout artist himself Joel 'Lovechild' Julio in the eleventh round of a hotly contested fight.

Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament continued in Denmark with the WBC Super middleweight championship on the line as the defending champion from England Carl "the Cobra' Froch took on former champ Mikkel Kessler on Kessler's home turf. These two fought with desperation as Kessler needed to win to have any hopes of advancing in the tournament and Froch was desperate to keep his title and undefeated record.

Kessler was determined to establish his jab early and be the aggressor while Froch was content to play the part of the cobra waiting in the wings to strike. Both men had their moments in the early rounds with none able to take the early advantage. Froch was able to make his counter punches count as his power was showing early against his foe, while Kessler maintained consistent pressure. Froch was able to cause Kessler to take an early tumble in the sixth but it was ruled a slip by the referee. At that point it appeared that Froch had established a power edge mentally over Kessler as his shots seemed to be delivered with more venom.

Froch was able to cut the Dane over the left eye in the later rounds possibly reopening a wound from Kessler's last fight. That is when Kessler's trainer Jimmy Montoya began to spur on his fighter to press the attack which he did in the later rounds. Froch sustained a cut to the bridge of his nose that gave the appearance of a broken nose and his punch output began to dip substantially. The last two rounds were high drama as both men were rocked and appeared to be on the verge of being stopped by the other. Froch and Kessler battled it out near the ropes at the end of the final round and the fight at that point was a toss up with maybe a slight edge to the defending champion.

After a long delay the scorecards were read and what looked to be a very close contest was not seen that way by two of the judges at ringside. One judge had it a reasonable 115-113 for Kessler while the other two judges from Belgium gave the fight and the championship to Mikkel Kessler by ridiculously wide margins of 117-111 and 116-112. After the fight Froch seemed to be at peace with the decision as he voiced his belief that he would have had a tough time getting a decision win in his rival's hometown.

The scoreboards for the World Boxing Classic has one leader (Arthur Abraham) atop with 3 points and four fighters tied with 2 points a piece while one fighter (Allan Green) has zero points. Round two of the tournament continues in June as Andre Ward takes on late entry Allan Green.

And now the bad.....

I would be remiss not to mention the latest in the sad story involving former lightweight champion Edwin Valero. As reported in the last edition of the Blackeyed View , Edwin Valero was taken into custody following his admission to murdering his 24 year old wife Jennifer Carolina Viera on Sunday morning in a hotel located in Valencia, Venezuela. Viera was found dead by multiple stab wounds. The former champ was said to have told hotel security upon leaving the hotel that he had killed his wife. He was later picked up by Venezuelan police. Valero was taken to a police station in the town of Carabobo where he committed suicide in his jail cell that night. According to chief of police Wilmer Flores an inmate alerted the guards to Valero's cell were he was found hanging by the neck by his own jogging pants. He showed signs of life but the medics where unable to revive him.

Valero had a recent history of domestic abuse problems as he was arrested in March of allegedly hitting his wife which caused injuries that included a punctured lung and broken ribs. Ms. Viera refused to press charges on her husband telling police and hospital workers that her injuries were caused by a fall. Valero was the WBC lightweight champion with an impressive record of 27 wins no losses and all his wins coming by knockout. He recently relinquished his lightweight title to move up in weight and was projected to be an opponent for Manny Pacquiao. The deaths leave boxing fans lamenting the end of a once promising career and more importantly leaves two children ages 5 and 8 without parents.

Observations

KA POW! That was the sound heard by those privileged enough to watch the knockout blow from the right hand of Alfred Angulo that took out Joel Julio in the eleventh round. I could almost see one of those big KA POW signs that filled up the TV screen every time Batman & Robin hit one of the villains in the campy old Batman TV series.

When it took seemingly forever to hand in the scorecards during the Froch-Kessler fight you could almost sense that one of those hometown screw jobs was in effect. Now for such a close fight I could live with 115-113 for Kessler but do the Belgium judges have to make it so obvious by handing in alternate universe scores of 116-112 and 117-111? I mean seriously, does up mean down in their world?
There are fights and then there are super fights. The match up between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley qualifies as a super fight. Mayweather has stepped up and risked all three times in his career. The first time was against Diego Corrales when 'Chico' was an undefeated wrecking ball that physically resembled a junior lightweight version of Tommy Hearns. The second time was when he engaged Jose Luis Castillo in a rematch after Castillo was robbed of victory in the first fight. This fight against Shane Mosley is his third riskiest move and he should get kudos for agreeing to this fight. Yes Shane Mosley is 38 years old and the Margarito fight may have deceivingly made him look indestructible, but he is still Sugar Shane Mosley. Who am I picking? My heart says Mosley and has convinced my head to go along with that pick.

I really like Tomasz Adamek but seeing him struggle for the second time with what for the heavyweight division would classify as average height boxers, I now realize that he has little chance to win against any of the Klitschkos. He hasn't really carried his power up in weight and the larger the opponent the more he tends to box from the outside which would be a mistake against the Ukranian brothers. He has a much better shot at WBA champ David Haye who is his size and will be there to brawl with him.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE MOMENT

Speaking of one Tommy 'the Hitman' Hearns I'm reminded of one boxing moment that I would not tarnish with gambling, predictions, or trash talk. Its the three round war known in boxing lore as simply HAGLER-HEARNS. If I could get into my hot tub time machine I would use all my ill gotten gains to get myself a ringside seat to this fight. Although Hearns lost, both men covered themselves in glory for all time with this violent classic that will stand the test of time for all times when it comes to the subject of greatest fight you've ever seen. The following is but a sample of the smorgasbord of violence offered on April 15, 1985.

VIVA ARGENTINA

2010-04-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Argentine marvel Sergio Martinez rips the middleweight championship from the grasp of Kelly Pavlik

There was a changing of the guard at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ this Saturday night as the top junior middleweight in the world rose in weight to dethrone the undisputed middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik by unanimous decision in bloody fashion. Pavlik was attempting to regain the momentum he lost by losing to Bernard Hopkins in 2008 by taking on his most dangerous opponent since that fight in taking on tricky southpaw Martinez and he paid the price for his risky gamble. The Argentinean was coming off two hard luck decisions against top ranked opposition that had none the less given rise to his stock as he was able to dominate Kermit Cintron in a controversial draw and looked to get the better of the feared Paul Williams in a disputed decision loss. Both men were looking for a chance at redemption but it was Martinez who made use of his fast hands to literally cut Pavlik down to size.

Martinez set the pace for the fight in the early rounds by using constant movement and hand speed to befuddle the defending champion winning the first three rounds by landing more and getting hit less. He opened a small cut above the left eye of Pavlik in the first round. Pavlik began to time Martinez better in the fourth and got his offense working behind a defense that was starting to click. The fourth round arguably belonged to the challenger but it seemed that Pavlik got himself back into the fight in that round. He began to close the distance in rounds five thru eight even managing to score a flash knockdown in the seventh round possibly securing a lead.

But in the ninth round the tide turned again in favor of the challenger as he came out both guns blazing with quick fire combinations that opened up a gash over the right eye of Pavlik. The blood was flowing freely and the crimson tide inspired Martinez to attack some more. He unleashed several more combinations in the round that had the defending champion reeling. This action would repeat itself for the remaining rounds and Martinez was rewarded for his strong finish by the scores of 116-111, 115-111, and 115-112 giving him the unanimous decision and the undisputed middleweight championship of the world.

After the match the dethroned champion Kelly Pavlik vowed to invoke his rematch clause to recapture his title. Martinez celebrated with his corner men and when asked who he would fight next responded, "I would fight whoever." The last time there was an undisputed middleweight champion from Argentina it was the legendary Carlos Monzon who would go on to set the record for most middleweight title defenses that would stand for almost thirty years before being broken by Bernard Hopkins.

World Boxing Classic mistake.....

This weekend Lucian Bute defended his IBF super middleweight title with an impressive third round knockout over Colombian powerhouse Edison Miranda. Bute dropped Miranda with a vicious uppercut after Miranda dared Bute to hit him with his best shot. Bute did and Miranda couldn't take it. Lucian Bute perfectly illustrated to the makers of the innovative Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament which involves top super middleweights that he clearly belonged in the mix and whoever emerges victorious from this tournament cannot call himself the best until they have it out with Bute.

Breaking News

Lightweight titlist Edwin Valero surrendered to Venezuelan police on Sunday morning confessing to the murder of his wife, 20 year old Yennifer Carolina. According to Venezuelan police Mrs. Valero died after suffering three stab wounds which Valero has confessed to. In the last month there have been reports of domestic abuse on the part of Edwin Valero and he was scheduled to submit himself to a rehabilitation center in Cuba to deal with alcoholism.

Notes

Lately when I hear the name Lucian Bute I am starting to associate it with Lucifer as I have now witnessed the man give two powerful boxers (Librado Andrade and Miranda) a hellacious beating.
Usually this is where I was planning to add my Hot Tub Time Machine moment but due to the news involving the murder of Edwin Valero's wife in which Valero himself has confessed to it, I am left tossed for a loop. I feel like a fool for ever rooting for this guy and feel for the family of this poor girl. I have nothing much left to say till the next report.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE

2010-04-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

Some things refuse to go away....the ghost of Holyfield knocks out the 'White Buffalo'

In the latest comedy hit Hot Tub Time Machine in theaters now, four friends are transported back in time to 1986 and forced to relive their youth. Without revealing much about the movie I will say that the viewer gets to see some significant historical moments in the pop culture, political, and sports arena. It was great to relive some of those moments. Not so great to tune in the other night and have my own hot tub time machine moment witnessing 47 year old Evander Holyfield fighting the 41 year old 'White Buffalo' Frans Botha. Despite his age, Holyfield remains a physical wonder, ripped and putting to shame men half his age. Holyfield and Botha fought last Saturday night in Las Vegas and 'the Real Deal' was able to knock out Botha in the eight round for his first KO win in years. Its hard not to root for Holyfield who has provided boxing fans with some of the most significant heavyweight and cruiserweight moments of the last 3 decades but I think its safe to say that most fans nowadays are torn between rooting for him not to get hurt and rooting for him to retire. The only one who doesn't seem to get this is Holyfield himself.

He is following the same sad path that legends like Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Roberto Duran, and Sugar Ray Robinson trailed before him by fighting on way past his prime and jeopardizing his health. Ali is unfortunately a living testament to the perils of receiving punches for far longer than the body was made to absorb. Part of me wishes that Holyfield would get his title shot against the undisputed champ Wladimir Klitschko so that one of the following scenarios would unfold; A) Klitschko is finally the one to beat him into retirement or B) Holyfield regains the championship one last time and finally retires as a winner. Neither option is actually good for the sport as in the first option Holyfield can get seriously hurt and in the second option Holyfield would retire and the heavyweight championship would become vacant leaving the division without a head for some time. Of course there is always a third option in which Klitschko does enough to win but lets Holyfield survive enough to claim a moral victory, which will no doubt encourage Evander to try , try again. There is only one option that makes any sense but it is so hard to say to my hero the ultimate warrior Evander Holyfield.....please, please give it up.

Dedicating victory to the victims of the Haitian earthquake, the Hatian hopeful wins: Andre Berto stops Carlos 'el Indio' Quintana

This past Saturday night at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida, Andre Berto resumed his promising career which was put on hold following the tragic earthquake in Haiti earlier this year that claimed the lives of eight of his family members. Berto (26-0, 20 KOs) faced off against top ten welterweight Carlos 'El Indio' Quintana, the only man to best fearsome Paul 'the Punisher' Williams and stopped him in 8 rounds.

Quinatana's southpaw style presented some problems early for Berto as he used his savvy and movement to befuddle Berto. But Berto's speed and power was too much for the Puertorican as Berto was able to snap 'El Indio's' head back with hooks and right crosses that had him tottering on the brink until referee Tommy Kimmons intervened at 2:16 of the 8th round giving Andre Berto the TKO win to retain his WBC welterweight title.

Berto was originally scheduled to face Sugar Shane Mosley in the biggest fight of his career but was forced to cancel it to attend to his family in Haiti after the earthquake devastated that country. A portion of the live gate for this event was donated to efforts for the rebuilding of Haiti. With this impressive win against a game Quintana, Berto has positioned himself as a player in the welterweight division and has given life to his hopes to match up with the likes of Miguel Cotto, Mosley, Floyd Mayweather, and of course the man, Manny Pacquiao.

NOTES

This past Saturday boxing lost legendary referee Arthur Mercante at 90 years of age. Mercante was the referee for what is considered the biggest event in boxing, billed simply as 'the Fight', Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden won by Joe Frazier. In his day, Mercante was one of those people that lent more credibility to an event in the way that Bob Costas, Howard Cosell, Michael Buffer (Lets get ready to RUUUMBLLLLLE!!!) and Jim Lampley bring more significance to sports matchups. If there was a big fight, Mercante was the referee who usually got the call.

This past Thursday the Yankees hosted a press conference at the new Yankee Stadium to officially announce that they will be hosting the Yuri Foreman vs Miguel Cotto bout for Foreman's junior middleweight title on July 5th.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE MOMENT

In the film Hot Tub Time Machine, several of the characters relive certain sporting events at a bar and knowing the eventual outcome decide to wage bets. It made me think of what sporting moment I would bet on if I had my own hot tub time machine. This will be a weekly feature to the Blackeyed View and as my first choice I would have to go back to 1990 to the grandaddy of all upsets. Buster Douglas KOs Mike Tyson in Tokyo. The odds were 40 to 1 against Douglas who was dealing with the death of his mother and the illness to his father looming over his head not to mention that he was facing the harbinger of doom himself in Mike Tyson who was at the absolute peak of his powers. I cannot think of anything in sports today that is a sure thing like Tyson was during his heyday. You couldn't get up and go to get a drink because it usually took Tyson that long to get his quick KO wins. But with my hot tub time machine and all the money I could gather I would have laid it all on the line for Douglas.

Revenge rears its ugly head

2010-04-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Hopkins gains ugly revenge on Jones 17 years after their first ugly fight

We can only hope that there will not be a Hopkins-Jones 3 after the long overdue rematch between the ancient warriors turned into a foul fest that saw 45 year old Bernard Hopkins (51-5-1, 32 KOs) win a unanimous decision against his long time rival 41 year old Roy Jones, Jr. (54-7-40 KOs) this past Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas. During his ring walk Hopkins was led to the ring by an aging lounge singer belting out Frank Sinatra's classic My Way. To some including former HBO announcer George Foreman, Bernard's way has been to get away with fouls during his bouts so Roy Jones decided to fight Bernard's way also and that is when the fight turned to the south end of weird street.

The first five rounds where uneventful rounds that were won by Hopkins. Both men where feeling each other out in the first couple of rounds but Hopkins established his ring generalship by the third round by simply outpunching Jones with body shots but nothing that looked dangerous. By the fifth round Jones was flinching at every Hopkins attempt and falling for every feint. Hopkins began to employ his foul tactics leading into the sixth round and that is when Jones decided to fire back. Early in the sixth round Hopkins got away with a low blow to Jones but Jones did not react to it. Later in the same round Jones would unleash a rabbit punch that caused Hopkins to drop as if he was shot by a gun. Hopkins was sprawled on the canvas and the fight was in peril of being stopped. Jones paced around in his corner with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face as Hopkins writhed in pain. The referee Tony Weeks deducted a point from Jones and after Hopkins was given some recovery time the action resumed. Hopkins tore into Jones with a fury and did not let up even after the bell had sounded to end the round. The fighters had to be separated by security as the crowd erupted. A fight had suddenly broken out between the two vets.

The boxers settled down and Hopkins restored his order to the fight outscoring Jones in the 7th round. But now Jones seemed to be reinvigorated by the sight of his opponent on the ground in the previous round, he intensified his efforts but did not produce the necessary punch out put needed to win rounds. In the eighth there was more rough stuff as Hopkins landed a rabbit punch but would be felled by the rabbit punch thrown by Jones in retaliation. Once again the fight looked to be in danger of being stopped as the ring doctor checked on Hopkins. The Philadelphia fighter would go down for a third time from a border line low blow. Jones was losing the fight but his spirits were no doubt buoyed by seeing his most hated rival go down three times.

In the 11th round the action was stopped by the ref so that the doctor could check on a cut suffered by Jones from a Hopkins headbutt that was ruled unintentional. The last round did not produce the fireworks that the fans wanted and the fight was closed out to a chorus of boos. Hopkins prevailed by scores of 117-110, 117-110, 118-109. In the end Hopkins got his vindication and Jones walks away with the moral victory in that he did not get knocked out and had the pleasure of watching his foe on the canvas three times. The lesson that should be learned from the Hopkins-Jones rivalry by those in control of boxing is that although revenge (rematches) are a dish best served cold, you shouldn't wait 17 years to serve it.

Observations

After the fight Hopkins called for a fight against WBA Heavyweight champ David Haye. My reaction to this is to tell Hopkins to forget about it. Bernard its time to wrap it up champ. If you think Roy Jones' rabbit punches were hard wait till you taste Haye's best rabbit punch. In this weekend's fight against John Ruiz he was able to beat up Ruiz pretty good but among his clean shots where also some vicious rabbit punches one of which took Ruiz down in the first round. If Hopkins reacted the way he did to a light heavyweight foul imagine what can happen when a young, 225 pound heavyweight connects with his.

A few articles ago I talked about some of my favorite renditions of the national anthem at big fights. I had a clear ranking of those moments but have not yet come to a precise list of my favorite ring walks yet but as of last night I have to say that Hopkins ring entrance has to rank high amongst my favorite ring walks. The decision to walk in with an aged lounge singer singing Sinatra's My Way while three aging Aretha Franklin impersonators provided back up singing in the ring was the stuff of high hilarity. Everyone around me cracked up and then joined in the sing along. It was awesome.

I have been touting David Tua as a possible threat to the two headed Klitschko monster that rules the heavyweight division due to the fact that in Tua's last couple of fights he has come in weighing in between 235 and 238 pounds, has looked motivated and has retained all of his prodigious power but mainly its been because of the dearth of talent in this weight class. I did not believe in David Haye but after what he did to the always difficult John Ruiz I am a born again believer. Haye is also something that Tua is not, fresh and young. All the same I would like to see Tua get his shot, if not against the Klistchkos then against Haye. That would be something. Tua hasn't fought in the states in a number of years so in case anyone out there forgot what this man brings to the table I offer the following video as a reminder.

A star is shining in England: David Haye is for real

2010-04-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

The Englishman stops John Ruiz and the calls for a Klitschko fight grow louder

Those who dream of a dynamic powerhouse to energize and take hold of the heavyweight division just got a shot in the arm from the WBA champion from London, David 'Haymaker' Haye as he did what few have been able to do in dismantling and stopping former two time WBA king John 'the Quiet Man' Ruiz at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England this Saturday night. Ruiz who has often been criticized for his unsightly fighting style of mauling came out looking determined to go for the KO win. He pressured Haye from the onset and began to walk down the champion behind a jab-right cross combination. But the former cruiserweight champion from London delivered his own one two combo that put Ruiz on his back in the first round. Ruiz would get up at the count of eight and look to be on unsteady legs when he was pinned against the ropes and sent down against this time from a rabbit punch. In a strange move the referee Guillermo Perez counted the knockdown and took away a point from Haye acknowledging the very foul that led to the knockdown that he counted against Ruiz anyway.

Ruiz survived the round and came back to reassert himself into the fight in the second and third rounds. But David Haye was an elusive target and his hand speed allowed him to attack and counter Ruiz at will. Ruiz, the first Latino heavyweight to hold a major title, was unbowed as he tried to stick to his game plan of steady pressure behind his jab but would repeatedly get caught with rapid combinations and a nasty right cross that bloodied his nose. He would fall again in the fifth and sixth rounds grabbing at his head in an apparent attempt to get Haye penalized again. The end would come in the last minute of the ninth round when Ruiz's trainer Miguel Diaz waved the white towel of surrender as his man was on the ropes again under heavy fire.

With this win Haye (24-0, 22 KOs) positions himself as the most attractive if not deserving contender to the Klitschko brothers Wladimir and Vitaly. It was the most impressive outing of the four heavyweight fights that Haye has engaged in since moving up from cruiserweight. John Ruiz (44-9-1, 30 KOs) had up to this point only been knocked out once and that by the powerful Samoan David Tua in a first round bludgeoning early in his career. Since then Ruiz ha gone toe to toe with the giants of the game, men like Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, James Toney, Hasim Rahman, and Andrew Golota without suffering a stoppage loss. The muscular Haye immediately called out the Klitschkos and took a shot at the physical conditioning of the last two opponents that faced the brothers (Chris Arreola and Eddie Chambers) calling them 'disgraceful'. Haye is indeed an exciting fighter that provides the rare combination of speed, power, charisma, and just the right amount of vulnerability to capture the imagination of the boxing public.

BOXING FANS MAKE BETTER LOVERS

2010-04-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but thoughts seem to dance most often across my mind when I'm in the middle of a workout and today as I was on the treadmill, my favorite whipping boy Tiger Woods led me on a path to a most interesting conclusion. I was chuckling to myself about his 'sexual addiction' excuse for what seems to be the millionth time and started to think about all of the now suspected sexual addicts that I know based on Wood's assessment and list of symptoms for this 'disease'. Seems to me that sexual urges are as basic an animal instinct as our tendency to get violent once in a while and that it is more a matter of self control and discipline then an addictive problem that would afflict a drug addict for example. My point is that I don't buy it and I never will. But that led me to wonder what does it take to have that self control. I imagine that the person should possess the following traits: loyalty, perseverance, patience, understanding, generosity, the ability to compromise, passion and above all love. As I ran thru that list it clicked then and there for me that those are the very same qualities that have kept me and millions of other boxing fans loyal to a sport that often time can be cruel to its followers. So my conclusion, to all those out there looking for a soul mate who will stick by them thru thick and thin, date a boxing fan.

Seems like I just jump from one topic to the other but that is how my mind works as I struggle to control my breathing, concentration, and try not to look at the treadmill watch as I keep on running to no where. Boxing fans, out of all sports fans have taken the most amount of s....suffering. Our sport has been marginalized out of the mainstream showing up here and there with a mega fight that might attract mainstream news coverage from time to time, some of our champions are unrecognizable to the average person on the street, has way too many weight classes to follow, corrupt officials, postponed fights, the occasional bad judge's decision, we're being overshadowed by the freak show that is mixed martial arts, golf (GOLF FOR GOD'S SAKE!), NASCAR (the wheels of the car go round & round, round & round, round & round) and now even poker. But the true boxing fan keeps coming back for more like an unfortunate spouse suffering from battered wife syndrome.

But we come back because we know that under all the crap is a diamond in the rough. Boxing is the only sport in which you can find art in violence (see little Pacquiao take apart men larger than he with speed and power), drama (review epics like Corrales-Castillo, Gatti-Ward, Leonard-Hearns, Barrera-Morales), redemption (Holyfield-Tyson 1, Hopkins-Trinidad, Douglas-Tyson) and more underdog stories that you could ever find in any other sport. Boxing fans know how to appreciate special things when we find them because we know that they may not show up again for a long time (postponed fights, dream fights that never happen, or fights that turn out to be a dud). And there a lot of special things going on right now that are vindicating the love of boxing fans, we are living in the age of Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather is getting in the ring with Shane Mosley, Showtime has put together the excellent super middleweight tournament and HBO is rumored to be following up with a junior welterweight version, we have an exciting middleweight champ in Kelly Pavlik, more and more great matchups are being made each year. We can't have it all apparently; see the heavyweight division, but the relationship between boxing fans and the sport is truly a give and take proposition and it seems that the sport is in give back mode right now.
So anyone out there with baggage let me point you in the direction of a boxing fan, we can take whatever you got. We know how to roll with the punches and give as good as we take. Boxing fans will stay true to you, we will never betray you, and when you sag (like the heavyweight division) we will stick by you because we always hold out for the comeback. The boxing fan is used to disappointment and with such lowered expectations is not that hard to please. The boxing fan is also a fan of action and passionate about it, so be ready to rumble if you know what I mean. The boxing fan has long been fed up with the corrupt bureaucrats who govern the sport so it makes it almost impossible for the boxing fan to use an excuse like 'sexual addiction' to excuse our misdeeds.

Don't believe me, do the research yourself. Baseball, basketball, and football fans are spoiled and used to getting what they want making it harder for them to obtain the traits discussed above to sustain a meaningful relationship. Golf and tennis fans are snobs (although I like tennis), soccer fans are volatile and prone to riots, and bowling fans are slobs. Sandra Bullock next time bypass that NASCAR fan and try a boxing fan. All of you reading these words, try a boxing fan, if you see one give them a hug or a kiss, you won't regret it.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts above are that of a man at the point of exhaustion, running on a treadmill for what seemed to be over an hour and doesn't necessarily reflect the views of the author when he is of sound mind and body. Any offense taken by tennis, soccer, baseball, bowling, football and MMA fans is strictly unfortunate and coincidental.

UPCOMING:

This Saturday night is the big rematch between heated rivals Bernard 'The Executioner' Hopkins and Roy Jones, Jr. The bout will take place at the Mandalay Bay hotel & resort in Las Vegas, Nevada and will be available on pay per view.

Also this Saturday will be a WBA heavyweight title fight from England between WBA champion David Haye and former champ John 'the Quiet Man' Ruiz

Plumbers, Amazons, Gold Gloves and Super 6 Tourneys

2010-03-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

Battle of the plumbers steals the show at the 83rd annual Golden Gloves Tournament at the Garden

I attended my first ever Golden Gloves tournament and was treated to a feast of blood, sweat, and tears (oh my!). On day one of the finals of the 83rd annual New York Golden Gloves which saw 60 men and women compete between Thursday and Friday of last week, war was waged between two plumbers that set the standard of competitiveness for the rest of the field that could not be matched. 19 year old Peter Dobson from the Bronxchester boxing club squared off against 21 year old Gary Berriguette from the Universal boxing club in Brooklyn, both claimed jobs as plumbers and something about facing a fellow plumber must have lit a fuse in both fighters as they tore into each other like rabid pitbulls. They waged war on the inside, near the ropes, in the corners and everywhere in between. They took turns pinning each other up against the ropes where each man found success.

The first round became a bloodfest when the seemingly more polished Dobson managed to bloody Beriguette's nose and ended up covered in his opponent's blood for the rest of the fight. This managed to slow down Beriguette just a bit but he was still undeterred and continued to wade in with reckless abandon, throwing relentlessly with mixed results. Dobson got untracked by spinning out of corners and countering, using more and more movement to get the better of the exchanges as the fight wore on. But although Dobson began using more of his skill he by no means slowed down the violent pace that was set by both fighters. This fight was as close to Arturo Gatti versus Mickey Ward as you can get at the amateur level. The two did not stop firing punches at each other till the end of the final round, fighting as though the winner would be awarded with the plumbing contract for the entire city.

Dobson earned the decision by virtue of his more accurate punching and both men earned the standing ovation given to them by the crowd for their efforts. They had officially won over the crowd and became the toughest act to follow. Dobson took home the 152 pound novice title.

The New York Golden Gloves produced by the Daily News is the oldest and largest amateur boxing tournament in the nation. It's used as a springboard for local fighters to qualify for the Olympics as well as the pros and the ultimate thrill ride for weekend warriors looking for the spotlight at Madison Square Garden. It has been a breeding ground for New Yorkers who would go on to become Olympians, pro contenders and champions. Among them are Mark Breland, Iran Barkley, Gerry Cooney, Junior Jones, Mike Tyson, and Hector Camacho. The atmosphere created at the Garden for the Golden Gloves finals is electric as the crowd is comprised of former and current boxers as well as the passionate supporters of the participants which includes their vocal friends and families. You definitely find more rooting passion here then for most NJ Nets basketball games.

The ladies offered a fight that came close to matching the showdown of the plumbers in terms of excitement when heavyweights Shannel Mathes representing K-2 Boxing in Queens fought Naralie Pacheco from the Juan Laporte boxing club in the Bronx. This fight got the loudest pop from the crowd as a right hand from Mathes went astray and landed on the chest of the ref who towered over the ladies and brought him down like a redwood in the forest. Mathes was able to use her reach to pop Pacheco in the face all night, but the full time mom was willing to pay the price in order to get in close enough to throw her overhand rights which repeatedly landed on the side of Mathes' head. The rights were thunderous and could be felt by ringsiders. If it weren't for the 4 round limits, it looked like Pacheco's gamble would have paid off in the form of a knockout win but instead she had to settle for a decision loss as Mathes was able to outland her form the outside and win the female Golden Gloves championship.

Other notable results included 21 year old Shemuel Pagan's decision win over 19n year old Carlos Teron for the 141 pound title, his fifth Gold Gloves title. 119 Pound Christina Cruz winning her fourth Gloves title over Alexis Asher by decision, 19 year old Marcus Brown voted the tournament's most outstanding boxer won the 178 pound open title and the lovely sometimes model Dariana Casado dropped a decision to eventual female champion LaTrisha Fountain.

Super 6 Tourney Shake Up---Arthur Abraham loses by DQ to Andre Direll
The World Boxing Classic Super Six tournament, the tournament with the World Cup soccer rules and international feel involving the six of the top 168 pounders, was shaken up this weekend as the leader Armenian Arthur Abraham suffered his first ever defeat at the hands of American Andre 'the Matrix' Direll who picked himself up from his first round points loss to Englishmen Carl Froch at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan last Saturday.

Abraham entered this weekend as heavy favorite and the scoreboard leader of the tournament with 3 points by virtue of his knockout victory over former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor in the first round of the Super 6. Direll was scoreless since dropping a controversial decision against Carl Froch in England, but now he was fighting in front of what was basically his hometown crowd as he hails from nearby Flint, Michigan and he was determined to make the best of it. The combination of Abraham being a slow starter and the movement and boxing skill of Direll gave the early rounds to the Michigan resident.

The first two rounds Abraham fought as if he came from the Joshua Clottey school of boxing, high guard up and no punches. He finally started up his offense in the third, landing some blows to let Direll know that he wasn't alone in the ring. But in the fourth round Direll was able to take advantage of an off balance Abraham and land a punch that drove the Armenian down to the canvas. The American was beginning to distance himself on the scorecards when in the 6th round he opened up a cut on Abraham's right eye that came from a punch. The situation was becoming dire for the visiting fighter and he began to chase Direll and finally break thru in the eight round with some blows that moved 'the Matrix'. By the eight round Direll was on his bicycle, a tactic that cost him in England but was probably safer to execute in front of his hometown fans and the all Michigan judges that were assigned to the fight despite Abraham's protests.

There appeared to be a missed knockdown call of Direll in the 10th round by the ref and just as it appeared that Abraham was coming on in the eleventh disaster struck. Direll went down to one knee from a glancing blow and Abraham reacting perhaps out of frustration or just in the heat of the moment nailed Direll with a right hand. Direll pitched back into the ropes and then fell back into unconsciousness. He began to twitch on the floor as his brother and cornermen ran across the ring to tend to him which threatened to cause a volatile situation in the ring. Abraham was disqualified which earned Direll 2 points and new life in the tournament pending his recovery from the brutal foul.

The latest leader board update on the tournament has Abraham in the lead with 3 points, a three way tie between Andre Ward, Andre Direll, and Carl Froch at 2 points each, and zero points for Mikell Kessler and Allan Green who was brought in to replace Jermain Taylor who bowed out of the tournament after suffering his second consecutive knockout loss. Second round action continues on April 24th when Carl Froch faces off against Mikell Kessler who is in a must win situation.

Weekend Notes

On second thought the battle of the plumbers more resembled the first few rounds of the Ring Magazine's 2009 fight of the year between lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez and 'the Baby Bull' Juan Diaz. Here is a sample of that action to give you a sense of what it was like to watch the plumbers tear into each other.

I know as an American I should be rooting for Direll or Ward to win the World Boxing Classic but I have to say that I have a hard time rooting for guys who look spectacular for the first half of a fight and then turn into Hector Camacho at the first sign of trouble. Its the same reason why I didn't complain when after winning the first 8 rounds against Felix Trinidad, De La Hoya turned threw away the last 4 rounds and was screwed by the judges who gave the fight to Trinidad. Here's hoping that Allan Green the other American entrant in the tournament turns out to be the destroyer most boxing fans are looking for.

I admit that mentioning Dariana Casado's loss instead of phrasing it the other way to showcase LaTrisha Fountain's win was a shameless plug for Casado. Sue me. I used to train at the same gym as Casado years ago and the way she jumped rope was mesmerizing. She made it look effortless and graceful at the same time. Think of a ballerina skipping rope. Plus she is soooo easy on the eyes.

Dominican Joan Guzman defeated Ali Funeka in a rematch of their lightweight match last year in which most observers agreed that Guzman was gifted a draw and Funeka was robbed of a win. Guzman came in 9 pounds over the limit as he has done in other big fights before and used his weight advantage to drop Funeka twice in the fight in route to a decision win. Guzman weighed in as a welterweight for the fight while Funeka was near the lightweight limit at 135. This guy needs to stay at welterweight so that he can stop screwing over the fighters at lightweight with his lack of professionalism.

One final note about the female heavyweight fight between Shannel Mathes and Naralie Pacheco in the Golden Gloves finals at the Garden. I was totally digging the way Pacheco would smile and shrug off the punches that Mathes who was the physically bigger woman hit her with. It reminded me of the old Saturday afternoon kung fu movies in which the combatants would laugh off their opponents best blows in order to psyche them out. It must have been disheartening to Mathes to see her straight rights get laughed off like that. But it was a credit to her professionalism that she didn't let it get to her.

Win, lose, or draw Arthur Abraham remains one dangerous dude. He's primarily responsible for the ouster of Jermain Taylor from the Super 6 tournament and albeit illegally he has knocked out another contestant in the tournament and you just don't know how well an athlete's body can recover from such a blow as the one Direll took full flush. Abraham has suffered his first loss, I wouldn't want to be the next man who faces him.

A heavyweight shame

2010-03-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

The heavyweight championship of the world is defended without US TV coverage

Exactly one week after an American football field was packed to witness the champion of the smaller weights, Manny Pacquiao defend his crown, another futbol (soccer) field was packed to capacity in the city of Dusseldorf in Germany to watch a defense of the lineal heavyweight championship of the world between the champion Wladimir Klitschko and American challenger Eddie Chambers. In Europe the fight was recieved with all the pomp and circumstance that traditionally is afforded to a heavyweight title fight but here in the states the fight went down without a whisper since there was no promotional push here by any American cable or network provider since none were willing to broadcast the fight. Those interested were able to see the fight on Klitschko.com. Its the latest blow to the former glamour division that featured the legendary likes of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Larry Holmes, Rocky Marciano, and Muhammad Ali. Apparently neither the champions nor the challengers in this weight class, most of which are European, have managed to capture the imagination of the American fight public. Or at least that is what the cable and PPV carriers have decided with their recent boycott of this past Saturday's world title fight in which an American challenger who on paper had a legitimate shot of toppling the giant Ukrainian from his perch atop of the heavyweight mountain.

The final result of Saturday's tilt in Germany was a lopsided win for the champion via 12th round knockout. Klitschko was able to control the distance between the fighters with his left jab which enabled him to control the fight from the beginning to end. Eddie Chambers who is normally a crafty fighter with better than average boxing skills was unable to demonstrate it on this occasion and the only offense he was able to muster was a body slam worthy of the WWE that felled the champ in the second round. After that mishap Klitschko was able to resume his dominance over Chambers and continued to win every single round with the most basic of combinations: the left jab followed by the right cross (the good ol' one-two). In the champion's corner where two boxing luminaries, his brother WBC champion Vitaly Klitschko and legendary trainer Emanuel Steward who both vehemently insisted that Wladimir seek out the knockout win. The champion would respond to their wishes in the 12th round with a left hook that would leave the challenger flat on his face in his corner. It was a great victory for the massive champion but another loss for the heavyweights in terms of respectability.

The reason given by HBO president of sports programming, Ross Greenburg was; "since Vitaly Klitschko's return, the American public has been unable to differentiate between the two brothers and there has been a loss of interest in Klitschko fights." Its true the TV networks are under no obligation to broadcast fights if they don't want to but to give this reason as an excuse not to is simply an insult to boxing fans at large. So you mean to tell me that fight fans had this same problem identifying the Ruelas, Quarry, Vargas, and Spinks brothers as well? There have been many cases of siblings competing in or around the same weight class without there being this identity problem that Greenburg is talking about. Much closer to the truth is that we have a dominant non-American world heavyweight champion who happens to fight in an unappealing style with little fan support. Sounds a lot like the Lennox Lewis dilemma which didn't turn out too bad in retrospect did it? But that is why it is called the world heavyweight championship and not the United States heavyweight championship. The title must be claimed in the ring and not just ignored until the title passes on to an American fighter with an exciting style. Imagine if all broadcast communication decided not to air champions who are deemed boring and lacking in excitement, well there goes your Detroit Pistons, the Florida Marlins, the Minnesota Twins, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, and a slew of golfers. Its the height of irresponsibility by the caretakers of the sport that allowed the defense of the crown once held by Joe Louis and Ali to be shown not on television but on the Internet.

The Event in Cowboys stadium is a winner

2010-03-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Manny Pacqiao, Jerry Jones and the sport of boxing emerge triumphant

Jerry Jones' big gamble to bring big time boxing to his newly built Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas paid off huge as this past Saturday night's Manny Pacquiao versus Joshua Clottey match up netter the 3rd highest attended boxing event with a recorded 50,994 fans in attendance. Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing has stated that he will look to stage more of these types of fights in high profile sports arenas and has a boxing card planned this summer at Yankee Stadium which will feature Miguel Cotto in the main event. They couldn't have picked a better template to follow than this weekend's showing at Cowboys Stadium. The pageantry which included a riveting rendition of the star spangled banner sung by three Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders and the enormous teleprompter hanging above the ring created quite a spectacle worthy of any major event in sports. Manny Pacquiao is an international sensation and a proven commodity in the sport of boxing who regularly provides the best bang for the consumer's bucks and he once again proved this by going after the powerfully built Joshua Clottey to win a 12 round unanimous decision.

The Filipino was defending his WBO welterweight title as well as his standing as the best pound for pound fighter in the sport. Top contender Clottey got into a defensive shell from the onset of the fight and never came out of it allowing Pacquiao to throw at will and sweep every round of the fight. In the early rounds it appeared as if the Ghanaian had a plan to pick off the champion's punches and counter with punches of his own but the Clottey counterpunches were not thrown nearly enough and soon looked to be put on the endangered species list. After a few rounds of this from Clottey it became apparent that Clottey was in survival mode. What little punches the challenger connected with seemed to be effective as a few uppercuts snapped the Filipino's head back and caused a mouse under his right eye. But inexplicably Clottey never sustained any type of attack much to the chagrin of his corner who desperately pleaded with their fighter to let his hands go. Without any danger of resistance , Manny Pacquiao boxed circles around his foe and scored a landslide decision on the judge's scorecards which read 120-108, 119-109, 119-109 for the champ. Pacquiao improves his record to 51-3-2, 38 KOs while Clottey falls to 35-4, 20 KOs.

What's next for Pacquioao is up in the air as he is up for election on May 10th for a seat in congress in his native Philippines. There is no telling what his future in boxing will be if elected even though another big money fight looms witht he winner of the Floyd Mayweather versus Sugar Shane Mosley fight on May 1st.

On the undercard Humberto Soto (51-7-2, 32 KOs) dropped former WBC lightweight champ David Diaz (35-3-1, 17 KOs) in the first and last rounds to secure a twelve round decision to win the vacant WBC lightweight title which was vacated by Edwin Valero.

Alfonso Gomez (22-4-2, 11 KOs) won by TKO against former lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo (60-10-1, 52 KOs) when Castillo would not come out of his corner for the sixth round. After the fight Castillo announced his retirement from boxing.

Weekend Notes

Before this fight my all time favorite singing of the national anthem was not sung at all, it was performed by trumpet by legendary trumpet player Doc Severinson. I loved it because it was simple and most importantly QUICK. Nowadays at most big fights we might have the singing of four national anthems, if they come from other countries that's two anthems right there, then the good ol' USA anthem and if they happen to be on a casino that sits on Indian land there is another anthem. Some fights don't last as long as the playing of four national anthems. Doc made it short and sweet and then fans were treated to war. But last night after the playing of the Filipino and Ghanaian national anthems I was enthralled by the rendition of the star spangled banner as performed by three of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. Woah and wow. Jerry Jones I like your style. This ranks right up there with Doc and as a jazz man I'm sure he would have agreed with me.

How could I have been so wrong. That is what I kept thinking as I witnessed the Alfonso Gomez vs Jose Luis Castillo mismatch. If you were keeping tabs, I had predicted that this undercard fight along with the Soto-Diaz affair had the potential to steal the show. Not only did it not steal the show, it had the potential to stink out the joint. Soto-Diaz was a decent fight but Castillo was a shell of his former self and Gomez didn't look like he had any zip in his punches whatsoever. Still I did not care for the way the HBO announce team trashed the efforts of Castillo. Anytime a fighter is involved in a fight like Corrales-Castillo or Gatti-Ward they should be afforded a little more respect after having fought their way thru hell and back.

Had the chance to catch some fights broadcast from the Dominican Republic last Friday and was pleasantly surprised to see young super middleweight Julius Jackson (5-0, 5 KOs) in action. Jackson is the son of former middleweight great Julian "the Hawk" Jackson who is one of the greatest knock out artists that ever lived. If his son has a chance to be like his father than woe be unto the super middleweight division. For he will hellaciously knock some people out.

Duel(s) in Texas this Saturday night

2010-03-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

Big match up at Cowboys Stadium in Texas may be out shined by action packed undercard

The Manny Pacqiao vs Joshua Clottey match up figures to be a rough and tumble affair in which Pacquiao is expected to be extended by the rugged African out of the Bronx but the undercard is shaping up to promise an even bigger shootout than the main event as it offers a mix of cagey veterans, action brawlers, and knock out artists.

Joshua Clottey gets his much deserved mega fight against the man in boxing right now Manny Pacquiao and he is expected to make the most out of this opportunity that he has fought all his life to obtain. Clottey brings an inexhaustible pressure style along with decent power that can hurt the Philipino dynamo. This will be the second top ten welterweight in his prime that Pacquiao will face since he defeated Miguel Cotto. If there is a weakness for Clottey is that he is not considered a finisher, his punch output starts to wane in the closing rounds of his fights with top flight opponents. It happened to him against Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cott costing him on the judges cards. It even cost him in his victory against Diego Corrales as he had Corrales on the canvas several times but could not find the final combination to score the knockout that was in reach. If he hesitates against Pacquiao that could be all it takes to lose this fight to the unhesitant champion from the Phillipines. Manny Pacquiao is an all action fighter that has evolved into a blend of speed and power that offers fight fans skill without sacrificing power and excitement. This should be a barn burner.

As exciting as the main event promises to be, the undercard offers excellent match ups that have a chance to steal the show. You have streaking Humberto Soto (50-7-2 32 KOs) against David Diaz (35-2-1, 17 KOs) to fight for the WBC lightweight championship that was relinquished by Manny Pacqiao. Humberto Sosa is an exciting boxer puncher that can break any boxer down while veteran David Diaz is one of those boxers that is made for TV; a brawling bleeder. Diaz is looking to regain the WBC lightweight championship that he lost to Pacquiao in 2008 by knockout.

The other match features the return of future hall of famer former lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo (60-9-1, 52 KOs) against former tv show contestant on the NBC show The Contender Alfonso Gomez (21-4-2 10 KOs). Gomez has a crowd pleasing style that is conducive to action fights and Jose Luis Castillo is an all time great that has tangled with the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Joel Casamayor, Julio Diaz, Ricky Hatton, and his unforgettable epics with the late Diego Corrales. He excels at body punching and cutting off the ring. Gomez has recently tailored his style to include more movement which he is sure to use on the older Castillo but the former champ is a cagey veteran who knows how to slow down his opponents.

Any one of these fights has the potential to steal the spotlight.

DVD Fight pick of the week: Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo 1

Just like Hagler-Hearns, Ali-Frazier, and Gatti-Ward are linked, I cannot mention the name of Jose Luis Castillo without instantly thinking of the late great Diego Corrales. They traded wins in their two fights but it was really their first fight that link them eternally in boxing lore. Its quite simply the greatest fight I had ever had the privilege to witness. If you have never seen a boxing fight, this is the one you have to see. Enjoy the highlights.

Boxing Weekend Wrap up

2010-03-08T08:42:00.000-08:00

Alexander rises, Urango falls, Darchinyan rages and big time boxing finds its way back to the Bronx

Last Saturday boxing offered one of those nights that called for fans to use their TIVOs or choose to watch one of two fights that were being offered on competing cable giants HBO and Showtime, as HBO offered an excellent match up between title holders in the Jr. welterweight division, IBF Champ Juan Urango against WBC kingpin undefeated Devon Alexander while on Showtime there was a bout that featured fighters that definitely had the better nicknames, Vic 'the Raging Bull' Darchinyan vs Rodrigo 'El Gato' Guerrero for Darchinyan's WBC super flyweight title.

Devon Alexander (20-0, 13 KOs) is a good looking prospect that has now cemented for himself the vibe of rising star after doing to the Colombian banger what bigger names like Randall Baily, Andre Berto, and Ricky Hatton failed to do, stop Juan Urango. It was Alexander's first showing on HBO and based on this performance its sure not to be his last. Urango was his usual self applying pressure and trying to make a brawl of the contest but the young product of St. Louis used his superior footwork and hand speed to either maneuver his way out of trouble or blast his way out. The IBF champ was bleeding from the nose by the third round but was starting to find some success with his power shots and drew Alexander into a fire fight. Luckily for the young 23 year old WBA champ he was able to use his boxing skills to outland Urango who was still game until the end came in the eighth round after an Alexander uppercut put him down on the canvas. The soon to be former IBF champ rose at the count of ten only to be met with another series of uppercuts that put him back down again. By the time Urango got back up to beat the ten count referee Benji Estedes had seen enough and waved the contest over. Devon Alexander has unified the IBF and WBA junior welterweight championships and has set himself up as a top contender for the real junior welterweight champion of the world Manny Pacquiao. Urango's record falls to 22-3-1 and marks the third loss in three appearances on HBO although this is the only fight in which he was defeated so decisively. The bout took place at the Mohegun Sun in Uncassville, CT and the promoter of the event was Don King promotions.

While out on the west coast a real life Rocky Balboa story was being played out at the Agua Caliente Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage, California when underdog Rodrigo 'El Gato' Guerrero went the distance with knockout artist WBC super flyweight champion Vic 'the Raging Bull' Darchinyan. The Armenian born champion is always on a seek and destroy mission in the ring that doesn't end until his opponents are anesthetized and he approached this fight with that in mind from the opening bell. Darchinyan attacked El Gato with all out power shots but the Mexican was able to withstand the brunt of Darchinyan's attack. At times the Armenian seemed shocked at Guerrero's refusal to back down. Darchinyan nailed Guerrero with his trademark left crosses over and over again but the challenger would not retreat much to the crowd's delight. This led to a tougher than expected outing for the champ who is trying to look good to make a rematch with Nonito Donaire the only man to ever knock out the Raging Bull.

Guerrero gave as good as he got at times but simply lacked the power to make his punches count as they were not enough to discourage Darchinyan's attack. The champion hit the Mexican with his full arsenal and was not able to break through until the last round when a vicious combination of punches momentarily stunned the challenger. At that point it was Rocky Balboa going the distance stuff as the challenger buoyed by the crowd did what he could to finish the fight on his feet. At the sound of the final bell the Armenian destroyer gave his game rival a much deserved embrace in appreciation of his heroic efforts. The final tallies from the judges read 117-111, 118-110, and 120-108 all to the winner and still WBC super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan.

Weekend Notes

Last Thursday night promoter Bob Arum told the associated press that a deal has been reached with the New York Yankees to host a defense of the WBA junior middleweight championship between champion Yuri Foreman and challenger Miguel Cotto on June 5th. The stadium would be configured to seat 30,000 people for the fight and is expected to attract a huge crowd. Cotto has a built in fan base in the Bronx as the borough is heavily populated by Puertoricans and he has also made New York a home base of sorts fighting frequently out of Madison Square Garden. Yuri Foreman is a practicing Rabbi and the first Israeli born world champion which will appeal to New York's large Jewish population.

Don King may finally have the fighter he needs to become relevant again in the sport of boxing. For many years King has dedicated his efforts to collecting American heavyweights like there was no tomorrow. Unfortunately the heavyweight division has putrefied worse than milk that has been left out in the sun for three weeks. While King dabbled in heavyweight flab rival promoters like Arum, Main Events, and Golden Boy focused on the lighter weights and that is eventually where all the big fights in the sport gravitated towards. The lighter weights offered more action, skill, charisma, and personality then the plodding land of the giants that are now dominated by eastern European fighters that fail to capture the imagination of the American fight public for various reasons. But all of that has the potential to change now because it appears that Don King is sitting on a gem. Devon Alexander is young, powerful, fast, rangy, has unified two belts and most importantly is within 5 pounds of Pacquiao/Mayweather/Mosley action. He is only 23 years old, I say after a few defenses against some serviceable but beatable contenders, mix in a few money fights with say an Amir Khan or Zab Judah. He certainly has a legitimate chance of beating them and if he does then throw him in with WBA champ Tim Bradley in another junior welterweight unification match and if he wins that fight he would certainly deserve a shot against the big names. That's if King realizes that boxing is no longer a big man's game alone.

You got to love Vic Darchinyan. He wants to knockout every man he meets in the ring, there family and pets too. He goes into each fight with the single minded purpose of knocking out his opponent. I once saw him argue with the ref because the ref ruled that Vic won by TKO but Darchinyan wanted the ref to rule it a straight KO. If it were possible to put Darchinyan into the body of Wldamir Klitschko then our problems at heavyweight would be over.

Got a chance to see Joshua Clottey work out at my old gym Kingsway Boxing gym in mid town Manhattan. The warrior from Accra, Ghana looked ripped as usual and had a purposeful approach to everything he did during the workout. I have always had an eye on his career and will never forget the beatdown he gave the late great Diego Corrales in his last fight ever. Clottey is no walk in the park for anyone and I suspect that Pacquiao will not be able to walk over him as easily as he went through Ricky Hatton.

Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Sugar Shane Mosely set for May 1st

2010-03-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

Press conference erupts into shoving match between the top welterweights

This Tuesday the eyes of the boxing world were set on the Nokia Theater in Times Square where the press conference was staged to hail the upcoming fight between the undefeated Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather and future hall of famer Sugar Shane Mosley for Mosley's WBA welterweight championship on May 1st at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The promotion is billed as "Who R U Picking" and it is appropriate because the odds makers have the fight too close to call as it involves two of the most skilled boxers in the world who seem evenly matched in almost every aspect of the game except age as Mosley is six years older than Mayweather. The Nokia Theater held court to the various media outlets on hand to cover the event as well as the fans who came in support of both fighters, although there was a larger contingent of Mayweather fans who sought to drown out the Mosley supporters. As both men stood at each side of a large screen that featured video vignettes showcasing highlights from their storied careers, they could be seen jawing at each other. The trash talking intensified as they were in each other's face and quickly devolved into a shoving match between the two in which their handlers had to get involved in an attempt to restore order to the proceedings.

The press conference was attended by the president and face of Golden Boy promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, a man who had fought and lost to both fighters and he weighed in with his opinion with the quote of the day, "Do you want to know what I think? I know there is going to be a knock out and it ain't going to be pretty!", a clear reference to Pretty Boy Floyd.
There was a clear animosity between the two fighters as Mayweather continued to hound Mosley about past accusations of performance enhancement drug use by saying, "I want to show the world that my sport is clean. I can't say how many fights Shane has won in the past because we know in the past Shane has was using enhancement drugs. That's something we do know." Mosley countered "its going to be clear [reference to the PED called the Clear] that[expletive]whipping that I'm going to bring to him. May 1st will be May's first loss!"

Both were complimentary of what the other brings to the fight game but both predicted victory. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is meeting probably the biggest challenge of his career since he faced the likes of lightweight champs Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, while Mosley is coming off of a long lay off following his big upset win knockout of formerly indestructible Antonio Margarito which revived his career after some fights in which he showed signs of slowing down. Mayweather vs Mosely will be a contest of skill against skill and speed against speed with the edge in power going to Mosley while the slight nod in speed and boxing skills to Mayweather. The winner of this fight is seen to be the next logical opponent for the winner of this month;s showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey and if Pacquiao is victorious then that fight would be for pound for pound supremacy of the sport of boxing.

Observations

I figured out that the catering for a press conference is a good measuring stick to gauge the importance of the event that is being promoted. For example ham and turkey sandwiches were served for the Jones vs Hopkins press event while at this even I enjoyed a delicious salmon sandwich amongst a wider selection of sandwiches. What followed after the salmon sandwich was the arrival of Golden Boy promotions president Oscar De La Hoya who was absent at the Jones vs Hopkins event which was also promoted by Golden Boy promotions. The man is retired but still commands star power as there was a significant female presence that was absent at the last event and on top of that there were Spanish TV crews that came specifically to interview Oscar and I don't think they asked many questions about the fight.

I loved Shane Mosley's trainer Nazim Richardson, his thoughts on the fight, the events surrounding it and the breakdown of fight negotiations between Pacquiao and Mayweather were priceless. Among his gems about the Pacman vs Mayweather cancellation "In my neighborhood it doesn't take $4 million to make a fight, folks will fight for $4." On Mosley's eagerness to get a fight, "I believe we can get Mosely to fight Klitschko." On his participation on HBO's upcoming 24/7 series chronicling the build up to the fight, "all that one upmanship between trainers is not necessary, I will not be taking part in all that buffoonery."

I ran into former middleweight champion the Bronx's own Iran 'the Blade' Barkley at the press conference and asked him who did he think would win. He was non committal to that question but he did not hold back when asked what he would do if he faced either man. It was evident that the Blade still has that same fighting spirit that he used to wage war against the likes of Tommy Hearns, James Toney, Roberto Duran, and Michael Nunn. The former champ explained how he would cut off the ring against Mayweather and I quote "I know he wouldn't have been a strong person for me so I would have cut off the ring and go straight to him. His hand speed but is phenomenal but my power would outmatch his speed. Mosley I would have worn him down too with body shots, I don't think he would have taken my power." It was good to see De La Hoya approach him and give him the proper respect that a former retired champ would pay a fellow former champ.

Found a clip of Iran Barkley and Tommy 'the Hitman' Hearns on the Arsenio Hall show. This was a great time for boxing as the Arsenio Hall Show was as big as any major show you can think of nowadays and boxing was held in the same esteem as any of the major sports today (golf was an afterthought).

The chance run in with Iran Barkley led me to reminisce about one of my favorite boxing memories involving Barkley against my childhood hero Roberto 'Hands of Stone' Duran. I was jumping up and down at certain points of this fight.

Hellcat: A Boxing memory

2010-02-26T06:10:00.000-08:00

This week I embarked on a mission to find a boxing DVD for my brother who came down to New York City from Rhode Island to get his hands on a series of fights that cemented his loyalty as a fan of boxing, the Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales trilogy. As he tells it, these fights rank high on his favorite sports memories and he has talked about these fights ad naseum to his friends in Providence and now wants to share those fights in order to convert his friends from MMA fans into boxing fans. In the short time that he was in the city he failed to score the dvd and so I have now taken up the hunt for those fights. It got me to thinking about what was my favorite boxing memory, what stood out as the one moment in boxing that captivated me or that I can vividly retell and use as a lure to bring in the non-boxing fan?

Was it the night that Evander Holyfield defied the odds and upset Mike Tyson, was it the incredible Arturo Gatti vs Mickey Ward trilogy, or the greatest fight I have ever seen involving Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo? Incredibly my favorite moment in boxing did not involve a professional boxer, it wasn't even a scheduled match up, it was an impromptu sparring session between a female flyweight boxer and a male lightweight preparing for the NY Daily News Golden Gloves tournament in January of 2007. I remember being so moved by what I saw that I wrote about it that same night, it was probably the first thing that I wrote about boxing. It prompted me to go digging for the article that I wrote so that I can share this boxing memory with The Blackeyed View readers. The following is the transcript of what I witnessed and how it was interpreted by me three years ago.

I saw the coolest thing last night at my boxing gym. My favorite fighter to watch at this gym is a girl, a shorty that weighs 106 pounds and when she wears the headgear her ponytail sticks out straight up from the middle of her head like Alfalfa from the Little Rascals. I've seen her break down a tall Asian girl in two rounds and fight this big, tall African American girl twice her size to a draw. Well last night she sparred against a guy for six rounds. He's a lightweight which puts him at 125 pounds and he was about a foot or more taller than her. Those six rounds they fought I have to describe in 6 stages:

Round 1 (INDIFFERENCE) The guy figured to let the girl punch away, after all she's just a girl. This girl punched him everywhere and he was trying to block her punches but he ended up eating at least 65% of what she threw at him.

Round 2 (REALIZATION) In the next round the guy figured it was time to show her who she was in there with and start throwing punches at her. The problem was that this girl never stopped punching, he realized soon enough that it wasn't he who was letting her hit him in Round 1, it was she who was doing whatever she wanted to do to him. He tried to step up the pressure on her but if he was able to hit her with four punches in Round 2 I did not see it. She continued to out punch him.

Round 3 (DESPERATION) After accepting that what he was doing in the previous two rounds was not helping his cause, he decided to try several different strategies. He switched into a left handed stance to throw off her balance, he tried punching from long range, he tried fighting on the inside, and he even tried to rough her up by fouling her... nothing worked. She adjusted to everything he did and started to bully him by the end of the round. The guy's frustration was starting to show.

Round 4 (FEAR) By this round the girl was in full bully mode and the guy was in full retreat. He got chased all over the ring and there was no escaping this chick. She cut of all escape routes and continued to pound on him, lucky for him he must be able to take a good shot because she was whacking away at him with all her might (all 106 pounds of her). Her frustration at chasing him around came to a boiling point when she got away with hitting him in the crown jewels twice, she managed to do it in full view of the ref but she hid it well and got away with the foul...clever girl.

Round 5 (THE BEAT DOWN) This is the round in which her punches started to hurt him. She punched him with some good clean shots, two of which froze him for half a second. He did not throw any punches at all in this round and only used his hands to try to push her off of him. He was taking a beating and if he was a girl I'm sure that the trainer would have stopped the fight. However his trainer I'm sure took into account the guy's male ego and decided to let him go on.

Round 6 (RELIEF & EXCUSES) She continued to plow ahead and go for a knockout but it was not to be. The guy used everything he was ever taught on how to survive a fight by holding, fighting against the ropes, and dancing away from danger to end the round on his feet. When the bell ended the fight you could see a mix of both relief and shame swell up on his face. And then the excuses started..."I held back, you know I'm bigger then her, she's only 106 pounds if I really hit her there would be problems. I just wanted to get some work in...." blah, Blah, BLAH!

The female fighter's name is Nellie Bartow and in searching for an image of her I discovered that she was also a member of USA's Muy Thai team. That is not surprising to me but what was a pleasant surprise was to discover that she is also a rising star in the fashion world. She is a fashion designer who makes some amazing dresses that have been worn by celebrities. How amazing it seems to me that among the names of Holyfield, Tyson, Gatti, Duran, and Ali, the name of Nellie Bartow, a fashion designer, ranks amongst my favorite boxers of all time. I really wish I had footage of that sparring session to share with everyone but at least I have that memory ingrained in me till the day that Alzheimer's decides to take it away.

DVD pick of the week: If you read up to this point then you would have figured that the obvious choice this week is the Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales trilogy. At the beginning of this series the favorite was the undefeated Erik 'El Terrible' Morales who was on an absolute tear at the time while Barrera was coming back on the heels of TKO at the hands of Brooklyn's own Junior Jones. Barrera was thought of as a spent force who had gone through many wars and was ripe for a losing streak. Well what transpired was a war between these two that was not to be out shined until Arturo Gatti vs Mickey Ward took place a year or two later.

Barrera was able to win this series but not by much. There was a real hatred that developed between these two especially from the part of Morales and the two remained bitter rivals throughout the rest of their careers. Their series of fights propelled both men to super stardom and ensured them a place in the hall of fame when their time comes. Both men ended up losing to Manny Pacquaio but it must be noted that at the time they fought the Pac-man both Mexican warriors were well spent and even though they were not in their prime they were both able to give Pacquiao competitive fights and in the case of Morales handed Manny his only loss in the past 6 years. Catch these men in their primes and watch them go at each other on dvd, you will not be sorry.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden agenda

2010-02-23T08:01:00.000-08:00

As an avid viewer of sports news I was confronted by the big Tiger Woods press conference last week on every sports news show and even the non-sports related shows dedicated significant time to his apologies. I did not stick around to hear his excuses for being 'addicted' to sex (I guess we men should all seek help for that), instead I surfed the channels for anything boxing which if you are a long time boxing fan as I am you'll know is hard to do. But the more I channel surfed the more I kept running into Tiger, now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the man as a person it just doesn't sit well with me that news media and many well respected sports journalists continue to refer him as the athlete of our generation. Think of it, to imply that a golfer is the greatest athlete our era has produced is to imply that Golf was the most watched, most played, most popular sport of our time....golf? Really. Comparisons have been drawn to Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, Joe Montana, Jim Brown and Bill Russell. Really?

No amount of video editing can convince me that Golf offers the same amount of athleticism, drama, excitement, redemption, and suspense that one can find in boxing, basketball, baseball, football, soccer or even tennis for Pete's sake. If you want to see the difference between an athlete and a golfer look no further than the cover of Vanity Fair that featured golf's number one 'athlete' Tiger Woods. There is no more indisputable evidence that this man is not an athlete of the caliber of Michael Jordan than this picture. Notice the paunch belly, see how he has to hold dumbbells in order to get his biceps to look tight (try holding dumbbells for a while and see how your veins will bulge and your biceps will increase in size in less than ten seconds, try it), see how the rest of him compares favorably to your average shirtless crackhead. And this is the guy that is this generation's Michael Jordan? Puh-leaze!

Although the face of golf is that of an African American, in this day and age it is still a very exclusionary activity and that is not easily accessible to the average person. Sports like football, baseball, and basketball still dominate on the collegiate, high school, and elementary school levels as well as on the street playgrounds. Even in these times were most kids would rather play sports on a video game then on the playing fields there choice of games would include Madden Football, NBA live, and MLB the Show , very few kids would select Tiger Wood's golf games.
Years ago comedian Chris Rock had a skit on his Chris Rock show that hilariously illustrated the disconnect between the sport of golf and the average person on the streets of Harlem, it was brilliant.

I would love to take the following poll to the streets to see how golf would fare:

What sports winning moment would you rather be involved in out of the following choices:

Walk off home run in game 7 of the world series
Last second game winning three pointer in game 7 of the NBA finals
Throw a hail Mary game winning touchdown in the Super Bowl
Score a knockout in a heavyweight championship fight
Hit a hole in one at the Masters tournament

In my youth, golf was never part of the sports equation, it would have never been included amongst the list of choices above and I fail to see how it has sneaked into the consciousness of the average sports fan. Yet there it is front and center prominently featured on ESPN's sports center and just about every sports show you can think of. And the word athlete gets bandied about when talking of this activity despite the fact that these people have caddies who carry the equipment for the 'athlete' and the 'athletes' get spirited from play to play by a golf cart. Makes me think then that a pool player is also an athlete, a chess player is also an athlete, a checkers wiz is also an athlete, etc, etc, etc. Yet bowling and dart throwing do not receive the same amount of attention as golf, why is that?

Here is my theory, golf is the one sport that is heavily participated by corporate types, titans of industry. I can easily see Bill Gates and Mike Bloomberg playing the links of the PGA way before I can ever imagine them getting in the ring or stepping on a basketball court. So corporate sponsorship money gets poured into this 'sport' like no other sport and it gets force fed to the American public. Just like special interest groups have their lobbyists in congress so does golf have powerful groups that influence the sports medias to champion golf as a major sport.

Now I am not calling for the removal of golf from the airwaves, I'm not even calling for the removal of golf in the category of sport. I am simply pleading with the sports media of the world to keep it real and stop acting as if golf is a major sport which holds the fascination of every man, woman and child on the planet. And in the name of the Babe, stop comparing Tiger Woods to the greats of the sports world. If it pleases the elite we can compare Tiger to the genius of say.... Garry Kasparov who is widely considered the greatest chess player of all time. If golf is finally returned to its rightful place in the order of sports maybe we could all be spared the Tiger Woods gossip and I can finally get some boxing news mixed into my Sportscenter.