Sons of Peter McNeeley- Boxing Thread

[BGrif21125]

QUOTE (ElUno20 @ Aug 20 2009, 11:00 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2520281
Goosen will not wait for Pavlik to heal his bruised vagina and says that Paul will be fighting this fall.

I hope this is just a standard case of a promoter blowing smoke.

I think Pavlik is milking an injury in order to stall and give himself extra time to get in shape, and I completely understand why Williams and his camp are pissed, but I think logic needs to prevail here.

If you're Williams' handlers, you want to do everything you can to work things out and reschedule this fight for some point in '09. Pavlik looks vulnerable right now, and Williams would enter that fight as the clear favorite IMO.

No one repeats the "titles mean nothing in boxing anymore" mantra more than I do, but the lineal middleweight title is different. Being the legit middleweight champ still means something. If you've got a chance to fight for the legit middleweight title on HBO against a big-name opponent who looks vulnerable, you can't just blow that off.

 

[ElUno20]

There is a strong buzz for Roy and Hopkins to finally have that second fight. I'd pay to see that. It'd be a dirty ass fight and the 24/7 would be must see tv. Roy called in while bhop was on a radio show and when the talk turned to money he said winner takes the purse then amended it saying he'd fight for free. Let's do it.

 

[BGrif21125]

Texas strikes again.

I didn't score round-by-round last night, but I was paying enough attention to know that the 118-110 scorecard was laughable. At the absolute most, that was a 116-112 fight in either direction. That judge should not work a fight of any significance ever again.

It also doesn't help Texas' credibility that they constantly assign their main events to a ref (Laurence Cole) who has no knowledge of the rules of boxing. He asked the judges last night if one of the cuts was caused by a headbutt or a punch, which is completely against the rules. And he's the same ref who worked the Marquez-Jaca fight several years ago, and told Marquez after a headbutt, "(paraphrasing) you're winning on the cards, so if you want to stop, you'll be the winner."

 

[Naehring11]

QUOTE (BGrif21125 @ Aug 23 2009, 12:23 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2524524
Texas strikes again.

I didn't score round-by-round last night, but I was paying enough attention to know that the 118-110 scorecard was laughable. At the absolute most, that was a 116-112 fight in either direction. That judge should not work a fight of any significance ever again.

It also doesn't help Texas' credibility that they constantly assign their main events to a ref (Laurence Cole) who has no knowledge of the rules of boxing. He asked the judges last night if one of the cuts was caused by a headbutt or a punch, which is completely against the rules. And he's the same ref who worked the Marquez-Jaca fight several years ago, and told Marquez after a headbutt, "(paraphrasing) you're winning on the cards, so if you want to stop, you'll be the winner."



Yeah every time I see Cole is the ref for a big fight I get amazed all over again.

Did any else notice that redish lump above Paulie's left eye before the fight even started? What was up with that? The HBO crew didn't seem to mention it as far as I heard.

Malignaggi's interview after the fight was priceless. "Boxing is bullshit!" and "this is the bullshit I have to go through!"

Good stuff

 

[BGrif21125]

nm

 

[ElUno20]

I think they said paulie hit his eye on the bag or some equipment in the gym.

Jacobs looked good. He has some fine tuning to do but that was a good test for a young fighter. He showed heart and a beard.

Guerrero really impressed me. His movement and activity was off the charts.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Fellas, this is pure gold:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...name=rafael_dan

QUOTE
A few days ago, Hopkins was on Calvin Murphy's radio show in Houston, where he was promoting Golden Boy's Juan Diaz-Paulie Malignaggi HBO card. One of Jones' buddies heard Hopkins on the show and had Jones call in. It turned into something of an on-air negotiation that went like this:

Hopkins: Money has been the issue for the past 10 years with us.

Jones: How much will you give me?

Hopkins: I will make it a 60-40 split.

Jones: How about 60 to the winner and 40 to the loser?

Hopkins: Now you want to make a contest out of it. I don't need Roy Jones. It could wind up in the judges' hands and you never know what will happen.

Jones: You pick the judges.

Hopkins: If Roy Jones will take 40, we can get it done before the year is out. But if
not …

Jones: He already has an "L" on his record from me, and he is trying to make me take 40 so he can prove that I am the lesser man. But if we make it 60 to the winner and 40 to the loser, I will take my chances with that.

Hopkins: Do you think I would make more money fighting Roy Jones than I would a young stud like Adamek or Dawson?

Jones: Bernard doesn't want to fight me. Why would he want to fight me? He's having fun now at this point in his career. He doesn't want to take that gamble.

Hopkins: Is Roy willing to go on record to take 40 percent, win, lose or draw?

At that point the show producer suggested a winner-take-all match.

Jones: That's even better for me.

The producer interjected again, asking if Hopkins was still on the line.

Jones: No. When you said winner-take-all, you ran him off the phone. He's been doing that to me for five years now. He disappeared. That's what happens to me every time.

Another chapter in the rematch that never was and probably never will be.

 

[Naehring11]

QUOTE (SeoulSoxFan @ Aug 26 2009, 10:55 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2533070
Fellas, this is pure gold:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...name=rafael_dan



I would love if more fights were done this way with 60 to the winner and 40 to the loser. Why not?

 

[FelixMantilla]

QUOTE (Naehring11 @ Aug 27 2009, 08:55 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2533340
I would love if more fights were done this way with 60 to the winner and 40 to the loser. Why not?
I love that idea in theory. But would that make boxing potentially even more corrupt? I mean, if that's possible.

 

[BGrif21125]

If Jones-Hopkins II ever happens (and it won't), I'd definitely watch it, but I'd much rather see Hopkins fight Adamek at cruiser or Dawson at light heavy. Seeing him fight the corpse of Roy Jones doesn't do much for me. Also, it's important to remember that their first fight was an absolute snoozefest. I can't imagine a rematch being any better, now that they're both senior citizens. They talk a good game though. If they fought 5-6 years ago, it would've made a great 24/7 series.

Although it is kinda interesting that their first fight is the poster child for "fights that meant little at the time but in retrospect became historically significant." I guess Salvador Sanchez-Azumah Nelson is the other main one that fits that mold. Jones-Hopkins I was an undercard fight and neither guy even had a belt. No one realized that neither guy would be beaten again for more than a decade and that they'd both be HOFers.

 

[chester]

QUOTE (chester @ Aug 20 2009, 12:43 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2519090
I just saw an announcement for Guillermo Rigondeaux's third professional fight.

link: http://www.fightnews.com/?p=20675

Rigondeaux, who is now being trained by Freddy Roach, dismantled his last two opponents but they were weak competition. This blurb doesn't say who he is fighting be it must be someone better because it is for a regional WBA title.

The fight is on ESPN2 on Sept. 18th. He is a fun fighter to watch, with extremely fast hands, so if you like boxing at all check it out.


Rigondeaux's opponent was named:

QUOTE
FightNews has been informed that the opponent for the September 18th special edition ESPN2 Friday Night Fights appearance of two-time Olympic Gold medal winner Guillermo Rigondeaux (2-0, 2 KOs) is Brazilian Giovani Andrade (60-11, 49 KOs), the reigning Brazilian super bantamweight champion.


link: http://www.fightnews.com/?p=21407

 

[BGrif21125]

Two entertaining fights last night on FNF. ESPN2 actually went with the full widescreen HD, and the whole show felt a bit closer to an HBO telecast production-wise than your typical FNF show. I wish ESPN would put that much effort/funding into every boxing card they show.

I think the winner of the first fight (Tavoris Cloud) would make a very good opponent next year for the Dawson-Johnson II winner.

The main event was solid too. Juan Urango (trained by Evangelista "Cinder Block" Cotto) survived a knockdown and TKO'd Randall Bailey.

 

[BGrif21125]

Zab has channeled his inner-Starbury and is now streaming online. I actually spent about a half-hour watching this last night, which is quite a sad commentary on my life.

Link

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

Shane Mosely to face Joshua Clottey on Dec. 26. Staples Center, LA.

Yes, that's right, a major fight on the day after Christmas. This could actually be a pretty good fight and the winner (Mosely, I expect) makes a pretty good case for getting the Pacquiao-Cotto winner if Floyd flakes out on that. But the big question about this fight -- will anyone be watching?

 

[allaboutthesox]

QUOTE (Gene Conleys Plane Ticket @ Sep 4 2009, 09:12 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2548875
Shane Mosely to face Joshua Clottey on Dec. 26. Staples Center, LA.

Yes, that's right, a major fight on the day after Christmas. This could actually be a pretty good fight and the winner (Mosely, I expect) makes a pretty good case for getting the Pacquiao-Cotto winner if Floyd flakes out on that. But the big question about this fight -- will anyone be watching?


I will, for a couple of reasons. One, just being a fan of boxing and this late summer-early fall fighting schedule sucked. Secondly, I am more interested to see how Mosley comes out since it has been a couple of months since his last fight and he is getting older. Thirdly, I am really eager to see another fighter take the chance in boxing Clottey as he is a tough style match up for most boxers. Lastly, hey its boxing and that is why we watch right?

On a side note, I thought I read somewhere (have to find the link) that Kostyzu's son is now getting into boxing. Should be interesting to see him fight. I hope he is like his father in more than just name only.

 

[ElUno20]

HOLY SHIT! Thank you, Shane. I will be live at this one.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

QUOTE (allaboutthesox @ Sep 4 2009, 06:12 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2549556
I will, for a couple of reasons. One, just being a fan of boxing and this late summer-early fall fighting schedule sucked. Secondly, I am more interested to see how Mosley comes out since it has been a couple of months since his last fight and he is getting older. Thirdly, I am really eager to see another fighter take the chance in boxing Clottey as he is a tough style match up for most boxers. Lastly, hey its boxing and that is why we watch right?

On a side note, I thought I read somewhere (have to find the link) that Kostyzu's son is now getting into boxing. Should be interesting to see him fight. I hope he is like his father in more than just name only.


Two of my favorite boxers in same post! Thanks allaboutthesox Mosley's Korean ex-wife is well-known in the boxing circles, and he used to wear the Korean flag on his boxing shorts. And Kostyzu is a 3rd generation Korean-Russian.

--

I think Mosley would have a tough fight with Clottey, and potentially it'll make for a skillful, if not terribly thrilling bout. I'll be all rooting for Sugar of course, either for a Pacman fight or a slightly lesser card (with Cotto?)

 

[BGrif21125]

I think Clottey would be a very tough matchup for Mosley. Clottey is sort of like a right-handed version of Winky, and we all know how much trouble Shane had with him. Although if Clottey is overly-conservative, I could see Shane outworking him.

QUOTE (SeoulSoxFan @ Sep 4 2009, 10:53 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2550219
Two of my favorite boxers in same post! Thanks allaboutthesox Mosley's Korean ex-wife is well-known in the boxing circles, and he used to wear the Korean flag on his boxing shorts. And Kostyzu is a 3rd generation Korean-Russian.

Where does Injin Chi rank? He had an all-out war about 7 or 8 years ago with Erik Morales and another with Michael Brodie. Two of the more overlooked great fights of the decade, IMO.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

QUOTE (BGrif21125 @ Sep 5 2009, 12:12 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2550277
I think Clottey would be a very tough matchup for Mosley. Clottey is sort of like a right-handed version of Winky, and we all know how much trouble Shane had with him. Although if Clottey is overly-conservative, I could see Shane outworking him.


Where does Injin Chi rank? He had an all-out war about 7 or 8 years ago with Erik Morales and another with Michael Brodie. Two of the more overlooked great fights of the decade, IMO.



Thanks BGrif. I remember the Morales bout very well.

Chi is a fighter born at the wrong time. Title bouts used to be national events in Korea, but the emergence of high-salaried team sports such as pro soccer and baseball drew elite athletes away from boxing. And while Japan keeps producing belt holders at lower weights, boxing certainly is at a crossroads in my homeland.

Chi, like many other boxers, have turned to the more lucrative K-1 MMA bouts, along with another former world title holder Yongsoo Choi (I grew up rooting for this guy!)

Here's a terrific article from Maxboxing that sums it up:

QUOTE
[SIZE=12pt]Chi’s retirement from boxing has less to do with the sport itself than it has with the failure of Korean boxing to protect its fighters.
...
[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]When asked about where Chi ranks among his fighters, he [[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]trainer-manager Jin Kil Kim, who produced two other world champs[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]] told MaxBoxing “Yuh is number one; Kim is number two; and Chi is number three.” And judging from his gym, he would be one to know. The walls are decorated with pictures of him with these three champions.

[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]So, the inevitable question was asked. Why did Chi quit boxing?

“These days in Korea, there is no boxing promoter. Boxing isn’t popular. Now K-1 fighting is becoming popular. Chi was finding it hard to find fights,” Kim says.[/SIZE]


http://www.maxboxing.com/conway/conway081407.asp

 

[BGrif21125]

Boxing Summer 2009 is FINALLY over. There were literally more deaths this summer than big fights.

Looks like this is the major HBO/Showtime fight schedule for the rest of '09:

9/12
Kessler-Perdomo
Ward-Pudwill

9/19- PPV
Mayweather-Marquez
John-Juarez II
Katsidis-Escobedo

9/26
V. Klitschko-Arreola

10/17
Abraham-Taylor
Froch-Dirrell

10/31
Agbeko-Perez

11/7
Dawson-Johnson II

11/14- PPV
Cotto-Pacquiao

11/21
Kessler-Ward

11/28
Bute-Andrade

12/5
Pavlik-Williams (tentative)
Bradley-Peterson
Darchinyan-TBA

12/26
Mosley-Clottey (tentative)

If the 2 fights in December become official, then I think that's a really solid list of fights.

 

[PrestonBroadus Lives]

For anyone in the area that's interested, the tickets for Dawson-Johnson II at the XL Center in Hartford are going on sale next Friday, September 18. Alfredo Angulo will also be featured on the undercard.

http://www.xlcenter.com/default.asp?xlcent...0&objid=187

 

[BGrif21125]

Showtime can breathe a big sigh of relief... both Kessler and Ward won their tuneups in dominant fashion. A loss or injury to either guy would have been a terrible start for the super middleweight tourney.

I can't wait for Kessler-Ward in November. I think it has a chance to be a very entertaining fight at a very high skill level.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

QUOTE (BGrif21125 @ Sep 13 2009, 12:20 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2562571
Showtime can breathe a big sigh of relief... both Kessler and Ward won their tuneups in dominant fashion. A loss or injury to either guy would have been a terrible start for the super middleweight tourney.

I can't wait for Kessler-Ward in November. I think it has a chance to be a very entertaining fight at a very high skill level.


Kessler-Ward should be very interesting. But it's a HUGE step up for Ward. He's obviously a skilled fighter, but it's hard to say how skilled because hes been fed a steady diet of tomato cans for his whole career -- and Edison Miranda is not much better than a tomato can at this stage. Kessler is simply in another league from anyone Ward has ever faced. If Ward can pull out a win, even on his own home court (in Oakland) I'll be very surprised -- and impressed.

I can't remember -- is it Taylor-Abraham on that bill, or Froch-Dirrell? In any case, I think that Abraham is just going to wear Taylor down leading to another late-round stoppage. Taylor's loss to Froch, a fighter Taylor realy should have outclassed, was embarrassing and Abraham pinches harder than Frich and has a much better defense. I'm having trouble seeing how Taylor wins that fight.

Froch-Dirrell, the way I see it, should be a super-middleweight version of Mayweather-Gatti. Dirrell has improved by leaps and bounds over his last few fights. He's got Mayweather-like speed in a 168-pound body and I don't see how a fighter with Froch's lumbering style ever catches up to him. In the meantime, Froch's only defense is his admittedly granite chin. The result is just going to be that Dirrell pummels and potshots him all night long, leading to a stoppage sometime after the sixth, or a very one-sided points decision.

My only question is, will Showtime exercise any control over the officials in this tournament? It seems that English refs are extremely biased toward the fighter from England (see Ricky Hatton-Kostya Tszyu for on example). Hometown reffing could be Froch's only advantage in this fight.

 

[BGrif21125]

QUOTE (Gene Conleys Plane Ticket @ Sep 14 2009, 12:44 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2564949
I can't remember -- is it Taylor-Abraham on that bill, or Froch-Dirrell?

Taylor-Abraham and Froch-Dirrell are both on the same night in October, split-site doubleheader.

Then Kessler-Ward is its own telecast in November.

I think Kessler is the clear favorite in this tournament. Ward, Dirrell and Abraham are all capable as well. Froch and Taylor don't stand much of a chance.

 

[BGrif21125]

Well, I thought the Mayweather-Marquez PPV numbers would be the most shocking news of the day, but I guess not, since Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones have acutally agreed to terms on a fight in 2010:

QUOTE
Sixteen years after they first met, Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins will finally fight again.

The light heavyweight stars signed an agreement Friday night to meet in a rematch sometime in the first quarter of 2010, according to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Square Ring CEO John Wirt.

The deal is contingent on Jones' first winning a planned Dec. 2 fight in Australia against Australian cruiserweight Danny Green.

Under the terms of the agreement, it is a 50-50 split of the revenue. However, if there is a knockout, the winner of the fight will get 60 percent and the loser 40 percent.

I've never seen or heard of Danny Green, so I don't how much of a formality a Jones victory is. Considering how past-his-prime Jones is, nothing is a formality at this point, I guess.

Can't say I'm that excited about this rematch, since both these guys are ancient and their first fight against each other was dreadful.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

QUOTE (BGrif21125 @ Sep 26 2009, 12:13 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2590536
Well, I thought the Mayweather-Marquez PPV numbers would be the most shocking news of the day, but I guess not, since Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones have acutally agreed to terms on a fight in 2010:


I've never seen or heard of Danny Green, so I don't how much of a formality a Jones victory is. Considering how past-his-prime Jones is, nothing is a formality at this point, I guess.

Can't say I'm that excited about this rematch, since both these guys are ancient and their first fight against each other was dreadful.


My question is, is this a PPV fight or will it be on regular HBO? If they see this as a PPV, then I'd worry that this year's welcome trend of using PPV sparingly and only for genuinely big and meaningful fights was not a trend at all. Maybe five years ago this was a PPV-worthy match. Today, it's the seniors tour.

 

[BGrif21125]

QUOTE (Gene Conleys Plane Ticket @ Sep 26 2009, 10:05 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2590694
My question is, is this a PPV fight or will it be on regular HBO? If they see this as a PPV, then I'd worry that this year's welcome trend of using PPV sparingly and only for genuinely big and meaningful fights was not a trend at all. Maybe five years ago this was a PPV-worthy match. Today, it's the seniors tour.

If I had to guess, I think it will end up as a PPV. And despite what I said yesterday about "PPV should only be for megafights", I think PPV is where this fight belongs. It's two big names in a fight without any real significance to the sport as a whole (kind of like Jones-Trinidad a couple years ago, which did pretty well with PPV buys). So if someone is a big fan of either guy, they can drop the $50. But if you don't want to spend the money, it's not like you're missing a truly meaningful fight. I'll probably fall into the 3rd category of "I'm not a big fan of either guy, but I'll cave last-minute and order it anyway for no good reason."

What drove me nuts a few years ago was when good signficant fights like Cotto-Judah, Taylor-Pavlik II, and Barrera-Marquez were ending up on PPV instead of regular HBO. Those are the fights that HBO WCB is made for. And they've done a good job this year with Mosley-Margarito, Marquez-Diaz, Cotto-Clottey, Pavlik-Williams (hopefully), etc. I'd rather HBO spend their budget on fights like that, as opposed to Jones-Hopkins, which you appropriately labeled as a "seniors tour" fight. I don't want to spend $50 if I don't have to, but I also don't want HBO to blow a big chunk of their 2010 budget on what will probably be an ugly slow-paced fight.

P.S. Looks like Pavlik-Williams is back on again for December 5, with Clottey on the undercard. I just hope it comes off this time.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

QUOTE (BGrif21125 @ Sep 26 2009, 10:48 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2590723
If I had to guess, I think it will end up as a PPV. And despite what I said yesterday about "PPV should only be for megafights", I think PPV is where this fight belongs. It's two big names in a fight without any real significance to the sport as a whole (kind of like Jones-Trinidad a couple years ago, which did pretty well with PPV buys). So if someone is a big fan of either guy, they can drop the $50. But if you don't want to spend the money, it's not like you're missing a truly meaningful fight. I'll probably fall into the 3rd category of "I'm not a big fan of either guy, but I'll cave last-minute and order it anyway for no good reason."

What drove me nuts a few years ago was when good signficant fights like Cotto-Judah, Taylor-Pavlik II, and Barrera-Marquez were ending up on PPV instead of regular HBO. Those are the fights that HBO WCB is made for. And they've done a good job this year with Mosley-Margarito, Marquez-Diaz, Cotto-Clottey, Pavlik-Williams (hopefully), etc. I'd rather HBO spend their budget on fights like that, as opposed to Jones-Hopkins, which you appropriately labeled as a "seniors tour" fight. I don't want to spend $50 if I don't have to, but I also don't want HBO to blow a big chunk of their 2010 budget on what will probably be an ugly slow-paced fight.

P.S. Looks like Pavlik-Williams is back on again for December 5, with Clottey on the undercard. I just hope it comes off this time.



Yeah, those are all good points. I'll probably fall into the category of "don't want to spend $50 on the PPV but will go to a bar and spend 50 bucks on beer and nachos while I watch the fight for free."

I guess I'm just concerned that HBO will go back to its previous habits. We've had a number of good fights in 2009, starting with Mosley-Margarito and Cotto-Clottey that would have been on PPV probably as recently at 2008. I just don't want HBO getting ideas about going back there.

 

[shawnrbu]

Classless move of the year: HBO showing Arreola's child crying after moments earlier Arreola was crying following the stoppage of his fight with Vitali. Just an awful thing to show. What were they thinking?

 

[mclusky]

QUOTE (shawnrbu @ Sep 27 2009, 12:04 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2592539
Classless move of the year: HBO showing Arreola's child crying after moments earlier Arreola was crying following the stoppage of his fight with Vitali. Just an awful thing to show. What were they thinking?

Not sure how much boxing you watch, but showing an emoting family is pretty typical of most boxing broadcasts, and IMO there's nothing awful or classless about it. Emotions are part of sports. There's nothing for the Arreolas or HBO to be ashamed about in showing them.

edit: Though I admit if you are new to boxing and are used to crowd shots consisting of nothing but screaming meatheads it can be somewhat jarring.

 

[ElUno20]

I was at Staples for the fight last night. The crowd was electric, not sure how much of that came across on TV. The feeling in the building was everyone expected Vitali to lay the hammer but were hoping Arreola could pull off something special. His efforts were appreciated. Did suck to see him breakdown but it happens.


These HWs who get in there against the Klitschkos are incredibly frustrating. They continue to try and fight a big man fight and it is practically child's play for them. You can't fight that way against the Klitschkos, they are too tall. It's not about power or brute force it's just size. They are too tall to reach coming straight forward. You have to either give them some movement and different angles or get in there chest and make it a hugfest and bang away at the body. And for christ sake throw some damn punches when you're in close. There fights are like that scene in cartoons where the taller guy just puts his hand on the midget's forehead and keeps him at bay. It's that easy.

Oh and 2nd weekend in a row the biggest jeers of the night go to the Governator. lol.

 

[BGrif21125]

Ya I don't have a problem with "the kids crying on TV" thing. I remember at the end of Cotto-Margarito, they showed Cotto's kids crying and I read a few people were up in arms about that. My thought is.... if you don't want your kids on TV, then don't have them sit in the front row of the arena. Hire a babysitter. Arreola was weeping and dropping F-bombs left and right in his postfight interview, he doesn't strike me as the type of guy who would care about his kids being shown on the jumbotron.

The fight was more one-sided than I expected. I thought Vitali would win, but I was hopeful that Arreola would have his moments. Oh well. Arreola showed a very good chin and a lot of heart, so even though he lost handily, I thought he gave a good account of himself.

This isn't the last we'll see of him. He'll never be good enough to beat a Klitschko, but there's a place for him on HBO and PPV undercards. He's American, he's personable, and if he's matched right, he has a crowd-pleasing style.

The heavyweight division is pretty simple right now. There are two guys who are head and shoulders above everyone else, and those 2 guys aren't going to fight each other (no matter how much HBO tries to say otherwise). I guess the hope now is that Haye beats Valuev and then makes an agreement to fight one of the Klitschkos that he won't back out on.

P.S. Did anyone else think Merchant was struggling last night? I've thought for the past year or two that he's been slipping and has begun to show his age. But last night was more noticeable. It seemed like there were a bunch of times where he just couldn't get his words straight. Like he knew what he wanted to say, but couldn't spit it out.

 

[Montana Fan]

Vitali looked lean and mean last night. He reminded me of Roy Jones Jr. His handspeed and accuracy were as good is I've seen for a long time out of a heavyweight. Arreola was outclassed but he was game.

I was very pleased that they stopped the fight after 10. As they broke at the end of the round the thought went through my head that it should be stopped. I have no doubt that Arreola would have absorbed two more rounds of punishment and I am sure that Arreola wasn't going to get anything going.

Floyd's apology for starting a ruckus postfight last week seemed sincere. Of course he apologized to Larry "what was I saying again" Merchant who didn't call the fight.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

I didn't have a problem with showing the crying kid either. Maybe if Arreola had been knocked unconscious and carted out on a stretcher it would have been in poor taste to show the kid freaking out. But her dad lost a fight and she was sad. Good for her. I didn't have a big problem with Arreola crying in the ring either, though it admittedly felt a little awkward and hard to watch. But the human part of boxing is one of the main things that makes the sport so engrossing. Arreola's breakdown reminded us that we'd just seen this man's boyhood dream brutally crushed. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much guts he showed, he couldn't make his dream come true. That hurts.

On the other hand, I thought Lampley's final point was well taken, too. Arreola's boast, "If Michael Phelps can smoke weed, why can't I have a beer?" seemed pretty stupid when he said it and even stupider when he was crying in the ring after the fight. The fact is, if you want to even have a CHANCE at beating a Klitschko, you'd better be 100 percent dedicated, 24/7/365. Because they are. You never hear about either Klitschko ballooning up to 280 or 290 between fights, or ditching training camp for days at a time, or hitting the burrito cart for lunch every day. The Klitschkos are the best because the chose to be the best.

It's a good lesson to take through life. If you have any ambitions to reach the top of your profession, you had better take it seriously. Hopefully Arreola will learn that lesson. He can still have a decent career and make some money in the sport because he's a TV-friendly fighter with some charisma and a solid fandom. But if he wants to be a heavyweight champion, he's gonna have to tighten things up.

 

[ElUno20]

/\ Yup. It takes so much focus away from actual training when you're spending most of the time trying to drop weight. He's not disciplined enough. But with that said, I'd give him a shot at beating any HW not named Klitshcko.


On Floyd, here's another interview where he was a bit more humble:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4501787

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

For anyone interested in the business and immediae future of boxing, this latest article by the esteemed Thomas Hauser is a must-read.

The big news coming out of the article is that HBO has mandated at $15 million cut in its sports budget for next year and is also insisting on cuts for the last quarter of this year. That will still leave HBO Sports with plenty of money, but obviously something's going to change. According to Hauser, Boxing After Dark may bite the dust.

The only caveat I'd give is that, as anyone who follows Hauser's ongoing HBO coverage has no doubt noticed, he seems to have it in for the network and particularly HBO Sports boss Ross Greenburg. With good reason, no doubt. But to an extent I think he lets his bias (even if it's an earned bias) color his commentary.

He craps on HBO for a lot that deserves crapping on, but also some things that don't. He hates that HBO is showing the Dawson-Johnson rematch, which to me is one of my most looked-forward-to fights of the fall. He ridicules HBO for the Angulo-Cintron and Victor Ortiz-Marcos Maidana fights, both of which seemed to me to be the perfect BAD type of matchups. They both ended in surprising upsets, which is something that Hauser usually thinks is great but this time, he scoffs.

He also sneers at the Klitscko-Arreola matchup, and he kind of has a case there. But that's more a comment on the heavyweight division than on HBO. On paper, that was one of the best heavyweight matchups out there right now. The fact that it was a one-sided beating says more about the fact that the Klitschko brothers are world class fighters in a division of mediocrities. They simply have no competition.

Anyway, those flaws aside, the article really is excellent and its overall points about HBO's lack of direction are right on. And to Hauser's credit, he proposes a number of interesting solutions to the problem. Some are a bit goofy, but others would be perfect and could really help revitalize HBO and the sport overall.

Check out the piece.

 

[BGrif21125]

Thanks for that link. Thought-provoking article.

As you alluded to, he makes some valid points, but he also hurts his case by clearly showing his bias and skewing the facts.

Just a few examples that are fresh in my mind:
When he's complaining about the card that featured Martinez-Cintron, he starts talking about the bad refereeing in the 7th round with the "punch or headbutt" controversy. How is that HBO's fault? They air the fights, they don't pick the refs.

He mentions Showtime's Taylor-Froch matchup as a "fight of the year candidate." Yet when he mentioned HBO's Marquez-Diaz fight (which is the Fight of the Year so far in a LANDSLIDE in my opinion), all he says is that the fight represented a "good start" to the year for HBO.

I understand his bashing of the fees for Dawson-Tarver II, no one was interested in that fight and the amount HBO paid was a joke. But Dawson-Johnson II is a very good fight, and by all accounts HBO went to Dawson and basically said "Look, if you want your next fight to be on HBO, then it has to be Johnson, not some pushover." Which is what HBO is supposed to do.

As you said, Klitschko-Arreola is more an indictment of the heavyweight division itself, as opposed to a sign of bad decision-making by HBO. Ya, it was one-sided, but was it any more one-sided than Wlad-Chagaev or Vitali-Peter (2 recent heavyweight fights NOT aired by HBO)? And Rafael said today that it was the highest rated HBO boxing telecast of the year. I like the featherweights and welterweights, so I've never identified with the general public's obsession with heavyweights. But it certainly exists, and with that being the case, you can't blame HBO for trying to groom a guy like Arreola for a big heavyweight matchup. I mean, after all, they're a TV network, so the bottom line is ratings.

His idea of HBO creating their own divisional rankings is interesting on the surface, although there'd be obvious conflicts of interest in terms of where they would rank Showtime fighters. But he seemed to claim that HBO is caught up with sanctioning body champs, and I don't think that's true at all. Whenever they do one of those "Lightweight Picture" or "Welterweight Picture" segments before a fight, they always point out that the sanctioning body champs are champs in name only, and then they go on to describe who the "real" top guys are. Margarito-Mosley, Marquez-Diaz, and Pacquiao-Hatton are all examples of HBO (or HBO PPV) fights that were really "lineal title" driven, not title belt driven. And Kellerman seems to go on an anti-sanctioning body rant just about every telecast.

HBO was a trainwreck at times the last few years. But I can't really complain with 2009. They'll finish the year with only 3 PPVs, all of which may end up in the 800K-1 million range). And then you have Mosley-Margarito, Marquez-Diaz, Cotto-Clottey, and Pavlik-Williams all on regular HBO. That's a good year. And Mosley-Berto is a nice start to 2010.

 

[BGrif21125]

Picked up tickets last week to Pavlik-Williams in Atlantic City. Now I'm just crossing my fingers that Pavlik doesn't get an injury or an infection or a managerial issue, or whatever.

Looks like Clottey-Quintana will be the televised undercard fight. That fight will probably be a bit on the technical side, but it's a good undercard fight in the grand scheme of things I guess.

 

[BGrif21125]

Big shocker out in Japan today.

Jorge Linares, who just recently signed with Golden Boy and is considered by some to be the biggest prospect in all of boxing, got "Amir Khan'd" in the 1st round today by some guy I've never heard of.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

QUOTE (BGrif21125 @ Oct 10 2009, 12:51 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2620806
Big shocker out in Japan today.

Jorge Linares, who just recently signed with Golden Boy and is considered by some to be the biggest prospect in all of boxing, got "Amir Khan'd" in the 1st round today by some guy I've never heard of.




Replayed the punch a few times and still can't figure it out - Linares looked to have the punch blocked. The resurgent Japanese fanbase is just shocked.

 

[BGrif21125]

Super Six Tournament begins Saturday on Showtime.

I like Dirrell over Froch and Abraham over Taylor.

Even if you don't have a particular guy you're rooting for, I think every boxing fan should be rooting for the tournament as a whole to be a success.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

QUOTE (BGrif21125 @ Oct 14 2009, 09:10 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2628346
Super Six Tournament begins Saturday on Showtime.

I like Dirrell over Froch and Abraham over Taylor.

Even if you don't have a particular guy you're rooting for, I think every boxing fan should be rooting for the tournament as a whole to be a success.


I'm VERY excited for the "Super Six." My only complaint is that it takes a long time to resolve the whole thing. I'm hoping that fan interest can be sustained over two years, which in boxing is a long time.

I think Dirrell-Froch could be a higher-weight version of Mayweather-Gatti. The only questions are about Dirrell's mentaility. How will he do on foreign turf, in a strange time zone, getting roundly booed by 10-12,000 English fans? It's his first time on a big stage, much less an openly hostile stage! If they use a local, English referee, he's at an even bigger disadvantage. But if he doesn't crack or get distracted, I don't see how Froch is going to handle Dirrell's speed. How many times have we seen a granite-chinned puncher get in the ring with a slick speed demon, brimming with confidence, only to here him tell his corner sometime around the fourth or fifth round, "He's too fast!" Facing true speed in boxing is not unlike, I would imagine, being a rookie in the NFL. It looks fast on TV, but when you're face-to-face with it, it's REALLY fast.

It's hard to pick Jermaine Taylor to win any fight these days, so I'd have to go with Abraham who's not only a big puncher but holds his defensive guard as tight as a Supermax prison. So I have to pick Abraham, but I think Taylor has a chance to outbox him, as he did with Froch for most of that fight. Again, this is a boxer-puncher matchup, so the boxer should be favored. But Taylor's tendency to fight in an undisciplined manner and, most important, to run out of gas, makes it impossible to pick him to win this fight. But I won't be too surprised if he does. So I'm hedging my (metaphorical) bets on this one.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

This was amusing. Vitali Klitschko was punched in the face by a member of the Kiev city council during a political meeting. He wasn't hurt and didn't retaliate, saying that if he fought back it could have ended up with "certain lawmakers being admitted to the hospital."

 

[BGrif21125]

Forgot to include this in my prior post:

Showtime did a 20 minute preview special about the Super Six tourney. It's similar to the Countdown specials that HBO used to do before PPVs, pre-24/7. I believe this is also up on Showtime On-Demand, and that there will be more episodes as the tourney moves along.

Fight Camp 360

 

[shawnrbu]

QUOTE (Gene Conleys Plane Ticket @ Oct 14 2009, 09:12 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2628418
I think Dirrell-Froch could be a higher-weight version of Mayweather-Gatti.


Interestingly, Froch is a slight favorite (-140). Looks like a good line to hammer in the other direction if the Mayweather-Gatti comparison is apt.

 

[ElUno20]

The height disparity in the Taylor/Abraham matchup is too much for me to ignore. Even Taylor's bad habit of giving away his height advantage won't work this time. Abraham looks like a damn midget.

 

[shawnrbu]

Did anybody see Lopez/Mtagwa? I think it was on an obscure PPV. It's received a lot of fight of the year hype.

 

[shawnrbu]

QUOTE (ElUno20 @ Oct 17 2009, 12:03 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=2632736
The height disparity in the Taylor/Abraham matchup is too much for me to ignore. Even Taylor's bad habit of giving away his height advantage won't work this time. Abraham looks like a damn midget.




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KTFO by a midget. Is there someone waiting on standby to assume someones spot if they have to bow out during the tourney? I'll have a ton of admiration for JT if he makes it through two more fights, particularly the fight with Kessler.
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[ElUno20]

God I hate European fighters. Massively overrated. Come to America and fight in the big leagues you bums. You can't fight European fighters in Europe. Period. Before the knockout I had Abraham winning 5 rounds but if it went the distance he would of gotten a UD.

Dre is about to expose froch.

 

[ElUno20]

Is Bernstein serious? Is he on the take? This fight isn't close.


Granite chin? Come on dre finish him