Sons of Peter McNeeley- Boxing Thread

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg has announced that HBO is out of the heavyweight business due to lack of interest in the United States.

I assume if another Tyson comes along, they'll get start showing heavyweight fights again, but there isn't one of those on the horizon anywhere.

In a way, HBO's own Emanuel Steward is to blame for this. He's got the biggest, most skilled heavyweight in the world right now (well, one of the two) and he turned him into a boring, albeit unbeatable, jab-and-grab machine. I think if Wlad Klitschko fought in a riskier, more exciting style he may have lost a fight or two, but he'd have people watching.

 

[alamat86]

2 rounds of exciting action between Juanma Lopez and Bernabe Concepcion. Both men got knocked down in the 1st. Juanma prevailing in 2 by TKO.

 

[BGrif21125]

Ya, 2010 hasn't supplied too many exciting fights, but that one was good while it lasted. Lopez seems to be following in the footsteps of Trinidad and Cotto... dynamic offensive fighters with suspect chins who always make exciting fights.

Hard to pick against Lopez in his upcoming fight with Rafael Marquez. Younger, bigger, faster, stronger almost always wins out. But Marquez has the experience and craft that Concepcion didn't, and Marquez has always been a good puncher.

Of course, the fight we really want to see is Lopez-Gamboa, which has the chance to be a sensational and wildly unpredictable fight.

 

[BGrif21125]

Nevada refused to listen to Margarito's application for a license, saying he needs to apply for reinstatement thru California first.

Link

If Margarito isn't available for a US fight this year, we might get stuck with Pacquiao-Cotto II.

 

[shawnrbu]

Zab Judah fighting on Friday Night Fights tonight.

 

[BGrif21125]

Bradley looked pretty good on Saturday, although it would have been nice to see him fighting one of the many quality guys at 140 instead of an obscure welterweight like Abregu.

It's hard to be excited about boxing right now.

Best two welterweights/PFP (Mayweather-Pacquiao) aren't fighting because of any number of reasons.
Biggest heavyweight fight (Haye vs. either of the Klitschkos) isn't happening because Haye won't sign a deal.
Biggest super middleweight fight (Ward-Bute) can't happen because Bute isn't in the Super Six.
Biggest middleweight fight (Martinez-Williams) isn't happening because Williams wants more money.
There are 4 really good featherweights (John, Lopez, Gamboa, Caballero) but none of them have any plans yet to fight one another.
Biggest bantamweight fight (Donaire-Darchinyan II) has been stalled for a couple years.

 

[shawnrbu]

It can always get worse and by the looks of this dive by Paul Briggs, it has:

 

[ElUno20]

Have you guys seen this undercard? holy snikes. i have to watch this ppv.

 

[shawnrbu]

It's so refreshing to see attractive matchups on the undercard of a HBO PPV. Looks like the best undercard since Barrera-Juarez 2 in September 06.

 

[BoredViewer]

It can always get worse and by the looks of this dive by Paul Briggs, it has:

WWE has a boxing league now?

 

[BGrif21125]

Arum rejects the idea of Pacquiao-Marquez III this fall:

"Marquez is a terrific kid and a terrific fighter, but he's a smaller-weight fighter," Arum said. "He demonstrated that at the higher weight he can't handle it [when he lost every round to Floyd Mayweather at welterweight last fall]. Now, if that perception is incorrect, let Marquez go fight a bigger guy and prove that he belongs with Manny at a higher weight.

"Let him go fight Andre Berto or [Joshua] Clottey, Tim Bradley or [Devon] Alexander. If he beats one of those four guys, he can say, 'I belong with Manny at the higher weight.' Pacquiao demonstrated that he can go up, but Marquez hasn't. Maybe he can, but he needs to show it." Arum said Pacquiao, who now holds a welterweight title, would not drop down to junior welterweight to meet Marquez, either.

"Once a guy goes up, you don't bring him down, especially if he's the A-side," Arum said.

ESPN
His logic is laughable. Marquez is about 1,000x more deserving of the fight than Margarito is. And a Pacquiao-Marquez III fight would be worth significantly more money than Pacquiao-Margarito.

Arum doesn't want a Marquez fight because he doesn't want to share a promotion with Golden Boy. And Pacquiao presumably doesn't want to fight Marquez because he doesn't want to risk messing up the potential Mayweather jackpot payday.

 

[ElUno20]

I swear to you all that HBO is cursed in boxing. How that card last week turned into a snoozefest is unexplainable. Only true bright side was Pirog handing Jacobs his business card that reads...
"President, Putting Bitches To Sleep Business"

Devon Alexander fights tonight. A win would probably set up a great potential fight with Bradley.

 

[shawnrbu]

Thought Alexander/Kotelnik was a pretty good fight. It's fun when a 10:1 underdog puts up such a good fight. As was pointed out many times last night, Alexander being in such a competitive fight is going to be good for fight fans because it will likely lead to better fights being made at 140.

 

[BGrif21125]

I have to say, watching live, I'm not even sure Alexander won that fight. Seemed to me that Kotelnik was the one landing the straight, clean punches that did damage.

 

[CrouchingTonyHiddenPena]

I have to say, watching live, I'm not even sure Alexander won that fight. Seemed to me that Kotelnik was the one landing the straight, clean punches that did damage.

I was thinking the same exact thing watching the fight. I couldn't believe Alexander won on unanimous cards by that big of a margin. I also thought he had lost a close one. Hometown decision in any way?

 

[PrestonBroadus Lives]

I was thinking the same exact thing watching the fight. I couldn't believe Alexander won on unanimous cards by that big of a margin. I also thought he had lost a close one. Hometown decision in any way?

I wouldn't say hometown decision, but I would say that being the hometown fighter helped. There were a lot of close rounds (2, 5, 7 and 11) in that fight that really could have gone either way. Being the hometown fighter, along with the high workrate that gave the impression of being the one in control of the fight, probably won DA a lot of those close rounds. I'll also add that a good amount of the power punches being thrown by Alexander were landing to the body. Those punches, while not sexy, do catch the eye of experienced judges (in contrast to the headsnapping jab by Kotelnik, that was far too often not followed up by anything of consequence). Finally, I would say the second half of the fight, especially the 9-12th rounds, could have left people with a much different outlook on the scoring if they weren't keeping track of the scoring the whole fight. I personally had Alexander winning 7 of the first 8 rounds and only the 11th after that, enough to win the fight, but kind of leaves a bad taste.

Full disclosure, I am a DA fan, but I've seen this fight 3 times now and tried to be as unbiased as possible the 2nd and 3rd times. I guess I could see the argument for a draw or maybe even Kotelnik winning by a round, but I don't think this was, in any way, a hometown decision or a robbery of any kind.

 

[BGrif21125]

Good, legit title fight coming up on HBO this weekend between Dawson and Pascal. The atmosphere in Montreal should be great.

I like Dawson in a 116-112 type of fight.

 

[eddiew112]

I have to say, watching live, I'm not even sure Alexander won that fight. Seemed to me that Kotelnik was the one landing the straight, clean punches that did damage.

I completely agree. It was my first time seeing Alexander, and I was not impressed. Lederman was driving me up a wall when he kept saying that Alexander was landing his jab, and Kotelnik wasn't following up. Alexander was throwing a lot of shitty jabs, and they weren't really landing. But, I guess his activity was enough for the judges. I normally don't think all that highly of Papa and Kellerman, but I thought they were calling the fight right on the money.

 

[ElUno20]

Dawson deserves this loss for fighting like a complete bitch the whole fight. He could have put pascal to sleep at any point but never pressed.

Newsflash you fucking moron; you are not mayweather you can't fight that way, you also have no legacy step your game up

So much skill completely wasted on a heartless fighter.

 

[ElUno20]

Last note of the night, Bute destroys Pascal. Probably inside of 5 or 6 rounds.

And he'd probably beat Chad too.

 

[BGrif21125]

What a worthless performance by Dawson. In round 9, Pascal was standing there on the ropes and practically begging to be KO'd, and Dawson backed up and did nothing! It was as if he didnt want to win.

This has been the worst year of boxing that I can remember.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

What a worthless performance by Dawson. In round 9, Pascal was standing there on the ropes and practically begging to be KO'd, and Dawson backed up and did nothing! It was as if he didnt want to win.

This has been the worst year of boxing that I can remember.

Yeah, I've felt the same way. My interest in the sport has really waned over the past several months. Of course, it would only take a great fight or two to reignite it, but I don't see much on the horizon between now and the end of the year.

Dawson just never seemed to get comfortable in that fight last night. Pascals' tactic of jumping in with flurries then laying back seemed to perplex him. When Dawson did throw, which wasn't very often, his punches seemed sluggish to me. I disagreed with Lampley and Steward -- I don't believe that Pascal was ever in serious trouble or in danger of hitting the canvas. I didn't see his knees buckling at all.

Maybe Dawson was always overrated, but more likely he just had a terrible night against a tough, slick guy who he probably way underestimated.

I also had no idea until I watched the fight that Jay Larkin had died. Just 58 years old! Brain cancer, apparently. He was the guy at Showtime who created the "no rights, just great fights" policy that led to Showtime's hot streak from late 2004 to around 2007 or so (and they're still pretty good). Castillo-Corrales, Marquez-Vasquez, Calzaghe's coming out party against Jeff Lacy, Ricky Hatton vs. Kostya Tzu and many others were all the result of his policies. For that matter, he also created ShoBox and was pretty much the brains behind Showtime's entire boxing program for years until he was abruptly fired a few years ago.

 

[BGrif21125]

Word is that Rafael Marquez hurt his thumb, and his fight against Lopez may be postponed.

That was one of the only interesting fights scheduled for the rest of the year.

 

[thestardawg]

Word is that Rafael Marquez hurt his thumb, and his fight against Lopez may be postponed.

That was one of the only interesting fights scheduled for the rest of the year.

And this is why boxing is broken, and needs to be fixed ASAP.

I was pumped for this fight. So pumped in fact, that my buddies and I booked flights, hotels and bought tix. Now the fight may be cancelled or postponed.

For some of my friends, this is going to cause a big problem. If we want to really see the fight, some of my friends now have to negotiate a new weekend away with the boys. A couple of them share custody of their kids etc etc. Other people who were coming to this fight have similar issues or other issues which will cause them to miss this fight.

And while you can't blame Marquez, and you can't blame Lopez if he doesn't want to take on a new foe with only four weeks to the fight, I think I can point a finger at boxing at a whole.

While I am loathe to compare boxing to the UFC, the UFC does several things right.

1. The cards often have 4-5 interesting fights rather than one main event and several space fillers

2. UFC has inspired loyalty in the organization, and not just the fighters. Can you imagine a boxing fan talking about how he can't wait to go see the WBC card? Me neither.

3. If a fighter gets injured in the UFC, the card isn't cancelled, because there's another 5 fights which are legit crowd-pleasing fights.

4. UFC matches their fights together, rather than Promoters. Promoters in boxing are much better off bringing up fights with any talent whatsoever, and facing them off againsta series of tomato cans. UFC fighters can be 12-8 and be stars.

And so on. I much prefer boxing. I've been a fan since I was a kid. However, going to a live event away from home is just not worth it. We'll probably all end up going out Sept 18 regardless of whether there's a fight or not (and it's Vegas, so not one is weeping for us) but there goes the attempt to see a major league fight in a great atmosphere.

 

[BGrif21125]

More bad news:

Kessler is pulling out of the Super Six with an eye injury.

 

[Naehring11]

And this is why boxing is broken, and needs to be fixed ASAP.

I was pumped for this fight. So pumped in fact, that my buddies and I booked flights, hotels and bought tix. Now the fight may be cancelled or postponed.

For some of my friends, this is going to cause a big problem. If we want to really see the fight, some of my friends now have to negotiate a new weekend away with the boys. A couple of them share custody of their kids etc etc. Other people who were coming to this fight have similar issues or other issues which will cause them to miss this fight.

And while you can't blame Marquez, and you can't blame Lopez if he doesn't want to take on a new foe with only four weeks to the fight, I think I can point a finger at boxing at a whole.

While I am loathe to compare boxing to the UFC, the UFC does several things right.

1. The cards often have 4-5 interesting fights rather than one main event and several space fillers

2. UFC has inspired loyalty in the organization, and not just the fighters. Can you imagine a boxing fan talking about how he can't wait to go see the WBC card? Me neither.

3. If a fighter gets injured in the UFC, the card isn't cancelled, because there's another 5 fights which are legit crowd-pleasing fights.

4. UFC matches their fights together, rather than Promoters. Promoters in boxing are much better off bringing up fights with any talent whatsoever, and facing them off againsta series of tomato cans. UFC fighters can be 12-8 and be stars.

And so on. I much prefer boxing. I've been a fan since I was a kid. However, going to a live event away from home is just not worth it. We'll probably all end up going out Sept 18 regardless of whether there's a fight or not (and it's Vegas, so not one is weeping for us) but there goes the attempt to see a major league fight in a great atmosphere.

The problem is, once the UFC fighters realize that since they're the ones in the ring, they should have more control over their careers, it will all start falling apart. It will end up just like boxing.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

And this is why boxing is broken, and needs to be fixed ASAP.

I was pumped for this fight. So pumped in fact, that my buddies and I booked flights, hotels and bought tix. Now the fight may be cancelled or postponed.

For some of my friends, this is going to cause a big problem. If we want to really see the fight, some of my friends now have to negotiate a new weekend away with the boys. A couple of them share custody of their kids etc etc. Other people who were coming to this fight have similar issues or other issues which will cause them to miss this fight.

And while you can't blame Marquez, and you can't blame Lopez if he doesn't want to take on a new foe with only four weeks to the fight, I think I can point a finger at boxing at a whole.

While I am loathe to compare boxing to the UFC, the UFC does several things right.

1. The cards often have 4-5 interesting fights rather than one main event and several space fillers

2. UFC has inspired loyalty in the organization, and not just the fighters. Can you imagine a boxing fan talking about how he can't wait to go see the WBC card? Me neither.

3. If a fighter gets injured in the UFC, the card isn't cancelled, because there's another 5 fights which are legit crowd-pleasing fights.

4. UFC matches their fights together, rather than Promoters. Promoters in boxing are much better off bringing up fights with any talent whatsoever, and facing them off againsta series of tomato cans. UFC fighters can be 12-8 and be stars.

And so on. I much prefer boxing. I've been a fan since I was a kid. However, going to a live event away from home is just not worth it. We'll probably all end up going out Sept 18 regardless of whether there's a fight or not (and it's Vegas, so not one is weeping for us) but there goes the attempt to see a major league fight in a great atmosphere.

While you make some valid points, it's not really fair to compare the UFC to "boxing." The UFC is its own "league," in effect. It's the sole promoter of all of its fighters and all of its cards. It crowns its own champions and determines its own matchups and rankings. That gives it a far greater control over whatever situation may come up. It would be as if, say, Golden Boy fighters only EVER fought other Golden Boy fighters as they competed for the "Golden Boy World Championship."

But boxing has a long and complicated history that makes such a scenario basically impossible. The UFC started from scratch. There is no single boxing league. It's a freelance business. The UFC is a self-contained corporation.

That said, "boxing" could definitely take some pointers from the UFC's presentation methods. I'm not the biggest MMA fan, but the UFC puts on a good show, no doubt about it.

 

[ElUno20]

Hopkins/Pascal is rumored. That would be good night time for Pascal. I don't care if they fought in the heart of Canada. Bhop only throws straight lead & counter bombs. He'd put pascal to bed.

 

[thestardawg]

While you make some valid points, it's not really fair to compare the UFC to "boxing." The UFC is its own "league," in effect. It's the sole promoter of all of its fighters and all of its cards. It crowns its own champions and determines its own matchups and rankings. That gives it a far greater control over whatever situation may come up. It would be as if, say, Golden Boy fighters only EVER fought other Golden Boy fighters as they competed for the "Golden Boy World Championship."

But boxing has a long and complicated history that makes such a scenario basically impossible. The UFC started from scratch. There is no single boxing league. It's a freelance business. The UFC is a self-contained corporation.

That said, "boxing" could definitely take some pointers from the UFC's presentation methods. I'm not the biggest MMA fan, but the UFC puts on a good show, no doubt about it.

You are absolutely right. It would be mighty difficult for an organization to form in boxing which basically was its own league ala UFC.

It would just be nice for the sport of boxing and its promoters (who I'm really referring to) to not screw the pooch over and over again.

The good news is now I'mmaking two Vegas trips. One with the boys from home, and now I'm meeting a buddy who moved to Alaska on November 6 to see the rescheduled fight.

 

[BGrif21125]

Wlad destroyed Peter in Germany today. Not that surprising.

Oh, and here's an interesting article/video about what Ricky Hatton is up to these days. Yikes.
Link

 

[BGrif21125]

It's too bad the Rios-Peterson fight got dirty towards the end, because that was a really entertaining fight while it lasted.

Two up-and-coming young fighters in a brawl, that's the type of fight that Boxing After Dark originally made its name on. Hopefully they get back to that someday.

I'm looking forward to seeing Rios again.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

Wlad destroyed Peter in Germany today. Not that surprising.

Oh, and here's an interesting article/video about what Ricky Hatton is up to these days. Yikes.
Link

Yikes. But not too surprising from Hatton considering howw he used to debauch himself between fights, blowing up to 180 pounds or more. Funny, though, that Joe Calzaghe admitted doing coke after his retirement. I guess something has to replace the high of being in the ring.

In other police blotter news, Floyd Mayweather was just hit with four more felony counts. That brings his possible sentence if convicted up to 34 years. He'll never do that much time, but even if he gets hit with three or four, his career's over.

I guess this is "champion fighters fall from grace" week.

 

[bsj]

Nobody watching Mora vs. Mosely?

I actually think Mora has a shot here...he's a solid fighter and a shit load younger

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Nobody watching Mora vs. Mosely?

I actually think Mora has a shot here...he's a solid fighter and a shit load younger

Hey thanks for the reminder. Just turned it on via ATDHE.net

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

I'm glad I didn't buy that fight. I picked up the online stream just as Round 8 was starting, so i saw only the last five. Of those, I thought Mora won 8-10, Shane won 11-12. But it was sad. Shane is a shot fighter. All the skills that made him both one of the greatest and most watchable, likable fighters of this era are gone. His speed, his power, his footwork -- all gone. What's more, in the post-fight interview, he sounded a little slurry to me. Apparently he needs the money due to his divorce, so I guess he's going to fight on. I just don't want to see him become a boxing casualty and I'm afraid that's where he's headed.

 

[shawnrbu]

Biggest shock of the night is that someone actually knocked out Carlos Baldomir.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

Well, I guess the boredom induced by this fight is evident in this thread. Anyway, if anyone out there still wants to see the fight, apparently it will be be replayed only on HBO Latino on Saturday. Regular HBO isn't bothering with it, understandably so. Maybe it'll show up on HBO On Demand. I think that's what happened with JM Marquez vs. Juan Diaz 2.

What a suckfest.

So it's up to Pacquiao-Margarito to redeem this "lost year" in boxing. They're even giving Pac-Marg a 24/7. But I still can't get to excited about that fight, even though it should be a fairly entertaining affair. At this point, Pacquiao fighting anyone but Mayweather seems pointless and I just don't care about Margarito anymore. Even if he wins, I'm not looking forward to the "inspiring stories of redemption." He's a cheater and I can't get over that.

 

[BGrif21125]

If I never see Sergio Mora fight again, I'll consider myself lucky. His "(paraphrasing) I wasn't aggressive enough because I didn't really want to hurt Shane" quote might be one of the dumbest and most telling things I've heard a fighter say. Here was his big chance in Staples Center in a PPV main event against an over-the-hill opponent ripe for the picking... and all Mora did was stink the joint out for 12 rounds. Thankfully I wasn't one of the few who wasted $50 on that fight (although the undercard fights were entertaining).

Given how old and sloppy Mosley looks, why has Andre Berto not been jumping at the chance to fight him? Who is giving him advice?

I'm excited for Lopez-Marquez and Williams-Martinez II, but overall this year has been one big disappointment after another. Just an awful, awful year of boxing.

I'll watch Pacquiao-Margarito because Pacquiao requires viewing, but I think it's disgraceful that he and his promoter are willing to stoop that low to find an opponent.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

If I never see Sergio Mora fight again, I'll consider myself lucky. His "(paraphrasing) I wasn't aggressive enough because I didn't really want to hurt Shane" quote might be one of the dumbest and most telling things I've heard a fighter say. Here was his big chance in Staples Center in a PPV main event against an over-the-hill opponent ripe for the picking... and all Mora did was stink the joint out for 12 rounds. Thankfully I wasn't one of the few who wasted $50 on that fight (although the undercard fights were entertaining).

Given how old and sloppy Mosley looks, why has Andre Berto not been jumping at the chance to fight him? Who is giving him advice?

From what I've read, Berto was supposed to be the opponent Saturday, but he refused to accept a 60-40 split and wouldn't fight in L.A., only in Vegas. I guess he's a little full of himself. Or his handlers are. Seems crazy, since he would have flattened this current version of Shane, and a convincing KO of a faded but still famous fighter like Mosley is exactly the sort of thing that puts a young hotshot like Berto on the map and sets him up for big PPV paydays.

And yeah, I thought I'd heard every boxing excuse in the book, but Mora's "I respected him too much to try to knock him out" line is a new one.

 

[BGrif21125]

Unless I'm reading the schedule wrong, looks like there isnt a single HBO or Showtime card until November 6.

Thats a long time.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

You are absolutely right. It would be mighty difficult for an organization to form in boxing which basically was its own league ala UFC.

Interestingly, Oscar De la Hoya recently gave an interview in which he says, in effect, that this is his plan for Golden Boy, to be the sole promoter in boxing. As bad as the boxing system is now, I worry that a monopoly would be even worse. But it would create a UFC-like "league" structure, which would be interesting to see.

 

[ElUno20]

That's what I have been thinking for years. He has a ton of fighters and the only real obstacle is Arum. Once Pac retires, I think top rank may be willing to merge. The only other big promoter out there is DK and he'd just die out over time because Golden Boy would have all the fighters.


And speaking of death...all we have to do is make it through October and there's a packed schedule in November and December.

 

[BGrif21125]

The thought of one promoter controlling everything is a scary one, but it can't be as bad as the current system, where you have 2 promoters who refuse to work together.

That being said, abolishing (or ignoring) the sanctioning bodies is far more important to the future health of the sport than abolishing promotional competitors.

 

[Statman]

Glen Johnson is joining the Super Six World Boxing Classic. He's pretty much cooked IMO, but glad to see a classy fighter get one last shot on the Big Stage.

Link to story

 

[ElUno20]

when's the last time he's been in a bad fight? he always brings it. should be a good watch.

 

[BGrif21125]

It's great to see Johnson get a shot. He's a guy who will fight anyone, anywhere. If there were more fighters with his mentality, we'd be watching a much healthier sport.

 

[BGrif21125]

Andre Dirrell has now dropped out of the Super Six with an "injury."

Ridiculous.

Edit: Sounds like his injury is legit. Tourney is a mess though.

 

[PrestonBroadus Lives]

Andre Dirrell has now dropped out of the Super Six with an "injury."

Ridiculous.

Edit: Sounds like his injury is legit. Tourney is a mess though.

Yeah, sounds like his career is being threatened, neurological injury. People close to him say he hasn't been the same since he took that Abraham punch.

Ward is now being matched up with Sakio Bika on the November 27th date, but it may not even be a part of the actual tournament.

 

[ElUno20]

In what I'm predicting will be his last fight (he will win and go out on top), Showtime has made Hopkins vs. Pascal Dec. 18] a free fight.

 

[Gene Conleys Plane Ticket]

Yeah, sounds like his career is being threatened, neurological injury. People close to him say he hasn't been the same since he took that Abraham punch.

Ward is now being matched up with Sakio Bika on the November 27th date, but it may not even be a part of the actual tournament.

Man, I've been so disillusioned with boxing in general this year that I wasn't paying attention and missed this. Now, how does a tournament that features Allen Green, Sakio Bika and Glen Johnson (like the guy, but he's well past it and is a 175-pounder anyway), call itself the "Super Six"? What a fiasco. I think the lesson to be learned here is that if you're going to stage a tournament, make it a single-elimination format the whole way through. Make it eight guys and put the fights much closer together. Say, four months apart. That way, you're through the quarters, semis and final all within 1 year.

Much less chance of people getting hurt and dropping out, especially with four fighters eliminated in the first round. I still love the idea of a tournament. I just think the whole "group stage" format has proven to be overly ambitious. This is boxing, not soccer.