Good to see Haye win a title, better than Valuev, more exciting, and hell, did you see the size difference? The smallest heavy beat the biggest heavy. But I don’t wanna see Haye fight Ruiz next, I wanna see more Arreola, Chambers, Povetkin, Kevin Johnson, and Haye. They’re the most interesting to me.
I don’t see one thing that Cotto does better than Pac Man. The only person that can beat Pacquiao is himself, if he’s not taking it seriously, Cotto is not that good, never was. But, Mayweather better be ready to fight the winner of that, or Mosely, or people will kill him. I’d like to see Mayweather - Berto, but I doubt anyone else does, Mayweather needs to fight someone for real.
Peace
Bob
Hey Bob-
Long time no read. Kermit Cintron just can’t catch a break from boxing these days. Guy has a very good win in beating Alfredo Angulo, perhaps the best of his career and for his efforts he gets to fight some guy in an off-TV bout in Puerto Rico. I don’t get it. Kermit is nothing if not all action. Barring his fight with Sergio Martinez (who would make most anyone look bad), Kermit is rarely unentertaining. Yet HBO decided to rebuild Angulo rather than get on the Cintron train. Again, I do not get it.
Steve Kim wrote a piece this past week on the WBO (for those keeping score that stands for We Be Obsolete) and their decision to elevate this past weekend’s Alfredo Angulo vs. Harry Joe Yorgey fight to an interim title fight in lieu of titleholder Sergei Dzindiruk’s inability to get back in the ring due to various promotional and legal issues. Yorgey’s big win is over Ronald “Wow. How bad does this fight make me look?” Hearns and Alfredo Angulo who as I said just lost to Cintron. Cintron was elevated by that win to the WBO’s number one contender position. The WBO lamely suggested that Cintron did not lobby hard enough for a Dzindiruk fight so he was bypassed. Isn’t it the job of the WBO to make the top two fighters fight each other? If that can’t happen it seems only logical to deem a purse bid between Cintron and the next ranked guy. If that’s Angulo, so be it. That would be fair and orderly and the right thing to do. Sadly, we’re talking about a boxing sanctioning body which by nature is rarely any of those things.
I can’t say where Cintron goes from here except that his legal team is working on it. I wish him and boxing luck. We’ll do our best to keep you updated.
Here’s a link to Steve’s story:
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/other-boxing-news/team-cintron-livid
Speaking of Angulo vs. Yorgey, that’s another thing the WBO could do; somehow insure a more experienced ref is handling its interim title fights. Referee Johnny Callas was horrible and verging on dangerously reckless in allowing Yorgey to absorb as much punishment as he did. In the past, I’ve talked a bit about my feelings regarding fouls. Alfred Angulo should have at least had a point taken away after hitting Yorgey when he was on the canvas already. There was too much of a pause before he let those last two shots go. Added to which one of the punches was to the back of Yorgey’s head. They were cheap shots and should not have been overlooked or excused. But the ref did both. Then he allowed Yorgey to be unnecessarily beaten to the point of unconsciousness. Yes this is the hurt business but Yorgey was only throwing punches back in a reflexive manner, in my opinion. He was taking seriously flush shots to the dome and could have been stopped as early as the second round. Why the ref allowed Yorgey to go on despite his legs being gone and his inability to mount an offense or defense is beyond me. I realize the commissions and promoters have a big hand in selecting refs and judges but it says here the sanctioning bodies should get more involved and help keep the sport clean as long as they are taking money from the fighters to sanction the bout in the first place. It seems only right. What are they there for if not that?
I’m now officially on the fence with the countdown to the taping of The Next Round ticking down. I have to make a pick on Cotto vs. Pacquiao in the morning and I have no idea which way I am gong to go.
I’m thinking about the tempo of the fight. That’s a big part of who will win in my opinion. Manny is seriously up-tempo; throwing a storm of punches and relentlessly pursuing his opponent behind that attack. Cotto is more even keel as he pounds you to the body and arms in order to break you down. Can Manny overwhelm Cotto and tire him out with that kind of game? Can Cotto turn it into a grind it out, knock down, drag out affair? Will fighting a real welterweight in his prime tire him out down the stretch should it get that far? Will Cotto be too beat up by that point for it to matter?
I am leaning towards Manny a bit. He may be just as special as people think he is. We might be seeing something great here. I’m willing to entertain that notion.
Manny has weaknesses but I don’t think that Cotto is the guy to exploit them.
Right now I saw Manny but I still have hours to pick.
THE NEW YORK CITY LOWDOWN.
Zup Gabe,
Both of the main event fights tonight were just a case of one cat being too fast for the other.
Telling your fighter that he has not won a round, and then lifting him up after the fight is over? What kind of corner is that? Johnson may have won 3 rounds at the most. I like Glenn Johnson, but he did much worse in this fight than in his first fight with Dawson, and Glenn looked like he got even slower, coming forward all night but mostly missing, and he ate shots trying to get in. In my opinion judge Glenn Feldman had the right score, 117-111, the 115-113 score cards were too close. Overall it was a boring fight, Dawson is just not exciting and frankly neither is Johnson. That being said, Glenn was just too slow tonight - it was really a wasted effort for Johnson.
Haye rocked Valuev in the 12th, it was funny seeing the giant doing the Judah dance. This was a boring fight also with Haye not engaging much and Valuev just too slow to do much.
I never thought that the Angulo-Yorgey fight should have been made in the first place. Yorgey is just not anywhere near being a top fighter, even with his victory over Ronald Hearns. Changing trainers to get with Jack Lowe did not help Yorgey one bit.
Peace,
Steve
Whatsup Steve?
Dawson got smarter and Johnson got older. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t exciting. It was effective. Who knows? Maybe in a few years we will regard the Johnson fights like we do Floyd’s Castillo fights. He got the decision in the first fight and we all thought he lost. So he comes back with a rematch and fights a safe, boring but superior and disciplined fight. Should Dawson go on to beat the Jean Pascal/ Adrian Diaconu winner or jump down to the Super Six, we might be singing his praises in a few years. I like Dawson. He seems like a good guy who wants to improve and fight tough fights. Here’s hoping he does.
I agree the scores were not that close. I had it 9-3 Dawson.
Johnson just couldn’t get in range long enough for anything worthwhile to happen for him. I didn’t like all the movement from Dawson but it prevented Glen from fighting his fight and in the end that’s the name of the game.
What does it say about a Nicolay Valuev’s stock when he has the lead promoter in his corner but still can’t get a decent robbery in Germany? Haye fought a fight somewhere in between Ruslan Chagaev’s blueprint for beating the giant Valuev and Evander Holyfield’s no offense offense in his disputed loss to the Eastern Beast. For Haye, Like Dawson, this was a case of win this one and look good later.
Seeing Valuev get wobbled was crazy. Maybe it’s par for the course in L.A. but I swear the ground shook in my apartment when Haye caught Valuev with that right left combo and the giant stumbled. Weird seeing a guy that big do the Rubber Judah.
I think Valuev had a lot of potential. With his 7 ft+ height, ridiculous reach, and sheer density, even being so slow you’d think some one would’ve taught him the basics of cutting off the ring. Maybe then he’d be able to land that slow jab or plodding right hand. He could’ve been a pressure fighting giant instead of a blind Cyclops standing center ring and lumbering lamely in a circle looking for something to hit.
Boxing won along with Haye. Say what we want about him dropping out of the Klitschko fights, Haye’s a threat. No one has ever hurt Valuev and he did it late in the fight. With his speed and legit heavyweight power, he could be a problem for Wladimir Klitschko at the very least. I still think Haye loses to both brothers but it won’t be as easy as I once thought. He showed guile and discipline on Saturday afternoon. The thing that impressed me is that Haye avoided clinches so well. Valuev is just a slow footed giant if you take away his physical game. Only if you allow him to lean and grapple and tire you out, his size becomes an issue. Haye moved enough to take away that weapon and it saved him energy down the stretch. It was smart tactic in a well though out and executed game plan and one that will serve him well against either Vitali or Wlad.
We have potentially good to great fights in Haye vs. Alexander Povetkin, Cris Arreola, Eddie Chambers, Kevin Johnson, and maybe David Tua. And let’s not forget the Klitschkos if they decide to take another chance on him. I’m willing to bet that between the Sauerland/Don King connection, we will see John Ruiz vs. David Haye next which normally I would say “Good Buddha save us all” but I’m in a glass half-full kind of mood.
If we’re lucky, we get to see Haye knock John Ruiz out of the heavyweight picture once and for all. See? It isn’t all that bad after all.
The only thing Harry Joe Yorgey did when he switched trainers is change the face he woke up to when he regained consciousness. Man, Yorgey got outclassed and blown out. I thought he would have at least gone a few more rounds and possibly frustrated Angulo who seems focused on the task at hand. I’d love to see a rematch between Cintron and Angulo to start off next year.
LIKE THEY SAY ON SUNDAY NIGHT COUNTDOWN . . .C’MON MAN?!?!?!?!?!?
Seriously…the only thing good about that RA interview was that he asked Floyd why he doesn’t fight Shane Mosley. Other than that it was filled with inaccurate info. Ra said Floyd picks on smaller fighters, and claimed that Bernard is the best of this generation. But X’s marquee wins are against…..
Tito (smaller….he was good at 160 but I think everyone agrees 154 was his monster weight even though he only fought 3 or 4 people there)
Oscar (smaller)
Winky (smaller)
So are we gonna gloss over Ra’s picking on smaller fighter argument that is hypocritical, or are we gonna call it both ways?
Then he said that Floyd only wanted to fight Shane when Shane was down and out after losses. Floyd (to my knowledge) called out Shane 2x. In 1999 when they were only 5 lbs apart at 130-135, and Shane opted for the big money fight against Oscar instead of the high risk low reward of PBF. And in 2006, when Shane just beat Vargas the 2nd time in a row (again killing Ra’s PBF only wants Shane after an L theory), and was part of the infamous toothache interview.
Look…I get it. If I want to read stuff from people who are tired of waiting for Floyd to grow a set and fight some top challengers, I come here. If I want to read about how Floyd is playing the game in the biggest money, lower risk fights and how its cool cause he’s the best of the last 25 years….I go to Greg’s website. Im in the middle of both schools of thought and think Floyd should challenge himself too, but I think he’s way more smart than most of us give him credit for, and has this great master plan on how hes gonna eventually fight most of the big names and fights we want to see….but only when they make the most sense and have been simmering in the pot till its as juicy as it can get.
The fact of the matter is that PBF has nobody besides Cotto, Manny, or Shane to get the big dollars he commands…..so its safe to assume hes gonna have to take on those people in the next year or two. Whether you like it or not, Floyd has made some calculated moves, but they’ve panned out for him thus far, and still leave him in a position to further his legacy (in a positive light). He called Margarito overrated….and at the very least, Margarito has HUGE asterisk mark next to his marquee win, and career for that matter, b/c the majority of people think hes been fighting with loaded gloves and isn’t the TJ Tornado everyone thought he was following his controversial win over Cotto.
Floyd’s now in a position to fight the 3 guys above that everyone thinks are the greatest challenge to him, and doing so while positioned to make the absolute most amount of money. If he fights 2 of those 3 (assuming manny/cotto cancel the other person out of the dance), I’d be happy with his fights as of late.
I also think PWill is a HUGE challenge for anyone….but I gotta be honest…..Al Haymon aint letting it happen and I’m still not 100% ready to forgive PWill about that stink fest from Quintana part 1. He’s ALMOST made amends to me that off night…but not quite yet. I notice that lots of boxing fans are like Gold Diggin Groupies; They’re quick to jump on the next best thing without figuring out if it has potential to last a while or is a flash in the pan. Please put this in the mail bag…..i think these are good points from a honest PBF fan. And even if it doesn’t make the bag….I’d like to hear your thoughts on it all.
Armando
Armando-
RA said himself on Steve Kim’s internet radio show “The Main Event” (which is podcast on Maxboxing.com and should be heard) that he’s fan not Walter Cronkite or somebody. He won’t be on press row this Saturday night or any other night. As far as I know he does go to the fights. He was speaking as someone who does that, pays for cable, reads the internet sites, probably argues on their forums, and has strong love and opinions about men hitting each other with gloved fists. It can’t be ignored that what happened between RA and Floyd was happenstance and was brought on by Floyd himself. RA was on the show promoting his new album and was asked about boxing because he is a hardcore fan. He got to airing out his views on Floyd, two callers called in to argue and then Floyd himself called in. RA did what any fan who agrees with him would hope to do if they were in his place. He spoke his mind freely and won the debate with Floyd with relative ease. Yes he got some timeline stuff wrong in the great Shane vs. Floyd Who Called Out Who First debate but overall, I think he won the argument. He won by making Floyd pick up the phone in the first place. If you’re great it’s generally unquestionable. Just by virtue of the fact that we can debate Floyd’s greatness by pointing out certain facts is reason enough to just simply agree he needs to step it up from here on out. No more waiting for the fight after this one because that one I swear will be against someone tough. No more excuses. No more waiting. I’m ready for some greatest ever-type stuff to start happening. I’ve been ready.
But I ask you, does it matter who called out whom or when and why it didn’t happen? I don’t think so. I prefer to live in the present and hope for a better tomorrow instead of reveling in the past and using it to justify why it’s okay to make the same mistakes.
Shane Mosley vs. Floyd Mayweather is arguably the most compelling fight in the welterweight division. It features the present welterweight champion in Shane Mosley vs. the undefeated but retired linear welterweight champion. A great champion from a generation just before Floyd’s. It’s a match-up as old as time. But Shane is 38 years old. How long should both he and fight fans wait for this one?
I don’t think Floyd waiting for the pot to boil over for some of these fights is any mystery. But what some defend as waiting for that right magic moment to put these fights on I see as a fighter wanting to see weakness in his opponents either through a loss or a bad showing before he fights them. There is precedent for this in the Zab Judah fight. Floyd did not sign the contract until after Zab dropped a split decision to Carlos Baldomir. I’d hate to see Mosley/Mayweather get diminished by Shane showing signs in the Berto fight or after what I think will be a hard fought decision-type fight.
Floyd vs. any top welter does not need to be built over six months. Great fights sell themselves.
As it stands, Berto-Mosley is a done deal for January 30 so I suppose any arguing about what Floyd will do will have to wait. I am dreading the inevitable rabid speculation over who the Pacquiao/Cotto winner will face that will begin as soon as Michael Buffer finishes the final official particulars. I do look forward to breaking down that fight and hopefully seeing it. At the earliest, Shane and Floyd can get together for a showdown next summer provided Mosley beats Berto like I think he will.
As you alluded to, Al Haymon advises both Berto and Floyd and won’t have them fight despite Berto wearing the WBC belt Floyd lost in retirement. I think the real hidden plan here has been set in motion through Berto/Mosley. The fight is a gamble Haymon can’t lose. If Berto wins, he has a rising welterweight star with a belt. He can match him any number of ways that steer clear of Floyd. If Shane wins, it will most likely be in a tough fight. Shane will have some more miles on him but will hopefully have created the kind of buzz that pleases HBO and the casino du jour to fork over huge bails of money for this thing to go down right.
If you think about it, Floyd vs. Manny Pacquaio and Shane vs. Berto is kind of a Fantastic Four for the welters. We may get resolution in the welter rankings sooner than the Super Six begins it’s final round. If the winner of the final fight takes on Paul Williams I’ll eat my hat. If you want to be real about it, Paul Williams is the man at welterweight. He beat Margarito first and Tony was the longest reigning welterweight champion at the time with some eight defenses. Sadly, if Floyd or Berto are the last men standing, they won’t fight Williams either because of the Haymon connection and Shane doesn’t seem to want any.
Speaking from experience, trying to call Floyd on anything is a pointless task at best. You can say you’re peace but at the end of the day Floyd’s going to do what he wants. He won’t change for you or me or Mr. Moon. He’s had his tune-up, now it’s time to man up.
If you compare his and Pacquiao’s last three fights, they are every similar in that they favored the P4P kids very well. For Floyd, I’m talking - Baldomir, Oscar, and Hatton. And David Diaz, Oscar and Hatton for Manny. But now Manny has stepped it up big time in taking on Miguel Cotto. If you thought Ricky Hatton stood a chance then the last time that Floyd has been in a tough, losable fight fought on equal ground in terms of weight, age, attributes and style was in 2007. If you don’t but think Zab Judah was dangerous (and I did at the time) then it’s been since 2006. Beyond that, you have to go back to 2002 and the first Jose Luis Castillo fight for that kind of criteria to be met. Even if you’re thinking “Hey, he left out De La Hoya,” I say that’s four tough dudes out of twelve from 2002 to now; a lot of time and space between tough fights. I’m always surprised when people tell me to give Floyd some slack because he’s getting to the good part. Is he? When?
I disagree that Floyd only has Shane, Cotto or Pacquiao to contend with. He could fight Margarito at 147 is he gets his license back. Without the alleged plaster wraps and a year or so out of the ring following a brutal KO loss, Margarito is a very attractive fight for Floyd. Will the money be there? Who knows? Will the networks touch Tony? Probably not? Do I think he should be allowed to fight again? Tough question. The evidence says no. I tend to agree.
Floyd also has a rematch with Ricky Hatton that would sell huge in England. I would not be surprised to see that fight happen. Maybe not next but in a year.
Oh. And to your Bernard Hopkins argument, yeah, those three wins were against guys who were either new or not good in the weight class he fought them in. Oscar De La Hoya was not a middleweight. Winky Wright tops out at middleweight. But I disagree the Tito win wasn’t solid. Tito was a dangerous middle going into that fight. People can say what they want about 9/11 throwing him off or whatever but at the end of the day boxing is about adjusting on the fly. Bernard did. Tito didn’t. BHop beat that ass. End of story. Tito knocked the stuffing out of Joppy who was not a terrible middleweight by any stretch.
But by mentioning only those three wins, you’re conveniently leaving out what some would consider Hopkins greatest wins in the Antonio Tarver and Kelly Pavlik wins. Hopkins moved up in weight to take on Tarver. Granted he did make Kelly Pavlik come up in weight, Pavlik did show he could fight effectively above 160 in the Taylor rematch. I’m not sure I would agree BHop is the best of this generation. An argument can be made for sure. That’s another bag altogether.
If I missed anything hit me up again, man.
Happy Monday, folks.
MONTOYA’S WEEKEND FIGHT PICKS
At The Palms Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Zab Judah (37-6) vs. Adailton De Jesus (22-4): Judah by TKO
ACTUAL RESULT: JUDAH BY TKO 2
Joel Casamayor (36-4-1) vs. Jason Davis (11-4-1): Casamayor by UD
ACTUAL RESULT: CASAMAYOR BY UD 8
At The XL Center, Hartford, CT
(HBO) Chad Dawson (28-0) vs. Glen Johnson (49-12-2): Dawson by UD
ACTUAL RESULT: DAWSON UD 12
(HBO) Alfredo Angulo (16-1) vs. Harry Yorgey (22-0-1): Angulo by UD
ACTUAL RESULT: ANGULO KO 3
At Nürnberger Versicherung Arena, Nürnberg, Germany
Nikolai Valuev (50-1) vs. David Haye (22-1): Valuev by UD
ACTUAL RESULT: HAYE BY UD 12
John Ruiz (43-8-1) vs. Adnan Serin (19-10-1): Ruiz by UD
ACTUAL RESULT: RUIZ BY TKO 7
Sergey Lyakhovich (23-3) vs. Jeremy Bates (22-16-1): Lyakhovich by TKO
ACTUAL RESULT: Lyakhovich TKO 1
THE RUNNING TOTAL
RIGHT: 98
WRONG: 32
Questions/comments? Contact Gabriel at maxgmontoya@gmail.com or twitter.com/Gabriel_Montoya
