JuanMa Lopez vs Rafa Marquez OFF
According to multiple sources, the highly anticipated scrap between WBO Featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez and former Bantamweight king (and little bro to Juan Manuel Marquez) Rafa Marquez is officially postponed. The September 18th bout, set for Las Vegas, was called off after Marquez' doctor claimed his patient could not even fit his fist into a glove. Apparently Marquez snagged his hand on the door of a vehicle (unspecified, but I'm guessing it wasn't a moped) and sliced open his thumb, worsening the injury by continuing to train.
Bummer for fans, and both fighters. Rafa is coming off a big win in a fourth fight against Israel Vazquez, a series that produced three "Fight of the Year" contenders - the rubbermatch a serious "Fight of the Decade" claimant - and riding what might have been a nice wave of momentum. Lopez, on the other hand, has been criticized for feasting on smaller and/or less-dangerous guys on his way to a title. This fight was seen as a stern test for the bankable, Top Rank-promoted Lopez, despite the fact that, in terms of weight, Marquez would have been scraping into new territory and facing a naturally bigger opponent.
Even though Marquez claims the bout will only be pushed back a few weeks, a number of fighters have stepped forward willing to take his place, as 2010 TV dates have been quickly filling up. Comebacking Jhonny Gonzales has been doing his best to rile up a response from Top Rank, and the talkative (to put it nicely) Celestino Caballero has tried to fill his seemingly always-empty schedule by calling out Lopez on multiple occasions before and since the postponement.
Personally I hope both Lopez and Marquez can find a way to tangle. In Marquez, Lopez finally has a marquee name and worthy opponent, even if Rafa seems to be at the end of his career, and with a win he may be able to finagle his way into the hearts of the Puerto Rican people the same way Trinidad and Cotto have in recent years. As for Rafa, any time a hard-working, hard-hitting classy pro like him can recapture greatness and bring attention to lower weight classes, it tends to be good for the sport.
Bradley-Alexander Falling Apart?
A Junior Welterweight unification match between Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander may be falling apart due to lack of funds, perhaps the #1 reason larger fights fall through in today's sport. Even though the fight is seen as one of the biggest (at least in terms of relevance) in the sport, Alexander's outspoken trainer Kevin Cunningham claims HBO isn't offering enough money overall, and insists that a 50-50 split of the "meager" purse is the only way the fight gets made.
Cunningham is probably just forgetting that his guy seemed lucky to be presented a decision win over contender Andriy Kotelnik a few weeks ago. Alexander is a very talented guy, but he doesn't have much of a fanbase to speak of outside of his hometown of St. Louis. And lest I remind you, that's the same town that showed up to support Cory Spinks' weird ringwalks and crappy style more than once.
And Bradley? In talking to BoxingScene.com, he seemed confident that the fight would happen, even if not right now. Bradley agreed that HBO should've ponied up more dough for the two to fight, but still conceded to a 50-50 purse split to get the fight done.
It's a scrap that brings a clear-cut ruler to 140 lbs. Let's make it happen, guys.
James Toney Will Eat His Words
The ones he hasn't already eaten, anyways.
Make no mistake. James "Lights Out" Toney is a very talented fighter. Unfortunately, he's generally seen as a sort of comic relief for most boxing fans these days.
That he had notable wins at heavyweight after beginning his career at Middleweight is a testament to his overall talent and fighting mentality. But many forget that his career took a serious downturn following his loss to Roy Jones, Jr. in 1994, mostly a result of his inability to stay in shape and train properly.
Since his comeback at Cruiserweight in the early- and mid-90's, Toney has enjoyed moderate success and convinced a number of boxing fans that he was still pretty important to the sport, despite getting popped for banned substances on more than one occasion.
This time Toney badgered his way into Dana White's heart, convincing him to let Toney try his hand at the "big time" in MMA.
This coming Saturday, Toney will get taken down and submitted quite easily by Randy "The Natural" Couture. Randy isn't exactly a spring chicken himself, but Toney has clearly worn out his welcome and become near-unimportant in boxing over the last few years, even at heavyweight, widely regarded as the sport's worst division. On top of that, the UFC has chosen to use a heavily-photoshopped picture of James Toney, looking much more svelt than in reality, for their promo shots for a few months now. Dude is as blubbery as Moby Dick these days.
Not sure if I should be sad that Toney might be sent to the hospital and retired this weekend, or happy that he talked his way into a well-deserved ass-kicking.
Either way, I don't think he has much of a shot. Randy may be chinny as of late, but there are other ways for the MMA legend to win, while Toney only has one.
It all depends on how frisky the fighting gods are feeling on Saturday.
Lost in the Hype
While the matchup between Randy Couture and James Toney seems to be getting most of the press for UFC 118 this coming weekend, a few other fights deserve attention.
The main event should produce what should be at least an interesting rematch between MMA PFP guy BJ Penn and his most recent conqueror, Frankie Edgar. Edgar edged his way to a decision win over Penn last April, seeming to outwork the former champion and stifling him in unexpected fashion. If history has taught us nothing at all, it's proven than Penn is a born competitor that trains like a madman when challenged, and all reports point to the Hawaiian readying himself for destruction one way or the other come Saturday.
Recent Penn challenger Kenny Florian also takes on undefeated Ultimate Fighter semi-finalist Gray Maynard, who will no doubt look to use his accomplished wrestling background to smother the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tactician Florian. It's a nice contrast in styles. Even though Maynard has improved his standup significantly since appearing on The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5, he's still a takedown artists at heart, and he should find a solid challenge in Florian, whose Muay Thai skills may nullify what improvements Maynard has made standing up. On the mat, it's all a matter of who can catch who with what first.
A nice sleeper on the card could be the fight between exciting striker Marcus Davis and the always outspoken Nate Diaz. Neither tend to be in boring fights, and Diaz' willingness to stand up with guys he probably shouldn't stand up with should bring the action. Add in that Davis can never really be counted out in scraps where he's seemingly outmatched.
Should be a solid one. But don't come crying to me if it's not!
Adamek Unimpressive Scooting by Grant
Tomasz Adamek defeated lumbering contender from heavyweight yesteryear Michael Grant this past Saturday, looking not-that-impressive in doing so.
Former Light Heavyweight belt-holder Adamek generally outmaneuvered and out-sped Michael Grant, earning a unanimous decision over a the huge guy HBO unsuccessfully attempted to anoint as the "Great American Hope" about a decade ago.
Since being stripped of his self-confidence by Teddy Atlas sometime in 2002 or 2003, Grant has essentially proven his inadequacies in-ring, slapping his way to decision and stoppage wins over nobodies, with a stoppage loss to heavyweight FAIL Dominick Guinn thrown in there somewhere. Not too mad at Adamek though. He was coming off a big win over Chris Arreola in an attempt to prove his mettle above cruiserweight, and looking to stay busy.
The problem for Adamek is the win did absolutely nothing to help his case that he's ready for a Klitschko. In fact, it may have actually did the opposite, as Grant seemed to have Adamek slightly wobbled (if not exhausted) late in the fight. Against a Klitschko brother, that spells decapitation.
I'd mention the rest of the card, but there was quitting, mismatches, hilariously bad commentating. It just wasn't a good card at all.
No Drug Testing for Strikeforce: Houston?
It's not exactly as if the state of Texas has a great reputation for enforcing rules, or even having fair rules in place, when it comes to combat sports.
But this past Saturday, no fight-night drug testing was conducted for the Strikeforce Houston card which featured former WWE star Bobby Lashley, "Jacare" Souza, "King Mo" Lawal and Rafael Feijao.
I'm not entirely certain what the status is in terms of banned substance suspicion for any of the more famous fighters on the card, but anytime a former pro wrestler is involved, a lot of folks in the industry seem to start pointing fingers in that direction.
It probably doesn't help that it looks like Lashley has more juice than Minute Maid.
If we're talking about worthy MMA cards, the WEC card from last Wednesday delivered some highly entertaining bouts. If you're downloading fights, skip the Strikeforce crap and go straight for the Cruz-Benavidez rematch card from 8/18. Good stuff.
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