Boxing/MMA Clutter 9/1/10

While MMA always seems to be rolling on, boxing doesn't have a whole lot of action on tap for the coming months. At least, not in terms of "big fight" action.

But has boxing really been a mainstream type of sport the last decade or so?

HBO Spending Wisely?

I may as well get it out of the way:

HBO will be (and is) filming a 24/7 series for the upcoming Pacquiao vs Margarito fight.

According to some relatively "inside" sources, HBO spends a pretty penny on those 24/7 shows. Now, the production value of each episode generally seems to be top-notch, just like most of HBO's programming. But you have to question the decision making at HBO, doing 24/7 shows for fights like Mayweather vs Marquez and this one.

While both are exciting fighters, neither guy speaks English all that well (even though the beauty of controlled in-ring violence transcends language), neither has a particularly interesting personality...and should the fight even be happening?

The most scintillating portion of each episode will be either when they focus on Floyd Mayweather, or when each guy is bitching about the other's suspected cheating.

It's not like HBO has a slew of other great upcoming fights to spend that money on, but maybe if they saved that coin they would.

Bantamweight Continues to Shine

According to BoxingScene.com, a fight between WBA champion Anselmo Moreno and former WBC champion Hozumi Hasegawa is in the early stages of negotiations.

The Bantamweight division just keeps on delivering the goods, whether or not this fight comes through.

A number of sources have reported that Showtime will host a "Super Six"-like tournament at 118, only with 4 fighters: Abner Mares, Vic Darchinyan, Yonnhy Perez and Joseph Agbeko. Unfortunately Hasegawa was approached but supposedly turned down an offer to participate, and Bob Arum chose not to allow his fighters Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel to join.

Young (and talented) Koki Kameda may be staying at Bantam, undefeated Russian Alexander Bakhtin should be in line for a WBC title shot soon, and veterans Jorge Arce, Eric Morel and Gerry Penalosa seem to be refusing to go away.

And they say the 140 lb. division is good.

Obviously getting all of these guys to face each other is the difficult part, but a 4-fighter, 2-card format should prove to make more sense than the points system currently being used by the Super Six, and it won't tie up the involved fighters for nearly as long. While the tournament format seems to have backfired a bit for the Super Six at 168 lbs., in the end this proposed 118 lb. tournament will force good fighters to face each other, which is more than you can say for most other divisions and most other TV networks.

Past that, the depth of the division is such that almost anything should be at least interesting, if not enough to make you salivate a little.

UFC 118 Fails to Impress

Frankie Edgar's first defeat of UFC Lightweight champion BJ Penn was fairly surprising, but a complete shutout of the former champ in the rematch last Saturday night didn't even seem to be on the table, as far as pre-fight predictions went.

It happened all the same, as Edgar completely dominated Penn on their feet and on the ground. Penn seemed almost bored and complacent at times, refusing to engage standing up, and mostly stalling in a type of spider guard on the ground. BJ attempted to work an omoplata and triangle every so often, but fell victim to Edgar's activity once again.

While Penn's attempt at vengeance headlined the card, the buzz centered around a mixed martial artist vs boxer matchup between veterans Randy Couture and James Toney, respectively.

Predictably, the boxer Toney was taken down with a simple ankle pick from very far out, almost pounded out on the ground, and then easily submitted via arm triangle, courtesy of the mixed martial artist Couture.

Educated fight fans learned nothing new, as two faded once-were's got together under circumstances that gave one guy a heavy advantage over the other.

In other action, Gray Maynard earned a shot at Frankie Edgar's championship with a ho-hum unanimous decision win over former title challenger Kenny Florian. The wrestler Maynard got the takedown early and often, refusing to give Florian much room, but not doing a ton of damage.

Submission wiz Demian Maia had to settle for a decision win over Mario Miranda, who never seemed to get going on his feet and was forced to simply defend on the ground.

Nate Diaz, the younger of the Diaz brothers, beat the crap out of exciting slugger Marcus Davis for 2+ rounds and swelled his eyes up something terrible, before choking him unconscious with an arm-in guillotine in the third round.

Upcoming 119 should be better than this past weekend's mismatchapalooza 2010.

Segura Destroys Calderon in War

Before the fight, many had suggested the dominant Puerto Rican little man Calderon, who seemed on the brink of PFP-level talent and ability despite almost zero punching power, had looked vulnerable in recent fights and couldn't be far from the end of his career.

True or not, Calderon tasted defeat for the first time at the hands of the hard-punching Mexican, Giovanni Segura.

Segura also snagged Calderon's WBO Light Flyweight title, while bringing his own WBA title to the unification match.

The likely "Fight of the Year" contender featured back-and-forth action, brawling, shifts in momentum for both guys, and a decisive and exciting ending.

Calderon tried to use his speed and slickness to make it a boxing match early on, but Segura eventually caught up after a few rounds of pursuing the former longtime WBO Minimumweight champ. Trading in the middle rounds appeared to slow Calderon down just enough for Segura to do real damage, before Calderon smartly went back to moving just out of range again.

Segura caught up once again in the eighth round, flooring Calderon for the full count with a series of brutal body shots.

With the win, Segura also took Calderon's "Ring Magazine" title.

Here's the last round, including the knockout:

Hopkins Creeps Back into Light Heavyweight Picture

Despite coming off another dull performance, 45-year old Middleweight great Bernard Hopkins is apparently in the running to face newly-crowned Light Heavyweight champ Jean Pascal.

It seems odd that Pascal would be quickly shuffled into a fight that could kill any possible momentum coming off a career-defining victory against Chad Dawson.

Hopkins defeated Roy Jones Jr. this past April in a lackluster rematch of their tactical 1993 fight, which followed an equally-lame performance in a unanimous decision win over Librado Andrade's less-talented little brother, Enrique Ornelas.

In a Light Heavyweight division that finally seems to be capable of producing compelling fights, I'm just not sure why this fight would be made. Hopkins has a very negative style that sucks the life and activity out of just about any fight, and it's a significant risk for Pascal. Additionally, the thought of Hopkins holding a title hostage and defending it once a year, quite frankly, sucks.

Doesn't do much good for the sport either.