Violent Meditation

Random Classics: Kennedy McKinney vs. Welcome Ncita I

2010-12-30T22:14:00.000-08:00

When most boxing fans hear the name "Kennedy McKinney," they think of the classic brawl between he and a 22-year old Marco Antonio Barrera in February 1996.

Often forgotten is the Mississippi native's tumultuous rise to the top long before the Barrera fight, which featured about as many well-documented hurdles as is it did highlights.

A ranked player in the amateurs since the mid-80's, McKinney became well-known for his work ethic, and steadily placing in the US Amateur Championships a few years in a row. McKinney then earned the right to represent the US at bantamweight in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, beating future champion Junior Jones in the Olympic box-offs, and avenging previous losses in the qualifiers.

Despite Kennedy winning gold at 119 lbs., much of the talk following the Seoul games centered around Roy Jones Jr.'s highly controversial decision loss to Korean fighter Park Si-Hun. Regardless, McKinney still experienced a period of celebrity status upon arriving home.

According to McKinney, this was precisely when he began abusing alcohol and cocaine.

Kennedy signed with Top Rank and moved to Las Vegas before turning pro in February 1989. In the first 20 months of his career, McKinney went 5-0-1, but hit the boxing drama trifecta by having his license yanked for failing a drug test, going to rehab and getting arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping.

Avoiding more serious trouble, McKinney continued to fight on the undercards of bigger events and headline smaller shows in Vegas, often fighting while in rehab programs and well above the junior featherweight limit. Still, he stayed busy, compiling a record of 21-0-1 (13) in his first 3 years as a pro, decisioning former super flyweight champ "Sugar Baby" Rojas, and stopping former super bantamweight champ Paul Banke in March of 1992.

Following the win over Banke, McKinney again found himself skipping out on training and staying away from the gym, forcing his trainer Kenny Adams to pull him from his meeting with former super bantam champ Pedro Decima on the undercard of Evander Holyfield vs. Larry Holmes in June 1992.

Shelved for another 6 months, McKinney would take aim at Welcome Ncita's IBF super bantamweight belt and challenge the South African in Sardegna, Italy on December 2, 1992.

*******

Born in East London, Welcome Ncita was reportedly not entirely interested in South Africa's rich fighting history, favoring soccer over boxing as a young man from a poor family.

Ncita was encouraged to focus on the sweet science by his trainer Mzimase Mnguni and father, however, and ended up doing well on the local amateur scene. In March 1984, at 18-years old, Ncita turned pro in Eastern Cape, South Africa, earning a 4-round decision over Vuyani Mngxaso.

Campaigning at flyweight, by his 12th fight, Ncita had captured both the Cape and South African flyweight titles from veritable veterans Frazer Ndzandze and Johannes Joe Miya, respectively.

"The Hawk" stayed local, for the most part, defending the South African flyweight title 3 times and racking up non-title wins over opposition that couldn't deal with his busy style. For his 3 consecutive defenses, Ncita was presented with the coveted "Old Buck" championship belt - a unique belt proposed and designed by the distillers of Old Buck gin in 1977.

Ncita then took his show on the road. Following his third title defense, he fought in Panama, the US and Italy in addition to his native Eastern Cape, going 6-0 with 5 stoppage wins as he rose in weight. The IBF ordered their bantanweight champion Fabrice Benichou to face Ncita after the latter's first 3 wins at 118 lbs., and the South African lifted the title from the Frenchman in Tel Aviv, Israel by way of unanimous decision in March 1990.

Shortly after winning the title, famed trainer Manny Steward briefly took the 24-year old under his wing and brought him to the Kronk Gym in Detroit. Whether his time in Detroit helped much is unclear, as Ncita earned stoppage wins in his first 2 defenses against relatively weak opposition. His third defense in February 1991 against Colombian stylist (and former titlist) Bebis "Sugar Baby" Rojas ended controversially, with Ncita winning a split decision in a fight many felt he lost.

Rojas' team petitioned for an immediate rematch, but Ncita managed to stay busy with a tough decision win in the US over Hurley Snead before his second fight with Rojas in September. Welcome reportedly won more convincingly this time around, defending his title for the 5th time.

His 6th successful defense was a points win over experienced Jesus Salud in Italy, bringing his record to 32-0 (15), setting up a scuffle with rising contender Kennedy McKinney.

*****

Enjoy.

Arbitrary Barrage - Pacquiao vs. Mosley Finalized

2010-12-22T00:02:00.000-08:00

When Manny Pacquiao fights these days, it's more like a spectacle or parade than your typical squared circle matchup. Like many superstars before him, his celebrity status draws interest to events that, for other "regular" fighters, are otherwise ordinary.

For instance, the process by which opponents are chosen for Manny isn't so much a negotiation as it is a sweepstakes. Fighters, high profile or not, make the rounds on the internet, doing whatever it is they feel will get them the payday they've been waiting for, be it trash-talking or begging. And for many fans, this is just as entertaining as the fight itself.

It's unclear whether or not they showed up on a doorstep with a handful of balloons, stuffed animals and an over-sized check for $5 million, but Shane Mosley hit the lotto this past Tuesday when it was announced by a number of sources that he'd be fighting Pacquiao on May 7, 2011.

Now at the height of his popularity, the 52-3-2 (38) Manny is facing initial backlash from the boxing community for choosing the 39-year old as his next opponent.

"Sugar" Shane, currently 46-6-1-1 (39), is a Hall of Fame-bound fighter. But the California native was last seen feinting and clinching "The Contender" anti-star Sergio Mora to a frustrating split decision draw this past September. His previous fight in May of this year saw Mosley lose at least 10 of 12 rounds to the sport's deposed former pound-for-pound king, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Shane's thrashing of feared welterweight Antonio Margarito was indeed impressive, no matter the circumstances. Mosley was a clear underdog against Margarito in January 2009, and he pounded the "Tijuana Tornado" with thudding body shots and huge hooks to the head before stopping him in the 9th. But he also failed to capitalize on the potentially career-defining win, taking off 16 months before his loss to Mayweather.

That the Mora fight ended in a relatively controversial draw and put folks to sleep in the process was bad enough, but the promotion itself was laughable and trite.

In any event, here we are, waiting another 5 months for a fight that nobody seems to want. Granted it has only been 2 days since the fight's announcement, but popular boxing news outlets and news figures have already declared that they haven't heard from a single person not tied to the matchup who actually wants to see it.

The fight has been repeatedly deemed a "stay busy" fight by many, but that tends to suggest that at least one fighter involved is, well...staying busy.

While Manny's recent higher weight achievements are without a doubt impressive unto themselves, aside from comical weight demands, diva antics and ridiculously arrogant behavior, when the Mosley fight rolls around this May, Manny will have fought 5 times in a little over 2 years. That's not exactly a hellacious schedule, and hardly "staying busy." And on the heels of lopsided decision wins over foes with favorable styles that lacked any career momentum, fans are left expecting more from Manny.

Shane hasn't exactly been stepping in the ring often either, by the way. The Pacquiao fight will be his 5th in 3 years.

There is of course almost no need to mention the fact that a pound-for-pound showdown between Manny and Mayweather has loomed for over a year now, and completely imploded multiple times with plenty of blame to spread around generously. And equally lame, according to many fans, is the fact that a third fight with arch-nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez was quickly dismissed by Pacquiao and his promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, in favor of this gruel.

It was officially announced this week, yes, but many of us saw it coming.

The numbers, of course, don't lie. Shane Mosley is probably a more recognizable name in the sport than Marquez, and has undoubtedly been involved in farther-reaching fights and events in the sport than the future Mexican hall-of-famer. Unquestionable though is the fact that Marquez is the only fighter to even temporarily tame the unbridled aggression of Pacquiao, arguably winning both of their prior tangles. Additionally, Marquez, unlike Shane, is on an extraordinary twilight roll in his career, despite not fighting often himself.

It may just be that a seemingly dull 2010 in boxing has us fans anxious for one of the sports biggest fights involving one of the sport's biggest fighters. Or it may be the disappointment of concretely realizing that Manny - a guy so many of us looked to for the "anytime, anywhere" attitude and good guy story - is merely human like the rest of em.

The story is beginning to sound familiar.

If Manny drives over to his mistress' house, beats her, threatens her kids and steals her iPhone, I'm outta here.

Arbitrary Barrage - Pascal vs. Hopkins

2010-12-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

Significant mind games have entered the equation for this weekend's matchup between light heavyweights Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins.

Mind games are nothing new for the old mummy from Philly. This is the same guy who twice snatched a miniature Puerto Rican flag out of the hand of Felix Trinidad, once in San Juan. The same cranky fella who made a "cash in a duffel bag" side bet with William Joppy that he'd stop the former middlweight belt-holder, or pay him out 2-to-1. And the mischief took a turn for the comical when Hopkins blew up during the promotion for his bout with Joe Calzaghe, accusing British press of racism. We've come to expect the pre-fight antics from the old man.

Now, despite these attempts at sending the atmosphere surrounding the fights into chaos, and some desperate efforts during fights (feigning low blows and rabbit punches, excessive grappling, talking to opponents, etc.), Hopkins has largely looked flat and boring in his last few outings, win or lose.

Regardless, I've been confused by Team Pascal's decision to take on Hopkins since the day it was announced, not long after a big win over Chad Dawson that essentially saw the Haiti-born Pascal catapult himself to the top of 175 lbs.

Aside from the fact that Hopkins hasn't exactly been spitting out scintillating performances lately - or even just more than one performance a year for that matter, the 45-year old stays in the gym and has taken care of his body like very few fighters do. Even as Pascal's surprising out-maneuvering of the likely pound-for-pound level Dawson showcased the Montreal transplant's handspeed, adept footwork and ability to stick to a gameplan, the younger man still appeared to expose a few flaws for Hopkins to feed on.

Chad Dawson appeared to land well on Pascal when he actually threw shots in their August fight, but Jean consistently led and finished exchanges, using his relatively unorthodox footwork and in-and-out movement to nail Dawson with punches from odd angles that snapped the head of Dawson back and surely wooed the crowd. But as with a couple of other recent fights, Pascal faded down the stretch and his output clearly dropped. Unfortunately for Dawson, he didn't seem to be interested in rallying to keep his belt, taking his game to another level in potentially dire circumstances.

As many of us already know, Hopkins is a master at identifying his opponents' weaknesses and exploiting them all night long. And at his best, Hopkins is a late-rounds fighter. Once there, he's generally already set himself up to make a late round push with a generous heap of inside smothering, hip shots and forearms. Add on that Pascal's not-so-busy style means one less problem for Hopkins to solve, and it could spell a drawn-out disaster for Pascal on Saturday night in Quebec City.

As if I haven't helped exaggerate Hopkins' chances enough, here's a video of a presser held today where Hopkins takes Pascal's belt from the mayor and refuses to give it back when Pascal confronts him:

Bernard thrives off this stuff.

It's only fair to point out that Hopkins could literally get old overnight, being that fighting once a year only makes it more likely that we're surprised by a dreadfully shot performance from the guy who promised his dying mother he'd retire before the age of 42. While Pascal doesn't usually throw with the type of volume that would probably put Hopkins on the full defensive and prevent him from finding a groove, he still seems to have a handspeed advantage over the former undisputed middleweight champ. And a punch or two at a time may be enough to take one from Hopkins.

It's an interesting fight, but highly dependent on whether or not Hopkins is past it enough for Pascal to defend his belt. There's no question Jean Pascal isn't on the same level as Hopkins in a handful of facets of the game, but Bernard's output has dropped enough that he's been relying on veteran shenanigans to help him out when he's not dominating.

If Pascal were more precise with his footwork and not quite as sloppy with his upper body movement, I'd cite those as reasons why I feel he'll win. But what Hopkins has lost in foot speed and reflexes, he's made up for in smart positioning. Instead, I think Pascal will outwork Hopkins and be just strong enough to avoid too much inside scuffling. And in a close, potentially ugly fight, Quebec City fans going berserk every time Pascal throws a shot should work in his favor.

PREDICTION:

Jean Pascal by Unanimous Decision, 7-5 or so, in a fight we don't want to see again.

HBO World Championship Boxing Recap 12/13/10

2010-12-12T12:03:00.000-08:00

Expectations were high, and eight of the best and/or most promising fighters in two of the deepest divisions in boxing didn't disappoint Saturday night.

What a great night of fights.

Overall, one title was lost in surprising fashion, another title was defended in an expectedly rough tumble, a pair of former title challengers nullified each other to a majority draw, and a former 2-division champ and young star battled to a split decision. We had boxers, sluggers, movers, in-fighting, defensive displays, point deductions, post-fight scuffles. For a night, at least, we had it all.

Home Box Office in particular went out with a bang, even though the network ended the year quite early in the month of December and isn't scheduled to air another boxing card for more than a month and a half.

As boxing network rival Showtime staged a divisional tournament between four name fighters, HBO again counter-programmed and put together their own tournament of sorts, matching up junior welterweights Victor Ortiz and Lamont Peterson, and Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana.

Seemingly on a comeback tear since being stopped by Maidana in a crushing war, Golden Boy Promotions-backed Victor Ortiz may have actually been deliberately fed spent name opponents while mending a likely scarred psyche. Not only were were Nate Campbell, Antonio Diaz and Vivian Harris fighting through injuries, ongoing promotional issues and inactivity, but Harris and Campbell were essentially signed by GBP specifically to be opponents for the company's budding 140-lb. stars.

That said, it came as a surprise to many that Golden Boy would be putting Ortiz in with a guy who went a hard 12 rounds with perhaps the best junior welterweight in the world, Tim Bradley.

Despite being timed and schooled down the stretch, Lamont Peterson showed terrific handspeed and promise against "Desert Storm" in December 2009, snatching a few rounds from Bradley and showing toughness not many knew he had.

But regardless of what the "pundits" thought, Lamont Peterson wasn't being brought in to beat Ortiz in this 10-round bout. 20 months ago, Victor Ortiz was an undefeated "next young star" complete with commercials and inspirational video blurbs airing on HBO before and after a number of their shows.

The fight began with Peterson seeming tentative and cognizant of Ortiz' size advantage, and Ortiz capitalized early, possibly shaking Lamont up with a lead left or two. In the 2nd, Ortiz was cut on the scalp by an accidental headbutt and Peterson came back with some stiff shots, but went down twice in the 3rd, once from an uppercut-hook combo (followed up by a right hand to the gloves) and again from a near-tumble into the ropes, both possibly caused by balance issues. But the D.C. native recovered well at the end of the round, cracking Ortiz with a few nice hooks.

Peterson picked up where he left off in the 4th, handling occasional single shots but controlling much of the pace with his jab, and even backing Ortiz up at times. Lamont was again wobbled in the 5th though, but appeared to be using his legs well and moving his head at the right times.

The 6th round saw the momentum swing towards Peterson as he caught with hooks while the younger man jumped in, and dipped his head in close before landing flush body shots and quick combinations from a distance. Starting quickly in the 7th, Peterson controlled the fight with snapping shots from a favorable range. When Ortiz bore in with his head down, he was generally tied up, save for two good combinations he landed near the end of the round.

Ortiz wasted no time in round 8, going right after Peterson and landing a few left hands that his opponent took surprisingly well. But with about 30 seconds to go Peterson wobbled Ortiz with a series of stinging left hooks and sent Victor back to his corner a bit shaky.

Righting the ship, Ortiz tightened his shots up in the 9th and landed a couple of good 3-2's, but again Peterson stole his thunder with two heavy rights and more body work. Ortiz began backing up not long into the round, and Lamont cracked him with right hands when he'd lunge in, predictably.

The final round saw Ortiz moving forward behind hard shots, backing Peterson up for most of the round. Peterson did manage to land a right hand bomb that clearly wobbled the young man though.

Judges saw the fight 95-93 for Peterson, and 94-94 twice, resulting in a majority draw. Ortiz, now 28-2-2 (22), could only smile after the bout, clearly feeling he won on the strength of his early rounds attack.

The now 28-1-1 (14) Peterson also seemed confident he pulled the fight out by dominating Ortiz later on.

While not scintillating, the fight was entertaining in spots. Indeed Ortiz seemed to ease up at the wrong moment, allowing Peterson to get confident later in the fight and hurt him on more than one occasion. Both men showed the ability to take a slug or two and give some back, though the bigger Ortiz showed that he may still have a few mental hangups.

Where "Vicious" Victor goes from here is difficult to tell. Backing up and being forced to hesitate against a guy that's not a huge puncher may not bode well for the 23-year old. The fluid combination punching from past fights was mostly absent, and twice now we've seen him struggle when his opponent could take the heat.

On the other hand, Peterson seems to have surprised many who thought he'd crumble in the face of adversity. 0-1-1 in his sternest tests to date, the man needs a signature win, and this gutsy performance may steer him towards an opportunity to get one.

*******

The main event of Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana clearly stole the show with late-round drama, when what everyone was waiting for finally happened. Aside from a woeful officiating job by Joe Cortez, it was a fun fight; an unlikely early ending loomed, then the fight turned into a clinic, which turned into a slight struggle, which turned into a life-and-death effort.

Having picked up the pieces after getting blasted in 1 by Colombian banger Breidis Prescott in 2008, the Pakistani Brit rebounded by out-speeding Marco Antonio Barrera over 5 rounds before a cut ended the fight, then taking away Andriy Kotelnik's WBA 140 lb. title. Khan then crushed Dimitriy Salita in one and debuted in the US with a beatdown of possibly former contender Paulie Malignaggi this past May.

Argentinian Marcos Maidana came out of almost nowhere to challenge former WBA titlist Kotelnik in early 2009, turning heads in the diehard boxing community by thumping the Ukrainian en route to a split decision loss. In his very next fight, Maidana went to war with the opening bout's Victor Ortiz, hitting the deck 3 times, but rallying back to make the young charge quit. Since that June 2009 evening, Maidana went 3-0, bludgeoning William Gonzalez and undefeated Victor Cayo, and winning a difficult decision over a faded DeMarcus Corley.

Maidana, echoing the months of calling Khan out, bypassed touching gloves with the Brit at the opening bell, instead swinging wildly at him only to miss. But Khan wasted no time countering Maidana's rushes and wound up hurting him badly to the body late in the round. Maidana somehow made it to his feet, but was forced to barely survive.

Fans in the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas loudly cheered for Khan as Maidana pressed forward and ate flush bombs in the 2nd, although Khan seemed to get away from working the body. Maidana ended the round by landing a few thudding hooks to Amir's sides, but was warned by referee Joe Cortez for a number of infractions, some legit, some not.

Khan took two flush right hands from Maidana surprisingly well in the 3rd round, and was otherwise in control. But Maidana broke through again in the 4th with multiple body shots and right uppercuts, snapping Khan's head back and causing him to take some deep breaths in his corner between rounds. Cortez again went out of his way to warn Maidana for borderline low blows, and Khan for pushing Maidana's head down in close.

The Argentinian had a tough time catching Khan in the 5th, and the WBA champion found his range with hard combinations. Possibly out of frustration either with Cortez' curiously physical outing or Khan's movement, Maidana seemed to throw an elbow when being broken up in the clinch and was deducted a point. "El Chino" pushed to even up the round with a stiff combination towards the close, but found himself manhandled to his corner by the referee as the bell sounded.

Amir resumed moving in the 6th, stopping briefly to out-quick the challenger, displaying impressive handspeed and accuracy. Maidana rallied halfway through though, clocking Khan with left hooks that had him holding, for which Cortez warned him thrice before the end of the round.

(Note: Joe Cortez was intrusive in nearly every round, got pissy with Maidana and warned Khan for pushing Maidana's head down in every round from 4 on, so take that as a given so I can stop mentioning it.)

Clearly on steadier legs in round 7, Khan shoe-shined and pot-shotted his opponent, who resorted to taunting the champion before attempting a telegraphed hook. A visibly slowing Maidana looked to be simply following Khan around the ring, but landed several sweeping right hands and uppercuts that appeared to win him the round. Recovering well, Khan stood his ground more in 8 and strafed Maidana with right hands, sending him walking slowly back to his corner.

Uppercuts again played a role in the fight, but primarily for Khan this time in the 9th. The younger man also used his handspeed to fire quick combinations down the middle, clearly wearing Maidana down. His corner agreed, growing more and more restless between rounds.

Very lethargic rising from his stool, Maidana took several deep breaths between missing wide punches and getting slammed with right hands. About a minute into the 10th round, Maidana landed an explosive right hand as Khan backed up with his hands down, and suddenly the champion found himself being battered about the ring and repeatedly sent to the ropes by everything Maidana had, not throwing more than a shot or two for almost a full 90 seconds. He gamely fought back in the final seconds, was again badly hurt, but managed to finish the round on his feet.

An exhausted Maidana struggled to maintain control in the 11th, punishing Khan in close near the end of the round after not doing much for the first 2 or more minutes. All in all a good comeback round for the champion considering how the previous round went.

After moving away from Maidana for almost a minute in the final round, Khan was relegated to holding Maidana's gloves with his elbows in order to survive while getting mauled. Again Khan stopped throwing for the better part of the last minute, but finished the round with a few quick flurries.

A unanimous decision for Amir "King" Khan improved his record to 24-1 (17), and the young star's bruised face proved he worked hard for it. Judges scored the bout 113-112 and 114-111 two times, as Marcos Maidana fell to 29-2 (27).

Both fighters overcame the inept refereeing to close the HBO telecast with some nice surprises and late round excitement. Both men bared flaws over and over again, but wound up withstanding punishment, fighting fatigue and letting leather fly, making for a possible Fight of the Year candidate.

Assuming no rematch is on the table, Khan should be able to find a capable opponent or two while Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander sort things out. While he definitely stood up to more punches than many of us expected, his inability to adjust to certain shots landing on him over and over could be worrisome. Regardless, his talent and new-found durability should see him through more adversity.

As for Maidana, I have a feeling he'll be trying to slug his way into our hearts before too long.

*******

For my in-depth recap of the Showtime Bantamweight Tournament, click here, courtesy of TheBoxingBulletin.com

The Last Hope for a Good Year - Part 2

2010-12-08T23:15:00.000-08:00

November opened a potential can of worms in terms of action, whetting the appetite of boxing fans that have been long looking forward to the excitement that December may bring.

In a division filled with solid, name fighters, three separate promoters found a way to join forces and stage a tournament between four of the best guys at bantamweight. Not exactly a common occurrence these days, fans have been salivating at the idea of this single-elimination event since it was officially announced mid-September.

Though the Showtime Bantamweight Tournament hasn't been without its own hitches and venue switches, Gary Shaw and Golden Boy Promotions teamed up to headline the telecast with a collision featuring unbeaten rising star Abner Mares and former flyweight and super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan.

The boxing gods will kindly afford fans a second helping of bantamweight goodness in the form of a support bout, in which Yonnhy Perez will defend his IBF title against Joseph Agbeko.

This rematch of one of the best scraps of 2009 is set to open up the broadcast from the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, and hasn't been without its own sub-plot since their first meeting.

Claiming almost 250 amateur bouts, the Colombian Perez has fought out of Santa Fe Springs, California for most of his professional career. Turning pro at 26-years old in 2005, "El Colombiano" took his first significant step up in decisioning tough journeyman Oscar Andrade in his 10th outing. Perez earned 12 stoppage wins in his first 15 fights, with the 15th being a knockout victory over pug Alex Becerra on the undercard of Vazquez vs. Marquez III in March of 2008.

Yonnhy returned to the Home Depot Center in Carson, California 2 months later to decision veteran Manuel Sarabia, in a fight that proved to be more difficult than expected, on the undercard of Escobedo vs. Arrieta.

A second decision win over Oscar Andrade and a slow beatdown of game former prospect David Martinez on Showtime's ShoBox led to and IBF title elimination showdown with South African bruiser Silence Mabuza in May 2009.

Not surprisingly, Mabuza took the fight directly to Perez, who deftly countered and seemed to be landing cleaner punches, but was probably getting outworked while being pushed backwards in the Mabuza's backyard. The entertaining tumble came to an end in the 12th round when, behind on all cards, the Colombian landed a hard jab on an off-balance Mabuza that sent him falling backwards into the ropes, where he landed awkwardly. As Mabuza rose on seemingly unsteady legs, Perez dialed in with a hard left hook that had his man stumbling, forcing a referee stoppage at 1:06 of the final round.

The emphatic win set up what would be a sometimes rough (but always fun) 12-round battle with Joseph Agbeko in a Showtimes Championship Boxing Halloween headliner .

Agbeko was ad advertised early on in the fight, constantly throwing and moving forward, while Perez again countered with sharper punches, occasionally rocking "King Kong" back on his heels. Things got noticeably sloppy as the bout progressed, both fighters complaining about head clashes, both guys showing signs of wear (including a cut caused by a head clash for Perez), and a few seemingly intentional butts from the champion Agbeko for good measure. An unintentional headbutt in the 10th caused Agbeko to turn his back and eventually drop to a knee, resulting in a called knockdown. Perez then used better footwork to walk Agbeko into shots late in the fight, finishing strong and winning a convincing unanimous decision.

Efforts by Don King and Gary Shaw - who promote Agbeko and Perez respectively - to talk Showtime into airing an IBF-mandated rematch proved fruitless, and after seven months off, Perez was slated to defend his IBF title for the first time against unbeaten potential star Abner Mares as an opener for the final war between Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez in May of this year.

The Colombian's counter-punching opened the door for the younger challenger Mares to take a lead early in the fight by out-hustling the champion, though Perez once again appeared to land the cleaner shots in many rounds. Perez took over as Mares faded in the middle rounds, clearly gaining momentum. But by the 9th round, Mares was landing thudding body shots and finding a groove with good footwork and quick combinations. Both men were sore and swollen after the contest, which resulted in a majority draw.

A relatively small country in West Africa, Ghana has produced a number of solid, and even world class fighters. Joseph Agbeko hopes to be mentioned among names such as Roy Ankrah and Azumah Nelson if he wins this tournament.

Fighting in or around Ghana against opponents with unverifiable records, Agbeko went 21-0 (19) before running into future longtime WBA bantamweight titlist Volodymyr Sydorenko. The Ukrainian handed Agbeko his first loss by decision in May 2004.

After going 12 rounds with a 3-2 opponent in Accra 5 months later, Agbeko took over 2 years off from the sport. Following a return to the ring in March 2007, Agbeko fought in a support bout for a Top Rank-promoted card televised by Versus and featuring fellow Accra native Josh Clottey against Felix Flores. The TKO win over unheralded Fidencio Reyes marked the first time Agbeko had fought in the US after having relocated to New York.

Evidently "King King" impressed enough to be given a title shot against scrappy, yet woefully inactive IBF champion Luis Perez in September 2007. Opening up for a mismatch between Chad Dawson and yesteryear spoiler Epifanio Mendoza, Agbeko beat down the brawling Nicaraguan over seven rounds, forcing the ringside doctor to stop the contest due to a nasty cut below Perez' left eye, and seizing the title with relative ease.

After more than a year off, the champion, now under Don King's promotional banner, defended his title for the first time in another Versus co-feature against Nicaraguan boxer-puncher William Gonzalez in December 2008. Perhaps because the main event of Tomasz Adamek vs. Steve Cunningham was so thrilling, Agbeko failed to impress in winning a majority decision. The champion never seemed to find a rhythm, and Gonzalez used a consistent jab to thwart Agbeko's advances.

Agbeko's second defense came a full 7 months later against Vic Darchinyan, who had moved up two divisions and gone 4-0-1 since being stopped by Nonito Donaire at flyweight two years prior. A rough, and often dirty fight, both men forearmed, elbowed and hot below the belt, with Agbeko continuously interrupting Darchinyan's offense by moving forward and outworking the Armenian. The Ghanaian was awarded a close unanimous decision, leading to his next defense against "El Colombiano" Perez.

PREDICTION: Although their last fight was a headliner, Yonnhy Perez finds himself fighting in the opening bout of the broadcast yet again. But it should be markedly less pressure than trying to preemptively outdo Rafa Marquez and Israel Vazquez, and he still performed well in both instances. Agbeko doesn't have the overall ring smarts and multiple gears of a guy like Abner Mares, and while I don't see Perez as having developed a ton since their first meeting, I believe he has the wider range as a fighter and will slightly improve on his first performance, beating Agbeko more convincingly this time around. Perez may even be able to avoid head collisions early on as he appears to have worked hard at his footwork, but later on it could get interesting. Perez by unanimous decision.

The Last Hope for a Good Year - Part 1

2010-12-06T22:03:00.000-08:00

"Remember, remember the eleventh of December..."

Alright, the old rhyme doesn't exactly go that way. But for boxing fans, it should.

Just under a week away, December 11 may see the awakening of this year's snoozing beast. And Yonnhy Perez, Vic Darchinyan, Joseph Agbeko and Abner Mares are carrying the stick with which to poke it.

Early 2010 was admittedly a less-than-stellar period for boxing in terms of bigger matchups between name fighters. Many bouts fell apart before being finalized, and some anticipated fights fell short of high expectations.

But as with a few other recent calendar years for the sport, the little guys may just make all suffering worthwhile.

Notably, 2004 was dubbed "The Year of the Upset" before half of the year was up. By May, three of the sport's biggest stars had fallen in Roy Jones, Shane Mosley and Wladimir Klitschko, and all in relatively dramatic fashion.

Later in the year, Jones was again stretched by longshot Glen Johnson, and heavyweight hopefuls Dominick Guinn and Juan Carlos Gomez were both handed tough defeats. Oscar de la Hoya was heavily scrutinized for taking a ten count over a not-so-hellacious liver shot in the year's biggest event, and Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao's entertaining tangle produced a fan-dividing draw.

In November of the same year, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales closed out their classic trilogy with what many considered the best war between them yet. What many folks claimed was a terrible year for the sport coasted to the New Year riding the high of the ebb and flow between two great warriors and fierce rivals.

This time, a bleak year of pugilism may yet be salvaged when the month of December attempts to outdo an entertaining November.

On December 11, four of the best fighters in one of the deepest divisions in boxing will square off in the semi-finals stage of a single-elimination bantamweight tournament on Showtime.

Many have argued that boxing tournaments should go the way of the Dodo after the collapse of Showtime's 168 lb. "Super Six" tournament. Forgotten is the fact that the Super Six has produced a few fun scraps, and that regardless of recent developments, we're still treated to matchups between name fighters that we wouldn't have seen otherwise.

While the winner of the bantamweight tournament won't produce a consensus or universal bantamweight champion, the four participants are undoubtedly world class fighters. Aside from that, all four fighters possess respectable punching power and entertaining styles that should produce fireworks when matched against one another. And of the six total blemishes on the fighters' records, four of them have come against another participant in the tournament.

The main event of the broadcast pits super flyweight belt-holder Vic Darchinyan against undefeated contender Abner Mares.

Coming off a win against unheralded bantamweight Eric Barcelona, the 35-2-1 (27) Darchinyan appears to be using his clout from fights at lower weight classes to compete in this tourney. The Australia-based Armenian rose to prominence thrashing opponents and displaying an awkwardly effective herky-jerky style, stopping reigning (yet inactive) Colombian titlist Irene Pacheco in the 11th round to snatch up the IBF flyweight strap in December 2004.

Darchinyan then took his act Stateside, fighting twice in California and twice in Las Vegas after two relatively easy defenses in Australia, offering up a healthy dose of trashtalk along the way. In March 2007, Darchinyan drew large amounts of criticism for his lack of compassion after beating down smaller man Victor Burgos over 11 rounds, which resulted in doctors putting the tough Mexican into a medically-induced coma due to a blood clot on his brain.

His very next fight in July of the same year saw Darchinyan hand over his IBF title as he was outboxed and subsequently decked by one hard left hook against Nonito Donaire, earning him his first loss.

The road back has had its own highs and lows, the "Raging Bull" Darchinyan going 7-1-1, with wins over Cristian Mijares, Jorge Arce and Dimitry Kirillov, a draw with Filipino contender Z Gorres, and a rough loss to the aforementioned Joseph Agbeko, in which he forfeited the titles he had unified at super flyweight.

Despite a decent win streak, Darchinyan should have his work cut out for him when he faces Mares.

Mares, who will turn 25 before their bout, is undefeated at 20-0-1 (13).

Following a successful amateur career that included representing Mexico in the 2004 Olympics, Mares was signed by Golden Boy Promotions in November 2004 when the promotional company was merely in its fledgling stage. Mares fought on a number of Golden Boy pay-per-view cards alongside fellow Olympian Vicente Escobedo early in his pro career, showing heaps of talent and promise.

Mares' first significant step up in class came in April 2007 as he headlined a Telefutura card in his 11th pro fight against Colombian journeyman Angel Priolo. Mares took a couple rounds to find a groove, but once he did, Priolo fell in six.

On the undercard of Pacquiao-Marquez II in 2008, Mares destroyed Filipino Diosdado Gabi in 2 rounds. At the time, Gabi had lost once in 6 years, that loss coming at the hands of none other than Vic Darchinyan.

The young man's punching power seemed to actually be increasing as he came along, outclassing borderline contenders and prospects since the Gabi fight, until finding himself staring across the ring at IBF bantamweight champion Yonnhy Perez in May of this year on the undercard of Marquez-Vazquez IV.

An interesting affair, Mares-Perez began with the young Mexican beating Perez to the punch and controlling the pace of the fight. In the middle rounds, the experienced Colombian took over and appeared to be on his way to a dominant win. But in the late rounds, Mares rallied to even the fight up after 12, resulting in an entertaining majority draw. Perez had retained his title.

Mares and Darchinyan shouldn't have much trouble putting a period on the evening -the opening bout may be the exclamation point.

PREDICTION: Darchinyan may be the overall more accomplished fighter, and probably the better guy PFP, but he should find himself at least one division out of his comfort zone in this fight. Whether or not Darchinyan brings significant punching power up to bantamweight with him should be a large determining factor in the fight, as Mares will walk through his shots to land his own if Vic can't hurt him. Stylistically, a good jab and head movement have bothered Vic previously, and fighting inside isn't much of an option for him. Needless to say, Mares does all of those things well. Past that, Vic seems to be getting easier to hit, and Mares shouldn't have a very difficult time controlling the distance and pace. Mares by stoppage in about 8.

Boxing/MMA Clutter 10/17/10

2010-10-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

What do Hamburg, London, Montreal and Miami, OK have in common?

Not a whole lot. But all three cities hosted this past week's most prominent boxing and MMA cards.

We didn't learn much of anything new in either sport. The heavyweights in boxing still fail to entertain or offer fans much in terms of long-term hope, and while British mixed martial arts seems to be making huge strides in catching up with their stateside counterparts, it can't quite match up; Canadians love Lucian Bute, and Shawn Porter has huge teeth.

Big Bro Klitschko Delivers a Beatdown in Hamburg

Mark down "Germans love the Klitschkos" as another of those widely-accepted truisms that was reinforced this weekend.

In front of what looked to be a packed O2 Arena in Hamburg, Germany, Vitali Klitschko dealt Shannon Briggs an unholy beating over 12 one-sided rounds. Brigg's pre-fight huffing and puffing again proved more entertaining than his actual in-ring performance, as he waited and took right hands more than he threw anything actually meant to hurt the older Klitschko.

Briggs' notoriously awful stamina was an issue early in the fight, as the 38-year old Brooklyn native had his mouth wide open by the fourth round. By round 9, Briggs was a bruised and swollen mess, while Vitali hadn't taken much punishment at all.

After the 9th and 10th rounds, Shannon Briggs appeared to be having trouble finding his corner, and literally fell off his stool after the 10th. The fight needed to be stopped. Unfortunately, Briggs was allowed to take another two full rounds of punishment, though he did land probably his best punch of the fight in the final round.

Scores for the clear shutout were 120-107, 120-107 and 120-105, with no knockdowns.

News broke in the US this morning that Briggs was sent to the hospital with a concussion and multiple facial fractures, as well as a torn bicep.

Shannon "The Cannon" Briggs showed plenty of balls and heart in a dreadful losing effort. But he needs to put serious thought into retiring. His current record is (and should remain) 51-6-1 1 NC (45).

"Dr. Ironfist" Klitschko, on the other hand, makes it six in a row since making a comeback, nary losing a round in six fights. His overall record improved to 41-2 (38).

According to BoxingScene.com, Team Klitschko is still willing to give David Haye a 50/50 split for what would certainly be one of the two best heavyweight fights to be made - the other being Wladimir Klitschko against Haye.

Antonio Tarver - He Ain't Heavy

Former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver dipped his toe into the proverbial heavyweight waters on Friday night, decisioning Dominican journeyman Nagy Aguilera in Miami, Oklahoma.

The fight was mostly uneventful as Tarver outclassed Aguilera in the first few rounds, proving to have the far quicker hands of the two. The 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Tarver seemed to slow down and possibly hurt his left shoulder in the third or fourth round, allowing Aguilera to occasionally land punches.

Following clearly his best round in the 6th, Aguilera inexplicably backed up to the ropes over and over, from round 7 on. Tarver seemed content to follow him there and land solid left hands, then cruised to victory in the 10th.

All three scorecards read 98-92 for "The Magic Man" Antonio Tarver, who moves to 28-6 (19). Aguilera fell to 16-5 (11).

At the age of 41, Tarver looked much better than many expected. However he was also fed a guy who almost certainly wouldn't pose much of a threat, but hit just hard enough to keep Tarver honest and at times tentative. The older man's feet didn't seem particularly light, he's apparently still susceptible to injury, he slowed down significantly in the later part of the fight and his punching power simply isn't much to worry about for most upper echelon heavyweights.

Ironic that a 41-year old was featured on a boxing show dubbed "The Next Generation."

Any variety that could make for more exciting fights in the heavyweight division is welcomed, but it's doubtful Antonio Tarver is capable of doing that.

On the undercard, Shawn Porter kept his 0 intact and beat down a game but out-manned Hector Munoz over 9 rounds. Munoz tried to apply pressure from the opening bell, but got his head swiveled consistently and Porter fired off quick combinations. Porter's smart movement and fast hands had him looking a little bit like a late-90's Shane Mosley, though his opponent certainly helped him look that way.

And, no offense, but Shawn has a grill that would make Gary Busey uncomfortable. That overbite looks like a skateboard ramp, kid. Sorry.

Brits Mostly Fall Short at UFC 120

At the O2 Arena in London, Michael "The Count" Bisping was the only UK fighter of note to win on the card in front of 17,000+ spectators. Bisping shut out popular Japanese fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama, who was coming off an outstanding scrap against perennial brawl-maker Chris Leben at UFC 116.

Bisping, now 20-3, seemed to do a little more than the DREAM veteran Akiyama in at least two of the three rounds, though the action was close and Akiyama appeared to wobble Bisping on more than one occasion.

"Sexyama" is now 13-3, 2 NC.

On the undercard, Mike Pyle improved to 20-7-1 in upsetting Brighton, England's John Hathaway, who entered the bout undefeated at 14-0.

The fight itself was relatively entertaining, as Pyle and Hathaway traded shots in the opening stanza before Pyle took over and dragged his opponent down. The second stanza began with Hathaway looking to change the momentum, but Pyle locked him up in an inverted triangle from the mount, ending the round by hammering away at Hathaway's head. Pyle continued to take the fight to the ground and dominate in the last round, which caused the London crowd to boo emphatically.

Also televised was another upset of Nottingham's Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy, by former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit.

The Albuquerque native Condit's record went to 26-5, as it took him under a round to bring the fight to Hardy and catch him hard as they traded left hooks. Condit's hook simply got there first and landed more flush, and the follow up right hand on the ground put Hardy out.

The loss makes it two in a row for Hardy, who dropped a tough decision to Georges St. Pierre in March of this year. His record goes to 23-8, 1 NC.

Heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Travis Browne earned a draw in a sloppy, foul-filled affair early on the SpikeTV card.

Browne came out swinging wildly and was awkwardly effective in the first round, stunning Kongo and forcing him backwards at will. Browne gassed out in the second though, and Kongo pushed him to the cage, landing a number of short knees to Browne's thighs that clearly bothered the Californian. Browne again looked winded in the third round, but was able to smother Kongo's inside work enough to force the Parisian to clutch Browne's shorts repeatedly, even after being deducted a point by referee Marc Goddard.

The deduction cost Kongo the fight, as all three judges scored the bout 28-28. Kongo's record is now 15-6-2, while Browne remains undefeated at 10-0-1.

Paul Sass of Liverpool, England earned "Submission of the Night" honors with a triangle choke over Canadian Mark Holst.

Sass looked uncoordinated in attempting to strike his way to a takedown, but succeeded and adjusted his submission several times before forcing Holst to tap out with only 15 seconds remaining in the 1st round.

"Ultimate Fighter" Season 9 winner James Wilks was among the talented group of British fighters to be defeated, losing a shutout unanimous decision to Canadian Claude Patrick.

Patrick outdid Wilks standing up and on the ground through 3 rounds, working in ground and pound and maintaining top position while fighting off Wilks' submission attempts. Wilks wound up cut below the right eye by the end of the bout.

According to MMAJunkie, the overall lack of success of the British guys on the card is no reason to halt UFC's expansion into Europe. The president of the UFC, Dana White, acknowledged the unwavering support for the UFC and mixed martial arts in the UK, remarking:

"Fans ... want to see Dan Hardy and Michael Bisping and Hathaway and these guys win, but when they don't, I don't think it's like, 'Oh [expletive], we're never going to another UFC event because the English guys didn't win.'"

Brinkley Gets Clobbered

IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute, who may also be the best super middleweight in the world, thoroughly outclassed former "Contender" reality show participant Jesse Brinkley stopping him in 9 rounds at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.

Brinkley's odd head movement made Bute more hesitant than usual early on, and Brinkley was occasionally able to land a surprise counter, though Bute's shots were clearly more significant. Bute almost let Brinkley into the fight by taking a round off in the fourth, but seized control back in the fifth with a nasty body attack that put Brinkley down.

Hoping to catch some luck and land a big shot, Brinkley picked up his pace in the 6th and 7th rounds, but mostly walked into snappier shots from Bute, who worked a nice uppercut throughout as Brinkley leaned forward. Bute's size advantage became more apparent later in the fight, as most of his solid shots visibly affected Brinkley in one way or another.

Brinkley was strafed with uppercuts again in the 8th and 9th rounds, going down in each. Hurt to the body, cut and beaten up, Brinkley was stopped at 2:47 of round 9.

While the win did little to boost Bute's claim to 168 lb. greatness, it proved once again how popular the Romanian-born transplant has become in Montreal. Over 11,000 people showed up to watch the mismatch.

On the undercard, another Romanian fighter overcame a hard second-round knockdown and being subsequently rocked by Omar Sheika, to earn an entertaining unanimous decision.

The light heavyweights traded combinations a number of times in the fight, with Diaconu generally getting the better of it when they did. Otherwise "The Shark" Diaconu outworked the veteran and worked a decent jab, fending off a late surge by Sheika.

Omar Sheika falls to 30-10 (21), and is expected to announce his retirement following the bout.

Diaconu was coming off back-to-back losses to current light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal, and improves to 27-2 (15) with the win.

Random Classics: Aaron Davis vs Mark Breland

2010-10-16T18:43:00.002-07:00

There existed a time - not so long ago - when amateur boxing was more than an unsatisfying hors d'oeuvre to the main course of the unprofessional ranks.

The American amateur game has unfortunately transitioned to this current period of general disinterest in the sport. Weight classes have changed, scoring methods are in a constant swing, some say stoppages are too easy to get these days, etc. Whatever the reason, being a good American amateur has become more of a hindrance than an advantage.

Okay, that's an absurd exaggeration.

But in the aforementioned mythical exciting amateur scene, amateur boxing in the US was simply a slight warm-up for the pros, many times with little difference between the two.

For instance, fittingly, the New York Golden Gloves has produced a number of elite, world class fighters who went on to achieve professional greatness, or even just very good-ness. Jose Torres, Emile Griffith, Ray Robinson, Johnny Saxton...all NYGG champions, all known for producing good fights before turning pro.

*******

Mark Breland was not only a five-time New York Golden Gloves champion, but also member of perhaps the best US Olympic boxing squad ever in 1984.

Oh yeah, and there's the gold medal he won on that team, too.

Breland had been widely considered one of the best American amateur fighters ever, much less alive, by the time he turned pro. Though most amateur records are unsubstantiated, Breland's "official" amateur record stood at 110-1 by late 1984.

Not wasting any time, Breland actually defeated his first future champion, Steve Little, in just his third fight. Mysteriously, his knockout percentage clearly improved as the class of his opposition did the same, and he either smashed through or out-classed journeymen and undefeated prospects alike.

In February 1987, Breland won his first world title fight, stopping South African ho-hum Harold Volbrecht in seven rounds. The former Olympian then traveled to Italy to decision Juan Rondon in a non-title affair.

Just over one month later, in August 1987, Breland lost his WBA welterweight title to Marlon Starling in a fight where he won rounds early and appeared sluggish late, seeming to succumb in the eleventh round as much from exhaustion as being actually hurt.

Breland went 9-0-1 in his next 10 fights, including a draw against Starling in a rematch, a first round KO title-regaining effort (of the vacant variety) against Seung-Soon Lee, making an undefeated Rafael Pineda quit claiming foul, and a vicious three-round destruction of contender Lloyd Honeyghan.

Mark's seven-fight KO streak (to bring him to 27-1-1, 20 KO) set up a showdown with prospect Aaron Davis.

*******

Raised in The Bronx, Aaron "Superman" Davis was familiar with the New York Golden Gloves. Davis went to the finals at 147 lbs. a few years in a row, winning once in 1986.

Through his first twenty or so fights, Davis alternated between fighting the usual (yet unknown) suspects in New York and in France.

By time he entered the ring to face Mark Breland on July 8, 1990, Davis was 29-0 (18). His more notable wins were against Luis Santana and Gene Hatcher.

An overly fortunate decision win against so-so New Jersey staple Curtis Summit steered Davis toward a title shot with Breland, who was looking to make a fifth defense of his WBA welterweight title that he'd fairly recently won back. With the win, Davis became the #6 ranked contender in the WBA.

Funnily enough, Curtis Summit would later claim in the book "The Gloves: A Boxing Chronicle" that he knocked Breland out during sparring while in training camp for the Davis fight, and that the entire training camp had essentially been a disaster.

*******

Enjoy.

Random Classics: Matthew Franklin vs Marvin Johnson I

2010-10-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

"War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the sport's greatest warriors, Matthew Saad Muhammad, came to know more of his opponents in a brutally intimate way than he probably cares to remember.

Boxing can thank the unknown woman who introduced Matthew to Catholic Social Services for his tenure in the sport, rescuing him from mean Philadelphia streets after being abandoned by extended family following the death of his mother.

Born Maxwell Antonio Loach, Muhammad was unable to clearly speak his own name when asked, upon being taken in by a Catholic foster home, and was mistakenly renamed "Matthew Franklin."

Arrested for "gang activity" three times by the age of seventeen, Muhammad decided to head in a new direction, stuffing clothes inside a makeshift heavy bag and punching walls, teaching himself to fight.

A short amateur career propelled him towards a professional stint, the early goings of which offering just as few luxuries as his childhood.

Twenty fights into his career, Muhammad had either lost to or drawn (albeit generally controversially) with three future belt-holders: Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Mate Parlov, and the first recognized cruiserweight champion, Marvin Camel.

A solid showing against journeyman Ed Turner set up a clash with the up-and-coming prospect/contender Marvin Johnson.

*******

Growing up just about as rough in Indianapolis as Muhammad had in Philly, Johnson battled his way to an impressive amateur career, winning two Golden Gloves titles, and eventually a bronze medal in the 1972 Olympics.

Fifteen fights into his professional career, Marvin Johnson was no stranger to the "City of Brotherly Love."

Famed promoter Russel Peltz wound up catching one of Johnson's performances in Indianapolis, and brought him to Philadelphia, where Johnson would fight three times at the classic boxing venue The Spectrum in 1976 and 1977.

Seeking bigger career paydays and attempting to make a name for himself, the eventual three-time light heavyweight champ Johnson took on contender Matthew Franklin for the North American light heavyweight title (NABF) on July 26, 1977.

And the blood-lusting boxing gods were pleased.

*******

Franklin was 15-3-2 (9), while Johnson carried a record of 15-0 (12) into the ring.

A tense staredown set the tone.

The southpaw Johnson took the fight right to Muhammad Franklin, forcing him to clinch in between attempts at getting Johnson's attention with lead right hands. Action evened up about halfway through the round, as Franklin began ripping uppercuts and hooks to the body, mostly whiffing attempted uppercuts upstairs. Both fighters ended the first round strong.

A high pace continued through the second round, both men taking turns whacking at the other, Franklin generally the more effective as he stopped Johnson in his tracks a number of times with clubbing shots. Johnson broke through near the end of the second, cracking Franklin with a few uppercuts and bloodying his nose, despite going backwards for the first time in the fight.

Both fighters weathered heavy punches to give their own in the third round. The momentum shifted a handful of times; Johnson landed uppercuts and hooks walking back, Franklin marched forward in a beastly robotic fashion, landing measured shots, then haymakers.

Neither guy seemed willing to be outdone in the fourth, eating leather, diving in for seconds and then unleashing. Back and forth. Just when it seemed as though Johnson would take over with more uppercuts and big hooks, Franklin roared back, snatching the round with clobbering shots in the final seconds and stinging Johnson.

Franklin darted forward at the beginning of the fifth before allowing the pace to slow down a bit. Johnson attempted to seize control of the bout not long into the round, but was met with hard return fire. Finally Johnson backed Franklin to the ropes, landing a series of hard straight lefts and carrying the momentum to the end of the round.

Again blood flowed freely from Franklin's nose in the sixth, as Johnson guided him about the ring with constant pressure. Johnson's left hand managed to swell Franklin's right eye, though not without eating some stiff counters himself. Johnson wouldn't be denied though, literally leaping in with hooks and uppercuts, seeming to temporarily tame Franklin's aggression.

Johnson wasted no time in the seventh round, ripping hooks to Franklin's ribs and again backing him up around the ring. Franklin seemed to be trying to weather the storm a bit or take a break, not coming fully alive until late in the round, and then only to interrupt Johnson's rhythm with short, softer punches.

Franklin stepped it up in the eighth round, letting his hands go more consistently and rocking Johnson back on his heels early on while backing up. Standing his ground, Franklin did solid work along the ropes, but still took intermittent punishment. Closing the round strong was Franklin, while Johnson took a deep breath before slowly walking to his corner after the bell.

The ninth round brought more smothering in-fighting from Johnson, who landed a few sickening body punches and hooks early. As Franklin began to turn things around, Johnson again landed a 4-punch combination that rocked Franklin backwards. Shortly thereafter (and nearing the end of the round), Franklin bounced some terrible straight rights off Johnson's forehead and temples that had Marvin's legs rubbery.

Greatly diminished was Johnson's head movement in the tenth, and Franklin slammed right hands home as a result. Sensing a way to end the bout, Franklin dialed in with more right hands, though Johnson continued to walk forward. An arm-weary Johnson forced the brawler out of Franklin with about a minute left, as both guys battled back and forth, stopping each other in their tracks repeatedly. Johnson closed strong, with Franklin's right hands barely missing their mark.

Both fighters entered the eleventh for the first time in their respective careers to that point, and Franklin made an early statement with more right hands. Franklin again moved to the ropes, and Johnson happily crowded him with hooks. After about a minute of phone booth scrapping, Franklin let loose with a combination that seemed to wobble Johnson, and he attacked to the end of the round, unable to put Johnson down. A mistake led to Johnson catching a bit of a break, as the referee believed he had hear the bell 10 seconds before the round actually ended.

Franklin smelled blood in the twelfth, going straight at Johnson with zero regard for the sloppy shots thrown back at him. A huge straight right hand caught Johnson and staggered him, and Franklin swarmed his potential kill, propping Johnson's head up with uppercuts and finishing with right hands. An exhausted Marvin Johnson collapsed to the canvas and was left to lay motionless at 1:12 of the final round.

Both men reportedly earned a mere $2500 each for the bout.

Oscar-Worthy Ambitions

2010-10-01T22:13:00.001-07:00

Few sports exhibit the same cutthroat business model of boxing. Perhaps the solitary nature of the sport compounds the ruthlessness, but in fact most other sports seem to emphasize, at least on the surface, creating and maintaining a level field of play - salary caps, conduct policies, universal governing organizations, etc.

Boxing has always operated under the guidance of its own Golden Rule: he who has the gold greases the palms of those who make the rules.

However, Golden Boy Promotions' president Oscar de la Hoya is apparently looking to reform that idea.

In a September 27 interview with Broadcasting & Cable, de la Hoya ruffled quite a few feathers by claiming the sport would be much better off with Golden Boy Promotions as the sole promoter and distributor of boxing, directly referencing and praising the business model of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and what it has done for mixed martial arts.

Fellow promoters Gary Shaw and Bob Arum seemed angrily annoyed by the interview; Arum suggested Oscar's ideas would be illegal, and Shaw claimed he'd warned HBO about Golden Boy's attempt at a monopoly.

All feigned outrage aside, the question becomes whether or not a UFC-like business model would even work in the sport of boxing - or, more accurately, who that model would be good for.

Lou Dibella was the only one who got it right; he essentially laughed off Oscar's comments, saying it was business as usual, and citing Golden Boy's close relationship with HBO as an example.

As it stands, promoters organizing boxing cards that feature fighters under their promotional banners, especially against one another, is nothing new. It maximizes profit and allows you to avoid working with other promoters, who you may or may not have undercut, sold out or snatched a fighter from in the past. Most importantly, promoting is a business, not a charity.

But the UFC is more than a promoter.

The UFC has become synonymous with the sport of mixed martial arts itself, despite many other organizations like Strikeforce, the now-defunct PrideFC and it's successor DREAM doing very well at times. The more popular athletes in the UFC are among the most popular athletes in the world.

In addition to being easily the most popular MMA organization, the UFC has also hooked up with a cable television channel, SpikeTV (whose core demographic is young males), to exclusively air its non-PPV fight cards.

A big difference between MMA and boxing, and a big reason why it would be difficult to apply the former's workings to the latter, is the amount each pays its fighters.

While HBO has seemingly set its financial bar too high, paying its "house" fighters much more than they're worth in reality, the UFC often spends less on purses for an entire event than HBO does on only one of its fighters.

No wonder Oscar would like to mimic the UFC in terms of controlling the sport.

If a fighter has nowhere (or very few places) else to go to make good money, even if "good" is only relative, then it leaves him no other choice but to play ball. This, of course, would be great for the promoter.

But boxing is a deeply-evolved sport compared to MMA, styles and technique perfection aside. However, more time has also given boxing plenty of opportunities to fragment itself beyond the point of recognition.

Boxing has had more than one belt or champion per division for more years of its history than not, meaning more sanctioning organizations, rankings-makers and conflicting interests. That's without mentioning promoters, managers and the various entities controlling television dates. Delving into the world of boxing sponsorship (or lack thereof) is yet another hang-up on this issue.

At the end of the day, there are too many hands reaching out to grab loot for boxing to become much like the UFC.

The older promoters Oscar specifically mentioned in his interview, Don King and Bob Arum, both seem to still hold decent sway over sanctioning bodies and numerous powers that be. Arum's company Top Rank remains a force in boxing's premier city, Las Vegas.

Sanctioning bodies themselves would fight a new world order in the sport tooth and nail, as it wouldn't allow them to collect sanctioning fees on their interim champions, Super champions, Champions Emeritae, Silver champions and borderline useless eliminators.

Most importantly, Golden Boy would have to find a way to completely bypass HBO as a distributor. No easy feat considering HBO has probably become boxing's biggest promoter itself.

Golden Boy Promotions may actually be closer to dominating the promotional action of boxing than it realizes, though. Aside from being headed by one of the most popular fighters the sport has ever known and one of the most recognizable faces in the sports world, Golden Boy seems to have its own "chokehold" on HBO television dates - the most coveted boxing airtime this side of the Atlantic.

The problem is, unlike the UFC, Golden Boy has rarely sought to actually develop fighters. Rather, the promotional company seems to either sign established fighters toward the end of their careers for its younger, more marketable guys to feed off, or stars who have become free agents or are in some way connected to de la Hoya.

With "The Ultimate Fighter," the UFC has banked heavily on a mainstream, reality-based show featuring young and/or deserving prospects and pugs. These fighters are then used to fill undercards and matched accordingly to produce exciting fights.

The best Golden Boy could muster was a lame attempt at beating "The Contender" to the punch with a show called "The Next Great Champ," a reality show with unknown fighters that produced abysmal ratings and was quickly canceled. An attempt to create an eight-round championship belt did little to boost interest.

Upon creating Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar de la Hoya promised to bring boxing back to the fans, hosting affordable local shows and actively recruiting young prospects to ensure that the future of the sport is prosperous.

Ultimately, Oscar has done little else than evolve into the same mob bosses he's promised to vanquish.

Mixed martial arts continues to school the sweet science in the art of promotion, marketing and generation of interest. Us masochists can only hope to be entertained as these delusional boxing figureheads happily eat each other alive.

Don't hold your breath, Golden Boy.

A Heavyweight Curse

2010-09-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

Any fighter hoping to earn mention among heavyweight greats from yesteryear is met with critical eyes, and must endure likely unfair comparisons to former champions and contenders.

Many of the most famous fighters in boxing cut their teeth in the heavyweight division. And until the wave of popularity currently driving mixed martial arts rolled into town, the Heavyweight Champion of the World (especially when there was only one) was the consensus "baddest man on the planet."

Lennox Lewis, for example, was plagued by such comparisons throughout his respectable career. It didn't help that he had the personality of a wet shoe, and settled into a more cautious and safety-first style before retiring in February 2004. Aside from that though, he was unlucky enough to succeed more exciting and famous American champs Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, among a number of other belt-holders generally glossed over by boxing historians.

Whether or not the big men of yore were actually better fighters worthy of the nostalgic invincibility is of course fairly subjective, though the overall toughness of the division in particular eras isn't quite as difficult to determine.

Current unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko finds himself in the unfortunate position of dominating what is potentially the worst heavyweight division ever.

In the wake of his tenth round knockout of former victim Sam Peter, the lament over Wlad's defensive - and at times downright John Ruiz-esque - recent performances seems to be at its peak.

Carrying a record of 55-3 (49 KO), the Ukrainian rose to fame fighting mainly in Germany, known for his offensive tools and crushing punching power, even in his dangerous jab. Wlad suffered his first setback in an eleventh round TKO loss to journeyman Ross Puritty in 1998, though the loss is generally written off as a lesson learned, as Wladimir was exhausted by the ninth round, and big brother Vitali avenged the blemish for him anyways.

Between his first loss and 2003, Wlad rebuilt in Germany (and to a lesser extent in the US) by trouncing hapless European pugs overseas, and questionable opposition in the States, garnering the attention of HBO along the way.

As Lennox Lewis neared retirement, both Klitschko brothers were thought to be the next generation of athletic big men, though Wladimir was generally billed as the better fighter.

Corrie Sanders crashed HBO's party as a late sub opponent in March of 2003, stopping Wladimir in two rounds, knocking him down four times in front of an Arena of Klitschko fans in Germany. The tape-delay broadcast seemed to give American boxing fans proper ammunition for discrediting the younger brother.

After again retreating overseas and hooking up with famed Kronk Gym trainer Manny Steward, Wlad returned to HBO, facing Lamon Brewster in the main event to the first welterweight fight between Cory Spinks and Zab Judah. A notable amateur but underachieving pro, Brewster was expected to stroll his way to a loss as he had against Cliff Etienne (in a great heavyweight brawl), and Charles Shufford.

Disaster struck for a second time, as Wlad was TKO'd in 5 after beating the hell out of Brewster for the first three and a half rounds. By the fifth round, Klitschko could barely stand up, much less survive the flush left hooks bouncing off his head.

Steward would later attribute the loss to Wlad's body being covered by too much vaseline, which apparently didn't allow him to sweat enough.

Since the surprise defeat to Brewster, Wladmir has rattled off twelve straight wins, including a bludgeoning of his most recent conqueror. Despite going the distance only twice in twelve fights, the criticism has been plenty thick, and understandably so for reasons mentioned earlier.

Wlad's career as a whole seems to be easily split into two parts: the robotic walk in the park leading up to the Brewster loss, and the style adjustments under Steward thereafter.

Steward's early influence was evident in tough wins against DeVarryl Williamson and Sam Peter the first time around, but Wlad uncomfortably and improperly clutched from the wrong distance and at the wrong times.

Following the first struggle against Peter that saw Wlad knocked down three times in three separate rounds, Wlad rebounded with a seven-round destruction of Chris Byrd, who he had previously beaten down amid mild controversy (Byrd claimed the 6'6" younger brother had tampered with his gloves or placed a foreign substance on them which blinded Byrd early in the fight), and took his IBF title in April of 2006.

In the four-plus years since stampeding Byrd, Wlad has defended his title nine times, eight by stoppage.

Essentially clearing out much of the division, Wlad's recent defenses have been against either opponents fulfilling sanctioning organization obligations, or fellow titlists: Ruslan Chagaev and Sultan Ibragimov, both of whom came into their matches unbeaten. Chagaev was named WBA "champion in recess" by the organization ahead of the fight, thus his belt was not on the line.

Regardless, Wladimir Klitschko has not lost more than a handful of rounds against nine of the best available opponents.

At the end of the day, most complaints seem to center around the addition of clinching and measuring with the jab to Wlad's game.

It may not be pretty - in fact, a number of fighters have been blasted by fans and boxing scribes alike for excessive holding - but it's difficult to argue with a 90% knockout ratio, win or lose.

When you tune in to a Wladimir Klitschko bout, there's a ninety percent chance you'll get to see a stoppage either way. Avoiding a snooze on the ride there is, admittedly, the difficult part.

Past that, which again is not easily overlooked by most fans and critics, Wlad has two other major strikes against him: he refuses to fight his big brother Vitali, who holds every splintered version of the WBC Heavyweight belt imaginable, and that he is ruler of a division that Lennox Lewis left without a clear successor.

As to the first affliction, not wanting to fight your own brother is regrettable, but probably understandable.

The second part likely accounts for much of the underlying criticism.

Two notable former champions that underwent harsh judgment during their respective reigns? Larry Holmes, and none other than Lennox Lewis.

Holmes was pestered by objections over his opposition through much of his impressive title reign, and not to mention constant comparisons to his predecessor, Muhammad Ali. "The Easton Assassin" Holmes took most of the questions regarding his chin, flat performances, clowning, and inability to become equal with his idol Ali in stride.

A lack of strong roots appeared to prevent Lewis from gaining a strong following early in his career. A stoppage loss to inconsistent quasi-contender Oliver McCall derailed much of his momentum, and any sort of confidence in Lewis as a potential tough champion was questioned as a result. That is, until his final matchup against Wlad's big brother, where Lennox was forced to fight his way back from a deficit on the scorecards and destroy Vitali's facial tissue.

It seems many Ali fans still feel bitter toward Holmes for all but closing the book on "The Greatest"'s career, and a number of folks still vividly recall the images of Lewis getting flattened by both Hasim Rahman and Oliver McCall, but history has smiled upon both men.

In hindsight, Holmes in generally seen as one of the more dominant and skilled champions of the current era, and the same fans who dubbed Lewis a champion without much charm, personality or enduring quality often fondly remember the last time there was an unquestionable, universal heavyweight champion.

But Lennox Lewis clearly bested Holyfield in 1999 (horrible split-decision draw notwithstanding), and Larry Holmes was able to cement his championship claim by sending Ali into "early" retirement (similar to how Marciano wasn't viewed as a "complete" champ until smashing Joe Louis).

While big brother Vitali was given the opportunity to forcefully inherit the heavyweight championship from Lennox Lewis, Wladimir was not afforded the same luxury.

The lack of a concrete champion leading up to his current reign, or even just "best of the division," has made Wlad's transition from post-champ scrambler to dominant kingpin a hard sell. And the dearth of exciting contenders in the division means it's not likely to get much easier.

Although heavyweight has suffered through a solid decade of woeful competition, one fighter has clawed his way to the top of the heap and led by example as a well-spoken, well-educated and respectful champion, training like a beast and coming into every fight in outstanding condition, willing to go a full twelve rounds.

Ultimately, when the the dust from this pitiful division has settled, Wladimir's stylistic faults may just be overlooked, and his career accomplishments embraced.

In a chaotic division sickened by corrupt alphabet organizations and blown-up smaller fighters trying to pull in heavyweight purses, some measure of clarity eventually counts for something.

Boxing Clutter 9/20/10

2010-09-09T22:14:00.001-07:00

For months both boxing fans and journalists have claimed 2010 has been an especially uneventful and disappointing year for the sport.

Personally I've been able to enjoy boxing quite a bit this year. A couple of fights have been surprisingly exciting, and a number have lived up to their pre-fight expectations.

True enough, the heavyweight division is still putrid, the Super Six at 168 has all but fallen apart, some high profile matches (and rematches) haven't gotten past the "When, Where and How Much?" stage, and as usual, the controversy never fails.

The sport lives to lose another fan, just like every year.

Especially with the extra-curricular activities.

"Money" May 6's and 7's

Floyd "Money" Mayweather, one half of maybe the biggest single disappointment of 2010, seems to continue his downward spiral into the Riddick Bowe "Kidnap your wife and kids" territory.

Fans had plenty of reasons to be annoyed with Mayweather years ago, but he's been especially aggravating since late 2009.

Following a lackluster decision win over the much smaller Juan Manuel Marquez last September and Manny Pacquiao's eleven-and-a-half round bludgeoning of Miguel Cotto in November, it seemed as if, for the first time in many years, the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport would meet in the ring without having to mess with catchweights.

What ensued was a massive boxing media joke, as both fighters made JLo-like demands and the fight fell through, but not before slinging mud back and forth.

Rather than fight, both guys did what any spoiled diva would do: make a boatload of money against different well-hyped opponents.

Take two on negotiations didn't go much better through Spring and early Summer 2010, though Floyd seemed to dispute that they even took place.

Mayweather seesawed between claiming he would take the rest of the year off, and saying he wanted to fight...until earlier this month.

On September 2, Floyd delivered an embarrassingly awkward rant on a streaming video website called Ustream. The video itself was fairly laughable, easily dismissed by most fans. The situation devolved quickly for Floyd though, as his inappropriate (and incorrect) racial remarks in the video caught the attention of mainstream news and sports websites more than happy to paint the undefeated and semi-active fighter in a negative light.

It's not exactly like he has trouble doing that for himself though.

Floyd offered up a half-hearted apology a few days later. Forgiven, forgotten...right?

A week later on September 9, it was reported on various news sites that Floyd was wanted for questioning in an alleged domestic violence incident with his "baby momma" Josie Harris, who also claimed the financially-troubled Floyd took her iPhone during the encounter earlier that morning, after threatening Harris and their two sons, ages 9 and 10, with physical violence.

A few weeks later, Mayweather now finds himself charged with eight separate counts in Nevada stemming from his confrontation with Harris, and may be sentenced to 34 years if convicted on all counts.

Ike Ibeabuchi and Oliver McCall at least had drugs and likely legitimate psychological issues to blame for their breakdowns. Riddick Bowe claimed in court that too many punches to the head caused his.

It seems Floyd's excuse may be having too much free time on his brittle hands.

According to Floyd's attorney Richard Wright, the fighter isn't expected to serve more than a week or two in jail, if any time at all.

In terms of years vs months or days to serve, I'm not sure which would be better, as Floyd might not be quite as good for he sport as he says he is.

Showtime Bantamweight Tournament Official

Giving credit where it's due, promoter Gary Shaw played a big role in finalizing Showtime's upcoming bantamweight tournament.

The first round of the single-elimination tournament has officially been set for December 11 in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Headlining the Showtime telecast will be super flyweight belt-holder Vic Darchinyan against unbeaten Abner Mares, who recently challenged Yonnhy Perez for his IBF bantamweight strap. Perez will be defending his belt against Joseph Agbeko in a rematch of their October 2009 fight in the supporting bout.

Shaw, Golden Boy Promotions and Don King collaborated to make the tournament happen, and while a few of the best bantamweights around aren't participating, there's no question the four fighters involved are at least among the best in the division. And after all, top fighters squaring off is what we fans ask for.

Gary Shaw in particular deserves a bit of extra credit, as the reputation of two of his main fighters is at stake, and because I've been especially critical of him as a promoter over the years.

Showtime's tournament may not crown a bantamweight champion, but it brings us a step closer to it, and proves that, under the right circumstances, rival promoters can indeed work together.

Prediction? Pain.

Of the four guys entering the tourney, all can bang a bit, none are particularly vulnerable (though Darchinyan may be nearing the end of his prime, if not there already, and a bit out-sized), and they generally make for good, entertaining fights.

And as I've mentioned before, I expect this single-elimination format to work better than Showtime's Super Six that has all but fallen apart.

Completing the Mexican/Filipino Fab Four?

Just as the original welterweight/middleweight "Fab Four" carried on well past the primes of Hagler, Hearns, Leonard and Duran, the newest featherweight/lightweight version may be coming full circle a good half-decade too late.

Manny Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales have already produced a handful of outstanding fights between them, with Marquez vs Morales being the last fight necessary to make it an official "Fab Four."

According to BoxingScene.com, Tijuana native Morales had essentially called out lightweight ruler Juan Manuel Marquez ahead of his six-round beatdown of UK fringe contender Willie Limond.

The Limond fight was contested with the vacant (and laugh-worthy) WBC Silver 140-lb. title, which basically set Morales up for a shot at Humberto Soto's WBC lightweight title.

In the BoxingScene article just linked, Morales seems to downplay a potential matchup with Soto in favor of a showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez. Although a win over Soto would make Morales the first Mexican to win titles in four divisions, "El Terrible" correctly asserted that a Marquez fight would not only be more meaningful to his legacy, but more attractive to fans.

As for Morales, most tend to agree he's looked faded and like a fighter lacking endurance in his recent fights, but the man still sports his signature body attack and warrior instincts.

If the 34-year old insists on continuing to fight, and it appears that he will, challenging and aging (but still impressive) Marquez for a legitimate title should at least answer a number of questions. But it may not give the fans many clues as to how a fight in their respective primes would have played out.

Haye-Harrison Managing to Offend Almost Everyone

Including fans.

Speaking of inappropriate behavior, David Haye seems to have adopted two of Floyd Mayweather's habits: completely discrediting undeserving opponents pre-fight, and offending human rights groups.

Aside from the fact that Haye pledged to never give Audley Harrison the opportunity to make money off him, changed his mind, and seems to be laughingly antagonizing boxing fans about it in every interview, Haye outdid his own comical performance against Nikolai Valuev by dropping the "gang rape"-bomb in reference to what the outcome of his upcoming bout will be.

Don't get me wrong, because both Floyd and Haye were ultimately doing what countless other fighters before them have done by hurling borderline insults at other fighters. But especially outspoken athletes tend to draw inordinate amounts of criticism, and more so when they're extraordinary talents.

Haye talked up potential bouts with the Klitschko brothers even in his cruiserweight days, and his heavyweight assault was a highly anticipated move, expected to bring life to the dreadful division.

Though initial offers from the Klitschko's were indeed somewhat insane, Haye has lowered his output considerably - both in-ring and in terms of the frequency of his fights - since contemplating his move to heavyweight, and hasn't exactly brought the unbridled wrath he had us hoping for.

A surprisingly dull showing in his November 2009 WBA title-winning effort against Valuev seemed a disappointing consolation to the canceled bout with Wladimir in June, where Haye seemed to indicate a hand injury might not have been as bad as advertised, and instead he simply didn't like the contractual terms.

A foul-filled follow up against John Ruiz at least came with a measure of silver lining, as the Brit may have finally retired a guy with a truly horrific style.

Recently turning down a 50% take against Wladimir may be the most disappointing aspect, though. Haye keeps mimicking Floyd, shrugging off a reasonable offer in order to face a nearly harmless foe - or no foe at all, in Floyd's case.

Despite vowing to retire before 2012, Haye insists that his competition post-Audley will be nothing but class.

I think I've heard this tune before.

Random Classics: Ray Mancini vs Arturo Frias

2010-09-04T22:19:00.001-07:00

It's been deservedly referred to as one of the best one-round fights ever.

And it was on CBS Sports on a Saturday.

Oh, boxing. What happened?

That's a rhetorical question.

Arturo Frias showed up in the mid- and late-70's at the famed Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, generally fighting often, and went undefeated until 1981. His first loss, a majority decision verdict against former WBA Lightweight Champ Ernesto Espana in Venezuela, was also the first time he'd fought outside of Southern California.

After going back to his "SoCal" roots and rebounding with two wins, and taking advantage of a WBA Lightweight ranking that wasn't altered despite his loss to Espana, Frias challenged Claude Noel for his WBA Lightweight Championship. It was the belt initially vacated by Roberto Duran in 1979, then vacated by the annoying Sean O'Grady for not facing Noel, with the belt also having a couple of other temporary babysitters in between.

Even though he wasn't a big puncher, Frias was able to stop Noel in the eighth round of their matchup, then avenge his lone defeat to Espana by technical decision, gaining the WBA title and defending it for the first time, all in less than two months.

Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini likewise lost for the first time in 1981, except he lost to a consensus great to all-time great fighter in Alexis Arguello.

Mancini's brawling style and good punching power made him extremely fan-friendly and got him on television before too long. The Youngstown, Ohio native was 20-0 with 15 KO's going into his first loss to Arguello, who then held the WBC Lightweight title.

Mancini gave a great account of himself and pushed the much taller champ back in many rounds, but ultimately was TKO'd in round fourteen.

Just three months later, Mancini bounced back with a knockout win, then another less than two months after that.

Mancini and Frias met in the ring on May 8, 1982.

Following the opening bell, a short "feeling out process" took place with both fighters mostly jabbing.

Less than three minutes later, both fighters' faces were disasters in the making, and Frias found himself wearing a white terry cloth over his head and wondering where it all went wrong for him.

From Graham Houston's archives at ESPN:

Needless to say, it took you longer to read this stuff than it took you to watch the fight itself.

Watch the videos below and enjoy.

Boxing/MMA Clutter 9/1/10

2010-09-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

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.

Random Classics: Nigel Benn vs Anthony Logan

2010-08-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

If you're not a British fight fan, you probably only know Nigel Benn's for his nasty Super Middleweight war with Gerald McClellan in 1995.

That fight had the unfortunate distinction of being improperly handled in terms of training and officiating, and resulting in the serious injury of McClellan. In terms of in-ring action, it was a fairly sloppy affair, but memorable all the same for its shifts in momentum and drama. The fight, its history and aftermath were made even more famous by fighters like Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, Jr. referencing it often and attempting to help McClellan, who now is severely handicapped and must be cared for by his family.

That fight isn't the focus here, but it seems like Benn will be forever tied to it, right or wrong.

If you are indeed a British fight fan, and especially if you're old enough to remember the local UK scene in the late 1980's, then you probably remember the "Dark Destroyer" Benn for his tenacity, punching power and downright ferocity early on in his career. You may even remember him a bit for that if you're simply an educated or curious boxing fanatic, but only in hindsight.

The young prospect Logan, hailing from Jamaica, came into the bout at 15-1-1 (11), not having been tested much. The already popular Benn stepped into the ring at 18-0 (18), following a 5-month hiatus due to a promotional/managerial dispute with Frank Warren. Prior to the holiday, Benn had fought 17 times in 15 months.

What ensued once the initial bell rang surprised many fans, but also seemed to endear Benn to the UK boxing public and launch his reputation into orbit overseas. Not only could Benn demolish, but dust himself off and roar back from adversity.

This is one of my favorite short brawls.

Enjoy.

Boxing/MMA Clutter 8/24/10

2010-08-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

Another "edition" of Clutter. More bad tidings, more complaints. Maybe I'll figure out a way to work in some good news and optimism one of these days.

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.

Boxing Clutter 8/19/10

2010-08-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks "Gallito"

Team Espinoza, who has handled the later portion of Martin "Gallito" Castillo's career, seems to be encouraging the former WBA Super Flyweight champion to retire following a first round stoppage loss to Jorge "Travieso" Arce.

The former Mexican Olympian and excellent amateur Castillo has gone 3-2 in his last five fights, with both losses being tough stoppages. However, in his prime, Castillo was a classy boxer with impressive footwork and a great ring IQ.

Ultimately a second retirement (Castillo announced his retirement after a 2008 knockout loss to Fernando Montiel) would be Martin's decision and I would respect the choice of a man who was extremely nice to me the only time I met and spoke with him. Whichever he chooses, it may help him to know he still has at least one fan left that appreciates his career and cheered for him at every turn. Either way, thanks for all the fun times, champ. And good luck.

More Empty Haye Talk

Yesterday BoxingScene.com reported that British promoter Barry Hearn said negotiations for an all-UK fight between David Haye and Audley Harrison are going well.

What is there to negotiate?

After defeating Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in a fairly boring and non-confrontational bout, Haye proclaimed he would never fight Harrison, insisting the former Olympian didn't deserve a shot at the big time. It seems Haye has had a change of heart, as Harrison's trash-talking and recent one-punch knockout of faded Brit Michael Sprott have earned him what almost assuredly will be a brutal ass-kicking.

Under different circumstances, the matchup would probably be viewed as a nice "stay busy" type of fight, bringing Haye a nice payday in the meantime. The problem is Haye has directed his own stinging trashtalk towards both Klitschko brothers since contemplating his move to heavyweight, but has managed only 5 fights in the last 3 years, turning down a 50/50 split offered by Wladimir Klitschko, a last ditch effort to make just about the only heavyweight bout boxing fans are actually anticipating.

Harrison's underwhelming career has been interesting enough for UK boxing fans to make him a popular fighter overseas, even if only to laugh as he fails. The fight should bring a lucrative mainstream paycheck to both guys, but it simply does nothing for most fans.

Time's ticking, David. And you may have blown your only opportunity at even money with a Klitschko.

Cuba, Represent

The latest group defection of Cuban fighters has given US airwaves some nice talent, per usual. Erislandy Lara, Yordanis Despaigne and Yordenis Ugas found their way onto a special Wednesday night boxing broadcast on ESPN2 last night, generally looking impressive.

Despite all three guys showing the talent and clear skill that tends to come with a lifetime of being immersed in the sport, it's tough to gauge just exactly how far these Cubans will be able to travel in boxing. As many of us know, there have been more Juan Carlos Gomez-type of disappointments than there have been lasting world class contenders like Joel Casamayor, and a big reason why is that their new found "freedom" is overwhelming.

Regardless, it's unreasonable to expect every elite amateur to excel in the pro game. No matter the outcome, it appears that these guys should make their respective divisions more interesting in the near future. And with a variety of styles among them to enjoy, fans should look forward to it.

Margarito Denied CA License

More than 18 months after being caught attempting to "load" his handwraps prior to a fight with Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito was denied a license to box in the state of California.

I was a huge Margarito fan before the handwrap incident. Mosley-Margarito was supposed to be a treat for Southern California boxing fans in January 2009. Instead, it was a huge embarrassment. Especially for his fans, who defended him in the years leading up to his breakthrough win against Miguel Cotto.

Whether or not Margarito should be allowed to fight is a matter of personal opinion, with debate as to Margarito's knowledge (or lack thereof) of the hardened knuckle pad in his wraps beginning not long after "The Tijuana Tornado" was brutally stopped by Shane. But there shouldn't be any doubt that both Top Rank and Team Margarito handled the situation poorly with regards to getting his license back.

Even if Margarito didn't know his trainer Javier Capetillo placed the illegal pad in his wrap, he hasn't appeared to fully "own" any responsibility for knowing who on his team does what. Hanging out with Capetillo not long after the loss doesn't exactly jive with the story he told during a hearing yesterday, saying he severed ties with Capetillo quickly after the fight. Additionally, Top Rank attempting to get him licensed in Nevada before going first to the California State Athletic Commission (as would be the "normal" course of action) came off nothing less than shady, even though the CSAC dropped the ball in a major way by not being the ones to catch the cheating attempt.

Personally, I'm still bitter enough about being made to look like an idiot, as a big fan of his, that I'm actually kinda happy he won't be rewarded for trying to cheat with huge Pay-per-view exposure and a multi-million dollar payday after only one mediocre fight in 18 months. I concede bias on the issue.

If nothing else, I would say that a stricter reaction to such attempts is a much better idea than the leniency shown Mike Tyson after chomping on Evander Holyfield's ear.

Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao UPDATE

Floyd Mayweather's trainer and uncle Roger Mayweather recently told FightHype.com that his nephew would likely still fight in 2010. In other words, Floyd's a jerk.

ESPN Boxing Special Recap 8/18/10

2010-08-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Night Fights was the 2006 successor to what wound up being ESPN2's seasonal mid-week boxing program, Tuesday Night Fights. Unfortunately for fans, ESPN2 cut back their boxing programming to Friday Night Fights, thus any televised pre-Friday boxing has come to be a nice surprise.

ESPN2 aired what they called their "ESPN Boxing Special" earlier this evening, featuring Cuban standouts Erislandy Lara and Yordanis Despaigne.

After a brief introduction to Lara and Despaigne, Brian Kenny took the subject directly to Antonio Margarito's denial of a license by the California State Athletic Commission, which took place at a hearing earlier today.

ESPN.com columnist Dan Rafael argued via phone call that while Margarito had not been cleared to fight in California for at least one more year, he had served out his suspension and done everything asked of him by the CSAC, and deserves to be able to fight. Conversely, Teddy Atlas felt the punishment probably wasn't enough based on how fighters caught cheating in the past were dealt with.

Both Teddy and Dan alluded to the fact that Margarito would likely fight the one of the sport's most popular fighters, Manny Pacquiao, regardless of the CSAC's decision.

Yordanis Despaigne opened the telecast by cruising to a win against the formerly undefeated prospect Frank Paines. The former 2004 Olympian Despaigne, now 7-0 (4), knocked Paines down in round 2 and outclassed him over the 10 round distance, taking away his 0 and forcing him to 11-1 (9).

The first round began with Paines attempting to establish a jab and move his feet, and the visibly bigger Despaigne looked to walk down Paines and land harder punches behind a stiff jab. Paines found himself on the end of Despaigne's shots at a mid-range throughout the round, playing defense while stationary.

Paines went on the attack early in round two, landing hard to Despaigne's body. Perhaps standing and trading too long, Paines caught a nasty left hook that knocked him onto his seat just under a minute into the round. With Paines not seeming very hurt, Despaigne settled back into his jab and timed hard right hands and hooks to the body that appeared to rock Paines.

Apparently learning from his mistakes in the second round, Frank Paines went back to his jab in round three, attempting to time Despaigne between shots with a left hook. Despaigne landed a crushing right uppercut about a minute into the round, but Paines quickly gathered himself and jabbed his way out. Paines found some success by jumping in with a few combinations towards the end of the round before being spun around and hit twice behind the head by Despaigne, who was warned for the infraction.

Paines got the worst of a few exchanges early in the fourth, before again going back to trying to skate away and use his feet. Despaigne pot-shotted a bit before luring Paines into more exchanges and finished strong, seeming to move Paines even with shots to his gloves.

Both fighters landed chopping shots in exchanges in round five, maybe coming in a tad sloppy, as an accidental clash of heads opened a cut over the right eye of Despaigne. A ringside physician checked the cut and ruled the Cuban could continue. Paines moved forward as blood freely flowed down the cheek of Despaigne, catching him with a few hard left hands. Despaigne used his legs to move away between hard single shots at the end of the round, his blood tinting the white trim on his trunks a bright pink.

Round six brought a role reversal, with Paines trying to apply pressure as Despaigne tried to keep him at bay with occasional flurries from the outside. Paines generally got hit with the cleaner punches in the round, though Despaigne's tactical adjustment was apparent.

Despaigne easily timed Paines with punches from the outside throughout round seven. Paines ate flush shots through his guard, shrugging after being hit with big shots rather than punching back.

Punch stats in round eight showed Despaigne landing more that three times as many shots to that point in the fight. The punch stats backed up the reality of the fight, as Despaigne clowned Paines by landing at will and dancing away. Despaigne's antics drew boos from the crowd and criticism from Teddy Atlas, who complained that fans weren't interested in showboating.

More of the same in round nine, with Despaigne landing the more effective shots from the outside and the occasional sneaky right hand in close. Paines largely followed, looking visibly discouraged walking back to his corner at the end of the round.

Despaigne banged home left hooks in round ten, with Paines doing his best to make a fight of it, albeit unsuccessfully.

Officials scored the bout 100-89, 96-93 and 99-90 for the undefeated Cuban.

Newly crowned light heavyweight king Jean Pascal cited his gameplan, speed and movement as keys to his win against Chad Dawson this past weekend on HBO, during a between-fights interview with Brian Kenny. When asked who he would like to fight next, Pascal said he'd prefer to fight semi-retired future hall-of-famer Bernard Hopkins, being a bigger name than anyone else at 175 lbs. and having defeated Roy Jones Jr.

In the main event, likewise undefeated contender Erislandy Lara blitzed trialhorse Willie Lee in the first round of a junior middleweight mismatch.

Lee, now 17-7 (11), took the fight to Lara in round one, loading up on left hands behind a jab and trying to walk Lara down. Lara floored Lee with a hard right, left, right combination a little over a minute into the round. Lee arose from the knockdown seemingly unhurt and attempted to walk Lara down again, but Lara stepped forward with a series of left hands that wobbled Lee back to the ropes, then swarmed him with quick shots until referee Lawrence Cole stopped the bout at 1:48 of the opening stanza.

Willie Lee calmly protested the quick stoppage by giving Cole an odd stare for a few minutes, but seemed resigned to his fate while leaving the ring and walking back to his dressing room.

The highly skilled Lara improved to 13-0 (8) with the win.

In pertinent a sort of "walk out bout" for the broadcast, lightweight bronze medalist of the 2008 Olympics Yordenis Ugas scored his second stoppage win in a row and moved to 3-0 (2), TKO'ing Marqus Jackson, now 2-2 (2), in the second round of a welterweight contest.

Ugas walked down the colorful character Jackson in round one, not getting started until well into the round, but shaking up Jackson with the flush shots he landed. Ugas seemed aware of Jackson's shortcomings and planted his feet towards the end of the round, catching Jackson in a corner and forcing him to hold.

Jackson's awkward timing and jab kept Ugas away early in the second round, but not for long. Ugas attacked and hurt Jackson with a right hand about a minute into the round, sending him to the canvas with a half throw, half punch. After rising from an ugly knockdown, Jackson was again attacked by Ugas, who floored him once again and earned a stoppage that seemed similar to the Lara bout with its early "mercy stoppage."

Boxing Clutter 8/16/10

2010-08-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

This might be a consistent thing on my blog here - my random thoughts and opinions on things going on in boxing, probably some MMA here and there.

A news blurb on BoxingScene.com mentioned that junior middleweight/welterweight contender (and not to mention drama queen) Kermit Cintron had said "That punk [Andre] Berto hasn't fought anyone yet at 147. He should fight me."

After the stunt Kermit pulled against Paul Williams in May, who the hell is Kermit Cintron to call anyone a "punk?" And I mean literally...that shit was a stunt. Like, Kermit should be a stunt man. The guy dramatically flew out of the ring, grabbed his head like he hit his head, then grabbed his back, then acted like he was unconscious, then punched the ambulance door as he was being whisked away to a magical and distant hospital trauma center.

And that's not even mentioning the numerous waterworks incidents before, during and after fights of his, win or lose.

I wasn't kidding about his recent antics though. Here:

See?

Kermit's right about one thing though: Andre Berto really hasn't beaten anyone relevant at 147 lbs. Luis Collazo was arguably relevant when they fought, but many fans seemed to think Berto didn't exactly deserve that decision. At this rate, Berto may be one of the best junior welterweights in the world without ever having fought in the division. The kid sure can tweet his ass off though, eh?

This past Saturday night HBO, boxing gave us what was, if nothing else, a very interesting stylistic fight between Jean Pascal and Chad Dawson. Dawson really screwed himself by letting Pascal get away with so many unanswered shots and flurries, even though he probably landed the more flush and quality punches overall. Pascal just seemed to stun him or rock him back often enough to 1. sway the crowd and judges, and 2. keep Dawson from getting into any kind of offensive groove.

I didn't see the decision as very controversial. Many rounds didn't have a clear winner, and Dawson didn't do much to clearly set himself apart from Pascal.

It seems now that Pascal's options are a rematch with Dawson and a Montreal rumble with Lucien Bute. I like Dawson to do better in a rematch and maybe win a decision, but a lot of the problem the other night might have been a combination of style and psychology. Chad doesn't throw a ton of shots and he doesn't like to either lead or really attack. And I think that rules out Chad coming into a rematch looking for blood...for now.

As for a potential Bute fight, Lucien can be hurt and doesn't seem to like getting hit much. Pascal's awkward timing and good handspeed may mess with Bute a bit too. But at the end of the day, Bute's more apt to being active and taking chances, and I think he'd exploit those openings Pascal was leaving for Dawson.

The past two weekends may have been a much-needed shot in the arm for the light heavyweight division. Not sure the medicine works long, but it now seems a lot more fun with Chad Dawson not hogging all the headlines.

Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao UPDATE: This Shit is Not Happening

They've brought in Don King, they've brought in The Wolf, they've brought in everyone short of Rev. Jesse Jackson to convince these two fairy little brats to fight. And it's still not happening. Floyd says he's not fighting again this year for some ridiculous reason, Manny's still afraid of needles and blood and unicorns, and Buboy's kneepad endorsement contract in the Philippines is lucrative as ever. Fuck all of em.

Jean Pascal dethrones Chad Dawson in Montreal

2010-08-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

The same city to host the great light heavyweight classic between Yvon Durelle and Archie Moore over 50 years ago again held a surprising matchup at 175 lbs. - only this time, Canada came out on top.

Recent light heavyweight kingpin "Bad" Chad Dawson snoozed his way to losing his undefeated record and Ring Magazine title to former super middleweight contender Jean Pascal on Saturday night. The 3-1 underdog Pascal stole the show en route to an 11th round unanimous technical decision win, with the fight being stopped due to a cut over Dawson's right eye that was caused by an accidental headbutt.

Pascal, now 26-1 (16), just happened to also be defending the WBC belt that Dawson dropped in 2008 to face former champ Antonio Tarver, though Dawson was widely regarded as the best light heavyweight in the world until tonight.

Dawson, an amateur standout and Pound-for-Pound list entrant as a pro, fell to 29-1 (17), with 1 No Contest.

A lively crowd at the Bell Center roared in support of Pascal from the moment he did his ringwalk.

From the opening moments of the bout, Chad Dawson seemed to have trouble with Pascal's decision to lay back and wait for opportunities, then jumping in with looping rights upstairs and to the body. If Pascal's surprising handspeed and erratic movement weren't difficult enough for Dawson to deal with, the pro-Pascal crowd got louder every time Pascal surged forward and threw, whether he landed or not.

Through the first few rounds, Pascal hadn't done much damage to Dawson, but the former champion appeared content to offer up only the occasional straight left or right hook, generally not in combination, from his southpaw stance. While Pascal's work wasn't devastating, he did manage to stun Dawson from time to time and control the pace, likely winning most early rounds.

Dawson's trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad implored his fighter to punch more, and warned him in the corner that he wasn't doing enough to win rounds in front of his opponent's fans.

Mustafa's advice was followed in a few middle rounds as Pascal looked tired and slowed down noticeably. Dawson was able to pick up his pace and find Pascal on the ropes, showing off impressive accuracy and a solid defense.

Pascal buckled Dawson in the seventh and eighth rounds, both times with right hands. Dawson's defensive clinching in close drew a warning from referee Michael Griffin, though he mounted an attack of his own in each round.

The tenth round began differently as Pascal grew fatigued and Dawson unleashed hard combinations, continuing his onslaught into the eleventh round. Pascal looked ready to take a knee in the eleventh round as Dawson eagerly swarmed and overwhelmed him on the ropes. Dawson's tenacity may have wound up hurting him, however, as the fighters' heads collided and produced a nasty cut over the right eye of Dawson towards the end of the round.

The fight was ultimately stopped by the ringside physician, who ruled Dawson would not be able to continue as a result of the accidental headbutt.

Rules of the fight stated judges were to score the incomplete eleventh round in addition to the first ten. Despite Dawson's plea for a few minutes more, judges awarded Pascal the decision by scores of 108-101, 106-103 and 106-103.

While the majority of the boxing world ate crow immediately following the fight, Dawson preferred sour grapes, as he complained about the quick stoppage while being interviewed by HBO's Larry Merchant. "Bad" Chad also offered up a variety of excuses following phrases like "I'm not gonna make any excuses, but..." and avoided questions regarding his lack of activity in most rounds. When asked what his immediate plans were, Dawson referenced the rematch clause in the fight contract.

Pascal expressed interest in a potential mega-fight in Montreal with popular super middleweight Lucien Bute after the fight, as well as a showdown with fellow light heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud, while seeming to bask in the glory of his upset win.

With Romanian-born Lucien Bute, Haitian Jean Pascal and UFC star Georges St. Pierre calling Montreal home, the city seems to have cornered the market on the 168-175 lb. portion of combat sports for the time being. And a Pascal-Bute scrap would mean fight fans of "La Belle Ville" would get to have their poutine, and eat it too.

HBO: Boxing After Dark 8/7/10 Recap

2010-08-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

HBO delivered the goods from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Saturday evening, even if one half of the goods wasn't they guy they were expecting.

Two hard luck grinders lost decisions on the televised portion of the card, both by identical scores in fights that seemed to be closer than the cards indicated.

Opening the broadcast was a fun scrap between IBF light heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud and challenger Glen "The Road Warrior" Johnson. Coming into the bout, pundits had agreed that Johnson's best days were behind him and that Cloud's youth and activity would prove a hurdle for the veteran, but there lurked a suspicion that Johnson's will alone would offer a stern test to the young belt holder.

The undefeated Cloud greeted Johnson with a loud growl during the pre-fight instructions in the middle of the ring, at which Johnson would only smile.

Both fighters began the first round with busy jabs and a high pace. A busy pace turned into a bit of a skirmish by the middle of the round, with both guys trading, but not without skill. Cloud appeared to win most of the round on activity and clean body punching.

Johnson's trainer Orlando Cuellar called for jabs and body work from his fighter, perhaps to give Cloud a dose of his own medicine.

Both stuck to mostly 1-2's in the opening minute of the second round, before Cloud again began digging to the body and breaking through Johnson's high guard with thudding shots. Johnson wouldn't be outdone though, landing a variety of punches that made Cloud clinch. A hard right hand from Johnson sent Cloud to the ropes in the last minute, then a sharp right hand from Cloud seemed to stun Johnson at the end of the round.

Harold Lederman started out the third round by exclaiming "What a goddamned fight this is!" The fighters took turns leading and playing defense for about half of the round, followed by a brief attack by Johnson, who also closed the round out strong.

Johnson settled into a jabbing rhythm in the fourth round, smothering Cloud on the inside when the fight managed to get there. Cloud pounded his chest, but failed to get much work done in the first half of the round. Cloud came back to probably win the round with a number of hard counter right hands in the last minute, one of which rocked Johnson back on his heels.

Tavoris Cloud's corner went to work on a mouse under his left eye, the result of what was ruled an accidental headbutt.

The ebb and flow continued in the fifth, Cloud jabbing and winning the range battle, then Johnson stepping forward behind combinations and grinding away inside. Cloud landed the left hook well in the second minute of the round, then clearly wobbled Johnson with another hook, attacking and sending Johnson back to his corner on unsteady legs.

Cloud found a home for his looping right hand around Johnson's high guard in the sixth, banging away with hooks up and downstairs. Johnson answered back with a 30-second salvo, pushing Cloud back with hard shots. Johnson controlled the later part of the round with a hard jab, seeming to even out the score 3-3 in rounds halfway through the fight.

HBO's "Punch Zone" punch stats showed Glen Johnson doing well to Cloud's body, while much of Cloud's work was focused on Johnson's head.

Cloud elected to jab from a distance and land occasional straight rights to the body in the first minute of round seven, and Johnson jabbed back through the second. Johnson closed the distance a bit in the last minute, but let Cloud return fire at the end of the round.

Johnson seemed intent on outworking Cloud early in the eighth, until he walked into a big right hand from Cloud, who seized the opportunity to tee off on the older fighter. Johnson again refused to relent and battled back, moving the fight inside. Cloud landed more big shots at the end of the round, with Johnson looked tired after the bell.

The champion appeared to resume control early in the ninth, but shut down his offense and let Johnson go to work with shots that didn't seem to have much power on them, but counted as work.

Johnson went right back to work in the tenth, but Cloud picked up his pace and began landing heavy shots, backing Johnson up. The lack of steam on Johnson's punches may have lost him the round, though he managed to open up a cut over the already-swelled left eye of Cloud.

Again Cloud seemed to land the quality to Johnson's quantity in the eleventh round, forcing Johnson to fall forward and clinch. Cuellar and the rest of Johnson's corner implored him to dig deep and do more work towards the end of the round, but the man who knocked Roy Jones cold in 2004 simply couldn't muster up the punching power to affect Cloud.

Johnson came forward behind a good jab in the final round, looking to land a big right hand. Cloud's activity again dipped, though he was able to once more land harder and crisper shots, and seemed to buzz Johnson enough to make him hold at the end of the round.

All three judges scored the back-and-forth contest 116-112 for Tavoris Cloud, who retained his IBF belt, and may have earned the right to face the winner of next week's bout between light heavyweight emperor "Bad" Chad Dawson and talented former super middleweight Jean Pascal.

Cloud, who moved to 21-0 (18) with the win, praised his opponent in what wound up being a kind of two-way interview with HBO's Max Kellerman. Johnson, falling to 50-14-2 (34), argued that he won more rounds and deserved the decision, despite admittedly being hurt by Cloud early in the fight.

St. Louis-native, and unified light welterweight champion, Devon Alexander faced off against the seemingly average and solid Ukrainian contender Andriy Kotelnik.

The popular up-and-comer Alexander had found his name in boxing news a lot recently, namely for his calling out of fellow 140-lb. champ Timothy Bradley. Coming off a year-long layoff following a loss to WBA title-holder Amir Khan, Kotelnik was not expected to be able to deal with Alexander's talent in this matchup.

The 2000 Olympic silver medalist Kotelnik found success with a stiff jab early in the first round, even though Alexander was far busier. Kotelnik was able to pick off the majority of Alexander's pawing jabs and quick straight lefts throughout the round, landing a counter jab consistently. Alexander broke through with a few long lefts to the body later in the round, but had trouble landing flush punches.

Alexander stuck with a high output in the second round, but still found it difficult to land clean. Kotelnik landed a hard counter right hand over Alexander's lazy jab not long into the round, Alexander responded with more punches that were mostly blocked. Kotelnik landed a good left hook to Alexander's ear shortly thereafter, and Alexander responded by splitting Andriy's guard with a straight left. Kotelnik was able to block and jab effectively in the last minute, while Alexander's pace remained high.

Kotelnik showed impeccable timing early in the third, dodging most of Alexander's shots and interrupting his rhythm with a stiff lead right hand. Alexander again found it difficult to break through the guard of Kotelnik, but outworked him until later in the round when Kotelnik again found a home for his right hand as Alexander would stand still with a lazy guard.

Punch stats through 3 rounds saw punches landed as being almost even, while Alexander was throwing significantly more shots. HBO unofficial scorer Harold Lederman felt Alexander was winning the fight clearly, scoring the first 3 rounds for the young champion.

Round four was a "rinse and repeat" round, with Devon Alexander being clearly busier, but Kotelnik landing more consistently with what appeared to be the harder punches. Alexander also was cut over the right eye by what was later ruled as an accidental clash of heads.

Kotelnik followed a bit much in the early goings of round five, as Alexander was able to land decently to the body from a safe distance. Kotelnik still got work done with about a minute left in the round, using a good right hook and sweeping left to catch Alexander on his way out.

Round six began much more aggressively for Kotelnik, as he strafed Alexander with right hands to the body and cheek, following up with some hooks for good measure. Alexander did his best to slide away and keep Kotelnik off with shoeshine-like combinations, but took the harder shots throughout the round.

HBO's Punch Zone stats showed Alexander landing with more variety on Kotelnik, and Kotelnik outlanding Alexander to the head by a wide margin halfway through the fight.

Harold Lederman apparently disagreed that Kotelnik was landing consistently harder and at a more accurate rate, as he had scored the bout 5-1 for Alexander.

History kept on repeating itself in the seventh round. Devon Alexander continued to throw a lot of punches while landing few, and Kotelnik continued to time Alexander with jabs and right hands that rocked back the head of the undefeated young man. A;exander's handspeed and overall athleticism was clear, but he simply was not finding a consistent range to land clean punches.

Alexander was able to find sustained success in the middle of the eighth round, landing through Kotelnik's guard. Kotelnik responded in kind moments later with a hard right hand and left hook, and Alexander then answered with another flurry. Kotelnik finished the round strong with a right hand that appeared to buzz Alexander and caused him to hold at the end of the round.

Deja vu in round nine, with Kotelnik landing hard counter rights and left hooks that stopped Alexander in his tracks more than once in the round. Alexander's workrate is impressive, but his range is totally off and Kotelnik's defense is very effective against a guy not looking to land quality punches.

Alexander's trainer Kevin Cunningham showed concern for his fighter following the round, asking him not to engage much. On the contrary, Harold Lederman had only given Kotelnik one round in nine.

Kotelnik again snapped back Alexander's head with cleaner shots in between Alexander's many shots, mostly missed. Punch stats backed up claims of Kotelnik's dominance in the tenth round, outlanding his opponent by almost 2 to 1.

The champ Alexander dug deep to really let his hands go in the eleventh round, but got slammed with a number of right hands as he pulled back and left hooks inside. Alexander closed strong however, and managed to sink a few long left hands before the bell.

Despite fighting a spirited round, Alexander got beaten back by Kotelnik's punishing right hands through most of round twelve. He never stopped trying though, and finished the fight with hands raised.

In a bizarre occurrence, as mentioned before, all three judges scored the bout 116-112 for Devon Alexander, who climbed to 21-0 (13). Kotelnik, losing another questionable decision, fell to 31-4-1 (13) in a fight where he outlanded Alexander, and at a significantly higher percentage.

HBO judge Harold Lederman scored the bout even wider, giving Kotelnik only three rounds and very little credit.

In pertinent off-TV action, Cornelius "K9" Bundrage stopped St. Louis native Cory "The Next Generation" Spinks at 1:28 of the fifth round to claim the IBF light middleweight title.

ESPN2 Friday Night Fights Recap 8/6/10

2010-08-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, ESPN2 attempted to showcase Colombian banger Breidis Prescott and young prospect Prenice Brewer. Things didn't go exactly as planned.

Following a 15-minute delay for the ever-important Legg Mason Tennis Classic, fans were treated to the last few words of what sounded like an interesting studio lead-in from Brian Kenny. But the world will never know.

At least we got to see David Nalbandian preach truth, his tennis racket a bullhorn of mullet-sporting excellence. Right? Gilles Simon didn't stand a chance in those colors.

The broadcast opened with a matchup between junior welterweights Patrick "El Elegante" Lopez and Prenice Brewer. The undefeated Brewer looked to take a step and try his confidence by fighting the tougher and more experienced Lopez.

The former Venezuelan Olympian Lopez attempted to inch close behind a hard jab and land long left hands from the southpaw stance early in round one, eventually finding Brewer in the corner with a barrage of body shots. The lankier Brewer went back to the center of the ring and began controlling the fight with quick jabs and straight rights, despite taking some hard right hooks and left hands to his ribs.

Brewer went back to his jab quickly in round two, Lopez following not far behind and really letting his hands go downstairs about a minute in. Lopez swarmed and landed thudding shots through Brewer's guard, visibly rattling him. Lopez couldn't miss in the last minute, gladly teeing off as Brewer stood in front of him with a high guard.

Lopez continued his assault in the third round, marching after Brewer as he tried to slide away. Lopez opened up with a sustained flurry as Brewer backed up to the ropes and played defense, which prompted referee John O'Brien to advise Brewer to fight back. Brewed pivoted away and threw a desperate right hand, only to be greeted by another of Lopez' frenzies, clearly giving up about halfway through, and seeming to sigh in disappointment after being stopped and falling to 15-1-1 (6).

The fight was officially stopped at 2:38 of the third round.

Patrick Lopez celebrated his move to 20-2 (12) with a sloppy but entertaining backflip.

Ring Magazine #10 heavyweight Chris "Nightmare" Arreola, not exactly known for holding back in interviews, had a candid (and expletive-free) video chat with Brian Kenny in between fights. According to Arreola, his lack of dedication to the sport hurt him in his losses to Vitali Klitschko and Tomasz Adamek, and he hasn't skimped on training for his upcoming fight on next week's Friday Night Fights broadcast against Manuel Quezada.

A four round lightweight swing bout between two former Chicago Golden Gloves champions, Russell Fiore and Mexico native Antonio Avila, kept the telecast rolling.

The courting period didn't lest long, with both guys trading right hands in the first minute of the round. Fiore forced the action, but wound up catching a big right hand that dropped him hard as he came forward. Looking clear and unhurt, Fiore was up almost immediately and went right back to pressing the fight. Avila seemed conscious of Fiore's punching power and backed up behind a jab, with Fiore never being far out of range.

Avila's jab worked well in the second round, leading him to catch Fiore with another right hand. Fiore inched closer behind his own stiff jab and began landing more consistently, occasionally finding Avila on the ropes before being smothered. The first minute of the third round had Avila landing hard left hooks and changing tactics a bit by upping his aggression. The change served him well as he rocked Fiore with another right hand and had him backing up with a mouse developing under his left eye. By round's end, Fiore's punching power had clearly diminished.

Fiore's corner called for a knockout prior to the fourth round, but watched as Fiore threw only a handful of shots in the first minute. Avila backed up and found himself in the middle of a mauling session from Fiore, before backing up and seeming to go defensive once more. Fiore caught Avila with a right hand as he pulled back behind a lazy jab with about 10 seconds left in the final round, but too little, too late for the win.

The crowd booed as scores of 38-36 for Avila and two cards of 37-37 were read. Chicago local Fiore's record went to 4-0-1 (4), while Avila's was 3-1-1 (1) after the bout.

Colombian slugger Breidis "Khanqueror" Prescott showed patience, if not a slightly boring outlook, in outpointing Dominican Harrison Cuello in the main event.

Prescott started banging away early as Cuello looked off-balance and squared up more often than not. A few looping right hands broke through Cuello's guard, but Prescott settled down and jabbed for much of the round. Cuello offered little in terms of offense outside of a pawing jab that didn't land much, and seemed shaken by a right hand near the end of the round to boot.

Cuello used his legs in the second round, again refusing to open up much. Prescott added a left hook that looked to be more of a push than a punch to his arsenal, but founds more success with his jab and hooks to the body. Cuello tried to clown and shimmy at Prescott's missed punches at the end of the round, apparently forgetting to throw punches somewhere in there.

Despite picking up his pace in the third round, Cuello had difficulty landing more than one shot at a time and found himself on the wrong end of some rough body shots. Cuello's jab temporarily kept Prescott at bay, but his luck seemed to run out intermittently through the round.

Cuello elected to go on the attack in the fourth round, having limited success with his jab and straight left, though Prescott would anticipate it and counter from time to time. Again showboating, Cuello shook off two hard rights to the body and caught Prescott off-balance with a left hand about halfway through the round. Prescott slithered away from the follow up and boxed his way to the end of the round.

Prescott slowed down and tried to turn it into a chess match in the fifth, with Cuello egging him on and goading him into a brawl. Prescott obliged, landing a series of body shots, and went back to outboxing Cuello before complaining of a hard headbutt. Cuello used it to his advantage, again teasing Prescott and closing the round strong.

With blood flowing from his mouth as a result of the headbutt, Prescott kept up his jab, also gave in to Cuello's request for more shots to the body, dodging most counters that came his way throughout round six. The smirk left Cuello's face as Prescott kept up his body attack, walking to his corner looking discouraged.

Little changed in the seventh, with Prescott keeping his distance and stepping in to land hard combinations when fairly safe. Both fighters stepped on the other's lead foot multiple times in the round, and Prescott added in an uppercut, snapping Cuello's head back twice. Action stayed slow and calculated in the eighth, Prescott again landing harder and more often.

After more deliberate caution early in the ninth, Prescott seemed to again rock Cuello with a few shots about a minute in, but stopped short of going for the kill when he realized Cuello wasn't very hurt. Just as Teddy Atlas alluded to a possible right hand injury for Prescott, he dropped Cuello with a hard 1-2, partially an issue with the fighters' lead feet. Prescott recognized that Cuello again all that wobbled and slowed back down, much to the annoyance of fans in attendance.

Prescott disengaged and was content with taking the tenth round off, well aware he was far ahead on the cards. Cuello tried in vain to force a fight in which he could land the one hard shot he needed, but had no success. Cuello raised his hands after the bout emphatically regardless.

All three judges scored the bout for Prescott, with scores of 98-91, 99-90 and 99-90. With the win Prescott climbs to 23-2 (19). The trialhorse Cuello fell to 19-13-3 (14).

UFC Fight Night on Versus Recap

2010-08-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

"America's Finest City" played host to the UFC Fight Night on Versus 2 this evening, headlined by rising light heavyweight star Jon "Bones" Jones squaring off against veteran Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko.

Fans in attendance at the San Diego Sports Arena were treated to a fun night of knockouts, grotesque stoppages, and a sweet submission.

Starting out the telecast was a fight between former Pride Fighting Championships lightweight kingpin Takanori Gomi and five-time UFC "Fight of the Night" winner Tyson Griffin.

Gomi seemed the larger man from the outset, landing a few long bombs that literally moved Griffin. Griffin never had a chance to get rolling as just over a minute into the contest, Gomi landed a hard hook to the body followed by a glancing left and heavy right hook to the jaw that flattened Griffin. Gomi immediately jumped to Griffin's back to finish the fight when referee Jason Herzog stepped in to stop it at 1:04 of the first round.

A disappointed Tyson Griffin, who dropped to 14-4, protested the stoppage, but looked wobbled as he was helped up by his corner.

Gomi, dubbed "The Fireball Kid," promised bigger UFC wins in the future. The Japan native moved to 39-12 with the win.

Next up on the broadcast was a welterweight matchup between Jake Ellenberger and John "Doomsday" Howard.

The former NCAA Division II wrestler Ellenberger managed to pin Howard against the fence about :30 into the first round, where the two exchanged knees to the body and did some hand-fighting for position. Howard managed to worm his way out of a takedown before being reset in the middle of the octagon by ref Herb Dean. After a few missed shots, Ellenberger used a nice feint to scoop Howard to the mat, and used his top position to move Howard against the fence. Herb Dean called for both men to work, then stood the fighters up as some boos came from the crows with about a minute left. Ellenberger again used Howard's missed strikes to finagle a takedown and finished the round on top, despite not doing much damage.

Howard woke up and got started early in round two, landing a right head kick and a sweeping right hand that seemed to rock Ellenberger, who immediately put Howard on his back once more. Guillotine and triangle choke attempts were smothered by Ellenberger, and Howard ate some hard elbows before attempting more submissions. Howard's left eye swelled up badly, presumably from one of Ellenberger's elbows. Howard was able to exact revenge for a moment with a few punches that again had Ellenberger rocked, before being taken down again. Howard's eye was swollen almost completely shut at the end of the round.

Facing a stoppage loss, Howard tried to force his own by landing a big flying knee and furious combinations in the third. However Ellenberger took the fight back to his territory with another takedown and stepped up his ground 'n pound until Howard's eye swelled shut. Herb Dean stood both guys up and consulted the ringside physician, who advised Dean to stop the bout in the basis that Howard could no longer see. The former mixed martial artist Dean stopped the bout at 2:21 of the third round.

Ellenberger praised Howard's effort in his post-fight interview, admitting that one of Howard's shots did indeed hurt and surprise him, as he rose to 23-5. Howard's gutsy effort earned him his first loss in almost 3 years, his record becoming 14-5.

In a between-fights interview, Chael Sonnen dispensed with the niceties in promising to beat Anderson Silva at UFC 117 next weekend, effectively ending his career, as Sonnen claimed Dana White will fire Silva, and thus "The Spider" would be forced to retire.

Middleweights Mark Muñoz and Yushin Okami, both coming off of impressive wins in the UFC, delivered an entertaining tussle that had both men hitting the deck.

After out-striking Muñoz and controlling the distance in the early feeling out process, Okami stuffed a takedown attempt and let "The Philippine Wrecking Machine" Muñoz up and go back to work with his hands. Former NCAA wrestler Muñoz finally managed to take Okami down but was unable to keep the fight there, as Okami used submission attempts and good balance to get back to his feet. Muñoz bulled Okami to the fence and landed a series of hard knees to the body. A final takedown attempt at the end of the round by Muñoz fell victim to Okami's quick sprawl.

Okami showed off hand skills and a nice sprawl in the first 2 minutes of the second round. A big right hand sat Okami down, but Muñoz' follow up resulted in getting stuck in Okami's awkward scramble. Getting back to his feet and sensing urgency to finish the fight, Muñoz tried to force the issue but found mostly air with his loaded up shots and seemed to tire. A sluggish takedown led to Okami landing a number of hammerfists and wrap-around shots from his sprawl. Another takedown at the bell for Muñoz didn't quite get a chance to do much.

In attempting to trade in the third, Muñoz was caught by a big uppercut that appeared to stagger him. Another slow takedown was easily avoided by Okami, who tried to crack Muñoz on the way to his feet. Okami landed a few hard shots to the ribs of a clearly tiring Muñoz, who clinched immediately. After fending off a weak takedown attempt by Muñoz once more, Okami wobbled him with a whipping right hand. Another failed takedown later, Muñoz tried to make it a war by slugging it out and got the worse of it. Okami landed more shots from the sprawl for the last minute-plus, completely controlling the younger man.

Okami improved to 25-5 with a split decision win with two judges giving him a 29-28 score, while the third saw the bout for Muñoz, who fell to 8-2, by the same score.

In the main event, the lanky Jon Jones made quick work of the Belarusian Matyushenko, suggesting the young fighter's recent surge in popularity is well-deserved.

Jones, now 11-1, dominated the stand up before taking Matyushenko down with a trip. Jones managed to push off the beginning of an armbar attempt before working his way to a mounted crucific and slamming Matyushenko's temple with elbows, in a move slightly reminiscent of Gary Goodridge's famous demolition of Paul Herrera at UFC 8. Matyushenko didn't seem very hurt, however, but was unable to defend against Jones' lethal elbows. Referee Herb Dean stepped in to halt the bludgeoning at 1:52 of the first stanza.

The former IFL light heavyweight champion Matyushenko falls to 24-5 with the loss.

In televised swing bout action, Brazilian lightweight Charles Oliveira turned a big slam from opponent Darren Elkins into a nasty triangle attempt, and eventually an armbar submission victory moments later at :41 of the first round. Oliveira's record improved to 13-0 in his UFC debut, while Elkins went to 11-2.

ESPN2 Friday Night Fights 7/30

2010-07-30T22:06:00.002-07:00

The broadcast began with a lead-in to Marquez-Diaz II, the rematch of a splendid scrap from February of last year. I'll have more on that later on.

First fight of the night saw highly-regarded prospect/contender Don George getting beaten down by an "opponent," Francisco Sierra, who improved to 22-3 (20).

Despite essentially being brought in to lose, Sierra reminded me of one of the many lanky, technique-deprived South American fighters that have scored upsets against the guys expected to win, like Breidis Prescott. Not so much in look, but record, stature and a dash of obscurity.

First round George, who fell to 20-1-1 (17), seemed to start well, but Sierra opened up and exposed George's lack of a solid guard. Both fighters are slow of hand and foot, and predictable, but George's defense is simply not very good. George seemed wobbled, but the replay showed it was actually a forearm that hurt him. The second round saw Sierra continue to land hard, looping shots from the outside, as a busted nose seemed to bother George. George also began holding more and more, drawing a warning from the ref for holding and hitting, as Sierra's confidence grew in the second.

George keeps blowing his nose - bad idea if it's broken.

George seemed to settle down a bit and land in the fifth round, but Sierra's punches were still harder and having more effect. Sierra just used more angles and a better variety of punches when George came forward, especially in the sixth. George fell from a combination of punches and exhaustion halfway through the round, and Sierra continued to bleed George slowly with thudding shots. Both men were covered in blood, literally. Teddy and Brian talking about the fight being stopped, and rightfully so. George fell once again at the end of the round, half punches, half no energy.

Interesting exchange in Don George's corner before the seventh round. George's trainer and father, Peter George, told his son "You need to start pressing this guy." Don replied "START pressing him? I've been!" True enough. He was just getting picked off by Sierra when he did come forward.

George was hurt early in the seventh once again, but clinched to stay upright. George's nose began gushing blood again less than a minute into the round, and he drew a second warning for hitting behind the head. Even Sierra's jab seemed to shake George at this point. George finally went down awkwardly with about 30 seconds left, and seemed to be hurt, off-balance and just plain done.

Just at or after the bell, Sierra landed a nasty one-two that literally collapsed George, which the referee Gary Ritter ruled as landing after the bell, thus giving George 5 minutes to continue. George couldn't continue, of course, so referee Ritter elected to have the round scored while taking 2 points from Sierra, reasoning that the final combination wasn't what actually ended the fight. Needless to say, Sierra won a technical decision with the scores 68-63, 69-62 and 69-62.

While the punches were indeed after the bell, it would have been unfortunate to see a guy with no clear way to win the fight actually get the nod due to a foul that didn't seem intentional. Gary Ritter made the right call, in my opinion, even though I don't agree that the combination in question didn't end the fight. Regardless, Sierra pounded through George for seven solid rounds and deserved something for his efforts.

The main event had Delvin Rodriguez losing a questionable majority decision to Ashley Theophane. Rodriguez' record dove to 25-5-2 (14) and 2-3 in his last 5, while Theophane's ledger improved to 27-4-1 (7).

The opening stanza began with Rodriguez landing a few chopping overhand rights, with some snappy jabs mixed in. Theophane's tricky movement had Rodriguez following a bit, but controlling the pace overall. Theophane challenged Rodriguez more in the second, jumping in and out with a jab, right hand, and holding and hitting the body inside. Rodriguez landed hard to the body in spots, but also missed a lot of hard throws upstairs.

Rodriguez opened up with a hard jab, a straighter right hand and sweeping hooks to the body and head in the third, adding an uppercut or two for good measure. Theophane again landed well to the body inside, but didn't get rolling until late in the round. In the fourth round, Rodriguez slowed the pace down a bit and relied on his jab to control distance, which seemed to give Theophane a chance to work and maneuver his way inside. Rodriguez received a warning for shots to the cup, before trading with Theophane late in the round.

Theophane showed a nice left hook and a few long, looping right hands over the first half of the fifth round. Rodriguez failed to land much more than some jabs and a few right hands to the body, and Theophane may have taken the round with effective shots from weird angles. Aggression and a hard jab was once again key for Rodriguez early in the sixth, as Theophane waited and took punches to the body. Delvin once again went hard to the body and stopped Theophane in his tracks with a wide right hand. Rodriguez resumed his dedication to the body in the seventh, as Theophane once again waited and was outworked early on. Halfway through the round, Theophane picked up the pace and landed another looping right, but missed a lot of punches and took a big right himself.

Both fighters exchanged a bit in the early goings of the eighth, with Rodriguez seeming to get the better of it, until oddly turning his back after missing a punch. Theophane was well served to throw a tight hook, once again, but Rodriguez went back to the body with hard hooks and a right hand inside. Theophane came forward and forced some give and take late in the round, largely taking the harder shots.

Theophane tried leading and backing Rodriguez up to begin the ninth, though Rodriguez didn't seem to have a big problem countering going backwards. Delvin went back to being the aggressor before too long, once again going hard to the body. The pace slowed considerably in the last minute, with Theophane stepping up the output very late.

Both fighters had success in the tenth, Rodriguez on the outside, Theophane inside. Rodriguez looked tired and weak about halfway through the round, wobbling a bit from glancing shots. Rodriguez worked hard, but had terrible balance and probably lost the round while looking worn.

The judges believed Ashley Theophane deserved the nod with scores of 95-95, 96-94 and 96-94. Punch stats suggested Rodriguez deserved the decision, throwing and landing significantly more.

I personally had Rodriguez winning 6 of the first 7 rounds.

While a few rounds were fairly close and may deserve a second look, Rodriguez simply worked more, landed harder shots and generally controlled the pace. Theophane's slightly awkward style was difficult to look good against, and he clearly showed to have a good chin, but I would find it difficult to find 4 clear rounds to give Theophane.

In off-TV action, regional trialhorse James "Brian" Cook was unlucky enough to be knocked out by an Andy Lee body punch twice in the same fight, the first being ruled a low blow by referee Gerald Ritter after a nice sell by Cook. A second legal left hand to the body put Cook down for the count in the fifth round.

Marquez-Diaz, Undercard Breakdowns

2010-07-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

A rematch of Ring Magazine's 2009 Fight of the Year carries with it a much anticipated HBO PPV undercard, even if the main event seems to have lost a bit of luster from both men losing at higher weights since the first go 'round.

Sure-footed young contender Danny Jacobs puts his 0 on the line against likewise undefeated contender, Russian Dmitry Pirog. While both fighters' records may seem impressive, neither man has a signature, eye-opening win. Jacobs, 20-0 (17), and Pirog, 16-0 (13), have also both had the luxury of being slightly bigger than their higher profile opponents

As Jacobs and Pirog prefer to counter-punch and set a slower pace, this matchup may wind up being one of the slower fights of the evening. Jacobs, who has fought at super middleweight a couple of times, should prove to be the larger and more talented fighter, and I expect him to outwork Pirog over the distance. Look for Jacobs to work an uppercut as Pirog leans his head in while trying to work.

VERDICT: Daniel Jacobs UD

Rocky Juarez finds himself in another crossroads battle against comebacking Venezuelan marksman Jorge Linares. These guys are in uncharted territory, both weighing in at 132 lbs. or above for the first time in their careers. Whether or not that will have much of an effect remains to be seen.

Juarez is 1-3-1 in his last 5 fights, 28-6-1 (20) overall. Rocky is reportedly training like a hungry fighter and sensing a cloud of urgency rolling over what could be the twilight of his career. Likewise, Linares, 28-1 (18), seems to understand that this is another step on his path to proving his first round KO loss to Juan Carlos Salgado last October in Japan, was just a fluke.

A problem for Linares could be his chin if Juarez can connect, but Juarez seems to have trouble with fighters able to move and use angles on him, which is exactly what Linares prefers. The Venezuelan may have more punching power than his record indicates, but he's a stylist first and foremost. Past that, Rocky has lost momentum and looks to be on a quick downslide. I expect Rocky to bleed a bit before the late rounds.

VERDICT: Linares UD

In another interesting matchup, Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero takes on Cuban veteran Joel Casamayor. In another "weighty" first, Guerrero scaled in at 138.5 lbs., a good 3 lbs. heavier than he's ever come in. Both guys are a solid division or two removed of where they should be, though that may be impossible for Casamayor at 39-years old.

At 26-1-1 (18) and 2 No Decisions, Guerrero has had a few underwhelming performances lately, and Casamayor's guile has proven to be difficult for better fighters than Guerrero to deal with. Still, Joel Casamayor, 37-4-1 (22), has been fighting at the world class level since the 1980's, and while Guerrero may not be all that good, Casamayor has had 4 fights in the last 3 years, and has struggled in all of them. That should prove to be more important than the gap in experience and class, but the fight will get dirty sooner or later.

VERDICT: Guerrero UD

Watching the replay of the first fight multiple times in the last few days, the pace Diaz set in the first fight was somehow surprising. More surprising was that Marquez eventually dealt with it and overcame it with sharp, hard punches in the exchanges.

There have been suggestions that Juan Diaz, 35-3 (17), will slow the pace down and work more with his jab. However that's a pace that Marquez, 50-5-1 (37), would probably prefer, since over a year has passed between the first fight and now. Diaz may have his best chance if he once again forces a dogfight and a busy pace, as that was what troubled Marquez over the first 2/3 of the initial meeting, which had Marquez stunned in the first round, and wobbled in the second.

The problem with Diaz swarming once more is that it backfired before, as Marquez eventually zero'd in and got the better of exchanges in the last 2 or 3 rounds, landing at a higher percentage.

Intangibles coming into play are Marquez' age and the fights both men have lost since the first fight. Both Marquez and Diaz lost to bigger men, Marquez to a much better fighter in Floyd Mayweather Jr.; Diaz' 1-1 split with Paul Malignaggi could easily be 0-2. None of these fights seemed particularly damaging to either guy, and they don't factor in much in terms of style. But at 36, Marquez is bound to hit the age wall sooner rather than later.

At the end of the day, a KO win in the first fight is a great mental edge in what should be another close, difficult fight. They say class shows over time, and Marquez is simply the better fighter.

VERDICT: Marquez TKO8

ESPN2 Friday Night Fights 7/23

2010-07-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the broadcast, it was kinda awkward to hear Brian Kenny and Dan Rafael talk about Povetkin's pullout against Wlad Klitschko, thinking Teddy Atlas was likely listening in on headphones and salivating at his chance to speak up. He did, of course. And it sounded like Teddy doesn't think Povetkin is quite ready for Wlad Klitschko, rather than being sick or having other traveling issues, as has been reported.

Didn't Teddy say that Povetkin would be ready for Wlad ASAP not long ago, before the purse bid? Who else could Povetkin fight that would prepare him for Wlad, Teddy? Your guy is an Olympic gold medalist with an extensive international amateur career, and the line between "decent" and "champion" is very blurry in the heavyweight division.

The fights?

Cuauhtemoc Vargas, a semi-hot prospect circa 2003-2004, dropped a lackluster unanimous decision to up and coming Rico Ramos. The fight began with Vargas looking sloppy and awkward in the first, and easily out-maneuvered by the talented Ramos. Vargas showed better footwork and range in the second round, but Ramos countered and began really moving his feet well. The left hook was Ramos' weapon of choice in the third, with Vargas visibly slowing down toward the end of the round. The fourth round through the seventh round had Vargas literally following Ramos around without cutting the ring off, without mounting much offense himself. Ramos stuck to the advice of his corner before the final round and moved for a solid three minutes as Vargas took the round by default.

In more exciting action, ESPN kept cutting to the venue cameras too early from commercial breaks and the fans were treated to Joe Tessitore clearing his throat loudly, and possibly expelling some phlegm.

The main event saw WBA Light Heavyweight title holder Beibut Shumenov outwork and apparently stymie highly-touted Ukrainian Vyacheslav Uzelkov over twelve rounds. Just when it seemed as though Shumenov may be bringing more heat than Uzelkov expected in the first round, Shumenov got dropped by a nice lead left hook. Beibut came right back to apply pressure, but Uzelkov weathered the pressure and landed a few more clean shots. Shumenov went back to work in round 2, trying to push Uzelkov back and score. Although Uzelkov was landing cleaner and maybe harder through two rounds, he waited to throw a bit too much and Shumenov worked well to the body. Uzelkov started quicker in the third round, but went back to waiting around and tying up on the inside, until he was dumped to the canvas with the last punch of the third round, seemingly a bit more hurt than Shumenov was in the first. Predictably, Shumenov went back to work in the fifth round, as Uzelkov's offensive blitzes became fewer and far between as rounds went on, and he essentially allowed Shumenov to easily roll over him to a 9-3 type of victory.

And no, you didn't miss much in those five or six rounds that I didn't elaborate on.

Slightly disappointing Friday Night Fights from ESPN.

Club Nokia 7/22

2010-07-22T22:32:00.000-07:00

Surprisingly fun card on Fox Sports, despite having to listen to Oscar de la Hoya repeat "Yeah, uhh...so these guys are hungry. It's like, one guy can win, or he could lose, and then the other guy's tough too" while waiting for medical personnel to arrive at the venue.

What's sad is that Oscar actually had a point, apparently buried somewhere under all the convoluted bulljive he was forced to spew forth while wearing an extremely loud button-up shirt that would make Joe Goossen blush. These Club Nokia shows really have matched fighters ambitiously, if not dangerously.

The first scrap between Ramon Valadez and Oscar Andrade was highly entertaining. Even as Valadez looked to be out-gunned and out-sized early on, his pride wouldn't let him be taken out of the fight. There were a few spots of sustained trading, both guys dispensing with the defense and chucking away. Dougie Fischer kept referencing Erik Morales' style and overall look when talking about Andrade. Not sure if I see it much, but both guys should make for some fun bouts in the future, and both earned at least one more TV opportunity, in my opinion.

Nestor Rocha's blowout of Benji Garcia was forgettable. Rocha looked like he was at least a division bigger than Garcia by fight time, and Garcia's scrappy nature couldn't overcome that disparity, though it should be noted that there was also a significant class and skill gap.

Gary Russel Jr. overwhelmed Mauricio Pastrana and walked through him. Not much more is needed in terms of description. I wasn't even aware Pastrana was still fighting until I'd heard about this fight. The guy has been around a long time - he upset Michael Carbajal at flyweight in 1997. This loss makes it 5 in a row for Pastrana.

The last two swing bouts that made their way onto the broadcast were interesting, if nothing else. A young prospect named David Morales had his way with a funny character named John Willoughby. Morales smothered Willoughby a bit, knocked him down in the first as he was squared up, and overcame a bit of an awkward style disruption in the third round to take a unanimous decision.

The second swing bout featured San Diego's Angel Estrada displaying a very professional and mature style, especially for a prospect with only 5 fights in as many years, in generally outdoing scrappy journeyman Raul Tovar. Estrada showed good head movement, versatility and a cerebral approach during the short bout. The 23-year old with a degree in psychology could be a kid to look out for.

The Weight

2010-07-15T22:23:00.001-07:00

Sports that are divided into weight classes tend to have two things in common: fewer massive athletes at the head of the class, and weight cutting - often to the point of physiological detriment.

The effects of drastic weight loss on fighters in particular have been pondered at least since the 1960’s, when Emile Griffith and Nino Benvenuti saw their rematch at Shea Stadium delayed by one day because of rain. Old school pundits questioned whether or not both fighters would be able to make weight a second time, as both fighters were to be re-weighed, sticking to the “same day weigh-in” procedure of old.

In an anti-climactic turn for the purposes of this article, both fighters made weight, delivered an entertaining rematch [and rubbermatch] and sailed into the proverbial sunset with a Ring Magazine Fight of the Year honor for their first meeting.

But the occasional chatter became a full fledged conversation, and took on a decidedly darker tone in the early 1980’s.

What should have been a showcase for a young, good-looking kid from Youngstown, Ohio in 1982, became the stone dropped into the pond, sending ripples through the sport with such force that its effects are still felt today.

It didn’t take long for sanctioning organizations to begin shortening title fights following Duk Koo Kim’s death, blaming the frightful beating handed to him by Ray Mancini on the then-current championship round system. Subtracting 3 rounds from the established maximum of 15 likely seemed a logical fix in the wake of such tragedy. Fewer rounds meant fewer punches for a fighter to take, right?

What is rumored to have been the final straw is a canceled light heavyweight title bout between Michael Spinks and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad in July of 1983, less than a year after Kim’s passing. Muhammad seemed unrepentant when speaking to media after failing to make weight for the bout, and the folks who lost money on the heavily-promoted match weren’t happy.

As a result, sanctioning organizations drifted away from same-day weigh-ins and began having fighters step on the scale the day before fights, presumably to allow more time to re-hydrate, within a matter of a few years.

Instead of encouraging fighters to remain at their more “natural” weights and stay hydrated, the extra day seems to have cleared the way for guys more willing and able to cut serious weight, to gain a significant competitive edge.

In perhaps the most famous recent “weight” incident, Joey Gamache filed a suit in 2006 against Arturo Gatti, alleging Gatti breached their fight contract by falsely representing his fight night weight and gaining almost 20 lbs. overnight. Gamache reportedly suffers severe migraines stemming from the 2000 bout, which sent him to the hospital for two days.

Not to be outdone, from Floyd Mayweather to Diego Corrales, or Jose Luis Castillo to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., several smaller incidents have stung the sport over the last handful of years. The weight drama trifecta of Nate Campbell, Ali Funeka and Joan Guzman could write a grocery store pamphlet on how not to make the contracted limit.

According to a study conducted by a team of researchers from the UK working on the International Journal of Sports Medicine, dehydration directly affects the way the human brain is able to absorb a blow to the head. The brain of a dehydrated boxer, for example, “will travel further within the cranium before it meets the skull,” and “accelerate to higher velocities” within the skull, say researchers, making the brain more susceptible to contusions and other injuries.

In other words, fighters killing themselves on stationary bikes in the sauna, while wearing rubber weight loss suits, flirt with the idea of their grey matter adopting more pinball-like qualities than those not struggling to make weight.

In addition to the apparent effects of rapid weight loss on fighters inside the ring, many argue that the day-before weigh-in process has literally changed the way fights are negotiated and made.

According to the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Keith Kizer, “It’s actually becoming part of the matchmaking process, with some people not wanting to fight a certain fighter because he’s known to put on extra weight before the weigh-in. Or sometimes they’ll agree to a fight because they know the opponent will come in depleted.”

While catchweights and odd weight limits weren’t exactly introduced yesterday, the sport has recently seen a number of fighters targeting opponents known to have issues making weight.

In a highly criticized move, Manny Pacquiao demanded Miguel Cotto fight him under the 147 lb. limit in 2009, and subsequently demanded Cotto’s
WBO belt be put on the line, despite promises to the media that they would only ask for the catchweight without the title up for grabs. Additionally, Cotto moved up yet another weight division immediately after losing to Pacquiao.

Unfortunately, as boxing fans have learned the hard way time and again, real change in the sport generally will not come unless someone’s pocketbook takes a serious hit, or when tragedy bores its way into the consciousness of the sport.

While the WBC organization had already begun conducting an investigation into the neurological effects of rounds 13, 14 and 15 by the time Mancini vs. Kim took place in 1982, it wasn’t until shortly after Spinks and Muhammad’s botched rematch in 1983 that the WBC shortened the length of their title fights from 15 rounds to 12. The canceled bout lost the organization a good deal of money.

Further, just as television networks seem to stand behind many decisions made in the sport today, rumors swirled about the sport, suggesting that networks such as CBS, NBC and ABC were pressuring sanctioning organizations to shorten fights because 15 rounds of action exceeded the 1-hour time slots networks allotted. Cutting a full 17 minutes off a broadcast meant more time for other programming, thus more money.

To be fair, the investigation the WBC conducted eventually led to fighters competing for their belts receiving mandatory electroencephalograms (EEG’s), as well as mandatory standing eight counts for fighters who have been knocked down, neither of which seem harmful.

Whether change stems from greed or concern, weight fluctuation of 15 lbs. in less than a day being common among world class fighter is not a healthy system. It’s not safe for average, healthy folks who don’t have to take punishment for 12 rounds, and much less so for fighters who do.

As TV networks seemingly control the sport and are capable of effectively changing its direction, a move back to 15 rounds, right or wrong, is not likely. But the same-day weigh-in system may serve to prevent fighters from attempting to dry out as much as they currently do.

An inevitable byproduct of same-day weigh-in’s would be a short period of adjustment, which would likely see a few fights scrapped last minute because one guy couldn’t make weight. But we also get that already.

A welcome side effect could potentially be that we get to see world class fighters competing at their absolute best, rather than a zombie’d doppelganger struggling to balance weight desperately lost, and weight frantically gained.

It’s time to show more interest in fighters’ health than simply watching as it’s beaten from their bodies.

***Notes:

- Duk Koo Kim was not a stranger to weight issues, and supposedly lost a great deal of poundage prior to the Mancini bout. According to a number of stories, Kim also left a prophetic note in his hotel room which read “Kill or be killed.”

- Eddie Mustafa Muhammad also had a history of trouble making weight before the proposed Spinks rematch, and admitted himself in interviews years later that he fought Renaldo Snipes at heavyweight in 1981for that specific reason.

- The Head of the Washington D.C. Boxing and Wrestling Commission at the time of the canceled Muhammad-Spinks bout in 1983, Cora Wilds (later Cora Masters Barry), would be convicted of defrauding the city in 1987, and was accused by the Muhammad camp of tampering with the weigh-in scales that Wilds herself provided. In addition, there were reports that the one and only Bert Sugar attempted to weigh a 3 lb. bag of flour on the scales, only for the arrows to read “5 lbs.”