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Thursday, January 24, 2008

A.J. Liebling Analyzes Eddie Chambers Vs. Alexander Potevkin

ESPN Writer Don Steinberg has a great piece on up and coming heavyweight Eddie Chambers, a Pennsylvania fighter. Chambers goes to Germany this coming Saturday to fight a European champion on his first trip out of the country. Steinberg's entire story makes for good reading but I had to laugh at a quote he used from old-school pundit A.J. Liebling:

"The fighter must be confirmed in the belief that he can lick anybody in the world and at the same time be restrained from testing this belief on a subject too advanced for his attainments."


That seems to fit this fight against Alexander Potevkin, an active and aggressive boxer who is a big step up for Chambers. Chambers has the bigger record with 30 and 0 but those Russians are wild men. Potevkin has a 14-0 record but the impressive thing is that 11 of them have been KOs. Chris Byrd and Larry Donald are his two best-known victims. It's worrisome that Potevkin reacted well to the boxing skills of a Chris Byrd.

Roy Jones Triumphant as Golota Finds Redemption

Roy Jones Wins!

Golota the Gentleman


I’m back on my win streak. After a long drought when I failed to predict the outcomes of several boxing matches, I’m back on top with my prediction of a Jones win over Felix Trinidad. An ESPN boxing writer justifiably criticized Roy Jones for being careful in the early rounds but that’s what a good trainer would have suggested for a comeback fighter. In the end, it was strength and durability that won out, and Trinidad looked impressive in losing.

POLL RESULTS: I guess I can't crow about picking the correct results on this one. Everyone who voted picked Jones to win, also.

I didn’t see the Golota-Mollo fight but the Polish thug has always been one of my sentimental favorites. Golota makes all of us whiteboys look like a bunch of larcenous, out-of-control and reckless thugs striving to make things right in the end. We need that to stay humble and not feel morally superior as we hypocritically condemn those who grow up in difficult circumstances and neighborhoods. Hey, we behave like assholes, too! I’d match Andrew up with Tyson in that competition and Andrew might win that one although it’s more likely to be a draw. Anyway, I got to show some love for Andrew Golota.

Golota didn’t bite anyone, he didn’t quit, and he didn’t steal any wallets or cars. Even better, Andrew won in a grueling 12 rounder with a much younger opponent with one eye closed.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Sunset for Kelvin Davis in Key West Florida

Kelvin Davis on the left as Eric Fields fires straight right.

ESPN’s Friday night fights is free, you know, and offers a chance to see good boxers at both the beginnings and the end of their careers. Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas always provide interesting background and I would like to hire both of them to add to my staff. So far, they have not responded.

Anyway, there’s Eric Fields, now 11-0, with his KO of the powerful cruiserweight Kelvin Davis. An interesting and tragic backstory concerns Kelvin Davis who announced his retirement in the wake of his first minute KO. Over a year ago, Davis was out in the dark of a morning jog when a car shot out from nowhere and headed straight at him. Davis was on a bridge at the time and there was no place to go except over the side. He jumped, hurtling through the air to land on a slab of concrete some thirty feet below. It was miraculous that he survived with broken back, broken neck, broken everything. Apparently, he wanted to see if he had anything left in boxing. He might have, except for young and dynamic Eric Fields. The reflexes weren’t there for Davis as the tall cruiserweight knew how to close a show, ripping into Davis with rapid, precision punches thrown with deliberation and power.

Another oddity, if I may call it that, is that the fights came from Mallory Square in Key West, Florida. The joint was packed with a lot of the audience comprised of seemingly non-boxing people as well as the usual hard-core fans. It was a bright and lively venue for the fighters and for the fans.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Roy Jones Vs Felix Trinidad: Diamonds or Rust?



The January 19, 2008 upcoming match between Felix Trinidad and Roy Jones is hard to analyze for several reasons. Felix Trinidad last fought in May of 2005, and that one was a loss to ring technician Ronald “Winky” Wright. Trinidad’s only other loss was to Bernard Hopkins, another great technical fighter. In that one, Trinidad was TKOd in the 12th. With 44 fights at age 34, Trinidad ought to be able to get his body together enough to make a good showing against Roy Jones with 51 fights on his record. Jones, too, is at risk from Father Time. Jones, at least, has been busy with unanimous decisions over Prince Badi Adjamu in 2006 and Anthony Hanshaw in July of 2007. This was after 3 consecutive losses, two to Antonio Tarver and one to Glen Johnson.

I’m looking at Jones KO rate (a big 38), often at weights above his natural category. Truth to tell, I don’t know any more what Jones’ natural weight is. He started in the 154 pound class. Jones is like Jack the Giant Killer, having fought guys considerably bigger up to the 226 pound John Ruiz. It will be interesting to see if Jones’ body can take the ups and downs but I expect it will. Jones has shown by his activity he can still rock. He didn’t KO his last two opponents, it’s true, but maybe he needed the work. I’m going to go with the long range and unpredictable power shots of Roy Jones to win over Felix Trinidad.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Friday Night Fights: Miranda, Juarez, Marquez,Guerrero,Pittman,Pascal and Honorio

Friday Night Fights is back on the ESPN air with Teddy Atlas and Brian Kenney so last night provided some choices. There was a time overlap and it worried me, having experienced a recent boxing drought. Showtime Boxing had Robert Guerrero against Martin Honorio and Rocky Juarez vs. Juan Marquez. At just about the same time, the headline fight on ESPN featured El Pantera vs. David Banks. El Pantera is Edison Miranda, a Colombian fighter who bristles with danger. Miranda’s a wild and dangerous fighter who has improved in boxing skill since his stunning loss to Kelly Pavlik. Pavlik is currently the middleweight champion, and he has a rematch scheduled in February with former Champion Jermain Taylor. It’s crazy to see the middle-weight and super middleweight classes bunched up like that but it makes for some interesting days ahead in the boxing life.

David Banks, you will remember, was the slick, smooth guy who waltzed to some sort of Pyrrhic victory in the Contender Series. I wondered what came over Banks’ people to match him with Edison Miranda. Banks did alright on the Contender but putting him in the way of El Pantera Edison Miranda was a big mistake and I thought so well before the fight.

The Panther stalked Banks across the ring early in the fight and blasted David Banks so hard that he was asleep before falling. Have you ever heard the grizzled old fight people call someone a “stiff”? Watch the replay of this one and you’ll see the derivative roots of that slang. Banks landed splayed out and stiff straight on the bottom ropes and hung there, half in and half out of the ring, in seeming suspended animation until he woke up about half a minute later. He looked somewhat like a broken kite which had floated back to earth.

Now Miranda gets to fight Jean Pascal, a Canadian via Haiti who didn’t look too hot against Omar Pittman, a North Philly club fighter who came alive in the middle rounds to nearly KO the self-confident Pascal. My prediction is that Pascal will share the same fate with David Banks with the likelihood that he’ll manage to avoid the demolition ball a wee bit longer than Banks did.

Banks wasn’t the only fighter to hit the rack early on Friday night. Mexican Martin Honorio walked into a hard straight power shot from southpaw Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero in the first round. When Honorio finally managed to peel himself off the deck, he pitched forward in a dizzy charge at the ring ropes across the way. Honorio’s a better fighter and tougher opponent than this would indicate. He got caught cold, that’s all, and he rose to his feet from sheer effort of will, though in no shape to continue.

I want to give a shout out to Omar Pittman, a fighter who was hand-picked to lose and make Canadian Jean Pascal look good in doing so. Someone must have forgotten to tell “Pit Bull” Pittman that, however. Though he began sluggishly and was described by Teddy Atlas as having “no confidence”, he caught Pascal with a left hook during the middle rounds which sent Pascal back against the ropes in a wobbly condition. Pittman attacked with renewed confidence, wobbling Pascal a few times more though unable to close the show. The decision went to Pascal, much to the amusement of Miranda, who was smiling and appeared to be wondering how life could be so tough in his Colombian homeland and so full of fat and gravy in the United States. Miranda clearly has little respect for Pascal, the Canadian champion and future opponent.

Which brings me to the 12 round marathon between Juan Marquez and the resilient Rocky Juarez. If a boxing video could be effectively turned into a textbook, it would be this one. At age 34, Juan Marquez seemed more brilliant than ever and completely indefatigable, as fresh in 12 as he was in 1. He worked with the precision of a heat-seeking missile guided by lasers with punches coming from more angles than a circle has.

On the other side of the ring was the durable Rocky Juarez, bleeding from a bad cut over the eye. The cut was sustained in the early rounds by an accidental head butt and it bled profusely throughout the fight. Instead of getting out under the 4 when he could have gotten a “no-contest” instead of a loss, Juarez battled onward, a one-eyed fighter with matchless heart. The doctors kept looking at it and Rocky pushed them off. Juarez, too, was a boxing virtuoso, though always slightly behind in punch volume and speed. He was not ineffective, however, and seemed to gather inspiration in the later rounds as combinations flowed along with the river of blood covering both fighters. The decision clearly belonged to Marquez, but it was a fight that belonged to boxing history as the two great Mexican champions neither relented nor tired.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Herman Ngoudju Defeats Malignaggi!



That's the headline that should have been but wasn't. My boxing reporter in Reno, Alias Rosetti, reports that Ngoudju was robbed and that he's never trusted decisions in AC. My lovely wife Christine thought the same and she's a fairly astute judge of boxing matches inasmuch as she's a disinterested third party. Christine did decide to cheer Ngoudju on, however, after watching the interviews.

Herman landed some long bombs and a few of them seemed to hurt Malignaggi. They certainly slowed him down and left him hanging on. Ngoudgu has a nice style and can hit from across the ring. Malignaggi appeared desperate at times. If Malignaggi had held on to Ngoudgu's arms any longer, you'd have expected him to plan a wedding. It's funny how most of the boxing websites called it wrong. The key difference here is that I thought Herman would give Malignaggi trouble--I didn't realize how much. The other key differences is that most of the other websites and sportswriters continue to call it wrong. It's called "copping an alibi" if you don't know.

Malignaggi had his moments. He's not a bad fighter. It doesn't bother me he doesn't have KO power. But the best I can see this fight from his side is a draw. That's being kinder than from friend from Nevada who called it Malignaggi's early Christmas gift.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Paulie Malignaggi: Campaign to Save Brooklyn

I was so put out by the dearth of boxing venues on HBO this month that I switched to Showtime. I thought I’d take a second look at Paulie Malignaggi.

Malignaggi sort of grows on you—I have to admit I didn’t like his wardrobe designers. The punk-ass Brooklyn attitude didn’t bother me, not at all, except that it seemed a rehearsed third or fourth edition. Now I’m getting used to him, he seems to have refined the act so that it seems to fit him better. Malignaggi is what the old-school trainers used to call a “cutey pie.”

The rap on Malignaggi was that he’s a flashy puncher with great handspeed but that he’s undergunned in the power department. His other attributes are that he’s smooth on his feet and has a great sense of where he is located in the boxing ring and where the other guy is located, too. I’m beginning to be won over and sort of get a kick out of the guy. I can see him as part of the “Save Brooklyn” movement which I just invented. Besides, I was impressed that Malignaggi could take such a horrible beating from Miguel Cotto and stay in there when I would have been looking for a soft spot on the canvas where I could fall without hurting myself.

So anyway, I’m watching him tonight against Herman Ngoudgu, a 16-1 Canadian fighter who KO’d 9. Ngoudgu’s only loss was to Jose Luis Castillo in Jan 2007; he should be a good test for Malignaggi and a W on his record over the better known “Magic Man” would put his name up in lights. Should Ngoudgu get lucky, however…

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Oscar Bonavena, Lou DiBella, and Love Ranch

Oscar "Ringo" Bonavena went 15 grueling rounds with the Greatest. Knocked down three times in the 15th round by Ali, the would-be champion went down for the last time in the remaining minute of the bout.


People in the boxing world are familiar with the name of Lou DiBella, boxing promoter. DiBella has been a positive force in east coast boxing circles, and is well-known in that greatest of all boxing venues, New York City. DiBella Entertainment currently promotes Jermain Taylor, Ike Quartey, Andre Berto, and Paulie Malignaggi. Lou DiBella is also the force behind Broadway Boxing which has featured such exciting boxers Curtis Stevens and Jaidon Codrington. Jaidon Codrington was well-known to east coast boxing aficionados for his appearances on Broadway Boxing, but has attracted widespread media attention from his finalist Contender Series loss to Sakio Biko.

What most people don’t know about Lou DiBella is that he’s a repressed movie mogul. Dibella’s pal, Mark Jacobsen, wrote the New York Magazine piece upon which the film “American Gangster” was based. Now Jacobsen is working on the production of a film called “Love Ranch.”