Some good news in boxing is that it is returning to free TV today at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. Since we're nearing Christmas, I guess I could have titled this one "Santa Cruz Is Coming to Town" because Leo Santa Cruz is one of the earlier fights on the card.
He's from California and will be facing bantamweight Alberto Guerrero of Mexico. The smaller they are the harder they fight, in my opinion. I'm exagerrating but but a little bit if you consider teh dullness in the heavyweight ranks.
I think it's all very hard in the weight classes up to middle and light-heavy, because that's where the largest number of fighters are. To even have your name mentioned in boxing at these weights, you've got to have gone through the boxing equivalent of the Battle of the Bulge.
Anyway, I'm prejudiced. I've been beaten up pretty good by guys much smaller than myself--in the gym, I mean. I'm not a boxer, not really; I just like the sport and I've put in a little time in the amateurs. Don't write me off, however, I know a little something.
The same fight card has one of my favorite fighters on it -- Alfredo Angulo (21-2, 18 KOs) vs.Jorge Silva (19-2-2, 15 KOs).. I love Angulo--he's just tough, durable, serious. I don't know exactly why I love the guy so much but I guess it's because he takes some hard fights--witness the one he lost against James Kirland. For that matter check the whole record at BoxRec.
Anyway, the top billed fight will be Amir Khan vs. Carlos Molina. I'm for Molina but I'm trying to get over my prejudices against Khan. Paying more attention to him lately, I've begun to like him at least on the personal side if not on the boxing side.
Khan has fired Freddie Roach and hired Virgil Hunter (who trains Andre Ward). The object, of course, was to get better at boxing. Khan is very fast and has great reach, punches hard, etc but he seems to fight in a single plane. Front, back, mostly frontal---coming at you in a straight line.
That didn't work against Philly Homeboy Danny Garcia, a bit slower, but a never-say-die type of ebullient, nice, pleasant street kid who embodies streets of Philadelphia in the way that Bernard Hopkins, Hank Lundy, and an entire history of other Philly fighters have.
So to make a long story short, will Khan learn to adjust to different conditions? Is his jaw still fragile? Molina's likely to test that and take advantage of Khan's losses to Danny Garcia and to Lamont Peterson before that.
If Khan loses tonight, he'll do well as a matinee idol. He's handsome, well-spoken, and perhaps can find solid career elsewhere in the entertainment business. Anyway, his last two losses have put him back to scale--now we'll see if strike three means he's down for the count or whether he really has the heart for a comeback and the fighting skills to achieve it.
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