Errol Spence: Demolition Man Defeats Tough South African Chris Van Heerden

Settling in for a night of boxing.  I almost missed the Errol Spence v. Chris Van Heerden fight on SpikeTV because I was tuning in to TRU TV boxing card.  My home boy called me up fortunately and told me about the Errol Spence card.  Ain’t it great now that boxing is once again ubiquitous after being prematurely declared dead by the straining and desperate MMA publicity squad?

Lennox Lewis, former world Heavyweight Champion  was with the Spike TV promotion of Adonis “Superman” Stevenson versus Thomas Karpensky. Lewis had a partner so I hope he’s not the one who lined up Karpensky for Stevenson.  I like Karpensky but it was clear he was from the minor leagues. He was the underfunded setup guy for a Stevenson KO.  Stevenson got the big buildup but he should really be fighting Sergei Kovalev, whom he ducked by signing to a promotion which assured he could keep ducking Kovalev in perpetuity. I won’t believe Adonis is any kind of Superman until he faces Kovalev. It can be done.  The fans want it even if Stevenson doesn’t. 

The Error Spence matchup against Chris Van Heerden was a good match.  Spence has gone from good beginnings at the 2012 Olympics to four rounder, then to six and eight rounders, and now to the whole distance.  Spence had dispatched all his previous opponents and it was time to move him up.  Van Heerden was a good pick, a tough, durable and talented fighter who actually had a chance of winning. Spence was his usual fantastic self, doing all the right things at all the right times.

He was methodical in his work, offsetting Van Heerden efforts with a stiff jab. If Van Heerden closed in, Spence would deliver uppercuts.  Ultimately, he pounded a very game and courageous Van Heerden into a defeat but it was hard work with a guy who didn’t come all the way from South Africa just to lie down.  

On the other hand, I’ve been a long-time fan of Spence and think he got a raw deal at the Olympics.  Usually, I laugh when I hear people saying a guy could be the next Mayweather or the next Tyson, or the next anybody.  But the plaudits that follow Spence around are well deserved.  He’s got the complete arsenal, the body and the mentality to deliver it. While they mention him as a Mayweather, his temperament seems more like that of an Ali—much less noise of course—but with the same grace under pressure.

As for Adonis Stevenson, he gets no praise from me for knocking out a seriously overmatched and unrepresented kid from a small town in Pennsylvania.  The matchmaker gets an “F” for making this one. It was entirely bogus and shouldn’t have been allowed.  In spite of having an upset wins over Chad Dawson, justifying this supposedly, he was clearly not sturdy enough to fight a heavily muscled and fast punching Adonis who comes at you from all angles.  Stevenson has some skills, and he’s strong  but this fight with Karpensky didn’t do him any good.

At the end of the fight and during the post-fight interview, he calls out Kovalev, which was kind of a joke because he turned down a fight with Kovalev about a year ago before Sergei signed with another promoter. Fact is, Stevenson is milking his division for whatever he can get out of it.

Golovkin KO's Willie Monroe Jr in Six

I watched it on HBO. You can read the Daily Mail version here. I haven't read it.

Okay, I wrote a previous blog, complete with a picture of me with Willie Monroe Jr. when he was a kid just starting out. You know where my heart was and I wasn't trying to hide it. Nor did I want to jinx Monroe before the fight when it was clear he needed two things -- courage and a big punch. He only had one of those two things.

Monroe showed courage when he got off the canvas after two early round knockdowns. Both were devastating. Who doesn't know that Golovkin is the savage destroyer, a search and seek and find guided missile capable of launching nuclear firepower against all opponents. An acknowledged predator inside the ring. 

But it was clear from the start what I knew already, that he had only six KOs in a career of 19 fights. He doesn't have the big bomb.  Never did. I knew that was a problem, a problem mentioned in so many words by Roy Jones Jr. during the fight.  He needs to get respect, said Jones, though that was not the way he said it. 

Getting respect is the real first rule of Fight Club. If you can't put some hard leather on Golovkin's face or body, then he's going to walk right through you. That's exactly what Golovkin did, shaking off most of Monroe's punches like they were bouncing rubber balls, even asking for more. 

Still, don't get the idea that YOU can take Monroe's punches. Unless you're the real deal, you'd go down in a hot minute.  What I"m saying about the lack of a big punch applies to the top dogs of boxing. 

And then I'm thinking what it must have felt like to take so many hard, hard punches from Golovkin.  I've been KOd before and it kind of leaves you in a tough spot, even after the headache dies away. Dies away is probably a poor choice of words. 

But I've got to say this about Gennady Golovkin.  I've been a huge fan, even though my heart was for the local American man. His attitude is great and I long ago embraced him as the fight promoters and the American public should, and as they seemed to be doing in last night's arena.  

He's smart, too, and if you were listening, you would have heard him say that he'd like Cotto or Canelo Alvarez before he'd think of Andre Ward. Andre Ward, remember, was the first guy to say he'd be glad to take on Golovkin. This while lots of other guys who should have been stepping up were in absentia.

Know what I'd like from the wish fairy?  I'd prefer Alvarez vs. Golovkin before Golovkin v. Cotto. Cotto's great, mind you, but he's light and also not at the peak of his career (though by no means inconsequential) .  Alvarez v. Golovkin is fresh on both sides. Two devastating brilliant fighters. 

The winner would face Andre Ward, of whom we've seen too little lately. 

I want to say one other thing, writ large:  ROMAN GONZALEZ.  I want to say it again:  ROMAN GONZALEZ.  But that deserves a separate space.

Gennady Golovkin v. Willie Monroe Jr. --Oddsmakers Give Monroe Little Chance to Beat GGG

I'm going to stick my head way out on a limb here and the statistical likelihood is that it will get knocked off.  On hearing of Gennady Golovkin's next fight with Willie Monroe Jr., one fight fan lodged the typical comment:  "GGG's gonna' murder this fool."  But there's something to be said for the undisputed underdog here, and in boxing, the lines separating the winner from the loser are not so finely drawn.

I'm conflicted b/c I'm a long time fan of both GGG & Willie Monroe Jr. I met Monroe when he was just starting out, a kid.  We were both at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canistota, New York.  I used to do a bit of work in boxing and if boxing has "groupies" then I'm one of them. Anyway, I took a picture of myself and young Monroe, talked to him a while, whereupon he told me he was going to be a middleweight champ.  I was thinking, like "How can anyone even say you're going to be a middleweight champ when you've only had a couple of pro fights?

It takes some balls, I know, but it's also possible you're seriously naive. Yet, there was something different about Monroe Jr. He was so nice about, exuding a kind of humble confidence that kind of make you think, well okay...maybe...it's possible. The guy is likeable in the extreme. We had a nice chat and talked about his uncle? grandfather? Willie "The Worm" Monroe" who was a clever tough Philly fighter I liked to watch long ago.

But then I saw this new Monroe in a couple of fights (you always watch the fighters you've come in personal contact with --it's been like that with me since the days I met Ali at his training camp in Deer Lake Pa.) and I see he's coming up in the game. I stilll had my doubts, especially when he was scheduled to fight Brian Adams in the Boxcino tournament.

 Weeks earlier I'd seen Brian Adams demolish his opponents with what looked like nuclear bombs. So I wondered how this well-spoken highly intelligent college boy was going to deal with that.  In fact, Monroe Jr. made it look easy, and the way he did it was through smart fighting which didn't look like Mayweather style fighting but had the same result.  And hey, you can say all you want about being "too defensive" but both Mayweather & Monroe can hit, and hit accurately with combinations.

I like GGG and I know he's got devastating punching power but  I recently saw his performance in the Martin Murray fight and a few others. There is a certain type of fighter that could give GGG trouble, and it wouldn't surprise me if Willie Monroe Jr. was the guy.

I talked to Monroe again after he won the Boxcino Tournament (same place, I can't stay away from the joint, especially during the inductions). I told him I was afraid for him in the Bryan Adams fight. He laughed it off, saying he had a great training camp, and had "learned ways to deal with that." (meaning big punching power)

I call GGG's thing the "Tyson Effect" but what if there are guys like Buster Douglas who, for one night at least, don't buy into the "Tyson Effect?"  I'm kind of a red, white, and blue guy and so I'm going for my American boy Willie Monroe Jr. to give GGG a lot of problems.   There's a way to fight tough brawlers--look at the way Lucas Matthyse busted up my favored Ruslan Provodnikov just a few weeks ago.  The game's called "boxing," don't forget, and that doesn't mean  jumping forward with your head lined up with your opponents punches.

So okay, if you've read this far, you might want to read this interesting article from BOXING NEWS 24.  It's got some facts and figures.

If you read nothing more, you should at least read what Willie Monroe Jr. had to say about the lead up to the fight next week. This is a quote from the article in Boxing News 24:

"“It was shortly after he (GGG) fought Martin Murray and what a lot of people don’t know and it’s closer to the fight so I can let this be released without it being too crazy (is) a lot of people don’t know that GGG’s camp turned me down twice when my name was brought up. They turned us down and they wanted to fight Tureano Johnson. There’s a picture floating around – they had already made the poster for him (GGG) and Tureano and that’s who they were gonna fight. HBO was sort of like ‘We really don’t want to see you fight him because you knocked out Curtis (Stevens) and then Curtis went and knocked him out’. So then it was between me and (Jorge Sebastian) Heiland. HBO was like ‘He’s not really known in America and the only guy he’s really beat is Matthew Macklin and you (GGG) knocked him out!’ So he was almost forced to have to fight me. I know for a fact that the other two opponents was offered more money than me. I hear a lot of people saying ‘Monroe must be taking this for the money’, I know for a fact they were offered more money than I was but that’s just the type of guy I am, I like to fight."

Mayweather Love: Fight Wasn't Boring -- Pacquiao Was

Memo to Mayweather:  If there is a next fight for you, be sure to throw yourself on your opponent's hardest punches.  Do it several times. Commit ring hari-kari. Open up your veins and bleed if you can because that's what all these whining non-boxing people want to see.  If you see Pacquiao's punches coming, don't slip it, don't feint, and above all, you must let him hit you.  This is the average person's conception of boxing, not mine. If I were annointed king, I would pass a law requiring that anyone who comments on a boxing match must have spent at least three minutes of one round in the ring, not with the top talent, but with an unknown journeyman fighter. Try to get away from your opponent, to "run" as you call it. Then tell me what you think (if your brain still works). 

I bought the fight for $100 bucks and don't feel ripped off . (I do wish the PPV ticket prices weren't so high, however)  Now there is all this criticism of a "boring" fight because, after all the hype, the match went twelve rounds and there were no knockdowns. Plus, insulting to the gullible manipulated audience which was suckered into believing Pacquaio was the Messiah, Mayweather Jr. (the all-purpose smug privileged people's devil) didn't fall for Manny's b.s fighting style.  Mayweather just did what the great fighters do--use all of their talents, adjust to situations, and whip up on your opponents.

I'll tell you what's boring. Sportwriters trying to capture eyeballs by doing what they usually do in Mayweather fights. Make Mayweather the bad guy, and put halos around the heads of his opponents, the latest one being Manny Pacquiao.

I'll tell you who's boring:  Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao was boring with his "exciting" fighting style which involves jumping around the ring like a jack-in-the-box, a tactic that only works with people who think a jitterbugging boxer is a better one.  To counter such a bald tactic, Mayweather kept positioning himself at the edge of the "circle of violence," moving in and out to crash Pacquiao's face with solid shots, mostly right hands, but later in the fight scoring some nice left hooks.  Of course, none of this is supposed to happen when an orthodox fighter faces a southpaw--it's only a real ring general like Mayweather who can figure it out and deal with it.

Pacquaio was also boring with his immediate post-fight several times repeated claim that the won the fight. That was an embarrassing low point of which I haven't read a single account. Sportswriters apparently were having trouble extricating their heads from Freddie Roach's backside and didn't hear that.

Pacquiao is also boring with his claim of a shoulder injury on his right side. Let me tell you something.  You can't be injured and not injured at the same time, but you can have hand problems, shoulder problems, rib problems, leg problems, as both Mayweather and Pacquiao both do.  Pacquiao was throwing lots of jabs in his attempts to get in on Mayweather.  A southpaw jabs with his right hand. Count the high number of jabs. Also consider that Pacquiao has two signature punches -- the straight left (with which he KOd Ricky Hatton), and the right hook(which worried me the most) which kept falling short because Mayweather was constantly shifting, giving him angles.

Fighters are always in one sort of pain or another. If the pain and injury is severe enough, you postpone the fight.  Pacquiao checked "no" to the question about injuries and so did Mayweather (with his own problems not used as an excuse).  They were ready to fight and wanted the fight to go forward. But who knew that Pacman was preparing an a priori excuse which most sportwriters and a gullible public would be only too happy to swallow?  As Mayweather is quoted in this article, "Winners win, losers have excuses." 

Now there is this ridiculous lawsuit..  You can't be injured and not injured at the same time, legally speaking. The plaintiffs allege that Pacquiao's camp (Bob Arum & others) defrauded them by having the fight go on while later claiming he was injured.

Of course, we know that Pacquiao (and Mayweather) are seeing doctors, physical therapists, kinestheticians, and exercise physiologists as a matter of routine. Pacquiao's doctors said he was okay to fight, ultimately. Pacquiao's people also say they had American Anti-Doping Agency permission to administer a supposedly non-steroidal medication in combination with other treatments.  (Was it for this reason that the Mayweather camp was wary of artificial injections in previous fight discussions?)  But the Nevada State Athletic Commission ruled Pacquiao's desired  medication wasn't permitted under its licensing rules.

And so we have this peripatetic, all-asses-covered statement by Top Rank. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic. Truth to tell, Manny Pacquiao is a good fighter, a man I respect as a fighter. He just wasn't up to that top level that some people were fooled into thinking he was.  Unfortunately, Pacquiao 's real life performance doesn't match up  to the persona he's tried to project, nor the image the media has been complicit with Pacquiao in creating.

Can we at least do one thing?  Remove the halo from Pacquiao's head and put the crown on Mayweather Jr. It's about time one of the topmost boxers of our era got his due.

Mayweather v. Pacquiao: If You See Something Say Something

The article I read about the Mayweather v. Pacquiao PPV boxing match was similar to many others I read after the fight.  This offending article appeared in the Wall Street Journal, a fine publication with fine writers, except for Jason Gay who wrote this one.  Mr. Gay did a fine job of describing Las Vegas and his own personal narrative but he's not a boxing head and he's solidly in line with the anti-Mayweather crowd. These people do not know what harm they do, and are willing to ignore the depredations of football and basketball players while holding boxers to impossibly high standards of conduct.  Yes, Mayweather Jr. was punished after pleading guilty to domestic abuse and no one approves of that. But this pious disapprobation that you hear about Mayweather is a bit tiresome.  I don't know Mayweather, I don't know Pacquiao, and neither do you probably.  Who is it so willing to cast the first stone?

Half the time, I think the animus is directed at Mayweather's father and uncle, both of who were terrific boxers who lived life the hard way.  But how fair is that?

Anyway, I was so pissed at anti-Mayweather articles like this that I had to say something.  So  here's my nasty commentary in the WSJ comments section beneath the article. I know I am pissing against the wind here, but America is the land of second chances.  Besides, I'm a long-time Mayweather fan and all I wanted to see proved in the fight was that Mayweather always and indisputedly was a far better boxer, ring strategist, tough guy, and far more honest person.

The rest is b.s.  Anyway, here's my WSJ rebuttal. I hope you'll understand:

If boxing is "not what it used to be," neither are so-called boxing writers.  Most of them favored Pacquaio and always trumpeted the good-guy vs. bad-guy scenarios that the non-boxing public invariably buys into hook, line, and sinker.  I don't want to remove the media halo bestowed upon him by "boxing analysts" in thrall with the sanctimonious new-found religion trope-- after well, you know.

But didn't anyone notice Pacquiao's pathetic post-fight comments repeatedly telling a PPV announcer that he won a fight that was so lop-sided that Paulie Malagnaggi almost lost his lunch on hearing it? Yet, not one "sportswriter," in their habit of demonizing Mayweather and deifying Pacquiao, remarked on that. Meanwhile, Mayweather was gracious to all comers in pre-fight and post-fight interviews. 

The fact is that Mayweather is and ALWAYS was the better fighter. Only old age can defeat him. I hope he retires undefeated. Give the man his due, as has been done w/ Ali & Tyson.

Evander Holyfield's Mayweather v. Pacquiao Prediction

Correction:  The article states that Marciano's record of 49-0 was the end of his career due to a plane crash. This is not true. In fact, Marciano retired and lived his life for a few years before dying in a plane crash. 

Evander Holyfield is one of the truly great boxers of all time. He wasn't as big as some of today's monstrous heavyweights but he had the kind of determination, augmented by boxing skill, that would have put him at the top in any arena of champions.  With his long and colorful ring record, you know he knows the sport inside and out.

So naturally a short interview with Evander in ThePostGame would have caught my eye.  In it, he was handicapping the upcoming Mayweather v. Pacquiao fight, and essentially saying the Boxing Gods were rigging the game to have Mayweather lose.  The reason Mayweather was being set up to lose is because 'Boxing People' (meaning mostly promoters) didn't allow anyone to retire undefeated from boxing.  The only exception that comes to mind right now is Rocky Marciano, who cheated promoters  in arranging a loss for the Rock by getting himself killed in a plane crash.

Holyfield is always witty and to the point. There is no other way to explain this boxing mythology than the way he did it in the article:

"They want to keep the money in the sport by doing things to make it happen this way. Somebody beats the man and then somebody beats the man who beat the man and then somebody beats the man who beat the man who beat the man..."

And so on ad infinitum. This may seem an arch way to express an idea but, over time, that's exactly what happens. To those elites who would condescend to say that Holyfield's analysis was generic, highly biased toward the personal, or unintelligent in any way, I would say you need to watch a little bit more boxing.  Or maybe the stock markets.

The very same people who would poo-poo Holyfield's method of predictology are complete Pollyanna types who believe in such things as stock market analyses. I"m watching CNBC Business right now and it's the same as in the Boxing World where millions of people give their predictions and analyses and the sum total of all the wrong guesses and all the right guesses gives you a bottom line statement which is very similar to what Holyfield said.

B Like  that stock and that analyst beat predictions of that other analyst and that other stock and the Fed put its finger on the scale beats first quarter profits which will be beat by second quarter profits and the whole thing impacted by war in the Middle East and Aunt Sally's red dress combined with the way the wind is blowing that day, at the end of which you either make money or lose it, but all this could be affected by if your dog farts.  

In the end, something happens.  I do think there is a boxing world karmic leaning toward a Pacquiao win even though my own pick to win is Floyd Mayweather Jr.  He's the better fighter, I've always believed, and that is not to say that I don't love Manny Pacquiao.  I admit to having once been a Pacquiao hater  but was long ago converted by the skill, determination, motivations, character, and positive impact he has had on my favorite sport.

I just think Mayweather Jr. is the better boxer is all. And I think Holyfield is right, that the 'boxing world' is looking for a way for Floyd to lose and could easily find it in a split decision.

Holyfield suggests a way to "trick" the Boxing Gods.  It's a very witty solution, I have to say. He says Mayweather should announce something like ten more fights and then quit boxing after he's gotten to five.  That would work, except that Mayweather's pushing forty with Pacquiao not far behind.

I've got a better idea. Knock Pacquiao out and then retire. It's better than the Marciano Plan.

GGG Golovkin Gets In Some Rounds Vs. Martin Murray

Watched GGG vs. Britain’s Martin Murray last night. Golovkin pitched a near shutout, before knocking the game British champion out in the 11^th round. The fight announcers, Roy Jones, Max Kellerman, and Jim Lampley were a little too much effusive in their praise of Murray. It was a one-sided fight all the way through, although I did agree that Murray has a solid fighter’s heart.  He deserves praise for that, as well as for fighting past three knockdowns.  The other thing you notice is that Murray has great hand speed, both left and right. Some say he doesn’t have stand-out power, and that is true, but he has enough power to knock people out so I don’t want to pin him that way.

It was only fitting, however, that I watched an old war movie, Patton, after the fight. The association I’m making is because of that often quoted phrase of the famous WWI general George S. Patton. The purpose of fighting, said Patton, was not to die for your country, but to make some other poor bastard die for his.

Golovkin had gotten that message but apparently Murray hadn’t. It looked like Murray’s management had decided he should die for his country. It wasn’t until the referee stepped in that the honor was denied him.  On the other hand, Murray showed tremendous courage, no doubt about that, and several times barked orders at his corner that they weren’t to stop the fight. So he kept fighting on for pride and heart. I just hope it didn’t do him as much damage as I believed it did (and still believe it). But, I’m not complaining; it was boxing at the high level, and you have to expect they’ll let fighters get into the deep water that separates the good from the great.

The announcers were definitely promoting Murray, though, and in the post-fight interview, Kellerman hardly listened to Golovkin who said, essentially, that he was just chilling in the first five rounds.  Kellerman was saying but yes, you got hit, and did that show a vulnerability?  What was poor Golovkin to say especially when his language is at the ESL level?

So my underlying point is that there are two audiences for the sport and HBO was pitching to the broad audience that thinks boxing “color commentators” (I would call them colorists, lol) are telling you exactly how the fight really, really, really, really is and not promoting or looking to the television future.That’s all right, I suppose, it must be done, if only to create a broader audience for the sport.  

But another audience is the true color fight fan who cares only about what is real. Boxing at the highest level is a game of truth, and that’s what makes the sport so interesting. Golovkin has put the sportwriters/ announcers into a weird position but let’s face the following Golovkin facts:

·       Golovkin purposefully got some rounds in with Murray. That’s what he wanted, and that’s what he needed. I’m sure the KO would have occurred earlier had not he and his promotors decided to get the rounds in. That was a very smart and necessary thing for Golovkin. Most of his other opponents retired too early, and that’s not good for a fighter who’s going to be one of the great ones.

·       While the color commentators were going oooh and aaah over Murray’s lightening quick right hand which landed several times, they won’t tell you that Golovkin wanted to take those shots.  It is a fact that most fighters, at one point or other, will want to feel the power of the opponent. A certain kind of masochism is inherent in the sport, I’m afraid. Another reason Golovkin liked to get hit was so that he could roll or flow with the punches. I’m not saying he wanted every shot he took, but he wanted most of them. Believe it.  I”ve seen it. You’ve seen it if you’ve looked close.

·       Golovkin’s ready for a “big name” and it’s time promotors wake up to it.

·       He locks onto his opponents like a heat seeking missile and is unrelenting.

·       He boxes, he punches, he knows where he is in the ring.

·       It’s not his job to ask the referee to stop the fight so Max Kellerman should have stopped asking.

#Boxing: How to Buy a Heavy Bag

This is the story of the punching bag you see on the left. It is made of leather and is soft-filled, about two inches worth.  It has chains at the top rather than textile straps.  All these attributes are necessary for a successful boxing workout.

Before buying it from Amazon, I drove far and wide to find a bag of similar quality and size. And came up with zilch.  I've had considerable experience in boxing gyms although I was never a professional boxer.  I went into Dick's Sporting Goods, Sears, and K-Marts and even a Play It Again Sports shop.  Play it Again had a real heavy bag at least, though it wasn't exactly what I wanted. It was sort of a brick, but not as bad of a brick as the red, vinyl, skinny, short concrete cylinder that the local Y shamelessly installed and called a Heavy Bag.

A really professional heavy bag should be heavy, 100 to 150 lbs at least.  The one pictured above is about 75 lbs, soft-filled about two inches on the outer circumference and solid on the inside. It is well-packed and well-balanced. It has a chain and swivel at the top rather than textile loops and cheap wrapping where you can see the stitches.  There are bags heavier than 150 lbs too but they're for the really big guys,  people like Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury.

The bag pictured above is the right one to buy if you're like me--familiar with the sport, but of declining prospects due to old age and because you were never good enough to function in boxing at the highest levels anyway not even on your best day.  My hands are kind of shot so I need the extra padding, in addition to Mexican wraps, and IMF packed leather gloves.  It's not the cheapest bag by any means but neither is it the most expensive. I've looked at heavy bags that cost in the $700 dollar range. Yes, you heard that right.

You can go to Walmart or K-Mart or Dicks' and any one of the number of mass market retail stores that have no clue about the products they're selling. The main criteria for them is cheap.   Your body is not cheap.  Your hands and teeth and nerves are not cheap.  You can buy one of the chintzy bags for cheap and hit it with pitty-pat punches and pretend you're having a real boxing workout but you're not.  The heavy bag serves a lot of purposes but one chief purpose is to engage in and improve your hard punching.

Okay, so the bottom line is here:  $149.99 at Amazon.  You get free shipping but the tax in New York State is eight percent.  It comes to about $161 and some change.  It comes with the chain and swivel.  Made of nice black leather.  You can really lay into it.  You can give it angles and pivot.

Here's the link to the bag on Amazon in case you're interested. Oh, and I've got no dog in the hunt, no investment in Ringside, or any other compulsion to sell you this bag. If I were profit minded, I wouldn't be donating it and hanging it at my local YMCA here in upstate New York.

Russians Are Coming: Gennady GGG Golovkin Destroys Rubio

Last night’s boxing matches at Carson’s StubHub Center provided some sobering moments. For me, the sobering moment occurred when Donito Donaire went down on his face under the thunder of young Jamaican Nicholas Walters. I had “misoverestimated” (Yogi Berra word) Donaire, who make no excuses for himself  for having the “*# beat out of me” in  a higher weight class than he was meant for. That is not to ignore the power and skill of Walters.

Also sobering to fight promoters who have been studiously avoiding Team Golovkin was the devastating 2^nd round KO of Marco Rubio (not the American politician) in front of an overfilled stadium in Carson.  The outcome was going to be the outcome, but I didn’t expect it to come so early, even though most of Golovkin’s opponents have been very sent home in time to do some night clubbing. 

Boxing promoters like to hear themselves talking and what they have for too long been talking about is how Golovkin was somehow not up to American boxing standards.  The reason for this canard (that means “lie) is because they want so badly to keep their golden boys, their money machines, their fighting ATMs from being lowered in rank by a guy who is a devastating and intuitive puncher. Aiding promoter delusion is the trope (like politician-speak) is that Golovkin came from some weird country (Kazakhstan) “over there” that they can’t pronounce. 

Now, these promoters have become laughing stocks, as no one believes in their fighters, not while happy-go-lucky Golovkin goes around like a wrecking ball, demolishing the fortress minded boxing establishment.

The only established guy who has any balls in all this is Andre Ward, a superior middleweight by any definition.  Everyone else HBO interviewed about a possible Golovkin fight tried to change the conversation to a discussion of the weather. Ward and his people stepped up and said, yeah, they’d fight Golovkin which shows that they are both smart and brave. Ward is the ONLY guy out there who could beat Golovkin and that is because he is the right combination of punching, ring smarts, and technique. He’s like a B-hop without the age bracket around his neck. 

Donaire's the Betting Underdog?

Donaire's the underdog against the Jamaican Walters tonight. I was surprised at seeing that headline on a site that covers boxing.  I don't have it handy to show you, but you could find it if you care.  That's like saying history is the hardest thing to predict.  You're supposed to laugh now.

The odds makers in Reno and Vegas are thinking of Donaire's recent fight against Guillermo Rigondeaux. You can catch that on YouTube if you didn't see it.  I had picked Donaire to win and was disappointed that he appeared sluggish throughout the fight, and was frankly outfoxed by the smooth and methodical boxing skills (and power shots) of Rigondeaux.

So the betting line is based on that fight, and on the premise that the same guy who fought Rigondeaux will show up tonight, and that his skills have deteriorated with age.  I don't see that happening.

Walters doesn't have the experience, even with his impressive record, and I'm looking for the old Donaire to reappear tonight, the hungry Donaire who wants his rep back.  Agree?  Disagree?

Meanwhile, the top of the bill features GGG versus Marco Rubio and that should be a banger.  Two missiles colliding in flight.  A KO extravaganza.  I can't see that one going past the 5th round, or in extenuating circumstances, the 6th. Who ends up on the floor is open to debate but my guess is that Rubio gets stopped.  I don't say he hits the deck and, frankly, I think GGG is more likely to go down than Rubio is.  But it's the finish that counts, and there I see GGG taking the win.

GGG Golovkin and the Devil in Marco Antonio Rubio

This will be about GG Golovkin, Marc Antonio Rubio, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

I just wanted a headline that rhymes because I was just reading about 50 Cent trying to rehabilitate his relationship with Floyd Mayweather, Jr.  I'm in one of those moods when I love everyone.

I'm kind of infatuated with 50 and I'm glad he's putting out signals to Mayweather Jr.  I hope Mayweather Jr. will take the hint b/c this little flap, all because 50 allegedly said something about Floyd's one-time gf Shantel Jackson, is lame.   I can't stand all that drama, anyway, and what's it got to do with my favorite sport?  Get over yourselves.

Here's the deal.  I'm not longer much interested in Mayweather v. Pacquiao even though, like millions of others, I will get caught up in the hype when/if they start promoting it.  And I agree-- it will be an exciting fight, no matter how old and battered the principals are.

I think Floyd Mayweather Jr. is  the greatest fighter of  the last two generations and that he has skills beyond those of the energetic and eminently likable/capable Pacquiao.  When my peeps hear me say that, and I have said it often enough to irritate everyone, they think I am dissing Pacquiao when I'm not.  Manny's a great fighter with a great heart that is, at this point, not altogether in it.  On the other side, and in regard to the man everyone except me loves to hate, I've always said that the only way Floyd Jr. could be beaten by someone in the weight class is by old age.

And he's getting there.  If these two had fought, say, eight years ago, Pacquiao would not be so high in the minds of those people who like him more for his decency than his skills.  Floyd would have beaten him, pure and simple.  It would have taken more than heart, footwork, and energy to deal with a Mayweather in his prime.  A Mayweather in decline is still the best of the class, and that will be clear if we do get a matchup in 2015.

Whew!  WTF? Why did I have to say all that when this is about one of the most exciting fights in the recent decade to be broadcast for free if you get HBO. I'm talking about Golovkin and Marco Antonio Rubio.   It doesn't get any better than this.  You have two of the biggest KO fighters in HISTORY!  Golovkin has 27 KOs out of 30 fights and Rubio has 51 KOs out of 59 fights.

Do you see what I'm talking about?  This is like two nuclear warheads crashing together in the sky!  It gives me agita already.  This will be dangerous to watch.  I'm keeping a sedative handy just in case, so my brains don't blow out my ear from the blood pressure rising.

I want to say my bit about the undercard _-- Donaire v. Walters.  I've been a big fan of Donaire and was disappointed in one of his recent setbacks.  Walters is hoping he's in the same lackluster frame of mind as when he lost to Guggliermo Rigondeaux in April of 2013.  I saw that fight and Donaire was flagging while Rigondeaux was at the top of his game and fought a smart fight.  Rigondeaux was the clear winner. It was a bad night for Donaire, but if Walters thinks the guy that lost to Rigondeaux is the one he's coming to meet, he's going to be handed his ass on a shield.

Walters had 24 wins and no losses and also a big KO record but he's about to step up to something he perhaps can't handle in veteran Donaire.  If Walters survives and does a creditable job, it'll be a big boost to his career.  As things stand now with Walters' prediction of knocking out Donaire,  nobody outside of Jamaica is listening.

Provodnikov Loses Split Decision to Dancing Man Chris Altieri

First things first.  Yes, I give underdog and former martial arts competitor Chris Altieri credit for surviving 12 rounds with the Siberian Tiger (aka Siberian Rocky).  I think he showed some heart after being stomped in the first round and I think he danced well.

The funny thing about Altieri's victory is that almost noone, not even Provodnikov, seems very angry about it.  Most of the boxing sites either crow about what a great triumph it was for the 20-0 Altieri  or they point to the score cards showing how one judge had Provodnikov the winner by a wide margin and two judges had Altieri outscoring Provodnikov. 

The best of the articles I read was on Bad Left Hook , where hardcore boxing fans hang out, and where 53 percent thought Provodnikov won compared to 38 percent who gave the fight to Altieri.   Okay, so what am I getting to?

First of all, Altieri was entirely too impressed with himself in comments after the fight, telling Max Kellerman he "told you so."  That's while standing there with his face looking like he'd taken a long fall from a high place and Provodnikov being unmarked.

Secondly, those judges who gave the fight to Altieri had applied the rules of amateur boxing.  Not to disparage amateur boxing, a sport I hold in high regard for a variety of reasons, I have to say that you should not judge professional sports by amateur rules.

Under the rules of amateur boxing, every punch counts, the pitty-pat punches as well as the KO shots, and you get points for anything that looks like aggression even if it's not. 

Ultimately, Provodnikov had this guy dancing around him for most of the fight, and Altieri danced very well, showing dandy angles, and with great kick-boxing style footwork.   I am not against dancing in professional boxing so much as I am against dancing throughout an entire fight. 

Remember long ago when boxing judges understood the dancing rules?  When Oscar De La Hoya danced the last two rounds vs. Felix Trinidad?  The verdict there was that Oscar danced too much, and yet he had danced through only two rounds at best.

Altieri danced so much he should have been at a card with the Lincoln Center Ballet.

And then there was the frustrated Provodnikov, who was making no excuses, saying simply and truthfully that he didn't like to fight people who ran.  This was probably the first time he'd experienced a fight where the other guy danced for 11 rounds. 

And then there was the local New York titles-belong-to-us-because-we-are-stereotyped-in-the-movies-and-talk-funny like we are Brooklynites even though we are from Long Island.   Did this parochial crowd influence the judges?   

I propose a solution--- a rematch in a 10 x 10 ring.  That should give Altieri enough room to dance and has the added benefit of seeing if he can fight. 

Meanwhile, the Russian kid  is the far better fighter.  I like dancing but we don't play dat in boxing.

Luis Collazo : The Sensational Knockout of Victor Ortiz

I guess I could call this  piece  VICTOR ORTIZ MEETS BROOKLYN.  The former champion had been having a fine time on Dancing with the Stars and other enjoyments of civilian life.   No one should begrudge him that but after meeting Luis Collazo in Brooklyn, it was clear that he'd made the wrong choice of opponents for a comeback fight and wasn't all that prepared.



In this, I'm not referring to his physical conditoning which was adequate.  But there was something missing from the start as he flailed away in what he hoped would be an early stoppage.  That's not to say Victor Ortiz took Luis Collazo for granted.  It was more a matter of not being where he should be mentally for a fight that meant so much for his career.



Where Luis Collazzo was concerned, this piece could also have been called the boxing version of THE HUNGER GAMES.  Luis Collazzo is one of those guys boxing fans love, even while others like Ortiz get the spotlight.  He's a solid fighter with the proper mentality and he fights naturally.  There's nothing amateur about his mentality nor his activity in the ring.  His style is smooth, economical, and seasoned.  



He mentioned in the post fight interview that people thought of him as not having the big punch.  This is not exactly the same thing as saying he has a pitty-pat punch. You can ask Ortiz about that.  Ortiz had fired a wide hook that careened off Collazzo's chest harmlessly and put in in the wrong position:  in range, no defense, exposed. 



Collazzo being the natural fighter was right there, his own hook coming automatically, with neither thinking nor strenuous exertion.    Bulls Eye.  Ortiz took it on the chin right where you're not supposed to take it and he went right over like an overenthusiastic amateur in his first fight.



The long layoff , during which Ortiz recovered from a broken jaw, and the extracurricular activities, had combined to weaken Ortiz' will to do the time.  On the other hand, Luis Collazzo has been doing nothing but time, nothing but the hard work.



It was touching, too, to hear him speak of how boxing saved him from the fate of his brothers, one of whom is in the joint for a murder stretch, the other doing a seven year sentence.   Collazzo couldn't save them from themselves, nor from the savagery of the streets, but he's turned his attention to helping the young kids in the gym. 



As for Ortiz, he needs to make up his mind and not kid himself about boxing.  He's been to the top of his world so if he wants to quit, that's okay.  But he should be straight with himself. If he wants to do boxing, he needs to pick himself up from the floor and do it the way it's always been done, the way few people (myself included)  can do.



Hard work and sacrifice--the way Luis Collazzo does it.

2014 Boxing Preview: Erislandy Lara, not Pacquiao, is the real potential threat to Mayweather - Bad Left Hook

2014 Boxing Preview: Erislandy Lara, not Pacquiao, is the real potential threat to Mayweather - Bad Left Hook

I don't agree with much in this article except that Erislandy Lara vs. Floyd Jr. would be a more interesting matchup than either Pacquiao (which won't happen and I don't care) or Amir Khan who will, at least, be entertaining --mainly due to his boxing style.

Boxing Manny Pacuiao: The Tax Angle

Even though the Golf Channel and the Tennis Crowd would like to depict boxing fans as a horde of knuckle-dragging troglodytes, some of the smartest people in the world are involved in boxing.

In a sport that can bring in $25-$40 million dollars from a single matchup, it's only natural that smart people would follow the boxing fans into the arena. One such smart guy is Bob Arum, who promotes Manny Pacquiao's fights. 

Arum was asked recently why Manny Paquiao, who has fought fourteen professional fights in Nevada or Texas, bringing in tons of revenue to those states, suddenly decides to fight Brandon Rios in Macau?  The question is particularly relevant when you consider that the overall purse was smaller in Macau than it would have been in the U.S.

Bob Arum has the answer: 

"Manny can go back to Las Vegas and make $25 million but how much will he end up with-- $15 million?" 

If you never think of these things when you're watching boxing, consider that the tax rate in Macau tops off at 12 percent.  Compare that with the U.S. at 39.5 percent and if you come up with the right answer, you may be a contender.  Another factor Pacquiao's people consider:  Texas and Nevada have no state income taxes.

The Arum quote, by the way, is from the Wall Street Journal today.  

Pacquiao v. Rios was a 'Deja Vu All Over Again'

The major reason I didn't buy last night's Rios v. Pacquiao fight was the sense it might turn out the way it did, with Rios being the showcase punching bag for a guy with superior boxing talent.

So it was what it was, and I still stand behind my blog yesterday in worrying about permanent damage to both fighters, but especially to Brandon Rios who uses his head as something like a third fist.

What amazes me most about the fight, though, is that Bob Arum managed to sell it and managed to sell it with a degree of genius.  What was the promotional strategy?

• You enlarge what's there already, which was the Paquiao was so sensationally KOd by Juan Marquez that fight fans might think PacMan was still out there in the regions of space.  Expounding on this scenario, and magnifying it by comments to the sports press, incites the general boxing fan to believe they will  see Brandon Rios 'shock the world.'    In fact, the only shock fight fans will get will come when they see they 60 dollar cable bill.
• The second embellishment is that you portray a Manny Pacquiao who is distracted by the typhoon in his country, by his political life, and by a long layoff.  That anyone would consider this any more than a fleeting thought astounds me.  Professional fighters may get sick, injure themselves, do foolish things as Mike Tyson did in his first loss to Buster Douglas, but they are not any more distracted when they step into the ring than a football player who does a tap dance in the end zone.  This scenario would only have credibility if Manny Pacquiao had his legs tied together.   You have to remember, even with the hard partying that Mike Tyson did in Japan, he still put Buster Douglas on his butt with a big uppercut that almost ended that fight.
• Of course, the enlargement of Brandon Rios as an opponent is necessary to a good fight promotion.  Today, most sportswriters and fans speak of his slowness last night compared to Pacquiao's speed.  Perhaps some people, with the exception of the ENTIRE WORLD, had not noticed that before.  But Arum's crew, and Paquiao's crew, stitched together through comments, hints, suggestions, and various innuendo the idea that Rios was a force to be reckoned with rather than a symbol of courage in the public mind. 
• HBO boxing commentators are fairly decent people, but even decent people are swept up into the sweepstakes of big money, big celebrity, and a sense of self-importance.  It's all part of promotion, and they work for HBO so they will contribute to drama even when drama is lacking.  When you heard Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman talk about Rios last week, you'd think they were talking about Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Okay, so the one thing I haven't mentioned is that most boxing fans enjoyed the fight. I got that impression, at least, from reading the commentaries beneath the fight coverage.  With regard to PacMan, some of the big questions were answered, one being that he can still take a punch (perhaps not punches in bunches but still) and that he has a great deal of personal courage and determination.

We knew that before though, didn't we?  Call this fight the way Yogi Berra might have, that is, a 'Deja vu all over again."

Brandon Rios Versus Manny Pacquiao

Gordon Marino writes a sports column in the Wall Street Journal and covers boxing.  He may not be your go-to guy for the hardcore boxing fan but he's very professional and writes in a way that offers boxing knowledge in a broad, easily digested human interest fashion.

I like the hardcore boxing stuff, okay?  But I'm up to here with its repetitive conventions.  You already know this much:

Brandon Rios is the hard-punching, straight forward marching, punishment taker that he always has been.   It's hard not to like a guy in the tradition of Mickey Ward, Carmen Basilio, Jake LaMotta -- and I like him.  

I like him so much that I hope he takes big earnings from this fight and goes home to take care of his wife and family-- like forever.  Not only does Rios take punishment well, he prides himself on putting his head right in the lion's jaw.

He does this for the crowd's pleasure, not for mine.  Even if he enjoys it, and many people say he does, he shouldn't be allowed to pursue his masochism beyond ordinary, acceptable limits.

Which means yeah, I get it.  I appreciate that Brandon Rios can take a beating and keep on fighting.  I can take a beating too, but I know that's not exactly the best recommendation for a career in the ring.

However,  when a beating becomes a primary motive, more primary than winning, I vote the other way.   A beating is not the point of the exercise is what I'm saying.

On the other hand you have Pacquiao.  Let me confess that, in most of Pacquiao's fights, I leaned the other way.  I cheered Marquez' KO victory that would have allowed the referee to have "counted to 600," as Marino says in his column.

Most of Marino's column is aimed at the toll knockouts take on its victims.  Some fighters are capable of rising from the ashes;  others seem locked into the limbo of an eternal ten count.

Unless Rios steps in early with KO power (and I don't think Pacquiao will let that happen), he's in for a rough night.  A merciful ref would stop it in the 7th as the fight settles into a sustained beating. 

I give Pacquiao credit for foregoing the easy tuneup and taking his chances with a guy like Rios.  There is always the puncher's chance, especially with a game fighter like Brandon Rios.

I wish there were some middle ground between "with your shield or on it," as the Spartans used to say.  For fighters like Brandon Rios, there isn't.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Amir Khan: Business is Boxing

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Amir Khan: Business is Boxing

The jist of this article by boxing news is that Amir Khan doesn't belong in the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr.  Who knew? 

It's a little arch, the way it's written, but good, a little on the intellectual side.  I only partly agree with the "boxing is business" first opinion.  The real fight fans appreciate real talent. 

It's not that Khan is without. It's just that he was EXPOSED -- which is what boxing does.  So he'll go down in four, I think.  But that doesn't mean I wouldn't go down myself in four, or three, or two, or really (why not tell the truth) the first shot?

I love Mayweather Jr. . I do.  I always did.  I don't know why exactly but I always knew the guy was history.  History in the same way that Ali is history, and Joe Louis, and well, there are many. 

But right now Mayweather is living history and it's just great to watch the ring savvy, the intelligence, the capturing of the other guy's spirits, and the breaking down.

I never did understand those Mayweather haters, but I suppose it all good b/c they made Mayweather rise to his destiny as one of the all-time greats.

More bad news for boxing? The weight is over with Chavez Jr.

More bad news for boxing? The weight is over with Chavez Jr.

Meanwhile, an angry Ronnie Shields — Vera’s trainer — told BoxingScene.com late Wednesday night that an agreement for the fight to be contested at 173 had been reached, and that Vera was going to be financially compensated for putting up with this garbage.
 
That’s fine. But to jerk Vera around like this just because you are Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and you can get away with it because there is no way Vera is going to back out of a fight with the mighty “Son of the Legend,” is just rotten.

Boxing: So Simple A Child Could Do It.... - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Boxing: So Simple A Child Could Do It.... - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

That's my former boxing coach, Jesse Harris, working with little Joey D., aged 5 going on the big 6 at the time this clip was taken.  Worth watching.  Give it up, y'all.... :)