MVN: Most Valuable Network

Having a distaste for conspiracy theories the way I do, I bit my tongue yesterday -- despite my doubts -- about the official explanation given that boxing great Alexis Arguello's demise was, apparently, a suicide. But some very, very level-headed people today are openly questioning that explanation today, wondering whether he was killed, and I think those thoughts require an airing out.

Tales of Arguello's flirtation with death by his own hand are well-known at this point. This one was particularly poignant. Still, some of the details are a tad eyebrow-raising. Who kills one's self via shotgun blast through the heart? It's certainly not the predominant method. "The first man from Nicaragua ever to win a world boxing title was found shot to death at his home in Managua, the Sandanista Party's government Radio Ya quickly claiming it was a suicide even though a gunshot wound to the chest would seem to hint of something more nefarious," wrote the ultra-reliable Ron Borges.

Wallace Matthews recounts for Newsday a long, hard life where Arguello fought with cocaine, financial devastation, divorces, Sandanistas, and the time he threatened to kill himself on a boat with his son present, then notes:

If Alexis Arguello didn't pull the trigger that day, there's no way he did it yesterday, not after having pulled his life together once again so spectacularly - more than 20 years after fighting in the jungles of Nicaragua for the Contras, Arguello was elected mayor of Managua only last November. And over so trivial and nebulous a matter as, according to one report, suspicions of "improper financial dealings?'' Preposterous.

Jose Suliaman, not someone I'd put in the "ultra-reliable" category, raised a similar point to Borges', nonetheless prompting me to finally speak up via Twitter. And, of course, friend of the site Burbank Baker -- who always comes across as a highly rational sort -- raised his own cautious suspicion in the comments section of the entry just below this one.

Today, there are yet more reports suggesting Arguello killed himself. "Assistant judicial police chief Glenda Zavala says traces of gunpowder were found on the 57-year-old Arguello's hands, suggesting he shot himself. There were no other signs of violence in the room where he was found."

I'm no expert on the state of Nicaraguan "good government" initiatives, so I don't want to speak out of school. Nor do I want to advance any theories absent evidence. The bottom line is this: Arguello's death should be thoroughly investigated by credible law enforcement authorities and none of us should jump to any conclusions one way or the other right now. And for not speaking up about my doubts right away and instead only passing along the official explanation without skepticism, I apologize.
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It was a fight Alexis Arguello lost, his tremendous 1982 Fight of the Decade with Aaron Pryor, where I first laid eyes on the man, and it was that fight that turned me into a fan. Past his prime and over his ideal weight, the boxer who was arguably the finest junior lightweight ever went 14 hard ones with the man who is arguably the finest junior welterweight ever, eventually succumbing in a knockout loss that glorified him more than it diminished him.

Arguello -- found dead today, apparently by his own hand -- was the kind of boxer anyone could love. "Watching Arguello fight is like enjoying the subtleties of a great Renaissance masterpiece," Peter King once wrote. "There is rich color and detail in his performance. His jabs are straight, strong and accurate. His body punches are delivered with care. His right crosses and left hooks are issued with an awesome potency." He was at once a smart fighter, the living embodiment of the sweet science, and a fearsome knockout artist. Ring magazine nominated him to its list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time, clocking him in at #20. For a while, he was considered the finest active boxer alive of any weight.

Inside this ferocious, perfect fighting machine was a kind and gentle soul. The most sporting boxers usually celebrate their wins then check up on the opponents they've detached from consciousness. Arguello is the only one I've seen who routinely was more interested in the well-being of his defeated foes than in raising his hands in victory. He became close friends with his opponents, win or lose. He once fought Ray Mancini. "He was a brawler, a guy who wanted it with all his heart because his father had never gotten a title shot," Arguello said in an interview much later. Arguello knocked him out. But he told Mancini, "Look, the same way you love your father, I love my father. And if there's anything I can do for you let me know, because I'm sure you're going to be champion."

I don't usually write eulogies of any kind for ex-boxers who have passed away. I usually don't have any idea what to say. Arguello was special to me, and I'm still at a loss. But I wanted to say something. Arguello's life after boxing had its controversies and difficulties; I know nothing, really, but Arguello the boxer, the competitor. For those of you who never got a chance to see that Arguello, I leave you with one of the better highlight clips of "The Explosive Thin Man" I could find. I've always been more the "celebrate someone in their death" kind than a mourner. I hope you'll join me in that spirit.

I don't think I'm alone in still having all kinds of conflicted feelings about what went down this weekend, especially vis-a-vis Victor Ortiz' Fight of the Year effort/surrender routine. There's much I'm still processing about what went down there, plus plenty to discuss about Friday Night Fights and some other subjects I didn't get to over the last few days.

First, enjoy the clip above of flyweight Omar Narvaez' knockout win. You can watch the whole thing if you want by following the links.

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That right there is Mahir Oral, who's fighting top middleweight Arthur Abraham on a fight to be broadcast on tape delay from Germany via Showtime. Besides the more compelling junior welterweight Victor Ortiz-Marcos Maidana bout on HBO, it's the top freeish weekend broadcast. There's also the pay-per-view headlined by junior featherweight Juan Manuel Lopez, whose opponent Olivier Lontchi, as mentioned just below, may moonwalk to the ring in honor of the king of pop. Between Oral's lion fist (I can't tell if it's a tattoo; if it is, it's very recent, since most of his photos don't feature such artwork, nor have I seen any news coverage of him getting a tattoo) and Lontchi's maybe-moonwalk, I have to hand it to the B-side of both of those fights for having some reason to grab the spotlight, if only for a moment.

There are a few other weekend bouts of note, as mentioned in the headline there, and some interesting fights in the works besides those in the headline featuring the likes of Paul Williams. We'll hit those and plenty of other boxing going-ons in this edition of Quick Jabs.

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Tomorrow night, Olivier Lontchi (left) is the sacrificial lamb for Juan Manuel Lopez (right), a junior featherweight star with greatness written all over him. Lontchi, an unknown Canadian, at least is going to make things interesting. According to a news release the event's promoter just sent out that was titled "Lontchi May Moonwalk Ring Entrance?":

"Lontchi came up to me this morning and specifically asked Top Rank's technical crew to download as many of Michael Jackson's songs as possible to play in his locker room tomorrow night for inspiration," said Lee Samuels of Top Rank. "Michael Jackson is his all-time favorite artist and Olivier is making his ring entrance to Jackson's 'Thriller' music video which will be projected inside the Adrian Phillips Ballroom. I wouldn't be surprised if he Moonwalked into the ring."

The overall pay-per-view card -- $39.95 worth -- has been marked more by fighters pulling out than the quality match-ups that remain, with middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, pound-for-pound top-20 bantamweight Fernando Montiel and others all off the original schedule. And maybe, just maybe, this is all just a stunt to capitalize on recent headlines and shore up an event that is going head-to-head with a Showtime AND an HBO card. Maybe. That's all I'm saying. Maybe.

Still, maybe $40 is worth seeing a guy do a ring entrance like that then get knocked out. (Assuming he actually goes through with it, since the news release tantalized only with the possibility of a moonwalk ring entrance.) I'm all about "Off The Wall" promotional efforts -- it's part of the fun of boxing. Get it? "Off The Wall?" Do you get it?

Just watch this video and try not to like Victor Ortiz. I defy you. Go for it.



If that doesn't do it for you, try this one.



And that's it. That's the formula for any American superstar-to-be. Have a personality and/or a story. Fight well and fight in an exciting way. Early in his career, Ortiz has done those things. Saturday night on HBO, the 22-year-old phenom is about to answer the biggest question of his young boxing life: Can he take a punch from an elite junior welterweight power puncher? If he can handle what Marcos Maidana throws at him -- and Ortiz has been dropped by lesser bombers -- I think the sky is the limit. Golden Boy Promotions will indeed have the next golden boy on their hands. The talk that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has Victor Ortiz on his "hit list" won't sound so far-fetched.

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I would say at least once a week -- usually when I mention one of the Klitschko brothers or Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather, Jr. -- someone takes a critical remark I've made, or that someone else has made in this space, and responds thusly:

"You just hate boxer A because you're racist/hate country A."

It doesn't matter if I've been on the record of stating how much I like boxer A, or have praised boxer A in the very same entry in which I was critical of some behavior of his. Any critical comment -- even a prediction that boxer A will lose a fight, which isn't critical at all, seeing as how almost everyone loses a fight at some point in their lives, and it's just a prediction -- is automatically the sign of my deep xenophobia or discrimination. Nor is this phenomenon unique to this site. On every boxing website or bulletin board on the planet, there are people looking to slap the Scarlet Letter of R or X on anyone who dares think that their favorite boxer isn't the living embodiment of boxing and personal perfection.

So let's just examine this whole question for a second. (Even though you probably aren't the most open-minded chap or lady if you're the kind of person to lob accusations of racism or xenophobia at someone you don't know who hasn't used a racial epithet. But just because I probably won't convince you doesn't mean I won't try.)

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There's junior flyweight Edgar Sosa knocking out an overmatched opponent this weekend in front of about 12,000 people in Mexico City. He's popular there. Sure would be nice to see him in against a Giovanni Segura or somebody like that.

Not a whole lotta weekend afterthoughts, but some things worth discussing.

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