Jumping right in to all kinds of topics…
So it looks like I spoke too soon when I wrapped up the month-long stretch between mid-February and mid-March, but then, I don’t think anyone expected a Fight of the Year candidate out of Joel Casamayor-Michael Katsidis (lightweight, 135 lbs). One seasoned boxing observer is calling the month of March one of the best in about 10 years, and he’s not alone in expressing such sentiments. Boxing’s so dead, isn’t it?…
After initially declaring “this business is over” and dismissing a second rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny Pacquiao has officially gone on the record as saying he’s willing, “anytime the price is right.” That’s leaving himself a slight out — promoter Bob Arum believes Pacquiao deserves a whopping $10 million if they meet again, which may be pricing Pacquiao out of the fight — but I suspect his pride got the best of him with all the calls for another rematch, and I’m glad it did. I still don’t think he wants any more of Marquez if he can avoid it. There’s a reason there was no rematch clause for Marquez if he lost, right?…
Speaking of Marquez, AOL FanHouse has a clip from an interview with Pacquiao promoter Arum where “The Bobfather” said Marquez could be out of action until 2009 because of the cut he endured. It was a nasty one, to be sure, but Arum doesn’t much want a Marquez rematch either, so let’s consider the source. However, if true, it’s disappointing, because the clock is ticking on Marquez’ career at the age of 34…
Also from the Department of People Who Don’t Want to Fight Their Most Viable Opponent: Floyd Mayweather recently came up with a new excuse for not fighting Miguel Cotto, the top-ranked welterweight (147 lbs.) and the man most everyone agrees is the person who has the best chance of toppling the current pound-for-pound king. The excuse? Arum, Cotto’s promoter, with whom Mayweather is in a legal battle for alleged cash owed. “Once Cotto becomes an entrepreneur, we can talk,” Mayweather said, according to TheSweetScience. OK, Mayweather’s taking this boxer-as-businessman routine too far. Being an entrepreneur should not be a prerequisite for getting a fight. Being good at boxing is what matters, and Cotto’s really, really good…
Because people keep talking about it, for some reason, it’s worth presenting a reliable estimate of the odds on a Roy Jones, Jr. boxing match with mixed martial arts star Anderson Silva, just to show what a debacle it would be. Jones, a light heavyweight (175 lbs.) contender and until fairly recently the best boxer alive, is a heavy, heavy favorite. From Bodog, via AOL Fanhouse: Jones -2800, Silva +1400. You’d have to bet $2,800 on Jones just to get $100 back, so, yeah, this is a viable fight, huh?…
Good boxing-on-TV news: 1. Golden Boy Promotions, the Oscar De La Hoya outfit that many believe has the best chance of negotiating boxing back onto network television, is actively working on this, and feels good about how things are going, according to ESPN’s Dan Rafael. They’ve even hired someone with that in mind, and that dude managed to get beach volleyball on the networks, for crying out loud. 2. Golden Boy’s also getting into business with Versus, a cable channel that could, if properly utilized, serve as boxing’s equivalent of Spike for MMA. Versus hasn’t presented many very good offerings, but to my mind, its agreement to air the junior welterweight (140 lbs.) double-header of Ricky Hatton-Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi-Lovemore N’Dou is an excellent step in the right direction…
Here’s another step in the right direction, albeit with less-than-stellar subject matter: Don King Promotions is airing a March 27 fight card for free on its website. Now, junior lightweight (154 lbs.) Cory Spinks is not my cup of tea, nor is he much of anyone’s outside of St. Louis, but it’s a good thing that anyone interested can watch sans charge when he fights Verno Phillips in STL. Plus, top junior welterweight prospect Devon Alexander will be on the undercard, so that will make it, for me, worth the price of admission — I’ll be tuning in. (Not that Spinks needs anyone outside of St. Louis to care, by the way, according to a news release from DKP: “The last time Spinks performed in his hometown, the second greatest attendance in boxing history was established as 22,370 fans were part of sold-out history.” Wow.) They’re building a tape library over there at DKP too, it looks like, with an old Felix Trinidad chestnut up for your viewing pleasure…
Returning to March: How bad a month was it for Enzo Calzaghe-trained up-and-comers? First, cruiserweight (200 lbs.) titlist Enzo Maccarinelli gets knocked out by David Haye a couple weeks ago, then junior welterweight titlist Gavin Rees, who had been mouthing off at various top British fighters, gets knocked out by Andreas Kotelnik over the weekend. If Calzaghe’s son Joe loses against light heavyweight champ Bernard Hopkins on April 19, all of his stable’s elite will have gone down in flames in about a one-month period. Ouch…
Returning to March, Part II: Lightweight Juan Diaz’ loss to Nate Campbell in March is a contender for Upset of the Year, as is the win by welterweight Carlos Quintana a couple weeks before March over Paul Williams, but last weekend’s Brian Vera knockout of hot middleweight (160 lbs.) prospect Andy Lee has got to be the front-runner. They’re already talking about a rematch for July, and, as I suspected, Lee wasn’t listening to Steward’s instructions in the corner. Not that Steward’s learned any lessons vis-a-vis talking too big; he threw out another semi-comparison of Lee to an all-time great by saying “It happens. It happened to Billy Conn, too.” Manny, Manny, Manny…
And, in closing, Returning to March, Part III: Not only would it be a good fight, and the most important fight in the lightweight division, but Casamayor-Campbell II (the Ring belt champ versus. the consensus #1 lightweight) would be a trash-talking FESTIVAL. Casamayor — “I beat Nate Campbell with three weeks of training.” Campbell — “He would rather fight his mother than fight me.” I have to tell you, I feel less queasy about Ring’s championship policy than I did before Casamayor beat Katsidis, which to some extent nullified Casamayor’s lackluster performance and undeserved win over Jose Armando Santa Cruz last year. But would they be gloating over there at Ring magazine if Casamayor hadn’t won and Diaz hadn’t lost? Only the immense and commendable pride of Casamayor in taking on a young, hungry Katsidis — and his skill in victory — averted the potential problem of a lengthy reign of an undeserving champ. Therefore I think some of the same worries about the Ring belt still exist. Overall, it’s the best of all the belts, I think, but I refer you to this piece by yours truly that examines some of its problems.
