I always root for the gravely injured boxer to get better, as I did for welterweight Oscar Diaz, who collapsed during a July appearance on ESPN2′s Friday Night Fights and went into a coma. But I also root — if not in the same proportion — for the boxer who did the damage, in this case Delvin Rodriguez, to recover from a tragedy like that. There’s something cosmic about the good news that in roughly the same time span Diaz left the hospital, around Feb. 23, Rodriguez was headed back to FNF, as in this Friday. And once again, FNF is delivering a quality bout, considering its small-timeyness, with Rodriguez in against Shamone Alvarez. Doctors expect Diaz to walk and talk again. It’s sad that he won’t get his career back. But it would also be a shame if Rodriguez was haunted in his. Things just got better all the way around.
With that, we have some overdue Quick Jabs to get to, plus some Round and Round. I know I’m excessively pimping this issue, but I hope everyone’s been following along in the middle right hand column for updates via TQBR on Twitter, or directly at Twitter. I do it for you, dear friends. But we’ll revisit some of those tweets here, plus add some more material.
The Quickest of Quick Jabs
That Antonio Margarito has a lot of gall. First the banned welterweight gets caught with loaded gloves in January prior to getting knocked out by Shane Mosley. Then, after old foe Miguel Cotto makes some pretty reasonable remarks that directly accuse Margarito of nothing, Margarito spouts off that Cotto needs to “shut his mouth.” He also said Cotto was jealous that their mutual promoter, Bob Arum is supporting Margarito, which he had been. There are so many potential replies here, I’m just going to point out that in a recent interview, Arum called Cotto and Manny Pacquiao “my two best fighters,” before correcting himself and saying “two of my best fighters.” The Bobfather’s Freudian slip suggests that at least part of him has suddenly wised up to the location of the gravy train…
I know Arum said junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton looked like he wasn’t as in as good a shape as Pacquiao in advance of their May 2 fight, but Pacquiao STAYS in great shape, and Hatton does look significantly more fit to me at this point than he has in other Ricky Fatton blow-up incidents. I’m not saying it’s enough for Hatton to win, but I like that he’s at least giving himself a better chance, and increasing the likelihood that it’s a competitive fight…
By far the most entertaining feud in boxing these days is the war of words between lightweights Jorge Barrios and Edwin Valero. After Valero dissed a number of unnamed 30-something fighters on their April 4 pay-per-view card, Barrios took offense. A brawl almost broke out, and later Barrios called Valero a “long-haired prostitute and communist,” while Valero called Barrios “a little bitch.” Joel Casamayor apparently was egging the whole thing on, and I’m no Casamayor fan, but I’m amused that he did so. Valero and Barrios aren’t fighting in the first round of this so-called lightweight tournament, but I hope they fight some time. And anyone who’s offended by the antics — I’m all for them, because it got people talking about the card. Lighten up. Part of the fun of boxing is the trash talk and theatrics…
I’m glad they finally decided to call the card “Lightweight Lightning,” as opposed to “Lightweight Lightening.” It seemed to just be a spelling error in all the early press releases and subsequent news coverage, but I was confused about whether they were saying the ppv would “lighten up” the “light”weight division…
I have nothing to say about Cuban policy on anything (again, day job limitations) but as a boxing fan, I’m glad we’re getting to see some of the boxing-rich country’s finest fighters who are defecting in droves. The latest is said to be the best of all of them, bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux…
For some reason, I’ve got a string of heavyweight items. First up: I’m all for Teddy Atlas speaking freely about what goes down on his network, ESPN. It’s one of his best qualities. And I’m fine with him speaking his mind about his belief that the Vitali Klitschko-Juan Carlos Gomez bout that ESPN is airing March 21. But I think he’s kind of dissing it beyond what it deserves. C’mon, Teddy, ya sourpuss, it’s a good thing that ESPN is airing a boxing match. Maybe it’s not the one either of us would pick, but I don’t think the first words out of your mouth should be “I don’t think it’s gonna be the Thrilla in Manila.” Maybe only a few fights in the history of boxing are even in that vicinity. And Klitschko is probably the most exciting heavyweight there is outside of David Haye and Chris Arreola, so, you know, there is a silver lining here…
It’s true that the Klitschkos are kind of whiners, as Ron Borges describes here. On the other hand, what kind of mancrush does the WBC have on Oleg Maskaev? First they tried to give him Vitali. Then when Sam Peter got lawyers involved, they made the match and Peter knocked out Maskaev. Klitschko in turn knocked out Peter, and now, the WBC is making Maskaev Klitschko’s mandatory. The second mandatory for Klitschko in a row, in fact. Repeat after me: The alphabet sanctioning organizations are a pox upon the sport, and the only belts that matter are the lineal Ring belts…
The possibility of one of the pox-inflicting sanctioning organizations (the WBA) ordering Nicolay Valuev-John Ruiz III got me thinking if there was any fight I wanted to see less. I came up with the answer: A junior middleweight fight between Cory Spinks and Yuri Foreman. Don’t think about that one too long. You’ll have nightmares tonight…
Does anyone know what became of Sultan Ibragimov? I’m not saying I miss him or anything after the Madison Square Garden stinker he produced with Wladimir Klitschko more than a year ago, but you’d think a heavyweight who can fight just a little would be around doing something…
Round and Round
Arum said Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is demanding $20 million for a comeback fight, and that he won’t get that fighting Pacquiao, Shane Mosley or even Jesus Christ. I’m not making it up. Arum pulled out JC. I’m hard on the Bobfather from time to time, but that’s hilarious. And you know what? I think he’s right. There’s nobody Mayweather could fight right now and get a guaranteed $20 million. The winner of Pacquiao-Hatton is as close as it gets, and I don’t think that man, whomever he may be, gets Mayweather all that close. And if it’s Pacquiao, trainer Freddie Roach is now saying he doesn’t care about a Mayweather fight because it would be boring. Interesting tact. I wonder if it has something to do with the next item…
Juan Manuel Marquez suddenly seems in demand, and after years and years of waiting, may be in line for a mega-payday. Both Pacquiao and Hatton have said they want Marquez next, although Arum is talking up Pacquiao-Cotto, too. This is an encouraging development. I don’t put much serious stock in reports that Marquez is in talks for a fight with Mayweather, although there have been confirmed calls between the two teams. Mayweather definitely doesn’t get $20 million for that one. It’s also possible, given Arum’s animosity toward Mayweather and his adviser Al Haymon, that the $20 million figure is made up. Which also could explain why Roach is suddenly not talking about Mayweather anymore. If Marquez-Mayweather has a legit shot at happening, the question becomes whether Mayweather would go down to 140. Seems fair to me, and I don’t think I’d take the fight above that if I was Marquez, at any $…
Also encouraging is the news that Haye and Wladimir Klitschko are back on for June 20. As of now, anyway. The remaining thing to be agreed upon is the location. It’ll be in Europe, but it’s unclear whether it’ll be in Germany or the U.K. This is no small matter yet to be decided, so this one gets a yellow light…
I wish middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and number one challenger Arthur Abraham would stop circling one another and just get it on already. Pavlik doesn’t have his next opponent lined up, and it seems increasingly likely the idea of a John Duddy fight has been thrown out the window, since Duddy’s making plans to fight in April on a card he’ll headline in Newark, N.J. Of the two, Abraham’s team sounds like it wants the fight most, but Arum isn’t thrilled about it because it’s so high-risk, low-reward. I can’t blame him from a business standpoint, but as a boxing fan, I wish he’d get out of the way. The alternative is what, Felix Tr
indad offering to fight Pavlik at 165 lbs.? I’ll pass…
As we discussed in the open thread this week, I’m torn between cruiserweight champ Tomasz Adamek fighting Steve Cunningham or Bernard Hopkins. I do lean toward favoring Adamek-Cunningham II, because the first was so good, with the winner fighting Hopkins. But Hopkins is also continuing to push for a rematch with Joe Calzaghe. I can’t say I’m all-fire interested in that “II,” and besides, I don’t think it’ll happen…
Thankfully, featherweights Chris John and Rocky Juarez are both interested in a rematch. Juarez will fight John anywhere, he says. John will fight Juarez anywhere but Texas. It only makes sense if he thinks he got jobbed by the draw, but I also wonder if the fight makes very much money anywhere else. Either way, John saying he wants the fight in Los Angeles means he is interested in sticking around the United States, and while I know not everyone around these parts was impressed by his showing, I was, and I hope to see him again soon…
I’m pretty down for the Areola-Jameel McCline heavyweight fight scheduled for April 11. It must be noted that McCline has blown more chances than Juarez, but he remains physically massive and dangerous. I also think he’s perfect for this point in Areola’s career. Until I see Areola come into several consecutive bouts in shape and steadily improving, I’m convinced he’s knockout bait for even this sorry generation of “elite” heavies. Plus, it’ll probably be a good fight, same as all Areola fights…
All of a sudden, HBO has reportedly decided it doesn’t like junior welterweight Zab Judah. So the network is passing on the idea of airing Nate Campbell against Zab, which is too bad, because I think it’s an appropriate bout for both men, and I think it would have been pretty fun to boot. Instead, the network is looking at Campbell-Paulie Malignaggi, which interests me this much: O. Fortunately, the other alternative is matching Campbell against prospect Devon Alexander. Now, that’s a fascinating proposal. Alexander is a brave, hungry fighter, because he’s calling out Campbell in news releases and what not. Gotta like the spunk, and, truth be told, I don’t even know that I’d pick Campbell over the kid…
Nonito Donaire’s flyweight bout against Raul Martinez is so on-again/off-again, it’s like writing my name in the sand on the beach to say to you that the latest is that it’s back on again for April 18. Would that Donaire catch a spot of good fortune like, ever…
The likewise on-again/off-again Cesar Canchila-Giovanni Segura rematch is back in the “on” position, which is fine by me. Maybe Ivan Calderon will devote all his attention to Ulises Solis now, since that’s a better and more important fight than the proposed Calderon-Canchila fight. But I say $&*$ to the thing being on Azteca America on March 14, because I don’t get the freaking channel. Enjoy, Azteca-getters. The first one was a doozy…
Who feels sorry for lightweight Joan Guzman, last seen on the big stage not making the lightweight limit and pulling out of the Campbell fight to great chaotic effect, getting pulled from an alphabet title shot with Yuri Romanov based on flimsy reasoning? Not I…
Ultra-talented junior featherweight Jorge Linares, I feel sorry for. His March 14 fight against someone or the other — nobody who’s a threat — has been postponed because of, you guessed it, a training injury. Can’t this guy catch a break? Other than in the bones in his body?
(Sources: BoxingScene, The Ring, news releases, Boxing FanHouse, Doghouse Boxing, ESPN, Fightnews)
