(Above: Would Lucian Bute [right] Librado Andrade [left] II resemble the original?)
Sequels are on the mind lately, and not because “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” and its 44 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes is still one of the top movies in the land. There were two fights over the weekend at Madison Square Garden, Miguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey and Ivan Calderon-Rodel Mayol, that had people shoutin’ “rematch!” Last week, one of the best rematches anyone could ever ask for, between light heavyweights Chad Dawson and Glen Johnson, got signed for sometime in the fall. The weekend before, the heavyweight rematch between Nicolay Valuev and Ruslan Chagaev got called off, not that anyone in America shed a tear about it. And the weekend after next, another of those most desirable rematches, between featherweights Christopher John and Rocky Juarez, is a go on HBO.
Dawson-Johnson II and John-Juarez II may scratch my do-over itch some, but something’s not quite right in the universe when boxers don’t settle their business after scrapping most excellently and leaving unanswered questions. Still got a few itchy spots. With that, I offer 10 rematches I wanna see, in approximate order of wannaseeness. As usual, I invite you to present your own such wish list.
MANNY PACQUIAO – JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ
Why they should do it again: I very much understand why people are a-clamoring for Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather, but I am constantly surprised at the lack of vocal demand for Pacquiao-Marquez III. Their first fight was a classic. Their second fight was a classic. Everyone still disagrees about the results of each fight, a draw and a one-point Pacquiao win. In Mayweather’s absence, Pacquiao have established themselves as the two best boxers in the sport. Is there a better fight in all of boxing, as far as meaningfulness combined with expected action goes? Not that I can dream up.
Why it hasn’t happened: After beating Marquez at junior lightweight last spring, Pacquiao moved on to fight the far less qualified David Diaz for considerably less money at lightweight, leading some (including yours truly) to say that Pacquaio was ducking Marquez. His next two fights — huge-money showdowns with Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton — were far more defensible. Marquez has been doing everything he can to force Pacquiao’s hand, upstaging him by beating lightweight champion Joel Casamayor, fighting the next best lightweight he could in Juan Diaz, and finally taking the insane risk of signing a welterweight fight with Mayweather, reasoning that if he beats Floyd, Pacquiao can’t dodge him anymore. Pacquiao had said he wanted the winner of Mayweather-Marquez no matter who it is, but the postponement of that fight may lead Pacquiao to chase after Miguel Cotto at welterweight instead, and then the question becomes whether Pacquiao retires to run for office in 2010.
MIGUEL COTTO – SHANE MOSLEY
Why they should do it again: Since their 2007 Fight of the Year honorable mention, Cotto and Shane Mosley have been circling one another in the “best welterweight” race. Cotto beat Mosley, but I scored it a draw, as did some others. Cotto lost to Antonio Margarito. Mosley beat Antonio Margarito. Cotto over the weekend beat another top-5 welter, Joshua Clottey. Both are two of the top 10 boxers in the sport, let alone the top two welterweights. If Cotto and Mosley fought again, it would be for the vacant Ring welterweight championship of the world.
Why it hasn’t happened: Cotto and Mosley are both in the Pacquiao sweepstakes, and Mosley’d also prefer a shot at Mayweather before Cotto. There are also logistical barriers, like the question of where the fight would occur. When a rematch was broached with Mosley last, he insisted it should be in California, and Cotto promoter Bob Arum noted that Cotto could get the bigger split of money fighting someone else, so why waste his time with Mosley in Cali? Still, if neither ends up with Pacquiao or Mayweather anytime soon, Cotto-Mosley II offers both the biggest purse.
NONITO DONAIRE – VIC DARCHINYAN
Why they should do it again: Vic Darchinyan, (lovable) bastard jerk that he is, simply can’t acknowledge that he got his lovable bastard jerk ass handed to him when Nonito Donaire knocked him out in 2007, the best rendering of unconsciousness that year. Lucky shot, he says. Since, both men have been on the rise, with Darchinyan showing considerable improvement in most of the skill categories, and Donaire finally getting some pound-for-pound recognition after Darchinyan got his beating a couple more high profile opponents in a higher division, junior bantamweight. It may seem a foregone conclusion that Donaire would master Darchinyan again if they rematched, but Darchinyan almost looks like a different fighter as a result of his loss, and he’s proven himself against elite opposition in divisions Donaire hasn’t — a rematch would probably be at bantamweight. Besides, Donaire wants, and deserves, a chance to shut Darchinyan’s big mouth.
Why it hasn’t happened: Gary Shaw. The Darchinyan promoter had a falling out with Donaire and now refuses to do business with him. Forget that it’s the biggest money fight either man could make, and forget that Shaw would probably make a pretty penny off it. Boxing is the only business I can think of where petty vengeance and childish grudges regularly trump the almighty dollar.
TOMASZ ADAMEK – STEVE CUNNINGHAM
Why they should do it again: Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham produced one of the best cruiserweight battles ever when in December of last year they fought for the vacant Ring magazine championship. Adamek came away with the belt, and most think the result fell somewhere between an Adamek win and a draw, so it’s less disputed than some of the other conclusions here. But it was a tremendous seesaw battle, and many think Cunningham, by letting his pride get the best of him, got lured into an unnecessary slugfest and would therefore stand a strong chance of winning the rematch.
Why it hasn’t happened: Adamek’s team just hasn’t seemed that interested in a do-over, perhaps sensing that Cunningham poses a difficult style threat, although they insist that the only issue is that the rematch needs time to marinate and turn into a bigger-purse bout. Cunningham’s team wants the rematch and bad. They may yet get it. Adamek, besides being the real champion of the division, owns Cunningham’s IBF belt, and Cunningham is fighting Wayne Braithwaite in a title eliminator that would, in time, make Cunningham Adamek’s mandatory challenger. In an ideal world, the IBF belt doesn’t matter one lick. But Adamek likes having it, and he’d probably be considered a coward if he dropped the belt to avoid Cunningham, the clear #1 challenger in the division.
ANDRE BERTO – LUIS COLLAZO
Why they should do it again: In January, welterweights Andre Berto and Luis Collazo collaborated to give birth to an early candidate for Fight of the Year, and you’ll find scorecards that were all over the place in what ended up as a narrow Berto win. Collazo is one of the more hard-luck boxers out there, while Berto’s performance raised as many questions about him as it answered. Both men have something to prove by beating the other decisively. If the second was anything like the first, we’d all enjoy watching them try to prove it.
Why it hasn’t happened: Berto has been chasing fights that would make him a little more cash, like, say, a meeting with Cotto or Mosley. Yet one suspects he’ll be the odd man out in the welterweight picture for a while longer, meaning he may have few more attractive wallet-lining options than going a few more rounds with Collazo.
GIOVANNI SEGURA – CESAR CANCHILA
Why they should do it again: Twice — once last year, once this, both Fight of the Year nominees — Giovanni Segura and Cesar Canchila indulged in slugfests of the likes you’ll rarely see between two 108-pound men. In the first, Cancila survived early trouble to outbox the bigger-punching Segura, then in the second, Segura boxed slightly more to set up his power, thereby scoring the knockout. Only here’s the really really good reason Canchila deserves the rematch: the referee of the bout completely flubbed it, letting the decisive round continue well after the bell as Segura continued to attack Canchila, who’d stopped fighting because the round was over. The ref then halted the fight as Canchila was in deep trouble. Really, one of the most terrible ref flubs you’ll see, one that cost Canchila the fight — although to be fair, Segura was getting the better of the rematch.
Why it hasn’t happened: I actually haven’t heard one reason. I’ve searched in vain. Absent a shot at Ivan Calderon or Brian Viloria, neither of which are in the cards right now, I’m not sure what either man could do better with his time.
MIGUEL COTTO – JOSHUA CLOTTEY
Why they should do it again: It starts to get a little thin here, if I have to put the same fighter on the list twice, but 10 is such a nice round number. Still, you can’t say Cotto-Joshua Clottey II would be unwelcome. The result — a narrow Cotto split decision — remains hotly disputed a few days afterward, and the fight had plenty of action and drama.
Why it hasn’t happened: One suspects Clottey is about fourth at best on Cotto’s list of priorities. And, well, they just fought a couple days ago. Not a lot of time to make a rematch.
LUCIAN BUTE – LIBRADO ANDRADE
Why they should do it again: Action-wise, competitiveness-wise, Lucian Bute-Librado Andrade dominated their fight last year for nearly all 11 rounds. Then, Andrade mounted a rally about as impressive as can be in the 12th, knocking down Bute hard. Bute hometown referee Marlon B. Wright’s stupidly long count may have saved Bute from a knockout loss. Referee-inflicted injustice hardly gets much worse. Andrade deserves another chance, even if many — including myself — strongly suspect Bute would box more smartly the second time around.
Why it hasn’t happened: Remarkably, the television networks are not said to be thrilled about the idea of Bute-Andrade II. Andrade is Bute’s mandatory challenger, but Bute may, if he wants television money, fight fellow super middleweight titlist Carl Froch instead.
CARL FROCH – JERMAIN TAYLOR
Why they should do it again: As far as last-second super middleweight rallies go, Carl Froch’s rally to knock out Taylor may top Andrade’s, since Froch wasn’t robbed of a rightful knockout win (although some will debate whether Bute would have won without that long count). It was a really nice fight even without the dramatic conclusion, and one gets the sense that Froch and Taylor would still be evenly matched.
Why it hasn’t happened: Stop me if you’ve heard this answer before: One of the two fighters (Froch) is looking elsewhere for bigger money. Froch has explored matches with just about every name super middleweight and light heavyweight you can think of. He’s said he’s open to a Taylor rematch, though, so if those fall through, maybe we get Froch-Taylor II.
IVAN CALDERON – RODEL MAYOL
Why they should do it again: You’ll note that every fight on this list features two fighters who are top-10 material in their division, and Rodel Mayol is borderline at junior flyweight. But he was giving the division’s legitimate champeen, Ivan Calderon, a real run for his money prior to the fight being stopped because of a head butt-induced cut on Calderon’s forehead. The six-rounder was ruled a draw, but you’ll find advocates for either man deserving the win.
Why it hasn’t happened: All indicators are that it will. Again, the fight was just a couple days ago. Talks are apparently already underway. Only the opportunity for a Calderon-Viloria bout could get in the way, one imagines.
A FEW OTHERS
Some of the steam has come off Kendall Holt-Ricardo Torres III, since Holt lost his last fight and Torres moved up from junior welterweight to welterweight and didn’t look exceptional… As Cory Spinks fights go, his showdown with fellow St. Louis junior middleweight Deandre Latimore is as good as you could hope for, and the result was dispute-worthy, but Spinks-Latimore II would still be a Cory Spinks fight… Antonio Margarito, if he wasn’t a banned cheater, would figure into exciting and worthy rematches like Margarito-Cotto II or Paul Williams-Margarito II… I don’t want to see Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez IV until Vazquez shows in a tune-up fight he isn’t damaged goods, as Marquez already has in a recent featherweight bout.
