https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_NyqeNLheQ
Wouldn’t that headline just convince you everything was A-OK in boxing? Well you’d be wrong, is what you’d be. But there are some fine things, like that Amir Mansour knockout above. It’s in the KO of the Year discussion with another recent knockout, Wladimir Klitschko-Kubrat Pulev. We’ll have some other videos sprinkled throughout this edition of Quick Jabs. Some of them will be real fights. Some of them will be fake.
Quick Jabs
Three recent HBO bouts have done solid ratings, by 2014 standards and/or relative to recent performances: Gennady Golovkin-Marco Antonio Rubio; Sergey Kovalev-Bernard Hopkins; and Wladimir Klitschko-Kubrat Pulev. Golovkin has been a bit all over the map, but mostly trending upward. Hopkins is a nice ratings star on whatever network, with HBO’s bigger overall audience amounting to an even bigger figure than at Showtime. Let’s see if that Hopkins audience transfers to Kovalev at all. And Klitschko, for all the hand-wringing on domestic soil about whether he fights in an America-friendly way, usually does better-than-expected figures. In different ways, each should make us examine what kinds of fighters equal ratings…
Relatedly: Every fighter should undergo advanced drug testing, a subject I asked Golovkin’s trainer about recently with David P. Greisman. Among the biggest names that haven’t, Klitschko, like Hopkins before him, is overdue. The bigger names set the example for others to follow. [Update: This report says that the German National Anti-Doping Agency would do testing for Klitschko vs. Alexander Povetkin, but it’s inconclusive. In the event that we verify that the testing was carried out, we’ll update again.]…
This angry ram is better at beating up punching bags than any boxers are.
Floyd Mayweather’s teenage son has called his dad a “coward.” It’s hard to argue with him on the point of Mayweather beating up his mother, a crime for which he was convicted. It is nonetheless interesting to see that kind of comment in print from someone close to him…
Jermain Taylor might be in even hotter water — facing 26 years after being charged with shooting his cousin. If you’re somehow still wondering why Taylor is getting less publicity for this crime than Mayweather’s, you don’t have to be terribly bright to answer the question yourself — one guy is the richest athlete in pro sports, the best boxer in the world and its biggest star, while the other is a middleweight contender who beat a handicapped opponent to obtain that status after nearly being pushed out of the sport thanks to his injuries…
Heavyweight Deontay Wilder beat up a fan. Har har har. Better than beating up someone who is in dire need of psychiatric care, I suppose.
Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. has signed with ultrapowerful manager Al Haymon, to the surprise of no one. Top 168-pounders with Haymon besides Chavez include the Dirrell brothers and Sakio Bika. Carl Froch is neither affiliated with Haymon nor his enemies, so perhaps that one could still happen, the best fight available for either man. Of course, now there’s a lawsuit expected from Top Rank, Chavez’s promoter, so Chavez could be on the shelf for a while longer still…
Another next-gen asshole, Adrien Broner, reportedly got his ass kicked in sparring by Errol Spence. That’s according to trainer Freddie Roach, who said he’s interested in training Spence himself. There’s no doubt the welterweight is a talent, and unlike Broner his head appears screwed on straight…
Yet another young welterweight talent, Keith Thurman, recently turned down a major offer from Roc Nation. Roc Nation is making huge plays, but few of them are paying off yet. There are so many feuds and sub-feuds in boxing it’s hard to keep track of them, but Roc Nation vs. Haymon is one of the biggest right now. (And it’s too bad that Thurman is on ice. He really is the most promising young American star-in-waiting.)…
This all-German, all-super middleweight Felix Sturm-Robert Stieglitz bout recently was pretty good action. It’s a Fight of the Year nominee, possibly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2o8L8ueDHo
Actor Mickey Rourke plans to return to the boxing ring. At his age — 62 — the Russian commission in charge should give him a very, very close look. It sounds like a horrible idea…
Nadjib Mohammedi has signed with Main Events, which means we should probably expect Kovalev to drop one of his light heavyweight belts soon. Mohammedi was due to fight Hopkins before Kovalev-Hopkins. Now Main Events can control two beltholders at 175, if Mohammedi wins a vacant strap. And so the facade of multiple “champions” continues for (possible) short-term gain while long-term gain goes down the drain…
After a lackluster effort in his recent bout, Luis Carlos Abregu is pondering a move up from welterweight to junior middleweight. His showing against Sadam Ali was so poor that some thought he was throwing the fight. The possibility of being weight drained isn’t really out of the question, either…
CBS Sports is debuting its own boxing show, following on rumors from this summer. Iron Mike and Al Haymon could be involved; for now, Mike Lee (Subway commercial boxer extraordinaire) highlights the first card Dec. 13. Based on the inaugural show, expectations should be kept very low…
Carlos Cuadras is a major puncher at 115 pounds. The major acne he was sporting in his most recent bout was no evidence of guilt of steroid usage, but it was also noteworthy cause for concern…
Don’t taunt Yuriorkis Gamboa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSuqkwH1tO8
