If it seems like we’ve been talking about Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez all week, well, we kind of have been. But there’s yet more business to take care of there. Don’t worry, it won’t get all heated and “Mayweather sucks” vs. “Mayweather is awesome” this time. We dodged that fate earlier today.
Quick Jabs
Maybe he’ll be able to do it where others haven’t, maybe he won’t. But I can’t say enough about Golden Boy Promotions boss Richard Schaefer’s seemingly maniacal devotion to getting boxing back on network television. It’s something powerful people in boxing bring up from time to time, but Schaefer talks about it all the time. He clearly thinks about it, too, and he’s got a plan, rather than just a one-off idea or worse. Go Richard go…
I’ve changed my mind about whether what Shane Mosley did during Mayweather’s post-fight interview was wrong. I’ve read up on the subject — I’d link but I can’t remember where — and some people who have defended Mosley have made some salient points. Apparently it wasn’t uncommon long ago for prospective future opponents to be brought into the ring to drum up interest in the winner’s next fight. Additionally, it turns out Mayweather once disrupted a Cory Spinks post-fight press conference to drum up interest in Mayweather-Spinks. So, maybe it’s a breach of decorum now, but it once wasn’t, and it’s a breach Mayweather himself has employed, so the offense he took is moot. (Know what Bernard Hopkins was saying to Mosley in the ring during that interview? “A closed mouth don’t get fed.” That B-Hop is an expressive guy)…
The more I think about it, the more I like Mayweather-Mosley. Mosley would be, far and away, the best opponent of Mayweather’s career. I may still prefer Mayweather against the winner of Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto, but my respect for Mayweather would go way up if he ended up fighting Mosley. According to Boxingtalk, Mayweather-Mosley is a good ways off, though. We’re talking fall of 2010, in Mosley’s third fight of the year…
I know Mayweather suddenly doesn’t want anybody in his business, but at least the news is good on one front: He’s settled with the IRS to the tune of $5 million plus. But, you know, mo money mo problems. Now he’s being sued for a different unpaid bill…
Would that those sympathetic in the boxing media to heavyweight Chris Arreola realize that Arreola is never going to take training as seriously as he should. There were plenty of “Arreola’s training seriously this time, really” stories out there, but when it came time to weigh in this week, the man was at 251 pounds, according to a news release. The more he ways, the fewer punches he throws. The fewer punches he throws, the smaller the chance that he can upset Vitali Klitschko Saturday night. He doesn’t look like utter garbage in the photo at the right, but he’s 21 pounds above his best and eight below his worst…
Alexander Ustinov-Cedric Boswell, a heavyweight fight on the Klitschko-Arreola undercard, is off. Ustinov had visa trouble. He’d even landed here from overseas and everything. “Visa trouble” has got to be the #1 or #2 reason fights don’t happen. Is it that hard? Get a goddam visa, or if you can’t, don’t take the fight. Promoters should probably hire a visa specialist. It’d be worth the money, considering that so many bouts get canceled because of this…
Junior middleweight James Kirkland could be back in the ring in less than a year owing to a light sentence for his gun possession charge, received on a combination of a guilty plea and support from high-profile types like Oscar De La Hoya. I know there were people who were rooting for the judge to throw the book at Kirkland, as this is not his first scrape with the law. But I’m willing to give him one more chance. As much as I like seeing him in the ring, one more offense and the book must be thrown…
In case you were wondering, “Fight Night Club” will continue on even after Versus pulls out of boxing altogether at the end of 2009, and it may even move to other cities. I missed this week’s edition because my day job employer laid off 44 people and I had to commune with my fallen colleagues, but despite my gripes, I like the concept of the show. Now if only Golden Boy could figure out how to get the programming it airs on HBO Plus into more homes. Action hero featherweight Israel Vazquez’s return will air on the network Oct. 10, and it aired a fight featuring entertaining lightweight Jorge Barrios in August, but nobody has HBO Plus. ESPN Deportes is being talked about as another option, but I don’t have that channel either.
Featherweight Chris John expects to be back on HBO in February or March, but no opponent has been named or anything.
Junior middleweight Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. wants Sergio Martinez. Martinez wants Joshua Clottey. Neither will get what they want. No way Top Rank lets Chavez get near Martinez, and I don’t have any idea why Clottey would move up from welterweight.
Junior flyweight Edgar Sosa is targeting Rodel Mayol — who just came off a loss and has had trouble beating elite foes, so that’s not someone Sosa, a pound-for-pound guy on some lists, ought to be going after — and is open to another bout with Brian Viloria. Viloria, he might be busy, because Omar Nino Romero may be his next opponent because of a mandatory title challenge. Only an alphabet sanctioning organization could fail to see the goofiness of giving a mandatory title shot to a guy who won a fight against the titlist then tested positive for drugs. Ivan Calderon is also saying he wants Viloria, which is, to me, the fight that needs to happen. But Viloria-Sosa would be good, too.
Allan Green-Victor Oganov at super middleweight is no longer a go for Oct. 2 on Showtime. That’s fine with me. Green would have straight iced Oganov with ease.
British boxing authorities have ordered a rematch of the Tyson Fury-John McDermott heavyweight fight later this year, since the first one had a very strange scorecard. This, to me, is the best possible outcome.
Bantamweight Cristian Mijares doesn’t know what to do with himself, because first he said he’d retire after last weekend’s loss and now says he wants a rematch with Jorge Arce, whom Mijares beat with ease. Arce shouldn’t continue fighting, and if Mijares wants to fight him, maybe he shouldn’t either.
(Round and Round sources: Boxingtalk; Maxboxing; ESPN; BoxingScene, Philboxing)
