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Not that anyone cares, but here's a few things on my
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HEAVYWEIGHTS

So is Wladimir Klitschko the savior of the heavyweight division based on what we saw on Saturday night? There's no doubt that the physical tools and the offensive skills are there but then again, he did face a 41-year-old Ray Mercer who hadn't faced a live body in several years. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle and we'll need to see the hulking Ukrainian in with a legitimate top 10 heavyweight before making bold proclamations of his greatness...

But Emanuel Steward sure seem impressed. He had the same look and mannerisms on that HBO 'Boxing After Dark' telecast that he had after Marco Antonio Barrera bludgeoned Jesus Salud and Steward admitted afterwards, "Looks like we picked the wrong Mexican" in reference to Barrera's upcoming bout against his charge, Naseem Hamed. I say if you're Lennox Lewis, better to fight Klitschko sooner rather than later...

Bottom line is that Klitschko is at his physical peak and his offensive skills seem more well-rounded and his punches much sharper than Lewis'. But Lewis does have the all-important experience on his side and Klitschko's whiskers are still untested...

Speaking of heavyweights, so Mike Tyson says that he will invoke the rematch clause with Lewis. Hmmmm, isn't that like Kevin Costner wanting to make a sequel to 'Waterworld'? The only really bad thing about this is that the Tyson fanatics will start to re-emerge like cockroaches and start offering their alibi's and conspiracy theories on what happened June 8th...

NO WAY JOSE

You gotta hand it to WBC blowhard/president/dictator, Jose Suliaman. This past week in the wake of Marco Antonio Barrera's well-deserved decision over Erik Morales, Suliaman would decree that, "in regards to the rumors of a third fight between Morales and Barrera, the WBC will not support another fight, as we believe that it could be detrimental to the image and integrity of boxing by supporting the perception that those things are done only in the interest of the business. Once again, integrity is the basis for the WBC not to participate in a third fight."

Jose, are you speaking as the president of a sanctioning body or the puppet of a disgruntled promoter (Bob Arum)? It's tough to tell. As for the WBC's integrity, didn't they rank an undeserving Tyson as it's mandatory challenger not too long ago, despite the fact Tyson himself hadn't downed a legitimate contender himself in years? Now, was that integrity or a business decision?...

Seems as though Jose's feeling got hurt by his fighter's loss (Morales) and the fact that Barrera and his manager Ricardo Maldonado are staunch allies of his sworn enemy Paco Valcarcel, president of the WBO. You had to laugh as Barrera would hoist a WBO belt in the ring shortly after getting the decision in the ring last weekend. It's right up there with Riddick Bowe trashing his 'BC belt many moons ago...

He's also made statements that Barrera would never be part of any WBC title fight. Uhh, yeah, that's like me saying I would refuse any dates with Kiana Tom in the future. In other words, it wasn't going to happen anyway...

But I give him credit where it's due, the WBC has pledged to give the family of the deceased Pedro Alcazar $25,000, who died just days after fighting on the Barrera-Morales undercard. The money comes from a insurance policy that the WBC instituted in 1979 for WBC title bouts with the inclusion of all the fights on the undercard...

GOOD MOVE?

You have to wonder about the move that Jeff Lacy and his people are trying to make in defecting from Main Events. After all, the last thing any prospect needs is a long protracted period away from the ring. Lacy, for all his strength and power, is a guy that still needs to smooth out a lot of rough edges...

Also, it isn't as if Main Events hasn't done a good job in moving this hard-hitting super middleweight. He has been made one of the top priorities by this company and showcased on numerous occasions. They've put him on TV time and time again and have lots of people believing he's Godzilla...

Is the absence of Gary Shaw or anyone for that matter, worth putting a standstill on a young career?...

CRASS

Anyone see Teddy Reid's blatant fouling of Germaine Sanders this past Friday night on ESPN2? He clearly took two cheap shots at Sanders, A) after the bell had sounded to end the round and B) taken punches those punches when Sanders clearly down.

Remarkably, Al Martinez, the totally inept referee, would not penalize Reid, but then exacerbate his folly by actually giving Sanders an eight count. Now, I'm not a referee, but not only should have Reid been penalized and Sanders given a five minute period of reprieve, he probably should have been disqualified...

An obviously dazed Sanders would get stopped in the next round and Reid 'won' the NABF welterweight title. This type of behavior from Reid doesn't shock me in the least, does anyone remember his celebrating and taunting of Emiliano Valdez back in January of 2001. After his 10th round knockout of Valdez, Valdez would fall unconscious, but that didn't stop Reid from his tasteless celebrating...

Martinez's job of refereeing rivals that of Bobby Ferrara's, who's job performance during the Omar Weis-Hector Camacho Jr. bout bordered on corruption. That, along with what seemed like a fortunate decision given to Angel Hernandez against Larry Marks on that same night sure gave a lot of credence to Charles Jay's articles detailing promoter Art Pellulo's cozy relationship with the NABF. Both bouts involving Reid and Hernandez (both Pellulo fighters) were for NABF titles. I wonder just how far Sanders' protest will actually go with the NABF.

Speaking of Jay, his on-going series 'Operation Cleanup' is a must read on his TotalAction.com website.

SPEAKING OF LACY

With Lacy's attempted move from Main Events, that means he's off the July 13th card which was to have showcased him against Sam Hill on Showtime. Now, with that bout being scrapped it looks like Hill, coming off his win over David Reid, will take on Jermain Taylor on August 30th on an ESPN show in Little Rock, Arkansas...

Taylor's progress seems to have flatlined after a promising start. You'd have to think his progress will be slower than that of his Olympic teammates like Brian Viloria. Taylor has a ton of God-given tools, but right now I'd say that Kelly Pavlik of Top Rank is the best American middleweight prospect that I've seen out of the 2000 amateur class...

Also Bobby Jones, who went 10 tough rounds with Lacy back in March could be facing another Lou DiBella prospect, super middleweight Jerson Ravelo on July 26th, if his back injury is cleared up...

TELEFUTURA/TELEMUNDO

Anyone watch this past weekend's Telefutura broadcast? It was a pretty good show, Jesus Chavez would take care of business in a tune-up fight but the best fight on that night came between jr. bantamweights Armando Guerrero and Sal Garcia. After eight back-and-forth rounds, it was the stronger and harder-punching Guerrero getting the well-earned verdict....

On Telemundo that same night, Hugo Dianzo and Francisco Tejedor engaged in an entertaining 12-round jr. featherweight bout with Dianzo getting the decision. Dianzo, is much like Oscar Larios and Manuel Medina, in that they don't fight like the stereotypical Mexican, but instead are tall, lanky boxers who instead of going in fast-first and fight from in close, use their height and reach to peck away at their opponents. They might not beat you thunderous left hooks but they frustrate you with a steady stream of rain drops...

THANK YOU CARDS

Both the representatives of Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti should send thank you cards to Showtime's boxing czar Jay Larkin for his offers of $1.5 million to both fighters to face jr. welter king Kostya Tszyu...

By doing that, Larkin basically upped the market value of both Ward and Gatti and it probably insures that HBO will be more willing to give both parties what they want in negotiating a return match of their April classic. I've been told that most likely Ward and Gatti will get in on again in November with each other...

Tszyu has the titles, but Ward-Gatti is this division's biggest bout...

TRADE OFF

One HBO executive asked me, "Would you rather have Michael Moorer- David Tua and a lesser bout involving Paul Spadafora or a Spadafora-Grigorian bout and a lesser fight with that?"....

This question came after the official announcement that Moorer would face Tua and that Spadafora (before his bout with ulcers) would take on Stefano Zoff, instead of the respected WBO lightweight titlist Arturo Grigorian...

Well, in my opinion, you traded a very good lightweight bout for a heavyweight bout that I don't think goes more than four or five rounds (with Tua winning, in my opinion) and then gave Spadafora a bout with an unknown that nobody cared about...

I guess the point is moot now because 'Spaddy' is out of action and Manny Pacquiao might take his place on the card.

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