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Boxing from an odd angle
by Marty Mulcahey (March 25, 2003)
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My wife has decided to take charge of my career. She came to this conclusion after seeing wife/managers Cheryl McCullough & Teresa Tapia watch their aging (I refuse to believe I am aging) husbands beaten unmercifully by younger men. Which reminds me, I have to ask the wife why
she hired Rico, a six foot three inch, 225 pound , tattooed pool boy, to clean our wading pool?
Let's give a patriotic slap on the back to Cory Spinks, Derrick Harmon, Byron Mitchell, and Vince Phillips, all of whom are (have been, or will be) traveling overseas to fight in this time of conflict. These men are not as gutless as The Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners (and the whole major league baseball system) who decided not to travel to Japan to play games. Do these people need to be reminded that we have thousands of American troops serving in peaceful Japan right now? Many probably bought tickets to watch these teams play, and must be disappointed by their cancellation. Way to support our boys in uniform MLB.
Dig under those couch covers and pawn off your CD's & Disney videos, the IBU is for sale. In a press release, Don Lewis of the Georgia headquartered, IBU (Impotent Boxing Unit...... oh sorry, I mean the International Boxing Union) put his sanctioning body up for sale. Lewis was quoted, "thousands of dollars and hours could be saved with the purchase of an established entity such as us." Established? Where!? On their website, every weight limit except jr. middleweight & heavyweight is listed as 'vacant'. I guess that 'establishes' the fact that no one wants to pay their sanctioning fees.
Last week, promoter Rodney Berman stated that negotiations were, "at an advanced stage" for a heavyweight unification fight between Corrie Sanders and Chris Byrd. Which got me to thinking, is Lennox Lewis trying to get Corey Sanders to do all his dirty work?
Regular readers will know that in the past I have given Roy Jones a tough time for not fighting Darius Michalczewski and some other fighters. However, I have to give props to Roy for a new found wit in expressing himself since beating John Ruiz. In a press conference last week, Jones commented on why he would like to stay at heavyweight. “Everybody wants to see me fight a polar bear with a pocket knife, rather than smash a bug with a hammer.” I still don't think Jones is the best boxer ever, which has been floated by some visible boxing figures of late, but I love that quote. In general, Jones seems less defensive towards the press. Perhaps he now understands that beating challenging opposition has given him the respect he sought.
Congratulations to Finnish heavyweight Tony Halme, who was elected to his national parliament last week. This got me to thinking about what American boxer would best be suited for congress? My vote would be for Oscar De La Hoya, since he already has a public relations department working for him. If that fails, why not Mike Tyson? Many in our congress have criminal records, so he would fit right in.
ESPN2 Friday Night fights returned after a week off, and provided one entertaining (Demetrius Hopkins vs. Andre Eason) & one gruesome (Stewart vs. Chucky T) fight. Max Kellerman, correctly, called Chucky T a club fighter. A more appropriate adjective would have been "clubbed" fighter after watching Chucky take seven rounds of punishment.
If Cory Spinks were cloned, his name would be Demetrius Hopkins.
I forget who first said it, but Lou Duva (who trains Demetrius Hopkins) does look a lot like Barney Rubble.
Zab Judah has not vanished from the face of the earth. I know this because he made an appearance on ESPN2's Friday Night fights, and told the viewers that he has not fought because of contract problems. He was also wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball hat, which has the letter 'P' on it. The 'P' could stand for 'Paralyzed', which describes the current state of his career. If I were feeling particularly mean spirited, I could have said it stood for 'Pretender'.
During the "Toe to Toe" portion of the telecast, Teddy Atlas & Max Kellerman joined the list boxing insiders to pile on the Klitschkos. Teddy Atlas stated that the Klitschkos "were spoiled brats", and like many others derided Vitali for "quitting" during his fight with Chris Byrd, which I found ironic. If Atlas thinks a fighter should box through a torn rotator cuff (which required surgery), why did he not force Michael Grant (who Atlas trained during the Jameel McCline fight) to fight through a broken ankle? Broken arm, broken ankle...... what's the difference? Both are major injuries, which prevented the boxers from properly protecting themselves.
Max Kellerman was no less hypocritical, stating that Vitali quit. Yet when ESPN2 televised one of his favorite fighters, Pernell Whitaker, I do not remember (will have to check the video tape) Max calling Pernell a quitter for refusing to fight after suffering an arm injury against Carlos Bojorquez after four rounds. If you are going to apply standards to fighters, then it should be applied evenly to every fighter. Do not exclude boxers you have an emotional interest in. Also, it is conveniently overlooked that Vitali fought with that injury for seven rounds, until the pain became too unbearable for him. Something that could not be said of Grant, or Whitaker. In all three cases, the boxers and their corners made the sensible decision to throw in the towel. Boxers are conditioned to accept certain pain and injuries to their bodies, but some things you can never prepare for.
As usual, this was one of the few matters in which I, drastically, differ with Kellerman (and Atlas for that matter), and I thought Kellerman made an excellent point of Michael Stewart and Chucky T's skills. They are good, as well as entertaining, but a full step below the world's elite. The winner of that fight might prove a good choice for a voluntary defense by a champion, but I do not see either beating a legitimate champ. Studio hosts Kellerman and Brian Kenny were, also, spot on about Chucky T being allowed to take far too much punishment by his corner.
Joe Tessitore did a great job filling in for Bob Papa, especially in feeding intriguing comments about the fight for Teddy Atlas to expand on. I criticize Showtime for continuing to feature Steve Albert as their blow by blow man, but never suggest anyone to take his slot. Now I can throw in the name of Tessitore, since I do not believe he is contractually obligated to one network. Granted, Tessitore does not have the suave voice appeal of a Lampley or Barry Tompkins, but neither does Albert.
Speaking of Showtime, they returned with a good card featuring up and coming talent from Scotland. Their opening video montage of Glasgow was better than the camera angles of the actual fights. If all else fails for Showtime, they should go into the travel video business. The atmosphere the Scottish crowd provided was also exceptional. You could not hear the commentary over the songs, cheers, and chants at times. Why is it American sport fans have a tough time with a well timed "charge"cheer, while European fans could sing entire Led Zeppelin albums in unison?
Ring announcer Jimmy "Mantequilla" Lennon Jr. has the introductions of boxers in Spanish down perfectly, but I did not hear him introduce the Scottish boxers in Scottish. I know they do not speak English in Scotland, because I did not understand a word Ken Buchanan or Scott Harrison said when they were interviewed. I guess the old saying that Americans and Brits are "A people separated by a common language" rings true after all.
It was good of Steve Farhood to, repeatedly, point out the ridiculousness of Alex Arthur being rated in the top 10 by the WBO. Arthur is a good prospect who, obviously, still has a lot to learn on the defensive side. On a positive note, Arthur was able to overcome Malinga taking away his best weapon (left hook), and score with the punch (straight right hand) that was there for him. If Arthur is top ten material, then I am ready to accept my Pulitzer Prize for best dramatic essay.
Scott Harrison was impressive in beating up on Wayne McCullough. Scott took advantage of every offensive opening, while he blocked much of the stubborn Irishman's return fire with his gloves. After round nine, Wayne McCullough's face became, obviously, mis-shapen and bent from the punches he was taking from Harrison. Given two more rounds, we might have seen the old boxing phrase, "he boxed his ears off" come to a horrifying fruition.
Scott Harrison might not be able to beat the top three feathers (Barrera, Morales, and Marquez) in the world, but he surely would not go out without taking his pound of flesh. I might even place a bet on him, as a live underdog, against Erik Morales. What is in serious question right now, is if Naseem Hamed can still be called the best featherweight in Europe? Harrison vs. Hamed, yeah I would be interested in that one.
The only thing to be said of McCullough coming out of this fight is that he is one tough SOB, while solidifying his spot on the best chin of the decade list.
Maybe McCullough should retire? He can always make money by letting his daughter (cute as a button) work in any upcoming Shirley Temple bio movie.
Showtime has the worst luck with post fight interviewers. Colin Hart is a boxing writer who has no business trying to interview people on TV. Say hello to the English version of Tim Smith.
I got to see the "Beyond the Glory" on Oscar De La Hoya today, and was rather surprised that I liked it. The show did a good job of presenting the positive, but also pointed out negative press Oscar has received. It even provided some tidbits of information (fatal car accident which was avoided, insight on his Gold medal Olympic fight) that I was not aware of. Still, you could tell the producer was not a boxing person. They referred to Oscar as being 'named' to the Olympics instead of fighting his way on the team, and accepted his WBO titles as legitimate, and other comments ("From the opening bell Oscar punished Vargas", as if the fight was one sided?) which would make hard core boxing fans wince. I also wish they would get rid of that moderator. His voice and inflection were much too melodramatic. He would make the simple act of eating ice cream sound like a life altering experience. Still, the show kept my attention and is worth your time to watch. Judging by the amount of times I see "Beyond the Glory" advertised on FOX, you will be able to see a rebroadcast daily for the next four years.
Our boxing good guy of the week goes to a non-boxer this week, famous ring announcer Michael "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" Buffer, who donated his time and voice for the U.S Navy last week. Buffer went into the studio and recorded a number of morale building sound bites, which will be played throughout the day on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise for its 5,000 + Sailors and Marines.
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E-Mail Marty Mulcahey at fivedogss@msn.com
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