|
Boxing from an odd angle
by Marty Mulcahey (April 1, 2003)
 Send this page to friend Give us your feedback
If the government successfully prosecuted the Gambino crime family for racketeering (as they did with the IBF), would they put a federally appointed monitor in charge of the family business? Or would they shut the whole operation down, even though the Gambino family owned some legitimate businesses? I would bet on the latter.
So why did the government allow the IBF to continue to function at the cost of $400,000 (for a court appointed monitor - as reported in a excellent feature by Gregory Leon at Boxingtalk.net) to the American taxpayers? My last question is, can the government be sued for a lack of competent enforcement of IBF rules and regulations? Boxers need to be protected from unscrupulous forces within the IBF. Would an ambitious lawyer please step to the podium.
You knew Derrick Harmon was in trouble for his fight against Dariusz Michalczewski when he weighed in 5.5 lbs. overweight. Harmon finally made weight on his fourth attempt. As could be forecasted after his weight problem, Harmon faded late in the fight, and was knocked out. Maybe the whole pound vs. kilo thing confuses visiting boxers? Hey, wait a minute. Maybe that is how my wife can still claim that she weighs 110. She never does say pounds afterwards. Oh, my Lord.... my wife could weigh 220 pounds.
On another German boxing note, a fan sent me the bout sheet for a fight card happening next week in Germany. At the end of the E-mail he wrote, "despite rumors to the contrary, they have not yet published the results." Who says Germans have no sense of humor?
Is the WBO going to implement a plan to bankrupt itself? The WBO announced that it will look into the possibility of legal action against boxing attorney Judd Burstein (who represents David Tua) over "scandalous remarks and insulting and demeaning remarks made by Mr. Burstein against the WBO." I hate to be the one to break this to the WBO....... but everyone insults and demeans the WBO. If you are going to hire a lawyer for that, you will have no money very soon and you might ask for the death sentence against Max Kellerman.
Along the same lines, David Tua's team of advisors wanted to ask Senator McCain "to investigate the World Boxing Organization's exclusion of it's No. 1-rated heavyweight contender in a purse bid." O.K, let me get this straight. We are in the middle of a war, the economy is faltering, tens of thousands of Americans are unemployed, but Team Tua wants Senator McCain to take time out from his duties to enforce David's right to a WBO title shot? The last time I checked Tua is not even a registered voter in McCain's state. I know Tua is big enough to have his own gravitational pull, but the world does not revolve around him.
In more legal news, Lennox Lewis returns to the venue where he has been most successful........ the courtroom.
Lewis is suing the Vitali Klitschko & the WBC, contending that the WBC brokered a deal to make Vitali the number one contender. Lewis claims that Vitali is not an "official challenger" because he won no final elimination bout. After years of crying (rightfully) about how he was being avoided by any heavyweight with a title belt, it seems ironic that Lewis is doing in 2003 what he accused others of doing in the 1990's.
Anyone else notice the last two weeks of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights were only two hours long, instead of the
usual two and a half hours? How can I be expected to finish off two six-packs of beer and a large pizza in only two hours? I have taken up the challenge, though, and am training hard to accomplish this feat. It is personal goal setting like this which keeps me the most lucid boxing analyst on the net.
First Steve Farhood cuts his hair short, now Bob Papa re-appears on Friday Night Fights sporting goatee style facial hair. If you see Bob out in town with cut off green army pants, a checkered flannel shirt, and canvas Chuck Taylor shoes, tell him I need my Pearl Jam CD back. They say imitation is the sincerest from of flattery, so maybe Papa is paying homage to Jim Rome, or even.......dare I say it... Max Kellerman?
Terrance Cauthen gave a beautiful boxing lesson to Roberto Ortega in ESPN2's opening bout. Never mind that Cauthen will not get into a title fight without buying a ticket. In a talent rich jr. welterweight division, you need one of three things to get a title shot.
A. Exciting style.
B. A promoter with connections.
C. Come off a bad loss which makes you suitable for a voluntary defense.
Cauthen has none of these.
Did anyone else think Roberto Ortega is the Colombian version, facially and in physique, of Harold Brazier?
Teddy Reid (appearing in the main event against Pat Coleman) is exactly what Cauthen is not, a rough edged power puncher who brings excitement to every fight. Unfortunately I do not share Atlas' "love" for Reid. In the past I have found him to be a cheap shot artist, hitting boxers while they were down, low, and during breaks. Heck Friday night was the first time I saw a boxer attempt to lace his opponent in a decade...courtesy of Teddy Reid of course.
During the studio portion I heard Max Kellerman wrap up the very essence of Bernard Hopkins better than anyone else. Kellerman said of Hopkins, "he does not know how to handle success." So true, as every time Hopkins is on the cusp of landing mega millions for himself he sabotages himself.
Why was there no mention of Sven Ottke's win over Byron Mitchell on the FNF show? How often does a fighter win the IBF & WBA belt? It should have at least been worth 15 seconds of commentary, which would amount to roughly 1,000 words if given by Kellerman.
Watching Hasim Rahman and David Tua weigh in on Friday has convinced me that there is no need for a
super heavyweight division. What we need is a fat & super fat division.
Did you notice the kilt, skirt, or whatever you want to call the trunks David Tua wore for his fight with Rahman? I imagine Tua can't wear normal boxing trunks because he can't find enough space between his thighs to pull the pant legs up. Or that the friction the fabric would have to absorb while he was walking forward could be considered a fire hazard.
I am glad the fight Rahman vs. Tua ended in a draw. When one boxer fights for 50 seconds of the round and the other 53 seconds, neither deserve to be called a winner. A buddy of mine commented perfectly on this bout and the heavyweights in general, "The good news is the 10 pack of video tapes I bought last year will, at the current pace, last 10 years as I keep taping over delights like this one."
How shot is Michael Moorer when you consider that he was blown out is less than a round by Tua? He was able to make David Tua look great, which has not been done since Tua knocked out John Ruiz. Insert Ruiz joke of your choice here.
In a media poll released on Friday, 40 of 42 'experts & boxing insiders' (yeah, I did too) picked David Tua to
defeat Hasim Rahman. In a related note, 40 boxing experts and insiders have started financial negotiations to buy the Brooklyn bridge from Don King.
If you thought the Rahman vs. Tua fight was a bore, you had not seen anything yet. In an attempt to defeat the two blandest mandatory contenders on either side of the Atlantic (Hopkins defeated Carl Daniels in his last fight) Bernard Hopkins took on Morrade Hakkar of France. What is next for Hopkins? Maybe he can fight Naotaka Hozumi of Asia? Why not rid every continent of its most boring middleweight.
To call the first round a farce would be kind, as Morrade resembled a frightened gazelle with his running tactics. A Hopkins feint made Hakkar look like he had just entered a prolonged epileptic fit. It honestly resembled a Bob Hope or Jerry Lewis comedy skit about a outmatched boxer running from his opponent.
In round one Hakkar landed zero, zilch, nada, nix, nein, none, zip.... I repeat zero punches. Oh yeah, the WBC knows how to select contenders on merit all right. The WBC could not have found a weaker challenger if it had raided a Richard Simmons fan club.
To be fair to Hakkar he did start to throw punches after round two, and took the return fire with professionalism. I honestly can't find anything else in his favor. He made me yearn for the days of Patrick Charpentier.
What can we say about Hopkins coming off this bout? In my opinion he is still a top three pound for pound boxer. He could reign as middleweight champ in France until he was 90, or as long as the WBC is in charge of picking his opponents. Otherwise you can tell nothing of his current skill level from this exhibition match.
HBO's Larry Merchant and Bernard Hopkins got into a hostile exchange of opinion during the post fight interview. To tell the truth I do not blame Merchant too much. If I did not have the luxury of being able to change the channel, I would have probably tried to strangle Hopkins, Hakar, Tua, and Rahman in a momentary fit of sensory deprived rage as well.
George Foreman wrapped up the opinions of anyone who stuck around (masochists, insomniacs, and viewers waiting for HBO's Real Sex to start) to watch the final seconds of the telecast. Big George called it, "A terrible night for all of us". HBO has just made me agree 100% with George Foreman. For that, I will never forgive the network.
Will people deride HBO for this horrible card, as much as they do Showtime fight cards? Unfortunately perception is reality in the media, and by this time next year everyone will think that this was a Showtime card.
More fat jokes for your money. Butterbean weighed in at 350 (probably more but the scale only went up to 350) pounds for his fight last Saturday. Look for Butterbean to be weighed at a truck weigh station on route 66 for his next bout.
An outdoor fight card at the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, California had to be cancelled because of high winds on Friday. No truth to the rumor that Don King had just completed a long winded speech 30 minutes away from the venue.
Secondsout.com reported that former champ Danny Romero will fight Julio Coronel (21-18-1) in a title eliminator for the right to fight WBO bantamweight champ Cruz Carbajal. What qualifies Coronel for this eliminator? He is 35 years old, barely a .500 fighter, has lost his last two (5 of his last 7) fights, and was TKO'd two months ago. The only way he could be any worse were if he was dead..... oh, I forgot the WBO has already ranked deceased boxers, in the past. Never mind.
Realboxing.com reported that WBA jr. lightweight champ Yodsanon Nanthachai recently visited Don King in Florida, but left without signing a contract with King. Don was reported to have mentioned that 'he is the first fighter in seventeen years to visit the offices but not sign a contract with DKP." I guess the Don ran out of horse heads to put in Nanthachai's bed?
Last week it was announced that Francisco Bojado will fight fellow prospect William Adamyan on NBC in May. Anyone want to lay a bet on how long it will take before one, or the other, to come down with an injury that will prevent the fight from happening?
The PPV ad for Lou DiBella's Monday Night Fights features listed four bouts......... of which only one (the opener) has remained the same. The only other time boxers drop from lists (rankings in this case) that fast is after Don King faxes the alphabet boys the names of the boxers he no longer has under contract.
It was reported that Bob Arum and Main Events were able to arrange some HBO dates because HBO forgot to secure the rights to some old fight films that were broadcast by HBO. HBO wanted to use scenes from fights on their excellent legendary nights boxing series. So if you see a Butterbean & Mia St. John double header on HBO you will know why.
Gabe
Ruelas, who looked shot while suffering a knockout loss last week, had better
send Showtime boxing boss Jay Larkin (who refused to use Ruelas as
cannon fodder for Acelino Freitas) a thank you note for saving his life. If
the punches that Ruelas absorbed from moderate punching Courtney Burton
would have been launched by the power punching Freitas, then Ruelas would
still be in search of his senses.
Our boxing good guy award for this week is shared by Shannon Briggs and Jermain Taylor. Briggs and his American Top Team Productions allowed any member of U.S. Armed Forces (active or reserve) as well as domestic law enforcement officers to be admitted free of charge for their boxing event last week in Fort Lauderdale. Jermain, fighting in his hometown, was able to persuade the venue to change it’s seating arrangements to allow for cheaper $25.00 tickets to be sold to fans. Thanks guys.
For Questions or Comments
E-Mail Marty Mulcahey at fivedogss@msn.com
Martin Mulcahey's Archives - Click Here
|
