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Boxing from an odd angle
by Marty Mulcahey (April 15, 2003)
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Since there was no boxing on ESPN2, HBO, or Showtime, I had plenty of time
to reflect on all things boxing. I certainly was not going to pay $35.00 for
an abbreviated replay of the Ricky Hatton vs. Vince Phillips slaughter,
disguised as the Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Kevin Kelley 'fight'.
Speaking of that event, why would I pay $35.00 for a fight HBO Boxing after
Dark used to give me for the cost of my subscription? Now I am expected to
pay for this on HBO PPV!? We are boxing fans, not boxing fools. I will buy
boxing PPV's, and might have gone for this card at $14.95 (since the
undercard sucked), but no way at $34.95. For that kind of money I could take
the wife on a second honeymoon to Kentucky.
Last week the Top Rank people (who are promoting the De La Hoya vs. Campas
fight) did their best to bring
boxing down another notch on the evolutionary scale of sports. They
'reported' that Yory Boy Campas had taken a "mystical potion mixed by a high
priest in the Zacapoaxtla Indian tribe", and afterwards the elixir made
Campas feel "super strong." Duuuuude, I think I got some of that stuff from
a surfer on Venice Beach. But he referred to the elixir as an ancient herb
passed on by his cousin Chad called Peyote.
It gets worse. After this incident was 'discovered' by the De La Hoya camp,
they became concerned that the elixir could have been an illegal substance.
Ooohhhhhh creeeeeepy. Come on, this makes WWE wrestling story lines sound
like Shakespeare. My buddy Jeremy Garcia (who also mentioned that his wife's
nagging is more persistent then Julio Cesar Chavez' body attack) might have
had the best line about this story, "They should give Campas something that
will prevent him from quitting."
It looks like Kirk Johnson has won the Lennox Lewis lotto, and will fight
Lewis on June 21st. As usual with
the lottery you have one winner and millions of losers, namely boxing fans,
who cannot feel good about having
a man who could not beat John Ruiz get a shot at the world heavyweight crown
. Since when does beating Lou
Savarese merit a title shot? Mike Tyson did it in less than a round
(compared to Johnson's four), and look how it prepared him for Lewis.
Four months ago I was of the mind that Lennox Lewis should fight Wladimir
Klitschko, and that Chris Byrd in no way deserved a title shot. Nor did I
think Byrd would be too hard for Lewis to beat. Just to show that I am a
thinking individual whose thought process can evolve, I am going to change
my mind on that particular subject. After further review Chris Byrd is the
most worthy challenger to Lennox Lewis, and perhaps Emanuel Steward sees a
problem in beating Chris Byrd? Vitali Klitschko gets my nod as a distant
second consideration, since he was beating Byrd at the time of their
stoppage. Vitali also has the size and a puncher's chance, which Byrd lacks.
I was leafing through an old boxing magazine when I came across this great
one-liner by Hugh McIllvanney (one of the greatest boxing writers of
all-time) at the expense of heavyweight contender Joe Bugner. During the
postfight press conference Bugner had an angry outburst when reporters
claimed he did not try hard enough to beat Ali. Bugner screamed, "Get me
Jesus Christ, I'll fight him tomorrow!". Hugh McIllvanney calmly replied,
"Ah, Joe, you're only saying that 'cause you know he has bad hands." I stand
in awe of Mr. McIllvanney.
In a judgment last week, Manhattan Federal District Judge Richard Owen (my
new hero) reinstated Graciano Rocchigiani as the WBC light heavyweight
champion for the period of March 1998 to April 2000. Does this mean the WBC
has to return all sanctioning fees to Roy Jones, since he was not, in a
legal sense, competing for a WBC title for that period of time? If I am Roy
Jones, who loves the Benjamins, I would look into that. Another issue to
consider is if The Ring magazine editors are going to change their 2004
Boxing Almanac to reflect this change of champions?
Also in that court order Judge Owen stated the WBC displayed, "wholly
arbitrary and unfair conduct of the defendant in this case. It would leave
anyone down for the proverbial count." Hallelujah Mr. Owen, although you are
preaching to the choir on this issue. This ruling by Judge Owen means that
Rocchigiani has the right to execute a judgment against the WBC in the
amount of $30,598,628.00. Which, by my humble calculations, the WBC should
be able to come up with by sanctioning two Oscar De La Hoya title defenses.
Speaking of Oscar and the WBC. Paul Upham over at secondsout.com wrote a
brilliant article on how Oscar De La Hoya has not been asked by the WBC to
defend his title against a mandatory contender yet. This, even though he has
held the WBC Jr. Middleweight title for 21 months. According to the WBC a
champion should make at least one title defense against the mandatory
challenger in a year. This article is must reading for its use of the WBC's
& Jose Sulaiman's words against themselves. Please take the time to read it
at http://www.secondsout.com/usa/news_51293.asp
The lawyers for Mr. Rocchigiani, Schlam, Stone & Dolan stated, "We intend to
execute every aspect of the judgment, from correcting record books to
collecting dollars -- no matter how long it takes and who it affects. We are
in this fight to the finish." Let's hope so, and they can start with the
April 19th WBC lightweight title, in Sacramento, involving Floyd Mayweather
on HBO. Since HBO money is involved it should be a tidy little sum for Mr.
Rocchigiani to collect on.
How long do you think it would take the WBC to have no American champions
(thus earning money outside the USA) if all of their sanctioning fees in the
USA were garnished? I would go with the under wager on two years. They would
simply find a way to strip American champions as they did with Graciano
Rocchigiani.
It looks like New Jersey Governor James McGreevey is not a Mike Tyson fan.
He stated that Tyson would be denied a boxing license in his state, so a
rumored fight for Tyson at the New Jersey Meadowlands must now find another
home. Agree or disagree with Governor McGreevey, it took some big cajones
for him to turn down millions of dollars worth of revenue for his state. I
think we can safely assume that Donald Trump will not be giving donations to
the re-election campaign of Mr. McGreevey.
Breaking news! Several newspapers in England reported that Naseem Hamed will
not fight again until the end of this summer! Naseem who?
Las Vegas is known for gambling, legalized prostitution, and........boxing.
That is some good company I keep.
The HBO Legendary nights series (featuring the 12 greatest fights to air on
HBO) has been great so far. HBO's official judge, Harold Lederman, said that
he thinks the best of the documentaries is on the Julio Cesar Chavez vs.
Meldrick Taylor I (that's right they fought twice but most people,
thankfully, forgot about the second slaughter) bout. This feature airs
Wednesday night, so tune in for that one if you can.
Speaking of Harold Lederman. Mr. Lederman mentioned on the Rahman vs. Tua II
fight, that Tua's beard might be illegal because it provided cushioning from
punches? If that were the case both men should have been disqualified for
all that cushioning disguised as fat on their stomachs.
Have you noticed that Lennox Lewis & Roy Jones, the two biggest
beneficiaries of HBO paychecks, are not featured in any of the Legendary
Nights bouts? Maybe if pull out every highlight these two have provided over
the last 10 ye.........., forget I mentioned it.
How did Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad make it on the list of events,
while Barrera vs. Morales I & vs. McKinney, or Gatti vs. anyone is left out?
The only reason that fight should qualify for a list of great bouts is for
the title of greatest disappointment. It sticks out like a hippie at the
Marine Ball (along with Lewis vs. Tyson) for it's mind numbing blandness
when compared to the other 11 bouts chosen.
A mean-spirited person would ask if Showtime even had 12 fights for a such a
series?
Is Bob Arum serious about making a De La Hoya vs. Mayweather fight? Arum
wants to play up the angle of Floyd Mayweather Sr. training a man to defeat
his son in the ring. That would be one strange twist on the Oedipus complex.
So Marco Antonio Barrera knocked out Kevin Kelley in four one-sided
rounds........ boy I didn't see that coming (please note the sarcasm). I
wonder if we are going to be in for the same surprise when Oscar De La Hoya
takes on Yory Boy Campas? This time loyal boxing fans will be asked for even
more money than the $35.00
bucks they were billled for the three non HBO quality bouts last week. Do
yourself a favor. Take the money you were going to spend (probably $45.00)
on Oscar vs. Yory Boy and donate it to Gerry Cooney's F.I.S.T organization,
or the Gerald McClellan fund. Then deduct that from your taxes as charity,
and buy the Oscar vs. Yory Boy fight (if you are still interested in it)
from a boxing tape trader for $25.00 (plus three classic fights of your
choosing on the same tape). This way everyone who is not trying to make a
quick buck off hardworking boxing fans comes out ahead.
Frank Bruno is planning a comeback at the age of 41 to challenge Audley
Harrison, England's Olympic super heavyweight gold medallist and current
heavyweight prospect. The legacy of George Foreman will continue to haunt me
in comebacks like this.
This week's boxing good guy award is shared by Vinny Pazienza and Scott
Pemberton. The two CES promoted fighters are visiting an injured girl at a
Rhode Island hospital. Nineteen-year-old Nicole Antil was involved in a
severe car accident which left her with a broken neck and bruised spinal
cord. Doctors have told her she would never walk again. Of course most
boxing fans know Vinny Paz suffered a similar injury in 1991, only to return
to the ring and fighting again. Scott Pemberton knew Nicole, and thought
that a visit from Paz would be a great idea. "I know Nicole. Her uncle, Bob,
is my best friend and her father, Joey, is a good friend. Nicole is a good
person with a tough attitude. I'd be devastated if something like this
happened to her. I knew Vinny came back from a broken neck, so I asked him
and Jimmy if they'd go with me to visit her in the hospital.
It's sad. But Nicole's very optimistic and she says she will walk again."
They said the visit from Paz "visibly lifted Nicole's spirits." If any of
you boxing fans want to send some encouraging words to Nicole write to
Nicole Antil
C/O Rhode Island Hospital
593 Eddy St.
Providence, RI 02903.
or The Classic Entertainment & Sports' Web site at
http://www.cesboxing.com
For Questions or Comments
E-Mail Marty Mulcahey at fivedogss@msn.com
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