Rios wins DQ over Chaves; Jesse Vargas hands Anton Novikov his 1st loss; Kovalev KOs Caparello

08/03/2014 Paul Strauss

It seems no one at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, NV was happy with the way the fight between Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios and Diego Gabriel Chaves ended. It was a close, rugged battle that fans undoubtedly were enjoying. They certainly didn’t want it to end so abruptly at the hands of referee Vic Drakulich. Diego clearly didn’t want it to end with him on the losing end. He felt he was winning the fight, and that it was snatched away from him. Even Rios expressed dissatisfaction with the way things ended, but he felt Diego deserved to be penalized.

The fight was a war. Most people thought that it would evolve into a war, but it wasn’t expected to start that way. Diego controlled that surprise. He came out throwing power jabs and hard overhand rights. Would he run out of steam? Rios seemed to be caught off guard initially, but by the second round he already had Diego backing up. He got in close and started throwing punishing shots to the body. Diego was hit with his first penalty point in the third round, apparently for excessive holding.

GGG 17th Straight with 3rd Rd KO of Geale; Jennings Beats Perez on Penalty Point

07/27/201407/27/2014 Paul Strauss

Triple G does it again. Daniel Geale was supposed to be his first real test. Geale was described as having the skills needed to prove troublesome for Gennady. He could move. He was a volume puncher and so on. You could just see GGG stifling a yawn, even though he would never criticize or downgrade an opponent.

When the fight started, Geale caught the nearest bicycle and hopped on. He moved side to side and in and out in rapid fashion. He jumped in with a punch here and there, but GGG moved just enough to avoid them, or he simply blocked them with not much of an effort. It was noteworthy that in the first round, he was already throwing lead right hands.

Garcia outworks Prescott; Truax decisions Ennis – Was it Enough?

07/28/201407/26/2014 Paul Strauss

Friday Night Fights at the UIC Pavillion, Chicago, IL went as expected. Action opened with a close decision win for Chicago’s and Notre Dame’s own Mike Lee 13-0-0 (KO 7). In the process of winning Lee received a bruised face and bloodied nose against Paul Consalves 7-3-0 (KO 4). Two judges thought Lee was the aggressor, but the third judge didn’t feel Lee did enough, so he scored it a draw. The bottom line is Lee has another win and moves on. The 32 yr. old Gonsalves made a good enough showing, so another fight might come his way.

Lara Proves Wrong Thing in Loss to Canelo

07/13/2014 Paul Strauss

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez managed on saturday night to squeak out a split decision win over Erislandy Lara at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Las Veges, NV. Lara was devastated over the loss. He felt making Canelo look foolish should have been enough for him to earn the win.

Lara was right, but only about one thing. He did make Canelo look foolish. He would have made any fighter in his weight class look foolish, while proving he has a great pair of legs. He was like Barry Sanders, the great running back for the Detroit Lions. Sanders used to make defenders look foolish when they grabbed for him and got nothing but air. In football the trick is the runner has to advance the ball. In boxing, you still have to punch to win a fight.

Terence Crawford KO’s Yuriorkis Gamboa

06/29/201406/29/2014 Paul Strauss

Terence Crawford not only transitioned from orthodox to southpaw, he pulled off a much bigger metamorphosis going from eastern Nebraska to the top of the world. That came as no surprise to the ten thousand plus fans on hand at the Century Link Center, Omaha, Nebraska. They already knew something that the rest of the world was only beginning to see. That pearl of knowledge is Terence “Hunter/Bud” Crawford is one helleva fighter!

If you watch the History Channel, you know Omaha is not only a good sized city on the banks of the Missouri River, it is also the name of the famous beach where allied troops landed on D-Day in June of 1944. It was the beginning of the end for the Axis Powers. Crawford pulled off his own D-Day when he transitioned from orthodox to southpaw in the third round of his battle with the undefeated Cuban sensation named Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Robert Guerrero is Not Better, Just Tougher

06/23/201406/22/2014 Paul Strauss

Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero was understandably happy after his victory over Yoshihiro Kamegai at the StubHub Center in Carson. CA, but it was a tough fight. He took a lot of unnecessary punishment, and might need another year off to recuperate!

In Robert’s pre-fight hype, he explained the need for the lengthy time off to take care of things and heal his body. He gushed over his new training program that included lifting weights. He said it was helping him to hit harder, and to be quicker.

So what did he do against Yoshihiro Kamegai? He stood in front of him and trades power shots? What ever happened to “The Ghost”? Where is the guy who boxed Michael Katsidis’ socks off in Apr. of 2011? Robert also did a pretty good job with Selcuk Aydin. when he moved up to welterweight.

Siberian Rocky Gets Judges’ Cold Shoulder

06/15/201406/15/2014 Paul Strauss

Ruslan “Siberian Rocky” Provodnikov displayed his ferocious side early on at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y. by swiping a rock hard left paw to the right eye of Chris Algieri. Chris not only went down, he went over, doing a backward somersault.

When he stopped rolling, referee Harvey Dock started the count. Swelling started immediately, both below and above the eye socket, causing fears that this fight was going to end early. Those fears were fed when seconds later, Chris went down again. This time it was much less violently as he took a knee. It seemed Chris needed to do so to get a moment to gather his senses. He squinted a little too in an attempt to work the eye lids, making sure they were still there.

Sergio Martinez Ought to Hang It Up

06/10/201406/09/2014 Paul Strauss

It’s not much of a surprise Miquel Cotto was victorious over Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez. After all, the experts openly expressed their concerns over Martinez’ fourteen month absence from the ring. They were concerned about Sergio’s troublesome knee and shoulder injuries, plus a broken hand? His body seemed to be breaking down. Despite Sergio’s assurances, many experts doubted whether he could come back and regain his previously superb condition and superior abilities?

We now know they were right. However, even Cotto and Freddie Roach had to have been surprised by how easy it was for Cotto to get Sergio on queer street. For pete’s sake, Sergio was wobbled with Cotto’s first left hook! It was baffling? What a predicament Sergio was in! The opening bell had barely stopped ringing! This lineal world middleweight champion from Argentina had never been in such a dilemma.

Groves’ Style Like a Toddler With a Loaded Diaper

06/03/201406/02/2014 Paul Strauss

The title seems to be a foul, a low blow, hitting a man when he’s down. But, it’s not intended to be. No one is questioning Groves’ heart or effort. Honestly, though, all you parents and grandparents out there must certainly understand the reference. You’ve seen your bow legged little scamp ambling around with a full load. The little cuties exhibit awkward movements, which makes them look a little discombobulated.

It is just an observation about a fighter’s peculiar style, one that would seemly tire a fighter. It requires a fighter to be in an awkward position. It’s an unnatural posture, accentuated by the oversized trunks. Couple that with legs wide spread, too wide for graceful movement. Then throw in a humped back, with shoulders hunched forward and you’ve got Groves. If he was any thinner, you could put a woman’s wig on him, and you’d swear he was a dowager.

If No Fight Mayweather Suffers Most

05/30/2014 Paul Strauss

If no fight, it’s a given Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. loses more money than Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. Money took care of that little item by getting Manny to agree to take less. There’s no denying both fighters are great, and it’s a surety both are going to be in the Boxing Hall(s) of Fame. If no fight, though, fans and the media suffer too, because they are left with the unresolved question “Who would have won?”

That question will become like a canker, a blight on boxing. Eventually, though, it will dissipate and make ardent fans in each camp apathetic. The open ended debate will surface less and less, and become something like the occasional….Would Gene Tunney have beaten Jack Dempsey without benefit of the “Long Count”? Or, Did Jack Johnson take a dive in his loss to Jess Willard?” How about the question that surfaced about a splash many heard in Lewiston, Maine when Liston hit the canvas after being hit by Ali’s phantom punch? Those front page news events sooner or later fade away. More to the point…..Who would have won if Jake “Raging Bull” LaMotta and Rocky Graziano fought? Or, back to….. Would Dempsey have beaten Harry Wills? In the present day….How about Joe Calzaghe vs. Andre S.O.G. Ward?