Boxing

 

How to Eat Crow and other Random thoughts….

By Fred De La Riva

Eating Crow

Another year almost gone and I've come to realize that not much has changed in boxing. Lennox Lewis is still the heavyweight champ. Roy Jones is still well…. Roy Jones. And Max Boxing's Michael Katz is still obsessed with Oscar De La Hoya.

Oscar would have to beat King Kong with one hand tied behind his back, at the ripe old age of 102, to finally gain the respect of "Old Man" Katz. Yes I know. Michael Katz is a living legend in his own right, but hell, if he's man enough to dish it, he's should be man enough to take it. I know Oscar and his group, usually take the high road when dealing with Katz, but I don't have to.

Has Oscar lived up to his name as the "Golden Boy" Mr. Katz? Of course he has. Yes, he did fire Steward, Clancy, Alcazar and Rivero via proxy. He has fathered children out of wedlock. There was that rape thing in Mexico and he probably did insult a very young Fernando Vargas back in the day.

Nobody's perfect.

What he has done inside of the ring is what truly counts. His record is virtually a who's who of boxing for the last ten years. There really hasn't been anyone in the ring who has truly dominated him. Not Tito, not Whitaker and not even Mosley. And if you think that think Winky Wright and Vernon Forrest will beat him soundly, you'd best check yourself.

You once said that "you didn't need Oscar in 1967, and you don't need him now"

Quit lying to yourself Mr. Katz.

You do need Oscar. You need him like a crack head needs a hit. Admit it. You love to get under the kid's skin, and in the meantime. Pull up a chair. Slice yourself a big piece of crow and start eating. If you don't know how, ask Fernando Vargas, I'm sure he'll tell you.

The biggest "little man" in boxing retires

Ricardo "Finito" Lopez career ended this past weekend and the silence from the boxing community was deafening. This man was among the finest technicians the boxing world has ever seen. He was beautiful to watch and in his prime was untouchable. Granted his division was not filled with household names, but the division was and still is littered with many of the toughest athletes in the sport.

Lopez, in my opinion, is the best fighter ever to come out of Mexico. He was better than Julio Cesar Chavez. Better than Marco Antonio Barrera. Better than Salvador Sanchez. Better than Alberto "Baby" Arizmendi. Better than all them. And that also includes all of his compatriots that were born across the border in the United States. In my opinion, he ranks right up there with the likes of flyweight legend Jimmy Wilde.

Those of us who have followed his career closely can only dream about what this man could have done if he had been able to scale at 20 to 30 pounds heavier. He definitely would not have spent most of career in obscurity as he did.

Boxing Lesson # 352

With the proliferation of sanctioning bodies and the scores of "champions", there is confusion in boxing as to which fighters can lay claim to the title. The general misconception among boxing enthusiasts is that this situation has come about recently, but that is not the case.

Boxing historians can point to many earlier examples. In fact, one of the first such controversies happened in 1885, when John L. Sullivan, a soon to be boxing legend, beat Dominick McCaffrey in six rounds to become the first heavyweight champion under the "Marquis of Queensberry rules. Sullivan's victory gave him the right to claim himself champion and he had many backers, except for a very influential publisher by the name of Richard Kyle Fox. In the late 19th century, Fox, was the publisher of the National Police Gazette. He supported the claim of the heavyweight championship by a fighter named Jake Kilrain and his opinion carried a lot of weight. Eventually, Sullivan defeated Kilrain for the right to call himself heavyweight champion. The controversy was settled in the ring, as it should be.

Some side notes on a related topic…

· Being the "Ring" Champion does not make you the "undisputed" champion.
· Being the "linear" champion does not necessarily make you the best in the division.
· Linear, undisputed and "Ring" champion do not mean the same thing.


Quick weekend predictions by a very conservative gambler.

McCline defeats Klitschko by split decision in a clutch fest.
Klitschko defeats McCline by a stunning KO in the early rounds.
Klitschko defeats McCline by unanimous decision in a very boring fight.
Castillo defeats Mayweather via controversial decision.
Mayweather defeats Castillo in a close and exciting fight as he manages to win despite hurting his hands.

Feel free to contact the author at reevee@earthlink.net

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