Floyd Mayweather Shows Chavez Boxing's
Not So Pretty
By Chris Curry
11.11
- The sensational Floyd Mayweather shows us Boxing
in the "Prettiest" of forms, he is a fighter
who is a pleasure to watch and is one of the purest
athlete's in the sport today.
Saturday night Boxings "Pretty
Boy" entered the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
in San Francisco for what was the weight drained Champions
final defence of his WBC Super Featherweight Championship
of the World. The emphatic 24 year old plans to move
into the Lightweight division, but before that, he
was faced against the WBC's number one ranked challenger
and the NABF Super Featherweight Champion, the brave
Mexican-American, known as the "Matador"
but more like the "Raging Bull" Jesus Chavez.
This guy came to fight.
Round one of the contest and Chavez
brings the famous Mexican style straight for the Pretty
Boy, hunting him down, first off with the Jab. Floyd,
lightening fast on his feet glides around the ring
making Chavez miss. Mayweather throws a left hook
as Chavez tries to get him on the ropes. The "Raging
Bull" must now realise that he is in with a "Pretty"
fast fighter, as Floyd moves around to take centre
ring and spears a short jab with blurring fast hands,
again moving to wherever he wish's in the process.
Jesus keeps after Mayweather throwing lots of punches,
then Floyd opens up and shows what a class all round
act he is, banging out fast well calculated shots,
hitting Chavez with smashing right hands to the head
then body back to the head. Chavez keeps hunting the
hunted as Floyds speed and control of the ring carries
him out of the Mexican onslaught. Mayweather gives
a show of hand speed, while hitting and moving, he
starts to bang in some heavy shots ending the round
hitting the rolling on challenger with right hands,
uppercuts, left hooks and shaking Chavez with a right
to the head finishing the round like an express train,
he then returned to his corner very cool, calm and
collective.
After
shouting to the crowd that Chavez is tiring, the action
commenced, again the brave challenger headed straight
for Mayweather only finding him yet again not there.
He kept his non stop punching going. Floyd moves with
grace popping the jab and covers up on the ropes while
Chavez's keeps hunting him, this time catching him
with a hard left hook, backing it straight away with
a big right hand. He covers up in an excellent defence
on the ropes watching the so called "Matador"
rage in on him, while he blocked the onslaught he
moves around the challenger taking control of centre
ring, moving through the gears blasting back his own
arsenal. Chavez starts to give as good as he got and
has came to make a name for himself roughing Floyd
up as best he can. Mayweather retaliates with razor
Sharpe punches back, showing his pedigree. The round
ends with some great exchanges, Floyd going to body
and head with left hooks, Chavez soaked the shots.
Bringing his head onto the chest of the Champion he
starts rhythm punching to the body. Floyd moves around
covering up with the defence, springs the jab, brings
back the hooks and right hands while Chavez who's
working non stop backs him to the ropes to end the
round.
The work rate of Jesus Chavez is excellent,
but is very limited in terms of skill. Mayweather
is a guy who can punch, move and land at will, bring
it toe to toe or simply cover up and block the punches.
He produces amazing flurries that only fighters like
Roy Jones Jr and Sugar Shane Mosley can fire. Floyd
at times look's like a younger and lighter version
of Jones and this fight reminds me of Jones' last
outing against Gonzalez were he too was a brave Mexican
going for the body, Roy simply banged at will and
was fast on his feet and hard to catch. He also at
time's covered up and then let the speedy hands loose,
these two are very similar type fighters in the lower
weights.
The
Best of round four came when Mayweather opened up
really looking like a shadow of Roy Jones Jr, with
blurring hands pouring a series of punches at Chavez,
leaving him with no answers and weathering the storm.
This contest really was one sided and Floyd showed
that he has a versatile style throughout the rest
of the rounds. Even thought at time's when under pressure
he should not of had his back against the ropes for
so long. He then decided to let this guy run around
for a few rounds, get a good look at him while he's
tiring himself out and being broken down. Then the
WBC Super Featherweight Champion of the World decided
to turn the heat up, this is his great ability to
have a number of different ways of fighting. Fight,
Box and move we saw it all in Floyd Mayweather. Round
eight was were it was all beginning to end for Jesus
Chavez. Floyd found the right uppercut was effective,
he brought the sport into the sweet science, again
taking to the ropes, he used this most affectively
to his advantage. The "Bull" within Chavez
came "Raging" in against the "Pretty
Boy" who had his left arm crossed just above
his waist line. His right hand was cocked up to protect
the chin. The beauty was, that every time Chavez brought
his arm back to attack, Floyd dropped the right and
turned it into a "Pretty" uppercut wrenching
back the head of Jesus Chavez, each timebringing the
hand straight back to chin while tucking the left
side of his chin into his shoulder. This tactic was
beautiful to watch from a superb technician. Floyd
opened up on Chavez really hurting him, bashing out
the combinations with frightening determination blowing
Chavez around like a leaf in the wind.
Round nine and the punishment continued
to rain in for the WBC number one contender who had
fought a brave contest and should be very proud for
his performance and willingness to win. At this stage,
Floyd Mayweather looked ten leagues above him. The
game Jesus Chavez, soaked up far too much punishment
and this was to be his final round. The experienced
corner of Chavez consisting of Ronnie Shields, a fighter
himself, pulled him out. He did the right thing. This
is a guy who has sampled and taken punishment himself.
He knows what it is like to be on the receiving end
and made a great decision to save his fighter when
he was clearly out of his depth.
Floyd
was a gentleman to the brave Jesus Chavez and went
over to his corner and said "Stick at it, I am
going up in weight, you will be Champion."
The Champion found it extremely hard
to make the weight, he revealed that he did not eat
anything for four days before the weigh-in. This was
his last defence as the WBC Super Featherweight Champion
of the World, Floyd Mayweather is now set to embark
on the Lightweight division. The best of Floyd Mayweather
has still to come. He has been holding his body back
to make weight, at Lightweight he will be outstanding.
He has a big frame at five foot seven and can carry
the weight no problem. He then wants to move to light
Welterweight for a showdown with the newly crowned
Undisputed Champion, Kostya Tszyu, a fight that would
be fantastic for Boxing. Oscar De La Hoya's best stuff
came after he moved out of the Super Featherweight
division after being tight at the weight. I believe
this will be the case for Floyd Mayweather. All the
big things that he has been talking about, you are
going to see. Floyd is set to take Boxing to the "Pretty
side" but for Jesus Chavez he found out that
his night with Floyd was not so "Pretty".
By Chris Curry, Belfast, Northern
Ireland - All Photos: AP
Sharkie´s Week in Boxing
- Mayweather vs Chavez, Sanchez vs Pacquiao, Reid
vs Hill, Camacho vs Jakubowski, Friday Fights on ESPN
2
By Frank Gonzalez
Floyd Mayweather (26-0-0-19 KO's)
vs. Jesus Chavez (35-1-0-24 KO's)
Floyd Mayweather defended his WBC
version of the Super Featherweight Championship (130
pounds) against Jesus Chavez this past Saturday in
San Francisco on HBO.
Back in May when Mayweather fought
against Carlos Hernandez, Floyd revealed a potential
weakness, brittle hands. Prone to tenderness serious
enough that Floyd actually took an 8 count just to
regroup from the pain he suffered from punching Hernandez.
I wondered how healed his hands were coming into this
bout with the extremely game Chavez, who was relentlessly
on the attack from the first bell on. Mayweather fought
economically, throwing less punches than I’m
used to seeing.
Chavez dictated the tempo of the fight,
chasing Mayweather around the ring with punches that
were mostly blocked. Chavez looked as if he’d
run out of gas by the sixth round at the pace he was
going; throwing over 100 punches a round. He was also
connecting at a low percentage, but on occasion he
did hit Floyd, although he never did hurt the champion.
His uncle Roger Mayweather, now trains Floyd, who
had the most success against Chavez in the 9th round,
employing a patient strategy, letting Chavez “punch
himself out,” and connecting with solid combinations
to Chavez’ head and body. Mayweather’s defensive
technique paved the way for an effective offense.
Although Chavez was the aggressor,
Mayweather was the more effective, connecting at a
higher percentage, albeit a lower output. It turned
out to be a good fight. Chavez furious output seemed
to compromise his power. Had he been more economical
in the earlier rounds, he might have had more mustard
on his punches as the fight evolved and possibly even
beaten the cautious Mayweather. After the punishment
Chavez took in the 9th round his trainer Ronnie Shields
threw in the towel. Mayweather got to escape the full
test. Who knows, Chavez may have lost on points, but
had he gotten lucky late in the fight…we’ll
never know how this might’ve ended? Chavez showed
a good chin and a ton of heart, two vital ingredients
needed to beat Floyd Mayweather.
I didn’t understand the stoppage.
Chavez may have lost the 9th round, but was effectively
confining Mayweather style, limiting Floyd’s
tendencies. With all the big upsets lately and the
determination Chavez showed, I never counted him out.
Unfortunately, his trainer did, citing that his fighter
was being hit with too many clean shots. Mayweather
has defended his 130 lb. title for the last time,
remarking that he cannot make that weight anymore.
He says he’s moving up to 135 lbs. where he’s
looking to fight Luis Castillo and Paul Spadafora,
then up to 140 lbs. and hopefully a match with Kostya
Tszyu. Jesus Chavez should be moving up in weight
too. Maybe they’ll meet again?
***
Agapito Sanchez (33-7-1-20 KO’s)
vs. Manny Pacquiao (33-2-0-24 KO’s)
At 122 lbs. the WBO’s Super Bantamweight
Champion, Agapito Sanchez of the Dominican Republic,
fought the IBF’s version of the same in Manny
Pacquiao of the Philippines. Manny is an entertaining
fighter who loves the fight game. He entered the ring
with a big smile, like a kid in a candy store. He
has good stamina, defense, punching power, and lots
of heart. Exciting.
Agapito Sanchez stands at five foot
three inches, is tenacious and often accused of using
the low blow as a weapon. It can be argued that at
his height, he’s always fighting facing up and
that the low blows are unintentional. After the first
few rounds, I was convinced they were intentional.
This fight got ugly early when Sanchez
head-butted Pacquiao in the 2nd round, causing a deep
gash over Pacquiao’s right eye. Manny always
comes to fight though and was not going to pull a
Camacho Jr. and quit, in spite of all the blood dripping
into his right eye. Sanchez proceeded to low blow
Pacquiao repeatedly and finally had points taken in
the 3rd and again in the 4th round by veteran referee
Marty Denkin. Even though Sanchez continued to low
blow Pacquiao afterwards, the referee simply would
not disqualify Sanchez, who was booed by the audience
between rounds. Agapito should have been disqualified
for his dirty tactics. The fight was stopped in the
middle of the 6th round as Pacquiao’s cut bleed
profusely. It was off to the wondrous world of the
judges’ scorecards. I figured Pacquiao was a
cinch to win the decision, considering his more effective
aggressiveness! and the points taken away from Sanchez
in the 3rd and 4th rounds.
HBO’s “unofficial”
ringside scorer Harold Lederman scored it 58-54 for
Manny Pacquiao, explaining that Sanchez won the first
two but Pacquiao swept the last four. I had the same
score.
The official HBO judges were Ricardo
Bays, who scored it 58-54, in favor of Manny Pacquiao.
Marshall Walker, who scored it 56-56 and Raul Caiz,
who in spite of the two points deducted scored it
57-54 in favor of Agapito Sanchez. Neither fighter
lost their title belts, which were on the line. Sniff,
sniff…what’s that smell?
***
Friday’s Fights on ESPN 2
Hot looking, marketing product,
boxer babe Mia St. John met the canvas this week as
she fought her first REAL fight. Mia was the loser
of the wild punching exchange and knocked out in the
2nd round by Rolanda Andrews, who’s record wasn’t
even worthy of memory. Rolanda handed Boxing’s
“Cover-girl” in the tight pink outfit her
first “professional” loss.
I always thought Mia would eventually
have to fight a real fighter. She may be nice to look
at, but fans tired of her handpicked, fixed fights.
My initial suspicion about her abilities has been
confirmed. In the world of women’s professional
Boxing, she is a Cherry Red Corvette, without an engine.
Christy Martin, the most famous women in Boxing, still
wants to fight Mia in spite of her setback. Martin
says it will affect her purse some but she still wants
to make the fight. It scares me to imagine what Christy
will do to Mia’s pretty face. Her career in Boxing
is doubtful, but she may have a future as a ring girl.
You know, the ones who walk around the ring in a bikini
between rounds holding up a card saying what round’s
coming up? It’s just a thought.
***
Paul Vidoz (6-0-0-4 KO’s)
vs. Nick Nurse (7-4-1-5 KO’s)
Nick Nurse, we laughed when we heard
the name announced. Then the camera focused on one
thick, mean looking black man from the Bronx, who
looked like his car just got towed and his wife just
left him. On the other side of the ring was Italy’s
Paul Vidoz, tall, lanky, and bald. He was not too
intimidating to look at, but he improved his record
to 7 wins, 4 KO’s as he totally dominated the
ineffectual Nurse, who looked like he needed a nurse
after the fight. If you missed this one, don’t
feel bad you didn’t miss much.
Tony Ayala (28-1-0-24 KO’s)
vs. Manuel Lopez (22-2-0-10 KO’s)
This was another soft fight for Tony
Ayala, who made easy work of his inferior opponent
Manuel Lopez, dropping him in the first round, and
then knocking him out in the 2nd round. Nothing exciting
here. Ayala is a middle of the road middleweight.
He seems content to fight guys at the lowest echelon
of his division.
Gabriel Elizondo (9-0-0-5 KO’s)
vs. Guillermo Puga (17-7-1-8 KO’s)
Up and coming Gabriel Elizondo of
San Antonio Texas knocked his cream puff opponent,
Guillermo Puga down in the first and out in the second.
Enough said.
Irene Pacheco (25-0-0-19 KO’s)
vs. Mike Trejo (27-1-2-16 KO’s)
IBF Featherweight Champion Irene Pacheco
(no, she’s not a woman, she’s a man) shut
out and TKO’d the inept Mike Trejo by the 4th
round. Trejo, looked like he was on crack during the
pre-fight interview, stumbling incoherently outside
and later inside of the ring. This was Pacheco’s
3rd successful title defense. A more exciting marquee
might read “Nick Nurse vs. Irene Pacheco”
Too bad they aren’t in the same weight class.
Omar Davila (10-2-0-6 KO’s)
vs. Danny Reyes (16-7-1-9 KO’s)
Omar Davila threw over 100 punches
per round against Danny Reyes, who threw about 100
punches in the whole fight, which lasted six rounds.
This sloppy match up was exciting for the San Antonio
audience who rooted for their boy, Omar Davila, who
won a decision he couldn’t lose anyway in his
hometown, against a fighter who should have been a
florist.
***
Sunday’s Fights on Fox Sports
Network
David Reid (17-2-0-7 KO’s)
vs. Sam Hill (record unknown)
It was sad to watch David Reid get
beat up by an unknown fighter. Reid, who started out
professionally in 97’ as an exciting welterweight
with style, has evolved into a slow, plodding, seemingly
unenthusiastic fighter who should have retired after
making all that money fighting Felix Trinidad, who
seems to have ruined Reid.
Sam Hill, a cop from the somewhere
in the south, an unknown boxer, took Reid to school,
blocking most of Reid’s shots, and catching him
with his own. He staggered Reid with a jab in the
9th round and knocked him down. Aaron Pryor, working
Reid’s corner in place of Al Mitchell, who walked
out on Reid the night before the fight. Pryor threw
in the towel seeing that Reid just didn’t look
right. It was sad to see. Reid is a nice guy. Whatever
passion he had for Boxing seems to have evaporated
after his loss to Trinidad. During the post fight
interviews, Reid sounded punch drunk and unable to
put sentences together without struggling. As I have
said before, David Reid should retire from boxing.
That would be the best thing for him at this point.
Hector Camacho Jr. (33-0-1 N.C.-18
KO’s) vs. Eric Jacubowski (21-8-0-4 KO’s)
Camacho Jr. called this “Jr.
Time.” I guess that must mean it’s Chicken
time. Considering Camacho Jr.’s recent image
problems, I would say the only fight he should be
taking is the rematch with Jesse James Leijas, who
he fought last July. Although Leijas suffered a head
butt in the 1st round of that fight, he continued.
Later in that fight, Hector “not-so-Macho”
Camacho Jr. was head butted in the 5th round and opted
to quit, citing blurry vision in a controversial bout
that saw Camacho awarded the win from the judges’
cards in a fight most who follow Boxing agree, he
was not winning. That unrealistic ruling was overturned
by the New York State Athletic Commission and was
ruled a “No Contest.” Camacho Jr. was then
scorned by just about everyone in Boxing as being
a quitter. The media went to town on him. The Ring
Magazine openly called him a coward.
Jr. played up his “injury”
and after many months of recovering, opted out of
a rematch with Jesse James Leijas. Instead, he took
a fight with low-level journeyman Eric Jacubowski,
who was notified of the match up only a week before
its schedule. The awkward Jacubowski fought as poorly
as expected. Brave of Jr. to take on an easy opponent
who had only one week to prepare for the fight. Camacho
Jr. is a guy who built his resume on handpicked, creampuff
opponents and yet is ranked #1 with the WBA, and #3
with the IBF. Hey, what is that smell?
***
Predictions For Next Week:
I don’t
really care who wins between Mount “Goofi”
Whitaker and Jameel McCline. I expect Whitaker to
win by going the distance in a boring fight that will
be decided by slippery judges. Neither of these guys
is exciting. Anyone who calls himself “Goofi”
just doesn’t instill confidence. And knocking
out Michael Grant is hardly a barometer for greatness,
which is McCline’s only claim to fame.
I think Wladimir Klitschko should
beat the hell out of David Izon, who was once stopped
by Michael Grant in the 5th round. I say Klitschko
in 2 by KO.
I expect Lennox Lewis to be in tip-top
shape for this rematch with Hasim Rahman, who surprised
everyone by knocking Lewis out in their first fight,
which was supposed to be a “tune up” fight
for Lewis at the time. Lewis took Rahman lightly then,
but he won’t make that mistake again. Look for
Lewis to out box Rahman, and use his long jab and
overhand right to redeem himself with a convincing
win, probably even a knock out over current World
Champion, Hasim Rahman. If Lewis loses, he should
retire immediately.
Until next time, enjoy all your favorite
sports.
Sharkie
