Paul Strauss

Mayweather-Guerrero: Skillful Opponents, Faith and Mustard Seeds – What does it all mean?

03(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Even rough edged boxing fans have heard or been told the Good Lord once said something like, “Faith as small as a mustard seen can move mountains.” If the Lord said it, it must be true, right? Life should be so simple for boxing fans. The sad truth is most of us feel unworthy for that to be true in our lives. Tough guys feel the statement is just a fairy tale thought up by a bible thumper or religious zealot. No doubt many critically describe such talk as “way out there” b.s. Those hard heads don’t feel religious beliefs of any kind have a place in boxing, or any sport for that matter. For example, “Tebowing” was ridiculed by many (and still is), and now the former N.Y. Jet is in search of another team he hopes will have faith in him as a winning pro QB.

It’s safe to say boxing fans generally chose to believe in something more tangible such as muscle, speed and toughness. It helps too if the fighter comes from Philly, Chi Town or the Big Apple. Pugs from those places get higher marks, because of their survival skills. It makes them betting favorites Also, If your last name is Garcia, or Mayweather, you’re definitely an odds on favorite. Chances are their pacifiers were shaped like boxing gloves.

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Same Problems for Martinez and Judah but Sergio Overcame His

martinez44Sergio Martinez came away with a UD win, and Zab Judah lost a UD, but they both had similar problems. Neither southpaw dealt properly with their orthodox opponents’ right hands, but for different reasons. The difference in victory versus defeat for Murray and Garcia was Murray got started too late. He had to do too much catching up.

Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez also had an excuse. He suffered a broken left hand early in the fight, which hampered him greatly in defending against Muray’s right. Zab had no such excuse. Zab allowed Garcia to throw wild, looping powerful right hands without consequences. Everyone watching knew the punch was coming, yet Zab did nothing to stop them. Zab could have and should have beat Garcia to the punch, as the shots to his body were telegraphed.

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Alvarez Shows New Side in Win Over Trout

DSC_8257The slick boxing Trout did what he was supposed to do. In front of 40,000 plus fans at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, he controlled the distance and pace with his jab. He mixed it up, going often to the body. He threw more punches, displayed better combination punching, but he still lost the fight! How could that happen?

It happened because Saul “Canelo” Alvarez impressed a lot of people, including the judges, that he’s a pretty damn good defensive fighter as well as an aggressive one. Several times, Trout ripped off four and five punch combinations, and none landed. Then, just enough times, Canelo would land one of his sharper, more powerful shots. When his shots landed, they had an obvious effect on Trout, and would shake him from his shoe laces to the sweat on his brow. One particularly impressive shot occurred early into the seventh round. Trout carelessly threw out a rather soft jab from his southpaw stance, and Canelo followed it back with a sharp, straight right. Canelo’s punch landed right on the chin. It took Trout’s body a fraction of a second to react, but once it did, it resulted in an awkward little dance, which ended with “No Doubt” on the canvas.

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Tyson Fury Wins Over Cunningham But Not the Fans

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Tyson Fury will get annihlated by either of the Klitschko brothers. He demonstrated very little in the way of boxing skills against Cunningham. Instead, he used his tremendous 6′ 9″ size advantage to mug his much smaller foe. On a 0-10 talent scale, boxing fans would be hard pressed to give him a score that would crack mid point. His bellowing, and worse yet his post-fight singing, completely turned off fans at Madison Square Garden Theater. His actions failed to generate any great desire in fans to rush out and buy a ticket to see him fight Vitali or Wladimir. That’s because fans know any such matchup will result in a reverberating quake picked up on the Richter Scale that will result when his big body crashes to the canvas.

Saturday night fans couldn’t help but feel sorry for Steve Cunningham. He wasn’t on the losing end of the seventh round stoppage, so much as he was a victim of a back alley New York City mugging. Tyson did so much pushing, shoving, elbowing and leaning on his smaller foe that Referee Eddie Cotton couldn’t keep track of all of the offenses. He needed a “clicker” to keep count of all of the fouls.

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Donaire Relinquishes Lofty Status to Rigondeaux

donaire555Nonito “The Filipinio Flash” Donaire had it all. He was riding high, a fan favorite, a top P4P fighter, 2012 fighter of the year and someone who seemed to have no weaknesses. His speed, power and ring savvy had been too much for anybody he faced. A few bruises here and there, an occasional hand injury to remind him of his dominant performances and a pocket full of dough to dull the pain. His face was becoming more and more recognizable to celebrity seekers.

He did and said all the right things. He pushed for VADA type testing for everyone. He often expressed a willingness to fight anyone, including Abner Mares; although, he did express a reluctance to fight Rigondeaux, but not because he feared him. No, it was for more of a practical reason. He didn’t think Guillermo Rigondeaux deserved the shot. Donaire felt Rigondeaux needed to beat a big name first.

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Mike Alvarado Gets Revenge – Bet on Rios 3rd Time Around

alvarado43 Mike Alvarado did the tough job that was needed to come away with a decision, but he took a terrible beating along the way at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. His decision win was a tribute to his courage and ability to keep on keeping on, avoiding the many kayo shots coming his way, which allowed him to come away with a decision. But, if there’s a third fight, don’t bet on him being able to do it again.
The physical appearance of the winner and loser during the post fight interview chaos made one wonder how Alvarado pulled it off. His face was a bloody pulp, and Rios was still bouncing around like the Energizer Bunny. Rios definitely took plenty of hard shots too, but the damage was much less evident on his kisser or his post fight demeanor.

It’s doubtful whether Rios was being totally truthful when telling HBO announcer Max Kellerman he hadn’t been rocked by his conqueror, but it was also true he wasn’t shook enough to lessen the “dangerous when wet” sign that should have be pinned on his back. Once Rios works up a sweat, watch out! Even as the end approached, viewers knew he could still end it at any time. His shots were still full of power, and whistling on straight, short pathways. Unfortunately for him, they were just barely missing, and Alvarado was bouncing side to side enough to keep Rios from throwing the combinations he really desired.

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