Up until that point the fight still appeared close. One judge and Showtime analyst Steve Farhood had the fight a draw. After the stoppage, doctors didn’t like what they were seeing. As a result, they had a stabilizing collar placed around Rafael’s neck, placed him on a gurney and rushed him to the hospital.
The punch that caused Rafael’s problems was a straight right from Efrain Esquivias. It wasn’t a particularly hard punch, but it was timed right and was accurate.
It goes like this….. You think a particular fighter will win a fight, because he is superior in several categories. He moves well, is quick on his feet with good balance. He’s technically sound. He blocks, parries, slips and ducks, countering effectively off his opponent’s misses. He’s got a solid punch, and throws combinations, both to the head and body with precision and accuracy. He’s always in shape.
Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champ of the world, who now is a boxing promoter, showed up ringside for ESPN’s season finale of Friday Night Fights. Iron Mike took the opportunity to make peace with Teddy Atlas. He said he was sorry for what he did years ago. Apparently, he was referring to a well-publicized incident that occurred years ago. Allegedly, it involved Tyson’s crude behavior toward a young girl related to Teddy’s wife. Tyson, after expressing his sorrow, then hugged Teddy. All is well. It was a release for Tyson, who constantly struggles to turn the corner on his recovery.
Jhonny Gonzalez was supposed to be on the way down. After all, hadn’t he lost an 8th round TD to Daniel Ponce DeLeon, a fighter that Mares stopped? The odds makers thought so, and so did most boxing analysts; although, most qualified their opinions by saying he had a puncher’s chance. They would go on to describe how well Mares successfully dealt with different styles to remain undefeated. Abner was more versatile than Jhonny. Well, it took Jhonny less than a round to fool Mares and prove all the detractors wrong.
The fight started with a relative calm. Jhonny moved in a circle around his shorter foe. Abner appeared to be studying, probing, looking for openings. The trio of Showtime announcers: Mauro Renallo, Al Bernstein and Paulie Malagnaggi discussed Jhonny’s remarks made in the pre-fight meeting. Apparently Jhonny remarked tat he needed to get his jab working against Mares, and that would be his key to victory. Saturday night at the Stubhub Center in Carson, CA, it didn’t look like Jhonny was following his own advice. The announcers pointed that out, explaining that Jhonny was just tapping out with his jab. There was no power or snap to it. It was not a jab that would keep Abner away.
Hall of fame trainer/manager/analyst Gil Clancy was fond of telling his fighters between rounds, “If he hits you low, hit him back low”. Watching Friday Night Fights caused me to remember Clancy’s sage advice. I won’t go into which fighter was doing what, but generally speaking all too often fighters are allowed to carry on with dirty tactics.
One of the worst and most damaging tactics is use of the elbow(s). Getting an elbow in the face (or anywhere else) is not pleasant. When it happens over and over again, it can be downright demoralizing. Even if it doesn’t always hurt, it often involves a push, knocking a fighter off stride or unfairly opening him up for a damaging punch.
More than fifty years ago Floyd Patterson fought Sonny Liston twice and got destroyed twice. Trainer Cus D’Amato didn’t want Floyd to fight Liston. He knew Floyd was intimidated by the Big Bear. Before Cassius Clay dethroned him, Liston was the most feared fighter around. Cus doubted whether Floyd could beat the Big Bear, and to make matters worse, Cus felt a loss would mean the most coveted championship in all of sport would fall into the hands of one of the most undesirable characters in the fight game. Liston was an ex-con and there were rumors about him being controlled by the mob. Their first fight took place at Comiskey Park in front of crowd of over 18,000 fight fans.
At that time, Liston was a scary brute. He outweighed Patterson by 25 lbs. and enjoyed a 13 inch reach advantage. Floyd was an over grown light heavy, having won the Olympic Gold as a middleweight. Cus advised Patterson against taking the fight, but Floyd overruled him. Floyd desperately wanted to be a true champion and fight the best challengers. As history tells us, Floyd was like a lamb being led to the slaughter. Liston used a powerful jab with big blasts from both hands to destroy Floyd in less than one round. Then Sonny proved it was no fluke by doing it again in a rematch.
Manny misspoke when he said Floyd Mayweather, Jr. runs, which implies he’s chicken. No one really buys that. However, they do go along with the idea that Floyd is guilty of same thing as Wladimir Klitschko. Hall of Famer Larry Merchant explained it best when he corrected someone for calling bouts – boxing. Larry quickly explained, in no uncertain terms, that that is not what people pay to see. According to Larry, they’re paying to see prize fighting, with emphasis on fighting.
Floyd has been boxing since he got out of diapers. His father and uncles were either boxing or training/coaching others how to box before Little Money was born. It’s a safe bet to say Small Change was boxing while still in his crib. He doesn’t know anything else. Boxing has been his life. If he was a chicken, there’s no way he could have carried on the family’s tradition.
