Left-Hook Lounge: Mayweather’s Greatness, C.J. Ross, & Danny Garcia’s Future!!!

004 Mayweather vv Canelo IMG_9669Jeff H. (Orlando, FL): I thought Mayweather’s effort was an amazing one. The limited time off seemed to only help his reflexes and sharpness. How did you rate his performance and what do you see next for him?

Vivek W. (ESB): I plan to elaborate on a very deep level about Mayweather a little later in the week in a separate piece. But in short context, I would just have to say that yet again, he proved to the masses precisely how strong of a talent he truly is. It’s one thing to acknowledge how gifted he is. But what amazes me to a depth that knows no end is the fact that this is a man who has done everything from party like a rock star to take two year lay-offs, and in between; yet the level in which he performs is still light years ahead of anyone in the sport. All at the ripe age of 36. A point in which every other fighter (not named Hopkins) is winding down.

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THE ONE Post-Fight Press Conference: Aftermath, Quotes & Photos

canelo7657If this were baseball, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. just pitched a no-hitter.

Fight week in Las Vegas, NV for the biggest boxing event of the year ended on Saturday with another stellar performance by the Pound for Pound king. In front of a pro-Canelo crowd, “Money” Mayweather tamed the Mexican superstar en route to a 12 round decision. Skills certainly pay the bills for Mayweather. Speed, accuracy, precise counter punching, ring generalship…you name it. It was another showcase fight.

Earlier in April of this year, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez unified the WBA Light Middleweight title against Austin Trout and established himself as “the man to beat” at the division. Mayweather just beat the man of the division. At 36 years of age and four more fights left on his exclusive Showtime contract, Mayweather is running out of opponents as he continues to make things look easy. Regardless of who Mayweather chooses to fight next, you can bet the world will still be tuning in.

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Danny “Swift” Garcia: Number 46…paging number 46!!

Danny “Swift” Garcia: Number 46…paging number 46!!

IMG_6455Before last night’s impressive victory over hard punching Argentine Lucas Matthysse, universally recognized Junior Welterweight Champion Danny “Swift” Garcia felt like the “Rodney Dangerfield” of the sports world.

Although Danny had garnered an undefeated résumé of 26 victories, no losses, and 16 knock-outs leading into last night’s co-main event, most “knowledgeable” boxing scribes and ringside experts discounted the 25 year old’s chances of beating the highly touted knock-out artist from South America.

Even with big victories over former champions Amir Khan, Erik Morales, Kendall Holt, and Zab Judah, it seemed the Philly native was still fighting for the long overdue respect of the boxing community.

Now that Garcia has finally acquired the appropriate accolades that an undisputed champion justly deserves, has he earned a prime spot atop the long waiting list of possible opponents for Floyd Mayweather Jr. as well?

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Post-Fight Thoughts on Mayweather-Alvarez

01 Last evening capped another outstanding performance by master-boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The atmosphere was electric, the undercards stacked. Floyd, of course, delivered a one-sided (not wholly unexpected) drubbing of the young, game Alvarez, leaving the world wondering, as usual, whose next. However, for this writer, the most pressing questions don’t concern Floyd’s next opponent; rather, the circumstances of THIS fight and the key players involved offer ample opportunity for circumspection, the most pressing ones as follows:

“Canelo” Alvarez is a sound young boxer and has the heart of a lion, but it was clear that his team either did not have a Plan B once their initial strategy didn’t bear fruit or simply does not have the ability to adjust.

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Danny Garcia defeats Matthysse

009 Garcia vs Matthysse IMG_8137Danny Garcia Fights For His 0, Successfully Earning Another W

Unfortunately, despite heavy effort, the sports did not fly the way they were expected in this fight until the last couple of rounds. Both fighters had their moments, but it seemed that the urgency took charge in round 9-12, where both men went to work.

Garcia lost his possible 1 point advantage for dropping Matthysse when that same 1 point was deducted from his score due to the low blow.

I would like to call it a close fight, but due to the last few rounds, where Matthysse had clearly faded squeezing the last drops of his remaining stamina, Lucas was ripe for the picking.

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Danny O` Connor Beats Raul Tover

847 The 2008 Olympic Team Alternate, Danny “Bhoy” O` Connor put in a workman like performance against Raul Tover as he controlled all eight rounds of their welterweight bout enroute to an unanimous decision with two scorecards of 79-73 and one scorecard of 80-73. O` Connor improved to 23-1, 7KOs while Tover from Mission, Texas, dropped to 11-8-1, 4KOs.

“I felt good out there and did what I had to to beat a tough fighter in Tover,” said O` Connor. “In fighting for the third time in the last four months, I`m trying to be the most active fighter out there who continues to fight as often as I can until I get a significant bout that leads me to a world title.”

O` Connor out punched and out landed Tover, displayed a great jab, worked the body well and had him in trouble in the second, seventh and eighth round, however, he was unable to finish him off as Tover hung in there and tried to make it a fight until the end.

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Garcia vs. Matthysse: “Head to Head”

matthysse333In what should be one of the more explosive bouts fight fans have seen in a while, Lucas Matthysse will attempt to take Danny Garcia’s universally recognized title as the best 140 pound fighter on the planet.

It’s a real shame that this match-up has gone under the radar of the mainstream consciousness. But both fighters will get their chance to make a lasting impression on the casual fans of boxing as they tangle in the co-main event of tonight’s fantastic PPV event.

While most ringside observers have dubbed Matthysse to be the overwhelming favorite in the highly anticipated Junior Welterweight war, Danny’s outspoken father and head trainer has clearly taken exception to the media’s lofty praise of the hard hitting Argentine.

In the immortal words of the incomparable Angel Garcia, “Vegas don’t know nothing…the world don’t know nothing…only I know everything!!”
We’ll find out tonight if he truly is boxing’s soothsayer!!

Let’s take a look at the “Tale of the Tape”!!

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Mayweather vs. Canelo: “Head to Head”

Mayweather vs. Canelo: “Head to Head”

canelo901“The One: Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Canelo Alvarez” is an event that seems to have captured the imagination of the mainstream sports fan. It’s a match-up in which the architects and combatants deserve much credit and praise.

Both competing fighters are answering their own respective critics with a resounding “Take That” by participating in this super-pairing.

For years Floyd Jr. has been chastised by his detractors for seemingly avoiding the best fighters of his respective weight divisions and their respective primes. After defeating Austin “No Doubt” Trout on April 20th, there became a consensus among fight fans for Money May to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez; a fighter who had also been criticized for being a product of creative match-making as well.

Canelo was consistently ridiculed by die-hard fight fans for evading the best fighters in the talent enriched Junior Middleweight division, prior to taking on his September 17th assignment…which coincidently is the best fighter in boxing.

That’s what makes “The One” so captivating to most ringside observers.

Let’s take a look at the “Tale of the Tape”!!

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Mayweather vs Canelo: “Keys to Victory”, “Four to Explore”, “Inside the Numbers”, & “Official Prediction”!

DSC00190Largest gate revenue generated in the history of the sport? Counted and in the books! Best combined record for a super mega-fight between two Champions in this era (86-0-1)? By a landslide…..Easy work! Highest Pay-Per-View buy rate in the history of the sport? Certainly in the zone……final tally pending. No matter how we dice up this epic affair, on paper, it appears the world of Boxing is well on track to see something truly monumental by the end of the night. In an effort to analyze this colossal event, we take a closer look at not only “Keys to Victory”, “Four to Explore”, and a “Final Prediction”; but also a deeper look “Inside the Numbers”, so that we can finally put a few commonly spoken myths to bed:

FLOYD MAYWEATHER – KEYS TO VICTORY

Floyd Mayweather was never the fastest, the biggest, or the strongest. He was simply the smartest! That’s his true claim to fame! Of all “Keys to Victory” eligible, that’s the one attribute Mayweather will need most tonight, as no opponent in recent times, (if ever), presented the level of danger found in Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Mayweather has been the best chess master Boxing has seen, arguably in history.

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Tale Of The Tape: Danny Garcia / Lucas Matthysse!

18 The tape can’t measure what’s on the line Saturday night between Philadelphia’s Danny “Swift” Garcia and Argentina’s heavy handed Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse but all the ingredients are there for a blockbuster fight that would be a main event any other place or time had it not been scheduled for the Mayweather vs Canelo Alvarez WBC / WBA Super World Light Middleweight fight card.

While both Garcia and Matthysse carry rep’s of their own, they have certainly been banked second shelf in this case but I believe it has all the properties to become the fight of the night.

Let’s assume. I know but lets do it anyway. Garcia is undefeated and is the current WBC Light Welterweight Champion while Matthysse stopping 32 of 34 opponents with about an 86% KO rating the popular Argentine favorite looms the heavy favorite but the facts just somehow add up for a very different entertaining bout.

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