Boxing

 

Not yet ready for the chump change

By Fred De La Riva

09.02 - "Nutra-Sweet" Shane Mosley?

Was it just me or did Mosley not look as fast or as strong as the pre-fight hype said he was going to be. To be fair to the guy, I’ll take into consideration that this was his first fight at 154 and we can only judge him by three rounds of work, but…………..

OK, enough beating around the bush. Raul Marquez was very competitive in the fight. Clumsy, heavy- footed, Raul Marquez was backing him up with his left and he wasn’t fazed by Shane’s supposed newfound strength. Marquez’s left often landed on the gloves, but it was obvious to anybody with a pair of eyes that Shane was feeling the power of a natural junior middleweight and he didn’t like it too much. If Raul’s left bothered him, how will he react when the division’s elite hit him? Let’s face it. He is no Pernell Whitaker.

A quick suggestion to Shane. Fight one or two fights before facing Oscar. Yes I know, fighting a Bronco McKart or an Angel Hernandez will not give you the kind of money fighting Oscar will, but it’s only chump change right?

And for the last time, lifting massive amounts of weights does not necessarily help you in the ring.

Margarito-ville

Andrew "Six-heads" Lewis sure knows how to get knocked out doesn’t he? First Mayorga and now the WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito. It all started with Margarito landing a wicked right, but it didn’t end there. Margarito landed two of the most devastating uppercuts that I’ve seen in quite a while and it left Lewis frozen and helpless against the ropes. The referee quickly stepped in and stopped a very groggy Lewis.

See Margarito is a good well-rounded fighter. He throws a lot of good variety of punches. Has good stamina, a good chin and as you saw tonight, he also has good power.

Notice that I emphasized the "good" in my accolades for Margarito. The kid does not excel in any part of his fight game, but he does have sufficient skills to make him a dangerous man in the division. One thing that he does have is the drive. Margarito wants to become and be considered the very best in the division. Did anybody notice the "Wanted-Mayorga" t-shirts Margarito’s team waved in front of the camera? Too bad Don King is in love with Mayorga at this moment, but who can blame him. That crazy Nicaraguan will probably make King a good chunk of what Sugar Shane calls "chump change"

Interpreting the sanctioning bodies’ double-speak.

There was an interesting two-part interview of WBC kingpin, Jose Sulaiman a couple of weeks ago by Patrick Kehoe of www.SecondsOut.com. Mr. Sulamain was very long winded as can be expected, so I’ll summarize his answers as simply as I can.

  1. "Marco Antonio Barrera can kiss my big, black ass." " Who does he think he is by not accepting a championship belt, especially ours?"
  2. "Don King isn’t dead yet, so why is HBO playing promoter now?"
  3. We’ll respect the sporting laws of any nation as long as we keep getting our money.
  4. On the suggestion of an outside arbiter coming in and evaluate the WBC’s rankings, Mr. Sulamain exclaimed, "What you talking about Willis?" Or for you people that never saw the television show "Different Strokes", Mr. Sulamain might have as well given Patrick Kehoe the finger.

On a related story, the WBA is nixing the much-anticipated Dorin-Spadafora fight. You can read their statement here, but here’s my interpretation. "We rather have Dorin fight a guy who has not fought anybody of note, has not fought in over a year, and is Latin American. Oh, and of course Mr. King has informed us to have Dorin fight Callist or else." (According to www.wbaonline, Interbox, who represents Dorin and Don King Productions who represents the number one contender Miguel Callist, have come to a tentative agreement.)

The IBF, not to be outdone created a 140-pound tournament, whose winner earns the right to fight Kostya Tszyu. Why you ask? We’ll the IBF stuck its foot in its mouth one more time by making Arturo Gatti, the number one contender for the title and by passing Shambra Mitchell who was now considered the number 2 by beating Vilches. Granted I would rather see Tszyu-Gatti sooner rather than later, I can’t help, but feel a little bit sorry for Shambra. You know what? I take that back. Mitchell has been screaming that he will do anything to get a rematch with the Russian. We’ll buddy. You asked for it, you got it.

The Emperor has no clothes on

I’ll say it and I’ll keep on saying it until my wife, I mean the cows come home and I don’t think I am going to hear the doorbell any time soon. Bojado is not as talented as he thinks he is. Listen, I’m no fool, the kid is full of potential, but his obvious arrogance rubs me the wrong way. As God is my witness, if the kid does not get rid of the bad habit of holding his left hand at his waist, you will soon see Bojado on the seat of his pants, especially the way the 140-pound division is currently shaping up. Frankie Santos was in the thick of it, until Bojado landed the knockout blow. For a moment there I kind of was glad that Bojado punched his way out of a lackluster performance, but then he started beating his chest like he had just beaten Kostya Tszyu. Pure unadulterated arrogance if you ask me and I don’t even know what unadulterated means.

Note to self. Don’t ever insult your wife again, especially in an article that can potentially be read by millions. OK. Thousands. Hundreds? Damn! Who am I kidding? Michael Katz I ain’t.

On a happier note…….

The "It’s about damn time" award goes to Juan Manuel Marquez as he finally earned the championship belt he has long coveted. In a masterful display of skills, Marquez dissected the always- tough Manuel "Mantecas" Medina, who on that night did not prove as slippery as his nickname implies. The combination that floored Medina in the 2nd round was a beautiful site to see. Bojado should get his hands on every fight of Marquez on tape if he wants to see how a real professional fights and conducts himself. Medina fought as well as could be expected, and landed his fair share of punches, but Marquez proved to be too fast and too strong. If the world didn’t know Marquez, they better know him now, because this guy is as good as Morales, Barrera, Gainer, Ayala and the rest of them. There was a reason why Hamed avoided him like the plague a few years back and Medina found out the hard way.

Note to Marquez-You fight impressively bud, but leave the terrorist fighting to President Bush. Your comments on how you want to do your part against terrorism by beating Hamed were uncalled for. Funny, but uncalled for.

A few tidbits from the last couple of weeks.

  • Didn’t anybody tell Jorge "Maromero" Paez to protect himself at all times? For those that did not see his last fight, Paez was hit on the break and was deemed unable to continue. The always animated Paez sat eerily still in the corner as the ref waved off the fight.
  • Freddie "Lil Hagler" Norwood got himself into a "lil trouble" by allegedly beating his girlfriend. Note to Norwood to get some advice from Diego Corrales.
  • The WBC gave a sigh of relief as Oscar Larios chose not to fight Barrera in order to not lose his WBC belt. Barrera would have handed him a beat down and created a headache that the WBC did not want. Too bad though, as it would have been action packed.
  • Hate him if you want, but the closer the fight gets, the more I respect Roy Jones. John Ruiz poses the biggest threat to Roy Jones in years. My bet is Ruiz tries to smother him in order to give himself an opportunity to land a big punch.
  • I know he’s a good guy an all, but did anybody give much credence to Carlos Hernandez winning of the IBF 130 belt? The man was thoroughly outclassed the last two times he met real champions in Genaro Hernandez and Floyd Mayweather. What the hell. Congratulations man. Who else gets a president of a country come and watch him fight?

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

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