Paulie Malignaggi shouldn’t retire just yet

Now that the dust has settled after his recent crushing loss to Shawn Porter, Paulie Malignaggi shouldn’t retire just yet.

Sure, what happened to him on April 19th was shocking to most. Despite not being known for having a right hand, his chin, ring- intelligence, and technical ability have gotten him this far in his career. He’s been in the ring and lost to big punchers before: Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Adrien Broner, but none of those fights ended anywhere near as dramatically as it did against Porter.

In the post-fight interview, Paulie hinted at retirement but held back from making such a decision after reeling from a loss. I think his reticence at the time was wise because, after watching the fight, perhaps he shouldn’t retire. It was apparent from the moment both fighters entered the ring that Porter was the stronger and more powerful of the two – however, nothing out of the ordinary. Contrary to what we’ve seen Paulie do in the past, stick a jab and move, he decided to bring it to his opponent not afraid of fighting in close quarters, toe-to-toe.

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Marquez Sizzles and Pops in Win over Alvarado

Forty year old Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez’ (JMM) combinations were sharp and fast. His punches hissed through the air and then crackled when they reached their target. To Mike “Mile High” Alvarado, they must have sounded like the ear popping you hear and feel with a change of altitude.

Early on both men seemed overly cautious, as though they were determined not to provide counter punch opportunities. JMM was first to explore things. He poked and prodded a bit, and when there was no retaliation, he cranked things up a bit. Mike remained in the cautious stage. The problem with that strategy was he was losing rounds, because JMM is not only a great counter puncher, he’s also pretty damn good at leading too. As soon as JMM realized Mike wasn’t going to return his shots, he naturally picked up the pace. Mike kept his gloves up tight in defensive mode, but that wasn’t enough. Mike found out the hard way that there’s too much area to cover when JMM is throwing.

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Boxing Returns to the LA Forum in Style

Juan Manuel Marquez built his career at The Forum in Inglewood, California. From 1995 to 1999 he went 12-0 at the famed venue, making a name for himself among fight fans in the LA area. A decade and a half later “Dinamita” returned as an international star to face the bigger, younger “Mile High” Mike Alvarado. A pro Marquez crowd showed up and nearly blew the roof off The Forum with deafening roars during the fighter introductions. It was an amazing atmosphere for fight fans.

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Marquez defeats Alvarado; Postol stops Aydin

Mike Alvarado (34-3, 23 KO’s) did a brilliant job of showing how not to fight Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7-1, 40 KO’s) in losing a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision at the Forum, in Inglewood, California, USA. Alvarado, 33, decided to box Marquez for 12 rounds instead of using his superior size to try and score a knockout, and it cost Alvarado with him losing by the lopsided scores of 117-109, 117-109 and 119-109.

Alvarado was knocked down by a scorching right hand from Marquez in the 8th. It was the identical shot that Marquez used to knock Manny Pacquiao out cold in the 6th round of their fight in 2012. The different here is that Marquez didn’t have the muscles that he had then.

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Lee Selby, Nathan Cleverly Victorious In Cardiff

San Diego, CA – May 17, 2014 -Lee Selby earned a shot at WBC Featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez with a 12-round unanimous decision over Romulo Koasicha in a WBC title elimination bout as well as a WBC International title fight at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

Selby was effective with the volume of punches by just doing a solid job of keeping Koasicha on the receiving end of three and four punch combinations. Koasicha had a few opportunities in round’s five and seven as he got through with some solid left hooks but he was not able to capitalize on his few effective moments. Down the stretch, Selby was not challenged in the least as he boxed and moved well and cruised home to the victory to the tune of 119-109, 119-109 and 119-110.

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Joel Diaz Jr. & Frank Galarza Remain Undefeated Friday on ShoBox: The New Generation

MASHANTUCKET, Conn. (May 16, 2014) – Undefeated super featherweight prospect Joel Diaz Jr. extended his unblemished record with a unanimous decision victory in a tough fight with Tyler Asselstine in the main event of ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME® from Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn.

Diaz (16-0, 12 KOs) controlled the tempo of the fight and pocketed rounds in the beginning, landing and throwing more power shots. But the rugged and previously once-beaten Asselstine (14-2, 7 KOs) pushed Diaz past the seventh for the first time of his career and turned up the heat in the latter rounds. But it was too little, too late for the Canadian, who didn’t have the power or tools to overcome Diaz’s activity in the 10-rounder, which all three judges scored 97-92.

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Marquez – Alvarado Weigh in Coverage

After well over a decade, boxing returns to the historic Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, California. This afternoon Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1) and American Mike Alvarado (34-2-0) stepped onto the scales for their last formality before Saturday’s crossroads bout. This wasn’t your typical weigh in full of trash talk and posturing, but rather respect and compliments. There was a procedural and professional demeanor from the fighters, seemingly focused on the must win situation that lie ahead.

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Will Alvarado turn Marquez into an old man tonight?

We saw the first hint of old age setting in on 40-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO’s) in his loss to former WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley last October in Marquez’s 12 round split decision loss.

The judges were being kind to give Marquez a split decision loss in that fight because he arguably deserved to lose by a unanimous decision. But importantly than the fact that he lost the fight was how old Marquez looked in that fight, and how much he had slipped from his fine performance in 2012 against Manny Pacquiao. Marquez looked like a shadow of what he was in that fight, both in punching power and in appearance.

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Another View of Marquez-Alvarado: It’s Magnificent, But It Isn’t War

“C’est magnifique mais c’est pas la guerre.” (It’s magnificent, but it isn’t war).

~Marshal Pierre Bosquet in 1854, as he watched English cavalry charge toward their doom in a brave but ill-advised attack upon a deeply entrenched Russian artillery battery during the Battle of Balaclava.~

Although Tennyson’s poem remains the most famous piece of writing about the Charge of the Light Brigade, Bosquet’s quote may well be the most succinct, and appropriate description of what took place that day. You really can’t hope to do much better in terms of trying to express the mixture of admiration and incredulity that one would feel when watching an event like this take place before your eyes. And, that’s the reason why this author has decided to begin the article with these words; because he has a feeling that they’ll be uttered by more than one boxing fan as they watch an entirely different sort of battle take place at the Inglewood Forum this Saturday.

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Pac and Floyd’s latest PPV: Handwriting on the wall

The pay-per-view sales are down for the shows far below projections. HBO and Showtime live cable viewing for both fights didn’t do well in numbers based on the announced approximation by the producers or accurate/padded figures they are reluctant to divulge. Brats and crocs aren’t ecstatic about the grim facts that have come in.

Had the people been remiss in doing their part and had majority of the fans, as a form of protest, failed to keep their distance from the recently concluded “Mayweather-Maidana” and “Pacquiao-Bradley II,” PPV result for the said events could have ballooned to more than double.

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