Famous Boxing Rivalries: Exclusive Interview with Iceman John Scully

“He’s a true boxer. People think a boxer has to get on his toes and circle the ring laterally constantly to be called ‘a boxer’, but a boxer should be able to box in a ring the size of a phone booth and still be able to not get hit, and that’s the thing. I think Duran was a master at that.”—Iceman John Scully

Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – With Manny Pacquiao slated to square off against Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time this Saturday night, I had the opportunity to speak with ‘Iceman’ John Scully to get his views on the upcoming match. From there, Scully shared his views on some other famous boxing rivalries throughout history, including Ali-Frazier, Gatti-Ward, Robinson-LaMotta, Holyfield-Bowe, and all of the fights that took place when Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, and Tommy ‘Hitman’ Hearns faced off against each other in the 1980s. This is the second installment of an ongoing series dedicated to the history of the sweet science. Below is a complete transcript of my discussion with Iceman.

John Scully Audio

GEOFFREY CIANI: Iceman, this Saturday night Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will be fighting for a fourth time, which is unusual in this day and age. In your view, what do you think the keys to victory for each fighter is?

JOHN SCULLY: I mean basically to me I think each guy needs to do, well I mean Marquez certainly just needs to do what he’s been doing the other three times, because I think like even though he hasn’t been getting the decisions, I think he’s a little bit more on track towards a definitive victory than Pacquiao actually is. So I would recommend to him to just sharpen up the best he can, but basically do the same thing. I think if it’s not broke you don’t need to fix it. I think Pacquiao probably needs to throw a few more punches, you know raise up his output, and maybe he’s got to step around. He’s got to get Marquez a little bit more off balance than he was. I think Marquez was allowed to play the matador a little too much the last three times.

CIANI: Now what did you think of their first three encounters, and in particular their last bout that seemed to bring the most controversy of the three they’ve had so far?

SCULLY: I mean I kind of saw what everybody else saw. I mean they were real tough fights, real just hard to score. A lot of those were hard to score, but I mean for the last one, you know I have to admit that I thought Marquez was going to get the decision. I thought before they announced it I figured he had it. And I think not just for them two, it didn’t just mess up them two, but I think that the decision in the last fight, or the performance of both guys in the last fight has done a great deal of damage to a potential Mayweather fight with Pacquiao. I think that people that thought Pacquiao was going to beat Mayweather, I think a lot of those people have changed their minds. And I don’t think any new people that didn’t think Pacquiao was going to win, I don’t think they changed their minds after the last fight. So I think they kind of bit themselves in the butt there because I think they did a lot of damage to the potential of a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight with his performance last time.

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Canelo Alvarez now interested in Austin Trout for May 4th, if Mayweather bout can’t be made

By Rob Smith: WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is now reportedly interested in facing WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout on May 4th, if a bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr. can’t get made. The Mayweather fight is the one that Canelo really wants most of all, and he said to the record.com.mx that his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions are attempting to put the Mayweather fight together for him. But if all else fails, Canelo said he’d be looking towards a fight with Trout.

Canelo said to the record.com.mx “Trout is a great fighter, and unbeaten and he beat Cotto, he’s left handed and very strong. He’s a complicated fighter and he would be fine for next May.”

Trout has been taking heavy criticism from boxing fans because his promoter Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy said that Alvarez could still end fighting Miguel Cotto next in May despite the fact that Cotto was beaten soundly last Saturday night by Trout.

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If Trout Is Out, Who’s In?

By Eric Roman Sr. – A lot of talk has been made about the possible showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto, even though the wily veteran lost a unanimous decision to Austin Trout this past weekend. As we all know, Cotto has had an incredible career, a sure fire Hall of Famer, and one of the greatest Puerto Rican fighters of all time, but at this point, much like “Sugar” Shane Mosely back in May, do we really need to see an all time great get battered by this young ferocious lion? Before the Trout fight, I was all for it, I thought it was a no-brainer. Two similar styles, both being boxer-punchers, the “old” versus the “new”, Puerto Rico vs. Mexico, can it get any better? Well, the problem with all that is the fact that Austin Trout made it all go away. He showed us that Miguel Cotto may be a little more past his prime then we thought, let’s face it, he left it all in the ring against Floyd Mayweather back in May, and those type of fights, along with both Margarito brawls, the Pacquiao bout, and a number of others when he was at 140lbs. have taken a lot out of him.

Enter Austin “No Doubt” Trout, a young, undefeated title holder, who has an excellent amateur pedigree, who just beat the aforementioned Puerto Rican Star, has been calling out Saul Alvarez since “The Classy” Jimmy Lennon Jr. spoke the following words into the microphone on Saturday night; And Still! Why wouldn’t this fight be made?

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A Measured Storm: Fury vs. Johnson

By Phenyo Molefe: Given Tyson Fury’s previous bouts, recent outbursts and the clear articulation of his goals; one would not be at fault to believe that we were about to witness Tyson unleash punishment on an ‘ill-prepared’ but proven Kevin Johnson. Tyson had to make a statement.

In the opening round, Fury jumped on Johnson with some jabs to the body not giving him sufficient time to find his footing. It looked like we were about to see a new and revised Fury as he presented movement and a variation of punches from all angles. He moved with improved fluidity, comfortably establishing his range and following through with some meaningful combinations.

The second round, begun with the near feverish pace with which Fury had ended the last round. Fuming with a blizzard, setting the jab on a stinger as he pelted Johnson’s body with little restraint. Johnson did have a little success when he pinned Tyson in the corner for a moment or two; however Fury replied with a pivot setting pressure back on Johnson with some telling hooks. He was definitely boxing well and grew in confidence, taking firm control of the bout.

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Roach: We [Pacquiao] still want Mayweather

By Rob Smith: Trainer Freddie Roach is still hoping that 35-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. will perk up and show some interest in facing 34-year-old Manny Pacquiao before it’s too late. It’s not looking good, however. Pacquiao just lost his last fight to Tim Bradley, and he could lose this one on Saturday against Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas, Nevada. That’s not to say that a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight couldn’t still get made and end up as successful one, but it won’t get the attention that it would if they made the fight with both guys still winning more or less.

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Pacquiao: I’m going to attack Marquez and pressure him constantly

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) is going to attempt to use an old strategy from his youth this Saturday night in trying to beat the 39-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) in their pay per view bout on HBO at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Pacquiao said to the sports.inquirer.net “I intend to attack him, pressure him.”

In his sparring sessions, Pacquiao has been overwhelming his less talented sparring partners in short four round sparring events. However, going all out in short sparring against over-matched sparring partners isn’t going to be the same as what Pacquiao will be dealing with on Saturday night against Marquez. He’s not a sparring partner, and this isn’t going to be a four round fight.

If Pacquiao goes all out in the first four rounds, he’s likely to gas out in the second half of the fight like he did against Tim Bradley last June and possibly lose.

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Ahmet Öner: Felix Sturm bought his Superchampion title

In an Interview with the German TV magazine format ‘Sport Inside’ (WDR) on Monday, the Turkish born former promoter Ahmet Öner claims to have bought Felix Sturm’s WBA Superchampion title two and a half years ago in an effort to salvage Sturm’s career.

Öner told Sport Inside WDR: “With this belt Sturm wasn’t obligated to make mandatory defenses. Sturm was able to fight whoever he wanted to, hand-picked opponents. That’s how he managed to pocket big paydays with his TV partner SAT1, he collected 7-figure Euro sums for each event. And that’s how Felix, over the course of five or six fights, made a nice little fortune. I assume the total sum is closer to 8-digits than not. All this was possible just because he had the “Superchampion” title; a paper title he bought. He paid a couple hundred thousand Euros, and the return on investment was huge. Without this Superchampion title he wouldn’t have had this degree of freedom to pick his opponents. And Sturm didn’t think the belt had any importance then he would never have paid so much for it in the first place.”

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Schaefer still wants Cotto vs. Alvarez

By Rob Smith: Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, isn’t going to let Miguel Cotto’s 12 round decision loss to WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout from last Saturday night get in the way of a potential pay per view bout between Cotto and WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Schaefer still wants to make the Cotto-Alvarez fight despite Cotto losing.

Schaefer said after the fight “There’s still a possibility we’ll see Canelo-Cotto fight.”

This doesn’t sit too well with Trout, who said “You’d think that he’d [Alvarez] be ready to fight me because I beat Miguel Cotto…I beat his brother [Rigoberto Alvarez]…He should want to fight me…There’s nothing left for him to do, besides fight a real junior middleweight, to get another belt. But that’s my thinking. Not everyone thinks like me apparently.”

Alvarez really wants the Cotto fight, and that was one of the three names that he insisted on Golden Boy Promotions getting for him for his next fight on May 4th. Cotto is the only one that Golden Boy can possibly get because Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sergio Martinez, Alvarez’s other two choices, aren’t breaking down Golden Boy’s door to try and get the fight with Alvarez.

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Canelo fans doubt “No Doubt”

by Paul Strauss: Despite the impressive win by WBA light middleweight champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout 26 (KO14)-0-0 over Miguel Angel “Junito” Cotto 37 (KO 30)-4-0 this past Saturday at Madison Square Garden, fans of WBC light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez‘ 41(KO 30)-0-1, who was ringside, are confident their red headed warrior will remove all doubt when he meets Trout. It’s likely this matchup will be made, because both fighters eagerly want to unify the title and become the universally recognized light (junior) middleweight champion of the world.

Austin has taken the nickname “No Doubt”, because having doubt implies fear. He trains and conditions his body, his mind and his spirit to remove all doubt. It comes as no surprise that Canelo fans also feel there is no cause for fear on their part, because they see Cinnamon as a fighter who has the needed tools to beat the slick boxing Trout.

The southpaw “No Doubt” beat Cotto by employing a steady, but not necessarily damaging, right jab. It was a jab that gave Cotto fits. He was forced to spend time and effort trying to avoid and work around it. It was a disruption, a gnat in the eye, an irritant, a distraction. It enabled Trout to sneak through with straight lefts to the body and head. It also disrupted Cotto’s rhythm and ability to get off with his shots.

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Austin “No Doubt” Trout: The best kept secret in boxing is revealed

By Joseph Herron, photo by Tom Casino / Showtime: Last night at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, undefeated WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KOs) retained his title in decisive fashion by winning a wide unanimous decision over three division world champion and future Hall of Famer Miguel Angel Cotto (37-4, 30 KOs) with scores of 119-109 and 117-111 twice.

While many ringside pundits will argue that the judges’ verdict was a little wider than expected, most won’t dispute that the correct fighter won the highly publicized event.

Going into the bout, most casual fight fans weren’t familiar with the slick southpaw and were expecting a customarily clear and resolute victory for the Puerto Rican favorite in his favorite fight domain of Madison Square Garden. Although the Caguas warrior put forth a valiant effort, the experienced ring veteran couldn’t mount an effective assault against the crafty undefeated champion at any time during the twelve round match.

Now that the elite level cat is out of the boxing bag, will Austin reap the benefit of his dominant and decisive victory over one of the sport’s biggest names?

Not just yet.

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