29.08.07 – By Jack Presscot: Floyd Mayweather Jr., Tito Trinidad and Ricardo Mayorga. Three players in the three biggest fights of 2007. Forget what the World Was Awaiting. I knew all along that Floyd was all wrong for Oscar de la Hoya. Too fast, too slick and too crafty for the aging Golden Boy of Boxing. But when we heard that Pretty Boy had signed to fight the Manchester Mexican, now we were in for a real treat.
The British Fans will invade Sin City and take it over, much the way the Fab Four did. The Brits are amazing. They go completley over the top, Union Jack flags everywhere, faces painted, derbys, and loud, beer guzzling antics..
Unlike the fans of de la Hoya who are no less fanatical, but mainly consist of grown men, and teeny bopper girls from the Los Angeles area screaming and jumping at the sight of de la Hoya like little girls at a Justin Timblerlake Concert. It is sad that they will start arriving on Thursday, and on Friday, the Bay will look like Wembley Stadium for the weigh in. All building to a Fever Pitch by Saturday night, when they celebrate much in the same fashion they will when William takes the Throne, as Ricky Hatton makes his Ringwalk. From there, after a few charges and flurries from Hatton, the crowd will settle into a kind of shocked silence, much like the Oscar fans at the Mandalay Bay did on Cinco de Mayo when I saw Pretty Boy taking over the whole show. For me, the best and most entertaining part of the evening is going to be when Pretty Boy is being interviewed after the fight. We all know that Oscar, Bernard and Sugar Shane are all going to be in that ring, in their GBP paid for, tax deductable suits. I wouldnt be surprised to see Floyd Jr. call out all three, but in particular, Oscar is going to be put on the spot, and openly challenged to a rematch with the mic on him, and LIVE PPV cameras rolling. At that point, it’s up to Oscar. Ante up and save face, or for the rest of his life, try and hide the footage of himself hemming and hawing, and making up excuses, away from his son Gabriel.
But on to bigger, more important fights. I love the fact that Pretty Boy is adding to his legacy, by erasing Hatton’s “0”, but for me, the Biggest Fight of 2007/2008 is going to be The Return of the King, Tito Trinidad vs. Roy Jones Jr. Winner take all in this one, as the loser will simply be cannon fodder at this point. This is Legend vs. Legend. On the one hand, the RJJ fanatics cannot be reasoned with, as far as telling them that RJJ is going to go down harder than he did at the hand of Glencoffe Johnson. They still think Roy is Superman. On the other, Tito cannot stand in the middle of the ring, and fool himself that he can outbox an old Roy Jones Jr. If I were Don Felix, I’d round up all the footage of the RJJ-Tarver fights, as well as the Glenncoffe massacre, and study these tapes well, as Glenncoffe and Antonio wrote and perfected the Blueprints for destroying the Legend of RJJ. Tito needs to bully, and manhandle Roy, as well as shoving him to the ropes, and brutalizing him. Tito fans across the nation are hoping that the Roy that fought Glenncoffe will show his face again on Jan. 26th. Lethargic, scared and zombie-like. A Tito Trinidad KAYO victory opens many new doors. A Rematchwith Old Man River, AKA Bernard Hopkins. 7 years later, at 175, it will be a whole different story. Bernard Hopkins held on to Winky Wright, much the way Hoke was hugging Miss Daisy at the end of that film, in a touching scene, to avoid taking shots from Wright I suppose. As far as Hopkins, I’d say the Old Grey Mare just aint what he used to be. And if Hopkins refuses the fight, Tito can set his sights on 168, or 4 other belts at 175. The possiblities for Tito and Don King Productions are nearly endless.
And finally, the Caveman from Nicaragua. Fernando Vargas made a massive tactical error in a fight he was claiming was for purely reasons of Pride. He backed down because he had a stomach ache or something, and had not taken his Flintstones Vitamins with Iron. Whatever the case, he made Mayorga look like a combination of Jason Voorhees and King Kong. Now the doors are wide open for Ricardo. There is this guy at Jr. Middles named Vernon who is holding on to a WBC Belt that Mayo wants back. If he can get down to 154 safely, and I think he can, Mayorga-Forrest 3 is a fight HBO would chomp at the bit to televise. And if Forrest is busy, there is always stablemate and IBF champ Cory Spinks, and lets not all forget that Young Taylor is giving up his Middleweight Belts after he disposes of the Ghost. The Middleweight Division is ripe for the picking for the Wildman from Nicaragua, if El Feroz’s tummy ache doesnt get better soon.
So fight fans, sit back and wait, forget about the corrupt NBA and it’s laughable refs, or the bogus NFL and it’s stars who abuse dogs. The Three Gunslingers of Boxing, are here to entertain us for the rest of the year, and on to 2008.