08.02.07 – By Jaime Castro-Núñez: It is too early to start talking about the knock out of the year. 2008 has just begun and we have ten more months ahead plenty of exciting matches and spectacular stoppages –we all hope. Therefore, I will not address this short article to that matter. Instead, I want to share some aspects related to the most feared right hand in today’s boxing.
We will be focused on this Machiavellic right hand that has loosen up amalgams, smashed bones, shaken neurons, dislodged TMJ´s, and whose performance will be remembered at the end of this year when we start talking about the knock out of the year. That right hand has so much power that we boxing enthusiasts, writers, and analysts are short of adjectives whenever we have to describe it. We have virtually depleted the Thesaurus. A quick search over the internet will prove it. Here are some examples: vicious, huge, lethal, amazing, big, spectacular, well-educated, explosive, powerful, tremendous…
Those were the kind of adjectives that I found. But, what does Edison Miranda have to say about his own right hand? “My right hand causes pain and injury.” How is that power described by its victims? “Pantera” answers for them: “David Banks calls it a sleeping pill. Abraham calls it bone crusher. Call it what you want.” What about “The Ghost”? “Pavlik got a free pass and it made him look good. I want him back in the ring to show him what my power really is. He will get hurt too.”
We all wonder where that terrific punching power comes from. Some writers say that Edison got it when he was a cattle butcher in his loved Colombia, while others claim it is genetics at its best. But Edison does not care much about it. What really matters to him is that power says “present” whenever he calls it. “I just do what feels natural in the ring. When I see an opening I go for the kill. I can see the knock out in my head before I throw it.”
After knocking David Banks out (a serious candidate for the knock out of the year) it is indisputable that Edison Miranda’s right hand came all the way from Colombia in order to spread panic among boxers and joy among fans. His message is quite clear: “I want to fight the best. At 160 lbs I had trouble getting these guys to fight me. Jermain Taylor ran from me for two years. Kelly Pavlik turned down a fight with me once also. Now that people see the real Edison Miranda at 168 lbs people are all ready running. Jeff Lacy saw me ringside and said he wanted me. Now he is hiding. You could see the fear in Jean Pascal’s eyes when he was interviewed after I put David Banks through the ropes. I know I need to rebuild myself and force these fights. It will happen and when it does the top guys will fall.”
Edison’s right hand is eager to knock out Taylor and to take revenge of Pavlik. How many rounds will it need to accomplish the goal? Here is Edison’s promise: “I have always wanted Taylor to show him how to knock people out. He was never a real champion. Pavlik won my respect. But at 168 lbs he will never see what is coming. Either guy I will destroy before the 7th round.”