This weeks ‘Left-Hook Lounge’ installment takes a broad look at all the major buzz in the sport of boxing. Considering the fact that last Saturday there was a fight card that showcased Ricky Hatton, I guess it’s no coincidence that a most of the questions I received from fight fans deal primarily with the U.K. Other major talking points and questions from fans covered everything from the potential welterweight showdown between Zab Judah and Joshua Clottey to Joe Calzaghe and David Haye. Then of course there was the usual suspects…..We know that a mailbag just isn’t a mailbag unless someone brings up both the official and unofficial welterweight Kings, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto. So with no further ado, we jump right to it……
Peter R. (Bronx, NY): It has been reported that Joshua Clottey and Zab Judah are going to face off for the vacant IBF strap. What are your thoughts and predictions on this fight?
Vivek W. (ESB): I like this fight. I think it’s the best fight for both guys because they both have shown amazing potential, yet still remain categorically in the ‘bridge’ sector; Meaning they stand firmly between the doorstep of greatness associated with the Top Tier Level in the welterweight division, however, have never quite been able to do enough to earn themselves a ranking beyond the Tier 2 Group. Joshua Clottey has great skills, heart and strength but for some odd reason – (could very well be what amounts to poor marketing and promotions) – his ability has never really grabbed fans and placed him in high demand. Zab Judah, on the other hand, has stepped up vastly, (even in his loss to Miguel Cotto), but despite the buzz often associated with his name, he also has failed to live up to the hype his name seems to carry. This fight is important because it separates the contender from the pretender. Both men know that they don’t have much room for failure. We know that Mayweather sits at the top of the division and the Cotto/Margarito winner will be right beside him, but unofficially, this fight begins what I see as an inevitable eliminator amongst that Tier 2 Group, pairing them all to establish who that next in line to be the face of the division will be. Looking to emerge from the group would be the likes of Mosley, Judah, Clottey, Williams, Quintana, Mayorga, Berto, and Cintron. As it relates to this fight, I’m happy to see that both of these guys are finally getting a ‘put-up-or-shut-up’ type stage to make an impression. When they finally do square off, I think it’ll be interesting because although Clottey hung tough with a much slower Margarito, I’m curious to see how well he adapts against a guy quick enough to outslick him and land some above average power as well. On the contrary, we saw Judah lose to a very quick plow-straight-ahead fighter like Cotto, but Clottey is a much slower version. Could that gap in speed be exactly what the doctor ordered for Zab? I don’t know, but what I do know is that in my observation, this is a much safer fight for Zab than the previously scheduled showdown with Mosley was gonna be. I like Zab on points in this one. Maybe a split decision, but I like Zab!
Alex Somers (Chicago, IL): Based on Ricky Hatton’s most recent performance, what are your thoughts about his future?
Vivek W. (ESB): After Ricky Hatton’s lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Lennox Lewis came out and was very vocal about the fact that Hatton should possibly even consider to retire. At the time I felt the comment was out of sorts and not a very good assessment. After further review, I think that statement, although a bit premature, was a somewhat solid assessment and may need to be revisited. My reasons for saying this is due to the fact that Hatton’s tendencies and habits away from the ring don’t support that of a fighter who plans to be on top for a great matter of time, and when he finally gets in the ring, it’s often displayed in his less than stellar endurance and stamina. This was very evident in his latest fight. I think he did what he had to do to win, and I think he made a huge step in recovery from such a humbling loss by jumping in the ring and battling it out with a very ‘game’ fighter, but in my observation there still seemed to be something that was not necessarily in place. I just have my questions about his ability to cope with a fighter for 12 full rounds who can make him miss and make him pay. Fortunately, Malignaggi can make him miss but doesn’t have the power to necessarily make him pay, so Hatton still has a great chance at winning this fight. If he does manage to squeak past Malignaggi, I just don’t know what else there is at the Jr. Welterweight division to keep Hatton hungry enough to compromise the many kegs and chicken legs at the local pubs – (no pun intended). Timothy Bradley I think would make for a very interesting fight against Hatton, but I seriously have my doubts about Hatton EVER being the Hatton that made us all adore him again. That ‘vintage’ guy I think is still buried somewhere beneath that grief that reared itself on December 8th of 2007. Only time will tell, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Goldenboy Promotions is currently building a U.K. wing somewhere at the GBP Headquarters to accommodate another fighter who seems to be content and motivated to step in the ring only when there’s big money involved, otherwise choosing to promote talent in his homeland. Hatton has discussed his intent to begin a promotions gig far too often lately. It’s not happening for nothing!
Jose Reyes (Miami Lakes, Fl): What do you think about Miguel Cotto saying “he doesn’t care if Mayweather doesn’t want to face him”?
Vivek W. (ESB): I think it presents a no win situation for Miguel, but it also gives me a greater respect for him. We all know there’s two sides to every tale and when the spin masters twirl this bird around, the two sides return as follows: 1.) The Cotto faithful – which I am more neutral yet I do share this view to an extent – would see it simply as a situation where their man is taking the ‘high road’, refusing to be caught up into the drama that dogs the sport. Just basically moving on with his career, knowing that if he continues to defeat the proverbial ‘man-in-front-of-him’, at some point Mayweather will have no choice other than to face him. Then you have the flip-side: 2.) Where Cotto bashers will say that he lacks the vocal prowess necessary to engage in verbal war, which is why he’s not the household name he could be, and subsequently, has failed to remain in the ‘Money Mayweather Sweepstakes’ mix. Personally, I think there’s some validity to both sides, trouble is, those for Cotto and those against him could never agree on neutral grounds that both have valid points. Too bad, because I can. Cotto’s exact words as stated were: “If Floyd doesn’t want to face me, it doesn’t matter to me. I have to continue with my career”. When I examine those words it tells me that he is being the bigger man by not engaging, but simply moving on; And it also tells me that in a sport where bravado and machismo earn top billing slots, this type of attitude makes progress harder to come by. I’ve addressed these two fighters a million times and I stand by my initial assessment which was the fact that both are getting exactly what they want, how they want it. Floyd is getting his ‘breather’ from the sport while Cotto builds his name, his fight purses, and his image – albeit very slowly. When Floyd is ready to take his second wind and resume part II of his career, Cotto will have filled out his resume, stacked a few chips of his own, and done enough to come into the fight commanding a sizable chunk of the purse as well, based on past accomplishments which at that point will nearly rival, if not complete out perform Floyds. I think people need to relax and know that this fight is closer to reality than any of us know. We once believed that the Hatton/Mayweather fight would never happen, only to have Mayweather camp leader Leonard Ellerbe reveal to me personally at the pre-fight tour that the two camps had “discussed options years ago” but wanted to “wait for the two fighters to build their resume’s and create a buzz for the eventual mega fight”. Be patient fight fans, it’s only a matter of time before the lid blows off of this one! Trust me!
Michael Peters (Long Island, NY): Last week on your ‘Call em Out Fridays’ segment you took a look at Joe Calzaghe. While I didn’t support everything you said, I applaud you for being more neutral than most in the American media. Pardon me for sounding so political, but could you explain what is it that YOU think he needs to do to win the popular vote among other Americans.
Vivek W. (ESB): In journalism, there’s a saying that states: “If you’re not OCCASIONALLY pissing people off, you’re FREQUENTLY kiss peoples ass”! I bring up that statement because there’s no statement more true in the game of journalism. Bottom line, I can’t speak on what OTHER people need to solidify Calzaghe’s greatness. Me personally, just to elaborate on my previous thoughts, I don’t have anything negative to say about Calzaghe, however, that doesn’t mean everything that comes from my mouth is gonna be something that his passionate supporters necessarily agree with. I go through the same thing with Cotto’s fans, Mayweather’s fans, and every other boxers fans. I pride my writing slant on truth, and truth solely. When I think of Joe Calzaghe, I think he’s a phenomenal talent, but at the end of the day, If I’m gonna call Floyd Mayweather Jr. out for not doing the most he can to clean out his respective division – and get a chorus of supporters because few actually like him – I think it’s only fair to call Calzaghe out for the same thing whether those same fans agree or disagree. Calzaghe was the one to come out and say that Light Heavyweight is easier to make and he feels stronger at that weight. Just like some of us would love Floyd to face Cotto as opposed to going up or down in weight to make money fights against Oscar or Hatton, there is a huge contingent out there who would rather see Calzaghe square off against Chad Dawson as opposed to a smaller Kelly Pavlik. There’s also a huge contingent that says if he’s gonna go old school and face a non-prime fighter, it should be Roy Jones Jr., who still has enough speed to possibly nullify his own, or even a proven grimey vet like Glen Johnson or even Antonio Tarver. My best way of clearing up this whole argument is by boldly stating: “HEY JOE, YOU’RE ONLY 36 AND YOUR UNDEFEATED…WHY WALK UP TO ONE GUY WHEN YOU CAN RUN DOWN TWO OR MORE?!?!? I put Mayweather under the same fire and if these guys are the troopers they want us to believe they are, they’ll stand the heat by stepping up and making it all cool! Both are future hall of famers, but both have tons of things they can do to solidify their position in the minds of fight fans globally. If making that request of any fighter is considered to be giving them a shakedown, I guess being unbiased is far out of my realm because quite frankly, I can’t and will never see it any other way.
Hector (Lehigh Acres, Fl): What do you think of David Haye entering the Heavyweight division?
Vivek W. (ESB): I think Haye is the breath of fresh air the division desperately needs. He’s talented, he’s proven, and he’s a good looking guy which makes him easily the most marketable heavyweight figure in quite a long time. He seems to have all of the tools at his disposal. One can only hope that he uses them and doesn’t throw them away by spending more time honing his craft rather than polishing his brass – if you feel me on that one! His new contract with Setanta sports and Goldenboy promotions gaurantee him lots of marketing and promotions. Now the only thing he has to do is deliver when it counts. Hasim Rahman is being discussed as the possible opponent but that’s all contingent upon him defeating James Toney in their scheduled July 16th showdown which will possibly air on ESPN’s Wednesday Night Fights. It’ll be interesting to see how things happen. The Heavyweight division is so odd at this point that I don’t see Haye easily defeating or even really hurting guys like Peter, Valuev, or even Chagaev, but if he can find a way to avoid the steelhammer, I do think he has to power and speed to stop the frontrunner, Heavyweight Champion Klitschko. It’s safe to say that some good matchmaking skills will put him right on par to defeat the two mandatory top 10’ers necessary to land a shot at the Heavyweight ‘big time’. Lets see what he does from there.
(Got Questions or Feedback? Write ESB’s Vivek Wallace at vivexemail@yahoo.com or show some love at www.myspace.com/anonymouslyinvolved)
(Happy Belated Memorial Day to all of my fellow U.S. Marine Corp ‘Devil Dogs’ and other troops around the globe – both standing and the unfortunate ones who have fallen – Semper Fi)