Boxing News Thread
- Thread starter heyzel
- Start date
I watch ESNEWS a lot and yeah i know Elie Seckback is a puta, but from what I've seen from the videos it seems like Garcia isn't to interested in Rios anymore, I think the abril fight exposed rios. Rios will get eaten alive with real competition. I don't blame Garcia though since he has Maidana, Pavlik, and Nonito all sitting in his gym, all those guys are looking at bigger pay days then bum bum rios. Just my 2 cents.
no I don't think that's the reason. Garcia is very close with Brandon, he wouldn't give up being his trainer cuz Abril schooled him, they are like family. if something is going on I bet it has to do with Brandons dedication, or lack thereof. seems like Rios is off fucking around, I'm sure Garcia is upset.
yeah that Elie dude is nerd, but I give him major props for what he does. he's living his dream
yeah that Elie dude is nerd, but I give him major props for what he does. he's living his dream
^^^
good point but I think maidana coming over to garcias gym caused some conflict, up until that point rios was garcias #1, I think rios is a little hurt. Also rios popularity and stock was moving up quick now after the abril fight both took a major hit and I think rios is having a hard time accepting it.
good point but I think maidana coming over to garcias gym caused some conflict, up until that point rios was garcias #1, I think rios is a little hurt. Also rios popularity and stock was moving up quick now after the abril fight both took a major hit and I think rios is having a hard time accepting it.
Chris Arreola Pulls Out Of Fight With Mike Mollo Due To Arm Injury
By James Slater: Just when we were looking forward to a possible “fun” fight at heavyweight, between Chris Arreola and Mike Mollo, does the fight get cancelled. Various web sites have reported how “The Nightmare” has been forced to withdraw from the June 23rd fight that was set for the Ortiz-Lopez bill at The Staples Centre in L.A.
According to Leave it in The Ring radio show, who spoke with Arreola’s trainer Henry Ramirez, an arm injury is the reason for the withdrawal of the WBC #1 ranked heavyweight contender.
“He’s out with an arm injury,” Ramirez confirmed while speaking on the radio show. “We were pondering what we were going to do. We decided earlier today it was best for Arreola to heal the injury. This has been a long time injury. If you notice in his fights he shakes his left arm periodically. During training camp his arm would go dead once in a while. This time he just had to pull out of the fight.”
Team-Arreola cannot be blamed for doing what they’ve done - after all, the 31-year-old Mexican-American is next in line to face Wladimir Klitschko (assuming “Dr. Steel Hammer” takes care of Tony Thompson in their July 7th rematch). Why would Ramirez let his fighter fight with an arm injury and risk ruing his big chance? Ramirez is way too smart for that.
It’s not yet clear if the Mollo fight will be rescheduled or indeed, if Arreola will now go straight into the talked-of fight with Wladimir. For that fight, whenever it comes off, Arreola, 35-2(30) will have to be in absolutely perfect, tip-top physical condition. Something he is not in at this time.
It’s a real shame for the returning Mollo, as reports say he had trained mightily hard for the last two months. Hopefully, Mike will get his big chance at a later date; either against Arreola or another top name heavyweight contender.
By James Slater: Just when we were looking forward to a possible “fun” fight at heavyweight, between Chris Arreola and Mike Mollo, does the fight get cancelled. Various web sites have reported how “The Nightmare” has been forced to withdraw from the June 23rd fight that was set for the Ortiz-Lopez bill at The Staples Centre in L.A.
According to Leave it in The Ring radio show, who spoke with Arreola’s trainer Henry Ramirez, an arm injury is the reason for the withdrawal of the WBC #1 ranked heavyweight contender.
“He’s out with an arm injury,” Ramirez confirmed while speaking on the radio show. “We were pondering what we were going to do. We decided earlier today it was best for Arreola to heal the injury. This has been a long time injury. If you notice in his fights he shakes his left arm periodically. During training camp his arm would go dead once in a while. This time he just had to pull out of the fight.”
Team-Arreola cannot be blamed for doing what they’ve done - after all, the 31-year-old Mexican-American is next in line to face Wladimir Klitschko (assuming “Dr. Steel Hammer” takes care of Tony Thompson in their July 7th rematch). Why would Ramirez let his fighter fight with an arm injury and risk ruing his big chance? Ramirez is way too smart for that.
It’s not yet clear if the Mollo fight will be rescheduled or indeed, if Arreola will now go straight into the talked-of fight with Wladimir. For that fight, whenever it comes off, Arreola, 35-2(30) will have to be in absolutely perfect, tip-top physical condition. Something he is not in at this time.
It’s a real shame for the returning Mollo, as reports say he had trained mightily hard for the last two months. Hopefully, Mike will get his big chance at a later date; either against Arreola or another top name heavyweight contender.
Muhammad Ali Pays Tribute To The Late Teofilo Stevenson
By James Slater: Fight fans were saddened by the passing of the legendary Cuban amateur Teofilo Stevenson this week; Cuban fans, along with everyday people from the small island where the three-time Olympic gold medallist was a God, especially.
Tributes flooded in as soon as the news of the 60-year-old’s passing was made public, and today, in an article that has appeared on Inside Sports.com, the great Muhammad Ali paid tribute to the man he was once quite close to meeting in the ring.
“Stevenson was one of the greatest,” Ali, 70, said. “He was a great man. My condolences to his family and friends. May he rest in peace.”
In the mid to late 1970s, in ’76 and in ’78, there was much talk of a possible Ali-Stevenson “super-fight” taking place. Ali, like the Cuban immortal an Olympic gold medal winner (winning at light-heavyweight in 1960), was open to the fight, and there was talk of it happening; either at pro level or with amateur rules, with the two gifted boxers wearing head-guards. But Stevenson, famously, refused the many millions of dollars that were dangled in front of him in an effort to get him to defect from Cuba and fight Ali in the U.S:
“What’s ten million dollars compared to the love of the Cuban people?,” Stevenson stated around this time.
Teofilo was loyal to Castro and he remained at home; the Ali fight never materialising. Ever since, however, fans have wondered who would have won that fight had it taken place, as have fans wondered how great a pro Stevenson would have become.
Ali himself says he believes the Stevenson of 1976 or ’78 would have given him a mighty test.
“Despite his never fighting as a professional, having conquered three Olympic gold medals in three different Olympic games meant that he wouldn’t have been an easy rival,” Ali said. “He would have been a great challenger for any champion.”
Stevenson - who captured gold in Munich in 1972, in Montreal in 1976 and again in Moscow in 1980 - certainly had fine skills and tremendous punching power. But amateur and pro are two completely different sports when it comes to boxing. We’ve seen a number of guys who were superb amateurs, yet had nowhere near as much success without the headgear and the amateur rules: Tyrell Biggs, Francesco Damiani, Henry Tillman, Duane Bobick for a few examples.
How would Stevenson’s chin have faired in a pro ring? How would his stamina have held up had he boxed a fight scheduled for 12 or even 15-rounds? In boxing’s long list of what ifs? The never-to-be Ali-Stevenson fight comes close to the very top. People still wonder who would have won. Even Ali himself.
R.I.P Teofilo - you made an unimaginably huge impact on the sport of boxing as it is; even without boxing at pro level the way so many Cuban stars are doing these days.
By James Slater: Fight fans were saddened by the passing of the legendary Cuban amateur Teofilo Stevenson this week; Cuban fans, along with everyday people from the small island where the three-time Olympic gold medallist was a God, especially.
Tributes flooded in as soon as the news of the 60-year-old’s passing was made public, and today, in an article that has appeared on Inside Sports.com, the great Muhammad Ali paid tribute to the man he was once quite close to meeting in the ring.
“Stevenson was one of the greatest,” Ali, 70, said. “He was a great man. My condolences to his family and friends. May he rest in peace.”
In the mid to late 1970s, in ’76 and in ’78, there was much talk of a possible Ali-Stevenson “super-fight” taking place. Ali, like the Cuban immortal an Olympic gold medal winner (winning at light-heavyweight in 1960), was open to the fight, and there was talk of it happening; either at pro level or with amateur rules, with the two gifted boxers wearing head-guards. But Stevenson, famously, refused the many millions of dollars that were dangled in front of him in an effort to get him to defect from Cuba and fight Ali in the U.S:
“What’s ten million dollars compared to the love of the Cuban people?,” Stevenson stated around this time.
Teofilo was loyal to Castro and he remained at home; the Ali fight never materialising. Ever since, however, fans have wondered who would have won that fight had it taken place, as have fans wondered how great a pro Stevenson would have become.
Ali himself says he believes the Stevenson of 1976 or ’78 would have given him a mighty test.
“Despite his never fighting as a professional, having conquered three Olympic gold medals in three different Olympic games meant that he wouldn’t have been an easy rival,” Ali said. “He would have been a great challenger for any champion.”
Stevenson - who captured gold in Munich in 1972, in Montreal in 1976 and again in Moscow in 1980 - certainly had fine skills and tremendous punching power. But amateur and pro are two completely different sports when it comes to boxing. We’ve seen a number of guys who were superb amateurs, yet had nowhere near as much success without the headgear and the amateur rules: Tyrell Biggs, Francesco Damiani, Henry Tillman, Duane Bobick for a few examples.
How would Stevenson’s chin have faired in a pro ring? How would his stamina have held up had he boxed a fight scheduled for 12 or even 15-rounds? In boxing’s long list of what ifs? The never-to-be Ali-Stevenson fight comes close to the very top. People still wonder who would have won. Even Ali himself.
R.I.P Teofilo - you made an unimaginably huge impact on the sport of boxing as it is; even without boxing at pro level the way so many Cuban stars are doing these days.
John Scully: “I think Chad Dawson deserves a ton of respect from boxing fans for the way he approaches getting fights like the Ward fight done!”
Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani - I was recently afforded the opportunity to have a nice conversation with well respected boxing trainer “Iceman” John Scully, who will be training “Bad” Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KOs) for his September 8 date against super middleweight champion Andre Ward (25-0, 13 KOs). Scully spoke about the upcoming match against Ward and the fact it is taking place at 168 pounds. He also shared his views on a variety of other topics including Manny Pacquiao’s split decision loss against Timothy Bradley, whether we will ever get to see Mayweather-Pacquiao, Carl Froch’s dominant KO win against Lucian Bute, this weekend’s heavyweight showdown between Tomasz Adamek and “Fast” Eddie Chambers, and Saturday night’s middleweight contest between Julio Cesar Chavez Junior and Andy Lee. Here is a complete transcript from that interview:
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello everyone. This is Geoffrey Ciani from East Side Boxing and I am joined here by highly regarded trainer “Iceman” John Scully. How is everything going today, John?
JOHN SCULLY: Very well. I just got in from the gym and I’m ready to talk.
CIANI: Good! Good to hear. The news of the boxing world, John, of course is still last weekend’s between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley. I was wondering if you could give the fans out there your views on the fight and the official decision that was rendered by the judges?
***CLICK PLAYER TO LISTEN TO ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY
(running time – 20:28)
***
SCULLY: Well I’ll tell you first off, I actually missed the first like three or four rounds. We were up at the Hall of Fame in Canastota, and we got to the place where they were showing the fight late. So I missed the first few rounds. I was told by several people there that the rounds that I had missed, that Bradley had won them and everyone seemed to be pretty clear that he had won them. So you know I was just going off that, but for the rest of the fight the vibe for me was that Manny was winning the fight. I didn’t see it close enough. It was on the big screen, but there was a lot of people there and there was a lot of yelling and stuff. I don’t know if I can say it was like a brutal robbery, but the general vibe in the room where I was at, at the Hall of Fame with a lot of people, was that Pacquiao was winning the fight?
CIANI: Now based on what you did see, John, did it appear to you at all that Pacquiao is beginning to show his age and that maybe he’s starting to slow down a little bit, where in the championship rounds where he usually excels and throws a lot of punches—did it seem to you like he is maybe starting to show a little bit of decline?
SCULLY: Well there is a few different ways for me to look at it. I’ll tell you one thing that did strike me, for what it’s worth. As I watched the both of them as I watched the fight, I generally in big fights like that especially at that weight, you know I always think of Leonard and Hearns in the first fight. In my era that was the big, big, big fight. Even comparing it to this fight or even comparing it to De La Hoya-Trinidad, I don’t feel any two welterweights since ’81 have exhibited that kind of skill. You know I thought both guys looked off balance quite a bit. They missed a lot of punches. It’s not like they just missed the target. I mean they just flat out missed! They just missed everything. I think of Leonard and Hearns, because Ray and Tommy were both at the Hall of Fame. So it’s just kind of weird that they were both there and I was thinking wow! When these two guys fought there was no disputing the skill level. Watching Pacquiao-Bradley there was so much missing, and they were off balance quite a bit. I was kind of surprised. For a fight at that level I was kind of surprised how much they were off balance and missing. One thing I’m thinking, which I was afraid of for both guys, even for Mayweather—with all of the talk and anticipation of Pacquiao facing Mayweather, it could be a thing where every fight that he doesn’t fight Mayweather becomes more of a letdown to a certain degree. It’s hard to stay as razor sharp as you need to be when you want to fight Mayweather, everybody wants you to fight Mayweather, and that’s the fight everybody expects to see. So it could be something along those lines. I wouldn’t necessarily jump the gun just yet and say that it is age, which is certainly a possibility. But I think at that level, and with this kind of anticipation with Mayweather, and with all of the things going on, I think there are a lot of different intangibles that affect performance other than just age.
CIANI: Now you mentioned the Mayweather fight and that’s obviously the match all boxing fans, die hard and casual fans alike, have wanted to see going on three years now. Do you think with this decision, they’re talking a rematch in November and Floyd is obviously serving his time now, do you think this makes the possibility of that fight ever happening even more remote than it already seems?
SCULLY: Oh sure! I mean to me, even before the controversial decision with Marquez, I know me personally, I was at the point where I was just like, “You know what? I don’t care if they ever fight! I’m just sick of these two guys.” So I don’t care if they ever fight, and then when the Marquez decision came up, which a lot of people thought he lost, and if he didn’t lose he certainly didn’t look stellar. I thought that did a lot of damage to it, and I think this fight kind of puts it where I think more and more people, more people than ever before are saying, “You know what? He’s a good fighter, he’s explosive, but he can’t touch Mayweather.” I think they all outsmarted themselves and I think they’ve blown it, because there was a time when a lot of people thought Pacquiao would win and thought he was going to be an excellent threat to Mayweather, and I thought that was the draw. Now I think even serious but rational Pacquiao fans kind of don’t think he can beat Mayweather. I definitely think even if they came out tomorrow and said, “Guess what! We’re fighting December 10! Pacquiao and Mayweather are fighting.” I think there is still a reason to watch it, but the anticipation level has been dulled. The only thing he can do is come back and if he spectacularly knocks out Bradley, and he says, “You know what, I’m back, I was dull before and I wasn’t as enthused, but I’m back and I want Mayweather!” Then I think something would happen, but if he doesn’t come back super spectacular, I think that ship has sailed in terms of that level of anticipation that it had.
CIANI: Now as we mentioned, they’re talking a November rematch for Pacquiao and Bradley. Which fighter, in your view, benefits more from having had the experience of facing the other guy the first time around? Who benefits more in a rematch in your view?
SCULLY: You know what? It depends on each guy! I mean it could be if Pacquiao says, “I wasn’t as focused on this guy as I needed to be. I was doing my politics, and I was doing this, and I was praying”, and all of these different things that he’s been involved with. Maybe he says, “You know what? This guy’s a real threat and I really need to get serious!” Or it could be a thing where Bradley says, “You know what? I expected so much more out of him, and now that I see he isn’t everything I built him up to be in my head. Now I’m going to really show you what I got!” I guess it depends on each guy. I guess if both guys are thinking along those lines it could be a much better fight. They can put more on the line. You know my gut feeling is that Pacquiao would do better in a rematch.
CIANI: Changing things up here a little bit John, your fighter Chad Dawson is taking on Andre Ward on September 8 at the 168 pound limit. What are your thoughts on the fight and, in particular, the fact that your fighter is going to have to come down in weight for the first time in some time?
SCULLY: Well I mean I know a lot of people are concerned, but the thing is about Chad, he comes into camp and he comes in relatively light. So for a light heavyweight he’s actually amazing and I’ll give you an example. For the first day of training for the Hopkins fight, for the rematch, I actually remarked to him and to everybody that was in the room, “Wow! Look at this guy. It’s his first day in the gym and he looks like he’s ready to fight right now. His body looks great!” I specifically remember saying, “If we took a picture of him right now and showed people they’d go, wow! The fight must be tomorrow. He’s ready.” So he’s just that kind of kid. He doesn’t blowup between fights like a lot of other guys. I mean I was a light heavyweight and I used to frequently start training for fights, and I would weigh 202, 198, 199. I don’t think Chad’s ever been 190 in his life, and he’s certainly never been much over that in his entire life. So the weight isn’t going to be the issue that everybody thinks it is.
The thing I like about the fight is just the fact, and it’s really amazing if you think about it. I think people might not really realize the magnitude of what’s happened here. I mean you get two guys. You got this guy Chad Dawson. He comes off his win over Bernard Hopkins. It’s a huge win. You know a big, big, big, big win! The fight isn’t even two minutes old and he’s calling out the best guy in the weight class below him, the guy that everybody’s high on, pound-for-pound he’s got to be no worse than number three, and Chad in effect is saying I don’t want to go for an easy fight or what people view as a simple tune-up fight. I want to go right to this guy! Then they go back and they say well the fight is going to be in his hometown, and it’s going to be at 168, and he basically said, “Fine! Fine! Fine! Whatever it takes to make the fight I’m doing it!” You don’t see that. If Mayweather and Pacquiao thought like Chad Dawson, they would have already $35 million apiece. Chad was able to make a huge fight, in a matter of days they ironed out the details, and he’s going to make a heck of a lot less than $30 million.
So people need to realize what kind of fighter they’re dealing with. Not that anybody is scared, but I can name you plenty of top guys who would never go to a guy like Andre Ward’s hometown. It just wouldn’t happen. They wouldn’t settle for that. And Chad went to Montreal to fight Pascal, he went to New Jersey to fight Hopkins, which is only less than 30 minutes from Philadelphia. So you have a very willing guy here. You may not necessarily be a fan of his style all the time, but I think Chad Dawson deserves a ton of respect from boxing fans for the way he approaches getting fights like the Ward fight done!
CIANI: Now you mentioned the Hopkins fight. Going into the fight with Bernard a lot of people viewed it as a lose-lose situation for Chad, because if he won the fight, as he did, he beat a 47 year old man, and if he lost the fight he lost to a 47 year old man! But in this instance with Andre Ward a lot of people are viewing it as a win-win situation for Chad, because if he does wind up on the short end of a decision, he’s in a situation where he came down in weight, and he’s going to Oakland as you mentioned. And if he wins, he’s in a situation where as you mentioned he called the guy out, he went down to his weight class to face him, and won another world title. Do you view things this way in that light?
SCULLY: I suppose that it’s true what you say, but I certainly don’t want to necessarily live like that. I don’t want to look at it like we have anything to fall back on. Like someone said to me, “Wow this is really great because if you lose you’re still light heavyweight champion!” You know I don’t like thinking that way. I don’t want to think that way. We’re going to win, I want to win, I think he can win, I think he should win, and that’s the mindset we have. I don’t ever want to think that we have anything to fall back on. We want to go forward, and win, and be superior. The way people talk about Andre Ward, that’s how we want people to talk about us.
CIANI: When I look at Andre Ward, John, I see a guy that I’ve long described as a younger version of an older Bernard Hopkins. Do you see it that way to some extent?
SCULLY: Oh sure. Yeah. I think a lot of people see that, you know which I guess you could say is a compliment. He gets it done. I mean Andre Ward gets it done against the people he fights. He adjusts very well. You know the thing is that he’s going to have to worry about and that he’s going to have to deal with is Chad Dawson. You know he’s dealt so far with what he’s been facing and he’s done an excellent job, Andre Ward has. But Chad Dawson is a different breed of fighter. He’s a different style. You know Andre never fought anybody like Chad, and I feel like it’s that much of a difference that it’s going to be beneficial to us.
CIANI: Now since Lucian Bute lost to Carl Froch, a lot of people are saying Ward should have moved up to 175 because Bute was kind of his unfinished business at 168. So having Chad come down to 168 if Bute had won would kind of make more sense. But after Bute lost against Carl Froch did you think maybe that the fight might wind up taking place at 175 and would you have preferred that maybe?
SCULLY: I mean ideally you would prefer it because you would think that a guy would want to come up in weight and conquer a new division. I’ll say this, and the reality is I have nothing bad to say about Andre Ward. He seems like a great guy, he’s an excellent super, super fighter and everything. But it just needs to be pointed out that Chad is the one making the concessions here. Andre didn’t want to go up in weight, which I realized right after the fight with Hopkins it would be at 168. But guys generally go up and try to conquer the new weight classes. That’s what the great fighters do, but Andre wasn’t for that. Once the promoters got together I think they said, “Hey we should do it at light heavy.” And he said, “Nope! No way!” Okay! What about the site? And he didn’t want to do it away from Oakland. So on one hand I give him tremendous credit for taking the fight, but on the other hand he certainly has plenty of reasons to say, “Okay! This is in my favor, and this is in my favor, and this concession has been made.” And the television people really seem to like Andre, so he’s going to have a subconscious advantage there, too. You know Chad has one defeat, which in my eyes there’s an asterisk next to it. He was on his way to stopping Pascal at the moment the head-butt freakishly occurred. Chad is an elite fighter and he’s coming in and he’s accepting these disadvantages just to get the fight done! He just wants the fight. He’s that confident, and I give my guy a lot of credit. I think it’s just going to be very, very interesting, and ideally we’re in a situation that we don’t necessarily wish to be in, but we’re accepting them as they are and we’re coming to win.
CIANI: I just wanted to get your thoughts quickly also John, Chad and Andre both also spoke about this fight a little bit on HBO before the Pacquiao fight had began. Carl Froch scored an upset victory against Lucian Bute. Were you surprised and what did you think of it?
SCULLY: To be honest with you I had actually picked Froch to win. I don’t exactly remember the website, but one of the websites asked me for a prediction and I predicted he would win. That much I can say. But I’m not going to lie and say I thought it was going to be like that, because I didn’t think it was going to be anything like that. I was very surprised with the manner in which he dominated the fight. You know I didn’t think that would happen. I thought it would be a decision, I thought it would be relatively close, but I thought Froch would be a little awkward and throw Bute off his game. So I was right, but I was wrong. I mean he did much more than I thought he would do.
CIANI: I just have a couple of more questions here for you, and I want to get your views on some fights coming up this weekend. One of those is a heavyweight showdown between two contenders, smaller guys in the heavyweight division. Tomasz Adamek is taking on “Fast” Eddie Chambers. What do you think of that matchup and how do you think it’s going to go down?
SCULLY: I think it’s an excellent match actually between two relatively smaller heavies. I think they both have a lot of skill. You know you see good heavyweights with skill, but you don’t always necessarily always see two of them against each other who have obvious boxing skills. I think it’s going to be a fight for boxing purists. You know I really like Eddie Chambers and it’s not like out of the realm of possibility that he wins it. If he does it won’t necessarily be an upset in my view, but if I had to bet $10 I think I would bet on Adamek. I think Adamek has the momentum. Even with his loss to Klitschko I think he’s kept that momentum. I think he’s a very smart guy. I’ve read interviews with him after the fight. I think he knows what he needs to do in terms of staying focused. I just feel like all things considered I find it hard to pick against Adamek.
CIANI: Now the other fight I’d like to get your views on involves Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, and he will be taking on Emanuel Steward trained fighter Andy Lee. How do you see that one going down?
SCULLY: I guess you could say if you went by your first reaction instantly I guess I would pick Chavez, but considering the circumstances and the whole vibe to the whole thing I consider Andy Lee a very live underdog. I think he’s very talented and he fights with a very loose style. If he can be elusive I think he gives Chavez a lot of trouble. But I like Chavez and I think he’s underrated by a lot of people. I think he’s much better than people are giving him credit for. I wouldn’t bet on it, but if I had to bet $5 I think I would bet on Chavez.
CIANI: John for my final question for you, is there anything you would like to say to all the boxing fans out there and all the readers of East Side Boxing?
SCULLY: You know what, I just really appreciate the opportunity to be interviewed. I just continue to be enthused that people even ask me to be interviewed. I love talking about boxing. I’ve been watching boxing since I was probably eleven years old, and I just love to talk about it and I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to do so.
CIANI: Well John, as always it was an absolute pleasure speaking to you. I thank you for your time and for sharing your insight, and I wish you the best of luck going forward.
SCULLY: Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.
Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani - I was recently afforded the opportunity to have a nice conversation with well respected boxing trainer “Iceman” John Scully, who will be training “Bad” Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KOs) for his September 8 date against super middleweight champion Andre Ward (25-0, 13 KOs). Scully spoke about the upcoming match against Ward and the fact it is taking place at 168 pounds. He also shared his views on a variety of other topics including Manny Pacquiao’s split decision loss against Timothy Bradley, whether we will ever get to see Mayweather-Pacquiao, Carl Froch’s dominant KO win against Lucian Bute, this weekend’s heavyweight showdown between Tomasz Adamek and “Fast” Eddie Chambers, and Saturday night’s middleweight contest between Julio Cesar Chavez Junior and Andy Lee. Here is a complete transcript from that interview:
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello everyone. This is Geoffrey Ciani from East Side Boxing and I am joined here by highly regarded trainer “Iceman” John Scully. How is everything going today, John?
JOHN SCULLY: Very well. I just got in from the gym and I’m ready to talk.
CIANI: Good! Good to hear. The news of the boxing world, John, of course is still last weekend’s between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley. I was wondering if you could give the fans out there your views on the fight and the official decision that was rendered by the judges?
***CLICK PLAYER TO LISTEN TO ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY
(running time – 20:28)
***
SCULLY: Well I’ll tell you first off, I actually missed the first like three or four rounds. We were up at the Hall of Fame in Canastota, and we got to the place where they were showing the fight late. So I missed the first few rounds. I was told by several people there that the rounds that I had missed, that Bradley had won them and everyone seemed to be pretty clear that he had won them. So you know I was just going off that, but for the rest of the fight the vibe for me was that Manny was winning the fight. I didn’t see it close enough. It was on the big screen, but there was a lot of people there and there was a lot of yelling and stuff. I don’t know if I can say it was like a brutal robbery, but the general vibe in the room where I was at, at the Hall of Fame with a lot of people, was that Pacquiao was winning the fight?
CIANI: Now based on what you did see, John, did it appear to you at all that Pacquiao is beginning to show his age and that maybe he’s starting to slow down a little bit, where in the championship rounds where he usually excels and throws a lot of punches—did it seem to you like he is maybe starting to show a little bit of decline?
SCULLY: Well there is a few different ways for me to look at it. I’ll tell you one thing that did strike me, for what it’s worth. As I watched the both of them as I watched the fight, I generally in big fights like that especially at that weight, you know I always think of Leonard and Hearns in the first fight. In my era that was the big, big, big fight. Even comparing it to this fight or even comparing it to De La Hoya-Trinidad, I don’t feel any two welterweights since ’81 have exhibited that kind of skill. You know I thought both guys looked off balance quite a bit. They missed a lot of punches. It’s not like they just missed the target. I mean they just flat out missed! They just missed everything. I think of Leonard and Hearns, because Ray and Tommy were both at the Hall of Fame. So it’s just kind of weird that they were both there and I was thinking wow! When these two guys fought there was no disputing the skill level. Watching Pacquiao-Bradley there was so much missing, and they were off balance quite a bit. I was kind of surprised. For a fight at that level I was kind of surprised how much they were off balance and missing. One thing I’m thinking, which I was afraid of for both guys, even for Mayweather—with all of the talk and anticipation of Pacquiao facing Mayweather, it could be a thing where every fight that he doesn’t fight Mayweather becomes more of a letdown to a certain degree. It’s hard to stay as razor sharp as you need to be when you want to fight Mayweather, everybody wants you to fight Mayweather, and that’s the fight everybody expects to see. So it could be something along those lines. I wouldn’t necessarily jump the gun just yet and say that it is age, which is certainly a possibility. But I think at that level, and with this kind of anticipation with Mayweather, and with all of the things going on, I think there are a lot of different intangibles that affect performance other than just age.
CIANI: Now you mentioned the Mayweather fight and that’s obviously the match all boxing fans, die hard and casual fans alike, have wanted to see going on three years now. Do you think with this decision, they’re talking a rematch in November and Floyd is obviously serving his time now, do you think this makes the possibility of that fight ever happening even more remote than it already seems?
SCULLY: Oh sure! I mean to me, even before the controversial decision with Marquez, I know me personally, I was at the point where I was just like, “You know what? I don’t care if they ever fight! I’m just sick of these two guys.” So I don’t care if they ever fight, and then when the Marquez decision came up, which a lot of people thought he lost, and if he didn’t lose he certainly didn’t look stellar. I thought that did a lot of damage to it, and I think this fight kind of puts it where I think more and more people, more people than ever before are saying, “You know what? He’s a good fighter, he’s explosive, but he can’t touch Mayweather.” I think they all outsmarted themselves and I think they’ve blown it, because there was a time when a lot of people thought Pacquiao would win and thought he was going to be an excellent threat to Mayweather, and I thought that was the draw. Now I think even serious but rational Pacquiao fans kind of don’t think he can beat Mayweather. I definitely think even if they came out tomorrow and said, “Guess what! We’re fighting December 10! Pacquiao and Mayweather are fighting.” I think there is still a reason to watch it, but the anticipation level has been dulled. The only thing he can do is come back and if he spectacularly knocks out Bradley, and he says, “You know what, I’m back, I was dull before and I wasn’t as enthused, but I’m back and I want Mayweather!” Then I think something would happen, but if he doesn’t come back super spectacular, I think that ship has sailed in terms of that level of anticipation that it had.
CIANI: Now as we mentioned, they’re talking a November rematch for Pacquiao and Bradley. Which fighter, in your view, benefits more from having had the experience of facing the other guy the first time around? Who benefits more in a rematch in your view?
SCULLY: You know what? It depends on each guy! I mean it could be if Pacquiao says, “I wasn’t as focused on this guy as I needed to be. I was doing my politics, and I was doing this, and I was praying”, and all of these different things that he’s been involved with. Maybe he says, “You know what? This guy’s a real threat and I really need to get serious!” Or it could be a thing where Bradley says, “You know what? I expected so much more out of him, and now that I see he isn’t everything I built him up to be in my head. Now I’m going to really show you what I got!” I guess it depends on each guy. I guess if both guys are thinking along those lines it could be a much better fight. They can put more on the line. You know my gut feeling is that Pacquiao would do better in a rematch.
CIANI: Changing things up here a little bit John, your fighter Chad Dawson is taking on Andre Ward on September 8 at the 168 pound limit. What are your thoughts on the fight and, in particular, the fact that your fighter is going to have to come down in weight for the first time in some time?
SCULLY: Well I mean I know a lot of people are concerned, but the thing is about Chad, he comes into camp and he comes in relatively light. So for a light heavyweight he’s actually amazing and I’ll give you an example. For the first day of training for the Hopkins fight, for the rematch, I actually remarked to him and to everybody that was in the room, “Wow! Look at this guy. It’s his first day in the gym and he looks like he’s ready to fight right now. His body looks great!” I specifically remember saying, “If we took a picture of him right now and showed people they’d go, wow! The fight must be tomorrow. He’s ready.” So he’s just that kind of kid. He doesn’t blowup between fights like a lot of other guys. I mean I was a light heavyweight and I used to frequently start training for fights, and I would weigh 202, 198, 199. I don’t think Chad’s ever been 190 in his life, and he’s certainly never been much over that in his entire life. So the weight isn’t going to be the issue that everybody thinks it is.
The thing I like about the fight is just the fact, and it’s really amazing if you think about it. I think people might not really realize the magnitude of what’s happened here. I mean you get two guys. You got this guy Chad Dawson. He comes off his win over Bernard Hopkins. It’s a huge win. You know a big, big, big, big win! The fight isn’t even two minutes old and he’s calling out the best guy in the weight class below him, the guy that everybody’s high on, pound-for-pound he’s got to be no worse than number three, and Chad in effect is saying I don’t want to go for an easy fight or what people view as a simple tune-up fight. I want to go right to this guy! Then they go back and they say well the fight is going to be in his hometown, and it’s going to be at 168, and he basically said, “Fine! Fine! Fine! Whatever it takes to make the fight I’m doing it!” You don’t see that. If Mayweather and Pacquiao thought like Chad Dawson, they would have already $35 million apiece. Chad was able to make a huge fight, in a matter of days they ironed out the details, and he’s going to make a heck of a lot less than $30 million.
So people need to realize what kind of fighter they’re dealing with. Not that anybody is scared, but I can name you plenty of top guys who would never go to a guy like Andre Ward’s hometown. It just wouldn’t happen. They wouldn’t settle for that. And Chad went to Montreal to fight Pascal, he went to New Jersey to fight Hopkins, which is only less than 30 minutes from Philadelphia. So you have a very willing guy here. You may not necessarily be a fan of his style all the time, but I think Chad Dawson deserves a ton of respect from boxing fans for the way he approaches getting fights like the Ward fight done!
CIANI: Now you mentioned the Hopkins fight. Going into the fight with Bernard a lot of people viewed it as a lose-lose situation for Chad, because if he won the fight, as he did, he beat a 47 year old man, and if he lost the fight he lost to a 47 year old man! But in this instance with Andre Ward a lot of people are viewing it as a win-win situation for Chad, because if he does wind up on the short end of a decision, he’s in a situation where he came down in weight, and he’s going to Oakland as you mentioned. And if he wins, he’s in a situation where as you mentioned he called the guy out, he went down to his weight class to face him, and won another world title. Do you view things this way in that light?
SCULLY: I suppose that it’s true what you say, but I certainly don’t want to necessarily live like that. I don’t want to look at it like we have anything to fall back on. Like someone said to me, “Wow this is really great because if you lose you’re still light heavyweight champion!” You know I don’t like thinking that way. I don’t want to think that way. We’re going to win, I want to win, I think he can win, I think he should win, and that’s the mindset we have. I don’t ever want to think that we have anything to fall back on. We want to go forward, and win, and be superior. The way people talk about Andre Ward, that’s how we want people to talk about us.
CIANI: When I look at Andre Ward, John, I see a guy that I’ve long described as a younger version of an older Bernard Hopkins. Do you see it that way to some extent?
SCULLY: Oh sure. Yeah. I think a lot of people see that, you know which I guess you could say is a compliment. He gets it done. I mean Andre Ward gets it done against the people he fights. He adjusts very well. You know the thing is that he’s going to have to worry about and that he’s going to have to deal with is Chad Dawson. You know he’s dealt so far with what he’s been facing and he’s done an excellent job, Andre Ward has. But Chad Dawson is a different breed of fighter. He’s a different style. You know Andre never fought anybody like Chad, and I feel like it’s that much of a difference that it’s going to be beneficial to us.
CIANI: Now since Lucian Bute lost to Carl Froch, a lot of people are saying Ward should have moved up to 175 because Bute was kind of his unfinished business at 168. So having Chad come down to 168 if Bute had won would kind of make more sense. But after Bute lost against Carl Froch did you think maybe that the fight might wind up taking place at 175 and would you have preferred that maybe?
SCULLY: I mean ideally you would prefer it because you would think that a guy would want to come up in weight and conquer a new division. I’ll say this, and the reality is I have nothing bad to say about Andre Ward. He seems like a great guy, he’s an excellent super, super fighter and everything. But it just needs to be pointed out that Chad is the one making the concessions here. Andre didn’t want to go up in weight, which I realized right after the fight with Hopkins it would be at 168. But guys generally go up and try to conquer the new weight classes. That’s what the great fighters do, but Andre wasn’t for that. Once the promoters got together I think they said, “Hey we should do it at light heavy.” And he said, “Nope! No way!” Okay! What about the site? And he didn’t want to do it away from Oakland. So on one hand I give him tremendous credit for taking the fight, but on the other hand he certainly has plenty of reasons to say, “Okay! This is in my favor, and this is in my favor, and this concession has been made.” And the television people really seem to like Andre, so he’s going to have a subconscious advantage there, too. You know Chad has one defeat, which in my eyes there’s an asterisk next to it. He was on his way to stopping Pascal at the moment the head-butt freakishly occurred. Chad is an elite fighter and he’s coming in and he’s accepting these disadvantages just to get the fight done! He just wants the fight. He’s that confident, and I give my guy a lot of credit. I think it’s just going to be very, very interesting, and ideally we’re in a situation that we don’t necessarily wish to be in, but we’re accepting them as they are and we’re coming to win.
CIANI: I just wanted to get your thoughts quickly also John, Chad and Andre both also spoke about this fight a little bit on HBO before the Pacquiao fight had began. Carl Froch scored an upset victory against Lucian Bute. Were you surprised and what did you think of it?
SCULLY: To be honest with you I had actually picked Froch to win. I don’t exactly remember the website, but one of the websites asked me for a prediction and I predicted he would win. That much I can say. But I’m not going to lie and say I thought it was going to be like that, because I didn’t think it was going to be anything like that. I was very surprised with the manner in which he dominated the fight. You know I didn’t think that would happen. I thought it would be a decision, I thought it would be relatively close, but I thought Froch would be a little awkward and throw Bute off his game. So I was right, but I was wrong. I mean he did much more than I thought he would do.
CIANI: I just have a couple of more questions here for you, and I want to get your views on some fights coming up this weekend. One of those is a heavyweight showdown between two contenders, smaller guys in the heavyweight division. Tomasz Adamek is taking on “Fast” Eddie Chambers. What do you think of that matchup and how do you think it’s going to go down?
SCULLY: I think it’s an excellent match actually between two relatively smaller heavies. I think they both have a lot of skill. You know you see good heavyweights with skill, but you don’t always necessarily always see two of them against each other who have obvious boxing skills. I think it’s going to be a fight for boxing purists. You know I really like Eddie Chambers and it’s not like out of the realm of possibility that he wins it. If he does it won’t necessarily be an upset in my view, but if I had to bet $10 I think I would bet on Adamek. I think Adamek has the momentum. Even with his loss to Klitschko I think he’s kept that momentum. I think he’s a very smart guy. I’ve read interviews with him after the fight. I think he knows what he needs to do in terms of staying focused. I just feel like all things considered I find it hard to pick against Adamek.
CIANI: Now the other fight I’d like to get your views on involves Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, and he will be taking on Emanuel Steward trained fighter Andy Lee. How do you see that one going down?
SCULLY: I guess you could say if you went by your first reaction instantly I guess I would pick Chavez, but considering the circumstances and the whole vibe to the whole thing I consider Andy Lee a very live underdog. I think he’s very talented and he fights with a very loose style. If he can be elusive I think he gives Chavez a lot of trouble. But I like Chavez and I think he’s underrated by a lot of people. I think he’s much better than people are giving him credit for. I wouldn’t bet on it, but if I had to bet $5 I think I would bet on Chavez.
CIANI: John for my final question for you, is there anything you would like to say to all the boxing fans out there and all the readers of East Side Boxing?
SCULLY: You know what, I just really appreciate the opportunity to be interviewed. I just continue to be enthused that people even ask me to be interviewed. I love talking about boxing. I’ve been watching boxing since I was probably eleven years old, and I just love to talk about it and I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to do so.
CIANI: Well John, as always it was an absolute pleasure speaking to you. I thank you for your time and for sharing your insight, and I wish you the best of luck going forward.
SCULLY: Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.
Victor Ortiz totally focused on Lopez; not looking at Saul Alvarez bout in the future
June 14th, 2012
By Allan Fox: Former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO’s) likely is having a hard time keeping his concentration on his upcoming fight on June 23rd against fringe contender Josesito Lopez (29-4, 17 KO’s) with a big money fight against WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez on September 15th staring him in the face.
The 25-year-old Ortiz will be facing the 21-year-old Alvarez at the MGM Grand on the 15th of September unless Lopez is able to knock Ortiz out of the way by beating him on the 23rd of this month.
Ortiz said this about looking past Lopez: “I just want to say that I don’t disrespect anyone. I’m fighting Josesito Lopez on June 23, who I’ve been training for and ignoring everyone else.”
This is a good outlook, because Ortiz is the last fighter that should be overlooking anyone at this point. He’s already been beaten by Marcos Maidana and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in fights in which Ortiz seemed to lose focus mentally and make huge mistakes.
Ortiz also was held to a 10 round draw with Lamont Peterson December 2010 in a fight that Ortiz was easily winning the first five rounds. Just when things were going swimmingly for Ortiz, he suddenly stopped slugging with Peterson and started boxing with him. This allowed Peterson to creep back in the fight, because kept applying pressure on Ortiz.
Lopez is a lot like Peterson in that he’s very good at pressuring his opponents and landing good shots. If Ortiz can’t keep mentally engaged for the full 12 rounds of the fight for the vacant WBC Silver welterweight title, Ortiz will lose just like he did against Mayweather and Maidana.
Ortiz has a big advantage in power and speed in this fight. He’s simply the more talented fighter of the two on paper. However, Lopez has a way of wearing guys down and if he can keep pressuring Ortiz, he might be able to break him mentally.
June 14th, 2012
By Allan Fox: Former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO’s) likely is having a hard time keeping his concentration on his upcoming fight on June 23rd against fringe contender Josesito Lopez (29-4, 17 KO’s) with a big money fight against WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez on September 15th staring him in the face.
The 25-year-old Ortiz will be facing the 21-year-old Alvarez at the MGM Grand on the 15th of September unless Lopez is able to knock Ortiz out of the way by beating him on the 23rd of this month.
Ortiz said this about looking past Lopez: “I just want to say that I don’t disrespect anyone. I’m fighting Josesito Lopez on June 23, who I’ve been training for and ignoring everyone else.”
This is a good outlook, because Ortiz is the last fighter that should be overlooking anyone at this point. He’s already been beaten by Marcos Maidana and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in fights in which Ortiz seemed to lose focus mentally and make huge mistakes.
Ortiz also was held to a 10 round draw with Lamont Peterson December 2010 in a fight that Ortiz was easily winning the first five rounds. Just when things were going swimmingly for Ortiz, he suddenly stopped slugging with Peterson and started boxing with him. This allowed Peterson to creep back in the fight, because kept applying pressure on Ortiz.
Lopez is a lot like Peterson in that he’s very good at pressuring his opponents and landing good shots. If Ortiz can’t keep mentally engaged for the full 12 rounds of the fight for the vacant WBC Silver welterweight title, Ortiz will lose just like he did against Mayweather and Maidana.
Ortiz has a big advantage in power and speed in this fight. He’s simply the more talented fighter of the two on paper. However, Lopez has a way of wearing guys down and if he can keep pressuring Ortiz, he might be able to break him mentally.
Bradley: I’m not giving my belt back; I gave Pacquiao hell
June 14th, 2012
By Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley is making it known that he’s not going to lay down like a dog and give Manny Pacquiao back his World Boxing Organization title just because people are unhappy with the results of the fight last Saturday night when Bradley pulled off a big upset by defeating the aging Filipino on HBO pay-per-view in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bradley told ESPN 1100 “I earned the belt and I’m not giving the belt back. Anybody out there that thinks I should give the belt back, the belt is not going back. I deserve the belt. I won the fight regardless of what anyone thinks…I’m telling you I gave this guy hell.”
I agree with Bradley 100 percent. He doesn’t have to give Pacquiao anything back, because he beat him fair and square last Saturday night. I know it probably hurts Pacquiao to take another loss his record, but I’m sure it also hurt Juan Manuel Marquez when he lost a controversial decision to Pacquiao the last two times he fought him. I didn’t see Pacquiao rushing out to give Marquez the title belt in those two fights, so why should Bradley hand his title back.
Pacquiao finally has found out the hard way what Marquez has had to deal with in his fights with him. I know it’s got to hurt, but that’s the way it goes. Bradley fought beautifully, out-boxing Pacquiao and making him look more like a 40-year-old than a 33-year-old. I thought it was Bradley’s best fight of his career in terms of showing his talent, and to think that he did it with two serious injuries in his feet. That shows you how good Bradley is.
I hope Pacquiao and his fans aren’t waiting for Bradley to give back his WBO title, because it’s not going to happen. That’s Bradley’s belt now. If Pacquiao wants the strap back, he’s going to have to either fight Bradley or wait for him to vacate it. I think Pacquiao doesn’t have enough time left in his career to wait Bradley out, so he should just move on and look for easier targets that can’t move or box. Pacquiao does good against stationary fighters, so maybe he should look for some guys that aren’t able to move.
June 14th, 2012
By Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley is making it known that he’s not going to lay down like a dog and give Manny Pacquiao back his World Boxing Organization title just because people are unhappy with the results of the fight last Saturday night when Bradley pulled off a big upset by defeating the aging Filipino on HBO pay-per-view in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bradley told ESPN 1100 “I earned the belt and I’m not giving the belt back. Anybody out there that thinks I should give the belt back, the belt is not going back. I deserve the belt. I won the fight regardless of what anyone thinks…I’m telling you I gave this guy hell.”
I agree with Bradley 100 percent. He doesn’t have to give Pacquiao anything back, because he beat him fair and square last Saturday night. I know it probably hurts Pacquiao to take another loss his record, but I’m sure it also hurt Juan Manuel Marquez when he lost a controversial decision to Pacquiao the last two times he fought him. I didn’t see Pacquiao rushing out to give Marquez the title belt in those two fights, so why should Bradley hand his title back.
Pacquiao finally has found out the hard way what Marquez has had to deal with in his fights with him. I know it’s got to hurt, but that’s the way it goes. Bradley fought beautifully, out-boxing Pacquiao and making him look more like a 40-year-old than a 33-year-old. I thought it was Bradley’s best fight of his career in terms of showing his talent, and to think that he did it with two serious injuries in his feet. That shows you how good Bradley is.
I hope Pacquiao and his fans aren’t waiting for Bradley to give back his WBO title, because it’s not going to happen. That’s Bradley’s belt now. If Pacquiao wants the strap back, he’s going to have to either fight Bradley or wait for him to vacate it. I think Pacquiao doesn’t have enough time left in his career to wait Bradley out, so he should just move on and look for easier targets that can’t move or box. Pacquiao does good against stationary fighters, so maybe he should look for some guys that aren’t able to move.
Breaking News: Official Update from Floyd Mayweather - He's going through a tough time
Floyd Mayweather tweets new message
By Johnny Benz, Doghouse Boxing. - How about an update on Floyd "Money" Mayweather, from the man himself? Well if you are wondering how he is doing while serving his jail sentence, he has provided fans a quick update on his official twitter page. The message posted by someone from the "Money Team", went live in the last hour (at the time of posting this article on Doghouse Boxing).
Through his twitter page, Floyd is thanking his friends, family and the fans for the support. Floyd is going through a tough time (understandable) but the support he has been getting is keeping his spirits up.
Posted within the last hour on "Money" Mayweather's official twitter feed: "Floyd wants to thank his friends, family & fans for all the pics, letters & support through this tough time. It really keeps his spirits up."
In a message posted right after: "Write a letter to Floyd: ID# 01363917, Clark County Detention Center, 330 S. Casino Center Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89101"
You can see screen shots of both posted tweets at the top right of this article.
I encourage all Doghouse Boxing readers to write Mayweather. As the tweet says, it is keeping his spirits up through this tough time. It makes me feel good to know he is appreciating the support.
Floyd Mayweather tweets new message
By Johnny Benz, Doghouse Boxing. - How about an update on Floyd "Money" Mayweather, from the man himself? Well if you are wondering how he is doing while serving his jail sentence, he has provided fans a quick update on his official twitter page. The message posted by someone from the "Money Team", went live in the last hour (at the time of posting this article on Doghouse Boxing).
Through his twitter page, Floyd is thanking his friends, family and the fans for the support. Floyd is going through a tough time (understandable) but the support he has been getting is keeping his spirits up.
Posted within the last hour on "Money" Mayweather's official twitter feed: "Floyd wants to thank his friends, family & fans for all the pics, letters & support through this tough time. It really keeps his spirits up."
In a message posted right after: "Write a letter to Floyd: ID# 01363917, Clark County Detention Center, 330 S. Casino Center Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89101"
You can see screen shots of both posted tweets at the top right of this article.
I encourage all Doghouse Boxing readers to write Mayweather. As the tweet says, it is keeping his spirits up through this tough time. It makes me feel good to know he is appreciating the support.
PACQUIAO RETURNS SATURDAY
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 15 Jun 2012
“Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao returns home on Saturday with his adviser Michael Koncz for a few days before returning to Los Angeles.
In a brief interview with the Manila Standard, Koncz said “we are coming back tonight (Thursday in Los Angeles), Manny and I.”
They are returning on the Philippine Airlines flight.
Koncz said Pacquiao will “take a vacation, spending time with his wife and his kids in Los Angeles.”
He said “we have no definite plans for his next fight and after a vacation we will sit down and decide what we are going to do next in the boxing.”
Despite reports that no decision has been made regarding a November bout, the Manila Standard has been reliably informed that Pacquiao’s choice is a fourth fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, possibly even in Mexico where Pacquiao is immensely popular, instead of a rematch with Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley who took the Filipino’s WBO welterweight title in a decision that has been condemned around the world.
The hugely controversial decision has spawned a review by the WBO as well as a request by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to the Nevada State Attorney General to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the decision.
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 15 Jun 2012
“Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao returns home on Saturday with his adviser Michael Koncz for a few days before returning to Los Angeles.
In a brief interview with the Manila Standard, Koncz said “we are coming back tonight (Thursday in Los Angeles), Manny and I.”
They are returning on the Philippine Airlines flight.
Koncz said Pacquiao will “take a vacation, spending time with his wife and his kids in Los Angeles.”
He said “we have no definite plans for his next fight and after a vacation we will sit down and decide what we are going to do next in the boxing.”
Despite reports that no decision has been made regarding a November bout, the Manila Standard has been reliably informed that Pacquiao’s choice is a fourth fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, possibly even in Mexico where Pacquiao is immensely popular, instead of a rematch with Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley who took the Filipino’s WBO welterweight title in a decision that has been condemned around the world.
The hugely controversial decision has spawned a review by the WBO as well as a request by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to the Nevada State Attorney General to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the decision.
Deputy chief of Las Vegas police says star boxer Floyd Mayweather isn’t being mistreated
Jail is clearly not a place for persons with discriminating palates or world-class athletes who need to push their bodies to the limit. Superstar boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., also known as Inmate 01363917 in the Clark County Detention Center, is Exhibit 1-A for both of those points.
Mayweather, who in 2011 pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence charges for beating up the mother of three of his children and threatening his son, is in the middle of serving a 90-day sentence. On Monday, through his attorney, Richard Wright, he complained of the treatment he was receiving in the jail and sought to be released and serve the remainder of his time on house arrest.
On Wednesday, Judge Melissa Saragosa denied the order. Mayweather is scheduled to be released on Aug. 3, assuming he has good behavior.
Saragosa pointed out that most of Mayweather's issues inside the jail are self-inflicted. A doctor he hired to examine him said he wasn't eating properly, wasn't drinking enough water and was suffering from a lack of exercise.
On Thursday, John Donahue, the deputy chief of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in the Detention Services Division, released a two-and-a-half minute video in which he painstakingly refuted Mayweather's complaints, point by point.
Dr. Robert Voy, a prominent Las Vegas physician, said in a statement to the court on behalf of Mayweather's request for house arrest that the fighter is consuming only 800 calories a day. But Donahue pointed out the CCDC was in compliance with American Correctional Association standards and was offering Mayweather at least 2,800 calories per day.
The nutrition part, we're maintained by ACA standards, which we're accredited by, the facility is. We're required to have him, a minimum, of 2,800 calories a day. He is getting that. He is choosing not to eat all his food. He's picking and choosing between cookies and some other snacks that he has available to him. He's not eating the food that's being given to him.
Floyd Mayweather is 43-0 (AP)Mayweather is noted in boxing for his conditioning. His last fight was on May 5, when he won a unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto to claim the World Boxing Association super welterweight title. His superior conditioning played a major role in that bout.
After the bout, rapper 50 Cent, a close friend of Mayweather's, described to Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports how Mayweather – on the spur of the moment in the middle of the night during NBA All-Star Weekend in February – opted to skip a visit to a strip club and ran six miles.
I thought he was crazy. I thought he was joking. I have never before just seen a person start randomly training like that. We were so far away from the gym, we weren't even close. Before that, we were going to a strip club. That is what he is all about, working hard and showing that kind of extreme work ethic no one else has. He showed a lot of spirit and determination. Everyone understands what it takes to be successful but he does it better than anyone.
Donahue, though, seemed exacerbated as he explained why it was impossible to accommodate Mayweather's demands to be able to exercise better.
Mayweather is choosing not to do exercise he could do in his cell or during the one-hour daily trip he makes to the prison's recreation area.
As far as the exercise, he has the ability to exercise in his cell, if he so chooses to. He can do pushups, situps, inverted situps, that are pushups, if you will, but he's choosing not to do that. He does get one hour of rec yard a day. He can go out and shoot basketball, if he wants to, or he can run around the rec yard. His claim is that he usually runs five miles a day. No inmate in the Clark County Detention Center can run five miles a day. It's not geographically possible within the confines of the facility.
Donahue also went to great length to explain that Mayweather's jailers weren't out to get the celebrity or treat him poorly by segregating him from the rest of the prison population.
He said Mayweather is kept in protective custody for his own good.
With his status as a celebrity, if you will, he is considered a high-profile inmate. To ensure his safety and, really, the safety of the other inmates, we have to go ahead and lock him down. We have to keep him separated from the general population. If we put him in the general population, the inmates wouldn't stop. They'd actually be seeking him out, looking for money. Whether it was to hurt him or [to obtain his] five minutes of fame by hurting the inmate, or whether it was him having to protect himself, we would be in a liable situation. We have to make sure he's locked down, he's protected. It kept coming out that we were looking to punish, punish upon punishment, and that's not the truth. We are looking to protect him. That's our role.
Mayweather was cavalier about his pending jail sentence while talking to reporters before his fight with Cotto in early May. Clearly, two weeks in prison has caused him to change his mind.
Though Saragosa shot down his request, that doesn't mean Wright will stop trying to find a way to secure an early release for Mayweather. That kind of legal work is expensive, but when a guy earns at least $32 million, as Mayweather did for the Cotto fight, he can afford to pay a lot of high-priced lawyers.
It would be a shock only if Wright or co-counsel Karen Winckler aren't in court again soon, arguing some other point for Mayweather's early release.
Jail is clearly not a place for persons with discriminating palates or world-class athletes who need to push their bodies to the limit. Superstar boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., also known as Inmate 01363917 in the Clark County Detention Center, is Exhibit 1-A for both of those points.
Mayweather, who in 2011 pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence charges for beating up the mother of three of his children and threatening his son, is in the middle of serving a 90-day sentence. On Monday, through his attorney, Richard Wright, he complained of the treatment he was receiving in the jail and sought to be released and serve the remainder of his time on house arrest.
On Wednesday, Judge Melissa Saragosa denied the order. Mayweather is scheduled to be released on Aug. 3, assuming he has good behavior.
Saragosa pointed out that most of Mayweather's issues inside the jail are self-inflicted. A doctor he hired to examine him said he wasn't eating properly, wasn't drinking enough water and was suffering from a lack of exercise.
On Thursday, John Donahue, the deputy chief of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in the Detention Services Division, released a two-and-a-half minute video in which he painstakingly refuted Mayweather's complaints, point by point.
Dr. Robert Voy, a prominent Las Vegas physician, said in a statement to the court on behalf of Mayweather's request for house arrest that the fighter is consuming only 800 calories a day. But Donahue pointed out the CCDC was in compliance with American Correctional Association standards and was offering Mayweather at least 2,800 calories per day.
The nutrition part, we're maintained by ACA standards, which we're accredited by, the facility is. We're required to have him, a minimum, of 2,800 calories a day. He is getting that. He is choosing not to eat all his food. He's picking and choosing between cookies and some other snacks that he has available to him. He's not eating the food that's being given to him.
Floyd Mayweather is 43-0 (AP)Mayweather is noted in boxing for his conditioning. His last fight was on May 5, when he won a unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto to claim the World Boxing Association super welterweight title. His superior conditioning played a major role in that bout.
After the bout, rapper 50 Cent, a close friend of Mayweather's, described to Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports how Mayweather – on the spur of the moment in the middle of the night during NBA All-Star Weekend in February – opted to skip a visit to a strip club and ran six miles.
I thought he was crazy. I thought he was joking. I have never before just seen a person start randomly training like that. We were so far away from the gym, we weren't even close. Before that, we were going to a strip club. That is what he is all about, working hard and showing that kind of extreme work ethic no one else has. He showed a lot of spirit and determination. Everyone understands what it takes to be successful but he does it better than anyone.
Donahue, though, seemed exacerbated as he explained why it was impossible to accommodate Mayweather's demands to be able to exercise better.
Mayweather is choosing not to do exercise he could do in his cell or during the one-hour daily trip he makes to the prison's recreation area.
As far as the exercise, he has the ability to exercise in his cell, if he so chooses to. He can do pushups, situps, inverted situps, that are pushups, if you will, but he's choosing not to do that. He does get one hour of rec yard a day. He can go out and shoot basketball, if he wants to, or he can run around the rec yard. His claim is that he usually runs five miles a day. No inmate in the Clark County Detention Center can run five miles a day. It's not geographically possible within the confines of the facility.
Donahue also went to great length to explain that Mayweather's jailers weren't out to get the celebrity or treat him poorly by segregating him from the rest of the prison population.
He said Mayweather is kept in protective custody for his own good.
With his status as a celebrity, if you will, he is considered a high-profile inmate. To ensure his safety and, really, the safety of the other inmates, we have to go ahead and lock him down. We have to keep him separated from the general population. If we put him in the general population, the inmates wouldn't stop. They'd actually be seeking him out, looking for money. Whether it was to hurt him or [to obtain his] five minutes of fame by hurting the inmate, or whether it was him having to protect himself, we would be in a liable situation. We have to make sure he's locked down, he's protected. It kept coming out that we were looking to punish, punish upon punishment, and that's not the truth. We are looking to protect him. That's our role.
Mayweather was cavalier about his pending jail sentence while talking to reporters before his fight with Cotto in early May. Clearly, two weeks in prison has caused him to change his mind.
Though Saragosa shot down his request, that doesn't mean Wright will stop trying to find a way to secure an early release for Mayweather. That kind of legal work is expensive, but when a guy earns at least $32 million, as Mayweather did for the Cotto fight, he can afford to pay a lot of high-priced lawyers.
It would be a shock only if Wright or co-counsel Karen Winckler aren't in court again soon, arguing some other point for Mayweather's early release.
Oscar De La Hoya disses Bob Arum and gets a Drag Queen Bitch Slap in Return!
By Johnny Benz, Doghouse Boxing
Ryan's rebuttal to being called an idiot.
By Johnny Benz, Doghouse Boxing. - Recently, on his official twitter page, Oscar De La Hoya took the time to once again lay into rival Boxing Promoter, Bob Arum. De La Hoya's Golden Boy promotions and Bob Arum's Top Rank are boxing's version of the Hatfields and McCoys. And yes, the story often gets ugly... like this latest from De La Hoya...
In a recent tweet, over the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley's controversial fight (a ppv fight promoted by Arum), De La Hoya went hard with his dissing of Arum, tweeting: "I am convinced bob arum and his top stank are really trying to ruin the sport. He's 90 what does he care?! Don't worry. #goldenboy #rescue."
First... OUCH. Top Stank! 90 years old?! Trying to ruin the sport?! Doesn't care?!
Well, one could almost wonder if De La Hoya didn't go a little overboard with that one? A little emotional... perhaps someone could mistake that for jealousy?... Opps wait, yep... someone has already taken it for jealousy...
Enter, RyanRules99, some regular dude out of Vancouver, Canada, who is a self described Dog lover and Sports fan with 17 twitter followers to his credit. The little David (RyanRules99) stood up to the Goliath (Oscar De La Hoya) and threw his rock by tweeting: " M @Mr. Promo eLaHoya You sound jealous of Arum as a promoter. Stop bashing him 24/7 and lead by example."
First... WOW. Sound Jealous! Stop bashing!? Lead by example!?
Actually, that kind of sounds reasonable. Right? WRONG! Oh hell no... not to De La Hoya!
De La Hoya on his twitter page fires back at RyanRules99 (Because let's face it.... how dare this Ryan dude, who loves dogs and sports and has 17 followers on twitter, be reasonable with some solid advice for De La Hoya!?).
Blasting back, De La Hoya shares on the twitter-sphere: " C @calihotboy ules99 you idiot why would I be jealous of a guy who is trying to ruin boxing?"
OUCH! Ryan is an Idiot! You get the sense that De La Hoya is going to snap... perhaps send Ryan a cease and desist legal letter?! Or maybe he will buy twitter and then Ring-Out and fire Ryan's ass from his cozy job of writing tweets to his 17 followers! De La Hoya will control this situation! Right?!
Well up till this point, De La Hoya had shared all the banter with his 386,905 twitter followers, but for some reason, after calling Ryan an idiot, De La Hoya opted not to share Ryan's rebuttal. So Ryan, the Dog and Sports loving Canadian was forced to share his response to De La Hoya calling him an idiot to only his 17 followers. Ryan's follow up post to being called an idiot: " M @Mr. Promo eLaHoya Now your back to name calling ? You guys that dress in drag sure got a temper."
OUCH... YOU GUYS THAT DRESS IN DRAG! Talk about stereotyping. Take that for a Drag Queen of a bitch slap!
Now keep in mind that you will not find a bigger supporter of De La Hoya on the net than me... I got a million and a half articles putting him in a positive light... but hey, in this case! Too bad De La Hoya didn't share Ryan's rebuttal to his twitter followers. Ryan deserved to have his say after being called an idiot for posting some reasonable advice. Thankfully, this is the net... so although it was only shared with 17 of Ryan's followers... it was posted on a public forum (twitter) where it has the potential to be seen by the whole world. And from there, you never know... maybe it makes it's way onto one of the largest Boxing websites in an article written by Johnny Benz, who shares it with his readers and his readers share it with..... well, you get the picture.
The lesson...
It's one thing to rip Arum... even if it was distasteful, I can accept it... however, treating fans like shit (on twitter or anywhere) is not cool (even if they say something to trigger a reaction). For Oscar or anyone else who is letting their ego get the best of them... Don't try stomping on the little guy...because the internet is run and controlled by the little people... and some of us little ones are a hell of a lot BIGGER than you think or want to give credit too.
C'mon Oscar... you are better than that!
By Johnny Benz, Doghouse Boxing
Ryan's rebuttal to being called an idiot.
By Johnny Benz, Doghouse Boxing. - Recently, on his official twitter page, Oscar De La Hoya took the time to once again lay into rival Boxing Promoter, Bob Arum. De La Hoya's Golden Boy promotions and Bob Arum's Top Rank are boxing's version of the Hatfields and McCoys. And yes, the story often gets ugly... like this latest from De La Hoya...
In a recent tweet, over the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley's controversial fight (a ppv fight promoted by Arum), De La Hoya went hard with his dissing of Arum, tweeting: "I am convinced bob arum and his top stank are really trying to ruin the sport. He's 90 what does he care?! Don't worry. #goldenboy #rescue."
First... OUCH. Top Stank! 90 years old?! Trying to ruin the sport?! Doesn't care?!
Well, one could almost wonder if De La Hoya didn't go a little overboard with that one? A little emotional... perhaps someone could mistake that for jealousy?... Opps wait, yep... someone has already taken it for jealousy...
Enter, RyanRules99, some regular dude out of Vancouver, Canada, who is a self described Dog lover and Sports fan with 17 twitter followers to his credit. The little David (RyanRules99) stood up to the Goliath (Oscar De La Hoya) and threw his rock by tweeting: " M @Mr. Promo eLaHoya You sound jealous of Arum as a promoter. Stop bashing him 24/7 and lead by example."
First... WOW. Sound Jealous! Stop bashing!? Lead by example!?
Actually, that kind of sounds reasonable. Right? WRONG! Oh hell no... not to De La Hoya!
De La Hoya on his twitter page fires back at RyanRules99 (Because let's face it.... how dare this Ryan dude, who loves dogs and sports and has 17 followers on twitter, be reasonable with some solid advice for De La Hoya!?).
Blasting back, De La Hoya shares on the twitter-sphere: " C @calihotboy ules99 you idiot why would I be jealous of a guy who is trying to ruin boxing?"
OUCH! Ryan is an Idiot! You get the sense that De La Hoya is going to snap... perhaps send Ryan a cease and desist legal letter?! Or maybe he will buy twitter and then Ring-Out and fire Ryan's ass from his cozy job of writing tweets to his 17 followers! De La Hoya will control this situation! Right?!
Well up till this point, De La Hoya had shared all the banter with his 386,905 twitter followers, but for some reason, after calling Ryan an idiot, De La Hoya opted not to share Ryan's rebuttal. So Ryan, the Dog and Sports loving Canadian was forced to share his response to De La Hoya calling him an idiot to only his 17 followers. Ryan's follow up post to being called an idiot: " M @Mr. Promo eLaHoya Now your back to name calling ? You guys that dress in drag sure got a temper."
OUCH... YOU GUYS THAT DRESS IN DRAG! Talk about stereotyping. Take that for a Drag Queen of a bitch slap!
Now keep in mind that you will not find a bigger supporter of De La Hoya on the net than me... I got a million and a half articles putting him in a positive light... but hey, in this case! Too bad De La Hoya didn't share Ryan's rebuttal to his twitter followers. Ryan deserved to have his say after being called an idiot for posting some reasonable advice. Thankfully, this is the net... so although it was only shared with 17 of Ryan's followers... it was posted on a public forum (twitter) where it has the potential to be seen by the whole world. And from there, you never know... maybe it makes it's way onto one of the largest Boxing websites in an article written by Johnny Benz, who shares it with his readers and his readers share it with..... well, you get the picture.
The lesson...
It's one thing to rip Arum... even if it was distasteful, I can accept it... however, treating fans like shit (on twitter or anywhere) is not cool (even if they say something to trigger a reaction). For Oscar or anyone else who is letting their ego get the best of them... Don't try stomping on the little guy...because the internet is run and controlled by the little people... and some of us little ones are a hell of a lot BIGGER than you think or want to give credit too.
C'mon Oscar... you are better than that!
Martin Wade's Loaded Gloves: The "BOXING IS DEAD" Edition...
Controversial times are usually followed with an avalanche of words; hyperbole and innuendo become commonplace, and naturally the loudest voices usually emerge. What happened between Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley was enough to rule the mainstream sports landscape for 48 hours until LeBron James and Kevin Durant laced up their Nikes; and now the controversy is left with who it belonged with in the first place… us. Because let's face it, we are the only ones that really care, the only ones who've made the commitment to keep fighting, keep bitching and keep loving the sport -everybody else is just posing. Just so you know what I thought before I started dropping literary plaster of Paris: I had Pacquiao winning by a wide margin. Tim Bradley is a solid pro and worthy of the stage, but last Saturday night he learned something, that his determination couldn't help him with freakish talent. Manny Pacquiao hit him, and his ass stayed hit. In other words, even if his foot wasn't broken, Bradley would have used it to stay the hell out of Pacquiao's way. He also shouldn't be blamed for playing along afterwards; I'm the proud father of one daughter and two granddaughters and they can have the shirt off my back upon request. One look at Jada Bradley on HBO's 24/7 and the same goes for her too... I fault no man for wanting to provide a comfortable future for his loved ones. But the facts are the facts. So here we go with a slightly pessimistic -but hopefully entertaining take on the most recent "Death of Boxing."
You can't kill a fan-eating Zombie!
Correct me if I'm wrong but this sport used to be conducted on floating barges and open spaces beyond the prying eyes of authorities. Once legal it was in the caring hands of the Mafia; we've actually had Senate investigations about the role of organized crime in the sport. We have Hall of Famers who have confessed to throwing fights and Heavyweight Champions who were wholly controlled by crime families. Once cleaned up, the Sport had to reconcile itself with the networks divesting in it after (surprise) Benny Paret was killed in a nationally broadcasted fight. Once that smoke cleared, Ali brought Boxing to its zenith, but his ability to print money attracted two more intellectually dangerous profiteers: the Harvard educated attorney and the ex-con. During the 70's our beloved icon took Boxing abroad at the behest of TWO of the most genocidal dictators of the time! (Imagine Gaddafi cutting a check to see LeBron and Kobe go one on one). This atrocity is only conceivable in Boxing and maybe Hip Hop. Boxing's ability to remain wild and be the landscape of any mogul with a huge enough set of balls and a taste for unfairness will always remain. Negativity is our lifeblood. Soon we'll graduate from Hip Hop moguls to technology barons (Facebook Fights anyone?) It's called evolution and with a non-unionized workforce there's always a new tyrant in the wings. We who love it, and waste breath and time on Boxing, will always be attracted for reasons completely opposite of those who profit from it. In truth, Floyd Mayweather is only hated for verbalizing what most people in boxing always prioritize, MONEY. Last Saturday night when Bradley stood up there and lied to Max Kellerman he was no more virtuous than Floyd. You can't kill something that's already dead; an entity that moves forward with the outer "shell" of a sport, impervious to moral outrage and any hint of organization... ZOMBIES aren't meant to be normal. Wherever there are three boys walking around with nothing to do two will get in a fight, the third will either watch (like us) or record it with his cell phone and charge his classmates to watch; that kind of larceny is in the DNA of Boxing.
We should take exception to mainstream media's "outrage"
I have distaste for listening to my favorite sports media personalities "talk boxing," this is because they painstakingly make sure not to be ill-informed with other sports and could care less about how dumb they sound talking about ours. After the Pacquiao vs. Bradley decision was announced, it was important to hear Harold Lederman and Max Kellerman put into words what most of us were feeling; their credibility and opinions matter because they are "IN" Boxing. Bill Simmons used the "boxing controversy" to avoid having to produce a Podcast about the Miami Heat sending his beloved Celtics into rebuilding mode, but I seriously doubt he can spell Nonito Donaire. Colin Cowherd ate minutes on his Monday show dismissing any Boxing related conspiracy by saying "I'm not a tin foil hat guy" and referencing the age of the judges and not the patronization being a factor. What he fails to realize is Boxing is so tailor made for corruption, that Teddy Atlas, the only real Boxing guy at ESPN, rails about accommodations and judge selection all of the time. The fact that Atlas is never put across the desk from Stephen A. or Skip Bayless to discuss HIS SPORT when coaches, players, and even rappers are brought into "First Take" speaks volumes. Stephen A. Smith took the cake when he repeated a previous call to boycott all PPV's until Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather gets made. Really? This from a guy who openly roots for NBA teams in correlation with his social life; he isn't calling for reform, he's speaking as a shallow brotha with money who knows a Mayweather fight is a hotbed for (you guessed it) shallow brothas with money.
Stephen A. works for a network with a dwindling Boxing budget, a network that airs an MMA studio show, a network that could legitimize any sport (Pool, Poker, Spelling Bee's) it chooses to co-opt and he knows it. These "personalities" remind me of that stuck-up family member who shows up once a year and instead of keeping his/her mouths shut, feels he/she can arbitrate family disputes between people who chose to remain in that small town. There's something high-handed about it and we as Boxing fans should boycott them. I don't need them (for the 100th time from an empty soapbox) to tell me Boxing is a "niche" sport. I need them to keep to their words and ignore us, instead of popping up every time something goes wrong. Spare us the fake moral outrage.
If you believe Bob Arum is "outraged" enough to not promote the rematch you are naïve...
Immediately after the fight, Bob Arum, our de-facto dictator (in partnership with an international Swiss banker to be named later), said, "I'm going to make a lot of money, but I think the decision was outrageous." I'm not saying Arum and Top Rank "fixed" the outcome but I will say this: a Bradley victory looks like a chess move that only Arum can benefit from. We've watched the two top promoters play "house money" for years now, to the point that when discussing possible fights we have to take this into consideration. Powerful people CREATE CRISIS on purpose to serve agendas too long-term for the masses to imagine; they also like to be the ones to solve the problems they manufacture. Democratic buddy Harry Reid is doing Arum a solid by feigning like he wants answers, much like Arum delivered Pacquiao to aid him when the Tea Party kooks were raiding Congressional seats back in 2010. "Bob Father" even went to Attorney General Catherine Cortez to investigate the judging and assure "there was no impropriety;" (compare that to OJ's feeble attempt to find Nicole's killer). This will go away, just like a lot of political "crisis" go away so it's no sweat off Arum's back to put on a show. Bradley is cheap labor, and don't be surprised if he wins a rematch by dancing and jabbing enough to make another Top Rank appointed judge pull a "Duane Ford" and see a "boxing lesson" in November. Manny was never the political favorite; his overhead was high, he's taking out loans against revenues and Mayweather is somehow able to go around Arum (to Manny and Koncz) to talk terms, something he can't do with a more subjugated Bradley. Golden Boy responded by moving Victor Ortiz into the slot vs. Canelo Alvarez for September in an attempt to create an opponent for Mayweather early next year. Josesito Lopez's people should get all over the judging and referee for their upcoming July 23rd bout vs. Ortiz. Whatever the case, Top Rank will remain in the driver's seat, which is what Bob Arum (brought to you by Muhammad Ali) will insure first and foremost. "Ordo ad Chao" - Order of Chaos is what men of his ilk are masters at creating… to the 33rd degree.
With a name like "Money"...
Have you heard? One of the most finely conditioned athletes the world has ever seen, fell out of condition in ten days. His attorney appealed, asking the boxer be upgraded to house arrest in addition to the already reduced sentence of 87 days. Now, let's be serious here; jail isn't about the 3 plus hours Mayweather puts in as a dedicated athlete. He's in jail as a result of what he does with the rest of his time. It's the rest of the day that he finds time to terrorize Josie Harris in front of their children and threaten the lives of parking attendants and brothas at the skating rinks. The confinement he is in now is designed for him to think about those hours away from the gym and what he could do differently. While he's in USADA - who has no "in" with American team sports despite being based in America- took it upon themselves to resume their beef with Lance Armstrong. Conspicuous timing when you consider the recent controversy about the possibility of the outfit having a sweetheart deal, whereby they look the other way if Floyd happens to inadvertently test positive. Don't get me wrong, he was clean as a whistle for Ortiz and Cotto but if there's only hard work and dedication, why the sweetheart deal with GBP? We all know Floyd fights once, maybe twice a year and we all know football players "cycle off" right before training camp while maintaining the benefits of PED's. Why is he depressed after ten days? Talking about retirement? Taking in fewer calories (800) than a super model? The symptoms of PED withdrawal are right there if you care to read them. After all we've seen, much of it put before our eyes, is it so hard to believe that GBP -a company whose President opined that Boxing would be better served by a monopoly- would set up an impenetrable wall of control? They have all of the HBO dates; USADA can only be promoted as a legitimate protocol in Boxing with the patronage of the biggest star and promotional firm. In exchange why wouldn't Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto (non-Golden Boy fighters who could beat Khan and Ortiz) get pinched for PED's? Why do you think Arum preferred WADA? You see, with a name like "Money" you may fool the children or prosperity pimps, but you can't fool a grown up. Liking it is one thing (we all do) but labeling yourself "Money" means that when it comes to getting it or keeping it, you are no more trustworthy than the man willing to see millions go hungry to make his fortune. Why did Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens do what they did? The answer is what Floyd has christened himself: money.
Like Mr. Arum, I'd like to believe there's no impropriety… but I doubt it; personally I prefer the 24/7/365 testing of VADA.
It's time for Pacquiao to be more vocal about his fans...
To his credit, Manny Pacquiao seems to be taking all of this better than most people, another reason he makes my league of "extraordinary gentlemen." However, he's been given much and he is more than an athlete in the Philippines, so we should require more of him. Since his rise to prominence in the United States as an icon, his fan base seems to have acquired a reputation for going to dark places pretty quickly in the name of loving him. Tim Bradley is a man of integrity and true gentleman as well. His victory -however undeserved- has zero to do with him and it should disgust Manny that Bradley is now receiving death threats. If your fans are so vile that your opponents have to rethink whether they love the sport or not, it is time to step up Mr. Senator. Manny Pacquiao ran for office because he wants to represent his people, he is exempt from the narcissism and childishness of most athletes. Pacquiao is expected to live on the moral high ground. Someone once said sports is where small men with no power vicariously imagine themselves warriors by way of affinity for athletes. Manny Pacquiao needs to show why he is who he is; it may not be popular, but big men (if truly big) tackle big problems.
6-15-2012
Controversial times are usually followed with an avalanche of words; hyperbole and innuendo become commonplace, and naturally the loudest voices usually emerge. What happened between Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley was enough to rule the mainstream sports landscape for 48 hours until LeBron James and Kevin Durant laced up their Nikes; and now the controversy is left with who it belonged with in the first place… us. Because let's face it, we are the only ones that really care, the only ones who've made the commitment to keep fighting, keep bitching and keep loving the sport -everybody else is just posing. Just so you know what I thought before I started dropping literary plaster of Paris: I had Pacquiao winning by a wide margin. Tim Bradley is a solid pro and worthy of the stage, but last Saturday night he learned something, that his determination couldn't help him with freakish talent. Manny Pacquiao hit him, and his ass stayed hit. In other words, even if his foot wasn't broken, Bradley would have used it to stay the hell out of Pacquiao's way. He also shouldn't be blamed for playing along afterwards; I'm the proud father of one daughter and two granddaughters and they can have the shirt off my back upon request. One look at Jada Bradley on HBO's 24/7 and the same goes for her too... I fault no man for wanting to provide a comfortable future for his loved ones. But the facts are the facts. So here we go with a slightly pessimistic -but hopefully entertaining take on the most recent "Death of Boxing."
You can't kill a fan-eating Zombie!
Correct me if I'm wrong but this sport used to be conducted on floating barges and open spaces beyond the prying eyes of authorities. Once legal it was in the caring hands of the Mafia; we've actually had Senate investigations about the role of organized crime in the sport. We have Hall of Famers who have confessed to throwing fights and Heavyweight Champions who were wholly controlled by crime families. Once cleaned up, the Sport had to reconcile itself with the networks divesting in it after (surprise) Benny Paret was killed in a nationally broadcasted fight. Once that smoke cleared, Ali brought Boxing to its zenith, but his ability to print money attracted two more intellectually dangerous profiteers: the Harvard educated attorney and the ex-con. During the 70's our beloved icon took Boxing abroad at the behest of TWO of the most genocidal dictators of the time! (Imagine Gaddafi cutting a check to see LeBron and Kobe go one on one). This atrocity is only conceivable in Boxing and maybe Hip Hop. Boxing's ability to remain wild and be the landscape of any mogul with a huge enough set of balls and a taste for unfairness will always remain. Negativity is our lifeblood. Soon we'll graduate from Hip Hop moguls to technology barons (Facebook Fights anyone?) It's called evolution and with a non-unionized workforce there's always a new tyrant in the wings. We who love it, and waste breath and time on Boxing, will always be attracted for reasons completely opposite of those who profit from it. In truth, Floyd Mayweather is only hated for verbalizing what most people in boxing always prioritize, MONEY. Last Saturday night when Bradley stood up there and lied to Max Kellerman he was no more virtuous than Floyd. You can't kill something that's already dead; an entity that moves forward with the outer "shell" of a sport, impervious to moral outrage and any hint of organization... ZOMBIES aren't meant to be normal. Wherever there are three boys walking around with nothing to do two will get in a fight, the third will either watch (like us) or record it with his cell phone and charge his classmates to watch; that kind of larceny is in the DNA of Boxing.
We should take exception to mainstream media's "outrage"
I have distaste for listening to my favorite sports media personalities "talk boxing," this is because they painstakingly make sure not to be ill-informed with other sports and could care less about how dumb they sound talking about ours. After the Pacquiao vs. Bradley decision was announced, it was important to hear Harold Lederman and Max Kellerman put into words what most of us were feeling; their credibility and opinions matter because they are "IN" Boxing. Bill Simmons used the "boxing controversy" to avoid having to produce a Podcast about the Miami Heat sending his beloved Celtics into rebuilding mode, but I seriously doubt he can spell Nonito Donaire. Colin Cowherd ate minutes on his Monday show dismissing any Boxing related conspiracy by saying "I'm not a tin foil hat guy" and referencing the age of the judges and not the patronization being a factor. What he fails to realize is Boxing is so tailor made for corruption, that Teddy Atlas, the only real Boxing guy at ESPN, rails about accommodations and judge selection all of the time. The fact that Atlas is never put across the desk from Stephen A. or Skip Bayless to discuss HIS SPORT when coaches, players, and even rappers are brought into "First Take" speaks volumes. Stephen A. Smith took the cake when he repeated a previous call to boycott all PPV's until Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather gets made. Really? This from a guy who openly roots for NBA teams in correlation with his social life; he isn't calling for reform, he's speaking as a shallow brotha with money who knows a Mayweather fight is a hotbed for (you guessed it) shallow brothas with money.
Stephen A. works for a network with a dwindling Boxing budget, a network that airs an MMA studio show, a network that could legitimize any sport (Pool, Poker, Spelling Bee's) it chooses to co-opt and he knows it. These "personalities" remind me of that stuck-up family member who shows up once a year and instead of keeping his/her mouths shut, feels he/she can arbitrate family disputes between people who chose to remain in that small town. There's something high-handed about it and we as Boxing fans should boycott them. I don't need them (for the 100th time from an empty soapbox) to tell me Boxing is a "niche" sport. I need them to keep to their words and ignore us, instead of popping up every time something goes wrong. Spare us the fake moral outrage.
If you believe Bob Arum is "outraged" enough to not promote the rematch you are naïve...
Immediately after the fight, Bob Arum, our de-facto dictator (in partnership with an international Swiss banker to be named later), said, "I'm going to make a lot of money, but I think the decision was outrageous." I'm not saying Arum and Top Rank "fixed" the outcome but I will say this: a Bradley victory looks like a chess move that only Arum can benefit from. We've watched the two top promoters play "house money" for years now, to the point that when discussing possible fights we have to take this into consideration. Powerful people CREATE CRISIS on purpose to serve agendas too long-term for the masses to imagine; they also like to be the ones to solve the problems they manufacture. Democratic buddy Harry Reid is doing Arum a solid by feigning like he wants answers, much like Arum delivered Pacquiao to aid him when the Tea Party kooks were raiding Congressional seats back in 2010. "Bob Father" even went to Attorney General Catherine Cortez to investigate the judging and assure "there was no impropriety;" (compare that to OJ's feeble attempt to find Nicole's killer). This will go away, just like a lot of political "crisis" go away so it's no sweat off Arum's back to put on a show. Bradley is cheap labor, and don't be surprised if he wins a rematch by dancing and jabbing enough to make another Top Rank appointed judge pull a "Duane Ford" and see a "boxing lesson" in November. Manny was never the political favorite; his overhead was high, he's taking out loans against revenues and Mayweather is somehow able to go around Arum (to Manny and Koncz) to talk terms, something he can't do with a more subjugated Bradley. Golden Boy responded by moving Victor Ortiz into the slot vs. Canelo Alvarez for September in an attempt to create an opponent for Mayweather early next year. Josesito Lopez's people should get all over the judging and referee for their upcoming July 23rd bout vs. Ortiz. Whatever the case, Top Rank will remain in the driver's seat, which is what Bob Arum (brought to you by Muhammad Ali) will insure first and foremost. "Ordo ad Chao" - Order of Chaos is what men of his ilk are masters at creating… to the 33rd degree.
With a name like "Money"...
Have you heard? One of the most finely conditioned athletes the world has ever seen, fell out of condition in ten days. His attorney appealed, asking the boxer be upgraded to house arrest in addition to the already reduced sentence of 87 days. Now, let's be serious here; jail isn't about the 3 plus hours Mayweather puts in as a dedicated athlete. He's in jail as a result of what he does with the rest of his time. It's the rest of the day that he finds time to terrorize Josie Harris in front of their children and threaten the lives of parking attendants and brothas at the skating rinks. The confinement he is in now is designed for him to think about those hours away from the gym and what he could do differently. While he's in USADA - who has no "in" with American team sports despite being based in America- took it upon themselves to resume their beef with Lance Armstrong. Conspicuous timing when you consider the recent controversy about the possibility of the outfit having a sweetheart deal, whereby they look the other way if Floyd happens to inadvertently test positive. Don't get me wrong, he was clean as a whistle for Ortiz and Cotto but if there's only hard work and dedication, why the sweetheart deal with GBP? We all know Floyd fights once, maybe twice a year and we all know football players "cycle off" right before training camp while maintaining the benefits of PED's. Why is he depressed after ten days? Talking about retirement? Taking in fewer calories (800) than a super model? The symptoms of PED withdrawal are right there if you care to read them. After all we've seen, much of it put before our eyes, is it so hard to believe that GBP -a company whose President opined that Boxing would be better served by a monopoly- would set up an impenetrable wall of control? They have all of the HBO dates; USADA can only be promoted as a legitimate protocol in Boxing with the patronage of the biggest star and promotional firm. In exchange why wouldn't Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto (non-Golden Boy fighters who could beat Khan and Ortiz) get pinched for PED's? Why do you think Arum preferred WADA? You see, with a name like "Money" you may fool the children or prosperity pimps, but you can't fool a grown up. Liking it is one thing (we all do) but labeling yourself "Money" means that when it comes to getting it or keeping it, you are no more trustworthy than the man willing to see millions go hungry to make his fortune. Why did Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens do what they did? The answer is what Floyd has christened himself: money.
Like Mr. Arum, I'd like to believe there's no impropriety… but I doubt it; personally I prefer the 24/7/365 testing of VADA.
It's time for Pacquiao to be more vocal about his fans...
To his credit, Manny Pacquiao seems to be taking all of this better than most people, another reason he makes my league of "extraordinary gentlemen." However, he's been given much and he is more than an athlete in the Philippines, so we should require more of him. Since his rise to prominence in the United States as an icon, his fan base seems to have acquired a reputation for going to dark places pretty quickly in the name of loving him. Tim Bradley is a man of integrity and true gentleman as well. His victory -however undeserved- has zero to do with him and it should disgust Manny that Bradley is now receiving death threats. If your fans are so vile that your opponents have to rethink whether they love the sport or not, it is time to step up Mr. Senator. Manny Pacquiao ran for office because he wants to represent his people, he is exempt from the narcissism and childishness of most athletes. Pacquiao is expected to live on the moral high ground. Someone once said sports is where small men with no power vicariously imagine themselves warriors by way of affinity for athletes. Manny Pacquiao needs to show why he is who he is; it may not be popular, but big men (if truly big) tackle big problems.
6-15-2012