Tag: HBO

Martinez breaks hand, dominates for 11.5 rounds


Eleven and a half rounds or 95% of the fight, that was how long Sergio Martinez dominated, thoroughly dominated, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

The last half of that last round was a hell of a ride.

I openly admit to rooting for Martinez in this fight. It’s hard for me to not root for the serf over the prince or David over Goliath. I understood Martinez and his teeming, seething anger. I understood his feeling slighted by not only Chavez Jr, but the belt Chavez Jr held and who handed him that belt.

Sergio Martinez fights on HBO and so it would stand that HBO would have final say on who he fights. Martinez held the WBC title and his mandatory defense was Sebastian Zbik who HBO did not approve of as an opponent for Martinez.

Martinez now having HBO decline a fight with Zbik, the WBC then stripped Martinez of his title. The president of the WBC is Jose Sulaiman.

Jose Sulaiman is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s godfather. No matter who your allegiance lies with that’s fishy (to say the least).

Sergio Martinez and his crazy eyes.

Martinez saw all of this for what it was, the boy with the silver spoon having that spoon upgraded to gold. It wasn’t fair and he let everyone know how he felt about the situation and Chavez himself.

He said all through the promotion that he was going to destroy Chavez. That Chavez was going to need his teeth replaced because after the fight Martinez would make sure they’d be missing. That Chavez would need a doctor to identify his remains.

The fight itself? Continue reading “Martinez breaks hand, dominates for 11.5 rounds” →

Ring Kings: Cotto vs. Mayweather


I’m probably more excited than most for this fight. What can I say, I’m a life-long fan of the sport and this sort of event (big PPV matchup between two of the sports best) is something real boxing fans yearn for.

It’s not even the actual fight that gets me all riled up (initially anyway), it’s the build up. The press conferences, the articles, the TV coverage, the weigh-in and then, finally, the “main event of the evening” (said in my best Michael Buffer voice).

When done right, these events collide to build anticipation, an anxiousness that drives you to tell anyone, everyone, “I really cannot wait for this fight…” Or maybe that’s just me. That’s the thing with boxing though. All that build-up, all that talking, all that anticipation and it could all be for naught if the fight is a dud.

A lot of Floyd Mayweather Jr’s (42-0, 26 KO’s) fights are duds these days. It’s mostly a result of his style. A style that he has nearly perfected since moving out of his offensive comfort zone that was 130 lbs. Floyd was never a slugger, but he used to attack, at least try for the kill. He no longer does that. Now he waits. Along with becoming as masterful as you can be defensively, he has become of the greatest counter punchers ever. It all fits into his above 130 lbs style of fighting.

Most of his opponents are forced into a false aggression that usually amounts to very little because when they have a chance to throw, they don’t. The reason being they know how good a counter puncher Floyd is and that he will strike like a viper when given the opportunity. Therein lies what turns his fights from spectacles in the build-up, to dud by the end of the fight. Floyd rarely goes out of his way to be outright offensive and even though everyone he fights knows that aggression is the best way to beat him they refuse to let their hands go when given the opportunity to do so. So Floyd ends up sticking his jab in their face and throwing enough to win every round, while his opponent feints, flinches and flails.

I believe Floyd Mayweather Jr will easily win this fight. My rational brain just keeps telling me there’s no way Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KO’s) has what it takes to beat someone so talented.

My emotional heart tells me differently. (This happens often to me.) My rational, logical brain uses reason and common sense, my heart will read into things that aren’t there and imagine, “If he could just do *this* (insert strategy here), he can beat this guy!”

What I have talked myself into this time is that Floyd’s punches, while deadly accurate, don’t hold the power required to discourage Cotto from keeping pressure in his face. I even think Cotto could taste Floyd’s most crisp punch and decide to go balls-to-the-wall after taking the punch and realizing he can absorb what Floyd throws while using his own vaunted body attack.

Cotto is, probably, the best body puncher in boxing. A skill almost no Floyd opponent has successfully applied (to their own detriment). Add that to the fact that Miguel has a very accomplished jab to set up those thudding body shots and we could have ourselves a fight.

If Cotto does manage to degenerate the fight into some sort of war of attrition, how does Floyd handle that? We all know Miguel Cotto has been in more than his fair share of bloody, drag down wars, but Floyd has avoided such fights. In my memory I can only think of two times when Floyd was in real trouble. The first is his first fight with Jose Luis Castillo back in 2002 and in one of his more recent fights against Sugar Shane Mosley. In the second round of his fight with Shane, he took a pair of hard, crisp right hands that shook him and don’t let anyone fool you, he was lucky to survive that round.

My point is that if Miguel Cotto is willing to sacrifice taking punishment to his face in large amounts to beat the shit out of Mayweather’s body, he can turn the fight into something different from a normal Floyd back-pedal fest.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Cotto made this fight close, but I’m going to lean towards the side of common sense and use my brain for my pick; Continue reading “Ring Kings: Cotto vs. Mayweather” →

Klitschko-Chisora, Rios-Gamboa, NBC Sports Network more…


At least Dereck Chisora (15-2, 9 KO’s)emphatically signed his death warrant.

By slapping Vitali Klitschko (43-2, 40 KO’s)in the face during their “stare down”, Chisora all but guaranteed he will be KO’d. Chisora has made repeated claims of how he is going to knock out Vitali in their bout scheduled for tomorrow (Feb 18, Epix & EpixHD.com). Yet a much more accomplished fighter (and better power puncher) in Lennox Lewis all but hit him in the face with a sledgehammer and Vitali didn’t even get shaken.

Since the fight is tomorrow I’ll go ahead and throw my official prediction out there;

Chisora doesn’t have nearly enough experience, size, or punching power to do the damage necessary. Vitali will throw that thunderous jab and wait until Chisora opens himself up, allowing Vitali to exploit that opening and turn it into a barrage of unyielding power punches.

Vitali Klitschko by 5th round TKO.

The upcoming boxing schedule just got a huge shot in the arm as HBO announced Yuriorkis Gamboa (21-0, 16 KO’s) vs. Brandon Rios (29-0-1, 22 KO’s) for April 14. I should have listed this fight on my Fight Fights Wishlist post, just a gross oversight on my part. Continue reading “Klitschko-Chisora, Rios-Gamboa, NBC Sports Network more…” →

HBO World Championship Boxing, 2.4.12


The first televised fight was between “The Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. I had envisioned this fight as a knockout for Donaire.

Two things I felt would happen; 1) that Donaire would carry his power well into 122 lbs (after moving up from 118 lbs), and 2) that Vazquez would wilt under Donaire’s pressure.

I wasn’t totally wrong on point 1, but point 2 I was clearly wrong on. Vazquez was more than up to the challenge of absorbing some very solid punches from Donaire, even though he clearly went down in round 9, he got back up and continued as if he took nothing more than a good hard shot.

The early rounds were easily won by Nonito. So easily won that I thought the fight would turn into a rout, but the next two rounds Vazquez settled into a good place and began to stick his (surprisingly) effective jab into Donaire’s face.

Those two rounds (5 & 6) were Vazquez’s best rounds and the only rounds he actually won on my card. While he had other good rounds he didn’t do enough to actually pull out the round on my card. Donaire had a solid, yet slightly flawed performance in his first fight at 122 lbs.

After Donaire ripped Fernando Montiel’s soul from his body in February 2011, I was all in on Donaire. I was ready to anoint him the next big star. I was jumping in with both feet.

I now amend my feelings and I’m taking one of those feet back out.

While he won the fight easily in my eyes, he had several “What the hell are you doing?” moments. There where times when he should have pressed and instead decided to clown around, jumping around the ring like a monkey instead of pressing a possibly wilting fighter in Vazquez.

Wilfredo is a tough fighter and showed as much during the fight taking clean hard shots in several rounds, but absorbed nearly all of them and kept fighting. His main problem during the fight was his inability to pull the trigger and engage. When he did engage he looked good, he didn’t throw or land nearly enough to win enough rounds and make the fight close.

For what it’s worth my card ended up at 118-109 for Donaire.

Donaire still can achieve becoming a full-fledged super star in the boxing world, he just needs to settle down in a fight and focus. Focus like he did against Fernando Montiel.

In my opinion I would like to see Donaire up one more weight class. A move to 126 lbs and an early summer fight against a solid fighter there (maybe Daniel Ponce De Leon or Jhonny Gonzalez) before a fall showdown with the ultra fast Yuriorkis Gamboa.

For what it’s worth my card ended up at 118-109 for Donaire.

(As a side note, there was yet another ridiculous scoring card from a judge. This time that judge was Ruben Garcia who scored the fight 115-112 for Vazquez Jr. That card is a travesty and insulting. Something needs to be done about these judges who cannot possibly be scoring the fight in front of them. In no way, shape, or form did Vazquez win this fight. Disgusting. The other two judges appropriately scored the fight 117-110.) Continue reading “HBO World Championship Boxing, 2.4.12” →

Five Fights Wishlist


The punch that turned out the lights on Paul Williams.

With news that Ken Hershman was scooped up by HBO (and away from Showtime) to be the new president of HBO Sports, it makes me feel hopeful that the debacle at HBO Sports and their problems with reaching their budget and forcing some non-PPV worthy fights onto PPV is over.

This hopefulness has me thinking of some fights that I would love to see. Not that any of these fights will or will not be made, just my current wish list.

I want to see two men* in the trenches, pouring their heart and soul into every punch. Refusing to give into the will of their opponent and fight as if it was their last chance in the ring.

*Or women, I don’t discriminate I mean I have watched women fight locally in Sarah Kuhn and Jaci Trivilino in fantastic, hard nosed battles that were extremely enjoyable*

5. Sergio Martinez vs. Miguel Cotto

I realize Cotto has a fight on HBO PPV coming up (I see a Cotto KO victory over Margarito, btw), but I don’t care. The styles that both men have would end in nothing less than fireworks. I understand and appreciate a fighter that is over skilled defensively and from time to time it’s a joy to watch someone so skilled in that craft do their work in the ring, but what I really enjoy in a fight above all else is a fight. I think these two have the potential to have a 5-star fight. I have almost no doubt Maravilla would win, but I am also sure that Cotto would give him everything he could handle.

4. Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Gary Russell, Jr.

Russell, Jr. is realistically about three fights away from being ready for someone of Gamboa’s quality. It’s just that to see Russell in the ring now you would think he’s a 10+ year veteran. He looks extremely polished with the whole package at his disposal. The 23-year-old has speed, power, defense and controls the ring like a grizzled veteran.

Gamboa is no slouch though. While I am high on Russell, I think Gamboa is the cream of the featherweight division. He, too, has almost unmatched speed and throws deadly accurate combinations. His major flaw is his ability to disappear for a minute or so in some rounds. He can get away with that against most because he is so superior in talent and quickness, but another grade A fighter would be quick to exploit that weakness. Continue reading “Five Fights Wishlist” →

David Haye…a mere footnote


False advertising.

All the talk preceding this fight from David Haye would have led you to think he really was going to try.

You would have thought there would have at least been some sort of effort.

Not only was there a serious lack of effort (as shown by his landing one singular punch in round 10. One punch.

I honestly and truthfully thought Haye would come out and be aggressive, if not right from the get go then at least work himself towards it. It never happened. Haye’s performance was literally the opposite of all his talk. It was one of the most uninspired performances I have ever seen.

My card read like this;

Rd 1, 10-9 Wlad
Rd 2, 10-9 Wlad
Rd 3, 10-9 Haye
Rd 4, 10-9 Wlad
Rd 5, 10-9 Wlad
Rd 6, 10-9 Wlad
Rd 7, 9-9 Wlad (Wlad won the round, but was penalized 1 point for pushing Haye to the canvas)
Rd 8, 10-9 Wlad
Rd 9, 10-9 Wlad
Rd 10, 10-9 Wlad
Rd 11, 10-8 Wlad (Haye ‘fell’ again and ref Gino Rodriguez called it a knock down)
Rd 12, 10-9 Wlad 

118-108 for Wladimir Klitschko

David Haye won one round on my card. It was really one of only two times in the entire fight when he actually showed any form of aggression.

Haye also decided early on that he was going to start flopping all over the ring. Of all the times he was “pushed” to the canvas there were about two times when it was Wladimir’s fault. All the rest were the result of some sort of strange strategy, or at least that was how it seemed to me.

While it’s true that Wladimir jabbed the bejeezus out of Haye and yes, that does make for a boring fight by itself, but if Haye could have at least put the peddle to the floor (aka did what he has run his mouth for two years about) and forced Klitschko to fire back and open himself up. It just seemed as if he was unwilling to exchange with the large Ukrainian.

Lastly, the fact that David Haye said he couldn’t throw his right hand because he had a broken pinky toe is completely ludicrous. When Wladimir questioned his “injury” by asking, “Do you have a medical statement?” Haye responded by showing him his toe, with Wladimir responding, “It’s a bee sting!”

The fight itself was a D+. Extremely boring and I’m sure if I had watched the replay at 9:45 I would have fallen asleep.

On the brighter side of things we do have “Super” Zab Judah vs. Amir “King” Khan coming up soon, July 23!

Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye; War!


I have waited for this for 2+ years.

I have watched and listened as David Haye has tried with every last ounce of his being to get into Wladimir Klitschko’s head.

He’s worn a graphic t-shirt with the decapitated heads of the Klitschko brothers. He’s refused to shake Wladimir’s hand. He’s said he was going to beat Wladimir and then destroy his brother, Vitali. He’s done everything he can think of to rattle a man that seems to be unrattleable (I’m fairly sure that isn’t a word).

Today was the last presser before the fight this Saturday, July 2. There was a stare down that went like this… Continue reading “Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye; War!” →

HBO Boxing After Dark, 6.4.11


Sebastian Zbik vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Robbery!

No, it wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t the best decision I’ve seen.

The champ, Zbik (30-0, 10 KO’s), came out quick. Sticking his surprisingly good jab into the much heavier Chavez Jr’s (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) face*. That jab kept Chavez relatively at bay for the first four rounds as Zbik threw multiple combinations and generally outworked the larger opponent.

(* The HBO broadcast said Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. weighed in, unofficially, the day of the fight at 180lbs. Zbik weighed in at 165lbs on that same HBO scale. In effect it was a fighter that was just 5lbs over the middleweight limit taking on a fighter 5lbs over the light heavyweight limit. Not sure would could be done about a fighter ballooning 20lbs from the weigh-in to the day of the fight. I mention the unofficial weight because it’s definitely a factor.)

The best thing Chavez could have done was use that 180lbs frame to drive and dig hard, thudding body punches into Zbik’s ribs and kidneys. As always the person taking the body shot didn’t react much, if at all, but that is par for the course. The body shots were meant to soften Zbik up and slow him down and they did just that. Continue reading “HBO Boxing After Dark, 6.4.11” →

HBO World Championship Boxing, 4.16.11


Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz

I’ll be honest from the start. I had strangely conflicting opinions and there was probably no way both of them were going to live up to what I thought of each fighter.

Before this fight I thought of Andre Berto as overrated. I thought he fought a lot of cupcakes and had various other reasons to not want to fight any real competition. I thought he was ripe to be exposed, but he needed to fight an elite level talent because he was good enough to slide by on his own talent against mid-level opponents.

Before this fight I thought of Victor Ortiz as soft and with an equally soft chin. Oh, and no heart. I thought the first time he stepped into the ring with a true champion he would be destroyed and end up no better than Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. You know, fighting C-level talent and just skating by on talent, never fighting any true danger to his record.

I was wrong. Both times actually. Continue reading “HBO World Championship Boxing, 4.16.11” →

HBO Boxing After Dark, 3.26.11


Mikey Garcia vs. Matt Remillard (featherweights)

Matt Remillard had said this fight was going to be his coming out party and that he feels as if he can be this generations Micky Ward.

Um…about that, the coming out party was cancelled and Micky Ward took more beatings than he needed to and now has hearing loss in one ear and even he laughed at your prediction.

Garcia looked good. He was much faster and controlled nearly every second of every round. Remillard was game, but just being ‘game’ doesn’t usually translate into a victory. It didn’t this time either.

The fight could have and should have ended sooner. That was my one complaint with Garcia. I realize his job isn’t to entertain the audience, it’s to win the fight, but he could have ended the fight sooner if would have just amped up the pressure/aggression.

Garcia did turn up the dial a notch or two in round 9 when he dropped Remillard twice, then once more in round 10. That was all Remillard or his corner could watch and his corner told the ref that was all she wrote. Continue reading “HBO Boxing After Dark, 3.26.11” →