Tag: Floyd Mayweather

KARIM “HARD HITTA” MAYFIELD READY TO STEP UP AND GIVE MAYWEATHER A HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE FIGHT

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                                              Photo By Team Mayfield
Press Release             For Immediate Release

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (July 6, 2015) – After pound for pound king Floyd “Money” Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) mentioned Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield (19-2-1, 11 KOs) as one of his possible opponents for his final contracted fight with Showtime, the San Francisco native says is ready to step up and give Mayweather his first loss. 

“I’m always ready to fight anyone anywhere,” said Karim Mayfield. “The fact that the great Floyd Mayweather has mentioned me as someone he wants to fight in September is music to my ears.  It would be an honor to fight Floyd in Las Vegas.  He’s done a lot for the sport and he’s arguably the best fighter to ever lace em up.  My last few fights have been at 140 pounds and I know the extra weight would make me more powerful.  I fought Francisco Santana at 152 pounds and gave him his only KO loss. I’m very powerful and comfortable at that weight. I know I would give Floyd all he can handle.  My trainer Ben Bautista and I have a game plan we know will be successful against Mayweather.  I’d give Floyd his first loss in a highly explosive fight.” 

Set for September 12, 2015, Mayweather will fight an opponent TBA at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.  Mayfield, along with Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs) are fighters Floyd Mayweather has mentioned as potential opponents.  Karim feels he’s the better option. 

“No disrespect to Andre Berto, he’s a good fighter and we have a mutual respect for one another, but he’s not as durable as I am. Berto has two losses against opponent’s Floyd has already defeated.  I’ve never been dropped, battered or bruised in any of my fights. I bring a rough style to this fight, a style the fans want to see Floyd up against. In addition, the Bay Area is a big media market and I know all my fans here would rise up and support me.  My brother La Ron and I, who are independent, sold out my last fight in San Francisco.  I’m confident we can bring a big crowd to Las Vegas.  It’s only an hour fight away.” 

Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs), who’s been begging to fight Mayweather since 2014, is another fighter campaigning to fight Mayweather.  After sparring Khan on numerous occasions, Mayfield feels Amir is an easier fight.

“Every time I sparred Amir Khan at Virgil Hunter’s gym, I put hands on him,” Mayfield declared. “So bad that Virgil had to stop the sparring sessions.  Khan has also been brutally knocked out twice by Prescott and Garcia.  The man has no chin and he wouldn’t last twelve rounds with Money Mayweather.  He’s definitely the safer route.” 

Mayfield, who’s been in camp with Manny Pacquiao, Antonio Margarito and Danny Garcia to name a few, has all the experience needed to give the fans an entertaining fight.  He’s beaten many undefeated fighters and has a unanimous decision win against Mauricio Herrera. 

“No one can deny my heart and determination to fight the best,” Mayfield continued. “I’ve been the ring with everyone. I soundly beat Herrera, I whooped Pacquiao and Khan in sparring.  Shawn Porter refused to step in the ring when he had the choice to fight me or Erick Bone with only one day notice. A lot of fighters have ducked me because I’m a serious threat to anyone.” 

Mayfield feels the fans want to see Floyd Mayweather give an African-American fighter a chance to dethrone him.  Mayweather’s last seven opponents have been either, Mexican, Argentinean, Filipino or Puerto Rican. 

“I think it’s time for the fans to see Floyd give a brotha a shot.” Mayfield concluded. “Shane Mosley and Zab Judah gave Floyd a run for his money.  I feel I can do the same but come out victorious.”

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Mario Serrano,  Publicist Team Mayfield,  Press Release

“Greed” vs. “Public” The Fight Of The Century

For what shall it profit a man if they shall gain the whole world but lose their own soul? Boxing gained the world with the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao bout but in the end, did the sweet science lose its soul?

From the beginning, it was correctly speculated that this fight would be the most lucrative in the sport’s storied history but it wasn’t until “Mr. Greed” reared his ugly head and called out “Mr. Public” that we disappointedly understood the reality of the situation.

“Mr. Greed” vs. “Mr. Public”- The Fight Of The Century

THE EARLY ROUNDS–

 Although Pay-Per-View (PPV) prices have increased over the past several years, they have settled around the high fifties for a non HD telecast with HD in the high sixties. The PPV price for Mayweather/Pacquiao was set at Non HD= $89.95, HD=$99.95, a considerable increase.

 It is understood that when a big fight is in town, especially a Floyd Mayweather fight, hotels on the Las Vegas Strip will significantly increase. When this fight was announced, some properties tripled or in some cases, even quadrupled in price over “typical” Mayweather fight week prices.

 “Greed” establishes the jab, keeping “Public” off balance and unable to implement a counter attack.

 

THE MIDDLE ROUNDS–

 The cheapest ticket prices for the masses to attend Mayweather/Pacquiao started at $1,500 for a “nosebleed” seat and went up from there with only a reported five hundred made available to the general public in an arena that seats over 16K. Conveniently, all tickets sold out in minutes with a large majority immediately available on the secondary market starting as “low” as a years salary for most people, and in some cases six figures being the cost for the golden ticket.

 If that was out of your price range and you were going to Vegas, no need for frustration, you can watch on closed circuit for a price of $150 plus tax, oh, albeit only at MGM properties and only if you were lucky enough to snag a ticket in the hour before they too sold out. If not, tickets could be had on the secondary market with some asking and receiving four times the original amount.

 “Greed” lands an uppercut!!!!! “Public” is down!!

 For the first time, tickets are sold for a weigh in.  The tickets are very reasonable at $10 with the amazing gesture of all proceeds going to charity.

 “Public” is up at the count of seven and lands a counter right as “Greed” comes rushing in for the finish.

 Moments after all weigh in tickets sell out in under an hour, the secondary market was littered with them and listed upwards of $700 for a single $10 ticket. Dishearteningly, not all proceeds from the weigh in tickets sales will make it to the charities.

 “Greed ” hits “Public” with a low blow.

 

THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS–

 As the world watched, Mayweather dominated Pacquiao with the beauty of the sweet science leaving countless fans unsatisfied…and then the unthinkable……Pacquiao claims that he had, and fought, with a shoulder injury; however, when filling out the pre-fight medical paperwork, the fighter and his camp documented a picture of health.

 As of this writing, there have been 13 class action lawsuits filed in eight states, each in excess of five million dollars alleging that Pacquiao’s injury “unquestionably materially, significantly and negatively affected the quality of the product” and that the failure to disclose the injury turned the “Fight of the Century” into the “Sleight of the Century.”

 “Public” lands an overhand right and rocks “Greed”

 The projected amount of money generated from the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is (amount in millions) PPV $500, Live Gate $72, Sponsorship $13, and Closed Circuit- $10. It’s understood that the simple rules of economics applies here and supply and demand will always dictate pricing but when is it enough?

Sadly, a bad precedent has been set for future mega bouts…..the sweet science can bet its soul.

  “Greed” recovers and attacks “Public” to the ropes landing a blistering combination……”Public” is down!!!!!!…..”Public” has been knocked out.

“Was it a huntsman or a player, that made you pay the cost, that now assumes relaxed positions and prostitutes your loss? Were you tortured by your own thirst in those pleasures that you seek, that made you Tom the curious, that makes you James the weak?”  -Rodriguez

He’s Money Again

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Floyd Mayweather (48-0 26 KO) dominated Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2 38 KO) with murderous right hand counter punching, a stiff jab, and some of the finest ring generalship you will see to put all doubts to rest with regards to this highly anticipated matchup. The pride of the Philippines was simply outclassed.

The judges scorecards- 118-110, 116-112 X2, Standing-8 had it 118-110.

Mayweather boxed brilliantly using his trademark defense to swiftly move out of harms way when Pacquiao tried to launch an attack. Pacquiao was able to land a few solid shots on the pound for pound great but it was mostly flurries to the gloves with no real threat. His inability to cut off the ring also contributed to his demise.

Mayweather jabbed enough to keep Pacquiao off balance while landing low to the body to keep him guessing and continuously making him reset. When Manny did try and rush Floyd, he was stopped in his tracks by solid jab, straight right or swift left check hook for his troubles.

Most of the rounds were a carbon copy of the next, brilliance, a masterpiece against a quality opponent.

After the fight, a good portion of the crowd booed Mayweather as he gave his post fight interview. Really??

The sport is called the sweet science, hit and don’t get hit. Mix it up on your own terms, use lateral movement, go to the body, out maneuver your opponent, control space and distance, and use your opponents strengths against him. Mayweather did all exceptionally well as he usually does.

Mayweather is one of the last complete fighters in the sport. Instead of booing the artistry, appreciate it, it’s what the sport is about.

The great ones don’t come around often and they’ll miss him when he’s gone.

The bottom line is Mayweather made a hall of fame fighter look ordinary and that speaks volumes about this living legend, like him or not.

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week


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Road Warrior

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IBF/WBO/WBA “Super” Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (27-0-1 24 KO) is an oddity. While most champions dictate every move to make their journey more comfortable, Kovalev will travel to your backyard to fight you.

On Saturday night, Kovalev traveled to the Bell Centre in Montreal to face former WBC Light Heavyweight Champion,  Canadian Jean Pascal (29-2-1 17 KO) and found himself in a dogfight.

From the opening round, it was a chess match and clash of styles. The precise calculated attack of Kovalev against the speed , movement, and counters of Pascal. Kovalev was working behind the jab following it with the right hand. Kovalev was jabbing Pascal in the chest to keep him off balance and keep him guessing where the jab would land .

Pascal was quick and surprisingly was able to move forward at times and force Kovalev backwards. Pascal was outstanding in countering Kovalev and had a great round in the third but also got rocked by a big right hand for his troubles.

Pascal actually did some solid work over the next few rounds. Kovalev was on the attack but Pascal was landing more huge counter left hooks and overhand rights. The speed of Pascal was the difference in allowing him to sustain a counter attack. The champion was stalking but was more cautious than we have seen him in the past as he was respecting the speed of which the counter shots were coming.

In the seventh, Kovalev landed a big left at the end of the round that hurt Pascal badly as he wobbled to his corner.

In the eighth, Kovalev had Pascal reeling after a five punch combination culminating with a left hook that sent Pascal flying into the ropes which saved him from going down. As Pascal recoiled off the ropes Kovalev attacked and their feet got tangled causing Kovalev to fall.

As Kovalev was getting to his feet and the referee was ruling it a slip/trip, Pascal was drunk on his feet wobbling as he moved to the neutral corner. Pascal was so visibly hurt as he stumbled that Kovalev took the opportunity to point at him with a smirk as if to say, “look how bad he’s hurt”.  When the fight ensued, Kovalev landed two right hands on a defenseless Pascal causing the referee to jump in and stop the fight.

Good stoppage. The shot at the end of the previous round had already started the damage. All three judges had it 68-64 Kovalev at the time of the stoppage which was officially at 1:03 of the eighth.

This was a great fight and was highly entertaining. We saw the champ pushed like he had not been pushed before and he responded like a true champion. Pascal showed his mettle and fought gallantly till the end.

A few soundbites from the champ after the fight-

On why Pascal was successful early- “I didn’t like how I started, after four rounds, I got it under control.”

If he ever got hurt during the fight- “I got from him good right hand, I had harder fights than this in amatuer career” “He got me with a couple good punches, I never lost control, it’s boxing”

“Bring it on!” when asked about a fight with WBC champ Adonis Stevenson to unify the titles.

On a rematch with Pascal, “If my promoter says I will fight pascal again I’m ready”

Kovalev is now the WBC mandatory and that strap belongs to Stevenson.

Gas up the plane he’s on the move again.

PSST……Hey Guys, Uh, This Is For A Shot At The Title……………

You would think that a fight between two athletic heavyweights fighting in an IBF eliminator for the right to be the mandatory challenger for undisputed heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko would make for a great fight but….

Ukrainian Vyacheslav Glazkov  (20-0-1 12 KO) defeated Philadelphia’s Steve “USS” Cunningham (28-7 13 KO) by unanimous decision, 116-112, 115-113, 116-112 in a less than stellar affair and somewhat controversial decision.

Standing-8 had the fight a draw, 114-114. The HBO broadcast crew were in agreement with ringside scorer Harold Lederman that Cunningham had won the fight.

There were a lot of close rounds in this fight. Cunningham controlled the first half of the fight by being the more active fighter. Cunningham used an active jab to set up overhand rights and a good body attack. Cunningham’s movement was also key here as anytime that Glazkov started to mount an attack, Cunningham would use his feet to get out of harms way and begin to stick the jab again. Cunningham can credit his activity level for being the difference in the first half of the fight.

In the seventh, Glazkov began to find his range a bit more and over the second half of the fight controlled most of the rounds by landing the harder shots and was just better for the majority of the round. Again, there were a lot of close rounds and you could probably go one way or the other so if the judges gave Glazkov the swing rounds, you would end up with the scores you did.

In the end, neither pugilist fought like they were battling for a title shot.

I’D Like To Thank AL Haymon

For the second week in a row, we were treated to an installment of the Premier Boxing Champions series, this time on Spike TV. The series is off to a decent start. Two solid entertaining cards that gave us some of the best fights of the year so far. A full recap of Friday’s card is below.

Red Carpet Treatment

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The press conference for the May 2nd fight between pound for pound champ Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao was a spectacle that received star treatment. Complete with a red carpet and sectioned off paparazzi with camera’s flashing, the scene was reminiscent of the Academy Awards. Some highlights-

“May 2nd. The Fight of the Century. It’s all about the best fighting the best.” – Mayweather

“This fight could’ve happened a long time ago, but it’s the right time now. It’s an unbelievable matchup and I know the fans can’t wait for this. The timing is right and the timing is now.

“We finally made it happen. Everything is about timing.-Mayweather

“May 2 we have a tough task ahead of me. Manny Pacquaio is a good fighter, but last time I checked I faced eight southpaws and won eight times, so I am not worried” -Mayweather

“I believe this is what [fans] have been waiting five years for…We will do our best on 5/2 to make you happy.” -Pacquiao

“In Miami we talked about the fight and I understood that I was the B side and he was the A side”- Pacquiao

“I like being the underdog going into a fight. It has been a while since I’ve been one. This time around it gives me much more motivation and I am determined to prove that I can win”-Pacquiao

“We’re fighting the best fighter in the world, and we’re gonna kick his ass. I’m sorry, but, good luck, Floyd.”-Freddie Roach

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Middleweight destroyer and title holder Gennady Golovkin (32-0 29 KO) will make the 14th defense of his strap on May 16 against southpaw Willie Monroe Jr. ( 19-1 6 KO)from The Forum in Inglewood, California. Golovkin was trying to knuckle up with Miguel Cotto but was unable to get a willing dance partner.

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week

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Where Were You?
Due to the importance of “the fight” for the annuals of the sport and the build up of the past several years it will be one of those “where were you moments” when recalling your exact location when the Mayweather Pacquiao announcement was made. Mayweather Pacquiao, May 2, MGM Grand Las Vegas. The journey was long but we will now finally see arguably the two best fighters of their generation square off.

Agreed, this fight should ideally have been made years ago but it wasn’t so get over it. This is boxing and if history has taught us anything it’s that things don’t always happen as they should. The alternative would have been that the fight was never made and then what, listen to decades of debate?  No thanks, this is good for the sport and for the legacy of both fighters. You still have the top P4P fighter in the game facing a top three P4P fighter.

Standing-8 was in Las Vegas.

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Gennady Golovkin (32-0 29 KO) was relentless in his 11th Round TKO defeat of Martin Murray (29-2-1 12 KO) in Monte Carlo on Saturday night. GGG bloodied and bruised Murray while dropping him three times in route to the stoppage at 2:10 of the eleventh.

From the opening bell, Golovkin did what he does best, attack, attack, attack. Golovkin cut off the ring and swarmed Murray. Using precise, accurate, and economical punches, Golovkin systematically broke Murray down throughout the fight by landing hooks to the body (some of which dropped Martin), and combinations to the head which included a few timely uppercuts.

Murray is one tough dude with a hell of a beard. He was game throughout the fight, and won a few rounds while having plenty of moments throughout the fight. Murray was able to land overhand rights on Golovkin and work his body but could not do so with any type of consistency due to Golovkin’s constant pressure.Murray landed some very sharp hard punches on Golovkin but simply could not hurt him.

It’s hard to find a negative after such a dominating performance but Golovkin’s defense was a bit porous. Going forward it may pose a problem against a heavy-handed opponent or a boxer/puncher.

Nonetheless, Golovkin looked amazing and upped his consecutive knockout streak to 19.

Boxcino- Time for the Bigs
The Boxcino heavyweight quarterfinals got underway this past Friday night, here is a recap of the tournament openers=

Donovan Dennis 11-1 (9 KO) vs. Steve Vukosa 10-1 (4KO)

Dennis knocked Vukosa down in the third and although Vukosa was able to make it to the bell, he was stopped in the fourth. Dennis dominated all aspects of the fight prior to the stoppage.

Dennis, the Davenport, Iowa native is probably the best pure boxer of the bunch with the quickest hands however he will need to tighten his defense up a bit as he has shown that he can be hit.

Said Dennis, “I took what I could get. I was patient. I was disappointed they stopped it. I had more to show. I’m just looking to get better.”

Dennis will now face the 6’7 Romanian Razvan Cojanu in the semi-finals because…….

Razvan Cojanu 13-1 (7 KO) vs. Ed Fountain 10-1 (4 KO)

Cojanu had his hands full against the undersized and less experienced Fountain. So much in fact that their fight was called a draw after six rounds causing the two combatants to have to fight a seventh and deciding round. Fountain had a chance here but was fatigued which allowed Cojanu to lean on him and do enough to win the round and as a result, the fight.

Cojanu said afterward, “I couldn’t see anything. I was fighting with one eye. Buddy (McGirt) told me to jab and it worked”

Countered Fountain, ” I fought hard, The ref didn’t help. I’ll see Cojanu again after the tournament.”
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Andrey Fedosov 26-3 ( 21 KO ) vs. Nate Heaven 9-2 (7 KO)

Fedosov was dominating in his first round destruction of Heaven. Fedosov dropped Heaven with a left hook and although Heaven was able to get to his feet, he was hit by another left hook and stopped.

“Everything went to plan. Shorten the distance and use my power. That’s what happened.” Said Fedosov

Fedosov is undersized but his opponents should beware, Fedosov could be the sleeper in the tournament.

Fedosov will now face Lenroy Thomas because….

Jason Estrada 20-5 (6 KO) vs.  Lenroy Thomas 18-3 (9 KO)

Estrada and Thomas fought a pretty close fight, so close that they had to go to a seventh round tie breaker. Thomas did enough in the deciding round to take the victory but it really shouldn’t have come to that as he had controlled the fight with his height and reach and exposed Estrada as the last-minute replacement that he was.

Back To The Future

Al Haymon continued his old school approach inking PBC with CBS. (See article below)

Remember The Alamo

Canelo Alvarez had threatened to challenge Mayweather’s May 2 date but since “the fight” was made, he moved his fight against James Kirkland a week later to May 9 from the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Bragging Rights To Define A Career, Mayweather Pacquiao Confirmed For May 2

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Game On!!!! The much anticipated announcement of Floyd “Money” Mayweather (47-0 26 KO) and Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (57-5 38 KO) was made today by Mayweather himself via Shots App-

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The unification bout on May 2 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada will be for the WBC, WBA, an WBO belts, but far more importantly the unofficial title of “Best Fighter Of Their Generation”.

The bout will be co-promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank Inc., and will be co-produced and distributed live by  both Showtime and HBO, PPV of course with the early rumors listing the buy at $100. There will be a few joint partnerships between Showtime and HBO here such as both ring announcers Jimmy Lennon Jr. (Showtime) and Michael Buffer (HBO) sharing the duties similarly as they did for the Mike Tyson Lennox Lewis bout.

Showtime and HBO on the mega bout-

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Both fighters released statements on the fight which will undoubtedly be the highest grossing fight ever.

“I am glad my decision to meet with Manny and discuss making this fight happen helped get the deal done,” said Mayweather. “Giving the fans what they want to see is always my main focus. This will be the biggest event in the history of the sport. Boxing fans and sports fans around the world will witness greatness on May 2. I am the best ever, TBE, and this fight will be another opportunity to showcase my skills and do what I do best, which is win. Manny is going to try to do what 47 before himfailed to do, but he won’t be successful. He will be number 48.”

“This is the right fight for boxing. Floyd Mayweather and I is the fight boxing fans have wanted for years and I am looking forward to it. I will be representing my fans and my country and trying to bring glory to the Philippines.” said Pacquiao. 

There is no rematch clause and Mayweather will be the A-Side here on the contracted 60-40 split.

Years and years of will they or won’t they can now be put to rest. The two best fighters of the past decade will knuckleup for bragging rights not seen in the sweet science in some time. A defining exclamation point to solidify a career. 

If the fight is anything like the build up of the past few years and more specifically like the past month, we are in for one hell of a night on May 2.

Who You Can’t Wait To See Again

1) Floyd Mayweather- Painting materpieces fight after fight, the canvas, his canvas. One of the best ever, nuff said.

2) Vasyl Lomachenko – Arguably the greatest amatuer in history, he has moved his talents seamlessly to the pro game. Beautiful to watch him work his craft.

3) Erislandy Lara- What he does is called the sweet science not boring as some as implied. Hit and don’t get hit is what it’s about.

4) Terence Crawford- Getting better and better with each fight. Not only does he have outstanding boxing skills , he can punch too.

5) Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero – This dude brings it fight in and fight out. He boxes beautifully but when he gets hit, all bets are off and the “warrior” comes out. A spiritual family man and one of the good guys in the game.

6) Roman Gonzalez- All action, all the time. Stud.

7) Andy Lee- Love his throwback style.

8) Timothy Bradley- You’re going to get a war every time out.

9) Amir Khan-Seems to be getting better with age.

10) Keith Thurman- “One-Time” can box or punch and is a student of the game.

11) Shawn Porter- Showtime is as tough as they come.

12) Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez- “Zurdo” is a rising star. A southpaw with size, skill, and power. Remember the name.

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week

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Trilogy, The Lord of The Ring

Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (33-2-1 24 KOs)  dominated “Mile High” Mike Alvarado (34-4, 23 KOs) on Saturday night from the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield Colorado to win  the WBO International Welterweight Title. Rios looked beter than he has in some time controling the fight from the opening bell stalking Alvarado and landing strong combinations to the body and head. Alvarado began the fight with  a tight guard almost as if he didn’t know what to expect from the first punch.  We got our anwser as he seemed stunned by the first shot he took. Round One to Rios in a landslide. In the second,  Rios continued to attack and was only slowed by a low blow that made him take a knee momentarily.  Alvarado was landing a shot here and there but mostly only in a defensive and desperate effort to keep Rios off of him. In between rounds two and three, you could hear Alvarado tell his corner that he was having trouble seeing.

In the third, Rios was landing hooks to the body and following them with uppercuts.  The uppercut would be Rios’ weapon of choice as he dropped Alvarado with a right uppercut that was followed by a few glancing blows, but it was the uppercut that did the damage. As Alvarado got to his feet Rios continued his attack.In the corner between rounds, Alvarado was again complaining of vision problems. The ringside physician held up two fingers and asked Alvarado how many fingers he had up to which he replied “four”.  The ringside physician told Jay Nady, “I showed him two fingers, he answered four, fights over”.

CompuBox numbers showed that Rios landed 120 punches out of 290 to Alvarado’s 20 out of 87. Said Rios after the fight to HBO’s Jim Lampley, “I had to come prepared because this could have been the end of my career, I have a lot of gas in my tank still and I didn’t want that”. Rios did look good and better than he has for a while. Some have questioned if it was due to a lethargic opponent, I’d say somewhere in between, not Rios at his best and definitely not the version we saw against Manny Pacquiao.

As for Alvarado, when you get arrested three weeks before your fight at 4 AM in the morning, your dedication can be questioned on many levels especially after the effort that was put forth. Said Alvarado,  “It was all in the preparation, I wasn’t training like I should have been, this is what I get.”  You think?

Mike is a winner, he just needs to convince himself, deal with those demons outside of the ring and show the world.

So, the trilogy that was prematurely placed on the same level as Gatti Ward, fizzled as only one combatant showed up. That fighter, now the winner of two of the three and both by stoppage,  is The Lord Of The Ring.

Life Lessons

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (31-0 24 KOs) defeated Maxim Vlasov (30-2 15 KOs) by unanimous decision with scores of, 96-94 X2, 97-93. It was a workman like performance for the young kid. Ramirez destroyed Vlasov’s body but was unable to land a significant punch to put Vlasov in any serious trouble. As stated in Standing-8 after Ramirez’s last fight,  “If there was an area for critique, it would be in Ramirez’s tendency to fight “small” at times which has left him open for counter overhand rights which his opponents have been able to land from time to time. Although he has displayed a solid beard he would benefit by tightening up his defense a bit more.”  Again, Ramirez couldn’t protect from the right had as Vlasov landed them repeatedly.  This kid has the goods but he better guard against those right hands because as the competition gets stronger he may not be able to absorb the punches as easily.

There were a lot of close rounds in this fight but Vlasov slowed his activity in the middle of the fight, a product of the body shots no doubt, which allowed Ramirez to capture them. Vlasov did have a few strong rounds towards the end of the fight but it was a little too late. Ramirez is one of the rising stars in boxing but showed a bit of a porous defense not adjusting to being hit with repeated rights. His jab, usually a big weapon, was underutilized. The fight was there for Vlasov but he failed to sustain his attack. A tough test for the young undefeated Ramirez. He was pushed in this fight and while his string of four straight stoppages ended, what he learned here will be more valuable than a stoppage as he moves on in his career.

We Love The Commercials

It’s not a matter of if Pacquiao and Mayweather will fight it’s a matter of when. Pacquiao says he signed the contract,  Mayweather says there’s still more work to do because of the money. Maybe they’re going to announce it during a Super Bowl commercial, wouldn’t that be something? I can see it now, something out of Wayne’s World, “Game On”. In any event this site has had their hotel room booked since last August in anticipation of the May 2 date.

Junk Yard Dogs 

Picture a junk yard with two starving dogs, one named Cinnamon, one Mandingo. Now picture a steak being thrown in the middle of them, add a Wolfe and things may just get interesting. Coming May 2nd, or later if “The Fight” is made which will put the junkyard battle on hold for a moment.

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week

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Corn Husked

Terence Crawford (25-0 17 KO) dominated Ray Beltran (29-7-1 17 KO) in front of a raucous hometown crowd at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday night. Crawford boxed beautifully switching stances with ease from orthodox to southpaw while keeping the slugging Beltran guessing all night. In the rare moments when Beltran was successful in landing a power shot, Crawford responded by coming back even harder and is so accurate in landing his own power counter shots that opponents have no choice but to pull back out of harm’s way and reset. Even though he was up by a large margin late in the fight, you have to love this guy’s warrior spirit as he continued to look for a stoppage. There are very few fighters in the game with the skill level and ring IQ of Crawford at the present time and he just may be the fighter of the year while entering all P4P lists. An amazing humble talent who will only get better.

Heavyweight Eliminated

Tyson Fury (23-0 17 KO) dominated Dereck Chisora (20-5 13 KO) in a WBO heavyweight eliminator bout and won by 10th round TKO when Chisora’s corner threw in the towel. Chisora was never in the fight. Fury dominated with his jab, fought from the southpaw stance at times, and landed multiple combinations when needed. For an eliminator fight for the right to knuckle up with undisputed champ Wladimir Klitshcko, this sure wasn’t what you’d expect from two heavyweights. Chisora could have benefitted from exhibiting a little “fury” and Fury could have made a statement by “personally” stopping an opponent who didn’t want to be there. The action got so dull it prompted Referee McDonnell to proclaim “ Either you fight or we go home”, not something you want to hear during a main event, especially one billed as “Bad Blood”. This was a rematch of their 2011 fight also dominated by Fury but not to the extent as was the case on Saturday. Thankfully, we will all be spared from a trilogy.

Sr. Was A Bit Off About Jr.

Leading into Chris Eubank Jr’s (18-1 13 KO) fight with Billy Joe Saunders (21-0 11 KO), Chris Eubank Sr. had made claims that Jr. could beat Gennady Golovkin, is comparable to Sugar Ray Leonard and will be better than Floyd Mayweather Jr. So on cue, Eubank Jr. promptly goes out and loses by split decision to Saunders. The fight was really a tale of two halves. Saunders did his best work early with Eubank coming on strong late, albeit not soon enough. Eubank has talent and may one-day achieve his father’s expectations but he has a ways to go. I believe Jr. will learn from this defeat and would win the rematch; however, he needs a solid trainer who will tell Sr. to leave the training business to the trainer and maybe, just maybe Jr. will achieve Sr.’s prophecy and be “simply the best”.  

2015, The Year Of The Sheep

Ever since Manny Pacquiao defeated Chris Algieri, the Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. talk resurfaced and reached levels not seen in some time. Both sides are verbally jabbing through social media and all indications are this fight will happen in 2015.  If so, we will all be like sheep following the herd to the fight venue or the nearest PPV feed. Baaaa Game On!

Biased Based Commentary

On the undercard of Crawford v. Beltran, HBO aired Evgeny Gradovich v. Jayson Velez. This fight was declared a draw and this snippet is less about the decision but more so about the increasing effort by HBO staff to favor a specific fighter regardless of what is occurring in the ring. It was clear that the HBO staff favored Gradovich.  Velez was doing very well in the fight but you would never have known that had your screen went blank and you only had audio to carry you through. HBO’s ring side scorer Steve Weisfeld was actually unbiased until his counterparts kept hyping up Gradovich apparently indirectly pressuring him to change his mind on what he was seeing as evident by his scorecard. After the fight, the HBO crew had Gradovich winning comfortably only to find out that the fight had been declared a draw. This snippet is not to argue if the decision was correct or not correct, but only to comment that Velez did well in a close fight and deserved at the very least some credit from the ringside crew.

The Wrestler,,,Uh, Boxer

Mickey Rourke won an exhibition fight at 62 years of age against 29 year old Elliot Seymour. This fight was all hollywood and not to be confused with the sweet science. Rumors are flying that Seymour threw the fight, is possibly a homeless man, or has medical problems. Unsure the validity of any of those claims but let’s just take the fight at face value, it was an exhibition for entertainment nothing more nothing less.