Boxing: Memorial Day Weekend

FRIDAY - at Lincoln, Rhode Island (ESPN2) - 10 rounds,
cruiserweights: Aaron Williams (17-0-1, 12 KOs) vs.
Jose Luis Herrera (15-4, 15 KOs); 8 rounds, heavyweights:
Jason Estrada (12-1, 2 KOs) vs. Derek Bryant (20-4-1, 17 KOs).

SATURDAY - at Manchester, England (Versus) - 12 rounds,
light welterweights: Ricky Hatton (43-1, 31 KOs) vs.
Juan Lazcano (37-4-1, 27 KOs); 12 rounds, IBF junior
welterweight title: Paul Malignaggi (24-1, 5 KOs)
vs. Lovemore N'dou (46-9-1, 31 KOs); 12 rounds,
welterweights: Matthew Hatton (33-3-1, 13 KOs) vs.
Craig Watson (12-2, 4 KOs).

There are going to be some interesting matches on the two televised boxing cards this weekend. The ESPN FNFs features two fights with up-and-coming young contenders. Cruiserweight Aaron Williams and heavyweight Jason Estrada both have the potential to become top contenders in the next year. Both are facing tough fights against quality opponents.

The Versus card looks very interesting. Paul Malignaggi is having a rematch with Lovemore N'dou, who he decisioned in June of last year. Ricky Hatton is in a tune-up against Juan Lazcano. The idea is that if both Paul and Ricky win, they are going to meet in the ring later this year.

Tune-up fights are sometimes more difficult than anticipated. While both Paul and Ricky are heavily favored to win, anything can happen in that ring. Of the two, Hatton may have the more serious test. Coming back after a tough knock-out loss isn't easy. More, there is a rumor that Hatton has been suffering from an upper respitory infection, but has decided not to postpone the fight. There was a reason why the great Sugar Ray Robinson would postpone fights: he learned the hard way that he needed to come into the ring fully prepared for even an "easy" fight.

Note: Next week, I will be providing some coverage on DU of a boxing card being held at Tioga Downs, near Binghamton, NY. (For more information, go to Pugnacious Promotions' web site.) It will feature some very good young fighters from Albany and Ithaca, NY. I've been helping the promoters, who are old friends, with the media coverage, and will have access to the "locker rooms" both before and after the fights.

He's clearly not big enough to challenge in the Welterweight division and that's where all the big money fighters are. I still think he and Junior Witter should just get it on even if Witter's coming off that loss.

I have little interest in a Mayweather-Hatton rematch (although I have the same low level interest in De La Hoya-Mayweather II).

It's sort of surprising though that this card didn't make it to HBO or Showtime.

Rp

Versus having higher quality fights in the future. That would be good for boxing, because it allows fans to have greater access to the better fighters without paying for it. While subscriptions to HBO and Showtime are relatively cheap, the amount of PPV fights these days leaves many sports fans unwilling to shell out the money for bouts that really are far from "super fights."

Hatton should stick to the smaller weight classes. There is talk about Manny Pacquiao moving up to fight him. While on paper, it might seem that Hatton is simply too big, it may be that the Mayweather fight took more out of him than anticipated. Sluggers like Hatton tend to have briefer careers than the more stylish boxers. Hatton has taken a lot of punches. and I wonder if he might be like Frazier after the first Ali fight, when he had tough bouts with 4th rate contenders Terry Daniels and Ron Stander.

I do not think Oscar de la Hoya can compete with Floyd in the rematch. He has slowed down in the year since their first fight, and I do not see him being able to make it close this time.

First on the too many PPV fights thing, this past weekend alone there were two "latin fury" PPVs with guys that would be lucky to be the middle fight of an HBO Boxing After Dark show.

I can't imagine even the most fervant latino boxing fans finding a reason to pay $34.95 for every latino fight that has even a lower level name on it... especially Julio Cesar Chavez's sons neither of whom have really fought anyone yet.

It's disturbing that Boxing has yet to learn from the success of UFC and instead of having a barrage of PPV fights to pay for they don't just load up 3-4 great fights for a single monthly $50 PPV. Surely the incredibly low buyrate numbers they receive for these marginal prospects on PPV can't be as worthwhile as the reward would be for high buyrates on a loaded card. The guys fighting on PPV now mostly belong on ESPN FNF, Versus, ShoBox or BAD.

As for the Mayweather-DLH rematch, I agree it won't be close. While he seems to have worked diligently on fighting upright it won't matter when Floyd covers up and all Oscar has are those body punch flurries to Floyd's arms that don't count as landed punches. I thought Forbes took a good punch but the fight was incredibly boring and if he looked slow against Forbes it will be ten times worse versus Floyd.

Last week was a good week for fights, specifically that BAD which had some terrific matches on it. Hopefully this week also has some great matches... of course in doing so some fan favorites are going to be in jeopardy considering how heavily favored they are for these fights.

Rp

In the first fight, Eddie Cotton seemed to step in too often to separate the fighters, sometimes even before they clinched. Throughout the fight, he kept shouting "stop, stop, stop" every time the fighters came close together. I think it disfavored N'dou who wanted to fight on the inside. Malignaggi was faster and more mobile than N'dou to begin with and has better boxing skills and I think that preventing any inside game for N'dou took away his one chance of making it a competitive fight. I don't favor one fighter over the other but I just want to see a spirited and competitive bout.

on a recent ESPN card, one ref called "break" three times when the two fighters had no physical contact with one another. Though it made me laugh, it really can be a distraction for the fighters.

I agree with your assessment. "In-fighting" is an art, and great fighters from Henry Armstrong to Joe Frazier were masters of it. Take away the opportunity for them to wear an opponent out with in-fighting, and their careers would have been different.

Professional boxing needs refs who are fully aware of the differences between it and the amateurs. Paul M definitely benefits from having a ref call it more like an amateur contest. More, I think that Paul can do fine with a rougher, more physical fight: he is a very strong, well-conditioned fighter, who brings back memories of Willie Pep (who could battle in close quite well). Letting the two fight inside will make it a far more competitive and interesting fight.

I've seen boxing fans sometimes criticize the judges for judging a pro fight like an amateur one, in overlooking the quality of the punches in favor of the accuracy and quantity of them. I've never thought about the effect a career as an amateur referee might have on one who moves to the pros. I don't know about Eddie Cotton's background and whether he's had a long career in the amateurs. I guess top refs are expected to have acquired a significant amateur refereeing background and are probably recruited from the amateur ranks, just like the fighters themselves. I just don't care for Eddie Cotton's style, going back to the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson fight and the fact that he doesn't let the fighters mix it up enough which disfavors the smaller in-fighter. But your observation about refs from amateur boxing who continue to call a pro fight like an amateur contest makes sense.

Paulie Malignaggi should feel quite honored that you would compare him to Willie Pep, who is one of the all time greats. Malignaggi definitely has skills. What impressed me, however, was his loss to Miguel Cotto. He took a lot of punishment in that fight and still survived, which can't be said for too many of Cotto's opponents. Malignaggi has a good chin.

I found some old pictures of Willie Pep when he was the ref for one of my bouts. I can remember that I was more nervous beforehand, because of him, rather than the guy I was fighting. Pep was friends with former welterweight contender Carl Delberta, who I used to fight for, and it was a "bootleg" card in Oneonta, NY.

Paul got cut in the first round against Cotto, and felt pressured to change his style. It is possible that the change was part of the reason he did so well. Not only did he take a vicious beating, but he also put some hurt on one of the toughest men in boxing.

The Cotto vs Margarito fight sounds explosive to me. Who do you think will win? I think a good case can be made for either one. Although I like the boxers, these two could make for one of the most exciting fights of the decade.

The boxing forums in which I post, like the ESPN boxing forum is abuzz with excitement over the Cotto/Margarito fight. It's generating more excitement than any fight I've seen in quite awhile. I wouldn't be surprised if either man won. To me, it's the irresistable force meeting the immovable object (take your pick on who is who). I think a case could be made for either man winning. Both are the types of throwback fighters who will go on to the bitter end and who can take as well as they dish out. I think Cotto is the more skilled fighter, with quicker hands and feet and he's improved his defense and developed a pretty good jab. Margarito, though, may be the biggest man Cotto has ever faced, with about a four inch height advantage and Margarito has a phenomenal work rate, as does Cotto. Both men have good chins. The one question mark I have about Cotto is his stamina. He looked spent in the last few rounds against Shane Moseley, who made Cotto work very hard and took him into deep water. He's a small welterweight who has come up from jr. welter. Margarito meanwhile has fought as high as 150 lbs. Margarito's record is better than the 36/5 he has, as three of his losses came very early in his career. Cotto has got to be the favorite, as he's the up-and-coming superstar and undefeated, with the awesome body punch. But I don't think it will be an easy fight for him, especially if Margarito can make him back up and fight going backwards.

and Cotto ends slow. He was tired with Paul M, too. Plus the size difference you mentioned: besides being taller, he has a long reach.

Cotto seems like one of the more relaxed fighters in the ring. That can be a big advantage. It is really Margarito's first time on this big of a stage. Cotto has fought top guys like Mosley and Judah (even if both are getting a little older).