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Boxing from an odd angle.
by Marty Mulcahey (April 29, 2003)
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Last week featured great fights, dominating performances, questionable judging, upsets, newly found talent, blood, sweat, and lewd ringcard girls. What more could a boxing fan ask for? Well, a decent heavyweight challenger would be good, but I try stay within the realm of possibilities in my weekly review of all things boxing.
Let's start with the best fight of the weekend, provided, as usual, by HBO. The clash between James Toney and Vassiliy Jirov was a classic test of wills, with a more seasoned Toney winning the bout on guile as much as guts. I picked Jirov to win a close fight on points, and frankly would not argue with people who saw Jirov as the winner. My scoring was in favor of Toney by one point. As was the case with Barrera vs. Morales I, the quality of the fight overcame the ineptitude of the judges.
Adjudicating either Toney or Jirov the winner is not the problem in my eyes, but a cushion of three points, maximum, in favor of either man would seem a stretch. The judges who gave Toney six & eight point margins of victory need to be put in the same post-life hell as the person who invented thong underwear in PLUS sizes. Please don't ask me how I know they exist.
None of the controversy can take away from the quality of the bout. Seldom do we see men over 175 pounds give as much non-stop action to fans as this fight did. Most of the credit must go to Jirov, who charged into the fray with the enthusiasm of a puppy, forcing a fast pace upon Toney. If given the chance, Toney would have preferred to throw a third of the punches he did. Toney showed he is the consummate pro, by throwing eye catching counters between the rain of punches from Jirov. The Kazakhstan native did not make it hard for Toney to find him either, showing less head movement than the Lincoln Memorial. Both men have elevated themselves with their performances....... rematch anyone?
Why has no one else brought up the fact that Jirov's management blew it when they did not ask for at least one neutral judge, or a neutral referee? This bout featured a European boxer fighting in America, against an American, with three American judges, and an American referee (who did an excellent job) for the IBF belt.... which is an American sanctioning body. If you replace the word American with German, the outcry from the American press would be heard all the way to Europe. Max Kellerman would be leading the 3rd Infantry in an assault on Berlin if the roles were reversed, and it was Toney who had lost by those scores in Europe.
Does anyone else think the back of James Toney's neck looks like one of those Shar-Pei dogs?
Vassiliy Jirov could be remembered as the Kevin Kelley of the cruiserweights - a boxer who led HBO to quality fights in a long overlooked weight class. Too bad there is not enough quality below the top four at cruiser to keep Jirov on HBO's payroll the way Kelley was.
Jim Lampley lost all control of the post fight interview with the new champion. James Toney ignored (instead calling out Chris Byrd at ringside) the questions and rambled on about whatever he wanted, with no relevancy to anything. Imagine if Toney had tried to do that with Larry Merchant. Larry would have told Toney to shut up or speak to his promoter if he wanted to make matches, while delivering a forearm shiver (as he did to a Wayne McCullough cornerman) to Toney's chest if he tried to grab the microphone from his hands.
The ironic part of what we are seeing from HBO, over the last 30 days, is that you got to view their best fights for free, while the previous HBO show (on HBO PPV featuring Barrera vs. Kelley) and this week's mismatch of De La Hoya vs. Campas is on HBO pay per view. They say matchmaking is an art, if that is the case, then the HBO brain trust has taken a course in abstract art.
Add this to my list of my pet peeves. Why are boxers (almost all the time) forced to touch gloves with an opponent before the bout, and to begin the last round? Let's face it, there are some people in life that you can't stand. Why would I want to shake hands with them before punching them in the head?
Lost in all drama of the Toney vs. Jirov fight was the masterful performance Antonio Tarver put on against Montell Griffin. Griffin is not a world beater, but no one has dominated (Roy scored a quick kayo, but caught Griffin cold) him in this manner. It was a 12 round beat down, with book end knock downs to start and end the fight. Tarver is for real...........real enough to travel to Germany?
Was that a foul protector Antonio Tarver was wearing, or a breast plate? It rode up so high during the fight that I thought they would put Vaseline on his armpits to prevent chaffing.
HBO was blatantly trying to sell Antonio Tarver as the real light heavyweight champion in absence of Roy Jones. Come on HBO, Dariusz Michalczewski is the linear light heavyweight champion. Just because HBO does not own a piece of Dariusz does not mean they need to downplay his accomplishments. WBO champions Naseem Hamed, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Johnny Tapia were never ignored in this way.
Speaking of Dariusz, is HBO still under the Roy Jones imposed 'do not mention Dariusz Michalczewski's name' rule? I did not hear Dariusz's name mentioned (negatively, I might add) until there were only 58 seconds left in the final round. Even when HBO reflected upon Montell Griffin's three losses (one of which was to Dariusz by TKO) they did not bring up Dariusz's name. Ignoring the obvious only serves to overstate its real presence.
Emanuel Steward has proven himself to be an excellent and insightful analyst for HBO and the viewers at home. However, it seemed like Steward was kissing up to Roy Jones during the entire telecast in hopes of generating a payday for Lennox Lewis. Since Steward trains Lewis, it would also reward him. This would seem to be a conflict of interest. It might have been more acceptable if Steward had mentioned that Jones could make just as much money (probably more) by fighting Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield, but he never did.
I have never been labeled a maestro of mind; consider me more along the lines of a boxing savant. However, even I am not dumb enough to try and sell the Lennox Lewis vs. Kirk Johnson bout to real (exclude the Hollywood types who just want to be at 'events') L.A. fight fans. This fight belongs in L.A. about as much as a Sacramento Kings victory parade.
File this under the pot calling the kettle black. While hyping his upcoming fight in L.A., King Lennox amused me with this quote when asked why Kirk is more deserving of a title shot than Chris Byrd, "Johnson throws some heavy punches, and is a knockout fighter. This is what people want to see. They want to see a fight, they want to see punches and they want to see action." Hey Lennox, when is the last time you were accused of throwing too many punches, or giving fans too much action?
Oscar De La Hoya, also, commented on the Lewis vs. Johnson fight being held in Los Angeles, “That’s going to be interesting. Interesting, because fight fans from L.A. know good boxing.” Maybe that is why Oscar's mismatch with Yory Boy is in Vegas, and not L.A.?
Breaking news: Cedric Kushner is trying to kill boxing in Europe. Cedric Kushner Promotions consumated a deal to give Eurosport network over 20 boxing programs a year. The fight cards will be televised in, approximately, 50 countries each month. If those fight cards are of the 'Heavyweight Explosion' variety, the entire continent (which is in the midst of a boxing renaissance) will forever turn its back on boxing in favor of soccer.
There have been many bad publicity stunts in boxing. One of the more tasteless happened last Friday night, when someone lacking shame decided it would be cool to have Oliver McCall arrive at the fight venue in handcuffs. After which, manager Jimmy Adams (I only mention him so other boxers can steer clear of the stench) had McCall speak, “This is the only way Lennox Lewis or any contender will beat me,” as he held his handcuffed fists in the air for the crowd to see. Yeah, that is the kind of positive reinforcement a man with past troubles with the law needs to show himself, and any kids in the audience. I wonder if Adams (who is trying to get Bowe back into the ring) will do the same kind of gimmick for Riddick Bowe when gets out of jail?
Did you hear that Bob Arum drank the now famous native potion which is supposed to have invigorated Yory Boy Campas in preparation for his fight with Oscar? The 71 year old Arum commented on the potion to fightnews.com, "For the first 40 minutes, I felt absolutely nothing. Then, I started feeling tingles in my fingers and my toes. The tingling was all over my body.” No truth to the rumor that Arum has changed his name to Dirk Diggler, and plans on making 'artistic' movies in Hollywood.
Word is that Mike Tyson has, or will, be signing a new contract with Don King. A great life quote immediately springs to mind, "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me."
You won't find a bigger fan of the ShoBox series than myself. However, Showtime has to remember what makes the show unique, and attracts boxing fans to it is that it's a stage for young boxers being tested for the first time in their careers. The formula produced exciting fights by Leonard Dorin, Emmanuel Lucero, and Kermit Cintron. This year's debut show only featured one such fighter, out of the four boxers on the card. That was Ishe Smith, a 16-0 jr. middleweight with an aggressive style. Why was Diego Corrales, who has already established his credentials, given a spotlight over some other prospects? Corrales was handed an easy win (I know Antonio Cermeno pulled out late) in order to showcase himself for another run at a title. That is not what I tune into ShoBox for; I can get that on the regular Showtime cards, FOX, or ESPN2. Let's hope this is not a harbinger of future telecasts.
On the upside, Nick Charles and Steve Farhood brilliantly reprised their roles as on air hosts for this year's ShoBox series. Steve Farhood has already proven he is worthy of moving on to the first string of Showtime, by
filling in for Bobby Czyz the last two months. Let's hope that Charles will be given a green light to join him on the number one crew in place of Steve Albert (a recurring theme). Charles has the voice, skills, and would also bring a 'big event' feel and atmosphere that the show currently lacks.
Now, for the actual fistic action of which Ishe Smith gave us the most compelling of the evening, Ishe could turn out to be the Kermit Cintron of this year's ShoBox series. He does not have as much power, but has an exciting style to watch since he works opponents upstairs and down with equal fervor. If he continues to progress, I would love to see him in with Kassim Ouma by early next year for a mandatory challenger position. First, we have to work on Ishe losing that Monica Seles grunt when he punches.
O.K., I am not a prude and have been known to ogle women who I have not invested a wedding ring into from time to time. Hell, I even flipped through a Playboy at the supermarket. But I did not find the ringcard girl (on the Showtime telecast) lifting up her skirt to show the people in the front row her thong, to be tasteful. I can remember a time when ringcard girls were chosen for their beauty, not because they worked at the local strip club.
I thought the boxing Gods were punishing me when they scheduled ESPN2 FNF fights for 1 AM Eastern time. I became convinced of this when a goal was scored with 1.2 seconds left in the hockey game proceeding boxing. Thus, pushing back the start time of my fights to 1:35 AM. This meant the ESPN show went head to head with a Girls Gone Wild infomercial....... can someone tell me who won the fights?
Just kidding. I taped the Girls Gone Wild infomercial over my wedding video for later viewing.
It was very surprising to watch Tony Ayala go down against journeyman Anthony Bonsante. My supreme insight on the subtle shifts of momentum in boxing has matured with age. I wrote on my note pad in the middle of round two, "A.B. boxing like he does not want to piss off T.A.". Fifteen seconds later, Ayala is on his behind wondering what hit him, and I was scratching the last line of commentary from my notepad. Ayala seemed pretty pissed that Bonsante floored him, but it didn't matter in the end. A physically primed and younger Bonsante boxed & counterpunched his way to an impressive 11th round stoppage.
While I hope this loss will wipe Ayala off our boxing screens (yeah go ahead and call me unforgiving, or tell me that Ayala served his time to society for his crime..... I don't care), I fear Ayala will claim he underestimated
& undertrained for Bonsante. The rematch will be made for San Antonio and ESPN2, or Fox will be there to televise it.
Has anyone else watched the NBA playoffs and said to themselves, "That Ben Wallace kid of the Detroit Pistons looks like he would make a great heavyweight"?
Hometown hero and former WBC super middleweight champion, Eric Lucasthrew out the first pitch at the Montreal Expos home opener. German judges refused to credit him with a strike.
Fightnews.com reported that Roy Jones was injured when the motorcycle he was working on tipped over and landed on his hand. I guess handspeed does not translate well from the ring to the garage?
In a related story, John Ruiz was badly beaten by a moped when he tried to take it out of his shed.
Rickey Hatton is not a world champion, but is proving himself a world class smart ass...... which I like. Over the last couple weeks, Hatton has commented on domestic rival Junior Witter (his chief rival in England for 140 pound honors), after Witter repeatedly called him out for a fight. Hatton described Witter as, "A boil on my ass", and derided Witter as having ,"ran more miles than Forrest Gump" in his fight against Zab Judah. That boy is pretty clever.
This weeks good guy in boxing award goes to Fernando Vargas and his manager Rolando Arellano. Both insisted on having the lowest possible ticket prices for his July 26th fight against Fitz Vanderpool in Los Angeles' Grand Olympic Auditorium. Vargas said, "This is dedicated to the blue collar fight fans of Los Angeles. We wanted everyone to have access to this fight, especially for those who never have the chance to go to Las Vegas." Adding, "You know how expensive tickets can be. Here in L.A., families have kids to feed and if they want to go to a fight, they would carpool and go to fights together." Thanks Fernando & Rolando.
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E-Mail Marty Mulcahey at fivedogss@msn.com
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