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WOODS: Let's All Let Floyd Be, Stop Begging Him To Fight Pacquiao

Published

13 years ago

June 7, 2011

MayweatherMosleyFinalPC_Hogan43 So he turned up his nose at $65 million bucks. Floyd Mayweather, with $65 million reasons to say yes, instead said no, I will not at this time fight Manny Pacquiao.

Difficult to believe, isn't it? We've all played the game “what would you do for a million dollars?” game with pals, and suffice to say, the bulk of us would allow ourselves to be semi debased and disgraced in exchange for securing a fat pile of loot. $65 million, even chopped up into portions for the taxman, and management types, is actually an obscene pile of loot.

The liberal softie in me does some math calculations in my head, dreams of all the good that $65 million could do. Starving kids in Africa could get plenty of nourishment for a long spell with that dough. You could build a real nice cancer wing in a big city hospital for that. And the jokester in me points out that you could get the IRS off your back if you owed him back taxes, if you said yes to $65 million.

But Floyd said no.

Promoter Bob Arum told videographer Elie Seckbach that despite his being an optimist, he now believes Mayweather will never fight Pacquiao. Arum said last week “legitimate people” from Signapore put $65 million on the table for Mayweather to meet Pacman, and “he turned it down…What does that tell you? It tells you he doesn't want to fight Manny Pacquiao.”

“Everybody who knows boxing knows Manny Pacquiao would clean his clock,” said Arum, skillfully speaking to Mayweather's ego, trying to get him to take the bait, and spurn all those people who know boxing. (By the way, count me out in this Arum scenario…I still lean toward Mayweather, one of if not THE best defender boxing has ever seen, if and when he and Pacquiao meet. I thought Manny took a half step back against Mosley, and wasn't impressed at times with his footwork as he tried to track down Mosley, who was in “not be hit” mode for 95% of the night.)

Arum said Floyd's legacy will take a hit if he doesn't fight Manny, that his record should be 41-1, because he has ducked Manny.

You might think that I will now delve into conjecture, and ponder reasons why Mayweather hasn't embraced the challenge. You might suspect that I will offer my belief that Mayweather enjoys the thrill of the chase as much as the actual preparation and combat, that he gets off on being wooed, on being romanced. You might think I'll offer some speculation on his psyche, talk about his fear of losing, of a fragility of ego. But I won't.

It's time for all of us to ditch the speculation, end the water cooler chats, cease the discussion as to why Mayweather won't fight Pacquiao.

Mayweather has made up his mind, and we have reached the point where the situation is ludicrous. Too much time has been wasted on trying to convince this man to do something he's not inclined to do. For two years, the keyboard tappers have churned out column after column, talking about blood tests, and PED allegations, and played amateur shrink as we covered the “will he or won't he” drama…Well, the drama has become stale, played out. The plotlines have been exhausted. There is nothing new, nothing fresh to be reported. What's next, Floyd will be offered $100 million to fight Pacquiao, and will turn that down?

Let's move on and deal with the concrete, with athletes who unabashedly seek the the challenges that make great sportsmen into legends. Let's focus on the people who don't shrink from the possibility of failure, for whatever reason, and luxuriate in what it is that makes them what they are. Let's let Mayweather fade away, build his brand, brag about his bets, however he wants to spend his time, and if and when he's ready to rock, and sign on to meet Manny, then we'll play along.

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Michael Woods

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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