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“I Give Chavez Jr. No Chance To Win”
There are those that think Junior has a strength edge against Martinez, and will spring the upset. Not the writer; he thinks the kid needs more seasoning, and has no shot.
When they first announced the dueling fight cards, I saw a wonderful opportunity and sprung into action. I know a guy who knows a guy, so I made a phone call.
Me: I need you to do me a favor.
Voice: I'm listening.
Me: I'd like to bet a parlay.
Voice: I'm still listening.
Me: I want to bet that neither main event happens come September 15th.
Voice: Huh?
Me: I don't think either fight will happen on…
Voice: No, I heard you the first time.
Me: I just assumed you could get me considerable odds on both fights not happening.
That's a true story.
Here was my logic regarding Canelo vs. Lopez. Oscar walks into the offices at Golden Boy Corporate, spots Richard Schaefer, and inquires as to how the fight tickets are selling.
Oscar: Richard, how many have we moved so far?
Richard: Eh, hello, Oscar. Um… eight.
Oscar: Wow, eight thousand, not bad.
Richard: No, Oscar, eight… the number that comes right after seven.
That's it, fight cancelled, I'm halfway home.
For the second part of the parlay, I knew I'd probably have to wait until the weigh-in for Chavez Jr. vs Martinez.
Jimmy Lennon: The challenger (don't get me started), Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez weighs in at 157 ¼ pounds. Next up on the scale, WBC Middleweight Champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. weighs in at…
First Indistinctive Voice: Move the bar.
Second Indistinctive Voice: I did.
First Voice: Move it some more.
Second Voice: It won't go any farther.
Lennon (sounding perplexed): Well, what does he weigh?
First Voice: He doesn't weigh anything. I mean, he weighs something, but the scale evidently doesn't go that high.
Second Voice: Um, we don't know. He's heavier than what the scale goes up to.
Lennon (into microphone): Okay, there's going to be a brief intermission.
Keith Kizer: Julio, you have 2 hours to make weight.
Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.: Nope. I'm not losing any weight.
Keith Kizer: Sergio, Julio refuses to attempt to make weight. If you fight him, you're entitled to 45% of his purse and only you can win the title.
Sergio Martinez: What did he weigh?
Keith Kizer: Well, he was a little heavy.
Sergio: What's a little?
Keith Kizer: I'm thinking of a number between 250 and 300.
Sergio: Is that his weight, or the differential?
Keith Kizer: Sergio, really, does it matter?
Sergio: You're right, I'll take it.
Me: Nooooooooo! Don't take the fight Sergio! #$%! Why, Sergio, why?!?!
Here's my logic. I really didn't feel that Canelo could draw well against such a smaller opponent. I thought this would be similar to the Tyson fight that was cancelled when they were going head to head with the Holyfield-Bowe fight at Caesars. I just figured cooler heads would prevail at Golden Boy, but evidently not.
In regard to Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez, this is not a fight Team Chavez wants now. The Chavez camp would need a way to save face, thus Chavez not making weight would be the easy way out. If you can't make weight, you can't make weight.
I like Chavez Jr. And he is improving. And although a year ago I said that we needed to give him a year, now a year removed I find myself still saying the same thing. He's insanely overrated. Because of my understanding of match-ups, I felt Sergio was a 320 favorite over the young Chavez. So you can imagine my surprise when I read Martinez opened at -160. I thought maybe they dropped a zero.
I began to second guess myself (silly me). So then I did what I always do when I need to confirm my findings. I checked my notebook, and I came across the page entitled: Things that, by themselves, can't fight. Listed are some of the following: mean scowls, tattoos, insults to your heritage, body piercings, pink underwear, legendary dads who won 107 professional fights 17 years ago, etc. And several pages over is the page entitled: Things that can fight. Listed are some the following: fleet of foot (lateral movement), punches delivered from unorthodox angles, fighters with a chip on their shoulders the size of Argentina, etc.
In conclusion, I give Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. no chance to win. Martinez “Dempseys” Chavez, Jr. I'll just say that I saw it coming. I was very surprised that Jr. made weight. I'll be the second most surprised guy in Nevada, if he wins… right after Sergio.
Articles
2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura
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
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.
Articles
2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland
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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