RASKIN’S RANTS: Mayweather, Manny, Margarito & Musicals

Published

12 years ago

November 28, 2011

Did you miss me last week? My email inbox missed you. Since I took a week off from column writing, I didn’t get much in the way of comments or questions. So, for this week’s mini-mailbag, I’m reaching back to a leftover email from two weeks ago, back when people still cared about the now-irrelevant likes of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather:

Dear Eric,

What significance does the Pacquiao vs. Marquez fight have to predicting the outcome of a possible Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight? Does Pacquiao’s apparent inability to deal with a skilled counterpuncher like Marquez, who many people feel is talented but inferior to Mayweather, suggest that Mayweather would beat Pacquiao? Or does Pacquiao winning in the eyes of the judges suggest that Mayweather would lose, as even if he was successful in outboxing Pacquiao the judges would give Pacquiao the fight? It is unlikely Mayweather would be the aggressor or that he would throw more punches than Pacquiao.

Thanks,

George

Somerset, England

George,

You raise an interesting question that I haven’t seen or heard discussed anywhere in the aftermath of Pacquiao-Marquez III. Everyone agrees that Marquez is similar in style to Mayweather and, as was demonstrated in their head-to-head meeting, inferior in his execution of that style. Therefore, everyone agrees that Pacquiao’s continued struggles with Marquez indicate that Mayweather is capable of giving Pac-Man major problems. But the point you raise about judges’ preferences is an important one to consider. I believe Marquez won two of three fights against Pacquiao and came closest to a clear-cut win in the third fight. Yet none of the three judges scored for him in that fight, and one judge gave the Filipino eight of the 12 rounds. Either Pacquiao’s star power influenced the scoring, or his (not especially effective) aggression influenced it. Could that play a role in a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight?

At the very least, I think it would affect the odds. To my eyes, ignoring external factors like the quality of the judging, Mayweather should be about a 3-1 betting favorite if that fight comes off in May 2012. But I would expect the odds to open more in the neighborhood of 5-2 or even 2-1 because of Pacquiao’s popularity with both fans and ringside scorers.

That said, I see the fight most likely playing out in such a way that Mayweather wins decisively enough for it not to matter. And I think you’re underestimating Mayweather’s recent tendency to be the aggressor, at least once the first couple of rounds have passed. He took the fight to Shane Mosley throughout the final 10 rounds. And he was stepping forward in spots against Victor Ortiz. If Mayweather reaches a point of feeling comfortable against Pacquiao, believing he has Pac-Man’s speed figured out and isn’t worried about Pacquiao’s power, then Floyd won’t be reticent about moving forward and initiating the action.

Still, while every logical bone in my body says Mayweather takes Pacquiao apart, let’s not forget how incomplete the information we draw from can sometimes be. Most observers were fooled into thinking Pacquiao was unbeatable the last couple of years because he fought opponents who were made to order; Marquez reminded those people that Pacquiao is roughly the same fighter now that he was from 2006-2008, just a little bit bigger. When you look at Mayweather’s recent body of work, yes, he’s dominated everyone he’s fought since his narrow win over Oscar De La Hoya in ’07. But he’s faced guys who were either too slow, too old, or just too ordinary. He certainly hasn’t fought anyone with the style of Pacquiao. So just as most of us currently believe Mayweather’s style is all wrong for Manny, let’s keep in mind that we don’t know yet how wrong Pacquiao’s skill set might be for Mayweather.

And with that, let’s move on to a couple of weeks’ worth of accumulated Rants:

–There’s been a lot of talk about how much better 24/7 Cotto-Margarito was than other recent 24/7 series, but I have to ask: Was it really better? Or was it just shorter? Remember, the first episode of Mayweather-Ortiz was a classic, but there wasn’t three episodes’ worth of compelling material to work with after that. Same with Pacquiao-Marquez; the first episode was the best of that series, and after that, you had about 30 good minutes spread over 90 minutes of air time. Don’t get me wrong—the Cotto-Margarito edition of 24/7 was fantastic. But if they still had two more episodes to produce, it would feel considerably less fantastic. Something for HBO to think about going forward …

–If you’re familiar with the website hotchickswithdouchebags.com and you know the various stylistic affectations that qualify guys as d-bags, then you had to appreciate Antonio Margarito checking off another box by adding a crooked trucker hat to his wardrobe on 24/7. Is there any doubt that Margarito’s dressing room on fight night will smell like Axe body spray?

–In a fictional world in which I have no job, no kids, and no responsibilities, I would be really psyched to have eight hours of major televised boxing to watch this coming Saturday. Instead, having eight hours of boxing to watch just stresses me out.

–Allow me to quote myself during the “Quick Picks” segment on the most recent edition of Ring Theory, making a prediction on the Saul Alvarez-Kermit Cintron fight: “I see one of those fights where Alvarez hurts him … and Cintron is kinda okay and the ref jumps in and makes a hasty stoppage that people complain about a little … that’s what I’m envisioning, a premature stoppage, Cintron still on his feet.” Boom! Clearly, it was a productive weekend for blind squirrels in their pursuit of nuts.

–After his victory over Cintron, Alvarez called out Mayweather, and I have to give the freckle-faced kid credit. No, not for his cojones in challenging the best boxer in the world. For his intelligence in marketing himself. That’s how you do it. You toss your name out there in connection with Mayweather and/or Pacquiao, even if you don’t really want the fight yet, and you sit back and watch the media predictably build headlines around it.

–Speaking of marketing, is everyone as sick as I am of hearing about Mayweather vs. Robert Guerrero? This has been a fascinating study in how much press a completely fictional fight can get when one publicist puts his all into it.

–My DVR Season Pass is finally bidding farewell to The Office this week, about four years too late. I pulled a Steve Smoger here, giving the show every benefit of the doubt, when I should have Jay Nady’d it.

–So, Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto II is going to Showtime, huh? With Showtime (under the guidance of Stephen Espinoza) flat-out outbidding HBO (under the implied guidance of Ken Hershman) for this fight, are we about to enter an era where the HBO budget is managed more conservatively than the Showtime budget? Something to watch for.

–If the Klitschko brothers are choreographing the fight scenes in “Rocky: The Musical,” where can we expect them to fall on the spectrum between “so over the top with action that it seems impossible” and “so completely devoid of action that it seems impossible”?

–Butterbean is fighting again. I don’t know about you, but “Rocky: The Musical” sounds a lot better than it did 15 seconds ago.

–I recently drove past the local Tiger Schulmann’s Karate (a major east coast chain) and noticed that it had been re-named Tiger Schulmann’s MMA. I get that MMA is the combat sport du jour and all, but I have to say, as a parent, I’d much sooner let my kids sign up for karate classes.

–RIP, Ron Lyle. It has not been a good month for guys who lost to Muhammad Ali in 1975 and also got knocked out by George Foreman. I hope someone is keeping a close eye on Chuck Wepner.

–If you had told me at the outset of 2011 that Michael Grant and Frans Botha would deliver one of the most memorable boxing moments of the year, I would have called you Ike Ibeabuchi.

–Due to complications in my work schedule and difficulty finding recording times that work for both me and Bill Dettloff, the next Ring Theory (http://ringtheory.podbean.com) is tentatively scheduled to record next Sunday night, December 4, and should be posted early the following week. In the meantime, keep an eye out for a possible impromptu Dettloff Twitter onslaught and pray that Oscar De La Hoya’s family hides the turducken.

Eric Raskin can be contacted at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com. You can follow him on Twitter @EricRaskin and listen to new episodes of his podcast, Ring Theory, at http://ringtheory.podbean.com.

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Eric Raskin

Avila Perspective, Chap. 281: The Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia Show

Published

10 hours ago

April 18, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-281-The-Devin-and-Ryan-Show

Over the years bouts between old foes such as Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia tend to be surprising.

Yes, both are only 25 but have known each other for many years.

When undisputed super lightweight champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) steps into the prize ring at Barclays Center to meet challenger Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) on Saturday, April 20, fans will be witnessing the continuation of a feud that began more than a decade ago.

And though the champion is a heavy favorite, familiarity is Garcia’s best weapon heading into their fight on the Golden Boy Promotions card that will be shown on PPV.COM with Jim Lampley and friends. DAZN pay-per-view is also streaming the card.

In many ways Haney and Garcia have ventured down the same path. From amateur sensations to fighting in Mexico while teens to asking for the biggest challenges available.

“Whichever version of Ryan shows up on April 20, I will be ready for him. Ryan Garcia is just another opponent to me,” said Haney who holds the WBC super lightweight title after his win over Regis Prograis.

The first time I saw Haney as a pro he battled the dangerous Mexican contender Juan Carlos Burgos at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. It was an impressive performance against a fighter who fought three times for a world title.

Haney was 19 at the time.

My first look at Garcia as a pro was in his first bout in the U.S. when he met Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Cruz at the Exchange in downtown Los Angeles. The Boricua looked at Garcia and tried intimidating him with stares, taunts and the usual patter. During the fight both swung and missed until the second round when Garcia zeroed in and took him out.

Garcia had just turned 18, the legal age to fight in California.

Both fighters did not have the Olympics credentials that lead to fame. But their talent has allowed them to fight through the dense smoke that is professional boxing.

Haney has defeated numerous world champions such as Prograis, Vasyl Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr., while Garcia has stopped champions Javier Fortuna and Luke Campbell.

As amateurs, Garcia and Haney battled six times with each winning three.

“They know each other very well,” said Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. “Ryan is going to beat Devin Haney.”

Haney has a buttery-smooth style with one of the best jabs in boxing. He’s very adept at keeping distance and not allowing anyone to fight him inside. His reflexes are outstanding, yet he seldom fights inside. That’s his weakness.

Garcia fights tall and has superb hand speed and a lightning quick left hook. Though his defense lacks tightness his ability to rip off three-punch combinations in a blink of an eye pauses opponents from bullying their way inside.

“These guys always just look at me and look at me like I don’t know how to box,” said Garcia on social media. “Why was I one of the best fighters in the amateurs. Why was I a 15-time National champion…why did I beat everyone I came across.”

Haney is a strong favorite by oddsmakers to defeat Garcia. But you can never tell when it comes to fighters that know each other well and are athletically gifted.

When Sergio Mora challenged Vernon Forrest he was a big underdog. When Tim Bradley fought Manny Pacquiao the first time, he was also the underdog. And when Andy Ruiz met Anthony Joshua few gave him a chance.

Haney and Garcia have history in the ring. It should be an interesting battle.

PPV.COM

Jim Lampley will be leading the broadcast on PPV.COM for the Haney-Garcia card at Barclays and texting with fans on the card live. He will be accompanied by journalists Lance Pugmire, Dan Conobbio and former champion Chris Algieri.

The PPV.COM broadcast begins at 5 p.m. PT. and is available in Canada and the USA.

Other News

MMA stars Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal will be holding a media day event on Friday, April 19, at NOVO at L.A. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Diaz and Masvidal will be boxing against each other in a grudge match on June 1 at the KIA Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The two MMA stars met five years at UFC 244 with Masvidal winning by TKO over Diaz due to cuts.

This is a grudge match, but under boxing rules.

Fight card in Commerce, Calif.

360 Promotions returns to Commerce Casino on Saturday April 20 with undefeated super lightweight Cain Sandoval leading the charge.

Sandoval (12-0) faces Angel Rebollar (8-3) in the main event that will be shown live on UFC Fight Pass. Also on the card are two female events including hot prospect Lupe Medina (5-0) versus Sabrina Persona (3-1) in a minimumweight clash.

Doors open at 4 p.m.

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Boxing Odds and Ends: The Heavyweight Merry-Go-Round

Published

2 days ago

April 16, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Boxing Odds and Ends: The Heavyweight Merry-Go-Round

There were few surprises when co-promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren and their benefactor HE Turki Alalshikh held a press conference in London this past Monday to unveil the undercard for the Beterbiev-Bivol show at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 1. Most of the match-ups had already been leaked.

For die-hard boxing fans, Beterbiev-Bivol is such an enticing fight that it really doesn’t need an attractive undercard. Two undefeated light heavyweights will meet with all four relevant belts on the line in a contest where the oddsmakers straddled the fence. It’s a genuine “pick-‘em” fight based on the only barometer that matters, the prevailing odds.

But Beterbiev-Bivol has been noosed to a splendid undercard, a striking contrast to Saturday’s Haney-Garcia $69.99 (U.S.) pay-per-view in Brooklyn, an event where the undercard, in the words of pseudonymous boxing writer Chris Williams, is an absolute dumpster fire.

The two heavyweight fights that will bleed into Beterbiev-Bivol, Hrgovic vs. Dubois and Wilder vs. Zhang, would have been stand-alone main events before the incursion of Saudi money.

Hrgovic-Dubois

Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 13 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) fought on the same card in Riyadh this past December. Hrgovic, the Croatian, was fed a softie in the form of Australia’s Mark De Mori who he dismissed in the opening round. Dubois, a Londoner, rebounded from his loss to Oleksandr Usyk with a 10^th-round stoppage of corpulent Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller.

There’s an outside chance that Hrgovic vs. Dubois may be sanctioned by the IBF for the world heavyweight title.

The May 18 showdown between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury has a rematch clause. The IBF is next in line in the rotation system for a unified heavyweight champion and the organization has made it plain that the winner of Usyk-Fury must fulfill his IBF mandatory before an intervening bout.

The best guess is that the Usyk-Fury winner will relinquish the IBF belt. If so, Hrgovic and Dubois may fight for the vacant title although a more likely scenario is that the organization will keep the title vacant so that the winner can fight Anthony Joshua.

Wilder-Zhang

The match between Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) and Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) is a true crossroads fight as both Wilder, 38, and Zhang, who turns 41 in May, are nearing the end of the road and the loser (unless it’s a close and entertaining fight) will be relegated to the rank of a has-been. In fact, Wilder has hinted that this may be his final rodeo.

Both are coming off a loss to Joseph Parker.

Wilder last fought on the card that included Hrgovic and Dubois and was roundly out-pointed by a man he was expected to beat. It’s a quick turnaround for Zhang who opposed Parker on March 8 and lost a majority decision.

Other Fights

Either of two other fights may steal the show on the June 1 event.

Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs) meets Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs) in a 12-round featherweight contest. New Jersey’s Ford will be defending the WBA world title he won with a come-from-behind, 12th-round stoppage of Otabek Kholmatov in an early contender for Fight of the Year. Liverpool’s “Wrecking” Ball, a relentless five-foot-two sparkplug, had to settle for a draw in his title fight with Rey Vargas despite winning the late rounds and scoring two knockdowns.

Hamzah Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KOs) meets fellow unbeaten Austin “Ammo” Williams (16-0, 11 KOs) in a 12-round middleweight match. East London’s Sheeraz, the son of a former professional cricket player, is unknown in the U.S. although he trained for his recent fights at the Ten Goose Boxing Gym in California. Riding a skein of 13 straight knockouts, he has a date with WBO title-holder Janibek Alimkhanuly if he can get over this hurdle.

The Forgotten Heavyweight

“Unbeaten for seven years, the man nobody wants to fight,” intoned ring announcer Michael Buffer by way of introduction. Buffer was referencing Michael Hunter who stood across the ring from his opponent Artem Suslenkov.

This scene played out this past Saturday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It was Hunter’s second fight in three weeks. On March 23, he scored a fifth-round stoppage of a 46-year-old meatball at a show in Zapopan, Mexico.

The second-generation “Bounty Hunter,” whose only defeat prior to last weekend came in a 12-rounder with Oleksandr Usyk, has been spinning his wheels since TKOing the otherwise undefeated Martin Bakole on the road in London in 2018. Two fights against hapless opponents on low-budget cards in Mexico and a couple of one-round bouts for the Las Vegas Hustle, an entry in the fledgling and largely invisible Professional Combat League, are the sum total of his activity, aside from sparring, in the last two-and-a-half years.

Hunter’s chances of getting another big-money fight took a tumble in Tashkent where he lost a unanimous decision in a dull affair to the unexceptional Suslenkov who was appearing in his first 10-round fight. The scores of the judges were not announced.

You won’t find this fight listed on boxrec. As Jake Donovan notes, the popular website will not recognize a fight conducted under the auspices of a rogue commission. (Another fight you won’t find on boxrec for the same reason is Nico Ali Walsh’s 6-round split decision over the 9-2-1 Frenchman, Noel Lafargue, in the African nation of Guinea on Dec. 16, 2023. You can find it on YouTube, but according to boxrec, boxing’s official record-keeper, it never happened.)

Anderson-Merhy Redux

The only thing missing from this past Saturday’s match in Corpus Christi, Texas, between Jared Anderson and Ryad Merhy was the ghost of Robert Valsberg.

Valsberg, aka Roger Vaisburg, was the French referee who disqualified Ingemar Johansson for not trying in his match with LA’s Ed Sanders in the finals of the heavyweight competition at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Valsberg tossed Johansson out of the ring after two rounds and Johansson was denied the silver medal. The Swede redeemed himself after turning pro, needless to say, when he demolished Floyd Patterson in the first of their three meetings.

Merhy was credited with throwing only 144 punches, landing 34, over the course of the 10 rounds. Those dismal figures yet struck many onlookers as too high. (This reporter has always insisted that the widely-quoted CompuBox numbers should be considered approximations.)

Whatever the true number, it was a disgraceful performance by Merhy who actually showed himself to have very fast hands on the few occasions when he did throw a punch. With apologies to Delfine Persoon, a spunky lightweight, U.S. boxing promoters should think twice before inviting another Belgian boxer to our shores.

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Anderson Cruises by Vapid Merhy and Ajagba edges Vianello in Texas

Published

5 days ago

April 14, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Anderson-Cruises-by-Vapid-Merhy-and-Ajagba-Edges-Vianello-in-Texas

Jared Anderson returned to the ring tonight on a Top Rank card in Corpus Christi, Texas. Touted as the next big thing in the heavyweight division, Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs) hardly broke a sweat while cruising past Ryad Merhy in a bout with very little action, much to the disgruntlement of the crowd which started booing as early as the second round. The fault was all Merhy as he was reluctant to let his hands go. Somehow, he won a round on the scorecard of judge David Sutherland who likely fell asleep for a round for which he could be forgiven.

Merhy, born in the Ivory Coast but a resident of Brussels, Belgium, was 32-2 (26 KOs) heading in after fighting most of his career as a cruiserweight. He gave up six inches in height to Anderson who was content to peck away when it became obvious to him that little would be coming back his way.

Anderson may face a more daunting adversary on Monday when he has a court date in Romulus, Michigan, to answer charges related to an incident in February where he drove his Dodge Challenger at a high rate speed, baiting the police into a merry chase. (Weirdly, Anderson entered the ring tonight wearing the sort of helmet that one associates with a race car driver.)

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, a battle between six-foot-six former Olympians, Italy’s Guido Vianello started and finished strong, but Efe Ajagba had the best of it in the middle rounds and prevailed on a split decision. Two of the judges favored Ajagba by 96-94 scores with the dissenter favoring the Italian from Rome by the same margin.

Vianello had the best round of the fight. He staggered Ajagba with a combination in round two. At the end of the round, a befuddled Ajagba returned to the wrong corner and it appeared that an upset was brewing. But the Nigerian, who trains in Las Vegas under Kay Koroma, got back into the fight with a more varied offensive attack and better head movement. In winning, he improved his ledger to 20-1 (14). Vianello, who sparred extensively with Daniel Dubois in London in preparation for this fight, declined to 12-2-1 in what was likely his final outing under the Top Rank banner.

Other Bouts of Note

In the opening bout on the main ESPN platform, 35-year-old super featherweight Robson Conceicao, a gold medalist for Brazil in the 2016 Rio Olympics, stepped down in class after fighting Emanuel Navarrete tooth-and-nail to a draw in his previous bout and scored a seventh-round stoppage of Jose Ivan Guardado who was a cooked goose after slumping to the canvas after taking a wicked shot to the liver. Guardado made it to his feet, but the end was imminent and the referee waived it off at the 2:27 mark.

Conceicao improved to 18-1 (9 KOs). It was the U.S. debut for Guardado (15-2-1), a boxer from Ensenada, Mexico who had done most of his fighting up the road in Tijuana.

Ruben Villa, the pride of Salinas, California, improved to 22-1 (7) and moved one step closer to a match with WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas with a unanimous 10-round decision over Tijuana’s Cristian Cruz (22-7-1). The judges had it 97-93 and 98-92 twice.

Cruz, the son of former IBF world featherweight title-holder Cristobal Cruz, was better than his record. He entered the bout on a 21-1-1 run after losing five of his first seven pro fights.

Cleveland southpaw Abdullah Mason, who turned 20 earlier this month, continued his fast ascent up the lightweight ladder with a fourth-round stoppage of Ronal Ron.

Mason (13-0, 11 KOs) put Ron on the canvas in the opening round with a short left hook. He scored a second knockdown with a shot to the liver. A flurry of punches, a diverse array, forced the stoppage at the 1:02 mark of round four. A 25-year-old SoCal-based Venezuelan, the spunky but out-gunned Ron declined to 14-6.

Charly Suarez, a 35-year-old former Olympian from the Philippines, ranked #5 at junior lightweight by the IBF, advanced to 17-0 (9) with a unanimous 8-round decision over SoCal’s Louie Coria (5-7).

This was a tactical fight. In the final round, Coria, subbing for 19-0 Henry Lebron, caught the Filipino off-balance and knocked him into the ropes which held him up. It was scored a knockdown, but came too little, too late for Coria who lost by scores of 76-75 and 77-74 twice.

Suarez, whose signature win was a 12^th-round stoppage of the previously undefeated Aussie Paul Fleming in Sydney, may be headed to a rematch with Robson Conceicao. They fought as amateurs in 2016 in Kazakhstan and Suarez lost a narrow 6-round decision.

Photo credit: Mikey Willams / Top Rank via Getty Images

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