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

Published

13 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

Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing

Published

3 days ago

January 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Skylar-Lacy-Blocked-for-Lamar-Jackson-Before-Making-his-Mark-in-Boxing

Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.

As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.

This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.

A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”

Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.

Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.

Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)

Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.

When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.

Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).

For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.

“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.

As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.

As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”

Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.

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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

Published

5 days ago

January 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Mizuki-Hiruta-Dominates-in-her-U.S.-Debut-and-Trinidad-Wins-Too-at-Commerce

Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Published

6 days ago

January 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

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