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Mayweather Being Unbeaten Isn’t As Meaningful As “Money” Thinks It is
In a recent article in the International Business Times (12/24/14), former six-division title-holder Oscar De La Hoya stated who he’d favor between Floyd Mayweather 47-0 (26) and Philippine sensation Manny Pacquiao 57-5-2 (38). De La Hoya isn’t exactly someone who I’d consider an objective observer, but what gives him credibility over most others is, Oscar fought Mayweather in 2007 and Pacquiao in 2008. At the time when he fought both, Oscar was an empty package and a shot fighter. He lost to both but competed with Mayweather on almost even terms, but not so much so against Pacquiao. This is something that had more to do with styles than it was/is a barometer as to who would win between Floyd and Manny.
In regards to how a confrontation between Mayweather and Pacquiao would unfold, Oscar said, “Mayweather has an edge now over Manny just because of the fact that Pacquiao’s skills have declined because of the numerous intense battles that he had fought.” I think he is pretty much on point with this assertion.
However, De La Hoya also said that, “Even though (I) favor Mayweather to win, (I) believe that the world will remember Pacquiao more than Mayweather…Pacquiao will earn more respect than Mayweather.”
“There is no doubt about that,” De La Hoya continued. “With Manny Pacquiao they are going to say ‘wow, he fought all these guys, fought tough battles and gave us all these fights.’
“Who has the better legacy, Pacquiao or Mayweather?” Oscar said, in closing.
Which is not only a great question, it’s a revealing question and it’s not at all difficult to answer. Pacquiao clearly has the better legacy, and it isn’t so much that he’s won a world title in eight different weight divisions, it’s more based on how he’s never avoided a tough opponent and fought and defeated some legitimate all-time greats while they were at or near the top of their game. The fight not happening between Mayweather and Pacquiao is so far past its due date that even Mayweather’s biggest media defenders and supporters have recently said if Floyd doesn’t fight Pacquiao, that’s what he’ll be most remembered for, not going undefeated.
Since former heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano retired undefeated 49-0 in 1955, some of the greatest of the greats have come along and compiled some of boxing’s most historic and iconic legacies. Fighters the likes of Emile Griffith, Luis Rodriguez, Sonny Liston, Bob Foster, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Carlos Monzon, Roberto Duran, George Foreman, Marvin Hagler, Larry Holmes, Alexis Arguello, Sugar Ray Leonard, Aaron Pryor, Salvador Sanchez, Michael Spinks, Thomas Hearns, Julio Cesar Chavez, Lennox Lewis, Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins. And it’s interesting that if you put all of their careers under a microscope, they have one thing in common….and that’s aside from Marciano, not one of them retired undefeated and nobody even cares about that because it’s meaningless.
Ask yourself this, how many fight aficionados do you know and respect rank Marciano as the greatest heavyweight in history? If you take it a step further, how many do you know who would pick Rocky to beat Liston, who lost four times, Ali, who lost five times, Frazier, who lost four times, Foreman, who lost five times, Holmes, who lost six times or Lewis, who lost twice? Being undefeated really isn’t such a big deal and in Marciano’s defense, perhaps he may have been the greatest. The problem is, the only great fighters who were around during his era were all way past their prime and because of that many dismiss him being undefeated. But what separates him from Mayweather is this– Marciano certainly didn’t avoid anybody who was a threat to beat him like we all know Mayweather has.
If being undefeated means so much in sports, how come most NFL historians don’t consider the 1972 Miami Dolphins (17-0) the greatest team in NFL history? They are the only NFL team in history to finish a season unbeaten and un-tied and win the championship. The 1972 Dolphins have a record no other NFL team can boast, whereas there have been more than a handful of fighters who won a world championship and retired unbeaten. The reason most NFL experts don’t rank the 1972 Dolphins as the greatest NFL team ever, rightly or wrongly, is because they only played two teams during the regular season that finished with a winning record. But that wasn’t their fault, they didn’t make their schedule. However, unlike the NFL or college football, boxers, when they become superstars, can actually pick and choose who they want to fight. In essence, some fighters can make their own schedules.
If being undefeated is the be all end all, why are the Florida State Seminoles (13-0) ranked third in the country going into their semifinal playoff Rose Bowl game against #2 Oregon (12-1) on New Year’s day? Think about it, Florida State is unbeaten in their last 29 games and hasn’t lost since 11/24/12. They’re the defending national champions and their quarterback has never lost as a starter. Yet they’re ranked behind #1 Alabama (12-1) and # 2 Oregon (12-1) because the members of the championship committee believe the Seminoles played a soft schedule……and had too many close calls where they almost lost to Notre Dame (7-5), Miami (6-7), and Boston College (7-6). But is that Florida States’ fault? Their schedule was made three or four months in advance. They couldn’t pick or chose who they wanted to play.
The point is, regardless of the sport, you are who you fought or played. Had Alabama or Oregon played FSU’s schedule, the thought of the committee is they probably would’ve gone undefeated too like Florida State. Had the 1978 Steelers played the same schedule as the 1972 Dolphins, most NFL historians believe they also would’ve gone undefeated. Had Sonny Liston or Muhammad Ali fought all 49 of Marciano’s opponents on the night Rocky fought them, the odds are overwhelming that Sonny and Muhammad would have also gone 49-0.
If Emile Griffith, Luis Rodriguez, Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns fought every opponent Mayweather did on the night he fought them, they’d have reached 47-0 too. But on the flip side, had Mayweather fought every opponent that Griffith, Rodriguez, Leonard and Hearns did on the night they fought them, Floyd most likely would’ve lost more times than the before-mentioned did. And he would’ve come out of it a much better fighter than he is today, undefeated.
Every all-time great listed above had a career rival who they fought, and in many cases more than once. Floyd Mayweather can’t say that. He’s only fought two rematches in his career, and that was because his victories over Jose Luis Castillo and Marcos Maidana were seen as controversial in some circles after their first meeting. And that’s what hyped the rematch. It wasn’t as if the boxing world was on edge waiting for Mayweather-Castillo or Mayweather-Maidana to happen.
Floyd has been a professional boxer since 1996, he was blessed with a hall-of-fame skill set that he cultivated and nurtured into a remarkable career. Boxing fans have deemed Manny Pacquiao as his most worthy challenger and that’s the only fight they care about regarding his participation. Many understand that Mayweather briefly retired to avoid fighting Antonio Margarito and Paul Williams when they were at their peak as well as possessing a fighting style that would’ve troubled him. Also, both Margarito and Williams lobbied to fight Floyd, but once he retired they willingly fought each other. Well, that’s water under the bridge now. All that’s left is for Mayweather to fight Pacquiao, and finally, after almost 19 years as a pro, give the fans what they really want.
Mayweather can run his record to 60-0 and retire, it won’t matter. If he doesn’t face Pacquiao before he hangs up his gloves, that is what he’ll be most remembered for. And not fighting Pacquiao will be his everlasting legacy. And it is getting to the point now to where those in his inner circle have admitted that to some in the media, such as ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
If Floyd Mayweather doesn’t fight Manny Pacquiao, his name may still one day be lumped with the above icons, but it will be indisputable that his legacy will be the most hollow of the group. And for that reason, Mayweather is I think closer to clashing with the declining Pacquiao because he has to, not because he wants to.
Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com
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WBA Feather Champ Nick Ball Chops Down Rugged Ronny Rios in Liverpool
In his first fight in his native Liverpool since February of 2020, Nick Ball successfully defended his WBA title with a 10th-round stoppage of SoCal veteran Ronny Rios. The five-foot-two “Wrecking Ball” was making the first defense of a world featherweight strap he won in his second stab at it, taking the belt from Raymond Ford on a split decision after previously fighting Rey Vargas to a draw in a match that many thought Ball had won.
This fight looked like it was going to be over early. Ball strafed Rios with an assortment of punches in the first two rounds, and likely came within a punch or two of ending the match in the third when he put Rios on the canvas with a short left hook and then tore after him relentlessly. But Rios, a glutton for punishment, weathered the storm and actually had some good moments in round four and five.
The brother of welterweight contender Alexis Rocha and a two-time world title challenger at 122 pounds, Rios returned to the ring in April on a ProBox card in Florida and this was his second start after being out of the ring for 28 months. He would be on the canvas twice more before the bout was halted. The punch that knocked him off his pins in round seven wasn’t a clean shot, but he would be in dire straits three rounds later when he was hammered onto the ring apron with a barrage of punches. He managed to maneuver his way back into the ring, but his corner sensibly threw in the towel when it seemed as if referee Bob Williams would let the match continue.
The official time was 2:06 of round ten. Ball improved to 21-0-1 (12 KOs). Rios, 34, declined to 34-5.
Semi-wind-up
A bout contested for a multiplicity of regional 140-pound titles produced a mild upset when Jack Rafferty wore down and eventually stopped Henry Turner whose corner pulled him out after the ninth frame.
Both fighters were undefeated coming in. Turner, now 13-1, was the better boxer and had the best of the early rounds. However, he used up a lot of energy moving side-to-side as he fought off his back foot, and Rafferty, who improved to 24-0 (15 KOs), never wavered as he continued to press forward.
The tide turned dramatically in round eight. One could see Turner’s legs getting loggy and the confidence draining from his face. The ninth round was all Rafferty. Turner was a cooked goose when Rafferty collapsed him with four unanswered body punches, but he made it to the final bell before his corner wisely pulled him out. Through the completed rounds, two of the judges had it even and the third had the vanquished Turner up by 4 points.
Other Bouts of Note
In a lightweight affair, Jadier Herrera, a highly-touted 22-year-old Cuban who had been campaigning in Dubai, advanced to 16-0 (14 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of Oliver Flores (31-6-2) a Nicaraguan southpaw making his UK debut. After two even rounds, Herrera put Flores on the deck with a left to the solar plexus. Flores spit out his mouthpiece as he lay there in obvious distress and referee Steve Gray waived the fight off as he was attempting to rise. The end came 30 seconds into round three.
In a bantamweight contest slated for 10, Liverpool’s Andrew Cain (13-1, 12 KOs) dismissed Colombia’s Lazaro Casseres at the 1:48 mark of the second round.
A stablemate and sparring partner of Nick Ball, Cain knocked Casseres to the canvas in the second round with a short uppercut and forced the stoppage later in the round when he knocked the Colombian into the ropes with a double left hook. Casseres. 27, brought an 11-1 record but had defeated only two opponents with winning records.
In a contest between super welterweights, Walter Fury pitched a 4-round shutout over Dale Arrowsmith. This was the second pro fight for the 27-year-old Fury who had his famous cousin Tyson Fury rooting him on from ringside. Stylistically, Walter resembles Tyson, but his defense is hardly as tight; he was clipped a few times.
Arrowsmith is a weekend warrior and a professional loser, a species indigenous to the British Isles. This was his twenty-fourth fight this year and his 186th pro fight overall! His record is “illuminated” by nine wins and 10 draws.
A Queensberry Promotion, the Ball vs Rios card aired in the UK on TNT Sports and in the US on ESPN+.
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Alimkhanuly TKOs Mikhailovich and Motu TKOs O’Connell in Sydney
IBF/WBO world middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, generally regarded as the best of the current crop of middleweights, retained his IBF title today in Sydney, Australia, with a ninth-round stoppage of game but overmatched Andrei Mikhailovich. The end came at the 2:45 mark of round nine.
Favored in the 8/1 range although he was in a hostile environment, Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) beat Mikhailovich to a pulp in the second round and knocked him down with one second remaining in the frame, but Mikhailovich survived the onslaught and had several good moments in the ensuing rounds as he pressed the action. However, Alimkhanuly’s punches were cleaner and one could sense that it was only a matter of time before the referee would rescue Mikhailovich from further punishment. When a short left deposited Mikhailovich on the seat of his pants on the lower strand of rope, the ref had seen enough.
Alimkhanuly, a 2016 Olympian for Kazakhstan, was making his first start since October of last year. He and Mikhailovich were slated to fight in Las Vegas in July, but the bout fell apart after the weigh-in when the Kazakh fainted from dehydration.
Owing to a technicality, Alimkhanuly’s WBO belt wasn’t at stake today. Although he has expressed an interest in unifying the title –Eislandy Lara (WBA) and Carlos Adames (WBC) are the other middleweight belt-holders — Alimkhanuly is big for the weight class and it’s a fair assumption that this was his final fight at 160.
The brave Mikhailovich, who was born in Russia but grew up in New Zealand after he and his twin brother were adopted, suffered his first pro loss, declining to 21-1.
Semi-wind-up
Topping the flimsy undercard was a scheduled 8-rounder between Mikhailovich’s stablemate Mea Motu, a 34-year-old Maori, and veteran Australian campaigner Shannon O’Connell, 41. The ladies share eight children between them (Motu, trained by her mother in her amateur days, has five).
A clash of heads in the opening round left O’Connell with a bad gash on her forehead. She had a big lump developing over her right eye when her corner threw in the towel at the 1:06 mark of round four.
Motu (20-0, 8 KOs) was set to challenge IBF/WBO world featherweight champion Ellie Scotney later this month in Manchester, England, underneath Catterall-Prograis, but that match was postponed when Scotney suffered an injury in training. Motu took this fight, which was contested at the catchweight of 125 pounds, to stay busy. O’Connell, 29-8-1, previously had a cup of coffee as a WBA world champion (haven’t we all).
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 299: Golden Boy in Saudi Arabia and More
Avila Perspective, Chap. 299: Golden Boy in Saudi Arabia and More
A small brigade of Mexican and Latino-American fighters gathered at the beautiful Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Their mission: to export Mexican style fighting to the Saudi Arabia desert.
Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez defends the WBA cruiserweight title against WBO cruiserweight titlist Chris Billam-Smith and they will be joined by several other top Golden Boy Promotion fighters on Nov. 16 at the Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
DAZN will stream the Golden Boy and BOXXER promotions card called “The Venue Riyadh Season.”
Mexican fighters are known worldwide for their ferocity and durability. Ramirez, a former super middleweight champion, surprised many with his convincing win over former champion Arsen Goulamirian last March.
Now Ramirez seeks to unify the cruiserweight titles against United Kingdom’s Smith who has never fought outside of his native country.
“I will become the first Mexican cruiserweight unified champion. It’s exciting because my dream will come true this November 16,” said Ramirez.
Smith has a similar goal.
“This opportunity for me is huge,” said Smith. “I’ve been written off many times before.”
The cruiserweights will be joined by two top super lightweight warriors who’ve been itching to face each other like a pair of fighting roosters.
Arnold Barboza, an undefeated super lightweight contender from Los Angeles, has been chasing top contenders and world champions for the past six years. Former super lightweight champion Jose Ramirez simply wants action and a return to elite status.
“I’ve been wanting this fight since 2019 for whatever reason it never happened,” said Barboza. “I want to give credit and thanks to Oscar, he’s a man of his word. When I signed to Golden Boy, he said he was going to give me this fight.”
“It’s honorable Barboza saying he’s been chasing the fight since 2019. Now that he stands in the way for me to reclaim my titles it’s time to get that fight on,” said Ramirez.
Others on the Riyadh fight card include Puerto Rico’s WBO minimumweight world titlist Oscar Collazo defending against Thailand’s Thammanoon Niyomtrong, along with Oscar Duarte and lightweight contenders William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer.
One fighter missing from the card is Charles Conwell, the super welterweight contender they recently signed earlier in the year. He last performed on the Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Serhii Bohachuk clash in Las Vegas.
Conwell has similar talent to those two.
And what about the women fighters”
Yokasta Valle recently re-signed with Golden Boy Promotions. What is her next scheduled fight? She was spotted facing up against Australia’s Lulu “Bang, Bang” Hawton at a fight card. Is that on the horizon?
West Coast venues
Speaking of the Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles, its just a few buildings north of the Belasco Theater where Golden Boy was staging its club shows for several years.
A majority of the boxing media favored that location for its cozy atmosphere and proximity to LA Live. A number of prospects that developed into contenders and world champions fought there including Vergil Ortiz Jr., Ryan Garcia, Joshua Franco, and Oscar Duarte.
On any given fight night celebrities like Mario Lopez, George Lopez and others would show up in the small venue that held several hundred fans in its ornate theater setting.
The Mayan Theater and Belasco Theater are still open for business. According to one source, LA Laker owner Jeannie Buss stages a pro wrestling show at one of those theaters.
World title fight
England’s Nick Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs) defends the WBA featherweight world title against Southern California’s Ronny Rios (34-4, 17 KOs) on Saturday Oct. 5, at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. Starting time for the Queensberry and Top Rank promotion card is 11 a.m. PT.
Ball was last seen nearly toppling WBC featherweight titlist Rey Vargas but lost last March. He then defeated Ray Ford for the WBA title
Fights to Watch
Fri. ESPN+ 2 a.m. PT Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0) vs Andrei Mikhailovich (21-0)
Sat. ESPN+ 11 a.m. PT Nick Ball (20-0-1) vs Ronny Rios (34-4)
Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy
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