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Execution Will Decide Porter-Garcia More Than Style
During the next two weeks there will be two high profile bouts in which the style contrast between the fighters couldn’t be more discernible

During the next two weeks there will be two high profile bouts in which the style contrast between the fighters couldn’t be more discernible. I’m speaking of this weekend’s WBC welterweight title bout between former titlists Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia, followed by the Canelo-Golovkin middleweight title rematch on September 15th. Both clashes feature a counter-puncher (Garcia & Canelo) versus a swarmer/attacker (Porter & Golovkin). And although most observers consider the counter-puncher holding the stylistic advantage, that is not necessarily true.
One of the biggest fights over the last 50 years that featured a premier swarmer and a premier counter-puncher was the first encounter between heavyweights Joe Frazier and Jerry Quarry back in June of 1969. Prior to the fight momentum was gaining in the media suggesting Quarry had the right style to befuddle Frazier and neutralize his aggression. But those that held this opinion were wrong. Jerry had the better of Joe in the first and most of the second round, but starting in the third Frazier’s aggression and his volume punching, along with him smothering Quarry’s room to get off freely, left nothing and no time for Jerry to counter. Instead he was rushing his shots trying to occupy Frazier and in doing that he couldn’t get everything on them and that enabled Joe to dictate the pace and ring geography of the bout. The Garcia-Porter clash on paper has some similarities to Frazier-Quarry I although the Frazier-Porter comparison is imperfect being that Joe was a more polished and effective attacker with a bigger pound-for-pound punch than Porter.
The fighter capable of executing his style best due to his greater ability to stay within himself will go a long way in deciding the outcome of Porter-Garcia on September 8th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Porter 28-2-1 (17) is one of the better conditioned fighters in boxing and that’s a necessity due to the way he fights. He’s only lost to the best of the best in the welterweight division, dropping close decisions to title holders Kell Brook and Keith Thurman. Porter is the quintessential attacker, in that he really tries not to give his opponents any room or time to do anything but retreat or defend. The problem is sometimes he gets in so tight he becomes easy to tie up and blunts his own offense. Against Garcia, Porter, instead of attacking in waves, would be best suited by applying Frazier-type bell-to-bell constant pressure, and that hasn’t been his strength. Shawn is either on you like a wet t-shirt or lying in wait for his chance to attack like a mountain lion. I’ve seen it said that Porter has a better jab than Garcia, but that isn’t set in stone. And Garcia isn’t the least bit concerned with Shawn’s jab because he knows it’s basically just a distraction to clear a path for Porter’s right hand and looping hooks that he throws from both sides.
Danny Garcia 34-1 (20), like Porter, is always in shape and has fought some of the best fighters in between 140-147. His only loss was to Keith Thurman. He has a few slight advantages over Porter, but to beat him he may have to be on his game even more than Shawn. Garcia is the more restrained fighter and seldom breaks his shell regarding who he is stylistically, but he is also smart enough to know when it’s imperative that he change things up to salvage a fight that’s hanging in the balance. Danny also has sound fundamentals and is best when he counters and picks his spots. He’s better defensively than Porter and is the more accurate puncher who relies more on timing. He’ll cede physical strength to Porter but he’ll try to use that against him and will rely on his solid chin when he miscalculates.
When it comes to who is the more versatile fighter of the two, it’s clearly Garcia. However, in this pairing that won’t matter one bit because Porter is going to force Garcia to retreat or fight it out with him, with no other option. And it would be a huge surprise if he didn’t.
Danny knows Shawn has no choice but to bring the heat because Porter can’t win fighting at ring center or fighting in retreat and also that’s not who he is. Porter is going to attack, swing for the fence with every punch to the head and body and hit anywhere he sees an opening or thinks he can create one. In this fight Porter is going to need to be the ultimate swarmer. And by that I mean his pressure and volume punching must be done at a pace that doesn’t afford Garcia the time to cover and counter and he must keep Danny fighting under duress for most of the round, and sustain that for all twelve rounds because this one most likely goes the distance.
With Garcia knowing Porter is going to be on the attack, he has a few decisions to make once he’s in there and has a better idea on how he measures up with Porter physically. The crucial thing will be the read Garcia gets when he feels Porter’s power. Shawn is strong but he’s not a guy that has single-shot fight-altering power, and if Danny feels he can live with anything Porter lands, he’ll take more chances and try to blunt his aggression. And if by chance he can get Porter to slow down in his trek to get inside, then Garcia can change things up and won’t be punching out of urgency. The other option Garcia has is the tactic in which he gives the anticipated ground that Porter is going to look to take and then counters him between his shots. Once inside, Porter is open up the middle because he tends to load up and punches wide with his head down, leaving him vulnerable to Garcia’s uppercut.
Like most fights at the highest level in boxing, especially when it doesn’t appear that either guy has guns big enough to get the other out, it’ll come down to who executes best and who’s scoring it. Porter is a worker and often looks like he’s doing more damage than he actually is, so the judges may give him credit for aggression even though he might not be terribly effective as far as landing clean and crisply.
If there ever was a 50-50 fight it’s Garcia vs. Porter this weekend. They have contrasting styles and the edge the stronger fighter has is evened out by the other being a better technician who is less likely to stray from who he is. This one may really come down to which of the two is more composed under fire along with who has the most big moments because it’s doubtful either one can sustain bettering the other for a majority of the fight.
Porter no doubt believes he can blast his way past Garcia. Danny, in turn, sees Porter as being made for him stylistically and is confident he’ll be able to use Porter’s aggression against him. And that’s not such a huge reach and the onus is on Porter to disrupt that.
Earlier this week Garcia said something that I really think is a window into his mindset. “If you’re throwing, it’s got to be effective,” he said. “Volume punches aren’t always effective. I’m the sharper boxer, cleaner puncher. That’s my style, and I throw a lot of punches too. I throw more than 600 punches a fight. That’s a lot.” In a very subtle way Garcia said that he sees Porter as a reckless attacker who misses a lot of punches and will be right in front of him to counter, and if he has to pick it up and initiate the action, he’s good.
Porter needs to do what Frazier did against Quarry, and that’s make Garcia fight bell-to-bell with a sense of urgency and when he slows from the pace and needs a breather, make him pay for not offering the resistance he did when he was fresh. On the other hand, Garcia has to do what Quarry couldn’t, and that’s give Porter a reason to impede his aggression and then capitalize with his greater accuracy and hand-speed when Shawn starts to wind down.
It’s impossible to say with impunity the counter-puncher holds the edge over the swarmer or vice versa. If Porter is an elite attacker, Garcia shouldn’t have anything to counter because he’ll be fighting with the purpose of just trying to tread water to keep from drowning in order to stay in the fight. But if Garcia can take advantage of his quicker and more accurate hands, that could be enough to impede Shawn’s aggression, and if Garcia can do that, he wins.
Garcia has always kind of gotten the advantage in decisions, and Porter tends to be kind of a hard luck fighter, so my inclination is Garcia edges out the win by decision.
Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com
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Thomas Hauser’s Literary Notes: Johnny Greaves Tells a Sad Tale

Johnny Greaves was a professional loser. He had one hundred professional fights between 2007 and 2013, lost 96 of them, scored one knockout, and was stopped short of the distance twelve times. There was no subtlety in how his role was explained to him: “Look, Johnny; professional boxing works two ways. You’re either a ticket-seller and make money for the promoter, in which case you get to win fights. If you don’t sell tickets but can look after yourself a bit, you become an opponent and you fight to lose.”
By losing, he could make upwards of one thousand pounds for a night‘s work.
Greaves grew up with an alcoholic father who beat his children and wife. Johnny learned how to survive the beatings, which is what his career as a fighter would become. He was a scared, angry, often violent child who was expelled from school and found solace in alcohol and drugs.
The fighters Greaves lost to in the pros ran the gamut from inept local favorites to future champions Liam Walsh, Anthony Crolla, Lee Selby, Gavin Rees, and Jack Catterall. Alcohol and drugs remained constants in his life. He fought after drinking, smoking weed, and snorting cocaine on the night before – and sometimes on the day of – a fight. On multiple occasions, he came close to committing suicide. His goal in boxing ultimately became to have one hundred professional fights.
On rare occasions, two professional losers – “journeymen,” they’re called in The UK – are matched against each other. That was how Greaves got three of the four wins on his ledger. On September 29, 2013, he fought the one hundredth and final fight of his career against Dan Carr in London’s famed York Hall. Carr had a 2-42-2 ring record and would finish his career with three wins in ninety outings. Greaves-Carr was a fight that Johnny could win. He emerged triumphant on a four-round decision.
The Johnny Greaves Story, told by Greaves with the help of Adam Darke (Pitch Publishing) tells the whole sordid tale. Some of Greaves’s thoughts follow:
* “We all knew why we were there, and it wasn’t to win. The home fighters were the guys who had sold all the tickets and were deemed to have some talent. We were the scum. We knew our role. Give some young prospect a bit of a workout, keep out of the way of any big shots, lose on points but take home a wedge of cash, and fight again next week.”
* “If you fought too hard and won, then you wouldn’t get booked for any more shows. If you swung for the trees and got cut or knocked out, then you couldn’t fight for another 28 days. So what were you supposed to do? The answer was to LOOK like you were trying to win but be clever in the process. Slip and move, feint, throw little shots that were rangefinders, hold on, waste time. There was an art to this game, and I was quickly learning what a cynical business it was.”
* “The unknown for the journeyman was always how good your opponent might be. He could be a future world champion. Or he might be some hyped-up nightclub bouncer with a big following who was making lots of money for the promoter.”
* “No matter how well I fought, I wasn’t going to be getting any decisions. These fights weren’t scored fairly. The referees and judges understood who the paymasters were and they played the game. What was the point of having a go and being the best version of you if nobody was going to recognize or reward it?”
* “When I first stepped into the professional arena, I believed I was tough. believed that nobody could stop me. But fight by fight, those ideas were being challenged and broken down. Once you know that you can be hurt, dropped and knocked out, you’re never quite the same fighter.”
* “I had started off with a dream, an idea of what boxing was and what it would do for me. It was going to be a place where I could prove my toughness. A place that I could escape to and be someone else for a while. For a while, boxing was that place. But it wore me down to the point that I stopped caring. I’d grown sick and tired of it all. I wished that I could feel pride at what I’d achieved. But most of the time, I just felt like a loser.”
* “The fights were getting much more difficult, the damage to my body and my psyche taking longer and longer to repair after each defeat. I was putting myself in more and more danger with each passing fight. I was getting hurt more often and stopped more regularly. Even with the 28-day [suspensions], I didn’t have time to heal. I was staggering from one fight to the next and picking up more injuries along the way.”
* “I was losing my toughness and resilience. When that’s all you’ve ever had, it’s a hard thing to accept. Drink and drugs had always been present in my life. But now they became a regular part of my pre-fight preparation. It helped to shut out the fear and quieted the thoughts and worries that I shouldn’t be doing this anymore.”
* “My body was broken. My hands were constantly sore with blisters and cuts. I had early arthritis in my hip and my teeth were a mess. I looked an absolute state and inside I felt worse. But I couldn’t stop fighting yet. Not before the 100.”
* “I had abused myself time after time and stood in front of better men, taking a beating when I could have been sensible and covered up. At the start, I was rarely dropped or stopped. Now it was becoming a regular part of the game. Most of the guys I was facing were a lot better than me. This was mainly about survival.”
* “Was my brain f***ed from taking too many punches? I knew it was, to be honest. I could feel my speech changing and memory going. I was mentally unwell and shouldn’t have been fighting but the promoters didn’t care. Johnny Greaves was still a good booking. Maybe an even better one now that he might get knocked out.”
* “Nobody gave a f*** about me and whether I lived or died. I didn’t care about that much either. But the thought of being humiliated, knocked out in front of all those people; that was worse than the thought of dying. The idea of being exposed for what I was – a nobody.”
* “I was a miserable bastard in real life. A depressive downbeat mouthy little f***er. Everything I’ve done has been to mask the feeling that I’m worthless. That I have no value. The drinks and the drugs just helped me to forget that for a while. I still frighten myself a lot. My thoughts scare me. Do I really want to be here for the next thirty or forty years? I don’t know. If suicide wasn’t so impactful on people around you, I would have taken that leap. I don’t enjoy life and never have.”
So . . . Any questions?
****
Steve Albert was Showtime’s blow-by-blow commentator for two decades. But his reach extended far beyond boxing.
Albert’s sojourn through professional sports began in high school when he was a ball boy for the New York Knicks. Over the years, he was behind the microphone for more than a dozen teams in eleven leagues including four NBA franchises.
Putting the length of that trajectory in perspective . . . As a ballboy, Steve handed bottles of water and towels to a Knicks back-up forward named Phil Jackson. Later, they worked together as commentators for the New Jersey Nets. Then Steve provided the soundtrack for some of Jackson’s triumphs when he won eleven NBA championships as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.
It’s also a matter of record that Steve’s oldest brother, Marv, was arguably the greatest play-by-play announcer in NBA history. And brother Al enjoyed a successful career behind the microphone after playing professional hockey.
Now Steve has written a memoir titled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Broadcast Booth. Those who know him know that Steve doesn’t like to say bad things about people. And he doesn’t here. Nor does he delve into the inner workings of sports media or the sports dream machine. The book is largely a collection of lighthearted personal recollections, although there are times when the gravity of boxing forces reflection.
“Fighters were unlike any other professional athletes I had ever encountered,” Albert writes. “Many were products of incomprehensible backgrounds, fiercely tough neighborhoods, ghettos and, in some cases, jungles. Some got into the sport because they were bullied as children. For others, boxing was a means of survival. In many cases, it was an escape from a way of life that most people couldn’t even fathom.”
At one point, Steve recounts a ringside ritual that he followed when he was behind the microphone for Showtime Boxing: “I would precisely line up my trio of beverages – coffee, water, soda – on the far edge of the table closest to the ring apron. Perhaps the best advice I ever received from Ferdie [broadcast partner Ferdie Pacheco] was early on in my blow-by-blow career – ‘Always cover your coffee at ringside with an index card unless you like your coffee with cream, sugar, and blood.’”
Writing about the prelude to the infamous Holyfield-Tyson “bite fight,” Albert recalls, “I remember thinking that Tyson was going to do something unusual that night. I had this sinking feeling in my gut that he was going to pull something exceedingly out of the ordinary. His grousing about Holyfield’s head butts in the first fight added to my concern. [But] nobody could have foreseen what actually happened. Had I opened that broadcast with, ‘Folks, tonight I predict that Mike Tyson will bite off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear,’ some fellas in white coats might have approached me and said, ‘Uh, Steve, could you come with us.'”
And then there’s my favorite line in the book: “I once asked a fighter if he was happily married,” Albert recounts. “He said, ‘Yes, but my wife’s not.'”
“All I ever wanted was to be a sportscaster,” Albert says in closing. “I didn’t always get it right, but I tried to do my job with honesty and integrity. For forty-five years, calling games was my life. I think it all worked out.”
Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder at:
https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329
In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12th round, Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez came off the deck to win his rematch with Kazuto Ioka and retain his piece of the world 115-pound title. The match was staged at Ioka’s familiar stomping grounds, the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.
In their first meeting on July 7 of last year in Tokyo, Martinez was returned the winner on scores of 117-111, 116-112, and a bizarre 120-108. The rematch was slated for late December, but Martinez took ill a few hours before the weigh-in and the bout was postponed.
The 33-year-old Martinez, who came in sporting a 17-0 (9) record, was a 7-2 favorite to win the sequel, but there were plenty of reasons to favor Ioka, 36, aside from his home field advantage. The first Japanese male fighter to win world titles in four weight classes, Ioka was 3-0 in rematches and his long-time trainer Ismael Salas was on a nice roll. Salas was 2-0 last weekend in Times Square, having handled upset-maker Rolly Romero and Reito Tsutsumi who was making his pro debut.
But the fourth time was not a charm for Ioka (31-4-1) who seemingly pulled the fight out of the fire in round 10 when he pitched the Argentine to the canvas with a pair of left hooks, but then wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum swing.
Martinez set a fast pace and had Ioka fighting off his back foot for much of the fight. Beginning in round seven, Martinez looked fatigued, but the Argentine was conserving his energy for the championship rounds. In the end, he won the bout on all three cards: 114-113, 116-112, 117-110.
Up next for Fernando Martinez may be a date with fellow unbeaten Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the lineal champion at 115. San Antonio’s Rodriguez is a huge favorite to keep his title when he defends against South Africa’s obscure Phumelela Cafu on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.
As for Ioka, had he won today’s rematch, that may have gotten him over the hump in so far as making it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. True, winning titles in four weight classes is no great shakes when the bookends are only 10 pounds apart, but Ioka is still a worthy candidate.
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Emanuel Navarrete Survives a Bloody Battle with Charly Suarez in San Diego

In a torrid battle Mexico’s Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and his staccato attack staved off the herky-jerky non-stop assaults of Philippine’s Charly Suarez to win by technical decision and retain the WBO super feather world title on Saturday.
What do they feed these guys?
Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) and his elongated arms managed to connect enough to compensate against the surprising Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) who wowed the crowd at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
An accidental clash of heads opened a cut on the side of Navarrete’s left eye and forced a stoppage midway through the fight.
From the opening round Navarrete used his windmill style of attack with punches from different angles that caught Suarez multiple times early. It did not matter. Suarez fired back with impunity and was just as hungry to punch it out with the Mexican fighter.
It was savage.
Every time Navarrete connected solidly, he seemed to pause and check out the damage. Bad idea. Suarez would immediately counter with bombs of his own and surprise the champion with his resilience and tenacity.
Wherever they found Suarez they should look for more, because the Filipino fighter from Manila was ferocious and never out of his depth.
Around the sixth round the Mexican fighter seemed a little drained and puzzled at the tireless attacks coming from Suarez. During an exchange of blows a cut opened up on Navarrete and it was ruled an accidental clash of heads by the referee. Blood streamed down the side of Navarrete’s face and it was cleared by the ringside physician.
But at the opening of the eighth round, the fight was stopped and the ringside physician ruled the cut was too bad to continue. The California State Athletic Commission looked at tape of the round when the cut opened to decipher if it was an accidental butt or a punch that caused the cut. It was unclear so the referee’s call of accidental clash of heads stood as the final ruling.
Score cards from the judges saw Navarrete the winner by scores of 78-75, 77-76 twice. He retains the WBO title.
Interim IBF Lightweight Title
The sharp-shooting Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) maneuvered past Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the interim IBF lightweight title after 12 rounds.
Both fighters were strategic in their approach with Muratalla switching from orthodox to southpaw at various times of the fight. Neither fighter was ever able to dominant any round.
Defense proved the difference between the two lightweights. Muratalla was able to slip more blows than Abdullaev and that proved the difference. The fighter from Fontana, California was able to pierce Abdullaev’s guard more often than not, especially with counter punches.
Abdullaev was never out of the fight. The Russian fighter was able to change tactics and counter the counters midway through the fight. It proved effective especially to the body. But it was not enough to offset Muratalla’s accuracy.
There were no knockdowns and after 12 rounds the judges scored it 118-110, 119-109 twice for Muratalla who now becomes the mandatory for the IBF lightweight title should Vasyl Lomachenko return to defend it.
Muratalla was brief.
“He was a tough fighter,” said Muratalla. “My defense is something I work on a lot.”
Perla Wins
Super flyweight Perla Bazaldua (2-0) eased past Mona Ward (0-2) with a polished display of fighting at length and inside.
Combination punching and defense allowed Bazaldua to punch in-between Ward’s attacks and force the St. Louis fighter to clinch repeatedly. But Ward hung in there despite taking a lot of blows. After four rounds the Los Angeles-based Bazaldua was scored the winner 40-36 on all three cards. Bazaldua signed a long term contract with Top Rank in March.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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