“The Fight Game” Recap; Quick Mention of Beadlegate, Takedowns of “Super” Fight

HBO ace Jim Lampley trotted out another edition of his “The Fight Game” on Tuesday night, and but of course, the issue of Mayweather-Pacquiao popped up, in several contexts.

Lampley gave us a pound for pound top five. Mayweather he mentioned first; then Gennady Golovkin, the high risk hitter came next; then Roman Gonzalez, the flyweight stud, who fights on HBO May 16; then Sergey Kovalev. Vasily Lomachenko, who Lamps called “incomparable” in terms of his skills package, finished the pack.

Lampley said tix and hotel prices dropped at MayPac and then told us about the sights and sounds from fight week. We saw cheering fans, hopeful, ready to see Pacman unseat the king of the ring; the video left me cold, as I’m sure it did you, as I compared the hype to the sad reality; we heard Pacman say he thought he won, and then Michelle Beadle showed up to chat.

It was to be her first prize fight, she told us. She said she thought she was credentialed but was told that her “credentials were up in the air.” She decided then that she’d not hang around to wait. What was the public takeaway from the event? “A lot of hype and a lot money for very little,” she stated. “Almost too much hype for almost anyone to live up to.”

It was a micro-hit, very, very short. More would have been more, I think, as viewers could have been informed of a world they get no entrance into seeing, first hand, that of the desire of handlers to micro-manage message for their celeb clients.

Lampley talked about the Provodnikov-Matthysse fight, and we saw video and heard Lampley narration. He thinks it’s the fight of the year favorite as of right now, though Provo’s slow start may keep it out of the winner’s circle come the next BWAA dinner. (We know that Mayweather-Pacman ain’t getting first prize, that’s for sure. And I wonder if Floyd will win Fighter of the Year, too?) The host said a bout might be surpassed by a bout that had knockdowns; I’d bet yes.

Next, we saw Wladimir Klitschko vs. Bryant Jennings action. Lampley said the fight was not a thriller and Wlad fought too much like he did his last time in NYC. Can’t always get what we want..

The Anti-Gatti list, the frustrators, was next. Floyd, then Wlad, then Guilllermo Rigondeaux, Miguel Vasquez, an “unbashed runner,” and Erislandy Lara, all guys not like Mr. Gatti made the hit list..

Lampley touched on “the ultraviolent” James Kirkland and his on-again, off-again career. The Austin, Texan’s trainer Ann Wolfe, not in the fold for the next bout, talked exciteldly about the mayhem her guy is known for. Flesh off face is her desire…We saw what happened when Kirkland was sans Wolfe, when Nobuhiro Ishida dropped and stopped Kirkland. Kirkland beat Alfredo Angulo, then was unimpressive versus Carlos Molina. He took 20 months off and beat Glen Tapia, who fights Friday night in Newark. 18 more months passed and he will be with an unknown trainer to try and handle the rock-solid Canelo.

Max Kellerman was asked about MayPac; he called it a net minus, as this wasn’t the best of boxing on display. It was “the most boring and predictable outcome,” Max said. What about the Wlad win? There is an appetite for heavyweight boxing, but the Wlad win wasn’t fan friendly. Can’t forget Deontay Wilder, Max said. “There’s a groundswell of hope” regarding the Bronze Bomber, he said.

Canelo is that much more important because Julio Cesar Chavez Jr has imploded, said Jim and Max. Canelo needs to pick up the baton and run proud, Max said.

They discussed Gennady Golovkin versus Willie Monroe; Monroe has no chance, Max said, with beyond-admirable candor.

To kick off, Lampley had us looking at video of the Mayweather rubout. The punches in bunches and trap-setting didn’t fly for Pacman, he said. We didn’t get danger, and it was a “generic Mayweather win.” Fans didn’t much enjoy it, he told us.

Bernard Hopkins, who seems to have supplanted Andre Ward, joined Jim and talked about Floyd’s skills. Hopkins, still finding his way as a talking head, seeking a comfort level, said MM has his opponents playing his tune, and he plays the “hit and not get hit tune” ever so capably. Head movement, foot placement, he’s got it all, said the elder master. Will he indeed retire at 49-0? No, said Hopkins, he will follow his nickname, and the money, and that record, which Floyd pretends to not care about.

Lampley gave us a pound for pound top five. Mayweather he mentioned first; then Gennady Golovkin, the high risk hitter came next; then Roman Gonzalez, the flyweight stud, who fights on HBO May 16; then Sergey Kovalev. Vasily Lomachenko, who Lamps called “incomparable” in terms of his skills package, finished the pack.

Lampley closed strong with discussion of MayPac. He touched on the 1 percent element, how this fight wasn’t for “the fans” but rather the monied elite, only they could get close, and the power of social media to distort, the nature of super fights, and their ability to amaze, or bore. He looked hard at Mayweathers’ handlers’ trying to muffle press, and also Manny’s shoulder excuse. Plenty of shame to go around…He said drug testing was not Olympic style, and wondered why USDADA costs more than six times as much as VADA’s efforts? (Indeed, I was frustrated by the lack of response on a few occasions from USADA when I reached out to them, to ask about testing specifics. To be fair, I’m sure there was a deluge. But then hire more help to deal with it. Ultra transparency is paramount, and we didn’t get it, not even close, in my opinion.) The fight was a downer and we could have predicted that, what with the immensity of the hype, the host said.

PPV is a downer for viewers when the product stunk, he said. He said there will be no rematch, because there will be no market for ir. There is plenty of product out there, though, and maybe the next super fight will live up to the hype, featuring a “Cossack versus a Mexican.”

“Let’s see if Paris Hilton shows up for that one!”

Note: I would have liked more discussion and a harder edge concerning how the press was (mis)treated. Lampley’s stature could move the needle a half tick if he came out a bit harder on the matter, such as how HBO’s Tom Hauser’s credential was pulled, in retaliation for appearing, it seems, with Rachel Nichols to discuss her credential issue, and Mayweathers’ domestic violence record.

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