Taylor Whips Lacy and a Delahoya/Hatton preview

When I wrote down my prediction for the Taylor/Lacy fight, I was stuck in euphoric recall of the pre-Calzaghe Lacy, whose opponents cowered before him. He seemed invincible in the same way we all regarded the pre-Douglas Mike Tyson. Like Tyson, once the aura of invincibility was shattered, all the flaws in his style showed through the cracks.

To be fair, Jeff Lacy is still a good boxer. He's just not a good enough boxer to compete with elite fighters. He gets blown out by a super-elite fighter like Joe Calzaghe. He is badly overmatched, but not demolished by a fighter like Jermaine Taylor. For his part, Taylor has been hit with a bad rap. He dethroned the (here's the HBO announcing crews' cue to fall all over themselves) "legendary" Bernard Hopkins, then outpointed him in the rematch (yes, he did Bernard...quiet down). Taylor got KO'd by Kelly Pavlik, sure...but only after he dropped Pavlik and nearly ended it early. If Pavlik hadn't shown that kind of resiliency, we'd still be talking about Taylor as a pound-for-pound nominee and his marginal performances fighting down to the likes of the undersized and apparently shot-early Ouma would be forgotten.

In other words, this was the matchup of overrated (yes, even after getting trounced by Welsh Joe...mostly because Joe is currently being legitimately fitted for Superman's cape) versus the underappreciated. Any realfightfan knew who would win. I'm ashamed to say that I played it safe in my prediction, calling it by decision for Taylor 116-111.

While I called three rounds of the twelve round fight close, the fight was never really close. At times, it was competitive, sure...but Taylor had clearly faster hands. Spending most of the fight backing up, Taylor potshotted, counterpunched, punched in combination and danced away. Lacy was game, coming forward practically the whole fight, but he was clearly the slower handed fighter. He lunged in, led with his face and was simply beat to the punch over and over. In this space, I've before bemoaned the type of fighter who, notwithstanding his determination, spends an entire fight repeating his mistakes, hoping for a different result. Lacy was and is that type of fighter. At times like that, I want to sneak into his corner and tell him, "try something...anything different!" Move to side to side, work the body exclusively, cut off the ring...anything...or at least anything different.

Alas, there was no solution for Jeff Lacy. Taylor had more tools, he was sharper, he had a better game plan and he is the superior focused boxer. If this was the crossroads fight for Lacy, he got run over by the Taylor train.

The only round I clearly gave Lacy was round 5 because it was a competitive round and because he knocked Taylor down. Now...the referee called in a slip, so I couldn't score it 10-8, but it sure looked like a knockdown to me. The replay showed it was a glancing blow, Taylor's footwork was obviously bad and he was off-balance, but that doesn't make it not a knockdown. Taylor said the ref saw (what the replay didn't show) Lacy unintentionally step on Taylor's foot, sending him off-balance...which seems plausible, except when you consider how both fighters behaved in the following minute or so of that round (and in the following two rounds). Lacy stalked, trying to finish the job and Taylor worked to escape and tie up. The fight also became competitive for the next two rounds as Lacy was clearly energized by the non-knockdown knockdown. I called rounds 6 and 7 for Taylor, but scored them both as close rounds (rounds which I felt could legitimately be called either way).

Otherwise, it was a blowout. By fight's end, my card, like one of the three official scorecards, read 119-109 for Taylor. The other two official scorecards had it 118-110 for Taylor. I hereby vow never to assess Jeff Lacy through the prism of the past...at least not against elite competition. But let's face it...we probably won't see him in against elite level competition anymore, except perhaps as a gatekeeper. He's a good fighter with a lot of heart and a good left hook that he doesn't throw much any more (a fact astutely pointed out by HBO's Larry Merchant, still the class of the crew). If he decides to stick around, he'll test good young fighters coming up and maybe great old fighters coming back down, but at the elite level...stick a fork in him...he's done.

Now...to Delahoya v. Pacquiao. This superfight brings a 135 lb champion ( yes...I'm giving Pacquiao that weight even though he's only fought there once and otherwise at 130 lb his whole career because he blew out titleholder David Diaz at that weight...and he's earned legitimacy there as result. He's not blown up at 135 lb...he's not!) in against arguably the best 154 lb figher of this generation. Delahoya will stand fully 4 inches taller than Pacquiao in the ring and will have a four inch reach advantage. Though the catchweight is 147 lb, we can expect Pacquiao to hover around 142 on fight night, even after the weigh in and Oscar will bulk up to 154 lb or higher with 30 hours to re-hydrate. If Pacquiao comes in heavier, his speed will be affected...so he won't.

Can a fighter of Pacquiao's caliber overcome a four inch reach disadvantage and give away over 15 pounds in the ring? Absolutely. Can he do it against one of the elite fighters of this era at that fighter's more natural weight. Of course not. I see this as a huge mistake for Pacquiao. Some say that he has nothing to lose and all that money to gain. In a way, that's true. But how much money is your legacy worth? I suspect that once the stars clear and he's staring up at those lights as he's counted out, he'll wonder whether it's all worth it.

I see Delahoya knocking Pacquiao out in the ninth. The same round that Delahoya himself succumbed to Bernard Hopkins when he took the same kind of fight. I'm looking forward to the fight, though. I love watching Oscar fight and I can't root against Pacquiao...so for that thrill alone, they can have my $59.95 or whatever it will be, but I don't see this fight as even particulary competitive after the first three rounds. Delahoya's heavy jab and heavier hands will start to wear Manny down and a big left hook will catch him coming in.

On to Hatton v. Malignaggi. Simple as this: Malignaggi is out of his depth. Hatton will take over this fight by stepping inside of Malignaggi's range. Hatton will then punish him, as Malignaggi struggles to find a way to get the fight back to range. Failing that, he will engage Hatton inside and take a miserable beating for it. I think we finally see our Hatton of old back in this fight, mostly because Paulie is psychologically taylor-made for Ricky. Paulie loves to showcase his handspeed, but it won't matter against Hatton because Hatton bobs and weaves to get inside, then roughs up his opponent. He is relentless and focused and there is method to his mayhem. If he weren't so darn likeable, I'd dislike his fighting style as dirty...and some do. But ask Kostya if it works. It certainly Kost him. He was aKosted, in fact. Malignaggi will get his payday, but at what Kost? That was too far, wasn't it?

Meanwhile, a fighter has to be supremely skilled to avoid making the fight that Ricky wants. Recall that only one fighter has done it so far. Is Malignaggi that skilled? No. The only other question then is whether Ricky Hatton still wants to fight, still has the stomach for it and still has enough shelf-life in him not to be shot? Probably, perhaps and surely enough for Malignaggi. This is Ricky's fight, but it goes the distance. I'll call this one 117-111 for Ricky. Paulie is a tough guy, but he's going to play right into Ricky's hands and I think we'll see that Ricky decides by about the 3rd round that he still enjoys big time fighting (last time out it took until about the 5th, as I recall). Ricky's not quite ready to hang it up and this fight will see his return to the closest we've seen yet to his pre-Mayweather form. It'll be a good fight, if not a particularly close one.

Light Heavys and Super Middles and Who Cares?

I've been away, but haven't stopped watching. Three fights caught my attention in the past month and a half:

Antonio Tarver v. Chad Dawson - my opinion of Dawson was suitably lowered after he lost convincingly to Glencoffe Johnson and walked away with the decision. Johnson stalked him, bullied and pounded him while he flailed ineffectively, attempting to keep him off. I guess that ineffective flailing was enough to be considered crafty counterpunching by judges determined to preserve the division's preeminent rising stars' undefeated record intact. Johnson the journeyman master doesn't get to prevail in the real life world of boxing. Those kind of decisions stand as proof positive of the difference between the way boxing should be and the way it is. Perhaps it is an apt metaphor for life, but if so it is a depressing one.

So...you can see that I was not too thrilled to watch Dawson again. I hoped that I might see the active-mouthed, if not particularly active-handed Tarver look the way he did against his last opponent. Last time out, Tarver got a walk-over against a tomato can beltholder from England who proved no better than a club fighter who led with his face. Tarver got to pick his spots, moved his hands more than he had in previous outings as a result and won easily. Against Dawson, I naively prayed for a Tarver renaissance where he once again threw caution to the wind and let his hands go. If that Tarver re-appeared, then he could dispatch this pretending contender. Alas, my prayers were in vain.

Tarver looked like the same Tarver we've had to endure since he supposedly exposed the aging Roy Jones, Jr.: tentative, looking and waiting for an opening that never comes and hoping for one big punch to change the tide of the fight while holding energy in reserve for the flurry that would be required to finish it. It's so frustrating to watch that fighter as he plods toward defeat. Indeed, we give up hope after a few fights that he will ever land that game-changing punch because he never does. He didn't land it in this fight either.

That isn't to say that Dawson didn't acquit himself well. He did. His hands were clearly faster, he counterpunched with both hands and kept the stalking, but ineffectual Tarver at bay throughout the fight. That said, his defense was poor and he was easy for the very occasionally agressive Tarver to hit. We only saw a fight in the 12th round, when Tarver started to let his hands go without fear of being hit. Tarver went down, but still won the round on my card. If only Tarver were less afraid of being hit, he'd be a much better championship level fighter. No risk, no reward in this hurt business and Tarver stopped taking risks when in deep long ago.

Kelly Pavlik v. Bernard Hopkins - here is a fight I'm glad I didn't buy. It didn't turn out as I would have called it, but it was still ugly. While that isn't really fair to Bernard Hopkins, who changed his fighting style and surprised Pavlik with his hand speed, it's still true for me. I knew this was a stupid fight for Pavlik to take and it turned out to be...just not for the reasons I anticipated.

Fighting over his weight, Pavlik looked one-dimensional against Hopkins. He stalked Hopkins but was overmatched by the angles Hopkins gave him. If I didn't dislike Hopkins so much, I would give him credit for remaking himself after the Calzaghe loss. I would laud his fast hands, his veteran poise, his defensive mastery. I'll leave that to the ever-fawning HBO crew, who can never get enough of lavishing praise on him. For me, Hopkins took advantage of a stupid promoting team in making this fight. Pavlik, who once said he'd fight godzilla if his promoter put him in front of him, took this no-win fight despite Hopkins clearly being the physically larger fighter.

I may be stretching to find the reason to dismiss this fight and if so, so be it...but we all know Hopkins put himself through superhuman torture for years to make the 160 lb. weight limit where Pavlik now rules. His self-discipline is legendary. So...now that he'd blown himself up to 175 to fight Tarver a few years ago, then never come back down, why would Pavlik agree to fight him 8 pounds north of Pavlik's ideal fighting weight? Why not make Hopkins sweat off that extra 8 pounds if you're stupid enough to take this fight? Who would be so stupid as to take this fight? If you win, Hopkins was too old. If you lose, your career takes a downturn and your zero goes away. Why take on the acclaimed defensive fighter of his generation at a weight of his choosing? Who would pay to tune in? I didn't.

When I watched it on replay, I knew the outcome and though I was surprised by it when I heard it...it's not quite so surprising in retrospect. Pavlik is at his limit at 160 lb right now. That is where his punch took him. In 5 years that may change as his musculature changes, but right now he is still a slim 160 lb.. It was no mistake seeing a slight roll on him at close to 168. He was not ready to take it up 8 pounds and certainly not against Bernard Hopkins.

Now...to Hopkins' credit, he did the job. First of all, he made the fight...which as it turns out was all the battle. He handpicked Pavlik and Pavlik's handlers are apparently too stupid to see the spider coming down the web. Credit to Enzo Calzaghe, who called this fight lopsidedly for Hopkins. The fight also puts Calzaghe's runaway win against Hopkins in perspective. Hopkins is hardly over the hill, as his otherworldly conditioning apparently is keeping him young. Perhaps I should also give Hopkins credit for coming out of his ugly one-punch and hug style to take the fight to the undersized one-note Pavlik. He moved away from Pavlik's power hand all night, but did step in to deliver punishment and never let Pavlik get his legs under him. I just hate giving credit to Bernard Hopkins. Let Max Kellerman fall all over himself. I'll take Joe Calzaghe.

Joe Calzaghe v. Roy Jones, Jr. - okay, so if you know boxing you'll ask me...why buy this fight, if you wouldn't buy Pavlik/Hopkins? the answer is severalfold: 1) I like these fighters and I don't like watching Bernard Hopkins, win or lose; 2) Joe is a volume punching fighter who showboats; 3) Roy is a showboat who can punch, when he can get away with it.

So how was it? A lot of fun...for a Joe Calzaghe fan. Listening to Max Kellerman fawn over Roy Jones, Jr. you can't help but wonder if he's got stock in Roy's promotional company. When Roy was in the fight (which he never really was, but if you listen to the HBO team, he won the first two rounds), you would have thought Roy had shaken off all the tarnish of his precipitous fall from the height of the sport. Excusing his three consecutive KO losses based on the weight loss after Ruiz, taking the follow-up fight too soon, and underestimating Glencoffe Johnson respectively, the HBO crew was ready to anoint Jones again. This, as they ignored Calzaghe piling up points and outquicking Jones even in the first two rounds. When Jones landed a lucky punch that stunned Calzaghe sending him down in the first, they immediately wrote Calzaghe off.

In fact, Kellerman proclaimed in the second round (that Calzaghe won on my scorecard and apparently on all three official scorecards too) that Jones was making Calzaghe "look like a washed up Trinidad." Not until the fourth round of Calzaghe clearly and repeatedly beating Jones to the punch without answer did the HBO team begin to change their tune, grudgingly conceding that Jones, who was barely able to fight back, was not getting the better of...well...any exchange. Apart from a brief renaissance in the sixth round (that wasn't enough to take the round on any card), Jones settled into a pattern of covering and getting beaten up. For his part, Calzaghe poured it on, relishing this opportunity to embarrass Jones in whose 168 lb shadow he'd built his career.

I'm not convinced that I must score a round in which a fighter is knocked down 10-8 for the fighter doing the knocking down. Of course, putting a fighter on the canvas ought factor significantly and a point must be awarded, but if that downed fighter otherwise clearly won the round, scoring the round 9-9 seems appropriate to me, as my 119-108 card suggested. I gave every round to Calzaghe, even the first where he was knocked down. Apparently, the official scorers disagreed. They gave every round to Calzaghe, except that first round (which they all awarded to Jones 10-8). The three ringside scorers agreed 118-109. I still like my scoring better, but at least the uniformity will tell the tale of this fight.

HBO's Kellerman shifted into Jones apologist mode about halfway through the fight, intoning that this "isn't the Jones of old." Even in the post-fight interviews, Kellerman pointed out that Jones was not the Jones of of his prime. I wonder if the revered Jones of old picked his fights and got to look great against a procession of middling opponents. I think Max ought to pause and recall that Jones "aged right before our eyes" at 35 years old. Here is Joe Calzaghe giving him a pounding, and while Jones is now 39 (or "nearly 40" as Kellerman rather toadyingly pointed out in the post-fight), Calzaghe is 36 years old. It is apparently good enough for Max that Jones once looked otherworldly against fighters that weren't (the otherwise alarmingly mediocre) Antonio Tarver. I'm sure that the truth is somewhere between my version and Max's.

Apparently, Max forgets that Jones ducked Tarver for years. Maybe there was a good reason for that. Jones can market himself, no doubt...with his jetting between minor league basketball games and prizefights, contract with Nike and rap career. He certainly built a brand, then rehabilitated it with a new series of handpicked fights. But when he tested himself, he failed. He is not to be blamed for that. He's made his money, had his day in the sun and certainly entertained us...but maybe he ought not be held up as the greatest fighter of his generation. Perhaps he was a very good fighter in a mediocre division. Certainly, he ought not now be held up now as a shadow of his former self. Perhaps he is now exactly what he always was. A fighter who, like most good fighters, is in deep against the best fighters around...and he just didn't put himself in with the best that often.

Let me close with comment on Jim Lampley's suggestion near the close of the fight that Joe Calzaghe perhaps would have been better off not showboating to embarrass Jones. Shame on you, Jim. How many fighters did Jones himself embarass that way? Even he clearly understood that if Calzaghe could get away with it, he should. That Jones was unable to prevent it, when Calzaghe was so clearly outclassing him, was the message Calzaghe had been wanting to send for so long: "I was in Wales for 12 years fighting undefeated but unrecognized before you were brought low. You wanted no part of me. Now you know why. While you were handpickng opponents and fighting in Vegas, I saw what you did to those lesser fighters and I'll do it to you now. Stop me if you can, but you can't now anymore than you could've then. I'm the best fighter of our generation. Don't let HBO tell you otherwise. If you hadn't been exposed before now, I'd have done it. I'll do it now. Hit me if you can, Roy. You can't can you?" He couldn't.

Berto Rises and Mayorga Falls...Yet Again

The HBO card on Saturday September 27, 2008 was, by a realfightfan's standards, nothing more or less than a chance to watch some boxers whose names we know. No belts at stake, no surprises likely. That said, there was no way I was passing it up because there's seems to have been so little to cheer about in the last few months. Having seen Calzaghe make a date with Roy Jones is a yawner and I can't sufficiently express my disappointment at Kelly Pavlik having set a fight with Bernard Hopkins. What a waste of time. All of that said, in truth I have only myself to blame for not having seen any good recent fights, because there was at least one...and I missed it because I didn't buy the pay-per-view of the Forrest/Mora rematch that apparently set all things right with the world. My own fault. To the card...

Stevie "two pound" Forbes has now apparently become the newest opponent for the elite and rising elite at 154. He's got a championship pedigree (safely twenty pounds south) and is committed but featherfisted. Andre Berto (22-0 coming in) was looking for a name to add to his resume. For the first few rounds, it looked like he was in a lot deeper than his camp had anticipated. Stevie countered well and his speed looked comparable to the lightning quick, but habitually inaccurate Berto. Even after the HBO team seemed to think Berto had taken control in the middle rounds, I didn't think Berto was landing almost any of his punches. He was also clinching and holding with his arms around Forbes' arms way too much considering that he was the faster, younger and stronger fighter. I had the fight for Forbes, four rounds to two, at the end of the sixth because he was counterpunching more cleanly and while Berto would throw combinations in lightning flurries, almost no punches in these barrages were landing. The crowd would ooh and aah, but Forbes was slipping, blocking and ducking, making Berto ineffective.

However, whether it was Berto's pressure, his greater strength (their physiques are a contrast, with Berto's bulging muscles and Forbes' sleek and undersized...for the weight...physique) or the opponent mentality that has begun to dog Forbes at least since the Delahoya fight, Forbes seemed to stop trying to win. Turning in a sparring partner's performance the last six rounds, Forbes seemed to go into survival mode and phone it in until the final bell. In this space, I decried the HBO announcing team after the Delahoya fight for calling Forbes out for his sparring partner mentality. Interestingly, they did it far less in this bout, but he deserved it more...at least after the sixth. At fight's end, I had it 116-112 and the official scorers had it unanimously 118-109, 118-109 and 116-111, all for Berto.

Where does Berto go from here? Well, Antonio Margarito was in the audience. If the Berto camp thinks he's ready for Margarito, I think they have another thing coming. By grabbing and fighting in spurts, as I've seen him do before, Berto is used to getting a chance not only to admire his work after his dramatic (but too often ineffectual) flurries, but to clinch and hold and catch his breath. Margarito will never allow that and is natural enough at the weight and aggressive enough to shoulder him off and rain down blows. If the Margarito who fought Cintron and Cotto shows up, Berto doesn't last six rounds. Jumping from Forbes to Margarito is a quantum leap to the highest echelon of the division. That said, if they make that fight I'll tune in...and while I'm virtually certain it ends badly for Berto...that's why they make 'em fight.

If I'm Berto's camp, I'd definitely go in next against a slightly lesser elite level fighter, if they're looking to step up. Of course, the problem for Berto is that there are so many elite level fighters in his division that every one is risky. Cintron? risky as heck...he can knock the iffy-chinned Berto out with one punch. Paul Williams? he will outwork Berto and if he doesn't get him in trouble, he'll outpoint him because Berto won't get his between-flurry rests. Miguel Cotto? If Cotto's spirit rebounds after being handed his first loss by Margarito, Cotto is the superior boxer with the heavier hands, notwithstanding Berto's speed advantage. Mosley? That's probably the guy I'd pick because while Shane still has some game at age 37 (see below), he's not as dangerous as he used to be and he's always seemed blown up to make this weight. He's a tough fight and a good win to add (by decision, probably), but not a great risk. But, as Shane implied after his own fight...he doesn't need Berto...unless he can't find anyone else to fight. That said, I bet Margarito was there not to watch Berto...but to get a fight with Sugar Shane.

To the main event. For a fight that started so promisingly and ended so satisfyingly, HBO commentator Larry Merchant's statement in round ten was fair: that is was a grueling rather than an entertaining fight. After Mayorga thrilled with his trademark wild headhunting in the opening frame, he lapsed into a hugging, clutching, complaining parody of his best days while Mosley struggled to time him and land between Mayorga's occasional bombs. With Mayorga ten pounds heavier on fight night, even when he had the fight well in hand, Mosley struggled to back Mayorga up. Meanwhile, the bullying wild tactics that elevated Mayorga to the stage in his career where he apparently remains the knockout opponent of choice for the aging elite made for a difficult fight to watch. Few punches land and when they do, we all hope they will chop Mayorga down. The sixth was almost a 10-8 round because this was clearly knockout territory for Mayorga (to BE knocked out). This is approximately when Delahoya took him out and apparently this is about where his aging elite level opponents figure him out and begin to tattoo him at will. Mosley indeed punched him cleanly in this head repeatedly in the last minute of the round and although he seemed to put him in trouble, he didn't put him down.

Interestingly, Mayorga seemed emboldened by the fact that he didn't get knocked out and had something of a resurgence in the following round, raising his arms triumphantly, apparently celebrating that he was still in the ring. The fight remained a mostly ugly hugfest until Mosley caught up to Mayorga with almost no time left in the 11th. I suspect that Mayorga, slowed from some clean shots (but not as many as you'd think) and mostly out of gas, just felt he'd put in a long enough night and went down. Don't get me wrong...Mosley KO'd him, but Mayorga didn't struggle to get up, instead dropping his head back to the mat with one second left in the round, forcing the referee to wave the fight off. When a fighter doesn't try to beat the bell, he ought to be waved off...and Mayorga was.

Was this a big win for Mosley? Who cares? All it did was give us a fight to watch, give Mosley a good workout and allow him to stay active and add his name to those of his contemporaries Trinidad and Delahoya, who've knocked out Mayorga too. Worth mention is that HBO commentator Jim Lampley suitably incredulously conveyed to the audience that one ringside judge named Pat Russell had Mayorga ahead on points at the time of the KO. This must have been the Don King judge. I say that not in jest, because there seems no reasonable way any observer could have had Mayorga ahead. I had 7 of 10 rounds for Mosley, with three of those Mosley rounds as close rounds...but 2 of the 3 scored for Mayorga were close too. Keep an eye on Russell, folks. That scorecard made no sense.

Let's look for Mayorga, at age 35 to get KO'd by a few more top level fighters before he fades into the sunset. Fans love him because he throws bombs and is willing to go out on his back. That said, another repeat or two of his hugging and complaining performance through the middle rounds of this fight and he'll stop becoming the opponent of choice to KO because no fighter wants to risk the headbutt cuts that Mayorga's bullrush hugging and butting routine is too likely to cause.

As for Sugar Shane, it's a good thing for him that he took Mayorga out. By taking him down with 3:01 to go in the fight, he went from "well, he couldn't take him out, his star is fading" to "he's still got it and can bring fans and excitement to any match." I think we'll see Margarito make a fight with Mosley in the next month or two. Berto may want him (and that's no slam dunk for Berto, by the way), but Margarito will see Mosley as a great marquee name to add to his record, not too great a risk and a good draw. The fight makes sense for Mosley too. Now that Margarito has Cotto's belt, Mosley can fight for the title again. Mosley lost to Cotto, so the odds are long on him beating Margarito, who himself beat Cotto...but that is a fight any realfightfan will tune in to see.

Boxing Scoring is a Joke (in Houston on 9/5/08)!

Diaz v. Katsidis

Okay, so this may seem like a needless repetition of a truth to the casual observer of the fight game. However, while many occasional boxing fans routinely ride down boxing for it's corruption, and while there is indeed some truth to that well-worn belief...I've always considered the kind of "home cooking" that we see in olympic boxing if not exactly the exception, then at least not exactly the rule in professional boxing. That said, if it's true at all, certainly Saturday night's HBO undercard fight in Houston was the exception that proved the rule. Meanwhile, the main event was so thoroughly the polar opposite of home cooking that it seemed to prove another far more depressing point: boxing scoring is a joke.

The undercard fight between Houston's Rocky Juarez and Jorge Barrios was somewhat more than mildly entertaining. Juarez has been the opponent of choice for the elite level in his division, taking losses against three of the division's best fighters, amounting to the four losses on his record. With all due respect to Rocky, who is a class act in and out of the ring, those elite tests have seemed to drain him of the fire he displayed when I saw him take the first of those losses to Marco Antonio Barrera. Of course, he was an undefeated fighter then and that can sometimes make all the difference, but I've never seen him look the same since. On Saturday night he looked a step slow against an aggressive and tough, but wild fighter in Barrios. Juarez was clearly the superior technician, but that doesn't matter if you don't let your hands go. Barrios overwhelmed Juarez, throwing wildly and instead of taking advantage by countering up the middle every time with shorter punches, Juarez layed back too much. Barrios carried the fight on sheer aggressiveness.

Now...to Juarez' credit, by the tenth round, Barrios looked as if he'd punched himself out. That's not to say he stopped punching, but that he was no longer close to landing. As if by plan, Juarez started vigorously countering with the short hard punches straight up the middle that he should've been throwing all night long. Why he chose to ratchet up this strategy toward the 9th and 10th rounds, I can't say. By then, Barrios should have had no less than 6 or 7 of the first 9 rounds in the bank, solely on aggressiveness. But he didn't. When the scorecards were reviewed by HBO after the fight, Juarez was ahead on all three scorecards by a wide margin! Also, the referee in the ring has deducted two points from Barrios during the course of the fight for low blows. Neither looked legitimate in real time and upon replay, neither was worse than a non-damaging beltline shot. Juarez not only didn't look hurt...the first time, he seemed surprised that the point was being taken. However, even those deductions wouldn't explain the scorecards. Juarez should have been way behind at fight's end. Instead he was in a position to win. It felt like home cooking all the way.

Fortunately, it didn't matter. Juarez opened up an ugly gash in Barrios' right upper lip, reminiscent of Heath Ledger's recent Joker mock-up. The HBO team described it as "hard to watch" when the slow motion captured the blood spurting from Barrios' seemingly widened mouth. Lennox Lewis described this as resulting from Barrios taking a punch with his mouth hanging open. Obviously, the ringside physician stepped in and stopped the fight with just 8 seconds left in the 11th of 12 rounds. Lewis correctly observed that, if the fight had been allowed to continue, Barrios would have been "drinking his own blood." A TKO resulted and Juarez legitimately won what would have been a gross miscarriage of justice, had it lasted the full 12.

That said, in Rocky's defense (and he's easy to defend because he's a class act...and I've been guilty of only really watching the fighter I like...not in this case), his having waited to pounce until (arguably too) late in the fight did work: Barrios was clearly being battered. While I have no doubt that Barrios would have lasted until the 12th, I'm not at all certain he could've survived the 12th (I mean, if he'd not suffered that ugly fight-ending cut). All's well that ends well, right? Well, kinda...because the main event was still to come.

The main event featured Houston's own Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz against Micheal Katsidis, he of the trojan war helmet ring entrance, haymakers and face first style. Now, if both guys hadn't been diminished by their most recent respective fights, this promised to be a great fight. Both fighters had lost the zeroes behind their records in their last fights: Diaz to Nate "the galaxy warrior" Campbell and Katsidis to Joel Casamayor (by late round KO in a fight he was winning). Being defeated after getting into deep water in their division, as had just happened to both of these fighters, can be a spirit-crushing experience. Both of these guys had, after being touted as no less than a match (or more in Diaz' case) for their opposities, lost convincingly. Diaz lost his lightweight WBC title belt to Campbell when Campbell beat him at his own game. Campbell pressured the pressure fighter, outboxing the boxer. To Diaz' credit, he never gave up, but by the end of that fight, he was clearly the badly beaten man. Katsidis on the other hand led most of the way on the sluggish Casamayor, dropping Casamayor and imposing his hyper aggressive will on the Cuban...until Casamayor caught him flush, put him in trouble and finished him. Being KO'd, depending on the fighter, can be even more devastating than being thoroughly outboxed and punished, the way Diaz was. These circumstances made the fight all the more interesting a match. Would either fighter show signs of diminishment in the wake of a first loss? Neither did.

On paper, this was a great match. Diaz, with his go forward at-all-times volume puncher style against the heavy-handed lead-with-your-face style of Katsidis. If both came prepared and showed no signs of wear, it would surely be a barnburner. At the outset, like HBO's Max Kellerman, I too couldn't wait to see it even though it was just about to start. However, as it unfolded and the course of the fight became clear, I was reminded of the old maxim that a good boxer will beat a good brawler every time. Going in, I'd failed to give Diaz credit for the fighter he had showed himself to be before Nate Campbell fought the fight of his life to beat him. Diaz is not just a workrate fighter, he's a tactician. He uses range and proximity to his advantage and counters thoughtfully. He answers tactics with tactics and is aware of his location in the ring. To know the need for these kind of tactics is when sitting in front of the TV or when typing before a computer screen is one thing, but to do it at full speed with a puncher like Katsidis in your face is quite another. Diaz proved that he is 100% back from the Campbell loss.

Bottom line, Diaz is one hell of a good boxer. He had an answer for all of Katsidis' bullying tactics (most of which are legal, to Katsidis' credit) and Diaz never once allowed Katsidis to move him to the ropes or land unanswered. Diaz punched in combination, with shorter straighter punches. He beat Katsidis to the punch and deliberately turned him around and around the ring when Katsidis bull-rushed. It was a pleasure to watch for a realfightfan...at least for a few rounds. Then frankly, it got a little monotonous. With a fighter as skilled as Diaz, the odds that Katsidis would get to land the kind of fight-changing punch that put all the KOs on his record was pretty remote. Knowing that Diaz made his bones as a championship level workrate fighter who could put in 12 rounds of heavy volume punching routinely, there was virtually no chance that he would fade. He did not. He deflected everything that Katsidis had to offer and controlled the fight from start to finish.

While Katsidis fought valiantly, throwing far more frequently than Diaz, he landed far fewer punches than did Diaz and by fight's end, was clearly the more badly battered. That hadn't slowed him, but it looked like he could barely see out of his swollen eyes by fight's end. I had every round, except a close first, for Diaz. I should add that I'd picked Katsidis to win the fight, thinking that his aggressiveness and heavy hands, combined with the potential soul-draining beating administered to Diaz the last time out, would lead to a flash KO of Diaz. Even if it didn't, I figured on Katsidis' aggressiveness to wear the desire to fight out of Diaz. It didn't.

However... the fight I saw apparently wasn't seen the by the three ringside judges. Unbelievably, one (whose name I recall from past fights...Glen Hamada) had the fight for Katsidis 115-113. That score literally had my jaw hanging open as if unhinged. The next two, both for Diaz, were so close that they too had me staring numbly at the wrap-up, as Max Kellerman rightly intoned that this scoring was perhaps the worst he'd ever witnessed. Even the 116-112 and 115-113 scores for Diaz, giving him the split decision, were ludicrous. This fight was dull because it was a runaway! I cannot imagine what Hamada saw during rounds 8 through 12 when he gave them all to Katsidis! On my scorecard, in round eleven, I wrote "boxing clinic - not a mark on him (Diaz)". Meanwhile Katsidis kept advancing, being turned and pummeled with hammering short shots, his right eye blackening nastily.

What can I say? It hurts to say it about a sport I so enjoy, but boxing scoring is a joke.

Margarito Proves he is Unbreakable

Well, I now finally see why Margarito has long been considered the most avoided fighter in his weight class. I couldn't see it just because he demolished Kermit Cintron twice...because he'd been outpointed by Paul Williams. But now I see it. I see why no one would want to fight him. He is unbreakable.

See...Paul Williams didn't really try to fight him. He tried to outwork him...and he did. A fast starter whom Margarito clearly underestimated, Williams put 5 or 6 rounds of a 12 round fight in the bank before Margarito really got his motor running. Even then, Williams was punching Margarito so often that his workrate style trumped Margarito's own. That's quite a feat and one I doubt we'll get to see Williams duplicate because after defeating Margarito...who'd want to fight him again?

Now...Miguel Cotto was 32-0 coming in. He is one of the hardest hitters pound-for-pound that I've ever witnessed. As he's progressed, I've watched fighter after fighter wilt under the weight of his fists. Some men just hit harder than others and he is one of the former. He's the kind of fighter who lands an equal number of blows as his opponent, but by round 4 or 5, the opponent looks like he's been through a meat grinder. His body shots buckle knees and his head shots wobble and drop championship level fighters. Shane Mosley withered under his attack. A game Zab Judah was worn to a nub and dispatched. Floyd Mayweather retired rather than have to face him.

Antonio Margarito meanwhile came in at 36-5. With that record, he seemed beatable. He was an 5-8 underdog at fight time. The predictions (including my own of a decision for Cotto) looked dead on as he was outboxed round after round. By the end of the fight, he was way behind on my card, even as he pressed the fight against the constantly retreating Cotto. That's because for his aggressiveness, he ate clean hard shot after clean hard shot. These were tee off hooks and straight rights flush to the jaw. Each one of these are shots that Cotto had used to drop lesser men. Unbelievably, he walked right through them. And he didn't walk through ten or twenty over the first 8 rounds or so...he walked through at least a hundred absolutely crisp head shots, thrown with bad intentions by what I still consider the hardest hitter in the division. He wore down Cotto by proving to him that he wasn't going to be hurt by being hit in the head. I think he broke Cotto's will, not by hitting him, but by walking through so many of his best shots. Quite frankly, it's an outcome that shocked me.

The reason it shocked me so thoroughly is that, given what I've seen Cotto's power do to lesser men (still championship level fighters, mind you), I didn't think that any fighter could absorb that kind of attack and look nearly as unfazed as Margarito looked as he followed Cotto around the ring, pressing the fight until he broke Cotto's will. To his credit, HBO announcer Emmanuel Steward kept saying he felt Margarito was gaining momentum at a time when I only saw the man absorbing punishment. I sometimes think that Steward hedges his bets, but this time I was wrong. HBO's Jim Lampley and Steward both wondered aloud whether Cotto could keep up the pace that he was forced to set in the first several rounds of counterpunching and dancing away as Margarito advanced determinedly. They implied that it was Cotto, who was landing dozens of hard shots to Margarito's head and slipping away from trouble, who stood to wear down from the pace. That seemed absurd to me. Clearly, I was wrong.

It took until round 7 on my card for Margarito to win a round (though I appear to have been alone in that, judging by the official scorecards, read by Lampley at fight's end). I only gave rounds 7 and 8 to Margarito before he took Cotto down by TKO in the 11th. Going into the 11th, I therefore had it 98-92 for Cotto. I still feel like that was the fight I saw, but I fear my regard for Cotto had me only watching him. While my scorecard often differs dramatically from HBO "unofficial ringside scorer" Harold Lederman (and it did this time too as he had it 95-95), I rarely am concerned about that. However, the official judges' scorecards read 96-94 Margarito, 96-94 Margarito and 95-95 even. That makes me think that they saw a lot that I failed to see. Of the 8 rounds that I gave to Cotto, I saw 4 of them as close rounds, so I imagine all of those must have gone the other way on the official cards. All of that said, it's academic.

Cotto, visibly hurt in the last ten seconds of a 10th round that he had otherwise pretty cleary won (I gave it to him), came out in the 11th trying to buy himself time. Margarito sensed it and pressed his advantage, raining down blows. It was too much too early in the round for Cotto. He not only had become battered and bloody the way he'd rendered so many of his own opponents, I think that he had been bewildered for a few rounds as to why his clean head shots hadn't slowed Margarito's attack. That bewilderment turned to despair when he realized that not only could he not hurt him, but he couldn't take a moment off to gather himself. Margarito was relentless. After a taking a knee twice in the 11th, Cotto's own corner was on the ring apron with a towel to stop the punishment. Not getting carried out on a stretcher may count for something, but the proud Cotto left the ring quickly and refused HBO's effort to interview him.

What remains to be seen is whether Cotto, after having humbled so many good and great fighters similarly, can bounce back. Some fighters are never the same after discovering that not only can they not chop down every opponent they face, but that they themselves are vulnerable. Cotto was rightly judged to be absolutely in his prime. He was not diminished by time or trial. He is 27 years old, was undefeated and physically peaking. To be defeated in that prime can be devastating for a fighter who had good reason to believe he was the best in the world. That said, I hope he seeks a rematch.

If he does...what can he do differently? Let's start off with the truth: there may be nothing he can do that will beat Margarito. What Jim Lampley referred to part of the way through the fight as Margarito's "legendary beard" may actually have understated it. I've got to believe that if Margarito can walk through that many of Miguel Cotto's best head shots, then there is no one who can knock him out...or even hurt him. At least not the way Cotto tried.

How to do it differently? Well...for one thing...it's a mystery to me why Cotto seemed to not even try to use what is widely touted as his best asset: his body attack. I've seen him crumple tough fighters with a single body shots. It could be that he found Margarito's head such an easy target that he never even thought to meaningfully try. It could be that Margarito's pressure combined with the availability of his head made it impossible ...or at least very difficult. Still, that doesn't adequately explain to me why Cotto didn't even really try. The old boxing maxim "kill the body and the head will die" seemed to be Cotto's stock in trade. He's always been a fighter who went to the body in order to diminish his opponent. This time he didn't. Would it work? hard to say. Certainly, we now know what doesn't: head shots. I guess Cotto could have asked the arguably equally heavy handed Kermit Cintron, who has wilted twice under Margarito's rock headed pressure (and to no one else's...ever). I could imagine Cintron sitting at home, watching the fight on TV and feeling vindicated: "see??? you can't hurt him!! his head's like a rock!!!"

In any case, there's a new sheriff in town and his name is Antonio Margarito. If you want to take his badge, don't bring a bazooka to shoot him in the head because he'll walk right through it. You better come prepared for a long night, be so well conditioned as to be able to stay away and outbox him for 12 rounds ...oh...and don't lose focus or you'll be staring up at the lights. I wonder if Oscar De La Hoya has one last such fight in him. Let's hope so. Margarito just legitimately made himself the man who beat the man (that Mayweather retired so he wouldn't have to fight...either of them, actually) and this sets up as a storybook way for Oscar to go out. Bet he does. Oscar beats Margarito, in my judgment. He can outbox him...as long as he doesn't lose focus. Good thing for us, that's just the kind of challenge that Oscar likes. Margarito all but called him out at fight's end. Let's hope they make that fight.

Abraham, Arreola and Berto arrive with a Bang

Arthur Abraham jumps from relative obscurity into the mix of middleweights, Chris Arreola separates himself from the pack of contending heavyweights and Andre Berto announces his presence with authority in the welterweight division. On Saturday night June 21rst, 2008, punchers carried the day.

Chris Arreola v. Chazz Witherspoon - I'd watched Arreola once before and wasn't that impressed and to be honest, I'm still not...but he did show up to fight. In this battle of young unbeaten American heavyweights, I favored Witherspoon, mostly because I recalled being underwhelmed by Arreola's simple style when I last saw him and being impressed with Witherspoon's pedigree and boxing ability when I saw him. It just goes to show that boxing agility and ability goes only so far. It was well put when Witherspoon's fight plan was discussed and the commentary was "everybody's got a plan until they get hit...." Arreola must indeed hit hard because he put Witherspoon back on his heels from the start and he kept coming. He's a plodder who wades in and if I'm to be convinced that he is applying some craft, he's going to have to go deeper with someone who can take a punch. Witherspoon clearly can't.

Now...I'm going to say something mean here...so get ready. Chris Arreola's mom surely loves his mug, but I'm betting she's the only one. This guy looks like he fell from the mighty oak of ugly trees, hit a trampoline at the bottom and hit every branch going back up too. I tend to think there's no way this guy can get but better looking the more beatings he takes...so I guess there is real upside to the fact he seems to lead with his face. If he ever gets to be heavyweight champion, maybe he'll be a matinee idol for all the flush shots he's going to take on the way up. So we'll have that to look forward to.

But he can punch. I guess that's going to be enough for now. When he advances a little further, he's going to find that he can't chop down opponents with the ease that he did Witherspoon...but that's okay. He KO'd Witherspoon in round 3 after knocking him down three times going back to round 2. He walked forward, hit hard and showed a finisher's instinct. God help us though if his is the face of the future of American heavyweight boxing.

Andre Berto v. Mickey Rodriguez - Rodriguez, whom I'd never heard of, came in at 23-2 and looked to have some boxing skills...but he never really got to show them. Andre Berto is very fast. Did I say fast? I mean very fast. He started slow (but still won every round, on my card), but by halfway through the second round started to catch his stride and by the fourth was hitting Rodriguez at will, even toying with him. Rodriguez had a significant reach advantage and clearly some technical skill, but he was badly outmatched. Once Berto got his legs fully under him, he was throwing in rapid combination and jumping in and out. Some of his flurries were wildly impressive, like the five left hooks thrown in succession in about a seconds elapsed time. He also showed some pinpoint punching prowess, with his accuracy matched only by my alliterative skill.

But he's young since I'm being unfair and overcritical, Berto wasted a lot of punches and started slow. He should now get a fight with a big name to get his feet wet. With Mayweather out of the picture, the Cotto/Margarito match looms largest and Berto would be in deep with either of them. He's probably not ready. Paul Williams? maybe. Carlos Quintana? Definitely. How about Berto makes his bones with Kermit Cintron? Okay...it's settled...that's the match I want to see. If he can get by Cintron, then he's ready for anyone. And that makes me wonder in turn if Cintron will now be reduced to a gatekeeper fighter! If so, that's quite a gatekeeper...but maybe a test fighter who is that good is appropriate for a division this deep.

Arthur Abraham v. Edison Miranda - Now, I should cop to a truth. If I had written a prediction on this fight, I would have called it for Miranda. Knowing what happened in their previous fight, I would have predicted Miranda by KO. I have (or had?) a high regard for Miranda as a puncher and as a tough guy. The heavy-handed Columbian native lost a close decision to Abraham two years previous after breaking Abraham's jaw in two places and after losing multiple points for low blows. Whatever credit I could accord Abraham for gutting out the decision in spite of the alarmingly disfiguring fractures in that fight was tempered by the knowledge that, as he always had before in his unbeaten career, he fought a home game. He was far more likely to get a decision and get points deducted at home. This time (for the first time) Abraham was fighting in America.

Miranda meanwhile had beaten Howard Eastman soundly, thrashed an intimidating Allan Green and fulfilled the worst nightmares of the Contender's David Banks. He'd even looked very tough for Kelly Pavlik to handle, until Pavlik walked him backwards and seemingly solved him that way. Pavlik had commented post-fight that they'd correctly speculated that Miranda, as a very aggressive come-forward puncher, wouldn't fight well if forced to fight moving backward. At the time, I recall writing that while Miranda seemed indeed solved by Pavlik, the solution would likely prove so dangerous to nearly every other fighter in the division that the cure would almost always kill the patient.

When I saw Abraham come out and fight in spots, move laterally instead of trying to move Miranda backwards and adopt a thoroughly different approach than Pavlik, I was certain he was doomed. I was wrong. First of all, I guess Abraham can punch a little. Certainly after being deposited on his back three times before the 4th round stoppage, Miranda agrees. Now...I tend to think that maybe Miranda had a bad night and maybe he's been softened up a bit. But then, don't tell David Banks that. Miranda highlight reeled him through the ropes not long ago. So ...I guess Abraham can punch a bit.

Having read about him and having seen his ranking, I tuned in to see if maybe Pavlik has someone to challenge him. Maybe he does. Abraham is a counterpuncher and clearly a pretty effective one. He remains unbeaten and after taking that disfiguring beaten against Miranda in the first tilt, he clearly has a chin (what's left of it). Can he give Pavlik a run for his money? We'll see...but he definitely jumped into the consciousness of this realfightfan by dominating a fighter whom I regarded as a very tough customer.

Pavlik Dominated, Williams Rebounds and Mora Finally Emerges

Another fun night for realfightfans on Saturday June 7th, 2008! Let's start with Kelly Pavlik defending the WBC middleweight title against Gary Lockett.

What a pleasure to watch this fighter work. Now...I should add that poor Welshman Gary Lockett having been served up as a mandatory by the WBC seemed almost unfair, but Pavlik deserved a break. Having dispatched the still widely feared and heavy handed Edison Miranda by KO, then taken the middleweight title by KO from the undefeated Jermaine Taylor, then defended the win (if not the title, since it was fought 8 pounds higher at Taylor's request) by decision...Pavlik deserved a walkover. We just hoped that the workmanlike demeanor he displayed in his rise to glory would not abandon him once he stood atop the heap. Indeed it did not. Kelly Pavlik is every bit the "Godzilla" of the division he was acknowledged to be by Max Kellerman of HBO (in a bit of excellent off-the-cuff commentary by Kellerman, when throwing it back to Jim Lampley, after Pavlik said he'd "fight Godzilla" if his promoter told him to).

Clearly prepared, Pavlik dismantled the shorter Brit without much seeming difficulty. Dropping those right hands in behind his long jab, he buckled Lockett's knees in the first round and had him taking a knee three times in the two successive rounds until trainer Enzo Calzaghe wisely threw in the towel in the third to save the courageous, but badly outmatched Lockett from having to endure any further beating. Pavlik exploited his reach advantage practically perfectly and post-fight was the same class act we're getting used to seeing. He gave Lockett respect that he may not really deserve at this level and humbly said he'd fight whomever they put in front of him.

Interestingly, he all but called out Joe Calzaghe. Now...we all know that Calzaghe is on his "Champions Tour", having just dispatched Bernard Hopkins and apparently setting up Roy Jones as his next mark. There's no way Calzaghe wasn' t watching this fight because he's not only a Welshman himself, but his dad is Lockett's trainer. Would I love to see that fight? absolutely. Will Calzaghe take that fight? Not a chance. Pavlik is too technically sound, hits too hard, is too yound and is therefore too great a threat to a man who is now taking his tour of the best fighters whose reputations now far exceed their skills. I'd love to see it, though.

Moving on to Carlos Quintana v. Paul Williams II. I settled in for a long fight, scorecard at the ready. I figured that I'd see round 13 after seeing Quintana time Williams so well in the first 12 round tilt where Quintana not only clearly outworked and timed the until-then seemingly unsolvable (and then-undefeated WBO champion) Williams. Recall that until Quintana exposed him, Williams was by all accounts the most avoided man in the division next to Antonio Margarito...until Williams beat Margarito! Quintana, having lost to Miguel Cotto by KO (for his only loss up to that point), was sure to be easy pickings for Williams. When Quintana outworked and so thoroughly out-timed Williams, it seemed Williams was solved. Many a fighter has been destroyed just this way. Their invincibility shattered, they recede only to re-emerge as lesser beatable versions of their once-formidable selves. Take Ricky Hatton, for example (though to be fair, that whole story is not yet writ).

I recall writing after the first fight that Williams seemed to have abandoned the super-workrate style that made him so difficult for anyone to handle. I thought this was because not only might he have changed his strategy (inexplicably), but because Quintana proved that even a long-armed, talented and super workrate fighter can be timed out and shut down. In the first fight, Quintana never took a breath, was at 100% the whole way and took every opportunity Williams gave him. He dominated by crisp volume counterpunching.

This time was different, though...and that's not to say that I perceived Williams taking a different tack. I'm not sure he did. He was wary as round one began and was measuring Quintana, preparing for a long match and again not jacking up his workrate. I again foresaw a 12 round marathon and the only question would be whether Quintana was as razor sharp this time as last. He clearly was not. Williams floored him 2 minutes into the first round and rising on wobbly legs, Quintana did not have any time to steady himself. Williams waded in and finished him at 2:15 of the first round on a TKO stoppage.

For those of us who saw Williams as one of the serious, tough-to-handle up and comers in the division, we see vindication. Williams had an off night against Quintana the first time, right? But there's a flaw in that reasoning. Not to detract from Williams' spectacular revenge, it could just as easily be explained by Quintana's failure to take Williams as seriously this time around as he did the first time through. The first time, Quintana was hyper-sharp, going in against the undefeated champion who'd just decisioned the universally recognized tough guy Margarito for the title. Quintana was trying to redeem himself from an ugly KO loss to Cotto too. He was high as a kite. He had an almost perfect night, repeatedly timing Williams between his punches, despite Williams' significant reach advantage. If he failed to come in that high this time, he could get beat...and I think that's exactly what happened. Of course, flip that around and Williams still redeems himself immediately against a good boxer with a glass jaw who beat him the first time around by decision and had to fight the best fight of his life that night to do it. That sounds fair, actually...Williams deserves that kind of credit. He avenged his only loss in spectacular fashion.

And now I'm left only to wonder if we'll see the workrate Williams who beat Margarito the next time out...or the "heavy handed" Williams who lost to Quintana, then KO'd him to avenge the loss. I'd like to see the workrate Williams who throws with bad intentions every now and then. That's what it's going to take to gain further position in this super-deep welterweight division which is, for my money, the most exciting division in boxing.

Finally, to the Vernon Forrest v Sergio Mora fight for Forrest's WBC junior welterweight title or as I like to call it...maybe the Contender turned out one talent after all. Now...to be candid, I have to admit that I wrote my prediction on my scorecard before the fight: "Forrest destroys Mora." I was wrong. I had the fight 116-113 for Mora and the official judges had it 114-114 even and 115-113 and 116-112 for Mora. I was loathe to give it Mora, frankly...as unfair as that may be. I hate his style. He reminds me of a young Bernard Hopkins, maybe with less power.

Forrest was classy in the post-fight, refusing to say that he had an off night, giving Mora credit for fighting with a difficult style. That jump-in-and-punch-and-hug style won Bernard Hopkins 20 straight title defenses and punched his ticket to the hall of fame...and nobody wants to buy tickets to see it. It's ugly. But what are you going to do? If we take Forrest at his word, then a long-armed, hard-hitting, sharp-punching champion was outfoxed and outboxed by the next likely long-reigning champion. Certainly, if Mora is to be believed, that's the case.

Notwithstanding his extremely mediocre resume, he had the audacity in the post-fight interview to say this was a "C+" performance. If that's true, he almost can't lose ...because Vernon Forrest, even on an off night (which I definitely think this was...where Forrest came in way over-confident and underprepared for this style, thinking his style and strength would dominate), is head and shoulders above gate-keeper type fighters. Forrest is a championship level fighter at 154 pounds. Mora beat him.

But he beat him by outworking him and by jumping in and punching. Forrest abandoned his jab, not seeming to try with it and miss, but abandoned it altogether. He was seemingly (although surely actually not) content to let Mora dictate the fight. It was an inside fighters fight and instead of punishing Mora for coming in and concentrating on timing him coming in, he let him in and tried to punish him for it. Mora deserves credit for being a better inside, dirty, turning, jumping-in fighter than I thought he was. And that's it. Unless "The Latin Snake" indeed did turn in the C+ performance he claims, he'll be exposed soon enough. Forrest took him lightly, I believe. Mora has now earned the right not to be taken lightly be the next elite level fighter he faces. That will be the true test of whether or not the Contender has indeed turned out a serious talent or simply a fighter who cherry-picked the right fight on the right night.

A Byrd Flies Too Low, Malignaggi the Idiot Rasta and Much More...

This post will allow me to hold forth on all of this month's boxing at once. That I should have updated more contemporaneously is manifest, that I will therefore have to offer a more cursory treatment than I otherwise would have is equally so, but that it really doesn't matter all that much because no one reads this blog is all the more so. I plod intermittently on however because I don't write it for anyone but me and frankly, I enjoy reading it later. I also actually enjoy the writing of it immensely and the definite upside of no one ever seeing it (apart from my long suffering and ever faithful and patient wife) is that there is no pressure to update. The boxing world will wait as long as necessary for my commentary. I stand as quite the prima donna in that regard.

Byrd Went Low Too Fast

This was quite a boxing story. Former legitimate heavyweight champ Chris Byrd drops over 40 pounds (after taking a pounding from de facto champ Wladimir Klitschko) and skips cruiserweight altogether to come in at 174 for a fight under the light heavy 175 limit. Looking at Byrd, I had to do a double take. He looked like a different man. Having lost 20% or so of one's body weight tends to impact one's appearance and he was no exception. His face was practically gaunt by comparison to his former self, but he still looked good, cut and fit in the pre-fight tapes. His upper body was still relatively intact and his arms didn't look wasted. It wasn't until he got in the ring that something immediately looked wrong. Even before the bell, his legs were noticeably emaciated. He was standing on sticks and as a result, his body was not proportionate at all.

I'll admit though that I had confidence that this was going to be a walkthrough for Byrd. He wouldn't schedule such a fight against a guy who could actually test him, would he? After all, he was a headliner for years and while never a huge draw, he was always on the short list of heavys a fighter had to contend with to contend for the recognized heavyweight championship. Even when Antonio Tarver in the FNF studio predicted his defeat, attesting to the skill of what should have been just an opponent, I chalked it up to Tarver's penchant for talking down peers to pump up his own worth. I was wrong.

After the first bell, it quickly became clear that Byrd seemed rusty. Considering he is a fighter I'd never seen look remotely rusty before, this was obviously a problem. He wasn't moving his head and slipping punches the way he was able to do 40 or 50 pounds northward. He began being beaten to the punch and the arms he used to bat away punches from very big men were almost hesitant in the face of his 175 pound opponent. He seemed uncertain and confused, as if he couldn't get off the blocks and he started to take punishment for it. I waited for the tide to turn, for Byrd to get his legs under him, but he never did. He finally effectively threw in the towel on himself deep into the fight, ever the consummate professional. Realizing he was taking a beating that wasn't slowing down and that he wasn't able to stop, he pulled the plug on the experiment.

Did he come down too fast? Did he come down too far? Has be absorbed too much punishment and aged right before our eyes, such that questions one and two don't matter? I would say probably yes, probably yes and probably yes. That said, I think he can still probably contend in the sub 200 pound cruiserweight division. I suspect he saw the potential at the 175 level and thought if he could pounce into their midst, he could draw some real dollar interest and stay relevant. That opportunity isn't nearly as realistic at cruiser, where the biggest attraction just went northward (David Haye). 175 offers opportunities with names like Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Kelly Pavlik and the list goes on. Ask anyone other than the most hardcore fan the name of a cruiserweight and they'd be hard pressed to come up with an Enzo Maccaranelli.

Should Byrd jump "up" to cruiser? Well...he's not one to be discouraged easily. This attempt displayed that. He was coming off a real beating at the hands of the younger Klitschko and while you can chalk that up to a horrible fight plan (a little man determined to push around a much bigger man), no one who saw that fight could say that either Byrd could be easily discouraged or that his having come back with such a unique tilt at continuing relevance was anything other than remarkably resilient. But...should he come back? I say yes. He is a very skilled boxer. He dropped too far, too fast. He underestimated the speed and skills of this opponent and more importantly, he underestimated the erosion the weight loss would have on his own speed and the general upgrade in top level speed he would encounter at this much lighter weight. He probably also underestimated how hard they still hit at 175. He can recalibrate, bulk up considerably and still make it under 200 very easily. Is cruiserweight a division worthy of his consideration? Well...it might automatically become worthy of some attention by virtue of his entrance into it...something he should have realized before going down too far, too fast.

Paulie Malignaggi is a Bonehead

To his credit, I suspect "the magic man" would be the first to admit this. I cannot honestly imagine what he was thinking entering the ring with a head full of whippet braided dreadlocks so long that they immediately repeatedly lashed him around his face as he moved and impeded his vision. The first round was laughable as he began to take shot after shot because he clearly couldn't see them coming because of his own hair! How could he have not taken that into account during the run up to the fight? while he was getting his hair braided for the 5+ hours it must have taken?

Over the next seven rounds, the failed tie-backs of the hair were absurd theater and the literal haircut between the 8th and 9th rounds was surreal. If his opponent had been the more deserving Ndgoudjo instead of the sure thing, already once beat N'dou, Malignaggi would have really been made to pay. After all, Ndgoudjo beat him last time and dropped the decision. Imagine if Malignaggi had fought even worse. We didn't have to imagine that, at least. Malignaggi did indeed fight worse. Worse than he'd fought against N'dou the first time (when he'd beaten him) and worse than when he'd lost to Ndgoudjo and been awarded a robbery of a decision. N'dou was his perfectly predictable self, walking forward and not moving his head. Game, but supremely unimaginative. Malignaggi could beat him on his worst day...and he did. I had it 115-113 for "the Marginal Man", while the three official judges had it 115-114 (for N'dou) and 116-112 and 116-113 for Malignaggi, who slunk away with the split decision.

After the fight, he admitted that the hair was a "disaster" and said he'd broken his right hand in the sixth round, a fact evidently later confirmed by post-fight x-rays. While N'dou fouled almost constantly, rabbit punching so much that it was rather shocking that no points were taken, I cannot recall any particular punch where, for example, Malignaggi bounced a fist off a shoulder awkwardly or where N'dou dipped his head offering an odd and hard target. In other words, if Malignaggi can break his hand on a routine punch, then it's going to happen again. And we all know it's happened before because he's had multiple surgeries on that hand. So there's no reason to think it won't happen again. It will. Malignaggi says he'll be ready for Hatton and this was supposed to be a showcase to convince British and American fans to tune in. What we got was an embarrassing display of what must surely be being called American buffoonery with a hail of excuses afterward. Even a diminished Hatton should overrun Malignaggi....if Hatton isn't a shot fighter.

Is Ricky Hatton Half the Man He Used To Be?

Let's start with the fact that I gave Hatton 9 of 12 rounds. How bad could he have been, right? Well...he's not that bad, but he's not the Hatton I saw fight just two years ago. Whether that Hatton of old (he's all of 29 now, right?) is gone forever remains to be seen. After an ugly first round, Hatton seemed to remember the fact that he likes to fight in the second round and after dropping the third, he started slowly to put his punches together until round 9 where he finally began to look like the Hatton of old, putting combinations together and coming in full steam. Then he got rocked in the tenth. You could almost see a highlight reel of his KO loss to Mayweather running through his head as he battled for a breather....then came the referee swooping in and giving him just that. In as blatant a case of hometowning as I've ever seen, the ref broke the fighters for no apparent reason, made a slow show of sending a baffled Lazcano to a neutral corner, then seemingly realized Hatton's laces were untied and proceeded to give Hatton's deliberately fumble-fingered cornermen all the time they needed to re-tie the apparently well-timed offending laces. With his feet back under him thanks to an at least minute-long impromptu breather, Hatton was a new fighter. He lasted out the round, took the last two and the horrible prospect of the monstrous and raucus "Ricky Hatton wonderland"-singing ale-soaked crowd being treated to a 10th round KO of their hero was averted. I can't help but think that even Lazcano might have been best served by this chicanery because he might not have escaped the ring with his life, if we recall the way Marvin Hagler was treated by a similarly drunken Brit crowd.

Now...I really like Ricky Hatton. He's got an aggressive, if roughhousing boxing style that a connossieur can appreciate because while he leads too much with his face, his defense is offense and, at his best, he is a slipping and attacking machine. He's also so very likeable and professional in and out of the ring. But... we all know that fighters like him have a shelf life. No one in this hurt business can lead with their face for long and can last for long. Has Ricky Hatton seen his best days? Can he rebound from the KO loss to Mayweather? Does this win count as that rebound? I would say probably yes, probably yes and definitely not. Of course, it all depends on what rebound means. He'll never fight Mayweather again, not that he might not want to, so having come so far (to 44-0) before suffering his first loss (a dramatic KO) might have psychically damaged him too greatly to ever allow him to bounce back to the swagger with which he entered that ring.

He's admitted that the KO loss devastated him emotionally. That admission is what makes us like him. That it's true may speak to another truth about him too...that now that he knows he's beatable and can be knocked out...might he not again plow through barrages of punches quite as invincibly as he did before? absolutely. He can be knocked out. He knows it. In fact, ironically he may not even hold Mayweather in such high regard as to believe that he's been KO'd by a superior fighter. That may be what is weighing him down. Can he shed that weight and all of the other doubts he's now carrying? Well...clearly he can to some extent, because despite some shaky moments, he did carry the fight effectively to Lazcano, legitimately winning on my card and on all three official cards. Can he beat Paulie Malignaggi? That may be a much closer fight than it should be. Mostly because Malignaggi's ten-cent head has him fighting up and down to the perceived levels of his opponents and Malignaggi will come in high as a kite for Hatton...and for Hatton, it may sadly now just be another pay day on the way to his eventual preferred place: a seat at the back of the pub, recounting for all to hear, the exploits of his rise to glory and his dispatch of Kostya Tzu.

I hope not, Ricky. There's good fight left in you. Let's see it, eh?

Delahoya Outboxes Forbes: More Than a Sparring Session, Less Than Mayweather

This time, Oscar deserves the credit he gets. Saturday May 3rds tune-up fight, Oscar's first non-pay-per-view fight since 2002, went almost exactly according to plan. It only could have been better for him if he'd knocked Forbes out...something that he knew probably wouldn't happen coming in. Stevie "2 Pound" Forbes had never, as the HBO analysts repeated exhaustively, been down let alone out in his 11 year career. That Forbes may have avoided taking chances in order to preserve that string is legitimate commentary, but to characterize Forbes as having a sparring partner's mentality, as the HBO team did repeatedly late in the fight, is really unfair to Forbes. He came to win, but this time...so did Oscar.

Employing his jab to great effect all night, Delahoya looked relaxed and in great shape at 150 pounds. He fought with energy deep into this non-title, but championship length 12 round bout. He bounced on his toes, moved laterally pretty well and pulled the trigger, not waiting to counter. But then...he could afford to do that against an opponent who'd knocked out fewer than ten of the 30 plus opponents he'd beaten.

Stevie Forbes of Contender finale fame last held a title at 130 pounds and while he lost that title for failure to make weight against Daniel Santos, that doesn't mean he can't box. He can. In fact, he's a highly skilled defensive fighter who is comfortable in the ring and he showed it. Even on this largest stage against the biggest superstar in the sport, Forbes was loose. He showboated at times, never really looked thoroughly overmatched and responded to Delahoya when challenged, flurrying and landing. Delahoya, though he won almost every round...looked like he'd been in a fight by the night's end.

All of that said, Oscar chose his opponent well and he deserves credit not only for that, but for recognizing that if he didn't train to box well and show up in shape, he would get embarrassed. He fulfilled the promise he clearly made to himself: I'll challenge myself to get in the kind of shape it takes to beat a championship level fighter that I can only lose to if I fail to meet my own challenge. It's hard not to be impressed by that. It shows Oscar's inner drive and gives us hope that he will fight a little differently against Mayweather, Jr. this next time.

Oscar was clearly in great shape this time out. Let's start there. He didn't fade or slow, except perhaps for a linear minute in the final round, which can be forgiven (against Forbes). He moved and pursued (and could afford to against Forbes) and used his left jab well. But...every time he returned to his corner, it seemed as if trainer Floyd Mayweather, Sr. was imploring him to jab more...and he should have. Frankly, he could have fought better and while that would have meant turning into a one-trick pony most of the night...he should have. He was landing his jab at will. Forbes had no answer for it. Oscar mixed in other punches and dropped his lead hand at times and if he showed a failing, that was it. There was no reason to do it because Forbes was eating that jab all night long.

Of course, that is because beating Forbes is not the goal. Preparing for the Mayweather, Jr. rematch is...and that is the reason to work that jab all the more. Oscar used that jab to great effect in the first half of the Mayweather fight...then stopped throwing it. Does he become bored with it? Is controlling the opponent too boring for Oscar? I can't help but wonder if, once he gets his opponent under control, his confidence or instincts take over and forces him to try to punish or finish his opponent. He has to overcome that instinct if he's going to beat Mayweather. That's why Forbes was a good test...because, like Mayweather, Jr. (albeit to an only slightly lesser extent) he can be controlled by an aggressive jab...and like Mayweather, Jr., if Oscar abandoned the jab...Forbes would punish him for it. Of course, the beauty of Forbes as a hand-picked opponent is that he's good enough to demonstrate the principle, but not strong enough to meaningfully punish Delahoya for the errors of his ways.

Let's hope Oscar learns the lesson hidden in this tune-up. It would seem that he should... because it played out exactly as he'd planned it. With Mayweather, Sr. stressing the jab so constantly, it shows that the trainer has his head where it needs to be. Whether Oscar will get the message completely enough remains to be seen.

As for the fight, I had it scored the same as two of the three ringside judges: 119-109 for Oscar. The third judge gave every round to Oscar. I saw four total rounds close enough to call close, with only the 4th and the 8th really qualifying. I gave Forbes the 8th. While he came to fight, the reach disadvantage cost him and he showed defensive and occasional offensive brilliance, but it was too intermittent. He wasn't faster than Delahoya (but then neither was Mayweather, Jr. faster per se, than Delahoya) and so he ate a lot of jabs. Delahoya picked off a lot of punches and countered well, keeping Forbes defensive most of the fight.

As for HBO's telecast...getting the fight for "free" was great, but the commentators did a marginal job. There were some astute observations, like Steward pointing out that Delahoya's late-career proficiency at picking off punches with his gloves is borne of Mayweather, Sr.'s philosophy and training style and that Forbes was a longtime "hundreds of rounds" sparring partner of the Mayweather camp. But... I was put off by their denigrating Forbes as a sparring partner quality fighter. I so completely disagree with that, based on the performance, that it grated on me for the entire second half of the fight as they flogged that premise to death, agreeing with one another and re-iterating it. In my opinion, Forbes clearly came to fight and if Oscar hadn't shown up thoroughly ready to outbox him and outlast him, Forbes would have had a real chance to decision Oscar.

The head nods that Jim Lampley pointed out as those of a sparring partner, I've seen hundreds of times before and noone was then accused of lacking competitive fire. It's taking an observation and combining it with a preconception, then beating the resulting conclusion to death. But more distastefully, at least to me, was that it was a disservice to a fighter who showed up ready to box and did a better than passable job against one of the best fighters of his generation. Noone can accuse Stevie Forbes of being one of the best boxers of his generation, but it's unfair to observe that he's phoning it in when he's outmatched by a fighter who indeed is one of those elite few.

Calzaghe v. Hopkins - Exactly What It Was Supposed To Be

I didn't post before this fight because I knew I'd written a prediction about it about two months ago. I didn't go back to read it before watching the fight to avoid polluting my scoring with that prediction. I'll excerpt my prediction here:

"Now...the big question is: will Calzaghe's workrate style pose a problem for Hopkins? Heck, yes! Now...I can't help but wonder if Hopkins sees something we don't because on paper this is not a good fight for him. It may simply be that there's no better fight left out there for Hopkins.... Has it enticed Hopkins in over his head? I think so. But then maybe at this stage and with his hall of fame credentials well in hand, Hopkins simply doesn't care.While Hopkins' style remains intact at his age, that's because it doesn't rely on quickness as much as it does guile and control of pace and position. Hopkins punches and ties up, he shoulders and butts and turns. All of this can be negated by an exceptionally accurate volume puncher with sound boxing skills. If there ever such a fighter, it's Joe Calzaghe. ... Calzaghe isn't just fighting a big fight. He's fighting for his legacy...to stay undefeated. He's fighting for a claim to a level of boxing immortality that Hopkins can no longer aspire to. He won't give up his "0" easily. He won't give it up without a fight. In the end, I don't think he'll give it up at all. Calzaghe by decision 116-112."

Well...except for that "flash knockdown" (Calzaghe's words) in the first round, the above could just as easily have been written about the fight afterward. In fact, on my card the knockdown making it a 10-8 Hopkins first round is the only thing standing between me and a perfect prediction (relative to my own card). I had it 116-111, exactly the same as Chuck Giampa the tie-breaking (at least in the order they were announced) ringside judge. That Adelaide Byrd scored the fight 114-113 for Hopkins (making it a split decision) is pretty unreal. I saw only four of the nine rounds that I gave Calzaghe as close rounds and three of those rounds would have had to be called for Hopkins to yield the result that judge Byrd came up with. Meanwhile, of the three that went Hopkins' way on my card, two were close with one of those being too close to call.

In other words, of six total close rounds, judge Byrd had to give five to Hopkins. That seems to be bias, plain and simple. Now...even if we assume that judge Byrd made the mistake of only watching Hopkins...wouldn't she still have seen Calzaghe hitting him with significantly greater frequency? I suppose the counterargument is that the more "significant shots" were landed by Hopkins, but that argument falls flat in the face of the full pursuit that Calzaghe had to implement to force Hopkins to fight. And whatever else it is, a boxing match is supposed to be a fight. The third judge had it for Joe 115-112, a score that is definitely well within reason.

Now...I found myself fighting my own prejudice against Hopkins' single counterpunch and hug style and I had to do it over Max Kellerman's constant genuflecting before the genius of Hopkins' sage "energy conserving" style. Kellerman is generally an astute commentator, but he missed the mark badly in this tilt. He seems to see Hopkins as a throwback fighter whose style makes him special. While there is truth to that, Hopkins has deteriorated into a one-trick pony. It's a good trick, but it's so ugly and boring that I simply hate to watch it. Crouch behind the left shoulder in a wide stance and wait and back away and circle away from the opponents power hand until they become frustrated and try to fight. Then jump in with a single straight punch and whether hitting or missing, clinch. In the clinch, bull your head and pin the other fighters arm on the off-referee side, turn the fighter away, punch in the kidney, body or side or back of the head, let go and push off. Complain liberally about getting hit on the break or rabbit punching or low blows. Hitting on the break is a bonus. Repeat.

It's so boring as to be stupefying and it forces me to root for the other guy. Calzaghe wanted to fight. He had to chase Hopkins to make him fight. All of that can be forgiven, however. That's fighting and in the immortal words of Ricky Hatton, "this ain't a tickling match, now is it?"What cannot be forgiven is the gentlemanly way that the ungentlemanly Hopkins is treated by HBO and Kellerman himself. Avoiding controversy, Kellerman danced around Hopkins' tenth round fakery rather than confronting him with it. Hopkins used a glancing glove-sided blow just below the beltline to take a four minute break. This was more than just an old man taking a break from being outpointed (which it was, too), but it was Hopkins' trying to lay late groundwork for a point deduction that he didn't deserve. In that vein, I'm surprised to find myself thankful for the almost completely otherwise ineffectual "I'm firm, but I'm fair" referee Jose Cortez. He never took a point from Hopkins when he should have, but at least he didn't take one from Calzaghe when he shouldn't have.

This was a subpar performance for the HBO team. There was apparently no amount of punching on the break, head butting, shoving, arm-pinning and hitting from behind that Hopkins could do to convince the reverent assembled group that he was anything other than "a physical specimen who, at age 43, remains a challenge for any fighter in the division and whose hall-of-fame credentials are as impeccable as his tough-to-solve masterful defensive fighting style." This guy is a dirty fighter who has cowed even the HBO team into bowing to him. While I've always disliked his style, I've respected him as a shrewd businessman and boxer who by sheer will managed to overcome the boringness (did I just make up a word?) of his boxing style. Now even that is erased. Some may say he tried to use the rules to buy himself some time, try to turn the tide and throw his opponent off-balance. Hogwash. I see a man who defiles the ring by pretending injury where there is none. Period. Shame on you Bernard. I hope you never return to the ring. I will not watch you again.

Who should Calzaghe fight next? He mentioned becoming a "giant killer" when asked if he would consider fighting Roy Jones. I would pay to see that (and it bears mention that I appreciated NOT having to pay for Calzaghe/Hopkins...something I anticipated having to do...), though I can't help but wonder why Calzaghe wants these old lions of the division. But of course the answer is obvious. That's the biggest name and the biggest fight. Roy showed he may still have some game against the thoroughly shot Trinidad, but he too will probably get smoked by Calzaghe. I wonder what catchweight they would use and I wonder if Joe might have a little more trouble with even the diminished Roy. Roy has a suspect chin, but Calzaghe probably won't be able to test it seriously and a bold Roy is a dangerous Roy. I'll have to think about that one before I can commit to a prediction. Until next time....

A Mid-April Night's Dream - Results

A great many thanks again to both HBO and Showtime for packing Saturday night April 12, 2008 with fun fights. They weren't all great fights, but it was great to watch them all. Here's how I did:

PREDICTION
Cotto v. Gomez - This is the gimme. While Gomez has definitely acquitted himself best of the Contender TV show fighters, he's in about two tiers too deep tonight. Cotto is the best welter in the world right now and I've never seen him come unprepared. Perhaps this is some HBO's way of both rewarding and punishing Alfonso Gomez for retiring Arturo Gatti so ignominiously. Gomez is going to get hammered. Cotto is faster, stronger and while Gomez is no tomato can, that's not going to matter. The difference in speed and accuracy takes the fight out of Gomez by round four at the latest and though Gomez stands in to absorb a lot of punishment, it's over by TKO stoppage in the seventh.

RESULT
Okay so the reason I front-loaded this prediction is because it was so easy. It turned out exactly as I knew it would. Gomez showed toughness, but Cotto made Gomez look like the club fighter he is, relative to him. If anything, it was a little more lopsided than I thought it would be. It was a sparring session for Cotto, who hardly broke a sweat. He was clearly faster and hits so much harder that the wear showed almost immediately. There were three knockdowns over five rounds and it was stopped between the fifth and sixth rounds by the doctors because Gomez was taking too much unanswered punishment, resulting in a TKO stoppage for Cotto. To be fair, Gomez only looked so bad because Cotto looked so good. The knockdowns were the first, second and third of Gomez' career and the two that were clear took place on a hard jab and a body shot, respectively. I was glad to see it stopped, even though Gomez had acquitted himself better in the fifth than the fourth because he's a tough kid and he'd keep getting up and standing in.

COMMENTS
Wow. Cotto looks amazing. Although I think that even Larry Merchant, who was very much on his game, gave Gomez more credit for top level skill than he probably deserves, Cotto just blew Gomez out. Gomez is a cut above club fighter, with skills but no punching power, a good chin and a few different punches. He's got no defense but his chin and his speed is only slightly above average. He had no business being in with Cotto. Cotto displays super-elite handspeed, a good chin, a tactician's aptitude and hands so heavy that he could be knocking out middleweights twenty pounds north of welterweight. As I watched, I was thinking about how good Sugar Shane Mosley is to have stayed with Cotto at age 35, just months ago. On my card, Shane took the close fight because Cotto coasted toward the end, but it was no robbery. Cotto unquestionably has super-elite skills and power and was impressive in every way in this win. Cotto is the best welterweight in the world and there is little question why Mayweather wants no part of him.



PREDICTION
Cintron v. Margarito - this is a rematch of Cintron's only loss and Margarito is a fight removed from having been outpunched and outfought by the since seemingly diminished Paul Williams. Cintron hits like a ton of bricks and has knocked almost everyone out that he's ever faced, save for Margarito...who handed him a devastating and career-derailing knockout loss. After defeating Cintron the first time around, Margarito officially became the guy in the division nobody wanted to fight for a couple of years. Though he's since become a little less scary, he's still the kryptonite to Cintron's superman. Also, Margarito not only knows that Cintron is his signature win, but he's looking to win back the respect he lost in the Williams fight. Styles make fights and Margarito gets the best of Cintron again, but this time by decision. Cintron respects the punching power of Margarito this time around and that costs him the decision.

RESULT
Well...I was right that styles make fights and I got the winner right, but Cintron couldn't stay out of the pocket and respect Margarito's power because Margarito wouldn't let him. In fact, that appears to be the reason Margarito has Cintron's number so completely. Coming out like a house on fire, Margarito pressured Cintron relentlessly and never let him breathe. This quickly became a highlight reel to illustrate why boxing isn't like other athletic endeavors. On paper, this fight is close because Cintron hits so very hard. Every fighter who's ever faced him, except quite notably Margarito, backs off in the face of his power. He hits hard. He's knocked out nearly all of his prior 28 opponents and done so spectacularly. Even since his first loss, to Margarito, he's peppered his 5-0 record with spectacular KOs. Not so against Margarito.

Margarito made it a war from the opening bell and every time Cintron landed a big punch, Cintron tried to disengage. He's accustomed to a breather after those big bell-ringers, but Margarito never paused, walking right through the heaviest shots Cintron had to offer. Following Cintron around, he overwhelmed him with accurate hard shots. Cintron had no answers and for the second time, wilted in the face of Margarito's greater will to fight. After taking every round of the first five rounds on my card, Margarito ended it on a clean left hand body shot that not only hurt Cintron badly enough to drop him to the canvas, but gave Cintron an excuse not to get back up. KO for Margarito in the sixth.

COMMENTARY
This is a career-defining (not just de-railing, like the first) loss for Cintron. The question becomes, if Cintron fights again (which he should) can fighters who aren't of Margarito's quality do to Cintron, what Margarito did twice to him? probably not. The HBO team, while they did a spectacular job of calling the fight (particularly Merchant), undersold Margarito, I think. Emmanuel Steward particularly (who trained Cintron for the fight, was in his corner, then who re-appeared to break it down post-fight for HBO) was hard on Margarito. While he gave Margarito credit for fighting a great fight, he kept saying that Margarito is not a talented fighter, which I think is wrong. Cintron is made for Margarito and interestingly, it's Cintron who makes Margarito as great as Margarito appears against him.

Keep in mind that Margarito underperformed against Paul Williams two fights ago. It's surely because Margarito underestimated Williams, something he's never done with Cintron. I find it fascinating that Margarito himself holds the HBO "comp-u-box" record for over 1,600 punches thrown in a 12 round fight (which is amazing), but he was beaten two fights ago by Williams...who until losing to to Carlos Quintana because ironically he didn't move his hands enough (they're about to rematch, happily)...was the quintessential volume puncher. I saw the Margarito/Williams fight and Williams overwhelmed Margarito! Now...watching Margarito overwhelm Cintron so thoroughly (throwing constantly...and accurately, by the way...to the tune of well over 100 punches a round), makes me wonder where that fighter was against Williams.

The answer lies in Margarito himself. The HBO team highlighted the way the fighters developed and it's telling. A multi-talented athlete, all-state high school wrestler and basketball player, Cintron found he had an aptitude for boxing, but didn't start until age 19 (late for a top level boxer). Margarito came from nothing and fought his way up, starting at least as early as age 15 in Mexico. I suspect that, coming into their first fight, Margarito resolved to test the will of the athlete Cintron and finding it wanting, resolved to do it again in the rematch. He thrives not just on testing the will of a fighter like Cintron, who on paper is a devastatingly powerful fighter, but revels in the potential to humiliate just such a fighter. He's emboldened by the prospect of that humiliation and exults in the performance of it.

In the rematch, Margarito got to exult again. Seeing Margarito, who is by no means a classy guy, waving for Cintron to rise so that he could punish him some more, was telling. He's there to punish all of the fighters who dare enter the ring with him thinking they're going to get to admire their work, be slick, get breathers between punches and showcase their skills. He's there to fight. To make war. All the more so when he perceives there is a lesson to teach. Because of his pedigree and his KO record, Cintron brings that out in Margarito perhaps in a way that noone else has. Certainly this was a different Margarito than Paul Williams met. It is Cintron himself who makes Margarito elevate his game, which is a nasty game indeed, to it's highest level and that is high indeed.

Finally, Larry Merchant's performance bears mention because it was such a pleasure. Larry, whose occasionally almost whimsical input I've found at times both mildly grating and distinctly insightful in the past, was at the top of his game. I'm very glad HBO and he could come to terms to get him back at ringside and his absence seems to have re-invigorated his interest in offering truly insightful commentary. During the fight, he described Margarito as a "truth-telling machine" in the ring, who was bringing out the truth about Kermit Cintron. If there is more to say about that, it's only that not too many welterweights could divine that truth because they'd be flat on their backs before they could finish the tough questions that Margarito was so able to skillfully administer during this particular "interview."

I also must admit that I've cribbed the sentiment Merchant expressed during the fight itself. When Jim Lampley parroted Steward's descriptions of Cintron as a special athlete for the benefit of the audience, Merchant insightfully added, "prizefighting is not a game...". ...and that, and everything it implies, is why we who love boxing, love it so much. It allows us to see beyond the skills into the soul and will of the fighter. While most fights don't get us there...and some expose ugly things about that soul...those aspects are what makes prizefighting unique among sports.



PREDICTION
Chad Dawson v. Glen Johnson - Glen Johnson is a consummate pro who came to prominence late in his career by becoming the guy to prove that Antonio Tarver's knockout of Roy Jones wasn't a fluke. He proved himself an elite level fighter and has been rewarded with a series of top level fights, acquitting himself well each time out. This time, his age and the inevitable diminishment caused by age is going to show. He'll throw and give and take, but it will prove a step too slow for Dawson. Dawson is young, hungry, fast and a hard hitter. He won't be able to take the cagey Johnson out and while he'll respect Johnson's skills enough to stay out of danger, Dawson will get the best of Johnson all night long. I see this as a clear, if not easy, decision win for Dawson.

RESULT
Well...deconstructing this one is tough because it'd be really easy to say I got it completely right. If you look at the real-life result, that seems true...but yet it's not. The real-life result: a unanimous decision for the young and undefeated WBC champion Chad Dawson over 39 year old Glen "Road Warrior" Johnson 116-112 (all three judges), handing Johnson his 12th loss in 59 decisions.

What it was was a WBC robbery. When the scorecards took an inordinately long time to tally, I felt something was wrong. It bears saying that I had the fight 116-112 for Johnson, but the fight was not really that close. This is another indication of the corruption of boxing. A young undefeated beltholder is a far more marketable commodity than an older warrior and when it is allowed to go to the cards (especially for the WBC belts) the more marketable fighter not-so-miraculously comes out on top.

This was a fun fight to watch, don't get me wrong...especially with the sound down. Dawson, determined to prove himself, gave away his height advantage all night long, offered no defense to Johnson's clean overhand (over the shoulder, actually) right hands and stupidly mixed it up much of the night as Johnson walked him down. If this sounds like Dawson lost, he did. Dawson was noticeably hurt in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and almost down in the tenth. Johnson was never hurt and never even stunned or slowed. By the twelfth, Dawson was dancing away and for my money, not to preserve a win (or did he know?) but to avoid having to get in and scrap with the tough veteran, who'd beaten him down all night. Okay... so to say Dawson might have known that he would be handed a robbery is excessive and unfair to a fighter whose desire to show his mettle all night long forced him to make mistake after mistake, but then it emphasizes the likelihood that when he disengaged, it was to avoid the punishment that Johnson chased him down all night long to inflict.

Showtime, while giving us a great fight, remains just awful on the commentary side. Al Bernstein does a serviceable job, but because he is having to respond to the black and white pronouncements of Steve Albert, he's drowned out and left wanting. For example, near the outset, Albert describes Dawson as having superlative athleticism, otherworldly speed and amazing punching power. Well...he must be unbeatable! That is not commentary...that is promotion. We're watching, Steve. Stop selling us the fight.

In the tenth, Albert, in his instantly tiresome carnival barker role screams into the microphone and into our ears, "TREMENDOUS!!! WHAT A FIGHT!!! WOW!!!" Now...why does this guy have a microphone? Are we not watching the same fight he is? How is this helping?Please...please...someone cut off this guy's mike or send him back to the Columbia School for Broadcasting. Enough said.



PREDICTION
Clinton Woods v. Antonio Tarver - This is a tough fight for me to call. I've seen Woods fight, but don't have a specific recollection of his skills, except to say he has some. As for Tarver, well...he's on the comeback trail at an age where many fighters are awaiting induction into Canastota. Tarver's mantra has always been that his masterful defensive fighting style is underappreciated by judges, but I disagree. He doesn't move his hands enough and thinks he hits harder than he does out of his southpaw stance. Making a prediction come true five years ago and being the first guy to figure out that Roy Jones had lost his edge can only carry you so far. Tarver shows up game, but Woods wants it more and Tarver continues to believe that using your face to block punches and throwing half as often as your opponent should carry the day. Woods by a boring decision over Tarver, after which Tarver vows to fight on.

RESULT
Okay, so I got this one exactly backwards. When I said I didn't know enough about Woods, I was right. I forgot, despite amazingly somehow being the WBC light heavyweight champion (see caretaker until a more marketable fighter comes along...even the aging Tarver), Woods is a tentative slow-handed british club fighter. He was made for Tarver, as long as Tarver showed up prepared. To his marginal credit, he did. So...Tarver, who loves to admire his handiwork, got to do so all night long. Potshot, turn away, grab...punch in combination, slip away, grab, push off, potshot...dance away.

It was exactly the boring fight I predicted it would be, but going Tarver's way. Tarver didn't have to move his hands too much and he was in shape, so he didn't fade. He knew this was a great late career opportunity to pick up the WBC belt and knew it would be there for the taking. For his part, Woods hardly put up a fight. Following Tarver around the ring all night so he could be sure not to avoid any good hard shots to his face, Woods played to all of Tarver's strengths. I gave every round to Tarver except a gift of the 11th to Woods and the official judges had it 116-112 (british judge?); 117-111; and 119-109 for Tarver. A blowout.

CONCLUSION
It was a fun night of boxing for a realfightfan. Many thanks to HBO and to Showtime too, though I keep beating myself up for watching Showtime boxing broadcasts with the sound on.