Last night was a great night for real boxing fans who got a four-fight package instead of one megafight and little else. The night also featured "the return of the body shot" as it became the greatest weapon in three of the four fights. Here are some thoughts as in-depth round-by-round boxing analysis will be left to others.
HBO vs. Showtime: Why can't HBO and Showtime work out these scheduling differences? HBO had the welterweights battle it out while Showtime had the light heavyweights. Sure, some of us had to tape the action on one DVR while watching another channel, but boxing loses when this happens… The casual sports fan will not do this…
Miguel Cotto vs. Alfonso Gomez: There is one type of fight that I find unwatchable — if not stomach-turning: The mismatch. Gomez of "The Contender" fame, who has no shortage of heart, pride, and guts, simply should not have been allowed to occupy the same ring as someone as skilled as Miguel Cotto. The fight was stopped after five rounds, could have definitely been stopped after 4, but really should have been stopped before round 1. When the Yankees play their triple-A team, it is merely a preseason exhibition. In boxing it is for the championship. When a fight is competitive it is a sport first that just so happens to be violent. When it is not, it becomes brutality for its own sake. The last time I felt myself wincing like this was when Floyd Mayweather destroyed Arturro Gatti as Gatti kept returning each round to be dominated without any chance of winning. Now this does not mean that referees should have quick triggers in general, but only when it is abundantly clear that the lesser fighter is completely out of their league. For historical reference see Larry Holmes-Randall Tex Cobb.
Antonio Margarito vs. Kermit Cintron: Margarito's 6 round destruction of Kermit Cintron on HBO's undercard of the Cotto fight is a perfect example of dominance of fighters who DO belong in the ring together. Cintron whose only other career loss is to Margarito was game, fought back, and has considerable punching power. Margarito — who clearly has Cintron's number — has set himself up for a July 26 match against Cotto in what promises to be an exciting slugfest amongst two warriors. Expect the more skilled Cotto to be victorious, but never count out Margarito who will press the action and bring out the best in Cotto.
Antonio Tarver vs. Clinton Woods: Over at Showtime, Tarver's unanimous decision over the game Clinton Woods was a typical Tarver victory. Not incredibly exciting, but enough spurts where he would steadily show his superior boxing skill. At 39, Tarver can still fight. Expect to see him matched up with the "undefeated" Chad Dawson.
Glen Johnson vs. Chad Dawson: While short on name-recognition, the Tarver-Woods undercard fight at Showtime was the most intriguing fight from the start. Boxing has a great tradition of matching-up the young talented undefeated, yet untested fighter (Dawson) with the older, battle-worn, and cagey veteran. Unlike most of these match-ups, Johnson is not washed up. (He has beaten Roy Jones, Tarver, and Clinton Woods since 2004) No fighter has more heart and will than Johnson. In a close action-packed fight the decision predictably went to Dawson in unanimous scorecards of 116 – 112. Here is what Johnson had to say:
"I cannot believe at my age, at 39, they would rip me off like this for a… talented young guy that has the world in his hands in the future. I'm on my last leg working for my future, trying to pay my bills just like [Dawson]… but I work hard and I win the fight and I deserve it. I don't understand where people find it in their hearts to do what they did to me time and time again… America needs to protest what's going on in boxing. If this is what it has to be for people to be successful — it's not about boxing and using your skills and winning the fight. It's about politics and who you know…"
Quantity vs. Quality?: Personally, I had Glen Johnson a 115-113 winner (splitting the first 6 rounds and winning the last 4). In addition to boxing "politics" that always favor the younger fighter with the future, the fight brings up the age-old boxing "quantity vs. quality" scoring controversy: Do you give points to the guys who land more light shots and pitter-patter (Dawson) or the guy with the more significant blows. For his part, Dawson deserves credit for weathering through his first-ever storm and remaining on his feet. Had it gone 15 rounds like the old days, there would be no judging contyroversy. It was Johnson who pressed the fight, consistently landed the harder blows, and hurt/backed Dawson up on many occasions including a 10th round right which wobbled Chad. After the 6th round Dawson wanted no part of Johnson's pressure and began to box and use his quickness try to win the rest of the fight on points. The judges rewarded him for this. In contrast, Johnson — who absorbed many blows as usual — never appeared hurt at any time. Johnson continues:
"and I tell Showtime that if I win the fight, I give him [Dawson] a rematch like THAT because I'm afraid of nobody. I fight every man in the world and I never duck or hide from anyone… I fought my heart out and they still have the heart to rip me off. He [Chad Dawson] should protest it"
Dawson would not protest it – and judging from his post-fight interview — will not give Johnson any rematch. Dawson wants absolutely no part of that — and might be the best indication of who Dawson believes won the fight. He will likely go on to fight Tarver next.
Hopkins-Calzaghe: All this light-heavyweight action is merely a precursor for next week's main event: Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe. In an absolute treat, this fight of two continental boxing legends will not be on Pay-Per-View, but on HBO. There will be no prediction on this one. Calzaghe is a brilliant undefeated fighter who I believe would have been competitive with Roy Jones had they fought eight years ago. On the flip side, it is important to adhere to a boxing rule: NEVER BET AGAINST B-HOP. He was supposed to lose against Tito. He was supposed to lose after moving up in weight to face Tarver. Lesson learned. Two great fighters and I've got no clue who will win… and that is why it should be a great fight… tune in next week…
MODI,
I think it’s a little unfair to label Dawson’s shots as ‘pitter patter’. The kid landed ALOT of very hard shots/combos against a guy who has never been down.
I thought Chad won the fight, with most of the rounds being competitive.
I think the diffence in most folks scorecards are based on the last 2 rounds. I thought Chad may have carried those rounds, accounting for the 8-4 scoring. Go back and look at those rounds again. Al Berstein (who hasn’t been as sharp lately for some reason) seemed so focused on Johnson (much like he was on Clinton Woods in the 2nd fight) that he ignored alot of good work done by Chad in those rounds.
Oh yeah, and let the senseless Anti-Mayweather rantings start in 5….4….3….
(-:
Sweet Jones,
Okay, maybe “pitter-patter” was a bit over-stated. Dawson did show some grit — I’ll give him that. But none of his punches stunned Johnson and he seemed to be overly measured at the expense of punching power. …I’ll rewatch those last two rounds again since I have them on tape and reassess…
As for Mayweather, since our last dialogues, I have soured on him somewhat. I saw two interviews with him that left me dissappointed. On Jim Rome is Burning (w/Jemele Hill as host that week). All he kept talking about was that Cotto wasn’t a big enough draw for him at this point and that he wouldn’t let other fighters “eat off his name”. Didn’t ODH allow Floyd to “eat off his name”?
While I still believe that Floyd would beat Cotto, I’m very dissappointed in him. I’ve always looked at it like the PBF-Cotto fight happening was a foregone conclusion. In the past i understood PBF passing because Cotto couldn’t generate big dollars, but that is just no longer the case anymore. And if Cotto beats Margarito in exciting fashion, then there will be absolutely no excuse. My current stance is that PBF gets through 2009 to fight Cotto. If he retires, ducks, or dodges him, then I will then assume Jimmy’s stance that PBF is a punk. Until then he is a great fighter and a business man.
MODI,
The fight will happen in 2009, bank on it.
With that said, ‘Money’ may be a better promoter than we’ve given him credit for. Look at your own response.
By playing down Cotto (not big enough name), it’s got even a guy like you, a hard core fight fan who respects PBF, even more motivated to make sure the fight happens. Come ’09, there’s not a PPV price high enough that people won’t pay, even if it’s just to see PBF get whipped.
Also, no need to openly pump up a Cotto showdown when you are trying to promote a money fight against DLH. If people know a PBF/Cotto match is a sure thing, why would they pay for this rematch. Openly pumping up Cotto at this point is just bad business.
Lastly, don’t discount the Arum factor here. PBF is positioning himself (‘Cotto’ won’t eat off my name) to have ALL the leverage at the negotiation table. And best believe Floyd will stick it to Arum as best he can.
Remember, every time Floyd goes on a mainstream program (Jim Rome) and mentions Cotto, it gets the non-hardcore boxing fans asking “Who’s this Cotto guy that people think the P4P champ is ducking?”. Good, subtle groundwork for a potential showdown.
It WILL happen, MODI.
Sweet Jones,
Now everything that you have said is exactly true if and only if:
1) Floyd completely intends on fighting Cotto next year; and
2) Cotto doesn’t get upset and spoil the mega-fight. A guy like Margarito will probably lose but always has a chance
Good point about the Arum factor…
I was disappointed in HBO this weekend. They had one good fight and one fight that never should have been made.
If you had Cotto – Clottey I would have more respect for Cotto’s performance. Gomez was so low skilled I will not call the performance great, it did show me that Cotto could get hit easily by the slow light hitting Gomez, so I wonder what will happen when he fights a banger, someone like Clottey or hell even Cintron.
Margarito definitely stole the damn show with his demolishing for Cintron, then the yelling at him to get up was icing on the cake.
I think Margarito was the highlight of the telecast, and I can see him causing a great deal of problems for Cotto, because of his height, skill, chin, workrate, and heart.
—–
I think Chad won handily. He just outboxed Glencoffe and thats all there was to it. He showed tremendous heart by hanging on and making it through the periods when he was actually hurt and I had the fight, 7 – 5 Dawson.
Tarver made that bum Woods look like the amatuer he is, it was nice. I hope Hopkins will finish the job and get that bum Calzaghe out of the picture. Then the British hype jobs will be gone.
I thought that the Dawson/Johnson fight was maybe closer than the score cards, but there was not robbery. Looked like Chad was able to score more than Glen. Don’t know why Dawson chose to fight Johnson inside though, he was practically handing the fight to him.
Nothing much to say about the Cotto fight except that I expect Margaritio to get destroyed by him. A better fight would be against Clottey, but that won’t stoke the Puerto Rican/Mexican rivalry.
I would also caution against taking anything a fighter or promoter says in an interview at face value/PPF or not. Unless they are talking about the actual science of boxing itself, half the stuff that comes out of their mouths is PR or BS. Which are probably the same thing.
Like MODI, I have learned my lesson with B-Hop. Calzaghe is quick handed and all, but Hopkins always rolls through with his black bag full of tricks. I am reluctantly going with the executioner on this one. And big ups to HBO for not making this a PPV bout.
– DMac, I got the sense that Cotto was merely sparring in this fight, so I’m not sure if you could take something away from it… and I agree that Margartito has the potential to give Cotto trouble… now you KNOW that Calzaghe is no “bum”…
– awb, I’d agree that the Johnson fight was no robbery, but it illustrates problems with the scoring system. Never once did Johnson back-up or was hurt. Personally, I give the edge of close rounds to the agressor and harder puncher. …like you say, had Dawson fought from the outside all fight, it could have been an easy win. …but once Dawson felt the leather he changed the plan midfight
@MODI
I’ve been 100% in my fight predictions, and I see Euro garbage better than anything. Joe Calzaghe will be systematically broken down by Hopkins and will be TKO in the 10th. Mark my words.
Joe C. has never faced a legit fighter in his life. The highest caliber of fighter he faced was B – C class fighter Kessler, who backed out of a fight with Edison Miranda, who got KTFO by Pavlik B+ – A- fighter.
Your words have been marked and you will receive great respect should you be correct…
2nite’s fight is a tough one. Much like you, MODI, I disinclined to ever pick against B-Hop and his bag of tricks.
However, I have a general concern about the main Golden Boy Promotion fighters. For Mosley (vs. Cotto), De La Hoya (vs. Mayweather) and Hopkins (vs. Taylor I & II), it appears they’ve all reached the point in their careers where simply being ‘competitive’ and collecting a check seems to take some precedence over winning.
I’m not questioning their hearts, but they seem a little too comfortable accpeting a lost. Just shrugged shoulders. I just wonder if Hopkins will be willing to walk through that ‘fire’ (if needed) to get this victory.
With that said, I still don’t want to bet against Hop. And like DMac, I’m still (somewhat) not sold on Calzaghe.
I can’t get on sportsonmymind for some reason, it gives me an error. I think D-wil has tried to ban me. Either way. I had Hopkins winning the fight clearly 114-113, 6 rounds to 6 rounds, with Calzaghe winning only because Hopkins did nothing.
MODI- OK…..This is very simple. AVOID GAYFEATHER can fight stiffs/non-draws like Bruseles, Judah, Baldomir, but he CAN’T fight Miguel Cotto? LMFAO. This is TOO FUNNY, man. I like you Modi, but your patriotism clouds your vision. Hear it and understand it. AVOID GAYFEATHER WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH MIGUEL COTTO AT 140! He DUCKED him after beating Arturo Gatti and NEVER defended the 140 crown. Now at 147, Cotto is being COMPLETELY DUCKED in PUBLIC! What else do you need to hear?
I have forever stated that Gayfeather is nothing more than an HBO creation. This guy is nothing more than a flashy, cherrypicking, marketing tool who has fooled EVERYBODY with his strategic opponent selection. For the last time, HE HAS NOT FOUGHT ANY OF THE TOP CONTENDERS @ 140 AND 147. NOT ONE! The top 140 fighter he fought at 147 (Hatton) LMFAO. Cotto he ducks. Margarito he ducks. We don’t need to go through this again. Gayfeather has not fought a real opponent since CASTILLO! When Avoid Gayfeather decides to FINALLY fight a TOP RATED WELTERWEIGHT, we can all talk. Gayfeather is nothing more than A PAPER CHAMP! PERDIOD!
MODI- OK…..This is very simple. AVOID GAYFEATHER can fight stiffs/non-draws like Bruseles, Judah, Baldomir, but he CAN’T fight Miguel Cotto? LMFAO. This is TOO FUNNY, man. I like you Modi, but your patriotism clouds your vision. Hear it and understand it. AVOID GAYFEATHER WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH MIGUEL COTTO AT 140! He DUCKED him after beating Arturo Gatti and NEVER defended the 140 crown. Now at 147, Cotto is being COMPLETELY DUCKED in PUBLIC! What else do you need to hear?
I have forever stated that Gayfeather is nothing more than an HBO creation. This guy is nothing more than a flashy, cherrypicking, marketing tool who has fooled EVERYBODY with his strategic opponent selection. For the last time, HE HAS NOT FOUGHT ANY OF THE TOP CONTENDERS @ 140 AND 147. NOT ONE! The top 140 fighter he fought at 147 (Hatton) LMFAO. Cotto he ducks. Margarito he ducks. We don’t need to go through this again. Gayfeather has not fought a real opponent since CASTILLO! When Avoid Gayfeather decides to FINALLY fight a TOP RATED WELTERWEIGHT, we can all talk. Gayfeather is nothing more than A PAPER CHAMP! PERIOD!