Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, JR., is nearly here and I have not seen this much hype for an event in quite some time. I have never seen a chicken held high with gold medals around its neck, but Floyd is doing anything that he can to sell this fight and get under the skin of his opponent. Although I am excited about this fight, I am beginning to get concerned that we are going to see a one-sided beating of a fighter that has ran his course and has been on the shelf for far too long. There are not many fighters that can come right out of the gate and defeat the current Pound for Pound King.
Felix Trinidad had a similar performance when he faced Ricardo Mayorga as De La Hoya. They both destroyed him…beat him to a pulp…left him lying, and it is deceiving. Sure, Mayorga is a tough guy with a big punch and a lot of ambition, but he is unskilled and throws wide punches. Accurate punchers like De La Hoya and Trinidad should and did eat him up. Now, why do I bring up Trinidad? It’s simple and it’s all about a Winky.
Winky Wright, another Pound for Pound top five guy, was placed into a bout with “Tito” and was sure to lose. He isn’t a big puncher and cannot hurt Trinidad, but when there is a layoff, getting accustomed to punches again can be difficult and Wright was able to rock the Puerto Rican Superstar and could have stopped him if he so chose to. Now, we have Floyd, who isn’t a big puncher, and is seen as a guy that cannot hurt Oscar, but he certainly can and most likely will.
The emphasis of this fight isn’t so much on the size and power of De La Hoya. He is big and he is stronger than “Pretty Boy,” but he will not match the reflexes and will not be able to catch him flush. When you look back at the Pernell Whitaker, who was on the tail end of his career, you see that a slickster with skill and great defense can confuse and control “The Golden Boy.” Now we have a prime Floyd, who is not as good as Pernell was, but may be better than “Sweet Pea” was on the night he faced De La Hoya. This bout will not be pretty.
I am pleased to see that this bout is getting so much attention because it brings the casual fans back to the game, but I’m reminded of that movie: “The Great White Hype,” and the old lady saying, “20 dollars on the nice white boy,” or something to that affect. I think that people are going to bet with their hearts instead of their minds and go with Oscar to win this fight, even though nothing in his recent outings suggests that he can. He’s been on the shelf mostly and his last bouts on record with Felix Sturm, Bernard Hopkins, and Shane Mosley have been less than impressive, and his win over Mayorga was, well, a win over the perfect opponent. As much as I will be rooting for De La Hoya, I am betting on Floyd to win and win big.
Manny Pacquiao Vs Juan Manuel Marquez II
I don’t really care about a rematch between Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera. I know that Golden Boy Promotions wants to milk the career of Barrera for all its worth before sending him off into retirement, but the money is in a Marquez-Pacquiao rematch. I watched the first fight between the two Mexican warriors and outside of the cheerleading from Jim Lampley, who acted as if he had money riding on Barrera, it was a decent fight. Without question, I thought that Marquez won it, but there is this current trend that rematches are necessary in every fight that is even remotely close. James Toney getting two cracks at Sam Peter in an “Eliminator” was nonsense and Barrera’s rematch with Rocky Juarez was just another ploy to extract money from the remaining die hard boxing fans. Now, we have Barrera-Marquez II on the way when there is a huge and very interesting fight between the two best little guys in Marquez and the “Pacman.”
It all dates back to May 8th, 2004, when the two battled to a draw in one of the most memorable bouts in history. In the first round, Marquez decided that he would stand his ground and be more of a man than Pacquiao, but the “Pacman” is like a train speeding down the tracks and ran over Marquez, knocking him down three times in the first round. From that point on, Marquez used his technique to confuse and stop the vicious onslaught, eking out a questionable draw, but leaving the question: Had Marquez employed this strategy the entire bout, would he have won a decision in the first place?
So there is some intrigue here and the parade is passing the boxing fans by. The fighters are seemingly going in different directions, as Marquez is set to fight Barrera again, and Pacman is basically twisting in the wind and looking for opposition. It’s basically now or never for these two to meet in a rematch, but it looks unlikely.
Pacquiao is one of those rare fighters that can bring in the masses but the opponents don’t seem to willing to challenge him, despite the big purses they could pocket. I was surprised when Barrera didn’t challenge him in a rematch and when Marquez turned down a lot of money for another crack. I assume that with the rival promotional problems and the amount of money that can be made by fleecing the boxing fans with mediocre pay per views where the end result is going to be the same as the first time around, and no matter who wins, the promoter still has the winner, that we will not see Pacman in there against Marquez. The days of John L. Sullivan announcing that he would take on any man in the bar are all but over.
Rocky Marciano Still Champ
By no means do I consider Rocky Marciano one of the greatest of all time, but he earned a distinction that has been challenged but never beaten. He retired the Heavyweight Champion and undefeated at 49-0. Former Heavyweight Champion, Larry Holmes was within inches of beating it when he was questionably beaten by Michael Spinks, who apparently brought the jinx. Former WBA Heavyweight Champion, Nikolay Valuev was the next in line to smash the Rock’s record, and at 46-0, and improving with every bout, it seemed likely, especially when you look at the rest of the division.
Ruslan “White Tyson” Chagaev was undefeated but hardly considered the man to defeat this gigantic heavyweight, Valuev, who is seven feet tall. Then when you figure in the nickname “White Tyson,” you have to assume this guy is going to lose. Chagaev however exploited the weaknesses of Valuev: slow of foot and hand speed and takes time to get set. He is slow and robotic. A boxer that could deal with the size of “The Russian Giant” could cruise to a decision win, and Chagaev did. He used his speed and movement to confuse and out-point Valuev, earning the WBA Title and preventing history from being re-written. Marciano does not have to turn over in his grave and the fans of the Rock can relax.
I would still like to see Valuev take on the IBF Champion, Wladimir Klitschko. I’m in the very small minority that give Valuev because of his toughness a great chance to win, and even if he loses, seeing a guy that large crash to the canvas is an event! I wonder if they bring in king size stretchers in these sort of matches.
