It is both obvious and shameful that management and individual business is not constructed as professionally in boxing as it is by the thuggish business politicians in other behemoth athletic industries. The fans never get their fights, format, decisions or storylines but they keep on paying for the pay per views. It would hardly knock anyone for a loop if a Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield rematch were advertised this week and sold for $29.99.
Punditry and possibilities of fantasy fights make the mouth salivate for only a moment because the ability of the human mind to slip out of reality and into something more comfortable. In a world where those that bleed leather and hand wraps make up the fights, the action always hits home and never fails to please. Creating fights is a second by second ability and instant for a vicious fight dog. Give us Kelly Pavlik-Joe Calzaghe or Calzaghe- Mikkel Kessler. Give the people Jason Litzau and Paul Spadafora. Bring us another David Tua so that Sam Peter has a little competition. Give the populous some action.
When parameters are set, the exercise tightens into a much stricter set of scenarios. If the analysts have to pick the next three super fights that are to take place there is an entirely new thought process due to the inclusion of logic with the emotion of what the fans want to see. A ?Super Fight? is a marketing tool used to get fans to feel like there?s some sort of event in buying an overpriced pay per view card between two proven fighters with styles that will never mesh into an entertaining performance. The last three Super Fights in boxing (by the definition provided above) have been Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson and Felix Trinidad-Oscar De La Hoya. Those bouts generated mammoth PPV numbers but none of them turned out to be anywhere near the most exciting fights of the last ten years. Even the Holyfield-Tyson match-ups were far from being Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward or Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo.
A true ?Super Fight? has both hype and action historically. Any of Muhammad Ali?s major match ups with Joe Frazier or George Foreman carry the ethos, pathos and logos to back up what would become tremendous battles that burned into the memory of all who have watched. The issue cuts to the core of character and identity in a fight fan. Even casual fans would rather see big shots than big names. It?s all good and fine that Floyd Mayweather, JR., and Oscar De La Hoya are more famous than most of the French kings. That?s still no reason to make a fight.
Fireworks, blood and guts should not only be demanded from the fans but required by the promoters and their fighters. Therefore, the new and enlightened view of a super fight is a bout that is not just elite but vicious. Here are the three bouts that best match the criteria.
Juan Diaz Vs. Manny Pacquiao/Edwin Valero
According to legendary trainer Freddie Roach, Pacman and Valero may be arranging to face off in what should be a bombshell of a fight in and of itself. If the fight comes off, there is a strong possibility that it will be in Macau in October. Valero is one of the hardest hitters in years and owns a perfect 22-0, 22 KO?s. Only three men have made it out of Round 1 with Valero. All of those men were still knocked out later and one of them was plated in merely Round 2.
He clearly has the power to knock out almost anyone. The question is if he has the speed and ability to land a clean punch on a fighter like Pacquiao. Pacman has a good chin and tests it in most of his brawls. He has been willing to take hard shots to the chops from Erik Morales, Oscar Larios, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and plenty of other elite hitters. While those shots have occasionally sent him to the canvas, Pacquiao almost always has risen to continue the fight. Most famously, he was able to recover from tasting canvas in Round 1 to knock Barrera down twice in their fight.
Valero has only been tested once in his career. He hit the mat against Vicente Mosquera in Round 3 of their scrap before storming to finish the fight by TKO in Round 10. Mosquera is no joke and had only one loss before that knockout. Other than that, Valero has had no difficult fights in his career and stands poised to make a big money match up.
Either one of these fighters would make an incredible fight with Diaz. Diaz is a versatile volume puncher with unmatched tenacity and ever-developing pop in both hands. He is one of the few fighters on Earth speedy enough to take out Pacquiao and would be the perfect match to avoid left hands with the southpaw Valero. A fight between Juan Diaz and either Pacman or Valero would be a 12 Round rage worth more than any PPV card put together in nearly a year. One would be a card between two young undefeated fighters whose only commonality in style is aggression. The other is a face-off between a pair of head to head punchers with some of the fastest hands in half a century.
Chris John Vs. Rafael Marquez
Of course every smart fan wants to see Marquez in a rematch with Israel Vasquez after the disappointing ending to a valiant and worthy fight. Assuming he can again get by Vasquez, Chris John is the perfect fight to prove that Marquez is the real deal champion and a true contender for P4P King. John holds a unanimous decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight that was extremely close. Even if John lost that fight, it has been reported that he was more of the boxer in the match up while Marquez came slashing forward. If so, I?d love to see the other Marquez brother step up and fill that same role even more effectively. It is likely that Juan Manuel?s inabilities in the fight surrounded his speed and accuracy rather than punching power. Rafael is a smaller and more fluid fighter who would be able to land more punches on the undefeated John and doesn?t hit so light himself. If John were able to come up victorious in the bout, he would become known as the man who defeated the Marquez brothers and open the door to bigger and better fights. This fight could be made at a time convenient for both men because both have bouts scheduled for August. Marquez is fighting the rematch with Vasquez and John is taking on a tomato can in Zaiki Takemoto.
Floyd Mayweather, JR. Vs. Paul Williams/Antonio Margarito
This is yet another scenario where there is a gargantuan fight leading into the mythical match up. When Margarito and Williams tee off at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA on July 14th, there are sure to be fire works. Both fighters are freakishly large volume punching power thumpers. They are each cut from similar molds and take credit for being two of the strangest looking fighters currently fighting. Each holds his entire welterweight in the upper body, making for larger fighters with strong punches and punishing downward angles. Williams was able to use his size and angles to break down and destroy Sharmba Mitchell, inside of four rounds. Margarito beat current IBF Kingpin, Kermit Cintron into submission by Round 5 and nearly knocked the ear of the head of Sebastian Andres Lujan. Either man would present the first challenge for the Mayweather since Zab Judah and the first serious threat since two fights with Jose Luis Castillo.
He calls himself the best fighter in history and boxing circles generally point to him as the P4P Champion of the world. It?s about time that he began to prove it by beating one of these so-called threats. There is no doubt that in spite of the incredibly impressive lineage carried by either Williams or Margarito, the most talented pugilist in the group in undoubtedly Pretty Boy. He would be the favorite in either fight and winning would help add to a long list of triumphs in a Hall of Fame Career. In order to win, Mayweather would have to avoid trading as he usually does. However, the action would still be high because his opponent in either case would be coming forward from long distances while he would have to get inside of those arms and land shots. Meanwhile, if he continues to fight elite but sluggish sluggers with no chance, such as De La Hoya or Carlos Baldomir, while Pacman defeats a Valero and/or a Diaz, we will se a new P4P champion of the world before long.
Honorable Mention
Joe Calzaghe Vs. Mikkel Kessler, Floyd Mayweather, JR. Vs. Shane Mosley, Ricky Hatton Vs. Joel Casamayor, a Wladimir Klitschko Vs. Sam Peter rematch, Bernard Hopkins Vs. Any Heavyweight Champion.
