Some Turkey Talk
We?re nearing the celebrations into the Thanksgiving holidays to be fed with large amounts of potato salad, cranberry sauce, stuffing and gelatins to go along with those huge drumsticks, assorted wings, and neck bones to fill your belly. This is the year to share with your neighbors, and if you so happened to not have one, share some of your foods with a stranger by volunteering to give away free turkeys at your nearest Parrish, social club, church organizations, or even give to the Salvation Army so that the less fortunate can eat a hardy meal.
With so many things to do, we?ve become very easily disconcerted with what Thanksgiving was really meant to be. Giving is the only democracy known that touches the world over and pours into our cup over abundances of gifts. Remember to give.
Main Course or Left Overs
After Thanksgiving, we?re about to embark on seeing two hotly contested Latin fierce battlers who promise to leave every ounce of themselves inside those ropes. On November 23rd PPV will run with a Vacant WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight Title at the Staples Center, with the ?Bad Boy? Marlboro pack smoking fugitive, 3-Time Champion Ricardo ?El Matador? Mayorga, as he fastens his cojones to tame 2-Time Champion, Fernando ?El Feroz? Vargas, and they?re promising explosive fireworks. You aren?t the only one smelling a knockout.
Miguel Cotto Carving Out a Legacy
When a very young and vibrant Miguel Cotto was 17-0, 14 KO?s, met Carlos Maussa, 17-0, 16 KO?s, December 2003, the giddy Columbian was fresh off his demolition derby over the highly touted Bronx hopeful Jeffery Resto, a fighter who hadn?t exactly rebounded well since being kayoed by Maussa in Corpus Christi, in that earlier September, and Miguel knocked Maussa out in eight.
Cotto fighting Maussa for the WBC International Light Welterweight Championship those times was equivalent to what Manny ?Pacman? Pacquiao wears in diamond studded studs these days, but you must remember, that Miguel Cotto on May 8th, 2004, had no absolute indefinite linkages to either WBC International Titles or IBF Light Welterweight Eliminators once he passed the litmus test at the MGM Grand defeating Lovemore N?dou.
In hindsight, Cotto jumped at the chance September 2004 in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico for the Vacant WBO Junior Welterweight Title to then mug Brazilian prospect Kelson Pinto, knocking him down three times in the process leading to a TKO in 6.
For the following chilly December 11th in Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada, you could have given the Floridian former WBO 140 Pound Champ (and one time short lived WBA titleholder) Randall Bailey, direct passages to seeing a preview of the movie ?Ray? because Cotto blackened both his eyes chipping away as they bled and blinded Bailey who could have very well used Ray Charles? personal Seeing Eye dogs, or correlated a reversal of lyrics to ?Once I was blind, but now I see,? something Randall complained of not being able to do emphatically returning to his corner to a stunned crowd. Truth is, had Randall seen anything at all; it was the calibration of a bewitching boxing beating. Cotto trounced him off his feet twice prior to the stoppage in round 6.
February 26, 2005, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, the Former WBO Light Welterweight Champion, DeMarcus Corley, dressed in gasmask and regal beetle accessories, folded his legs like a beach chair faster then being on a sandy beach awaiting gusts of winds for Sister Bertrille of The Flying Nun to fly him swiftly to the oasis of San Tanco, as DeMarcus caved to the crippler Cotto in 5 rounds.
Mohamad (Mahamadkadir) Abdulaev, boasted victory over Miguel Cotto at the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney, and as irreprehensible that that tone was set for the Uzbekistan having oversight, became a browbeater reminding MAC throughout the pre-fight conferences.
That was until Miguel with some discomfort about what Abdulaev had said showed a wrinkle or two above his brow to tell me that the amateur games were very different than the pros, and that he in fact thought that he should have gotten the decision over Mohamad over at Sydney doing most of the work he put in it.
There was some controversy already with Abdulaev fought Emmanuel Clottey, June 2003, in Connecticut, and Abdulaev?s bell was rung with problems hearing no dinging signaling for the round?s end by default that he felt should have saved him, and didn?t, at the count being picked up by the referee, with Mohamad taking a knee immovable until he was counted out.
On June 11th 2005, at Madison Square Garden, on the eve before Miguel became The Grand Marshall for New York City?s Puerto Rican Day Parade, Mohamad Abdulaev transformed as the rounds surmounted to a very impacted hideously looking kind of metamorphosis that began being very reminiscent for an understudy doubling for the lead part of The Elephant Man, as Miguel Cotto served an overabundance of unconditional retribution unleashed upon him that couldn?t be beneath his wrath, and Abdulaev, looking every bit like the stuffing?s off a turnbuckle were gouged out, got reduced to a limp rag leaving the ring with another sombrero size for all his troubles. It was over in 9.
Last November we?ve seen a very controlled and resourceful brand of Cotto revise his boxing attributes in defeating Sugar Shane Mosley. Miguel has shown an incredible amount of the whole package along patience, fortitude and smarts to the point that CottoMania has really taken off, and is a fine example for our support in the sport about how athletes should actually conduct themselves.
George?s Pound for Pound Dozen
1. “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather (Welterweight) 2. Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (Super Featherweight) 3. Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (Light Heavyweight) 4. Joe Calzaghe (Super Middleweight) 5. Miguel Angel Cotto (Welterweight) 6. Israel ?El Magnifico? Vazquez (Super Bantamweight) 7. Kelly Pavlik (Middleweight) 8. Ronald “Winky” Wright (Middleweight) 9. Juan Manuel Marquez (Super Featherweight) 10. Sugar Shane Mosley (Welterweight) 11. Juan Diaz (Lightweight) 12. Paul ?The Punisher? Williams (Welterweight)
Why?
Paul Williams is the most underrated fighter who walks amongst this dozen. Juan Diaz should rate higher within six or seven weeks. Sugar Shane should not be dropped in any top ten. Winky holds steady in this eighth position, and Pavlik still gives the most inspiring fights known. Israel Vazquez?I had the pleasure of knowing the day before he took his first IBF Junior Featherweight Title fight, and watching him at this level is wonderful. Cotto is exactly the same. Joe Calzaghe gets better with age. And B-Hops still has stuff in the tank.
Manny Pacquiao for accomplishment and hurdles overcoming I placed in second as a unique demonstration of democracy that dares to take challenges ?Everywhere and elsewhere,? which has been done before. My only hope is if it is Juan Diaz, that he?ll take care of business at 130 pounds with JM Marquez, and then the sensational Edwin ?El Inca? Valero who is headquartered in Japan.
Floyd is what today is known in the industry as the unbeatable of yesteryears? champions. He has nobody near his skills from 147-154 pounds, and even maybe a pound or two, so Pretty Boy Floyd fights in this generation correct. If he were to have fought in the 60s, 70s and 80s he still would be a standout superstar. It still is pretty amazing to me on how before Mayweather took the Oscar De La Hoya fight how Bob Arum praised Floyd and compared him next to only Muhammad Ali. Forget Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez, or Marco Antonio Barrera.
Don?t make Floyd out to be the bad guy. He fights the best. It may be that the rest of them are moving up in weight where PBF has no need to, but he might surprise you. Mayweather is the complete boxer who happens to be undefeated. Oscar you know you moved up gradually and did the same things that Floyd did. He?s no different. Floyd is the consummate boxer.
Desert and Coffee
It occurred to me the other day that the former pro turned trainer, ?Jazzy? Jeff Mayweather, has earned his stripes being instrumental in taking Sultan Ibragimov, to the WBO Heavyweight Title. Jeff is a fine trainer who has an expert sharp shooting eye for details when it comes to balances of a fighter?s stance and movement. That?s a tremendous gift and asset. He noticeably blends what a fighter already has, and then improves on it. A well welcomed addition to the training mythology, and worth a good listen for fighters learning to punch off the ?Correct foot.?
The Home News Tribune of New Jersey reported recently the exodus of long lasting Boxing Commissioner Czar Larry Hazzard; and the new entrance of Sylvester Cuyler, as Hazzard departed swiftly being escorted with persons from that building. Larry is chiefly commended for really making great efforts to bringing American heavyweights into the limelight of the sport, and promoting the much needed common sense in safety regulatory matters for fighters. The IBF along with New Jersey will surely miss him.
Boxing?s revamping invigorated icons back reminds me of why there?s a generation gap. Particularly when you surmise the fact that Roy Jones, JR., and Felix ?Tito? Trinidad are going to Face-off January 19th, in MSG?s PPV extravaganza.
There seems to be an awful lot of genetic talk being kicked around these days that maybe we should dispel before the atmosphere gets pretty thick and you can?t distinguish fog from mist. My grandmother lived to 107-years of age, smoked cigars incessantly, and communicated with the dead. Now Jones versus Trinidad would have been the 50-plus Million Dollar second coming to Madison Square Garden?s heavyweight Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier #1 1971, what Felix and Roy might have surpassed dating back to 2000-01, but even that would be disputable.
And lastly, last November 13th marked a 25th-year anniversary ordeal that postmarked the end of the 15 extended round as we?ve come to known them. That was the November ?82 WBA Lightweight Champion Ray ?Boom Boom? Mancini against the South Korean Deuk-Koo Kim, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, and it was Mancini?s third title defense. Kim entered the arena with a red bandana inscribed ?Win or Die? on the front of it, and what tore at us throughout the bout was the gallantry and immense desire each combatant had in those carnivorous depicted wherewithal?s from which mere mortals would be zapped of their vigor and strengths as each reached for the energy dwelling down into the deepest confines of places, seeking courage with a tremendous amount of patronages, be it the darkest day in boxing.
Kim, fought valiantly and very steadfast, however Ray Mancini countered as he harpooned left hooks off of Deuk Koo?s head and jaw region, many thinking sitting there if Kim indeed attained bone fractures from the impact.
They traded freely and immodestly lancing themselves into each other as Ray?s hard hands appeared to replicate every punch bouncing as if he was playing a tightly tuned goat-skinned conga drum picking up more salacious rhythm. Mancini?s Latin blood just boiled rising the stenciled tempo to higher octaves, whilst Kim just met him with unmitigated salvos, and in many instances peaked to maximum execution.
ESPN Classic ran the film entitling it ?Mancini Story? on the network, and should be commended after all these years. The Deuk-Koo Kim tragedy serves to remind us of boxing safety measures. In actuality the WBA and IBF weren?t the ones to break ground to shortening rounds. The WBC did.
Prior to Kim passing away two weeks after this fight from sustaining brain injuries; his mother committed suicide; and in almost as ghastly an endeavor; the referee for that haunting night was also laid to rest in a successful suicide attempt; the late referee Richard Greene. We?ll never really know if it was due to the extent of the bout in that Greene took his own life after Kim collapsed in the 14th.
