I do not mind the mindless hype.
God knows, I scribbled enough of it back in my earlier incarnation as Propaganda Minister for the Don King empire. I spent a week or so with Bruce Seldon up at Foxwoods as he prepared to fight Michael G. Tyson and every day the muscular ex-convict talked to me about how he was going to scramble Tyson like your breakfast eggs.
It might?ve been the fresh air of the Connecticut woods but I began to believe some of Seldon?s tough talk. Maybe he would be the one guy who would not discolor his trunks on the way into the ring against the fearsome Tyson. Although I knew that Seldon did most of his ?training? under the bright, disco lights of an Atlantic City disco (was it ?Blue Lights? or something similar?), he looked the part physically. Seldon talked the talk but history shows he did not walk the walk, folding like a cheap umbrella in a windstorm when Tyson started throwing punches at him.
It?s not the hype, Igoe, it?s the tripe I can?t stomach any longer. David Diaz, journeyman and sort of accidental WBC lightweight champion, is a nice fellow with a sense of his place in boxing. He will be a fistic footnote to Pinoy idol Manny Pacquiao?s career come June 28 and, deep down inside, DD from Chitown knows it.
Diaz will fight as hard as he can but, when the Little Sisters of the Poor play USC, I always say bet on the Trojans. Pacquiao is in a class that Diaz, at age 31, has not reached and will never reach.
Sure, it?s the payday of a lifetime and no one can begrudge Diaz that. This fighter has paid his dues.
So promoter Bob Arum, the sly fox, grasps at straws. Manny is not going to be in LA this Saturday! Manny will not report to Prof. Roach at the Wild Card Gym until 10 whole days later. This makes Arum speak in exclamation points.
Danger! Danger! Pacman?s being cavalier! Danger! Possible Pacquiao defeat looming!
That?s Uncle Bob?s job, that his forte. He could create a shark scare at a swimming pool, the Bobinator could.
It doesn?t mean we have to play the game. It?s still Class A fighting Class B.
I think Pacman could show up at Roach?s place on June 15 and beat DD, I really do.
Did you see Diaz barely nip Eric Morales? They were both huffing and puffing down the stretch.
In his last bout, under the Pacquiao-Marquez II main event, Diaz finished all black and blue after 10 rounds against Ramon Montano (15-4-2). Worse yet, it was a majority decision with one judge calling it 94-94.
Don?t look for the promotional blizzard to mention that or to recall that Kendall Holt stopped Diaz in eight rounds and was ahead by five, five and three points when that happened.
Another entry on DD?s record sure to be glossed over is his 12-round draw against household name (in his own household) Ramazan Palyani back in 2005.
One judge had Diaz losing 115-113 but the two others saw it as a draw. Palyani had an 11-0 record,
Hey, wait. There?s our rallying cry.
Pacquiao Or Palyani? Who is the better fighter? The public demands to know!
Cue the circus music, maestro, for the foolish season has begun.
It?s not the hype, it?s the tripe that gives me agita.
Not that I don?t think Diaz cannot possibly win. Of course, he will win. His victory will be getting that seven-figure check.
Diaz will ?win? in the dressing room but not in the ring.
You can?t sell me, you can?t tell me, otherwise.
I know hype from tripe.
