RICHARD PRYOR VERBIAGE MIGHT OFFEND SOME
San Francisco, CA- The late comedic genius, Richard Pryor, was a huge boxing fan. Like Motown singer Marvin Gaye, Richard was interested in boxing, at least until someone hit him on the chin! Richard�s father, like mine, was a product of the 1930�s south, men who weren�t afraid to express themselves regardless of the situation. Which brings me to Pryor�s quip of the early 70�s. Quoting his father, Richard said, �My daddy said �Sugar Ray� Robinson could fight so good it�ll make your dick hard!�
PUERTO RICAN LOPEZ BEST PROSPECT TODAY
Over the years since the prime of Robinson, there have been few fighters that can be described in the manner the Pryor�s father, I think that Juan Manuel Lopez, the unbeaten Puerto Rican headlining tomorrow night�s HBO Boxing After Dark card originating from San Juan, PR, against an iconic Filipino fighter in Gerry Penalosa (54-6, 36 KOs).
MISTAKES LIKE THIS OCCURRED HERE BEFORE
And while I think Juan Ma is what we call a can�t miss future great, I�ve been wrong before. Most notably in the 80s when NBC started showcasing an Italian welter named Nino LaRocca. He had all the moves, from cheetah-like footwork to throwing combinations that were reminiscent of the blows that �Sugar Ray� Leonard was dusting off guys like Andy Price, and in a WBC title defense, the exclamation point left hook that put Davey Greene down so hard in 1980, the Brit looked dead!
NINO WAS ALL FLASH & LITTLE SUBSTANCE
As it turns out, LaRocca could not handle upper echelon welterweights. At 57-0, Nino faced Gilles Elbilia for the European title at 147 lbs. Gilles, who was 22-2 going into this 1984 fight in Italy. The end result was a TKO 6 victory for Gilles, this after LaRocca bowed out claiming an injury. Now 57-1, Nino finished up in 1990 at 75-6 with 54 KOs.
SOME OVERCOME SPEED BUMPS TO GREATNESS
With the lab experiment that was LaRocca having failed miserably, as his 75-6, 44 KO record seems to illustrate, I next went out on a limb with Humberto Gonzalez, this when the Mexican was the best �pound for pound� fighter of the late 80s. He was knocked out (quit like a canine) by a 40-1 underdog Rolando Pasqua at the L.A. Forum in December 1990. Later, he came back to put himself in Hall of Fame contention with three fights with Michael Carbajal.
CAN�T SEE ANYTHING BUT A BLITZING HERE
So, while I feel the sky is the limit for Juan Ma, as they say, �s*it does happen.� That being said, Juan Manuel Lopez should smoke Gerry Penalosa like a crudely hand rolled cigarette tomorrow night on HBO.
