In what has now become common place for ESPN2 Friday Night Fights analyst Teddy Atlas, controversial comments again tumble from his lips like those from your local politician. That observance is not by any means a reach as Atlas has for years been maneuvering himself in position for the prestigious position of “boxing czar”, should there ever be a National Boxing Commission put in place. The comments made in the last few months and specifically last night by someone aspiring to a position of authority (as Atlas wishes to become) setting rules and regulations for the sport of boxing should never appear impartial or catering to any group or organization. Teddy Atlas has now made it so glaringly obvious that he realizes Oscar de la Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions control the sport, he now says anything necessary to poke a stick at Manny Pacquiao in attempting to provoke the Fillipino congressional candidate to ‘take the test’ and fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Golden Boy Promotions, immediately after the fight last friday night, set the wheels in motion to secure the promotional rights to that fight should it ever happen when de la Hoya publicly declared Floyd Mayweather the “number one welterweight in the world”. The following day the Golden Boy Promotions owned “bible of boxing” Ring Magazine then elevated Mayweather, Jr. to the number one position in their poll even though Manny Pacquiao had previously been voted “Fighter of the Decade” and ranked number one prior to the Mayweather/Mosley debacle. Now that would have been an appropriate subject for Atlas to project his unbiased attention toward, but instead he once again chose to take the opportunity to provide himself a more solid place on the Mayweather/Golden Boy bandwagon. Too bad Atlas cannot see the forest for the trees, because soon the ugly head of Mayweather Promotions will go head-to-head in a battle of supremacy against Golden Boy Promotions. ‘Money’ Mayweather doesn’t shy away from prior statements that he ‘only fights for money’ and there will soon come a parting of the ways between Mayweather and de la Hoya as business partners. Just where will the allegiance of Teddy Atlas then turn? What group or individual deciding who would head a National Boxing Commission would put the now Golden Boy biased Atlas as their head man? Perhaps Atlas realized long ago it’s better to be on the side of de la Hoya and Ring Magazine than against them. Atlas (paraphrasing) last night from Albuquerque, New Mexico: ‘No one wants to go there but someone needs to say it. Shane Mosley may have gotten old, but could this have been his first performance last friday night against Floyd Mayweather (because of the demanded Olympic style blood and urine drug testing demanded by Mayweather and accepted by Mosley) without the aid of any type of PEDS(performance enhancing drugs)? These are not publicly made comments by someone that hopes to one day be ‘the voice of boxing’. These are the comments fo someone who jst a few short months ago made allegations that were never substantiated by anyone and ESPN continues to sit idly by. Teddy Atlas has recently thrown ‘caution to the wind’ when attempting to bully Manny Pacquiao into taking a series of test not currently considered pertinent to the sport by any State Athletic Commission in the country. For all the good he does in the boxing community, Atlas has now come to a point where he needs to be silenced for his own and the good of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. His boxing credibility continues to drop while he continues to insinuate he may have information no one else in the boxing world has access to without providing any proof other than his own thinking. Will Shane Mosley now join Manny Pacquiao (in what may be the latest trend in the boxing world) in filing some sort of defamation suit against Teddy Atlas? Just as importantly where does Oscar de la Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions stand in this possible allegation against their business partner Shane Mosley? Soon we may see Golden Boy Promotions publicly exposed as Bernard Hopkins and now Shane Mosley have been thrown under the bus by Oscar de la Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions. But that won’t happen on an episode of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights…at least not until Teddy Atlas secures a position in the Golden Boy Promotions now well-oiled machine. Teddy Atlas, and Golden Boy Promotions are currently enjoying the free ride being offered by ESPN. That fact is no longer in question as the ability of Golden Boy Promotions to ‘rescue’ last nights Friday Night Fight card (originally set for El Paso, Texas) by attaching itself to the Albuquerque (Romero Promotions) card makes them seem like good guys all around. Maybe that is why Teddy Atlas felt so comfortable suggesting that Mosley was ‘clean’ for the first time in who knows how long. As long as Teddy Atlas ‘toots the horn’ in support of whatever Golden Boy Promotions offers, there will always be DE LA HOYA TO THE RESCUE for ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. Last night in Little Rock, Arkansas the last man standing representing the Colorado/New Mexico region in the 2010 National Golden Gloves Tournament remains on his feet. Denver’s own Louie Byrd of the Backyard Brawlers Boxing Club defeated Kabir Rodriguez of Florida 5-0 to advance to the tournament finals tonight where he will face Santos Vasquez of Nevada for the title 2010 National Golden Gloves Champion. Best of luck to Louie Byrd! Denver welterweight contender Mike Alvarado (27-0, 19 KO’s) who recently signed with Top Rank and Bob Arum will be fighting in Denver before the end the summer in all probability at the Pepsi Center.
