Sometimes the first snapshot ain?t the best one. That?s what this Weekend Afterthoughts thing is for. There are some thoughts that recaps like this one fail to express, some thoughts others have expressed that warrant further consideration and sometimes there?s video to share like the one above.
Besides the headline, we?ll discuss the 60 Minutes and HBO 24/7 attention to Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito; a quirky marriage proposal that followed one of the weekend?s fights; what?s next for some of the men who did battle this weekend; and more.
Once these Weeekend Afterthoughts are of the way, the site will soon jump right into our marathon coverage of Pacquiao-Margarito.
Rafael Marquez? ?excuse.? The featherweight retired in his corner against Juan Manuel Lopez, citing a right shoulder injury, and it didn?t take long for people to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the injury. If you amass the collective wisdom of boxing fans and writers, NO injury in the history of the sport has ever been legitimate. Look, nobody can ever know these things unless they?re a doctor or a boxer confesses to several whistleblowers that he was faking. Maybe you?re suspicious that Marquez faked it to get out of the massive pounding he was taking, and that?s your right. But think about how many quality right hands Marquez threw all night (answer: not very many) and then consider at least the possibility that an honest-to-God injured shoulder was to blame. There?s a separate debate about whether he should have quit, or explained why he quit. My philosophy on this is, if somebody wants to take a full-on ass-kicking with one arm, they?re pretty brave and deserve love for it; but if somebody doesn?t want such an ass-kicking — especially if they have the track record of bravery that Marquez has accumulated — I?ll give ?em one pass. Michael Rosenthal makes the case that Marquez shouldn?t have blamed the injury because it stole some of Lopez? glory, but what should he have done instead, refused to explain why he quit or lied? That would?ve brought a whole new storm of criticism. Lopez-Marquez II? Marquez said he wanted a rematch and Lopez said he would give him one. Whether you are interested in this probably is contigent at least in part on whether you buy the Marquez injury. A two-armed Marquez probably fares better. Don?t be surprised if you see it, either way. The idea appears to keep Lopez in the safest possible fights for the most possible money, so Lopez is talking about fighting Marquez and Chris John, the latter of which could be hard to do given that Lopez is promoted by Top Rank and John is pro
