During the Tennis Channel?s coverage of this year?s French Open, commentator Justin Gimelstob made a reference to the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. In one of the early round matches, which was a tight five-setter, Gimelstob compared the fast-paced, furious action to the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. Previously during his tennis telecasts, Gimelstob, a former ATP player and two-time grand slam mixed doubles winner with Venus Williams, has compared Pacquiao to Spain?s speedy and tenacious top-five ranked David Ferrer. Contacted via e-mail this week to analyze and predict the outcome of Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, Gimelstob answered, ?I just hope it happens.? ***
How former World Champion Mark Breland mentally prepared to fight: ?I visualized. And I?d think about wild animals, which is strange. The way they would strike and how they would attack. Bearns, panthers. It was strange but it worked [laughs].?
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Regarding the news that Floyd Mayweather will fight Victor Ortiz next, you have to wonder if the majority of boxing fans will have the urge to pay for this meaningless exhibition or will they take a vacation from boxing that weekend? There are already rumblings about initiating a boycott of this fight. Maybe a boycott the only way to send a message to HBO and Mayweather?s team of choreographers.
Boxing needs to produce the biggest event in boxing history NOW. I was at Froch vs. Johnson and that was a nice little show, with a good atmosphere and electricty. But it was held in the same ballroom that staged Riddick Bowe vs. Buster Mathis and Pernell Whitaker vs. Julio Cesar Vazquez years ago. Boxing needs to show the world how awesome the sport can be by staging it?s own Super Bowl on a grand stage. Boxing in America needs to make a spectacle event, one that will show the public that boxing can be cool, exciting and awesome again. Pacquiao vs. Mayweather is the only fight that can rejuvenate the sport in America. Mayweather vs. Ortiz and fights like this are not going to explode the sport back to the mainstream, to where it needs to be.
I had dinner with some old high school pals last week and one said he had not watched a boxing match on TV ?in about eight years.? He just doesn?t care any more, none of the fights appeal. And this was a guy who was jumping out of his couch, like everyone else in the room, during Tyson-Holyfield 1.
Pacquiao vs. Mayweather is the modern equivalent of Tyson vs. Holyfield. Mayweather-Ortiz is Holyfield vs. Akinwande ? just a waste of everyone?s time ? except for Mayweather and his team of choreographers. Maybe a boycott really is necessary at this time ? to send a message to the boxing powers-that-be. Boxing fans deserve the best product possible and they are not getting it now in the USA.
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How former WBC Featherweight champion Juan Laporte got into boxing: ?I never thought I was gonna be a boxer. I?d see boxing on TV and I said it was boring. Then I wound up in a gym and became a world champion. About 1960, a girl named Linda in Brooklyn, she beat the shit out of me, man, with some gloves at the PAL. She put on the gloves and was all over me like butter on bread. From that time I said, I gotta learn to fight! Then when I was 15, I got into boxing seriously.?
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I saw an interesting documentary by filmmaker Brad Little, about Former # 1 contender Art Hafey. From 1972 to 1976, ?Irish? Art Hafey terrorized California boxing rings with his punching power, conditioning and courage. Called the ?Toy Tiger of Stellarton, Nova Scotia?, Hafey is one of the the most accomplished boxers to come out of Canada. He knocked out Ruben Olivares in 1973 and by the end of 1975 was recognized as the undisputed #1 contender in the world to the featherweight title. According to Little, Due to rampant corruption in the sport, he never received his much deserved title shot and retired in 1976. While in Los Angeles he fought 43 times in 48 months, winning 38 of those fights against four losses and a draw. Both Ruben Olivares and Alexis Arguello called him the ?hardest puncher? they ever faced in their careers. Hafey had a crowd-pleasing, aggressive style that reminded one of Rocky Marciano or Mike Tyson but because of his ethnicity, Hafey was not a major attraction in Southern California, where boxing attracted mostly Mexican fans. It?s a very well done film and I highly recommend it. For more info: www,toytigermovie.com.
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Pernell Whitaker?s greatest boxing moment (Young boxers take note): ?Every moment has been a great moment for me. I can?t select one out of my 26-year career. Every moment?s been great. I take pride in my amateur career because I wouldn?t have got to this point without a gold medal in an amateur career. I showed off in the Olympics, I won the gold medal, won outstanding boxer. Those things led up to this point. I just love what I do. You can?t like what you do. You can?t like this sport. You have to have LOVE for it. So I have the love for it. I do. And do it well. I take everything very serious. I take training camps very serious. There?s no such thing as just jumping in the ring and then boxing. You have to do everything ? roadwork. I used to hate it. But that?s part of it. The legs ? if you don?t have any legs ? these (arms) do no good without these (legs) [laughter]. If those don?t work, those are definitely not going to work. You have to have the legs. Four to six rounds. Then by the eighth, ninth round they have nothing. The second six rounds is when the game begins.? *** This letter came in from my ?Is America Ignoring The Klitschkos? article: You are right on the money! As far as professional boxing goes,we are experiencing a serious talent drought in America. That is pretty much across the board from Heavyweight to welterweight. I still love the sport & follow it vehemently. Unfortunately, I cannot watch the best fighters in the world fight because I cannot find them on American television. To be honest, I?m somewhat embarrassed. It feels like we?re the kid who didn?t get picked for the football game so we took our ball and went home in tears. America is better than that and Americans will be at the top of the divisions again soon enough. Keep preaching on this subject, it needs to see some light. ? Thomas Kelly
