On September 10th, HBO Championship Boxing featured a double header of Erik “El Terrible” Morales vs. Zahir Raheem and Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao vs. Hector Velasquez. Aside from making money, the idea of this promotion was to showcase superstars Morales and Pacquiao for a 2006 rematch of their thriller from earlier this year, so that they could make even more money.
It seemed to be a reasonable plan; both fighters are warriors with a string of rugged fights and seemed to be deserving of a “breather”, [“careful, safe passage” as Jim Lampley put it], while pumping up interest in their upcoming return bout. But a funny thing happened on the way to The Staples Center in La-La land – a previously underachieving fighter named Zahir Raheem morphed from a moth to a butterfly for this occasion and danced circles around the legendary Morales while raining jabs, hooks, and hard rights on the Mexican warrior.
For Morales, who was testing the waters at lightweight, it was by far the worst performance of his career, losing convincingly by unanimous decision. Morales only landed 85 punches in the entire fight, leaving fans in a state of confusion. Did Raheem’s speed expose Morales as a one-dimensional warrior? Was the problem Morales’ move up in weight? Has Erik been in too many wars and now reduced to human? The questions, including where to go next remain to be answered.
What is clear is that Raheem certainly quashed any legitimate Morales-Pacquiao rematch; they may very well decide to fight anyway, but it certainly won’t have the same pizzazz. The solution, it would seem, would be for Morales to rehabilitate himself by taking on Raheem one more time and avenging this stain on his otherwise stellar record.
The “Pac-Man” held up his end, stopping Velasquez in six. Velasquez showed decent skills in the first four rounds, landing some power shots of his own through Pacquiao’s fickle defense. Hector tried to exchange with the Filipino superstar in the final round, a huge error in strategy as Manny caught him with a huge left before catching the fast fading Valasquez with a furious flurry that sent him to the canvas at the bell. Though the courageous Velasquez somehow made it to his feet, referee Lou Moret called a halt to the action, officially recorded as 2:59 of round six.
Unlike Morales, Pacquiao has a host of options available to him. He is a huge international star, the Elvis of the Philippines, and though his style may not be conducive for a lengthy career, for the present and near future Manny is a sure-fire box office attraction whose crowd pleasing style will guarantee him big money fights. The most lucrative fight for him right now is a rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera, although Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II is another appealing possibility. The biggest advantage in a Morales rematch at this point is the best seat at the bargaining table.
There is a special appeal of the prospect of Barrera trying to redeem his honor in a Pacquiao do over, particularly when his chief rival, Morales, is reeling and reorganizing. Barrera would have a chance to remove the stain to his legacy, by winning he would be entitled to Julio Cesar Chavez-like respect from his countrymen, a loss sets up Barrera-Morales IV.
Barrera, the WBC 130 pound title holder would certainly appear to have reason for confidence after the way he methodically dismantled IBF titlist Robbie Peden on September 17th. When MAB fights with the patience and discipline that marked his game plan in that fight, it’s difficult to imagine him on the losing end with anyone in his weight class.
In a clinic, Barrera outlanded his opponent 300-87. Peden’s eyes openly revealed his fear of exchanging punches with the Mexican legend. After all, Peden certainly couldn’t expect Barrera to hand him the title by dropping his arms and inviting him to hit him, as Nate Campbell did, and there didn’t appear to be any way to get close enough to Marco Antonio to do any damage without being carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey.
However, it must be said that Peden did not come as advertised on the HBO website. There he is called “the type of boxer fans like to see. The nickname, “The Bomber,” doesn’t come from dancing around the ring; he’s all out action and throwing bombs.”
Well… Maybe his nickname should be revoked.
Sugar-Free Mosley
A few years ago, Shane Mosley was a dominant lightweight title holder, around the top of the P4P lists. He went up two weight classes and scored some good victories, including Oscar De La Hoya, Antonio Diaz, and Wilfredo Rivera, becoming the WBC 147 pound title holder. You know the rest; two losses to Vernon Forrest, a move up to jr. middleweight, one no contest, another close decision over De La Hoya, two losses to Winky Wright. Then back to welterweight, a dull decision over David Estrada, and finally an uninspired, very ordinary unanimous decision over Jose Luis Cruz on Saturday night.
The judge’s scores of 98-92, 96-94, and 97-93 fairly portrayed the margin of victory, and, after all, Cruz did enter the ring at 32-0-2, with 27 Ko’s. But, you had to see the fight to see just how far Mosley’s stock has fallen, not far enough to be considered a depression, but quite clearly a recession.
Cruz was so slow that he would have to speed up to stop. The old “Sugar” Shane would have licked his chops, seeing the S-L-O-W jab pawing out and reaching about half the distance of its target, and countered the daylights out of him. Instead, Mosley often seemed tentative.
Mosley has changed trainers, going from his father Jack to Joe Goossen to John David Jackson, dropped strength and conditioning coach Darryl Hudson, fired attorney Judd Burstein, reputedly one of the best in the business, changed promoters, dropped a top PR man, announced that he and his wife Jin would handle his fight negotiations, and most recently, he landed on the Golden Boy team. That’s a lot of distractions for a comebacking fighter, and it doesn’t even include the BALCO connection, whatever that might be.
Why would an elite athlete change a winning formula? Other fighters have lost fights without making wholesale changes. A boxing insider blames Shane’s problems on his wife, Jin.
The insider claims that, “Jin Mosley runs Shane Mosley’s life and anybody that Shane start to like or gets close to, Jin basically severs…That’s why he’s opening fights for other fighters now… Look at Shane Mosley’s record before he met Jin Mosley and look at it now.”
As harsh as that point of view may appear, the fact is that Mosley is no longer a championship level fighter. He can still trade on his name, but not his talent.
THE BLAME GAME
For the record, Jesus Chavez, coming up in weight from jr. lightweight, won every round before taking the IBF lightweight title from Leavander Johnson at :38 of round 11, in the opener of the PPV card. Johnson fought gallantly, continuing to throw punches throughout the fight, but the relentless Chavez out landed him 409-148, 299-91 in power punches. In short, it was total domination.
The price for Johnson’s bravery was a subdural hematoma, a trip to the Las Vegas University Medical Center, surgery to remove a blood clot, and a piece of his skull left open to allow room for his brain to swell. Doctors induced a coma to try to control the swelling.
We all understand, as did Leavander Johnson, that there are certain inherent risks in a line of work that requires you to take punches to the head. We are thrilled by the action, the competition, the warrior mentality, yet we are sickened when tragedy occurs.
Ringside physician Doctor Margaret Goodman, who has received past criticism for being too protective of fighters, examined Johnson at the end of the 10th round and also after the stoppage, and despite her sensitivity to the injury as a neurologist, didn’t see it coming.
“Basically he was fine. He was alert.” She was quoted as saying, adding that Johnson told her that he was okay, didn’t have a headache, and wasn’t dizzy.
Johnson left the ring on his own power, then his leg began dragging as he made his way to the dressing room, accompanied by Doctor William Berliner, never losing consciousness.
So how do we know what punch or punches cause such an injury? How do we even know if the damage is from a previous fight? Is it unrealistic to ask for a brain scan before every fight?
It is incumbent of every state athletic commission to address the issues and provide fighters with the appropriate safety measures, regardless of the expense. Failure to act may result in a greater cost to the sport, competitively and economically.
The HBO announcing team of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant, and Manny Stewart appeared to be tuned in to the violent nature of the fight early on. Not only that, but a frame by frame viewing of the tape of the final round showed the horror and anxiety in the faces of ringsiders. Yet strangely, The Johnson corner, led by Leavander’s father, Bill, did not seem to fully grasp what was happening. Although it was reported that Bill Johnson warned his son during the fight that he was going to stop it, that was not the message from the corner after the 10th round as shown by HBO.
“You still got something in the tank, don’t you?
“We need a knockout, you hear me?”
Lampley, Merchant and Stewart’s concern grew as the fight progressed:
Round Six, Merchant: “This is a vicious fight of attrition in this fight. Both fighters absorbed more punches than most fighters during an entire fight.” Stewart: “Johnson doesn’t have the coordination anymore, but his mind and determination are every bit as much as Chavez.” Merchant, between rounds: “Johnson slumped onto his stool from that body attack.”
Round Seven, Stewart: “Johnson doesn’t have coordination right now. Like a lot of veteran fighters, fighting on instinct.” Discussing Johnson’s ability to tale punches, Stewart: “That can be dangerous to some fighters, too. Take too many punches because of their ability to take punches.”
Round eight, Merchant: “ Whatever happens from here on out, Leavander Johnson has just taken a woeful beating, a lot of clean punches, Chavez is a high volume puncher and that adds up.”
Round nine, Merchant: “Johnson might be better off if Chavez could take him out.”
Round 10, Stewart: “Legally and properly, the referee cannot stop this fight. But if there’s any way possible, I would like to see them stop this fight. But he’s fighting back and he’s still the champion.” Lampley: “What it means though is that Leavander Johnson is going to have to go through six more minutes of the punishment we’ve seen here, and that’s not good.”
Round 11, Lampley: “In the recent history of the sport, when you look at fights where one fighter has been badly, maybe permanently damaged, two constants seem to be part of the formula. Number one, the opponent who is doing the damage is a hard hitter but not a big enough hitter to put the opponent away. Second, the guy who is getting worked over has his father in his corner constantly sending him back to take more punishment.” Round 11, :31, Merchant: “ The fight should be stopped. Right now! Right now! What is he waiting for? As referee Tony Weeks steps in to stop the fight, Merchant emphatically says, “Okay!” Stewart, [over Merchant]: “I would have stopped the fight between rounds” Then, after the stoppage- “I think the corner should have stopped the fight a few rounds earlier…The fight should have been stopped much, much, sooner.”
During replays of the final round, Lampley: “ It was during this period when all of us were getting a sickening feeling in the pit of our stomach…”
After the first round of Mosley-Cruz, Lampley: “ This is a little bit chilling after our discussion after the first fight, but we have just been told that Leavander Johnson has been taken by ambulance and was going to be examined for a subdural hematoma.”
As the announcing team was wrapping up after the Barrera-Peden fight, Merchant: “Good night for boxing, but it can never be a good night when Leavander Johnson’s life is hanging by a thread. That’s what I’m focusing on now and I hope it turns out better than the reports we’re getting.” Lampley, grimly: “ Absolutely. That’s the primary focus as Larry says as the evening ends here, our prayers for Leavander Johnson. Thanks very much for being with us, [forced smile], on this terrific HBO Pay Per View show.”
What about referee Tony Weeks? To this observer, it appeared that he was out of position to observe Johnson at the start of the final onslaught in round 11, and there was a seven second differential even between the time that Merchant began frantically calling for the fight to be stopped and the time that Weeks stopped the fight, and Merchant’s plea was already late, overlapping with Lampley’s comments. In short, Weeks appeared to be 12-15 seconds late in reacting.
Tony Alamo from the Nevada State Athletic Commission said, “The referee did a great job and we support his stoppage at the appropriate time.”
Weeks refused to comment.
As of this writing, Johnson, the married father of four was still in the drug induced coma. We can only hope and pray that his brain responds when he comes out of the coma.
