In the end result, for this boxing fan, it was not about the big main events, of Garcia, of Golovkin, this past weekend at Madison Square Garden. These are my thoughts as I trace back to Friday night past, and forward ringside ringside for the fight.
FRIDAY NIGHT?GALLAGHER?S STEAK HOUSE SINCE 1927
By happenstance I am enjoying a Fred Flintstone sized steak with fellow diner referee Double SS Steve Smoger along with friend Rob Cruz, son Jordan, and his lovely girlfriend. Double SS and yours truly have just had our picture taken beside a photo of Max Baer with give or take one hundred friends celebrating Championship victory way back in the golden days. I have gotten into the topic of how boxing shoots itself in the foot from a corporate sponsor scenario as there seems to be hero worship for the anti-hero bad boy image. Mike Tyson, Broadway, still relevant in story telling deeds of yesteryear. The conversation, which for all other purposes is not boxing related, ends with my comment that in Mikey Garcia the boxing community has a young gent that should be fully embraced.
AFFINIA HOTEL, 34TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
It is 10:00 am Saturday morning. Rob Cruz, fight photographer, and yours truly have just passed by Lee Samuels of Top Rank and Dan Rafael chatting in the lobby. Michael Buffer strolls by. We are lucky enough to get a one-on-one interview in a side room with Robert, Mikey, and Papa Garcia. Mikey went to bed at approximately 10:00 pm the night before and he is as calm, cool, and collected as could possibly be, and much more, than less, of a person who later in the day will be facing someone, Salido by name, who will very much like to separate Mikey?s head from his shoulders. I am tired as it has been a long week but as I sit and listen to this young man who could surely be a poster lad on a Kellogg?s cereal box, I can?t help but be amused by myself in this setting. There seems to be in our culture this insatiable need or desire to embrace and be around the celebrity or celebrity athlete in this case. Perhaps for some these athletes embrace their own lost dreams of athletic prowess or in other instances they are simply objects of admiration allowing us to indirectly live in their moment and in kind be part of ?the show? in our minds. So it would appear as boxing scribes scurry around the lobby of this hotel which is home to the fighters, promoters, cornermen and others of ?the show.? I don?t know where I fit into this funny picture other than to tell you that I am a big fan, in general, of this sport of boxing. I can tell you this as well; by my 6-foot-2-inch stride it is exactly two-hundred fifty steps across the street to enter the required doors of gladiatorial battle at the Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden, and in a few short hours, contrary to Thomas Jefferson?s ?all men are created equal? all fighters, equally, will simply walk across the street with their own deep thoughts in mind. That?s about as equal as it will get. Three blocks up is the Miracle on 34th Street of Macy?s and for some later tonight it will take that type of miracle road to gain victory.
SATURDAY NIGHT IS MADE FOR FIGHTING OR SOME MEN CLOSE TO MADE EQUAL, OR THREE FIGHTS GENERATED THE MOST FAN NOISE
SEAN MONAGHAN VS. ROGER ?NEVER CAN TELL? CANTRELL
I would like to tell you that Sean Monaghan, he of the 16-0 (10 KOs) record, is at this point a serious challenger to knock that devious smile off of legend Executioner Hopkins. He is not. He will not be. His record is splattered with opponents of the losing record types but I do say he is the holder of the WBC Continental Americas Light Heavy Title. No comment required! I suppose I could also tell you something you already no doubt know. Sean is Irish in a place, Madison Square Garden, where Irish eyes are always looking to smile. While a very large lad, ringside row three behind me, repetitively yelled in reference to ?Never Can Tell? Cantrell, ?he is a big son of a bitch, he?s fookin huge. Hit ?em in the body Seanee, hit him in the body Seanee? the two combatants, with little speed, superior skill set, or head movement proceeded to, as my one row back lad would also say, ?beat the shit of each other.? ?Seanee,? one eye almost closed, the other eye with a huge cut was the victor in the ring and by crowd response, out of the ring, for the night. ?Seanee? received through all the rounds and at the end as much crowd receipt of pugilistic pleasure as any this night. ?Seanee? deserved every hand clap of applause and we gave it. Two men, close to equal!
ISA AKBERBAYEV VS. ANTHONY FERRANTE
The Kazakhstani, Akberbayev, he of the K2 Promotions label, and defending IBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight Title (enough said) is a 6-foot-3 fighter entering this endeavor with an undefeated 10-0 record. His label is the ?bumblebee.? His footwork, as it turns out, is more bumble than bee, although he certainly had some sting on his punches. His opponent, Anthony Ferrante, at least on paper, would appear to be the proverbial opponent. He is 5-foot-11 and his midsection would give slight, but not all honor, to the Pillsbury doughboy. In short, and no pun intended, there is some jiggle on that midsection. As it will turn out there is no shortage to his boxing skills. He is deserving of this title shot by way of a stellar 2012 having lost twice to 31-11 Omar Sheika and 25-22-7 Dhafir Smith. Twice but not nice!
There is a huge contingent of fans here tonight from Kazakhstan. Golovkin has star appeal and more on that another time. What a first round. You see somebody forgot to fill in Philly?s Anthony Ferrante?s ?you be the opponent you bee? script. Put another way so eloquently by my one row back friend: ?FUCK ME Ferrante can fight.? Anthony Ferrante can fight. In the first round he floored ?the Champ? and the fans were on their feet when moments later Ferrante, in turn, was floored. What happened over the next nine rounds was a textbook display of ?schooled? boxing. Anthony Ferrante kicked the shit out of the ?bumblebee? plain and simple. There were head and shoulder rolls, lead right hands, snapping jabs and various other goodies on display by Ferrante. Yes indeed, ?fuck me,? Ferrante can fight. The ?Miracle on 34th Street.? Ferrante, on paper, sure did not look like he was brought in to win but we, all of us ringside, other than the ?Kazak? contingent, had to love him. By boxing God the underdog won. Macy?s is up the block. Anthony Ferrante, down this block, schooled the Champ and in the tenth round landed a sizzler of a shot to knock the champ face first cold. What a knockout! The stretcher was immediately ringside but luckily the ex-champ was up and on a stool ring center a few moments later. Hats off to the new Champ.
ALL MEN NOT CREATED EQUAL
Felix Verdejo is a 19-year-old Puerto Rican. Felix Verdejo is 2-0 and was signed by Top Rank to Top Rank fanfare. Felix Verdejo fought Tomi Archambault, he of the 1-3 record and he of the ?I lost two weeks earlier? to 13-43-3 Robert Daluz. Felix Verdejo entered the ring and if you slightly closed your eyes you may have thought, with all that loud Latin beat music, fancy ring attire, flag waving entrance that Felix Verdejo was actually Tito Trinidad moments away from facing Hopkins. It is not that Felix Verdejo did not do what he was supposed to do for that he did. It was HOW HE DID IT. Felix Verdejo walked out of his corner and 21 seconds later he launched a compact hook that struck like a thunderbolt from boxing heaven. Tito would have smiled. It was violent, rapid, compact, light flash fast, and it was stunning. If Felix Verdejo is a good ?yoot? and follows Top Rank?s proven development program Felix Verdejo may just be a superstar down the road. His amateur pedigree speaks for itself. Felix Verdejo!!
SUNDAY SUNDAY
Gennady Golovkin won last night. It was one-sided and having viewed him close up and ringside, as I have with Sergio Martinez, I would say he will be a serious problem for Martinez and vice versa. In short it would be a legendary Middleweight Championship fight. Mikey Garcia, with Rocky Marciano?s axe-like split nose courtesy of Ezzard Charles in mind, showed as much sweet science skill as one could possibly enjoy. His display was of embarrassing proportions in terms of disparity in the scorecards up to the ending. By round five it was already time to talk of Salido needing a knockout to win. The ending, Marciano split snout in mind, was unsatisfactory, from a fan standpoint. Marciano, implored by his corner, advised by the ref, that he had one last round or things would be stopped, coming out for that last round, nose split to the bone like a fresh slice of watermelon, and pounding Charles into submission. Mikey did not get that chance at fistic end glory. You have to be smart in this boxing business. You take what you take and if the powers that be say you are going to the scorecards well then you are going to the scorecards. If the medical powers that be make the decision that they did then so be it. For the big lad one row back, aisle number three, the ending was simply, ?Well, what the fuck. Some crazy ass knockouts on the undercard eh!?
Mikey Garcia deserved a better ending to his Championship victory. Anthony Ferrante deserved his Championship victory and ended it the 10-count way. Ex-Champ Salido deserved the opportunity to go out on his Champion?s shield and it appeared that he was going to do just that. Another night?
