It’s Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer’s compilation of observations and random thoughts from the week that was in boxing. Get caught up on some of the most recent events you may have missed out on, including Guillermo Rigondeaux’s dominant victory over Nonito Donaire, the chance for Showtime to one up HBO, a preview of Canelo Alvarez vs. Austin Trout, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from The Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
After a dominant first quarter by HBO, it’s time for Showtime to step up to the plate. So far, HBO has put on some high quality boxing programming in 2013, and Showtime now has a chance to flex its own muscles. While HBO does have a big Sergio Martinez fight card on April 27th, Showtime has huge fights on 4 of the next 5 weekends. This weekend is a wonderful kickoff with Canelo Alvarez and Austin Trout in a bout for junior middleweight supremacy. The following weekend, we have two big names in Danny Garcia and Zab Judah. The first Saturday in May is the main event as Floyd Mayweather takes on Robert Guerrero on Showtime pay-per-view. Two weeks later, it’s Lucas Matthysse and Lamont Peterson in one bout, and Devon Alexander in another bout. It’s time for Showtime to show out over the next month.
By the way, why is Lamont Peterson vs. Lucas Matthysse being held at a catchweight of 141 pounds? It’s just one pound heavier than the junior welterweight limit. It makes zero sense to me. Had the fight been held at a catchweight of 143 pounds, I would chalk it up to one fighter not being able to make 140. This is absolutely ridiculous to me.
Guillermo Rigondeaux proved myself, and most boxing people, wrong by completely dominating Nonito Donaire Saturday night. Rigondeaux is the class of the 122-pound division. I wasn’t sure that Rigondeaux could sustain the pressure from Donaire over 12 rounds, but Rigondeaux frustrated Donaire in a way I didn’t think was possible. I would love to see Rigondeaux in a fight with Abner Mares, and I’m not sure if a rematch with Donaire would net different results. While Donaire will still earn himself many paydays moving up to featherweight, Rigondeaux may find it difficult to earn major paydays at 122. There just aren’t that many fighters in the division, and Rigondeaux’s attitude needs to change toward the public. Boxing is a fan driven business, and Rigondeaux’s comments to HBO before, and after, the fight don’t exactly seem as if he cares about the fans. I’m not saying he should change his fighting style, because he didn’t get to where he is by being an offensive dynamo, but he might want to change his public perception and start at least trying to earn some fans.
Oscar de La Hoya needs to drop social networking. Oscar decided to rub it in Donaire’s and Bob Arum’s face by stating Donaire should have taken the $3 million offer Golden Boy Promotions made to Top Rank for Donaire’s services to face Abner Mares. I believe both sides (Golden Boy and Top Rank) are to blame for this childish feud, and I have been very honest that I believe Top Rank holds more than a 50% stake in the responsibility, but maybe Richard Schaefer is fighting a battle within the confines of his corporate warehouse. It might be easier to make things happen if Oscar were to not make things worse by taking slight jabs at Bob Arum. Donaire, who can still be a big money draw even after his loss to Rigondeaux, may eventually end up a free agent. Boxing is a very sensitive sport, and people do not forget things very easily. If Donaire ends up with another promotional company when his contract with Top Rank is up, Oscar will have nobody to blame except himself.
Canelo vs. Trout could be a classic fight. Both guys wanted the fight, but Golden Boy wasn’t exactly willing to put their prized pupil in the ring with Trout. It’s not very often that two up-and-coming, undefeated champions face off for the right to call themselves tops in the division. This fight means everything for the future of both Canelo and Trout, especially Trout, who doesn’t have the fan base of Canelo. It should mean that both guys are going to put it all on the line to win this fight. I hope I’m correct because, if so, this could be a fight for the ages.
Robert Guerrero is already beginning to look like a villain in the lead-up to the Mayweather bout. Episode 1 of All Access was very riveting, and Showtime is clearly trying to show that Mayweather is the man while making Guerrero the sacrificial lamb. Call it editing, or maybe it was the truth, but, to me, Guerrero seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the cameras, and Showtime ending the episode by watching Guerrero walking away in handcuffs made Guerrero look absolutely terrible. Mayweather is going to come off as a good guy in this fight because Showtime does not want to make its new top dog angry, and Guerrero is the man who will take it on the chin, both literally and figuratively.
Welcome back, Baby Bull! Juan Diaz successfully returned to the ring after a 3-year retirement Saturday night by stopping Pipino Cuevas Jr. Diaz, who has always been respectful and honest, admitted anxiety and ring rust. Cuevas Jr. is no benchmark to see if Diaz will win another world title, but it was an excellent comeback fight for Diaz. The “Baby Bull” did look to be in great shape, and he will need a few more fights before stepping up against a big name. The lightweight division is a weak division in boxing right now, and Diaz is in the right place if he wants to win another world title.
Bradley vs. Marquez could become a reality sooner than we know it. Juan Manuel Marquez has stated over and over that he doesn’t need a 5th fight with Manny Pacquiao. Timothy Bradley now states he wants the Marquez fight instead of a Pacquiao rematch. If those two decide to meet up, this fight would make the most sense in Los Angeles, possibly Staples Center. I would love to see these two match-up, and I’m not 100% certain this would be a pay-per-view fight.
Tyson Fury vs. Steve Cunningham could get ugly this weekend. I don’t believe that Fury is the end all, be all, of heavyweight contenders, but Cunningham is biting off a bit more than he can chew. Cunningham is giving up 6 inches in height and probably 40 lbs. in weight. Fury has a 3-inch reach advantage as well. Cunningham is also not that much quicker than Fury. Cunningham needs to try and tire out Fury for the first half of the fight to have any shot. I believe that Fury knocks Cunningham out, and it’s a shame because the USS Cunningham is a world-class fighter and a world-class gentleman.
At what point is a fight officially cursed? For the 3rd time during training camp, one fighter, either Kell Brook or Devon Alexander, has sustained an injury. The first time it was Brook, who injured his foot, delaying a fight that was supposed to take place in January. Next, it was Alexander, who injured his bicep weeks before the scheduled February rematch. Now, it’s Brook who has yet again injured his foot training for the May 18th showdown. Alexander’s trainer, Kevin Cunningham, says Alexander is planning on fighting May 18th, with or without Brook. Maybe this fight is not destined to be. At this point, both fighters need to get in the ring. Both Alexander and Brook last fought in October, and ring rust could eventually become an issue. It might be time for both fighters to go in another direction, and maybe, just maybe, the two will collide in the future, which could net even larger revenue.
Nathan Cleverly better be careful not to overlook his opponent, Robin Krasniqi, this weekend. This is the ultimate trap fight for Cleverly and he needs to keep his eyes on the prize. Krasniqi is not the prize. Cleverly has a bright future in the sport and could have a few big paydays in his future, but he needs to make sure to improve his craft and get ready for the big boys.
I’m very glad Kendall Holt was cleared of any wrongdoing. I was starting to lose faith in the sports industry, and it’s good to see that there are still some athletes who are clean. To be honest, the majority of athletes are clean, but as I have stated in the past, you are guilty until proven innocent in this day in age.
Nice job by Tom Loeffler and K2 Promotions for keeping Gennady Golovkin busy. Also, nice job by Macklin for trying to get his name back in the upper echelon of the middleweight division. Golovkin is trying to hone his craft and build his name and fan base. One way to do that is to stay busy. Macklin, on the other hand, had lost his previous 2 fights to Felix Sturm (in controversial fashion) and Sergio Martinez before disposing of Joachim Alcine on the undercard of the Martinez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight card in September. A lot of fighters want to build their names these days by doing everything except fight. Credit to GGG for staying busy and K2 Promotions for keeping Golovkin busy.
I don’t care that Chris John never leaves his country. The fact is that John has never lost. Over the weekend, John suffered a nasty cut over his eye as he retained his title in a technical draw after the referee called a halt to his bout with Satoshi Honoso. John is now 48-0-3 in his professional career, and regardless of whether or not you agree with him never fighting off of his home turf in Indonesia, he makes more money there than he can make anywhere else. John owns wins over Daud Yordan, Rocky Juarez, and of course, Juan Manuel Marquez. John is a future Hall of Famer as far as I’m concerned.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week’s email comes to us from R.J. about the possible bias shown by HBO to Nonito Donarie…
“…thing I don’t like is…the boxing establishment: writers, critics, and commentators always want to blame the B-side fighter (except in Floyd’s case) if a fight flops, while clearing the P4P, A-side fighter of any culpability, instead of praising and recognizing Rigondeaux. As an intelligent fight follower, that just tells me that the so-called P4P fighter maybe should not be rated P4P. It’s the P4P guys responsibility to carry the fight and make the MAJOR contribution to the success of that fight, adjusting where necessary. Rigondeaux was the B-side, 3-1 underdog, but because he fought his fight and didn’t stand there in front of Donaire and LET Donaire KO him, he’s the biggest loser, and those criticizing him refuse to see the big picture that being that Donaire may just not be all that he’s been built up to be. My take Donaire was matched well against the Arce’s and Darchynian’s of boxing, and not matched so well against Rigondeaux. It was thought that Rigondeaux was somehow flawed, lacked heart and was just there to show up. Rigondeaux was determeined you could see it. And all the HBO commentators cheering for Donaire made me sick, those guys were trying to talk Donaire to a victory…SICKENING!”
I’m not sure I agree that all writers, critics, and commentators always want to blame the B-side (B-side meaning underdog) fighter for not making a fight. I wasn’t all that impressed with Donaire’s game plan and didn’t think he made the fight very exciting either. I, for one, was always impressed with Rigondeaux’s skills, but I thought Robert Marroquin exposed him a bit. Maybe that was Rigondeaux’s way of trying to open up, and he decided to stick to what he does best. It’s no doubt that Rigondeaux is best suited to play defense, but I agree he shouldn’t be vilified for that. I had Rigondeaux winning the fight, 117-110, and one thing I don’t see many people discussing is Rigondeaux’s punching power. Other than the punch that hammered Donaire’s right eye in the 12th round, his punching power wasn’t mentioned much. I’m willing to bet one reason Donaire was very tentative was because he felt Rigondeaux’s power in the first 2 rounds. What surprised me was the lack of a plan B from Donaire. Boxing purists are going to love Rigondeaux because he exemplifies what boxing is all about, hit and not get hit. However, for the casual boxing fan who sees the advertisements on TV for the fight and tunes in because it’s two of the best fighters in the world facing off, I’m sure they were disappointed. Donaire was, without a doubt, the draw on Saturday night. He will still earn big money as he moves up to featherweight. Rigondeaux is a guy whom will have trouble getting big fights in the United States because of his style and a lack of names in his division. I don’t remember anyone questioning Rigondeaux’s heart or saying he was just there to show up. As far as the HBO commentators trying to “talk Donaire to a victory,” I don’t think it was as much that as it was the commentators understood it was not a casual fan-friendly fight, and they had to try and keep the casual fan from changing the channel. Hardcore boxing fans are going to watch regardless. Boxing is all about money and every viewer who changes the station is another dollar lost. Had the fight been another Rios vs. Alvarado, nobody would have been saying anything. All credit goes to Rigondeaux and trainer, Pedro Diaz, as they came in with a solid game plan and executed it to perfection without worrying about how aesthetically pleasing it was. That’s all I’ve got for this week. Email any questions or comments to [email protected] and I will answer them throughout the week. Your email may be featured in the next “Observe and Fight.” Follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver, and be sure to “Like” The Boxing Observer on Facebook.
