It’s Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer’s compilation of observations and random thoughts from the past 2 weeks in boxing. Get caught up on some of the most recent events you may have missed out on, including a preview of this weekend’s big pay-per-view showdown, a dominant return by Miguel Cotto, another lackluster victory by Wladimir Klitschko, my Chavez Jr. vs. Vera scorecard, Adonis Stevenson’s big statement, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from the Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
The winner of Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Marquez should move up to #3 in the pound-for-pound rankings. I know that P4P rankings are fictitious, but Marquez is currently in the Top 5 of most rankings, and Bradley continues to receive a lack of respect from the boxing public. Regardless of the Manny Pacquiao controversial decision, Bradley is 30-0 and has defeated some of the best that boxing has to offer. Had Bradley not signed with Top Rank, I have no doubts he would have challenged Floyd Mayweather last May instead of Robert Guerrero. If Bradley wins, no matter how he looks, I feel he needs to be acknowledged as one of the best in the game. If Marquez wins, he will have defeated Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley in back-to-back fights. The winner should only trail Floyd Mayweather and Andre Ward in the P4P rankings. Plain and simple.
Miguel Cotto looked fantastic on Saturday night, but what should we make of his performance? Delvin Rodriguez is a solid opponent, but he has not been the same fighter since his 2-fight classic with Pawel Wolak. I actually thought Rodriguez would put up a much better showing against Cotto, but I was shocked at the lack of respect Cotto had for Rodriguez. The Miguel Cotto we saw Saturday night looked like the Miguel Cotto of old, but is that the same Miguel Cotto that would show up against a top-tier opponent? I don’t think Cotto would look as spectacular against Canelo Alvarez or Sergio Martinez. Based on Cotto’s comments after the fight, I would expect Cotto to face middleweight kingpin Sergio Martinez in his next fight. That bout would take place in early 2014 on HBO pay-per-view. It looks like Cotto wants to continue to work with Top Rank, which all but kills a potential clash with Canelo anytime soon.
Wladimir Klitschko has less potential threats to his heavyweight crown than Floyd Mayweather has to his titles. I know people are complaining about the lack of competition Mayweather has, but at least Mayweather has some serious candidates between 140-160lbs. Wladimir Klitschko just dominated who most believed was the best heavyweight outside of the Klitschko brothers. While Alexander Povetkin put up a much better fight than I thought he would, he was still knocked down 4 times and lost every round in the fight. Wladimir Klitschko does not have a serious threat to his heavyweight crown (neither does Vitali for that matter). The only legitimate threat I see to either man is Deontay Wilder, but Wilder is still 3 or 4 fights away from being ready. I need to see Wilder tested, or dominate a real contender before he is ready. Everyone else is either too slow or too small.
What was the big controversy over the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Bryan Vera decision? Sometimes, activity does not win a fight. After watching this fight 3 times, I gave it to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Through the first 7 rounds, I only had Vera winning the 5th. I understand that Chavez Jr. prepared for this fight like a unprofessional teenager, but if Vera was willing to agree to terms to get paid, he has to accept the consequences. The weight was most definitely the biggest factor in the fight because Chavez Jr. was certainly landing the more effective shots. Vera’s punches, when landed cleanly, did not even back Chavez Jr. up. Most of Vera’s punches were blocked by Chavez Jr., who displayed a strong defense. If you were to look at the 2 fighters faces after the fight, it looks like Chavez Jr. lost, but JCC Jr. happens to bruise easier than Bryan Vera. Look at Manny Pacquiao after some of the fights when he wins convincingly. His face looks like it went through a meat grinder, but nobody is complaining he lost the fight. I believe that the backlash from this decision came from the fact that Chavez Jr. acted completely unprofessionally and made a lot of fight fans angry. At the end of the day, if you can take your personal bias out of the equation, it should be clear as day that Chavez Jr. beat Bryan Vera. If the two fighters face off in a rematch at 168 lbs, maybe Vera’s punches do some more damage, but they sure didn’t win him the fight with Chavez Jr. the first time around. Chavez Jr. won the fight 96-94.
Adonis Stevenson is proving to me that he is the real deal. Make no mistake about it, Tavoris Cloud is the real deal. Nobody has ever been able to make Cloud quit the way Stevenson did. I said that Stevenson needed to box, and not brawl, to beat Cloud. I just wasn’t sure Stevenson was capable of executing that type of game plan. Stevenson showed me that and much more. He is the best light heavyweight in Canada, and I think he will beat the winner of Lucian Bute vs. Jean Pascal should he fight the winner of that January bout. I would personally love to see Stevenson face Andre Ward if Ward moves up to light heavyweight. I believe the more likely scenario we’ll see is Ward vs. Chavez Jr. at 168 and Stevenson vs. the winner of Bute/Pascal at 175. If Ward and Stevenson continue to win, we’ll see Ward vs. Stevenson in late 2014.
Terence Crawford was very unimpressive Saturday night. Maybe Crawford wanted to make sure he didn’t put himself in any danger of blowing a championship title opportunity in his unanimous decision victory over Andrey Klimov, but Klimov had nothing to offer Crawford. I thought Crawford should have stepped it up to go for the knockout. Crawford is the best the lightweight division has to offer and nobody is even close (with the expection of Adrien Broner, who isn’t coming back down to 135). Crawford should clean out the 135lb division over the next year before moving up to 140lbs.
The undercard for Bradley vs. Marquez is nothing to scoff at. The co-feature will be a war between Orlando Salido and Orlando Cruz. Vasyl Lomachenko’s professional debut is very appealing because he is going 10 rounds against Jose Ramirez. Lomachenko has never gone more than 3 rounds as an amateur, and that’s with headgear. How will he handle the punishment later in the fight? I think he is going to need to knock Ramirez (25-3 15 KO’s) out within the first 5 rounds or he might be in serious trouble.
Does anyone think Jessie Vargas is regretting his decision to leave Mayweather Promotions to sign with Top Rank? Vargas probably thought he would get more TV dates and a shot to be a welterweight player, but all he’s gotten out of the deal is a few TV appearances on low-level boxing broadcasts. This weekend is no different as he headlines an UniMas TV card on Friday night as a prelude to Bradley vs. Marquez. The fact that Vargas couldn’t get himself into position to open up the PPV should tell you what Top Rank thinks of him as a fighter.
It’s looking more and more likely that Amir Khan will face Floyd Mayweather in May. The fact that Khan has played more games regarding an Alexander or Mayweather fight than Elizabeth Taylor has had marriages shows that Khan is holding out for a Mayweather clash without taking any risks. Luis Collazo, a native of Queens, was mentioned as a possible opponent for Alexander after Khan fell out, but now it looks like Shawn Porter is taking Collazo’s spot. Why not have Khan take on Collazo as the main event December 7th, with Malignaggi vs. Judah as the co-feature? If Khan cannot beat Collazo, he certainly will be out of the running for a Mayweather fight, and that card will draw plenty of interest in NYC.
Golden Boy Promotions is smart for considering moving Devon Alexander off the December 7th date in Brooklyn and giving him a hometown fight November 30th. Alexander will draw almost 10,000 fans in St. Louis, and had he fought in Brooklyn, fans would be more interested in the Paulie Malignaggi vs. Zab Judah co-feature. An Alexander vs. Khan match-up will draw interest anywhere, but Alexander vs. Shawn Porter does nothing for New York City. Porter, from Ohio, will have fans travel from Akron to St. Louis for the fight, and the fight taking place Thanksgiving weekend will draw a big crowd in the STL. Having lived in St. Louis myself for 8 years, I can tell you that the fans support their athletes, and most fight fans living in St. Louis will be in St. Louis celebrating with their families. Most St. Louisans don’t like leaving their hometown. Even fight fans originally from St. Louis, who no longer live in St. Louis, will be back for Thanksgiving weekend visiting family. This is a great time to put on a fight card in St. Louis, a real family-oriented town that supports its local athletes. Golden Boy could make it a Midwest fight card, or they could put the rematch together of Erislandy Lara vs. Alfredo Angulo as the co-feature.
I think HBO went a bit overboard with the Alvarado/Provodnikov Face/Off with Max Kellerman. I understand this will probably end up being a Fight of the Year contender, but most casual fans have never heard of either guy. Hardcore fight fans are going to watch because they know what to expect. HBO would have been better off having both fighters do a 1-on-1 live interview during Saturday night’s Miguel Cotto telecast. They could also have both men face off in the ring during Saturday night’s PPV before the main event. I just don’t believe the Face/Off did anything to help hype the fight because there hasn’t been much publicity for it at all.
Speaking of Provodnikov, should he lose to Alvarado, I would love to see him in a war with Selcuk Aydin. Aydin dominated Demarcus Corley en route to a stoppage win, and what a war that would be. It’s just a thought, but it’s one fight that would be a great addition to a pay-per-view telecast.
Glen Tapia needs to step up the competition, and his game, if he wants to reach the top. Tapia has looked unimpressive in his last 2 fights, and while Tapia has great power, I don’t know if he possesses the speed to be a top-level contender. I would like to see how Tapia would fare against the likes of a Vanes Martirosyan. That would be a real test in my mind.
Golden Boy’s “Monday Night Fights” Series continues to impress. Sadam Ali, even though he was knocked down in the first round of his fight against Jay Krupp, had a solid national stage to showcase his skills. Next Monday night, Jermell Charlo has another opportunity to showcase his skills from South Florida on Fox Sports 1. It’s too bad I won’t be able to make it to the fights because I’ll be in Florida visiting family, but we’re taking a road trip up to Orlando until Tuesday. Maybe if Golden Boy took Tuesday Night Fights back, I’d be there. 🙂
I am a huge fan of the “Being: Mike Tyson” new television series. Tyson is opening up 100% about who he is and this is as real a reality TV show as I have ever seen.
HBO’s film about “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight” was excellent! If I was excited about this telecast, I can’t imagine how I will feel about the Gatti-Ward Legendary Nights broadcast.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week’s email comes to us from Robert J. regarding the decline of Wladimir Klitschko and Miguel Cotto…
“Hey DK, both Klitschko and Cotto are on the decline!!
Top Rank is the MASTER Promotional Company when it comes to REBUILDING washed-up fighters!! Cotto’s VICTORY over ESPN House fighter Delvin Rodriguez is ‘fools gold’! Uninformed boxing fans will see Cotto’s victory over Rodriguez as a SIGN that Cotto has returned to ELITE status without realizing the LEVEL of fighter that Rodriguez is. Rodriquez is a C/C+ fighter at best and Cotto lost to a B fighter in Trout and an A+ fighter in Mayweather. I think Canelo would FINISH Cotto!! Martinez will easily outbox Cotto!! But Top Rank WILL get Cotto another BIG fight.
Wladimir Klitschko is missing Manny Steward in his corner and sure looked ‘past it’ against Povetkin who had nothing to offer in that fight himself! Wladdy is there for the taking and MAY get BEAT in his next fight.
Crawford showed his inexperience, he needs some more fights under his belt against credible 135lbers. Broner would EASILY beat Crawford! The HBO cheerleaders were making me sick with all of the ‘ra ra’ shit they were heaping on Wladdy, Crawford and Cotto. Showtime with Brian Kinney, Berstein and the rest are much better covering their fights.
The ONLY thing HBO has over Showtime is Andre Ward, but if they keep treating Ward like he’s a 2nd tier fighter he might jump ship, cause Showtime will grab him up and SHOWCASE him.”
I don’t think its fair to say Klitschko is on the decline. He’s 36 and faced the best fighter he has in a long time. I knew he would dominate Povetkin but I think he had a strong game plan. Povetkin put up a better fight than I thought he would. Klitschko grabbed him and didn’t take any risks on the inside. He made it a tough and rugged fight. I’m not sure how that makes him on the decline. Klitschko didn’t take any unnecessary risks and that’s all I saw. One other thing I saw is that Johnathan Banks is not the trainer for Klitschko. Banks is not Steward. It depends who Klitschko fights next but I don’t see him losing to anyone because the only one who can still give him a challenge is Vitali.
Cotto, on the other hand, has been on the decline for awhile. I was impressed with his performance against Delvin Rodriguez, but Rodriguez hasn’t been the same, aggressive fighter since his wars with Pawel Wolak. I really liked Cotto’s aggressive nature but I would like to see how he would fare against someone who is faster than him and punches back. I think Canelo would KO Cotto. Sergio Martinez might be the best fight for Cotto. The fight would need to take place at 154-155 but both fighters are on the decline. I think that would be the best fight for Cotto, but the fight that would bring the most money would be Canelo. Another possibility would be a rematch with Mayweather. That might be Mayweather’s biggest challenge right now, especially if Cotto comes forward like he did against Rodriguez.
You have to understand HBO commentators’ position. I’m sure they would love to see some of Golden Boy’s fighters on HBO, but the reality is that is not happening. Do I believe that HBO’s commentators believe Crawford is better than Broner? Not for a second. But they have to do what they have to do to make sure people are still watching HBO fighters. If they don’t have boxing on the air, they don’t have jobs.
HBO has some quality fighters on its airwaves: Ward, Martinez, Golovkin, Bradley, Pacquiao, Marquez, Rios, Rigondeaux, Donaire, Alvarado, Mikey Garcia, etc. HBO has top-level fighters, but they don’t have the quality of fighters to fill a solid undercard. That’s the difference. The main event fights are usually very much quality fights. However, look at the undercards and you’ll fall asleep. HBO needs to step it up big-time for their undercards because fans want quality fights from beginning to end. 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.
