HBO REFLECTIONS
I watched the HBO broadcast of the middleweight title fight between the defending champion, Jermain Taylor and the challenger and pound for pound notable, Winky Wright, but before they would even say a word about those two, we had to sit through a bout that was worse than I thought it’d be: Antonio Tarver vs. Bernard Hopkins. Now, I didn’t see the fight live. I watched Miguel Cotto-Paulie Malignaggi instead and I’m glad that I did. Tarver-Hopkins was the wrestling, boring, waste of time that I thought that it would be. Now, make no mistake. Bernard Hopkins deserves all the credit in the world for winning this fight at such an advanced stage in his boxing life and he fought a good fight…it may not have been crowd-pleasing, but it was effective nonetheless.
Antonio “The Magic Man” Tarver’s had no more tricks as he fought to survive. He looked like Muhammad Ali did when he fought Larry Holmes as he trudged through the rounds, eagerly anticipating the final bell, but in Ali’s case, he never saw it. The concern from the press that the weight fluctuation from the filming of the sixth Rocky film: Rocky Balboa to the bout with Hopkins might be too much for the body of Tarver to handle. People thought that he might come in spent and he did just that. There was no life in him and from the third round on, trainer Buddy McGirt knew it as he gave very little helpful advice and just basically told his man to go with the flow.
Bernard Hopkins claims that he is retired, but also said that he’d crawl out of his grave if the amount were high enough. I assume that with the lack of star power, that there might be an offer out there for him to return and one that he will take. Then again, considering the beefed up buys of 330,000 for this pay per screw, I don’t know if the promotion would make enough money to be feasible. I really didn’t understand the appeal of this light heavyweight showdown to begin with. Two boxers that can’t sell a show pitted against each other with a fifty-dollar price tag attached. HBO stooped to a new low. Now, if I have offended the people that consider Hopkins-Joppy the best pay per view of all time, I’m sorry. It must just be me.
Now, Winky Wright had to be the favorite of the majority going into his middleweight title showdown with Jermain Taylor, and I also favored “The Winky Man,” but it turned out extremely close and competitive. The bout ended in a draw, and rightfully so, but Wright stormed out of the ring in disgust. He was acting as if he had won every round hands down and that the decision was not remotely in question. I thought that it was really bad sportsmanship. The bout could have gone either way. When they were fighting in the center of the ring, Taylor was winning. When Taylor was against the ropes, he was losing. This was a good fight between two great fighters and it was slightly tarnished by Wright’s actions.
There is talk of a rematch, but I don’t think that it is necessary. This is sort of like the Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales bouts. It’s going to be close every time and it can really go either way. I would like to see Taylor take the experience that he gained from the Wright bout and the two Hopkins encounters along with the training of Emanuel Steward into the ring against a younger and hungry contender. I have to admit that I wasn’t really big on Jermain Taylor as a great fighter, but he is beginning to convince me. He has a world of experience from his last three bouts and with Steward in his corner, he’s going to be hard to beat. I look forward to seeing him again, and I predict that if there is a rematch with Wright, that “Bad Intentions” will eke by with a win.
I noticed that they had Lennox Lewis as a guest commentator and I can say that at least he’s not getting worse. He didn’t do well, but he wasn’t as bad as he usually is and there were times when I could pretend that he wasn’t there. It must be tough for Lewis to work under those conditions. He is used to Frans Charles continuously laughing in his ears for no apparent reason. The quiet must have been a nice change of pace for “The Lion.”
ARE YOU READY FOR ANOTHER PAY PER VIEW?
Are there any boxing fans out there that are truly excited about the PPV rematch between Fernando Vargas and Shane Mosley? I have a lot of respect for both men, but HBO is beating a dead horse that ran its last race about five years ago. I’m sorry that this “Geno’s Corner” has become a jab at HBO, but I have to do it. They are presenting this shiny silver platter that the marketing team comes up with to divert you from the crap that they are serving. The first bout between these two well known warriors was a decent scrap…nothing special or meaningful. Regardless of result, boxing wasn’t affected, but on July 15th, they will do it again. I have asked before just why I even subscribe to HBO when they insist on placing 99% of average-good fights on PPV?
To add insult to injury, a rematch between Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez is set for September 16th and it is also on pay per screw. Years ago, the MAB-Juarez bout would be a supporting fight for the main event of a pay per view, but not anymore. They are going to drain as much life out of Barrera before they send him packing, and who cares that it’s a pay per view? It’s only the hard-working boxing fans that are picking up the tab. What will it take for these guys to wake up? I would love to see the fans revolt and refuse to purchase any of these unworthy PPVs, but it’s not going to happen. They rope in the casual boxing fans that equate most expensive with best and the marketing team really lays it on thick as they try to sell this overpriced match.
Both PPVs that HBO has lined up really seem like garbage, and don’t forget their other show for August: Hasim Rahman vs. Oleg Maskaev. Please fight the urge to stop reading and call your cable provider to order. I assure you that there will be plenty of time to place the order. What is HBO thinking? I have respect for both boxers, but this is another fifty dollar charge? They could have roped all three of these bouts into one card and it would have been almost worth it, but they wanted to bleed the public just a little bit more. So, pay your 150 smackers for these three mediocre fights if you wish. I’m going to take that money and put it toward an X Box 360 or something…
THE PACMAN DEFENSE
This upcoming July 1st, defense of the WBC International Super Featherweight title is nearly upon us. It has been six months since Manny Pacquiao has stepped into the ring and will now face the dangerous Oscar Larios. This will be a very important bout in the career of “The Terminator,” considering all of the talk of the upcoming super bouts. The majority of the talk concerns a meeting with the pound for pound king, “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather, JR., which would be a pay per view worth renting. Now, what chance does Oscar Larios have against the power-punching Pacman? At this point, I would say not much of one considering the questionable chin and some of the reports that I have been getting concerning his sparring sessions. The holes in his defense will probably make this one a short night.
The bout between Pacquiao and Larios will of course be on PPV, but the Pacman is always exciting and it may not be a bad rental, and despite what I think of the chances of Oscar Larios, he is going to come to fight and will try to employ the tactics that Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales used to confuse and, at times, outpoint the Filipino star. This is the biggest opportunity in the career of Larios and he has only lost once in the last five years. If Manny Pacquiao isn’t taking his opponent seriously or is looking ahead to the third encounter with Erik Morales or a showdown with Floyd Mayweather, JR., he may be leaving an opening for a let down and upset. I don’t see it, but we will have to wait and see this Saturday when we see the Pacman in action again.
