I’ve been away. So let me catch up. Here are some thoughts in and out of the world of boxing.
Ready, set …
Oscar De La Hoya. Our fellow blogger Marcus Henry made a nice and compelling argument for Oscar’s place in history. To me, he’s a first-ballot hall-of-famer and one of the finest talents of this generation. He carried the sport of boxing when no one else had the combination of charisma and talent. He fought everyone. And he could really fight. This was not a trumped up Golden Boy … But …
Yes. There’s a but. He will be remembered more for the fights he lost than the ones he won. How long ago was it that he won a meaningful fight? Fernando Vargas? Ike Quartey? Pernell Whitaker? It’s easy to say that he should have beaten Felix Trinidad or Shane Mosley. But he didn’t. De La Hoya faded terribly in big fights and he never fully learned his craft. He could not fight on the inside and his only real defense was his offense. Oscar got by on sheer, God-given talent. He worked with every great trainer over the last two decades, but never listened to them. He fired trainers the way Steinbrenner once went throught Yankee managers.
Biased? So much for taking care of the house fighter. Let’s face it, no matter where Oscar fought, he was the house fighter. But he never got a close decision when it counted. He lost a split to Mayweather and a majority to Trinidad in Vegas. He also lost a split to Mosley in L.A. So no, they did not take care of the Golden Goose, or in this case, the Golden Boy, as many outside of boxing would believe.
Manny Pacquiao. Things must be getting serious. Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach have closed the Wild Card Gym in L.A. during the hours that Pacquiao trains. He fights Ricky Hatton next month.
Arturo Gatti, who was once knocked out by De La Hoya, found himself in a bit of trouble. A report says that Gatti was arrested last month and charged with assault on his girlfriend. But neither Gatti or his lawyer showed up for his arraignment on April 7, which led to his arrest Wednesday night at a Montreal strip club where he was reportedly celebrating his birthday. Gatti was released on bail and a promise not to consume drugs or alcohol and to stay away from his former girlfriend and her son. He’s due back in court on June 5.
David Caruso. If you combine Caruso’s time with the NYPD (Blue) and the Miami CSI unit, isn’t he close to pulling his 20? Will he retire at 20 years on the job as most cops do? Or is he having too much fun?
Jack Johnson. Senator John McCain, a boxing fan, has proposed a resolution that would clear Johnson?s name more than 60 years after the former heavyweight champ’s death. Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion in 1908. Two years later, he was convicted of the Mann Act and served one year in prison. “The resolution to pardon Jack Johnson would not right this injustice, but it would recognize it and shed light on the achievement of an athlete who was forced into the shadows of bigotry and prejudice,? said McCain in a statement.
Josh Beckett. This is more ridiculous than boxing’s weigh-in rule. MLB suspended Beckett for six games for throwing the ball at Bobby Abreu’s head. A six-game suspension for a starting pitcher means he misses one start. So either call it a one-start suspension or suspend him long enough to miss more than one start. That is, if you are serious about pitchers throwing at a batter’s head. If not, let the players police themselves. Otherwise, as Mike Corleone would say, you are insulting our intelligence.
Stanley Levin. He was the manager and promoter for Roy Jones Jr. in the early days and helped launch the fighter into superstardom. Levin, 70, has died after battling a lengthy illness. Do you want to know why he was one of boxing’s straight shooters? People weren’t lining up to sue him.
Yuriorkis Gamboa. I think Gamboa is the best young talent in boxing today. But this interim WBA featherweight title he won last weekend is bogus. According to the WBA’s web site, the featherweight champion is Chris John. Yet, Gamboa fights for (and wins by 10th-round TKO over Jose Rojas) the “vacant interim featherweight title.” There should not be an interim champion. John is healthy. He fought in February and is scheduled again to fight in June. This is why no one cares about boxing any more. Now Gamboa and John are walking around saying they are the WBA featherweight champ. To sanction the Gamboa fight was merely a money-grab by the WBA. It was an opportunity for them to charge and collect additional sanctioning fees. Yet, it was an insult to their champion, John.
Happy Birthday, Irish Bobby Cassidy, the former middle and light heavy contender from Levittown turned 65 today.
