Saturday was one of the most unexpected days of fight results I’ve seen in my lifetime. If you read my mailbag regularly, you’ll know that the two up and coming boxers who I am the highest on are Juan Manuel Lopez and Jorge Linares. Linares losing to a complete unknown on Saturday was the biggest upset of the year and possibly the decade. Juan Carlos Salgado blasted Linares in the first round despite having never fought any boxer ranked in the top 100 prior to taking on the champ.
Perhaps Salgado will turn out to be a decent fighter in the future. He looked ferocious in there, going for the kill against a hurt Linares. However, I would not jump on the bandwagon of Salgado yet until he shows a bit more.
First round fluke knockouts happen and the victor does not always parlay that success into future fights. If you don’t believe me, go look up the record of Michael Bentt. Breidis Prescott is also looking like a bust.
Juan Manuel Lopez, the other young boxer who I’ve favorably regarded, also had a rough night. He was defending his WBO Super Bantamweight Championship against the tough and better than his 26-13-2 record suggests Roger Mtagwa. Lopez somehow came away with a win despite taking a beating. I am not trying to say that the decision was unjust. You could make a legitimate argument that Lopez built up a big enough lead in the early rounds to win the decision. However in the late rounds Lopez was on the verge of being knocked out. Mtagwa was the stronger fighter down the stretch by far. I say that Lopez was lucky to win that fight because I am shocked he was able to survive the distance in the condition he was in.
Overall, this was great experience for Lopez. Success had come too easily for Juanma so far in his young career. A kick in the pants from an unsuspecting guy like Mtagwa should wake him up and teach him to fully prepare for each and every opponent. Young fighters need to have growing pains and struggles in order to learn and improve. Show me an all time great and I will show you an early fight of theirs in which they struggled.
Another odd result was Odlanier Solis knocking out Monte Barrett. The final result is not surprising as Solis was about a 5 to 1 favorite. Solis, however, weighed in at 271 pounds, by far a career high, so there was buzz from the boxing insiders that he was out of shape and ripe for an upset. Barrett has a history of making prospects look bad so the stars looked to be aligned for this one. Instead, a 38 year old Barrett was badly hurt by Solis in the second round. The referee then stopped the fight when Solis hit Monte with a couple rabbit punches and pushed him down. Neither man looked very impressive and you have to wonder why the referee rewarded Solis’s repeated fouls by declaring him the KO winner.
At least a come-backing Israel Vazquez brought some kind of normalcy to the night, knocking out Angel Priolo in nine rounds like he was supposed to.
On an unrelated note, how many of you are excited for the beginning of the Super Six tournament next weekend? The double header features Jermain Taylor vs. Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch vs. Andre Dirrell. Abraham and Froch both have hometown advantages and are the betting favorites. We’ll see if the upsets continue.
Moving onto the mailbag portion of the column, the hottest topic this week is the upcoming super/mega/blockbuster fight between Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao, although we touch on many other topics as well. Enjoy and don’t hesitate to email me with your feedback and questions.
Pacquiao vs. Cotto: What Side Are You?
Brian,
Great great mailbag! And Pacman vs. Miguel Cotto is a great, great, great fight!
I tell you, we should be grateful Pacman loves to fight. This scheduled bout had to happen and it’s for us boxing fans! Without his love for fighting and taking on the best challenge we would not be treated to this truly great fight.
But before that and before it happens, let’s try to reflect something. Have you noticed some “intelligent” people consider Pacman’s achievements with nothing but doubts?
Opposition starting with Juan Manuel Marquez, whom many thought Pacman lost twice to. (but wait, did he really? Nacho said Pacman is difficult to defeat!? Now hey, that sounds interesting!)
David Diaz: is not so great of a fighter. (a paper champion? Yeah! they said it!)
Oscar De La Hoya: a shell. (wait there just a minute…would Marquez beat the hell out of Oscar if it was him facing and not Pacman?)
Ricky Hatton: overrated (before the bell rings their predictions were Ricky was the stronger and bigger guy right? Yeah! I did too! Besides it was his division! Damn!)
So what’s next? Is there anything I could read after this fight a little less cloudy with regards to Pacman’s opposition? Will Cotto be labeled as damaged goods when Pacman defeats him convincingly? Yeah I know, questions like this often times found rhetorical!
-James
James,
Pacquiao vs. Cotto is a terrific fight, I agree with you there. This is also a very hard fight to dissect. With Pacquiao’s fluctuating weight there are variables that you cannot pin down. I can’t wait until fight night.
The criticisms of Manny Pacquiao’s accomplishments are necessary to put his wins into perspective. If nobody criticized his wins and losses, Pacquiao’s reputation would spin out of control. I don’t agree with all of those descriptions of Pacquiao’s opponents. There is a ring of truth to some of it though. David Diaz was never a very good fighter. Absolutely he was a paper champion. However I take nothing away from Manny’s terrific win over Ricky Hatton.
On one side you have the haters who try to come up with any excuse why Pacquiao’s best wins were nothing special. Then you have the Pacnuts who went crazy saying Pacman was the greatest ever after Manny beat the overprotected, journeyman-level David Diaz. Somewhere in the middle is the truth.
Pacquiao and Mayweather Against Marquez
Regarding the observations of most people that Pacquiao would have lots of trouble against Mayweather just because Mayweather totally dominated JMM whom Pac struggled against. They all must have forgot that Pac and JMM fought each other at their natural weights while Mayweather made Marquez climb two weight classes.
And of course, Mayweather would be the favorite against Pac because he would also be the bigger guy. That would be a hard fight to win for Pacman because of the size disparity, hard but not impossible. I don’t think Floyd’s shoulder roll against the ropes would be effective when he faces a very aggressive fast and quick puncher like Pacman.
Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a fighter past or present with Pacquiao’s kind of speed, fast hands, quick footwork, punching power, chin, heart, stamina even when he’s jumping multiple weight divisions those attributes stayed with him and he’s still as ripped as he was 3 weights or 5 weights below.
-Vinjo
Vinjo,
Very good points. I agree with everything you said, except in your last paragraph when you started to sounds a tad fanboyish towards Pacquiao.
Israel Vazquez vs. Donaire or Juanma
Hi Brian! I heard Vasquez wants to fight either Juanma Lopez or Nonito Donaire after his beating of his opponent this Sunday. Can you give a fight analysis for each match-up? Juan Manuel Lopez is tougher than Vazquez’s rival Rafael Marquez, though Rafael is more technical. Donaire is more technical than Marquez but less tough.
Thanks,
-Sam
Sam,
I’m glad to see Israel Vazquez back. He is a very exciting fighter and was on a role before his hiatus. The break was well deserved and needed after his wars with Rafael Marquez. I don’t completely agree with you take on their abilities and attributes. Here is how I break down these two fights:
Vazquez vs. Nonito Donaire – Vazquez would enjoy a very big weight advantage here. Donaire just recently moved up to bantamweight and I assume that Vazquez would want to take on Donaire at super bantamweight or possibly even featherweight. Vazquez hits extremely hard for a 122 pound boxer. Even if Donaire was able to out box Vazquez for a while and use his speed to keep Israel off balance, I still think Israel wins this one by knockout. Vazquez is almost always the less skilled fighter in the ring, but his intensity, determination, and physical strength carry him. This could end up very similar to Vazquez vs. Jhonny Gonzalez. Donaire would win every minute of every round until he gets knocked out by a Vazquez haymaker.
Vazquez vs. Juanma Lopez – Since you read my mailbag regularly you probably know that I am on the Juanma bandwagon. Even with his rough outing against Mtagwa on Saturday, I think he is dynamite. He will learn from that experience and get better. Juanma trumps Vazquez in almost every category, including punching power. Lopez is a very skilled, fast boxer as well but chooses to slug because hardly anyone can match his offensive force. Vazquez is tough with a pretty good chin so I say the referee has to save him at about the 6th round from getting pummeled by Juanma.
I hope Celestino Caballero gets to fight Juanma before Vazquez gets a crack at him though. Caballero deserves it.
Emotions While Watching a Fight
Brian,
Thanks for fitting that long follow up email into your latest, always interesting mailbag. I think you’re right, I would have to watch the Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight again (if not a number of times) without my emotions getting too much in the way of how I interpreted the fight. Thanks again and more power!
-Karl
Karl,
Yeah, getting caught up in what you are watching is very easy to do. I am guilty of this all the time. This is exactly why fans and experts get too down on a boxer when he loses and too high on his when he wins. Remember Max Kellerman saying that Roy Jones would defeat Joe Frazier at heavyweight shortly after Jones’s win over John Ruiz? In the aftermath of a terrific win or one-sided loss, opinions are fantastically skewed; but then over time the fight results gets put into proper perspective.
I think this will happen with Mayweather vs. Marquez. In time, people will see that Marquez was too small to compete with Mayweather. The backlash against JMM is not justified because he was trying his hardest but was overmatched. Floyd’s win will be put into perspective.
Dealings With Biases
One thing that bothers me, there are so many critics of the top fighters that it makes you wonder. Is this one writer’s opinion purely based on facts or as a “fan”? Simply because writers are also human and human have emotions.
-byTKO
byTKO,
Everyone has biases. The key to being a good writer is being objective and doing your best to quell your emotions to make the correct call. I pride myself in doing this. There are, of course, many writers out there who I see are outright failing at this. For example, the ones who still think the Klitschko brothers are bums despite all of their accomplishments, the ones who think pound for pound fighter X is invincible, the ones who hate on and think the same pound for pound fighter X is overrated, etc.
Fight the Best (Or Lack Thereof)
Brian,
Last week you wrote:
“Another point, fighting the best available competition is sometimes not good enough if you come along in a weak era. To truly be one of the greatest of all time you have to be lucky to have other all time greats in your weight class at the same time in order to prove yourself against the best.”
You nailed that one. I am with you on that first sentence. Wlady Klitch (catchy nick eh?) is taking dirt and yet he’s cleaned his division. I’m not saying Pacquiao is God, because he’s far from it. It’s just that Floyd pivoting out of Cotto’s, Margarito’s, and even Mosley’s way after endless talk about being all that is what gets to me. His resume does not compare to Pacquiao’s. Now that Mayweather has returned, I wish he pursues tougher challenges.
-SJ
SJ,
Wladimir Klitschko is a perfect example of my point, good call. Klitschko is dominant right now and beating the best available competition. His problem is that the best competition out there is not very good so he is not getting credit that his potential might deserve. The same problem happened with Larry Holmes. Holmes, a worthy champion and all time great, was desperate to find good contenders. Any time a prospect had any kind of noteworthy win he would offer them a title fight, even if they had less than 15 fights.
Klitschko could get to that point as well if he sticks around for a while and all of the veteran contenders are cleaned out. Wladimir will also have to fight and beat one or more respected opponents before he will be considered an all time great.
Being an undefeated, long reigning champion does not cut it. You need the scalps of fellow good or great fighters to be considered hall of fame material. Look at Sven Ottke. Joe Calzaghe would have fallen into this category too if he had not become more daring in the twilight of his career, starting with the Jeff Lacy challenge.
Back to your main point, I also hope that Floyd Mayweather takes more chances and goes after better fights than he did before his retirement. Floyd fought some great opponents, but not nearly as consistently as someone of his caliber should. We finally might see exactly what Floyd is made of during his second career.
Mythical Match Ups
Brian, give me some fair but firm views and predictions for these mythical match-ups:
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Sugar Ray Leonard @ 147 2. Floyd Mayweather vs. Willie Pep 3. Bobby Pacquiao vs. Rafael Marquez @ catchweight of 128 4. Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Floyd Mayweather @ 147 5. Floyd Mayweather vs. Prime Juan Manuel Marquez @ 130 6. Ultimate Warrior vs. John Cena @ Hard Core Match 7. ButterBean vs. Mike Tyson(4 rounds match) 8. Manny Pacquiao vs. Alexis Arguello @ 140 lbs 9. Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Sugar Ray Leonard @ 147 10. Prime Ken Shamrock vs. Lyoto Machida
Cheers!
-Vhoythoy D’ Great SG
Vhoythoy,
1 – Leonard would match Mayweather’s speed and as we say against Zab Judah, Mayweather doesn’t like that. Leonard wins a decision based on his edge in power, aggression, and intangibles. Leonard was a beast a welterweight.
2 – Mayweather beats Pep because of his size advantage, although I go with Pep in this battle of defensive wizards if this were pound for pound match.
3 – Bobby Pacquiao wins because of his size, unless going down to 128 greatly affects him. I’m not sure how much Rafael Marquez has left after his wars with Israel Vazquez
4 – Robinson, so much more dynamic and multi-dimensional, needs a couple rounds to figure Mayweather out but then coasts to an easy decision win. Robinson was unbeatable at welterweight.
5 – Mayweather still wins because this is a favorable match up for him. Marquez, though would win a few rounds and not get shut out this time.
6 – Hulk Hogan comes out of the crowd, cleans house with a steel chair and pins them both.
7 – Tyson by quick KO. Butterbean’s career is smoke and mirrors. He fought retired policemen, rodeo clowns, and homeless people. He even lost to some of these guys. Butterbean lost by 2nd round KO to 1-7-1 Mitchell Rose in his prime in 1995. He wouldn’t last a minute with Tyson or any other real contender.
8 – This is the hardest one on the list for me. Arguello had the ability to knock just about anyone out. If he fought Pacquiao 10 times he would win some by KO, I have no doubts about that. However his chin was not iron and Pacquiao’s speed and technique would present problems. I would say Pacquiao wins 6 out of 10 times.
9 – As I said before, Sugar Ray Robinson was unbeatable at welterweight. I have tremendous respect for Sugar Ray Leonard but he would be a boy going against a man in this match up.
10 – Machida has a style that no one can figure out right now. I think he beats just about everybody, including tough old timers like Shamrock.
Female Champ Ana Julaton
You said you didn’t know much about Ana Julaton of The Philippines in a previous mailbag. Here is her website that has some info about the new Female Boxing Champion Ana Julaton.
Ana Julaton’s Website
-Angelo
Angelo,
Thanks for the info. I will post this link in my mailbag for those who are interested.
Too Much Pacquiao?
If Pacman retires you do realize you are essentially out of a job? 99% of your questions are about Manny.
What if Manny fought him? Who would win this fight with Manny? Do you think Manny eats Wheeties or Cheerios? Do you think Manny drinks his own piss too? Who has a bigger c*** Manny or Floyd? blah blah blah…
They do realize you don’t know Pac personally right?
-RonDon
RonDon,
My mailbag did well even before the legions of Pacfans latched on and made it their own. I feel like I am giving people what they want by answering the questions that they send to me. Yes, in many cases the questions are about Manny.
And to answer your query, I think Manny has the bigger c***.
Before we get too much out of hand I’ll end the mailbag here. Take care everyone and keep sending in those questions, whether they be about Manny Pacquiao or whatever else. Thanks!
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