The Boxing Bulletin welcomes Anthony Wilson to the team. Formerly of The Rumble, Anthony will be taking over the weekly One More Round column – so check back in every Wednesday for his take on all the latest boxing stories.
Chad Dawson lost his light heavyweight crown and his 0 to Jean Pascal on Saturday in Montreal. Fighting with little sense of urgency most of the night, even as his opponent built up a rather obvious lead, Dawson had finally turned it on to an extent in the eleventh round before an accidental headbutt from Pascal opened up a bad cut over his right eye. When the ring doctor examined the gash and ruled that Dawson could not continue the bout was stopped and went to the scorecards. Dawson, behind on all three judges? cards, suffered a technical decision loss.
I worry that Dawson has a little too much of basketball player Vince Carter in him, in that they are both successful, supremely gifted athletes who seem to treat what they do for a living as just that: what they do for a living, and not much else. Just jobs; jobs that they happen to be extremely adept at, elite practitioners of, but still, just jobs. How much does it really matter to them?
That was the way Dawson fought Pascal most of the night, he fought like it didn?t really matter. It was strange watching someone being clearly beaten by someone they were at the same time clearly better than. After the fight Dawson said that he wasn?t worried about the loss because he knew he had a rematch clause. And I?m sure he would prove victorious, even be dominant, in a rematch, because he would be motivated (especially if he had a chance to regain his title, which I don?t think is guaranteed at all; more on that in a second). But the point is that, if that happens, it should?ve never gotten to that. That sounds like something Vince Carter would say. That?s not a good thing.
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One of my favorite lines from the most recent installment of HBO?s “24/7” (for Mayweather-Mosley) came from narrator Liev Schreiber: “Hyperbole is merely a stylish way of communicating the truth.”
In a related story, super trainer Freddie Roach, speaking to BoxingScene, recently said that he feels his star pupil Amir Khan would beat fellow 140-pound studs Devon Alexander, Timothy Bradley, and Marcos Maidana ? in one night.
That?s an exaggeration, obviously, but the coach?s point is well taken: at the moment, based on recent performances, Khan does appear to be the class of arguably the deepest division in the sport. In his prior three trips to the ring Khan outclassed Andiry Kotelnik, ran through Dmitry Salita in less than one round, and in his last fight stopped Paul Malignaggi in a dominant showing.
Meanwhile, Alexander struggled mightily against Kotelnik earlier this month, winning a controversial decision in his hometown in a fight some observers felt he lost.
Bradley looked solid in beating Luis Abregu in a step up to welterweight last month, but nowhere near as good as Khan has looked of late. And Maidana had a very good night his last time out, a night that concluded with him knocking out Victor Cayo with a body shot in the sixth round, but well, Khan simply has more tools than Maidana.
The point is, Freddie Roach has good reason to be feeling good about his fighter?s chances against any of his 140-pound peers right now.
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Writing for the Examiner, Michael Marley has recent quotes from legendary Mexican warrior Erik Morales (who?s set to face Willie Limond next month in the second of what he says will be a six-fight comeback, following a three-year retirement) regarding his three fights with former rival Manny Pacquiao.
During a Q & A session in Mexico with members of the media El Terible said:
I will say Manny is a great fighter but I look back and he would give me any weight allowance in our second and third bouts when they knew I couldn?t make 130 pounds. Pacquiao demanded weight penalties of $500,000 for each pound.
But, when I was right and when I was at proper weight in the first fight I showed who the better fighter was then.
I was the superior fighter and I had the edge in speed and in skills and I beat him in every department.
Morales, of course, handed Pacquiao his last loss when he won a unanimous decision against him in the first fight of their trillogy, before being stopped in the 10th and 3rd round respectively in the next two.
I wish we could have seen who would have won between these two in their primes, but it?s hard to figure because Morales? best days were at 126, while Pacquiao?s best are happening now, at 147.
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Don King is still trying to lure Floyd Mayweather; meanwhile, Marley writes that Pacquiao remains grossly underpaid in comparison to his American counterpart and implores promoter Bob Arum to make Manny the highest paid fighter in the game.
I think this is the difficult thing about King potentially signing Mayweather: it?s good for boxing, because King and Arum would almost surely be able to make Pacquiao-Mayweather a reality, but it?s bad for Floyd, because Don King is Don King. Mayweather has the best deal in boxing; does he really want to start getting raked by the likes of the Don?
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Lucian Bute has been mentioned as a potential opponent for new 175-lb king Pascal, but Pascal?s promoter says Bute?s people are making excuses not to make the fight and that a fight with 45-year old legend Bernard Hopkins has been offered by Golden Boy?s Richard Schaffer.
Bute would have to move up a divsion to face Pascal, but I think Bute has his way with him. I also think Bernard handles the much younger man (Pascal is 27).
By the way, I loved this bravado from Pascal. “Honestly, I don?t think Bute wants to fight me. Right now, I?m the boss in town, I?m the king. I don?t need to chase Bute. If he wants to fight the king to prove that he is the king himself, he has to give me a challenge.”
Guy gets one big win and all of a sudden he?s talking like Mayweather.
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According to recent reports, Antonio Margarito has been assured he will receive a license in the United States and his fight with Manny Pacquiao is imminent. It will likely take place at the new Cowboys Stadium.
After reading Thomas Hauser?s in-depth look into the circumstances of the Margarito plaster incident and scandal, I?ve at least begun to consider the possibilty that Margarito really was unaware of the illegal content inside his handwraps in the dressing room prior to his fight with Shane Mosley.
I?m also beginning to reconsider the notion that Margarito is a mere punching bag and easy victim for Pacquiao. The general consensus is that he?s a shopworn fighter whose past success is tainted by the suspected usage of loaded gloves, but the only thing we really know for sure is that just a couple of years ago, it would have been unthinkable that Pacquiao would fight and beat the much larger Antonio Margarito. I feel like people may be sleeping on Margarito?s chances in this fight.
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Chris Arreola badly injured both of his hands in his win over Manuel Quezada last Friday on ESPN2. Honestly, I hope he stays away for a while.
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Rafael Marquez says that he will stop Juan Manuel Lopez before the eight round in their upcoming Sept. 18th fight. Maybe Rafa can duplicate the performance of his other brother Juan Manuel against Juan Diaz and take out the younger man, but I wouldn?t count on it.
Until next Wednesday?
