Good Monday, fight fans. What a nightmare weekend. My apologies for the missing bag on Friday. You may blame AT&T. I know I do. We have takes on the weekend?s fights along with this weekend?s James Toney vs. Randy Couture UFC match-up. Montoya?s Weekend Fight Picks will pick back up this Friday.
Enjoy yourselves today, fight fans.
An Actual Boxing vs. MMA Match?…
Hey Gabe,
Whats your take on the James Toney v Randy Couture fight. Does it have relevancy or just a freak show. I must admit I am really getting interested in MMA and admire the training regimes and martial ability these guys must have in order to compete at the top level. To have to master more than one discipline and at such a high level is really something. I am appreciating the skills these guys show in striking, wrestling, BJJ etc in there striving to become a complete rounded martial artist.
Cannot see Toney surviving long here and especially with his suspect cardio.
Take It Easy Scott In Manila
What?s up, Scott?
Blasphemy, I know but I have respect for MMA fighters. I?m a man who enjoys boxing traditionally but loves a good elbow/knee strike combo in my JKD work more than the next guy. It is not only rough learning one technique; it?s brutal learning multiple styles and then integrating them into in the moment reactions. I have great respect for what MMA fighters go through and how hard they train.
But does it make compelling viewing? Not always with me. I like to think I understand what I am seeing when watching Jiu-Jitsu but I?m not compelled to watch a ton of it. It?s just not boxing, which to me is what I picture when I picture myself in a fight. That?s one of many reasons I watch the Sweet Science and miss MMA fights on a regular basis.
To your question, is Toney vs. Couture relevant or a freak show? I think it?s two old guys going at it to settle the score or clarify a bit the idea that boxing or MMA is better than the other; a ridiculous argument and one that can?t be proven by a fight like this or any other (except maybe on a video game talk show like ?Fighter vs. Writer?). It?s apples and oranges.
What?s funny to me is that Dana White essentially blocked the first attempt at this in Anderson Silva vs. Roy Jones. It seems Mr. White is uncomfortable with his guys crossing over but is fine with one of ours playing by their rules. While I?d like to see a prime set of fighters go for it in this capacity, I find it funny and ironic that it takes two old lions to tackle this ?issue.?
It?s a bit of a money grab but no different than Hopkins vs. Jones II except we will actually get a good fight. Toney is the kind of guy you want for this; believe it or not. I believe he is in shape. I?ve heard he is in better shape for this than any fight in years which we will take with a grain of salt or maybe a bag. But Toney is a fighter, natural-born. In spirit and instinct, he is the man for this job. I?m actually excited to see the fight.
Couture is Couture but older; a lion in permanent winter. He?ll bring it because he knows what is at stake. If either side?s guy loses, they are too old. But whoever wins gets the bragging rights.
I will say this about MMA fighters; I can gripe that Shane Carwin doesn?t have the stamina to have a high-output first round and not gas in the second but, at the end of the day, right now, there are a lot of MMA guys showing an old-school toughness and willingness to fight the best that boxers of today- calling each other out on Twitter and ducking in real life or ?tweeting? about how they are the face of boxing while on vacation- seem to have lost. The positioning toward the weakest path of opposition is showing in boxing and it?s ugly. Fight a challenge, guys.
MMA fighters may wear silly, tiny spandex shorts but boxers right now are the ones looking like a bunch of pansies.
The Internet rules!…
Yo Gabe,
Matt Godfrey ? again a weak fighter who had never fought anyone, fighting with his hands down – goes over to Germany and gets completely outclassed and overpowered by the crude Marco Huck. What are they feeding those cats over there? Huck is cave-man raw, but strong. Sad fight, I don?t know what Matt was thinking, that he was going to win with that weak jab to Huck?s body? Man, these cats from the States are not having too much luck over in Germany. Slippin? shots is all good but there needs to be some kind of counterpunching, Godfrey had zero return to discourage Huck from continuing to punch. Godfrey?s people made a big mistake when they turned down the fight with Steve Cunningham. Now that other fraud BJ Flores is next, as soon as he decides to fight a live body. Bring on the cruiserweight “Super Six” tournament.
Man, that ref in the Robert Helenius-Gregory Tony has the fastest count I have ever seen! Those were 1/2 second counts. Helenius is not going anywhere though with that stiff style.
Sadam Ali better tuck that chin as he steps it up past the no-hopers. He hangs his head out there just like his idol Prince Hamed, but he?s going to get clipped something fierce if he does not learn some defense other than pulling back and jumping out the way with his hands down.
The Adamek-Grant fight was a little more entertaining that I thought it would be. But it showed me that Adamek has zero chance against the K-brothers, and I doubt he would be able to hang with David Haye. Adamek is just too easy to hit. The way Grant was not moving his hands, somebody must have paid him off ? he was just standing there for the first 5 rounds like a statue.
On to other notes:
What is up with Berto? He turns down a fight with Mosley (I never thought he was ever going to fight Shane anyway), then his people call out two junior welterweights (Maidana and Kotelnik) while rejecting a fight with the legit welterweight Mike Jones. Thankfully Maidana rejected Berto?s so-called offer. Berto is pititul, I?ve never seen a so-called champion take such a soft road. He won the WBC title more than two years ago and has fought only 4 times since then and done nothing. The one cat he struggled with, Collazo, he will not rematch. Two of those last four fights were against smaller cats (Urango and Forbes), and now he is calling out smaller cats again? I hope he gets stripped for not going to Turkey to fight Selcuk Aydin (you just know that Aydin?s promoter Ahmet Oner would win that purse-bid against DiBella). I read where you Tweeted that HBO turned down Kotelnik, I hope that is true.
Another cat who is talking tough but fighting nobody is A Mere Con. Calling out Maidana, Bradley and Alexander in public, but then at the same time trying to make a match with the smaller Marquez.
Now that Juan Manuel Lopez?s fight against Rafael Marquez is postponed, what is Arum?s new excuse for JuanMa to not fight Celestino Caballero?
These boxer?s Twitter pages, LOL! Whenever someone posts anything that they don?t like they immediately delete it.
Peace,
Steve
Boy, Marco Huck is raw. Someone please tell the man to throw a body punch one time. Good gravy. So easy a caveman can do it and Huck still makes it look hard. He has no sense of distance and he either doesn?t know how to set up that big right or likes doing it the ?I?m going to throw this punch until it lands? way. Credit to him for getting this far and he is obviously tough and hits hard but the first guy who can take his shot or evade it while giving him a stick in the face followed by something bigger behind it is going to beat him. The man has cement feet and a low boxing I.Q., in my opinion. But hey, he wins, so screw it, right?
I?ll be six foot and handsome with Don Draper?s wardrobe and Bill Gates? bank account before B.J. Flores fights a live body.
Helenius fights like someone put starch in him. Stiff indeed, man. LOL at that ref. It was like ?One- come on, kid; I got places to be-TWO, THREE- PEACE, I?M OUT!!!!? ?Human Highlight Reel?? Meet the ?Human Fast-Forward Button.? Geesh.
I don?t know about Sadam Ali, man. When a guy gets to this point and doesn?t look too good in getting a guy he is supposed to beat out of there, I have my doubts. That chin problem can be fixed but not if he thinks there isn?t one. I hope he watches tape and when he does, he isn?t staring at the other guy. There?s potential there but a lot of work to do. Natural talent and athleticism gets you in the door while learning the craft?s nuances keeps you inside.
You know what? I said Grant was not going to be as easy as people felt. The guy is still 6?7? and 261 pounds with an 86? reach. Adamek is not a big heavyweight at all. He?s long in the tooth, is more hit-and-run each fight and the power is not there at this weight.
But Kathy Duva has to be praised for building this draw and Tomasz has to be praised for winning and being able to fill the place. What can you say? Its prizefighting and sometimes a fight like this in between big challenges is necessary.
I agree with you that no way Adamek beats a Klitschko in the same way that Gatti was never going to beat Mayweather. But that?s not going to stop him from having a nice string of fights against probably this level of opposition while making some good money en route to the grand cash-out against the highest bidder. And then he?ll do a couple more fights after that. This is what fighters used to do and should, in my opinion. They should fight as often as possible, become draws both at the gate and on TV/cable and the sport will be healed in at least one way.
We need more Tomasz Adameks and Kathy Duvas. Can?t clone enough of them.
I don?t think anyone paid off Grant to not throw. I don?t know if you noticed but he?s Michael Grant. He was never going to win that fight. With his size and all, if he was going to do it, he would have and he hasn?t, so he won?t. End of story.
I give Amir Khan a pass right now. He is only a few fights removed from getting iced and is still re-tooling. I think his tough talk is just a way to stay relevant and, honestly, a lot of times these guys get asked, ?Do you want to fight so-and-so? and the writer quotes his answer and we assume Amir Khan just started talking smack.
Shame on Golden Boy Promotions if they match Marquez vs. Khan. Marquez is the lightweight champ and Mexico?s best fighter right now and they treat him like a B-side to be sold to other fighters as fodder. You think Bob Arum or Don King would treat him this way? The way they match him, you?d think he was Shane Mosley.
Now, regarding Berto, I agree with you. I wouldn?t say he is ducking anyone because the 147-pound division is empty right now except for Aydin and apparently Paul Williams, who can?t fight Berto because of?well?Al Haymon. Then you have Floyd ?Gone Fishin?? Mayweather and Manny ?No Non-Top Rank fighters need apply? Pacquiao. Beyond that, Berto has no one to face.
I say he takes on Ishe Smith or Kermit Cintron on TV or off or he finds a way to entice Aydin over here.
I wouldn?t go to Turkey to fight either man. Not even if I was Hungary and they promised a free meal. [Editor?s Note:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oShTJ90fC34&feature=search]
Lopez and Marquez will happen four weeks later, so no excuses needed. But, dammit, we were close to getting the fight we wanted. In the end, Rafael?s sore thumb helped both Golden Boy and boxing fans while giving me a few more weeks to save my Vegas bucks. Woo-hoo! Yay weird excuses!
Have a great week, fight fans.
