That’s a rather tasteless sketch courtesy the new show “Affion Crocket In the Flow,” owing to the whole Freddie-Roach-beats-Parkinson’s-with-steroids gag. And it would’ve been a touch uncool anyway what with the sketch reinforcing the baseless accusations by the Floyd Mayweather camp of Manny Pacquiao using steroids. However, it’s not as galling as the Antonio Margarito-Brandon Rios et al Parkinson’s routine last year merely because A. the impressions by Crockett are quite good (I’d say my Manny impression is nearly as good, though), whereas Rios and crew just stuttered feebly and B. it’s mildly amusing. Actual comedy tends to suffocate my sense of outrage. (h/t friend of the site WF)
Besides the topics in the headline, we have, not much more, actually. It’s a short Quick Jabs this time.
Quick Jabs
Let’s stay with Mayweather and Pacquiao for a minute. First, Mayweather said he “absolutely” wants Pacquiao, and the L.A. Times article in which those comments appear is bullish on the chances of that welterweight mega-fight. I still don’t believe him. Mayweather’s dad recently said that Pacquiao needed to take blood tests in the United States, even though he trains annually in the Philippines and is willing to get tested there through the equivalent of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. In other words: Here will be yet another of the Mayweathers’ tricks of constantly moving the goalposts every time Pacquiao agrees to their terms, I suspect…
Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe recently gave credit to Pacquiao for having briefly taken his pay-per-view business over to Showtime/CBS, since it forced HBO/Time Warner to step up their game. On the other hand, he said Pacquiao wouldn’t be so big if Mayweather didn’t take time off. Hey, at least someone from the Mayweather camp had SOMETHING nice to say about Pacquiao. Although Pacquiao’s business acumen wasn’t enough to save the HP Touchpad…
We’ve had a good number of disappointments this year, no doubt — like, I dunno, Pacquiao-Mayweather still not happening — but the cancellation of Marcos Maidana-Robert Guerrero at junior welterweight next weekend is way up there. Everyone was anticipating that fight pretty hotly, myself included. The cancellation also gave Amir Khan the opportunity to say some daft things, like a wacko allegation that Guerrero wasn’t injured after all, and gave Maidana a chance to spit some funny venom at Khan over it, and gave Breidis Prescott a platform to badmouth Maidana and Khan alike. We don’t get the fight we want, but we do get some boxing soap opera silliness…
The IBF’s decision to order a bantamweight rematch between Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko came after no real honest procedural consideration, which reinforces the underlying problem that sanctioning bodies are playing one big game of Calvinball. Even when they get the outcome everyone wants, they can’t be counted on to do it often enough to make us trust them as institutions. Mares’ team, despite not getting a say in the process, nonetheless is fine with the rematch. Agbeko said his balls hurt for a few days but that he’s fine now; less honorable on the Mares’ team’s part is the notion that Agbeko was faking it, essentially…
