Hey Scoop, How come no column on the Mayweather-Ortiz PPV numbers which were released today? Could it be that it is more than the 850,000 you reported? Could it be that it blows a wide gaping hole in that crap you called journalism when it comes to Floyd Mayweather Jr? Just wondering? Lawrence Dacus
Hi Lawrence, thank you for reading my work devotedly and an advance thanks for reading my future work. I never reported the 850,000 figure because no one gave that figure or any other kind of figure to me. You read that somewhere else. The only figure I got was at the Don King press conference last Tuesday, by a PPV expert who estimated the number was around a million (which I did not mention in any article because it is mere speculation). Golden Boy is certifying this 1.25 million figure but I will not believe it until HBO and Mark Taffett confirm it, which they have not. Like Michael Bentt once told me, ?Boxing is 90% bluffs.? And Golden Boy has obvious motives for doctoring or exaggerating the figure. Again, I want HBO to confirm it, which they have not done so, despite my repeated emails to them.
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I was watching a fight from 1980 on ESPN Classic last week. It was a middleweight bout between Frank ?The Animal? Fletcher and Jerome ?Silky? Jackson, televised from Atlantic City. Ed Derian was the ring announcer and during the fighter intros, the only people in the ring were the two boxers, the referee and one cornerman of each boxer. How beautiful and traditional it was to see the ring look so empty, like a sacred and special sanctuary where only the warriors roam. Today, of course, we have to sit and look at publicists, hanger-ons, glory whores, sanctioning body reps, advisor?s friends two sons and various other assorted goofballs and clowns who think it?s cool to be, and be seen, in the ring. The boxing ring is a unique place and only certain people should be allowed to enter those ropes. That would be better for the image and prestige of the sport, to hold that ring in a special, high regard. It?s a little detail, but a picture or TV image of the ring not over-populated will speak a thousand words of respect and honor of the sport.
It?s also unattractive to see so many people in the ring after a fight. People want to see the fighters, their reactions and body language, such as Tomasz Adamek looking down at the floor despondent that he had failed in his dream to win the Heavyweight title. Vitali Klitschko saw this and went over and put an arm around his rival. It was classy move that was heartwarming and spoke volumes about the honor of the sport and the sportsman who participate in it. But many or most people didn?t get to see this gesture by Vitali, because the ring was so overcrowded. People want to look at the heroism and honor of the fighters, not distractive people like Sam Watson and his two sons trying to get TV face time.
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Usually Manny Pacquiao will not disrespect or insult boxing?s super coward Floyd Mayweather with any kind of offensive words but it seems now, after two years of excuses and ducking by the shameful American fraud, that Manny is indeed getting frustrated and tired of the nonsense. I saw a video last week of Manny Pacquiao speaking to reporters at the press conference for the Marquez fight, that most reporters must have missed or chose not to report. Pacquiao said, with a clear hint of aggravation on his expression, that ?Mayweather is creating rules because he don?t want to fight,? Pac Man said, before adding, ?The real champ ? he can fight anybody.?
Now this was interesting, because it sounds like Pacquiao is trying to say, in diplomatic terms, that Mayweather is a fake champion because he will not step up and fight anybody, only handpicked opponents he deems safe. Anyway, that caught my eye and ear. ?The real champ can fight anybody.? But a fake champ like Mayweather can only fight handpicked set-ups.
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When I first got interested in boxing back in the later 1970′s, seeing the TV fights almost every weekend on the three networks ? ABC, CBS and NBC, and reading the magazines, one of the many things I loved about the sport were the names of the gladiators. Many of the warriors had cool-sounding and memorable names. Some of my favorite names were Roberto Duran, I just loved that name, Duran. Duran. Even an 80′s pop group copied that name. I know they say it was from the Jane Fonda sci-fi flick ?Barbarella? but I don?t entirely believe them, I think they stole it from Roberto and just didn?t want to pay royalties for it?Juan Domingo Malvarez and Juan Domingo Roldan of Argentina?Ken Norton. Heck, I named by black and white cat after Ken Norton I liked the name so much?Leon Spinks, what a cool name?Joe Frazier?George Foreman?Salvador Sanchez flowed like the name of some great artist from centuries ago. Wilbert ?The Vampire? Johnson?Wilford Scypion?Vito Antuofermo?only in boxing could you see names like these.
There were so many? Hilmer Kenty. In my whole life I never known another ?Hilmer? or a ?Kenty.? Dwight Davison?Caveman Lee?Alfredo Escalera, Gosh, I loved that guy, for some reason?Esteban Dejesus was another Puerto Rican champ I loved, I guess it was from seeing there pictures in the old boxing magazines and that their names sounded so cool.
The two greatest names for me are Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson. But most people don?t know that those names would be different if each of their respective mom?s had married the fathers. Lewis is actually his mom?s last name, I forget his dad?s last name, while Tyson?s dad?s last name was Kirkpatrick. Could you imagine if Mike?s folks married and all these years we had to call Mike Tyson, Mike Kirkpatrick? I sure can?t.
Vonzell Johnson?Marvin Johnson?Marvin Hagler?Eusebio Pedroza?Hilario Zapata?Jorge Lujan?Antonio ?Kid Pambele? Cervantez?Miguel Montilla?Rodrigo Valdez?Oscar Bonavena?Hugo Corro?Fulgencio Obelmejias, or Fully Obel for the lazy fingered typists?Pipino Cuevas?Victor Galindez?Yoko Gushiken?boxing has had so many great, memorable names.
