Thanks again to all of the RSR loyal readers and fans for your support of my email bag. Once again, you have come up with some very good questions for me to ring in with my views on. Like always, I will answer them honestly and to the best of my ability. I truly appreciate your insights about boxing a sport, which we both love.
ENGLAND OR BUST?
Jose,
I think Colazzo lost by 114-113 to Hatton, but the fight could have been a draw. Had Luis stayed on his gameplan he would’ve won it fairly easy. The knockdown was legit but he was not hurt. What do you think of the fight? Do you think Hatton will give him a rematch. I think Floyd eats his a@! up if they ever fight. What do you think?
Juan Miguel
Juan Miguel,
I like how you say if Luis had stuck to his game plan he would’ve won it fairly easy. I could not agree with you more even though I did have Collazo winning by 114-113. Yes, the fight was close and Hatton was aggressive, but he simply did not do enough to take away the championship from Collazo in my opinon. There were times when Hatton was being aggressive, throwing punches and missing while he was getting hit. Yet, the HBO commentators would make it sound like he was dominating the round. I guess it all goes on who you gave some of those close rounds to, but it seemed that HBO crew gave them all to Hatton. Let’s be real here. Collazo was not winning that fight unless he dropped Hatton like 5 times or stopped him by way of KO.
Now, let’s go back to your comment about Collazo sticking to his game plan. I do not know what their game plan was, but I do know that in a fight of this magnitude, you do not abandon what got you there. Collazo is a slick pure boxer. Why was he fighting with Hatton trying to prove himself the bigger and stronger man? In the end it is the W that counts.
NOT JUST ANOTHER PRETTY FACE PLEASE
Jose,
Big props on your recent win. Do you follow women’s boxing at all? Do you see any superstars on the scene coming up?
Risha
Risha,
Thank you very much. Unfortunately I can’t say that I do follow women’s boxing. It is not that I do not like women’s boxing it’s that they have seemed too slowed down a bit with promoting big fights for the ladies. I think it will pick up again, but women’s boxing is in need of a marquee name that can really fight. I think women boxing has taken a back seat a little because of all the promoters trying to sell it to the boxing public as sexy. Everybody knows that won’t work for boxing. Women fighters are just as exciting as the men are and some fight with even more intensity, but please do not throw someone in the ring that cannot fight just because she is pretty.
THE PAC SAC (COURTESY OF GENO M.)
Jose,
I’m a fan of the Pacman, but i have heard reports that he has not started training yet because of his many commitments in tha Philippines. Will you please advise him to train right away because he only has roughly one and a half months left to train. Thanks a lot
Lindsay
Lindsay,
Manny is a real pro and believe me you do not get to the level he is at if you do not work hard and train. I don’t know where you have heard the rumors that he is not training because of his commitments in the Philippines, but I guarantee you one thing, he has a man in his corner by the name of Freddie Roach that will not let him go in the ring with nothing less than 100%.
Jose,
If we look back to MP previous record, he had beaten all legendary mexican boxers starting from AS, EL, MAB, HV and EM including a controversial draw to JMM , OL didn’t fight to any of them except AS on his last fight but he loss, How many percent does OL have a chance to beat PACMAN?
Fer
Fer,
I never try to decide who is going to win a fight by comparing which opponents each fighter has fought or who fought the toughest and better fighters, even though a lot of the boxing experts do that. It is something to look at, but not something you can put a lot of emphasis on in my opinion, but if you do compare both of these fighters opponents then yes, you are correct Manny has fought the better and tougher opponents. I feel Manny will win, but because he is the better and stronger fighter not because he has fought the better opponents.
Mr Jose,
Do you think there is any truth to our beloved Manny not training right for his fight against Larrios? If he wins, who should he fight next?
Binky
Binky,
I am not sure if it is true or not, but look at it this way, if Manny does not take the Larrios fight seriously and losses, he only has himself to blame. I do not think he will let that happen. If he wins this fight and he should, I would like to see him fight Marco Antonio Barrera next.
UPSET IS A COMING
Champ,
Who do you see winning in Tarver vs Hopkins, Wright vs Taylor, and Paulie M vs Cotto? Any upsets? I need to wins some bills and quick.
Todd
Todd,
These are going to be some good fights and I am going to give you an upset to go with them. I see Hopkins giving Tarver a hard time in the early rounds until Tarver opens up Hopkins defense to win by decision. Tarver is bigger and stronger. This fight will show Hopkins that as good and as dominant as he once was at middleweight, he will not be at light heavyweight. Jumping two weight classes is not the wisest choice Hopkins had made. Here is my upset. I think Wright will squeeze out a decision over Taylor. Yes, Taylor is bigger, stronger and younger, but Wright’s defense, jab and experience will be the deciding factor. That leaves us with the Cotto vs. Paulie M fight. As much as you like to root for this brash, outspoken Italian stallion he is going up against the hardest hitting 140 LB boxers in the division today. Cotto, is patient, smart, strong and whatever Paulie brings to the table on June 10th unfortunately, I do not think is going to be enough.
STAND BY YOUR MAN
Jose,
Hey Champ all I wanna say is that you fought pretty good against terra personally I was cheering for him because I train with him in the same gym but really I don’t know what happen to him out there but hey your the champ so be happy while it last.
Junior Martinez
Junior,
Thank you for the kind words and also your honest feelings for Garcia to win. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a stable mate of a fighter. You are supposed to cheer for Garcia if he trains with you. I will tell you what happened to Garcia in our fight. Garcia never expected for me to be as strong in our fight. He thought he had the advantage because I was moving up in weight from the welterweight division. I know he trained hard because he is a world class fighter, but Garcia and his team were over confident of the fact that he would be able to walk right through me. Even Mike Tyson could not knock out every opponent he faced and when you go in the ring looking for a knockout and it doesn’t come, then your one and only game plan has failed. Knowing Garcia and the type of fighter he is I know he will be back. I am not his trainer, but he can learn some valuable lessons from our fight. Every time I fight whether I win or lose, but especially if I lose, I want to use it as a learning experience to make me a better fighter.
THREE AND OUT
Jose,
How do you see the Castillo – Corrales fight going this time around? I read Castillo will make weight for sure but I think he has Chico’s number. Also do you think Hopkins – Tarver should be on PPV? Have you ever fought on a PPV?
Nick
Nick,
The Castillo- Corrales fight is going to be another barnburner, but I think you are right Castillo might have Corrales number. The first fight he was hurting Corrales at will until he got caught with some lethal combinations. The second fight well we all know he stopped Corrales even though I think it would have happened even with out the weight issue. I expect the same result in the third fight as we saw in the second fight. Castillo wins by stoppage. Why do I say that you may ask? Corrales is the type of fighter that never changes his stripes. Yes, Corrales is strong, but to go into each and every fight thinking that you are going to hurt and knock out your opponent is a big mistake, especially when the other guy can hit just as much as you can. Corrales just walks right in front of his opponents like if he is superman and your bullets can’t hurt him. In boxing, you have to arm yourself with different weapons, because if one does not work then it is time to pull out the other one.
No, I never fought on a PPV yet, but I hope to do so before I retire from boxing.
WE ALL LOVE OUR P4P LISTS
Champ,
In boxing today, who do you rank in your top ten P4P and why do you choose those fighters?
John Denton Boston, MA
John,
Very good question even though you can question a top ten P4P list and of course, mine is included in that. However, I think the top three are without any question at least in my book I feel that way.
1. Floyd Mayweather, JR. – The most talented fighter out there right now. Here is a fighter that arms himself with many weapons and never goes into a fight with just one game plan.
2. Winky Wright – Wright has proven that hard work and determination pays off in the end. Here is a fighter that never will shy away from any opponent and will fight any fighter anywhere. He never stayed away from tough fights because he wanted to protect his record.
3. Manny Pacquiao – For this super featherweight to be high on my list just shows how exciting of a fighter he is. Manny Pacquiao has beaten all the top Mexican fighters in his weight class and even his lone draw with Marquez, was an exciting fight. I can say the same thing about Manny that I say about Wright. He doesn’t care who you put in front of him. They just better be ready to fight.
4. Marco Antonio Barrera- Well, not much I have to say about this guy. His actions in the ring speak for themselves. I do want to see him fight a rematch with Pacquiao sometime this year.
5. Joe Calzaghe- The only fighter on the list who has made 18 successful title defenses going back to when he won the WBO world title in 1997 against Chris Eubank, which makes him the longest current World Champion today. He is 41-0, 31 KO’s. In case you missed it in his last fight he proved why none of the big named fighters ever wanted to fight him. Fortunately for Calzaghe, a confident Jeff Lacy went to England to unify the WBO and IBF titles, but ended up getting beat and embarrassed by Joe. It gave Calzaghe the big win he has been longing for to finally prove himself and at least, silence some the boxing critics out there.
6. Jose Luis Castillo- Castillo gave Floyd Mayweather, JR. all he could handle in their first meeting and ended up losing a close decision. Since then, he has gone on to win championships and beat Juan Lazcano, Joel Casamayor, Julio Diaz and of course, Diego Corrales.
7. Antonio Tarver- Antonio has slipped only because he has not been consistent in his pursuit of being the top fighter in his division. After he dethroned Super Man (Roy Jones, JR.) he has been inconsistent. It seems like Tarver needs a loss or a reason to come back strong and prove what we already know, that he is an exceptional athlete. At 37 years old, Tarver needs to decide if he wants to be committed or not to the sport of boxing, because the sport of boxing can be very cruel to those who do not take it seriously.
8. Ivan Calderon- This is going to blow some boxing fans away, but fortunately for me, I have seen this 105 lb fighter fight. I am here to tell you that if he losses a round in any fight he is in, it’s rare. He is only 5’ feet tall, but this pugilist out of Guyanabo, PR can fight and shake your socks off. He won the WBO world title in 2002, has made ten successful title defenses and is 26-0. It is unfortunate for the fans that they have not been able to witness the swift movement put together with some beautiful combinations of this young 31 year old fighter. Most of his fights have been in PR with the exception of a few being in Las Vegas and other part of the US. Who says that you have to be on Showtime, HBO or PPV to be on this list? It is the top 10 P4P. He is small, but he is sweet. I suggest that if you have never seen Calderon fight, then please go get a tape.
9. Jermain Taylor- This young fighter is going to wreck some havoc in the middleweight division, even though I feel he will lose to Wright. If he proves me wrong and he has the talent and ability to, then you will see him climb up my list fairly quick. He makes the list because of his two wins over Bernard Hopkins and because he is the undisputed Middleweight Champion. Only two other fighters on this list are current undisputed Champions and that’s Mayweather and Calzaghe. The reason he is not any higher is because the only real big test he has faced was also against Bernard Hopkins. Yes, he has beaten Raul Marquez and William Joppy, but if I was to beat those guys it is not going to put me on this list.
10. Ricky Hatton- Well, as you can see Hatton has fallen on my list since his last outing against Luis Collazo. I still keep him in my top ten because of his wonderful performances against Kosta Tszyu and the when he unified the titles against Carlos Maussa. Let’s see how he returns from the Collazo fight and also find out if he has been exposed or Collazo caught him on a good night. If I was Hatton, I would still stay away from PBF.
JUST BEING HONEST
Jose,
Great fight with Terra. I have to be honest and thought he would knock you out within five rounds but you proved me wrong. Glad I didn’t bet on it. LOL
I am wondering where do you put yourself in the mix against former junior middle champs from the last 15 years? If you had to compare your style of fighting to any fighter past or present, who would that be?
Thanks-
Sean
Sean,
Thank you for your honesty. I do not really like to compare myself to fighters of the past because it is hard to really know how the fights would have turned out or how well you do or don’t match up with them. I can tell you one fighter I like to compare myself to. Now do not get me wrong, I do not think I am as good as him or that I belong in the same league as him, but I just like to emulate his determination, perseverance, training habits and never quit attitude. Not to mention he was from Mass, like me. That fighter is Marvelous Marvin Hagler. I know he was a middleweight, but growing up and hearing the Hagler stories were inspiring to me.
YOU NEVER KNOW, YOU MAY BE ON TO SOMETHING
Jose,
Who are you going with in Wright against Taylor? I think Taylor ends Winky’s winning streak by TKO.
Josh
Josh,
Wow you think Taylor is going to win by TKO. I think Wright wins by decision, but if Taylor is to win, I do not think he is going to stop Wright. I can’t wait to see. We will talk about it later for sure.
TIME FOR A NEW SCORING SYSTEM
Jose,
What did you think of the Barrera – Juarez fight last night? Though it was tough, I had it 116-112 like Harold Lederman did. But to have the decision changed from a draw to a split decision rings of a fix maybe? How do you feel? If the WBC wants to do right, they should have an immediate rematch put in place.
Ricardo
Ricardo,
I am going to be honest and tell you that I feel asleep during the fight. It has been a busy week and it caught up to me. I will tell you that at the time I dozed off, I had Barrera ahead. Barrera seemed to get into a groove, but then I woke up and I see Juarez being interviewed asking him how he felt about the draw. I was like what happened to Barrera? Anyways to answer your question,it does seem fishy, but also you have to remember the judges are human and they can make mistake. I think they should implement a system where the judges will be able to calculate the scores with a computer so nothing can be erased or changed. Once it’s in the system it is in. At the end of the fight, they print up the sheet and the computer will add up the scores and not make a mistake. It is examples like this that the commissions should use to help better the sport. I am not talking like amateur boxing where you have to score the punches; I am simply talking about punching in the computer who won the round. The same 10-9 system we use today. We do not need big computers either, but something we hold in our palms is good enough.
Well, RSR readers that’s all for this week, but look for me again next Monday. Have a great week.
