Do you remember that T.V. ad where all of these women are wearing very short shorts and that song: “Who Wears Short Shorts,” is playing the background? Well, as I watched the main event of HBO’s Boxing After Dark, pitting Jhonny Gonzalez against Fernando Montiel, that song started playing in my head. Who wears short shorts? Fernando Montiel wears short shorts. It was just wrong, in my opinion. It was worse than the time when Riddick Bowe’s trunks split right up the back and it must have been “no underwear day” that day. Outside of the probable discomfort that Montiel had during the fight and that the viewing public also had as they watched on, it was a good, competitive fight that could have gone either way. I still am somewhat bothered by those shorts however. I know that HBO has lurid programs, but this is boxing, not “The Cathouse.” I believe that I am not alone when I say that if they are going to ban online casinos from temporarily tattooing boxers for promotional reasons, then they should ban unreasonably short shorts.
In the opening bout, Paul “The Punisher” Williams, 30-0, 22 KO’s, moved one step closer to a shot at the Welterweight Championship, with an impressive knockout win over Walter Matthysse, 25-1, 24 KO’s. This was not an easy win for “The Punisher,” as he was rocked several times from the heavy-handed opponent, but he persevered and was well ahead on the cards when they stopped the fight in the tenth. Williams is a very tall welterweight and usually throws over one hundred punches per round, which separates himself from most. His height and reach along with the mentioned activity definitely makes his chances of wearing a major crown great.
Lennox “The Lion” Lewis…first, let me say that I am a big fan of the former Heavyweight Champion and in my opinion, he is one of the greatest of all time. Now, as a broadcaster, I have to say that I am far from impressed. Max Kellerman…poor, poor Max Kellerman has to put up with two guys that just aren’t very good. Fran Charles laughs throughout the entire program. He apparently finds everything hilarious. He would be the perfect audience for my stand up routine. I really think that this broadcast team needs work. I was very close to muting my television because it was so bad. I have been complaining about Jim Lampley so long that I didn’t realize what I had. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. There is a responsibility that the broadcast team has to excite the viewer when the fight heats up. They need to get excited themselves, which will get the viewer on their feet. This team, with the exception of Max, who has just been dealt a bad hand, cannot provide this to the viewers. HBO’s B.A.D. team is very bad.
Heavyweight News
Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs continued his winning streak with a third round knockout over Chris Koval. Briggs weighed in at 273 pounds, which leads me to believe that he may be auditioning for the lead role in: “Butterbean the Movie”. It’s hard to take “The Cannon” seriously when he doesn’t take the sport seriously. He reminds me of Ray Mercer, late in his career, feasting on extremely limited opposition and putting together a winning streak, convincing some that he was still a big player in the division. Mercer was destroyed by Wladimir Klitschko when he finally stepped up and I believe that if Briggs decides to do the same, we’ll get the same result. I think that many are being misled because he is just so charismatic and is linked to the past. He was part of the old crew with Evander Holyfield, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Andrew Golota, David Tua, and we are a nostalgic bunch. I am guilty of this sentimental thinking as well. When Ray Mercer stepped up to face Wlad, I picked him to win because, he’s Ray Mercer and he has a concrete jaw, but he was on his back in the first round… I think that the same fate is going to fall upon Shannon Briggs.
John Ruiz, the two-time WBA Heavyweight Champion, has been thrown back onto the list of title challengers and will face Sultan Ibragimov in an IBF title eliminator. Ibragimov is relatively unknown, but he is undefeated and did knock out the one time contender, Lance “Mount” Whitaker in his biggest fight to date. This is really an intriguing bout because many consider Ibragimov as a possible future world champion and not too many people have figured out the puzzle that is John Ruiz. The “jab and grab” has baffled them all with the exceptions of James Toney and Roy Jones, JR. So, it seems that Ruiz is probably the favorite going in, but if Ibragimov is the future of the division, we will see “The Quiet Man” really silent as he lays there on the canvas.
Nikolay Valuev looks enormous in his training pictures as he prepares for the challenger to his WBA Heavyweight Title, Owen “What the Heck” Beck. There will be around a one hundred pound weight difference between the two and, in all honesty, the challenger is not a worthy one. In his two biggest fights, he was defeated. Monte Barrett stopped him and Ray Austin out-pointed him. He rebounded with a win over the smallish and unheralded heavyweight, Darnell Wilson, which was enough to put him into the ring for a world title apparently.
This is not the first time that a title shot has been given that wasn’t necessarily earned. Riddick Bowe defended his title against Michael Dokes and Jesse Ferguson, and both were not deserving challengers. Collectively they lasted three rounds. This bout promises to be a quick night with the gigantic champion plowing over him as if he were a sixty year old security guard. Hopefully, they will get a gigantic crate and send over Valuev because the United States loves everything super-sized, and just to see a guy that big in the ring throwing punches would be something else. Perhaps he’s another Primo Carnera, but he was able to defeat John Ruiz, which says something about his ability.
Super Fights on the Way…
Diego “Chico” Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo are meeting again on Showtime on June 3rd, which will most likely be their last meeting. I am a big fan of the Gatti-Ward trilogy, but in my opinion, this one is much better. These are two highly skilled and gutsy warriors going head to head and putting their health on the line for the glory as much as the money. This bout could have easily been on PPV, but they, for some reason have elected to make it a free event to anyone that subscribes to the network. I cannot wait for this meeting.
Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao will be having a rubber match of his own as he faces Erik Morales on October 7th in Las Vegas. They are tied at 1-1 and the favorite has to be the Pacman as we go into this bout, but never count out Morales. I doubt that he is involved in this for the money. He wants to avenge his most humiliating defeat, and will put up a very good effort. Now, I’m sure that HBO is selling this on PPV, but when a boxer has lost three of his last four outings, is it right to take fifty bucks from each boxing fan? I don’t think so. There is some curiosity going into this bout to see if Morales can make a fight out of it, but it’s the long shot and I would have rather seen this bout on regular HBO. Perhaps it will be, but that’s the biggest long shot of them all.
