Hello RSR readers and welcome back to another one of my email bags. I want to tell you first of all that I am very happy with the response it’s getting each week. It’s not everyday in boxing a World Champion gets this kind of opportunity to connect with his fans. The other reason I am happy is that I am starting to get a little following from the females and anybody who knows anything about boxing will tell you that if you connect with the ladies, you are doing something right. So ladies keep the questions and compliments coming. A champ’s head can never get too big can it?
Also, I want to say my bag will be postponed this week because I have the honor and privilege of flying into VA to attend my main man “Bad” Brad’s Retirement Ceremony from the US Navy, where he has served honorably over the last 20 years. We are going to make sure the ceremony goes off great and the after party that evening is one we all shall not forget anytime soon. No, “Bad” Brad is not getting old, well maybe, but it’s time for him to move on to civilian life and pursue other things that he is interested and we have discussed many times.
BIG MOUTH VS. HUMBLENESS, WHICH ONE IS BETTER?
Champ,
I’ve got a couple of questions for you about Antonio Tarver and then one about yourself. I realize Antonio Tarver has a big mouth, but do you think he actually believes he is as good as he says he is? He’s beaten two past-their-prime fighters in Roy Jones jr and Montell Griffin, along with Glenn Johnson. He also lost once to both Jones jr and Johnson while also seeing defeat at the hands of Eric Harding if I correctly recall. Yet, before the Hopkins fight he stated that “he was one of the all-time-greats.” And on top of that, for the past year, he’s been calling out Mike Tyson. What a joke IMO. Outside the ring he has also shown a lack of class by filing for bankruptcy in the days ahead of his first fight with Roy Jones jr. and a 2 million dollar pay-day and complaining about Hopkins being on the left side of the poster for last weeks fight in which he was completely shut out. Because of these instances and others do you think he needs to do anything to improve his image?
Now onto you. Congrats on your becoming a champion again. I liked the power you showed at 154 pounds during the fight, and you appeared to show no signs of fatigue. Who would you like to fight next and how do you see a fight between yourself and Oscar going if it were to happen?
Very Sincerely,
Jason Liimatta
Former RSR Writer
P.S. My brother Jake wanted me to let you know that he wasn’t comparing Gatti’s skills to Mayweather’s when he participated in last weeks “Ask the Champ” mailbag. What he was saying was that Ricky Hatton’s lack of boxing skills make Gatti look like a skilled fighter such as Floyd Mayweather.
Jason,
How’s it going? I will start off with your P.S. I am glad you sent me this information because I was starting to think that there are some crazy fans out there, but you can see how I could mistakenly have thought that on how the question was asked, as far as Gatti being compared to Mayweather. I should’ve known because nobody that is in their right mind would do such a thing. Tell Jake everything is cool LOL.
Yes, Tarver has a big mouth and he thinks he is a great fighter. It drives me crazy when people use that word loosely, like many fans and fighters do. You are also correct on all of your information on the boxers that Tarver has beaten and has lost too. I will not get on him as far as his actions outside of the ring because man I have seen a lot worse than what he has done. Believe me, Tarver is not the only person or fighter to file for bankruptcy, but I understand where you are coming from as far as some of his character flaws. I will tell you one thing though: it is his actions in boxing whether good or bad that have gotten him the opportunities of a lifetime.
After all, whether he was old or not, he was still able to knock out Roy Jones, JR. One thing that many fans will remember Tarver for is when right before the bell sounded for round one, and they met in the middle of the ring for pre fight instructions and Antonio provided the sound byte: “Do you have any excuses now Roy?” Or it was something close to that. Sylvester Stallone was impressed with his bragging and all that talk and personality because he gave him a role in Rocky 6. Does Tarver need to improve his image? I am going to say no. Yes, his antics can be annoying, but every fighter needs to have that belief in him self. Some can take it a little too far, but Tarver is laughing with millions in the bank. So do you think he really cares? In my opinion he was a good champ, but there is nothing he could do now especially at 37 years of age that will thrust him up in the great’s category. I will give you two names and you tell me if you think he should be compared to these two light heavyweights? Michael Spinks and Bob Foster.
Yes, I feel much stronger and better at 154. Not to mention I do not have to lose 25 pounds to get there. I would love a unification fight with Oscar De La Hoya. The two reasons I think this fight makes sense is because we are both World Champions and I have truly earned a big payday in my 14th year as a professional fighter. Seriously though, I know this fight will give me the best shot at a huge payday and I know since it is the Golden Boy I will be fighting my ass off to beat him. I like being the underdog and I love it when people do not think I can win. It drives me to a higher level of motivation and willingness to win. I am going to take a page from Antonio Tarver right now and tell you that I will whip Oscar like he has never seen a whipping before. That boy does not belong in the ring with me, and if he ever dreams of beating me he’d better wake up and apologize! SMILE. No seriously I will be on his chest for twelve rounds of a nonstop body attack. If he is able to withstand that then it will go to the scorecards and well you can never predict what the judges are going to do.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
El Gallo,
Do you still use this nickname? If not, how about a new one or running a contest on RSR for your nickname to be picked? It could be like Jean Marc Mormeck did on Showtime. You could have folks email them in and you pick from all of them the winner by a certain date. Then in your next fight, you would go in the ring with that nickname. Man that would be so cool. Hope you do it.
Jason Shriver
Jason,
Yes, I am still “El Gallo”. I did run a similar contest like the one Mormeck did on SHOWTIME, but mine was more local not as nationalized as his was. The truth of the matter is that I really did not like the ones that were suggested so I decided to stay with “El Gallo”. The other reason is that I have been using that name since 1996 and everybody always calls me Gallo so I figured it doesn’t make sense to change now. I was going to change it because of other fighters copying the name, but every one knows that I am the original Gallo so that is all that matters. I think every one knows that I am the original Gallo. So thanks for the contest idea, but I am going to stick with this nickname till I retire.
THE GREAT ONE
Jose,
Who is the coolest fighter you have ever met? Were you ever in awe of fighter you met?
Pete
Pete,
The coolest fighter I have met has to be Muhammad Ali. No, I have to honestly tell you that I am never in awe of any famous people I meet. The reason being is because we are all the same. I do not look at myself like a celebrity and I do not feel that I should be treated different then you because I am a World Champion boxer. Therefore I feel the same about any one else no matter how famous they are. I definitely respect them and feel it is an honor to meet them, but I never feel in awe of them.
RETIRED OR NOT RETIRED THAT IS THE QUESTION?
Jose,
Enjoying your bag Ask the Champ and the time you that I see when you answer readers questions. This is my first time writing in so here it goes. Tarver loses to Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins says, I am retiring for good. Hopkins gets offered a huge payday for Tarver II or Roy Jones jr. Do you think he comes back for either fight?
Jack
Jack,
I am glad you are enjoying the bag. Yes, I told you that “Bad” Brad is retiring from the Navy and there is no way he is going to go back to work now. Oh wrong guy, you said Bernard, (SMILE) I hope Hopkins stays true to his word and retires for good because he has nothing to prove at this point in his career. Money is great and believe me I wish I had his money, but there has to come a time when things come to an end. I honestly feel that Hopkins is going to stay retired, but you heard him on HBO saying for 20 million dollars I would come out the grave, so I guess you never know.
ALMOST AN ALL TIME GREAT
Jose,
First time writing in to your bag and I am excited. I am only 22 but have followed boxing with my dad since I was 10. Being his only girl, he got a kick out of my love for boxing. The first fighter I watched was Sweetpea vs JCC in a fight that I don’t feel should have been a draw. What did you think of that fight? How do you think Pernell would do today in his prime?
Thanks again
Lori Thompson
Lori,
Welcome to my bag. I am excited too because I get to talk about one of my favorite fighters Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker. This fight was a heart breaker for me because I liked both guys very much. I have to tell you a quick side story to your question. When I was 19 years old I was 1-0, 1 KO at the time, Lou Duva and Main Events brought me up to Texas to take a look at me and see if there was any interest in signing a young prospect with big dreams. That was me of course, but I guess they were looking for a superstar instead because they put me in the ring to spar with Whitaker the whole week I was there. I am not going to sit here and type any lies, but as I am sure you are aware it was hard for an up and coming kid to look good against Whitaker.
He had moves I had never seen before. I will tell you though that it was that trip to Texas and that experience that helped me realize that someday I would be a World Champion. Why you may ask? Because I was able to stand my ground and I handled myself pretty good considering what I was up against. I guess it still was not good enough for Lou Duva because I never heard from them again. Now to answer your question: Yes, I thought Whitaker won that fight and was robbed when he was given a draw. I think even in today’s lightweight division, that nobody could touch “Sweat Pea” in his prime. In my honest opinion I feel that Whitaker could have joined the all time great’s rankings, but his drug problems caught up with him at the end of his career. Even still Whitaker was able to win world titles at Lightweight, Junior Welterweight, Welterweight and Junior Middleweight. That is four different weight classes and Whitaker stood about almost 5 feet 7 inches. That to me is incredible.
THE LAST STAND USA VS RUSSIA
Jose,
Any news on who you will be fighting next? How about my ex-wife? She is a 154 pounder and with a big mouth. Serious though. Who are you going with in the rematch between Rahman and Maskaev? Do you think Rock will visit the HBO table? Hey, how about the grapes, (I stole that from Geno Bambino) on these guys to make this fight a PPV. What’s next, Capt America vs The Flash on PPV?
Barry G.
Barry G,
Unfortunately, I do not have anything yet on who my next opponent is going to be. How much are you going to give me to take care of your wife? I am on the fence on this fight. I am just not convinced with Rahman. He seems to be too inconsistent for my taste, but with that said, I am not convinced with Maskaev either. Maskaev is on a ten-fight win streak, but against nobody you have ever heard of. How the hell did he get this opportunity anyways? Sorry got off track.
Anyways, there is a lot at stake here in this fight and no, I cannot believe they are going to put this garbage on Pay Per View. I would pay to see Captain America vs. The Flash rather than this fight. As I was saying there is a lot at stake here in this fight, but more for Rahman than Maskaev. I am hoping that someone is going to light a fire under Rahman’s butt because if he loses to Maskaev, it will be the first time in boxing history that the heavyweight division will be under Russian authority. Wait a minute it already is. 3 of the major World Champions are Russian. I say you make Rahman watch Rocky 4 over and over again until he gets the picture. Just make sure he skips that speech stuff at the end. Well, now I have convinced myself to pick Rahman by a TKO victory because all of Maskaev’s losses have come by way of KO or TKO.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMIN’S BABY
Champ,
What do you think Oscar’s next move is? I don’t think he will fight Floyd Mayweather because Not so Pretty will out price himself.
Jay
Jay,
I think you are correct that Mayweather is out pricing himself, but I do think that they will come to some kind of agreement to make the fight happen, which sucks for me because then I have to wait and see if the winner will give me a crack to unify the titles. There is just too much money to make and everybody I talk to wants to see this fight happen. That sucks for me because, oh I already said that, sorry.
I SHOOK UP THE WORLD!
Hi Champ,
What do you think of Bernard Hopkins win over Tarver? Were you surprised? Did Hopkin’s diet and special training give him the edge? Quite an accomplishment for a 41-year-old middleweight to beat Tarver, a self proclaimed, “greatest” Lt. Heavyweight! I haven’t seen the fight yet…but I’m happy with the results! What is your opinion as a fighter? Do you think Bernard will keep his promise and retire?
Thanks, Champ. Will be looking for your next fight,
Judy
Judy,
Yes, I was very surprised because the last two fights Hopkins had against Jermain Taylor he did not want to engage in those kinds of battles he was willing to go after Tarver with. I do think that his special training was a very important factor in his solid performance. I am almost shocked, almost because I did see it with my own two eyes that Hopkins at 41, looked as good as he did against Tarver. I think Hopkins will want to retire on top so I think he will stay true to his word. He better because if he makes me out to be a liar, I am going to have to move up to 160 and put it on him. Oh sorry I must have had a Tarver moment.
GREAT MATCH UPS
Champ,
First of all, I’d like to congratulate you for hosting this magnificent mailbag. Got the link from the Pacman’s site one time, since then I got hooked up into this and make it sort of a routine everytime I can get myself online. Anyway, here’s my question. What are your thoughts and predictions on these fights? If ever they’re gonna happen:
1. Vicente Mosquera vs. Edwin Valero I know this one is already scheduled on Aug 5, 2006
2.Jorge Barrios vs. Eric Morales
3. Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Juan Manuel Marquez
4. Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Eric Morales
5. Jorge Barrios vs. Juan Manuel Marquez
Lastly, who do you think is the best boxer among these names I mentioned? Good luck to your career and more power to your mailbag and RSR.
Thanks.
Mr. Quickie
Mr. Quickie,
Just out of curiosity why do you call yourself Mr. Quickie? I hope it is not what I think it is. With these matches, you should be a boxing promoter because these would be terrific matches at least on paper if they could be made. I will do my best to dissect them for you now.
Vincent Mosquera vs. Edwin Valero- Well, this is Valero’s big moment to fight for the WBA Super Featherweight Title. I guess the big question for Valero is going to be can he go 12 rounds? All of Valero’s opponents have been stopped in the first round except for his last opponent Genaro Trazancus, who Valero stopped in the second round. The question for Mosquera is going to be can he take Valero’s punches and how bad does he want to defend his title? Mosquera is going to have to be willing to take some punishment in this fight. In the end, I think Mosquera has what it takes to defend his title and beat Valero. Mosquera has never been stopped and being the champion he has that championship experience over Valero and the fact that Mosquera has never been stopped also has to come to play. It might be a little premature for Valero to step up, but we will find out if he turns out to be another mano de piedra (hands of stone) like his countryman Roberto Duran.
Jorge Barrios vs. Erik Morales- At this point in his career I do not think Morales’ body can handle another big fight like this one. Morales has been in too many wars and I think Barrios will be a little too much for him right now. Now you make this fight a couple years back and it would be a different story.
Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Juan Manuel Marquez- This fight will be very interesting. After seeing Barrera’s last performance against Rocky Juarez, I feel he has lost a couple of steps. Marquez lost his last fight to Chris John, but I feel he has a lot less wear and tear on his body then Barrera does. Marquez will use his toughness and skills to win a decision.
Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Erik Morales- I think Marquez beats Morales also.
Jorge Barrios vs. Juan Manuel Marquez- This fight I would like to see like now. I am going to give the edge to Barrios because he seems to be on top of his game and is taking no prisoners. It would be a hard, tough, decision win and could possible be a fight of the year candidate.
DREAM FIGHTS INDEED!
Jose,
Dream fights. I know you love them, so let me give you some.
Lupe Pintor vs Pacman
Terry Norris vs Jose Antonio Rivera
Sonny Liston vs Samuel Peter
Matthew Saad Muhammad vs Antonio Tarver
Thanks
JD
JD,
You have come up with a match up that would rock the roof off of any arena that would’ve hosted such a fight, but the result to me would be no doubt. I say Pacman wins.
Pintor vs. Pacman- Pintor was a very good bantamweight and he defended his WBC title 8 times, but when he moved up to super bantamweight he lost to Wilfredo Gomez by TKO in the 14th round. It was a good battle while it lasted, but Pintor was not the same after that fight with Gomez, which brings me to the Pacman fight. Manny would’ve of been to strong and fast for Pintor and even though Pintor would’ve gave Manny a battle, in the end Manny’s power gets him the victory by way of TKO.
Norris vs. Rivera- Man I could actually envision this fight with so many different endings because of Terry’s style and questions about his chin. All in all I say this is a fight of the year match up because of his punching power. The question I guess would be: Could Norris been able to withstand 12 hard rounds of nonstop action? I say this fight is like a mirror image of my fight with Frankie Randall. I took the early lead, Randall came on strong in the middle rounds to even it out or take a slight lead and then, I closed the show in the later rounds with a TKO victory. The referee has to intervene because fatigue sets in from all of the body punches I land on Terry and I am declared the winner. Hey that’s my opinion and I am sticking to it.
Liston vs. Peter- This one in my opinion is an easy one. Liston wins by KO.
Saad Muhammad vs. Tarver- I am going to go with the man who won two great wars against Yaqui Lopez and that was Matthew Saad Muhammad. He was tough, durable and did all of his talking in the ring. Muhammad wins by KO or TKO.
FROM FIGHTER TO LADIES MAN
Jose,
First time to write in but can’t help to notice that my sisters are digging you. Well you are one sexy man who can fight. Plus that picture of you today on Ask the Champ. Psssssssst……. As in hot!!!!!!! Here is my question. There are so many champions out there today that a boxing fan like me just can’t tell you who is who except in a few divisions. Why is this? Is it good for boxing? Good for the boxers? Hope this makes your bag and if I could put a little lipstick kiss in my email, I would do that too.
Belinda T.
Belinda,
Thank you very much for the wonderful compliments all I can say is keep them coming. OK, let me get my head together here. You asked about where boxing where is today? Not in good shape in my opinion. First of all there are too many weight divisions with 17 to be exact. To make matters worse there are three major World Champions in each division, WBA, WBC and IBF. That fact that there are three major World Champions took a while to be accepted in the boxing world, but once it was accepted, they go and add a few others that are not even worth mentioning here. Yes, there are too many World Champions. Now to make matters even worse the WBA and the WBC decided to add a Super Champion status for fighters who unify the titles, therefore creating another World Champion in the same organization.
I know I use to be the WBA Welterweight Champion while Ricardo Mayorga and then Cory Spinks were both considered Super Champions because they held two world titles or all three major world titles. What this does is put money in the world belt organizations pocket as it destroys boxing. If you and I can see it Belinda then why can’t the promoters and the world belt organizations see it?
They don’t care as long as it keeps putting money in their pockets. Everybody wins, but the fighter and the fighter does not make those kinds of executive decisions. We just love to fight and as long as they pay us we do not care what title we are fighting for. All we want to do is get on TV to get the maximum exposure so we can make the most amount of money we can.
I will give you a short story here. Back in 1997, I fought for and won the IBO Welterweight title by a second round TKO over Gilberto Flores. I made $6,000 for that fight and it was on local TV only. Afterwards they just said I won a fringe title. Floyd Mayweather, JR., Antonio Tarver, and Wladimir Klitschko all won the IBO titles in their respective division, but they were on Pay Per View or HBO and they got paid in the millions. Nobody is calling them fringe titleholders, are they? So you see we will fight for whatever title you put in front of us, it is up to the commissions, promoters and the world belt organizations to get their acts together.
THE PAC SAC (COURTESY OF ASK GENO)
Jose,
PI loves you and Geno. Keep these bags coming. Do you think our Pacman can knock out Morales again? If he does where should he go next and fight?
Pacster
Pacster,
Thank you and I love PI. Yes, I think he can knockout Morales again. I know it is just boxing business, but I feel very uncomfortable when a fighter is going to fight a certain fighter and they also schedule another fight for him later down the road. It just puts a fighter in a tough predicament and there is also a possibility of over looking your first opponent.
Jose,
Its my first time to write, hope you consider my question, what do u think about PBF taking Pacman on 135lb?
loplop
loplop,
Thank you, for considering my bag. I personally do not think this fight will happen at 135 lbs or at all. I think Mayweather is too big and strong for Pacman and it just wouldn’t be a fair fight.
Jose,
I’m just wondering If Manny is to much for Barrera I think Bobby is good for MAB as an opponent? And he is not bad for MAB as is career fading, every time he steps in the ring. What do you think about that?
Rai
Rai,
Yes, Manny is too much for Barrera, but I do agree with you that the new and improved Bobby Pacquiao will give Barrera a good fight and at this stage in Barrera’s career, could possibly beat him too.
Jose,
Do you think Bobby Pacquiao will beat MAB? as what you had predicted with the fight against Kelly, can you see bobby letting MAB kiss on the canvas in early rounds?
“macho papa”
Rogerz
Rogerz,
If you read my answer to Rai you would see that yes, I feel that Bobby can fight and beat Barrera, but I do not think he will stop him.
Greetings Champion!
I’ve got three questions that I’m sure a great boxer like you could answer, which has been making me think for quite some time.
First, do boxers have any “Special Punches” that they use in the ring, aside from the normal jabs, straights, hooks, and uppercuts?
Second is, how does it feel taking punches? Where would you rather get hit if you were going to take an unavoidable one? Also, how does it feel to be knocked out with a hit to the head, as well as to the body?
My final question is, what do you think would happen if Manny Pacquiao fought Mayweather at 135 pounds? I’ve recently read an article saying that Mayweather Jr. is willing to lose a few pounds to fight Pacquiao. Here’s the link of where I read it from: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=sports04_june13_2006
Thanks again and happy boxing! (If I had a different life, I would’ve been a boxer too).
Adeno
Adeno,
I am glad you enjoy boxing enough to wish you had become a fighter. You have some very good questions also. No, not really to your first question about fighters having special punches, but some fighters do have what we call our specialty punch that we look to land because we feel it is our best punch. For example, here in Massachusetts we had a fighter who would destroy his opponents with a left hook to the head and then drop right down and land that same hook to the body. It would cripple his opponents and some could never get up. By the way his name is Micky Ward. It is always better to let your combinations go and once in a while set him up with your special punch.
If I were going to take an avoidable punch I would want to get hit in the side of my face. I am known to take a good shot, but from hundreds of rounds of sparring in my entire career I say the body shots hurt more and are harder to recover from. Fortunately for me I cannot answer the question yet about how does it feel to get knocked out with a shot to the head or to the body, but Ward did hit me with one of his lethal punches to the body in sparring and it didn’t feel too good.
Like I said previously I do not feel this fight if it happens will happen at 135 lbs. I want Pacquiao to keep tearing up his division and forget about facing the best pound for pound fighter right now.
Jose,
I heard that Mayweather will trim down his weight just to fight Manny Pacquiao. Who do you think would win if this will push through? Do you think Manny has a chance?
pas abrazaldo
pas abrazaldo,
No, as much as I love Manny I do not think it will be in his best interest to go after a bigger, stronger, faster and more superior boxer then him. Mayweather fights and stops guys that weigh as much as 160lbs on fight night. Manny dominates fighters in his weight class from 122 to 126lbs. Now he is doing the same at 130lbs. I think if he is not suffering to make weight why move up to another weight class and fight bigger guys.
RSR readers yet another great week of questions and I look forward to more this week. In the meantime, make sure to sign up on our RSR Message Board and join in on the great discussions we have about the sport we all love called Boxing.
