I have been watching that show ?House? on FOX, and it is addicting. If you are not familiar with the show, it is about a Doctor that breaks all the rules and always saves the day before it is too late, saving the patient, and being a rebel at the same time. It is safe to say that my wife would leave me for a guy like this. Anyway, this guy that plays the lead role of ?House? (Hugh Laurie) is the show and I highly recommend it. In the latest episodes, he is being harassed by this pig cop, ?Michael Tritter? (David Morse), just because he violated him with a thermometer. Hey, these things happen all of the time in hospitals. Morse, may be best known for his role in awesome movie: The Negotiator. That movie is the bomb.
House is my second favorite show on television next to Law & Order. Did you see the last one with Chevy Chase playing a Mel Gibson-like celebrity? It was hilarious and mad props to Chase for having the grapes to do it. Chevy, I forgive you now for that horrible movie: Nothing But Trouble. Chase really played it up, using racial slurs and my favorite of all, actually quoting Mel Gibson and calling the female detective: ?Sugar #%$@#$.? I had to censor that last word but it refers to a woman?s chest. The first 10 minutes of this episode of Law & Order were the bomb?the best ever, and the episode was pretty good. I wish that Chase would have gone even more overboard, but I?ll take what I can get. I can only imagine what Mel Gibson is thinking after watching that. ?Damn that Fletch!? He may be screaming. ?Cops and Robbersons this!? He might also yell in complete disgust.
I got reprimanded at work this week for requesting Thanksgiving off. My boss that has obviously seen far too many Thanksgivings, weighing in somewhere around the 400 pound mark, saw this as a threat to his turkey day, and he will not tolerate anyone standing between him and food. I take one day off in two years and this guy has the grapes to go off on me? He then goes on the tangent, stating that I?m not available enough. Hello, I?m married! I?m not supposed to be available. He really had it out for me this day and without any justification. In all honesty, this was strategic. They don?t want to give me a raise, so they come up with this nonsense. I believe in Karma though, my friends, and we live near this giant wooded area where we often get Moose and Deer that travel over to this chemical plant, and one day, while my boss is outside directing traffic, a moose looking for love will drag him into the woods, never to be seen again.
I am prepared for Turkey Day. I have the usual suspects attending?all in search of a free meal and some good coffee. I also have a few of my wife?s relatives on their way over and this will be the first time that I have met this batch. I plan to be on my best behavior, which means that it will be time for my offensive brand of humor that usually gets me kicked out at my family parties. The kicker is that this is my house and you can?t kick me out! Isn?t that fantastic! Sure, my wife might not be happy with me, but when you make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs. My wife has been pissed off at me before and it will happen again. It goes with the territory.
Now, before I begin answering your questions, let me jump into a movie review. Since I had to sit through it, I decided to do a review. My wife was watching the movie ?Annie? when I got home from work a couple of nights ago, and she gave me that look: ?If you think about changing it, I will kick you right in the grapes.? She then jumped up and said: ?You thought about it, didn?t you,? and came through on her promise. Anyway, this movie is a musical and typically, I do not like musicals. Grease 2 is the bomb, sure, but most are HORRIBLE. My wife loves them. So, we got this rich, bald dude, ?Daddy Warbucks,? looking for a young boy, for some reason. When they bring Annie around, he screams: ?I wanted a boy!? In the end, he accepts Annie and they sing a song together and Punjab, the body guard, I?m assuming, to ?Daddy Warbucks? uses his mind to make a paper airplane fly around, and a bunch of orphan children also sing and dance. What is the moral here people? I don?t know. I?m leaning toward: Bald people can be nice. Or maybe it?s: Family is more important than money. Yeah, that?s probably it. Whatever the case, this movie gets a 1.5/10. It earned the 1.5 for Warbucks insisting on a boy. He just delivered that line so well that I couldn?t live with myself if I gave this movie anything less.
GENO?S FAVORITES
Geno,
I am a big time fight collector as I think you are judging by a few of your comments. I have hundreds if not thousands of fights on DVD. All the main career sets: Tyson, Bowe, Holyfield, Lewis, Gatti, and so on. Who are some fights and fighters you could not live without if you could only watch old fights? I appreciate mainly fighters from the 70’s 80’s and 90’s. I want to hear some guys that most people wouldn’t think of right away. For instance after Saturday I am going to see about putting together a Briggs set because he instantly became one of my current favorites. Anyhow lets hear the fights and fighters Geno can’t live without…besides Tyson.
Jonathan
Jonathan,
My favorite fights of all time, and I watch on a regular basis besides Mike Tyson are: Pernell Whitaker vs. Julio Cesar Chavez (great fight?loved it) George Foreman vs. Michael Moorer Kostya Tszyu vs. Zab Judah Felix Trinidad vs. Fernando Vargas/David Reid Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney Manny Pacquiao vs. Marco Antonio Barrera
There are a lot of fighters that I really liked and still watch their bouts: Terry Norris, Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whitaker, Azumah Nelson, Scotty Olson, Michael Carbajal, Tommy Morrison, Tony ?TNT? Tubbs, Ray Mercer, Julian Jackson, Tommy Hearns, Kostya Tszyu, Evander Holyfield (back in the day), Junior Jones, and Naseem Hamed, come to mind.
I definitely have a large fight collection and have gone through the process of transferring them to DVD. If my son grows up to be a fight fan, he will have an entire library of fights to go through.
THE RETIREMENT OF FLOYD
Hey Geno,
I liked the song Dexys Midnight Runners wrote about you!
I hear Mayweather wants DeLa Hoya and then plans to retire! Why? Dont get me wrong, he has his money and his health and if he wants to get out now thats his choice. But i cant help think that his legacy will suffer hugely for this. If he goes I will remember a very stylish and brilliant fighter – who never took on the best!
Castillo was probably his toughest fight. He has beat a finished Gatti, an over hyped Judah and a gutsy but mediocre Baldomir. These are not the victories that make a legend. Even if he beats De La Hoya he will be remembered for beating an out of date champion. The fact that he isnt fighting De La Hoya in his prime will always hang over him.
I’ll remember that he didnt fight Tzuyu, he didnt fight Cotto, he didnt fight Hatton. People may argue that he could/would have beaten them all but these arguements will dilute his legacy.
So I cant take his talk of retirement serious, I think he was just upset by Larry Merchant. Can you see the Pretty Boy leaving? Will the fight with DeLa Hoya happen?
Cheers ‘Oh Oh Genooooo’
Gerard from Ireland
Gerard,
Dexy?s Midnight Runners? Come on Eileen? Hmm?don?t seem to see the connection. It?d be cool if the song was ?Come on Geno Bambino,? but I will not run into the lead singer?s arms at the end of the video. Then again, if he sang with sincerity, it may be enough for an embrace. Nobody ever sang to me before, especially a customized song in tribute of me. Oh, that would be heavenly and glorious.
A fight with Oscar De La Hoya is not going to prove anything. All it will do would be to fatten the bank account of PBF. Floyd is better than De La Hoya ever was and now an older and rusty ?Golden Boy? is supposed to defeat a guy on the top of the sport and on the top of his game? PLEASE! This is a BS fight just like that PBF-Gatti mismatch was. You see, the public is wooed by flashy lights and sparkly things and that is what HBO capitalizes on. They are better illusionists than Mind Freak. By the way, Mind Freak Rules!!! That guy is amazing. How he levitates between buildings or walks up and down building is beyond me.
HBO will take a nonsense fight and convince the public that it is the best thing since sliced bread. I will take sliced bread over PBF-Baldomir any day. I would have to disagree with you on one point. PBF did take on the best, at one time. He would take on guys like Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, but recently, he is playing it safe. Instead of a huge bout with Miguel Cotto or a not so huge bout, but competitive against Antonio Margarito, he takes on Carlos Baldomir. HBO then states: ?Hey Baldomir is the bomb y?all. Baldomir killed Gatti in there and beat Zab Judah. He must be the greatest since Ali. Now look at this flashy segment that we made for him, chronicling his life history. Now do you see that he can win?? Everyone at home nods their heads and enter their codes into their cable boxes to order the fight.
The fights for Floyd that mean something, mean little to the casual boxing fan. Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Luis Collazo, and Paul Williams are guys that Floyd would rather not face. He wants sleepwalkers like Baldomir that are too slow to even find him, let alone knock him out. Now, I must say that Zab Judah was a dangerous selection as an opponent and I rate ?Super? Judah very highly. I think that he is still one of the Pound for Pound best fighters in the world and a win over him was really impressive in my eyes. Judah versus any of the above mentioned would be great too, but we are here regarding PBF, and his possible retirement?
Gerard, I don?t see him retiring. No way. He likes the limelight, wearing diamond studded boxing gloves for some reason, and furry trunks like Yor, the Hunter from the Future (Bad 1980?s Movie). This one and done fight stuff may be a ploy to force the hand of De La Hoya or might have been an emotional moment where he just didn?t know what he was saying. And to answer your question, yes, the De La Hoya-PBF bout will happen. I have no doubt.
THE THIRD MAN IN THE RING
How’s the “Professor” of Boxing doing these days?
Anyhow, I just want to make some comments about the Williams-Pakaw fight. BTW, have you seen the fight? Man, Joe Cortez was SLEEPING!! I mean what was he thinking?! Pakaw was really in a very dangerous situation in that fight, IMO, the fight should have been stopped in round 5 or even early in round 3, I didn’t like Joe Cortez’ handling of that bout. that’s why deaths inside the ring happens because of bad officiating.
Richter Tan
Richter,
I have never been impressed with Joe Cortez, and I really lost all respect for him during the John Ruiz-Kirk Johnson WBA Heavyweight Title bout. It seemed like favoritism to me for Ruiz, and Johnson even protested afterward that it was such. This wasn?t Andrew Golota?s flagrant low blows that he landed on Riddick Bowe. This was Kirk Johnson landing on the belly or belt line and being warned like he yanked down ?The Quiet Man?s? trunks and punched him square in the grapes, while screaming ?Cowabunga dude!? Is that Kirk Johnson a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or what?
Fighters like George Foreman have objected to Joe Cortez as an official for his bouts and his officiating of the Williams bout has been under close scrutiny. I did not see the fight, but from what I have heard, it should have been stopped much earlier. In closing, to sum up, @#$@#$ Joe Cortez.
NEW WBO CHAMPION
Geno Buddy:
The Liakhovich Briggs fight was one of the most boring fights I have seen, the sergei that fought briggs was the one I expected to see fight brewster, then after the beating he gave brewster I thought for sure he would have knocked briggs ouy, but when serge came into the ring he was not the same sergei that fought brewster he was heavy in the chest area and his shoulders sagged for some reason whether it was his diet or overtrained phisically he was not the same guy as I have the tapes and replayed them.the other thing when he fell through the ropes he wasn’t even hit but you can’t take anything away from briggs because he huffed and puffed the last ten rounds and deserved the win,—– But if he thinks he’s going to knock klitschko out in the first he’s lucky if he hit’s wladimir, wladimir eat him up with the jab and knock him out within eight rounds.
By the way the referee gave sergei a chance to come back because he could of stopped the fight after the first knockdown. the other thing about the fight the clock stopped at the knockdown and should have continued I counted the seconds and there was 12 to 13 seconds gone before they started the clock again can you comment on the clock situation if you noticed.
I commend you on your article about berbick because in a death no one suffers more than the survivors of the family and if there’s anything I like about people it’s their honesty and calling a spade a spade as I take you are ” but you can fib a little to your wife:
Thanks for the great articles from you and the rest of the staff and if I ever get the chance to meet you you can by me a drink.
Ponko
Ponko,
My good friend, how are you? By no means was the Briggs-Liakhovich bout a Gatti-Ward of the heavyweight division. It wasn?t even a Butterbean-Peter McNeeley. Okay, that?s a low blow?I just wanted to mention McNeeley. He?s a local boy and needs some hype, should he ever come back to the game. Anyway, I don?t fault Briggs for the boring 9 out of 12 rounds of boxing. He is the counter puncher with 270 pounds on his frame and has to go 36 minutes. He has to pace himself and he can?t be wasting any punches. Sergei was a beaten man before entering the ring?scared @#$#@less from bell one and a left hook in round one, verified that that fear was justified. Shannon Briggs did what he had to do and won the title and good for him. He cannot be that passive against Wlad, but he wouldn?t be. He would attack. He is smart enough to know to employ different strategies for different opponents.
I had no issue with the stoppage of the fight, but I did have an issue with Ref. Ferrera?s officiating. Wow, is there a referee that I like? Oh yeah, I like Steve Smoger. That guy does a very good job and tells the boxers that he loves them after a fight. Some are touched by the statement?others disturbed.
There were a lot of websites that really went after Trevor Berbick?s character after his death, and I don?t necessarily see an issue with that. We are writers and if we candy coat everything that we say and worry about offending somebody, we would never write anything worth reading! I handled my article the way that I saw it. There was some good things and some bad things, but I wasn?t going to focus on the negative. He was a boxer to most and I looked back on his boxing career. What is crazy about these ?writers? is that they have no grapes. So, for all of you ?writers,? please pay attention here. I have some advice for you. Stand by your work?for good or bad. I saw this one writer that wrote a pretty harsh article concerning the life of Trevor Berbick. Okay, not the best time in the world to say that you think that he is a scumbag or to use lines like ?the wrong end of a machete,? but if you say it, stand by it. Don?t fold like a blanket every time that somebody jumps in and says: ?That ain?t right!?
This is journalism, and you are going to rub people the wrong way. Sometimes, it?s part of the fun, but stick by your work people.
Buy you a drink? Fine, but I expect something in return.
A NEWBIE
Genogagafluffynutterbambino,
First time writing but I read your bag even when you used to 789 a week. You are a nut for sure and you crack me the %@#% up to the point I almost piss my pants. You need to go on that lame @$@#$ head David Letterman and do a stand up act about your life.
Here are a list of my questions and in no particular order
Where is Pinklon Thomas today? I ask because with the death of Trevor Berbick of course his name came up as the guy TB beat for the title.
I read somewhere that James “Hardrock” Green was honored by a group. Did you ever see him fight? Tough SOB all the way and would give your homeboy Jose Antonio Rivera a run for his title at 154.
I heard they cancelled Tyson’s tour and I noticed nobody listed the PPV buys on this thing. Ask Steve Lott. I read your interview and though I don’t believe everything he said, I did enjoy it very much. To bad Mikey doesn’t call him.
Who do you think wins between Cotto and Cintron?
Hope you can answer all these and if you do, be prepared for a @$@#$ load more my new boxing buddy.
Thanks- King Baba
King Baba,
Welcome officially to my mailbag. I remember the days when I did 789 bags a week. Needless to say, I was a busy man. I?m an even busier man now with all of the stuff that I?m doing here at RSR and in my personal life. I am here to amuse and I?m glad that I didn?t listen to the people to lose my sense of humor. ?He?s not right,? they?d say, and I may not be, but there are a lot of people that aren?t right out there and we have united!
Doing stand up is a rough game?mad props to the ones that do it well (Note: Not speaking of: Bill Cosby, Sinbad, Howie Mandell, Billy Crystal, or Ellen Degeneres), like George Carlin and Dave Chappelle. I have never tried it, but I would have to defeat my anxiety. I can be a nervous nelly at times. There was this one moment in the sun that would lend some credibility to a future in stand up comedy. When I worked at Roy Rogers back in the mid 1990s?, and we had this big Xmas party and I was the guy put in charge of giving out prizes. Well, I went over very well, but the dirtier I got with the humor, the more offended the older women got, and when I say that they were old, they were one foot in the grave and another on a banana peal old. But, most of the people loved it and said ?That was the funniest thing that I?ve heard in years!? Roy Rogers?those were the days. As for David Letterman being lame?definitely.
I?m not too sure about Pinklon Thomas to be honest with you, and I have seen James Green fight and he was a tough dude?.slightly heavier than Jose, at 160 pounds. It would certainly be a war. I did hear something about Green being honored by a group in New Jersey?don?t quote me on it, but I remember hearing something about that.
The Tyson exhibitions might be over. It isn?t about competition. It is about seeing Iron Mike in action, but people were misled by the promotion and got ?done dry? according to most. The PPV buys had to be in the toilet for this one. When you have an event like this and you want to put I on PPV, you need to have some good supporting bouts, but they did not. They said: ?Here?s crap, and more crap, and more crap, and now give me thirty dollars.?
Steve Lott was a great interview. The Steve Lott and Cal Deal are my two favorite interviews that I have had the pleasure to conduct. Every once in a while, you get a subject that is really articulate and animated and Lott is surely that. I will tell you this. Most of my interviews last about 20-45 minutes. Not too long. The Lott and Deal interviews were over 2 hours each. The Mike Tyson and Rubin ?Hurricane? Carter lives are just so interesting to me that when I get a chance to speak with somebody that can tell a story and isn?t afraid to say what he feels, you get something special. I can?t tell you how many boxers won?t say anything negative about the industry or the people running the show, and with good reason. Their livelihood depends on them. So, when I get a guy like Deal or Lott, or Shannon Briggs, the interview is that much better.
Miguel Cotto destroys Kermit Cintron in an exciting and short fight, and I look forward to your future questions/comments my friend.
PAC-MORALES lll
Hi Geno,
It’s me again …. am busy this past few weeks and i was not able to comment some of your write up…
Today your Breakdown issue is one of the best analysis on this big figth The Grand Finale!
Me too i would like to see Pacman knocking down “El Terrible” but as you have said … Eric will come on November 18th with everything he got! Maybe in full battle gear and with 110% preparation!
Am a big PacMan fan and always believe that he is one tough guy yet i admired Eric for his gallant training to make this battle a must await boxing bout of the year…
By the way, i have bought my ticket for the bout , Let’s hope that this will be one big boxing success for all the boxing fans all over the world.
Cheers Mate,
Hubs Pogi
Hubs,
My man chubs, what?s up? I appreciate the compliments on the breakdown. It should be interesting and you should get your money?s worth. It?s something that you can tell your kids that you went and saw Manny in action. I still want to see Mike Tyson in action?even if it?s just an exhibition. Good fight or bad fight, it will mean a lot to you for sure dude and I hope that you have a great time. I have a couple of my boys heading down there for the fight as well. I wish that I could have gone, but I live in New England, and Manny needs to come to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. They have money falling out of their asses and could afford a Pacman bout. They?d make it up in their casinos.
You see, I have two issues when it comes to seeing fights in Vegas or beyond. One, no money. Two, deathly afraid of airplanes. I was on an airplane once and they had to use a crowbar to pry my hands from the arms of the seat. Those things are scary!
GRAND FINALE Geno,
I certainly do agree with your assesment on the outcome for their their third fight. Despite this, you forgot to make mention that Manny suffered a bad cut from an accidental head butt in their first fight.
Add to this Eriks not taking a tuneup fight and his difficulty in meeting weight makes me think it will be an even shorter fight.
One look at Erik during the weigh-in before the fight and I can wager a pretty hefty bet against him if he turns up looking all dried up again.
Primo
Primo,
I don?t put much weight into the cut being an issue in the first fight. I think that Pacquiao couldn?t steamroll Morales like he assumed he would and didn?t fight the right fight. In the first round, he hit Morales with a body shot that nearly crumbled him, but he never went back downstairs. He allowed Morales to maintain distance and use his superior skill to control. Now, in the rematch, Manny adjusted, added a right hook and a consistent body attack to win by TKO. Now, here we are. The rubber match and the weight fluctuation and time off have to play a part in this without question, but I do think that we will see a better Morales in the third bout.
MORALES-BARRERA IV
geno,
first and foremost goodday to you my friend and may you have more blessings to come ‘coz you’re truly a blessing to us boxing fans.
i just want to comment on an article i’ve read few days ago that WBC (if i’m not mistaken) was insisting that MAB should fight the winner of pac-em trilogy. I think they should never, never, never give the fight to EM in case he beats PACMAN my reason is people won’t be excited to watch a part 4 of these two fighters and besides, what’s the best thing that can happen to EM?is just to even up with MAB and if this happens there will be a part 5 between these two clowns (i said clowns ‘coz they’re making a fool out of us boxing fans)I think win or lose there should be MAB-PAC 2 and i’m pretty sure that boxing fans would love to see a MAB-PAC 2 than MAB-EM 4. Your thoughts on this will be greatly appreciated.
thanks
atong
Atong,
What is going on my friend? Thank you for the blessings and surely they are returned to you as well.
Marco Antonio Barrera is going to be forced into a rematch with Pacman whether he likes it or not. The money men have spoken and they have spent a lot of time grooming him to rematch the man that destroyed him. His health is a far second compared to the money that a rematch would generate. As far as Erik pulling the upset and a fourth bout occurs between these two Mexican legends, I?d say that it falls into the category: who cares? They are both beyond their prime, proven equal in every category, really, and the only thing that another bout would achieve would be some more cash for the promoters and another chance for HBO to charge 50 bucks per household for a mediocre fight. I have absolutely no interest in seeing Morales-Barrera IV.
ONE LAST FIGHT
Geno,
I admire PBF’s boxing skills (fast feet, great head/body movement, and quick [though not so powerful Welterweight] hands). However, am getting tired of PBF beating up on sub-par competition, not fighting the ones boxing fans would love to see him fight (watched the fight w/ Baldomir until around Round 8).
Contrast PBF’s fights in the last years with that of the PacMan:
Pac fought Ledbawa for the SuperBantamweight title when Ledbawa was on a streak of I think 20+ victories, with 8 successful title defenses. Pac KO’d Ledbawa in 6 rounds. Pac then jumped to Featherweight and KO’d Barrera. He then fought the technically-superior JMM to a draw, then jumped to SuperFeatherweight and fought El Terrible (losing a decision and KO’ing [!] Morales n d rematch). Great run for a former SuperFlyweight.
Around & in between said fights w/ very good fighters, Pac KO’d Edwin Lucero (then undefeatd w/ a good KO record), the tough Agapito Sanches (in a rugged ugly brawl, w/ Sanchez fighting dirty & getting points deducted), fought Yezmangbetov (the Kazakh champion, in another slugfest, with both fighters going down, then Pac finishing by KO), Fahsan 3K Battery (Thai champion who had KO’d several Filipino fighters; Pac lifted him off his feet w/ a KO punch), Hector Velasquez, and Oscar Larios (a very tough Mexican).
If PBF had gone such a warrior path, who do you think PBF would have fought by now? PBF fighting fellow elite fighters while taking on dangerous fights (like Sugar Ray).
Pac has risen divisions and has kept knocking them out. Contrast that to PBF’s avoidance of Kosta Tsyu and the other dangerous fighters in the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions (waiting for the “right” opponent…).
A yellow belly the top boxing dog? He’s definitely the most skilled around, but the top fighter he’s not.
Now he say’s he may be retiring next year. Then I think he should and let’s forget about him. If he doesnt have the courage to fight other top-level fighters then he should move on to another area. I for one am not that interested to watch Mayweather versus ODLH (& I think Oscar may be thinking about his legacy and would not like a bad showing in his farewell fight).
BTW, I agree w/ the commentators that though the Roman costume was funny, it was PBF’s facial expression that really did it.
But that one commentator who kept saying that PBF was thinking of whether to knock out Baldomir, oh please . . .
Rob
Rob,
I was very frustrated with the selection of Carlos Baldomir as the opponent and then when they placed it on PPV, it was disgusting. Baldomir is the type of guy that should be a tune up for a PPV, not a PPV. You know, I agree with you to a certain extent. PBF is freezing the ball. He is taking on guys that aren?t really a challenge so that he doesn?t risk the $$$$ showdown with De La Hoya.
There is no doubt that Pacman has faced the better opposition, recently, but PBF is undefeated and basically, untouched. He had a close shave with Castillo, but he showed him up in the rematch. So, it will take a lot to push him out of that spot, but it is frustrating to see him take on these mediocrities.
Anyway, I?m done with this mailbag! I can?t take anymore! I will catch you all next Saturday. Enjoy the Calvin Brock-Wladimir Klitschko bout tonight free on HBO. Yes, I did say Free. This is not a PPV. They musta forgot.
