?A boxing promise is like Confederate money, worthless and out of date.??Joe Frazier
Saturday night at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, the tripleheader broadcast by HBO Boxing After Dark featured three title fights that were action-packed but noncompetitive.
Maybe we should expect nothing less. No promoter wants to risk his property. No network wants to risk its investment. But when a fight card is billed, properly as it turns out, as three championship fights, we?d also like for there to be championship competition to pump up the narrative.
In the first fight of the night, Rocky Martinez (26-2-1) defended his WBO super featherweight title against Juan Carlos Burgos (31-1). Burgos, fighting out of the blue corner in black trunks with multicolored trim, established early on that he was the superior boxer-puncher. He took charge by dictating the pace, landing the heavier shots, and going to the body so the head might die.
Martinez, fighting out of the red corner in blue trunks with red trim, fought as though his reputation, no less than his title, was on the line. He had his moments, for which we are grateful, but it was a sloppy performance as Burgos methodically broke his man down both physically and psychologically. At the bout?s end it was obvious that Burgos had punched the fight right out of his opponent. The reading of the scores, this once, was a formality.
But nothing is ever simple in boxing. It?s the one sport where up is down, black is white, good is bad, right is wrong, and art is commerce. Needless to say, so regularly does it occur, two of the three judges got it wrong, and one of the two judges got it very wrong. Waleska Roldan scored the fight correctly, 117-111for Burgos. John Signorile had it a114-114 draw, which might be acceptable during Christmas when the spirit of giving is in the air. But Tony Paolillo had it 112-116, inexplicably in favor of Martinez. We don?t as a rule advocating shooting of any kind, but just this once we?re willing to make an exception.
The fight was ruled a draw and Martinez undeservedly retained his title.
In the second fight of the night, WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (25-0) successfully defended his title against the game but outclassed Gabriel Rosado (21-6). Golovkin, fighting out of the red corner in white trunks with green trim, looks like he?s all that he?s been cracked up to be. He may be just what the doctor ordered for our ailing sport. He has superb balance, heavy hands, and a serial killer instinct. Blend that holy trinity with a winning personality and boxing has someone to not only watch, but someone to admire.
Major props need to be given to Rosado. Fighting out of the blue corner in blue trunks with red, white and blue trim, he gave it his all and then some. Golovkin drew first blood in round two, second blood in round three, and third, fourth and fifth blood as the fight progressed. When the fight was finally stopped at the end of round seven, Rosado?s face was his red badge of courage, a mask of red death. It was, of course, only blood. Bleeding is the least of a boxer?s concerns. But HBO is a family network and as such embraces family values or some variation thereof. There is True Blood and there is TRUE BLOOD, and the two are worlds apart. But that said, in deference to the squeamish, there?s not an ounce of quit in Rosado. He moved up in weight to tangle with the best of the best while other bests of the best are avoiding GGG like the plague.
Let?s give a round of applause to Gabriel Rosado, loser and still champion.
In final fight of the night, Orlando Salido (39-12-2) defended his WBO featherweight title against budding superstar and #1 ranked Mikey Garcia (31-0). The 32-year-old Salido, fighting out of the red corner in black trunks trimmed with gold, was expected to give the 25-year-old all he could handle. But Garcia, fighting out of the blue corner in white trunks with blue trim, took the veteran and soon-to-be former champion to school.
Garcia is a textbook fighter, as eloquent as they come, the very embodiment of what it means to be a sweet scientist. He stays cool, calm and collected under any and all circumstances. His long arms and educated jab keep would-be pursuers like Salido at bay. But that?s not all. He can also punch and punch hard. Garcia dropped his opponent twice in round one, once in round three, and again in round four. Being that far down in the scorecards left Salido with little choice but to go for broke?and he did exactly that in round eight when he broke Garcia?s nose with what was ruled an accidental headbutt. There was much debate as whether the headbutt was in fact accidental or not. There was next to no debate as to whether the fight should be stopped.
In the post-fight interview, Mikey Garcia, looking a little worse for wear, spoke about the stoppage, as the crowd booed lustily in the background.
?It?s not as good a feeling as I might have had,? he said. ?Accidents like this happen all the time. You?ve seen this shit. It?s accidental. I told him, ?You gave me the opportunity to fight for your world title. I?m glad you gave me the opportunity. If you want that rematch?you fought your heart out, you?re a true warrior?I?ll give you that opportunity just like you gave me. It was an accidental headbutt. You didn?t intend for this to happen.??
Garcia was gracious and generous. That should have been that. Max Kellerman would have been wise to leave well enough alone. But he was not, and he did not, and asked Garcia if he had broken his nose before.
?This is the first time. I fought with a broken thumb once. But it?s hard for me to breathe a little bit, so the referee and doctor came and took a look and said it?s broken. It?s not as painful as the headbutt, but it?s hard to breathe.?
I?m in front of a keyboard, not in the ring, and am not suggesting that Garcia should have continued fighting. That?s for him and his corner and the doctor and referee to decide. But there?s ample historical precedent for fighting through the pain. There might even be precedent for fighting when it?s hard to breathe. I wouldn?t go so far as to say that it?s the feminization of boxing, as some have suggested, any more than it?s the feminization of masculinity itself. But it was an unsatisfying end to a not wholly satisfying night of boxing, and someone needs to tell it like it is.
