It’s Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer’s compilation of observations and random thoughts from the week that was in boxing. Get caught up on some of the most recent events you may have missed out on, including a preview of this weekend’s Pacquiao vs. Rios pay-per-view, the return of Andre Ward, Carl Froch’s upcoming bout, the arrest of Yuriorkis Gamboa, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from the Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
How will Manny Pacquiao respond when Brandon Rios hits him flush? I personally feel Pacquiao will be just fine, and I think he is going to take Rios’ punches well, but nobody really knows how a person will react the first time they get seriously rocked following a devastating knockout. Pacquiao has bounced back from knockouts before (he was knocked out early in his career), and his career seemed to bounce back quite well as evidenced by becoming the 2nd biggest fighter in boxing. Rios is surely going to test Pacquiao, and Pacquiao is going to have a tough night’s work because nobody is going to be tougher to break than Rios. I think Pacquiao will win the fight, but Rios is going to take Pacquiao’s mind to the brink. If Pacquiao passes the test, he is okay. If he shows signs of frustration or a defeated mentality, Freddie Roach may want to seriously consider having the retirement talk with “Pac Man.”
The undercard of this Top Rank show might actually be worth watching. In the past, even Top Rank’s undercard of Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Marquez, Top Rank has not put together a solid undercard, focusing almost solely on the main event and hoping people pay to watch. This Saturday, though, Top Rank is marching to a different beat. Chinese gold medal winner Zou Shiming will return, which will get the Chinese audience excited. Heavyweight knockout artist Andy Ruiz should be in a slug-fest with Tor Hamer in what is surely going to end before going to the scorecards. The rematch for the IBF featherweight title between Evgeny Gradovich and Billy Dib will be an awesome Fight of the Year contender, if it is anything like their initial war in March when Gradovich shocked the world and toook Dib’s title belt. Excellent job by Top Rank making this entire pay-per-view worth watching.
Andre Ward is the master of his domain. Edwin Rodriguez had no chance from the start. The two fighters are not only in different leagues, they are on different planets. Ward deserves to be placed in the status of “elite” in a day where the word is thrown around far too often. Nobody at super middleweight can challenge Ward. I know Gennady Golovkin’s name is being thrown around, but that’s not going to happen until at least late 2014. I know that Adonis Stevenson is fighting in two weeks, and HBO is hoping to setup a showdown with Sergey Kovalev, but I would personally LOVE to see Ward move up to light heavyweight and take on Stevenson in Canada for the light heavyweight crown. That’s a big money, pay-per-view quality fight that HBO has the ability to make.
I didn’t get a chance to catch the HBO special on Mike Tyson, so don’t ask yet. Check back next week.
I am a big fan of James DeGale, even if some fans still aren’t sold. I know George Groves (who fights Carl Froch this Saturday) beat DeGale two years ago, but he’s learning from his mistakes and continues to grow as a fighter. I wouldn’t rule him out to eventually win a world title. Dyah Davis is no easy opponent, yet DeGale made it look very easy. That could be a very good sign for the future.
“Czar” Glazkov still has some work to do, but he was in a tough spot. Anyone who thought Glazkov should have knocked out late replacement Garrett Wilson has to understand that when a fighter is training for one style and, two days before the fight, has to fight a replacement, they’re in a tough spot. I was really hoping to see Glazkov vs. Tomasz Adamek, and maybe we’ll still see it, but Glazkov should not be penalized in the eyes of boxing fans.
Carl Froch vs. George Groves is a very intriguing match-up. Froch is always in interesting fights and I’ll make sure I’m in front of the television to watch it. Groves is untested, but very talented. I don’t know if he is biting off a bit more than he can chew at this stage in his career. Groves is the fresh, young, hungry fighter. Froch has been through some serious battles, and I’m wondering, at the age of 36, how much longer his body can maintain the pace and style at which he fights at. I guess we’ll have to wait and see come Saturday.
IBF cruiserweight champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez is in for a fight against Alexander Alekseev this weekend. Hernandez has been away from boxing for 14 months and he’s going up against a knockout artist in Alekseev. This is my upset special of the week. I’m taking Alekseev to win the IBF cruiserweight title via late knockout over Hernandez.
David Haye has been advised to retire following his recent shoulder surgery. Should I be sad about this? If I’m supposed to be sad, I didn’t get the memo.
Yuriorkis Gamboa was arrested for the 2nd time in 3 years for domestic violence. I’m not by any means implicating Gamboa because the facts have not all come out, but Gamboa’s name has been in the news a lot lately, and it hasn’t been because of his boxing skills. Gamboa is also part of the Biogenesis investigation that nailed some prominent Major League Baseball players. Gamboa’s life outside the ring has been the biggest reason for his lack of success and super-stardom inside the ring. I hope he can straighten things out because he is still one of the most exciting fighters in boxing.
It’s great to hear heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov is improving! According to reports, Abdusalamov’s doctors hope to bring him out of his medically-induced coma in the next few days and they think he has a chance for survival. That’s a drastic change from last week when doctors didn’t think he was going to live. Please keep on praying and sending support to Abdusalamov and his family.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week’s email comes to us from Jonathan H. regarding Tomasz Adamek withdrawing from his bout with “Czar” Glazkov and boxers being unprofessional…
“What is it with boxers pulling out of fights and withdrawing with injuries or illnesses? I mean, athletes play hurt all the time. MJ played with the flu in basketball. Even Gennedy Golovkin fought with the flu. Why can’t fighters just play hurt because I don’t think it’s professional for fighters to keep backing out of fights, especially the week of the fight.”
First of all, Jonathan, I think the second sentence in your email is the biggest argument against you. You said, “athletes PLAY hurt all the time.” Athletes PLAY basketball. They PLAY football. Nobody PLAYS boxing. Boxing is the most brutal sport in the world (along with MMA) and fighters literally risk their lives every time they step foot through those ropes. To call a fighter unprofessional for pulling out of a fight would be like me calling a local Joe-Schmoe unprofessional for taking a sick day at work. The difference is, local Joe-Schmoe’s don’t risk their lives sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day.
The truth of the matter is that most fighters go into fights with minor injuries that were caused in training camp, but it is nothing significant to keep them from fighting and earning a payday. What you don’t understand is that when a fighter pulls out of a fight, they are sacrificing a payday. Boxers don’t get paid until AFTER they fight. For Adamek to pull out of the fight, he must really not have been feeling up to it because he is sacrificing a ton of money. When Golovkin fought with the flu, if you watched the 2 Days HBO produced, there was serious consideration to pull him out of the fight; however, he improved significantly as the fight grew closer.
The other argument to make is that in sports like basketball, football, etc., one loss is not detrimental to your career. In boxing, one loss can change your career path significantly. If one loss is going to hurt my career significantly, you better make darn well sure I’m going to be as close to 100% as I possibly can be.
That’s all I’ve got for this week. Email any questions or comments to [email protected] and I will answer them throughout the week. Your email may be featured in the next “Observe and Fight.” Follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver, and be sure to “Like” The Boxing Observer on Facebook.
