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 Broner vs. Maidana, a new player in the welterweight division, a recap of all the great fights from this past week, including another fighter destroyed by Guillermo Rigondeaux, the 2014 International Boxing Hall of Fame class, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from the Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
Adrien Broner faces the biggest test of his young career on Saturday night. Everyone thinks that his fight with Marcos Maidana will be competitive, and it’s hard to argue that it won’t be. Maidana has mind-numbing power, heart and will that could break down cement walls, and a world-class trainer who has made him a much more complete fighter in a short amount of time. However, I’m going to go out on a limb and say Broner will dominate this fight. Marcos Maidana has the power to knock anyone out, and no disrespect to “Chino” because I am a huge fan, but facts are facts, and no matter how improved he is with trainer Robert Garcia, Maidana is still leaps and bounds slower than Broner. I believe we’ll see Broner use a bit more movement than he has in the past because he isn’t going to trade with Maidana, and the Argentine will have a tough time finding his target. Broner will win this fight easily via unanimous decision.
If you don’t believe speed kills, you didn’t watch Shawn Porter beat Devon Alexander Saturday night. I have to admit, I completely underestimated Porter. I didn’t take into account the fact that he recently moved down from junior middleweight (154lbs), and I thought Alexander had the speed advantage going into the fight. I don’t necessarily think Porter is much faster than Alexander, but I think Alexander might not have been prepared for how quick Porter really is. I don’t think anybody really was. Don’t get things twisted, Devon Alexander is still very much a player in the welterweight division, and he will be in a big fight very soon because he truly takes on all comers, but Saturday night was “Showtime” Shawn Porter’s night, and the new IBF champion announced himself as a player in the loaded welterweight division. I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if we see Porter take on the winner of Broner vs. Maidana or Keith Thurman, should he defeat Jesus Soto Karass this Saturday night.
Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi is still one of the top dogs at welterweight. Anyone who thinks Malignaggi is not one the best 147lb fighters in the world is absolutely insane. Looking at his past few fights (including a razor-thin split decision loss to Broner), Malignaggi has proven he can still compete at the highest level. Zab Judah may have looked old in the loss, but give credit where credit is due. Malignaggi was a large reason Judah looked sub-par Saturday night. Malignaggi looked like a 28-year-old fighter again, rather than the old, 33-year-old fighter most peg him to be now. Malignaggi still has some fight left in him, and, as he said after his win, now that Al Haymon is on his team, bigger and better things are ahead. That means more money is headed toward Paulie’s pockets.
By the way, Thurman vs. Soto Karass could be a Fight of the Year! The entire Showtime card Saturday night is loaded with action, but Thurman vs. Soto Karass could steal the show. This is one fight you definitely don’t want to miss. As mentioned before, if Thurman wins, he could face Shawn Porter or he could face Paulie Malignaggi.
Speaking of fights you shouldn’t have missed, welcome back James Kirkland! If you missed the HBO Boxing After Dark card this past Saturday, you didn’t miss much action in the main event, or the opening bout, but the co-feature was an absolute war that saw Kirkland completely batter and overwhelm the previously undefeated Glen Tapia. I know Tapia is known as a tough guy, and this fight was supposed to be a stepping stone for bigger and better things, but Kirkland dished out the type of beating that could leave lasting effects on Tapia’s health for the rest of his life. In just over 5 rounds, Kirkland landed almost 300 power punches, and none of those punches were thrown at any less than 100% power. At the end of the 3rd round, Tapia’s body language told me everything. He knew he wasn’t going to survive the fight. His corner gets an “F” because, while Tapia is a tough guy, the look in his eyes should have told them everything they needed to know. I’m not saying it’s easy for a corner to know when to stop a fight, but in the case of Saturday night, I thought it was pretty clear that Tapia knew he didn’t have it after the 3rd round. Tapia’s heart gets an “A”, but his corner failed him miserably. He may never be the same again.
Guillermo Rigondeaux may retire as one of the most under-appreciated boxers of this generation. As I mentioned above, if you missed the HBO main event, you didn’t miss much, but that is no fault of Rigondeaux. “El Chacal” made former bantamweight titlist Joseph Agbeko afraid to throw punches. Agbeko’s trainer, Roger Mayweather, even criticized his own fighter for not taking chances and letting his hands go. All credit goes to Rigondeaux for that performance. Agbeko came into the fight averaging 78 punches per round. He threw 29 per round against Rigondeaux. Of those 29, he landed 48 total punches, or 4 per round. Rigondeaux is far and away the best fighter south of the junior welterweight division. The only other man who might be in his league, pound-for-pound, under 140lbs. is Mikey Garcia.
Erislandy Lara put on a clinic against Austin Trout. I thought this fight was 50/50 going in, but Lara stepped up to the plate. He consistently beat Trout to the punch and Trout had no answers. After that performance, I’d be shocked if Golden Boy Promotions would take the risk of putting Canelo in the ring with Lara. If Miguel Cotto doesn’t accept Golden Boy’s $10 million offer to fight Canelo March 8th, I’m going to guess that Carlos Molina will get the nod. Lara will just have to continue waiting because he looked too good on Saturday night.
Sakio Bika and Anthony Dirrell should fight in a rematch. I know that Dirrell was disappointed getting a draw, and I know Bika said he wants to move on to bigger and better things, but the fight was very competitive, and the fact that everyone’s personal scorecard was different proves that nobody really knows who the better fighter is. I would pay to watch this match-up again. The WBC needs to make it a mandatory fight as soon as possible.
Chris John has finally been dethroned. Simpiwe Vetyeka is the first man in 52 professional fights to come out victorious against the long-reigning, now former, featherweight champion. Vetyeka overwhelmed John forcing the Indonesian legend to quit on his stool after the 6th round. Congratulations goes out to Vetyeka, and another congratulations goes out to John for such an astounding reign as champion.
Darren Barker deserves an immediate rematch with Felix Sturm. For anyone who missed it, the record will show that Sturm took Barker’s IBF middleweight title via 2nd-round TKO; however, it was an apparent dislocated hip which caused Barker’s team to throw in the towel and give the title to Sturm. The injury is serious enough that Barker is considering retirement, and Sturm has already said he’ll give Barker a rematch (Barker does have a rematch clause), but Barker may not ever be able to fight again. Something tells me though, if Barker is able to come back, he will. Nobody ever wants to retire due to injury, and Barker’s competitive spirit may be just the thing that pushes him to make one final comeback. If Barker does not come back, Sturm may look to defend his title against Matthew Macklin, a man who beat undefeated prospect Lamar Russ Saturday night, and a man whom Sturm won a very controversial split decision against in 2011.
It’s good to be a Mayweather Promotions prospect right now. 6 of the Mayweather Promotions fighters were victorious on Friday night on ShoBox, and 5 of the wins came by knockout. J’Leon Love, Badou Jack, Mickey Bey, Chris Pearson, and Luis “Cuba” Arias all won their fights inside the distance. Veteran Ashley Theophane was victorious via split decision. One thing Mayweather is doing for sure is getting his fighters on TV (even though Theophane and Arias were off TV this time), and these young fighters are gaining a lot of exposure. On top of that, these fighters are routinely featured on big time undercards of Mayweather fight cards and Golden Boy Promotions fight cards.
The opening two bouts on Showtime Saturday night are also can’t-miss affairs. All boxing fans knows Leo Santa Cruz, and they know he brings non-stop action to the ring. A lot of fans have not yet seen WBA light heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov though. If you think Santa Cruz is fun to watch, Shumenov is the light heavyweight equivalent. Shumenov routinely throws over 1,000 punches per fight. He is a can’t-miss, all-action fighter. Don’t forget on Sho Extreme, before the opening bouts on Showtime, former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor returns to the ring to take on J.C. Candelo, as does Ricardo Alvarez, the brother Canelo Alvarez, as he takes on Rod Salka.
Lost in the big fight shuffle this weekend is a very interesting NBC Sports Network Fight Night card from Atlantic City. The enigmatic, undefeated, 41-year-old heavyweight contender Amir Mansour takes on once beaten Kelvin Price. Also returning to the ring is light heavyweight contender, and once defeated, Ryan Coyne, who takes on Lionel Thompson in Coyne’s first fight since being freed from the shackles of Don King. Steve Cunningham also makes his return on the undercard.
Also lost in the mix is the Fox Sports 1 fight card, Friday night, featuring the return of Josesito Lopez. Lopez will take on Mike Arnaoutis in what should be a welterweight clash with a ton of fireworks.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios pulled in less than 500,000 pay-per-views? Yikes! No wonder Bob Arum has picked up the chatter recently about once again making Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. If he thinks 50/50 is still fair, though, he might finally be suffering the effects of getting old.
Does anyone want to take bets that Roy Jones Jr. will be fighting Santa Claus on December 21st? First, he was facing Bobby Gunn. Now, he’s supposed to be facing Zine Eddine Benmakhlouf in a “Winner Take All” match-up. Now, as of late Sunday night, reports surfaced that James Toney (yes that James Toney) is willing to step in and face Jones in Russia as well. I’m going to predict that Jones will fight Santa Claus, in the North Pole, on December 21st (we have to give the winner time to heal), with the winner being the one who will deliver all the toys to children all over the world on Christmas Eve. That might be a Jones Jr. fight worth watching at this point.
By the way, Victor Ortiz sounds more and more lost every time he speaks. I’m a fan of Ortiz as a fighter because you never know what’s going to happen in his fights, but Showtime, and Golden Boy Promotions, needs to place him in an interview class because he sounds stoned every time he speaks. Amir Khan looked like the most uncomfortable person in the world having to sit next to Ortiz for an interview Saturday night. I’m looking forward to Ortiz’s return against Luis Collazo, January 30th, but I wouldn’t mind if I didn’t have to hear another Ortiz interview until after that fight.
Congratulations to the 2014 Inductees into the International Boxing Hall of Fame! Oscar de La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, and Joe Calzaghe lead this year’s class, along with legendary promoter, Barry Hearn. Referee, Richard Steele, also gets inducted, along with 7 other well-deserving inductees. Congratulations to all!
R.I.P. to Baby Jake Matlata, boxing’s smallest world champion. The shortest man to ever win a major world title, Matlata passed away Saturday morning at the tender age of 51. The South African champion stood 4’10” tall, but had the heart of a 7-footer. Matlata is survived by his wife and two children. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week’s email comes to us from Issac Middleton regarding a potential Mayweather vs. Khan match-up in May…
“Hey David, I love the weekly Observe & Fight column. I NEVER miss a Monday update. Keep up the great work! I wanted to get your opinion on the possibility of a Mayweather-Khan bout. Unfortunately, all the signs are pointing to Khan being the next opponent for Floyd Mayweather in May. I am a big Mayweather fan but I cannot justify paying $75 for a Pay Per View that will be nothing more than a glorified sparing session in favor of Mayweather.
Lets face it, Khan doesn’t even have a punchers chance against Mayweather. Khan has never fought at the welterweight limit, he looked very bad against Julio Diaz in his last fight & he was knocked out cold by Danny Garcia. How in the world can Mayweather & Golden Boy sell this fight to the public? Mayweather’s last 4 opponents came off of big victories before stepping into the ring against Floyd. Khan has done nothing to deserve a fight against the welterweight champion.
Its pretty obvious that Mayweather will be fighting at the welterweight limit in May so my question to you is, who do you think Floyd Mayweather should fight? Now I understand that there are a lot of politics right now in boxing with the Golden Boy/Top Rank feud preventing the Pacquaio/Mayweather bout, and I understand that Danny Garcia has made it clear he is not interested in fighting Mayweather in May, but there has to be a more credible opponent for Mayweather other than Amir Khan right?
Thanks for reading my email. Cheers!”
I appreciate the support. Honestly, you’re right that all signs point to Khan, and I think Showtime using him as a commentator Saturday night was pretty clear that he is going to be the guy. Khan doesn’t have a chance against Mayweather and I think Mayweather will KO him.
Danny Garcia is the most deserving fighter whom boxing politics wouldn’t stop from making happen, but I think that fight will happen in September.
Timothy Bradley is the most deserving fighter in the world, but we all know that cannot happen.
The biggest problem is that Mayweather is far and away the best fighter in the world, and no matter who is in front of him, Mayweather will make them look ordinary.
Gennady Golovkin is another guy who would be a challenge, but that fight would have to take place at 154, and the HBO vs. Showtime problem comes into play.
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.
