It’s Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer’s compilation of observations and random thoughts from the last 2 weeks that were in boxing. Get caught up on some of the most recent events you may have missed out on, including a preview of Bradley vs. Pacquiao 2, the successful return of Sergey Kovalev, the continuing battle between HBO and Showtime, an Upset of the Year candidate, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from the Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
Timothy Bradley and Manny Pacquiao are different fighters now than they were 2 years ago. In June 2012, Pacquiao was in the midst of a 15-fight winning streak while jumping through 5 weight divisions en route to becoming one of the top-2 pound-for-pound fighters in the world. During that streak, he had defeated the likes of Morales, Barrera, Marquez, De La Hoya, Hatton, Cotto, Mosley, and Margarito. Pacquiao was the dragon slayer and was doing it in emphatic fashion. Bradley, on the other hand, had defeated some very solid names, including Witter, Peterson, Campbell, Holt, Vazquez, Abregu, Casamayor, and Alexander. However, Bradley was seen as an inferior fighter to Pacquiao’s extraordinary skills. Bradley was a sloppy fighter who did everything good, but nothing great. Pacquiao was supposed to walk through Bradley. Anyone who watched the first fight saw Pacquiao do just that. Bradley had nothing for Pacquiao, yet the entire world witnessed one of the greatest robberies in boxing history as Bradley edged out a split decision. As it turns out, both fighters lives, and careers, changed forever that day. Since that day, Bradley has gone on to win an entirely new fan base due to his brawl with Ruslan Provodnikov and his beautiful boxing performance against Juan Manuel Marquez. Conversely, Pacquiao went on to get knocked out by Marquez before coming back to batter the punching bag that proved to be Brandon Rios in November. Pacquiao has not evolved as a fighter, and, as Bradley has pointed out on many occasions during the lead-up to the fight, Pacquiao seems to have lost that killer instinct. Bradley, on the other hand, has shown the world that he can win any type of fight he is placed in. Bradley will have two good feet under him during this fight and will outbox Pacquiao to win a close decision. I am predicting that Bradley will retain his WBO welterweight title by a score of 116-112.
Doesn’t it seem weird that every strength and conditioning coach Pacquiao has had in the past have had problems with Freddie Roach? My wife was actually the one who pointed this out to me after watching episode 2 of 24/7, Saturday night. Justin Fortune, who worked with Pacquiao from 2002-2007, is back in Pacquiao’s corner and openly admitted that his first working partnership with Pacquiao ended in a dispute between he and Roach. Throw Alex Ariza in the mix as well. I’ve said it many times before, but Roach has allowed his fame and popularity to go to his head. It’s okay to be confident and have an ego in boxing. I actually believe it’s an advantage. Roach, though, has had issues with criticism, and it has affected his work. If you don’t have thick skin, you are in the wrong profession.
Sergey Kovalev is going to be tough to beat at 175lbs. I finally got the chance to watch Kovalev defeat Cedric Agnew two Saturdays ago and I have to say that I was shocked to see all the negative reviews about Kovalev’s performance. It is difficult for a guy to look good against a defensive-minded fighter who is unwilling to engage but would rather just survive. Kovalev still has a few opponents which are viable options in his next fight. Jean Pascal is a name that comes to mind. Also, Juergen Braehmer, who just defeated Enzo Maccarinelli to retain his WBA light heavyweight title on Saturday, would be another viable option as it would be a title unification.
This stupid feud between HBO and Showtime is getting to be ridiculous! Before, it was just Top Rank and Golden Boy/Al Haymon. Now, other promoters have begun to chime in about their issues with boxing’s Cold War. Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events Promotions and Kovalev’s promoter, is frustrated with the recent signing of Adonis Stevenson by Al Haymon. Rick Reeno of Boxingscene.com recently published a story chronicling the Kovalev vs. Stevenson debacle and included quotes from other major promoters, including Dan Goossen, Gary Shaw, and Lou DiBella. These are by no means small-time promotional outfits. Unless HBO and Showtime make a concerted effort to bury the hatchet and allow the best fights to be made, this thing is going to get worse before it gets better. The more people who chime in on this mess, the worse this Cold War is going to get.
We have another candidate for Upset of the Year! Over the weekend, Naoya Inoue, in just his 6th pro fight, defeated long-reigning WBC light flyweight champion Adrian Hernandez by 6th round TKO in Tokyo. The fight wasn’t really competitive either, which was a shock to many. Inoue has no shortage of future options, but don’t be surprised to see a rematch between Inoue and Hernandez.
The undercard of Pacquiao vs. Bradley has the potential to be pretty solid, but could also be a dud. The main event is going to be action-packed because of the history between the two fighters. The co-feature fight could have stolen the show when it was supposed to be Ray Beltran vs. Rocky Martinez, but now that Martinez has fallen out, I don’t see Beltran vs. Arash Usmanee (who is rumored to be replacing Martinez) living up to the hype. In the televised opener, look for 21-year-old Jose Felix Jr. to overpower veteran, junior lightweight champion Bryan Vasquez. That fight is followed by WBA junior welterweight champion, and relative unknown, Khabib Allakherdiev, defending his title against Jessie Vargas in a battle of two unbeaten fighters. This is the fight that could disappoint, but the overall card might be very strong.
What a fantastic fight card we saw Friday night on NBC Sports Network! The world was treated to a fantastic co-feature as Tureano Johnson gave Curtis Stevens everything he could handle and more. The referee may have stopped the fight prematurely, but let’s not forget what a great fight we witnessed. Hopefully, we’ll get a rematch because it was a great fight. One thing is for sure for Stevens’ future, he is going to have to cope with every opponent from here on out trying to smother him. In the main event, Steve Cunningham kept his career afloat with a big win over previously unbeaten, knockout artist Amir Mansour. Both fights should have reminded boxing fans why even the smaller fight cards can produce the most excitement. I wouldn’t mind seeing any of these 4 fighters back on television anytime in the near future.
Thomas Dulorme has an extremely bright future still ahead of him. Dulorme may have found a home at 140lbs. after defeating Karim Mayfield in the televised co-feature to Kovalev vs. Agnew. Even though Dulorme has been knocked out by Luis Carlos Abregu, Dulorme has the skills to handle any of the top fighters at junior welterweight. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him face the winner of Allakherdiev vs. Jessie Vargas.
Much congratulations to Marco Antonio Rubio for winning a world title! I know it was only an interim middleweight belt, but a world title is a world title, and this guy has earned his stripes every step of the way.
I am finally on board with the WBC! Before you jump ahead and think I’ve gone off the deep end, I’m only talking about agreeing with the WBC’s campaign against manipulating gloves. This should be a completely “No Duh” moment, and it’s sad that there has to be a campaign to not tamper with fight gloves. The gloves worn should be the ones made. No questions asked.
Heavyweight Luis Ortiz has thunder in both his hands. I don’t see the Cuban-born behemoth defeating a Klitschko brother, but I could see him knocking out any of the other top heavyweights. He still needs to improve on some things, but his power is the ultimate neutralizer.
The New Zealend Super 8 heavyweight tournament in June may be entertaining enough to watch. Just based on the names involved alone, it should bring back some serious nostalgia. Sam Peter, Martin Rogan, and Hasim Rahman are 3 of the names involved in the 8-man tourney. It’s going to be awful boxing, but it’s reminds me of the early 90’s heavyweights.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week’s email comes to us from Jeremiah H. regarding the stoppage in the Curtis Stevens vs. Tureano Johnson fight from Friday night…
“Dave, what did you think about the stoppage by the referee in the Stevens fight? It looked like Johnson was out on his feet to me. I dont have any complaints about it because Stevens could have done serious damage to a young fighter.”
Thanks for the question, Jeremiah. I actually thought the stoppage was premature. I hate criticizing referees because it is one of the toughest jobs in the world. Literally, a fighter’s life could be in your hands, and if the referee allows that fighter to take one extra punch, it could mean the difference between life and death. It is a split second decision and one that I truly think is a no-win situation. However, as a professional referee, I believe the referee should take the entire fight into consideration because of the implications of the fight and the stakes for each fighter’s career. In the Canelo vs. Angulo fight, I was 100% in favor of Tony Weeks stopping that massacre because, no matter what Angulo and his camp may say, he was doing absolutely nothing to Canelo and that wasn’t going to change. In the Stevens-Johnson fight though, yes, Johnson took some hard shots throughout, but so did Stevens. In that situation, the referee needs to allow Johnson the option to take a knee. If Johnson had taken 2 or 3 more seconds of repeated, uninterrupted punches without going down, then maybe you stop it. The barrage Stevens was throwing, after initially landing the 2 hard head shots which stunned Johnson, were mostly blocked by Johnson. Had Johnson gone down, he had his wits about him to let us all know he would have beaten the 10 count, and then who knows what would have happened over the final 40 seconds. I thought it was a poor stoppage, BUT the referee did what he thought was best, and in the world of combat sports, the referee always has the final word. Referee Gary Rosato clearly valued Johnson’s safety over glory on Friday night.
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.
