By Kevin Pasquale: In my previous article for this site, I waxed poetic on the “who, why, and what if” on Money & Manny finally getting in the ring together. If that fight comes to pass, then there will be more to say at that time—maybe enough to write another article.
But moving in a different direction, let’s do this: A bunch of bullets & random thoughts on boxing. Easy to read, and better yet, we can look at a lot of stuff in a minimum of time. So, to begin:
· – Hate to start on a negative note, but wow, what is up with Jermain Taylor?
· – Anybody know what cave Andre Ward is hiding in? Word is he’s contemplating the mysteries of life out there somewhere. C’mon back, Andre. Lots of work to do. Shake off the rust.
· – Speaking of putting in work, has there ever been a more likeable destroyer than Golovkin? (Answer: Pacman) Watching him trying to patch a sentence together in English in an interview after a KO win is always entertaining—but not quite as entertaining as watching him demolish other fighters.
– Staying with GGG, can an elite fighter PLEASE, PLEASE (Chavez, Ward, Froch, someone) fight this guy?? It’s almost comical how open the top fighters are about not wanting to fight Golovkin. He’s been calling out Cotto repeatedly, which would be a brutal mismatch, and that fight won’t happen.
· – As for Miguel Cotto, I have always been a fan, and love the dude’s heart, but he & Freddie Roach knew exactly what they were doing when they chose a crippled Sergio Martinez for his last fight in June. Easy pickings. The once outlandishly brilliant “Maravilla” got his clean bill of health, grabbed his walker and his pride, and entered the ring last year, only to be embarrassed– not by Cotto, but by his twice-surgically repaired right knee. It was an awkward and sad ending for a once- freakish athlete who relied on his legs and footwork as much as anyone in the sport. And don’t forget: Martinez also looked awful in his previous fight, 14 months earlier, against Martin Murray, in Argentina. Sergio went down in that fight as well, and had literally no offense, but was given the decision. And then he had the 2nd knee surgery. On the same knee. Only THEN did Cotto come calling. After Martinez had been calling Cotto out in previous years, to no avail. But that’s boxing.
· – One more on Cotto: if he does end up fighting Canelo Alvarez on May 2, it will be a HUGE fight. And Cotto will get KO’d in that one, in brutal fashion. It’ll remind us of his Magarito/Pacman fights. But I could be wrong…
· – Word is that Adonis Stevenson is now moving to PBS Boxing to avoid fighting Sergey Kovalev.
· – Big-ups/Kudos to PacMan on his win over Algieri. After re-watching the fight the other night, I was impressed by Pacquiao’s consistent movement, activity, pressure, power, and conditioning over the 12 rounds. That, and Mayweather’s underwhelming pair of fights against Maidana makes Money-Manny sooo attractive. Make it happen.
· – Speaking of Floyd, remember how Devon Alexander absolutely SCHOOLED Maidana over 12 rounds when they fought in February 2012? It wasn’t even a fight. Devon won every round handily. And yet, Maidana goes on to fight Floyd, and…I know, styles make fights. But, right now, there are varying degrees of vulnerability showing in Manny AND Money.
· -If you haven’t already, re-watch the end of the 3rd round between Floyd & Maidana, 2nd fight. (An easy win for Floyd.) Once the round went to under 10 seconds left, and Floyd’s back was near the ropes, near his corner, he got sloppy, lunged out at Maidana, and ate a crushing right from El Chino. The shot hurt him, and hurt him good. Floyd went a little stiff, blinked hard a couple times, and then the bell rang. Thankfully he was only a few feet away from his corner, as he was able to cautiously take 2 steps to his stool, and flop onto it, without too many people noticing the damage. Floyd later openly admitted that he was hurt by the shot. Duh.
· – Here’s an idea: Since no one legit will fight GGG, and no one legit will fight Kovalev, how about they fight EACH OTHER at a catch weight of 170?? Just sayin’.
· – There was a day long ago when I thought Andre Berto would be a superstar. Then he wasn’t. Just a thought. Still had a sweet uppercut, though.
· – Keep an eye on up-an-coming star Terence Crawford. He’s at lightweight now, and after dominating Ray Beltran last weekend, word is he’s moving up in weight. Great young talent. Made Yuriorkis Gamboa look foolish.
· – Amir Khan is still wicked fast. And still only 27 years old. And still full of defensive flaws. (Just ask Danny Garcia). But remember that beautiful, lightning-fast right-hand body shot he hit with Maidana with in the first round, when they fought in 2010, that Marcos never saw coming, and dropped him to his knees, crying out in pain? Awesome. Of course, that was the first round. And Maidana somehow got up from that shot. Fast forward 10 rounds, and Khan is wobbling around the ring, running away from Marcos on rubber-band legs, narrowly avoiding a KO, and pulling out the win. Khan’s fight with Alexander should be a good one.
· – Memo to Tyson Fury: PLEASE stop calling out Wlad Klitschko. This ongoing trend of incompetent heavyweights beating even more incompetent heavyweights in slow, sloppy fights, and then brazenly calling out the Klitschkos, only then to get brutalized by them, is getting tired.
· – As a matter of fact, once Wlad retires, the division needs to be re-named “The Big, Heavy Dude Division.” With the abysmal lack of talent in this weight class, I think the division should be re-named accordingly. A bunch of big, heavy dudes, that are not named Klitschko. Heck, maybe even Evander can come back! Just kidding.
· – Speaking of once-great heavyweights, remember when Larry Holmes fought Butterbean back in 2009?? YouTube it. Classic.
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