By Jordan Stoddart: Belly full of Turkey and beer? Check. Weird sense of impending doom and financial ruin inbound? Check. Realisation that Christmas is an unbelievable moment when utilised for its fundamental reasons, but ultimately has been exaggerated, distorted and moved so far away from what it stands for, that it is about as moralistic and soul cleansing as it is refunding that present you received yesterday which is going straight back to which ever store is stupid enough to refund it? Check. What about the next week? How the bloody hell do you get through that torrid time of travelling, shopping and drinking without losing the plot? Ahh, good old New Years Eve. It’s like its cousin and partner in crime Xmas, with drastically less presents, a lot more booze and lots more of your hard earned pennies to dispense. The chiming of those bells and the comradeship of your buddies at that crucial beginning of a new year should be the cataclysm of a great age to come. Those bucket lists, those ideas, those dreams, their all going to come to fruitation, not a minute to spare, the great year of hope and change is upon you. Doh! The Tequila and Duff beer have disappeared, you have £3.17p in your bank, you told your Boss she’s good looking but irritating, oh and the rent is due. The whole bloody thing was a hoax! Why didn’t I listen, its happened 25 times in my lifetime! Are we suitably depressed yet? Then let’s begin.
Two of the strongest and rawest reactions I have witnessed in Boxing recently were Paulie Malignaggi’s response to being pulled out in the 11th round of his (what should have been career defining) fight with Ricky Hatton back in November 2008, and his heartfelt and justified speech post his first fight with Juan Diaz (35-2) in Houston earlier this year. Paulie is brash, cocky and possesses a larger than life character. He is a great fighter in the sense he is brilliant technically, utilises his strengths well, has great reflexes, footwork, and also owns a great set of whiskers as is evident in his war with the recently defeated Miguel Cotto (34-2). On the flipside, he is the lightest puncher in his division, can sway from game plans and strategies too easily and can be found not grasping the opportunities he has admirably created, although on his day, he is a pleasure to watch and at a push can be in the mix with the best fighting out of the 140 division. Paulie lost his fight with Hatton quite easily, but do not let this result cloud your view of the Magic Man (27-3) as he himself will inform you of his bad preparation for that fight, and most evidently, his lack of discipline in the ring, highlighted ironically by his grappling and holding tactics which so many accuse Hatton of exploiting on a regular basis. To most, it seemed that the Magic Matador would return to his position as a gatekeeper of his weight division, and provide stern tests for fighters on the rise like his old foe Cotto, or maybe his supposed new foe Amir Khan. Malignaggi didn’t. He did what every other proud Italian/American fighter has done before him, and will do since; he fought his way back into the mix.
Any sane man person in the Toyota Centre, Houston on the controversial night he lost a unanimous decision to Juan Diaz would have thought immense sympathy for the fighter who was once Cotto’s worst nightmare. His infamous broken cheekbone, and blood splattered tear up with the Puerto Rican was a stepping stone to this much talked about, but more importantly well fought out loss. Yes, a loss. In the eyes of many, Paulie won. Even more confusing is the fact that the result wasn’t really the shock, it was the unbelievable and quite frankly disgraceful scoring which made Malignaggi’s record look like he had taken a punishing one sided beating, much the like the one he received from Ricky Hatton at the MGM back in 2008. Malignaggi did not perform an orthodox press conference when addressing the media back in August. He used his time well to conclude his pre-fight thoughts and predictions of biased judges, and how the general running of his and our beloved sport is ruining its actual integrity. Some might have thought ‘we didn’t need to know that’. After all, one can browse this very site and find the usual ‘boxing is dead’ statements which are constant, consistent, but mostly unfounded cries of boredom. Paulie let rip at the Politics, the fraud and the downright despicable affects of a money making, fan pleasing underworld. Man he had balls that night. It was a refreshing alternative to the ‘he was a great fighter, but I was too strong’ clichés, although the American still found time to compliment the winner by scores of 118 – 110, 115 – 113 and 116 – 112.
The rematch was a treat. I mean, it had a great storyline, backdrop and had not added spice, but a moral and personal battle brewing. One wanted to avenge that dreadful decision, on a neutral patch I might add, whilst the other needed to prove that although fundamentally The Magic Man had a point, he was outclassed and beaten well by a rising star first time out. They fought out a much better fight this time around, and man fighting out of Brooklyn, New York performed exceptionally well, at times, boxing clever with breathtaking footwork and generally outstanding althletisism and a good mixture of firepower. Dancing his way round the ring, and added mostly unseen power in his hooks and jabs, Paulie done himself and the Boxing fan justice. He won a 116 – 111 on all 3 Judges cards at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago. Around the same time as this much heralded rematch, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao had begun to sit down after their Christmas Dinners, of Juan Marquez stuffing, and Miguel Cotto, in a Turkey baked, Cranberry sauce dressed dinner, and were looking to better that, both financially and in a bigger sense a sporting spectacle unseen to most of us for decades. For 2 weeks the unthinkable seemed to happen; there were no hitches, unreasonable demands or setbacks to the negotiations for what we were being told was ‘the biggest fight since the four kings graced our screens’.
Fast forward a month and the turkey is now dry and unwanted on your plate. Tales of steroid abuse, compulsory drug tests being turned down, and the usual non attendance of Money at planned meetings once the dollar starts being discussed, have clipped this birds wings, and has no doubt robbed us paying fans of another super fight, only this one would have matched the top two pound for pound fighters in the world for the first time in years. This episode of late could well provide fuel to the ‘end of boxing’ brigade for months to come. It backs up the Italian/American fighter’s claim that greed and corruption prevail in a world where entertainment and competition should reign supreme. Manchester United play Liverpool twice every year, the same happens with the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Knicks, hell Formula One racing has everyone fighting each other every two weeks for a whole season, why not us? The fact of the matter is, Boxing is an individualistic sport, which HAS to be run by promoters and businessman, who hell yeah, have shading doings and dodgy connections, but what do you expect from a sport that is staged and fed directly in Sin City? A ‘fair world’ will never exist when over 60 belts dictate the landscape that it operates in. To me, ‘Pound 4 Pound’, ‘2 go to War’ or ‘Battle of the Planets’ does not feature in my 2010 calendar. If it happens, then that’s a excellent bonus, here is my 30 bucks, but there is too much going on in this sport already. Too much for it all to stop and gear up for another mega/super fight, I have had 4 already over the last year.
Malignaggi/Diaz II was my Christmas dinner. Built on suspicion, controversy and unproved fundamental like its festive parallel; it still did the trick when those thousands of fans sat down at the arena or in front of their TV’s. It cost money, sure it did, but those 45+ minutes hit the nail on the head. The storyline was played out with a Hollywood theme, and delivered exactly what we wanted; an unlikely winner and hero, certified entertainment and maybe a bit of justice to those who felt he was robbed in the first outing. The dust has now settled on that match up, and most already have, or did have, one eye on Pacquiao V Mayweather, the big New year celebration, that 1 fight that is going to settle the ‘best fighter’ debate, the boring but irritatingly compelling Pound for Pound debate, and the one that will be the dreaded saviour of Boxing. The fight of the decade. I think I will pass thanks. I had my fingers burned on previous New Year’s celebrations, see De la Hoya, Hatton, Juan Marquez and Hatton again. I had one unexpected party when the pride of the Philippines cemented his status against a game, but battle weary Cotto, but my well earned pounds could do without being tempted out again for another over hyped, and ultimately predictably pugilistic Superbowl. (Debatable, but all dreams fade, that is a certainty; as is Floyd Mayweather sucking in yet another over aggressive and tailor made opponent over 12 rounds, playing to his undoubted role as the finest defensive fighter that has lived over the past 15 or so years) Hours, days, months dedicated to tales of unfairness, egos to massage and PPV’s to sell, Boxing does not need another New Years party, it needs more of 2009, and more of the Christmas dinner with the family. Unexpected superstars, the nurturing of the new bread, the headline makers in Carl Froch, Edwin Valero and Andre Ward, not headline grabbing and demoralising party poopers from the Golden Boy Promotions and TopRanks of this world. More Magic, not Money. Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to all at BoxingNews24.com, ESB and the like. jordanboxing@live.co.uk
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