Review

Post fight weekend reactions have been mixed, and my predictions were 50/50, but here is a review of how I saw this weekend unfold.

The Hang Em Up Award: This goes to Shane Mosley. He came in in a great shape, talked constantly about how well he does with "come forward type fighters", and even was quoted saying "I love a good scrap"...well Shane you fooled me. Pacquiao came forward as expected, Shane ran away as unexpected, and certainly wanted no part of the "good scrap" that could have taken place. After Pac-Man rung his bell in the 3rd Round Sugar was anything but sweet. It seemed as though all he wanted to do was run, and touch gloves for 12 rounds as if it were a sparring session. Even the normally respectful Pacquiao had enough of the antics come the 10th round, when the boo's came from the crowd due to lack of action. He implored Mosley to fight by waving him in with his gloves, and giving him a "let's entertain them" type look. Mosley wanted no part of the Filipino dynamo, who fought past the 4th round with and injured left leg, and decide to survive instead of fight. To grade the performance from Manny I would give it a B at the best, but some of that has to do with his opponents decision to not fight, even though he was in a fight.

Fight of the Night: Easily Jorge Arce's upset KO of Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. was the fight of the night. Both men were hurt, both men were down, and both men fought like true warriors in the ring. This was an entertaining battle from start to finish, with Arce pulling off the upset and reclaiming a stake of the title. Excellent fight that had me on the edge of my seat.

Sobriety Award: Kelly Pavlik made his return to the ring Saturday night. Though he did not take out Lopez they way I expected him too, I can understand why. After a year of no fighting, and a few months with Betty Ford, it is totally understandable that "The Ghost" would be showing a great deal of ring rust. In the first few rounds it was quite obvious. His timing was off, and seemed to be getting hit a little too much. After that though, he started to find his range and connect of constant left hooks, rocking Lopez on many occasions. In the final rounds he closed the show by pressuring Lopez, and hurting him multiple times with left hooks, and straight rights. The only thing that bothered me was that when Kelly would back Lopez into a corner with the jab, he would not attack. This was the only major sign I saw that I'd be worried about if I were his trainer. If the Kelly Pavlik of 2.5 years ago had Lopez stuck in a corner the amount of times he had him Saturday, there is no way that fight would have made the final bell.

Fight Weekend

The Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley fight is now upon us, and roughly 36 hours away, so we will be going over final predictions for the main event and undercard brawls. The under card features, whats looks to be on paper, some action packed fights. Overall I think it would be a very good card to purchase.

The card is filled with knockout artists. Bob Arum did a good job of matching up fighters who bring the fireworks to each fight and are exciting. In the first undercard bout we have Mike Alvarado (29-0 21ko) taking on Ray Narh (25-1 21ko). This fight will provide some fireworks early and often. Alvarado is a highly thought of contender trying to put a face with a name tomorrow night in Vegas and on PPV. Narh, out of Ghana, is also a very tough customer. He possesses power in both hands, and is no push over. Expect this one to not go the distance.

In the second undercard we have GUARANTEED fireworks, why? Because Jorge Arce is in the fight. This guy would fight a heavyweight if they let him. A no fear, traditional Mexican brawler who will take 2 to give 1. His opponent is the up and coming Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (Son of the fighter of the same name) who brings a undefeated record, and excellent KO ratio, into the ring against the veteran. I see Vazquez taking this one, but not without getting his bell rung once or twice by Arce.

In the 3rd undercard bout, we have the long awaited (at least by me) return of Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik. Pavlik will be taking on the undefeated, hard hitting, Alphonso Lopez. Lopez, out of Cut and Shoot, Texas, will be a tough customer for Kelly for a return bout. I see "The Ghost" looking rusty for the first, maybe second round, and finding an opening toward the end of the second/third round. Once he sees Lopez's mistakes, the killer instinct will be brought right back to the surface, and we can look for a KO around rounds 4 or 5.

In the main event of the evening we obviously have Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao vs "Sugar" Shane Mosley fighting for the WBO Welterwight Title. I truly believe this fight will be competitive, if only for a few rounds. Mosley thrives on aggressive fighters, he loves when people attack him, and can still punch. As much as I would like to see a 12 round back and forth battle though, I see this fight being tough for the first 4-5 rounds with Pacquiao taking control, using his superior speed around the midway point, leading to a late TKO or wide decision victory for Pacman.

Simply the Best

Totally unrelated to Boxing, but still awesome....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGuhZvO1DKg

2:20 The Hulkster shows how he felt about Gaddafi in the late 80's....only if we would have let Hulkamania run wild on Libya....only if...

Upset City

The month of April has brought forth numerous upsets, and shake ups in the boxing rankings. Just this past weekend Andre Berto, and Juan Manuel Lopez both fell to opposition. Berto lost his "0" to Vicious Victor Ortiz, who answered a lot of questions fans had about him, and that he had for himself. Ortiz's most career defining moment up to this point was a 6th round surrender to the hands of Marcos Maidana in 2009. Many people doubted his heart, along with his skills, after such a display. Saturday night though Ortiz looked like a man possessed. He, if you'll excuse my cheesiness, had the Eye of the Tiger, a different look than I had ever seen him have. I am sure Berto will bounce back from the loss, maybe dropping his old P.A.L. trainer would be a good start. He has gotten him this far but can only teach him so much.

Amir Khan was bailed out by a ridiculous stoppage over Paul McCloskey. An accidental headbutt caused a cut over McCloskey's eye and the ref immediately stopped the fight without even giving his corner a chance to work on it. Khan was in control but McCloskey was any but finished. Something fishy.

Former rising star, and federal inmate, James Kirkland was starched inside one round against former champ, and light hitting Nobuhiro Ishida.

Highly touted Middleweight prospect, David Lemieux, was KO'd by tough veteran Marco Antonio Rubio last week. This fight was supposed to be a nice B-List name to add to Lemieux's resume, instead it turned into a nightmare.

Lastly, in the possible upset of the year that fell just short, Erik Morales tried to turn back the hands of father time against the young, hard hitting, Marcos Maidana and almost did. Morales found himself dealing with a nasty mouse just under his right eyelid after 2 rounds, which had him fight cautious the next few. When he let his hands go in the following rounds he did a great job of boxing and brawling, such a good job in a few peoples minds that he should have gotten the decision.

The two upcoming fights I am very excited to see play out are Carl Froch vs. Glen Johnson and (though some may not agree) Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley.

The Cobra vs. The Road Warrior
Froch is a hard hitting dude, no doubts about that, but he showed fantastic boxing skills against Arthur Abraham to basically shut him out in his last fight as well. The Cobra refuses to back down and lay off the gas, as he showed in his last second KO win against Jermain Taylor.
On the other hand you have "The Road Warrior" this guy continues to turn back the clock and take care of business. Some his KO wins being Allan Green and Roy Jones Jr. Johnson has had his fair share of losses in his career but always brings it in big fights. This should be a good one. Box Rec and ESPN have confirmed that the fight will take place in Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall so I will try to be on site for that one. Froch KO Rd 10-12

Pac-Man Vs. Sugar
Manny Pacqiuao has had a meteoric rise to the top pf boxing, politics, and fame over the past 5-6 years. He has blazed through weight classes, won titles in all of them, defeated larger men, and has done it all with a smile and charm.
Shane Mosley has struggled recently, which is expected when you are 39 years old and still holding onto boxing. In Shane's last 2 fights he was taken to school by Floyd Mayweather (outisde of a good right hand in the 2nd round), and fought to a dismal draw against former Contender star, Sergio Mora.
In this fight I can see a freak knockout though. Mosley's best fights were against straight forward guys, who bring the action toward him. He is a great counter puncher against brawlers. If you think for a second that Manny is not going to come at him and bring the fight to him, you are out of your mind. This is what gives Shane a chance. If Mosley pops him real good, Manny will go down...BUT as we saw in the Mayweather fight, Shane is old, and his conditioning can only be getting worse. Mosley is a threat inside the first 4 rounds, after that it will be Pac-Man darting in and out landing his 5-6 punch combos and putting the finishing touches on Mosley's career. Pacquiao UD or KO 11-12

What's Happenin'?

Well since last time we met up, Sergio Martinez was a KO winner, Saul Alvarez dominated Hatton, and Miguel Cotto took care of his work with Mayorga. So what's happening now?

Sam Peter is getting back at it, if anyone cared. Kelly Pavlik has been added to the Pacquiao/Mosley undercard, to fight a undefeated fighter with a padded record, so he can boost up some confidence. Zab Judah has made it public via Twitter that himself, and Juan Manuel Marquez will be mixing it up in the near future as well. Boxing seems to be putting some good cards together so far in the early going of 2011, and I hope the promoters keep up the good work for the fans.

Pacquiao and Mosley will be lacing them up soon. Some see it as a terrible matchup, some as a dangerous one for Pac-Man. I see it as both. This match will be dangerous for Pac-Man from the start of the fight toward the 4th/5th rd. From this point on Pacquiaos speed, fitness, punching accuracy, and age will carry him to a lopsided decision or TKO.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhwuzc_hangover-2-movie-trailer_shortfilms#from=embed

All Sorts of Happenings

This Saturday night I tuned in to HBO Boxing After Dark to check out the Jones vs. Soto-Karass and Donaire vs. Montiel bouts. Both lived up to expectations and were very entertaining scraps. Mike Jones, from the Fighting City of Philadelphia, boxed his was to a lopsided decision over the very game, and gutsy, Soto-Karass. Leaving Soto-Karass with a bloodied and battered face but unable to put him away. Good showing by Jones, though I do not think he has the top level speed he will need to compete for greatness.
In the main event "The Filipino Flash" Nonito Donaire scored a sensational, high-light reel, knockout of Fernando Montiel to claim the WBC and WBO Bantamweight straps. The shot Donaire caught Montiel with was vicious, actually made me exclaim "OH SHIT!" when in landed. The only wrong doing here was the referee letting Montiel continue. I understand that you should give the current champion the benefit of the doubt, but he was obviously out on his feet even though me managed to get up. His legs were flailing about when he hit the canvas and had not chance of surviving.

The spring schedule in Boxing is shaping up to be a really good one, at least on paper. We have Alverez vs. Hatton, Cotto vs. Mayorga, Martinez vs. Dzinziruk, Marquez vs. Morales, Wright vs. Macklin, Khan making his return since the sensational win over Maidana, Adamek vs. McBride, Klitschko vs. Chisora, Froch vs. Johnson, the return of Kelly Pavlik, and Pacquiao vs. Mosley. Plenty of action in the upcoming months.

The Greatest

Many of those who follow boxing always put together All Time Great lists. I've seen people with a top 10 all the way through a top 100. What I am going to do is make an ATG list of the boxers who have fought while I have been alive. The careers did not have to start after I was born, just fighters who fought between 1985 and the present. Based on talent, legacy, and overall accomplishments in the ring.

1)Sugar Ray Leonard

2)Marvin Hagler

3)Manny Pacqiuao

4)Roberto Duran

5)Floyd Mayweather Jr.

6)Roy Jones Jr.

7)Mike Tyson

8)Evander Holyfield

9)Bernard Hopkins/Larry Holmes

10) Oscar De La Hoya