The Washington Post is reporting that Bert Sugar has died of a heart attack. I always appreciated his writing and his accessibility to fans. I remember how excited my friend Kevin Gonzalez was when he met Bert in Vegas after a Cotto fight. Apparently, Sugar was gracious and delighted to talk boxing with Kevin and his father. At first, few recognized him, but as the night went on, so I am told, more and more people gathered to hear Sugar's stories, and he was happy to oblige, holding court for hours as he put em down and waved his famous cigar. Whatever you feel about Sugar, he was an icon, and this fan will be missing him for some time.

R.I.P. Bert Sugar. He was a great friend to boxing and from all accounts, a genuinely good man.

In tonight's Showtime main event, we saw another really good war between pretty evenly matched fighters. Mares brought better fundamentals to the table and landed more combinations, which proved to be the decisive factor on the Bad Left Hook scorecard, which was 116-112 for Mares. The ringside judges had it wide--maybe a bit too wide--for Mares, with all three scoring it 118-110.

Agbeko fought with more agression than the last fight, but he seldom could find a home for his big right hand. He landed a good jab against Mares in round two, which opened up a nasty cut on the right side of Mares's right eye. It looked gruesome through much of the fight, but it didn't seem to trouble Mares much, as he mainly boxed a smart and fundamentally strong fight.

Agbeko was warned a couple times for rabbit punching, but I though Mares fought dirtier. Again, the ref (this time Lou Moret) let Mares get away with some chippy fighting, though it wasn't nearly as bad as last time. Mares landed and got away with a couple of low blows, but they didn't decide the fight. What decided the fight, I believe, was Mares giving a little more when the two men locked up. He is a little faster, a little fresher, and landed tighter punches.

There were flurries of great action here, and the last round went out with a bang. Agbeko made some mental mistakes, but in the end, I think Mares won because he is just a little better than Agbeko.

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FLOYD MAYWEATHER Jr: The chicken crossed the road because he's afraid to fight me. He's nothing anyways, crossing roads I crossed already, cleaning up my sloppy seconds. I'm not saying he's on performance enhancing grain, but someone please explain to me how he got to be such a big chicken so fast. Used to be a drumstick, now he's a Kentucky Fried combo platter. He's nothing, anyways.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA: This chicken crossed the road because he is a great young Mexican fighter. There is nothing but upside for this guy. He's got sharp claws, an underestimated beak, but most of all, the kid is all pluck. The chicken has been criticized for not crossing the road faster, not crossing tougher roads than this, but this road has been around a long time. The road is a veteran, and has plenty of bumps in store for the chicken. So I think all of us watching the chicken cross the road are in for an incredible night.

FREDDIE ROACH: The chicken crossed the road because he wasn't willing to wait. You know I like to keep my chickens busy. A busy chicken is a good chicken. So sometimes you take these kind of roads. They may not be the roads every fan wants, but the road has broken down many good chickens in the past. My chicken just happens to be the best chicken in the world.

Continue reading this post »

On the undercard we have Daniel Sostre vs. Tito Bracero, and in the main event it's Edwin Rodriguez vs. Will Rosinsky. Bracero should win the undercard pretty handily I think, but the main event could be competitive. It pits two undefeated prospects, though Rodriguez has faced tougher competition and is favored. I can't promise Scott-level round by round, but I would love it if you joined me for some general chat during tonight's fights.

I'm looking forward to the main event tonight which pits Sharif Bogere against Francisco Contreras. Looks like Scott might be out tonight, so here's an open thread to discuss tonight's Shobox card. I might try a loose round by round for Bogere vs. Contreras. Please join me.

If you haven't seen this yet, have fun...

Yuriorkis Gamboa defeated Daniel Ponce de Leon tonight in an uneventful fight that I doubt will do much to advance Gamboa's career--though it won't set him back either and will be easy enough to forget when it comes time to promote his next fight. Gamboa won via technical decision in the eighth round, and the scores were 70-63, 70-63, and 69-64. Bad Left Hook was a bit more generous to Ponce de Leon, scoring it 68-65 for Gamboa. Several of us in the live thread thought the doctor stopped it early based on a not-very-dangerous-looking cut in round eight.

Gamboa's skill advantage was evident all night, but he never really seemed committed to getting de Leon out of there. A couple rounds, he seemed so uncommitted that despite his advantages, I scored it for Ponce de Leon. Ponce de Leon was clearly outclassed, and perhaps it was his awkward southpaw style, but I have a hard time seeing how Gamboa fans will be too enthused about this win, despite the wide scores.

Wow, it's been a long time since we started talking about boxing here Scott, and I'm proud to have been here from the beginning, even if I haven't been able to contribute the way I originally envisioned. Over the years, I can easily say that there has been no boxing writer on the internet whose writing I have looked forward to more. I think all of us around here respect your total lack of bullshit and pretension. Let's all tip a drink to Scott Christ on his birthday tonight.

This is a live thread for people who want to discuss the Showtime PPV card featuring Cotto vs. Mayorga in the main event. No spoilers allowed for the HBO card going on at the same time. I'll be hanging out  in the thread for Martinez vs Dzinziruk. Have fun.

Tonight's fights on HBO were a bit surprising, even if the winners were not. On the televised undercard, Ponce De Leon seemed to have won what many of us in the live thread thought was a pretty clear decision. No one in the thread, including a poster who saw the fight live, saw Adrien Broner winning--and especially not winning by the jaw-droppingly improbable score of 99-91, as one judge had it. Many rounds were close, and anywhere from a close Broner win to a fairly wide Ponce De Leon win wouldn't have concerned me, but that 99-91 score was so bad that the undercard left a bad taste in many mouths, which is too bad because the last few rounds were pretty entertaining.

On the main event, Alvarez dominated as expected, but Hatton, contrary to many expectations, went the distance. Between tonight's fight and his recent dominant--though also KO-less win against N'dou--Canelo isn't looking quite like the merciless KO artist he seemed against Baldomir. But there is no doubt about this kid's star potential though. Or his great lead left. Even if his lack of concern for defense gets him in trouble someday, I can't imagine anything but a great future for this guy. Both men comported themselves well in and outside the ring. It was nothing but respect after the fight, and both earned props as warriors and gentleman. Expect Alvarez to move up to 154 permanently soon, and I can see him going higher with his stout frame. He's gotten off lightly for not making weight tonight, and this really needs to not happen again. We'll see if he looks like quite the same human sledgehammer against bigger men in the ring.

Here's an open thread for FNF tonight, as well as the TeleFutura card later. Brick had this to say about the FNF card during the preview:

These fights aren't really a step up for either prospect, but at least Prize Fight is keeping Guerrero and Porter both busy and on television.  Findley is a known quantity who has lost to Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell and Matt Korobov, but he did respectably against Korobov his last time out and usually tries to make a fight.  Adjaho, despite being 2-4 in his last six and having spent most of his career at lightweight, is the much more solid opponent.  Of those losses, one was a disputed decision to top 5 ranked Miguel Acosta, one was a loss to Antonio DeMarco in a fight he was winning but was counted out when he tried to fake a low blow and was counted out, and the last two were decision losses to prospects Brad Solomon and Mark Melligen in fights that were much closer than the scorecards indicated.  He also has a win over fough Fernando Angulo mixed in there.  Both Guerrero and Porter have blown hot and cold in terms of performance, so hopefully they can make entertaining fights now that they're back on the big stage.  Something fun and exciting about this card though - this card will be broadcasted in 3-D, making it the first boxing match to be televised in that format in the U.S.

The main event of the TeleFutura card looks decent:

Perez-Gonzalez is actually a pretty solid fight for a TeleFutura card.  Perez is a Golden Boy prospect, but has struggled mightily in several of his recent fights.  Gonzalez is a decent fighter, but he's been out of action for two years now.  His last time out, he was knocked out by Yuriorkis Gamboa after knocking down Gamboa early.  Gesta, on the other hand, is mostly getting a showcase fight.  He's put in a few good performances in a row, and he's been trying to build up for a fight against Brandon Rios, if GBP and Top Rank are ever willing to end their third cold war.

I'm not keeping any kind of real round by round, but I'll manage the thread and chip in my two cents from time to time. Join me.

So it looks like Harry Reid set up a meeting between Pacquiao and his wife and the President and First Lady. Sounds like he was perhaps returning the favor to Pacquiao for making some campaign appearances for him last fall.

The Bleacher Report, among others, has the news.

I thought this story would be of interest to those of you who haven't heard about it yet. It's been making the rounds of boxing sites, but if you're like me, you don't stray that much from BLH and sometimes miss things like this. I'm reporting this as news. Please keep any comments focused on boxing, not overt politics.

It's Aaron Pryor Jr. vs. Edwin Rodriguez on the undercard, followed by Peter Manfredo Jr. vs. Daniel Edouard. This is a pretty decent FNF card, one that will hopefully prove to be a nice follow-up on last week's entertaining brawl in which Mauricio Herrera upset Ruslan Provodnikov. I'm not sure how close a score I'll be keeping tonight, but I felt like some company, so here's an open thread. Feel free to discuss tonight's card or whatever else is on your mind.

OK, this has nothing at all to do with boxing, but I know there are quite a few of you literary types out there in the BLH fanbase, and, well, for my friends here, I wanted to show that I occasionally do something with myself besides watching fights and carping in the threads at Bad Left Hook.

So my new book is finally out, and it will mail in a week if you order it from Amazon (link below). The book is a case study of the creative process and an argument for how Walt Whitman wrote his groundbreaking poems. Along the way, I argue that Whitman essentially invented the collage technique in words, long before Picasso did with the visual arts. If you are interested in Whitman, you will probably enjoy reading it, and if not, well, not. I'll let others judge the quality of my argument and my writing style, but it does have the advantage of being a beautifully produced book with lots of pictures!

Here's the Amazon link, if you are interested--and Happy Thanksgiving to our American readers!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0803225342/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link
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I didn't see a live thread for a round by round of tonight's ESPN Friday Night Fights, so I thought I would throw up this open thread. I will be watching and offering occasional and slightly drunk remarks, but I won't attempt to duplicate Scott's awesome round by round commentary. In previous coverage, Brick had this to say about the card tonight:

Juan Carlos Burgos vs. Juan Carlos Martinez, Demetrius Andrade vs. Bernardo Guereca.  Burgos is an undefeated Mexican featherweight who's moved himself close to the WBC's mandatory position.  Martinez has played spoiler before, but more often than not has been a stepping stone.  Not the best FNF card this year.  This one was meant to feature Fernando Beltran Jr. in the main event (against Burgos), but that fell apart.  Prospect Yaundale Evans will also be on the undercard, whose fight may or may not get shown.

He's right that this isn't the most inspiring card in the world, but there's pretty high KO probability, and hey, I'm jonesing for a fight fix. I'm also interested to see how former Olympian Demetrius Andrade does. Please join me in the comments if you are home watching.

The online New York Times is running an interesting exchange between Larry Merchant and New York Times sports editor Tom Jolly. Merchant first takes a few jabs at Jolly, whose disinterest in boxing, Merchant claims, "is palpable in the sports pages of the Times." Citing Tom Hauser, Merchant provides a useful overview of the Times' spotty record covering boxing as of late and really takes him to task for covering other non-mainstream sports, like horse racing, much more than the sweet science. I found myself cheering as Merchant made his case. He is both passionate and on-point, and I believe Merchant does boxing fans right here with this article.

Jolly makes some decent points in his counter-argument, too, but mainly he pursues a few red herrings loosely related to the phrasing in Merchant's original letter. His biggest contention about why the NYT doesn't cover boxing--that major fights often end after midnight on Saturdays, too late to squeeze into the next day's paper--is belied by the fact that this doesn't stop the Times from covering late-running baseball games or tennis matches. Still, at least Jolly wrote a cogent reply, and at least the Times put their conversation up for use to read.

They give Merchant the last word here, and his response to Jolly is polite but uncompromising. It's a fun read. Go check out the original. Oh, and in case you're interested, my reply to their comments section is below the fold.

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Floyd Mayweather's recent outbursts have begun to achieve their purpose: we're paying attention to Floyd. We were distracted by Manny's sheer greatness and by Marquez drinking his pee, but now the boxing spotlight is right where Mayweather wants it, and if the glare seems a bit withering at the moment, "there's no such thing as bad publicity," Floyd seems to have assumed, and even hardened boxing observers have been pulled in by his strange spectacle at this point. As planned.

That's good for camp Mayweather, as they attempt to deal with the new media environment in this, Mayweather's post-"retirement" phase. During his hiatus, opinions about PBF have evolved; the boxing world has moved on; Pacquiao has emerged as nothing short of a living legend; and the glare of the media has sharpened, putting Mayweather's incongruities and flat-out bullshit in an even less forgiving light than he experienced previously (the blatant cynicism of his "retirement," I believe, put the test to all of our bullshit thermometers, no?).

Floyd 2.0 has issues, and he's feeling rather sorry for himself. Why don't we all love him!

Speaking personally, ultimately, I really don't care all that much about the showbiz aspect of boxing. I take pretty much everything a boxer says in the run-up to a big fight with a big fat grain of salt. Really, I just want to see good fights and good times for boxing. I ultimately don't care how big of an asshole Floyd makes of himself.

But I think it's pretty clear he has a big image problem right now, and if he wants to meet his own goals, he needs to make some adjustments. As he gets older, he is starting to see the limitations of his previous "bad boy" approach. He wants to be a crossover figure, and his time on Dancing with the Stars and various flirtations with mainstream America have begun to make an impact, suggesting that he can't get away with the two-dimensional persona that was his meal ticket during his early to mid career.

Now Floyd wants more. He wants to reform his image, show his good side, convince us there's a compassionate soul in there. But at the same time, he's not willing to give up on "Money." He wants us to buy the whole bad-guy bullshit routine, even as we buy the idea that he's some saint of the soup kitchen and lunch line, handing out brown bags to down-and-outers from the back of his rental truck.

The image he's presenting right now is essentially schizophrenic, and it's not going to work without some serious fine tuning. But rather than cynically trying on some new persona in the media for his next promotion, I have a better idea. It's time to think more about the big picture, I believe. Humor me. What if, instead of trying some new and improved Mayweather 3.0 if the Marquez promotion doesn't work out as expected, what if instead of that, you just took a fight that fans really want to see?

Want to be a bad boy that everybody loves to hate? Fight Mosley, and go back to being an unrepentant foil for the haters. That's your best bet.

I want to attend the Cotto vs. Pacquiao fight in Vegas, and I got shut out of the pre-order as well as the initial release. I know of the usual sources--Stubhub for example--but I'm wondering if anyone  in the Bad Left Hook community might have a better suggestion. What do you think is the cheapest way to get a ticket to this fight? Any help is appreciated.

Assuming I find a ticket that I can afford, I may also try to organize a meetup for the BLH community in Vegas for the fight. Let me know if you're interested.

This made me laugh so hard I just had to post it. Their parody of hyperbolic boxing promotions is spot-on wicked.

Evander Holyfield To Box Horse For Heavyweight Title

Last night, a significant chapter turned in the dynamic, ever-renewing history of boxing. As we all know, Manny Pacquiao underwent a metamorphosis last night--at least for the world at large.

Freddie Roach already knew it. Manny himself surely knew it. Some in his ardent fan base believed it. But how many really KNEW it? Now we all know. Last night, Manny Pacquiao ceased being "merely" boxing's greatest active practitioner-and, miraculously, one of the very most exciting boxers as well--he emerged as one of the greats. A transcendent figure. An athlete that inspires wonder from hardcore and casual fan alike. Manny Pacquiao became a living legend.

I don't use that phrase lightly. Floyd Mayweather is no living legend, though, arguably, he might merit a notch higher of a spot in an all-time P4P list, at least for now. There is a difference, though. In a way Mayweather never has, Manny Pacquiao astounded me last night. He completely befuddled my humble appreciation for the sport. In his last two fights, it's become clear that he is not just a supremely talented athlete, like Mayweather, but an almost unbelievable figure. As I said, a real living legend.

There will be time for arguments about his legacy. Time for sober assessments of what he actually achieved ... how significant his win over Hatton really was. There will be time to carp over rumors about his next fight, his chances against Mayweather (whether we believe that fight will transpire or not). There will time to reassess our estimations of Marquez, Oscar, and others...

But for now, I am satisfied just to keep sipping this expensive beer and reflect on Manny's greatness--on his power, his public humility, and his poise. Cheers to you, Manny Pacquiao. Floyd may claim to be back to keep boxing "up and running," but it's you, Manny, who has become its true redeemer.

Since Brick's post below seems to have generated a significant amount of interest, I'm putting the question to the BLH community. I selected most of Brick's picks, as well as two others I would have included if I had made the list myself: Jesse Feliciano and James Toney. So what do you say? Which boxer has the best beard?

Feel free to use this as an open thread to discuss anything you want if you're tired of all the "who's got the best chin" talk.

In case you haven't already heard the news, Dan Rafael reports that the Hopkins vs. Adamek fight that had many of us excited is dead in the water.

What? Hopkins behaving like a delusional child in his pre-fight negotiations? There's a shocker. But this dodgy move really stands out for its lameness, even for B-Hop.

According to Rafael, Golden Boy and Hopkins offered Adamek and Main Events a "flat fee" of $500,000 for the fight, which is completely ridiculous, given that HBO had already expressed an interest to the tune of three million plus, which doesn't include the nice gate that the fight would have drawn in Newark (or pretty much anywhere else with a strong Polish community nearby). Apparently, they wouldn't even negotiate a percentage split.

Now true, team Adamek's offer of a 60-40 split in Adamek's favor wasn't realistic, but that was just an opening position for what they thought would be a negotiation. Hopkins and Golden Boy aren't even talking "split," and Adamek has rejected their cynical posturing, as any champion of his stature should have.

To his credit, Dan Rafael does make it clear that Hopkins is to blame, but to my mind, his article understates just how messed-up this offer was. Refusing to negotiate a split and offering such an unrealistic "fee" for Adamek's presence is insulting not only to Adamek but to any fan who pays attention to this kind of stuff. A business decision this unrealistic is pretty suspect. It seems to suggest that for whatever reason, Hopkins was having second thoughts about the fight. And as I have already stated, I favored Hopkins, though I think Adamek poses a real threat and would have given him a much stiffer challenge than Pavlik.

Either that, or they're just being assholes, and they'll start whistling a different tune when they realize that Adamek and Duva aren't total chumps. In which case, they're playing fans for chumps by subjecting us to this kind of drama.

I'm tempted to just say screw Hopkins and screw this fight if they're even going to think about acting this way. But in the end, I still want to see the fight...

Tonight's fight got me thinking about boxers who have overextended their careers. There's quite a litany of aging greats who could qualify for such a list. I've narrowed this one down to five. I've excluded fighters like Margarito and Larios who are already barred from fighting in the U.S.

So let's say the boxing Gods have granted you the ability to permanently retire any one boxer. Who would you choose?

Here's wishing our own SC a happy birthday. You've created a fantastic boxing site, Scott, and I thank you for letting me come along for the ride.

Scott has a real gift for being diplomatic and running a good ship here at Bad Left Hook. It's one of the main reasons this blog has thrived and expanded its reader base (it doesn't hurt that he is also a talented and prolific sports writer). But I'm not going to be so diplomatic here.

In a recent post  Scott asked, "did Joe Calzaghe prove anything last night?" I know he meant to ask what Joe proved as a boxer, and I'll get to that shortly. But one thing last night's fight proved convincingly is that no matter what Calzaghe does--no matter who he beats and however convincingly--there is a large and vocal group of fans who will take the occasion to announce that Joe is a chump. A slapper. A fight dodger. Not a real man. A coward. A wimp. A sloppy boxer. A lucky boxer. A sheltered boxer. And above all else, an asshole.

Ignoring the last point (which I sort of agree with), is anyone else but me sick and tired of this kind of talk? And with every win, the chorus just seems to get louder. When a boxer's triumphs result in increasing condemnation of his ability, rather than acknowledgment of his achievement, it's fair to ask if the situation tells us more about the haters than about the boxer. I know Scott and many others, who have judiciously criticized Calzaghe, do not fall into this set. But they exist, and there are a lot of 'em.

Is it because Joe's white? For a few, maybe, but I doubt that's it. Is it because he's not American? Somewhat, I suspect, though not really. It may be more that he's from Wales, which makes him more or less British in many American's eyes, and I do believe that American fans, for whatever reason, have a history of being biased against British fighters. No, I think the real reasons are his showboating, his mouth, and his boxing style. Jones fans, in particular, probably hated seeing Calzaghe out Jonesing Jones at his own game. But I'm going to ignore the showboating thing, which I admit sometimes irritates me too. Joe's mouth has been a subject of much discussion here at BLH, and I've already made my opinions known about that. But what about his style?

Slappy Joe. We've heard it; we've seen it. I'm not arguing that he doesn't use pitter-pat punches. He inarguably does. But when a boxer is as successful as Calzaghe has been, I think it's time to ask if there might not be more going on here than meets the eye. Which brings us to what I think Joe proved last night. I've already argued that Joe's clinches are not a sign of weakness but a powerful tool in his arsenal (the same could be said for Hopkins, though Hopkins abuses it more). His rapid light flurries are an even more powerful tool, and it's a tool more uniquely characteristic of Joe's particular genius as a fighter.

Joe's slappiness, if you will, is at the heart of his greatness. It is not a weakness but a profound strength.

It's not so much that he uses these light flurries to set up the one big blow. Rather, these light punches serve multiple purposes. For one, they are at the core of his defensive style. As we saw last night, you just can't get your thing going with so much leather in your face, even if it doesn't hurt. For one, it impedes your visibility, your ability to get a good look at the holes in your opponent's D. Joe's slappiness, along with his deft head movements, are why he is able to get away with letting his guard down so much. When opponents try to take advantage of the exposure, the flurries come. Eventually, you don't even see these openings as opening any more. You know what's coming when you try. And the commentators are left asking why you're not taking advantage of all the openings Joe is giving you.

They are also at the core of his offense. The cumulative effect of such punches is significant, as we saw most pronouncedly against Lacey. But moreover, I noticed something last night that I hadn't clearly seen before: what starts out as a slap doesn't always end up that way. Hear me out. I'm saying that a big part of Joe's punching style is the punch that is devastating precisely because it starts out light. The slappiness leads Joe's opponents to believe that they can take it all night long, waiting for the big punch. That's what Jones seemed to think, allowing Joe in and just covering up, almost rope-a-dope style at times, in the belief that he will eventually get the big blow in.

But they start to hurt much more quickly than expected. Joe starts his flurries very weak and light in order to encourage such laxity for when he wants to use his energy on the harder blows.

Watch the flurries carefully: slap, slap, slap, (opponent, feeling little pain, relaxes, but with all the leather coming at him, waits and has his offense temporarily spoiled) ... Joe sets his feet a little more and starts to bring his elbows in ... slap, slap ... bam, bam, bam. Then clinch or back off. Rinse and repeat.

Those "bams" may not have one-punch power, but they are deceptive in their ability to deal damage. Last night, this was especially true of Joe's early assault to Jones's midriff, which was brilliantly executed and took Roy's legs completely out of the fight by about round three. It was all downhill from there for Roy.

Some say Joe is an ugly fighter, and with his clinches and slaps, I can see why. But personally, I've come to appreciate and respect his style. It's subtle. It's tactical. It's energetic. And above all else, it is completely unique. For better or worse, there has never been a fighter like Joe Calzaghe. Love him or hate him, for me at least, he is a fascinating study in idiosyncrasy and eccentric ring intelligence.

As BLH regular Fooch noted in his fan post, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has issued a press release announcing his "permanent" retirement from boxing. His announcement, quoted in full below, suggests that his upcoming bout with Oscar is officially off:

Dear Media

It is with a heavy heart that I write you this message today. I have decided to permanently retire from boxing. This decision was not an easy one for me to make as boxing is all I have done since I was a child. However, these past few years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to continue in the sport. I have said numerous times and after several of my fights over the past two years that I might not fight again. At the same time, I loved competing and winning and also wanted to continue my career for the fans, knowing they were there for me and enjoyed watching me fight. However, after many sleepless nights and intense soul-searching I realized I could no longer base my decision on anything but my own personal happiness, which I no longer could find. So I have finally made up my mind, spoken to my family, particularly my mother, and made my decision. I am sorry I have to leave the sport at this time, knowing I still have my God-given abilities to succeed and future multi-million dollar paydays ahead, including the one right around the corner. But there comes a time when money doesn't matter. I just can't do it anymore. I have found a peace with my decision that I have not felt in a long time. Finally, I want to personally thank all of my fans for their loyalty and dedication as my career comes to a close. I always believed that their enthusiasm and support helped carry me to victory with every fight I ever had. It was a great joy to have fought for all of you. Now I hope you understand my decision and wish me well with the rest of my life.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Friday, June 6 2008

Dan Rafael is taking this seriously, though a quick look around in the world of boxing blogs shows that many others aren't. The most common counter-theory is that this is a ploy to get more money out of Oscar, and I certainly wouldn't put it past a guy who re-nicknamed himself "money." It's also possible that Oscar is in on the ploy, and this is an attempt to hype the fight as "Floyd and Oscar's final bouts" (this would be assuming Floyd decided to honor his commitment for this "one last fight" before actually retiring).

But my hunch is that this is for real, or at least that Mayweather thinks it's for real right now. If it does turn out to be a ploy to secure more cash, then Oscar should refuse to budge, even if it means no more fight. You just can't allow that kind of bullshit. There are a lot of people--Mayweather fans, Oscar, Cotto--who will be rightly upset by this, but there will perhaps be even more, especially the legions of Mayweather-haters, who will be hooting it up and recycling every bad cliché in the book, calling him a coward and a fraud.

But no matter how you look at it, Floyd's retirement, if for real, is a blow to the sport. Whatever one thinks of him, it's undeniable that Floyd has done more to expand the audience for boxing than any fighter since De La Hoya. He's really the only active fighter besides De La Hoya who most non-fans have even heard of. Had Floyd cared to, he could have campaigned for boxing, taken the necessary fights, and helped lead the sport back to its former status in the mainstream. That's not going happen anytime soon now--not unless fighters like Pavlik and Cotto are able to suddenly find more serious competition than seems to currently exist.

On the other hand, this decision is the right one if he has really lost the heart to fight, as his cynical rematch with Oscar already seemed to suggest. I'd rather have Floyd out of the picture altogether than hanging around, dodging Cotto and everyone else who didn't pay to his standards, and stinking up PFP lists with his increasingly dubious status at the top, while only taking "mega-event" fights with predictable opponents and outcomes.

So my take? I think Floyd means what he says right now and will probably not fight for some time. In a couple years, he very well may change his mind, and if he does, we will be forced to take a real fight by then (like a match with Cotto) to attempt to reclaim his PFP status. In other words, in the long run, whether he returns or not, this is a good thing, because the probable alternative--fighting only events like the newly canceled one with Oscar--is even worse.

Yuri Foreman's stance isn't the only thing about him that's orthodox. I was intrigued by today's New York Times article about Foreman and his faith. It seems Foreman is not just a serious practicing Jew (like his manager Bob Arum), but also a Rabbi in training at IYYUN, a Jewish institute in Brooklyn, where he attends classes regularly and studies the Talmud. "Boxing and Judaism go side by side," he reported to the NYT, "I would love to be a world champion and a rabbi."

If you haven't seen him fight yet, Foreman is an undefeated junior middleweight (24-0) with impressive ring intelligence, counterpunching speed, and considerable heart and tenacity. He's fighting Mexican power puncher Saul Roman, who's 28-4 (24 KO's) tonight on the same card as Joshua Clottey (33-2) v. Jose Luis Cruz (34-3-2), which will be televised on the Versus Network.

He started boxing as a seven-year-old tyke in Belarus (at the time, a part of the Soviet Union) and immigrated with his family to Israel, where he went on to earn three national boxing championships. He later moved to Brooklyn, where he still lives, boxes, and studies Jewish mysticism and scripture. Though undefeated, he's relatively untested as a pro--his biggest win probably being his tactical victory over the favored Anthony Thompson on the undercard of Judah vs. Cotto.

At one point Zab Judah was referred to rather ridiculously as "the best Jewish fighter of all time," by C.J. Sullivan of New York Press. This opinion is not only historically short-sighted but factually debatable as well, since Judah, who fans will recall thanked "his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" after his fight with Mayweather, has a fuzzy relationship at best with Judaism.

I don't know if Foreman is destined to be the best practicing Jewish boxer of recent memory, but he's certainly a serious and devoted Jew. What other fighter has more references from Rabbis than trainers or pundits on his Wikipedia entry? Foreman is probably pleased that his fight tonight is on a Thursday, as he avoids Saturday fights if possible and according to the NYT, observes the Sabbath by remaining within walking distance of the arena. Apparently once, when HBO people asked Foreman to make his way to the ring for a Saturday fight, he refused, telling his manager "let's pray for five minutes," while the evening sun wained.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been debating Ian McNeilly, from BritishBoxing.net on the blog Boxing on the Box regarding the subject of who will win the Mayweather vs. Hatton mega-fight. Personally, I think Ian's comments haven't been persuasive at all, as he seldom addresses issues critical to winning fights and instead focuses on concepts like "entertainment value," "honor," and "the changing of the guard." The complete three-part debate is up now, along with a readers' poll to supposedly determine who won. Well, the site is essentially a Hatton fan site, so naturally  I'm getting my ass kicked in the poll. Nevertheless, if a few Bad Left Hook readers showed up and gave me a few clicks (assuming you agree with me), I would appreciate it. So go check out the debate, let me know what you think, and please, vote in the poll.