2011 has been a year of great fights for boxing but most of it I haven't watched.

Can you recommend some great fights that needs to be watched? Just got a hold of Rodriguez vs. Wolak so will watch it a little later.

I don't care of it's obscure as long as it's recent and it's a good fight. Need me some boxing loving and what better way to charge up the juices than watching great boxing fights.

Hoping for some posts here.

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Say what you will about Frank Shamrock, he'll always be a legend in MMA and the UFC. He took on all comers, made Tito Ortiz submit and displayed well-rounded MMA not seen in those early days of the sport. Heck, here's an in-depth link of ol' Frankie Here that was posted a few months back. But the thing I wanna talk about is how he made the sport different from other combat sports of the time.

It was at UFC 16 when Frank Shamrock faced Igor Zinoviev for the UFC Light Heavyweight title (then Middleweight title at the time). It was the main event of the evening. It was the first defense of the belt he won against Kevin Jackson at Ultimate Japan 1, becoming the first UFC Light Heavyweight champion.

Igor was not as well known as Frank but is known for beating Enson Inoue who gave Frank all that he could at Vale Tudo Japan only for Inoue to lose when his brother ran inside the ring. It was a little redemption but more of an affirmation for Frank. If he wins convingcinly against his opponent then he can say that he is the champion, not someone who holds it for the other guy. Many would expect this one would be a long, drawn out battle of attrition. What happened was something many would not expect and ascend the sport unlike any other.

At the start of the round, Frank threw a low kick that hit Igor's leg. Then he faked a takedown attempt which made Igor move back a little. Feeling a little cocky, Igor fired a one-two punch and Frank went for a double leg, took Igor on his shoulders and then slammed him down on the ground. Hard. He then gave the unconcious one a punch and then Big John stopped the fight.

 The place went nuts.

I went nuts.

It was freaking awesome.

That move Frank used earned the moniker "The Slam Heard Round The World" and it was. Never would you believe something that came out of pro-wrestling could be used in MMA. Never could you believe that was fake. The way Igor got knocked out because of that was deemed unbelievable. Irrational. Never could be true. Then your senses comes back. You see the man lying on the ground, not moving an inch, paramedics rushing to his side. You see Frank arms out and being declared the winner. You hear the announcers saying how awesome it was. You see the replay, in slow mo, little by little, how perfect the slam was. Then, a little voice in your head rings out in your brain...

That was f**king awesome.

That was f**king real.

This is some s**t.

Say what you want, never have I seen a move more devastating such as that. No headkicks, spinning backfists, flying knees, powerbombs, gogoplatas... Anything.

It was the move that made MMA different from every combat sports in the world. You wouldn't see that move from a judo fight, a taekwondo match, a karate match, kickboxing, boxing, well you will see it in amateur wrestling but it's illegal to do that move. In pro-wrestling it's fake. No matter how hard, how noisy or flashy the slam was a few seconds they'll be back up ready for more. In this fight it was the exclamation point. Not a comma, not a period. Exclamation point (!).

That move also proved to the world how violent it is, but in a proffesional level. Sure, you'll see them beat each other up but that's how they get paid. It's business for them. Rarely would you see them not respecting their opponents after a match.

Bottomline: MMA is a f**king crazy sport where you would expect the unexpected or the unexplained.

And that is why it's so damn great.

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UFC 116 is probably one of the best MMA PPVs I have watched. It has lots of drama, action, a slammin' KO and blood that has the average MMA fan satisfied. But with all that, no PPV buyrate was officially announced by the UFC. I would really like to know if it really did a massive PPV buyrate. It's a PPV that should be watched by many because it is just too good. Anyone here knows it?

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It's less than a week away and there's no hype. Seriously.

It's one of the best fights made, 2 legit welterweight fighters and no buzz from the media.

I mean the media machine was all abuzz from Pac-Clottey, Pac-Cotto and May-Marquez and this time the media is freakin' silent.

I was expecting hundreds of articles from the various mass media and all I see is the same type of article.

What the hell happened?

So, we all have heard and read about the pound for pound king pounding the living lights off the former WBC lightweight champion. Big deal. Unless he beats the best i the division and unifies the belts he still will just be a great boxer in a very mixed and talented division. At least he proved himself that he can mix with the toughest of them and hoo-boy, his opponent was a very tough SOB. Hands down to that man.

So, where do he go from here? From what I read at various boxing sites he is going to fight that KO artist from Velenzuela. The date is set at Nov. 8 while the location, provided the Venezuelan can be green-lighted by the Nevada State Comission, is Las Vegas. That would be one hell of a fight, if the Venezuelan can hit the target. If not, it will be "Lethal Combination: Director's Cut".

Next up is the match of two old counter-punchers mixing it up to have a piece of that Pac-Man pie, Marquez-Casamayor at Sept. 13 in Las Vegas. It coincides with another lightweight match-up of Nate "I have three belts and you don't" Campbell and Joan "I will do a Mayweather on your a$$" Guzman. These will be the main course of September after that appetizer named Diaz-Katsidis in Sept. 6, a fight featuring two rising stars of the lightweight division. One man hits like a rock while the other is as sturdy a mountain. It promises a  very good fight.

All in all, it will be a division worth watching provided those match-ups deliver. If not, then there will always be that man whose name you already know and I have only mentioned once.

See you next post...

Johnny Sandwich