SB Nation User Blog: jrok

Travis Kauffman Files Protest with CSAC

jrok — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:58:10 -0000

Reading, PA - Team Kauffman and Gary Shaw Productions have formally filed a protest with the California State Athletic Commission seeking to overturn the verdict of last Friday's fight between Travis Kauffman and Tony Grano at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, CA. In the last 1:50 of the fourth round, six critical errors in judgments by referee Wayne Hedgepeth of New Jersey compromised the integrity of what had been a terrific heavyweight boxing match. Kauffman had rallied over the first minute of the fourth round trying to finish off a fading Grano before Grano reverted to an illegal low blow at the 1:50 mark to buy some time. The referee never warned Grano for the blatant infraction..

Twenty seconds later Grano spit his mouthpiece out to buy time to recover. This happened in Grano's corner. The confused referee took Grano to a neutral corner before bringing him back to the correct corner and warning him about spitting out the mouthpiece.

With :33 left in the round Grano headbutts Kauffman without drawing a warning. Kauffman is besieged by a Grano rally but is responding defensively until pulling back in Grano's corner to avoid punches and hits the back of his head on a TV camera with 30 seconds left. At this point he becomes badly stunned. With 26 seconds left Grano hits Kauffman in the throat with an elbow. It seemed at that moment that the referee was going to intervene and issue a warning but backs away.

With 14 seconds left Kauffman's glove touches the canvas, which should have been scored a knockdown and a standing eight count administered. With Kauffman getting the count and Grano going to a neutral corner, Kauffman would have made it out of the round with a minute to recover.

Kauffman was then thrown to the canvas - not knocked down - by a clothesline from Grano. The blow that resulted in Kauffman going to the canvas was not a legal blow but a throwdown, which should not have been scored as a knockdown. Kauffman hurt his back on the fall and tripped over the referee as he tried to rise from his knees.

Marshall Kauffman, Travis' father and trainer, is taking efforts to shed light on these infractions to have the decision reversed to a no contest and build public demand for an immediate rematch.

"I say all of this to prove that the ref did a very poor job in the fight and it is his job to step in when needed," Kauffman was quoted in his letter to the commission. "If he would have stepped in for five seconds to either give Travis a standing eight count or to warn Grano then I would probably not be sending this email today because Travis would have had time to recover."

Well, when word first came down about this fight I admit I was pretty skeptical... as I am any time a young prospect gets sparked and then cries "foul." But I caught the fight on replay, and I have to admit that all of this is very accurate.

I don't have a dog in this race. I couldn't care less about "Travis Kauffman" or "Tony Grano..." neither of whom would have a shot at a belt unless the top 50 fighters of the heavyweight division were all thrown into a fiery volcano. But this is an accurate account of what happened. It was a very poorly refereed bout, and the final round was just absurd in terms of what Grano got away with... spitting out his mouthpiece, headbutting, nardpunching and then some sort of Judo-type move for the "knockout." Coupled with the uncalled knockdown and the camera clonk, it seemed to be a somewhat shifty, shady affair.

Yes, Juan Diaz really did win.

jrok — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:12:57 -0000

He really did. I wasn't convinced on fight night. On fight night, I scored the fight a draw. But here is my "Sunday morning" card.

R1 Malignaggi 10-9
R2 Diaz 10-9
R3 Malignaggi 10-9
R4 Diaz 10-9
R5 Diaz 10-9
R6 Diaz 10-9
R7 Diaz 10-9
R8 Diaz 10-9
R9 Malignaggi 10-9
R10 Malignaggi 10-9
R11 Malignaggi 10-9
R12 Diaz 10-9

Diaz 115-113

I would be pretty shocked if Raul Caiz didn't have this exact card. I'm convinced that it's not only a credible card, but the correct one. On review, the most difficult rounds to score were rounds 6 and 9. Rounds 7 and 8 were in the bag for Juan. He outlanded Paulie in both, and had twice as many power connects. My opinions about round 6 (for Diaz) and round 9 (for Malignaggi) haven't changed at all between viewings, but my round 8 is completely different. I missed much of the round, and relied on some RBR commentary to hand the round to Paulie. This turned out to be a major error when I saw the full round on Sunday

In fact, it seems to me Diaz really won the fight based on the strength of rounds 6, 7 and 8, with Paulie falling off his timing, and Juan shoveling his way inside with meaningful right hooks to the body and left hooks upstairs. Paulie threw a ton of jabs in these rounds, but missed about 80-85% of what he threw, often only finding Juan's gloves. Juan had the better of most of their slashing exchanges, and Paulie didn't look very much in control fighting off the back foot in those rounds... he was less a matador then he was a Pamplona runner.

Paulie very clearly won rounds 1, 3 and 11. Diaz very clearly won rounds 2, 4, 5, and 7. I'd be surprised if these rounds weren't universal on everyone's scorecards. Paulie probably won the close rounds 9 and 10, while Diaz probably won a close round 12 and round 8, which on review was less close. Round 6 was very close, and really very subjective. But it's worth noting that even though Paulie outlanded Juan 20-18, all but two of Juan's connects were power punches, while more than half of Paulie's were jabs.

Caiz's 115-113 card is probably identical to mine. David Sutherland's 116-112 is, for me, a stretch. I would guess that, in addition to 6,7 and 8, Sutherland probably gave Diaz either the 9th or the 10th. Then again, considering Sutherland's bizarre 100-89 account of the Daniel Jacobs - Ishe Smith fight, who really knows what his actual rounds looked like. They could have been written in crayon, for all I know. But I suppose it's still a credible "score", depending on what you were looking for generally.

On the other hand, we have Gale Van Hoy's masterpiece of science fiction. I would bet that rounds 1 and 3 were the only rounds that Van Hoy gave to Paulie, which is simply an impossible score for me to reach, even after three very forgiving reviews. 118-110 would require someone to completely ignore the 11th round, and to lend so much weight to Juan's unfocused aggression in rounds 9 and 10 that it would constitute a feat of fistic alchemy. Boxing isn't "full of shit," but Van Hoy's card is most definitely full of shit. It stinks. It's a joke and, frankly, a crime.

But Diaz still won the fight.

EDIT:

I've heard some continued talk about Paulie having "controlled the fight" with his jab, so I figured I would go ahead and address it below the jump, if anyone cares to read it:

A good jab is a utility punch that can be used for all kinds of things. It can be used for disrupting your opponent’s timing, measuring distance, setting up combinations, as blinding cover for a right cross, as a wedge to pry open a cut... some boxers are even able to use the jab as a formidable weapon all it’s own.

But if you are mainly using the jab to short circuit an opponent's offense, then it had better do exactly that. In the case of the middle rounds against Diaz, it didn’t. For instance, Paulie landed 11 jabs in the close sixth round, but Juan was still able to come in 16 times and land power punches on Paulie. So basically… it didn’t work! Trading 11 jabs for 16 power punches is not a good trade-off, unless you are able to also land power punches of your own (he wasn’t; Paulie only landed 9). So even if those numbers were closer, it still wouldn’t qualify as having stopped Juan's game plan. Getting inside to land hooks was exactly what Juan was trying to do, and Paulie generally wasn’t able to stop him from doing that.

This trend continued through round seven and round eight. In round seven, Diaz outlanded Malignaggi 18-15 (not even counting the inside rough stuff). There Paulie landed 9 jabs in an unsuccessful effort to disrupt and fend off 13 power punches from Juan… again, this is a bad trade! For his part, Paulie landed 6 of his own power shots in that round while Juan hit him with 5 jabs. So who exactly was imposing his will in that round?

Round eight was closer… Paulie connected with 9 jabs versus 9 power punches from Juan. But, to quote my old boxing coach: "If I give you five nickels and you give me five dimes, who's richer?" Meanwhile, Juan landed 7 jabs of his own compared to 5 power connects from Paulie. In a way, you could even say that Juan had the more effective jab in that round, because he once again was able to land more and bigger punches while limiting Paulie’s own power punch production. In all three of these rounds, Juan was more accurate and more effective at doing what he wanted to do, which was getting to Paulie with left and right hooks.

I think rounds 6, 7 and 8 are the most misunderstood rounds of this fight. Paulie threw a blizzard of jabs to try to keep Juan off of him, but he 1) missed most of what he threw and 2) wasn’t able to stop Juan from getting in anyway.

P.S. If you're going to participate in the poll, how about including your own round card below?

Poll

What was your score for Diaz-Malignaggi?

114-114 Draw

10 votes

115-113 Diaz

20 votes

115-113 Malignaggi

42 votes

116-112 Diaz

1 votes

116-112 Malignaggi

21 votes

Other

3 votes

97 votes | Poll has closed

The Meaning of Mercer

jrok — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:57:28 -0000

FanPost promoted by SC

Look, I'm no numbskull. The Sylvia-Mercer fight was a wall-to-wall horrible idea that was met with about as much enthusiasm by MMA fans, by Boxing fans and by the state of New Jersey as it deserved. But, its not totally "meaningless." A Britney Spears album is meaningless. So are Ashton Kutcher "Twitters." But if the result of this fight was entirely without meaning, no one would even bother to mention it happening, let alone to go out of their way to point out and reiterate how utterly meaningless it all was.

Don't get me wrong. The imaginary sibling rivalry between MMA and Boxing is something that I don't think many hardcore fans of either sport take very seriously (and if they do, they should seriously consider getting some form of life). But the business side of prizefighting has as much, if not more, to do with the perceptions of the casual fan as it does with catering to diehards. And, like it or not, a perception exists in the MMA casual fan base that Mixed Martial Arts somehow amounts to "Boxing+". For this sort of fight fan, a Mixed Martial Artist is by definition a superior combatant; a sort of nine-headed Boxing Hydra that adds kicks, chokes and grappling to the standard boxing arsenal. This is the sort of mentality I think Sylvia was (very subtly, maybe accidentally) addressing when he described his desire to crossover to boxing and earn "the big bucks" by climbing into the top ranks of the heavyweight division.   In other words, "Boxing is easier than MMA. My experiences in MMA should translate pretty well, and I could probably be a top contender in a few years."

Obviously, the smarter fans of MMA and Boxing (and both) thought this was just sheer nonsense.   BLH's brother blog Bloody Elbow boasted plenty of fans who sneered at Sylvia's audacity, as well as at this shameful fight in general. But this perception hasn't been uncommon among MMA fans I've hung out with. Whenever the conversation has been steered towards Boxer vs. MMA fighter, there always seems to be this undercurrent of "but, you see, if a Boxer tried A, an MMA fighter could just do B, C, D, E and Q....."    It's the sort of pointless conversation I don't enjoy having, and I've met more serious fans of mixed martial arts that agree. But I think its worth noting that this perception of superiority has always been a key part of MMA's marketing strategy and success. I vividly recall watching a tape of the first Ultimate Fighting Championship back in 1994, and I remember the sort of analogies that were being kicked around at ringside. This wasn't Boxing; it was Ultimate fighting, and these were Ultimate fighters. They were to boxers as Marine snipers were to paintball champions. This was "the future of fighting sports."

Before anyone brands me a Hater of All Things MMA, I have to say I also remember some things that I enjoyed about the sport. Royce Gracie in particular was interesting to watch, with his frustrating, octopus-like jujitsu style that made Floyd Mayweather look like Arturo Gatti in terms of pulse-pounding excitement. I've also rather enjoyed watching the sport mature and grow over the years. In general, I think its success isn't a threat to Boxing, which has survived many lapses in popularity on the strength of its long, storied history and culture. If anything, the popularity of MMA probably helps Boxing to thrive in the long run, since there are so many opportunities for crossover events and promotions. The two sports definitely can and probably should try to form a closer partnership over the coming decade. One thing I learned growing up in the 70's was that a bad economy usually ignites interest in professional fighting. Given that we are probably in for a very rough ride in the short term, this could easily become a Golden age for both sports, as long as they don't try to pick each others pockets on the way to the bank.

And, like I've said, it seems to me that the majority of MMA fans and Boxing fans looked crosseyed at Sylvia-Mercer from day one. But it's worth mentioning that the main reason everybody had been giving this fight the business was because of Mercer himself. Ray was 48 years old. He'd had 3 overseas fights in 3 years. His last championship bout was a 6th round stoppage loss to Wladimir Klitschko in 2002. His last fight with a top twenty boxer was a knockout loss to Shannon Briggs in 2005, and he'd lost to a far worse heavyweight in Derric Rossy little more than a year ago. He'd be fighting in a cage instead of a boxing ring. And, to top things off, the rules were changed from Queensberry to Mixed Martial Arts at the last minute. Sylvia would be allowed to grapple, choke, kick, elbow and generally have at his disposal the full array of weapons he'd studied over the course of his professional career. We hated this fight because Tim was going after an old boxer in a card game where he supposedly held all the Aces. We hated it because it seemed Tim was trying to sneak into a professional boxing career through a creaky, unlocked screen door.

If nothing else, the savagery and speed of the Mercer-Sylvia result might have at least put the lie to this perception that MMA and Boxing aren't merely "different" sports, but that MMA is somehow the superior animal, having evolved from Boxing's furrowed, caveman brow. This fight doesn't change my opinion about MMA one way or the other, and anyone who says "this one fight proves Boxing is better than MMA" is a knucklehead in my book.   But maybe it might raise some consciousness in the ranks of MMA's casual fans that a world-class boxer possesses unique skills and experiences that can easily translate into a very short, brutal night for any fighter, fighting in any style and under any set of rules.

"Back... and to the left..."

jrok — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:57:03 -0000

I generally don't like conspiracy theories. They are usually half-baked, full of holes and require an almost godlike resistance to rational thought. But in Boxing, like no other sport, even the most far-fetched conspiracy theories have at least a solid 25% chance of being true, and particularly when the strangeness happens before the bell rings. And when it comes to Chageav-Valuev and Klitschko-Haye morphing into Klitschko-Chageav, I would be lying to myself if I said a few theories haven't crossed my mind in the last 36 hours. I don't really believe any single one of them, but history tells me that none of them are so completely implausible that they can be ruled out.

***

Conspiracy #1. Haye Chickened Out

This theory is the least complicated, most obvious one. It struck me the moment I realized that not only was no specific injury cited and no medical report released, but that neither of these things were going to happen in time to be a factor into negotiating a new date for the fight. After all, an unspecified back strain that will take less than three weeks to fully heal isn't exactly something that is going to show up on an MRI or X-Ray... it's a symptomatic thing, based completely on Haye's word. Given that this is an injury would be relatively easy to fake, it could be that David Haye simply didn't feel he'd be ready to win on June 20th.

That doesn't even mean he is a "wimp," by the way. It just means that when push came to shove, he really didn't feel ready for this fight. Maybe his camp went wrong or he felt his trainer was too inexperienced. The "foam Wlad arm" for instance, set off some alarm bells for me. There is also the (completely unverified) rumor floating around that Kali Meehan knocked Haye out in sparring practice, and that this setback has Camp David thinking that he really needs more rounds with heavyweights before he can stand up to Wlad's firepower. Whatever the case, it certainly happens that guys lose that self-assured confidence in the run up to the biggest fight of their careers, particularly when the smart money is saying that they will be KO'ed in short order. The mind is a lonely prison.

But this theory by itself would require a huge leap of faith in terms of Haye's inability to gauge risk-reward. Without any other mitigating factors, Haye would be forfeiting an immense amount of cash and credibility for the short term gain of (perhaps) avoiding an exposure and physical beating at Wlad's hands. He wouldn't only need to have jitters... his composure and confidence would have to have been completely shattered by one or more events in camp, leading him to believe that he'd not only lose, but that he'd be so thoroughly and easily swept aside that his reputation would never recover. That sort of reckoning and self-doubt seems well beyond a man like Haye, who's risen to the top ranks of his cruiserweight division even after a tremendous setback at the hands of Carl Thompson. Frankly I don't buy it... certainly not as a sole factor. Not a chance.

Conspiracy #2. Haye Smells a Better Offer

This theory requires a little more skulduggery: It might be that Haye is not discouraged at all, but rather sensed a better opportunity arise in the collapse of the WBA Finnish fight. When Valuev and Chageav - two unarguably weaker titlists - were suddenly available, it could be that Haye wanted to see if he could segway his noteriety into a shot at one of their titles with a more productive camp later this summer. The calculation would be that if Haye was beaten by Wlad it would seriously -- maybe even mortally --- wound his stock and negotiating power in future heavyweight fights. Really, it would alter his career completely, since as a still unknown quantity he can guarantee a fairly confident draw.

But if he could squeeze himself into the WBA clown car (Valuev, Chageav, Ruiz, Holyfield), Haye could spend as much as 18 months building up his bank account and heavyweight experience with that crew, and then he could still meet-cute with Wlad or Vitali down the road for a unification fight. Since time is the advantage of the young ,the intervening period could see a number a things happening, including damaging losses by one or both Klitschko brothers... or, at the very least, their gradual decline in ability due to age and wear. It's possible, according to this theory, that Haye has even been in discussion with a certain high-haired individual in the wake of the WBA cancellation that encouraged this line of thought. In fact, if someone offered him to a shot at Valuev in July-August, he'd probably be "dumb" not to take it... it's the safe bet and almost guarantees a much longer, more lucrative career.

Conspiracy #3. Haye Took Step-Aside Money

Even more so than the last, this theory really rides the edge of "Get the bleep outta here," since it requires the mind of a Dr. Moriarty and reflexes of a cat to pull off. The idea here is: The breakdown of Chageav-Valuev was completely unforeseen, but the moment it happened Camp Wlad saw an opportunity to clean up the WBA and moved Heaven and Earth to make it happen.

The far-reaching consequences are clear. Wlad - like any other decent human being who loves the sport - has been vocal about his disgust with the WBA sideshow, and particularly with its poster child "The Gentle Giant." Wlad has talked extensively about his disdain for Valuev and his desire to take his title away. In doing so, Wlad doesn't just take over Nick's share of the European Heavyweight market... he becomes that market. By setting aside Haye for the time being with a little "incentive money" - and a handshake agreement that they will still meet once Wlad sorts out Chageav - Wlad could be attempting to bump off the Chageav Bishop defending Valuev's Pawn.

This could potentially result in a "coup-de-grace" that sees Wlad beating Chageav and, with his newly gained WBA Super Champion status, forcing Valuev into a WBA standoff. Its also possible that a title fight with Vitali before the end of the year was dangled in front of Haye to sweeten the pot even more, while Wlad sorts out Chageav and Povetikin, and corners Valuev. Based on how stationary Vitali looked against Gomez, Haye and Booth may actually believe they have a better chance against Vitali anyway. And a win for Haye there would guarantee that when Haye and Klitschko meet it wouldn't only be the biggest fight in the Heavyweight division, but would also be the most meaningful big man fight we've seen since Lewis-Vitali (which, ironically, was itself a replacement.)

In any case, this would be a very difficult 'everyone wins" sort of scenario, requiring precise timing and total cooperation from both sides. But, on the other hand, it would also benefit from exactly the sort of direct cooperation that Haye, as a fighter-promoter, is uniquely qualified to provide.

***

I mean, there are other theories that have crossed my mind, and even some blurry fusions of the above three. The big reason I am still entertaining any of them is that Haye's camp has so far acted so... weird... about this injury.

Taking him as a counter-example, when Vitali was injured, there were specifics galore. When he injured his back, for instance, his camp released a medical statement describing the bone spur that was compacting a nerve in his back, and detailed the procedure that would have to be done to correct it. When his knee was injured, an MRI was released and it was also described in full (a torn meniscus and old MCL tear)... and he had extensive surgery for that as well. Haye says "My back hurts. Sorry. I hurt it somehow, in training. Can we hold off on that whole heavyweight championship thing for a few weeks while I undergo some vague form of physical therapy? My back probably won't hurt by then." I'm not saying it's supspicious, necessarily, but it doesn't exactly put you at ease either. Neither does the seemingly miraculous timing of Chageav and Valuev vs. the almighty "T.B.A."

Of course, it's also highly possible that all of this is sheer coincidence. It's entirely possible that Haye suffered a mild but legitimate muscle strain that, while not completely debilitating or exteme enough to show up on a visual medical test, is still serious enough that his doctor advises him to hold off strenuous activity for a couple of weeks. But that's the least fun version of what just happened... that's like saying Lee Harvey acted alone, without help from the Mafia, the Cubans, Elvis Presley or the Ghost of Emma Goldman.

But, you know... Stranger things have happened.

What do you guys think?

Terry Gilliam and Carrot Top invade Cyprus; Briefly Conduct Haye Training Camp.

jrok — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:54:34 -0000

Terry Gilliam and Carrot Top invade Cyprus;
Briefly Conduct Haye Training Camp.

Hammin' it up at Heavyweight

jrok — Fri, 15 May 2009 23:43:29 -0000

In case anyone is curious, this is what Bruce Seldon is fighting tonight on the Johnson/Vargas undercard.

via a.espncdn.com (copyright Al Bello/Getty Images)

Well, it's not the whole thing. I imagine Mr. Bello needed to wait until those astronauts fixed the Hubble Telescope to shoot the rest. Needless to say, Gabe Brown -- who weighed in at a svelte 359 -- is not a fitness freak. It seems almost insane that this sort of thing can happen in an age when proper diet and nutrition isn't exactly a mysterious dark art, known only to weirdos like Jack LaLane. And even though this is an extreme case, it just seems like the current heavyweight crop is rife with more tub-lardiness and blobbosity than ever before.

The problem might be that large, athletic, disciplined guys are just getting coaxed into other sports these days at an earlier age. I don't mind that boxing isn't as broadly popular as it was when I was growing up, but I do feel a little twinge of shame anytime I see fights like Toney/Oquendo or Chambers/Peter (...or Arreola/McLine or even tonight's Johnson/Vargas). If young kids happen to channel surf onto stuff like that, the chances of them being transformed into lifelong boxing fans or even future fighters are quite a bit slimmer than Mr. Brown's waistline.

Re-watching Arreola-McCline

jrok — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:14:59 -0000

It was a good fight. Not "great" by a long shot, but better than I expected, despite the paycheck sort of ending.

Anyway, here are some things I feel like I learned from it.

Arreola has a very good right hand. It's not spectacular, but its a business-oriented punch that he doesn't throw lightly. He wants to set the pace with it, and with McCline's "new Klitschko style" he sort of did. You can almost watch the fight as a progression of Chris' right hands
Chris fights bigger than he is. He's not a "small" guy, but his foot movement kind of resembles a much larger guy, trying to fire off the half-step. He's not "big" enough to own the center ring, and McCline nailed him a couple of times while he was pretending to be able to do it.
Chris' left hand is not very good. It's not totally horrible, but the times that Jameel nailed him were usually countering off of it with an uppercut.
HBO politicking is at an all-time-high. The usual scripted ebb and flow was punctuated by the fact that Steward, Merchant and Lampley all called the fight. At one point, Merchant made a comment about how "this is how Americans fight" and Lampley (in his imitable way) waited a couple of beats before asking "How so, Larry?", which in Lampley-speak means "You're full of bullcrap, Larry." Merchant perked up for a moment to comment on how "European fighters" -- meaning ex-Soviet ones (and, really, meaning Manny's ex-Soviet one) -- were "good fighters" but lacked the sort of aggression that Americans apparently had in spades. There was sort of a bizarre pause, as though Manny was supposed to say something about this but didn't.... which leads to me to think that....
Arreola really doesn't stand much of a chance against either Wlad or Vitali Klitschko. Honestly, I wish he would, but there's a real gap here that no one seems to want to recognize. It's not just size, but Chris' style is all wrong for these guys, particularly for Wlad. His footwork seems to play into Wlad K's style in the same way that Calvin Brock's did. I'd give him a slightly better chance against Vitali, but not enough to warrant the sort of pom-pom-work that HBO is willing to give him. Chris needs to be in against 2-3 more top heavyweights before he is ready for these guys, and show some ability to not just move his head, but to fight small and get inside with big steps. Otherwise, I think it might be another mismatch... and an easy KO.

Just my own thoughts on the subject. It was a good fight, and I like Chris. But there is such a thing as seasoning. I would like to see Chris against Igbraminov, Briggs or Valuev, and maybe all three. I think those kind of experiences would get him ready to be champion.

Burnett + Grant = "Closet Classic"

jrok — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 02:14:12 -0000

I know everyone is going to be repeating this ad-nauseum over the next couple of days, but I thought I'd just quote Atlas on this one: "You can go ahead and watch hundreds of fights over your whole life, and never see something like this."

It had chills, spills and thrills... and the one-in-a-million ending that makes a fight special. For me it was like Herol Graham vs. Charles Brewer, minus the decision. Grant knows this will NOT be his last televised fight. Thanks to both men for a quietly great ESPN fight.

Wow.

Feliciano needs to stop fighting

jrok — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:55:37 -0000

Honestly. I like him, but he has nothing for anyone in the sport right now, except maybe a chin with a bullseye painted on it. A lot of people praised him for his gutsy performance against Cintron. I didn't, if only because I kind of thought this guy's inability to keep his hands up was just a whole lotta trouble careerwise.

But at some point I think you have to distinguish "gutsy" from "suicidal." Tsurkan was just nailing him over and over with these sloppy-but-sort-of-hard hooks, and Feliciano was just mechanically marching right into them, literally EATING them like ice cream cones. He is dangerous to himself, period.

Jesse - there is other work for you out there. Stop before it's too late, buddy.

Editor's Addition by Scott:

I was coming on just now to say the exact same thing. I missed the fight live but watched it today.

Look, I'm all for letting grown men do what they wish within the law. Feliciano routinely getting his brain sloshed around is within the law. But it's not enjoyable to watch at all. He deserves praise for having a lot of guts and being very tough. But you know what that praise and those guts and that toughness are going to get him? Brain damage. That's it.

The guy can't fight back. Someone that cares about him should really talk to him about whether or not he should continue fighting. He gets TV fights because he allows action to happen every second of every fight. But he's getting destroyed out there. It's not fun viewing. It's just sort of gruesome at this point.

He's 15-8-3. Vast riches do not await Jesse Feliciano. He is by all accounts a nice guy, and there is plenty of work in boxing that won't require him getting his face punched in anymore.

Respect his toughness, respect his heart, respect Jesse Feliciano. But I agree -- he needs to get out before something bad happens.

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda: Re-designing Joe

jrok — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:35:49 -0000

As a mental experiment, I decided to throw together a list of four fights that I think might've dramatically changed the context of Joe's career, made him and his camp truckloads of money, and silenced any and all debate about his list. I think if he won these fights, we could have seen B-Hop/Calz duke it out in 2006. And win or lose that, he still might've recieved one of the least controversial tickets to Canastota in the history of boxing.

In attempting to retro-fit Joe's career, I've tried to locate the path of least resistance to international mega-stardom. I think they would also have helped him to retire by age thirty-three, stupendously wealthy and a sure-thing for the Hall of Fame.

*
(June 1999)
Joe fought: Rick Thornberry
Joe should've fought: Vinny Pazienza

What would've it proved? Ultimately, not much. But Joe would've got to publicly retire an iconic boxing figure, probably by knockout, and made his American debut in one fell swoop. Instead, Paz contended the IBO championship that spring with Dana Rosenblatt. If Joe's people wanted some free press, a highlight reel KO, and a American "name" fighter, he could've gotten it all at once. Plus, Paz wouldn't have been difficult to negotiate with at all. He probably would've even flown out to England to get wailed on.

*
(December 2000)
Joe fought: Richie Woodhall
Joe should've fought: Sven Ottke

This is a no brainer. For a fighter like Joe, three years is 23 months too long to let a fraud like Ottke live. Joe would've been hailed as an international hero for beating Das Phantom to a bloody pulp. His camp should've given in to every single demand to make this fight happen. As his countryman Witter recently did with Hatton, Joe should've offered to fight him for free. He should've also offered to fight him on German soil, and promised to sing "Deutschland, Deutschland Uber Alles" in between rounds.

Never mind those shifty German judges. The unification would've been well worth the risk. And if it turned out to be a robbery - hey who HASN'T been robbed by Ottke! No shame in that! Besides, if it happened, at least would've been a massive, public robbery in broad daylight, and would've gotten lots of free international press and sympathy.

And if you win? Though my version of Joe and Warren offered to take a bath moneywise on this first fight - they also made sure that the contract guarantees the rematch is held in England, and that Team Joe gets the biggest slice. On the other hand, if Joe's team thought that simply holding on to the WBO and an "O" would eventually bring the big names and money sailing off to England - well we saw how that strategy worked out, didn't we?

*
(October 2001)
Joe fought: Will McIntyre
Joe should've fought: Antwun Echols (OR scoop up another belt)

At this point, Joe has likely assassinated Sven again in a spring rematch in Cardiff . Politics (and concern for good hygiene) probably would've kept Zags away from the scrum for Hilton's WBC crown. Still, in this alternate universe where the stain of Sven has been wiped away, who knows? There may be an extra belt lying around somewhere, or wrapped around a dainty waist like Beyer or Lucas or one of those guys. If so, nab it Joe! It belongs to you!

But say that can't happen? If you're now a dual belt-holder and feel like taking out someone's trash, why not B-Hop's? Calzaghe could've drawn a laser beam on Antwun's skull early in his run at 168. You don't think Echols' would've come running for Joe's belts rather then fight (and utterly destroy) the undertalented Charles Brewer for that shoestring called the NABA? Instead, Joe actually waited around another year and let BREWER come running! Oh well.

Meanwhile, HBO would've picked up the Echols fight for sure, casting Echols as the underdog challenger to Joe's reign. And as far as an attention getter, this would now provide a proper stage for Joe to shout across the oceans at Roy Jones Jr. And by now, Roy may have started to (vaguely) pay attention.

*
(December 2002)

Joe fought: Tocker Pudwill! (standing in for Thomas Tate!!)
Joe should've fought: Roy Jones Jr.

Yep. If he was well-managed enough, I think Joe could've gotten a main event with Roy Jones by 2002 and negotiated an okay deal for himself in the process. At the very least, he wouldn't be fighting this past-it fill-in for an also-ran. And let's not quibble over what weight it's fought at. If anything, Joe has already proven he is the man at 168 by now, and should've moved up in weight himself. Then, he wouldn't be risking his laurels, and would have a shot at gigantic paydays for the rest of his career.

Even if he lost, he would be called "courageous," could convincingly claim that he was stepping out of his comfort zone in weight, and return to his 168-lb throne a wealthier and more prominent figure in the sport. Instead, his countryman Woods ran off to the states to grab a beating and a fat paycheck. Woods is a okay fighter, but Calzaghe is leagues faster, far more talented and a southpaw to boot. It would have been one hell of an exciting fight.

And if he won? Joe-mania! He would've been an internationally renowned celebrity, wearing more metal around his waist then Clubber Lang wore around his neck. Shrines would have been erected to "The Great Joe Calzaghe: The Man who Saved Boxing, etcetera, etcetera." Ten years from now, guys would have said stuff like "Floyd? Floyd who? Oh Mayweather. Yeah he was okay, I guess. But he was nothing compared to the Dragon. That guy is a damn legend."

Well, okay, I guess that's going too far.