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Well, the new year is upon us, which means that like many of you out there
we all have resolutions that we'd like to implement for 2004 and break by
March.
Mine are pretty simple: I resolve to watch as many boxing matches as
possible, catch as many Miami Hurricane games in the fall as my jet set
schedule allows and to not work a real job. And also to drink as much alcohol as I can while doing so. For the past decade I've been
highly successful in reaching my stated goals. I'll work arduously to make
sure I do so again. Hey, it's all about having some personal discipline. But
what about those in boxing?
What are their New Year's resolutions? I haven't specifically asked, but I'm
assuming that they'd be something like this:
Bernard Hopkins: To have a big fight in 2004. OK, 'the Executioner' has
taken a bit of a victory lap since his career-defining win over Felix
Trinidad in 2001, with wins over Carl Daniels, Morrade Hakkar and William
Joppy. In fact, his toughest battles have come at the negotiating table where he's broken off possible rematches with
Trinidad, Roy Jones and a grudge match with James Toney.
Now, he's formed his own promotional company to handle his affairs. I guess
this way if the big fights don't happen, instead of pointing the finger at
someone else, he can pull the thumb at himself.
Acelino Freitas: To just have a decent fight the next year.
You wanna talk about milking a big win? 'Popo' has taken on the likes of
Daniel Attah, Juan Carlos Ramirez and just recently Artur Grigorian, who was
a champion only in the eyes of his WBO belt. Sorry, that doesn't cut it. I
mean Showtime went back to showing his wife again during his fight (by the way, when did they get back
together?) Even without Floyd Mayweather there are plenty of solid names he could face from 130-135 pounds: Jose Luis Castillo, Jesus Chavez, Erik Morales, Diego Corrales, Joel Casamayor,
Juan Lazcano, Carlos Hernandez and Courtney Burton.
But I get the feeling that he'll keep making up feeble excuses, alongside
his promoter Artie Pelullo, to avoid these fights.
James Toney: To keep his weight under 225. Yes, although 'Lights Out' is
now a heavyweight he still needs to watch his weight. In fact all
heavyweights do, just ask Kirk Johnson. Toney needs to find a balance to
where he is comfortable yet also effective. If he gets too heavy, his
strengths like hand-speed and counter-punching could be neutralized. But if
he's in shape, you get the feeling he can give any big man fits, no matter
what the size.
Evander Holyfield: No more fights. 'the Real Deal' always said that he
would quit when someone kicked his butt. Well, in October he received that
butt-kicking from Toney. The dream of attaining the undisputed heavyweight
crown is now officially a pipe dream. It's been a great career, but it's time to call it a day.
Laili Ali: To fight someone her own size. Ali, using her lineage, has been
masterfully guided throughout her career. She's had successful pay-per-view
shows, a high profile and national endorsement deals, all the while beating up on over-the-hill midgets like Christy Martin. It's time she fought someone of equal stature.
Problem is, short of looking at the WNBA, is there anyone out there? And
would her husband/manager Johnny McClain, let it happen? Her dad never got
to face Wilt Chamberlain, so why not let her face Lisa Leslie?
Floyd Mayweather: To be on good behavior. It's not that Mayweather is a
terribly malicious person. He's not. But his whole 'studio gangsta' persona
was much more trouble than it was worth- in more ways than one. He was on
the fast track to stardom in 1999 before his antics set him back. Now, back
in the good graces of Bob Arum, he still has plenty of time to make up for
lost ground. There is nobody in boxing as talented as 'the Pretty Boy'.
Don King: No more slick southpaws for Ricardo Mayorga and no more loans to
managers. Well, it looks like King is going to break this resolution by
making his last meal ticket Ricardo Mayorga take on Cory Spinks in March on
another marathon pay-per-view show. I guess he'll call it "We're Just Going
to Flat Out Rob Spinks This Time Around" and he may have to. The first loss cost them a shot at Shane Mosley,
a second loss pushes Mayorga further back.
And as far as loaning money to managers like he did with Joe Sayatovich, who
managed Terry Norris, well, you saw how much that cost him, around $7
million.
Jermain Taylor: To take his time to a world title shot. The problem with
being a young middleweight like Taylor is that there is no soft spot to
exploit for a world title. All the major belts are on lock down with
Hopkins, who shows no signs of aging just yet. Which could be a blessing in
disguise for Taylor. His people know he's not ready for X and probably won't
be for another year. Besides, since when is developing a fighter properly a
sprint? A well-crafted career is more like a marathon. Yes, Taylor may be a top ten 160-pounder as we speak,
but remember, that division is about as shallow as Paris Hilton and Taylor
still hasn't faced a legitimate middleweight so far.
Ricardo Mayorga: To continue to drink and smoke. Yes, I'm actually
encouraging a fighter to continue his vices. Hey, it wasn't those things
that cost him his fight with Spinks and they certainly didn't hinder him
against Vernon Forrest. In life, you are what you are. And Mayorga is one of
the game's true characters. In the era of the clean scrubbed, PC, corporate
athletes like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Tiger Woods, boxing is lucky
to have personalities like Mayorga.
Courtney Burton: To continue to train at 'Windy City Gym' with Sam
Colonna. Burton would put himself through a month's worth of hell for his bout with Angel Manfredy by literally living at Colonna's gym
in Chicago. The sacrifices would pay off and he would elevate his career
with a knockout win over Manfredy. Well, for his next bout against Francisco
Lorenzo, he would spend the bulk of his time in Benton Harbor, Michigan away
from Colonna, and he was fortunate to walk away with a close decision. He
doesn't necessarily have to shack up at the gym like he did for the Manfredy fight,
but if a formula is successful, why go away from it?
Dan Goossen and Bob Arum: No more dueling dates. No matter who staked
their claim first or whatever their stories were, last October 4th was not a
good night for boxing. Yeah, you could say that it's capitalism and may the
best product win. But boxing is already fractured enough, why create a division within it's already
shrinking fan base?
Murad Muhammad: To have proper accounting. The stories of Muhammad
allegedly shaking down Manny Pacquiao after his bout with Marco Antonio
Barrera aren't the first time that the promoter has come under scrutiny for
his financial dealings with the Filipino featherweight. But perhaps this says more about the Muhammad Ali Act, which
was supposed to have forced promoters to have an open accounting of what they were getting paid by the networks so that what
allegedly happened to 'the Pac Man' doesn't happen again. Well, obviously
it's a toothless bit of legislation. We'll see how Muhammad deals with
Pacquiao in the future now that he has somehow retained his services.
Joe Goossen: To wear regular corner garb. There's nothing wrong with how
Goossen, a fine trainer for many years, dresses in the corner. It's just
that most of the time he's dressed better than the majority of the people
ringside -- many of whom are comped by a casino. C'mon Joe, would it hurt to wear an Everlast corner jacket, just once?
Jim Gray: To do the same type of puff interviews with boxers as he does
with other athletes. Ever seen this guy do interviews for the NBA, NFL or
any other sport that's not boxing? He should be in the slow-pitch softball
Hall-of-Fame for the way he lobs one softball question after another --
well, except for Pete Rose -- but when it comes to boxing, it's like 'Face
the Nation'. Why is that? Could it be that the networks who employ him in
those other sports, along with the commissioners of those leagues, let's
say, 'encourage' him to do positive, fluffy interviews. While boxing in that
sense is largely unregulated and he feels as though he can generally bully
and manipulate boxers without any consequences? Hey, there's no doubt that
our jobs in the media are to ask the tough questions, if he didn't, he
wouldn't be doing his job, but it's almost impossible not to see the
contrast in respect that he affords other athletes compared to boxers.
Hasim Rahman: No more scapegoating. Since beating Lennox Lewis in South
Africa in 2001, Rahman has hit 'Rock' bottom. He has not won a fight since
landing his huge right hand on Lewis' chin.
In his subsequent four bouts against Lewis (in a rematch), Evander
Holyfield, David Tua and John Ruiz, he's gone 0-3-1. But an even more
eye-opening stat is that Rahman's gone from Adrian Davis to Bouie Fisher to
Buddy McGirt to Roger Mayweather as his trainer. Fighters get most of the credit when they win (as they should) but when they lose, some of them seem to spread the blame pretty
quickly.
Amy Hayes: To have proper verbal mechanics when ring announcing. There's no doubt that Hayes isn't hard on the eyes and she seems like a lovely person, but it's still maddening to see her make the
same mistakes while reading off the scores. Case in point, last October in a
hotly contested fight between Daniel Edouard and Miguel Espino, she read off
the scores in an improper order, killing off the drama of what was a
majority decision. Those at ringside groaned as they heard the decision. She is getting better, but she still
needs a lot of polish.
Lou DiBella: No more stinkin' southpaws to his stable. Let me get this
straight, when DiBella was running things at HBO, he'd grind his teeth when
he'd have no choice but to put Derrick Gainer on his network because of the
influence of Roy Jones. But then he ends up signing this guy a few years
later? Well, at least his faith was rewarded, right? Uh, no, as Gainer got
'smoked' out in humiliating fashion against Juan Manuel Marquez. We all
tried to warn him but he wouldn't listen. While Lou bemoans the death of the game maybe it
would help things if fans didn't have to suffer through Gainer fights or
Hector Camacho Jr., another of his clients.
Nevada State Athletic Commission: No more slaps on the wrists for
incendiary comments. Can you imagine the sanctions in the NFL, NBA or Major
League Baseball, if Bob Arum had made similar comments in those sports as he
did in the aftermath of Oscar De La Hoya's second loss to Shane Mosley in September? Trust me, there would
have been a hefty fine and a possible suspension.
Well, what did the NSAC do? Nothing. In fact, they did worse than nothing.
By allowing Arum not to even show up for a disciplinary meeting, they in
fact, invited this type of action in the future by disgruntled parties. As
far as I'm concerned, every other promoter not named Arum, now gets a
mulligan. They can cast all sorts of aspirations on NSAC with the same consequences as Arum. But after that, then
they should drop the hammer.
THE DREAM
Kassim Ouma cemented his status in my opinion as one of the top five jr.
middleweights in the game with his tenth-round stoppage of JC Candelo. It's
too bad that Ricardo Mayorga had to lose to Cory Spinks or boxing fans would
be getting Mayorga-Mosley and also Ouma against Winky Wright, although were
not complaining about Mosley-Wright in any way. But Ouma's pressure style and physical
strength make him a tough out for anybody in this division.
K9 OVER MIAMI
I was in Miami this past week on a quasi-vacation to check out the Orange
Bowl (seriously, UM beating FSU is getting boring to me) and I read where
Freddie Roach had resigned from training Manny Pacquiao. Before I had left
to South Florida, Roach told me if Pacquiao's situation with Murad Muhammad wasn't resolved (which meant
leaving the promoter for greener pastures) that he would step down.
Well, it looked like Pacquiao (or at least the people around him) made their
choice to stay with Muhammad for one reason or another. I'll be doing a
story on this very soon and all I can say is that it's very, very
interesting. I think everyone -- including the fighter himself -- should take some of the blame here.
FINAL FLURRIES
A source tells me that Roy Jones is now seriously contemplating a rematch
with Antonio Tarver since his heavyweight options are depleted right now...
Roach mentioned to me that Buddy McGirt could be called on to replace him in
the corner of the 'PacMan'.... On my way back home I was flipping through
the 'SkyMall' catalog and I had one question: Has anyone out there actually
bought any of this crap? By the way, what happened to all the Meeeeeechigan
fans that were thumping their chests to me a few weeks backs and talking about how good their supposedly vaunted Wolverines were and how they
were going to beat USC.
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