.jpg&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "From Beyond The Grave: The Hyperbole")
Quick Jabs: How Broke Is Manny Pacquiao?; Will Alexander Povetkin Fight Evander Holyfield?; Will Family Drama Ever End For Floyd Mayweather, Jr. And Victor Ortiz?; More
If it feels more Floyd-y and Pac-y around here lately, it's because anytime those men are due to fight soon, they're constantly generating a bunch of news. That's gonna be the case through September and somewhat in October and for sure in November. Just know that TQBR is, as always, a la carte. If you feel like skipping over something because you're sick of hearing about it, help yourself.
Quick Rounds. Round Jabs. Call it what you will: There's not enough Round and Round or Quick Jabs to go around, so we combine them both to catch up on all the mild news happenings of the last few days hereabouts. So here we have the subjects in the headline; Bob Arum talking alphabet belts; the possibility that Erik Morales won't fight Amir Khan in the winter; and more.
Quick Jabs
Floyd Mayweather, Sr. has spoken out in a couple places -- although the FightHype interview by Percy Crawford is no longer on the site, for some reason -- since his ugly verbal altercation with his son on last weekend's 24/7 episode, and it's the typically all-over-the-place kind of thing you'd expect from a member of that clan. At one point, he's all, "This happens all the time, I'll just blow it off," but then not much later he's all, "This kid is evil." I guess we'll learn more tonight in the next 24/7 installment...
Although Floyd's camp isn't the only one with family drama. Check out these two touching stories involving feuds in Victor Ortiz' family and that of his trainer, Danny Garcia. (Side angle on that: Ortiz/Garcia rival Brandon Rios recently said that Ortiz should be thanking Mayweather for getting such a big check. My answer: Duh! Think Ortiz doesn't know who's responsible for the payday?) As for Ortiz -- I know he gets a lot of guff for allegedly being phony, and a lot of times, I agree with it. But I do think that, at his core, he is a genuinely good kid. Yeah, he'll rage against the media one day, seemingly to psych himself up. But the next day he's saying sensible things about saving his money or he'll be taking on roles like celebrity ambassador for Big Brothers Big Sisters...
By one recent account, pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao isn't worth very much money at all, considering the size of his purses. I overlooked that article somewhat because I wasn't sure what to make of promoter Bob Arum's rebuttal. Now, though, there's this whole hired/fired accountancy thing. And, most especially, trainer Freddie Roach is saying that Pacquiao's free-spending ways mean this: "He's broke because of that and all the people he flies around to his fights. He goes through money like you wouldn't believe. He can't say no.... Of course he'll have to keep fighting. He does now. He won't be able to stop. But it's his life." I suspect that this scenario is a couple years away, but I'm sad already, thinking about Pacquiao going the Evander Holyfield/Roy Jones Jr./every other boxer ever route, fighting pitifully in one-sided beatdowns from boxers trying to cash in on his name...
Arum recently vented a bit on the alphabet belts and how crazy they are. Last time he did this, he backed down shortly thereafter. C'mon, Arum! Turn that rebelliousness and stubbornness you have -- sometimes used for ill purposes -- toward some organizations that could stand to be brought down!...
Some pediatricians recently came out saying boxing is bad for the youth. It made some headlines, even though it was just a reaffirmation of the organizations' positions. It's not that their point isn't valid, although it's debatable depending on how you look at things -- boxing is about more than physical damage; it's often about a way out of a bad situation for poor kids, about confidence developed, about self-defense, etc. etc. But why are they picking on boxing? Football's worse for the youth, among other sports. Because the aim, they said, is to cause harm. OK. Sorta. But from a health perspective, I'd be more interested in the thing doing the most harm, not the one doing less harm, but for objectionable reasons...
Reading the appeal by junior welterweight Zab Judah of his loss to Amir Khan, I was struck by what I now see as the virtue of fruitless appeals: If you're a boxer who wants to keep a high ranking with the alphabet organization in question, why not create a bunch of fuss, ask for the decision to be overturned, and then throw a line at the end about how you AT LEAST want to be rated highly, like Judah did? It's not about winning, so much as it's about creating the sense that you're owed something when you make a big deal about a controversy. At long last, I understand!...
I was interested in this new HBO series based on the life of Mike Tyson before. But now that I know Spike Lee's directing? Hell. Yeah...
The other week on Twitter I was making fun of Ring's website for a recent trend of paying far, far too much attention to the alphabet gang. It got the point whether I wondered if the site should be spun off as its own organization, since they were ignoring Ring's own ratings and belts. It hit its nadir with a story headlined, "Alexander Debuts As WBC's No. 2 Welterweight Behind Mayweather." (If every boxer who got a #2 ranking from the WBC got his own story, Lem Satterfield, a good guy and reporter who nonetheless seems obsessed with the alphabets, would be keeping himself very busy. By the way, did the story ever address whether Alexander had done anything to earn that #2 ranking? Of course not!) Michael Rosenthal has been bucking that new trend here and there, thankfully, with recent stories that mention how Ring rates fighters that are subjects of those stories. Let's hope it's a wider and deeper return to sanity.
Round And Round
Arum is hyping YURIORKIS GAMBOA!-Nonito Donaire, and Donaire himself has talked about the fight, too. First, though, Gamboa could still fight Juan Manuel Lopez if Lopez beats Orlando Salido in a rematch. Gary Russell, Jr., too, wants Gamboa. I'm not saying any of those fights are going to happen. Gamboa-Lopez already got spoiled a bit for waiting. Arum hasn't exactly kept Donaire matched very well since Donaire went over to him. And Russell is managed by Al Haymon, with whom Arum has a blood feud. The point is, it's nice to see Gamboa being chased a bit instead of being avoided, the way he had been.
Although word has gone back and forth, it at least seems plausible that Alexander Povetkin could be facing Holyfield sometime soon. Holyfield says he wants a rematch with Francois Botha first, though. There must be some silly money in Holyfield-Botha II, or else it was signed long ago, because otherwise that makes no sense to Holyfield's stated goal of reacquiring a heavyweight title and eventually becoming the undisputed champ, and of his real-life goal of making enough money to dig himself out of his financial woes. Anyway, if it happens, expect Povetkin trainer Teddy Atlas to abandon his usual concern for fighters' health, the kind that everyone has about Holyfield in particular.
Matthew Macklin says he's down with fellow Irish middleweight Andy Lee. I'd watch that fight right now. Right. Now.
Jorge Arce is calling out everybody these days and his latest target is Jhonny Gonzalez. Gonzalez -- whom I was probably a bit too hard on the other day -- says he's willing. There are other fights I'd rather see involving both men, but down the line I could support Arce-Gonzalez.
Good "Solo Boxeo Tecate": Vicente Escebedo-Rocky Juarez is a decent scrap for both junior lightweights. It's going down Sept. 23.
Erik Morales says he won't fight Amir Khan in 2011 even if he beats Lucas Matthysse. Morales might be fearless, but I don't think he's suicidal.
(Round and Round sources: BoxingScene, RingTV, ESPN, news releases)
Quick Rounds. Round Jabs. Call it what you will: There's not enough Round and Round or Quick Jabs to go around, so we combine them both to catch up on all the mild news happenings of the last few days hereabouts. So here we have the subjects in the headline; Bob Arum talking alphabet belts; the possibility that Erik Morales won't fight Amir Khan in the winter; and more.Quick Jabs
Floyd Mayweather, Sr. has spoken out in a couple places -- although the FightHype interview by Percy Crawford is no longer on the site, for some reason -- since his ugly verbal altercation with his son on last weekend's 24/7 episode, and it's the typically all-over-the-place kind of thing you'd expect from a member of that clan. At one point, he's all, "This happens all the time, I'll just blow it off," but then not much later he's all, "This kid is evil." I guess we'll learn more tonight in the next 24/7 installment...
Although Floyd's camp isn't the only one with family drama. Check out these two touching stories involving feuds in Victor Ortiz' family and that of his trainer, Danny Garcia. (Side angle on that: Ortiz/Garcia rival Brandon Rios recently said that Ortiz should be thanking Mayweather for getting such a big check. My answer: Duh! Think Ortiz doesn't know who's responsible for the payday?) As for Ortiz -- I know he gets a lot of guff for allegedly being phony, and a lot of times, I agree with it. But I do think that, at his core, he is a genuinely good kid. Yeah, he'll rage against the media one day, seemingly to psych himself up. But the next day he's saying sensible things about saving his money or he'll be taking on roles like celebrity ambassador for Big Brothers Big Sisters...
By one recent account, pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao isn't worth very much money at all, considering the size of his purses. I overlooked that article somewhat because I wasn't sure what to make of promoter Bob Arum's rebuttal. Now, though, there's this whole hired/fired accountancy thing. And, most especially, trainer Freddie Roach is saying that Pacquiao's free-spending ways mean this: "He's broke because of that and all the people he flies around to his fights. He goes through money like you wouldn't believe. He can't say no.... Of course he'll have to keep fighting. He does now. He won't be able to stop. But it's his life." I suspect that this scenario is a couple years away, but I'm sad already, thinking about Pacquiao going the Evander Holyfield/Roy Jones Jr./every other boxer ever route, fighting pitifully in one-sided beatdowns from boxers trying to cash in on his name...
Arum recently vented a bit on the alphabet belts and how crazy they are. Last time he did this, he backed down shortly thereafter. C'mon, Arum! Turn that rebelliousness and stubbornness you have -- sometimes used for ill purposes -- toward some organizations that could stand to be brought down!...
Some pediatricians recently came out saying boxing is bad for the youth. It made some headlines, even though it was just a reaffirmation of the organizations' positions. It's not that their point isn't valid, although it's debatable depending on how you look at things -- boxing is about more than physical damage; it's often about a way out of a bad situation for poor kids, about confidence developed, about self-defense, etc. etc. But why are they picking on boxing? Football's worse for the youth, among other sports. Because the aim, they said, is to cause harm. OK. Sorta. But from a health perspective, I'd be more interested in the thing doing the most harm, not the one doing less harm, but for objectionable reasons...
Reading the appeal by junior welterweight Zab Judah of his loss to Amir Khan, I was struck by what I now see as the virtue of fruitless appeals: If you're a boxer who wants to keep a high ranking with the alphabet organization in question, why not create a bunch of fuss, ask for the decision to be overturned, and then throw a line at the end about how you AT LEAST want to be rated highly, like Judah did? It's not about winning, so much as it's about creating the sense that you're owed something when you make a big deal about a controversy. At long last, I understand!...
I was interested in this new HBO series based on the life of Mike Tyson before. But now that I know Spike Lee's directing? Hell. Yeah...
The other week on Twitter I was making fun of Ring's website for a recent trend of paying far, far too much attention to the alphabet gang. It got the point whether I wondered if the site should be spun off as its own organization, since they were ignoring Ring's own ratings and belts. It hit its nadir with a story headlined, "Alexander Debuts As WBC's No. 2 Welterweight Behind Mayweather." (If every boxer who got a #2 ranking from the WBC got his own story, Lem Satterfield, a good guy and reporter who nonetheless seems obsessed with the alphabets, would be keeping himself very busy. By the way, did the story ever address whether Alexander had done anything to earn that #2 ranking? Of course not!) Michael Rosenthal has been bucking that new trend here and there, thankfully, with recent stories that mention how Ring rates fighters that are subjects of those stories. Let's hope it's a wider and deeper return to sanity.
Round And Round
Arum is hyping YURIORKIS GAMBOA!-Nonito Donaire, and Donaire himself has talked about the fight, too. First, though, Gamboa could still fight Juan Manuel Lopez if Lopez beats Orlando Salido in a rematch. Gary Russell, Jr., too, wants Gamboa. I'm not saying any of those fights are going to happen. Gamboa-Lopez already got spoiled a bit for waiting. Arum hasn't exactly kept Donaire matched very well since Donaire went over to him. And Russell is managed by Al Haymon, with whom Arum has a blood feud. The point is, it's nice to see Gamboa being chased a bit instead of being avoided, the way he had been.
Although word has gone back and forth, it at least seems plausible that Alexander Povetkin could be facing Holyfield sometime soon. Holyfield says he wants a rematch with Francois Botha first, though. There must be some silly money in Holyfield-Botha II, or else it was signed long ago, because otherwise that makes no sense to Holyfield's stated goal of reacquiring a heavyweight title and eventually becoming the undisputed champ, and of his real-life goal of making enough money to dig himself out of his financial woes. Anyway, if it happens, expect Povetkin trainer Teddy Atlas to abandon his usual concern for fighters' health, the kind that everyone has about Holyfield in particular.
Matthew Macklin says he's down with fellow Irish middleweight Andy Lee. I'd watch that fight right now. Right. Now.
Jorge Arce is calling out everybody these days and his latest target is Jhonny Gonzalez. Gonzalez -- whom I was probably a bit too hard on the other day -- says he's willing. There are other fights I'd rather see involving both men, but down the line I could support Arce-Gonzalez.
Good "Solo Boxeo Tecate": Vicente Escebedo-Rocky Juarez is a decent scrap for both junior lightweights. It's going down Sept. 23.
Erik Morales says he won't fight Amir Khan in 2011 even if he beats Lucas Matthysse. Morales might be fearless, but I don't think he's suicidal.
(Round and Round sources: BoxingScene, RingTV, ESPN, news releases)
