Telling it like it is, or it should be, or like it's going to be, or the way I wish it would be, or the way my girlfriend who just yelled at me told me it is
Well, what do you know…. spending all your money on one guy doesn’t make you the best team in baseball. I’m going to tell you right now that I knew that was going to happen after it happened. Soto is a talent but I would have rather had 5 really good pitchers with that money unless they won the world series than I would have said it was my plan to get Soto all along. But that’s baseball or any situation where 20/20 is hindsight…. I know its the other way around but it makes sense that way too. If the Mets had made it to the World Series, than Stearns is a genius but if you don’t than Stearns made a bad call, but he wasn’t the only one. Soto should have been used as a DH more often, pitching went sideways really fast, injuries seem to look for the Mets, egos are big in that dugout with all that money, they need to try harder and earn that cash, especially on defense and maybe the biggest thing of all is that you need energy in that dugout. Jose Iglesias was a good player but he was also full of energy and he was contagious with that energy. Alvarez has that energy but he isn’t a veteran like Iglesias. I almost guarantee that Iglesias is the piece of the puzzle that made the Mets great, I’m guessing. I’m not in that locker room but on the field and at bats, that guy was pure emotion on the sleeve. He got people going, or it seemed that way and I noticed that you didn’t have that there this season except for Alvarez. You really need that. You need a never say quit guy, we can do it even though you are 5 runs down in the ninth guy, the I can’t believe we lost even though you were down 10 runs in the last inning guy…. I think that might be what the NY Mets are missing most. A spark.
Here’s a clue for you… retain Alonso, get some pitching and get that crazy energy fucker even if he is bi-polar. You really need a “never say die” guy.
Except for the Lopez vs Barboza fight… which was good…No Benn vs Eubanks fireworks special, the only thing fatal here was the money I spent on this that I could have spent on something else…. anything else… like Tariffs, that would have been more entertaining. Congrats to Lopez, Haney and Romero. Don’t fight in New York anymore, it’s has bad juju…. (not being anti-semitic)
I definitely will not waste another dime on a Haney fight, Garcia is teetering on the brink of me not spending any cash on any of his fights and I sure as heck will not pay for a Garcia vs Haney fight. I’m better off making a campfire with that money, at least that will produce some heat.
Alright, it’s going to be three great pick ’em fights. Any fighter can win. They are all very talented. This blog is to address some dumb stuff that is being said because I can’t believe it needs to be said. Bill Haney is stating that Garcia looks smaller and less fit then last time. That Garcia looks smaller and slimmer. I can’t believe this needs to be said but if you look smaller and weigh more, that means that your muscles are denser or you are more fit. If you look big but weigh less, that means you have less muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you look tiny and weigh the same as a person that looks like a body builder, that means you are one strong son of a bitch. You understand that? By Bill Haney stating that Garcia looks smaller this time and looked bigger last time but weighed less last time and weighs more this time, it means that Garcia was probably not on PED’s. Does that make sense? PED’s make you weigh more because they thicken your muscle. So looking bigger but weighing less probably means that Garcia was injured and had too much cortisol in his system and most likely didn’t do the cryo (ice) baths or used the cryo machine to let his muscles heal probably and was full of cortisol, (did I already say that?), which makes you look bloated but doesn’t weigh as much as muscle and actually makes you tire faster and makes you weaker. So, with all of Bill Haney’s accusations, he is only saying that a weaker version of Garcia beat his son. You don’t believe me, you can ask any Exercise Physiologist or Kinesiologist if what I just said is true and they will tell you that it is. Mr. Haney is making a case that Garcia was not on PED’s that night but was injured.
As for the fights, If Romero lands flush, it’s good night Garcia but Garcia knows that. If Garcia lands flush, it’s good night Rolly, but Rolly knows that. The only thing we should hope for is that neither care and they are here to put on a show for the fans. 50-50 fight in my opinion.
For Haney vs. Ramirez, I think Ramirez has the power edge but I think that Haney has the slickness edge. In Ramirez’ loss against Taylor, it would have been a draw if he hadn’t gotten careless and hit the canvas. That’s saying something about Jose’s recuperative ability. Haney doesn’t have the same kind of recuperative ability, if he gets hurt, he stays hurt for a couple of rounds but he is a real slick fighter that probably won’t put himself in that position. Everyone says this will be the snoozer of the three, I don’t know. If Ramirez had a good camp and forces Haney to come to him, this might be a barn burner. Haney can’t afford to lose three in a (almost) row (Some people say he lost to Loma, he lost to Garcia, even though it was reversed and if he loses now, it will be 3). He will have to prove his bona fides if he wants to headline ever again. Haney is teetering on becoming irrelevant, so he needs to come out hard. If he wins but wins boring or lackluster, he might not even get the Garcia rematch. He needs to be the person everyone is talking about at the end of the night, in a good way not in a “maybe he doesn’t have a chin” way. For Ramirez, compadre, put your faith in God and your corner. Make Haney come to you. If you take a half step back and to your right or left, all of that slickness of Haney’s goes away. Use the stick often and you will put Haney in a position where he has to play catch up, then make it a dog fight. That guarantees you a win and maybe a KO.
Lopez vs Barboza…. In all honesty this fight will either be the best fight of the year or the fight I go to the store to buy chips. Barboza has looked…. both elite level and amateurish. Against Catterall and Ramirez, he looked like a superstar. Against McComb, I got a hematoma. I fell asleep and hit my head on the coffee table. I looked like Hasim Rahman when he fought Oleg Maskeav. You have to be a boxing fan to know what I’m talking about. First, let me say that Ramirez was his most difficult fight, even though he made it look easy. The scores were closer in the Catterall fight but that’s because he was fighting in England on DAZN and everyone was pushing a Catterall versus Lopez fight, which would have seen Lopez knock Catterall out in 8 rounds. Barboza won that running away. Against Lopez, Barboza has to be something more than special, he has to be a top ten performer. Lopez is probably the best fighter in this line up. If anyone was born with boxing gloves on, it was this kid. He is a generational talent, so beating him makes you that. The only knock on Lopez is outside influences. They mess with this kid and make it hard on him. If the fight is fair, no outside influence, even though I like Barboza as a person, Lopez wins it. Barboza can prove me wrong but the one thing that Lopez has over everyone is his Boxing IQ and awareness mixed with some God like speed. It’s an almost insurmountable advantage but he does have a loss on his record, so it can be done. But I know it was because they were messing with him, not to take away from Kambosos’ effort. He was extremely on point that night. George would have beaten almost anyone that night. I give this fight to the Hispanic guy… he’ll be the winner unless Bill Haney jumps in there and whoops both of them, but then Oscar is going to break out that left hook…. this is already getting crazy.
Good luck to all of the fighters and thanks for agreeing to these fights. Boxing is back again thanks to you. Here’s hoping that I don’t have any hematomas. You guys have to make it more exciting that Benn v Eubanks. It will be hard to do that but you need to try.
How to best address this fight….. I read different story lines by different media outlets. They called it the best fight with no superstars and they called it the fight for the third best in the division. I ask what the fu*k are these people talking about. I call it the fight with the two most avoided fighters in their division, and in boxing, fighting each other. These media outlets and their reporters always want to put a spin on things. For me, these two fighters, who are putting their own lives at risk for our entertainment, don’t need to have stupid accusations thrown their way prior to a fight to try and influence anyone to maybe favor a fighter. Am I Right….. I’m right…. the last thing that is needed is outside influence in a fight by the power company, which, for some reason, has become the underlined topic of all these press conferences and some idiotic sports writers. Like in everything else, we hope for a fair and unadulterated, meaning no outside influence or magic or electricity or waves of frequency, interfere in a sport that is already dangerous enough. We all know. Both these guys are good guys outside the ring and they do very well to promote their fight by having this limited and faux animosity that only lasts until the final bell sounds. It sells the fight. As Benavidez put it, it’s hype to try make the viewers interested and I agree with him. It a useful marketing tool and it provides us with some interest in the outcome. These tactics are also used to get into the head of their opponent and to create some doubt. The truth of the matter is, they are both such good guys outside the ring, I wish both could win but that’s just not the case. The best thing for the sport is to have the more talented fighter win and then have that person challenge for the title against the winner of Bivol versus Beterbiev.
It gets really tiring reading these articles where someone is trying to make a fighter look like some undeserved person who should go down in flames because he only tipped someone 15% instead of 20% at a restaurant. They’re ridiculous. The only thing they should be reporting on is the obvious skill of both fighters, who I am going to reiterate are both good people, and how those skills match up in the ring. That being said, this is going to be a helluva of a fight. Both are big for the lightweight division so it’s a good thing that they are fighting at the light heavyweight division. They are both feared fighters (in the ring only) and they both pose a threat to be the top dog of the division.
Morrell, the Cuban elite fighter, training out of Milwaukee, brings size and power along with an impressive amateur career and a pro career, that, even though brings in only 11 fights prior to this one, boasts a record of 11 wins and no losses with 9 wins coming by vasovagal syncope…. (loss of consciousness). While that may not be a lot of pro fights, he is a Loma amateur level fighter and has earned a fight with Benavidez. The record of his opposition is something like 217 wins with only 23 losses, that’s not counting Benavidez. His last fight though, which was his first at light heavy, showed that he has to work to carry that bigger weight. He tired out in the later rounds, mainly because he came out heavy in the early rounds in what I believe was an attempt to stop his opponent faster than than the current champion, Beterbiev. He won’t make that mistake here.
Benavidez, a truly avoided fighter, who then receives scrutiny for having to fight fighters that are coming up in weight, sometimes, is a time tested undefeated veteran of the sport, even though he is still young. He should have had 3 or 4 chances at the title at 168, did win the interim WBC, the actual WBC, which he lost on the scales and should have had an opportunity at the other sanctioning bodies but was avoided more than the Blue Ringed Octopus…. right… maybe something else would have been better recognized but what other animal has venom that is 1,000 times more powerful than cyanide and has 8 arms, whereas Benavidez knocks out almost 86% of his opponents and it feels like he has 8 arms because of his hand speed and the different angles he hits you with. I think the analogy or comparison is apropos, which means right on the fuck*ng money. I have to put those asterisks to try and disguise the words. Benavidez has fought everyone and anyone and can be truly said that he has not ducked anyone.
This is going to be a good fight and I already bought my PPV. The undercard is good as well and this is shaping up to be the fight of the year. My prediction is that David is going to win, without a doubt and I’ll put money on it. Good luck to both fighters.
OMG!!! No, not the Mets, even though… right… pretty amazing from the Mets! #Mets Nation! #Mets Country #Mets Magic…. no this OMG!!! is for the best fighting the best at light heavyweight. It’s Betterbeer versus B-ball… uhhh… is that right? That doesn’t seem right. Well, either way, these undefeated fighters are about to go head to head on October 12th and the smart money….. is in my ex-wife’s purse so I’ll be gambling with the rent. If I had to bet… I would probably go with… Let’s talk about the fighters first.
Let’s start with Betterbeoff. Listed at almost 6 foot with a 73 inch reach, Artur has a perfect record of 20 and 0 with 20 knockouts. That means that either this guy is an absolute beast in the ring or his opponents were not that good. After looking at a list of his opponents, the consensus is that there should be someone with a tranquilizer gun nearby because the Beast is on the loose this Saturday. For Artur to win, he simply needs to land a shot… Artur’s punches are short, powerful and seemingly filled with tweety bird juice because every time he lands flush you see tweety birds. If he has a weakness, please comment on the comment section because I can’t find it. The people that say that Beetle, ehhh, Dmitri has better footwork then Artur must have not seen the Joe Smith fight and the Anthony Yarde fight. Artur was moving a lot like Gervonta Davis, hitting, going to a preset spot and waited for his opponent to approach and launching another offensive barrage and then moving and resetting again. It was masterclass. Artur is a world class fighter and future real life DC Comic superhero.
Now for Beaver. Listed at 6 foot with a 72 inch reach, Dmitri is probably the most well rounded fighter in the light heavyweight division. Excellent jab, quick hands, superb footwork, good chin, underrated power with good angle movement. Dmitri has a perfect record of 23 wins and 0 losses with 12 knockouts. If there is a flaw in Dmitri’s game it’s that he doesn’t really turn his punches over to maximize his power, actually force. Dmitri is more of a hit and move guy. He’ll hit you double digit shots in every round and he will go smoke a cigarette in his corner, just to make the fight fair. What he’s going to need for this fight is going to be a short crisp left hook, something that I haven’t seen in his arsenal. For Dmitri to win this fight, he is going to have to be on his game. If there is a punch Artur is susceptible to, it’s the left hook from a slight 30 to 60 degree angle, that means he would have to step subtly to his right and launch a quick left hook and catch Artur on the right side of his chin. Believe it or not, that punch can knock him out, if performed correctly, for a laymen, that would be at Artur’s 11 or 10 o’clock if Artur was looking at the 12 spot. Dmitri can win this, but he is going to have to make a lot less mistakes then Betterbeehive.
Good luck to both fighters and I hope they both win (as I bet on the draw for big money) but my gut says Beterbiev KO’s Bivol. But what does my gut know, it gives me diarrhea when I eat cheesecake, so my gut is a dumbass.
IT WAS A GREAT FIGHT… A HELLUVA OF A FIGHT!!! Didn’t think much of it before but afterwards, this might be the fight of the year… so far. It was competitive, it was nonstop, it was a great match-up and it it was one really good fighter and one elite fighter, you just didn’t know who was who until it was all over. I know that they are going to say that Loma was the obvious elite fighter, but styles make fights and Kambosos, regardless of the haters, deserved a shot at the title and made an exciting fight.
While a lot of people think this is Saul “Canelo” Alvarez versus Golden Boy, it’s actually Canelo vs Jaime Munguia. Not that I wouldn’t have minded a prime Oscar De La Hoya fight versus a prime Saul Alvarez, but every time machine I invented to get these prime fights set up hasn’t worked (it’s just me trying to create an E=mc squared time warp, sounds cool right, but all I’m doing is turning the lights on and off really fast……. yep, still no time warp) so we would have to opine on who would win, I’m going to call it a draw, Canelo v DLH… not Canelo v. Munguia. The Alvarez vs Munguia fight is something else, there will definitely be a winner if it isn’t a draw. Who will win… well, that’s what this blarticle is all about.
Let’s start with the Champion and pound for pound (if this were England) the dollar for dollar… moolah making, Ben Franklin printing ($100), cabbage creating, cheddar chasing, brass bringing boxing king… Canelo Alvarez… pictured above forgetting he’s an orthodox fighter…. Canelo is undoubtedly the money man of boxing. There are few fights or fighters that are as lucrative as Canelo, if any. The only person that matches Canelo’s status as a must see fighter is Ryan Garcia (who did not cheat, I’m going to call BS on that, he just has to be careful about who he associates with) and Gervonta Davis… and that’s not with every fighter they face, like Canelo. Crawford and Inoue are good fighters but they just don’t have the drawing power of these other fighters. Now for the fight at hand…. Canelo, a sure shot hall of famer, will have his work cut out for him. To be honest, I would have bet the house on Canelo before Jaime started to train with Freddie Roach. I would have said that Canelo ko’s Munguia in 7, easy. But with Roach in the picture, it changes the equation. I say this fight went from an easy fight for Alvarez to a dangerous fight for Alvarez. For Alvarez to win, he can’t just do what he ordinarily does, because as sure as your mama hated you for having a big ass head when you were born, Freddie Roach is going to come up with a gameplan that has a lot of potential to succeed. Canelo is going to have to be a little trickier and goad the big fella into a firefight, then use his slight movements to make Munguia miss while countering him with big shots. Once Munguia starts to get wary of Canelo’s power…. he can then walk the taller fighter down and land at will. Once again, body shots are going to be key.
Now, for the undefeated challenger, who hails from Tijuana, Mexico. Jaime no nickname Munguia, pictured above in what seems to be AI footage of his head on someone else’s body, to be victorious, he first and foremost needs to listen to Freddie Roach’s instructions and follow the gameplan that was outlined for him. If the younger Munguia can follow the instructions of his corner, his chances of winning rise exponentially. I’m pretty sure that Freddie is going to tell Jaime to move laterally, so as not to let Alvarez set his feet, use a long jab, and when the opportunity presents itself, or even if it doesn’t, throw that hard right down the middle to keep the iron chinned Alvarez occupied. The knockout will most likely not come so down chase it, chase the the points, that’s most likely the outcome of this fight. I’m pretty sure that they might try to emulate Bivol.
It’s going to be a great fight. My prediction is that the Mexican guy will win. Good luck to both fighters both really good guys.
There is going to be electricity at the Barclay Center tomorrow on 4/20…. (2024). Devin “The Dream” Haney versus Ryan “King Ry” Garcia. Really quick, on a separate note, that fighters take on nicknames, like urban youth throwing up tags… mine was “epic”, is a little hilarious because this the only sport that formalizes those monikers or nicknames. But now back to the reason I’m writing this blarticle…. the fight between these young fighters is going to be pretty amazing, IF… and only if…. they are allowed to fight without outside interference. Lets hope that this will be the case, right. Fair fight on a fair night. That being said, the winner of this fight is easy to pick… it’s the one with the most points at the end of the night or the one that’s standing when it’s all over. The way I see it is, this fight can go either way with a 55% to 45% advantage to the person that is able to implement their game plan and not let the other person adjust.
Let’s start with Devin Haney (pictured above yelling at the mirror in constant professionalism as he practices to yell at Garcia) is the undefeated 140 pound Champion with a record of 31 wins with 15 big wins by curing insomnia. Haney’s biggest asset is his IQ and his mobility. His path to a win is to not let people chirp and forget about going for the KO. It will come if it comes. Haney’s specialty is quick shots and having his opponent walk into a big shot. Haney has to mix up his shots and do quick side steps and counters. If he goes at Garcia, he is going to run into something. Luckily for Haney, Garcia has two modes… fast and faster, which should play into his bag of tricks. Haney needs to keep that right hand at home when he isn’t using it and rely on his jab. Haney has a bad habit of leaving his right side exposed and he needs to definitely correct that for this fight.
The opponent, Ryan Garcia (pictured above seemingly readying himself for Haney by getting ready to headbutt a ram) is the uber (meaning very and not the taxi) talented fighter with a record of 24 wins with a sole defeat against a pound for pound lightweight with 20 big wins followed by his opponents asking “how long have I been asleep” zzzzzzzz’s…… Garcia’s biggest asset is no surprise to anyone, it’s his speed and his ability to change direction on his punches. Garcia’s path to win this is to mix up patience with controlled aggression and some feints. Garcia has to rack up the points early and move to make Haney desperate and than force Haney to come to him, which as sure as the doctor slapped yo mama when you were born, Haney will do if he is behind on points. If Garcia can pull that off, he will KO Haney, absent any outside interference. Garcia needs to learn to tuck his chin to avoid being knocked down and his one weakness is that he always goes straight back instead of off-lining to the right or left like he should. He needs to step right or left to stay in range and needs to pump that jab like he is playing that slots.
Both of these fighters, regardless of what is seen leading up to the fight, are good guys. The magnitude of this fight is getting to them but you have to realize that they are both young and they are both hungry and they both want to win. Too bad you can’t have two winners because I believe they both deserve a win but this is the hurt business not the heart business. You perform and then you extend your gratitude to your opponent. Let’s hope that they can keep it professional in there.
My prediction is that the best man will win, hopefully…. Most pros have Haney winning and he is the betting favorite, but there are a few that have Garcia pulling off the upset. Good luck to both.
Ahhh… the great sport of boxing has become a parody. Before I tell you why I think that, let’s go over the history of prize fighting.
Boxing used to be a sport that was introduced by the Greeks. Before the mid-third century B.C., the ancient Greek Olympics were called the Hekatomboia. This festival involved the sacrifice of 100 oxen and attracted participants from all over Greece. The ancient Olympics were so successful that the Greeks created the Panhellenic Games, which were four games in four different city-states to honor different gods. The Olympics lasted nearly 1,000 years until they were outlawed in 393 CE by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. However, they were revived again in 1896.
Boxing, or something similar, was represented in those games as people that had their hands wrapped in cloth fought… that was part of the games. As legend has it, Mikus Tysonious was the first ever champion, yeah that would have been pretty funny but the actual name of the person was Onomastus, which in Greek means famous, which I’m guessing was his fight name, a lot like the “Gypsy King”, because I can’t imagine that someone would just name their kid Famous. But it was Greece, so who the hell knows. Hey, did you see what Famous did, he wrote graffiti on the Temple of Hera. That Famous… always getting into trouble.
Boxing resurfaced in England in the early 16th century in the form of bare-knuckle boxing, sometimes referred to as prizefighting. Boxing was introduced in the United States in the late 1700s but began to take root there only about 1800. Irish immigrants are said to have introduced boxing to the United States as they migrated to the Northeast throughout the 1860s and 1870s with the first Heavyweight Champion being John L. Sullivan, the son of Irish immigrants, who was said later in life to become friends with an Irish guy named Bailey…. and he used his cream to get in shape for his fights. Bailey’s Irish Cream would eventually be the downfall of the Champion.
As the years went on we seen great champions come and go. Boxing was such an adored sport that one of the famous figures in history, Muhammad Ali, is world renowned. To be the heavyweight champion of the world brought a certain amount of prestige… most of the time. Now, boxing is losing its panache. With social media and everyone having a camera ready to shoot someone at their worst, these famous fighters are confronting things their predecessors didn’t have to. But the worst part of the situation is how technology can affect your performance. Boxing is no longer a sport that is determined on skill but on who has less baggage or is more liked by the “power company”. That electricity and wave particle duality or particle wave physics has more of an outcome to determine who wins a fight than the fighters themselves makes boxing a joke.
The fighters are aware of this and they constantly try to make their opponent into some kind of Bond villain in the hopes of not being affected by these outside entities. They would rather see their opponent be affected. It’s a sad state of affairs when sports is no longer sports but people trying to please an unknown master. I still watch boxing but only to see which of the two opponents is going to be affected. Being the best is no longer necessary, now you have to win popularity contests.
Thank God it wasn’t that way… at least not as much… in the days of Ali.
What a fight ….. or maybe… where was the fight? I understand how everyone feels, Ortiz definitely had a game plan that offset Lopez’s best qualities. It was smart, slick and worthy of mention but a lot like Stevenson v. De Los Santos, it doesn’t make for the best fights. The reason why Lopez won a close fight that could have gone either way is because 1) he was already the Champion and you have to take the belt from the champion (as noted by allowing the champion to keep his or her belts in case of a draw), 2) Ortiz wasn’t overwhelmingly landing more shots than Lopez, he barely landed more and none were significant and 3) finally, because if you reward a close fight like that to the slick guy and not the guy that was pressing the action, you will end up killing boxing because viewers, not the hard core guys but the ones that watch it for the entertainment factor, will go to any other sport and not the track meet in a 20 foot square. While I became a fan of Ortiz and his skillful display, rudimentary fans that are watching for the first time may never watch again. That’s why, if you are going to make the stick and move your game plan, you better overwhelm statistically with punches landed, you have to leave no doubt….. and while that’s a sad fact….. it’s a fact nonetheless. Ultimately, this a business, and if you deliver fights like that night after night, boxing will die, and that’s why Ortiz lost. That being said, if Ortiz was the champion and he was defending his belt(s), he would have gotten the win.
That brings us to another perplexing situation, Lopez, for as good as he is, has one major flaw, almost all boxers do, he can’t handle movement. He needs to correct this. He should have stopped and forced the challenger to follow him. He is the champion and if no one lands a shot, he retains the belt. I mean, hell, the fight was about that boring anyway. Not as bad as Stevenson v De Los Santos, but close. Got to have a game plan for the guys that are not going to stand there and trade.
The right guy won…. but not because he won but because the other guy didn’t do enough to win…. if that makes sense. Boxing scoring is subjective as opposed to objective, that’s the correct phrasing, I looked it up to make sure, which means that unless a KO is achieved, the fight is left in the hands of judges who make a decision based on their experience and also what is best for the sport. I know, it sucks… but if boxing is to survive, you have to force the fights to be entertaining or at least, in cases where the fight is so tactical and technical, decisive. It has always been that way.
But if I was a matchmaker…. Teo Lopez vs. Conor Benn…. that would definitely be an all action fight and Benn, who is a top ten contender in a heavier division, assuming that he can make the 140 pound limit, would be coming down or Lopez can go up for one fight. That action packed fight would make up for this tactical fight. And since both fighters just fought 12 rounders, the time off would fit. May 4th is still open….
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