There must be something in the water giving people the courage to actually step up and fight people that are a danger to their undisputed claim as the “king” of their division, it might be that cucumber lemon thing I see at fancy hotels, it’s really refreshing, either way, whatever it is, they should drink more of it. In a boxing match, which is sure to be a classic, the undefeated Devin Haney will square up with a former pound for pound king and current real threat to win Vasyl Lomachenko. The lightweight bout for undisputed will take place this Saturday, May 20th, at the MGM Grand. This fight is going to be filled with intrigue, as these two technicians match their skills and IQ in a 20 foot by 20 foot ring. The word that comes to mind when I think of this fight is proceleusmatic (word of the day on my dictionary toilet paper). I’m trying to expand my vocabulary and hopefully one day someone can tell me how to pronounce it. It means inspiring. So, this fight is going to be inspiring. Two combatants, one in the beginning of his dominance, the other towards the end. It’s the optimistic, not really brash, but definitely confidant young gun against the wily older veteran who moves like a samba dancer and punches like he was an octopus, just punches from every angle and you swear he has more than two arms.

Let’s start with the betting favorite, Devin Haney who sports an undefeated record of 29-0 with 15 KO’s. Haney (pictured above asking for his two dollars and lets see who can guess where that reference is from) made his bones fighting in Tijuana before taking his talent back to the U.S., has quick hands and an educated jab. Haney (pictured above looking dissatisfied with his Happy Meal) has really good ring generalship and controls distance with sharp punches. While Haney isn’t the hardest puncher in the division, that distinguishment goes to Davis, he still has a hefty punch and has a good eye for the openings. If Haney has a weakness, which all fighters do, it would be his power. When I say power, I don’t mean force, which is the one punch knockout threat, it’s maintaining that force from round 1 to round 12. The definition of power is the amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time or power equals work (force) over elapsed time. In this case, the youngster, like all youngsters, comes out hard and fast and then fades, as most of his KO’s come before the 7th round. Haney (pictured above disgruntled with the seating arrangements) will eventually learn how to disperse his energy as he gets older and wiser.

The opponent, since he is fighting for the belts and not to retain them, Vasyl Lomachenko has an impressive resume with the limited amount of fights he has had at the pro level, with 17 wins against 2 losses and 11 wins by KO. Lomachenko (pictured above trying to recall how to say “let the best man win” in English) is a unique case in the fight world as he has fought more current and former world champions than Haney even though he has less pro fights. Lomachenko (pictured above trying to locate the buffet at the MGM Grand) has a vast amount of experience and some crazy movement. If a person didn’t know any better, you would think that he was doing the pee pee dance in the ring, by the way he moves quickly in and out and has excellent lateral movement. Loma isn’t and has never been an “opponent” and he isn’t, yet, a gatekeeper to the upper echelon. What he is… is a former pound for pound candidate and an excellent fighter. His game plan of playing ghost, as people seem to punch and miss a lot, and counter is a really good one but the one thing he does have is power. Loma’s knockouts come on the later half of the fight, after he has his opponent flustered and weary, he seems to have an extra gear and he turns it on to get his opponents out of there. Maybe he is a hybrid, half gas – half electric. His weakness is that he is a natural featherweight, but as all fighters do as they get older, they pig out on NY pizza and eventually have to move up in weight.

The fight is set and these two guys, two actual real nice guys, at least as far as I can tell. Not vociferous (toilet paper) or braggadocious (had to look that one up) but two guys that enjoy the sport and want to be at the pinnacle (that one I knew) of their division by challenging themselves with the best and not making excuses. One of my favorite fighters Willie Pep, reminds me a little of Loma by the way he moves, not the way he punches, lost to Sandy Saddler 3 times and won once. Even though Sandy had Willie’s number, Willie kept fighting him….not avoiding him, you know why… because he was a fighter. I don’t think you can be the best ever without having a loss and avenging that loss. That’s why I always considered Sugar Ray Robinson the best ever, you thought I was going to say Willie Pep, hahaha , are you crazy. That’s also why I admire these two fighters because either one can lose and one will most likely will but they want to be recognized as one of the best ever, so they do what fighters do, they fight, in their prime, where there is a real chance of losing.

My prediction for this fight is simple, the one with the most points and is still standing at the end will be the winner. Good luck to both combatants.

UPDATE: It was a great true boxing match. Both fighters gave their all with Haney coming out strong and then fading a bit and Loma, maintaining his power all through the fight. As for who won, what I think doesn’t matter, Haney won and what I think won’t buy you a taco on Tuesday, Haney could have won even though some people saw it differently. My opinion is that there is something wrong with the scoring process. The most clear rounds were the 10th, 11th, and the 1st…. and anyone that watches the fight again will see those were Loma’s rounds. I always said that, for some reason, the scoring ringside is more difficult due to the angles then scoring it on TV, where you can see all, well, most of the angles. The fighters were getting credited for missed shots, blocked shots….. no shots. That’s why I think their should be 6 judges, 3 ringside, 3 TV judges. Watch how the ringside judges differ and how the TV judges would be similar. Dave Moretti gave the 10th to Haney, which was a clear Loma round, but his angle of view made it seem like Haney squeaked it out or he couldn’t really see Loma’s clear punches. Congratulations to Haney…. If I was his matchmaker, I would stay away from Davis, at least for the next fight, you will eventually have to fight him because you’re a fighter, and fight Stevenson next and I would ask Loma to train me. Maybe you can have AI score the fight, it can’t do any worse.

One more thing, Haney looked like a monster next to Loma, in stature and yet, David always finds a way to defeat Goliath, in theory, anyway. I hope Loma doesn’t quit and goes to 130 and fights Navarette, That’s the fight to make for Loma.

Gervonta Davis v Ryan Garcia, what can any blogger write that hasn’t already been said. This fight sells itself as these budding superstars face each other on April 22nd, six days after tax day, which probably gives them more incentive to beat the hell out of each other after giving their money to Uncle Sam. That’s your Uncle Sam, not mine, I officially disowned him. He’s funny, he’s your uncle one day a year and then you don’t hear from him. No birthday gifts or hanukkah money. Anyway, getting off topic…. Davis v Garcia (pictured above in their best impersonation of the Walking Dead) is a much anticipated fight because of how these two combatants generally dispose of their opponents, with extreme prejudice… huh, some people may not understand that… let me put it another way, coup de grace, yeah… that probably confused you more, how about cold-cocking, ehhh, that one is a little old fashion, the tik tok generation might misinterpret that to mean something else, how about… they separate their opponents from the waking world?, they lay out the slumber lumber?, cure insomnia?, they put put their opponents to sleep in brutal fashion, most of the time.

Let’s start with the betting favorite, Gervonta Davis (pictured above wearing the floral skin shirt). Davis, with 26 wins and no losses, 24 wins by KO, is as close as to a perfect fighter as you are going to get in the sport today. Davis (pictured above wondering if tattoos come off with alcohol rubs) has the best balance in the sport. This is what lets him generate that big power. While most people lunge and throw shots off balance, Davis always seems to have his feet in the right spot to generate power. While the training helps him, for Davis, it’s natural. It’s as if he was born to do just what he is doing. If Garcia, who has lapses in defense, allows Davis to find his range and get into a groove, it’s possible that he will make a lot of money in a short period of time, I mean shorter than 12 rounds… it’s possible that Davis will knock out Garcia. Now a little birdy just told me that is just what’s going to happen, but who listens to talking birds, they freak me out, couldn’t even watch Sesame Street because of it, but they do wield that magic.

Now for Ryan Garcia, or KingRy, it’s actually King Ry, two words, but somehow it got pushed together and people pronounce as one word “kingry”, whose sports a record of 23 wins no losses 19 wins by KO, well, Garcia (pictured above hallucinating off a bad mushroom trip) has natural gifts. God gave him speed (not the kind you ingest, God isn’t a drug dealer) and he gave him force (think more two cars colliding, less Luke Skywalker). This makes him perfect for the science of pugilism and believe it or not, it is a science, physics to be exact, because Force equals mass times acceleration and (along with power) are the two most important equations in boxing. And Garcia is a star student in the science of pugilism. If Garcia can maintain the proper distance and force Davis to overcommit, and Davis gets hit, he usually allows it to happen against inferior opponents that can’t hurt him just to motivate himself but this won’t be the case here, than Garcia can set up a science lab class in the middle ring and show the world what happens in Newton’s lesser known Fourth Law, the law of gravity, which basically states, all items fall to earth, especially if you are asleep.

Good Luck and Buena Suerte to both fighters… This is a pick’em fight and I’ll pick’em after it’s all over, less chances of me being wrong that way. Also, I hope neither person bets their wallets (the prize money), what are they going to carry their driver’s licenses in if they do and lose. They’re entertaining millions of people and both fighters should reap the rewards of that, don’t get goaded into simplistic behavior, it’s unseemly.

This year’s boxing schedule is very surprising, in a good way. Fighters are fighting each other. Right, what I mean to say is that elite fighters are fighting each other, not opponents. Fighters always fight each other and on occasion the referee and sometimes their or the other guys corner and once or twice a person in the audience, but this year is different, these fighters aren’t fighting opponents, they’re fighting fighters or people that can actually beat them. These elite fighters are trying their best to put boxing back on the front pages and we have some really big fights this year. David Benavidez versus Caleb Plant (pictured above in a tense game of battleship), in any other year, would be the mega fight of the year, this year, they have to settle for the month. David and Caleb (pictured above in a game of lets see who blinks first) have to compete with some very big fights i.e. Ramirez v. Dogboe, Stevenson v. Yoshino (sort of ), Fundora v. Mendoza (not on the same level but a really good fight), Joyce v Zhang, Davis v Garcia, Stanions v Ortiz, Haney v Loma, Taylor v Cameron and Taylor v Lopez (a different Taylor, though at the same weight class just different urinals, was that too much, don’t want to be sexist about it)…. and that’s all before July!!! I’m worried that the boxing world is going to spoil me and then let me down for the rest of my life as it won’t come close to this year’s pugilistic endeavors ever again. Right now we’re going to focus on Benavidez v Plant (pictured above trying to guess the number the other guy is thinking).

Benavidez, with a record of 26-0 and 23KO’s, failed to knock out 3 fighters, lol, just kidding, I’m pretty sure he chased them down after the fight and knocked them out anyway. LOL, still kidding, his KO ratio is impressive as he breaks down his opponents and leaves them wishing they hadn’t quit their day job, but Plant is no opponent, as mentioned before. Benavidez is one of the youngest champions ever, he brings determination and grit to the ring, (the names of his cornermen). David (pictured above in his depiction of Squid Game) is rangy, quick, elusive and can hit you with a five punch combination if you are foolish enough to blink in punching range.

Plant, with a record of 22-1 and 13 KO’s, is one of the best at 168 lbs. and probably the best pure boxer at his weight class, which is a little different from boxer. His ring IQ and his fight game is one of the best in all of boxing. His lone loss comes to the best fighter in the sport, at the time, Canelo Alvarez. I personally thought he could have won but his game plan of breaking Canelo’s hands with his head and then winning late wasn’t his best strategy (you have laugh at yourself or you’ll go crazy). In all seriousness, he has all the tools to beat both Canelo and Benavidez but at the same time, they possess those tools to beat the best in the division. It’s just who brings the better game plan and executes that will win. Caleb (pictured above thinking why the mirror has him looking Hispanic) is the most elusive and best counterpuncher in the division. He sets people up with clever traps and has excellent movement. Plant’s point of view, from what I can guess, is that this is boxing and not “let’s see who can punch harder”. Caleb stands with old adage I’ll punch you and then I’m getting the fuck out of the way. The strategy works.

Good luck to both fighters and let the best man win.

I don’t get all the criticism or harsh commentary being levied on Jake Paul…or is it Logan Paul….Paul Jake? Logan Jake? Paul Logan?? It sucks having two first names and having a brother that looks a lot like you. The kid is boxing and is a boxer. The criticism by non boxers are that he is fighting non boxers, MMA guys, basketball players, etc. yeah, that’s pretty tough task to begin your career. Most boxers fight plumbers or electricians and some have fought mailman (Roy Jones Jr. in a title bout) to begin their career. That’s because no one fights a professional boxer in the beginning, they all fight people that are trying their hand at boxing. Only very few people actually begin their career fighting professional boxers. Vasily Lomanchenko being one of the few. You’re a professional boxer when and only when you make your living or at least significant amount of your living in the ring and don’t have to do anything else. A lot of guys fight for a long time and never become a professional boxer. Lets look at the best pound for pound guy and his first 6 fights.

Canelo Alvarez fought Gonzalez, Alvarado, Vasquez, Lopez, Juarez, Hernandez. Out of those, only Vasquez actually stayed in the sport and made a living as a boxer. The others have a total of 11 wins and 54 losses before hanging up the gloves. They weren’t athletes like Paul’s first six opponents. Paul’s first six opponents were actually more dangerous than any of Canelo’s opponents, sans Vasquez. I don’t like pundits, most who haven’t boxed, thinking that this kid isn’t a real boxer, he is. It takes a lot of courage to get in the squared circle and go toe to toe with another opponent who wants nothing better than to shut you up. But I get it, he is making money that some in the sport, who have been boxing for some time, only dream of. Is it right, why not? He built a platform and is using to elevate the sport. You have to admire his chutzpah.

This leads me to my prediction…… I say the white guy will either win, lose or draw. It will either go the distance or a stoppage. One scorecard will be completely wrong and the best man will win. Either way, Paul deserves his props and I hope he cleans up in his PPV card. I won’t be paying for it, not because it’s Paul and Fury but because it’s two guys with less than 10 fights fighting an 8 rounder and I wouldn’t pay to see anyone fight in their 8th pro fight. I like to consider myself more than a just a fan… I would like to consider myself a broke fan, that would be more accurate. Or else I might just get it.

I’m a NY Mets fan, which makes sense because I love to almost win before fading into oblivion. This time around, I find the team I root for in a very strange position, where the owner of the team isn’t being fleeced by a pyramid scheme and actually spending money on the team instead a bunch of lawyers (or maybe both) but Cohen has the money to do that, my advice, stay away from anyone named Madoff. The Mets, with a win now mentality, are making moves that has the whole MLB talking, mostly them saying rich m@ther effer, which is fine by me because I used to say it about the Yankees and then I would root for them anyway when the Mets were sent home. The Met’s problems today aren’t real problems, they’re more like what should I drive to the park, the Ferrari or the Lamborghini. Those are the problems to have. A lot of other teams complain because they’re giving out Metro cards for the players to get to the park and I get it but money doesn’t guarantee you a victory. The Astros, 9th biggest payroll last year, won it all, before that it was the Atlanta Braves, 12th biggest payroll that year at 147 million, and before that it was the, we don’t have talk about 2020. The point being is that money helps but the intangibles are important, like… hmmm, the intangible stuff, if I knew I would be working for them instead of blogging to nine people.

The predicament the Mets find themselves in is they have too many players and they have to release some and lets be honest, no one wants to leave the NY market. Where else can you get a NY pizza or a New York hot dog while dodging pigeon shit, nowhere. NY is an electric place with very rabid fans that will ride or die for their teams, there may be no bigger fan base in all of sports. Now they face this dilemma of who to keep and who to give away. For me, and every know nothing like me, its pretty simple, give away the guys that are less better…. not as good?…. maybe, the ones more worse… They’re all good but when looking at the roster, Verlander has to go… just kidding… hahaha, no… in my unprofessional and most likely completely wrong opinion, Baty and Escobar should be your DH hitters, while rotating into the field. Baty into left field and third base to give the starters time off and Escobar at first, third and shortstop when needed. The guys that are at DH now are good but they wouldn’t be able to play the positions these two guys would. Batty (I spelled that wrong didn’t I) is going to eventually be a perennial All Star and Escobar is a good player that drives in runs especially in clutch situations. Escobar doesn’t get frazzled by big league moments, he seems to thrive in them. Eventually, Baty is going to be a full time position player with other players backing him up. The Mets probably know this already but what kind of fan would I be if I didn’t criticize and give them all the wrong answers before I buy all their merch.

Anyway, Go Mets, hopefully, we’ll see………

Let me start by saying that this fight had the ghosts of the heavyweight divisions all time greats on the edge of their phantom couches. It was an amazing fight. There were no losers, at least from the fan perspective. I paid $70 for this fight and I feel like I ripped them off. It was an all time great fight between a boxer and puncher with the outcome of the fight in question until Fury started to bounce on his toes in the 9th round and then I got that feeling that it was over for Wilder. 277 pounds and bouncing on his toes to set up his rhythm, after taking those heavy shots that would short circuit a city, from Wilder!!! one of the heaviest punchers to ever be in the division. It must have disheartened Wilder, who, for his part, left everything in the ring to show that he was there for real and not to just pick up a paycheck. These two combatants have put the heavyweight division on the map and now the lower weights are going to have to play catch up to match the action in this fight.

Wilder, a true warrior, just not a pure boxer, who hits like he has titanium in his hands, put an effort and grit that you rarely see today. The first round was a no doubter as you can hear the thud of his punches on Fury’s body. And you could tell by Fury’s expression, one of the few times his poker face actually failed him, that those shots shocked him by the pure ferociousness and force that landed on his midsection. Lucky for Fury, he had a lot of shock absorber quality to that midsection, or it might have done some lasting affects. Fat absorbs punishment better than muscle, that’s why women fall on their derriere and guys fall on their heads to absorb punishment. If Wilder had aimed those thuds to the arms and shoulders, he would have much better success. That’s why you couldn’t knock out Tony Tubbs with a body shot, shock absorption. Wilder’s one weakness was that he actually thought that there was no way Fury could beat him, over confidence, which led to his doom. Wilder’s best fight was against Stiverne, in their first fight, where Wilder was very aware of Stiverne’s force and boxed beautifully by mixing agility, speed and force. If he had done that here, I think t would have been a very different fight. Mix the force with long jabs and movement and I believe he could have pulled it off but he chose to load up early and often which caused him spend most of his energy early and gave Fury the opportunity he needed to win.

Fury, who started out supremely over confident, lost that over, not the confidence, in the first round after feeling those jack hammer right hands of Wilder’s. It made Fury do what Wilder should have done, be cautiously aggressive. He mixed in beautiful head movement with quick jabs and good feints to lure in Wilder. It honed in his senses and timing because he did not want to taste that power up top. And when he did get a little too brave, Wilder deposited him on his fat head, shock absorption. He wouldn’t make that mistake after that round though and he showed what a true boxer puncher can do to a forceful puncher and that’s outlast him, pick him apart with timing, and set him up for the finish, which is exactly what he did. Overall, a great fight from a great boxer and a great puncher. But in the end, the sport is called boxing, not let’s see who can punch harder and that is why Fury had his hand raised while Wilder had his head dropped, again, shock absorption.

If there ever was a fight deserving of PPV status, it definitely is this fight. Spence is considered by some as the top welterweight while Danny Garcia is in the top 5. In a weight class that sports names like Crawford, Thurman, Pacquiao and Porter… many, if not all, in the top 25 pound for pound list, these fighters are going to square off on Saturday for Welter weight dominance. Crawford, who came off a drubbing of former welter champ Kell Brook days ago, has placed his name as the contender to be the best in a historic weight class that has seen names with monikers like Sugar (Robinson, Leonard, Mosely), all Hall of Famers with Robison, thought by many, to be the GOAT, and the self proclaimed GOAT, Mayweather, which he definitely has a claim to that distinction, but it must be placed on him by his peers and viewers, as it is not something you can just crown yourself with, as well as Hearns, Leonard, Duran, DLH, Trinidad and the list is too long to name everyone, Armstrong, Greb, Cotto, Bradley… let’s see Margarito (just kidding, ha ha)….. I mean the list is the best in the sport as talent goes. The only other division that rivals welter weight is middleweight. The reason these weight are so highly regarded is because the talent pool in these weights are so plentiful and to be at the top of these weight classes really means you are definitely the best of the best. That’s why it really hurts to say that I can no longer take the sport seriously. After I saw Jeison Rosario get knocked out with a jab to the elbow, it seems that hi- tech wins are made instead of earned. With the bright lights and all the electricity and the huge amount of pay-outs for bettors, the sport has been corrupted by the “electric company” as thumbs and feet are lit up before the fight even begins. Seemingly making a buck off a betting slip is way more important than keeping this legal and fair. Now, if fighters want to win, they must do what the electric company asks of them, which is a shitty place to be, in the pocket of the hi-tech mafia. The sport has definitely been corrupted and the atmosphere of big fights has lost its luster as the winner is pre-determined, not by the fighters but by people that would never in their life step in a ring and give it their best shot.

Now, this doesn’t mean that some championship fights aren’t legit, Crawford’s win over Brook was real in my opinion, but Rosario’s loss, not the fault of Charlo, with a jab to the elbow that translated to his diaphragm going into spasms is something that defies logic and cannot ever be explained in the realm of normal boxing physics, thus tainting hardworking efforts by legitimate fighters…. all for a buck. And of course, this translates to all sports but this sport, where it could result in permanent damage, is especially egregious because obviously they care more about money than a person’s life.

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Simply put, why boxing is the greatest sport in the world. Amazing fight, Fight of the Year candidate. Put my money on Loma but was glad to see I was wrong. A must see fight. Loma will be back but at 130, where he will reign for the next couple of years. Best fight for Lopez, in my opinion, is either Davis or Haney but if he goes to 140, Taylor is the man to beat. You know what though, he would probably do it. Just a great fight…. I should add that the commission let them fight without outside interference, I mean there was some electricity in there, but not that much that it swayed the fight. It was pretty close to a fair contest.