Let us start by saying that if the fight on the 15th has half the action this fight had then it will live up to the hype. This is going to be considered a candidate for fight of the year. It was a see saw battle for the first half of the fight but it was Porter’s ability and tenacity that pulled it out in the end. This fight is also an in-depth look at how judges score fights. Porter was overwhelming, as he usually is in all his fights and he was quick footed, quicker then Garcia, and had his in and out game down. You can tell it frustrated Garcia a little. Garcia, showed some amazing timing and had the cleaner harder shots as he visibly wobbled Porter at least once but he could not follow up. The difference in the end was Porter’s stamina for which Garcia tried to diminish by landing some thudding blows to the body, which you can tell bothered Porter because he tried to return the favor, When you hurt someone to the body, their instinct is to go to the other person’s body, which Porter did with effectiveness. Porter was the physically stronger fighter while Garcia seemed to be the stronger puncher and had more eye catching shots. In the end, according to compustats, never a super reliable way to actually record landed punches but has some viability, showed that Garcia landed more power shots but threw way less. Porter overwhelmed Garcia with punches in bunches, landing some very good shots of his own, but was caught just a smidge more. The question that presented itself was what were the judges going to reward? It was a game of accuracy versus activity and in a close fight like this, the judges rewarded activity. I congratulate Showtime Shawn Porter, seemingly a really good guy, which may have also played a role in the decision, on his win and his endeavor to obtaining a World Championship. Who said nice guys finish last.

It goes down in the record books and every time future generations look back at world champions in probably the most talented division in boxing history, right there with the middleweights, with the likes of the greatest of all time, not Mayweather, Robinson, though Mayweather might be second on that list, Shawn Porter was one of them and I personally believe he deserves that honor.

The one knock and maybe the reason why Garcia might have given the fight away is because he looks for the one hitter quitters. With someone like Porter, who has an excellent chin but was hurt, Garcia needed to press that advantage. Instead of looking for the opening, Garcia needed to create that opening when Porter was hurt. Porter would have turtled up but Garcia needed to break through the shell and land some good hard shots to get the knockdown. Porter followed up quickly every time he felt that he hurt Garcia even though Garcia had good defense. That might have been the difference.

I had the fight 114-114 but was overruled because my opinion doesn’t matter.

The bad blood brewing between both boxers builds because both believe by-standing belittles boxing. I hope that makes sense, what I was trying to say with just using the letter b is that they are both going to try and make a statement. I have respect for both fighters, regardless of what was reported in the past. GGG, almost always the gentleman, has taken a stand as being treated as the opponent when he is the long standing champion and an impressive one by his record. Canelo, his sole loss to Mayweather, which I blame his trainer for not having a proper game plan because Canelo could have easily beaten him, made a very interesting point, that he was the better boxer and concedes that he is not the harder puncher but power isn’t everything in boxing or Randall Bailey would have reigned king until he retired because there are few people that can match that kind of power. Canelo feels that too much was made of the clenbuterol fiasco and that he will prove it by dethroning the champion.

I agree, to a certain extent, that the incident should be put behind us and as long as he sticks with VADA, or any drug testing regiment, that we should let Canelo fight without distraction. I also agree with GGG in that he had the right to be disappointed with his opponent. Why not? GGG, the consummate professional, feels that his opponents mistake should be discussed and should reflect in creating parity in the purse. I believe that’s reasonable, again. to a certain extent. Once addressed and the points agreed on and you decide to agree on the match then you have basically said that you believe that Canelo will do the right thing and stay clean, so we don’t have to harp on it any longer. The thing that I do notice is that if they were angry, then they are the most calm angry people I ever met. I don’t think they were angry at all, I think that they leveraged their positions like good business people. While they have this reported animosity, I can’t hardly see it. Losing respect is not the same as being angry, it likens more to being disappointed in their opponents actions. We can all be disappointed in someone else. I will say this, the angry fighter will lose, because fighting angry clouds judgement and creates mistakes.

I say good luck to both fighters and my prediction is , wait for it, that a fight will occur on Sept. 15th and the better “boxer” will win. And they’re both excellent boxers.

The fight and the war of words is on. Both fighters are ready to get in the ring but they are going to have to wait until Sept. 15th to settle matters. I listened to their interview via facebook on July 3rd and they both look in fighting shape. I then watched their first fight without sound. I know that GGG might be the favorite because of all the hype of how everyone thought he won the first fight, and I was one of them, but now I’m not so sure. I saw Canelo, who everyone said ran, fight a superb fight. Canelo was quicker, more mobile, more elusive, landed the cleaner shots and avoided the big punchers heaviest shots. All in all, Canelo was the better boxer and maybe the better man for the first half of the fight. GGG, well, he’s a wrecking ball, and when you are used to be a wrecking ball the other nuances of boxing, that Canelo did so well, are absent or not worked on as much. They say styles make fights and this might be to the detriment of GGG. Canelo is the overall better boxer, the only equalizer is GGG’s power and reach over Canelo. Canelo shouldn’t change a thing except maybe work on his stamina, which is why GGG brought the numbers to even towards the end. Forget the hype, this about winning the titles and like any other sport, you have to play to your strengths. If Canelo does a little better version of his last fight and leaves GGG frustrated, he will walk out with those belts. I believe that GGG’s team is aware of this and that’s why they are using the “you ran” psychology on Canelo. They are questioning his heart and machismo and it might work if his trainer doesn’t see through this tactic. Canelo is the better boxer and he proved that. Now, let’s see if he lets his manhood gets the better of him because that’s the only chance GGG has unless he gets back to his roots of using a strong jab as his main weapon. Since GGG does have the reach, the only real way to nullify Canelo’s superior boxing skills is to keep that stick in his face and body. GGG is a savvy boxer, he’ll know when to unleash that right hand. If GGG uses that jab, like in the Lemieux fight, and works that body in the early rounds with viciousness, he might be able to offset Canelo’s movement. In the end, it’s still really a 50/50 fight. I wish I had the money to watch it but I’m going to have to watch the replay.

My prediction for this fight, unless there is an outside magical influence, you know who you are, I think I’m going to change it, someone will win or it might be a draw again but two people are going to be punching the hell out of each other.

What can you say about this fight that hasn’t already been said many times by commentators, news articles, pro fighters, the promoters and the fighters themselves. On one side you have Wilder who is ready for this fight and ready to unite. His supporters are taking notice of Joshua’s promoter and manager Eddie Hearn opting to fight Povetkin instead of Wilder for the next fight. They are saying that Joshua is scared and that his own team doesn’t have the confidence in him to overcome the challenge presented from the WBC champ and his bazooka right hand. That the best way to keep the titles in England is to stay in England. My personal belief is that it was smart for Joshua to take Povetkin first. Povetkin is no push over for anyone and at 34-1 with 24 wins coming within the distance, he’s the perfect opponent to give you the tenacity and momentum to fight the best in the division. Wilder just dispatched Ortiz in impressive form and is riding the high. Hearn is trying to slow the roll of the Tuscaloosa tormentor and put his confidence of that win in the rear view mirror as long as Joshua wins his fight against the Russian, it might be a good strategy. It goes to the old saying, you’re only as good as your last fight and Joshua didn’t look exceptional against Parker while Wilder, well, he looked like a world beater. If you look at it like that, fighting Povetkin is definitely the right move.

On the other side you have Joshua supporters that say that Wilder is a one trick pony and if you take that trick away, all you have is a phony. That Wilder, with all his ballyhoo (old English for hype), is the one that doesn’t want the fight. Hearn says that all Wilder has to do is sign on the dotted line but he refuses to do it. That Wilder is more like a noise pop than a bazooka. My personal belief is that you are not going to find more one punch power in any division than the Tuscaloosan Titan and that’s one hell of a trick. That pony will take you to finish line first almost all the time. Taking out Ortiz in the manner he did, when no one else could even dent the Cuban, was definitely eye opening. Wilder is on cloud nine and deservedly so, like Joshua was after beating Wladimir by TKO. If you had asked Joshua to fight Wilder after Wladimir, he would have jumped at the chance, again, you are only as good as your last fight and that was one hell of a fight. Joshua’s confidence was through the roof and sometimes that is the determining factor. So, if Joshua disposes of Povetkin in fiery fashion, look for the his team to make the fight against Wilder.

My prediction for this fight is that the champ will win. For Wilder, it’s simple, keep your distance and work the body early and then let that Tuscaloosan Tomahawk loose to the chin. For Joshua, it’s simple, stay in his chest, don’t give him room, put your weight on him and beat him like a rag doll.

Good luck and I’m glad it’s not me in there. You must be crazy to fight either one of those behemoths.

The fight for middleweight supremacy, aptly titled SUPREMACY, is on for Sept. 15th, 2018, now why it says 2017 on the poster is unknown to me. I’m pretty sure that I pulled up last years advertisement but it’s still fitting. The fight is on the 15th of September and it should be a barn burner. With all the hoopla leading up to this fight, the combatants are sure to make a good one. I think there is some real animosity, not really hatred, but dislike for each other. I’m 50/50 on who is going to win, GGG is a year older and looked vulnerable against Martirosyan, relatively speaking for the amount of time the fight actually lasted and Canelo is coming off a suspension that saw him derided by his opponent. My prediction is someone is going to win this time. We’ll see. I don’t know what the event will be called but maybe ANIMOSITY. I used a thesaurus for supremacy and found maybe DOMINANCE could be it. Maybe ABSOLUTION would fit the bill, since the winner will be forgiven for everything and they will be absolute rulers of the division. There are many words  or phrases that will describe this fight, I hope fight of the year or worth the money are the ones used to describe it. Good luck to both combatants, may the best man win.

Alright!!!!! Did anyone see the insane game from Sochi, Russia? I don’t know what they put in the water there but if all the other games are just as exciting then we might have the best World Cup being played since the introduction of the event. It was the best one man versus one team event I have ever seen. Spain, after losing there coach, coming from behind to take the lead, Ronaldo, with some other guys with red shirts, scoring three goals and one insane, physics defying, bend it like Ronaldo foul shot from just outside the penalty box. Then you had Nacho’s get it while it’s hot, streak of lightning shot, also from just outside the penalty box that seemed to evade every defender as if it was on some kind of tracking beam just to hit the goal post with what seemed like a spin meant to do what it did, the only place that the goalkeeper could not reach, and ricochet into the goal. Then you have Costa, who seemed like Michael Jordan playing against high schoolers, when he dribbled in front of the goal just to create space and sink the goal from the top of the key. You heard of the term broken ankles, well, the spectators with the red shirts had broken everything as they couldn’t locate that round ball with their feet and seemed to be kicking each other instead as Costa just toyed with them before sending the ball into direct path with the back of the net.

An amazing game, Spain outplayed Portugal, they just made silly mistakes, Ronaldo just capitalized on all the mistakes, like your suppose to. Click on the link below for a quick recap of one of the most exciting games I have ever seen in World Cup play.

LINK

Hahaha, I named it link.

The Heavyweight Division is back and they’re planning on making this era one of the most intriguing era’s in boxing. They’re doing it the old fashioned way, they’re fighting each other. Guts and glory is what it is in a guts and glory sport. Klitschko did it but his opposition wasn’t as good or as closely matched as today’s heavyweights. A lot of people are watching closely the titans of today’s sport and they want to know if the big men of the sport can deliver.

Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz were the first to set it off and they did it in spectacular fashion. A see saw battle that had Ortiz winning early and saw Wilder come back from the brink of defeat to KO his opponent. The fight was reminiscent of the Ali days, still the greatest heavyweight to lace up the gloves, when opponents like Frazier, Norton, Foreman, still the best puncher of the division, Lyle, Quarry, Ellis and a few others that would have been champion if Ali had taken up badminton instead of boxing were around. Thank god for the kid that stole his bike.

Tomorrow, on 3/31/2018, the next part of the saga will take place. Joshua vs Parker. The fight will be telecasted on Showtime, maybe the new leader in boxing as they seem to have these heavyweights tied up in contracts. It’s a highly anticipated unification bout that is a must watch. The best part of it is it isn’t PPV, it’s regular cable. I expect the two combatants to leave it all in the ring and to try to honor the sport that many hold dear with their best effort.

Like every other fight, the media leading up to the fight had its share of trash talk. Parker trying to get in his opponents head by saying that he was a juicer and Joshua firing back saying that parker can’t hit or that he lacks power. The trash talk wasn’t at the level of Wilder and Ortiz but it was enough to make people think that their some animosity, creating hype for the bout. Trash talk has always been part of the sport from Johnson to Tyson, everyone does it and it makes the fight more intriguing but it’s only trash talk. Wilder and Ortiz hugged it out at the end and showed a tremendous amount of respect after the fight but before the bout it was about knocking each other into the third row. Does this mean they were actually going to, no, was Tyson actually going to eat someone’s kids after a fight, no, does Wilder really want to have a body on his record, no. These remarks sell seats and they are meant to captivate the audience prior to a match so the fighters can make a really good living so when their time is up, it can happen at anytime, and they must retire, they will be comfortable.

All these fighters are clean fighters and they don’t hit late or hit you when you are down or try to kill you. What they do is entertain you. And, as the fat boys once said, paraphrasing of course, the Heavyweights are back and they can never be whack!

My prediction for the fight, the guy with the J in his name will get the W. Actually, boxing and the boxing fans will get the W, those guys are going to put on a feat of will and determination, that’s what you do in sports, one of the few places it can happen.

Let me start off by saying that I love boxing. Loved it since Hearns KO’ed the great Roberto Duran in the 80’s. It was my introduction to the fight game and it couldn’t have been a better one.  Every era of boxing has had “the” fighters that people loved to watch, oddly enough, Oscar De La Hoya was one of those fighters. With a resume of fights that would rival the fighters of the 40’s and 50’s, when the best fought the best, Oscar kept the sport at its peak. I don’t remember Quartey fighting Trinidad at 147 or Miguel Angel Gonzalez fighting Chavez at 140. Oscar fought 22 previous world champs, not fringe belt holders and not counting IBO holders, even though the belt still meant something back then, and won a majority of those fights. Oscar has 45 total fights, half against named opposition, real opposition, current and former champion opposition, very few people can say that nowadays and he did it cleanly, meaning no steroids. So, when one of his fighters comes up dirty, twice, I’m scratching my head on how Golden Boy can let this happen. Alvarez was never one of my favorite fighters but after he destroyed Kirkland in 3 rounds he became a must watch fighter. Now I’m starting to think back on his career with this controversy and oddly enough, nothing stands out as when he had that moment where his KO’s started to come in bunches.

Kirkland was already a shot fighter and had been exposed by Ishida prior as well as being on rubber legs with Angulo before Angulo ran out of steam and got steam rolled. No, there is nothing in Alvarez’s background that suggests he was a cheater. He doesn’t seem like a dirty fighter but by testing twice for clenbuterol, according to VADA, who I believe are telling the truth, it makes someone wonder how, what, how??? Know what I mean.

The positive test dates were the 17th and 20th of February. I don’t know if VADA informs the fighters right away, meaning the same day of a positive test date, or if they have to analyze the blood and the test results come at a later date. If Canelo is telling the truth and VADA doesn’t inform you right away, then, yeah, tainted meat could definitely be the problem. I mean, when you go to the butcher, you just don’t buy one steak, you buy enough for a week, at least a couple of days, and obviously the tainted meat would come from the same source or same batch so the fact that Saul tested minimally within a couple of days makes sense. It still taints the fight a little and you still wonder, that annoying itch in the back of your head, if he cheated. My personal opinion is, I don’t have the slightest idea. GGG thinks that he did it deliberately but that is mind games and the fact that his hardest fight to date was Canelo, so of course, Gennady looks over the first fight and sees how he was semi-exposed by a younger fighter and he immediately comes to the conclusion that, with the latest allegations, Canelo was doping. If he was or if he wasn’t, we’ll probably never know. What we have to do is let the NSAC do its job and come to a conclusion.

I hope it was just an accident, I have no clue. The reason laid out by Golden Boy seems reasonable. I’m sure the investigators will come to a proper conclusion and the NSAC will give a fair trial and have just decision. I know that GGG feels a little bit like that the NSAC is playing favorites, after all Golden Boy is a big Promoter and Tom Loeffler, K2 Promotions, can’t really match their weight. Gennady’s concerns are justified but he has to trust in the decision the NSAC comes up with. I thought Golovkin won the first fight and I think he will win the second fight, as my son would say, Canelo “doesn’t know the way”, at least not with GGG anyway.

And here we go……. the fight that will determine the best middleweight, one of the best weight classes in boxing history along with heavyweight and welterweight. This fight is probably the most anticipated fight along with AJ or Parker v. Wilder. These two superstars are ready to make history and history is where this person will end up. The person that wins this fight will be mentioned along the likes of Hagler, Monzon, Hopkins, Jones Jr. and of course, the greatest of all time, The great Sugar Ray Robinson. The best fighter in boxing history to date.

The date of this incredible event is Cinco de Mayo, as it is known for the fake Mexican independence day (actually Sept. 16) as well as for the biggest fights in recent times. This date is always reserved for what is to be anticipated as the fight of the year. We will have to wait and see if they actually provide the fireworks needed to live up to the hype, it’s going to hard to top Wilder v Ortiz. I think it should be mandatory that the 5th of May always fall on a Saturday.

As we approach this holiest of boxing days, praise be onto the Ali, we are already filled with controversy. Canelo tested positive for Clenbuterol, holy Hagler! Several questions pop up when you think about how this could have happened, while I do not doubt Canelo’s version, why is he eating meat in the first place? Meat isn’t exactly the prototype cutting weight food. Since he is coming up from light middleweight, eating meat might be a perk he can afford and since the trace amounts that were found were so negligible to make a real difference and since he has never before tested positive, for anything, I’m going to pass this one off as one of those shit happens moments. But for the love of pugilism, be careful. Were these cows imported from Russia by any chance, GGG meat factories? LOL, joking, GGG wouldn’t sabotage this fight even if almighty Robinson himself came down from boxing heaven and told him to do it. A big deal will be made of it but as the boxing pope, Mills Lane, says, let’s get it on.

I’m hoping this controversy can be put aside and we can focus on the real question, who is on the undercard? It makes a difference.

I like both of these fighters. I think that they’re good for the sport. As who I think is going to win, I have no idea. It’s a 50/50, coin toss, blindfold pick. Canelo has quicker hands and a better defense and GGG can hurt you by missing, the whiff can knock you down. OMG, (oh my Greb), could this end in a draw again? Have to wait and see. Good luck to both of you and may the spirit of LaMotta be with you.

 

Fight night. HBO presents a twin bill of Linares vs Gesta and Matthyse vs Kiram.

In the first fight Jorge Linares fought a game challenger with a granite chin in Mercito Gesta. The fight was the most entertaining of the night as both fighters would at times stand in the pocket and look for the win with their thudding power. For Linares, it was about erasing the last fight’s split decision win and getting back to showing a dominant performance  to prove that he is the man at lightweight and so he can stay on the premium networks good graces and for Gesta, it was about becoming champion. What we saw was 12 rounds of give and take that led to Linares retaining the Lightweight championship. Linares hand speed and ring savvy proved too much for the game challenger who walked through Linares punches like he was walking in the park, enjoying a sunny day. Gesta, for his credit, never backed down and kept urging Linares to mix it up. In the end, Linares’ combinations and hand speed was too much. The fight would end with Linares’ hand being raised in a unanimous decision.

The main fight of the night was Lucas Matthyse vs. Tewa Kiram in a WBA welterweight championship. The fight started simple enough, the taller Kiram was peppering soft shots from the outside, maintaining a safe distance from the hard punching Argentine, Matthyse. Matthyse would get low and try and come inside to land to the body while slipping punches from the challenger who had 28 KO’s in his 38 fights. Matthyse was a little cautious due to the challenger’s record. You never know what real power the person in front of you has until you actually get hit with it yourself and his 28 KO’s made it seem like Kiram had some power. The fight was a cat and mouse affair for the first two rounds. Kiram was throwing quick shots from a distance while Matthyse was staying low and trying to land to the body, often missing due to Kiram’s movement. It wasn’t until late in the second round that Matthyse landed his first big right hand that had Kiram pawing at his face, seemingly looking if he had suffered a cut. When the third round began, Kiram started throwing hard meaningful shots to keep Matthyse off of him. Kiram didn’t want to get tagged again like he did at the end of the second round. Kiram now throwing harder shots and on his bike, it seemed it would only be a matter of time before he got tired and the Argentinian would land something. Anytime Matthyse landed some decent punches Kiram would hold. That would be the strategy for Kiram throughout the remaining rounds of the fight, hit and move and any time Matthyse made his way to the inside, hold for dear life. It wasn’t until the 8th round that Matthyse landed with a good 1-2 combination that would drop the Kiram to his back. The follow up barrage saw Matthyse land a hard jab or 2 punch, since it seems he was sort of in a southpaw position when he threw the punch, that would drop Kiram and end the fight. The fight itself was more of a technical fight until the 8th, when they were in each other’s range. Matthyse, still one of the hardest punching fighters in the game, showed that he still had a little left in the tank at age 35. Let’s hope for a big fight for the Argentinian, I think he deserves a big payday and maybe Spence, Garcia, Brook, Porter, or Thurman will give him that shot. If not, maybe Matthyse can drop to 140, a more suitable weight for him, and fight the winner of Garcia vs Lipinets.