It's Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer's compilation of observations and random thoughts from the week that was in boxing. Get caught up on some of the most recent events you may have missed out on, including Mayweather vs. Cotto, Manny Pacquiao's return to Los Angeles, Canelo Alvarez, Shane Mosley, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from The Boxing Observer.
- Is there a blueprint to beat Floyd Mayweather? Cotto came about as close as anyone can remember to frustrating Mayweather Saturday night, but Floyd was never in any serious trouble. Floyd's fan-friendly style change has been a fun transition, and it may truly signify the end is near for the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. As he has gotten older, he has certainly lost a step (mind you, he is still quicker than anyone he faces), and Mayweather says the reason he has lasted this long in boxing is because he hasn't taken the punishment. If he is willing to trade, as proven in his last 3 fights, I don't think he is bluffing this time when he says he will box no longer than the age of 37. Maybe old age is the only true blueprint to beat Mayweather. I guess only Father Time will tell. The more important question however is now that Cotto lost, does my colleague at FightHype, Vivek Wallace, have to wear a dress or something? I vaguely remember a bet he made on FightHype Radio and I think he has to pay up. Just a little ammo for the fans to my boy V. LOL!
- Mayweather still avoided the Manny Pacquiao question in his interview with Larry Merchant. It was nice to see Mayweather and Larry Merchant all but kiss and make up during the post-fight interview, but Mayweather still avoided the $100 million question. Merchant asked about the 50/50 split with Pacquiao and Mayweather answered by talking about the drug testing. Instead of Merchant pressing the issue, he bit his tongue and said, "Thank you, Floyd." I guess either Merchant wanted to savor a Floyd Mayweather apology for as long as possible, or he is going soft. Ha!
- The other question is why wasn't Sergio Martinez mentioned as a future Mayweather foe? Is he the forgotten man all of the sudden?
- Miguel Cotto showed some serious heart, and the fans got their monies worth. I will be the first to admit Miguel Cotto put up more fight than I gave him credit for. I didn't think there was a chance in hell he would even be competitive, but Cotto really did come to win, and not just collect a paycheck. My hats off to Miguel Cotto as he turned the clock back 7 or 8 years and showed he is still one of the top 5 pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
- What about Oscar De La Hoya vs. Cotto, October 20th, in Brooklyn? Just before the main event began Saturday night, I sent a text message to a select few boxing insiders that I was making an early prediction. If Miguel Cotto were to beat Mayweather (I also typed in the same message, "which he won't"), Cotto's next fight would be October 20th in the new Barclays Arena in Brooklyn against Oscar De La Hoya for the super middleweight title. Even though Cotto didn't win, is it that far-fetched to think about at this point? Oscar has thrown around the idea and dropped hints he might be making a comeback. What other fight in the sport (besides Mayweather vs. Pacquiao or Klitschko vs. Klitschko) would make more money at this point than Cotto vs. De La Hoya? In New York City, Puerto Rico vs. Mexico, that pay-per-view fight may break the 2 million buys mark and each fighter would be guaranteed at least $25-30 million. I know Paulie Malignaggi is rumored to be headlining the Barclays Arena opener on October 20th, but let him fight Devon Alexander on August 18th at Madison Square Garden, still in New York City. I don't care how much of a mismatch it could be, but Cotto vs. De La Hoya has the stroke of marketing genius to bring even the casual boxing fan to the television to buy a pay-per-view.
- Manny Pacquiao's arrival in the United States was poorly timed. Late last week, members of the media received an email with the flight details and arrival time of Manny Pacquiao's flight to LAX airport from the Philippines. I had to read the email about 3 times (mostly because the first one had the wrong date on it) because I wanted to make sure that Top Rank didn't forget it was Cinco de Mayo. But there it was. Come see Manny Pacquiao's return to the States, Saturday night, May 5th, at 8:05PT! I thought to myself, "Why in the world would they promote Pacquiao's return to the U.S. at the exact same time as Mayweather vs. Cotto was about to begin?" Then I remembered, "Oh yeah, this is Bob Arum's way of taking money out of Floyd Mayweather's pocket." Let's get real people. Contrary to popular belief, the writers at FightHype do not get paid by, nor are we endorsed by Mayweather Promotions. I don't care if Michael Jordan was landing at the airport on a private plane carrying Abraham Lincoln, Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, and Osama Bin Laden, I would still be watching Mayweather vs. Cotto. Just like on June 9th, when Pacquiao is fighting Timothy Bradley, I'll be glued to the TV then as well, and nobody is going to get me to change the channel. If they wanted a media presence at the airport, why didn't Pacquiao just fly into LAX on Sunday? It's not like Pacquiao doesn't make his own schedule anyway. Terrible public relations move if you ask me.
- Canelo Alvarez is the real deal. I have been a bit hard on Canelo after his past few fights. My main gripes have been that he is still too raw, he hasn't faced anyone, and he has a suspect chin. After Saturday night though, I remembered one thing: he is still only 21 years old! The kid looked fantastic and was in the best shape of his career. It's easy to forget sometimes when someone is thrown into the spotlight at such a young age that they need time to develop into a man. It's only going to get better for Canelo as he fills out and improves his technical skills to go along with his excellent punching power. He may just be the next big thing in boxing after all.
- The time is now for Shane Mosley to hang 'em up. I want to first thank "Sugar" Shane for all the wonderful memories. You are a truly great warrior and a 1st-ballot Hall of Famer, but the time is right to step away from the sport. Mosley has made more money than he will ever need and will never be the same fighter we saw beat Oscar De La Hoya. Shane's reflexes have slowed significantly over the past few years, and even scarier, his speech is beginning to slow and slur as well. I first noticed it during 24/7 when he was being interviewed, and definitely saw it after the fight with Canelo. Shane, I'm begging you, please hang up the gloves! You've given us more than enough and you don't need to be Roy Jones Jr., Evander Holyfield, or James Toney. There is a bright future for you outside the ring. Please take advantage of it before it's too late. Saturday night was difficult for me to watch because you just wouldn't quit. I thought Naaz Richardson should have stopped the fight after the 9th round. If nobody else will say it, I will. It's time to step away Shane. You will always be remembered as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
- The immediate future of Mayweather Promotions is looking rather bleak. Outside of Floyd Mayweather, who does Mayweather Promotions have in its stable of fighters worth the price of admission? Jessie Vargas is still on the rise, but a solid fighter will surely expose him badly. Deandre Latimore proved he doesn't have what it takes to be a top contender. It is still too early to tell about a guy like J'Leon Love. I'm sure junior middleweight prospect Omar Henry will sign with Mayweather Promotions as soon as he gets away from Don King. But who else is there? Unless Mayweather Promotions makes some sort of deal to begin promoting all of Al Haymon's fighters, once Floyd retires, that could be it.
- The rumors are swirling about Juan Manuel Marquez facing Zab Judah on July 14th. Zab mentioned to a select group of reporters he would most likely draw the assignment of the great Mexican warrior on July 14th at Cowboys Stadium. Marquez said he wanted a lefty and he is close to getting his wish. Main Events CEO Kathy Duva confirmed that they have been in discussion with Top Rank about the fight. Bob Arum stated that Brandon Rios is still in the running to face Marquez, but unless he throws serious dough Juan Manuel's way, it's going to be Zab. If it's Zab, that's less money in Arum's pocket. If it's Rios, that's more money in Marquez's pocket, also resulting less pay-per-view buys and less money in Arum's pocket. Because of Rios' poor showing against Richard Abril, Top Rank is damned either way. The best bet for Bob Arum and company is too sign Zab for the fight. He brings a bigger name to the sport, the potential for an HBO 24/7 special, an almost guaranteed win for Marquez, and he keeps Marquez happy making it more likely he will fight Manny Pacquiao for a 4th time.
- HBO did a great job making its case to sign super middleweight champion Andre Ward to a network deal. Ward did an excellent job during his 2 rounds of commentating during the pay-per-view Saturday night. Clearly it was HBO's way of getting him some more exposure. Funny how that works because it was Lucian Bute who was signed with HBO at the time the Showtime Super Six Tournament was announced. That's the only reason he was left out. Now that he is with Showtime, Ward is most likely headed to HBO. It's a crazy game, but it looks like Ward will be facing light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson in September. Early prediction, Ward by late TKO. Ward's style is similar in some aspects to Bernard Hopkins and Dawson may find it very frustrating as he won't be able to hit the Son of God.
- With all the hype surrounding Mayweather vs. Cotto, fans missed some other great action over the weekend. Marco Huck and Ola Afolabi fought to a draw on Saturday in entertaining fashion, Demetrius Andrade scored a spectacular 1st-round knockout Saturday night, Daniel Ponce de Leon and Ishe Smith scored victories Friday night in Vegas, and in the biggest shocker of the weekend, DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley scored an upset TKO victory over Paul McCloskey on McCloskey's home turf in England on Saturday. The old man just keeps on ticking and could be headed for another world title shot very soon. Good for "Chop Chop"!
- I cannot wait for Jim Lampley's new show Saturday night! I still have no idea what the premise of the show is, but be damned sure I'll be tuning in. Any boxing related show is a good thing in my opinion. Promoter Frank Warren started an all-boxing channel in Europe named "BoxNation" which airs all live fights from around the world on one channel for just $10/month. How great would that be? Us boxing diehards would never have to leave the couch, EVER! On 2nd thought, the divorce rate in America would probably spike by 50% more, so maybe we should just keep it in Europe.
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