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 Pacquiao vs. Bradley fight week, Showtime's big success, Canelo Alvarez's next opponent, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from The Boxing Observer.
- I want to start Observe and Fight this week by showing respect to both Johnny Tapia and Paul Williams. I didn't get the chance last Monday. I know both stories have received plenty of attention, but I wanted to send my condolences to both parties. What happened to Williams in that motorcycle accident was awful, and I hope P-Will walks again. He always has been a class act, and I doubt that will ever change. While Tapia always had demons, nobody can doubt the impact he had on the world of boxing. Although I never had the pleasure of speaking to or meeting Johnny Tapia, one of my favorite memories as a boxing fan was watching his 1999 war with Paulie Ayala. Even though Tapia lost, that fight will always stick out in my mind because those two guys gave it everything they had and reminded me why I love boxing. Get well soon P-Will! R.I.P Johnny.
- With 5 days until fight night, how much of a chance does Timothy Bradley really have against Manny Pacquiao? Has the hype-machine that is 24/7 swung the momentum in favor of the challenger? I, for one, believe Bradley has an excellent chance to win this fight. I would never have said that before the 24/7 series began. The best measure of a fighter is to study previous fights, but Bradley has never done anything in his fights that made me say, "WOW!" Pacquiao, on the other hand, has given fight fans so many spectacular moments and great battles that one has to wonder how much more he can give. On paper, this fight is a mismatch. Pacquiao should win the fight. But, the turmoil in Pacquiao's camp is very real, and Manny's focus is not 100% on boxing. I have a difficult time believing Pacquiao still has that killer instinct to finish off an opponent. Remember, he didn't want the Bradley fight in the first place. Bradley, meanwhile, is nothing but a winner. It may not be pretty, but it's effective.
- For those wondering, yes, FightHype will remain online during Floyd Mayweather's prison stint. This may come as a shock to some, but we actually do report on all fights and fighters, not just one. Don't hate just because we have access to a fighter everyone else wants access to. We have no bias. We report the facts. Get over it. If other writers and journalists had the same access to Mayweather, they would be writing the same things. I'm not knocking any one writer or journalist in particular. This is a general statement. We have built a trust at FightHype with people in the business, and it has come from nothing but hard work from everyone both on the staff and associated with the website. We have no horses in the race. All we want is for the fans to have as much insight as possible into the combat sports they love. We will continue to provide the most up-to-date content and coverage day after day because in the end, we are fans just like you!
- Showtime's fight card Saturday night may not have produced great memories, but it has set the precedent for exciting fight cards. When fans look back on history, June 2nd, 2012 will be a forgettable night. Not one fight on the quadruple-header (5 fights if you count the Sakio Bika knockout win on Showtime Extreme) produced any Fight of the Year candidates, Knockout of the Year candidates, or Round of the Year candidates. All decisions on the fight card were fair and honest decisions. However, what Showtime did Saturday night is set the standard for its network, and for any network that produces boxing. Putting together a fight card with big names and world titles on the line, while placing it on network television, helped bring a positive twist to a very negative year thus far in boxing. There have been bright spots, but what fans will remember to begin 2012 are tragedies, bad decisions, and performance enhancing drugs. When the ratings come back for Saturday night's fight card, Showtime should be very pleased. Expect HBO to follow suit, and expect Showtime to continue to produce big-time fight cards for fans to get excited about. Night's like Saturday is how boxing will begin to return to glory.
- Who will Canelo Alvarez fight next? Saturday night was WBA jr. middleweight champion Austin Trout's chance to make a bold statement as to why he is worthy of getting the first crack at Canelo in a title unification. More importantly though, is the big payday that comes along with fighting on pay-per-view. Richard Schaefer has stated there are 3 names Golden Boy is currently looking at: Trout, IBF champion Cornelius Bundrage, and WBC #1 contender Erislandy Lara. It is pretty clear that of those 3 names, Lara is the least likely. He presents what Golden Boy sees as the greatest risk with little reward. This fact is also evidenced by Lara publicly stating nobody from Golden Boy Promotions (who also promotes Lara) has contacted him about the fight. Other fighters, such as Carlos Quintana, Vanes Martirosyan, and Gabriel Rosado, are long shots for various reasons. Of the two fighters remaining previously mentioned, Bundrage may have the better style that Golden Boy is looking for. It was clear from the start that Golden Boy wanted to match Canelo with an aggressive, come-forward fighter. That is why they initially tried to get Kirkland. When that fell through, they went and signed Paul Williams to the fight. When Williams was in the motorcycle crash, they went back to Kirkland. Now that Kirkland has pulled out once again, Golden Boy is running out of options. Canelo has expressed his interest in two things: fighting Floyd Mayweather and unifying the 154-lb division. With option A out of the question for September, it's going to have to be option B. While Bundrage presents the style Golden Boy would rather match Canelo with, do not discount the power of Al Haymon, Trout's manager. One other issue for Bundrage is he doesn't fight until the end of the month (a rematch with Cory Spinks). Golden Boy would be taking a serious risk by waiting until the end of June to see what happens in Bundrage's fight. That leaves "No Doubt" Trout to get the nod. While his performance didn't exactly get the fight world amped up on Saturday, his low punch output may have actually benefited Trout more than he knows. Trout is a counter-puncher, and Canelo does have a suspect chin, but if Golden Boy feels Canelo can put constant pressure on Trout and bring the fight to him, they could throw Trout in there with the WBC champion. My money to land this fight is Austin Trout, with Bundrage finishing a close second. The wildcard, as mentioned before, is Trout's manager, Al Haymon. That should be just enough to give the WBA champion the nod over everyone else to face Canelo September 15th. 3 solid months of promotion for the pay-per-view, and two very likable personalities.
- The Antonio Tarver vs. Lateef Kayode decision was the right choice. Based on skills, Tarver should have won the fight, but Kayode came in with a very good game plan in the early rounds. Tarver looked very old in the ring, while Kayode looked fresh and added some wrinkles to his repertoire. Lateef is still a work in progress. Tarver does deserve a shot at one of the world titles at cruiserweight, but neither guy is at the top of his game by any means. Kayode came in strong, but finished very weak. I've stated it before and I'll state is again. Lateef Kayode needs a trainer to dedicate 100% of his time to the Nigerian. He has not progressed or matured nearly enough to warrant serious consideration as a consistent threat. His athletic ability is freakish, but only getting a fraction of Freddie Roach's time is not enough. He needs more. If and when that happens, Kayode could be a major force at cruiserweight, and eventually could make some noise at heavyweight. As far as Tarver goes, if this were 2003, Antonio would be the best cruiserweight in the world. He is still one of the top 5 guys out there, but he is a shell of his former self (as he should be at 43-years-old). Tarver should focus on unifying the cruiserweight belts in Europe, make a few million more, and hang 'em up. A move up to heavyweight at this point would be a serious mistake. Tarver's reflexes are not on par with where they need to be and one of the Klitschko brothers would do some serious damage with the jab. Tarver doesn't possess the power to knock out a heavyweight.
- Peter Quillin is very close, but needs one more fight before securing a fight with Sergio Martinez. I was 100% impressed with Kid Chocolate's performance Saturday night. Some will say it was because he was fighting a 40-year-old coming out of retirement. That may be true, but I give credit where credit is due. Watch Quillin's last 3 or 4 fights. He has added tools to his game and it's clear he stays in the gym refining his craft. How many guys can we say that about? A lot of guys, if they aren't training for a fight, they aren't in the gym at all. Not Quillin. He showed some solid defensive skills to go along with surprising quickness and underrated power. Quillin needs one more fight to put it all together. I want to see all the elements of his game combine, and I would like to see a higher work rate with more combination punching. I think Quillin would give Felix Sturm fits, and could walk away with his title. If Quillin can put together a complete performance in his next fight, displaying all the tools he possesses, "Maravilla" could become a reality sooner rather than later. Can you imagine how well that fight would do in New York City?
- Congrats to Winky Wright on a marvelous career! I respect Winky Wright for making a comeback to see if he still had it. Winky came up short, but my respect level grew for him when he understood that he wasn't on that level anymore and announced his retirement. The future Hall of Famer was one of the best in the world in the early 2000's and will be remembered as one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time. Enjoy retirement Wink!
- Welcome to town, Leo Santa Cruz. First off, I would like to congratulate the new IBF bantamweight champion. Secondly, I would like to say "thank you!" Santa Cruz threw over 1300 punches against Vusi Malinga Saturday night. That's what I'm talking about! I look forward to seeing more of Santa Cruz in the future, especially if he can keep up with that work rate.
- Sakio Bika is still a dangerous super middleweight. Bika, aligned with new trainer Kevin Cunningham, had a wonderful game plan on only 6-weeks notice as Bika destroyed Dyah Davis for the TKO victory Saturday night. Bika is never going to be slick in the ring, but man is he powerful. I actually believe a fight between he and 43-year-old Glen Johnson would be an instant classic. Johnson makes his return to the ring July 13th. If all goes well, I hope these two guys decide to take on one another. It's a fight that could open up an HBO or Showtime fight card and would be all-out action from two professional fighters who know how to give the fans what they come to see. Neither guy has ever backed down from a challenge so I hope that fight gets made.
- In all the hoopla surrounding Showtime's fight card Saturday, we had another high-profile fight Saturday night. WBA light heavyweight champion, the always entertaining, Beibut Shumenov successfully his defended his title for the 4th time by completing dominating Enrique Ornelas in Las Vegas. Shumenov, unknown to most casual boxing fans, is still considered green by most (13-1 8 KO's), but does hold a major title belt in one of boxing's most notable divisions. It would be smart for Shumenov's handlers to get him in the right fight, not just the biggest payday. I know some of the big names want to fight him because of his title, but at only 28-years-old, and not much professional experience, it may be wise to keep him away from the Bernard Hopkins and Mikkel Kessler's of the world. At least for now. The money will come, but the experience at this point, while holding on to the belt, is more beneficial to Shumenov than one big payday.
- I was very impressed with Gabriel Rosado Friday night on the NBC Sports Network, but I would like to see him tested against a bigger name before he secures a world title shot. Rosado looked solid against Sechew Powell, but Powell has a reputation for underwhelming when the bright lights are on. Let's see how Rosado does against somebody like a Carlos Quintana. If he passes that test, give him a title shot.
- Welcome back "Popo" Freitas!!! Winky Wright wasn't the only fighter to return from a long layoff Saturday night to face an undefeated opponent. Acelino Freitas came out of retirement and knocked out the previously unbeaten, Michael Oliveira, in front of a large crowd in Uruguay. All I can say about it is, it's good to see "Popo" back!
- Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week's email comes to us from Ronnie I. regarding the hype of Pacquiao vs. Bradley...
"What's up Dave, this Bradley Pacquiao fight was honestly a waste of time in my eyes. Clearly Pacquiao would/should walk through this guy. But if u look at Pacquiao's life as far as his commitment to congress, his marriage problems, his lack of commitment to starting training camp at the time he previously suggested, his new found dedication to religion, the issues their having in camp, the tax problems, the vision quest suit & the other issue with his business not paying bills previously reported by fighthype. You then couple that with Tim Bradley obviously having a terrific camp & the fact that he's using his wife & children as motivation..... A man can move mountains if his families life is at stake!..... I'm really beginning to give Bradley a REAL shot at winning this thing!!!"
Can't disagree with you Ronnie. When Mayweather fought Hatton, I told a lot of people, "don't believe the 24/7 hype because Hatton CANNOT beat Floyd." This time though, I'm starting to jump on the bandwagon a bit. A lot of turmoil in Pacquiao's camp, and there is no way he is taking this fight as seriously as he says for the simple fact he is not 100% focused on boxing with everything else he has going on in his life. I'm not going to bet money on Bradley or anything like that, but the closer this fight gets, the more chance I give him. He is clearly focused 110% on this fight only, and has a hunger to win. Plus, he is easy to root for.
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