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 more Pacquiao vs. Bradley aftermath, the emergence of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the future of Canelo Alvarez, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from The Boxing Observer.
Judge Duane Ford's explanation of his scoring in Pacquiao vs. Bradley only hurt his credibility. During Ford's interview with Jim Lampley on "The Fight Game," Ford contradicted his own scorecard in the first 30 seconds of the interview. Ford scored the bout 115-113 for Bradley. That means he gave Bradley 7 of the 12 rounds. However, Ford himself stated, "What I personally saw that night is that the first 6 rounds, clearly Pacquiao was the winner. It was an exciting 6 rounds. But what I saw in the 4th round is that Pacquiao clearly won that. He hurt Bradley. But the Manny Pacquiao that I've judged in the past would have finished him. He let him off the hook. And then in the later rounds, I thought he (Pacquiao) tired; his punches were, were missing a bit. Bradley's punches were missing to the head, but Bradley was scoring. He was scoring well on the body." Where do I even begin? First of all, if he gave Pacquiao the first 6 rounds, at worst the fight should have been a draw. Next, what in the hell does it matter that Pacquiao didn't finish Bradley in the 4th round? Let's give Bradley some credit for exerting his will in the biggest prize fight of his career. I hope the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Keith Kizer, was watching that interview closely because it may be time to consider forcing Ford into early retirement.
What was Jim Lampley doing when Ford was explaining himself to the millions of fans watching worldwide? Not to harp too much on Lampley, whom I believe does a very good job most of the time, but when he heard that explanation, and already knowing Ford gave 7 rounds to Bradley, why didn't Lampley push the issue? Were Lampley's producers in his ear talking to him while Ford was speaking? Maybe, but that is no excuse. If Ford was willing to come onto the show, live, he should have been ready to answer the tough questions. Lampley did not supply those questions, nor did he push the issue. It kind of made Lampley's Bryant Gumbel-esque speech at the end of the show a moot point because begging the fans for change only works if the person asking for the change leads by example.
Starting today, we should put the debacle that was Pacquiao vs. Bradley behind us. Yes, it was an awful decision. Yes, it was magnified because it was Manny Pacquiao, who got screwed. However, if Timothy Bradley was the one who had dominated that fight, and then Bradley got screwed on the decision, the result would not be magnified quite as much. Bob Arum sure as hell wouldn't have been crying foul (which I still believe Arum had something to do with the decision) because his cash cow would have had his hand raised. The sports world wouldn't have stopped for the last week to talk about how corrupt boxing is or to say that the sport is dying. This decision was no worse than Paul Williams vs. Erislandy Lara, Tavoris Cloud vs. Gabriel Campillo, Brandon Rios vs. Richard Abril, and many other fights we have witnessed in the past (nobody better email me about Pacquiao vs. Marquez III because I had Pacquiao winning the fight the 1st time and scored it a draw the 2nd time I watched it). The fact remains that boxing will never die and this decision will be forgotten by boxing fans when the next poor decision comes to pass. Get over it!
Top Rank is smart by trying to put together Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV, rather than a rematch of Pacquiao vs. Bradley. To be honest, I have no interest in seeing Pacquiao vs. Bradley again. I would watch Pacquiao vs. Marquez 50 times because the fight will always produce fireworks and will always produce great fights.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has come full circle and is one of the top 2 middleweight fighters in the world. Freddie Roach stated last week that this would be Chavez Jr.'s final fight at middleweight. NOT SO FAST! Chavez Jr. did not seem to have as many problems making weight for his fight with Andy Lee and it showed. Chavez Jr. got off to a slow start (as evidenced by the scorecards), but name one middleweight in the world who can sustain the vicious body attack that Chavez Jr. put on Andy Lee Saturday night, and I'd be willing to make a case that you are wrong. I don't even believe Sergio Martinez can sustain that body attack for 12 rounds. I am not saying that Martinez will not beat Chavez Jr., but depending on the size of the ring, I'm not so sure Martinez will be able to stave off the rugged Chavez Jr. for 12 rounds. I'm still not 100% convinced the fight will happen on September 15th as it is being reported, but if it does, I give Chavez Jr. a much better chance at winning than I would have at the beginning of 2012. I may even go as far as to say that Chavez Jr. might win the fight with Sergio Martinez. I'm not calling it yet, but as the fight gets closer, my mind may change.
Is Canelo Alvarez being groomed for a future fight with Sergio Martinez? Up until late Saturday night, when a Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez fight was announced for September, there wasn't anyone in the right mind that thought Bob Arum was willing to put Julio Jr. in the ring with "Maravilla." That list may have even included Golden Boy Promotions, who promotes Canelo. Think about the opponents Golden Boy has considered for Canelo's September 15th pay-per-view fight: James Kirkland, Paul Williams, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara (who wasn't seriously considered), and now Victor Ortiz. What do they all have in common with Martinez? They are all southpaws! Even though Martinez is the middleweight champion, he has admitted he is most comfortable at 154 pounds. Should Canelo get past his fight against Ortiz on September 15th, and Martinez defeats Chavez Jr. on the same date, could we see a 154-pound super-fight (or even a 160-pound super-fight) in early 2013 between Canelo Alvarez and Sergio Martinez? I think it's a real possibility.
Golden Boy better hope for a Victor Ortiz victory on Saturday. I have no doubt that Ortiz will dominate Josesito Lopez, but he better do it quickly and not suffer an injury. Golden Boy is running out of options for Alvarez to fight in September. If Ortiz loses, who will they try to pit Canelo against next?
Which promotional company will fold under the pressure first, Golden Boy or Top Rank? Neither company is dumb enough to try and put competing pay-per-views up against one another on September 15th (HBO for Chavez Jr, Showtime for Canelo). I understand the rivalry between the two companies is heated, but bad business is bad business. At this rate, one company should push its pay-per-view date back one week to September 22nd. Whichever moves its date back risks the chance of losing buys because some fans are unlikely to shell out money two weeks in a row. My best guess is if both fights move forward, Golden Boy will be the one to either push the fight back one week or push the fight into October. There are too many questions still to be unanswered on both sides, but that's just my opinion.
Shout out to "Fast" Eddie Chambers for his gritty performance Saturday night. I know he lost the fight with Adamek (even though the 119-109 scorecard by one judge was an absolute travesty), but nobody should question his heart. Chambers clearly suffered a major injury (he believes it was a torn bicep) in the 1st round, yet was still able to gut out a close performance against the very game Tomasz Adamek. Neither guy is on the level of the Klitschko brothers, but it's nice to see a fighter suffer a major injury early in a prizefight and continue to battle on almost earning a victory on an opponent's home turf (Adamek has a huge Polish following in New Jersey). By the way, why isn't anyone calling for judge Alan Rubenstein's head for judging a close fight 119-109? Adamek did not win 11 rounds. Just saying. Where is the outcry?
I'm still not sold on Bryant Jennings, but he is working his way up the ladder very quickly. For those who expected Jennings to walk through Steve Collins Saturday night, think again. Collins was 25-1-1 coming into the fight and no matter the competition level, that's still impressive. Jennings earned himself a quality win and learned a lesson that not everyone is going to be a pushover. He got some quality rounds and learned the value of a hard-earned win. He is still about 2 years away (in my opinion) from deserving a title opportunity, but he, along with Deontay Wilder from Alabama, may be America's best chance at becoming heavyweight champions.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week's email comes to us from Grahame H. regarding commentators influence when watching a fight...
"If boxing is based on points,why are the HBO commentators placing so much interest on how many power punches are thrown? A boxer can throw hard punches all night but if the opponent can take them,what's the difference. Are HBO trying to change the way a fight is judged."
Thanks for the question, Grahame. Judging boxing is based on four criteria: clean punching, effective aggressiveness, ring generalship, and defense. In the Pacquiao vs.Bradley fight, HBO was focusing on the number of power punches landed, not thrown. Those numbers you saw round by round were punches landed. The overall numbers are the ones landed divided by thrown. Anything other than a jab is considered a power punch. You're absolutely correct. A boxer can throw power punches all night, but he has to land those shots. Even if the fighter takes them, if he is not giving it back, he should not win the round. I don't know if HBO has an agenda or not, and I don't think there is a better way to score fights. Boxing will always be subjective and I think HBO is just trying to make sure judges are all using the same criteria worldwide, which is not always the case.
That's all I've got for this week. Email any questions or comments to dkassel@fighthype.com and I will answer them throughout the week. Your email may be featured in the next "Observe and Fight." Be sure to "Like" The Boxing Observer on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver.
[ Follow David Kassel on Twitter @BoxingObserver ]