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 a difficult lesson for Danny Garcia, the latest rumor about Floyd Mayweather, the newest Mike Tyson impersonator, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from the Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
Danny Garcia learned a very valuable lesson Saturday night against Mauricio Herrera. Last week, I stated that Garcia was going to be in tougher than most people thought he would be. Garcia was headlining as the true A-side for the first time in his career. Yes, Garcia has been in the main event before, but never was he the complete center of attention, during fight week and during the buildup of the fight, as he was for this fight. Garcia tried extremely hard for the knockout, but may have underestimated what Herrera, who has been in very tough in his career, brought to the table. The same thing happened to Devon Alexander the first time he was the headliner in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri (even though Garcia is from Philadelphia) when he defended his title against Andriy Kotelnik. Alexander won a close decision, but the demands of fight week definitely took its toll. In Alexander's next fight, he lost to Timothy Bradley. Garcia's next move will be a very important one. I know his name is going to be thrown into the Floyd Mayweather sweepstakes for September, but Garcia didn't rush into taking the fight in May, and I don't think he should be Mayweather's opponent in September. Garcia should take a fight much like Bradley did when he stepped up to face Luis Carlos Abregu and see how he feels at 147.
Garcia is clearly the best 140-lb fighter in the world (and yes, I think he won a close decision). The fight was the classic conundrum. Which do you prefer, the more active fighter, or the one who did the most damage? We saw the same case when Adrien Broner beat Paulie Malignaggi. We also saw it when Canelo Alvarez defeated Austin Trout. Both Trout and Malignaggi controlled the action, and the pace, but were clearly taking the worst of the power shots. Garcia fought Herrera's fight, but Garcia landed the harder shots in the fight. Garcia landed some tremendous shots and that was the difference in the fight. Max Kellerman has stated this many times when scoring a round, "Which guy would I have rather been at the end of each round?" In the case of Saturday night's fight, I would have rather been Garcia.
I hate open scoring! Open scoring causes the fighter who is losing to abandon his/her game plan when there may be no reason for it. Open scoring also takes away any mystery as to what the scorecards are going to look like. Love it or hate it, the subjectivity of boxing is part of what attracts publicity, both positive and negative, from fans and media alike.
Floyd Mayweather was back in the news, negatively, last week. TMZ reported that he allegedly organized a beat down of two former associates whom he believed stole jewelry from him. The site did use the word "allegedly" which keeps them from being sued for slander, but the Las Vegas Metro Police Department has stated that no one has come forward to authorities and reported an incident. I'm not saying the incident did not occur, but all the X-ray pictures in the world of broken bones means absolutely nothing until someone comes forward to authorities. I know plenty of people are going to read this and think that FightHype is on TMT's payroll, but I assure you all that is NOT the case. If these guys who reportedly got beat come forward to police, then I'll allow the authorities to control the situation, but until that happens, this is nothing more than a rumor.
It looks like both Adrien Broner and Amir Khan are going to be fighting on the Floyd Mayweather undercard. It's too bad it's not going to be against one another. According to Fighthype's Ben Thompson, Broner may be facing Carlos Molina, who was previously defeated by Khan. While it is the right business decision for Broner, not putting him back in the ring with any world beaters after his loss to Marcos Maidana in December, it is the safer, anti Broner-like position. Broner wanted to get right back in the ring with Maidana. That didn't happen. Broner's management may be helping him understand that it's okay to come back slowly in his position because he is still so young. Broner should defeat Molina, but let's see, if this fight comes to fruition, how this helps Broner throughout the next year or so. Khan, on the other hand, say he's still looking to finalize his opponent for May 3rd, though according to FightHype's Ben Thompson, it looks like he'll be facing Luis Collazo. While I would have rather seen him face Robert Guerrero, Khan vs. Collazo is a heck of a chess match and one I look forward to watching.
Deontay Wilder, WOW! Talk about one-punch knockout power. Malik Scott found out. Soon, Bermane Stiverne or Chris Arreola will find out as well. The left hook was the real killer, but we already knew the right hand was lethal. If Wilder continues to progress, he could be scary.
Juan Manuel Lopez may have saved his career Saturday night. Lopez, who many (including myself) have questioned whether or not he still has what it takes to fight at the top level anymore, came back with a fury after being put down by Daniel Poce De Leon. It was a wild 2nd round, but knocking Ponce De Leon out is no easy task (his only other KO losses were in the first fight against Lopez and Abner Mares). Lopez still has an uphill battle because his chin is very suspect, but it's always fun to watch him fight.
It's always great to see Daniel Jacobs succeed in the ring. Jacobs, who most-notably beat cancer, continued his comeback Saturday night with a first round TKO over Milton Nunez. Hopefully, Jacobs gets the championship fight we're all hoping to see very soon, and that's against Peter Quillin. Quillin, of course, must get past Lukas Konecny first.
Vyacheslav Glazkov made Tomasz Adamek look very old for the first time Saturday night. Adamek, who was still trying to establish himself as a legitimate heavyweight contender, was battered and bruised by the younger Glazkov all night as Glazkov continues to try and shine. Adamek should probably stage one more fight at heavyweight, in his home country of Poland, before calling it quits in what could very well be a Hall-of-Fame career.
Tony Bellew and Kell Brook both scored impressive victories Saturday, but can either of them truly be special fighters? Bellew moved up to cruiserweight and scored a final round knockout, but was almost KO'd himself in the 7th round. Brook fought an overmatched opponent and is next in line for the winner of Shawn Porter vs. Paulie Malignaggi. I don't see Bellew winning a cruiserweight world title, but I'm also not as high on Brook as some Brits are. Brook's best wins have come against Carson Jones (twice) and Vyacheslav Senchenko, and I don't think he can handle the pressure Porter will bring. I also think Malignaggi could box circles around Brook. Only time will tell.
Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Mike Alvarado has been officially announced. I'm not going to dismiss this fight because it is going to be a war, but I would have rather seen Marquez face Ruslan Provodnikov considering Provodnikov caused Mike Alvarado to quit after taking a beating. I'd rather see Provodnikov, but Alvarado vs. Marquez will be a Fight of the Year candidate for sure.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has a new commissioner. Anthony Marnell III was named to finish out the term vacated by Keith Kizer in January. His term will expire in October, meaning this may be an interim position. The athletic commission is still interviewing candidates to fill the void permanently.
There's not a huge fight card this week, but there is a lot of boxing to be watched! Big-time prospect Julian Williams faces the toughest test of his career tonight, on Fox Sports 1, during Monday Night Fights, as he takes on world rated junior middleweight Freddy Hernandez. Friday Nights Fights sees former world title challenger Vanes Martirosyan return to the ring with Anthony Peterson returning in the co-feature. Also on Friday, a flyweight belt is on the line in Argentina as Juan Carlos Reveco defends against Manuel Vides. Anselmo "Chemito" Moreno returns to Panama Saturday night to defend his bantamweight title against Javier Chacon, while Merlito Sabilo defends his WBO strawweight title in Mexico on Saturday as well. One other big fight on Saturday, from Istanbul, Turkey, features former heavyweight world title challengers Odlanier Solis and Tony Thompson going to toe-to-toe.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week's email comes to us from Jeff K. regarding the future of Deontay Wilder...
"Dave, I've been telling my friends for over a year now about Deontay Wilder. Do you think he can become the next Mike Tyson and keeping knocking everyone out? I don't see anyone that can stop him because he hits so hard."
First of all, Jeff, thanks for the taking the time to email. Before we go crowning Wilder as the next Tyson, he has to win a title belt first. Wilder's last couple of wins have been very impressive, especially considering he is now 31-0 with 31 KO's. I have seen Wilder live and he is HUGE! His punch is even stronger. However, to play devil's advocate, Wilder has never been past 4 rounds. He is powerful, but what happens when he faces someone who can take him into deep waters? I don't think Bermane Stiverne or Chris Arreola can beat Wilder, but I need to see more before I go and state he will beat a Klitschko brother. That's a whole different beast. In order to be the next Tyson, he has to unify the division. I think he'll be wearing gold before the end of the year, but until he steps in against Wladimir or Vitali, the two best fighters in the heavyweight division, I'm not giving anyone the moniker of the "next Tyson."
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." Follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver, and be sure to "Like" The Boxing Observer on Facebook.
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