Never considered myself to be much of a Juan Manuel Marquez fan. Never had anything against him. I cheered for Pacquiao when they fought. He just never fired my imagination. The "he coulda shoulda won" story line on him kind of rubbed me the wrong way too. If Pacquiao hadn't knocked him down four times... If Morales had given him a fight...If he hadn't fought John in Indonesia...Tough luck!
What he's done since moving up to lightweight, however, has been spectacular. While some boxers become weight division leapers, looking for the fame and the money, damning the significance, and ruling out the most intriguing match ups in favour of the obvious names and getting famous off of some one else's fame, Marquez has stepped up to a weight class many thought was a step beyond his comfort zone and knocked out the linear champ and the guy most considered the second best in the division. Wow. Yes and he knocked them out! Handing them both their first career stoppages. He should move up and knock out Nate Campbell while waiting to see what happens after the dust settles between the Pacman and the Hitman.
A Bit of Bitch - Funeka, Martinez, and John. All non-Americans fighting Americans in America and all three got the shaft. Let me never hear the US boxing press say an American boxer shouldn't go to Germany, Japan, Montreal,where ever because he'll get robbed. They act like somehow America is neutral ground for all fighters and the only place where an unbiased decision could ever be made. PFFTTTTTT! Wake up! Or Shut up!
De-bandwagoning - I am still seated on the Pavlik bandwagon but both feet are on the ground and with a mere straightening of the knees and I will be off. It was not all his fault, but his last fight stank. They are talking about fighting Duddy who was arguably beaten by Walid Smichet. Not impressed. I heard a rumour about Trinidad. Ugh.And people have the nerve to criticize Abraham's opponents! Actually, anything short of fighting Abraham before the year's end and I'm off. "But why should he fight in Berlin when he can sell 7000 tickets in Youngstown?" you ask. Well my friend last time I checked Youngstown wasn't exactly a world center and Abraham is selling 20,000 tickets in the heart of the European boxing market, where, by the way, people seem to give a shit about boxing. It's Kelly's call. Arthur can be king of the middleweights and he can be king of Ohio.
Bandwagoning - Tomasz Adamek boy! I've seen his last four or five fights and I love this guy! Since moving up to cruiser he's a one man gang. Knocking guys all over the ring. He's got a very sound and economical style. He throws punches to land them and he lands them hard. No wild bombs just well placed devastating punches. He gets hit back just enough to make it interesting, and at least once a fight he gets hit so hard it hurts your eyes. But he walks through shots that would bring down a stone age obelisk (too much History channel?). After knocking out a very large man last weekend he declared his desire to move up to heavyweight. Yes, please. He says he'll clean out the division. Yes, please. Can he? Right now I so want someone to, that I will put my faith in anyone who can box a bit (or a lot actually) and who looks like they spend more time in the gym than the tattoo parlor.
Man, I did not catch the fights on the weekend. To make matters worse this card was on HBO Canada. No excuses, I am a loser. I went out Saturday but to be honest I was back home on time to watch this. Just slipped my mind. I will have to download and watch. There's a Boxing After Dark this week on HBO, I will surely watch that one.
ReplyDeleteI feel much the same about Marquez. I did, however, admire his resiliency in the first Pacquiao fight.
Pavlik had a meteoric rise and his knockouts of Edison Miranda and especially, Jermaine Taylor, remain etched in my boxing memory. He hasn't delivered the fireworks as of late and I agree, the Abraham fight is the only one that matters.
I saw Adamek once. What is happening to me? Am I really a hard-core boxing fan? I'm slipping a bit like Kelly Pavlik. I used to either watch EVERY fight live or download it the next day. Has Mike been watching the fights? We used to get together to watch them. It helps to have a fellow fight fan to call or email to say "what are you doing for the fight this weekend", etc. That's my lame excuse, plus I haven't found a spot to watch fights here, not to mention they come on REALLY late. I did manage to catch Mosely-Margarito, luckily.
I gotta get back on track.
This weekend's triple header promises to be pretty fun. Julio- Kirkland is going to be a punchfest and won't go the distance. Ortiz's biggest test to date by far intersects with Mighty Mike's last shot. I haven't seen Guerrero fight yet but I want to see what the fuss is about. Gonna be good!
ReplyDeleteI'm putting the Labatt's Light on ice,picking up some Cheetos at the neighborhood Quik-Stop, let the fights begin.
ReplyDeleteInteresting triple-header. Too bad about Guerrero. As boring a decision it was on his part to quit, I can't blame him. That cut was NASTY. A few more shots and it could have opened up even wider. So now he'll miss less time and he can get back, I'm sure HBO will have him on again.
ReplyDeleteOrtiz was impressive. Arnaoutis was absolutely OUT on his feet. He came to a few seconds later and argued the stoppage, but for those few seconds he was completely dazed and unable to fight back. Good stoppage.
It's too early to really judge Ortiz. You still get the sense he could crumble if opposed to a real tough veteran. We'll see.
Kirkland is very intriguing. He's a tank!!! Is there anyone at 154 he couldn't plow through? I can't wait to see him again. Also, the bio of him and especially his trainer Anne Wolfe was very touching.
Nothing beats a night of fights.