Brainstorm

Time to get back on track.. I’ve abandoned this blog for lazyness-related reasons but I figured it’s time to get back on it.

As of late, or should I say in the last couple of months I’ve had a different approach to boxing. Hardly spending time on it but just being an espectator. By being an espectator I mean just watching fights, sometimes scoring one fight or another but the most important is aspect of it is that I’m paying more attention to the action and violence rather than skills and movement. I look to be entertained, to find myself in the edge of the sit, to be thrilled. I’m a fightfan afterall. I’m talking about it because it’s been a long time since I really stopped to compare tapes and movements, to try to dissect the game as I used to do (and I gota admit, lately that has resulted in some horrible fight predictions when I’m not sticking to the cliche…)

Enough with the jibber-jaber, time to say something more interesting (not necessarily usefull though). Nothing better than talk about the closest big event: The Super Six.

Here’s how I think it unfolds. quickly:
First Round: Froch KO Direll
Abraham KO Taylor
Ward W12 Kessler

Second Round: Abraham KO Dirrell
Kessler W12 Froch
Taylor TKO Ward

Third Round: Ward W12 Dirrell
Kessler KO Taylor
Froch W12 Abraham

Points standing: Kessler 5; Abraham 6; Ward 4; Froch 5; Taylor 3; Dirrell 0.

Semi Finals: Ward W12 Abraham
Kessler TKO Froch

Final: Kessler KO Ward

Of course I’m going to reconsider everything I wrote here and regret many of those crazy predictions above. But that’s how it is and that’s how my brainstorm went. Sorry Direll

Are you a believer? believe it or not

HBO’s 24/7 is undoubtely very catchy, it not only entertains you with highlights, curiosities, great image definition,  but it also makes you hyped up for the fight. It’s a good thing isnt it?

The 24/7 series always leads you to believe a very competitive and unprecedented matchup is comming. But after seeing De La Hoya and Hatton crushed by the Pacman, and Joe Calzaghe dominate an old Jones Jr., I wonder whether I’m gonna see a competitive fight or not.

For what it’s worth, Pacquiao was an underdog against De La Hoya and a 2-1 favorite against Hatton. Calzaghe also was a favorite but wonders whether or not Jones still had it made the matchup somehow intriguing. This time Mayweather is a decisive favorite (4-1 as of what I heard) against Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez, and one could wonder how much could it hurt if the fight turns out to be  a lopsided affair.

True, both Pacquiao’s fights were one-sided, but werent expected to be one-sided. The next HBO PPV fight is suggested to be one-sided by the oddsmakers but is being sold as competitive by the 24/7 show. Let’s all hope the show’s idea is right, because we would finally see a fight living up to its hype, wich hasnt happened since 24/7 series came out.

We all wanna believe it. Lets hope we can keep believing it after the bell rings on sep.19.

Vitali Klitschko vs Christobal Arreola is ON

So… finally what everyone (that cares for the HW division for that matter) knew was going to happen eventually, will happen: Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (27-0, 24 KOs)  will get a shot at a Heavyweight title (WBC), and its gonna be against “Dr. Ironfist” Vitali Klitschko (37-2, 36 KOs).

It figures to be exciting, because Arreola is known for comming to fight, and comming to hurt. Unlike some of Klitschko’s(any of the brothers) recent foes, Arreola says he’s willing to go through heavy leather to bring the fight to his opponent. Also, Arreola has been dropped and hurt before, so there’s a good chance the fight will end up with a knockout once both fighters have very high KO percentage under their records. Ok, forget it! it WILL NOT go the distance.

I know alot of people will have Vitali Klitschko as a clear favorite to win the fight, and I was actually thinking the same. All of that because Klitschko is known for knowing how to use his height, for being a hard hitter, for having a sturdy chin; all the while Arreola is fat, doesnt have a great defence and doesnt have  proven whiskers. The math looks pretty easy doesnt it? Klitschko by knockout!

But no, I’m not believing on that. Not anymore. All of that I said above were my thoughts on that matchup… until I watched Vitali Klitchko’s last bout against Juan Carlos Gomez again yesterday. That’s when I finally remembered that Klitschko is 38 years old and that despite having a powerless fighter in front of him, he was getting tired. Make no mistake, Gomez wasn’t really moving around to the point Vitali had to chase him so much that the big man got tired, Vitali just didnt look like the monster we saw back in 2004 – despite being dominant.

As of right now, the only questions here are: whether Arreola can take Vitali Klitchko’s punches in order to swamp the older figher with exchanges; can Arreola solve the Klitschko awkward  pull back/ grab puzzle and not get frustrated?

I still dont have a pick.. I know…I’m a pussy

Quitting Night – Campbell vs Bradley, Alexander vs Witter

Fresh off last night’s fights, the feeling here is of disappointment. Having the potential to see 2 quality an meaningfull Jr. welterweight bouts, we got 2 fights that ended somehow prematurely, leaving fans and the night unfulfilled of action.

Fight: Timothy Bradley Jr. vs Nate Campbell

Who I picked: Bradley UD

The Outcome: Bradley by TKO3 (although the result can be reverted to a No Contest)

My Take: Only three rounds of action, there’s little to say. No, the TKO does not mean Bradley was actually putting an unsurmountable amount of harm on Campbell,  it only means the fight was stopped in that round.

Timothy “The Desert Storm” Bradley was clearly dominating the fight, there’s no doubt about it, he was landing cleaner punches and landing more punches. It did look like Bradley would’ve been just too young, too fast, too willing for the “Galaxxy Warrior”, but you never know – and the fact he was a huge underdog when he beat Juan Diaz proves it.

After the headbutt occurred in the 3rd round, Campbell retreated to the ropes and Bradley was just pouring on him, not necessarity hurting Campbell but doing enough to show his dominance. Although its clear by looking at the replay that the cut was caused by an accidental butt, the referee considered that the cut was oppened by a punch – causing the bout to be called a TKO for Bradley instead of a No Contest.

The perception here is that Bradley would win if they fight again, and Campbell could be stopped by the talented 140 pound beltholder. I believe Campbell should aim for weaker titleholders if he wants to be a player at 140 pounds, the winner of Bailey-Urango bout sounds like a good option for Nate.

The Fight:  Devon Alexander vs Junior Witter

Who I Picked: Alexander UD

The Outcome: Alexander TKO8

My Take: No one was expection an all-out war in this one, the proof of it is the great majority picked the fight to go the distance and end in a relatively lacklusting decision. Not even that happened, instead of getting 12 rounds, we got 8 rounds and a stoppage. Sounds like it was good but there was no battering and no knockdowns, Junior Witter just decided it wasnt his night and that he had enough.

Later it was reported Witter was fighting through pain in his left elbow, wich is expected once he wasnt taking a horrible beating(although he was clearly losing) from Devon Alexander when he quit. Still, that doesnt change the fact the fight didnt really excite the fans in attendance nor the ones wathing it on tv. Aside from one big left hand Alexander caught and wobbled Witter with, there was nothing.

Devon Alexander is a pretty good fighter, not an exciting one to watch but he’s effective when he needs to. Let’s just hope Don King can keep him busier this time. As for Witter, maybe a final showdown with Hatton – now that both are clearly in the decline in their respective careers – isnt a bad idea to go out.

Cotto-Clottey, Ortiz-Maidana, Klitschko-Chagaev, Darchinyan-Agbeko, Khan-Kotelnik

It’s been  a while… So here it goes in short (but its loong post nonetheless, crap):

Fight: Miguel Cotto vs Joshua Clottey

Who I picked: Cotto UD

The outcome: Cotto SD

My Take: This fight wasnt the most explosive ever, but it had plenty of o action and many things that made the fight more controversial. First, there were some things affecting the fighters’ performances: - The Slippy ring (as Harold Lederman pointed out, and Clottey slipped more than once); – The Cut in Cotto’s left eyebrow; The Tackle and consequent Clottey injury. I’m not gonna say everything there was bad, because it’s not everyday you see a fighter fight through that kind of cut like Cotto did. But it leaves a taste for a rematch, where you wanna see both fighters fighting at 100%.

Now, about the welterweight clash, there was clear evidence Clottey had the better defense and chin, while Cotto was the busier and somewhat flashier fighter. If they were to go 20 rounds I have no doubts Clottey would be the last man standing, but it’s 12 and despite the fact Cotto was clearly recieving more damage, he was the one delivering more punches. Scoring the rounds  you’d either give it to the busier or most precise one. At first I had the fight for Clottey, but after rewatching it I had it even. All in all, good fight, inconclusive result, good action.

Fight: Victor Ortiz vs Marcos Maidana

Who I picked : Ortiz by mid rounds TKO

The Outcome: Maidana TKO in the 6th

My take: Talk about an upset, yeah this one was a real upset. Even though most knowledgeable people were saying Maidana was dangerous and a real test, I didnt see a single soul picking him to upset the then-superhot-prospect  ”Vicious” Victor Ortiz. The simple reason being Ortiz was looking so good in his recent fights, he was thought to be the next superstar in boxing, one of the leading candidates to fill the void left in the wake of Oscar De La Hoya’s retirement. Come on, most people didnt see that comming (including me).

About the fight, I dont want to use the word “exposed”, but I’m pretty sure Ortiz’s defensive flaws showed up to be bigger than previously thought. Maidana is no master technician and no defensive wizard, but in the end of the day, he knows how to fight and he can punch. Most importantly, despite being knocked down 3 times by Ortiz in the first two rounds, Maidana kept comming with murderous intents towards Ortiz, who just couldnt take the punishment Maidana was starting to dish out on him. Oh yeah, I did I mention this was one of the most action packed fights this year? and thats’s saying a lot because 2009 has been great. If you didnt get to watch it, dont miss it.

Fight: Wladimir Klitschko vs Ruslan Chagaev

Who I Picked: Klitschko UD

The Outcome: Klitschko TKO 9

My Take: If you thought Chagaev, an undefeated heavyweight with great amateur pedigree (including a victory over Cuban legend Felix savon), could bring anything different to the table and make a Klitschko fight any short of dominant, guess what? You got it wrong. Simple as that, Klitschko has dominated every single opponent ever since he regained a HW titlebelt from Chris Byrd in 2006. The only HW in the horizon that is a consensual threat to him as the best HW in the world  is his own brother Vitali, but let’s not get into it.

Like most of “Dr Steel Hammer”’s recent opponents, Chagaev just could’nt get past the ukrainian’s powerfull and accurate jab. As a result he started slowly but surely getting hit more and more often by right hands and the rest you know. There’s really not mot much to add here as it was basically the same story ans Klitschko’s recent victories: complete dominance, carbon copy rounds and excitement in its lowest as nothing different happens. Klitschko is a formidable fighter.

Fight: Vic Darchinyan vs Joseph Agbeko

Who I picked: Darchinyan UD

Outcome: Agbeko UD

My take: Moving up in weight, in an attempt to snatch the 118 pounds title from the “King King” agbeko, Vic “The Ragging Bull” Darchinian just did not have a good time doing it. You’d figure after being able to dismantle highly regarded boxer former unified and former pound-for-pound ranked Christian Mijares, that Darchinyan was more than just a slugger and that he’d be able to use his advantages in speed and skill(supposedly), to beat the super-tough Joseph Agbeko. Well, Darchinyan simply looked like a slugger and this time he couldnt beat the bigger and tough Agbeko on sheer power and strenght, as he was seemingly outmatched in those categories. Poor gameplan Vic.  I mean no disrespect to Agbeko, he has decent power, pretty sturdy chin, can slip some punches, but he’s no Pernell Whitaker (but he’s without a doubt, a solid titleholder).

Fight: Amir Khan vs Andreas Kotelnik

Who I picked: Khan UD

The Outcome: Khan UD (finally got something right huh)

My take: Under the tutelage of Freddie Roach, Khan is able to use his formidable natural gifts and cruise to easier than expected victories, as this one was. Amir Khan’s chin might be questionable but when he barely get’s hit flush, there’s little to talk about it.  Instead, the story of the fight was Khan’s edge in handspeed (something he might enjoy against just about everyone in the 140 weightclass not named Pacquiao) and composure to stay in the gameplan.

Kotelnik is a very solid fighter, has solid fundamentals, technique and experience, but he just couldnt get to the much quicker Khan. As a result, lopsided scorecards in favor of the challenger Amir Khan.

Cotto vs Clottey

So.. Here’s my short prediciton (only the main event):

Fight: Joshua Clottey vs Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight title.

Who wins: Miguel Cotto, UD. (non controversial)

Yes, I’m going with the favorite again (the last time I picked underdogs were Mosley against Margarito and Pacquiao over De la Hoya).

Its not like I believe Cotto will look good and simply outclass Joshua Clottey, but I’m not confident Clottey will put enough firepower to stop Cotto in the fight. That said Clottey’s major flaw in my view is the lack of punching volume and he may be outwork by the fighter with the better jab and boxing ability Miguel Cotto.

I dont think Cotto has a better defense than Clottey in any way, if Cotto turns defensive and starts backing away from Clottey he will get in trouble as Clottey gains confidence to come at him. Let’s not forget, Clottey is far more precise and faster than Antonio Margarito and he WILL lands shots on Cotto.

I’m hoping Cotto has learned from the Margarito defeat and doesnt give ground for Clottey’s offense. Cotto’s best defense will be the respect he can impose on Clottey with his punches, includig a heavy body work.  If he moves away I believe he’s gonna be in deep trouble.

Let the fight come

Boiling Blood, James kirkland – a rare gem

I know the much expected Miguel Cotto vs Joshua Clottey is very close now…  But I’m gonna talk about something else today, Cotto and Clottey can wait a little bit.

After watching Alfredo Angulo, who was highly regarded as a prospect to really hit the big stage, being out maneuvered by kermit Cintron, that made me think of another rising Jr. Middleweight that seems to have found an obstacle in his path. Angulo claims to fight like a dog, and I wondered: what that would make of James Kirkland? The guy is way more agressive than “El Perro” and seems to fight in another state of mind, what would he be? a best?

Kirkland is a fighter that fights with such intensity that gives you some kind of frightening feeling, he seems to come to the ring to really hurt his opponent, to crush. You dont get that feeling waching other fighters today. Its something that resembles Mike Tyson’s aura, a combination of ultra agressiveness, intensity and explosiveness. Ike Ibeabuchi also gave that sensation a bit. Interestingly enough, all of them ended up in jail at some point. The agressivess seems to go beyond the squared ring in those fighters for a reason or another.

Over the course of history, there were many feared fighters, powerfull icons such as George Foreman, Sonny Liston were feared for their powerfull punch and strenght. But even those two HW champions doesnt seem to fit that very category Mike Tyson fits. Foreman and Liston were arguably two of the most powerfull heavies ever, but even so they  do not seem to fight with that boiling blood. I see them as juggernauts but they werent exactly explosive and they looked (at least to me) more like cold-blooded wrecking machines, they didnt seem to take it as personal.

Historic knowledge might fail me, and if you remember someone comment and correct me, but I have to go back all the way to Jack Dempsey to find a sucessfull blazing machine that had that frightening aura. Its one of the reasons Dempsey was so emblematic, having that ultra agressive approach in the ring and the capacity to be carismatic outside of it. Iconic Man, someone with power and posture, a nation-man’s marketable figure.

As much as Mike Tyson was another iconic figure with that boiling blood approach, he would represent the bad man, the icon for the men’s capacity to destroy.  You wouldnt want your daughter around him (really, no personal view here), something just wasnt right, you behold his power but wouldnt put his face in the national flag.

Now, James Kirkland might still have the chance to crossover to the public, if he can win inside the ring, star potential is there. Doesnt matter if its either a more diplomatic figure Jack Dempsey or fearfull symbol Myke Tyson, the boiling blood is there and that, is something rare.

May 30 – HBO Boxing After Dark. My Take

• The Fights: – Kermit Cintron vs Alfredo Angulo. 154 pounds, Jr. Middleweights WBC Title eliminator.
• - Andre Berto vs Juan Urango. 147 pounds, Welterweights, for WBC welterweight title.
• Who I thought was going to win in each fight: Alfredo Angulo by KO;  Andre Berto by wide Unanimous Decision. 

• The Results:  Kermit Cintron won by Unanimous Decision; Andre Berto won by Unanimous Decision. 

 

My Take on the fights: First I’d like to say the biggest surprise of the night was Kermit Cintron’s improvement in pose and resilience. Most observers were expecting Angulo to walk Cintron down the same way Antonio Margarito did. Given Margarito’s and Angulo’s similarities in style, that scenario where Cintron succumbs under pressure wasnt hard to picture and I was pretty sure it would’nt be any different. Well, it didnt happen last night.

Kermit Cintron was never once against the ropes, he preferred to move laterally and fire combinations while using his jab to keep the always charging Angulo at bay. Good work. Of course there were moments Cintron looked tired after moving so much and having to fire punches against someone who doesnt stop comming, but give him credit, he threw over 1 thousand punches and there were very few clinches in the fight.  This time Cintron showed pressure and chin arent enough to take him out, and as much as Angulo tried, there were very few moments El Perro could catch Cintron with a series of punches, and in most of them Cintron would fire back with accurate right hands of his own. In fact the one who had some trouble was Angulo in rounds 3 and 4, when he was rocked by Cintron’s power punches. Good win for Cintron, now we have to think twice before picking him to fade against consistency. 

 

The Main event was somehow predictable. Juan Urango is used to impose his phisical strenght against his 140 pound opponents, but last night he was in the ring against a bigger man in Andre Berto, and if that wasnt enough Berto is way way faster. The only thing going for Urango I was expecting was his puching power to threaten Berto if he could catch him with a homerun hit. Too slow, too predictable, and Berto was too cautious to let it happen.  

Andre Berto possesses alot of speed and a pretty decent overall body movement, plus his punching power should’nt be ignored at all. He used his tools very well last night as he beat Urango to the punch with quick short combinations and straight right hands, often holding and clinching after he scored the punches, never allowing Urango to gain any momentum or hit him with anything big. Ok, that’ was a decent gameplan, but BORING. Berto could’ve won the fight with several different gameplans because he’s by far the better fighter, but he chose not to take chances and do what was enough to win. All I can say is I’m not all that pumped up to see Berto fighting like that again.

Megarodon released

yeah yeah