Weekend Wrap-up March 27
by Mike Hanson
Quite a bit of news this week. Edwin Valero was arrested in Venezuela for domestic abuse. His wife later dropped the charges using the old battered wife excuse of her falling down the stairs. Boxing tends to not be a sport for the moral good. While there will always be more stories of good than bad, boxers tend to live a violent life inside and outside the ring. There is never an excuse to lay hands on a woman. Problem is if it is a fighter I like in the ring I have a tendency to overlook it. Hypocritical in the fact that I am quick to point it out in fighters I don’t like in the ring. Valero’s biggest problem will continue to be his inability to fight in the US. From his health problems to the fact now that he may struggle to get a work Visa. Joe Calzaghe admitted cocaine use since retiring. Sure he just now picked up the habit. According to Brit fans he is the greatest coke sniffer of all-time.
Onto the fights of the weekend. I will make a quick mention of Thursday night’s Fight Night Club. Not much to see as it is always just a showcase for young fighters. Abner Mares looks ready for his showdown with Yhonny Perez. Ronny Rios looks like a fighter I want to see more of. The main problem with this event was the 127 commercials telling me how great Roy Jones vs. Bernard Hopkins will be next weekend. Lipstick on a pig is all I can think of. I really hope this only sells about 10,000 ppvs.
Saturday night we had the start of the second round of the Showtime Super Six tourney. Andre Dirrell put on a clinic schooling Arthur Abraham. Dirrell dropped Abraham in the 4th round and again in the 7th, despite Lawrence Cole completely missing the one in the 7th. Dirrell was tiring and was dropped with an off-balance shot in the 10th (once again Lawrence Cole missing it) but was on his way to easily closing out the fight. Then Abraham decided to cheat. With Dirrell on his knees from slipping on the logo, Abraham looked down at him, thought about it and then threw a right hook. Dirrell was out cold and Abraham was disqualified. There are numerous “fans” out there right now claiming Dirrell knew he was going to be stopped and was acting. Sorry but those “fans” are just plain stupid. Abraham knew he had lost the fight which is why he took the cheap shot. Abraham has acted like a jerk post fight too which I am hoping is just heat of the moment. I’m not so sure though since he has always been known for his rough tactics. Germany lets him get away with it.
Saturday night also brought us the return of Marcos Maidana on HBO. This was his first fight since stopping Victor Ortiz. He looked impressive in stopping the awkward Victor Cayo in 6 rounds. He is not the most technically sound 140 pounder by no means but he would be a tough out for anyone and an exciting fighter to watch in any match. Freddie Roach and Amir Khan were smart in avoiding him at all costs. In the prelim Joan Guzman cheated his way to a win over Ali Funeka. How anyone comes in 9 pounds overweight is beyond me. Too bad there isn’t an organized structure to ban him from signing a contract for a fight under 140 pounds ever again.
This weekend there is plenty to watch and avoid the Hopkins PPV. Friday night we have a fight on ESPN between two desperate fighters. Neither Mike Arnaoutis or Delvin Rodriguez can afford another loss and hopefully they fight like it. Shobox on Friday night continues the career of exciting Cuban Erislady Lara. Saturday you will be able to find an internet link for David Haye against John Ruiz on the talking boxing with Billy C forums (follow the link below). Also FSN will showcase Mike Alvarado.
Welcome back Billy C from his two week hiatus and make sure to become a premium subscriber to his radio show. Best boxing show money can buy and it is only $15
Abraham looked as one dimensional as one dimensional gets. If you stand in front of him or move straight back, he looks like a monster. If you show any lateral movement, he couldn’t be at anymore of a disadvantage if he were wearing blinders. No wonder they kept him in Germany for so long.
I have to admit, I kind of like “King Arthur.” But honestly, he really stunk the joint out in Detroit this weekend. It left me thinking, the only way he beats a mobile guy like Andre Ward will be to catch him and knock him out. He’s not going to land enough punches to beat him on points.
Some guys are really difficult to get out of there. That being said, you can’t wait 5 rounds before starting to throw punches. A good lesson from boxing history is – you’re not going to knock everyone out. Hopefully he changes his game plan a bit going forward. If not, this isn’t the last loss he’s going to have in this tournament.
On the good side, he’s an entertaining fighter who isn’t afraid to take a punch to land a punch. Those are the kind of fighters who can really attract a lot of fans.
Andre Ward predicted Dirrell to win for the exact same reasons that allowed him to dominate the fight and win (the late punch aside). And when he steps into the ring with Abraham, it’s going to be a rerun unless Abraham can learn how to adjust.
If I were King Arthur’s management, I’d be looking up Emanuel Steward’s number or someone similar. The advice he got in between rounds was ridiculous. “C’mon Arthur, hit him. Hit him in the body.”
The work of a master strategist was clearly in play for Abraham Saturday night!
One other thing. They should hire the ringside doctor as Abraham’s new cutman. Really, the guy did an outstanding job of stopping the blood flow, pinching the wound closed, and cleaning up his face. He told the actual cutman, “Stay back, you are not allowed to work on him.”
No reason there to argue with the ringside doctor… he was doing one of the finest jobs in closing the cut that I’ve seen in some time.
It was only one fight, but a lot of Abraham’s luster was lost – just like that. Hopefully he’s better prepared for the next round. We’ll see what happens.
Oh, one other thing. To recently retired Joe Calzaghe – “Welcome back to the spotlight, Joe!”