Boxing, Dead or Alive?

If you would have asked me two months ago if boxing were making a comeback, I would have said that it was barely alive and hoping to be put down.  Two fights that were particularly boring, horrible and a complete waste of money:

Pacquiao vs. Bradley
While I may have been the only sane person in the world to pick Bradley, I never imagined the fight would end as it did.  With only three real minutes of action over 12 rounds, Pacquiao let Bradley off the hook and the three blind mice took his title. The Walmart version of a boxing event left everyone with any sense feeling as if they'd purchased a $2 piece of crap made by an 8 year old working in a sweat shop. The undercards were crap and the result of the final match was semi-retarded.

Mayweather vs. Cotto
Nobody believed Cotto would win.  I wanted to.  I prayed to Santa Claus that somehow an undersized, overused, past his prime, once exciting fighter would somehow carry a handgun into the ring and squeak out a win.  Not to be.  Walmart was once again the promoter, manager and presenter with this fight but the cost was more Target than Always Low Prices (r).

Fighters nobody wants to see ever again, ever, never, ever:
Either Klitchsko - While they are the products of Chernobyl (I have an unnatural obsession with the largest manmade nuclear disaster in the history of man), they are horribly boring to watch.  While they may once have been Shaquille O'Neil, they are now Shawn Bradley and Manute Bol.

The Klitschko Brothers

Ricky Hatton - I saw him doing an interview a few months back and he looked like a pale Steven Segal.  If this fool makes weight for his November comeback fight, it will be a Tony Horton miracle.

Steven Sega-Hatton

The semi-youngsters - Corey Spinks, Devon Alexander, all European middleweights.  Boredom at it's finest.

The ancients - Holyfield (please!), Hopkins, British Heavyweights - Audley, please go back to the janitorial supervisor job you held before robbing the public in your last fight.

There is Hope:
Kahn vs. Garcia
Danny Garcia has the perfect trainer.  He's loud, obnoxious, tactless and has no ability to hold his tongue.  He spoke the truth though when he said his son, yes another father/son training combo, would knock Kahn out.  Danny really had no chance through the first couple of rounds...then Garcia hit Kahn square in the glass (jaw) with a ducking, eyes closed swing for the fences left hook.  Neither fighter saw the punch but Garcia followed up with a black rain of death.  Kahn may have brain damage.
 
Dawson v. Ward 
Everyone in the entire world (except Canada and parts of Liberia) saw the Dawson v. Ward fight as laughable, boring and plain dumb.  Ward had never tasted defeat.  Dawson was coming down in weight.  Dawson had just beaten up a geriatric fighter with a gimp mask (Bernard Hopkins).  Ward however, saw to it to beat the dehydrated, legless Dawson into submission.

Bring out the Gimp

Looking back on the fight, Dawson should fire his trainers or at least have them publicly beaten.  When your fighter is getting hammered, you save him.  Never let your fighter bow out on public television and lose face.  Protect your people.  Fighters are strong people so save them and don't let them be recorded saying that they want to quit.  Stupid.  Mr. Ward - go beat up someone your own size or find a way to fight convict Mayweather.  I'd like to see that.

Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez
Last night, Chavez Jr. waited until the last round to lay his hands on Sergio Martinez Sr. (Adding Sr. for effect). The 37 year old Martinez made Chavez look slow and his father look autistic for 11 rounds. There's not much to say about this fight other than the fight reminded me of days long past.  Rather than hold, complain and shake his head like a Mayweather, Martinez came out swinging when he was in trouble.  There's no greater joy than to watch a lopsided fight turn on its head in the last two minutes.  I've maintained for years, mainly to keep me from becoming disillusioned, that there are no 12 round knockouts.  The Meldrick Taylor stoppage in the 12th round against old man Chavez was a horrible call by the way. Thankfully Martinez survived.

Who wouldn't want to see a rematch?

Not Sergio Ramirez

Parting shots - anyone notice that Freddie Roach has lost three championship fights this year? His fault?  Nah, I blame Garcia Sr.'s racist remarks, Chavez's poor training habits and horrible judges for those losses.  Sarcasm intended.