Boxing

Rambo Vs. King Kong: Vic Darchinyan - Joseph Agbeko Preview And Prediction

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:40:00 -0500

Many of you hate Vic Darchinyan because he's a total prick. But I can't get enough of the bastard. He cracks me up, plus his words and deeds reveal the spirit of a true fighter. He managed to work in shades of both in this anecdote from an Eric Raskin column where he interviewed the angry Armenian-Australian:

As I was trying to hang up the phone at the end of our interview, he was yelling into the phone, "I'm going to knock out everyone!"

Check out the picture above, too. If you know Vic, can't you imagine the conversation with the photographer? "Take a picture of me shooting out of the water! It will show my power! Like Rambo!" (The photo credit [Tom Casino/Showtime] even says it's "'Rambo' style.")

Anyway, the lovable (or, at worst, love-to-hateable) Darchinyan returns this weekend, and once again, by virtue of his fighting style, all he needs is another slugger to put himself into a potential Fight of the Year. Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko, though less experienced than Darchinyan, fits the bill, slugging wildly like he does. Darchinyan not only is funny, not only is a mean knockout artist, but he's risen to the elite of the sport by cracking everyone's top-10 pound-for-pound list with a series of wins against top-flight guys. But that doesn't necessarily mean Agbeko's out of his league. Darchinyan is debuting at bantamweight, a division Agbeko has long called home, and Agbeko's made out of that specifically tough brand of Ghanaian head and flesh that isn't easily brought to heel. It should be a good one Saturday on Showtime. Fight of the summer, probably, at minimum, although with some of the recent fight cancellations and postponements that's not as ringing an endorsement as it sounds.

Eddie Chambers Vs. Alexander Dimitrenko Video And Analysis

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:00:00 -0500

If you didn't get a chance to see it over the July 4 weekend in Germany, you can watch the video of American heavyweight Eddie Chambers' dominant win over Alexander Dimitrenko above and in the other six parts after the jump. Happy birthday America!

Here are a few of my thoughts on it:

As I've always had a soft spot for Chambers, it's really nice to see him put together such a thoroughly good performance. Really, if you like to see smart technicians ply their craft, this is about as fun as it gets, and it's the best Chambers has ever looked, both technically and from an entertainment standpoint. (And in his midsection, although there's still a little goo there.) By contrast, Dimitrenko -- who'd not impressed me much before -- is completely lost. A good deal of that was Chambers' fault. It's all a big circle of life and stuff.
I still wouldn't pick Chambers to beat Wladimir Klitschko -- Wlad owes him a fight some time, since this win made Chambers his mandatory challenger -- but I do think he's a more viable opponent in light of this performance than I once would have thought. He doesn't have the power to hurt Klitschko, and surviving 12 rounds and outboxing Wlad is a risky proposition. But look at all of Wlad's most recent opponents and tell me if any of them are anywhere near as fast, or as good defensively, as Chambers is. Getting inside a 6'7" Dimitrenko's jab is a far easier proposition than getting inside a 6'7" Klitschko's jab, but being fast and being good defensively is a start.
Goossen Tutor Promotions is thrilled about this win, as it should be. It now has two men who can make a case for being the best American heavyweight, Chris Arreola and now Chambers, although from the look of things (like holding a big news conference with Arreola recently; by contrast, Chambers gets his today) they hadn't quite anticipated Chambers would be the one to break out of the pack. The plan is to keep Chambers busy before he gets Klitschko. It's a good idea. Chambers is saying all the right things about liking his new body, but a long rest between fights is a motive to slip back into plumper habits. Plus, if Chambers' trainer is right, Chambers is still improving. He'll need all the improving he can muster if he's to have a shot at beating Klitschko.

Open Thread, Super Middleweight Tournament Edition

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:54:30 -0500

Greetings. Welcome to the open thread, where any discussion topics, preferably but not necessarily ones with a boxing focus, are yours for the taking. (h/t Steve for reminding me, and my apologies for not doing it closer to the first of the month.)

A few quick agenda items:
1. It strikes me that the biggest topic we haven't explored much here is Showtime's proposed super middleweight tournament. I have my own thoughts on it, but I'd rather hear from y'all. So, that's my proposed starter dough.
2. I'll be doing a preview and prediction later this week of the (figuratively) big Vic Darchinyan-Joseph Agbeko bantamweight clash scheduled for Saturday on the aforementioned Showtime, so you might want to save your thoughts on that for later.
3. Because I put it up it at an absurd hour, you may have overlooked my Fight Night Round 4 review just below this post. I offer this merely as a reminder.
4. Coltaine, I believe, has an interesting proposal for us all. We won't close the thread until we hear from him. And CJD -- the mad genius behind the open thread concept, and a real gentleman for the foiled ticket giveaway plot he (and Steve) once hatched -- may or may not have something up his sleeve...?

Now. Go.

Fight Night Round 4 Review: A Boxing Fan's Perspective

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:25:00 -0500

All right. I don't know why it ruined my XBox 360 to put Fight Night Round 4 in it, but somehow that did the trick. I had to buy a new one (or pay $179 to fix it compared to $199 for a new one) and that's what I've done. So now I'm ready to review it.

The short of it is this: Like each of its recent predecessors, Fight Night Round 4, by improving on what came before, is instantly the best realistic boxing video game of all time. But like each of its predecessors, once you set aside that fact, there are reasons for complaint.

Quick Jabs: Floyd Mayweather Gets Tragicomic; Eddie Chambers Gets Serious; Jorge Linares Wants To Get Humberto Soto; More

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:45:00 -0500

It's slow going in boxing this week, and with but one major exception and a couple minor ones, it's slow going in boxing this month. Still, there are a few things to discuss.

For instance: Eddie Chambers, at right (photo credit Jan Sanders, Goossen Tutor Promotions) put together by what all accounts was an impressive performance in defeating Alexander Dimitrenko in Germany Saturday, which will earn him a mandatory title shot against heavweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. I don't think it's a coincidence that he was nearly at his sleekest, weighing no more than 209 pounds -- accounts vary from 205 to 209 pounds -- which maybe was even a little small for him. Still, Chambers' assets are his great boxing technique and speed, and at 6'1", he shouldn't be plumping up the way he did in his last fight and clearly learned the lesson. He was the aggressor in the fight, knocking Dimitrenko down twice. This was perceived as an upset, although I'm not sure why -- maybe my affection for Fast Eddie led me to believe he'd handle the 6'7" lug. He won't get Wladimir any time soon, and no amount of affection will lead me to pick him to beat Wladimir, but it's great to see an American heavyweight climb the ranks of the division.

Also in this edition of Quick Jabs: A few fights in the works, although not very many; goings-on with Joshua Clottey, Alexander Povetkin and Guillermo Rigondeaux; and a few items more.

Doubts Grow About Whether Alexis Arguello Committed Suicide

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:35:00 -0500

Having a distaste for conspiracy theories the way I do, I bit my tongue yesterday -- despite my doubts -- about the official explanation given that boxing great Alexis Arguello's demise was, apparently, a suicide. But some very, very level-headed people today are openly questioning that explanation today, wondering whether he was killed, and I think those thoughts require an airing out.

Tales of Arguello's flirtation with death by his own hand are well-known at this point. This one was particularly poignant. Still, some of the details are a tad eyebrow-raising. Who kills one's self via shotgun blast through the heart? It's certainly not the predominant method. "The first man from Nicaragua ever to win a world boxing title was found shot to death at his home in Managua, the Sandanista Party's government Radio Ya quickly claiming it was a suicide even though a gunshot wound to the chest would seem to hint of something more nefarious," wrote the ultra-reliable Ron Borges.

Wallace Matthews recounts for Newsday a long, hard life where Arguello fought with cocaine, financial devastation, divorces, Sandanistas, and the time he threatened to kill himself on a boat with his son present, then notes:

If Alexis Arguello didn't pull the trigger that day, there's no way he did it yesterday, not after having pulled his life together once again so spectacularly - more than 20 years after fighting in the jungles of Nicaragua for the Contras, Arguello was elected mayor of Managua only last November. And over so trivial and nebulous a matter as, according to one report, suspicions of "improper financial dealings?'' Preposterous.

Jose Suliaman, not someone I'd put in the "ultra-reliable" category, raised a similar point to Borges', nonetheless prompting me to finally speak up via Twitter. And, of course, friend of the site Burbank Baker -- who always comes across as a highly rational sort -- raised his own cautious suspicion in the comments section of the entry just below this one.

Today, there are yet more reports suggesting Arguello killed himself. "Assistant judicial police chief Glenda Zavala says traces of gunpowder were found on the 57-year-old Arguello's hands, suggesting he shot himself. There were no other signs of violence in the room where he was found."

I'm no expert on the state of Nicaraguan "good government" initiatives, so I don't want to speak out of school. Nor do I want to advance any theories absent evidence. The bottom line is this: Arguello's death should be thoroughly investigated by credible law enforcement authorities and none of us should jump to any conclusions one way or the other right now. And for not speaking up about my doubts right away and instead only passing along the official explanation without skepticism, I apologize.

Alexis Arguello, 1952 - 2009: Knockout Artist, Sweet Scientist, Gentleman

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:40:00 -0500

It was a fight Alexis Arguello lost, his tremendous 1982 Fight of the Decade with Aaron Pryor, where I first laid eyes on the man, and it was that fight that turned me into a fan. Past his prime and over his ideal weight, the boxer who was arguably the finest junior lightweight ever went 14 hard ones with the man who is arguably the finest junior welterweight ever, eventually succumbing in a knockout loss that glorified him more than it diminished him.

Arguello -- found dead today, apparently by his own hand -- was the kind of boxer anyone could love. "Watching Arguello fight is like enjoying the subtleties of a great Renaissance masterpiece," Peter King once wrote. "There is rich color and detail in his performance. His jabs are straight, strong and accurate. His body punches are delivered with care. His right crosses and left hooks are issued with an awesome potency." He was at once a smart fighter, the living embodiment of the sweet science, and a fearsome knockout artist. Ring magazine nominated him to its list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time, clocking him in at #20. For a while, he was considered the finest active boxer alive of any weight.

Inside this ferocious, perfect fighting machine was a kind and gentle soul. The most sporting boxers usually celebrate their wins then check up on the opponents they've detached from consciousness. Arguello is the only one I've seen who routinely was more interested in the well-being of his defeated foes than in raising his hands in victory. He became close friends with his opponents, win or lose. He once fought Ray Mancini. "He was a brawler, a guy who wanted it with all his heart because his father had never gotten a title shot," Arguello said in an interview much later. Arguello knocked him out. But he told Mancini, "Look, the same way you love your father, I love my father. And if there's anything I can do for you let me know, because I'm sure you're going to be champion."

I don't usually write eulogies of any kind for ex-boxers who have passed away. I usually don't have any idea what to say. Arguello was special to me, and I'm still at a loss. But I wanted to say something. Arguello's life after boxing had its controversies and difficulties; I know nothing, really, but Arguello the boxer, the competitor. For those of you who never got a chance to see that Arguello, I leave you with one of the better highlight clips of "The Explosive Thin Man" I could find. I've always been more the "celebrate someone in their death" kind than a mourner. I hope you'll join me in that spirit.

Alexis Arguello highlight
Uploaded by Game34 - More professional, college and classic sports videos.

Weekend Afterthoughts About Victor Ortiz From All Angles, Juan Manuel Lopez' Win And Other News

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:50:00 -0500

I don't think I'm alone in still having all kinds of conflicted feelings about what went down this weekend, especially vis-a-vis Victor Ortiz' Fight of the Year effort/surrender routine. There's much I'm still processing about what went down there, plus plenty to discuss about Friday Night Fights and some other subjects I didn't get to over the last few days.

First, enjoy the clip above of flyweight Omar Narvaez' knockout win. You can watch the whole thing if you want by following the links.

In An Insane Fight, Marcos Maidana Derails The Victor Ortiz Star Train

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:25:00 -0500

What a stunning fight, and a stunning outcome, with a stunning aftermath. In a junior welterweight fight Saturday on HBO, Marcos Maidana stopped Victor Ortiz in a fight that had two crazy first rounds, a strange ending and a bizarre interview after with Ortiz. Ortiz' superstar rise is definitely well off the tracks now, and the way Ortiz sounded at the end, he may not want to put it back.

(Meanwhile, on Showtime, top middleweight Arthur Abraham made mincemeat of the tough but underpowered Mahir Oral. But I saw some holes in Abraham's game that I hadn't noticed before.)

Quick Jabs: Mayweather-Marquez Rescheduled, Pacquiao-Cotto Close; Darchinyan's Latest Funny Trash Talk; Other Weekend Bouts; Fights In The Works; More

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:25:00 -0500

That right there is Mahir Oral, who's fighting top middleweight Arthur Abraham on a fight to be broadcast on tape delay from Germany via Showtime. Besides the more compelling junior welterweight Victor Ortiz-Marcos Maidana bout on HBO, it's the top freeish weekend broadcast. There's also the pay-per-view headlined by junior featherweight Juan Manuel Lopez, whose opponent Olivier Lontchi, as mentioned just below, may moonwalk to the ring in honor of the king of pop. Between Oral's lion fist (I can't tell if it's a tattoo; if it is, it's very recent, since most of his photos don't feature such artwork, nor have I seen any news coverage of him getting a tattoo) and Lontchi's maybe-moonwalk, I have to hand it to the B-side of both of those fights for having some reason to grab the spotlight, if only for a moment.

There are a few other weekend bouts of note, as mentioned in the headline there, and some interesting fights in the works besides those in the headline featuring the likes of Paul Williams. We'll hit those and plenty of other boxing going-ons in this edition of Quick Jabs.

Olivier Lontchi May Moonwalk To Defeat Against Juan Manuel Lopez

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:40:00 -0500

Tomorrow night, Olivier Lontchi (left) is the sacrificial lamb for Juan Manuel Lopez (right), a junior featherweight star with greatness written all over him. Lontchi, an unknown Canadian, at least is going to make things interesting. According to a news release the event's promoter just sent out that was titled "Lontchi May Moonwalk Ring Entrance?":

"Lontchi came up to me this morning and specifically asked Top Rank's technical crew to download as many of Michael Jackson's songs as possible to play in his locker room tomorrow night for inspiration," said Lee Samuels of Top Rank. "Michael Jackson is his all-time favorite artist and Olivier is making his ring entrance to Jackson's 'Thriller' music video which will be projected inside the Adrian Phillips Ballroom. I wouldn't be surprised if he Moonwalked into the ring."

The overall pay-per-view card -- $39.95 worth -- has been marked more by fighters pulling out than the quality match-ups that remain, with middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, pound-for-pound top-20 bantamweight Fernando Montiel and others all off the original schedule. And maybe, just maybe, this is all just a stunt to capitalize on recent headlines and shore up an event that is going head-to-head with a Showtime AND an HBO card. Maybe. That's all I'm saying. Maybe.

Still, maybe $40 is worth seeing a guy do a ring entrance like that then get knocked out. (Assuming he actually goes through with it, since the news release tantalized only with the possibility of a moonwalk ring entrance.) I'm all about "Off The Wall" promotional efforts -- it's part of the fun of boxing. Get it? "Off The Wall?" Do you get it?

Perched On The Precipice Of Superstardom: Victor Ortiz - Marcos Maidana Preview And Prediction

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:25:00 -0500

Just watch this video and try not to like Victor Ortiz. I defy you. Go for it.

If that doesn't do it for you, try this one.

And that's it. That's the formula for any American superstar-to-be. Have a personality and/or a story. Fight well and fight in an exciting way. Early in his career, Ortiz has done those things. Saturday night on HBO, the 22-year-old phenom is about to answer the biggest question of his young boxing life: Can he take a punch from an elite junior welterweight power puncher? If he can handle what Marcos Maidana throws at him -- and Ortiz has been dropped by lesser bombers -- I think the sky is the limit. Golden Boy Promotions will indeed have the next golden boy on their hands. The talk that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has Victor Ortiz on his "hit list" won't sound so far-fetched.

Getting Sick Of This "I Didn't Prepare For A Left-Hander/Right-Hander" Junk (Looking At You, Rocky Juarez And Nicolay Valuev) [Updated]

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:50:00 -0500

Twice in the last month, a boxer has pulled out of a fight with a health issue, and a substitute has been offered so the show can go on. Twice, the healthy fighter has rejected the substitute, claiming he wasn't prepared for the substitute's stance.

His stance.

Heavyweight Nicolay Valuev had been preparing for a southpaw on May 30, Ruslan Chagaev, but Chagaev was rejected by Finnish regulators when his blood came up with traces of hepatitis B and both of the perfectly acceptable substitutes, Lamon Brewster and Kali Meehan, were orthodox fighters. He turned them down for that reason. This week, featherweight Chris John dropped out of his rematch scheduled for Saturday with Rocky Juarez, citing a blood issue of his own, but Juarez turned down an HBO-approved opponent, Mario Santiago, because he was a left-hander and he'd been preparing for a right-hander.

There are lots of reasons to reject a substitute opponent. Like, maybe you don't feel like going forward with some fight that could jeopardize the original fight in hopes it will be rescheduled. That makes perfect sense. But that's not what happened with John-Juarez II. Juarez' team expressed an interest in staying on the HBO undercard. Then, it got fussy about the opponent. Anyone paying attention would know that HBO's raised its standards about the kind of fights they'll televise, which has largely been a good trend, and Juarez-Santiago would have been a good fight. (Friend of the site WF actually suggested it before the news broke.) But no. Because Santiago is a southpaw, he gets rejected by Juarez, and HBO tells Juarez to shove off. Valuev's people explored the option of keeping the show going, but rejected it when it came right down to it, so maybe they never had any intention of going through with the show. As if Juarez had never fought a southpaw, or Valuev had never fought an orthodox boxer.

Contrast this with what heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko did last weekend. Confronted with a righty opponent who dropped out with an injury, David Haye, Klitschko didn't blink at the prospect of fighting a lefty -- the suddenly available Chagaev. Was that so hard? No. And why does stance make such a huge difference as opposed to, say, dealing with a switch of opponents from a tall one to a short one, a slugger to a technical boxer? Get over it. Or just say you don't want to fight any substitute at all, for any reason. It's a simple choice.

[UPDATED: Rocky has explained his reasoning in detail here. Still not liking it. You can't say you weren't being choosy if you turned down someone just because he was a southpaw.]

Can We Please Stop With The Boxing-Related Country/Race Conspiracy Theories Please?

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:30:00 -0500

I would say at least once a week -- usually when I mention one of the Klitschko brothers or Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather, Jr. -- someone takes a critical remark I've made, or that someone else has made in this space, and responds thusly:

"You just hate boxer A because you're racist/hate country A."

It doesn't matter if I've been on the record of stating how much I like boxer A, or have praised boxer A in the very same entry in which I was critical of some behavior of his. Any critical comment -- even a prediction that boxer A will lose a fight, which isn't critical at all, seeing as how almost everyone loses a fight at some point in their lives, and it's just a prediction -- is automatically the sign of my deep xenophobia or discrimination. Nor is this phenomenon unique to this site. On every boxing website or bulletin board on the planet, there are people looking to slap the Scarlet Letter of R or X on anyone who dares think that their favorite boxer isn't the living embodiment of boxing and personal perfection.

So let's just examine this whole question for a second. (Even though you probably aren't the most open-minded chap or lady if you're the kind of person to lob accusations of racism or xenophobia at someone you don't know who hasn't used a racial epithet. But just because I probably won't convince you doesn't mean I won't try.)

Weekend Afterthoughts On What's Next For Klitschko, The John - Juarez II Postponement, Sosa's Knockout And More

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:10:00 -0500

There's junior flyweight Edgar Sosa knocking out an overmatched opponent this weekend in front of about 12,000 people in Mexico City. He's popular there. Sure would be nice to see him in against a Giovanni Segura or somebody like that.

Not a whole lotta weekend afterthoughts, but some things worth discussing.