The axiom of “win this time, look good next time” may not hold true for Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy. In fact, there might not even be a next time. Lacy showed guts but minimal skill in his razor thin majority decision over Vitali Tsypko at the St. Pete’s Times Forum in Tampa Saturday night, winning in his hometown by scores of 95-95 and 96-94 (twice).
LORDS A LEAPING
December 1, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I’ve never warmed up to the idea of “The Dream Match,” Saturday night’s event featuring Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya. To me, it’s a dream match only in a financial sense. Competitively, it has only the names of the participants to sell to those who don’t know any better.
TRYING TO MAKE TURKEY SALAD
November 26, 2008 By 1 Comment
Before we file away in our memory banks last Friday’s Fernando Vargas-Ricardo Mayorga fight, held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, we would just like to leave some commentary on the good, bad, and the ugly of the event.
RICKY FATTON HUMILIATES MALIGNAGGI
November 24, 2008 By 1 Comment
When you hear little tidbits such as Ricky Hatton’s drop of 42 pounds to be on weight for his junior welterweight fight with Paulie Malignaggi last Saturday night, and then you add into account his 46 fights, the abuse inflicted on his 30 year old body, and Hatton’s legendary love for food and drink, it’s not that much of a stretch to pick him to lose at this point in his career. That’s what I told myself when I picked the 2-1 underdog Paulie to win last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Sooner or later someone is going to look like a genius for making such a prediction, but not this time.
THE REAL TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
November 19, 2008 By 42 Comments
For the first time in the eight year history of “ShoBox: The New Generation” there will be a world title unification bout this Friday night, November 21, broadcast on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET/PT. On that night two of the most talented 122 pounders, undefeated IBF super bantamweight champion, Steve “The Canadian Kid” Molitor, 28-0 (11) from Ontario, Canada, and WBA titlist Celestino Caballero, 30-2 (21) from Colon, Panama, face off at the Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario.
LOCK AND RELOAD
November 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Three years ago promoter Gary Shaw had Jeff Lacy, Winky Wright, and the late Diego Corrales as champions and was considered by many as the Promoter of the Year. This year he has Chad Dawson, Vic Darchinyan, and Timothy Bradley as belt holders and you could make a solid argument that this is a superior trio. In addition, as always he has a solid group of young contenders in his stable awaiting their turn to make their mark.
THE LAST ROUND AND THE CROSSROAD
November 12, 2008 By 1 Comment
I would be remiss not to confess that I drank the Roy Jones Jr. Kool-Aid. As distasteful as it is to now admit, I was wrong, wrong, wrong. I picked Roy to upset the 5-2 favorite Calzaghe in their light heavyweight bout last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. And since a number of my faithful readers have been kind enough to email me with a reminder, I wouldn’t want to let them down by not making a full admission of guilt.
HI THERE, WELCOME TO WAL-MART
November 10, 2008 By 2 Comments
Late Friday evening the rumors began. By Sunday it was common knowledge– Armando Garcia had suddenly submitted his resignation as Executive Officer of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).
ROY OUT TO SHOW HE’S STILL RELEVANT
November 5, 2008 By Leave a Comment
If Roy Jones Jr. hasn’t accomplished anything else while leading up to his light heavyweight bout with unbeaten Welshman Joe Calzaghe this weekend, he’s proven that while just two months shy of his 40th birthday, he still matters in boxing and is capable of creating a buzz. This is no small feat for a man who suffered back to back knockout losses to Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson, followed by a decision loss to Tarver in a 17 month period during 2004-2005.
DARCHINYAN KEEPS PROMISE, SILENCES CRITICS
November 3, 2008 By 41 Comments
In the 1972 hit single, singer/songwriter Albert Hammond sings, “It never rains in Southern California. But girl, don’t they warn ya. It pours, man it pours.” The folks in Southern Cal get more nervous about impending rain than those crazies in the Mid-Atlantic States get about snow, probably something to do with house slides.
THE BEST OF THE WEEKEND
October 29, 2008 By 1 Comment
This Saturday, November 1, Showtime is featuring an exciting, potential Fight of the Year candidate on their World Championship Boxing program. You have to give the Viacom guys their due. With a smaller budget than HBO they continually match good fights, the kind that real fans enjoy.
LIBRADE’S STOLEN OPPORTUNITY
October 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I don’t see how any impartial observer could have viewed the Lucian Bute-Librado Andrade fight last Friday night without coming away with the feeling that referee Marlon B. Wright was at best incompetent, and at worst, perhaps even the Tim Donaughy of boxing. It’s not much of a choice but on that night he was either a dunce or dishonest.
LAST THOUGHTS ON HOPKINS-PAVLIK
October 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment
* 43 year old Bernard Hopkins, 49-5-1 (32), pulled off a historic upset unanimous decision, 119-106, 118-108, and 117-109 over middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, 34-1 (30), in a non title fight fought at a 170 pound catchweight last Saturday night. For those who care, I saw it 116-110.
BRING YOUR OWN RED BULL
October 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
The Kelly Pavlik-Bernard Hopkins pay per view event, after under whelming anticipation, will be telecast Saturday at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT on HBO PPV with a suggested $49.95 price tag. There’s really no point to this match on the surface, it being fought as a non title light heavyweight fight at a 170 pound catch weight. But Bernard is a legendary future Hall of Famer and Kelly is the WBA/WBC/WBO middleweight champion, so the hope from co-promoters Golden Boy and Top Rank is to generate some income through star power.
DOES IT ALWAYS PAY TO ADVERTISE?
October 13, 2008 By 40 Comments
There is a school of thought that any publicity is good. I’m not so sure that the folks at EliteXC feel that way at the moment, but they’re handling it in stride. It seems as if everyone is lining up to take a shot at them recently, reminding me of a friend who when told politely that his zipper was down calmly responded, “It pays to advertise.”
REAL PRIME TIME ENTERTAINMENT
October 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment
You could make a strong case that this Saturday’s Showtime Championship Boxing doubleheader (9 p.m. ET/PT) is the best attraction of the fall season. Kudos to the folks at Showtime who put together a pair of must see matches and pulled it off without going the pay per view route.
A STAR IS BORN
October 6, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Last Saturday night at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California, the network that won 26 Emmys (HBO) presented “The Night of the Rising Stars II” on its Boxing After Dark series, producing an aesthetic, if not financial success. The concept of spotlighting blue chip prospects on a tripleheader with all of the HBO bells and whistles is hopefully a keeper. ShoBox has been a big winner for Showtime on a relatively meager budget; imagine what HBO could do with it with better venues, production and marketing.
IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID
October 1, 2008 By Leave a Comment
There’s plenty of boxing available on the tube this weekend, particularly for those unaffected by the crumbling economy. On Friday night, Showtime presents “ShoBox: The New Generation” to get things started at 11 p.m. ET. On Saturday, HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” presents an intriguing tripleheader starting at 10:05 ET/PT, available in high definition. And lastly, there are no less than two pay per view cards available on Saturday for those who just can’t get enough.
EVEN A CAVEMAN COULD DO IT
September 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment
One of my regular readers wrote me to say that Ricardo Mayorga was “nothing but a Neanderthal street brawler.” I believe that this simple description of the wild, awkward Nicaraguan is spot on and therefore I highly recommend him for a long term deal with Geico.
LOOK FOR MISMATCHES ON HBO CARD
September 24, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Let’s get right to the point. Jr. middleweight Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga, 29-6-1 (23), has about as much chance of beating “Sugar” Shane Mosley as 82 year old Cloris Leachman has of winning “Dancing with the Stars.” But they meet anyway this Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California in a card to be telecast on HBO World Championship Boxing.
LORRAINE CHARGIN BELONGS IN THE HALL OF FAME
September 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Recently the writers were sent a letter from the Executive Director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Edward Brophy, advising that the election process for the Class of 2009 would begin on October 1. Electors are requested to make their selections, return the completed ballot back to the Hall of Fame, and an independent accounting firm will then tabulate all of the ballots. A press conference in early December will announce the new class of inductees.
BLIND OR JUST SHORTSIGHTED?
September 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Last week we reported that the District of Columbia Boxing and Wrestling Commission declined to reverse the decision made in the ring on August 15 concerning the fight between Ishmail Arvin and Anthony Thompson for the USBO Jr. Middleweight title, making the local fighter, Arvin winner by TKO 6. This week we’d like to add some commentary.
MINUTE UPDATE #1
September 15, 2008 By 1 Comment
* Congratulations to Juan Manuel Marquez for his 11th round TKO of Joel Casamayor. Both men are great fighters, but Casamayor is one of the best of his era while Marquez is one of the best of any era.
NO WAY, NO REPLAY
September 12, 2008 By Leave a Comment
15 Rounds.com has learned that the District of Columbia Boxing and Wrestling Commission has apparently decided to uphold the decision made in the ring on August 15 concerning the fight between Ishmail Arvin and Anthony Thompson.
THE LONG HARD ROAD TO MANNY-OSCAR
September 10, 2008 By Leave a Comment
When September 6 finally rolled around and we were able to enjoy major league boxing once again after a month’s hiatus, I was as happy as Jay Leno after the writer’s strike. It’s the fighters and the fights that make up the game and create interest in the sport. When you write a column that is primarily based on your opinion it helps to have something tangible, such as a fight, to have an opinion about, particularly when you write two articles a week.
HOME COOKING?
September 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I don’t get it. I honestly don’t see how any impartial arbiter could see Michael “The Great” Katsidis as the victor over Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz Saturday night. Yet Glen Hamada of Washington State did just that before 15,000 partisan fans at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, giving the Australian a 115-113 nod in the fight, broadcast on HBO’s Boxing After Dark. The only possible justification for believing that Katsidis won seven rounds in that fight is that Hamada was distracted by the babe sitting next to Mario Lopez, seated a couple of rows behind him.
IT’S WHAT THE GREAT ONES DO
September 3, 2008 By 1 Comment
No sooner had Antonio Margarito finished off Miguel Cotto in 11 rounds last July than Margarito was calling for a fight with Oscar De La Hoya. At the press conference following the fight Top Rank CEO Bob Arum repeated Oscar’s statement that he didn’t want to fight a Mexican, but said that he still held out hope that perhaps the fight would be more appealing after Tony’s sensational win.
MANNY AND OSCAR: IT’S JUST BUSINESS
September 1, 2008 By 1 Comment
As a purist, I was never previously in favor of a Manny Pacquiao-Oscar De La Hoya fight, now scheduled officially for September 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. My reasons are quite simple–just take a look at the Tale of the Tape.
ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS
August 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment
DOUBLE REVERSE
It was announced early this week that the recent Hasim Rahman-James Toney heavyweight fight has been declared a no decision by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). Toney had been announced as the TKO winner after an accidental head butt in round three after considerable delay and discussion at the commission table.
LIGHTWEIGHTS LEAD OFF FOR HBO/GOLDEN BOY
August 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Much like the welterweights earlier this year, the lightweights are now on the threshold of providing some clarity to a stacked, competitive division. In the 147 pound division, Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s retirement, for however long it lasts, loosened things considerably while taking Oscar De La Hoya out of the picture with him when their September fight was scratched.