MINUTE UPDATE #1

* 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.

*Referee Tony Weeks called the fight off immediately after the second knockdown at 2:55 of the round. Casamayor had never previously been stopped. Still, you’re not hearing anyone, not even Casamayor, suggest that he should have been given a count. It seems unusual that someone wouldn’t try to create a controversy.

* Why would a PPV event otherwise done on the cheap require a host to oversee the festivities? Personally I wouldn’t have Mario Lopez host a Tupperware party. Talk about cronyism…

*Barry Tompkins is the consummate boxing blow by blow announcer. He’s lost nothing off his fastball and we’d like to see more of him. Ron Borges is simply a natural at the color man position, far better than some currently under contract. Together they did the Golden Boy logo on their microphones proud. They prove that two competent, knowledgeable men in the announcer’s seats are far better than a talented lead announcer trying to carry two weak supporting players.

* That was one terrible picture on my TV screen for $44.95. For that price we should get high-def and a tray of appetizers. As it was, the picture wasn’t even digital quality. In fact, I would have been delighted if it was analog quality.

*The fight will not be shown on replay on HBO, as is normally the case. It was a Golden Boy joint and their prerogative.

*Linear = Ring Magazine

* Should I stuff all of my money in my mattress now?

* Some of the more churlish characters in the crowd booed the Cuban National Anthem. Obviously the pro-Mexican crowd favored Marquez, but shouldn’t anthems be off limits?

*Despite the poor picture, I recognized California Commission Executive Director Armando Garcia sitting front and center in front of the TV cameras, apparently off on another field trip. Don’t forget that Conflict of Interest Statement, Form 700!

*Charlie McCarthy moment: When Marquez was being interviewed by Borges after the fight, manager Jaime Quintana was directly behind him whispering in his ear. Quintana looked like a bad ventriloquist.

*Casamayor cut man Jacob Duran deserves an “attaboy” for his excellent work in minimizing a severe cut over Casamayor’s right eye, suffered in round four.

* 21 year old Julio “Baby Face” Garcia is off the prospect list after his loss to journeyman Danny Perez. First of all he’s no longer a baby face. His hair is thinning and a fighter who started his career at age 15 and 126 pounds came in at 163 pounds, looking years older to me unless it was that dreadful TV picture. Two years ago he was 139 pounds and he actually has gone up as high as 215 between fights. Actually it could have been worse for Garcia. He was originally scheduled to face the still dangerous Yori Boy Campas. Perez, with one fight in the past three years, took on the fight with one week notice and out landed Garcia 275 to 85.

*On the other hand, 21 year old Jr. welterweight Victor Ortiz, who stopped Roberto Arrieta in five seems to be the real deal.

*The world is back on its axis now that the real Vernon Forrest thoroughly dominated Sergio Mora to regain the WBC junior middleweight crown. You could sense which way the wind was heading when Mora showed up at the weigh in two pounds over the 154 pound limit. Forrest out landed Mora 231 to 83, mostly solid jack hammer shots. To his credit, Mora got a good old fashioned butt whipping but kept fighting until the end and lasted 12 rounds.

*Speaking of Mora, I hear that “The Contender” is moving to Versus, which makes network # 3. Can G4 be far behind?

* Showtime must have the worst luck of any network, the way they get stuck with losers that have big fights cancelled. (By the way, Vitali is still on board for October 11. Will he make it to the finish line?) This time Showtime was blindsided by Joan Guzman, moving up a division to lightweight and reportedly came to camp 36 pounds overweight. Inexplicably Guzman showed up on the scale three and a half pounds over the 135 pound limit. He was given two hours to lose the weight and never returned.

*Still, three belt titlist Nate Campbell was willing to fight Guzman, even with the extra weight. To add insult to injury, after vacillating all day over “To fight or not to fight, that is the question,” Guzman finally decided to walk out a couple of hours prior to air time.

* So Campbell, Showtime, and The Beau Rivage Resort in Mississippi fall victim to Guzman’s unprofessional conduct. And you might as well add his whole team to that thought.

*Did anyone seriously think that Guzman could safely (and legally) lose four pounds in two hours? I can almost see those needles pulling the blood out.

*If Guzman was, in fact dehydrated as claimed, why on earth did it take so long to make a decision not to fight? To think otherwise would be an admission that others were willing to put him at risk.

*How did Guzman, who was the WBO 130 pound belt holder as recently as May 15 when he vacated the title, ever find himself in a situation in which he could be off weight by such a large margin? And why is it that we discover these things on the scale? They couldn’t drop a few hints, at least, earlier in the week that a disaster was in the making when it was obvious that he couldn’t make it?

*I don’t believe we’ll be seeing Guzman on TV for a while. I don’t think Al Haymon could get him a spot and that’s saying something. The networks will simply see him as a poor business risk who’s not a crowd pleaser to begin with and refuse to take a chance on him. At least with Jose Luis Castillo, you knew that he had been involved in great fights and his name would draw interest.

*Finally, Timothy Bradley got all of the spotlight, thanks to Guzman, and made the best of a bad situation. As a stand alone fight, Bradley-Edner Cherry is not all that compelling. As a warm up for Campbell-Guzman, he would be credited with a solid, blue collar victory over a name opponent. As a main course, however, you’re left hungry for more.