Billy’s Boxing Blog

Without question of all the fights this weekend the one that had the most attention was the rematch featuring Arthur Abraham and Edison Miranda, and with just cause. The first fight was a bloodbath and when the dust settled from that one it was clear that they needed to do this again. After Saturday nights affair I think it is just as clear, Abraham has Miranda’s number.

One of our readers thinks so too:

Hello William Trillo:

William, we need now an elimination round of the world’s best middleweights. Felix Sturm first and foremost to fight and beat Arthur Abraham.Then Kelly Pavlic vs. Sturm.
What say you?

Dietrich, fight fan

Hello Dietrich!

What say me?

I say Felix Sturm is a very worthy Champ, but King Arthur didn’t come all the way over to American soil to set up a fight with Sturm. His eyes are on the big prize, Kelly Pavlik.

I think Sturm would like a shot at King Arthur but Felix is comfortable fighting on his own turf and it may be a while before we see that unifier.

As Confucius say, “Man who take sleeping pill and laxative on the same night will wake up in deep doo doo.”

Speaking of taking drugs, is it just me or did it appear Miranda my have been taking some muscle enhancing supplements during his recent training camp?

I’ll be looking forward to his post fight urinalysis test results.

Looking over the fights on this huge fight weekend has me thinking…not only is there plenty of action over the next 2 nights, but to me, there are some battles that may not go according to plan.

Andre Ward vs. Jerson Ravelo
Andre Berto vs. Miguel Rodriguez
Chris Arreola vs. Chazz Witherspoon

These are 3 fights that could end up being a bit of a surprise, and if the favorites don’t give this their full attention, they may come up on the short end.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

On another note…One of the fights this weekend features Mikkel Kessler in his return bout after his first loss suffered at the hands of Joe Calzaghe.

You would think he would get a bit more fanfare than what he has currently received, but then again, Palle’s PR man in the states has never done the Dane any favors and has once again dropped the ball and the return of one of the best fighters in the game has all but flown under the radar.

Kessler is a great guy and he deserves way better than his American flak is giving him at the present time

I just got an email from L.A.’s local sports radio station with the subject:

“What A Season!”

 Dang it…yeah I guess.  At the start of the year my biggest worry was what the heck were we gonna get if they traded Kobe, now my biggest concern is what enforcer are we gonna deal for and what is it gonna cost to get him? Well whatever it takes I can hardly wait for next year. Who knows, maybe next year Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will join us for a game.

Has anyone taken a peek at this weekends fight schedule?

Holy cow…..how can I squeeze all that in?

Hey Lakers, It’s Payback Time For The Celtics

By William Trillo

It was Game 4 of the 1984 NBA finals.The Celtics were trailing in both the game and the series when the hated Kevin McHale delivered a hard foul to Kurt Rambis as the Lakers’ forward raced to the basket. The physical play touched off a bench-clearing scuffle. Boston came back to win the game in overtime and that win tied the series up. Boston eventually prevailed in seven games to win the franchise’s fifteenth championship.

The shoe is now firmly on the other foot and it’s The Lakers who need that “extra edge” to get them over the top in this series.

The Lakers have struggled in this series but they gave themselves hope last night in Los Angeles. It’s time to go old school guys and a nice hard foul in The Garden may be exactly what the Doctor ordered. And as I recall, that hard foul delivered by McHale was perpetrated on Los Angeles turf.

It’s time to show Boston how that tastes.

The Celtics have cheap shot their way through this series and now it’s time do give them a dose of their own medicine. I personally will expect nothing less.

In case you forgot just how hard that foul was I ask you to take a look at this footage.

YouTube – Kevin McHale Clotheslines Kurt Rambis

Feel free to pass this story along to anyone on The Lakers staff or team…Thank You

Needless to say, last week was about as eventful and unexpected as any week we have had here at Pound4Pound in quite sometime, and there really weren’t any fights to speak of. Unless of course you are speaking of The Lakers and The Celtics and I think you all know my feelings about that.

Speaking of The Lakers, I am sure you all also know that Sergio Mora and I met at game 4 in my companies suite at Staples on Thursday night and it looks as though we will be sitting down to chat soon as Sergio replied to my request in the affirmative.

Umm yeah…I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was a tad uncomfortable and I was shocked to see Mora join the party. Apparently there is speculation out there that I was scared….you can go ahead and lay that one to rest, caught way off guard and surprised for sure…but I don’t do scared.

A similar situation happened to me a year or so ago after I had done a not so flattering piece on Oscar De La Hoya. It was at a Manny Pacquiao fight and I was watching the semi main event on the press room television. In walked Oscar and Richard Schaefer and we were literally the only ones in the room. Again, awkward ?? Heck yeah! But as I did this past week, I stood up and greeted both men with a hand shake and went back to my seat.

I guess I could save myself a lot of trouble by writing nicey nice dribble, but would you really be here now if I did?

I highly doubt it.

And the attention turns from the USA and heads across The Pond as the UK has some things to say about my Calzaghe commentary.

Calzaghe

Will. I must say, your biased against Calzaghe beyond belief. I want to take you task on the following. “Joe, keep ducking all the top fighters and they may start laughing again” from your recent article on pound4pound.com. The part of the article that leaves me shaking my head is the “keep ducking” especially the word ”keep” which is alarming to say the least. If memory serves me correctly he never ducked Lacy, who you picked to beat him, also Kessler, who again you picked to beat Calzaghe. Hopkins wasn’t exactly an easy nights work for Calzaghe either. And amazingly you thought Hopkins beat him. You had it way closer than the judges had it, but not sure Hopkins deserved the nod. Just for the record, I picked Hopkins. And don’t think for one moment I’m some crazed Calzaghe fan on the defensive. Not one of my favourite fighters, however I think your views on him are very harsh indeed.
 
Another thing you need to realise Will. Boxing is a business. And if Calzaghe wants to fight Jones for 3 or 4 million more than he would get for fighting Pavlik, then thats the way it goes. For you to accuse him of ducking Pavlik and ending your article with “Keep ducking” you make it sound as if he’s never entered the ring with a top fighter in his life. Well just to remind you, he hammered Lacy for 12 rounds, outclassed Kessler, outworked Hopkins, and beat many other top super-middleweights like Eubank, Brewer, Mitchell, etc.
 
 
Well Punchdrunk Billy, keep up the biased journalism. Your doing well at it.

oscar_no1@…….

My Dear Robby, (oscar_no1 is his lame email addy)

Dude, you are like an old tennis shoe that you keep throwing out but the dog digs out of the trash and brings it back into the house. A little wetter and a lot smellier but still got enough sole on it to kick a little. Bret and I have blocked you and told you to go away numerous times but you fail to get the hint. Your stick-to-it-ivness is to be commended…but really Rob…take it down a notch.

I gotta be honest, the fact that you know exactly who I picked in fights dating all the way back to March of 2006 is a tad disturbing, I don’t know whether to be honored or scared that I have acquired a stalker, thank goodness you live on the other side of the World.

Look, for the most part Joe has made a career out of fighting guys no one has ever heard of.

Lacy was a fighter who got exposed big time for the one trick pony he is, Kessler was a one handed fighter in that fight and Bernard dropped Super Joe with one punch and from that point on Joe ran and slapped like the girls you currently play hopscotch with in the schoolyard, Roberta. 

And Eubank, Brewer, Mitchell..?  What? Huh?

Eubank lost 4 of his last 6 fights Robby and one of those was Joe, not impressive!

Brewer had just lost 2 of his previous 4 bouts before facing Joe and one of those losses was to Sven Ottke……..Sven Ottke??? The question marks mean why isn’t this guy on Super Joe’s record? Because he ducked him Robby…that’s why!

Joe caught Mitchell on the downside of his career (are you seeing a pattern here Rob) and Mitchell’s farewell bout was a loss to the “irrepressible” Richard Freekin Hall.

Rob, you are kidding me with those examples right?

Why not just use some of Joe’s other impressive foes instead…you know those greats Evans Ashira, Kabary Salem, Mger Mkrtchian & Tocker Pudwill.

Exactly!

Robby, my point was this. Joe said out of his own mouth, “I’m not sure if Pavlik really wants to face me at the moment. He would have little to gain because I believe I would definitely beat him.”

You and I both know that is bull hockey, you said so yourself….Joe wants the dough.

If Joe wants to fight the 40 year old Jones because he is going to score a huge payday then he needs to say that and quit finding reasons to blame Pavlik.

Kelly will fight him tomorrow in Whales, trust me. But Josephine is looking for a payday, and while many will say,”can ya blame him?” , I say, “I don’t blame him, but be honest about your motives, that’s all!”

Punchdrunk Billy !  Ha Ha ! That’s a good one Robby my boy. I think that’s the first time you ever made me laugh.

I’d say please go away and stop bothering me, but as Bret and umteenthousand people in every chat room across the planet know, telling you to go away is like trying to toss out that old stinky tennis shoe, somehow the dog is gonna slobber all over it and then bring it back in.

Ta Ta Robby

P. S. Rob, you really need to go look at  PunchingJavy’s comment on the blog, if I got under your skin Javy will really ruin your day!

I figured the blog about Sergio and I meeting at The Laker game would grab a little attention and I was right. I am happy to see some of you are with me and for those of you who aren’t I hope my reply will help bury the proverbial hatchet.

SERGIO
That was a very interesting story, you at the Lakers game. Quite refreshing and Cool. Whether or not he read your story, he showed a lot of class greeting you. Rare in boxing. I hope he will write back, but it may take a while, he probably gets tons of email.

Frank Boff

There was nothing refreshing or cool about that game…I still am in mortal agony over that loss.

But you know, I must agree with your assessment of boxing figures, class is not always synonymous with in this biz, but I think that can be said for all walks at life at some point.  

I too am looking forward to Mora’s response and hope we can do that interview.

FLIP FLOP

What a flip flop journalist you are! You have done nothing but rail on Sergio, and for no good reason I might add, and just as I thought, once you met him you find out he is a decent guy. Maybe now you can take your focus off Mora and find someone else to pick on. Ever since I have been reading your site it seems all you do is try to rattle the snakes cage, but as you see it didn’t do you any good. Pick on someone else and leave Sergio ALONE!

Dear No Name,

Pick on someone else?

How long have you been reading the site, let me guess…one month?

Yes I admit I have been on Mora’s case over the last month but my angst is not as exclusive as you suggest. Neither is my praise, of which you failed to mention.

Not only did I tip my hat to Mora after his victory over Forrest but I admitted I was wrong and ate a plate full of crow. I also put up a nice slide show of the Mora/Forrest battle that is 100% pro Sergio. Lastly did you see the article I did suggesting Sergio quite possibly could have put himself in contention in The De La Hoya sweepstakes?

All of that came before our brief encounter.

That’s far from being on his case, you nameless wonder.

I suggest you take a few moments of your time and look back through our archives. When you do you will find I have treated everyone the same here, those worthy of praise will get it, and those who need to get blasted will get a dose of that as well. What’s more, you will find those two are usually one in the same, and they have all got their doses of medicine.

From Manny Pacquiao to Floyd Mayweather, from Joe Calzaghe to Ricky Hatton and from Miguel Cotto to Oscar De La Hoya, they have all been ripped and they have all been praised…..ummm maybe not all…Calzaghe still may be looking for some love here, and unless things change drastically, the girl slapper will never get it (see today’s Joe story).

You see, we are not one of those results only or dull Q & A websites, we have opinion’s and we feel free to share them. Sometimes we are right and sometimes we are wrong, but I believe our readers would rather we take a stand than to just sit back and write generic headlines and slap exclamation points on ‘em and expect everyone to be satisfied.

That’s not our Modus Operandi now and it never will be.

But keep on reading o ye of little name, you never know when that Exclusive Mora interview may turn up!

It was a bizarre night in Laker town on Thursday night, and no, I am not talking about the dramatic loss suffered by my Lakers after going up by 24 over the hated Celtics.

First off there was the unexpected and uninvited visit from Phoenix Sun Amare Stoudemire and his posse to our suite whom my brother promptly asked to leave. Imagine that, someone from my family not warming up to celebs, go figure.

Next was the kicker as the new WBC 154 pound champ Sergio Mora appeared in our room. Yes the very man who I had taken to task prior to his victory over Vernon Forrest.

Again my brother stepped in but this time it was to welcome Sergio into our suite and promptly made it a point to introduce us.

Gulp!

After an awkward pause I spoke with Mora and I must admit he was as polite as any fighter I have ever had the chance to speak to.

Sergio said he was aware of what was written about him but said he knew I wrote how I felt and did not have a problem with that. He also knew I had given him his props for his performance and was thankful for that.

We spoke for a brief moment and I told him now was not the time to conduct an interview but if he would allow me I would like to speak to him in the near future.

Mora agreed and said he look forward to it.

After our brief encounter I returned to my punishment, that being the Lakers demise and Mora spent time taking pictures with and chatting with the other fans in our suite, he couldn’t haven’t been more accommodating.

I have already reached out to Mora via email and I too look forward to hearing what his plans are for the future.

Only in L.A. !

Glad to see I am not the only one who saw the brutal truth about Rubio.

I felt the same way. I read it on fightnews: “brutalized Cuevas”, but thought he was in the fight all the way and because I do not speak Spanish did not know why the fight was stopped, but I thought it was a competitive fight, even though Rubio was winning. Pavlik would knock out Rubio, no problems.

My Spanish is not too great either, but the visual translation is obvious, Rubio is destined to be KO’d if he does get his shot with Pavlik. Como se dice…glass jaw? 

When you take a boxing ”institution” like the great Sugar Ray Leonard to task there is always a chance fans of The Sweet Science will turn on you real fast. But lo and behold, it looks like I am not the only one who wishes Ray would have stayed away from all things Contender.

Once again you have proved that if a fan wants the news “hidden” in the news, you must go to Pound4Pound. Leonard’s statements were ridiculous. The sites that ran that thing should be embarrassed, but most have lost their credibility long ago.
Danny Cullen

Thanks Danny Boy,

Actually Danny, the hidden news you speak of really isn’t hidden at all, you know that, it’s right there for these other sites to find, they are just too fat and lazy look for it! Most if not all of the best stories always come when you put your nose to the grindstone and dig for your scoops. The reason that the other sites have lost their credibility is they wouldn’t know how to look for a story if their very lives depended on it. It’s easy when you work for a major site like ESPN and get 90% of your stories spoon fed to you (fat and lazy).

That’s pretty much Pound4Pound in a nutshell. We don’t want to be confused with our so called peers or associates, we are our own animal and we will live or die with that “maverick” attitude.

Leonard’s roll to me is more of a spokesperson than it is a promoter and in my opinion he was a $ell out the day he took the gig with The Contender.

Fisher may very well see something we don’t and only time will tell if he truly has a bead on Mora’s chances to win, but I will stick to my guns and say Mora will get served up as a can of tomatoes on Saturday night.