Billy’s Boxing Blog

When it came to Saturday nights result all I can say is, “I never saw this coming.” Likewise when asked about Shane’s right hand a quick paraphrase from Margarito is, “I never saw it coming.” Post fight quotes from Tony’s trainer concurred, “It was frustrating to watch because he kept getting caught with overhand rights,” said Javier Capetillo.

It was obvious to all early that Tony was going to be in trouble but I doubt anyone saw this type of blowout on the horizon. Something I noted in this fight right away was a habit that cost Tony his belt with Paul Williams. After getting hit he would smirk at his foe as if there was no problem. He did that over 5 rounds with Williams and it cost him the crown. He did it again on Saturday night and by the time 5 rounds was over the smile was all but gone and Margarito was on shaky legs that soon became rubber and the end was inevitable at that point.

Margarito has garnered respect from his fans and many in the boxing community for his granite chin and his iron will. His adoring fans from both South and North of the border love Margarito for his Machsismo, it’s a true badge of honor that few have the cajones to wear.

With that said I hope everyone in the Margarito camp draws up a new game plan, one that includes a little more head movement and a lot more defense. The great fighters who remained champs into their late 30′s knew they would have to tweak their styles to succeed further, in fact athletes in many sports do the same. Just look at all the 40 something pitching aces in Major League Baseball who were blowing away guys with 99 mile heat back in the day but now are doing the same with 80 mile pitches that are more guile than heat.

There is nothing wrong with adapting your style if the end result is more success and another belt.

I, like everyone else want to see Tony pick himself up and brush himself off, but when the dust clears I hope he adjusts his game plan and then thrills us for years to come. 

The Rumors

It’s hard to separate fact from fiction in the World of boxing and this weekend was no different. With that said I’d be remiss not to touch on what was reported.

The Wraps

I got a text message about the hand wraps somewhere around the second round of the fight but it really wasn’t clear to me what was going on. When I learned about the discovery by the commission and the possibility of some wet hard substance being found on Tony’s hands all I could think was, “I hope it’s not true.” With that said I have taken people to task who have knowingly cheated on my watch and if I have to I will do it again. This is one sport where jacking around should not be tolerated. Not with smelling salts, not with masking agents and certainly not with a fighters main weapons, his hands.For the love of everything that is good I hope it is not true.

The Eye

Apparently the rumor about Margarito having eye surgery this past week is true and although I do not know the extent of the procedure it appears to have something to do with the Retina and the protection of it thereof. Having been on the receiving end of 2 Retina surgeries myself I do have my concerns about the state of Margarito’s eye when he entered the ring on Saturday night.

Went to see the captain, strangest I could find,
Laid my proposition down, laid it on the line.
I wont slave for beggars pay, likewise gold and jewels,
But I would slave to learn the way to sink your ship of fools.

                                Grateful Dead

It’s On! It’s Off! It’s On! It’s Off! It’s On! It’s Off!

How many times have we seen this Hatton vs. Pacquiao headline posted this week? How many more times are we going to see the monkeys that be run with every gust of wind that blows and announce that Manny and Ricky is either on…or off.

My guess is we will see it back and forth until the fight inevitably gets signed, and my hunch tells me it will.

On my drive to The Staples Center today I spoke with a member of Pacquiao’s team and he told me that no matter what we are reading that the door wasn’t closed yet and that this fight was still very likely to happen. Upon my arrival at Staples I listened to Bob Arum telling a group of reporters that he hadn’t written this fight off yet…there was still hope.

When I got back to home base the morning news of the fight being off for sure had again changed to the fight is back on.

Can someone please give me a break?

What’s even more comical to me is the amount of people who are now casting aspersions on a fighter who less than a month ago was getting their praise as the next Henry Armstrong.

To me, coming off his victory over De La Hoya, Manny has the right to demand a bigger piece of the pie. And in my humble opinion he should get it. 

And why is it incumbent on Manny to give in?

If Golden Boy really felt this is the fight that had to be made why didn’t they pony up like Top Rank did with Manny and offer Hatton an incentive that would have helped persuade him to sign on the dotted line?

Don’t come crying to me about how much money it cost you to negotiate this deal. I don’t want to hear it and neither does anyone else. This is the fight we want to see, it’s up to you to get it done, we really don’t care how much change you got to get out from under your sofa to get this done.

I’ll tell what we don’t want to see:

Hatton vs. Diaz/Marquez winner…Ricky is too big and strong for both those guys…I know that and so do you!

Hatton vs. Oscar…don’t make me beat a dead horse …please!

Hatton vs. Mayweather…..Floyd already introduced Ricky to the ringpost and the canvas once. No one needs to see that massacre either.

The fight everyone wants to see is Ricky vs. Manny.

At the present time it looks like Manny is playing poker with you and it’s your turn to see if he is bluffing or not. 

But please…until it’s official can we stop with all the light switch journalism…it’s on…it’s off!!

Blog & Photos By William Trillo

With the Antonio Margarito camp planted right in the heart of my business territory, I made it a point to stop in last week to see how Margarito was coming along, and just as I expected, “Tony” looks primed and ready to go. His old school style training still seems to be getting the Champion into tip top shape…that’s a firm contradiction to many of the rumors that have been making the rounds recently.

While chatting with Sergio Diaz during Margarito’s sparring the Tornado’s manager told me with a smile, “I get calls all day along with questions or statements about both Shane and Tony, ’I hear Shane is overweight…I hear Shane is hurt.’ Then I get calls about Tony saying they hear he is hurt. I don’t say much to the rumor spreaders, there is no need to go there.”

Diaz then looks over at his Champion and says, “You see him! Does he look hurt or overweight to you? Oh sure, he came in heavy at the start of training, but what fighter doesn’t? “

As to the Mosley rumors Diaz says, “We are expecting nothing less than a Monster on Saturday night. We know what Shane has and we are training accordingly, we know we are in for a war.”

Obviously fans know this one should be a war too as tickets for the show at The Staple Center in Los Angeles are all but gone. For those who can’t get a ticket, no worries, this one is on HBO Championship boxing, NOT PPV.

Now that’s the way we are going to get boxing back into the mainstream. Good fights in nice stadiums with affordable tickets so regular people can attend. And if they can’t make it they can watch it on TV without having to shell out half a days wage.

Look, the days of so called “Dream” fights are over.

No more Casino catering to a bunch of high priced and pampered panty waists who don’t know a fish hook from a left hook. No more forcing Joe Boxing Fan to buy a case of some high priced imported beer he never drinks just so he can get a discount on the overpriced PPV shows.

And most importantly, no more ticket hoarding (coincidentally rhymes with water boarding) by the promoters who claim sellouts 30 minutes after tickets go on sale. Since when is keeping most of the tickets for yourselves and selling the rest to ticket brokers considered a sellout?

A true sellout is when the stadium has to open up extras levels because ticket demand from real boxing fans is through the roof. A true sellout happens when fights are priced affordably enough for EVERYONE to attend.

Hat’s off to the lead promoter Top Rank for taking the bull (take term literally) by the horns and showing everyone why they still know how to fill the seats and give us a great show without making us take a second out on our already upside down mortgages.

Random Thoughts

Great fights to open up the New Year by both Showtime and HBO.

I have no problem with early KO’s in competitive fights and that’s just what we got this Friday night on Showtime.

Likewise, no problems with the HBO televised fight on Saturday night. Both Berto and Collazo gave it their all and fight fans were treated to an exciting night. Scores could have gone either way and although I had Collazo ahead at the end of the night I have no problem with the Berto decision…..well the 116-111 score for Berto was a tad askew but all in all it was a good night.

Can someone tell Bob Papa that Berto was not down in the first round, he must have mentioned he was down a half a dozen times.

And referee Keith Hughes needs to be seen a lot more often. This guy was in control of the fight and made it clear with his point deduction to Berto for holding that he meant business. This guy Hughes needs to be hired out for every big fight that has accused holders like Hatton. Loved His work. I am already contacting the IBF to make sure this guy Hughes gets the Bute/Andrade rematch…..I’m dead serious!!

On a lighter note, the weekend kicked off with ESPN 2′s Friday night fights and that’s when we saw James McGirt lose to some guy named Angel Hernandez. Can somebody explain to me why when Mcgirt loses (that’s’ right, this isn’t the first time) that headlines read MCGIRT STUNNED! or MCGIRT UPSET!

Here’s a Newsflash for you Apeman…Mcgirt is not good. You shouldn’t be stunned and/or upset. Unless of
course you don’t know what the heck you are talking about !  Ahem….

On a similar note Camacho Jr. fought this weekend and is now calling out Chavez Jr. claiming it’s a fight everyone wants to see.

No they don’t Macho Boy.

Tell you what, how about  Macho Man Jr., Chavez Jr., Mcgirt Jr., Aaron Pryor Jr. all fight in one ring at the same time?  Heck, throw in Robert Downey Jr. and a pack of Junior Mints while you are at it.

Someone might wanna see that.

Stop Dreaming!

Wladimir Klitschko and Chris Arreola is an exciting proposition but it may never see the light of day, or at least it won’t see the light in Los Angeles, not this spring…”There are no available dates!” said a source very close to the situation. The Nokia Theatre has also been mentioned again but Pound4Pound was told by Execs from AEG that no fights will ever take place in that venue. One has to wonder if Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario Calif. has been considered, it’s a great place to watch fights.

Stop Screaming!

Okay, I have heard enough complaints about Dawson vs. Tarver 2. Look…the fight had a rematch clause, what did you expect to happen? But there is some good news for you crybaby’s, I have been told that there may be a reason to stop your whining now because a very high profile fight may be added to the card. I am not at liberty to reveal the details yet but suffice to say the bout could be a punishing affair (wink wink).

Start Beaming!

Telefutura has barley packed the last cable from the canceled Solo Boxeo show and already, for whatever it’s worth I have been told that HBO may be planning a February resurrection of HBO Latino aka Boxeo De Horo, which as I recall is another in the long line of Golden Boy ventures. Not sure if this rumor has legs to stand on but I think I can hear already hear…. ”Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight’s boxing is brought to you by Tecate and Cazadores….Quien es mas macho? etc etc”