Billy’s Boxing Blog

Well as has become a customary ritual, I have to eat a little crow and admit I was wrong…again. Dang it!

In my Blog yesterday I pontificated that The WBC in all their infinite wisdom should let someone earn the Interim WBC Middleweight Belt while Champion Kelly Pavliks rehabilitates, (not to be confused with any other form of rehab), his staph infected hand.

Well hush my mouth!

In a letter I received from the WBC’s Mauricio Sulaiman I have been made aware the WBC already has an Interim Champ. The letter reads:

DEAR FRIENDTHE WBC DOES HAVE SEBASTIAN ZSBIK FROM GERMANY AS INTERIM CHAMPION !……THE WBC AUTHORISED SUCH INTERIM TITLE FIGHT WHEN PAVLIK ANNOUNCED THE POSTPONEMET OF HIS SEPTEMBER FIGHT , NOW HE HAS POSTPONED AGAIN , SO THE INTERIM CHAMPIONSHIP IS MORE THAN JUSTIFIED……..ZBIK WON THE INTERIM TITLE IN JULY……

Sebastian Zbik………?

Silly me.

I have heard of Sebastian Demers, Sebastian Sylvester, Sebastian The Lobster, Sebastian Coe, Sebastian Bach, Sebastian Cabot, John Sebastian and San Sebastian, but up until today the name Sebastian Zbik was somehow overlooked on my list of famous Sebastian’s.

A little research,(which is better late than never I guess), tells me Zbik defeated Dominico Spada in July to capture the interim belt and he is slated to defend the belt in December 19th against the ever popular Emanuele Della Rosa.

If it’s any consolation at least I was somehow in tune with my friends The Sulaiman’s and realized there is a huge void that is getting bigger with each and every passing day at 160 pounds and something is in dire need of being done. As it turns out it was done some 90 days ago.

Eee Gads!

With his devastating KO performance over fellow Pol Andrew Golota, Tomasz Adamek has jumped to the very front of my list of Heavyweight contenders. The knockdowns that came by way of solid right hands on the 256 pound Golota were enough to show me he can mix up with the big boys and not only hold his own but may very well be the much needed spark the heavies need when it comes to viable contenders.

With the continuing woes of WBC Middleweight Champ Kelly Pavlik I think it’s time to allow someone to earn an interim title in that sanctioning body’s race. I firmly believe that someone the likes of Paul Williams should not be held back from acquiring that coveted Green Belt while Pavlik finds a way to cure what ails him.

And last but not least…Am I the only one troubled by the name of athletics coach Trevor Graham being mentioned as part on Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning team? I mean he was banned indefinitely by The I.O.C.C for his involvement with Olympic athletes like Marion Jones for testing positive for drug abuse while under his tutelage…right? Just punch in his name in Wikipedia, it’s less than impressive.
Here…let me do it for you, Trevor Graham – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  

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Photo By Tom Casino

I know I am not the only one who saw some warning signs in this Super Six Tourney but I might me the first to say “I told you so.”

In July in a blog I titled “Just Thinking Out Loud” I remarked:

If Jermain Taylor, who has lost 3 of his last 4 fights should happen to get destroyed by Arthur Abraham and decides to retire what will happen to this Round Robin seeding?

For that matter, why is a guy who lost 3 of his last 4 fights in a tournament that is supposed to prove who is the best of the best at 168?

After Saturday night’s destruction of Jermain Taylor at the hands of Arthur Abraham those questions have to be ringing like a clanging brass bell in the ears of  everyone from The Showtime suits all the way down to Taylor’s management team.

Let’s face it, Jermain’s inclusion in the tournament had nothing to do with what he had done lately and more to do with things he accomplished a long time ago, relatively speaking. Considering he had lost 3 of his last 4 fights and was beaten in like fashion by Carl Froch,(more on him later), in his last fight, it’s safe to assume Jermain may have been somewhat haphazardly accepted as one of the Super Six fighters.

Since his back to back defeats of Bernard Hopkins, Taylor has struggled with 2 Jr. Middle’s he should have KO’d, drew with Winky Wright, was dismantled by Kelly Pavlik twice, beat a shell of his former self Jeff Lacy followed by the afore mentioned Froch fight. Quite frankly that’s not very impressive at all.

On a side note, how dumb must Sergio Mora feel right now for ducking..err…refusing to take that offered fight with Taylor back in 2007. As they say in the South of France…”It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!”

But seriously, as far as Jermain goes, it’s not only time to bow out of the Super Six tourney but all the warning signs are in place for him to hang up his gloves El Permenete. The suffered concussion on Saturday night spells that out very clearly.

Jermain is a helluva a great guy and has always been polite and accommodating to everyone in the media including yours truly. He had a great career and his victories over Bernard are the highlight, no one can ever take that away from him. Likewise his management team of Al Haymon and his promoter Lou DiBella are straight up good guys and I believe they want the best for Jermain and his family.

In my opinion the best for Jermain is to walk away from the sport healthy, I hope those closest to him feel the same and advise him accordingly.

Not to be lost in the Taylor vs. Abraham fight is the fact that Arthur Abraham is a very bad dude and could very easily run away with this tournament.

So if someone takes my advice and Taylor is gone what is the Super Six Tourney to do?

I am already hearing that Allan Green and Edison Miranda are waiting in the wings but in my opinion neither guy deserves a spot.

Green has not proved he is ready to step up to the plate and his so-so performance against Tarvis (or was it Travis) Simms in his last fight did little to help his cause. Miranda has moved to Southern California and we have found out he is a pretty decent guy outside the ring but that does little to erase the fact he has already lost three times to current Super Six contestants, Ward once and Abraham twice. We wish him well but he doesn’t deserve to be in.

Personally I think this is a no brainer.

You go with the winner of the Bute vs. Andrade IBF title fight or if you don’t want to wait for that fight then you add the other 168 pound Champ,WBO version, Robert Steiglitz into the mix. I know a lot of you never heard of him but whoever fills in for Taylor would be slated to fight Andre Ward in Round 2 of the Tourney. I am here to tell you all 3 of those guys most likely defeat Ward.

Froch vs. Dirrell

I think the main topic of conversation coming out of the Froch vs. Dirrell title fight was whether of not a robbery was committed when Froch was awarded the victory and retained his WBC version of the 168 pound leather.

In all honesty I had Dirrell narrowly ahead.

Personally I am fine with those calling it a robbery but I would have to say that Dirrell was an active accomplice to the crime and he has no one but himself to blame for being burglarized in Britain.

Going into the Champions country you have to convincingly beat the Champ and by running, holding crying and complaining you are convincing no one. It didn’t help that you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar, so to speak, and were deducted a point for a low blow. You should have kept your hands out of Carl’s cookies!

On the flip side Froch was dreadful. He was clumsy to a fault and his repeated blows to the back of Dirrell’s dome were ridiculous and how he didn’t get a point of his deducted is beyond me. Oh, wait a minute, he was fighting in his own back yard…literally. Something Dirrell failed to recognize and it cost him the win.

Next up for Dirrell is one Arthur Abraham.

If Andre thinks that running and holding crapola is going to play against Abe he has got another thing coming. Personally I give Dirrell no chance against Arthur and I don’t give him much more of a chance to end that fight on his feet.

Arthur Abraham is a bad man and if you don’t want to take my word for it rewind your TIVO to Mikkel Kessler’s expression after that fight in Germany. I don’t know if he was impressed or scared.

I think it was a little bit of both…and rightly so.

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Photo-Chop: Bret “The Threat” Newton

While IBF # 1 Super Middle Challenger Librado Andrade left his Montreal training camp to go be with his brother Enrique Ornelas who was announcing his match with Bernard Hopkins in Philadelphia I thought it would be a good time to call trainer Howard Grant who now will not only be training Andrade for his November 28th rematch with Champion Lucian Bute but now will be guiding Ornelas who will be taking on Hopkins 4 days later in Philly. I couldn’t wait to hear what Grant had to say.

“I’m telling you Bill,” said a jubilant Grant,”this is like I hit the lottery with this opportunity. This will be one hell of a week and I fully expect that both my guys will win. First off you got Librado who is going to be taking on Bute and there is no way Librado will lose that fight, and then you have his brother Enrique who nobody gives any chance. I am telling you Hopkins can be beat and we are going to shock the World that night.”

It’s been quite sometime since the brothers shared the same training camp but Grant is ready for the double fisted duty. “I had Enrique up here for a while before and I have seen how he handles himself in the ring. If he puts everything together he has what it takes to beat Hopkins, no question about that,” said Grant.

As to Librado and Bute the confident trainer had plenty to say.

“Bute is damaged goods,” Grant stated. “It wasn’t my guy who was down and out in the last round! It wasn’t my guy that the referee had to walk back to his corner at the end of the fight! That was Bute, and he knows the truth about the outcome that night.”

I suggested to Grant that many think the physical damage done to Bute that night is secondary to the mental damage he suffered at the hands of Librado, to which Grant said, “This guy Bute is like a Mercedes Benz that got in a huge wreck and then was repaired. That car will roll but it will never be the same, and that’s how it is with Bute, he will never be the same. I hear he is in the gym with Glen Johnson right now but it doesn’t matter who this guy spars with. He can spar with Antonio Tarver or Marvin Hagler, it doesn’t matter, this guy is not ready to take 24 rounds of Librado.”

From November 28th in Quebec City, Canada and the IBF Super Middleweight title to December 2nd in Philadelphia and Bernard Hopkins, Howard Grant will be smack dab in the middle of what might turn out to be 2 very captivating fights.

If Grant has his way the fights will not only captivate but will shock the boxing world as well.  

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When Oscar De La Hoya announced his latest promotional score with the signing of Super Featherweight Champ Jorge Linares and then told us that Linares is known as “El Nino De Oro” which translates to “The Golden Boy”, I couldn’t help but groan, or chuckle…maybe I did both.

It was only a month or so early that the latest “Next” Golden Boy, Victor Ortiz, was unceremoniously defeated when it appeared he was on his way to immediate stardom.

Likewise, less than a month after Oscar imported Linares from Japan to America just to show off his latest prize, the same thing happened in rapid fashion as Linares was dethroned back in Japan in a stunning first round KO by someone simply named Juan Carlos Delgado, no nickname required.

The price of Gold is currently going through the roof but the price of being called “The Next Golden Boy” is making fighters stock crash in rapid fashion.

So stop doing it!

First there was the flamboyant Art Aragon, an East L.A. fighter in the 50′s who was a contender at the Lightweight and Welterweight divisions but got his well deserved nickname because of his over the top ring persona and his rumored affairs with starlets like Marilyn Monroe & Jayne Mansfield. That’s what I call Golden and few could argue.

Then of course there was Oscar De La Hoya who earned his nickname by bringing home the Gold Medal from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and kept it with an outstanding professional career. Again, Oscar earned the nickname and no one can ever say he did not deserve it.

Every other so called new “Golden Boy’s” have paled in comparison.  

It’s time to stop trying to dub any fighter the next “Golden Boy” and unless there is reason to do so that trend must stop here for the sake of the poor fighters who are getting stuck with the names career.

If Danny Jacobs is still calling himself “The Golden Child” he needs to drop the name effective immediately.

“The Golden Boy” is a great boxing nickname and should be reserved for only those special fighters who earn and deserve it. We don’t need to label every fighter the next one, it’s not fair to the fighters and as we can see it’s not doing their careers any good either.  

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

Just like my favorite detective Maxwell Smart would say when he misfired or was “just a little bit off” in his aim, all I am left to say about my 350,000-500,000 PPV buy prediction for Floyd vs. Marquez is, “Missed it by that much!”

As reported on Newsday.com The Mayweather vs. Marquez bout generated one million buys. As for the breakdown, 525,000 buyers were cable subscribers, while the remaining 475,000 bought the fight on the dish.

Really I was feeling pretty confident about my prediction as the days to the fight got closer and tickets to the live show were more than abundant. Everyone knows that live ticket sales are indicative of PPV sales…right?

Adding to my confidence during the night of the fight was when a party of 4 sat down ringside while giving each other high fives and hooting and hollering like kids on Christmas morning. As I ease dropped into their conversation I clearly heard one of them say, “Can you believe the casino just gave us these seats?” With that I figured that this fight was the box office goat I claimed it was.

Much to my astonishment rumors circulated very early the following week about that magical One Million PPV buy number and they were confirmed by HBO days later.

From the moment I heard that number I felt something was more than a tad askew but checks with top Industry sources gave me no reason to believe there was anything to get the Stink-O-Meter to register.

One highly placed source told me on Sunday, ”I was skeptical about the Mayweather-Marquez PPV numbers. But I haven’t heard any hard evidence that contradicts them, so I’ll take HBO at its word.”

What that tells me is that like myself, there are others wondering about the much ballyhooed PPV number and maybe are busy doing some research of their own.

Whether the numbers are true or it’s “the old cable company cooking the books to make things look better and fool the boxing public trick”, the desired cause and effect took place and that is that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been awarded a reason to try and outbid whoever he chooses to fight in 2010.

The numbers are what they are now and there seems nothing I or anyone else can do about it .

As to my way off prediction all I can say is:

“Sorry about that Chief!”

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

Photo-Chop: Bret “The Threat” Newton

Okay, calm down boys. I know Catfight is usually a term used for an altercation between two women, typically involving scratching, slapping, hair-pulling, and shirt-shredding as opposed to punching or wrestling. However, the term is not exclusively used to indicate a fight between women, and many formal definitions do not invoke gender. Instead, it refers to any “vociferous fight.”

Which leads me to my blog.

Goossen Tutor Promotions and Team Robert Guerrero are blasting shots off the starboard bow for the second day running. The main plot of the press releases is who exactly is in promotional control of Guerrero’s career.

Is it Goossen Tutor or is it Golden Boy?

Goossen is busy trying to blast holes in “The Ghost’s” portside with quotes like, “Golden Boy and Guerrero are ignoring the Court’s Decision overturning CSAC’s Arbitration award, having decided on their own that Goossen Tutor’s contract with Guerrero has expired,” and “Goossen Tutor will take all appropriate steps to make sure ALL parties comply with the Court’s Decision.” 

Hours later Team Guerrero fired back with some salvos of their own including these two closing points, “Goossen Tutor’s press release fails to inform the reader that there is no court decision or binding arbitration award that has ever recognized that Guerrero is still bound to a contract with GTP.  In fact, the GTP Agreement expired by its own terms in May 2008.” That statement was followed with, “Guerrero is prepared to take all legal action necessary to prevent GTP  or any other person from interfering with his Commission-approved promotional agreement with Golden Boy.”

Boys, Boys, Boys. Can’t we all just get along? I’m sure we all can come to an amiable agreement?

One question though, for the second day in a row the one party that has remained conspicuosly silent in the matter is one Golden Boy Promotions.

Forgive me for thinking out loud but it’s almost as if they are not too concerned about the matter at all.

ALMOST! ?

Keep coming back to www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing news.

Photo-Chop: Bret “The Threat” Newton
 

All was going swimmingly today when I got the press release from Dan Goossen saying they won the rights in court to get Robert “The Ghost Guerrero” back with his promotional company from Golden Boy Promotions.
 
The press release stated that, In a ruling yesterday that sent a strong message to the California State Athletic Commission (“CSAC”), Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien, on behalf of Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis vacated an arbitration decision by a CSAC arbitrator that voided boxer Robert Guerrero’s promotional agreement with Goossen Tutor Promotions blah blah blah add infinitum. The award was procured by corruption, fraud or other undue means As a result, Goossen Tutor Promotions remains the promoter of Guerrero pursuant to its Promotional Agreement.
 
Not too long thereafter I got a press release titled “Promotional Rights To Robert Guerrero remain With Golden Boy Promotions”. After a lot of legal mumbo jumbo the releases main point was, the 5 year promotional agreement between Guerrero and GTP has expired by its own terms.
 
I tried to clear things up with Golden Boy but they were busy attending to other business and merely stated that they had just heard the news, but ruling can’t be right.
 
One has to wonder why they were not privy to the court proceeding.
 
Throw in the fact that apparently Dan Goossen was fuming last Thursday as Golden Boy book ended his Heavyweight weigh-in with an early press conference and then a late afternoon fight and it’s safe to assume things are not all Hunky Dory between the 2 Southern California based promoters.
 
All this came on the heels of Juan Diaz backing out of an agreed rematch with Paulie Mallignaggi. According to reports Diaz wanted more money and wanted the fight to be at a catch weight of 138.5 pounds. Paulie who wanted a fair shake after the Texas fiasco was livid when he learned Team Diaz had turned the fight down.
 
The promoters squared off on this one as well.
 
From the DiBella side we got a press release sticking up for Paulie saying among other things, “If Juan is a real fighter, he will pull up his skirt and tell Willie Savannah he wants the rematch,” said Malignaggi. “Willie doesn’t want to do a rematch because they can’t screw me the second time around. In the spirit of competition, Juan should want a rematch and this rematch should happen.”
 
“The problem with marketplace decisions are that they give the beneficiaries the idea that they have marketplace leverage, even when they don’t,” added DiBella, who has another theory why Team Diaz has chosen to stay away from Paulie Malignaggi this time around: “I guess Juan Diaz doesn’t want to see his mother crying with her head buried in her hands again.”
 
Coming to Juan’s aid Golden Boy sent out a press release saying, “Let the facts be facts.  Juan Diaz won the first fight.  The only controversy was the wide margin on one of the judges score cards, so there is no reason for Juan Diaz to take short money to fight Paulie Malignaggi again.  If Paulie wants to take short money and make it worth Juan’s while to come to New York and beat him again, then let us know and we are ready.”
 
“Juan is one of the most exciting fighters in the world and has a very loyal fan base in Texas which turns out in big numbers to see him fight.  If Paulie does not generate the same amount of money at the gate, then why should Juan be punished for that?”
 
All that jousting and no fight to speak of, that really blows.
 
Personally I think Paulie deserves a rematch with Diaz.
 
And I am still scratching my head trying to figure out why Golden Boy Brass wasn’t totally aware of the Guerrero ruling.
 
If anyone has a reasonable answer to that please fill me in.