Billy’s Boxing Blog

By William Trillo

The rumors of former Middleweight Champ Kelly Pavlik having a problem with alcohol have been running their course for quite some time now, at least a couple of years. But with every injury delay or complete pull-out of fights, Pavlik’s team was quick to dismiss any suggestion of alcohol dependency.

On November 4^th of this year Pavlik admitted himself into The Betty Ford Clinic and the hope is he will recover from this debilitating disease of alcoholism. Any thoughts of Pavlik as a fighter must be put on a shelf until Kelly is comfortable and stable with his sobriety, and not a moment sooner.

As I read through the press releases and articles posted this week I was stunned to find out that Pavlik had once before checked himself into rehab and stayed for a mere 2 weeks. 10 days later Pavlik was standing across the ring from Sergio Martinez with his middleweight title on the line!

10 days later!

How anyone close to him allowed him to get in the ring that night may seem inconceivable, but a good part of the denial in an alcoholics life comes from those closest to him, they are more commonly known as enablers. Instead of seeing their loved one with a problem, and someone in need of help, they turn a blind eye to the situation and hope it will correct itself on its own. Meanwhile the alcoholic is allowed to stumble along his way.

Quotes from Pavlik’s Father are sincere and show a pattern that is similar in these situations. “You always assume it’s just going to go away,” he said. “You think it’s just a temporary thing and that it’s going to pass. I was making excuses to cover the problem. I realize that. I’m a parent and I love my son and like any parent, I was trying to be protective.”

Pavlik’s Father acted the same way any parent would; no one can blame him for that. But when things got very bad he did the right thing and sat down with his son. Pavlik shared, “We had that long conversation [earlier this month] and after about eight hours, he decided he needed to do this.”

There is no doubt that this is exactly where Kelly needs to be right now and hopefully he will chose to stay much longer than the 2 week he did the last time.

Kelly’s manager Cameron Dunkin said that Pavlik wasn’t determined to be chemically dependent upon alcohol in the spring, but he has been declared dependent during this stint. Dunkin said Pavlik plans to remain in treatment for as long as necessary in order to permanently resolve his problem. “Three months, six months, whatever it takes, he’s going to do it,” Dunkin said.

I am sure Dunkin has Kelly’s best interest in mind but really, Three months? Six months?

Recovery is a life long process. If you are expecting Pavlik to come out and be “cured” you are doing yourself and more importantly you are doing Kelly a huge disservice. And whoever determined Pavlik wasn’t chemically dependant on alcohol in the spring but now has declared him to be dependent….I’d like to have a long talk with that person. His life was out of control and spiraling for 3 years…ipso facto…he has a huge problem with booze….chemically dependent ???? You are kidding me, right?

In the past after I wrote an article about one of Dunkin’s fighters he was quick to call to tell me I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about! I am sure that’s a thought shared by many of my readers through the years, but on this one I assure you…I know exactly what I am talking about!

I’ll spare you the details but 23 years ago I was drowning in a sea of alcohol. I lost my wife, daughter, house and job because I made booze the most important thing in my life. After 2 stints in rehab and countless support groups I finally found my way. I found my higher power in Jesus Christ and I am proud to say I am coming up on 21 years of sobriety. It wasn’t easy at first but the rewards have been plentiful. There is no reason why Kelly or anyone can not become sober; it’s just a matter of how bad you want it.

I hope and pray that Kelly will find his way and can become a positive contributor to society, whether or not he ever returns to the ring again.

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

By William Trillo

This weekend saw the return of Showtime’s Super Six Tournament and for their second Super Six broadcast in a row, Showtime put on a pretty decent show. With the Semi-final round just around the corner, (finally), there seems to be a bit of light at the end of this seemingly endless tunnel.

Starting the show from Finland boxing fans were awaiting the anticipated grudge battle between Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham. With the vacant WBC 168 pound belt up for grabs it was expected the two fighters would give a great show, maybe the best yet in the Super Six Tournament.

As it turned out Froch held up his end of the bargain with a virtuoso performance from bell to bell. Abraham laid an egg; it’s a simple as that. For the second fight in a row, King Arthur, who started out this tournament by sending Jermain Taylor into retirement, basically stood there and took a beating without throwing much at all. The high guard, elbows at his side and plodding forward that has become a staple for Abe was easy pickens’ for Froch, who like a Cobra, struck with a ferocity that left Abraham with no answer at all. Scores of 120-108 were dead on and the 119-109 score was merciful at best.

With the win Froch regains his WBC title and now has a tall order against late surprise Super Six entry, Glen Johnson. This should turn out to be a very good battle, Froch looks to be in his peak and Glen is…well Glen is Glen, he is going to come and give it everything he has and no one should count him out. Johnson’s promoter Lou DiBella says Johnson will make the final round and I have no reason to doubt him on that prediction.

The winner of this fight will go on to meet the winner of the Andre Ward vs. Arthur Abraham battle.

What?

Ward vs. Abraham?

That’s right boxing fans. Although many thought the seedings put Johnson in the last slot, thus making him Ward’s next foe, Showtime pulled another one out of their hind end and somehow a rule in fine print has put a guy who only fought once in the tournament, ahead of one of the original contestants. Please don’t try to make sense of that. I think it’s called the, “Let’s do everything to make sure Andre Ward wins”, rule.

Speaking of Ward, unlike those dead on 120-108 score in the Froch vs. Abraham fight, the lopsided scores in Oakland were written with a lot of hometown grease. The fact is Sakio Bika made Ward work for his money and his WBA belt and it was a lot closer than the scores indicated.

120-108?

Are you telling me Bika didn’t win one round?

You let Ward fight at home in 4 of his last 5 fights and the only time he didn’t fight in Oakland he took a 45 minute plane ride south to face the irrepressible Shelby Pudwill.

It’s time to stop coddling this guy and make him fight out of his comfort zone, Amazingly enough, according to Dan Goossen, Ward’s Promoter/baby sitter, his next fight will not be in Oakland.

I will believe that when I see it.

Which leads be to my next question….When will I see it?

Ward says he is hurt and needs to repair a damaged left knuckle, an injury he says he got 2 weeks before the Bika fight. I have no reason not believe he is injured although I saw no visible sign of the busted up left index finger on Saturday night…did you?

Don’t get me wrong, I think Ward has skills and can hold his own with any 168 pounder. But if he is going to continue to lead with his head, hold when the going gets tough and fight every fight in his own back yard, then I am going to continue to call him out.

There should be no cause for concern about the outcome with his next fight though. If Abraham shows up like he did for his last 2 fights, and there is no reason to think he won’t, Ward has the blueprint and the skill to beat King Arthur easily.

Not sure if Arthur or his team has a Plan B, but if they do…

NOW WOULD BE A DARN GOOD TIME TO EMPLOY IT!!

Light Switch Journalism!
The 800 Pound Gorilla Is At It Again!
It’s Off! It’s On!

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

By William Trillo

In a year that may go down as one of the worst in boxing no fight was a bigger dud than the September 18^th Mexican Independence Day Battle in Los Angeles. Tabbed “Celebrate & Dominate” by its promoter Golden Boy the main event would have been better titled “Infuriate & Regurgitate.” From the pre-fight hype where Mora paid homage to himself, (really he did), to a fight that saw an aging fighter get older right before our eyes, who was fighting a guy who spent more time feinting than he did punching, to a kiss your sister Draw, all the way to Mora trying to tell us he won this fight, this was a battle and promotion that lived down to everyone’s expectations…and worse.

Congratulations to Mora who becomes the first 2 time recipient of this award. You can pick up your award in the frozen food aisle at any Food-4-Less grocery store in the greater East Los Angeles area.

The First Too Much Stuffin’ Honor

Our first Stuffin’ honor goes to none other than ESPN’s Dan Rafael. Now before you start saying that is in poor taste I assure you the Stuffin’ Honor has nothing to do with the obvious…really it doesn’t. If that were the case this would have been a lifetime achievement award, we assure you this will be a yearly honor.

The simple reason Rafael gets this honor is because this man, who calls himself a professional journalist, has the audacity to post his Twitter account on the ESPN boxing page and with every update there is a picture of Rafael’s chubby grill.

Back when I started writing I was fortunate enough to pick up a mentor who to this day has helped me with my work. This mentor is a seasoned sports journalist who spent years as a beat writer for Pro teams here in the USA and his knowledge and experience is without question. He is very hard on me at times but it is all because he truly is looking out for my best interest. One of the first things my mentor told me was, “The fans want to read about the event and the athletes. They do not care about you and they do not want to know about you!” Now I know many journalists do not adhere to those rules these days but Rafael has taken it to an entirely new level.

Dan, no one wants to see your pie hole plastered 17 times all over the ESPN boxing page.

Dan, no one wants to know what you ate for lunch and no one cares that you spend an inordinate amount of time on your couch (although no one is too surprised).

Twitter accounts are fine I guess, and if you want your freaks to go there put a link at the end of your stories, but leave it at that.

Now if you will excuse me I have to go swallow a 12 inch Cheese Steak while I sit my fat ass on the couch and watch David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy…isn’t Beck wonderful? In the meantime I am expecting Bob Arum, Richard Schaefer, Chuck E. Cheese and Ronald McDonald to call me and tell me all kinds of stuff. Then I can tell my fans and show them I am really cool and not just some insecure attention starved schlep.

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

By William Trillo

One of my favorite trainers in the game of boxing is Paul Williams long time trainer George Peterson. Since the day I met this gentleman he as always treated me with respect and dignity, something that is not always easy to come by in this sport.

For that reason it wasn’t easy to call Peterson this past Monday, the man was not even 48 hours away from seeing the fighter he has all but raised brutally KO’d on Saturday night by Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez. But I was getting some rumblings that Paul may have gone into the fight dinged up and I wanted to get to the bottom of the rumors.

Peterson took the call immediately and when I asked if Paul went into this fight with a busted wing he quickly answered, “Absolutely not! We have no excuses, Paul was KO’d on Saturday night, and it’s as simple as that!”

I had no reason to doubt what Peterson told me. It was Pound4Pound whom Peterson told after the Margarito fight that Williams went into this fight with a busted up wrist and rib and the fight was almost scrapped. As we know Williams went on to defeat Margarito.

Getting that aside I asked George how Paul’s mental state was after this KO. “After Paul’s first amateur fight, which he won,” Peterson reminisced, “I pulled Paul aside and told him, ‘we always have to laugh and rejoice, because this win could have been on the flip side, we could have lost, but even in that case I want you to laugh and rejoice in that situation too. So if you can accept winning, which you just did, I also want you to be able to accept losing!’ So that has always been the case from that time on, whenever he steps into that ring he doesn’t have to win, he could also lose. So with that frame of mind we have no trouble when there is a loss.”

I jumped to the present and asked George about the way Paul lost on Saturday night and he made things clear, “This is a once in a lifetime punch, Sergio may never hit a guy like this again. He fought Paul in December and hit him with a lot of shots and that never happened! It was a shot, like a Hail Mary pass in football, you just throw it up in the air and hope for the best, 99 times out of 100 it never happens, but there is always that one percent, and that is what happened on Saturday night.”

“You have to realize this can happen, it probably will never happen again,” explained Peterson, “but it can happen to any and every body that enters that ring. And let’s make this clear, it was not a mistake that Paul made here, he got caught.”

After a fight like that the immediate reaction is how long will it be before this guy is ready to get back in the ring? According to George, “Paul was ready to get back into the ring 10 minutes after the fight was over. Paul said this guy can suit up right now and we can finish this off right now. Paul was not hurt at all.”

Lastly I wanted to ask Mr. Peterson the question that has to be asked, What next? With a fighter like Paul who fights from a middleweight all the way down to welterweight there are more than a few options. Peterson caught me off guard when he answered, “Paul is definitely not a Middleweight first of all! He is not a Middleweight, but he can beat up on some middleweights! Anytime a man can fight at 147 and then 154 you get to the point were the guy is then fighting at middleweight (160). How many guys do you know that can fight at middleweight and then come down and fight Jr. Middles and Welterweights?  Paul can do it but what it tells you is there is a medium ground, if you can step back and forth there is that medium ground. Do you follow what I am saying when I say medium ground?”

I closed the conversation by answering Georges question by saying; “we will look forward to Paul coming back at in a welter or super welterweight fight when his 60 day suspension was over.”

Peterson said, “You heard me well William, and trust me…we will be back!”

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

By William Trillo
Photo: Naoki Fukada

I am not sure what fight HBO’s Emanuel Steward was watching on Saturday night but it certainly wasn’t the same fight I was watching on the HBO Boxing telecast. While Steward was busy singing the praises of Paul Williams’s aggressive first round start, Middleweight Champ Sergio Martinez was busy landing overhand lefts at an impressive clip and although most were just barely missing the mark, some of those left hand bombs were landing squarely on the chin of Tall Paul. At the end of the first round Steward gave the first 3 minutes to Williams. I on the other hand liked what Martinez was doing and saw it in the champs favor.

The second round started much the same, Williams was employing a haphazard aggressiveness while Martinez was busy picking his shots and landing. Steward was still a glow over Williams punch output when the end came suddenly. Williams began to throw a left hand but Martinez beat him to the punch with a lefthand of his own. It was a left hand that Paul never saw coming and it sent Paul down. Stretched out on the canvas, Williams’s night was over. On the other side of the ring a jubilant Martinez celebrated as his night and career truly began.

After fighting in years of obscurity in Spain before he began gaining notoriety, Martinez had his shining moment, and it looks like the moment will shine even brighter in the coming year.

The question now is, who will he fight? The obvious choices are Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather, that is what many would like to believe. To me the only choice is another Middleweight champ who had a one punch KO earlier this year, Dmitri Pirog. Oh sure, HBO quickly tried to sweep that KO under the rug and didn’t have the decency to interview Pirog after his astonishing KO over his victim. In fact they went so far as to quickly interview the fallen Danny Jacobs in an ill fated attempt to start rehabilitating their hand-picked star. Those in the know saw right through that charade and questioned HBO’s intentions.

It is very clear to me as well as others I spoke to on Sunday that a Martinez vs. Pirog title unifier is just what the Doctor ordered. Coming off their one punch KO’s in 2010, a battle between these two men would be a sure fire entertaining bout. Some will argue that Pirog is not a household name here in the States but that is no fault of his own. He beat a fighter who was being tabbed as the next 160 Super Star on a night that HBO obviously set up to pave his road with Gold. Martinez meanwhile has paved his own road and he did it the old fashioned way, he earned it.

Let’s hope HBO is willing to give these Champions and boxing fans the night they deserve.

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

By William Trillo
Photos By Naoki Fukada

For everyone who wanted to see Antonio Margarito (38-7, 27 KO’s) get what they felt he had coming to him, and there were many, Saturday night should have made them happy. Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KO’s) overcame a huge difference in size and crushed the brave Mexican Warriors face, literally. Not only did Tony suffer a crushed orbital bone in his cheek but it seems he had his nose fractured as well. Sergio Diaz, Tony’s co-manager, said Sunday that an eye muscle is lodged in that fracture and needs to be surgically repaired. Manny’s dominance over the bigger foe was more than stunning, not that most didn’t expect him to win, but the beating he put on Margarito was off the charts.

Eye muscle lodged in the fracture?? Yow!!

For those who wanted to see the return of their hero Margarito, and again there were many, they can say that their brave warrior gave Pacquiao “the hardest fight in his boxing career”, and that when faced with an insurmountable task, he never quit. It’s a moral victory at best for legion of “Tornado” fans. After the fight Margarito said when asked if he thought about quitting, “No, I am a Mexican who fights to the end.”

Yes, Margarito fought to the end and although that will gain the admiration of some, it will also garner a huge amount of second guessing, mostly of his corner that maybe should have stepped in and stopped this fight long before the final bell rang. When asked about this after the fight Maragarito’s trainer Robert Garcia insisted he never considered stopping the carnage although he clearly warned Margarito he was getting ready to end it.

As I watched the fight from the comfort of my PPV seat at home I was not shocked when the fighter’s weights were announced. It was clear Tony’s plan was to come in the bigger man and at 165 pounds on fight day he had accomplished that task. With Manny weighing a mere 148 pounds he was giving away 17 pounds.

Now factor in the fact that the fighters had agreed to wear 8 ounce Reyes gloves!

8 ounce gloves?

Commissions in most states only allow 8 ounce gloves for fighters up to 147 pounds. For safety reasons fights sanctioned over 147 use 10 ounce gloves by rule. Basically Manny would be fighting a Super Middleweight wearing 8 ounce gloves. On paper that combination seemed heavily stacked in Margarito’s favor. In hindsight I am guessing Margarito wished he went with the 10 ouncers and I have a feeling we will never see him compete in 8 ounce gloves again.

The pre-fight drama in both lockers rooms was to be expected. How is Manny wrapping his hands? What is dark liquid that Margarito is drinking and what was that substance they poured in his drink? It was all a lot of posturing to me and it was taking away from a very good fight that was going on in the meantime, (Jones vs. Soto-Karass).

As to the fight itself, the scorecards only tell part of the story. At 120-108, 118-110, 119-109, Pacquiao clearly won darn near every round and no one including yours truly is denying that, my scorecard matched the judge who had it 119-109. But as Pacquiao said after the fight, “Margarito is really tough and strong and I felt it, he’s big, bigger than me.” The lumps on Manny’s face confirmed that, he was in a real fight against a big and strong fighter, make no mistake about that. Pacquiao was hurt and he said so himself, “I never expected him to be as strong as he was but the truth is he is really strong and I got hurt. He hurt me in the body when I was on the ropes and with uppercuts to the face. I am so lucky tonight!”

Truth be told, luck had nothing to do with it.

As Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said, “Manny Pacquiao is the greatest fighter I’ve ever seen.” That’s pretty high praise from a guy who started promoting fights after watching a guy named Cassius Clay perform.  After witnessing what Pacquiao did to Margarito Saturday night I would say he is worthy of that praise….maybe more.

From the beginning Pacquiao was in control and was dictating the fight but Margarito was in the mix. The reason for that was although Pac’s punches were landing hard they did not do the kind of damage that would put Margarito down. Instead the damage was cumulative, those little 8 ounce gloves where dropping small well placed deposits on Maragito’s grill, 401 deposits to be exact, that would pay huge dividends by the 10^th round (The afore mentioned eye muscle lodged into the fracture comes to mind here).

Before the payoff, in round 6 Pacquiao found himself in a very precarious position, Margarito was landing and a body blow nearly turned the fight, “He got me with a good body shot”, Pacquiao remarked, “it was really painful and I’m lucky to survive that round.”

Again, luck had nothing to do with it, and if anyone was lucky to survive it was Margarito.

“In the ninth and tenth round, I looked at Margarito’s eye and I felt pity for him because his eye was getting closed,” Manny said, “He had a really bad cut on the right eye.”

Chances are Pacquiao could have finished off Margarito in the final rounds but it was more than obvious he was taking it easy on Tony. Trainer Freddie Roach said Manny carried Margaritio in the final 2 rounds and anyone who saw the fight would be hard pressed to argue with that statement.

Through it all, and in the hardest fight of his life, Pacquiao not only prevailed but he put himself on a plateau that will be hard for anyone to match for a very long time….if ever.

When asked about what he will do next, and more to the point, what about Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny said, “I don’t want to talk about Floyd Mayweather!”

Manny has put himself in a position where he doesn’t have to talk about Floyd, but on the flip side, I would love to hear what Floyd has to say about Manny now!

What’s Next?

The obvious question is what is next for both fighters? Will Manny continue to go up in weight and keep fighting bigger guys? Will Margarito ever be the same and will he fight again? The answer to these questions is anyone’s guess.

Here’s my two cents if you care.

Manny Pacquiao can do pretty much whatever the heck he wants. Of course there are those who would love to see him fight the winner of Paul Williams vs. Sergio Martinez to capture a 9^th title. Others from South of The Border still insist that Juan Manuel Marquez beat Manny in both their previous fights, (although the record clearly shows otherwise), and if Marquez gets by Katsidis this month you can expect a groundswell of support for a Pacquiao vs. Marquez rematch. There are a plethora of 140 pound fighters who would make for a decent fight, but seriously I don’t see any of these guys beating Manny. And then of course there is Floyd Mayweather Jr.  Considering everything we have seen from “The Pretty Boy” in the past few months and after Saturday nights overwhelming beat down, I am very sure Mayweather wants no part of that and we will NEVER see this much ballyhooed Super Fight get made.

Antonio Margarito obviously needs a long break but it appears his next fight could very well be for another 154 pound title. That’s right Margarito haters, Bob Arum was telling people in the post fight press room in Dallas that a rematch with WBA Jr. Middle Camp Miguel Cotto is very likely. Now, I know you Tony bashers won’t like this idea at first. Like Jim Lampley, most of you think Margarito fought Cotto with loaded gloves. But think about it… Why wouldn’t you want Cotto to seek vengeance on a level playing field, if in fact your theory is true? Personally I think this could be a very evenly matched and competitive fight. Both fighters are coming off serious beatings and may have lost a step or two (maybe three), but sometimes the best fights are waged when two warriors just a bit past their prime step into the ring. They have just enough skill to perform on the big stage, lost enough skill to take punches they normally would not and just enough heart to fight to the end. If Cotto and Margarito have shown us anything it’s that they are willing to fight to the bloody finish. I, for one, hope this fight happens.

The Undercard
Photos By Chris Farina Top-Rank

Welterweight Mike Jones (23-0, 18 KO’s) learned a huge lesson on Saturday night and he is lucky to get out with a split decision victory over the hard nosed and iron jawed Jesus Soto-Karass (24-5-3,16 KO’s). Apparently no one in Philly did their homework on the West Coast Mexican Karass. After stunning Karass in round 2, Jones jumped on his foe and threw everything at him until he ran out of gas…every drop. Jones had nothing left and this is exactly where Karass wanted him.

The next 12 rounds were nip and tuck, bloody and pretty darn exciting. It’s really too bad HBO decided to jack around with the locker room shenanigans of Roach and Garcia because they were broadcasting a very good fight. Jones ended up taking a split decision,  94-94, 95-94, 97-93.

Someone needs to tell Guillermo Rigondeaux (7-0, 5 KO’s) that this isn’t Cuba and he is no longer boxing with Olympic style rules. After going down in round 4, Ricardo Cordoba (37-3-2, 23KO’s) tagged and dropped Rigondaux in the 6th. From that point on Guillermo did his best “De La Hoya fighting Trinidad” impersonation and it almost cost him the fight and it certainly cost him some fans. Scores read 114-112 for Cordoba and 117-109 and 114-112 for Rigondeaux.

Brandon Rios (26-0-1, 18 KO’s) didn’t make weight nor did he make himself any friends or fans earlier in the week when a vulgar video of him hit the internet and he most likely didn’t impress anyone with his fifth round victory over Omri Lowther (14-3,10 KO’s).  I really don’t have too much more to say on this one, Rios irratates me. I hear if Humberto Soto wins next month they are set to fight each other next year. I hope Soto caves Rios head in.

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

First off, I have soured a bit due to the disgusting video this week….Camp Margarito came off looking very ignorant….AT BEST!

That being said…..Tony’s hand speed is not as bad as has been portrayed, it’s just the way he has put his punches together.  I don’t know if any of you saw my open workout video but his punching combos on the mitts were a lot sharper. YouTube – Manny Pacquiao & Antonio Margarito SPECIAL Open Workout Video

To me, Margarito has always been a one HUGE punch guy, if he can land 2-3-4 punches at a time it may be more than Manny can handle and I think that is the key. If he can only land one punch at a time he is in trouble.

 Manny has to get in and out, DO DAMAGE, and stay away from harm. Doing that against Oscar was easy because De La Hoya was totally shot. Tony is a lot of things but he is not a shot fighter as far as I can tell. If Manny can’t land significant blows he could be in for a long night because of the size difference.

I know I have said I would never bet against Manny again but I am leaning heavily to one side due to some strong Tornado-like winds blowing in from the south.

Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for up to the minute Pacquiao vs. Margarito reports.

By William Trillo

Over the last 12 hours I have quite frankly been speechless after viewing the video posted on AOL’s Fanhouse. Without question it is the most ill advised piece of work I have seen go up in a long time. Prior to this video, the reporter Elie Seckbach was recently banned from Freddie Roaches Wildcard Boxing Club for his continued over the top support of Antonio Margarito. At the time I thought the ban was a bit harsh but after seeing this video, Freddie did the right thing and I can’t imagine Seckback will be allowed in Garcia’s gym either, in fact a complete ban is not out of the question.

With that said there is no excuse for the actions of all three men on this video. I received this Email this morning and I am sure it speaks for a majority of boxing fans around the globe:

Subject: Margarito…THIS was a huge mistake..Robert Garcia are you REALLY this ignorant?

AMAZING that Margarito would make fun of Freddy in this fashion…AMAZING that Robert Garcia would do this…amazing that Brandon Rios would make his first foray into the public consciousness via 24/7 in a way that would make most fans HOPE FOR HIM TO GET BRUTALLY KO’d should he ever make it anywhere in this game…someone should have stepped in and destroyed this taped evidence before it made it on to world wide TV…

“Iceman” John Scully  www.icemanjohnscully.com

In fairness to both camps I felt I should post a link to this article that was posted on Boxingscene today as well:

Brandon Rios: I Take Full Responsibility For My Actions
http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=32737