Billy’s Boxing Blog

By William Trillo

It’s being flying under the radar for the first 5 months of 2011 but finally Showtime’s Super Six Tournament will enter into the semi-final round when Super Middleweight Champ Andre Ward takes on Arthur Abraham tonight in Carson California.

All was quiet on the Super Six front until this week when the respective teams met for the final time in Burbank. The verbal barbs were flying back and forth and Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter went on record with some very candid and quite frankly misguided statements. Yes, during his tirade Hunter pointed at Abraham and stated, “…Your promoters have lost confidence in you. It’s as simple as that.” But that paled in comparison to the statement Hunter made when he first took the microphone. Said Hunter, “Arthur Abraham and Mikkell Kessler were put in this tournament to be made stars in America! Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell were there to be sacrificial lambs…”

Excuse me…..what?

As I see things this tournament has been set up to give both the Andre’s every advantage possible and now that Dirrell Quit,(with a capitol Q), this tournament has clearly favored Ward and is set up to give him every advantage to win.

How?

Do you really have to ask?

Name me one other fighter in the tournament who has got to fight every round in not only his home country but his own home state every single time. And 2 of those fights were in his home city. If that isn’t greasing the Ward wheel’s I don’t know what is. I guess if he beats Arthur tonight you could have the finals in Andre’s backyard, which would seem to follow the pattern of blatant favoritism real well.

Meanwhile Arthur Abraham flew to the States to train to fight Andre Dirrell only to find out Andre suddenly came up with a back injury and Abraham was told to fly back home to Germany. In one of the quickest back injury healings on record, Dirrell mysteriously was made well and in just weeks Abraham was forced to fly back to the states to fight Dirrell. If that wasn’t slippery enough the fight venue had changed and now instead of fighting in Palm Springs California as planned the fight would now take place in Dirrell’s Michigan home. That in and of itself was at best an underhanded maneuver.

So for one fight Abraham had to make 2 intercontinental round trip flights and has logged over 40,000 miles to compete in this tournament. If anyone is being put up for sacrifice it clearly is Abraham, there can be no argument about this. If by some chance you don’t see the wheels spinning here…well then you are just being less than honest, it’s as simple as that.

Abraham’s promoter Wilfred Sauerland noted at the press conference this week that Dan Goossen complained that Andre had to travel 500 miles for this fight. Please tell me Goossen said that with a tone of his usual sarcasm.

If Carl Froch’s prediction comes true and Abraham catches Ward and gets a KO win tonight, that 500 mile drive back to Oakland will seem like those 40,000 miles put in by King Arthur.

Speaking Of Froch

Last Saturday in Las Vegas before the Pacquiao vs. Mosley debacle Showtime held a luncheon and all 4 Super Six finalists were in attendance. Carl Froch stole the show with his comments about Lucian Bute and if Froch ends up winning this tornament it appears he has no fear of taking on the fighter who is waiting in the wings, the IBF Champ Bute.

Check out what Froch told our friend and Montreal boxing writer Daniel Cloutier, Carl Froch said, “Bute is overestimated. Except for Librado Andrade, he never fought anybody deserving to be in the Top 10 in the world. It is a real joke that Fightnews is ranking him best supper middleweight in the world. I will win the Super Six this year, and if it is true that Showtime wants to put Bute against the Super Six champion it will be my pleasure to fight Bute. I will kick his ass. I will knock him out for sure. He will be unable to hurt me, and I will hurt him. I am a stronger puncher than him, and I can shoot 70, 80, 90 and 100 punches per round during 12 rounds in a row. Bute will unable to stand this kind of pressure.”

Cloutier told Froch that Mikkel Kessler will fight Bute next fall in Montréal or Copenhagen.
“I heard that rumor,” said Froch. “If it happens, Bute will lose his IBF title. I still believe that I won against Kessler last March, but Mikkel is a real warrior that nobody can hurt, and he is very strong physically. Bute has no chance against him.”

It’s taken a while for this Super Six deal to come around but with statements like that it looks like ShowTime’s plan to bring interest to the 168 pound division may finally catch on.

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

By William Trillo

Last Friday night I was shooting ringside photos at the “Solo Boxeo” card that featured Aaron Pryor Jr. vs. Librado Andrade in the main event. The battle was hard fought, not exactly pretty because the styles were awkward in tandem, but both men gave it their best. Yet when the scorecards were read in favor of Pryor Jr. the house erupted in vehement boos and it was obvious the fans in attendance thought it was Andrade who should have walked away with the victory. Disappointed but not discouraged Andrade did not complain and there were no “sour grapes” coming from anyone in the camp. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Andrade, he has always been a class act and has remained humble even in the face of adverse conditions.

As the weekend went on and the new week began I got calls from friends who said Andrade clearly won the fight and was robbed. I poked around on the internet a bit and likewise many writers had the same view. The running and holding that Pryor did turned off a lot of boxing experts and fans. One fan in particular, by the name of Dale, wrote the following letter and wanted to know what I thought:

….When Enrique’s fight was over, I wouldn’t have been surprised at a split decision. I thought Enrique had won, 95-94. I think all 3 judges gave him all  but knock-down round, and scored it 98-91. I was happy for Enrique, but honestly a bit surprised at the scoring. Then came the ugly fight… the one that makes me wonder “am I crazy? Do I know nothing about boxing?”

I really would like your honest opinion of the decision, and if you can get your hands on a video of the fight, I’d love to see it.  I couldn’t find Telefutura listings on our TV service, but my son tells me we have it, and they showed it at 11:00 p.m. here. If I had found it, I would have DVR’ed it, and probably would have watched it several times. I have to say, I thought Pryor made it a very ugly fight, and felt Librado was doing all he could to make it any kind of fight at all. Lucky for Pryor that Librado’s a class act. A dirty fighter could easily have ruined his evening. I remember a few times when Pryor was doing his inside pushing, shoving, and holding on for dear life, that Librado spun him around, raised his right hand, and could have landed a perfect blow to the base of the skull. I thought Pryor looked a bit frightened throughout the fight, and seemed to fight like he just wanted it to be over with. When Librado threw him to the canvas (I think it was in round 6) I told my friend, “Hey, if you wanna wrestle, you gotta expect to get taken down now and then.” When the mess was over, I truly thought Pryor had won a single round, the eighth. I expected to hear scores like 99-91, or 98-92. When the first judges score was announced, 95-95, I got this kinda queasy feeling like I was about to hear a very sad story. So tell me, am I crazy? Do I know nothing about boxing?

I certainly hope Librado doesn’t feel like he lost.

Dale, please rest assured Librado does not feel like he lost the fight but understands the judges decision is what it is and he is fully prepared to move on and he has instructed his management and promoter to secure him a fight as soon as possible, hopefully sometime in the summer.

You are not alone in your opinion Dale, but the decision is rendered and we all should follow Andrade’s lead and pick up the pieces, learn from the experience and move on.

In regard to the replay of the fight you can find it on Youtube in various places. Here is one link for you to follow. Click Here

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

By William Trillo

In the weeks leading up to the fight with Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley made it perfectly clear that the fact that he was considered a huge sports gambling underdog was disrespectful and he was personally insulted. Coming off a subpar performance that saw Mosley crawl into a shell after a two fisted knockdown by Manny in round three boxing fans in attendance and around the world viewing on PPV should feel disrespected and insulted as well. After tasting Manny’s serving of leather Mosley went into survival mode and did not engage for the remainder of the fight. Mosley’s explanation was, “ It wasn’t the speed, it was his power, he hurt me with both hands. There were shots I saw but they could’ve been traps.”

That explanation fell on deaf ears and although he was pressed many times about his lack of throwing punches, Shane would not say he was afraid to get hit like that again, but anyone who can read between the lines knows exactly what Mosley was saying.

Manny got Shanes attention in a way no other fighter ever has and it forced the once great champion and surefire Hall of Famer to put on a pathetic performance that had the 16,000 in attendance booing loudly for the rest of the fight.

Shane claimed he didn’t hear the boos but Pacquiao heard them loud and clear and he knew why.  “I am upset, of course,” said Pacquiao. “I’m happy because I won the fight, but my first concern was to make the fans happy. I don’t care if I get hurt, as long as I give a good fight. But he felt my power – what can I do if my opponent doesn’t want to fight me? The people know that I’m trying to do my best.”

Paqcuiao admitted it was not one of his best nights but was quick to point to leg issues that slowed him down and he promised he would work with his team to never let that happen again. Leg issues or not Pacquiao did everything he could to be the first fighter to KO Mosley but with Shane in full retreat for the nine final rounds Pacquiao was not able to accomplish that task.

It’s a shame that a fight that was hyped like no other turned out to be a dismal affair, but what did we all really expect? Mosley had been on a rapid downward spiral since his fight with Ricardo Mayorga that although he won by KO he was pressed hard and only slightly ahead on the scorecards when the cigarette smoking Nicaraguan gassed out and dropped late in that fight. The Margarito fight was stunning, but I have always been of the belief that once Tony was busted with loaded hand wraps Margarito was mentally gone and would have lost to just about any fighter because of the weight of the impending legal doom sitting heavy on his shoulders. The draw with Mora was seriously and embarrassedly unimpressive and then Shane was schooled by Floyd Jr.

Why on Earth any of us bought into the hype is beyond me, but buy into it we did, both figuratively and literally, the full house in Las Vegas and impending huge PPV buys will be testament to that.

Shane gave no indication that his days in the ring are over and if we are forced to buy into his antics again…well…
Fool me once, Shame on You, Fool me twice, Shame on me.

Bob Arum Post Fight Quotes

Without question Top Rank Chief Bob Arum was the hands down winner for quotes after the fight. What he said needs no commentary; these quotes speak volumes for themselves:

“Manny would beat the crap out of Mayweather and the guy who knows that best is the student of the game Floyd Mayweather Jr. himself.”

“If  Floyd has any desire to fight Manny he will call me or Todd himself!”

On fighting Juan Manuel Marquez Arum said, “This is not a Golden Boy vs. Top rank issue. Golden Boy defamed Manny and they need to apologize to him. If he were to accept the apology I am sure business could be done with them.”

Arum also stated they are offering a revamped contract to Marquez on Monday but Golden Boy has a contract that would allow them to match the offer and put the kaybash on the Pacquiao vs Marquez rematch fight. If they do Arum has a date secured for Manny in November and plans A & B are Timothy Bradley or Zab Judah, in that order.

Speaking Of Safety First

How is it that fighters like Adrian Broner and Aaron Pryor Jr. are being awarded decision victories in bouts they fight in retreat looking only to pot shot and then run away from or tie up their opponents? Fighters like Daniel De Leon and Librado Andrade were obviously the aggressors in their respective fights with these guys but came up on the short end of poor decisions. Since when does the guy who is making the fight and landing the harder punches lose to guys who are in retreat and holding all night? It’s a sad state of affairs when these poor decisions are handed down and the disgruntled fans can only boo the lousy decisions as they watch their heroes leave the ring on the short end of some very horrific judging. I know it’s not the judge’s job to make everyone happy, but geez, do they really need to go so far out of their way to make that disdain happen?

“Pretty Boys” Leftovers?

The last thing I want to hear from Floyd Mayweather Jr. this week is that Manny Pacquiao is feeding off of his leftovers. The last I checked Manny has not been accused of poking any security guards in the face nor has he been charged with smacking around anyones baby mama.

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