Billy’s Boxing Blog

By William Trillo
Photo-Chop: Bret “The Threat”

“Cooking The Books”, As Defined by Investopedia:
…Typically, cooking the books involves augmenting financial data to yield previously non-existent earnings.

At the end of last week a press release was sent out with a pretty astonishing claim. The first paragraph of the release said, With early pay-per-view numbers counted and confirmed, the pugilist’s (Mayweather Jr.) recent STARPOWER fight against Victor Ortiz generated buys from 1.25 million homes with a value of $78,440,000 dollars in pay-per-view revenue. These numbers make the event the second highest grossing non-heavyweight pay-per-view event of all time.

Early PPV numbers?

By my calculations these so called “early” numbers were released some 6 weeks after the fight took place.

Hardly early.

In an article posted October 21st , ( a full week before the numbers were finally released), in The Grand Rapid Press, David Mayo wrote:

Typically, within a week of a pay-per-view fight that does boastful numbers, HBO and the promoter simultaneously release the estimated domestic sales and gross revenues. Saturday will mark five weeks since the Sept. 17 fight, and nary a peep from anyone.

Mayo makes a couple of very strong points here.

1. Typically, within a week of a pay-per-view fight that does boastful numbers the estimated numbers are released.

A check with multiple highly placed industry sources confirmed that promoters will have a very good idea on the numbers within 5-7 days. That’s a far cry from the 6 weeks it took to reveal the Starpower numbers.

2. HBO and the promoter simultaneously release the estimated domestic sales and gross revenues.

If you can find that press release somewhere on the internet, (because we didn’t post it here), you will see comments from Golden Boy’s Richard Schaefer, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his chief flunky Leonard Ellerbe. Nowhere on the release will you see a statement from anyone at HBO and in the contact information supplied to the media you won’t find any phone numbers or emails from anyone at the network.

You can do with that information as you will.

While it’s true that some recipes call for a fine stew to be cooked over a low flame and simmered for an extended period of time it is also true that the same recipe warns that overcooking the stew will have an end result of some pretty foul tasting mush.

How did last weeks press release taste to you?

Not to be outdone was our obese buddy over at ESPN who was busy praising himself for predicting the over one million PPV buys before “Starpower” took place while ripping those who speculated the show did barely 850,000 buys.

He told his Tweeples that it was less then professional for anyone to run with those numbers without having confirmed facts, yet he sings his own praises without having anyone from HBO confirm the bloated numbers.

I am sure if he could pat himself on the back he would, but…

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

By William Trillo

Bantamweight title holder Nonito Donaire successfully defended his belt on in a ho-hum 12 round unanimous decision performance over Omar Narvaez on Saturday night. Of course the question on everyone’s mind now is who is next. Would Nonito step and and finally face some of the champions in the higher weight divisions? Names like Abner Mares and Yuriokis Gamboa have been mentioned as future foes but so far nothing has transpired there. Top Rank’s Bob Arum has gone on record saying WBC Super Bantamweight champ Toshiaki Nishioka will get a big offer to face Nonito early next year.

All that sounds well and good but if history tells us anything it’s that Nonito’s opponents keep getting older and shorter. The facts speak for themselves. In 2006 he was taking on the 5ft.4in. 29 year old Raul Martinez. In 2010 it was a 5ft.4in. 35 year old Voldymyr Sydorenko. Throw in another fighter, Hernan Marquez who was listed at 5ft.2in. and you see I am speaking the truth. On Saturday night he faced a 36 year old Argentinean that measured all of 5ft. 3in. The writing here is clearly on the wall.

Taking all that information into consideration it’s difficult to see Donaire taking a step up anytime soon. In fact after feeding all this information into the Pound4Pound computer you will see that coming up with Donaire’s next opponent is easy…All you have to do is follow The Yellow Brick Road.

Enter The Lollipop Guild!

You remember these little guys…right? Dorothy and Toto ran into the Munchkin’s on their quest to meet The Wizard of Oz. If my calculations are correct these guys just might be old enough and short enough by now to be on Donaire’s shortlist for future opponents.

You laugh, but we just had a sham of a promotion named after a carnivals barkers museum of freaks, why not one filled with flying green monkeys?

On Saturday night the fans at MSG deserved a lot better than what they got, their boo’s and cries of “this is Bull Sh_” were not out of order. If they could have heard Donaire complain that he was bored and he was cramping in between rounds they may have set the place on fire.

You are bored? You are cramping up?

Want to cure the boredom?

Maybe Donaire could have taken the Tin Man’s advice. With a little more heart maybe he would have stepped up the pace and whacked out this diminutive foe. What on earth was he waiting for?

Cramps?

Stop cutting weight so you can face the little guys. A little chat with the Cowardly Lion might come in to play here. Donaire was visibly famished at the weigh-in and that speaks directly to the fact that he may not have the courage to step up and fight the bigger guys. Again, the record speaks for itself.

Along the way Donaire has hooked up with The Wizard, convicted PED peddler Victor Conte. I am still of the belief that like in the movie, once the curtain is pulled on this “Wizard” everyone will see that he is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. If this stuff he was feeding his latest pupil was so great why in the name of The Wicked Witch was he cramping up all night?

All kidding aside, I believe I speak for a good portion of the boxing community when I say we are tired of HBO and everyone else telling us Donaire is one of the top pound for pound fighters in boxing. Beating the Omar Narvaez’s and the Voldymyr Sydorenko’s of the world are not convincing us. And taking on the 35 year old Toshiaki Nisioka will do little to help his cause. Until he steps up and beats fighters like Gamboa and Mares, and he just may be able to do that, it’s hard to swallow he is one of the best fighters in any division.

And before you think you are smart and play The Scarecrow card on me…yeah yeah…If I only had a brain!

One thing I can tell you for sure, if I did have a brain I certainly would not have wasted 48 minutes of my Saturday night watching that garbage.

Guilty as charged!

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

By William Trillo

Promoter Gary Shaw is out of the country but when the WBC made their ruling in regard to the Dawson vs. Hopkins debacle we felt it was important to get his immediate thouhts so we gave Mr. Shaw a call and he was quick to oblige our request.

When asked about the ruling that the fight would be declared a Technical Draw and Hopkins would keep his WBC Belt Shaw said, “Obviously this is their (the WBC’s) ruling and I honestly can’t do anything about it, I personally don’t think the board did right. The whole controversy is that Hopkins fouled first, he was all over Chad’s back and neck and if Chad’s neck got hurt he would have been told to continue. So the question is, did Hopkins foul Chad first? In my estimation he did!”

Questioning the validity of the Hopkins injury Shaw stated, “No one has seen the MRI or an X-Ray to prove there is a real injury there. Hopkins pulled this against Antwon Echols in Las Vegas. Dr. Goodman told him if he did not continue it would be a TKO and he (Hopkins) fought the rest of the fight. I believe he tried to get out of that fight just as he did try to get out of the fight with Chad”, said Shaw.

After the fight when Chad thought he was the rightful winner all talk switched to a rematch with Jean Pascal but Shaw wouldn’t confirm if those plans will stay in effect, “In regard to a fight with Pascal we are now just going to have to see what happens.”

In closing Shaw gave his thoughts on the officiating this past Saturday night in Los Angeles by remarking, “I also want to say that I thought Pat Russell did a great job. If the California Commission overrules their own referee, they will lose the confidence of all their officials. Pat Russell did a fine job, and the Commission needs to stand behind Pat, as Nevada has shown the confidence of their officials.”

For the time being it is clear the lu$tre of a Dawson vs. Pascal rematch is greatly diminished and depending the California Commission’s decision due in December, the fight could conceivably fall apart.

It is also clear that whether it’s instant replay or simply adhering to the referees ruling, boxing as a whole has to come up has to come up with some firm answers so this kind of dilemma won’t rear it’s ugly head over and over again.

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

By William Trillo

As defined by Wiktinary:
no matter how thin you slice it, it’s still baloney
Regardless of how many clever points or fine distinctions one makes, what one is saying is still nonsense.

After Saturday nights fight (or lack thereof) between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson plenty has been said. In fact so much has been said that it would be monotonous to repeat the entire scenario, so I will just get to the point and bring it down to the various conclusions.

1. You can say that this was an unfortunate circumstance and that when Bernard went down in round two it was an accident and when he was deemed unable to continue the fight should have been declared a No Contest.

2. You can say that Dawson was deliberate with the take down of Hopkins and therefore should have been DQ’d and Bernard should have retained his titles.

3. You can conclude, as the referee did, that there was no wrongdoing of any-kind and Hopkins was hurt in the action, and because he was not able to continue Dawson should be awarded the victory via second round TKO.

I am sure there are other suggestions at how this should have been handled, but at the end of the night the fact remains that for the paying customers in the house and for those who bought the PPV broadcast this was another case of the fans getting ripped off…again.

Yes, there were some other decent fights on the card but the “Believe It Or Not” title was all about seeing if a 46 year old champion still had what it took to beat one of the hottest talents in the division. The fans were treated to less than two rounds of that fight and when Hopkins could no longer continue it added to the list of why boxing fans have soured on the sweet science.

Question

What would you say if you heard a promoter tell a ref after a fight was stopped and his fighter was on the short end, “You will never work one of our fights again”?

Well, according to those within earshot that’s what one disgruntled promoter shouted to the ref at the conclusion of the fight.

Does that make you wonder as to what exactly his intentions are…or have been in the past?

I know I wonder.

I wonder if that means the only judges that are “hired” to work the promoters fights are one that see things his way.

I hope when the commission reviews the tapes this week, and we know they will because protests are imminent, that while they are looking at the tape they also review what the promoter actually said to the ref and get to the bottom of what he meant by that threat.

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

By William Trillo
Photo-Chops: Bret “The Threat”

From fighters to network executives to trainers, there was enough movement in boxing on Thursday to make even the casual boxing fan stand up and take note. From England to the USA to Canada, trash-talkers were quitting, guys in suits were changing their jacket lapel pins and heads were rolling. Here is a quick rundown of the midweek boxing festivities:

I Quit!
(Or as we say in America…GOOD RIDDANCE!)

David Haye officially announced his retirement on Wednesday and it’s with a huge sigh of relief that I along with the majority of the boxing world breathe a huge sigh of relief. It’s not because we feared Haye would soon be pulverizing our favorite Champions, it’s that we have had it with his big mouth and his lack of being able to back it up.

How long did we have to put up with his Klitschko charade?

2 years? It seemed like an eternity.

The only thing that seemed longer was the 12 brutal rounds we had to watch when he gingerly stepped in the ring on a hobbled foot, (or bad toe), and then slammed the gears in reverse and ran away from Wladimir for the entire 36 minutes.

After taking a good hard look at the prospect of fighting Wladimir’s big brother and how Vitali was going to crush his bones to make his bread, “The Hayemaker” did what he does best….run away.

In a written statement Haye said:

“Today’s date is Thursday, October 13, 2011 and I’ve just turned 31 years of age. As the clock struck twelve last night, my professional boxing career came to an end,” Haye wrote in the London Telegraph.

Either that or the carraige turned into a pumpkin and the horse became the mouse we all knew he was.

Haye listed three objectives he wanted to accomplish in boxing:

1. Win as many genuine titles as possible.
Let the record reflect that Haye barely beat a stumbling giant (and some say he didn’t) to win the WBA version of the heavyweight title and his only defense was against an aged and broken down light hitting pug. Hardly impressive. So if his goal was to attain only one genuine title in his “stellar” career…job well done…I guess….?

2. Generate as much money as possible and financially secure my future.
Nothing like lying through your teeth to generate that income and nothing like ripping of the masses for a few quid David!

3. Get out of boxing in my prime, aged 30 and in perfect physical and mental health.
Haye was in his prime when he beat Mormeck. He hung around about 4 years past it. He does look in decent shape, but mental health? Only David knows the answer to
that, we can only go by what we see.

Cheerio Mate!

I Resign!

Maybe the most stunning news of the day was the shocking announcement that Showtime’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sports & Event Programming Ken Hershman has left the network. Even more shocking was the fact that Hershman not only left but he jumped ship over to the enemy, HBO Boxing, where he will soon be filling the shoes of recently departed Ross Greenburg.

On one hand I can honestly say I never saw this coming and on the other hand, in hindsight it’s really not a bad move for either HBO or Hershman. As for Showtime…well only time will tell.

Over the past few years Showtime has put on some very good, competitive fights with a much smaller budget than HBO. The guy put on very good fight cards with very little money. A few years back I got myself in some hot water with Hershman for writing some very true facts about Showtime’s piss poor PR department, and I stand by that story today. Under the HBO sports department of Public Relations, the exact opposite is true and it may be just the platform Hershman has always silently been hoping for.

At Showtime, Hershman was also responsible for making Mixed Martial Arts a significant part of the network’s sports menu beginning in 2007. Insiders have said Greenburg was strongly opposed to MMA at HBO. Look for possible inroads to be made for HBO & MMA.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that Hershman is also coincidentally leaving Showtime before the Super Six Tournament comes to its ultimate fruition. In fact the Showtime Bantamweight Tournament still hasn’t come to a final outcome. The tournament(s) at the outset drew industry wide praise among boxing writers, except for me, and that was good for Showtime, But in the long run, the tourney proved an embarrassment for Showtime, no matter what anyone is telling you.

Also, Hershman has little or no experience in PPV. It’s hard to say what he may bring to the table there. Maybe he is better off relying on HBO’s existing structure.

Here are the big questions.

What can Hershman bring to 24/7, based on his previous Pacquiao Pre-Fight promotion? Will he rely on the producers and editors that made it an award winner?

Also, others have credited Hershman with luring the Pacquiao fight away from HBO, but I am told it was Bob Arum who couldn’t control Ross and had a love/hate relationship with HBO. Speculation is Bob was doing it, using Showtime as a money ploy for future fights, and Arum’s move paid off as HBO corporate is throwing its weight (TBS/CNN) behind Pacquiao’s fight with Marquez. Arum should get all the credit there, not Hershman.

Lastly, it was easy for Hershman to get second tier promoters to put on completive fights. The question now is how will he do with a bigger budget and promoters used to being coddled and fed with the proverbial “Golden” Spoon by HBO?

You’re Fired!

And last but not least we heard from our good friend Daniel Cloutier in Montreal. He tells us that Russ Anber, who was David Lemieux’s trainer, has been fired by David early Wednesday morning.

David thinks his loss against Marco Antonio Rubio in the middleweight WBC elimination bout April 8th in Montréal was caused by a bad preparation and Abner was responsible for that.

As you may recall David did great in the first five rounds that night, but was exhausted in the 6th round and Rubio stopped him in the 7th round.

David is supposed to make a comeback in December in Montréal. GYM group is trying to persuade Joachim Alcine to fight David. That would be a big fight in Quebec.

GYM’s Yvon Michel said that Marc Ramsay will probably become the new Lemieux trainer and the Cuban Pedro Diaz will be the physical education supervisor. Marc is training also Jean Pascal, Antonin Décarie and Didier Bence (a heavyweight rookie who was ranked seven in the world in the amateurs last year).

Lemiuex may be well advised to do some soul searching as he prepares for his return. The hype he was receiving in Montreal may have went to his head. It’s time for David to look in the mirror and take responsibility for his showing against Rubio and stop laying blame on his staff.

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

By William Trillo

As defined by FreeDictionary
Bottom of the barrel:
the location of persons or things of the very lowest quality; someone or something of the lowest quality. (The fruit at the bottom of a barrel of apples is likely to be bruised from the weight of the other apples.)

2011 is three quarters of the way over and as I look over the home stretch I have to admit that I am just slightly less than impressed with a few of the fights left on the schedule. It’s not that we don’t have a number of promising Champions and contenders mind you, the problem is these “Champions” and/or their promoters have dug down deep to the bottom of the barrel to come up with some of the most bruised up, aged and undeserving challenges possible.

To be fair most of the hand picked challengers were good if not great in their springtime prime, but as the above definition clearly states, due to the weight of their peers they have become battered and bruised men who bare no resemblance to top grade produce.

Can anyone really say they are looking forward to the recently announced Timothy Bradley vs. Joel Casamayor fight that will be on the undercard of Pacquiao vs. Marquez? Joel was one of my favorite fighters and I will always hold him in high regard. But Casmayor is now over 40 years old and his best years are clearly behind him. This is hardly the kind of opponent you would expect for guy who has whined, (take term literally), that he is the most deserving man for a shot at Pacquiao.

Another fight that is on my “Are You Kiddin’ Me?” list is the fight that pits WBA Lightweight Champion Brandon Rios taking on John Murray.

No offense to Mr. Murray…but “who”?

Rios is another fighter who has Pacquaio firmly planted in and on his mind. After his destruction of Urbano Antillon Top Rank’s Bob Arum told Rios that he might face Manny in the very distant future. Let’s hope that Arum doesn’t put Rios on ice by fighting a string of no names until then. Although his act outside the ring is a little tough for many to swallow, and that includes this writer, no one can deny that inside the ring Rios may be the top 135 pounder on the planet. It’s just a shame he is making this defense against a fighter whom no one in the arena will have ever heard of (before, during or after).

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Jean Marc Mormeck?

Really?

Mormeck’s best days were around the year 2005 and back then he was a legitimate Cruiserweight. These days Jean Marc is a 39 year old over the hill heavyweight who struggled to get by Timur (not the good one) Ibragimov.

I am admittedly a Klitschko honk but I can not and will not sign off on this one.

I guess I could throw in the Cris Arreola vs. Alonzo Butler heavyweight fight as another hellacious mismatch but since his loss to Adamek “The Nightmare” has buried more stiffs than Forest Lawn and I am not even sure if he can be classified as a legitimate contender anymore.

Now, before you think it’s all doom and gloom, all is not lost as Pacquiao vs. Marquez, Bute vs. Johnson and Ward vs. Froch can and should be very exciting battles. The Cotto vs. Margarito affair also has a bit of promise but both of these apples have more than their fair share of bruises and the loser will most likely settle to the bottom and may have to be scraped up if expected to perform again.

It’s time to rally the boxing troops. Hopefully there will be enough sleepers left in 2011, (Alvarez vs. Cintron & Angulo vs. Kirkland for instance), to keep the “boxing is dead” kooks at bay.

P.S. Kendall Holt vs. Danny Garcia has thrilling barnburner written all over it!

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

By William Trillo

Did you happen to notice the job referee Steve Smoger did this weekend during the Andy Lee vs. Bryan Vera fight? Of course you didn’t! As always Smoger did a fine job by staying out of the way and letting the fighters fight. This was a first class job as 3rd man in the ring by Smoger, more ref’s, especially the ones in Sin City should take note.

Did you happen to notice the sportsmanship between the fighters in the Sergio Martinez vs. Darrin Barker fight? After an errant headbutt and a break in the action the two fighters touched gloves (multiple times mind you), and then stepped back and got back to work. No cheap shots or sucker punches…what a novel concept!

Did you happen to notice that after getting a pep talk from Andre Ward the Oakland Raiders promptly went out and got destroyed by the New England Patriots? It should come as no surprise that the Raiders added considerably to their league leading penalties after the pep talk from a guy who is known for head butts and holding.

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