Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Timothy Bradley, Thurman/Collazo, & Best American Fight Trainers in the Game!

06/30/201506/29/2015 Vivek Wallace

Preston B. (San Francisco, CA): Timothy Bradley has proven time and time again that he’s the best welterweight in the world. I don’t think he gets the respect he deserves and I never understood that. He knows how to win. How did you rate his performance and his talent in general?

Vivek W. (ESB): Timothy Bradley is tough topic to tackle for me at times. I often think back to his fight across the pond against Junior Witter. I had seen him before and studied a few notes on him, but after that performance I became a very big fan. The heart he displayed that night in an effort thousands of miles away in another man’s land was as good as it gets. Where my personal trouble comes with Bradley is his inability to be consistent with those type of performances. We saw him look great against arguably the best Mexican warrior and future Hall of Famer of this era (Marquez); we’ve seen him look awful against the likes of Provodnikov.

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Broner/Porter, Malignaggi/Garcia, & Andre Ward!

06/25/201506/25/2015 Vivek Wallace

Kevin H. (Atlanta, GA): As an Adrien Broner fan, I think his loss to Porter was more of what he didn’t do than what Porter did. How did you rate his performance and where do you think he goes next?

Vivek W. (ESB): I would have to totally disagree. To the contrary, I think what we witnessed last Saturday night had everything to do with what Porter did, more so than what Broner “didn’t do”. Going into the fight, Porter had the entire deck of cards stacked against him. Everything from the catchweight clause, to the pulse of the promotion itself. It just seemed that all elements involved tilted towards Broner. Few places in life breed absolute truth like a boxing ring. In dialog, any man can speak big and paint a scripted picture. But in the ring, there’s no way to avoid the evolution of reality.

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Mayweather v Pacquiao: Keys to Victory, Four to Explore, Official Prediction!

07/28/202005/02/2015 Vivek Wallace

Today’s the day! Greater than 5 years in the making, hundreds of thousands of articles dedicated to this one topic during the length of that time, and millions of social media comments posted to critique each one of them. At long last, the day of reckoning is finally upon us! With only a few hours before the bell sounds, we take a look at keys to victory, a few critical elements which will inevitably tilt the scales one way or the other, and an official prediction:

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Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao: Scoping the Narratives

04/30/201504/30/2015 Vivek Wallace

(In this piece, East Side Boxing/Boxing247’s resident scribe, Vivek “Vito” Wallace takes a glimpse at the media coverage of this historical bout, and why it could do without the very noticeable biases. Tomorrow, fans will get a glimpse of the legacies built by these two great warriors, and on Saturday, we take a look at “Keys to Victory”, “Four to Explore”, and a “Final Prediction”).

The world of Boxing has long been viewed as a sport on life support. Tyson, Holyfield, Oscar, and a few others maintained a status most thought would last forever. One by one those shining stars faded into the night, shifting the focus of most casual fans to the the NFL, NBA, and even MMA.

In a great parallel to life itself, any time a sun sets, another rising ‘son’ will soon follow. This particular era would produce two. One in America, and one in the poverty stricken streets of the Philippines.

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Garcia/Peterson, Quillin/Lee/GGG, & Gary Russell Jr!

04/13/201504/13/2015 Vivek Wallace

Markus H. (Orlando, FL): You were pretty down on Gary Russell Jr. in the past. I wanted to know what were your thoughts about his recent performance and what do you see next for him?

Vivek W. (ESB): There was a point in which I just felt that Russell simply wasn’t showing any evolution. We knew he possessed great speed and a certain level of skill, but we never really saw it translate against the level of opposition good enough to bring all of it out. After seeing him coast to easy victories over guys who had no business in the ring with him, it simply got old. All that being said, just as he once warranted criticism, I think at this stage he clearly deserves praise! And a lot of it!

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“Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag”: Would GGG Face Kovalev?, Mayweather Crossing Lines?, Rigondeaux in Pacquiao Camp?

03/16/201503/16/2015 Vivek Wallace

Ensei L. (Ontario, CA): I’m a huge GGG fan and looking at Kovalev, I couldn’t help but think about how great a matchup would be between the two. Do you ever see that fight happening down the line?

Vivek W. (ESB): As much as I would love to see that fight, I have very little hope that we will ever see it. It’s one of those topics that really challenges me, personally. You never want to take a negative or harsh disposition towards an emerging talent in the sport, but when you look at the negative narratives that follow proven commodities in the sport, contrasted by images drawn up to illustrate perceptions of those who aren’t, it’s just not proper. When I think of a Danny Garcia, or an Andre Ward, there’s a consistent rhetoric that almost mandates that they take on a certain level of competition or be banished to hell for not “proving themselves”.

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: The Magnitude of Mayweather v Pacquiao, A Glimpse at Premier Boxing Championships, and Thoughts on Thurman v Bradley!!!

03/10/201503/09/2015 Vivek Wallace

Selan B. (Phoenix, AZ): You made a point on FaceBook the other day about the Mayweather v Pacquiao fight that I’d like you to revisit. Could you elaborate on your thoughts regarding the magnitude of this fight and the legacy of the fighters?

Vivek W. (ESB): In a nutshell, when we look at this fight, this is an event on the scale of nothing we’ve ever seen before, and arguably, nothing we will ever see again in this lifetime. Some have noted that the fight is “a few years too late”. My response is that the fight has reached this apex as a result of the fact that it did come this late. When this bout was initially proposed, the fighters were looking at proposed purses in the $30M dollar range. Floyd Mayweather found a way to land a deal that nets that every night out. When he said he wanted $100M for this bout, we said he was “talking stupid”. He now stands in place to earn a hair below that mark ($180M approx).

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“PBC” on NBC: Spotlight Shines On Keith Thurman & Adrien Broner

03/10/201503/07/2015 Vivek Wallace

Tonight, for the first time in nearly 30 years, Boxing will return to non-subscription based television as NBC is set to air the “Premiere Boxing Champions” series. During its well documented absence, those in and around the sport have pushed for this effort. What was once a wish is now a reality, and what that reality means for two men at the center of this spectacle could be very intriguing after the final bells.

Since their arrival to the sport, both Adrien “The Problem” Broner (29-1, 22KO’s) and Keith “One Time” Thurman (24-0, 21KO’s) have lived in the proverbial ‘under the radar but above the rim’ echelon of the sport. Heavy with the hands, yet light with sympathy for anyone standing across from them with plans to prevent their rise to the top. While very different in presentation, there is a lone common thread between these two talents. Both seem to embody that patented “it” factor, making them easy to love, yet equally easy to hate.

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Mayweather vs Pacquiao Drama Narrowed Down, Golovkin’s Next Move

02/25/201502/24/2015 Vivek Wallace

Casey C. (Daytona, FL): I’m stoked that the sport is finally getting the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight, but now that it’s official, can you give your thoughts on this whole saga, as it relates to which stories you think will play the biggest role in the outcome and give your personal opinion on the road we’ve traveled to get to this point?

Vivek W. (ESB): Honestly, despite us being days beyond the announcement, it’s still a bit surreal in my mind. When you look back at the controversy and the negativity that came as a result of that controversy, it’s just a beautiful feeling to know that this long road has basically come to an end. The constant allegations of “ducking” and so forth; those narratives all must give way to the prevailing one. Which is the fact that the fight is now official and the time (to rumble) has come.

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Mayweather/Pacquiao, Cotto, Garcia, & Guerrero/Thurman!

02/06/201502/05/2015 Vivek Wallace

Chris H. (Dallas, TX): Reports have spread that Miguel Cotto will be announcing his next opponent in a week or so. What are the odds that Floyd Mayweather has opted to face him instead of Pacquiao at this time? And if not, do you think the Pacquiao fight gets done?

Vivek W. (ESB): All eyes in and around the sport remain locked on Mayweather and Pacquiao. I’ve said from day one that there are more layers to this mess than meets the eye, and as time goes on, we’re reminded of exactly how complex these negotiations are. Years ago, these two men stood to make two incredibly healthy pay checks. Despite Pacquiao being knocked out and on the losing end a few times, the demand for this fight is even greater now than it’s ever been, which may actually have a lot to do with why the fight can’t seem to be made.

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