19.09.07 – By Christopher Roche, Brickcityboxing.com – Boxing Questions (and answers)
1) Who will take home the title on September 29?
I am not the world’s most proficient prognosticator, but I am willing to stick my neck out and make a prediction for the Jermain Taylor vs. Kelly Pavlik bout.
Before we get to the winner and the loser, however, the public should recognize that this is a win-win event for boxing. In what is the third or fourth huge “win-win” of the year for the sport, Taylor and Pavlik, along with their teams, stepped up huge for this mega fight. As a boxing fan and writer, I am beside myself with joy that this event was made, and it is not on pay-per-view!
Lest we forget that after the Taylor vs. Spinks bout back in May, most writers and fans never thought the Taylor vs. Pavlik bout would happen, because after the lackluster victory by Taylor, he said that he would fight the person who made the most sense and brought “the most money”. Most took that as a sign that Taylor did not want to fight Pavlik. Rumors of Taylor vs. Calzaghe were hot at the time, and Taylor will inevitably move up in weight, but for now, he will be defending the de facto undisputed middleweight championship one last time.
Taylor and Pavlik both have huge upsides as fighters and as ambassadors of the sport. Both men are extremely talented and likeable, and I think they could both step in against most top middleweights from the past 25 years and have a great chance at winning. Pavlik has the better knockout ratio, and he is known to be more of a bruiser, but he does not have the eclectic mix of experience that Taylor does.
Over the past few years, Taylor has fought a crafty big man in Hopkins, an enigmatic medium sized guy in Wright and sneaky little guys in Ouma and Spinks. Those four opponents are hard to look good against, and Taylor took a lot of criticism for his performances, however, Taylor still has an undefeated record, and he remains champion. Despite Taylor’s relatively low knockout ratio, and his less than stellar recent performances, I cannot take anything away from him as champion. He fought everyone they put in front of him, and he left the ring with the title every time.
Pavlik produced a great war against Miranda, but he somehow managed to fly below the radar for a decent portion of his career. Pavlik comes from the tough as nails boxing hotbed of Youngstown, Ohio, and his determination and skill are sure to garner him a world title at some point in his career.
Taylor and Pavlik will be a great event, and I am picking the champion, Taylor, to outpoint Pavlik. Taylor has a great jab, and he is more athletic than Pavlik, plus Taylor’s experience with difficult opponents will help him to overcome the pressure of Pavlik. Taylor also has the chin and the heart to stand up to Pavlik’s power. Contrary to many predictions, I think this fight will go the distance, and Taylor will retain his title with a close unanimous decision. The fight will be a great night for boxing.
2) Why does a loss or one lackluster performance diminish a boxer’s reputation so much?
I recently read that Curtis “Showtime” Stevens was released from his promotional deal. Stevens, as you may recall, was involved in one of the most boring fights ever televised on HBO, when he lost to aspiring track star Andre Dirrell. The bout, which was part of the Malignaggi vs. N’Dou under card, pitted a tall man who was content with running (Dirrell) vs. a shorter man who did not cut off the ring (Stevens). Stevens, to his credit, tried to pressure Dirrell, but Dirrell would not engage him, and Dirrell managed a decision “victory”.
I only mention the Stevens case because it just happened recently, and I am by no means picking on him or his promoter. I know this sort of thing happens all over boxing with promoters and television networks. However, I frankly do not understand why one or two losses or one lackluster win is so damaging for a boxer.
Up until the Dirrell fight, Stevens was an intriguing prospect with a lot of local popularity, however, the Dirrell match changed everything in the eyes of promoters and networks. As for Dirrell, the former Olympian is banished into boxing purgatory forever. Those two fighters are not the only recent victims of boxing’s wrath; even the aforementioned Jermain Taylor’s reputation was stigmatized after the Ouma bout, and he was brutalized after the Spinks bout.
In other sports it seems like the participants have a lot more chances at success, and they are not afraid of failure. For example, in baseball, good pitchers lose 7 to 10 times per season, and the best teams still lose around 60 times per year. In the NFL, teams can make the playoffs with up to 8 losses in one season. In MMA, the fighters often lose multiple times without losing out on big fights or damaging their reputations.
The only sport I can think of that punishes its one or two time losers as much as boxing does is College Football. If a college football team loses one game, it only has an outside shot at the national title, and if it loses two games, the shot is gone. However, college football still has nice consolation prizes in the form of lucrative bowl games. Boxing is a zero-sum game with no consolation.
Boxing hurts itself immensely because of its brutal zero-sum mentality. America, and much of the world, loves underdogs, and if a guy who loses occasionally is ignored by promoters and networks, then the audience is only fed a bunch of guys with fancy records. How many times have we seen fighters come up through the ranks who fight nobodies, in order to pad their records? What purpose does that serve, other than to sound good when the ring announcer shouts out the wins versus the losses?
The ticket-buying public is not well served with mismatches and countless prospect vs. opponent fights. Prospects should fight prospects more often, and champions should only fight contenders. If a prospect or a contender loses one or two bouts, he or she should not be penalized into opponent oblivion. There should be a chance to bounce back.
I am encouraged that Jesse Feliciano, who has 5 losses, is being given a chance to fight for the title against Kermit Cintron. Cintron, for his part, has one bad loss, and it took him two years to bounce back from it. If Cintron lost after the Margarito bout, however, we may never have heard from him again, and we would have missed out on a super-talented welterweight.
One need only to look at Brick City area legend James J. Braddock for proof that losses can be overcome. As long as the fighter has talent, heart or huge power, there is always a chance for the boxer to bounce back, and boxing would be better served to be more forgiving to its fighters who suffer setbacks inside the ring.
Fight I Would like to See and Why
Pawel Wolak vs. Delvin Rodriguez
I wanted to pick Wolak vs. Jesse Feliciano here, but Feliciano will be tangling with Kermit Cintron. However, Star Boxing stable mate Rodriguez would also present a great match for Wolak. Rodriguez recently had a no-contest overturned in his favor, and he is one of those fighters who recently suffered a loss. Wolak, on the other hand, is one of those fighters who is undefeated, but he has been carefully matched. Wolak is a blood and guts bomber with a lot of heart and determination, and Rodriguez is a polished boxer who has been chin-checked in the past, and although he is a boxer, he is not a runner.
Both men are Brick City area fighters: Wolak is from New Jersey, and Rodriguez is from Connecticut via the Dominican Republic. The fans would turn out strong for this one, and the winner of the bout would vault into contender status in the junior middleweight division.
Quote of the Week
“It’s inevitable someone will try. That’s why we’re working so hard. To try and prevent it from happening.”-NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, when asked on the sixth anniversary of 9/11, if another attack was inevitable. (Foxnews.com).
Injustice of the Week.
The injustice of the week is the faux drama and editing on “The Contender 3”. I was hoping we had moved beyond these cheesy reality techniques of slow motion and sound effects during the fights. In addition, the fake graffiti and shots of the losing fighters walking along a lonely road are pretty lame as well.
What is not lame, however, is that Jaidon Codrington looked great against a tough guy in Brian Vera.
Non-Boxing Thoughts
The NFL is having its toughest time in years, as new commissioner Roger Goodell has had to deal with “Pacman” Jones, Tank Johnson and Michael Vick during the off-season. When the season finally started, the league endured a near fatal tragedy when Bills’ tight end Kevin Everett suffered a neck injury on a special teams play. Fortunately for Everett and his family, he survived and appears to be making progess.
As if those four situations were not enough, the league endured a cheating scandal with iconic coach Bill Belichick. The league seemed to let the Belichick off lightly with a $500,000 fine and no suspension. The Patriots were fined $250,000 and will lose a draft pick or two. Compare that to the $100,000,000 fine that Formula One issued to McLaren for cheating! Now that is a real penalty.
Reader Submissions
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*This column is inspired by the premier novel of the twentieth century, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway spoke highly of the sport of boxing, and he participated as both a fighter and a referee. Every other week this column will humbly pay homage to the man who helped glorify the fight game back in its early stages. With a little hard work, the Sun Will Rise Again for Boxing, as together we can restore the sport to the top, one fan at a time. Thank You for reading the column.