By Ted Sares – Let’s dispense with the niceties; let’s get right to it because the next few weeks will be marvelous for fans. The Super Six World Boxing Classic is underway and Cotto vs. Pacquiao will be a fight of monster proportions, but as I predicted, Williams-Pavlik will not be made. So sit back, light up a new Te Amo nub which amazingly is a great tasting cigar at an afordable price, and pour two fingers of Scotch, Glenfarclas 17 Year Single Highland Malt Scotch whisky—we are going expensive tonight. This one is rich, intense, and full-bodied. Oh my!
From my Rhapsody library, we are featuring (for starters) Archie Bell & the Drells doing the classic “The Tighten Up”– “We don’t only sing but we dance just as good as we walk.” After this, we move to the great Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters! “…he is one of the most serious blues guitarists you can find today. He makes me proud!”…B.B. King, Chuck Berry then checks in with “Almost Grown,” and Houndog Taylor will strut his legendary stuff with the House Rockers. Anita Baker will be doing the vocals. Any requests?
Now it’s time to talk boxing, and I have listed a few subjects that might spark your interest or generate controversy. As always, feel free to inject your own topic.
1. Some Predictions: I badly missed the Dunn vs. Kratingdaenggym bout, but I then went on a roll. First, I had Vitali to whip Arreola and Abraham to hammer Taylor. As for Dirrell vs. Froch, I picked the Englishman. I also had Katsidis beating Escobedo, Camacho Jr. over Campas and Tomasz Adamek retiring Andrew Golota in Poland. With a bunch of other calls (like Tye Fields over Galen Brown, Austin over Williamson, and DeMarco over Alfaro), I was 12-0. But I got humbled when Yonnhy Perez beat “King Kong” Agbeko in a true classic. Still, 12-2 is where I want to be. I already have predicted Jones over Green. Heck, that one defines the old saw–”styles make fights.” Down the road, I see Kessler over Ward, Haye beating the “Beast,” and “Bad Chad” Dawson beating Glen Johnson in their rematch. I also predict that Lucien Bute will outpoint Librado Andrade this time around, and I have Alfredo Angulo over Harry Joe Yorgey, Bradley over Peterson, Kahn over Salita, and Vitali over Johnson. I am picking Pac Man over Cotto, but enough said about that because I think it has been fully vetted on the on-line sites and threads. Suffice it to say “There Will be Blood.”
2. My Pound-4-Pound Top Dozen Right Now
Again, this is simply a snapshot in time as of November 1, 2009:
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr
2. Manny Pacquio
3. Shane Mosley
4. Chad Dawson
5. Bernard Hopkins
6. Paul Williams
7. Nonito Donaire
8. Miguel Cotto
9. Juan Manuel Marquez
10. Celestino Caballero
11. Juan Manuel Lopez
12. Jhonny Perez
I have made some major revisions since last month. Most were made to correlate with my divisional rankings (see ESB rankings). The differences between these men remain razor thin. Yonnhy Perez grabs my number 12 spot, while Juan Manuel Lopez dives to number10. Juan Manuel Marquez also drops.
What do you think?
3. The Eastern European Explosion: some observations
Vitali and Wlad
This development does not surprise me in the slightest. It is simply the case that the time has come – it is our turn now. Since the breakdown of the Soviet Union, many boxers have taken the opportunity to head west and have trained there. By doing so, they have gained valuable experience. On the one hand, we are influenced by the Russian school, but on the other hand we can implement this newfound knowledge. That is the secret of our success.
–Nikolay Valuev
The face of boxing has changed dramatically since the end of the Cold War and/or since sometime during the late 90’s and that change involved an influx of boxing talent from Eastern European countries. No longer are Eastern Euro fighters doing their thing in a predictable stand-up and mechanical fashion. No, these are extremely well trained boxers who literally exploded onto the landscape and have stayed ever since. Bottom line: these guys are the real McCoy and changed the scenario when the new millennium began.
Look , when the brothers Klitschko hit the scene, the floodgates opened and Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusian’s, Kazakhstanian’s, Uzbekistani’s and others from Eastern Europe made their presence felt–many quickly winning world titles. And today, tough fighters from Armenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, and Lithuania are no longer an oddity.
Books will be written about their boxing exploits as well as their other considerable achievements outside the ring. However, if Oscar De La Hoya was the most charismatic fighter of his time, the classy Klitschko’s have become the most significant boxers of their time. Can anyone stop them? Can anyone restore what some say is lost luster to the heavyweight division? Nigerian Sam Peter couldn’t do it. Neither could Cris Arreola, but maybe Kevin Johnson, Eddie Chambers or David Haye can (but Haye might have more than he can handle with the “Beast).”
4. Prospect of the Month.
This month, it’s light welterweight Kenny Galarza (11-0 with 11 KO´s) who has impeccable amateur credentials. This bomber out of Ponce, Puerto Rico is a regular and fan favorite at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, but is now starting to strut his considerable talent in his homeland. In his last outing, he won the interim WBO NABO light welterweight title by stopping Ghanaian Joshua Allotey in the 10th stanza thereby getting in some valuable rounds. He is someone to keep your eyes on, as he knows his way around the ring, possesses a lethal left hook, and is of the fan-friendly “stalk stun and close” breed of fighter. He joins Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez as my Cigar Club prospects so far. I’d add David Lemieux except at 18-0 with 18 KOs, he is quickly becoming more than a prospect.
5. The Bantamweight class
This division has always been one the toughest with any number of truly great fighters over the years. It also is my personal favorite. However, since these little guys get far more coverage in Asia, Africa or South America, we often miss just how great they are. Well, we got more than a glimpse when Colombian puncher Yonnhy Perez beat Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko in a true classic on October 31. Not one clinch and all action, all the time.
Here are my latest Bantamweight (118 lbs) rankings and note that the fighters come from everywhere—the Ukraine (Wladimir Sidorenko) to South Africa (Silence Mabuza) to Japan (Hozumi Hasegawa) and many other locales.
Bantamweight Ranking (118 lbs)
1. Anselmo Moreno
2.Yonnhy Perez
3. Hozumi Hasegawa
4. Joseph Agbeko
5. Fernando Montiel
6 Abner Mares
7. Wladimir Sidorenko
8. Eric Morel
9. Toshiaki Nishioka
10. Roberto Vasquez
11. Gerry Penalosa
12. Nehomar Cermeño
13. Kohei Ohba
14. Sasha Bakhtin
15. Silence Mabuza
6. The “Ghost”
When Paul Williams signed up to fight Pavlik, it was billed as a fight too good to be true–and unfortunately for the fans, that’s exactly what it turned out to be, too good to be true. The “Ghost” had to withdraw from the December title defense because his surgically repaired left hand (which was more serious than first reported) has yet to heal enough for him to train properly. He has a nagging staph infection on the middle of his left hand (which also forced cancellation of his fight with Sergio Mora). He then reportedly developed a serious allergic reaction to medication. Hopefully, he will return to action sometime next year, but some say his best days may now be in the past. How to you see his boxing future playing out?
7. May God comfort your soul, Greg. Our thoughts are with you.
Visit the author’s site at www.tedsares.com for stories, photos, and music.