Mandatory Eight Count - Lara Stepping Up, and Weekend Results
by Brickhaus on Sep 21, 2009 1:46 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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- According to James Slater, Erislandy Lara is looking to fight for a title in his next match. The fighter is now 8-0 after a first round knockout of Jose Varela on the untelevised Mayweather-Marquez undercard. Potential targets: Cory Spinks and Kermit Cintron. Fighting for a world title, especially in a higher weight class, in under 10 fights is always a risky proposition, but if there's someone who's ready for that, it's probably Lara. The only real question marks are whether he has the stamina and the chin, but on a technical level, he's already better than all but a few in the weight class.
- Over the weekend, Sebastian Sylvester finally won that elusive middleweight title, defeating Giovanni Lorenzo via split decision for the IBF title vacated by Arthur Abraham. While it is a paper title, Sylvester has done about as much as anyone to deserve a title, having beaten many of the best middleweights on the European circuit. It also makes three unworthy split decisions this weekend. By all accounts, this fight, much like John-Juarez and Katsidis-Escobedo, was a relative blowout, with Lorenzo only having his moments.
- On Friday night Shobox, Travis Kaufman was knocked out by Tony Grano in an absolutely wild fight. Neither fighter appeared to be scared of the other's power, and mostly were blocking punches with their faces. by the end of the third round, Grano looked completely gassed. In the fourth, Kaufman pounced on him, and right as Grano was about to go down, he (likely intentionally) low blowed Kaufman, buying him some precious time. Kaufman jumped back on him when the action restarted, landing a number of huge, clean power shots, and Grano spit out his mouthpiece to buy even more time. However, the tide shifted when action restarted. Kaufman jumped on Grano again, but Grano landed a huge right hand bomb during the middle of an exchange that rocked Kaufman, and then Grano landed about 15 consecutive haymakers to Kaufman's skull in order to knock him out. On the undercard, Chris Avalos settled down quickly after a couple of shaky rounds to knock out Giovanni Caro in the fourth round.
- American undefeated featherweight prospect Matt Remillard beat previously undefeated Rafael Lorta via 4th round TKO. Remillard's counterpunching style could lead to some success. On ESPN, Guillermo Rigondeaux had no problems dispatching of Giovanni Andrade, who looked awfully frightened to be in there with a two-fight veteran, considering Andrade has fought over 60. This has been a pattern with the Cubans on the Arena Box stable, and while I have no way to prove it, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a little monkey business going on with Ahmet Oner and the Cubans' early opponents.
- Hasim Rahman has been dropped from the Tua-Cameron undercard due to payment disputes. Rahman was originally scheduled to face the winner, but will not be doing that either. I guess Rahman needs the money, but at this point he'd probably be better served trying to help guide his son, a big shot amateur prospect, to Olympic glory.
- OK, it's Deadspin. But they have an interesting (but deprecating) take on Max Kellerman trying to force a beef between Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather after Mayweather defeated Juan Manuel Marquez. OK, we get it folks. You don't like Max Kellerman. Neither does the majority of other boxing fans. But at the end of the day, he's under contract, and it's not like HBO gets its ratings because of the post-fight interviews.
- Not the highest profile bout of the coming week, but I'd bet a decent amount that it ends up being the most exciting. Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym has arrived in Ireland and says he's ready to give Bernard Dunne a tough fight. Poonsawat says he wants to become the Thai Manny Pacquiao. A catchier nickname that people can actually pronounce might be a start. All 27 Thais in Ireland showed up for his arrival. Also, Tyson Fury, who's a gypsy of part-Irish heritage, will be fighting some scrub on the undercard, making his Irish debut.
- If you're a quasi-celebrity who nobody's ever heard of and have always wanted to beat up Joey Buttafuoco, here's your chance.
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On Kellerman...
Wait, why do people hate on Kellerman again? I find him to be extremely knowledgeable in the fight game, which is more than I can say for other color men in the business. He’s sure as hell more lucid than Larry Merchant.
"Gowin on fourth and 14 will punt it away. He hangs it very high, angling it for the near sideline...HAKIM DROPS THE BALL!!! HAKIM DROPS THE BALL!! Brian Milne might've fallen on it at the ten yard line! It's the New Orleans Saints' football! Brian Milne, the most unlikely hero of them all, falls on the fumble, the muff by Hakim! There is a God after all!" -- Jim Henderson
by hakimdropstheball on Sep 21, 2009 1:52 PM EDT reply actions
I have a love-hate with Max. Well…not hate. Max is sometimes a little too insistent on being The Young Larry Merchant, and sometimes I think he does some jackass stuff, but he truly loves boxing and I recognize that he’s going to be on my airwaves talking about it for a long, long time. Considering how horrible most sports commentators are for most non-casual fans, he’s really not so bad.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 21, 2009 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Max
I think a lot of his problem is his physical appearance, which reminds one of all the spoiled jerks with bad haircuts and cocky attitudes encountered in high school. I actually like him (well, some of the time) when I don’t have to look at him.
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
I have never really had anything against max
but the last few shows he has been driving me crazy. The post fight thing with cutting off both Paulie and then Floyd in recent weeks was just infuriating.
Should hopefully be going to Bernard’s fight this weekend.
Max
annoys me with how he goes totally in the tank for one fighter and rides his jock the whole fight. The Paulie fight against Diaz he was all over Paulie, and the Katsidis fight Saturday, he was drinking his bath water.
he was terrible in the Paulie fight. Agreed.
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
he’s so anti-baby bull that he actually asked him after the JMM fight, “did you NOT learn a thing from the nate campbell fight?” BAby bull just stood there for a second with a look that had “max, you’re a dick” written all over it.
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Sep 21, 2009 9:09 PM EDT up reply actions
used to like him a lot more
He just seems so up-tight now. He used to be relaxed in the PTI days, now it’s like every word is so important. The way too furrowed brow is an HBO addition for him that also sucks.
"I swear to God, I'll take this ******* ball and shove it down your ******* throat" - Serena Williams
I like both Kellerman and Merchant
Two good characters that help make boxing what it is today. Neither afraid to ask the tough question to a fighter before or after a fight.
On a side note, I’d love to see Lara fight for a title even if it is early in his career. He’s clearly talented and I tip my hat to him if he gets his wish.
by SmittytheCutman on Sep 21, 2009 2:36 PM EDT reply actions
The Cubans are so far advanced in class that at least Lara and Rigondeaux should be fighting for titles as soon as Yuriorkis Gamboa did. Watching them rip apart guys that just aren’t anywhere near as good as them because they’re early in their pro careers is kind of dull. I say let them get 10, 12 fights and go for it.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 21, 2009 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions
can we get Rigondeaux with a live opponent first? that Andrade guy was an absolute clown who put up no offense and just taunted Rigo and tried to play to the crowd the whole fight….how can these guys talk title when they haven’t been in with even a solid journeyman or fringe contender yet?
Because they’re massively ahead of the game. Their experience in the amateur ranks is enormous, and the Cubans adapt to the pro game better than most amateurs do. Yuri Gamboa won a title in his 15th fight and probably could’ve done it five fights sooner.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 23, 2009 7:58 AM EDT up reply actions
aside from Joel Casamayor, how many Cuban amateur stars have seriously made a dent in the boxing game since Cuba went communist?..its unfortunate they come here so late but its a dirty game and stepping these guys up so fast will only lead to at least one getting exposed badly
Some of the best ones never defected, and some that did wound up having problems staying focused as pros. Casamayor is really the only Cuban great to start his career after the 50s, but there are plenty that could have been, and this current “defecting class,” if you will, with Gamboa, Rigondeaux and Lara is very, very impressive. Gamboa has torn through people and I expect the other two will do the same. If one of them gets exposed, the truth is they were going to get exposed anyway. Rigondeaux’s 28, Lara’s 26, and they’ve both had what they do pounded into them. There’s not a lot that will change with them. Alex Povetkin is kind of in the same boat; he’s only 17-0, but he’s also 30 years old and pretty much treading water right now. How many times do I need to see him beat a guy like Taurus Sykes? Povetkin was as ready at 10-0 as he is now, really.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 23, 2009 8:41 AM EDT up reply actions
Hope bernard wins at the weekend,couldnt make it up but will be watching,also matthew macklin fight for the european middleweight title on friday night.Hope its a good weekend for us.
Stephen Quadros: Where do you see yourself in three years.
Quinton Jackson: Let's see, I'm 22 right now. In three years I see myself being 25.
With Lara
Whilst he may well be good enough to fight for a belt right now, if he does it in his next fight, he will have committed one of my pet hates, by all of a sudden stepping up from scrubs to championship level. Even fighting a fringe contender in an eliminator would be preferable.
I just don’t think that beating up low-level journeymen should be the path to title shots. The Beibut Shumenov path is the one to tread for guys who want to hot-shot up the ranks
He'll probably take a step up
He’s not ranked by the sanctioning bodies yet, so he’d have a lot of trouble actually getting a title fight.
It’s nice to see a bunch of the prospects in the 147 – 154 range taking steps up though.
Mike Jones is scheduled to fight Richard Gutierrez, who’s been a tough test for a number of guys (but who’s on a bad streak).
Antwone Smith is facing Henry Crawford in a great prospect-prospect fight that I hope gets televised on the Green-Oganov undercard (Smith is the guy who’s won three consecutive upsets on FNF, Crawford is 22-0 against decent but not great competition).
Fernando Guerrero is facing Ossie Duran, who I personally think it a tough cookie who’s gotten the shaft through his career. He gave James Kirkland the toughest fight of his career, and I thought he beat Eromosele Albert and drew with David Lopez.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
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