I’m back as a guest for tonight’s edition of the Bad Culture Boxing Radio show to discuss all the recent news from our favorite sport. With host Jeandra LeBeauf (www.badculture.net), we’ll be discussing this weekend’s big Showtime fight between Adrien Broner and Paulie Malignaggi, Seth Mitchell vs. Johnathon Banks, last week’s destruction of Juan Manuel Lopez, Hopkins-Kovalev, Riddick Bowe’s embarrassing foray into Muay Thai, Frida Wallberg’s cerebral hemorrage scare, and much more.
You can call in to discuss the sport with us at (347) 945-6550. The show will be available tonight HERE.
DALLAS, TX — The storyline heading into last night’s “featherweight title” match between Mikey Garcia and Juan Manuel Lopez was shaken up on Friday when Garcia, the WBO and RING champion, came in two pounds over the featherweight limit. He looked completely drained and sickly at the weigh-in, prompting his team to state they tried their best and would be paying $150,000 in penalties to Lopez ($75K for each pound) rather than try to lose the weight.
Garcia’s appearance, coupled with later confirmed footage of him throwing up, had some observers reversing their original picks of an easy Garcia win and going with the JuanMa upset. While their reasoning was sound, the weight issue turned out to overblown, as Garcia’s counter-punching easily broke down Lopez’s reckless offense for two heavy knockdowns in route to an easy fourth round TKO. Let’s get right to the highlights from the American Airlines Arena.
THE 30 YEAR OLD “OLD” MAN: Unless you’re a teenager, you realize that 30 years old is far from old. In fact, some would argue you don’t become officially grown until that age. Boxing is different — depending on your career path, you can be a fresh fighter at that milestone age, or a mentally and physically broken down wreck of a man. Like cars, boxers get miles on them with each training camp, sparring session, weight-cutting and fight. At some point, the body shuts down and says enough. JuanMa, with his 4 year string of wars, has his mileage in the area of 150-200K as he approaches his 30th b-day on June 30.
If you had no prior knowledge of who had the weight problems, you’d think JuanMa Lopez was the one who was drained last night. His balance was horrendous – he constantly leaned too much weight onto his front foot, making his jabs and right crosses ponderous and easy to counter. His punching form was flailing and most grievous of all, his head movement was non-existent.
His telegraphed punches lead to the first knockdown in the second, courtesy of a Garcia right hand counter. For the rest of that round and the third, Garcia popped Lopez’s head backwards with flush jabs from distance and ripped hooks (all head shots) whenever Lopez plodded forward with his head stationary.
Lopez, whether through damage-induced delusion or just hubris in the face of his fate, told his corner before the fateful fourth that the fight was frustrating because Garcia “was running too much.” Ironically, it was Lopez who would run into a right hand early in the fourth that scrambled his dulling consciousness, making him involuntarily flap his arms skyward as if shaking out his muscles after a nice jog. Garcia followed up the blow with a crushing left hook to the center of JuanMa’s face that put the proud Puerto Rican flat on his back.
For a few seconds into the referee’s count, Lopez appeared lifeless. But as he’s done every time in his career, Lopez rose to beat the ten-count. Unfortunately for him, all that was left was his instinct — Lopez’s legs and awareness were off in another dimension, prompting a merciful stoppage. Watch the full fight HERE.
TIME FOR JUANMA TO RETIRE?: Calling it a career should certainly be a strong option even though Lopez only has three losses on his ledger (Salido 2X and now Garcia). It’s the not the record, but the way he’s been looking in the ring and string of battles dating back to 2009. He’s had thrilling wars in the last four years with Gerry Penalosa, Rogers Mtagwa, Bernabe Concepcion, Rafael Marquez and Orlando Salido (twice at that). With his coordination and balance regressing, his once fight-changing power has been dulled as well, giving him no bailout or equalizer in these fights.
GARCIA’S ATTITUDE GETS HIM A PASS: First off, Mikey Garcia’s post-fight interview where he mentioned still trying to stay at featherweight was laughable. He risks sure-fire damage to his body if he tries to continue making a weight his body has clearly said no to.
Let this also be clear — Garcia’s team knew full well he wasn’t going to make the weight. The two pounds was not a surprise to them, and at some point during the last week or so they said forget it and basically paid for a weight advantage, as JuanMa was the only one in there who completed the bodily toll required to get in under 126 pounds. It’s highly unprofessional and the recent fighter’s who done this, most notably Adrien Broner, have gotten blasted in the media for it. But in the 24 hours since Friday’s weigh-in, most of the media didn’t go in to hard on Garcia. Wonder why?
The media can play favorites, and Garcia’s “humble attitude” is essentially why he wasn’t crucified as opposed to Broner, who joked online about his weight problem by putting up pictures of twinkies and another junk food he was consuming. Is it fair? Absolutely not, b let’s hope this is the last time we see this type of behavior from Garcia.
STILL MAD ABOUT LOPEZ VS. GAMBOA: From 2009-2010, one of the best fights that could have been made at the lower weights was JuanMa vs. Gamboa. Both were under Top Rank and it would have been an easy fight to make. Instead, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said flat-out at a press conference that he didn’t give a damn what the fans wanted, and would let the fight “marinate” at least a year more to get the most money possible. Well, that turned into several JuanMa KO defeats and Gamboa defecting to Mayweather Promotions briefly and now 50 Cent’s SMS Promotions (and his skills regressing with inactivity). The fight is completely dead at this point, all because greed trumped what was obvious to everyone — that you had two exciting but ultimately limited fighters whose prime window would not be long.
CRAWFORD HAS EASY OUTING: Courtesy of Max Kellerman giving gushing praise (calling Crawford the best lightweight in the world), it’s clear that HBO wants to see Crawford step into the lower weight limelight left with Broner’s departure to Showtime. Having just stepped up his competition in his last fight (a decision win over Breidis Prescott), Crawford still needs to get in there with some legit top 10 talent. His opponent last night, Alejandro Sanabria, was not in that class and took a beating to the body before being put into a “stop, drop and roll” animation courtesy of a Crawford lead left hook. Watch the full fight HERE.
The weigh-in for tomorrow night’s (June 15) featherweight showdown between Mikey Garcia and Juan Manuel takes place in just a few hours from American Airlines Arena in Dallas. the stream opens at 1:45 p.m. with undercard weigh-ins starting at 2:15 p.m. Garcia and Lopez hit the scales at 2:30 p.m.
Saturday’s fight will air as an HBO “Boxing After Dark” with Garcia defending his WBO featherweight title. The card airs at 10:45 p.m. EST.
The July 14 matchup between Bernard Hopkins and Karo Murat is now canceled due to Murat experiencing visa issues getting into the country.
The news was broken late last night courtesy of Maxboxing’s Steve Kim and confirmed this morning.
Hopkins, coming off an impressive unanimous decision win over Tavoris Cloud in March, was going to make his first defense of his newly won IBF light-heavyweight title. Murat, an Armenian fighter who resides in Germany, was the mandatory for the IBF title and last fought in June 2012, knocking out Sandro Siproshvili in seven rounds. The July 14 bout would have been Murat’s first in the United States.
At press time, Hopkins is hoping to land a September unification date with either Adonis Stevenson (WBC), Nathan Cleverly (WBO) and Beibut Shumenov (WBA).
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I’m sure Hopkins is mad since all that training will go to waste, but this will likely be a “blessing in disguise.” Every one of the current titlists are winnable fights for Hopkins, with the most high-profile being Adonis Stevenson with his two-punch KO over Chad Dawson last weekend.
Here is where it gets dicey. With HBO not doing business with Golden Boy, Stevenson would also have to choose between networks. If he stays with HBO, his options would be Andre Ward (who despertately needs a name opponent for his return) and Carl Froch. The downside there is that he’d probably be subjected to a catchweight. We also can’t forget Jean Pascal in what would be a fun brawl (Note: Contractually this might not be possible with Lucian Bute deal still in place).
Stevenson could do good business with Hopkins, but as always that’s a tough fight. B-Hop loves sluggers so he’d jump at the chance. If I were Stevenson, I’d look for my own unification against Cleverly or Shumenov. Those are hard, action fights, but with guys that will be there to be hit.
On this very website, Chad Dawson dismissed concerns that he was facing a dangerous puncher in Adonis Stevenson with his first fight since a suffering a knockout loss. He claimed his confidence was at an all-time high, and that he would deliver a memorable performance.
He lived up to his boost, but not in the way he originally planned, as Dawson was on the wrong side of a shocking first round knockout to lose his lineal and WBC light-heavyweight title in Montreal.
Dawson promised to come out aggressive and he did just that in the short time the fight lasted. Stevenson landed a solid left as his first scoring blow and Dawson appeared to take it well.
Stevenson came in with a southpaw right jab followed by a pinpoint straight left that dropped Dawson to his back. The champion remained inert for several seconds with just his head elevated before slowly rising on unbalanced legs. Although Dawson did put his hands up halfway during the count, he failed to answer referee Michael Griffin’s instructions, resulting in the contest being waved off.
Stevenson’s victory is his eighth consecutive knockout and first world title win.
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Looks like it might be time to say an RIP to Chad Dawson’s career as an elite fighter. That interview I did with him yesterday, complete with his quotes about putting on a great show for the fans, now reads like an article from The Onion. Turns out that Dawson’s biggest contribution to the fans tonight was getting himself KO’d in time enough for fans to watch the end of Anuglo-Lara and all of Maidana-Lopez on Showtime.
In all seriousness, Dawson looks to be done. It’s not a physical thing — he was in great shape and for the brief minute we saw him, looked to be moving well. It has always been a mental thing with Dawson and I don’t see how he’ll be able to put this behind him. In his whole words, this was the best camp he’s had and he went into this fight supreme confidence. And at his best, Dawson will have to rationalize how that wasn’t even good enough to survive a full round against a guy who previously never faced a Top 5 fighter in the division.
We’ve seen the best of Chad Dawson and it’ll be all downhill from here. We can probably bet on another trainer change, as well. If he fights on, a match against Tavoris Cloud makes sense from a marketability standpoint, but I think Dawson has had his fill of hard punchers for the time being. I honestly don’t know where he goes from here.
As for Stevenson, he has a bunch of options. Bernard Hopkins, Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Jean Pascal and Lucian Bute are among the names he can get. And he’s vulnerable enough where all those guys would probably jump at the chance to face him.
The light-heavyweight division just got a little more exciting.
You are only as good as your last fight. The titles, Pound 4 Pound accolades and even your resume will be slandered after one bad performance. Look no further than Chad Dawson, who despite being the linear champion at light-heavyweight, has been all but forgotten after being taken to the woodshed by super-middleweight kingpin Andre Ward last September.
Sure, there was a valid excuse for the performance. Dawson had to boil down to a weight limit he hadn’t been at in years, and the warnings signs were evident when rumors came out of his training camp that he was knocked out in sparring and noticeably weaker. But this is the cold world of boxing, where the results in the ring trump any of the circumstances behind it, and Chad Dawson finds not only his 175 WBC title at stake, but his marketability as an elite fighter on the line when he faces limited by dangerous slugger Adonis Stevenson in Montreal Saturday night (June 8) on HBO. A few years ago following Dawon’s disappointing first career loss to Jean Pascal, Bernard Hopkins told this writer that Dawson’s career was a “failed stock” that HBO brought into. Since then, Dawson has gone on to hand Hopkins one of the few uncontroversial losses of his career. This weekend, we find out if Dawson can truly resurrect his name after the biggest setback of his career.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: You’ve become infamous for running through trainers. In fact, you’ve changed trainers 10 times in 11 years. With that said, a few have been trainers you’ve gone back to more than once like Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. What renewed your faith in him?
Dawson: If you really think about it, Eddie is the one who got me to my highest [career] point. When I was up, Eddie was there. And even when I lost to Pascal, Eddie still called and was there for me. He’s a great man and great trainer and the one I’m the most comfortable with.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: Hindsight is 20/20, but what was your mindset in taking that Andre Ward fight?
Dawson: I was a tremendous mistake on my part. I took the fight – no one else is to blame on my team. I’m the boss and they followed my lead. The weight took a toll on me. I can’t blame anyone but myself.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: Quiet as it’s kept, you’re always taking tough fights. Why another dangerous fight after coming off a KO loss?
Dawson: I’ve got to give the fans something. I can to show the world that I’m still one of the best Pound 4 Pound fighters in the world. I took the fight because he’s a big puncher. I checked him out and watched his tapes. The most that people say about him is he’s a big puncher.
I’ve been in the ring with big punchers, but I’ve survived. That being said, he’s never faced anyone liked me. I know I can deal with a fighter like him. We’ll see if he can handle me.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: What else can be done at 175 if you get by Stevenson? You’ve already beat Hopkins…
Dawson: I’m interested in a Ward rematch, but he’ll have to come to me this time. I’m not interested in catchweights. I did what was asked of me last time. But I doubt he’s interested in doing the same thing at 175. That will be the reason the fight won’t happen.
Far as a Bernard Hopkins [trilogy], Bernard doesn’t want anymore parts of me. I think the people can see that. That won’t happen again. But I do want any potential big fights. Carl Froch is one of those guys who might move up to light-heavyweight. Whatever would interest the fans is what I want.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: I know he’s tied up for the rest of the year, but have you given up on getting revenge on Jean Pascal?
I’m always definitely interested in that fight. I know he’s wrapped up with Bute. After I dust Stevenson off, I’m sure he won’t want any parts of me either. On the 8th, they’ll see something from Chad Dawson they’ve never seen before. We’ll try to make the Pascal fight for early 2014, but he has to get by Bute and that’s a tough fight for him.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: Why should we believe you about a “new Chad Dawson?” We’ve heard this before.
Simple, I have no doubts in my mind. It’s different when you go into a fight with doubts. Did I do enough? Did I not do enough? I know I did enough in training this time. When I fought Antonio Tarver the first time, I let my hands go. I was in such great shape that everything flowed and came that night. I’m in the same situation with this camp. I worked very hard. My weight is perfect and I’m leaving the gym at 110%.
The great camp showed me how much of a mistake I made going down to 168 pounds for the Andre Ward fight. Believe it or not, it’s been a big confidence booster to be back. I’m looking forward to showing everyone I’m still one of the best.
It’s funny because I always joked about moving up to heavyweight one day. Honestly, I’m 30 years old and this is the division where I’ll probably end my career. I can’t see myself fighting at cruiserweight. I have make light-heavyweight easy and it’s my natural weight.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: If you’re staying at 175, the division looks to be going international with UK guys like Nathan Cleverly, George Groves and James DeGeale trying to build their names. Could you be enticed to take a risk and go overseas?
I definitely think they have to come over to the States and make a name for themselves. I’m through with going to people’s backyards. My years of doing that are over. If they want a title shot, they have to come to me.
Chad Dawson vs. Adonis Stevenson airs live on HBO “Boxing After Dark” on June 8 at 10 p.m. ET. On the undercard, Yuriorkis Gamboa returns to the ring to face Darleys Perez.
YORBA LINDA, CA — Earlier today, WBO featherweight titlist Mikey Garcia was on hand at the UFC Gym to conduct a public workout for his June 15 defense against Juan Manuel Lopez. The below clips cover Garcia’s warmup session, mitt work with trainer Robert Garcia and sparring. Although it’s always prudent not to take too much from sparring, if Garcia walks down JuanMa like he does his unidentified sparring partner, we’ll see a lot of big exchanges. The fight will be broadcast via HBO “Boxing After Dark.”
Next month (June 29), middleweight sensation Gennady Golovkin faces the toughest challenge of his career when he faces former middleweight world title challenger Matthew Macklin on HBO’s “Boxing After Dark.” Golovkin is holding camp in Big Bear, California while Macklin is still over in Spain. From their comments, it’s easy to get the impression that Golovkin is underestimating Macklin. I hope that’s simply do to the translation, because Macklin is very dangerous and it’s been a few fights since GGG’s been in there with a strong, natural middleweight. And from Macklin’s words, he intends to be throwing heavy leather. Can’t wait for this one.
GOLOVKIN
Training has been going very well, we have a very good atmosphere up in Big Bear. This is where I have trained for my last seven fights and I am very comfortable here. I have been getting great sparring, training with WBO junior middleweight champion Zaurbek Baysangurov.
Every morning I wake up at 6:30 and do my morning run, which is anywhere between 4-5 miles. We go to the gym in the afternoon and, depending on the day, I will either spar or work on strategy with Abel. Every night, we all have dinner together as a team and then we spend the latter part of the evening socializing, relaxing and watching movies.
We respect Macklin, but I don’t believe that the strengths that he has shown in the past against previous opponents will have any effect on me. I expect him to be a complete different fighter with a completely different game plan against me. Whatever he brings though, we will be more than ready to come away successful, and as always I plan on putting on a very strong, and entertaining performance on June 29th.
MACKLIN
I have had an excellent camp so far here in Spain, and I am looking forward to coming over to NYC to join Buddy and get acclimated to the time difference. It is great having my own gym when I am preparing for a fight, but I also cherish the fact that the facility is home to a number of world-class athletes from all types of sports, as well as for the local kids here to come in and learn the sport of boxing.
We start our day with an early morning run. I divide my running sessions up between hill runs, through the beautiful mountains, and sprints. After my run, I go home and have a good breakfast and relax until the afternoon. In the afternoon, I head to the gym for my main session of the day. I switch things around to keep things fresh; depending on the day, the main focus of the session will either be pad-work or sparring. On alternate days, I’ll go back to the gym in the evening and work with my strength and conditioning coach. At night, I will either watch a movie to relax, or go for a long walk around the beautiful harbor in Marbella.
I have been a pro since 2001, but I am always learning and trying new things in training. There is no substitute for experience and through that, you find out what works for you and what doesn’t. It is important to listen to your body and not be afraid to adapt your training routine based on what your body is telling you.
I am very excited about this fight, because Golovkin is there to be hit. With someone like Sergio Martinez, because of his style and movement, it can be very hard to land cleanly on him and get your combinations off, and that is frustrating. With Golovkin, obviously he is very dangerous, but he is right there in front of you. Everyone talks about his power, and believe me, I am well aware of it, but just like I am going to have to deal with his, he is going to have to deal with mine.
I’ve always had a lot of confidence in my own ability. I think the nature of my career and the ups and downs that I’ve had to get to this point have made me a very mentally strong person. To become World Champion and finally lift that world title belt is a goal that has driven me since the first day I put on a pair of boxing gloves. I’ve won everything else in terms of Irish, British and European titles and I should have had the world title after I got ripped off in the Sturm fight. Each setback though has just made me more determined to become World Champion so that’s really the driving force behind me at this point in my career.
As much as I am looking forward to June 29th, the fans are the real winners in this fight. This is a real old fashioned, middleweight ‘fight’ and a throwback to the great middleweight heyday of the 40’s and 50’s where the best fought the best. I don’t think there are going to be too many tactical surprises in there from either of us. You have two physically strong punchers who love to come forward, so it’s no surprise that people are predicting a real war.
Gennady’s a great fighter and he will go on to achieve a lot in this sport, but every great fighter hits a bump in the road at some point, and for Gennady, that will come on June 29th.
The bout is promoted by K2 Promotions and DiBella Entertainment, in association with Golden Gloves, LTD., Goossen-Tutor Promotions and Rumble Time Promotions. The bouts will take place on June 29th at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods ® Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The HBO Boxing After Dark triple-header will be televised live beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
LONDON, England — A few days ago, Carl Froch promised that he was willing to “kill” Mikkel Kessler in order to win their highly anticipated rematch. Froch didn’t have to go that far last night, as his iron chin, hard-punching, physical strength, and momentum-altering pressure allowed him to overcome Kessler’s brief surges to take a clear unanimous decision (118-110, 116-112, 115-113) before his countrymen at the O2 Arena.
It was a very good fight that just got better and better as the fight progressed. And while I would personally stop short of saying there needs to be a rubbermatch, the great atmosphere and exchanges won’t allow me to begrudge anyone that does.
FROCH TAKES THE EARLY LEAD: Froch was able to take the first four rounds of the fight through a nice mix of a consistent jab, occasional hard right hand counters, and being able to keep Kessler off-balance with his superior physical strength. Froch’s jab at times was pawing and more of a range-finder, as the Cobra would later state he was wary of Kessler’s right hand and didn’t want to over-commit. Froch was bulling forward by the second round. Kessler, while not being badly hurt in any exchanges, almost always looked the worse for wear as Froch’s punches, whether landing flush or glancing, succeeded in knocking him off-balance and bringing the O2 crowd into a frenzy.
To Kessler’s credit, he gradually found a rhythm as the rounds went on, and by the beginning of fifth had found a weapon that would serve him for the remainder of the fight.
KESSLER’S LEFT HOOK: Although he never got a handle on slowing down Froch’s punch output, Kessler got his attention with a bunch of massive left hooks in rounds 5-6. Froch was so worried about the right hand that Kessler found that he was able to whip his left hook over Froch’s low, lead left. Froch took two big lefts in the fifth, and Kessler landed his best one at the beginning of a sixth, a vicious blow that snapped Froch’s head back.
In these rounds, Froch’s chin was his best weapon, as Kessler landed the same type of left hooks that vanquished Allan Green.
THE TIDE TURNS: Midway through the seventh, Kessler was still in control behind the power and accuracy of his left hook. However, Froch took away all of his momentum when he landed a big right hook and stunned Kessler with a left hook for a huge finish. Kessler’s luck was no better in the eighth when he was rocked several times by right hooks that Froch was now looping around his guard. Kessler found himself hurt late in the round and had to run and hold to survive, making it appear this fight had another round or two before Froch delivered the final blow.
The ninth was the slowest round of the night with Froch taking a breather but still potshotting and carrying the round. He attempted a few home-run right hands, but they were wild, wide shots that Kessler easily evaded.
KESSLER’S FINAL STAND: Starting in the 10th, Kessler sensed the urgency of needing a KO and let loose with his best power shots. The exchanges still favored Froch, but Kessler did good work to the body with his right, and came upstairs several times with the left hook. The 11th was Kessler’s best as he finally succeeded in wobbling Froch behind a counter right cross. Kessler followed up with a left and right hook, but Froch refused to fold and flurried to get through the round.
The 12th was a potential round of the year that mirrored the fury of the ending minutes of their initial clash 3 years ago. The first half of the stanza saw Kessler abuse Froch with overhand rights before getting stunned by a left hook. From there, it all was Froch, who trapped Kessler in a corner and uploaded with wild shots in hopes of a stoppage. Kessler barely escaped and held off one final attack as the bell sounded, promptly the combatants to immediately embrace.
RETIREMENT ON HIS OWN TERMS: Mikkel Kessler really surprised me. I predicted a Froch KO simply because I felt Kessler was too shopworn at this point to handle Froch’s pressure. Sure, Kessler’s stamina didn’t allow him to keep up the needed effort to fight hard for entire rounds, but he had Froch stunned several times and appeared on the road to turning things around completely in the seventh and at several points in the championship rounds. His performance proved to me that he’s still a force in the super-middleweight division should he choose to continue. No, he can’t beat Ward, and it’s highly unlikely he can improve enough to defeat Froch in a trilogy, but he can definitely hold his own against guys like Jean Pascal and Lucian Bute.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR FROCH: Andre Ward was ringside working for HBO. When asked about a rematch, Froch was blunt in stating he loved to avenge his other defeat, but that Ward is a hard sell because of his unappealing style. If the fight could be made in the UK, Froch continued, he’d be more than willing to do it. Ward retorted that he had a strong fanbase and that Froch and promoter Eddie Hearn needed to make him an offer that was worth the trip.
Much as I like Ward, he’s really has no leverage to demand anything these days, which is ironic since he’s clearly the best fighter in the division. For one, Froch can easily make a third Kessler fight for more money and marketability. Secondly, Hopkins has name-checked Froch as a potential opponent, calling him “easy work.” That bout trumps a Ward bout in both the U.S. and abroad.
If Froch and Hearn balk at Ward trying to play hardball (which I would do), he literally has no name opponents to fight unless he can convince Gennady Golovkin to move up, or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to take an OK payday to get embarrassed.
Let’s hear it, people. Are you up for Froch-Ward II, or would you rather see Froch-Hopkins?
RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, New York City — Forget the close unanimous decision scores (114-113, 115-112, 116-111). Tonight’s super bantamweight unification bout between Guillermo Rigondeaux and Nonito Donaire was not a close nor competitive fight, as Rigondeaux completely outboxed a clueless Donaire outside a one round where he suffered a balance knockdown. Donaire had put this fight off for some time behind the belief Rigondeaux hadn’t proven himself and wouldn’t “come to fight.” It was fitting that it was Donaire who ended the night with a busted up face and humbled spirit courtesy of the skilled Cuban exile. There’s a lot of ramifications from this fight not just for Rigondeaux and Donaire, but also for the division, Top Rank and HBO.
THE FIGHT: Rigondeaux set the tone early with a short, pin-point straight left inside that made Donaire stumble backwards. From there, Rigondeaux had Donaire’s respect. It was tense in the early rounds with each fighter using feints and waiting patiently for the other to make a mistake. Where Rigondeaux distinguished himself was in every facet of the scoring criteria. Clean punching? Rigondeaux repeatedly caught Donaire with lead southpaw right hooks and counter lefts to the body. Ring generalship? Rigo superb footwork kept Donaire’s offense ineffective while he peppered him off the backfoot. Defense? Again, the footwork aided by smooth upper body movement had Nonito’s famed left hook hitting nothing but air and gloves. And with effective aggression, Rigondeaux was the one usually getting the better of exchanges.
The crowd didn’t always love it — as we all know, Rigondeaux will coast on his leads and he didn’t break that bad habit tonight. He was content to throw a few jabs to keep Donaire honest and Walcott shuffle his way out of any danger. The crowd boos didn’t faze him. As I said last night, be mad at Donaire for not being able to adjust.
Donaire’s best moment came in the 10th when he caught a lazy Rigondeaux out of a clinch with a left hook knockdown from the southpaw stance. While the punch was solid, the fall was due to balance and Rigondeaux quickly regained control, even being able to stun Donaire late with a straight left in the closing seconds.
Rigonddeaux slowly busted up Donaire in the last two rounds. A Rigo counter left hand stifled Donaire’s attempt to rush in for a hook, causing very bad right eye swelling. Donaire immediately pawed at the wound and kept his right glove glued to his face for the rest of the 12th. Rigondeaux pushed for a stoppage with Donaire in in full retreat. However, Rigondeaux didn’t get reckless while working Donaire over with left uppercuts, crosses and right hooks. You could see Donaire looking for a backfoot opening, much like his recent one-punch late knockdown of Toshiaki Nishioka, but Rigondeaux remained too elusive.
If it wasn’t for the knockdown, I would have scored this fight a shutout for Rigondeaux.
DONAIRE’S RIDICULOUS EXCUSES: Donaire’s post-fight interview started real well as he gave Rigondeaux full credit for his boxing lesson.
The last two rounds I got stupid… I wanted to take him out so bad. I have much respect for the beautiful boxing he gave me.
From there, Donaire elicited boos from the crowd when he claimed most of his training with Robert Garcia was done long-distance, he had weight issues, a shoulder injury and didn’t study any tape of Rigondeaux’s style. The last point is what did it for me. How could you not prepare for someone as slick and tricky as Rigondeaux, especially when your last fight in NYC was the 2011 stinker at Madison Square Garden that was the Omar Navaez fight? It just boggles the mind that in a boxing era where one bad loss is a huge setback that Donaire wouldn’t make sure his preparation was top notch.
Donaire all but dismissed a rematch in saying he plans to move up to featherweight. A few years back there was talk of him doing that to face someone like Yuriorkis Gamba, but Donaire’s power is already diminished at super bantam and he loses all of his size advantage at a higher weight. I bet Nonito really wishes that Abner Mares fight would’ve been made over this one.
Top Rank and HBO have invested a lot in the Donaire brand over the last year. One loss doesn’t erase his great 2012 and “Fighter of the Year” honors, but how they move him from here will be interesting. There aren’t any big name, come-forward sluggers for him to smack around anymore like Jorge Arce, and a Rigondeaux rematch would go much like the first.
Don’t feel too bad for Nonito, though. I’m sure he found solace in the ample pregnant bosom of his beautiful wife Rachel. If you watched last night’s fight, you saw a stunning ending shot of Ms. Donaire displaying why pregnancy does a body good for some women. I didn’t screen capture it and the even the below shot doesn’t do her complete justice, but you’ll get the idea.
FANS ARE ROBBED OF MARES-RIGONDEAUX: We saw how the bullshit between Golden Boy and Top Rank caused the Mares-Donaire negotiations to collapse before they even got any traction. What we all want to see is someone who can really make Rigondeaux open up and fight for a full three minutes of each round, and the only guy at super bantamweight who can do that is Abner Mares. The sad reality of 2013 boxing politics is we’ll never see it, which is why Mares has already left the division and faces Daniel Ponce de Leon next month.
THE SCORING: One last point about the scoring. Having regularly attended fights ringside over the last few years, I can say that there are times when fights live can be very much different from how they appear on TV. Ringside you can get the impact of blows much clearer than on TV depending on the fighter. But regarding this fight, I can’t see it. Yes, there wasn’t many punches connecting between them, but Rigondeaux was clearly landing the more effective and clean shots (especially the counter punches). Furthermore, if the so-called “4 points of judging criteria” are truly taught and followed (clean punching, effective aggression, defense, ring generalship), there’s no conceivable way this fight could be close. Outside of the few seconds he went down, Rigondeaux controlled every aspect of this fight.
