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TALKIN BOXIN
by Howie Reed
September 26, 2004
Unlike some people that we all know and disdain, I
never take credit for anything that is not the product
of my own work.. As a youngster I marveled at the
artistry of a carpenter who could take different
kinds of wood, cut them to size and end up with a
house. Today the so called carpenter is nothing more
than someone that drive in nails with a pneumatic gun.
Yet today’s “nail guy” will probably take credit for
building the house. Unlike the “nail guy” I want to
share the excellence of this column with the many that
make it possible to obtain such a high standard week
after week. They are the ones that deserve most of the
credit. Like today’s carpenter I merely nail the
pieces together.
DelaHoya-Hopkins ever notice that it’s never written
Hopkins-DeLaHoya ? True fact. This is the reporter’s
way of making the factual statement that the most
important name come first. Brother Bill, who I wrote
of last week, wants to kill one of everything before
he cashes in his chips. Here’s a gun guy that would
have been perfect in Apocalypse Now. His favorite
perfume is “extra light gun oil”. He went to Vietnam
and fixed cars. Go figure. He’s big on hunting stuff,
Always refers to the agency that regulates such
activity as “Game and Fish”. Now ever one in the
recognize world says Fish and Game. Not brother. He
knows what’s important. Back to the DeLaHoya-Hopkins
stuff.
A caller to a local show opined “I mean he’s
(DeLaHoya) got to win this fight. I mean he just never
wins big fights. The only fights he wins are against
some guy in New Mexico”. Does anyone miss Leon Phelps from Saturday Night
Live ? That would be Leon Phelps the “Lady’s Man”. I miss him. In fact I
really missed him when I listened to this air head on the radio. Had he been
sitting besides me in the vehicles of my choice he would have said, “It’s a
Lady.” Let me
answer you dear. “Oscar De La Hoya never fought in New Mexico. The closes he
came were fights in El Paso (at the Sun Bowl) and in San Antonio (The Alamo
Dome). Now someone with a quick whit could argue that both places qualify as
part of Old Mexico but New Mexico is a stretch. On top of that my dear the
argument can be made that Oscar beat Trinidad and Mosley he just didn’t get
the decision. So dear…put a boar in it. As Mrs. Morgan use to say in the
third grade at E. Morris Cox Grammar School, “Howard it is better to keep
quiet and let people think you’re stupid than to open your mouth a prove
it.” No walk on’s with Mrs. Mogan.
It is always refreshing when an intelligent comment
fly’s through the air in the form of a e-mail. My pal
the Old Scotsman from the Cold North comes though
again. This times he’s taking me to the woodshed form
comments about the De La Hoya fight not causing comment among sports fans.
“Hi Howie Here we go stuff kicking boxing again Well this week most people I
met were talking about De La Hoya Hopkins and that's from a place that is
still going on about how we won the world championships of the only sport
that counts up here. That is, you got it HOCKEY” Got to do a time
out. Congratulates to the guys and guyettes on Canada winning the World Cup
of Hockey. Good on’em. They invented the sport, once dominated, worked hard
and again dominate. Now let’s take out good friends the Brits. They invented
a lot of sports but lately they don’t seem to be playing them all that well.
Of course this week they are celebrating the wining the Ryder Cup (No it’s
not named after Red Ryder. Yes I know was a surprise to me also.) There was
a time when this competition was between the UK and America. Then the Brits
couldn’t win so they changed the rules. Now it’s Europe against America.
Europe kicks America’s a__.
It was the Little Big Horn with Hal Sutton playing
Custer. His troops with Phil, Tiger and Davis
surrendered before the first shot. Now the Brits
around the world are celebrating there big win using a
German General and a couple of Spaniards, a Frog, a
Dane and an Irishman to make the win possible. There
will always be an England. . Go figure.
Back to the Scotsman. “As I said the talk was good and I watched the fight .
And I thought it was pretty good at the time of the stoppage .I had Hopkins
up by a point being a Oscar fan it could have Been Hopkins up two . I
will admit Hopkins looked like he was starting to find his distance and he
was connecting more but hey lets not forget Oscar started at 130.” (Editors
note. Oscar scored at 10 round TKO
over Jimmy Bredahl on March 3, 1994 to win the WBO
Super Featherweight title. DeLaHoya won every round
leading up to the TKO. For that fight Oscar weighted
128 ¾.) “He was in the fight and that’s what makes
boxing my choice of sports. This was mentioned by one of your suit buddies
commentating.” In the days after the fight Larry merchant took a lot of
“stick” about
his comments in regard to Oscar’s performance. Larry
had him winning easily in the early rounds.
“At the fight unlike any other sport when you get the
wind knocked out of you its “time out”. They all pack
the guy to the bench or the stool. You get a rest and
back in the game. In boxing it's the ten count get
your ass up or its all over I never like to compare
fights of old and you and me have had a couple of go a
rounds on this subject.” I have always lost cause to
state the obvious, “The Old Scotsman knows a hell of a lot more than I do
about boxing.” “Some fights have
hype . And some have excitement and some are just
events. Sometimes are great events. Most of the time
Oscar has been in events. They were entertaining and
sometimes they are great fights. Leonard -Hagler was a great fight but the
wrong guy got the win. It was
close “ One time when I first started covering boxing
I happened to be ringside (yes before I was 86’d) when
Leonard came up to the Marvelous one to say, “We ought to do it again.”
Marvelous Marvin answered, “Why I beat you once.” “But the wrong guy got the
win any way I can ramble on for ever.
The fight was not a barn burner but it was a tactical
fight. It was a good event and it ended the way it
should have . But the little guy had a good kick at
the can and for a few rounds gave as good as he got.
Yes it was not the most exciting fight I have seen in
years. But hey Hopkins is not usually in barnburners
that's why he is not the most popular guy in town.”
ONE of the only people that I heard predict the
results of the fight prior was Lee Coros of ESPN’s
college football coverage. “I’ll tell you this.
Hopkins by a KO in the 9th round. Did you look at his
fists ?.” Good for Lee. The really big winners
(besides Oscar’s 30 million and Hopkins 10) were the
Las Vegas Books. This is a figure that has to be added
into any boxing equation. It was the biggest night for
the books in over a year or so they say. I have yet to
figure out why “Books” brag when they have a good day, week or month. “Gee
we made a killing last week.” Now that may be well to stroke their
collective ego’s but when the “Books” have a great time what’s the flip
side? The dummy’s, like me that bet, didn’t have a good time. Children
starve, bills go unpaid, waifs with Keane like eyes snuggle up to Sally
Struthers and ask, “Please feed me ” (She of course reply’s, “Bugger off.”),
the homeless wander aimlessly crying “Why didn’t Green Bay cover?” It’s a
sad and terrible sight. One played out here where dreams come true.
One bet that was covered was the one I made with
Buffalo Bob Arum. “Well no he never acknowledged the
bet but the proof can be found in the September 12
edition of Talkin Boxin”. (Which has been destroyed to
protect my legacy as a journalist.) But as I have a
steel trap mind I remember the bet. Buffalo Bob said,
“We’re hoping for 2 million pay per view.” When I
picked myself up of the floor from laughing, sides
hurting I wrote, “I bet the ppv will be closer to 1
million than two million.” Drum roll please………”The
official ppv was 1 million.” Way to go Howie. A slam
dunker. You’re the best. The cream of the crop. Of
course Buffalo Bob knew the ppv wasn’t going to do 2
million . It’s like the drunk that can’t refuse the
chance to drink, promoters can’t refuse the excuse to
lie.
Hopkins opened at +180. That means that you had to bet $1.80 to win a
dollar. During the week Hopkins went up as high as +$2.20.. DeLaHoya was
pretty steady at -$1.20 to $1.40. You figure it out. For the books it was a
“win-win” deal. Not many fights take in a lot of “action”, legal that is.
That would be another reason, besides his young age of 31, that Oscar will
fight again. Oscar is after all a fighter. For Hopkins his
options are all open with his potential only limited
by age (he’s 40 ) and himself. Yes he’s sitting on top
of the world right now but he’s been there before and
blew it. Big Time. In September of 2001 he KO’d Felix
Trinidad. The world was his oyster. The pearl there
for his taking. What did Hopkins do ? Diddle jacked
around lost a couple of lawsuits because of his big
mouth and fought of bunch of nobody’s for dam near
nothing. Carl Daniels, Morrade Hakkar, William Joppy
again and Robert Allen for the third time. The Morrade
Hakkar fight had to be particularly embarrassing for
Hopkins as he was fighting at home (Philly) while
drawing lots of empty seats and boo’s. Yes the seats
were booing also.
Hopkins is a guy that did it his way. The problem is
that he’s real good at a couple of things. He can dam
sure fight, he can run his mouth and he was a
journeyman when it came to crime (a couple of trips to
the Razor Wire Ramada) but he’s proved that he
couldn’t promote Bernard Hopkins. There is talk,
actually correct, that he doesn’t have “it”. “It”
being that something that all “stars” have. He
doesn’t. Oscar does. For Oscar’s next fight he’ll take
home another 30 million. Hopkins will lucky to get 4
or 5. That’s just the way it is. Put ass’s in the
seats gets the big bucks.
WHAT’S next for the two fighters, in what if not the
fight of the year, has certainly generated more ink
than any other fight to date. OK an argument can be
made for Tyson-Williams. Point taken. With Hopkins one can never tell. He’s
jabbing about Roy Jones jr or
Antonio Tarver. The Jones deal is now deader than
Kelsey’s reproductive organ after Jones got Ko’d
Saturday night at 48 second of the 9th by journeyman
Glencoffe Johnson. Calling Johnson a “journeyman “ is
not in anyway disparaging . Johnson said of himself
after the fight, "I'll fight any man. I'm not the best
in the world; I'm just the man who is willing to fight
the best." At one time Jones was considered by
“experts” and himself the best in the world. Some
never bought into “his greatness”. While it was
recognized that Jones had great talent in the minds of
many that never translated into being a “great
fighter”. He picked his opponents and his weight
divisions more to boost his ego than to advance his
recognition as a great champion. His 6 world titles
in four divisions has to be taken with buckets of
salt. A single grain don’t make it.
As the light heavyweight champion he ducked the only
real challenger to his crown WBO Champ Dariusz
Michalczewski for years wasting away his prime
fighting years fighting retreads and never was. Last
Saturday night Glencoffee Johnson exposed for the
world to see the chink in Jones amour that had been
first been exposed by Antonio Tarver in May if last
year. By swarming Ron Jones jr, keeping pressure on
throwing punches in punches you can neutralize. Tarver got the job done in
2. Johnson waited until 48 seconds of the 9th to land the crunching right
that would end the era of Jones. The right and the damage that proceeded it
left Jones laying on the canvas like a
trout in Mom’s old cast Iron skillet. Looking down you
got the same “brook trout look.”
Two things about the telecast on HBO that were
notable. Emanuel Steward has lost either his judgment
or his objectivity as the “expert” commentator. In the
first round he criticized Johnson for “pressing,
wasting energy and throwing a lot of ‘meaningless
punches. I would never tell a fighter to do that’ “
Larry Merchant, correctly pointed out that it may have
been Johnson’s game plan to apply pressure. “Well it
may be but it’s wrong.” Funny but as I was munching
popcorn I had the same opinion as “ol Larry” and only
the fact that I was washing down a mouth full of
“extra butter” prevented me from beating Lar to the
punch. At the conclusion Merchant pointed out that
“not on national boxing writer cared to cover this
fight. Jones has never been a favorite of the press
for his arrogance and attitude. The press will frankly
be glad to see him go.” Colour him gone. Bye Bye Roy
That leaves Tarver for Hopkins. A step up a weight
class which probably wouldn’t do well for his power.
DeLaHoya moved up and lost what power he had. At 140 no one could stand up
to Oscar. So Hopkins gets
someone and Oscar gets who ? How about the winner of the ppv next Saturday
night between Felix Trinidad
(41-1) and Ricardo Mayorga (27-4) ? This will not be
Trinidad’s first fight since he got whacked out by
Hopkins in September of “Ought 1”. Nope he had one
fight after that against Hassine Cherifi (32-6), whom
he KO’d, in May of 2002. Most know that Trinidad got
the decision against DeLaHoya. Is it possible that
Ricardo Mayorga could win ? You bet your ‘bibby”. That is if you have a
couple of “bibby’s” to spare. It’s
Mayorga’s unorthodox style that will give Trinidad the
most trouble. That and the ring rust that he’ll have
to dust off after three years plus away from the wars.
On thing is for sure Mayorga will come out firing from
the opening bell. Actually knowing Mayorga he might
actually try firing during the referee’s instructions
if he though he could get away with it.
The chances of DeLaHoya fighting Mosley, should he get by Winky Wright which
he won’t in November, is less than slim and none. Next fight for Oscar will
be early next year against ether Felix Trinidad or Richardo
Mayorga or someone else. For Hopkins, if Tarver or
Jonhson is a no go, there’s a couple in the UK that
might prove interesting. You got Ricky “The Hitman”
Hatton at 36-0) who fights Friday night against
Mike Stewart (36-2-2) or maybe Welshman Joe Calzaghe at 37-0
I am not picking on promoters, PR types or flacks but
sometimes they are so silly as to be ridiculous . I
mention the following only because the Vice President
for this venue made a personal call to tell me “ I
don’t consider you a journalist”. Member now this guy
is a Vice President. Yea kinda like Al Gore but
without the gravitas. (Yea Al that word worked wonders
for you 4 years ago. With that, felons voting in
Florida and suppression of the military vote you
almost won you slimy creep.). When you think of
Oktoberfest what’s the first thing that comes to your
mind ? Right. Beer and Buxom Blond serving wenches
with Bodacious Ta Ta’s in peasant blouses and Umpa
Music. Maybe a little Bratwurst , some sauerkraut, a
little Wagner with a Nazi salute tossed in for the
occasion. That’s Oktoberfest. Would you ever think of
a fight between Wladimir Klitschko (42-3)/ DaVarryl
Williamson (20-2), Syd Vanderpool (35-2)-Jeff Lacy 16-0 (IBF 168) and
Verno Phillip (38-8-1) vs Kassim Ouma (19-1-1) (IBF 154) as the way to
celebrate Oktoberfest ? Me neither. With Showtime footing the bill this dog
ended up a Oktoberest event.
How uninteresting is this card ? Except for Jeff “Left
Hook” Lacy who can fight no interest. . His opponent
Syd Vanderpool ought to be arrested for impersonating
a fighter but he shows up. How did this fight end up
in a 5,000 seat outdoor arena ? When another venue in
Las Vegas had to make a tough decision, “Do we book
the fight or the Toyota Dealers ?” Answer ? “Toyota
dealers come enjoy and celebrate Oktoberfest with us.” Klitschko is
coming off his “I don’t know what
happened lose” to Lemon Brewster (37-2). That “L”
looks even worse after Brewster used smoke and mirrors to win his next
against Kali Meehan (29-1)
Fortunately Klitschko gets really good guy in
DeVarryl Williams that has only two loses. One a 4th
round KO at the hands of Willie Chapman. At the time
Chapman was 9-8. Since then he’s 9-11. Williams was
the big favorite but got caught early. Stamina a
question for Williams. He sets up perfect for
Kltischko. C “Come celebrate Oktoberfest with us”. You’re joking.
Being devilish clever, as I have want to do, you will
notice the segue to heavyweight James Tony’s return to the Square Ring. You
didn’t notice ? Well you do now. Yep he came back after being on the
shelf for 11
months and looked fat, out of shape and not
heavyweight powerful. He won a UD over something
called Rydell Booker (22-1) who was even more out of
shape. If this match is remembered in days to come it
will be because FOX Sports had a great idea. They
would show the fight live (“Fight Live ? Brilliant !!)
on their ill-named Best dam Sports Show. Little trivia
here. Our pal Rich Perez started the show which ran
locally in Denver for a number of years. When the
network picked it up, Rich was out on his rear. Swell
folks them Fox guys. No I couldn’t bear to watch. FOX
, as usual, fouled up what should have been an
entertaining show. FOX seems to run on the theory that folks will turn in to
watch loud music, eye candy ring announcers that don’t know their posterior
from an
Irish potato , a loud mouthed Tom “No Talent” Arnold
and the thank goodness gone from real TV Max
Kellerman. The distance between boxing and a real
sport widens.
AND FINALLY. Brother Hughes is kinda on the “Beach
Patrol”. That is he try’s, a lost cause there, to keep
me in line with e-mail’s dispatched from his luxurious
abode. This weeks course correction concerns my use of the word “crouton”
“Beach: crouton ? “ Phiphi gh” My
answer ? “It ain't french ? or it ain't spelled
good ?” ? “ I think you meant croissant” phiphi gh
“Nope I meant croutons. The little pieces of stale
bread that you put in soups or use to make
thanksgiving or Christmas dressing. Also a must with a
Caesar salad. I did thank him for the word croissant
as it now gives me another option. I can type,
“croissant buttering, snail eating, Burgundy drinking,
foul smelling surrender monkeys.” The phiphi ? Secret
symbols. If I told you I’d have to kill you.
There are some of you out there that think that maybe,
just maybe, Mike Tyson isn’t cereal about this box
fighting deal. Nay…nay I say. From a news report comes the information that
Iron Mike is training religiously for his next fight. “ I am training
confuciously ever day.”
Want to make contact or comments to Howie Reed
Go Here! mailto:reed@hotboxingnews.com
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