Boxing Needs Smelling Salt

January 28, 2009 

Did anyone catch 37 year old Sugar Shane Mosley put it on Antonio Margarito this past weekend?

 ~crickets~

That's what I thought.  The world missed out on this speed exhibition that Shane threw on the Tijuana Tornado.  Antonio hasn't seen that brand of speed since Paul Williams threw hundreds of punches per round towards Margarito's face on July 14, 2007, from a southpaw stance. On January 24, 2009, Mosley duplicated that script by TKOing Margarito in the 9th round, except Sugar did it from an orthodox stance.

The largest boxing crowd in Staple Center history included Mark Wahlberg, Kobe Bryant, the Governator, Joe Pesci and other celeb fight fans. Only true  fight fans were aware to enjoy this feast of fists. This upset caused some minor ripples in the sports world, but it was AFTER the fact.  I even tried to get a little fight party at my house and once again:

~crickets~

Jiminy,  what happened to the world's love of the sweet science? Can it be UnForeseen Circumstances?  Is there too many  Unnecessary Federation  Champions? Are we Universally Forgetting Cassius? This is Making Me Angry. The obvious reason is the once Unknown Fighting Competitor called UFC has taken over.  For example,  I went to the local bookstore to pick up a copy of Ring Magazine for some Ki-search and there was a whopping smorgasbord of seven Mixed Martial Arts magazines to Boxing's famished one.  I shook my head and started looking behind copies of Karate Illustrated and Pro Wrestling USA.  I swore there had to be 2 or 3 other boxing themed magazines that fell down.  And the reality is, the only thing that fell down is boxing itself.

Boxing needs Chuck Bodak and Cassius Green to stitch her up.  I refuse to believe that the fight game has been ruined by greed and wild afroe sporting crooks.  It is beyond that.  The bottom line is people like closure.  Let me retype that,  people NEED closure. UFC fights bring closure to 90% of their fights.  The winner is obvious.  Knock out.  Submission. Going to the judges only works in gymnastics and diving.  Wait,  you are right,  it doesn't really work there either huh?  How about we extend the fights to 20 rounds like the Jack Johnson days!  Nope, then maybe PETA might start protecting human rights.

It also doesn't help that boxing is not an Olympic feature anymore.  Frankly,  the USA Boxing team has been limited lately.  Who can forget the Gold Medal performances of Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, Oscar de la Hoya, Ray Leonard, Mark Breland, Michael Spinks, or Cassius Clay?  The public likes the round robin tournament style of boxing.

Wait a second,  I think I got the smelling salt for boxing. A TOURNAMENT!  I know we have heard this before but there is no better time than now.  The welterweight (147 lbs) division might be the best it has ever been. Secretly.  It is deep,  and it is star studded on the top.

Follow me…….

A 12 Fighter Tournament with the top 4 seeds getting byes.

The first set of fights will be 4 Play-In Matches that will be shown as 2 double headers. 

The winner of each Play-In bout will face the #1 seeds. 

My number 1 seeds are:

- Floyd Mayweather Jr.  (will face winner of Play-In #1) Please come back and get this money Pretty Boy.

- Manny Pacquiao (will face winner of Play-In #2) You might be a little light in the trunks, but America is watching  you Pac-Man.  I heard   Manny might be entering the Philippines Idol contest next.

- Shane Mosley (will face winner of Play-In #3) Welcome Back Sugar.  You are a hall of famer.

- Antonio Margarito  (will face winner of Play-In #4) You get rewarded because you never ducked a fight Tony.

So here it is, the first double header of the Play-In Fights 

April 18, 2009

Play-In #1 

Andre Berto (19-0) vs. Carlos Quintana (20-2).  Berto learned his lesson by facing Collazo (who barely missed this tourney), and stayed focus to defeat Quintana by decision in the 12th. By the way, Berto loss that January 17, 2009 Collazo fight. Berto vs. Floyd Jr. in Round 2.

Play-In #2 

Miguel Cotto (26-1) vs. Zab Judah (25-6)   REMATCH!  Same result, but without the low blows.  Cotto gets his daggers back.  Cotto will beat Judah in a 11th Rd TKO. His next opponent in 4 months is Pac Man.

May 2 2009 (Cinco De Mayo Weekend)

Play-In #3 

Ricky Hatton (32-1) vs. Oscar de la Hoya (30-6)   Oscar steals this fight from a courageous Ricky. At every end of the round bell clap, Oscar goes ape piñata on Ricky's face. The Golden Boy needed a vintage performance just to survive,  but since he is the promoter of all this,  the judges gave him the go ahead to fight Shane Mosley in Round 2.

Play-In #4 

Joshua Clottey (20-2) vs. Paul Williams (27-1)  Paul's smooth southpaw style and length is too much for Clottey to deal with. However,  Clottey did land some savage shots. 

Round 2A September 5, 2009 (Labor Day Weekend) 

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs.  Andre Berto A rusty Floyd still manages to outwit a young Berto.  Berto suffers his seco…err…first loss of his young career.   Floyd to face the winner of the next fight.

Paul Williams vs.  Antonio Margarito  Margarito can't handle the speed. AGAIN! The Margarito playbook is out.  Paul Williams surprisingly reaches the semi finals to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. 

Round 2B September 19 (Mexican Independence Day Weekend) 

Miguel Cotto vs.  Manny Pacquiao P.R. vs. Pinay.  Imagine the sites at MGM that weekend!  Pac-Man amazes Vegas again after being knocked out in in the first 3 rounds, consecutively.  He magically gains his composure and TKO's Cotto in the 11th round to seal a fight against the winner of the following match. Must be the karaoke.

Oscar de la Hoya vs.  Shane Mosley III After the Golden Boy Production business partners stopped dancing and smiling for 3 rounds.  Shane's "juice" kicked in and he had flashbacks of 2000 when these two were enemies.  Shane wins by a split decision. Immediately after the fight, Oscar and Bernard Hopkins join Shane in the ring and they all celebrate?  Weird.

February 6, 2010 (Superbowl weekend from America Airlines Arena in Miami) 

Floyd Mayweather  vs.  Paul Williams The Pretty Boy Dances With His Paws all upside Paul's jaws.  Williams has never faced this polished of a fighter and he quits after the 8th round. And a new boxing phrase is born,  " No Mo' "

Manny Pacquiao vs.  Shane Mosley Pac Man got stronger each round as if Sugar's punches were power pellets.  Gobble gobble.  Pac Man is in the finals vs. Mayweather!  The world collectively takes a deep breath while we wait for Super Bowl XLIV match up of the Dolphins vs. Vikings (Year of the Ox de ja vu special).  Super Bowl VIII was Dolphins vs. Vikings, which also was Year of the Ox. Don't say I didn't tell you.

July 3, 2010 (Fourth of July Weekend in Las Vegas) 

Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao

YOU TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS 

Is this the fight that will get America back on boxing.  Are you feeling this?  Boxing, can you hear me?  Do you need a standing 8 count?  Hello, anyone home? How about some of Aaron Pryor's water.  And make sure it is the bottle that HE MIXED!  (Check at the 6 minute mark)

by the Ki-Olumnist