Adding and Not Taking Away. Floyd Sr. Knows What He's Doing.

I gotta give Floyd Sr. his props. Ricky looked a lot better last weekend with his improved head movement, lead right hand and right upper cut inside.

This was much needed improvement and with only seven weeks to prepare Floyd Sr. had Ricky ready for what really was a make or break fight. With his improved style Ricky has added at least another good year maybe two to his boxing life.

I was hoping not to see Ricky rolling his left shoulder and twisting to much with his torso to try and evade shots. It was kinda of a surprise to see Ricky still smother his opponents with his blitzkrieg style while banging away at anything he could. Many thought Ricky would perhaps take a more cautious route with Floyd. That wasn't the case as the much needed head movement along with his aggressive style was still present.













Floyd Sr. is smarter than I thought. He's adding the obvious to Ricky while making sure not to take away his trade mark style that he's famous for. The damage has already been done though due to Ricky's horrible lifestyle. That's another story in itself.

Floyd Sr. was hired because team Hatton wants to preserve what little ring life they have. From the looks of it and with more time to work together it looks like that goal will be accomplished.

I just hope with the added time we don't see Ricky trying to do what Oscar did working with Floyd. That's emulate the style that made his son Floyd Jr. great. That's not going to happen with Ricky.

All Floyd has to keep doing is add while not taking away and he'll be making more big money along with Ricky.

The Incredible Expanding Fighter.

Paul Williams resembles a marvel comic character with the way he can incredible expand up weight classes yet slim right back down into them. Paul has a very unique tall fame that seems to allow him to achieve these feats with ease. I stress seems because it will catch up with him if his management isn't careful.

Paul made a move up to middleweight to test the waters against a cannon fodder opponent. Paul blasted his opponent out with ease and seemed to carry the added weight with ease but we can judge him on that fight.

Now he's back down to Jr. Middleweight to battle crafty Verno Phillips for the WBO trap. I think 154 is a great division for Paul. Middleweight is where the big money is for Paul with less risk to his health and longevity.

What I'm saying is that Maragrito balked at a 4 million dollar offer and Mosley balked at another million dollar offer. This is a goods thing in a way for Paul because I feel it takes too much out of him to make 147.

Yo yoing up and down in weight classes is too hard on the body particularly when you go too low. I feel 147 is and that's the reason that Quintana beat Paul at 147. Paul was loosing too much muscle to make the weight. It's very hard on a fighters endocrine system to do this as well and if a fighter keeps shit like this up they quickly shorten their careers and end up with thyroid disorders.

So unlike the marvel heroes, fighters take a huge risk to their health, longevity, and getting beat ( being to weak from making the weight ) by performing such feats. I think it's great that Paul wants to test different divisions, hell homicide Henry Armstrong held three titles in three divisions at the same time, but 154 is as low as Paul should go with 168 as high.

I will say though that if there is one fighter who could possible do what Armstrong did, it's Paul.

Larry Knows Best.?

I know it usually takes everyone a few hours to figure out what the fuck Larry was saying or even meant with his parting thoughts, but this weekend he was right on the money with saying he would like to see Jermain Taylor right back in the ring.










Taylor was never a busy fighter and although he looked very good against a shot Jeff Lacy he needs to jump right back in the ring to gain his swagger back. It looks like 168 is going to be a great stop for Jermain but we'll know more with another fight.

Lets hope Jermain doesn't stall his progress by waiting six months before fighting again. If I was his brain trust I would get him back in the ring before years end. It would be wise to have him sharp and ready for some big fights in upcoming 09.

Activity is just what Jermain seems to need at this point of his career. Larry didn't have me scratching my head and reaching for another beer to ponder where he was going. That was a pleasant surprise and nice for a change!

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We need to quit all the hating... The facts speak for themselves.

I was and I guess I still am to a point not ready to give Calzaghe props as a really great fighter. My bud Alwyn Cosgrove laid down his wrath on the truth and facts about how good Joe is and who he has indeed beat.

I questioned Alwyn heavily and bitterly about it.

Really after reading this in depth email, I had to share it with you guys as I was impressed and reminded just what Joe has really done.

After rereading this I have to give Joe more credit, Just not that much credit that'll still make me talk about him ten years from now or even five.

Enjoy.


I think Joe is good. A solid champion, who unified the belts and who I don't think has ducked anyone.
He's not great - but the idea that he didn't fight anyone in their prime is BS.
I just don't think he gets his props.

He absolutely fucking schooled Kessler, the WBA and WBC champ (who you picked to beat him).
He absolutely fucking schooled Lacy the IBF champ (who MANY picked to beat him).
So he was the unified, undisputed champ at 168 who completely dominated the other champs.

He then moved up in weight and beat Bernard Hopkins the Ring LHW champ(who many picked to beat him).
It was close - but he won.

So in two years he beat the WBC, WBC, IBF champs at 168, and the Ring LHW champ at 175.

Now what's happening is that people say that Lacy was over-rated, Kessler was too raw and Hopkins was washed up.
Hopkins next fight he schooled Pavlik! Kessler is #1 at 168 now! They were not raw, over-rated OR washed -up.

But let's say they were... who should he have fought instead? No one. They were clearly the top guys.

So I definitely don't think he's an all time great. But I don't think he ducked anyone.

He beat Robin Reid one fight after Reid had lost the WBC title.
He beat Richie Woodhall who was the WBC champ one fight after he lost the title.
He beat Byron Mitchell - who just got ROBBED in a decision with Sven Ottke for the IBF and WBA titles. (Mitchell was the WBA champ, won that fight - but lost a split decision). Joe KO'd him in the second.
He beat Sheika who was undefeated at the time and had just beat Simon Brown and Glen Johnson back to back (he was supposed to fight the winner of Sheika-Johnson so that's Johnson out of the picture there)

True he definitely faced some bums - but fuck so did Roy. So did Eubank/Benn/ Steve Collins. 168 isn't that deep.
Who did he duck? Even Hopkins fought some total bums at 160. Roy had moved up to 175.
Hopkins first defense at 175 was Winky Wright!!! Winky is agreat but he wasn't ranked in the top ten at 168 and he wasn't in the top five at 160!!!

Joe won the 168 title in October 97.
Roy was champ at 168 from 1994-1996 and moved up to 175 in Oct 96 - a year before Joe won the title.
So he wasn't ducking Roy either.

The only guy that none of them fought was Michalzeski. And maybe Sven Ottke but I think all of those guys blow Ottke out.
Ottke only fought for another year after the Mitchell robbery - and he fought Robin Reid and David Starie (guys who joe had already beat).

And I think the accusation (from some sources - not you) that he's ducking Chad is assinine. Chad wasn't in the top 5 earlier this year and Calzaghe has only had ONE fight at 175 (hopkins was at a catch weight of 170). No one was talking about Dawson - Calzaghe (or Dawson-anyone) until he beat Johnson a month ago.
And BTW - Dawson lost that fucking fight ANYWAY!!

I definitely don't think he's an all time great (yet - he could do more) but I don't think he ducked anyone at 168. And he's had one fight at 175, two if you count the Hopkins fight. So anyone he ducked is a 168 fighter -- who are we talking about?

Who are the "blue chip" fighters that Kim is talking about that Joe has avoided during their primes?

In the last two years he beat Lacy, Kessler, Hopkins and Jones. He also beat Bika (#1 contender for one of his belts - bullshit but what can you do - who is curently ranked at #7 by the Ring) and Manfredo (who only had lost to 2 people and was ranked top five by all organisations). That's six fights. Who did he duck at 168 during that time?
Kessler was the champ. Lacy was a champ. He unified the titles. He moved up to 175 where he fought the Ring Champ.
Jones is ranked #6 at LHW right now.

So again - which blue chip fighter in his prime has Joe avoided? I can't come up with a single one. 168 just isn't that strong a division. Lacy, Bika are still top ten. Kessler is #1.

And we're really only talking about Dawson right now. Joe beat Hopkins already - wasn't controversial to anyone but B-Hop so a rematch makes no sense.
He destroyed Kessler who is the number one at 168. So the top 5 at 175 are Dawson, Hopkins, Johnson, Tarver, Jones and Clinton fucking Woods.

So....Does he become a GREAT fighter if he beats Dawson? Fuck no. Dawson isn't a great fighter. Who the fuck did Dawson beat? A washed up Tarver, a shot Eric Harding and Glen Johnson (in a fight he lost)? Thats his entire career bro. Joe was the champ for five years before Dawson turned pro.

We both know Joe is too much for Dawson right now. So he beats his ass. Then what? Who is left?

He didn't avoid anyone during his reign at 168. And the only guy that's left at 175 is Dawson. So does Joe become a great fighter by beating Dawson because of Dawson's "legendary" career? Come on...

Give Joe his props. A unified, undefeated Champ at 168lbs.
Name your top ten ALL TIME fighters at 168?
Toney only made four title defenses at 68.
Jones only made six title defenses at 68.
Nigel Benn?Ten defenses.
Steve Collins? Eight defenses.
Chris Eubank? SEVENTEEN defenses.

Joe Calzaghe? TWENTY-TWO title defenses.

That's the top six guys at 168. Joe beat Eubank and Jones. Collins retired rather than face Joe.
Benn had retired (after losing twice to Collins). Toney was at Cruiserweight before Joe won the title.

I want to emphasize that Joe in no way AT ALL is an all time great but there are NO blue chip fighters that he didn't fight during their primes.
He just beat Hopkins who just schooled Pavlik. Is Pavlik a blue chip fighter in his prime? Fuck yes. Hopkins beat him - Joe beat him.

I don't think there's anyone who Joe ducked or avoided at 168. He's had one real fight at 175 so we can't criticize him there. He beat the champ and the #6 contender (jones).

It doesn't make him great for sure but he's done what he's supposed to do - unify the belts - and face the unified champ at the next weight up.
Beating Dawson doesn't change shit.

Fuck this is a long email.

AC

Yes it was and I thank him for it! We can't argue much there other than I think Dawson beats Calzaghe if they fight. That's a debate he and I will continue to break down I'm sure.

Fear, Hype, or Insecurity?

It was announced last week that team De La Hoya added 87 year old Angelo Dundee to their team as a consultant. While Angie is no doubt a former great trainer it's been some time since he's been involved with a mega fight.

It's always the same old fucking shit with Oscar. Oscar makes all the big trainer changed right before a big fight. That's the question here, WHY before a big fight? Is it fear of what Manny can do? Is it to hype the fight more and drive more ticket sales by adding famed former great Dundee to the storyline? Or is it that Oscar really is THAT insecure with his skills?

If you are good at reading between the lines and if you've followed Oscar's career thus far, you know the obvious answer. Regardless of the true answer this is a big slap in the face to head trainer Nacho Beristain. About a month ago Oscar was so red in the face by gleefully touting Nacho as the man who knows how to beat Manny like no other.

It really looks like it doesn't it? Nacho is really beginning to find out what kind of pro Oscar is. The fact is Oscar has never been a pro in handling matters while passing the blame.

How the hell can a fighter who has won titles in five weight divisions act like this before big fights? Oscar has NEVER woven a true style like Hopkins. He's always trying to reinvent himself weeks before big fights. Not months, weeks.

Fear, hype, and insecurity can cause a fighter to do strange things at the strangest times.

How To Take a Superior Boxer Out Of His Rhythm and Out Of The Fight.

Vic Darchinyan demonstrated last Saturday night what to do to prevent a superior fighter from getting into his fight rhythm and flow.

Vic came out like the bull he is and dropped Cristian Mijares HARD in the first round. Mijares never found his rhythm after that. That knock down was very important for Vic setting up the pace and fight he wanted to fight.

On paper going in Cristian was the better gifted fighter. Many including myself picked Christian to win the fight. We thought he would box circles around Vic while picking him apart. We though Vic's glaring weaknesses would play right into Mijares's many strengths.

Damn were we wrong. Vic showed just how much he has been improving by taking command of the fight early and keeping it. Vic demonstrated improved skill, patience, and composure in his biggest win to date.

Vic really showed how smart of a fighter he was by taking charge early. Many times if you crack a gifted boxer hard early in a fight he can never recover enough from that to find his groove. That was the case last Saturday night and this is another great fight to learn from.

Vic executed his fight plan brilliantly and you could tell they took Cristian seriously and studied him well. The 9th round KO was icing on the cake for a well planned out fight strategy. Kudos to team Darchinyan for an impressive performance.