BOXING: Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao is Real!; Hopkins-Pavlik; Roy Jones-Calzaghe…
August 28, 2008
Oscar vs. Manny! (Dec. 6):That’s right. In what will be billed as Oscar’s final fight on December 6, 2008, he will fight Manny Pacquiao. Won’t a super-welterweight like Oscar crush a lightweight like Pacquiao? Possibly, but they will both be fighting at welterweight. Pacquiao will come up 12 pounds and two weight classes to make it happen, but Oscar will have to come down a weight class and hasn’t fought at 147 in seven years (but did fight at 150 his last fight). When boxing’s biggest draw fights the best pound-for-pound fighter — boxing wins. And while this shouldn’t need any extra promotion, Oscar said last month that “this fight is very personal” since Pacquiao had a handshake deal to sign with Golden Boy promotions in the past, but ended up signing with Bob Arum. Sounds like a cute hype angle, but really — who cares. The money here is on Oscar because of the weight factor, but Pacman should never be counted out. What do you think?
Bernard Hopkins vs. Kelly Pavlik (Oct. 18): Gotta love these fights when the last great middleweight is matched up with the current and possible future great middleweight. Sure, Hopkins will be 44 and coming off his loss to Joe Calzaghe, but how many times have we pronounced Bernard dead before (see Tito and Tarver)? Much respect to Pavlik for taking this one. He has everything to lose, but very little to gain except a shiny name on the resume. Pavlik has never faced a technician like Hopkins before, and Bernard is not one to get knocked out. And has anyone actually ever looked really good fighting Hopkins? Boxingnews24 breaks down further “Why Hopkins-Pavlik is the Right Fight?”
Roy Jones Jr. vs. Joe Calzaghe (Nov. 8): Six years ago this would have been an absolute dream match-up of two undefeated fighters with ridiculous hand-speed at the top of their craft. Calzaghe was always the best opponent Roy never fought in his prime (forget Darius). Now it is just too hard to imagine Roy having enough left in the tank to beat Calzaghe. What makes things worse is that Joe has announced that this will be his last fight before he retires. In doing so, he will have easily surpassed Floyd Mayweather as this generation’s most carefully crafted career. At least Floyd fought tough competition in his early lightweight years.
For more than 10 years Joe C. fought at 168 with Hopkins 8 pounds below him and Roy 7 pounds above him. Yet he only fights them when they are past their prime. Now a Kelly Pavlik-Calzaghe fight would be a potential fight-of-the-year match-up of forward styles and young vs. old. But it won’t happen. Nor will Calzaghe fight a Jermaine Taylor. So I will be rooting extra hard for RJJ, but I just don’t see it. In any case, no fighter — even if undefeated — should go down as an all-time great if he consistently ducks the best competition. They don’t even get entrance into the discussion! Joe C. should be admired for his health, wealth, and business acumen, but boxing-wise he will retire with a tainted legacy. Period. End of story.
Other Upcoming Notable Fights in 2008:
– Sept. 13 (HBO PPV): Joel Casamayor vs. Juan Manuel Marquez, & Sergio Mora vs. Vernon Forrest
– Sept. 27 (HBO): Shane Mosley vs. Ricardo Mayorga
– Oct. 11 (Showtime): Antonio Tarver vs. Chad Dawson; Samuel Peter vs. Vitali Klitschko
– Nov. 15 (HBO): Jermain Taylor vs. Jeff Lacy
– Nov. 22 (HBO): Ricky Hatton vs. Paulie Malignaggi
George Chuvalo: ESPN’s Outside the Lines has this must-see videoprofile on iron-man boxer George Chuvalo and the heroin-addictions of his sons. Wow.
Herbert Muhammad Dies: For boxing fans Herbert Muhammad was Muhammad Ali’s long-time manager. His other well-known historical significance is that he was also one of Elijah Muhammad’s sons. He died following heart surgery. R.I.P. and condolences to his family.
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Comments
24 Responses to “BOXING: Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao is Real!; Hopkins-Pavlik; Roy Jones-Calzaghe…”
Got something to say?
De La Hoya is dodging Margarito, so I’m rooting for Pacquiao to take him out even though he’s gotta go up a couple weight classes.
I’m so disappointed that the Oscar-Manny fight is going to go down. This isn’t a real boxing match insomuch as it’s a an opportunity for two of the sport’s wealthiest to bleed some more money out of television audiences while they still can.
1: I agree with Unsilent Majority. If I were Oscar i’d build the next guy and see about fighting Cotto. Mexico v. Puerto Rico in Dodger Stadium? Yes please.
2: Pavlik might very well beat Hopkins. And i hope that he does. Because Hopkins’s style is so boring now that it’s not worth watching.
3: Calzaghe hasn’t been protected recently. he did fight Mikkel Kessler and Jeff Lacy pretty much back-to-back, and then beat Hopkins. But for the vast majority of his career it’s been him & ottke as the guys who were looking like european creations.
ODLH is going to destroy Manny IMO. Too tall, still fast, too hard of a hiiter.
Don’t really know what to expect from B-Hop and Pavlick. I felt that Hopkins was too old to pull the trigger when he saw openings against Calzaghe, but I am just not that impressed with Pavlick. I will go with the younger guy.
I guess this is my upset special as I am taking RJJ to KO Calzaghe. Jones hasn’t got any slower in my eyes and I don’t think he will be as cautious against Calzaghe as he was against Tito. Jones is still a one of the Master Class of boxing and I think that he can take advantage of the openings that Joe showed against Hopkins and close the show.
Yeah, I’ll be rooting for tiny Manny, too. I too, think that he’ll be destroyed, BUT I’m not ready to dismiss him because different fighters put on weight differently, Some bring new punching power to the next level and others don’t. Hopkins fighting Tarver did surprise us all. But I just don’t know about lightweight to welterweight overnight…
Okori, c’mon now. Kessler and Lacy are NOT Roy and BHop in their prime. He never ventured away from his favorite weight as most fighters do to make big fights. He barely ventured away from his favorite stadium. He never fought Tarver, Taylor, and how on earth could he not want a Pavlik fight that would make huge money and create great excitement. Calzaghe is a straight punk who is only interested in protecting his spotless record. Or a savvy businessman… Or both. But he is not an all-time great, and now for the next 40 years, I’m going to have to hear all the UK fans over at Eastside Boxing and other places make that argument. Pleeeeeeease let awb be right about Roy.
awb — “Jones hasn’t got any slower in my eyes” — we have been watching different tape my friend… IMO, his reflexes went from godly to just “above average”. But since he can’t brawl, and doesn’t have a good chin he just can’t make up for it in other areas like some great fighters do while aging (Ali). I think that it was a washed up Tito that made RJJ look real fast.
yeah. but they’re the best fights he could make at the time.
I’ll add more later, but you forgot to include maybe the best fight of them all:
Sept 13th (Showtime - FREE) Nate Campbell vs. Joan Guzman on Sept 13th for the WBA, IBF, and WBO Lightweight championship.
Undercard includes Timothy Bradley vs. Edner ‘Cherry Bomb’ Cherry WBC Super Lightweight Championship.
man that could be fun.
Thanks MODI for all this and all of that.
First off, the Chuvalo video is just unbelievable…except that it’s believable. Boxing, and line play in the NFL, have to be the toughest and most unrewarding hustles in professional sports. There is no amount of money that can replace the loss of 3 children, a wife, or an amputated leg (Tisdale) or even your own life at a young age (Duckworth, Stringer, Upshaw, Phills, Smith, Delaney, Payton, Taylor, Williams, and on and on). On some level, the American public just has to be embarassed about all the bitching and moaning they do about the salaries people earn. It reveals a bottomless myopia and stupidity that has reduced this population to a cash cow…consuming to feel better about it’s own hatred of just about everything and everyone. Spending eases the pain for a minute, then it’s right back on the treadmill with the rest of the gerbils.
I’m glad you cover the sport of boxing. I don’t appreciate as much as I used to. Perhaps it has something to do with the diminished glow of the heavyweight division. In any event, I’ve banned Roy Jones from wearing boxing gloves on my television. I can’t keep him from buying the gloves, wearing the shorts or booking fights. That’s not the problem. I can’t seem to get him to actually fight. So, he’s banned.
I’d like to see DelaHoya loooooz. Am I being a hater? Nah. I just don’t like that he’s rich. I’m kidding. Seriously though, I think that would be a good fight. I just like Pac Man’s style (both of them! Rain, rain, rain!!) I agree with you, though, that Oh-skar’s weight could be decisive.
Nice job…thanks for the link. The Chuvalo story really should get some reps.
SJ, thanks for the addition… Nate looked impressive against Juan Diaz
Temple, yeah that Chuvalo story is something… He seems to be holding up pretty impressively… not to mention that he seems pretty lucid for someone who took so many hits…
You know, I have more respect for boxers than any other sport. It is not even close. I’ve only sparred in the ring a couple of times and 3 minutes seems like a lifetime. A champion boxer has nowhere to run and no one else to hide their flaws like team sports (tennis is closest to boxing). it is not enough to be strong and have an incredible physical make-up, but you must be tactical as well. You must have extreme mental toughness, incredible discipline, and a big heart. Any single weakness will be exposed. Many potential greats were missing just one of these components and fell way short.
– Riddick Bowe could have been great, but lacked discipline.
– Lennox Lewis and Vlad Klitchko have the size, mobility, and training ethic to be the best ever, but neither have chins.
– Mike Tyson’s talent plus Holyfield’s discipline and heart might be the greatest fighter ever.
Put it all together and Ali is by far and away my favorite heavyweight. And that does not even include all the political and charismatic stuff outside the ring. Reinventing himself in the ’70’s after losing his legs he had in the ’60s is one of the most remarkable achievemnts ever. …Unfortunately, alot of boxing trainers hate Ali because they believe he ruined boxing. He danced and held his hands low, and generations of fighters tried to copy him but would get their asses knocked out cuz they just didn’t have Ali’s once-in-a-100-years speed and reflexes…
I believe the weigh-in will be on-day for the Dela Hoya-Pacquiao fight, which would make them fight at even 147 on that day. And 147lbs was Pac-man’s weight on the exact day last time he fought Diaz.
And I’ve been counting Pac-man out for years and have been proven wrong a lot of times already. So I’m not betting against him again.
Another addition to the list should be Katsidis-Diaz which marks the return of boxing after the August break.
Oh, and adding Berto-Forbes to the Mosley-Mayorga undercard totally redeems that fight.
MODI:
Those are great points about Ali. Unorthodox excellence is always the bane of a coach’s existence. When I think of people who performed at these elite levels, they seem to have in common a long-standing mastery of the fundamentals. It was precisely their mastery of the basics at a young age which allowed them to discard the FORM while retaining the ESSENCE.
Bruce Lee, Prince, Jordan, Rickey Henderson, Jimi Hendrix, KRS-ONE.
I know that’s an odd list, but each of them were/are clearly masters of the most basic element of their work. They’ve built on that foundation and totally flipped the script to something that is damn near unrecognizable to other long-standing practitioners, but is almost irresistable to the casual observer. It’s precisely that sense of STYLE which creates cross-over appeal.
The funny thing about all of this is that each of these disciplines have a mathematical, rhythmic basis. Timing and balance are at the heart of all these endeavors. I think where each of these greats separated themselves from others was with respect to SPEED. The combination of a New Style and Speed is basically dazzling…you can’t really “choose” to watch something else. You’re riveted. It’s crazy.
Don’t forget Iverson Temple.
Thanks for the Chuvalo link. That guy’s a piece of granite to take all those shots and still keep going.
Thanks also for all the boxing talk because you got me ready for the Fall with this and what to look for. Should be an interesting slate of matches to finish out the year.
HD, it is one of the best 3 month boxing stretches that I can remember in years… I’m very excited…
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“Bruce Lee, Prince, Jordan, Rickey Henderson, Jimi Hendrix, KRS-ONE.”
Temple, I am curious as to your elaboration… if you’ve got the time…
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The best example of a Ali imitator gone wrong was Prince Naseem Hamed… I must admit that he even had me fooled for a minute. He was pretty damn quick, had power in both hands, and kept his hands about an inch above his waist. But the first time he ever faced an elite fighter Marco Antonio Barrera simply handed his ass to him. And most tellingly, Hamed never came back for more. He was exposed as a fraud with no heart. I’ve heard all kinds of stories of how a defeat was psychologically devastating to some fighters (Floyd Patterson would wear disguises after he lost), but unlike Hamed, most dust themselves off and try to come back. My guess is that Hamed went into some serious depression.
The first loss is always the toughest which is why I am very curious about Miguel Cotto right now… Many trainers believe that there is great psychological value to losing early in one’s career (Joe Louis, Bernard Hopkins…)
best moment of any fight ever for me Modi was when Barrera, ahead on a fight he knew he was winning, half-nelson’d Hamed right into the ring pad. God did it ever feel good to see that.
Damn, did you guys see that first fight? I’m glad they stopped that fight… also glad for Rocky…
Anyway, should be a good follow-up with Kastidis-Diaz
Juan Diaz was very, very impressive tonight against Kastides. Nice jab, nice combos, and nice footwork. Just seemed to have great poise and control against a very tough fighter. Besides some sloppiness in the 10th he looked like a real pro. Nice bounceback for him.
That judge who scored for Katsides was smoking crack. I’m glad Kellerman called out the possibility of corruption…
MODE
He was dropping acid. That crap was crazy. Boxing drives me crazy sometimes. Diaz did everthing but knock him out. I was stunned. Something was going on because Katsidis was acting like he won the fight despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Diaz was dominating. Combos, jab, busy, defense. The only complaint is his punc\hing power. Mabye Katsidis has a serious chin. This was great for Diaz, but where the heck is Nate Cambell?
Oops. Sorry MODI!! It’s kind of late.
It’s going to be sensational seeing Hopkins get DESTROYED by Pavlik!
Dont call it a comeback…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Hx9Rtvw1Y&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rz7uikJS2o&feature=related
If i were pacman I would show-up just for the $15 million and knock myself out
in the first second of the first round. Then go for the real money and fight the one
and only champion who every one wants to see him fight again Mr. J Marquez