Friday, January 1, 2010
Another new year is upon us, so here are some of the things I'd like to see in boxing in 2010:
• For everybody involved to come their senses and get the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight done already. Enough with the drug testing nonsense. Mayweather shouldn't be making accusations without a shred of proof as he tries to discredit all of Pacquiao's great accomplishments, nor should he try to circumvent the Nevada rules by asking for blood tests when the commission has never asked for them. Likewise, if Pacquiao has nothing to hide, what's the big deal about random blood testing? They should flip a coin and stop holding the sports world hostage. If the fighters, Top Rank's Bob Arum, Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer and advisers Al Haymon, Leonard Ellerbe and Michael Koncz find a way to screw up one of the biggest fights in boxing history, a pox on all of them.
• For Pacquiao-Mayweather to live up to expectations if it gets done.
• For Top Rank's Todd duBoef and Golden Boy's Bruce Binkow to get the credit they will deserve for being the only sane ones in the bunch trying to save Pacquiao-Mayweather.
• And if Pacquiao-Mayweather takes place, a strong undercard, not the garbage we've seen on too many pay-per-views in recent years.
• For Bernard Hopkins to either retire or fight Tomasz Adamek. And for HBO to be proactive about buying the fight instead of talking about all kinds of other pointless fights for Hopkins.
• Retirement for Roy Jones and Evander Holyfield.
• The continued enjoyment of retirement for Oscar De La Hoya, who got out at just the right time.
• For Jermain Taylor the strength to get out before it's too late.
• Not only a happy new year, but a healthy one, for Kelly Pavlik.
• For Pavlik and Paul Williams to finally meet in the only middleweight fight that really matters right now, and for Sergio Martinez to get the winner.
• For a heavyweight to come along who might to be able to be at least remotely competitive with Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko.
• Meaningful fights for Nonito Donaire, Sakio Bika, Troy Ross and Humberto Soto.
• Successful comebacks for Miguel Cotto and Jorge Linares.
• For Shane Mosley not to have to wait a year again for his next fight, regardless of the outcome of his Jan. 30 bout with Andre Berto.
• A new choice of beverage for Juan Manuel Marquez.
• For Versus to reconsider its abandonment of boxing coverage.
• For at least some of promoter Lou DiBella's nice stable of prospects to pan out.
• For promoter Gary Shaw to take a chill pill or 10.
• An Ivan Calderon-Brian Viloria junior flyweight unification fight.
• That nobody gets hurt in the fourth fight between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez.
• A bigger programming budget for ESPN's Doug Loughrey.
• Smooth sailing for the remainder of Ken Hershman's baby, the Super Six World Boxing Classic on Showtime.
• For HBO's Ross Greenburg to continue what he did for the most part in 2009 -- allocate the network's vast resources for the best fights, not simply the best fighters.
• Peace for the families of Arturo Gatti, Alexis Arguello and Vernon Forrest in the year following their tragic deaths.
• For HBO to find a replacement for Artie Curry. But then I realized replacing him is impossible.
• For nobody to forget the grace that the family of junior featherweight Francisco "Paco" Rodriguez showed when it saved the lives of at least eight people by donating his organs after he died from injuries suffered in a November fight.
• A pardon for Jack Johnson.
• For Antonio Margarito to come clean about his cheating before he dare ask for a license again.
• For American fight fans to get a look at Hozumi Hasegawa and Marco Huck.
• A big fight in the future for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to host at his billion dollar-plus stadium. Same for Yankee Stadium.
• For Alfredo "Perro" Angulo to keep making every one of his fights exciting.
• For HBO to bring back the old "World Championship Boxing" music. You don't mess with perfection.
• For mouthy paper titleholder David Haye to stop yapping about the Klitschkos and then running from them when offered a shot.
• That we never again see Gale Van Hoy, Pierre Benoist, Alan Davis or Benoit Roussel anywhere near ringside with a pencil in hand judging a fight after the obscene scorecards they turned in 2009.
• A big-name opponent for Timothy Bradley Jr. and Celestino Caballero to fight.
• An Amir Khan-Paulie Malignaggi fight at Madison Square Garden.
• For prospect of the year Daniel Jacobs to live up the hype.
• Success for Warriors Boxing's Leon Margules, now that he's struck out on his own.
• As usual, for Don King either get off his butt and actually promote Devon Alexander or give the kid a release and let him go with somebody who is willing to do the job.
• A lifetime contract for HBO's Larry Merchant.
• That Cuban defectors Guillermo Rigondeaux and Erislandy Lara find as much success in the pros as they did as amateurs.
• One more chance for Joel "Love Child" Julio.
• For a few more doses of the hilarious trash talk that usually comes from Edison Miranda and Vic Darchinyan before a fight.
• For James Kirkland to learn from his mistakes.
• For B.J. Flores to step up and fight a real opponent instead of just talking endlessly about it.
• Another chance for Victor Ortiz to prove he has heart.
• A new song and a few less beers for Ricky Hatton.
• A match between Cristobal Arreola and David Tua with the winner to fight Samuel Peter.
• Another Brazilian star for Artie Pelullo to promote.
• A notable opponent under age 40 for Chad Dawson, and for Jean Pascal's shoulder injury to heal so he can become that guy for Dawson.
• A continued hot streak for Top Rank matchmaker Brad "Abdul" Goodman.
• That Jay Larkin and Nick Charles beat cancer and that Genaro Hernandez remains free of the vicious disease.
• Enough prospects to go around for managers Shelly Finkel and Cameron Dunkin to sign.
• For Sampson Lewkowicz to keep unearthing quality fighters overseas and bringing them here.
• More big crowds in Oakland for Andre Ward fights.
• Bankruptcy for the sanctioning organizations.
• For Fight Freaks everywhere, great fights all year long.
• And, as usual, for peace on Earth, but not inside the ring.
Happy New Year.
Another new year is upon us, so here are some of the things I'd like to see in boxing in 2010:
• For everybody involved to come their senses and get the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight done already. Enough with the drug testing nonsense. Mayweather shouldn't be making accusations without a shred of proof as he tries to discredit all of Pacquiao's great accomplishments, nor should he try to circumvent the Nevada rules by asking for blood tests when the commission has never asked for them. Likewise, if Pacquiao has nothing to hide, what's the big deal about random blood testing? They should flip a coin and stop holding the sports world hostage. If the fighters, Top Rank's Bob Arum, Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer and advisers Al Haymon, Leonard Ellerbe and Michael Koncz find a way to screw up one of the biggest fights in boxing history, a pox on all of them.
• For Pacquiao-Mayweather to live up to expectations if it gets done.
• For Top Rank's Todd duBoef and Golden Boy's Bruce Binkow to get the credit they will deserve for being the only sane ones in the bunch trying to save Pacquiao-Mayweather.
• And if Pacquiao-Mayweather takes place, a strong undercard, not the garbage we've seen on too many pay-per-views in recent years.
• For Bernard Hopkins to either retire or fight Tomasz Adamek. And for HBO to be proactive about buying the fight instead of talking about all kinds of other pointless fights for Hopkins.
• Retirement for Roy Jones and Evander Holyfield.
• The continued enjoyment of retirement for Oscar De La Hoya, who got out at just the right time.
• For Jermain Taylor the strength to get out before it's too late.
• Not only a happy new year, but a healthy one, for Kelly Pavlik.
• For Pavlik and Paul Williams to finally meet in the only middleweight fight that really matters right now, and for Sergio Martinez to get the winner.
• For a heavyweight to come along who might to be able to be at least remotely competitive with Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko.
• Meaningful fights for Nonito Donaire, Sakio Bika, Troy Ross and Humberto Soto.
• Successful comebacks for Miguel Cotto and Jorge Linares.
• For Shane Mosley not to have to wait a year again for his next fight, regardless of the outcome of his Jan. 30 bout with Andre Berto.
• A new choice of beverage for Juan Manuel Marquez.
• For Versus to reconsider its abandonment of boxing coverage.
• For at least some of promoter Lou DiBella's nice stable of prospects to pan out.
• For promoter Gary Shaw to take a chill pill or 10.
• An Ivan Calderon-Brian Viloria junior flyweight unification fight.
• That nobody gets hurt in the fourth fight between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez.
• A bigger programming budget for ESPN's Doug Loughrey.
• Smooth sailing for the remainder of Ken Hershman's baby, the Super Six World Boxing Classic on Showtime.
• For HBO's Ross Greenburg to continue what he did for the most part in 2009 -- allocate the network's vast resources for the best fights, not simply the best fighters.
• Peace for the families of Arturo Gatti, Alexis Arguello and Vernon Forrest in the year following their tragic deaths.
• For HBO to find a replacement for Artie Curry. But then I realized replacing him is impossible.
• For nobody to forget the grace that the family of junior featherweight Francisco "Paco" Rodriguez showed when it saved the lives of at least eight people by donating his organs after he died from injuries suffered in a November fight.
• A pardon for Jack Johnson.
• For Antonio Margarito to come clean about his cheating before he dare ask for a license again.
• For American fight fans to get a look at Hozumi Hasegawa and Marco Huck.
• A big fight in the future for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to host at his billion dollar-plus stadium. Same for Yankee Stadium.
• For Alfredo "Perro" Angulo to keep making every one of his fights exciting.
• For HBO to bring back the old "World Championship Boxing" music. You don't mess with perfection.
• For mouthy paper titleholder David Haye to stop yapping about the Klitschkos and then running from them when offered a shot.
• That we never again see Gale Van Hoy, Pierre Benoist, Alan Davis or Benoit Roussel anywhere near ringside with a pencil in hand judging a fight after the obscene scorecards they turned in 2009.
• A big-name opponent for Timothy Bradley Jr. and Celestino Caballero to fight.
• An Amir Khan-Paulie Malignaggi fight at Madison Square Garden.
• For prospect of the year Daniel Jacobs to live up the hype.
• Success for Warriors Boxing's Leon Margules, now that he's struck out on his own.
• As usual, for Don King either get off his butt and actually promote Devon Alexander or give the kid a release and let him go with somebody who is willing to do the job.
• A lifetime contract for HBO's Larry Merchant.
• That Cuban defectors Guillermo Rigondeaux and Erislandy Lara find as much success in the pros as they did as amateurs.
• One more chance for Joel "Love Child" Julio.
• For a few more doses of the hilarious trash talk that usually comes from Edison Miranda and Vic Darchinyan before a fight.
• For James Kirkland to learn from his mistakes.
• For B.J. Flores to step up and fight a real opponent instead of just talking endlessly about it.
• Another chance for Victor Ortiz to prove he has heart.
• A new song and a few less beers for Ricky Hatton.
• A match between Cristobal Arreola and David Tua with the winner to fight Samuel Peter.
• Another Brazilian star for Artie Pelullo to promote.
• A notable opponent under age 40 for Chad Dawson, and for Jean Pascal's shoulder injury to heal so he can become that guy for Dawson.
• A continued hot streak for Top Rank matchmaker Brad "Abdul" Goodman.
• That Jay Larkin and Nick Charles beat cancer and that Genaro Hernandez remains free of the vicious disease.
• Enough prospects to go around for managers Shelly Finkel and Cameron Dunkin to sign.
• For Sampson Lewkowicz to keep unearthing quality fighters overseas and bringing them here.
• More big crowds in Oakland for Andre Ward fights.
• Bankruptcy for the sanctioning organizations.
• For Fight Freaks everywhere, great fights all year long.
• And, as usual, for peace on Earth, but not inside the ring.
Happy New Year.
