BOXING ALL OVER THE WORLD

Fighting breaks out from Cali all the way to Denmark

Its good to put the focus back on boxing action after having to hear about the depressing murder suicide of Edwin Valero and his beautiful wife. The Blackeyed View decides to lead into this week reporting on the good and there was much good to report on this weekend as there were three fights of significance that took place in California and in Denmark. First in California a true heavyweight slugfest took place between heavyweight newcomer Tomasz Adamek fighting for only the third time in the division and former world title challenger Cris Arreola. Adamek the former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion was outweighed by the naturally bigger Arreola by 33 1/2 pounds. He hoped to match the hard punching Arreola's power and size with speed and mobility but the resident of Riverside, California was determined to outpunch his Polish rival and that had the makings of a good old fashioned shootout.

Adamek was able to use his quicker hands to outbox Arreola in the first four rounds but you could tell that he felt Arreola's edge in power with every connected punch. The bigger man rocked Adamek in the fourth and sixth rounds and had him on queer street but the determined Polish fighter hung on to survive. Adamek tried to make himself an elusive target for his opponent but those who have seen Adamek throughout his career can tell that this style is not his strong suit and it would only be a matter of time before he would follow his instincts to stand his ground and trade punches. Still Adamek's work was beginning to show on his rival's face as Arreola's eyes starting to close and his face was getting puffy from his opponents pot shotting.

Arreola almost broke through for a KO win in the tenth when he had Adamek hanging by a string after connecting with a vicious combination to the head but failed to capitalize when he injured his hand. Adamek (41-1, 27 KOs) ever the opportunist pounced on the wounded Californian in the last two rounds and was able to squeak out a majority decision win much to the dismay of the pro Arreola (28-2) hometown crowd. This was only the second loss in Arreola's career the first coming in his only title try against Vitaly Klitschko and Adamek's third straight win in the land of the heavies, a rematch between the two is a natural.

This was a fight that the heavyweight division needed. Two evenly matched opponents who provide action packed fights going at each other. Even the setting worked for this fight as the majority pro Arreola crowd traded cheers and jeers with the significant Polish fans that traveled to support their man. Adamek dedicated the fight to the memory of the late Polish president and the victims of the air crash that claimed their lives.

On the under card explosive welterweight Alfredo 'El Perro' Angulo knocked out former hot prospect and knockout artist himself Joel 'Lovechild' Julio in the eleventh round of a hotly contested fight.

Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament continued in Denmark with the WBC Super middleweight championship on the line as the defending champion from England Carl "the Cobra' Froch took on former champ Mikkel Kessler on Kessler's home turf. These two fought with desperation as Kessler needed to win to have any hopes of advancing in the tournament and Froch was desperate to keep his title and undefeated record.

Kessler was determined to establish his jab early and be the aggressor while Froch was content to play the part of the cobra waiting in the wings to strike. Both men had their moments in the early rounds with none able to take the early advantage. Froch was able to make his counter punches count as his power was showing early against his foe, while Kessler maintained consistent pressure. Froch was able to cause Kessler to take an early tumble in the sixth but it was ruled a slip by the referee. At that point it appeared that Froch had established a power edge mentally over Kessler as his shots seemed to be delivered with more venom.

Froch was able to cut the Dane over the left eye in the later rounds possibly reopening a wound from Kessler's last fight. That is when Kessler's trainer Jimmy Montoya began to spur on his fighter to press the attack which he did in the later rounds. Froch sustained a cut to the bridge of his nose that gave the appearance of a broken nose and his punch output began to dip substantially. The last two rounds were high drama as both men were rocked and appeared to be on the verge of being stopped by the other. Froch and Kessler battled it out near the ropes at the end of the final round and the fight at that point was a toss up with maybe a slight edge to the defending champion.

After a long delay the scorecards were read and what looked to be a very close contest was not seen that way by two of the judges at ringside. One judge had it a reasonable 115-113 for Kessler while the other two judges from Belgium gave the fight and the championship to Mikkel Kessler by ridiculously wide margins of 117-111 and 116-112. After the fight Froch seemed to be at peace with the decision as he voiced his belief that he would have had a tough time getting a decision win in his rival's hometown.

The scoreboards for the World Boxing Classic has one leader (Arthur Abraham) atop with 3 points and four fighters tied with 2 points a piece while one fighter (Allan Green) has zero points. Round two of the tournament continues in June as Andre Ward takes on late entry Allan Green.

And now the bad.....

I would be remiss not to mention the latest in the sad story involving former lightweight champion Edwin Valero. As reported in the last edition of the Blackeyed View , Edwin Valero was taken into custody following his admission to murdering his 24 year old wife Jennifer Carolina Viera on Sunday morning in a hotel located in Valencia, Venezuela. Viera was found dead by multiple stab wounds. The former champ was said to have told hotel security upon leaving the hotel that he had killed his wife. He was later picked up by Venezuelan police. Valero was taken to a police station in the town of Carabobo where he committed suicide in his jail cell that night. According to chief of police Wilmer Flores an inmate alerted the guards to Valero's cell were he was found hanging by the neck by his own jogging pants. He showed signs of life but the medics where unable to revive him.

Valero had a recent history of domestic abuse problems as he was arrested in March of allegedly hitting his wife which caused injuries that included a punctured lung and broken ribs. Ms. Viera refused to press charges on her husband telling police and hospital workers that her injuries were caused by a fall. Valero was the WBC lightweight champion with an impressive record of 27 wins no losses and all his wins coming by knockout. He recently relinquished his lightweight title to move up in weight and was projected to be an opponent for Manny Pacquiao. The deaths leave boxing fans lamenting the end of a once promising career and more importantly leaves two children ages 5 and 8 without parents.

Observations

• KA POW! That was the sound heard by those privileged enough to watch the knockout blow from the right hand of Alfred Angulo that took out Joel Julio in the eleventh round. I could almost see one of those big KA POW signs that filled up the TV screen every time Batman & Robin hit one of the villains in the campy old Batman TV series.



• When it took seemingly forever to hand in the scorecards during the Froch-Kessler fight you could almost sense that one of those hometown screw jobs was in effect. Now for such a close fight I could live with 115-113 for Kessler but do the Belgium judges have to make it so obvious by handing in alternate universe scores of 116-112 and 117-111? I mean seriously, does up mean down in their world?
  
  
  
• There are fights and then there are super fights. The match up between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley qualifies as a super fight. Mayweather has stepped up and risked all three times in his career. The first time was against Diego Corrales when 'Chico' was an undefeated wrecking ball that physically resembled a junior lightweight version of Tommy Hearns. The second time was when he engaged Jose Luis Castillo in a rematch after Castillo was robbed of victory in the first fight. This fight against Shane Mosley is his third riskiest move and he should get kudos for agreeing to this fight. Yes Shane Mosley is 38 years old and the Margarito fight may have deceivingly made him look indestructible, but he is still Sugar Shane Mosley. Who am I picking? My heart says Mosley and has convinced my head to go along with that pick.





• I really like Tomasz Adamek but seeing him struggle for the second time with what for the heavyweight division would classify as average height boxers, I now realize that he has little chance to win against any of the Klitschkos. He hasn't really carried his power up in weight and the larger the opponent the more he tends to box from the outside which would be a mistake against the Ukranian brothers. He has a much better shot at WBA champ David Haye who is his size and will be there to brawl with him.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE MOMENT

Speaking of one Tommy 'the Hitman' Hearns I'm reminded of one boxing moment that I would not tarnish with gambling, predictions, or trash talk. Its the three round war known in boxing lore as simply HAGLER-HEARNS. If I could get into my hot tub time machine I would use all my ill gotten gains to get myself a ringside seat to this fight. Although Hearns lost, both men covered themselves in glory for all time with this violent classic that will stand the test of time for all times when it comes to the subject of greatest fight you've ever seen. The following is but a sample of the smorgasbord of violence offered on April 15, 1985.

VIVA ARGENTINA

Argentine marvel Sergio Martinez rips the middleweight championship from the grasp of Kelly Pavlik

There was a changing of the guard at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ this Saturday night as the top junior middleweight in the world rose in weight to dethrone the undisputed middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik by unanimous decision in bloody fashion. Pavlik was attempting to regain the momentum he lost by losing to Bernard Hopkins in 2008 by taking on his most dangerous opponent since that fight in taking on tricky southpaw Martinez and he paid the price for his risky gamble. The Argentinean was coming off two hard luck decisions against top ranked opposition that had none the less given rise to his stock as he was able to dominate Kermit Cintron in a controversial draw and looked to get the better of the feared Paul Williams in a disputed decision loss. Both men were looking for a chance at redemption but it was Martinez who made use of his fast hands to literally cut Pavlik down to size.

Martinez set the pace for the fight in the early rounds by using constant movement and hand speed to befuddle the defending champion winning the first three rounds by landing more and getting hit less. He opened a small cut above the left eye of Pavlik in the first round. Pavlik began to time Martinez better in the fourth and got his offense working behind a defense that was starting to click. The fourth round arguably belonged to the challenger but it seemed that Pavlik got himself back into the fight in that round. He began to close the distance in rounds five thru eight even managing to score a flash knockdown in the seventh round possibly securing a lead.

But in the ninth round the tide turned again in favor of the challenger as he came out both guns blazing with quick fire combinations that opened up a gash over the right eye of Pavlik. The blood was flowing freely and the crimson tide inspired Martinez to attack some more. He unleashed several more combinations in the round that had the defending champion reeling. This action would repeat itself for the remaining rounds and Martinez was rewarded for his strong finish by the scores of 116-111, 115-111, and 115-112 giving him the unanimous decision and the undisputed middleweight championship of the world.

After the match the dethroned champion Kelly Pavlik vowed to invoke his rematch clause to recapture his title. Martinez celebrated with his corner men and when asked who he would fight next responded, "I would fight whoever." The last time there was an undisputed middleweight champion from Argentina it was the legendary Carlos Monzon who would go on to set the record for most middleweight title defenses that would stand for almost thirty years before being broken by Bernard Hopkins.

World Boxing Classic mistake.....

This weekend Lucian Bute defended his IBF super middleweight title with an impressive third round knockout over Colombian powerhouse Edison Miranda. Bute dropped Miranda with a vicious uppercut after Miranda dared Bute to hit him with his best shot. Bute did and Miranda couldn't take it. Lucian Bute perfectly illustrated to the makers of the innovative Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament which involves top super middleweights that he clearly belonged in the mix and whoever emerges victorious from this tournament cannot call himself the best until they have it out with Bute.

Breaking News

Lightweight titlist Edwin Valero surrendered to Venezuelan police on Sunday morning confessing to the murder of his wife, 20 year old Yennifer Carolina. According to Venezuelan police Mrs. Valero died after suffering three stab wounds which Valero has confessed to. In the last month there have been reports of domestic abuse on the part of Edwin Valero and he was scheduled to submit himself to a rehabilitation center in Cuba to deal with alcoholism.

Notes

• Lately when I hear the name Lucian Bute I am starting to associate it with Lucifer as I have now witnessed the man give two powerful boxers (Librado Andrade and Miranda) a hellacious beating.
  
• Usually this is where I was planning to add my Hot Tub Time Machine moment but due to the news involving the murder of Edwin Valero's wife in which Valero himself has confessed to it, I am left tossed for a loop. I feel like a fool for ever rooting for this guy and feel for the family of this poor girl. I have nothing much left to say till the next report.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE

Some things refuse to go away....the ghost of Holyfield knocks out the 'White Buffalo'

In the latest comedy hit Hot Tub Time Machine in theaters now, four friends are transported back in time to 1986 and forced to relive their youth. Without revealing much about the movie I will say that the viewer gets to see some significant historical moments in the pop culture, political, and sports arena. It was great to relive some of those moments. Not so great to tune in the other night and have my own hot tub time machine moment witnessing 47 year old Evander Holyfield fighting the 41 year old 'White Buffalo' Frans Botha. Despite his age, Holyfield remains a physical wonder, ripped and putting to shame men half his age. Holyfield and Botha fought last Saturday night in Las Vegas and 'the Real Deal' was able to knock out Botha in the eight round for his first KO win in years. Its hard not to root for Holyfield who has provided boxing fans with some of the most significant heavyweight and cruiserweight moments of the last 3 decades but I think its safe to say that most fans nowadays are torn between rooting for him not to get hurt and rooting for him to retire. The only one who doesn't seem to get this is Holyfield himself.

He is following the same sad path that legends like Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Roberto Duran, and Sugar Ray Robinson trailed before him by fighting on way past his prime and jeopardizing his health. Ali is unfortunately a living testament to the perils of receiving punches for far longer than the body was made to absorb. Part of me wishes that Holyfield would get his title shot against the undisputed champ Wladimir Klitschko so that one of the following scenarios would unfold; A) Klitschko is finally the one to beat him into retirement or B) Holyfield regains the championship one last time and finally retires as a winner. Neither option is actually good for the sport as in the first option Holyfield can get seriously hurt and in the second option Holyfield would retire and the heavyweight championship would become vacant leaving the division without a head for some time. Of course there is always a third option in which Klitschko does enough to win but lets Holyfield survive enough to claim a moral victory, which will no doubt encourage Evander to try , try again. There is only one option that makes any sense but it is so hard to say to my hero the ultimate warrior Evander Holyfield.....please, please give it up.

Dedicating victory to the victims of the Haitian earthquake, the Hatian hopeful wins: Andre Berto stops Carlos 'el Indio' Quintana

This past Saturday night at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida, Andre Berto resumed his promising career which was put on hold following the tragic earthquake in Haiti earlier this year that claimed the lives of eight of his family members. Berto (26-0, 20 KOs) faced off against top ten welterweight Carlos 'El Indio' Quintana, the only man to best fearsome Paul 'the Punisher' Williams and stopped him in 8 rounds.

Quinatana's southpaw style presented some problems early for Berto as he used his savvy and movement to befuddle Berto. But Berto's speed and power was too much for the Puertorican as Berto was able to snap 'El Indio's' head back with hooks and right crosses that had him tottering on the brink until referee Tommy Kimmons intervened at 2:16 of the 8th round giving Andre Berto the TKO win to retain his WBC welterweight title.

Berto was originally scheduled to face Sugar Shane Mosley in the biggest fight of his career but was forced to cancel it to attend to his family in Haiti after the earthquake devastated that country. A portion of the live gate for this event was donated to efforts for the rebuilding of Haiti. With this impressive win against a game Quintana, Berto has positioned himself as a player in the welterweight division and has given life to his hopes to match up with the likes of Miguel Cotto, Mosley, Floyd Mayweather, and of course the man, Manny Pacquiao.

NOTES

• This past Saturday boxing lost legendary referee Arthur Mercante at 90 years of age. Mercante was the referee for what is considered the biggest event in boxing, billed simply as 'the Fight', Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden won by Joe Frazier. In his day, Mercante was one of those people that lent more credibility to an event in the way that Bob Costas, Howard Cosell, Michael Buffer (Lets get ready to RUUUMBLLLLLE!!!) and Jim Lampley bring more significance to sports matchups. If there was a big fight, Mercante was the referee who usually got the call.




• This past Thursday the Yankees hosted a press conference at the new Yankee Stadium to officially announce that they will be hosting the Yuri Foreman vs Miguel Cotto bout for Foreman's junior middleweight title on July 5th.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE MOMENT

In the film Hot Tub Time Machine, several of the characters relive certain sporting events at a bar and knowing the eventual outcome decide to wage bets. It made me think of what sporting moment I would bet on if I had my own hot tub time machine. This will be a weekly feature to the Blackeyed View and as my first choice I would have to go back to 1990 to the grandaddy of all upsets. Buster Douglas KOs Mike Tyson in Tokyo. The odds were 40 to 1 against Douglas who was dealing with the death of his mother and the illness to his father looming over his head not to mention that he was facing the harbinger of doom himself in Mike Tyson who was at the absolute peak of his powers. I cannot think of anything in sports today that is a sure thing like Tyson was during his heyday. You couldn't get up and go to get a drink because it usually took Tyson that long to get his quick KO wins. But with my hot tub time machine and all the money I could gather I would have laid it all on the line for Douglas.

Revenge rears its ugly head

Hopkins gains ugly revenge on Jones 17 years after their first ugly fight

We can only hope that there will not be a Hopkins-Jones 3 after the long overdue rematch between the ancient warriors turned into a foul fest that saw 45 year old Bernard Hopkins (51-5-1, 32 KOs) win a unanimous decision against his long time rival 41 year old Roy Jones, Jr. (54-7-40 KOs) this past Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas. During his ring walk Hopkins was led to the ring by an aging lounge singer belting out Frank Sinatra's classic My Way. To some including former HBO announcer George Foreman, Bernard's way has been to get away with fouls during his bouts so Roy Jones decided to fight Bernard's way also and that is when the fight turned to the south end of weird street.

The first five rounds where uneventful rounds that were won by Hopkins. Both men where feeling each other out in the first couple of rounds but Hopkins established his ring generalship by the third round by simply outpunching Jones with body shots but nothing that looked dangerous. By the fifth round Jones was flinching at every Hopkins attempt and falling for every feint. Hopkins began to employ his foul tactics leading into the sixth round and that is when Jones decided to fire back. Early in the sixth round Hopkins got away with a low blow to Jones but Jones did not react to it. Later in the same round Jones would unleash a rabbit punch that caused Hopkins to drop as if he was shot by a gun. Hopkins was sprawled on the canvas and the fight was in peril of being stopped. Jones paced around in his corner with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face as Hopkins writhed in pain. The referee Tony Weeks deducted a point from Jones and after Hopkins was given some recovery time the action resumed. Hopkins tore into Jones with a fury and did not let up even after the bell had sounded to end the round. The fighters had to be separated by security as the crowd erupted. A fight had suddenly broken out between the two vets.

The boxers settled down and Hopkins restored his order to the fight outscoring Jones in the 7th round. But now Jones seemed to be reinvigorated by the sight of his opponent on the ground in the previous round, he intensified his efforts but did not produce the necessary punch out put needed to win rounds. In the eighth there was more rough stuff as Hopkins landed a rabbit punch but would be felled by the rabbit punch thrown by Jones in retaliation. Once again the fight looked to be in danger of being stopped as the ring doctor checked on Hopkins. The Philadelphia fighter would go down for a third time from a border line low blow. Jones was losing the fight but his spirits were no doubt buoyed by seeing his most hated rival go down three times.

In the 11th round the action was stopped by the ref so that the doctor could check on a cut suffered by Jones from a Hopkins headbutt that was ruled unintentional. The last round did not produce the fireworks that the fans wanted and the fight was closed out to a chorus of boos. Hopkins prevailed by scores of 117-110, 117-110, 118-109. In the end Hopkins got his vindication and Jones walks away with the moral victory in that he did not get knocked out and had the pleasure of watching his foe on the canvas three times. The lesson that should be learned from the Hopkins-Jones rivalry by those in control of boxing is that although revenge (rematches) are a dish best served cold, you shouldn't wait 17 years to serve it.

Observations

• After the fight Hopkins called for a fight against WBA Heavyweight champ David Haye. My reaction to this is to tell Hopkins to forget about it. Bernard its time to wrap it up champ. If you think Roy Jones' rabbit punches were hard wait till you taste Haye's best rabbit punch. In this weekend's fight against John Ruiz he was able to beat up Ruiz pretty good but among his clean shots where also some vicious rabbit punches one of which took Ruiz down in the first round. If Hopkins reacted the way he did to a light heavyweight foul imagine what can happen when a young, 225 pound heavyweight connects with his.



• A few articles ago I talked about some of my favorite renditions of the national anthem at big fights. I had a clear ranking of those moments but have not yet come to a precise list of my favorite ring walks yet but as of last night I have to say that Hopkins ring entrance has to rank high amongst my favorite ring walks. The decision to walk in with an aged lounge singer singing Sinatra's My Way while three aging Aretha Franklin impersonators provided back up singing in the ring was the stuff of high hilarity. Everyone around me cracked up and then joined in the sing along. It was awesome.

• I have been touting David Tua as a possible threat to the two headed Klitschko monster that rules the heavyweight division due to the fact that in Tua's last couple of fights he has come in weighing in between 235 and 238 pounds, has looked motivated and has retained all of his prodigious power but mainly its been because of the dearth of talent in this weight class. I did not believe in David Haye but after what he did to the always difficult John Ruiz I am a born again believer. Haye is also something that Tua is not, fresh and young. All the same I would like to see Tua get his shot, if not against the Klistchkos then against Haye. That would be something. Tua hasn't fought in the states in a number of years so in case anyone out there forgot what this man brings to the table I offer the following video as a reminder.

A star is shining in England: David Haye is for real

The Englishman stops John Ruiz and the calls for a Klitschko fight grow louder

Those who dream of a dynamic powerhouse to energize and take hold of the heavyweight division just got a shot in the arm from the WBA champion from London, David 'Haymaker' Haye as he did what few have been able to do in dismantling and stopping former two time WBA king John 'the Quiet Man' Ruiz at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England this Saturday night. Ruiz who has often been criticized for his unsightly fighting style of mauling came out looking determined to go for the KO win. He pressured Haye from the onset and began to walk down the champion behind a jab-right cross combination. But the former cruiserweight champion from London delivered his own one two combo that put Ruiz on his back in the first round. Ruiz would get up at the count of eight and look to be on unsteady legs when he was pinned against the ropes and sent down against this time from a rabbit punch. In a strange move the referee Guillermo Perez counted the knockdown and took away a point from Haye acknowledging the very foul that led to the knockdown that he counted against Ruiz anyway.

Ruiz survived the round and came back to reassert himself into the fight in the second and third rounds. But David Haye was an elusive target and his hand speed allowed him to attack and counter Ruiz at will. Ruiz, the first Latino heavyweight to hold a major title, was unbowed as he tried to stick to his game plan of steady pressure behind his jab but would repeatedly get caught with rapid combinations and a nasty right cross that bloodied his nose. He would fall again in the fifth and sixth rounds grabbing at his head in an apparent attempt to get Haye penalized again. The end would come in the last minute of the ninth round when Ruiz's trainer Miguel Diaz waved the white towel of surrender as his man was on the ropes again under heavy fire.

With this win Haye (24-0, 22 KOs) positions himself as the most attractive if not deserving contender to the Klitschko brothers Wladimir and Vitaly. It was the most impressive outing of the four heavyweight fights that Haye has engaged in since moving up from cruiserweight. John Ruiz (44-9-1, 30 KOs) had up to this point only been knocked out once and that by the powerful Samoan David Tua in a first round bludgeoning early in his career. Since then Ruiz ha gone toe to toe with the giants of the game, men like Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, James Toney, Hasim Rahman, and Andrew Golota without suffering a stoppage loss. The muscular Haye immediately called out the Klitschkos and took a shot at the physical conditioning of the last two opponents that faced the brothers (Chris Arreola and Eddie Chambers) calling them 'disgraceful'. Haye is indeed an exciting fighter that provides the rare combination of speed, power, charisma, and just the right amount of vulnerability to capture the imagination of the boxing public.

BOXING FANS MAKE BETTER LOVERS

I don't know about you, but thoughts seem to dance most often across my mind when I'm in the middle of a workout and today as I was on the treadmill, my favorite whipping boy Tiger Woods led me on a path to a most interesting conclusion. I was chuckling to myself about his 'sexual addiction' excuse for what seems to be the millionth time and started to think about all of the now suspected sexual addicts that I know based on Wood's assessment and list of symptoms for this 'disease'. Seems to me that sexual urges are as basic an animal instinct as our tendency to get violent once in a while and that it is more a matter of self control and discipline then an addictive problem that would afflict a drug addict for example. My point is that I don't buy it and I never will. But that led me to wonder what does it take to have that self control. I imagine that the person should possess the following traits: loyalty, perseverance, patience, understanding, generosity, the ability to compromise, passion and above all love. As I ran thru that list it clicked then and there for me that those are the very same qualities that have kept me and millions of other boxing fans loyal to a sport that often time can be cruel to its followers. So my conclusion, to all those out there looking for a soul mate who will stick by them thru thick and thin, date a boxing fan.

Seems like I just jump from one topic to the other but that is how my mind works as I struggle to control my breathing, concentration, and try not to look at the treadmill watch as I keep on running to no where. Boxing fans, out of all sports fans have taken the most amount of s....suffering. Our sport has been marginalized out of the mainstream showing up here and there with a mega fight that might attract mainstream news coverage from time to time, some of our champions are unrecognizable to the average person on the street, has way too many weight classes to follow, corrupt officials, postponed fights, the occasional bad judge's decision, we're being overshadowed by the freak show that is mixed martial arts, golf (GOLF FOR GOD'S SAKE!), NASCAR (the wheels of the car go round & round, round & round, round & round) and now even poker. But the true boxing fan keeps coming back for more like an unfortunate spouse suffering from battered wife syndrome.

But we come back because we know that under all the crap is a diamond in the rough. Boxing is the only sport in which you can find art in violence (see little Pacquiao take apart men larger than he with speed and power), drama (review epics like Corrales-Castillo, Gatti-Ward, Leonard-Hearns, Barrera-Morales), redemption (Holyfield-Tyson 1, Hopkins-Trinidad, Douglas-Tyson) and more underdog stories that you could ever find in any other sport. Boxing fans know how to appreciate special things when we find them because we know that they may not show up again for a long time (postponed fights, dream fights that never happen, or fights that turn out to be a dud). And there a lot of special things going on right now that are vindicating the love of boxing fans, we are living in the age of Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather is getting in the ring with Shane Mosley, Showtime has put together the excellent super middleweight tournament and HBO is rumored to be following up with a junior welterweight version, we have an exciting middleweight champ in Kelly Pavlik, more and more great matchups are being made each year. We can't have it all apparently; see the heavyweight division, but the relationship between boxing fans and the sport is truly a give and take proposition and it seems that the sport is in give back mode right now.
So anyone out there with baggage let me point you in the direction of a boxing fan, we can take whatever you got. We know how to roll with the punches and give as good as we take. Boxing fans will stay true to you, we will never betray you, and when you sag (like the heavyweight division) we will stick by you because we always hold out for the comeback. The boxing fan is used to disappointment and with such lowered expectations is not that hard to please. The boxing fan is also a fan of action and passionate about it, so be ready to rumble if you know what I mean. The boxing fan has long been fed up with the corrupt bureaucrats who govern the sport so it makes it almost impossible for the boxing fan to use an excuse like 'sexual addiction' to excuse our misdeeds.

Don't believe me, do the research yourself. Baseball, basketball, and football fans are spoiled and used to getting what they want making it harder for them to obtain the traits discussed above to sustain a meaningful relationship. Golf and tennis fans are snobs (although I like tennis), soccer fans are volatile and prone to riots, and bowling fans are slobs. Sandra Bullock next time bypass that NASCAR fan and try a boxing fan. All of you reading these words, try a boxing fan, if you see one give them a hug or a kiss, you won't regret it.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts above are that of a man at the point of exhaustion, running on a treadmill for what seemed to be over an hour and doesn't necessarily reflect the views of the author when he is of sound mind and body. Any offense taken by tennis, soccer, baseball, bowling, football and MMA fans is strictly unfortunate and coincidental.

UPCOMING:

This Saturday night is the big rematch between heated rivals Bernard 'The Executioner' Hopkins and Roy Jones, Jr. The bout will take place at the Mandalay Bay hotel & resort in Las Vegas, Nevada and will be available on pay per view.

Also this Saturday will be a WBA heavyweight title fight from England between WBA champion David Haye and former champ John 'the Quiet Man' Ruiz