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.