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Written by The Sweet Science
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Tuesday, 01 November 2011 11:17
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 Boxing and college football have a fair amount in common. The championship pictures in both are an absolute mess and many would-be fans keep their distance as a result. The rankings in both are based not just on wins and losses but on perception of quality of opposition and quality of performance. In both sports, there are new scandals surfacing seemingly every week. And in both boxing and college football, if you can overlook all the external crap, the actual athletic competition is often spectacular.I don’t follow college football closely at all (ever since the ’94 season ended with Penn State undefeated and somehow not able to play for the national championship, I’ve found better things to do with my Saturdays), but I pay just enough attention to know that there’s a parallel to be drawn between Lucian Bute and Boise State.... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Monday, 31 October 2011 19:56
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 Women love bad boys. There’s something about them that makes our heart beat a little faster. Whether it’s the leather jacket, the big muscles, or the rap sheet - we want to dabble. Is it that good girls want to be “bad,” or that we think our nurturing can change them? Whatever our attraction, most of us have indulged at one time or another in our own personal version of “Leader of the Pack.” Professional boxing is rife with bad boys—from Jake LaMotta and Jack Johnson (as I’ve been told) to Mike Tyson and James Kirkland (as I’ve clearly seen). We love them, and we love to hate them. Most women will always join the crowd in rooting for the good guy or the underdog. But we are secretly enchanted by those tough disrespectful boys we could never take home to meet Mama. The Bad Boy versus Good Boy theme has never... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Monday, 31 October 2011 08:16
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 I’m not supposed to see snow outside my window in October. Then again, I’m not supposed to live in a world in which a boxer who looks like Howdy Doody can be a heartthrob and in which a 108-pound man who looks like this (http://tinyurl.com/3wgzhds) can possibly be in competition for the same woman as said heartthrob.
Before we continue, an important addendum to the last sentence: “Allegedly.” There, now I’m in the clear to write whatever I want.Let’s open up this week’s mini-mailbag, where the (alleged) street fight between (allegedly) Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and (allegedly) Ulises Solis is the (alleged) topic of (alleged) discussion:Hey Eric,You been hearing about this Canelo-Solis stuff? I’m curious for your take on what you think happened, because it doesn’t quite make sense to me. Doesn’t Canelo date supermodels? And if so, are we really supposed... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Saturday, 29 October 2011 22:50
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 Episode two of Pacquiao-Marquez III 24/7 debuted on Saturday and two matters of import emerged for me. One, Marquez has a new strength and conditioning coach, Angel Hernandez, who studied at Texas A&M. Two, the Mexican legend, on the advice of his doctor and Gonzalez, no longer drinks his own urine.Marquez says on the HBo program that he is training for this fight as though it's his pro debut. It looks like he's acclimating to the 144 pound region well, as the speed bag he hammers at the gym is coming off its moorings.Pacquiao, it seems, is also on message. He says he's now balancing the boxing and Congress juggle that much better. Viewers see inhabitants of his district, Sarangani Province, and hear that six of ten live below the poverty line. Many earn around $12 a month, but sometimes that falls to nothing. Manny, people say, is seen a sympathetic person, and his cattle... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Saturday, 29 October 2011 08:33
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 NEW YORK (Oct. 29, 2011) – Middleweight prospect Brandon “Flawless” Gonzales won an eight-round split decision over veteran Ossie Duran by the scores of 77-75 two times for Gonzales and 78-74 for Duran. In the co-feature, Artemio Reyes scored the biggest win of his young career by upsetting 2008 U.S. Olympian Javier Molina by the scores of 78-74 twice and 77-75 in an eight round welterweight bout from Bally’s Grand Ballroom in Atlantic City, N.J. In an extremely tight main event, Gonzales (15-0-1, 10 KOs), of Sacramento, Calif., threw crisper, cleaner punches in the early going. In a solid third round where Gonzales was able to successfully stick-and-move, he suffered a cut beneath his left eyebrow that didn’t seem to faze him throughout the fight. By the middle of the bout, however, Duran (26-9-2, 10 KOs), of Paterson, N.J., began to stack... Read more...
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Written by Rick Folstad
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Friday, 28 October 2011 15:53
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I t wasn’t a fight as much as it looked like two guys trying to avoid a bloody nose. Their fight this past January was 10 rounds of hunt and peck, punch and duck, jab and grab. And Timothy Bradley knows it better than anyone. He‘s had to live with it long after the rest of us turned our backs and walked away. The fight was against Devon Alexander and it didn’t live up to expectations. We weren’t looking for Hagler and Hearns or Ward and Gatti, but we didn‘t expect a sleeper. Bradley, the undefeated WBO junior-welterweight champion out of Palm Springs, CA, mercifully won the fight when Alexander was forced to quit in the 10th round with a bad cut. Many of us missed the ending. We fell asleep early. Though he won, that fight didn’t do a lot for Bradley’s blossoming career. It still gnaws at him, though he might tell you he’s moved on. But that’s... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Friday, 28 October 2011 09:49
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 MAYWEATHER VS. ORTIZ RECORDS SECOND HIGHEST NON-HEAVYWEIGHT PAY-PER-VIEW GROSS EARNINGS IN BOXING HISTORY LAS VEGAS (October 28). Floyd Mayweather puts more meaning to his ring name "Money" every time he fights. With early pay-per-view numbers counted and confirmed, the pugilist's recent STARPOWER fight against Victor Ortiz generated buys from 1.25 million homes with a value of $78,440,000 dollars in pay-per-view revenue. These numbers make the event the second highest grossing non-heavyweight pay-per-view event of all time. With another successful pay-per-view event under his belt, Mayweather continues his reign as the biggest and most lucrative attraction in the sport. He has now appeared in the three biggest non-heavyweight pay-per-view events in the sport's history, including Mayweather vs. Oscar de la Hoya ($136,853,700), Mayweather... Read more...
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Written by David A. Avila
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Friday, 28 October 2011 08:21
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 HIGHLAND, CA.-Manny Pacquiao arrived and brought his friends with him at San Manuel Casino and expressed a few words about his upcoming fight in English and Spanish. Then the fights began. World class featherweight contender Bernabe Concepcion (31-4-1, 17 KOs) met San Diego’s Aaron Garcia (10-3-2, 2 KOs) in a fiery 10 round battle on Thursday. That, and other Filipino versus Mexican matches took place. The ballroom was packed. San Manuel Casino is tucked along a usually green hillside and has been home to more mixed martial arts shows than boxing. But when Pacquiao is co-promoting a show with Top Rank then the people will definitely come. A crowd of more than 2,000 saw Concepcion pull out a split decision victory over Garcia who matched him blow for blow. The featherweight action saw back and forth action from round two on. Garcia has that style... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Thursday, 27 October 2011 16:06
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 Give your keys to Lloyd Dobler, boxing fans, because it’s time to get rosy-cheeked and full-bladdered with another edition of the 24/7 Drinking Game. The Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III version of HBO’s reality-series-slash-promotional-vehicle kicked off on Saturday night, and while the once universally acclaimed show now seems to draw as many boos as cheers, one thing remains true: 24/7 always goes down smoother with booze and “Cheers!”(For the record, I enjoyed this weekend’s premiere episode of 24/7 Pacquiao-Marquez, but based upon the comments made by boxing folks I follow on Twitter and the comments that those folks re-tweeted, I might just be in the minority.)A quick statement of the obvious before we begin the drinking game: TSS does not advocate the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors. So if you’re under 21, you can read along,... Read more...
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Written by Frank Lotierzo
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Thursday, 27 October 2011 09:25
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 This past Monday former cruiserweight title holder Jean-Marc Mormeck 36-4 (22) said something on the order of, one hard blow will be enough to beat multiple heavyweight title belt holder Wladimir Klitschko 56-3 (49) this coming December 10th. Keep in mind this is coming from a fighter who wasn't a terrifically big punching cruiserweight, and is worse as a heavyweight. Mormeck continued, "I want his belts. If I want to get them, I'll have to smash his face. I've seen all his opponents, and when they get in the ring, I have the impression that they don't do what they need to do. They don't move forward. They don't take any risk.''Mormeck has come out of nowhere and is providing great copy for what many believe will be a fight that's tremendously one-sided and devoid of action and drama. His words echo what many believe is part and parcel as to what it'll take to beat Wladimir... Read more...
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