Thursday, March 28, 2024  |

News

Dougie’s Friday mailbag

Fighters Network
24
Jun

Canelo-GGG-Oscar-Tom_cartoon

HEY CANELO, GBP, STOP SUCKING!

Let’s quit the “Sucking”… (“dejemonos de mamadas”)

That’s what Canelo Alvarez literally said after his fight with Amir Kahn when translated word by word.



It can also be directed at Oscar De La Hoya and his company when it comes to money. We the hardcore fans who keep boxing going and are ready to see the fight are not even considered. Marinating means the fight will cost twice as much to watch.

But we can always vote with our wallet, so I encourage all boxing fans not to buy any Canelo fights and on September 2017 pool your money to watch it for much less.

To Canelo & Oscar, dejemonos de mamadas!! – Marvin, LA, CA

Wow. Hardcore fans turn into a bunch of little Che Guevaras and Stokley Carmichaels when it comes to Canelo.

Well, go on with your bad selves and righteous indignation. Get organized! Viva la revoluci├│n! Stand up to the oppressive Golden Boy Empire! Down with the red-headed tyrant!

I think you’re overreacting but I encourage your plans of boycott because it’s about damn time boxing fans asserted more economic influence by refusing to support pay-per-view events that they did not demand.

Where the f__k were you a__holes when Floyd Mayweather Jr. was fighting the likes of Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero? Oh well, better late than never.

We the hardcore fans who keep boxing going and are ready to see the fight are not even considered. I don’t think that’s entirely true. If you – the fans – weren’t being considered at all they wouldn’t even be entertaining the notion of fighting Golovkin. They wouldn’t be talking to Tom Loeffler at all. Why would Golden Boy risk the star of its stable if they didn’t give a rat’s ass about what fans want?

Marinating means the fight will cost twice as much to watch. How do you figure this? Do you really think the pay-per-view price of Canelo-Golovkin would be any less this September than it would next year?

But we can always vote with our wallet, so I encourage all boxing fans not to buy any Canelo fights and on September 2017 pool your money to watch it for much less. Power to the people! But allow me to propose this hypothetical scenario and question. You refuse to support any Canelo fight before he faces GGG. Fine. But let’s say he did what YOU – the fans – wanted and faced Golovkin this September and got physically taken apart. Would you support Canelo’s post-GGG rebuilding process? You know that he would need some soft opposition after absorbing a brutal beating (which is what 90% of hardcore heads predict, and I don’t totally disagree). If the answer is “no,” why should Canelo or Golden Boy give you want you want right now? Why appease you now if it means possibly ruining their cash cow, who, at age 25, potentially has many strong years ahead of him?

 

THURMAN-PORTER AND ‘MO

Hey Douglass: Got some mo for you.

  1. This week we got Thurman vs Porter. Soon we get Terrance Crawford fighting Victor Postal. Thurman by UD and Crawford by knockout. By the way whats with this bulls__t from fans about American fighters havin no balls? Look who GGG just fought and look who Kovalev is fighting. Losers!!! Once again its US fighters taking the meaningful fights.
  1. So whut if Andre Ward is fighting another tune up before fighting Kovalev. The Russian punk himself is goin to be fighting some 3rd world guy no one has even heard off. Take away old man Hopkins and Kov has fought no name guys. GGG has fought a bunch of them as well. And yet when a American fighter so much as fights a guy whos below the top 5 then hes a coward but some of you fools give thse Eastern Euro fighters a total pass for fighting bums and amatuers. Whuts the difference already????
  1. Loved watch Joe Smith running roughshod over the “Polish Prince” Now that was what you call an all American asswhupping. Better than any knockout any scored by these Eastern fighters you seem to love so much. I’m giving Joe more than a big punchers chance to beat up Kovalov and definately GGG. And why is Smith only ranked 10 while Kovalov’s next bum Chilemba ranked 7? Again Smith just KOd Fonfara.
  1. Will everybody shut up about GGG-Canelo already. If that fight don’t happen then guess what. Life goes on. Deal with it.
  1. Last we spoke I kind of rushed my email and you acted like an asshole. Was yer ponytail on too tight? No need to be an a__hole everytime someone doesn’t agree with you or kiss the same butt you kiss.

Dave

Allow me to respond to No. 5 first, Dave. Are you the infamous “SuperDave”? (I suspect that you are due to your Sergey Kovalev/GGG/non-American boxer hate.) If you are, I must state once more that your Adonis Stevenson-Tony Bellew-Kovalev rant that I posted in mailbag a few weeks ago was so asinine, disrespectful and sloppy that I refused to believe that it was real. Ya feel me? It was so dumb, I thought it was a gag. I thought to myself “There’s no way a real human being can be this stupid.”

And then you had to email me two or three more times, spewing even dumber s__t that was interspersed with lame insults directed at me. To spare my regular readers (and because I still refused to believe that anyone could be so dumb), I ignored you.

But you didn’t throw in the towel, Dave. Pinheads are persistent, God Bless ’em. This email wasn’t as bad as the others, so here we are. And all you need to know about my ponytail is that it’s just fine. You need to learn that I’m not going to be respectful to someone who is disrespectful. If you can’t deal with that, don’t email me anymore.

  1. This week we got Thurman vs Porter. Soon we get Terrance Crawford fighting Victor Postal. Thurman by UD and Crawford by knockout.

I agree with both predictions.

By the way whats with this bulls__t from fans about American fighters havin no balls? I don’t read or hear that from most fans.

Look who GGG just fought and look who Kovalev is fighting. Losers!!! Golovkin just KO’d a huge underdog (Dominic Wade), but he would have likely lost his IBF title had he not squashed the unbeaten Washington, D.C. prospect. However, seven out of his prior 10 opponents were consensus top-10 contenders. And Kovalev’s next opponent (Isaac Chilemba) is not a bum. He’s a legit top-10 light heavyweight contender, according to THE RING and ESPN.com.

Once again its US fighters taking the meaningful fights. Some are, some aren’t. Same as fighters from other countries.

2. So whut if Andre Ward is fighting another tune up before fighting Kovalev? I don’t have a problem with it, but YOU should. If you have a problem with GGG fighting Wade and Kovalev fighting Chilemba (which nobody who actually follows boxing should have an issue with), you should have a problem with Ward fighting a totally unranked and unheralded super middleweight like Alexander Brand.

The Russian punk himself is goin to be fighting some 3rd world guy no one has even heard off. Good grief, you are as biased as you are stupid.

3. Loved watch Joe Smith running roughshod over the “Polish Prince” Now that was what you call an all American asswhupping. Better than any knockout any scored by these Eastern fighters you seem to love so much. I’m giving Joe more than a big punchers chance to beat up Kovalov and definately GGG. We get it. You don’t like Europeans or “Eastern fighters.” You’re just another pitiful bigot. And nobody cares.

And why is Smith only ranked 10 while Kovalov’s next bum Chilemba ranked 7? You’d know the answer if you weren’t stupid, biased and bigoted. Chilemba has arguably been world-class since late 2009. Look at his record. He’s faced better opposition than Smith and has done so for years.

4. Will everybody shut up about GGG-Canelo already. If that fight don’t happen then guess what. Life goes on. Deal with it. Hey, there might be hope for you yet, Dave.

MOST BLATANT DUCKS

Hey Dougie! Long time reader hoping to make the list.

I’ll keep it short since I know you’re slammed with Canelo ducking fanrage … What are the five most blatant ducks of high(ish) profile fights fighters you can remember?

Keep up the great work! – Joel in Montreal

Thanks, Joel. I’ll try. And I’ll try to answer your question as best I can. Without doing a ton of research, I’ll go with these five high-profile fights that should have happened (in my opinion) but didn’t for various reasons but mainly because one fighter wanted it a whole lot less than the other guy (and I’ve listed the fighter I believe was “ducking” first):

Riddick Bowe-Lennox Lewis – this rematch of the 1988 Olympic super heavyweight final (which Lewis won by stoppage) should have happened any time after Bowe won the undisputed championship (then composed of the WBC, WBA and IBF titles) from Evander Holyfield in late 1992, but the Brooklyn native dumped the WBC title (literally, in a trash can during a press conference) rather than defend against the English/Canadian/Jamaican and the super heavy showdown of the ’90s never materialized.

Naseem Hamed-Juan Manuel Marquez – the avoided Mexican technician was the WBO’s No. 1 featherweight contender for more than two years but Naz wasn’t about to risk his neck, belts and unbeaten record against such an under-the-radar foe (as JMM was outside of Southern California in the mid-to-late ’90s and early 2000s).

Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Antonio Margarito – Before he declared himself “TBE” and just before he developed his “Money” persona, The Pretty Boy was offered a career-high guarantee (in the neighborhood of $8 million), plus a piece of the pay-per-view upside by his then-promoter Bob Arum to unify welterweight belts (IBF and WBO) against the tough-as-nails Mexican mauler. Mayweather wasn’t having any of that and got out of his Top Rank contract rather than deal with the constant pressure to fight a rangy pressure-fighting volume puncher with an anvil for a chin.

Henry Maske-Dariusz Michalczewski – I put Maske first because the 1988 gold medalist was the bigger star in his native Germany (which was the Polish Tiger’s adopted country), but I have no idea who was to blame for the country’s two top light heavyweights not engaging in what should have been a huge title unification bout in the 1995 or the first half of ’96. Maske won the IBF title in March ’93 and defended the belt 10 times before he lost a decision to Virgil Hill in a WBA/IBF unification bout in November ’96. Michalczewski won the WBO strap in September ’94 and defended it eight times before he unified the WBO-WBA-IBF titles by outpointing Hill in June ’97. As successful and dominant as both were they should have tested each other but I suppose being backed by rival promoters and networks didn’t help them work anything out.

Roy Jones Jr.-Michalczewski – Jones moved up to light heavyweight in late ’96. He was awarded the WBC title for his rematch first-round KO of Montell Griffin (a foul move that got the Mexico City sanctioning organization sued and almost bankrupted by the jerked-around Graciano Rocchigiani) and then went on a “mission” of unifying the other titles (specifically the WBA and IBF, which were stripped from D-Mich and later won by lesser fighters). Michalczewski still held his WBO belt and was viewed by the purists of the time as “the linear champ” or just “the man” because he was unbeaten and hadn’t lost the other two belts in the ring. If Jones, who claimed to be “the best fighter in the universe” (and you think Floyd has an ego), really wanted to prove that he was “the man” at 175 pounds, he would have taken on the Polish fighter. But he had a sweet deal with HBO and he hid behind the network, the title belts he held and good ole fashioned xenophobia (or at the very least, he used those things as an excuse not to fight a worthy light heavyweight).

(Question: Where were all of today’s “lineal purists” that can’t stop hating on Canelo when Jones refused to fight the “real champ” at light heavyweight? Answer: They were either swinging from RJJ’s jockstrap or they were in kindergarten.)

Mind you, Jones probably would have beat D-Mich but I also think the Germany based fighter would have given him a hell of fight in ’97 or ’98.

Dishonorable Mention:

The Fab Four (Duran, Hearns, Leonard and Hagler)-Mike McCallum – There was no place for the Body Snatcher during their lucrative round robin in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Johnny Tapia/Danny Romero-Mark Johnson – Cameron Dunkin, who managed both Tapia and Romero, freely admits that he wasn’t about to put either popular New Mexican in with “Too Sharp.”

Erik Morales-Marquez – I’m not saying “El Terrible” was afraid of JMM, he wasn’t, but he also wasn’t about to push Arum to make that fight while both were under the Top Rank banner.

Adonis Stevenson-Kovalev – There’s still a very, very slight chance this undisputed title unification bout could happen, but file_182501_1_Stevenson_Kovalev635it looks like Krusher has moved on with his PPV showdown with Ward while “Superman” is happy facing whoever Al Haymon puts in the ring with him. I know that some fans believe there’s enough blame to go around with this one not happening but it was Stevenson who left HBO (the network that was initially building toward the fight) and if you look at the level of his competition since jumping ship it sure doesn’t appear as though he wants to challenge himself (no matter what that “StuporDave” says).

Fights that should have happened a lot earlier than they did:

Mayweather-Pacquiao – We all know the story of boxing’s “Never-Ending Story.” It shoulda happened in 2010 or 2011. It didn’t.

Barrera-Marquez – I love me some MAB, but his former manager (Ricardo Maldonado) had no problem telling young boxing scribes (such as Steve Kim and Yours Truly) that there was no way in hell he was putting his cash cow in with JMM while both fought under the Forum Boxing banner.

Jones-Hopkins II – There’s no way this rematch should have taken place in 2010 (17 years after the first bout). There was small window (2002-’03) when a return bout could have been high-profile and big business. Both stubborn future hall of famers have a part in it not coming off when it could/should have.

Infamous “ducks” that I don’t believe were ducks:

Sugar Ray Robinson-Charley Burley

Sugar Ray Leonard-Aaron Pryor

CANELO IS OFF ‘THE LIST’

Mr. Fischer,

At least now we know that we won’t see Canelo stepping into the ring with GGG soon. Actually I didn’t see how Canelo could trouble GGG. Lemieux couldn’t close the gap and Canelo doesn’t seem to have faster feet.

Now GGG should concentrate on cleaning up his division. There are enough intriguing match ups with Top 10 contenders. Who do you think will cause the biggest challenge for GGG?

Since I can only follow a handful of fighters I deleted Canelo from my list and added Lomachenko to GGG, Roman Gonzales and – because I like the story – Joe Smith. Who else should be on that list? – Matthias from Germany

It depends on what you like, Matthias, and how much time you have to watch boxing. There’s a lot of boxing talent and various styles/mentalities between Smith and the three pound-for-pound players you mentioned.

Who do you think will cause the biggest challenge for GGG? I’m not sure, to be honest. I think Daniel Jacobs has the size, speed, power and all-around athleticism to give Golovkin a fight but I Golovking-WBC-throne_mailbagcan’t help but wonder if his chin would hold up. I think Billy Joe Saunders has a difficult style and ring mentality for any 160 pounder to deal with. He’s not a physical threat to GGG but he’s pesky. I believe he can trouble the middleweight monster. Chris Eubank Jr. has the power, chin (I think), confidence and unorthodox style to make things interesting but I don’t think he’s quite ready yet. Actually, the middleweight who might be able to give GGG a fight isn’t ranked by THE RING, ESPN.com or the Transnational Boxing Rankings, I’m talking about Tureano Johnson. Golovkin’s physically toughest fight to date was against Kassim Ouma who tried his damnedest to stay in the pocket and duke it out in close. GGG gradually wore him down and pushed him back, but Ouma fought like hell backing up for the final rounds of the fight and busted up the Kazakhstan star’s face before the ref saved Ouma from his own bravery in Round 10. (I should point out that this fight took place five years ago and Golovkin still has his amateur/early pro style, but nevertheless, Ouma did his share of damage during their inside exchanges, especially over the first half of the bout.) Johnson is fresher than Ouma was at that point of his career and he’s naturally bigger. Maybe his come-forward style and rock-hard head is what is needed to challenge GGG.

At least now we know that we won’t see Canelo stepping into the ring with GGG soon. We can all rest easy and talk about other things in boxing until the middle of next year – or not!

Actually I didn’t see how Canelo could trouble GGG. Yeah, the funny thing (to me) is that about 90% of the fans that supposedly want to see the fight as soon as possible agree with you. I guess whenever the fight is made they can bill it as “the mismatch the world demanded.”

BEATEN DAWG NEEDS A WOLFE

Hi, Dougie,
Wonderful to hear your reply in the mailbag. Wish you could reply to every email even when the other end is junk!

Leaving aside the moral issues about Chris Arreola’ (un)deserving a title shot, he’s got the fight, and as a blood-thirsty goulfan, I want to see the best fight Arreola has to offer. His Skype interview smacked of resignation and reading between the lines, it sounds like he’s going in against Deontay Wilder hoping to land a lucky shot.

I bleed for this guy. He’s tough, but he’s down, getting decisions overturned cuz of mj; whether you smoke your lungs out or get fat eating brownies, it does nothing for endurance. Hell, I’d almost feel better for Chris if he got caught using what Povetkin did. At least you knew that guy was going to push Wilder, who’s also in great shape. (I was disappointed that fight fell through, Doug).

Anyway, instead of a fat Mexican American heavyweight, Arreola needs to come in as a Mexican-style heavyweight. High volume with lots of thud. If you have Ann Wolfe’s phone number, please ask her to train another guy for the fans. Probably not enough time, but I imagine Arreola morphing into that James Kirkland beast. Maybe you could just pass on the info to Chris!

And Ann? I mean, Ms. Wolfe? If you read the bag and Chris calls, please say, “yes.” Do it for the fans! – BPSK

I think she’d do it for the challenge (and for the money, of course), but I can’t see Arreola putting up with her gladiator slave camp. And even Chris was willing to put himself through the months of sheer hell and torture that Kirkland once used to become a primal force in the ring, I don’t think his body could withstand that kind of day-in-and-day-out physical punishment at this stage of his career. (Don’t overlook the fact that Arreola is 35 and he’s been burning the candle at both ends in addition to engaging in several slugfests for the past 10+ years.)

I could be wrong, but I think a camp with Ms. Wolfe would either burn Arreola out or cause him to suffer a serious injury before fight week.

I think his conditioning coach for this camp, B.B. Hudson (the brother of experienced guru Daryl Hudson), and longtime trainer Henry Ramirez will do just fine in getting him ready by July 16.

His Skype interview smacked of resignation and reading between the lines, it sounds like he’s going in against Deontay Wilder hoping to land a lucky shot. Chris is usually a jovial guy, but like everyone else, he has his ups and downs. And he admits that he sometimes gets down on himself when he has bad days in camp. Maybe he struggled with his track work or sparring prior to the interview you spoke of. Ya never know. But don’t worry too much about it. This is something he goes through before every fight. He’ll get through it and do the best he can against Wilder.

I bleed for this guy. I don’t blame ya. How many times has he literally bled for you and other fans? If you can’t empathize with Chris Arreola you’re a heartless piece of s__t.

Anyway, instead of a fat Mexican American heavyweight, Arreola needs to come in as a Mexican-style heavyweight. High volume with lots of thud. Hey, that’s how he used to fight! If he can somehow recapture the form he had as a prospect (late 2006 through 2008), he’ll be a very “live dawg” against Wilder, who has struggled with the likes of Eric Molina (a first-round KO victim of Arreola).

 

DR. STEELHAMMER

Mr. Doug,

It seems that Wlad Klitschko is rarely (if ever) mentioned when talking about possible matchups in the current heavyweight scene, which is odd considering it was just a poor performance last time out. It’s not like he got crushed by a career-ending KO. He took no punishment. I think he’ll win the rematch.

I’d like to know your thoughts on the possible outcomes of the following fights with the Steelhammer, if any of them could be made within the next year or so:

Deontay Wilder

Luis Ortiz

Anthony Joshua

Joseph Parker

PS – Though it’s going to be a blast watching Thurman v Porter, it’s going to be tough as well. I like both guys a lot and don’t want to see either lose. Win, lose, or draw, what do you think would be next for both?

Thanks – Behr Becker

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Behr.

If Thurman and Porter give 100% and put on a good fight I think the both the winner and loser will advance their current status in the welterweight division and the sport.

There’s a slight chance that the winner of the fight could be selected for Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s expected comeback bout. There’s also a possible WBA-WBC unification bout vs. the winner of the talked about Danny Garcia-Andre Berto fight. Perhaps Amir Khan rolls the dice against the Thurman-Porter winner. If the fight is close and entertaining I can see the Thurman-Porter loser facing WBA mandatory David Avanesyan for the right to a rematch.

It seems that Wlad Klitschko is rarely (if ever) mentioned when talking about possible matchups in the current heavyweight scene, which is odd considering it was just a poor performance last time out. It was definitely a poor showing but it could have also been a strong indication that Father Time has simply taken his toll on the long-reigning heavyweight champ. There were hints that age was catching up with Wladdy during the tougher-than-expected defense against Bryant Jennings. I agree that it seems like Klitschko is overlooked when future heavyweight matchups are discussed (and I’m probably guilty of this). I think most fans and media (particularly biased American A-holes like myself) were bored by Klitschko’s long title reign and are just ready for the new blood of the division to take over. It’s nothing personal, we just want something different.

It’s not like he got crushed by a career-ending KO. Nope. And even if he did, it’s not like he hasn’t bounced back from two or three of those before.

He took no punishment. Not physically, no. Mentally? I’m not sure. We’ll find out on July 9.

I think he’ll win the rematch. You might be right, but I’m having a hard time counting out the Gypsy King. Anyway, if Klitschko regains the titles I will try my best to include him in talk of potential high-profile heavyweight showdowns.

I’d like to know your thoughts on the possible outcomes of the following fights with the Steelhammer, if any of them could be made within the next year or so:

Deontay Wilder – The American has more than a puncher’s chance to clip the well-traveled 40 year old, but I’m banking that Wladdy did his homework during their sparring sessions years back and will neutralize the athletic specimen to an uneventful decision or late TKO.

Luis Ortiz – I think the Cuban darkhorse can overcome a shaky start (as I expect the future hall of famer to play keep away with the shorter-armed southpaw) and overwhelm this aged version of Klitschko to a late stoppage.

Anthony Joshua – I don’t think AJ will be ready this year, even against a somewhat shopworn Klitschko (a veteran of almost 70 pro bouts), but I think the British star would get the job done and look spectacular if they were to hook up near the end of 2017. Klitschko by UD or late TKO in 2016 (or early 2017). AJ by mid-to-late KO in the second half of 2017.

Joseph Parker – I like the Kiwi but I don’t think he’d be ready for Wladdy even by the end of 2017. Klitschko by late TKO.

 

 

Email Fischer at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @dougiefischer

SIGN UP TO GET RING NEWS ALERTS