BIG BRO IS THE MAN

Yeah, I agree with your take on Big Bro. I have always backed Vitali Klitschko (not as a fan). Can't say the same for Wladmir but never understood it when people would say Vitali looks or IS so “vulnerable.” He’s the best heavyweight since Lennox Lewis. Wish Vitali came around in the mid 90's. He could have competed and would have been in some interesting matches. Peace. -- Adam

I think you’re right, Adam. I can envision Vitali engaging in some excellent matches with the prime (or slightly past-prime) versions of Riddick Bowe, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Ray Mercer, and Tommy Morrison. I think he would have beat Tyson, Mercer (in a good fight), and Morrison. Bowe and to a lesser extent Commander Vander may have outhustled him in close.

Big Bro may look like he’s there to be hit the way he leaves his hands down and has his head straight up in the air, but he’s not an easy target because of his height and his ability to lean back without losing his footing. And even if a heayvweight is tall and rangy enough to nail him clean, it doesn’t matter. He’s got a good chin. He proved it by taking Lennox Lewis’s best right uppercut. Oh yeah, Lewis is another mid-90s heavyweight I would favor to beat Klitschko, but I think it still would have been a tough fight for the younger version of Big L.


GRACEFUL BADASS

Not only vis-a-vis your piece on the subject, Vitali not being ponderous per se, but if you check out his world kick-boxing championship on you tube.com of years ago; damn he was svelte and had great foot movement.

My wife, who used to train athletes, said that Vitali's people made a mistake in 'sculpting' his new body for boxing. She feels had they elected to keep him more mobile, well ... yikes! Imagine that kind of power with nimble foot movement! -- Allan in Albany, Ca.

I think Vitali is more effective when he doesn’t move around the ring. His stationary stand-up style works very well with his economical one-two combos. It’s natural for man his height and build to pack on between 245-255 pounds by his mid-30s. Vitali is pushing 40, but he still looks svelte around 250.

I looked for amateur kickboxing fights involving Vitali on YouTube but I couldn’t find any. Let me know if there’s another website that has that footage. I’d like to see it.


WHERE'S MANNY? IN METROPOLIS!

THANK YOU for finally bringing it out in the open -- the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world is not yet in training mode two months before the most un-winnable fight of his life because he is SHOOTING A SUPERHERO MOVIE!

And just this afternoon, I let out one of the crispiest Filipino version of "f__k" ever when I heard this network ad saying that their Sunday noon concert-variety program is going to throw out a big bash to celebrate the start of the -BER months, and that the special guest is none other than the Pacman, MANNY PACQUIAO!

Aaah, I can only wish that after Miguel Cotto brutalizes him on November 14th, Manny would at least still be able to hold a mic steadily.

P.S. his newly-launched sitcom is also JUST on its second week now. Isn't that great? I really hope Cotto doesn't win by a knockout or else the national flag of the Philippines would be on a half-mast for a decade. -- Arvee

Yes it would.

Pacquiao is making this showdown with Cotto very interesting with his many outside interests/ventures/pursuits (Freddie Roach calls them what they really are -- distractions), which are cutting into his training time. The fact that the majority of his camp will not take place at the Wild Card Boxing Club ups the odds in Cotto’s favor in my opinion. I believe that Pacquiao is at his best when he puts in a full 10 weeks at Roach’s famous Hollywood gym.

Having said that, being a total comic book nerd, I think it’s cool that the PacMan is doing a superhero movie. I’ve got to see it once it’s done. I’m sure it will be so bad that it will be a fun flick.

I wonder if he’s going to be the Filipino version of Superman or another comic book icon, or if the filmmakers came up with an original story and powers for Manny?

Anyway, he’s going need super powers for real if he isn’t in 100% condition and can’t prevent Cotto from cutting the ring off on him on Nov. 14. It will take Wolverine’s mutant healing factor to survive Cotto’s body attack.


CHARLIE HUERTA

Hey Dougie how's it goin’? What do u think about Charles Huerta? -- Mark P

I think he suffered a major setback getting blasted in one round vs. Derrick Wilson last month but I think he’s got heart and talent and I believe that he will bounce back in time and hopefully become a better fighter because of the loss he suffered. He’s on this month’s Fight Night Club card (Sept. 24 at Club Nokia, live on Versus and RingTV.com) and Golden Boy Promotions is doing the wise thing by pulling back on the level of his competition. Huerta and his dad (and trainer/manager), Mando, were more than willing to take on Wilson in an immediate rematch, which would have made for must-see TV on Sept. 24 but could have seriously derailed the young man’s career if he came up short again. So they’re playing it safe and putting him in with Rodrigo Aranda (8-10-2, 2 KOs), tough journeyman from Las Vegas who doesn’t have the power to serious hurt Huerta but always comes to fight and always goes the distance. Aranda has lost five of his last six bouts but he was competitive with then-prospect Juanito Garcia and spoiler Hector Leyva, he beat prospect Johnny Taunton, and he gave Frank Espinoza’s featherweight hopeful Ronny Rios a good fight (despite a knockdown) on the non-televised portion of last month’s FNC. Aranda will make for an entertaining scrap with Huerta, who loves to stalk forward, and he’ll get the pride of Paramount, Calif, back in the win column.


ATTACK OF THE PACMEN

Hey Dougie,
Kinda blown over here. I sort of made some heat over in Pacland about the whole Michael Koncz-Freddie Roach drama, stated my opinion on how I'm not down with what's (reportedly) going on, and I get criticized and complaints from the Pacmen, who I didn't even call out. I gotta bring back some heat and then they pull the Philippines poverty card on me (“none of this matters we're poor as $hit” card), and then I ended it at that because it was getting too serious. For real, I have no apologies, but man, they are ruthless. Kinda felt like a little mini-Dougie when you had to fight the Pretty Girls… (what are they called now?) Yeah, I know... random... keep up the great work Dougie, always look forward to your work. -- Les in DMV

Dealing with whacked out boxing fanatics is no fun, especially when you’ve rubbed them the wrong way. But take it from someone who has felt the wrath of the nuttiest followers of Roy Jones, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, the Kiltschko brothers, Floyd Mayweather (they were Pretty Girls when he was the Pretty Boy, now I maybe they’re Money’s Maggots?) and yes, even Pacquiao, IT DOESN’T LAST.

The heroes of these mental pigmies either lose or have a bad outing or retire and all the a__holes magically DISAPPEAR!

If Cotto doesn’t get Pacquiao, “my son” Edwin Valero will, and if the V-nom doesn’t do it, someone else will. All the great ones eventually lose.

Mayweather will get his, too. Pacquiao will probably lose first because he challenges himself, but Money will eventually get caught trying to play it safe. And then, to paraphrase Depeche Mode, we all can enjoy the silence.


MAYWEATHER-MARQUEZ ANALYSIS

Doug-
Here is my analysis of the Mayweather vs. Marquez fight, and why I believe that it will not even be that competitive. I expect Mayweather to blow Marquez out within 5 to 7 rounds. The only reason that it will be remotely competitive, in my opinion, is that Marquez is just that tough, skilled, and great.

The way I see this fight, Marquez gives up everything -- every advantage goes to Mayweather.

Intelligence- Marquez, but Mayweather is smart
Age- Mayweather, big time
Speed- Mayweather
Power- Mayweather, big time
Size- Mayweather, big time
Chin- Irrelevant, but Mayweather has advantage due to size
Trainer- Marquez
Style- Mayweather, big time
(The only reason I say this is that Marquez has already publicly conceded that he will have to be the aggressor, thus taking him out of his natural style as a counter-puncher, and with Marquez giving the advantage to Mayweather, it offsets any hope of Marquez neutralizing Mayweather's speed)

Additional points:
Mayweather is hard to hit flush, but he can be hit and buzzed. Marquez will be too small to really hurt Mayweather. Marquez was buzzed by Diaz, who can punch a little, but no real one-punch KO artist. Mayweather can punch a little too, especially when he feels no threat. Granted, Marquez will not be jumping in like Hatton, but he gives Mayweather more opportunity to hit him being the aggressor. We already know Mayweather will not be the aggressor. It comes down to physics, and Mayweather simply holds all the cards.

If Marquez were naturally as big as Mayweather, and 30-33 years old, I would lay my money on JMM. But that is not the case.

If Pacman beats Cotto, I still think there is a strong chance Mayweather will fight Pacman, unless Manny truly destroys Cotto. If Cotto beats Pacman, I highly doubt Mayweather will ever fight him. If Cotto KOs Pacman, forget about it. The upside, Marquez can still probably pull in another good payday against Pacman regardless if he wins or not. The reason I see Mayweather possibly fighting Pacman is that Floyd views Paqman as a much smaller guy.

Finally, am I remembering it right that Margarrito had trouble making weight against Mosley, or came into the fight sick? Whoda thunk it that Mosley would have whipped that Mexican badass like that? That, my pony-tailed buddy, was an asswhippin'. -- Brandon D. McMorries, Tarzan, Texas

Marquez-Diaz is the fight of the year, so far, but Mosley-Margarito was hands down the asswhippin’ of the year.

I’ve been told that Margarito’s handlers made a rookie mistake of weighing their fighter on their own scale an hour before the weigh-in and they he was a pound and half heavy, so they made him go and run off the weight. Come weighin time they discovered that their scale was registered 1.5 pounds heavier than the official scale (duh!). Thus, Margarito comes in under 146 pounds, which probably didn’t do him much good considering he had looked like dog doo-doo in camp.

Anyway, that’s the past my friend. The future is Mayweather-Marquez. I can’t disagree with many of your points. On paper, this is almost a “gimme” fight for Mayweather.

But that’s paper. They’re fighting in the prize ring. And Marquez is the kind of fighter who overcomes perceived disadvantages. He did it with Pacquiao and I think he did it again with Joel Casamayor, who I was ready to pick over Marquez until one of JMM’s faithful followers talked some sense into me (thank you, Kirk).

Marquez found a way to survive Pacquiao’s best offensive storms (which was especially impressive in their 130-pound rematch when the Filipino Icon was at junior welterweight on fight night) and he found a way to knockout Casamayor (something I thought I would never see).

I’m not going to tell you you’re wrong for picking Mayweather because you’re absolutely right that the odds re stacked in his favor, but I think you -- and MANY other fans -- are wrong for predicting that Marquez will get blown out and are basically counting him out.

As for who Mayweather fights after Marquez, I think he’ll come up with reasons not to fight Pacquaio and Cotto. My prediction is that he “challenges” Andre Berto. Why? The same reason he fought Ricky Hatton. He saw the stocky aggro-boxer go life and death with Luis Collazo.


FINALLY COMING AROUND ON THE KLITSCHKOS

Hi Doug,
Congratulations on your article regarding the upcoming Klitschko-Arreola fight.

If you remember, I've written to you before that your earliest underestimating of the Klitschkos were incorrect as those of your fellow Ring magazine editors and reporters.

I'm very glad that you came to the same conclusion now - better late than never. I wrote a lot of comments and e-mails about the uniqueness of brothers in boxing and sports in general and hope my contribution helped others to understand that better.

Looking forward to Klitschko’s appearance on The Ring pound-for-pound list. Be well. -- Lev

It’s only a matter of time as long as the brothers keep winning.

I don’t see how The Ring editorial board (which I’m not a part of) has underestimated the Klitschkos? Since Vitali’s comeback the brothers have been The Ring’s No. 1 and No. 2 rated heavyweights, until Wladimir won the Ring title and Vitali was elevated to the No. 1 position. Are you just upset that they haven’t appeared in the mythical (and somewhat silly) pound-for-pound ratings? What can I tell you, the brothers look great but their opponents simply aren’t as good as the opposition the elite fighters in the lighter weight classes are facing.

And for the record, I think I was the only U.S. boxing scribe who picked Vitali to beat Lewis. I was wrong (barely), but I knew back then that he was for real. I admit that I forgot how deceptively quick he is during his hiatus and recent comeback, but I was reminded during Wednesday’s media workout and I was happy to inform my readers of my misconception.

I respect the Klitschko brothers. I really do. They’re gentlemen-scholars. They’re polite polyglot philanthropist pugilists. (How often do you see that?) And they can f__kin’ punch, too! What’s not to like about ’em?


You can reach Dougie at dougiefischko@klitschko.com.