Dougie’s MASSIVE Monday Mailbg

Oct

ADAMEK THE HEAVYWEIGHT

Hey Doug,
Man do I wish that Tomasz Adamek was a real, full blown heavyweight. The way he kicked Andrew Golota's a__ is just what the heavyweight division needs: a guy with a take no prisoners attitude. Very impressive destruction of the Foul Pole. Too bad there is little money in fights with Alexander Povetkin, Eddie Chambers, or Chris Arreola. Those are fights I'd love to see.

By the way, if Bernard Hopkins fights Adamek and wins at cruiserweight I think you should cut off your pony tail… It would be an appropriate honor for Bernard. — Stephen, Montreal

If you’ve been reading my comments on Adamek-Golota in the weeks before the fight you know I favored the cruiserweight champ to beat the former heavyweight contender for a number of reasons (Adamek’s speed and youth, Golota’s age and general lack of fortitude), but I didn’t think he’d wipe his a__ with the Foul Pole.

I’m happy for Adamek because I think he’s good for the sport regardless of the weight class he decides to fight in. Don’t be surprised if you see him take on the likes of Povetkin (who would make for a big fight in Europe) and Chambers (who make for a big fight at Adamek’s adopted hometown venue, the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.).

Adamek’s trainer told RingTV’s Bill Emes that he believes his fighter can beat the young guns of the division (who he considers “prospects”), and he named Povetkin. He said Adamek just needs some time to grow into the division.

There might not be Klitschko-sized purses attached to guys like Povetkin and Arreola, but those bouts would make Adamek more dough than any cruiserweight bout. And I tell you what, I don’t know if he can beat those guys, but I know those heavyweight fights would be some damn good scraps.

As for my pony tail, I’d rather save it as a betting trinket to use against annoying fans. For instance if Floyd Mayweather ever found the stones to fight Shane Mosley, I’d bet my pony tail that even the 38-year-old version of the Sugarman can decisively beat their hero. If Mosley does what I think he’ll do to Mayweather, the Pretty Girls have to admit that I was right all along and that they no nothing about boxing. If Mayweahter beats Mosley, the pony tail (which I’ve grown quite attached to over the decade) gets chopped off.

And just to show that I’m an “equal-opportunity hater”, I’d do the same thing to the Pac-maniacs if “my son” Edwin Valero ever landed a fight with Manny Pacquiao.

ADAMEK'S JOURNEY

Well I guess part one of the 'Adamek Experiment' went off without a hitch. I didn't see the fight but reports are he was reasonably effective and getting the knockout didn't hurt. At this point if I was Main Events I would freeze him, unless you could come up with some creative matchmaking against a name opponent that he could knockout. But why risk being taken to the limit by Monte Barrett?

Who would you place him with Vitali or Wlad? Its funny the way we point out baby bro as the 'weak' one. He moves better, hits harder and since joining forces with Manny Steward, he's improved himself in the same manner as Lennox Lewis. The one difference being, while Lewis could grow lazy and vulnerable, Wlad guards his chin with the zeal of a fanatic.

Either way, good luck finding your way thru their reach, Tomasz!

I'm expecting Chad Dawson to outpoint Glen Johnson, again. But where does he go from there? There is NO way he gets Jones or Hopkins. Before Adamek moved up I thought he could rematch with him. Can he still make 168? Do you think HBO would match him with Lucian Bute, or eventually a showdown against Paul Williams or Kelly Pavlik (if he ever gets going) down the road?

I think Sergio Martinez is all wrong for Williams if that fight comes off. I think he could present the same set of nightmares Carlos Quintana did. — Tom G.

I agree. I think Martinez has the style, mentality and the talent to upset Williams. So does the other opponent P-Will’s promoter Dan Goossen has mentioned, Sergei Dzindziruk.

The once-beaten Spaniard and the undefeated Ukrainian are more experienced than Quintana and better athletes. However, Williams won’t be weight drained vs. Martinez or Dzindziruk as I believe he was against Quintana.

If Dawson beats Johnson and Hopkins beats Jones, you can expect serious negotiations to begin between Bad Chad’s promoter, Gary Shaw, and Nard’s Golden Boy Promotions. Hopkins wants to fight for a world title at age 45 to emulate what George Foreman did back in 1994. Which is why we can expect Hopkins to step out of THE RING’s 175-pound rankings, or be dropped from the No. 1 spot (as he should be due to his inactivity and the level of opponent he’s fighting on Dec. 2), because with Nard out of the way, Dawson-Johnson will be for magazine’s light heavyweight title.

I don’t think Adamek or his team have much to fear from Monte Barrett. If Adamek’s next fight is against a heavyweight, I think it will be a legit fringe contender or even a lower-top 10 guy.

Don’t expect Main Events to “freeze” Adamek and wait for a big payday “cash-out” fight with either Klitschko. The New Jersey-based promotional company and Adamek have worked well together because both share the belief that activity breeds success. Both Adamek and Main Events should be commended for the busy, gutsy run they’ve had since the former light heavyweight titleholder signed with the company last January. Tomasz beat favored former champ O’Neil Bell last April, which earned him his RING title-winning showdown with Steve Cunningham, which was a Fight of the Year candidate for 2008. Adamek’s title defense vs. then-undefeated Jonathan Banks was entertaining and his blowout of Golota turned heads around the world. Between those major fights, Adamek stayed busy with tough club fighters Gary Gomez and Bobby Gunn.

Main Events is moving Adamek the right way, there’s no reason to slow things down.

I don’t think Dawson can make 168 pounds without sacrificing his stamina in the late rounds of a fight. There’s no reason for him to drain himself. All he needs to do is beat Johnson again, make some more money by accepting the challenge of Nard (or Jones), and then wait for the top super middleweights to step up to the 175-pound division, which I believe the bigger studs like Mikkel Kessler and Bute will eventually do. If Bute beats Andrade again, I think the best fight for him is a showdown with 175-pound belt holder and fellow Canada-based standout Jean Pascal. The winner of that fight is a perfect candidate for Dawson.

BOXING NEEDS MORE ADAMEK

What's up, man? I didn't get to see the fight but it sounds like the Polish fight of the century was exciting for as long as it lasted. I'm on the Adamek’s bandwagon as far as watching his fights. He delivers excitement every time no matter who's the opponent. Every network should be begging to showcase him. I saw him live against Paul Briggs because my dad actually worked Briggs’ corner as a cutman. That fight was up there for fight of the year. It was also a fight HBO passed on and instead showed a replay leading in to Lamon Brewster’s KO of Golota.

My point is, Adamek makes for tremendous TV. His defense is shaky, his offense is punishing. In my book that equals great TV right? I'm not convinced he needs a dancing partner for the network’s to show him. In my opinion, he dances well with just about everyone, don't you think? Thanks. — Sam

I agree 100 percent, Sam. The networks should know by now that Adamek is the goods. HBO aired his rematch with Briggs and Showtime aired the Dawson and Banks bouts. I think HBO probably hopped off the bandwagon as soon as Adamek lost to Dawson. However, the network might sign off on the cruiserweight champ as an opponent for either Klitschko.

I’d love to see Adamek on basic cable again because there’s a bigger potential audience and like you I think the Pole is must-see TV, which can help cultivate new boxing fans. ESPN Classic aired his fight with Bell, and Versus aired his fight with Cunningham, so it’s been done before. Of course, the problem with basic cable is that they don’t write checks as big as the subscription networks.

However, Versus might be interested in the right Adamek fight. The basic cable sports network is moving away from airing on-going boxing series, however, they are interested in the occasional “one-off” bout if it has enough star power or significance, such as the Hopkins-Ornelas bout on Dec. 2. So Versus will show significantly less boxing in 2010 and going forward, but it will have a bigger budget to use to bring quality fighters and fights to the network.

I think Adamek-Cunningham II or Adamek vs. a decent heavyweight fits that description.

HAYE VS. ADAMEK

Well Doug, it looks like the most interesting heavyweight fight would be two cruiserweights, David Haye V.. Tomasz Adamek. How do you see that one happening. The only real favorable things that happened with Adamek Vs. Golota appears to be a decent payday for Adamek, and Poland got to see the world's best cruiserweight kick Golota's fat ass.

(PS: Whatever happened to Tommy Morrison's comeback and supposedly negative HIV tests?) — Brandon D. McMorries, Tarzan, Texas

Morrison isn’t as dumb as people think he is. My guess is that he thought about the feasibility of his comeback and decided to give it up. If that’s so it was for the best because I don’t believe he is truly HIV negative. I just think his viral load was low enough that it was undetectable to the test he took in Arizona. If he really wanted to prove to the world that he’s free of the virus (or never had it in the first place, as he claims) he would have taken a standard antibody test administered by the medical board of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and presented the result to the media. Regardless of his health status, it was clear by the two “comeback” fights he had — against total no-hopers in scheduled four- and six-round bouts that took place a year apart, in February of 2007 and last February — that “the Duke” had absolutely NOTHING left. Shame on Top Rank for even considering promoting Morrison’s return to the ring. It was bad enough that they pushed Tye Fields on boxing fans.

Anyway, enough about this heavyweight from the past (and for the record I really enjoyed watching Morrison fight in the 1990s). Let’s talk about the future. If Haye beats Vaulev for the WBA belt next month I think an excellent possible heavyweight matchup for 2010 would be the Hayemaker vs. Adamek. That would be an old-school scrap fought at old-school heavyweight poundage, the 212-to-216 range. Adamek would be right there for the quicker, more athletic Haye to nail with his bombs, but the Pole’s chin is pretty damn sturdy. I can see him outlasting the brash British bomber in a battle of attrition.

2009’s P4P VS. 1999’s P4P

Hey Dougie,
I really enjoyed the Raskin/Dettloff audio piece. The website has really come on this past year and it is now the first place to go for my boxing fix.

Couple of points, I was at the Froch/Dirrell fight. I had Froch ahead on points although as the saying goes Froch didn't win it, Dirrell lost it. Nevertheless, Andre looked like he had a lot of the skills to be a top fighter if he lets his hands go more often.

Second point, which is more of a question, I got into a conversation the other night with someone who claims he used to be a big fight fan. He spouted the often heard 'boxing isn't what it used to be” mantra and I did the preaching bit that all fight fans have to do at some point in time. His argument which I thought would be a good debating point was that if you took The Ring’s pound for pound top 10 from today and compared it to the same list 10 and 20 years ago you would see a steep decline in standards.

How do you think the P4P class of today would stack up against their counterparts of October ’99 & ’89?

Keep up the good work, sites like this really raise the profile of the sport. Regards. — Toby, London UK

Thanks for the kind words Toby. I’m glad you like the new audio feature. I thought Bill and Eric and did great job, especially for their first show. They’ll get even better in the coming months, and hopefully RingTV.com will continue to grow and improve in 2010.

Regarding Dirrell, I think the young man has the talent and physical tools to beat any 168 pounder in the world. He just needs more experience and he needs to show more heart when he’s in the ring. Experience he’ll gain with each bout. Heart is something different. Either he has it or he doesn’t. We’ll find out by the end of this Super Six tournament.

It’s hard to compare of the pound-for-pound elite from different decades, because the fighters from the earlier decades are retired and we have their entire careers to evaluate, while the elite from this decade, for the most part, are still building their legacies.

Guys we consider “great” today, such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Pernell Whitaker were still trying to prove themselves to fans and the media in the 1980s and the 1990s, respectively. If you asked the top boxing writers of those decades to compare Leonard and Sweet Pea with Benny Leonard or Willie Pep and Sugar Ray Robinson I’m sure the fight scribes would have told you that they don’t belong in the same sentence with those greats of the past.

I have RING magazines going all the way back to 1980, and believe or not, every year from ’80 to ’90, there a few columns or feature stories that basically complained about the “poor” quality of the top fighters of those years.

Anyway, just for the heck of it, here’s THE RING’s current pound-for-pound top 10:
1. Manny Pacquiao
2. Floyd Mayweather
3. Shane Mosley
4. Bernard Hopkins
5. Juan Manuel Marquez
6. Nonito Donaire
7. Miguel Cotto
8. Celestino Caballero
9. Israel Vazquez
10. Rafael Marquez

And here’s THE RING’s pound-for-pound top 10 for October of 1999:
1. Roy Jones
2. Floyd Mayweather
3. Felix Trinidad
4. Oscar De La Hoya
5. Shane Mosley
6. Mark Johnson
7. Ricardo Lopez
8. Erik Morales
9. Bernard Hopkins
10. Steve Johnston

First of all, I gotta tip my hat to Mayweather for sitting in the No. 2 spot 10 years apart. That doesn’t happen often (if ever) and it’s an indication of how precocious and scary talented he was coming out of the 1996 Olympics and how accomplished and well preserved he is now.

Props also has to go to Mosley for being in the top five a decade apart, and to Hopkins for being in the top 10 when he was 34 and 44 (and if I’m not mistaken, I think Nard’s stay has been uninterrupted).

As for which year had the better top 10, I lean towards 1999, although I think the top fives of both years are practically even in terms of talent and accomplishment. In fact, I think the top five of October 2009 might be a little better than the top five of October 1999.

The No. 1 fighters are both explosive, ultra talents — Jones, who unified the light heavyweight titles in ’99, had more savvy than the PacMan, but I’m more impressed with the current version of Pacquiao because he takes more risks with his opposition and during his fights than the late-1990s version of ‘RJ’, who probably could’ve finished off guys like Reggie Johnson the way Pac wiped out Ricky Hatton but was more than happy to play it safe and go the distance.

And I’m sure everybody knows that I was A LOT higher on the 130-pound version of Mayweather than the reluctant welterweight we’re stuck with today. The guys in the No. 3 spot of both 2009 and 1999 are action fighters who wanted to test their mettle vs. the best regardless of the consequences. The undefeated welterweight version of Trinidad was an offensive force, but somewhat one-dimensional as his controversial victory over De la Hoya proved. I thought he improved at junior middleweight. Mosley is the opposite. He was mediocre at 154 pounds (as his controversial rematch victory over De La Hoya proved) and appears more sharp and versatile now that he’s back down at welterweight. I would go with the 2009 welterweight version of Sugar Shane over the weight-drained 1999 welterweight version of Tito.

Hopkins of 2009 is an old vet whose hall-of-fame legacy is already secure, but the 1999 version of De La Hoya was still in his prime and had proven his ability in competitive fights with three top-10 P4P-rated fighters, Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey and Trinidad.

Like Hopkins, the JM Marquez of 2009 is already a future first-ballot HOF inductee, however, the Mexican technician is probably on the downside of his career. The 1999 version of Mosley was an awesome talent and undefeated competitor, but still largely unproven.

It’s the guys rated six through 10 that sway 1999 ahead of 2009, in my opinion. Donaire doesn’t compare with “Too-Sharp,” who is perhaps the most underrated talent of the 1990s. Cotto is one of my favorite fighters. He’s an accomplished three-time titleholder who has my respect and admiration forever, but he’s no “Finito,” who was near perfection (especially in ’99). I’ll take the young “El Terrible” over the overrated Caballero, as well as the “young” Hopkins and Johnston over the shopworn 2009 version of Vazquez and Rafa Marquez.

I’d would give you THE RING’s pound-for-pound top 10 in October of 1989, but my RING magazines from mid-1986 to ’89 are in a box in the storeroom of my garage and I’m not about to brave those cob webs and creepy crawlies on a Sunday night.

There was a box that was left outside of the storage room in my garage that contained RING magazines from 1983 to early ’86, and guess what? There was no pound-for-pound list in those years, and I presume there wasn’t any in previous years and decades.

This pound-for-pound obsession, at least the rating of the top fighters from every weight class, is a recent phenomenon (and an annoying one, at that).

Looking at THE RING champions in the ratings of the latest magazine I could find in that box (the March 1986 edition, which was the annual awards issue with Marvin Hagler and Donald Curry, co-fighters of the year for 1985, on the cover), I can see why there was no need for a top 10 list of the elite.

The guys who held the titles were not only the kings of their respective divisions, they were proven elite fighters: Hagler at middleweight, Michael Spinks at heavyweight, Tommy Hearns at junior middleweight, Curry at welterweight, Wilfredo Gomez at junior lightweight and Sot Chitalda at flyweight. And among the top contenders were Larry Holmes at heavyweight, Mike McCallum at junior middleweight, Julio Cesar Chavez at junior lightweight, and Dwight Muhammad Qawi and light heavyweight.

No matter how you stack ’em, I’m sure you could make a good top 10 list with those fighters.

By the way, in case you were wondering about the other annual award winners for 1985, the fight of the year was Hagler-Hearns (duh), but the runner up was cruiserweight titleholder Lee Roy Murphy's dramatic final-round KO victory over Chisanda Mutti (who led on all three scorecards after 11 back-and-forth rounds before both fighters were simultaneously dropped by right hands in the 12th and Murphy managed to climb off the canvas). Upset of the year was Spinks over Holmes (duh), but the runner-up was unheralded “Lighting” Lonnie Smith's eighth-round KO of Billy Costello, who was 30-0 at the time. Most Progress (a category the magazine discontinued) went to Smith, who had never faced competition remotely as good as Costello or the veterans the unbeaten beltholder had defeated. Runner-up was J.B. Williamson, who went from California club fighter to a light heavyweight titleholder with his 12-round decision over Prince Mamah Mohammad. Prospect of the year (another award the magazine dropped) was 19-year-old Mike Tyson, who was 15-0 (15) at the end of '85. Runner-up was Michael Nunn, the 6-foot-2 southpaw who finished the year with an 11-0 (8) record.

Dougie can be reached at [email protected]