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Dougie’s MASSIVE Monday mailbag

Fighters Network
04
Oct

LONG MONTH AHEAD

What's up Doug?
Man is October going to suck, but November through mid December is going to be awesome. Just a few thoughts…

Smart move for Golden Boy Promotions signing Paul Malignaggi. He's a decent attraction in New York, and could probably attract some fans if they were to put together a card with him and someone like Danny Jacobs. Like everyone else, I eventually see him being used as a name for one of the young studs at GBP. But that was the idea for Juan Diaz and Malignaggi more/less ended Diaz's status at the elite level. Interesting fight with Canelo, but a fight with Ortiz would probably go exactly like Khan-Malignaggi.

Stoked about Khan-Maidana and Williams-Martinez. See a UD or late round KO for Khan with him going down himself and a close UD for Punisher. I think Khan-Maidana could end up looking a lot like Khan-Kotelnik, but Kotelnik doesn't have the power Maidana does (and Khan is very chinny), and Williams I think will simply outwork Martinez in a fight very similar to the first one (although I'm pulling for Martinez).



What are your thoughts on the possible inclusion of Glen Johnson in the Super 4, er, I mean 6? I think he would be a worthy addition and it would be nice to see someone who hasn't always gotten the benefit of the doubt, get an opportunity like this. After Green's showing (if you can call it that) against Ward, I don't know anyone in the top 20 at 168 that I could pick that he would clearly beat. I know Ward is a beast, but Green showed NOTHING, and I would pick The Road Warrior to pound out a UD.

Lastly, and I know I'm in the extreme minority, but I'm excited about Pacquiao-Margarito. I'm actually given Margarito a solid chance, and I haven't even seen 24/7 yet! I'll be in Dallas for that one. My view is that, when Clottey did throw punches, you know the three he actually threw, he was effective. Margarito isn't going into a shell and he has proven he can break an elite boxer with faster hands and feet. Is Cotto equal to Pacquiao in that department? Of course not. And hey, if it goes how people think, it will be fun while it lasts.

Have a good one. — Brandon, Texas

You might be right about the Pacquiao-Margarito matchup. It all depends on how much Margarito has left. I thought he looked like a spent bullet in his camp for the Mosley fight and we know what happened when he stepped foot in the ring. He looked OK outworking Robert Garcia in May (considering the layoff and the solid opponent), but he didn’t look like his old self. Maybe Margz needed the time away from boxing and the Garcia fight was merely a rust-shaking exercise. Maybe he’s still got something. If he looks strong in this camp, who knows? Maybe he can do more than just go down swinging. We’ll see.

I don’t have much of an opinion on Johnson’s inclusion in the Super Six. His fight with Green doesn’t really seem like it’s part of the tournament to me. It’s kind of like a consolation prize bout for two guys who weren’t supposed to be in the Super Six to begin with. But hey, I’m happy that Gentleman Glen is getting another decent payday and an opportunity to extend his exemplary career.

I’m just as stoked about Khan-Maidana and the Martinez-Williams rematch as you are. I also favor Khan over the Argentine slugger, but I think he has to box Maidana almost exactly the way he did against Andreas Kotelnik (safety first) to get the job done. At the moment, I’m feelin’ Martinez in the rematch of the year but I reserve the right to change my opinion as the fight nears. (I plan to drop in the middleweight champ’s training camp in Oxnard, Calif., along with Michael Rosenthal next week, and that visit will likely influence my pick one way or another.)

Signing Malignaggi was a good move as far as jump starting GBP’s move into the New York City market but I don’t envision the slick-boxing motor-mouth to be a force in the 147-pound division, where he plans to campaign from now on.

I think Malignaggi can make for some good local showdowns at the Barclays Center (especially if Jacobs, as you suggested, is in the co-featured bout) and he can definitely let his fellow New Yorkers know about Golden Boy’s shows at the new Brooklyn arena. Malignaggi vs. Carlos Quintana, Delvin Rodriguez, Demetrius Hopkins, Francisco Figueroa, Shamone Alvarez and Dmitry Salita (don’t laugh, Paulie and ‘Star of David’ can draw 15,000 if their bout is promoted right) are all East Coast welterweight bouts that probably should take place at Barclays.

I don’t mind the quiet of October before the storm that will be November. There’s enough happening to keep us from falling completely asleep this month, especially on the weekend of Oct. 15-16 (thanks to Telefutura, Showtime, ESPN3.com and Integrated Sports PPV).

TOP 5 JAMES KIRKLAND FIGHTS

Now that James Kirkland is out of jail, who are your top 5 matchups for him? — gopal rao

1. Alfredo Angulo (I don’t care if ‘Perro’ is booted from the U.S., if the fight has to take place in Mexico, so be it — it’s a guaranteed fight of the year)
2. Miguel Cotto (I’m fascinated by how Cotto’s experience, poise and precision power punching may match up with Kirkland’s speed and relentless pressure/offense)
3. Antonio Margarito (win, lose or draw vs. Pacquiao, if the Punching Pariah proves to have his legs under him, decent reflexes and the ability to let his hands go in bunches I can’t envision a showdown with Kirkland not delivering non-stop excitement)
4. Sergio Mora (yeah, yeah, I know that most of you can’t stand the so-called “Latin Fake,” but I like him and I believe he’s a world-class talent, so since most of you disagree with that opinion, I can’t think of a better fight for Mora to prove himself in — Kirkland will either brutally maul Mora, which will make those smitten with Snake Hate happy, or he’ll do what Mosley couldn’t: force the East L.A. native to stand his ground and make for a compelling boxer-vs.-pressure fighter matchup)
5. Cornelius Bundrage (Kirkland’s never met a right hand that he didn’t like, and K9 had a good right hand before he hooked up with Emanuel Steward; now that the Detroit native has a world title and a hall-of-fame trainer in his corner his confidence is sky high, which should help make for a fun fight with the Texas Terror)

(Honorable mention: Paul Williams, Shane Mosley, Kermit Cintron, Sergei Dzinziruk and Anthony Mundine.)

SELL OUT

Dude, How much money are they paying you to write your two mailbags every week, update the irrevelant Ring ratings, spin any conversation in Golden Boys favor and make excuse after excuse for them.

Just read what you wrote about Oscar's take over quotes in the Friday mailbag. You sold out, bro. You are the epitome of a sell out. We all have wives and kids. Quit using your “busy family life” as an excuse for ending what was once an ecellent work ethic and the abilty and effort to write intriguing, unbiased behind the scene articles. Do they literally ask you to defend them at all cost or is thay just your way of thanking them for your “Golden” paycheck? By the way, there is a fuss over the Golden Girls comments outside of life inside of the delusional editorial board room of Ring TV. The fact that you use the opportunity to defend GB fighter Mora's pathetic effort to answer a question about your newly signed prospect, Malignagi should be a wake up call to even you. At one time you were a boxing fan. How do you think boxing fans feel about Golden Boy's way of doing things?

$55 for an informercial of GB talent. Each and evry fight slanted tremendously in their favor. Oh I forgot, you got to commentate for the over seas listener. CHA-CHING

Each and every sentence you wrote defends GB Promotions at all costs. Wake Up. Your integrity is Long Gone.

You sold your soul bro. I thought you were better than this. Below is your best line:

“Honestly, I think all he wants to do is what all promoters should want to for their companies and that’s to build towards the future and be as organized as they can be for the betterment of the sport.”

Please refrain from using the word “honestly” when describing your feelings and the line “for the betterment of the sport” when talking about Golden Boys actions, you snake oil salesman. Nothing you and Nigel and Schaffer are doing is for the betterment of the sport. You are destroying it. — Chris

Honestly, Chris, I think you’re an ignorant a__hole.

Honestly, if you had half a brain and really read what I wrote you’d know that I wasn’t “defending” anyone.

But, honestly, instead of regurgitating the same dog doo-doo complaints and allegations you’ve read from some boxing writers — all of whom have their biases and favorites in this business — and from fellow dips__ts on message boards, why don’t you explain to me in detail HOW Golden Boy Promotions is destroying boxing.

If it’s by having $55 “infomercials” for their talent, I don’t think they are alone in the “destruction” of the sport. (I think there’s another major promoter doing big business out there, a fat cat whose name is always absent when jerk-offs like you go on your weekly anti-GBP rants, and he happens to love in-house pay-per-view shows. However, I honestly believe that you and many others lack the balls to judge the major U.S. promoters without petty bias.)

Break it down for me, Mr. Know-It-All, because I honestly want to hear the “truth” that you believe I’m afraid or unwilling to write now that I’m at RingTV.com and making that bigtime Golden Boy money.

If I’m so disconnected from boxing fans these days why bother asking me: “How do you think boxing fans feel about Golden Boy's way of doing things?” You’ve anointed yourself as the Conscience of Boxing and the Voice of all Fans, so why don’t you TELL me what exactly De La Vader and his Evil Empire are doing that is making so-called fans like yourself feel so uneasy or upset?

Honestly, I don’t believe that you can tell me anything. I don’t think you have the knowledge to back your words up, “bro.” I honestly view you as sorry-ass parrot who doesn’t have original thoughts and can’t see beyond the biases of some clueless hardcore fans and a few disgruntled, misguided boxing scribes.

What’s almost laughable is this question: “Do they literally ask you to defend them at all cost or is (that) just your way of thanking them for your ‘Golden’ paycheck?”

The higher ups at Golden Boy Promotions rarely read RingTV.com, and that’s not a diss on us or them; they’re too occupied running a busy company and managing a very large stable of fighters to comb through every story on every boxing website on a daily basis.

But the bottom line is that they don’t give a rat’s ass what I or Michael Rosenthal or Nigel Collins or William Dettloff or any other RING staffer writes online or in the magazine. The only boxing stories they read are the ones that certain boxing writers email to their smart phones.

I know you refuse to believe what I’m telling you but that’s the truth.

GBP may own THE RING but we don’t get any special attention or privileges. Honestly, we can barely get them on the phone. The boxing writers you probably idolize, guys like my old cohort Steve Kim (who I’m guessing is a hero of yours), get call backs from Schaefer a lot faster than I or Rosenthal or Dettloff do.

Again, I know you think I’m flat-out lying to you, but I’m telling the truth.

You know why I can state what you’ve just read? Because GBP doesn’t monitor what I write or censor me. So I could write all kinds of nasty things about De La Vader & Company and not worry about any kind of “punishment” but, honestly (don’t you just love it when I use that word?), I don’t think GBP is hurting the sport. I think for the most part the company is good for boxing. And guess what? I honestly don’t give a f___ what you think of my opinions.

I don’t care what GBP thinks of my opinions either. If I did — if I were really someone who only wanted to parrot the company line the way you parrot the s__ you read online — I wouldn’t have defended Manny Pacquiao as a drug-free fighter who didn’t need to adhere to Floyd Mayweather’s random testing demands during the fight negotiations early this year. I wouldn’t defend Antonio Margarito’s innocence and his right to fight Manny Pacquiao as much as I have. If I was someone who really wanted to make my “bosses” happy, as you believe, I’d damn Margarito to hell and slam the s___ out of Bob Arum’s Nov. 13 pay-per-view card.

Honestly, I could go on and on. I could state that if I was really a GBP homer I wouldn’t have “defended” Sergio Mora at all, I would have backed up Shane Mosley — the Golden Boy PARTNER (hello?) who stands to make more money for the company in future fights. I could tell you that it’s the producer working for the network that hires commentators for international broadcasts, not the promoter of the show.

I could HONESTLY write another 10 paragraphs defending myself to you, but I won’t waste any more mailbag space or the time of the real boxing fans (who out number jerks like you by about 100-1) because what I stated at the start of this reply is the ultimate truth: you’re an a__hole. I KNOW that it doesn’t matter what I write and it doesn’t matter what GBP does. Your narrow mind is made up.

You think GBP is destroying boxing and you believe that I am a sell out. Fine. Noted. And now you know how I honestly feel about you.

THOUGHTS & MORE TOP FIVES

Hey Dougie,
Been a bit since I've written in, but I have been dutifully reading your work in the mean time. I happened to watch the international broadcast of the Alvarez-Baldomir PPV and though I didn't agree with your score in the main event I definitely enjoyed your commentary. I hope they move you up in the commentary world, you deserve the chance to be on regularly.

Moving on! I just re-watched Mares-Perez and Perez-Agbeko in the past few days, both awesome fights. I'm officially extremely excited for the bantam tournament. Although it won't totally determine the top dawg, it's a fun way to add some high stakes to some already action packed fights. So, with do respect to Mosley and Mayweather, Who R U Picking?

Meanwhile in Top 5 land, I've got a few to pick your brain with:
Top 5 sentimental favorite fighters (either in your career or life, whichever)
Top 5 favorite fights to watch, i.e. the ones you can watch over and over again and still get excited for
Top 5 beers, if you're a beer drinker.
Top 5 might not be applicable, but your top favorite divisions to watch (I personally like welterweight, although the banties can be a lot of fun too)

As always, keep up the good job! — Robb

Thanks for the kind words, Robb.

Agbeko-Perez and Perez-Mares were indeed excellent 12-round bantamweight battles. I have no doubt that Darchinyan-Mares and Perez-Agbeko II will deliver just as much action (if not more).

Right now I favor Mares by decision and Perez by a razor-thin (perhaps controversial) margin over Agbeko. I have a lot of respect for Perez, but I wonder if the hard 36 rounds the Colombian fought back-to-back-to-back vs. Silence Mabuza, Agbeko and Mares will take their toll in his next bout.

Anyway, I thought Mares won the draw with Perez in May, so it’s only fitting if they meet again in the finals of Showtime’s tournament.

Top five sentimental favorites: Terry Norris, James Toney, Lamon Brewster, Shane Mosley and Marco Antonio Barrera.

Top five favorite fights I never tire of watching: Carbajal-Gonzalez I, Leonard-Hearns I, Hagler-Hearns, Hagler-Leonard, and Barkley-Duran.

Top five favorite beers: Guinness, Newcastle, Modelo, Corona, and Tecate (not really one my favorite beers but they heavily sponsor my favorite sport).

Top five favorite divisions to watch: welterweight, junior welterweight, lightweight, featherweight and bantamweight .

TOP FIVE MEXICAN FIGHTERS

Doug my mom said shed love to host the Golden Boy vs the Korean Hammer at our next charity event! LOL.

BTW even though I know you hate that stuff that was probably the best response I’ve heard. I feel the same way, bud.

Hope you can make it October 15 in Indio for Solo Boxeo's main event: Eloy Perez 18-0-2 (5) takes on Dominic Salcido 18-2 (9).

Oh, here's my top 5 question: Who's the top 5 best Mexican fighters?

This may be the most discussed and most controversial question around boxing circles. Constant debate of Salvador Sanchez vs JC Chavez and countless others. My mentor the late great Don Familton didn't even have Chavez in his top 5, showing how deep the Mexican tradition runs! — Sam

Hey Sam. I’ll definitely be at Fantasy Springs in Indio, Calif. On Oct. 15. Perez is one of my “prospects to watch in 2010” and I think he’s moving along very well. We’ll see how he deals with an awkward athletic boxing style when he fights Salcido. I’m also looking forward to watching the other prospects on that card (mainly Frankie Gomez, Charles Huerta and Deontay Wilder).

Tell your mom she’ll have to find a bigger venue than usual to host De La Hoya-Kim. I think there would be a lot of interest in that one.

OK, now on to the meat of your email. The five best Mexican fighters ever. Wow. That’s a tough one.

I understand why Coach Familton left Chavez out of his personal top five. He had seen some of the best World War II-era Mexican fighters ply their trade in the flesh — men such as Baby Arizmendi, Kid Azteca and Enrique Bolanos — and he believed the overall skill and the quality of their opposition was superior to Chavez’s.

One can certainly argue Familton’s point. Arizmendi fought great fighters such as Henry Armstrong, Lou Ambers, Tony Canzoneri and Chalky Wright (and he owned wins over Armstrong and Wright) as well as other top fighters of his day, such as Mike Belloise.

He makes my personal list, but so does Chavez. Going on accomplishments alone, I have to include JC Superstar. He won 107 pro fights, was unbeaten in his first 90, and engaged in 36 title bouts in four weight classes. But beyond numbers — and more importantly — Chavez fought the best of his era, and he didn’t discriminate.

He fought the best African-American (Whitaker, Mayweather, Taylor, Randall, Lockridge), Puerto Rican (Camacho, Rosario, LaPorte, Fuentes), Mexican (Ramirez, Gonzalez, Martinez), and Mexican-American (De La Hoya, Castillo, Lopez) fighters of his day. Hell, he even got in there with a few scrappy white guys (Haugen, Gamache).

In all seriousness, Chavez wasn’t perfect (in or out of the ring) and he didn’t always win but from late 1984 through 1990, he was the baddest man on the planet (with due respect to Iron Mike). What an incredible run he had.

Anyway, here’s my all-time Mexican top five: Chavez, Arizmendi, Salvador Sanchez, Ruben Olivares, and Ricardo Lopez.

Honorable mention: Vicente Saldivar, Carlos Zarate, Kid Azteca, Enrique Bolanos, and Miguel Canto.

Top five Mexican fighters I’ve covered: Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Humberto Gonzalez and Jose Luis Castillo.

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