Undisputed mailbag champion Doug Fischer had to pull out of this Friday’s main event (even the editor-in-chief has to take a family vacation every now and then), so diamond interim silver belt holder Michael Montero stepped in on a days’ notice. We’ve got a mailbag ladies and gentlemen!

DILLIAN WHYTE-JOSEPH PARKER

Hey Doug,

Be interested to get your opinion on how Joseph Parker performed last weekend Vs Dillian Whyte?  He has come in for quite a bit of stick back here in the UK, I think the general consensus is he is respected but maybe spits the dummy a little when things don’t go his way in the fight.

I gotta say I think this is more than a little harsh. I was at the O2 for this fight and you can never tell for sure when at one of these events which way it will go (maybe down to alcohol). I thought it was a very good fight and could have gone either way on seeing it live. I then watched it back the next day and was a little surprised at some of the negative comments towards Parker from our commentary team on the night, mainly the likes of Froch and Bellew who felt Parker didn’t like it rough, didn’t let his hands go again, lost interest in the fight cos he couldn’t impose himself on Whyte etc.

I got no issue with Whyte getting the decision, but when I watched it back I scored it Whyte by 2 rounds and this was with Round 2 being a controversial 10-8 to Whyte. I don’t see this as a knockdown and could easily see this as a three round swing in effect as Parker was ahead in my eyes up to the knockdown.

All in all, great fight by both fighters and no issues with Whyte winning, I just think Parker has come out of this fight with very little credit. I thought at times he boxed very well and the speed and movement was causing Whyte real problems and making Whyte look a novice with wild swings forcing him to lose all balance. Be interested to get a non UK view on this fight, I can’t help but think our media can try and force a certain narrative down our throat that is dictated to by how Matchroom/Sky want it to be.

Cheers. – Martyn

Thanks for writing Martyn. Watching Whyte-Parker live, I felt that nasty head butt in the second round may have concussed the Kiwi and affected his performance throughout the fight. I agree that some of the criticism directed at Parker was unfair. Not only did he pull himself off the canvas after that head butt, but again in the ninth round after eating a flush left hook from Whyte on the inside. Further, he almost had the Jamaican-born Londoner out in the final seconds of the twelfth round. Clearly he was trying to win.

I’m surprised so few are talking about controversial referee Ian John Lewis, who clearly screwed up that knockdown call in the second. And for all of the fouling Whyte did, and the numerous warnings Lewis gave, he never docked a point. Had Lewis called that knockdown correctly and taken one point from Whyte, this fight could’ve ended in a split decision win for Parker. If I have one criticism of the Las Vegas based New Zealander, it’s that he seemed too content in defeat. He earned two massive paydays this year, albeit taking two loses in the process. Could that have changed him as a fighter? For my money Parker is still a top ten heavyweight. I believe he has underrated boxing skills for a big man but I do question his hunger.

Regarding the Sky Sports commentary, hey I could say the same thing about several HBO Boxing broadcasts lately. Hell, I could say that about all of them to be honest.  Remember that the networks act as quasi-promoters these days; it seems nobody is without agenda.

MIKEY’S MATCHMAKING, M.I.A. BOXERS, MYTHICAL MATCHUPS

Doug,

There were too many great fights this weekend to count. A few questions about those:

Mikey Garcia can’t be serious about Spence. It’d be cool if he did that, but it would’ve been a lot cooler if he fought Linares or Lomachenko. His cherry picking is definitely more respectable than Mayweather’s, but it’s still very conservative. He still matches himself the way a good manager matches a prospect on the way up. Is that why those two fights aren’t happening? It’ll be still be a lot cooler if he makes a fight against Lomachenko or Linares—one he’s an underdog and one is even. Is that why those fights aren’t getting made? Oh yeah—as ambitious as he is, I didn’t hear him say Crawford. Why?

My girlfriend and I really dig Yves Ulysse. Seems like got punished for so utterly derailing the Cletus Seldin train a few months back. Reminds me of how Arum did Rigo. But that was a freakin great spectacle those months back and he sure as s__t wasn’t rewarded for his performance. Oy, I had to pay $50 to stream his last fight on “screw-you-yankee-this-is-Canadian boxing.com”. Damn, man. So… Cletus is still in the “where are they now” file.  What can u tell us about these witness protection purgatory pugilists?

Cletus Seldin

Antonio Tarver

Chris Arreola

Nicholas Walters

Czar Glaskov

GIANT MENS MYTHICAL MATCHUP PARTY FEATURING DEONTAY:

Wilder – Carnera

Wilder – Valuev

Valuev – Carnera

David Price – Seth Mitchell

Kevin McBride – Taishan dong

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT SHOOTING GALLERY FEATURING ROCKY MARCIANO: Like Patterson, Charles, Braddock, Moore & so many more, rocky Marciano was a light heavyweight fighting at HW.  So how does this play out, all with day before weigh in?

Marciano – Hopkins at 175

Marciano – Ward at 175

Marciano – Michael Spinks at 175

Marciano – Kovalev at 175

Marciano – Gassiev at 200

I think Kovalev cracks under Marciano’s pressure. I’m def going with mike Spinks – not sure about the rest.

And, finally, back in May, a British tabloid, The Sun, quoted Andre Ward extensive about coming back to fight Bellew. How likely is this?  I’d LUV to see this. – Ceylon the Barbarian, Emperor of Tejas

I hear ya regarding Mikey Garcia, Ceylon. I did a rant video on my YouTube channel this week going over my criticisms of the way Mikey is managing his career:

He started with promoter Top Rank, who built him up from a prospect into a two division world titlist. Mikey was on the verge of breaking out in 2014 when beefed with the promoter and fought to get out of his contract. Since returning in 2016 as a “free agent” PBC fighter, Garcia has taken advantage of opportunistic match-making. It sees he’s a businessman first, a fighter second.

The California native claims to want to fight the best, but turned down a 50-50 unification fight with Jorge Linares that would have crowned the winner as “the man” at lightweight. Now that title belongs to Vasyl Lomachenko because he not only faced Linares but stopped him in one of the better fights of the first half of 2018. Further, Garcia briefly moved up to 140 lbs to face a faded (and in my opinion vastly overrated) Adrien Broner and Sergey Lipinets, while never mentioning the undisputed champion in that division at the time, Terence “Bud” Crawford.

Many fans are unaware that Crawford and Garcia fought in the amateurs, Bud dominated Mikey in the 2006 US National Championships. If he truly was interested in facing the best, not to mention avenging that loss from his amateur days, why not call Crawford out? Is it politics? Both Loma and Bud are with Top Rank, the promoter Mikey told to go screw themselves a few years back. Or is it more than that? Only Garcia can answer.

My girlfriend and I really dig Yves Ulysse…  I had to pay $50 to stream his last fight on “screw-you-yankee-this-is-Canadian boxing.com”. 

Damn bro, your die-hard fight fan status is confirmed LOL. Regarding Ulysse and his fairly inactive 2018 after fighting 5 times last year, you would have to ask his promoter, Interbox. They are not the most transparent promotional company. In fact if you go to their Twitter account (https://twitter.com/interboxca) you will notice that they haven’t tweeted since 2016. They are much more active on their Facebook page however (https://www.facebook.com/interbox/), yet no mention of Ulysse anywhere. It’s odd the way these things play out sometimes.

Remember Joe Smith Jr being the breakthrough fighter of 2016? Well he sat on his butt the first seven months of 2017 until breaking his jaw in a loss to Sullivan Barrera last July, which derailed his career for another year. To go from ending Bernard Hopkins’ career in Los Angeles on an HBO main event to fighting a journeyman off TV a year and a half later, what a drop off.

What can u tell us about these witness protection purgatory pugilists?

Cletus Seldin  – I have no idea what he’s up to other than posting wacky videos on his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/seldin911)

Antonio Tarver  – since testing positive for a banned substance for the second time before his bout with Steve Cunningham in 2015, I have no idea

Chris Arreola  – probably eating something

Nicholas Walters  – probably having nightmares about Lomachenko

Czar Glaskov  – it’s been over two and a half years since he badly injured his knee against Charles Martin, who won a vacant title by default and handed to Anthony Joshua a few months later in exchange for an outrageous payday.  I haven’t heard a peep from him.  There was talk of him returning last summer, but it never happened.

GIANT MENS MYTHICAL MATCHUP PARTY FEATURING DEONTAY:

Wilder – Carnera  – Wilder stoppage

Wilder – Valuev  – Wilder stoppage

Valuev – Carnera  – Carnera decision

David Price – Seth Mitchell  – double knockout, fight declared a No Contest

Kevin McBride – Taishan Dong  – McBride decision

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT SHOOTING GALLERY FEATURING ROCKY MARCIANO:

The reality is that all of the fighters you mentioned (Hopkins, Ward, Spinks, Kovalev and especially Gassiev) would be taller, longer and stronger than Marciano, who stood at 5’10” and weighed around 180 lbs during the era of same day weigh-ins. That is just one reason why it’s almost impossible to compare fighters of different eras in my opinion.  When taking into account Friday weigh-ins you could make the argument that Marciano could have probably squeezed down to middleweight. I know it sounds crazy but Gennady Golovkin is the same height and has a longer reach than “The Brockton Blockbuster” – imagine that!

Regarding Ward coming back, it’s tough to say. He made life changing money against Kovalev and never really came across as a guy who loved boxing. Why come back for a fight with Bellew, whom nobody considers elite in any division? It would be a nice payday but it would require “SOG” doing something he was never willing to do at any point in his career before – fight on the road. A Ward-Bellew fight in America doesn’t move the needle. To make serious cash, it will have to happen in the UK. Would Andre be willing to stamp his passport? I’m not so sure.

GARCIA’S CHALLENGE TO SPENCE

Hey Doug,

Hope you’re well. I enjoyed Mikey Garcia doing his thing this weekend. Such a relief he’s willing to challenge himself regularly.

That being said, I think Errol Spence destroys him. I doubt he’d even last 7. He’s a fighter with great timing and fundamentals but he simply doesn’t vary his attack enough or commit to more than 2 punches at a time. The bulk of his attacks are one dimensional 1-2, 1-2-3 combos.  He doesn’t usually mix up punches or set traps.

I envision the feeling out rounds to be interesting but once Spence starts attacking I think it’ll go downhill fast for Mikey. This isn’t even accounting for the substantial size difference.  What do you think about the matchup? – Vincent, South Orange, NJ

Call me crazy Vincent, but I think Garcia is solid enough defensively to maaaaaybe go the distance with Spence. The Texan is certainly bigger, stronger and more athletic, but Mikey is more experienced. I think Garcia is calling Errol out because he “sees something” in his game that he feels he can exploit, but it’s difficult for me to believe anything he says these days. It seems Mikey has called out everyone under the sun recently other than the best fighters in his own division.

If I had things my way Garcia would face Lomachenko while Spence takes on the Garcia-Porter winner next. I don’t like these weight-jumping “one offs” that have no build. If Spence beats Garcia at 147lbs that’s a nice name on his resume but does it change anything regarding the state of the welterweight division? If Garcia wins it’s a great accomplishment but the reality is that “The Truth” is still largely unproven.  Spence’s two notable wins are against Kell Brook (who had his face destroyed by GGG in his prior bout) and a faded Lamont Peterson coming off a year-long layoff; he’s not exactly Ray Leonard quite yet.

WHO WILL BE THE ALPHA DOG AT MIDDLEWEIGHT?

Dear Doug,

Canelo-GGG II. Jacobs-Derevyanchenko. Saunders-Andrade. No big fights for

Jermall Charlo or Ryota Murata, but with all these matchups getting made it seems like only a matter of time before they jump into the shark-infested waters. On top of this, we have guys like Hurd and Munguia most likely moving up in weight in the next year or two.  It seems as though we have entered a golden age for middleweight boxing.  So my question is when all the dust has settled, who do you foresee standing tall at middleweight?

Who will ultimately be the alpha dog? – Douglas Cohen

Right now I like Golovkin to beat Canelo by decision in the rematch. I think Jacobs will be too much for Derevyanchenko, and I think Andrade will get a close (controversial?) decision win over Saunders. Top Rank and Golden Boy are trying to work out a deal for Murata to face Irishman Jason Quigley this October in Las Vegas, but the WBA titlist has a mandatory defense due against American Rob Brant. (Don’t ask me how Brant, who was dominated by Juergen Braehmer last October in a super middleweight bout and has fought just once since, scoring a first-round KO over a fighter with a .500 record, is the WBA mandatory. That organization is the laughing stock of boxing, but I digress.) They can still make the Murata-Quigley fight, but they would have to make a step-aside deal with Brant first.

Regarding Charlo, I’d just like him to get busy. The kid has crazy potential but at middleweight he’s faced Jorge Sebastian Heiland and Hugo Centeno, not exactly a murderer’s row. He’s the mandatory for Golovkin’s WBC middleweight title so he could be in the mix very soon, but at this point I’d favor GGG and Canelo to beat him big.  He’s simply too inexperienced against the elite.  If I were advising the career of both Charlo brothers I’d get them fighting more often, especially in their hometown of Houston. I’m a big Jarrett Hurd guy, but he’s got unfinished business at 154lbs before he can move up to middleweight. I’d love to see him clean things up there and then make the move six pounds north. Jaime Munguia is not ready for the likes of Hurd or Charlo yet, but if continues to progress he figures to eventually enter the mix at 160lbs as well. We should get another look at him on the Canelo-GGG2 undercard.

The kingpin at middleweight will be decided on September 15^th; it’s the Canelo-GGG2 winner and then everyone else. The division is going to be a lot of fun over the next few years so long as all the fighters mentioned above are willing to fight one another. We already know that Golovkin, Canelo and Jacobs are willing to face the elite – but are the youngsters prepared to step up? Only time will tell. If you put a gun to my head and asked me who of this current young crop will challenge the legitimate champion of the division over the next year or so, I’d put my money on Charlo. Speed kills, skills pay the bills and there is a growing movement in Texas boxing happening right now.

Michael Montero can be found on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram via @MonteroOnBoxing