Floyd “All Night Long” Mayweather
BOXING WORLD EVOLVES AROUND FLOYD MAYWEATHER!
San Francisco, CA– Having just watched Floyd Mayweather pitch a “virtual” shutout over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, can the Mayweather detractors that include Manny Pacquiao and his cult, can you now admit that the boxing world evolves around the 36-year old Mayweather? Probably not, and for some of you that still think Pacquiao has a chance with Floyd, better lay off the Angel Dust because not Manny Pacquiao, not the much bigger Canelo, not middleweight champ Sergio Martinez, you’d probably have to go 168 lbs. to find somebody that can “beat” Floyd.
ALVAREZ HAD THE BALANCE OF A THREE LEGGED TABLE
Besides stumbling over his own feet on at least three occasions, Alvarez, who weighed 165 compared to Floyd’s 150 1/2, could not impose his will in this battle of unbeaten fighters going in. As for the Mexican fans, you can’t say Floyd ran for 12 rounds, because he stayed “in the pocket” per se and beat Canelo where most thought Alvarez could prevail, in close!
ROUND AFTER ROUND IT WAS ALL FLOYD!
Using his wide assortment of punches, angles, moves and feints, Mayweather convinced yet another opponent to try and out box the best fighter in the world. Instead of trying to win with by bum rushing Mayweather, Canelo tried gong low, for which he was nearly docked a point by referee Kenny Bayless, and then twice tried to “butt” Mayweather with his lead (left) shoulder. Outside of that, it was a one man game of “tag” with two people playing. Right hand leads, the jab, uppercuts, hooks, as Floyd finished a lot of his combinations with the lead hand and left hook, you name it, Floyd threw it and Canelo caught it.
SEND JUDGE C.J. ROSS BACK TO THE AMATEURS?
There were two rounds that were closer than the rest, but I still feel Floyd deserved a 120-108 score, not the 114-114 score that Las Vegas judge C.J. Ross put forth.
One might recall that Ms. Ross was involved in a 2012 Las Vegas heist in which she gaffed and denied Manny Pacquiao a win (or draw) over Timothy Bradley. That being said, C.J. should be “benched” here. Much like Dalby Shirley, a retired Las Vegas judge of ill repute to some, C.J. Ross is a blight, even in the “red light” district of sports that is professional boxing..
OTHER JUDGES GENEROUS AS WELL WITH CANELO
The other two cards had Mayweather winning 9-3 and 8-4 in rounds, 117-111 and 116-112. What I found so alarming is that like Cindy Barton, whom I helped get canned from a TV KO gig, HBO’s initial Pay Per View brand, Ms. Ross is not just bad for the sport and business of boxing, but her work product, much like Barton who couldn’t come up with her score after a 12 round fight as the TV judge, makes all female judges look bad.
DANNY GARCIA “OUT THINKS & PUNCHES” REVERED SLUGGER MATTHYSSE
The semi-main event, a 12 round scrap between recognized World 140 lb. champion Danny Garcia of Philadelphia and Lucas Matthysse of Argentina, Garcia used a swollen right eye of Matthysse to land left hook almost at will from the 6th round forward. Although the TV crew thought the corner was not properly addressing the eye that was reduced to a slit, I can both agree and disagree. If you have 60 seconds to work on the eye, don’t wait 20-30 seconds into the break before going to work on the eye.
GARCIA’S CHIN WAS “KEY TO WINNING”
Some will say the fight turned on the eye closure, but it was Garcia’s underrated chin and boxing ability that carried him to victory. Now 27-0, 16 KOs, the Puerto Rican from Philadelphia, although he is not in Floyd’s league, could rip through the 140 lb. weight class before moving to 147 lbs. As for Matthysse, who many thought was a “near cinch” to win, this was a classic example of why fighters fight and writers write. Lucas who looked predictable, just couldn’t throw straight right hands and his hooks were thrown very wide, thus allowing Garcia to avoid the thought to be murderous puncher from Argentina who drops to 33-3, 31 KOs.
ISHE SMITH RELIEVED OF IBF BELT
Carlos Molina left Las Vegas with a 22-5 (6 KOs) record after besting hometown hero Ishe Smith (21-6, 11 KOs) in a fight that was so bad that it had the Showtime TV crew making negative cracks about both men. The scores were split, Smith getting a 116-112 score, while Molina picked up the other two judges with 117-111 & 116-112 tabulations. I thought Smith did enough to win in a fight where you could have enjoyed doing your taxes more than watching two B- guys go for the IBF 154 lb. trinket.
Pedro Fernandez