ANOTHER AMERICAN BITES THE DUST!
Los Angeles, CA– Congratulations to WBC light heavyweight (175 lbs)champion Jean Pascal (26-1 , 16 KOs) in his impressive 11th round technical decision victory over heavily favored American Chad Dawson (29-1, 17 KOs). Pascal, as high as a 3-1 underdog, showed poise and executed his game plan in front of some raucous hometown fans in Montreal.
“NOT YET 30″ MEANS TIRES STILL HAVE TREAD!
Dawson is 28 and Pascal is a year younger and these are the types of fights that boxing needs, younger fighters facing each other. In retrospect, the reason this wasn’t an upset from where I stand is that Pascal was the defending champion making a third defense. He won the vacant title in a match against fellow Canadian-Romanian Adrian Diaconu (26-1, 15 KOs), a belt that Dawson had vacated after beating Antonio Tarver (27-6, 19 KOs) the second time. Pascal however has been on quite a run and continued his run with the victory over Dawson.
EXPLAINING BIG UPSETS & LOOKING AT BUTE
A major upset is when a journeyman such as slow-ass non-puncher Carlos Baldomir (45-12-6, 14 KOs) beats an undisputed champion like Zab Judah (39-6, 27 KOs). Pascal’s next possible foe is another Canuck, IBF super middleweight champion (26-0, 21 KOs) Lucien Bute.
PARTING SHOT AT “NOT SO BAD” CHAD
This win should be a real dose of reality for Chad Dawson. The left handed fighter, once known for whacking guys out, scored but one KO, that of Epifanio Mendoza (30-9-1, 26 KOs KOs) in his last seven fights (35 months) leading up to his loss Saturday. I think we need to realize that Chad got a gift with Glen Johnson (50-14-2, 36 KOs) the first time in 2008, fought Antonio Tarver, this after Antonio’s had went life and death with Rocky Balboa, not once, but twice, this before giving a now 41-year old Johnson a second fight.
CHAD IS BORING & COULDN’T DRAW FLIES!
Add the fact that he reportedly couldn’t sell 500 tickets some 30 miles his front door speaks volumes about Dawson in that his own peeps were not even impressed. While Dawson may be a gifted athlete, he isn’t all that exciting and Pascal might be more entertaining for HBO viewers.
MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMP MARTINEZ NEEDS TO FACE WILLIAMS
To shift gears, but well not really, WBC middleweight (160) king Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24 KOs) and Paul Williams (39-1, 27 KOs) have to fight each other this fall. There is no other fight out there for either guy that makes means more.
HBO NEEDS TO PLAY “HARD BALL” FOR SUBSCRIBERS
If neither guy will take the match neither should be rewarded with any opportunities on HBO period. Williams is living in a fairytale land if he thinks he can land fights with Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) or Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs). Being honest, Paul has no star power and should just take the best available option, and that’s against Martinez. The boxing business isn’t rocket science, but the way some fighters handle their careers you’d probably think it was.
LET FLOYD BE FLOYD FOR NOW
People need to just leave Floyd Mayweather alone. If the man doesn’t want to fight again in 2010 because of taxes or anything else, it’s his prerogative. He owes the fans nothing. However I don’t want to hear about how great he is, at least not from his mouth. If “Money” as he calls himself, can make over $20 million fighting guys like old (38) Shane Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs), why would he split a 50/50 purse with Manny Pacquiao? If people can’t understand the arrogance and ego of Mayweather by now, they never will. Floyd is unbeaten and in his mind that makes him the better fighter.
DON’T NEED CALCULATOR TO FIGURE IT OUT
It wouldn’t be reasonable from a business standpoint to take 50 percent when you can fight someone else (that you know you can beat) and take 80% of the purse. It’s simple math. I’d love to see the fight but I believe there’s more hurdles to make this bout than just the issue of drug testing.
“THAT ACT IS OLD” MY JAMAICAN BROTHER
I am a big fan of Glen Johnson (50-14-2, 34 KOs), but I am kind of tired of him saying that he always gets robbed in big fights. I agree he gets shorted most of the time in close fights, but last weekend against rugged IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (21-0, 18 KOs) wasn’t one of them. Glen was hurt several times and clearly lost a unanimous nod. At 41 years of age Glen may still have the ability to hang with the elite, but just not enough to win.
OVERRATED IS ANDRE’S MIDDLE NAME
Where’s WBC welterweight (147) champion Andre Berto (26-0, 20 KOs)? The earthquake in Haiti had him stressing, but that was many months ago. Oh, he did stop Carlos Quintana (27-3, 23 KOs) via TKO 8 in April. How about matching him against Tim Bradley (26-0, 11 KOs)? Or does anyone even care about Berto? After WBC/IBF junior welterweight (140) Devon Alexander’s (21-0, 13 KOs) lackluster performance and close victory over Andriy Kotelnik (31-4-1, 13 KOs) that match up seems more intriguing in my opinion.
HERE I GO, TOOT THE HORN FOR SOLIS!
I believe Cuban heavyweight and 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Oldlanier Solis (16-0, 12 KOs) is the future of the heavyweight division. However like many other Cubans, once they get an ounce of freedom, some, if not a lot of their dedication to the sport wanes as his weight has always been an issue in his short career. He has great tools as is displayed in a stoppage victory over current WBA heavyweight belt-holder David “Reluctant” Haye (24-1, 22 KOs) in the 2001 World Amateur championships.
Kevin “KP” Perry