 5/28/06 - article by Howie Reed
Diego Corrales
TALKIN BOXIN
May 28, 2006
by Howie Reed
TALKIN BOXIN
As we're coming up on Memorial Day some erstwhile
journalist will open his or her efforts with "Tis the
time of baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet." Not I. I
am much too sophisticated for such actions. Showtime
has hit a home run with there first of the month
televised boxing show next Saturday. "Live (excepts
probably on the west coast) from the Thomas & Mack
Center in Las Vegas it's Diego Corrales (40-3)-Jose
Luis Castillo (54-7-1) for the WBC Lightweight title
for the third time. Well it's not the third time for
the title as the last time they fought , October 8,
2005, Castillo could make the weight, paid a fine,
gave Corrales some money and then kicked the stuffing
out of him. Many are sure that Castillo never made any
attempt to make the 135 pound limit. Castillo's
promoter "probably" knew that he could buy the
Corrales camp off with a few bucks allowing Castillo a
trouble free training camp.
In their first encounter, May of 2005, Corrales was
leading entering the 10th round on two judges cards
when the roof fell in. Castillo unleashed a plethora
of punches, power and otherwise, that deposited
Corrales on the canvas. Then he did it again. With
referee Tony Weeks on the verge of stopping the fight
, Corrales made a miracle comeback stopping Castillo
at 2:06 of the 10th. Many felt that after the first
fight the rematch was definitely tilted in favor of
Castillo. He trained away from the media spotlight in
Mexico (which is a Third World Country) and Corrales
was not "right" according to some insiders. That won't
be the case for the third leg of the trilogy. Corrales
has had time to recover and Castillo has been forced
to make weight during each phase of training. At
135lbs. Corrales is stronger. Castillo has been
penciled in to fight Miguel Cotto for the WBO
lightweight title on November 11 in Madison Square
Garden where his promoter supplies both fighters. Look
for Corrales to dominate after round 4 and KO Castillo
around the 8th.
What are the chances of the above being correct ? The
same chance of "news experts" getting something right.
Have you ever noticed that most of the main stream
media will begin a story with "the experts were
surprise" ? If they're experts why should they be
surprised ? Last year the "experts" predicted that
there would be 18 Hurricanes. Whoops there were 28.
This year the media announce that the experts said
there will be 15. Are these the same "experts" ? The
same day was the report that "the sale of houses
surprised the housing experts". How can they be called
experts when everything they predict is wrong ? So
will Corrales KO Castillo ? I've got a hell of a lot
better chance being right than most of the so called
"media experts". True facts.
Besides the constant validation that the experts are
wrong more often then they're right the media
continues to "use experts". In years past when a
person was wrong more than they were right a "experts"
became "the loony whack job in the corner". Just as
the news media has changed so has sport not only as we
know it but as it's perceived . In the past the winner
won, the looser didn't but tried to improve. Now the
looser whines. Why we have decided, for whatever
reason, to pay any attention to whiners has me
bamboozled. Specifically in boxing a looser never
looses, the winner cheated and we're all victims. No
body is a better example of this in boxing than
promoter Bob Arum. "Yea I use to call him Buffalo Bob
but that's now "Whining Bob". Most everyone knows that
Oscar deLa Hoya and Whining Bob are on the "do not
invite to the same pi?ata busting party". At the
danger of angering the boxing elite allow me to type,
"Bob Arum does nothing for the sport and ought to shut
his yap."
What brought this on ? Couple of stories that broke
here in Las Vegas the last couple of weeks. Last week
Bob Arum, in the name of Top Rank which is Bob Arum,
"filled suit against boxer Oscar De La Hoya and his
company, alleging De La Hoya fraudulently prevented
Top Rank from promoting his lucrative May 6 bout at
the *** *****." That fight had a live gate of $7.6
million, the 10th largest in the state history, along
with 875,000 pay-per-view. The basis for the suit is
that Top Ranks had the right of first refusal for
DeLaHoya's first bout after his September 18, 2004
fight with Bernard Hopkins. Top Rank,, aka Bob Arum,
estimated that when he did not promote the fight it
cost Top Rank 3 million dollars. Top Rank is also
seeking punitive damages.
Kevin Iole of the Las Vegas Review Journal reports,
".I don't want to try this in the newspaper, but our
position is they didn't conform in good faith with the
terms of the first negotiation, last refusal," Arum
said. He conceded Golden Boy officials talked with Top
Rank about the fight, but Arum said, "They did what
they did just to give themselves a way to blow us out
of the water. In other words, (they showed) a lack of
good faith." In regard to the lawsuit Iole continues,
" It also accuses Golden Boy of intentional
interference with contractual relations and
intentional interference with prospective economic
advantage. It claims De La Hoya and Golden Boy asked
Top Rank for exorbitant salary figures, well beyond
what he had earned in his career for similar fights.
De La Hoya's purse for the Mayorga bout, according to
the contract filed with the Nevada Athletic
Commission, was $8 million. He also will share in the
pay-per-view revenue."
One can only wonder why Arum, if he was on strong
legal grounds, didn't ask for an injunction to stop
the fight ? Arum said, " he didn't think it would be
wise to seek an injunction to prevent the fight and
said he had to wait until after the bout to learn the
extent that Top Rank was financially harmed." What a
load of crap. He didn't do anything cause if the fight
was a disaster he would have been on the phone to all
the lap dog boxing writers (who constantly place their
soup coolers on his backside) saying, "We could have
done it better." Arum continued , " the bout would
have sold better on pay-per-view had Top Rank promoted
it rather than Golden Boy and Don King
Productions.We're able to generate a bigger buzz, the
way we promote. The fight with Hopkins sold a little
less than a million (pay-per-view subscriptions), and
there's no reason why this fight, if done properly,
couldn't have done a similar figure." Excuse me Bobby
but 875,000 is a little less than one million which it
what the Hopkins fight did. What easier to sell ?
Hopkins-DeLaHoya or DeLaHoya-Maroyga ? Get real.
Golden Boy Promtions answer ? "We will do whatever we
have to do to prove we've done no wrong."
But that's not all. There's more of Whining Bob at
his whining best. On Saturday June 10th there are
competing "major" boxing cards on the east coast of
the USA. Golden Boy Promotions, aka Oscar DeLaHoya,
has Antonio Tarver-Bernard Hopkins from the Boardwalk
Hall in Atlantic City. Whining Bobby has Miguel Cotto
against Paulie Malignaggi for the much treasurer WBO
Jr. Welter title at Madison Square Garden. Both fights
are scheduled for pay-per-view with the Hopkins fights
being done by HBO while the Cotto fight is being done
by Whining Bobby. Arum is upset that HBO won't be
carrying his bout and instead will air Antonio
Tarver's light heavyweight title fight against Bernard
Hopkins on pay-per-view. "I've never encountered a
situation where people you were loyal to and have done
business with for years would do something like that,"
Arum said. "This is HBO, the big, big network, doing
this to a promoter for no reason." How about a fight
that is more suited to ppv ? Hopkins-Tarver has a fan
base. Cotto- Malignaggi ? You're kidding. Cotto has a
suspect chin and little appeal outside of Puerto Rico.
Malignaggi is a loud mouth jerk from Brooklyn that
hasn't beaten anybody and won't.
It's not as if HBO didn't try (and I hate sticking up
for them) to work out a solution. Arum has contended
that it was "his date." HBO Sports President Ross
Greenburg sees it differently. "He's manufacturing a
dueling date that never existed," Greenburg says. "The
fact of the matter is he had earmarked the date after
the year before because he had success. But the date
was never locked in stone on our schedule. We offered
to take the fight and put it on Friday night on HBO.
We put together a nice package and license fee and,
for whatever reason, he decided to stay with that
date. Frankly, it's getting annoying to keep reading
his objections. I just wish he'd do that fight and
leave us alone." Whining Bobby stop whining ? Shirley
you're jesting.
"They offered me money that was barely enough to break
even," says Arum. Poor Bobby. Only enough to barley
break even. Arum wanted the June 10 date because the
fight would be held after the Puerto Rico Day Parade
in New York City. The parade has a great tradition as
one year a bunch of thugs rapped a girl in park after
the parade. It's not known if that was part of the
official Puerto Rican Day Parade festivities. If Arum
isn't whining he's tossing dirt at fighters he doesn't
promote or fights he doesn't promote. No one can argue
with any degree of logic that Ricky "The Hitman"
Hatton isn't a good fighter to watch. Rumor has him
fighting the winners of next Saturday Night
Castillo-Corrales fight in Las Vegas. If Castillo
wins, which he won't, what does Whining Bob think of
Hatton ?
"I think Hatton has been exposed pretty much as being
a relatively ordinary fighter based on his last fight.
I don't think he is going to be ready to fight anybody
real soon as long as he can grab HBO money to fight
second rate fighters." I would argue that Hatton has
probably faced better opposition than the stiffs that
Arum promoted fighters have fought. As for taking
HBO's easy money, wasn't it just whining Booby
complaining that HBO would only give him enough to
almost break even ? I love the retort from Dennis
Hobson, who promotes Hatton, "It was a little naughty
of him to imply that Ricky would be content to grab
easy HBO money when that is the exact opposite of what
the Hitman is all about. Every boxing fans knows Ricky
doesn't take a backward step in the ring - and he
certainly doesn't take a sideward step when it comes
to agreeing to fight the best possible opposition. And
that most definitely includes Miguel Cotto and Jose
Luis Castillo....Cotto is yet to win a genuine world
belt. He's still in the kiddie pool with waterwings
on. He's at WBO title level and is struggling to keep
hold of that. Arum can't possibly be serious when he
says that Ricky has anything to fear from Cotto." Take
that Whining Bob.
Two weeks ago I printed a letter from a pal (name
withheld to protect the guilty) that suggested it
would be a good idea for a heavyweight tournament.
Guess what ? George Foreman jumped on the idea and
there may in fact be a heavyweight tournament. Give
all the credit to Roger Anthony (not his real name but
the stage name he used in the original Star Wars in
which he appeared) of Fresno California. Foreman
announced last week that there will be a one day
heavyweight tournament at the Rod Laver Arena in
Melbourne Arena in either October or November. Eight
"world class" heavyweight will be involved including
O'Neil Bell, Shannon Briggs, Chris Byrd, Steve
Cunningham, Alexander Dimitrenko, Ty Fields and Samuel
Peter. That's only 7 with the eight fighter being
named by the promoter. It will be a pay-per-view with
George Foreman joining the Colonel Bob Sheridan at the
mike,. If successful there are plans for a
middleweight show in New York sometime in 2007.
Foreman said , "Everybody says boxing needs
something... (the tournament) is a chance to do
something different." Foreman later joked, "I would
have beat Muhammad (Ali) if it had been four rounds."
With a three day weekend which produced a plethora
sports on TV for a "sports junkie" it was close to
nirvana. When the fact that said "sports junkie" also
is a failed sports announcer wanna be material
abounded. On the TV viewing scheduled HBO BAD (never
has anything been so well named) boxing show from the
Home Depot Center in Carson California. The top of the
card was Jhonny Gonzales (33-4) against Fernando
Montiel (32-2) for the WBO Bantamweight title. As many
don't know and few more care the BAD announcing crew
which use to be Larry Merchant, Jimmy Lampley and
Manny Stewart (with out Tux's ) has morphed into Fran
Charles, Max "Finally a Job" Kellerman and The
Imperial One Lennox Lewis. Ladies and Gentleman, Boys
and Girls they are dreadful although Fran Charles is
fighting a valiant effort but losing to inject a
little professionalism.
The opening bout of the evening (shown live on the
West Coast if you have HBOE which I do) matched two
undefeated fighters in Paul Williams (30-0) and Walter
Matthysse (25-0). "Both fighters are undefeated but
after tonight one will have a blemished record",
Lennox Lewis. "Lennox why is Matthysse standing after
the first round between rounds ?", asked Charles.
"Well sometimes a fighter likes to stand after the
first round but he'll probably sit down after that",
answered Lewis. Matthysse stood up until referee Jack
Reise stopped the fight at 1:56 of the 10th round when
Matthysse was over whelmed by the Williams onslaught
of punches. It was a action fight with the 6'1" 147
pound Williams tossing punches in bunches from the
opening bell. Mattaysse landed some "telling blows".
Most of them telling the viewer that Mattaysse really
didn't have the skill, background or power, despite
being 30-0, to counter the aggressive Williams. Good
fight.
Then there is the post fight interview with Max
Kellerman. Even a blind man could see that Williams
for all his aggressiveness didn't have "good power".
Many of his punches were of the slapping variety, his
balance was poor and seldom did Williams but any body
behind his punches. Max ? Well max has his fighting
the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Oscar DeLaHoya and
Rocky Hatton to name three. "Max get a hold of
yourself." The top of the welterweight division would
go through Williams like a dose of salts. Then we get
to the main event. Forgot to mention that this Golden
Boy Promotion at the Home Depot Center had a lot more
empty seats that those with derrieres. Of course using
the Whining Bob theory had he promoted the event it
would have been chalker block full. The main event
featured Jhonny Gonzales against Fernando Montiel. It
was a lousy fight. When the crowd booed Kellerman
said, "Real right fans wouldn't boo this fight." Way
to go Max, boxing is hurting for people to pay money
to see a fight and you're telling them that they don't
have the right to express their opinion ?
One thing about Mexican boxing fans, they know a lousy
fight when they see one regardless of what a Gringo
from New York says. When ever an announcer use the
terms "Tactical fight" that's code for lousy.
Mentioned how bad the announcers were anmd they were.
Why ? Well for one thing they didn't have their facts
straight which could only mean that the HBO
researchers had fallen down on the job, there were no
HBO researchers, the announcing crew was not properly
prepared or they're lousy. The other answer is a
combination of all the items listed. "Jhonny lost his
first two fights and has been undefeated since then ?"
OK taken at face value then how come his record is
32-4 but "he lost his first two fights and has been
undefeated since then ?" Later Charles tried a CYA
verbal move. "Gonzales lost two fights to Ricardo
Vargas and considered quitting. He took 6 months off,
talked it over with his family and decided to give it
one more try."
Not true. After he lost the second time to Vargas he
was off 3 months (which is about right between fights
at this weight) beat a 3-2 Gilerto Bolanos and a 60
days later beat a 8-6 Ruben Lopez. Whoops where's the
6 months ? I know I'm picking "nits" but getting the
fact correct is not the most difficult task. Lewis for
his part added a lot of "well you know's" which was
followed by his nervous laugh. He has nothing to add.
Kellerman proved when he worked with a real pro in
Barry Tompkins on FOX that he was lost at a real
fight. Feel sorry for Fran Charles. His legs must be
tired and his back hurting carrying these two loads.
Forgot to mention that Jhonny Gonzales won the fight
via a split decision (118-111,116-112, 113-115).
Talkin Boxin usually scores all major fights but have
to admit that while watching with my trusty sidekick,
The Pest, lost interest. I switched to watch Meet the
Fockers. Me and The Pest both enjoyed the movie. The
Pest really liked the part where the cat flushed the
dog down the commode. The Pest was less approving of a
later scene where the dog had sex with the cat. Did
tune in just as the decision was announced and then
back to the Fockers.
AND FINALLY; Don't miss Castillo-Corrales next
Saturday night. It will be well worth delaying what
ever else you're going to be doing. It'll will be a
great fight. I'm guessing delayed on the West Coast by
Showtime so I'll have to monitor my intake of MGD. I
mentioned that it was possible to watch a lot of
sports on TV this weekend. Watched the
CCS on ESPN. That would be the College Chick Softball.
If you think I get on boxing announcer's you should
hear me rally against Chick Softball Experts. During
the LSU-Arizona game "chick announcer" said the
following. "I'm surprised that LSU is not going to
sacrifice in this spot. I would think that was the
logical play". Well yes except that there were two
outs and a runner on first. So Ms. Expert would you
please explain how a "sacrifice" moving the runner to
second with three outs is the "logical play".
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