Why has boxing died?

[brettac1]

Just a reminder for tonight. If anyone wants to see proof that boxing is far from dead, tune into Showtime at 8:00 tonight for Vazquez/Marquez III. And if you didn't see either of the first two amazing fights, turn it on at 4:30 and watch both of them in their entirety.

 

Here's round 3 of the second fight:

 

[GAME05]

brett, that was an awesome clip. and thanks, too, for the heads up that SHO is replaying their first two fights. i guess that means i've got a long night of boxing tonight--awesome. since there's UFC on tonight, i'm really hoping the ONLY place in town that shows boxing is still going to have it, because the UFC crowds have always been bigger.

 

.....nope. NOBODY in my town carries Showtime. all the stupid UFC.

[brettac1]

AMAZING.

UNBELIEVABLE.

INCREDIBLE.

 

Every other possible superlative.

[GAME05]

well, tried everywhere where I live and around and nobody was showing it at all. UFC was a bore when I knew I was missing something much better. no good articles on the fight written already at 1 am to read yet. i'll have to youtube it and watch it round by round tomorrow.

[BrewCrewForever]

It's all about the UFC for me. I'm not a boxing guy at all. Was a little when guys like Tyson, Holyfield and Lewis were around. I'm upset I missed tonights UFC PPV actually.

[Time for a Miller]

Aside from the going to PPV, decreasing recognition and a lack of organization I think boxing is dying off for one main reason.

 

I think what people want out of boxing is not necessarily sport. We tune in to see "the fight" not the game, not the show. We want to see who would win if these two guys met outside a bar or after a car accident and got pissed at eachother. UFC gets a lot closer to what people crave out of watching two people go at it. There is a lot less rules and a lot more real world tpye confilct allowed.

[brettac1]

GAME05 - did you end up getting to see that fight yet? It's only March and I can't see anything touching it this year, much like nothing could touch the second one last year.

 

It's another pretty excellent night for NON-PPV fights tonight.

 

Showtime has Maccarinelli vs. Haye, which is a really big Cruiserweight fight (best in ages). That's at 8:00, and should be all action - both guys are big-time punchers. It's also easily the biggest Brit v. Brit fight since Eubank/Benn in the early '90's. I'd be shocked if this isn't a GREAT fight.

 

At 8:30, HBO has Maskaev vs. Peter. That's a heavyweight "championship" fight. It will be terrible since both of them suck. However, the first fight on the card is Juan Diaz vs. Nate Campbell at lightweight. That might be a really good fight. Diaz should win, but he doesn't have big power and throws a lot of punches. I think it goes 12 very entertaining rounds.

[GAME05]

yeah, i kinda had to do a round-by-round youtube of the fight. you were right, it was incredible. it's upsetting i never got to see any of their fights live. i watched the video you posted quite a few times.

 

since there's no way to get Showtime for me, i'm off to see the HBO fight. pretty tough to get excited about the Samuel fight. honestly, i just don't even care who wins. Samuel's better than Maskaev, but it's not like Samuel has any real chance against Klitchko in a rematch. it's gonna be sad to watch Samuel be winded by the 3rd round. didn't he weigh in at 250 for this? cripes.

 

Diaz sure has a motor, but Campbell's got such a giant reach advantage if he can keep Diaz at a distance it's going to be really interesting.

 

Brett, i'll be interested in reading your comments tomorrow. and thanks for the previews, too, you've always been right on the money.

[burniebrewer]

Showtime has Maccarinelli vs. Haye, which is a really big Cruiserweight fight (best in ages). That's at 8:00, and should be all action

 

Didn't take Haye long to knock him out (2nd round).

[brettac1]

Yeah, I definitely expected Haye to KO Enzo, but a little bit later on. Now he's going to move onto heavyweight, where who knows, he could do something. The fight somewhat disappointed me, but it was a no doubter that it was going to end in a KO all along.

 

The Diaz/Campbell fight was a good one. I was very happy to see Campbell beat him, even though I was really scared that there would be a robbery in Cancun. I'm just not a fan of Diaz, because all he does is throw punches, without power. That's why I can't stand Paul Malignaggi, either.

 

The Peter/Maskaev fight... Woo-hoo. We found out that Peter sucks slightly less than Maskaev. At least there was some mercy and it ended in a KO. The only reason that fight was the main event was because they weigh more than Diaz and Campbell.

[GAME05]

so Campbell won, huh? cool.

 

what i didn't realize was there was a Duke/UNC game on last night. and living in north carolina, of course that was all that was on.

 

i've heard Haye will look to fight Rachman next.

[GAME05]

great fight. great fight. Pacquiao was a stronger puncher than i thought. i thought Marquez won a lot of those middle rounds, but that 10-8 second round was pretty tough to come back from. going into 12 i really thought Marquez would come out a lot stronger than he did, because i figured him down 2 or 3 at that point. fun fight to watch.

[brettac1]

I had Marquez winning 115-112. He controlled the action of the fight outside of small flurries that Pacquiao would have (usually in the second half of rounds). Marquez landed more punches (including power shots) and at a higher connect rate. That's winning a fight. If Marquez had the cachet with judges, etc. that a guy like Mayweather has, he would be viewed as more of an artiste, pot-shotter and a masterful boxer (which is what he is). But since he's been criminally underrated his entire career, he doesn't have that. I can see how it could be scored for Manny, though, so I guess I don't have a major issue with it. I did think Marquez certainly won the 12th round (I believe only one judge scored it for Pac).

 

Pacquiao just has never done it for me. Great, he bounces around and lands a left hand once in a while. How that makes him the "biggest attraction" in the sport is beyond my grasp. I think he will have more trouble at 135. Marquez should be able to control 130 now for the time being, unfortunately he's 34 already, which is too bad.

[GAME05]

i saw Marquez as the definite counter-puncher in the fight and wasn't the one controlling the action the majority of the time, so with 4 or 5 of those rounds SO close, that's a little more why i scored them for Pacquiao than Marquez. of course value in each, so a lot of personal preference in there. but to your point that Marquez isn't a pot-shotter or anything like that, i couldn't agree more with your judgement of his skill. and that was most of why i enjoyed the fight, that even though i'd scored it five points different from you, i wouldn't argue with the way you had it, either.

 

yeah, i didn't see Pacquiao's right hand much which the commentators kept touting (all for tv, i suppose), more the straight right just to set up the left hook. from what i'd seen of him going in, i really figured him to be more an all-out puncher, which we definitely didn't see. i think what disappointed me the most about him was that he'd be controlling Marquez near the ropes, then back off from it, i just didn't get that. he didn't push to continue the action but instead got satisfied with three shots then left it alone. though i still gave him the fight, he was lesser of a boxer than i thought him to be.

 

from here on out, though, i don't know what sort of excitement Pacquiao is going to be able to draw since at least i can't figure out who to cheer about at 135.

[burniebrewer]

Anybody watching Calzaghe/Hopkins tonight on HBO?

 

I'm very happy it's not a PPV.

[burniebrewer]

I'm really surprised that one judge gave the points to Hopkins.

 

I think Calzaghe deserved that win, hands down. He really bounced back from that first round knockdown--Calzaghe just said he slipped. Still, a decent fight.

 

Ha! Kellerman called him on "the slip" and he fessed up.

 

Calling brettac1......did you get to watch the fight? Thoughts?

 

Are you with me on Calzaghe deserving the win?

[Hammer]

Fights like this one (Hopkins/Cal-prick-zaghe) are why boxing is dying. This was such a dirty, skill-less fight it was hard to watch. Obviously the compubox numbers favored Calzaghe but Hopkins was truely the better "fighter". Most of the Calzaghe "punches" were slappy, tappy crap. Not a good fight.

[burniebrewer]

Also have to add: Celebrity watching in the crowd was fun. Good ol' Rocky himself, Stallone, kept cupping his hands yelling to the ring. He was really into it. I see he had the "Idol" guy next to him and Jim Belushi behind him.

 

Post-fight interview: Hopkins seems to be in denial. Nice interview, Kellerman. Love that he's asking him about on the low blow.

[Hammer]

I think Calzaghe deserved that win, hands down. He really bounced back from that first round knockdown--Calzaghe just said he slipped. Still, a decent fight.

I guess that we'll agree to disagree then. I'm not good with watching slapping and tapping. I like punching and bruising...

[burniebrewer]

Hammer, you really think Hopkins was better?

[Hammer]

Yep. I really don't miss many fights and really cringe when Calzaghe is on. His style annoys the hell out of me with his tap and slap style. I can also legitimately say that I have a true hatred for his pretty little cocky crap. Really, I'd rather get a sharp stick in the eye than admit that he was the true champ right now...

 

Edit - more info.

 

His style plays to the compubox garbage that gets crammed down your throat all fight. One of the announcers mentioned that he felt that Hopkins was landing the majority of the sweat tossing shots. I'd rather see 13-16 true "shots" a round than 25-30 slaps and taps. Calzaghe is not really a member of the "sweet science" that is boxing. He is an oddity in the profession that is very tough to score...

[burniebrewer]

I think Calzaghe deserved that win, hands down. He really bounced back from that first round knockdown--Calzaghe just said he slipped. Still, a decent fight.

I guess that we'll agree to disagree then. I'm not good with watching slapping and tapping. I like punching and bruising...

But, for the most part, all Hopkins did was lock up Calzaghe's gloves all night. I hear you on Calzaghe's slapping technique at the break, but the guy is 45-0.

 

[burniebrewer]

Yep. I really don't miss many fights and really cringe when Calzaghe is on.

 

Not sure what fight the one judge watched, but Hopkins let it get away after the knockdown. Midway through the fight, Calzaghe got his rhythm.

 

Aside from your analysis of Calzaghe's style, why do you dislike him? The man takes care of business.

[burniebrewer]

I think I'll just agree to disagree as you stated above.

 

I do appreciate the spirited discussion and will admit I'm not the biggest fight guy, but Calzaghe always pulls me in.

[SeriesFinale]

Calzaghe landed more punches but Hopkins landed more effective punches...if he had dictated the pace of more than the half of that fight that he did, he might've won despite its lack of flash. I think Calzaghe deserved the win but I'm surprised the deciding card was that high...those flurries played better than they actually were. Meanwhile, Calzaghe was still bleeding from that first round punch after the fight.

 

My favorite ringside celebrity: Garrison Keillor!