The State of the Boxing Nation

In that we've been gone so long and so much has happened in our absence, I thought I'd start today by airing out my thoughts on a few major stories in our bread-and-butter pursuit here at the Mas, the sweet science.

1. Cotto v. Margo - The April 12th Cotto/Gomez, Margarito/Cintron card, despite featuring two non-competitive fights, proved to be a great night for boxing in that it set up the kind of Immovable Object v. Irresistible Force bout that, for all the big names floating around out there, was sorely lacking from the remainder of the 2008 schedule. I'm still a little worried that it won't happen for some reason - nothing is signed yet as far as I know and no location has been agreed upon. But still, this bout is a fight fan's dream. Obviously we have a lot of time to mull it over and so I won't get into any deep prognostification right now, other than to say that I lean towards Cotto but with heavy reservations.
2. Oscar Spars in Front of 27,000 People - I was in the house for this one doing some reportage for The Sporting Blog (you can check those posts here and here and here). On the whole, I thought it was more competitive than expected, particularly early, where I had Stevie winning... I think I had it 3-2 Oscar after 5. Mostly it seemed like a soft outing for The Golden Boy, with some real deterioration of both speed and power on display. How much of it was rust it's hard to say. I was talking to a journalist down on press row who said he'd had a long talk with Floyd Sr. the day before and that Daddy Floyd had told him that he'd hated the Forbes make from the beginning, that Oscar was setting himself up to need a big knockout to come out of the fight looking good and that Stevie was a very difficult guy to knock out or even hurt that much. And that was pretty much the story of the evening, a glorified sparring session in which Oscar decisively won rounds but did little else to impress. Was that a function of Forbes' savvy? Maybe. But I couldn't help feel like five years ago Oscar would have gotten him out of there no problem. I certainly saw nothing to make me think that he'll fare any better in a rematch with Money May.
3. Execution - Did Calzaghe/Hopkins even happen? Doesn't that fight almost seem like a mirage now? When I saw Bernard in the ring at the Oscar/Forbes fight, preening around as if he was running the show in an expensive-looking suit and an ill-advised peach shirt, I thought to myself, goddamn man holms is never going to retire. He looked like he might peel that Armani shit off at any moment and get to fighting with somebody just to get some himself some attention. And it's a shame, because after that Calzaghe slap-and-tickle session, I really feel like I don't want to watch another BHop fight. He's tough to read, he makes you look bad, he never lets you hit him square, he fouls the crap out of you and the ref never knows it... all true. He's a marvel, a walking boxing compendium of angles and maneuvers and sneakyass shit. But he doesn't fight to win anymore - he just doesn't have it in him. He was never a thrill-a-minute guy even in his prime, and now, well, now he's excruciating to watch. I hope we've seen his last fight, but I sincerely doubt it. Something tells me that Tito Trinidad thing is going to happen whether we want it or not.
4. Money May Disappoints Money-Wise - Did you see this? Wrestlemania's PPV numbers were down this year, a fact that is largely being attributed to Lil Floyd being not nearly the draw that McMahon and Co. thought he would be. Which I think is good news all around, to be honest. I'm all for the circus act, but some active encouragement to get back to basics seems in order for Cash Money right about now.
   

The Return of the Mas

Well, first of all, I'm none too sure this is going to post right now. Things have been pretty mercurial lately. Those test posts went up days after I initially tried to get them up. But just in the off chance that this works like it's supposed to today, let me get an update up here on the status of the Mas.

If you haven't followed the conversations in the comments lately, basically what happened with the No Mas blog in the last few weeks is that Blogger stopped working for us. We've had little glitches with that in the past but this was a different thing entirely - this was wholesale nuclear war. We couldn't post anything, comments weren't updating on the main page, and we couldn't republish in any way so we couldn't get ourselves onto another blog client. Things didn't start to clear up until recently, although as I pointed out even that has been hit-miss.

But we're coming back strong, hopefully in the next two weeks. If Blogger lets me post regularly, I'll start getting us back up to speed ASAP, but if not, we'll have to wait until we are safely over at Wordpress, at which point the No Mas guns will be blazing once again, just in time to get you a review of that new David Mamet MMA movie that looks so freakin awesomely bad.

To tide you over, here's a recent piece of mine from over at The Sporting Blog about Iron Mike's recent appearance on E60.

Tyson in Repose (The Sporting Blog)

Another Test

Just to be sure.

Test Post

If this by some miracle manages to post, No Masians, you will know that our return to the airwaves is imminent. I, for one, am doubtful - Large.

The Land of Football

Soccer, fútbol, football, call it what you will, in England the game is much more than sport. It’s English society’s central cultural touchstone. It’s more important that the weather, more tabloid than the Royal Family, and dare I say it, bigger than beer. Yes, even the merits of real ale pales in comparison to which WAG has the most prominent lingerie endorsement deal.

Upon arriving at Heathrow Airport on Wednesday morning I was greeted at passport control by a large sign with a hint of Orwellian menace that read: “UK BORDER.” It should say: LAND OF FOOTBALL.” Having stopped for a cuppa at a local breakfast café, a quick glance at the telly told me that I was not in Kansas anymore. There was Sir Alex Ferguson putting his men through their paces on the training ground ahead of the return leg of Manchester United’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinal clash with Roma. The scroll at the bottom of the screen told me that Liverpool had thumped Arsenal the night before to advance to their usual Champions League semifinal berth, (or as the headline in one of the tab rags put it: “Red and Buried.”)

But these days in dear old Blighty, footie is not confined to the pitch and the sports pages. It’s the coin of the realm. You simply can’t escape it.

Sky television is promoting its upcoming programming as “The Heroes Season.” Brad Pitt in full Babel break down dissolves to Oscar winner Dame Judy Dench, who in turn becomes Sir Winston Churchill. And just as I was thinking that ranking Churchill third to Angelina Jolie’s partner was a bad sign of the times, up popped Wayne Rooney. Now as every baby does looks like Churchill, perhaps finding one of the few adults to resemble the wartime Prime Minister was a clever ploy. But does that merit hero status alongside Hollywood heartthrobs, West End legends, and the man who urged the nation to fight Hitler on the beaches? Granted, Rooney will have more time to spend on the beach this summer than originally anticipated, but again the Churchill connection is tenuous at best. If only England’s footballers were as good as the ever-present PR machine that hypes up the volume on them to eleven.

The last true English world-class goal scorer is at The Masters this week. Gary Lineker is hosting BBC coverage of the first golf major of the year. I’ve no idea about his putting, but if any golfers need tips on coming through in the clutch, they should interview him. I’ve always thought that the Beeb’s man in Augusta has not received the credit his outstanding career deserves. I would have him starting in my all-time England XI ahead of Jimmy Greaves, Alan Shearer and Stan Mortensen. Sure he’s had plenty of plaudits over the years, but he was the leading scorer at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and scored England’s two most clutch penalty kicks in history against Cameroon at Italia’90. (There have been plenty of other clutch penalty kicks for England, but players who didn’t have Lineker’s bottle muffed the moment and waited for their agents to get them pizza commercials.) Lets face it, if Trevor Brooking and Geoff Hurst have knighthoods, then Lineker should be Lord Leicester by now. Perhaps like the late, great Paul Scofield, Lineker doesn’t want HRH to dub her sword on his shoulders. I wouldn’t know. But he seemed pretty happy on Friday, trying not to clash with Ian Poulter’s hot pink trousers.

Talking of Knights errant. One man in his element in the ancient isle at the moment is former Tottenham Hotspur honcho, Sir Alan Sugar. In the British version of “The Apprentice,” he plays Donald Trump. And if the ratings are anything to go by, he’s not about to be fired, as the show is one of the most popular in the country and not even contemplating a celebrity “jump the shark” edition.

It’s been a sour time for Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed of late though. After sounding off recently in yet another Princess Diana death inquest, the Harrod’s owner gave a vote of confidence to Cottagers boss Roy Hodgson this week. The always-jingoistic British press seems incapable of giving the grief stricken father a mulligan, and greeted the Harrod’s owners statement with the headline: “Fulham On The Brink.”

In the Land of Football someone is always on the brink of something. Manchester United on winning the EPL, Chelsea on signing Gareth Barry, and WAG lingerie model Abbey Clancy on marrying Peter Crouch. Which happy event will receive the most prominence in the British press? Do you really need to ask?

The Fab Four

There's been a bit of a lull for fight fans since the amazing trifecta of FOY candidates in March (Vazquez/Marquez III, Pacquiao/Marquez II and Casamayor/Katsidis) but that all ends tomorrow night with FOUR title fights. All of these fights have interesting consequences for future bouts, making it a banner night for fistic enthusiasts everywhere, and quite an appetizer indeed for the Calzaghe/Hopkins mega-fight next week. So, ah, let's get right into it:

Miguel Cotto v. Alfonso Gomez
It is what it is. You know when Vegas has a stoppage at about -200 that you are looking at a one sorryass mismatch, and that's what you have here. The odds on Cotto by stoppage is 5/11, and even that seems a bit conservative to me. Yes, Gomez beat Arturo Gatti, but come on - Gatti is a shadow of his former shadow (if Gatti shadowboxed with his shadow from 1997, his shadow would knock him out in 5). This is still the same Alfons Gomez who boasts a loss to Peter Manfredo on his record, and a draw to Jesse Feliciano, the same Jesse Feliciano that Kermit Cintron stopped in November. So, you know, by the commutative property, what do you think Cotto does to Cintron right now. I say he knocks his ass out in under 8. Cotto is suffering through some Money May-like drama with his uncle/trainer Evangelista Cotto, but he's just not the kind of dude to let that get in his head. In that Cotto is a 15-1 favorite right now, about the only way to make money on this thing is to bet the under on rounds at 9 1/2 at -150. Seems like a very safe bet to me unless Cotto breaks a hand or something.

Antonio Margarito v. Kermit Cintron
I watched the first fight between these guys a few days ago, and I was again struck by what a sorry showing it was for Cintron. If you've never seen it, the video of the conclusion is below, a 5th-round stoppage in which Cintron effectively gave up. The hardest thing for him to swallow afterwards must have been realizing how in the fight he was when he started to lose his cool around the third round. Margarito frequently has assessed this fight by saying that as soon as Cintron caught him a few times with his right hand and saw that they didn't faze Tony at all, it was over. And on a second viewing, that's pretty much how it looks to me. Cintron suffers a nasty cut in the fourth, but even before the cut he looks like he's out of it, like he's given up.



Many questioned Kermit's mettle after this fight, but I think he answered that doubt with his heroic throwdown with David Estrada in 2006. Myself, I've always liked Cintron and I think he's a very talented guy who found himself psychologically defeated by Margarito in their first go-round. But now Cintron knows that he's not going to knock Margarito out with his straight rights, no matter how flush he connects (Margarito is a Carlos Baldomir-level of hardhead who has never been KO'ed) and he's also working with Manny Steward, who no doubt is preparing Cintron to win this thing by decision. And I think he has what it takes to do that. He has a speed edge and he's an accurate puncher. Margarito starts slowly and I could see this going very similarly to his bout with Paul Williams - where Tony comes on late and just runs out of time to make up for a points-deficit. On that score, it may all come down to Cintron's conditioning, because Margarito is definitely an insistent fighter who won't go anywhere over the course of a 12-rounder. But I like Cintron to hang on in this one. He'd got the skills and more importantly he's got the experience to know what it takes to beat Margarito. On the whole I think he's the superior athlete, and if he sticks to what I imagine should be his gameplan, I see him getting a close decision.

Clinton Woods v. Antonio Tarver
The ante was upped considerably on this bout earlier in the week with the news that much-anticipated Clinton Woods/Joe Calzaghe bout is in the works, provided of course that Woods beats Tarver and Calzaghe beat Bernard Hopkins next week. I like both of their chances, but honestly, I'm feeling better about Woods than Calzaghe, though I base that more on Tarver's condition rather than Woods' prowess. I simply think that Tarver is shot, pasychologically and physically. I certainly don't see him having enough pop left to knock Woods out. I mean, Clinton Woods is one rugged son of a bitch. Anybody out there remember the beating he took from Roy Jones in 2002? Let me take you back...



Yes, Roy tarred and feathered him, but that was pre-Ruiz Roy at 175. He tarred and feathered everyone back then. The point to me is that after a full round of Roy's punishing razzle-dazzle, on that last haymaker that he lands on Woods before Woods' cornermen throw in the towel, Clinton points to his chin in true Jake LaMotta fashion. "Do it again, mate, go on..." And yes, yes, that was six years ago, but the fact remains - given what we've seen of Tarver lately, there is just no way he's going to knock out Clinton Woods (who has never been stopped by anyone but Jones). I honestly think it's more likely that Woods stops Tarver. Maybe there's some magic left in the Magic Man, but I'd be very surprised to see him pull a winner out of his hat. I see Antonio gettting the better of the action early but without hurting his man. Then I see him wearing down quickly, and barely making it to the finish. With a huge all-British megafight with Calzaghe in the offing, I think Tarver would have to kill Clinton Woods to win this one, and he just doesn't have the ammo anymore.

Chad Dawson v. Glen Johnson
2008 already has seen a fair share of older fighters schooling highly touted younger ones - Carlos Quintana over Paul Williams, Nate Cambpell over Juan Diaz, Joel Casamayor over Michael Katsidis. So the question is, does Glen Johnson have enough left in the tank to add his name to that list? Is Chad Dawson as good as we think he is? It's not that I think that Dawson is over-rated necessarily, but I will say this - his record doesn't look as solid to me as Juan Diaz's did at lightweight. But is Glen Johnson capable of going all Nate Campbell in there? Doubtful, admittedly. But look, with the way this year is going, anything seems possible, and at +275, Johnson is definitely an interesting longshot.

(For more Largination, check out my weekly boxing notes over at the new and improved Sporting Blog. I give some more thoughts on tomorrow night and discuss the demise of The Contender on ESPN.)

Large at Slate

I realize that with the way I've been neglecting my No Masian duties of late that I may be barking up the wrong tree here, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway and alert you all to the fact that I have a new piece up at Slate today. It's about Ian O'Connor's new book Arnie and Jack and the way in which the legendary Palmer/Nicklaus rivalry informs the way we see Tiger Woods today.

Tiger vs. Nobody (slate.com)