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)
April 9th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
As a die-hard Nomastian and a fan of yours, Large, I have to say something here. I know you have to put the food on the table so I don’t blame you for leaving for a bit. Serious, your articles are well researched, well written and full of life, and thus, can’t be turned out over night (esp. with the move).
With that being said, remember that NoMas is your bread and butter. You have to establish the run before you can go deep, Baby. Thus, keep pumping the run here and there when you have the chance and the other soccer writers should be tearing it up now…good stuff out there.
Also, I think that you guys should partner up here at NoMas and get some advertising going to get some revenue so you can be here full-time.
The Rooster Consulting has spoken. Remember, we here at The Rooster Consulting: Swing our cock so you don’t have to.
April 9th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I feel you Rooster, I do. It’s hard out here for a pimp.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
No need to apologise large, as long as you link to your content it’s all pretty much the same right?
so anyway, what was the book like?? worth reading?
April 11th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
To whom it may concern – I have a very long post about tomorrow night’s fight ready to go, but unfortunately I can’t publish anything on Blogger right now. Just to let you all know, it’s on the way.
April 11th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
We’re ready for you to drop some knowledge Large. No need to worry though, we know it’ll be worth the wait.
April 12th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Folks – doesn’t look like anything is going to posted to the Mas today. Something’s wrong with Blogger and I have no idea when it will be fixed. So in quite a strange maneuver, I’m going to post the text of my piece here in the comments for those of you who find it. I figure, shit, I wrote the thing. Might as well get it up here somewhere:
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.)
April 12th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I’m in line w/ all of your breakdowns, except for the Margarito-Cintron fight, Large. I just re-watched the first one again, and I don’t really see how Kermie turns it around. Yes, it’s been 3 years. Yes, he’s vastly improved since then as well. But…Tony absolutely destroyed his psyche, will, heart, and face in that ring. And Cintron never struck me as the type of guy w/ a big enough ticker to overcome that. Granted, he dug deep in the Estrada fight (FOY candidate IMO), but David Estrada is no Tony Margarito.
Woods UD over Tarver.
Dawson close UD over Johnson.
Cotto gets brought up on manslaughter charges around the 7th.
Margarito by late round KO.
April 13th, 2008 at 3:55 am
IMO Cotto is a bitch. He didn’t fight like a champion, he was showboating against a palooka. He ended the Sugar fight like a bitch and it continued. Money would kill him, Oscar might too.
If you want to be the champ, fight like a champ. Cotto fought like a punk tonight. IMO
Maybe I just expected to much from him.
April 13th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Sad bit of business here at the Mas. I don’t know what to tell you. I haven’t been able to publish anything here for days now. I have no idea when it will be fixed. Good night of fights tonight, but in that I can’t post anything I doubt I will write a recap. I’ll probably have some stuff up at The Sporting Blog on Monday so maybe check over there.
April 14th, 2008 at 4:43 am
Damn! Wrong time for No Mas! to go down like this. Hope you put up some good stuff at the blog atleast Large. Love to hear your view on the upcoming cotto-margarito. Me, I’m feeling uneasy thinking bout those two battling it out. I fear someones career will be over after that bout, smells like to much blood for me.
April 14th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Large,
Is there a way to go on TSB and look at an archive of your posts, or do you just have to go through the thing in reverse?
James
April 14th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Sadly James, there is no way at TSB to view my posts alone. Here are my two efforts from today, however, one about the Masters and one on Cotto/Margarito:
Cotto-Margarito: Mutually Assured Destruction
Johnson/Immelman: Rare Back-to-Back Feat
April 17th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
People – just an update – CI is back in town and we are working on figuring out our problem over here. So bear with us – the No Mas blog is NOT extinct. We’ll be back f’real, and better than ever.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
No masians – given the current No Mas crisis, I did my Calzaghe/Hopkins preview over at The Sporting Blog – Calzaghe vs. Hopkins: The Worst Scenario Case
April 21st, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I come not to parry Large, but to braise him..
April 21st, 2008 at 5:29 pm
disregard
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Gentleman, our problems continue, but I promise you this – the No Mas blog will be back in the next few weeks. We’ve basically crashed entirely with Blogger, and so it looks like we have to move to another blog service. Keep checking these comments for updates, and sign up for Know Mas on the main page, because once we get up and running again we will send out an email to get everyone up to speed. Thanks for your patience. My thoughts on Calzaghe/Hopkins will be up at The Sporting Blog later today.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Here’s the link to my Calzaghe/Hopkins piece at TSB – Bernard Hopkins; The Ex-Executioner.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
miss u guys
May 1st, 2008 at 6:14 pm
This is wak, WE WANT SOME MAS!!!
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Guys, we’re working on it. Shit is fucked up. Blogger has completely died on us and we’re having a hard time flowing our template and archives onto another blog product. In the meantime, I’m live at Oscar/Forbes and I’ll have some liveblog action going on over at The Sporting Blog. The Mas shall return, I promise you. Make sure you sign up for Know Mas, because we will be announcing our comeback there.