Tales from the Fight Game: The Maidana/Ortiz Edition
posted by Large
Papa Was a Rolling Stone
Literally, the first thing I saw when I turned the corner off Figueroa and looked down at the facade of the Staples Center was Oscar De La Hoya’s dad standing alone directly across from his son’s statue (and if you’ve seen it, you know that statue looks about as much like Oscar as I do). Joel De La Hoya was in a suit but no tie, drinking a can of beer and pacing around next to the road like he couldn’t decide whether to stick around or maybe hop in a cab and go somewhere else. I went up and talked to him for a while, got his prediction for the fight (Ortiz by decision in a tough one) and his take on the comparison between Ortiz and Oscar, which according to him is a non-starter because ‘Oscar is left-handed, but I teach him to fight conventional… Ortiz, he fight left-handed… so I cannot compare them.†I left him then and made my way to the media entrance. When I looked back, he was still there, looking agitated and indecisive. I wonder if he ended up leaving. It definitely seemed like it was on his mind.
Niko, Large and the Natty A
In the press room before the fight, I sat with a few Golden Boy employees eating my enchiladas (which went on to repeat on me till about 3 a.m.), and our table was soon joined by a young, Latino-looking kid with his Asian buddy, neither of them appearing to be of legal drinking age, neither of them wearing a press-pass or looking like they belonged in the room, and neither of them seeming to give a shit what kind of pass they did or didn’t have. The Latino was well known to all the Golden Boy folks, and I soon learned that he was a long-time pal of Victor’s going back to his days in Colorado training for the U.S. team. His name was Niko (Nico? I don’t know…) and he goes to the Berkeley College of Music in Boston, and, AND, he was set to sing the national anthem before the fight. Victor hooked him up with the gig. He was nervous about it, but not overwhelmingly so, just chattery, bubbly, just like you’d expect of any 20-year-old guy having the night of his life. ‘The anthem is a tough song,†I told him. ‘Start it real low.†‘No doubt,†he said.
When it started getting close to the last undercard bout (which was a wangdanger, btw , Craig ‘Braveheart†McEwan, Scottish acolyte of Freddie Roach, pulling out a nasty eight-rounder over a flashy hardhead from Youngstown by the name of Darnell Boone), I broke out my laptop to get myself logged into the Staples Center wireless system, always a headache at these things. The Golden Boy team filed out to get to work, at which point Niko leaned over to me and said ‘can you text me the lyrics?†‘To the anthem?†I said. ‘Yeah… I can’t be too confident about this thing. My girl is going to be watching, and she’s a tough critic.†‘Well,†I said, ‘if it’s for your girl…â€
The thing was, not being exactly the most tech-savvy rabbit in the rabbit patch, I wasn’t so sure how to pull this off. The kid was in a hurry too , I felt some pressure. After some confused fiddling around, though (thankfully I recently got that IPhone update so I could do a cut and paste), I pulled it off, and he thanked me for my efforts and went on his way.
When it came time for his moment in the spotlight, I was a little nervous. I kept waving at him hoping he’d acknowledge me – for what, I’m not sure. Anyway, he did just fine, started out a tad too low (I’ll take the hit on that one) but then stabilized himself in the middle rounds and came out with a unanimous decision on my card. He’s no Ruben Blades, but he’s no Oscar De La Hoya either.
It must be pointed out that he did not mess up the words, not a one. I’m feeling very patriotic about my role in the whole business.
Random Notes
- Shane Mosley is looking very trim. I wonder if he’s already trying to make 45, or 43, or whatever weight it is at which he is never going to fight Manny Pacquiao.
- In contrast to most of my peers down on press row, I was impressed with the crowd last night. The word was that they had to give back upwards of 2,000 tickets that they’d sold to local Indonesians who were coming out to see Chris John (the Manny Pacquiao of Indonesia). And so what they were left with was a Victor Ortiz fight against some Argentinian no one had ever heard of with no undercard fight worth even talking about. And they still did a decent enough business to get the roars going when the leather started to fly in the main event. At the presser, Oscar reported the gate at 8,500 or so, which is definitely bullshit. (He also said that Ortiz really wanted to keep fighting at the end there. Did I mention that?)
- Speaking of Chris John, he was awarded the WBA Super featherweight tite in a ceremony before the fight that involved a lot of picture-taking with Oscar and Shane. Super featherweight champ. What the fuck is that? The WBA is pathetic. More to the point, it was really strange to have the guy there and being honored and looking perfectly healthy on a night when he was supposed to be fighting and yet claimed to be too ill. Maybe he’s actually really sick, who knows. But it didn’t look right.
- Maidana had a crew of dark-skinned Argentinian loonies with him that seemed to want to start a soccer riot after the fight. They were tearing around with an Argy flag singing songs and jumping up and down and generally trying to provoke mayhem. They didn’t have much luck. I don’t know why this was reported as being a hometown fight for Ortiz. Oxnard is not exactly L.A., first of all, and it’s not as if Ortiz is from Oxnard anyway. The crowd was definitely in his corner, but not to any passionate degree. There were some chants, yeah, but… it just didn’t feel like a live-or-die situation concerning the outcome.
- You’ve probably read elsewhere that Ortiz came into the ring to a medley of ‘Beat It†and ‘Thriller.†It was kind of cool and yet kind of lame at the same time. Sort of like something Oscar would have done , unimpeachably correct and yet somehow devoid of real feeling.
- The biggest roar from the crowd during the pre-fight introductions was for Fernando Vargas, who looks as if he ate the Fernando Vargas that exists in my memory.
June 28th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
that there is some great reporting. thanks!
June 29th, 2009 at 4:34 am
I vote real “lame” on the “Beat It/ Thriller” medley ring entrance music. At least he didn’t knock down foam squares made to look like giant blocks like Vargas did in the old days (that was as weak as it gets). Since MJ’s death Thursday there has been the predictable “keep talking about a story everyone has heard about even though there is nothing new to say” from all media outlets. I figured we would be safe at the fights. Then Ortiz comes out to that shit?…I have nothing against MJ, but let’s face it, his music is weak. Maybe the wrong word, but it’s certainly too soft for ring entrance music. It would be good music for a girls volleyball team to come out to. I saw it as foreshadowing. It clued the viewer in on how Ortiz would react when things got tough.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:18 am
There’s only one Ruben Blades….
June 29th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Like in life, The Rooster don’t deal with B-Listers. Thus, before The Rooster adds NOMAS to his Twitter account…well he would like to know who is controlling the action on that site? Is it someone you hire from the outside and say, “hey, put up sports/boxing/mma/and cool shit from the early 80′s” Please inform me. Thank you, The Rooster.
June 29th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Also, can we get a quick NYC post from Iberg. Mo gets 500 and nothing mentioned here on the Mas? WTF? Also, what is up with the Knicks maybe going after Darko? I thought IBerg would take a knife to himself after reading that one…dear god, I wonder can you save me…got to throw some Pac in there for Large now that he’s a westcoast kid.
Also, forgot to say, Large…HBO! Woot! Damn Suit!! LOL! Congrats man…well done and great write up…dying to see your write-up on khan and the Jewish kid.
June 29th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Rooster, now that you brought up the NBA, I need to add 1 thing. I somehow scored press passes to this thing called “Showdown in Chinatown,” which is a soccer game for Steve Nash’s charity. It mixes international soccer players and NBA players in a 8 on 8 pickup game. The nicest guy there, who absolutely stole the show, is Chris Bosh. I am praying he ends up a Knick. He was just a super guy.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
No guest write-up with pictures? Was this played in the park down by the LES? I once seen Terry Henry down there who is my fucken soccer hero. Geeez…no pictures…I repeat…no pictures. Would have loved to see some of the skilz on display.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Oh, I’m glad no Curry for the Knicks…too small and too slow on D. Unless we want another prototype of his father…put him in the 4th and let him chuck up some bombs.
June 30th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Rooster, Henry was there. I don’t want to hijack traffic form the mas, but you can see photos and video by going to unprofessionalfoul.com and search for showdown.
June 30th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
curry will be a STAR! there’s no way he won’t fill it up in the league. especially playing for don nelson. him and monta in the backcourt is gonna be problems.
July 1st, 2009 at 9:17 am
The great Alexis Arguello died today….I don’t know why but to me this far more shocking news than when “The King of Pop” died last week.
July 1st, 2009 at 9:40 am
RIP Alexis. What a sad day it is for the world, the boxing industry, and those of us who love the warriors that walk into the ring.
July 1st, 2009 at 9:50 am
“gunshot wound to the chest….appears to be a suicide”. Shit.
July 1st, 2009 at 10:30 am
Wow, sad news. I am only 27 and wasn’t around for Arguello’s great career, but I have read a lot about him and understand his significance to the sport. I actually just last week read Gary Smith’s incredible story about him from 1985 called “Adrift on a Sea of Choices”. After reading it, I am not surprised to hear that his death may be a suicide, as he clearly had demons chasing him his whole life.
Here is the link to the story:
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1120040/index.htm
July 1st, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Like Briks, I am too young to have been around for Arguello. But I’ve watched Arguello-Pryor I numerous times. The swing in momentum during the final rounds is unfathomable, and is something I hope for everytime I watch a fight.
Gunshot wound to the chest? And he’s the mayor of Managua? I’m not necessarily convinced this was a suicide.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:51 pm
I know this isn’t the appropriate time to talk about how Aaron Pryor was never given his due…but so what? I’ll do it anyways. Pryor had the misfortune to win the title, from a very good Antonio Cervantes, on the very same day August 2,1980, that Tommy Hearns won the welterweight title by destroying Cuevas. Tommy’s win of course got all the press. Then Alexis Arguello wons the hearts of Americans boxing fans after beating Ray Mancini on national tv and hugging Boom Boom after the fight and telling everyone how proud he should be of his father( Ray claimed that he was fighting for his father who never got a shot at the title because he was injuried in WW2). The next year when Arguello signed to fight Pryor and no one wanted Pryor to win…expect me and his fans from Cinci.
The fight was great but I thought Pryor was dominating Alexis all night. I had him 5 plus rounds ahead. The official judges all had him 3 rounds ahead. When Panama Lewis said “Give me the other bottle, the one I mixed” well it didn’t matter anymore. Pryor was not going to get his due for beating the fuck out of Arguello. His cutman years later said there was peppermint schapps in the bottle to settle his stomach (he had steaks before the fight). Alexis said that his late round flurries didn’t work because “instead of hurting Pryor,I was only pissing him off.” It was a very good night of boxing. Pryor beat Arguello like a dog in the rematch and Alexis quit in the 10th round…anytime I hear Alexis Arguello name I think of Poor Aaron Pryor.
July 1st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Being that I watched that fight on TV and over and over again I had Alexis down by two rounds. I’m not sure I would say that Alexis was dominated all night by any stretch. I did have Aaron ahead though. I think that a lot of people held onto that something was in the bottle (although it was brought up right after the fight in the replays) esp. with Panama Lewis taking the padding out of gloves of a fighter and putting plaster on as wraps…we all know the story…I think that is why the Panama Lewis factor continues to stick around in the history of the fight. I think this fight was a lot like Chico and JL Castillo. Back and forth…back and forth and then one man just catching another with a great punch and flurry after.
July 1st, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Whatever it was in that bottle Pryor didn’t need it. He proved that several months later in their rematch. Manny Steward handled Aaron that night and their was no bottle and Alexis got an even worse ass-beatin. Alexis Arguello’s classic straight up stance was custom made for Pryor.
July 1st, 2009 at 2:13 pm
LOL! The funny thing is that we should be honoring the guy. Not trying to shit on him and saying he wasn’t shit on the day of his death. He won a championship in 3 weight classes at a time when not many did that. So you saying, he was beating the fuck out of Arguello…keep it classy, Brad….Cinci’s finest. You should read what I wrote in the comments in the previous post.
July 1st, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Unlike the great Alexis Arguello, I have never been very classy. So please forgive me for my crude posts on this sad day. I wasn’t trying to “shit on him.” Alexis Arguello’s death just made me think of Aaron Pryor…kicking the fuck out of him. So please don’t be offended, I’m just sharing my thoughts here in my own graceless way.
July 1st, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I don’t blame you. It was just the way your folks raised you. No worries. Have a good day.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:16 pm
LOL…blame my folks?….that reminds me of something my old man use to tell us kids. He said “the reason people blame things on the previous generations is that there’s only one other choice.”
May 25th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
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