posted by Large

Dudes, again I refer you to my piece at The Sporting Blog, which touches on a subject near and dear to our hearts, the two gigantic, rival promotions of the fall.

To which I will add that this annoying situation where I am generally writing my pieces over at TSB and then linking to them here is going to be resolved soon once and for all, and I think to everyone’s satisfaction. More on that very soon…

Mayweather/Marquez vs. Pacquiao/Cotto Could Be the Fight of 2009
“If Floyd really wants to take a sure path towards making this fight enormous, and if he wants to immediately supersede any other news that surrounds him or his camp or the fight as it is posited right now, he has it in his power to do so… All he has to do, with his inimitable gusto, is insult the honor of Mexican boxers, Mexican people, and Mexico itself. Then, oh man … then all hell would break loose.”

posted by Shoefly

I don’t believe in signs or meaning or an universal narrative arc except where myself and my inescapable impending misfortune are concerned. That said… man, it’s been a black-cat-passing-beneath-a-ladder-while-spilling-some-salt kind of summer hasn’t it? All we’ve had is painful negotiations, spoiled fights, and the lasting stink of the true violence and death that the sport is really a manifest pushing away from. It’s enough to convert even a true believer in the church of chance to doubt his own faith.

Which is why Roger Mayweather’s ‘situation” has me worrying in ways that I prefer to devote toward morbid self-attention. Many dislike the Mayweathers, and I understand why, but I have always found them engaging and alive in ways that few are. They have a charm all their own, the out-sized self-love of the sociopath and the holy fool. Roger, in particular, mixes personal regard with gallows humor in a near vaudeville act that at points seems too perfect to be accidental.

“Why does Bill Gates still build them motherfuckin’ computers?”

Why indeed, Roger? Why indeed?

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posted by Large

A late reminder that I’ll be making my inaugural appearance on the Pound 4 Pound radio show tonight, an hour-long show that airs at 7 p.m. EST on Sirius/XM 98. Other than my esteemed self, the guests are Chris Arreola, Steve Cunningham and Stephane Larouche, who plays left wing for the Canadiens. No, wait… he’s Lucien Bute’s trainer.

I understand the topics that I’ll be addressing will be the Showtime Super Six tourney, the Pac/Cotto extravaganza, David Haye’s continuing ridiculousness and some other recent news today concerning Tomasz Adamek and Amir Khan. They’re also encouraging call-ins tonight, so do holla if you have the itch at 1-888-942-7326. I include below some links to recent pieces of mine from The Sporting Blog and my latest HBO article.

Pacquiao vs. Cotto: Questions Will Be Answered (HBO.com)
“Over the next four months, this match-up is certain to provoke a firestorm of debate among devoted followers of the sweet science. Both men are accomplished stars who inspire great passion in their fan base, and yet they have unanswered questions hanging over them at the moment,questions that will be settled once and for all when they fight in November.”

David Haye Is Ducking the Klitschkos (The Sporting Blog)
“I have no doubts that the Klitsckos were working him over big-time at the negotiating table, but them’s the ropes in this hustle, Hayeburger. You essentially have done nothing in your heavyweight career yet but talk a big game and wear cool t-shirts. You’re a former cruiserweight champ with a stoppage loss to Carl Thompson on your record. The most impressive scalp on your belt is a past-his-prime Jean-Marc Mormeck, who wasn’t all that impressive even when he was in his prime. No matter how much you blab, son, when your resume is that bloody thin, you’re going to have to settle for table-scraps if you want to sit at the king’s table, or even the king’s brother’s table.”

Pacquiao vs. Cotto: Big Fight, Good Fight (The Sporting Blog)
“Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions officially announced yesterday that the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto fight, scheduled for November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, is a done deal at a catch-weight of 145 pounds. In what has been a strange, transitional year for the sweet science, this is likely to prove the only true super-fight of 2009 in terms of both the legitimacy of the match-up and the interest it generates.”

Kelly Pavlik: A Man Without a Plan (The Sporting Blog)
“Pavlik and his handlers now have themselves a serious problem. A boxing Machiavelli like Bob Arum has to be thinking to himself at this point, “Maybe, just maybe, Kelly Pavlik isn’t that good.” After all, he doesn’t really have any A-list scalps on his belt. He beat Jermain Taylor twice (who, of course, beat Hopkins twice in highly disputed decisions) but there is no one in the fight world left standing who will tell you that Jermain is or ever was a great boxer. A-plus potential, but Jermain probably maxed out at B-plus performance.”

posted by Large

I’ve been trying to get up here with a report on Khan/Kotelnik all day, but various nuisances have kept me otherwise engaged. And then, well, then the other shoe falls and suddenly a Khan/Kotelnik recap seems about as pressing as a soft summer rain (though it was a pretty enjoyable fight on the whole – I’ll try and get a short piece up here with my thoughts either today or tomorrow).

So look, brothers of the Mas, if you don’t know, now you know – the shit is on like Donkey Kong. So many arguments, so many comments, so much dissension to be enjoyed in the ranks. I’m going to do a feature on this very topic for HBO this week, and when I’m done I’ll link it here and then I’ll be available to start moderating the madness. Until then, Brad, Ricky, and the rest of you maniacs… play nice.

posted by Large

I noticed in the comments to my previous post that the question at hand had turned to, dah, the question at hand. I’m amped for Cotto/Clottey, and for Floyd/Marquez as well, and we’ll get to those fights in due time.

But let’s face the facts, Masians – our little fistic cult suddenly has been occupied by a force much bigger than ourselves, and it goes by the name of… Flanny Pacweather. Moyd Maycquiao. Etc.

So I redirect you to a piece I wrote over at The Sporting Blog about this phenomenon, titled “Pacquiao vs. Mayweather: Will it Happen?” Most of the content probably won’t be much of a revelation to the hardcore Masian audience, but I offer it nevertheless just to get the discussion rolling. Because, look, I know it’s all we really want to talk about.

Pacquiao vs. Mayweather: Will It Happen?
“… Arum said immediately after the Hatton fight that anyone looking to fight Pacquiao right now (and by ‘anyone,” I presume he means Floyd Anyone Mayweather Jr.) shouldn’t expect to get more than ’30 or 35% of the split. If you happen to be unfamiliar with the self-esteem of Mr. Mayweather Jr. or his general attitude concerning matters of finance, allow me to understate the case considerably and inform you that these terms are not likely to sit well with him.”

posted by Large

Strictly hand-held is how I roll. The video below is cobbled together from some nuggets I culled from what I shot of the major players who hung around after the Pacquiao-Hatton press conference last Saturday night. I recommend you sticking around to hear the bite where Floyd Sr. dismisses Hatton as “damaged goods,” paraphrasing in his own broken English a point that Hemingway made much more eloquently in his great bullfighting tract, Death in the Afternoon – that once gored, most matadors are never the same again inside the ring.

posted by Large

In my book the only way a Ford beats a Cadillac is if the Caddy is like one of those new XLR-V coupes and the Ford is an F-150 and they’re competing in a towing contest.

What we have here is not a towing contest. What’s more, the Ford ain’t even a truck. He’s like, a Fusion.

But enough with the cars crap. What I’m getting at is this – for a fighter of average skills to beat a fighter of elite skills, there must be some x-factor that tilts the playing field in his direction and gives him at least a small chance at the upset, be it an advantage in size, power or heart.

Generally in these kinds of situations, that x-factor is power. The puncher’s chance. George Foreman on the button of Michael Moorer (funny that Moorer should come up, actually…). Oliver McCall with his eyes closed landing that wild miracle on Lennox’s glass chin.

But that’s not in play here. Hatton is not a particularly hard puncher and he’s never been the guy who changes a fight with one shot. He couldn’t stop Paulie Malignaggi, for Pete’s sake, who is borderline defenseless in the ring these days. Buddy McGirt had to do it for him (and I reiterate my feelings on that – shame on you Buddy).

No, if Hatton is going to stage the upset tomorrow night, one of the other two x-factors that can level a mismatch will tell the tale – size and, or, heart.

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posted by Large

As you guys probably are aware, Manny Pacquiao threw out the first pitch at the Giants/Padres game last night at AT&T Park in San Francisco. I was there following Pac Man around for The Sporting News, and though I intended to write a piece for them about the evening’s events, it was such a chaotic and indescribable scene, and I somehow managed to finagle myself such intimate access to it all, that I ended up weaving together a video out of a bunch of clips that I shot over the course of the night.

Now I’m no videographer, or editor, as you will see. And, as I said, it was all shot on a Flip, so it ain’t exactly pro. Quite the contrary, in fact, almost embarrassingly un-pro. But hopefully it conveys at least a little of my experience of being an ad hoc member of Pacquiao’s entourage for an hour or so of a very strange event. Because I found it to be an exhilarating experience. There really is something kind of magical about the guy, such a tiny little dude in the center of all this Beatle-esque mayhem exuding an overwhelmingly mellow, pleasant, peaceful vibe. It’s hard to believe he’s such a ferocious fighter, and easy to see why he inspires such devotion. It’s exciting too as a boxing fan. Our sport lives and dies on these larger-than-life personalities, and Manny Pacquiao, all five foot six and a hundred whatever pounds of him, is larger than large right now, not to mention infinitely larger than Large.