Monday, November 19, 2007

SHEER ENTERTAINMENT

The only thing dumber than these two guys flexing

at each other is the fact that this fight is on PPV.




Over the past few months I've been reading and watching interviews with Ricardo Mayorga and Fernando Vargas. I will say that I have learned a few things:

1. They are both very funny.

2. They are both very stupid.

3. They are not getting my money.

I truly feel that the best part of this fight has been the lead up to it. I'm not sure what i laugh at more, Mayorga's completely original insults towards Vargas “You see this fat girl in this photo?(showing a picture of Vargas) This is the fat girl I am going to knock out. I would like to introduce her to you today. She is Fernando Vargas." or perhaps I find more humor in watching Fernando take his shirt off every two seconds to show off his flabby physique.(I say that only because he is supposed to be an elite athlete, he is still in far better shape than I have ever been in.) Watching the two of them at their final presser had me laughing out loud at times and crying a little on the inside. With these two idiots standing on opposite sides of a piece of plexi glass, shouting at each other as if they were at recess comparing your mama's fat jokes, I can't help but laugh. Yet, it's sad to think that boxing has crossed that line that separated it from the world of professional wrestling. I hope people don't pay for this fight. This is exactly what's wrong with boxing. Trying to hype up two has been fighters by having outrageous pressers and making it seem like these two guys have genuine dislike for each other. I don't care if they like each other or not, they are getting paid to fight so that's what they're gonna do! I wouldn't be surprised to hear on Saturday that someone got hit over the head with a steel chair and the ref didn't see it. This could be a fun fight, but that doesn't make it worth paying for. In the end just remember it can't be more fun than the pressers have been, and that's because those were free. I will also give you my prediction for free. I think Vargas has been shot for a while and was exposed by Mosley. PREDICTION: Mayorga TKO 8

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

A LETTER TO BOXING

With most things jobs, sports, families, there is someone in charge, someone you can bring your problems to. If you have a problem with the NFL, you can write a letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell. If you have a problem with the rules at your house, you can bring it up to Mom or Dad(if your living at home, your landlord if your not). If you have a problem with boxing, you have to just bitch and moan about it, like the no good whinny cry-baby you are. Well, I have many problems with boxing, and thanks to my friend Coach, I have decided to write a letter.


Dear Boxing,

I am writing you because I feel as if I am in a one way relationship. I am not completely unhappy, I just feel that I give so much more to you, than you give back to me. There are times I feel as if I am being stood up on a date. Remember the time you had the pound for pound champ take on the most popular fighter in the game, tota l let down. Maybe you remember the time you had two of the games pound for pound best tacticians square off in a boxing chess match of sorts, then charged me 50 bucks to see it. How about when you dare ask me to give 50 dollars for match-ups that are even less interesting? You have been trying lately, but it seems as if these things you've done for me this fall will be taken away by spring time. Taylor-Pavlick II will be on PPV, Joe Calzaghe's next fight will probably land there as well. That's just more money down the drain.

I have a few suggestions for you that would change our relationship. I know that I can't ask you to be a different sport, it's too late for that. You'll never be the NFL, or MLB, or even the National Beer pong League for that matter. I'm asking for little things, just enough change to make me feel as if you care. To start, you need to fix the heavyweight division. It's the one division that no n-boxing fans pay attention to. This is easier than you think, are ready for the simple fix.......change the heavies to the Super Heavyweight division. You can then change the name of Cruiserweight to Heavyweight. Think about it, it's just a name, all people will know is that these are big athletic guys who put on good fights and can knock fellas out with one punch. The Supers will be fat and out of shape, like they have been for years. You could even extend the limit to 205 or maybe 210 if you needed to.

Idea number two, stop charging me for good fights. It's been nice this fall with the Pavlick-Tayor and Kessler-Calzaghe fights, but with that you throw at me Pay-Per-Views like Cotto-Mosley, and Mayweather-Hatton. I'm not saying thaose are bad fights, I'm just asking why can't you find advertisement money instead of taking my hard earned cash? Those are good fights, but along with those you try and get me to buy Shannon Briggs vs. Sultan Ibragimov and Fernando Vargas vs. Ricardo Mayorga. I understand that the sport is always going to have PPV's, but if you keep having these lame ones you're not promoting yourself. How do you expect to get new fans involved in the sport? No one is going to fork over 50 bucks for something they don't know anything about. That goes for cheap tickets to the events themselves too. Recently I went to the Contender Finale at The Banknorth Garden, the cheapest tickets were 45 bucks! The Garden is huge, you're telling me that selling 10 or even 20 dollar tickets would have broken the bank? On top of that you didn't even advertise it very well, I talked to at least ten people(most of whom work in the sports industry) and they had no idea there was a big fight happening in Boston. If you sold cheap tickets you would have packed the place and maybe walked away with a few extra boxing fans.

I would l ike to have more good fights televised. I don't think this is too much to ask. Why is it that Spike TV shows every UFC worth watching. ESPN Classic picked up Holyfield vs. Ibragimov, who the heck wants to see that fight? Yet I have to find David Haye vs. Jean Marc Mormeck, and Lucian Bute vs. Alejandro Berrio on youtube after the fact. Or the time you made me watch Wlad Klitschko destroy Ray Austin within seconds. Just air good fights, people will begin to watch if you do that. Along that same line, is it too much to ask to have a PPV event be shown at a bar? The way you charge a bar for PPV's is by their max capacity number. That's forcing bars to not order the fights, that means regular sports loving people are being turned away from the sport. I don't know about anybody else but if it's a sport and it's at the bar, I'll watch it. Once again, your just sucking old fans dry, and not introducing yourself to new ones. Why not just charge a flat rate to the bar, something affordable, you'll benefit in the end, I promise.

One last thing, just make some effort. You have made some real progress this fall. You put together some great fights, now don't turn back. Get the winner of Mayweather-Hatton to fight Miguel Cotto. Heck you could even have the loser fight Mosley. I will also say for the first time in a while I am happy with a PPV undercard(Mayweather-Hatton). You usually stiff on the entertainment for the prefights, but this time you're doing it right, good for you. I know you're not perfect, I don't expect you to be, just give me some effort. I'm gonna love you no matter what, I just don't want other people to say I'm in an abusive relationship, that's all. So work on a few of these things and I think we'll be alright.

Love,
The Bryguy

Saturday, November 10, 2007

HAYE READY FOR HEAVYWEIGHTS

David Haye put his final stamp on the Cruiserweight division and Jean Marc Mormeck's head last night. Haye has decided to move up to heavyweight after knocking the Frenchman out in the seventh Saturday night. Haye has stated in the past that making the Cruiserweight 200 pound limit was not easy. I look for big this from the guy with the big right hand. This may be just what the heavyweight division needs. HBO and Showtime need to start televising this guys fight, he is much more entertaining than half of the crap they usually air. Let me know what you think after you check out the 7th round. Thank you youtube for helping me when TV execs and promoters won't.


PREDICTION
Someone was upset that I didn't put in my prediction last night. Obviously not a regular Bryguy reader, or he'd know my predictions are worthless. I'm usually wrong and in wrong in a bad way! Oh well here goes anyway.
SHANE MOSLEY(44-4,37ko) vs. MIGUEL COTTO(30-0,25ko)

We've already had two fights this year worth the title fight of the year, Marquez-Vasquez, and Codrington-Bika. Yet some how I feel this one tonight could very well be fight of the year and the two combatants haven't even stepped in the ring. We have the young bull Miguel Cotto facing off against the veteran matador Shane Mosley. Is Mosley too old to avoid the bull's horns? Will it be too easy for the matador to tag the bull? Is Cotto destined for greatness? Does Mosley have one more great performance left?(I'm drooling!) All these questions will be answered tonight in front of a packed house at Madison Square Garden.

I see this fight being similar to the Zab Judah-Miguel Cotto fight. The first four to five rounds will be fast paced and anyone's guess as to who is winning each round. As time goes on I see Cotto's body attack wearing down the 36 year old Mosley. Miguel Cotto has not handled speed well in the past. Light punching Paulie Malignaggi gave Cotto a good test, and Zab Judah staggered the power puncher several times. I can see "Sugar Shane" putting the bull down more than once with viscious upper cuts, but I don't think any of them will keep him on the mat. Mosley looked great in his past few fights, but lets remember who they were against, Fernando Vargas twice and Louis Collazo. No disrespect to Collazo, but he is no Cotto. There is a differance when you're fighting a guy with little to no power and one who punishes you from the second the bell rings. I also have to question how good Mosley looked against Vargas, for Frenando is no longer Ferocious! As we have seen of late Fernando's body has just been giving up on him, I think most qualified fighters could look good against him lately. Cotto on the other hand has been slowly stepping up competition over the years and has passed all tests, I see no reason why tonight will be different. The undefeated Puerto Rican reminds me of Joe Calzaghe, every one he fights talks about how ordinary he is until he beats them. I even look at him and always say the quicker guy can beat him, yet I'm always wrong. I see Cotto breaking down Shane with a body attack and stopping him late. Then gain I've been wrong before, and there was ever a fight that I could wrong with, it's this one! PREDICTION: COTTO TKO 11


Friday, November 09, 2007

PREDICTION
JEAN MARC MORMECK(33-3,22KO) vs. DAVID HAYE(19-1,18KO)


I can not stress enough how disappointed I am that I have to watch this fight after the fact on youtube. Someone with some brains should have picked up the rights to this fight. I would have even paid a cheap PPV fee to see this fight.

These are two solid fighters with big time punches and world class skill. Both guys could probably move to heavyweight and do pretty well. I'm glad they stayed at the 200 pound limit though. David Haye has one loss for depending too much on his power. He may very well need to have an all around game to dispose of "The Marcsman". Mormeck looked very good in defeating O'Niel Bell in their rematch earlier in the year. I don't see this fight going the distance, both fighter have power and like to use it. I have to lean towards "The Hayemaker" to take this fight. He is younger and quite an impressive right hand. While waiting for this fight he tried his hand at heavyweight and ended things in quick fashion, destroying Tomasz Bonin(37-1) in 1:45 of the first round. Haye has lost only once and only gone the distance once, I don't see this fight being any different than his other wins. He will try and stay on the outside and bomb away on Mormeck's dome with the effect sinking somewhere late in the fight. PREDICTION: HAYE TKO 8

Thursday, November 08, 2007

DOWN THE ROAD

One of the things I hate about watching boxing is I know that two guys are going to slug it out as long as they can, and then some guy who has been sitting ringside drinking tea, is going to get in the ring and say "who do you want to fight next?". As much as I hate that question, I can't help but think about who the winner, or sometimes even the loser, should fight next. At least I'll wait a few days before putting my opinion out there. Let's go over some great fights, and recent news, and look down the road for a few good match-ups.

JOE CALZAGHE

First, I would like to say Calzaghe put on another amazing performance and deserves all the credit in the world for stepping up at the end of his career and fighting the best of the best. That being said, I got tired of Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman talking about how great Kessler was! I agree that Kessler is a good fighter, let's not shove it down my throat. It seemed like they were prepared to talk about Kessler more than Joe. Why not focus on how great Joe Calzaghe is? Maybe because they know Joe is at the end and HBO plans on Kessler being their fighter? It could just be me, but that's what I thought anyway. As for Joe's future, it seems he is determined to fight Bernard Hopkins. I'm not sure why Joe is so intent on fighting The Executioner. It seems to me there is not much of an upside to it. If he loses to him, which the possibility is there, people will say he only fought over rated contenders, or see he can't win outside of Wales. If he bets him, everyone says big deal he beat a 43 year old fighter. Then again I guess there aren't too many other big money offers out there for a guy who has beaten everyone at 168. The fight has my blessing, sorry Joe I gotta root for my man Bernard.

MIKKEL KESSLER

As much as I was sick of hearing HBO kiss this guys butt over the weekend I do think he is a great fighter. The one thing I couldn't help but think about was, maybe people will now give Jeff Lacy some credit. They stop saying he was overrated, and over hyped. People should start saying there is no shame in losing to a great fighter like Joe Calzaghe. I would love to see the two Calzaghe victims get a few fights under their belts and then face off for the 168 thrown. I would also like to see a match with the Canadian Lucian Bute get made. It would be tough because both guys can draw a crowd at home, so I'm sure there would be a pissing contest for home turf.

JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ

I don't think I even need to mention what should happen with Marquez. If the rematch with Manny Pacquiao doesn't happen then I would never watch either fighter again. This fight needs to happen, for the fans, boxing, and most of all for me! I will not even write about this any longer, because it's only going to make me upset that they haven't gotten in the ring already.

ROCKY JUAREZ

This is one tough dude, that just can't seem to win the big one. He is entertaining and as I said before very tough, he is now in my eyes the perfect gate keeper for the division. I wouldn't mind seeing him give Robert Guerrero a stiff test or even take on the heavy punching Edwin Valero. Let's see if Valero could handle Rocky before being fed to Pacquiao.

SAKIO BIKA
I was ringside for this potential fight of the year, and the more I think about it, the more grateful I am for being able to witness this one in person. These two guys started fast and didn't stop swinging for the fences from round one all the way to the end. I'm still not sure what happened, I just know that I was on my feet the entire time! Where should Bika go from here? Well, I would like to see him give Jaidon a rematch later down the line. Codrington
needs to get some other fights under his belt before tangling with Bika again. I would like to see Bika in with any of the other tough 168ers, Allen Green could be a good match-up, maybe Edison Miranda, or perhaps take on the winner of Lacy-Manfredo.

JAIDON CODRINGTON

I know that Codrington was knocked out by Bika and knocked out by Green, I still think this kid is pretty good and can handle big time fights. He proved his heart by getting up in that first round and standing toe to toe with Bika for seven more rounds. I think one of "The Dons" flaws is he was pushed so fast. He was put up against Allen Green way to soon, and even after that he has never been able to get rounds under his belt. I think even though he got KO'd in eight, he should proud of what he accomplished. He went eight extremely hard rounds with a world class fighter and hasn't gone ten rounds more than once in his career. Jaidon was running solely on heart after the fifth round. I would like Jaidon to take it slow get some rounds under his belt and then try for revenge against Bika in a year or two. I have a feeling we'll see a different fight.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

PREDICTION

Two great fights, one great night. At 9 the best Super Middleweights in the world square off, followed at 10 by a pound for pounder trying not to blow his chance for a big pay day against the Pacman again. I give credit to Showtime for not only making this fight a non-PPV fight, but also setting it up so that it can be seen after the Calzaghe-Kessler fight. I was right last night, lets see how I do tonight.

JOE CALZAGHE(41-0, 32KO) vs. MIKKEL KESSLER(39-0, 29KO)

First, I would like to say I like both guys, enjoy their styles and commend them for taking this fight. Second, I think Mikkell Kessler has a really cool Tattoo! That thing is awesome! As far as the fight goes, I think it will be very competitive, and brutal. Both men seem as if they not only want to win, but win impressively. I wouldn't be surprised to see both guys get up off the canvas in this one. That being said, I'm gonna have to go with Joe Calzaghe, it seems every big fight people forget he's been the champ for ten years. I'm not saying Kessler is a slouch, I just think it seems that Kessler another guy in the long list that is supposed to be Joe's real challenge. I don't buy it, I think Joe really is that good! Now I think Kessler is his toughest fight, but I think Joe's handspeed and movement will be too much for the Dane to handle.PREDITION: Calzaghe UD

JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ vs. ROCKY JAUREZ

This one is going to be a good fight. Rocky Jaurez a tough foe, and always comes prepared to fight. I think Marquez is one of the best fighters in the world and will be too much for Rocky. I see him boxing circles around the rugged challenger, and still perhaps being caught with a stunner at some point from Juarez. In the end though, I think Marquez will walk away with the win and get the much anticipated rematch with Manny Pacquiao. PREDICTION: Marquez UD

Friday, November 02, 2007

PREDICTION


I'm not sure why I even post my predictions anymore. If you've ever read my blog you'll know I'm usually very wrong! I should help myself and others by not posting prediction anymore, but that would be no fun, so here goes.


CALVIN BROCK(31-1, 23KO) vs. EDDIE CHAMBERS (29-0, 16KO)


I will come right out and say it, I don't care who wins. I hate the heavyweight division. I think I would rather watch Field Hockey than heavyweight fights these days. for the good of boxing Eddie Chambers needs to win this fight. Calvin Brock had his day, he got knocked out in the 7th, in one of the many very boring heavy fights this year. If Chambers wins he would go on to fight Alexander Povetkin, and the winner would face off against Wlad Klitschko for title in '08. The idea of a Brock-Klitschko rematch makes me throw up in my mouth. I think Chambers can and will beat Brock based solely on his speed. Brock is a slow lumbering very robotic type fighter. Someone with good movement and handspeed should be able to box circles around him. I'm looking for Eddie to use his speed and movement to stay away from Brock's power and win on a unanimous decision. PREDICTION: CHAMBERS UD