Brewster in a Shaky Defense

I didn't see this fight, as it wasn't televised here in the states, but "Relentless" Lamon Brewster, who I think has flashes of brilliance, and could potentially (though likely not consistently) beat any other heavyweight, TKO'ed Luan "the ethnic German born in Alabania" Krasniqi in the ninth round on Wednesday night, on what would have been Max Shmeling's 100th birthday.

Krasniqi is considered great by European standards, but having been TKO'ed by Saleta, I don't think anyone should've seriously considered him a threat to someone who can punch, box, or stand up in a strong breeze. Of course, what do I know, as he apparently came close to knocking Brewster down several times, and was well ahead on all cards at the end of the fight.

Brewster did something similar against Wladmir Klitschko, who, as I've said before, is the Ukranian version of "Glass Joe" (though he showed enough heart to overcome his weak chin against Samuel "the Nigerian Nightmare" Peter last weekend). Brewster also completely destroyed Andrew "the foul pole" Golata, and yet Brewster was convincingly beaten by Clifford "the Black Rhino" Etienne and Charles "They Don't Even Know My Name at Cheers" Shufford. If Brewster can consistently perform at the level of his fight with Golota, he could become "the" champ. I'm not yet convinced that will happen, though he has shown the ability to rally to reverse the flow of a fight with big punches.

Mo' Betta Boxing?

Here's a story about something that I've been hoping to hear.....Boxing might be returning to the realm of the respectable.

Whoa Nelly!

HBO had 2 great fights tonight.

One great truth came out of the main event:

Randy Neumann should never again be allowed to referee a fight. He did a truly pathetic job in officiating the Wladmir Klitschko vs Samuel Peter fight. He called one obvious shove a knockdown, and he allowed Peter to rabbit punch and "hold and hit" all through the fight. It was disgraceful.

My conditional prediction was dead-on. It went the distance, and, despite 3 knockdowns (one which was obviously a shove, and another that came from a "hold and hit"), Klitschko clearly won the fight. Peter tested Wladmir's chin, but he wasn't able to move well enough to cut off ring, allowing Wladmir to move and jab. Wladmir has been accused of lacking heart, but he showed a lot of heart tonight. Peter also showed heart and great power, and if he adds speed and endurance, he could likely take Wladmir in a re-match. Peter will certainly improve with experience, and I hope to see him fight again.

The Miguel Cotto vs Ricardo Torres fight on the undercard was one of the best fights that I've seen in a while, with two guys who fought like wildcats. Cotto scored a brilliant knockout, but the guys exchanged knockdowns, and the fight could have easily went the other way.

Boxing Schedule

Saturday, Sept. 24 - at Atlantic City, NJ (HBO)
Miguel Cotto vs. Ricardo Torres
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Samuel Peter

Wednesday, Sept. 28 - at Hamburg, Germany
Lamon Brewster vs. Luan Krasniqi.
Alex Dimitrenko vs Vaughn Bean

Saturday, Oct. 1 - at Tampa (HBO-PPV)
Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones Jr.

Saturday, Oct. 1 - at Reno (Showtime)
James Toney vs. Dominick Guinn.
Byrd vs Williamson

Saturday, Oct. 1 - Germany
Paolo Vidoz vs. Michael Sprott
Nikolai Valuev vs. Larry Donald

Saturday, Oct. 8 - at Las Vegas, NV (Showtime)
Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo.
Jorge Arce vs. Hussein Hussein.

Saturday, Oct. 15 - (ESPN)
Sergio Mora vs. Peter Manfredo Jr.
Alfonso Gomez vs. Jeff Fraza
Anthony Bonsante vs. Jesse Brinkley
Jonathan Reid vs. Miguel Espino.

Friday, Oct. 21 - at Hollywood, FL
David Tua vs. Cisse Salif
Jameel McCline vs. TBA.

Saturday, Nov. 12 - (HBO-PPV)
Vitali Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman.

Saturday, Dec. 3 - at TBA, USA (HBO-PPV)
Jermain Taylor vs Bernard Hopkins

(All bouts are subject to change)

Guilty Boxing

Last night I watched the re-broadcast of Guilty Boxing's Friday Night Fights from the previous evening. Ebo Elder, who I'd seen box before, is the stereotypical scrappy 'lil white guy, and he took a pounding from Lakva Sim, an experienced former super flyweight champ. Sim, who was the first Mongolian to win a world title, thoroughly outclassed Elder, TKO-ing him in the twelfth and final round, after 4 official knockdowns (should've been 6). Even without the TKO, the scorecards wouldn't have been close, with Ebo losing every round after the second. This was an eliminator bout for an upcoming title shot against WBA lightweight champ Juan Diaz, who took the belt from Sim a little over a year ago in a unanimous decision.

Elder, who was boxing in his adopted hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, was a crowd favorite, and he showed a lot of heart. I'm sure we'll see him again, but I don't think he'll ever be a legitimate contender, unless he improves his boxing skills.

The second "attraction fight" was Sultan Ibragimov versus Friday Ahunanya, in a fight between slow, relatively out of shape heavyweights, the first of whom is allegedly on the rise, the second who missed blew his chance, and now simply serves as a stepping stone for guys on the way up. The story is at the bottom of the page, here.

Pacquiao Wins!

Manny Pacquiao just knocked out Hector Velasquez at the very end of round six. Manny remains my favorite fighter, even though I think he should go back to the 122lb weight class, where he was without peer.

Eric Morales is fighting Zahir Raheem now, and hopefully, this will lead to a Pacquiao v Morales rematch soon, but 4 rounds in, Raheem is kicking Morales' ass. Hmmmmm.....

UPDATE!!!!!!

Raheem made Morales look a buffoon, beating him easily in a 12-round unanimous decision. The fight was so lopsided, I couldn't believe that two of the judges scored Morales winning more than 2 rounds <~ Judge: Dr. James Jen-Kin 112-116 | Judge: Raul Caiz 113-115 | Judge: Julie Lederman 110-118 ~>. Morales did not throw a fit, but he was certainly not a "good loser".

Like Pacquiao, Morales should go back down in weight. He has made his career out-boxing smaller and more aggressive fighters/brawlers. Morales looked helpless against someone as big or bigger, as strong or stronger, and still faster and more aggressive.

I don't think that Raheem is destined for greatness, but he certainly looked great kicking Morales's ass tonight, and I wish him all the best. His big weakness could be his "crouching" defense, which would be very risky against a fighter with quick hands and a long reach.

I don't know if there will be a Pacquiao/Morales II, but I hope to hell that there is no Pacquiao/Raheem fight.

November 12th....Be Here

It looks like the deal is done. November 12th will be the fight we've been kinda sorta waiting for, Vitali Klitschko v Hasim Rahman. It will be on HBO PPV, and I will be getting this one. Rahman is no slouch, but I'm expecting Klitschko to win convincingly. I'm also tickled to death that Don King was out-bid to promote the fight. Y'all are all invited to our humble abode to eat wings and watch the bloodsport. Mebbe we'll even get Mike to grill his amazing ribs.

Another Vitali-related note, HBO2 is going to rebroadcast his fight with Lennox Lewis late tonight. I'm interested to see it again (and with the commentary in English, not German, so hopefully I'll understand it), as I enjoyed that fight tremendously. I wish that there had been a rematch, but I certainly don't blame Lewis for taking the opportunity to bow out on top.

Valuev to Fight on 10/1/5

Nikolay Valuev is fighting Larry Donald on 10/1/5. The winner will be "Johnny Louise" Ruiz's next mandatory title defense. I don't know if this fight will be televised, but you should go check out this site, for streaming video of Valuev's victories against Clifford Etienne and Atilla Levin. The player is kinda weird, and I had to hold down the left mouse button the entire time to get the video to display. Oh, and it's in German.

Briggs Knocks Out Mercer

Sorry about the delay in posting, but now that the move is finished, I'm looking forward to getting back into the fight game.

I didn't see this fight, but I downloaded some highlights, and Briggs didn't look too bad. I don't think that he'll again become a legitimate contender, but, given the chance, I'd watch him fight. Ray Mercer is a tough customer, but he's at the point that he should probably retire.

I'm betting that Brigg's next step will be a re-match with Jameel "Big Time" McCline, who's also trying to get his career back on track. McLine beat Briggs back in 2002, and they've both had upset losses since then. McCline is a big, strong, slow fighter who would probably beat Briggs, imho.