Fight Insight

Before I bask in the glory of my latest successful big fight prediction, Samuel Peter knocking out Oleg Maskaev inside of eight rounds, I am obliged to discuss the undercard first. Nate Campbell’s (32-5, 25 KOs) bloody, hard-fought decision victory over Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz (33-1, 17 KOs) was the fight of the night. After several years of coming close to major title fights at 130 and 135 pounds, Campbell can finally exhale.

The man also known as the Galaxxy Warrior jumped on the Baby Bull early and forced a hellish pace. It was exciting to watch, but I wondered how long it would be exciting, as Diaz lives for this high-output style and Campbell isn’t exactly what you would call a spring chicken at 36 years of age.

Nonetheless, Campbell stayed true to his game plan throughout the fight and somehow threw more punches than the punching machine Diaz. Sure, he was aided by an unintentional head butt that drew first blood on the Baby Bull. But the story was simple: Campbell turned back the clock and outworked the younger Diaz on this night. It was hard to see any of these guys lose, because they both epitomize what it means to be hard-working, consummate professionals in the ring. In the end, the better man (Campbell) won.

Samuel Peter proved me right. His power was ultimately too much for Maskaev to handle. I will admit that I got the knockout punch wrong (a right hand, rather than a left hook did most of the damage) but the fight played out pretty much as I had envisioned. Peter showed improved defense, took a few very good punches, and Maskaev, as per usual, was betrayed by his chin in the end.

What’s next for Peter? I prefer a matchup with the best heavyweight in the world, Wladimir Klitschko, for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. However, a matchup with Wladimir’s older brother Vitali Klitschko appears to be in the cards. The reasons are due to what I coin "alphabelt poli-tricks." This phenomenon robs the fans, but lines the pockets of the sanctioning bodies.

On a night that provided a great fight in the lightweight division (Nate Campbell’s upset win) and some clarity in the heavyweight ranks as well (Peter’s knockout), the notion of Samuel Peter fighting Vitali Klitschko was the perfect killjoy. Well, that’s boxing for you, but I still love it.  And no, I am not crazy!

According to Wikipedia, a legend (Latin, legenda, "things to be read") is a story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events. Anyone who saw last night’s third brawl between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez, knows that legendary is a perfect word to describe the fight and the entire trilogy. Sure, I predicted Israel Vazquez to decision Rafael Marquez in their rubber match, but I had no idea that it would surpass the Evander Holyfield- Riddick Bowe trilogy in terms of entertainment value. Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier is the only boxing trilogy that trumps it in my eyes. My boxing historical perspective is admittedly shorter than many Baby Boomers, but I stand by my claim.

Since three is a magic number when it comes to these two, I will break the fight into three parts:

Rounds 1-4
Rafael Marquez owned the first third of the fight. Contrary to what I had predicted, he did not appear to show any lingering effects of his previous loss to Vazquez.  He used his jab, speed and subtle movement to win most of the exchanges in the early rounds - capped by a definitive knockdown in round four which had Vazquez on the brink.

Rounds 5-8
Israel Vazquez climbs back into the fight towards the end of round five, capping the round with a huge right hand.  Although he may have lost that round, it’s a sign of things to come, as his constant pressure and volume punching appeared to be wearing down Marquez by round eight.

Rounds 9-12
What are commonly known as the championship rounds (9-12) are where the champion, Vazquez, retained his title. Vazquez takes shots in order to get in his own.  That was the story in the final rounds, especially in round 12 where Vazquez has Marquez on the brink.  This great round caps a great fight between two great warriors.  As the bell sounded, I was glad I spent 90 minutes of my evening glued to the set.

I never thought that the third fight could exceed the first two fights in terms of back-and-forth action and drama, but it did.  Not only is Vazquez-Marquez III the early favorite for fight of the year honors, it also firmly establishes their trilogy as the standard for the decade.  Like Will Smith in last year’s sci-fi blockbuster and the late, great Bob Marley’s award-winning album of the same name, Vazquez vs. Marquez is legend.

First off, let’s give props to both men for giving us another entertaining fight this weekend. Kelly Pavlik (33-0, 29 KOs) versus Jermain Taylor (27-2-1, 17 KOs) ended with Pavlik’s arm being raised, as I expected. However, very few people believed that the fight would end with Pavlik winning via a tactical decision. I assumed that the switch from respected trainer Emmanuel Steward to longtime confidant Ozell Nelson, the move up to the 166 pound catch-weight limit, and the rematch taking place too soon would be a recipe for disaster for Taylor in this fight. Although he lost a close, unanimous decision to the formidable Pavlik, the factors above led to redemption rather than disaster.

The fight itself was not the "knock-down, drag-out" affair that Taylor-Pavlik I was, but it was exciting on its own. Like the first fight, Taylor was leading entering the middle rounds. This time around, his lead appeared to be even more firm than before. He was not taking the same kind of punishment he took in the "original," was not falling into the ropes, and appeared to be pacing himself properly. Undaunted, Pavlik kept pressing forward with effective aggression and continued to let his hands go despite Taylor’s new-found discipline in the ring.

In the aftermath of Pavlik versus Taylor II, it is safe to say that the middleweight divisions are indeed in good hands.

Ultimately, Pavlik’s relentlessness would pay dividends, as he swept the final few rounds on my unofficial scorecard - securing a unanimous decision victory. Kelly the Ghost Pavlik showed that he is going to be a tough man to beat by anyone in the 160-168 range. This even includes super middleweight king Joe Calzaghe. The sky is the limit for the best middleweight in the world. There is talk of him taking on Felix Trinidad in June. Normally, I’d trash a prime, young lion like Pavlik for fighting a past-prime veteran like Trinidad, but after wins over Miranda and Taylor (twice), he’s earned the right to a "high-on-cash, lower-on-risk" fight.

Even in defeat, Jermain Bad Intentions Taylor showed the heart of a champion. More importantly, he  showed that you could teach an old dog (he’s not that old but you know what I mean!) new tricks. He showed unusually slick counter-punching skills and an improved defense.  He almost displayed enough improvement to win him his middleweight title back. Though Pavlik was ultimately too much, Taylor will not relegated to ESPN fights anytime soon. Personally, I’d love to see him fight Edison Miranda at 160 pounds on HBO.

In the aftermath of Pavlik versus Taylor II, it is safe to say that the middleweight divisions are indeed in good hands.

I told you that Carlos Quintana (25-1, 19 KOs) would expose Paul the Punisher Williams (33-1, 24 KOs) for the fraud that he is! I am just kidding - my prediction of Williams stopping Quintana late in the fight was way off. Not only did Paul Williams lose, he was pretty much handled over twelve brisk rounds.  On my unofficial scorecard, I only had him winning four of the12 rounds.

As expected, the fight started off at a fast pace, but Paul Williams was not throwing the high volume of punches that he normally does.  The guess here is that Quintana’s slick defense, and his wicked counter right and left hands had something to do with that.  Rounds one through four consisted of Williams stalking ineffectively while Quintana was picking him off with well-timed counter-punches.  Much to my surprise, the eight-to-one favorite Williams was simply being outclassed.

…this was not the man (Williams) that I thought was the biggest threat to Floyd Mayweather…he needs to get back to basics, like moving his head.

The Punisher made a nice little comeback in rounds five and six.  However, even as he fought better, Williams’s face was paying a heavy price. His right eye was swelling, he was bleeding from the nose, and both eyes appeared to be cut.  Round seven was probably the best round of the fight with both men landing stinging punches.  But like the previous rounds, Quintana’s punches simply did more damage.

Undeterred by the incoming fire, Williams showed a durable chin and indomitable spirit, seemingly winning rounds eight and nine.  Quintana appeared to be on the verge of wilting, breathing heavily as the championship rounds approached.  However, he put up a final stand in rounds 10 and 11 and coasted in round 12.

Hats off to Carlos Quintana.  He fought one heck of a fight, and added Paul Williams to his growing victim list of former "stars-in-waiting" (Joel Julio being the other). This classy boxer-puncher now has many options in a loaded welterweight division.  Personally, I would love to see a Carlos Quintana-Joshua Clottey fight. 

As for Paul Williams, this was not the man that I thought was the biggest threat at welterweight to Floyd Money Mayweather.  By the look of things last night, he needs to get back to basics, like moving his head.  If I were his manager, I’d have him fight a tuneup and then throw him back into the fire against a Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito or Kermit Cintron.  Once-avoided, the vulnerability he showed tonight may make other contenders more willing to fight him.  Funny how things work out sometimes.

On the undercard, Andre Berto (21-0, 18 KOs) stopped an outgunned journeyman named Michel Trabant (43-3-1, 19 KOs) from Germany. As expected, it was proverbial batting practice for Berto, as he showed his full arsenal - loaded with speed and power.  Unfortunately, the fight proved very little.  I look forward to Berto’s next assignment, as long as it is a little harder than an open book quiz in geography class.

As I predicted in my previous post, Roy Jones, Jr. started slowly but ultimately handled Felix Tito Trinidad fairly easily. The fight ended up being a high-stakes sparring session, with Jones playing the lead. The only surprise was how Jones executed his game plan.

As he had done at many points of his career, Jones fired few punches in the early rounds. He seemed to simply be hoping that Trinidad would walk in recklessly and leave himself open for counter-punches. To my surprise, Tito was sharp early on, firing off powerful shots above the neck and below the belt - hitting anything that was available. Through the first three rounds of the fight, he was simply outworking Jones. Jones did have an early lead in the dance competition, as he wiggled and spun more than he threw punches.

However, by about round four a light bulb went off in Jones’ head. It’s as if he had a sudden revelation that: 1) "I’m faster than this guy," 2) "I’m stronger than this guy," and "by golly, I think I can take this sucker’s punch." From that point on, Jones was uncharacteristically aggressive (this was the biggest surprise), stalking and battering Tito around the ring. By round 11, it appeared as though both men were content to go the distance. Jones was closing out the show in typical, low-risk fashion, and Tito was in atypical survival mode.

I give the fight a C+. Jones did show that he may have some reserves left in the tank. Now a fight against the winner of the Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins light heavyweight title fight doesn’t seem as preposterous as I once believed. On second thought, let me not get carried away. I’ll get back to you on that one.

As far as Trinidad goes, he was competitive for a few rounds but had the body of a former skinny guy tonight. By former skinny guy, I am referring to that guy who looks thin in clothes but with his shirt off you see more loose ends than a woman’s bad hair day. But I digress. I am simply saying that if he’s serious about his latest comeback, he needs to take his training more seriously if he’s to have any chance of competing at a high level (which he did not do against Jones).

I will remember these titans, but it won’t be for this fight.