Many Lessons To Be Learned From Atlantic City Card!

Hopefully The Fighters, Fans & Promoters Took Some Notes!
 

Will “TheThrill” Trillo
Photos by Richard "Every Letter In The Alphabet" Schneidenbach
 

Now that the weekend is over and everyone has had a chance to digest Saturday nights proceedings, I have to ask if anyone has learned anything from that Atlantic City card, and if you didn’t, feel free to steal my notes and use them because there will be a pop quiz at the end of the article.

The first thing that should have been learned from this weekends fights is this; no matter how much you dislike a fighter, and no matter how much you despise him because he seems way too arrogant for his own good, don’t bet against him if he happens to be one of the most talented fighters in this or any division. Now c’mon, admit it, we all knew that Mayweathers blinding hand speed was going to be a difficult task for the aging Gatti to handle, but because the thought of having to hear Floyd say “I told you so” was making the skin crawl off our flesh, we picked Gatti to win. There was the unrealistic hope that somehow, Gatti was going to be able to neutralize Floyds hand speed and make a war out of this one, I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that the thought of Mayweather laying flat on his back didn’t cross my mind on the weeks leading up to the fight. But true to his word, Floyd accomplished everything he said he was going to do and more, he referred to Gatti as a C+ fighter, but he must have been grading on a curve because after this Saturdays show, I give Arturo a D-. He did come in and give it his best, and you can’t fail him for that, but as for everything else, well, give Gatti an E for effort!

Second, if you are going to choose a big time card like this one as your platform to show that you truly fit into the 140 pound mix, win the stupid fight and do it in impressive fashion! Coming out and shooting your entire wad within the first minute of round number one and then letting an unknown comeback and knock you out is unacceptable!

Memo to Vivian Harris, you aren’t very smart and that is probably why no one ever heard of you and now no one ever will! What in the World were you thinking? Dude, you lost to a guy by the name of Carlos “Mickey” Maussa!! Your game plan backfired and now you have to find a way to get yourself into a picture you weren’t in to begin with, good luck with that genius. I’d say go back to the drawing board, but I think you just blew it big time and only a miracle will ever get you another sniff. I don’t know what you are going to do with that humble $70,000 purse you just earned, but my suggesting is spend it wisely Viv, you ain’t gonna see any paydays higher than that for a longtime, maybe the rest of your career!

Third, I am going to admit something I never thought I was going to say, Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. actually looked like he improved a tad since the last time I saw him. There, I said it. Now with that said, I am still not convinced that this guy will ever make a dent in whatever division he grows into and I think he is being done a great disservice by the spoon feeding of bums that this young man is getting put in front of him.

The lesson to be learned, is this is a sure fire way to get this fighter hurt badly once you take that first real step up in competition. I’m sorry but Jr. was getting hit and hit often by this latest Ham and Egger, but since this guy hasn’t had a KO in years, Jr. was able to shake the light blows off.

I recently had a conversation with our feature writer Johnny Oritiz, who was co-owner of The Main Street Gym in the mid 70’s. At that time a fighter by the name of Jaime Garza was destroying a list of hand fed stiffs as he got his record to over 40 victories without a defeat, most coming by early round KO’s. When it was time for his shot at the title, Ortiz warned everyone that this kid was not ready, and when he went up against the Super Bantam Champ Juan Meza, Garza was blasted out in the first round and Ortiz’s warning came to pass. This is exactly what I fear is going to happen to Jr. if his competition is not quickly upgraded. I realize that Top Rank and Sr. are looking out for the young man, but in doing so they could be doing him a grave injustice, and for the well being of the young fighter, I hope everyone takes a good look at what they are doing, and adjust their plans accordingly.

Lastly, and with all due respect to Minimum Weight Champ Ivan Calderon, this guy should not be a part of a PPV card, his fights are very dull and are not worth the price of admission. Now, this is not a shot at the little men of boxing, heaven knows that Ricardo Lopez and Michael Carbajal always made for great fights and were well worth all the money they earned. But the combination of elusive boxing skills and light punching by Calderon make for some very unwatchable TV. As I said, Ivan is a worthy Champion, but his marquee value is as minimal as his weight!