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Fightin’ Words
By Barbara Pinnella
I tried to stay silent, I really did. You can see that
didn’t happen.
The events that occurred at the Mayweather / Ortiz fight
were annoying, to say the least. It was not the smartest
thing Victor ever did, diving into the head of Floyd like
that. But that event did not excuse the Mayweather sucker
punch. The referee lost control of the fight for an
important couple of seconds, but I also must agree that what
“Money” did was an opportunistic cheap shot that did exactly
what he intended. Do two wrongs make a right? Judging from
the reactions from fans both at Staples Center and in Las
Vegas it doesn’t appear so. Call it a black eye for the
fans.
Fast forward to Dawson / Hopkins. One man gets hurled to the
mat and is injured, the winner says injured man is faking,
the fans are irate and screaming – ah yes, just another fun
night at the WWE. Wait, this was boxing, wasn’t it? Hard to
believe that Vince McMahon wasn’t at the helm of this one.
Dawson was give the TKO after Hopkins was unable to
continue. And just when you think the antics are over, the
WBC, following a protest by Oscar de la Hoya, overturns the
ruling and gives the belt back to Hopkins – the right thing
to do, in my opinion. Give out another black eye, this time
for boxing AND the fans.
Filipino Flash Nonito Donaire, ready to go to battle and
fight, ready to win, faced off against an opponent whose
goal wasn’t to win the fight, but to last all of the rounds.
Really? Hell, with that main objective I’d take a shot at
the money!
Before what I believe was the last round, Donaire was heard
saying that he was bored. He wanted to fight and couldn’t,
and he was bored and frustrated. If the fighter in his own
title defense is bored with the fight, how could anyone else
feel differently? The only good thing for the fans in this
one was that it wasn’t a pay-per-view, so the only thing
they will never get back is the time it took to watch.
What else will go wrong? Will the fans feel duped yet again?
Saturday night two heavy-hitting sluggers face off in
Mexico, as Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo goes up against James
Kirkland. This fight has all the makings of a great brawl, a
fight that most fight fans are looking forward to. Will it
live up to expectations? Most experts think it will, and I
concur. Fight of the year? Probably not, but it should be
good watching.
The following Saturday finds Manny Pacquiao meeting up with
Juan Manuel Marquez for the third time. While the fans love
PacMan, is this the fight they really want to see? I’m not
sure, and yet all of the talk about Manny and Mayweather
finally meeting (yes, that talk is swirling again), has long
since gotten old. Pacquiao is a clinician in the ring, and
for that reason he can face almost anybody and put on a
show, but I’m not sure if he always gets the attention of
boxing aficionados. I hope he will, because he is a master.
Also in November, we have a battle of the Juniors, as Julio
Cesar Chavez, Jr. goes up against Peter Manfredo, Jr. for
the WBC Middleweight title.
December is an action-packed month, as we have Miguel Angel
Cotto against Antonio Margarito, Brandon Rios against John
Murray, Abner Mares facing Joseph Agbeko, Anselmo Moreno
against Vic Darchinyan, Amir Khan facing Lamont Peterson,
and Andre Ward hooking up with Carl Froch.
All of these fights are for titles, and give boxing many
chances to finish the year off strong. Maybe, just maybe,
boxing can close the door on 2011 with a positive feeling
rather than the bitter taste that it has gotten for the past
few months.
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
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