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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - I’ve never met Vicente Escobedo, but he seems like a decent enough guy.
He’s had a solid career. He represented his country at the Olympics. And he seems to genuinely care about the wife and child he referenced during Saturday night’s HBO interview.
As far as human beings go, that makes him above-average in my book.
But in a boxing-only context relating to his title-fight performance against Adrien Broner, the guy’s been getting double-standard love typically reserved for Filipino politicians.
And by the time his lumpy-eyed sniffles began alongside Max Kellerman in downtown Cincinnati, I was getting a little teary-eyed myself.
First things first, though… let’s dispense with some realities.
Regardless of weigh-in issues or event-saving stimulus plans, there was no way Escobedo was beating Broner – short of loaded gloves or a nightstick – in the ring at U.S. Bank Arena.
While he may be too showy for some and too arrogant for others, the now former 130-pound champ is also too quick, has too much pop and plays defense too well for a guy of Escobedo’s completely commendable, but limited by comparison, skill set to handle.
Could I do without the reverential hair-brushing and mock marriage proposal that left poor Max stammering into his microphone? Sure. Is he the sort of fighter my dad – whose teen years included the primes of Joe Louis, Ray Robinson and Willie Pep – would have preferred? Absolutely not.
But in an era where social networking and heat generation are as valued as “works well to the body” and “hooks off the jab,” he’s assembled a total package the “Network of Champions” clearly covets [Click Here To Read More]
He’s had a solid career. He represented his country at the Olympics. And he seems to genuinely care about the wife and child he referenced during Saturday night’s HBO interview.
As far as human beings go, that makes him above-average in my book.
But in a boxing-only context relating to his title-fight performance against Adrien Broner, the guy’s been getting double-standard love typically reserved for Filipino politicians.
And by the time his lumpy-eyed sniffles began alongside Max Kellerman in downtown Cincinnati, I was getting a little teary-eyed myself.
First things first, though… let’s dispense with some realities.
Regardless of weigh-in issues or event-saving stimulus plans, there was no way Escobedo was beating Broner – short of loaded gloves or a nightstick – in the ring at U.S. Bank Arena.
While he may be too showy for some and too arrogant for others, the now former 130-pound champ is also too quick, has too much pop and plays defense too well for a guy of Escobedo’s completely commendable, but limited by comparison, skill set to handle.
Could I do without the reverential hair-brushing and mock marriage proposal that left poor Max stammering into his microphone? Sure. Is he the sort of fighter my dad – whose teen years included the primes of Joe Louis, Ray Robinson and Willie Pep – would have preferred? Absolutely not.
But in an era where social networking and heat generation are as valued as “works well to the body” and “hooks off the jab,” he’s assembled a total package the “Network of Champions” clearly covets [Click Here To Read More]
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