by David P. Greisman
Hit and don’t get hit. It is the fundamental philosophy behind the Sweet Science. In 2008, it was the theme both behind the scenes and in the ring.
Between Roy Jones’ bout with Felix Trinidad and Manny Pacquiao’s match with Oscar De La Hoya – the pay-per-view shows that helped kick off the year and bring it to a close – boxing was carried forward worldwide by its indispensable nature, two men facing each other for pride. But the fight game in the United States also collided with its indispensable need, two men facing each other for money.
To be professional is to be profitable. Boxers seek to get paid, as do managers, promoters, networks, casinos, arenas and the guys who write weekly columns on Web sites.
When the market is full of cash, many thrive. Pugilism prospers. Bouts big and little can be made and aired.
But when the market crashes, the sport shrinks. In 2008, pay-per-view buy rates dropped considerably, with several marquee match-ups bringing in disappointing returns. The economic downturn left casinos far emptier, leaving arenas with empty seats. ESPN2 canceled “Wednesday Night Fights,” and Telefutura pulled the plug on “Solo Boxeo.” And as banks and firms saw their bottoms fall out due to poor investments, a certain network saw ratings bottom out despite pricy investments in aging stars.
Yes, boxing is a niche sport. But, as with the men at its core, it won’t go down without a fight.
Boxing continues to be strong outside of America. Foreign fighters hold some 75 percent of the major world titles. Many of those fighters are both working to make a splash in the States and, in the meantime, drawing sizable crowds in other countries.
For all the planning and negotiating that goes into making a fight, nothing is complicated in the squared circle. They fight. We watch.
We watch as famous future Hall of Fame inductees who are winding down their careers pull out one more vintage performance. We watch as the lesser known, be they beltholders or contenders, the unadorned or the unheralded, give and take for three minutes of every round despite the relatively smaller size of their paychecks.
For all the hits boxing took, it provided plenty of them, too. Israel Vazquez wrapped up his trilogy with Rafael Marquez. Manny Pacquiao shared another close fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. Antonio Margarito beat Miguel Cotto and received welterweight supremacy and the recognition of which he’d long been deprived. Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham brought a dramatic 36 minutes to the appropriately named “Versus” network.
Boxing will continue to fight the good fight. The sport’s nature means there will always be another challenger on the rise, another opponent on the horizon, another match to be made. Already, next year’s schedule has many waiting with anticipation for the calendar page to turn so that the fists may fly.
But before 2009 may begin, we must bring 2008 to its proper end. Without further delay, part one of this year’s Fighting Awards:
The “James Toney Award,” for positive tests for performance enhancing drugs: Timo Hoffman (2007) Sadam Ali, Virgil Hill, Suriya Prasathinphimai and Ismail Sillah.
The “Roy Jones Jr. Award,” for best boxer doing an imitation of a basketball player: to Floyd Mayweather Jr., who played in this year’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. Mayweather scored nine points in the first half and finished the game with 14 points. It wouldn’t be the only athletic activity in 2008 involving Mayweather outside of The Sweet Science…
The “Marc Mero Award,” for best boxer doing an imitation of a professional wrestler: to Floyd Mayweather Jr., who partnered with World Wrestling Entertainment and ultimately went on to face The Big Show in WrestleMania 24, defeating him with more than a little help from chair shots and a set of brass knuckles.
The “Kendall Gill Award,” for best professional athlete pretending to be a boxer: to Vai Sikahema, the 5-foot-9 former kick returner who played eight seasons in the NFL before retiring in the early nineties. Sikahema was the man chosen to face the 6-foot-4 Jose Canseco in a July exhibition bout. Sikahema, who had an amateur boxing background, sent Canseco to the canvas in the first round off of a left hook, and then scored another knockdown following a barrage of punches. As Canseco went down that final time, his corner threw a towel into the ring.
The “Anti-Ray Mercer Award,” for a former boxer trying out another combat sport but succeeding: to Injin Chi, who debuted on a K-1 card in February, taking a three-round decision over Ryuji Kajiwara. Chi, a two-time featherweight titlist from South Korea, dropped his belt last year and retired from the Sweet Science so as to compete in kickboxing and mixed martial arts. Kajiwara was also once a boxer, a Japanese fighter who had a 13-5-3 record in the sport and whose last appearance under the Queensberry rules came in 2003.
The “Anti-Vitali Klitschko Award,” for someone from another combat sport trying boxing but not succeeding: Ricco Rodriguez, who was once among the upper tier of heavyweights in the UFC, fought his second pro boxing match in July, losing a four-round split decision to 0-1 opponent Chad Davis. Rodriguez’s first attempt at boxing came in October 2006, when he knocked out the debuting Brandon Baker.
The “Audacity of Nope Award,” for failed political ventures: to Vitali Klitschko, who came up short in his bid to become mayor of Kiev, Ukraine; and to Joe Mesi, who was defeated in his race for a seat in New York’s state senate.
The “Michael Keaton Award,” for Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice: to Paulie Malignaggi, who didn’t have the great Tim Burton movie character in his corner when he faced Herman Ngoudjo, but instead had the support of the dwarf known for his appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show. It wouldn’t be the strangest thing Malignaggi was known for in 2008…
The “Don King Award,” for most questionable hairstyle in boxing: to Paulie Malignaggi, who figured it would be a good idea for his May rematch with Lovemore N’dou to wear long, hideous hair extensions that repeatedly broke free and got in his eyes. Malignaggi ultimately sat on his stool between rounds for what may have been the first mid-fight haircut.
Round of the Year: Kendall Holt KO1 Ricardo Torres. Ten months after their first fight ended in a Torres stoppage victory, the two junior welterweights collided in July in a dramatic one-minute slugfest.
A dozen seconds in, Torres countered a Holt jab with a perfectly timed right hand, a quick knockdown foreshadowing a long – or an early – night. Holt bounced back up, assured referee Jay Nady that he was okay and jumped back into the fray.
Just 20 seconds later, Torres, still firing away, caught a squared-up Holt off balance, putting him down once again. Holt again jumped back up, showing that the flash flooring hadn’t hurt him. Torres then threw in a left hook for good measure before Nady came between them.
After finishing his mandatory eight count, Nady again asked Holt if he was okay. Holt again answered in the affirmative. “You sure?” Nady asked. Holt nodded.
No retreat. Holt dug a left hook into Torres’ stomach. Their heads then clashed, Holt’s cranium colliding with Torres’ jaw. Torres wobbled back to the ropes, and Holt closed in from the Colombian’s left side. A straight right hand from Holt landed flush on Torres’ head, and down Torres went in a heap, supported only by his left knee and the ropes. Nady kneeled down to issue the count but stopped it halfway through. Torres was unconscious, gone in 61 seconds.
The “Bowe-Golota Award,” for Riot of the Year: Maryland State Athletic Commission DQ-0 (zero) Askia Schneider and Jonathan Felton.
Described best by a man on the scene in January, BoxingScene’s own Cliff Rold:
“[A] middle of the card pre-fight heavyweight brawl stopped an actual heavyweight prizefight from taking place, resulting in an announced double disqualification for both fighters.
“Having already entered the ring, Askia Schneider (1-0) of the Virgin Islands watched as his opponent Jonathon Felton (5-9, 5 KO) entered the ring and then crossed it to get in Schneider’s face in the corner. Trash talk turned to chest bumping before Schneider’s cornerman stepped between the two in an attempt to back Felton away.
“Felton appeared to half push/half swing at the cornerman, prompting Schneider to jump to his trainer’s defense and resulting in an all-out brawl. A few punches and lots of grappling followed as the two fighters fought across the ring before tackling each other to the mat. With the assistance of the various cornermen and some security the two were separated and, with the crowd booing (and cheering), Schneider left the ring.
“The commissioner on site had apparently, as the announcer would declare, disqualified both fighters. Felton continued to pose to the crowd for a few moments before stepping out of the ring and appearing to go after someone in the crowd. How that situation developed was hard to see but it did not result in anything more than a few hurried seconds of heated chatter.”
Riot of the Year Runner-Up: Ahmed Elomar TKO1 William Kickett. The scheduled fight went 87 seconds. The unscheduled fight lasted much longer.
The “Anatomically Politically Incorrect Award”: to Bernard Hopkins, who in a post-fight interview following his April bout with Joe Calzaghe tried to explain his dramatic reaction to what seemed like a less-than-debilitating low blow – “That’s my crotch,” Hopkins said. “I mean, I ain’t going to ask you to feel it, but it’s right there.”
The “Jeff Connor Award,” for worst ring announcer: to Victor Perez, who, needless to say after his performance on a March card in Cancun, Mexico, didn’t have Michael Buffer fearing for his job.
Biggest Robbery: Thieves TKO Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Yeah, you read that right.
At least two burglars broke into Mayweather’s home in August. They left with some $7 million worth of bling.
This was the same Las Vegas house featured a year ago in an episode of “MTV Cribs,” which, according to an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, saw Mayweather showing off “gold and platinum encrusted rings, watches, bracelets and medallions of horses, boxing gloves and the logo of his company Philthy Rich Records,” plus “a medallion he said was worth $275,000 and a Rolex watch he valued at $500,000.”
Those pieces of jewelry were “displayed near the sink in his master bathroom, steps away from a wall of doors and windows leading into the bedroom where the suspects are believed to have broken into the home.”
It is not known whether the jewelry seen on “MTV Cribs” was that taken in the burglary.
The “Tunney-Dempsey Award,” for long counts: to referees Marlon Wright and Lindsey Page, who brought controversy after giving Lucian Bute and Vivian Harris plenty of recovery time following their respective knockdowns against Librado Andrade and Octavio Narvaez.
The “Anti-Tunney-Dempsey Award,” for a quick count: to referee Jerry Cantu, whose work on the October bout between Yuriorkis Gamboa and Marcos Ramirez saw Cantu reach the count of nine on Gamboa’s second knockdown of Ramirez and then immediately follow with “10” before taking a breath, just as Ramirez was rising. The bout would’ve ended soon anyway.
The “Tim Donaghy Award,” for referee misbehavior: to Jose Martinez, due to his work in the March bout between cruiserweight prospect Yoan Pablo Hernandez and former beltholder Wayne Braithwaite.
In round three, Braithwaite landed a right hand that sent Hernandez down hard. The third man in the ring responded by going over to Hernandez and holding the fallen fighter under his arms while he rose. Only once Hernandez was up on his still-wobbly legs did Martinez begin his count – at two. Braithwaite would go on to floor Hernandez twice more in the same stanza, forcing Martinez to stop the fight.
Martinez, to his credit, spoke up afterward via an e-mail to Ricardo Lois of Boxing Confidential, saying he initially thought a wet canvas had caused Hernandez to slip, and he was attempting to clean Hernandez’s gloves.
The “Dusty Finish Award,” for a groan-inducing disqualification: to Joe Cortez, who was neither firm nor fair in his handling of a June interim title bout between junior lightweights Humberto Soto and Francisco Lorenzo. Soto battered Lorenzo for the first 11 minutes, downed him with 57 seconds remaining in the fourth round and seemed moments away from scoring the stoppage.
Cortez went from stepping between the two as if to stop the fight to breaking them up instead. Soon thereafter, Lorenzo took a knee and Soto, still throwing, missed with a right uppercut but landed a glancing left just behind the crown of Lorenzo’s cranium. Cortez sounded as if he started his count, but he soon called a timeout because of the foul.
Forty seconds later, a ringside physician had examined Lorenzo, whose face and nose had been bloodied, and was advising Cortez of his condition. Some six minutes after Lorenzo’s knee went to the mat, the result was finally known. Soto had been disqualified.
The “Who Are You? Where Am I? Award,” for amnesia: to Glen Johnson and Raul Marquez, who each made verbal gaffes following fights aired on Showtime.
Johnson, in an interview immediately after his April loss to Chad Dawson, spoke of his belief that victory truly belonged to him: “Everybody here in the audience saw it. Everybody that’s watching HBO – I mean Showtime, I’m sorry, Showtime – saw it.”
Marquez, meanwhile, spoke to Jim Gray following his June win against Giovanni Lorenzo while commentators Al Bernstein and Steve Albert sat ringside: “Thank you, Jim, and thank you Showtime, too, and all the guys that – Al and Marv, we go way back.”
Not that Bernstein did better later in the year. On one card, a slip of the tongue from the Showtime analyst heard him utter the phrase “Home Box Office.”
The “Vitali Klitschko Award,” for heavyweight fragility: to Ruslan Chagaev, who this year alone has sat on the sidelines with a viral infection and, later, a torn Achilles tendon in his left ankle. Chagaev also pulled out of a unification bout in 2007 against then-beltholder Sultan Ibragimov due to undisclosed health issues.
The “Mike Tyson Award,” for Bite of the Year: to Dzhakhon Kurbanov, a light heavyweight Olympian from Tajikistan who, in the midst of quarterfinal competition, chomped on the shoulder of his opponent, Yerkebulan Shynaliyev of Kazakhstan. Kurbanov would be disqualified.
The “Alejandrio Berrio Award,” for Kiss of the Year: to Trenton Titsworth, who stopped punching and puckered up while in the middle of a clinch during the third round of his October bout with Jesse Vargas. Titsworth laid lips on Vargas’ neck, and as the referee stepped in to break the fighters up, Vargas walloped Titsworth with a retaliatory right hand. Vargas was docked one point for hitting on a break. Titsworth lost two points for intentional kissing. Vargas won the four-round bout via decision.
Knockout of the Year: Shower Door KO1 Zab Judah.
Judah went from getting ready to headline a May pay-per-view against Shane Mosley to sitting on the sideline following an incident in which the former welterweight champion ended up with 50 stitches in his arm after he apparently slipped and had his right arm go through a glass shower door.
It was the first Judah story in ages in which the item that shattered wasn’t his chin.
Not-Quite-A-Knockout of the Year: to Anthony Bonsante, who decided to play dead after suffering a first-round knockdown against Adonis Stevenson.
The moment saw Stevenson catch Bonsante with a good counter that didn’t land too cleanly. Bonsante went back and down, his arms breaking his fall. But then Bonsante lied down, his eyes completely shut, his body not moving except for when one leg straightened out. The referee stopped counting at six and was waving the bout off when Bonsante opened his eyes and popped straight up. “I have until eight,” he complained.
Too late.
Fight of the Year: Choosing the best fights can be like choosing the best books. There are many great ones, but only a few will enter the literary canon. The fight of the year is the one bout a person must pick each year as THE one to show people. Though there were several other action fights in 2008 wholly worth seeing, this year’s best brawl came in March: Israel Vazquez SD12 Rafael Marquez.
Both are little men with big pop. Both combined nonstop action with technical skill. And together, they provided 25 rounds of drama over three fights, all of which took place over a 364-day span. In this third bout, the only one of which went the distance, Vazquez and Marquez capped their trilogy with a fitting finale.
Part Two of the “Freewheeling Fighting Awards” will run Monday, Dec. 29.
The 10 Count will return next year.
David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. His weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com
