By David P. Greisman
As I’ve already begun to plaster my name all over this article, I’d like to welcome you to “Fighting Words,” a new weekly column that I hope will be boxing’s answer to the great football writer Peter King’s “Monday Morning Quarterback” on SI.com. In this regular feature, which will come to you every Monday on BoxingScene.com, this fledgling journalist will be ranting and raving about the sweet science, as well as anything irrelevant and irreverent that I can think of, as I pass on my joy and enthusiasm (and disappointment and spite) at what goes on both inside and out of the squared circle.
Lacy, Castillo and Boxing on Showtime
This past Saturday, cable subscribers got an opportunity to see a good night of boxing for free, with a preview bringing Jeff Lacy vs. Rubin Williams and Jose Luis Castillo vs. Julio Diaz in front of fight fans. Not being a subscriber to Showtime (an issue that I will get into when Fighting Words moves into its normal Monday slot next week), I was enthused to watch two matches that I typically would only have been able to read about.
In the undercard, which was billed as the co-main event, Jeff Lacy took on an unheralded Rubin Williams in a twelve round defense of his IBF super middleweight title belt. Williams, who came into the bout with a record of 26-1 (15), was being viewed as a sacrificial lamb and a mismatch for the member of the U.S. boxing team at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. This was largely due to what looked to discerning eyes as an inflated record, and the elevation of Williams to #15 in the sanctioning body’s rankings in order to justify the challenger’s title opportunity only added to the dubiousness.
Much to the surprise of many, Williams put up a game effort and thrilled spectators with what turned into an action bout that lasted just over six rounds. Although Lacy would dismiss Williams’s jab as being lazy, to this reporter’s eyes it appeared stiff, and created distance between the two fighters in the first round. Still, Lacy landed the harder shots, which impacted his former amateur rival more dramatically, something that would eventually be the deciding factor as the bout progressed. Williams would often either send himself to the ropes, or would be bulled there by Lacy, a strange decision that made the Detroit native a stationary target that was easier to hit.
While Williams was able to land some hard shots on Lacy, they appeared to have little effect on the champion, although it was feasible after four rounds to have the two tied on the scorecards. Lacy’s dramatic power would be too much for Williams, though, and after stunning the latter with combinations at the end of the sixth round, the IBF beltholder from St. Petersburg would run out of his corner in the seventh stanza to finish the job. Referee Tony Weeks kept prompting Williams to fight back, but after 47 seconds he had seen enough, giving Lacy a TKO victory as he retained his title.
It was an enjoyable match, appealing to the eyes in its action, and in the minds of some it may have promoted Williams to the chance to get more television exposure in the future. For Lacy, it was essentially a “keep busy” fight, as he readies himself for a mandatory title defense and a hopeful unification meeting with WBO 168 pound champ Joe Calzaghe by the end of the year. After that, though, the options for Lacy seem sparse, and speculators feel that he should either try to melt down to middleweight or jump up to light heavyweight.
Lacy looks big, and cracks hard, but it does not seem imaginable that he would be able to drop eight pounds off of that frame without health and stamina implications. Although it would be nice to see Lacy against Olympic teammate Jermain Taylor, Lacy should instead look towards a fight against Danny Green at 168 (and that’s if he gets by his mandatory and Calzaghe), and then step up to 175, where the bigger money and names sit.
As noted in my fight results entitled “Castillo Gives ‘The Kidd’ A Spanking,” which you can see by clicking on my name next to the “Submitted By:” towards the top of this article, the other main event saw WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo frustrate, serrate and just plain complicate life for challenger and former IBF titlist Julio Diaz. Diaz tried to beat the gritty veteran with speed, movement and constant changes between orthodox and southpaw stances, but Castillo broke down the Coachella Kidd much in the same manner as middleweight king Bernard Hopkins.
Like Hopkins, Castillo used borderline dirty tactics and his experience and savvy to dissect his opponent, but unlike the Executioner, Castillo threw enough punches and came forward enough times to entertain the fans. After the midpoint in the twelve round match, Diaz began to seem like his will had been drained, and he became more open for the power punches from Castillo.
With a nastily swollen left eye and cuts above both his right and his left, it was alarming that Diaz’s corner kept sending him out for more punishment. After two knockdowns in the tenth round, referee Richard Steele wisely called a halt to the bout, as the conclusion was ordained and enough pain had been doled out.
Castillo moves on to an interesting match-up on May 7 against Diego Corrales, a man who was supposed to have faced the WBC champion both Saturday night, and previously in December, when the date instead went to Joel Casamayor. Corrales finally gets his chance about two months from now, and I may just be forced to pony up the money and subscribe to Showtime.
Speaking of the network generous enough to give me entertainment (and writing work) on Saturday, I was impressed with their announcing team and thrilled to find three other nights of matches archives in their OnDemand service. Never one to turn down a chance to add more tapes to my collection, Showtime gave me eight hours of boxing for the best possible price. If you have cable and didn’t take advantage of their free preview this weekend, then I hope you feel at least the slightest bit disappointed. If you like boxing and don’t already subscribe to Showtime, I suggest that if you have the money, you call your cable service as soon as possible. The network seems to put on quality shows, and a good amount of cards on both their “America’s Fight Night” and “ShoBox: the Next Generation” programs each month.
Being a boxing fan may cost a pretty penny (which, as written above, will be discussed in next week’s Fighting Words), but after this weekend the extra change may just well be worth the value.
Your Email
I am looking to add a mini-mailbag section to this column, so feel free to send your queries and comments to me at boxingscene@hotmail.com. I will try to get back to each and every one of you if possible, and will also do my best to keep you all entertained.
The 10 Count
1. The Pay-Per-View between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Arturo Gatti has been called off due to Main Events’ (Gatti’s promotional entity) frustrations caused by Mayweather’s legal woes and negotiating ability. It is a shame, because seeing either Pretty Boy Floyd or Thunder Gatti fight is a joy, and the meeting of the two seemed intriguing. Even though Floyd seems to be a scientific wizard, the possibility remained in the minds of many that Gatti may have been able to force PBF to brawl. It remains to be seen what is next for either man.
2. Hasim Rahman is asking for more cash to fight WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko on (yet another) PPV this April. Rahman, who won his mandatory status by beating a select amount of club fighters and Kali Meehan, still seems like the best opponent for the tall Ukrainian. Although boxing is a business, Rahman should take the cash and the opportunity (which he had squandered away with lackadaisical showings against Evander Holyfield and John Ruiz), and try and make Klitschko pay the price.
3. I’m happy for Clinton Woods, who beat Rico Hoye via TKO to earn the vacant IBF light heavyweight championship. It was just back in September of 2002 that Clinton Woods, whom I happily referred to as “WHO?!” then, lost by a sixth round technical knockout to Roy Jones, Jr. In hindsight, I can see that perhaps Woods exposed the idea that Jones could be gotten to against the ropes, something that Antonio Tarver and Glencoffe Johnson would both later take advantage of. I hope that Woods stays in the public eye, and perhaps gets a bout later in the year against Tarver or Johnson, the latter of which would make for an interesting end to a trilogy. Johnson beat Woods thirteen months ago en route to earning Fighter of the Year awards.
4. Speaking of Glencoffe Johnson, I might be a little crazy, and I might be a little young, but doesn’t he look kind of like a lighter Sonny Liston facially?
5. Felix Sturm won with a second round knockout against Bert Schenk this Saturday. No, I don’t know who Bert Schenk is, nor do I believe I ever will. Sturm was hung out to dry by the judges when he fought Oscar De La Hoya last year, and I am still waiting for karma to come back around and the former Adnan Catic to get his chance to shine again.
6. Since Wladimir Klitschko has someone earned a date with HBO, and since Joe Mesi is jonesing to get back in the ring, how about a morbid meeting between the two? Sure, the younger Klitschko seems to have grown a glass jaw, and yes, Mesi seems to have had a brain hemorrhage, but if you put the fight in either Buffalo or Germany, enough money can be raised to pay for the funerals of both. Not a tasteless joke so much as a want to see both men retire.
7. I have plenty of boxing multimedia to catch up on, from the Jack Johnson biography and documentary to the award-winning Million Dollar Baby. Hopefully I can be getting belated reviews to you other procrastinators at some point in the future. If you have any other recommendations, feel free to let me know.
8. There aren’t enough investigative journalists in boxing. If you haven’t checked out Pedro Fernandez on RingTalk.com yet, do so soon. On occasion, such as with certain fiascoes concerning Yory Boy Campas or the California State Athletic Commission, Fernandez gets nitty and gritty and makes this journalism student proud.
9. I’m still perturbed over the refereeing of the Miguel Cotto vs. DeMarcus Corley bout a few weeks back, and with Rocky Juarez continuing to blow through opponents en route to a showdown with In-Jin Chi, I can’t help but also think of the favoritism that Juarez received in his match last summer against Zahir Raheem.
10. The Contender Update: I caught the final half an hour of the season premiere tonight, watching Alfonso Gomez counterpunch Peter Manfredo, Jr. on his way to a unanimous five-round decision victory. Having seen the beginnings of Fox’s The Next Great Champ and being quite disappointed, my expectations are low and my patience thin, but with new episodes being shown this Thursday at 10 PM ET and Sunday, in its regular slot (at 8 PM, I think, but I am not sure), I am looking forward to seeing the full portrayal of drama, and hoping to make this show into a regular installment of The Ten Count.
Read Me, Write Me, But Don’t Kiss Me or Kill Me
As noted above, feel free to send your emails to boxingscene@hotmail.com, and please do check out my other articles by clicking on the link on my name towards the top. Please help make Fighting Words a popular feature, and please help me keep it improving and rolling, as it hopefully becomes a regular mainstay every Monday here at BoxingScene.com.