By Alphonso Costello
Boxing has continuously evolved since the early 18th century. From the London Prize Ring rules to the Muhammad Ali Safety Act, boxing has progressed and regressed along the way.
What changes should be implemented to make boxing more appealing and less appalling?
Here’s a list of additions and subtractions that should benefit the sweet science:
More tournament style championship eliminators.
Less televised mismatches.
More old school fighters like Bernard Hopkins and James Toney.
Less weigh-in controversies. Allow the fighters to weigh-in on the day of the fight.
More competent judges.
Less AEIOU sanctioning bodies.
More assignments for ring announcer Lupe Contreras.
Less pay-per-views. The paying public deserves better.
More anti-doping procedures.
Less tabloid stories about Zab Judah. An angry wife, Serena Williams, and child support troubles…
More “championship” rounds. Bring back 15-round fights.
Less weight divisions.
More contenders.
Less pretenders.
More boxing reality shows featuring dysfunctional fighters.
Less 40-year old fighters ten years past their prime.
More eloteros and less chicharroneros…
The WBC Board of Governors granted James Toney an immediate rematch against Samuel Peter. According to the WBC, the rematch will determine “an official undisputable challenger” to current champion Oleg Maskaev.
Toney deserves the chance to avenge his disputed loss to Peter after inept judges Dick Flaherty and Alejandro Rochin deprived him of a victory and a world title shot. The WBC got it right by ordering the immediate rematch because Toney was the clear-cut winner.
Toney’s proficient counter punching skills that curtailed Samuel Peter’s vast power fell on blind eyes, but his cries for justice did not fall on deaf ears.
In the end, Toney didn’t have to ask President Bush to settle the matter by setting up a special military tribunal…
Some people may say Marco Antonio Barrera is a gutless coward after his world title defense against Rocky Juarez.
Some people may say Barrera no longer deserves the heading of “Baby Faced Assassin” because he jumped on his tricycle en route to a meticulous unanimous decision victory.
Besides, Barrera isn’t Pernell Whitaker or Lance Armstrong. He merely boxed his way to victory by out throwing and out landing Juarez. He looked like Secretariat annihilating the field by 31 lengths at the 1973 Belmont Stakes.
Oh, it’s so easy to call Barrera a coward. In hindsight, Barrera should have engaged in another war with the younger and stronger Juarez, lost the fight and flushed away the chance to face Manny Pacquiao in a lucrative rematch.
Only an ignorant lunkhead would think such a thing.
Barrera simply avoided an unnecessary war by putting on a pay-per-view boxing clinic. It’s okay for a Floyd Mayweather Junior to outclass, outbox and avoid an opponent’s onslaught. Yet, a boxing warrior like Marco Antonio Barrera is vilified for out boxing and outfoxing his opponent.
His unwillingness to trade with Juarez was sharp and tactical. Barrera’s methodical and calculating game plan was brilliant.
If Juarez would have been more aggressive and taken some risks, he could have knocked out Barrera. In fact, Juarez was unable to counter Barrera’s excellent boxing skills because he failed to make the proper mid fight adjustments.
Barrera was simply smarter than Juarez, in business and boxing terms. For this reason, Barrera should be known as the “Cerebral Assassin.”
A monumental occasion will go unnoticed by most fight enthusiasts on October 27. The “All-American Prizefighter” Rob Calloway will slug it out against Byron Polley for the prestigious WBE World Heavyweight Championship. The winner of the fight will be the only American heavyweight to hold a world title. It’s a shame that this fight will go untelevised…
It’s nice to see a Frenchman win a championship belt for a change. Souleymane M’baye picked up Ricky Hatton’s vacant WBA junior welterweight belt with a TKO victory over Raul Balbi. M’baye’s name will now be added to the leaflet that contains the list of French born world boxing champions…
After the disappointing and failed attempt to complete his trilogy with Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales finds himself in another controversial trilogy. Corrales is looking to take out his anger and frustration on Joel Casamayor, a man he supposedly dislikes. "When I'm done with him there won't be enough of him to send back to Cuba. I'm going to torture him. I will retire him,” said Corrales.
The feeling is mutual for Casamayor who fired his share of verbal barbs to promote next month’s WBC lightweight title fight. “This fight is going to happen, and it is going to happen ugly. This is personal,” said Casamayor. “I blew a kiss at Corrales at the press conference because I do not like him. He is a joke to me.”
Much like their first two meetings, the rubber match should be a thrilling contest. Casamayor didn’t look sharp in his last outing. But the same can be said about Corrales, who found himself on the receiving end of a devastating left hook delivered by Jose Luis Castillo.
This trilogy is Corrales’ to win. He still is the bigger and stronger fighter and he should prevail over his hated rival Joel Casamayor.
At the end of the night, Corrales should outline his boxing future. He is a crowd-pleasing warrior that needs to move up in weight after this fight. Corrales has already called out welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito, but it comes as no surprise that he is also interested in facing three current super featherweight stars. The big three Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera are on Corrales’ wish list.
Once again, Corrales needs to move up in weight and pick on someone his own size…
Is losing a championship match and future multi-million dollar paydays better than winning an embarrassing fiasco?…
TERDSAK TIME: One month after his TKO loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, Terdsak Jandaeng became a 3-time WBO Asia Pacific featherweight titlist. Fighting in his native Chumporn, Thailand Jandaeng didn’t need a hometown decision to capture the vacant title. He knocked out Abi Metiaman 50 seconds into the first round.
Good thing Gary Shaw did not attend the Jorge Barrios-Joan Guzman weigh-in…
HBO will be competing against Showtime’s Corrales-Casamayor fight card by presenting a heavyweight freak show. The seven-foot “Russian Giant” Nicolay Valuev defends his WBA heavyweight belt against Monte Barrett. Offsetting the featured freak show, HBO’s true boxing bout will pit WBC light heavyweight champion Tomasz Adamek against Paul Briggs in a rematch of their explosive 2005 title bout. In their first fight, Adamek defeated Briggs by majority decision and captured the vacant WBC title.
Manny Pacquiao is a phenomenal freak of nature. Where does he get his super human strength and speed from?…
Israel Vazquez and Jhonny Gonzalez displayed tremendous heart in their world championship battle on the Barrera-Juarez undercard. The stoppage by Gonzalez’s trainer was a smart and gracious decision. There is no shame in living to see another day…
What happened to Juan “El Pollo” Valenzuela?…
It will be interesting to see the outcome of Erik Morales’ collaboration with Velocity Personal Training. Morales is training with the Los Angeles based fitness company, in preparation for his November rematch with Manny Pacquiao.
But one must wonder if Velocity Personal Training will really put out a better product than John Basedow’s Fitness Made Simple body workout…
ELOTERO CRIME: Jose Luis Zertuche will never find himself in the upper echelon of the middleweight division, but he has the toughness and courage to put on exciting battles. His questionable loss at the hands of Fulgencio Zuniga was nothing short of highway robbery. The transgressions of octogenarian Bill Graham and Robert Hoyle cost Zertuche the hard fought victory.
Nicknames are for fighters not writers…
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made headlines when he called President George W. Bush “the devil,” while delivering a speech at the United Nations.
Obviously, Chavez has never met a floundering ringside scorer…
Chump of the Month: Juan Diaz’s manager Willie Savannah.
Golden Boy Promotions believed they beat out Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and Don King in a hotly contested race to acquire the services of lightweight titlist Juan Diaz.
Savannah struck a deal with Golden Boy Promotions and announced to various media outlets that Diaz would be a Golden Boy fighter.
Afterwards, Savannah failed to show an ounce of integrity by retracting his verbal agreement with Golden Boy and accepting Don King’s counter offer.
"I'd like to keep my word," Savannah told the San Antonio Express News. "But who in boxing keeps their word?”
Perhaps, he should ask Don King that question.
Alphonso Costello can be reached at acostello@boxingscene.com