Random Thoughts in The Sport: Giving Thanks in 2011

By Cliff Rold

Was it really happening?  In a year where most of the pay shows disappointed, and the number of televised robberies seemed higher than usual, was boxing going to shoot itself in the foot in the media capitol of the universe?

Was it going dump all over a sold out Madison Square Garden?

Was the New York State Athletic Commission going to refuse a license to Antonio Margarito just weeks from his rematch with Miguel Cotto?

The answer, finally, was no.  The fight is on and fight fans can breathe a sigh of relief for two reasons.  One, Margarito has passed his eye exams, meaning he’s not going into the fight certifiably blind.  Two, boxing managed not to make itself look like the boob-run, inept, hairy wart on the ass of sport it too often does.

Amen.

As the U.S. gets ready for it’s Thanksgiving 2011 celebrations, the confirmation leads the list of things to be thankful for in the sweet science.

Cotto-Margarito II is on!

The real fight fans deserve their red meat.  This rematch is a savage hunk of brisket.  Fans have debated since Margarito-Shane Mosley whether or not the whole career of Margarito was a farce.  There are those who, in good conscience, believe its wrong Margarito continues to be allowed to fight after being caught with contaminated wraps prior to the Mosley loss.  All of the above will tune in on December 3rd for what can’t miss as an action fight in front of what can’t miss as a New York crowd.  One wonders only if the crowd will be able to sustain its energy into what might turn out the best undercard of the decade.  Featured on the undercard is a fighter all fans of boxing’s tomorrow should be thankful for.

Brandon Rios

Rios is the most exciting young fighter in the game.  He’s also a quiet candidate for Fighter of the Year having come from behind to dust Miguel Acosta for a WBA belt and winning a three round scorcher with Urbano Antillon.  There’s a little bit of Bobby Chacon in Rios.  Too much has been made of some public relations faux pas in the past.  If part of what makes Rios the action monster he’s developing into is that he doesn’t always see the lines...well, seriously, boxing is on face politically incorrect.  Rios comes correct between the strands.  Of course, all good things don’t come in Lightweight packages.     

The Klitschko Brothers

Sure, their fights aren’t always entertaining.  Ask though: how bad would heavyweight be without them?  The brothers Klitschko continue to win, sell out stadiums, and behave as high-class emissaries for the sport.  Those who argue their lofty perch in the division is due in part to timing might be right, but the same can be said of many Heavyweights.  Would Larry Holmes have made all those title defenses had he been along five years earlier?  Would Floyd Patterson have won two Heavyweight crowns in the time of Joe Louis?  They are winners in and out of the ring.

YouTube

This is yet another year where the digital world makes boxing’s world smaller.  Two of the leading candidates for 2011 Fight of the Year, Tyson Marquez-Luis Concepcion I and Akira Yaegashi-Pornsawan Porpramook, were discovered largely through video services like YouTube.  Those who grew up reading Ring Magazine’s in the 80s and 90s for results on smaller men from different parts of the world would never have imagined being so spoiled.

Cruiserweight Action Fights               

For those who just won’t get over the sameness of Klitschko dominance, there is another class which features men who, until the later 20th century, were still considered Heavyweights.  The 200 lb, or Cruiserweight, class has been a steady resource for action fights for years now.  The action is largely now contained to Europe, meaning the good stuff needs seeking out.  It’s worth it.  Men like Marco Huck, Steve Cunningham, and Denis Lebedev (when he’s not doing a senior community tour) end up in good scraps all the time.  If a division is judged on parity, action, and a total disregard for pound-for-pound silliness, Cruiserweight rocks.  

The Super Six Finale

There have been catcalls because of how long the tournament took.  Those catcalls are a reflection of the way boxing fans and pundits find ways to bitch about everything.  Since Fall 2009, the tournament has allowed for ten fights (11 if one counts Andre Ward-Sakio Bika, an unofficial part of the show) between a range of the best at 168 lbs.  Ten fights is anemic in comparison to greater eras, but we end with an excellent contest, Ward-Carl Froch, and a question: how many of the fights the “6” brought us would have died in individual negotiations?  And, hey, when the tournament ends Lucian Bute is waiting.  That’s a win.

Some Genuinely Good Divisions

Of course, mention of 168 also points to another element that makes the division special: it has some depth.  Boxing’s 17 weight classes often mean top-heavy classes with one or two fighters really standing out.  Depth is to be celebrated.  Right now, along with Super Middleweight, Bantamweight, Lightweight, and Jr. Welterweight all feature tops tens with fighters fans can enjoy and matches worth making.

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao

The ridiculous inability to make a fight between the two (and they seem to take turns ducking each other) is infuriating.  It validates the rest of a sports world laughing at boxing’s Super Bowl dying on the vine.  These two could easily make a list of the things not to be thankful for.  However, Stateside, they also lend boxing incredible vibrancy and a place in conversation.  They also consistently sell one million pay shows plus against foes not named Mayweather and Pacquiao.  Boxing hasn’t had two revenue producers share the stage below Heavyweight like this in a long time. 

And finally...

The Anticipation

Boxing has its eulogy written and rewritten but never seems to die.  There is a reason for its continuance.  The feeling before a big fight, or even just the main event of the show a fan could afford a ticket too, that stomach turning realization that a boxing match can end at any moment, persists.  There are still moments of awe, whether in watching Erik Morales almost put one over on Marcos Maidana, or in watching a legend like Bernard Hopkins turn back Jean Pascal for the Light Heavy crown earlier this year.  There are young pulse racers like Gennady Golovkin and old warhorses like Juan Manuel Marquez.  When the bell rings, no matter how much one thinks they know, they never know for sure. 

It’s always been that way and will remain so in 2012.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com