By Jake Donovan
Last week, it was Dominick Guinn in the main event. This week, it's Zahir Raheem in the televised co-feature.
Perhaps ESPN2 is looking to enlist No-Doz as one of its Friday Night Fights sponsors.
ESPN2 Friday Night Fights returns with a vengeance this Friday, as super middleweight contender Allan Green takes on Rubin Williams in the 10-round main event (Friday, 9PM ET/6PM PT, Tulsa, OK). But before you get to tune in to the can't-miss, the telecast picks up where it left off last week, as Dominick Guinn's career-worst, oft-unwatchable performance (how many times in a row can we keep saying that?) is followed up by the return of 1996 Olympian Zahir "Z-Man" Raheem, who faces Ricardo Dominguez in an eight-round co-feature.
The bout will be the first for Raheem (28-2, 16KO) since his dreadful points win over lightweight journeyman Cristobal Cruz last May, also on the Deuce and in fact at the same location as this Friday's show – the Million Dollar Casino in Tulsa, OK, which Raheem plays for the third straight time.
The glass-half-full version would be, the casino and local promoter Tony Holden are loyal to Raheem, and reward him with continued business. The opposite – and perhaps more common – perception would be, nobody else wants him.
It's painful to speak any other way than positive about Raheem, who is as polite and accommodating as they come in the sport, at least outside of the ring. But such has been the case for the one-time gifted amateur and 1996 Olympian, suffering through a career where momentum has been little more than a rumor.
It took Raheem, a gifted amateur whose credentials include an eye-popping 101-3 record and a spot on the 1996 Olympic squad, six years for his career to get going, with the early years plagued by injuries and inactivity. The highs (October 2002 ESPN2-televised stoppage over Luisito Espinosa; September 2005 upset win over Erik Morales on HBO) have often been overshadowed by the lows (unwatchable losses to Rocky Juarez and Acelino Freitas, both of which produced industry-wide disinterest in any of his future bouts).
The Freitas fight, which was supposed to serve as the centerpiece for HBO's attempt at revamping its Boxing After Dark series, was the most damaging blow to his career. While it can be argued that Raheem deserved to win that fight, as well as the Juarez fight for that matter, it was so painfully dull that very few cared to argue on his behalf. Not even former manager Cameron Dunkin, who, one night before watching from ringside as his prize pupil Kelly Pavlik dismantled Edison Miranda, buried his head in absolute disgust while watching from a stool in a Memphis sports bar as Raheem hugged his way through the aforementioned Cruz fight last May on ESPN2.
"I didn't know if he was fighting or trying to tie the other guy's shoes half of the night," was perhaps the kindest thing Dunkin had to say about Raheem's performance that evening.
The old saying goes, "win today, look good the next time," but damn it if Raheem hasn't taken the term to new heights in recent years. There's a slim chance that Friday becomes "the next time." Ricardo Dominguez is as ordinary as they come, as evidenced in his first loss, a lethargic upset decision in favor of journeyman Silviero Ortiz in April 2005. But the Mexican often comes to fight.
The problem is, Raheem rarely does – or at least with the attention of entertaining while he fights. This of course bears the question, how many times does ESPN2 and its faithful boxing public need to be subjected to another "today" before realizing there's no chance of "looking good the next time" ever becoming a reality.
I guess as many times as it will take for them to realize that Dominick Guinn will never again let his hands go. Which means win, lose or draw this weekend, expect to see more Southern Disasters and Zzzzzz-Man sightings on the Deuce throughout the '08 season and beyond.
Jake "The Jake-of-All-Trades" Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, and presently serves on the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His column runs every Tuesday on BoxingScene.com. Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com
