By Rusty Rubin
I didn’t comment on the Mayweather – Mitchell fight from Portland and televised by HBO on Saturday, because although Mayweather is the best out there at the moment, the competition was one or two levels below him.
Easily beating an aging Sharmba Mitchell was not what Mayweather Jr. needed to gain the respect he wants and deserves. He has to beat a top ranked, named fighter, not a 35 year old veteran.
Nothing was proven or learned on Saturday night, in a fight that Floyd Jr. dominated every round (TKO6).
While I think Mayweather is good enough to beat any competition out there, and except for Ricky Hatton, there’s not much, he refuses to take the fights that will earn him the respect of the boxing fans that he needs. In truth, he loses the respect of those fans by not taking them.
Zab Judah is the name you hear most often as a strong foe for Mayweather. Zab may well be one of the few Americans in Floyd’s weight class that can give him a run for his money, but Zab is missing one thing, a solid chin, something Mayweather clearly possesses.
Maybe I believe in Floyd’s talent more than he does. I don’t know. I do believe however that Ricky Hatton is the only opponent who has a chance to beat Floyd at the present time.***
Richard O’Brien, in Sports Illustrated, Nov. 21, seems to be predicting that boxing, largely due to the lack of a heavyweight division, is "On the Ropes". While Mr. O’Brien makes a compelling case for his argument, he fails to take into consideration that boxing hasn’t had a respectable heavyweight division in many years, yet boxing still survives.
Granted, a good heavyweight division can only help the sport, and, there is no prime Oscar de la Hoya around to pick up the slack. Yet boxing will survive.
There are plenty of classy fighters like Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barerra, Rafael Marquez (and his boxing talented family), Manny Pacquiao, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the lighter weights, and guys like Jeff Lacy and Jermain Taylor are the future in the heavier weight classes.
Boxing may be far from it’s pinnacle, but it’s also far from getting the last rites. It will survive.***
Agree or disagree, we’d like to hear from you. (Rngsportsr@aol.com).
Glove2Glove:
Prayers for the soul of top rated featherweight Jackie Graves who passed away at age 83.
Prayers for the soul for Gabriela Blears, the 16 year old daughter of boxing scribe James Blears, who passed away last week,
Prayers for the recovery of Muhammad Ali who is said to be having serious problems as a result of his Parkinson’s related illness.
Prayers for the return to health for Col. Bob Sheridan, renowned sports announcer who has suffered a heart attack.
Prayers needed for Elise Brown, grand daughter of Ringside Products head honcho and good boxing guy John Brown. Young Elise has heart problems.
Prayers have also helped but continue to be needed for Dennis Wilcox, brother of boxing scribe David Wilcox, who is in an Oregon hospital suffering from Leukemia. The family and everyone at Glove2Glove ask for your prayers in his recovery.
Prayers for the return to health of Audrey Talmo, wife of Ed, a long-time boxing fan who cares about our sport.
Prayers needed for the return to health of Alfonso Luna, father of our outstanding photographer Ray Luna, who has taken ill in Southern California.
Please say prayers for the return to health of Helen Wambolt, wife of our East Coast World Boxing Hall of Fame writer Danny Wambolt. Cards will also be most welcome.***
Please say prayers for the return to health of Orazio Esposito, father of our photographer Richard Esposito.***
Prayers for the return to health of Don Donelson, father of writer Tom, and Gene Sebastian, brother of former middleweight champ Billy Soose. Both are suffering from congestive heart disease.
Please say prayers for Phill Grazide of Santa Rosa, CA. a big supporter of amateur boxing, who is suffering the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis.***
Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.***
Glove2Glove is a non-denominational group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.***
Touching on politics briefly: It’s not hard to understand why the voters of Southern Ohio, a heavily Republican District almost elected a Democrat. Ms. Jean Schmidt, the ‘lady’ they did elect, clearly had no ideas of her own then and now, and in fact has absolutely no idea how Congress works.
Last week she caused an uproar in the lower House by reading a letter from one of her constituents and implying that highly decorated Marine Viet-Nam war hero, John Murtha, D. PA., was a coward. Sounds a bit like the Swift Boat veterans in their attacks against John Kerry in the last election.
I don’t understand how someone who won many medals and risked their life for their country could be insulted like Kerry and Murtha were. If this is the way political campaigns will continue to be run, I’ll continue pushing for the creation of a third major party that can campaign with respect and dignity.
There’s nothing wrong with representing her district, that’s what Mrs. Schmidt was elected to do, but by reading an inflammatory and insulting letter from supposedly one of them, on the floor of the House, which can only have resulted in the way it did, was flat out stupid!
I have to admit that I too was concerned about her getting elected, always responding to questions by the press by stating the party line, "We’re fighting them in Iraq so we don’t have to fight them over here". She obviously had no ideas of her own, or if she did, was not willing to state them.
There’s so much of this bull crap that I am willing to take. Iraq has never been a threat to the American homeland and under Sadaam probably would never have been, as Sadaam wanted to keep full control over the country and would never have allowed the terrorists to take control.
Don’t misunderstand, I’m glad Sadaam is gone from Iraq, although I believe that we should have pulled out after President Bush gave his "mission accomplished" speech. Now we’re in a major quagmire in the area.
Outrageous statements and implications by the newly elected Congresswoman and others can only hurt the situation. Let’s hope ‘Mean Jean’ is going to be there for only one term. She’s an embarrassment to her district and her country.
Republicans and Democrats must work together to find a solution to our problems. Name calling and playing stupid party politics when our boys are being killed and wounded in a faraway land serves no purpose, except to show the world how divided this nation really is.
Agree or disagree, I’d like to hear from you. I respect everyone’s opinion. (Rusty@ringsports.com).