By Lee Groves

What a tremendously busy week for televised boxing: Fight Night Live on FSN Thursday, Thompson Boxing on Fox Sports Español on Friday, then cards on HBO, Showtime, Fox Sports Español and TyC on Saturday.

So many shows and so few machines with which to record them…not a bad problem to have. Plus, it provides the perfect counterpoint to the “boxing is dying” crowd, for if the sport were dying why would so many TV entities devote precious airtime to it? This roll call included just the cards available on American TV, much less the ones accessible on the web.

Although boxing is sick on many fronts, especially in terms of administration and mainstream media coverage, one can say that boxing’s TV situation is more than alive and well.

Needless to say, this old noggin was forced to shift into overdrive with all of the action and acrimony that ensued. Here are only some of the thoughts that flowed as I watched all the action – either live or on tape delay:

* The disqualification ending of Andre Dirrell-Arthur Abraham marred what had been a career-best performance by the American.

In front of a raucous partisan crowd at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Flint native Dirrell achieved a higher level in terms of melding physical skills with newfound emotional maturity. Taking advantage of Abraham’s baffling tendency to start slowly, Dirrell dominated the first seven rounds with superior activity and capped his effort with a fourth round knockdown – the first scored against Abraham as a pro – and opened a deep cut over Abraham’s right eye in the seventh.

Abraham finally showed signs of life in rounds nine and 10, and he scored a clean knockdown that referee Laurence Cole misinterpreted as a slip. But Cole was absolutely correct to immediately disqualify Abraham for hitting Dirrell when he was down because the American was in no condition to continue. Not only was the ending anticlimactic, it may have prevented Abraham from completing another dramatic last-round rally because there were points where Dirrell looked hurt and flustered.

Although the record book will list Dirrell as the winner, his body and mind reacted as if he suffered a knockout loss. It took several minutes – and multiple reassurances – to convince an overwrought Dirrell that:

(1) He was in Detroit and not Las Vegas, and;
(2) He actually won the fight.

Will this temporary loss of short-term memory have any ill effects on Dirrell’s future? Let’s hope not, because it appears the 26-year-old is finally hitting his stride.

Dirrell may also have revealed the blueprint by which one can defeat Abraham – a fast start, prodigious volume to keep his high guard occupied and intelligent movement to nullify Abraham’s mid- to late-round surge. Carl Froch, who is scheduled to fight Abraham in Stage Three, surely will mine plenty of useful information from the DVD of Saturday night’s fight.

By the way, isn’t the ringside physician supposed to inspect and wipe the blood from a cut, not apply pressure for nearly 50 seconds as was done during the ninth round?

* Once again, a Super Six fight instantly transforms how the participants are perceived.

Before the tournament began last October, Mikkel Kessler was the odds-on favorite to win while Andre Ward was a seldom-discussed dark horse. After Ward’s scintillating performance, the new WBA super middleweight champion is seen as an ascendant star, while Kessler is viewed as mechanical and past his prime.

Then came the events of Saturday night.

Coming in, Abraham - the shortest and naturally smallest man in the field - supplanted Kessler as king of the mountain with his resounding knockout of Jermain Taylor in Stage One. There were mixed reactions on Dirrell prior to Saturday’s bout. His critics labeled him as a runner, while backers claimed he was victimized by a bad decision against Froch.

Now, after a brilliant performance with a less-than-satisfying ending, “The Matrix” is back in the mix while Abraham’s lead – and his reputation – is in far more tenuous shape.

Will the “conventional wisdom” again be turned on its head when new arrival Allan Green meets Ward in June and Froch meets Kessler April 24? I don’t know, but as an observer I can’t wait to find out.

* Saturday night was just another brick in a wall of injustice for Ali Funeka while for Joan Guzman it proves that lack of professionalism does pay.

One can’t help but feel for Funeka, who is now 0-for-3 in lightweight title fights held in North America. One can make a good case that he lost to Nate Campbell in his first attempt because he suffered multiple knockdowns, but the draw decision in the first Guzman fight was so blatantly bad it almost defied description.

For Funeka, that draw spawned a triple injustice.

The first was that it necessitated a rematch in the first place. Given the level of dominance he showed in the first Guzman fight it could be argued that someone else should have taken the Dominican’s place.

The second was that the shorter, stockier Guzman was given a gift with the very offer of a rematch. He responded by missing the weight not by a pound or two but a full nine pounds. Despite not being within light years of 135 he was still allowed to collect a payday (albeit a much smaller one than originally negotiated prior to the weigh-in) while the rail-thin 6-1 Funeka fulfilled his contractual obligation by boiling down to the limit.

Yes, Funeka was the only one eligible to win the belt but that is of little solace given the physical disadvantages of facing a heavier and fresher man after suffering the rigors of making weight himself. In other words, why should a lightweight have to win a 135-pound title by beating a welterweight?

The final outrage was that Guzman remains unbeaten and is now in position to further his career while Funeka – who hasn’t had an official win since July 2008 – must hope that the IBF grants him an extremely rare fourth consecutive crack at its 135-pound belt. It just doesn’t seem right that the guy who did what he was supposed to do is penalized while the man who flouted the rules goes forward.

When the pair met at the lighter poundage, Funeka was utterly dominant as he out-threw, out-landed and badly bloodied the Dominican’s face. Guzman just didn’t have the energy at 135 to maintain his movement for more than a couple of rounds and he ended up paying a bitter and painful price.

On Saturday, Guzman was operating at a far more comfortable weight that allowed him to retain enough energy to move for all 12 rounds while also fortifying his ability to absorb Funeka’s punches. Guzman showed he had the style to offset Funeka’s volume, but not the discipline to compete with him on an even playing field. While the decision favoring Guzman was fair, the circumstances by which it came about emphatically were not.

This bout is a stark illustration of why boxing has weight classes, for while a smaller man may have the talent to beat a heavier peer he must constantly work harder to resist his opponent’s strength. Size does matter in boxing and all one needs to do is look at a DVD of Guzman-Funeka II to realize why.

Every division should have its own resident pure puncher and for the junior welterweights, it is Marcos Maidana.

Thanks to DirecTV offering TyC on its Spanish language package, I’ve watched Maidana since his third professional fight. More often than not, I came away awestruck by his power. A few of his right hand bombs were so robust that they threatened to decapitate his opponents, so I wasn’t surprised by his rise through the ranks.

Only a disputed decision loss to then-WBA champ Andriy Kotelnik and a six-round decision win over Daniel Carriqueo in August 2005 has kept Maidana from joining Edwin Valero in the 1.000 KO percentage club among titlists.

Sure, Maidana’s defense isn’t all it can be and previously undefeated Dominican Victor Cayo showed that weird body rhythms can short-circuit Maidana’s offense – at least for a while. But the Argentine has the ultimate equalizer and his volume is such that it will take an extremely talented fighter to stave off his thunder for 12 full rounds.

Make no mistake about it; Cayo is a world-class fighter. Despite his hands-down approach and loosey-goosey movement, he has the kind of speed and moxie that will present problems for a lot of fighters.

Maidana, however, had the right answer in the form of a wicked right-handed solar plexus punch that caved Cayo for the count. Although I predicted a KO in the middle rounds for Maidana, I still was impressed with what I saw from Cayo.

I don’t know if Freddie Roach will ever allow Amir Khan to meet Maidana for the “undisputed” WBA junior welterweight title, given Khan’s vulnerable chin. Hopefully he will; in terms of styles and potential action, this is as good a match as can be made in one of boxing’s most talent-laden divisions.

* After regaining the WBC flyweight title from Koki Kameda this past weekend, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam should now be thought of as a potential Hall of Famer.

Although Wonjongkam amassed 17 defenses in his more than six-year reign – a division record previously held by Hall of Famer Miguel Canto – the Thai was thought by some to be a compiler of big numbers rather than a truly great champion. They point to the four title bouts against Daisuke Naito and defenses against guys with mediocre records like Randy Mangubat (31-17-11), Gilberto Keb Baas (26-12-1) and Everardo Morales (27-10-2).

But after scoring a popularly received majority decision over an undefeated fighter 10 years his junior in Kameda, Wonjongkam has breathed new life into his candidacy. To be truthful, there shouldn’t have been much doubt.

For along with the “questionable” defenses listed above, he had his share of quality performances. He won the belt via first round knockout of Malcolm Tunacao, scored the fastest knockout in division history over a then-unbeaten Naito in their first fight (34 seconds), posted virtual shutouts over the 25-1 Hidenobu Honda and the 21-2 Monelisi Mhikiza Myekeni and upended a undefeated Hussein Hussein by decision.

He registered six successful defenses on the road (all in Japan) and posted a 9-0 record in non-title bouts during his reign – a very healthy workload for a modern-day champion. His overall record (75-3-1, 39 KO) not only compares very favorably to current-day titlists but among all-time 112-pound champions.

It is highly unusual for a fighter who had enjoyed such a long reign to regain his belt two-and-a-half years after losing it from a young, undefeated and highly touted champion on the titlist’s home ground – and by decision. This set of circumstances alone should confirm Wonjongkam’s quality as a fighter and at age 32 he’s not done yet.

* Featherweight prospect Ronny Rios is progressing nicely and the proof was in his fifth round TKO of journeyman Andres Ledesma.

OK, so Ledesma lost 11 of his last 12 fights – four by KO – since 2007, but the 20-year-old Rios was given several small issues that all aspiring pugs must surmount if they want to achieve the desired success.

First, this was his first scheduled six-rounder.

Second, Ledesma had superior experience, height, reach and mobility, if not skill or talent.

Finally, Ledesma challenged Rios’ patience by not collapsing under the first offensive wave and fighting back hard in several spots.

The youngster passed every test with room to spare.

After a feeling-out first, Rios counteracted Ledesma’s mobility and anatomical edges with a series of well-timed rights. After hurting Ledesma with one early in the fifth, Rios didn’t jump on his man with guns blazing. Instead he immediately shifted his attack to the body and took his time setting up the KO sequence. His demonstration of precocious poise was capped off by a savage hook to the body that more than ended matters.

While Rios is definitely someone to watch he is not the next Oscar de la Hoya, a label some have bestowed on him. Having watched the “Golden Boy’s” rise in the early 1990s, there is little comparison in terms of anatomy and style. The early Oscar towered over his 130-pound foes and overwhelmed them with dynamic bursts of speed and almost unfair displays of power. Rios doesn’t have the same frame or skill set and thus he must play a different game. And so far Rios is playing his game rather well.

* Derrick Wilson’s majority decision draw against Adam Ochoa should have been a win, illustrating the pitfalls of four-round fights for neophyte pros.

I was at ringside in Philadelphia when Wilson lost a deserved four round split decision to Guadalupe DeLeon and his performance against Adam Ochoa proved he took the hard lessons to heart.

Against DeLeon, he started way too fast and allowed DeLeon’s body attack to wear him down, but here Wilson channeled his skills far better. My eyes told me he had done enough to win at least three rounds – if not all four – but two of the judges had a different opinion.

Hopefully the setback will not deter Wilson because he has the raw materials – and at age 21 the time – to develop a solid career.

Wilson-Ochoa illustrates the danger inherent in four round fights, for the threshold for success is so much higher than for those who fight at longer distances.

Four-round fighters must win 75 percent of the scheduled rounds to emerge victorious while the percentages drop to 66.7 percent for six round fighters, 62.5 percent for eight round fighters, 60 percent for 10 round fighters and 58.3 percent for championship campaigners – and that’s if there are no even rounds.

To put this burden on the sport’s least experienced fighters is unfair, especially in an age when glossy records are still emphasized.

One potential solution is to replace four-rounders with fights scheduled for five two-minute rounds, which would drop the victory threshold from 75 percent to 60, lessen the possibility of career-damaging draws and serve as a weigh station for amateurs who are already accustomed to four two-minute rounds. Fans would get more rounds for the money and the shortened rounds would likely result in faster-paced action.

It makes sense on several levels, but traditions tend to come about slowly. But if Jose Sulaiman could instantly change the championship distance from 15 to 12 rounds in the early 1980s, why can’t commissions do the same for the preliminary guys?

* When the possibility of Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones II was floated late last year, I was one of the few that expressed intrigue. That all disappeared the moment after Danny Green stopped Jones in Australia.

Since Jones won a dominant but dull decision in 1993 each man had undergone significant changes in style and substance. For Hopkins the meaning behind his nickname of “The Executioner” morphed from one-punch destroyer to one who perfectly executes a given blueprint. Meanwhile Jones reached stratospheric heights in terms of physical gifts only to find himself in a legacy-redefining downward spiral that included five losses and three KO defeats.

The difference between then and now is that once Hopkins’ physical talents began to erode his deep knowledge of fundamentals has served as his armor against Father Time. Jones hasn’t been so fortunate, for once his legs turned to petrified wood and his phenomenal speed slowed to merely above average his somewhat suspect chin was exposed. The years spent thriving on otherworldly talent gave him little reason to change and by the time the red flags surfaced it was too late for Jones to adjust.

Hopkins will use his encyclopedic knowledge of angles, positioning, timing and pace to control Jones over the long haul. For Jones to overcome Hopkins’ two-inch height and one-inch reach edges, he must use his hand speed to score points and his legs to dart in and out of range. Unfortunately for Jones he still has the former but not the latter and if he parks himself along the ropes as he had in his last several fights the competitive portion of the bout will be all but over.

For all of the heated pre-fight rhetoric, this will be a careful, clinical and cerebral points win for the 45-year-old Philadelphia wonder, the final piece of unfinished business in a magnificent Hall of Fame-caliber career. For Jones it will be a sad end to what had been a fantastic journey of breathtaking dominance, a career also worthy of Canastota’s pomp and circumstance.

Being one who appreciates and chronicles boxing history, I will buy the card knowing that I will need to keep my expectations low to avoid disappointment. If Hopkins and Jones deliver more than expected then I will feel as if I’m ahead of the game, but if not, at least I knew what I got myself into.

E-mail Lee Groves at lgroves@hughes.net