By Dr. Peter Edwards
The month of March brings us some heavyweight spills, some Irish blood and prospect dreams. The heavyweights are back in the public eye, as James Toney challenges Hasim Rahman for his WBC heavyweight title in the most anticipated boxing event of the month. Toney, originally thought of as more of an oddity in the heavyweight division is now viewed by most as a legit heir to the throne. Rahman, he can be hot and he can be cold. The fight comes down to which Rahman decides to show up. The best part about the fight is the fact that it will be televised on free TV, not pay-per-view.
Let's run down the list of suspects in my monthly determination of Who's Hot and Who's Not in the sport of boxing.
Who's Hot
Ricardo Mayorga - The WBC junior middleweight champion is a promotion machine. The press conference tour for his May bout with Oscar De La Hoya made headlines all over the world. The headlines were a direct result of his antics during the press conference tour. Mayorga used every chance presented to attack De La Hoya on a physical and mental level.
Oscar, usually cool and calm during press conferences, was visibly enraged by Mayorga's name calling and constant questioning of his sexual preference. The end result will be an explosive fight.
HBO, Bob Arum & Dan Goossen - The could have made the Hasim Rahman vs. James Toney battle a pay-per-view attraction, but thought of boxing fans for a change and made it free. HBO, better known as the 80-pound gorilla in the boxing industry, is fully aware that the sport of boxing has lost a lot of fans in the last few years. More competitive fights with boxers that possess name recognition with the boxing public, and having them televised without a pay-per-view price tag, is great strategy towards regaining lost fans.
Zab Judah – The man must be commended for how serious he is taking his training for his April 8 clash with nemesis Floyd Mayweather. Judah, never at a loss for words, has been very quiet during the press campaign for the fight. After a disappointing loss to unheralded Carlos Baldomir in January, Mayweather will likely be his final chance to prove his worth. The entourage is gone from the gym, the loudmouth interviews are nowhere to be found, a new humble demeanor can be heard – maybe Zab has finally matured after all.
Jeff Lacy – Being humble in the face of defeat. Lacy learned a very valuable lesson in England, all of the punching power in the world is meaningless if you do not have the experience to go along with it. The young fighter was outslicked, outhustled and powerfully dominated by an overall better fighter in Joe Calzaghe. The best we could wish for is that Lacy does not fall apart like many other undefeated young fighters in the last couple of years, who happened to suffer a damaging defeat. Hopefully Lacy learned a valuable lesson from this loss and comes back strong.
Who’s Not
Joe Calzaghe – Joe picks up the biggest win of his career by dominating Jeff Lacy, and finally proved to the world that he is for real. Rather than face the other champions within his weight division, Calzaghe is chasing the semi-retired Roy Jones Jr. for a quick payday. While Jones equals a big check, the downside of fighting Jones is the fact that the bout is a one-way proposition.
If Calzaghe beats Jones, who cares? The man we used to call Superman, is no longer that. Jones has lost his last three bouts, two of them by knockout and barely survived his last bout with Antonio Tarver. The worst thing that can happen to Calzaghe is to lose to Jones, a fighter coming off three consecutive defeats. It will destroy Calzaghe’s legacy, erase the big win over Lacy in the minds of most and send Jones riding off in the sunset with a win over the man of the hour.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. – For constantly trying to justify his bout with Judah being a pay-per-view attraction. Yes, Judah is a better opponent for Mayweather than Baldomir. Yes, it will be a decent fight, as Judah seems to be in the zone. But, that does not mean I want to pay almost fifty dollars to watch Floyd dismantle a fighter coming off a very embarrassing loss. The best thing to happen in the aftermath of this fight is a potential showdown between Mayweather and Antonio Margarito in July.
Juan Manuel Marquez – He turned down a high 6-figure payday for a rematch with rival Manny Pacquiao because he wanted more money. He flies across the ocean to face undefeated Chris John for a measly 5-figure sum and gets upset when John outboxes him on route to a unanimous decision. If there was ever a guy that needed a time machine to bring him back to the past in order to change a very stubborn decision, this guy is the one.
