The Punchline May 2009: Pac/Floyd/Mosley/Kirkland/Margario & More

http://www.doghouseboxing.com/DHB/Brandon060309.htm By Brandon Estrict, DHB Welcome all, the good folks of Doghouse Boxing and knowledgeable boxing universe alike, to the inaugural Punch-Line! The Punch-Line will be a monthly report of any and all things noteworthy in boxing such as news, in and out of ring happenings, and the latest developing storylines within our beloved sport featuring the players you hate to love, love to hate and hate more than that! It’s all in good fun and nothing in this column is to be taken seriously, unless of course, it’s serious. Monthly fighter awards will also be handed out to those most, and least deserving. Formalities out of the way, May was quite a busy month in boxing, and hell, we'll even show April some love for bringing us it's own formidable number of significant scraps. And in no particular order and without further adieu, like Antonio Margarito we make, and away we go! Speaking of the "Tainted Tornado," rumor has it that the exiled conqueror of Miguel Cotto has been on the market for a new trainer. Against all logic and better judgment, he continues to insist that he wasn't aware of long-time chief second/father figure, Javier Capetillo, loading his hand-wraps prior to the beating he suffered at the hands of Shane Mosley. Margarito has reportedly sought out Freddie Roach on more than one occasion in hopes that Roach would take over his corner upon his return to the ring next January, if the California State Athletic Commission should so choose to re-instate him that is. Roach however, hasn't exactly reciprocated that interest, and with the recent success of his prized pupil, Manny Pacquiao, it looks like Margarito's search continues for now. Not to worry though, my sources tell me Panama Lewis has expressed interest in teaming up to form the sports' most lethal duo since Cus D'amato and a young Mike Tyson! Back to relevance, it turns out that weight doesn't matter and the aforementioned Pacquiao is boxing's new golden boy. Only he wins his biggest fights and in pretty spectacular fashion. The Pac-Man gobbled up British bulldog Ricky Hatton, no pun intended, realigning Hatton's facial structure with a deadly left hand en route to a 2nd round KO in what was boxing's biggest five minutes and fifty-nine seconds of the year to date. Hopefully Hatton won't stick around the sport much longer, he's endured two savage knockouts in the last year and a half and seeing him nearly choke on his tongue while on his back for 3-plus minutes was pretty sickening. In encouraging news for him, recent semi-nude pictures of the Mancunian goofing off in training camp have since surfaced, suggesting he may have a 2nd career to fall back on. Best of luck. Enjoying that May weather out there? With the announcement of Floyd Jr's ring return, and the rift between Sr. and Hatton prior to Ricky having his mug caved in, the Mayweather's have dominated May's headlines in a way usually reserved for Big Floyd to dominate his fighters' spotlight. Floyd Jr. meanwhile kicks off his July comeback with the world's number two pound-for-pound fighter, Juan Manuel Marquez, which may be a prequel to a Winter showdown for the number one spot with the Pac-man. Apparently, "Money May" is out to silence the critics who have complained about his past lackluster list of opponents, and is on a new mission to clean out boxing's top ten list. Word around the campfire is, if Floyd's successful in beating Marquez and unseating Pacquiao at the top, he will meet the 7th best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Ivan Calderon, at a catchweight of 141 lbs! Vic Darchinyan may also be in Floyd's future. Switching gears back to Ricky Hatton, apparently his long-time chum and the man he axed in favor of Mayweather Sr, Billy Graham, is suing his once beloved "Hitman" for failing to pay him his full trainers' fee for the KO loss to Mayweather Jr, and for not paying him at all for the Juan Lazcano fight. Apparently, a fighter now has the option of refusing to pay his trainer when he's unhappy with his own fight night performance and decline in punch resistance. In related news, Buddy McGirt is said to be on the run from the repo-man! Onto junior middleweight prospect, James Kirkland, a man who's not doing so much getting around these days. Kirkland is still jailed somewhere in the sticks of Texas, after violating his probation by being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm last month. His handlers and legal representatives are no longer to optimistic either, as the decision has been made to leave Kirkland behind bars to maximize his time served for the day sentencing is handed down. Where are T.I.'s lawyers when you need them? Well, things could always be worse. He could be Jermain Taylor! "Bad Decisions" was stopped by unbeaten Brit, Carl Froch, with 11 seconds remaining in the twelfth round of a fight he was winning. He's now lost 3 of his last four fights, his middleweight straps, his first bid at a super middleweight strap and worse, lost them all to two "whiteboys!" Bernard Hopkins is said to be so disappointed in JT that he's thinking of taking it out on the fans by fighting him again and on Pay-Per-View. Chad Dawson is said to be crushed. Bad Chad though, may have actually helped his case for a fight with the Executioner it turns out, disposing of Antonio Tarver (for the last time hopefully) but doing so less convincingly than he had the first time. The crafty Hopkins may have just found something in the Dawson armor that he'd be able to exploit. We saw him expose Kelly Pavlik his last time out, just by boxing in circles and sprinkling in some old fashioned clinches with a side of rough-house tactics. Inevitably, the last obstacle B-Hop would have to overcome in securing a Dawson fight would be talking Chad into letting him pocket 5 million by accepting the offer of thirty-seven dollars and a free cheese-steak upon every visit he makes to Philadelphia for the next 2 months. As highly unlikely as it sounds, it’s probably much more than Dawson would get to fight anyone else in the Light Heavyweight Division, not named Glencoffe Johnson. Stay tuned to that one! With the month of May, calendar year 2009, coming to an end, sadly, we await result in semi-significant bouts between Welterweight up and comer, Andre Berto and Light Welterweight trinket holder, Juan Urango, as well as a fight between HBO top 154 lb. prospect, in Kirkland’s absence, Alfredo Angulo and the always disappointing Kermit Cintron. We’ll get you the results of those scraps in the June issue of The Punchline, because we here at Doghouse are obligated to, and for no other real reason. But don’t you fret just yet! Arriving June brings us Cotto/Clottey, Klitschko/Haye, as well as the likes of Ivan Calderon, Carlos Quintana, Jaidon Codrington, Jorge Arce and more, making their respective ring returns! We’ll leave you with our first annual Punch-Line Monthly Fighter Awards presentation! See ‘ya in June… *MAY UPDATE!* The Andre Berto, Juan Urango and Kermit Cintron, Alfredo Angulo fights HAVE indeed made the cut…unfortunately. Berto was able to keep his undefeated record intact in an epic chess-match comparable only to the great fights of the last couple years, timeless all-actin’, no action classics like Klitschko/Ibragimov, Valuev/Holyfield or Mayweather/Baldomir! Prior to that bout, Alfredo “S&M” Angulo was not as fortunate, losing his coveted 0 to a seemingly rejuvenated Kermit Cintron, even as Cintron tried his hardest over the second half of the fight to allow Angulo to fold him like clean laundry. Cintron gets himself back in the win column, improving his record to 1-3 in his past two fights after suffering a DQ, UD and KO losses to Sergio Martinez last time out. Fighter of the Month: Manny Pacquiao (Runner up - Carl Froch) Bum of the Month: Ricky Hatton (Runner up - Jermain Taylor) Highest Riser: Carl Froch (Runner up - Andre Ward) KO of the Month: Pacquiao KO2 Hatton (Runner up - Froch TKO12 Taylor) Fight of the Month: Taylor/Froch; 4/25/09; Showtime Championship Boxing Step Your Game Up: Chad Dawson Random Fact of the Month Did you know, VH1 reality series Daisy of Love star, Daisy De La Hoya, also a former contestant on VH1’s previously highest rated prime-time cable reality show, Rock of Love featuring Brett Michaels, is actually the estranged niece of the Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya? What an awesome Thanksgiving dinner that must’ve been! In All Seriousness On behalf of everyone here, I would like to extend my deepest condolences and sympathies to the family of Mike Tyson over the tragic loss of his beautiful 4-year old daughter, Exodus. Another reminder of just how precious life is and not to take anything or anyone for granted. We’re all praying for you Iron Mike… To be featured in the Doghouse Boxing Mailbag, send all questions and comments to BEstrict@hotmail.com or BrandonDHB@gmail.com Visit Brandon at Myspace.com/BEstrictboxing