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First and foremost, let me say that I'm not calling these DUCKS, in the sense of the person being afraid of the other person. Perhaps they are and perhaps they aren't. Don't know, not for me to decide. These are just the top five fights I want to see and one of the fighters involved is stopping it from happening due to SOMETHING. So, without further ado, in order of how big the duckage (lol) is to me.
1. Ricky Hatton d/ Junior Witter
Reasons For Duckage: Ricky seems to be fishing for reasons to duck Witter. First, he used the idea that he WANTED the fight, and ordered Warren to make the fight happen. It somehow never got made and they didn't fight for a while. That's reasonable. What isn't reasonable is NOW claiming that he has TWO reasons NOT to fight Junior. His first reason being that he doesn't think that enough peole in America care about Witter. Hsi second reason being that he doesn't want to help a person who has been 'slagging' on him for so long. No reward for bad behavior, I guess. Problems with the arguments are; He says the viable comment, right around the same time he mentions his next opponents. Two of the frontrunners being the megastars Juan Lazcano and Kendall Holt. Decent fighters, but not on the level of Witter, in my opinion. Furthermore, it'd be a HUGE fight in the U.K. The problem with his second excuse is that he had a slight case of the same thing with Mayweather. But even if you take that part out... Wouldn't you WANT to fight the guy who talks that much ****, just as a man?
Significance: It would pit the TRUE world junior-welterweight against the number one contender. Both hold belts, so it could clean up a bit of the mess. Also, it sells the most, if done the right way. It's a fight that should happen, for the sake of the 140 pound division.
2. Floyd Mayweather d/ Miguel Cotto
Reasons For Duckage: Mayweather only wants big money fights. Hence the reason he's going forward with this dumbass rematch with De La Hoya. He isn't QUITE there, in terms of selling his brand, with some no-namer. He still has that ONE wall to break thru. I'm sure he would hate to slip u, right on the brink of HUGE success. The problem with this is that, Cotto is that wall. He needs Cotto. I do think this rematch does ONE thing. It allows Cotto to fight once in twice in between and get even MORE popular if he can keep winning. If he gets passed Gomez, and then Margarito, beating two solid Mexican fighters, he has a lot more fans. Puerto Rican AND Mexican. Fans in general. If Mayweather beats De La Hoya, in a BIT more entertaining fashion, the fight with him and Cotto sells VERY well at that point. The question is, will Mayweather take it THEN. He claims that Cotto isn't big enough, which may be technically true, but this could still make HIM bigger, and he fails to see that.
Significance: Much like the Hatton/Witter situation, it pits the TRUE champion of the division against his number one contender. Both fighters undefeated and in the primes, holding titles in the 147 category. In all realistic views, this fight can be HUGE in 2009. No reason for it not to have been signed in 2008, though.
3. Manny Pacquiao/Bob Arum d/ Joan Guzman
Reasons For Duckage: I wont shoulder this one on Manny entirely. Although, as the man (basically) at 130 pounds, he should be facing the toughest challenges. The problem is REALLY Arum. he's a stronghold on the 3 most exciting fighters in the game right now. One is Pavlik, the other is Cotto and the last one is "Pacman." He doesn't want to lose a peice of his triangle offense, so to speak. Although, I doubt a loss would really damage Pacquaio's image, especially the way it would come IF Guzman beat him, which I think would be by decision, if at all. The problem is that, IF Joan is at his best, he COULD, REALLY expose Manny. He's that good at his best. I can see why Arum wouldn't be SO fast to sign the fight.
Significance: With no TRUE champion at the weight, the default "people's champ" title, goes to Manny. He's fighting his mandatory, and it will crown the champ, when he faces Juan Manuel Marquez. If Pacquiao is to win, his true challenger would be Guzman. The way it looks though, that PROBABLY wont happen.
4. Kermit Cintron d/ Paul Williams
Reasons For Duckage: Now, the duckage might not look as bad. Cintron, however, did seem a little to comfortable with getting out of his deal with Williams. Whats worse is that he then immediately went on to sign for a fight with the guy who LOST to Williams. He claimed it was an injury to his hand, but even Calzaghe, with all his injuries, would generally POSTPONE his fights. Not call them off altogether. Now that Williams has lost to Quintana, Cintron and his supporters may claim that with Manny, he could have had the movement and power to help him beat a limited fighter like Williams. I may agree. What I don't agree with is, talking a big game, and not trying to prove it.
Significance: It was a nice fight for a couple of welterweight titles. The winner got a step closer to unifying the division scraps and would have became the number three guy in the 147 pound class. Now, we get the Margarito-Cintron rematch, and Williams has to rebound, most likely at 154.
5. Gerry Penalso/Daniel Ponce De Leon, Ducking eachother.
Reasons For Duckage: For De Leon, I think he's trying to be a bit careful. He won a CLOSE/CONTROVERSIAL decision in their first go-around. Then, he goes on to blow out a prospect and struggle against a limited opponent in his most recent fight. Could be a sign that he's fading. Even if that's only PARTIALLY true, that isn't a good sig against a slick boxer like Penalosa. However, he was willing to take the fight for the right amount of money. Penalosa is an aging champion, and a lot of his legacy rides on his last big fight. He's coming off a big win, and it'd be a shame for him to lose his very next big fight. He has A LOT to lose in defeat, and he's also the smaller guy in this one. However, he gets the "duck" tag, due to the fact that he was all for the fight a year or so ago, and has yet to real step up and force the fight to happen.
Significance: Not much, for the sport overall, but to the two guys involved, it could answer a lot of questions and would help them cement a certain part of their careers. It's also a nice classic matchup of the classic puncher version the slick boxer.
These are just my opinions, remember. I'm not calling ANY of these guys cowards or *******. They have their reasons, and I can even see the point to a lot of them. I'm just stating that I wish these fights would happen, and one of the guys involved (or both) are stopping it from happening. Not politics, and I hope that they get made. Thoughts? Other 'ducks' you see that should have made the list? Post it up....
1. Ricky Hatton d/ Junior Witter
Reasons For Duckage: Ricky seems to be fishing for reasons to duck Witter. First, he used the idea that he WANTED the fight, and ordered Warren to make the fight happen. It somehow never got made and they didn't fight for a while. That's reasonable. What isn't reasonable is NOW claiming that he has TWO reasons NOT to fight Junior. His first reason being that he doesn't think that enough peole in America care about Witter. Hsi second reason being that he doesn't want to help a person who has been 'slagging' on him for so long. No reward for bad behavior, I guess. Problems with the arguments are; He says the viable comment, right around the same time he mentions his next opponents. Two of the frontrunners being the megastars Juan Lazcano and Kendall Holt. Decent fighters, but not on the level of Witter, in my opinion. Furthermore, it'd be a HUGE fight in the U.K. The problem with his second excuse is that he had a slight case of the same thing with Mayweather. But even if you take that part out... Wouldn't you WANT to fight the guy who talks that much ****, just as a man?
Significance: It would pit the TRUE world junior-welterweight against the number one contender. Both hold belts, so it could clean up a bit of the mess. Also, it sells the most, if done the right way. It's a fight that should happen, for the sake of the 140 pound division.
2. Floyd Mayweather d/ Miguel Cotto
Reasons For Duckage: Mayweather only wants big money fights. Hence the reason he's going forward with this dumbass rematch with De La Hoya. He isn't QUITE there, in terms of selling his brand, with some no-namer. He still has that ONE wall to break thru. I'm sure he would hate to slip u, right on the brink of HUGE success. The problem with this is that, Cotto is that wall. He needs Cotto. I do think this rematch does ONE thing. It allows Cotto to fight once in twice in between and get even MORE popular if he can keep winning. If he gets passed Gomez, and then Margarito, beating two solid Mexican fighters, he has a lot more fans. Puerto Rican AND Mexican. Fans in general. If Mayweather beats De La Hoya, in a BIT more entertaining fashion, the fight with him and Cotto sells VERY well at that point. The question is, will Mayweather take it THEN. He claims that Cotto isn't big enough, which may be technically true, but this could still make HIM bigger, and he fails to see that.
Significance: Much like the Hatton/Witter situation, it pits the TRUE champion of the division against his number one contender. Both fighters undefeated and in the primes, holding titles in the 147 category. In all realistic views, this fight can be HUGE in 2009. No reason for it not to have been signed in 2008, though.
3. Manny Pacquiao/Bob Arum d/ Joan Guzman
Reasons For Duckage: I wont shoulder this one on Manny entirely. Although, as the man (basically) at 130 pounds, he should be facing the toughest challenges. The problem is REALLY Arum. he's a stronghold on the 3 most exciting fighters in the game right now. One is Pavlik, the other is Cotto and the last one is "Pacman." He doesn't want to lose a peice of his triangle offense, so to speak. Although, I doubt a loss would really damage Pacquaio's image, especially the way it would come IF Guzman beat him, which I think would be by decision, if at all. The problem is that, IF Joan is at his best, he COULD, REALLY expose Manny. He's that good at his best. I can see why Arum wouldn't be SO fast to sign the fight.
Significance: With no TRUE champion at the weight, the default "people's champ" title, goes to Manny. He's fighting his mandatory, and it will crown the champ, when he faces Juan Manuel Marquez. If Pacquiao is to win, his true challenger would be Guzman. The way it looks though, that PROBABLY wont happen.
4. Kermit Cintron d/ Paul Williams
Reasons For Duckage: Now, the duckage might not look as bad. Cintron, however, did seem a little to comfortable with getting out of his deal with Williams. Whats worse is that he then immediately went on to sign for a fight with the guy who LOST to Williams. He claimed it was an injury to his hand, but even Calzaghe, with all his injuries, would generally POSTPONE his fights. Not call them off altogether. Now that Williams has lost to Quintana, Cintron and his supporters may claim that with Manny, he could have had the movement and power to help him beat a limited fighter like Williams. I may agree. What I don't agree with is, talking a big game, and not trying to prove it.
Significance: It was a nice fight for a couple of welterweight titles. The winner got a step closer to unifying the division scraps and would have became the number three guy in the 147 pound class. Now, we get the Margarito-Cintron rematch, and Williams has to rebound, most likely at 154.
5. Gerry Penalso/Daniel Ponce De Leon, Ducking eachother.
Reasons For Duckage: For De Leon, I think he's trying to be a bit careful. He won a CLOSE/CONTROVERSIAL decision in their first go-around. Then, he goes on to blow out a prospect and struggle against a limited opponent in his most recent fight. Could be a sign that he's fading. Even if that's only PARTIALLY true, that isn't a good sig against a slick boxer like Penalosa. However, he was willing to take the fight for the right amount of money. Penalosa is an aging champion, and a lot of his legacy rides on his last big fight. He's coming off a big win, and it'd be a shame for him to lose his very next big fight. He has A LOT to lose in defeat, and he's also the smaller guy in this one. However, he gets the "duck" tag, due to the fact that he was all for the fight a year or so ago, and has yet to real step up and force the fight to happen.
Significance: Not much, for the sport overall, but to the two guys involved, it could answer a lot of questions and would help them cement a certain part of their careers. It's also a nice classic matchup of the classic puncher version the slick boxer.
These are just my opinions, remember. I'm not calling ANY of these guys cowards or *******. They have their reasons, and I can even see the point to a lot of them. I'm just stating that I wish these fights would happen, and one of the guys involved (or both) are stopping it from happening. Not politics, and I hope that they get made. Thoughts? Other 'ducks' you see that should have made the list? Post it up....
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