Cut To The Chase Before The Cut Chases You Away

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Jake Donovan - It always begins as a harmless tune-up, a little something to shake off the ring rust in preparation of a guaranteed fight in the near future.

More often than not, the opponent is hand-picked. He’s well-scouted, which is to say he almost never poses a threat to win a round, much less the fight, nor does he boast punching power of any kind.

Former three-division titlist Marco Antonio Barrera was looking at that scenario heading into his fight this past Saturday. Hanging in the balance was a March showdown with 2004 Olympic Silver medalist Amir Khan, but he was already committed to a January 31 bout with John Nolasco in Mexico. [details]

[Puntoyhauf]

I just hope Barrera-Khan happens, I dont care if I had to wait till April.

(and sir did you mean "Prescott" by saying "Breidis Prospet"?

[JakeNDaBox]

It's not only what I meant, but what I actually typed before spellcheck changed it! thanks.

[myau1]

I would rather see boxers stay active and take risks, rather than sitting out for more than 3 or 4 months at the most. I really love boxing but I've watched it become more about money than it is about the love of fighting. Boxing should be about risks and the possibility that the unexpected can happen! Haye's fighting Wladimir in June...why aren't both guys fighting once before then? My personal opinion is that it's weak, especially for Haye who, come June, will have fought only twice in about 15 months...that sucks! Take a risk, get people excited!

[FLY TY]

I would rather see boxers stay active and take risks, rather than sitting out for more than 3 or 4 months at the most. I really love boxing but I've watched it become more about money than it is about the love of fighting. Boxing should be about risks and the possibility that the unexpected can happen! Haye's fighting Wladimir in June...why aren't both guys fighting once before then? My personal opinion is that it's weak, especially for Haye who, come June, will have fought only twice in about 15 months...that sucks! Take a risk, get people excited!

preachin to the choir....

personally, rather than just staying active, i'd rather see "the best fight the best" more.......

we had margarito-mosley in january, now we gotta wait till the end of may for the next great fight. that's why the american public as a whole seems to have forgotten about the sport.

like you said, money seems to have taken over, and that's why we don't get the fights we want very much. contract desputes, networks not willing to fork over cash, boxers pricing themselves outta fights.........

what happened to wanting to PROVE you're the best? IMO, you do that, the money and evrything else you want, will come w/ it.

i dont think boxing will ever "die out." but its obvious other forms of "sports entertainment" like the UFC will continue to get more popular, and push boxing further and further away.....

i for one, am not a fan of UFC and MMA, but judging by the number of ppl that show up to watch that **** on the same nights boxing has big fights, i can only assume UFC and MMA fighters care not only about money, but at the same time take pride in giving the public action they wanna see.

[JakeNDaBox]

I would rather see boxers stay active and take risks, rather than sitting out for more than 3 or 4 months at the most. I really love boxing but I've watched it become more about money than it is about the love of fighting. Boxing should be about risks and the possibility that the unexpected can happen! Haye's fighting Wladimir in June...why aren't both guys fighting once before then? My personal opinion is that it's weak, especially for Haye who, come June, will have fought only twice in about 15 months...that sucks! Take a risk, get people excited!

I don't disagree with this, but Barrera going through with a fight against a last minute opponent with a 1-7 record isn't a risk by design. Nor was the fight entirely necessary, since he just fought two months ago.

Had he come out of retirement to fight Khan, sure I could see the need for a tune-up - not unlike Zab coming off of suspension and fighting Galvan less than two months before the Cotto fight. Even though the fight literally lasted only a minute, Zab at least didn't go into the Cotto fight completely cold.

To me, a risk is - Kelly Pavlik and Edison Miranda both fighting early in the year, then fighting each other for the right to challenge for the middleweight title. Both could've sat on their rankings and fought soft opposition until their shot came (ironically enough, the course taken by the man they were pursuing, Jermain Taylor on his own crawl toward the title). Instead, they fought each other, realizing a loss would push them a little further down the queue.

That's not what took place on Saturday. Barrera thought he had a soft touch in Nolasco; his handlers thought he had an even softer touch in the replacement opponent. Now the payday against Khan is at risk, or at least could be delayed.

And that would be the other point - it's Amir Khan. It's a fight that leads to another big fight for the winner, not the be-all, end-all of wins for either fighter.