In Defense of Joan Guzman....

[NYU Alum.]

I see everybody pretty much crapping on Joan Guzman, and acting like he is not a good fighter and has never been a good fighter.

Calm down, gentlemen.!!

I would like to offer an objective defense/explanation for Joan Guzman. It was NOT a good performance, and I'm not saying it was. But the poor showing was a combination of several things:

1) Funeka is a nightmare for anyone. When Campbell was asked on a radio interview who hit him the hardest, he said it was Ali Funeka. That dude is like a cross between Diego Corrales and paul Williams. He is Diego with a good chin. A 6'1" lightweight who can throw short punches and has a high activity rate. Funeka was 152 in the ring last night. Ali Funeka ended the career of Zahir Raheem. The same Zahir Raheem who schooled Erik Morales.

2) Guzman fought a completely different fight than he is used to. He is trying to incorporate a new (fan-friendly) style....and that style may not be good for him. That is the first time I have watched a Gooz fight where he wasn't elusive at all. Gooz is best when he is moving and slick and confident.

3) There was a CLEAR headbutt last night. That rattled him a bit. He started bleeding last night and, all things considered, Joan showed toughness. But alot of guys struggle when faced with bad cuts. Right, Miguel? Right, BabyBull?

4) Gooz had been inactive. He had not faced elite competition for a long time. His mother had passed away, and he had family troubles. With that, he was professional last night, he made weight, he came to fight, and he was game.

5) The decision was bad. I had Funeka winning 7-5 or 8-4. But it was not the 10-2 robbery that many people are making it out to be.

7) Guys come back. I remember when Casamayor was killed by online posters for a bad showing against Santa Cruz. His career was being crapped on. In his next fight? Joel knocked out rising star Michael Katsidis. Calm down , guys. Perspective.

8) Guzman beat Barrios and Soto and moved up from 122 to 135 in three years. Roach and Arum were in no hurry to put Pacquiao in with him. There's a reason for that.

Thanks for listening.

You're generally a good poster but #8 lmao.

Your reasons are crap!! When Joan signed the contract he knew what was in front of him, a 6 footer that could punch, he had weeks to prepare for Funeka's size & style. The first two rounds is how you fight a tall opponent, I have no f**kin' clue what happened after that!!

Guzman is from the Mayweather school of potshotters, well, against a giant, pot-shottin' doesn't come that easy. You simply have to chop the taller man down like a tree, that's all there is to it!! If you keep a close distance against a taller man, he is basically ineffective, you've taken out his biggest asset, his reach and power!!

[Bushbaby]

You got the same view as Lou DiBella. I don't know if Golden Boy will put Joan back in with Funeka. But you can count on seeing both guys back on HBO.

Funeka got a draw and not a win. Sucks, yes. But not the end of the world on his record, or for his career. It's more important for a guy like Funeka to keep getting HBO dates than it is to get "a win" on his record.

Respectfully disagree,people already criticize the sport!!There is no need for blatant robberies like that to further soil boxing's reputation!!Forget Funeka's hbo dates,Showtime should step up & take all of hbo's blunders & exploit there bias bull****!!

[GG Marquez]

Respectfully disagree,people already criticize the sport!!There is no need for blatant robberies like that to further soil boxing's reputation!!Forget Funeka's hbo dates,Showtime should step up & take all of hbo's blunders & exploit there bias bull****!!

If yu are saying that, then you are not truly a fighter advocate.

Because the judges made crappy decisions, you want the fighters to go fight on Showtime for far lower purses? How does that benefitthe fighter?

Unless you believe that HBO (a public company) was somehow complicit in paying off some judges beforehand.

[GG Marquez]

You're generally a good poster but #8 lmao.

I'm not surprised that you only focused on #8.

[NYU Alum.]

I'm not surprised that you only focused on #8.

I'm not surprised that you only focused on that one sentence, when I posted several reasons as to why Joan looked like crap.

[Bushbaby]

If yu are saying that, then you are not truly a fighter advocate.

Because the judges made crappy decisions, you want the fighters to go fight on Showtime for far lower purses? How does that benefitthe fighter?

Unless you believe that HBO (a public company) was somehow complicit in paying off some judges beforehand.

I'm a fight fan,I want to see the best possible fights,but I want to see fair decisions too!!Hbo has more than a little questionable decisions under their belt of late,more ppv's,more pampering & padding of stars,that isn't good for the sport!!

[GG Marquez]

I'm a fight fan,I want to see the best possible fights,but I want to see fair decisions too!!Hbo has more than a little questionable decisions under their belt of late,more ppv's,more pampering & padding of stars,that isn't good for the sport!!

I'm not an HBO Apologist. I want to see fair decisions, and I had Funeka winning. But the reality is that HBO is basically the chief benefactor for the sport. Love them or hate them.

I doon't understand why HBO gets criticism for bad judging that happens on their network. The commentators called it as they saw it. Instead, we should acknowledge that so many of the meaningful fights are on HBO.

BTW, I think HBO only had three PPV's this year. 2 with Pac and 1 with PBF. That seems reasonable to me.

Do you think that 1) Golden Boy paid off judges last night, and 2) HBO WAS COMPLICIT IN THE FRAUD?

[Scott9945]

yeah it was as bad for funeka because even a draw was a horrible dec he clearly won the fight on points and clearly won the fight physically its not like he outboxed guzman and was beaten up and desreved the dec he took it to guzman and gave him a beating. this fight in my opinion was a worse dec then diaz vs malignaggi which was also bad but not as bad as this one. hbo is a company thats first priority is to make money and maidana right now is still an unknown who will take some time to build up ortiz is with golden boy and hbo is hoping he can bounce back and be one of their young stars

Supposedly Maidana is getting an HBO main event spot next year against Devon Alexander. They're smart enough to realize that Maidana's style almost guarantees an exciting fight.

[GG Marquez]

Supposedly Maidana is getting an HBO main event spot next year against Devon Alexander. They're smart enough to realize that Maidana's style almost guarantees and exciting fight.

That's in the JWW tourney, right?

Because HBO has an Ortiz fight coming up, and Chino fought here:

[GTL]

I havent been on the forums to see all the bad **** about him, but i do know he was tapping that ass for the first 2-3 rounds.. once he got the bloody nose it ruined him. i stopped watching after the 8th round.. but funeka was gettin to him.. **** sucks..

guzman has the potential to be p4p but wont ever make it because hes too lazy in between fights.. look at that body, it was soo soft, wasnt even cut up.. too many carbs and not enough lean meats..

he looked like **** last night.. he needs some nutrition help