Comments Thread For: Rodriguez-Takayama: An Unforgivable BWAA Oversight

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Jake Donovan - Looking back at 2014, chances are that most casual boxing fans – which ranges from everyone just below the hardcore level to those who tune in for the occasional big fight – will remember August 9 as the night the bottom nearly fell out from the sport.

It was the night that Golden Boy Promotions, Al Haymon and Showtime joined forces to present a card littered with gross mismatches. The show took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, headlined by Danny Garcia’s two-round wipeout of Rod Salka, a fringe 130 lb. contender who’d moved up more than two weight classes for what became a meaningless non-title fight at a 142 lb. catchweight.

As the voting results come in for the 2014 Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) awards, it seems that show caught the voting member panel’s attention more so than any other boxing action to have taken place on the evening of August 9.

It’s the only way to explain how the BWAA completely blew it when it came to honoring the 2014 Fight of the Year.

The oversight would be somewhat more forgivable if the strawweight unification bout between Francisco Rodriguez Jr. and Katsunari Takayama didn’t benefit from stateside coverage. It would be forgivable if the bout wasn’t at all replayed, or if a full viewing wasn’t available anywhere online. [Click Here To Read More]

[Build That Wall]

Rob Salsa vs Monte Meza Clay was fight of the year imo

[JakeNDaBox]

Rob Salsa vs Monte Meza Clay was fight of the year imo

I'd believe you more if you at least got both fighters' names right. =)

It was a great fight. So too was Meza-Clay's previous war with Alan Herrera. Hell of an action year he had, even if only going 1-1 in the pair of fights.

[jas]

Most boxing writers don't know **** about boxing

[Build That Wall]

I'd believe you more if you at least got both fighters' names right. =)

It was a great fight. So too was Meza-Clay's previous war with Alan Herrera. Hell of an action year he had, even if only going 1-1 in the pair of fights.

I know the name is Rod Salka, and I believe I forgot to put the hyphen in between Meza and Clay. But lots of People on this Site call him Rob Salsa or Rod Salsa, etc.

[Aztekkas]

I'm glad that the smaller divisions are beginning to get the recognition they truly deserve. Partly because of the internet making them available for everyone but more so because of the talent these young men are bringing to the table.

Japan, Thailand, Mexico, Nicaragua and Las Filipinas are always producing great talent that was often overlooked due to the limited exposure the fights had state side. That problem has seized to exist and thanks to channels like BeIN sports that transmit fights from all over the world(Akira Yaegashi vs Roman Gonzalez/ Roman Gonzalez vs Rocky Fuentes/ Juan Francisco Rodriguez Jr vs Fajardo, etc..) and HBO/TR tapping into the Asian market, I could see the sport growing in unexpected ways.

Although many "hardcore fans" claim to love the sport, they ignore anything below 135 unless the fighter is named Rigo(bunch of hipsters). Aside from that they would have to dig up Boxrec in order to compile a half decent looking list of names that they have no idea who they are aside from the data they copy pasted.

That's another issue, the fact that the American public refuses to give credit to any fight outside of US soil and tend to neglect the smaller weight divisions. They claim to be boxing aficionados but refuse to watch or even give credit to a grueling war the likes of Takayama vs Rodriguez Jr all because it's 1) Foreign and 2)Minimum weight.

Meh, those days will be long gone in a few more years at this pace. As long as the little giants keep producing great fights and their respective countries continue to produce quality fighters the likes of Juan Francisco Estrada, Roman Gonzalez, Naoya Inoue, Etc... They can't and wont go on ignored for much longer.

[Build That Wall]

I'm glad that the smaller divisions are beginning to get the recognition they truly deserve. Partly because of the internet making them available for everyone but more so because of the talent these young men are bringing to the table.

Japan, Thailand, Mexico, Nicaragua and Las Filipinas are always producing great talent that was often overlooked due to the limited exposure the fights had state side. That problem has seized to exist and thanks to channels like BeIN sports that transmit fights from all over the world(Akira Yaegashi vs Roman Gonzalez/ Roman Gonzalez vs Rocky Fuentes/ Juan Francisco Rodriguez Jr vs Fajardo, etc..) and HBO/TR tapping into the Asian market, I could see the sport growing in unexpected ways.

Although many "hardcore fans" claim to love the sport, they ignore anything below 135 unless the fighter is named Rigo(bunch of hipsters). Aside from that they would have to dig up Boxrec in order to compile a half decent looking list of names that they have no idea who they are aside from the data they copy pasted.

That's another issue, the fact that the American public refuses to give credit to any fight outside of US soil and tend to neglect the smaller weight divisions. They claim to be boxing aficionados but refuse to watch or even give credit to a grueling war the likes of Takayama vs Rodriguez Jr all because it's 1) Foreign and 2)Minimum weight.

Meh, those days will be long gone in a few more years at this pace. As long as the little giants keep producing great fights and their respective continues to produce quality fighters the likes of Juan Francisco Estrada, Roman Gonzalez, Naoya Inoue, Etc... They can't and wont go on ignored for much longer.

Naoya Inoue will be on the Ring P4P List soon. BOOK IT.

[Aztekkas]

I know the name is Rod Salka, and I believe I forgot to put the hyphen in between Meza and Clay. But lots of People on this Site call him Rob Salsa or Rod Salsa, etc.

Salka vs Clay was a great fight but it pales in comparison to Takayama vs Rodriguez Jr in countless aspects.

For one Takayama vs Rodriguez Jr was a unification bout and both fighters were coming in hot. Rodriguez Jr was coming in the fresh new champion after a career defining victory over a gritty and undefeated(at the time) champion in Merlito Sabillo. Takayama was riding a 3 fight win streak and dared to be great by traveling to Mexico and attempting to unify against the much younger, stronger man in Chihuas.

Aside from those facts the level at which they fought was head and shoulders above Salka vs Clay. Neither Salka nor Clay have achieved any accolades in the sport to rank them highly.. and a unification between two world champions overshadow a fight with the WBC Fecarbox lightweight title at stake lol.

Again, Salka vs Meza was a fun fight but there's no argument of which bout was the better between the two.

[JakeNDaBox]

I know the name is Rod Salka, and I believe I forgot to put the hyphen in between Meza and Clay. But lots of People on this Site call him Rob Salsa or Rod Salsa, etc.

Ha, I give you full credit for Meza Clay/Meza-Clay, hyphen or otherwise. I was just having fun with you on the Rob Salsa part, and like I said it was a hell of a fight.

[Build That Wall]

Salka vs Clay was a great fight but it pales in comparison to Takayama vs Rodriguez Jr in countless aspects.

For one Takayama vs Rodriguez Jr was a unification bout and both fighters were coming in hot. Rodriguez Jr was coming in the fresh new champion after a career defining victory over a gritty and undefeated(at the time) champion in Merlito Sabillo. Takayama was riding a 3 fight win streak and dared to be great by traveling to Mexico and attempting to unify against the much younger, stronger man in Chihuas.

Aside from those facts the level at which they fought was head and shoulders above Salka vs Clay. Neither Salka nor Clay have achieved any accolades in the sport to rank them highly.. and a unification between two world champions overshadow a fight with the WBC Fecarbox lightweight title at stake lol.

Again, Salka vs Meza was a fun fight but there's no argument of which bout was the better between the two.

How dare you disrespect the mighty Rob Salsa like that. LOL