I hear it’s NFL playoff season.
But being a diehard New York Jets fan in January is typically about as worthwhile as scouting out ocean-front property in North Dakota.
Which means, in lieu of spending my time this past weekend hanging on six games’ worth of punts, passes, and kicks, I flitted through the channels and filled up my notebook.
So, in the spirit of Peter King – or whomever most resembles Peter King in football circles these days – here are a dozen things that I think, I think.
12. Efe Ajagba is a good-looking fighter. He’s tall, strong and fights well in an offensive posture behind an accurate jab and a difference-making right hand. He took Stephan Shaw’s unbeaten record with a methodical performance that was barely beyond the fundamental level but was nevertheless effective enough to dissuade his foe from consistently opening up with his own arsenal.
11. But it’s hard to envision him climbing much higher. He’s already been dropped and beaten via one-sided decision by Frank Sanchez. And, as ESPN’s burgeoning crew of Hall of Famers – Andre Ward and Tim Bradley – can attest, he didn’t look particularly good going backward. Though he’s been competitively connected to guys like Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce, my advice would be to stay away.
10. Jonnie Rice is on a good roll. The 35-year-old South Carolina native dropped his own decision to Ajagba about two-and-a-half years ago, but he turned things around with consecutive defeats of previously unbeaten behemoth Michael Coffie. And though win No. 3 might not have come had it not been for the faulty skin over Guido Vianello’s left eye, it was nice to see the right guy win.
9. Boxing got a lucky break in Verona. Referee Benjy Esteves is an undisputed champion of those who follow the sport for a living. Good guy. Good at his job. But he was dead wrong when he suggested Vianello’s cut had been caused by a butt. No butt had occurred, but Vianello would have escaped on the scorecards had it not been for an available replay and a winning commissioner.
8. It shouldn’t have had to come to that. Good thing for Rice the fight was occurring on an ESPN broadcast, a ringside replay was readily available, and the ranking official was OK with allowing it to be used in spite of it not being part of the state commission’s rule book. Which begs the question: Why is replay not used in every state? Why would boxing not rely on every available technology?
7. It is the 21st century, correct? Football uses replays. Hockey uses replays. Baseball uses replays. The UFC uses replays. And even though there’s an occasional delay that leaves fans impatiently scrolling through Instagram feeds while waiting for resumption, it almost always leads to getting calls right. Kinda sad, isn’t it, that our sport has to celebrate simply when it gets a call correct?
6. Speaking of the UFC, its loss may be boxing’s gain. The prolonged rift between Dana White and Francis Ngannou finally led to divorce and White went public Saturday night with news that his heavyweight champion had been released. BKFC has already expressed an interest in the “Predator’s” services and it probably won’t be long before the PFL throws its hat in the ring as well.
5. It’s unlikely that Ngannou will win a boxing title. Though he’d probably be picked off technique-wise by even the fringiest of today’s heavyweight contenders in the ring, the 6-foot-4, 258-pounder is a genuine monster when it comes to brutality. A long-discussed showdown with Tyson Fury wouldn’t be a particularly good idea in terms of results, but it’s a guarantee it’d sell a ton at $79.99 a pop.
4. Talking about big fights is getting really old. Though some hold their noses at the idea of Fury-Ngannou or the likes of Jake Paul, they’re a welcome diversion these days to the steady stream of events whose imminent deals are sourced with capital letters before they vanish in a cloud of vitriol. Crawford-Spence already seems a distant memory and others may be headed there, too.
3. Tank-Garcia looks like it’s on the ropes. Speaking of going public, Oscar De La Hoya did so on social media and claimed Monday represented a hard deadline before he “moved on” to other things with Ryan Garcia. The unbeaten “King Ry” has plenty of other options and wannabe suitors in Tank’s wake but wouldn’t be nice if a fight that’s loudly promised actually gets made one of these days?
2. Toward that end, there’s a few I’d really like. If 2023 is a year where at least something worthwhile happens in the ring, mark me down as one who’d put Fury-Usyk at the top of the wish list. A legit heavyweight champ would be a great present for all of us, followed perhaps by Bivol-Beterbiev at 175 and even Inoue-Fulton at 122. The last one’s a reach, but if it happens, it says here Fulton wins.
1. It’s midday Monday as I write this. And the ESPN app tells me there’s another football game tonight. So while watching Cowboys-Bucs is roughly equal to choosing between a migraine and hemorrhoids, I’ll spin it forward and let you all know it’s the San Francisco 49ers who’ll win the Super Bowl next month. And speaking of the Niners, look for the Jets to overpay Jimmy Garoppolo as their savior for 2024.
Happy Tuesday.
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This week’s title-fight schedule:
No title fights scheduled.
Last week's picks: None
2023 picks record: 0-1 (0.0 percent)
2022 picks record: 41-16 (71.9 percent)
Overall picks record: 1,250-409 (75.3 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.
