Khan-Garcia Aftermath

Danny Garcia pulled one of the upsets of the year last night, knocking out Amir "King" Khan in the fourth round of their 140 lb title unification.

Khan out-boxed Garcia in the first two rounds, proving faster and more active.  Though  impressive, some ring-siders prophetically noted that he was a little too aggressive.  In round 3, Khan's aggression played into Garcia's hands as Garcia landed a left hand counter bomb that sent Khan to the canvas.  Though Khan got up from the punch, he never fully recovered, and referee Kenny Bayless stopped the contest toward the end of round 4.

Whoa.

In one fell swoop, the undefeated Danny Garcia has become the face of the division and Amir Khan is looking at back-to-back losses.  So what's next for both?

For Garcia, any fight in the division makes sense for him.  The public has just become aware of him, and all he needs is activity, to gain more familiarity.  People will watch.  In my opinion, some compelling matches might be against Marcos Maidana and Juan Manuel Marquez.

Khan needs to clear his head and pick smart fights to get himself back into contention.  A lot of people are going to give up on him after this loss, so he has to start afresh.  After a good break, he should fight frequently—once a month—taking out lesser contenders to regain his own confidence.  After that, it may be appropriate to consider rematches against Marcos Maidana and Lamont Peterson.  Then Danny Garcia.

What we witnessed this weekend was a fine example of one of the most intriguing aspects of the sport: the fact that one punch can change everything.  Of late, we've seen fights where the ultimate winner—or ultimate deserving winner—appeared as such throughout the fight.  Those can be fun, but in my opinion nothing is as special as boxing's theater of the unexpected.  Not as pertains to unexpected decisions—those are pesky.  I'm talking about unexpected, sudden, violent shifts in momentum during the action of a bout.

In this particular case, the violent shift, a counter left hook, not only changed the tide of the fight; it changed the whole landscape of the division.  A little known fighter before the fight is now one of the top guys at 140 pounds.  A potential Mayweather opponent before the fight is facing a blow to his career from which he may never recover.  This is boxing, ladies and gentlemen.

-JD

Ortiz vs. Lopez Aftermath: What Now?

Last Saturday night, in the wake of Manny Pacquiao's controversial loss, another big boxing upset occurred, this time without controversy.  Welterweight contender Victor Ortiz lost by way of TKO to the little known Josesito Lopez.  Ortiz quit on the stool before round 10, complaining of a broken jaw.

The fight was great; we saw back and forth action every round.  The upset was reminiscent of Victor Ortiz's own upset victory against Andre Berto a year and change ago.  Coincidentally, Lopez was a last minute replacement for Berto in this fight, after Berto got caught with banned substances in his blood.  More on that in a later post.

Ortiz's loss has many possible implications.  Firstly, the proposed showdown against Mexican star Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in September is off.  Secondly, Ortiz may have permanently removed himself from the top list of Welterweight contenders.  Needless to say, his desired rematch against Floyd Mayweather will almost surely never happen.

It should be interesting to see what happens to the players involved in the coming months.

Here are some highlights from the Showtime card.

-JD

Pacquiao-Bradley Aftermath: JD's Case For Bradley

The sports world was rocked last Saturday night after Michael Buffer's "and new" announcement in Vegas.  Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley beat Manny Pacquiao by split decision.

Classic Boxing: George Foreman vs. Joe Frazier

"Down Goes Frazier!"

Joe Frazier was the heavyweight champion.  An agile in-fighter, he was one of the scariest boxers of all time.  His dreadful left hook put Muhammad Ali flat on his back in their fight together (the famous graphic of which appears in the background of your screen right now), earning him a unanimous decision win against the previously undefeated legend.  His power was frightening, his movement deceiving, his determination undying.  He was undefeated and meant business.

Joe Frazier

George Foreman was a knockout machine.  Don't be fooled by the pleasant and jovial George Foreman you see on the ads for his grill--he had a harsh demeanor back in the day with a real chip on his shoulder.  He went about his fights with a one dimensional but sure-fire routine: just slug and slug and slug.  Doing this he racked up a record of 37-0, most fights of which ended in quick knockout fashion, and was named the number one contender for both belts (only WBA and WBC at the time).  This fight would gauge the legitimacy of Big George Foreman.

George Foreman ca. present

Big George Foreman

The two would meet up on January 22, 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica, in a fight billed The Sunshine Showdown.  The fight was HBO's first ever boxing broadcast, with the familiar sports personality Howard Cosell commentating.  Big George was the underdog.  Most were unsure that his chin could sustain the hard blows from Frazier, or that he could land significant shots against the busy Philly fighter.  Foreman himself claims that his mother refused to ever watch him box, citing Joe Frazier as her main source of fear.  Frazier was just too good.

Indeed, the fight was a blowout, but not in the way most expected.  Foreman punished Frazier for 2 brutal rounds.  Frazier landed a signature left hook early in the first round, and Foreman reacted as if nothing happened.  Ultimately, Foreman's poise during that sequence would tell the tale.  In a famous scene, Foreman then proceeded to knock Frazier down.

Smokin' Joe got back up and fought, only to get knocked down twice more in the first round and then three times in the second round before referee Arthur Mercante stopped the fight.  From then on Foreman was considered a monster, and Smokin' Joe beatable.

Foreman would go on pulverizing opponents left and right until the famous Rumble In The Jungle, in which Muhammad Ali just as shockingly knocked Foreman out.  Joe Frazier had two more fights with Ali, and wound up losing both.  Frazier and Foreman would then meet up for a second time in 1976.  The fight was fairly even for the first few rounds, before Foreman knocked Frazier out again in the fifth.

Frazier-Foreman I was one of the most surprising mismatches in the history of prizefighting.  The famous call by Howard Cosell speaks for itself.

-JD

Berto vs. Ortiz Reflections

I wanted to first acknowledge that my predictions have been awful since I began this dang blog.  Maidana took the decision over Morales; Guerrera decisively won against Katsidis; Khan's evening ended after 6 rounds; and Victor Ortiz, new Welterweight champion, beat up Andre Berto in a big upset.  Hopefully my predictions get better so you readers can trust my word a little more.

But never mind that; let's talk about Berto-Ortiz.  What a fight.  Ortiz shows up "possessed," as Jim Lampley and Larry merchant both mention.  Berto gets stunned in the first round by Ortiz's power and hits the canvas twice.  Still wobbly in the second round, he sends Ortiz off balance and scores a knockdown (I did predict that both would get knocked down!).  Ortiz makes his way back ahead in the next few rounds, landing serious bombs as he pins Berto against the ropes.  Round 6 sees a somewhat recomposed Andre Berto scoring significantly against Ortiz, dropping him within the last minute of the round.  Ortiz gets up, and, facing a storm of power shots as Berto tries to end the fight, lands a hook that in turn reacquaints Berto with the canvas.  He lost that round, but in that turn of events he won the fight.  For the rest of the fight Berto tries tying up with Ortiz to avoid taking anymore big shots, but as a result loses many of those later rounds.  Ortiz takes the unanimous decision win.

Ortiz's win was all the more impressive being that he was up against both Andre Berto and all the naysayers.  His move up to welterweight seemed like a complete whim, and very few understood why he would do that.  But he was sure that the move was right for him, and he succeeded--he out-worked and out-matched his opponent, left it all in the ring, and proved us wrong.  That never should have happened.

Boxing fans have every reason to be stoked about this.  We now have some serious commotion in the welterweight division.  Victor Ortiz is all of a sudden one of the belt-holders in the division (let alone a member of the division), and Berto is still a dangerous contender in the division (and he's been claiming that the guy who fought Ortiz last night was not him).  There will probably be a rematch, meaning these two alone already guarantee more drama to come.  And don't forget about the other welterweights, a couple of whom also took note of last night's showing.  None-Other-Than Floyd Mayweather was in the crowd watching that fight, laughing off the boos he received when he showed up on the big screen.  And after the fight Ortiz received a congratulatory phone call from None-Other-Than Manny Pacquiao.

Might we have the next Leonard-Hearns-Hagler-Duran 4-way rivalry?  Maybe I'm just ambitious....
 

I am still in shock about this upset.  I can't wait for more welterweight action.
-JD