Pray for Steve Forbes!
There’s
only one man standing against the useless rematch between Floyd
Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya. That man is former Contender star and
natural 140 pounder Steve Forbes. He’ll try to play the role of spoiler
this Saturday against the Golden Boy.
Forbes
possesses moderate speed and a strong heart, but De La Hoya represents
a different class and will be the bigger man. Unless Oscar has slipped
considerably since last May (which is possible), Forbes will likely
taste the canvas from a nasty left hook by the middle rounds. Forbes’
strategy is to be an elusive target by moving away from De La Hoya’s
left hook, and counterpunching in combination to rack up points. Oscar
will be looking to win impressively to drum up anticipation for the
Mayweather rematch.
If
Oscar looks bad, the rematch will likely still go on. At this stage De
La Hoya has nothing for Mayweather, so let’s all hope Forbes can pull
off the monumental upset so the Pretty Boy will have to choose a better
dance partner in September.
What am I saying; Mayweather will probably just fight Forbes if that happened.
David Hayes Unifies Crusierweight CrownAmerican fight fans don’t know who David Haye is, but that will change very soon.
The
brash UK fighter became the first unified cruiserweight champ since
Evander Holyfield when he railroaded rugged Enzo Maccarinelli last
month. Haye made it clear after the fight that
he has been “struggling” to make the cruiserweight limit, and has only
been fighting at “70 to 80 percent.” The translation is that he’s been
struggling to deal with cruiserweight purses, and is now ready to risk
his impressive record against men that will outweigh him and be able to
stand up to his punching power. Haye has his sights set on heavyweight
glory as he formally called out Wladimir Klitchsko this past weekend.
For
those who have never seen Haye fight, witness his two round demolition
of Enzo Maccarinelli to unify the cruiserweight division.
Haye
will have a clear speed and movement advantage over most heavyweights
he faces, but there are important questions about how his chin will
hold up the heavy bangers of the division (Hayes was stopped by Carl
Thompson in 2004, and dropped by Jean Marc Mormeck last year).
One
thing is for sure, David Haye represents renewed excitement for the
heavyweight class. Someone get Joe Mesi on the phone; he’d be the
perfect opponent for Haye’s heavyweight debut.
Cotto and Mayweather Following History?
How
big is the hype for a Cotto-Mayweather bout? There’s no doubt among
hardcore fans that this is the fight to be made in boxing. Both men are
undefeated, at or close to their physical primes, and two of the most
talented fighters in the sport. This should be a no brainer, right?
It
would be until the history emerges on why this fight still has not been
pushed for by either side. After humiliating Gatti in 2005, Mayweather
was turned down for title bout with Ricky Hatton, who flatly stated he
wasn’t ready. Floyd then turned his focus into making his dream bout
with De La Hoya, but ran into a road block with his then promoter Bob
Arum. Due to a bitter split years earlier with Oscar, Arum wanted
nothing to do with a potential Mayweather-De La Hoya bout.
By
2006, Mayweather had voiced his displeasure over Arum’s reluctance and
planned to buy out of his contract. Arum offered overhyped but
dangerous Anotonio Margarito as an option to get Mayweather to stay.
Arum boasted that he would attach a cool 8 million to the bout without
options on later fights. Knowing that he could make a bigger fight with
Oscar, Floyd made a shrewd counteroffer; he would take on Margarito
only if Arum guaranteed 10 million apiece for successive fights against
Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. Arum refused. Floyd brought out his
contract for over $700, 000 and fought Carlos Baldomir for the
welterweight title. This set up the De La Hoya bout in May 2007.The
results actually worked out well for both camps. Arum was able to tout
Margarito as the most feared man in the welterweight division, and
Mayweather was able to win the fight that’s made him a mainstream star.
Now
two years later, Cotto no longer looks like the vulnerable but talented
fighter he was in 2005 and 2006. He now looks like a welterweight
destroyer, with tools like a devastating body attack and a ramrod jab
at his disposal. But Arum has only given lip service against
Mayweather, and not made any offers to make boxing’s biggest fight.
Mayweather, who is now suing Arum for royalties from the Judah fight,
claimed on ESPN a few weeks back he would fight Cotto if he left Arum
and/or built his name up to make the fight as big as possible.
Mayweather’s
“build your name up first” taunts echo the antics Sugar Ray Leonard
pulled on a rising contender named Tommy Hearns back in 1980. As the
Hitman was ruining solid fighters like Pipino Cuevas, Leonard
repeatedly went on record as saying Hearns needed to make himself a
bigger name before facing him. Finally, the hype got so huge the fight
just had to be made, which resulted in one of the biggest showdowns in
welterweight history.
Listen to Leonard sounding just like a 2008 Mayweather in regards to Tommy Hearns.
There
is some merit to Mayweather’s words, as I received confirmation that
Cotto’s recent bout against Alfonso Gomez was the lowest rated card in
World Championship Boxing history at 1.1 (beating out previous holder
Calzaghe-Kessler at 1.6). Thankfully, that can be changed in Cotto’s
next bout against Margarito, which is why Arum is pushing for this war
to happen in Vegas.
I
fully expect both camps to stop the talking and begin actual
negotiations by the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009. Provided both
guys keep winning, there’s just too much money to be made for the fight
not to happen.
Trinidad Turns Down Taylor
Felix
Trinidad has turned down a potential fight with Jermain Taylor. After
Trinidad was also turned down by Hopkins and De La Hoya, Trinidad Sr
explained to Primera Hora his son’s future endeavors:
“At
this time, Jermain Taylor does not represent an option that motivates
Trinidad to continue in boxing. Tito needs to feel motivated at this
time and Taylor does no give him that. The reason Tito returned to
boxing was boxing King brought him, Roy Jones Jr, a legend. That was
motivation for Tito. We are not looking to restart his career, we are
looking for the big fights. Because of the weight difference, we can’t
do a fight with (Kelly) Pavlik. Tito has no interest in fighting at
160-pounds.
I
know how Tito feels and I have no doubt that Puerto Rico will support a
rematch with Hopkins. He needs fights that motivate him. Against Roy
Jones, Tito was motivated to return to the gym. It wasn’t easy since he
was coming back from a near three-year layoff. At the same time, the
money he was getting was adequate for someone like Tito. If Oscar De La
Hoya is willing to move up to 165-pounds, I have no doubt that Tito
would return. That is the type of fight that would motivate Tito.”
The Prince Teases Another ComebackPrince
Naseem Hamed recently hinted at another possible comeback six years
after his last fight. I don’t believe him but it’s worth noting. It’s
a shame the Prince didn’t take his career seriously in the later years.
He was the hardest hitting featherweight since Sandy Saddler.
