Knockout Nation: Jones vs. Hopkins? Jones vs Calzaghe?

Knockout Nation: Jones Outclasses Trinidad, Calls Out Joe Calzaghe   In 2008, the rapid fire combos now come in spurts, usually in the first and last 30 seconds of the round. The footwork is now sluggish, and the blinding counters are now visible and off the mark 50% of the time. Still, a greatly diminished […]

Knockout Nation: Jones Outclasses Trinidad, Calls Out Joe Calzaghe

 

In 2008, the rapid fire combos now come in spurts, usually in the first and last 30 seconds of the round. The footwork is now sluggish, and the blinding counters are now visible and off the mark 50% of the time. Still, a greatly diminished Roy Jones (52-4, 38KOs) was more than enough to handle Felix Trinidad (42-3, 35 KOs), who was knocked down twice in route to a lopsided unanimous decision loss this past Saturday. Despite a strong effort, Trinidad could not compete with Jones’ naturally bigger size and superior hand speed.

 

For the first three rounds, Jones was content to play peek-a-boo behind a high guard, allowing Trinidad to flail hard but ineffective body (and the occasional low blow) shots. In round 3, Jones openly mocked Trinidad’s body attack, smacking himself on the hips, and goading Trinidad to fire more shots against the ropes. Jones would sparingly throw a left hook or straight right counter to maintain range for the later rounds. By rounds 4 and 5, Jones began to bounce triple left hook counters off Trinidad’s skull. The straight right hand found a consistent home when Jones let his hands go.

 

 

By round 7, Jones was supremely confident that Tito could not hurt him, and dropped Trinidad with a compact right hook counter. Tito was wobbled badly, but due to fatigue Jones could not close the show, and was content to play defense for the rest of the round. This pattern emerged for the rest of the night, as Jones could only show his brilliance from years past for 20 second intervals. In round 10, Jones exploded again with a flurry, scoring a flash knockdown on a clean jab-straight right combo. Rounds 11 and 12 saw more domination from Jones, who controlled both intervals with his jab and kept Trinidad on the back foot, where he’s always been ineffective.

 

Jones was very satisfied with his performance, and called out Super-middleweight kingpin Joe Calzaghe. “And if Bernard Hopkins and Calzaghe ain’t fought I’ll go to Wales and fight Calzaghe….I don’t care!” Such a showdown would be very enticing to Calzaghe, as negotiations with Bernard Hopkins could stall at any moment.

 

I would like Jones to bow out gracefully. But it appears a rusty, inactive Trinidad has fooled Roy into thinking he can still regain his former pound for pound glory. As with many greats before him, Jones won’t realize the somber truth until it’s beaten into him. Expect Roy to stick around for at least 2-3 more fights. Trinidad also briefly spoke to media about his loss:

 

“I take nothing away from Roy, but if I could have avoided the knockdowns, I think I could have won the fight. Roy was very fast and strong. He threw great punches. I have no excuses. He demonstrated speed and took my body.”

 

On the undercard, Devon Alexander (14-0, 8 KOs) outworked a faded Demarcus “Chop Chop” Corley (37-8, 17 KOs) for a unanimous decision. Journeyman Alex Bunema (29-5, 15 KOs) scored a stunning upset over top 154 pound player Roman Karmazin (36-3, 23 KOs). Bunema pressured Karmazin all night, and was able to land right hands at will. Ironically, Karmazin was first floored and hurt with a left hook counter, before being finished against the ropes by another right hand in the 10th. “The Man of a 1,000 Title Shots” Andrew Golota (41-6, 33 KOs) won a sloppy but entertaining scrap against Mike Mollo (19-2, 12 KOs). Golota seemed on the verge of an early KO before sustaining grisly left eye swelling in the middle rounds. Golota utilized his superior technique to keep Mollo’s wild rushes at bay and took a unanimous decision.

De La Hoya-Mayweather Rematch Confirmed for September

 

 

The ghastly rumors have turned out to be true. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer confirmed last Wednesday that Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather have nearly finalized a rematch for September 13th or 20th. One matter still being negotiated is weight, as De La Hoya is pushing for a catch-weight between 147 and 154 pounds. To try and soothe any backlash, De La Hoya is proposing a “giving back to the fans” tune up match for free on HBO. The bout would be in May, and the short list of potential opponents is 3 current 140 pound fighters: Steve Forbes, Paulie Malignaggi, and Dmitriy Salita.

 

Really, Oscar??? Beating up on fighters from the 140 pound division? Good grief. If there were any kind of cosmic justice or irony, the gods would bless Paulie Malginaggi with the power of Earnie Shavers. The hope would be he KOs De La Hoya on May 3rd and ends this charade before it really starts. Unfortunately, in the world of boxing the only gods are named Arum, King, and now Golden Boy.

 

Mayweather confidant Leonard Ellerbe informed www.espn.com that Floyd would forego a tune-up fight.

 

“Oscar can do whatever he wants to do,” Ellerbe stated. “He can’t beat Floyd anyway. It wouldn’t matter if he took four tune-up fights.”

 

And that is the bottom line, fight fans…this fight doesn’t matter: not at welterweight, junior middleweight, or for any potential legacy.  And for those thinking that only Money May would pull this, Miguel Cotto’s manager Evangelista Cotto echoed similar sentiments this past month to Spanish paper El Nuevo Dia. Cotto’s team was also attempting to negotiate a bout with De La Hoya:

 

“Right now a fight with De La Hoya is more marketable than one with Mayweather…even though De La Hoya lost to Mayweather in his last fight and Mayweather won last night against Hatton, De La Hoya remains the most marketable….other names that have been mentioned don’t compare economically to a fight with De La Hoya.”

 

Just like Mayweather’s fight with Hatton should’ve happened in 2005, but was delayed until ‘07, we probably won’t see Cotto-Mayweather until 2009 (assuming both guys keep winning).

 

Eddie Chambers and Alexander Povetkin Square Off at Heavyweight This Weekend

 

 

 

Undefeated young heavyweights “Fast” Eddie Chambers (30-0, 16 KOs) and Alexander Povetkin (14-0, 11 KOs) fight for a shot at the IBF Title this weekend. This promises to be a good fight, as both men are active on the inside. While Chambers is a very live dog due to his fast hands and decent defense, look for Povetkin to win due to his superior inside fighting, pressure, and power. If all else fails, the fight is being held in Povetkin’s home country of Germany, a place not remiss to screwing over foreign fighters on the cards (note the past antics of one Sven Ottke). The fight is scheduled for January 26 on HBO.

 

 

Stop by next week as we move full steam ahead onto Pavlik-Taylor II, Williams-Quintana, and Pacquiao-Marquez II. Until then, fight fans………