Why It’s Impossible To Decide Who's “TBE”

Spike TV used to run a show called "Deadliest Warrior” where famous warriors from various times and places would be pitted against each other in a hypothetical matchup. I have to be honest here – I really enjoyed that program. It was fun and relatively accurate in its assessments of its subjects (at least that’s true of the ones I was familiar with). One particular episode, however, still stands out for me above all others.

For on that particular broadcast, Joan of Arc did battle with William the Conqueror. I remember discussing the impending episode with a coworker beforehand. On the surface of things, the fight was William’s to lose. He was a big, aggressive guy, after all, one who took what he wanted and who somehow always seemed to find a way to win (just ask the hapless Harold Godwinson).

Yet, being familiar with both William and Joan’s stories (I did some extensive writing on both subjects, particularly on Joan), I knew full well the teenage girl from Lorraine was going to mop the medieval floor with William. She wasn’t going to be gifted a win because she was a woman, either. Nope.  Contemporary social niceties would have nothing to do with it.

Joan, I knew, would win for one simple reason – she had operated about a full half millennium AFTER William did. That meant she had employed artillery (for the record, Joan was a far more gifted tactician than she’s been given credit for). William had no idea what artillery was and, if he saw it, wouldn’t know what to do with it. Needless to say, Joan won the battle that episode. How could she not have? The whole thing was apples and oranges. 

Which, of course, leads me to a larger point. There is no way anyone can tell who the “The Best Ever” in the sport of boxing is or was. That’s obvious, of course, since some of the obvious runners up are long dead, but even if there was a time machine to transport people to and from various ages, the truth would still be impossible to discern. Modern fighters, simply put, employ gunpowder.

Pondering will get one nowhere.

I’m not referring exclusively to PEDs here, either (though they’re obviously and unfortunately a part of the contemporary boxing scene). Nutrition, training methods, scheduling, lessons from the past, all those things would give modern fighters an edge. Yet advanced technology could act as a double edged sword in this case, too.

Sugar Ray Robinson, for instance, had fought as much as Floyd currently has when he was still only in his twenties. Seriously. The guy ended up battling on two hundred occasions. That’s three digits. With a 2 in the first slot. How well, one may ask, would Mayweather hold up if he fought about seven times a year? What if he fought Manny Pacquiao around, say, five times – would he still have a perfect record? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Some perspective, however is in order.

Or not. Hype always rules supreme in boxing, after all. That’s not always a bad thing, as it can keep the sport alive. Yet it has its obvious limitations, as well. Still and all, it’s fun asking ourselves who the best really is or was. It’s generally harmless and keeps the sport alive, via discussion. With that in mind, though, it’s good to note that the answer will never be truly known. Pointless pursuits can indeed be fun, but they will always remain essentially pointless. Even if you’re William the Conqueror.

Or a guy who calls himself “Money.”  

Why No One Wants To See The Mayweather-Berto Fight

Let's face it, tonight's Mayweather-Berto fight is getting zero buzz outside of the world of hardcore boxing fans - and even those of us who write about boxing are pretty much only writing about the fact that it's guaranteed to be a pop culture dud. When you think about, though, the general lack of interest is rather jarring.

Just a few short months ago, for instance, even those who knew nothing about boxing were coughing up cash and tuning in to see this same Floyd Mayweather best beloved human lawnmower Manny Pacquiao in a fight that probably earned enough to put a dent in the national debt.

Now, though, people have pretty much had it with all things Floyd. Why is that? While few approved of the man's lifestyle and no one approved of the guy's treatment of women, people were fascinated by the individual who calls himself "Money" nonetheless.

What changed? Why don't even fight fans seem to be into Mayweather's fight with Andre Berto this evening?

For starters, no one is giving Berto a snowballs' chance in the tropics of winning...and with good reason. While Berto is certainly a good fighter, he clearly doesn't look to be on Mayweather's level. Berto could pull it off tonight, of course, but the chances of that happening, frankly, are slim.

What's more, people feel the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was a dud. I'm a professional fight writer and even I did too at first. In hindsight, I feel the fight was better than we all initially thought it was, but no matter.

Whatever way you look at it, Mayweather-Pacquiao didn't live up to the ridiculous amount of hype that accompanied it - and people still feel burned.  That fight cost a lot to see, after all.

Why indeed? 

Which brings us to another point. The people behind Mayweather-Berto are expecting around seventy-five bucks from viewers who want to see the bout in HiDef. Why, one may wonder, would anyone pay for a fight that no one thinks the underdog can win?

Why indeed.

When all is said and done, skipping out on Mayweather-Berto may be a huge mistake, especially for true fans. No one who saw the Douglas-Tyson fight live, for instance, regrets it. Still, Mayweather and those in his inner circle can only blame themselves for this fizzled firework.

For a guy who is rightly known for his ring genius, Floyd miscalculated wildly this time.

If, that is, he still cares about public opinion at this point.

Adonis Stevenson Calls Out Kovalev

So Adonis Stevenson bested Tommy Karpency via a vicious third round stoppage on Friday night - a fact which surprised absolutely no one. What he did afterwards, however, is worth mentioning. For Stevenson, who I remember being vague years ago when asked about facing Sergey Kovalev, actually called the man out in front of PBC cameras. Was Stevenson serious? Did he honestly, truly want a fight with Kovalev...or was he just posing?

Honestly, I'm going to take Stevenson at his word. If he makes this fight with Kovalev, then all is forgiven with Superman as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, these past several opponents of Stevenson leave a bad taste in the mouth, but that taste will go away if Adonis and Sergey finally find a way to get it on. As for Stevenson's criminal past, he did the time and is reportedly remorseful for his truly heinous crimes.

Besides, as bad Stevenson's sins were, we have to remember there are no scarlet letters in western society anymore. What he did was evil - but people can change. And if Stevenson says he's a new man, it's only fair to take him at his word if the evidence backs up the claim.

Now, provided both Adonis and Sergey truly want to fight, exactly how difficult will it be for the bout to come together? Not very difficult at all, I think, if a certain Mr. Al Haymon decides it's a fight worth making. If GGG-Lemieux can be on pay per view, so can Kovalev-Stevenson. Slap on a sensible price tag, put it on up in Canada, New York or even Connecticut and watch the fan base salivate.

What people really want to know, however, is who is the better fighter of the two. Right now I have to give the edge to Kovalev, but Stevenson is no joke. He looked lean and mean on Friday night. His competition may not have been the best, but Stevenson still showed that incredible power. Let's just admit it's a fight we'd all love to see...and let's hope it actually happens this time around.

Can Adonis Stevenson Redeem Himself?

Let's face it, Adonis Stevenson has not been the hero of the boxing community since he stunningly knocked out Chad Dawson to become lineal light heavyweight champion years ago. Fights with such serious competitors as Sergey Kovalev, Bernard Hopkins, and Jean Pascal have never come to fruition - and people blame Stevenson for it, perhaps with good reason. For while he's yet to meet a major foe since becoming champ, Stevenson has sung the praises of Al Haymon and the money Haymon has lined his pockets with.

If you think the whole thing sounds like a cash grab, you're not alone.

Still, Stevenson insists that he's a serious competitor. Just recently, for instance, Stevenson claimed in an interview that he wants to unify all the light heavyweight titles. That means he would have to face Kovalev, the man he's been accused of ducking. Whether Stevenson really wants to face Kovalev or not remains to be seen.

Stevenson can go a long way convincing people of his seriousness, however, if he takes a cue from fellow Haymon stablemate Floyd Mayweather.

For, by calling out Manny Pacquiao live in front of Showtime cameras last December, Mayweather started the process which led to the May 2nd fight that everyone wanted. Stevenson can silence at least some of the criticism lobbed his way by coming across as serious after he presumably bests Tommy Karpency a week from this Friday. He has to sound serious, though.

Instead of saying he'll fight anyone Stevenson has to say that he WANTS Kovalev, that he's aware of promotional matters and the politics of boxing but that he would love it if the two men could get in the ring. Even if Haymon gets to veto who he fights, Stevenson can do a better job making it clear to the public what he wants. Unless he's able to do that, however, people will see Stevenson as a champion pretty much in name only.

And that's too bad.

Boxing In The Post Mayweather-Pacquiao Era

So I'm finally back to writing about boxing, the sport I love. For the past few weeks I've taken a bit of a hiatus, you see. Why? Because I was burned out. Exhausted. Drained. It's been a big year for those of us who cover the fight biz, so big that I found I had to walk away from it for a while - something I'm not in the habit of doing.

Blame it on Floyd and Manny. For the hated Mayweather-Pacquiao match last spring was such an insanely over the top big deal that it was actually unwieldy. Still, the bout was a hit - a huge, huge hit. People may disdain the memory of it now, but the match brought in millions of eyeballs and millions of dollars. Boxing, for once, was in the spotlight. Not just the sport's spotlight, the pop cultural spotlight, as well.

The stress. The interviews. The backbiting. The deadlines. It was all a bit much, frankly. Truth be told, I'm happy that I'll never see anything like it again.

Yet Mayweather-Pacquiao brought those of us who put time, effort and even professionalism into the sport of boxing to a high point. It had always been a dream of mine, for instance, to be read by a lot of individuals. That dream was accomplished in the leadup to May 2nd. For during that period I was read by far more people than  it takes to become a New York Times bestselling author. Heady stuff.

Now those days are gone, though.  Forever.

Boxing may become popular in the mainstream again - in fact, I think it has a solid chance, to - but the mania we saw leading up to May 2nd won't return during most of our lifetimes. There's bound to be a bout as big as or bigger than Mayweather-Pacquiao sooner or later, but chances are it won't come around for a long, long time.

So yeah, the spotlight may return to boxing again, but it  won't be as bright as it was this year. Even if boxing gets as popular as, say, the NBA, it STILL won't carry with it the hype Mayweather-Pacquiao did. That event was an oddity. And oddities are infrequent things.

So, where to from here?      

Why to the fights, of course. There's some great one's lined up for this fall and if boxing keeps delivering great matchups the number of steady viewers will continue to rise. That's nothing but a good thing.

It's also time to keep an eye on rising talent and stars that may have been heretofore overlooked. There's some real talent out there and it's worth getting excited about some of these guys without placing them in the shadows of Floyd and Manny. Those two  may still be fighting, but their era is winding down.

And that ain't such a bad development.

Malignaggi Crushed By Garcia

In the end, Danny Garcia proved to be far too young and strong for crafty vet Paulie Malignaggi. Meeting at the Barclay's Center in Maignaggi's hometown of Brooklyn, the two went close to nine full rounds in front of a healthy sized audience that was clearly in favor of the hometown guy.

If the crowd thought Garcia would somehow lose to Malignaggi on Saturday, however, it ended up being clearly disappointed. For the fight proved to be a largely one sided affair. Things started off interesting enough in the first few rounds, with the slick Malignaggi's movement and activity giving Garcia a bit of a run. Once Garcia's punches landed with regularity, however, the fight was all but over.

No single great event stopped the bout. The referee had simply seen enough. As had the fans. As had, believe it or not, Garcia himself, for the Philly native's face spoke volumes after the fight had ended. He may not be a fan favorite, but Danny Swift, as he's called, proved he's no sadist, either.

Afterwards, it was pretty clear to everyone that it was time for Malignaggi to move on to a career in broadcasting, which is something the guy excels at. The fighter seemed a bit down, but Paulie's smart, so it's a pretty safe bet he knows it's time to pack it in himself.

As for Garcia, he came across as maddening as ever after the match. Sure, he said he'd fight anyone, but he didn't seem that eager to challenge any one individual. It was all best left to Al Haymon, as far as Garcia was concerned. Such emotional inertia makes it hard to cheer for the man. That's too bad, for Garcia was truly warm and gracious in victory on Saturday night, a surefire sign of good character.

Danny Jacobs Bests Sergio Mora In Wild Two Round Fight

No one was probably surprised when Daniel Jacobs dropped Sergio Mora in the first round of their bout at the Barclay's Center on Saturday evening. On the other hand, many were probably surprised when Mora returned the favor by dropping Jacobs just second later.

Yup, it was a wild first round of middleweight boxing on Premiere Boxing Champion's second ESPN broadcast. Yet things were only going to get wilder. For Mora went down again in the second. And when he got up, he was clearly injured, for he was hobbling - if you could even call it that - on his leg.

The referee asked Mora if he wanted to continue. There was some confusion. Then the referee stopped the fight. Mora, simply put, was too injured to carry on.

"From my perspective I heard my knee pop," Mora said after the bout. "I know what a broken ankle is."

Due to the bout's highly unique ending, Mora said he wanted a rematch. Jacobs, however, wasn't having any of it.

"No rematch," Jacobs said. "There's no reason for me to come backwards now."