A break for some boxing
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on May 04, 2007 
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My old paper in Connecticut was near the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos and I covered a lot of boxing when I wasn’t chasing around the UConn basketball team.
Boxing is the sickest thing I have ever covered. I wore a white shirt to a card one night and when I got home, it was covered in little red dots. I had no idea what it was until I realized it was Arturo Gatti’s blood. That was pleasant.
That said, boxing is fascinating to be around. There’s no pretense, just two guys trying to knock each other senseless. The only thing in comparable in baseball is the great hitter against the great fastball pitcher.
I’m writing this because I’m curious. Are you interested in the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather super-welterweight fight on Saturday night?
Boxing is a mess. Does anybody even know who the heavyweight champion is? But this is a certified Big Fight and there aren’t too many of these.
I ordered up the pay-per-view and can’t wait to see it. Oscar is older, slower and less powerful than Mayweather. But De La Hoya is smart and has a big heart. If he cuts the ring off and works inside, he could take the desire right out of Mayweather.
As a sportswriter, few things are more fun than a big baseball game in a stadium full of people. You hang on every pitch. But the late rounds of a championship fight are close.
Can’t say I’m a fan of boxing (or of horse-racing for that matter) personally, but I do understand the thrill and the appeal that both can bring. Now if you want to talk Rangers-Sabres and the thrill of a great, close hockey game, I’m all ears…
No doubt about it. I wont be missing this one. Thats the one thing about boxing I hate, you never know when another great fight like this will come around again.
and people wanted the yanks to trade Farnsworth….
This might be the last accessible fight (outside the die-hards) in the boxing world for a long time. As with the last few De La Hoya fights…he’s well past his prime. In his defense, he’s taken on hi caliber opponents in all. I hope it’s a good fight; but if De La Hoya tries to just hold on for the last rounds it could get a bit boring by the end.
don’t forget to write the PPV tab off on your 2007 tax form, pete. your coverage of it today on your blog makes it a working expense.
Not a fan of boxing, but I’ve bought into the hype for this fight
Just thinking out loud here:
Boxing needs a major image overhaul in the worst way. Instead of hiding all the major bouts on PPV, why not tease at least some fights on free TV. Are the ratings (and therefore sponsors) not there? I’ve never been a diehard fan but have oftentimes been riveted by some fights in the past, particularly the Leonard-Hearns and Leonard-Duran fights.
Boxing has been so boring recently. Trinidad was the last real thrill. The whole Hopkins/Taylor thing was pretty mundane. Mayweather’s exciting, but he hasn’t been fighting as high a quality of boxers as Oscar De La Hoya. This fight is what boxing needs.
The heavy weight division is dead, and thank goodness. Without the heavy weight division there is no Don King. I beleive Holyfield is still trying to box, and John Ruiz is probably still out there somewhere. Such a joke.
Ill take the golden boy even though he’s old he’s smarter than mayweather. Maybe im alittle biased cuz i like de la hoya as a fighter but his last fight he was pritty dominent because he outsmarted his opponent so it should be interesting to see if he can impose his style on mayweather. Either way i think it should be a good fight
i find it hard to follow non-team sports. Who do i route for once my guy is old and washed up? and who do i blame when he does poorly?
i usually jump on the bandwagon and pick someone for some silly reason though. haven’t decided in this case yet though…
De la Hoya has knocked out stronger boxers before (Vargas and Mayorga to name a couple), but Mayweather isn’t a slugger, he’s a speed boxer with great stamina. I’m pulling for De La Hoya since he’s given me so many great fights, but I think Mayweather wins it.
I actually like boxing. But I think for it to be popular again, it has to come off of Pay Per View. Not eveyone can see it on that format, and appealing to the masses will make it far more lucrative than a few HBO viewers.
While I do like boxing, I generally don’t watch the PPV matches (just way too expensive for something I’m not a huge fan of). But I think I am going to order this one.
I can’t wait for this fight. Like so many put it, it is probably the last greatest fight for a long time. The interesting thing is the two individuals are polar opposites.
Also, they absolutely HATE each other. Pretty boy stole Oscars bags. Oscar had Pretty boy’s father as his trainer, but then replaced him as his trainer before the fight. Pretty Boy hates his father, then didn’t want to let his father train him or contribute to the training for the fight. This going to be personal.
I used to like to watch boxing during the Olympics. Three rounds of guys just going at it. But the judges make skating judges look like paragons of virtue.
I don’t think I could name 3 fighters who are active today. I think that when Ali retired he took the title (and my interest) with him.
I like Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!
No
UFC is the closest I get to boxing
i had been waffling on ordering the fight, as my work schedule is awful this weekend and it’d be a nice respite, but i haven’t ordered a fight since tyson bit holyfield’s ear off when i was in high school.
however, the way boxing is going, this may be the last “big fight” we see for a while, and your blog may have just swayed me. i think i’ll order the fight. i like mayweather in this one.
other weekend sports predictions:
the yanks and mariners split four (weaver maddens everyone by holding the yankees to 2 runs over 7 while wang gets hit for 5 over 6)
the red sox take 2 of 3 from minnesota
the rockets win game 7 against the jazz thanks to a monster night from t-mac
dirk nowitzki locks himself in his bathroom for the duration of the weekend, contemplating a move back to germany. karl malone convinces him to press on.
i have no idea which horse wins the derby
enjoy your weekend, everyone. i’ll be at work.
I used to be no more than an Olympics watcher too, and rarely cared about boxing until all of those hyped-up fights involving either Tyson or Holifield. However, I really got in to the last season of “The Contender” and provided boxing gets that overhaul that I agree is needed, I might just have some fun following it.
Oddly enough, I’m a sucker for all the Rocky movies. I also really enjoyed Will Smith’s “Ali”.
Heavyweight champ? Haven’t a clue. Isn’t it time for a Holmes-Foreman rematch? If I had to vote for a champ, I’d vote for butterbean. Besides the fact that I couldn’t believe that someone that fat could actually do something athletic, I just love saying his name. What better name for a fat sloth boxer than butterbean???
I’m a huge fan of combat sports, specifically MMA (the UFC is the largest MMA promotion) and boxing. I’m a huge Yankees fan, but if I had to choose between Game 7 of the World Series (with the Yankees in it) and DLH-Mayweather, I’m going with DLH-Mayweather.
Boxing is in shambles but I’m definitely pumped for this fight. I think a lot of people are going to be let down though, Mayweather is going to work the Golden Boy over hard. He’s a faster version of Sugar Shane and he did a number on DLH.
By the way Pete, you are definitely incorrect on Oscar having less Power than Floyd. Floyd hasn’t had notable power since he moved up to 140 (he started at 130). This fight is at 154, where Oscar has been for quite some time now. Oscar is still one of the biggest punchers at 154lbs. You can’t say that about Floyd at 154 (or 147 or 140 for that matter).
In “Pitching Around Fidel” S.L. Price has a line like: “Even at its best, boxing is a sad tragedy. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love it.” I feel the same way. I love Floyd Mayweather Jr. and I hope he wins this fight. I feel he is the most skilled fighter of his generation.
Boxing became a non issue for me after Tyson decided to bite Holyfield’s ear. Although I will probably watch the post fight coverage
I think the Klitchko’s are heavyweight champs. If boxing was smart Oscar would win so they could get even more jack for the rematch. I think if De La Hoya loses on the other hand he is done. Mayweather is the perfect fighter to promote b/c he is easy to love or hate and there is really no gray area.
Boxing will never be what it once was. I could care less now. There used to be fights when I was growing up that everyone would be talking about and you’d have that eager anticipation for a few fights every year. Now nothing. I remember Sugar Ray Leonard when he was on his rise and all his fights were usually on free TV on Friday Night Fights. Those were the days. Then when he started going at it with Duran and then Hearns and Hagler, those fights weren’t as easily accessible, but still those were the days. The heavyweight division back in the 60′s and 70′s was unreal. Even with Holmes in the 80′s and then Tyson and Bowe and Lewis. Now nothing. Ali transcended boxing, there will never be anohter. Boxing used to be on free tv all the time, on weekends and weeknights, it’s just not the same. And the level of fighters has declined. Not many kids grow up wanting to be prizefighters as in the past. It’s sad.
Definitely watching the fight. It was a tough decision, but with 4/1 odds, my money is on De La Hoya. He looked pretty nasty in his last fight.
Current heavyweight champion is very tough to decipher now, with four boxing organizations (IBF, WBC, WBO, and WBA), but the champs are Klitschko, Maskaev, Shannon Briggs, and Chagaev, respectively. I believe Klitschko is probably the most well known of them all. All in all, boxing is on steep downhill.
“I think the Klitchko’s are heavyweight champs.”
Wladimir Klitschko is one of the heavyweight champs, and I think Ring Magazine has him as their #1. Vitali Klitschko, the older brother who fought Lennox Lewis, is retired but may be making a comeback.
since kasey’s making basketball predictions, i’ll go out on a limb and say Kidd get’s a triple double in a Nets win tonight.
Enjoy the fight on Saturday night. Because its the last relevant boxing fight for years.
Its sad when the average sport fan can name 10 UFC fighters and cant name who is the Heavyweight champ.
I wouldn’t have cared about this fight if I hadn’t become addicted to the HBO De La Hoya-Mayweather 24/7 series. It’s television crack. The moment that 50 Cent rolled into Mayweather’s place on a Segway I knew I’d be buying the PPV.
Sidenote – with Mayweather Sr. unemployed, why not make him the Yanks strength and conditioning guru? Everyone keeps saying this team needs more fire. We’d never lose another bench-clearer. And he’d be a lot more useful coming out of the dugout than Zimmer was.
I’ll only watch the fight if it’s on in a bar. I am not gonna pay money for something that can be over in 2 rounds.
Peter:
I’m a big boxing fan (not as big a baseball, however) and this fight has to be one of the best “lighter weight class” boxing matches since Leonard-Duran and Hearns- Hagler. I disagree with your assessment that De La-Hoya is “less powerful” than Mayweather. Mayweather as a blownup lightweight and has soft hands. Oscar is a natural welterweight, has a bigger frame and will hit harder than “Pretty Boy”. The big problem, however, is whether Oscar can find him – Mayweather is faster, quicker and younger.
I dislike Mayweather, he’s a hotdog, disrespectful and I’m hoping that Oscar catches him with a few overhand rights
and TKO’s him!
Enjoy the fight!
I’m a boxing guy and it’s all about the big superfights and this is the first one for an age. 3:30 start over here and it isn’t on PPV. British broadcasters have learnt that boxing and PPV has not gone well together.
HEAVYweight Champion – Big Papi, of course.
Carl Pavano = Duane Bobick or Gerry Cooney ??
Hi Peter – Not a boxing fan, never could watch a match. However, have been watching Dancing with the stars (LIVE BAND
Not a boxing fan since Tyson decided to bite Holyfields ear.
Neil M:
Unfortunately American promoters have not learned that lesson yet. The sport is too brutal and too crooked to build a following from a young fan base through “free” or cable tv (other than ESPN’s weekly non-title broadcasts).
I can remember as far back as 1970 when promoters used “closed circuit” to sell their Heavyweight championship fights in movie theatres and then PPV for lighter weight classes in 1981 with Hearns-Hagler.
The majority of these fights are never worth the cost.
I’m excited about the fight Saturday, but only because of the 24/7 show on HBO. Ordinarily, I’m a big MMA fan (UFC and PRIDE), but I’ll make the switch to boxing for this weekend only.
I love boxing, but the heavy weights division has lost a lot of glamour in the recent past. There is no longer a recognizable figure and all the scandals affected the sport a lot.
Welters are now the attractive division. i must say tomorrows figth s going to be very interesting. it rest on the shoulders of the guys like De la Hoya and Mayweather to bring fans back to the sport
Pete,
Did you write for the New London Day, the Norwich Bulliten or the Courant?
Hi Pete -
Not a big boxing fan, but I am enjoying Laila Ali on ‘Dancing with the Stars’. She’s delightful, smart and athletically graceful – just like her Dad was (remember when he was Cassius Clay?)
I’ll spend this day at Churchill Downs via TV remembering the many times I was at Triple Crown races in person when I was an owner racing a Grade 1 Winning thoroughbred. Ah the memories.
I have absolutely no interest in boxing. I find it incredibly boring. Give me baseball or hockey any day.
what’s a hockey?
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