Tag: Sports

The biggest fight of 2010 — “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather vs. “Sugar” Shane Mosley — is hours away. I’m super excited for this fight. It will be the biggest challenge in Mayweather’s unblemished career and another stiff challenge for Mosley. Personally, I’m hoping that Shane beats the crap out of Floyd…but I don’t see it happening.  Although Shane has a decent chance, I think Mayweather safely boxes his way to a unanimous decision. Here’s why.

Age — Mosley is 38 years old. Although he’s smarter in the ring, he’s clearly a step slower than he used to be. His hand speed and foot speed aren’t what they were five years ago. Mayweather is 33 and much closer to his prime; he’s also one of the fastest and smartest fighters in the history of the sport.

Mayweather’s Jab — All of Mosley’s losses came against fighters with effective jabs — Vernon Forrest, Winky Wright, and Miguel Cotto. Some experts have argued that Mosley has trouble with tall and lanky fighters, which is certainly true in the Forrest and Wright fights. However, Cotto is a pretty…compact fighter that isn’t particular tall and doesn’t have a long reach. He was also able to use his jab to contain Mosley. Mayweather has an excellent jab and I can see him sticking it in Mosley’s face all night.

Mosley’s Win Against Margarito is Overrated — A lot of people have been pointing to this fight as Mosley’s “born again” moment. That’s a bunch of crap. Margarito is a slow, plodding, and uncomplicated brawler that was perfect for Mosley. It was a good win, but entirely overblown and made people forget about Mosley’s other recent fights. It took Mosley a long time to get rid of Ricardo Mayorga. He also went 16 rounds over the course of two fights with Fernando Vargas. Both Mayorga and Vargas were shot fighters when they faced Mosley. A prime Mosley would have gotten both of them out of there in a single round. Again, Mayweather is in his prime and his skills are top notch. He’s on an entirely different echelon than Margarito, Mayorga, or Vargas.

The Mayweathers Know How to Beat Mosley — I believe that Shane Mosley lost his second fight against Oscar De La Hoya. “The Golden Boy” landed more punches and out-boxed Mosley. De La Hoya’s trainer for that fight? Floyd Mayweather, Sr. Although Mosley’s trainer, Nazim Richardson, has been getting a lot of (well deserved) attention for his work with Mosley, a lot of people have forgotten that Mayweather, Sr. was part of the aforementioned De La Hoya camp. Although Mosley won the official decision, a lot of people thought he lost the fight. Either way, Mayweather, Sr. knows what it takes to frustrate Mosley.

Five years ago, I would have taken Mosley over Mayweather…possibly by knockout. That said, I can’t pick a 38-year old Mosley over Mayweather. I’d love to be wrong and I’d love to see Mosley inflict some permanent damage to Mayweather, but I can only see this fight ending in a unanimous decision for Mayweather. There will be some moments where Mosley’s speed and power will challenge Mayweather, but ultimately Floyd’s speed, smarts, footwork, and defense will allow him to pot shot his way to a win. I hate that guy.

Today is the 20th anniversary of James “Buster” Douglas victory over “Iron” Mike Tyson. This was one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. At the time, Tyson was viewed as an unstoppable force that mauled most of his opponents with dynamic power and fierce determination. Douglas, on the other hand, was seen as an extremely talented pugilist that was too lazy to get his sh*t together. So many things changed leading up to the fight in Tokyo on February 11, 1990.

On Douglas’ side, he finally found the motivation he needed when his mother past away weeks before the fight. He used the tragedy to get in the best shape of his career (and the best shape he’d ever be in). Douglas had all the physical tools and the right punches to beat Tyson. He was much taller and had a greater reach than his foe, which he used to establish a rocking jab. Tyson was also susceptible to uppercuts, which Douglas used to nail Tyson. None of that would have happened if Douglas hadn’t gotten into shape. It all culminated in a beautiful moment in sports television when Douglas broke down crying, overcome with emotion from winning the championship for his late mother.

On Tyson’s side, arrogance played a part in his defeat. He started believing his own hype and barely trained for the fight. He forgot all those lessons taught to him by the great trainers Cus D’Amato and Teddy Atlas (and the not quite great Kevin Rooney). It was even amateur hour in Tyson’s corner; his “cutman” used what looked like a condom filled with ice water to control Tyson’s facial swelling. Any cutman worth a damn uses an enswell. Perhaps Tyson completely dismissed the notion of his face getting busted up by Douglas. Perhaps his cornermen were lackeys pretending to be professional boxing trainers. It was probably both.

Legendary promoter Don King added some controversy after the fight…or should I say bullsh*t controversy. King claimed that the fight should be a no-contest because the referee took too long to count to ten when Douglas was knocked down. It’s true that the count was slow, but if you’ve seen the fight then you know that Douglas wasn’t in any danger of being knocked out. He was complete aware and followed the referee’s instructions (like a fighter is supposed to). Seconds after he hit the canvas, he even pounded his fist to the ground, angry at the mistake he just made. King tried to hold up the title change and had the fighters’ money frozen in a lame attempt to keep the title around Tyson.

I was in high school when the fight happened and it was on pretty late. I remember running up to my parents’ room to tell them that Mike Tyson lost. I’m pretty sure they were mildly annoyed that I woke them up. I even remember the local television guide listing the fight as (I’m paraphrasing), “The latest Mike Tyson slaughter will be like all the rest, only this one will take place in Tokyo.” It was truly one of the most memorable sporting events I’ve ever seen and certainly the biggest boxing upset of my lifetime. It’s just fun to reminisce. It’s also crazy that it was 20 years ago. Whoa (like Joey from Blossom).

Do you remember the Douglas/Tyson fight? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.