Friday November 13, 2009
Former heavyweight champ
Mike Tyson was arrested after a scuffle with a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport. The photographer, Tony Echeverria, 50, was also arrested as each man claimed the other struck him.
Tyson was passing through LAX while traveling from Europe to Las Vegas with his wife and 10-month-old child. When the characteristically aggressive paparazzi descended upon the family, Echeverria reportedly bumped into the baby's stroller.
Tyson could end up back in jail if he's found to have violated probation from his 2007 drug case in which he pled guilty to cocaine possession and driving under the influence.
Sunday November 8, 2009
Last December in Switzerland, Evander Holyfield - giving up nine inches and nearly 100 pounds - outworked WBA heavyweight champ Nicolay Valuev over 12 boring rounds only to have the judges award a majority decision to Valuev.
Last night in Germany, David Haye - giving up nine inches and nearly 100 pounds - outworked WBA heavyweight champ Nicolay Valuev over 12 boring rounds and was awarded a majority decision by the judges to take the title. Go figure.
This makes six consecutive 12 round fights for Valuev - only two of which ended with all three judges in agreement on who won the fight. This is not surprising as nearly every round Valuev fights is devoid of action and it's difficult to score a fight when neither fighter is doing anything. To Haye's credit, he did wobble Valuev slightly in the final round with a left uppercut. The scorecards read 116-112 twice and 114-114.
Next up for Haye is likely to be a mandatory defense against John Ruiz, who scored a seventh-round TKO over Adnan Serin on the undercard. The WBO belt will be on the line but every fight fan knows that any heavyweight bout not including a Klitschko is not really a title fight.
Elsewhere, light heavyweight Chad Dawson remained undefeated with a workmanlike twelve round unanimous decision over Glen Johnson. Johnson tried to apply pressure throughout but - unlike when they first met in 2008 - Dawson kept moving and never allowed the fight to become a crowd-pleasing brawl. Scores were 117-111 and 115-113 twice.
Wednesday November 4, 2009
There are a couple of interesting bouts on tap this weekend with Nicolay Valuev defending his WBA heavyweight title against former cruiserweight champ (and current loudmouth champ) David Haye in Germany, and undefeated Chad Dawson in a rematch with 40-year-old Glen Johnson in Hartford, CT. Dawson scored a 12-round unanimous - but tougher than expected - decision over Johnson last year.
Elsewhere, Zab Judah and Joel Casamayor return to action on Friday night on the same card in Las Vegas - but not against each other.
Finally, did you happen to catch Manny Pacquaio on the Jimmy Kimmel Show last night? If not - and you'd like to see Pacman sing - then check this out:
PACMAN SINGS ON JIMMY KIMMEL
At first it appeared as if Manny was being set up to embarass himself, but not to worry - even though English is not his primary langauge, he's already better than other boxer-singer wannabes like Joe Frazier and Larry Holmes.
Sunday November 1, 2009
Showtime doesn't track punch stats but if they did, last night's IBF bantamweight title fight between champion Joseph Agbeko and undefeated challenger Yonnhy Perez likely would have set a new record for a 12-round bout. Every round had non-stop back-and-forth action as both men demonstrated great conditioning, skill and desire. An unintentional clash of heads opened up a pair of cuts on the forehead of Perez but he was never hindered by the damage. In round ten, another clash of heads sent Agbeko to the canvas but referee Robert Byrd ruled it a knockdown. Fortunately, that mistake didn't determine the outcome of the fight as all three judges scored the fight for Perez: 116-111 and 117-110 twice. If you missed the fight, try to catch a replay on Showtime - you won't be disappointed. A rematch is likely.
In the co-feature, rising star Antonio DeMarco floored Jose Alfaro three times in round ten to score a TKO win and capture the WBC interim lightweight title. DeMarco was ahead 90-81 and 89-82 twice on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Next up for the 23-year-old DeMarco may be a bout with undefeated WBC lightweight champ Edwin Valero.
Between bouts, Mike Tyson and promoter Don King publicly reconciled in an interview with Showtime's Jim Gray. Gray mentioned George Foreman winning a title at age 45 and asked if Tyson, 43, might consider a comeback. Tyson seemed to be joking as he answered "I'm not really considering doing that ... I'm so fat and out of shape ... If he [referring to King] is going to pay me for my training team, my training team costs a lot of money ... Anything's possible ... This guy is capable of making a lot of things happen. I don't see it happening, but you never know with this guy". As far-fetched as it may seem, the entire interview seemed staged by Showtime and King to begin the process of persuading Mike Tyson to fight again. It's a horrible idea but King and Showtime would definitely profit from such a comeback so don't doubt for a moment that they're actively working to convince Tyson otherwise. Do you really think either Tyson or Evander Holyfield could say no to the payday that Tyson-Holyfield III would provide?