| Casamayor and Ward Not Accepting Defeat | |
| Boxing News & Notes: Jan. 16, 2002 | |
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Both Joel Casamayor and Micky Ward have seen their careers set back with recent losses but neither is accepting defeat quietly. Casamayor did too little too late in his bout with Acelino Freitas but his promoters are filing a peititon for an immediate rematch. If the previously undefeated Casamayor hadn't allowed himself to be outworked early against the still undefeated Freitas he, not Freitas, would be the one calling out Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a big money unification bout. Casamayor has a legitimate beef with the point he lost on a disputed knockdown but the point he lost for hitting behind the head was totally justified. Mayweather-Freitas is the best bout out there at 130 but figures to be another opportunity for Pretty Boy to showcase the skills that rank him among the pound-for-pound elite.
Micky Ward's people have filed a complaint seeking to reverse their fighter's controversial TKO loss to Jesse James Leija. Videotape replays failed to support referee Lawrence Cole's ruling that a cut Leija suffered in the first round was caused by an accidental head butt. If the cut was caused by a punch then Ward should be awarded the win by fifth round TKO. Ward has a good case here but reversing the outcome would set a potentially dangerous precedent by opening the door for reviewing every judgement call made by the referee. Ward and Leija are both class acts and the best move here would be to schedule a rematch as soon as Leija's cut is healed. Of course another bout between these two big-time bleeders would likely end in another early stoppage on cuts. Tickets are now on sale for the May 4 super welterweight unification bought between Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas. The fight, billed as "Bad Blood", will take place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. This is a huge fight for a number of reasons: they seem to genuinely dislike each other; both need a big win to restore their pound-for-pound credentials; and the winner will be in line for a big payday against either Bernard Hopkins, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley or possibly even Roy Jones Jr. William "The Refrigerator" Perry is out as Butterbean's next opponent after suffering breathing problems and being advised by doctors to give up any thoughts of becoming a fighter. Nice job doc. Seriously. After briefly considering Mark Gastineau as a replacement for this freak show the promoters have settled on another ex-NFL player in Craig Wofley. Wolfley, who played offensive line for 12 years for Pittsburgh and Minnesota, won a recent Toughman competition and seems a worthy opponent (if there is such a thing) for the Bean on February 2 in Gulfport, Mississippi. Roy Jones Jr.'s new single "That Was Then" debuted at #2 on Billboard's Hot Rap radio-airplay chart. Whatever. Just another diversion to keep Roy's focus away from the ring. He still possesses the best pound-for-pound skills in the world but by exclusively fighting the likes of Glen Kelly (next up on February 2) it's hard to keep Jones ranked ahead of Mosley, Mayweather, Hopkins and Barrera. A long awaited unification bout with Dariusz Michalczewski - not to mention a rematch with Hopkins - looks as unlikely as ever. The Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson camps apparently are still working towards an agreement on the one heavyweight fight everyone wants to see. However, before getting too excited about this possible megafight remember that until they're actually both in the ring together there remains a good chance that the fight will never take place. Remember, Lewis - for various reasons - never got around to fighting Bowe, Moorer, Foreman, Holmes or Douglas. Tyson - for equally varied reasons - never tested himself against Bowe, Moorer, Foreman or Mercer. In fact, if it wasn't for Evander Holyfield there would have been virtually no meaningful heavyweight fights in the last ten years! CLICK HERE FOR LATEST BOXING NEWS & NOTES
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