The Sweet Science

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:31 pm

George Chuvalo autobiography released today: http://thechronicleherald.ca/sports/116 ... xer-s-life" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looking forward to it. And it is getting rave reviews; at least the ones I've read are singing its praises. Chuvalo had one helluva a tough life and yet, luckily for him, he seems unaffected by pugilistic dementia in any way. If anything, he seems to be smarter and sharper every time you hear him speak. Fascinating life.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 7:05 am

Chuvalo recently was honoured by Rob Ford (you might remember him as the obese (alleged) crack smoking mayor of Toronto) and Chguvalo seemed sharper than His Honour.

And this is a guy who fought into his 40s and who was a legend not for his skills, but for his ability to take a vicious beating without going down.

The fact that his marbles are still in place is very surprising indeed.

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:01 am

He had 92 career bouts not against Muhammed Ali--gotta be a story in there. I'll try to remember to pick this one up.

The human body has variable sensitivities to trauma and various insults. The central processor is apparently no exception. It is funny how chronic alcohol will destroy some livers, leaving others untouched. Some guys get battered in the ring for two decades, and lose no brain function whatsoever; others can't walk and drool at the same time.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:33 am

howard wrote:He had 92 career bouts not against Muhammed Ali--gotta be a story in there. I'll try to remember to pick this one up.

On the TSN Classic network (which believe it or not does broadcast "classic" curling), they once showed Chuvalo's bout against Foreman. How Chuvalo stayed alive - let alone on hos feet - is a miracle. You will rarely see a boxer take that kind of punishment in three short rounds.

But Chuvalo's story has some awful tragic events as well. I'm going to check out the book as he's been a fairly major figure in canadian sports since I was a wee one.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:39 pm

a HBO has an excellent card on tap tonight, at least on paper. A bunch of action fighters; Varnes Martirosyian, Nonito Donaire, Vic Darchinyian, Mikey Garcia. And the two I didn't name, Demetrius Andrade (fighting Martirosyian at 154) and Rocky Martinez (Garcia's opponent at 130) have plenty of KOs on their record; I'm just not as familiar with those two.

Howard sez check it out.

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 11:54 am

He was on Stern this week, I'm listening to a replay of the interview now.

One of Stern's important interview techniques is making a excuse for a guest's inexcusable behavior; creating a (fake) sense of justification for a bad action, as a tool to get the guest to speak more freely.

One of the things about Tyson that charms me is, when he is on Howard's show, he never rises to that bait. The closest Mike comes to saying 'it wasn't my fault' or blaming others is matter-of-factly stating, 'that is just how it was' (in Brownsville, in prison, in the life of addiction.)

Much more often than not, and much more often than most celebrity failures and fuckups, Mike sincerely takes responsibility for his own life and his own bad behavior. There are plenty of times when he has not over the years, but his honesty and sincerity on this count has always set him apart in my estimation.

His book sounds fantastic. I had skipped his live show, thinking I already knew all the Iron Mike stories. But what I've heard about the book so far, maybe not. A film version of the live show (a Spike Lee Joint) will premier on HBO this Saturday at 8pm.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:23 pm

Showtime with a very nice 4-bout card tonight from Barclays. First was a sloppy but action-packed decision ending in a draw; 3 to go, headliner match Zab Judah v Paulie Malignaggi. Both Brooklyn lads, this would be a world class bout five years ago.

HBO counters with a dueling card from Nucky Thompson land, and the best match on paper of the night--Cuban Rigondeaux vs Ghanaian via the Bronx Agbeko

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:38 pm

My maternal grandfather was a boxing referee of some note. His high point may have been doing the fight in which George Chuvalo won the Canadian heavyweight championship.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 4:42 pm

That Broner-Maidana fight was awesome. A filthy fight that was full of action and shockingly, the judges got it right.

I think Broner will be back - he is a supremely talented fighter. But God it was great to see the arrogance get pounded out of him.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 4:55 pm

I got so pissed off at Broner when he humped Maidana's leg, from that point I was more emotionally invested in this fight than in any other in years. His antics after the headbutt were comical. I give him full credit for withstanding a ton of punishment to the body. But he had the talent to win that fight, yet was outfought and lost. I was sure the judges would muck it up; their cards rewarded Maidana even more than mine (115-110, I gave Broner four rounds.)

I thought the ref did well to try and not impose himself on the fight, let the two guys settle it. He was reluctant to penalize Broner for pushing off, using the forearm, and excessive holding; otoh, Maidana threw many low blows, and only was warned once. Unfortunately, Maidana retaliated for Broner's holding with the headbutt, and the ref had no choice but to penalize. I would have liked at that point for him to also penalize Broner for holding--that would've re-established control of the fight.

Personally, I would've penalized Broner for the leg hump--that likely would've reduced his shenanigans. But I don't mean to second guess the ref, which I am sure many are doing today. I compliment him for a very good job under tough circumstances. If the sport always had this level of ref and judge, I would be a happy fan.

Keg · Post by **Keg** » Mon Dec 16, 2013 12:09 pm

The pictures that people posted making fun of Broner had me rolling on the floor.

My fav was the one with Marty Mar after he KO'd by Tommy Hearns:

http://t.co/ntWodIa5OL" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Sharkeisha (I had to look her up, she is no joke - " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and Madonna pics were funny as well:

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Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:06 am

I'm tempted to buy the PPV of the Alvarez - Angulo, but the undercard is less than spectacular.

A streaming I will go.

Keg · Post by **Keg** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 11:15 am

I am not planning on paying for it and I'm a fan of both fighters.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:44 pm

Keg wrote:I am not planning on paying for it and I'm a fan of both fighters.

Will share streaming info when I find it.

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 2:17 pm

I'm hard pressed to buy this one too. Unless both hood and tommyboy come over to watch, it'll be tough to justify. Just one of them and they have to split it with me. For two guests, I'll bend over backwards.

Yet another way I spend less money since Joanna departed.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 7:32 am

neat article
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mma/ne ... ?eref=sihp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:01 am

wlu_lax6 wrote:neat article
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mma/ne ... ?eref=sihp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Love it - and love that guy's hair.

Anyone else see the 30 For 30 about Duran and Leonard?

Liked it, except the arc of leonard seeking some sort of closure wore on me. But the scene when Duran looks at leonard for the first time in years was priceless. Mike Tyson said in the film that a boxer's eyes tell you all you need to know. The look on Duran's face as he faced the man who humiliated him said more than a thousand words.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 10:21 pm

Watching Pacquaio Bradley - http://goatd.net/66742/watch-manny-pacq ... hy-bradley....

Turned out to be a rout. An easy win for Pacquaio. I had it 116-112.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:36 pm

Howard, etc....?

Why I Fixed Fights

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 3:13 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote:Howard, etc....?

Why I Fixed Fights

I'll get to it over the weekend. tnx.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 4:24 pm

That is a great piece of sports journalism right there. One of the best things I've read on boxing in a decade or so.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:26 pm

Agree. A great read.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon May 12, 2014 9:38 am

I watched some kind of fight on Saturday night. WBC Heavyweight championship. Guys didn't look much like top-tier fighters...is that a lesser belt? Dude was pretty thrilled to win. Don King was there.

The fight was on ESPN I think, so clearly it wasn't the cream of the crop.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Mon May 12, 2014 9:56 am

AB_skin_test wrote:I watched some kind of fight on Saturday night. WBC Heavyweight championship. Guys didn't look much like top-tier fighters...is that a lesser belt? Dude was pretty thrilled to win. Don King was there.

The fight was on ESPN I think, so clearly it wasn't the cream of the crop.

Didn't see this fight but heard a preview for it last week. Not a lesser belt, one of the 3 main ones. Vlad Klitschko holds the other two, other Klitschko brother has retired (thus vacating this title). The Klitsckko's held all titles for 6 or 7 years I think.

Dude who won is Haitian-born living in Montreal, which has become a boxing hub over the past few years. Could this bring the heavyweight division back to North America cause it's been really a European title for a decade now.

And yes Don King, his promoter, is back in business.

Trivia: who's the last American to hold a piece of the heavyweight title?

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon May 12, 2014 11:21 am

AB_skin_test wrote:I watched some kind of fight on Saturday night. WBC Heavyweight championship. Guys didn't look much like top-tier fighters...is that a lesser belt? Dude was pretty thrilled to win. Don King was there.

The fight was on ESPN I think, so clearly it wasn't the cream of the crop.

Chris Arreola has gone from budding HBO Superstar to punch line (no pun intended) in a few short years.

As ESPN fights go, it was pretty good, but man, since Heavyweights started hitting 230+ pounds, the division is horrible to watch. Plodders one and all.

As for the last American to hold a title, I was going to guess John Ruiz, but Wikipedia says Hasim Rahman.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sun Jun 01, 2014 10:51 am

Pity those poor suckers sitting in the nose bleeds at Wembley yesterday just to be able to watch the Jumbotron.

But I think Carl Froch will be a very happy man today. He did exactly what he said he was going to do. Groves must have caught him on a really off night for the first fight.

howard · Post by **howard** » Tue Jun 10, 2014 5:52 pm

Tommyboy convinced me to shell out for a ticket for this fight. I was reluctant because I sensed a huge mismatch. Boy am I glad he convinced me. Electrifying, shocking triumph for Cotto.

I was right that it was a mismatch. But I thought Martinez would dominate the smaller and less skilled Cotto. Cotto had two huge advantages which he used to cruise to victory:

1) Speed. Cotto, at 33yo, has lost a lot of his handspeed from his prime years. And this showed in his losses to Pacquiao and Floyd his loss of speed was apparent. Well, he still has plenty, compared to Martinez at least. He was able to land at will largely because of hand speed. And Martinez, a quick, athletic middleweight, could not touch Cotto.

2) Freddie Roach as his trainer. Cotto had a simple game plan that sure bore the mark of a Freddie Roach plan (identify a glaring weakness in the opponent and exploit it from the opening bell.) Between Martinez' bad habit of holding his right hand low in his guard (Martinez fights southpaw) and Cotto's quickness and history of using a strong left hook in his career, Sergio was a sitting duck. Cotto dropped him with a hook 20 seconds into the fight, and he must've landed 30 power hooks to the head in the first five rounds. Martinez was powerless against this.

Further, Cotto's footwork was the best of his career, and his overall defense much improved, another Roach hallmark on fighters he picks up later in their careers.

If Freddie wasn't a HOF trainer previous to this bout, he is a cinch now, in my estimation. The improvement in Cotto after two camps with Freddie, and this shocking upset result, pads his resumé for all-time great consideration.

Yeah, Martinez is 39yo. But he is a young 39, far easier miles on him than Cotto's 33years. Martinez had not shown any serious effects of age until this fight. He looked plenty youthful in dismantling JC Chavez Jr (but that was 20 months ago). Well, at least he was a young 39, until Cotto floored him three times in the first round, and a fourth time late in the 9th.

Cotto was coming to prominence when I began my brief sportswriting period. I've seen most of his fights live, nearly all the New York City bouts, through his rise, his prime, his decline after the Margarito loaded gloves beatdown and his high-profile losses. This was a wonderful late success and instantly becomes one of my favorite in-person sports moments. It has been tremendous fun to watch this guy's career, and he looks like he has plenty left.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 12:12 am

Was psyched for a really good fight tonight, but instead got a two and a half round master class by Gennady Golovkin.

This guy is shockingly good - he destroyed a world class fighter tonight, seemingly without breaking a sweat. Apparently he called out Cotto after the fight, but Cotto would be nuts to face GGG unless the money was huge... which it might be.

Wow.

Video in this link - http://www.news.com.au/sport/boxing/dan ... 7003094762

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:14 am

I don't know much about boxing, but I do know that that Aussie was right to call it quits.

I also know that rounds are 3 minutes long--what the hell happened there in the first?

cerrano · Post by **cerrano** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 12:51 pm

Rex wrote:I don't know much about boxing, but I do know that that Aussie was right to call it quits.

I also know that rounds are 3 minutes long--what the hell happened there in the first?

it was really strange considering that the issue with the camera strap didn't take a whole minute.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 1:11 pm

Rex wrote:I don't know much about boxing, but I do know that that Aussie was right to call it quits.

I don't think he quit, I think the ref stopped. Either he stumbled, his eyes were unfocused (pointed in different directions) or he slurred his answer to the ref. Doesn't matter, if ever a 'no mas' was justified, that was the occasion.

I also know that rounds are 3 minutes long--what the hell happened there in the first?

That's fucking boxing (and the crew at The Garden--for all the decades of experience MSG gets a lot of little things wrong at boxing shows. Like counting to three.)

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 9:48 pm

Golden Boy Live on Fox 1 (which we get up here too) is unwatchable. It makes a typical Friday Night Fights card look like a huge PPV.

Blecch.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:01 pm

Mayweather and Maidana 2 in a couple of minutes.

Found it - http://goatd.net/88609/watch-floyd-mayw ... os-maidana

howard · Post by **howard** » Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:05 pm

Thanks, I need something to distract me from beisbol. And I ain't supporting no wife-beater with ppv cash.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:45 pm

Maidana getting whooped like AP's kid. He bit Floyd's hand, through the glove. Shit fight.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:00 pm

That was a putrid fight. Glad I didn't pay for it.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:45 am

International Amateur Boxing continues to keep the sterling reputation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ear ... -beat-her/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Post by **Shirley** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 10:52 am

wlu_lax6 wrote:International Amateur Boxing continues to keep the sterling reputation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ear ... -beat-her/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I only watched the first round, but the Indian chick was pretty dominant in my eyes. Still, that was kind of a shitty thing for her to do on the stand. It wasn't the Korean chick's fault.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 2:31 pm

Shirley wrote:
wlu_lax6 wrote:International Amateur Boxing continues to keep the sterling reputation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ear ... -beat-her/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I only watched the first round, but the Indian chick was pretty dominant in my eyes. Still, that was kind of a shitty thing for her to do on the stand. It wasn't the Korean chick's fault.

I watched it and she clearly won the first three rounds with the fourth being a tossup. Last time I'll watch women box.

But if you want to get pissed off over a fight - here's the famous Roy Jones Jr. Gold Medal bout from Seoul in 1988. It's even worse than I remembered.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 2:38 pm

Wasn't the Roy Jones fight the reason they went to that crazy 3 judges have to hit the button at the same time to score a punch landed system. What happened to that system?