DSP Boxing thread. Ding! Ding!

[pk500]

I love boxers. Your Nick Charles quote says it all. That is mostly what drives me nuts about decisions like those.

Ah, the late, great Nick Charles. Missed him more than ever last night on the Showtime broadcast.

[pk500]

If the Haye-Klitschko snoozefest or the Williams-Lara travesty of the last two weekends have turned you even further away from boxing, take 45 minutes to watch the replay of the ESPN "Friday Night Fights" main event from last Friday, July 15, between Pawel Wolak and Delvin Rodriguez on ESPN3.

This fight will bring you back to the sweet science. I watch anywhere between two to five fights per week, and this was the best fight I've seen in 2011.

Seriously worth your time. All courage. All heart. Great sporting entertainment.

[Rodster]

I'm shocked PK has not mentioned the Mayweather vs Ortiz fight tomorrow night.

[pk500]

I'm shocked PK has not mentioned the Mayweather vs Ortiz fight tomorrow night.

Trust me, I have talked about it quite a bit -- in the comments section of posts at the best boxing blog on the Web:

http://queensberry-rules.com/2011-artic ... ction.html

No sense in wasting my time talking about boxing here, where no one cares. Unlike Billy Idol, I try to avoid dancing with myself.

[Rodster]

So the ref favors PBF tactics, lovely

[pk500]

So the ref favors PBF tactics, lovely

Irrelevant. Joe Cortez is too meddlesome and past his prime, but Ortiz has as much of a chance of victory with or without Cortez as the third man in the ring as Congress does of balancing the Federal budget by next Friday.

Or as Don King used to say, "His chances are slim and none, and slim just left the room."

[Rodster]

Since no one talks boxing here I was listening to the video clip on ESPN. Teddy Atlas thinks Ortiz might have a shot if he's not to predictable much like Mosley when he caught PBF. Every one thinks it's PBF's fight to lose and boy would I love to see him lose.

Where's Manny?

[pk500]

Since no one talks boxing here I was listening to the video clip on ESPN. Teddy Atlas thinks Ortiz might have a shot if he's not to predictable much like Mosley when he caught PBF. Every one thinks it's PBF's fight to lose and boy would I love to see him lose.

Where's Manny?

Pacquiao is completing his trilogy with Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12. But this fight will be much more lopsided than the first two, which Marquez arguably won, because the fight is taking place at 147 instead of 126 and 130. Marquez is terrible at welterweight -- just look at his poor performance against Mayweather.

Atlas is just trying to gin up this fight. Ortiz has little to no chance. Yes, Hatton and Mosley both caught Mayweather with strong shots in the early rounds. And Floyd made almost instant adjustments to his strategy that flummoxed both and turned the tide of the fight.

Money will do the same thing tonight if Ortiz hits him early. Money has more defensive dimensions than any fighter this generation. He is the best defensive boxer since Sweet Pea Whitaker. He has a Plan C, D and E when most fighters barely can muster a Plan B.

Mayweather in an ninth-round TKO when Danny Garcia won't let Ortiz leave his stool for the ninth round due to accumulation of punishment from Floyd's potent counter rights -- Ortiz is a southpaw, which always are vulnerable to right hands -- and pot shots.

I'm actually more interested to see the evolution of Canelo and the fight between Josesito Lopez and Jessie Vargas on the undercard than I am the main event. Too bad Lucas Matthyshe got sick in the last couple of weeks, as his bout against the legendary Erik Morales probably would have been the best fight of the night on this card. Now Morales is fighting some kid slotted in the card on one week's notice.

[Rodster]

Love the Ortiz head butt followed by the hit em when they ain't looking. What the hell was Ortiz doing looking over at the ref? I had no problem with PBF clocking Ortiz.

[pk500]

Love the Ortiz head butt followed by the hit em when they ain't looking. What the hell was Ortiz doing looking over at the ref? I had no problem with PBF clocking Ortiz.

Mayweather's KO combination was 100 percent legal. Maybe dubious ethically, but legal.

The final instruction by every ref in ANY bout -- from local amateurs to a PPV extravaganza -- is "protect yourself at all times." Ortiz did not.

Joe Cortez clearly said, "Let's go," and clapped his hands together to signal the end of the timeout due to the point deduction on Ortiz for head-butting. But Cortez NEVER should have taken his eye off the fighters at such a flashpoint in the fight.

People shouldn't be angry at Floyd Mayweather. He levied a legal, if dubious, response to a blatant headbutt. People should be PISSED at Joe Cortez, a Hall of Fame referee whose skills are so badly eroded that he shouldn't be allowed anywhere inside the ropes again in a fight of this magnitude.

[Rodster]

Yeah I agree. I don't and can't blame Mayweather for what he did. Was it classy? NO, but it was legal. At the end of the interview with Ortiz, he said lesson learned. The guy tried to hurt Floyd with an intentional head butt.

I don't know but seeing Tyson at the fight just brought back memories about the Tyson v Holyfield fight.

[Diablo25]

It was gutless. Legal? I guess, but gutless. You can see Mayweather sneak a peak at Cortez right before he throws the combo. Cortez needs to be handed his walking papers. Bullshit ending to the fight. Ortiz's headbutt was s*** too. I would demand my money back if I paid for the PPV. My opinion.

[greggsand]

It seemed legal & very opportunistic, but another black eye on boxing PPV. I was in a room full of people screaming "money back". If this fight was on cable or "gasp" network TV, it would have people dying for a rematch(maybe even this time on PPV!), but now it's like "we won't get fooled again" (but eh, we probably will)...

There wasn't anyone in the room that thought mayweather would lose, why not show it to the world & save the good ones for PPV?

[Jackdog]

It was gutless. Legal? I guess, but gutless. You can see Mayweather sneak a peak at Cortez right before he throws the combo. Cortez needs to be handed his walking papers. Bullshit ending to the fight. Ortiz's headbutt was s*** too. I would demand my money back if I paid for the PPV. My opinion.

Jim lampley said it best. Yes the shot was legal, but if Floyd really is better than Ray Robinson (as he frequently says) than he should not have to resort to such tactics to win. He would have put on a dominating performance which would silence critics and put pressure on Manny to take the fight/test. Mayweather doesn't have that in him. He's a hypocrite. Anyone that's watched a few of his fights knows he has no business crying about an attempted headbutt. He throws elbows like jabs. Floyd looked good in the four rounds, but Ortiz did have him sweating in a few spots. At the end of the day Floyd gets another win but loses fans in the process. I've never liked Mayweather. I can't pull for a man that beats women.

Cortez is a joke. Always has been. The fact he didn't make eye contact with these guys after all the s*** went down tells you all you need to know about the guy. This type of ending wouldn't have happened under a good referee's watch. Fighting fans miss ya Mills.

If you haven't seen this,enjoy. I don't agree with Larry Merchant 80% of the time. This falls in the 20% that I do.

[Diablo25]

It was gutless. Legal? I guess, but gutless. You can see Mayweather sneak a peak at Cortez right before he throws the combo. Cortez needs to be handed his walking papers. Bullshit ending to the fight. Ortiz's headbutt was s*** too. I would demand my money back if I paid for the PPV. My opinion.

Jim lampley said it best. Yes the shot was legal, but if Floyd really is better than Ray Robinson (as he frequently says) than he should not have to resort to such tactics to win. He would have put on a dominating performance which would silence critics and put pressure on Manny to take the fight/test. Mayweather doesn't have that in him. He's a hypocrite. Anyone that's watched a few of his fights knows he has no business crying about an attempted headbutt. He throws elbows like jabs. Floyd looked good in the four rounds, but Ortiz did have him sweating in a few spots. At the end of the day Floyd gets another win but loses fans in the process. I've never liked Mayweather. I can't pull for a man that beats women.

Cortez is a joke. Always has been. The fact he didn't make eye contact with these guys after all the s*** went down tells you all you need to know about the guy. This type of ending wouldn't have happened under a good referee's watch. Fighting fans miss ya Mills.

If you haven't seen this,enjoy. I don't agree with Larry Merchant 80% of the time. This falls in the 20% that I do.

Well put. I'm not a Merchant guy either but I did like that he shot back at him.

All I know is if I paid $50+ for that fight I would be irate at "Money" Mayweather's tactics.

[Rodster]

Cortez is a joke. Always has been. The fact he didn't make eye contact with these guys after all the s*** went down tells you all you need to know about the guy. This type of ending wouldn't have happened under a good referee's watch. Fighting fans miss ya Mills.

Yeah if anyone gets the blame here is Cortez. The guy should have controlled the situation better. It got out of control and looked like a staged WWF wrestling match where the wrestler does something dirty while the ref is looking away.

But all said and done it was a Hines Ward moment but the knockout blows were legal. But if he was the better fighter like you said he should have punished Ortiz after the headbutt incident.

[toonarmy]

Not sure how anyone can take pro boxing seriously as a sport any more. In the 1970s and 1980s boxing was 70% sport and 30% spectacle. Now that ratio has been reversed. People who think the results of a significant number of boxing matches are not fixed and crooked are like the toothless morons you see at WWE matches thinking their favorite wrestler really is "gettin' dun wrong." And, yes, I realize there has always been crookedness to some degree in boxing, however it's a total infestation today. It's ashamed too, because pro boxing used to actually be compelling and fun to follow.

[F308GTB]

Not sure how anyone can take pro boxing seriously as a sport any more. In the 1970s and 1980s boxing was 70% sport and 30% spectacle. Now that ratio has been reversed. People who think the results of a significant number of boxing matches are not fixed and crooked are like the toothless morons you see at WWE matches thinking their favorite wrestler really is "gettin' dun wrong." And, yes, I realize there has always been crookedness to some degree in boxing, however it's a total infestation today. It's ashamed too, because pro boxing used to actually be compelling and fun to follow.

Haven't watched any title bouts since the late 80s/early 90s but have caught the (very) occasional fights on ESPN weekday telecasts over the years. I stopped taking the sport seriously once PPV became so incredibly huge. To me it's a sham sport, which is a shame since at its base level it's one of the most basic sports on the planet. I used to watch boxing all the time as a kid on Wide World of Sports, HBO, Showtime, etc.

[10spro]

Joe Cortez clearly said, 'Let's go' as he signals the end of the timeout, after making sure that Ortiz would be penalized a point. But he should have never taken his eye off the fighters at such a crucial moment in the fight. Legal blow with a cheap feeling all over it.

You can't agree with Merchant all the time, but I did wish he was 50 years younger. Never liked Mayweather, but I do appreciate his boxing skills and considering he was off for awhile, he looked good.

What boxing needs is a Pacquaio-Floyd fight.

[backbreaker]

Selective Memory going on in here. What do I mean? well when floyd fought Moseley, the same exact thing occurred on the break. The ref said fight Moseley had his hands by his side and floyd popped him, and he immediately put his hands up and started talking to floyd. So you see the headbutt had nothing to do with it, Moseley didn't protect himself and got popped the same for ortiz.

Let's see the ref said time in, Ortiz and floyd had tapped and hugged already. Its time to fight. Ortiz got popped and looked at the ref to save him instead of putting his hands up in a defensive posture.

Floyd was dominating the fight anyway, Ortiz flailing around getting credit for punches not landing. The fight was EASY WORK for floyd.

Calling the man a cheap shot artist and a sucker puncher, classless is crazy talk.

[Rodster]

I gotta disagree. It was classless on the part of both boxers. Ortiz was getting schooled and decided to take a page out of the Mike Tyson "i'll show him" play book. It was even more classless on Mayweather's part because he's arguably one of the best ever and is a future Hall of Famer.

Mayweather had been given the opportunity to rise above it and could have schooled the guy even more. Nope he took the easy way out and clocked him while he wasn't looking. Mayweather is not a likable character but had an opportunity to make the case to the boxing world and public if he had chosen option B and just beat the guy silly while he was looking. I think more would have had respected Floyd and sympathized with him when Ortiz did the classless and illegal thing by head butting him.

Choosing option A for who many consider the best boxer in the world and a HOF was the easy way out.

[pk500]

Not sure how anyone can take pro boxing seriously as a sport any more. In the 1970s and 1980s boxing was 70% sport and 30% spectacle. Now that ratio has been reversed. People who think the results of a significant number of boxing matches are not fixed and crooked are like the toothless morons you see at WWE matches thinking their favorite wrestler really is "gettin' dun wrong." And, yes, I realize there has always been crookedness to some degree in boxing, however it's a total infestation today. It's ashamed too, because pro boxing used to actually be compelling and fun to follow.

Explain to me how this fight was fixed or crooked. I'm all ears and eyes. You would have a point if Ortiz was winning, but he was not. So your point is just a continuation of one of the lazy arguments against boxing. I'm surprised you didn't toss a bouquet toward MMA -- then you would have hit the cliched "boxing is dead" daily double.

The result of this fight was due to questionable ethics by Mayweather and gross ineptitude by Cortez, not by any sort of fix.

[pk500]

Selective Memory going on in here. What do I mean? well when floyd fought Moseley, the same exact thing occurred on the break. The ref said fight Moseley had his hands by his side and floyd popped him, and he immediately put his hands up and started talking to floyd. So you see the headbutt had nothing to do with it, Moseley didn't protect himself and got popped the same for ortiz.

Let's see the ref said time in, Ortiz and floyd had tapped and hugged already. Its time to fight. Ortiz got popped and looked at the ref to save him instead of putting his hands up in a defensive posture.

Floyd was dominating the fight anyway, Ortiz flailing around getting credit for punches not landing. The fight was EASY WORK for floyd.

Calling the man a cheap shot artist and a sucker puncher, classless is crazy talk.

Anyone who has followed Floyd's career shouldn't be surprised by his tactics. He hit Judah on the break during their fight and used his elbows repeatedly to hit Hatton. The guy is a rough-and-tumble fighter in a rugged business.

[toonarmy]

Not sure how anyone can take pro boxing seriously as a sport any more. In the 1970s and 1980s boxing was 70% sport and 30% spectacle. Now that ratio has been reversed. People who think the results of a significant number of boxing matches are not fixed and crooked are like the toothless morons you see at WWE matches thinking their favorite wrestler really is "gettin' dun wrong." And, yes, I realize there has always been crookedness to some degree in boxing, however it's a total infestation today. It's ashamed too, because pro boxing used to actually be compelling and fun to follow.

Explain to me how this fight was fixed or crooked. I'm all ears and eyes. You would have a point if Ortiz was winning, but he was not. So your point is just a continuation of one of the lazy arguments against boxing. I'm surprised you didn't toss a bouquet toward MMA -- then you would have hit the cliched "boxing is dead" daily double.

The result of this fight was due to questionable ethics by Mayweather and gross ineptitude by Cortez, not by any sort of fix.

Yeah, refs have nothing to do with boxing matches. There is no defending what took place night -- none. Maybe the ref got distracted last night by the ghost of the Lovely Elizabeth.

[pk500]

Yeah, refs have nothing to do with boxing matches. There is no defending what took place night -- none. Maybe the ref got distracted last night by the ghost of the Lovely Elizabeth.

If you knew anything about the recent trend of fights officiated by Joe Cortez, you would know that his ineptitude has become about as ubiquitous as blood droplets on the canvas. Cortez also is 66 years old, far too old to officiate such major bouts.

But I won't let reality of the gross erosion of Cortez's skills as an official ruin your little fantasy.