Welcome to Magno’s Monday Rant, the boxing column that worries more about the truth than about giving “props” to its “peeps” on Twitter.
If your computer is smelling a little like vinegar, it’s because this is a special douche bag edition of The Rant. Frankly, we could be doing this each week with the level of pond scum generally floating in and around the sport, but sometimes you just have to talk about other things. Today, though, I gave myself permission to lift up that boxing rock and stare at all the creepie-crawlies underneath. So, without further delay:
— WBC President for Life, Jose Sulaiman was recently the subject of a mock trial on Mexican TV over his appointment of the upcoming Saul Alvarez-Matthew Hatton contest as a world title bout in the jr. middleweight division. Presenting the case against “Don” Sulaiman were two boxing figures of the most-definite “non-douche” persuasion: Juan Manuel Marquez and trainer Nacho Beristain, who did their best to get in the occasional word over the gas-bagging from the bloated mound of sludge himself who is, more and more, taking the form of some sort of distorted, ghoulish muppet.
Despite repeatedly passing the buck and insisting the decision was mandated to him from the championship committee, Sulaiman eventually insisted that the Alvarez decision was one where he did intervene because of his “obligation as a Mexican is to provide opportunities for Mexicans.”
I wonder how that makes the American, Russian, Czech, Brit, Puerto Rican, and Cuban currently ranked by the WBC feel. Hell, I wonder how Alfredo Angulo, who is ranked #2 by the WBC and is Mexican, feels about all of this. Could it be that Sulaiman’s patriotism ends where Angulo’s canceled HBO paydays begin? Could Sulaiman be more transparently douchey?
But that wasn’t even the sleaziest thing from Sulaiman that night. The troll would actually try to claim the moral high ground by insisting that he’s simply a vessel for the boxing public:
“The WBC decided that Canelo is #1 in the world and whoever doesn’t believe it, settle it with him. It’s one thing to hear the opinion of fighters and trainers, but the fans are the ones who call the shots. It’s the fans who support Canelo. the public is with Canelo and we have to be with Canelo. We don’t commit injustices. We have to support Mexican fighters. We are providing a service to the sport. We’re not doing anything wrong and we know the fight will fill the arena.”
–On that same broadcast, Oscar De la Hoya was present to support his fighter and the match-up, but would only serve to embarrass himself, his fighter, and the entire sport. It would’ve been less of an embarrassment if Oscar had showed up doing the Macarena as his fishnet-wearing alter ego, “Goldie.”
This is what the head of Golden Boy Promotions had to say:
“The WBC knows what it’s doing. It’s not Sulaiman’s word alone. It’s a committee of experts that votes. We know this will be a great fight. We never know who is going to win in this sport. Matthew Hatton is a great fighter…Strong…he’s changed his style and matured…he’s STRONG. This is a very dangerous fight because this is Hatton’s chance. And Hatton is very deserving.”
— And here’s a great big middle finger to the Nebraska boxing commission for sanctioning Antwun Echols’ debut at cruiserweight last Saturday on the DeMarco-Sanchez undercard. Echols, a former world title challenger at middleweight and super middleweight who has just one victory since 2004, is on a Parkinson’s-inducing 1-9 binge with 6 stoppage losses in his last 10. By the way, Echols was stopped in 3 rounds by Alejandro Berrio on Saturday.
— Congrats to Brandon Rios for an outstanding performance against a tough Miguel Acosta on Saturday, but let’s get this straight…and I hope other websites are reading this… Juan Manuel Marquez is the WORLD champ at 135. Rios simply won some belt the WBA made in order to get another sanctioning fee. Hell, Rios isn’t even the real champ of his own sanctioning body. I don’t want to take anything away from Rios, but let’s not diminish Marquez, either.
— I love the recent attention paid to mismatches in the sport and I whole-heartedly support more members of the media putting down their free media lunches in order to write about something worthwhile, but unless they are willing to do this all the time, their selective singling out of specific cases screams “Douche Bag.”
Old stalker and Facebook/Message Board antagonizer, Gabriel Montoya of MaxBoxing, has recently attempted to gain some “street cred” by reporting on Golden Boy mismatches, but has demonstrated real short-term memory lapses when it comes to his own interview subjects.
In a recent interview with prospect Gary Russell Jr. that could’ve easily made it into the pages of Penthouse Forum because of its lovingly intimate tone, Montoya made no mention of the shocking mismatches in Russell’s recent resume, even when Russell, himself, seemed somewhat apologetic about the level of his opposition. (In his last 6 fights, these are the recent records of fighters coming into their contest with Russell: Viloria– 3-6, De Leon– 1-9, Villanueva– 9-2 (against horrid opposition), Pastrana– 1-7, Aranda– 1-8-1, and Diaz– 1-18-1)
The thing about being “real” is that you have to do it all the time and not make exceptions for those who are nice to you. You run the risk of being called an asshole, but it sure beats being a douche.
— Here’s my turn to be a bit of a self-indulgent douche bag myself, but what the hell:
If you haven’t done so already, please check out Boxing’s Hot 100 feature right here on The Boxing Tribune. It’s the closest boxing will come to a Q Score and it’s an interesting study of who are and who aren’t some of boxing’s biggest names throughout the world and in seven specific countries.
Ok, then….that’s all for this week. Keep checking in for some outstanding reading material here from The Independent Media. See y’all later.
You can email Paul at paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com and catch him at The Mandarin House Buffet every Sunday in Ciudad Hidalgo, Michoacan, Mexico where he can be found ogling the waitresses and sweet talking them into getting free dinner rolls. Paul is a full member of the Burger King Kids’ Club and an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church.
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