On a fairly slow news week, let’s see what comes out of my trembling, bulging mail sack…
“Bradley-Guerrero-Mayweather?”
Hey Paul..
My question is regarding the rumored fight between Tim Bradley and Gilroy’s Robert Guererro. Do you think that if the fight were to happen, is it too far-fetched to say the winner gets Mayweather? I think Guerrero gets Bradley on points. Look for Mayweather vs. Guerrero on Cinco de Mayo!! lol!
Junior Cuesta
I like Bradley-Guerrero, but I’d be really surprised if Mayweather fights anyone other than “Canelo” Alvarez next. The red-headed step-champion brings big money to a PPV bout and a still-developing, incomplete skill set– Perfect for Mayweather. And, for Golden Boy, a Canelo loss to Mayweather won’t be a career-killer for their guy. It’ll actually raise his stock and he’ll be able to pick up the WBC title once again when Mayweather vacates it.
As for Bradley– he’s going to be kept on a short leash by Top Rank because there’s no doubt in my mind that Pacquiao will get back to him after the Marquez fight. I’m actually surprised that Bradley’s two rumored opponents for his upcoming Miami fight on December 15 are guys like Guerrero, who fights for Golden Boy, and Andre Berto, who is managed by Al Haymon and apparently may be looking to work with Golden Boy as well.
Sorry, but if Bradley-Guerrero happens, I think Bradley takes a solid decision.
But do you know what my gut tells me? Lord help us all, but I actually think Mayweather-Pacquiao gets made in November or December of 2013.
“PEDs and the Infinite, Pointless Grandstanding”
My questions for you are:
Should there be an active body that enforces a mandatory drug testing policy for fighters wishing to be ranked/licensed….How can this be made to work?
Scott Alexander Simpson
I don’t want to steal any other writer’s self-righteous thunder, but there should absolutely be a comprehensive mandatory drug testing policy in boxing. It’s a no-brainer. Boxing, more so than any other sport, really needs it.
Currently, none of the state commission testing is adequate to really detect any of the new PEDs most likely to be used. If you’re a fighter and fail the dopey drug tests, you’re either an idiot or, possibly, innocent. Hell, I’m convinced that these commissions don’t even really want to know who is using. I’m guessing that PEDs use is even more common in boxing than some of us pessimists and skeptics think. We’d be naive to assume that the sporting world’s shadiest and least regulated major sport is cleaner than the NFL or MLB.
The real problem when it comes to drug testing revolves around how to actually employ it.
Without a real, independent, and strong sanctioning body, drug testing is like vacuuming your living room with a leaf blower. You’re just pushing the mess from one side to the other.
Confessed drug cheat, Victor Conte does perpetual victory laps around the subject and has worked to make a name for himself as the “reformed” PEDs expert. He’s certainly been pushing the services of VADA as an independent drug testing resource for boxing and, if I were more interested in the “scoop” than the reality, I might also be quick to lean heavily on his expertise and apparent good guy turn.
But…Conte has worked as a consultant to VADA, has helped form their methodology, and has ceaselessly bragged that he can get around any PEDs test. So, sorry if I’m skeptical when he directs his fighters to be tested only under VADA rules. I’m not saying that he’s doing anything shady, but I’d be a naive fool to take him at his word and even more naive to put him into any position of authority when it comes to a drug testing policy for the sport.
The real secret to reform in boxing is in getting a legitimate commission established. Everything else is pointless. For example, even when Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto got popped by VADA during their volunteer blood testing, there was no real, binding power that could legitimately sanction against them since none of the commissions were in on the process. So, nothing really was accomplished, other than helping some websites generate traffic with scandalous headlines. We’ll never know if Peterson and Berto were really using because nobody really has the authority to do anything.
Drug testing without the weight of a real commission behind it is useless, dangerous, and irresponsible.
But you won’t ever hear about legitimate reform in any of the “major” boxing sites because, as I’ve said before, these guys make most of their money from advertising sponsored by promoters and managers. As it is now, VADA and PEDs testing, in general, is a harmless little distraction that allows some writers to give the appearance of being hard-hitting and concerned. In reality, they will never push too hard for real reform because, at the end of the day, the same creeps ruining the sport are the ones allowing them to make a living as “big shot” boxing scribes.
So, to circle back a bit– First comes a real and strong national commission and then we can work out the details of drug testing. Perhaps, start with all championship fights and work from there. Don’t expect it in our lifetime, though.
“Heavyweight Blunder & No more Threesomes?”
1. Why are there no world class American heavyweights?
2. What happened to the days of trilogies, why won’t fighters fight each other more than once, excluding Marquez and Pac Man?
Todd Dunn
1. There’s some validity to the idea that the NFL, NBA, and MLB have taken their fair share of athletes away from possible boxing careers, but I don’t think that’s at the heart of the problem.
The lack of quality American heavyweights has everything to do with the fact that boxing is no longer on free network TV.
Boxing has done such a good job of isolating itself from the general public that few kids are actually growing up with any access to the sport at all. With everything tucked away on premium cable and PPV, many of the inner city kids just don’t ever see boxing. And, if you don’t see something, you never develop passion about it.
With a smaller pool of viewers and more competition from other sports, it’s only common sense that there will be fewer kids motivated to walk into boxing gyms. Unfortunately, this trend will likely continue until boxing’s power brokers figure out a way to get consistent network exposure.
2. I think we’re seeing fewer trilogies because, generally speaking, fighters are a lot more cautious about who they fight. With big money on the line and only one or two fights a year, the temptation is to get that win and run away– unless there’s a boatload of money to come back for a rematch.
Remember, in this day and age, it’s almost like a boxer has two managers– We have their actual manager, who is there to pick the easiest fight for the most money, and the promoter, who, because he’s been allowed to sign exclusive deals with specific fighters, is doing the same. Most big names have two layers of protection now. Why risk a loss in a return bout when there’s just as much money in not fighting again?
“The Skip Bayless Experience”
How did Skip Bayless get his job? I mean why? I hate him.
Jesse Kaellis
I’m not a hardcore sports fan or ESPN-watcher. Plus, I live in Mexico and there’s no Skip Bayless on ESPN Deportes. So, I had no idea who this guy was until some readers started sending me links to his absolutely ignorant ramblings on boxing.
Obviously, this guy knows nothing about the sport or, really, any fighters other than Pacquiao and Mayweather. And, even then, he only knows the cartoonish media hype issued about both fighters (i.e. Pacquiao is a humble superhero and Mayweather is a cowardly hipster).
Like a lot of mainstream sports guys, he’s absolutely ignorant when it comes to boxing. What makes him extra douchey is that he still insists on talking about it.
But, given the fact that many of the so-called boxing experts have no real first-hand knowledge of the sport and are really just gossip columnists/publicists with a phone full of contacts, we have no right to expect more from the mainstream media.
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You can email Paul at paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com or watch as he works his way to becoming boxing’s greatest erotic poet. Paul is a full member of the Burger King Kids’ Club, a born iconoclast, and an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church. He’s also a Featured Writer for the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Fox Sports, and has done work for several other fine (and not so fine) boxing websites which may or may not still owe him money.
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