I'm about as devoted a Felix "Tito" Trinidad fan as you will find outside of his home in Puerto Rico, and this despite my having arrived at the fight game well after he attained his career high marks. He was a ruinous puncher, with about as beautiful a left hook as anyone has ever had. He honed enough boxing skill to make those left hooks really, really dangerous. He fought the best boxers of his time. He was just generally great, and generally great to watch.
Trinidad had unfinished business with Roy Jones, Jr., which is why I suppose it makes sense for him to end his retirement for a January 2008 showdown with Jones. Several years ago, Jones was to be Trinidad's next opponent, just as soon as he finished mopping the floor with Bernard Hopkins in late 2001. Instead, Hopkins mopped the floor with Trinidad, and with this Felix's suspected fatal flaw -- the one that led him to the brink of defeat at the hands of Oscar De La Hoya only to be saved by some quirky ringside judges and De La Hoya's own bad decision to do nothing in the final few rounds on the thinking that he had easily won the early stanzas -- was flagrantly exposed. That is, Trinidad can't handle slick boxers, guys who have savvy and tip-top technique. Trinidad retired, un-retired for an entertaining brawl with Ricardo Mayorga, then retired again following a shutout at the hands of Winky Wright. Winky being a slick boxer. That brings us to now.
Jones is damaged goods after savage back-to-back knockouts courtesy Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson, and while his career has continued on, no longer is Jones the breathtaking once-in-a-generation athlete who could play basketball the same day of a fight; who could knock a man out a split second after strutting around with his hands behind his back; who looked so much better than everyone else he fought that winning became a bore. But Jones still, even in his diminished state, is a slick boxer.
I'm all for fighters saying "To hell with it" in the face of a dire challenge and charging straight in to see what they're made of. It's one of the traits that made Trinidad great. Certainly, if Trinidad could connect with a few of those patented left hooks, Jones could crumple into a heap. But at this stage in his career, it might have been better had Trinidad chosen a fighter for his comeback who would stand and trade blows without a lot of fancy business.
Showing posts with label tarver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tarver. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Somewhere Between The Worst Big Fight Ever And A Boxing Technician's Dream
It's remarkable, really, that Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright have the kind of names non-boxing fans might have heard. Their fight this weekend could sell pretty well because of it, but I won't be buying. I'm afraid of clawing my eyes out from boredom.
Hopkins, 42 and one of history's greatest middleweights, has made a living for the last several years patiently doing just enough to win just enough rounds to win his fights, or, in the case of his showdowns with Jermain Taylor, doing just enough to lose just enough rounds to questionably lose both bouts. He feints. He ducks. He clinches. He headbutts, hits low, holds while punching and other shady business. He periodically throws a nice right hand, the kind he used to knock people out with back when his output was less periodical, and when he wore his executioner's mask during his ring entrance more convincingly. Somehow, he did enough of what he does well to pick apart Antonio Tarver last year -- 15 pounds north of the weight class he so ably dominated -- to make for compelling entertainment. As someone who appreciates the craft of boxing in conjunction with power, speed, volume or some other multiplier, I confess to admiring Hopkins for the purity of his sweet science that night, despite finding his ring routine of late tiresome.
Wright, 35, has to his credit tried to make himself a more exciting showman than he once was. Still, he has to be the most unlikely boxer ever to win the love of the hip-hop community (you may have seen him in the video for the remix of Busta Rhymes' "Touch It," or as something of a villain and rival to Jamie Foxx for the love of a woman in the video for "DJ Play That Love Song," or even a 50 Cent video). What he does is very simple: He holds his long arms up in front of himself, with his elbows and forearms protecting his torso and his gloves protecting his face; since you can't find room between his mitts to slug him in the nose, and trying to hit his body gets you a fisftful of forearm, you have no choice but to throw looping punches around his defense; and when you do, that's when he beats you to the punch with a quick, stiff jab, followed by maybe a left cross or hook. In this way, he wins nearly every fight he's in by decision, because he has close to zero power. Doesn't sound like flashy hip-hop stuff, does it? Plus, his name is Winky! Still, as with Hopkins, it can be compelling entertainment at times. He humiliated one of my favorite all-time fighters, the much-feared Tito Trinidad, by jabbing the bejeebers out of him. Tito retired afterwards. And his decision to make himself more marketable by being less cautious led to his enjoyable, see-saw bout last year with the aforementioned Jermain Taylor, which was scored a draw.
The promoters are hyping this as a fight between the Bernard Hopkins who fought Antonio Tarver and the Winky Wright who fought Jermain Taylor. Let's hope! Otherwise, this will be the second fight this year featuring big names -- after the significantly bigger names of De La Hoya and Mayweather met -- that will fall something short of the expectations of anyone who equates both men's reputations with, well, fun television. Yet, the most fun this can get won't be terribly fun.
MY PREDICTION: I'm going to call the upset and say Winky pulls off the decision. Why? Winky's jab is going to make Hopkins work. He doesn't like to do that much these days. And it's going to land, too, because it's accurate as hell. It won't be as accurate against the maddeningly slippery Hopkins -- just accurate enough to win just enough rounds to win the fight.
CONFIDENCE: 55%. Not very brave, but I'm wavering on this one because Winky will be 10 pounds north of a division that he was a little small for anyway, fighting at 170, five pounds south of Hopkins' last match when he looked less lethargic than he had in a long while. Also, Hopkins can punch. Winky can't.
ALLEGIANCE: I don't care much for either of these fighters, but Hopkins is particularly insufferable to me with his egomania, his rule-breaking, his safety-first style and his broken promise to his dead mother that he would stop boxing by now. Winky wins my "most attractive person in a line-up of uglies" award.
Slippery sumbitch, that Bernard Hopkins. (from boxnews.com.au)
If I find out Winky will be packing semi-automatic heat, then it might be interesting enough to tune in. Also, maybe he'll have a better chance of hitting Hopkins with something. (from lasvegasgunrange.net)
UPDATE: Wright began July as the underdog; he has since become the betting favorite. Therefore, his win would not be an upset. Maybe bettors said, "Yes, Hopkins is bigger, but Wright is a sure hall-of-famer, too, and on the list of best active boxers at any weight, Wright ranks higher." Or in a fight that's close to an even pick, "Might as well throw money at the minor upset."
Hopkins, 42 and one of history's greatest middleweights, has made a living for the last several years patiently doing just enough to win just enough rounds to win his fights, or, in the case of his showdowns with Jermain Taylor, doing just enough to lose just enough rounds to questionably lose both bouts. He feints. He ducks. He clinches. He headbutts, hits low, holds while punching and other shady business. He periodically throws a nice right hand, the kind he used to knock people out with back when his output was less periodical, and when he wore his executioner's mask during his ring entrance more convincingly. Somehow, he did enough of what he does well to pick apart Antonio Tarver last year -- 15 pounds north of the weight class he so ably dominated -- to make for compelling entertainment. As someone who appreciates the craft of boxing in conjunction with power, speed, volume or some other multiplier, I confess to admiring Hopkins for the purity of his sweet science that night, despite finding his ring routine of late tiresome.
Wright, 35, has to his credit tried to make himself a more exciting showman than he once was. Still, he has to be the most unlikely boxer ever to win the love of the hip-hop community (you may have seen him in the video for the remix of Busta Rhymes' "Touch It," or as something of a villain and rival to Jamie Foxx for the love of a woman in the video for "DJ Play That Love Song," or even a 50 Cent video). What he does is very simple: He holds his long arms up in front of himself, with his elbows and forearms protecting his torso and his gloves protecting his face; since you can't find room between his mitts to slug him in the nose, and trying to hit his body gets you a fisftful of forearm, you have no choice but to throw looping punches around his defense; and when you do, that's when he beats you to the punch with a quick, stiff jab, followed by maybe a left cross or hook. In this way, he wins nearly every fight he's in by decision, because he has close to zero power. Doesn't sound like flashy hip-hop stuff, does it? Plus, his name is Winky! Still, as with Hopkins, it can be compelling entertainment at times. He humiliated one of my favorite all-time fighters, the much-feared Tito Trinidad, by jabbing the bejeebers out of him. Tito retired afterwards. And his decision to make himself more marketable by being less cautious led to his enjoyable, see-saw bout last year with the aforementioned Jermain Taylor, which was scored a draw.
The promoters are hyping this as a fight between the Bernard Hopkins who fought Antonio Tarver and the Winky Wright who fought Jermain Taylor. Let's hope! Otherwise, this will be the second fight this year featuring big names -- after the significantly bigger names of De La Hoya and Mayweather met -- that will fall something short of the expectations of anyone who equates both men's reputations with, well, fun television. Yet, the most fun this can get won't be terribly fun.
MY PREDICTION: I'm going to call the upset and say Winky pulls off the decision. Why? Winky's jab is going to make Hopkins work. He doesn't like to do that much these days. And it's going to land, too, because it's accurate as hell. It won't be as accurate against the maddeningly slippery Hopkins -- just accurate enough to win just enough rounds to win the fight.
CONFIDENCE: 55%. Not very brave, but I'm wavering on this one because Winky will be 10 pounds north of a division that he was a little small for anyway, fighting at 170, five pounds south of Hopkins' last match when he looked less lethargic than he had in a long while. Also, Hopkins can punch. Winky can't.
ALLEGIANCE: I don't care much for either of these fighters, but Hopkins is particularly insufferable to me with his egomania, his rule-breaking, his safety-first style and his broken promise to his dead mother that he would stop boxing by now. Winky wins my "most attractive person in a line-up of uglies" award.
Slippery sumbitch, that Bernard Hopkins. (from boxnews.com.au)
If I find out Winky will be packing semi-automatic heat, then it might be interesting enough to tune in. Also, maybe he'll have a better chance of hitting Hopkins with something. (from lasvegasgunrange.net)
UPDATE: Wright began July as the underdog; he has since become the betting favorite. Therefore, his win would not be an upset. Maybe bettors said, "Yes, Hopkins is bigger, but Wright is a sure hall-of-famer, too, and on the list of best active boxers at any weight, Wright ranks higher." Or in a fight that's close to an even pick, "Might as well throw money at the minor upset."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
