Boxing: Miguel Cotto vs Oktay Urkal & Marquez vs Vazquez

[TSIAS]

There's a number of good fights this weekend on both Showtime and HBO.

The HBO main event between Miguel Cotto and Oktay Urkal may be the least interesting fight of the weekend. Cotto, since getting rocked by DeMarcus Corley and Carlos Maussa, has taken the route of taking on veteran, light-punching contenders. Urkal has only about 10 KO's in 40 fights. The only fight I've seen of Urkal was against Kostya Tszyu, and he showed a lot of heart fighting along with a fractured jaw. Still, Cotto is in a class above him and should win by mid-round TKO.

The HBO co-feature could make for an epic bout. Hard-punching Edison Miranda takes on unbeaten contender Allan Green. The last time we saw Miranda he KO'd tough Willie Gibbs in one round at the Miccosukee in Miami. Green also is a big puncher as well. This may be one of the highest quality undercard bouts of the past year. I'd be interested in this fight if it were a main event. Personally, I like the bigger man Green to win by unanimous decision. If Green isn't too chinny, he should be able to dominate the hyped Miranda. But if Miranda prevails, HBO will hype him as the next great superstar.

In Showtime's main event from California, Super Bantamweights Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez face off in a 12-round tilt. Honestly, I have no idea how this fight will go. All I know is that both of these guys are exciting and it should make for a tremendous fight.

In the co-feature, Flyweight Champion Vic Darchinyan faces Victor Burgos. Don't know much about Burgos. Based on Darchinyan's record, I'd take him by late round KO.

[H2O Man]

1. A great weekend

for boxing fans. I think the most exciting of the fights is the Green vs Miranda bout.

There are also interesting fights on tonight:

TODAY - at Philadelphia (Telefutura) - 10 rounds,
bantamweights: Abner Mares (10-0, 6 KOs) vs. Robert Allanic
(15-2, 7 KOs); 10 rounds, light welterweights: Michael Stewart
(41-5-2, 23 KOs) vs. Enrique Colin (21-3-3, 19 KOs).

TODAY - at Hollywood, Florida (ESPN2) - 12 rounds,
lightweights: Nate Campbell (29-5-1, 24 KOs) vs. Ricky Quiles
(39-7-3, 8 KOs).

TODAY - at Belterra, Indiana (Showtime) - 12 rounds,
super featherweights: Elio Rojas (18-0, 13 KOs) vs Agnaldo Nunes
(17-1-1, 8 KOs); 10 rounds, welterweights: Devon Alexander
(10-0, 5 KOs) vs. Marvin Cordova Jr. (13-0-1, 9 KOs).

[H2O Man]

3. The ESPN

card has opened with an outstanding slugfest .... Woods vs Miller at middleweight.

[H2O Man]

2. I also think

it is interesting that Evander Holyfield is being called for his steroid use. There have been a couple articles in the news in the past day or so on this. I remember that Larry Holmes had said he had positive proof of Holyfield using steroids years ago, but the boxing commissions refused to deal with it.

[TSIAS]

4. I have questions about Holyfield

The rumors have been going around for years, but it's never been substantiated. I tend to think that Holy did use steroids.

The bigger embarrassment is his decision to continue his professional career. He'll take on Vinny Maddalone March 17. Unfortunately, due to the dismal state of the division, he might just get the chance to fight for another belt. His last win of the "Heavyweight Championship of the World" against John Ruiz was a complete fraud. Lewis was the real champ, but the WBA decided to strip Lewis b/c he fought Michael Grant instead of Ruiz.

[H2O Man]

5. It sounds like

they may have evidence of when he purchased steroids using a not-too-clever variation of his own name. I am curious what evidence Larry Holmes had -- Larry is an intelligent, honest man who strikes me as unlikely to have made a charge he wasn't able to back up.

I don't think anyone other than Holyfield takes his last "title" seriously. To say that John Ruiz was ever heavyweight champion is a sad joke. I think the people who promote Holyfield's fights should be arrested.

[H2O Man]

6. Showtime!

I'll watch Showtime until 9:45; turn to the HBO vard; then watch the entire Showtime card on the midnight replay.

This is a fun night to be a boxing fan!

[TSIAS]

7. There are 2 very interesting fights

Miranda/Green and Vazquez/Marquez is the class of the evening. Don't know enough about Darchinyan's opponent to have a clear idea. I'd love to be wrong, but Cotto/Urkal is a mismatch. It looks like Cotto will take on Zab Judah in June if he gets past Urkal tonight.

I'll TIVO both cards and probably watch Showtime's first. HBO has a habit of spoiling the results of Showtime's fights. The last time Cotto was fighting on Showtime, Lampley revealed the result of the fight during the telecast. HBO did the same thing with Lacy/Calzaghe from England. They should at least offer a disclaimer that they're offering spoilers. Showtime tends to better about not talking about their competition's cards on-air.

[TSIAS]

8. Just finished watching the SHO card

Darchinyan was impressive in stopping Burgos. I didn't realize that Burgos had 13 losses in his career. That's the sanctioning bodies for appointing #1 contenders.

I was impressed with Rafael Marquez stopping Israel Vazquez. Despite the knockdown in Rd3, Marquez was in control and eventually scored the KO in Rd7.

My biggest question leaving this fight is whether to purchase his brother, Juan Manuel Marquez, when he faces Marco Antonio Barrera on March 17. These are cleary two of the best fighters in the low-weight classes, but I'm not sure that they'll make for a great fight. I'd appreciate for H20 Man to make a comment on whether these two fighters will make for a $50 caliber attraction.

[H2O Man]

10. I'm not buying

that one. At very most, I'll only be buying one PPV this year -- Mayweather v Oscar. I think $50 is too much for most fights.

I enjoyed both fights. I was surprised that the announcers seemed to forget that Darchinyan had been warned for a punch to the back of the head just a moment before Burgo went down, got up, and was clearly in serious trouble. There is a reason why "rabbit punches" are illegal.

[H2O Man]

14. Burgos remains in a coma.

He had a blood clot removed from his brain, and is in a coma.

[MessiahRp]

9. My thoughts on the HBO Card

I skipped the SHOBox card because between watching a full UFC PPV and an HBO boxing special being recorded on DVR I didn't really have the ability to record a third show. I don't mind missing the Showtime card though as they tend to replay a lot during the week.

The HBO card was disappointing in so many ways.

First Allen Green disappointed me the most with his constant backpedalling and refusal to press the action. I know Miranda hits hard and charges in like a quite undisciplined boxer but if you want to win you either press the action yourself or stand your ground and score points for the scorecard. He did neither. He actually had enough power that from time to time he hurt Miranda and I totally disagreed that his knockdown was only because of crossed feet. That hook would have sent him down no matter his balance.

That said he seemed so afraid to get knocked out he went and got himself knocked out in the process. He didn't let his hands go enough to make Miranda respect his power and so Miranda charged in and landed frequently and got Green in trouble he couldn't box out of at the end. I thought the ref was not very good in letting the tape go and being so involved and I personally thought it should have been stopped at the end. Green was saved by the bell but after the first shot he took after that first knockdown I would have stopped it to save Green from the continuing beating he took.

The Urkal-Cotto fight was more of the same to me. Cotto takes on light punchers who have some name recognition to add to his record because when he gets in with hard punchers as he did with Ricardo Torres or Demarcus Corley his suspect chin shows. Urkal was a tough guy IMO, and frustrated Cotto. Did he lead a bit with his head? Sure, but Cotto was more frustrated from what I could tell by not being able to knock Urkal down and took some cheap shots to Urkal's back. Just as the ref was all over warning and deducting points from Urkay for the headbutt the back punch and lift off the canvas should have been warnings as well.

Urkal's corner throwing in the towel was the PERFECT example of why Open Scoring is a nightmare and a disasterous idea for sports. It's like an NFL team down 35-7 going into the fourth quarter being able to just quit the game because they don't think they can comeback. Fans would much rather see the losing team give their all and make it closer. And here we have a completely anticlimatic ending to the fight. Would Urkal have won? Clearly not. But giving fighters a reason to quit is stupid for the sport.

Not to say I don't understand Urkal's corner doing what they did. He was getting punched in the back by a punk with a bad attitude, taking more punishment and for what? To lose anyway? I totally understand their side.

Let's end this stupid experiment now. The last thing Boxing needs at a time when it is losing ground rapidly to MMA is another way to take the suspense out of the sport.

Oh and I liked how Dan Rafael's ESPN.com column PURPOSELY OMITTED any mention of how open scoring had anything to do with the stoppage. Nice way to make Cotto look like more of a star who did not need the help to get the KO.

Rp

[H2O Man]

11. Yep.

I thought Green looked intimidated when they traded jabs in the first, and Miranda's was landing inside his. He wasn't able to adjust .... and I think that was, in part, because of his trainer's lack of talent. It seemed like Green only tried to win in parts of four of the ten rounds.

The ref was also not very impressive. And that was apparent at the end of the fight. A ref should always command a fighter to "walk to me" after a knock-down. It's one of the most important measures of if the fighter is recovered enough to continue. Green was not commanded to do so, and I doubt he could have.

I had pointed out to my son that Miranda had hit Green with a hard punch in the 11th, and that Green was not able to move his leg. He kept looking down, and the announcers were not sure why. If you watch it again, you'll see how when Green concentrates on moving it, his foot comes up a couple inches higher than he intends. That's a temporary problem that results from a hard punch; it seemed to bother him long enough that I wondered if he had a cramp by the 10th.

I think that Cotto is good, but has some limitations -- the ones you listed. I am curious how Zab Judah will do with him? It's almost too bad that Zab was watching, my son said, because he might take it for granted he can beat Cotto.

[TroubleMan]

12. They had open scoring?

You mean that they announce publicly what the scores were after each round?

That doesn't sound like a good idea. If boxing wants to step it up they need to get rid of all the ABC orgs, and unify into one or two belts. That would be very exciting, but of course will probably never happen.

[TSIAS]

13. They announce the scores every 4 rounds

I don't think it's a solution to the problem. Open scoring has been tried off and on for years, but never picked up universally. Now, it's only the WBA organization that's experimenting with open scoring.

Too many people make money off of the alphabet belts to get rid of them. All these belts have done a great disservice to the sport. I'm a hardcore fan and I can't even name all of the various titleholders in each division. The likes of Ring Magazine and espn.com are the best sources of information about who is the true champion, and even those outlets have serious flaws.