Boxing: July 14-19, 2008

[H2O Man]

July 16 - 19, 2008 (All bouts subject to change)

WEDNESDAY - at San Antonio, Texas (ESPN2) - 12 rounds, welterweights: Delvin Rodriguez (22-2-1, 13 KOs) vs. Oscar Diaz (26-2, 12 KOs); 10 rounds, welterweights: Terrance Cauthen (32-4, 9 KOs) vs. Alexis Camacho (16-0, 15 KOs).

WEDNESDAY - at Temecula, California (FoxSports Net) - 12 rounds, heavyweights: James Toney (70-6-3, 43 KOs) vs. Hasim Rahman (45-6-2, 36 KOs).

FRIDAY - at Houston - 12 rounds, light middleweights: Hector Camacho (78-5-2, 37 KOs) vs. Perry Ballard (20-1, 15 KOs).

FRIDAY - at Tucson, Arizona (TeleFutura) - 12 rounds, welterweights: Freddy Hernandez (23-1, 17 KOs) vs. Edvan Dos Santos Barros (9-5-1, 7 KOs).

FRIDAY - at Primm, Nevada (ESPN2) - 10 rounds, super featherweights: Yuriorkis Gamboa (10-0, 8 KOs) vs. Jose Rojas (25-6-1, 17 KOs); 10 rounds, light middleweights: Richard Gutierrez (24-2, 14 KOs) vs. Don Futrell (21-3-2, 10 KOs).

SATURDAY - at Limerick, Ireland - 10 rounds, middleweights: Andy Lee (15-1, 12 KOs) vs. Willie Gibbs (20-3, 16 KOs); 10 rounds, light welterweights: Paul McCloskey (16-0 7 KOs) vs. Nigel Wright (18-3-1, 9 KOs).

SATURDAY - at Cebu City, Philippines - 12 rounds, bantamweights: Getty Penalosa (53-6-2, 36 KOs) vs. Isidro Garcia (25-4-2, 8 KOs).

This is a strange week for the sport of boxing. ESPN’s WNF and FNF cards good fighters in what appear to be competitive matches. But one cannot help but notice two fights that probably should not have been made.

The first is the unawaited return match between James "Lights Out" Toney and Hasim Rahman. The two "fought" to a disputed draw in March, ’06. Toney has only had two wins in his last six fights, most recently a May, ’07 split decision over Danny Blotchelder.

Rahman lost his next fight after the draw, being TKOed in 12 by Oleg Maskaev. He has won four fights since then, including three by TKO. His weight has been more in these come-back fights than before; while he used to enter the ring in the 230s, he has been as high as 261 pounds.

The fight, which will be carried on Fox Sports, is being promoted in two ways: first, as the end of the road for the loser; and second, as possibly qualifying the winner for a title bout. There is also talk of the winner fighting David Haye in his first bout in the heavyweight division.

On Friday, there is even a stranger fight in Houston, between Hector Camacho and Perry Ballard. It is Hector Camacho, Sr., the 46-year old ex-boxer who was in his prime in 1990-91. Hector appears to have been released from his recent incarceration earlier than expected. I know that his attorney had been focused on defending the burglary charges by focusing on his diminished mental capacity. Although there were questions about if the state commission would allow the bout to take place, it still appears on the schedule. Sad. Hector’s last two fights were in ’04 and ’05.

Perry Ballard might be confused as a quality fighter, if one glances at his 20-1 record, which includes 15 knockout victories. He has held the WBE welterweight "title," and is the current WBE junior middleweight "champion." What is the WBE, you ask? It is the type of organization that provides "titles" to fighters like Perry Ballard.

Nine of Perry’s fights were against opponents with zero wins on their records, including a victory over 0-21 Doug Davis. A year later, he beat Davis again, making him 0-23. Ballard also has two wins over an opponent with 78 loses (and 23 wins); and two over a fellow who was 14-38.

The Camacho vs Ballard fight does not appear to be on any television station. I am thinking it is not likely to be a PPV fight.

Thank goodness for ESPN. It will be worth watching both of their fight cards this week. Next week, of course, will be a summer highlight, when Cotto and Margarito fight.

[H2O Man]

1. Toney wins.

Curious ending: Rahman won a rather boring first round; Toney found his range in the second; in the third, Toney began to take Rahman apart. Then there was a clash of heads, which opened a cut over Rahman's eye.

There was blood running into his eye, but it appeared that he wanted out of the fight. He did not allow his corner time to even try to stop the bleeding. Instead, he said he couldn't see. The doctor looked at the cut, and Rahman told him he couldn't see out of that eye. The doctor told the referee that Rahman was unabled to fight, and the referee stopped it.

It was obvious that Rahman wanted to have it end before the conclusion of the next round: that way, it could have been a "no contest," rather than going to the score cards. But the doctor did not make his decision based on the cut, but entirely on Rahman's statements. This caused some confusion, including with the announcers, who appeared to believe the doctor had the authority to stop the fight.

After a couple moments, the fight was awarded to Toney, by TKO. Rahman's behavior after that showed that he was looking for the "no contest." He qualified the extent of his problem, by saying he couldn't see well out of the eye. (This compared poorly to the opening ESPN WNF, where a clash of heads caused cuts on both fighters. Neither used it as an excuse.) I think that Toney would have TKOed Rahman within two or three more rounds, at most, without the cut. It is obvious that Rahman has little left, and can only compete against opponents who are one step above club fighters.

Toney may be fighting David Haye next. It should show how well Haye can compete in the heavyweight division.

A reminder: ESPN's FNF features Yuriorkis Gamboa (10-0, 8 KOs), one of the fighters who makes the lighter weight classes the most exciting in the sport. He is definitely worth watching.

[H2O Man]

2. Oscar Diaz seriously injured .....

SAN ANTONIO (AP)—Welterweight Oscar Diaz spent the night in surgery after collapsing between rounds of a nationally televised bout in his hometown.

The 25-year-old was taking a beating from Delvin Rodriguez on Wednesday night at San Antonio’s Municipal Auditorium when he collapsed on his stool at the beginning of the 11th round.

Referees stopped the fight and doctors jumped into the ring to attend to Diaz. He was placed on a stretcher and taken to University Hospital. Dr. Wayne Lee, a ringside physician, said Diaz was unconscious and unresponsive but was breathing on his own and had a blood pressure.

Promoter Donna Brooks told the San Antonio Express-News that Diaz was to have surgery overnight for suspected bleeding in his brain.

Hospital spokeswoman Leni Kirkman had no new information on the 5-foot-10, 147-pound fighter Thursday morning.

(Note: Come on, Oscar Diaz. Please make it through this.)

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

3. That was scary - I hope he pulls through fine

He seemed to be slowing down in the last round and just following Rodriguez around without punching. Something didn't look right. Then he just collapsed to the floor as he emitted a loud low raspy sound in his throat. I thought it was a death rattle, it was such an ugly sound. I hope he's allright but brain surgery is not good news. Supposedly, he had a real tough fight against Golden Johnson a few fights back where he took a lot of punishment and he took a lot of clean shots to the head in this fight as well. I'm keeping him in my thoughts and hoping he regains consciousness.

EDIT TO ADD:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3492875

It looks like he came through surgery but is still in critical condition. but doctors saw movement in his arms during the operation.

"..."They had to remove the left side of his cranium in order to help the swelling go down, which apparently was very bad," Katz said. "He had a subdural hematoma , which was taken care of. During surgery, he apparently showed movement in his arms and his brain pressure was very good, according to the doctor."

Diaz was under heavy sedation following the operation, but was not in a medically induced coma, Katz said. ..."

[H2O Man]

4. He was getting hit,

and the fight was getting one-sided, as you said, in the last round.

The moan he made was haunting. I had been hoping to read that everything had turned out okay this morning.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

5. Oscar Diaz' doctor said he will most likely survive

The doctor who performed brain surgery on boxer Oscar Diaz stated that his patient will most likely remain in critical condition and in a coma over the next couple of weeks but that he should ultimately recover, although he may never lead a normal life again.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gAuFzrjcrfd8fl544mHbM9sBKFiwD920I4500

"...SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Welterweight boxer Oscar Diaz remains in critical but stable condition two days after collapsing during a fight, but the doctor who performed surgery on him said he should survive.

Dr. David Jimenez said Diaz is still in a coma, but that is to be expected after a severe brain injury. "Overall, I think ultimately he should survive the injury and should recover," Jimenez said.

But Jimenez said it's too early to tell whether the 25-year-old Diaz, who collapsed before the 11th round of the televised USBA welterweight championship fight Wednesday night, will be able to lead a normal life. ..."