Sharkie´s Week in Boxing - Mayweather vs Chavez, Sanchez vs Pacquiao, Reid vs Hill, Camacho vs Jakubowski, Friday Fights on ESPN 2, Predictions

By Frank Gonzalez

Floyd Mayweather (26-0-0-19 KO's) vs. Jesus Chavez (35-1-0-24 KO's)

12.11.01 - Floyd Mayweather defended his WBC version of the Super Featherweight Championship (130 pounds) against Jesus Chavez this past Saturday in San Francisco on HBO.

Back in May when Mayweather fought against Carlos Hernandez, Floyd revealed a potential weakness, brittle hands. Prone to tenderness serious enough that Floyd actually took an 8 count just to regroup from the pain he suffered from punching Hernandez. I wondered how healed his hands were coming into this bout with the extremely game Chavez, who was relentlessly on the attack from the first bell on. Mayweather fought economically, throwing less punches than I’m used to seeing.

Chavez dictated the tempo of the fight, chasing Mayweather around the ring with punches that were mostly blocked. Chavez looked as if he’d run out of gas by the sixth round at the pace he was going; throwing over 100 punches a round. He was also connecting at a low percentage, but on occasion he did hit Floyd, although he never did hurt the champion. His uncle Roger Mayweather, now trains Floyd, who had the most success against Chavez in the 9th round, employing a patient strategy, letting Chavez “punch himself out,” and connecting with solid combinations to Chavez’ head and body. Mayweather’s defensive technique paved the way for an effective offense.

Although Chavez was the aggressor, Mayweather was the more effective, connecting at a higher percentage, albeit a lower output. It turned out to be a good fight. Chavez furious output seemed to compromise his power. Had he been more economical in the earlier rounds, he might have had more mustard on his punches as the fight evolved and possibly even beaten the cautious Mayweather. After the punishment Chavez took in the 9th round his trainer Ronnie Shields threw in the towel. Mayweather got to escape the full test. Who knows, Chavez may have lost on points, but had he gotten lucky late in the fight…we’ll never know how this might’ve ended? Chavez showed a good chin and a ton of heart, two vital ingredients needed to beat Floyd Mayweather.

I didn’t understand the stoppage. Chavez may have lost the 9th round, but was effectively confining Mayweather style, limiting Floyd’s tendencies. With all the big upsets lately and the determination Chavez showed, I never counted him out. Unfortunately, his trainer did, citing that his fighter was being hit with too many clean shots. Mayweather has defended his 130 lb. title for the last time, remarking that he cannot make that weight anymore. He says he’s moving up to 135 lbs. where he’s looking to fight Luis Castillo and Paul Spadafora, then up to 140 lbs. and hopefully a match with Kostya Tszyu. Jesus Chavez should be moving up in weight too. Maybe they’ll meet again?

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Agapito Sanchez (33-7-1-20 KO’s) vs. Manny Pacquiao (33-2-0-24 KO’s)

At 122 lbs. the WBO’s Super Bantamweight Champion, Agapito Sanchez of the Dominican Republic, fought the IBF’s version of the same in Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines. Manny is an entertaining fighter who loves the fight game. He entered the ring with a big smile, like a kid in a candy store. He has good stamina, defense, punching power, and lots of heart. Exciting.

Agapito Sanchez stands at five foot three inches, is tenacious and often accused of using the low blow as a weapon. It can be argued that at his height, he’s always fighting facing up and that the low blows are unintentional. After the first few rounds, I was convinced they were intentional.

This fight got ugly early when Sanchez head-butted Pacquiao in the 2nd round, causing a deep gash over Pacquiao’s right eye. Manny always comes to fight though and was not going to pull a Camacho Jr. and quit, in spite of all the blood dripping into his right eye. Sanchez proceeded to low blow Pacquiao repeatedly and finally had points taken in the 3rd and again in the 4th round by veteran referee Marty Denkin. Even though Sanchez continued to low blow Pacquiao afterwards, the referee simply would not disqualify Sanchez, who was booed by the audience between rounds. Agapito should have been disqualified for his dirty tactics. The fight was stopped in the middle of the 6th round as Pacquiao’s cut bleed profusely. It was off to the wondrous world of the judges’ scorecards. I figured Pacquiao was a cinch to win the decision, considering his more effective aggressiveness! and the points taken away from Sanchez in the 3rd and 4th rounds.

HBO’s “unofficial” ringside scorer Harold Lederman scored it 58-54 for Manny Pacquiao, explaining that Sanchez won the first two but Pacquiao swept the last four. I had the same score.

The official HBO judges were Ricardo Bays, who scored it 58-54, in favor of Manny Pacquiao. Marshall Walker, who scored it 56-56 and Raul Caiz, who in spite of the two points deducted scored it 57-54 in favor of Agapito Sanchez. Neither fighter lost their title belts, which were on the line. Sniff, sniff…what’s that smell?

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Friday’s Fights on ESPN 2

Hot looking, marketing product, boxer babe Mia St. John met the canvas this week as she fought her first REAL fight. Mia was the loser of the wild punching exchange and knocked out in the 2nd round by Rolanda Andrews, who’s record wasn’t even worthy of memory. Rolanda handed Boxing’s “Cover-girl” in the tight pink outfit her first “professional” loss.

I always thought Mia would eventually have to fight a real fighter. She may be nice to look at, but fans tired of her handpicked, fixed fights. My initial suspicion about her abilities has been confirmed. In the world of women’s professional Boxing, she is a Cherry Red Corvette, without an engine. Christy Martin, the most famous women in Boxing, still wants to fight Mia in spite of her setback. Martin says it will affect her purse some but she still wants to make the fight. It scares me to imagine what Christy will do to Mia’s pretty face. Her career in Boxing is doubtful, but she may have a future as a ring girl. You know, the ones who walk around the ring in a bikini between rounds holding up a card saying what round’s coming up? It’s just a thought.

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Paul Vidoz (6-0-0-4 KO’s) vs. Nick Nurse (7-4-1-5 KO’s)

Nick Nurse, we laughed when we heard the name announced. Then the camera focused on one thick, mean looking black man from the Bronx, who looked like his car just got towed and his wife just left him. On the other side of the ring was Italy’s Paul Vidoz, tall, lanky, and bald. He was not too intimidating to look at, but he improved his record to 7 wins, 4 KO’s as he totally dominated the ineffectual Nurse, who looked like he needed a nurse after the fight. If you missed this one, don’t feel bad you didn’t miss much.

Tony Ayala (28-1-0-24 KO’s) vs. Manuel Lopez (22-2-0-10 KO’s)

This was another soft fight for Tony Ayala, who made easy work of his inferior opponent Manuel Lopez, dropping him in the first round, and then knocking him out in the 2nd round. Nothing exciting here. Ayala is a middle of the road middleweight. He seems content to fight guys at the lowest echelon of his division.

Gabriel Elizondo (9-0-0-5 KO’s) vs. Guillermo Puga (17-7-1-8 KO’s)

Up and coming Gabriel Elizondo of San Antonio Texas knocked his cream puff opponent, Guillermo Puga down in the first and out in the second. Enough said.

Irene Pacheco (25-0-0-19 KO’s) vs. Mike Trejo (27-1-2-16 KO’s)

IBF Featherweight Champion Irene Pacheco (no, she’s not a woman, she’s a man) shut out and TKO’d the inept Mike Trejo by the 4th round. Trejo, looked like he was on crack during the pre-fight interview, stumbling incoherently outside and later inside of the ring. This was Pacheco’s 3rd successful title defense. A more exciting marquee might read “Nick Nurse vs. Irene Pacheco” Too bad they aren’t in the same weight class.

Omar Davila (10-2-0-6 KO’s) vs. Danny Reyes (16-7-1-9 KO’s)

Omar Davila threw over 100 punches per round against Danny Reyes, who threw about 100 punches in the whole fight, which lasted six rounds. This sloppy match up was exciting for the San Antonio audience who rooted for their boy, Omar Davila, who won a decision he couldn’t lose anyway in his hometown, against a fighter who should have been a florist.

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Sunday’s Fights on Fox Sports Network

David Reid (17-2-0-7 KO’s) vs. Sam Hill (record unknown)

It was sad to watch David Reid get beat up by an unknown fighter. Reid, who started out professionally in 97’ as an exciting welterweight with style, has evolved into a slow, plodding, seemingly unenthusiastic fighter who should have retired after making all that money fighting Felix Trinidad, who seems to have ruined Reid.

Sam Hill, a cop from the somewhere in the south, an unknown boxer, took Reid to school, blocking most of Reid’s shots, and catching him with his own. He staggered Reid with a jab in the 9th round and knocked him down. Aaron Pryor, working Reid’s corner in place of Al Mitchell, who walked out on Reid the night before the fight. Pryor threw in the towel seeing that Reid just didn’t look right. It was sad to see. Reid is a nice guy. Whatever passion he had for Boxing seems to have evaporated after his loss to Trinidad. During the post fight interviews, Reid sounded punch drunk and unable to put sentences together without struggling. As I have said before, David Reid should retire from boxing. That would be the best thing for him at this point.

Hector Camacho Jr. (33-0-1 N.C.-18 KO’s) vs. Eric Jacubowski (21-8-0-4 KO’s)

Camacho Jr. called this “Jr. Time.” I guess that must mean it’s Chicken time. Considering Camacho Jr.’s recent image problems, I would say the only fight he should be taking is the rematch with Jesse James Leijas, who he fought last July. Although Leijas suffered a head butt in the 1st round of that fight, he continued. Later in that fight, Hector “not-so-Macho” Camacho Jr. was head butted in the 5th round and opted to quit, citing blurry vision in a controversial bout that saw Camacho awarded the win from the judges’ cards in a fight most who follow Boxing agree, he was not winning. That unrealistic ruling was overturned by the New York State Athletic Commission and was ruled a “No Contest.” Camacho Jr. was then scorned by just about everyone in Boxing as being a quitter. The media went to town on him. The Ring Magazine openly called him a coward.

Jr. played up his “injury” and after many months of recovering, opted out of a rematch with Jesse James Leijas. Instead, he took a fight with low-level journeyman Eric Jacubowski, who was notified of the match up only a week before its schedule. The awkward Jacubowski fought as poorly as expected. Brave of Jr. to take on an easy opponent who had only one week to prepare for the fight. Camacho Jr. is a guy who built his resume on handpicked, creampuff opponents and yet is ranked #1 with the WBA, and #3 with the IBF. Hey, what is that smell?

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Predictions For Next Week:

I don’t really care who wins between Mount “Goofi” Whitaker and Jameel McCline. I expect Whitaker to win by going the distance in a boring fight that will be decided by slippery judges. Neither of these guys is exciting. Anyone who calls himself “Goofi” just doesn’t instill confidence. And knocking out Michael Grant is hardly a barometer for greatness, which is McCline’s only claim to fame.

I think Wladimir Klitschko should beat the hell out of David Izon, who was once stopped by Michael Grant in the 5th round. I say Klitschko in 2 by KO.

I expect Lennox Lewis to be in tip-top shape for this rematch with Hasim Rahman, who surprised everyone by knocking Lewis out in their first fight, which was supposed to be a “tune up” fight for Lewis at the time. Lewis took Rahman lightly then, but he won’t make that mistake again. Look for Lewis to out box Rahman, and use his long jab and overhand right to redeem himself with a convincing win, probably even a knock out over current World Champion, Hasim Rahman. If Lewis loses, he should retire immediately.

Until next time, enjoy all your favorite sports.

Sharkie