A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qymuTb3Vo0g
Emanuel Navarrete’s performance. Christopher Diaz’s courage. Both were inspiring.
Diaz must have felt as if he was in an unfair fight Saturday in Kissimmee, Fla. Navarrete, defending his 126-pound title, appeared to be significantly bigger and stronger than Diaz. And he has those impossibly long arms, which are seemingly capable of reaching the opposition from across the ring.
Plus, as we saw, Navarrete’s chin would make countryman Julio Cesar Chavez proud. Diaz landed many flush shots but none deterred the champion.
That daunting combination of size, reach and durability – as well as Navarrete’s well-honed ability to make it all work for him – would present a serious problem for anyone between 126 and 130 pounds.
That doesn’t mean he’s unbeatable or even the best at those weights. For example, I would pick fellow featherweight titleholder Gary Russell Jr. to beat Navarrete because of his speed, skill and experience. And Leo Santa Cruz, another beltholder, is similar to Navarrete is many ways. That would be a good, competitive fight.
I like Navarrete’s attitude about future challenges. He said in so many words: “I might lose but it will never be easy for my opponent.” No doubt about that.
The same can be said of Diaz, who went down four times but never stopped trying to realize his dream of becoming a world champion. This wasn’t a fighter trying to survive. He was willing to risk it all in an effort to win and pushed Navarrete to his limits as a result.
We can’t ask more of the fighters than that.
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BAD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp6xQgi20zU
The streak has ended.
Of course, we knew Edgar Berlanga’s run of first-round knockouts wasn’t going to last his entire career. But as I was watching him fight Demond Nicholson in a scheduled eight-rounder on the Navarrete-Diaz card, a part of me was rooting for him to get his 17th opening-round stoppage to start his career.
Alas, it wasn’t to be. Nicholson, a clever veteran, had the ability and wherewithal to survive not only the first round but all eight of them. Suddenly, Berlanga seemed a lot more like the rest of we humans.
The good news is that Berlanga was about as dominating as one can be in a fight that goes the distance. The 23-year-old super middleweight contender put Nicholson down four times and won a wide decision to remain unbeaten in his young career.
More good news: First-round knockouts don’t allow fighters to learn much from the process. Berlanga might’ve grown as a fighter more on Saturday night than in his previous 16 outings combined, which will serve him well going forward.
Berlanga graded his performance a “C,” which might reflect his humility more than reality. His principal failure was his inability to find a way to take Nicholson out. However, in Berlanga’s defense, it’s difficult to stop an experienced opponent whose main goal is to survive.
Indeed, the streak is over but Berlanga remains a bad-ass.
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WORSE
https://www.instagram.com/p/CODk7OmhVN6/
Golden Boy Promotions had a rough week.
On April 17, CEO Oscar De La Hoya was a guest commentator during the Jake Paul-Ben Askren show and his behavior raised concern about his well-being. Then, six days later, Ryan Garcia, Golden Boy’s top attraction, pulled out of his fight with Javier Fortuna to tend to his mental health.
De La Hoya, whose speech pattern raised eyebrows, later said he had had a few drinks and apologized for the bizarre incident. That was good to hear. However, based on what seems to have been the Hall of Famer’s roller coaster personal life, we all wonder whether he’s still struggling.
And the fact he is planning a comeback at 48 adds to the concern. He is scheduled to return to the ring July 3 on the Triller Fight Club platform, although no opponent has been selected.
De La Hoya said that he has been in training for that fight. How does a “few drinks” fit into that equation?
Of course, Garcia’s situation is different. The lightweight contender has been open about his battles with anxiety and depression, which obviously are making it difficult for him to function.
It seems to me that he made an intelligent decision. He’s only 22. He has time to undergo treatment, learn to cope better with his challenges and then return to the ring when he’s ready.
“I hope to be back soon and am looking forward to stepping back into the ring when I am my healthiest self,” he wrote on Instagram.
Let’s hope De La Hoya and Garcia both find their healthiest selves.
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RABBIT PUNCHES
The Floyd Mayweather–Logan Paul pay-per-view exhibition is nearly finalized, Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza told Sports Illustrated. Espinoza said he doesn’t know the date but added that it’s not June 5, as reported. (Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos have a pay-per-view showdown scheduled for that date.) Those who might be expecting Logan Paul to do to Mayweather what his brother, Jake Paul, did to Ben Askren can forget it. Mayweather, even at 44 and at a 30-pound weight disadvantage, will make his raw opponent look foolish. Logan Paul has had one pro fight against a fellow YouTube personality. Why anyone would want to pay to see that is beyond me. … Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua reportedly will share most of a $150 million site fee from investors in Saudi Arabia for their anticipated title-unification showdown this summer. Great. If they can walk away with that kind of money, kudos to them. Let’s get the deal finalized, though. We’ve been talking about this fight long enough. … Vasiliy Lomachenko will make his return against Masayoki Nakatani on June 26 in Las Vegas, according to reports. Lomachenko, the former pound-for-pound king, hasn’t fought since he lost a unanimous decision and his titles to Lopez this past October. Nakatani is coming off a come-from-behind knockout of Felix Verdejo in December, which followed a one-sided decision loss to Lopez in 2019. The fight presumably will take place at 135 pounds. Some are convinced that Lomachenko has slipped considerably at 33 years old. I believe he remains a pound-for-pound-caliber fighter. We’ll see.