Weekend Wrap-Up April 3rd
by Mike Hanson
I’ll start with the best fight of the weekend and the one that wasn’t on TV. David Haye fought a good fight stopping John Ruiz in the 9th round over in Manchester. In the days of internet it is pretty easy to find a feed to watch fights from the UK or Germany. As I sat and watched this it really made me wish Haye had come up to the heavyweight division and kept his mouth shut. This is a guy you could root for if he hadn’t of talked a big game about the Klitschko’s and then back out of a signed contract to fight Wlad and a verbal agreement to fight Vitali. Saturday night Haye dominated John Ruiz. Ruiz was once a solid fighter but his best days are at least 5 years behind him. Haye fans will make this out to be something incredible but realistically it was a solid performance against a poor fighter. The straight right hand that dropped Ruiz in the first round was a thing of beauty but Haye will struggle to win against prime fighters when he fights only about 30 seconds of each round.
Friday night we had a good fight on ESPN Friday Night Fights. Delvin Rodriguez and Mike Aranoutis both came into the fight needing to win to stay relevant and they fought like it. Aranoutis was aggressive the whole night but Rodriguez’s superior skill won the fight. On the under card we were forced to watch Demetrius Andrade continue to fight poorly against bad boxers. You heard it hear first, Andrade gets knocked cold the first time he steps up the competition. He is a prime example on why American Olympic Boxing is in the dumper.
Friday night we also got to see Cuban Olympian Erislandy Lara continue his way to the top. He outpointed tough veteran Danny Perez for his 11th win. People I have talked to seem upset it went the distance but Perez has never been stopped not even in two fights with Antonio “Hands of Plaster” Margarito. Lara reminds me a lot of Chad Dawson. He will have his detractors because he doesn’t push for the stoppage but he will keep on winning. The opening bout on Shobox was an impressive performance by up and comer Carlos Ivan Velasquez as he scored a 4th round stoppage over Ira Terry. Velasquez is ready to step it up.
Speaking of stepping up, two fighters on FSN Saturday night are also ready to do so now. Mike Alvarado, in his first fight in 11 months, demolished Lenin Arroyo in two rounds. Alvarado had a short vacation courtesy of the Colorado Penal System, but claimed his issues are behind him and he is ready to fight Top 10 Junior Welterweights. His actions backed up his words. I will be looking forward to his next fight. In the Main Event, Mikey Garcia destroyed Tomas Villa in the first round. At 21-0 it is time for Garcia to step up. I would love to see a fight between Garcia and Elio Rojas. If not that then against a fading veteran like Jhonny Gonzalez or Rocky Juarez.
This weekend the Belle of the Ball is on HBO Saturday night as Andre Berto takes on Carlos Quintana. Should be a good test for Berto. As always tune in to Talking Boxing with Billy C, Billy brings you two hours of boxing talk every weekday. Also check out this blog from a knowledgeable fan of boxing, I have spent several hours reading his posts. Links below
http://www.talkinboxing.com/
http://www.total-boxing.com/blog/
Announced this week was Timothy Bradley would be facing Marcos Maidana, a sweet pairing. The only TB question I have is with Maidana’s CF ratings. Extremely high: 11/12. The rest I like. A low PL, hard hitting puncher- always a great TB attraction. Could the 11/12 be a touch too generous?
As time goes on, I’m more and more in favor of adjusting certain fighter ratings (of current, active fighters) to reflect the most realistic (at least from the vantage point of the trained eye)match-up scenario possible between particular fighters.
It’s basically what you’ve already said, Don. If something looks obviously wrong with a ratings differential between to fighters, it’s probably best to make the adjustment.
The statistical probabilities that play out as a result should be much more accurate.
The one factor I was recently talking with someone about is the height factor. Some fighters really struggle with taller opponents – even if their skill level is somewhat lower.