It's Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer's compilation of observations and random thoughts from the week that was in boxing. Get caught up on some of the most recent events you may have missed out on, including more additions to the Al Haymon stable, the intense Face/Off between Timothy Bradley and Manny Pacquiao, the return of Sergey Kovalev this weekend, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from the Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
Is Al Haymon planning something huge? Anyone who is anyone in the boxing and music industries are very familiar with Haymon. Like it or not, he is the most influential man in boxing. Yes, I believe Haymon is more influential than Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Richard Schaefer, Bob Arum, Ken Hershman, Stephen Espinoza, or anyone else affiliated with The Sweet Science. Haymon is the man whom Mayweather (boxing's most prized possession) seeks advice from, and whatever Haymon suggests, Mayweather usually listens. Over the last few years, Haymon has slowly and steadily built his stable of fighters. However, within the last year, the list of fighters to join Al Haymon has been unbelievable. These past few weeks have been no exception as Haymon has signed the likes of: Adonis Stevenson, Amir Khan, Lamont and Anthony Peterson, Deontay Wilder, and Robert Guerrero. Add that to names like Mayweather, Danny Garcia, Leo Santa Cruz, Chris Arreola, Devon Alexander, Peter Quillin, Keith Thurman, Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout, Adrien Broner, Lucas Matthysse, Paulie Malignaggi, Omar Figueroa, and plenty of other world champions, and you have one hell of an army. Don't just think Haymon signs world titlists either. Haymon also has a growing list of up-and-coming prospects who are the future stars of boxing. I have a feeling Al Haymon is planning something big, and I have a feeling both Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank are going to feel the effects.
Could Richard Schaefer be a part of the big Al Haymon picture? A couple weeks ago, rumors surfaced that Haymon could be working on forming a promotional entity with Schaefer, currently the Golden Boy Promotions CEO, becoming the face of the company. We all know that Sam Watson and his sons, Marcus and Brandon, are the current faces of Haymon fighters while Schaefer stands behind his Golden Boy fighters, but it's no secret that Schaefer doesn't always see eye-to-eye with Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya. Couple that with De La Hoya's personal problems and Schaefer may see this as an opportunity to move into the future with a man who has had a track record of nothing but success. Someone once asked me why Haymon doesn't have his own promotional company already, and I answered by saying that it didn't make sense at the time because Haymon didn't have enough fighters to put together a full show, on a consistent basis, making it worth his while and paying the promotional fees associated with putting on a show. Now, he has everything he needs because of his big name fighters and his young crop of talent. I'm not buying into the rumors of a Haymon/Schaefer collaboration yet, but the more fighters who sign with Haymon, the more I believe a big announcement could be coming sooner rather than later.
Timothy Bradley is going to defeat Manny Pacquiao in their rematch on April 12th. I made this statement when the rematch was first announced, but, after watching their HBO Face/Off with Max Kellerman, I am now more sure than ever. Bradley believes he is a better fighter now than he was then, and it's hard to disagree with him. Everyone and their brother knows Pacquiao really won the first fight, but since then, the two fighters have gone in opposite directions. Bradley fought a stupid fight, but came out victorious because of his boxing ability against Ruslan Provodnikov (it sure wasn't for his ability to brawl) and then earned a well-deserved, split-decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao went on to get brutally knocked out by Marquez after the Bradley fight and then took almost a full year off before returning against a slow-moving, punching bag that proved to be Brandon Rios. Bradley's intensity during the Face/Off was unrivaled and Pacquiao had a hard time looking Bradley in the eyes. Bradley said he believes Pacquiao has lost that killer instinct and after watching the Face/Off, I have to say that I agree with him. Timothy Bradley is still striving to reach Manny Pacquiao's level of success while Pacquiao knows his days are numbered, so Manny is trying to cash out as many times as possible. That is not a recipe for success for Pacquiao as he will lose April 12th against Timothy Bradley.
The Mayweather vs. Maidana undercard isn't shaping up to be all that great. Amir Khan vs. Luis Collazo is a good fight, but I'm not so sure it's worthy of a co-feature on one of the year's premiere pay-per-view events. Adrien Broner vs. Carlos Molina is being discussed for the 2nd pay-per-view bout. The opening bout is likely going to be J'Leon Love taking on Marco Antonio Periban, which will be entertaining, but is that worthy of a pay-per-view fight? I'm not so sure. I do think the addition of Khan vs. Collazo is going to boost pay-per-view sales over 1 million, and Collazo has a great chance of defeating Khan, but this fight card isn't getting me as excited as a Mayweather fight card is supposed to. Also, the addition of Khan almost guarantees that a good win vs. Collazo will be enough to catapult Khan into a September fight with Mayweather. I guess that's what happens when a pay-per-view fight card doesn't have the proper time to simmer.
Felix Verdejo is the truth! I absolutely LOVE watching this young fighter move up the ranks, and at 11-0 (8 KO's), he is one of the fighters who could make some serious noise between 135-147 in the coming years. His 3rd-round knockout of Juan Santiago, who previously took former world champion Juan Diaz the distance, was devastating. Verdejo is one to watch out and could earn a world title opportunity as early as 2015.
Anselmo Moreno should finish out his career at bantamweight. I don't think moving up to 122 pounds would be the correct career move for "Chemito" after he successfully defended his WBA crown for the 12th time. I just can't see Moreno's boxing ability holding up against the skills and power that some 122-pound fighters such as Guillermo Rigondeaux, Leo Santa Cruz, Kiko Martinez, and Carl Frampton would bring. It was the same for WBO super flyweight (115 lbs) champion Omar Narvaez when he moved up to face Nonito Donaire at bantamweight. Moreno should stay at 118 pounds and earn his living in that weight class until he retires.
Tony Thompson vs. Odlanier Solis was just awful. Solis, who was once considered a prized Cuban heavyweight hopeful, was outclassed by Thompson in Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday (don't let the split-decision win for Thompson fool you). The 42-year-old Thompson threw 1,092, according to CompuBox, which more than doubled Solis' punch output. Thompson should never fight for a world title again, but I would put him in the ring with any heavyweight hopeful because he seems to be the measuring stick right now. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a crack at Tyson Fury.
I really like the prospects of junior middleweight Julian Williams. Williams, now 15-0-1 (9 KO's), is moving along very quickly toward a world title shot. On Monday night, he defeated former world title challenger Freddy Hernandez via 3rd-round knockout. In his last 4 fights, Williams has defeated Hernandez, Orlando Lora, Joachim Alcine, and fought to a no-contest against Hugo Centeno Jr. in a fight which Williams was well on his way to winning before an accidental headbutt stopped the fight. The 154-lb division is loaded with talent and there is absolutely no rush for Williams to step into a world title opportunity. Williams is going to be star, especially if he can continue to answer every challenge put in front of him.
Don't forget about the return of WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev Saturday night on HBO. Kovalev emerged as a Fighter of the Year candidate in 2013 after knocking out all 4 of the opponents he faced, including winning the WBO title with a 4th-round TKO win over Nathan Cleverly. Cedric Agnew is Kovalev's opponent Saturday, and while he is undefeated, he has never faced as quality of an opponent as Kovalev. It will be interesting to see how Agnew handles the pressure and power Kovalev will bring to the ring. Also, on Friday night, the semifinals of the Boxcino lightweight tournament take place on ESPN Friday Night Fights.
Rest in peace to former boxing promoter and manager Mickey Duff. Duff passed away at the age of 84 on Saturday. Duff worked with the likes of Joe Calzaghe, Frank Bruno, and 14 other former world champions. He was very influential in British boxing and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1999. Though he hadn't been around the sport for over a decade, his influence, especially in Europe, will never be forgotten. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Mickey Duff.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week's email comes to us from Talib Z. regarding my opinion that Danny Garcia did in fact defeat Mauricio Herrera...
"After reading your article today, I think you left out a valuable element in judging fights. Often Lederman mentions it during his unofficial scoring...effective aggressiveness. Even though Danny hits harder, Herrerra made him back up threw most of the fight. And its quite obvious the harder punching Garcia didn't do any damage to deter Herrerra in the 12 round which Garcia RAN. Also, how could you not want to be Herrerra when you seen who's face was damaged the most. Just some thoughts... I love Garcia but what hurts the game is even if it's a close decision or most thought the champ lost, there won't be a rematch. Only the true greats do that. Mayweather I believe is the last of them. He had a tough fight with Castillio and fought him again to prove to others he was the better fighter."
I can agree with you that Garcia was backing up for some of the fight, but he isn't usually coming forward anyway. While effective aggression is one element of scoring a round, there are 3 others that come into play as well (clean punching, defense, and ring generalship). Yes, Garcia's face looked worse than Herrera's, but when Garcia's nose was badly bloodied, it came from primarily one shot that Herrera landed cleanly (and I scored that round for Herrera). Boxing is not judged by which fighter looks worse at the end of the fight. If it were, Sergio Martinez would have lost when he fought Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. because Martinez was in La-La-Land during the entire 12th round. Timothy Bradley wouldn't have prevailed against Ruslan Provodnikov in their 2013 Fight of the Year. Boxing is scored round by round and the totals are added up at the end. I had Garcia winning the fight 7 rounds to 5, and I admit, most of my close rounds did go to Garcia. It wasn't because I believe you have to take the title from the champion. I truly felt Garcia won 7 of the 12 rounds, giving him a 115-113 victory. I wouldn't mind seeing a rematch, but I doubt we will. Garcia will move on to bigger fights. The only way we'll see a rematch down the line, in my opinion, is if Garcia loses along the way to fighting Mayweather and Herrera continues to win.
That's all I've got for this week. Email any questions or comments to dkassel@fighthype.com and I will answer them throughout the week. Your email may be featured in the next "Observe and Fight." Follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver, and be sure to "Like" The Boxing Observer on Facebook.
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