| Body Shots Vol. XX 10-9-06 I had high hopes for this past weekend in boxing. Number one on the list was of course the third installment of the Diego Corrales-Joel Casamayor trilogy. What could have been great, instead ended up more like Rocky III, as the ball was deflated before the fighters ever entered the ring. Corrales, who has always handled himself well when it comes to his boxing life, (personal issues aside), weighed in five pounds over the lightweight limit. The scorecards for this particular fight could have been mailed in once that fact was known. Corrales, his body so drained, and having hit the proverbial wall, had little to offer on this night. The fight was salvaged though, and Corrales would look uninspired and a step slow most of the night, as Casamayor boxed and moved his way to a split decision. The sport of boxing has some pretty big decisions to make. This is now the third fight in a row where Corrales has been involved in a weigh in problem. His rival Jose Luis Castillo would weigh in heavy twice against Corrales and receive much heat and a heavy fine for his trouble. Corrales, who shamed Castillo in the press for what he perceived as Castillo’s disregard for the sport, would suffer the same fate. Erik Morales has had many problems trying to make weight for his last few fights, and the list goes on and on with guys like Fernando Vargas and Miguel Cotto, who end up eating salads and ice chips for the last week before the weigh in. This can’t be good for the sport. Having it’s competitors shrink down to unnatural weights and living the life of and anorexic in the weeks leading up to a fight is dangerous. The sport is hard enough. Something must be done. On to the other big news of the weekend. He’s monstrous, yeti-like, lumbering. But enough about his fighting style. Nikolai Valuev sucks, bad. Knocking out a man whom you outweigh by 105 pounds isn’t very impressive to me. Monte Barrett should fight Vic Darchinyan next, just for a little redemption. Valuev has no defense, very little technique, and his power does not seem all that great. What he does have is a massive frame and head, which allows him to absorb flush heavyweight shots time after time. Barrett was the unlucky one for having to be the foil in the coming out party for Valuev and HBO. Call me crazy but I think James Toney, who would probably never be hit by Valuev and may chop the trunk of that tree down if they ever fight. He’s smart enough to do so. I’ll have to review the tape, but I think I may have missed the best fight of Saturday night as Tomas Adamek would pound out another close decision over Paul Briggs. Unfortunately, Showtime and HBO are in a never ending war, and they once again chose their ego’s over the fan’s will and scheduled their broadcasts for the same time. The things they make us, the die hard fans, put up with. |
