Cotto-Margarito a
Classic Waiting to Happen!

By Dave Wilcox

It’s tough to be a Boxing fan sometimes. As a fanatical fan of the sweet science for over 30 years, I often find myself defending the sport that I have this great passion for. Too often I hear how Boxing is not what it once was. While most of my friends sit around the dinner table discussing the NBA draft or pondering who is on the juice in Major League Baseball, I’m wondering what would happen if Marvin Hagler would have gotten the rematch against Sugar Ray Leonard. If only Larry Holmes could have stepped in the ring against Ali when they where both at their best is a thought that crosses my mind quite often. I could spend days thinking about the “what ifs” of our beloved sport. As we continue forward searching for the next big fight, often times we are left disappointed and fifty dollars in the hole.

Even your friendly neighborhood scribe gets frustrated with the sport of Boxing on occasion. After all, I grew up watching fights on network TV. Not a weekend passed that I didn’t have at least one fight to watch on one of the big three networks. My man Tim Ryan and the Great Gil Clancy would be ringside on CBS at least two weeks a month. If not them, the not so great team of Marv Albert and Dr Ferdie Pacheco would be calling the action on NBC. The granddaddy of them all, ABC’s Wide World of Sports would televise Heavyweight Championship fights, LIVE!

Heck, any fights that you find on “free” TV now are usually mismatches or showcases. In the old days, you saw the likes of Saoul Mamby against Leroy Haley or Bazooka Limon battling Bobby Chacon in real competitive fights pitting two champs or contenders. Those types of televised fights have gone the way of the Dodo bird. By the way, for the people that call ESPN and Fox Sports “free TV”, I would like you to have a talk with my cable provider because they feel differently.

 What does this have to do with Cotto and Margarito you ask?   

This match up between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito on July 26^th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas is the type of fight that makes all my pain and negativity go away as it relates to the current state of Boxing. Two very good Champions who are trying to achieve greatness are fighting each other. The fight will be for Miguel Cotto’s WBA Welterweight crown. Margarito, who is the IBF champ, will vacate his crown to make this historic bout happen. There is not a better and more competitive match up out there right now. For the Boxing die hard fans out there, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. For the casual fan that doesn’t follow the sport and might not understand the attraction of it, I urge you to watch this one. For those who think Oscar De La Hoya is the only fighter still active in Boxing, make it a point to watch this fight!  Start saving your fifty bucks now. This fight is a sure fire classic and will not disappoint. I already have the signed affidavit from my beautiful wife to allow me to spend the $59.95. She has also given me clearance to ignore her all day in preparation for the viewing. It must be a big one for her to give me such a long leash. 

More on this great bout as we draw closer.

Ode to Chris Byrd:

I was never a big fan of Chris Byrd’s style in the ring, nor did I rush to the television to watch him fight. He is what one would call boring. After watching him take an unnecessary and ugly beating last Friday from Shaun George, I felt bad for him. I should have known things weren’t looking good for Chris that night. When he came into the ring less the forty pounds that he used to take in the ring as a heavyweight, he looked sick. His skinny calves made Tommy Hearns’ calves look like Popeye’s. You can’t beat father time and you can’t lose that much weight at that advanced age and expect to compete. (See Roy Jones)

Chris Byrd will never be remembered as a great fighter. He will however be remembered as an overachiever who did more with his little body than most do with their big one. He fought big heavyweights like David Tua, Jameel McCline and Vitali Klitschko and did well. He started the downward spiral of Evander Holyfield with a victory over “The Real Deal” He was a two time Heavyweight Champion and deserves respect as such. He held his head high and from all reports is a very good family man. I want to say thank you to Chris Byrd for giving your heart and soul to Boxing and for using your talents to their fullest. For once, I hope Chris listens to his wife and stays retired. A guy like him would do well in a TV studio or ringside doing color with HBO. Well done Mr. Byrd.

Fenech-Nelson III

Please tell me this is a joke. Word on the street is that Jeff Fenech and Azumah Nelson plan on another rematch that supposedly will take place in Melbourne on June 24th. Last time I checked, I don’t think either of these guys has fought in over ten years. I can’t wait for the pending “Azumah Nelson Grill” that will most likely follow. As Barry Tompkins once said in Moscow, “they better stop it, before someone gets killed.”             

The Pain Returns

It would be remiss if I didn’t wish a belated happy birthday to Sugar Ray Leonard, who turned 52 years old last week. It is around this time each year that I’m reminded of that horrible day in 1987 when Leonard shoved the dagger squarely through my heart and was awarded a split decision victory over The Marvelous one. It still stings and to this day, I can’t watch that fight. If I’m feeling too depressed about that bout, I quickly put in my copy of Leonard fighting Hector Camacho, and all is well.