Saturday, May 26, 2007

UFC 71

I watched UFC 71 this Saturday night.
here are my thoughts

Kalib Starnes/ Chris Leben: Leben has the willingness but is a bit flintstonian in his skills and Starnes is much more technical but sometimes you wonder if he really wants to be fighting. These are two good, but not great fighter who had a good but not great fight. They are both what I would call gate keepers. A top contender should be able to handle either one these two.

Terry martin: Terry Martin defeated Ivan Salaverry. Martin dropped down from 205 and still looks chubby. You get the feeling this guy easily could make 170 and maybe 155.
He obviously has punching power and wrestling skills. It will be interesting to see how far that will take him in the 185 pound weight class.

Karo: Karo has been my favorite fighter to watch since I first saw him at UFC 44. Karo has added to his game by greatly improving his striking. When you add his striking skill too his sambo infused judo stylings he can be competitive against anyone at 170. Karo asked for a title shot after the bout.. he is going to have to be patient With
Serra fighting Hughes at the end of the year and the winner facing the winner of the Koscheck/ ST Pierre bout, Karo will be lucky to see a title shot by the fall of 08.

Houston Alexander: Some people have ko power Mr. Alexander has it, wether he has the other skills to be successful in the UFC over the long hall we will have to wait and see.

Chuck liddell: DON'T BACK UP WITHOUT COVERING UP. Liddell moved back dropped his hands and left his chin sticking out. Quinton Jackson's right hand connected with Lidell chin and ended Liddell's title reign. Chuck needs to realized that their are some fighters you can't fight with your hands down at your waist.

Quinton Jackson: Quinton Jackson fought everyone at 205 in pride and was fading towards the end of his time in japan. It's cool to seem him regroup and become champion. He's put in the blood sweat and tears in the sport and he fought a smart fight.

Down the road:

Quinton Jackson VS Dan Henderson: Styles make fights and these two have styles that complement each other. Jackoson like to dominate his opponents with ground and pound but Dan although smaller is a far superior wrestler. Jackson is technically a better striker but has problems when people take the fight to him when standing.. which is Dan's style. So the bout between these two has the potential to be very good.

Karo: Has is not going to be getting a title shot any time soon, Hopefully he doesn't let that bother him. He can have exciting bouts with any of the top contenders in the division

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Oscar De La Hoya

I watched the replay of the Mayweather/ De La Hoya bout Saturday night on HBO. It was kinda what I figured it would be. It held my attention, but sure wasn't a fight I would go out of my way to see.
Interestingly the fight set the all time PPV record with 2.1 million buys. It makes you wonder what Ali/ Fraizer would have done if they had PPV in that era.

I have mixed feelings about Oscar De La Hoya as a fighter.De LA Hoya was the last of an era: of guys who won Olympic medals and then got exposure early in their career on network TV, It annoyed me when everybody talked about how great he was and I thought he was vastly overrated. When he moved up to welterweight my feeling was, I would consider him great if he could run the table in the division and unify the title. He was able to win one version of the belt, but then lost his title to Shane Mosley. Now I grew up watching Ray Leonard when he lost to Roberto Duran he got an immediately rematch and got his title back. De La Hoya lost to Mosley and didn't bother trying to get his title back. He moved up a weight division and won the junior middleweight title beating Fernando Vargas. In the following weeks I herd two or three people in casual conversation bring up DE La Hoya and mention they had seen his recent fight and that he was and all time great because he had one all these titles in all these different weight divisions. And I am thinking yea, but what about Shane Mosley, Who? Ya no the guy he lost to. Well DE La Hoya finally did fight Mosley again almost three years latter as Mosley was considered washed up after loosing back to back fights. What happened De La Hoya lost again.

DE La Hoya's popularity seems to transcend wins and loses. I guess I should be happy for him. He may turn out to be a rare boxing success story. DE La Hoya seems set to transition into retirement as he owns his own boxing promotional company. Interestingly two of the fighters that beat him Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins fight under DE LA Hoya's promotion banner. It will be very interesting to see what the future holds for Oscar DE LA Hoya.

Friday, May 4, 2007

De La Hoya/ Mayweather 24/7

Tonight I watched the series of HBO documentaries hyping the big fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather. I really enjoyed watching the series... I am still not going to buy the fight.

Styles make fights:I don't see these two having a great fight. An interesting fight a somewhat intriguing fight maybe, but a great fight?...I have a hard time seeing it. Mayweather specializes in boring whitewash decisions (that's a credit to his talent, by the way) while De La Hoya has a history of enigmatic performances.

Who's on the undercard : I have purchased UFC events on Pay Per view when I have had little interest in the main event, but two or three bouts on the undercard have captured my attention. With all the hype about Oscar vs Floyd I have seen absolutely nothing about the rest of the card. Boxing promoters need to understand that if they are going to get $50 of my money they are going to have to provide me with three hours of quality action.