V8 (Vivek's 8-Wonders) is a weekly piece where Vivek Wallace analyzes the top 8 questions or storylines of the week in the sport of boxing as measured by the hardcore fight aficionado
1) Floyd and Team Mayweather Changin' From Boys to Men?Prior to his retirement, Floyd was widely known for brash antics at his pre-fight appearances that included everything from severe in-your-face taunting of his opponents, to what as known in street vernacular as 'making it rain', by tossing thousands of dollars from duffel bags to the fans. Many have questioned if money problems are in fact what bought Mayweather back to the sport and although that speculation has been neither confirmed or denied, it appears the young Mayweather has indeed done some growing while away from the ring. A few statements he made at a promotional tour stop for the pending Marquez fight gave complete life to this notion. At one point when asked about his status he stated "I am not here to rate myself. I let the fans and media do that". At another point he even went out of his way to make an excuse for former victim, Ricky Hatton, stating that "any fighter can be caught cold in the first few rounds". Usually when a fighter is absent from the ring for a while he grows more horizontally, than mentally. For Floyd, maybe that isn't quite the case. Many may view the change as all part of a mans "Evolution", but for his more dedicated supporters, perhaps "It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday". The operative question here is.....Will a nicer Mayweather be accepted by the boxing public? Or will it simply add more fuel to the fire?
2) The Cotto Conundrum....
The last 12 months in the life of Miguel Cotto have involved a string of controversy. A pretty long string. One that evolved from a humbling loss to Margarito, to a few questionable out of the ring acts, finally culminating in a physical altercation that left him without the only person to ever guide him during his pro career, uncle/trainer Evangelista Cotto. With a dangerous Joshua Clottey waiting on deck, it'll be interesting to see if Cotto can piece things together, and if not, what next? I'll tell you what...if he isn't back at the top of his game it sure as hell had better not be that fightin' Filipino! Am I the only one that sees that as a rough matchup for the Puerto Rican?
3) Mayweather to Mayweather: We---Are---Fam---ily!
After years lost due to unnecessary spats and drama, it's great to hear that Floyd Sr. and Floyd Jr. are finally a unit again. Few things in life parallel the bond between a Father and his son, but as it relates to the ring, (and I hate to play devils advocate here), but these expected matches made in heaven have often resulted in pure hell. Examples......A return to the corner for Jack Mosley did little to help Shane. The return of Roy Sr. unfortunately did little to help the legendary Roy Jones. Zab and Yoel Judah still remain a work in progress and the list goes on. The only one of these blueprints to actually work was the most unlikely of them all, where a guitar strumming Father who probably couldn't fight his own way out of a wet paper bag found success engineering a perfect career for his son - (Enzo and Joe Calzaghe). Getting these guys back together sounds good in theory, but having Roger, Floyd Sr. and Floyd Jr. in the same camp....Wow....I can't predict the results, but if nothing else, we're guaranteed good soundbytes.....even if we don't understand a few. Love those Mayweathers, but I still have to question whether this odd but highly favored reunion will actually work out in the end?
4) Pacquiao: Bruce Lee Or Simply 'God-ly'?
Not since martial arts phenom Bruce Lee has the world been graced with such a prominent figure of the Asian persuasion. To most, Pacquiao is a helluva man, but for the people of the Philippines, he's been nothing short of a savior, minus the cross. There have been a countless amount of donations served to his homeland, but the biggest of them all is a project currently at the forefront in which the Filipino slugger has agreed to allocate approximately $25.8M (which accounts for 60% of the actual project) to the creation of a development consisting of a retirement village, an information technology center, and a cancer treatment facility. Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson were able to carry the sport to new heights in America and served as walking billboards for the sport, but neither were able to capitalize on their homeland popularity like the Pacquiao, who's also expected to dig deeper into the political scene of his country. The efforts of Pacquiao have been well chronicled and highly supported, but some around the champs camp feel his efforts could one day stretch him too thin. With a few potential mega fights looming, money doesn't appear to be a potential problem, but looking at the big picture has led some to ask......Should Pacquiao play like Bruce Lee and 'kick' the high dollar charitable habits, or continue to play 'God', knowing that he's the only one in his country with the power and desire to do so?
5) M&M....The Real 'Slim-Shady'?
The greatest talents in recent times of the sport have resided somewhere between 140 to 147 pounds. Between these two weight limits we have the two most recent P4P kings (Mayweather/Pacquiao), current P4P contenders (Marquez, Cotto, Mosley), and a few blocks north is a man in the midst of an unprecedented run, Paul Williams at 154. Considering that there's only 7 pounds of separation, why is their so much noise about catch-weights? Manny Pacquiao faced Oscar De La Hoya at 147, but rumor has it that whomever gets a shot at Pacman next would have to agree to go atleast to 143. We all witnessed Cotto struggle at 140 for years, Mosley isn't even a consideration to get there, and truth be told, a Marquez trilogy isn't happening, so Mayweather is probably the only one fit enough to make it that low in weight of the welterweight contenders on deck. Is this catch-weight clause a mere coincidence? Or is that SLIM chance that the other guys get the nod before Mayweather simply another SHADY way of giving fight fans the fight they wanna see? M&M....Manny versus 'Money'!
6) Will Angulo 'Cin-Tron' Packing For Good?
Despite his brute power and the fact that he has only lost to one fighter, (Margarito), Kermit Cintron finds himself on the proverbial westside of his career, watching what could be his final career sunset. Some feel Cintron lacks aggression, others feel it's absent fundamentals. Whatever it is, he'd better find it, because the more fight fans I talk to, the more I learn that many have become agitated with the fact that he has failed to live up to the hype once associated with his name. He's still young and he's still in his prime, but the clock's running and he's about out of time. A big win over Angulo could turn things around, but a loss would stamp him a one-way ticket en route to the land of oblivion. I'm not sure what he's missing, but he has little less than two weeks to find it! Will Cintron deliver, or will he allow a young 'gun' to shoot him out of the sport?
7) A-Ward Winning Performance
Suddenly, things in the super-middleweight division have gotten quite intriguing. Froch, Kessler, and Bute are considered by most as the front-runners; while Taylor, Andrade, and a few others pull up the rear. Previously, few saw Andre Ward amongst that elite group, but after such a solid performance, it's now abundantly clear that there are in fact 'four horsemen' with firm lines drawn in the sand of this still unconquered terrain. When used as a verb, the word "Ward" means "protection, or to guard against". When used as a noun, it means a division or district. At this point it's a bit hard to tell exactly how those words will parallel in the end, but based on talent, I don't think this 'Ward' (Andre) will fall too short when it comes to "protecting or guarding" himself against those found in this "division". The old adage states that "only time will tell", but I'd beg to differ, as his performance last Saturday made a big enough statement to speak for itself.
8) 'Kingpin' or King-Pinned?
Rarely do all fight fans agree on everything, yet few would disagree that the heavyweight division in recent years has been nothing short of abysmal. Very little entertainment and a wide array of contenders with names that aren't always too easy pronounce. With a June 20th showdown looming between Haye and Wladimir Klitschko, followed by the emergence of Arreola, Chambers, Povetkin and others, for the first time in a while theirs actually some buzz percolating. The up and coming generation of heavies on the rise give much hope for the future, and one in particular seems poised to do big things! At 22-0 with only 9KO's, Kevin 'Kingpin' Johnson may not appear on paper to have that bomb power we fight fans look for, but what I like most about the guy is that he's eager to remind us all once again that paper burns! His performance against Vargas moved his career forward as he made a big statement, now it's time to see if he can put it in reverse by backing it up! But can he?
Stay tuned for next weeks V8!
