The
Riot at the Hyatt
Monterey CA
November
27, 2004
They say
genius is 90 percent perspiration, and only ten percent inspiration, Promoter
Jerry Hoffman is living proof. Jerry
works as matchmaker, ring announcer, organizer and everything in between. He
works like a man possessed and begins planning the next show the day after the
fight. I gotta admire his work
ethic. Jerry Hoffman has the right
formula. He gives fight fans exciting shows, and gives local fighters a chance
to get into the mix as professionals. He never has ten round main events, and as
my buddy David Nelson, a referee says, the “good thing is that you don’t
have to watch ten rounds, if it’s a bad fight”. Not all of the fights are
evenly matched, but that's the boxing business. I got no complaints; Hoffman’s shows are always classy
events. He has a lot of security which prevents brawls and no longer sales
standing room only tickets. The
Hyatt is a great place to hold fights, and Knuckles the sports bar, is a within
walking distance. I congratulate Mr. Hoffman on another great Riot at the Hyatt.
The
first bout matched John Elissia of Fresno, and Israel Sandoval of San Jose.
I don’t know what else I can say about poor Israel ³ The Body Bag²,
Sandoval. He keeps coming back and keeps getting the beans knocked out of him.
Thank God, the commission requires a CT scan before issuing a license; otherwise
the poor guy would get brain damage. Israel,
who’s lost eleven bouts in a row deserves credit.
Anyone who has ever had a dream and failed the first dozen times should
speak with Israel Sandoval. Thomas Edison would have liked this guy. As a
sportswriter and fight fan I can say this “Hey Israel, get a better
trainer”. I’ve been beating the drum on this topic since I began writing
about the fights. Yet, it seems
nothing changes. I’ve been saying ³ a fighter is only as good as his trainer
² for so long, it must sound like preaching, but sweet baby James, this guy
needs help.
John
Elissia came out as a southpaw and nailed Sandoval with a left hook that rocked
him, I thought John was gonna stop him, but somehow Sandoval survived.
Elissia continued his body attack and Sandoval mirrored him, the first
sign of a looser. It was obvious that Sandoval lacked training.
Elissia out boxed, out maneuvered and out classed Sandoval it was clearly a no
contest. The last seconds of the
round saw Sandoval almost knocked out again. The corner men splashed water on me
and my equipment, what I can I say. This
same lack of professionalism showed in their training.
The second round saw Elissia once more rock Sandoval and press him
against the ropes. He pounded him mercilessly, somehow once more Sandoval dodged
a bullet. Then K-bang, like two charging bulls, they cracked heads, blood
started streaming down Israel’s head and down his arm.
The crowd, who always works hard at getting a buzz, let out a terrifying
holler. The loudness, already ear splitting, grew louder.
His corner kept shouting instructions which I found ridiculously.
Israel was exhausted, taking a beating, doing everything wrong, and the
corner was telling him to attack. Talk about bad strategy.
Its no wonder Israel keeps getting beat, his corner must be watching
another fight. Elissia
continued to pound Sandoval with uppercuts, body shots and head shots
mercilessly. The referee, Mr.
Marcus Rosales, whom I have had concerns about, said something no one heard,
when Israel did not comply immediately, Rosales took a point.
Sandoval mistakenly argued, which is bad idea.
A referee is the closest thing to God in the ring, no matter how wrong he
might be. The commission will never
interfere with a referee during a fight. It would give the trainers reason to
file complaints, which the commission hates.
It would also expose the ongoing conflicts between the ego maniacs who
work there. If any of you have ever
tried to call the commission, file a complaint, raise a point, or take issue
with anything, you’ve learned that they will just ignore you. THERE IS NO ONE
TO TAKE YOUR COMPLAINTS' TOO. It’s
a circular closed system. If you bring up a problem, they’ll refer you to
someone, who will then refer you back to whom you initially complained about.
Like what happened to me. Basically, you’ll get the run around, which gives
you an idea of just how many complaints they must be getting.
They get angry when anyone questions anything they do.
I once got into a shouting match with a commissioner at Fats Cats in
Modesto about a letter I wrote complaining about his arbitrary rules.
The guy was making up rules that are not in the book.
I always believed that if was not in the book, it was not a rule, and
they had no power to enforce it, not so. The
guys must be self ordained because he kept on making up rules. He must get his
authority, like President, directly from God.
I also know God, and he’s never given me authority to make up rules,
that’s why he wrote them down, so everyone could know them. The problem is
these guys take it personally, they never forget who had the nerve to challenge
their make believe perfection. As I said, if you don’t like how your complaint
was handled, too bad. It’s
amazing, that such an agency could survive, but that’s how it is.
It’s not personal with me. I don’t have a personal problem with any
of them, but I do object to how they do their jobs.
As a former boxer, I had to follow the rules, as a solider I had to
follow the rules, as a cop I was had to follow the rules, as a tax payer I have
to follow the rules, yet these guys, who are the alleged authority on the rules,
bend and break them,...........and get away with
it.
The
round ended and the fight continued with Elissia beating Sandoval like an
unwanted, ugly, red-haired step child. He hit him with so many rights, I’m
sure Sandoval was begging for a left. Yet, Elissia was unable to drop Sandoval,
who must have the thickest skull in California.
The beating continued until Marcus Rosales, the referee stepped in, and
pulled Elissia off Sandoval. He
threw Elissia back and away from Sandoval.
Elissia was unable to maintain his balance, and fell onto the canvas.
Once more I stand in amazement. I
could not hear what the referee said, I am certain Elissia, in the heat of
battle, with the screaming crowd, could not hear it either, yet the referee took
a point. As I said earlier, this is
the worst referee I have ever seen in my life.
Not only are his actions questionable, I believe he used excessive
physical force, he should not have to do so, if he was doing his job.
He should have given Sandoval an eight counted before he took such a
terrible beating. Marcus Rosales,
whom I’m sure is a great human being, simply is not a good a referee.
I’m certain he means well, and I believe, he believes, he is doing the
right thing, but I have to point out his consistent blunders. Like I said egos,
bad judgment and self delusion. I don’t know who trained this guy, but its’
the Peter Principal, in action, he has risen to the level of incompetence.
The
fight continued and Israel Sandoval took such a beating it should have been
stopped. Elissia controlled the
fight until Rosales, halted the fight due the cut above Sandoval’s left eye.
The doctor came in and checked Sandoval. Rosales should have stopped it
right there, without having to call in the doctor, as it was clearly a
no-contest. I don’t understand. I
once saw him accidentally trip a fighter, then count him out for not getting up.
The poor guy was fighting the main event, it was the 10th round and he was
exhausted, he tripped on Rosales's feet, and fell backwards, knocking the wind
out of himself, and could not get up. Instead of giving the fighter time to
recover from an accident he caused, Rosales counted him out... I was stunned.
Rosales almost caused a riot at the Fresno Radisson that night. Israel Sandoval
took a terrible beating for no apparent reason, other than the incompetence of
the referee. John Elissia won the
decision.
The
second bout matched Richard Paige and Toshi Kuwata. Watching Kuwata step into
the ring, I feared for Richard. I did not think it would last six rounds.
Richard was intimidated by Toshi, who looked like he could punch through walls.
The bell sounded and Toshi came out aggressively, and tried to kill Richard
immediately. Thank God, Richard was in good physical condition and had a hard
head. I was disappointed when Toshi,
who was feinting, and setting up a hook, failed to jab. Then he used his hand to
parry a jab downwards in an amateurish maneuver. This is a poor technique, I
usually only see it in the movies. Toshi,
obviously no Samurai, failed to attack. Hachiman, the Japanese God of War must be rolling over in his
grave. Although Toshi had a quick
left jab, he failed to use it. It
was painful to watch such potential go to waste. This round set up the remainder of the bout.
I did not care for the lack of fundamentals displayed by either fighter.
Paige dropped his hands, while Toshi did nothing. Both had terrible foot work,
lacked balance and neither could box. Once the blood starting dripping from
Toshi’s mouth, Paige gained confidence. Then
Toshi landed a bomb that rocked Paige. But instead of backing away, Paige
started to punch and soon had Toshi against the ropes, where he beat him with at
least twenty punches, without any response. Paige, who was willing to take
chances, beat Toshi on points. Richard Paige got the decision, after a delay in
the final score. Another controversy. The judges miscounted the scores and
initially had it as a draw, when the error was discovered, and corrected,
Richard Paige won, by one point. David
Nelson, my buddy from the amateurs, was the third man in the ring.
The
third bout matched the best female boxer I’ve seen come out of Central
California. Carina Moreno with a great amateur record and Yvonne Caples with a
pretty good professional record. Seven wins, six losses two with wins by knock
out. I was disappointed with Caples. I was led to believe she had real boxing
skills and punching power. She has neither.
Caples, lacked polish, speed, power and zip. She punched with her elbows out, like a girl.
She threw fat cat punches, and smelly cheese over hand rights. (I coined
these terms, just in case you’ve never heard of them before).
She did not seem to know what it means to put your weight behind a punch. She appeared frail, almost sickly. Carina, who looks like a fighter, still failed to knock out
the powder puff. I couldn’t
believe the lack of fundamentals Carina displayed. She japed by stepping across
herself, and then bringing up her back foot completely behind the already
mispositioned front foot. She therefore had no power, no balance and no way to
effectively land a solid shot. The
fact that Carina must have hit Caples over three hundred times speaks volumes
for her lack of punching power. After eight rounds of pounding Caples, the best
Carina could do was bloody her nose. The
fact that Yvonne has fought for four world titles speaks volumes of the level
competition that exist amongst the female ranks. It’s wide open for anyone
willing to put in the time to learn the fundamentals and has a punch.
Caples used her face for a mitt to catch punches.
With blood dripping form her noise, along with the black mouth piece,
silver dental work, and swollen face Yvonne looked ready to drop, but Carina
could not drop her! I Carina
never landed a solid shot, not even with all the opportunities to do so.
Watching Carina completely overwhelm this alleged world champion was as dull as
watching old movies on TV. It
clearly says Carina’s is ready to step up and make a drive for stardom now,
not next year. I’m glad Carina beat her opponent. On the other hand, I
pray someone teaches her fundamentals. Otherwise, I predicted a bright but very
short career. She needs to improve considerably.
The main
event matched Dangerous David Ryan and Shotgun Jesse Martinez. I’ve seen both
fighters before. I didn’t believe Jesse was gonna change styles, or coaches,
so I expected the same poor performance. I’d heard Ryan had decided to remain
in California and expected some improvement. I saw none. Ryan, who has every
advantage physically, lacks punching power. He drops his hands in a Roy Jones
style and never plants his feet before punching. This means he has no body
weight behind his punch and all of his punches are just a pitter patter.
Jesse Martinez must have a skull as thick as a buffalo’s, and can not
be knocked out by hitting him on the head. Yet, Ryan failed to punch at
Jesse’s body. Ryan rarely threw body shots and uppercuts even though
Martinez charged in like a bull, leading with his head.
Martinez lacked everything, except heart. I gotta wonder what kind of boxer Jesse would be, if he had a
coach who knew something.
Ryan,
easily out pointed Martinez, but only hurt him twice, this out of the hundred
punches landed. Martinez who now
has 17 loses, never cut off Ryan’s escape and seemed contented to chase him
around. It was not very
interesting. I am surprised
Ryan’s corner never taught him how to pivot while throwing his left hook, or
right hand. A little punching
technique might have put Martinez on the canvas.
I thought Martinez deserved to loose. I still don’t understanding why
he has not sought help else where. I
mean if you gonna get punched and beat up, you might as well try to fight a
little better and maybe earn more money.
Everyone knows professional boxing is about the money.
The fans just wanna see a good fight, but the fighters wanna get paid.
They should earn a fair, honest wage, however, that’s not how it works.
Promoters are focused on money and putting on a fight takes a lot of it.
Plus, they gotta pay the commission, whether the fight makes money or
not.
I was
told by Ryan's coach Mr. Garcia, they turned down a last minute offer of six
thousands dollars elsewhere. I
gotta wonder what I would have done if one of my fighters had an opportunity to
earn six grand, compared to say, maybe two.
I might be inclined to come up with bogus injuries too. Mr. Garcia stated
they would never take a last minute fight, even though they were ready. I
respect his position, although I might not agree. Professional boxing is about
making money, and just like the promoter, fighters have to go where the money
is. Professional boxing is not
about the sport, or the challenge, that’s just how it’s marketed.
Big promoters like Trump or King never talk about the money, they talk
about the fight, but it’s just to hide how much money is involved.
Don King would not cross the street, if he was not getting paid.
Let’s face it, promoters don’t put on shows to give boxers an
opportunity to fight. Promoters know there will always be another hungry young
fighter willing to fight for nickels. They
do it for the money. If the
only way to measure success is money, than a fighter has a right to earn as much
as they can. Remember, a fighter
has a very short career, he’s gotta go for the bucks. This is the main reason fighters must be very careful of whom
they choose as their managers. Besides,
most promoters only put on two shows a year, that’s not much work for a
fighter. I would suggest Mr.
Garcia made a bad business decision. I’m sure Ryan would have liked to earn
more money, the punches still hurt as much, whether you make six thousands or
six hundred.
I
believe a workshop on boxing business strategy would go over great, I know I’d
like to go. God knows we need one.
You can throw a rock and find dozens of experts. Every guy with a TV set thinks
they know boxing. That's as stupid
as believing you know how to be a doctor because you watch ER.
I’ve heard ridiculous arguments by these sofa warriors.
These make believe fighters, who never entered the ring are full of it. I’ve also known hundred of street dogs who thought they
could be boxers because they beat up some loser.
Yet, I’ve never know one gang member who had the discipline, dedication
and focus to make it in the ring. Sadly,
I’ve trained a couple of ‘em. Looking
back, were it not for the lessons I learned, it would have been a waste of time.
As a result I don’t take ex-convicts, returning county jail inmates, street
fighters, thugs, wannabe rappers or hip hop fools.
I don’t want anyone who looks or talks like a gangster around my boxers
either.
Boxing
and controversy go hand in hand. There
will always be conflicts. Problems with the commission will continue. I
seriously doubt there will ever be honesty in a game so corrupted by ego, money
and power. That does not mean we
shouldn’t try to make it better. Still,
I gotta say Thank God for Boxing!
Fans can
find my articles at Boxinginfo.com, The RingsportsR.com, Exclusivelyboxing.com
and thesanjoaquinguardin.com
San
Jose CA. HP Pavilion
Nov.
18, 2004
Once
again I braved the deadly fog, crazy drivers and made the journey from Gunsmoke,
(Stockton) to cover the best sport in the world.
When I first started, I was told I’d never be able to do it, now four
years later, here I am. Its like they say, genius is 90% perspiration, and 10 %
inspiration. Dreaming is the first stop towards greatness.
Sugar
Ray Leonard and friends promoted the last fight of the season.
It was a great show for the most part.
The HP Pavilion is a great setting, and we had a good crowd.
My old buddy Jerry Hoffman, worked as the master of ceremonies. As always
Jim Sparaco and his crew did an excellent job.
It’s a
privilege to be able to sit ring side as a writer for The RingsportsR.com,
boxinginfo.com, exclusivelyboxing.com and now as CEO and Editor in Chief of, The
San Joaquin County Guardian. Too
bad, most of what I see is not what I would teach my students.
Many a great trainers has said, ³ a boxer is only as good as his corner
². I would take one step further and say, “A fighter is only as good as his
coach”. A fighter and coach are like father and son. A father, at least the
ones worth a damn, wants his son to do better, have more, and get further ahead.
That’s why parents are disappointed when their kids go bad.
Bout
one, matched Jesse Curry (1-1) with Joe De la Cruz (0-2).
It was clear form the beginning that De la Cruz was intimidated by Curry.
Joe worn white trunks with black and red trim with black shoes, but
looked scared. While Curry
wore black and looked confident He immediately took the fight to De La Cruz, who
lacked everything. The poor guy, held his hands down by his waist, this is so
common, as to be a disease. I have
no idea why any fighter would do this. It’s like asking to get nailed. It
demonstrates poor training, terrible coaching and simple stupidity.
To add to his lack of defensive hand positioning, he lacked footwork,
which equals no balance, and therefore no power in his punches. Marty Sammon, my
old war buddy worked as referee. Curry stalked De la Cruz who moved continually
to his left in a big circle, and waved his arms like tree branches blowing in
the breeze. Curry, who seems seasoned beyond what his professional record
indicates, hunted him down and administered a sound thrashing. The crowd gave
him lots of support. Cheering madly
with every blow landed. I would
have to give De la Cruz’s trainer a failing mark.
I have no idea what they do during training, but it can’t be much,
judging form De La Cruz’s performance. The
poor boy was out of his league. He
must not have had very much amateur experience, if any at all.
What's worse, I’ll bet he’s still with the same guy who taught him
all his knows, which is little. Curry
landed solid shots that bloodied De la Cruz in the first round then proceed to
beat him like an ugly, red headed, step child. I think kettle drums take less of
a beating. I believe De la Cruz should forget what he thinks he knows about
boxing, and get another coach. It’s clear he has enough heart to step into the
ring, but lacks the skills, the hand speed and the killer instinct. The crowd
was still arriving as Curry, loaded up a right hand that landed squarely on
Joe’s chin and dropped him. I
gotta say, Joe has a good chin, because that shot might have killed a buffalo.
To my surprise, Joe got up, took the count and reengaged, but it was
clear that Curry was gonna rip off his head. Mercifully, Marty, the only man I
know personally, that jumped out of a perfectly good airplane, stopped the
fight. In speaking with Marty, he
made it known he was ready for active duty and would once again be ready to jump
with his old Airborne unit. He
added however, that jumping was the easy part, it was the landings that worried
him. I believe Marty’s favorite
music is old Army marching songs. Curry
scored a TKO in the third round and hopefully an easy payday. Joe took home a
terrible ass whipping, a bloody nose, a third loss, and hopefully plans for a
new coach.
Bout
Two; Matched Molly McDonnell form Portland Oregon with Tracy Carlton form
Compton. Tracy wore red trunks, while Molly wore black. Molly is managed by
Jackie Kallen, known as the first lady of boxing. Jackie’s smile reminded me
of a used car salesman. I’ve been to her part of the country and know some of
the same people. Jackie has been
around boxing all her life, which is why Molly was not fighting some one like
Kelsey Jeffries, thank God. Molly
has the makings of a champion, and I believe will someday give Kelsey a problem.
Kelsey, whom I consider a friend, has had too many easy fights. This is
fine, boxing is a business and taking fights she can win is part of the
strategy. I don’t begrudge her business sense. My concern has to do with her
lack of improvement. Kelsey has the heart of a giant, and an equally hard head.
I wish she would let someone help her.
Given time, I believe McDonnell will mature into a dangerous opponent for
Kelsey. Molly looks experienced beyond her short professional career. She
demonstrated this by soundly defeating Carlton, who posed no contest. Much to
Molly’s credit, she attacked in a calm, calculated manner, never risking too
much, and carefully taking Tracy, a bigger, taller, fighter down, like chopping
a tree. Tracy lacked everything. She seemed to be out of gas after the first
round. She lacked foot work, hand speed, zip, and punched like a girl. Molly
punched like a heavyweight and threw bombs that rocked Carlton to her socks.
It took Molly less than two rounds to dismantle, and beat Carlton so bad,
the referee stepped in and stopped it. Once again the crowd disapproved and
demonstrated their lack of appreciation for the subtle skills of boxing.
Many fans, it seems abandon all pretense of civility, drink too much,
curse too loud, and loose themselves in a desire for bloody knock down brawls.
I like boxing, not watching two fools knocking the cheese out of each.
Personally, I thought Dave, the referee, did an excellent job, and made a
professional call.
This
brings to mind a little tidbit you might like to know.
It seems that 90% of all small businesses fail because of employee theft.
According to studies, 87% of all people will steal under any circumstance, and 5
percent will steal when given an opportunity. Doing the math, that means that
out of 100 people only eight are worthy of trust.
That means 92% of people are liars and thieves. The study added that
religion or level of education, ethnicity or social economic status did not
change the results. The report added that regardless of status in the
community, title, position, age, or gender, 92% of all people will steal.
So when drunken fans boo, and misbehave, I try to remember Boxing needs
fans, but man, I am just so glad I don’t have to work with ‘em.
Bout
Three, Matched Sergio Rios, (3-0, 2 KOs) with Alvaro Ayala (3-5). I’ve been
following Sergio’s career since the first time he stepped into the ring as a
pro. He’s made tremendous improvements, yet has still not learned how to pivot
and put his body weight into a punch. He throws dozens of punches, never quits,
does not like to back up, and has enough energy to light New York City, but he
has no fundamentals. This is what I
mean when I give coaches bad reviews. The problem in many cases is that boxers
don’t have many choices of whom to pick when they start. They have to take who
ever is available. In Stockton, the PAL Gym is run by a grumpy old guy about 90
years old, who trains David Martinez, a professional fighter.
The problem is that old timer ignores everyone else, and only training
consists of banging on the heavy bag, if there's a room, and beating the hell
out of each other in sparring. These kids go in there and swing away at each
other without any idea of what boxing is. They have no defensives skills, no
footwork, no counterpunch skills, no technique, no nothing.
If one of them survives the beatings, and shows some heart, the old man
gets them a bout. I heard from a relative the old guy matched their 16 year old
nephew with a 32 year old man. Of
course, the kid took a beating. This is so far below bad, it’s obscene, but
that’s how it is in Stockton. Like
I said, a fighter is only as good as the man who coaches him.
Alvaro
Ayala had all the tools and some of the same problems as Rios. Both fighters
seemed to suffer from bad coaching. Neither of them has a punch, so they pounded
each other for five rounds, without seemingly hurting each other. Ayala’s arms
were so long, he could not punch at Rios who likes to get in close. The poor guy
never leaned the simple technique of stepping back and punching. The exact same
mistake Hearns made against Sugar Ray. Both fighters lack knowledge of
fundamentals. On the up side, I gotta say, both of these guys came to fight and
never stopped punching. Finally in the sixth round after beating each other for
over 15 minutes, the ref stopped it. I
plan to write Santa Claus and specifically ask that Sergio Rios get a brand new
trainer, one who knows fundamentals. I hate to see a fighter with so much heart
not get good training. Its one of my biggest pet peeves with trainers, who talk
guff, while their fighters take the beatings.
I suggest that Sergio contact Candy Lopez, the PAL coach for the San Jose
league, and beg him to train him. Candy is one of the few guys in this game I
respect. He knows fundamentals, speaks Spanish, and loves the game. Bout four
matched Ernesto Zavala, a southpaw with a record of 19-3, with 8 KOs, against
Ernest ³Too Slick² Johnson, (15-1-0, 6 KOs) I don’t know where they got the
name ³ Too Slick², it sounds like a name used by inmates.
I met a guy once who wanted me to train him, and insisted I call him ³
Shank ³. Yea right, I refused to have anything to do with idiots or
fools. I avoid these ³ tough guys²
like bad smells. I wasn’t impressed with “To Slick”. I believe he came to
survive, not to win. He fought a lack luster fight, lacked punching power,
lacked passion and seemed to drift in and out of the fight. While Zavala had zip, wanted to win and tried like hell to
take Ernest out. The problem is that Zavala at 32 years, lacked the ability to
out fox Ernest, or defeat him. I
gotta wonder why Zavala has only had 22 fights in his long life, while Ernest
almost equals his experience in a much shorter time. Zavala landed slapping body
shots and chased Ernest around the ring. I’ll admit that Johnson moved like a
greased monkey, but he did it without scoring blows, or punching with any
authority. I was expecting to see much more, especially after the write up. The
heat butts didn't help, Zavala cracked heads with Johnson who wore corn rows,
and must have had a harder head, because he never bled, while Zavala did. It seems life in Chula Vista helped him develop thicker
bones. I wish Freddy Roach, who receives a lot of praise, had taught Zavala how
to pivot, and put some power behind his punches. I think Freddy should have also
taught his fighters how to switch from left to right foot lead.
For all the hype about Roach, I’m yet to be impressed.
Zavala got the decision. Ernest seems to have lost the zeal young fighter
must have. Most washed out boxers don’t stop caring until they are over
thirty.
Speak of
given up, the main event was a dull as driving to Fresno on Hi-Way 99.
Gilbert Martinez must be one of the worse heavy weights in California. He
has no boxing skills. He swings his arms around like a bear and fights just John
Ruiz, the man made famous for losing to Roy Jones Jr. I don’t know what to say
about Gilbert, except that he is simply awful. I met his coach once, and I
don’t understand why Gilbert has not improved, developed or quit. What’s
going on? The poor guy would flick
his jab, three times, swing his left arm out and around while stepping into his
punch with his back foot, thereby negating any power the punch might have had.
The boos of the crowd did not seem to faze or interest Martinez who never
changed, or did anything different. He just plotted along, repeating the same
awful mistakes throughout the bout. What made the crowd boo even louder was that
his opponent, Sherman, The Tank William's was just as bad. Williams, like
Johnson did not seem to want to win, just survive, not get hurt, and go home
with a pay check. It was like watching an old carpenter pounding nails, building
another structure of which he cares nothing about.
Doing as little as he can, and still get paid.
Sherman adopted the exact style, and rhythm of fighting as Martinez. He
never did anything but respond when attacked, and only rarely attacked himself.
After eight rounds of frustration, I began shouting instructions at
Gilbert, who was once again in a clinch with Williams. I bet they clinched 900
times during the ten rounds. One of the fans called it dancing. I shouted "step back
and upper cut", a move I thought was as simply as spitting out your mouth
piece, but Gilbert never seemed to get it. Watching Gilbert Martinez is as
boring as watching Andy Griffin. It’s the same old thing, one jab, a left hay
maker and clinching, over and over at nauseum. I happy when the round ended and
the card girls came up, at least they pretended to care.
Having to observe 10 rounds of bad boxing is a real challenge.
I have written on Gilbert in the past, and I wish I could find something
uplifting to say. I’m sure he’s a good person. I wish I could say ³ Yea
Man, what a fight². I wish I could say how brave he was, but I can’t.
I think Gilbert knows he is a draw simply because he is a heavy weight,
and he doesn’t give a damn whether he wins or looses. I think Gilbert couldn’t give a damn what anyone thinks.
He’s in it for the pay check. He knows he can’t box, and he don’t care. He
knows he’ll never be a champion and that's ok with him.
I gotta write Santa Claus another letter and ask he give Gilbert Martinez
some enthusiasm, or a new career. The dullest fight of the year ended in a draw,
whoopee.
One nice
thing about going to the fights is seeing old friends.
I want to say, it’s been my privilege to work as a ringside sports
writer and commentator. I love what I do, and I try very hard to do it well. I tell
it as I see, and even though I may not like what I see, I have great respect for
the boxers, even the ones I don’t think care, or know how to box. Boxing is a
very tough game, and it takes tremendous courage to be up there. I teach my
students that boxing is 90 % psychological and 10% physical. If a boxer is unable to defeat his weaknesses, he’ll never
make it in the ring. My shaman grandfather taught me the importance of self
discipline, consistency and forbearance. I
try my best to pass my years of training, and experience to my students.
However, even when one has a great student, its still an uphill struggle. There
are so many obstacles put there by the 92% of the people the study spoke of, yet
we must persevere and press on.
Now as
the CEO and Editor in Chief of The San Joaquin County Guardian. You can see my
boxing articles at exclusivelyboxing.com, boxinginfo, and theringmagazine.com as
well as sanjoaquinguardian.com. For
those of you who read my articles and respond, thank you.
Even those of you who disagree with my observations, I hope the best for
all of you in the coming year. I continue to believe we could clean up boxing,
if each person reached out and helped a stranger, and they pay it forward. Get
involved, boxing belongs to the fans, not the commission or the promoters. Get
involved, write your congressman, ask for better officials, better commissioners
and higher standards of conduct for them.
Once again, I gotta say
“Thank God for Boxing”