Boxing (this weekend on ShowTime)

[H2O Man]

There is boxing on ShowTime both tonight and tomorrow.

Tonight at 11 pm est, there is an interesting Jr. Middleweight fight between Joel Julio (25-0, with 22 KOs) versus Robert "the Doctor" Kamya (15-5, with 5 KOs).

On Saturday, starting at 9 pm est, there is an important card, featuring O'Neil Bell (25-1-1, with 23 KOs) fighting Jean-Marc Mormack (31-2, with 21 KOs) at Cruiserweight. That could be one of the best fights of 2006, in my opinion.

Also, Carlos Baldomir (49-9-6, with 12 KOs) fights Zab "Super" Judah (34-2, 25 KOs). Judah is one of the most gifted boxers that has fought in the past 50 years. He is taking a "warm-up" fight to keep in fight shape, and has expressed his hopes of meeting the top people his weight in 2006. Although his opponent does not have the best of records, I hope that Zab is not looking past him.

2005 was a great year for boxing fans. It looks like 2006 can be just as good. Enjoy the fights!

[dr.zoidberg]

1. This is going to be great.

I agree that Judah had better not be looking past Baldomir. I have heard thing about him from some knowledgeable fans that he is tough as hell. As for Bell/Mormeck, I see Mormeck winning by KO late. I know that Bell has legit KO power, but I think that Mormeck is just too tough.

[H2O Man]

2. My younger son

got out some old Zab tapes today. I had said that he had a period, when he was undefeated, when he didn't take fights seriously enough. Listening to him, it sounds like he knows how important every fight is now.

I think you are right about the Mormeck fight. Both are very talented, very tough fighters. Boxing fans win when matches like this are made. I like guys who are willing to fight the toughest men in their division.

[Stephist]

3. Thank God The Judges Got The Right Winner!

Do you realize how bad Baldomir had to have beat Judah if The judges couldn't even hometown him and the crowd din't disagree? Judah didn't win a round past 6 and round 7 was a 10-8 but hey they got it right! Then Judah blamed Don King :)

[H2O Man]

5. Zab has no one

else to blame. I thought the scoring was open to debate, but have no problem with it. I fully agree about he 10-8 round.

The Welterweight Title does not belong to Don King. It is a significant part of boxing history, and we associate it with names like Basilio, Robinson, Napoles, Griffith, Leonard, and more. The champion has an obligation to come into the ring in top shape, fully focused on the fight. If he loses, he loses without blaming others. I think Zab needs to look in a mirror to find who is responsible for his not meeting the level expected out of a champion.

Good fight by Baldomir.

[dr.zoidberg]

4. What a night!

Mormeck being KO'd by Bell was an unexpected sight. I was surprised that Mormeck got gassed by the 6th round, also. the fight was marred by the fact that the referee did a horrible job. Bell got away with numerous rabbit punches. Also, at one point, Mormeck had a long strip of tape hanging off of his glove, but the ref did not stop the action to get the tape removed. Shitty, shitty job by the ref.

Judah turned in a shitty performance tonight. He talks a whole lot of noise, takes forever with his entrance, damn near gets KO'd in the 7th, and loses by UD. Way to go Zab, you just blew being the world welterweight champion and a legitimate super-fight with Floyd Maywether. then, Zab has the gall to blame Don King. Judah seemed to indicate that King had bought off the judges. This is bullshit. I'm certainly no fan of King, personally I think he's a blood-sucking douche-bag who cheats his fighters out of hard-earned money, but I don't think that you can say that King had the the judges in his pocket. What did King have to gain by Judah losing? Nothing, that's what. ABS just trying to make excuses for a shitty performance and he has no one to blame but himself.

[H2O Man]

6. Mormeck v Bell

was a heck of a fight. Perhaps the lack of activity was a big factor in Mormeck's getting tired. But the right hands to the body were a bigger factor. I had said to my boys that I wondered if he had a rib injury that was keeping him from moving and throwing punches well.

There is no excuse for the ref's failure to control the things you mentioned. He also let Mormeck get hit a few too many times.

Though I agree that Zab needs to blame himself, I think that there are numerous reasons that Don King would prefer he not win. Among them are the obvious power and control issues. In December, I heard Mayweather's people saying Zab had offered him a large amount (it seems like it was $6 million, but I'm not sure) for a fight. They pointed out that Zab has never earned that type of money, and is in no position to offer it. Don may not have liked that Zab & Co were thinking that they were in the driver's seat, and being highly unrealistic about their worth.

The welterweight title is now fragmented. Mayweather and Hatton will be a lot more of a money-maker for King. Zab screwed himself, by behaving in exactly the way he behaved when he couldn't handle the responsibility of being on top before. While he can look great in many circumstances, he also looks lackluster in far too many fights, and never has shown an ability to take a hard punch.