Vinny’s Views: Memo to Roy Jones, JR Take Notes From Marcos Maidana, HBO Sends Manny Pacquiao Packing & Errol Spence, JR Returns to Action Today
By Vinny “Glory Day” Lucci
Alright sports fans, taking a hard insiders look inside the pocket and outside the ropes. First off, this week we say goodbye to Marcos “Chino” Maidana, who announced his retirement after a two year hiatus. Chino seemed content with two monster paydays back in 2014 against Floyd Mayweather, JR. and the showing he put up. After considerable weight gain, Marcos decided to exit the ring wars on his terms, to which we can only say, bravo! Hell kid, I personally think you took 9 rounds from Floyd your first go at it and Kenny Bayless was relentless at hand cuffing you in the rematch, never allowing your two feet into Mayweather, JR.’s real estate. The through whipping you administered to Adrien Broner was a classic beat down solving the previously unbeaten “problem.” Ringside Report wishes you a glorious retirement and hopes you never need to make a comeback for cash or boredom.
Time for Roy Jones, JR. to follow in Maidana’s footsteps after posting a unanimous decision Rodney Moore last week raising his record to 64- 9, with one unpopular DQ. Makes me wonder if Jones, JR. is desperate to keep swapping leather against fighter’s unknown to all, but hard core fans just to elevate his win column? Think about it, after the ko loss to Tarver back in 2004, Roy went 5-6 in his next eleven fights, getting starched by both trail horse Glen Johnson and unheralded Danny Green and Denis Lebedev. Carefully matched over his next eleven, Roy owns a 10 and 1 comeback of sorts, but that loss was another knockout, this time at the hands of Enzo Maccarinelli. If you’re not familiar with these names, you’re not alone. Not saying their bad fighters, but these cats who were once never in Jones, JR. league are now running rough shod over him. With a net worth reported to be over twenty million, Roy simply does not have to fight on at the advanced age of 47, just to get more wins on the left side of the ledger. An all-time great, who was probably the greatest naturally God gifted athlete to ever grace a ring, is simply too good to go out on his shield, with so little to gain.
On the comeback trail Antonio Margarito saddled up to win a comfortable decision against Ramon Alvarez, while getting himself knocked down in process in the 4th round. At thirty eight, while he still gets his body in incredible shape, his best years are behind him. Looking for a payday challenge against Canelo Alvarez, he is going to have to tackle a contender and win decisively to even be thought of as a future opponent.
At the bargaining table, I am quickly losing respect for most middleweights and the shameful way they have been avoiding Gennady Golovkin. While this subject is a sore spot with fans, I’ll spare the division facts for another article and highlight new cherry picker, Billy Joe Saunders. All right, good business acumen to put some distance between himself and the Kazakhstani power house for a short while and make a few defenses for his retirement fund, but rejecting Danny Jacobs is a lost opportunity to build a future gate with “GGG” is just lame. Add the odd and curious rejections of both Willie Monroe, JR. and Gabriel Rosado who have already been stopped by Golovkin in title defenses makes you wonder exactly what he is looking for in terms of defending his title. I wish it was Saunders who challenged welterweight Kell Brook, and not “GGG”. There fight fans lies the more intriguing battle.
In the cross hairs of upcoming fights, the boxing community awaits the fall out of last minute negotiations between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev slated for November 19. Last week Ward was a no show at the Los Angles press conference, where tickets sales were about to be announced.
The more I see a larger version of Kell Brook in training, the more I believe he is going about training with the wrong mindset and battle plan. The welterweight version of Brook is a fighting specimen to behold, where he is a finely tuned and chiseled to perfection where he has a natural blend of both speed and power. Against his biggest name opponent, Shawn Porter, he had his moments trying to play matador to the than champion’s bull rushes, inside fighting and rabid punches. Revisiting the fight can only make one wonder if all his added muscle could possibly help turn back the forward death march that Gennady brings to all challengers? Standing his ground looking for a knockout against the man Max Kellerman calls the “Big Drama Show” is a sure blueprint for disaster.
HBO has turned its back on promoter Bob Arum and his star attraction, the great Manny Pacquiao by informing them that they will not be showcasing his upcoming fight against Jessie Vargas on their Pay Per View arm. In the past, the networks international exposure helped make Manny a star and his incredible run at the top of the sport helped keep the network ahead of its biggest rival, Showtime. Free to travel elsewhere, it will be fascinating as to what Arum’s next move is. On paper, its boxer Vs boxer, but hard to comprehend Vargas pulling off an upset.
Finally, Errol Spence, JR. is highlighted this weekend with a nationally televised fight against 41 year old Leonard Bundu. Spence, JR. will have a perfect showcase for his speed and talent, with a chance to move closer to a title fight against still welterweight champ Kell Brook. While many may dismiss Bundu as too old and just a glorified sparring partner to fill Brooklyn’s Ford Amphitheater in Coney Island should be happily mistaken. Bundu is sturdy, rugged fighter who will test Spence, JR. as he gave Keith Thurman a gut test back in 2014.
Stay tuned…
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