EVIL~! alkeiper

He made up with Vince in the last year, over the steriod trial. WWE is actually working on an autobiography of him, due about next year. Hence the newfound interest.

Like I've been saying, fuck the alphabet organizations. Pretend they don't even exist. We have Ring Magazine and USA Today. If Byrd and Vitali were to fight, they would declare one of them the true champion. End of controversey.

What title? The WBC version?

I think Chris Byrd is the #1 heavyweight in the world right now. Besides Wlad, the only fighter he lost to was Ike Ibeabuchi, and Ike might have been better than any of the current heavyweights today (he was incarcerated for rape after the Byrd fight, and his career is all but over). Byrd holds victories over Vitali, Fres Oquendo, Evander Holyfield, and Ross Purrity (who beat Wlad Klitschko). And he's never been knocked out. The only other fighter with a championship claim is Vitali, and Byrd beat him. I think Vitali and Byrd should fight, and the winner is declared the new undisputed champion. Its the simplist idea, and the most effective.

With Marciano/Moore, it wasn't as if the fight was all that close. Marciano knocked Moore down five times, and unlike Lewis, Rock won clean, with the challenger being counted out. Besides, if Rocky gave rematches every time a fighter knocked him down, he'd still be fighting today. As for boxing fans, I have no worries about the boxers themselves. I worry about the system. Through the last 25 years of bullshit sanction politics and paper champions, boxing always had the linear championship. You could trace it back to the day Patterson KO'd Moore. And now that's gone, and it may be a long time before we see another undisputed champion. I'll address that in my next post.

Moore again, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, Eddie Machen, maybe a Ruiz-level guy like Tom McNeely. Patterson and Liston weren't top contenders at that point in 1955. Patterson was competing at light heavyweight, and I have no reason to think Marciano wouldn't have beat him anyway. Eddie Machen debuted in 1955. And there was no point in giving Moore a rematch. the next fight for the heavy title was....Floyd vs. Archie. Floyd won. Marciano nearly came out of retirement for Liston, but thankfully didnt. Another he could have fought - Joey Maxim. point - a fighter cant fight everyone, Lennox deserves a nice retirement. The difference is that Rocky didn't have a big fight looking him right in the face. Its hard to fault Lewis, as ultimately this is the smart decision for him. But for fans of boxing, this is the worst possible scenario.

Moore again, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, Eddie Machen, maybe a Ruiz-level guy like Tom McNeely. Patterson and Liston weren't top contenders at that point in 1955. Patterson was competing at light heavyweight, and I have no reason to think Marciano wouldn't have beat him anyway. Eddie Machen debuted in 1955. And there was no point in giving Moore a rematch.

But who did Rocky have left to fight? Besides, with his style, he couldn't keep fighting forever.

Well, not to defend Lewis here, but isn't a part of manhood having the courage to walk away?

I don't see that as a strike against Lennox. Sure, it'd be nice to see the fight, but from Lennox's perspective, he's 38, losing interest and financially secure. Why should he risk his health on a fight he doesn't need? Especially when the record book already says "TKO 6 Vitali Klitschko".

Scoring was higer because they took more shots. The reason scoring is higher today is because more teams structure and plan plays, using the 24 second shot clock.

I'll take your Coulture and raise you a George Foreman.

Everyone talks about a lack of fundamentals, but is that really true. There's more showmanship yes, but I don't think that translates to a lack of fundamentals. Shooting marks have hovered between 70% and 80% for the entire history of the league as far as I can tell. And if you look at old NBA games, you'll generally see MORE missed passes and other miscues.

The last two vacanies in the heavyweight crown were filled by a single bout. Schmeling/Sharkey and Patterson/Moore. So if you could pick two fighters to compete for the championship, who would they be? I selected what I think are the top 15 fighters in the heavyweight division, added Lennox Lewis, and compiled their records against one another. The 15 I selected are Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko, Roy Jones, James Toney, David Tua, Hasim Rahman, Corrie Sanders, Fres Oquendo, John Ruiz, Jameel McCline, Dominick Guinn, Mike Tyson, Kirk Johnson, Joe Mesi and Chris Byrd. Guinn and Mesi haven't fought a top 15 guy yet, so they're out. Toney, McCline, and Tyson are 0-1, and Oquendo and Johnson are 0-2, so lets take them out. That leaves us 8 guys. Sanders, Tua, Rahman, Byrd, Jones, Ruiz, and the Klitschko Brothers. Vitali Klitschko took the measure of Lennox Lewis, but lost. He holds a KO win over Kirk Johnson, but he's on the bottom of the list. Meanwhile, he lost by TKO to Chris Byrd. Still, he's in the top in the court of public opinion. Chris Byrd has the most impressive record, at 3-1. His only loss came against Wladimir Klitschko via decision. Meanwhile, he beat Vitali, Fres Oquendo, and David Tua. His credentials are the best in the group. Wladimir Klitschko, until his loss to Sanders, was considered the class of the division. He does have the win over Byrd however, and he beat Jameel McCline. Corrie Sanders beat Klitschko, but hasn't fought since. He's fought only five times since 2000, and he lost to Hasim Rahman, the only other ranked fighter he faced. Sanders would need to prove more to earn a title shot. Hasim Rahman's the only other fighter to beat Lewis. He was knocked out in convincing fashion, however, in the rematch. In fact, Rahman has wet to win a bout since the Louis fight. He's lost to Ruiz, Lewis, and fought to a draw against Tua. Ruiz is in this group, and there's no way you can justify picking Rahman over Ruiz. Thumbs down. John Ruiz. Ah, my favorite fighter. Ok, maybe not. But lets give him a fair look. 2-2 against this group. One of those losses came in 1996. He beat Rahman and Kirk Johnson. However, he lost to Roy Jones Jr. Hard to say. He's just never impressed me. Roy Jones Jr. He beat Ruiz. He also beat James Toney, but that was almost 10 years ago (damn I'm getting old). Its hard to give him a shot based on a single fight. Nay. David Tua. Of his three wins, two came before the Lewis fight in 2000. I think he needs to fight a higher class of opponents to earn a shot. So that gives us Byrd vs. either Vitali, Wladimir, or John Ruiz. Since the fans like Vitali, we'll give him the shot. Chris Byrd vs. Vitali Klitschko for the title. Anyone agree?

With more and more scandals in boxing, and abuses by the sanctioning bodies, boxing fans are more and more disillusioned by the sport every day. One problem many cite with boxing is multiple world championships. Ring Magazine along with USA Today are working to change that. They've begun issuing their own rankings and championships. They've done this for about three years or so. Max Kellerman explains in his latest boxing column...... The sanctioning bodies are never going to unify the titles. The only solution is to ignore them completely. Pretend they don't even exist. Next time someone tells you the IBF Jr. Featherweight Title is on the line, ask them if its some sort of bagel. Its the only way we'll see legitimate champions again.

We've had unified heavyweight champions twice in the last twenty years. The only way this plan would work is if the alphabet organizations dissolved after the fights. That's obviously not going to happen. It happens mostly when fighters won't defend against the organization's "#1 Contender." For example, Lewis was stripped by an organization for not defending against John Ruiz. Two questions. One, what in the blue fuck has John Ruiz ever done to warrent a title shot? Roy Jones picked his spot against him for a reason. Two, why does every organization have a different #1 contender? The ratings are bullshit, with underhanded deals and money passed around all over the place. Legitimate champions are stripped constantly because they won't face Johnny Scrub, who has no credentials except a top promotor and a #1 ranking.

There IS a dearth of talent in the heavyweight division, and the problem is the sport's image. Boxing will always have plenty of lightweight guys, because what the heck else are you going to do when your an athlete and you weigh 112 pounds? But heavyweight boxing has to compete with baseball, football, basketball, etc. Boxing needs another Tyson to clean up the division and create interest in the sport again.

The Angels have 5 capable starters....remember I know this I live 30 minutes away from the stadium and go to games all the time....by the way they have some really good pitchers in triple-a ball. I don't see the A's winning the World Series and thus I didn't include them. But Oakland has three pitchers better than their ace. And all five of their starters have excellent peripherals. Ortiz meanwhile, had a 5.20 ERA. Washburn had a 4.43 ERA, and Lackey had a 4.63 ERA. Both Ortiz and Washburn have K/9 rates of less than 5. Oakland's pitching rotation is clearly superior to Anaheim's. As for these minor league pitchers for the Angels, who are they? I see Scot Shields is good, but I looked over the AAA stats, and none of those guys looks impressive. My opinions on the offense I've stated earlier. Oakland is not Los Angeles. They have good hitters all around. Not great ones, but good ones. The Dodgers meanwhile had four guys in their lineup with sub-.300 OBP. There's a difference there. Bottom line is, the Angels winning is hardly a sure thing. The Athletics have made the playoffs four years in a row. If they can survive losing Giambi, Isringhausen, and Damon, they can afford these losses. Especially since Bobby Crosby should quickly make A's fans forget Miguel Tejada.

They have a pitching staff of Mulder, Hudson, Zito, Mark Redman, and Rich Harden. That pitching staff will win alot of games, and if there are any injuries, they have at least two quality guys in the minors. Can the Angels afford injuries? All they have to back up their rotation is Aaron Sele. Besides Eric Chavez, the A's have a solid lineup of average to above average guys. Bobby Crosby is my early pick for rookie of the year. Most of the same team won 95 games last year. I see no reason why they can't do it again.

Ever since the induction of the unbalanced schedule I've seen this argument, but it never seems to be a factor.

Obviously this wouldn't be a one night tournament, if that's what you mean. You'd have fights four months apart.

Apparently his last fight was last January. He is apparently scheduled to fight Sharmba Mitchell in February. Still, this system is superior to the other. Like the column says, once in a while a champion will sit on a title. But having titles won only in the ring adds more legitimacy to them, which is very important.

Read my recent thread on boxing, the one with Max Kellerman in the title. IGNORE the alphabet titles. Get them completely out of your head. They mean SHIT as far as I'm concerned. Since it'll never happen, I can dream. My eight man boxing tournament...... Wladimir Vitali Tyson Jones Byrd Toney Tua Sanders

Smart move from Lennox, but bad for boxing as a whole.

I had another idea in my head. Trade Mark Teixeira AND Chan Ho Park to the Yankees.