Margarito/Lewis, Mosley/Marquez

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I watched the fights on HBO tonight, and it definitely wasn't one of their better offerings.

 

From the Mandalay Bay Casino, in Sin City.

 

The first fight saw Antonio Margarito, a man who hasn't lost a fight since he turned 18, square off against Andrew "Six heads" Lewis. I've seen Six Heads once before, but this was my first time seeing Margarito, and I was mighty impressed. Lewis took it to him in the first round, winning it decisively by my count, utilizing a good stiff jab, hand speed, and aggression. Margarito is apparently known for his stamina, so it would seem like a pretty good strategy. Alas, in the second round, he got fucking SMOKED with a mean right hand, and a flurry that fucked Six Heads up proper, resulting in referee Joe Cortez stopping the bout. Good stoppage, too. Six Heads was out on his feet, and were it not for the ropes, he would've went down. REALLY impressive punching power from Margarito, and crisp shots, to complement his strength. The commentators made the observation that Lewis should be called "Six Heads, One Chin" and I can agree with that. He didn't take that punishment well at all.

 

Result: Second round TKO victory for Margarito, who retains his WBO welterweight belt.

 

Post fight, Margarito challenged the new welterweight champ Ricardo Mayorga, and all I can say is, get in line. The welterweight division is wide open right now, with a plethora of good fighters. Kostya Tszyu is still the man of the weight class, IMO, with Mayorga taking a close second due to being powerful but unfocused. Mayorga/Margarito would be a slugfest from hell, though, and a fun one to watch. There's so many guys with a claim right now, including but not limited to Zab Judah, Arturo Gatti, and the recently dethroned Vernon Forrest. There's apparently talks that Felix Trinidad is thinking about coming out of retirement, which would add to an already stacked division. Also mentioned was the possibility of a rematch between Vargas and De La Hoya. I'm all about it.

 

The second fight of the night was just a short but not nearly as good. "Sugar" Shane Mosley, widely regarded a year ago as the pound-for-pound best in the world, is coming off two defeats to rival Vernon Forrest. Tonight, he fought former olympian Raul Marquez. Interesting side note: Mosley would've been on the same team, had he not lost in qualifying to, you guessed it, Vernon Forrest.

 

My first time seeing Marquez, and Larry Merchant makes a point that the guy bleeds coming out of the dressing room. Getting a look at the guy's eyebrows tells the story, though, as they're basically two lumps of scar tissue with hair. First round, a lot of dancing, tying up, and awkwardness that comes with a southpaw vs. a conventional fighter. This also tends to lead to headbutts a-gogo, so remember that. Nothing special early on, as Marquez has his head guarded very well, however Mosley landed some good body shots, including several straight rights to the chest. Good strategy. Make him drop his guard to protect his aching ribs, then let the handspeed and skill take over. Next round, Mosley lands the best punch of the fight in a MEAN left hook to the body, and Marquez is hurtin' somethin' fierce. Mosley's tactics were DEFINITELY working, as that shot slowed down Raul quite a bit. Another round for Sugar Shane, who was clearly starting to take control.

 

Then, the third round. This round of the fight should be used as an example why conventional fighters and southpaws often lead to shenanigans. They crack heads ugly-style halfway through, and Marquez is bleeding like a stuck pig, and he's PISSED. He then goes off, claiming that it was intentional, when it was clearly an accident. The fight gets pretty ill from this point. It turns into a street fight, with Marquez landing a blatant elbow shot that goes unchecked by the ref. More ugliness and brawling, and they crack heads AGAIN. This time busting Marquez open EVEN WORSE over the other eye, which lead to the ringside doctor and ref stopping the match. Well, fuck. The fight, since it wasn't the fourth round, is ruled a no decision, and the crowd's pissed off. Bullshit chants come intermittently as Merchant interviews Marquez in the ring. He maintains the first BUTT was intentional, but retracts that opinion after seeing the footage. The second one was just as accidental.

 

Over to Mosley, who is questioned about a possible rematch with Oscar. Apparently, it's a no-go, as Shane would only be getting a paltry 4.25 MILLION for the fight. Fuckin' cry me a river, that's more than I'll probably ever make. Basically, his whole point is that he got 4.5 for the first fight, which he WON, and is now being offered a 75%/25% cut of the purse for the rematch. Which I can understand him getting maybe a little bent out of shape with Oscar getting three times what he's getting, but still, it's FOUR FUCKING MILLION DOLLARS. Ah well, that's boxing.

 

Coming up on the 15th is Bantamweight Tim Austin vs. Rafael Marquez (no relation to Bleedin' Raul, that I know of), and ANOTHER welterweight contender in Ricardo Williams Jr. tries to prove he can cut the mustard against Juan Carlos Rubio.

 

March 1st has Roy Jones "The fuckin' man" Jr. against John Ruiz on PPV, which could either be really really good, or really really bad. Either way, I'm waiting til it's on HBO.

[Guest MrRant]

Ahh the beauty of working for Comcast. Free WWE PPVs and fights.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Man, I wish I had that luxury for the fights alone. I love boxing, but am iffy about the PPV's since they cost more than wrestling, and can be total wastes of dough. I remember getting a gaggle of pals together to watch Tyson/Golota, which we knew was going to be bonkers, but still.