Inside the Ropes 05.06.08

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 05.06.2008

This week I talk Forbes-De La Hoya, Pavlik's sense of humor and Marco Antonio Barrera's plans.

This week, I've got quite a few things on my mind and there's sure plenty to talk about especially after this past weekend's Forbes-De La Hoya bout. Speaking of which, I was scheduled to attend the fight but due to my father's surgery which was moved up to the Thursday before the fight, I decided to stay back to tend to him while sending fellow writer Matt Knowles in my place. Needless to say I'm glad I stayed, not because I didn't like the fight but because there's much more important things in life that don't involve bloody noses.

De La Hoya: One Down, Two to Go: So Oscar has taken care of item number one on his list of three things to do in 2008. Last weekend, Oscar went twelve full rounds with Steve Forbes in a fight that wasn't action packed, but had enough fighting in there to keep us watching. The slickster Forbes didn't make it easy for De La Hoya to find him but he certainly did his job – making Oscar work a full fight while providing enough movement and punches to shake off the rust and prepare for Mayweather. Will this translate in a fully prepared Oscar in September? Who's to say. He looked pretty decent in there against Forbes, a guy who can make anyone look bad and his workrate was pretty good considering he'd been off for almost a year and is 35 years old. That Oscar was hoping for a knockout seemed evident in certain rounds but Forbes was too slippery to let that happen. One thing I noticed though was that De La Hoya seemed a bit dull. Sure, he was the one making the fight but the intensity and fire that I'm used to seeing from the 7-time world champ just didn't seem to be there. Perhaps you can chalk that up to him not being 100% focused on a tune-up fight but it makes me wonder how much he has left. Of course we could see a ferocious Golden Boy in September but we'll have to wait and see.

On the subject of his fight with Mayweather, Oscar said during the post-fight interview that a deal to fight Floyd in September is not actually a done deal. He claims that the deal will likely be done however given that he wants the fight and I'm sure Floyd doesn't mind the millions of dollars that will come with it. Still, what IF, Floyd decides against the fight? That would be detrimental to Oscar's plans for a big 2008 and I wonder if he'd change his plans at all for fighting three times or simply find a suitable opponent.

Barrera Enjoying His Time Outside the Ring: Barrera hasn't been in the ring since his loss to Manny Pacquiao last year and he made it pretty clear that he was hanging up the gloves. In recent weeks however, there were rumors that Barrera was thinking about a comeback and even speaking to reporters in LA in the week leading up to the Hopkins-Calzaghe fight, he mentioned that he'd be willing to come back if a big money fight could be made against the likes of Pacquiao, Marquez or anyone else that he would consider a big fight.

After the Hopkins-Calzaghe fight, I spotted Barrera sitting quietly with his wife in a corner seat; being left alone by the media who was more interested in Roy Jones Jr. and media that I'm sure couldn't speak a lick of Spanish. I took the opportunity to walk up to him and strike a conversation. In our convo, I asked Barrera about life as a promoter and the tingling sensation of wanting to jump back in the ring. He did admit that a big money fight could convince him to climb back in the ring if Golden Boy Promotions could put something together but he also acknowledged that he was having fun with his promotional duties in Mexico. I joked with him about how nice it must be to still be involved in boxing but with the luxury of not getting punched in the face 600 times a night. He agreed.

Pavlik Has a Funny Bone: Back in the first week of April, Kelly Pavlik was doing a television interview regarding his upcoming June fight with Gary Lockett. In the interview, Pavlik candidly broke the news that he was going to retire after the fight. He just felt he wanted to retire undefeated and that he didn't have much of a reason to keep fighting. Shocked, the entire set of media members asked questions wondering why a middleweight champion in his prime would do such a thing. Kelly then cracked the proverbial egg on their face by telling them it was an April Fool's joke. I just recently saw that video again and I got to thinking: why can't more boxers have a sense of humor like that with the media. We come across a lot of arrogant fighters and some who are great people but don't have the personality to joke around like that. In an age where fighters struggle to get mainstream attention, having personality can be a gold mine. All you personable, talented fighters out there; it's time stand up and let yourselves be heard.

Oh and here's a video of Pavlik's little joke:



Oh Just Stop it Already: Anyone else sick of world class fighters fighting just once a year? That's not to say there aren't any that fight more than once but it seems like it was decades ago now that champions would fight three times a year. Floyd Mayweather is the best fighter in the world but isn't fighting until September? That's ridiculous and unfair to the fans and fighters who wish to prove themselves against the best in their division.

Will someone just take all the alphabet titles and just flush them down the toilet? As if having the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO floating around, you also have organizations like the IBO, WBU, IBA and God knows what else. Let's stick to The Ring Magazine championship or have all these alphabet groups just merge already. It only gets worse when you start adding things like "Continental Americas" and "Fedalatin" to the mix.

Got comments or questions, email me at [e-mail] and let me know what you've got on your mind!