Boxing | Larry Brown Sports

Nobody Wants Their Ass Kicked by a Senior Citizen

July 17, 2007 By Larry Brown 2 Comments

That apparently is one of Bernard Hopkins’ mottos. He’s 42-years-old and proud. In the reality of today’s sports, he’s one year younger than Vinny Testaverde, two years younger than Roger Clemens, almost three years younger than Evander Holyfield, and six years younger than Julio Franco. Dude’s practically a spring chicken. But in the following video that was passed along to me to promote the upcoming Hopkins/Winky Wright fight on Saturday, it shows the manlove between Bernard and UFC champ Randy Couture who’s 44-years-old. The video — “Bernard Hopkins is…The Bionic Man”

Dude, if that doesn’t send you memories of Ivan Drago, then I don’t know what does. Well, except for all the muscles…and steroids (so far that we know of).

Filed Under: Boxing, YouTubeage Tagged With: Bernard Hopkins

Mayweather, Hatton, Oh, It’s On

June 27, 2007 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

When the email crept into my inbox, I was startled, yet excited. Why would Mayweather take the bait? He said after beating De La Hoya — and receiving a monstrous pay day — that he was done. Not like I believed it, but I figured it would take another huge drawing fight to bring him back to the ring immediately, not just some trash talking. Which from the sounds of things, was all it took to get it done. Mayweather says he’ll beat Hatton all the way back to England (which sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?)

“Ricky Hatton has talked nonstop about fighting me for the last two weeks,” said Mayweather. “He has disrespected me and my accomplishments in the ring, and I take that very seriously. I’m going to give him the opportunity to step up and fight the best in the world. I don’t think this punk will take the challenge.”
…
“Now that Hatton has opened up his big mouth, he might start to think about what he has been asking for,” continued Mayweather. “Does he really want to step into the ring with best fighter of this era and embarrass himself? Being the coward that he is, I doubt he’ll get in the ring. We’ll see what his excuse will be this time.”

Hatton won’t be dodging — he has no reason to. He’s looking to make a name in the U.S., and he’s a skilled fighter. For Ricky, it will be a big pay day. For Mayweather, it’s undoubtedly a challenge. And some money, but not Oscar De La Hoya type. I don’t know why Pretty Boy’s eager to fight Hatton; Hatton is dangerous, Hatton is tough. Hats off to Floyd for showing interest. He’s leaving no room for doubt amongst boxing aficionados by fighting some of the best competition around. Now, we just await the official announcement…

Filed Under: Boxing Tagged With: Floyd Mayweather Jr., Ricky Hatton

Report: Diego Corrales Was Drunk at Time of Fatal Crash

June 14, 2007 By Larry Brown 2 Comments

Just over a month ago it was announced that boxer Chico Corrales died in a motorcycle crash. Now it’s coming out that Chico was drunk when he crashed his motorcycle. And not just drunk, but disturbingly over the limit, to the point where he appears to be 100% responsible for his death. From Doghouse Boxing via Max Boxing:

After toxicology tests showed Corrales’ blood-alcohol content was 0.25 percent, Las Vegas police Sgt. Tracy McDonald said it’s quite possible that had he not been impaired, he could have prevented his accident. The legal limit Nevada is 0.08 percent.

McDonald went further on to say: “Bottom line, no one else did anything wrong.” McDonald said the investigation found speed was a factor but no drugs were in Corrales’ system other than alcohol. “He basically killed himself,” said McDonald.

Eww, that’s some harsh words for someone after their death. But seriously, if he was three times over the limit, then Chico indeed did it to himself. And what’s worse, is that the news diminishes the tragic aspect of the death, not unlike the Josh Hancock case. What a sad case.

Filed Under: Boxing Tagged With: Diego Corrales

Cotto Crushed Zab, Fight of the Year?

June 10, 2007 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

That’s how it’s already being billed, by both Dan Rafael of ESPN and Doug Fischer of Maxboxing. My man Super Judah got his ass kicked by Miguel Cotto, suffering a knock down in the 11th, followed by a TKO shortly thereafter. In fact, Cotto hurt Zab so bad in the fight, that Judah had to take a knee in the eight round — literally. He went down in the eighth to avoid more punishment, receiving an eight-count from the ref before stepping back up. Rafael describes more of the beat-down:

By the 10th round, Judah was bleeding from a cut over his right eye and being wobbled regularly. Cotto hurt him with an uppercut that sent him retreating to the ropes. But Judah stayed upright and pounded his chest at Cotto.

Early in the 11th, Cotto nailed him with a combination and Judah went down again. He managed to get to his feet, but Cotto could sense the end. He attacked Judah, turning him sideways along the ropes as he continued to fire. That forced referee Arthur Mercante Jr. to stop the fight, sending the crowd — the Garden’s largest for a fight since the 1999 Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield heavyweight championship — into bedlam.

That’s 25 KOs in 30 fights (all wins) for Cotto. And the two drew quite some numbers, largely because of Cotto’s Puerto Rican following, and Judah’s Brooklyn roots. Cotto’s impressive record and punching power makes him a perfect candidate to take on Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather Jr. That would be a fantastic fight getting me as amped as I was to see Mayweather take on De La Hoya. Unfortunately as Kevin Iole describes it at Yahoo! Sports, the fight’s unlikely to happen. Why should Mayweather risk a beating for a smaller pay day? It’s just not worth the risk for him. Of course if boxing fans had their way, Pretty Boy would do it to please the minions. And that would be just lovely by me.

(photo credit Maxboxing)

Filed Under: Boxing Tagged With: Miguel Cotto, Zab Judah

Roy Jones Jr. Supports Cock Fighting

May 24, 2007 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

If you are familiar with boxing and Roy Jones Jr., this comes as no surprise. If you are unfamiliar with boxing and Roy Jones Jr., then this is obviously news. Roy Jones Jr. was my favorite boxer during the 90s, along with Prince Naseem Hamed (both have spiraled down a pathetic path since). The whole time this Michael Vick dog fighting stuff has been going on, I kept thinking of Roy and his cocks. I kept thinking that Roy was lucky he was a forgotten figure at this point in his life. Boy was I wrong. I just found out via East Side Boxing that Jones Jr. is shaking off his Antonio Tarver cobwebs and will be fighting again in July (and I have no interest in watching).

This seems like the absolute worst thing for him. He’s lost three of his last four fights, ruining what was once an unblemished record. He has nothing to gain from fighting once again (unless he’s desperate for a meager paycheck). And now, his name will be back in the news, for people like me to remind you that he is involved in cock-fighting (and even rapped about it). And yes, back when he was a significant figure, PETA was after him. But now, as sad as it is to say, he should just disappear and avoid all headlines. What a terrible time to announce he’s stepping back into the ring.

Filed Under: Boxing Tagged With: Michael Vick, Roy Jones Jr.

Would the Real Zab Judah Stand Up?

May 24, 2007 By Larry Brown Leave a Comment

Boxers go through tireless hours upon hours of training when they’re preparing for a fight. Heck, you’ve seen Rocky, you know what I’m talking about. And sometimes after a long day of training and rugged workouts, you just don’t have the time or energy to accommodate media requests. And when those moments come along, it’s nice to have a pinch hitter in your corner — you know, someone who can step up and knock one out of the park for you. And in Zab Judah’s case, that pinch hitter was his father.

Welterweight Zab Judah pulled a fast one on promoters and the media Wednesday, allowing his father, Yoel, to replace him on a conference call.

Judah was supposedly publicizing his June 9 fight with undefeated WBA champion Miguel Cotto. The call lasted about 30 minutes, during which Judah told sports writers, “We are going in to take the title, you are going to see blood, guts and sweat. You are going to see somebody hit the floor, I promise you.”

Let’s just hope the real Zab Judah shows up when it’s time to fight Cotto, unlike the pussy who pretended to be Zab last year against that scrub Carlos Baldomir. Come on Zab, Carlos Baldomir? That’s like letting the pitcher get a hit off you.

Note: Zab is eternally my boy — he’s a Jew from Brooklyn who got a shout out from Wu Tang. You just can’t beat that combination.

Other cool trivia: according to Zab’s wiki, he’s friends with Pacman Jones, Mike Tyson, and Lil’ Kim. He’s also rumored to be related by blood to 2Pac. How sweet is that?

Filed Under: Boxing Tagged With: Zab Judah

Hmm, Which One Doesn’t Fit in?

May 20, 2007 By Larry Brown 2 Comments

In what was a highly unheralded bout between two excellent fighters, Jermain Taylor defeated Cory Spinks to retain the WBO and WBC middleweight titles. I saw the fight on replay Sunday morning (I spent Saturday night watching the Angels beat the Dodgers instead). Man, was it a crappy fight. Taylor was much bigger and much stronger. He avoided contact for the most part, and landed some solid blows. Spinks threw far more punches, but hardly landed any of them. Even the ones he did land wouldn’t have made a five-year-old cry. I had Taylor winning the bore-fest easily. But someone please explain the judges’ scores:

117-111 Taylor
115-113 Taylor
117-111 Spinks?!?!

Well, Spinks was the aggressor, but…how can the judges be that far apart. I mean, if it were 115-113 by each judge, that’s fine. But 117-111? Where did he get off scoring it so one-sided? Like I said, I had Taylor crushing Spinks in this one — so to have it 117-111 — a comfortable victory for Spinks — is absolutely insane.

Filed Under: Boxing