Sweet Science

Will Margarito-Mosley be like Margarito-Cotto?

2009-01-19T00:06:00.000-08:00

Who wins the Antonio Margarito – Shane Mosley fight come January 24? In terms of technique, Shane Mosley is the superior guy. He has quicker hands and very methodical. But I got this feeling that Margarito will simply plough through Shane’s punches, take all that he could give and dish out his own punishment in returm that in the end will shatter Shane for a knock out victory in later rounds.

It will be like the Margarito-Miguel Cotto fight. In that fight, Cotto gave everything and Margarito, who has a granite chin, simply took the blows and moved forward. Margarito was simply too strong, too relentless. In the end, Cotto caved in. Dan Rafael’s accounts captures this:

Cotto, with an obvious speed advantage, dominated the first half of the fight. He threw lots of sharp, fast combinations to score points, but he could never hurt "The Tijuana Tornado." Undeterred, Margarito just continued to walk Cotto down. He bloodied his nose and mouth and began to take over the fight in about the sixth round. Cotto fought with the wrong game plan. He never worked the body, and he's a terrific body puncher. He also languished on the ropes, which was the one place he should never have been. When they were fighting in the center of the ring, Cotto dominated. When he was stationary on the ropes, Margarito -- whose eyes were a mess after the fight -- could finally land his punches. And when he connected during a relentless assault in the 11th, Cotto finally took a knee to get away from the incoming, just the second knockdown of his career. He showed heart to keep going because he was in bad, bad shape. Moments later, Margarito scored another knockdown. Again Cotto rose, but this time his trainer and uncle, Evangelista Cotto threw in the towel in a move that you can't criticize. It was the end of a fabulous fight and one of the best in the history of the storied Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry.
But let’s see. Who knows Shane still has something inside him.

Gerry Peñalosa versus Juan Manuel Lopez: who wins?

2009-01-15T00:28:00.000-08:00

Will Gerry Peñalosa beat Puerto Rican Juan Manuel “JuanMa” Lopez? Why not? Some people probably think I’m crazy.

JuanMa, bantamweight with 22 KO wins in 24 fights, is a scary guy. He packs a mule’s kick behind his punches, a real one-punch finisher. When he loads up and connects, the victim shrivels out like a mouse bitten by a King Cobra. Just watched how he destroyed Daniel Ponce de Leon in a single round. Ponce de Leon is the same bad dude who whipped Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista’s ass with just a single blow in the first round. Against JuanMa Lopez, de Leon looked like a patsy with a porcelain jaw.

But I think Gerry will win because JuanMa is kind of guy who constantly comes forward, a style that suits Gerry well. If we watch Gerry’s loses in the past, it was against opponents who did nothing but stick and run. Fighters who came to him usually end up eating those lethal counters, particularly that left straight that shoots out like poisoned darts. Gerry is good at slipping through punches, making people pay for their mistakes—a superb murderous counter-puncher.

Who knows, Gerry may yet knock this guy out.

Bernabe Concepcion: the next Manny Pacquiao?

2009-01-13T18:06:00.000-08:00

Is Bernabe Concepcion the next Manny Pacquiao? Boxing observers hope so. I watched him pummel Kenya’s Sande Otieno into submission for a WBC international crown and indeed he seems to have the brutish power to get to the top. Yes, he has a mean right straight and a killer uppercut. Lightning quick! The foot work, the fluid head and body movement are there. He has the moves!

I feel that Bernabe, just like Pacman in his earlier boxing years, still has few tricks to learn, however. His killer instinct has yet to be sharpened to hunter-killer perfection. Otieno turned his back when hit with a crackling uppercut that sliced his left eyebrow, and what our gentleman Bernabe did was stop punching, look at him with tender mercies, and signal the referee to check the Kenyan’s condition. A merciless killer would simply have smacked Otieno to kingdom come before the referee could call for a break. Come on, man, this is boxing, not a humanitarian operation.

Bad habits—Bernabe has few. In the third and fourth round, he allowed himself to be cornered by Otieno. I thought he was phasing, or allowing Otieno to get close so he could catch him flat with a huge counter and end the fight for good. He caught Otieno’s blows in his gloves and elbows but that tactic is just too risky. Freddie Roach always warned Pacman against such a behavior all the time. In world championship boxing, fighters usually have Sunday punches. One punch, one well timed blow, could suddenly change the course of history.

Overall, I like Bernabe. I’ll keep watching him from now on. I think he will be world champion.