Weekend Review:
-First off, I realized I am less motivated to write one of these when I have a losing week. Ha! Can't win em all.
-Celestino Caballero was a massive favorite in Panama Thursday night, and nearly got beat by an awkward but extremely game South African, Mathebula. The fight went to a split on the cards, and had it been in the challenger's homeland, I am fairly certain he would have received the nod. This is the most vulnerable I have seen Caballero. The only other time I have seen him shook like that was the final round against Ponce, when De Leon was letting it all hang out and clipped Celestino. Clearly, Caballero is struggling to make 122, and the decision to move to 126 is a smart one for him and his team. Before the Mathebula bout, I gave Caballero a good chance at beating Gamboa. Now I have my doubts about his sturdiness and stamina.
-From Friday Night, I can away with one main thought. Antillion is a beast, Abregu not so much. Urbano continues to impress, demolishing Tyrone Harris in 5 rounds. Antillion is still a bit under the radar, but he has improved incredibly and has been moved very nicely by Top Rank. He has been knocking out everyone put in front of him lately. Abregu, on the other hand, was VERY fortunate to sneak by Garcia on Shobox. He did show heart and determination, but he simply has no technique and cannot take a punch very well. Where the hell is Gary Shaw going to position this guy next if he barely can beat Irving Garcia and David Estrada?
On the undercards, Alfonzo Gomez never wins easy, but he notched another one (over Buendia). I am slowly learning with these Contender guys one thing. They fail miserably at the world class level, but they are all decent bets against the Smichet's and Buendia's of the world. Even Brinkley has put a few wins together in Reno.
And Wes Ferguson was just downright pathetic against Quintero, in an easy 8 round decision in California. Ferguson and John McDermott rivaled each other for most pathetic performance of the weekend.
-In Germany Saturday evening, Moreno proved a second time that he is just a better fighter than Sidorenko. I haven't seen this fight yet, but this is now 5 out of 6 judges who have preferred Moreno over the 24 rounds these two have fought. Moreno is quite a skilled bantamweight - a third match, to me at least, would be pointless. I don't think Sidorenko is fast enough to get inside on the guy, or big enough to hurt him.
On the undercard, the big disappointment of my weekend was Alexander Alekseev, losing all of his killer instinct against a blown-up, out of shape super middle in Max Alexander. 5.5 was a low number for the under - I was one of the players who took a risk there. But it is shocking that Alekseev couldn't get Alexander out within the distance (this guy was down against the light punching Sam Soliman). The written accounts of the fight (supposedly only 5 of the rounds were aired on German TV) state that Alekseev was winded and particularly shy toward the end of the bout. This guy's star has really dimmed over the last two fights. I wouldn't feel very confident betting big on him against any good cruiser.
-I don't know what the hell to say about Danny Williams-John McDermott, except I'm glad I didn't watch it. And I cannot believe that Danny Williams is still fighting and getting decisions. In my opinion, only Maskaev and Rahman may be more shot than Danny Boy. Sounded, from the round by round accounts I read, that McDermott had a very winnable fight in front of him. Money came in this weekend on Garcia, Ferguson, Buendia, and McDermott. All losers. The bookies are smiling.
-Soto did what most of us thought he would do on the HBO undercard. Gaudet just didn't have the power to discourage him, a huge problem against Humberto (unless your name is Joan Guzman). Korobov, Lara, and Jacobs all continued to win, with Korobov probably impressing the most.
Finally, so much has already been said about the main event, I don't think I can add much more. Graham has a great article about his ringside experience here:
http://www.fightwriter.com/?q=node/2209
An awesome annihilation indeed.
I felt very bad for Hatton, as he seems like a genuinely good guy. But he was up against a "Tsunami", as Lampley put it during the broadcast. Manny Pacquiao. WOW. This guy is a just a BAD ASS MF. Man!
I can't remember a fight, in my lifetime, that I have wanted to see more than Manny Pac vs. Lil Floyd Mayweather. Bring it on.
Fight of the Weekend: Abregu vs. Garcia on Shobox
Betting Regrets: Alekseev under 5.5, and, even though it was close, that fat boy McDermott
The books had a solid week - it happens.
I know only a few guys who profited. If you did - nice work ! For the rest of us -
let's try to turn it around this Friday.
Good luck everybody.