Bleacher Report - Articles by John Maresca

Thurman Munson Still Missed 30 Years After Death

John Maresca — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:11:03 -0400

Thurman Munson died nearly thirty years ago, but I remember August 2, 1979 better than I remember yesterday.

I went to Menlo Park Mall in Edison, New Jersey with my grandparents. I ate lunch at Burger King and had a Whopper with no pickles and no mayo, and a medium coke. I got a pack of the Yankee baseball cards that Burger King offered that summer. I wanted desperately to get my favorite player, Thurman Munson. I did not get the card, but did not really care too much.

It was overcast most of the day and I remember exactly what the sky looked like when Steve Bosh, the Channel 11 newscaster of the day, interrupted my regular cartoon watching. He told me that Thurman Munson was killed when he crashed his private plane.

I really did not think it was true. Later on the five o’clock news, it was apparent that the news was not a mistake. Every time I saw Steve Bosh on television after that, I changed the channel.

My father came home from work and had two packs of baseball cards for me. After three years of hoping to get it, I finally got a Thurman Munson card, but it really did not even change the expression on my face, and the smile that would have been ear to ear just a day earlier never materialized.

In most cases, a player’s legend builds over time. I believe that while Thurman Munson is still loved, his career is underrated.

He only played for 11 seasons, seven of which he was an All-Star. He won a Rookie of the Year Award and a Most Valuable Player Award in his career. Munson was on three pennant winners and two world championship teams. He batted over .300 and had over 100 RBIs in three consecutive seasons.

His playoff and World Series statistics simply confirm that you would not want anyone else up to bat in a clutch situation. I feel that he is remembered for his grittiness more than his greatness. His career statistics are as good as anyone could hope for in 11 seasons.

I wish August 2, 1979 never happened. Munson would surely get a standing ovation on Old Timers Day and would be at Yankee Stadium at least a few times a year; he might have even been the manager. Most importantly, even if he played only a few more seasons, even bad ones, he would be in the Hall of Fame.

Mosley and Margarito: True Champions

John Maresca — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:08:41 -0500

Shane Mosley is clearly at the end of an illustrious career, that with more careful matchmaking and better decisions, could have been one of the best in history. He had a Hall of Fame career and beat many top level fighters.

However, he moved up too far in weight and insisted on rematches that he had no real chance of winning, not because he was an inferior fighter to Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright, but because he was simply too small to compete with the elite above welterweight.

I firmly believe that if he fights under 140 pounds his entire career, he is nearly unbeatable. I think he would have beaten Floyd Mayweather had that fight ever happened.

The lure of a big money fight with Oscar De La Hoya lured him to the weight divisions he should have never competed at. Beating Oscar gave him and many the impression that he belonged up there.

I will never believe that he did and I will always stand firm on the belief that he would have been the most outstanding fighter of his time had he made better decisions.

With all of that being said, I believe he has more of a chance than most experts believe he does against Antonio Margarito. I feel that Mosley won the Cotto fight. He lost a decision that certainly could have gone either way. And while it was certainly not a robbery that Mosley lost, I would not consider it a damaging loss in the least.

Margarito beat Cotto into submission in what was a very close fight. Margarito is an outstanding fighter that I enjoy watching more than almost any fighter of all time. He is exciting and extremely talented.

His only drawback is an obvious lack of strategy. He fights one way and one way only. If he would have developed a strategy against Paul Williams, he would have won. He literally gave away the first six rounds in that fight.

The fight between Margarito and Mosley has all of the pieces to be immensely entertaining. Both guys come straight forward and will punch until they cannot punch anymore. It will be two of the best fighters of this or any generation fighting with levels of heart rarely seen.

Either of these men would be competitive and have a chance to defeat any fighter throughout history. They are a credit to their sport and will give us a memorable fight. Realistically, Margarito should win. But if anyone thinks it will be easy or Mosley has no chance, that is simply foolish.

Win, lose or draw, I hope that Shane Mosley retires. His heart does not allow him to fight cautious fights. I do not want to see Shane Mosley suffer damage, especially against inferior fighters simply because he hung around too long. He has made enough money to live comfortably, and boy has he earned it.

Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Fight Talks Begin

John Maresca — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:37:33 -0500

Manny Pacquaio simply dismantled what was left of Oscar De La Hoya last Saturday night in Las Vegas. It was clear that Oscar is a completely shot fighter and that he is no longer one of the elite boxers in the world.

Freddie Roach trained Oscar De LA Hoya for his fight against Floyd Mayweather and he clearly knew that Oscar would not pose much of a threat to any world class fighter. Especially one that throws a lot of punches and has a lot of speed. Oscar was made to order for Manny Pacquaio at this stage of his career.

I would not make the assumption that Manny Pacquaio easily defeats Floyd Mayweather because he handled Oscar more decisively than Mayweather did. Mayweather had no way of knowing that Oscar was so shot, or possibly Oscar got old overnight and still had a little left in the tank when he fought Floyd.

Several factors need to be considered when analyzing a Pacquaio-Mayweather fight. I would not be too excited at the way Manny looked against De La Hoya. Oscar would not have beaten any world class fighter that night. Mayweather would have looked equally impressive, if not more so, if the opposition was not throwing punches back.

Floyd has not fought in over a year, and it might suit him well to fight a tune-up first. Lastly, Floyd would have advantages in speed and power and be the naturally bigger man in this fight.

The stakes in this proposed fight would be great. If Pacquaio did win, Mayweather’s legacy would be severely damaged. He would have lost to a fighter moving up in weight and would have lost the biggest fight and stiffest challenge of his career.

I would go as far to say that it would not be his first defeat, because I still believe that he was given a gift decision in his first fight with Jose Luis Castillo. Oscar managed a split decision against him at a time when he was not the fighter he once was as well.

Floyd is beatable, I just do not see Pacquaio being the one to do it. I always wanted to see Mayweather fight Shane Moseley at junior welterweight. That is never going to happen, but it would have been special. Especially if it would have taken place about 10 years ago.

If Manny were to win, it would be quite an accomplishment. I would consider it a miraculous victory. Pacquaio has beaten great fighter that were past their prime. Juan Manuel Marquez has actually won more rounds in their two fights and I believe gave him a boxing lesson in the second fight.

That is the fight I really want to see. If that does not happen, a fight between Manny and Miguel Cotto or the winner of Mosley, Margarito is interesting as well. I really do not see Pacquaio winning any of these fights though.

Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao: Both Taking Huge Risk

John Maresca — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:28:17 -0500

The situation seems unfair and the odds are so stacked against Manny Pacquiao in his fight against Oscar De La Hoya that you wonder why he even accepted the challenge. He is widely regarded as the pound for pound best fighter in the world and things could not be going any better for him as a fighter.

He is making millions of dollars for his fights, is a worldwide celebrity and is practically royalty in the Philippines. Perhaps he believes that regardless of how poorly he fairs everything will return to normal once he returns to a more comfortable weight class. I just do not see it that way.

I am actually a little surprised that Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach advised him to take the fight. He trained De La Hoya for his fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and has to know that the entire situation is not a good one for his fighter. Initially I believed that perhaps he knew of a glaring weakness in Oscar’s arsenal, but then reality set in and I know that even if there was one, the size difference would make it irrelevant.

The two examples that come to mind for me are Ricky Hatton and Meldrick Taylor. Both men moved up in weight to fight big money fights (Hatton fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Taylor fought Terry Norris), got soundly beaten and lost more than that fight. Taylor was never the same fighter after that and seemed to have never regained any confidence.

Hatton lost his undefeated record and will probably never rise to the stature that he held before the loss. It was not the fact that these men lost, but it was the way they lost. Both of them looked like they were trying to beat up the big brother that teased for just a little too long. Unfortunately, neither of them could do anything to stop the teasing.

Manny Pacquaio will simply not be able to hurt Oscar De La Hoya. Oscar knows this, boxing experts know this and the whole world knows this. Even with that being the situation, if Pacquiao loses in the same fashion that Arturo Gatti lost to De La Hoya, his reputation will be seriously tarnished.

With all of that being said, Oscar has far more to lose than Manny. Oscar is expected to knock his opponent out in stunning fashion in the early rounds. If he struggles with a man that is realistically moving up seventeen pounds in weight to fight him, the damage to his reputation will be almost as bad as a loss.

Boxing is about risks. Both of these proud warriors are risking a lot. I suppose that in a perfect world both men could improve their reputations, but I am fairly certain that one man will damage his reputation badly.

I see Oscar winning the fight inside of five rounds. Pacquiao will never pose a serious threat and hopefully not get seriously hurt, and I am not only talking about his reputation.

Calzaghe-Jones Fight Could Be Final Bout for Two Legends

John Maresca — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:43:45 -0500

The fight between Roy Jones Jr. and Joe Calzaghe may be not as long overdue as many fans believe it is.

Jones looked excellent in his previous fight against Felix Trinidad, who did not look bad either, and Joe Calzaghe struggled to win a spilt decision against Bernard Hopkins, who recently proved that he is far from washed up, defeating Kelly Pavlik last month.

The funny thing would be if Jones and Hopkins end up fighting each other in a mega-fight, pending a victory against Calzaghe. That fight was once looked at as the only fight left for both guys and a mere attraction with little effect on the landscape of the current boxing picture.

It would be bigger now than it would have been five years ago.

In my opinion, Jones may have just enough left to win a close fight. I do not see Calzaghe being able to hurt Jones, and once Jones realizes this, it could make for an interesting encounter.

The age difference is not as big as people would think, either. It just seems that way because Jones has been in the public eye in the United States far longer than Calzaghe and it gives the impression that he is 10 years older—that is hardly the case.

I truly have a hard time believing that either man is ready to walk away from boxing, regardless of the outcome. The winner would be in a position to make a lot of money and depending how close the fight is, a rematch would probably gain more attention than this fight, especially if Jones wins.

On the other hand, we have seen Jones look awful in recent years and a terrible outing probably spells the end of him as an elite fighter.

Roy Jones Jr. will enter the fight as an underdog. He was perceived as a washed up fighter before beating Trinidad and has been written off after losses to Antonio Tarver and Glenn Johnson.

However, Calzaghe wants to retire undefeated and secure his legacy by beating the man that was considered the best fighter in the world for many years. A loss by Jones does not damage his reputation any worse than it was damaged by the knockout losses he suffered a few years ago to Tarver and Johnson. A close decision loss to Calzaghe may actually help his current stature because of how well Hopkins did after losing a close decision.

Calzaghe has everything to lose. A loss forever tarnishes his perfect record and his legacy would be hurt badly. It would be assumed that he could never have beaten Jones in his prime if he is unable to beat him now.

In the end, I can see Jones surprising a lot of people and winning a competitive and fairly close decision. But I find this fight one of the toughest to predict in recent memory and the questions about how much Roy Jones has left and if Calzaghe is in the same league as Jones, even at this stage of his career, will be answered once the bell rings. I truly cannot wait!