Beyond the Bleachers: Talking Boxing With Alden "The Kid" Chodash

The following are excerpts from this week's Alden "The Kid" Chodash Boxing Show:

Q: Yesterday you got a chance to see the Arthur Abraham/Edison Miranda fight in its entirety. What were your impressions?

Alden: The fight was flawed with unfortunate events. Terrible officiating, that broken jaw which affected Abraham in a huge way but the officiating affected Miranda vitally as well. So it was hard to find a clearly superior fighter.

It looked like Miranda carried the fight to Abraham for the majority of the fight. (But) when Abraham started to open up, he would either Miranda, keep him against the ropes, or steal rounds—definitely score points.

So it was hard for Miranda to win certain rounds because of the way Abraham rallied but on the other hand, Miranda dictated the pace in almost every round and out-worked Abraham in almost every round.

So, if Abraham expects to win, he'll have to open up more frequently and if Miranda expects to win, he'll have to keep from shelling up as he did when Abraham opened up.

I'd probably have to lean towards Miranda because he’s the more active fighter and Miranda probably won't get cheated out of a victory as he may have been in (Germany).

Q: Okay, Chris Arreola versus Chazz Witherspoon on HBO Saturday. What should we expect from that fight?

Alden: They both like to fight on the inside. I think Arreola has better conditioning, more determined, definitely a bigger puncher and I expect he'll end up outworking Chazz Witherspoon down the stretch.

Q: De La Hoya’s fight is off, of course, with Floyd Mayweather. A name being mentioned for Oscar is Sergio Mora. Do you think De La Hoya should fight Mora? Is that of any interest to people?

Alden: I think that’s the problem. I don’t think it’s as much of interest to people as some other names. De La Hoya, regardless who he’s fighting, is always a huge fight. But Sergio Mora has an awkward style—probably not the best stylistic match-up for De La Hoya if he wants to look good and end his career with a bang.

Mora would give him trouble, if not beat him. It would be hard for Mora to get a decision, but De La Hoya would definitely not look good.

Q: Of course, the Cotto/Margarito winner is also a possibility for De La Hoya. But you in the past said Cotto would humiliate De La Hoya.

Alden: I don’t remember saying he would humiliate De La Hoya. I think De La Hoya’s class would make it an interesting fight. He always comes in shape. He’s fighting in front of a huge crowd and he’s fighting, basically, for his legacy.

He would make a good showing—I don’t think he’d beat Miguel Cotto. I think Cotto is too strong, too hungry, too young for Oscar and I think he understands that, and I’m not sure he’d take that fight for those reasons.

Q: Any other names that come to your mind?

Alden: Felix Trinidad maybe.

Q: What weight would they fight at?

Alden: They could fight at a catch-weight, maybe 160 if Trinidad could make it all the way down. Trinidad/De La Hoya II is probably one of the smarter moves De La Hoya could make. Avenging an earlier loss—that would be a great way to end his career.

Thanks Alden for talking with us.

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To view the show in its entirety, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qNJkgO0phI