Morales and Maidana Wage War, Guerrero Is a Killer and Lemieux, Kirkland Stumble

Just a few thoughts about the fights this past weekend…

David Lemieux is not ready for the primetime. 

That may be a case of stating the obvious, but from what I saw, it was more than simply being in over his head with a veteran. 

It’s not like he lost to Carlos Monzon or Harry Greb, either.  He lost to Marco Antonio Rubio—by knockout.  A win over Rubio was considered by most a foregone conclusion and the official spring board for Lemieux to join the upper echelon of the middleweight division. 

Now it’s back to the drawing board, I suppose.

During the fight it seemed that Lemieux didn’t show enough respect towards Rubio.  He truly believed that he would walk into the ring and simply run through Rubio.  He continually threw punches at the head without jabbing his way in and almost totally neglected an attack to the body. 

This lack of respect should have come as no surprise to anyone, my self included, because for the two weeks leading up to the fight, Lemieux told everyone who would listen what he would do Sergio Martinez, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. and even Lucian Bute.

This condemnation of Lemieux and his camp shouldn’t be construed as an indictment on Rubio either. 

Rubio hasn’t lost since he was TKO’d by then champion Kelly Pavlik and it was obvious to me from early on, despite some flashy punches from Lemieux, that Rubio was in control and never worried about his young opponent.  He let the inexperienced fighter punch himself out and when the time was right he finished him. 

No, Rubio is no bum and he deserves whatever he earned, bad mustache and all.

The worst part is that as a fan you want to see guys like Lemieux become stars and do big flashy things and bring more fans in on the fun.  But now he seems destined to go the path of Andy Lee.  He’ll be brought along more slowly now, matched carefully then ever before and I hope he gets back to where we all thought he could be.

The real worst part about this is that we will likely see Rubio vs. Chavez, Jr. in the near future.  I shudder to think…

Something is wrong with James Kirkland. 

I don’t know if I have been so surprised by the outcome of a fight in the last decade.  If I thought hard enough I probably could come up with some example, but that would ruin the hyperbole I’m attempting to get across how unbelievable that really was. 

If Rubio was to be the opponent for Lemieux, then what would you call the intentions of the matchmakers when they put Nobuhiro Ishida in the ring with Kirkland? 

They thought that they were providing a sacrificial lamb for the monster Kirkland.  I know I did.  When I saw him in the ring before the fight started, I kind of felt bad for him.  But now it’s Kirkland who I feel for.

After the fight ended—a fight which will surely be the leading candidate for upset of the year—HBO’s Max Kellerman, when interviewing Kirkland, opined if possibly this had something to do with him no longer being trained by Ann Wolfe.  That was something that I hadn’t put much stock into in the past, believing that it was a good thing that he changed trainers. 

Now I’m not so sure.  Ishida was known to not be a puncher and he knocked Kirkland down with straight lefts that didn’t appear to be of the most devastating stock.

I’m not so sure that being incarcerated and out of the ring for two years didn’t have more to do with this than changing trainers.  It will be a shame if Kirkland can’t get it together and go on to be what he had been on track to be before—a serious contender and a must see attraction. 

It would be a real shame if his mistake has actually cost him more than just two years.

Robert Guerrero is a killer in the ring. 

This is something I’ve been saying for quite some time and I hope the powers that be in boxing have taken notice.  He destroyed Michael Katsidis and has been doing this since his suspect stoppage against Daud Yordan.  He was cool and collected and showed himself to be great boxer-puncher.

Guerrero was favored to win, but I don’t think many people thought it would be so one-sided. 

To his credit, Katsidis fought as he always does: with the heart of a warrior and the skills of a B-level fighter.  That’s not to take anything away from him. 

I love watching him fight, but anytime he has been called to step up in competition, he’s failed.  I hope Katsidis takes a break, which he clearly deserves, and comes back to fight some more exciting fights against lightweight fighters.

Guerrero on the other hand should probably move up in weight. 

He was clearly the bigger man in the ring and clearly could carry a few more pounds.  Besides, the junior welterweight division is loaded and there are plenty of good fights to be made.  Yet if he stayed at lightweight, a matchup with Juan Manuel Marquez has been discussed, but I don’t think Marquez wants that. 

It’s not that he’s afraid, he isn’t.  He’s just smart.  We can forget about a fight between Guerrero and Brando Rios.  Thank you Golden Boy and Top Rank.

Eric Morales did the unthinkable. 

He stood toe-to-toe with Marcos Maidana and almost won the fight.  A fight in which people were actually worried about his health.  Everyone knows about Maidana at this point.  His brutality in the ring is relentless.  He’s not the best boxer in the world, but what he lacks in skills he clearly makes up in guts…or something that rhymes with guts, if you listen to Larry Merchant tell it.

This fight should be considered one of the early candidates for fight of the year. 

It was all out action and had a tremendous story as well: The aging, faded warrior giving it one last hurrah against a vicious, young lion.  If someone wrote that script in Hollywood, they’d be laughed at and told that it was too cliché.

As for Morales, he could walk off into the sunset and give everyone a well-deserved “I told you so,” but he’ll probably fight on and I think he’s earned it. 

The fights this past weekend are perfect examples of why we love this grand sport.