The Death of Boxing

Tonight I went out to a bar to watch UFC 103, which was bad ass, and ran into a friend of mine from school. I asked if he was there to watch the fights and he informed me that he had been trying to find a bar that was showing the Mayweather vs Marquez fight but had no luck. I couldn't believe it.

I live in Waterloo, Ontario which has a population of close to 100,000. This number does not include the roughly 30,000 university and college students that live in the city for 8 months of the year. There are literally over 50 bars in the city and yet none of them were showing one of the biggest fights of 2009. Floyd Maywether couldn't even make it on a TV in Waterloo how sad.

Sad but not surprising. Boxing has fallen so far from the mainstream that it is being beaten consistently by UFC for pay per view buys. Only a few years ago this was unheard of as boxing was the undisputed champ of PPV. However with the rise of mixed martial arts and the lack of marketable superstars boxing has been on a steady decline.

The biggest reason that boxing has struggled is due to the lack of a marketable heavyweight champ. During the 20th century there was no greater athletic distinction than being the Heavyweight champ of the world. Guys like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson were guys you would recognize if you saw them and were major figures in not just the media but in popular culture.

Now the Heavyweight champ is 4 different people. The creditability has been taken from the title. The two Klitschko brothers have heavyweight titles and refuse to fight one another making it impossible to unify the belt. With the heavyweight division now a joke boxing is doomed to fail.

This is a problem the UFC doesn't have. Other than Fedor Emelianenko all of the top heavyweights in the world fight in the UFC. This means that the UFC Heavyweight champ is the best heavyweight, Fedor is a punk and is afraid to fight in the UFC, and that he fights the best competition. Thus the UFC doesn't have a problem with credibility of its champions and thus mixed martial arts doesn't struggle.

The next problem that boxing has is the lack of marketable superstars. The only real BIG names left in boxing are Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquaio, Ricky Hatton, and Oscar De La Hoya. Mayweather couldn't get on TV in Waterloo and Hatton got destroyed by Pacquaio and may no longer be relevant. De La Hoya is also in the twilight of his career and Pacquaio cares more about the Philippines than he does about North America making him hard to market.

The UFC on the other hand does not have this problem. Georges St. Pierre, Brock Lesnar, BJ Penn, Chuck Liddell, and Forrest Griffin are just some of the fighters that have huge endorsement deals and make millions of dollars for the UFC. These are the kind of guys who can sell pay per views on their own.

Boxing used to have superstars that could draw crowds but that is no longer the case. Gone are guys like Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones Jr, and Bernard Hopkins. These were all great fighters who would bring out fans and get people interested in boxing. It has gotten to the point that the Mayweather fight tonight wasn't even sold out. Shit the Portland Trailblazers sell out every game and you mean to tell me that a man that is touted as the best pound for pound fighter in the world can't fill an arena?

There are many other factors that have plagued boxing such as greed, corruption, and crooked promoters but these two are the most significant in my opinion. It has gotten so bad that kids no longer want to grow up and be the next Muhammad Ali but would rather be the next GSP or Anderson Silva. That may not sound like a big deal but it is significant.

The sweet science is close to being irrelevant and it is going to take more than SportsIllustrated.com asking celebrities who they think is going to win the save it.

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The Weekend That Was

Busy week in the world of sports as UFC 101 took place on Saturday, Tiger Woods chased history on Sunday, the Red Sox got bent over all weekend, and teenagers beat up civilians for 20 cents. Without further delay let's get to the stories you need to know.

Who's Your Daddy?!

Going in to their 4 game series with the Yankees in New York the Red Sox sat 2 1/2 games back of the division lead. Coming out of their 4 game series the Red Sox now sit 6 1/2 games back. That's what a 4 game sweep will do to you. The Sox were swept by the Yankees in a 4 game series for the first time in 24 years and looked pathetic the whole time.

Tell me how a team with the offensive threats the Red Sox possess score only 6 runs in 4 games. At one point going 30 innings without scoring a single run.

Going into the series the Red Sox had beaten the Yankees 8 games in a row and people were saying that the rivalry was over as it had become one sided. Now the Sox have to be on the other end of that and it blows.

It also needs to be stated that John Smoltz had his career officially euthanized on Friday night in front of more than 40,000 people. RIP Smoltz.

Woods Wins Again

On Sunday Tiger Woods won his 70th career PGA tour event moving him into 3rd all-time behind Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead. Woods accomplished the feat at 33 which was 10 years faster than Nicklaus did it.

The event Tiger won was the Bridgestone Invitational an event he pretty much owns. It was his 7th time winning the tournament (another PGA record) out of 10 tries and he has finished in the top 5 every one of those 10 tournaments.

Going into the 16th hole Woods was neck and neck with Padraig Harrington but Harrington buckled under the pressure and Woods was able to close out the tournament winning by 4 strokes.

Woods has won 5 times on the tour this year with 4 of those wins coming in the tournament right before a major. Next week is the Players Championship and Tiger will of course be the favorite as he looks to add more W's to his stat sheet.

UFC 101 Recap

The first 2 fights on the card were uneventful and boring as both went to a decision and involved little to no real action.

The 3rd fight, the true UFC debut of Amir Sadollah, was also brutal but for a different reason. Sadollah was rocked by a punch from Johny Hendricks and was attempting to stand back up when the fight was stopped. Sadollah was clearly able to defend himself and was in the process of standing up when the ref called the fight. So sad that these refs don't understand what is happening in the ring.

If a fighter is sitting there eating punches then stop it. If he is moving to his feet then don't. It isn't rocket science and I think more people would rather have late stoppages than early ones. Now Sadollah is forced to take that loss on his record, which will be the first of his career, and start again.

Next Anderson Silva toyed with Forrest Griffin in a manner that was laughable. Silva head faked Griffin countless times and would pop him with one good shot and then step back. Silva even offered to help Griffin off the mat after he had knocked him down which was a total show of disrespect. The fight would end late in the first round after Silva knocked down Griffin with a soft jab and Griffin would beg for mercy. Here is a link to the whole fight if you want to see it: http://www.mmaroot.com/anderson-silva-vs-forrest-griffin-fight-video-ufc-101/.

After Griffin got beat he ran from the ring refusing to be interviewed. This is becoming common for Forrest who acts like a total baby when he loses. He is one of my favorite fighters and this pisses me off as he should act like a man.

The main event was the Lightweight Championship match between Kenny Florian and BJ Penn. Florian spent the entire fight trying to push BJ up against the cage and tire him out to eventually score a take down but it never worked. BJ withstood the onslaught and in the 4th round took down Florian and choked him out easily.

Fighting for Spare Change

Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane, the top overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft, was arrested early Sunday morning in Buffalo, N.Y., and charged with robbery and other counts following an altercation with a cab driver in his hometown.

The 20-year-old Kane and his cousin, James M. Kane, 21, were taken into police custody at about 5 a.m. ET after allegedly punching the driver and taking $15 in fare they had given him after he said he didn't have 20 cents in change, a police report says. Police say the cousins apparently caught a cab from the city's downtown nightclub district at about 4 a.m. Sunday.

You make millions of dollars and you are punching out cabbies for quarters? Weak dude. I wonder if this will affect sales of NHL 2010 which is scheduled to be released in September. Maybe this will start a spin off of the Madden Curse and be the NHL curse.

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UFC 101 Predictions

UFC 101 is this Saturday and I am excited to say that I will be viewing the event at Shoeless Joe's where they have the best lattuce fries in Southern Ontario. Now the event itself doesn't have the same draw as UFC 100 but is still going to be a great card with lots of star power and history on the line.

Of course Anderson "the Spider" Silva will be fighting and looking to improve on his winning streak inside the octagon by getting his 10th straight victory. If he wins he will more than likely hold onto his belt past October which would give him 3 full years as UFC Middleweight champion which I am sure is some kind of record.

Also on the card is BJ Penn who, if he beats Kenny Florian, will legitimize his legacy as one of the best fighters of all time. I say this because it will be the first time Penn has beaten serious competition as lightweight. Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson, and Sean Sherk don't count as serious contenders because Pulver was old, Stevenson is one dimensional, and Sherk is useless unless on steroids. Florian will be the first test for Penn who had beaten top welterweights in the past but never a top lightweight. Penn may set the modern standard for success across weight divisions.

UFC 101 will also mark the debut of Amir Sadollah. Sadollah has fought in the UFC before winning the finale of TUF over a year ago but has since been injured and unable to fight. This time he is 100% and ready to fight and will finally get to show the world his skills.

Now that you are pumped for the event it is time for some predictions:

BJ "the Prodigy" Penn (13-5-1) vs Kenny "KenFlo" Florian (13-3)

This is a match up of the best nickname is MMA (the Prodigy) against the worst nickname in MMA (KenFlo). It also marks the first true test in BJ Penn's lightweight career.

Now Penn is coming off a devastating loss to Georges St. Pierre where he was dominated for 20 minutes and then was forced to submit due to fatigue. Penn is hungry for a win but seems to still be hung up on the St. Pierre fight as he was been all over the news saying GSP was on steroids when they fought and that he illegally greased himself. Penn may be looking past Florian when he needs to be paying attention to him.

Florian on the other hand is 100% focused and has his trash talking game on blast. He has ripped off 6 straight wins in the octagon and has looked amazing while doing so. His ground game is unreal and he has some of the sharpest elbows in MMA. He also has the cardio to go late into rounds which he will need against Penn.

I personally hate BJ Penn and love Kenny Florian. I think Florian is the smartest fighter in MMA and has been improving every fight since he has been in the UFC. I think he can survive BJ Penn's initial assault and eventually tire him out enough to get him on the ground and work the ground and pound.

Prediction: Florian via TKO due to strikes in the 4th round.

Anderson "the Spider Silva (24-4) vs Forrest Griffin (16-5)

Finally Anderson Silva will be fighting someone where he will need to try. In his last two fights Silva has faced opponents who wanted nothing to do with him and were content on either running away the whole time (Patrick Cote) or laying on their back like a broad (Thales Leites). Silva will have no such luck with Griffin who is a dog and will push the pace the whole fight.

Griffin is coming off a tough loss to Rashad Evans and is looking to rebuild his reputation and start climbing back up the ladder. Griffin has always wanted to fight tough guys but I think in this case he may have bitten off more than he can chew. Silva is no joke and is unlike anyone Griffin has fought before. Then again people said the same thing before he fought Shogun and look how that ended.

How does Griffin win this fight? Not on the feet. Not in a decision. Good luck submitting Silva. I love Forrest but I just don't see a scenario where he has his hand raised at the end of the fight. He loves to brawl and exchange and Silva is the very last person you want to exchange with. At least Silva will try for this fight and should entertain rather than sedate the crowd.

Prediction: Silva via KO in the 2nd round

Amair Sadollah (2-0) vs Johny Hendricks (5-0)

Now no one has seen Amir fight in a long time because of injury but from what I have read he is a beast at the gym and is being compared to Forrest Griffin. That being said there is no substitute for experience and in that area Sadollah is weak. I am not saying Hendricks is a veteran or anything but 5 fights is more than 2.

Sadollah is more of a ground fighter having won both his professional fights by submission where as Hendricks prefers to stand. Neither has beaten anyone of note but I am going to go with the likable Sadollah.

It is worth noting that if Sadollah loses he can always fall back on his television career.

Prediction: Sadollah via Unanimous Decision

Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove (12-5) vs Ricardo "Big Dog" Almeida

Two of the top 10 worst nicknames face off in this middleweight bout. The sad thing about this fight is that it actually has some title implications. Brutal I know.

Kendall Grove is a trash fighter who is coming off a lucky one punch knockout of Jason Day while Almeida is a decent fighter who is coming off a decision victory over the always dangerous, yeah right, Matt Horwich. Seriously how did this fight make the main card?

Kendall doesn't have the power to knockout Almeida or the ground game to stop him. Almeida should win this fight easily. At least he better so I get to see at least 1 non-broadcasted fight.

Prediction: Almeida via Submission in the 2nd round.

Josh "the Dentist" Neer (25-7-1) vs Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino (19-4)

I just want to say that Pellegrino might be the only person I know of that likes Batman more than Calvin Burrows.

Now Neer is a submission specialist who has a great chin and and is as tough as they come. He is coming off an impressive submission victory over TUF winner Mac Danzig and looking to get a winning streak going.

Pellegrino is known for his ground game and boasts an excellent chin as well. He recently beat Rob Emerson like he stole something and looks to try and climb the ladder as well.

Both these fighters match up very well except for Neer's ability to work submissions is greater than Pellegrino's. I think that will make the difference in the fight as Neer will constantly be trying to put Pellegrino in submissions but in all honesty it is a true coin flip.

Prediction: Neer via Unanimous Decision

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So there you go. Predictions you can take to the bank. Seriously. In my UFC 100 predictions i went 6-2. What up!!

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Pound for Pound Pussy

I don't care what any hardcore MMA fan says Fedor Emelianenko is not the best pound for pound fighter in the world. He may not even be the best heavyweight fighter in the world. He is however a huge pussy who would rather fight washed up fighters in the twilight of their careers than top ranked competitors in the UFC.

It was reported on various websites today that Fedor turned down the richest contract in MMA history, 5 fights for $30 million, to be the premiere fighter of a new promotion, which his manager is co-owner of, called M-1 Global. This rules out the argument that Fedor didn't want to come to the UFC due to financial reasons.

Which leaves me to believe that he knows that he would be dominated if he came to the UFC. To prove my point I need only point out his recent competition.

His last fight was against Andrei Arlovski a man who wasn't relevant in the UFC heavyweight division and hasn't beaten anyone of note since Fabricio Werdum in 2007. His previous fight before that was against Tim Sylvia who is just as irrelevant as Arlovski and is in the twilight of his career. The last fight I will mention, the fight before Sylvia, was against Hong-Man Choi who is best known for his recent fight against Jose Canseco.

These are the men Fedor is beating to merit being called the pound for pound best fighter in the world? Disgraceful. This would be like an NFL team winning the SuperBowl by beating a CFL or NFl Europe team.

Now I am not saying that Fedor isn't a good fighter. He is a great fighter and worthy of praise but he is not the best fighter in the world. The best fighters in the world fight in the UFC and he does not. Therefore he cannot be the best.

To make matters even worse for Fedor the UFC welcomed back Tito Ortiz to the organization on the same day that Fedor turned down his deal. When asked why he came back to the UFC after leaving the way he did Ortiz responded by saying, ""Who would I fight in Strikeforce? Babalu [Sobral]? I'd crush his face. Ken Shamrock? Then I'd be responsible for the first death in MMA. Fedor at catchweight? .... I need to be where the best competition in the world is."

Now people are obviously going to point the finger at Dana White for Fedor not coming to the UFC but in reality White did all that he could. When dealing with Fedor the UFC President did everything he could. He met everyone of his demands including, he offered to pay him more than he’s ever made. He agreed to allow Emelianenko to fight in combat sambo. He agreed to allow Emelianenko to advertise M-1 on his fight shorts, on the apparel he wore and on banners his cornermen brought with them to the cage.

The one roadblock in the negotiations was Fedor's manager Vadim Finkelchtein. Vadim proposed that if the UFC wanted to sign Fedor than they would have to make M-1 Global, Vadim's new organization, a full partner. This would basically mean that White and the UFC would have to give up 50% of their company to Vadim in order to sign Fedor. No fighter is worth that and so obviously White refused.

This does put some of the blame on Vadim but in the end if Fedor wanted to be in the UFC he would simply tell his manager and it would happen. However his actions today show that he has no desire to fight the best fighters in the world and is instead content to fight washed up bums and sideshow freaks.

All this is going to do is hurt Fedor's reputation. Gradually he will become less and less important in the world of MMA as he will not be in the premiere organization. His legacy will suffer and month after month he will continue to drop down the pound for pound rankings as Lesnar, GSP, Silva, Machida, and Penn continue to win fights against good opponents and cement their legitimacy.

This is why Fedor Emelianenko is a Pound for Pound Pussy.

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Lesnar is the MAN

I originally was going to write about the MLB All-Star game but decided to come back from my 3 day lay off to talk some more about the UFC, in particular Brock Lesnar.

In case you didn't watch UFC 100 Brock Lesnar smashed Frank Mir and then had a celebration for the ages. After punching Mir in the face about 45 times the fight was stopped and Lesnar paraded around the ring and shouted into the camera while literally foaming at the mouth. He then went to a barely conscious Mir and started talking shit. He followed this up by flipping off the fans (who were booing), insulting Bud Light (a huge sponsor of the UFC) claiming, "they don't pay me" and finished it all off by saying that he was going to "go home and get on top of my wife."

Now after reading you may thing that Lesnar's behaviour was childish, rude, disrespectful, and an embarrassment. What I would call it however is hilarious and justified.

Last time I checked the UFC stands for Ultimate FIGHTING Championship. Not the Boy Scouts of America. The whole point of the sport is to fight another man and prove you are a better fighter. Not prove you are a good sport.

Leading up to the fight Mir called Lesnar a "joke", a "publicity stunt" and numerous other names which enraged Lesnar and created obvious hostility between the two men. In response to this Lesnar retaliated verbally but said that most of his talking will be done in the octagon.

Before I continue I am going to say that despite what many people believe Lesnar doesn't "talk trash." Yes he does appear in the Countdown shows and on the prefight interview talking trash but that is all. Many fighters use the Internet and magazines to try and slam their opponent before a fight but Lesnar shys away from that. For the most part he lets his fists do the talking for him.

After reading countless articles on what transpired on Saturday at UFC 100 here are what I believe to be the main complaints about what Lesnar did.

- He didn't shake Frank Mir's hand before the fight

- He flipped off the crowd

- He talked shit to Mir moments after the fight instead of embracing him which is customary

- He spoke ill of a major sponsor

- He said "get on top of my wife"

I will try and tackle these 1 by 1 which shouldn't be too hard seeing as these are all such douchey complaints.

- Where does it say the fighters need to touch gloves? People act like this is the first time this has ever happened. This is a common occurrence in the UFC and happens roughly once per pay per view. Why would you shake the hand of the man who has gone out of his way to belittle you and your accomplishments for the past 6 months? I saw no outrage when Marcus Davis and Dan Hardy didn't touch gloves. Be more consistent with your criticism instead of targeting Lesnar simply because he came from WWE and it's easy.

- If you boo somebody do they not have a right to react? It may not be the classiest thing to do but it is his right as a human being to flip people off so let him do it. For every action there is a reaction. These fighters aren't priests and choirboys. They are men who fight for a living. Obviously they are going to react in this way. Also it mist be mentioned that this isn't the first time an athlete has flipped off the crowd. Now obviously the reaction is always the same from the media and public but people need to lighten up. It is just a hand gesture and it's not as if he was giving the Nazi salute or something. People give each other the finger all the time and if you don't believe me go to downtown Toronto for 5 minutes and watch.

- Once again this is an easy complaint to argue against. Why must two fighters embrace after a fight is over? I personally do not enjoy seeing this happen. I like to it occur if the fight was amazing or if there is no bad blood (like the GSP / Alves fight) but if the guys claim to "hate" each other don't hug. It is like the Red Sox and the Yankees always being buddy buddy with one another. You are supposed to be rivals and enemies. When two guys hug at the end of a fight it usually means that any trash talk prior to the fight was all for show which cheapens the sport. What Lesnar did was show that he was genuinely pissed at Mir and truly hates him. I am ok with true emotion from athletes and I think Lesnar's trash talk was justified.

- Bud Light sucks

- Anyone who has a problem with a man saying "get on top of my wife" needs to go back to the 1930s. That is TAME by modern standards. He could have easily said much much worse. If what he says truly bothers you then you clearly never watch cable TV or go on the Internet.

I truly feel that people hate on Brock Lesnar because it is easy to do. I felt that way about President Bush too. Idiot people make jokes about these men because they are sheep who like to feel cool and follow the crowd. It is easy to make a George Bush joke but much harder to point out his administrative flaws and make constructive suggestions much the same it is easy to attack Lesnar rather than understand him. What I don't hear anyone talking about is how he DOMINATED a man who many people believed to be the best heavyweight in the UFC.

Rather than give Brock his credit people chose to attack what he did after he won. I think Lesnar is a true champ and a great MMA fighter. I feel like if he beats Shane Carwin than he will dominate the UFC Heavyweight division for a long time. I think that Fedor is the only man who would can beat him. What I don't think is that showing emotion is wrong. I don't feel that refusing to shake hands and hug is a bad thing. I don't get offended if an athlete I am booing flips me off (Trot Nixon flipped me off at a Jays game one time).

It also needs to be said that Lesnar appologized for his actions at the Press Conference immediately following the fight. He said that he was sorry and that his emotions got the better of him. He also went on to say that he loves Bud Light and all beers.

People need to get away from this whole condemnation of athletes when they act like normal people. I can tell you that a lot of people who are disparaging Lesnar would probably have done some of the same things he did if they had been in his situation. I know for a fact that is some pretty boy karate kid called me a joke and then went to shake my hand he would getting the same treatment Lesnar gave Mir.

What I am really trying to say is that people need to climb down off Mt. Pious and stop at taking Lesnar for what he did and said and start acknowledging his great accomplishment. Plus Brock Lesnar is the MAN.

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