By Rusty Rubin
Audley Harrison and Dominick Guinn face off this week, two guys who are badly in need of a shot of confidence. I doubt this fight will help either on that end, but I’ll pick Harrison by unanimous decision, only because of the height/reach advantage...
Joe Mesi, won his comeback fight against a poor opponent, but you have to feel that the return to the ring speaks of a major accident waiting to happen, something neither Mesi nor boxing needs.
In a far less than stellar heavyweight division, Mesi is still not going anywhere and accomplishes nothing but a possible major disaster for the sport should he continue to fight. Hang 'em up Joe. No one will think the less of you.***
To the shock of few, Zab Judah did exactly what a 6-1 underdog was supposed to do, he lost. Floyd Mayweather took full control in round five and dominated the out-classed and out-gunned Judah the rest of the way.
It’s not that Judah didn’t try, it was a must fight for him. Simply put, Mayweather is not the best pound for pound fighter in the World for no reason, and it was a fairly easy win for him once he figured out the challenger’s southpaw style.
There was a brief moment, when referee Richard Steele called a time out to allow Mayweather to recover from two obviously blatant fouls that a brawl almost developed when chief second, Floyd Mayweather Sr. jumped into the ring to defend his charge. There seems to be a chance that the IBF, the only sanctioning body that recognized Judah, after his defeat by Carlos Baldomir, is having thoughts of not-recognizing the result, and so is the Nevada Athletic Commission. The key in my mind was that the incident occurred during a time out.
The Nevada Commission will decide on April 13th.***
Antonio Margarito was supposed to be next in line for Mayweather in September, but rumor has it that it may well be Kostya Tszyu instead.
Agree or disagree, we’d like to hear from you. (Rngsportsr@aol.com).
Glove2Glove:
Patti Brandenburg continues to have health problems and continues to need your help via prayers.
Let’s say a prayer for the father of Eva Futch, a great friend, and the widow of legendary trainer Eddie, who passed away in 2001. Eva’s father’s cancer has returned and needs all the support we can give him, and please pray that Eva has the strength to cope with this difficult challenge she faces at so close to her having lost her esteemed husband.
Prayers needed for Elise Brown, grand daughter of Ringside Products head honcho and good boxing guy John Brown. Young Elise has heart problems.
Prayers have also helped but continue to be needed for Dennis Wilcox, brother of boxing scribe David Wilcox, who is in an Oregon hospital suffering from Leukemia. The family and everyone at Glove2Glove ask for your prayers for his total recovery.
Prayers for the return to health of Audrey Talmo, wife of Ed, a long-time boxing fan who cares about our sport.
Please say prayers for the return to health of Helen Wambolt, wife of our East Coast World Boxing Hall of Fame writer Danny Wambolt. Cards will also be most welcome.***
Please say prayers for the return to health of Orazio Esposito, father of our photographer Richard Esposito.***
Prayers for the return to health of Don Donelson, father of writer Tom, and Gene Sebastian, brother of former middleweight champ Billy Soose. Both are suffering from congestive heart disease.
Please say prayers for Phill Grazide of Santa Rosa, CA. a big supporter of amateur boxing, who is suffering the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis.***
Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.***
Glove2Glove is a non-denominational group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.***
Touching on politics briefly: Depending upon your prospective, it’s been a hard week to find a lot of good news. So in the interest of wanting to put a smile on our readers face, allow me to add just a bit of humor.
If the people protesting the proposed changes in our immigration policy really wanted more than just a day off from work/school, shouldn’t they be flying the American flag? If not, why do they want to become Americans? If you’re not a citizen you don’t have the rights to protest and tie up our streets.
And what of those immigrants who say they are not criminals? Well, if they crossed the border illegally, then they obviously didn’t learn the English language, and are criminals. Let’s see criminals mean lawbreakers and illegal stuff last time I checked. And the way things are going, they may get more time off than Congress does, and agree or disagree with the motive, at least it’s for a cause.
For the record, wouldn’t the easiest solution be to crack down on the employers of the illegal aliens so they won’t hire them without huge penalties, and maybe they will return home and wait until they are allowed legal entry. If there’s no incentive for coming here, most won’t. Of course we have to secure the border so that others who want to come here to do us harm, cannot get here.
Now what do we do with the jobs that most Americans don’t want? (If you believe that, and I don’t). Assuming however it’s true, how about taking non-violent criminals out of jails and offering them time off their sentence for the work done? They can wear an ankle bracelet so they don’t escape and this will also solve the problems of over-crowded jails.***
Some other quick observations: If President Bush and Dick Cheney knew about and Okayed the leak of Valerie Plame to the press, it goes one step further in enforcing my long held belief that this is the worst administration in my lifetime. It may not be illegal but it sure begs a lot of questions.
In that regard, doesn’t it say volumes for Dick Cheney accidentally shooting the wrong attorney? ‘Scooter’ Libby should have been the obvious target.
On the same topic, didn’t our President say he would fire anyone who leaked the information? Hey guess what, he hasn’t fired himself or Cheney yet. And I’m not holding my breath***
The situation in Iraq and Iran seems to worsen by the day and a Civil War may be looming in Sadaam’s homeland. In regard to Iran, how much longer can we allow that nation to continue on the road to nuclear destruction? What makes the situation in Iran even worse is that the majority of Iranians are hard working and well educated and no one wants to see a preemptive strike against them. At least no one in their right mind, which let’s me out.***
I’m so sick of the Republicans saying kind things about Hillary Clinton so that she will decide to run and of course be beaten badly, that I want to puke. I don’t believe that Hillary is that arrogant to think that the Republicans really worship her that much. But perhaps the Democratic Party will continue its death wish. Once and for all, unless the Republicans put up someone more polarizing, and Dubya can’t run again, she can‘t win. If they don't realize this, the Democratic voters have to really educated in our political system.***
On the plus side, Tom Delay has resigned, although with his usual arrogant smugness. He knew he couldn’t get re-elected and so did the Republican Party, who clearly told him to step aside and give them a chance at winning the seat he has held and dishonored.***
I guess getting elected to Congress makes an already egotistical person think they can get away with everything. Politics now-a-days seems to equate with unbelievable arrogance. Then again, hasn’t it always?
Democrat Cynthia McKinney had better get rid of her piss poor attitude that anyone picking on her and are simply doing their job, is a racist. This is a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black.
McKinney wisely apologized for her ill advised outburst, but I doubt it was for any other reason that her party, wanting control of Congress, made her do so. There would have been no incident at all if McKinney simply followed the rules like everyone else, and wore her pin to get into the House Office Bldg. I don’t think anyone, including her colleagues, approved of her actions. The Capitol Police were just doing their jobs. Maybe it’s time she started doing hers, and that job description is not continuing to divide an already badly divided America.***
When the going get tough, the tough get going: If those words sound familiar, it’s the members of the United States Congress taking yet another vacation rather than facing the important issues before them. Maybe we need a bumper sticker “Congress, the best place for Americans to go for a vacation”.***
Anybody as pissed off as I am at seeing these stupid gas prices while the companies involved show record profits each quarter. Does that tell anyone that they could lower their bottom line for the benefit of all Americans? Don’t hold your breath for this to happen. We know that a lot of our legislators have interests in big oil and while we’re paying through the nose, they are probably laughing all the way to the bank.***
And for all the seemingly law-abiding people out there (if there are any left that I haven’t insulted since my articles have been posted), I promise to try to get to you over the next few years. Remember I’m an equal opportunity offender.***
Okay, now that I may have insulted someone from almost every group, allow me to wish all our Christian readers the best for the Easter season.
Agree or disagree, I’d like to hear from you.
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