Jab
Raise your hand you are an owner or purveyor of EA Sports Fight Night. Well, I'm a definitely one of the millions who enjoyed what is arguably the best boxing video game ever. I admit that though I have yet to enjoy Fight Night Round 2, I am also a tad rusty on the original if I was asked to pick up the PS2 controller at this moment. As Saturday's big fight looms ever closer, I can hear the simulated trainer who goads you through the career mode.
Jab. Jab. Right uppercut. Come on, champ, push yourself! Straight. Jab. ..
The left jab and youth of Jermain Taylor versus the veteran crafted torture of Bernard Hopkins. July 16 showed that still in the art of boxing, anything can and will happen. No matter what Hopkins, undefeated for twelve years, believes about his performance in the summer, it is hard to disagree that if he had started his plan of attack earlier in the fight, the championship would have never changed camps. No matter what Taylor, a bronze medalist in the Sydney Olympics (for what the Olympics are worth these days), may believe about his performance in the previous fight, it was hard to see how much of a star he really could be for the next five to ten years. Both fighters have much more to prove than disproving the previous pay-per-punch. And not just for themselves.
The Executioner: To those who follow the fight game, there is no need to tell the story. For those who aren't very familiar... well, bless the Internet. This fight means much more than the hefty purse. When you are the best at something for over a decade, whatever it is in life, to only drop down to second fiddle, you don't just give up the perch so easily. Hopkins had been looking for a couple more fights before fufilling his promise to his late mother, to retire before his 41st birthday next month. There were several possibilities before deciding to box Taylor: Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, even a rematch with Roy Jones Jr. which is twelve years in the making. However, he chose to defend his undisputed streak against his supposed heir-apparent.
You watched the July fight: Taylor was able to take advantage of Hopkins' "trap" early. Hopkins is notoriously a slow-starter, wanting to tire out and frustrate his opponent by clutching, holding at times and burrowing himself defensively. His inside tactics, if you will call them, begin to come about in the middle of the bout. Maybe he doesn't have the power that middleweights are supposed to possess, but think of someone poking the hell out of you for at least four three-minute intervals, inside out. In terms of what he has to prove, it is not his legitimacy as casual followers and critics lead us to believe. Despite the decline of the sports' prominence, it is hard to deny that going undefeated for twelve years in any individual sport is not worthy of a sportsman's respect. Blend Lance Armstrong's Tour de France excellence with Roger Clemens' dominance into his fifth decade on Earth and the brutality of the sport. So what's to prove: that he really isn't too old to be in this game. That his defeat was a fluke win for a young prince who isn't ready for the throne.
Bad Intentions: Little Rock, AK doesn't have professional sports, however, even the Mayor of the city recognizes that for as long as Taylor is a top fighter, he carries the pro status for the city and the entire state. The 27-year old does not have the extensive Wikipedia page that Hopkins has, but fans of the fight game are looking at him, Wright, Miguel Cotto and other non-AARP fighters to carry the game as part of the new generation of fighters. Let's not think that he was thrown to upseat Hopkins because there was that much hatred for the Philadelphia native. He was considered the heir apparent to Hopkins for the last two years, but would he actually have to face Hopkins to take the throne? Though he has had a bunch of spoon-fed advasaries, the credentials had been enough to start building a rep for the middleweight crown.
Taylor is one of those rare boxers right now that has a knockout jab. Yet, in the first fight, he only landed 14% of his breadwinners. In one of the hype shows, Taylor did admit that he could have fought a better fight: he seemingly tired himself out as the rounds drew late. He took advantage of the slow-starting, methodical fighter in front of him, enough that he compelled the judges to decide the fight. Taylor wants to prove his legitimacy as champion, but the only true means to do so is to soundly beat Hopkins. He also wants to prove that this recent shift in personality isn't just because his promoter told him to attack. The "aw shucks" persona has been scraped for antics. Imagine a wrestler on the mic for the first time that would prefer to just get in the ring rather than sway the crowd. Taylor says that he cares about the crowd as opposed to Hopkins, but is this new-found confidence going to reflect that well?
The Game: Why even talk about boxing when no one seems to care? It's because people still do. Boxing has a long-winding road that no matter what the business itself does to sabotage the sport, will always keep the game in play. It's called a carnival, a circus, a roadshow, a trainwreck waiting to happen. Yet, boxing has always depended on ying-yang fights like this. Promoters love to latch on the labels of "babyface" and "heel", good and bad, whether directly (Joe Louis vs. Max Schmelling, any of the Jack Johnson fights), indirectly through media savvy (Ray Leonard vs. Marvin Hagler, Felix Trinidad vs. Oscar De La Hoya) or carefully worded despite heavy undertones (Larry Holmes vs. Jerry Cooney). Part of the reason why the fight game has suffered because promoters continue to dominate the game without promoting the right fight. For the fan in general, they just want a good fight, and fortunately for Taylor-Hopkins, this is the case. Yet, for promoters, it's about the last few name brands in the game. Add to the fact that the heavyweight division carries the sport for better or worse, and it makes for a wild scramble to gather the right names in the lower weight classes.
The other issue with the fight game is the switch from free television to PPV. Think about how many fights you have seen in your life on free TV compared to PPV (even if you saw it a week later on cable). Ponying up $50 for a fight that can go any way is a dangerous game that the industry chose to play.
And for brevity, I won't even go into the alphabet soup "organizations". Can the new generation of boxers carry the weight of the boxing world on their shoulders or as Hopkins and business partner De La Hoya have done, will this new generation shrug? And will Congress become as remotely serious about cleaning up the industry as they have been about their involvement with baseball? We shall see.
Say What?!?!: Hopkins via unanimous decision. Although I wouldn't be surprised if he knocks Taylor out in the middle of the fight, B-Hop has yet to lose to the same opponent when fighting him twice. That does mean something for someone who has been able to fight for this long at such a high level. I do think that Taylor won't come out as aggressive in the early rounds because he wants to pace himself. This will make for a not-so-crowd pleasing rounds 1-4, however, Hopkins found a way to daze Taylor in the first fight by poking those stick-like jabs into him. Do not be shocked if you see this again. Neither man, however, should leave the fight to the judges... no fight should be fought so that three blind (wo)men determine who won.
Jab. Jab. Right uppercut. Come on, champ, push yourself! Straight. Jab. ..
The left jab and youth of Jermain Taylor versus the veteran crafted torture of Bernard Hopkins. July 16 showed that still in the art of boxing, anything can and will happen. No matter what Hopkins, undefeated for twelve years, believes about his performance in the summer, it is hard to disagree that if he had started his plan of attack earlier in the fight, the championship would have never changed camps. No matter what Taylor, a bronze medalist in the Sydney Olympics (for what the Olympics are worth these days), may believe about his performance in the previous fight, it was hard to see how much of a star he really could be for the next five to ten years. Both fighters have much more to prove than disproving the previous pay-per-punch. And not just for themselves.
The Executioner: To those who follow the fight game, there is no need to tell the story. For those who aren't very familiar... well, bless the Internet. This fight means much more than the hefty purse. When you are the best at something for over a decade, whatever it is in life, to only drop down to second fiddle, you don't just give up the perch so easily. Hopkins had been looking for a couple more fights before fufilling his promise to his late mother, to retire before his 41st birthday next month. There were several possibilities before deciding to box Taylor: Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, even a rematch with Roy Jones Jr. which is twelve years in the making. However, he chose to defend his undisputed streak against his supposed heir-apparent.
You watched the July fight: Taylor was able to take advantage of Hopkins' "trap" early. Hopkins is notoriously a slow-starter, wanting to tire out and frustrate his opponent by clutching, holding at times and burrowing himself defensively. His inside tactics, if you will call them, begin to come about in the middle of the bout. Maybe he doesn't have the power that middleweights are supposed to possess, but think of someone poking the hell out of you for at least four three-minute intervals, inside out. In terms of what he has to prove, it is not his legitimacy as casual followers and critics lead us to believe. Despite the decline of the sports' prominence, it is hard to deny that going undefeated for twelve years in any individual sport is not worthy of a sportsman's respect. Blend Lance Armstrong's Tour de France excellence with Roger Clemens' dominance into his fifth decade on Earth and the brutality of the sport. So what's to prove: that he really isn't too old to be in this game. That his defeat was a fluke win for a young prince who isn't ready for the throne.
Bad Intentions: Little Rock, AK doesn't have professional sports, however, even the Mayor of the city recognizes that for as long as Taylor is a top fighter, he carries the pro status for the city and the entire state. The 27-year old does not have the extensive Wikipedia page that Hopkins has, but fans of the fight game are looking at him, Wright, Miguel Cotto and other non-AARP fighters to carry the game as part of the new generation of fighters. Let's not think that he was thrown to upseat Hopkins because there was that much hatred for the Philadelphia native. He was considered the heir apparent to Hopkins for the last two years, but would he actually have to face Hopkins to take the throne? Though he has had a bunch of spoon-fed advasaries, the credentials had been enough to start building a rep for the middleweight crown.
Taylor is one of those rare boxers right now that has a knockout jab. Yet, in the first fight, he only landed 14% of his breadwinners. In one of the hype shows, Taylor did admit that he could have fought a better fight: he seemingly tired himself out as the rounds drew late. He took advantage of the slow-starting, methodical fighter in front of him, enough that he compelled the judges to decide the fight. Taylor wants to prove his legitimacy as champion, but the only true means to do so is to soundly beat Hopkins. He also wants to prove that this recent shift in personality isn't just because his promoter told him to attack. The "aw shucks" persona has been scraped for antics. Imagine a wrestler on the mic for the first time that would prefer to just get in the ring rather than sway the crowd. Taylor says that he cares about the crowd as opposed to Hopkins, but is this new-found confidence going to reflect that well?
The Game: Why even talk about boxing when no one seems to care? It's because people still do. Boxing has a long-winding road that no matter what the business itself does to sabotage the sport, will always keep the game in play. It's called a carnival, a circus, a roadshow, a trainwreck waiting to happen. Yet, boxing has always depended on ying-yang fights like this. Promoters love to latch on the labels of "babyface" and "heel", good and bad, whether directly (Joe Louis vs. Max Schmelling, any of the Jack Johnson fights), indirectly through media savvy (Ray Leonard vs. Marvin Hagler, Felix Trinidad vs. Oscar De La Hoya) or carefully worded despite heavy undertones (Larry Holmes vs. Jerry Cooney). Part of the reason why the fight game has suffered because promoters continue to dominate the game without promoting the right fight. For the fan in general, they just want a good fight, and fortunately for Taylor-Hopkins, this is the case. Yet, for promoters, it's about the last few name brands in the game. Add to the fact that the heavyweight division carries the sport for better or worse, and it makes for a wild scramble to gather the right names in the lower weight classes.
The other issue with the fight game is the switch from free television to PPV. Think about how many fights you have seen in your life on free TV compared to PPV (even if you saw it a week later on cable). Ponying up $50 for a fight that can go any way is a dangerous game that the industry chose to play.
And for brevity, I won't even go into the alphabet soup "organizations". Can the new generation of boxers carry the weight of the boxing world on their shoulders or as Hopkins and business partner De La Hoya have done, will this new generation shrug? And will Congress become as remotely serious about cleaning up the industry as they have been about their involvement with baseball? We shall see.
Say What?!?!: Hopkins via unanimous decision. Although I wouldn't be surprised if he knocks Taylor out in the middle of the fight, B-Hop has yet to lose to the same opponent when fighting him twice. That does mean something for someone who has been able to fight for this long at such a high level. I do think that Taylor won't come out as aggressive in the early rounds because he wants to pace himself. This will make for a not-so-crowd pleasing rounds 1-4, however, Hopkins found a way to daze Taylor in the first fight by poking those stick-like jabs into him. Do not be shocked if you see this again. Neither man, however, should leave the fight to the judges... no fight should be fought so that three blind (wo)men determine who won.
posted by Jason Clinkscales @ 12:10 PM
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