Whoever wins tonight between Mendez and Barthelemy, enjoy it, as a one-sided loss is in the works against Mikey Garcia for the winner. Caleb Truax is getting a good amount of ink for a fighter with limited skills, due to fights taking place in Minnesota lately. I bet Jason Litzau wishes he had waited a bit to take advantage of this.
Speaking of waiting, why are we all waiting on Danny Garcia to find a dance partner? Is he going to unify against Jean-Peterson? Is he going to move up to face Maliganggi, Maidana, or Porter? I understand waiting for some of these fights to happen may have been a necessity, but Garcia is not yet ready to be reduced to a twice a year phenomenon. He needs to stay busy.
Speaking of busy, I bet Golovkin will have to settle for that schedule again in 2014. HBO has the champ at 168 and 175, but GGG is closer to a junior middle than he is to super middle. The rest of 160 lb division is either running scared or promotionally unavailable. Don't think Sturm will ever fight GGG, nor will Quillin. Chavez Jr wouldn't touch him with borrowed money. Ward may expose GGG in a way that kills his marketability, much like they are struggling now with Matthysse. So, look for maybe Martin Murray to get a shot, while GGG's other 2-3 opponents will be guys we haven't heard of. Cotto-Martinez may provide false hope, but will likely lead to retirement for at least one, if not both of them.
Speaking of retirement, Juan Manuel Marquez needs to go. He is a great fighter who got a much deserved win over Pacquiao, but the Bradley loss was more than justified, and he is losing fans by pretending he was robbed. He may have whined his way into all those Manny Pacquiao fights, but it is not working now. Timothy Bradley will only beat him more convincingly next time, and any opponent he faces will probably insist on drug testing that he is not willing to undergo. There is nothing left to prove with Pacquiao, either. Just retire.
Speaking of testing, more than a few fighters and writers have made it apparent that random testing is easy to partake in, causes no ill effects, and can be employed inexpensively. The idea that it is still voluntary is insane. The excuses are gone. This reform, however, has to come in conjunction with reform of making weight. If people have to do weird things to their bodies to make unnatural weights, they will continue to break rules in order to do so. Let them weigh a more natural weight... make them fight more often... let them stick to food and nothing else, and boxing will at least clean up on that end. We'll talk judging reform later.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com