STRAIT JABS

boxing_image-1 Some observations from recent events:

Andre Ward's injury. What is with all these injuries all of a sudden? 30 years ago, the Super Six could have been completed in six months. Now, the mid-2011 deadline is looking more and more unlikely. Are athletes just softer, training harder, or taking a new definition of the word injury?

I am still happy for Manny Pacquiao. He took a match with someone he knew could make a boring fight, because he was the best available. Willing to risk marketability to make sure no one would question who the best was. That is a fighter. I just hope we don't lose him to politics. Even if we do, take a lesson from Vitali... they always come back.

Congrats to Steven Bash for outbidding Sauerland Promotions for their Sylvester vs. Karmazin fight. I've personally never seen it happen, and I always love those crooks being forced to watch as a fair decision is rendered. They really come apart when they can't 'Ottke' the outcome. Watch footage of the first Miranda fight with Abraham. Wilfried Sauerland is almost having stroke. Plus, you don't see that many body signals out of a third base coach.

I love mandated rematches. With all that sanctioning bodies do wrong, this move has enabled victims like Dimitri Kirilov, Ali Funeka, and anyone who fights Rodel Mayol to get another chance. Sure, it often doesn't come against the fighters they were screwed against, but they can usually get their hands on a belt, finally. It doesn't always work (Naoufel Ban Rabah), and it often forces us to watch boring fights twice, but in the old days, there was a lot less fairness for the oft-screwed.

I love that Matthew Macklin is turning out to be the best of the Irish ex-pat Middleweights. To heck with a padded unbeaten record! Put the kid in tougher when he loses. Eventually he'll quit, or get better, or get the distinct pleasure of losing a lousy decision to JC Chavez Jr. Speaking of which, John Duddy should consider himself lucky. The beating Williams or Pavlik will eventually give him is gonna end whatever hype he has left.

Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com