Boxing fans (re: John Duddy)

[H2O Man]

"Friday Night Fights" will show a young middleweight who will likely be in Jermain Taylor's future. John Duddy, of Ireland, will be putting his 10-0 (9 KOs) record on the line against journeyman Pat Coleman, who is 29-11 (20 KOs). Fight fans will remember the slugging Irishman from his March blowout of previously undefeated Leonard Pierre in 83 seconds!

What is interesting is that in preparation for his fight against Bernard Hopkins, Taylor's people attempted to hire Duddy as a sparring partner. Duddy's trainer, Harry Keitt, refused, because he expects his charge to be going head to head with Taylor in a relatively short time.

Two weeks ago, the human parasite known as Don King attempted to seduce the Duddy group, and get a two year contract. They wisely didn't accept it. But it is a good indicator that King recognizes that Duddy will be near the top of the division within two years.

(Also, fans will get a treat on the card on ESPN tomorrow: Irish-American heavyweight Malachy Farrell, 9-0 (7 KOs) fights Giuseppe Kidd, 3-0 (2 KOs). It is expected to be an explosive fight between two good young prospects!)

[dr.zoidberg]

1. Did you see Soliman last night?

Sam looked good in his fight last night against Zuniga. I had it 8-2 in favor of Soliman. I like his style. Soliman fight awkwardly and throws a lot of punches per round. He lead with his head too much and that may give him problems when he faces Taylor. Soliman is the #1 ranked fighter in the IBF and is Taylor's mandatory title defense. In fact, Taylor has 90 day to defend the IBF belt. Now, this was not sprung on Taylor at the last minute, as both Taylor and Hopkins were told this months before their fight. Taylor more than likely cannot make the defense in 90 days because of the cut he received during the fight. However, I believe that the IBF would give him an extension because of it. Make no mistake, Soliman deserves the title shot.

[H2O Man]

2. No, I didn't.

What station was it on?

I think Taylor will likely defend against Hopkins in the rematch first. I think his contract mandates it if Hopkins takes the option.

I'm curious what you think about the IBF, etc? I like the idea of going with the Ring magazine champions. I don't have any respect for any of the alphabet groups.

The middleweights may become very interesting now. It's hard to see that division staying in the mild slump it has experienced in the past few years. My guess is that there will not be one guy ruling it for an extended period, though obviously I could be very wrong.

[dr.zoidberg]

3. It was on FSN.

Specifically, it was on FSN's monthly Best Damn Fight Period(yes, it is hosted by the folks from the Best Damn Sports Show Period.).
To me, The Ring lost all credibility when they handed Vitali Klitschko their heavyweight title. Vitali did nothing to deserve the belt. BTW, getting your eye sliced open by Lennox Lewis does not mean that you deserve the belt. The Ring was desperate to name somebody their champ, which is funny because they have never done that for any division lower than Featherweight. The alphabet groups are not much better but in the long run those belt mean more to the casual boxing fan than The Ring magazine belt, which in all truth means absolutely nothing. Besides, the WBC can't be all that bad. They are, after all, are going to make Vitali fight the winner of Rahman/Barrett. Rahman has done everything that the WBC rules state to be the true mandatory contender, but because of Vitali's jogging injury(which was said to have been in his leg) mysteriously turning into a 'back injury', Rahman now has to fight Barrett. But, make no mistake, Vitali will have to face the winner of that fight. Not Maskaev, not Brock, but the winner of Rahman/Barrett.

[H2O Man]

4. Interesting.

I agree 100% on the heavyweights. It's funny, but I think the real solution when the heavyweight champion retires is to do what was incorrectly done after Ali was stripped of hs crown. I'd like to see the top eight contenders put into a tournament. Do it that way.

Of course, back in the late '60s, Frazier refused to take part; Liston wasn't invited; and in each fight, the underdog won! Jimmy Ellis, te Ali sparring partner who was a big lightheavyweight, took it. Rubin Carter had beat Ellis. And, as I'm sure you've seen, Frazier crushed him in one of his best performances.

So the promoting end could cause some problems. But it would do away with attempts to give someone a title they never earned (Kenny Norton was another example). But there could be an interesting tourney in the division. It could create real interest.

[H2O Man]

5. Duddy by 8 round TKO

He is a good young contender. While Hopkins gets a return match with Taylor in December, the young contenders will continue to mature.

A special treat is watching Pernell Whitaker, one of the absolute great fighters of any era, as co-host.

[dr.zoidberg]

6. Whitaker sounded awful!

It looks like the blows to the head and drugs fucked him up big time.:-( . It's so awful because he is a great and he was one of my favorite fighters to watch.

[H2O Man]

7. One of the sad

things that is on the rise in our society is the number of boxers who, in their early retirement, find that cocaine creates the same good feelings in their brain. Heightened awareness,pleasure, excitement. Problem is there seems to be a serious comorbidity with brain injury from getting hit, and brain damage from cocaine.

While we are all likely familiar with some of the famous cases, such as Jerry Quarry, there are thousands more of unknown club fighters who, at around the age 50, are pathetic human beings.

I hope that Whitaker got it caught in time to prevent rapid deterioration. It's strange, because I am getting another note out to Teddy regarding just that issue. Teddy Atlas is a good man, who really cares about the old, discarded boxers. He's #1 in my book.