Boxing: Wayne Braithwaite vs. Guillermo Jones.

[dr.zoidberg]

The fight is on Showtime this Saturday night. This is a Cruiserweight fight. Now, before you dismiss this fight you have to take a few things into consideration. First of all, both men a big guys that can not only hit, but they can box decently as well. Wow, I haven't been able to type that in a long time it seems:) . Second, and most importantly, this fight is between two legitimate top 5 Crusierweights. That makes this fight worth watching. Sure, both men aren't big names, but then again if you watch boxing for big names then you are missing out on some great fighters.

I know Braithwaite the best, so I'll start with him first. He has great power, although he had his weaknesses exposed when he got beaten up by Jean Marc-Mormeck. No shame in that, however, as Marc-Mormeck is the The Man at Crusierweight. Should Braithwaite win this fight he may be able to get a rematch with Marc-Mormeck.

Jones is no slouch either. He has a loss to to Steve Cunningham but he managed to get a draw against Johnny Nelson in England, so he has shown that he has the goods. I have never seen him fight, so all I can go on him is from what I have read.

To me this fight is a toss up. I know almost nothing about Jones except from word of mouth. I hate making picks on fighters that I have never really seen. I will reluctantly take Braithwaite by KO in the late rounds. I think that Braithwaite just has too much power.

The undercard features Owen Beck and Ray Austin in a fight that, quite frankly, I don't give a shit about. So there :P .

[Sean138666]

1. Guillermo "El Felino" Jones, from Panama!

So you know I'd be rooting for him :)

Anyway, he got two tries at the WBA Super Welterweight title against Laurent Boudouani in 1998; the first bout was a majority draw, the second a split decision for Boudouani. He beat Kelvin Davis in his last fight on May 21 by 4th round TKO.

Jones is 6'4" with a 76" reach, so it should be interesting to see how Big Truck can handle him, since he's never fought anyone taller than him. And if he becomes passive like he did against Mormeck, Braithwaite will likely lose a decision.

[dr.zoidberg]

2. I agree.

Braithwaite MUST be aggressive. If he fights like he did against Mormeck, he will lose.

Good to have more info on Jones.

[Sean138666]

3. Further Information

His record is 32-3-2 with 25 KOs, including wins over Kelvin Davis and Jaffa Ballougou. Losses were in title fights to Boudouani and a draw with cruiserweight mainstay Johnny Nelson for the WBO title. He's also held regional (Latin American) welterweight and super welterweight titles.

Information from www.boxrec.com, the most valuable boxing resource!

[H2O Man]

4. I thought Braithwaite

fought to survive against Mormeck. His being passive was a survival skill. I wasn't sure he had prepared for a tough fight; if he had fought harder, he would have run out of gas.

I think Showtime has the best boxing.

Did either of you see Briggs kayo Mercer? It was strange.

[dr.zoidberg]

5. To be honest, I had no interest in that fight.

The whole Briggs/Mercer card was unappealing to me. Good to see Briggs pick up another win. Rumor has it that he may ne fighting Audley Harrison next.

[Sean138666]

6. I didn't see it

But I saw the pictures. I suppose such a thing would be strange, especially since Mercer is known for almost never getting knocked down (I think Evander Holyfield was the only one to do it). And Briggs wasn't known for any wins over suitable opposition other than George Foreman.

Fact: By beating Foreman in 1997, Briggs became the linear--and therefore real--heavyweight champion. He lost to Lennox Lewis in his next fight.

[H2O Man]

7. That's absolutely right.

It was sad when they called Mercer a "former heavyweight champion," and Briggs a contender.

Mercer missed badly when he rushed Briggs near the ropes. Many fighters would pass up the opportunity to hit a defenseless opponent; the ref surely wasn't there to separate them. Briggs landed three short punches to the jaw-ear area, and the lights went out for Ray. (Of course, he had battered a defenseless Tommy Morrison, caught on the ropes, in a brutal fight.) I suppose, as we saw in Jeff Lacy's last fight, "defend yourself at all times" is the most important of the referee's instructions.

I had watched Brigg's last fight in Verona, NY earlier in the summer. He may have been one of the top heavyweights of this era had he been able to use his talents. But he has rarely been able to control his fear .... hence, he tires out too quickly, often before a fight actually began.

He actually could become a top contender, and bring some excitement to the division.

[Sean138666]

8. Showtime will recognize any belt holder as a "champion"

Mercer was a WBO titleholder in 1991.

[H2O Man]

10. It wasn't Showtime.

It was actually called by the guys from Fox.

I like the Showtime fights, but would prefer the ESPN announcers. When ST had Bobby C., I used to find him one of the very best boxing announcers. Too bad they dumped him when he had a relapse with the bottle.

[dr.zoidberg]

9. Briggs could be a contender.

One problem though is that he is old. I know he's 33, which may not be that old to you or me, but in boxing he's ancient. Not everybody can be like Bernard Hopkins and fight at a high level into his 40s. If Briggs wants a title shot he will have to take a big fight soon, because the clock on his career is ticking.

[H2O Man]

11. I agree.

Briggs' age is a factor. Still, he really hasn't had the wear & tear that a guy who is active and in tough fights all along suffers from. His reflexes seem good. He needs to train hard -- never a strong point with him. And the Mercer fight was one of the few times he didn't appear to have an anxiety attack walking into the ring. Even in Verona, he was out of breath in the first round. That is psychological; obviously, he isn't winded from one round in the gym. He needs someone to focus on that issue with him.

[H2O Man]

12. Austin beats Beck

by decision. It was a strange fight. Austin reminds me of a combination of James "Quick" Tillis (but "Slow") and Ernie Terrell, the octopus from the 1960s. How can a guy with his experience NOT have a left jab? I know he has sparred some good fighters. He has a trainer. Where is the jab?

[H2O Man]

13. Jones by TKO!

Round One: Jones pummels Braitwaite easily. Wayne barely kept on his feet. He was in the ropes far too much. Easily a 10-8 round.

Round Two: Jones has trouble moving. He has a cramp in his foot/leg. Wayne begins to put punches together. Round id even, with a possible edge to Wayne.

Round Three: Wayne looks good, and is in control in the entire round. However, it is clear that he is small for the weightclass. The announcers say he had hoped to come in heavier. Jones, at 6'3", seems more than 7 lbs heavier.

Round Four: Good "back & forth" action. Each has moments. Wayne gets hurt, knocked into the ropes. The ref tells Wayne, "Show me something!" three times, but Jones has thrown 22 punches to 1 for Wayne. The ref stops it.

Braithwaite and his corner are upset. But you need to fight in the ring, during the rounds. The ref gave him three opportunities to fight back. He didn't.

My only concern with the ref came earlier, when he allowed Jones to use his open glove and forearm to push Wayne's head back.

[dr.zoidberg]

14. I didn't like the stoppage, but I can see where the ref was coming from.

To me, it was clear that Braithwaite could still defend himself. He was slipping the punches that Jones was throwing at the end of his flurry. A fighter out on his feet would not be able to slip punches.
At the same time, however, if a ref says "show me something" then you better start throwing punches. So i could see how it could go either way. A great win for Jones, who looks to have IBF champ O'Neil bell in his future.

Did you see Jones collapse after the stoppage? At first I thought it was serious, but it was 'only' a cramp. I put only in quotation marks because to anyone who has had a cramp will feel like it was serious.

[H2O Man]

15. I agree.

He was attempting to get out of the way of punches. But I counted, and though it may be no more accurate than "punch stats," it looked like he only attempted one punch versus twenty two that came at him. I think that Wayne may have been looking for the ref to stop it. The only other thing that makes any sense is that he knew Jones could level him with counter punches: whenever he tried to nail Jones in the heated exchanges, his lack of defensive skills stood out.

HBO is showing some "classic" fights this morning. The "free weekend" is okay! Now that ESPN is taking an 18 week vacation from boxing, I may have to sign up for HBO.

[dr.zoidberg]

16. The card last night makes me want to sing up for Showtime.

[H2O Man]

17. Mayweather - Corrales

is on HBO right now. I wonder if they will ever meet again?

[dr.zoidberg]

18. Probably not.

Mayweather has been making noise about fighting either Zab Judah or Winky Wright. I don't see Corrales in his future.

[H2O Man]

19. Winky Wright

may be too big. As good as Floyd is, that is a big step up physically, and wouldn't seem to be a great attraction. While I would love to see him and Zab, it would be a Leonard-Benitez type that might not sell as well as it should. But it might be the best fight in boxing.

[Sean138666]

20. I think the show was pretty bad

In that first fight, I saw two big and slow heavyweights falling on top of each other for several rounds. Some people would compare it to a John Ruiz fight, but I think it was worse than THAT. Anyone remember Vaughn Bean? That bad.

That girl that sung the national anthem...god, that was fucking awful.

I don't like the stoppage in the main event; it was a good fight, but you know if it went on any further, Braithwaite would have won because that cramp was clearly bothering Jones.

=========================

Anyone remember Ricardo Lopez? That's my boxing viewing this weekend; I got dvds of all of his title fights. Great stuff!

[H2O Man]

21. I didn't think it was

any better than an ESPN card.

I think if a ref yells three times to "show me something," and you don't, you are hoping he saves you. His lack of defensive skills was glaring. He's not a complete fighter.

[dr.zoidberg]

22. You mean there is another Ricardo Lopez fan besides myself and Tam Tam?

That Lopez footage is quality stuff. He is, IMO, the best straw-weight ever.

I didn't think the heavys were that bad. They weren't good, but they weren't John Ruiz level either. Austin and Beck actually threw punches. The national anthem girl was awful. The singing was like lowlowlowHIGHHIGHHIGHlowlowlowHIGHHIGHHIGH and she was WAY off key.

[H2O Man]

23. You two are cruel!!!

That girl was 11 years old. I thought her singing was beautiful. Of course, I think Johnie Cash was a good singer, too. But I thought she did a great job, and felt bad that the crowd ignored her.