It's All About The Questions
By Coyote Duran (March 7, 2007) Doghouse Boxing (Photo © German Villasenor)
In the weeks leading up to the real World Junior Featherweight Championship battle between then-champion Israel Vazquez and IBF bantamweight titleholder Rafael Marquez, very few, if any, fans and experts had any issues as to this fight being necessary or at least very entertaining. We wanted it. We were lucky to have it. We were salivating at the possibility of another Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo in the making. This was a fan’s fight if there ever was one.

As customary for the Showtime network, of course, a mixed bag of internet pundits were polled for their predictions and our very own Editor-in-Chief Anthony Cocks and I were part of the group of prognosticators and the day before the fight, 27 writers’ predictions were posted on the Showtime network’s official section devoted to Marquez-Vazquez. Of the 27, 16 saw the fight going for Vazquez with varying end results while the remaining 11 saw the fight as a Vazquez victory. As writers, we really didn’t have any questions as to whether or not
either man had enough heart of if they had prepared sufficiently. We knew that both Marquez and Vazquez were all-go and that they had just enough vulnerability between the two to create some mass drama. Hell, leading into the fight during the telecast, we were served enough drama for a month after the IBF flyweight title fight between undefeated titlist Vic Darchinyan, 28-0 (22), and Victor Burgos, 39-15-3 (23), culminated in one of the most worrisome moments in boxing since Leavander Johnson was taken away from the ring in his tragic life-ending bout against Jesus Chavez in 2005. After absorbing so much accumulated punishment from Darchinyan, referee John Schorle halted the fight in the 12th stanza after another barrage-to-be from the defending titlist turned Burgos into a wavering shell of who he was walking into the ring Saturday night.

The fight was never controlled by Burgos and the questions sprang to life after supervising physician Dr. Paul Wallace made certain that Burgos was immediately sent off for medical attention. Terse and quite tense in his answers when talking to Showtime’s Jim Gray, Dr. Wallace showed the demeanor of a man who viewed the evening thus far as a sick exercise in tolerance for Our Sport and subsequently just had to deal with it in abject guilt. This is not to be confused with a lack of compassion. I believe deep in my heart that Dr. Wallace could not be more worried about Burgos’ condition, post-fight, and that in the end, maybe he might’ve felt better advising an earlier stoppage.

Should Burgos have even been in The Home Depot Center against Darchinyan? Good question. As the number eight Ring Magazine contender at 112 pounds, it wasn’t an ill-advised career move for Burgos. He was just over-whelmed by Darchinyan’s ‘Roy Jones Jr.-Meets-Emanuel Augustus’ approach of offense and was removed from his own game. Was it an auto-win for Darchinyan? We are compelled to say yes, but who are we to say? We’ve seen some weird turnabout shit in this sport. Sometimes predictions can be hollow and baseless. The reality this time around is that everyone who made predictions throughout the internet regarding Darchinyan vs. Burgos was right.

Hip-hip-hooray. L I don’t pray but every spare thought of mine for boxing’s sake is with Victor Burgos and his family.

Darchinyan on Burgos: “He’s a hero.” Very well said.

That being said, all I could think about with emotional sobriety were the cumulative attitudes going into the Marquez-Vazquez battle. You know, the “I’ll die before I lose.” mentality? After all that had transpired regarding Burgos’ condition, I almost felt guilt in looking forward to Marquez-Vazquez.

Almost.

But in looking forward to this fight, I didn’t see the mismatch on the horizon that Darchinyan-Burgos has become. We had two Mexican warriors, four pounds apart, who would not be denied. Sure, there were the questions as to if Rafael Marquez, 37-3 (33), could stand up to Israel Vazquez’ size and power. I wasn’t certain why these questions came to be. I didn’t see any disparities and, for that matter, neither did Showtime’s Al Bernstein, whose keys to victory for both men were seemingly identical. We were seeing Batman vs. The Joker. Superman vs. Lex Luthor. Green Lantern vs. Sinestro. Henry Garza vs. Mato Nanji. Hey, I could go on forever, man.

But what to my shocked eyes and ears should appear but a former world champion quitting on his stool at the end of seven for all to see and hear? More questions abound! Not so much questions about a lack of heart by Vazquez, 41-4 (30), but questions as to why and whether or not an alleged Marquez thumb was the culprit for Vazquez’ downfall. This wasn’t some quit job by a guy who was frustrated in losing or a fighter who knew he was too far behind to ever come back. Israel Vazquez had serious problems as a result of his absorption of punishment. He couldn’t breathe. In a sport where one can become gassed from the get-go if he doesn’t breathe or pace himself properly, a badly damaged nose can be far more dangerous than the man firing shots at your head. Vazquez knew he’d be back. Sometimes you have to know when to let go so you can return someday, stronger and better. When asked by Jim Gray what happened, Vazquez answered, “I couldn’t breathe.” and alluded to having problems breathing as early as the second round. You know what? I believe him because excuses from the likes of a fighter of Israel Vazquez’ character are few and far between.

Rafael Marquez was just as surprised because, as he put it, post-fight, Vazquez “was the only fighter to drop” him.

“He deserves a rematch.” said the new Ring Magazine 122-pound World Champion. Very well said.

And speaking of The Ring and so many questions, I haven’t heard one question regarding the validation of Vazquez’ newly-won championship. Sure, most Showtime viewers who don’t know The Ring exists, believe that only the WBC’s belt was on the line Saturday night but the belt that really counted was The Ring’s strap and in a fight that will certainly go down on the ballot for Fight Of The Year, knowing that The Ring’s belt was won in an honest fight totally validates the magazine’s policy. Clearly, that’s my opinion but I certainly hope the real belt starts getting the respect it deserves across the board and soon.

Already, the wheels are in motion for a rematch for later this year. Get some rest, boys.

Although, I didn’t watch the live telecast of HBO’s card in Puerto Rico, I did catch my DVR’ed recording of the Miguel Cotto-Oktay Urkal fight for Cotto’s WBA welterweight belt and the undercard match-up between Edison Miranda and Allan Green on Sunday. The questions certainly didn’t subside on the day after the fight but seemed to explode, in specific, on Doghouse Boxing’s own Dog Pound message board. The questions ranged from everything to “Why is everyone on the Cotto bandwagon?” to “Why does everyone think Cotto’s that great?” (to paraphrase). Sure, I never would’ve guessed Urkal, 38-4 (12), would’ve been that much a thorn in Cotto’s side as he was but as the adage goes, styles make fights, and if it wasn’t the holding, it was the headbutting that restricted Cotto’s power.

“Who would’ve thought Urkal could frustrate Cotto, 29-0 (24), so much as extend himself as far as he had?” Another good question. After all, wasn’t this the very same fighter that lost twice to Vivian Harris while having a home field advantage? As frustrating an evening as Cotto had in dealing with the German-based Turk, one has to wonder what was more frustrating for the Puerto Rican star: The roughhouse hijinks by his opponent or the way he won his fight, thanks-yet-no thanks to Urkal’s trainer Ulli Wegner quitting on behalf of Urkal after the second point deduction for headbutting by referee Luis Pabon. Cotto had the looked of a very, very gypped man. For that matter, so had Urkal.

Another nagging question: Can we just bail this open scoring business? If all fights are gonna end the way Cotto-Urkal did, why even watch? Just as important, which is it, crew? ‘Urkal’ or ‘Urkel’. It can’t be both. You might piss off Jaleel White.

I have to say that I didn’t see Edison Miranda, 28-1 (24), beating Allan Green, 23-1 (16), before the fight. “Does Miranda even have a chance against Green (who I thought was the better boxer) and his power?” was my burning question. Many others asked themselves or ‘out loud’ on the forums if Green had the defense to repel ‘Pantera.’ It was only natural that both fighters would suffer knockdowns. The possibility was almost prerequisite for the pairing of Angry Young Men. But in looking back, the more burning questions had to do with if Allan Green was ready for Edison Miranda. Was Green overhyped? Is he even good enough to face the world champions and alphabet titlists at 160 and/or 168? What will his first loss do to his psyche from here on out?

In looking back at everything that had transpired on Saturday night, I had to ask myself why there are so many questions about one’s lack of heart, skill or willingness to engage or not, whether that involves ducking punches all night or justifiably quitting in one’s corner. Don’t the styles make the fights? Isn’t it that much more exciting when two fighters who are obviously not invincible go head-to-head with explosive, dramatic results? Why do we continue to write off a fighter when he loses after stepping up to a genuine challenge when we aren’t skilled or brave enough to step foot into a ring ourselves? We desperately crave answers to all of our burning questions when it comes to Our Sport. More often than not, we only walk away from the top of the mountain with many more questions.


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