Klitschko, Spinks, Margarito and more in the Doggy Bag
By Aaron Imholte (September 9, 2004) 
Photo © HoganPhotos.com
With our beloved sport of boxing taking off again this Fall with great fights and two new reality TV series, there is alot on fans' minds. Can the heavyweights find an undisputed champion? Can Cory Spinks be considered an elite fighter? Can Oscar do it? And is Tito runnin' scared of Oscar? All that plus much more in this week's Doggy Bag.

Do you think Vitali will unify the heavyweight division? - Impossible2Refute

He has the ability to beat all of the heavyweight champions and in a convincing fashion. The only thing that will prevent him from doing so is time (he is 33) and politics. As you know Don King rules the heavyweight roost; he is in a sense the undisputed heavyweight champion. Unless Vitali aligns himself with King he will not be able to unify the division by the end of his career.

Like what ive asked you before, Aaron. what do you think is the best possible option for manny pac at this time since the three kings of mexico seems to be ducking him. should he go and fight injin chi or scott harrison or should he take a breather and fight an easier fight by facing contenders? what are you thoughts? - Poppa

Ah Poppa, the shameless carrier of Manny Pacquiao's jock. I mean that in a good way. As I have answered you time and time again regarding Pac-man, I think he should fight a lesser contender just to keep himself busy and sharp for a rematch with JMM, MAB, or a showdown with Erik Morales. I have in mind guys like Humberto Soto or Orlando Salido. Guys who are decent but not championship caliber and won't ruin Manny's ride to a huge payday. He is fast on his way to becoming one of the funnest featherweights to watch in the history of featherweights. So he should not ruin it by fighting dangerous fighters like Chi or Harrison who are less known as the big 3.

If De La Hoya somehow manages to defeat Bernard Hopkins, do you think it will be a bigger upset than Leonard/Hagler? - Jvalz

I think so. Leonard was younger than De La Hoya when he fought Hagler and could at least rely on speed and youth to give him a chance to win. De La Hoya is past prime and he may age in front of our eyes just like Marvin Hagler did. Hopkins is a dominant champion fighting a great former champion in lesser weight classes who has seen his better days. The only comparison is that it is for the undisputed middleweight title and the guy holding it has dominated for years. Hopkins is in the Hagler role but De La Hoya is in a role of his own, which makes this fight unique and interesting.

Do you think that since Tito claims in an interview that he doesnt want DLH becuz he already defeated him which really is a load of BS, that the only way and best way to Corner Trinidad and for DLH to still get alot of money is for DLH to beat the guy who whipped up on Tito. If so do you think DLH then holds all the cards? - RenJr84

If Oscar beats Bernard I think that would be a good note to finish on because if he does beat Hopkins it will take so much out of him that he will just be leather fodder for Trinidad in a rematch. If De La Hoya comes out on top it will be like a Manila for both men. Neither will be the same. Hopefully Oscar doesn't drag his career out as long as Ali did after the fight.

Could any of todays heavyweight crop, besides Vitali, have beaten the middleweight crop of the 80's.

Who wins James Toney or Vitali Klitschko?

Could Vitali Klitschko compete against some of the former heavyweight champs? A prime Bowe, Lewis, Holmes, Tyson, or Holyfield?

If you were personally competing in boxing, and you knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that steroids would help you dramatically, and you also knew you probably wouldn't get caught, would you do them or not? Or what do you think most fighters or athletes would do? - Joey Martin Combs

That is surprisingly an interesting question. I think Hagler would have beaten Byrd and Toney. Besides that, it is really an odd question to answer. Do you mean when the heavyweights were moving up in weight or when they were actually at heavyweight?

Klitschko, and please stop emailing me telling me James Toney is the best heavyweight in the division. It is garbage. Now I know if Toney reads this he'll just call me another know nothing boxing writer who has his head up his ass but when Toney is pulling his face from Vitali Klitschko's fist you tell me who was right and who owes me an apology. Klitschko is too big and too strong and Toney can't keep food out of his mouth long enough to stay in decent shape to become anywhere near able to handle Klistchko's size, power, chin and heart. Klitschko by 9th round TKO.

Klistchko loses to the Bowe of the early 90's, loses to a prime Lewis, gives a very overrated fighter in Larry Holmes the fight of his life and could probably beat him. He will lose to a prime Tyson and I would give him a good chance of beating a prime Holyfield.

I won't lie, if I could be guaranteed that my performance on steroids would get be a huge payday or 3 and a title shot then I would do them for awhile. Every man has his price and if you throw enough money at me to retire comfortably I will do steroids. I still think it is wrong beyond words but I can see where the money and the pressure would cause a fighter to give in to steroids.

I'm slowly becoming a cory spinks fan, he is missing one vital ingredient to be a awesome fighter, knockout power. Is it too late for him to develop power? Do you think he can move down in weight to increase his power? Who is left at Welterweight for him to fight? One last one is the the most underrated undisputed welterweight champion ever? Or is he just the weakest ever? - IceColdMalik

I like Spinks. I like his style. It does bother me though that he has almost no power. I suppose he could weight train and hit the heavy bag more but if it is going to take away from his other boxing skills than I would just stick with what is working. He will be fine at welter and should fight there until his power improves to where he can fight at higher weights. Right now his chin taps for 12 rounds won't cut it against bigger guys. If he wants to make welterweight his home then he should keep doing what he is doing. If he plans to move up he should hit the weights and the bag hard.

Hey Aaron, are we going to see Margarito and Ouma go at it for 154 supremacy in a few years, are these guys the future in that weight? I think they are. - JoeJabber

Interesting thought Joe. I hate playing swami and predicting the future, but if these two continue on the road they are on then there is no reason to believe they won't be the future at 154 or possibly in the 160's. Time will ultimately tell but if we keep on this track then these two guys will be battling on PPV for a big time title in a matter of a few years.

Well that's all for this weeks Doggy Bag. Thank you for sticking with us after our technical difficulties forced the Doggy Bag to be out of commission for last week. Keep the questions rolling in via email and The Dog Pound message board. I love to field these questions and if you keep askin', I'll keep answerin'. Stay sharp Dogpound and I'll see you next week.
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