The Doggy Bag
 By Aaron Imholte (December 2, 2004) 
So the big fight is over! Well, maybe big is an understatement. Last Saturday night Marco Antonio Barrera won the rubbermatch by a slim majority decision over archrival Erik Morales to cap off what is arguably the greatest trilogy of all time. So it is only natural that we have some Morales-Barrera questions as well as some more potential big fight matchups. From Ali to Julio Cesar Chavez and from Eric Morales to Oscar De La Hoya, we touch all bases in this week's edition of The Doggy Bag.

Why in newspapers and other sources does it say that henry cooper was the first boxer to knock ali down when actually it was sonny banks in 1962, this does annoy me cause it takes credit from the wrong man but why does it still happen. - Champ4Ever

That is a very good question champ. You're absolutely right, while some publications and records have Henry Cooper as the first man to knock down Ali, on Boxrec it does give the right man credit listing that Muhammad Ali had been knocked down by Sonny Banks in 1962 in the first round.

Perhaps most of these publications and records just overlook it due to Ali's greatness and all the other amazing feats that were accomplished during his career. They just never took the time to go back and fix the error. I'm sure if you look throughout boxing history books you will find many more errors like this, but I wouldn't worry about it too much there champ.

Do professional fighters have groupies too?

You know those hot, pretty, cutie girls that follow around everywhere you go. Im asking cos Im pondering really hard of doing some fighting. I know I can make it cos Im a load of talent and looks. Before I make the decision though, I want to know more of the perks of being a tough sports guy, you know what I mean?

Always your idol, - Poppa

Why don't we ask Mike Tyson if boxers have groupies and what kind of effect they have on your career? Of course they have women following them around Poppa, especially the good looking boxers like De La Hoya and Sugar Ray Leonard. I guarantee those guys had tons of women willing to throw themselves in front of their vehicles.

However if your sole reason for becoming a fighter is the perks and the women I would have to say that the closest you should be to a boxing ring is maybe in the upper deck of the arena. I seriously doubt that you're serious about your boxing endeavor, but just in case you are thinking up something Poppa-esque let me tell you that you don't sound at all prepared for the boxing world my friend. You will be eaten alive. Although you might get to fight Manny Pacquiao, but I'm sure you would faint as soon as he held you in a clinch. It would be like your dream come true.

Hey, Aaron! Coyote Duran here. Nice to meet you, guy! My question is: Do you think Oscar De La Hoya is making a mistake returning to 147 and who do you think would be a good target for him upon return? Look me up if you ever wanna BS!

Here's another one, Aaron: If Winky Wright can't get that fight against Trinidad he's been lobbying for, what's the chance that Javier Castillejo'll finally get a chance to cast that "Interim" label? Also, do you think a Wright/Mayorga or Wright/Daniel Santos fight would go well with fans? - Coyote Duran

Hey Coyote nice to hear from ya! I actually think Oscar going back to 147 is an outstanding career move for him. He will be alot tougher and hit alot harder at welterweight and won't tire as easy as he did at 154 or 160. Welter is about the weight limit his body can successfully handle.

In his return I would target someone who will test his skills but not threaten them. Jawaid Khaliq comes to mind as a good set up. He is a slick boxer who does not have too much power. Oscar can run him down and pound away and eventually stop him in the mid to late rounds.

After that I would start looking at guys like Judah and Spinks for the big pay days. I think Oscar has enough left in the tank to win the welterweight title from Spinks because in order to beat Oscar you have to be able to back him up and really sting him. Judah definitely can but might not have the heart to tangle with Oscar for twelve rounds and you might as well forget about Cory Spinks being able to 'out pain' the Golden Boy.

The rules, as I understand them, dictates that if Winky moves up to middleweight he then vacates his titles and they would go to the interim champion or become vacant if there is no interim champion. So in Castillejo's case he would shed the interim label just as John Ruiz did when Roy Jones Jr. went back down to 175.

I think Wright-Mayorga would be a bigger draw but I think it would have to take place at 154 because, let's face it, Ricardo Mayorga is not built for 160. If this fight is at junior middleweight I would give Mayorga a chance just because of his aggressiveness. All in all I think Winky's jab sets the pace and El Matador loses a decision in what could be a long night for him.

I think Ricardo should head back to 147 and see what kind of money he can make to pay off his lawyers because god knows that rape case is going to get mighty expensive.

In my opinion Ronald Wright looked horrible in his fight with Shane Mosley. I know that the reason he looked horrible was because Shane looked much better and fought much better than he did in their first bout. Winky's talking about trying to get a match with De La Hoya or Trinidad, but I just can't see him beating either fighter.

Even though De La Hoya lost his fight against Hopkins, he would still give anyone at 154 a hard time. De La Hoya can match Winky's jab and has the speed to beat him to the punch. Also in my opinion De La Hoya has more power at 154 and Winky couldn't hurt a fly, so De La Hoya wouldn't be too concerned about Winky's power punches. I can see De La Hoya winning a close decision.

Now Trinidad, I just think he blows Winky out of the ring. I think wright's defense is overrated. Just look at his fight with Angel Hernandez and the 2nd Shane Mosley fight and you can see Winky getting tagged left and right. Trinidad punches come with tremendous power and I can see him breaking Winky's defense and knocking him out around the 7th or 8th round.

What's your opinion? - Abraham G

Abraham I think you're one of the most knowledgeable guys that writes to the mailbag, keep it up. That being said for once I must disagree. While I don't think Winky looked as good as he did in the first Mosley fight, he didn't look 'horrible'. He was good with that jab and it racked up enough points for him to bank the rounds needed to win. I think the closeness of the second fight was due more to the performance of Shane Mosley rather than the lack of one by Wright.

You are right however in assuming Winky would have more than a little trouble with Trinidad or De La Hoya. Oscar, as I said above, has to be hurt and forced backward in order to lose a fight and Wright just won't be able to bring that kind of hurt. As for Trinidad? Forget about it, he would get through the jab and land some concussive shots that would stop a very game Wright late in the fight. If Tito can counter that jab like Mosley did a couple times in the second fight then Ronald Wright is in for a very tough outing at middleweight. His best bet may be to take big money to get beat by Bernard Hopkins and then get back down to 154.

Who do you think wins a rematch between Barrera and Pacquiao? - Pacman

I think if we are talking the Barrera that fought Manny the first time then you will see a repeat of the first fight. If we are talking about this guy that beat Morales last Saturday then I'd have to say Barrera beats Pacquiao by a unanimous decision or even late round stoppage. If Marco has that uppercut working for him he can back Manny up and neutralize alot of the offense Pac-man brings to the fight. Pacquiao would have to adjust to this version of Barrera that he isn't used to mid-fight and as we saw against Marquez, Manny is not good with developing new game plans on the fly.

Hey Aaron, I hope these quick questions get into your mailbag. The first is a mythical match-up that I'd like to get your input on. Who do you see winning this match-up and how do you you see it going down:

(Prime) Frazier vs. (Prime) Tyson--15 rounds

And second, at 154 who wins these potential match-ups (and how):

Ouma vs. Mosely
Margarito vs. Wright

Thanks, - Doc

If Tyson is going to beat Frazier in this mythical matchup he would have to do it early. Frazier is notorious for being a slow starter. He took some pounding from Ali in the first fight early, and from Quarry in the first round. If Tyson can bomb out that granite chin of Frazier's early then he can knock him out in the first 2 or 3 rounds.

I don't see that happening though. Alot of people now, especially Tyson fans, like to exaggerate the myth of Mike Tyson. Hell, I'm from that generation and even I know the best fighter Mike ever beat was either a washed up Spinks, or Holmes or Donovan Ruddock just before Mike went to jail. The thing about Frazier that would give Tyson trouble is the fact that Joe doesn't stop coming forward when he has been hit hard. He would keep the pressure up and hit Tyson back with that big left hook. Tyson got discouraged when something he hit did not fall and even worse, hit him back. I can see Frazier outlasting Mike and winning a very close decision in 15 rounds, and believe it or not I could even see Joe stopping a gassed Tyson in the 14th or 15th.

I think in the next fight you mentioned we would see what Kassim Ouma was made of. He still might be too young to take on Mosley. Believe it or not Shane has something left in the tank and he came within two rounds of beating Winky Wright. Shane would win a decision over Ouma tomorrow. Give Kassim some time however and maybe he could outwork and outpoint Mosley in a year or two.

Wright would win a pretty boring fight. I think Winky's jab is one of the best punches at 154 and he would really use it to rack up the points. It also might take a while for Margarito to crack Winky's D. I'm gonna say Winky wins 8 or 9 of the twelve rounds against Margarito.

Well there we go. Another week of your questions in the books. Not as many Morales-Barrera post fight questions but I thought we got some of the most creative questions I've seen in quite some time. Big ups to the Dog Pound, you guys came through once again. Keep 'em coming puppies, you keep me entertained every week just readin' 'em.
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