Scar Tissue Part 22: KO Junkies and Weiner Dogs
By Jess E. Trail (June 4, 2007) Doghouse Boxing (Photo © German Villasenor)
Much as been said recently about some of the boring and inexplicably non-combative affairs we have had of late. May I? I was recently watching a TV special, The History of Sideburns, and purposely taped it over my copy of Jermain Taylor’s split decision win over Cory Spinks. It was that bad. Spinks simply didn’t engage. I wanted to see Jermain actually have to solve a cagey style and penetrate a crafty defense while being intelligently fired upon. As it was, he won the majority of rounds by landing two to three clean shots per round. Immediately after the fight, I was absolutely enthralled in the documentary,
Lizards That Kill, on one of my favorite channels, Animals Yo!, and happily forgot that the fight had ever occurred.

I read an excellent column last week by Friday Night Fight’s Joe Tessitore regarding horrible borefests that have occurred recently, most notably Taylor-Spinks and Raheem-Cruz. The point was much needed and hopefully will be taken to heart. I do have to disagree on one subtle point, however. I cannot concur with the inclusion of De La Hoya-Mayweather. On the surface, the argument can be made, and I agree that boxing is supply and demand. If there is no demand, the supply isn’t even needed. Excitement is in demand. Slugfests are in demand. Heart and willpower are in demand. My subtle argument is that when you get to the level of Mayweather and De La Hoya, the skills and the art of the sport play into the equation and should have their demand. It was a record for pay-per-view. Of those buyers, how many thought that Mayweather would engage Oscar in a slugfest? Only those who were a bit in the dark about Mayweather’s history. Floyd Mayweather didn’t become the pound for pound king by fighting inside with the Castillos of the world. He didn’t get there by going blood-for-blood with Diego Corrales. There is a place in the big demand balloon for the top level artists, though the draw is not quite as big. The difference in Mayweather’s performance and that of Spinks and Raheem is that Mayweather was winning – at least in his opinion, as well as the majority of spectators and the judges. I bought the fight to see if Oscar could penetrate. I wanted to see if he would place his punches, to realize it would be very difficult to outscore Floyd and try to destroy that impressive six-pack with hooks when
confronted with Floyd’s sideways defense against the ropes, and perhaps drill a few debilitating right hands underneath Floyd’s left elbow. I believed that Oscar would attempt to display his own speed to his own demise, cheating his power shots and running out of steam down the stretch. As it turned out, his strategy made the fight closer than I thought it would be. He was a bit more aggressive than I anticipated and his defense was nearly airtight for most of the way.

Point is, we saw two of the best ring artists in the world. The boxer boxed, and the bigger man pursued. Overall, I was impressed with Oscar’s performance (aside from placing his shots better), and quite frankly, with Mayweather’s discipline as well as his crisp counters.

This isn’t to take away from Tessitore’s point. It was a well-made point that darn well should be made, by one half of what I think is the best commentating pair in boxing. For myself I just have to cut and paste with Oscar and Floyd. Taylor-Spinks... well, gosh, was it shown more than once? Because for those of you who watched it more than once, I have a copy of a gripping documentary called Mussolini’s Influential Weiner Dog. Let me know if any of you want to see it.


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