Nobody Can Stop the Juggernaut! The After Action Report

Gennady Golovkin laid ruin to Daniel Geale last weekend, cementing his status as one of boxing's best fighters, but will environmental circumstances prevent him from shooting his star even higher? Adrien Broner's rumored opponents for his September 6 card may be telling in regards to the state of Broner's career...when will he face another top tier opponent? And you can't talk about misery without talking about the miserable continuation of Roy Jones' career. All that and more on your After Action Report!

Golovkin Rising. Middleweight Champion Poised For Stardom.

Boxing fans and analysts have been a bit too quick to praise WBA Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin for doing so much against so little. Indeed, the majority of the Kazakhi's long title reign has come against foes who wouldn't stand a chance against any respectable fighter, let alone one with Golovkin's skill set. That all changed last weekend when he absolutely destroyed former champion Daniel Geale, who was Golovkin's most accomplished foe.

It didn't take long for Golovkin to bore through Geale, and after three rounds that is exactly what happened. The obligatory "what's next" has come up, and Golovkin's team wants him back in the ring by this fall. That is where a problem arises.

There isn't a whole lot of options for Golovkin at 160 right now, even if you look really hard. Calls for a unification with Miguel Cotto will go unanswered because, well, because a Cotto-Golovkin fight would just end up looking like this. Peter Quillin is being kept safe on Showtime until Saul Alvarez or Daniel Jacobs say they are ready for a Middleweight title and the rest of what's left isn't exactly screaming "can't miss fight."

Those fights are to be had at 168 pounds, where Golovkin can find himself in a whole mess of fights against the likes of Carl Froch, George Groves, Sakio Bika and boxing's favorite ghost story, Andre Ward. The real fight to make is the one we were supposed to get last weekend, Golovkin vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., but that fight won't happen until Chavez's contract issues with Top Rank gets resolved.

Either way, he's untouchable at 160 pounds and will continue to be unless the division magically improves in talent over the next few months. Golovkin's team wants to get him the big paydays and prime time exposure, but the opportunities to do that aren't going to be a division he's already laid to waste. 

Adrien Broner Back On Training Wheels, Rumors Suggest.

Adrien Broner is one of boxing's most recognized fighters (for better or worse) and he commands a tremendous amount of attention, thanks in part to his childlike behavior in and out of the ring. He is also very talented and is an exciting fighter to watch, but since he unexpectedly lost to Marcos Maidana last December, it is starting to look as if he's being kept on a leash.

Broner will be headlining a September 6 card which will serve as a launching point towards a fight with him and Lucas Matthysse, who will also be featured on the same card. Broner's opponents that had been rumored though is suggesting that he's not quite yet recovered from the shellacking Maidana gave him.

Initially, Zab Judah was a front runner even though he has lost his last two fights. Then, Emmanuel Taylor was also considered but had been contacted by Broner's camp to say "Sorry, we won't be needing you after all," and most disturbingly, the very faded Paul Spadafora somehow found his way in the mix for Broner.

As of right now there is no opponent and the date is right around the corner, leading many to suggest Golden Boy and Al Haymon will go the super-soft route and hope Broner impressively performs a la Garcia/Salka. One thing is for sure, Matthysse isn't going to be no powder-puff pushover and Broner isn't showing the resolve that he is ready for that fight next year.

The Best of the Rest

• While the circus it wasn't, Roy Jones Jr. continued his  joke of a return last weekend scoring a stoppage win over journeyman Courtney Fry. Despite having nothing but muscle memory from his glory days, Jones managed to easily handle Fry and scored his third win in a row after losing three straight. As long as Jones can still sell his name overseas and can beat opponents like Fry, he'll continue to fight until otherwise.
• Bryant Jennings came away with a narrow win last weekend over Mike Perez in a unwatchable battle of America's best young Heavyweights, but didn't show that he has the goods to beat Wladimir Klitschko or even Bermane Stiverne for that matter. He's much better that Deontay Wilder, but America's best Heavyweight isn't ready to take the belt home.
• Wondering who Miguel Cotto will be fighting this year since Golovkin isn't on the menu? The WBC is pushing for Cotto to defend his Middleweight title against mandatory foe Marco Antonio Rubio and now there are rumblings that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is now in the mix, though his past two fights have taken place above Middleweight. Cotto/Chavez is a huge fight to make, but extremely hard to believe that it will. Cotto is expected to return to the ring by the end of the year.
• 2011: The unheralded Victor Ortiz unexpectedly defeats Andre Berto to win a Welterweight title. Ortiz next faced Floyd Mayweather and is stopped in four rounds. 2014: The unheralded Chris Algieri unexpectedly defeats Ruslan Provodnikov to win  a Junior Welterweight title. Algeri next faces Manny Pacquiao this November...his fate is pending.

Potent Quotables


“Golovkin’s demeanor, the strength in his body and his punches and his focus show that he is the best middleweight in the world. Only super middleweight Andre Ward would maybe have the skills to defeat Golovkin."


-Bill Treacy, manager of Daniel Geale with his thoughts on Gennady Golovkin.

Canelo En Fuego! The After Action Report

Once again, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez raises his game coming out victorious in last weekend's heavily anticipated showdown with rival Erislandy Lara, but is another rival waiting for him at the end of the year? Adrien Broner and Lucas Matthysse are inching towards a 2015 fight, so why is Broner's team looking for another soft touch this September? Juan Manuel Lopez and Jeff Lacy left no doubt that they're a walking liability in the ring with their recent losses, but is this really the end of the line for the weathered warriors? All this and more recapping the week that was in this week's After Action Report!


Running a Marathon? More Like Dodging a Bullet. Saul Alvarez Outlasts A Timid Erislandy Lara.

If you missed the fight last weekend, don't worry too much about what you didn't see. Saul Alvarez outpointed Erislandy Lara in a closely contested bout that was as evenly matched as everyone thought it would be. The stylistically superior Lara, who's WBA Junior Middleweight title was not on the line, was ultimately foiled by his own tactics as he wasted too much time staying the hell away from Alvarez to convince the judges he should have won.

Alvarez pressed the action from start to finish, always attacking and trying to pin down his elusive opponent. That alone gave him the benefit of the doubt, well...that and  thanks to a dodgy 117-111 card by Levi Martinez (who is now being investigated by the NSAC). Lara contested the awful card and decision, but he really has nobody to blame but himself that he couldn't close the show.

Lara was too caught up in admiring his own work that he forgot to return fire every time Alvarez missed a shot. It's not to say that having a defensive style matters for nothing in boxing, but to win with the kind of methodical style Lara has, he needed to have a Rigondeux/Donaire performance in where he shut his opponent down. That clearly didn't happen thanks in part that Lara wasn't throwing or landing enough punches to frustrate Alvarez much like Rigondeux did to Donaire. 

So because Lara couldn't (or wouldn't, or didn't want to) do that, Alvarez was able to escape a kind of fight he would have otherwise lost. The fight is probably enough of a scare to have Golden Boy Promotions keep Alvarez away from any slick fighters, and even Oscar De la Hoya himself couldn't contain his desire to get Alvarez against a stand-up brawler for his next fight.

While we're waiting for the inevitable fight between Alvarez and WBC Middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, De la Hoya is hoping that James Kirkland will finally be available to commit to a fight with Alvarez this Winter. Kirkland was considered an opponent for Alvarez, but priced himself out and Alvarez fought Josesito Lopez instead. While Alvarez/Kirkland would be a pretty explosive fight on paper, I'm highly skeptical about how ready Kirkland is to accept a fight of this magnitude, especially after being of the ring for nearly a year. 



The Road to Broner/Matthysse Begins September 6

The rumor mill was in full effect a few weeks ago with reports that Adrien Broner vs. Lucas Matthysse was all but a done deal for September 13 as the chief support for Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana II, but it took but a few days to dispel those rumors. Broner and Matthysse will be returning to the ring September 6, but not against each other.

According to reports, Broner could very well be fighting Josesito Lopez in the main event and Matthysse will be facing off against the extremely overmatched Mike Perez in the support bout. Zab Judah and Andre Berto are also names being mentioned for the Brooklyn triple-header. 

Before Broner/Matthysse goes through, Broner must notch a significant win and Lopez is the kind of fighter that he can look extremely impressive against. In his last fight, a meandering decision against Carlos Molina (no, not that one), Broner didn't really put in a performance worthy of discussion and would have to iron out his defensive kinks before going in against a savage puncher like Matthysse in 2015. 


The Shoe Shine

• Juan Manuel Lopez's career has been over for a long time, but now we can only hope he stops before he gets even more damaged than he already is. The former two-division champion was blasted out in three rounds against Francisco Vargas. Lopez could very well be the poster child for puglistic dementia as he ages and should not be allowed to go back into the ring under any circumstances.

• Speaking of damaged goods, a James Toney/Roy Jones rematch might be in the works as the two fighters will be fighting in separate bouts on a card in Latvia. Jones has been shot for a long time, but Toney is so far gone that it is barbaric that anyone is letting him fight. Is this how our old legends are supposed to be treated?

• How bad has former Super Middleweight champion Jeff Lacy fallen? After getting knocked out in two rounds by Humberto Savinge, Lacy took to social media claiming that Savinge wasn't the same man he saw in the weigh-in...which has to be the most bizarre thing I've ever heard covering the sport.

Potent Quotables

We came to fight, he didn't come to fight. I didn't think it was really a tough fight. It was only difficult because he didn't want to fight. He ran and if this is the Cuban school, then it is a very limited school.

-Saul Alvarez's trainer Chepo Reynoso on Erislandy Lara's tactics in last weekend's fight. 

Fifty's Faux Pas...The After Action Report.

Another week, another undefeated prospect from Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's SMS Promotions goes down in flames. Has the former rapper-turned-promoter been given a deathblow in his ill-fated adventure in boxing promotion? PEDs turn their ugly head in boxing once against as we look over the much too-late outrage over the lack of testing in Crawford/Gamboa. Get your mouthful in this week before Chad Dawson does on this week's After Action Report!


"If I Can't Do It Homie, It Can't Be Done!" 50 Cent Suffers Another Significant Loss.

Last week, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson got the equivalent of a pie in his face as the prized jewel of his fledgling promotion, Yuriorkis Gamboa, got clobbered in nine rounds by Terence Crawford. Hoping to get over the loss of his promotion's top name, he at least had his birthday to look forward to as well as his up and coming prospect Mark Davis face off against Michael Farenas.

Davis, who uses the moniker of "Too Sharp," was about as sharp as a bowling ball last Wednesday as he was also clobbered by the more seasoned Farenas in eight lopsided rounds. The losses suffered by Gamboa and Davis along with the rapid deterioration of Billy Dib has placed Jackson's SMS Promotions in a shocking state, especially when two years ago it seemed that Jackson would make more of an impact.

After burning bridges with Golden Boy Promotions thanks to calling Oscar De la Hoya a girl, and then having a falling out with long time friend Floyd Mayweather after trying to persuade him to leave Al Haymon, Jackson has taken two years to flounder as a promoter. Sure, he went ahead and signed Andre Dirrell, Celestino Caballero and James Kirkland, but of those three, only two of them have fought in the past year.

If there were any questions on whether or not Jackson could live up to the massive hype his arrival to the sport, these past two years climaxing with these past two weeks leaves us very little doubt. Kirkland is the only major fighter left on the roster that hasn't suffered a significant loss, but it might just be around the corner as Kirkland hasn't fought since last December and the word is mum on whether or not we'll see him by years end.

It may have all seemed like a good idea at the time for Jackson, whose success in promoting himself with his music and endorsements have made him rich beyond his wildest dreams. As a boxing promoter though, he's way out of his depth and it's only to the detriment of the fighters he's promoting. 

Drugs, Drugs, Drugs! Let's All Talk About Drugs!

ESPNs Dan Rafael broke a story last week about the lack of drug testing of any kind for the Crawford/Gamboa title fight in Omaha, Nebraska. Naturally, the boxing world went into an uproar and kicked off a week of the sport showing its ugly side in regards to PEDs. Not too long afterwards, former two-division champion Paulie Malignaggi went on a Twitter rampage directed at Manny Pacquiao's unwillingness to comply with random drug testing.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that illegal substances of any kind should be banned and swiftly punished in any professional sport, but to be totally honest...who cares? 

Yes, it's unbelievably irresponsible that the Nebraska commission's protocols didn't involve drug testing but can you blame them? The most publicized fact about that fight was that Omaha hadn't had a fight in over 40 years! A two or three month fight promotion isn't enough time for the commission to restructure their antiquated rules, especially if it'll be once in a full moon like the situation they had last weekend.

Also, why is it that such an intrepid and well resourced reporter like Rafael be breaking this story AFTER the fact? Why weren't other members of the press harping about this foul injustice about to take place? What difference does it make now that the fight is over?

Boxing is an unregulated sport ran by promoters and restricted to the rules of state athletic commissions, who may or may not be up to snuff with their testing. Certain fighters have taken precautions to try and make sure the playing field is as level as can be, but without oversight, how can the onus be on anybody except the greedy promoters and the fighters who depend on said promoters to pay them?

Ironically enough, Gamboa's team were the ones who made the complaint. In between Gamboa's spots of inactivity, he was implicated in the Biogenesis scandal that tied him to a known PED distributor yet failed to suffer any consequences because THERE IS NO DISCIPLINARY BODY in the sport. 

I can go on about other things, but there's no use crying over spilt milk. The only way the PED problem can be minimized is that state athletic commissions must implement  universal regulations in regards to testing methods and disciplinary actions. Otherwise, why make a big deal about it when nobody is listening?

The Furious Flurries

• I like Paulie Malignaggi as much as anybody and I do more or less agree on his stance with Manny Pacquiao, but Malignaggi isn't exactly boxing's white knight here. After denouncing Al Haymon and his corruptible influence, Malignaggi signed with him and fought under him twice. Some guys are just heads or tails it seems.
• The Main Events lawsuit against Adonis Stevenson is becoming more problematic than once thought. Bernard Hopkins appears to be mulling a fight with Sergey Kovalev as the rumors go, but might end up facing mandatory opponent Nadjib Mohammedi instead should Stevenson be unavailable in the coming months.
• Things have been awfully quiet from Golden Boy Promotions. With their heavily derided August 9 card only a month away, they have yet to schedule a show beyond that date. 

Potent Quotables

"I can not say if it happened this way and I don't have proof, but this fight was prepared by Richard Schaefer, who left Golden Boy and aims to make his own company. He knows that if Canelo loses, and has a real chance to lose, Golden Boy sinks. Canelo is the lifeline of Golden Boy." 

-Promoter Tutico Zabala going conspiracy theory on why Alvarez/Lara was made. Zabala, Alvarez's former promoter, is currently engaged in a lawsuit with Golden Boy over Alvarez's promotional rights. 

Thank Me Later! The Best Possible Fights to be Made in 2014.

Now that 2014 is halfway through and hot on the heels of the recent non-announcement of Mayweather/Maidana II this Fall, it's time to speculate what other fights we should expect to see in the second half of this year. The following are fights that are plausible and could have a good chance of happening.

Will we get them or not? Hard to say. Should any Showtime or HBO executives be reading this and willing to take my ideas, by all means! Without further ado...

Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley III

Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado III
Chris Algieri vs. Ruslan Provodnikov II

Quick: How do you get Manny Pacquiao out of the sub 500k pay per view range? You give him a lot of help thanks to the one thing Top Rank does not want you to see, and that's a quality undercard!

Similar to Don King's excellent "Rematches" card in the mid 90s, this pay per view would produce three competitive and alluring fights that are well worth the price of admission. Algieri/Provodnikov II is already being considered by HBO, Rios/Alvarado III is a natural fight considering the state of both fighters careers and Pacquiao/Bradley III would raise an eyebrow or two despite it being the weakest fight on the card.

Bradley is getting positioned for another meaningful fight, be it a ridiculous match up with Miguel Cotto at 160 pounds or even a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez, but he's a cheap enough opponent to guarantee Pacquiao's purse demands. The winner of Rios/Alvarado III could find themselves against the winner of Algieri/Provodnikov II, fight each other and Top Rank has their potential opponent for the winner of Pacquiao/Bradley III.

Bernard Hopkins vs. Adonis Stevenson

Paulie Malignaggi vs. Luis Collazo

Peter Quillin vs. Curtis Stevens

This split-site card would take place in Montreal and New York for a sensational triple header. Hopkins/Stevenson has been a lock to happen since Stevenson defected from HBO to Showtime, and if the lawsuit being filed against his team by Main Events promotions couldn't stop him from fighting once this year, it won't stop him now.

The Barclays card would feature Paulie Malignaggi vs. Luis Collazo with a loser leaves town stipulation (kidding, but not). Quillin/Stevens is a great fight to see Quillin graduate from the minor leagues in regards to his opponents and Stevens will have another chance to capture a world title in front of the big stage.

These three fights each have a good amount of significance of their own, but together they become a must see event. 

Miguel Cotto vs. James Kirkland
Terence Crawford vs. Reymundo Beltran
Andy Lee vs. Joshua Clottey

I don't know who Top Rank was trying to kid when they talked about matching up Cotto against Bradley for his recently won Middleweight title, especially when Kirkland has done a whole lot of nothing since nearly killing Glen Tapia last year. Cotto/Kirkland is an unbelievably violent fight that would put Cotto up against a younger, hungrier and stronger fighter who may be looking at his only chance to win gold.

To make it a pay per view, putting the two best fighters at Lightweight against each other in the co-main wouldn't hurt. Crawford and Beltran both could say they are champions based off of their performances over Ricky Burns (Beltran was robbed where Crawford won comfortably), and both are coming off of great performances in recent fights. Crawford may not have many fights left at 135, but Beltran should be one that he takes.

Maybe a throwaway fight between Andy Lee and former Welterweight champion Joshua Clottey can turn into more than what people are expecting and be a cheap opponent for the winner of the main event. This would be one heck of a card to have before the end of the year. 

Shawn Porter vs. Robert Guerrero

Jorge Linares vs. Omar Figueroa

The best way to close out the year is with a series of fights that will set the stage for big fights for the next year. Since Guerrero will do anything to stay the hell away from Keith Thurman since he does nothing for him monetarily, would he say the same for a title fight with Porter? Probably not, so this high stakes title fight can happen.

In addition to that, Linares/Figueroa can very well be a fight of the year candidate that will validate Figueroa as a truly arrived star or can be Linares' return to glory at the expense of Figueroa's undefeated record. 

Last year ended with a blistering fight card that had the same formula, and this wouldn't be any less of a bruiser.