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| It's actually a lot harder than it looks |
Los Manos De Las Bombas — Worcester, Massachusetts' own Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriguez has been cast to play the role of Roberto "The Hands of Stone" Duran in the upcoming Hollywood film "Bleed For This" about the life and boxing career of Rhode Island's Vinny "The Pazmanian Devil" Pazienza. Rodriguez recently stopped Derrick "Superman" Findley in the first round, and he made headlines last year by challenging Andre "Son of God" Ward as well as for his intimate connection to the Boston Marathon Bombing. Rodriguez broke the boxing bomber's rib in sparring before Tamerlan Tsarnaev went on to become a child murdering Islamic terrorist in 2013. Edwin's second son (of God) was born April 15, the day of the attack which killed four and maimed many more. KO Digest salutes Rodriguez for his role in the film and for his role in making Tsarnaev suffer before he died.
Heavyweight Championship Checkmate — The 2014 version of Wladimir Klitschko is the most unbeatable heavyweight champion in boxing history. American fans and their biased media don't want to hear it and it makes them upset to read it but search your feelings, you know it to be true. Dr. Steelhammer has mastered the art of defending himself and the world heavyweight title for all times.
Got Any Excuses Tonight Doctor Steelhammer? — Now that 46 year old "Malted Milk Dud of Malice" Antonio Tarver has handily defeated Johnathon Banks (TKO7) the head trainer of World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko, it makes many dollars and perfect sense that the champ would now add Tarver to his American title defense schedule which tentatively includes the possibility of Bryant Jennings and Shannon Briggs. Forget all that bullshit now because "By-By" is too small, "The Cannon" is all talk, and neither one of them has beaten Klitschko's trainer into submission like Mason Dixon did last week on ESPN2. The time for Klitschko vs Tarver is upon us. Can "The Line" become boxing's oldest heavyweight champion? Will Wladimir get revenge for Mr. Banks?
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| KO Digest ringside photography, circa 1980 |
Bernard Hopkins' Alien Language — "I want the best. Hagler fought the best. Ray Leonard fought the best. The Ali's of the world, they fought the best. I'm from the era where I fought the best. That's important to me. I didn't bloom by the timing of the experts. The sweet science is not based on only one thing you can do particularly well. I don't want to be on the pound for pound list because that would make me human. You guys are all humans. I understand you but you don't understand me. I'm walking on a tightrope hundreds of feet in the air. I don't know what type of evidence I need to show I'm an alien."
"The Alien" explains to the media why he's not more popular or well loved in America for his accomplishments in boxing at age 49 — "It's because I'm black. What do you think if my name was Stern or Marciano? Don't you understand the conflict of interest?"
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| The face of boxing |
KO's Boxing Rant — Lately, boxing looks transparently fixed. 2014 saw witness to the most obvious "dive" I've seen in 30+ years of following the sport (Wilder KO1 Scott, pure farce between good friends) and in my 4+ years covering it as a journalist. Robberies are becoming the norm not the exception. But understand one thing: bad decisions aren't "ruining" boxing. They're a key part of it, and always have been. The perpetrators are simply growing bolder in the face of diminished resistance to their shenanigans. These "results" are clear evidence of the direction the fight game is being taken by men like Al Haymon, Oscar De La Hoya, and Bob Arum. The boxing "cold war" feels hotter than ever when promotional affiliation all too often assures an unfair advantage in judge's scoring.
The KO Digest 2014 Prediction of the Year on RingTV Ask The Experts:
THE CALL:
Originally published on RingTV.com: "This match-up looks like a tale of two fighters going in opposite directions. The up-and-comer is David Lemieux and the prospect of him tangling with Gennady Golovkin is enticing. Gabe Rosado is a tough guy with a great chin and we all know this. But he loses the big ones, is out of his element at middleweight and the losses are piling up. Look for a competitive, high-contact, action fight. Look also for Rosado to gradually wear the effects of it on his face in the form of cuts and swelling. When it all gets too grotesque and the traffic too one-way, the referee will stop the fight in the tenth round."
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| King Rosado couldn't see it coming but KO did |
David Lemieux TKO10 Gabe Rosado — The King was outclassing the Canadian for the first two rounds and then the brick-fisted power of Lemieux found its way home in the third. Rosado was knocked down hard from a power punch left hook to the eye and he took a long 8-count. A badly swollen Gabe Rosado came back strong in the fourth to energize the Barclays. Referee Willis took Rosado to see the doctor before the seventh began, he looked like Arturo Gatti. As it went on, Rosado boxed, Lemieux pressed. The doctor made Rosado count fingers to begin the eighth, and he actually did BETTER (more accurate) than Gatti vs Wilson Rodriguez. Sensational finish to the ninth with Rosado clipped by a left hook. More eye tests with a flashlight. One-way traffic in the tenth and that's that. The loser looked like Gatti, the winner sounded like him.
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| Ageless Archie battles The Rock |
Age Before Beauty: Boxing's 10 Best "Old" Fighters:
Archie Moore (Oldest WORLD champion into his 40's)
Bernard Hopkins (Oldest unified ABC titlist ever, age 49)
George Foreman (Oldest World Heavyweight Champion, 45)
Juan Manuel Marquez (Still top rated P4P today at age 41)
Roberto Duran (Beat The Blade Barkley when he was 37)
Vitali Klitschko (Unbeatable heavyweight at 41)
Evander Holyfield (Didn't retire until he was 51)
Joe Louis (137 years old when he fought Rocky)
Muhammad Ali (Pulled off "miracles" in his 30's)
Bob Fitzsimmons (Won a fight past 50 years old)
