www.boxing.com/trusparta_xi_coliseum_culture.html

* In watching Nonito Donaire’s electrifying rematch versus a dangerously determined Vic Darchinyan, I couldn’t help but think about the unfair expectations fight fans had, and still have, for the Filipino Flash. Not that Donaire isn’t an excellent fighter—he most certainly is—but is he a top 5 pound-for-pound guy? No. Even before Rigondeaux dethroned Donaire from the prized pound-for-pound ladder, was he ever realistically a fighter who belonged in that discussion? He is a brilliant counterpuncher with gifted timing, but he is still unable to initiate offense on his own terms, and has looked ordinary against outclassed, gun-shy opponents looking to merely cover up and survive. Against an economical puncher and defensive maestro like Rigondeaux, Donaire looked absolutely lost. Despite this, Donaire has already achieved greatness in the sport, has gotten the most out of his modest frame—which isn’t exactly built for power and knockout punching—and has refined his technical aptitude with an unwavering commitment to the science, and should always be saluted for such. Against action fighters like Darchinyan, Donaire will always excite and thrill with his ability to fire off crisp combinations while under duress—and he delivered yet another memorable thriller in closing the Vic Darchinyan chapter of his career in glittery fashion.

• Unsurprisingly, Miguel Cotto’s name is mentioned in connection with yet another mega-fight. Cotto—who has made an honorable, high-stakes career out of the fighting the very best fighters while they are in their prime—has reportedly been offered $10 million to fight Canelo Alvarez. It is rumored that he is deciding between that fight and a clash against Sergio Martinez. Both fights would be intriguing, and amazingly so, as Miguel Cotto is still accepting the most difficult (and fan-friendly) assignments in boxing. I know I am not alone when I say what a thrill it was to watch Miguel Cotto look as dynamic as he did in obliterating Delvin Rodriguez. Sure, Rodriguez is not top-tier class by any stretch of the imagination, but Cotto’s work with Roach does seem to re-instill a commitment to sitting down on punches, digging to the body, and re-tooling Cotto’s left hook in a major way. Cotto-Canelo may be more intriguing now than ever, considering Canelo’s vulnerabilities were so dramatically exploited by Mayweather in May, while Cotto’s final career-wave seems to be surging, just in time for a 2014 superfight.

• In what promises to be a genuine mega-fight of global proportions, Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios have geared up for their November 23rd clash in Macau, China. One thing is for certain: There will be plenty Red flowing in China as these two high-risk, all-action fighters square off. Even though both men are coming off losses, this is an elite-level prizefight with huge implications. For Pacquiao, a dazzling win over Rios puts him right back into the Mayweather picture, particularly after the Mayweather-Canelo hangover in a fight where only one fighter lived up to expectations, and that was Floyd Mayweather. Now that Mayweather has successfully ousted all of the top competition around him, a clash with Pacquiao suddenly seems more appealing than a clash with Khan, or a Garcia who is not yet ready for that stage. In order for the word “Mayweather” to even be mentioned, Pacquiao must first gun down a bigger, stronger, angrier Brandon Rios—who realizes the urgency of the moment. Interestingly, if any fighter can psychologically recover from the kind of knockout that Pacquiao suffered from Marquez, it is Manny—the undyingly optimistic warrior. Even after being knocked out, Manny was smiling, and he will smile at the face of danger once again as he attempts to steer a heavy tornado in China, hoping to spin out yet another Pacquiao-monsoon of offensive flurry until Rios is knocked out—which would be quite an achievement. Alternatively, if Pacquiao loses or is knocked out, will fight fans still have the same appetite for destruction to watch one of its most prized champions continually beaten down? Huge fight for Pacquiao; huge fight for boxing. Regardless of what fight fans think of Pacquiao—almost all of them will be watching with great anticipation in a fight that Top Rank can actually promote as in-stable mega-fight that is well-matched for the sport.

• Andre Ward faces Edwin Rodriguez in what has been an unceremonious build-up for a fighter who actually does belong in boxing’s pound-for-pound class. Ward—who joins Tim Bradley in the “elite fighter club who has done nothing wrong yet everyone hates” —will return to the ring after fighting just twice in two years. Ward has battled multiple injuries, and endured a rugged, highly competitive campaign to rise atop Showtime’s Super Six Tournament. He followed that achievement by dominating Chad Dawson in a trans-divisional fight that has cemented his pound-for-pound supremacy where he stands only below Floyd Mayweather as boxing’s brightest. Alike Mayweather, Ward does not enjoy the type of support from the American mainstream media that normally should attach to an athlete of his stature. Perhaps it’s because of his modest personality, or his ability to turn a fight into an Olympic-like exhibition of outpointing your opponent effectively hitting without getting hit—to “swim without getting wet” (Naazim Richardson). For fight fans who have the requisite boxing I.Q. to appreciate acquired tastes like Mayweather, Ward, or even Wladimir Klitschko—it is remarkable to watch a guy continually outsmart and outstrike charging bulls—yet Matadors are only widely lauded in Spain. Not America, where bloodlust urges coliseum crowds to value Gatti-Ward brawls over pugilistic chess matches, romanticizing savagery while simultaneously denigrating tactical mastery.

• …which brings me to Magomed Abdusalamov, who becomes yet another skeleton in boxing’s closet. Mago’s brutal brawl against Mike Perez was highly celebrated while it was going on—even gushed over as HBO’s Max Kellerman repeatedly praised the raw brawl, chiding Wladimir Klitschko and asking whether he “and Povetkin were watching” —as if to somehow give them a lesson on what Heavyweight boxing should be. Surely, Wladimir was watching—and assuredly, he learned exactly how not to fight. Meanwhile, New York showed us exactly how not to officiate, regulate, and medically monitor a warrior who took unnecessary damage that now threatens his long-term health in a very real way. Abdusalamov, who suffered a broken hand, nose, and absorbed severe damage to his facial structure, lost consciousness shortly after the fight, and a CT scan revealed brain swelling and a blood clot. Doctors then removed a portion of his skull to relieve pressure, and Mago was medically induced into a coma. It was not difficult to ascertain what was happening in the ring that night. Mago was fighting with astounding bravery, and was competitive—although clearly outgunned—against a bruising Perez who managed to dramatically change the state of Mago’s face in just a few rounds, prompting Mago to look at himself on the Jumbotron and ask his corner, “Is that my face? My face looks like that?” as he continued to show signs of a fighter neurologically altered from thudding impact. Neither his cornermen, his manager, the referee, nor the ringside physicians seemed to have the courage, competency, humanity and/or understanding of the situation to put a halt to the beating—and that is a huge problem. While some members of his team are saying all the right things in the aftermath of the bloodbath, they failed to exhibit the necessary wisdom on fight night to have any larger perspective than just the here and now. A competent adjudication process should ensue to review this travesty so that it does not repeat itself in New York—or anywhere else where boxing is sanctioned. While some may praise such slugfests—and understandably so as the fight possessed true warrior grit—we must examine our own moral compass to question why we even enjoy watching such a relentless, never-ending beating of a man to near-death states of consciousness. This was not a singular knockout surprise-punch that had you question whether the fighter was okay or not from a single blow (Pacquiao-Marquez IV). This was a round-by-round bludgeoning of a man until his face no longer resembled the one he entered the ring with. This fight should have been stopped, well before the final round. While some may regard Andre Ward, Wladimir Klitschko, and Floyd Mayweather as “boring” fighters who should get into firefight brawls in order to appease the coliseum culture, tragedies like this further validate their skillful approach, whereby they control fights with science, not savagery. So when Virgil Hunter talks about the deep responsibility and duty he feels to protect his fighters in the ring, perhaps fight fans should reexamine their own conscience and subject it to real scrutiny, of which the New York Commission should now be subjected to.

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Breathe through the nose
keep the mouth closed.
Through the blood
Chi goes where the dow flows.