TalkingBoxing Articles
Quick Thoughts On Mayweather, Judah and Belts
FRI April 7, BUSTER PARIS - Right out of the box let me say I am psyched for this fight on Saturday – April 8th 2006 between “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather and “Super” Zab Judah – I think it’s going to be a very cool fight and I suspect the ring walks will be nominated in this years Tony Awards.
There is one amazing thing that I want to touch on and that’s that this fight has brought out the best and worst in some conversations of boxing. It’s brought to the forefront issues regarding belts, title and the alphabet soup of sanctioning bodies.
This isn’t the first time we’ve looked at this, but the preparation for this fight truly pointed out one of the biggest problems with having a gazillion sanctioning bodies – and gave anyone who is sick and tired of all these belts a battle cry:
“Who beat Kostya Tszyu”
That was our Che Guevara with a tie – Brian Kenny’s line to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and I’m referring to the fact that Carlos “Tata” Baldomir beat “Super” Zab Judah – so how in the world is Mayweather vs. Judah a title fight?
Excellent question – and I hope that we as fans don’t stop asking it.
BUT
Baldomir didn’t pay the IBF sanctioning fee and therefore that belt wasn’t on the line.
Do I agree with that in principle – abso-f’ing-lutely not.
Do I agree with that as far as language and logic dictate – unfortunately…yes.
What happened is one of those ugly lawyer tricks – where what’s on paper supersedes the actual common sense and takes over from what is honestly “right”.
Let me give you an example-
You and your wife (girlfriend, boyfriend – whatever) – you’re walking down the street and some dude comes up to you - and in between drooling and leering starts saying that she’s so freakin’ fine and how much would it cost for you to let him do some pretty vile things to her. He then starts rubbing himself…
So - let’s say you pop him one.
Well – that’s illegal and is considered assault.
Do I agree with that in principle – abso-f’ing-lutely not.
But on paper it is against the law.
In boxing – it’s up to us to change all that – right now Ring Magazine is pretty much right on in their rankings – and there are other magazines as well that seem to have a good handle on things, but right now Ring Magazine is the one – is our George Washington as it were – or our Fidel Castro – but time will tell.
My personal view – this is not a title fight – AND - it’s a bummer that the politics and institution of boxing have overshadowed this fight – which is going to be an awesome fight!
“Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather will win. I’m on the fence if it will be via TKO or a unanimous decision.
I think Zab will peter out in the later rounds and Floyd will attack him like a violent storm.
Either way – these two have so much to prove right now that it’s just going to be a great, great fight!
Buster Paris can be reached at: bparis@talkingboxing.com - and always enjoys receiving your thoughts, comments and questions
Forum
