In boxing, opinions can change in a flash. When you’ve got it all, you’ve got it all to lose. The BTBC introduce their brand-spanking new feature, which includes who’s reputation has risen or received a battering in recent weeks.
Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley: It's
hard to hate on the most exciting match-ups in recent memory. Although not as good as Mayweather-Pacquiao, you can hardly complain with Mayweather's choice of opponent, which carries much more risk than Joshua Clottey does for Pacquiao. When Boxingscene spewed out bullshit over Floyd's second comeback fight, the thought of seeing Matthew Hatton share the ring with one of the greatest fighters of the modern age was frightening. It turned to damage limitation for Floyd's fans, although it did get better. Every three days or so, Boxingscene would upgrade the quality of their rumour fight. From Saul Alvarez, onto Nate Campbell, even as high as Paulie Malignaggi, it became obvious that Boxingscene were getting desperate. And when Andre Berto pulled out of his fight with Shane Mosley due to the Haiti earthquake, Mosley was available for Mayweather. Freddie Roach dismissed Floyd-Mosley on ESPN with Brian Kenny, but he was wrong. Great moment for the sport and a slight rise for both fighters' stock.
Kendall Holt: I'll be honest, I was on the Kendall Holt bandwagon. So was Paul, and many others, who had followed
Rated R's career path that reached its peak with a jaw-dropping 61-second knockout of Ricardo Torres and an extremely impressive performance against Timothy Bradley. But last Saturday, his no-show in the ring was puzzling to say the least. He dominated the opening round against Kaizer Mabuza, before becoming a hittable target for five one-sided rounds and forced into submission by the unproven South African. Big drop in stock for Holt.
Edwin Valero: To be honest, I didn't know what to make of Valero's battering of Antonio DeMarco on February 6. Yes, he was impressive, but when is he going to fight someone who has proven consistency on the world stage. Antonio DeMarco is a fine talent, but he still qualifies as a prospect. He hadn't defeated a top 10 fighter, he hadn't proven himself against someone of real note, so what makes him a worthy title challenger. He made the perfect opponent for Valero though. For the impressive display, but the soft touch in opponents, Valero's stock doesn't change, but is still pretty high.
Robert Stieglitz: Stieglitz is the black sheep of the Universum family. Random you may think, but Stieglitz wanted to open his title defence with a tough battle against Edison Miranda, but unfortunately for the German, Miranda pulled out the week before the fight due to illness. Unlike other Universum fighters, he wants to be evenly matched, he likes to be challenged. His next opponent will be undefeated and highly touted prospect Eduard Guktnecht, who's around the same talent level as Stieglitz and should be a tough match. He may not be fighting the best in his division, but at least he's not under-matched. I'm impressed.
Amir K
han: Now think of the opposite of Stieglitz. Khan has the talent which Stieglitz may lack, but is wrapped in cotton wool by his new promoters Golden Boy and fighting in no-risk fights. Everybody knows that Khan has major question marks over his chin, so you'd understand avoiding big punchers. But if that fighter becomes your mandatory, surely it's a must fight, not pay the organization and avoid. The thing that makes it even more irritating is the fact I would predict that Khan would defeat Maidana nine times out of ten. But he'll probably chose a soft touch in Malignaggi, which is not the worst of opponents, but definitely not the best. For being a chicken, minus rep.
Fernando Montiel: Let's go through this process again shall we. Montiel, talented, popular, got pound-4-pound attributes and so on. He has two options; fighting for the bantamweight crown or defend his poxy belt against a third-tier contender. Which one does he choose? The easy predictable Top Rank decision. Instead of fighting Hozumi Hasegawa, he'll batter Eric Morel, a post-prime bantamweight challenger that poses no threat what so ever to Montiel. Zzzzz...
Mike Jones: The BTBC co-house fighter for 147 pounds didn't turn in a flashy performance for the cameras against Henry Bruseles, but he still defeated his toughest opponent to date pretty handily over ten rounds. The lack of TV time for Jones has been mind-boggling, but I hope his performance hasn't effected his broadcasting future. He lost the opening two rounds, which suggested that Bruseles was far from shot, but he showed impressive composure to get back in control. Mike Jones' stock stays the same.
Yuriorkis Gamboa: The talented Cuban produced a scintillating display as he battered experienced veteran Rogers Mtagwa inside two rounds with extremely ridiculous accurate power punching from the get go. Gamboa looks like the best prospect (can we still call him a prospect?) in the game, and he looks like he'll dominate the sweet science for a long long time. With rumors floating around that he could face unpredictable and awkward super bantamweight titlist Celestino Caballero in June, Gamboa's stock is at an all-time high.
Elio Rojas: Only known to the hardcore fans, Rojas produced a sterling display to shutout Guty Espadas Jr. in a fight that he was expected to win, but he also did it in style. Rojas could be a wildcard at 126 after couple more seasoning fights.
Nonito Do
naire: The
Filipino Flash hasn't capitalised on his stunning upset knockout win over Vic Darchinyan. Raise your hand if you were 0.006% impressed with Nonito Donaire's victory over Manuel Vargas. Seriously. Raise your hand, and then comment about what impressed you. Someone out there has to be amazed. Someone out there has to really think, this Donaire can really fight. We don't know if Donaire can fight, I would even be blunt and say that I'd back Darchinyan in the rematch because of his level of opposition.
Juan Manuel Lopez: The Puerto Rican superstar outclassed Steven Luevano in January, but doubts still hang above Lopez. Sure, he's talented and a very exciting fighter to watch, but he's being under-matched by Bob Arum and is still bitching about Caballero while it's pretty obvious he wants nothing to do with him. Lopez's stock stays even.
Roger Mayweather: Has Roger and Floyd Sr. accused Manny Pacquiao of every performance enhancing drug yet? Seriously Roger, shut the fuck up.
