OnThEGRiND BoXiNG

Monday June 1st, 2009
by Suge Green

The World’s Biggest Asses are at it again. At what ? Too early to say. Knowing how the WBA does business though, and having witnessed how they solve problems in the past, why should one wait to cast stones ? How many Heavyweight “Champions” will the WBA have by the time the month of June is over ? The alternative to crowing multiple champions is for the WBA to anoint Nikolay Valuev undisputed. The WBA loses credibility either way. Which forces one to question…can a sanctioning body lose credibility when it doesn’t have any ? This is the situation that they have created, and they will only continue perpetuating their sham of a heavyweight division further. The WBA Heavyweight Division is the only division in boxing I get confused with horse racing, it is after all the only place in the sport terms like triple crown and trifecta seem to apply. WBA…You are a disgrace of a sanctioning body.

Kevin Kingpin Johnson had some words for former two time Heavyweight Champion of the aforementioned WBA John Ruiz, while he was making a recent appearance on OnThEGRiND BoXiNG RaDIo. The Kingpin took exception to Ruiz’ mentioning him in a recent press release and attempted to force a fight Clubber Lang style. Ruiz however reminded Johnson that following this weekend’s WBA Heavyweight fiasco, that he may have a place on deck for a title shot. A fight between the two down the line is a real possibility, in consideration of the fact that John will have to knock out NicoLIE ValueLESS in order to lose a close decision in Germany. After Ruiz loses to Valuev, and while the Kingpin is being avoided by the Champion from Central Casting, John may end up taking a fight with Johnson in an attempt to get his ranking back. Kevin Johnson is currently ranked #4 in the organization behind the WBA’s revolving triangle of title holders that includes Ruiz, Valuev, and the perpetually ill Ruslan Chagaev.

Hollywood Box Office…R.I.P. Holding Boxing Office has arrived. HBO sure loves showcasing fighters who like to hold on Saturday nights. Rather than hit everybody with ether (if you read this column, you know who the guilty are already…OtG Readers and Listeners are among the most astute fans in the sport) I’d like to focus on Andre Berto. In a recent Macke Roberts F2FTV segment, he bestowed the inaugural John QM Ruiz Holding Vanguard Award upon Berto for his performance against Juan Urango. Highlights of the fight included…. The Ref: “You are holding Berto.” Later, “Stop holding Berto.” Also, “Berto, you’re holding.” Then, “Berto stop holding.” If I said that there should be one warning followed by a point deduction, then the warning would never be given. The favored (network, promoter, you name why) fighter is allowed to hold like it’s going out of style if the opponent has no answer for it, however if a fighter can bang away while being held…rest assured the ref would call for quick breaks. Boxing fans know what time it is, a hard hitting power puncher like Urango, whether outclassed in the skills department or not, either presented enough of a “KO at any moment” type of a threat, or a lazy Berto just wanted to take most of the fight off and elected to hold rather than box when he didn’t feel inclined to throw punches. Either way shame on the 3rd man in the ring, and shame on this disgraceful trend sport wide. As for Berto, 2008’s breakthrough fighter isn’t going to cause me to break my wallet in this economy. Holding Boxing Office better keep this man grabber off of PPV.

As coverage continues OnThEGRiND of the upcoming heavyweight showdown between David “Haye Maker” Haye and Robosaurus 2.0, let us consider recent comments by Haye to the Sunday Mirror…”The Klitschkos and the other robots from the East have nearly ruined the sport and I’ve put myself in charge of tearing the title back for the fans.” May God Bless David Haye and his effort to bring excitement back to the fans. I haven’t picked Haye in this fight, but at least he’s doing it for the right reasons. The last thing that is ever on his opponent’s mind is giving the fans a good show.

Thanks for bearing with the inconsistency of this column. In it’s absence look for my feature articles and commentary OnThEGRiND. Read BigTime Timmy Tells It Like It Is.