Scraps

First, the most important boxing news of the week: I can't bring myself to dirty the blog by actually posting it, but you can click here for a nice shot of Edwin Valero's new tattoo, a Venezuelan flag with Hugo Chávez's visage superimposed on the right side covering the greater part of his chest. It's quite a statement, artistically and politically.

On to the fights: Paul Williams versus Winky Wright at 160 pounds is the headliner of the weekend. This is a fight that you could imagine going a million different ways. Wright hasn't fought in almost two years, which makes his performance hard to predict. Williams has looked great in his last three fights, but he's been inconsistent in the past, and this is his first fight against a legitimate middleweight threat. If Wright were at the top of his game, I could imagine him following a similar game plan to the one Carlos Quintana used to take a decision from Williams a few years ago, but at 37, I don't think he'll have the legs for it. I've always liked Wright, so I hope I'm wrong, but I think at this stage of his career, Williams' volume and power are going to be too much, and Wright will drop a competitive decision. I also like Jameel McCline over Chris Arreola on the undercard, and I'm looking forward to watching the amazingly advanced welterweight prospect Saúl Alvarez bludgeon his way to a knockout over Michel Rosales in Tepic. 

Lastly, the AP boxing writers' lack of fundamental knowledge about boxing is a running interest of mine. Here's a line from the write-up of the Bradley-Holt fight last weekend:

Holt rallied in the 12th and had Bradley in enough trouble that referee Mike Griffin gave him an eight-count, but he stayed up.

Of course, that's completely untrue. Bradley's glove touched the mat, so Holt was awarded a knockdown. After a knockdown, the ref carries the count until eight, regardless of whether the fighter is upright or prostrate. Furthermore, there is no such thing as a standing-eight count in the overwhelming majority of professional boxing jurisdictions, including all of those in the United States. This is like a baseball reporter writing that the Cubs-Mets game ended because of a slaughter rule, when in fact it was because of rain. 

Gancho boxing is 26-11 on the year.