Greg, Although I have not always been your biggest fan, I am very impressed with what you got out of Bowe regarding his comeback schedule. The exclusives keep coming in and in. I would like to ask your permission to post the unofficial Bowe comeback schedule on my site, www.riddick-bowe.info, with all credit to you, of course. Thank you in advance. Aaron Dye

Leon's Response: Thanks for the props Aaron. I'm not looking for fans, I'm looking for information for the fans. Bowe and I are speaking regularly, so I'm anticipating Boxingtalk getting a lot of the scoops. Permission granted brother, no problem.

Hey Greg  How do some get to be "boxing experts'?  It was no surprise the outcome of mayor and trini. I just dont understand how experst could pick mayor or pick dlh last week. Mayor is tough s.o.b, but he can't fight a boxer.  he has been nothing and been exposed since his last win vs forrest which many though forrest won.  Trini looked great, but keep in mind that who he was fighting.  a guy who he can box days around.  listen, I cheered so loud when that friggin cockroach mayoraga got up from that body shot. that is what seperates boxers like him, gotti, peden etc to dlh.  friggin toughness (by boxing standards of course, cuz u gotta be tough just to get in there).  Lastly, pleeeeeaaaassssse  tell team klitchko that if they want to be taken serious in the usa, they need to get rid of those 1970's female too tight "boss" sweat shirts.  And if ever see Manny Steward in another feature training klitchko while Stewards wears only his biking shorts, i swear Greg Im gonna take my own life!  Hey, lacey was swingin like baby tyson.....

Leon's Response: I believe most experts picked Hopkins and Trinidad. Not everyone is going to think the same way brother. I do think there are too many writers who become friends with the fighter and make picks based on their relationships. On the flipside, some pick against a fighter who doesn't give them any access...I don't consider those writers pro's and never will. All you need to do is look at their picks to know who they are.
Mayorga is one tough SOB. I wonder if he would have done better had he not messed with hookers last month. He was fighting a guy who couldn't box, but as we saw last weekend he's capable of slugging it out with anyone and his chin is the truth. Gotti was a mobster, Gatti is the boxer. LMAO @ the Klitschko's tight ass boss shirts. LOL @ Steward too.

What's poppin, Greg, In the midst of all this melee going on in the RJJ empire (i.e. RJJ  KO'd 2X, Winky Wright steppin' off) -where is Derrick "Smoke" Gainer. It's like after the Marquez fight the guy went into seclusion. I know you know something Big Dog - the boxing community has officially put Smoke on the milk cartons.Preacher

Leon's Response:  Good question preacher. After the Marquez fight Gainer left DiBella Entertainment to sign with Warrior's Boxing. Since then he hasn't fought, but my understanding is Gainer will be fighting the WBA's regular featherweight champ Chris John in the next couple of months. The fight will take place in Indonesia.

When do you think well see bowe on tv on showtime or hbo or world class championship boxing or ballroom boxing or even fox sports boxing  do you think hbo will ever televise one of his come back fight i think some good opponents for bowe would be ross purity robert davis terrance lewis ,tissdale,ahmed abdin ,or how about m.grant or wiggins all these would be good comeback fights let me know what you think.

Leon's Response: Towards the very end of, or at the end of his fifteen fight comeback tour. You may see one on Ballroom boxing (they did show Rahman-Cawley) but other than that I wouldn't count on seeing a Bowe fight televised until he's ready to fight someone sem-serious. Team Bowe will probably be looking at some of the guys you mentioned after they get at least ten fights in.

It hasn’t been a week since Bernard was picking Mayorga to KO Tito.  Now he damn near bought some paid advertisement in PR’s news paper “El Nuevo Dia” about wanting to fight Tito again, PRONTO, MUY RAPIDO.  He told and re-told END that he would love to fight Tito and the people would demand it and he should fight him next, they need to call Bernard and all that con artist crap.  Tito is back with a big splash.  You saw how he can fill MSG and I’m curious about the PPV numbers, even though they went head to head with a good Showtime card.  Tito is a huge draw, bigger than before.  HBO is committed to promoting Tito big time this time and that was determined even before Oscar and Roy went down, so he’s the poster boy now.  Now the biggest con artist, who thought he was alone at the top, has to fight for undivided attention again.  He now smells big money and is kissing butt for a rematch.  Unlike most world class fighters, Bernard gloated over his victory over Tito and talked him down.  He didn’t give Tito any respect after Tito gave him the opportunity without any fussing or drama.  I want to see Tito rematch Hopkins and Tito wants the opportunity to redeem himself as well.  But after the way Bernard had treated Tito, he should be last in line.  Take it or leave it.  Tito should fill his pockets first by fighting Oscar and Winky (or Shane), before fighting Bernard again.  I pick Tito to beat Oscar and all those guys moving up.  Let the con wait, because Tito doesn’t need him.  Tito is also an alibi for Bernard not to fight Tarver, which he swore he would do.  Keep in mind I don’t think Bernard should fight Tarver because of the size difference.  Roy is out of the picture for Bernard, Taylor is too young to take the chance.  Let’s see how much money Bernard can make fighting Sturm.  What do you think, 2 million?  And it’s not that 2 million isn’t good money, but after getting a taste of that huge Oscar money, it might be a lot harder to train for Sturm kind of money.  And pretty soon, Bernard is going to have to start fighting insignificant defenses if he doesn’t move up.  Damn, that was too long.  BTW, nice meeting you, On Fire and The Hype at MSG. Rudy C.

Leon's Response: Just because he picked Mayorga doesn't mean he doesn't want to fight Trinidad. Hopkins knows what to say to the press. Hopkins wouldn't turn the fight down by any means, but at the same time he knows King is Trinidad's promoter and that will make it very difficult for the fight to come fruition, therefore what does he do? He talks to the press and tells them he wants Trinidad, PRONTO, MUY RAPIDO! This will keep the pressure from the press on Trinidad about fighting him again. Trinidad's comeback was great, as was his win, but by no means is he ready to fight Bernard Hopkins right now.  I don't think the PPV will do more than 400,000 buys. I'd pick Trinidad over DLH too. It was good to meet you to brother! All of the fans need to email HBO so they make the pressers and weigh-in open to the public so the fans like yourself can get closer to the action. 

Greg,  Well, It doesn't get any better than that. I had 20 people over the house and for once the fight was as good as the hype. It's interesting that the big difference maker in the fight was once again the left hook to Mayorga's body. I told the people that were criticizing De La Hoya for not getting up that until they get hit with that shot, to keep their opinion to themselves. Mayorga reacted the same way. Thuis is the Year of the Left HOok to the Body. I found it interesting that Mike Tyson predicted both fights that you asked him about PERFECTLY. Could you copy and paste his prediction for Mayorga/Tito into this mailbag? Can you start making that a repeating segment of Boxingtalk.com for all the big fights. Tyson's opinion and the way he spoke like a fan, like us, really came across well. The fact that he was right makes it even better. Keep up the good work. Let's start getting  Mayorga and Dela Hoya lined up. Love to see it. Who do you like?  DKFP

Leon's Response: Four words, Fight Of The Year. Mayorga didn't react the same way, what are you talking about? He got hit with a great shot to the body after taking a brutal beating at the hands of the biggest pound for pound puncher in the boxing game. In the first three rounds of the fight Mayorga took more punishment than De La Hoya did the whole night against Hopkins. Mayorga also got up and fought back. De La Hoya didn't. Tyson and I will be speaking shortly about the upcoming heavyweight action. You know Tyson wasn't the only one whose predictions were dead on (hint at my picks) Lol.  Trust me, you'll be seeing a lot more of Tyson on Boxingtalk.com. Mayorga and De La Hoya would be an interesting fight, I probably lean towards Mayorga, though I don't know how much this beating took out of him. Remember how faded Reid, and Vargas became after their fights with Trinidad? It should be interesting to see how Mayorga rebounds from that. Remember where you heard this first, if Mosley doesn't get by Wright, Mosley Vs. Mayorga will probably happen.

I’m just a fan not a boxing insider, but from the outside it doesn’t look like Finkel has Tyson’s best interest at heart! It seems like Finkel is like everyone else, using Tyson to make money for himself! If Tyson sticks with Finkel, he’s going to be a cripple and destitute! If Finkel wouldn’t have f%^&#d Watley over would he (Watley) have exposed Finkel’s shenanigans?

Leon's Response: When the facts are presented the courts will determine that. Watley's not going to stop talking though. If Watley didn't feel Finkel shortchanged him out of money, he might not have ever came at Finkel this way. But what's done is done and now it's going to court, and if it does, so am I. Therfore I'm keeping my take on the matter off record until I'm called in.

Spinks is barking up the wrong tree.  Does he think because he is a cute boxer he is going to outbox Tito … with no power to earn Tito’s respect?  Cory can’t even punch at welter.  Cory barely out pointed Mayorga and little Judah had him on queer street.  He’s going to find out he is as wrong as he was about his prediction of Mayorga beating Tito.  Cory might need to worry first about Tito’s little brother coming up (Cotto) if he stays at welter long enough.  Heck, Judah might beat him if his father can manage to keep Zab focused for an entire fight.

Leon's Response: Let's start the mailbag hype right now, Spinks isn't barking up the wrong tree, in fact I think he can decision Trinidad. Cory doesn't need to be able to punch to beat Trinidad. If Hopkins and De La Hoya outboxed him so will Spinks. Spinks is a better BOXER than Hopkins and De La Hoya, on top of that he's southpaw. If he came in at 155 pounds, Trinidad could be in trouble. Barley outpointed Mayorga? Maybe on your card. I think Judah had him hurt badly, but I think he got caught in that fight because he abandoned his boxing in the twelfth round and began to trade with Zab. Watch the fight again and tell me what you think. I think Spinks looked faster than Judah in that fight. Spinks wouldn't avoid a Cotto fight, but with Arum and King promoting those guys, who knows if it will ever happen. Spinks and Trinidad are both with King, seems like the more logical move if De La Hoya and Trinidad let ego prevent the fight from happening.

Greg do you really think Cory Spinks is willing to Jump to MiddleWeight to fight Tito???  After seeing Tito's performance saturday I seriously dont think his people are going to let him go in there and risk taking on Trinidad at this early point in his career.  It is too Risky and not necessary at this point in Spinks career.  Honestly Im a huge Trinidad fan and I dont want to see it. I doubt Trinidad will benefit in any way from Knocking Out Spinks.  Ever since the Hopkins fight everyone believes they have a shot at beating Trinidad but the 2 that shock me the most are Corey Spinks and Vernon Forrest.  Every Boxer out there is always looking for a Opportunity to beat a legend when they feel a legend is on his way down to gain popularity the easy way but this time these guys were in for a shock! A lot of these guys are now reconsidering whether they want to fight the Puerto Rican Legend   Felix "Tito" Trinidad!!!  Besides if Spinks and Forrest are patient enough and wait about 1 year they can have another Puerto Rican knocked there block off  Kermit " The Real Killer" Cintron!!!! Tito,  Brooklyn

Leon's Response: I've spoken to him and his manager so I know they're serious. There's no other fight they want more as a matter of fact. Spinks and his manager Cunningham were both ringside for the Trinidad-Mayorga fight too by the way, I spoke to them after the fight and they DEFINITELY want Trinidad. Did Trinidad benefit from knocking out Mayorga? Why wouldn't he benefit by knocking out the guy who took Mayorga to school? Trinidad needs to be set to punch and Spinks would make sure he doesn't allow Trinidad enough time to set himself properly. Cintron doesn't bring enough money to the table for either Spinks or Forrest to want to fight him.

Greg, First I want to congradulate you on being number 1 in this boxing website game. I just wanted to say that Trinadad looked spectacular after being off for 2 1/2 years. He could off faught any bum and sold out the garden but he didn't, as always he fights the best the boxing game has to offer. This is why he will go down as one of the greatest fighters of our time and he is definitely the greatest Puertorican ever to lace um up. As far as the fight itself in the first round he looked a little shaky as I expected, after all he was probably nervous and a little unsure about what to expect. After that I thaught Tito showed great power and solid movement that he has not really showed before. I think he has improved as a boxer and I also think he hits a lot harder now . I believe he has grown into his weight and he was in awsome shape as well. Believe me when I tell you this brotha when he fights Hopkins again, your boy that you think is so unbeatable will be defeated. I think you will see Hopkins fight Sturm next and Trinadad fight the winner between Mosely and Winky which I hope is Winky because I think Tito vs. Wink would be a great fight. In the end after Hopkins gets his 20th defence( A record that will never be broken!) and Tito beats Winky in another classic we will finally see the rematch between Hops vs. Tito and your boy will finally be defeated after all these years.One Mark P.S. Tito, Tito, Tito........damn the garden was upside down this past saturday.

Leon's Response: Thanks for the props brother. Considering it was the first time he fought in over two years, he did look great. He did have the perfect style to be successful in front of him, but that's besides the point. He took care of business and showed that he's still a sharp shooter with his power shots. I said it before and I'll say it again, anyone who comes to fight with Trinidad will not win. It's that simple. To beat Trinidad there has to be some sort of science to your game, otherwise you're in trouble. When will he fight Hopkins again? Do you think it's going to happen before Hopkins turns 41? I don't. Trinidad is a cash cow, they will not lead him to another slaughter, they're going to be trying to lead him to the rematch with Oscar De La Hoya.

What up G-MAN, Daniel here from L.A. No doubt, 2004 fight of the year, was on Oct.2. Tito did not look that great, even though he won. Much props on the victory. I cannot believe, Mayorga gave Tito 3 clean shots. Tito planted his feet set his punch and fired away, but Mayorga would not go down. Your right, that 3rd left hook wobbled Mayorga, which is why he did his little dance, hoping no one would think he was hurt. Tito did what he was supposed to do, against the type of fighter he was facing. Mayorga was throwing wild punches, Tito was keeping his hands up and countering with crisp power punches. That is what you said he would have to do, and that is exactly what he did. He did not look to impressive, Hopkins still whips him, if they fight next. I thought Tito would be able to take out a guy, who just came up from 147 a lot faster than he did. Ring rust. I giveMayorga Hella props. He fought like a man, and took big punishment, but fought on. Shit, he got up every time. Smoger wisely stopped the fight. There is no quit in El Matador. Imagine how much more noise he can cause, if he were to keep his hands up. Damn Tito had to beat every ounce of fight in Mayorga, and with the fight being stopped, he can't even say he did that. Mayorga would have went into the 9th round trying to win. After the end of round 5, I thought it was over, but Mayorga lasted 3 more round. Damn what a heart. It was boxings biggest puncher against boxings best chin. I think Mayorga gets more love than hate, after his performance on Saturday. Even though he lost by K.O., he fought like all of us fans love a fighter to fight, lets hope he is Ok after the punishment he took. This PPV made up for the year of PPV'S I was disappointed in. Now Mayorga can relate withthe Golden Boy, about one punch body shots, the difference is, he got up and Tito's blow was way more devastating than Hopkins. What did you think about the fight Greg. Peace and Love Baby. Daniel Zavala - Shipping Dept.

Leon's Response: Agreed. Considering it was a two year layoff he looked great. He didn't look THAT great, I agree but he definitely looked a lot sharper than most expected, especially under the fire Mayorga was bringing.  Imagine how much more he can cause if he decided to taking this boxing game seriously. Imagine how tough to beat he'd be if he worked the body, threw jabs and kept his hands up. The stoppage was a great stoppage because Mayorga might not be the same as is, Smoger saved him from further punishment.

whats up G!! yes, im writing again on the mayorga-trinidad fight!! it was just so fucking good. okay, i was a little excited before in the email i sent u on sunday about that being maybe the best fight i've seen since chavefz vs taylor 1. i was a little drunk also when writing that email. but it was a classic fight and one of the best i have seen ever! it was great!! okay now, on roy jones as a fighter, he should stop. but i have been watching him as a commentator for a few years and he is always on teh spot. i hate to say that cuz i hate jones!! but he is a great commentator. he should stick to that. it was pretty funny how merchant kept talking shit about roy. that was hilarious. another thing i want to say is that tito is always in excellent condition. look at all of his great fights, he is in great shape. oscar should learn from trinidad. he always keeps going no matter how much he has taken or given. and it's true what larry said, about how a punch u see won't hurt u as much. it's true to a point. if a punch lands right, whether u see it or not, it will hurt. but it's the punches that u don't see that hurt u. and i don't care what anyone says, trinidad hurt mayorga with those punches. his whole body moved by those left hooks. but mayorga is one tough mutherfucker. i love mayorga, but against my boy trindad, i can't go against him!! don't matter who is next, delahoya or hopkins. both great fights, i prefer him fight hopkins first. Sergio Herrera

Leon's Response: Jones should stop and he usually is on the money with his commentary. Merchant took a couple of subtle shots at Roy. Jones, like most of the fighters I know can't stand Larry Merchant. At least he has a friend in Steve Kim. LOL Merchant is the reason he left the commentary team in the first place. I don't think it's true at all, because I believe the final hook Mayorga ALLOWED himself to get hit with hurt him badly and led to a lot of the punishment he took. Up until that point Mayorga was dominating the first round. Trinidad will never fight Hopkins again. I doubt it.

I have a funny feeling that Trinidad vs. DLH will get made. When you look at possible options/fights for Tito only a few come to mind. I think that the winner of Mosley vs. Wright would be one of them followed by the obvious, Trinidad vs. BHOP. While I don't recommend Tito come anywhere near Bernard, I think that a fight against Oscar would settle an old score and make a ton of cash in the process. As for Oscar he only has a couple of viable options as well. By the way, do you see Vernon Forrest as a possible opponent for either one of them??? Angel Guzman

Leon's Response: Seems like we're both having the same funny feeling. What gives it away, the fact that it's the ONLY $25M fight for both of them? Or the fact that neither one would rather fight Hopkins for half that money? Forrest is an option for both of them but he needs to make his comeback an impressive on like Trinidad did.

Nice weekend of fightz Homie!! Unfortunately, I missed the main event though (nobody wanted to kicc in for the PPV) but I hear from my favorite source (Boxing talk of course) that the fight waz OFF DA' HOOK!! I would congratulate you on callin that one, but that would pattin' myself on the bacc...AGAIN!! Az tough az Mayorga iz and az hard az he'z hittin, hiz boxing skillz arent good enough to dominate another big puncher that can box too. Tito can do both!! We both knew and called that one. I think Mayorga may have a hard time at 160 lbz. I have to agree w/Jim Lampley on all of hiz assesmentz in your interview with him (including the one about my Dogg RJJ)....But, fucc him and Merchant...HBO'z faggot-azz Batman and Robin (juzt had to through that in there)!!   I did watch the Showtime fightz and they were cool. Of course you know by now that Lacy put it down againzt a very game Vanderpool. That waz the by far the bezt fight on the card and I look for Lacy to do some big thingz in that weight class. Homie haz heart, a beard, and can thunder with both handz!!! The Ouma fight waz boring...maybe I expected too much. Ouma haz a chin too, but not a lot on hiz punchez. The Wlad/Williamson fight also gave me a "touch of sleep" az both of thoze mutha fuccaz fought like they know their chinz are made of lightbulb glass. I give the edge to Wlad since he waz not really runnin', juzt hezitant. They need to try that one again cuz nuthin waz proven...if they each bring at leazt one nut to the ring we might have a pretty good fight. O.K....Im bein a lil' too critical of them and itz becauze they both had opportunitiez to possibly get a KO and neither took advantage. On upcoming fightz: 1) Shane givez Wink a hell of a rematch and againzt mozt peoplez thoughtz, may come bacc and win. 2) Sharmba finally beatz the shit outta Cozta 3)...hmmm.....time for the folkz at boxingtalk to talk up some more fightz, cuz everything else I have been hearing iz juzt talk right now. I have not heard of any other worthwhile fightz coming up....and we all know if anybody can make some thangz cracc...itz boxingtalk!! Finally, I know the queztion had to come up during the Trinidad/Mayorga fight about RJJ'z future. What waz said or did he avoid the queztion? Az alwayz, I appreciate your hard work "G"....Az a true fan of boxing I cant begin to tell you how cool it iz to be this connected to the sport...Matt King

Leon's Response: If you keep this up we'll have to start calling you Matt King of predictions, LOL. That was Onfire doing that interview with Lampley, it's funny because I haven't seen it yet, but I heard it's cool. When I finish this email, I'll peep it out. Lacy is a dog ( I mean that in a good way). He still needs to work on sharpening his skills but the boy can crack and he's been fighting better competition than any up and comer in boxing with the exception of Cotto, maybe. I still didn't peep those Showtime fights, I've been so caught up since I got back from the Garden at like 5am, that I haven't had a chance to pop in the tape.


 

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