G. Leon's Mid-Day Mailbag

06/10/2004

G. Leon's Mid-Day Mailbag

Greg, Love the site and scoops you guys churn out over there. I saw the Trinidad fight and I thought he looked great especially after a 2 year layoff. He  got hit a little too  much I thought by wide, wild punches but on the whole I thought he looked pretty good. He  is a warrior and you can see his will to win whenever he fights and you have to respect  him. I find his father to be very arrogant and many of things he said in the interview make  no sense. I realize he may be posturing with De la Hoya to earn Tito a larger share of the revenue if that fight is made, but he speaks as if Trinidad is a better fighter than De la  Hoya. First, De la Hoya beat him in the their fight easily (I don't care what the judges said,  Tito looked like an amateur in that fight) and second, De la Hoya gave Hopkins more  trouble than Trinidad did, and Trinidad is a much bigger middleweight. Also, are the  Trinidads Don King's puppets? Papa Trinidad said they will see who Don King approves
for them and then they will decide who to fight. No offense to Felix,but his father will try to  avoid the Hopkins fight for as long as possible because he know until Benard gets old, he  easily beats Tito again. There are only a few real options for Trinidad at this point, a  rematch with Bernard Hopkins or maybe a fight with Jermain Taylor. He is too big, strong and good for anyone moving up from 147 or 154. -- Scott

Leon's Response: He did get hit by several punches he shouldn't have, but that's easy to say from ringside. Mayorga throws his shots for weird angles and considering Trinidad barely missed him, he pitched a whole lot more than he caught. He's not posturing at all Trinidad won't fight De La Hoya anytime soon. You might not agree with some of the things he said, but he's not changing his mind.

What's up Greg??? What's good over there? Tell my boy OnFIre I said what's up, you  know you got to let him get his mailbag game back up. But I just got through reading the  Papa Trinidad interview, I'm a big fan of Tito's but Papa needs to stop talking cause he  turning the fans off from Tito. First things first his arrogance in calling Tito a star and  saying Hopkins is not a star is ridiculous. I mean Hopkins beat Tito, and this guy is acting  like Hopkins is a small fish. Papa Tito calls De La Hoya a coward, but he danced around  the issue of Hopkins. Truth be told Tito's camp wants no part of B-Hop and that's it. Papa  has the nerve to call De La Hoya a coward???!!!?? Come on, Tito got dropped by the  same fighter, and Oscar has fought everyone just like Tito has, so why disrespect him and  call him a coward??? Bottomline is who is left for Trinidad to fight???? As long as Hopkins  is around Tito will never be king in the middleweight division, so whose left?? Winky  Wright? A rematch with Fernando Vargas? Cory Spinks would get killed, Tito is too  accurate, and he hits harder than Mayorga. Come on, the truth of the matter is that Tito  didn't beat De La Hoya and everyone who watched the fight knows this. Oscar won at  least 7 rounds, and even if you make the argument that he only won 6 rounds the fight is  still a draw. If Oscar is such a "coward" why doesn't Tito just fight him again and get it
over with. No matter what people think of him, Oscar has won titles in 6 weight divisions  (technically 5 if you don't count the Strum win) and he's going into the Hall of Fame, how is  Tito's legacy going to hurt by fighting De La Hoya??? His legacy is hurting from fighting  him anyway because he got a questionable decision. My thing is this "Don't go calling guys  cowards, when you are dancing around issues (Hopkins) yourself" I understand Papa Tito bragging on his son, I love Tito, and I respect him as a fighter, but don't disrespect  other great fighters. De La Hoya lost his last 2 fights (Mosley did not win the rematch) but  he is still a great fighter and he did a beautiful job in for the boxing industry. On another  note, Roy Jones Thank You. Thank you for all the great memories that you have provided  for us in boxing, you are my hero and watching you as a kid was great. Don't be
ashamed, and don't let the haters get to you, you still tops on the P4P list cause nobody could put on a show like you could. Tee, Baltimore

Leon's Response: He called him a coward because he feels Oscar deserved to give his fans more while earning $30M. He feels that Oscar could have gotten up because it wasn't a "real liver shot." Trinidad and De La Hoya isn't happening again brother. I spoke with Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and he told me he's not surprised they don't want the fight because styles make fights and Oscar has the style to beat Tito. I might agree with that, but I don't think De La Hoya would beat Trinidad at middleweight right now. It's clear Trinidad-DLH II isn't happening, I expect Trinidad to make something significant next. Cory Spinks and the Wright-Mosley winner are definitely in the mix.

In the wake of the deconstruction of Roy Jones Jr. a positive outlook can be granted. Roy  has always been an exceptional boxer with gifted skills of defense & at one point a hard  puncher. Why are people hating on him so much nowadays? I am not a Roy Jones Jr. fan.  A huge Tito Trinidad fan. Now I am about to show you a little theory. When Tito decided  to fight Bernard Hopkins , I was totally against it. From a fan standpoint I thought it was  too early. A boxing fan overall I was well aware of Bernard Hopkins way before the  Hopkins vs. Trinidad. What bad timing it was or was it a blessing? You had media rumors  about Tito personal life , the tragedy of Sept11. pushed the fight to a deserved later date. I  tried to block the notion out of Bernard beating Tito , playing Tito previous fight with  William Joppy in my mental , saying " He can beat Bernard". Until that night on Pay per  view. From his eyes , I could tell it wasn't the same Tito. Props to Bernard for displaying a  text book boxing contest. Even though I was mad at him fpr beating Tito. In due time I  started to see that Tito Trinidad was losing his love for the art of boxing. Maybe the big  paydays , maybe the competition , maybe something else we are not keen to knowing. I am  sure you witness your share of boxers who replace hunger with eating large pay checks ,  only to decrease their weight. You can not gain weight with eating paper. A person can  gain weight from wanting more. When Tito released his retirement intentions in July of  2002 at Bithorn stadium , I was like "WHAT!". During his time off , maybe he received  that old appetite of wanting more & not in a dollar sense. Roy  Jones Jr. been more into  rapping & whatever else ventures he is into. Several times before training for both the  Antonio Tarver 1 & 2 fights along with the latest loss to Johnson I've seen him in numerous  music videos. I love hip hop , yet how can one stay focus while trying to live the  entertainment lifestyle. No matter how good you may be , training reinforces the mentality  of being the best. You see I wasn't the one laughing & pointing fingers when Roy went  down , even though he has a high capacity of bragging. He suppose to believe in himself ,  especially in a sport such as boxing. I do not agree with HBO commentators who  recommend Roy retire. Roy if you're reading this , you should step away for a while & let  boxing grow, you see what the results were when you try to outgrow boxing. Study a page  out Tito book & create your own comeback book. If successful , watch all the haters turn  into supporters & the HBO commentators turn into cheerleaders. This is boxing & why I  love it so much. Shaun  Baltimore , City

Leon's Response: That's Deep. For future reference can we all make our emails a little bit shorter? You guys are almost overwhelming me with some of these novels! LOL

greg whats up, Papa Trinidad is dropping some bombs DLHs way. And I can't say that he  is completely wrong. He makes some solid points but I just don't believe him when he says  that he wont fight delahoya just for money, he's full of shit on that one .I think their is a real  good chance the fight gets done. Saturday night We saw one hell of a beating and one hell  of a display of toughness. I admit in my heart I wanted to see Mayorga win, I think his all  out style is entertaining...but Props are do to Trinidad, He looked good, better than I thought...... I don't want to take away ANYTHING from trinidad....he did his thing and  then some.... but I have never seen a display of heart like the one I saw Mayorga display  Saturday night. The only one I can remember is Holyfield when he first fought Bowe. Let's  not forget that this was mayorgas first fight at 160. That cat is rugged!! Have you seen a  fighter tougher than mayorga as long as you've been a fan, I can't mention one....Maybe  Holyfield but thats about it..... I heard mayorga has confirmed that he is retiring, I would've  loved to see him in the ring again, against a mosley or wright. I think those would be great fights, because even though winky is the supreme technician he still engages his  opponent unlike Cory who is all about dancing circles around his opponents. So mayorga  would have a better chance against winky and mosley. cesar ft. lauderdale

Leon's Response: He's dropping some bomba's for sure. I was shocked at the way he threw the fight in garbage. They've already shown that they're not fighting for the money by fighting Mayorga when they could have fought De La Hoya. If you remember the Trinidad-De La Hoya rematch fell apart before Hopkins-DLH and Tito-Mayorga came to fruition. A fighter tougher than Mayorga? Hmmm....I'm sure there have been some, I'm going to have to get back to you on that one. He's definitely the toughest guy in recent memory. Holyfield was tougher in his prime. The man fought with a hole in his heart.

Hey G.Leon, how's it going? I wanted to give you my 2 cents worth on your top 20 pound  for pound list. First of all, it's a good list and probably no two people will ever have the  exact same pound for pound rankings. You definitely know more about boxing than i do but  I'm confused about two of your top 10 fighters. Firstly Kostya Tszyu shouldn't be on there  due to INACTIVITY! He should only be considered for a top ten spot IF he beats  Sharmba Mitchell. Next, it's your boy Diego Corrales. He should have fought Cassamayor  a third time and not only that, until he beats Castillo (or even one of the Diaz's) he should  only be on the "watch out for these guys" pound for pound list, or maybe in the top 20.  Diego has punching power, but the lightweight division needs to be unified (at least  partially) before he should get considered as a top 10 pound for pound fighter. Remember  that he got out classed by Pretty Boy Floyd back in 2001 @ 130lbs, whilst Castillo gave him  hell in their first fight (maybe Mayweather's only real unofficial loss) and went the distance  with him the second time around. Also, Jose Luis Castillo was the under dog going in against Lazcano, so I think he should be considered the man to beat at lighweight just as  much as Diego. I like Diego, I just think he shouldn't be moved onto the top 10 list this soon.  Freitas was good, but not great, and Cassamayor beat him the first fight, lost the second but  still knocked him down. I hope Corrales at least tries to unify the lightweight before he  moves up again in weight, if he does he'll be the man in my book. Any further news expected about the possible Corrales/Castillo bout in December? It's listed as a scheduled  bout on BOXREC.COM. Thanks for all the great work you do for the boxing fans, you're  pound for pound #1.

Leon's Response: Kostya Tszyu's inactivity is over next month and the man is one of the best fighters in the world. He unified the toughest division in boxing against two slick southpaws in less than ten rounds. You can't take that away from him and until he retires he deserves to be in the top ten. If he loses he's obviously out but my pound for pound list isn't about punishing guys for being injured. Diego is ready, willing and able to unify the lightweight divison. His people are working on Castillo and if that fight comes off (it's nowhere near done right now) it's smooth sailing for Chico to get the rest of the belts. I think Chico is the best lightweight in the world right now. Boxrec.com didn't post that after reading it on Boxingtalk.com, so it's obviously wrong. I speak to the right people so trust what I'm telling you baby! Thanks for the props.

you guys are bangin out some enormous shit. Jin Mosley shed some light on why too.  You're a persistent brother, and that's admirable. Plus most of the fighters seem to like you  so you must be doing something right. You're bringing it to us like noone else right now. I've  never subscribed to any website, but I'm considering yours. If my computer weren't so  damn slow I'd already be a member. I can't watch all the videos because of it. You may  think I'm a blind DLH fanatic, but I'm not. I'm just a huge fan who has been following him  since the 92' Olympics. If I were a blind fanatic I wouldn't say he lost to Felix Sturm, or  that I'd favor Tito to beat him at 160 in a rematch. I just think fair is fair. Peace.

Leon's Response: Thanks for the props brother, I appreciate it. Pesistent I am. Like no one else right now, and guess what? We're not slowing down at all! It's only going to get better baby!  Sign up now, otherwise by the time you sign up, you're going to have to take a week off from work to catch up on all the members only stuff you missed. Get a faster computer! ASAP! LOL

Hi Greg,
I've been watching boxing for a few years now and do understand that it is as much a  business as it is a sport. ( If that makes any sense). When announced that Tito was coming  out if retirement, Oscar's name was mentioned but due to his demands supposedly, the fight  did not go thru. Then Shane's name was mentioned and I was happy because Tito would  get a true test since he claims de did not want any tune ups just big fights. Unfortunately  Shane lost to Winky. then Winky's name was briefly mentioned and we all know how Wright had been crying, rightfully so, that no one wanted to fight him. So you know he's not  going to throw any fights after working so hard to get to that point is his career. Then  Mayorga's name popped up and so did the red flags for me. Both Mayorga and Tito are  backed by Don King. Tito draws in big crowds, has a large following and retired  prematurely. Not to mention the fact his record stood at 41-1 37 ko's. Meanwhile Mayorga  came in with a 27-4 record after recently losing his belts 2 fights prior. What's one more loss for him ? We all know he can punch because of what he did to Vernon Forrest in the  1st fight which is the fight he probably started to gain recognition. So the stage is set. Our  beloved Tito against the wild and crazy Mayorga, oh big drama !!!! He practically gave  away the first round after pressuring Tito early. Also, probably 90% of his punches seemd  to be open palmed. How could you hurt anyone like that. We all know that he throwshaymakers a lot but he came in with no game plan whatsoever against one of teh greatest  boxers in history. I have never seen Mayorga dominated this much. I get sick when I read  that it was a slugfest. How can you call it a slugfest when one guy is pounding the other  and the other is just swinging wildly. Mayorga showed zero defense. Stood in front of Tito  with his hands down most of the fight and again just threw punches wildly. All Tito had to do was duck, take a couple of slaps from Mayorga's glove and then just tee off on him  which he did. On top of that he walks away with 2 bullshit belts. If it sounds crazy, ask  yourself this Greg, would Son King allow Tito to lose to Mayorga in Tito's comeback fight  in the Garden ? Who is better for boxing ? Would Tito look good coming in the ring after 2  plus years and knocking Mayorga out early ? Of course not. Now I read that the  Trinindads have turned down a fight with Oscar. Probably because they know 1) Oscar cannot afford another loss 2) Oscar has a lot to prove after being knocked out in a fight he  started off well in 3) Oscar has made so much money off of boxing that how could you  really bribe him to take a dive ? Not with money at least. Fourth and most important, Oscar  will be gunning for revenge to rectify a loss that many felt should not have been. I know  Politics plays a great deal in boxing and I know you have a job to do but I would really like  to know your thoughts on what I've said.  Thanks for your time Greg,
Rawle Roberts

Leon's Response: To me, Mayorga was always the right fight for Tito. He wasn't a tune up it was a big fight and Trinidad looked great because Mayorga only knows how to fight. Both fighters being with King only made the fight easier to make. Kind of like Spinks-Mayorga, Spinks-Judah, Mayorga-Trinidad, and now possibly Trinidad-Spinks. Oscar will fight again, remember where you heard it first. His next fight will not be Trinidad, but who knows if it could happen in the future. As long as both guys keep winning the amount of money in the pot for the fight isn't going to get smaller.

I liked your top 20 article Greg. The only issues I had were Corey Spinks & Vernon  Forrest. Corey is good but not great. If he fights Kostya Tszyu (providing Tszyu beats  Mitchell as think he will) his limitations will be exposed. Spinks would be open to Tszyu  right hand. Gonzalez hit Spinks more in two round than he hit Tszyu in 10. Granted Spinks is  solid and has beaten Mayorga & Judah but not in what I would call hugely impressive  fashion. I think you have been a bit generous here mate. Points to think about, Tarver looks  like he will be fighting Paul Briggs next and I think it will a lot harder than he is expecting, I  reckon he will tested more than against Jones. Danny Green will probably be pushing into
the top 20 pound for pound hopefully next year.  Great work by not including De La Hoya  in your top 20.  Darren Yates

Leon's Response: Darren his name is Cory Spinks. There's no E. I think Tszyu will lose to Mitchell and when he does Mitchell will take Tszyu's spot. I believe Spinks would easily outbox Tszyu. Tszyu and Gonzalez are two different fights. I think he easily outboxed Mayorga and was in control of the Judah fight. Although he got dropped in the twelfth I still had Cory winning by three of four points. I never said Briggs would be easy for Tarver. He's tough and he deserves the shot, but I definitely don't think he's going to beat Tarver.

That has to be the worst pund for pound list I have ever seen.  How could you put Tarver  ahead of Mayweather and Moralas.  Both Mayweather and Moralas have done a lot more  than Tarver. Moralas unified the juniorlight weight title and has a win over Barrera and  Berrera conqueror Junior Jones.  Mayweather beat Castillio 2x, Corralas, Jesus Chavez  and Carlos Hernandez.   All Tarver has done is beat Roy Jones, a old Montell Griffin and  Erik Harding.  You have Spinks ahead of Moralas based on his narrow victories over  Mayorga and Judah, hell he was lucky he did not get knocked out verses Judah in the 12th  and he did not through a meaningfull punch against Mayorga.  Dont you think Pacquaio's  win over Barrera and his draw over Marquez are beter than what Spinks has done.    Paul  Bedi

Leon's Response: Thanks for that Paul Bedi. I can now sleep at night knowing I've provided you with the worst pound for pound list you've ever seen. I've changed my tune about MAB-Morales III, I think Barrera is going to shock the world. I know Morales will be favored to win but I think Barrera is going to revive himself against Morales for the second time. Mayweather wouldn't beat Spinks in my opinion so why would I rank him above Tarver, who I feel had a lot to do with ruining Jones, the best fighter of this generation.

What’s up G??? Man I’m still buzzing from all the action last weekend. It’s too bad that  most people missed the Showtime fights to catch the Pay per View. I think that the Jeff  Lacey Fight was the second best fight of the weekend. Lacey can crack what do you think  about him unifying the straps at 168 then moving up to face Tarver. If Jeff continues to  improve over the next couple fights I think that will be in intriguing match up. What’s next  for Tito?? Reading the interview you did with Papa Trinidad it seems like they don’t want  DLH or Hopkins. I guess it’s all about jockeying for the best position. Zab made short work  of his opponent like he said he would. I hope he can get his focus together because he is  very talented. What do you think is next for him??  Especially if Spinks moves up for Tito.  I’d like to see him get at Cintron or maybe Forrest. I want to give big props to mayorga for  being a warrior, and not quitting even when it was obvious that he was hurt bad.  Keep the  good info coming I’m loving it. Rich. DC

Leon's Response: There was a ton of action last weekend, I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to pop in the tape of the Showtime action! I've been telling y'all Lacy is a dog for a while. They're not going to fight De La Hoya or Hopkins next, that I can pretty much assure you. Zab did exactly what he said he would and he did exactly what he was supposed to do. Spinks is all about making the biggest fights, so I'm sure Cintron and Forrest would be fights he'd look at so long as they money is right.







MEMBERS CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE MID-DAY MAILBAG

Send questions and comments to: gleon@boxingtalk.net