Slow times in the fight game…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Realize it’s been more than a week since my last post, but there is not much going on right now as things keep falling through one after another.
Saturday was supposed to be the Chad Dawson-Antonio Tarver rematch (that nobody wants to see), but that’s been pushed back.
This Saturday was supposed to be the huge MMA/boxing joint event with Roy Jones Jr. vs. Omar Sheika and Ken Shamrock vs. Bobby Lashley.
Well, Shamrock got busted for three steroids, so he’s out. An undercard bout with Seth Petruzelli fell through. Petruzelli knocked out Kimbo Slice late last year, so it would have been interesting to see how he responded to his new-found fame.
As much as I love writing about Evander Holyfield and all his comeback attempts. For some reason, don’t have the same love for Jones or Marco Antonio Barrera.
Barrera lost a five-round technical decision to Amir Khan on Saturday. Color me unimpressed by that. There was a bad cut over his eye early in the fight, and it seems as though they milked it so it could be a decision instead of a no-contest. If anyone saw the fight, would like to hear your opinion.
I hate to think of Barrera and Jones fighting in these lower-level bouts, especially MAB. After all Barrera has given to the sport, don’t want to see him go out this way. But I can guarantee you we’ll see him again because he’s not going out like that, that’s for sure.
In MMA, we’re a month away from UFC 97, which I think is a good thing. Give it a little time, build it up properly, and you’ve got something. With heavyweight Cheick Kongo, a light heavyweight bout between Shogun Rua and Chuck Liddell and of course, Anderson Silva in the main event, there’s something out there for everybody.
Frank Mir had to pull out of UFC 98 vs. Brock Lesnar because of a knee surgery. That’s fine as now the two will meet in UFC 100, which should/better be one of the best-stacked cards in MMA history.
In local news, the usual suspects picked up wins Friday at the First Council Casino in Newkirk.
Oklahoma lightweight champion Noah Zuhdi won via sixth-round TKO as did Lawton middleweight George Tahdooahnippah.
Welterweight Carson Jones got back on the right track with a nice win as well. Was interested to hear how things went for him coming back after a good loss (if there is such a thing).
And things won’t get too much busier here in the next couple of weeks. Promoters aren’t dumb, and there won’t be too much head-to-head with the NCAA Tournament. For the record, Boneman’s pick is Pittsburgh. But not nearly as in love with that pick like I was last year with Kansas.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment