I've got to admit that the outcome of the Shane Mosley fight against Oscar De La Hoya Saturday caught me completely by surprise. Sort of like the fighter who gets knocked out by a punch he never saw coming, I didn't see that result coming at all!
As you know, Mosley won a 12-round split decision to capture the WBC welterweight title and even though I believed there was no way Oscar could lose the fight, he did. it shouldn't have even been a split decision, either, because he was beaten by Mosley in what was a very good fight.
To tell the truth, I knew I was in trouble - prediction-wise and betting-wise - when they showed the weights of the fighters when they entered the ring. Like many, I thought Oscar would come in around 156 pounds (both fighters weighed-in at the welterweight limit of 147 or less) and Mosley would be spotting Oscar about seven or eight pounds by fight time.
Wrong! Much to my surprise, Oscar entered the ring weighing 152 while "Sugar" Shane came in at 155 pounds.
I sensed trouble right then, but I still had hopes that Oscar would win. Those hopes faded as the fight went on, but I will say not only was the fight fairly close, it was nice to see a fight with no weird endings or stupid decisions which seems to be the case in big fights lately.
The worst thing was, not only did I lose my bet with "The Tuck," but I laid him 9-5 to boot! Oh well, I'll get even in the rematch.
- The fight was on pay-per-view TV but if you didn't see it, HBO will broadcast the fight and some undercard bouts this Saturday at 10:45 p.m.
- The PPV telecast opened with a mismatch between Playboy cover girl Mia St. John and Linda Robinson. The 32-year old St. John brought a 17-0, 9 KOs record into the fight against Robinson, who, at age 38 had only three pro fights and it showed once the first bell rang. She was no match for St. John and lost a one-sided fight by unanimous decision.
Next up, Sacramento's Diego Corrales put his junior lightweight title on the line when he fought Uganda's Justin Juuko.
Corrales (31-0, 25 KOs) was slow getting started before he took control of the fight by knocking Juuko (34-3-1, 25 KOs) down in round four. From then on it was all Corrales and he finished the show in round 10 by knocking Juuko out. Referee Marty Denkin didn't even bother to count as he waved it off at the 2:35 mark of the round in a good call by the referee.
Then came the biggest joke of all - Butterbean. The massive heavyweight weighed 333 pounds and for some strange reason the California Commission okayed his fight against Kerry Biles, who weighed 266 for the fight.
It wasn't the weight though, it was the experience. Biles had only three fights (2-1) coming in and the 34-year old just started boxing five months ago. Butterbean has lost only once in 59 previous fights and was being fed another of the many stiffs they find for him. Biles did make it through one round one before being knocked out in round two.
Undefeated Eric Morales was handed a stiff, too. Morales (37-0, 29 KOs) was fed one Mike Juarez (22-9-1, 9 KOs) and Juarez was down in round one and again in round two before being knocked out 72 seconds into round three in a terrible mismatch. That was the prelim card before the De La Hoya-Mosley fight.
- Sunday night on FOX Sports they had a Father's Day card from the Regent in Las Vegas. Main event saw Hector Camacho Jr., and Manard Reed fighting for a junior welterweight title you never heard of and Camacho (28-0, 17 KOs) had little trouble with Reed (20-2, 14 KOs) as he knocked Reed down in round two and knocked him out in round three in a good fight for as long as it went.
An interesting fight between George Foreman's daughter Freeda and LaQuanda Landers opened the two-hour telecast. Both were making their professional debut in the scheduled four-round fight.
Neither fighter showed much skill, but Foreman, who outweighed her foe by 10 pounds (180 to 170) did have some power and knocked Landers down in round one and out in round two. It was a fun fight to watch, anyway.
Next up was another famous daughter, Maria Johansson, making her pro debut against Karrie Frye, who was 4-1 with 4 KOs. Johansson, daughter of former heavyweight champion Ingemar and from Sweden, ran into a whirlwind in Frye, who said she "came to win" and did just that!
Frye had Johansson down in round two and went on to win by decision in the four-round middleweight fight. Frye, at age 26 and from Indiana, showed some potential while Johansson, at age 34, needs to get a lot better a lot quicker than most because of her age and her lack of experience but, to her credit, she didn't fight someone also making her debut like Freeda did and Johansson paid the price for it as she was a bloody mess at the end.
If you missed it, FOX will rebroadcast the card Saturday at 8 p.m.
- Also this Saturday is the Mike Tyson fight against Lou Savarese from Scotland. Showtime will have to starting at 9 p.m. Tyson should win but you never know how or if something screwy will happen. It is Tyson, you know, so be prepared for anything ...
- Also Saturday at the Peppermill in Reno, a live pro fight card features Cesar Soto going against Oscar Larios in the main event. First prelim bout is set for 7 p.m. Tickets available at the door, starting at $25 for general admission.
- Results you may have missed. On the ESPN2 Friday night fights Antonio Diaz won a unanimous decision over Omar Weis in the main event.
- Also on Friday night on Showtime, Andrew Golota won an easy and boring decision over Orlin Norris in their heavyweight fight from Las Vegas.
- And we'll close by telling you Laila Ali was fed a real turkey in her Thursday night fight in California, another fight that the commission should have never approved.
The daughter of Muhammad Ali (who was at ringside) needed just 68 seconds to dispose of 48-year old grandmother Marjorie Jones. The 22-year old Ali had Jones down twice in that short period of time in a real joke of a fight!
How they let this one take place is a complete mystery to me.
Ali is now 7-0 with 7 KOs against nobodies. Jones record fell to 2-5.
Alan Rogers is the Nevada Appeal boxing writer.
