Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto to interrupt boxing circus

November 9, 12:46 PMBoxing ExaminerEric Sloan

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Valuev to fight a bear?
AP Photo/Christof Stache

HBO 24/7: Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto

What is HBO Boxing doing to Miguel Cotto? In all three installments of the 24/7 series, HBO has dedicated a significant amount of time to Cotto and other men playing swimming pool grab arse. Maybe the Marco Polo game in Puerto Rico includes trying to remove Speedos, but does Brian Perez's crack really sell pay-per-view (PPV) buys? How about comparing his underwear to Cotto's? In the episode the aired last Saturday, Miguel was shown thoroughly enjoying the latest copy of Prick magazine. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, right? Easy, Prick is a tattoo magazine. Thankfully, the series ends on Friday and the probable fight of the year can finally arrive to put this version of 24/7 out of its misery.

David and Goliath

Yes, David Haye now owns a piece of the heavyweight crown after his majority decision win over Nikolay Valuev. What's next for the former cruiserweight you ask? Rumor is that he will fight his mandatory against the always entertaining John Ruiz--yeah, the same Ruiz who may be the only heavyweight who throws fewer punches than Valuev. Maybe The Russian Giant can fight a bear on the undercard and the bearded lady can be one of the ring girls. Barnum & Bailey beware!

Alfredo Angulo v. Harry Joe Yorgey

Fighting on the Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson undercard was Alfredo Angulo and Harry Joe Yorgey. Yorgey, who is trained by Jack Loew, was outgunned from the beginning. Like most of Loew's fighters, Harry Joe showed more guts than skill and he was hammered for two and a half rounds before Angulo delivered one of the most brutal knockouts of the year.

Frankly, the fight should have been stopped right after the referee's instructions, but naturally Loew got some good decent face time with his outbursts. Good job Jack! Angulo needs to book his rematch with Kermit Cintron and stop fighting at the club level. Everyone who put this thing together should be embarrassed by the mismatch and feel lucky that Yorgey was able to leave the ring without Life Flight.

Chad Dawson v. Glen Johnson

There appeared to be some boxing that occurred on Saturday; however, it became confusing when HBO asked us to buy the extended warranty and undercoat protection on the Chad Dawson light heavyweight model. Dawson intended to wear Jasper Howard's jersey during his walk-in, but had to substitute an ad for Condom Depot on his trunks instead. Don't judge him for selling trunk space though because he has to pay the bills somehow before the trilogy with Antonio Tarver. Gary Shaw, Dawson's promoter, should by now be able to find a more appropriate sponsor for the "family man" like Super Cuts or at least Home Depot.

Regardless, it is clear that the HBO propaganda machine is set full throttle to "Bad." Lampley and Kellerman were battling as to who could bestow the highest compliment. Now Dawson has speed and skills, but he also tends to runs a bit and possesses Sergio Mora level knockout power. The last time the network sold us on such features we got Jermain Taylor. This means we'll probably see Dawson throw down against the likes of blown up Peter Manfredo, Jr. and Jeff Lacy before HBO and Shaw are able to find someone under the age of 40 to test him.

Dawson did dominate the lethargic Glen Johnson for 12 rounds, which somehow equated to a relatively close unanimous decision. Johnson pawed and clubbed his way through nearly every round. While he was never hurt, Dawson never hurt him. It was just the case of a fighter in his prime taking on an old dude who had a hard time pulling the trigger. Dawson could have done more and apparently should have done more because if Johnson had won another round, the fight would have been a majority draw. It remains unclear as to how two of the judges scored the fight 115-113 (Dawson) even if they gave Johnson a few rounds just to be nice. 

Boxing is called a circus for every reason discussed above and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to defend the accusation. Luckily, for all that is wrong in the sport, we still have true, throwback level mega fights. Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto will bring us one on Saturday even if one of them ring walks by elephant and the other is shot from a cannon.