IBO Boxing Honesty and Integrity
GENNADY GOLOVKIN is an all time great fighter. My buddy and colleague Michael Woods says he has to see more from GGG and it’s still a little too early to tell but I disagree with that assessment. I believe certain fighters show their greatness instantly and it’s clear and obvious to see. No matter who Golovkin fights, each performance is a masterpiece, you can see the precision, the perfection, the calm, cool, calculating, no wasted movements, no sloppiness, never off balance or out of control. Complete command at all times. Golovkin achieves this level of excellence every time out, no matter who is in the ring with him. Only certain fighters can show this level of extraordinary pugilistic mastery and Golovkin is one of the rare ones – some others? Mike Tyson – Ray Leonard – Bernard Hopkins – Manny Pacquiao – Marvelous Marvin Hagler – Floyd Mayweather – Lennox Lewis – Wladimir Klitschko – Thomas Hearns – to name a few. Golovkin was awe-inspiring for his workout today. He smiled just about the entire half hour he trained, posing, ,acknowledging just about everyone who came to watch. https://proessaywriting.org/! In two decades of covering boxing I can only remember one champion who smiled as much on the eve of a major fight – Felix Trinidad. Golovkin is the perfect Face of Boxing now, he reminds me of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, supreme champions who are also extremely humble and respectful and inspiring for the public. You see these super champions and they have a natural instinctive way of making you feel better. For instance, I was talking with an HBO photographer and tennis friend Noah Lerner while GGG was shadowboxing and we made eye contact – so I gave him a smile and a thumbs up – and he smiled back and gave a little fist pump. When you see man at his best like Golovkin, it makes you feel good about humanity and our unlimited potential as people. Boxing is a sport that exhibits man at his best and GGG exemplifies man at his best in every way. GGG is the perfect ambassador for sport and boxing and with him as the flagship of the sport, it can become hugely popular again…
I had a brief encounter with Hopkins today – while I was chatting with Floyd Mayweather lawyer John Hornewer, Hopkins walked by, by himself, and as he was next to me I quickly glanced to see if he was ignoring me or side eyeing me – and I caught him side-eyeing me so I extended my hand and said, “It’s always great to see you Bernard,” to which he replied, “It’s always great to see you. ” I’ve always respected Hopkins as one of if not the greatest all around champion in boxing history for his unbelievable longevity of greatness and still competing against the elites of the sport even into his late forties. After Bernard beat Pavlik I called him the greatest all time champion the sport has ever seen, which of course was mocked by many fans and pundits, however in the years since, the notion of calling Bernard Hopkins the GOAT, surpassing Ray Robinson, has become a more acceptable concept, especially after Hopkins’ courageous and impressive performance against Sergei Kovalev last year. After Bernard and I shook hands, I quickly thought back to the first day I ever met him in person – it was after he beat Jorge Amparo on a Tuesday Night Fights date in Atlantic City in about 1992 – I still remember seeing him getting a post fight massage rubdown by his trainer Bouie Fisher, who really knew how to care for and take care of his fighters after they fought. We exchanged phone numbers and did a phone Biofile a few days later. I still believe Bernard Hopkins may be the greatest fighter in history – because of his incredible longevity at the top of the game, for beating so many great fighters, and for accomplishing it all without a super human punch or handspeed, he did it all with smarts and intelligence and ring savvy – and through all the years he never once had a bad night or took a beating. Without a doubt, Hopkins has been one of the best to ever lace a glove and his personality is one of the most compelling and fascinating subjects I’ve ever come across in any sport.
One boxer who did not impress Chuck Williams though is Adrien Broner. I won’t go into details but will just say, Chuck basically agreed with my assessment that Broner is the most repulsive, despicable, disgusting and ill-behaved bum who has ever polluted this noble sport. Broner needs to change his act or he will repulse a great many fans and people from the sport. He’s beyond bad for the sport, way beyond. That’s enough about Broner. This week is about the new Face of Boxing, the new sensational superstar we’ve been waiting for, well, he’s here and he’s going to electrify again on Saturday night. –SCOOP MALINOWSKI
But there is a lot of hard work to be done and David Lemieux is going to be the most formidable challenge GGG has ever faced….
Chocolito Gonzalez had a very short workout in the ring and then gave the media a few minutes of standard answers through an interpreter – he fights for his country Nicaragua, representing God, and to make his people proud – started boxing at twelve – met Alexis Arguello when he was fifteen – this is his first trip ever to NYC – challenger Viloria has never seen a fighter like him. The Teiken rep seemed in a hurry to take Chocalito to an appointment and then to a private workout. Chocalito seemed a little tired and overwhelmed by all the attention.
Bernard Hopkins held court for the media and did a lot of talking. Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News told me he asked Hopkins two tough questions – and then paid the price. Hopkins does not like tough questions, he likes to say what he wants to say, to pus his agenda. Abramson, one of the top boxing scribes on the scene, asked Hopkins if the rumors were true about him facing Arthur Abraham – Hopkins dodged that one – then Abramson also summoned the courage to ask Hopkins about if he feels similarly like some in the media who believe Golovkin is on his way to all time middleweight greatness. The response was not a cheap shot or veiled disrespect at GGG but an extended monologue basically telling Abramson he’s a fool to ask such a silly question. All the while with his hand on Abramson’s forearm. That’s one thing I’ve noticed about Hopkins in recent years – he is as cagey and clever outside the ring as he is in it – no reporter will ever corner Hopkins and unleash a combination of tough questions that can momentarily knock him off balance or leave him at a loss of words – it’s just impossible – and even if they do try, Hopkins will evade the potential danger and instantaneously turn the tables and punish his antagonist with his own verbal genius.
Bernard Hopkins held court for the media and did a lot of talking. Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News told me he asked Hopkins two tough questions – and then paid the price. Hopkins does not like tough questions, he likes to say what he wants to say, to pus his agenda. Abramson, one of the top boxing scribes on the scene, asked Hopkins if the rumors were true about him facing Arthur Abraham – Hopkins dodged that one – then Abramson also summoned the courage to ask Hopkins about if he feels similarly like some in the media who believe Golovkin is on his way to all time middleweight greatness. The response was not a cheap shot or veiled disrespect at GGG but an extended monologue basically telling Abramson he’s a fool to ask such a silly question. All the while with his hand on Abramson’s forearm. That’s one thing I’ve noticed about Hopkins in recent years – he is as cagey and clever outside the ring as he is in it – no reporter will ever corner Hopkins and unleash a combination of tough questions that can momentarily knock him off balance or leave him at a loss of words – it’s just impossible – and even if they do try, Hopkins will evade the potential danger and instantaneously turn the tables and punish his antagonist with his own verbal genius.
I had a brief encounter with Hopkins today – while I was chatting with Floyd Mayweather lawyer John Hornewer, Hopkins walked by, by himself, and as he was next to me I quickly glanced to see if he was ignoring me or side eyeing me – and I caught him side-eyeing me so I extended my hand and said, “It’s always great to see you Bernard,” to which he replied, “It’s always great to see you. ” I’ve always respected Hopkins as one of if not the greatest all around champion in boxing history for his unbelievable longevity of greatness and still competing against the elites of the sport even into his late forties. After Bernard beat Pavlik I called him the greatest all time champion the sport has ever seen, which of course was mocked by many fans and pundits, however in the years since, the notion of calling Bernard Hopkins the GOAT, surpassing Ray Robinson, has become a more acceptable concept, especially after Hopkins’ courageous and impressive performance against Sergei Kovalev last year. After Bernard and I shook hands, I quickly thought back to the first day I ever met him in person – it was after he beat Jorge Amparo on a Tuesday Night Fights date in Atlantic City in about 1992 – I still remember seeing him getting a post fight massage rubdown by his trainer Bouie Fisher, who really knew how to care for and take care of his fighters after they fought. We exchanged phone numbers and did a phone Biofile a few days later. I still believe Bernard Hopkins may be the greatest fighter in history – because of his incredible longevity at the top of the game, for beating so many great fighters, and for accomplishing it all without a super human punch or handspeed, he did it all with smarts and intelligence and ring savvy – and through all the years he never once had a bad night or took a beating. Without a doubt, Hopkins has been one of the best to ever lace a glove and his personality is one of the most compelling and fascinating subjects I’ve ever come across in any sport.
Floyd’s lawyer made me appreciate some things about the recently retired super champion – that he really was a great fighter in the 90s at the lighter weights and he’s really a natural lightweight and super feather – he just moved up to welter because it’s the money division. Hornewer told me he knows Floyd since he was sixteen and he’s always been a good kid to him, with a cocky side for sure. And that 90% of the fans and media really don’t know the true Floyd, they only know the Money May persona, which isn’t the real Floyd. I asked Hornewer for an anecdote about Floyd which shows his true side, from behind the scenes, outside the public eye. He’s thinking about it and will share one later in the week.
I was chatting with the WBC supervisor Chuck Williams who introduced himself to Chocalito before his workout – Williams said some perfunctory things and then said good luck in English and Spanish to Chocalito, who showed him very kind eyes and niceness as they spoke, but when Chuck said good luc in Spanish, Chocalito suddenly decided to give him a warm embrace. Based on the nice, warm facial expressions Chocalito gave Williams and the hug he gave, my respect and liking of the very friendly and classy Nicaraguan went way up.
I was chatting with the WBC supervisor Chuck Williams who introduced himself to Chocalito before his workout – Williams said some perfunctory things and then said good luck in English and Spanish to Chocalito, who showed him very kind eyes and niceness as they spoke, but when Chuck said good luc in Spanish, Chocalito suddenly decided to give him a warm embrace. Based on the nice, warm facial expressions Chocalito gave Williams and the hug he gave, my respect and liking of the very friendly and classy Nicaraguan went way up.
One boxer who did not impress Chuck Williams though is Adrien Broner. I won’t go into details but will just say, Chuck basically agreed with my assessment that Broner is the most repulsive, despicable, disgusting and ill-behaved bum who has ever polluted this noble sport. Broner needs to change his act or he will repulse a great many fans and people from the sport. He’s beyond bad for the sport, way beyond. That’s enough about Broner. This week is about the new Face of Boxing, the new sensational superstar we’ve been waiting for, well, he’s here and he’s going to electrify again on Saturday night. –SCOOP MALINOWSKI
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