As is tradition, Showtime has previewed the upcoming blockbuster fight with a series of “All Access” specials giving us a behind the scenes look at both men’s training camps. You will hear Mayweather touch on all the bullet points he’s become known for — his fame, his fortune, “I am boxing,” me, me, ME! — while battling an opponent he has been unable to defeat his entire life: Third person self-narrative. You will also hear Alvarez dish on respect and roosters with Golden Boy President, Oscar De La Hoya, who insists that Alvarez will finish Mayweather inside of eight rounds. We’d love to believe him, but many a man have made such a claim (or something similar to it) only to be outgunned by the WBC welterweight and WBA (Super) Light Middleweight champion.
Check out part 1 of “All Access” above. Parts 2 and 3 are after the jump.
As is tradition, Showtime has previewed the upcoming blockbuster fight with a series of “All Access” specials giving us a behind the scenes look at both men’s training camps. You will hear Mayweather touch on all the bullet points he’s become known for — his fame, his fortune, “I am boxing,” me, me, ME! — while battling an opponent he has been unable to defeat his entire life: Third person self-narrative. You will also hear Alvarez dish on respect and roosters with Golden Boy President, Oscar De La Hoya, who insists that Alvarez will finish Mayweather inside of eight rounds. We’d love to believe him, but many a man have made such a claim (or something similar to it) only to be outgunned by the WBC welterweight and WBA (Super) Light Middleweight champion.
Check out part 1 of “All Access” above. Parts 2 and 3 are after the jump.
(Props: TheMrsCountryman. Fight starts at the 2:23 mark, knockout happens at 4:16. And yeah, the audio doesn’t work in this clip, so feel free to hum a tune of your choice.)
Ten months before making his UFC debut at the TUF 2 Finale in November 2005, Melvin Guillard decided to take a pro boxing bout in Las Vegas against a Detroit-based fighter named James Countryman. The fight did not go well for Melvin.
About a minute and a half into the match, Countryman lands a big overhand right that levels Guillard. The Young Assassin springs to his feet and nods his head a couple times to signify that yes, he got smacked with a good one, then goes right back into the fight. Seconds later, Guillard catches a left hook from Countryman flush on the jaw and falls backwards into the ropes, unconscious. Game. Over.
Guillard would go onto a successful career in the UFC, but has never boxed professionally again. Countryman boxed for four more years, compiling a 14-1 record through March 2009. Interestingly enough, Countryman’s final boxing match was a decision win against none other than Karl “KJ” Noons, the current UFC lightweight and former EliteXC champion. Noons fought three more boxing matches that year, winning all three of them, and put together an 11-2 boxing record overall before devoting himself to MMA full time — which maybe wasn’t the greatest choice, in retrospect.
(Props: TheMrsCountryman. Fight starts at the 2:23 mark, knockout happens at 4:16. And yeah, the audio doesn’t work in this clip, so feel free to hum a tune of your choice.)
Ten months before making his UFC debut at the TUF 2 Finale in November 2005, Melvin Guillard decided to take a pro boxing bout in Las Vegas against a Detroit-based fighter named James Countryman. The fight did not go well for Melvin.
About a minute and a half into the match, Countryman lands a big overhand right that levels Guillard. The Young Assassin springs to his feet and nods his head a couple times to signify that yes, he got smacked with a good one, then goes right back into the fight. Seconds later, Guillard catches a left hook from Countryman flush on the jaw and falls backwards into the ropes, unconscious. Game. Over.
Guillard would go onto a successful career in the UFC, but has never boxed professionally again. Countryman boxed for four more years, compiling a 14-1 record through March 2009. Interestingly enough, Countryman’s final boxing match was a decision win against none other than Karl “KJ” Noons, the current UFC lightweight and former EliteXC champion. Noons fought three more boxing matches that year, winning all three of them, and put together an 11-2 boxing record overall before devoting himself to MMA full time — which maybe wasn’t the greatest choice, in retrospect.
I have seen some incredible flops in my day, Potato Nation. I’ve watched nearly 1000 hours of World Cup soccer, I spent two summers in the 90’s at the Vlade Divac School of Basketball, and I even made it through the first 40 minutes of Cloud Atlas before I faked a stroke to get out of that God forsaken theater. But believe me when I say that nothing, nothing I’ve come across compares to the flop that took place during former Atlanta Falcons defensive end Ray Edwards’ most recent boxing match.
Edwards — who was released by the Falcons in November — was actually competing in his third professional boxing match last Saturday. But like Kimbo Slice and morenotably Aleksander Emelianenko before him, the opponents being put before Edwards all seem to be suffering from various degrees of sudden onset narcolepsy. Here’s a video of Edwards’ second fight against Corey Briggs, a man I can only assume has since lost at least a foot to diabetes. And if you think that looked fishy, just wait until you see his most recent farce.
I have seen some incredible flops in my day, Potato Nation. I’ve watched nearly 1000 hours of World Cup soccer, I spent two summers in the 90′s at the Vlade Divac School of Basketball, and I even made it through the first 40 minutes of Cloud Atlas before I faked a stroke to get out of that God forsaken theater. But believe me when I say that nothing, nothing I’ve come across compares to the flop that took place during former Atlanta Falcons defensive end Ray Edwards’ most recent boxing match.
Edwards — who was released by the Falcons in November — was actually competing in his third professional boxing match last Saturday. But like Kimbo Slice and morenotably Aleksander Emelianenko before him, the opponents being put before Edwards all seem to be suffering from various degrees of sudden onset narcolepsy. Here’s a video of Edwards’ second fight against Corey Briggs, a man I can only assume has since lost at least a foot to diabetes. And if you think that looked fishy, just wait until you see his most recent farce.
Video below.
According to Edwards’ Wikipedia page, the portly trout seen taking an Oscar-level dive here goes by Nick “Turbo Tax” Capes, who is both Edwards’ accountant and was “knocked out with a stuff breeze” for filing his client’s taxes incorrectly. And while some of this information is clearly the work of an anonymous — not to mention genius — troll out there, we’d like to congratulate Capes for not only creating a new category for this year’s Potato Awards (Flop of the Year) with his effort here, but for already securing both the first and last place on the list of nominees.
Seriously, have any of you ever seen a more egregious dive than this one before? Video link or GTFO.
Yesterday, I went a little off the beaten path and covered the world of professional wrestling, specifically Brock Lesnar’s re-signing with the WWE and subsequent F-5ing of company President Vince McMahon. Although the video was unquestionably hilarious, most of you guys (at least those who took the time to comment) were not able to set aside your MMA bias for even a second to enjoy it. And it’s a shame, because even if Air Force One is your all-time favorite film, does that mean you cannot occasionally enjoy the goofball satirical humor of Airplane? Please don’t delve any further into that terrible analogy, but of all the websites to cover the Lesnar story (and therewerea few), I was kind of surprised that the audience of the “comedic” one had the least sense of humor about it.
So I’m not sure how you’ll take the news that TUF 10 veteran Kimbo Slice returned to the world of boxing last night, or the fact that we’ve decided to devote yetanotherarticle to it. On one hand, Kimbo is at least competing in a “real” sport after leaving the UFC. On the other, he is as tenuously connected to the world of MMA as Lesnar is these days, so perhaps we should just ignore him. On the third hand, Slice’s most recent fight against Australian-based journeyman Shane Tilyard was fucking awesome. As is usually the case in a Slice fight, things weren’t exactly pretty, but boy were they entertaining (for a round or so). For Christ’s sake, Kimbo attempted two takedowns in the fight. If you can’t appreciate that kind of irony, then we are just not the same kind of fight fans.
Yesterday, I went a little off the beaten path and covered the world of professional wrestling, specifically Brock Lesnar’s re-signing with the WWE and subsequent F-5ing of company President Vince McMahon. Although the video was unquestionably hilarious, most of you guys (at least those who took the time to comment) were not able to set aside your MMA bias for even a second to enjoy it. And it’s a shame, because even if Air Force One is your all-time favorite film, does that mean you cannot occasionally enjoy the goofball satirical humor of Airplane? Please don’t delve any further into that terrible analogy, but of all the websites to cover the Lesnar story (and therewerea few), I was kind of surprised that the audience of the “comedic” one had the least sense of humor about it.
So I’m not sure how you’ll take the news that TUF 10 veteran Kimbo Slice returned to the world of boxing last night, or the fact that we’ve decided to devote yetanotherarticle to it. On one hand, Kimbo is at least competing in a “real” sport after leaving the UFC. On the other, he is as tenuously connected to the world of MMA as Lesnar is these days, so perhaps we should just ignore him. On the third hand, Slice’s most recent fight against Australian-based journeyman Shane Tilyard was fucking awesome. As is usually the case in a Slice fight, things weren’t exactly pretty, but boy were they entertaining (for a round or so). For Christ’s sake, Kimbo attempted two takedowns in the fight. If you can’t appreciate that kind of irony, then we are just not the same kind of fight fans.
Video below.
(Fight starts at the 3 minute mark. Video courtesy of Zombie Prophet.)
So kids, what have we learned today?
1. Kimbo still hits pretty damn hard.
2. Kimbo’s cardio still sucks, but at 38 years old, we’re not going to knock the guy for it, and are actually going to commend Kimbo for the incredible display of heart he showed after getting rocked.
3. Despite Bas Rutten’s preaching for years now, it seems that fighters are just starting to warm up to the concept of the liver shot. First Anthony Pettis KO’s Cowboy with a liver kick and now Kimbo finishes Titties 2.0 with a nasty hook to the body.
(Pacquiao vs. Marquez I, 5/8/04. Videos via HBOSports, props to BloodyElbow for the tip.)
In the lead-up to this weekend’s historic fourth meeting between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, HBO Sports was kind enough to upload all three of their previous fights to its YouTube channel. That’s 36 rounds (and two-and-a-half hours) of some of the highest-level boxing that the sport has seen in the last ten years. Though each fight was decided on a razor-thin margin, Marquez has been unable to get his hand raised so far. Will the fourth time be a charm? And can this latest fight match up to the legendary history of the Pacquaio vs. Marquez rivalry?
Fights 2 and 3 are after the jump…
(Pacquiao vs. Marquez I, 5/8/04. Videos via HBOSports, props to BloodyElbow for the tip.)
In the lead-up to this weekend’s historic fourth meeting between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, HBO Sports was kind enough to upload all three of their previous fights to its YouTube channel. That’s 36 rounds (and two-and-a-half hours) of some of the highest-level boxing that the sport has seen in the last ten years. Though each fight was decided on a razor-thin margin, Marquez has been unable to get his hand raised so far. Will the fourth time be a charm? And can this latest fight match up to the legendary history of the Pacquaio vs. Marquez rivalry?
(It’s never a good sign when the crowd actually *laughs* during the glove-touch. Props: crazycnote13 via MiddleEasy)
Former MMA superstarKimbo Slice improved his pro boxing record to 6-0 (5 KOs) with a very quick knockout of Howard Jones, a Missouri-based “journeyman” who came into the match on a four-fight losing streak. Is it just me, or is Jones a dead ringer for Worst Fighters in UFC History nomineeGreg “Ranger” Stott? (Maybe I’m just a racist bastard who thinks all pudgy white guys look the same. That’s certainly a possibility.)
The fight, which went down Saturday night at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma — which was also the site of Slice’s previous boxing wins over James Wade and Charles Hackmann — was essentially decided by just two punches. First, Kimbo lands a sharp left hook to the gut that forces Jones to take a knee. Shortly after, Kimbo lands an uppercut that convinces Jones to play dead until the ref finishes his ten-count.
(It’s never a good sign when the crowd actually *laughs* during the glove-touch. Props: crazycnote13 via MiddleEasy)
Former MMA superstarKimbo Slice improved his pro boxing record to 6-0 (5 KOs) with a very quick knockout of Howard Jones, a Missouri-based “journeyman” who came into the match on a four-fight losing streak. Is it just me, or is Jones a dead ringer for Worst Fighters in UFC History nomineeGreg “Ranger” Stott? (Maybe I’m just a racist bastard who thinks all pudgy white guys look the same. That’s certainly a possibility.)
The fight, which went down Saturday night at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma — which was also the site of Slice’s previous boxing wins over James Wade and Charles Hackmann — was essentially decided by just two punches. First, Kimbo lands a sharp left hook to the gut that forces Jones to take a knee. Shortly after, Kimbo lands an uppercut that convinces Jones to play dead until the ref finishes his ten-count.
