Not sure if this has anything to do with the fact that the UFC bought Strikeforce and UFC president Dana White has made no secret of the fact that he doesn’t care for Johnson’s fight calling abilities and as such it seemed unlikely that GuJo would be included in their vision of business as usual .
(Sometimes purple lipstick happens in MMA commentating.)
Not sure if this has anything to do with the fact that the UFC bought Strikeforce and UFC president Dana White has made no secret of the fact that he doesn’t care for Johnson’s fight calling abilities and as such it seemed unlikely that GuJo would be included in their vision of business as usual .
Maybe this is a sign that CBS may be revisiting its relationship with Strikeforce under the new Zuffa regime, or maybe its nothing one has noting to do with the other, but at least there’s hope now that the lipstick-sporting, reporter-calling, Renzo Gracie blue belt has left the network, that if they can come to terms, we won’t ever have to hear Gus proclaiming things like Seth Petruzelli beating Kimbo Slice is the greatest upset in MMA history on network television.
Johnson’s last gig with the network will be his calling of the Showtime pay-per-view broadcast of the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley bout, but after that fans may never see his make-up aden mug during another MMA broadcast.
Fight Hub TV’s Marcos Villegas caught up with Gary Shaw over the weekend and spoke to the former head of EliteXC about Nick Diaz’s boxing aspirations and why Kimbo Slice’s boxing debut never happened.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHubTV.com)
Fight Hub TV’s Marcos Villegas caught up with Gary Shaw over the weekend and spoke to the former head of EliteXC about Nick Diaz’s boxing aspirations and why Kimbo Slice’s boxing debut never happened.
“I love Nick Diaz, first of all. I think he’s as exciting as can be. I’ve not reached out for him. If he wants to box, he knows my number. They know the name of my company. But if he’s going to box then he’s got to box relevant fighters,” Shaw pointed out. “Fernando Vargas is not a relevant fighter, Jeff Lacy is not a relevant fighter. So what are you proving? That’s just a waste of time. Television’s not going to buy it, so if he wants to really fight, they’ll contact me and then they’ll really want to fight then we’ll do something on Showtime or HBO or ESPN.”
Although Shaw believes that Diaz has star power and says he could do well in the sport, he cautions the Stockton native to think long and hard about competing in The Sweet Science as it is a different animal than MMA-style boxing.
“He’s a good fighter. He’s a very good fighter, but boxing is a lot different than MMA, so… The techniques are different,” Shaw said. “You can knock guys out in MMA, but you’re not knocking out boxers. You’re knocking out other MMA fighters. So he might find it a little more difficult than he believes.”
When asked about what’s up with Slice’s delayed foray into boxing, Shaw said that it isn’t likely that we’ll see Kimbo donning 10-ounce gloves any time soon.
“He realized how hard it is to be a boxer. I had him in training camp in California, but he wasn’t committed…as committed as he had to be. I still love Kimbo. I still think he’s the single biggest attraction in our sports,” Shaw explained incredulously, demonstrating why EliteXC failed. “I’d love to still put him in a boxing ring, but you gotta be really committed. He made a lotta money in mixed martial arts and maybe he just didn’t need the money bad enough at that time.”
Filed under: Fighting, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsSo much for the great Kimbo Slice boxing experiment.
The former street fighting sensation turned MMA fighter abruptly quit his pursuit of becoming a boxing star in October, Slice’s former promoter Jared S…
So much for the great Kimbo Slice boxing experiment.
The former street fighting sensation turned MMA fighter abruptly quit his pursuit of becoming a boxing star in October, Slice’s former promoter Jared Shaw told MMA Fighting.
“[Slice left the boxing training camp] due to some various injuries and to go film The Scorpion King. Upon his return, he didn’t show me any interest in boxing, so we just decided for right now to put it to the side,” Shaw said.
("Five…five dolla…five dolla, foot rong." [Ed. note: I sincerely apologize for that awful caption.] / Photo courtesy of sportsnavi.)
His MMA career? Dead in the water. His boxing comeback? Who knows. But the Miami Pound Machine gotta ea…
("Five…five dolla…five dolla, foot rong." [Ed. note: I sincerely apologize for that awful caption.] / Photo courtesy of sportsnavi.)
Note to Kimbo: If you "win" your first match, Antonio Inoki may want to slap the shit out of you in front of everybody. I know, if that happened on a street-corner in Perrine, he would be as dead as yesterday’s chicken. (That’s something that people say, right?) As it turns out, the slapping is actually a sign of respect and well-wishing. Please inform your crew.
(We’re just glad that our t-shirt isn’t to blame for Kimbo’s death. We will take credit for this one cursing Gus Johnson’s Strikeforce commentating gig.)
If a mediocre backyard brawler-turned mixed martial artist dies, does anyone in the MMA media noti…
(We’re just glad that our t-shirt isn’t to blame for Kimbo’s death. We will take credit for this one cursing Gus Johnson’s Strikeforce commentating gig.)
If a mediocre backyard brawler-turned mixed martial artist dies, does anyone in the MMA media notice?
Apparently not.
It seemed that only the mainstream media outlets yesterday picked up on a story of the demise of Miami, Florida resident Kevin Ferguson — which is the legal name of Kimbo Slice. Maybe it was because it wasn’t Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson who had passed away, unless of course he had wifi access in the morgue.
(Shaq has always been a sucker for a guy in a Santa suit. PicProps: MMA Digest)
It was with bated breath a few months back that we brought you news that sleazebag promoter and World’s Greatest Dad Gary Shaw would soon be exploring new and interes…
(Shaq has always been a sucker for a guy in a Santa suit. PicProps: MMA Digest)
It was with bated breath a few months back that we brought you news that sleazebag promoter and World’s Greatest Dad Gary Shaw would soon be exploring new and interesting ways to get Kimbo Slice knocked the fuck out by transitioning the internet legend/UFC washout to professional boxing. Obviously, that has not happened yet and this week ESPN’s Dan Rafael got tired of waiting. Rafael reached out to Shaw with a courtesy “WTF” call this week and learned that The Sliceman’s pro punching debut has been pushed back to “the beginning of next year” because Kimbo is, uh, on vacation. Also, (and we hope we’re not reading too much into this) it sounds like Shaw is just a little bit pissed off about it.
"Right now he’s vacationing in Florida. He went home for Thanksgiving. His pro debut will be put off until at least the beginning of next year," Shaw says. "He needs more work and more sparring … I had him in California sparring and in real training … He was given all the tools, but he continues to get offers from MMA and offers to be in movies and it’s hard to keep him focused on training camp. That’s the story more than anything else."
So much for the great 
