MY THOUGHTS ON BOXING

DOLEISM OF THE MIGHTY CAC NATION

BOXING VIDEOS

MY THOUGHTS ON BOXING, LATEST FIGHTS, UPCOMING MATCHES, DREAM BOUTS, MY FOREVER CHANGING POUND FOR POUND LISTS, AND MY PHOTO GALLERY.

FUTURE BOUTS

POUND FOR POUND LIST

GALLERY

MY THOUGHTS ON BOXING

LEWIS VERSUS RAHMAN (APRIL 21,2001)

Whoa...Emanuel Steward is not having a good year. First Hamed now Lewis...Lewis Go Figure. Just yesterday, I seen Dante Craig (The 2000 Olympian) get knocked out, now this. "April" the month of the upset. This was supposed to be a mismatch. So it's safe to assume Lewis did not think much about Rahman. This just goes to show that you should never look beyond the man in front of you. I met Rahman (see Gallery) and this is a big guy with massive hands though he looked small compared to Lewis, I knew if this guy hits you you will feel it. I guess Lewis understands my point. Lewis appeared lackadaisical in his approach to Rahman and paid the price. Once Rahman landed his right, Rahman confidence built and proceded to go after the champion. As soon as Lewis back touched the ropes BOOM. Rahman lands his right and Lewis crumbles. Rahman just messed up the Heavyweight scene. Will he keep the title? I doubt it. I can see Tua, Tyson, Klitschko, Ruiz, Johnson among others drooling right about now. If we are lucky Rahman will elect to fight Tyson for big bucks, Lose to Tyson and have Lewis knocking on the door for his titles back in a SUPERFIGHT.

HOPKINS VERSUS HOLMES (APRIL 14,2001)

The middle weight championship tournament has begun with it's first casualty, Keith Holmes. Holmes the under dog in the tournament handed over his WBC Belt to Hopkins after being bullied around for 12 rounds. Holmes complained about low blows and head butts from Hopkins. The low blows were legit even though Holmes wore his trunks way above the navel area. I guess the righteous Holmes was too much of a gentlemen to give Hopkins a taste of his own medicine. As for the head butts, Hopkins would tuck his head in and rush in throwing punches, once inside he would use his head to manuever Holmes head or place his head in a safe place. Is this illegal ? I have no idea. Is it clever ? Very. Despite low blows and questionable head butts, Holmes never was in this fight. It was all Hopkins. Perhaps it wasn't Holmes night or perhaps the old man known as Hopkins was simply better. All I know is the WBC and IBF Champion Hopkins has a date with either Joppy or Boxing newest darling Trinidad on September 15th which also will be his 15th defense of his title enabling him to tie with Carlos Monzon.

HAMED VERSUS BARRERA (APRIL 7,2001 )

The battle of all battles. Everyone I know is picking Hamed to knock Barrera out. EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT FELLAS (see: FUTURE BOUTS). I was surprized Barrera did not coming storming out to attack Naz, instead he chose to box Hamed, counter Hamed and man handle Hamed. I'm not a religious person, in fact I have my own views upon life BUT when will people learn that faith has nothing to do with the outcome of any competitive sport.The better man wins not the holier man. Hamed finally got beaten by a better boxer (hopefully he will humble himself). No knock downs, No cuts. 1 point lose to Barrera for actually appying a full nelson on Hamed and guiding him into the turn buckle pad (Great stuff folks).This was a great fight. Was it lop sided? Hmmm..not exactly, Naz always had his puncher's chance. I gave this bout 5 Heinekens. 4 for the match itself and 1 extra one for the upset. I wonder if HBO will terminate Hamed's contract?

As for the rest of the card...It was kind of like watching Friday Night Fights on ESPN2 with Lampley, Merchant and Foreman doing commentary. Juan Carlos Rameriz was upsetted and kayoed by late subbing Fernando Velardez, 2000 Olympiad Jermain Taylor knocked out Kenny Stubbs and Omar Sheika knocks out Stephane Ouellet. I gave the card 2 Heinekens due to knock out victories which kept this from being a yawn fest.

SHOWTIME ( MARCH 26, 2001 )

Kudos to Showtime for replaying their fights on Monday nights. For all of us Video Kings, we know what it is to miss a fight. Sometimes, Showtime and HBO puts on fights on the same evening competing with each other. Now unless you have a compromising spouse this can be aggravating. Sometimes, HBO or Showtime will sneak a fight on a Friday, BUT with the Showtime replays it doesn't matter anymore. If you miss it Friday or Saturday catch it Monday. Now only if HBO follows suit and replay theirs on Tuesday.

OSCAR DE LA HOYA VS. ARTURO GATTI ( MARCH 24, 2001 )

My first thoughts were ...why? I gave Gatti a punchers chance but with that toilet paper skin of his, I figured it would be stopped on cuts.Well this fight was more interesting than I thought. Gatti looked real good for the first two minutes of the first round. He moved his head. What ? You heard me, Gatti was moving his head. Then DLH went to work, knocking Gatti down in the first round. But Arturo was game. He landed good crisp shots on DLH, though DLH looks a little like Floyd Mayweather Jr. in using his shoulder to block Gatti's punches.It was a very exciting, lop-sided bout, BUT this new version of DLH is kind of boring. 1 Heineken folks.

MOUNT WHITAKER VS. OLEG MASKAEV ( MARCH 10, 2001 )

Good match up. Maskaev coming out of his knock out lost to Kirk Johnson, facing a pudding pop ( with all due respects )in Whitaker. As for Whitaker, I heard he was picking it up BUT, a man with his size should be mowing down his opponents instead of just slapping them with a closed fist. This fight did not last long, it appears that Maskaev is suffer from second blow syndrome as he collapsed to what seems to be a Whitaker pitter-pat. Now perhaps Whitaker is packing the mustard, if so the the Heavy-weight division welcomes him. I gave this bout 1 Heineken because I'm sure Maskaev is suffering from S.B.S

SHANE MOSLEY VS. SHANNAN TAYLOR ( MARCH 10,2001 )

Wowsers ! Mosley continues to impress. I was nervous at the start of this fight due to I never seen Shannan Taylor fight before ( read about but never seen ) BUT Mosley's explosive fists sent me a message telling to me to relax as he knocks Taylor silly in the first. Mosley is a beautiful fighter to watch as is Trinidad BUT Mosley's speed is a beauty within itself. Mosley is a complete package full of speed and power, and must be recognized as a pound for pound great. Taylor is a decent fighter, who I would like to see more of. I gave this bout 4 Heinekens for the beauty of Mosley's performance.

EVANDER HOLYFIELD VS. JOHN RUIZ II ( MARCH 3, 2001 )

Hmmm, What can I say but, I sincerely had Holyfield winning this bout despite the point deduction for the low blow and the 10-8 round in the 11th round. C'mon folks, Holyfield was the aggressor, Ruiz was busted up. It seems lately when Evander does the rematch thing the judges punishes him for the mishaps of the previous judges in the original bouts. I'm not alone in thinking he beat Lennox Lewis in their second meeting....But hey, who am I ? I gave this bout 2 Heinekens out of a 6 pack ( it would have been a 1 but Holyfeild did meet the canvas in the 11th ).

As for the rest of the card ...IT SUCKED. Christy Martin fighting a game but limited bum ( with all due respects ), Miguel Angel Gonzalez lost to a game journeymen. The Tim Austin fight was cute, it appeared that Austin got tired of playing around with this feathered fisted fighter and whacked him for taunting him. All 3 of these fights are equivalent to 1 Heineken. Don King is slipping. Can you recall when Mike Tyson was doing his bid for rape and King's main thoroughbred was Chavez. The under-cards was smoking with Terry Norris, Azumah Nelson, Gerald McClellan and all the other King's men but today, Christy Martin( yawn ), Tim Austin( super yawn) and Miguel Angel Gonzalez....c'mon...King...c'mon.

FUTURE BOUTS

NASEEM HAMED VS. MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA ( APRIL 7,2001 )

Now here's a smoker. For some reason I'm picking Barrera in this one. I love me some Hamed and I recognize the thunder he packs in his fist, BUT if Barrera can take Hamed's best, he'll mow the prince ass down. I think this match is intriguing and will order it.

BERNARD HOPKINS VS. KEITH HOLMES ( APRIL 14, 2001 )

This jammy will be at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN and I'll probably be at attendance. This is a no-brainer Hopkins is the best at 160 and Holmes is the weakest champ at 160. Do the math. What puzzles me the most is why Trinidad did not opt for Holmes and allow Hopkins and Joppy to shoot it out, then meet the winner.( but back to the math ) Unless Hopkins ages or elects to order extra cheese on his Philly steak or Holmes was saving his best for the BIG MONEY...Hopkins wins easily. This is a must see as the saga at 160 continues.

TICKETS PURCHASED...HOPKINS/HOLMES!!!!!

FELIX TRINIDAD VS. WILLIAM JOPPY (MAY 12, 2001 )

TITO !! Ya gotta love him. Woooo !! This kid got some cajones on him. Whitaker, Dela Hoya, Reid, Vargas and now Joppy. This kid can be and just might be the savior of this sport. This I believe is another MADISON SQUARE GARDEN joint, if so I'm there! As for match up, this is very intriguing. We all remember Trinidad has a problem with movement ( see Dela Hoya) and Joppy is a cutey in the ring. BUT for some reason when I think of Joppy, I think of David Reid. And we all remember the ass kicking Trinidad issued to Reid. So if I have to pick someone or was forced to place money on either fighter... My money is on... TITO.

TICKETS PURCHASED...TRINIDAD/JOPPY!!!!

DOLE'S POUND FOR POUND LIST

1a Felix Trinidad 6 Lennox Lewis

1b Shane Mosley 7 Marco Antonio Barrera

3 Roy Jones 8 Oscar De La Hoya

4 Floyd Mayweather 9 Ricardo Lopez

5 Bernard Hopkins 10 Naseem Hamed

DOLE'S PHOTO GALLERY

.Chris Byrd after Lewis/Grant at MSG (photo taken by Mrs. Bryd)