Lullaby League - The 12 Hardest Swatters in the Last Dozen Years

It's as though we can't get a solid chunk of good fights lately, and the up and down fluctuation plays hell with a fan's patience and emotions. A more consistent fight schedule would be nice. 


It's part of loving this game though, and sometimes a hiatus from constant action makes the heart grow fonder. Indeed, there have been times when the the thirst for blood long since sated nudges us into viewing a bout in a more positive light than perhaps it really calls for. 


For instance, the one-sided (but solid) Hank Lundy vs. Dannie Williams bout from a few weeks back on Friday Night Fights wasn't bad at all. In fact, a few times the men traded and made for a very fun watch, and there was a knockdown. But it was a mostly one-sided fight, yet it still got a fair amount of attention, and still wound up making for good discussion. 


There will always be jubilant, adrenaline-driven peaks, and heavily depressing valleys. Just like there will always be clinching, as we're painfully and annoyingly aware of after last weekend, there will always be counterpunching. Or guys afraid of getting hit. Or low blows. 


There will always be knockouts, too.

From Beyond the Grave - The Clinch

"In the clinch fighting, again Ketchel discovered that Johnson knows more in one round than the average fighter learns in a career. Ketchel as a rule is always above the average at clinch fighting, but to-day he was powerless.

       

There were other things about these clinches. They gave an idea of Johnson's immense strength as well. Several times he lifted Ketchel playfully off his feet and strung him around. Once, when Ketchel's legs became tangled, when the men were grappling, Johnson picked up Ketchel with one arm and placed him squarely on his feet."

     - W. W. Naughton, in describing Jack Johnson vs. Stanley Ketchel, 1909

Resurrection Game - 5 Impressive Climbs Off the Canvas To Win

So. It's Easter Sunday -- a day millions of Christians the world over celebrate the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth some 2,000 years ago. 


Rather than rejoice with a church trip, an egg hunt or huge slab of ham, we'll take a look back at a few ghastly knockdowns that looked as if they may have maimed the guys on the receiving end. Except these men harnessed otherworldly will and not only peeled themselves off the canvas, but went on to seize a win from the snarling, rabid jaws of defeat. 


There were certainly many to choose from, but these are some of the more memorable, though not in any particular order.

Hank Lundy Hits The Deck Early, Decisions Dannie Williams; Elvin Ayala Outpoints Eric Mitchell

Photo: Ray Bailey

It's a wonder what even just a few minutes of nice, crisp action can do for boxing fans thirsting for something more than controversy and letdowns. 


A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, as that Sound of Music lady said. 


The normal course of "whine for months, delight for days" should hold true for fans, as in just about any other boxing year. But this is the time of year where we expect a little more bang for our bucks. And bucks. And bucks. 


In what hopes to be the rev-up to this summer's peel out on ESPN's Friday Night Fights, "Hammerin'" Hank Lundy rebounded from an early knockdown to seize a unanimous decision from Dannie Williams, who got his face near caved inward with jabs in the process. 


But somewhere in there were some terrific exchanges and top shelf mixing. 

Roberto Garcia Takes A Step Forward, And So Does Friday Night Fights

Photo: Rey Leal

It was a grinding type of night on Friday Night Fights. That's not to say it was anything you'd keep on your DVR for any extended period of time, but then quality is but a piece in the unexceptional pie we've been fed by ESPN this season. It's one thing to settle into a boxing broadcast knowing that it's unlikely to be special, but something else to expect a little more from a card, only be lulled to sleep halfway through one of the copious Cialis or Just For Men commercials. 


Last night's action at the Convention Center in Pharr, Texas was a case of the former -- it was a middle-of-the road card that promised little in terms of gore or brutality, and it lived up to that promise in a watchable way. 

Kendall Holt Gets Rid Of Tim Coleman Early In Another ESPN2 Disappointment

Photo: Marlene Marquez

We ought to start calling these weekly Friday Night Fights recaps "The Broken Record Column" -- at least until ESPN begins to deliver with some entertaining match-ups on Fridays. This year hasn't been a particularly stellar one for the show, to say the least. 


They should be thrown a partial bone this week though, as the Kendall Holt vs. Tim Coleman main event was competitive on paper. It's only fair to note that a solid effort was made to stage a halfway-enticing main event. It just didn't travel down the expected path, and, good or bad, these things happen in boxing. 


One of the more troubling aspects of the broadcast though, was a large patch of vacant seats at the Morongo Casino venue, just beyond the far side of the ring. If only it were the first time promoter Gary Shaw insisted on staging a potentially meaningful fight for one of his guys at a half-empty desert casino...

Orlando Salido Solifies His Standing In A Thrilling Rematch Win Over Juan Manuel Lopez

Photo: Amanda Kwok/Showtime

We powered through one of those cyclical lulls over the past month or so, where the best we could do is make sense of mismatches and canceled fights. Heading into this Orlando Salido vs. Juan Manuel Lopez rematch, we really were due for something tasty, weren't we? 


Whether we were or not, some fulfilling action is what we got, even if most of the entertainment was supplied by the main event scrappers despite digesting a few dozen round of fighting in a few hours. 


Based on their first meeting, most fans and pundits expected another memorable clash between Orlando "Siri" Salido and Juan Manuel Lopez that would show the best of both men once again, and weren't disappointed. 


Even the brain-numbingly annoying soccer horns that cut through the crowd noise at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico like a piercing scream couldn't put a damper on what we'd just seen.