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BY MICHAEL KATZ - Our world has been shaken. This is a good thing; we don't need a flat world. Turmoil is stimulating. Forgive me if I nonetheless attempt to restore order.
There is a welcome lull to all the recent action, giving us time to catch our collective breath. The only “major” fight this weekend matches two Armenian-born middleweights in Berlin. It is the calm preceding the fantastic finish to the 2007 schedule. It's already been a shocking year. Since the last time I compiled my very own personal pound-for-pound list, back in late March, for some web site I have long forgotten, many of my hardy perennials have been uprooted.
This is testimony not only to my lack of expertise, but to the depth of the talent pool. Take away the heavyweights, please, and we might be in a moderate golden age - if not 24 karat, at least 14 or 15.
Winky Wright is beaten. Okay, but it took a Bernard Hopkins to do it and so what if B-Hop is 42. Rafael Marquez goes down, but instead of crying over spilled Mexicans, lets celebrate the Mexican who stands tall, Israel Vazquez. Jorge Arce gets soundly outboxed, but it was a revelatory performance by Cristian Mijares. [details]
There is a welcome lull to all the recent action, giving us time to catch our collective breath. The only “major” fight this weekend matches two Armenian-born middleweights in Berlin. It is the calm preceding the fantastic finish to the 2007 schedule. It's already been a shocking year. Since the last time I compiled my very own personal pound-for-pound list, back in late March, for some web site I have long forgotten, many of my hardy perennials have been uprooted.
This is testimony not only to my lack of expertise, but to the depth of the talent pool. Take away the heavyweights, please, and we might be in a moderate golden age - if not 24 karat, at least 14 or 15.
Winky Wright is beaten. Okay, but it took a Bernard Hopkins to do it and so what if B-Hop is 42. Rafael Marquez goes down, but instead of crying over spilled Mexicans, lets celebrate the Mexican who stands tall, Israel Vazquez. Jorge Arce gets soundly outboxed, but it was a revelatory performance by Cristian Mijares. [details]