The Good Jon Jones: Sometimes even when things turn out as expected one can still be impressed and that was the case with UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones’ successful title defense against former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135 in Denver, Colorado. Jones was the heavy favorite by oddsmakers and for good reason as he has looked unbeatable since entering the UFC including his title winning dismantling of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Rampage on the other hand though having won back to back fights over Lyoto Machida and Matt Hamill, did not look overwhelmingly dominant in either. Thus it came as no surprise when Jones slowly picked Rampage apart round by round during their fight using his superior height, reach, athleticism, and varied arsenal. While Rampage stuck to his one dimensional style of slowing moving forward throwing big punches that rarely found their mark Jones retaliated with long range punches and kicks. Jones’ advantage in height and reach allows him to land shots on opponents at a distance from which they cannot counter.   “Bones” was never in danger during the bout and by the end of the third round Jackson looked both befuddled and disheartened in his corner. Jones may have very well picked up on this and as the fourth round began quickly worked to get Rampage down to the mat and did so while securing his back. From there Jones made quick work of Rampage cinching on a fight ending rear naked choke to which Jackson tapped out. It was only the second time in his 41 fight career that Jackson had been submitted. Whereas Rampages game has not evolved much over the years, Jones continues to both improve and expand his each time out and at only 24 years old and 15 fights into his career the sky is the [...]

The Good Star Power: Say what you will about how the night ended, and plenty have, but as a whole Saturday nights Star Power pay-per-view delivered. For more years than fans would have liked boxing promters have been content with throwing together a lackluster undercard on big PPV shows, the thinking being why come out of pocket and invest more money when fans are likely to purchase the show on the main event alone. Fortunately, likely because of competition from the UFC that business model is starting to change and that was evident with Star Power. Of the four fights featured you’d be hard pressed to find a boxing fan who was not entertained throughout the broadcast.   The show started off with undefeated prospect Jessie Vargas taking on Josesito Lopez in what was a back and forth affair for 10 rounds. Although Lopez would close the fight strong Vargas would be given the win via split decision. That was followed by Erik Morales looking to make history by being the first Mexican fighter to win a title in a fourth weight class against little known Pablo Cesar Cano after original opponent Lucas Matthysse was forced to withdraw. The unheralded Cano started off fast looking to be the quicker of the two landing a good amount of shots while Morales appeared sluggish. As the fight wore on however Morales began landing more frequently and though Cano was still busier his face was evident of Morales landing the more effective punches. By the 10th round “El Terrible” was in control of things and though Cano was game the fight would be called after the round due to cuts and swelling around the young fighters eyes. Congratulations to Morales for making history even if the validity of the belt he won is questionable. Also respect [...]

Heading into this weekends pay per view event headlined by Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz titled Star Power, the consensus is that Mayweather will have his hand raised at the end of the night as he has the previous 41 times he has stepped into the ring since turning pro. There is as always contingents of fans who believe in the underdog, feeling Ortiz in this instance will pull off the upset and give “Money” Mayweather the first loss of his career. This however is not an article in which I will break down who I believe will win the fight and why, but rather to question which one of the two combatants winning in this match up will be better for the sport of boxing moving forward.   At first one would likely respond Mayweather without a second thought for a few obvious reasons. The most glaring is the fact that outside of Manny Pacquiao, no current fighter generates the interest, buzz, and accompanying revenue that Mayweather does. Not only is Floyd one of the best fighters in boxing he is one of it’s biggest pay-per-view attractions. Mayweather often cites “the numbers don’t lie” in reference to his undefeated record but the same is applicable to his PPV status. All but one of Mayweathers last 4 fights has generated over 1 million pay-per-view buys, the sole fight that did not was against Ricky Hatton and still did remarkably well with 920,000 buys. Prior to the Hatton fight is when Mayweather first become a major player in the PPV realm when he squared off against Oscar De La Hoya to the tune of a record setting 2.44 million buys. Mayweathers last 2 bouts have also registered at least 1,000,000 buys each against Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley respectively. It goes without saying that a Mayweather fight adds a major financial boost to boxing.   [...]