Cyber Boxing Zone -- News

DANGEROUS DAN: DAN BUNTIN

ALL DRESSED UP AND NO WHERE TO GO

That is how I felt after the unification bout between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis Saturday night. It seems that you can't have a major fight nowadays without something screwing it up. The true winner, Lennox Lewis seemed well composed considering that he was just robbed of the most coveted title in the sports. If I was in his shoes, Double "D" would be screaming at the top of my lungs until I went mute.

DOES OVERPAYMENT GET YOU JEAN WILLIAMS?

Everybody's looking at Don King for the reason the decision was so bad. This has some merit considering King is well known for over paying his sanctioning fees at least to the WBC.

MY MISTAKE?

Mr. King has never been known for making clerical errors of this nature. Still, how do you prove something like this without someone on the inside becoming a snitch.

OVER EMPHASIZED

The punch stat numbers everybody talks about are just about reliable as the judges are. Remember that the two guys who do this are human themselves. There ratio is correct more times then not, but they are just two guys sitting there hitting a keyboard.

GO TO THE REFRIGERATOR MANY TIMES FIGHT

The fight itself was a bore/snore. Lewis seemed content on keeping the Real Deal at the end of his jab, while Holyfield followed his lead by staying there. After the fight you could only find five people in the world that hinted that Holyfield had in fact deserved to remain champion.

Unfortunately for Lewis, two of them were judges. The other three were IBF President Bob Lee, Evander's trainer Don Turner, and Holyfield himself. The question now is what is next for both men? As far as a rematch goes, who wants to see it, but more importantly, why is it necessary? We all know who won!

ARE YOU READY FOR EXCUSES?

There has been talk about Holyfield being sick before the fight and this would be his chance to prove that this was just a fluke in the second matchup. Going into this fight, I didn't think Lewis had much of a chance against the former undisputed champ. Lennox proved me wrong when he came out with a game plan that relied heavily on staying focused, and not falling into any of the vastly more seasoned Holyfield's traps.

VICTORY RECIPE ALSO BORING

This ended up working but it also turned the fight into a dull rout, something I had not pictured in any of my many pre fight scenarios.

DOUBLE "D" NOT CONVINCED

Lennox still punches and then retreats. My main knock on him is that he lacked the killer instinct that could have taken the result right out of the judge's hands. L.L. fights with a caution first approach towards the game. This raises his hand at the end (should have) but does nothing for me as I watch him perform.

DK SOLD FIGHT AS DUO "NON" TICKET SELLERS

The fight itself turned out to be a big sell for Don King with 1.2 million homes reportedly buying it. This makes it the eighth largest selling Pay Per View event in history. Can the rematch stay par with this event? Who knows, but if TV KO was smart they would let the Dapper Don put his hat on and sell this boring rematch.

PAGE TURNS FOR ANOTHER WIN

On a much lighter note, James Page (24-3) kept his name on the short list for best welterweight in the world. The WBA champion outlasted a tuff and ready Sam Garr (25-3). James started the bout with knockout on his mind. After several rounds of eating punches while lunging with his own, the champ changed from brawler to boxer.

CHANGE IN FLOW

It did not take long for the momentum Garr built up to suddenly change 180 degrees in the direction of the Pittsburgh, CA native. Garr was unable to be effective for the remainder of the bout and lost a lopsided decision.

UNSUNG CHIEF?

James Page is the Dark Horse at 147 lbs., and the poor showing he had against Garr might just put him in against world champion Felix Trinidad sooner, rather then later.

MORE UNDERNEATH

Also on the undercard, Fernando Vargas looked good against a less then worthy opponent in Britain's Howard Clarke. Vargas halted matters in the fourth round to retain his IBF 154 lb. title for the first time, and move to 16-0, with 16 whacks!

ARUM NOW JOINS DK ON OPEN SCORING

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is saying that he would like to have open scoring during title bouts. There are many pros and cons to doing this. I myself would welcome the measure with open arms. What happens though when someone scores it for the wrong combatant, then out of nowhere a fan jumps on the official?

STATE LAW CHANGE IMIINENT?

The Nevada State Athletic Commission would first have to approve this move. But when one considers what occured in New York last week, rest assured they will take a good hard look at it. And I think it's got a fair shot seeing Executive Director Marc Ratner is one man who would go to any and all extremes to improve the sport of professional boxing.

Dan Buntin

Note: Dangerous Dan is featured exclusively at www.fighters.com on a weekly basis. You can find his previous columns in the "Previous Articles" section located on the main page of www.fighters.com Mr. Buntin can be reached with your comments at dbuntin@concentric.net