Boxing: Hit or Miss

"Boxing is bullshit." -Paulie Malignaggi after losing a unanimous decision to Juan Diaz in Houston Saturday night.

Although I do not like the fast talking, flamboyant Paulie Malignaggi, I felt he deserved the nod against Juan Diaz in Diaz's hometown of Houston. Gale Van Hoy had the fight marked 118-110 for Diaz, which I'm sorry to say is pretty impossibe; both fighters fought well, but Malignaggi seemed to dictate the pace, keeping the Houston native off-balance with his best punch: the left jab.

However, every time Diaz seemed to land a significant punch, the crowd would roar and chant their fighter's name, "DIAZ, DIAZ, DIAZ!!!"

In the end, Juan Diaz received a hometown decision and a chance to rebound from his stiff losses to Nate Campbell and Juan Manuel Marquez. Malignaggi's complaining continues as he moves further into the "opponent" category, creeping ever closer to the stepping stone status he seems destined for.

Props to Robert Guerrero for stepping up and taking an alphabet title in a new weight class. In my opinion, Guerrero has been taking an unfair amount of heat lately, being labeled a "coward" and a "quitter" after admitting to the referee he was having trouble seeing against Yordan earlier in the year after an accidental headbutt. However, the Ghost has seemingly exorcised any haunting memories, fighting through both a bad cut and a broken left hand to beat South Africa's Malcolm Klassen for his 130 lb title.

And on the undercard, Ishe Smith threw repeated and intentional shots after the bell multiple times, including pushing his forearm into the throat of prospect Danny Jacobs, forcing Jacobs to lean back against the ropes until the ref decided to finally take action. The ref finally deducted a point from Smith after a late hit after the bell ended the 9th. In my opinion, the referee would have been totally justified in ending the bout after Smith tagged Jacobs three times and then tried to start an actual brawl, especially if Bernabe Concepcion's late hit on Steven Luevano is going to be called a "flagrant foul" and "outrageous" by people like Rafael from ESPN and Rosenthal from RING Magazine.