WEEKEND RECAP: QUICK HITS
April 28, 2024
Simon Ruvalcaba
ERROL SPENCE, JR. is ‘The Truth’ and continues to show how special he is and will continue to do so with the line up of opposition that he could have. Hope the politics of boxing doesn’t make us wait too long for Spence VS Crawford, but from the sounds of it at the post fight, we are going to be forced to wait as PBC has plenty of fighters to feed Spence before they even need to be in talks with Crawford.
MIKEY GARCIA dared to be great and came up short. He has plenty of options moving back down in weight and style wise, if he decided to give it another crack at Welterweight, matches well with several top Welterweights. He will be back and now has even more recognition. For the “I told you so” people, there is $8.5 million reasons why the risk was worth it for Mikey.
FOX PPV did their job in marketing the fight. Made many switch their vote towards Garcia based on the hunger and confidence that was depicted. Although it was genuine, I just personally couldn’t ignore my first reaction when the fight was announced and that’s why I went on record with a Spence by decision.
LIFE IMITATES ART: Spence-Garcia showed off the racial divide in sports and in this country as people assumed who you where picking based on ethnicity, and when the bout went the way it did, more was being thrown out on social media and at AT&T Stadium towards the Hispanic/Latino’s about what the African-American crowd had predicted with “Told You!” type taunting.
DAVID BENAVIDEZ is back and still a force to be reckoned with against anybody in the division.
J’LEON LOVE will surely get more opportunities under the Mayweather Promotions banner, but the result Saturday was the worst possible for any fighter. All you can move forward on from a public relations perspective is that you lost to a legend in the making and you better hope that Benavidez in fact lives up to that to give credence and more acceptance to the defeat?
HEAVYWEIGHT STOCK, Rising: Chris Arreola is back! May have a better career late in life then he did as a talented youngster? Mainly with how he lives outside of the ring these days? It’ll only keep many wondering what could’ve been of his career had he stayed this motivated and in shape through out his prime? Neutral: Charles Martin left more to be desired, but he’s certainly capable of testing any Heavyweight. DROPPING: Jean Pierre Augustin and Gregory Corbin are not ready for Prime Time, not sure if either makes it to a big stage again?
FOX PPV’S NETWORK MINDSET: When they added a swing bout to the PPV broadcast. After Arreola’s quick victory, the viewing audience got an unexpected chance to watch Lindolfo Delgado who made quick work of James Roach. I think it was a great move and allows a young fighter to get great exposure. Maybe fighters knowing they may end up on PPV will not shy away from the swing or “walk out” bout, which happens usually after the Main Event when most of the crowd has left or is leaving the building? As a “stand by” fighter, you have to be ready from the start of the card as you can go on at anytime.
MARSELLOS WILDER is not Deontay Wilder, he is the Brother of Deontay Wilder. In the lineage of the likes of Rahman Ali (Muhammad Ali) and Roberto Chavez (Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr.) it is tough to be the brother of a superstar. They’ll always have the unfair expectations of greatness.
Never doubt BURLEY BROOKS being able to handle the big stage as his career moves up! For someone to make their pro debut on a major card, Brooks showed the poise of a veteran in his victory. The exposure and experience should serve him well as his career moves up and he fights at other venues.
MICHAEL CONLON is gonna make promoters reach out to sign any Irish talent after they have seen the kind of following an Irish fighter can develop.
GABRIEL ROSADO is a throwback warrior! Despite his 24-12 record, he is one or two big wins away from being right back in contention. Never in a boring fight, he always gives it his all. I just hope the wars don’t effect him after boxing or if his career ends up having 1 fight too many? He’s a great guy with a great family and deserves to enjoy the days where he can walk around and have fans reminisce on his career.
About the Editor
Army Veteran and former Professional Boxer Simon Ruvalcaba started boxing at the age of ten and Had a 71 fight amateur career which featured a 139 lbs. 1998 8th U.S. Army Boxing Championship out of Camp Casey, Korea and a spot on the prestigious Army Boxing Team at Fort Hood, TX. After a journeyman pro career of 18 fights, which included sparring sessions with many champions and contenders including Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell “Sweat Pea” Whitaker, Simon started writing and has contributed to many publications and websites including fighthype.com, pound4pound.com, Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, CA), Nevada Appeal (Carson City, NV). He has also been the Boxing Instructor for Ken Shamrock and The Lions Den and was MMA and Bareknuckle star Paige VanZant’s first boxing coach!
Born and Raised in South Lake Tahoe, California he now resides in Sun Valley, Nevada and spends as much time as possible with his Sons Gabriel and Oscar! Beyond boxing, Simon is an all around sports fanatic and is passionate about the teams that he roots for. Simon also works as a Sportsbook Supervisor for Caesars Sportsbook in Lake Tahoe.
