Weekend Ombudsman: NFL Draft and Boxing

Boxing and football.

Two weekend reflections:

1) The Redskins' Draft. Most people, including TWO, were pleased with the Redskins draft. That does not mean that it was a good draft, it just means that Dan Snyder's plans to ruin the franchise were thwarted and we literally were forced into making a good decision (Brian Orakpo) with our first round pick. Vinny Cerrato's inability to correctly pronounce Orakpo (he kept saying Orapko) at the post-draft press conference at first seems like a funny/harmless slip up until you consider the fact that this man is charged with vigorously and thoroughly researching the minutia of all potential players that could be drafted and thus determine the franchise's future. And Vinny doesn't know the last name of our first round pick?

If that isn't evidence enough of our scant research, consider that the Redskins also selected a LB, Cody Glenn, who had pedestrian stats and was injured/suspended for most of his senior season. When questioned about the reason for the suspension - he lied. Hey - he's an average athlete and injury prone, but at least he's dishonest! In the 7th round, we picked a wide receiver described as having "failed to impress the NFL scouts." Guess which scouts were apparently totally impressed? Vinny & co.

Hail.

2. Carl Froch - Jermaine Taylor. Arguably one of the best fights of the year came and went with very little fanfare because of the NFL draft and NBA & NHL playoff series. Taylor dominated the early part of the fight, knocking down the undefeated Froch for the first time in his career, but Froch came back and scored a TKO with 14 seconds left in the 12th and final round to win. Taylor was ahead on all cards and would have won the fight otherwise. A couple of things. First, people compared the stoppage of the fight to a fight 19 years ago involving a different Taylor. The famous 1990 Meldrick Taylor - Julio Cesar Chavez fight probably shouldn't have been stopped. However, the Froch-Taylor fight was different. TWO, who was rooting for Jermaine Taylor, believes that the fight was correctly stopped as Taylor literally could not defend himself at all -- a defenseless fighter can sustain serious damage in just a few seconds, let alone 14.

Second, Jermaine Taylor is one of those guys who is frustrating to root for. He is similar to Zab Judah, in that he is faster and more talented than almost all of his opponents. Both Judah and Taylor do not have the requisite stamina to do well against top competition in fights that go past 7 rounds. Judah also has serious lapses in concentration and some behavioral issues, which adds to his problems. Taylor, meanwhile, is incredibly likeable which makes it all the more difficult to stomach what appears to be a lack of adequate preparation. If you look at Taylor's losses, he was faster than and should have knocked out Kelly Pavlik in Taylor-Pavlik I and lost a close fight in Taylor-Pavlik II. Taylor was clearly the faster and more powerful boxer through the first half of the Froch fight. Had he not completely collapsed in the 12th round - literally, anything short of a knockout or stoppage - he wins the fight. Zab Judah, meanwhile, has been outclassed by two fighters - Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto (the latter just barely). His four other losses, in TWO's opinion, have been due to failure to adequately prepare or lapses in concentration. Even the Kostya Tszyu fight generally favored Zab, until he took 4 seconds off at the end of the 2nd round, got punched in the mouth and then staggered around jabbering to the referree like a drunk businessman hitting on a flight attendant on a turbulent plane.

What a simile!

In conclusion, Hatton in an upset over Pacquiao this weekend.