Your weekly random thoughts …
• I was personally very saddened this week to hear about the untimely death of trainer Oscar Suarez, who died at age 47 just a few weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, leaving behind his wife and their kids. I had gotten to know Suarez over the years and he was a good, genuine man. I knew him mostly through his work with Acelino "Popo" Freitas, one of my favorite fighters for whom I named one of my cats Popo.
Suarez always had a smile on his face, was always happy to translate for Freitas when I interviewed him and, most important, I believed he truly cared for the well being of his fighters. He got a big kick out of the fact that I had named my cat Popo. He also always had a protective instinct when it came to his fighters. It was Suarez who tried to take the blame for telling Freitas to quit after a third, brutal knockdown against Diego "Chico" Corrales. And it was Suarez who did stop Freitas' fight with Juan Diaz, because he knew Freitas had taken enough. More important than winning a fight, Suarez, who would always call me "Boss," wanted to ensure that his fighter would go home to his family in good health after a hard night's work.
One moment I won't ever forget happened the night that Corrales beat Freitas. By coincidence, my hotel room at Foxwoods was a couple of doors down from Freitas' suite. I was already back in my room after the fight when Freitas, Suarez and the rest of team returned. I poked my head out of my door to see what the commotion was all about. The group motioned for me to join them in the suite, which was a hive of activity as Popo's mother, brother and wife were packing for the next day's trip home to Brazil and promoter Artie Pelullo huddled with the attorney and accountant. Freitas, meanwhile, was laying down in the main bedroom after the hard TKO loss when he asked Suarez to come into the room. A moment later, Suarez emerged and told me that Freitas would like for me to come in. I obliged. Freitas, badly bruised, curled up in the blankets and wearing a Joe Louis sweatshirt, began talking and Suarez translated: "Popo told me to tell you that he hopes that just because he lost his fight you won't change the cat's name." I assured Suarez that I would never do that and he repeated it to Freitas, who smiled. Suarez and I left the room a few minutes later. As we did, he put his arm around me and said, "Thanks, Boss." He will be missed.
• In the wake of Juan Manuel Marquez's impressive 11th-round knockout of Joel Casamayor to win the recognized lightweight championship, it's pretty obvious that in lieu of a third meeting with Manny Pacquiao, who is occupied with that guy Oscar De La Hoya, the most meaningful fight in the division is Marquez against Nate Campbell, who owns three alphabet belts. But don't hold your breath. More likely, Golden Boy will keep matters in the family by matching Marquez with former titleholder Diaz, who lost his belts to Campbell in March. Don't get me wrong -- Marquez-Diaz is a top-notch fight, one I'd love to see and one that I think would do strong business. But I'd also like to see a way for Marquez-Campbell to happen.
• I watched the Marquez-Casamayor pay-per-view on my trusty DVR when I got home from the fight and I have to say that even though it was not an HBO-produced telecast (only distributed), it was a quality broadcast. Golden Boy hired Frank Belmont's production company to handle the telecast and it was enjoyable with a good pace, clean graphics and not too much fluff. I thought announcers Barry Tompkins (one of the best ever) and Ron Borges did a solid job calling the fights without too much hype, as you often see when the promoter is in charge of the production. Mario Lopez, as host on Mexican Independence Day weekend, was also a nice touch and gave it a big-show feel. He wasn't just a pretty face either. Lopez is, in fact, a hard-core fight fan.
• Did anything perk you up more this week than to hear that Oscar Diaz had come out of his coma?
• I don't know about you, but I am pumped for the return of HBO's "24/7" on Oct. 26. This edition will follow the buildup to the Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones fight. Even if it's only half as good as the previous two runs of the show, it will still be terrific.
• The junior welterweight division is not as deep as it was a few years ago when Kostya Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather, Ricky Hatton, Arturo Gatti and Miguel Cotto were all there, but there is some talent. I thought Timothy Bradley Jr. looked very good dominating Edner Cherry to retain his title last Saturday. On the same night on a competing card, rising star Victor Ortiz blitzed Roberto Arrieta in five rounds. They're two of the best young 140-pounders around and I would love to see Bradley defend his title against Ortiz in the near future. It has "Boxing After Dark" classic written all over it.
• I can't be the only one sick and tired of the search for an opponent for David Haye, can I? Between the lowball money offers to opponents and the fact that trainer/manager Adam Booth is utterly petrified for Haye to fight anyone who might actually tap his fragile chin, the whole search has been a circus.
• Only in today's era of boxing, which is polluted by an array of crazy alphabet titles doled out by corrupt sanctioning organizations to champions, super champions, interim champions, regular champions and champions emeritus (I think I got them all), would this be possible: When Jorge Arce stopped Rafael Concepcion Monday night in Mexico City (in a terrific fight, by the way), he claimed an interim junior bantamweight title, making him a three-time interim champion in three different weight classes (junior flyweight, flyweight and junior bantamweight). I think that is hilarious. Arce has actually won more interim belts (three) than non-interim titles (two) because he twice won versions of the junior flyweight crown.
• He's one of the people most boxing fans have never heard of, but he was invaluable behind the scenes. That's why I wanted to take a minute to wish publicist Dan Clavadetscher of Brener Zwikel & Associates -- the folks who handle the media center for most big fights as well as the Showtime boxing account -- the best of luck as he embarks on a new career as a teacher. Clavadetscher, the master of all things pop culture and the guy who knows more lines from movies and TV shows than anyone I have ever met, worked for BZA since 1997 and has been helpful more times than I can count.
• DVD pick of the week: With Vernon Forrest having reclaimed a junior middleweight title from Sergio Mora last week and Ricardo Mayorga set to face Shane Mosley next week, Forrest and Mayorga were on my mind. So I dug out the DVD from Jan. 25, 2003, to check out their first exciting encounter. Forrest, who was coming off a second consecutive victory against Mosley and had just signed a huge contract with HBO, was paired with the somewhat unknown Mayorga in a welterweight unification match. Forrest, perhaps looking a bit past Mayorga, found himself in a slugfest, the completely wrong style of fight for him to excel in. It was a terrific fight until the wild-swinging Mayorga leveled Forrest in the third round with a series of big blows to score the knockout and unify the titles in one of the most best fights and biggest upsets of the year. Six months later, Mayorga won the rematch by stunningly outboxing Forrest to retain the title via majority decision.
Dan Rafael
