Tuesday, October 07, 2008 Quijano: ‘Karate Kid’ slices Kimbo By Jingo Quijano Last Round
AFTER unheralded (and last minutesub) Seth Petruzellie dismantled Kimbo Slice in just 14 seconds last Sunday, blow-by-blow commentator Gus Johnson of CBS screamed like a man possessed: “Rocky is here.. The most incredible victory in the history of mixed martial arts.”
I almost fell of my chair laughing.
KARATE KID. Not only was he awfully mistaken about the victory in the history mumbo-jumbo crap, he was also way off on the movie character bit.
If you have time, look the video up on YouTube, and notice Seth resemble another well-loved movie character after he fakes with the front kick and has his right knee up with both arms slightly raised.
Tan-ta-ta-da-dah (drum rolls please). It’s Ralph Macchiao from the “Karate Kid!”
HYPE. Kidding aside, you will notice that it wasn’t even much of a right hand, but it caught an advancing Kimbo flush as he was leaning forward with his left hand low while he was distracted by a front kick that never landed.
Down went the much-hyped street fighter who couldn’t defend himself from Seth’s follow- up onslaught.
And just like in the James Thompson fight, when Kimbo is flat on his back he just doesn’t possess enough skills to defend against the basic ground and pound. But really, what can you expect from a guy with only less than five mixed martial arts fights to his name.
MARKETING STRATEGY? While the result was probably jolting to some, what happened is actually not much different from other MMA bouts everywhere. Throw this fight in some undercard in an obscure arena anywhere in the USA and this would fit right in.
The problem lies in the fact that this was the main event on a primetime network on CBS under Elite XC’s banner MMA show. And just like that, many writers declared the Kimbo myth exposed.
Anytime you hype a fighter without sufficient fighting background in MMA and you pencil him in as a main eventer, you run the risk of an experiment blowing up in your faces.
The truth is, Kimbo is an internet phenomenon who built his fearsome reputation fighting on backyards and run-down garages. Sure, he’s a pretty decent brawler and on any given night, he can probably knockout anybody with a perfectly placed punch, but to anoint him as Elite XC’s flagship fighter was just plain marketing suicide.
E-MAIL. Last Rounder Jake McClaine reacted to my column “Selling a Suggestion”
“It is a good article and all your points are seemingly shared by thousands of boxing enthusiast all over the country. Nonetheless, you misquoted Freddie when he said that Oscar can no longer “pull the trigger.” For Freddie, it is throwing a punch in a right angle, putting all the power in it, at the right time, that Oscar failed to do in his fight with Mayweather.
Nobody knows the outcome, despite all the odds in favor of Oscar. Boxing analyst/experts as they may be, but Freddie knows something that these sports commentators might have failed to notice. Come fight night, many of them will eat their articles. While I personally believe that Pacman will lose this fight, I would not venture to predict the outcome of the fight as I recognize Freddie to understand the fight more than anyone else.”
Thanks Jake for your insights. Maybe we have a different interpretation on what Freddie said. Like you, I have a lot of respect for Freddie’s capabilities, and he definitely knows more about both fighters than we do. But Freddie also predicted a stoppage win for Manny in the second fight with Marquez and expected an easy win for Brian Viloria against Omar Nino. The bottom line is that while Freddie’s knowledge will definitely be a factor coming in to this fight, a lot of things can happen in the ring that a trainer, even one as celebrated as Freddie, cannot prepare against. Cheers!
LAST ROUND. It’s on my good buddy, Mark Antonio of San Carlos City who recently celebrated his birthday with lovely wife Nanette and the growing Antonio brood. Cheers!
