In reaction
to the news that we might be seeing a junior middleweight match-up between Alfredo
Angulo and James Kirkland in Cancun, Mexico on November 5th on HBO,
the always opinionated Lou DiBella tweeted (@loudibella): "Nothing wrong w/Angulo vs Kirkland, but should a guy be rewarded
for getting tossed out of the country for improper behavior? @ hboboxing." He then added: “Funny, but when i was at @ hboboxing, i was barred from Mexico
as gen rule. Safer now? I was also prohibited from going to Canada as
promoter"
After
reading this, I responded (@stevemaxboxing): “People who put on fights with 26-1 odds and really bad Berto fights
should not complain about Angulo-Kirkland being made #boxing”
OK, later
on, DiBella and I talked and he made it clear that he didn't really have a
problem with the fight itself (as he originally tweeted) but some of the
circumstances around it. Fair enough, but to me it's very simple. For better or
worse, I'm a bloodthirsty savage (and judging by the reaction I got on Twitter,
so are many of you) and I don't care if two axe murderers are matched-up, if it
looks like it's going to be a slugfest- I want to witness it. Don't care where
it takes place, at the Home Depot Center in Carson or Kabul, Afghanistan (where
I don't think HBO would agree to go, by the way). And I'd rather see a fight
between two criminals than two choirboys, truth be told.
Both Angulo
and Kirkland have run afoul of various laws but last I checked, no laws are
being broken here in having these two meet in Mexico. And while one is still
working out his immigration issues (Angulo), the other has served his time (Kirkland).
Does DiBella have a problem with Michael Vick getting “rewarded” for his past
transgressions with a $100 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles? These
men still have a right to earn a living, last time I checked.
I'm no
moral arbiter (thankfully for our society) but neither is the sport and
business of boxing. This is about prizefights, not putting together the Mormon
Tabernacle Choir. Boxing is made up of hard men, who often times have troubled
backgrounds- hey, it's one of the reasons why they've had to turn to the most
brutal and unforgiving of professions. If a certain segment of the population
has a problem with Angulo-Kirkland, they can choose to ignore this fight.
DiBella
should realize, when you point fingers, three of them come right back at you.
He should live and let live and concentrate on his own promotions and making
sure that his client, Sergio Martinez, has more fans for his upcoming bout than
your usual high school recital.
