Franchise Thoughts: Time for Shoe Shining

I don't have a single topic to serve as the basis of a long form post, so why not touch on a bunch of things in short form? Time for...

SHOE SHINING

Props go out to Tavoris Cloud, one of my favorite boxers most people don't know, for his IBF light heavyweight title win on Saturday night. Cloud received some criticism for staying inactive for a little over a year while he sought his title shot, but that move paid off in the end.

Yes, as my brother Uatu pointed out, it wasn't the most exciting fight ever. But I think Tavoris actually showed some improvemement by not just swinging away wildly, especially after he saw that Clinton Woods was looking to counter.

He's still a work in progress, but maybe a few more doors will open for him now. Paging Chad Dawson - assuming he beats Glen Johnson...

What is the real deal on Juan Manuel Marquez and his chances of beating Floyd Mayweather in a few weeks? According to promoter Oscar De La Hoya, everything is peachy, and Floyd is ripe for the picking during his comeback fight.

For a hilarious opposing view, there's the latest column from Michael Marley, who compares the mood in JMM's camp to that of a convicted prisoner on death row, among other things. Marley says Nacho Beristain is dismayed at a lack of speedy sparing partners for Marquez and is even gloomier than normal. Take with grains of salt if necessary...

Boxing on the big screen? It used to happen regularly (real fights, not just Rocky movies!) and now it's going to again, at least temporarily, as the Mayweather-JMM fight will appear on about 170 screens nationwide.

On paper it seems like a great idea, and the fan in me likes the idea of seeing fights on a huge movie screen and enjoying the communal experience of watching with other diehards. But I think it's application will be limited to just two or three big bouts a year, tops...

I'm not sure how I missed this, because "Dancing With the Stars" is my wife's favorite show, but apparently Joe Calzaghe will be competing on the seventh season of its British counterpart, "Strictly Come Dancing."

If anyone thinks JoeCal can't win, watch his Roy Jones fight again. The man can shimmy...

Not strictly boxing-related, but a fight of sorts between award-winning columnist John Canzano and the gang at Yahoo! Sports after he gave the thumbs down to the violence in MMA while attending UFC 102. Needless to say this didn't go over well with Steve Cofield and company. Writer fight!

I bring it up here because as much as I agree with the people who left comments after Canzano's column suggesting he was overreacting, a number of them decided to drag boxing into the discussion (but not Cofield, so kudos to him). For the umpteenth time, people, you don't need to tear down one sport to build up the other. If you don't like one, just ignore it and leave it to those of us who do.

Posted by The Franchise