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JohnStarksMiddleFinger

JohnStarksMiddleFinger

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This is a article re-telling the backstage moments the night Billy Dib lost his belt.

Kinda long but good read.

50 Cent didnt even stick around for to hear the score cards :heh:
***
It’s almost time for Dib to leave for the dressing room. His gear, his trunks, his gloves, are all packed in their bags. Originally, he trained to fight another opponent. After the deal with Showtime fizzled, Fifty and his matchmaker had lined up Luis Franco, a Cuban defector living in Miami. The deal was made. “I have watched tape of Billy Dib and I have an idea of what I am going to do in the ring,” Franco said on a conference call announcing the fight. What Franco did not do was take a look at the size of the purse. Fifty was offering him $20,000. It was a paltry sum, though the title was worth a lot more if Franco would pull off a win. Franco reconsidered and pulled out.
Fifty had to find another fighter. Evgeny Gradovich signed on quickly. He didn’t care about the money. He wanted Dib’s title.
Dib now had to prepare for a new opponent. Gradovich is stronger than Franco, physically tougher, used to muscling guys around. The Russian comes from Siberia, where prizefighters are known for their steely pedigree.
Dib wanted more time to train for Gradovich. He didn’t have it. Dib also could have flown to the United States two weeks before the fight to get accustomed to the time change. He arrived from Australia only a week before. Gradovich didn’t worry about jet leg. He trains in California. He didn’t worry about the short notice, either. As a title contender, he always has to be in shape.
***

The main event is about to start. There’s a decent crowd in the arena off the casino, though not overflowing. On television, ESPN is replaying a promo spot they had filmed with Fifty about the proper way to throw punches. Floating around the ring with a cellphone is Lou DiBella, the New York promoter. DiBella agreed to co-promote the show. Fifty doesn’t have a boxing staff to organize all the bouts and take care of the paperwork. “He’s doing it the right way, trying to make friends,” DiBella says. “He really worked this event. I could learn a lot from him about marketing to a new demographic.”
Down out of the dressing room, Fifty had the microphone in his hand and waited in silence to hype the moment. In the ring, Gradovich was stretching his arms, throwing combinations in the air, getting in the zone.
Finally the music starts. Fifty leads Dib and his other fighters into the ring by rapping his new song.

World is gettin’ ready, everybody’s ready/For a new day, for a new day.
Dib looked okay for the first four rounds. As Gradovich backed him up, Dib used his feet to slip and counter. Dib didn’t have much snap to his punches, though. Then he stopped moving. He was standing in front of Gradovich, slugging with him. Stinker of all stinkers? Not anymore. By round four, Dib had thrown so many punches, he looked tired. It was hard for him to slip and move. Was it the lack of focused training? The jet lag?
Gradovich kept coming. His punches were crisp, clean bombs. Dib could not figure out a way to block, to get out of the way. The first cut came over Dib’s eye. It was a bad cut. Then a cut opened on his head, then another. It was a long night for Billy Dib.
The decision went to the judges. In the ring, Gradovich hugged his respective seconds and cutmen, advisors and managers. Dib was parked on his stool. Ringside doctors flashed the light in his eyes, scanning his retina for a response. Fifty was not with him. Fifty was the first in the ring to duck out, his publicist in tow. He missed the end of his first real promotion.
The scores came in. Gradovich jumped on the ropes with the belt and Dib left for the dressing room. The medics and ringside doctor followed him, the steel of their stethoscopes flashing under the pale lights in the concrete bowels of the casino theater. Dib was pushed down onto a brown leather couch to rest. The doctor flashed another light in his eyes. Dib better go the hospital, he said.
Dib refused to go. DiBella was in the room. He called Fifty from his phone.
“Hey Fifty, they want to take Billy to the hospital,” he said.
The stretcher arrived. There was an oxygen mask, the plastic hoses and straps swinging with the gear. The door of Dib’s dressing room was open. A crush of people tried to get in. The medics barked for everyone to leave. Fifty was back now. He looked in the dressing room. The medics had Dib on the stretcher.
“So they’re gonna take him to the hospital, he might have concussed,” DiBella told him.
“Well, he was going to have to get stitches anyway,” Fifty said.
“You should make sure they do a CAT scan,” DiBella said.
The medics are screaming at people to get out of the way, clear the room. Fifty went inside. He put his hand on Dib’s hand. He bent over to give Dib a hug. It was hard to embraced him because Dib was laid out on the stretcher. Fifty told him not to worry. He told Dib that even though he lost he proved he was an exciting fighter. He could stand in there and battle. His title was gone but his stock had gone up.
“EVERYBODY OUT!” a medic screamed.
Fifty and his friends retreated back to the private dressing room across the hall. They were all hanging out. In the center of the table, there was a cold vegetable platter that nobody touched. DiBella entered the room. He tried to make the best of things and reached for the vegetable platter.
“Look, you put on a great show,” he told Fifty. The main event was thrilling. The fans got their money’s worth. And there was always the chance for a rematch.
“It could be a great rematch,” DiBella said. He went on to describe the path through which a lucrative deal could be set up. He was getting excited. “It could be an HBO rematch,” he said.
Fifty kept to himself. After all those delays and different opponents, it was Fifty’s fighter that was going to the hospital, his fighter that lost the title. Fifty put his hand on DiBella’s shoulder.
“I got this,” he said.
~r~
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Full article:http://reader.roopstigo.com/view/roopster/story/708/#/chapter/1/
 
yoyoyo1

yoyoyo1

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Skip b said:
:ufdup:

D Class Cano did well against Paulie, Paulie aint shyt didnt I say that, cant you read muthafukker. Whats does beating on a blown up, feather fisted, paper champion prove, absolutely fukking nothing


Skipping a whole weight class, do you not remeber the days of Paulie being a small lww
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:whoa: Cano is the opposite of Broner. Cano just walked him down and give him trouble, Broner isn't gonna put his face in the way of any punches.

That's why I think this fight is more interesting than people think. Not-so-motivated Paulie cherrypicked a guy who was horrible for him style-wise, Broner is a bit of a better match. Khan has lighting hands and comes forward not afraid of anything coming back too, Broner isn't that.

Just hoping Paulie gets a million or something as a going-away present.
 
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mson

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yoyoyo1 said:
:whoa: Cano is the opposite of Broner. Cano just walked him down and give him trouble, Broner isn't gonna put his face in the way of any punches.

That's why I think this fight is more interesting than people think. Not-so-motivated Paulie cherrypicked a guy who was horrible for him style-wise, Broner is a bit of a better match. Khan has lighting hands and comes forward not afraid of anything coming back too, Broner isn't that.

Just hoping Paulie gets a million or something as a going-away present.
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Me too. I know he probably has a full-time gig with showtime in the bag, but he might come back if the money is right.
 
yoyoyo1

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Y! SPORTS

this is kind of a wack article on broner/paulie but it makes some good points

Team Broner's basic logic behind making the bout is sound enough-- It's going to be a nice payday for what should be an easy fight. It will also ease some of the weight-making burden from Broner, who walks around as a junior middleweight and has had some weight issues in the past.

But 23-year-old fighters with pound-for-pound ability and superstar potential don't take such a cynical path so early in their careers. This apparent career path could test the boundaries of modern marketing. Can a fighter become a superstar without ever paying his dues or going through a series of legacy-defining fights? Can a fighter become a superstar just because he's supposed to be a superstar?
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As for Malignaggi, he's likely giddy over this idea. The feather-fisted Brooklyn native is currently Golden Boy's Thanksgiving turkey, kept in the back yard and fattened up, all with the understanding that he will be fed to the next fighter the promotional company wants as WBA champ. A Broner fight would bring in a bigger payday than just about anyone else in the weight range (except for guys like Mayweather and Pacquiao) and would also offer him the slightest sliver of a chance at an upset. And even if Paulie does get battered and beaten, Broner could very well vacate the belt right after he wins it and allow for the former junior welterweight titlist to once again sneak in through the back door to reclaim the title.
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