But Lorenzo vows to beat Felix Sturm Next week’s meager schedule is centered in Europe, which has become one of the hotbeds of a cold sport. You remember Europe? It gave us the Reformation, the Age of Reason, the Renaissance. And World War I, World War II, the Inquisition and the Holocaust. Read more boxing articles from Michael Katz. But as boxing has declined in the States, it has thrived back among the erstwhile colonial powers. Between the East Europeans and the Germans, the Continentals have pretty much taken over the heavyweight division, lowering the status of what used to be the game’s flagship to an old bucket on these shores. I do not pretend to know the reason for this, though unlike most American scribes, I have covered fights all over the Continent, from Cardiff to Munich, from Stockholm to Madrid. I covered Muhammad Ali in Zurich, Carlos Monzon in Paris, Rome and Monte Carlo. Big deal. Still can’t pick my nose.
There’s not much pressure on this week’s selection. Felix Sturm is the heavy favorite to retain the WBA’s "super" version of the middleweight – that’s 160 pounds, not 168 for ordinary super middleweights – in his home haunts of Cologne against a New York-based Dominican, Giovanni Lorenzo.
Sturm is best remembered for losing a controversial decision in Las Vegas to Oscar de la Hoya in 2004. He is a slick boxer with no power but a decent chin. His only other pro loss was to Javier Castillejo of Spain, by tenth-round stoppage, and he avenged it the following year. I’ve seen Sturm as high as minus $4.50, but I cannot recommend a 31-year-old boxer who has been inactive for more than a year. Punchers you can bet on after layoffs or at advanced stages of their careers. Power seldom dissipates. But speed and reflexes, if not well-honed, can be quite flighty and Lorenzo, though he really hasn’t beaten much on his 29-2 record, does have 21 knockouts to his credit. His two losses were on points, the first to ancient Raul Marquez in 2008 by three counts of 114-113 after having a point deducted for head-butting, a frequent offense. He lost a split decision in 2009 to Sebastian Sylvester, whom Sturm out-pointed the year before. Of course, I do not expect anyone to rush out and take the plus $3.50 or so buyback rate on Lorenzo. It’s Labor Day weekend, the opening of the football season. There obviously is going to be many more attractive propositions outside my bailiwick. For six wonderful years, my bailiwick was Europe. Paris was home and, yes, it is a moveable feast. Maybe not for boxing – I go back to Marcel Cerdan Jr., the only Frenchman who did not like Edith Piaf, the chanteuse who helped break up his parents’ marriage. Back in those days, the suits who ran boxing in Europe could probably have given lessons in chicanery to the alphabet organizations. Not only were fights "arranged," so were titles. If it weren’t for the somewhat exotic surroundings – okay, Zurich or Grenoble aren’t exactly "exotic" – I might have soured on the sport a lot sooner than I did. Of course, for me nothing – World Series, Super Bowl, maybe even the Breeders’ Cup – can top the excitement of a major fight. Maybe I’ll live long enough to see another one.
Less than seven hours after completing the linking of Pai Gow progressive jackpots at gaming tables for all 10 Station Casinos, a Virginia man hit that progressive with a 7-card straight flush that included a joker. He won more than $200,000.
The New York Giants just completed a startling three-game run through the NFC playoff jungle with a 3-0 mark ATS. By contrast, the New England Patriots enjoyed a first-round bye and home playoff wins over underdogs Denver and Baltimore.
Wynn Las Vegas sports book director Johnny Avello tried to hang on with the Patriots -3 as long as he could, but finally had to give in on Thursday morning when the culmination of Giants money over the first 11 days of action became too much.
From the time we knew who would be playing in the Super Bowl, I’ve always had a lean on the Patriots to win. As great as the Giants have been on their march to the Super Bowl, I still can’t get their bad losses out of my head.
Being in Las Vegas, it’s easy to forget just how many people are betting the Super Bowl "illegally" around the nation. A survey released Tuesday found that at least 25 million Americans will bet money on this Sunday’s Patriots-Giants NFL title game.
