The State: Trump Card

From a spark grows a thought

till its frozen in art

so I’m hoping that this opus 

finds its way to your heart ~

To be sure, the “Sweet Science” is an art, and the combatants who risk their souls to sell themselves are artists. Their work sprayed on a canvas with blood, sweat and tears.They say that cheap work ain’t good and good work ain’t cheap. Then again, the best things in life are said to be free. God help those who live by axioms, or those who pay for “Iron Mike” Tyson Vs Roy Jones Jr.

All my life I thought air was free (as Tyson/Jones should be) until considering a bag of chips.

With Donald Trump just kind of Joe Biden his time in the Oval Office after some 80 million Americans screamed in unison “You’re Fired!” (middle finger and all), it had me thinking about Floyd Mayweather and his apprentice. Trump ran the country in the same manner he ran his TV show — full of bravado and chutzpah — while nearly 80 million people wanted more of the same for another four years. Divided we stand, united won’t fall. The same guy responsible for Tyson vs Michael Stinks over 30 years ago, was by my estimation, good for the sport during his tumultuous tenure, as new stars arrived. 

I’ll never forget a waving Trump sauntering around MSG in October 2015 for Gennadiy Golovkin vs David Lemieux, in what was a peaking GGG’s real coming-out party.

“Money” is a fan of Trump…

“Money” visited Trump and his dunce-cap son in November 2016, and then later defended Trump’s “pussy grab” comments as an example of how “real men” talk.

…and runs Gervonta “Tank” Davis in the same manner he ran his unbeaten career — full of bravado and chutzpah — while pushing a hate it or love swag “I’m good.” Playing his Trump card with impeccable timing, Tank went a true “One-Time” on a tough Leo Santa Cruz in a way that should make an M.I.A Keith Thurman revisit his nickname (he won’t, but it worked for “Pretty Boy” Floyd, “Money” and “TBE”). 

This is the world’s best lightweight with a chandelier ceiling high as fuck. Challenging that notion would be unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez, who put a very polished and professional version of Agent Smith in front of a Neo stuck in purgatory for much of their tactical thriller. The way boxing used to work, we’d see Tank in there with that “Bad Mother F’er” in 2021. But we know better, don’t we? Throw in the exploits of a huge lightweight in Devin Haney and the budding superstar in Ryan Garcia, and 135 becomes must-see TV in 2021. As for Vasiliy Lomachenko, who’d been overachieving at lightweight, the best way for him to bring back the cape is going back down to super featherweight, where former sparring ace and WBO super featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson resides.The way boxing used to work, that match-up would be somewhere on the horizon.

To the surprise of no one, Terence Crawford smoked Kell Brook. The best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport is now on the prowl for a superfight with ageless wonder and WBA welterweight champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. I stood next to Crawford at the post-fight press conference after Pac schooled Jessie Vargas at UNLV’s Thomas and Mack Center in November 2016, where he hoped to challenge Pacquiao then and there. Pacquiao wound up skipping that presser and should skip Bud now. It’s a bad time for Pac to consider smoking Bud and he should still say no to drugs. A peaking Crawford is on a serious KO streak, and would add Pacquiao to that list. The way boxing used to work, Floyd Mayweather would go vintage Bernard Hopkins and challenge Crawford himself. Unless we’re talking Pacquiao vs Marquez V somewhere in the Philippines, the living legend and seasoned politician should focus on being a world leader and hang up the gloves.

Wishful thinking. 

What we all know is that Crawford and Errol Spence now have a common opponent in Kell Brook, who was simply damaged goods by the time Bud got to him. The only way to settle things is in the ring, and “The Truth” is, if Spence can make “Swift” work out of Danny Garcia, the drum beats for war can start anew. What a crazy COVID-19 reality in the dark year of 2020, one that sees Oscar De La Hoya announcing a comeback. But against who but Floyd?

Somehow it all manages to go back to “Money,” and if all else fails at least we can blame Donald Trump.       

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2, the last column by Gatling for NYF before he went on the writing-about-boxing-sabbatical.