I just realized that this is The G Manifesto’s 1000th post.
Decent.
And what better way to celebrate that milestone than with a classic fight between two G Manifesto Hall of Fame Members Arturo Gatti and Angel Manfredy?
If you have never seen this fight, watch it. You can learn a ton about boxing and heart.
I had the pleasure of meeting both these cats. Both of the were total class acts. (I also met Ivan Robinson around the same time, who waged two epic wars with Arturo Gatti and lost to Angel Manfredy. Also cool as f*ck.)
Make sure you watch Angel Manfredy’s post fight interview (starts about 2:40 of the last video posted).
For all the people that doubted me in my life, and tried to stop me, all I have to say to you is what Angel Manfredy had to say to all those that bet against him:
Alright. Stop what your doing, because I’m about to ruin the image and style that your used to.
It is time again for The G Manifesto “Best of 2011″ Awards.
Once again, these Awards are places or things that I have been to or experienced in 2011. So don’t get itchy if your local dive bar in Denver or favorite P.F. Wang’s in Poughkeepsie didn’t make the list.
Here are the rest of the Best of 2011, G Manifesto Awards:
Best International Nightlife City: Montreal, Canada. I am in love with this city. I am not sure of too many things, but this I am sure of: I will spend at least two months this summer in Montreal. Honestly, I think I can swoop a fly girl 8 out of 10 nights I go out there. It is probably closer to 10 out of 10, but I don’t want to sound like I am bragging. I almost slit my wrists for not coming sooner.
Honorable Mentions:New York City. I had too much success there in 2011 to leave it out.
Most Overrated US Nightlife City:Los Angeles. California has become a Police State, and Wessyde nightlife has gone down the tubes with it. California nightlife needs a whole new start like a person with a severed arm needs a tourniquet and a shot of tequila.
Best US Nightlife District: Brickell, Miami. Quality of girl is off the charts.
Best US Restaurant for Fly Girls:Cipriani’s. No single restaurant in America holds as many stunners.
Best International Nightclub:Andre Carne de Res, Bogota. I don’t get impressed by nightclubs any more. Well, that’s until I stepped into Andre Carne de Res in Bogota. Place is sicker than a cancer victim.
Best High-Action City:Abidjan , Ivory Coast. It went off the rope earlier this year. I hit a decent Cocoa trade playing the political takeover as well. To be frank though, the time I spent on the horn and researching that trade, it wasn’t that great.
Best Day Game City: Miami Beach. Lincoln road. No question.
Best Beach: El Sardinero, Santander, Spain is more breathtaking than northern California’s coastline. And more striking than La Jolla, California.
Best International Restaurant:La Taberna del Gourmet, Alicante, Spain. The food is so good it made old E-tab and Cocaine buzzes hit me. Seriously, my nose got sweaty while dining here. Ate here three nights straight at one point.
Honorable Mention: Toque and Au Pied Du Cuchon, Montreal. Both these restaurants are straight crack.
Best Trade: The Silver trade. I rode the silver miners up and sold out earlier in the year. And unbelieveably sold out of my paper silver near the top. Super lucky. Now I buy physical on the dips.
Best US Restaurant: Joe’s Stone Crab. Miami Beach’s answer to former G Manifesto “Best of” winner, Galitories. Illmatic. I even got a table on the last day of Stone Crab season with two fly Latinas.
Best International Hotel: Hotel Maria Cristina, San Sebastián, Spain.
Best US Hotel: The Plaza Hotel, NYC.
Worst US Hotel: Shore Club, Miami Beach. Place has slipped. The service is a joke compared to Las Vegas. Place kind of made me edgy. And that is not easy to do.
Quote of The Year:“It’s so crazy. I am in America. The country that I represent, the Red, White and Blue. I make money in America. I feed the American citizens, I feed the people that are less fortunate in America. Even when I make it rain, I am still throwing money to Americans!.”By Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the post Victor Ortiz Fight presser.
That quote would have been hilarious alone as a joke. But the fact that Floyd was dead serious when he said it not only makes it the “quote of the year” it makes it the funniest thing said all year as well.
Best Movie:The Business. Finally a real International Playboy in a movie. Of course, it wasn’t a Hollywood movie, but that is to be expected.
Best Actress: Don’t know. Probably some P0rn girl.
Best Hip-Hop Album: Oneirology by CunninLynguists
Best Hip-Hop Track: Pusha T- Don’t Fuck With Me (Drake Diss) Someone had to destroy Drake. And who better to do it than Pusha T?
“Rappers on their sophomores, actin’ like they boss lords Fame such a funny thing for sure
When n*ggas start believing all them encores I’m just the one to send you off, bonjour“
Best Break out Hip-Hop Artist: Action Bronson. Bringing back those hard New York Street bangers for your ear drums.
Best Soul Track and Album: Raphael Saadiq, Stone Rollin
G’s of The Year: Miguel Cotto and Nicolas Berggruen. Cotto is an obvious choice. If you are not familiar with Berggruen, you should be. This guy is the ultimate International Playboy/ Perpetual Traveler. Peep the Data Sheet on the cat:
Long before dabbling with blank-check companies, Berggruen had already made enough money to buy all of the trappings of the ultrarich: a Fifth Avenue apartment in Manhattan, a mansion on a private island near Miami, the Gulfstream IV and artworks by Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol. Berggruen says that living amid all of that luxury turned into a burden and didn’t make him happy.
Buffett Pledge
“I understand the human instinct to want to create a nest and possess things, to show them off,” he says. “But for me personally, it became less and less interesting.”
So in 2000, Berggruen sold his houses, put his art collection in storage and gave away or sold most of his possessions, including his car. He says his decision to live a rootless existence wasn’t a means of dodging taxes; he says he pays them in the U.S.
The investor, who signed a pledge promoted by fellow billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to donate at least half of their wealth, says he’ll give away all of it eventually. “Everything I do now is about growing the pot to have more to give away,” he says.
He has never married and says he is not interested in having children. Berggruen has been photographed at charity and fashion events arm in arm with a series of actresses and models, including Gabriella Wright, a British actress.
It looks like his Wessyde Base of Operations is The Peninsula hotel in Beverly Hills. A place I am not all that unfamiliar with for knocking back some early night cocktails.
He still should bust a pocket square, but no one did it bigger and better than Berggruen and Cotto in 2011.
Already making heavy, and I mean heavy moves in 2012. Should be an even better year.
However, upon watching the fight a second time, it only strengthens my views.
1. Floyd was completely controlling the fight. He was doting up Ortiz with almost every punch. Ortiz was only going to last 3 more rounds tops.
2. Ortiz was butting Mayweather constantly in the fight. He did it in the first. He did it in the second. The third and at least three times in the fourth before the “final headbutt”. Floyd didn’t complain the entire time. Now that’s G.
3. The Referee gave at least two verbal warnings for head butts prior to the “final headbutt”. There might have been three warnings.
4. Floyd’s Knockout punch was completely legit and shouldn’t have even been questioned by anyone. Especially when you consider what happened previous. Payback is a b*tch. I think James Brown said that.
It is amazing and a travesty that Floyd was thought of as the villian in this fight.
There was only one fighter who did anything wrong, and his name was Victor Ortiz.
Just kind of shows you where the world is at these days; backwards.
But then again, you got guys in America where skinny jeans and shirts with glitter in modern society.
McP’s Irish Pub, Coronado: Navy SEAL Sniper Chris Kyle Knocks Out Jesse Ventura?
Believe it or not, I was watching Fox News the other night (I sometimes do for a few minutes just to see how idiot Americans think) and caught a clip of chickenhawk coward Bill O’Reilly interviewing Navy Seal Chris Kyle, who has something like 200 sniper kills. Great.
However, right at the beginning of the interview, O’Reilly starts talking about a section of the book that Chris Kyle is peddling where Kyle supossedly punched and dropped Former Governor, former Navy Seal and former Mongol, Jesse Ventura.
He also goes on to slander Ventura pretty bad when he says Ventura told him, “You deserved to lose a few (Navy Seals), over there.”
Keep in mind that O’Reilly has beef with Ventura and starts spazzing like a little girl with a brand new Barbie doll when Kyle recounts the story. Peep it:
Right off the bat, this story seems a little shaky.
Now, I know Coronado, I have been going there since I was a young pup. I know the place like the back of my hand.
My Godfather is a main gun there on the “in the shadows” tip. He once came out of the shadows for a brief period, and that is all I will say on the matter, as it would be easy to figure out his identity.
My 2nd best running partners grandfather is a Coronado legend. And worldwide legend. And that is all I will say on that as well.
Suffice to say, I know Coronado, California and some of my earliest memories as a child were visiting my Godfather, The Hotel Del and the beach there.
Initially, I wouldn’t deny that this happened, but in Coronado, if there is a fight (or any type of crime) trust me on this one, police will be involved. (California is a Police State now after all.)
Here is Venturas response to the accusations:
Exclusive: Jesse Ventura Demands Fox Retraction for Sniper’s Lies 1/3
Here are a few more of my thoughts after listening to Ventura’s side of the story:
1. Basically, what the guy describes is sucker punching an older guy and running. Not really brag worthy.
2. He slanders Ventura pretty bad. I know Ventura is anti-war (like pretty much everyone I know who served in a war), but it seems completely out of character that he would say that “you deserve to lose a few men”.
3. In the age of cell phone cameras and TMZ, and everything else weesh that our modern day society has cooked up, it is hard to think this wasn’t captured by someone. Or in the news. Especially in Coronado.
4. I am pretty good at reading people, I have had to be in my line of work, and from Ventura’s voice, it doesn’t sound like he is lying. The younger cat gives off strange energy and body language. Maybe he just got back from Iraq, so maybe that is why. I would have to know more details, but if I had to bet money, the younger cat seems a little more shaky.
So I decided to step into McP’s Irish Pub (the site of the alleged incident) and get a Guinness and one of their Reubens that I like (I have probably been here 10-15 times before in my life).
After asking around a little about this story, and talking with people I know (I keep friends in high and low places and have eyes and ears everywhere), I can say with 99.9% accuracy (I wasn’t there after all) that Chris Kyle’s story is completely false.
Side note:
I have the utmost respect for those who have served in the military. Almost all my family has. My Father has. My Godfather has. I support the troops 110%.
And trust me, Navy SEAL are cats that you don’t want to mess with.
I have some Navy SEAL brawl stories, some hilarious, that I might share down the road.
Cotto VS Margarito II. I might not have technically been the “best fight” of 2011, but Cotto’s revenge stood out a the greatest win in Boxing for 2011. Hell, it was the greatest win in all of sport for 2011.
And if you think about it, this win erases the Margarito “loss” and only leaves the Pac-Man loss on Cotto’s ledger. Cotto is back in biz in a big way.
Best Fights:
These fights were all tops in my book.
Alfredo Angulo vs James Kirkland. Unbelievable come from behind win for Kirkland.
Andre Berto vs Victor Ortiz. This fight was pure amazing. I am a big fan of trading knockdowns so Round 6 was a modern day classic in my eyes.
This fight even had Emanuel Stewart saying “Oh my God!” And you don’t hear that very often.
Akira Yaegashi vs. Pornsawan Porpramook. Almost everyone slept on this thrilling beauty. Who says “Minimum Weight” fighters can’t throw it down?
Erik Morales vs Marcos Maidana. Two of the toughest guys in boxing show you how its done. Pure heart and soul.
Bernard Hopkins Vs Jean Pascal II. My main man Bernard (remember I used to roll in his entourage back when I was a young proto-type G. Watch the old fights, I was the handsome, dashing kid in the Custom Suit. Or just look for the only non-African American cat) does it again. Masterful performance in becoming the oldest man in the history of the sport to win a major world title, supplanting George Foreman.
Fighter of the Year:
Miguel Cotto. Thought it wasn’t? When was the last time you came back from a soul sapping, crushing defeat with loaded gloves to put on a performance of a lifetime? Honestly, I can’t believe the mainstream media didn’t give Cotto more credit.
Let’s get a little Latin flavor on this:
Future World-Wide Superstar:
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The kid is Mexican, and looks Irish. And fights like both. Great extension on his punches. Real power. Loves to fight. Dates a former Miss Mexico Universe, so his “International Playboy” street cred is in order. What is not to like about this kid? Four big wins in 2011. Canelo is the future of boxing.
Knockouts of The year:
Floyd Mayweather’s KO of Victor Ortiz. I am sure I will get a lot of flack for chosing this one, but I loved it. Protect yourself at all times.
Fernando Montiel vs. Nonito Donaire. Now this was nice.
Zab Judah KO’s Kaizer Mabuza. Brooklyn’s own Zab Judah has still got it. Very Mayweatheresque move.
Gary Russell Jr. vs. Heriberto Ruiz. Washington, DC’s own Gary Russell Jr. is one to watch. Beautiful. Speed = Power.
Best Handspeed:
Gary Russell Jr. Keep your eye on this cat. Literally and figuratively.
Yuriorkis Gamboa. The Cuban kid brings the Meth.
Upset of the Year:
Lamont Peterson over Amir Khan. Sure it was a hometown decision. But what do you expect? It’s Boxing.
Robbery of The Year:
Manny Pacquiao VS Juan Manuel Marquez III. Marquez won this one. Everyone I respect in the boxing world that I have spoke with agrees.
Paul Williams vs Erislandy Lara. The Cuban one this one too.
Prospect of The Year:
Jose Benavidez, Jr. I have seen this kid at The Wildcard, and he is the Holyfield.
I have been meaning to post about Jose Benavidez for about a year. Lately, however, I have been shooting around the USA, pulling down some CASH and swooping some fly girls.
But that is neither here nor there.
I have a friend that has sparred with Jose Benavidez and Aamir Kahn at The Wildcard Gym and he says that Jose Benavidez is better than Aamir Kahn right now.
And the kicker is the 2009 National Golden Gloves Champion in the light welterweight division he is only 19 years old.
So I could have said he is going to be a Future World Champion and that you heard it here first (if I would have posted it when I wanted to), but either way, the kid is going places.
Check out The G Manifesto’s Jose Benavidez file:
Jose Benavidez Jr “The Rise of a Champion”
Freddie Roach: Jose Benavidez Is My Future
17 year old Jose Benavidez and Manny Pacquiao sparring
Benavidez vs Hope
2009 Golden Gloves National Champion Jose Benavidez
Jose Benavidez Back At The Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood
The Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto, is a homegrown product of the legendary Bairoa Gym in Caguas. He has been one of boxing’s most exciting and compelling characters over the last ten years. A skillful boxer, great pressure fighter and vicious body puncher, he almost always seems on the brink of disaster. Which of course, makes him an exciting fighter to watch.
Antonio Margarito
Mexican star Antonio Margarito is a tough as they come. He is a relentless pressure fighter with an iron chin that throws deadly body punches and uppercuts. He isn’t pretty to watch, but his style is straight out of the alleys of Tijuana. He even looks like a border cartel member. He also might sport some of the worst hairstyles in Boxing today, but that is neither drug scales or cocaine rails.
Handwraps
Let’s talk about the handwrap issue for a minute. I am 99% sure that Margarito used loaded handwraps in the first fight. I even remember when I watched the fight, something seemed fishy. But that is boxing. If true, it makes Margarito one of the biggest scumbags in recent boxing history.
I have talked to several fighters that have sparred with Margarito (and this was before the Cotto fight) and I remember them telling me that Margarito “hit like he had bricks in his hands”.
HBO Boxing: Cotto vs. Margarito: Face Off with Max Kellerman
Miguel Cotto Keys to Victory
First off, Cotto needs to control, or try to control the pace of the fight. Which means, he will want the fight to go as slow as possible for as long as he can. He needs to move and avoid “the phonebooth”.
This is really a bad matchup for Cotto “style-wise”. He is at his best when he is moving forward and pressuring opponents. With Margarito, he has to fight moving backwards for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is the size differential.
If Cotto gets hit hard, he is going to have to clinch and slow it down. He probably won’t do this though, since Cotto doesn’t really clinch. However, he is going to have to learn.
When Cotto stops moving, he is going to have to throw with leverage. This of course, gives Margarito a chance to land heavy leather, but Cotto needs to make Margarito respect him, and respect him early.
For Cotto, this is really going to be a battle of footwork, and he can’t stay on the ropes. And at all costs, he is going to have to use head movement and make Margarito miss. The less leather landed on Cotto early the better.
He also needs to throw straight punches thru the gloves of Margarito. The clean 1-2 is going to be a key punch for him.
Other punches to watch for Cotto are the short hook inside. Again, he needs to throw that one from the hip with leverage. He really need to get some rotation on it.
Antonio Margarito Keys to Victory
Essentially, Margarito needs to do exactly what he did last time.
The thing he needs to focus on most is cutting off the ring. The more violent and the more the fight turns into a bloodbath, the better it is for Margarito. He needs to keep the fight inside.
And again, Margarito needs to use his size. Because of their statures, Margarito almost seems like a weightclass or two above Cotto.
The punches to watch for Margarito are the uppercuts to the body from both hands on the inside. If he lands those early, expect a long night for Cotto.
Cotto vs Margarito HD Highlights (GP)
Factors in The Fight
Corners: Both men have different corners in this fight. Not sure who’s advantage this is.
Fight Stoppage: I can see this fight getting an earlier than normal stoppage. I don’t expect they will let Cotto take the kind of punishment he did in the first. And if Margarito’s eye acts up, I don’t think they will play around with that one either. Look for the ending to come quick if and when it does.
Low Blows: Both of these guys are heavy body punchers and they don’t like each other. Maybe even hate each other. Look for a potentially Game changing low blow.
Clashing of heads: These guys styles are prone to clash heads. If a big cut opens up, all bets are off.
The Venue: Madison Square Garden. Need I say more? In An Unforgiving Sport (great book by the way), Paul Malignaggi said that fighting Cotto in the Madison Square Garden is like “fighting the Devil in Hell”. And that is coming from a New Yorker. The heavy Puerto Rican crowd should uplift Cotto. And give him a little leeway on the judges cards.
Cotto: “Madison Square Garden for me, New York for me, it’s like home. And I know that’s going to be a huge Puerto Rican night, the night of December 3.”
Margarito: “The square is always the same in any ring. It’ll just be me and him. I’m going to come out with my hand raised as champion of the world.”
Good stare down:
Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito 2-Los Angeles Press Conference Highlights
Questions to be answered?
Is Cotto the same fighter after brutal losses to Margarito and Pacman? I have heard some interesting things on the boxing grapevine that say he isn’t. Which is really a shame if Margarito used loaded gloves.
Is Margarito the same fighter? After all, he hasn’t really set the world on fire after his “win” over Cotto. He got destroyed by Sugar Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao, and has had just one win over Roberto Garcia.
How is Margarito’s eye? Only the fight will answer this one. Margarito says, “As you can see, we keep training like it’s nothing. My eye is in perfect condition, it’s fine. If it weren’t in perfect condition, believe me, I wouldn’t fight.”
How is Cotto’s emotional state? Personally, I think he is convinced that the reason he lost the first fight was cheating. However, that resolve will be tested in rounds 6-12. Cotto says, “No matter what, I’m preparing myself to beat Margarito’s ass. He played with my health. I’m going to play with his.”
Prediction
Cotto: “I don’t have any respect for him. And I’m going to take advantage of his eye like he took advantage of the plaster.”
Margarito: “Fuck Cotto (or “Cotto can go to hell, depending on how you translate it). If he thinks that I had plaster, it will hurt like I was using plaster. And he will know it.”
It is safe to say that these guys hate each other. And we have potentially the biggest blood war on our hands this Saturday.
I really think this one will be a slaughter house floor for however long it lasts.
If I was betting, I would bet on the underdog. This fight is razor close on paper.
I typically don’t pick sides in boxing matches, I usually just root for what is best for Boxing.
However in this one, you have to want Cotto to get revenge and redemption.
And I guess that would be the best outcome for Boxing as well.
So f*ck it, he is my (first time) biased prediction:
Cotto by bloody and brutal, close Unanimous Decision.
So I finished up my Northern Ireland trip, here are some highlights:
- I haven’t been to Northern Ireland since I was ten years old, so it was great to see family even though the weather is pretty bad in summer and the food is the opposite of dynamic.
- Most of my family is in West Belfast, East Belfast, a small farming town north of Belfast and a small town on the coast.
- I was absolutely amazed at how many weapons my cousins had. Especially the cousins at the family farm. These cats were loaded for bear. Tons of antique weapons as well. And an old hog barn was turned into a machine shop with multiple lathes for making silencers and other gun parts. Pretty dope stuff.
- I was able to get some good sparring sessions in with my cousins; many of whom I hadn’t boxed since I was ten years old. They all claim that they beat me back then, but I remember differently. The latest rematch was a little tougher. Many of my cousins are huge powerlifter cats now. With red hair to boot. I think I have a bruised rib.
- I was also amazed at the amount of Paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. The place is chock-a-block. The drug trade is flourishing there. And the insurance scams. It was also amazing to hear about the amount of informants. Pretty ugly scene.
- Got to see the sight of my Grandfather and Great Uncles Boxing Gym that they used to run. It is not there anymore. Now it is a park with a monument. At least it is not a Starbucks.
- The Mason Clan actually has a castle on the ocean in Northern Ireland. Supposedly, it was owned by somebody in our family. Sadly, that is no longer the case. However, the coastline in Northern Ireland is breathtaking.
- I definitely dig Belfast more than Dublin.
- Even with all the family activities and dinners, I had enough time to swoop a wee fly red head Irish girl. Smooth.
