De La Hoya To Meet Ring Adversaries In A Reunion On Sep. 19

i saw him about ten months ago in las vegas and he looked absolutely terrible...the man weighed no less than a cris arreola plus or minus 15 pounds. fernando wasn't just huge, he looked frightfully unhealthy. i mean, fernando gave us great fights and he has my honor and respect for that. he made his money and earned his retirement, no doubt about that...it's just hard to watch a guy who was, for the bulk of his career such a well-conditioned fighter (setting aside the steroid blip) who seemed so happy to be in terrific shape let himself go like that...to a degree where he looks to be endangering his health pretty significantly. i have seen the man eat before and he can house butter drenched shrimp, cheesecake and corona like he is looking for an early grave. i'd just like to see the man live long enough to see his kids grow up and enjoy the spoils of all those tough fights. it was awful to watch the last three or four years of his career during which he just couldn't lose all the donuts in camp and looked like he tortured himself in all the wrong ways just to make it into the ring. i would have really liked to see what he might have done with a little more b-hop-ish sensitivity to his body's integrity. fernando could have been a hall of famer, but he ate his way out of it. remember, even when he looked shredded earlier in his career, he was still blowing up in between fights, just not to the same degree.

 

speaking of which, does anyone recall when james toney hired billy blanks, the tae bo guru, to be his nutritionist and fitness adviser? there were all this ridiculous photos circulating of toney sitting in front of salads, drenching them in fatty cream dressings and oily croutons as if that was proof he was turning over a new leaf. billy blanks is ripped, perhaps, he could've actually given toney some guidance there. then, after that, toney showed up to his next fight, the rahman fight, i believe, at like 238-pounds, less then he showed up for other fights after that time, but a career high for him at the time. it's just sad.

james toney is a first ballot hall of famer even with the huge limitations he put on his career and individual performances throughout his career by becoming increasingly comfortable with eating his way out of divisions. it kills me...this guy could have been an all-time great if he could have had even half as much discipline as natural athleticism and boxing talent.

 

Yeah he hired Blanks to get in shape for Peter II. It had mixed results I'd argue