"The World Awaits"

On May 5th, one of my childhood heroes, Oscar de la Hoya, will defend his WBC Super Welterweight title against the current “pound-for-pound” champion “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather. The flight is being promoted as “The World Awaits.” I’ve been waiting for this fight for some time. I have dedicated far too much time to reading every news article that surrounds the hype and hoopla of this fight. Normally I’m not a betting man, but even I put some money down to prove I have some “skin” in the game. It's kind of like being involved in politics. If you don't vote, don't complain. Or in the words of my grandpa Lazo, "Tu voto es tu voz."

Regardless of the naysayers, Oscar is a class act. Far too often, boxers who come from the “streets” or “ghetto” or whatever the case may be are relegated to an anonymous oblivion once their careers are over. For the fortunate ones, some turn to coaching as a way to continue in the sport they love. But these are the rare instances. Most boxers never amount to much once their fighting days are over.

De la Hoya on the other hand stands alone. He has superseded the sport that has given him everything. How many boxers get to become multi-millionaire promoters? Contrary to popular belief, and despite his “telenovela” good-looks, he is an intelligent man inside and outside the ring. De la Hoya is the best thing that has happened to this sport in over 20 years.

I hate to vote with my heart, but I’ve also done my homework. I tried to remain unbiased as I read who current and former boxers, trainers, managers, promoters and sports reporters picked to win the fight. My vote is that De la Hoya will win by a late TKO. Floyd has never been hit as hard as De la Hoya hits. De la Hoya wants to cement his legacy in history and this is his redemption song for having lost three controversial decisions. But don’t take my word for it. Take a look at the “A lister’s” predictions below and make the call yourself.

Predictions:
De la Hoya wins
• “Sugar” Shane Mosley – by knockout
• Felix “Tito” Trinidad – “should not be a difficult fight for Oscar.”
• “Sugar” Ray Leonard – “I think Oscar de la Hoya has enough of the proper physical attributes to take Mayweather to the limit."
• Roberto Duran – by decision
• Carlos Baldomir – by decision
• Buddy McGirt, former IBF junior welterweight and WBC welterweight titleholder – by decision
• Glen Johnson– by decision
• Angelo Dundee, Hall of Fame trainer of 15 world champions – convincing decision
• Teddy Atlas – “I would make Mayweather the favorite, but I love live underdogs and De La Hoya is a very live underdog.”
• Lou Duva, Hall of Fame trainer - by knockout in 10
• Yoel Judah, trainer – by knockout in 9
• Tommy Torino, former fighter and promoter – by decision
• Dwaine Simpson, former fighter– by decision
• James Ali Bashir, assistant trainer– by unanimous decision
• Nettles Nasser, trainer for middleweight Jerson Ravelo – by decision
• Pat Lynch, manager/assistant trainer for Arturo Gatti – by knockout in 10
• Joey Gamache, former WBA super featherweight and lightweight titleholder – by decision
• Hector Roca – by decision
• Bob Van Syckle, trainer – by decision
• Adrian Grenier, “Entourage” actor – win
• Jeremy Piven, “Entourage” actor – win
• Kevin Connolly, “Entourage” actor – by knockout

“Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather wins
• Roy Jones, Jr. - "He's going to beat Oscar.”
• Steve Forbes, former IBF junior lightweight titleholder – by decision
• Iran Barkley, former WBC middleweight, IBF super middleweight, and WBA light heavyweight titleholder – by decision
• Tim Graham, president of the Boxing Writers Association of America) – by TKO
• Hank Kaplan, Hall of Fame boxing historian – by decision
• Ed Kaplan, WQAM-AM (560) talk show host – by decision
• Rick Encinosa, boxing historian – by decision or late round knockout
• Jeff De Forrest, 790 The Ticket talk show host – by decision
• Dino Duva, promoter – by decision
• Tommy Brooks, trainer – by knockout in eight
• Harold Knight, longtime assistant trainer – by a close decision
• Donna Duva, promoter at Hall of Fame Boxing – by knockout in 10
• Lou DiBella, promoter at DiBella Entertainment – by a hotly contested decision.
• Tim Dahlberg, AP sports writer – by decision
• Jamie Hector, “The Wire” actor
• Chad L. Coleman, “The Wire” actor
• Andre Royo , “The Wire” actor – (half-black, half-Spanish) – undecided, “whoever’s winning”

Undecided
• P.Diddy
• Seth Gilliam, “The Wire” actor

Ich bin ein Berliner

I can't believe 23 days have passed since I last updated my Blog. I guess that's why the old expression "time flies when you're having fun" came about. It's been over a month since I've been in Europe and I'm really enjoying my time here. Of course, Čelákovice is not my number one travel destination. However, being in the heart of Europe, I've been able to travel quite a bit - Amsterdam, Krakow, Vienna and Berlin.

This past weekend I went to Berlin with a new good friend of mine. His idea was to rent a Porsche 911 Carrera. I'm so glad I decided to go along with him. I had never previously been in such a luxurious car, let alone had driven one. Now I want one. Porsche has a great tag line, "There is no substitute." After you drive one, it really makes you believe it.

Anyway, we took the Autobahn outside of Berlin. I was amazed at how simple an incredibly-well engineered sports car is to drive. Besides the thoughts and pressures of not crashing on your mind, the 911 is really pure driving pleasure. Unlike a car with a V8 engine, the 911 has lower displacement so it doesn't have the deep engine growl, but rather a higher pitched whine. Also, while the power is explosive, it's more like a bullet than a shotgun blast.

The top speed we reached was 252 km/hour or almost 157 mph. This is incredibly fast. But, you know what? The 911 was built for speed. It handles better at 100 mph than other cars do at 60. Who ever coined the term "life in the fast lane" must have been a sports car enthusiast!

Well, back to studying for my accounting final.

Amsterdam moment!

Today I spent my first day in Amsterdam walking around taking in the sites, sounds and smells of now one of my favorite European cities. I find the enviornment very enticing as everthing is so organized and orderly, at least as far as infrastructure is concerned.

I did notice that people tend to have less regard for people's public space, however. I can't imagine being here in summer because even now the city is completely packed with people. Besides watching out for the various bicycles, trams, cars, buses, etc. I find people to be the biggest bother. I find the Dutch in general to very polite and nice as far as restrautant service is considered. However, when you're walking around town people have utter disregard for your personal space as people will cut in front of you to take a train, ask questions at the information desk or other similar circumstances.

On my way back to the Lloyd Hotel (www.lloydhotel.com) where I'm staying the weekend, there were three young Dutch guys of African origin raising a little commotion on the GVB tram (which according to gvb.nl transports about 1,000,000 people within the greater Amsterdam area every day) as they were laughing and talking loudly to gain attention from the other passengers. It was a late Friday afternoon and a majority of the commuters were simply looking to get home to unwind. When one of the youths began to play drums on his tram seat, I think it crossed the line as it really disrespected people's personal space.

One woman in particular, in fact the woman sitting right in front of me, kept glancing back as if it would have some possible effect to stiffle the noise. Finally she snapped something in Dutch and the banter went back and forth for a few minutes. Before I knew it the young man and woman were squaring off. The woman made the first move and attempted to simultaneously punch and kick the young guy. He deflected her by pushing her back. I had to prop her up in order to not be smashed by her falling on top of me.

At this moment, the tram driver stopped the tram and began to yell at both the young guy and woman and forced the young man to step off the tram. I couldn't help but think that what I previously would call a "New York" moment had universal application. Maybe the next time I'm in New York and encounter a "New York" moment, I'll think back to this brief altercation in Amsterdam.

I think what amplified the tension, at least for me personally, was that I had never previously heard so much Dutch being spoken. I find spoken Dutch to be extremely gutteral, almost if it shared some similarities with Arabic due to its velar fricatives. In any event, it's not an experience I'll soon forget!

Citroën 2CV

Last weekend while wandering the streets of Prague, I came across what appeared to be a very old car in fairly good condition. However, after doing a little research, I believe it's most likely a late model of its original production run.

(From Wikipedia) The car is a French Citroën 2CV (CV stands for "deux chevaux" or two horses). It was an economy car produced from 1948 to 1990. The car was designed by Pierre-Jules Boulanger to be a low-priced, rugged "umbrella on four wheels" that would enable two peasants to drive 100 kg of farm goods to market at 60 km/h, in clogs and across muddy unpaved roads if necessary. The car would use no more than 3 liters of gasoline to travel 100 km. Most famously, it would be able to drive across a ploughed field without breaking the eggs it was carrying. Boulanger later also had the roof raised to allow him to drive while wearing a hat.

The 2CV was a great commercial success: within months of it going on sale, there was a three-year waiting list. The waiting list was soon increased to five years. At that time a second-hand 2CV was more expensive than a new one because the buyer did not have to wait. The purchase price of the 2CV was always very low. In Germany in the 1960s for example, it cost about half as much as a Volkswagen Beetle. European nonconformists protested mass consumer culture and owning a 2CV was like being in a club - 2CV owners would wave to each other on the road.

The 2CV was mainly sold in France and some European markets. Only a few thousand 2CVs were sold in North America when they were new - the car was so small and inexpensive that the cost of transport alone put it into a different and uneconomic price category. In 1988, production ceased in France but was continued in Portugal. The last 2CV rolled off the Portuguese production line on July 27, 1990. In all, a total of 3,872,583 2CV sedans were produced.

I can't imagine buying a car as late as 1990 that still looked so ancient. Imagine almost 4 billion of these cars were produced! However, the Mini, original VW Beatle and Hindustan Ambassador were cars that had similar lengthy production runs.