| 29 August 2010
Chop Chop Corley lost last night. That's hardly news in and of itself, as the defeat was the 14th of Corley's pro career.
But to reverse and paraphrase a famous line by the Bard himself, I come not to bury Chop Chop, but to praise him. Despite getting knocked down in the seventh round last night by hard-punching Marcos Maidana, Corley stuck around until the end, giving the tough 140-pounder a tough time in the closing rounds - and that was in Maidana's native Argentina, too.
At age 36, Corley is at the point of his career where he is strictly an opponent, albeit one who was once a world titleholder. Boxers who have beaten him over the past year include Freddy Hernandez and Fariz Kazimov, not exactly top contenders.
Still, you have to give it up for Corley, who always comes to fight and definitely is not opposed to fighting anyone. The list of people who have beaten him is like a "who's who" of the junior welterweight division over the last decade: Zab Judah, Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Junior Witter, Devon Alexander, Randall Bailey (who he also beat once), and now, Maidana.
I'm not sure anyone has fought a roster of opponents like that over the same length of time (roughly seven years). If Corley won half of those fights, he'd likely still be in the title picture and making some good money. Had he won them all, he'd be looking forward to enshrinement in Canastota.
So here's to you, Chop Chop. A gatekeeper you may be, but a valiant one, no doubt.
