A few odds and ends from Virgil Hill's dismantling of Donny Lalonde Saturday night.
n People have been making the same tired "over the Hill" jokes at his expense for years now. But even though Hill obviously doesn't have the incredible speed he had during his prime, on Saturday he showed the difference between a world class fighter who has lost a step and one that has just lost it.
It was startling.
Though they were both former world champions, Lalonde never has been truly up to Hill's level. The ESPN graphic which showed the difference in championship round experience between the two (268 for Hill, 28 for Lalonde) displayed that. But Lalonde had a nice career, winning a title and giving Sugar Ray Leonard some trouble in his most famous battle.
Yet Hill made the hometown hero look every bit of his 43 years and then some. He landed his jab at will and with power, staggering Lalonde with it several times.
What might have been more impressive was how elusive a target Hill presented. Although stats were not provided at ringside, according to ESPN, Lalonde actually threw more punches in the first five rounds - which were completely dominated by Hill - yet landed just 23 blows.
As Lalonde's trainer, Freddie Roach noted, Hill no longer has the best legs in boxing, but he can still move.
n Hill's current trainer, Mike Hall, was peeved that his fighter didn't score a knockout, but he also saw some things he liked.
"What I saw is what we see in the gym: He's still efficient, still fast, still quick," Hall said. "The jab is still hard. … If he can stay busy and keep the rust off, he can win the title."
n Manager Bill Sorensen said the next target for Hill is WBA cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck, who upset Hill for that title last year. The catch is that Mormeck is in Don King's stable, and Hill and King have a long and unpleasant history.
"Virgil would like that fight, but I don't have to tell you guys that it has its own set of problems," Sorensen said. "But they are very interested in doing this. We've had several conversations at this time."
"We're fighting champions and Mother Nature and Father Time," Sorensen added. "We want to get it done soon."
n Aside from Mormeck, Sorensen tossed out the names of two of the other three fighters that have scored wins over Hill - Dariusz Michalczewski and Roy Jones - as possibilities down the road, as well as James Toney.
"There's a lot of things happening all of a sudden in the cruiserweight division right now," Sorensen said. "Michalczewski is talking about fighting at cruiserweight. Jones - we'd obviously like to fight him at heavyweight, or Toney.
"It's gone from the nothing division to one of the hottest divisions in boxing," Sorensen said. "We'd like to take advantage of that quick. Hopefully we're in the right place at the right time."
Fighting Jones again sounds like a really bad idea, even for big money. But a matchup with Toney could be very interesting.
n Much was made of the developing friendship between Hill and Lalonde, and the truth is, Lalonde is a hard guy not to like. He comes across as intelligent, genuine and self-aware enough to realize the odds are against him in his comeback, even as he remains optimistic.
"This was an experiment," Lalonde said. "I wanted to show myself where I was at. I certainly know that I'm not prepared to be in the top two or three in the world at this point. But I certainly don't feel that far off."
n The undercard bout between Billy Irwin and Mark Riggs deserves a brief mention. When Irwin blasted Riggs with a second left hook, finishing their fight at 1:44 of the first round, Riggs toppled like he was taken a Nestea plunge.
But there was nothing funny about his landing. When Riggs' head hit the ring, it sounded like somebody cracking a pair of 2x4s together. I've never heard anything like it at a boxing match. Luckily, all that was hurt was Riggs' pride and his previously unbeaten record.
