Edison Miranda’s Xmas beatings for Gibbs/Taylor/DiBella

Uncrowned middleweight king Edison “Pantera� Miranda (27-1, 24 KOs) isn’t the strong, silent type. He’s definitely strong—his sensational first round KO over Willie Gibbs on HBO’s BAD clarified that—but judging from the statements he has made since that stunning win, silence isn’t his strong suit.

The most recent trouble started when Willie Gibbs’ crew went to the press after the loss to Miranda to say that it wasn’t Miranda’s power that won the fight, it was a knee injury Gibbs suffered.

“I’m disappointed by the reaction of Gibbs’ team to their defeat,� Miranda said. “I was told Philadelphia fighters always come to fight and that win or lose, they have no excuses—well, this obviously isn’t the case. The only things that knocked Gibbs out were my fists, and I don’t remember hitting him on the knee. But he can look on the bright side, because if the fight would have continued, I would have sent ‘The Gladiator’ out on his shield.�

“I know Jermain Taylor and Arthur Abraham fear me and that I’ll have to shame them into fighting me,� continued Miranda. “That’s okay though, because the people know who the real fighters are and which ones are simply pretenders with title belts. In 2007, I’ll expose all of them.�

A few days later Miranda released another APB, this one addressed to Taylor’s promoter, Lou DiBella, allegedly making disparaging statements regarding Edison Miranda.

“I think Lou DiBella should stick to acting,� said Miranda, referring to DiBella’s portrayal of a boxing promoter named Lou DiBella in the new Sly Stallone film “Rocky Balboa,� “because he plays a promoter in the make-believe world better than he does in real life.

“The fans and media want to see this fight between Taylor and myself, and HBO definitely wants to see it, but Lou doesn’t want to put the jewel of his company anywhere near me because he knows he’ll get knocked out. I won’t be outweighed by 20 pounds on fight night and won’t need a walker to make it to the press conference like the other old men Taylor has fought, so he wants no part of me.�

Miranda addressed DiBella’s claim that he was a one-dimensional fighter.

“You call me one-dimensional, but no one has ever forced me to go to a Plan B in the ring,� said Miranda. “I knock people out and only someone who can deal with my power will force me to show the other parts of my game. That hasn’t happened yet. And let’s not talk one-dimensional when I can describe every Jermain Taylor fight the same way: Jab, right cross, clinch. Jab, right cross, clinch. Jab, right cross, clinch. And you wonder why he is afraid to fight me.�

Miranda went on picking apart DiBella’s critique: “You say that ‘I stink,’ ‘I have no clue how to box,’, ‘no resume,’, and you think ‘Jermain would slaughter me.’ In the next breath you tell the world I should fight Pavlik, ‘if he is man enough to take the fight.’ You make absolutely no sense.

“Both you and Jermain say you want ‘real fights’ and are ‘not looking for a stooge.’ If that’s the case, I challenge you to find another guy at 160 with a better resume than mine. Don’t you even dare mention Sergio Mora or Felix Sturm! If you got such a great team with Jermain and Emanuel, why can’t you beat a guy like me who is ‘one-dimensional and can only punch?’�

Chances are DiBella’s listening to his own music and Miranda’s bleating barely affects the reception, but by beating contenders and challenging the champs Miranda at least gets to have his voice heard.

“Let’s make this fight Lou,� pleaded Miranda. “It’s the right thing for the fans and the right thing for a sport that needs the best in the world fighting each other. If I’m so easy to beat, let Taylor prove it!�