Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Holyfield out to prove he’s still a player in heavyweight division

Evander Holyfield vs Frans Botha PPV April 10 in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (Mar. 18, 2010) – Living legend and 5-time world heavyweight champion, Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield, challenges World Boxing Federation heavyweight title-holder Frans “The White Buffalo” Botha in the 12-round main event April 10, headlining “The Legend Returns” pay-per-view event, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. “The Legend Returns,” presented by Crown Boxing, is being distributed in the United States and Canada by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9 PM/ET – 6 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, Viewer’s Choice and Bell TV, for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.

The 47-year-old Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 KOs), fighting out of Atlanta, is coming off of a controversial 12-round majority decision loss December 20, 2008 to then World Boxing Association champion Nicolai Valuev, in which most observers felt Holyfield deserved the victory in Switzerland.

South African strongman Botha (47-4-3, 28 KOs) captured the World Boxing Federation Interim belt in 2007, outpointing Bob Mirovic, and in 2009 Frans won the belt outright with a 12-round decision against Ron Guerrero. Botha made a successful title defense on May 5, 2009, taking a 12-round decision against Timo Hoffman in Germany. During the course of his 20-year professional career, Botha’s four losses have all been to world champions -- Mike Tyson, Michael Moorer, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko.

“We’re excited to have Hall of Fame-bound Evander Holyfield fighting Frans Botha on our pay-per-view card,” Crown Boxing’s Frank Luca said. “Evander certainly showed he has a lot left in his disputed loss to Valuev. Crown Boxing has been promoting solid shows six times a year in Las Vegas. Fans have come to expect competitive, entertaining fights at affordably priced Crown Boxing shows held in an intimate atmosphere. Like in MMA, every fight counts on a Crown Boxing show. Those are our trademarks and the tradition continues April 10th but on a much larger stage. The only real differences, though, are Holyfield-Botha features a pair of worldwide name recognized fighters and it’s being held in a scaled-down 9,500 seat Thomas & Mack Center. Everybody will have a great seat for an affordable price. We’ve kept ticket prices down so people can afford to watch Holyfield fight, up close and personal, in Las Vegas for the first time in 11 years. What we’re charging viewers is much less than for most pay-per-view shows. We’re putting together strong supporting fights, too, showcasing talented boxers in order to provide fans in attendance or watching on pay per view with a great night of boxing

 

[heyzel]

Roy Jones Jr: 'I Don't Look 40, Hopkins Looks Like He's 52'

ROY JONES JR. MEDIA DAY QUOTES
From Pensacola, FL

Bernard Hopkins is a shark. He’s a bottom feeder. He’s catfish. He’s waiting around for someone to die, then he’ll bight into it. If something is dead, he’ll try to taste it. If something is alive, he doesn’t want any part of it. If something is close to dead he’ll try to eat it.

He wanted to wait until I was done. He didn’t have anywhere else to go and now he thinks he’ll get his revenge and ride out into the sunset. That’s the only way he is looking at it. It won’t be happening that way but that is the plot.

You are going to see the same thing that happened last time. The only difference is you’re going to see him go down this time. I am too young to be messing around with a guy that old…and as cut as I am. He can’t mess with me. I don’t even look like I’m 40 yet and he looks like he’s 52.

He’s a crazy man. That’s just the way he is, but I’m crazy too, just in a smarter way. That’s how I beat him the first time and he knows it.

He’s thinking Roy’s finished and all I’ve got to do is catch him behind the head and I’ve got him. He’s thinking “I’ll try to get inside, rough him up, hurt his shoulder, hurt his hands…try to physically hurt him so he can’t use both his hands on me. The I’ll hit him behind the head and knock him out.” That’s his whole game plan. Take my shoulders out, hurt my elbows and hurt my hands then hit me behind my head to take me out…and that won’t be happening. That’s all he has. He doesn’t have anything else.

It will last until I’m ready turn the lights out. When I hit the switch. FLICK. (singing) Turn out the lights and light a candle (laughing).

 

[heyzel]

Mayweather, Pacquiao Strive to Strengthen Communities

y Alexander Fugate: While Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao are almost universally recognized as the two best pound-for-pound boxers today, their philanthropic works often gets overlooked. Both continue to donate much time and energy to help those in need.


Mayweather started The Floyd Mayweather Jr. Foundation in mid-2007. This foundation is a non-profit organization that helps build community alliances, youth leadership, strong family relationships, and healthy neighborhoods, in addition to the work they perform to help combat hunger, poverty, and at-risk youths. Mayweather routinely helps provide food to the homeless and working poor, and it has become a tradition for him and his foundation to provide hot meals every Thanksgiving to people in both his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan and in his adopted home in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mayweather Jr. steps up the efforts during the holiday season. As the superstar boxer said, “The holidays are the most important time to give back. No family should have to go hungry on Thanksgiving and no child should go without a toy on Christmas.“ Mayweather Jr. Foundation also holds different events to support Toys for Tots and help raise gifts for the less fortunate during what can be the most stressful time of year for loving parents and guardians without the means to give the gifts their loved ones deserve.

This is far from some sort of publicity gimmick, as most of this organizations efforts go largely unrecognized by the national media. It is not something that is only done during a filming of HBO’s popular 24/7 series, but operates on a year round schedule and more often than not, flies below the radar.

Helping combat hunger is only a part of this amazing foundation though, as Floyd Mayweather Jr. is also known to speak to at-risk youths. During the fourth of July weekend in 2008, Mayweather held a high-profile event in Grand Rapids which included a family friendly carnival, a car show, and a film premiere cloaked with celebrities. The carnival included many free activities for the little ones, including inflatable play areas.
The Mayweather Foundation has paid for prizes for achievement, improvement, and attendence at Stocking Elementary School in Grand Rapids Michigan, which included calculators, books, jump ropes, and gift certificates to bookstores. On April 2nd of this year, the Mayweather Jr. Foundation will be holding its first annual “Fight for our Future” benefit dinner. The evening will include a silent auction, special guests, and entertainment. “The purpose of this dinner is to continue to make strides towards helping our community” according to a statement made by Mayweather.

Manny Pacquiao, also fights for the underprivileged. He started his own non-profit organization, The Manny Pacquiao Foundation. It is hard to decipher when this was officially founded and began charity work on its own. Its official website contains a piece from February 2009, stating it was still in the start up phase, at that time.

One of the original goals of this foundation, is to help Filipino boxers and their families. As Pacquiao described in a 2007 interview with Eastsideboxing.com “it is my hope that the foundation can give Filipino boxers pensions and their children scholarships.” This doesn’t coincide with the dates on the web site, but that could be due to the problems and red-tape establishing such a massive undertaking is prone to. During the time it took to get started, Pacquiao obviously decided to widen the Foundation’s interests and areas of work, greatly increasing the number of lives it improves. It is unclear whether Manny has been able to establish a pension for Filipino boxers, but there is no doubt that through his personal generosity and his Foundation, that many youth are granted scholarships which allow them to continue their education. Thus, through their own hard-work, the youth can provide a better live for themselves and their families.

This foundation has already touched many lives through its work. Some of there work include helping victims of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) in 2009. This natural disaster caused over $2 million (US) of damage and displaced hundreds of thousands of people in and near Manilla. Pacquaio’s foundation helped with food, clothing, money, and in countless other ways, including the simple and too often overlooked gesture of just showing care, by being there to help with one’s time and energy.

In March of 2009, he held a Fil-Am (Filipino-American) Celebrity Showdown basketball game. Most of the money went towards the underprivileged in the Philippines. Pacquiao explained, “This is for the foundation. We are giving money to medical missions, schools, and others.”

The Monday following his May 2, 2009 knockout win over Ricky Hatton, Pacquiao held a celebration and benefit concert in LA to help raise funds and awareness of the foundations work. The proceeds helped his good will work which includes a cancer and research center in Mindanao. Other notable activities of the Manny Pacquiao Foundation are other medical missions, scholarships for children, and raising environmental awareness.

Though the Manny Pacquiao Foundation is still in the early stages, the Pacman has long been involved in giving back. He has helped raise funds for various other non-profit organizations, and helped the less fortunate on his own. Manny is known for his generosity and giving of cash assistance and bags full of groceries to those in need. In fact, Pacquiao was named “Person of the Year” in the Philippines in 2003, a reward that is even more noteworthy than the numerous boxing awards he has won, including Fighter of the Decade for the first 10 years of this millennium. The Philippine’s House of Representatives passed a resolution which recognized Pacquiao as “a people’s champ” “for his achievements and in appreciation of his of the honor and inspiration he has been bringing…to the Filipino people.” Manny also owns a lottery outlet in the Philippines for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes. This is the charity branch of the government and the proceeds go towards good causes some of which are reinvesting in health care, public services and welfare. By attaching his name to this, Manny has ensured it does better than it otherwise would.

In a very ambitious move, Pacquiao is running for a congressional seat in his home country, the Philippines. Manny has made it clear, that his reason for running is his desire to help his fellow Filipino citizens. The election is scheduled for May 10, 2010 and could factor in Manny’s decision rather to continue boxing or to retire from the ring and focus all of his energies on helping those in need.

For information, including info on how to donate, visit the official websites, which are http://tfmjf.org/ for Mayweather’s foundation and http://mannypacquiaofoundation.org/ for Manny’s.

Both Mayweather and Pacquiao are not only two of the greatest boxers in recent memory, but also two outstanding role models. Regardless of who is someone’s favorite boxer and their thoughts on Mayweather or Pacquiao’s skill or choice of competition, I think it is safe to say, that EVERYONE wishes both the best of luck with their respective foundations

 

[heyzel]

Arum: Margarito could face Pacquiao or the winner of Foreman-Cotto

By Esteban Garduno: Former World Boxing Association welterweight champion Antonio Margarito (37-6, 27 KO’s) will be returning to action after a year out of the ring on May 8th against Roberto Garcia (28-2, 21 KO’s) in a scheduled 12 round bout at the Aguascalientes, in Aguascalientes, Mexico. If things go good for the 32-year-old Margarito in that fight, he could be matched up against either WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao or the winner of the June 5th bout between WBA light middleweight champion Yuri Foreman and Miguel Cotto, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.


Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank says Margarito really wants to fight Manny Pacquiao and that would be at welterweight. If the Pacquiao fight isn’t there, he might face the winner of the fight between Yuri Foreman and Cotto.” But first Margarito has to get by the 29-year-old Garcia on May 8th. Margarito hasn’t fought in over a year since being stopped in the 9th round by Shane Mosley last year in January. Before the fight with Mosley, a plaster-like material was found on Margarito’s pads over his hands.

The pads were removed and later on Margarito had his boxing license revoked by the California Athletic Commission for a year. Margarito has been eligible to get his license back since February, but instead of reapplying for his license with the California Athletic Commission, he attempted to get it back first with the Texas Athletic Commission so that he could be available to fight on the undercard of the March 13th card involving Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey.

Rafael writers that the Texas Commission wanted to have a hearing about the issue. Arum then opted to put another fighter on the card instead of Margarito. It’s unknown whether Margarito would have been able to get his boxing license back. Technically, his license has been revoked for only one year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a breeze for him to get it back. But in the meantime, Margarito will continue with his boxing career by fighting on May 8th.

The will be held at light middleweight instead of welterweight. This makes sense because Margarito has likely put on some weight in the past year and could find it a struggle to get back down to 147. That would make it easy on Margarito for the short term while he gets his boxing license problem ironed out.

Once that’s taken care of, a fight against either Pacquiao or the winner of the Foreman-Cotto fight will be ideal to get Margarito back in the limelight. The Pacquiao fight is the one that Margarito is hoping for. It’s also a fight that would bring in big numbers if they put it in the Cowboys Stadium.

Margarito is a big draw in the Mexican community and would be able to draw Hispanic boxing fans from all around Texas and nearby Mexico to watch him battle it out with Pacquiao. As for some boxing fans, writers and ex fighters that feel that Margarito should be banned permanently from boxing, if the man has done his time and served his suspension, he should be allowed to come back. It’s only fair.

 

[heyzel]

Mayweather-Pacquiao: Floyd’s “14-Day Testing Window” Rhetoric:

By Steve Lewis: Three months after failed negotiations, the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao blood testing issue is still a hot topic.

Arguments from both sides have been repeated ad naseum. Many points have been beaten like a dead horse. Yet, the blood testing issue is still a point of contention.

Recently, RingTalk.com’s Jarrad Woods wrote a piece about how Pacquiao should come clean, and lays most of the blame on Pacquiao for the failed superfight with Mayweather.


The point that Woods made about boxing adopting better testing procedures was reasonable. This author has no problems if the various state boxing commissions decide to conduct Olympic-style blood testing for all its participants. No one with an ounce of common sense would object to stricter guidelines if it means ensuring a cleaner sport.

But what Woods fails to address, and I have yet to see anyone address this issue adequately, is Mayweather’s compromise of a 14-day testing window.

Was not the reason Mayweather demanded Olympic-style testing in the first place was because he was concerned that Pacquiao could “play the testing calendar?” Mayweather was concerned that Pacquiao could conceivably shoot up on PEDs and flush them out of his system a day or two before the fight and still test negative immediately after the fight. That was what all the brouhaha was all about. It was not enough that Pacquiao submit to a blood test right after the fight because Mayweather contends that Pacquiao would have enough time to flush out the traces of PEDs from his system, and that it would only take a day or two to do so.

So why all of a sudden would Mayweather agree to a 14-day testing window, and not to 24-days like Pacquiao countered with? What difference would it make to Mayweather if it was 24 days instead of 14? Looking at Pacquiao’s rationale for refusing to give blood so close to the fight, it makes sense that he wants it as far back as possible, to minimize any perceived weakness that results from giving blood (however unscientific that notion may be). The point is that Pacquiao is genuine and sincere about his beliefs that giving blood too close to fight night has negative drawbacks.

But how about for Mayweather? How does settling for a 14-day testing window address his concern that Pacquiao could shoot up on PEDs and flush it out of his system a day or two before the fight?

It does not.

A 14-day testing window will not accomplish what Mayweather is trying to achieve or rectify. Which means that his proposal of 14-days is mere pretext. If he was truly concerned that Pacquiao could play the calendar up until the day of the fight, how does Mayweather reconcile that with a 14-day testing window? Unless, of course, it was all for posturing.

Some say Pacquiao should have given in to Mayweather’s demands, but how about Mayweather? If the 14-day testing window was not going to solve his allegedly sincere concern, then why not give in to the extra 10 days and settle on the 24-day testing window as proposed by Pacquiao’s camp? It would not have made a difference anyway. So it makes me skeptical that Floyd was really concerned about fighters’ ability to manipulate the testing calendar, when he proposes things that would be counter-productive anyway.

So are stricter blood testing needed? Yes!

But let us not confuse the issue of needing stricter testing to what was and was not pretense during the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations. Let us not have any illusions as to Mayweather’s all-of-a-sudden altruistic motives to clean up the sport of boxing. His timing could not be any more dubious.

Pacquiao has already stated that if the Nevada State Athletic Commission wants to change its rules and adopt Olympic-style testing, he will abide by those rules. But until then, he does not want to be dictated by an opponent, who appears to be motivated by psychological tactics and pugilistic mind games, and by a camp who spews unsubstantiated innuendo, merely because they are in disbelief of Pacquiao’s accomplishments (i.e., “Damn, you are way too good, it can’t possibly be for real!”), which, if you think of it, is an indirect and unconscious compliment.

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao’s PPV numbers against Clottey don’t compare to Mayweather-Marquez numbers

By Chris Williams: If Manny Pacquiao wanted to get an even split of a future revenue split in a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., he didn’t help himself with his numbers for his March 13th bout against Joshua Clottey. ESPN reported today that the Pacquiao-Clottey fight netted just 700,000 pay-per-view buys. That might be a decent number for a fight against a little known fighter like Clottey, but sadly they don’t compare to the numbers that Mayweather brought in with his 1 million PPV buys in his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez last September.


Mayweather came out on top in this one, and it looks like Mayweather will hit the jackpot again in his next fight against former pound-for-pound star Shane Mosley when they fight on May 1st. That fight could bring in as many as 3 million PPV buys, which would break the record set by Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya of 2. 4 million PPV buys in 2007. Pacquiao fought De La Hoya himself, but was only able to bring in a respectable number of 1.25 PPV buys, far less than the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight.

The reason this is important is because with Mayweather making the better numbers in PPV, he can use this as leverage to get a bigger portion of the revenue in a fight with Pacquiao. It would be crazy for him not to do this, and given his better numbers, it would seem crazy for Mayweather to accept a 50-50 deal. His better numbers would suggest that he’s the bigger PPV star, and therefore he should get the bigger money.

That’s just the way it is. Pacquiao and his promotional team could have made things better for him to have a bargaining tool with Mayweather by choosing a better known opponent than Clottey. That was a move that might have benefited Top Rank in the short term because they wouldn’t have to negotiate with another fighter from another promotional team, but it could make setting up a fight with Mayweather that much harder because Pacquiao didn’t get better numbers than him in his last fight.

It would have been smarter to seek out a better known fighter than Clottey for the March 13th bout. If this meant having to wait until someone was freed up, then that would have been the right thing to do to get the better opponent. Shane Mosley was supposed to be fighting Andre Berto, but Berto had to pull out because of an earthquake in Haiti.

If they had waited awhile, they could have snatched up Mosley for a fight. They also could have taken on someone like Paul Williams. He’s free and would have jumped at the chance. The same goes for Juan Manuel Marquez. He was available and would have likely put a fight between him and Pacquiao in the 1 million PPV neighborhood. However, we can’t know that because Pacquiao hasn’t fought Marquez since 2008, and that fight brought in only 400,000 PPPV buys. You could expect them to be higher now because Pacquiao is more popular now compared to then.

Share and Enjoy:

 

[heyzel]

Hopkins vs. Jones 2: Not much buzz going on about this fight

By Jim Dower: With about two weeks to go before the April 3rd bout between aging stars Bernard Hopkins (50-5-1, 32 KO’s and Roy Jones Jr. (54-6, 40 KO’s), there is surprisingly very little buzz about this fight among boxing internet sites. It’s almost as if the fight isn’t taking place at all, because very little is being said about the fight. As popular as these two fighters were in the past, it’s downright shocking to see how little attention the fight is getting in the media. The cost of the fight is as high as watching one of the PPV bouts for stars like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.


The Jones-Hopkins bout will cost pay-per-view viewers $49.95 to see it, which is a big number for a fight that doesn’t involve champions. For that kind of money, it usually matches a champion against a top contender. It might not matter that neither of these fighters had a title in their possession, because with the name value that both fighters have among the casual boxing fans, they could draw in old timers of the sport to see them even without Jones-Hopkins having titles. But it could be a fight that the younger boxing fans might not show interest in because neither of these fighters are boxing all that often anymore.

It’s been 17 years since the last time Jones and Hopkins fought, and that fight was not exactly a thrilling fight to watch. Jones hurt his right hand early in the bout, and had to fight with mostly his left from the 2nd round on. Hopkins spent most of the fight charging Jones like a little bull, firing shots and mostly coming up empty. Jones showed brilliant hand speed and moved well in the fight to keep out of the way of Hopkins. At close range, Hopkins was able to get the better of Jones and make the fight close. However, Jones was able to dominate at will when he was motive during the fight. He seemed bored some of the time and seemed to be coasting.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind of PPV numbers the second fight between them brings in. It probably won’t huge numbers given the lack of attention the fight is getting thus far in the media. But who knows? There could be a huge surge of interest by the boxing public the last week of the fight and it could bring in big PPV numbers. I wouldn’t bet on it though.

Neither Jones or Hopkins get talked about a lot nowadays because they’re not fighting the kinds of opponents that would bring interest in them. Hopkins has fought only once in the past two years, beating little known middleweight contender Enrique Ornelas by a dull 12 round decision in December. Jones, for his part, was knocked out in his last fight by Danny Green on December 2nd. Some boxing fans would like nothing better for Jones to retire, and feel that he’s going to get beat by Hopkins on April 3rd

 

[heyzel]

Bernard Hopkins Trashes The Idea of Facing Chad Dawson

By Rick Reeno

Some fights are never meant to happen. One of those fights, at light heavyweight, is Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson. It really doesn't matter if Hopkins and Dawson are successful in their upcoming fights, a potential showdown between the two of them will never happen. Why? Because Hopkins doesn't see any value in a fight with Dawson.

Last December, when Danny Green knocked out Roy Jones Jr. in the first round, most insiders expected Hopkins to fight either Green or Dawson. Instead, Hopkins went forward with the Roy Jones rematch, which takes place on April 3rd in Las Vegas. When Hopkins was pressed for an answer on Dawson, he gave it.

"What do I gain fighting Chad Dawson? What is attached to Chad Dawson that enhances and changes Bernard's career? How does that change Bernard's life? He just beat up a guy 17 years [younger and a] star of boxing in Kelly Pavlik. Why do ya'll want me to continue to destroy the future of boxing? And once I'm gone I might want to promote the guy later on," Hopkins said.

When further pressed, Hopkins discussed other reasons for bypassing a fight with Dawson. While he discusses Dawson's inability to draw huge crowds, and Dawson's lack of a pay-per-view background, the real reason comes down to money. When a Dawson fight was briefly discussed, Hopkins was looking for a certain seven-figure number from HBO. The network gave him the wrong answer.

"Chad Dawson has not sold out any arena, even in Hartford, Connecticut. He has no history in pay-per-view. He hasn't beaten nobody of significance other than who? Tarver, who lost to a middleweight [in] Bernard Hopkins? I think it was a split, 1 and 1 [against Glen Johnson]. He beat and lost to Glen Johnson, who I beat [when he was] undefeated and knocked him out," Hopkins said.

"What do I gain by beating Chad Dawson when the money doesn't make sense? HBO spoke on that. The money doesn't make sense. The money is not there. The risk is higher than the reward. What do I gain by fighting Chad Dawson when it brings nothing to me historically or financially? There are two key things at 45-years-old that get me aroused, financially and history. If it ain't that, I don't get aroused."

Hopkins, should he beat Jones, is looking to fight the winner of next Saturday's heavyweight bout between WBA champion David Haye and mandatory challenger John Ruiz.

 

[heyzel]

Bernard Hopkins Says: "I Want Haye-Ruiz Winner Next"

By Rick Reeno

Bernard Hopkins has confirmed the next move for his career. The final chapter will not take place next Saturday in Las Vegas. Over the course of his long career, the 45-year-old veteran has picked up championships in two divisions. He plans to make one final championship run - at heavyweight. Provided he beats Roy Jones Jr., Hopkins wants to fight the winner of David Haye vs. John Ruiz, who clash for the WBA heavyweight title next Saturday in Manchester.

Both Haye and Ruiz are under contract with Golden Boy Promotions, where Hopkins is a partner. He believes the negotiations will be easy regardless of the winner. Haye is the bigger and more marketable fight. If the choice was presented, Hopkins would prefer to fight Haye for the title. Both of them have to win their fights on April 3.

"I have to come through April 3rd, and John Ruiz doesn't spoil nothing because I've seen John Ruiz pull a rabbit out of his hat a couple of times. Let me tell you, I've seen John Ruiz pull a rabbit out of his hat a couple of times that wasn't good for the next big thing," Hopkins said. "That style he has is real funky. I have my fingers crossed."

"I want to fight the winner of that fight and they are both under Golden Boy Promotions, [but] John Ruiz is a problem for anybody."

 

[MOREBASS]

B-Hop does make good points in his argument, but I'd still like to see that fight.


Though I like the idea of Hopkins moving up to face the bigger guys like Haye.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

it's true though, chad dawson's last three fights haven't even sold 5,000 tickets COMBINED. That's why Dawson is fighting Pascal in Canada - chad has no fan base.

Hopkins I think is only interested in money fights and/or legacy fights, and at 45 years old you can't really blame him. Hopkins will leave the division soon and dawson should be able to snag all the ring championship soon anyway, either that or he might drop to 168 as he's said a few times now.

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao picking Mosley to beat Mayweather

By Esteban Garduno: Manny Pacquiao has come up with his own prediction for the May 1st clash between unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley, saying to the Yahoo Philippine News “I pick Mosley to win that fight because he can throw a lot of punches compared to Mayweather, who’s a very defensive boxer. Defense can’t win fights, especially against a fighter like Mosley who relies on speed.” Someone needs to break the news to Pacquiao that defense can and does win fights. Actually, defense wins fights all the time in boxing. Just mindlessly throwing punches doesn’t win fights.


Pacquiao looked awful in his recent fight against Joshua Clottey, throwing a lot of punches at Clottey’s gloves all night long seemingly without trying to aim them. If that was Mayweather who was in the ring with Clottey on that night, I think Pacquiao would have been picking up his teeth of the canvas and wondering what hit him. Pacquiao looked defenseless against Clottey, and was nailed frequently whenever Clottey had it in his mind to throw a punch.

If Pacquiao had used his wide open high volume punch attack against Mayweather, he would have been getting picked apart all night long. Clottey just stood in front of Pacquiao with his gloves covering up his face. It was an easy target for Pacquiao. There’s no way that Mayweather would be stupid enough to fight in such a primitive, backwards style like this against Mosley. That would be like flushing down the toilet all the things that Mayweather has learned over the years and decided to fight in a self-defeating manner.

I wonder if it’s a case of wishful thinking on Pacquiao’s part by saying he thinks Mosley will beat Mayweather? After all, if Mosley gets rid of Mayweather for Pacquiao, the pressure would be off of Pacquiao as far as fighting Mayweather. No one in their right mind would bug Pacquiao about taking on the dangerous Mayweather and risk getting humiliated in front of the entire world.

Pacquiao then would be free to fight more Top Rank guys like Miguel Cotto, Clottey, Yuri Foreman and Edwin Valero without anyone saying anything about it. I think Mayweather will totally destroy Pacquiao in one of the worst one-sided fights you’ve ever seen before. But if Mayweather was to get beaten by Mosley, then Pacquiao would be free to move on and fight whoever without much pressure.

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, likes the idea of Pacquiao fighting Mosley rather than Mayweather. Who can blame Roach? If you had a choice of putting your fighter in with a guy that you felt he could beat or putting him in with a fighter that you think he might struggle and possibly lose to, who would you want him to fight? Roach says “I like Shane because he’s a real fighter. It will be a more exciting fight that than the one involving Mayweather.”

Roach also said that the fight between Clottey and Pacquiao would be a more exciting fight than a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. As you can see, Roach’s ability to judge fights needs some minor corrections. Clottey a better opponent than Mayweather? Yeah, right, Roach

 

[heyzel]

Can Gamboa continue having success as he moves up in weight?

By Ronnie Jordan: Like most boxing fans I’m always on the lookout for the next big talent, the new Floyd Mayweather, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson or Chris Arreola. Yuriorkis Gamboa (17-0, 15 KO’s), the young fighter from Cuba. I think Gamboa has the potential to become the new pound for pound king. He’s due to fight on March the 27th against unbeaten Argentinean prospect Jonathan Victor Barros.


Gamboa has shot up the world rankings with some brilliant display knocking out 15 of his 17 opponents. He’s very fast, hard hitting and has skill in abundance. Gamboa throws his combinations like Manny Pacquiao but with the knock out power of someone like Marcos Maidana. Pacquiao’s superior head movement and foot work gives him the slight edge, but there’s still time for Gamboa to improve.

My question is how far can Gamboa move up in weight? He’s quite short at 5′5 1/2″ and looks well built already at feather weight. For him to move up three or four weights, he’d have to be carrying some serious bulk. Not all fighters can do what Pacquiao has done. For Gamboa to realize his enormous potential he has to be fighting the best guys out there, but after the match ups with Juan Manual Lopez and possibly Chris John, there isn’t much else at that weight.

There’s some good match ups at super featherweight, but it’s not until you get into lightweight and light welterweight that you get huge names like Edwin Valero, Timothy Bradley and Amir Khan. The mouth watering prospect of Gamboa vs. Pacquiao doesn’t seem to be a possibility with Pacquiao close to retirement. But the three fighters listed would be great fights for fans and excellent names on your resume.

The trouble for most fighters moving up in weight is keeping all of your speed, power, stamina and agility. If you’re not fighting at your natural weight you tend to lose something. Gamboa may find he’s unable to blow fighters away like he has done and will have to adapt his style like Mayweather has done so successfully.

So Gamboa’s success is not a foregone conclusion, but I for one hope he can indeed challenge for titles at numerous weights. Gamboa has great talent along with an exciting style and with Pacquiao and Mayweather no more than one or two more fights away from retirement boxing is badly in need of box office stars

 

[heyzel]

Emanuel Steward: “Wladimir Klitschko would knock Haye out within four rounds”

by Geoffrey Ciani - This past week’s edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward who is best known for his work with Tommy Hearns and Lennox Lewis. Steward also currently trains reigning unified heavyweight champion of the world Wladimir Klitschko who recently stopped “Fast” Eddie Chambers by twelfth round knockout. Emanuel spoke about a variety of topics, including Wladimir’s performance against Chambers, a potential fight between Wladimir and David Haye, and the upcoming mega fight between Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Junior. Here are some excerpts from that interview:

On his assessment of how he rates Klitschko’s performance against Chambers:
“I give him a B. It was a B. It was a good performance. It could have been better because of what his ability is compared to what he did, but it was still good. He went out and did what he was asked to do and he got the knockout. Chambers isn’t the easiest guy to fight, either. He spends his time mostly about, like 80% on the defensive mental mode—covering up, running away, hands over his head. It was very difficult to fight guys like that especially when you have a guy like Wladimir who’s a really technical, super intelligent, thinking fighter himself. So I had to do what I had to do the last two rounds to just try to push him out of his regular mode and he got really upset and all emotional and anxiety and then he went out and performed, but it was something I had to do. That’s my job as a trainer—to do what I have to do to get my fighter to get the best performance and I appreciate the fact that he did respond and he went and did what he was supposed to do..”






His views on Klitschko going forward:
“I think based on this performance here and his own conversations with me in the recent days that he realizes that he is actually too reluctant, too intelligent, too technical—that I think you’re going to see a much more aggressive fighter in Wladimir. If this man actually would just operate with close to 80%—he’s only operating with about 60%—he would be the most devastating heavyweight in the history of boxing because I’ve worked with him. Never, ever, ever have I been involved with a fighter who has so much one punch punching power. Even guys that knock somebody out—they get them hurt, they knock them down, they get them groggy—Wladimir is the only fighter I’ve ever worked with that everything can be normal like a big party—everybody is having champagne, on the floors, in the tuxedos, with the music—and the lights go off completely at one time. I mean it’s not like a gradual dimmer switch. I never saw anyone who knocked out people in a gym when they block punches and he did that about three weeks ago with a sparring partner—two weeks ago, prior to the fight. With a sparring partner he threw a left hook, the sparring partner blocked the punch and with twenty ounce gloves he was still knocked out. He has unbelievable one punch punching power and that’s why maybe he doesn’t put combinations together because he punches so effectively and with so much power with one punch, but his handicap and problem is he feints too much. He wants everything to be perfect—perfect balance, perfect this, and the last round he was a little overly aggressive, got out of position a few times, but to go three minutes with a guy with his power is like a lifetime because even if he just grazes you with a punch, you’re going to be hurt.”

His views on Wladimir’s punching power:
“What makes him really special also is he has so much power in the late rounds. A lot of guys, great punchers like (Mike) Tyson, they were great in the early rounds but very seldom in the late rounds. Wladimir has knocked out guys like he did with Chris Byrd, and (Ray) Austin, and Eliseo Castillo—he knocked those guys out early because he threw a punch early, an early power punch. And then he’s had the power to go out after being down three times with Sam Peter and he had him out on his feet in the twelfth round of a very grueling fight with one single punch, a left hook. Then he knocked out Thompson. With Tony Thompson he ran across the ring and threw one straight right hand in the eleventh round and just walked away, and Thompson went down totally finished. Now he knocks out this guy in the twelfth round with ten or twelve seconds left with one punch. To have a fighter that has that kind of devastating one punch clean knockout power is so much stress on the opponent because you’re never safe.”

On a potential fight between Klitschko and David Haye:
“I would love to see that fight because David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko are the only two heavyweights that have explosive power—speed and one punch punching power. If they ever fight, because I don’t know if David wants the fight. He became a big name only by bragging about what he would do the Klitschkos, and drawing cartoon characters and cutting off heads and putting them on t-shirts—but he has never fought a quality heavyweight or did anything. He became a big celebrity just by talking about what he would do to a Klitschko and then he ran away from both fights. Nevertheless, he still is a very hot guy to fight as far as I’m concerned, and I still like the idea of him and Wladimir because they both have tremendous explosive punching power and speed.”

On whether he believes people are counting out Shane Mosley in his May 1 showdown with Floyd Mayweather Junior:
“Oh definitely. I have Mosley and Mayweather a dead even fight. The one good thing is that Shane is, first of all, to me is the first really live physical match-up fight that I think that really that Floyd has fought in about five or six years. I mean I looked at (Arturo) Gatti—I’m not trying to knock Gatti—Gatti was a good fight when he fought another brawler or another guy on his level who was exciting, but anytime he stepped up and fought class boxers he always lost because he could never deal with intelligent fighters. Oscar, you know, fights with Floyd and I cannot believe how he fought such a fight not using his talent, but nevertheless, people forget it was a split decision because Oscar was still just tall enough to use the jab in the early part and that bothered Floyd because Floyd’s defense of just rolling his shoulders and bending back is okay if you got small guys, but guys who have long enough arms to reach over and hit him he had to really fight with them and that was only a split decision. Shane matches up with him in size as a full welterweight and also Shane has good speed—maybe not as fast as Floyd but there’s not that much of a disparity. I think the intensity and the challenge that Shane brings into this fight is going to make Floyd Mayweather show his greatness or he could totally be dominated and look very inferior. He won’t be anywhere in between, he’ll go to one extreme or the other and I think that Shane may be the dark horse so to say in this whole situation because he could easily be a big threat and possibly beat Floyd and (Manny) Pacquiao. Shane is an old school fighter who fights with a lot of intensity, has speed, has shown a good chin and he’s going to be very well prepared. I just think that this is going to be maybe one of the best fights in a long time but I think this is the fight that will make Floyd Mayweather show his greatness or show his weakness—because he won’t be in between. He must fight in this fight.”

On how he would go about training Mosley if he were Mosley’s trainer in his fight with Mayweather:
“Well I think he’s got a very good trainer working with him now in Naseem Richardson and he will need to jab and apply a lot of pressure but not necessarily when Floyd bends back, beating all along his elbows and the ribs throwing a lot of wasted punches which Oscar did. The biggest thing that will be a problem for Floyd is the jab—pressure, jab, pressure, jab, and once you get inside, then you throw punches because Shane is just big enough where his arms are long enough and he’s tall enough where he would have a problem avoiding Shane’s punches by just rolling his shoulder and sticking his head back to the ropes. But the thing that goes for Floyd is Floyd has good hand speed but he also has good foot speed, too, and Shane is really not known for his footwork. Floyd can move around, stop on a dime, punch in and out, catlike reflexes—maybe not throw the volume of punches that Shane throws, but he’s a very, very accurate pinpoint puncher and he has ability to move and change directions a lot. A slight edge would go to Mayweather because of the foot speed and the pinpoint accurate punches, but I think that Shane will, even though Floyd may have that advantage over him in those areas, I think Shane is still fast enough and has enough intensity and anger in him that he’s still going to force Mayweather to bring him out of his comfort zone and make him really have to sit there and show his greatness, and if he does—maybe what he’s been saying is, he’s one of the greatest welterweight fighter of all time even though he won’t fight a welterweight. So this is the first time he’s really fighting a really world class welterweight fighter.”

On which fight he believes fans would enjoy more—Mosley vs. Pacquiao or Mayweather vs.Pacquiao:
“Mosley-Pacquiao or Mayweather-Pacquiao? Mosley-Pacquiao, Mosley-Pacquiao, Mosley-Pacquiao. I mean you know that Shane is going to bring it to you, I mean that’s him. There’s no way he’s going to run from anybody or try to be technical and if things get rough he’s still going to fight. Even in his losses to basically Winky Wright, who he had no business fighting because he was physically way too big, and Vernon Forrest, which was a tall rangy type guy and I know he lost to (Miguel) Cotto but I won’t even go into this because that was a close fight—but still, there’s no way you’re going to get anything but pure explosive excitement with Pacquiao and Mosley. But the fight based on the hype, the interest, and the hunger of the fans is still Mayweather and Pacquiao, but the true, true really explosive fight that the true fight fans would look forward to would be with Shane Mosley and Pacquiao. But still, the media and the press and everybody is going to make the fight if it’s possible with Pacquiao and Mayweather because of the anticipation and the marquee value and all of the hype—but the pure, pure fight is with Shane Mosley.”

His views on the upcoming fight between David Haye and John Ruiz:
“I pick David to win because everything is going in his direction now with the speed and youth, but if I was a betting person I would have it like 6:5 that’s all, or 7:5. I don’t know how odds go because I never bet on a fight but I see it as that type of fight. It’s his home town, his area, his crowd—the momentum and movement and everything is with him, but still, Ruiz is a solid fighter, he’s a real heavyweight not a super heavyweight, he has a good chin and I don’t know that David has all of the gifted movements and the great coordination like Roy Jones had to stay for twelve rounds and move and not get hit, because the biggest problem I have with him is just his chin. When he got knocked down by Monte Barrett I said, ‘Oh my God’. So that’s the situation. A lot of people believe that he is going to go out and just blow Ruiz away, and maybe he will—I wish that that would happen—but I have him a slight favorite and that’s about it.”

On how he sees a fight between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye going should it happen:
“Well Wladimir would knock him out within four rounds because this is one of the few guys who Wladimir has a lot of animosity I guess and anger and he would be extremely aggressive very much like he was with Chris Byrd in their second fight, but I think until it happens—the knockout or whatever, which I think will happen within four rounds—it would be a very explosive exciting fight. You got two guys who are known for explosive punching power, great speed, and both of them reputedly got weak chins so it would be a great excitement fight. But I think that Wladimir’s size and a strong left jab would be too much in addition to the fact that Wladimir has that tremendous short punching power with both the left hand and the right hand. I think that would be a little too much for David to overcome, but in the meantime, he has the ability to knockout Wladimir if he can catch him, too, because he does punch hard and he does punch fast and he does punch freely. As soon as he gets into range he will let his punches go. He doesn’t hesitate, so it’s a fight as a fan I would love

 

[heyzel]

Froch backs Abraham over 'Bitch Like' Dirrell

ENGLAND (March 25th 2010) With only two days to go until the next Super Six World Boxing Classic fight the WBC Super Middleweight champion Carl Froch is weighing up who is most likely to win and who he will be backing between former IBF middleweight title holder ‘King’ Arthur Abraham and Andre ‘The Matrix’ Dirrell. “I can't pick a winner because it’s in the States. I really am 50 / 50” Said The Cobra of the second round fight due to be aired live in the UK on Primetime Channel 480 on Sky this Saturday night.

But when pushed Carl leaned towards Abraham, urging him to beat Dirrell as he did in the first round of the Super Six after a split decision. Froch said: “It will either be a brutal KO by Abraham or a boring points decision by Dirrell with a bitch like performance. Come on Abraham... Catch him sweet!”

Carl will be facing Mikkel Kessler on 24th April, also shown on Primetime, and this weekend’s fight is the perfect bout to get you hyped for next month’s action. At the reduced price of only £5.95 there’s no reason to miss the action!

Abraham V Dirrell is shown on Primetime channel 480 on Sky on Saturday night 20th March from 02:30 GMT (3:30 BST). Sky customers need to call 0871 200 4444 to register. If you’ve registered with Primetime before you can just press select on your remote control.

 

[heyzel]

n Valero Arrested on Alleged Assault Charges

By Mark Vester

According to multiple reports in Venezuela, undefeated Edwin Valero was arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife. Valero's wife was taken to a hospital in Los Andes. The doctor's report listed several injuries, including a collapsed lung and multiple bruises. Several doctors spoke with the press and said Valero showed up to the emergency room in a very hostile mood and was threatening staff members.

This is not the first time Valero has been in trouble. Last year he was wanted by authorities in Venezuela after allegedly having a physical confrontation with his mother and sister. The charges were later dropped. He was arrested last year in Texas and was charged with driving under the influence, which is currently preventing him from entering the country.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Steward Training Cotto Is A Done Deal

The hiring of Emanuel Steward by the three-time champion Miguel Cotto is already a fact and Murray Wilson, manager of the 154-pound king of the WBA, Yuri Foreman is aware that the offer made to him was a very tempting so his pupil will be without the advice of the HBO analyst also highlighted.



Yesterday, Wilson told the cyberpage Boxingscene that a month ago was under the impression that it had reached an agreement with Stewart but not now.



Foreman and Cotto will meet on June 5 at Yankee Stadium and the official announcement of the hiring of Stewart will be announced on or before Tampa or New York.



Cotto leaves for Tampa on April 3 where will the bulk of their training and not returning to the island until June 6. Cotto will join Stewart in Tampa.



Wilson hoped to have hired Steward for two or three weeks in an advisory or consultative role and the goal was to use their knowledge to increase the offensive skills of Foreman.



But Cotto's offer to work as a head coach to Stewart with assistant Joe Santiago caught the ear of Wilson, who spoke Tuesday with famed coach.



And it seems that Wilson and Steward will be accepted with Cotto because the coach will not only be the 'chief but also allegedly receive a percentage of the millonaire purse. Foreman's group offered Steward only a fixed payment for their services.
Foreman is trained by Joe Grier, whom Wilson cataloged as one of the best.

 

[heyzel]

Tim Bradley: "Devon Alexander Will Get His in Due Time"

By Rick Reeno

Following the big unification victory over Juan Urango, on March 6th, the IBF/WBC junior welterweight champion Devon Alexander, and his manager/trainer Kevin Cunningham, have been calling out WBO champion Timothy Bradley. Both fighters are undefeated rising stars in the sport. Alexander's knockout of the iron-chinned Urango made a big impression with the bigwigs at HBO. Bradley makes his HBO debut on June 19, at welterweight, against unbeaten Luis Carlos Abregu.

Bradley is certainly open to fighting Alexander - if the dollar figures make sense. At the moment he doesn't believe the fight makes any financial sense. The fight needs more time to properly build, says Bradley.

"I'm not ducking Devon nor am I afraid of Devon. Devon will get his in due time. He will get his opportunity and he will get his in due time. Right now I'm on another mission. I will take this fight [with Abregu], which is a dangerous fight for me. I'm taking this fight and then after this fight - then we'll see if it makes sense dollar wise. I have nothing to prove to anybody and whether I fight Devon or not at this point, I'm still number one. At the end of the day, he still needs more fights to come to my level to be where I'm at," Bradley told BoxingScene.com.

Alexander called Urango "the best junior welterweight in the world" in a post-fight interview. Bradley took some offense to the comment. He doesn't think much of Alexander's resume and advised his rival from St. Louis to beef up the record before calling him out.

"He said he fought the best junior welterweight in the world [Urango], but he hasn't. Maybe after he has a few more fights, we'll do it. His resume is not that impressive. He has Juan Urango and he has [Junior] Witter. How much money is somebody really going to pay for us to fight? I'm thinking about this like a business man. He's talking mad smack, that he wants another world title and for us to do this," Bradley said.

"Be patient grasshopper, your day will come. I have nothing to prove to Devon Alexander. I'm looking for bigger paydays. If they don't happen, and Devon is still there, and he's fought a couple of more fights and everyone is hollering they want that fight and they pay the bucks for it - we'll do it."

There are a few targets on Bradley's radar. One of those targets is the winner of Amir Khan vs. Paulie Malignaggi, which takes place on May 15. Other names on his list include Victor Ortiz and Ricky Hatton. Bradley views all of those opponents as being bigger opportunities than taking a unification bout with Alexander.

"There is Amir Khan. Malignaggi is a bigger draw than Devon. We can go to MSG and fight Malignaggi. That's way bigger than Devon. You have Victor Ortiz, who I think right now is a bigger fight than Devon. There is [Ricky] Hatton. There are a lot of options out there. I'll fight anybody - just show me the money. That's all it boils down to at the end of the day," Bradley said.

If Bradley is successful in June, he will probably return to the ring in October or November. He took a page from the playbook of Paul Williams by moving up to higher weight division to open up additional doors. With names like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley at welterweight, Bradley hopes an impressive showing will get his name in the running for a mega-fight. The WBO has give him some wiggle room. He doesn't have to make a mandatory defense until the end of the year.

"Everyone is closing the door on me because they say the money is not enough for them. They say the gamble is not worth the money. Everybody is shutting me out, and if that's how everybody else wants to play, then I'll go up to 147 to open up a few more doors," Bradley said

 

[heyzel]

Froch plans on moving up to the light heavyweight division after the Super Six tourna

By Scott Gilfoid: WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KO’s) would like to move up to the light heavyweight division after he finishes the Super Six tournament, according to Thisisnottingham The 32-year-old Froch says I want to win the Super Six tournament first, as that will give me universal status,. Then maybe step up to light heavyweight, eat a few bananas and fight Jean Pascal. He is now World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion. We have a handshake on it that we would fight each other. He wants to get the blemish off his record and I said I would give him the chance to do it. I will step up and fight him for the world title.”


That sounds nice, I guess, but I see a couple of problems that could throw a wrench in Froch’s works. First of all, I think Froch is going to lose big time in the Super Six tourney, starting with his next fight against former WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KO’s) on April 24th. I also think Froch lose his next fight in the Super Six tournament, this one against Arthur Abraham.

That loss will eliminate Froch from the Super Six tournament. If Froch doesn’t mind moving up to the light heavyweight division following two consecutive losses, then I’m cool with that. It actually might not be a bad idea. However, it might look to some boxing fans that Froch is running away from the super middleweight division rather than just moving up in weight to seek greener pastures.

It might look kind of funny to see Froch moving up after getting beaten a couple of times, but it’s a good move. I wouldn’t blame Froch for wanting to move up. If he’s getting beaten at super middleweight and struggling, then who’s to blame him for wanting to move up in weight to the light heavyweight division? To be sure, the light heavyweight division isn’t exactly stacked with talent and I can see Froch easily becoming a champion at that weight class as long as he doesn’t fight Chad Dawson.

Speaking of Dawson, I wonder why Froch didn’t mention him as someone he wanted to fight. That would seem like the fighter that Froch should be mentioning as someone he would like to fight rather than going over old ground and fighting Jean Pascal again. That’s like going backwards instead of forwards. I wouldn’t want to do it. Froch already beat the dude, so why fight him again. Froch needs to be looking at new opponents like Dawson or Tavoris Cloud.

Froch says “I have Kessler, then Abraham and then two more fights to win this Super Six. For now, I am really looking to April 24. It is going to be a humdinger.” I hate to break this to Froch, but I think he’s going to totally dominated by Kessler on April 24th. The fight will be held in Kessler’s home country of Denmark, and given how badly Froch struggled against his last two opponents Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell, I think Froch’s good luck is about to run out.

Froch won a controversial 12 round split decision in his last fight against Dirrell. The chances of Froch winning another controversial 12 round split decision is probably not very good. Kessler has superb boxing skills, some of the best in the entire super middleweight division. In contrast, Froch is a slugger and not much else. If Froch can get to Kessler, then he’ll win. If not, then I see Kessler beating the stuffing out of Froch and winning a lopsided decision.

I see the latter scenario happening. Kessler doesn’t get knocked out. He’s proven that. It doesn’t get any better for Froch in his next fight against the hard hitting Arthur Abraham in their stage 3 Super Six bout. Abraham will no doubt be looking to get back on the winning track after losing to Dirrell this Saturday night, and will have the perfect opponent for him with the stationary Froch. It will be easy for Abraham because Froch will come straight at him and basically walk into Abraham’s big shots. I see that fight ending in a knockout win for Abraham

 

[heyzel]

Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz II on PPV for July 10th?

By Chris Williams: According to Dan Rafael of ESPN, Golden Boy Promotions is in the process of putting together a rematch between former lightweight champion Juan Diaz (35-3, 17 KO’s) and World Boxing Organization lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO’s) in a Pay-Per-View card on July 10th, possibly to take place at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Schaefer says “We are very close” to having the fight made. Diaz, 26, and Marquez fought previously last year in February, a fight which ended with Marquez stopping Diaz in the 9th round.


The fight was exciting one with both fighters getting hurt in toe-to-toe exchanges. It’s unfortunate, however, that the two didn’t opt to fight an immediate rematch instead of waiting for over a year to decide upon fighting again. Since this fight, Diaz has looked poor in two ill-advised fights with light welterweight Paulie Malignaggi, winning one of the fights by a controversial 12 round decision and losing the most recent fight by a 12 round decision.

Marquez, 36, was easily beaten last September in a one-sided 12 round decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas. Based on the problems that the two fighters have had in their recent bouts, it would seem like a much better idea to not have this fight be a PPV bout. It seems kind of silly to make boxing fans pay to see two fighters that were recently beaten. And in the case of Diaz, he’s not only coming off a loss to Malignaggi, but he’s also been beaten in three out of his last five fights.

I think it’s ridiculous to put this fight on PPV. I don’t care who they package this fight with in terms of the undercard, I still don’t see it as a PPV fight. If Marquez and Diaz were actually looking good and had won their last fights, I could see this being on PPV, but not for two struggling fighters. Marquez doesn’t look good fighting at lightweight, and had major problems with beating Joel Casamayor shortly before the Diaz fight.

Rafael says that the winner of the Diaz-Marquez rematch could then be looking to move up to the light welterweight division and fight one of the champions Devon Alexander, Timothy Bradley or Amir Khan. I think that’s a pretty lousy idea if you ask me. Diaz already pretty much proved that he doesn’t have the size to compete against light welterweights when he was handled by the taller, light-hitting Malignaggi last December.

And Marquez looked fat and slow when he bulked up to 143 for his welterweight bout against Mayweather last September. Even if Marquez trims down a little to fight at light welterweight, he still would likely be very slow at that weight. Marquez’s best weight is super featherweight or featherweight.

I don’t think Marquez belongs at lightweight or especially light welterweight. I see him losing to whoever he gets put in with. His best chance, if he wants to fight at light welterweight for a good payday, would be to fight Khan, because he would have a good chance of taking Khan out if he can catch up to him.

However, Marquez already had a chance at fighting Khan and opted not to take it. Marquez would be better off moving back down in weight to super featherweight but if he insists on fighting at lightweight, he should focus on defending the title against the likes of Michael Katsidis or Kevin Mitchell. At least Marquez would have a good chance of beating those guys.

The undercard of the Diaz-Marquez II fight could have Sergio Mora fighting 38-year-old Winky Wright. That fight doesn’t interest me at all. Wright is getting up there in age, and if I want to see him fight, I don’t want to see him against Mora, who will probably be running all around the ring all night long. I don’t think this is enough for me to want to purchase this card on PPV. I think it would make for a good ESPN 2 fight, though