Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Freddie Roach Erupts: Margarito is a F**king A**hole!

By Lem Satterfield

Freddie Roach, the trainer of Antonio Margarito's next opponent, Manny Pacquiao, believes the Mexican boxer is lying when he claims to have had no knowledge of the illegal hand wrappings in his gloves that led to a scandal that cost him his American boxing license for more than a year

"You have fu****g rocks in your hand, you know it," Roach told Robert Morales of BoxingScene.com late last month.

During a recent interview, Roach's temper erupted over a scene from HBO's 24/7 series, where Margarito and trainer, Robert Garcia, mocked the handwraps controversy by placing a large cinder block on Margarito's hand as Garcia pretended to wrap the fighter in preparation for sparring.

"When you're caught doing something, you don't make fun of it," said Roach to FanHouse. "In my mind, to do that, and get caught, it's like, you should be guilty. And if proven guilty, then it's attempted murder."

"Listen, boxing is our sport, and if he's [Margarito] going to put Plaster of Paris in his hands, and he's making jokes about it? I think Margarito's a f*****g a**hole to be honest about it, and we're going to make him eat his words."

Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) faces Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) this Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas

 

[heyzel]

Arum Says Mosley Free of Golden Boy To Face Pacquiao

By Michael Marley

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS—A boxing reporter has to operate the way Nikita Khrushchev and his comrades did back when they ran the old USSR.

They often said they always trust but they always verfiy.

I am unable to verify this immediately but I don't know why Bob Arum would say it beyond the continuing Top Rank-Golden Boy feud.

The news concerns Golden Boy executive vice president and shareholder "Sugar" Shane Mosley.

Arum contends that Mosley has informed him that, while he retains his executive stripes and stock in Oscar de la Hoya's company, the 38-year-old veteran is operating as a boxing free agent as to the remainder of his own career.

Evidently, GBP and Mosley made some kind of break on this after Mosley's disappointing draw against "Latin Snake" Sergio Mora.

This may tie in with the news item of last week that Mosley has cut ties to lawyer Judd Burstein and is now being advised by rap music and boxing guru James Prince.

What springs to mind immediately is Mosley being a prime candidate for Manny Pacquiao's next bout, assuming he leaps over Antonio Margarito at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Saturday night.

Pacman plans to box in both May and November of 2011 and Mosley is a nice but less lucrative alternative if, for legal or any other reason, the Manny-Floyd Mayweather super bout still cannot be put together.

“Mosley is operating indepedently of Golden Boy,” Arum said, sidling up to me at ringside at the Pacman/Margarito open workouts Tuesday at the Gaylord Texan Hotel.

“Mosley told me it's up to him who he fights now, it's his decision.”

I mentioned that Arum has always had a soft spot in his steelecase heart of the gentlemanly Mosley.

“He is,” Arum said, “a lovely guy.”

I suppose Shane's lovelieness has multiplied tenfold in Uncle Bob's view if it is, indeed, true that he's broken free of the Goldens with whom Arum is continually feuding.

Actually, Mosley is as deserving of a Pacquiao bout as much as anybody not named Mayweather.

Meanwhile, Arum who turns 79 next month 10 days ahead of Pacman's 32nd natal day, is still floating about the sweet as a lollipop, 13 minute long "60 Minutes" profile of the Pinoy Idol which aired Sunday night.

"I did not know the program had such an international reach," Arum said, "but my sister, who lives in Jerusalem, called me to tell me she saw it

 

[heyzel]

Chagaev, Boytsov and Charr in action again!

Paul McCreath: On Friday November 19 in Wandsbek Germany two top 10 heavyweights in The Ring ratings and another undefeated prospect swing back into action on an attractive Universum card. #5 ranked Ruslan Chagaev meets ever dangerous Travis Walker,#7 ranked Denis Boytsov is matched with trial horse Mike Sheppard and prospect Manuel Charr is up against tricky old pro Robert Hawkins.All bouts are over 8 rounds.


Chagaev is currently the mandatory challenger for David Haye and is basically marking time while Haye collects his big pay check against Audley Harrison. He became the mandatory by outpointing Kali Meehan over 12 rounds last May.He is a former world belt holder who never lost his title in the ring. In June of last year when Haye pulled out of his fight with Wlad Klitschko and Nicolay Valuev refused to meet Chagaev for medical reasons Ruslan signed to meet Wlad instead. He was stripped of his title as a result of these happenings and then lost in 9 rounds to Wlad. This remains his only loss.He has defeated John Ruiz and Valuev in an earlier fight when he won his belt and also defended against Matt Skelton and Carl Davis Drummond. He is still only 32 years old and healthy again.

His opponent Walker is one of the most exciting heavyweights in the world. He has good power as his 28 KOs in 34 wins would suggest but he also has a weak chin.He has been stopped in all 5 of his defeats, not all against top opponents. With Travis it is nearly always a KO one way or the other. He gave Chris Arreola a real scare when he dropped Chris in their bout back in November of 2008 but Chris got up to win in the 3rd round. In his last bout he was stopped rather controversially in 4 rounds by Alex Leapai last June in Australia after a real war. If you have not seen this one yet check it out on Youtube. It was a great fight. Expect Chagaev to chalk up another KO win this time especially if Walker turns up overweight as he sometimes does. It will likely come before the 5th round after some early fireworks.

Boytsov’s fight is pretty much a tune-up. He is coming back after hand surgery and wants an easy one this time. Mike Sheppard who comes in with a 15-11-1 record should fit the bill nicely. Denis is considered by many to be the best of the young up and coming heavies and is undefeated in 27 fights with 22 KOs.His best wins came last year with a 6 round KO over fringe contender Taras Bidenko and a 7 round stoppage of always tough Jason Gavern.Expect another KO win for Boytsov in 5 rounds or less.

Manuel Charr has the toughest task among the three house fighters. His opponent Robert Hawkins loses often but nearly always goes the distance and he has fought many of the top names in the division.He is a tricky 40 year old pro who knows how to survive.In his last 5 losses he went the distance with Boytsov,Mo Harris and Oleg Maskaev as well as prospects Ondrej Pala and Bermane Stiverne. He outpointed Dominick Guinn in December of 2007.

Charr has had only 14 fights so far and has been idle since January when he stopped faded contender Owen Beck in the tenth and last round.His other notable win came by KO in 7 over Gbenga Oloukan whom you may remember outpointed Lamon Brewster. Charr should win this one on points but it won’t be easy

 

[heyzel]

Haye thinks he’ll make big money against Harrison, possibly more than against the Kli

By Sean McDaniel: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) isn’t sorry that he chose 39-year-old Audley Harrison (27-4, 20 KO’s) to fight on November 13th rather than one of the Klitschko brothers. Haye, 30, didn’t like the contract offer that he got recently from Wladimir Klitschko, and instead of giving in and accepting less than what he felt he was worth, Haye chose to move on and take on fellow countryman Harrison in a fight at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, England.


Speaking with the Independant.co.uk, Haye said “We’ll find out with the pay-per-view numbers, we’re not sure what they will be. But I assume they will be very high. Because people will pay to watch Harrison get destroyed. People dislike him that much that they will pay their hard-earned money to watch me dismantle and finally retire Audley Harrison. With what the Klitschkos were offering, I wouldn’t be surprised if this earned me more.”

It’s too bad this is only a one shot only fight, because if it is a fight that makes as much money for Haye as he’s talking about, then he might as well fight Harrison again if possible. However, if Haye blows Harrison out early in the fight, which is what most people think will happen, Haye won’t be in the position to ask the British public to fork over their hard earned money to see this bout again.

Haye doesn’t have any other options for big money fights in the UK besides Harrison. As such, Haye will have to either take on one of the Klitschko brothers or settle for a much smaller payday defending his World Boxing Association heavyweight title against his number 1 contender Ruslan Chagaev. That’s a bout that probably won’t bring in anymore money than what Haye received in his fight against 38-year-old John Ruiz in April.

Haye seems to be misjudging boxing fans. He is right that many of the British boxing fans dislike Harrison, but what he’s not aware of is that a good amount of fans also dislike him because he’s failed to take on an interesting top heavyweight since moving up to the division two years ago. After all the bragging that Haye made before becoming a champion about moving up in weight and cleaning up the heavyweight division, Haye has played it safe fighting 38-year-old Monte Barrett, 38-year-old Ruiz and 36-year-old Valuev.

It’s going to be of interest to see how many of the British public decide to purchase the Harrison-Haye fight on PPV. Harrison has had a disappointing career after winning the Olympic Gold Medal in 2000, and still hasn’t beaten a top tier heavyweight after 10 years as a pro. This will be Harrison’s first win over a top level fighter if he can get by Haye. That’s a big if because Haye is fighting well at this time and doesn’t look as if he’s going to make a mental mistake and allow Harrison to knock him out by sticking his chin out

 

[heyzel]

No jail time for Chisora, Klitschko fight good to go

By Eric Thomas: British and Commonwealth champion Dereck Chisora (14-0, 9 KO’s) got some good news earlier today when he received a suspended sentence for assault on his ex-girlfriend. According to Guardian.co.uk, the 26-year-old Chisora received a 12 week suspended sentence for two years for the “humiliating assault.”


Chisora also has to pay £1,500 in compensation and £500 costs and do 150 hours of community work. Chisora found text messages on his ex-girlfriends phone, and then spanked her.

Had Chisora received jail time for the assault, he would have missed out on a career high payday against International Boxing Federation/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) on December 11th. This is a huge fight for Chisora, because it will be his first fight against a top tier fighter and it will also give him a lot of visibility worldwide.

Judge Quentin Purdy said: “Your behaviour on 28 May was disgraceful and downright humiliating. You used violence on this young lady and then to heap ignominy on her you turned her over and slapped her on the bottom repeatedly.”

Chisora is taking a big step up in competition in facing Klitschko. Before this fight, Chisora has been facing only domestic level competition in the UK. He recently defeated Sam Sexton by a 9th round stoppage in September. Before that, Chisora’s best win came against 37-year-old Danny Williams in May of this year, stopping him in the 2nd round with a furious assault.

Chisora is going to have to storm Klitschko early if he’s to have any chance at beating him. At 6’1” 244 pounds, Chisora is going to be giving up a lot of size to the 6’6” Klitschko. Chisora has only 14 fights under his belt and he’s lacking in experience. It’s difficult to tell which is worse – Chisora’s lack of size or his lack experience going into the Klitschko bout. Either way, it’s a bad combination coming into the fight against the heavyweight who many boxing fans feel is the number #1 fighter in the world at that weight.

 

[heyzel]

De La Hoya Angry: Matthysse Clearly Beat Zab Judah

By Marcelo González, notifight.com

Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya is upset with the recent twelve round split decision, which saw the unbeaten record of Lucas Matthysse get broken by Zab Judah at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. De La Hoya, who is currently in Mexico to assist with the promotion of Saul Alvarez's fight with Lovemore Ndou on December 4. De La Hola called it "a very bad ruling."

"Matthysse clearly won but he was fighting in Judah's house and it seems that he had to knock him out to get the win," De La Hoya said. "He fought a great fight and this is something that is positive for him and not something negative. The door is open more than ever Lucas, especially at HBO, who are going to want to see him again very soon in another big fight at 140-pounds."

De La Hoya said the loss reminded him of when he lost a split decision to Felix Trinidad over ten years ago. De La Hoya said Matthysse must forward from this and not focus on the loss. The Golden Boy President has plans for the future of Matthysse.

"I thought of when I lost the Trinidad fight, which saw me lose my unbeaten record. Everyone saw me as the winner, except for two judges, and the same thing happened to Matthysse," De La Hoya said. "After the defeat of course I was frustrated, and the same will happen to Lucas, but he must go forward more strongly than ever, train harder and learn an important lesson from this. He is still on the map at 140-pounds and he is still our star."

"I would like to see him fight again soon in Argentina and to do so against a tough opponent like (DeMarcus) "Chop Chop "Corley, who gave Maidana a tough fight. Golden Boy Promotions will always support him. Perhaps, after his display against Judah, many are going to avoid him but we will force even the impossible for Lucas by getting him fights with the stars. He made us very proud with his fight."

 

[heyzel]

DeGale: David Haye Could Lose if He Doesn't Win in Six

By Mark Vester

According to Olympic gold medal winner and unbeaten super middleweight James DeGale, WBA heavyweight champion David Haye could be in serious trouble if he doesn't stop Audley Harrison within six rounds on Saturday night at the MEN Arena in Manchester.

DeGale feels Haye has issues with stamina and slows down the longer a fight drags out. Audley has already displayed that he has the ability to knock a fighter out cold in any round, including the twelfth and final one. If the fight doesn't end within six, DeGale gives Audley a good shot to pull off the upset the longer it continues to play out.

Haye has only gone the twelve round distance twice in his career and only once in the last four years, against Nikolai Valuev last year. The fight with Valuev was fought at a very slow and measured pace.

"That is a very intriguing and interesting fight," DeGale told ESPN. "I see David Haye knocking him out within six rounds, but if it goes past six rounds Harrison has got a good chance. Haye has got a bit of a stamina problem, I think he slows down and blows up after six rounds.

"Audley's a big heavyweight, he's a southpaw, he's awkward, so if it goes past six Audley's got a good chance. Audley's got something in his eyes this time, he's definitely convinced me that he's in with a shout."

If Haye does win, DeGale says that he has to fight one of the Klitschko brothers for the sake of his career.

"If he does the job which he's expected to do on Audley, I think he should do because there's no-one else out there that he can fight," he said. "If he does the job on Audley, the next fight has got to be one of the Klitschkos. It's got to be."

 

[heyzel]

Schaefer Won't Speak on Mosley's Golden Boy Status

By Robert Morales

BoxingScene.com this week posted a story by Michael Marley that quoted Top Rank CEO Bob Arum as basically saying that Shane Mosley told him he is a free agent.

"Mosley is operating independently of Golden Boy," Arum told Marley. "Mosley told me it's up to him who he fights now; it's his decision."

Mosley, 38, has retained his stock in Golden Boy Promotions, the story said.

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, on Wednesday refused to talk about the situation. He wants to wait for Mosley to return a phone call he made to him regarding the situation.

"I have a call in to Shane and I haven't heard from him yet," Schaefer said. "That is all I really want to say at this point."

Mosley is coming off a lackluster draw against Sergio Mora in September at Staples Center in Los Angeles

 

[heyzel]

Arum says Mosley, Marquez or Cotto could be next for Pacquiao if he gets by Margarito

By Jim Dower: Manny Pacquiao could be facing one of three possible opponents next if he can get by Antonio Margarito this Saturday night. According to Dan Rafael at ESPN, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is looking at the prospects of matching Pacquiao up with either Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez or Shane Mosley next provided that he beats Margarito. Of the three, Mosley might be the most interesting match-up because he’s the only one of the three that Pacquiao still hasn’t fought and he’s an African American and Pacquiao has never fought one thus far in his career. He fought Joshua Clottey, but he’s from Ghana.


Arum said “When was the last time that Pacquiao fought an African-American? When was the last time?” This isn’t why a match between Pacquiao and Mosley is interesting. For me, I like the fight because Mosley, if he has anything left, he has the skills to make for an exciting fight with Pacquiao as long as there’s no weight debilitating catch-weight involved. If Mosley is forcied to fight Pacquiao at 143 or below, then it should be an easier fight for Pacquiao because Mosley will be too weak at that weight to compete with Pacquiao.

However, at 147, Mosley is more than good enough to give Pacquiao a lot of problems. The only problem with this fight taking place is that Mosley is currently being promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, and for a Pacquiao-Mosley fight to happen, Arum would have to deal with them. Would be willing to do that? Let’s hope so, because this is an appealing fight and it likely will be the last chance for the fight to take place because Mosley is 39-years-old now and facing fast as a fighter. He doesn’t look like he has too much more time left in the sport before he’ll be on his way out.

Fights between Pacquiao and Marquez and Pacquiao and Cotto are repeats of previous fights. Pacquiao fought Marquez twice, once in 2004 and then another time in 2008. Both fights were very close, but Marquez has looked like he’s lost a step recently and he doesn’t fight as well at lightweight and light welterweight compared to the way he fought when he was at featherweight. Pacquiao would have a big advantage if he were able to force the fight to take place at 147, where Marquez would be slower from the weight that he’ll be forced to put on to make the fight. A rematch between Cotto and Pacquiao doesn’t really make much sense, because Cotto got badly whipped only year in a 12th round knockout loss and there doesn’t seem to be any point in a rematch between Cotto and Pacquiao ever taking place again.

 

[heyzel]

Haye to make £5million [$8 million] if Harrison bout brings in 700,000 PPV buys

McDaniel: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) is poised to get his biggest payday yet in his fight on Saturday night against 39-year-old Audley Harrison (27-4, 20 KO’s) in their fight at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, England. Haye, 30, has agreed to take a cut of the pay-per-view sales rather than a flat fee, according to thesun.co.uk. If the fight brings in 700,000 PPV buys, that will bring Haye £3.5m [$5.6 million]. Haye will then receive an additional £1.5m [$2.4 million] for selling out the 22,000 seat M.E.N. Arena.


The fight is already sold out, so that’s guaranteed money for Haye. Harrison will also get a big payday, making £1m [$1.6 million] for the fight. Haye and Harrison could wind up with even more money if the fight surpasses 700,000 buys, but it’s unclear whether it will get much past that mark, if it even makes it to 700,000. The fight is interesting to some fans, while others aren’t interested in paying to see the fight because they see Haye as pulling a fast one on fans by taking on a lower level fighter rather than someone that would have a good chance at beating him like the Klitschko brothers or one of the top contenders in the heavyweight division.

Harrison is ranked near the bottom of the WBA at the number 14 spot, and he only recently made it into the top 15 after stopping Michael Sprott in a come from behind 12th round knockout win.

With Haye getting a huge payday to take on a guy like Harrison, it’s no wonder that Haye isn’t interested in taking on the Klitschko brothers

 

[heyzel]

Jeff Mayweather Expects 'Weight-Drained' Margarito To Fall

By Rick Reeno

Trainer Jeff Mayweather recently spoke with BoxingScene.com about the upcoming mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito. After watching training footage of Margarito, and the 24/7 series on HBO, Mayweather appears confident that Margarito is going to be weight-drained on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium. The junior middleweight contest is being fought at an agreed upon catch-weight of 150-pounds.

Mayweather also questions whether or not Margarito has legitimate punching power. After last year's handwrapping scandal, a shadow of doubt is hovering over Margarito's career. There are many, like Mayweather, who wonder if Margarito had loaded his gloves in the past, or was the fight with Shane Mosley an isolated incindent.

"I think that Margarito is going to be drained. I was watching 24/7 and he was already shredded. I don't know where he's going to lose those pounds. I think that's going to be the biggest achille's heel for him. This is one of those situations where, who knows if Margarito can really punch. Nobody knows how long he was using those handwraps. I lean towards Pacquiao because he's a lot faster and once again he's making a guy kill himself to get down to the weight, like he did with [Oscar] De La Hoya," Mayweather told BoxingScene.com.

"It's one of those situations where neither guy has any defense, but if [Pacquiao] box like he did with De La Hoya, he should beat Margarito easy. I just think that Margarito is too slow. The thing is that, Manny is not the most technical fighter, but he does know how to get in and get out. That's all he has to do. Like I said, Margarito is going to be extremely slow in comparison to Pacquiao."

 

[2-0-Sixx]

yeah, pacquiao is weight draining a career 147 pound fighter by making him weigh in at 150. If anything those extra 3 pounds help margarito.

 

[MOREBASS]

Jeff is supposed to be the level headed Mayweather. Lately he's been taking more after the rest of his family.

Weight drained at 150? LMAO....lame attempt to discredit a possible Pacquiao victory before the fight even happens.

 

[REdRUM]

By Marcelo González, notifight.com

Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya is upset with the recent twelve round split decision, which saw the unbeaten record of Lucas Matthysse get broken by Zab Judah at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. De La Hoya, who is currently in Mexico to assist with the promotion of Saul Alvarez's fight with Lovemore Ndou on December 4. De La Hola called it "a very bad ruling."

"Matthysse clearly won but he was fighting in Judah's house and it seems that he had to knock him out to get the win," De La Hoya said. "He fought a great fight and this is something that is positive for him and not something negative. The door is open more than ever Lucas, especially at HBO, who are going to want to see him again very soon in another big fight at 140-pounds."

De La Hoya said the loss reminded him of when he lost a split decision to Felix Trinidad over ten years ago. De La Hoya said Matthysse must forward from this and not focus on the loss. The Golden Boy President has plans for the future of Matthysse.

"I thought of when I lost the Trinidad fight, which saw me lose my unbeaten record. Everyone saw me as the winner, except for two judges, and the same thing happened to Matthysse," De La Hoya said. "After the defeat of course I was frustrated, and the same will happen to Lucas, but he must go forward more strongly than ever, train harder and learn an important lesson from this. He is still on the map at 140-pounds and he is still our star."

"I would like to see him fight again soon in Argentina and to do so against a tough opponent like (DeMarcus) "Chop Chop "Corley, who gave Maidana a tough fight. Golden Boy Promotions will always support him. Perhaps, after his display against Judah, many are going to avoid him but we will force even the impossible for Lucas by getting him fights with the stars. He made us very proud with his fight."

LOL

Reminds me of Oscar's fight against Felix Strum. :lick:

 

[heyzel]

Klitschko says he’s ready to sign a 50-50 deal with David Haye

By Sean McDaniel: World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (41-2, 38 KO’s) is ready to fight WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) in early 2011 if Haye will agree to a 50-50 deal for the fight. Vitali, the older brother of IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, said in an interview at the BBC Radio Five Live program, “I’m ready any minute to sign a 50-50 contract. We are both world champions, so let’s fight. Let’s make the fight in the spring time. I’m ready; The question is for David Haye. David Haye is a great talker but the question is, is he a good fighter? If he is a good fighter he should sign the contract. I want to fight David haye because my brother already has two world titles and I have just one.”


Wladimir and Vitali seem to be battling it out with one another to try and get at Haye first. At moment it will look like Haye will be facing Vitali next, and then in the next Wladimir tries to push for the fight next. It looks like Haye would rather face the weaker-chinned Wladimir if he has the choice, because Haye at least would have a small chance against him. Vitali takes a heck of a shot and he gives severe beatings. His win over Shannon Briggs recently may have scared Haye off, because he stopped mentioning Vitali’s name after that fight took place.

Vitali, 39, is worried that he won’t ever get a chance at whipping Haye, and that’s why he wants to step in front of Wladimir to face Haye first. Vitali says “I want to fight David Haye because of he has fought Wladimir, I will not have an opponent anymore. Wladimir will kill him. He knocks everyone out badly. That is why I want to fight David Haye.”

Vitali also knocks out most of his opponents, but he generally makes them suffer a lot longer than Wladimir does by bludgeoning them into submission. Haye has a tendency of marking up easily on his face and I can see Haye ending up looking a lot like Antonio Margarito did in his fight with Manny Pacquiao last weekend. Haye won’t be able to knock Vitali out and will receive terrible swelling on his face, and I can see this fight being stopped because of how badly Vitali will make a mess of Haye’s face. Haye may end up looking like Frankenstein if he doesn’t quit or have his trainer/manager Adam Booth pull the plug on the fight the way he quickly did when Haye suddenly started getting battered by 40-year-old Carl Thompson in 2004. Haye can dish out the punishment, but when he gets hit in return, he folds quickly.

 

[heyzel]

Arum wants to match Margarito against Cotto next in 2011

By Jason Kim: Two-time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito (38-7, 27 KO’s) took a terrible beating in losing a 12 round unanimous decision to Manny Pacquiao last Saturday night at the Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. Fighting in front of 41,734 fans in the stadium, Margarito gave it his best shot against Pacquiao, but he was far too slow and wide open on defense to make much of a fight of it. Margarito did hurt Pacquiao with some body shots in the 6th, but he was unable to take advantage of it and spent the rest of the fight taking huge punishment.


After the fight, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promotes both Pacquiao and Margarito, said he’d like to match Margarito up against Miguel Cotto next year in a rematch that Arum wants to put in the Yankee Stadium, in New York to take advantage of Cotto’s huge Puerto Rican fan base in the area. Arum also promotes Cotto, so this would be yet another inhouse fight pitting Top Rank fighters facing each other. However, it might not be a great idea for this fight to take place next if Arum wants Margarito to be at his best, because he received a terrible beating from Pacquiao and sustained a fractured right orbital bone in the loss.

Both of Margarito’s eyes were nearly closed from the shots from Pacquiao, and Margarito ended up getting hit by 474 of the 1069 punches that Pacquiao threw with most of them being head shots. That’s a lot of punishment for any fighter to take, and Margarito was already stopped last year by Shane Mosley.

Margarito defeated Cotto by an 11th round TKO two years ago in an exciting fight in which Margarito wore Cotto down with heavy pressure. This is a rematch that Cotto was against for a long time but he seems to have changed his mind recently. Who knows? Perhaps it’s because Margarito is no longer looking like the same fighter he once was and Cotto is looking for some payback. But part of it is because Cotto really doesn’t have a lot of appealing alternatives other than Pacquiao and Margarito. Cotto wants to take on only big named fighters and guys like Mike Jones, Andre Berto and some of the up and coming fighters aren’t popular enough to bring him the kind of payday he’s looking for in an opponent. Arum seems reluctant to match Cotto back up with Pacquiao right now, perhaps because of the criticism he’d receive from fans who don’t want to see a rematch because of the one-sided nature of their fight last year. Pacquiao beat Cotto about as easy as he did Margarito, except Cotto ran from Pacquiao instead of trying to slug it out after the 4th.

 

[heyzel]

Haye won’t be punished by the British Board of Control for betting claims after Harri

By Sean McDaniel: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) will escape punishment by the British Board of Control for his admitting to have put money on stopping Audley Harrison in the 3rd round on Saturday night. Haye, 30, said later that he hadn’t put money on the fight, and the BBBC agreed and let Haye off without punishing him for appeared to be a confession by Haye.


It looks like all that was done was Haye was questioned and after he denied it, the case was closed. It doesn’t look as anymore than that was done here. It would probably be difficult to prove without a confession from Haye that he actually did bet on stopping Harrison in the 3rd. It’s not surprising then that this was dropped because it would take a lot of effort on the BBBC’s part to investigate this case.

In an article at thesun.co.uk, Haye said “I didn’t physically go into a betting shop and say ‘Here’s x amount of money.’ What I did say was I would knock Audley out in three rounds. If he came out earlier I would have knocked him out earlier. My prediction was the third round and I told a lot of people that I don’t need earn extra money, but I told a lot of people around me, it makes the fight a little more exciting for people. I made enough money from the fight anyway.”

Robert Smith, the secretary for the BBBC, said “David himself has denied it. He has denied he put any money on himself. He predicted the round and obviously people can listen to his prediction, but he has denied he physically got anybody or he himself went and put a bet on himself. We have a regulation in place that does not allow anybody to bet on a contest they are taking part in. So if he admitted it, he would have been in breach of that regulation. But he has denied it quite categorically.”

It doesn’t look good that Haye said that he had put money on stopping Harrison in the 3rd round, because the fight was bad enough as it was because Harrison only chose to throw one punch in the entire fight. That’s a punch stat makes one question the whole fight, because Harrison wasn’t even attempting to throw shots and neither was Haye, for the most part, until the 3rd round when he all of a sudden came out attacking Harrison with a furious bombardment of punches that ended when the fight was stopped by referee Luis Pabon with Harrison still standing.

 

[heyzel]

Arum's Plan To Make Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Happen

By Michael Marley

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS—It is indeed true that, in prior attempts to make a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao super bout, Bob Arum of Top Rank acted like a raging bull in a China shop.

But the shrewd, turning age 79 in three weeks head of Top Rank makes all his moves with careful consideration. But Arum's latest m.o., his new tack is to push for a Floyd-Manny mega-fight so it can come to fruition either next May or November.

There is also the backup plan, that's why supplicant "Sugar" Shane Mosley and his new adviser, the Houston rap and boxing mogul James Prince, hovered on the sidelines at the Pacman-Margarito post-fight press conference inside Cowboys Stadium.

Not only is Mosley, who says he is still a vice president and shareholder in Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy outfit, spreading his wings to choose his own matches as his career winds down at age 39, he also revealed to me that he will soon launch his company, Sugar Shane Mosley Promotions.

But that's in the near future, let's look at what the canny Arum will set into motion next week vis a vis the electrifying Pacman and the undefeated Mayweather.

Step #1 - This coming week, “I will have [Top Rank VP] Todd [Duboef] place a call directly to Floyd. Todd will ask one question and one question only, and that is whether Floyd wants to fight Manny.”

Step #2 - ''If Floyd's answer is yes about fighting Manny, then Todd will ask for Floyd's express permission to call his criminal lawyer and to ask the lawyer if he can be sure if Floyd will be available, not on trial or otherwise occupied, on specific dates.”

Step #3 - ''If Todd gets a good answer from the lawyer, then Todd calls Floyd directly one more time. Todd will ask Floyd, who is your chosen representative, who should we sit down with to to put this fight togther? We don't care who Floyd says, who he picks, be it Don King, Golden Boy or anyone else.”

 

[heyzel]

Roach: I Want Pacquiao-Marquez, But at 147-Pounds

In two weeks, Juan Manuel Marquez will defend his WBA/WBO lightweight titles against Michael Katsidis in Las Vegas. If he walks away with the victory, he might land the one fight that he's been hunting for since 2008 - a third showdown with Manny Pacquiao. They fought to a draw in 2004 and Pacquiao won a controversial split decision in 2008. Marquez believes he was robbed in both meetings.

This past Saturday, Pacquiao was 148-pounds by the time he made it to the ring, and won a brutal, one-sided twelve round decision over Antonio Margarito, who weighed 165-pounds after rehydrating from the Friday weigh-in. If a third fight takes place with Marquez, Roach wants it at the welterweight limit.

"We're not going to fight below 147," said Roach. "I want Manny to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, because he's a much happier fighter, and tonight was a good example. Manny's fought, like six perfect fights in a row at this weight [147 pounds] and looked tremendously well at this class. That's because he's not killing himself to make the weight. The [David] Diaz fight is the last fight that we struggled to make weight for and, since then, he's not had any problems."

If a deal can't be reached with Floyd Mayweather Jr., and if Marquez wants the fight, he has to return to 147-pounds. He took a fight at 147 in September 2009 and was dominated by Floyd Mayweather Jr. for twelve rounds.

"I'd like to fight Marquez one more time because I'd like to shut him up -- but at 147," said Roach. "That's the weight we want to fight at. So if Marquez wants to fight us, that's where we'll do it."

 

[heyzel]

Lennox Lewis: "David Haye Can Whoop Both Klitschkos!"

By Mark Vester

Former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis thinks the Klitschko brothers need to forget about their demand for 50% of the British TV money when they negotiate a unification fight with David Haye. He doesn't think the Klitschkos have anywhere to go except Haye and need to be more reasonable. None of the three champions can be called the best until they fight each other, says Lewis.

"David is right when he says the Klitschkos don't have anywhere to go. They should eat a bit of humble pie and come to the negotiating table and be sensible about their cut. People are really tired of those two hand-picking old-time, overweight boxers who do not even deserve to share the same ring as them. Right now, you have to say the Klitschkos are the best heavyweights in the world - but only until David gets to them," Lewis told The Sun.

Lewis gives Haye a very good shot to beat either brother. He says the right hand of Haye can stop Wladimir and Vitali in their tracks.

"David can whoop them both, they have both been beaten before, they both have chinks in their armour and it only takes one shot. Haye has that big Hayemaker right-hand punch of his to do it. Haye definitely shouldn't accept less money to fight the Klitschkos either. He should stand his ground," Lewis said.

In short, Lewis thinks the Klitschkos are in dire need of a fight with Haye.

"He should get half the money like he wants. I believe the Klitshckos will eventually come to the table and will humble themselves. The Klitshckos need Haye terribly. The last few fights for the Klitshckos have been terrible and they are fast losing a lot of respect around the world," Lewis said