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Katsidis chasing Pacquiao, Philippines fight on January 31
Michael Katsidis has declared war on Manny Pacquiao and will invade the Philippines next month in a bid to force a fight with the legendary world champ.
Katsidis is set to fight Spain's Angel Hugo Ramirez in Cebu City, the Philippines on January 31 and hopes to lure Pacquiao into a fight by the end of 2009.
Katsidis' trainer Brendon Smith predicts Pacquiao will lose his next bout against Englishman Ricky Hatton and return to the lightweight division.
``A fight between Michael and Manny has been mooted for a long time and it probably would have happened if Michael had not lost a close decision to Juan Diaz in his last fight,'' Smith said.
``The Philippines is a boxing capital on the world scene and Michael is already very popular there following his win over Czar Amonsot.
``We would love the fight with Pacquiao. He scored a good win over Oscar De La Hoya but if Oscar had fought Michael it would have been the same result. Michael would have stopped him as well.
``Our opinion on Manny has not changed following that win. He is a great fighter but very beatable for a strong aggressive walk-up puncher like Ricky Hatton and Michael Katsidis .''
Katsidis and Smith have been at the Tiger Muay Thai fighting camp in the jungles of Thailand for the last six weeks preparing for the Filipino mission.
What is the biggest fight of the year, so far based the schedules posted?
Of the fights Gunna posted up, Margarito v. Mosely is in my opinion the biggest.
Vitali Klitchsko v. David Haye is going down in April I believe, looking forward to that one.
[h1]Pacquiao is ESPN.com's Fighter of the Year[/h1]
By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: December 25, 2008, 2:08 PM ET
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Never mind Fighter of the Year, Dan Rafael thinks Manny Pacquiao should be athlete of the year.
Not only did pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao have an incredible year, he had one for the ages.
The Filipino icon's fabulous year harkened back to a time 70 years ago when the great Hall of Famer Henry Armstrong claimed, in order, the world featherweight, welterweight and lightweight championships -- when there were only eight total divisions, instead of today's 17 -- during a 10-month period from October 1937 to August 1938.
What Pacquiao did was about as close as anyone likely will come to that monumental achievement, which is why he was the obvious choice as 2008 ESPN.com Fighter of the Year.
Frankly, with apologies to Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps, Pacquiao should be in the conversation for athlete of the year, regardless of sport.
In claiming his second fighter of the year nod in three years, Pacquiao added to his all-time great résumé and surpassed his accomplishments of 2006. That's when Pacquiao, 30, fought three times as a junior lightweight, twice knocking out rival Erik Morales in their second and third bouts and outpointing Oscar Larios in a homecoming bout in the Philippines.
That was a hell of a year, to be sure, but Pacquiao's 2008 was even better.
In a fantastic fight in March, Pacquiao edged rival Juan Manuel Marquez via split decision in a rematch of their 2004 draw to win the junior lightweight world championship.
Then Pacquiao -- who began his career at 106 pounds and had already won titles at flyweight, junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight -- jumped from 130 to 135 pounds and crushed David Diaz over nine brutally one-sided rounds to win a lightweight belt.
[table][tr][th=""]Rafael's Fighters of the Year[/th] [/tr][tr][td]Year[/td] [td]Fighter[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2008[/td] [td]Manny Pacquiao[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2007[/td] [td]Floyd Mayweather Jr.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2006[/td] [td]Manny Pacquiao[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2005[/td] [td]Ricky Hatton[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2004[/td] [td]Glen Johnson[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2003[/td] [td]James Toney[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2002[/td] [td]Vernon Forrest[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2001[/td] [td]Bernard Hopkins[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2000[/td] [td]Felix Trinidad[/td] [/tr][/table]
The truly audacious move followed as Pacquiao, backed by the overwhelming confidence of trainer Freddie Roach, jumped up two divisions to welterweight to face icon and former six-division titleholder Oscar De La Hoya -- who just 1½ years earlier had dropped a tight split decision to then-pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather -- in the biggest fight of the year.
Although Pacquiao was the clear underdog, he laid waste to the Golden Boy in a stunningly lopsided destruction. Pacquiao won every second of the fight, battering De La Hoya until De la Hoya retired on his stool after the eighth round.
It was Pacquiao's third significant victory in his third weight division in the same year.
It was Armstrong-like stuff.
And Pacquiao did it all with a sense of humility and graciousness outside the ring, where he'd rather talk about his country than himself and give away money and food to the less fortunate rather than flaunt his increasing wealth.
"It's a big accomplishment if I win this fight. It's going to be boxing history and a big honor to my country," a humble Pacquiao said days before defeating De La Hoya. "To fight in three divisions in one year, that's amazing. To win the fight is really good for me and a really big honor to my country."
As great as 2008 was for Pacquiao, he has a chance for more greatness in 2009. If he wins a likely May 2 match against world junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, Pacquiao would secure a fourth significant victory in four divisions (and his third title in three divisions) in four consecutive fights in a little over a year.
Not even Armstrong did that.
"Well, what's most important to me after my boxing career, 30 or 40 years from now, people, they'll always remember me as a good fighter," Pacquiao said.
That's Pacquiao being humble once more, because no: They'll remember him as a great fighter. In large part, it will be because of what he did in 2008.
Other contenders:
[table][tr][th=""]Joe Calzaghe[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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Joe Calzaghe, right, went out on top with his bout against Roy Jones Jr.
At 36, Calzaghe talked a lot in 2008 about retiring, especially in the wake of his two giant victories. If he does indeed call it a day, Wales' favorite son will have gone out with a bang after registering two significant wins and preserving his perfect 46-0 record. After reigning as a super middleweight champion for more than 10 years and making 21 title defenses, Calzaghe moved up to light heavyweight, where he claimed the word championship from Bernard Hopkins in April. Although Calzaghe was knocked down in the first round, he rallied to win a tight split decision, a victory that looks even better after Hopkins rebounded from the loss with a dominant upset decision victory against Kelly Pavlik. Not only had Calzaghe successfully moved up in weight to claim another title; he did it in Las Vegas, the first time he had ever fought in the United States. He followed that victory by adding another legendary fight to his résumé when, despite again being dropped in the first round, he easily outpointed Roy Jones Jr. in November in New York.
"It's not just beating two legends in the ring; it's coming from Britain and choosing to come to the States and, in both fights, going down in the first round and still winning," Calzaghe said. "I'm really proud of that. That's what I wanted to do this year. … What a fantastic way to finish off my career. I say I wanted to go out on top, and it doesn't get much bigger than that, does it?"
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Antonio Margarito[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Antonio Margarito, right, took it to Miguel Cotto in a classic slugfest.
For years, Margarito -- the "Tijuana Tornado" -- has searched for wide acclaim and big fights. He got both in a tremendous year. Fighting on a Miguel Cotto undercard in April, Margarito, 30, destroyed Kermit Cintron in five punishing rounds to claim a welterweight title in a rematch of Margarito's similarly one-sided win against him in 2005. That victory set up one of the most anticipated fights of the year: a showdown with the undefeated Cotto. Margarito gave up his 147-pound belt in order to facilitate the fight, and they met in July in Las Vegas in what turned out to be one of the best fights of the year. It also turned out to be the defining night of Margarito's 15-year professional career. Being outboxed and trailing on the scorecards, Margarito came roaring back late in the fight and stopped Cotto in the 11th round of an exhilarating bout to win another title. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum made the perfect analogy after the fight, comparing Margarito to a freight train going downhill until he finally ran Cotto over.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Bernard Hopkins[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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In his fight against Kelly Pavlik, Bernard Hopkins, left, showed age is not a barrier.
Hopkins is simply a freak of nature. At 43 and with 20 years as a professional fighter under his belt, he's still boxing at an extraordinarily high level. Two years after pulling a massive upset against Antonio Tarver to win the light heavyweight championship, Hopkins was still at it after a brief retirement. He fought fellow pound-for-pound entrant Calzaghe in April, and although Hopkins lost a split decision and the title, the bout was extremely close and many believed Hopkins, who had scored a first-round knockdown, deserved the close decision. Electing to continue his career, Hopkins faced undefeated middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in a 170-pound catch weight fight in October. Hopkins entered as a heavy underdog against a man 17 years his junior and ran roughshod over him to score a punishing, lopsided decision win in one of the most amazing performances in boxing history. The win surely sealed Hopkins' place as the greatest over-40 fighter in boxing history.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Vic Darchinyan[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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AP Photo/Danny Moloshok
Vic Darchinyan dominated his battle with Cristian Mijares.
After losing a flyweight title in 2007, Darchinyan, the Australian-based, Armenian-born "Raging Bull," emerged as the king at junior bantamweight, where he became the first fighter in 115-pound-division history to unify three major titles. In February, the 32-year-old was held to a controversial draw against Z Gorres on Gorres' turf in the Philippines in a fight many believed Darchinyan won. But what made the year so big for him was the two fights that followed. In August, he demolished Dimitri Kirilov in five rounds to claim a world title. That set the stage for his November showdown with unified titleholder Cristian Mijares, the pound-for-pound top-10 entrant who had been on a tear and was heavily favored. In fact, in a poll of 32 media members, 26 picked Mijares to win. But the brash Darchinyan, who insisted he would break Mijares in half and knock him out, ignored the critics by turning in a brutally efficient performance en route to a booming ninth-round knockout.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Wladimir Klitschko[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
Stuart Franklin/Bongarts/Getty Images
Wladimir Klitschko was all over Tony Thompson.
Sure, the heavyweight division is not what it once was, or even close, but Klitschko is the best of the bunch, and he continued to separate himself from the pack in 2008. In February, Klitschko, 32, toyed with overmatched Sultan Ibragimov for a near-shutout decision in the division's first unification fight since Lennox Lewis became undisputed champion by outpointing Evander Holyfield in their 1999 rematch. In July, Klitschko dominated Tony Thompson before disposing of him via a one-punch knockout in the 11th round. Dr. Steelhammer closed his year in December by smashing former champion Hasim Rahman for seven one-sided rounds. That made Klitschko 3-for-3 for the year while barely losing a round.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Tomasz Adamek[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
Al Bello/Getty Images
Tomasz Adamek, left, capped a busy year with a terrific performance against Steve Cunningham.
After losing a light-heavyweight title to Chad Dawson in early 2007, Poland's Adamek, 32, moved up to cruiserweight and was reborn. In 2008, he went 3-0 and scored two significant victories. In April, he dropped former undisputed champ O'Neil Bell in the first round, dominated the fight and forced him to quit on his stool after the seventh round. That win earned Adamek a title shot against Steve Cunningham, but first Adamek stayed busy with a seven-round drubbing of Gary Gomez. Then came the shot against Cunningham in December, and Adamek turned in a terrific performance in a fight of the year candidate. He dropped Cunningham three times and claimed a deserved split decision to take Cunningham's alphabet title as well as the vacant Ring magazine championship.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Juan Manuel Lopez[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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Juan Manuel Lopez, right, got on a roll in 2008, finishing off Sergio Medina in his last fight of the year.
Puerto Rico's brightest young star had a breakout year. The 25-year-old power-punching southpaw started with a third-round blowout of Jonathan Oquendo in February. Little did we know at the time that the fight would be long by Lopez's standards. As an encore, he blew out Daniel Ponce de Leon in the first round in a June upset to win a junior featherweight title in a sensational performance. Then Lopez checked off two more first-round knockouts for good measure in his first two title defenses, blitzing Cesar Figueroa in October and Sergio Medina in December to set himself up for big fights in '09.
[/td] [/tr][/table]
[h1]Miranda right turns out lights on Banks, earns KOY honors[/h1]
By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: December 26, 2008, 3:36 PM ET
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FNF Knockouts: Miranda KO's Banks
Whatever Edison Miranda's limitations are as a prizefighter (and there are many), two things have never been questioned: his gift for funny trash talk before a fight and his power.
In his native Colombia, Miranda was scoring knockout after knockout before arriving in the United States in 2005 with a reputation as a huge puncher, and his rep didn't diminish after his eye-catching first-round devastation of Willie Gibbs in his December 2006 HBO debut.
But after hard-hitting and exciting battles, although losses, against Arthur Abraham and Kelly Pavlik, Miranda was on the comeback trail when he met David Banks in a super middleweight fight Jan. 11 at the Hard Rock resort in Hollywood, Fla., in the main event of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."
It was a good style match on paper. Miranda was the aggressive brawler with power, and Banks -- coming off a stint on the third season of "The Contender" reality series -- was more of a technician.
[table][tr][th=""]Rafael's Knockouts of the Year[/th] [/tr][tr][td]Year[/td] [td]Fight[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2008[/td] [td]Edison Miranda KO3 David Banks[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2007[/td] [td]Darnell Wilson KO11 Emmanuel Nwodo[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2006[/td] [td]Calvin Brock KO6 Zuri Lawrence[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2005[/td] [td]Allan Green KO1 Jaidon Codrington[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2004[/td] [td]Antonio Tarver KO2 Roy Jones Jr.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2003[/td] [td]Rocky Juarez KO10 Antonio "Chelo" Diaz[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2002[/td] [td]Roy Jones KO7 Glenn Kelly[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2001[/td] [td]Lennox Lewis KO4 Hasim Rahman[/td] [/tr][tr][td]2000[/td] [td]Lennox Lewis TKO2 Frans Botha[/td] [/tr][/table]
Banks boxed well in the first two rounds and was doing well in the third round as Miranda tried to find his target. For Banks to win, he was going to have to keep it up throughout the scheduled 10-rounder. But he could do it for only so long before Miranda struck later in the third round.
With Banks backing up to the ropes, Miranda flicked a left jab and followed with a crushing right hand to the jaw that immediately launched Banks backward and sent him falling between the second and third ring ropes.
"There's a big right hand," ESPN blow-by-blow announcer Joe Tessitore called with exuberance. "Holy cow! David Banks is halfway out of the ring! What a knockout!"
For the first seven seconds of referee Telis Assimenios' count, Banks lay almost motionless on his back, literally hanging like a teeter-totter as he balanced on the ropes. If you missed the punch and glanced at the TV, you might have thought someone had pressed the DVR pause button because Banks was virtually frozen horizontally on top of the rope with half his body inside the ring and the other half of his body outside it from the waist up about to fall to the floor headfirst.
Banks eventually grabbed the rope above him and fell back into the ring, but he couldn't beat the count before Assimenios stopped it at 1:15. Although Banks made it to his feet, he was wobbling and totally out of it. He nearly fell down again until grabbing the top rope on another side of the ring before the ring doctor guided him to a stool.
"Can you believe that?" Tessitore continued as the aftermath was unfolding. "Not even two weeks into 2008 and you have the leading candidate for knockout of the year! Edison Miranda! Wow!"
Turns out, it stood up as the knockout of the year. As for the second part of Tessitore's statement?
Wow, indeed.
Other sweet shots:
[table][tr][th=""]Breidis Prescott KO1 Amir Khan (Sept. 6 at Manchester, England)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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AP Photo/Jon Super
Khan-quered! Breidis Prescott, standing, became the first fighter to blemish Amir Khan's record with a two-fisted assualt in September.
Khan's meteoric rise came to a crashing halt as Prescott pulled off a shocking upset in a 54-second destruction of Khan that featured two rough knockdowns of the lightweight prospect. Khan's biggest flaw had been his chin, and it betrayed him badly as Prescott hurt Khan with the first solid jab of the fight, then ripped him with a monster left hook. Khan went down as though he had been cut in half, but he popped back up on instinct. Moments later, however, Prescott delivered another flush left hand that knocked Khan down for the count in the corner. "He's counted out, and it's one of the biggest stunners in British boxing history in the modern era," Sky TV's Ian Darke exclaimed. "Breidis Prescott has knocked out Amir Khan sensationally in one round." When Khan finally did rise, he was doing the British version of the Chicken Dance.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Kendall Holt KO1 Ricardo Torres (July 5 at Las Vegas)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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Ray Kasprowicz/Fightwireimages.com
Holt it right there: Kendall Holt, left, exacted revenge by stopping Ricardo Torres in under a round.
Torres stopped Holt in the 11th round of their first junior welterweight title fight, but Holt exacted revenge and won the title in a frenzied 61-second rematch that ended when Holt, rallying from two knockdowns earlier in the round, just waxed Torres. After hitting him with a hard, but accidental, head butt, Holt connected with a massive right hand that left Torres unconscious on his knees against the ropes and in need of medical attention.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Shane Mosley TKO12 Ricardo Mayorga (Sept. 27 at Carson, Calif.)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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AP Photo/Gus Ruelas
A sweet finish: "Sugar" Shane Mosley knocked out Ricardo Mayorga in the final moments of their 12-round fight.
In his Southern California homecoming, his first fight there since beating Oscar De La Hoya in 2000, Mosley gave the fans a sweet ending with a dramatic knockout. He had the junior middleweight fight in hand in the final round and could have coasted. But that's not Mosley. He was going for the knockout until the final bell, and he finally got it with one second left. Mosley had dropped Mayorga with a right-left-right combination in the 12th round, but Mayorga made it to his feet. But as soon as the action resumed, Mosley slammed him with a left hook to the chin that flattened him. Referee David Mendoza didn't bother to count, waving off the fight as the bell was ringing. "Such a dramatic knockout in a fight that was going back and forth the last few rounds," HBO analyst Emanuel Steward said. "Fantastic knockout."
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Juan Urango KO4 Carlos Wilfredo Vilches (April 23 at Hollywood, Fla.)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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Juan Urango's vicious right hook turned the lights out on Carlos Vilches.
On the comeback trail after losing a junior welterweight belt to Ricky Hatton in January 2007, Urango was headlining against Vilches in a title eliminator on ESPN2's "Wednesday Night Fights" when he authored a scary knockout that left Vilches down on the canvas for several minutes attempting to recover from the bomb that hit him. It was a one-punch knockout as Urango unleashed a fast right hook that landed flush on Vilches' jaw and knocked him cold. If Vilches wasn't already out before he hit the canvas, he sure was after his head whacked the mat upon landing. Ouch, babe.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Yuriorkis Gamboa TKO1 Al Seeger (July 18 at Primm, Nev.)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
Gamboa, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, is an electrifying offensive talent and has scored several pretty knockouts, including a first-round blowout of Johnnie Edwards and second-round destruction of Marcos Ramirez in 2008. But the featherweight's most sensational knockout of the year came when he annihilated Seeger in 2:30 on "Friday Night Fights." All it took was a fast, short, destructive right hand to the chin that deposited Seeger flat on his back, apparently out cold before he landed.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Jason Cintron KO2 Pascali Adorno (Dec. 5 at Reading, Pa.)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
The kid brother of big-punching ex-welterweight titleholder Kermit Cintron hasn't displayed much pop through his first 10 fights. Although the junior welterweight is undefeated, he has only three knockouts. Still, this one on Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo" was explosive. He ripped Adorno with a straight right hand that clipped Adorno on the chin, and it looked as though Cintron was trying to punch a hole through his head. Adorno fell to his back, where he tried to get up, raising his arms over his head as if he was trying to do a sit-up that he could never complete.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Arthur Abraham KO12 Elvin Ayala (March 29 at Kiel, Germany)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images
Elvin Ayala, left, was one of three opponents to be stopped by Arthur Abraham in '08.
Abraham is a vicious puncher who stopped all three of his 2008 opponents, but none in more violent fashion than when he ended Ayala's night in a middleweight title defense. With 28 seconds left, Abraham trapped Ayala in a corner and unloaded a brutal left uppercut that snapped Ayala's head straight up before he fell to the ground on his knees. But Ayala didn't collapse all the way to the mat because, with his jelly arms at his side, he came to rest on his chin in a scary scene. It was another highlight-reel knockout in Abraham's growing collection.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Antonio Margarito KO6 Kermit Cintron (April 12 at Atlantic City, N.J.)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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Ed Mulholland/Fightwireimages.com
Six rounds of sustained punishment took its toll on Kermit Cintron.
What would a roundup of the year's best knockouts be without a terrific one-punch KO on a body shot? That's just what Margarito delivered against Cintron in their rematch as the "Tijuana Tornado" claimed a welterweight belt. Margarito had been dominating when he landed a thudding left hook to Cintron's rib cage. Cintron fell to all fours in agony. As referee Earl Brown counted him out at 1:57, Margarito stood in the neutral corner and mockingly motioned for Cintron to get up. He didn't.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Juan Manuel Lopez KO1 Cesar Figueroa (Oct. 4 at San Juan)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
Lopez's right hook is one of the most dangerous weapons in boxing, a sentiment Figueroa probably will agree with after feeling its full fury. Lopez, who had won a junior featherweight title by erasing Daniel Ponce De Leon in the first round in June, went home to Puerto Rico for his first defense and absolutely blitzed Figueroa in 47 seconds. After the two circled each other for a few seconds, Lopez pawed with his jab a few times, then unloaded the money punch, a right hook to the chin that crumpled Figueroa face-first. He struggled to his knees but couldn't beat the count.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Vic Darchinyan KO9 Cristian Mijares (Nov. 1 at Carson, Calif.)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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AP Photo/Danny Moloshok
Vic Darchinyan's one-punch power and relentless aggression proved too much for Cristian Mijares.
Darchinyan had said all along in the buildup to the junior bantamweight unification fight that even though he was the underdog, he'd break Mijares in half and knock him out. He didn't quite break him in half, but he sure did drill him. Darchinyan, one of boxing's biggest punchers, knocked Mijares down in the first round and dominated the fight until finishing in style just as the ninth round ended. He forced Mijares backward into the ropes with a flurry of punches. Among them was a crisp straight left hand that caught Mijares on the jaw and dropped him. Mijares smacked his head on the bottom rope, spun slightly sideways and came to rest under the ropes. Referee Lou Moret didn't even bother to count. What would the point have been?
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Daniel Santos KO6 Joachim Alcine (July 11 at Montreal)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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AP Photo/The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz
No need to count; Joachim Alcine never saw the left hand that put him to sleep.
Santos became a two-time junior middleweight titleholder in style when he destroyed Alcine in front of the Canadian's disappointed home crowd. He knocked Alcine silly with a murderous straight left hand that knocked Alcine flat on his back, his hands sprawled at his side. Alcine, who never saw the punch, rolled over onto his knees and tried to get up but pitched forward as the referee stopped it at 2:06. Alcine then attempted to rise again, but he fell backward in a fruitless attempt.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Manny Pacquiao TKO9 David Diaz (June 28 at Las Vegas)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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AP Photo/Eric Jamison
"Need a hand?" Manny Pacquiao's two-fisted attack proved too much for David Diaz.
Pacquiao, the ESPN.com Fighter of the Year, moved up to lightweight to challenge Diaz for his belt and was grinding him down in a wickedly one-sided assault. He had ripped open a cut over Diaz's right eye and was hammering him with frighteningly flush punches until Diaz could take no more after Pacquiao unleashed a right jab followed by a sharp left cross that nailed Diaz's chin and deposited him face-first on canvas in the center of the ring. Referee Vic Drakulich immediately stopped it at 2:24 as Diaz rolled over on his back and blood trickled down his face.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Emmanuel Nwodo KO2 Ezra Sellers (Jan. 19 at New York)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
In 2007, Nwodo was on the receiving end of one of the most violent knockouts ever when he went to sleep in the 11th round against cruiserweight Darnell "Ding-A-Ling Man" Wilson in the knockout of the year. This year, in his first bout since the crushing loss, Nwodo, fighting as a heavyweight, was on the other side of a sensational knockout. Facing chinny Sellers on the untelevised portion of the Roy Jones-Felix Trinidad undercard, Nwodo gave those in attendance at Madison Square Garden a thrill. After earlier knocking Sellers down, Nwodo detonated a right hand on his chin. Sellers was out before he hit the mat face-first, and he stayed down for several minutes.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Alex Bunema KO10 Roman Karmazin (Jan. 19 at New York)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
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Al Bello/Getty Images
"Quick, someone get Roman Karmazin a pillow!"
Although Nwodo-Sellers was not part of the Jones-Trinidad HBO PPV broadcast, Bunema's upset knockout of former junior middleweight titlist Karmazin was, and it was sensational. Bunema was way behind on the scorecards when, out of nowhere, he wrecked Karmazin with a left hand, then finished him with a violent flurry reminiscent of Kelly Pavlik's knockout of Jermain Taylor. In the end, it was a right hand in the flurry at 1:36 that dropped Karmazin for good to his backside in a corner, where he fell to the side, his upper body hanging over the bottom rope onto the ring apron. No need for referee Johnny Callas to count.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Sebastian Sylvester KO12 Javier Castillejo (April 12 at Mecklenburg, Germany)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
Former junior middleweight champion Castillejo displayed a solid chin throughout his long career -- until Sylvester touched him with a jab and came behind it with a flush right hand on the point of the chin. The blow swiveled Castillejo's head, and he dropped to the canvas -- first pinning his feet underneath himself, then falling onto his back -- where he was out cold at 1:53 in the 12th round of Sylvester's memorable European middleweight title defense.
[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]Julio "Baby Face" Garcia KO1 Jose Medina (June 27 at Fort Lauderdale)[/th] [/tr][tr][td]
A year after sleepwalking his way to an upset loss to Troy Browning, Garcia returned to the ring. But it didn't last long -- 13 seconds to be exact as Garcia erased journeyman Medina with a left hook to the chin, crushing him with the first punch of the fight.
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Gunna taking over the reigns.......Where is Amo? Doesnt seem to be around as much.
just tryin to keep the Boxing fans amped. Amo works a ton I believe.
This thread is all of ours
u want me to add something to title anytime, just lemme know You know how we do!
Collazo serves Berto his 1st loss this year, count on it.
I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THIS FIGHT!
I can only watch certain guys on MMA then it gets boring
Same here. There's about a handful of MMA fighters that I enjoy watching. That's it.
Originally Posted by mextra45
I can only watch certain guys on MMA then it gets boring , and I guess i look at it like im watching boxing and all of them have poor defense when it comes to blocking or slipping punches . And i dont really care for two dudes laying on each other on the floor lol . Im a boxing fan all day Telefutura fights >>MMA title fights
just tryin to keep the Boxing fans amped. Amo works a ton I believe.Originally Posted by GUNNA GET IT
Gunna taking over the reigns.......Where is Amo? Doesnt seem to be around as much.
Collazo serves Berto his 1st loss this year, count on it.
I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THIS FIGHT!
yall just hating on Berto just to hate? im not even a fan but collazo *#*!$#% sucks.
I'd assume most people say it just to piss Gunna off