2007 NT Boxing Post: Thanks For A Great Year/ Please Lock

[mayweathermiami]

kinda hard for P.williams to find people to beat when the only people that will fight him fight him because he is a mandatory

 

[jagshemash]

I'm not sold on Katsidis quite yet. I saw the Amonsot fight and his style obviously makes for an entertaining fight, but his face was a complete messwith, correct me if I'm wrong, a guy who wasn't even a contender (Amonsot) and the fight was somewhat close from what I recall as well. I woulddefinitely like to see a fight with Diaz, though.

 

[theprofessorofpugilism]

katsidis-Amonsot wasn't THAT close. The drama was whether Katsidis would get stopped because of his cuts or not. I think most people considered himcomfortably ahead on the cards. The Judges may have thought it was closer, but most people i've spoken to thought otherwise. Besides, Amonsot was a goodfighter even if he wasn't well known and considered a contender. You could just watch how he fought and realized that the kid had some skills. AndKatsidis' entertaining style is what makes him a potential breakout fighter. He can be a new Gatti, he'll get, he'll lose, but he'll put on ashow and keep people tuning in.

MayweatherMiami, whether Williams has trouble landing fights or not is beside the point. A Majority Decision win over an, imo, overrated Margarito is notNEARLY enough for fighter of the year. It was a good victory, but enough. You win fighter of the year for what you do in the ring, now what you could have doneor might have done.

 

[gothams terror]

but that alone does not make him fighter of the year, especially when he wasnt particularly stunning in that match

edit: wow i was mad late on pushing the reply button

 

[stringer bell 32]

Originally Posted by amohoop34

Originally Posted by MayweatherMiami

Fighter of the year -Paul williams
fight of the year-cotto-judah
KO of the year-Floyd KO hatton

Paul Williams? 1 win over Margarito and no other fights in 07? Really?

 

[stringer bell 32]

Amo, I was also going to give Fighter of the Year to Kelly Pavlik ,but I feel Miguel had the better year with two dominating fights

3 wins, two TKOs and one UD

[color= rgb(255, 255, 255)]Break Out Fighters of the Year[/color]

1. Michael Katsidis
2. Andre Berto
3. Edison Miranda


EDIT -

With all this talk about Tommy Hearns and his appearance last night on the PPV, I just found out his son, also nicknamed the Motor City Cobra, will be fightingon the undercard of Pavlik-Taylor 2 in February

 

[theprofessorofpugilism]

Miguel is not a bad choice at all, he'd probably be second on my list. As it gets closer to the new year i'll give a more indepth breakdown of mychoices and expand to like a top 5, like a real boxing analyst.

 

[eg47]

Fight of The Year: Cotto vs. Mosley, I thought it was an excellent match-up between a battle tested veteran fighter and a young superstar in the making.

K.O. of the YR: Kelly Pavlik over JT, A gutsy performance by Pavlik after being knockdown early. He kept moving forward and basically imposed his power andwill on JT.

Fighter of the Year: Floyd Mayweather, Boxing's top draw evidenced by the amount of responses that were generated in this thread during last nights fight.When Floyd fights people tune in, money rolls in, and there aren't many boxers today that can claim top billing like Money May.

Looking Forward to 2008:
Trinidad vs. Jones
Taylor vs. Pavlik 2
JMM vs. Pacman 2
Cotto vs. ???

 

[dako akong otin]

I'd love to see a Cotto vs Hatton

 

[stringer bell 32]

I got no problem with PBF being named Fighter of the Year, 2 mega fights, he has proven to be a real draw in the sport

Cotto vs Hatton? Really dako? I'd want to see it just to see Ricky get pounded

 

[mayweathermiami]

i mean he had 1 fight(most important fight of his life) got the belt , good day and good night.plus isnt buddy 25 maybe 26 , he's got time.
the thing is the shorter fighters arent gonna risk fighting someone bigger stronger that is more then willing to throw the jab for 12 rounds.



cintron vs cotto?..... cotto's last 2 fights have been ppv(for what reason i dont know) so i dont know if he'd be willing to do hbo WCB.

but if we are doing fighter of the year based on w's , ........then imma go with calgzhage (sp), or kelly(who i feel would lose a rematch against JT)

 

[lightweight champion]

Originally Posted by amishpimp27

because by watching Mayweather and his abilities, he's not better than Robinson, Whitaker, Leonard, Hagler, Louis, Ali, Marciano, etc...

he has never shown a lot of punching power, is not really a good combination puncher (u saw the potshoting in rds 1-4 and the whole fight vs. De La Hoya), and longevity has to be taken into consideration too...I don't think u can say he's a top 5 wen he only fought till he was 30...skill wise, defense wise, he's great...u really can't say more than that at this point, and that has nothing to do with not facing Cotto and others in the division, but just based off his previous performances...

I think Whitaker in his prime is a better welterweight than Mayweather...

That remains to be seen. But I think one thing is for certain, the casual boxing fan wouldn't want to see it. Far too much defense for a fairweatherfan to understand or appreciate. I for one would love to see it. But I will give you the lack of punching power though, Mayweather doesn't possess toomuch of it. He's not a one punch fighter, DeMarcus Corley said it best, "Floyd won't hurt you with one punch, but he's so fast that when youset up to throw a punch and get blinded by a counter of his, those are the ones that hurt." But what a match Whitaker and Mayweather would be, a jab anddefensive fest, but one that would attract a lot of attention considering the fame of the two fighters respectively.

 

[jagshemash]

I meant to this post the a page back when talking about greatest defensive fighters ever. I'm not sure how great his competition was but this guy's(Nicolino Locche) defensive was amazing.

 

[newbs24]

Kinda late but I just got back from Chicago and I was very proud to see the hometown kid beat Hatton. The party I was at was filled with Hatton backers. My cuzand sister and I were the only Pretty Boy fans. The hatton fans were cheering every punch like he was KO PBF. Happy to say they were all pissed when PBF put iton him. A couple clowns were so pissed they wanted to throw. Typical chumps. Good to see PBF still having the KO power and it was awesome to see Hatton goheadfirst into the corner.

 

[gunna get it]

Fighter of the yr

1. Cotto
2. Pavlik
3. Mayweather
4. Calzaghe

Fight of the YR

Cotto vs Zab


KO of the YR

Pavlik

Break out Fighter:
Andre berto

Broken down Fighter:
Jeff Lacy

 

[mextra45]

Fight of the year = izzy vs Raffy 2

Fighter of the year

Cotto
Pavlik
Mayweather
Calzaghe

Oh and I would go as far as defensive style

Pep (created the style pretty much)
Whitaker (the best ive seen in my life )
Benitez ( prodigy world ch at 17!!! hardly ever trained)
Mayweather ( just a helluva talent )

Somebody tried to say Floyd was op 5 all time LMAO
He's not even top 5 in any weight class he has been in maybe except 130
Hell Cotto, Margarito, Cintron and Williams probably stop Hatton in 5-6rds know why because he is a natural 140
and for all the Talent that Floyd has the thing that separates him for the greats is that he wont take risks like they did and thats what hurts his standing .He's never cleared out a division and probably wont .
The Guys in the 70's and 80's fought everybody and wouldnt mind a rematch .

Tommy Hearns is one of the greatest offensive fighters ever , can you Imagine that right hand hitting Hatton

he'd still be stuck to the MGM grand floor. Sugar Ray Leonard had awsomeoffense too . Prime Terry Norris was nasty also it added extra that he was a bit mean sprited
The Best was Sugar Ray Robinson

he did stuff your just not supposed toba able to do the best ever no one will ever be greater

 

[theprofessorofpugilism]

Overall, Ray Rob was definitely better than Hearns and the best ever, no question in my mind.

Offensively? I still gotta go with Tommy. Nobody ever kept Tommy from hitting them. When he lost, he lost because his defense let him down, just look at hislosses:

Sugar Ray Leonard: Had the fight won on the scorecards, and was hitting Leonard all night. Leonard won when he cracked Tommy's suspect chin a couple timesand eventually finished him off late.

Marvin Hagler: Hearns hit Hagler with every punch known to man. He's the first guy i saw to ever have Marvin wobbled for even a second. Hagler's chinwas just amazing and was able to outlast Tommy and eventually crack his chin.

Iran Barkley 1: Tommy was destroying Barkley before he got caught and dropped twice in the third round. Barkley was one of the toughest fighters i've everseen.

Iran Barkley 2: Tommy was 34 years old and shot at this point, and still managed to hold a light heavyweight title and fight Barkley to a split decision loss.The only time Tommy went the distance and lost a fight.

Uriah Grant: Had to retire because of a messed up ankle, if i recall, and he was 42 years old.

Just my opinion though. I'm a huge Hitman fan and can only imagine the hype there was in the early 80's when he was coming up, and the hype there wouldbe today if a boxer like him broke onto the scene.

For the youngsters who don't know better, watch this video and tell me The Hitman wasn't that dude.

 

[newbs24]

My father LOVED Tommy Hearns. Always says compares boxers to him. They are close in age and would drive down to the D to watch him to see what the fuss wasabout. He came back loving the dude was a fan of the in-state kid ever since. Hearns was so damn long and quick. That 6'1 frame as a WW is something to bedesired.

 

[gunna get it]

Man, thats what Im talkin bout AMO.

Please haiti5, watch this vid, and whoever who compared Paul Williams to hearns, come watch this.
THE GREATEST RIGHT HAND EVER. MY GOD

 

[theprofessorofpugilism]

Originally Posted by GUNNA GET IT

Man, thats what Im talkin bout AMO.

Please haiti5, watch this vid, and whoever who compared Paul Williams to hearns, come watch this.
THE GREATEST RIGHT HAND EVER. MY GOD

AMEN!

 

[gothams terror]

oh god i love that tommy hearns $@%$, humble as hell too

dude is prob my favorite boxer to come outta the 80s, I love the way he'd load that right hand and just unleash it and KO ppl like nobody's business.

and his Ring cover is my 2nd favorite to the one when Sweet Pea is holdin up the #1.

 

[stringer bell 32]

Makes you rethink that Hearns -Williams comparisons, don't it?

 

[theprofessorofpugilism]

Originally Posted by Stringer Bell 32

Makes you rethink that Hearns -Williams comparisons, don't it?

For real, other than being 6'1" and black they aint nothin alike.
Edit: Dan Rafael's Weekend wrap-up


[h1]Scorecard: Mayweather manhandles courageous Hatton[/h1]

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
(Archive)

Updated: December 10, 2007

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Al Bello/Getty Images

Try as he may, Ricky Hatton, right, couldn't get inside Floyd Mayweather's head.

A roundup of recent notable boxing results from around the world:
[table][tr][th=""]

Monday at Sydney​

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Super middleweight
Anthony Mundine KO4 Jose Alberto Clavero
Retains a super middleweight title​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Mundine, 30-3, 23 KOs; Clavero, 27-6-1, 13 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: Using a strong jab, Australia's Mundine, owner of one of the most bogus titles ever, dominated the fight. He cut Argentina's Clavero over the left eye in the third round, then knocked him out with a left hook in the fourth. Mundine, who was making the second defense of the WBA's nonsensical "regular" title (Joe Calzaghe is the real champion), fought in the wake of a serious eye infection that left him with diminished vision in one eye. Clavero was a complete joke as a so-called title challenger. He's 0-3-1 in his past four, is 2-5-1 in his past eight and fought in only his second scheduled 12-rounder. I can't believe anyone would be idiotic enough to consider this a real title fight.[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]

Saturday at Las Vegas​

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Welterweight
Floyd Mayweather TKO10 Ricky Hatton
Retains world welterweight title​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Mayweather, 39-0, 25 KOs; Hatton, 43-1, 31 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td] Rafael's remark: No dancing from Mr. Dancing With the Stars. Instead, Mayweather used his fast fists to make Hatton pay dearly. Although Hatton had a couple of good moments early in the fight, this was basically a Mayweather blowout. He did everything.He used speed, defense, skills, combination punching, a jab and power to record a massive victory (which HBO will replay at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT Saturday).
Mayweather even dominated when it came to body punching, which was supposed to be the domain of the British star. The only thing Mayweather could have done to make it a more impressive performance might have been to box a round or two standing on his head.

Hatton, 29, lost a point in the sixth for hitting Mayweather, 30, behind the head. But Mayweather shook it right off and abused Hatton over the last few rounds of the fight. He had huge rounds in the eighth and ninth before knocking Hatton down with hard left hooks in the 10th, the second of which forced referee Joe Cortez to call it off.

The fight was everything you want in boxing. It was an entertaining, albeit one-sided, bout between two fighters with totally opposite styles and personalities. Plus a phenomenal crowd and atmosphere. Oh, what a crowd. The 16,429 who poured into the MGM Grand Garden Arena were virtually all Hatton's British supporters, but they made the event go off the charts. What passion. What supreme electricity. It was the single greatest event I have ever covered, from the singing and chanting in the hotel to the incredible scene at the weigh-in to the night of the fight, it was pure magic. It was a great fight to cap off a great year in boxing. One thing, however, remains the same: Mayweather was the best in the world when the year started, and he's still the best.

But will he fight on? Here's hoping he will because, love him or hate him, you gotta watch him. He's been talking retirement after his past few fights, but he can't walk away until he faces Miguel Cotto. Think about it like this: Mayweather is the recognized welterweight champion, but in his first fight after winning the title, he defeated Oscar De La Hoya at junior middleweight. In his next fight, Mayweather knocked out Hatton, the junior welterweight champion. It's time Mayweather cleaned out his own division, which means Cotto, Shane Mosley or even talented Paul Williams. It's fine for Mayweather to take a nice, long break. He deserves it after the grueling year he has had inside and outside of the ring. Just don't take too much time off.

Hatton isn't talking retirement, but his next move is up in the air. He could return to junior welterweight and defend his crown, or maybe he'll stay at welterweight. However, because of the one-sided nature of his defeat, it's going to make the prospect of a May fight with De La Hoya, which had been the plan if he won or looked good losing, hard to legitimize.
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Super middleweight
Jeff Lacy W10 Peter Manfredo
Scores: 97-92, 96-93, 95-94​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Lacy, 23-1, 17 KOs; Manfredo, 28-5, 13 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: There can be two schools of thought after seeing Lacy, a former titleholder, struggle through this victory against first-season "Contender" star Manfredo, who -- like Lacy -- has a lopsided loss to champion Joe Calzaghe on his record. Either Lacy, at 30, looks like a fighter on the downslide, or he's a guy who was just really rusty after a year off after surgery to repair a badly torn left shoulder ligament and rotator cuff. Hopefully, it's just the rust, but either way, Lacy didn't look sharp in his return to the ring a year after injuring the shoulder in a December 2006 win against Vitaly Tsypko. Lacy had the biggest moment of the fight when he dropped Manfredo, who is coming off his own left elbow surgery, in the fourth round. Manfredo made a strong run in the second half of the fight, but Lacy, despite a cut over his eye, staved off his charge. There's been talk that Lacy will move up to light heavyweight to face former champ Antonio Tarver in April. Not sure the fight actually will come off, but if it does, it is a must win for both guys.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Junior featherweight
Daniel Ponce De Leon W12 Eduardo Escobedo
Retains a junior featherweight title
Scores: 118-110, 117-111, 115-113​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Ponce De Leon, 34-1, 30 KOs; Escobedo, 20-3, 14 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: Most Ponce De Leon fights are exciting and end with his opponent on the wrong end of a thudding knockout. But not this one. Of all his recent fights, this one was sort of a stinker. But it wasn't because Ponce De Leon wasn't in there swinging and clubbing away trying to get rid of Escobedo. It was because Escobedo spent more time fleeing and moving backward than standing and fighting. It made for a lackluster fight, but Ponce De Leon still was the clear winner as he retained his 122-pound belt for the sixth time in beating his Mexican compatriot. Ponce De Leon had a big year, going 4-0 overall, including three wins since August. He could start 2008 with a rematch against Gerry Penalosa in the Philippines. Ponce De Leon outpointed him in March, after which Penalosa went down to bantamweight and claimed a title.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Lightweight
Edner Cherry TKO6 Wes Ferguson
​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Cherry, 23-5-2, 11 KOs; Ferguson, 17-3-1, 5 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: This fight had no business being on the big Mayweather-Hatton HBO PPV card. What was the point? Cherry already had beaten Ferguson in June in a fight that was not memorable at all. Nonetheless, because Ferguson is one of Mayweather's buddies, he got the prime slot and a chance to avenge his decision loss. Instead, aggressive Cherry scored two knockdowns in the sixth round to get the concussive knockout. Ferguson won't be on any big PPV shows in the future, you can bet on that. Cherry has made some excellent ESPN2 fights, so figure on seeing him there again sometime in the new year.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Welterweight
Matthew Hatton W8 Frankie Santos
Scores: 80-72 (twice), 79-73​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Hatton, 33-3-1, 13 KOs; Santos, 15-6-3, 7 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: Well, at least one Hatton won, even if it wasn't the one everyone came from England to see. Instead, Ricky's 26-year-old younger brother easily took care of Puerto Rico's Santos in a fight that was a mismatch on paper and in the ring. Hatton, who is not very talented but gets on the cards merely because of his brother, dominated -- as he was supposed to do. Santos dropped his third consecutive fight and fell to 1-6-1 in his past eight.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Junior welterweight
Danny Garcia TKO2 Jesus Villareal​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Garcia, 2-0, 2 KOs; Villareal, 1-2-1
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: It's always fun to follow a prospect from the very beginning. Garcia, 19, an Olympic trials finalist who turned pro three weeks ago on the Joan Guzman-Humberto Soto undercard, again looked like a kid to keep an eye on. After scoring an easy three-knockdown first-round knockout in his debut, Garcia again displayed fast hands and punching power as he blew out Villareal. The right hand that started the end was impressive.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Middleweight
Danny Jacobs TKO1 Jose Hurtado​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Jacobs, 1-0, 1 KO; Hurtado, 1-2, 1 KO
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: New York always seems to produce interesting prospects, and Jacobs is the latest. The 20-year-old from Brooklyn made it to the finals of the U.S. Olympic trials before signing with Al Haymon and turning pro. His first bout didn't last long, just 29 seconds, but it was impressive as heavy-handed Jacobs destroyed Hurtado with a single smoking left hook.[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]

Saturday at Basel, Switzerland​

[/th] [/tr][tr][td]

Middleweight
Arthur Abraham TKO5 Wayne Elcock
Retains a middleweight title​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Abraham, 25-0, 20 KOs; Elcock, 18-3, 8 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: Abraham, 27, of Germany, keeps racking up knockouts, this time disposing of England's Elcock to successfully defend his paper title for the sixth time. Abraham, fighting outside Germany for the first time, already had knocked down Elcock with a right hand in the second round before ending it with an all-out assault in the fifth that wound up with Elcock collapsing into the referee's arms. The only mark on Abraham was some swelling over his right eye that was caused by an accidental head butt. The great thing about Abraham isn't just that he stops opponents. He usually stops them in exciting fashion. Promoter Wilfried Sauerland says he is talking to HBO about airing an Abraham fight in July from Hamburg. We guess that could be possible on a Wladimir Klitschko undercard. Sauerland would like to match Abraham with fellow German titleholder Felix Sturm, which would be a major fight in the country but difficult to make because they are with rival promoters. Ultimately, Abraham says he wants to fight in the United States against Kelly Pavlik, the real champion.[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]

Saturday at Belfast, Northern Ireland​

[/th] [/tr][tr][td]

Middleweight
John Duddy W10 Howard Eastman
Score: 96-94​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Duddy, 23-0, 17 KOs; Eastman, 42-6, 35 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: Ireland's Duddy, 28, scored the best win of his career, notching a close decision against fading former world title challenger Eastman, who was a top-10 middleweight not all that long ago. For those who don't realize this, British nontitle fights have only one score, submitted by the referee, in this case by Sean Russell. Duddy absorbed some difficult moments and suffered a small cut around his right eye early in the fight. There was plenty of back-and-forth action in the fast-paced fight, but Duddy -- the younger, more aggressive fighter -- was able to pull out the close decision on Eastman's 37th birthday. New York-based Duddy had fought his entire pro career in the U.S. until returning to Ireland for his past three bouts. But now, he's headed back to this side of the pond for his next bout, scheduled for Feb. 2. Duddy is supposed to face Matt Vanda on the Oleg Maskaev-Samuel Peter undercard, which still has no site, so we'll see whether it happens. Eastman fell to 2-5 in his past seven, but three of the losses are to Bernard Hopkins, Arthur Abraham and Edison Miranda.[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]

Saturday at Bolton, England​

[/th] [/tr][tr][td]

Lightweight
Amir Khan TKO1 Graham Earl
Retains Commonwealth lightweight title​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Khan, 15-0, 12 KOs; Earl, 25-3, 12 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: Fighting in his hometown on his 21st birthday, the 2004 British Olympic silver medalist scored the most significant victory of his young career as he obliterated Earl in just 72 seconds. Earl, 29, coming off a February loss to Michael Katsidis in a fight of the year candidate, was excepted to give Khan a serious test. But that never materialized as Khan quickly landed a left that had Earl out on his feet and dropped him a split-second later with another huge left. A shaky Earl made it to his feet, but he was gone seconds later after Khan's brutal ensuing flurry. Khan will be back in action Feb. 2. Promoter Frank Warren would like to match him with British champion John Thaxton before an eventual shot at European champion Yuri Romanov. Khan looks like the real deal. With Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton getting older, exciting Khan is poised to be the next great star from the United Kingdom.[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]

Friday at Montreal​

[/th] [/tr][tr][td]

Junior middleweight
Joachim Alcine TKO12 Alfonso Mosquera
Retains a junior middleweight title​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Alcine, 30-0, 19 KOs; Mosquera, 19-6, 7 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: Making the first defense of his 154-pound belt, Alcine, originally from Haiti but living in Montreal, took care of Mosquera in the final round in front of a hometown crowd of 14,902. Alcine, 31, won the title in July by outpointing Travis Simms in Simms' home state of Connecticut. Alcine, not known for his power, knocked the Panamanian challenger down two times in the final round before the referee halted the action. Alcine shouldn't get major props for the win. Mosquera, 24, had no business being in a world title fight. He entered the bout having dropped four of his past eight fights.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Super middleweight
Jean Pascal W10 Brian Norman
Scores: 98-92 (three times)​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Pascal, 20-0, 14 KOs; Norman, 15-6, 4 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: Pascal, 25, a brash and exciting Haitian based in Quebec, scored a near shutout of Norman. Sitting ringside was Edison Miranda, an even brasher slugger. Pascal and Miranda are on a collision course. They'll co-headline an ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" card Jan. 11, and if they both win, they will meet in June in Montreal -- a fight that surely will be exciting.[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]

Friday at Las Vegas​

[/th] [/tr][tr][td]

Middleweight
Enrique Ornelas TKO5 Bronco McKart​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Ornelas, 26-4, 16 KOs; McKart, 51-8, 31 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: In a card at the MGM Grand on the eve of the Mayweather-Hatton card, Ornelas -- brother of super middleweight contender Librado Andrade --shook off a two-fight losing streak to Sam Soliman and McKart, who beat him via split decision when they met Aug. 10 on Telefutura. The rematch, again on the Spanish-language network, was a lot different. This time, Ornelas, 27, had to recover from knockdowns in the first and second rounds to rally to stop McKart, a 36-year-old southpaw with loads of experience against top-level opponents. Ornelas, however, dumped McKart in the fourth and fifth rounds before McKart's corner threw in the towel after the fifth because McKart thought he had ruptured both his eardrums.[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]

Thursday at New York​

[/th] [/tr][tr][td]

Junior middleweight
Yuri Foreman W10 Andrey Tsurkan
Scores: 96-94 (twice) Foreman, 96-94 Tsurkan​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Foreman, 24-0, 8 KOs; Tsurkan, 25-3-1, 16 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: It was a tale of two fights between immigrants to New York. The stalking Tsurkan, of Ukraine, had his way early, for about the first four rounds. Then more skilled Foreman, of Belarus, outboxed him and used a strong jab for the rest of the fight to pull out a tight split decision. Foreman has been making a habit of close calls. He also pulled out a split decision, one far more debatable than this one, against Anthony Thompson in June. Foreman, who was cut over his right eye, can be agony to watch, but if he's going to be on TV -- as this bout was in the Versus main event -- he must be matched with an aggressive fighter such as Tsurkan who will make him fight.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Junior middleweight
Sergio Martinez TKO4 Russell Jordan
​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Martinez, 41-1-1, 22 KOs; Jordan, 14-5, 9 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: In his first bout since signing with promoter Lou DiBella, Martinez opened the Versus telecast by stopping Jordan, a late replacement for Ossie Duran. Martinez scored a first-round knockdown and was having a big fourth round when the fight was called off, perhaps a tad early. The 32-year-old Argentine, highly ranked in a sanctioning organization, probably will get title shot eventually. He hasn't lost since being stopped in the seventh round by Antonio Margarito in February 2000 on the Erik Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera I undercard.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Heavyweight
Monte Barrett TKO2 Cliff Couser​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Barrett, 32-6, 18 KOs; Couser, 26-14-2, 14 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: Barrett, the former title challenger, was whacked by Couser in the second round in an upset on July 7, Barrett's third consecutive defeat. But the New Yorker rebounded to blow out Couser, the Mike Tyson look-alike, in the second round of their hastily arranged rematch.[/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][th=""]

Wednesday at Hollywood, Fla.​

[/th] [/tr][tr][td]

Junior middleweight
Sechew Powell TKO4 Terrance Cauthen
Title eliminator​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Powell, 22-1, 13 KOs; Cauthen, 32-4, 9 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: The biggest upset of this fight? That it was an exciting shootout, something neither fighter is remotely known for, and fans were able to watch it live (and for free) at www.gofightlive.com. It was an important victory for Powell, who will get an eventual mandatory shot at the winner of the January bout between titlist Cory Spinks and Verno Phillips. Powell dropped Cauthen, a 1996 U.S. Olympian, in the first and fourth rounds, but he absorbed some clean shots along the way.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Junior welterweight
Juan Urango TKO5 Marty Robbins
​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Urango, 19-1-1, 15 KOs; Robbins, 22-40-1, 15 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: In his second bout since a one-sided decision loss to Ricky Hatton, former junior welterweight titlist Urango, 27, of Colombia, blew out journeyman Robbins, who fell to 1-14 in his past 15 bouts. Urango floored Robbins twice in the fifth and battered him until the fight finally was stopped. Although Robbins' recent run is horrible, it's the first time he was stopped in those 14 defeats.[/td] [/tr][tr][td]

Heavyweight
Kevin Johnson W8 Jermell Barnes​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Records: Johnson, 18-0-1, 6 KOs; Barnes, 18-15-2, 4 KOs
[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Rafael's remark: Johnson, 28, a rare American heavyweight prospect with skills and an outstanding jab, shut out Barnes, now 2-12-2 in his past 16. Barnes usually goes the distance with everyone, so if Johnson wanted to make a statement, a stoppage would have been nice. He's starting to turn into the new Malik Scott in that he's talented but needs to step up his aggressiveness if he wants to gain fans. Winning every fight by shutout decision isn't enough when you want to be a heavyweight star.[/td] [/tr][/table]

 

[babyfacedassassin31]

I doubt Rickys ever gonna fight at welterweight again his trainer Billy Grayham said after the fight hes a light welter not a welter he just cant imposehimself on welters hes tried twice first being a disaster and saturday although it was hard to look good against Floyd he never fought his normal fight I thinkwelters are to strong for him,I doubt the Oscar fight will happen even though id love to travel 2 hours to Wembley Stadium to see it is Oscar gonna come downto light welter to fight him I dont think so.

Look for Ricky to fight maybe Witter next wich wont get any attention from the US but would be great for us Brits or I expect him to fight Pauly Malignaggi atthe Garden I think hell stay at this division try and clean up and maybe have 2 more big fights in the US b4 retireing.I really dont think hell fight Cottodudes a beast and I think he learned Saturday that his hearts bigger than his head but thas not enough to always pull u through.

For any Amir Kahn fans in the US not sure if there are any he won in less than 60 seconds on saturday night kids good but they gotta be real carefull hes notquite ready to go in with top guys yet but hes whippin alot of less experienced fighters very easily so hes inbetween an awkward place right now they dontwanna push him to soon may set him back a few years if he gets beat.

As for British boxing like our fighters or not we have 7 world champs in a variety of weight classes right now the sports had its best year maybe ever and tocap it off Joe Calzaghe was named British BBC sports personality of the year with his dad Enzo being named manager/coach of the year,Ricky Hatton was third forsports personality this may not mean much to alot of you guys but boxers here havent got any credit from the media in a long time so nice to see this year wasnoticed and they were respected remember were not that big a nation compared to the US were 3 times smaller than Texas alone.

As for fight of the year yall might call me crazy but I think you have to put The Contender final near the top for just pure guts determination heart and agood old fashioned slug fest where neither man wanted to lose after the 06 final that was a snore fest I loved every second of this,Kelly Pavliks fights arealways edge of the seat stuff to dudes fairly one dimesional but man he just got raw power behind them fists hes always ina fight when u can f a guy up with asingle punch

Peace
Scottie

PS The pic of Ricky with his back to Floyd wasnt to mock him it was his frustration about Floyd turning his back to him all the time and was trying to makethat point to Joe Cortez he explained this in his Skysports interview after the fight.

 

[mayweathermiami]

"Makes you rethink that Hearns -Williams comparisons, don't it? "