2010 Official Boxing Thread: Soto/Antillon, 2010 Fight of the Year.

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07' seems like such a long time ago for this dude..."the next great Middleweight" more like wasted talent.

P.S. Dude is too loyal to Jack Loew...he needs a change in his camp BADLY before it's too late.
 
Rib Injury , Staph Infection yada yada yada he cant stay healthy , Oh and Dirrell is Faking nobody wanted the fight , and couldnt agree on anything and the money wasnt right , and Dirrell would be on medical suspension is he was hurt and he is not on it .
 
Former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik has withdrawn from his Nov. 13 fight, co-manager Cameron Dunkin said Monday.

Dunkin said the reason was a rib injury. When asked if it had anything to do with Pavlik's ongoing alcohol problem, he declined to answer.

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Trainer Jack Loew also addressed the issue with ESPN.com, saying, "Since we've been back [in Pavlik's hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, from training camp in Pennsylvania], I have not seen Kelly do anything wrong. ... In camp, I was with him 24 hours a day. Now that we are back, I'm not."

Pavlik was training to face Brian Vera at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in the co-featured bout on the HBO PPV card headlined by Manny Pacquiao against Antonio Margarito. It was supposed to have been Pavlik's first fight since Sergio Martinez badly cut Pavlik and unanimously outpointed him to win the 160-pound world championship on April 17 in Atlantic City, N.J.

"I don't know exactly what happened, but I was told by Jack Loew that he had a rib injury a few days ago and might not be able to fight, and then he confirmed it to me [Monday] morning," Dunkin said. "I'm heartbroken, I'm devastated, I'm sick to my stomach.

"This was such a great opportunity for Kelly, to be at Cowboys Stadium in front of who knows how many fans in a fun fight on a great show, a great event. I could go on and on."

Dunkin said he was unsure of the time frame for Pavlik's return.

"It's a day-by-day thing," Dunkin said. "I spoke to Kelly. He said he's hurt. We're all sick about it."

When asked if had anything to do with alcohol issues, Dunkin said, "I can't say. I'm not there."

Loew said Pavlik hurt the right side of his ribcage hitting the pads two weeks ago.

"He threw a punch and hurt it when we were doing pads," Loew said. "We didn't say anything. He still sparred (Oct. 23), but we just didn't go to the body. Monday [Oct. 25] we went to New York for the [Tuesday] media lunch and when we came home he said it was too sore."

Loew said Pavlik has not been in the gym since last Wednesday, but visited the doctor and received a cortisone shot.

"He had a cortisone shot put in and it was still not better," Loew said. "Thursday he came into the gym and he was still sore and we decided that was it. I won't put him in there when he's injured. He said he's injured and the doctor said it's very tender and that it was probably the cartilage. I gotta believe the doctor. I do have to believe Kelly's ribs are extremely sore."

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he had yet to talk to Loew, but assuming Pavlik is not going to fight, he plans to move another of Dunkin's fighters, lightweight contender Brandon Rios, onto the pay-per-view undercard to replace Pavlik. Rios is scheduled to fight Dec. 4 on Top Rank's "In Harm's Way" pay-per-view card in Anaheim, Calif., but that will change if he goes on Nov. 13.

"We've heard the report about the rib injury and we're getting it confirmed," Arum said. "If that's the case, we'll move Brandon onto Nov. 13. If Kelly can't fight, he can't fight, whatever the reason is."

The fight was an important one for Pavlik, who is looking to re-establish himself after the bloody loss to Martinez. The fight against Vera was scheduled to take place at 164 pounds, halfway between the middleweight and super middleweight limits so Pavlik could see if he was comfortable with the idea of moving up or possibly returning to middleweight to try to reclaim the title.

There are two major fight opportunities for Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs). One of the possibilities is against the winner of the Martinez-Paul Williams rematch, which takes place on Nov. 20, with the other a move up to super middleweight to challenge Montreal star titleholder Lucian Bute. Top Rank has spoken multiple times with Bute's handlers about a possible March fight.

"Kelly realized this was a big fight for him," Loew said, "but he didn't want to go into a fight with a kid like Brian Vera, who will swing for the home run every time, if he wasn't 100 percent. I don't think we wanted to take a shot against anybody and take a chance of losing because of the rib injury and blow anything bigger or better out there. Nobody else is as disappointed as me."

Pavlik won the middleweight championship in September 2007 with a come-from-behind seventh-round knockout of Jermain Taylor.

Pavlik then outpointed Taylor in a nontitle rematch and went on to make three defenses, but also suffered his first loss in a light heavyweight nontitle bout against Bernard Hopkins.

 
"The Canadian Kid" hopes to make it big in the United States.

Junior featherweight titlist Steve Molitor of Ontario, who signed with American manager Cameron Dunkin last month, signed a four-year promotional agreement with Top Rank on Monday and intends to fight in the United States.

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"It is very rejuvenating," Molitor told ESPN.com. "I feel like it's a fresh start. There is no bad blood or bad feelings with my former promoter, but it's very exciting to me to be with one of the best promoters in boxing in Bob Arum and Top Rank. I'm 30 and I want to be on the big stage. I'm hungry. It's like when you drive a car. You drive the car and it's fine, but then you get a new car and you're excited to drive it. That's how I feel. Who wouldn't be happy signing with the biggest boxing promoter on the planet?"

"He's always been an exciting fighter and charismatic kid and we have a lot of the potential matchups for him in his weight category," Top Rank president Todd duBoef said. "We're looking forward to working with him."

Dunkin and Top Rank secured Molitor's release from promoter Allan Tremblay's Orion Sports Management, which cleared the way for Molitor's new deal.

"Allan was terrific," Dunkin said. "He handled this so professionally. He let Steve go because he said that he felt there was nothing more he could do for him in Canada. He's a smaller promoter and he said in boxing it's a short career and that he's 30 and he wanted Steve to get an opportunity to make as much money as he can for his wife and family, which I thought was incredibly honorable. He said he didn't want to stand in the way of that. He said, 'There is nothing more I can do with him to make him more money.' I said, 'Wow.' That's incredible in this business. He's just a real classy guy."

Under Tremblay's promotion, Molitor (33-1, 12 KOs) twice won junior featherweight titles. He knocked out Michael Hunter in England in the fifth round in 2006 and made five defenses before being stopped in the fourth round by Celestino Caballero in a title unification bout, which Showtime carried -- Molitor's only title bout to be televised in the United States.

"I want to prove to the American fans that I'm for real," Molitor said. "I know I don't have a lot of TV exposure in the United States, and when I did, I didn't perform like I am capable of against Caballero. So I need to show I am a real world champion and a real fighter."

Molitor bounced back from the loss to Caballero with three wins in a row before outpointing Takalani Ndlovu in October for the vacant belt, which Caballero had relinquished. Molitor made his first defense of his second reign in September, taking a majority decision against Jason Booth in Booth's native England.

Molitor has fought primarily at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, but Top Rank intends to bring him to the United States.

His first order of business is a mandatory defense against South Africa's Ndlovu, whom he has already beaten twice, the decision to regain the belt and a ninth-round knockout in 2007 in the first defense of his first title reign.

"It will be satisfying to put a beating on him again," Molitor said. "I'll go out there and defend my title and continue to be a champion."

Dunkin said although the mandatory is not an attractive fight -- since Molitor has already beaten him twice -- he and Top Rank will try to finalize the fight. They hope to put it on in the early part of 2011.

"Steve has a mandatory due with the IBF, which he will take care of, and after that his eyes are wide open to fight anyone," Dunkin said. "But he's got to beat [Ndlovu] again. The guy won an eliminator and he's baaaaaack. And so it's got to be taken care of, so we'll take care of it.

"Top Rank is committed to taking care of it and looking for a place to put it."

Beyond that, Dunkin said they have interest in matching Molitor in a unification fight with Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. or possibly Guillermo Rigondeaux, Top Rank's two-time Cuban Olympic champion who fights for an interim belt Nov. 13 on the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito undercard in just his seventh professional bout.

"I think Steve can beat any 122-pounder out there and there are some good fights for him," Dunkin said. "Vazquez is a terrific fight and so is Rigondeaux. There are some fights that are very fan appealing."

Top Rank also is heavily involved in the divisions just north and south of junior featherweight. Molitor could eventually move up to 126 pounds, where Top Rank promotes featherweight titleholders Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa. There are also potential fights with bantamweight stars Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire (who are due to face each other in February), who could move up from 118 pounds.

"The point is there are a lot of interesting fights for Steve in and around his weight division," Dunkin said.

Said Molitor, "Top Rank has so many guys, so many possibilities. I'll worry about this mandatory and get it out of the way, and then take on some other challenges."

Molitor has fought three times in the United States, but not since 2005. He said he is looking forward to fighting here again.

"My mom is an American citizen and I have some family in the States," he said. "And I look forward to making new fans in the States."

 
2. Lucian Bute (27-0)

On Oct. 15, Bute made his sixth title defense, thrilling the Montreal faithful with a dominant ninth-round knockout of Jesse Brinkley, who simply had no answers for the variety of punches he was tagged with. Bute is expected to return in March, when he could face former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, which would be a major HBO fight.
Next: TBA.


6. Andriy Kotelnik (31-4-1)

Kotelnik might not have gotten the decision on the scorecards in his highly competitive unanimous-decision loss to Alexander on Aug. 7, but he fought very well and his stock rose in defeat. Kotelnik was offered an HBO fight against Victor Ortiz on the Khan-Maidana undercard, but he turned it down because he was unhappy with the money and is considering moving up in weight.
Next: TBA.


1. Chris John (43-0-2)


After two injury postponements, John's defense at home in Indonesia against Argentina's Fernando Saucedo (38-4-3) has been rescheduled. But the optional defense was approved on the condition that if John wins, he will next defend against "regular" titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa by April 19.
Next: Dec. 1 vs. Saucedo.


1. Fernando Montiel (42-2-2)

Montiel, a unified titlist, was recently in a dirt bike accident and injured his leg, which forced him to call off a November defense that was in the works. However, Montiel is healed and back in the gym preparing for a likely December defense. If Montiel wins and Nonito Donaire wins a Dec. 4 bout, they will square off in an HBO fight (and a great matchup) on Feb. 19.
Next: TBA.



Brandon Rios replacing Pavlik.
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I have no idea how far middleweight prospect David Lemieux is going to go, but I do know one thing: The kid is one of the most exciting prospects I have seen in a long time.

I've been following Lemieux's career for the past couple of years, and he looks like he's on the verge of stardom.

He's only 21 and has charisma to burn, to go with what seems like massive punching power. And he's not a wild puncher just looking to bomb out his opponents. He's patient and throws straight, compact punches with purpose. He's clearly a guy who has learned well from trainer/manager Russ Anber, one of the most respected boxing guys in Canada.

To top it off, Lemieux is beginning to draw crowds in his hometown of Montreal, a great boxing city where the fans really get behind their fighters.

This past Friday night, Lemieux simply destroyed Hector Camacho Jr. in a fight that American fans were able to see courtesy of ESPN3.com, which has been a savior this fall by acquiring the rights to a nice selection of bouts.

I had no doubt that Lemieux would beat Camacho. But I figured it would go rounds. I did not expect him to hammer out a crafty lefty (who has shown a good chin and the ability to make a fight ugly) in one round with a highlight-reel right hand to the face.

Lemieux (24-0, 23 KOs) recently has been scoring those kinds of sensational knockouts as he has slowly but surely been matched up with a better cut of opposition. He blew out Elvin Ayala in one round on ESPN2 in June -- and Ayala had lasted into the 12th round against Arthur Abraham, a huge puncher, in a world title bout. In April, Lemieux needed only two rounds to take down Walid Smichet, who lasted into the seventh round with Peter Manfredo and took John Duddy the distance. I know these guys aren't stars, but they were absolutely legitimate opponents for Lemieux at those points in his career.

"And he never jumps in the air and goes crazy -- he just walks to the neutral corner after the knockouts," said Anber, who has trained Lemieux since he was 9. "He's a kid I've tried to teach about the history of boxing, and he has the deadpan look of Joe Louis. He doesn't go crazy with a big celebration. Maybe he'll go up on the ring ropes after the fight to salute the fans, but that's about it. I like that."

Lemieux seems destined to be Montreal's next breakout star, a guy who could be even bigger than super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute because, although the Romanian Bute has been adopted by the Montreal fans, Lemieux is one of their own. And on top of that, he speaks five languages and stays out of trouble.

Yvon Michel, Lemieux's promoter, has been one of Canada's leading promoters for years. He was practically giddy when we spoke the other day after Lemieux blew away Camacho.

Besides the fight performances, Michel loves Lemieux's dedication and focus. Keep in mind that although he was a star amateur, winning three Canadian national titles, Lemieux bypassed a shot to make the Olympic team because his dream was not about gold medals. It was about pro championships. So instead of gunning for a 2008 Olympic berth, he turned pro in 2007 at age 18.

"He's so dedicated for training," Michel said. "He's the first one in the gym and the last one out. At this stage, you just don't want to rush him, but we want to build up to a title fight. We want to develop him a little bit more to become champion and then have him stay champion for a long time. But it's not only his punching power and dedication that I like. I never, ever have seen a kid that cool -- in the dressing room before the fight, walking to the ring. It's like he has ice in his veins. He has no fear. He's cool, cool, cool."

And then when he gets into the ring, Lemieux usually drills his opponents. He's gone the 10-round distance only once. The rest of his opponents have fallen within five rounds.

"Anyone Lemieux will hit flush will go down," Michel said.

Said Anber, who has worked with a who's who of Canadian fighters as both a trainer and cutman: "There is nobody who I've trained who has that power. Yvon and I are on the same page on this -- anyone he hits, they've got to go. He's that devastating a puncher."

Michel said he is not overly concerned with Lemieux's lack of rounds because the fighter gets excellent rounds training in the gym, where he spars with light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (whom Michel also promotes).

Michel and Anber are mapping out Lemieux's 2011. They figure he will be ready for a title fight shortly.

Michel will bring Lemieux back to headline another card at Montreal's Bell Centre on Dec. 3 (opponent TBA) in a fight likely to be carried again by ESPN3.com.

Michel already has Lemieux's next two dates after that locked in at the Bell Centre: Feb. 11 and April 8, both of which he said ESPN has committed to televising on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."

"We're trying to secure a title eliminator for February, and Russ told us after the April 8 fight he will be ready for anybody," Michel said of Lemieux. "We want to go after the champion, big time: Sergio Martinez, Paul Williams, whoever. We believe we will continue to build his popularity and convince HBO or Showtime to get on board with us."

Both networks would be wise to pay attention.

  
When Showtime put together the ongoing Super Six World Boxing Classic in July 2009, it conspicuously left out super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute from the six-man field of top 168-pounders, even though he had defended his title in previous fights on the network and was clearly one of the best fighters in the division.

But now the Montreal superstar appears headed back to Showtime under a three-fight deal the network is negotiating with InterBox, Bute's promoter.

"A lot of things change in boxing," InterBox president Jean Bedard told ESPN.com on Tuesday.

Bedard acknowledged that he and Showtime's Ken Hershman are negotiating a deal.

"We are working on something, but nothing is finalized," Bedard said. "We are in serious discussions right now. That is as far as I can go right now. But what I can tell you is, yes, we are working on something.

"I don't want to go into too much detail because nothing is finalized. Yes, we have discussions with Showtime. Yes, we want to fight the best super middleweights."

"We don't have a comment," Showtime spokesman Chris DeBlasio said.

Showtime has directed much of its energy and budget towards fights in the Super Six tournament, which has seen its share of issues with delays, cancelations and three of the original participants -- Jermain Taylor, Mikkel Kessler and Andre Dirrell -- dropping out. But with Andre Ward, Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham headed to the semifinals along with the winner of Saturday's Group Stage 3 bout between Glen Johnson and Allan Green, Showtime still has several appealing fights in the division and seems to be setting the stage for a major fight between the tournament winner and Bute.

"There are still some things to work out, but I think Showtime has the good boxers with them that we want to fight, so I think we can have a plan with them," Bedard said. "We need to bring the fights that the fans want to see, and we are ready to go."

After Showtime televised two of Bute's title defenses, a decision win against Librado Andre in their first controversial fight in October 2008 followed by a four-round blowout of Fulgencio Zuniga in March 2009, the network made little effort to keep him on board when it put together the Super Six later in the year.

As a result, InterBox took Bute (27-0, 22 KOs) to HBO, which featured his rematch with Andrade and his next defense against Edison Miranda, both of which Bute won via sensational knockout. However, when Bute, 30, made his sixth defense against mandatory challenger Jesse Brinkley on Oct. 15, HBO was not interested and the bout landed on ESPN. HBO had interest in a potential fight between Bute and former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik in the first part of next year.

Bedard said Bute will fight next in March in Montreal, where he has regularly drawn passionate crowds to the Bell Centre, although a fight with Pavlik is unlikely. Pavlik, who lost the middleweight title to Sergio Martinez in April, was due to return Nov. 13 on the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito undercard, but pulled out on Monday, citing an injury. He probably won't fight the rest of 2010, making a March fight with Bute unlikely.

With Pavlik on the sideline and Bute not interested in moving to light heavyweight, a division HBO is involved in, HBO had little to offer Bute.

"The thing that is sure is that Lucian will fight in Montreal in March, that is the plan," Bedard said. "The issue we have is that he is in (his native) Romania now on vacation, so it's tough for me to have serious conversations with him. But what we have talked about and what we want to do in 2011, as he has always said, is that he wants to be seen as the best super middleweight and fight all these guys -- all the good super middleweights. That's what we want and that's what the fans want."

As for Bute, a 6-foot-2 southpaw with known for an excellent body attack and uppercut, being left out of the original Super Six talks, Bedard downplayed its role in the present talks.

"Because I am in the middle of negotiations, I prefer not to comment on that," he said.
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SMH at Pavlik. Hopefully he gets his alcohol, oops I mean "injury" problems under control.
 
Junior middleweight James Kirkland is incarcerated again but should be released by the end of the week, co-manager Cameron Dunkin told ESPN.com on Wednesday.

Kirkland, 26, was released from a federal prison near his hometown of Austin, Texas, into a halfway house on Sept. 30 after serving 17 months for pleading guilty to gun possession by a convicted felon.

Kirkland (25-0, 22 KOs) had been living in an Austin halfway house and training for his comeback fight against Delray Raines, which is scheduled for Dec. 11 on the Amir Khan-Marcos Maidana undercard in Las Vegas.

"[Kirkland] was at the gym and ran down to get a custom mouthpiece from a dentist in town when the probation officer came by and he wasn't there," Dunkin said. "I guess that's a violation and the probation officer said they were going to have a hearing on this because you're not allowed to leave the gym at all when you're in training. You're supposed to be where you're supposed to be. He was gone for an hour or something, not a big deal, but he got punished."

Dunkin said the incident happened late last week and he was informed of it by co-manager Michael Miller.

"He's got to do a week at the county jail, so he should be out in a couple of days," Dunkin said. "He didn't lose his bed or his spot at the halfway house."

Dunkin said the December fight will go forward, assuming Kirkland is released when expected.

"Michael Miller told me everything is being dealt with and that James wasn't where he was supposed to be," Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Kirkland's promoter, said. "You can't just take off, even if it's for getting a mouthpiece. You need to inform your probation officer that, 'Hey, I'm going to be gone for 15 minutes.' Miller said everything will be OK.

"The return of James Kirkland to the ring is a much-anticipated event for us, for fight fans and, of course, for James. So we are excited about having him back, but we don't want to do anything that will interfere with him dealing with what he has to deal with. If he can fight, great. As long as everything is being dealt with properly, great. We as his promoter are committed to James and are as excited as the fans to have him back. But let's not do anything stupid to jeopardize it. Let's get everything resolved. We don't want to put any unnecessary pressure on him or anyone."

 
Ross Greenburg isn't a fighter like the athletes he televises, but HBO Sports' president has been scrapping in the boardroom to get the fights he wants.

That's one of the reasons why, after one of its weakest stretches in recent memory, HBO's 2010 boxing schedule seems poised to close with a bang and open with another in early 2011, after Greenburg and Kery Davis, HBO Sports senior vice president, were able to finally nail down several fan-friendly matches.

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The BilliesHBO Sports and president Ross Greenburg have had to ride out a difficult year of boxing coverage, but it appears smoother sailing is just ahead.

There are three big ones before the end of the year: The much-anticipated rematch between middleweight champion Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams on Nov. 20, Juan Manuel Marquez's lightweight championship defense against Michael Katsidis on Nov. 27 and junior welterweight titleholder Amir Khan's showdown with Marcos Maidana on Dec. 11.

Early 2011 brings two more important fights on HBO: A Jan. 29 meeting between junior welterweight titleholders Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley Jr. and a Feb. 19 fight for hardcore fans between bantamweight titlist Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire.

Although there have been some major disappointments in 2010, Greenburg is gratified to have put together a strong upcoming schedule.

"I think when you look at the three big ones -- Martinez-Williams, Marquez-Katsidis and Khan-Maidana -- this year, and then you have Bradley-Alexander and Montiel-Donaire, I think we're in a rhythm," Greenburg said in an interview with ESPN.com. "I think we have to just keep it going through 2011. We're really excited about those particular fights. Everything fell into place."

But there was no rhythm for most of 2010, which Greenburg is well aware of and has taken his share of criticism over. There were long stretches without fights. There were some lackluster cards, on paper and in the ring. Most significantly, the much anticipated Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight didn't come off, despite two rounds of failed negotiations -- the second of which Greenburg was stuck in the middle of as a go-between. The fight not being finalized cast a pall over the sport.
“
We have to mine all the divisions and look for the Montiel-Donaire-type fights. This is a statement that we are making. We will be on the lookout for great fights, and I don't care what weight they are. This is a change of heart within HBO sports.
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Yall love Dan Rafael lol (a lot of the fights he reports on he's never seen he has been called out on this ) but hes a solid writer though
Do yourself a favor and go to MaxBoxing.com and Read Thomas Hauser's 3 part article on HBO and the state pf Boxing it is excellent he gets in depth to the inner workings of the deals that are made great stuff http://www.maxboxing.com/news/main-lead/hbo-and-the-state-of-boxing--part-one1  http://www.maxboxing.com/news/promo-lead/hbo-and-the-state-of-boxing--part-two1 http://www.maxboxing.com/news/main-lead/hbo-and-the-state-of-boxing--part-three1 
 
I'm always on Maxboxing but for some reason when I copy and paste the article in here it always comes out looking funny, so I've just given up
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Been following Rafael since USA Today, so I always check his news first.
 
Yeah the side ad messes up the copy and paste but i just edited in the links for anyone who wants to read it
 
Originally Posted by mextra45

Yall love Dan Rafael lol (a lot of the fights he reports on he's never seen he has been called out on this ) but hes a solid writer though
Do yourself a favor and go to MaxBoxing.com and Read Thomas Hauser's 3 part article on HBO and the state pf Boxing it is excellent he gets in depth to the inner workings of the deals that are made great stuff http://www.maxboxing.com/news/main-lead/hbo-and-the-state-of-boxing--part-one1  http://www.maxboxing.com/news/promo-lead/hbo-and-the-state-of-boxing--part-two1 http://www.maxboxing.com/news/main-lead/hbo-and-the-state-of-boxing--part-three1 
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IDK if it was just me but I caught some pics of the presser for JML/Marquez and Marquez looked noticably bigger than JML.

Zab Judah feels reborn in more than one way -- his religion and his boxing career.

Judah describes himself as a born-again Christian and speaks reverentially about his belief in God, saying his faith has helped him mature after numerous ups and downs during his tumultuous 14-year career.

"It's a beautiful experience," Judah said. "The Lord has restored my gift back to me again. I was rebellious for awhile. I thought everything was just about me. I was young, I had fame. I had money. It led me the wrong way but the Lord was merciful on my life. Instead of Him whacking me out of there, He had a plan for me. But I have no regrets. Without me going through what I went through, I wouldn't be where I am at now."

Where Judah (39-6, 27 KOs) is now is back with his original promoter, Kathy Duva's Main Events, back on a big stage and in the mix for a number of major fights in the talent-rich junior welterweight division. But only if he can defeat Argentina's Lucas Matthysse (27-0, 25 KOs) on Saturday (HBO, 11:15 p.m. ET/PT) in the "Boxing After Dark" main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

The winner of Judah-Matthysse will face South Africa's Kaiser Mabuza for the belt recently stripped from Devon Alexander, setting up that winner for huge business in a division that boasts a plethora of young rising stars -- Alexander, Timothy Bradley Jr., Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana and Victor Ortiz.

But Judah, because of a rÃ[emoji]169[/emoji]sumÃ[emoji]169[/emoji] loaded with major fights, is more well-known than any of them and his presence in the weight class sure adds some spice.

"Khan, Maidana, Bradley and Alexander may be younger than me, but I have something up my sleeve," Judah said. "Every time I go to a weight class, it's the hottest division. It was like that when I went to welterweight. Now we back in another hot division with talented fighters. I just so happen to be blessed enough to be campaigning in it and I feel great."

Said Duva: "We are bringing back a renewed and revived Zab Judah. We know he is capable of what he's expected to be. When he decides to turn it on, he's a force to be reckoned with. Zab is a former junior welterweight world champion, a former undisputed welterweight world champion and the future junior welterweight world champion."

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Judah expects to have support in the crowd from longtime buddy Mike Tyson.

"I watched Zab in the gym a few days ago and he looked spectacular," the former heavyweight champ said. "Better than I've ever seen him before. I will be at the Prudential Center sitting front and center to support my friend Zab."

A pair of California lightweights -- former two-time featherweight titlist Robert Guerrero (27-1-1, 18 KOs) and 2004 U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo (22-2, 14 KOs) -- meet in the scheduled 10-round co-feature. They've known each other for years and fought three times in the amateurs, with Guerrero winning twice.

An 18-year-old prodigy when he turned pro in 1996, Judah quickly rose to the top. He won versions of the junior welterweight title twice. He also became the undisputed welterweight champion in 2005, when he went to Cory Spinks' hometown of St. Louis and knocked him out in the ninth round of their rematch.

But Judah also had his share of problems. Twice he was suspended for in-ring meltdowns. After Kostya Tszyu stopped him in the second round of their 2001 undisputed championship fight, Judah threw a corner stool and put his hands on referee Jay Nady. It earned him a six-month suspension and a $75,000 fine from Nevada officials.

There was also the 2006 incident during his welterweight title bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. when the corners spilled into the ring after Judah had fouled Mayweather. Judah's involvement in the melee earned him a $250,000 fine and the revocation of his license for a year by Nevada officials.

There were also financial problems, multiple promoter changes and a shocking decision loss to Carlos Baldomir, who outpointed an unfocused and unprepared Judah to take the welterweight crown in a massive upset in 2006.

Judah, who turned 33 last week, says he's learned from those experiences and is ready to make another run.

"Life is about growing up," Judah said. "As you get older, you mature. I've been to the highest of the highs, I've been to the lowest of the lows. At this point of my life, I just choose to walk a different path. I'm doing everything by the book, I'm doing everything I was asked to do in the past and didn't do. I'm walking the right path in my life. I've pretty much seen it all. I want to do everything right for my son, Zab Jr., to set a good example."

Judah is the elder statesman of the division he left in 2004 for bigger fights at welterweight. But although Judah became the undisputed champion, he believes he was in the wrong division, just a tad too small to topple the best of the 147-pound weight class. Other than the knockout loss to a prime Tszyu, all of Judah's defeats came at welterweight -- to Spinks in their first fight, Baldomir, Mayweather, Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey.

"No matter what came out of those fights, I gained information and knowledge," Judah said. "Now, with my life turned around, I'm moving in a whole different manner. Yeah, I didn't get the victories in those fights, but no regrets."

Judah figures he should have been a junior welterweight all along.

"I think with this win, the way I'll do it, it will let the junior welterweights know I am a threat to all of them at 140 pounds," he said. "I busted my butt training this time. I had no trouble with the weight. I went down to like 138 I was working so hard and I had to bulk back up. Remember, I haven't been 140 pounds in like seven years. But I got the weight down early and worked on my speed and my power. I prepared myself for a hard, tough fight, like I was going against Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. I can't say what's going to happen Saturday, but you'll see a spectacular showdown."

When he fought Clottey in August 2008, Judah weighed just 143 pounds and made that weight easily. That's when he decided he would better served returning to the 140-pound division. His next two fights (with a year off in between) also came below the 147-pound welterweight limit. Then, after reuniting with Main Events, he faced Jose Armando Santa Cruz on ESPN2 in July. Judah was 141 pounds and very sharp, scoring a third-round knockout to set the stage for the title eliminator with Matthysse.

"I didn't get beat out of this division, I bowed out of this division," said New York's Judah. "I vacated my 140-pound title and left it to go to welterweight to fight for something else. I left this weight class a champion and I'll come back to get the championship. Everyone knows that it's just a matter of time before I'm looking at one of the titles or all of the titles. Sometimes I do get selfish and I want all of the titles. I'm back to one of my selfish moments."

His road toward that goal starts with Matthysse, 28, who has a glossy record built against a collection of nobodies. The most notable name on his record is badly faded former titlist Vivian Harris, who was competitive with Matthysse until their February fight was stunningly stopped in the fourth round, despite Harris not being hit with anything that would remotely warrant a stoppage.

"Lucas has a 93 percent knockout rate and only one guy has gotten past the fourth round," said David Itskowitch of Golden Boy, Matthysse's promoter. "He is one of boxing's best kept secrets but it will be out on Saturday night.

"We realize that Lucas Matthysse is a bit of an unknown quantity here in the United States but in a way we like that because there are two other guys who were unknown quantities in the United States and have come up here from Argentina and made a pretty big splash. Their names are [middleweight champ] Sergio Martinez and Marcos Maidana. We strongly believe that Lucas Matthysse is going to be the next great Argentinean fighter. He recently sparred with Shane Mosley, and Shane was raving about him, saying he was one of the best fighters that he's seen in a while."

Matthysse trained for the fight in Martinez's training camp in Oxnard, Calif., where Martinez is preparing for his Nov. 20 rematch with Paul Williams.

"We worked really hard and I know I'm going to take this win back to Argentina," Matthysse said. "I trained for speed working with Sergio Martinez. I've never seen a fighter train like Sergio. I will benefit from the experience of working with him. Zab's speed will not be an issue on Saturday night. I'm going to hurt him with my body shots. It's only Zab and myself come Saturday night. No one can help him."

Judah, of course, begs to differ.

"Lucas Matthysse is a young, up-and-coming fighter," Judah said. "He's knocked out a lot of fighters early, but when you start comparing those guys that he's knocked out to a Zab Judah, it's a different comparison.

"You've got to understand this. If you were to compare Zab Judah with Lucas Matthysse, they've both got power, they've both got high knockout ratios. Cool. Now we get to speed. Whoa! Now we get to talent. Whoa! Now we get to skill levels. Whoa! I mean hands down, he's gonna find out."

Judah simply plans to win and move on to those bigger fights that loom in his division.

"I'm looking to get myself back to the top again. I am ready. I am so ready, they'll go 'wow' after they see this fight," Judah said. "I want to become world champ again. I want to become undisputed champion in a second weight class."

  Your weekly random thoughts …
• When I wrote this week about how Showtime was about to sign super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute to a multi-fight contract (which will be made official at a Friday afternoon news conference in Las Vegas) I was pleasantly surprised. After all, Showtime's Ken Hershman had wrongly ignored Bute when he was putting together the Super Six World Boxing Classic.

Instead of going after Bute to join the tournament, Hershman rolled with faded former middleweight champ Jermain Taylor, who showed he didn't belong when Arthur Abraham put him in the hospital. But now Hershman has seen the light and hopefully the signing will eventually lead to a fight between Bute with the winner of the Super Six, which I believe will be Andre Ward. Before that, I would not be surprised to see Bute face Mikkel Kessler, who dropped out of the tournament with an eye injury but ought to be back in action in the first half of 2011, around the time the Super Six should be wrapping up.

I was not totally surprised that HBO, which had been involved with Bute in recent fights, didn't hang on to him. The reality is that HBO has no big fights to offer Bute and it didn't make sense for the network to hang on to him and show mediocre matches, especially at the high price Bute and promoter InterBox wanted.

My sources tell me that Showtime's deal will pay a license of about $2 million per Bute fight, but at least Showtime has the premium opponents for him. That's not the case if he was on HBO, because Bute has no inclination to move up to light heavyweight at this point. That means fights with HBO staple Chad Dawson and Tavoris Cloud, who has also gotten attention from HBO, are off the table, and a proposed fight with former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik is dead in the water for now given Pavlik's problems. If Bute can keep winning and we get him against the Super Six winner -- and that means in 2011 -- the deal will have been worth it for Showtime, Bute, the tournament winner and fight fans.

• Although it's not signed yet, ESPN and Wladimir Klitschko's rep made a deal this week for the network to carry his heavyweight title defense against Dereck Chisora on Dec. 11. Like has been done with the recent fights of Klitschko and his brother, Vitali Klitschko, ESPN3.com will carry live coverage of the bout from Germany with a network replay (on ESPN or ESPN2) the following day. Good news all around. When the heavyweight champion fights, no matter who it's against, it should be available in the United States.

• Although I think David "The Ducker" Haye will retain his paper heavyweight trinket against Audley Harrison next Saturday, I sure give Harrison a puncher's chance.

• Earlier this week, Jose Sulaiman, the president for life of the miserable WBC, threw one of his usual temper tantrums during the annual convention and quit when he became upset over an issue related to the organization's heavyweight mandatory situation. Naturally, Sulaiman, a drama queen if ever there is one in boxing, was miraculously talked out of quitting and was back in power within the hour. I wish his resignation had been for real. But I wondered: During the hour of uncertainty did the WBC appoint an interim president or a silver president? And was El Presidente a president in recess or a president emeritus during his resignation?

• Huge props to HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg for finally seeing the light and clearly stating that HBO would look for good fights no matter what division they are in. For too many years if you were a fighter below the featherweight division you had almost no prayer of getting on HBO. I never understood that mentality. A good fight is a good fight. A good story is a good story. But Greenburg says that going forward, he will be open-minded to fights in any weight division. He seems to be off to a good start by making a deal for HBO to televise bantamweight titlist Fernando Montiel against Nonito Donaire on Feb. 19. I don't expect the little weight classes to be on HBO every month, but it's good to know that they at least have a fighting chance to make it there. Maybe someday we'll even see massive punching little guys Giovani Segura and Roman Gonzalez on HBO.

• Betcha Floyd Mayweather Jr. watches the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight next Saturday.

• I thought Jorge Linares looked very sharp in his recent fourth-round TKO win against Jesus Chavez in Japan. Linares has so much talent even if his chin looks like a liability.

• Can someone put James Kirkland in a plastic bubble please so he doesn't mess up again?

• Nice move by Top Rank signing junior featherweight titlist Steve Molitor. He's got talent and a great personality, and Top Rank has a variety of interesting fights it can make with him, whether it's the bantamweights it promotes moving up or Molitor eventually moving up to the talent-rich featherweight division.

• DVD pick of the week: Since Miguel Cotto is taking the rest of the year off and won't be fighting this fall, I figured I'd delve into the archive for one of his many outstanding fights. So I went back to Sept. 24, 2005, for Cotto's junior welterweight title defense against Ricardo Torres. I covered the fight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., and there were not high expectations, since Torres was relatively unknown and had taken the fight as a substitute on three weeks' notice. But it quickly turned into a memorable brawl and ignited the crowd before the Wladimir Klitschko-Samuel Peter I main event. Cotto dropped Torres in the first round, but Torres rallied to hurt Cotto later in the round and drop him for the first time in his career in the second round. He also hurt Cotto again in the fifth round. But Cotto dropped Torres four times total in an electrifying seventh-round knockout victory. It remains one of the most exciting fights I've ever been ringside for and it's a treat every time I bust out the DVD.

 
There was a lot of love and appreciation floating around the MGM Grand on Thursday at the final news conference before Saturday's Showtime double feature.

For a while, anyway.

Glen Johnson, drafted in to the Showtime Super Six super middleweight tournament after 10 years of fighting at light heavyweight, said the unexpected invitation made him "feel appreciated," and he was happy to be a part of the tournament. He wasn't too happy about that his opponent in Saturday night's co-main event is Allan Green, but only because he likes him so much.

"Allan Green is a friend of mine," he said. "He isn't somebody I'm looking forward to fighting. But this is business; I'll just go out and do my job and our relationship will be the same afterward."

Johnson's team also wrapped up Green in big verbal hugs, suggesting when the punches were no longer being swapped, they could all get together for beers.

Green returned the love in spoonfuls.

"Glen Johnson is a very good friend of mine, always has been," he said. "I learned a lot from him early in my career, and I have the utmost respect for him."

Gary Shaw, promoter of Rafael Marquez, poked fun at the amity before also saying how much he liked Green and Johnson and expressing respect for Bob Arum, promoter of Juan Manuel Lopez, the WBO featherweight champion whom Marquez is challenging in the main event.

Shaw recalled the time he and Arum worked together on the Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo matchups, the second of which ended in acrimony over Castillo's failure to make the contracted weight, the planned third of which was canceled because of it, but the first of which was one of the very greatest fights in boxing history and certainly the best this observer has ever seen from ringside.

Saturday's contest, Shaw suggested, had the potential to live up to the stratospheric heights of that extraordinary night at the Mandalay Bay in May 2005.

"We did Corrales-Castillo together, and here we are possibly going to do another Corrales-Castillo together Saturday night. The real winner on Saturday night will be the fans, who are going to see a tremendous boxing match."

Of course, Marquez has already engaged in a series of fights, against Israel Vazquez, that boxing fans will be watching and rewatching with wonder for many years to come. If he wins, he and brother Juan Manuel will be the first siblings in boxing history to each win titles in three weight divisions. There is the question, though, as to whether, at 35, in his third weight division and with many hard-fought miles on his odometer, he has enough in him to overcome the younger, faster, stronger Lopez.

Marquez himself has little doubt.

"I am a man of few words. I know it's going to be a spectacular fight. I know I'm going to win the fight, for me and for Mexico," he said. "I've had a tremendous training camp, I'm in terrific shape, and I'm going to take this title."

If Marquez chose not to pick up the baton of friendly talk that the others on the dais had been passing around, Lopez looked at it disdainfully and threw it out the door.

"I read that the team of Juan Manuel Marquez says I have no chin," he began. "But the one who's undefeated is me, and I know he's lost a few fights by knockout. And on Saturday you'll see who really can take a punch and who can't. One time Gary Shaw said to me, 'If you're so good, why don't you fight Yuriorkis Gamboa?' I'm so good, I'm going to beat Rafael on Saturday and then Gamboa in June."

He allowed himself a faint hint of a smile. A few feet to his left, Rafael Marquez looked to be grinding his teeth in disdain and barely suppressed anger.

The camaraderie was over, and the countdown had begun.
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Speaking of Matthyse...big brother Walter was in the same position that Lucas is in now, then...



sick.gif
Still remember this KO...and to think, I once thought Kermit Cintron was talented.
 
Back when they were both undeafeated at 147, I would have loved to see Cintron/Cotto.

Margarito derailed both of them. I was rewatching Cotto/Margarito the other day on DVD and it's really tough to watch and hard to enjoy now knowing about the plaster.

Damn shame because at the time, that was a great damn fight.
 
I just dont see anyway JuanMa beats Rafa.

Unless Rafa got really old & sluggish overnightI think JuanMa is going to get stopped before 5
 
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