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

[bigmike23]

Junior welterweight Devon Alexander has arrived. This past Saturday, the boxing world took notice as Alexander made quite a debut on HBO. He boxed his way to a eight round knockout of Juan Urango to unify the WBC and IBF titles. Urango had never been stopped in any of previous fights, and that includes taking hard punches in recent fights with Randall Bailey and Andre Berto. Prior to the Alexander loss, Urango had only been down once, against a pure puncher like Bailey, and he still managed to get up and win by knockout.

After the victory, HBO's official website reports that Alexander received an endorsement from one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport, Floyd Mayweather Jr. The unbeaten Mayweather, training for his May 1 clash with Shane Mosley, views Alexander as the next great fighter in our sport. "Money" made a phone call to "The Great" and told him on speakerphone [with others listening]:

"I just wanted to tell you, when I pass the torch - I'm passing it to you," Mayweather told Alexander.

 

 

[proshares]

[h1][/h1]

[h1]Mayweather faces up to 10 years in jail[/h1]

http://myespn.go.com/s/conversations/show/story/4980590

•  

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS -- A court clerk says a judge dismissed a felony coercioncharge against boxing trainer Roger Mayweather, who faces trial June 1on allegations that he beat and choked a female boxer at a Las Vegasapartment he owned.

The 48-year-old Mayweather still facesbattery-strangulation and battery causing substantial bodily harmcharges carrying the possibility of up to 10 years in prison.

Mayweather'slawyer, Jack Buchanan, couldn't convince Clark County District CourtJudge Valerie Adair on Tuesday to dismiss the other charges.

Buchananhas cited inconsistencies in the preliminary hearing testimony ofMelissa St. Vil, a 26-year-old fighter Mayweather is accused ofattacking last August.

Mayweather is a former boxer who trainsfighters in Las Vegas including his undefeated 33-year-old nephew,Floyd Mayweather Jr. He remains free on $13,000 bail.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press




[h1][/h1]

[h1]Vitali Klitschko to fight Sosnowski[/h1]

http://search.espn.go.com/dan-rafael/

Unable to finalize a deal to fight former heavyweight titleholderNikolai Valuev, Vitali Klitschko will make his fourth defense againstPoland's Albert Sosnowski, Klitschko's K2 Promotions announced Tuesday.

Klitschko and Sosnowski will meet May 29 at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

"Iam very happy to have my next fight in Germany again," said Klitschko,a native of Ukraine who has fought regularly in Germany. "The arena inGelsenkirchen and the fans there are very special. I experienced thatlast year when my brother Wladimir had his fight there in front of61,000 spectators. The atmosphere was simply electrifying."

Klitschko(39-2, 37 KOs) had been negotiating a bout with 7-foot, 320-poundValuev, who lost his version of the title to David Haye in November.However, co-promoter Don King's demand of $4 million killed the fight,according to Klitschko's adviser, Shelly Finkel.

So Klitschko,38, turned to the 31-year-old Sosnowski, the European heavyweightchampion who now lives in England, in a lean field of contenders.

"Isaw Sosnowski's fights on DVD and must admit that he is a veryexperienced, quick and tough opponent," Klitschko said. "He will doanything to get my belt but I promise that this is not going tohappen."

Sosnowski (45-2-1, 27 KOs), who is 6-2, 228 pounds,had been scheduled to defend the European title against England'sAudley Harrison on April 9 in London but scrapped the fight when theopportunity to challenge Klitschko came up.

"A dream comes true,"Sosnowski said of his world title shot. "Because of the Harrison fightI am already in training and suddenly comes the once-in-a-lifetimechance to fight Klitschko. I want to thank him and his team to give methat opportunity which I will definitely take. For me, Klitschko isalready over the hill. I know that I am the underdog for everybody, butI tell you, Klitschko will regret that he picked me.

"ManyPolish and Germans with Polish roots live in the Gelsenkirchen area andI hope that they will support me. I will be the first Polishheavyweight champion of the world."

Sosnowski claimed the vacant European title with a near-shutout decision against Italy's Paolo Vidoz in December.

However,his credentials for a title bout are extremely thin. He's 2-1-1 in hislast four bouts, including an eight-round decision loss to journeymanZuri Lawrence in which Sosnowski did not win a single round against anopponent who came into the bout with a record of 24-14-4.

Klitschkohas been dominant since ending a nearly four-year retirement due toinjuries. In his last fight, he scored a virtual shutout of AmericanKevin Johnson in December.

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.


[h1][/h1]

[h1]Khan to fight Malignaggi in May[/h1]

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Amir Khan is ready to make a splash in the United States.

Theexciting British silver medalist from the 2004 Olympics will defend hisWBA 140-pound title against former champion Paulie Malignaggi on May 15at Madison Square Garden, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotionstold The Associated Press.

Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoyawas headed to England on Tuesday for a news conference to introduce thefight, with another news conference planned for next week in New York.

"Ithink this is the perfect setup for Amir," Schaefer said. "When hesigned with Golden Boy he wanted a big fight. Paulie Malignaggi is abig-name fighter."

Khan has been hoping to raise his profile byfighting in the United States, splitting with veteran British promoterFrank Warren and signing with Los Angeles-based Golden Boy. He alsobegan working with Freddie Roach, who trains pound-for-pound king MannyPacquiao.

Khan (22-1, 16 KOs) was considered one of the topprofessional prospects to come out of the Athens Olympics, winning hisfirst 18 fights in lopsided fashion. Then came a first-round knockoutloss to Breidis Prescott that gave everybody in his camp reason toworry.

The popular 23-year-old from Lancashire regrouped, though,winning his next fight in the second round and then defeating ruggedveteran Marco Antonio Barrera. Khan lifted his title from AndreasKotelnik last fall, winning just about every second of every round, andknocked down previously unbeaten Dmitriy Salita three times in afirst-round stoppage in December.

Each of those impressive wins came in relative obscurity.

"Fighterslike Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton -- if you want to capture the U.S.market, you really need to do it with statements," Schaefer said,referring to a pair of British champions who made their mark stateside."So Amir Khan is coming to the United States to make his statement."

Whilehe'll have the luxury of doing so in the biggest media market in theworld, Khan will also have to deal with a potentially hostile crowd.Malignaggi is from Brooklyn and has fought numerous times in New YorkCity, generating a massive following on the East Coast.

Malignaggi(27-5, 5 KOs) held the IBF version of the junior welterweight titleuntil a loss to Hatton in November 2008, and has been trying to goadKhan into a fight by calling him "Amir Con."

"It was a long time coming," Malignaggi told the AP. "We were talking alot of trash back and forth because, honestly, I don't think he's doneenough."

Thebrash, often abrasive Malignaggi is coming off a dominating win overJuan Diaz in December. That victory avenged a controversial loss andimmediately thrust Malignaggi back into the picture in a loadeddivision that includes the likes of unified champion Devon Alexander,unbeaten titleholder Timothy Bradley and several rising prospects.

"Ihaven't got the credit I deserved sometimes, and some of it's myfault," Malignaggi said. "I felt I underperformed on the big stages,but now I've got the right team around me."

Also entering the fold is Juan Manuel Marquez, the formerthree-division champ who intends to campaign at 140 pounds. Schaeferplanned to meet with him Tuesday to discuss his next fight, which couldcome against Hatton if he ends his retirement as expected.

Might there be a tournament-style plan in the works, with the Malignaggi-Khan winner fighting a potential Marquez-Hatton winner?

"Weneed to see what Ricky Hatton is going to do in the coming weeks,"Schaefer said. "There are reports one day he's going to retire, thenother days he's going to fight. I think we need to see how this wouldshake out. Juan Manuel Marquez made it clear he'd like to fight RickyHatton. They were interested as well."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

[h1]Man released on bail Sunday[/h1]

LAS VEGAS -- A man who police say was part of boxing champion FloydMayweather Jr.'s entourage is facing charges of attempted murder andassault with a deadly weapon stemming from an August shooting outside aLas Vegas skating rink, authorities said Tuesday.

Ocie Harris,27, was arrested several weeks ago in Chicago on a warrant issued Dec.19 in Las Vegas, and extradited over the weekend to Nevada where he wasreleased Sunday after posting unspecified bail, Las Vegas police Lt.George Castro said.

Harris was due to appear Wednesday in LasVegas Justice Court to face four felony charges. If convicted on allfour charges, he faces up to 92 years in prison. It was not immediatelyclear Tuesday if Harris had a lawyer.

Castro identified Harris asa Mayweather "friend or associate" who was present Aug. 23 whenMayweather argued with Quincey Williams at the Crystal Palace SkatingCenter in Las Vegas.

The argument was over a text messageWilliams sent wishing Mayweather bad luck in his next fight, accordingto a police report that alleges Mayweather threatened Williams.

"'Do you know who I am? I could have you trumped!" the police report quotes Mayweather as saying.

Harrisis accused of shooting several times at a BMW sedan with Williams andDamein Bland inside minutes after the alleged altercation. Neither manwas wounded. Police later found seven bullet casings and counted sixbullet holes in the BMW, according to the police report.

Witnessestold police that Harris waited in the parking lot for Williams andBland to exit the skate center, and that they saw Harris open fire.Others told police they saw Harris talking with Mayweather "as he wasthreatening Williams."

Mayweather is not a suspect in the shooting, Castro said.

"Whatwe're trying to find out is how deeply the triangle is with these threeparties -- the victims, Mr. Mayweather and Ocie Harris," Castro said."[Mayweather] is there with this guy, he's a friend or associate. Westill want to see how deeply involved Mr. Mayweather is."

Mayweather'smanager, Leonard Ellerbe, and a lawyer representing the fighter did notimmediately respond to messages Tuesday seeking comment. Ellerbe hasdenied Mayweather was involved in the shooting.

Castro said thesix-time boxing champion acknowledged being at the skating center withhis two-tone gray and blue Rolls Royce, but denied knowing anyone namedOcie or having any knowledge of a shooting.

Police later served asearch warrant at Mayweather's home and seized handguns, ammunition,bulletproof vests and two vehicles. Investigators did not find the gunbelieved to have been used in the shooting, Castro said.

Policesaid Harris was seen on surveillance video at the skating center, andsecurity logs and videos placed him at Mayweather's home at least fourtimes before the shooting.

Mayweather has a professional recordof 40 wins and no losses, including 25 knockouts. He is due to fightShane Mosley on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mosley is 46-5,with 39 knockouts.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

 

[eagle 0n]

Floyd's always been a supporter of American fighters (well maybe except for Shane & DLH

), they showed him calling up 'Dre Ward before his title fight with Kessler on the last Fight Camp.

 

[gunna get it]

Malignaggi (27-5, 5 KOs) held the IBF version of the junior welterweight title until a loss to Hatton in November 2008, and has been trying to goad Khan into a fight by calling him "Amir Con."

 

[proshares]

LET'S DO ITTTTTTTTT

[h1]

[h1]Bradley reaches agreement with HBO[/h1]

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By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Archive

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Junior welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr., the No. 1-rated 140-pounder in the world since pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao's exit from the division, has been fighting on Showtime while rival HBO has been putting together fight after fight between all of his most significant potential opponents.

That left Bradley on the outside looking in at the big matches in his division -- until Thursday, when HBO reached an agreement with Gary Shaw, Bradley's co-promoter with Thompson Boxing, to bring him to the network, Cameron Dunkin, Bradley's manager, told ESPN.com.

Bradley's HBO debut will come June 26 on "Boxing After Dark" in a nontitle bout over the 140-pound division limit against welterweight brawler Luis Carlos Abregu (29-0, 23 KOs), who has been approved by the network. The fight will likely take place at the Agua Caliente resort in Rancho Mirage, Calif., just a few miles from Bradley's hometown of Palm Springs and where he has had his last two fights.

"Tim wants to fight the best 140-pounders in the world -- Amir Khan, Devon Alexander, [Marcos] Maidana, you name it," Dunkin said at the Gaylord Texan hotel, the fight headquarters for Saturday's Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight at Cowboys Stadium in nearby Arlington. "Hopefully, this is the start of getting those big fights."

It is, as long as he wins. HBO's intention is to put Bradley squarely into the mix of major fights at junior welterweight, where it has what amounts to an informal tournament going on.

Last week, HBO aired an Alexander fight for the first time and he scored a sensational eighth-round knockout of Juan Urango in a title unification bout, and it has plans to air Alexander's next fight, a possible showdown with Zab Judah this summer.

HBO also has three other important bouts in the division already on its schedule: March 27, when Maidana defends his interim belt against hot contender Victor Cayo and May 15, when Khan defends his belt against former titleholder Paulie Malignaggi with Victor Ortiz facing Nate Campbell in the co-feature. HBO is also talking with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum about a summer junior welterweight bout between undefeated former lightweight titlist Edwin Valero, who is moving up in weight, and Lamont Peterson.

Now, with Bradley (25-0, 11 KOs) in the mix, HBO hopes a series of bouts can eventually crown a top dog at 140 pounds.

Dunkin said Bradley's title won't be at stake against Abregu because a top opponent was not available for the date, so he'll face Argentina native Abregu, who has also fought on Showtime, including his 10-round decision win against Richard Gutierrez in a slugfest last month.

"He's a really strong guy with a good chin and he's bigger than Tim. He's physical and puts on great fights," Dunkin said of the 27-year-old Abregu.

Said Sean Gibbons, Abregu's agent, "It's a great opportunity for Abregu to be on HBO. He's a bigger, stronger guy than Bradley and he's got nothing to lose by taking the fight. We can't wait."

Bradley, 26, outpointed England's Junior Witter to win a title in 2008. He unified two belts last April by surviving two knockdowns to win a unanimous decision against Kendall Holt, but was forced to vacate one of the belts.

In his most recent fight, Bradley scored a near-shutout of previously undefeated mandatory challenger Peterson in December.

Bradley had appeared numerous times on Showtime, including in his last five fights. However, Dunkin said the network did not have a contract with him, which allowed Shaw to make the deal with HBO.

"Timmy did not sign a thing with Showtime," Dunkin said. "He certainly appreciates what they have done for him and he loves Showtime, but he has to take this opportunity."

Dan Rafael is ESPN.com's boxing writer.

  [h1]

[h1]Cowboys Stadium the right fit for fight[/h1]
GRAPEVINE, Texas -- They say everything is bigger in Texas, and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum thinks big.

So it seemed only natural that Arum, along with his new best buddy, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, would get together to put on a fight at Jones' spectacular $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

That is where welterweight titleholder and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao will face former titleholder Joshua Clottey on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET, $49.95) in a fight that Arum considers one of the crowning achievements of his storied 44-year career as a boxing promoter.

[h4]The event[/h4]
TV lineup for "The Event," the Top Rank-promoted card at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET, $49.95):

• Welterweights: Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) vs. Joshua Clottey (35-3, 21 KOs), 12 rounds, for Pacquiao's title

• Lightweights: Humberto Soto (50-7-2, 32 KOs) vs. David Diaz (35-2-1, 17 KOs), 12 rounds, for a vacant title

• Middleweights: John Duddy (28-1, 18 KOs) vs. Michael Medina (23-1-2, 18 KOs), 10 rounds

• Welterweights: Jose Luis Castillo (60-9-1, 52 KOs) vs. Alfonso Gomez (21-4-2, 10 KOs), 10 rounds

The reason is simple: location, location, location.

Pacquiao-Clottey is certainly a significant fight just based on the involvement of Pacquiao, boxing's biggest worldwide star. But the stadium also plays a major role in generating interest.

"Much of the buzz is because it's at Cowboys Stadium. Of course, it's Manny Pacquiao, but it's also Cowboys Stadium," said Bill Caplan, Arum's longtime publicist and boxing lifer.

Said HBO senior vice president Mark Taffet, who runs HBO PPV, "I've been involved in nearly 160 pay-per-view events since 1991 with HBO PPV. This is the first pay-per-view fight we are doing in a stadium, so it's a totally unique experience for us. From a business perspective, as you know, Pacquiao-Clottey is called 'The Event,' so there was very specific recognition about the importance of Cowboys Stadium and what we believed that this stadium was bringing to the table."

That's exactly what Arum hoped for when he talked to Jones about getting away from the same old, same old casino fights.

"I am really, really excited," Arum said. "You get stale doing the same thing over and over again, going back to the casinos to put on these big events. With this event going to a fabulous, fabulous stadium like Cowboys Stadium, we're bringing the fights to the people. I think boxing can once again establish its place among the major sports in this country as it is in so many places in the world."

Promoting fights in major arenas is not new for Arum, but it's been awhile. And now he is happy to return and do it at Cowboys Stadium, where a crowd of 45,000 is expected.

"He's been promoting for 40-something years and this really gets his juices flowing," Caplan said. "It recharges Bob's battery. It's huge in a business way and in a psychological way for Bob. The interest and the enthusiasm never ends if you do new things."

Arum promoted the first fight at the Houston Astrodome, then considered an architectural marvel, when Muhammad Ali defended the heavyweight championship against Cleveland Williams in 1966.

"That building just blew me away. I had never seen anything like it before in my life, the suites, the amenities, there was nothing like it in the world," Arum said. "Now it's 44 years later and I'm back in another part of Texas. Cowboys Stadium is the most phenomenal building I have ever been in. Words really can't describe it, from that big screen [the stunning 72-foot high, 160-foot wide, $40 million HD video board] to the restaurants to the electronics. It is something really, really special. So it is a really great honor for me to be the first one to do a fight at the Astrodome and the first person to do a fight in Cowboys Stadium. I love that. … It's just thrilling."

Besides opening the Astrodome to boxing, he also promoted what turned out to be the final fight at old Yankee Stadium when Ali defended the title against Ken Norton in 1976.

Two years later, Arum promoted the first fight at the Superdome in New Orleans, where Ali regained the title from Leon Spinks in a 15-round decision in front of more than 63,000 fans.

Arum's last major stadium fight came in 1998, when he brought Oscar De La Hoya's mandatory welterweight title defense against Patrick Charpentier to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. That fight, a massive mismatch, still drew more than 40,000, in large part because of the exotic location.

And on June 5, Arum will promote the first fight at the new Yankee Stadium, where junior middleweight titlist Yuri Foreman will defend his belt for the first time, against Miguel Cotto.

Arum considers the Cowboy Stadium fight a significant part of his legacy, on par with those other major events.

"There are certain milestones that you have in your career that you look back on that were very significant," Arum said. "Doing the first fight in the Astrodome, the last fight at the old Yankee Stadium, doing the first one at the Superdome. Those are significant. This to me is equally as significant, opening up this magnificent facility to boxing."

Perhaps it is more significant because of how long it's taken him to return to a major stadium. For the past few years, he has talked almost incessantly about putting on a fight in a stadium. He talked about it so often without it coming off that he began to sound like the boy who cried wolf.

Arum had talked with officials of the San Francisco Giants about hosting a fight, and it went nowhere. Same with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He also continually floated the idea of a final fight at old Yankee Stadium before it closed without pulling it off. Then when the new stadium opened, he was at it again, finally closing a much-discussed deal with the Yankees last week for Cotto-Foreman.

"I tried both places [San Francisco and Los Angeles] and the people I was dealing with wanted to do it on my dime and wanted me to pay the cost of doing one of these fights, which made it economically not feasible," Arum said. "But Jerry is paying me to come here and he will get his costs back. And the Yankees are giving me a guarantee and then they get their costs back, so it is economically feasible to do it in both places."

Promoting Pacquiao-Clottey at Cowboys Stadium became a reality when Arum got together with Jones, who has landed several major events for his lavish facility, including last month's NBA All-Star Game (which drew more than 100,0000) as well as a future Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four.

Arum and Jones, a boxing fan, originally hoped to bring the Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight to the stadium Saturday. However, the Mayweather/Golden Boy Promotions side rejected it, despite a record $25 million guarantee from Jones (who put up about $6 million for Pacquiao-Clottey).

Mayweather and Golden Boy insisted the fight take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which has long been where most of boxing's biggest fights take place.

When Pacquiao-Mayweather imploded, Arum matched Pacquiao with Clottey and needed a site.

"When it fell apart I felt bad because the MGM was expecting that fight," Arum said. "So I called [MGM executive] Richard Sturm and I said, 'That fight's off, I'm sorry. But Pacquiao is fighting Clottey and we'd like to do it at the MGM.' And they told me, 'Sorry, the date's taken.'"

The MGM had set it aside for Mayweather to fight an alternate opponent, although it never came off because he instead wound up signing to fight Shane Mosley on May 1 at the MGM.

Arum was infuriated that the MGM picked Mayweather over Pacquiao. He said it forced him to rethink things.

"Once I heard that I said you have been a fool for them all these years because you can't rely on them, you can't rely on anybody, and even though you live in this town [Las Vegas] you have to increase your horizons," Arum said. "And I called up Jerry Jones. We made the deal and after I did that I said, 'Hey, this is the way to go.' Then as soon as I knew the Yankees were interested, we went there for Foreman-Cotto."

Although Arum was angry with the perceived snub by the MGM, he said it was the kick in the butt he needed.

"Like everybody else in boxing, we let ourselves get into a rut," Arum said of his company. "And instead of being innovative and trying new things we did the convenient thing, which is to do these fights in casinos, where you certainly don't have to put the same effort into them. They're easier, whether it's Atlantic City or Las Vegas. Kelly Pavlik fights, boom, Atlantic City. All the other fights, Las Vegas. It was a pattern we got into. Cotto fights, Madison Square Garden. So a lot of that was repetitious. A lot of the reason it was so repetitious is it was easy.

"We're all human, we're all busy and we tend to do what is easy, not what is innovative and not what means more to the sport."

Jones is glad Arum sought him out. He envisions his stadium being a possible site for any major fight and wants to compete with Las Vegas.

"I wanted that fight here between those two fighters [Pacquiao and Mayweather] worse than my next breath and so I was willing to wait as long as I needed to wait to have them join me," Jones said. "Bob was real sensitive and made it clear that the circumstances were not a negative about the stadium or my interest in it. It was more about just getting a fight done. I am glad I went through it because it made me ready for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight. It was like, 'Put me in, Coach, I'm hot.' Somehow and someway we wanted to have Manny fighting here and here it is."

There have been several major fights outside of casinos in recent years. New York's Madison Square Garden, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Toyota Center in Houston and FedExForum in Memphis all have hosted major fights. But they were the exception to Las Vegas.

"This is much more exciting than [a casino fight]," Arum said. "I love Las Vegas. I live in Las Vegas. Tickets are limited by the size of the arena and they generally go to the high-rolling casino customers. Here, the sales pitch is for the public. There is no casino buying tickets for people to bring them in to gamble.

"I have not in many, many years, since the Astrodome opened, had a situation where the venue plays as big a role as the fighters in selling the event. I certainly believe that going to these large venues and moving big boxing matches around the country will certainly help in branding the sport of boxing and making it what it always should have been, a major sport in this country. I love Las Vegas, but you cannot be a major sport if all of your biggest events are in one city where people have to come from all over to attend the event. The Super Bowl wouldn't be as important or as big if it was held in the same city every year."

[h4]Tweet, tweet[/h4] Don't miss a moment of the latest ....com/ESPNboxing][color=#225db7]Join »[/color]
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Arum said he has a handshake agreement with owners of the New York Giants to put a fight in the new Meadowlands stadium in the spring. He also said he and Jones are talking about doing two or three events at Cowboys Stadium each year, including a Hispanic-themed card later this year.

"There was a comfort zone in [Las Vegas]," Arum said. "I could stay home and my office was two blocks away. But then this situation happened [with the MGM] and I realized that what I was doing was because I was lazy. What MGM did forced us to rethink the situation."

Taffet has worked alongside Arum on numerous fights since they did the first HBO PPV in 1991, the Evander Holyfield-George Foreman heavyweight title fight. He said Arum's focus on returning to a stadium is no surprise.

"Bob always challenges us to come up with new and better ways to do things on every aspect of the promotion," Taffet said. "Bob himself continually looks for new ways to do things. So we accepted this assignment in that light and I give him credit. He's been in the sport for decades and he still has energy and the determination to continue to do things in a new way and in a better way."

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.

 
[h3]

[h3]Arum discusses fights in the workshttp://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/rafael_dan/id/4984692/arum-discusses-fights-works[/h3]
March, 11, 2010
Mar 11

3:17

AM ET

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- When Top Rank's Bob Arum promotes a big fight, like he's doing in advance of Saturday night's Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey welterweight title bout at Cowboys Stadium, he loves to hang around the media center and gab with the boss scribes.

Although Pacquiao-Clottey (HBO PPV, 9 ET, $49.95) is foremost on his mind -- and why not? Arum is predicting more than 750,000 buys and thinking the fight may reach 900,000 -- he is also working on other events. Here are a few things in the works:

• Arum said the Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto junior middleweight title bout at Yankee Stadium on June 5 will take place on HBO rather than HBO PPV, as had been discussed. He said he and the network had reached an agreement. This is a good thing. That fight would die on pay-per-view. As a live HBO fight, it becomes a much bigger event, particularly with the backdrop of it being the first fight at the new Yankee Stadium (sort of like Saturday's fight being made bigger by its status as the first fight at Cowboys Stadium). I would love to see HBO do a countdown show for the fight, because there are a lot of storylines. You have Foreman, the future rabbi, with an interesting story. You have Cotto trying to rebound from his November loss to Pacquiao, the death of his father soon after the defeat and his hunt for a new trainer (Arum said Joe Santiago would remain in Cotto's corner, but not as the head man). And, of course, you have Yankee Stadium and the rich boxing tradition built in the old stadium across the street.

• The televised undercard for Foreman-Cotto will be Humberto Soto defending a lightweight belt against Anthony Peterson. That, of course, is assuming that Soto, a reigning junior lightweight titlist, wins the vacant lightweight belt he will fight for against David Diaz on Saturday night's Pacquiao-Clottey undercard. And if John Duddy wins his fight Saturday night, you can also count on him to be on the untelevised Yankee Stadium undercard.

• Arum said featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez's next fight will come against Bernabe Concepcion, with a target date and location of July 10 in Lopez's native Puerto Rico. Arum promised the winner of the recent Concepcion-Mario Santiago fight a shot at Lopez, and Concepcion got the job done. Concepcion against Lopez is a nice fight. Arum added that he is not tied to HBO for the bout.

• Yuriorkis Gamboa, Arum's other featherweight titleholder, probably will return in July (but not on a split-site card with Lopez, as was originally talked about) if he retains his belt later this month in Germany. Arum said he hopes to match him against Celestino Caballero, assuming Caballero defeats Daud Yordan in their April 10 HBO bout.

• Another bout Arum hopes to make -- which conceivably could be part of a doubleheader with Gamboa-Caballero -- is Edwin Valero, moving up from lightweight, against Lamont Peterson in a junior welterweight bout. If Arum can figure out a way to keep the two fights together on the same card (they're expensive fights), that is a great doubleheader. He said Showtime has particular interest in Valero-Peterson.

• Top Rank's Carl Moretti said junior flyweight titlist Giovani Segura will headline "Top Rank Live" (Fox Sports en Español) from Acapulco, Mexico, on March 27, possibly against Denver Cuello. Moretti said it hasn't been determined if Segura will defend his title or take a nontitle bout. The opening fight on that show will be a junior flyweight title eliminator between former titlist Ulises Solis of Mexico against the Philippines' Bert Batawang. The winner gets a mandatory shot at titleholder Carlos Tamara.

[/h3]

[/h1]

[/h1]

 

[scott frost]

USS Cunningham doing work in the gym for his upcoming fight on FNF, March 26th

Believe he's with Nazzim Richardson now

 

[proshares]

Yup. Still pissed we'll never see a rematch with Adamek.

 

[proshares]

[h6]Dutty And The Nutts (Virginia)[/h6]


So is Bradley-Abregu at 147?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:11 PM)
[/h6]


Not sure if it is 147 max or a pound or two lower, but it is not for Bradley's 140 title.
[h6]Adam (Annandale, VA)[/h6]
Is the Foreman-Cotto fight signed? Arum has announced Yankee Stadium being on board and HBO buying the fight for the regular network...is it a done deal? Also, did Arum agree to give up some of his cut to get it on regular HBO, or did they up the license offer once Yankee Stadium was on board?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:12 PM)
[/h6]
It is not signed to paper with the fighters, but they are finalizing. It will get done. Bob told me last night he goes to contract with the Yankees next week and he said he and HBO have worked out the dollars. The fight is on and it will be on regular HBO from Yankee Stadium.
[h6]Jorge (East Los Angeles)[/h6]
Dan, I made the trek to Conn last week to check out Devon's fight, and man what a performance. I never thought he would be able to stop the durable Urango. Do you think the Judah fight gets done, or will Zab out price himself? It will be crazy in the Lou if the fight gets done.
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:17 PM)
[/h6]
I thought it was a great performance and I am glad I went. You know I've been a big Devon guy for a long, long time. I do think the Zab fight will get done because I know Zab wants it, I know that Devon and his team like the fight and I know HBO likes the fight.
[h6]Robert the Genius (Greater Philly / Southern NJ)[/h6]
Who do you think is going to land on the undercard of Cotto v. Foreman?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:19 PM)
[/h6]
Soto (if he wins tomorrow) against Anthony Peterson. That will be on HBO. Also expect John Duddy, probably a couple of young Cotto fighters and some other locals.
[h6]AJ Pesh (West Fargo ND)[/h6]
Is Litzau fighting on the Mayweather/Mosely undercard?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:32 PM)
[/h6]
I am told the Juarez-Litzau fight is a done deal for that card, yes. While on that topic, I was told Daniel Edouard and/or his team turned down the Sergio Mora fight so they are looking for a new opponent for Mora.
[h6]Rags (NYC)[/h6]
Any sign of Margarito? Heard Arum is going to have him ringside to "scout" PacMan....like he deserves a big $ fight...
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:40 PM)
[/h6]
Margacheato is supposed to be here.
[h6]Steve (NYC)[/h6]
Arum is planning a fight at the New Giants Stadium? Any scoop on the fighters planned?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:48 PM)
[/h6]
Yes, he is. He said the hottest thing going at the time, so we will see.
[h6]Bert (Minneapolis)[/h6]
Lt Dan- I like moving Alexander ahead of Khan in your rankings. Alexander's super talented, and he shows he'll fight anyone. No way Khan would fight Urango. When will we see Khan fight someone w/ a punch?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:13 PM)
[/h6]
Not until he has positively has to. They will keep him away from a puncher for as long as they can, which is why he isn't fighting Maidana like he should be.
[h6]Frank (Providence)[/h6]
Dan - I heard from a friend that Tavoris Cloud was at the fight at Mohegan last weekend and he did such a bad job faking an injury that he actually switched which leg had the "limp." Truth or rumor?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:15 PM)
[/h6]
Truth. He was sitting behind me. He's as hurt as I am a Martian.
[h6]Brock (Illinois)[/h6]
As of right now, who do you think the bigger draw is between Alexander and Bradley? Im hoping that fight eventually gets made in the Lou.
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:25 PM)
[/h6]
Right this minute Devon would draw more in St. Louis than Bradley can draw anywhere, which is why they need time to build it up a little.
[h6]Darnell ((Evanston))[/h6]
If Diaz somehow pulls the upset, does he take Soto's place on Arum's Yankee Stadium card?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:26 PM)
[/h6]
No. My understanding is that HBO is not interested in Diaz-Peterson.
[h6]warbux (DC)[/h6]
Do you think Clottey will resort to headbutts when he realizes early that he can't keep up with Pacquiao?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:28 PM)
[/h6]
Butts could certainly be an issue in the fight. Clottey has certainly been in fights in which he has used his head.
[h6]Charles (DFW)[/h6]
Hey Dan, is the upcoming Koki Kameda/Pongsaklek Wonjongkam fight for the Ring belt? I noticed they were 1-2 in the most recent rankings.
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:39 PM)
[/h6]
If they are indeed 1-2 it would be, since that title is vacant.
[h6]Billy (Patchogue, NY)[/h6]
Is Bob Arum seriously contemplating matching Manny with Margarito? That's a terrible injustice and a slap to the face of every boxing fan out there.
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:47 PM)
[/h6]
I think if there is no Manny-Mayweather fight that he would consider that if Margarito gets his license back. I am not a fan of that situation.
[h6]psycho (LaLaLand)[/h6]
hi dan. how true is the rumor that Margarito is fighting 8th May in mexico?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:54 PM)
[/h6]
Not a rumor. That is what Arum says he is planning for a Latin Fury ppv card.
[h6]chuzen (st. louis)[/h6]
will rigondeaux's fight on april 10 be part of the telecast?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (2:09 PM)
[/h6]
No, but HBO has rights to show hilights if it wants to, which I would hope it would do.

 

[gunna get it]

Dan - I heard from a friend that Tavoris Cloud was at the fight at Mohegan last weekend and he did such a bad job faking an injury that he actually switched which leg had the "limp." Truth or rumor?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:15 PM)
[/h6]
Truth. He was sitting behind me. He's as hurt as I am a

 

[bigmike23]

Super middleweight titleholder Andre Ward's surgically repairedright knee has been giving him problems, forcing him to postpone hisfirst defense against Allan Green on Monday.

The fight, part ofShowtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic, had been scheduled for April24 in Ward's hometown of Oakland, Calif.

"I want this fight inthe worst way, and am very excited about it. I have been havingrecurring problems with my right knee," Ward said. "I went to camp andtried for a week and a half to two weeks, and I can't run like I'msupposed to. I want Allan Green to get an Andre Ward that's 100percent, just like I want an Allan Green that is 100 percent."
Greensaid his physician, Dr. Warren King, who is also the orthopedic surgeonfor the Oakland Raiders, is recommending four to six weeks of rehab andrest

 

[proshares]

[table][tr][th=""]

Saturday at Arlington, Texas ​

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

Welterweight
Manny Pacquiao W12 Joshua Clottey
Retains a welterweight title
Scores: 120-108, 119-109 (twice)

​

[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Pacquiao, 51-3-2, 38 KOs; Clottey, 35-4, 21 KOs

​

[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Another fight, another Pacquiao domination. It was all Manny all the time as the Filipino icon and No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world simply overwhelmed a seemingly petrified-to-get-hit Clottey for the virtual shutout decision in the main event of the first boxing card at Jerry Jones' $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium. Some made a big deal about Clottey being Pacquiao's physically biggest opponent, but size didn't matter in this one. Speed did. Pacquiao had it, and Clottey couldn't deal with it.

Clottey, 32, a New York resident from Ghana, spent virtually the entire fight in self-preservation mode, unwilling to engage and doing little but serving as a punching bag. It was frustrating to watch, and even Clottey's trainer, Lenny DeJesus, begged him to let his hands go between rounds. He wouldn't, but Pacquiao, 31, did. The seven-division champion, who was making his first defense of the welterweight belt he won in November with his 12th-round destruction of Miguel Cotto, pounded Clottey's body, threw combinations and controlled every moment of the fight.

Here, in a nutshell, is the story of the bout dubbed "The Event": Pacquiao averaged 102 punches per round to Clottey's 33. At that rate, unless Clottey landed a bomb, there was no possible way for him to win. The running storyline before the fight was that his only chance to hang with Pacquiao would be to throw a lot of punches. He failed miserably, content to take whatever supposed moral victory there was in going the distance. Clottey, a former titleholder coming off a split-decision loss to Cotto in June, may have lasted all 12 rounds, but he stunk up the joint while Pacquiao did his best to make the fight. After the Ghanaian's nonperformance, who would pay a cent to see him fight again? He wasted a great opportunity. Shame on him for barely trying.





As for the PacMan, he is the man. He'll take some time off to work on his congressional campaign in the Philippines, but hopefully he'll be back around November. And we all know the deal by now: The only fight that matters is Pacquiao against the winner of the May 1 Shane Mosley-Floyd Mayweather Jr. showdown. Either fight would be big. The one against Mayweather, however, would be gargantuan, capable of filling Cowboys Stadium with 100,000 fans. As it was, Pacquiao drew a staggering 50,994 for the fight against the relatively unknown Clottey. That's the third-largest indoor crowd for a fight in American boxing history, illustrating that Pacquiao is the sport's biggest ticket seller. Imagine Pacquiao facing Mayweather at that stadium? It would be historic. But first Mayweather has to beat Mosley, which is by no means an easy task. And then, of course, the sides have to get over their childish differences on drug testing, which is what killed the original fight's negotiation and led to Pacquiao facing Clottey in the first place. If those negotiations commence again, they could be more punishing than the fight.


[/td][/tr]

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

Lightweight
Humberto Soto W12 David Diaz

Wins a vacant lightweight title
Scores: 117-109 (twice), 115-111​

[tr][td]Records: Soto, 51-7-2, 32 KOs; Diaz, 35-3-1, 17 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: After three defenses of his junior lightweight belt and one nontitle bout, Mexico's Soto, 29, made the official move to lightweight and scored a clear decision against Chicago's Diaz, 33, to claim the belt recently relinquished by Edwin Valero. Soto didn't look particularly good, but he did more than enough to get past Diaz, a former titleholder who gets by on will rather than skill. He was in there winging and trying to rough Soto up, but Soto was quicker, threw straighter punches and piled up points against the defensively deprived former U.S. Olympian. Soto scored a knockdown in the first round and another in the 12th to punctuate the victory.

The fight was decent but certainly did not belong as the co-feature on such a major show. It's too bad Top Rank doesn't use these incredibly valuable pay-per-view slots to feature fighters who might actually be stars one day. Diaz is a great guy and gives his all, but how the heck did he wind up in a title bout? That's an even bigger joke than this being the co-feature on a typically dreadful Top Rank/HBO PPV undercard.

Diaz lost his title by massive ninth-round destruction to Manny Pacquiao in June 2008. Between that fight and Saturday, Diaz had fought once, a life-and-death struggle with Jesus Chavez. That victory somehow qualified Diaz to fight for the vacant belt.

In any event, Soto has his new trinket and is slated to make a mandatory defense against Anthony Peterson on June 5 at Yankee Stadium. The fight, which will be televised on HBO as part of the Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto co-feature, is not a good matchup for Soto.
[/td][/tr][tr][td][/td][/tr]

Welterweight
Alfonso Gomez TKO5 Jose Luis Castillo

​

[tr][td]Records: Gomez, 22-4-2, 11 KOs; Castillo, 60-10-1, 52 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Gomez is one of those guys who doesn't have the greatest skills, but you can't question his desire and effort every time out. Against Castillo, Gomez looked as good as he has in a long time and won his fourth fight in a row. Sure, part of that has to do with how bad Castillo was, but let's give Gomez a little credit, too. The former "Contender" star retired Arturo Gatti via seventh-round knockout in 2007 and now has retired another former champion in Castillo, the 36-year-old former two-time lightweight champ.

Gomez was all over Castillo from the outset. He thoroughly dominated, while Castillo couldn't get off any punches. At the end of the fifth round, a frustrated Castillo called it quits on his stool and then announced his retirement. So Gomez, 29, earned a nice win against a big name and should be able to parlay the victory into another fight.

As for Castillo, if this is the end, he's had a memorable career that has included both good and awful memories. Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.'s longtime former sparring partner came out of nowhere to upset Stevie Johnston to win a lightweight title in 2000. In the first of his two fights against Floyd Mayweather, Castillo gave him the toughest fight of his life in losing his title in a 2002 decision. Castillo later notched notable victories over such quality opponents as Joel Casamayor, Julio Diaz and Juan Lazcano before his fight with Diego "Chico" Corrales.

On May 7, 2005, Castillo and Corrales waged what many consider the greatest fight of all time. Castillo was on the verge of a 10th-round knockout after scoring two rough knockdowns, only to see Corrales miraculously rise from the canvas twice to score a knockout later in the round and unify titles. It was all downhill for Castillo after that. Although he won the rematch with Corrales with a fourth-round knockout, he didn't make weight in a major controversy. Then, incredibly, he didn't make weight again for the rubber match, which was canceled the day before the fight. From there, Castillo played out the string, getting an opportunity to fight for the junior welterweight title and being blasted by Ricky Hatton in the fourth round in 2007. Since then, he had fought low-profile bouts mainly in Mexico until getting the fight with Gomez. Talk about the highest highs and the lowest lows.
[/td][/tr][tr][td][/td][/tr]

Middleweight
John Duddy W10 Michael Medina
Scores: 96-93 (twice) Duddy, 96-93 Medina
​

[tr][td]Records: Duddy, 29-1, 18 KOs; Medina, 23-2-2, 18 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Duddy, the popular Irishman living in New York, scored the split decision against Mexico's Medina in a fight that he should have won unanimously. Although they were credited with throwing and landing roughly the same number of punches, Duddy, 30, was clearly the heavier puncher. But split decision or not, he got out with the deserved victory, his third in a row since an upset split-decision loss to Billy Lyell in April 2009.

Now, Duddy, who came out of the fight relatively unmarked and less cut than he often has been, will move on to fight June 5 at Yankee Stadium on the untelevised undercard of the Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto junior middleweight title bout. If Duddy comes through that fight, Top Rank hopes to finally put together a match between Duddy and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Top Rank's Bob Arum and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones have talked about Cowboys Stadium possibly hosting that card, which undoubtedly would draw a large crowd because of Chavez's popularity with Mexican fans. Duddy was on this card so the heavily Mexican crowd could become familiar with him ahead of the possible fight with Chavez. Mission accomplished, even if the fight with Medina was not too enthralling.
[/td][/tr][tr][td][/td][/tr]

Junior featherweight
Roberto Marroquin TKO2 Samuel Sanchez

​

[tr][td]Records: Marroquin, 13-0, 10 KOs; Sanchez, 4-2-1, 0 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: As soon as Top Rank brought the Pacquiao-Clottey fight to Cowboys Stadium, it wanted to showcase Marroquin on the card. The 20-year-old from Dallas is one of Top Rank's brightest rising prospects, and it wanted the huge crowd to get a look at the outstanding local kid it hopes to build a business around someday. The fans had to have liked what they saw from Marroquin, who looked dynamic in notching the knockout, albeit against a poor opponent.

Marroquin scored a knockdown in the first round with a left hand and then scored the highlight-reel-worthy knockout in the second round when he clubbed Sanchez, 22, one of his former sparring partners who is also from Dallas, with an overhand right and then another overhand right to finish the job as Sanchez was falling to the mat. Excellent knockout on a big stage.
[/td][/tr][tr][td][/td][/tr]

Featherweight
Salvador Sanchez KO6 Jaime Villa

​

[tr][td]Records: Sanchez, 19-3-2, 9 KOs; Villa, 8-8-2, 3 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Sanchez's resemblance to his uncle is uncanny. Sanchez is the 24-year-old nephew of the former featherweight champion and Hall of Famer with the same name. He also wears his hair the same way, fights in the same weight class and wears the same short shorts. The one difference? He's not as good. But Sanchez, of Mexico, has that great name and a pleasing style, not to mention a promoter in Top Rank that will milk that name for all it's worth, meaning Sanchez ought to be able to make some money as he continues to improve.

Sanchez fought pretty well against Mexican-born, Texas-based Villa, 22, whom he put away with a crushing body attack. In the sixth round, Sanchez drilled Villa with a body shot to knock him down. Another body blow during the follow-up attack dumped Villa to a knee, where he gasped for air and took the full count. Sanchez figures to become a staple of the "Top Rank Live" series on Fox Sports en Español. His next date is already set for May 29 on the series.
[/td][/tr]

[/table][table][tr][th=""]

Saturday at Berlin​

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

Cruiserweight
Marco Huck TKO3 Adam "The Swamp Donkey" Richards
Retains a cruiserweight title​

[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Huck, 28-1, 21 KOs; Richards, 23-3, 15 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Huck, 25, made the second defense of his title at home in Germany and routed Houston's Richards, 29, who entered the unlikely title shot having won two in a row since dropping down from heavyweight. Perhaps it was just a sign of things to come that this wouldn't be a good trip for "The Donkey," but after a long flight from Houston to Amsterdam, he missed his connection to Berlin.

Huck was simply stronger and better than Richards, who took a lot of shots. Huck dropped him in the second round, and when Richards got up, he had a cut on his head and blood streaked down his chest. Huck kept firing away, and Richards' legs were shaky. Finally, he put together a series of punches that had Richards staggering and attempting to hold on. But Huck continued to connect and landed a huge right hand as referee Mark Nelson was stepping in to stop the fight. Nelson grabbed on to Richards, but he was already on his way down and took Nelson with him for the cool-looking stoppage.
[/td][/tr]

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

Heavyweight
Alexander Povetkin TKO5 Javier Mora
​

[tr][td]Records: Povetkin, 19-0, 14 KOs; Mora, 22-6, 19 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Povetkin, 30, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist from Russia, is one of heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko's mandatory challengers. The fight is eons overdue, but Klitschko will make his mandatory against Eddie Chambers on Saturday. So Povetkin stayed busy by whacking out Mora, which came as no surprise.

Mora, 28, a Mexican living in Southern California, actually lasted longer than many expected, but he took a beating. Povetkin, in his second fight with ESPN's own Teddy Atlas as his trainer, knocked him down in the first and second rounds before dropping him again in the fifth with a vicious series of punches. Mora, who showed enormous heart, tried to get up quickly, but the referee already had seen enough and called off the fight.

It remains to be seen how the fights will play out, but Povetkin probably will get his title shot against the Klitschko-Chambers winner in the fall. Povetkin already owns a unanimous decision win over Chambers in January 2008. Mora, meanwhile, lost for the third time in his past four fights.
[/td][/tr]

[/table][table][tr][th=""]

Friday at Grapevine, Texas​

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

Heavyweight
Samuel Peter TKO2 Nagy Aguilera
Title eliminator​

[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Peter, 34-3, 27 KOs; Aguilera, 15-3, 10 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Former heavyweight titleholder Peter continued on the comeback trail after back-to-back losses to Vitali Klitschko (who took his belt) and Eddie Chambers in 2008 and 2009, respectively, and looked terrific. Peter, 29, a native Nigerian living in Las Vegas, was in fantastic shape at 237½ pounds and appears to be taking his career seriously again after looking utterly disinterested and out of shape for the fights with Klitschko and Chambers.

Peter, who held a title for seven months in 2008, scored a hard knockdown in the second round when he cracked Aguilera with a flush right hand. During the follow-up attack, Peter forced Aguilera into the ropes and was teeing off against the helpless 23-year-old when referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight. Aguilera, a New Yorker who's originally from the Dominican Republic, had knocked out former titleholder Oleg Maskaev in the first round in December to put himself in position to fight Peter. Peter, of course, knocked out Maskaev in six rounds in March 2008 to claim a title before losing it in his first defense to Vitali Klitschko. In winning his fourth bout in a row, Peter moved a step closer to a mandatory shot against Wladimir Klitschko, who outpointed him in a 2005 title eliminator.
[/td][/tr]

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

Lightweight
Anthony Peterson TKO3 Juan Ramon Cruz
​

[tr][td]Records: Peterson, 30-0, 20 KOs; Cruz, 16-8-1, 12 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Peterson had been off for seven months and was fighting for only the second time in 19 months partly because of a knee injury. But he returned to action against Cruz and looked very good, even if Cruz wasn't a formidable opponent. Peterson, however, was shaking off the rust from the layoff in anticipation of a title shot. The 24-year-old from Washington, D.C., is due to challenge Humberto Soto for the 135-pound world title he claimed on the Pacquiao-Clottey undercard the next night. Soto-Peterson is scheduled to be televised by HBO on June 5 from Yankee Stadium as part of the Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto undercard.

Peterson left no doubt that he would win his way into the title bout, as he jabbed Cruz's head nearly off his neck in an impressive display. He rocked the Puerto Rican's head back time and again and dropped him in the second round and twice more in the third round for a knockout. Cruz, 31, dropped to 1-5 in his past six bouts. It's time for a new line of work.
[/td][/tr][tr][td][/td][/tr]

Junior middleweight
Omar Henry TKO1 Francisco Reza
​

[tr][td]Records: Henry, 8-0, 7 KOs; Reza, 5-2, 4 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: We have no idea how Henry takes a punch or what his stamina is like, but this much is certain: Few prospects are more exciting than the 23-year-old Houston resident. When he fights, he looks to destroy his opponents, and he's been doing just that. All his knockouts have come in the first round, including this spectacular annihilation of Reza, 24, of Mexico, whom Top Rank matchmaker Brad "Abdul" Goodman had expected to at least go a few rounds with Henry. Instead, Henry raced toward him, cracked him with a bunch of punches and dropped him twice in 33 seconds for the knockout. Henry won't offend anyone if he uses a jab to set things up rather than going out guns blazing all the time. He'll learn, and it will be fun to watch.
[/td][/tr][tr][td][/td][/tr]

Junior welterweight
Jose Benavidez TKO3 Bobby Hill
​

[tr][td]Records: Benavidez, 3-0, 3 KOs; Hill, 1-4, 0 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Top Rank's latest big-time prospect signing is Benavidez, a 17-year-old from Phoenix who was a top amateur. How good was he in the unpaid ranks? Nevada gave him a license even though he hasn't yet turned 18, the usual age at which fighters are licensed there. It's easy to see why the state made an exception for Benavidez. The Freddie Roach-trained fighter has good size and a long reach to go with skills and maturity in the ring. He was patient while taking care of Hill, a guy who showed a lot of heart under heavy fire from Benavidez, who dropped him in the second round and twice more in the third for the knockout. What was nice to see was that Benavidez, even though he had his man hurt, did not rush to get the knockout. He took his time, set things up and took care of business. He's one to watch.
[/td][/tr]

[/table][table][tr][th=""]

Friday at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.​

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

Welterweight
Paul Spadafora TKO8 Ivan Fiorletta
​

[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Spadafora, 44-0-1, 18 KOs; Fiorletta, 24-6-2, 7 KOs
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: After long layoffs because of personal problems, including being incarcerated, Pittsburgh's Spadafora is trying to get his career back on track. This was the third fight in 10 months for the former lightweight titleholder (who is now trained by Hall of Famer Pernell Whitaker), and he scored the rare knockout. Referee Frank Gentile stopped the fight 40 seconds into the eighth round after Spadafora, 34, landed a series of head shots. Italy's Fiorletta, 30, who had a point deducted in the sixth round after kneeing Spadafora near his groin, saw his two-fight winning streak end. Spadafora, who held a lightweight title from 1999 to 2003, is one of the names under consideration to face unified junior welterweight titleholder Devon Alexander in the summer.
[/td][/tr][/table]

 

[proshares]

Contract dispute shelves title card


A March 26 world title doubleheader scheduled for ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" was called off on Wednesday because of contractual problems between promoter Don King and ESPN.

The card, scheduled to take place at Treasure Island in Las Vegas, was to have featured cruiserweights Steve Cunningham and Matt Godfrey squaring off for a vacant title and Cory Spinks defending his junior middleweight belt against mandatory challenger Cornelius "K9" Bundrage.

"In line with our commitment to air quality boxing content, we had interest in airing the fights. Unfortunately, we couldn't come to an agreement acceptable to both sides. We will continue to look for opportunities to acquire fights that serve our boxing fans," ESPN said in a statement.

King told ESPN.com that his office and the network went back and forth with paperwork but that he never received a contract. King said that the site of the fight [Treasure Island] was subsequently booked and, on Friday, King said his office sent ESPN a letter saying they did not have a deal.

"So, therefore, we'll look to the future, but we had no agreement on this card," King said.

Dan Rafael is ESPN.com's boxing writer.

That sucks.

 

[scott frost]

I thought Steve left Don King and signed with another promoter, but I guess no boxer every really leaves Don King

 

[proshares]

I think he's promoting the entire card. I heard something that he's trying to get HBO to buy another deal with Cloud/Johnson and he's trying to put Cunningham on that undercard. And something about Treasure Island being booked a long time ago for something else. Heard it 3rd person so grain of salt.

 

[bigmike23]

i hope its ok to talk boxing now with out someone stan base coming in here

anyways

how the hell did pacs face look like that with clottey only throwing like 10 punchs the whole fight? and people try to say floyd doesnt throw enough to do damgae to his face so would lose? LOL and mosley would bust his face wide open also

 

[proshares]

[h3]

[h3]After election, who's next for Manny?http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/rafael_dan/id/5005671/after-election-manny[/h3]
March, 18, 2010
Mar 18

11:36

AM ET

Now that pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao has easily outpointed Joshua Clottey in a stunningly one-sided decision win on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium, he's headed back to the Philippines to run for congress. The reason he insisted on fighting in March was so he would have enough time to campaign for the May 10 election, which he's apparently serious about.





"Now it is time for a more serious fight for me and that is my campaign for congress," Pacquiao said. "The people of my province are among the poorest. They have been underserved for too long. I want to give a voice to those too weak to speak. They deserve better schools and a higher standard of living. I know how my people have suffered because I have too. That is how I grew up and because I am one of the fortunate ones to have escaped poverty I am compelled to be a public servant for them. If my being in public office can attract new businesses to relocate to my province and to shine a light on the neglect my people have endured, I am only too happy to serve.





"One of the biggest advantages I have is that every fight is an opportunity to give honor to the Philippines. The Filipino people don't just give me their support, they also give me their strength, their pride and their love. Running for congress is a way for me to repay them."





Top Rank's Bob Arum anticipates Pacquiao's ring return in the fall, likely November, regardless of the outcome of the election.





So Arum is already looking ahead and thinking about possible fights for Pacquiao. Obviously, Pacquiao against the winner of the May 1 Shane Mosley-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight makes the most sense and is the most lucrative, by far. But Arum was quick to point out that if Mosley wins, it's an unlikely fight because Mayweather has a rematch clause in the contract.





"So any talk of Shane Mosley beating Mayweather and then fighting Manny is poppycock," Arum said, adding that he believed the rematch clause was "strong."





Of course, a Mayweather win would put the sides in the same position they were in a couple of months ago, when Pacquiao-Mayweather imploded over drug testing procedures.





If Mayweather beats Mosley and there are again issues -- which you just know there would be -- Arum said he has three opponents in mind that he would give a shot at Pacquiao:





• Antonio Margarito, the disgraced former welterweight titlist whom Arum anticipates will eventually get his license back after having it revoked for trying to fight Mosley with loaded hand wraps 14 months ago.





• Edwin Valero, the former lightweight titlist who is moving up to junior welterweight for his next fight. Valero, who has had licensing issues because of a past medical problem, is licensed in Texas, so maybe we'll see a return to Jerry Jones' Cowboys Stadium if that fight is made.





• Juan Manuel Marquez, the lightweight champ who would have to move up in weight. Marquez and Pacquiao have fought two memorable battles with Pacquiao going 1-0-1 in two terrific and close fights in which both decisions were highly controversial. If there is Pacquiao-Marquez III it would mean Top Rank would have to work with Golden Boy, Marquez's promoter, which is always a dicey proposition.





If you missed Pacquiao-Clottey, fought before a crowd of almost 51,000, HBO will replay the pay-per-view bout Saturday night (11 ET/PT).





The pay-per-view numbers aren't out yet because Arum and HBO PPV only have totals from the satellite services.





"All we have is the satellite numbers and they are very strong," Arum said. "We're not giving out any numbers yet because we have very little [information] from the cable systems, which you need. The cable numbers are very fragmented, so it could be a few days. But the number that you can't go any lower than is 650,000 for the fight. That is the worst it would do, but it should be a lot higher."

[/h3]

 

[dako akong otin]

[table][tr][td][table][tr][td]
Darchinyan-Donaire Rematch in The Works For August 7
Posted by: Rick Reeno on 03-18-2010.

[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][tr][td]

---

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]
>>>Click Here For Tons of More Breaking Boxing News, Articles and Insider Information<<<

By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com was advised by several sources that a deal is very close to being reached between Top Rank and Gary Shaw for a rematch between WBC/WBA super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan (34-2-1, 27KOs) and WBA-interim champion Nonito Donaire (23-1, 15KOs).

I hear the potential date for the rematch is August 7 on Showtime. The frontrunner to host the event is the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, California. Donaire knocked Darchinyan out in five rounds in 2007. A grudge between the two of them has been building since the first fight.

Prior to the rematch with Darchinyan, Donaire is probably going to take a tune-up on May 15. The tune-up will be televised as the headline bout on a "Top Rank Live" telecast from the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. Fox Sports will televise.
[/td][/tr][/table]

 

[carlofromdapi]

Originally Posted by dako akong otin

[table][tr][td][table][tr][td]
Darchinyan-Donaire Rematch in The Works For August 7
Posted by: Rick Reeno on 03-18-2010.

[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][tr][td]

---

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]
>>>Click Here For Tons of More Breaking Boxing News, Articles and Insider Information<<<

By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com was advised by several sources that a deal is very close to being reached between Top Rank and Gary Shaw for a rematch between WBC/WBA super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan (34-2-1, 27KOs) and WBA-interim champion Nonito Donaire (23-1, 15KOs).

I hear the potential date for the rematch is August 7 on Showtime. The frontrunner to host the event is the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, California. Donaire knocked Darchinyan out in five rounds in 2007. A grudge between the two of them has been building since the first fight.

Prior to the rematch with Darchinyan, Donaire is probably going to take a tune-up on May 15. The tune-up will be televised as the headline bout on a "Top Rank Live" telecast from the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. Fox Sports will televise.
[/td][/tr][/table]

Looking forward to this fight...

 

[gunna get it]

Nonito is Gonna put Vic to sleep AGAIN.

 

[el producto79]

Originally Posted by dako akong otin

[table][tr][td][table][tr][td]
Darchinyan-Donaire Rematch in The Works For August 7
Posted by: Rick Reeno on 03-18-2010.

[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][tr][td]

---

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]
>>>Click Here For Tons of More Breaking Boxing News, Articles and Insider Information<<<

By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com was advised by several sources that a deal is very close to being reached between Top Rank and Gary Shaw for a rematch between WBC/WBA super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan (34-2-1, 27KOs) and WBA-interim champion Nonito Donaire (23-1, 15KOs).

I hear the potential date for the rematch is August 7 on Showtime. The frontrunner to host the event is the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, California. Donaire knocked Darchinyan out in five rounds in 2007. A grudge between the two of them has been building since the first fight.

Prior to the rematch with Darchinyan, Donaire is probably going to take a tune-up on May 15. The tune-up will be televised as the headline bout on a "Top Rank Live" telecast from the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. Fox Sports will televise.
[/td][/tr][/table]

Please let this be in L.A.

 

[proshares]

Vasquez/Marquez IV is official for May 22nd. Undercard is Yhonny Perez/Abner Mares. Should be a pretty entertaining card.

 

[proshares]

[h4]

[h4]Chambers confident ahead of Klitschko clash[/h4]

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Archive

Lars Baron/Getty ImagesField of dreams: Eddie Chambers, right, feels he has what it takes to dethrone Wladimir Klitschko.

Underdog or not, Eddie Chambers exudes confidence.

"This is a tremendous opportunity. I am so excited about it, and I can't wait to get into the ring on Saturday and shock the world," Chambers said this week from Germany.

The 27-year-old Philadelphia fighter was referring to what many view as an uphill battle when he challenges heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko at Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany, where a crowd of more than 50,000 is expected.

Virtually every one of them will be hoping to see another dominant performance from Klitschko, who is making his eighth defense and returning from a nine-month layoff following his domination of Ruslan Chagaev last summer and subsequent shoulder surgery that kept him on the shelf.

Chambers (35-1, 18 KOs), however, says he's in it to win it.

"I want people to see I am one of the better fighters in the world," Chambers said. "I'm excited to fight one of the best fighters of my time and to prove that I'm also one of the best. This is the culmination of all the hard work, and I just can't wait to get it done."

Whatever happens, it will take place without American television coverage, a shocker considering this is a heavyweight championship fight involving a legitimate American challenger. The fight is available in the U.S. only on a pay basis on Klitschko's Web site.

Dan Goossen, Chambers' promoter, said he wasn't upset there will be no television. He's just anxious for Chambers to get his opportunity.

"Eddie is on a mission to show the world he's capable of becoming the next great heavyweight champion," he said. "I can understand the reticence of the networks. Because of [how Klitschko fights], the networks have waned on their interest in Klitschko."

Said Chambers, "I use [no U.S. TV] as more motivation. I agree maybe they're a little tired of watching Klitschko and most people don't think I have a chance and that I don't look like I'm a real threat. I think they're making a huge mistake because this will be one of the best fights of the year. I am going to go in there and give it my all. He'll give it his all."

Chambers has paid his dues and earned his opportunity, regardless of the American networks' distaste for the fight. He's faced good opposition to emerge as a serious contender.

His most notable victories came in his past two fights, decisions against former titleholder Samuel Peter last March and Alexander Dimitrenko on July 4 in Germany, a win that secured him the mandatory shot against Klitschko (53-3, 47 KOs).

Although Chambers will be at a disadvantage in height (6-foot-1 to 6-6) and weight (approximately 210 pounds to 240), he said he isn't concerned. He has speed and plans to use it.

"Most people go in with Wladimir and think they have to adjust their style to coincide with his," Chambers said. "You have to find a way to implement your style. I have good speed. I'm a boxer by nature. I have to find a way to implement that. I plan to. I was able to do it with Dimitrenko."

Indeed, Dimitrenko, while not nearly as good as Klitschko, is almost a physical carbon copy.

Yet Chambers easily outboxed the favorite. He also pounded him to the body, hurt him with both hands and scored two knockdowns.

It's that experience -- fighting on the road against a much bigger man -- that Chambers hopes will pay dividends against Klitschko.

"It was like, 'How lucky are we?' Most people thought, 'Why would you fight this guy?' This is the best opponent we could possibly fight to get prepared for the best heavyweight in the world," Chambers said. "His style and a lot of things he did gave me the confidence that I could go in there and fight with any of the best fighters in the world."

"Eddie has grown tremendously in the last year, and it finally came to fruition in the Dimitrenko fight," said Goossen, who already has seen two of his heavyweights, Tony Thompson and Cris Arreola, get stopped in title fights against the Klitschko brothers -- Arreola by Vitali in September and Thompson by Wladimir in 2008. "He put it all together from an offensive end to with his talent defensively. That is why I believe we will shock the world, but it won't be a shock to us."

Klitschko has a different take.

"I am 33 years old and at the top of my athletic ability," he said. "I have never been so strong, fast and experienced. Eddie is a very talented fighter and has a very difficult style, but I am well prepared to defend my titles. My belts will stay in the Klitschko family."

Besides confidence, Chambers also is now a seasoned pro when it comes to fighting in Germany. This will be his third fight there. He beat Dimitrenko on trip No. 2 but lost an eliminator there to 2004 Olympic gold medalist Alexander Povetkin (the mandatory challenger for the winner of Saturday's fight) in 2008.

Even though Chambers lost in a competitive fight, it turned out to be an important lesson.

"The first time I went [to Germany], I wasn't prepared as mentally as I should have been," he said. "I didn't relax. I was a little on edge. It was my first big fight. It was just something in my mind; I was still kind a kid and not mentally as ready for it. I didn't have as much time to train and I was too uptight. I was just sitting in my room and worrying."

Chambers was much more comfortable when he went there and beat Dimitrenko.

"When I went the second time, I was more relaxed, laughing, enjoying myself and having a good time," he said. "I learned that throughout all the hoopla and pressure, you have to find a way to enjoy it. You have to find that happy medium where you know how serious and how big of a deal it is but also enjoy it. This is something that should be enjoyed. This is the big time, so you should be enjoying it."

"We have mapped out a game plan that will be the plan people will use and see how to beat bigger opponents," said Rob Murray Sr., Chambers' trainer and manager. "We feel very confident. We put the negativity behind us from our first trip here, and we will be up for the challenge and bring back the heavyweight championship of the world to the United States.

"Our plan is to win, and we will win handily. We will win without a doubt. There will be no doubt in anyone's mind."

[h4]Donaire-Darchinyan rematch? [/h4]

Courtesy Marty Rosengarten for Ringsidephotos.com Let's make a deal: Promoter Gary Shaw is willing to see Nonito Donaire, left, and Vic Darchinyan duel again.

The rivalry between junior bantamweight champ Vic Darchinyan and interim titlist Nonito Donaire is perhaps the most compelling in the smaller weight divisions. Ever since Donaire knocked Darchinyan out in the fifth round of a 2007 upset to win a flyweight title, there has been demand for a rematch between these two fighters with power and personality.

But when Donaire dumped promoter Gary Shaw, who also promotes Darchinyan, to sign with Top Rank, Shaw swore there would never be a rematch.

Donaire (23-1, 15 KOs) went about his business and is 5-0 since beating Darchinyan, including a move up in weight to claim an interim belt. Darchinyan (34-2-1, 27 KOs) has remained a regular on Showtime despite the loss and is 6-1-1 since then, including unifying three junior bantamweight belts but also losing to Joseph Agbeko in a bantamweight title shot. And Shaw has softened his stance; with no significant fights on the horizon for either man, Shaw and Top Rank's Bob Arum began talking seriously about a rematch this week, both told ESPN.com. It would take place in August on Showtime.

"I think we've made it, practically," Arum said. "Gary, for all his bluster, is not a hard guy to finalize a deal with. When you sit and talk to him, you can make a deal."

Said Shaw, "Hope we have enough money to make the fight. Not sure what each fighter thinks the fight is worth. My thoughts are, I make whatever fight Vic wants, and he wants revenge against Nonito."

Ahead of the rematch, Arum and Donaire manager Cameron Dunkin said he'll probably fight May 15 on "Top Rank Live" to prepare.

[h4]Unhappy Green[/h4]

Ed Mulholland/Fightwireimages.comGreen with anger: Allan Green isn't buying into Andre Ward's excuses.

Super middleweight Allan Green, the alternate who replaced Jermain Taylor in the Super Six tournament, was upset when titleholder Andre Ward postponed their April 24 bout this week.

Ward, who has a bum right knee, is expected to return in six weeks. Green said he believes Ward is afraid to face him.

"I honestly don't think he will ever get in the ring with me," Green said. "I don't think this is a fight Andre Ward and his people ever wanted. If I had it my way, he'd take a cortisone shot and fight. I seriously doubt he's ever going to fight me. I hope [the injury is] valid, because there's been a lot put into this from everybody involved and there's no time to play games. If he were fighting Jermain Taylor or Sakio Bika, I'm sure he'd be good to go. I'm a fighter. I fight through bumps, bruises and injuries.

"I fought Tarvis Simms with a bad right shoulder. If your knee keeps getting hurt, it could be something chronic and you're probably not going to be ready in six weeks. If your knee is swollen, just take a cortisone shot, stop *****ing and get your %%* in the ring."

Showtime still will air the other half of the April 24 Super Six doubleheader on same-day tape, England's Carl Froch defending his 168-pound belt on Mikkel Kessler's turf in Denmark.

Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com.

[h4]QUICK HITS[/h4]

Williams

• Paul Williams, a former two-time welterweight titleholder and interim junior middleweight titlist, says he can fight at welterweight, junior middleweight or middleweight. In his last fight, he took a majority decision against Sergio Martinez in a middleweight slugfest. So what weight will his next fight be at? Promoter Dan Goossen said it will be a junior middleweight bout against Kermit Cintron, a former welterweight titlist who has been fighting at 154 pounds. "It's done for all intents and purposes," Goossen told ESPN.com. The May 8 HBO fight could take place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Margarito

• Top Rank is planning "Latin Fury 14," a May 8 pay-per-view card in Aguascalientes, Mexico. The card isn't finalized, but Top Rank's Bob Arum told ESPN.com that former welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito, out since his January 2009 knockout loss to Shane Mosley and subsequent license revocation for trying to fight with loaded hand wraps, will make his return on the card. Arum said he's not concerned that Margarito, who wasn't licensed to fight in Texas last week on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard, might jeopardize his chances of being licensed in the U.S. if he fights in Mexico without having regained an American license first. "We have no concerns, because he's already served his year," Arum said. Margarito has split from disgraced trainer Javier Capetillo, who placed the illegal pads in Margarito's wraps, and is now training with Robert Garcia. Other bouts Arum said are being discussed for the show: interim junior lightweight titlist Jorge Solis of Mexico against Puerto Rico's Mario Santiago, who would move up from featherweight; rising contender Brandon Rios against Urbano Antillon, who is one fight removed from a knockout loss in a title bout, in a lightweight crossroads fight; and an appearance by flyweight prospect Alonso Lopez (3-0, 2 KOs), son of Hall of Famer Ricardo Lopez.

Dzinziruk

• Last month, promoters Gary Shaw and Artie Pelullo signed junior middleweight titleholder Sergei Dzinziruk of Ukraine to a co-promotional deal after he split with German promoter Universum. Dzinziruk wanted to fight in the United States, and now he'll have his chance. Dzinziruk (36-0, 22 KOs) defends against untested Sherzod Husanov (14-0-1, 7 KOs) of Uzbekistan on May 14 on Showtime's "ShoBox" at the Chumash resort in Santa Ynez, Calif., Shaw told ESPN.com. Dzinziruk, 34, has defended his title five times but hasn't fought since outpointing Joel "Love Child" Julio in November 2008 because of problems with Universum. Shaw said the fight is designed for Dzinziruk to ease back into action and introduce himself to the American audience. "Honestly, I don't expect to see a lot from him because he's got to have a lot of ring rust," Shaw said. "But we brought him over to the U.S. to train and spar. People I respect in boxing tell me he's the best 154-pounder in the world, and they know [titleholder] Sergio Martinez. Whether Sergei will show that spark May 14, I don't know. But should he win, as I expect him to, then it's only big fights after that."

Bradley

• Junior welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KOs), who makes his HBO debut in a nontitle welterweight bout against Luis Carlos Abregu (29-0, 23 KOs), will fight June 19 instead of June 26, promoter Shaw told ESPN.com. Shaw requested that HBO make the change because the Agua Caliente resort in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Bradley's home area, where he wants to put the card on, isn't available June 26 but is June 19.

Calderon

• Although Miguel Cotto, the Puerto Rican star who typically fights on the eve of the annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York, is instead fighting the previous week this year when he challenges Yuri Foreman at Yankee Stadium on June 5 (HBO), Top Rank is still planning a Puerto Rican-themed card for June 12. Arum said the card would take place at the Madison Square Garden Theater and be televised on his Fox Sports en Espanol series "Top Rank Live." Top Rank hopes to have junior flyweight champ Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon, who has a mandatory defense due against interim titlist Johnriel Casimero of the Philippines, headline. "It's going to be a really good card with Puerto Rican stars," Arum said. "[Top Rank president] Todd [duBoef] has been talking to [Calderon promoter] Peter Rivera about doing a Calderon fight. It's an opportunity to give all the Puerto Ricans in town some good fights. I'm happy to break even and give an upgrade to our Fox show."

Guerrero

• Hot middleweight prospect Fernando Guerrero (17-0, 14 KOs), who has a significant following in his hometown of Salisbury, Md., will headline there April 16 at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center on "ShoBox" against Michael Walker (19-3-2, 12 KOs), Prize Fight promoter Russ Young told ESPN.com. It will be Guerrero's first bout since December, when he injured his hand knocking out Jessie Nicklow, which forced him to miss a February appearance on ESPN2. Junior middleweight prospect Shawn Porter (13-0, 10 KOs) is slated for the co-feature.

Andrade

• Super middleweight contender Librado Andrade (28-3, 21 KOs), stopped in the fourth round by titlist Lucian Bute in their November rematch in Quebec City, is returning to the Colisee Pepsi to face another Canadian star, former titlist Eric Lucas. They'll meet May 28 in a 10-rounder at 170 pounds. Lucas (39-7-3, 15 KOs) came out of a four-year retirement in December to knock out Ramon Moyano. The fight will be Andrade's fourth fight in Quebec, which he considers a second home. "I am certain many will tell me I set the bar too high and that the challenge is too big, but this is exactly the type of fight I was looking for when I made my return to the ring," Lucas said. "I felt the electric atmosphere of the Pepsi Colisee last Nov. 28 when Lucian won, and Quebec City really touched me. Now I want to experience that euphoria for myself in that city."

Bika

• Canadian promoter InterBox won a purse bid this week for the right to promote the super middleweight title eliminator between Jesse Brinkley and Sakio Bika, both alumni of "The Contender." InterBox's winning bid of $134,616 topped bids by Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing ($111,000) and Golden Boy ($102,000). The winner of the fight, which is due to take place within 90 days, becomes the mandatory challenger for the winner of the April 17 bout between titleholder Lucian Bute and Edison Miranda.

Estrada

• Several new fights have been added to the "Friday Night Fights" (ESPN2) schedule, including heavyweights Tony Thompson and Jason Estrada squaring off in Memphis on April 16; heavyweight prospects Seth Mitchell and Ashanti Jordan meeting May 7 in El Paso, Texas; Julio Diaz facing Herman Ngoudjo in a May 14 junior welterweight contest in Rancho Mirage, Calif.; and a May 21 card in Laredo, Texas, featuring lightweight Ji-Hoon Kim against Ameth Diaz and junior welterweight Ruslan Provodnikov against Frankie Figueroa.

Ward

• The target date to reschedule the Super Six bout between super middleweight titlist Andre Ward, whose bum knee forced postponement of the April 24 fight, and Allan Green is June 19. … Top Rank's Arum said featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez's first defense, likely against Bernabe Concepcion, will take place July 10 in Puerto Rico and be televised on Showtime. … Ex-heavyweight titlist Ruslan Chagaev (25-1-1, 17 KOs) meets Australia's Kali Meehan (35-3, 29 KOs) in an eliminator May 22 in Rostock, Germany. The winner becomes mandatory for the winner of the April 3 bout between titlist David Haye and former titleholder John Ruiz. … Square Ring announced it signed two-time heavyweight title challenger Fres Oquendo (32-5, 31 KOs) and that his first fight with Roy Jones' company is May 6 against ex-cruiserweight champ Jean Marc Mormeck (34-4, 22 KOs) in Paris. The bout will be Mormeck's second since moving up to heavyweight after losing the cruiserweight title to Haye in 2007. … Puerto Rico's Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (18-0-1, 15 KOs), son of the former three-division titlist with the same name, makes his first junior featherweight title defense (a mandatory) against Germany's Zsolt Bedak (15-0, 5 KOs) May 29 (Integrated Sports PPV) in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, promoter Tuto Zabala Jr. told ESPN.com.

[h4]QUOTABLE[/h4]

Mosley

"I would like to congratulate Manny on his victory Saturday night even though I think it put most of the fans watching to sleep. Now it's time for the world to focus on May 1, when I promise you nobody will be sleeping except for Floyd after I knock him out and send him back into retirement. Maybe if Floyd comes back a second time, he and Manny will fight one day, but it will only be for the opportunity to fight me again, the man who beat both of them." -- welterweight champ Shane Mosley, taking his shots at Manny Pacquiao, who beat Joshua Clottey last week, and his upcoming opponent, Floyd Mayweather

[/h4]

 

[sir rob a lot]

[h4]

• The target date to reschedule the Super Six bout between super middleweight titlist Andre Ward, whose bum knee forced postponement of the April 24 fight, and Allan Green is June 19.

[/h4]

Same date that Tim Bradley is going to make his Welterweight debut.

 

[proshares]

[h6]chris (philly)[/h6]


Hello Dan, I've never seen a boxer hit an opponent with 2 hands like Manny did this past weekend - is that really an illegal move in the boxing rule book?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:06 PM)
[/h6]


Good question. I do not know of any rule that prevents it. He hit him legally with his hands. He didn't go low, didn't hit him behind the head or on the back. I have no idea why that would be considered illegal. It's actually dangerous for the fighter throwing the shots because they leave themselves open and off balance.
[h6]Mark (Brooksville, Fla.)[/h6]
Dan,I am, after all the recent cancellations and postponements, starting to feel like I did when I found out the truth about Santa and the Tooth Fairy. Two great FNF fights gone and whispers of cracks in the Super Six Tourney. I just hope the rumors of the Easter Bunny aren't going to go the same way!
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:10 PM)
[/h6]
That's just part of boxing. Always has been, always will be. However, there is a chance that Cunningham-Godfrey can be salvaged for March 26. I have details in my blog later today.
[h6]Bobby (Louisville)[/h6]
Is Mayweather rematch clause vs. Mosley official? if so, that's a shame the winner can't go straight to Pac-man!
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:18 PM)
[/h6]
From what they say, there is indeed a rematch clause.
[h6]J (ATL)[/h6]
Dan-o can you give us a brief preview of the FNF card tonight? Thanks!
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:41 PM)
[/h6]
Good main event. Reamtch between Latimore and Powell. Latimore won the first fight on a seventh-round TKO. Was even on the cards going to the seventh. It's a title eliminator, so the winner becomes Cory Spinks' mandatory. A real must-win for both guys.
[h6]Don (Buffalo)[/h6]
Dan - is Hopkins / Jones 2 definitely going to into the Theaters? I am willing to pony up $15.00 and a tub of popcorn to watch those guys go at it
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:41 PM)
[/h6]
Yes it is.
[h6]Chris (PA)[/h6]
Only Floyd has rematch clause, correct? No rematch for Sugar if Money wins.
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:48 PM)
[/h6]
Right. Rematch pertains only to Floyd is Shane wins.
[h6]Tom (Kingston Ontario)[/h6]
I hear Morales is calling out Manny I guess the two brutal beatings were not enough. Manny has put almost as many Mexicans to sleep as tequilla
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:52 PM)
[/h6]
He is and it's a joke. He will never get another fight with Manny and why would he? He's a dead man at this point.
[h6]Luis (Philadelphia)[/h6]
Any news on the possible Alexander/Judah fight? Or do you think Alexander will go another route?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:59 PM)
[/h6]
That's a fight HBO would like to do and the Alexander camp would like the fight as well. However, from what I am told there are issues between King and Judah with King claiming Judah owes him all kinds of money (more than $1 million from what I was told). There is also the dicey issue of Judah's promotional rights. Square Ring claims to have a contract with him. So if Judah is all jammed up, the Alexander people won't wait around for him. They'll moved on and perhaps fight the winner of the March 27 Maidana-Cayo fight that is on HBO.
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:12 PM)
[/h6]
There's a chance -- and it was fluid on Friday morning -- that Main Events can salvage the fight for March 26 by moving it to the top of a previously untelevised card in Chicago being promoted by Dominic Pesoli's 8 Count Productions. Main Events came in second in the purse bid and now owns the fight since Don King has defaulted. Main Events, Pesoli and ESPN are working through the logistics. So there's a good chance Cunningham-Godfrey will still happen March 26 on FNF just with a new promoter at a new location.
[h6]MC (USA)[/h6]
Hey DanIs there a co-feature to the Khan Malignaggi fight in May?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (1:13 PM)
[/h6]
Yes, Victor Ortiz vs. Nate Campbell.
[h6]Michael (Oakland)[/h6]
Clottey claims that his no-show was due to him having and I quote...The Stomach Runs.
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (2:07 PM)
[/h6]
S--- happens.
[h6]chuzen (st. louis)[/h6]
do you think either vazquez or marquez will be part of arum's plan to have his "horses clean out the division"?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (2:20 PM)
[/h6]
I think the winner of that fight could get another nice payday to face one of the younger guys like a Lopez or Gamboa. The winner has the name and the respect from the public. And that's how boxing goes -- an older name guy facing a younger guy on the way up who hopes to make a name by beating the more famous opponent. I can definitely see that happening here.

 

[dako akong otin]

[h6][/h6]

[h6]chris (philly)[/h6]


Hello Dan, I've never seen a boxer hit an opponent with 2 hands like Manny did this past weekend - is that really an illegal move in the boxing rule book?
[h6]Dan Rafael
  (12:06 PM)
[/h6]

Good question. I do not know of any rule that prevents it. He hit him legally with his hands. He didn't go low, didn't hit him behind the head or on the back. I have no idea why that would be considered illegal. It's actually dangerous for the fighter throwing the shots because they leave themselves open and off balance.


watching alot of fights here in the PI, both amateur and small shows... i've seen that 2 handed punch used 3 times in my life

    During sparring, i got tagged with that stupid 2 punch BS too.  Apparantly there's an old movie here in the PI where the action star does that 2 punch move and the boxers here just picked it up from him.