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

Originally Posted by AndOneFlip

pacman would still take marquez
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Exactly. Jmm dont want it with Pacman at this lvl.  Dude is in rare form.
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Originally Posted by ALSDAMAN24

The dude in that white Jersey Shore tee in the crowd is distracting as hell. Dude is too exited, whats going on in the ring doesn't warrant that much excitement.
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That was Omar Henry (light middleweight prospect).
 
Bika has to be the unluckiest dude in boxing
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Saturday at Las Vegas​
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Lightweight
Juan Manuel Marquez W12 Juan Diaz
Retains world lightweight title
Scores: 118-110, 117-111, 116-112​
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Marquez, 51-5-1, 37 KOs; Diaz, 35-4, 17 KOs
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Rematches of great fights rarely live up to their original, and Marquez-Diaz II, the sequel to the 2009 fight of the year, unfortunately didn't. In Marquez-Diaz I, waged in February 2009 in Diaz's hometown of Houston, Marquez scored a ninth-round knockout to culminate a comeback in a bloody slugfest to retain the lightweight world championship.

After that terrific fight, Marquez and Diaz went their separate ways. Marquez went for the big bucks and jumped up two weight classes to take a crack at Floyd Mayweather Jr., who schooled him with ease in a lopsided decision. Diaz jumped up to junior welterweight and had two fights with former titlist Paulie Malignaggi. Diaz got a controversial hometown decision in the first fight, one of the worst robberies in recent years. Malignaggi easily outpointed him in the December rematch. So with Marquez and Diaz both coming off losses and returning to their more natural weight class, Golden Boy put together the inevitable rematch.





Although Saturday's bout was not a candidate for 2010 fight of the year, it was nonetheless an entertaining, albeit one-sided, affair that once again confirmed Marquez's greatness as well as Diaz's continued slippage.





Although Marquez, 36, is 10 years older than Diaz, he looked like the younger man. He boxed Diaz well, and when there were exchanges -- and there were more than enough to keep the pro-Marquez crowd of 8,383 at Mandalay Bay cheering -- he got the better of it. Despite a swollen right eye from an accidental thumb in the fourth round, Marquez was never in any danger and racked up points with a busier and more accurate attack on Diaz, who is no longer the energetic volume puncher that made him one of the best in the business for a few years. While Marquez landed 288 of 672 punches for a 43 percent connect rate, according to CompuBox statistics, Diaz landed just 155 of 579 (27 percent). Diaz averaged fewer than 50 punches thrown per round, well off the whirlwind style he once had, and never outlanded Marquez in any round.





Marquez made his case for a third fight with Manny Pacquiao afterward. He desperately wants a fight with him after two highly controversial results against him, a draw in their 2004 featherweight title fight and a split-decision loss in the 2008 junior lightweight championship rematch. That won't happen, at least not next. Pacquiao and Top Rank have other plans. Marquez probably will go for a December fight with junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan, the flashy Brit who was ringside. It's an easy fight to make because they are both with Golden Boy, and it's a darn interesting fight as well. Marquez is interested because he'd like to become the first Mexican to win titles in four weight classes. Khan would like it because adding the name of the future Hall of Famer to his résumé sure has a nice ring to it.





It wouldn't be a shock if Diaz retired. Even though he's only 26, he has a lot of mileage (he turned pro at 17) and doesn't need boxing. He's made good money and recently graduated college. He plans to take the LSAT exam in the fall and then go to law school, so has a lot of options that don't include getting cracked in the grill. Good luck to him, because, like Marquez, he's always been a class act.





By the way, if you missed the HBO PPV, the main event will be replayed Friday night on HBO Latino (9 ET/PT). For those who don't speak Spanish, props to HBO for this: The English commentary provided by Jim Lampley and Emanuel Steward on fight night will be available by using the SAP button on your remote.
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Middleweight
Dmitry Pirog TKO5 Daniel Jacobs
Wins a vacant middleweight title ​
[tr][td]Records: Pirog, 17-0, 14 KOs; Jacobs, 20-1, 17 KOs
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Rafael's remark: After Pirog drilled Jacobs for the upset, ring announcer Michael Buffer declared, "A new middleweight star is born." Maybe so, because although Pirog was an unknown 3-1 underdog and Jacobs was the 2009 ESPN.com prospect of the year, the 30-year-old Russian looked like the real deal. Pirog is a formidable fighter even if his new belt is of the paper variety, because it had been stripped from legitimate and lineal champion Sergio Martinez in May.

Although Jacobs, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y., landed almost twice as many punches (73 to 43), according to CompuBox, Pirog sure made his count. He had Jacobs in trouble and almost knocked him down in the second round. Through four rounds, he trailed 39-37 on all three scorecards, but in the fifth round, he put Jacobs away with a crunching right hand to the jaw that will be in the conversation for knockout of the year. Jacobs, with his hands down and pulling straight back in an amateurish mistake, was a dead duck when it landed. He went down and was flat on his back and not moving when referee Robert Byrd didn't bother to finish his count.

If Jacobs was not fully focused on the fight, it is understandable. His grandmother, Cordelia Jacobs, who helped raise him, died earlier in the week from lung cancer. Jacobs seems to have the maturity to rebound from the knockout and still live up to his considerable potential, but Golden Boy should not rush him. He probably was not ready for a title bout after just 2½ years as a pro and very little in the way of seasoning. Pirog may have come out of nowhere, at least as far as American fans are concerned, but don't you want to see him again and soon? Let's hope HBO and Showtime took notice of his fan-friendly style, carefree personality and, of course, sick right hand.
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Junior welterweight
Robert Guerrero W10 Joel Casamayor
Scores: 98-89 (twice), 97-90​
[tr][td]Records: Guerrero, 27-1-1, 18 KOs; Casamayor, 37-5-1, 22 KOs
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Rafael's remark: Guerrero, a former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist who only recently moved to lightweight, took a calculated risk that Casamayor was too long in the tooth to deal with him and moved up to junior welterweight for the fight. It turned out to be the right move, as Guerrero, 27, of Gilroy, Calif., easily outpointed the veteran former lightweight and junior lightweight champ. Guerrero rocked Casamayor several times, dropped him in the second round (during which referee Jay Nady took a point away from Casamayor for holding) and rolled to the win.

It would have been nice to see Guerrero step on the gas a bit more. If he had, he very well might have gotten the knockout. It was too little, too late for Casamayor when he scored a flash knockdown with a little more than a minute left in the fight.

Despite the trip to the canvas, the first time Guerrero was knocked down, he turned in a solid performance and now has options. He can return to lightweight, where he'll be formidable against anyone, or stick around at junior welterweight and try to land a big fight in one of the sport's deepest and most exciting divisions. Guerrero, who'd love a crack at main event winner and lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez, was no doubt boosted by his wife Casey's presence at ringside. She's been battling leukemia since 2007 and has had some difficult times, but a recent bone marrow transplant has seemingly worked, and she's in remission.

Casamayor, 39, has had a great career, winning a 1992 Olympic gold medal for Cuba and multiple world titles, but it's pretty clear that his time at the top is done. He has no legs left, and his reflexes and speed are not what they were. Marquez knocked him out in the 11th round in 2008 to win the lightweight title. Since then, Casamayor struggled in a decision win against a journeyman and then was wiped out by Guerrero. Burdened with financial problems, Casamayor will undoubtedly keep fighting, but he's done as a serious factor.
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Lightweight
Jorge Linares W10 Rocky Juarez
scores: 99-90 (twice), 97-92 ​
[tr][td]Records: Linares, 29-1, 18 KOs; Juarez, 28-7-1, 20 KOs
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Rafael's remark: Linares' star was very bright in September. He was a two-division titlist who owned a junior lightweight belt and had just signed a promotional contract with Golden Boy. Before he signed the deal, he had scheduled a bout for October against Juan Carlos Salgado, and he went through with it. Salgado shocked the world with a first-round knockout win, which dropped Linares' stock like Enron's. The 24-year-old then returned in March and struggled to a majority decision in his native Venezuela against Francisco Lorenzo.

Linares looked much better in his second fight since the loss, as he easily outpointed Houston's Juarez, whose career in meaningful fights probably ended. This was basically a loser-leaves-town match. Linares regained some of his lost luster with a quality performance, as he outboxed and outpunched Juarez, 30, for most of the fight. Although Juarez closed strong in the final two rounds, it wasn't nearly enough to warrant the decision.

Concerns remain about Linares' ability to take a punch, but his boxing skills and talent are unquestioned, and a title shot is probably in his near future. Juarez's future is far more murky. The 2000 U.S. Olympic silver medalist just can't win a significant fight. He's 0-5-1 in junior lightweight and featherweight title bouts and is 1-4-1 in his past five bouts, including two losses in a row. It might be time for Juarez to move on.
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Junior welterweight
Frankie Gomez KO1 Ronald Peterson
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[tr][td]Records: Gomez, 5-0, 5 KOs; Peterson, 2-3, 2 KOs
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Rafael's remark: Gomez fought better opponents than Peterson in the amateur ranks. These early pro fights don't really seem to help Gomez learn anything. He's just knocking over human heavy bags at this point as he pads his record and gets used to the pro game. The 18-year-old from East Los Angeles turned pro in April after winning a silver medal in the 2009 world amateur championships and gold in the U.S. nationals. Golden Boy considers him its best prospect, which is why he'll be a regular on its big cards for the foreseeable future as he gets his reps. But don't blink when you see him on the bout sheet. He knocked out Peterson, 20, of St. Paul, Minn., in 2 minutes, 14 seconds using a right to the chin followed by a left to the body. It was Gomez's third consecutive first-round knockout.
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Super middleweight
Jean Paul Mendy W-DQ1 Sakio Bika
Title eliminator ​
[tr][td]Records: Mendy, 29-0-1, 16 KOs; Bika, 28-4-2, 19 KOs
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Rafael's remark: What looked to be a pretty good fight on paper turned into a blowout with an unfortunate ending. Bika, the 2007 winner of "The Contender," is a dangerous man early in any fight, as Mendy now knows. He came right to Mendy and forced him into a corner, where he unloaded several blows. A left hook in the onslaught knocked the 36-year-old Frenchman to a knee. But Bika did not recognize that Mendy was down and bashed him with a massive right hand to the chin. Mendy went down face-first and was briefly out cold, his glassy, vacant eyes staring directly into press row as he lay on the canvas. Although Bika was utterly dominant in the brief fight, you cannot hit a man while he is down, and referee Joe Cortez properly disqualified him at 1 minute, 19 seconds.

The disqualification a shame because it seemed that Bika, 31, of Australia, was eventually going to knock Mendy out. Mendy had offered nothing in the brief bout. So Bika, fighting for the first time in year, cost himself a shot at a world title. Instead, Mendy, who went to the hospital just as a precaution, finds himself as the unmarketable mandatory challenger for the winner of the Oct. 15 bout between titlist Lucian Bute and Jesse Brinkley. Good luck to the promoters trying to sell that mismatch.
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Heavyweight
Seth Mitchell TKO1 Derek Bryant
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[tr][td]Records: Mitchell, 18-0-1, 12 KOs; Bryant, 20-6-1, 17 KOs
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Rafael's remark: The heavyweight division in the United States is barren. There are virtually no prospects of note to watch. Maybe you could say 2008 U.S. Olympian Deontay Wilder, but he's a raw project who's years away if he ever even gets there. That leaves Mitchell, who just might be the best American heavyweight prospect. Although he came to boxing late after playing linebacker at Michigan State from 2001 to 2003, the 28-year-old from Brandywine, Md., is athletic and in tremendous shape, and he seems to be getting better and better. He has a fine work ethic and good technique, and his people all say he's very coachable and a willing student. Against Bryant, he aced another test.

Although Bryant, 39, a onetime fringe contender, hadn't fought in almost two years, he was clearly a step up in competition for Mitchell. Still, Mitchell needed only 1 minutes, 45 seconds to blow him out in an exciting performance. Mitchell worked his left hand to the body very well, unloading a series of punches while Bryant was backed into a corner. Then Mitchell went to work upstairs and connected with a whole bunch of shots, including a right hand that rocked Bryant's head back, sending referee Kenny Bayless in for the well-timed rescue. Who knows how far Mitchell will go, but at least there's a rising American heavyweight worthy of attention.
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Saturday at Tepic, Mexico​
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Junior bantamweight
Juan Alberto Rosas TKO6 Simphiwe Nongqayi
Wins a junior bantamweight title​
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Rosas, 32-5, 26 KOs; Nongqayi, 16-1-1, 6 KOs
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Rafael's remark: South Africa's Nongqayi didn't seem long for holding his title after claiming a vacant belt with a decision against Jorge Arce in September 2009. In his first defense, he was held to a draw by unheralded Malik Bouziane in France in April. In his second defense, he went to Rosas' hometown and lost his title in the "Top Rank Live" main event.

Rosas and Nongqayi could have fought in a phone booth, because they stood in each other's chest and fought inside almost exclusively. They swapped a lot of punches, but Rosas' appeared to do more damage. Rosas had a big fifth round, and it was clear Nongqayi was fading. In the sixth, Rosas landed a right hand to the side of the head, causing Nongqayi to turn away, take a step and then go to a knee. He got up at the count of eight from referee Ray Corona, but his corner stepped onto the ring apron and asked for the bout to be stopped, setting off a frenzy as Rosas' fans celebrated the triumph. With Arce winning the main event, don't be shocked to see a Rosas-Arce title bout.
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Bantamweight
Jorge Arce KO1 Martin Castillo
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[tr][td]Records: Arce, 55-6-1, 42 KOs; Castillo, 35-4, 18 KOs
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Rafael's remark: Four or five years ago, when both fighters were near the top of their game, this would have been a major fight in the smaller weight classes. There was a lot of talk about it happening, too, but Top Rank never put it together. Now, years later, it happened, and Arce scored the quick and easy knockout against his Mexican countryman and fellow former junior bantamweight titlist. Both fighters are long past their best days, but Castillo is way more gone than Arce, who landed a left hand to Castillo's gut and knocked him out with four seconds left in the first round. At 31, Arce keeps trucking along as one of Mexico's most popular fighters. Bank on his getting another shot of some kind after notching his third dominant win in a row following a clear decision loss to Simphiwe Nongqayi in a junior bantamweight title bout in September. (Nongqayi lost that title on the undercard of Arce-Castillo.) Castillo, 33, ought to go happily back into retirement. Fernando Montiel destroyed him in four rounds in a 2008 title bout, sending Castillo in retirement. But he returned in July 2009 and won two bouts before Arce blew him out.
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Friday at Miami, Okla. ​
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Welterweight
Ashley Theophane W10 Delvin Rodriguez
scores: 96-94 (twice), 99-95​
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Theophane, 27-4-1, 7 KOs; Rodriguez, 25-5-2, 14 KOs
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Rafael's remark: Rodriguez has been on the wrong end of some questionable decisions, but this one takes the cake, as he was robbed in the "Friday Night Fights" main event to fall to 2-3-1 in his past six bouts. He probably should be 5-1. Rodriguez, 30, a Dominican Republic native who grew up in Danbury, Conn., totally dominated the first half of the fight. Although England's Theophane, 29, won some of the late rounds as Rodriguez began to tire, there is no way he won six rounds. None.

Poor Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas, the ESPN2 commentators, who were more or less at a loss for words over this head-scratcher. It was a pretty good fight, but it didn't look all that difficult to score. And the CompuBox stats also backed up Rodriguez, who landed 194 of 767 shots to Theophane's 136 of 523. Rodriguez's shots sure looked like they had more steam on them as well, such as the big right hand with which he hurt Theophane in the ninth round.
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Super middleweight
Francisco Sierra Tech. Dec. 7 Donovan George
Scores: 69-62 (twice), 68-63​
[tr][td]Records: Sierra, 22-3, 20 KOs; George, 20-1-1, 17 KOs
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Rafael's remark: What a beatdown. Sierra, 22, of Mexico, beat the living crap out of the favored George, the 25-year-old prospect from Chicago. After the pounding he took, George may never be the same. In Sierra's only previous fight in the United States, Edison Miranda knocked him out in the first round in October 2009. Since then, Sierra has won two in a row, and this one was easy.

Sierra landed right-hand bomb after right-hand bomb on George. By the third round, his nose was a bloody mess, and his face was swelling. It's pretty amazing that George stayed on his feet as long as he did, but a split second after the bell rang to end the seventh round, Sierra crushed him with yet another right hand, and George's body went limp like a rag doll and he fell basically into the arms of referee Gary Ritter. But because the shot came after the bell, the fight was stopped even though Sierra clearly had no intent to foul George.

Ritter could have given George five minutes to recover from the shot, but it was obvious that he was done. Ritter, who did an excellent job of handling the situation, docked Sierra two points for the foul, and they went to the scorecards for a technical decision. The two points off had no impact on the outcome because Sierra had been so utterly dominant and won the lopsided decision.

George looked like a broken man sitting on his stool in the corner after the fight. He took a potentially career-altering shellacking, while Sierra gave folks a reason to look at him again after the loss to Miranda.





Also on the undercard, 2004 Irish Olympian Andy Lee (26-1, 16 KOs), 26, the once-heralded prospect, knocked out James Cook (11-4-1, 8 KOs) in the fifth round. It was Lee's seventh win in a row since suffering an upset seventh-round knockout loss to Brian Vera in 2008 on ESPN2.
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Friday at Cancun, Mexico​
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Welterweight
Alejandro Hernandez TKO7 Jesus Ceja
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[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Hernandez, 24-7-2, 13 KOs; Ceja, 13-7-1, 8 KOs
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Rafael's remark: Hernandez, 34, of Mexico, had fought twice for versions of world titles. In September 2008, he lost a fairly one-sided decision in Argentina to then-flyweight titlist Omar Narvaez. In November, he fought to a spirited draw in an excellent junior bantamweight title bout with Marvin Sonsona.

With hopes that another title opportunity might come his way, Hernandez dominated countryman Ceja in the Telemundo main event. Hernandez had won probably every second of every round in a ho-hum fight before he put together a decent flurry of punches in the seventh and the referee jumped in to stop it. No significant blow caused the stoppage; it probably was ended simply because Ceja had not done anything of consequence in the match and was starting to eat more and more punches for no reason.
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Wednesday at New York​
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Junior lightweight
Argenis Mendez W8 Shamir Reyes
Scores: 80-71 (twice), 79-72​
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Records: Mendez, 17-1, 9 KOs; Reyes, 18-7-2, 7 KOs
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Rafael's remark: Mendez, 24, won the biggest fight of his young career in May when he outpointed contender Martin Honorio in a mild upset. The Dominican-born, New York-based Mendez, a 2004 Olympian, returned in a smaller fight to remain active and easily outpointed Reyes, a 29-year-old onetime prospect from New York who is now a journeyman opponent. Headlining on promoter Lou DiBella's "Broadway Boxing" series, Mendez dropped Reyes in the first round and rolled to the shutout victory. Reyes dropped to 0-4 with a no-contest in his past five bouts.
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Floyd running around Florida talking and hanging out with Don king. he would be a %$%$!#% to sign with him


yo jay you starting up the Fantasy football leauge again?
 
For young fighters on the rise, an important milestone is facing and defeating a former world champion. For Mexican sensation Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, that time is now.

The 20-year-old Alvarez, one of the most heralded Mexican prospects in years, will face former welterweight world champion Carlos Baldomir on Sept. 18 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Golden Boy Promotions announced Tuesday.

Alvarez and Baldomir will square off in a junior middleweight bout -- with a contract maximum weight of 151 pounds -- in the co-featured fight on the HBO PPV card headlined by the junior middleweight bout between Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora.

With the card, which is dubbed "200: Celebrate And Dominate," taking place on the weekend of the Mexican Independence Day bicentennial, Golden Boy wanted to showcase Alvarez, whom it signed earlier this year, in the United States, where it hopes he can build a similar following to the one he has in Mexico. At home, Alvarez draws massive television ratings and sells out arenas.

"When Alvarez recently fought in Mexico, there was an average between six and eight people per home watching this fight," said Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, referring to statistics he said he received from Mexican network Televisa. "The fight got a 17.8 rating, which is equivalent to 600,000 homes watched by 60 million people.

"Canelo has reached superstar status in Mexico. The ratings he gets on the national Mexican broadcaster, Televisa, are unheard off and in line with what the national soccer team gets."

Although Alvarez (33-0-1, 25 KOs) enjoys fighting in Mexico, especially in his hometown of Guadalajara, he's excited to be on the card in the United States.

"I'm glad to be on such an important card with such good fighters," Alvarez said. "It's business as usual when I step into the ring. I fight with desire. I hope everyone comes out that night to watch because this is a really exciting night of boxing."

Said Jose Reynoso, Alvarez's manager and trainer: "This is a very important date. As Mexicans, we are celebrating the bicentennial of Mexican Independence. [Alvarez] is No. 1 in Mexico and now we want to conquer the world. A big part of that is being successful in L.A."

In 39-year-old Baldomir (45-12-6, 14 KOs), Alvarez will face the most experienced opponent of his career, although he has lost three of his last five fights.

Baldomir, who once sold feather dusters on the streets of Santa Fe in his native Argentina, emerged from obscurity in 2006 when he pulled massive back-to-back upsets and earned the nickname "Cinderella Man."

First, he scored a clear unanimous decision against Zab Judah, in Judah's hometown of New York, to win the undisputed welterweight title. Then he knocked out Arturo Gatti in the ninth round on Gatti's turf in Atlantic City, N.J., to retain the title in another shocker before finally seeing his magical year come to an end with a virtual shutout loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Baldomir, who has only been stopped once early in his career, is coming off a fourth-round knockout of journeyman Jairo Jesus Siris in November in Argentina.

"Carlos Baldomir is a fighter with an iron will and iron chin. He will come to Los Angeles and try to derail the fast rise of Canelo Alvarez," Schaefer said. "He is on a mission to come and capture the American market and display his talent and excitement at Staples Center on Sept. 18. He realizes that Los Angeles is the largest Mexican market outside of Mexico and wants to come and show what he is all about."

Said Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya: "I walked the streets myself the other day in Mexico where I watched Alvarez fight [on July 10]. I was asking people from all walks of life, 'Have you heard of Canelo Alvarez?' And everyone answers with a glowing face [and said], 'He's our next promise. He's our next guy.'"

In the scheduled 12-round main event, former three-division champ Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs) will fight for the first time since losing a lopsided decision to Mayweather on May 1 when he meets Mexican-American and fellow Southern California native Mora (22-1-1, 6 KOs). Mora, a former junior middleweight titlist best known for winning the first season of "The Contender" reality series, moved up to middleweight following his rematch title loss to the late Vernon Forrest, but is returning to 154 pounds for the high-profile fight with Mosley.

Also on the undercard, 23-year-old junior welterweight contender Victor Ortiz (27-2-1, 21 KOs), the 2008 ESPN.com prospect of the year, will face former titlist Vivian Harris (29-4-1, 19 KOs).
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The temperature in the middleweight division is started to rise once more with the grand arrival of Dmitry Pirog (17-0, 14 KOs) of Russia. Last weekend in Las Vegas, Pirog knocked out previously undefeated Daniel Jacobs (20-1, 17 KOs) in five rounds to capture the vacant WBO middleweight title.

Now Pirog is looking for another big fight, with former champion Kelly Pavlik as the target. According to Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, Priog's promoter Artie Pellulo reached out to see if there was any interest in making that fight. Arum says Pavlik and his team are on board to make the fight. Both promoters are hoping HBO is interested in picking up the fight for a year-end televised date.

"Artie Pellulo called me this past Sunday after the fight to see if Pavlik would be interested in that fight," said Arum. "And I checked with [Pavlik's manager] Cameron Dunkin, and I checked with Pavlik's people, and they said that yes, they would be interested."

"What we're trying to do, Art Pellulo and myself, is to intrerest HBO in a fight between Pavlik and Pirog this year on HBO. And now, we're waiting to hear back from HBO. It could take place whenever they could fit it in -- November, December. That would be a great fight, I think as the main event."

 
A deal to finalize a unification bout between WBC and IBF junior welterweight champion Devon Alexander (20-0, 13KOs) and Tim Bradley (26-0, 11KOs), who holds the WBO's version of the title, is getting close, according to Bradley's promoter, Gary Shaw. HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg wants to televise the fight on January 29.

Alexander returns to action this Saturday in an HBO televised title defense from St. Louis. He defends his unified crown against former champion Andriy Kotelnik, who is the only man to beat Marcos Maidana (28-1, 27 KOs). Shaw, and Alexander's promoter Don King, are pretty much in agreement on the fight.

"We're close, yes. HBO has made one offer and they're going to come back with a final offer maybe even sometime this week. And then I'll make Team Bradley the final offer to fight Devon Alexander," said Shaw.

"I know that HBO is willing to put a lot of muscle behind that fight in order to make that one of their premiere fights of 2011. Their muscle and their marketing power is as important as the money that they pay for the fight. Once we sign [to fight] Devon Alexander, [then] Tim Bradley won't be fighting in the fall."

 
Before Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 37 KOs) explores the possibility of moving up in weight to challenge WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KOs) on December 11, the WBA/WBO lightweight king will take a look at his mandatory Michael Katsidis (27-2, 22 KOs), and a possible catch-weight trilogy bout with WBO welterweight champ Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs).

"Obviously, look, my priority right now is and always has been Manny Pacquiao. There's no ifs ands or buts -- I want to fight Manny Pacquiao. But I might have to defend my titles, and we have to respect that Michael Katsidis is the No. 1 mandatory challenger to fight for my titles," Marquez said.

"So, obviously, if the Manny Pacquiao fight doesn't happen, then I have to defend my titles with honor and that's what I'll do. I just want to be involved in the best fights possible. That's the way that it's going to happen."

Besides the heat with their mutual promoters, the gap in weight is a considerable problem for a third fight between Marquez and Pacquiao. Marquez will not move up Pacquiao's weight of 147, which he admits was a big mistake when moved up to welterweight for last September's decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. If a Pacquiao trilogy presents itself, Marquez wants the fight to take place at a max of 143-pounds.

"I'll fight Manny Pacquiao between 140 pounds and 142 pounds, 143, that's where I'll fight Pacquiao. No problem. I went all the way up to 147 and fought Floyd Mayweather. I'll tell you one thing, I went all the way up to 147 to fight the best fighter on the planet. I hung in there for 12 rounds and fought with heart like I always do. If I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, fight me at a catch weight of between 140 or 143 with no problem," Marquez said.

  This coming Saturday in St. Louis, Devon Alexander will defend his WBC and IBF 140-pound titles against ex-champion Andriy Kotelnik. But looking ahead, the young titlist does not see any substantial challenge in being able to defeat Timothy Bradley and Amir Khan to unify junior welterweight division.
The 23-year-old St. Louis fighter was not impressed with Bradley’s recent welterweight performance against Carlos Abregu. According to Alexander, Bradley fell flat in what should have been an HBO televised showcase bout to build his name.

“Bradley had a walking duck. The guy wasn’t even that crafty and Bradley [still] lost some clear rounds,
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The temperature in the middleweight division is started to rise once more with the grand arrival of Dmitry Pirog (17-0, 14 KOs) of Russia. Last weekend in Las Vegas, Pirog knocked out previously undefeated Daniel Jacobs (20-1, 17 KOs) in five rounds to capture the vacant WBO middleweight title.

Now Pirog is looking for another big fight, with former champion Kelly Pavlik as the target. According to Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, Priog's promoter Artie Pellulo reached out to see if there was any interest in making that fight. Arum says Pavlik and his team are on board to make the fight. Both promoters are hoping HBO is interested in picking up the fight for a year-end televised date.

"Artie Pellulo called me this past Sunday after the fight to see if Pavlik would be interested in that fight," said Arum. "And I checked with [Pavlik's manager] Cameron Dunkin, and I checked with Pavlik's people, and they said that yes, they would be interested."

"What we're trying to do, Art Pellulo and myself, is to intrerest HBO in a fight between Pavlik and Pirog this year on HBO. And now, we're waiting to hear back from HBO. It could take place whenever they could fit it in -- November, December. That would be a great fight, I think as the main event."

 
A deal to finalize a unification bout between WBC and IBF junior welterweight champion Devon Alexander (20-0, 13KOs) and Tim Bradley (26-0, 11KOs), who holds the WBO's version of the title, is getting close, according to Bradley's promoter, Gary Shaw. HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg wants to televise the fight on January 29.

Alexander returns to action this Saturday in an HBO televised title defense from St. Louis. He defends his unified crown against former champion Andriy Kotelnik, who is the only man to beat Marcos Maidana (28-1, 27 KOs). Shaw, and Alexander's promoter Don King, are pretty much in agreement on the fight.

"We're close, yes. HBO has made one offer and they're going to come back with a final offer maybe even sometime this week. And then I'll make Team Bradley the final offer to fight Devon Alexander," said Shaw.

"I know that HBO is willing to put a lot of muscle behind that fight in order to make that one of their premiere fights of 2011. Their muscle and their marketing power is as important as the money that they pay for the fight. Once we sign [to fight] Devon Alexander, [then] Tim Bradley won't be fighting in the fall."

 
Before Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 37 KOs) explores the possibility of moving up in weight to challenge WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KOs) on December 11, the WBA/WBO lightweight king will take a look at his mandatory Michael Katsidis (27-2, 22 KOs), and a possible catch-weight trilogy bout with WBO welterweight champ Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs).

"Obviously, look, my priority right now is and always has been Manny Pacquiao. There's no ifs ands or buts -- I want to fight Manny Pacquiao. But I might have to defend my titles, and we have to respect that Michael Katsidis is the No. 1 mandatory challenger to fight for my titles," Marquez said.

"So, obviously, if the Manny Pacquiao fight doesn't happen, then I have to defend my titles with honor and that's what I'll do. I just want to be involved in the best fights possible. That's the way that it's going to happen."

Besides the heat with their mutual promoters, the gap in weight is a considerable problem for a third fight between Marquez and Pacquiao. Marquez will not move up Pacquiao's weight of 147, which he admits was a big mistake when moved up to welterweight for last September's decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. If a Pacquiao trilogy presents itself, Marquez wants the fight to take place at a max of 143-pounds.

"I'll fight Manny Pacquiao between 140 pounds and 142 pounds, 143, that's where I'll fight Pacquiao. No problem. I went all the way up to 147 and fought Floyd Mayweather. I'll tell you one thing, I went all the way up to 147 to fight the best fighter on the planet. I hung in there for 12 rounds and fought with heart like I always do. If I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, fight me at a catch weight of between 140 or 143 with no problem," Marquez said.

  This coming Saturday in St. Louis, Devon Alexander will defend his WBC and IBF 140-pound titles against ex-champion Andriy Kotelnik. But looking ahead, the young titlist does not see any substantial challenge in being able to defeat Timothy Bradley and Amir Khan to unify junior welterweight division.
The 23-year-old St. Louis fighter was not impressed with Bradley’s recent welterweight performance against Carlos Abregu. According to Alexander, Bradley fell flat in what should have been an HBO televised showcase bout to build his name.

“Bradley had a walking duck. The guy wasn’t even that crafty and Bradley [still] lost some clear rounds,
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Anyone here gon put down money on that marg/pac fight if they do some crazy like +500 for marg im putting a stack down.Last time i checked margarito had the best chin at 147 and he's gonna fight a natural 130lb at 150 , 3 pounds heavier then where he did most of his damages.if punisher and cotto who landed shots for all fight against marg couldnt get him down then i doubt pac will. also pac isnt the hardest target on earth and is gonna have to get inside to even graze marg...and keep in mind pacqiao doesnt fight good when he's backing up and margarito is constantly applying pressure(i think he throws in the range of 900 punches a fight) . margarito is significantly stronger than clottey and throws close to twice as much as him ...and even clottey had pacqiaous face swollen, idk where people go off saying this fight is gonna suck when at the very least its gonna be a high action fight
 
Because people see how terrible Margarito was in his last fight and how Mosley almost beheading him has made him change his style and adapt. He's not that fighter anymore. Mosley couldn't put Cotto on the canvas, Manny stopped Cotto and Mosley stopped Margarito so by using your logic Manny should stop Margarito...
 
Originally Posted by Scott Frost

I am fully on board the Devon Alexander bandwagon.
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I just dont see anyone beating him when he fights his best, Chin, speed, power... he's got an awesome skill set. 

  
 
I was completely sold when he completely beat the !@*+ out of Urango, who is one tough dude. Those upper cuts were something else.

To me, he is everything I wanted Andre Berto to be.
 
Originally Posted by Bigmike23

Originally Posted by Scott Frost

I am fully on board the Devon Alexander bandwagon.
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dont see anyone at 140 beating him
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Alexander is
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NOBODY is seeing him in 2-3 years . and to respond to proshares mosley used his size to bully margarito , pac's body isnt meant to take punishment from a light middleweight for 12 rounds, u saw how cotto was snapping his head back with that jab in their fight , add another 2 inches of reach and twice the punch output from 150 pounder , and you already know marg walking in at something stupid like 160-163 . and one thing about marg he's not dumb like cotto. he's not gonna sit back n try n outbox pacqiaou , he's going forward the whole way cus he knows he has the chin for it.....also in regards to the mosley fight , because it was margs only offense coulda just been a case of him not training for mosley , cus at the time mosley was thought to be washed up . perhaps he just didnt train for the fight and mearly needed the wraps for a boost , who knows where his head was at that fight , there whas people who thought he was going to jail
 
Margs didn't use his height or reach against Shane and didn't use it against a lowly opponent like Garcia. He's never fought anyone as fast as Manny will come at him. His punch output went down significantly in the Garcia fight against a guy with no power and no speed, I don't see it going up against a guy whose power and speed is still top notch. Shane used his speed, power and superb boxing skills to pick Shane apart. He's dumb enough to square up and dumb enough to take punches to land. He's facing someone who hits hard than Cotto and Shane so if he does that stupid stuff again, it'll be over. I strongly believe that his chin and ego were hurt badly by the Shane fight.
 
you think manny hits harder then shane and cotto?

margs is going to turn it into a war and just end up getting hit WAYYYYYYYYY to much. refs stop the fight because mann cuts him up
 
Junior middleweight contender James Kirkland is getting out of prison ahead of schedule, co-manager Cameron Dunkin told ESPN.com on Wednesday.

Kirkland's original release date of Oct. 2 has been moved up to Sept. 17, Dunkin said.

"Sept. 17 is my birthday, so that's the greatest birthday present I could have right now," Dunkin said. "I'm so happy."

Kirkland (25-0, 22 KOs) was one of the hottest rising stars in boxing before going to prison near his hometown of Austin, Texas, in April 2009 after pleading guilty to gun possession by a convicted felon.

Kirkland will be released into a halfway house, where he will be for six months, Dunkin said. Dunkin said he thought the reason for the release coming earlier than expected was because a spot at a halfway house had become available.

"He'll go to the halfway house, but he'll have the right to travel and the right to train and fight," Dunkin said.

Dunkin said Kirkland, 26, intends to fight as soon as possible after his release, and Dunkin has already spoken to his promoter, Golden Boy, about a plan.

"I've been talking with [matchmaker] Eric Gomez and [CEO] Richard Schaefer about when he's going to fight," Dunkin said. "We think we can get him a fight in October and get him going."

Schaefer said he hoped Kirkland would fight twice before the end of the year.

"The plan would be to have him fight a couple of times before the end of the year, starting maybe in October," Schaefer said. "We'll see what works best for him, but then have him fight again in December, maybe on one of our [untelevised] HBO undercards and maybe HBO could show highlights of his fight. After that, hopefully, James and his management feel he is ready to pick up where he left off, which was terrorizing the junior middleweight division."

Dunkin said Kirkland weighed 173 pounds at last check with his clothes on and would have no problem getting close to his weight class of 154 pounds once he begins serious training.

He has not fought since stopping Joel "Love Child" Julio in the sixth round on HBO in March 2009. He was supposed to fight on the pay-per-view undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton fight in May 2009, but the fight was canceled when he was arrested.

Kirkland was on probation for a 2003 armed robbery conviction when he was arrested after buying a firearm, using his own identification, at a gun show near Austin. The weapon was discovered during a traffic stop and because Kirkland was a convicted felon, he was barred from possessing a gun, making his offense a serious one.

"It was wrong, what he did, and he had to pay for it," Schaefer said. "Hopefully, now he will be able to resume his career and learn from what has happened."
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I don't think it's as far off that he hits a bit harder than Shane or Cotto. But the speed those punches are coming at too has to be taken into account too IMO. I dunno maybe it's just me but I didn't see anything in his last fight that made me think he's ready for a war with Manny or to make it a war. Maybe it was ring rust or maybe the step up in competition will light a fire under him.
 
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