Official 2012 Boxing Thread: JMM/Manny IV - FOTY.
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by proshares,
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Buddy McGirt, every time I see him training a fighter, they lose.
Martinez fought a decent fight, adjusted on the fly and pounced on a tired Macklin.
Hat off to Macklin, he fought and actully tried to win.
Martinez fought a decent fight, adjusted on the fly and pounced on a tired Macklin.
Hat off to Macklin, he fought and actully tried to win.
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Canelos' beaten Ryan Rhodes (ranked 5 jr middleweight at time by ESPN and 3 by ring), Cintron and Gomez and he's only 21Originally Posted by MFr3shM
Martinez was tearing him apart those last few rounds
i don't see Martinez as overrated sure he can get touched up. Punisher was more active in their first fight i still feel Sergio won that fight.
Overrated is Saul Alvarez, Chavez Jr.
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And this dude Sergio wants Mayweather...
After Floyd dismantles Pacquiao, Sergio would be another great name added to Floyd's resume.
After Floyd dismantles Pacquiao, Sergio would be another great name added to Floyd's resume.
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Still overrated.Originally Posted by ShaunHillFTW49
Canelos' beaten Ryan Rhodes (ranked 5 jr middleweight at time by ESPN and 3 by ring), Cintron and Gomez and he's only 21Originally Posted by MFr3shM
Martinez was tearing him apart those last few rounds
i don't see Martinez as overrated sure he can get touched up. Punisher was more active in their first fight i still feel Sergio won that fight.
Overrated is Saul Alvarez, Chavez Jr.
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As soon as I saw Buddy I thought of you foos.
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Martinez is not over rated. There is a reason he is ranked number 3 in every single legitimate list. The problem is that he fights to the level of his competition.
I am a big Martinez fan and had one too many car bombs on account of st pattys day so I def need to watch the replay so take my post witha grain of salt. I
I am a big Martinez fan and had one too many car bombs on account of st pattys day so I def need to watch the replay so take my post witha grain of salt. I
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tell me the reason he's the #3 lb4lb fighter other than hype?
give me his top wins and top flight opponents
I really want my mind to be changed to, so I want you to sell it to me
please have something for me other than "he's ranked #3" just because HBO is selling him as that.
give me his top wins and top flight opponents
I really want my mind to be changed to, so I want you to sell it to me
please have something for me other than "he's ranked #3" just because HBO is selling him as that.
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look at the divison he is in
Martinez is a great fighter
But there really isnt anyone as dominant as Pac and Money in other divisions
So by default Martinez ranks into that
I truly believe he can beat the likes of Cotto or JCC but no Money may
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Same could be said of Nonito Donaire he's ranked #4 P4P
Its not Martinez fault he can't get big fights like Sturm, who else pirog??, hype jobs: JCC jr, Saul.
I see it similar to W. Klitschko its not his fault there is no competition but he is the best in his division same with Martinez.
My bad man, saw this a little too late. Playwright is where I usually go. Even if there is a UFC, they usually turn one TV onto HBO if there's a BAD/WCB fight on. Last night was mobbed and all the TV's were tuned in there. Whole bar was rooting for Macklin
Hasn't Pirog claimed Sergio has been ducking him?
Frustrating fight to watch rooting for Sergio. I hate that stupid style he fights
Not really much you're putting ahead of him at #3 unless you move JMM/Ward up there which isn't too farfetched. I agree with Fresh though, same situation with Wlad. Although MW has some decent non-household names.
aepps20
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Originally Posted by Proshares
My bad man, saw this a little too late. Playwright is where I usually go. Even if there is a UFC, they usually turn one TV onto HBO if there's a BAD/WCB fight on. Last night was mobbed and all the TV's were tuned in there. Whole bar was rooting for Macklin.
Hasn't Pirog claimed Sergio has been ducking him?
Frustrating fight to watch rooting for Sergio. I hate that stupid style he fightsI would hate to see him against a good boxer with some power and doesn't get tired in the second half of the fight.
Not really much you're putting ahead of him at #3 unless you move JMM/Ward up there which isn't too farfetched. I agree with Fresh though, same situation with Wlad. Although MW has some decent non-household names.
Sure has, Pirog is a lose-lose fight for Sergio because of his style and lack of name recognition.
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I know this is going to sound like big time slurping. But i think Sergio wants to have interesting fights. He really has no fan base so he thinks he needs to knock people out to gain recognition. He was looking for the knock out the whole first half of the fight. Would land one good punch would refuse to follow up.
Then in the second half of the fight he realized he needed to win. So he upped his punch output. Watching what he did in rounds 9-10-11 was impressive. You could tell once he got "knocked down" something clicked. He was angry. I will love to see him fight Pac or May. I think May would beat him but Martinez has scary power and i don't think anyone wants a part of him. I am a big fan though lol so prob bias.
Then in the second half of the fight he realized he needed to win. So he upped his punch output. Watching what he did in rounds 9-10-11 was impressive. You could tell once he got "knocked down" something clicked. He was angry. I will love to see him fight Pac or May. I think May would beat him but Martinez has scary power and i don't think anyone wants a part of him. I am a big fan though lol so prob bias.
Weekend wrapup.
Spoiler [+]
Saturday at New York
Sergio Martinez TKO11 Matthew Macklin
Middleweight
Retains world middleweight title
Records: Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KOs); Macklin (28-4, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: It was a tale of two fights. There were the first seven rounds, when Martinez looked a bit shaky, getting tagged by Macklin and in a highly competitive fight, and Rounds 8 through 11, when Martinez found another gear and left Macklin in the dust to close the show in typically impressive Martinez style as he retained the legitimate 160-pound crown for the fourth time (each defense coming by knockout).
Martinez, 37, of Argentina and living in Oxnard, Calif., had come to New York to fight for the first time. He might as well have been on enemy turf. Although there were certainly Argentine fans in the sold-out house of 4,671 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, this was a massively pro-Macklin crowd. The England-born Irishman brought out the Irish on St. Patrick's Day, and they were looking for their man to pull the upset. It looked good early on, as Macklin was getting to Martinez. The biggest moment for Macklin, 29, came in the seventh round when, with about 30 seconds left, he clipped Martinez with a right hand when they were in close and Martinez touched his right glove to the canvas for a knockdown.
That was essentially the end of the fight for Macklin, as Martinez, seemingly realizing he was in a dogfight, ramped up his game and took over in a similar manner as his October defense against Darren Barker. Martinez, a supreme athlete, used his herky-jerky style to confuse the more stationary Macklin. He fired fast, straight left hands and began rocking Macklin with shots in the eighth round. Martinez practically could not miss with the left hand, and Macklin was fading fast in the 10th round. His face was being busted up, he was bleeding, and he had a nasty cut over his left eye. Late in the 11th round, Martinez scored two clean knockdowns with his deadly straight left hand. Macklin, who has tremendous heart, survived both knockdowns, the second of which came at the bell, ending the round. Buddy McGirt, training Macklin for the first time, made a good call by throwing in the towel after the round. Had Macklin come out for the 12th he could have been badly hurt given the shape he was in.
Macklin has nothing to be ashamed of in losing. He had earned the fight with his tremendous performance against titlist Felix Sturm last June in Germany, where he was badly ripped off in a split decision loss in what is the definition of a hometown decision. Macklin competed well with Martinez and gave him his toughest fight since Paul Williams' controversial majority decision win against him in December 2009. The way Macklin fought and with his crowd-pleasing style, he would make the perfect kind of opponent for middleweight titleholders who are seeking to make a name in the United States (and position themselves for a shot at Martinez) such as Gennady Golovkin, who was ringside, Daniel Geale and Dmitry Pirog.
For Martinez, the consensus 2010 fighter of the year, it was another stellar result despite the early struggles. He has dominated the division, and since cleanly outpointing Kelly Pavlik to win the middleweight crown in April 2010, he has blitzed his opponents: Williams (via massive second-round knockout in their rematch), highly regarded, previously undefeated junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk (five knockdowns in an eighth-round destruction), the highlight-reel 11th-round knockout of Barker and this showing against Macklin.
What Martinez wants is a big fight, but he will be hard-pressed to get it right away. He desperately wants Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who has one of the alphabet belts that was stripped from Martinez, but Chavez is a big draw and would be a decided underdog. His handlers at Top Rank are not ready to take that gamble and see their gravy train get beat. And for all of Martinez's pleading for a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao, whom Martinez is willing to drop down to junior middleweight to fight, both are unlikely. Martinez will have to be content, it seems, to keep racking up wins against the best of the middleweight division, where there are good opponents, just ones who are not that well known.
Edwin Rodriguez W10 Donovan George
Super middleweight
Scores: 99-91, 97-93, 96-94
Records: Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs); George (22-2-1, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: On paper, this had the makings of an action fight. Rodriguez, 26, of Worcester, Mass., is one of boxing's top prospects and on the verge of a significant fight, but as talented as the former U.S. amateur national champion is, there have been plenty of times where he wound up in fights that were harder than they should have been because he would allow himself to get dragged into a brawl. George, 27, of Chicago, is usually in good fights. He likes to brawl, relies on a big right hand and is very aggressive. With both aiming to make a statement in their HBO debuts, hopes were high for a fun fight. But while this was not a bad fight, it was more of a boxing match than a slugfest because that is how Rodriguez made it. He perfectly implemented trainer Ronnie Shields' game plan, which was obvious -- jab and move and if he had to stand and fight in the pocket, just do not do it for too long. Rodriguez executed perfectly. He frustrated George with his lateral movement and effective jab, and when they did mix it up, Rodriguez slipped punches and moved away before things became too dangerous. Rodriguez racked up rounds while George did what he could to chase him down. George could never quite catch him clean despite his best efforts, especially in the final couple of rounds when he knew he needed a knockout or at least multiple knockdowns to pull it out. In the end, Rodriguez showed a dimension in his game that had not been that evident before -- that he can box well when he stays focused on the task at hand. The maturity Rodriguez showed in sticking to the game plan will pay dividends down the road as he moves closer to a title opportunity. For George, it was a tough loss, but he made it competitive. He has a crowd-pleasing style, so there is no reason why he shouldn't be welcome back on any network in a competitive fight.
Saturday at Sheffield, England
Kell Brook W12 Matthew Hatton
Welterweight
Scores: 119-108, 119-107, 118-109
Records: Brook (27-0, 18 KOs); Hatton (42-6-2, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Brook is one of England's rising contenders with a bright future, but before moving to fights on the world level, he had to stake his claim as England's No. 1 welterweight. There are no questions anymore about that after Brook, 25, laid a beating on Hatton, 30, in an utterly one-sided domination. Fighting in front of a packed house of about 10,000 in his hometown, Brook turned in a virtually flawless performance against Hatton, the younger brother of retired former junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton. Brook put his punches together throughout the fight, was faster and was more powerful as he basically did as he pleased. Hatton said Brook broke his nose with a punch in the first round.
In the 10th round, Brook scored the only knockdown of the fight when he landed a left hand on Hatton's glove as it was protecting his head. The force of the punch was enough to knock Hatton, who taken a pounding to that point, off balance and down to his rear end against the ropes. Brook gunned for the stoppage when it was obvious Hatton had nothing to offer, but he just could not stop Hatton, who showed his usual good chin, courage and grit to go the distance despite the nose injury and all sorts of bumps and bruises on his face. Brook is angling for an eventual fight with British rival Amir Khan, the former junior welterweight titlist who is aiming to reclaim his belts in a May 19 rematch with Lamont Peterson. Win or lose, Khan is destined to move up to welterweight in the next couple of fights, and a showdown with Brook would be huge in England -- although it would be nice to see Brook defeat a legit contender before getting a chance to fight Khan, who is a much bigger name and has beaten much better fighters than Brook has.
"I want Khan now," Brook said after the fight. "He thought Matthew was the better fighter and I proved him wrong, and I would smash Amir."
Eddie Hearn, Brook's promoter, also called for a Khan fight. "We are ready for Khan now," he said. "Money talks, and I am ready to arrange that. If this fight doesn't happen, then it's them who have bottled it. We'd sell bundles and bundles of tickets for the fight. It would bring back pay-per-view for Sky Sports, and both fighters would make a fortune. So the question is will Amir take it?"
Hatton dropped to 1-2 in his past three fights, including a similarly lopsided decision loss to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in a vacant junior middleweight title bout last March.
Kerry Hope W12 Grzegorz Proksa
Middleweight
Wins European middleweight title
Scores: 115-112, 114-113, 114-114
Records: Hope (17-3, 1 KO); Proksa (26-1, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In October, Proksa, 27, a native of Poland living in England, burst on the scene when he sent former middleweight titlist Sebastian Sylvester into retirement with a third-round knockout to win the European title. Proksa looked as if he might be ready to make his mark in an increasingly interesting middleweight division, but those hopes are on hold after he surprisingly lost to Hope, 30, of Wales, in an upset. Hope's résumé was unimpressive, and Proksa was supposed to roll in what amounted to a showcase fight on paper. But Proksa seemed unsettled by a second-round cut over his left eye from an accidental head-butt. Hope, who had a point deducted by referee Phil Edwards for head-butting in the eighth round, boxed well enough and was far busier than Proksa in the entertaining fight as he pulled out the majority decision in easily the biggest victory of his career.
Saturday at Los Mochis, Mexico
Antonio DeMarco KO5 Miguel Roman
Lightweight
Retains a lightweight title
Records: DeMarco (27-2-1, 20 KOs); Roman (37-10, 28 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In October, DeMarco was being outboxed by Jorge Linares in their battle for a vacant lightweight title on the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson HBO PPV undercard. It had not been a competitive fight, but DeMarco came roaring back and stopped the fading and badly bleeding Linares in the 11th round for a dramatic comeback victory to win the belt. Making his first defense, DeMarco, 26, returned to the city of his birth for his first defense against the smaller, hand-picked Roman, who has fought as featherweight for most of his career. DeMarco had no issues with the smaller man, finally dropping him with a combination in the fifth round with Roman unable to beat the count. DeMarco has been ordered to face Linares in a mandatory rematch but was allowed this optional defense first. As long as Linares wins a fight he has scheduled for March 31, they are due to meet in the rematch on Showtime on July 7. Roman, 26, lost his second fight in a row and for the second time in a world title bout. He also lost a lopsided decision last March in Argentina to then-featherweight titleholder Jonathan Barros.
Friday at Cabazon, Calif.
Kendall Holt TKO2 Tim Coleman
Welterweight
Records: Holt (28-5, 16 KOs); Coleman (19-3-1, 5 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The "Friday Night Fights" main event was a must-win for both guys because they were both coming off losses. Holt, a former junior welterweight titlist, lost a clear decision in a title eliminator to Danny Garcia in October to drop him to 2-3 in his previous five fights. Coleman, 27, of Baltimore, was coming off a seventh-round knockout loss to Vernon Paris in August in which he was knocked down three times. The difference in the fight was that Holt appeared to take the fight seriously and fought with urgency. Coleman simply did not and paid the painful price. Holt, with Roy Jones Jr. as his trainer for the fight, made a statement when he dropped Coleman to all fours with a cracking left hook to the body in the opening round. From then on, Holt seemed to hurt Coleman seemingly every time he touched him. In the second round, he floored Coleman three more times for the impressive victory. He put Coleman on the deck with a left-right combination a minute into the round. Coleman went down again on a right hand during a flurry of blows and hit the floor for the fourth time overall on the end of a left hook. Coleman looked more disinterested than truly hurt, and his corner waved the white towel, prompting referee Ray Corona to call off the fight at 2 minutes, 23 seconds. Coleman came into the fight having trained himself after splitting with Roger Mayweather and then Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. He clearly was not in top condition, and Holt took every advantage. Good win for Holt, who weighed 144 pounds and said he planned to go down to 140 and campaign once again at junior welterweight. Coleman might want to consider another line of work considering his lack of effort in this one.
Friday at Indio, Calif.
Omar Figueroa Jr. TKO2 Ramon Ayala
Lightweight
Records: Figueroa Jr. (15-0-1, 12 KOs); Ayala (23-3-1, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Figueroa, 22, of Weslaco, Texas, made an impression in January when he appeared on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation" and pulled the mild upset by stopping Michael Perez in the sixth round in a battle of prospects. Returning to headline "ShoBox," Figueroa blew through Ayala, 23, of Mexico, who was a terribly poor opponent for a televised main event. Yes, Ayala's record looks nice, but he had never beaten anyone of even remote note, had fought mostly sub-.500 opponents and had been stopped in both previous losses, including getting dropped three times and knocked out in the fifth round by a 4-5-1 opponent in September 2010. As expected, Ayala did not provide much competition for the crowd-pleasing Figueroa, who is one of the more exciting prospects in boxing. From the opening bell, Figueroa was in attack mode. He blasted Ayala to the body, went upstairs and even threw him the mat late in the round, eliciting a hard warning from referee Lou Moret. Figueroa was all over Ayala again in the second round and doubled him over with a powerful left to the body that was the beginning of the end. Ayala tried to run, but Figueroa continued to hammer his body as he fell into the ropes. Figueroa did not let up, nailing him with several more shots, including a hard right and left that sent him reeling, and Ayala eventually went down. He barely beat the count, rising at nine, but Moret did not like what he saw and called off the fight with seven seconds left in the round.
Randy Caballero W10 Jose Luis Araiza
Bantamweight
Scores: 98-92 (twice), 97-93
Records: Caballero (14-0, 7 KOs); Araiza (32-6-1, 23 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Caballero, a baby-faced 21-year-old, was a standout amateur who is moving his way up the ladder as a pro and gaining experience with every fight. Although Araiza, 33, of Mexico, is no world beater -- he dropped to 0-5-1 in his past six fights -- he made Caballero work hard for the decision win in a disappointing performance. Caballero, who is from Coachella, Calif., once again enjoyed the hometown crowd support as he was fighting at nearby Fantasy Springs Casino for the ninth time in his past 10 fights. Those fans know what to expect -- a good boxer with speed. Caballero started quickly and opened a lead, so when Araiza -- who did not fight from 2004 to 2009 -- got a bit busier and more aggressive in the second half of the fight, he was already in a hole he could not fight his way out of. It was not a particularly good fight, but it was a learning experience for Caballero, who went 10 rounds in his first fight scheduled for that distance.
Friday at Mexico City
Glenn Donaire W12 Omar Salado
Junior bantamweight
Scores: 118-111, 116-112, 115-113
Records: Donaire (19-4-1, 10 KOs); Salado (23-5-2, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In 2008, Donaire -- the 32-year-old older brother of junior featherweight titlist and pound-for-pound star Nonito Donaire -- lost a decision to Ulises "Archie" Solis in a junior flyweight title fight. Donaire, a native of the Philippines living in Northern California, left the ring for 3½ years after that fight until making his return in a good performance against former strawweight titlist Alex "Nene" Sanchez in December. Donaire won that fight by eight-round knockout and was back again to headline a Telemundo card against the experienced Salado, 32, of Mexico. Donaire came away with the well-deserved decision in the action fight that had some excellent moments of toe-to-toe banging. Salado, who had a good late surge in the fight, dropped to 2-4 in his past six bouts, which include a pair of losses in title fights. He suffered a 12th-round knockout to Luis Concepcion in a 2009 interim flyweight title bout and a seventh-round knockout loss to Roman Gonzalez in a junior flyweight title fight last July.
Sergio Martinez TKO11 Matthew Macklin
Middleweight
Retains world middleweight title
Records: Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KOs); Macklin (28-4, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: It was a tale of two fights. There were the first seven rounds, when Martinez looked a bit shaky, getting tagged by Macklin and in a highly competitive fight, and Rounds 8 through 11, when Martinez found another gear and left Macklin in the dust to close the show in typically impressive Martinez style as he retained the legitimate 160-pound crown for the fourth time (each defense coming by knockout).
Martinez, 37, of Argentina and living in Oxnard, Calif., had come to New York to fight for the first time. He might as well have been on enemy turf. Although there were certainly Argentine fans in the sold-out house of 4,671 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, this was a massively pro-Macklin crowd. The England-born Irishman brought out the Irish on St. Patrick's Day, and they were looking for their man to pull the upset. It looked good early on, as Macklin was getting to Martinez. The biggest moment for Macklin, 29, came in the seventh round when, with about 30 seconds left, he clipped Martinez with a right hand when they were in close and Martinez touched his right glove to the canvas for a knockdown.
That was essentially the end of the fight for Macklin, as Martinez, seemingly realizing he was in a dogfight, ramped up his game and took over in a similar manner as his October defense against Darren Barker. Martinez, a supreme athlete, used his herky-jerky style to confuse the more stationary Macklin. He fired fast, straight left hands and began rocking Macklin with shots in the eighth round. Martinez practically could not miss with the left hand, and Macklin was fading fast in the 10th round. His face was being busted up, he was bleeding, and he had a nasty cut over his left eye. Late in the 11th round, Martinez scored two clean knockdowns with his deadly straight left hand. Macklin, who has tremendous heart, survived both knockdowns, the second of which came at the bell, ending the round. Buddy McGirt, training Macklin for the first time, made a good call by throwing in the towel after the round. Had Macklin come out for the 12th he could have been badly hurt given the shape he was in.
Macklin has nothing to be ashamed of in losing. He had earned the fight with his tremendous performance against titlist Felix Sturm last June in Germany, where he was badly ripped off in a split decision loss in what is the definition of a hometown decision. Macklin competed well with Martinez and gave him his toughest fight since Paul Williams' controversial majority decision win against him in December 2009. The way Macklin fought and with his crowd-pleasing style, he would make the perfect kind of opponent for middleweight titleholders who are seeking to make a name in the United States (and position themselves for a shot at Martinez) such as Gennady Golovkin, who was ringside, Daniel Geale and Dmitry Pirog.
For Martinez, the consensus 2010 fighter of the year, it was another stellar result despite the early struggles. He has dominated the division, and since cleanly outpointing Kelly Pavlik to win the middleweight crown in April 2010, he has blitzed his opponents: Williams (via massive second-round knockout in their rematch), highly regarded, previously undefeated junior middleweight titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk (five knockdowns in an eighth-round destruction), the highlight-reel 11th-round knockout of Barker and this showing against Macklin.
What Martinez wants is a big fight, but he will be hard-pressed to get it right away. He desperately wants Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who has one of the alphabet belts that was stripped from Martinez, but Chavez is a big draw and would be a decided underdog. His handlers at Top Rank are not ready to take that gamble and see their gravy train get beat. And for all of Martinez's pleading for a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao, whom Martinez is willing to drop down to junior middleweight to fight, both are unlikely. Martinez will have to be content, it seems, to keep racking up wins against the best of the middleweight division, where there are good opponents, just ones who are not that well known.
Edwin Rodriguez W10 Donovan George
Super middleweight
Scores: 99-91, 97-93, 96-94
Records: Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs); George (22-2-1, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: On paper, this had the makings of an action fight. Rodriguez, 26, of Worcester, Mass., is one of boxing's top prospects and on the verge of a significant fight, but as talented as the former U.S. amateur national champion is, there have been plenty of times where he wound up in fights that were harder than they should have been because he would allow himself to get dragged into a brawl. George, 27, of Chicago, is usually in good fights. He likes to brawl, relies on a big right hand and is very aggressive. With both aiming to make a statement in their HBO debuts, hopes were high for a fun fight. But while this was not a bad fight, it was more of a boxing match than a slugfest because that is how Rodriguez made it. He perfectly implemented trainer Ronnie Shields' game plan, which was obvious -- jab and move and if he had to stand and fight in the pocket, just do not do it for too long. Rodriguez executed perfectly. He frustrated George with his lateral movement and effective jab, and when they did mix it up, Rodriguez slipped punches and moved away before things became too dangerous. Rodriguez racked up rounds while George did what he could to chase him down. George could never quite catch him clean despite his best efforts, especially in the final couple of rounds when he knew he needed a knockout or at least multiple knockdowns to pull it out. In the end, Rodriguez showed a dimension in his game that had not been that evident before -- that he can box well when he stays focused on the task at hand. The maturity Rodriguez showed in sticking to the game plan will pay dividends down the road as he moves closer to a title opportunity. For George, it was a tough loss, but he made it competitive. He has a crowd-pleasing style, so there is no reason why he shouldn't be welcome back on any network in a competitive fight.
Saturday at Sheffield, England
Kell Brook W12 Matthew Hatton
Welterweight
Scores: 119-108, 119-107, 118-109
Records: Brook (27-0, 18 KOs); Hatton (42-6-2, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Brook is one of England's rising contenders with a bright future, but before moving to fights on the world level, he had to stake his claim as England's No. 1 welterweight. There are no questions anymore about that after Brook, 25, laid a beating on Hatton, 30, in an utterly one-sided domination. Fighting in front of a packed house of about 10,000 in his hometown, Brook turned in a virtually flawless performance against Hatton, the younger brother of retired former junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton. Brook put his punches together throughout the fight, was faster and was more powerful as he basically did as he pleased. Hatton said Brook broke his nose with a punch in the first round.
In the 10th round, Brook scored the only knockdown of the fight when he landed a left hand on Hatton's glove as it was protecting his head. The force of the punch was enough to knock Hatton, who taken a pounding to that point, off balance and down to his rear end against the ropes. Brook gunned for the stoppage when it was obvious Hatton had nothing to offer, but he just could not stop Hatton, who showed his usual good chin, courage and grit to go the distance despite the nose injury and all sorts of bumps and bruises on his face. Brook is angling for an eventual fight with British rival Amir Khan, the former junior welterweight titlist who is aiming to reclaim his belts in a May 19 rematch with Lamont Peterson. Win or lose, Khan is destined to move up to welterweight in the next couple of fights, and a showdown with Brook would be huge in England -- although it would be nice to see Brook defeat a legit contender before getting a chance to fight Khan, who is a much bigger name and has beaten much better fighters than Brook has.
"I want Khan now," Brook said after the fight. "He thought Matthew was the better fighter and I proved him wrong, and I would smash Amir."
Eddie Hearn, Brook's promoter, also called for a Khan fight. "We are ready for Khan now," he said. "Money talks, and I am ready to arrange that. If this fight doesn't happen, then it's them who have bottled it. We'd sell bundles and bundles of tickets for the fight. It would bring back pay-per-view for Sky Sports, and both fighters would make a fortune. So the question is will Amir take it?"
Hatton dropped to 1-2 in his past three fights, including a similarly lopsided decision loss to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in a vacant junior middleweight title bout last March.
Kerry Hope W12 Grzegorz Proksa
Middleweight
Wins European middleweight title
Scores: 115-112, 114-113, 114-114
Records: Hope (17-3, 1 KO); Proksa (26-1, 19 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In October, Proksa, 27, a native of Poland living in England, burst on the scene when he sent former middleweight titlist Sebastian Sylvester into retirement with a third-round knockout to win the European title. Proksa looked as if he might be ready to make his mark in an increasingly interesting middleweight division, but those hopes are on hold after he surprisingly lost to Hope, 30, of Wales, in an upset. Hope's résumé was unimpressive, and Proksa was supposed to roll in what amounted to a showcase fight on paper. But Proksa seemed unsettled by a second-round cut over his left eye from an accidental head-butt. Hope, who had a point deducted by referee Phil Edwards for head-butting in the eighth round, boxed well enough and was far busier than Proksa in the entertaining fight as he pulled out the majority decision in easily the biggest victory of his career.
Saturday at Los Mochis, Mexico
Antonio DeMarco KO5 Miguel Roman
Lightweight
Retains a lightweight title
Records: DeMarco (27-2-1, 20 KOs); Roman (37-10, 28 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In October, DeMarco was being outboxed by Jorge Linares in their battle for a vacant lightweight title on the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson HBO PPV undercard. It had not been a competitive fight, but DeMarco came roaring back and stopped the fading and badly bleeding Linares in the 11th round for a dramatic comeback victory to win the belt. Making his first defense, DeMarco, 26, returned to the city of his birth for his first defense against the smaller, hand-picked Roman, who has fought as featherweight for most of his career. DeMarco had no issues with the smaller man, finally dropping him with a combination in the fifth round with Roman unable to beat the count. DeMarco has been ordered to face Linares in a mandatory rematch but was allowed this optional defense first. As long as Linares wins a fight he has scheduled for March 31, they are due to meet in the rematch on Showtime on July 7. Roman, 26, lost his second fight in a row and for the second time in a world title bout. He also lost a lopsided decision last March in Argentina to then-featherweight titleholder Jonathan Barros.
Friday at Cabazon, Calif.
Kendall Holt TKO2 Tim Coleman
Welterweight
Records: Holt (28-5, 16 KOs); Coleman (19-3-1, 5 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The "Friday Night Fights" main event was a must-win for both guys because they were both coming off losses. Holt, a former junior welterweight titlist, lost a clear decision in a title eliminator to Danny Garcia in October to drop him to 2-3 in his previous five fights. Coleman, 27, of Baltimore, was coming off a seventh-round knockout loss to Vernon Paris in August in which he was knocked down three times. The difference in the fight was that Holt appeared to take the fight seriously and fought with urgency. Coleman simply did not and paid the painful price. Holt, with Roy Jones Jr. as his trainer for the fight, made a statement when he dropped Coleman to all fours with a cracking left hook to the body in the opening round. From then on, Holt seemed to hurt Coleman seemingly every time he touched him. In the second round, he floored Coleman three more times for the impressive victory. He put Coleman on the deck with a left-right combination a minute into the round. Coleman went down again on a right hand during a flurry of blows and hit the floor for the fourth time overall on the end of a left hook. Coleman looked more disinterested than truly hurt, and his corner waved the white towel, prompting referee Ray Corona to call off the fight at 2 minutes, 23 seconds. Coleman came into the fight having trained himself after splitting with Roger Mayweather and then Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. He clearly was not in top condition, and Holt took every advantage. Good win for Holt, who weighed 144 pounds and said he planned to go down to 140 and campaign once again at junior welterweight. Coleman might want to consider another line of work considering his lack of effort in this one.
Friday at Indio, Calif.
Omar Figueroa Jr. TKO2 Ramon Ayala
Lightweight
Records: Figueroa Jr. (15-0-1, 12 KOs); Ayala (23-3-1, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Figueroa, 22, of Weslaco, Texas, made an impression in January when he appeared on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation" and pulled the mild upset by stopping Michael Perez in the sixth round in a battle of prospects. Returning to headline "ShoBox," Figueroa blew through Ayala, 23, of Mexico, who was a terribly poor opponent for a televised main event. Yes, Ayala's record looks nice, but he had never beaten anyone of even remote note, had fought mostly sub-.500 opponents and had been stopped in both previous losses, including getting dropped three times and knocked out in the fifth round by a 4-5-1 opponent in September 2010. As expected, Ayala did not provide much competition for the crowd-pleasing Figueroa, who is one of the more exciting prospects in boxing. From the opening bell, Figueroa was in attack mode. He blasted Ayala to the body, went upstairs and even threw him the mat late in the round, eliciting a hard warning from referee Lou Moret. Figueroa was all over Ayala again in the second round and doubled him over with a powerful left to the body that was the beginning of the end. Ayala tried to run, but Figueroa continued to hammer his body as he fell into the ropes. Figueroa did not let up, nailing him with several more shots, including a hard right and left that sent him reeling, and Ayala eventually went down. He barely beat the count, rising at nine, but Moret did not like what he saw and called off the fight with seven seconds left in the round.
Randy Caballero W10 Jose Luis Araiza
Bantamweight
Scores: 98-92 (twice), 97-93
Records: Caballero (14-0, 7 KOs); Araiza (32-6-1, 23 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Caballero, a baby-faced 21-year-old, was a standout amateur who is moving his way up the ladder as a pro and gaining experience with every fight. Although Araiza, 33, of Mexico, is no world beater -- he dropped to 0-5-1 in his past six fights -- he made Caballero work hard for the decision win in a disappointing performance. Caballero, who is from Coachella, Calif., once again enjoyed the hometown crowd support as he was fighting at nearby Fantasy Springs Casino for the ninth time in his past 10 fights. Those fans know what to expect -- a good boxer with speed. Caballero started quickly and opened a lead, so when Araiza -- who did not fight from 2004 to 2009 -- got a bit busier and more aggressive in the second half of the fight, he was already in a hole he could not fight his way out of. It was not a particularly good fight, but it was a learning experience for Caballero, who went 10 rounds in his first fight scheduled for that distance.
Friday at Mexico City
Glenn Donaire W12 Omar Salado
Junior bantamweight
Scores: 118-111, 116-112, 115-113
Records: Donaire (19-4-1, 10 KOs); Salado (23-5-2, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In 2008, Donaire -- the 32-year-old older brother of junior featherweight titlist and pound-for-pound star Nonito Donaire -- lost a decision to Ulises "Archie" Solis in a junior flyweight title fight. Donaire, a native of the Philippines living in Northern California, left the ring for 3½ years after that fight until making his return in a good performance against former strawweight titlist Alex "Nene" Sanchez in December. Donaire won that fight by eight-round knockout and was back again to headline a Telemundo card against the experienced Salado, 32, of Mexico. Donaire came away with the well-deserved decision in the action fight that had some excellent moments of toe-to-toe banging. Salado, who had a good late surge in the fight, dropped to 2-4 in his past six bouts, which include a pair of losses in title fights. He suffered a 12th-round knockout to Luis Concepcion in a 2009 interim flyweight title bout and a seventh-round knockout loss to Roman Gonzalez in a junior flyweight title fight last July.
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Two boxing cards coming up this weekend, my DVR is ready.
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Martinez doesnt have scary power tho.
He has Sick speed. Not power
Why cant he move up to fight Bute or Ward? HBO nuthuggers stay calling him a natural 154 lber (LOL ) Like he doesnt drain himself to stay at 160
If hes a natural 154 lber is Pac a natural 130 lber and Floyd a natural 135 lber?
He has Sick speed. Not power
Why cant he move up to fight Bute or Ward? HBO nuthuggers stay calling him a natural 154 lber (LOL ) Like he doesnt drain himself to stay at 160
If hes a natural 154 lber is Pac a natural 130 lber and Floyd a natural 135 lber?
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whats the 2nd card
Too many fights for the title, I'll update the schedule on the first page for March.
Sergio's begging for the JCC Jr fight:
danrafaelespn Dan Rafael
Promoter @loudibella says to make a @maravillabox fight with JC Chavez Jr. they're fine giving his side the lion's share of money. #boxing
about 14 hours ago
danrafaelespn Dan Rafael
To clarify @loudibella's statement: They'd be OK giving Chavez's side more than 50% of any deal. #boxing
about 14 hours ago
Spoiler [+]
Dallas Cowboys officials are in talks with promotional firm Top Rank about bringing a boxing match to Cowboys Stadium, tentatively scheduled for July 14.
Bob Arum, president of Top Rank, said he would like to bring Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez to face Brandon Rios for a possible junior welterweight title fight. The fight is contingent upon Marquez and Rios each winning their fights April 14 -- Marquez's in Mexico City and Rios' in Las Vegas.
Marquez (53-6-1) will meet Sergey Fedchenko (30-1) in the main event. Rios (29-0, 22 KOs) takes on Richard Abril (17-2-1, 8 KOs) on an undercard bout. Arum said if Rios and Marquez win their fights and don't sustain any significant physical damage, they will meet.
Brett Daniels, senior director of corporate communications for Cowboys Stadium, said several dates have been discussed with Top Rank.
Cowboys Stadium has hosted two boxing cards, both involving Manny Pacquiao in 2010.
Bob Arum, president of Top Rank, said he would like to bring Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez to face Brandon Rios for a possible junior welterweight title fight. The fight is contingent upon Marquez and Rios each winning their fights April 14 -- Marquez's in Mexico City and Rios' in Las Vegas.
Marquez (53-6-1) will meet Sergey Fedchenko (30-1) in the main event. Rios (29-0, 22 KOs) takes on Richard Abril (17-2-1, 8 KOs) on an undercard bout. Arum said if Rios and Marquez win their fights and don't sustain any significant physical damage, they will meet.
Brett Daniels, senior director of corporate communications for Cowboys Stadium, said several dates have been discussed with Top Rank.
Cowboys Stadium has hosted two boxing cards, both involving Manny Pacquiao in 2010.
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Chavez Jr. says No to Drug testing.... ut oh
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HBO/Golden Boy card, featuring Eric Morales & Mandigo Warrior in seperate bouts
NBCSports/Versus card feat Zab Judah
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damn I had no clue Zab was on NBCS.... what time is that
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9:30 PM Fight Night 36 "Zab Judah"
10:00 PM Boxing "Zab Judah vs. Vernon Paris" LIVE
10:00 PM Boxing "Zab Judah vs. Vernon Paris" LIVE
