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If he doesn't come though they better replace him with Matthyse in a couple months or so.
Official 2012 Boxing Thread: JMM/Manny IV - FOTY.
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by proshares,
- Start date
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That's what's not adding up to me. LaMont was the one pushing for more strenuous testing.
Only to fail it?
Idk man.
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Supposedly they contacted Carson Jones to fight Khan as a quick replacement...
aepps20
Supporter
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I'm just so confused.
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SMH Dam Peterson, I was looking forward to seeing Khan overrated self get beatdown again smh
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The seats were Row M and they were close enough to hear the punches landing and a great sight line, got them from some guy who was desperate to sell his tickets at the last minute
aepps20
Supporter
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The news keeps getting worse for Peterson if twitter is correct. I don't blame any fighter that demands more stringent testing because the Commissions' testing aren't stringent enough.
aepps20
Supporter
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I hope this is all a mistake but if it isn't, I guess I'll start calling him Lamont PEDerson or Lamont Cheaterson. SMH
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Did Peterson think he had some fool proof way to hide it? Good lord.
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LMAO at people thinking this is a mistake.
PEDS are running Rampant throughout Boxing and Nevada's testing commision and standards are a joke
Good Job WADA! Hopefully Boxing gets regulated so Every fight and state commission has to use WADA testing
Catch em ALL!
PEDS are running Rampant throughout Boxing and Nevada's testing commision and standards are a joke
Good Job WADA! Hopefully Boxing gets regulated so Every fight and state commission has to use WADA testing
Catch em ALL!
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"if you the best, take the test"
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i agree with you
but i think like most we are shock peterson would be dumb enough to get caught AFTER he was the one asking for testing
and he test postive in march and its just now coming out?
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Broner said he would drop Gamboa. LOL, if he thinks Quintero and PDL were tough competition, he wouldn't go 4 with Gamboa
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If I were to judge a book by it's cover, I wouldn't think Peterson did this on purpose. It might have been one of Khan's spies injecting Peterson when he was asleep.
Well it ain't too hard to drop Gamboa if you connect
Weekend wrap:
Weekend wrap:
Spoiler [+]
A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Las Vegas
Floyd Mayweather Jr. W12 Miguel Cotto
Junior middleweight
Wins a junior middleweight title
Scores: 118-110, 117-111 (twice)
Records: Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KOs); Cotto (37-3, 30 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Mayweather-Cotto wasn't the fight we all wanted to see -- that's Mayweather-Pacquiao, which is about as far apart as ever these days, but it sure turned out to be a terrific fight. Whether you believe Mayweather when he said he was just trying to give the fans excitement for their pay-per-view dollars or it's because he is now 35 and has lost maybe a half-step, this was the most exciting fight he has ever been in, and he picked a good spot for it because this is probably the biggest pay-per-view of the year. Cotto's career has been filled with exciting fights, so this was nothing unusual. However, for all those who thought that Cotto had little chance -- which was reflected by the disrespectful 6-to-1 odds against him at the Las Vegas sports books -- he turned in a remarkable performance even in defeat against the pound-for-pound king.
Cotto, 31, of Puerto Rico, was upset with the scorecards being as wide as they were, which is why, he said, he did not come to the postfight news conference. He's right that the 118-110 card was a bit ridiculous. The other two were reasonable. Each round was competitive, even if most of them went to Mayweather. It was poor sportsmanship on Cotto's part not to show up. But had he, Cotto, a three-division champion making his third junior middleweight defense, would have heard Mayweather properly give Cotto all the credit in the world for giving him his toughest fight. Cotto had nothing to be ashamed of. He fought a great fight following his emotional, mind-clearing 10th-round knockout of hated rival Antonio Margarito in December.
But as tremendous as Cotto was, Mayweather, 35, of Las Vegas, was even better. In winning his eight world title covering five weight classes (and his second at junior middleweight, where he had fought only once before in his 2007 win against Oscar De La Hoya), Mayweather slugged it out with a guy who was bigger and stronger. He used enough of his movement and exceptional defense to get the job done. But it was something unusual to see Mayweather with a bloody nose (courtesy of a pinpoint jab in the sixth round) and with bumps and bruises.
Cotto, clearly the favorite of the raucous crowd of 16,047 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, was aggressive throughout the fight and pinned Mayweather on the ropes several times (even if Mayweather says it was his decision to plant his feet and fight toe-to-toe). But Mayweather landed many hard shots of his own, including closing the show with a huge 12th round in which he badly wobbled Cotto and nearly knocked him down.
All in all, it was a helluva fight. For his trouble, Cotto earned his biggest purse, a minimum $8 million, while Mayweather set the all-time record with a guarantee of $32 million (which will rise considerable when the pay-per-view totals come in). If you missed the fight, it is most definitely worth watching HBO's replay on Saturday night (10:15 ET/PT). Given that Mayweather and Cotto are both future Hall of Famers and the significance of the bout and how competitive and exciting it was, it is not a reach to consider it a Fight of the Year candidate.
Despite the loss, Cotto, a promotional free agent, will have plenty of offers for future fights in a rich 154-pound division. Maybe he even wants to go after the middleweight title. How great would a Sergio Martinez-Miguel Cotto fight be in the fall? As for Mayweather, since he has no interest in Martinez and the Manny Pacquiao deal seems eons away, he admitted afterward that he has run out of opponents. He said before the fight he still wanted to fight in the fall. Afterward, he was not as committed. Besides, he heads off for an 87-day jail sentence for domestic battery on June 1. He will have plenty of time to think about things, and we'll all have time think about this historically significant and exciting fight between two of the best, most popular fighters in the sport.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez W12 Shane Mosley
Junior middleweight
Retains a junior middleweight title
Scores: 119-109 (twice), 118-110
Records: Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KOs); Mosley (46-8-1, 39 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Like generations of fighters before them have done, Alvarez and Mosley engaged in a rite of passage fight. It was all about seeing if Alvarez, the 21-year-old Mexican star on the rise, could turn back the once-great former champion. More unlikely would be if the 40-year faded Mosley could come up with one more big performance in a likely Hall of Fame career. As usual in the unforgiving sport of boxing, youth was served. Alvarez, with a fresh body, youth, speed and power on his side, hammered Mosley, who had virtually nothing left but his heart.
Although one-sided, it was a highly entertaining fight (and it will be replayed along with the Mayweather-Cotto main event on HBO on Saturday). Mosley, however, took a terrible beating as he dropped to 0-3-1 in his past four fights, a rut that's included one-sided losses to Pacquiao and Mayweather and a dreadful draw with Sergio Mora. The difference at least in this performance was that Mosley came to fight. In the previous bouts, he did virtually nothing, making it questionable that he was even approved to fight for Alvarez's title. This time Mosley mustered everything he had left to give Alvarez the best fight he could. Alvarez -- almost the same age as Mosley's son, Shane Jr. -- however, was just too much as he made his fourth title defense against the biggest name opponent he has ever faced.
Alvarez, fighting on the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo and with the crowd at the MGM Grand heavily behind him, landed huge right hands, clean left hooks and numerous body shots throughout the fight, but if there is one thing Mosley still has left besides his heart, it is his excellent chin. Round after round, Alvarez crushed him with shots and dished out what he could. Some corners would have stopped the fight at some point in the last three or four rounds. CompuBox has tracked 34 of Mosley's fights. Alvarez was credited with landing 348 of 673 punches (52 percent) -- the most blows ever landed against Mosley in any of those 34 bouts. This was a rough one for Mosley, a former lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight champion, whose face was all swollen after the fight. By going 12 rounds with Mosley, Alvarez gained a lot of experience that will be useful as his career progresses. He also dealt well with the adversity of being cut over his left eye as a result of an accidental head-butt in the third round.
Golden Boy announced after the fight that Alvarez will return to the MGM Grand to headline his own pay-per-view show on Sept. 15, which is Mexican Independence Day weekend, against an opponent to be determined. Golden Boy has offered James Kirkland the fight, but it remains to be seen if his team will accept it, because Kirkland might not be ready because of the shoulder surgery he had in late March following his last fight.
At this point, Mosley really should stop fighting. He's been a great champion; was widely considered No. 1 pound-for-pound in the early 2000s after his first victory against De La Hoya; and has a well-deserved reputation as being one of the nicest guys in the sport. Nobody wants to see him embarrass himself, or worse -- get seriously injured. It's been a great run, and now it is over. Hopefully, Mosley will realize that.
Jessie Vargas W10 Steve Forbes
Welterweight
Scores: 100-90, 98-92, 97-93
Records: Vargas (19-0, 9 KOs); Forbes (35-11, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Talk about sucking the life out of the pay-per-view. This horrible fight did just that. It was 40 minutes of your life you will never get back if you watched it. Vargas, 22, of Las Vegas, gets these sweet slots on Mayweather's undercards because he is a protégé of the pound-for-pound king, not because he actually deserves the spots. He's a prospect, sure, but many thought he lost to Josesito Lopez on the Mayweather-Victor Ortiz undercard in September. Although he beat the faded Forbes, 35, of Las Vegas, it was an unwatchable fight. Forbes, a former junior lightweight titlist years ago and a runner-up on "The Contender" reality series, gets a pass. He was a massive underdog and took the fight on short notice. Vargas was the one who needed to impress and he did not do that in any way, shape or form. He dominated the fight, easily outboxing the smaller Forbes with his longer reach, yet he never gunned for a knockout or even displayed a shred of aggressiveness. Getting exposure on such a huge pay-per-view is a great platform to try to win over fans, but Vargas did not do that. In fact, he probably drove many away because he engaged in nothing more than a glorified sparring session. He was supposed to fight former two-time world title challenger Alfonso Gomez, but Gomez was sidelined about 10 days before the fight by a severe case of back spasms. Forbes dropped to 3-8 in his past 11 fights dating to the 2006 "Contender" finale he lost to Grady Brewer.
Carlos Quintana KO6 Deandre Latimore
Junior middleweight
Records: Quintana (29-3, 23 KOs); Latimore (23-4, 17 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The rap on Latimore is that he has no chin, and Quintana showed that to be the case as he scored a sensational knockout over the Mayweather protégé, who got on the pay-per-view for that reason alone. Latimore, 26, a St. Louis native living in Las Vegas, was matched with Quintana, 35, of Puerto Rico, because his handlers figured the former welterweight titlist was all done, especially after having not fought for 15 months and only three times since 2008. But Quintana, a southpaw, came to fight, and when he is at his best, he's leaps bounds better than Latimore, who fought for a junior middleweight world title in 2009 and lost a split decision to St. Louis rival Cory Spinks. Latimore had won three fights in a row since, but his majority decision against Milton Nunez in February should have had everyone associated with him concerned after Nunez dropped him in the ninth and 10th rounds of their fight and Latimore had to hang on for dear life to hear the final bell. Quintana, who won his welterweight belt in 2008 from Paul Williams only to be drilled in the first round of their rematch four months later, hammered Latimore with his left hand throughout the fight and backed him up. Quintana opened a cut over Latimore left eye in the third round, had him reeling badly in the fifth round then pounded him in the sixth round when he landed multiple overhand lefts. The final one in the series of shots sent Latimore crashing to the mat on his side. Latimore tried to get up but could not beat the count from referee Kenny Bayless, who called it off at 2 minutes, 19 seconds.
Saturday at Erfurt, Germany
Marco Huck D12 Ola Afolabi
Cruiserweight
Retains a cruiserweight title
Scores: 114-114 (twice), 115-113 Huck
Records: Huck (34-2-1, 25 KOs); Afolabi (19-2-4, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In December 2009, Germany's Huck, 27, made his first title defense against Afolabi, 32, of England and won a close decision in a very competitive fight. Afolabi has wanted a rematch since and got it in this mandatory bout, which was a good one. Afolabi had claimed the interim belt on March 3 to move into that position while Huck was deciding which division to fight in. He had tested the heavyweight waters against titlist Alexander Povetkin on Feb. 25 and was robbed of the decision. Huck wants a rematch, but while Povetkin is taking care of a mandatory defense this summer, Huck elected to return to cruiserweight for his mandatory against Afolabi. In making his ninth title defense, Huck should count himself lucky to have escaped with his title.
Afolabi dominated most of the first half of the fight and appeared to knock down Huck with a right hand just before the end of the second round, but referee Robert Byrd ruled it a slip. Afolabi bloodied Huck's nose in the third, and Huck appeared to be slowing down by the end of the fifth round. Huck woke up finally in the sixth round and began to get himself back into the fight. He had Afolabi in deep trouble near the end of the ninth round. He spent the final 10 seconds hammering Afolabi around the ring. Had there been a few more seconds left, Afolabi undoubtedly would have gone down. With the fight obviously on the table in the 12th round, they emptied their tanks in a sensational-action Round of the Year candidate. It wasn't pretty in terms of technique, but they were swinging at each other like drunken sailors desperate to win the round. If Huck doesn't get the rematch he deserves with Povetkin, Afolabi certainly deserves another shot with Huck.
Robert Stieglitz W12 Nader Hamdan
Super middleweight
Retains a super middleweight title
Scores: 120-108, 117-111 (twice)
Records: Stieglitz (42-2, 23 KOs); Hamdan (43-10-1, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Germany's Stieglitz was due to make a mandatory defense against rising British contender George Groves (14-0, 11 KOs). However, Groves withdrew with an injury about two weeks before the fight, opening the door for Australia's Hamden, 38, to accept the shot. Hamden wasn't the first choice, but he was available, able to make the weight and experienced. In his biggest previous fight, Hamden lost a wide decision to Anthony Mundine in a 2008 super middleweight world title bout. He faired about the same, losing a similarly wide decision to Stieglitz, 30, who retained his belt for the sixth time. Stieglitz is due back in action on Aug. 25 in Germany to defend his title against former middleweight titlist and Super Six World Boxing Classic washout Arthur Abraham. The sides had a deal set contingent only on Stieglitz defeating Hamdan and coming out uninjured.
Kubrat Pulev KO11 Alexander Dimitrenko
Heavyweight
Wins vacant European heavyweight title
Records: Pulev (16-0, 8 KOs); Dimitrenko (32-2, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Pulev, 31, of Bulgaria, pulled off the mild upset in the most notable fight of his 2.5-year pro career. Dimitrenko, 29, of Ukraine but living in Germany, started off well, but the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Pulev gained steamed over the second half of the fight. As he has done often, Dimitrenko -- 6-7 and 257 pounds -- did not use his size advantage. Pulev cut Dimitrenko's left eye in the sixth round. In the seventh round, Pulev opened another cut, this time over Dimitrenko's right eye. The cuts seemed to bother him. The end came out of nowhere. Pulev landed a solid jab, but nothing out of the ordinary. But Dimitrenko went down. He got to a knee and took the full count just as the round was ending while looking at referee Guido Cavalleri. Dimitrenko, who trailed on all three scorecards, basically quit. Since his first loss, a 2009 decision to American Eddie Chambers in a title elimination bout, Dimitrenko had won three fights in a row until Pulev knocked him out.
Saturday at Uncasville, Conn.
Demetrius Andrade KO1 Rudy Cisneros
Junior middleweight
Records: Andrade (17-0, 12 KOs); Cisneros (12-4, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Andrade, 24, of Providence, R.I., was a 2008 U.S. Olympian and is one of the top prospects in boxing. He looked very impressive in this overwhelming performance against Cisneros on a special Saturday edition of "Friday Night Fights" on ESPN2. Andrade has been groomed for a title from day one of his pro career and if he keeps turning in performances like this one it won't be too long before he gets the shot. Granted, Cisneros, 30, of Chicago, was fighting for only the second time in 27 months, and he was coming off a seventh-round knockout loss to Puerto Rican prospect Jonathan Gonzalez last May. But Andrade at least wiped him out in fantastic style. He controlled the fight from the opening bell as he established a powerful body attack that had Cisneros, a 2006 participant on "The Contender," backing up. As dominant as Andrade had been in the opening round, he never seemed to hurt Cisneros -- until just a tick before the bell rang to end the round. That is when Andrade, a southpaw, unleashed a lightning-fast right-left combination. The right smashed into the side of Cisneros' head and the left landed on his chin, and he fell to the canvas in a heap. Referee Michael Ortega called it off at 2 minutes, 59 seconds of the round. Cisneros was out and needed medical attention. It was such an explosive knockout that Cisneros was taken out of the ring on a stretcher and taken to the hospital as a precaution .
Saturday at Tijuana, Mexico
Rafael Marquez TKO1 Eric Aiken
Featherweight
Records: Marquez (41-7, 37 KOs); Aiken (16-9-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Marquez, the former bantamweight and junior featherweight champ (as well as the 37-year-old younger brother of pound-for-pound star Juan Manuel Marquez), returned from losing a junior featherweight title challenge to Toshiaki Nishioka in October to blow out Aiken, 32, of Washington, D.C., in 2 minutes, 26 seconds. Marquez was supposed to face Japan's Kenichi Yamaguchi (a better opponent than Aiken at this stage of Aiken's career), but he dropped out and Aiken took the fight on about a week's notice. The fight was all Marquez, who blasted Aiken with abandon. He threw a tremendous volume of punches, many of which caught Aiken along the ropes and he had little response. He was a sitting duck as Marquez worked him over to the head and body. He finally dropped Aiken under a hail of punches, although it was a quick left and a right in the flurry that knocked him to his knees. Aiken seemed clear-headed and beat the count, but Marquez rushed him and unloaded about 18 unanswered punches, forcing referee Juan Jose Ramirez to step in and rescue Aiken, who was pinned on the ropes. Aiken briefly held a featherweight world title in 2006, losing it by knockout to Robert Guerrero. From the Guerrero loss to knockout against Marquez, Aiken, who did not fight in 2009 or 2010, is winless, going 0-5-1 with a no contest. Marquez still has a name, good power and ability. He figures to get another opportunity at a title sooner rather than later.
Saturday at Singapore
Chris John W12 Shoji Kimura
Featherweight
Retains a featherweight title
Scores: 118-110 (twice), 117-110
Records: John (47-0-2, 22 KOs); Kimura (24-5-2, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: John, 32, of Indonesia, continues to rack up defenses, even though he does not facing notable opposition. Other than two fights against Rocky Juarez, when Juarez was still a threat, in the United States in 2009, John has been content to stay overseas, fighting in Indonesia (where he is a national hero), Australia and now Singapore. John has held his belt since 2003 and made his 16th title defense against Japan's Shoji Kimura (24-4-2), an obscure opponent who two fights ago was drilled in the fourth round challenging Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym for a junior featherweight title in Thailand in May 2010. John battered Kimura for most of the fight, other than in the seventh round in which Kimura rocked him with a pair of left hooks. John, who suffered a cut over his right eye, recovered quickly and resumed taking it to Kimura, bloodying his nose and taking a lopsided decision win, although referee Ferlin Marsh docked a point from John in the ninth round for repeated low blows. Kimura has lost three of his past four fights.
Friday at Las Vegas
Daniel Ponce De Leon W10 Eduardo Lazcano
Junior lightweight
Scores: 100-90 (three times)
Records: Ponce De Leon (43-4, 35 KOs); Lazcano (24-3, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Former junior featherweight titlist Ponce De Leon, 31, of Mexico, did not get the knockout or come even close to it, but he thoroughly dominated his countryman in a shutout decision on the first American-based card under Golden Boy's new deal for regular fight cards that will be simulcast on Fox Deportes (in Spanish) and Fox Sports Net (in English). It was not a particularly entertaining fight, because Ponce De Leon easily outworked Lazcano, 26, who had never faced a notable opponent, with ease. Round after round, Ponce De Leon backed up fellow southpaw Lazcano with a decent jab and solid body blows. If you saw one round, just imagine that round 10 times over and you have the way this fight went down. Ponce De Leon won his second fight in a row since suffering back-to-back losses to Yuriorkis Gamboa and Adrien Broner in 2011.
Ishe Smith TKO4 Ayi Bruce
Junior middleweight
Records: Smith (23-5, 11 KOs); Bruce (21-7, 13 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Smith, 33, of Las Vegas, is an enigma. The former participant on "The Contender" has a lot of talent. That has never been in dispute. But various contractual disputes and long stretches of inactivity have held him back, not to mention that when he has had opportunities in winnable fights against good opponents he has lost to the likes of Joel "Love Child" Julio, Sechew Powell, Daniel Jacobs, Fernando Guerrero and Sergio Mora in a disputed result that was part of "The Contender." Fighting for the first time since November 2010, Smith didn't look like he had missed a day as he dominated Bruce. Smith, who sparred with Mayweather to help him get ready for his fight with Cotto, outclassed Bruce. Smith isn't a big puncher but he put together a solid attack. He had Bruce reeling from an onslaught when referee Kenny Bayless called it off at 2 minutes, 10 seconds of the fourth round. Bruce, 26, a native of Ghana living in Albany, N.Y., dropped to 1-4 in his past five bouts.
Wednesday at Moscow
Dmitry Pirog W12 Nobuhiro Ishida
Middleweight
Retains a middleweight title
Scores: 120-108, 119-109, 117-111
Records: Pirog (20-0, 15 KOs); Ishida (24-8-2, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Pirog, 31, of Russia, is due to face Australia's Daniel Geale in a middleweight unification fight on Aug. 25 in the United States on HBO's "Boxing After Dark." But first, Pirog had to get through this tuneup bout unscathed. He did just that, easily taking apart Ishida, 36, of Japan, for the lopsided decision in his third title defense since his upset fifth-round knockout of highly touted prospect Daniel Jacobs to win a vacant belt in July 2010 in Las Vegas. Pirog's fight with Ishida was somewhat entertaining, but Pirog was never in any danger and Ishida was never in any kind of trouble. They spent long stretches battling on the inside, but Pirog won the vast majority of the exchanges. He cut Ishida over the right eye in about the ninth round and cruised, preserving the very interesting fight with Geale. Ishida's presence in a title fight was a joke. Ishida, who gained some notoriety in April 2011 when he scored a huge upset by knocking out James Kirkland in the first round, was coming off a shutout loss to Paul Williams on Feb. 18. So for losing every single round on all three judges' scorecards, Ishida was rewarded with a world title shot. That's a disgrace and the WBO should be ashamed of itself for approving such garbage.
Saturday at Las Vegas
Floyd Mayweather Jr. W12 Miguel Cotto
Junior middleweight
Wins a junior middleweight title
Scores: 118-110, 117-111 (twice)
Records: Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KOs); Cotto (37-3, 30 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Mayweather-Cotto wasn't the fight we all wanted to see -- that's Mayweather-Pacquiao, which is about as far apart as ever these days, but it sure turned out to be a terrific fight. Whether you believe Mayweather when he said he was just trying to give the fans excitement for their pay-per-view dollars or it's because he is now 35 and has lost maybe a half-step, this was the most exciting fight he has ever been in, and he picked a good spot for it because this is probably the biggest pay-per-view of the year. Cotto's career has been filled with exciting fights, so this was nothing unusual. However, for all those who thought that Cotto had little chance -- which was reflected by the disrespectful 6-to-1 odds against him at the Las Vegas sports books -- he turned in a remarkable performance even in defeat against the pound-for-pound king.
Cotto, 31, of Puerto Rico, was upset with the scorecards being as wide as they were, which is why, he said, he did not come to the postfight news conference. He's right that the 118-110 card was a bit ridiculous. The other two were reasonable. Each round was competitive, even if most of them went to Mayweather. It was poor sportsmanship on Cotto's part not to show up. But had he, Cotto, a three-division champion making his third junior middleweight defense, would have heard Mayweather properly give Cotto all the credit in the world for giving him his toughest fight. Cotto had nothing to be ashamed of. He fought a great fight following his emotional, mind-clearing 10th-round knockout of hated rival Antonio Margarito in December.
But as tremendous as Cotto was, Mayweather, 35, of Las Vegas, was even better. In winning his eight world title covering five weight classes (and his second at junior middleweight, where he had fought only once before in his 2007 win against Oscar De La Hoya), Mayweather slugged it out with a guy who was bigger and stronger. He used enough of his movement and exceptional defense to get the job done. But it was something unusual to see Mayweather with a bloody nose (courtesy of a pinpoint jab in the sixth round) and with bumps and bruises.
Cotto, clearly the favorite of the raucous crowd of 16,047 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, was aggressive throughout the fight and pinned Mayweather on the ropes several times (even if Mayweather says it was his decision to plant his feet and fight toe-to-toe). But Mayweather landed many hard shots of his own, including closing the show with a huge 12th round in which he badly wobbled Cotto and nearly knocked him down.
All in all, it was a helluva fight. For his trouble, Cotto earned his biggest purse, a minimum $8 million, while Mayweather set the all-time record with a guarantee of $32 million (which will rise considerable when the pay-per-view totals come in). If you missed the fight, it is most definitely worth watching HBO's replay on Saturday night (10:15 ET/PT). Given that Mayweather and Cotto are both future Hall of Famers and the significance of the bout and how competitive and exciting it was, it is not a reach to consider it a Fight of the Year candidate.
Despite the loss, Cotto, a promotional free agent, will have plenty of offers for future fights in a rich 154-pound division. Maybe he even wants to go after the middleweight title. How great would a Sergio Martinez-Miguel Cotto fight be in the fall? As for Mayweather, since he has no interest in Martinez and the Manny Pacquiao deal seems eons away, he admitted afterward that he has run out of opponents. He said before the fight he still wanted to fight in the fall. Afterward, he was not as committed. Besides, he heads off for an 87-day jail sentence for domestic battery on June 1. He will have plenty of time to think about things, and we'll all have time think about this historically significant and exciting fight between two of the best, most popular fighters in the sport.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez W12 Shane Mosley
Junior middleweight
Retains a junior middleweight title
Scores: 119-109 (twice), 118-110
Records: Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KOs); Mosley (46-8-1, 39 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Like generations of fighters before them have done, Alvarez and Mosley engaged in a rite of passage fight. It was all about seeing if Alvarez, the 21-year-old Mexican star on the rise, could turn back the once-great former champion. More unlikely would be if the 40-year faded Mosley could come up with one more big performance in a likely Hall of Fame career. As usual in the unforgiving sport of boxing, youth was served. Alvarez, with a fresh body, youth, speed and power on his side, hammered Mosley, who had virtually nothing left but his heart.
Although one-sided, it was a highly entertaining fight (and it will be replayed along with the Mayweather-Cotto main event on HBO on Saturday). Mosley, however, took a terrible beating as he dropped to 0-3-1 in his past four fights, a rut that's included one-sided losses to Pacquiao and Mayweather and a dreadful draw with Sergio Mora. The difference at least in this performance was that Mosley came to fight. In the previous bouts, he did virtually nothing, making it questionable that he was even approved to fight for Alvarez's title. This time Mosley mustered everything he had left to give Alvarez the best fight he could. Alvarez -- almost the same age as Mosley's son, Shane Jr. -- however, was just too much as he made his fourth title defense against the biggest name opponent he has ever faced.
Alvarez, fighting on the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo and with the crowd at the MGM Grand heavily behind him, landed huge right hands, clean left hooks and numerous body shots throughout the fight, but if there is one thing Mosley still has left besides his heart, it is his excellent chin. Round after round, Alvarez crushed him with shots and dished out what he could. Some corners would have stopped the fight at some point in the last three or four rounds. CompuBox has tracked 34 of Mosley's fights. Alvarez was credited with landing 348 of 673 punches (52 percent) -- the most blows ever landed against Mosley in any of those 34 bouts. This was a rough one for Mosley, a former lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight champion, whose face was all swollen after the fight. By going 12 rounds with Mosley, Alvarez gained a lot of experience that will be useful as his career progresses. He also dealt well with the adversity of being cut over his left eye as a result of an accidental head-butt in the third round.
Golden Boy announced after the fight that Alvarez will return to the MGM Grand to headline his own pay-per-view show on Sept. 15, which is Mexican Independence Day weekend, against an opponent to be determined. Golden Boy has offered James Kirkland the fight, but it remains to be seen if his team will accept it, because Kirkland might not be ready because of the shoulder surgery he had in late March following his last fight.
At this point, Mosley really should stop fighting. He's been a great champion; was widely considered No. 1 pound-for-pound in the early 2000s after his first victory against De La Hoya; and has a well-deserved reputation as being one of the nicest guys in the sport. Nobody wants to see him embarrass himself, or worse -- get seriously injured. It's been a great run, and now it is over. Hopefully, Mosley will realize that.
Jessie Vargas W10 Steve Forbes
Welterweight
Scores: 100-90, 98-92, 97-93
Records: Vargas (19-0, 9 KOs); Forbes (35-11, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Talk about sucking the life out of the pay-per-view. This horrible fight did just that. It was 40 minutes of your life you will never get back if you watched it. Vargas, 22, of Las Vegas, gets these sweet slots on Mayweather's undercards because he is a protégé of the pound-for-pound king, not because he actually deserves the spots. He's a prospect, sure, but many thought he lost to Josesito Lopez on the Mayweather-Victor Ortiz undercard in September. Although he beat the faded Forbes, 35, of Las Vegas, it was an unwatchable fight. Forbes, a former junior lightweight titlist years ago and a runner-up on "The Contender" reality series, gets a pass. He was a massive underdog and took the fight on short notice. Vargas was the one who needed to impress and he did not do that in any way, shape or form. He dominated the fight, easily outboxing the smaller Forbes with his longer reach, yet he never gunned for a knockout or even displayed a shred of aggressiveness. Getting exposure on such a huge pay-per-view is a great platform to try to win over fans, but Vargas did not do that. In fact, he probably drove many away because he engaged in nothing more than a glorified sparring session. He was supposed to fight former two-time world title challenger Alfonso Gomez, but Gomez was sidelined about 10 days before the fight by a severe case of back spasms. Forbes dropped to 3-8 in his past 11 fights dating to the 2006 "Contender" finale he lost to Grady Brewer.
Carlos Quintana KO6 Deandre Latimore
Junior middleweight
Records: Quintana (29-3, 23 KOs); Latimore (23-4, 17 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The rap on Latimore is that he has no chin, and Quintana showed that to be the case as he scored a sensational knockout over the Mayweather protégé, who got on the pay-per-view for that reason alone. Latimore, 26, a St. Louis native living in Las Vegas, was matched with Quintana, 35, of Puerto Rico, because his handlers figured the former welterweight titlist was all done, especially after having not fought for 15 months and only three times since 2008. But Quintana, a southpaw, came to fight, and when he is at his best, he's leaps bounds better than Latimore, who fought for a junior middleweight world title in 2009 and lost a split decision to St. Louis rival Cory Spinks. Latimore had won three fights in a row since, but his majority decision against Milton Nunez in February should have had everyone associated with him concerned after Nunez dropped him in the ninth and 10th rounds of their fight and Latimore had to hang on for dear life to hear the final bell. Quintana, who won his welterweight belt in 2008 from Paul Williams only to be drilled in the first round of their rematch four months later, hammered Latimore with his left hand throughout the fight and backed him up. Quintana opened a cut over Latimore left eye in the third round, had him reeling badly in the fifth round then pounded him in the sixth round when he landed multiple overhand lefts. The final one in the series of shots sent Latimore crashing to the mat on his side. Latimore tried to get up but could not beat the count from referee Kenny Bayless, who called it off at 2 minutes, 19 seconds.
Saturday at Erfurt, Germany
Marco Huck D12 Ola Afolabi
Cruiserweight
Retains a cruiserweight title
Scores: 114-114 (twice), 115-113 Huck
Records: Huck (34-2-1, 25 KOs); Afolabi (19-2-4, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In December 2009, Germany's Huck, 27, made his first title defense against Afolabi, 32, of England and won a close decision in a very competitive fight. Afolabi has wanted a rematch since and got it in this mandatory bout, which was a good one. Afolabi had claimed the interim belt on March 3 to move into that position while Huck was deciding which division to fight in. He had tested the heavyweight waters against titlist Alexander Povetkin on Feb. 25 and was robbed of the decision. Huck wants a rematch, but while Povetkin is taking care of a mandatory defense this summer, Huck elected to return to cruiserweight for his mandatory against Afolabi. In making his ninth title defense, Huck should count himself lucky to have escaped with his title.
Afolabi dominated most of the first half of the fight and appeared to knock down Huck with a right hand just before the end of the second round, but referee Robert Byrd ruled it a slip. Afolabi bloodied Huck's nose in the third, and Huck appeared to be slowing down by the end of the fifth round. Huck woke up finally in the sixth round and began to get himself back into the fight. He had Afolabi in deep trouble near the end of the ninth round. He spent the final 10 seconds hammering Afolabi around the ring. Had there been a few more seconds left, Afolabi undoubtedly would have gone down. With the fight obviously on the table in the 12th round, they emptied their tanks in a sensational-action Round of the Year candidate. It wasn't pretty in terms of technique, but they were swinging at each other like drunken sailors desperate to win the round. If Huck doesn't get the rematch he deserves with Povetkin, Afolabi certainly deserves another shot with Huck.
Robert Stieglitz W12 Nader Hamdan
Super middleweight
Retains a super middleweight title
Scores: 120-108, 117-111 (twice)
Records: Stieglitz (42-2, 23 KOs); Hamdan (43-10-1, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Germany's Stieglitz was due to make a mandatory defense against rising British contender George Groves (14-0, 11 KOs). However, Groves withdrew with an injury about two weeks before the fight, opening the door for Australia's Hamden, 38, to accept the shot. Hamden wasn't the first choice, but he was available, able to make the weight and experienced. In his biggest previous fight, Hamden lost a wide decision to Anthony Mundine in a 2008 super middleweight world title bout. He faired about the same, losing a similarly wide decision to Stieglitz, 30, who retained his belt for the sixth time. Stieglitz is due back in action on Aug. 25 in Germany to defend his title against former middleweight titlist and Super Six World Boxing Classic washout Arthur Abraham. The sides had a deal set contingent only on Stieglitz defeating Hamdan and coming out uninjured.
Kubrat Pulev KO11 Alexander Dimitrenko
Heavyweight
Wins vacant European heavyweight title
Records: Pulev (16-0, 8 KOs); Dimitrenko (32-2, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Pulev, 31, of Bulgaria, pulled off the mild upset in the most notable fight of his 2.5-year pro career. Dimitrenko, 29, of Ukraine but living in Germany, started off well, but the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Pulev gained steamed over the second half of the fight. As he has done often, Dimitrenko -- 6-7 and 257 pounds -- did not use his size advantage. Pulev cut Dimitrenko's left eye in the sixth round. In the seventh round, Pulev opened another cut, this time over Dimitrenko's right eye. The cuts seemed to bother him. The end came out of nowhere. Pulev landed a solid jab, but nothing out of the ordinary. But Dimitrenko went down. He got to a knee and took the full count just as the round was ending while looking at referee Guido Cavalleri. Dimitrenko, who trailed on all three scorecards, basically quit. Since his first loss, a 2009 decision to American Eddie Chambers in a title elimination bout, Dimitrenko had won three fights in a row until Pulev knocked him out.
Saturday at Uncasville, Conn.
Demetrius Andrade KO1 Rudy Cisneros
Junior middleweight
Records: Andrade (17-0, 12 KOs); Cisneros (12-4, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Andrade, 24, of Providence, R.I., was a 2008 U.S. Olympian and is one of the top prospects in boxing. He looked very impressive in this overwhelming performance against Cisneros on a special Saturday edition of "Friday Night Fights" on ESPN2. Andrade has been groomed for a title from day one of his pro career and if he keeps turning in performances like this one it won't be too long before he gets the shot. Granted, Cisneros, 30, of Chicago, was fighting for only the second time in 27 months, and he was coming off a seventh-round knockout loss to Puerto Rican prospect Jonathan Gonzalez last May. But Andrade at least wiped him out in fantastic style. He controlled the fight from the opening bell as he established a powerful body attack that had Cisneros, a 2006 participant on "The Contender," backing up. As dominant as Andrade had been in the opening round, he never seemed to hurt Cisneros -- until just a tick before the bell rang to end the round. That is when Andrade, a southpaw, unleashed a lightning-fast right-left combination. The right smashed into the side of Cisneros' head and the left landed on his chin, and he fell to the canvas in a heap. Referee Michael Ortega called it off at 2 minutes, 59 seconds of the round. Cisneros was out and needed medical attention. It was such an explosive knockout that Cisneros was taken out of the ring on a stretcher and taken to the hospital as a precaution .
Saturday at Tijuana, Mexico
Rafael Marquez TKO1 Eric Aiken
Featherweight
Records: Marquez (41-7, 37 KOs); Aiken (16-9-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Marquez, the former bantamweight and junior featherweight champ (as well as the 37-year-old younger brother of pound-for-pound star Juan Manuel Marquez), returned from losing a junior featherweight title challenge to Toshiaki Nishioka in October to blow out Aiken, 32, of Washington, D.C., in 2 minutes, 26 seconds. Marquez was supposed to face Japan's Kenichi Yamaguchi (a better opponent than Aiken at this stage of Aiken's career), but he dropped out and Aiken took the fight on about a week's notice. The fight was all Marquez, who blasted Aiken with abandon. He threw a tremendous volume of punches, many of which caught Aiken along the ropes and he had little response. He was a sitting duck as Marquez worked him over to the head and body. He finally dropped Aiken under a hail of punches, although it was a quick left and a right in the flurry that knocked him to his knees. Aiken seemed clear-headed and beat the count, but Marquez rushed him and unloaded about 18 unanswered punches, forcing referee Juan Jose Ramirez to step in and rescue Aiken, who was pinned on the ropes. Aiken briefly held a featherweight world title in 2006, losing it by knockout to Robert Guerrero. From the Guerrero loss to knockout against Marquez, Aiken, who did not fight in 2009 or 2010, is winless, going 0-5-1 with a no contest. Marquez still has a name, good power and ability. He figures to get another opportunity at a title sooner rather than later.
Saturday at Singapore
Chris John W12 Shoji Kimura
Featherweight
Retains a featherweight title
Scores: 118-110 (twice), 117-110
Records: John (47-0-2, 22 KOs); Kimura (24-5-2, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: John, 32, of Indonesia, continues to rack up defenses, even though he does not facing notable opposition. Other than two fights against Rocky Juarez, when Juarez was still a threat, in the United States in 2009, John has been content to stay overseas, fighting in Indonesia (where he is a national hero), Australia and now Singapore. John has held his belt since 2003 and made his 16th title defense against Japan's Shoji Kimura (24-4-2), an obscure opponent who two fights ago was drilled in the fourth round challenging Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym for a junior featherweight title in Thailand in May 2010. John battered Kimura for most of the fight, other than in the seventh round in which Kimura rocked him with a pair of left hooks. John, who suffered a cut over his right eye, recovered quickly and resumed taking it to Kimura, bloodying his nose and taking a lopsided decision win, although referee Ferlin Marsh docked a point from John in the ninth round for repeated low blows. Kimura has lost three of his past four fights.
Friday at Las Vegas
Daniel Ponce De Leon W10 Eduardo Lazcano
Junior lightweight
Scores: 100-90 (three times)
Records: Ponce De Leon (43-4, 35 KOs); Lazcano (24-3, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Former junior featherweight titlist Ponce De Leon, 31, of Mexico, did not get the knockout or come even close to it, but he thoroughly dominated his countryman in a shutout decision on the first American-based card under Golden Boy's new deal for regular fight cards that will be simulcast on Fox Deportes (in Spanish) and Fox Sports Net (in English). It was not a particularly entertaining fight, because Ponce De Leon easily outworked Lazcano, 26, who had never faced a notable opponent, with ease. Round after round, Ponce De Leon backed up fellow southpaw Lazcano with a decent jab and solid body blows. If you saw one round, just imagine that round 10 times over and you have the way this fight went down. Ponce De Leon won his second fight in a row since suffering back-to-back losses to Yuriorkis Gamboa and Adrien Broner in 2011.
Ishe Smith TKO4 Ayi Bruce
Junior middleweight
Records: Smith (23-5, 11 KOs); Bruce (21-7, 13 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Smith, 33, of Las Vegas, is an enigma. The former participant on "The Contender" has a lot of talent. That has never been in dispute. But various contractual disputes and long stretches of inactivity have held him back, not to mention that when he has had opportunities in winnable fights against good opponents he has lost to the likes of Joel "Love Child" Julio, Sechew Powell, Daniel Jacobs, Fernando Guerrero and Sergio Mora in a disputed result that was part of "The Contender." Fighting for the first time since November 2010, Smith didn't look like he had missed a day as he dominated Bruce. Smith, who sparred with Mayweather to help him get ready for his fight with Cotto, outclassed Bruce. Smith isn't a big puncher but he put together a solid attack. He had Bruce reeling from an onslaught when referee Kenny Bayless called it off at 2 minutes, 10 seconds of the fourth round. Bruce, 26, a native of Ghana living in Albany, N.Y., dropped to 1-4 in his past five bouts.
Wednesday at Moscow
Dmitry Pirog W12 Nobuhiro Ishida
Middleweight
Retains a middleweight title
Scores: 120-108, 119-109, 117-111
Records: Pirog (20-0, 15 KOs); Ishida (24-8-2, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Pirog, 31, of Russia, is due to face Australia's Daniel Geale in a middleweight unification fight on Aug. 25 in the United States on HBO's "Boxing After Dark." But first, Pirog had to get through this tuneup bout unscathed. He did just that, easily taking apart Ishida, 36, of Japan, for the lopsided decision in his third title defense since his upset fifth-round knockout of highly touted prospect Daniel Jacobs to win a vacant belt in July 2010 in Las Vegas. Pirog's fight with Ishida was somewhat entertaining, but Pirog was never in any danger and Ishida was never in any kind of trouble. They spent long stretches battling on the inside, but Pirog won the vast majority of the exchanges. He cut Ishida over the right eye in about the ninth round and cruised, preserving the very interesting fight with Geale. Ishida's presence in a title fight was a joke. Ishida, who gained some notoriety in April 2011 when he scored a huge upset by knocking out James Kirkland in the first round, was coming off a shutout loss to Paul Williams on Feb. 18. So for losing every single round on all three judges' scorecards, Ishida was rewarded with a world title shot. That's a disgrace and the WBO should be ashamed of itself for approving such garbage.
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Per The Ring Magazine twitter:
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Ok...
It just baffles me that Peterson would demand tougher testing only to get caught?
Cmon now.
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And all this mess is making Floyd actually look good.
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Um, its not going to happen.
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Is that official ^ (fight off)<--- Rip Chico i only saw that fight because showtime had a free preview week glad i saw it.
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Mayweather and Gamboa trolling hard on the twitter machine. Was reading Top Rank is going to slap Mayweather with a lawsuit for toritus interference
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APPARENTLY...
Dirrell and Caballero have signed with Mayweather Promotions. If true, I guess dude really is serious about his company. Gotta admit, it's a step in the right direction...Vargas hasn't impressed me, and Latimore is a tomato can.
Still don't know how the hell he plans on getting Gamboa out of his TR contract, though...doubt it.
Dirrell and Caballero have signed with Mayweather Promotions. If true, I guess dude really is serious about his company. Gotta admit, it's a step in the right direction...Vargas hasn't impressed me, and Latimore is a tomato can.
Still don't know how the hell he plans on getting Gamboa out of his TR contract, though...doubt it.
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Dirrell and Caba HAVE indeed signed with Mayweather Promotions.
Caba even trains with Uncle Jeff
If anything it might be that (which I highly doubt is possible btw) Mayweather is going to try and buy out Gamboa's contract with Arena Box and TR.
And that's if Gamboa's claim that TR and Arena Box voided his contract somehow doesn't hold up in court.