Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

De La Hoya thinks Khan can become the “Next great champion”

By William Mackay: At the recent press conference with WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi to announce their May 15th fight at the Madison Square Garden in New York, Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya was positively gushing over his new Golden Boy fighter Khan, saying “We strongly feel Amir Khan can be the next great fighter to come out of England. He has a tough challenge in front of him, but we want to prove to the world he can become what we think he can become – that is a great champion.”


De La Hoya believes that he can make Khan a huge star in the United States and have him fighting the top fighters in boxing in a short time, such as Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. But for De La Hoya to do this, he’s going to have to be very careful in who he matches Khan against. The British fighter has already been knocked out in the 1st round in 2008 when he was matched against the tough Colombian Breidis Prescott.

Khan seems to do well against fighters with moderate to little power, but has problems against fighters who can bang a little bit. Khan has only been in with one fighter who can punch, and that’s Prescott. The results were negative for Khan. If De La Hoya is going to make a huge mega star out of Khan, he’s going to have to maneuver him skillfully through the landscape of the light welterweight division to avoid having Khan derailed again like he was against Prescott.

The light welterweight division is for the most part a weak division, hence Khan has already been able to pick up one of the four titles with a 12 round decision win over the weak-punching Andriy Kotelnik last year. However, for Khan to keep the WBA title, if that’s what De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions has in mind for him, he’s going to have to face some tough opponents like Marcos Maidana, Victor Ortiz and Victor Cayo.

Khan doesn’t have to fight Devon Alexander or Timothy Bradley, because both of them hold the other light welterweight titles. Of course, there will be a lot of people calling for Khan to fight a unification bout against Bradley and Alexander, but Khan technically doesn’t have to fight them and still would be able to hold down his WBA title without being stripped by the World Boxing Association.

However, Khan will have to face Ortiz, Maidana and Cayo at some point in the future. It’s anyone’s guess what will happen to Khan when he is eventually put in with them.

De La Hoya, speaking about the Khan-Malignaggi fight, says “We are witnessing history in the making. This event can be the fight of the year.” It could be, but with Malignaggi mostly a runner/spoiler type of fighter, I wouldn’t hold my breath on that happening. More likely, the Khan vs. Malignaggi fight will be an ugly affair, with both fighters doing a lot of running, holding and slapping with their punches. Khan isn’t a big puncher, although he’ll seem like it compared to the feather-fisted Malignaggi on May 15th.

Compared to the recent fights between Bradley and Lamont Peterson and Alexander and Juan Urango, I can’t see the Khan-Malignaggi fight showing the same kind of back and forth action as those fights. Khan doesn’t like to get hit and neither does Malignaggi. This could wind up as a really boring fight and a big turn off for Americans in Khan’s debut fight.

Share and Enjoy:

 

[heyzel]

Abraham vs. Dirrell: Andre won’t let Arthur get his shots off

By Scott Gilfoid: When you’re dealing with a fighter who has almost no hand speed or ability to move around the ring the last thing you want to do is make it easy on them by just standing in front of them to let them punch. This is why Andre Dirrell (18-1, 13 KO’s), an extraordinary boxer, won’t be making it easy on former International Boxing Federation middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (31-0, 25 KO’s) in their March 27th fight at the Joe Louis Arena, in Detroit, Michigan. Abraham, 30, obviously would like nothing better than for Dirrell to stand and trade shots with him at close range.


You can’t blame Abraham for that. He’s short, slow and doesn’t have a good ability to move around the ring without plodding or rushing awkwardly. That would be like a speedy Roy Jones Jr. type of fighters fighting in a small cage with a slow 300 pound football lineman. Why do that when a fighter like Dirrell has quick hands and an ability to move around the ring to create angles on the slow fighter.

We’re not talking about running here. Let’s be straight about this. Dirrell will not be running from Abraham, just as Dirrell wasn’t running against WBC super middleweight Carl Froch in their stage 1 Super Six tournament fight on October 17th in Froch’s home city of Nottingham, England. Froch fans, who may not be used to seeing an American with movement like Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali moving around the ring, but that wasn’t running.

It’s called boxing. Some of the fighters from Europe are going to have to get used to it and get up to speed in the 21st century. The sport has evolved in the past 40 years and Dirrell is what we call a modern fighter. Abraham is going to have to learn on the job on March 27th or else he’s going to get royally spanked by Dirrell for 12 one-sided rounds.

The problem for Abraham is that he’s going to have major problems trying to get his shots off. Abraham has been used to having his mostly European opposition stand directly in front of him, making it easy for him to find them with his slow punches. He fights like a mummy. Seriously, it’s like fighting a big bear and then making it easy for it to maul and claw you by just standing in front of it.

Every time I see one of Abraham’s fights in the past where his clueless opposition just stood in front of him, I want to scream and shake some sense into his opponents. None of them fought him correctly, not one, and that includes American Jermain Taylor. They all blew it by being there for Abraham and made it easy for him not to have to plod around the ring to find them.

Believe me, Abraham won’t be able to land his slow punches against Dirrell, because he isn’t going to be fighting him in a small box. Dirrell is going to use the entire ring and make Abraham use his short legs to find him. This is going to be a major mismatch for Dirrell, you can’t count on that

 

[heyzel]

Malignaggi says no one knows Khan in the U.S.

By William Mackay: Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO’s) sees himself as the main draw in his May 15th fight against World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO’s). In an article at the Guardian, Malignaggi says “[Khan’s] not known in the U.S. yet. He hasn’t fought in the U.S. yet, son how are they going to know him? Every time people come up to me and say Hey, Paulie, who are you going to fight? And I say Miguel Cotto or Ricky Hatton or Juan Diaz and the go ‘Wow.’ But when I say this guy’s [Khan] name, they say, ‘Who’s that?’ They ask is he a contender and I have to tell them he’s a world champion.”


Malignaggi, 29, seems to be clearly bothered by the fact that the 23-year-old Khan is being brought in to their fight at the Madison Square Garden in New York as the main attraction instead of him. Khan will be getting the bigger money, even though few people aside from hardcore boxing fans have even heard of Khan.

Additionally, HBO will be showing Khan’s fights in the future, as long as he keeps winning and can get by Malignaggi. It’s easy to see why Malignaggi bristles at Khan getting treated well and getting a lot of the attention.

However, what Malignaggi fails to see is that Khan has been a big fish in a small pond in England for the past five years since he turned pro after winning the Silver Medal in the 2004 Olympics.
Malignaggi points out that Khan hasn’t even fought anyone in the U.S., and feels that he and Khan are at the same level because of his inexperience at fighting here.

Malignaggi is overlooking that Khan has a bit more power than him, and has a little bit better hand speed. But beyond those two things, there’s not much to separate the two fighters other than Malignaggi’s better experience at higher age. Malignaggi feels that Khan will be known after their fight on May 15th, and that next time people see him in the U.S., they’ll see him as the fighter that was beaten by Malignaggi.

Khan isn’t happy with the trash talking that Malignaggi has done and vows to take it out on Malignaggi in the ring when they fight. Khan realizes it’s gamesmanship by Malignaggi, but says he doesn’t want to get involved with that kind of thing.

 

[heyzel]

Roach wants Pacquiao to fight Mayweather, but still seems resistant to blood testing

By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach is very interested in having Pacquiao fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. next, as long as Mayweather wins his next fight against Shane Mosley on May 1st. However, Roach’s attitude remains negative about the Olympic style random blood testing that Mayweather has been insisting on for Pacquiao to take before he will fight him. In an article at the Lasvegassun, Roach says “I don’t think Floyd is big enough to make the rules. We’re not going to do any rule he says. It’s like giving away the first two rounds to him [Mayweather]. It gives him confidence and we won’t do that.” Roach goes on to say that he is hoping that Mayweather finds himself in a bad situation financially to the point where he really needs money badly.


At that point, Roach thinks that Mayweather will come looking for Pacquiao and his management team to try and set up a fight. So in effect if Mayweather wants to fight Pacquiao, he’s going to have to do it without the random blood testing, as long as the commission doesn’t say that both fighters have to take blood testing.

This is disappointing because it was hoped that Pacquiao’s team would at least give in and agree to some kind of limited blood testing for the fight with Mayweather, but Roach seems to be saying that it’s going to have to be Mayweather who gives in and comes to them without the blood testing. Somehow, I don’t think Mayweather is going to do that.

Roach says that Pacquiao would be weak for three days after giving blood. However, if the blood taken is two weeks before the fight, it shouldn’t matter how weak Pacquiao is after that. He would then have two weeks to recover. If Pacquiao feels weak during his work outs for three days, I fail to see how Roach loses Pacquiao for three days. He’s still going to be there training, and will be as good as new three days later if what they say is true. That should be good then. Pacquiao, unless gets badly sick from having given blood, should be okay within three days. I don’t see the problem.

If Pacquiao wants to make the kind of big money that would come with a fight against Mayweather, he should work with Floyd on the blood testing issue so that the fight can be made. This is the only way the fight is going to happen, and Roach has it wrong in his head by thinking that Mayweather is trying to make the rules. Testing for drugs isn’t someone trying to make rules. Mayweather asked for this to be included in his contract for a fight with Pacquiao.

The $10 million penalty for every pound overweight that Pacquiao and his team came up during their negotiations with Mayweather wasn’t standard either, yet Mayweather agreed to it. Roach should realize this and work on trying to get his fighter Pacquiao to agree to the blood testing. At least that way we would have a fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather.

 

[heyzel]

Paul “The Punisher” Williams – Possible opponents

By Christopher Lowe: The self proclaimed most avoided man in boxing Paul Williams has a May 8th date on HBO, but no opponent has been named yet. I was looking through the possible match ups and wanted to get the opinion of the boxingnews24 readers. What makes things even more interesting is Williams has the ability to fight in several weight classes. I will throw out 4 names with a little back ground and see who the people would prefer. Keep in mind these names are only fighters who don’t have fights scheduled already.


Kermit Cintron 32-2-1 (28 KOs) Jr. Middleweight (154)

Cintron is the #3 ranked Jr. Middleweight by Ring Magazine. His only 2 defeats have come at the hands (illegally wrapped?) of Antonio Margarito at Welterweight. However that draw should have been a 3rd loss or at the very least have a huge asterisk next to it. Anyone who watched that fight seen Sergio Martinez caught him clean and Cintron didn’t answer the count. It was one of the strangest turn of events I personally every witnessed in boxing. Then Cintron came back with a big win over rising prospect Alfredo Angulo. That victory caused his stock to start rising again. With all that being said Cintron has more power than the other options and the best chance of making an action fight. If I am not mistaken Cintron is also the only boxer on this list to do business with HBO before as well. This could be a huge factor.

Felix Sturm 33-2-1 (14 KOs) Middleweight (160) WBA Champion

This is a fighter that I have little personal knowledge of honestly. He has only fought once in the United States against Oscar De La Hoya back in 2004. What makes this fight interesting to me is that Sturm carries the #1 Ring rank at Middleweight and the WBA belt. Now looking down the road this fight sets the table nicely for a Williams vs. Pavlik fight. If Williams where to defeat Sturm, which I think he would based on my limited incite of Sturm then it makes the Pavlik fight bigger. It would be a 3 belt unification match and possible middle tier pay per view at $35 if the undercard was right. So this fight is more about things to come than the actual event its self.

Vanes Martirosyan 27-0 (17 KOs) Jr. Middleweight (154)

I feel this fight is a stretch, but that speaks about the lack of options open. Martirosyan is the #9 ranked Jr. Middleweight at 23 years old. He doesn’t carry the experience to compete with Williams. In his last fight he defeated journey man Kassim Ouma by unanimous decision. Despite how the score cards read after 10 rounds it was far from easy for Vanes. It was apparent he struggled through out the fight and was dropped in round 9. If he was gassed after 10 rounds with Ouma I don’t know how he could manage to get through 12 with Williams. If Goossen and company reach out to Vanes hopefully Roach will advise his fighter to decline. Yes it would be an excellent opportunity and increased exposure, but at what cost?

Deandre Latimore 20-2 (16 KOs) Jr. Middleweight (154)

Latimore is out long shot as well because he is set to fight Sechew Powell on March 19th. Latimore has the #4 Jr. Middleweight ranking attached to his name and would be considered worthy of the chance against Williams. For any possible chance of him facing Williams he would have to dispose of Powell early and take little punishment. In their first fight Latimore claimed at 7th round TKO victory. It looks like to many things would have to fall into place perfectly in order for him to even consider Williams in May. That fight would be taking place only 7 weeks after the Powell contest. I do think that Latimore has the skills to make things interesting against Williams though. He can box and punch, so his camp could easily set up a plan A and B. I feel the date of May 8th is just too close to make this happen.

Thanks for taking the time to read and I look forward to see all your feed

 

[heyzel]

Khan expects to fight Pacquiao or Mayweather in the next 18 months – News

By William Mackay: World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KO’s) appears to be on the fast track to get big money fights against mega stars Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Khan, 23, has a fight coming up against former IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (27-3, 5 KO’s) on May 15th, at the Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York. This will be Khan’s debut fight in the United States, and Malignaggi, a fighter popular in the New York area, has been picked to give Khan an opponent that is fairly well known, at least by hardcore boxing fans.


Khan sees big things for himself in the future, saying in article at the Timesonline “They [Golden Boy Promotions] have laid out a plan that over the next 18 months I will be fighting the likes of Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather.”

One can’t blame Khan for wanting to fight those guys. After all, most fighters would want to fight Mayweather and Pacquiao because of the huge payday they would get. Never mind actually beating them. Just fighting Mayweather and Pacquiao is a guaranteed huge payday. But the question that has to be asked is who will Khan be fighting in the next 18 months for him to continue winning and moving forward with his career.

Khan has had problems with fighters that good power. He was stopped in the 1st round by Breidis Prescott in 2008. Khan has been carefully managed since then and put in with a variety of fighters, none of which could punch. Khan’s next opponent Malignaggi, a fighter with only five knockouts during his entire nine year pro career, is a prime example of that.

Will Khan continue to be put in with soft opposition so that he can get an eventual big money fight against Mayweather or Pacquiao? I don’t know how Khan can be shielded from the top light welterweights for the next year and half without him taking tremendous criticism from the boxing public. Khan, you would think, would have to step it up at some point and face someone like Timothy Bradley, Marcos Maidana, Victor Ortiz or Devon Alexander.

But he might not. 18 months isn’t that long of a time, and Khan’s handlers could in theory keep him away from Alexander, Bradley and Maidana until after Khan gets his shot against Pacquiao or Mayweather. Bradley and Alexander are both champions and aren’t in the position to force a fight against Khan. If they were highly ranked challengers, then they could become Khan’s mandatory challenger.

He would then have to force them or risk having his title stripped, but that’s not the case. As long as Khan doesn’t have to face them or a big puncher like Maidana or Ortiz, Khan could very hold onto his title for another 18 months until he gets a big money bout against the likes of Mayweather and Pacquiao. I don’t know how much longer he can get away with not fighting Maidana, though, because he’s the WBA light welterweight interim champion.

At some point within the next 18 months, Khan will have to fight him you would think unless Khan maybe gives Maidana a step aside fee to stay out of the way. Hopefully, Khan doesn’t do this and gets the Maidana out of the way as soon as he can. Supposedly, Golden Boy Promotions don’t want Khan to fight Maidana now because Maidana isn’t well known enough in the U.S.

They want to have his name built up more by having him fight more on HBO. However, with Khan looking at big names like Mayweather and Pacquiao, I don’t see it worthwhile to be stringing Maidana along for a fight that will still probably not be a huge money fight even a year from now.

For Maidana to become a big name, he has to fight opponents with a name to them, not fighters that fans have never heard of. Maidana is fighting Victor Cayo on March 27th on HBO. Few people, I’m willing to guess, have heard of Cayo other than hardcore fans. As such, Khan should take on Maidana and get the fight over with because it won’t be any bigger a year from now than it is now. However, I doubt he will, if at all.

 

[heyzel]

Bradley signs with HBO, will fight Abregu on June 26th – News

By Eric Thomas: WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO’s) has signed with HBO, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Bradley, 26, has been fighting on Showtime as of late. However, Showtime didn’t have him under contract, which enabled HBO to scoop him up for their network. This move should enable Bradley to be set up against other top light welterweights that HBO has been showing on their cable network, like Devon Alexander. For the time being, Bradley will be matched up with welterweight contender Luis Carlos Abregu (29-0, 23 KO’s) on June 26th.


This will be a non-title fight, because it will be held at welterweight. There was no other fighter available for that date, and HBO okayed Abregu for the Bradley fight, Rafael reports. Abregu, 27, is a slugger with good power and with little ability on defense. Abregu recently defeated Richard Gutierrez by a 10 round unanimous decision in February 2010, in a fight in which both Abregu and Gutierrez were knocked down.

Other than the Gutierrez fight, Abregu has faced only a couple of notable fighters, beating Irving Garcia and David Estrada. Abregu barely beat Estrada and looked totally gassed in the last three rounds of his 10 round split decision win in December 2008. At 5’10”, Abregu will have a four inch height advantage over the 5’6” Bradley.

Bradley is hoping to fight the best fighters in the light welterweight. Provided that he gets by Abregu in one piece, Bradley will be looking to take on fighters like Alexander, Marcos Maidana, Amir Khan. The good thing about Bradley signing with HBO is that it will be easier for him to get a fight against the top light welterweights, because HBO has Alexander, Maidana and Khan already fighting on their network, to it shouldn’t be hard for Bradley to get a fight against them.

In his last fight, Bradley dominated light welterweight contender Lamont Peterson, beating him by a 12 round decision in December. Bradley looked to be on his way to victory in a no contest with Nate Campbell last year in August. The fight was stopped because of a bad cut over the eight eye of Campbell due to a head butt. Bradley also has wins over Junior Witter, Miguel Vazquez, Edner Cherry, and Kendall Holt. Bradley would like to fight Alexander, who recently defeated IBF light welterweight champion Juan Urango by an 8th round stoppage last weekend.

 

[heyzel]

Margarito will be watching Pacquiao-Clottey, says he wants to fight Pacquiao

By Jim Dower: Antonio Margarito (37-6, 27 KO’s) says in an article at the Los Angeles Times he plans on attending this Saturday’s fight between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, because he wants to set up a fight with Pacquiao in the future. Margarito, 31, hasn’t fought since losing his World Boxing Association welterweight title to Shane Mosley in January 2009. Before the fight, a plaster-like substance was found on his hand wraps. Margarito later on lost his boxing license to the California Athletic Commission.


Margarito’s license was revoked for one year, and as of now, he still doesn’t have his license back. However, he can still fight Pacquiao in the future if the Filipino star is willing to fight Margarito out of the country. Margarito says “I’m definitely here to help make that fight; I want that fight to happen. Everyone in Mexico wants to see me fight Pacquiao.”

It’s unclear how Pacquiao would feel about fighting Margarito, especially if he had to travel to Margarito’s home country to make the fight. However, Margarito has one thing going for him in trying to land a fight with Pacquiao – he shares the same promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank. Arum likes Margarito and has stuck by his sides throughout the entire ordeal over the hand wraps. Arum wants to match Margarito up with Pacquiao and is hoping to make the fight happen in the near future.

If it does take place, it could wind up in one of the large Mexican stadiums that fit 100,000 people. Margarito is well liked in Mexico, and this is a fight that would really well in Mexico. Margarito plans on fighting for the first time in over a year on May 8th, when he faces Carson Jones in Mexico. Margarito was hoping to have gotten his boxing license back by now, but it’s looking like he’s going to have to wait longer to get it back.

But in the meantime, Margarito isn’t going to sit and wait any longer. He’s done his year and plans on continuing his boxing career. A fight against Pacquiao could be a real possibility, perhaps as early as 2011 if the Filipino star doesn’t go into politics and retire from the sport. Pacquiao will likely face the winner of the Mayweather vs. Shane Mosley bout coming up in May. If that fight can’t be put together for whatever reason, there may be a chance for Margarito.

Arum would like to make that fight happen, and aside from Mayweather-Pacquiao or Mosley-Pacquiao, it could be the next biggest bout that can be put together at this time. Margarito has a huge fan base in Mexico, so a fight against Pacquiao would be a big attraction over there and even in the United States. There are other options for Pacquiao besides Mayweather, Mosley and Margarito. He could face WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero, but the problem with that is Valero isn’t well known yet in the United States and isn’t a big star in Mexico either. Valero comes from Venezuela and has fought a good portion of his career in Japan.

 

[heyzel]

Arum and Roach prefer Pacquiao to fight Mosley next

By Chris Williams: If Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and trainer Freddie Roach had their ways, World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao would be facing WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley next and not unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. Both Roach and Arum see it easier to deal with Mosley and set up a fight compared to Mayweather, who will likely ask for Olympic style random blood testing to be done before he’ll step in the ring with Pacquiao.


Roach also believes that a fight between Mosley and Pacquiao would be much more of a boxing fan friendly fight, because of Mosley’s tendency to go toe to toe with his opponents. There’s no question that Mosley would be trying to slug it out with Pacquiao all night long rather than boxing from the outside like Mayweather will probably do. Despite his wanting Pacquiao to fight Mosley, Roach is realistic about what the fans want to see. He acknowledges that most fans care more to see Mayweather vs. Pacquiao rather than Mosley vs. Pacquiao. Roach says that he thinks that Mayweather will beat Mosley when they meet on May 1st at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Roach believes that Mayweather’s movement will cause problems for Mosley, who doesn’t do well against fighters that move a lot.

The problem with Arum and Roach’s wanting Mosley to fight Pacquiao is that it’s not likely to happen. Mosley is 38-years-old and probably not going to do well enough to beat Mayweather. Arum and Roach are going to have to deal with that, accept it and try to get their fighter Pacquiao to agree to the random blood testing that Mayweather wants. This is the fight that fans really care about.

If Arum and Roach become stubborn and unyielding about that issue and leave it up to the Athletic Commission to decide, then they might as say they don’t want Pacquiao to fight Mayweather, because the blood testing is part of the deal with setting up a fight with Mayweather. If Arum, Roach and Pacquiao want the truly huge money that comes with a fight against Mayweather, then they have to be willing to make some minor sacrifices about random blood testing.

They can wish all they want that Mosley comes out on top, but it’s probably going to leave them feeling frustrated in the end when Mayweather comes out on top. It would be better for Arum and Roach to accept that Mayweather will probably win, and start early trying to make Pacquiao understand the importance of him taking the random blood tests that Mayweather is asking for.

Pacquiao will have to face the fear of having blood taken from him, but once he realizes that it’s not logical for a fighter to be weak from having small amounts of blood taken from him, he should be okay with taking the fight. Arum and Roach should put Mosley completely out of their mind and focus entirely on Mayweather. He’s the one that will likely win, and besides that, he’s the one that boxing fans want to see.

Mosley is a nice guy, but if boxing fans don’t care to see him, then why waste time wanting Pacquiao to fight him? They already have Pacquiao fighting Joshua Clottey this Saturday night. Although there are a lot of people coming to see the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, this fight hasn’t generated a lot of interest mainly because Clottey is an unknown fighter, and is coming off a loss in his last fight to Miguel Cotto.

It’s a credit to Pacquiao that he’ll probably bring in good pay per view numbers, but those numbers for the Clottey fight are nothing compared to what they would have been had Pacquiao fought Mayweather. That’s the fight that boxing fans care about.

 

[heyzel]

Overall the Pacman-Clottey Card Proves Disappointing

By Paul Strauss: One of the biggest attractions of the night was Cowboys Stadium itself, located in Arlington, Texas. Those in attendance and the ringside announcers were wide-eyed about it and gushing over it's size and tres cher.

Max Kellerman had the cameraman follow him up into the far reaches of the huge facility, so he could illustrate how small the ring looked from the "standing room only" area where folks shelled out about $85 for parking and the privilege to stand around! They were on the ends of the oval too, so they didn't even get to view the enormous television screen. But, according to Max, they were happy.

The lineup for the night seemed to hold promise. It started with John Duddy versus Michael Medina. At one time Duddy symbolized action and excitement, and many times ingredients of his fights included knockouts or at least some blood. That wasn't the case Saturday. Almost the entire night lacked intensity, and that seemed to carry over into the other bouts as well. The primary concern of most of the fighters seemed to be "touching gloves" at the end of each round? Someone needed to tell these guys that they weren't there to spar.

Duddy came away with a majority decision, but failed to build confidence in viewers that he was a threat to capture any kind of a title. Emanuel Steward offered the opinion that Duddy no longer seemed capable of deciding whether he was a boxer or puncher, and because of that indecision, seemed to be caught in between. His punches lacked steam, and he was fortunate to come away with a split decision.

Jose Luis Castillo was the big disappointment of the night. There was no "El Terrible" on this night. He looked old, slow and small in comparison to Alfonzo Gomez. Castillo failed to show any signs of having that great left hook to the body and head. His reflexes were left in the past, as well as his desire. It seemed as though he was content in having a payday, so he quit in the fifth round! Gomez ends up with the WBC Continental Americas welter weight title, better known as the WBIT (what belt is that?).

The semi-main event was for a legitimate lightweight title, but once again fell short. The "Crafty Little Fox" Humberto Soto managed to drop David Diaz early and keep him stymied for much of the fight.

In the past, Diaz was usually able to weather the best his opponents had to offer and wear them down to a point where he could take over the action and start to issue his own punishment. Physically, he looked the bigger and stronger of the two, which made sense since Soto was moving up in weight. But, speed wins fights, and every time Diaz stepped things up and gave the impression that he was finally starting to tire out Soto, the illusion would get destroyed with another sharp series of shots from Soto. The first knockdown early in the fight was from a clean hard two punch combination right on the chin. In the later rounds when Diaz made one final effort to pull the fight out, he got overwhelmed with a flurry of punches, and again went down. Soto clearly deserved the UD and the WBC lightweight title that goes along with it.

The main event showcased Manny Pacquiao's unbelievable abilities, but it also disappointed fans, because it was so one-sided. The Grand Master (Clottey) was more like Bud Bundy from "Married with Children", than he was like an expert chess champion. It was obvious he had no intention of risking anything. He wanted to go the distance, and that's about all he accomplished. Because of Clottey's failure to excite, Jim Lampley offered his best impression of John Madden by providing sound effects to go along with Manny's attack. Jim would yell "Bang Bang Bang" with each punch. You expected him to throw in a couple of bings, and zwoowies as well, or maybe a cartoon caption should have appeared above the heads of the fighters.

When asked by Max Kellerman why he wasn't willing to take any chances and fight back, Clottey simply stated the Pacman was too fast! Thankfully, he also admitted that he lost the fight, reminding the audience that he still disputes his other two losses to Cotto and Margarito.

Always the gentleman, Manny said it was a very tough fight and that Clottey was a tough opponent. What he really meant was Clottey was a frustrating opponent, content to lock up his goodies for the night. It's likely Clottey will still be peeing a little blood though, because he couldn't keep everything covered all of the time.

So, Clottey's big talk about putting Manny in the hospital proved to be just that........talk! Manny needed a little ice on a "mouse" under the right eye, but once he got his wind back from throwing over 1200 punches, he should have been able to go off and serenade his fans

 

[heyzel]

What Next For Pacquiao And Clottey?

by James Slater - First of all, as all those fans who saw last night's fight will surely agree, Ghana's Joshua Clottey deserves a huge amount of praise for the way he was able to tough out the full 12-rounds with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao. The way the 32-year-old former IBF welterweight champ was able to take the vicious body shots Pac-Man was landing on him all night was quite remarkable - indeed, Clottey showed not so much an iron chin as an iron midsection!

Still, despite his toughness, Clottey never came close to winning last night, losing every single round on one of the official scorecards ( 120-108 being the way I had it for what it's worth). Concentrating almost purely on defence against the lethal southpaw, Clottey managed to let only a few good shots go; his left jab, left uppercut to the chin and the occasional right hand to the face bringing cheers from the enthusiastic crowd. Other than that, it was Pacquiao's night all the way, and the question now is what next for the Filipino and also what does the future hold for the man from Accra?

Pacquiao has spoken of perhaps retiring from boxing so as to go into politics full time, while after the soreness he is no doubt currently feeling in his body wears off, Clottey may well opt to call it quits also.. In an ideal world, neither guy will quit; Pacquiao because he is simply the best fighter of his era, perhaps even one of the best in boxing history, and Clottey because he has proven his worth and is deserving of another big fight if he wants it.

In an even more ideal world, we fans will get to see Pacquiao fight on and face the winner of May 1st's ultra-intriguing Shane Mosley-Floyd Mayweather Junior clash. Looking quite unbeatable right now and coming off a truly commanding win over one of the biggest, strongest and bravest welterweights in the sport, Pacquiao would have to be made (in my opinion) a favourite over either "Money" or "Sugar."

Seemingly getting even better at age 31 and as a 147-pounder - Manny not having struggled in any fight since he made the move up from 130-pounds - Pacquiao is too great to leave the sport now. But will the winner of Mosley-Mayweather want to face him? You can bet money on Mosley agreeing to the fight if he can take the O from the end of Mayweather's record and replace it with a 1, but if Floyd wins we may have to, as Bob Arum puts it, "go through that nonsense again."

Arum, as if you needed reminding, is referring to the random drug tests Mayweather and his team demanded Pacquiao take pre-fight. So, from a fan standpoint, it will be better if Mosley wins on May 1st. Maybe a Pacquiao-Mosley fight lacks some of the fascination a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight has attached to it, but Mosley against the #1 superstar of boxing is a huge and exciting match-up all by itself.

Basically, unless he does decide to retire at the very top, Pacquiao has only the winner of the May fight to look at as a serious option. And if this fight can be made in, say, September or October of this year and if Manny does as I feel he will and wins it, what a perfect way for him to exit the sport!

With the great Manny Pacquiao, it really is a case of enjoying him while you can.

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao’s Legend Continues To Grow

By Sean Ocampo: Pound for Pound King Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KO) successfully defended his WBO Welterweight Championship with a dominant twelve round decision victory over former IBF Welterweight Champion Joshua “Grandmaster” Clottey (35-4-0, 20 KO) of Accra, Ghana in front of a massive crowd of 50,994 at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The scores were 120-108, 119-109, and 119-109 all in favor of Pacquiao.

Pacquiao’s work rate proved too much for Clottey for twelve rounds. Pacquiao landed 246 of 1,231 punches compared to Clottey’s 108 of 399, according to CompuBox.

Pacquiao took advantage of Clottey’s defensive style by ripping the Ghanaian with hard shots to the body. His sustained attack and blazing hand speed against Clottey was his key to this victory.

Clottey was on the defensive for twelve rounds by just keeping his guard high. His best round of the fight was the 6th round wherein caught Pacquiao with good counters to head and body. However, he never really got it going after that and was backed up by Pacquiao all throughout the rest of the fight.

The win over Clottey could probably set-up a match with the winner of the May 1st bout between undefeated boxing star Floyd Mayweather, Jr and WBA Welterweight Champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley later this year.

 

[heyzel]

Devon Alexander: “I see Pacquiao winning pretty easy

by Geoffrey Ciani: This past week’s edition of On the Ropes featured an exclusive interviews with Devon Alexander, Travis Simms, Steve Forbes, and Edwin Rodriguez. Highlighting this week’s episode was a nice chat with the WBC/IBF unified junior welterweight champion. Here are some excerpts from that interview:

On his performance in his recent victory against Juan Urango:
“It was a great performance—the best performance I’ve ever had. People who know me know I’m my own worst critic and I consider this a good performance for myself.”

On becoming a unified champion with that victory:

“Now that I got a chance to think about what I just accomplished, I mean it’s big. It’s a blessing. To see where I came from, north St. Louis, and now it’s just amazing. Who, let alone, wins one belt—I won two belts, so it’s amazing..”



Regarding the uppercut that dropped Juan Urango:
“I trained hard for this fight. I trained hard to go fifteen rounds if I have to and we also worked on my power in the gym and sitting down and actually turning my power over. Me and my coach had a game plan where we knew he was going to come forward and we knew he was going to brawl. So we knew if we could do a subtle movement to the left or to the right, we were going to be able to catch him with the uppercut. So that’s what I did.”

On whether he believed he had hurt Urango at any point prior to the first knockdown:
“Well, in the second round I hit him with an uppercut and that’s what opened his nose to start bleeding so I knew I had some pop and I know he felt the pop because I busted his nose so I knew in his mind, he knew I could hit.”

On whether Urango hurt him at any point during the fight:
“To be honest, and I would say if Juan Urango hit me with a good shot it hurt, but to be honest, Juan Urango did not hurt me at all in that fight. I was very, very surprised at his power that it wasn’t there. I didn’t see what the big fuss was about.”

His views on the upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley:
“Oh man, that fight can go either way, but you know one thing—Shane is going to make Mayweather fight more than what Mayweather wants to do because Mayweather’s the type of fighter now that he just wants to win and he doesn’t want to take any chances. Shane’s going to make him take chances.”

Regarding Manny Pacquiao’s fight with Joshua Clottey:
“I think Pacquiao is going to be too fast for him and Pacquiao’s not going to be sitting there for him to do that cover up defense he has. Clottey’s going to have to punch if he’s going to have a chance or Pacquiao’s going to throw punches all night until he wins a decision. Clottey’s going to have to work hard and throw punches with Pacquiao, but I see Pacquiao winning that pretty easy if he’s going to come in there with the blocking defense that he uses.”

***

Next up, we had a nice conversation with super middleweight prospect Edwin Rodriguez. Here are a couple of excerpts from that one:

Regarding his preparations for his upcoming fight March 19 against George Armenta:
“I had a fight January 30 on the under card of Sugar Shane Mosley and Andre Berto, and that fight got called off, so I’ve been working out fourteen weeks now for this fight and I’m in tremendous shape and I’m waiting for the opportunity to be on ESPN and show the world my talent.”

His views on the Super Six super middleweight tournament:
“Since day one, Andre Ward was my favorite pick. I think he’s a complete fighter—speed, power, and he could adapt to any style. I think he had a great fight against Mikkel Kessler who was my other favorite, and every fight is an emotional-filled fight. I’m happy that boxing brought that to all the fans.”

On the upcoming fight between Pacquiao and Clottey:
“I think Pacquiao is obviously one of the best fighters right now, and I think it’s going to be a better fight than most people think it is. This guy’s going to be there and he has a tremendous defense and Joshua Clottey is a good fighter and it’s going to go twelve rounds. He might lose a close decision, but I can see an upset.”

***

Next up, we had former IBF super featherweight champion Steve Forbes who acted as a sparring partner for Manny Pacquiao in his preparations for Joshua Clottey. Here are a few things Steve had to say:

On his controversial loss last weekend against Harrison Cuello:
“It was a pretty easy fight. I mean no fight is easy, but I dictated the pace I think I had him out about three times in the fight, and he was one of those guys that was more of a survivor so I figured he’s not going to go out, I’m just going to win. After the fight I am talking to Steve Smoger the ref, and he said ‘Oh it’s good to have you back at 140 pounds’ and I was telling him I would have loved the knockout but I’ll take the win how I can get it and then here come the scores—and they announced Harrison the winner. I was shocked. To this day, I don’t know who I may have upset or what judges I bumped into and didn’t say excuse me or what, but I don’t know what happened. I really don’t know what happened.”

On his experiences training with Manny Pacquiao:
“I knew he was strong, I mean seeing what he was doing, but what surprised me about him is he’s got boxing ability, better than what people think. It seems like he’s improving from even fights I’ve seen of him about a year or so ago. He boxes a lot better, he places his punches pretty good, and he’s active. He’s in tremendous shape. This is a few weeks ago and he was ready to do twelve rounds, so I can imagine by fight time he will be in even better shape. He really surprised me with his boxing ability. He really uses angles good and he’s a smart boxer—smarter than what people think. They think he’s just a brawler, but no—he’s become a technician much more.”

On how he thinks Pacquiao will perform against Clottey:
“I think that from sheer activity, I can see him overwhelming Clottey because one thing I noticed about Clottey is if you punch, he doesn’t punch—he covers up and waits for you to finish and I think when Manny Pacquiao starts bringing those shots from everywhere, and different angles, and turning—you could probably see a stoppage sometime late, I say round 7, 8, 9 in the fight—just on activity

 

[heyzel]

Who Is Celestino Caballero? My Thoughts And In the Champs Own Words

By Jody Kohn - Welcome to the second of my weekly updates and interviews with Super Bantamweight Champion Celestino Caballero. In doing this project, I hope to offer more than a series of interviews that have the same questions and answers that you can read in almost any other interview you come across. Instead, I want to give the reader insight into the life of a boxing champion both in and out of the ring. As I go forward, I will start to focus more on Pelenchin's desire to promote himself in this market, as well as sharing his experiences living in a new country that does not offer him the same level of recognition he enjoys in Panama.

Talking to Pelenchin inside of a cheesy Las Vegas souvenir shop as our wives looked for some trinkets to take back to Panama on their upcoming return home, I realized something about him that is hard for most Americans like myself to understand. I told him that winning his upcoming fight with Duan Yordan would surely get him much bigger paydays in the very near future. He agreed, but immediately said that what it would really mean to him is that he would get more opportunities to prove to the world that he is the best. He has said repeatedly in interviews and in casual conversations that to him it is not about the money. Sure the money is nice, but he is doing it to prove that he has put in the work necessary to be among the best in his craft. He is doing it for himself, his family, and his country. He wants the world to know that he came from a ghetto in Colon and he has made himself into a world champion. That all sounded great, and it wasn't that I didn't believe him, but it just never really rang home until then..

Then I realized who I was dealing with. Here was a guy who was staying in a place that most of us would consider beneath us. He doesn't have transportation here. Jeff or I give him rides to and from the gym. He needs to walk almost a mile to go shopping and gets to carry all those heavy bags all the way back to his room. He rarely gets out unless my wife and I drag him out. None of this fazes him a bit. Of course, growing up as poorly as he did, all of this must seem like paradise. No luxuries are visible inside of his place, unless you consider a laptop a luxury. For him, focusing on being the best boxer he can be is all that matters. Still, he knows that boxing is a business.

As he nears 34, Caballero knows his time to capitalize on his talents is growing short. In Panama, being a celebrity brings you the adoration of the entire nation, but not necessarily the money to go with it. There are not the outside opportunities to cash in that stars in the United States or Europe often enjoy. Being married to a former Panamanian celebrity, I know this as well as anyone. So a guy like Pelenchin needs to explore opportunities here in the United States. He has begun working with a firm that will focus on promoting him to the American market. His website, www.Pelenchin.com is set to open any day now, and he has opened a twitter account (CPelenchinC) to interact with boxing fans. He hopes that through these and other projects he is working on, he will be able to expand his fan base.

The following interview was conducted on March 11, in his apartment. It followed his training session in Richard Steele's Boxing Club.






JK- Thanks again Pelenchin for taking time out of your schedule for the readers of Eastsideboxing.com

CC- It's no problem

JK- How did you begin your boxing career?

CC- My family was very poor when I was growing up in Colon. One day we had no food to eat and the arena next to my house was having boxing matches. They asked me if I would like to fight for $5. I said yes so I could buy some food for us. After this night, I knew that I had to be a champion boxer.

JK- What do you know about your upcoming opponent Duan Yordan?

CC- I do not know much at all. I have seen a little of him on tape. I am just training very hard right now with Jeff. We will work together and come up with the correct plan to win this fight.

JK- Has the contract been finalized yet?

CC- Right now we are reviewing the contract. If everything looks good, we will sign it very shortly.

JK- Have there been any promises made to you about any future opponents after this fight?

CC- None. After I win this fight I want to start negotiations on another fight immediately. Nothing has been offered yet. But I want to fight the best fighters available.

JK- What are some of the advantages you will enjoy as a fighter at 126 lbs?

CC- I will still be a very big fighter in this weight class. Fighters will have a lot of problems with me. And there are a lot of fighters at 126 that do not have my credentials, but have a bigger name. I want to show them that I am better than all of them.

JK- How much longer do you see yourself boxing?

CC- Maybe 3 more years until I retire. I want to retire young and as a champion.

JK-What does your daily training routine consist of?

CC- I get up very early and run between 1 and 2 hours depending on the day. Then after lunch I go to the gym. There I train for 3 hours. I do a lot of cardio, pad work, and sparring.

JK- What does your diet consist of?

CC- Really I eat a little of everything. I just do it in small portions. I try to avoid rice, though. No soda, alcohol, and limited amounts of fatty foods.

JK- OK, Pelenchin, enough with these softball questions. I want to get to the serious stuff. The things that people really want to know.

CC- OK.

JK- Do you sing in the shower? and if so, do you sing your own songs?

CC- (laughs) I love to sing in the shower. I just kind of make stuff up, nothing specific. Whatever comes into my head. None of my songs.

JK- Who would win if you and Jeff were to have a match right now?

CC- (laughs again) Obviously, I would win.

JK- How?

CC- KO round 1

JK- What is your biggest pet peeve?

CC- I hate when I see a sink full of dirty dishes.

(Note: He was having trouble coming up with one, but his wife had no trouble reminding him this was a huge problem for him. He quickly agreed.)

JK- What is one food that you could never give up?

CC- Tea and bread. I could never live without these things.

JK- Finally, what do you think about living in Las Vegas?

CC- I like Las Vegas. I am very comfortable here. I really enjoy training with Jeff. He is very nice to me. God willing, I want to finish my career working with Jeff. We have great chemistry. Vegas is a very interesting city. Someday I hope to own a home here.

After the interview, we headed out to do a little shopping. In the couple weeks I have been around them, the Caballeros have grown more acclimated to their new environment. Celestino is acting more like one of the "guys" than he had previously. I think being a superstar in his country has conditioned him to act in a certain manner, much as stars do here in the United States. Now he more freely throws out jokes such as telling me how we were both going to be in trouble once our Panamanian wives saw that we were watching a concert on stage that featured some very scantily clad girls singing and dancing as only girls in Vegas can. He was right, we were. Any husband of a Panamanian can vouch for the unparalleled jealousy of a Panamanian wife.

This brief setback aside, he and his wife obviously enjoy time spent together that was not possible in Panama. Walking with him around town and not having people constantly steal her moments with him is a new experience. While he may never reach the level of fame that a Floyd Mayweather Jr. enjoys, you wonder how much longer Pelenchin will be a complete unknown now that he has set his sites on the American market.

 

[heyzel]

15 Upcoming Fight Predictions: Pacquiao-Clottey & More

by Geoffrey Ciani - Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium, pound for pound King Manny Pacquiao is set to square off against highly regarded welterweight contender Joshua Clottey. This starts a long stretch of good fights already scheduled for the coming months which should represent a very exciting time for boxing fans. With so many good fights on the near horizon, it feels as if 2010 is now finally underway. Here is my take on some of the action we will see unfold in the near future.

Jean Pascal vs. Chad Dawson (for the WBC light heavyweight title)
August 14, 2010
The Bell Centre—Montreal, Canada
Jean Pascal’s title will be on the line in this one and it should be a good one. Pascal is a live underdog especially since he will be fighting on his home turf. He has exhibited tremendous heart and skill in recent bouts and should provide a tough test for Dawson. In fact, aside from Bernard Hopkins and possibly Tavoris Cloud, there is not a fighter south of cruiserweight I would give a better chance at beating Dawson. Unfortunately for Pascal, Dawson really seems to be coming into his own as an elite level fighter..
Prediction: Dawson by unanimous decision

Yuri Foreman vs. Miguel Cotto (for the WBA junior middleweight title)
June 5, 2010
Yankee Stadium—Bronx, New York
This could be a tougher fight for Cotto than most people are expecting. Many observers questioned whether Cotto had ever recovered mentally from the beating he suffered at the hands of Antonio Margarito. Since then he scored a razor-thin victory against Joshua Clottey in a fight that many people (myself included) thought Clottey deserved to win. After that, he suffered an even worse beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. Cotto’s father also passed away earlier this year after suffering a heart attack. Will Cotto be mentally strong for this fight? Only time will tell, but it is also important to remember that Cotto will be making his debut appearance in the 154 pound weight class. On paper, Yuri Foreman might seem like safe opponent but given Cotto’s recent circumstances this could be a tough contest. At the end of the day, I think Cotto’s superior skills and home crowd advantage will ultimately see him pull out a close one.
Prediction: Cotto by split decision

Nate Campbell vs. Victor Ortiz
May 15, 2010
Madison Square Garden—New York, New York
Victor Ortiz has not been the same fighter since losing to Marcos Maidana. Yes, he has won two fights since then, both inside the distance, but he no longer resembles the relentless fighter we previously saw working his way up through the rankings. He has become more reluctant to engage and it appears as if his confidence level is way down. This is bad news against a skilled veteran like Nate Campbell.
Prediction Campbell via 6th round TKO

Amir Khan vs. Paulie Malignaggi (for the WBA junior welterweight title)
May 15, 2010
Madison Square Garden—New York, New York
This will be Amir Khan’s first fight in America and it will take place in Malignaggi’s own back yard. This is a very intriguing match-up that should tell us a lot about where both fighters stand in the talented-rich 140 pound weight class. On one hand, Khan is a bit of an unknown mystery, and on the other, Malignaggi is very inconsistent in his performance. Khan was once stopped in a single round by Breidis Prescott, but he seems to have improved since pairing up with trainer Freddie Roach and Malignaggi is not known as a big puncher. That makes this seem like a relatively safe match-up for Khan. Malignaggi, however, is a very good boxer when he stays focused. He is the naturally bigger guy, he has more experience in the division, and he has made noticeable improvement himself since pairing up with his new trainer, Sharif Younan. If Malignaggi can remain focused for a full twelve rounds without resorting to any clowning tactics, he can (and should) win. Unfortunately for Malignaggi, I don’t think he can help himself—he loves clowning around inside the ring too much and this time, I think it will cost him.
Prediction Khan via controversial split decision

Sugar Shane Mosley vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (for the WBA welterweight title)
May 1, 2010
The MGM Grand—Las Vegas, Nevada
I am in the minority on this one—I believe Mosley will beat Mayweather. Not only do I believe Mosley will be victorious, but I also believe he will win in dominant fashion. Many of you reading this will be surprised by Mosley’s performance come fight night, but not me. I will get into all of this in greater detail in a future article. For now, I will simply state that Nazim Richardson is the x-factor. Not only is he a world class trainer who will undoubtedly derive a quality fight plan but he has also helped rejuvenate Shane’s career.
Prediction Mosley by sixth round stoppage

Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler (for the WBC super middleweight title)
April 24, 2010
MCH Messecenter Center—Herning, Denmark
This is probably the most interesting match-up in round two of the Super Six Tournament. Kessler is coming off of a humbling loss at the hands of Andre Ward and Froch is coming off of a close, somewhat controversial victory against Andre Dirrell. Kessler’s confidence has to be way down after that fight. Many perceived him as the best super middleweight in the world before he was thoroughly outclassed by Andre Ward in every facet of the game. Froch is one of the most confident fighters out there and this in itself could cause Kessler some problems. Froch, however, is not as slick as Ward and not as good as Calzaghe. Once Kessler settles in and finds his groove, he will soon realize this is a very favorable clash of styles—so long as the Ward loss did not leave him doubting his abilities.
Prediction Mikkel Kessler by unanimous decision

Andre Ward vs. Allan Green (for the WBA super middleweight title)
April 24, 2010
Oakland, California
Allan Green enters this tournament as the replacement for Jermain Taylor. This means he is coming in with a nothing-to-lose attitude and this could make him a dangerous opponent for Ward. Green felt disrespected that he was not included as part of this tournament from the onset and will most likely enter this contest with a strong desire to prove his worth. Unfortunately for Green, he is going up against the best super middleweight in the world and no amount of determination will overcome that.
Prediction Ward by unanimous decision

Tomasz Adamek vs. Chris Arreola
April 24, 2010
Citizens Business Bank Arena—Ontario, California
This is another interesting match-up. Adamek is a fighter whose heart cannot be questioned. He is determined, focused, and always gives his best. Arreola, on the other hand, rarely gives it his best—as evidenced by his poor conditioning practices which are on full display whenever he enters the ring. Adamek is a former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion. In his last fight, he beat Jason Estrada but it never looked easy. Estrada was competitive and even appeared to hurt Adamek once late in the fight. Adamek has also since parted ways with his trainer Andrew Gmitruk due to health issues. Adamek is now being trained by Ronnie Shields. Although Adamek is the much more talented fighter—the bottom line is he is not quite big enough to compete against the top dogs at heavyweight—especially without Gmitruk in his corner. Then again, if anyone has the heart to overcome these physical disadvantages—it’s Adamek.
Prediction Arreola by 10th round TKO

Kelly Pavlik vs. Sergio Martinez (for the WBC & WBO middleweight titles)
April 17, 2010
Boardwalk Hall—Atlantic City, New Jersey
Sergio Martinez has had a couple of tough outcomes in recent bouts. For starters, his fight with Kermit Cintron was inexplicably ruled a draw. This was a fight Sergio deserved to win three different times during the course of the same fight. After that, he lost a very close decision against Paul Williams in a bout where viewers seemed evenly split. When I first heard about this fight being made, I was leaning towards Pavlik—but after giving it more thought, I now believe Martinez will pull it off. Pavlik has not seemed like the same fighter since suffering a one-sided loss at the hands of Bernard Hopkins. Martinez is not on the same level as Hopkins, but he is a slick fighter with good movement who can counter-punch. I believe he can emulate the Hopkins blue print and execute just well enough to squeak by with a narrow victory.
Prediction Martinez by close decision, possibly split

Bernard Hopkins vs. Roy Jones Jr. Rematch
April 3, 2010
The Mandalay Bay Casino—Las Vegas, Nevada
When Jones and Hopkins first fought back in 1993 who would have thought they would be having a rematch seventeen years later? That this fight is even happening is a bit baffling considering Jones was stopped in a single round last time out by the unheralded Danny Green. Even forgetting the Green fight, this match-up still seems peculiar. Hopkins has continued fighting at an elite level whereas Jones has been fading and feeding on hand-picked opponents. Every time Jones has stepped up in class over the past six years, he has lost—and he is going to lose to Hopkins. Although this fight has some significance in terms of legacy, it means little in terms of the current boxing landscape. Hopkins is still a major player, Jones isn’t—it’s that simple.
Prediction Hopkins by tenth round stoppage

David Haye vs. John Ruiz (for the WBA heavyweight title)
April 3, 2010
The M.E.N. Arena—Manchester, England
It is kind of amazing that John Ruiz is once again the WBA #1 mandatory. It almost seems as if he is a permanent fixture when it comes to having that distinction. This will be Haye’s first title defense since winning the crown from Nicolay Valuev in a fight that was very close and could have gone either way. Ruiz is probably a bit better than Valuev who has aged very poorly in recent years. This is a fight that Ruiz could win and it might even wind up being a fight that he should win, but he will not win. Expect Ruiz to keep this one both ugly and competitive.
Prediction Haye by a controversial unanimous decision

Arthur Abraham vs. Andre Dirrell
March 27, 2010
The Joe Louis Arena—Detroit, Michigan
A lot of people (myself included) feel that Dirrell deserved the decision against Carl Froch. However, Dirrell did not help his own cause too much by throwing too few punches. Now Dirrell is facing off against one of the Super Six favorites, Arthur Abraham, who is coming off an impressive stoppage victory over Jermain Taylor. Abraham is the safe pick here. It is reasonable to assume that he will land a big shot somewhere along the line and that will be all she wrote. Dirrell, however, has the style to out box Abraham. He is slick, quick, and knows how to use the ring to his advantage. I do not expect him to make the same types of mistakes he made with Froch. If he can remain focused for twelve full rounds and neutralize the explosive power of Abraham, he should win this. It is also worth noting that this will be the first time Abraham has faced a true super middle.
Prediction Dirrell by unanimous decision

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Eddie Chambers (for the IBF & WBO heavyweight titles)
March 20, 2010
The Espirit Arena—Dusseldorf, Germany
If anyone has earned a title shot against Klitschko, surely it is Eddie Chambers. He worked his way into title contention by taking out a pair of top ten contenders in Sam Peter and Alexander Dimitrenko. Chambers is slick. He has speed, good counter-punching technique, and he possesses more heart than any of Klitschko’s recent opponents. Regardless, he is going to be thoroughly outclassed by a superior fighter. Chambers may cause Wladimir some confusion in the early going but once Wladimir establishes his rhythm it will only be a matter of time. Expect this one to look similar to Klitschko’s victory against Calvin Brock.
Prediction Klitschko by seventh round stoppage

David Diaz vs. Humberto Soto (for the WBC lightweight title)
March 13, 2010
Cowboys Stadium—Dallas, Texas
This is a solid match-up on the under card of Pacquiao-Clottey. Diaz and Soto are both skilled fighters who have a lot of heart. This fight should be a very competitive. Diaz is the naturally bigger fighter with more experience at the weight class, but going on 34 years old, he is also the older fighter. This one is going to probably come down to who wants it more and at the end of the day, I think Diaz will regain the title he once lost to Pacquiao.
Prediction Diaz by close unanimous decision

Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey (for the WBO welterweight title)
March 13, 2010
Cowboys Stadium—Dallas, Texas
Not many people are giving Clottey a fair shake in this one, and not without good reason. After all, Pacquiao has been on one of the most amazing runs in boxing history. As such, it is no surprise that everyone is writing Clottey off. The irony in all of this is that Clottey may well be the best fighter Pacquiao has ever faced. At the very least he is certainly Pacquiao’s biggest foe and this could play a factor in the fight. Clottey has a good chin and an outstanding turtle shell defense. This will be difficult for Pacquiao to penetrate. Ultimately, however, I believe Pacquiao will begin finding the mark with more and more frequency as the fight progresses. Clottey is not an especially active puncher which will provide Pacquiao with ample opportunity to test him for weaknesses—and I believe Manny will find some.. Clottey is a strong guy who will definitely be a test, however. He may even manage to hurt Pacquiao at some point during the fight, but when the championship rounds come along—this is when Pacquiao will shine his brightest. Clottey has a bad habit of slowing down a great deal during the championship rounds and if he stays true to character against Pacquiao, it will be his undoing.
Prediction Pacquiao by twelfth round stoppage

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao, Roach: "We'll Fight Mayweather at Any Time!"

By Mark Vester

WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach want a piece of Floyd Mayweather Jr. After Pacquiao dominated Joshua Clottey for twelve rounds on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, they both called for a fight with Mayweather. Both Pacquiao and Roach expect Mayweather to decision WBA champion Shane Mosley on May 1 in Las Vegas.

"It's up to him. For me, it's no problem to fight him. I will fight him any time. He should win against Mosley. If not, Mosley and I will fight. [Mayweather's] style is not a difficult style. He needs to handle his business in his next fight," Pacquiao said.

Roach wants the fight under the commission rules. They refuse to agree to Mayweather's demand for both fighters to take part in random drug tests.

"It's the fight the world wants to see. Me and Manny want to see it," Roach said. "Floyd, let the commission do their job. You don't run the sport. Get in the ring and fight us."

 

[heyzel]

Jose Luis Castillo Retires: "I Don't Have it Any More

By Mark Vester

Jose Luis Castillo (60-10-1), a one time lightweight king and once considered as one of the best pound for pound fighters in boxing, announced his retirement after the loss to Alfonso Gomez on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. Castillo is only 36-years-old but he went through many wars during his pro career, including the war with Diego Corrales in 2005, which is considered one of the greatest ring battles of all-time. In their first meeting in 2002, he nearly handed Floyd Mayweather Jr. his first pro loss.

Against Gomez, Castillo was barely able to land much of anything and after five rounds he was unable to go on. He couldn't come out for the sixth round. He apologized to the fans for a poor ring showing.

“I just found out tonight I don’t have it anymore,” Castillo said. “I want to apologize to the public and I am definitely announcing my retirement.”

 

[heyzel]

Kelly Pavlik: "I Thought Martinez Beat Paul Williams

“It’s great to be back training and it’s great to be defending my titles in Atlantic City where my world title reign began,” said Pavlik, who had been sidelined for much of last year by various problems stemming from a nagging staph infection in his right hand. “I feel terrific and training camp has been great. I am taking nothing for granted. I saw Martinez’s fight against Paul Williams and I thought he won it. His world title may be at super welterweight but he is a legitimate world-class middleweight and I am 110% focused on Sergio Martinez.”

“I give Kelly Pavlik a lot of credit for accepting my challenge which is the sign of a valiant champion,” said Martinez. “But my gratitude will end once the bell rings. I am going to prove on April 17 that I am the best middleweight in the world.”

“Kelly Pavlik’s world title reign has lifted the spirits of Youngstown while raising the popularity of boxing,” said Pavlik’s Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “Kelly is the people’s champion. He’s boxing’s John Henry, the stuff that legends are made of and this fight will make for a legendary night.”

“Sergio Martinez is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “On April 17th he will have a chance to prove it when he faces the true middleweight champion of the world, Kelly Pavlik. It is going to be fireworks in Atlantic City.”

“Caesars is very excited to welcome world champion Kelly Pavlik and his huge contingent of Youngstown, Ohio fans back to Atlantic City,” said Harrah's Entertainment Sports & Entertainment Consultant Ken Condon. “We are looking forward to what is sure to be another fabulous night of championship boxing at Boardwalk Hall with these two exciting world champions."

Pavlik (36-1, 32 KOs), who over two years ago, in a near sold-out Boardwalk Hall which included thousands making the trek from his hometown of Youngstown, OH, became World Boxing Organization (WBO) and the World Boxing Council (WBC) world champion by knocking out the previously undefeated and undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor in a bout selected as the “Fight of the Year” by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Pavlik defeated Taylor handily in their rematch in February 2008 to solidify his claim as one of boxing’s top pound for pound fighters and has since had three successful defenses, all by knockout, two of the wins coming against No. 1 contenders and mandatory challengers.

Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KOs), a native of Argentina who fights out of Madrid, Spain, first made his presence known to the boxing world in 2007 by knocking out Saul Roman (27-2) in the fourth round of their WBC super welterweight title elimination bout. One year later, Martinez captured the WBC interim super welterweight title with an eighth-round stoppage of Alex Bunema. He was elevated to WBC world super welterweight champion in the latter half of 2009. In his last fight, he lost a highly-disputed 12-round majority decision to former world champions Paul Williams, in a non-title middleweight bout, ending Martinez’s 10-year, 29-bout unbeaten streak.

 

[heyzel]

Sergio Martinez Says: "I Will Knock Kelly Pavlik Out"

By Mark Vester

It's going to a boxing brawl on April 17 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. WBC/WBO middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik and WBC 154-pound champion Sergio Martinez met face to face during a Texas press conference to announce their fight. For much of 2009, Pavlik suffered from a staph infection in his right hand. He promises to make up for his bad stint by putting on a show in April.

"I have no doubts or second thoughts about taking this fight," Pavlik said. "It is great to be back training and it is great to be defending my titles in Atlantic City where my world title reign began."

In his last fight, Martinez lost a close majority decision to Paul Williams. It was a "fight of the year" candidate. This time he doesn't want the judges to decide the fight. He wants to knock Pavlik out before the end of twelve.

"This is the fight of my life so I plan to take full advantage of it," Martinez said. "I am a much better fighter than before and I will win and I will win by a knockout. I will take the belt back to Argentina

 

[REdRUM]

Thanks to Jose Luis Castillo. Sad to see him go out like that, but it was great watching him in his prime.

While the record books don't show it, many (most, I think) feel he beat Floyd Mayweather in their first bout, including myself, and he gave us the other half of one of the best fights ever, vs. Diego Corrales.

Thanks again.