Nah, it's more to it than Floyd wanting to just take a vacation. Floyd is taking the high road on this one instead of showing out, and because people aren't used to Floyd the quiet businessman, they are acxcusing him of being a coward. Floyd is opting to staying hush until things fall into place where it makes sense to talk. He is not going to throw away millions to discredit Pacquiao, especially when he knows the fight will be made next year on his terms. Think about it. They will not let Pacman fight anybody that is a threat because if he loses, then he really will be at Mayweathers will. Instead, let him fight a relatively easy fight, then fight Floyd. So no Bradley or anyone else, feed him a set up fight then Mayweather. You know Bob wants to rip Mayweather a new one, but he will play it safe as well.
Boxing News Thread
- Thread starter heyzel
- Start date
Mayweather-Pacquiao: The Personal Preference Factor
By Arfan Ali: The lips of boxing fans have been engraved with two words over the past couple of months “Mayweather” and “Pacquiao”. There is no need to shed deeper light into the situation as negotiations are ongoing but let’s unravel back to the last time negotiations took place and were they fell apart.
The factor many thought that would be the hardest to resolve would be the money, however a 50:50 split was quickly resolved. The issue which left many heartbroken as to being deprived of a mega-fight and inducing a lawsuit of defamation of character was the deadline of random drug testing.
Pacquiao’s refusal or Mayweather’s refusal to accept the deadline of the random drug testing created a mixed opinion within the boxing community. Some questioned Pacquiao’s legality of moving up weight successfully and blamed Pacquiao for taking performance enhancing drugs, Other whom were more conservative in there thinking attributed success to Pacquiao’s skills and world class trainer while others blamed Mayweather for ducking Pacquiao.
The refusal of Pacquiao to accept the cut off period for drug testing does not imply that Pacquiao is taking performance enhancing drugs. We live in a world were before we make assumptions (in the court of law) we have to provide evidence and so far Pacquiao has not failed a drug test. Pacquiao refusal is a personal preference which he feels more comfortable with and could arouse a sense of suspicion in Mayweather’s head leading up to a possible fight, 1-0 to Pacquiao in mind games.
Slightly off topic but relating to the theme of “personal preference” the refusal of Carl “The Cobra” Froch to fight Arthur Abraham in Germany is too a factor of personal preference. The gain of a home crowd can always get that final rush of adrenalin required at the later stages of the fight.
Let’s not forget boxing is a sport like no other, the margin between winning and losing is so finite that you have to take advantage of every factor to win. Let it be known mind games have always circled the boxing ring and every slight advantage is one to be taken. Though, once the dust has settled it will either be a “W” or “L” and all other factors will be forgotten.
Any question or queries contact me on [email protected]
By Arfan Ali: The lips of boxing fans have been engraved with two words over the past couple of months “Mayweather” and “Pacquiao”. There is no need to shed deeper light into the situation as negotiations are ongoing but let’s unravel back to the last time negotiations took place and were they fell apart.
The factor many thought that would be the hardest to resolve would be the money, however a 50:50 split was quickly resolved. The issue which left many heartbroken as to being deprived of a mega-fight and inducing a lawsuit of defamation of character was the deadline of random drug testing.
Pacquiao’s refusal or Mayweather’s refusal to accept the deadline of the random drug testing created a mixed opinion within the boxing community. Some questioned Pacquiao’s legality of moving up weight successfully and blamed Pacquiao for taking performance enhancing drugs, Other whom were more conservative in there thinking attributed success to Pacquiao’s skills and world class trainer while others blamed Mayweather for ducking Pacquiao.
The refusal of Pacquiao to accept the cut off period for drug testing does not imply that Pacquiao is taking performance enhancing drugs. We live in a world were before we make assumptions (in the court of law) we have to provide evidence and so far Pacquiao has not failed a drug test. Pacquiao refusal is a personal preference which he feels more comfortable with and could arouse a sense of suspicion in Mayweather’s head leading up to a possible fight, 1-0 to Pacquiao in mind games.
Slightly off topic but relating to the theme of “personal preference” the refusal of Carl “The Cobra” Froch to fight Arthur Abraham in Germany is too a factor of personal preference. The gain of a home crowd can always get that final rush of adrenalin required at the later stages of the fight.
Let’s not forget boxing is a sport like no other, the margin between winning and losing is so finite that you have to take advantage of every factor to win. Let it be known mind games have always circled the boxing ring and every slight advantage is one to be taken. Though, once the dust has settled it will either be a “W” or “L” and all other factors will be forgotten.
Any question or queries contact me on [email protected]
Angulo wants fight with Cotto
By Jason Kim: Once beaten light middleweight contender Alfredo Angulo (19-1, 16 KO’s) is very interested in fighting World Boxing Association (WBA) junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KO’s), according to Boxingtalk.com.
Angulo’s manager Mike Criscio told Greg Leon about Angulo wanting to fight Cotto. This would be a fight, if Cotto were to ever accept it, very similar to Cotto’s bout with Antonio Margarito in 2008. However, it’s highly doubtful that Cotto will ever fight Angulo unless he was to become Cotto’s mandatory challenger and he was at risk of being stripped of his title.
Angulo doesn’t fight for the same promotional company as Cotto. That’s the first problem. The second issue is that Angulo is too similar to Margarito to get a shot at Cotto. I can’t see Bob Arum ever wanting to put Cotto in with Angulo and risk having Cotto torn apart like he was against Margarito two years ago. Angulo is a like a stronger version of Margarito.
Angulo may not throw 100 punches per round like Margarito used to be able to do, but he throws a lot and they’re thrown with more power than the shots that Margarito throws.
Arum is going to be very careful with Cotto, and either matches him with Manny Pacquiao, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. or Margarito next. He’s not going to throw him to Angulo and let him rip Cotto apart. There’s little doubt that a fighter like Angulo would destroy Cotto, but that’s why Arum wouldn’t be crazy enough to have Cotto fight him in the first place.
Cotto is very lucky that Angulo isn’t currently ranked in the top 15 by the WBA. Angulo is ranked number #1 by the WBO and #7 by the WBC, but the WBA doesn’t have him ranked at all in the top 15. Perhaps Arum might match Cotto against Angulo in the future after Cotto has been beaten again by both Margarito and Pacquiao, and has fought Chavez Jr. At that point, there would no reason to keep Cotto from facing Angulo. But I still doubt Arum would put him in with Angulo even then.
By Jason Kim: Once beaten light middleweight contender Alfredo Angulo (19-1, 16 KO’s) is very interested in fighting World Boxing Association (WBA) junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KO’s), according to Boxingtalk.com.
Angulo’s manager Mike Criscio told Greg Leon about Angulo wanting to fight Cotto. This would be a fight, if Cotto were to ever accept it, very similar to Cotto’s bout with Antonio Margarito in 2008. However, it’s highly doubtful that Cotto will ever fight Angulo unless he was to become Cotto’s mandatory challenger and he was at risk of being stripped of his title.
Angulo doesn’t fight for the same promotional company as Cotto. That’s the first problem. The second issue is that Angulo is too similar to Margarito to get a shot at Cotto. I can’t see Bob Arum ever wanting to put Cotto in with Angulo and risk having Cotto torn apart like he was against Margarito two years ago. Angulo is a like a stronger version of Margarito.
Angulo may not throw 100 punches per round like Margarito used to be able to do, but he throws a lot and they’re thrown with more power than the shots that Margarito throws.
Arum is going to be very careful with Cotto, and either matches him with Manny Pacquiao, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. or Margarito next. He’s not going to throw him to Angulo and let him rip Cotto apart. There’s little doubt that a fighter like Angulo would destroy Cotto, but that’s why Arum wouldn’t be crazy enough to have Cotto fight him in the first place.
Cotto is very lucky that Angulo isn’t currently ranked in the top 15 by the WBA. Angulo is ranked number #1 by the WBO and #7 by the WBC, but the WBA doesn’t have him ranked at all in the top 15. Perhaps Arum might match Cotto against Angulo in the future after Cotto has been beaten again by both Margarito and Pacquiao, and has fought Chavez Jr. At that point, there would no reason to keep Cotto from facing Angulo. But I still doubt Arum would put him in with Angulo even then.
With Pacquiao, Mayweather Loses his Swagger
The words of Floyd Mayweather Jr. himself after a lengthy silence require deciphering. “I’m not interested in rushing to do anything right now. I’m not really thinking about boxing right now… Just relaxing.”
Sweet.
The words are coy and utterly unfit for a king. Mayweather, if he still fancies himself one, has to demand respect. Pacquiao, wanting to fill his coffer and all, declared war to Floyd. A king is not supposed to just move aside to avoid the onslaught.
Floyd just did.
What had happened to Floyd and where’s his swagger?
Say a kid took a bully’s lunch, demanded his pocket money and everything he had. Will the bully ask first what the kid is on before administering a beating?
Or the world’s giving you truckloads of money and a chance for you to prove what you’ve been saying all along. Won’t it be right to just take the money and do your thing?
Actions contrary to the norm would only mean something else. Floyd’s words in response to a direct challenge have no meaning.
Mayweather appears content to just grab the p4p crown through the poll, to battle it out in the court of public opinion – knowing full well that a fantasy fight concocted in man’s mind is winnable, considering he’s perceived to have the more superior skill set. However, once enclosed in the four corners of the ring, reality is sure to take an awful turn. Not having a loss because of a carefully managed boxing career, he sure will not welcome a world of hurt.
And a world of hurt is really what Pacquiao is all about.
The Golden Boy was still golden and shining before he came across the Pacmonster. But Oscar Dela Hoya had learned through 8 painful rounds what the little devil is able to give and what he, in the receiving end, is not able to take. In the face of perpetual onslaught, Dela Hoya hoped for the KO that never came. The experience, which for him is best left unremembered, was enough to make him retire.
The Hitman still had a perfect record at 10 stones (140lbs), never losing his mark at that weight, before being offered the hit on Pacquiao. It was over in 2 rounds and Ricky Hatton got what Dela Hoya had wished for himself. Hatton never really knew what hit him. Ricky was flattened and his career as a boxer is yet to recover, one step to retirement in each passing day – if he’s not there already.
Nevertheless, Mayweather had beaten those men too. But the end results of his fights with them were not as brutal, as decisive, as immediate nor as final. It was never more so in Hatton’s case, where the world was reminded of a primal force that is Pacquiao and the devastating effect of such power when unleashed.
Still, Mayweather had beaten those men too. And he has the same – if not more – of the preternatural skill that Pacquiao has.
The world demanded a clash inside the ring to prove who the better man is. But Mayweather’s not wavering in his conviction, whatever that is.
Perhaps Floyd’s real concern is that the world would stop and watch, and celebrate the fall of the mighty. If Paquiao is able to do to him what was done to Hatton, with the whole world watching, will he be able to live with the memory forever?
Hatton barely could when his pride is but a fraction of that of Mayweather. Pacquiao is all about pain and Mayweather is not ready for that.
Mayweather has retired, un-retired, and has been dangling with retirement. Pacquiao could make that permanent for him.
“I’m not interested in rushing to do anything right now. I’m not really thinking about boxing right now… Just relaxing.”
Floyd has lost the edge, the swagger and has given up the claim to Boxing’s Greatest Ever.
And while the King was looking down, the Jester stole his thorny crown. The courtroom was adjourned…
The words of Floyd Mayweather Jr. himself after a lengthy silence require deciphering. “I’m not interested in rushing to do anything right now. I’m not really thinking about boxing right now… Just relaxing.”
Sweet.
The words are coy and utterly unfit for a king. Mayweather, if he still fancies himself one, has to demand respect. Pacquiao, wanting to fill his coffer and all, declared war to Floyd. A king is not supposed to just move aside to avoid the onslaught.
Floyd just did.
What had happened to Floyd and where’s his swagger?
Say a kid took a bully’s lunch, demanded his pocket money and everything he had. Will the bully ask first what the kid is on before administering a beating?
Or the world’s giving you truckloads of money and a chance for you to prove what you’ve been saying all along. Won’t it be right to just take the money and do your thing?
Actions contrary to the norm would only mean something else. Floyd’s words in response to a direct challenge have no meaning.
Mayweather appears content to just grab the p4p crown through the poll, to battle it out in the court of public opinion – knowing full well that a fantasy fight concocted in man’s mind is winnable, considering he’s perceived to have the more superior skill set. However, once enclosed in the four corners of the ring, reality is sure to take an awful turn. Not having a loss because of a carefully managed boxing career, he sure will not welcome a world of hurt.
And a world of hurt is really what Pacquiao is all about.
The Golden Boy was still golden and shining before he came across the Pacmonster. But Oscar Dela Hoya had learned through 8 painful rounds what the little devil is able to give and what he, in the receiving end, is not able to take. In the face of perpetual onslaught, Dela Hoya hoped for the KO that never came. The experience, which for him is best left unremembered, was enough to make him retire.
The Hitman still had a perfect record at 10 stones (140lbs), never losing his mark at that weight, before being offered the hit on Pacquiao. It was over in 2 rounds and Ricky Hatton got what Dela Hoya had wished for himself. Hatton never really knew what hit him. Ricky was flattened and his career as a boxer is yet to recover, one step to retirement in each passing day – if he’s not there already.
Nevertheless, Mayweather had beaten those men too. But the end results of his fights with them were not as brutal, as decisive, as immediate nor as final. It was never more so in Hatton’s case, where the world was reminded of a primal force that is Pacquiao and the devastating effect of such power when unleashed.
Still, Mayweather had beaten those men too. And he has the same – if not more – of the preternatural skill that Pacquiao has.
The world demanded a clash inside the ring to prove who the better man is. But Mayweather’s not wavering in his conviction, whatever that is.
Perhaps Floyd’s real concern is that the world would stop and watch, and celebrate the fall of the mighty. If Paquiao is able to do to him what was done to Hatton, with the whole world watching, will he be able to live with the memory forever?
Hatton barely could when his pride is but a fraction of that of Mayweather. Pacquiao is all about pain and Mayweather is not ready for that.
Mayweather has retired, un-retired, and has been dangling with retirement. Pacquiao could make that permanent for him.
“I’m not interested in rushing to do anything right now. I’m not really thinking about boxing right now… Just relaxing.”
Floyd has lost the edge, the swagger and has given up the claim to Boxing’s Greatest Ever.
And while the King was looking down, the Jester stole his thorny crown. The courtroom was adjourned…
Pac-Man’s next Fight/PPV will dictate the money split in the fight and a 7 days/cut-off or totally random drug testing will do and we have a fight on May 2011. It’s all business. Mayweather is a p*ssy until he gives out that ass whipping. The fight will be made and I’m buying it. Now all the other star boxers from 140 to 154lb need to put in work so they can get in line for the big show fight after Mayweather vs. Pac-Man 2… LOL..
Schaefer: Golden Boy Promotions is Not Like Top Rank
By Robert Morales
With all the recent conversation about Bob Arum keeping fights in-house at Top Rank Inc., Richard Schaefer was stunned to hear that there have been similar rumblings about Golden Boy Promotions - though to a lesser degree.
He began to run down recent big fights between Golden Boy boxers and those fighting under other banners.
"Amir Khan just fought Paulie Malignaggi, who was promoted by Lou DiBella," said Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, to BoxingScene.com. "We just did Abner Mares against Yonnhy Perez, who was promoted by Gary Shaw. On the same card we had Israel Vazquez against Rafael Marquez, who is promoted by Gary Shaw.
"I have zero interest in shutting out other promoters. I disagree with the direction Bob Arum is going in. I don't believe that for boxing, the UFC model - which is the model Top Rank is trying to follow - I just don't think that is going to work for boxing."
Schaefer was almost flabbergasted to hear that Golden Boy is even remotely being thought of in this light.
"Where is that coming from, because now (Shane) Mosley is fighting Sergio Mora (both Golden Boy fighters)?" Schaefer said. "Or maybe because of the fights on the card next weekend? One of the them is the rematch of the Fight of the Year (between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz).
"And by the way, Daniel Jacobs, a young man which we have built up over the past few years, is fighting a very dangerous Russian in Dmitry Pirog for a vacant middleweight championship. Well, we have nothing to do with Pirog. We are putting one of our young stars in a very dangerous fight. What does that tell you?"
By Robert Morales
With all the recent conversation about Bob Arum keeping fights in-house at Top Rank Inc., Richard Schaefer was stunned to hear that there have been similar rumblings about Golden Boy Promotions - though to a lesser degree.
He began to run down recent big fights between Golden Boy boxers and those fighting under other banners.
"Amir Khan just fought Paulie Malignaggi, who was promoted by Lou DiBella," said Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, to BoxingScene.com. "We just did Abner Mares against Yonnhy Perez, who was promoted by Gary Shaw. On the same card we had Israel Vazquez against Rafael Marquez, who is promoted by Gary Shaw.
"I have zero interest in shutting out other promoters. I disagree with the direction Bob Arum is going in. I don't believe that for boxing, the UFC model - which is the model Top Rank is trying to follow - I just don't think that is going to work for boxing."
Schaefer was almost flabbergasted to hear that Golden Boy is even remotely being thought of in this light.
"Where is that coming from, because now (Shane) Mosley is fighting Sergio Mora (both Golden Boy fighters)?" Schaefer said. "Or maybe because of the fights on the card next weekend? One of the them is the rematch of the Fight of the Year (between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz).
"And by the way, Daniel Jacobs, a young man which we have built up over the past few years, is fighting a very dangerous Russian in Dmitry Pirog for a vacant middleweight championship. Well, we have nothing to do with Pirog. We are putting one of our young stars in a very dangerous fight. What does that tell you?"
Mayweather Blames Beard For "Scared" Hatton's Loss
By Mark Vester
During a recent interview with Chris Robinson of The Examiner , trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. blamed Hatton's co-trainer at the time, Lee Beard, for the loss to Manny Pacquiao in May 2009. Mayweather trained Hatton for the fight and Beard served as the co-trainer. Hatton was knocked out by Pacquiao in two rounds.
Mayweather claims that he gave Hatton a good strategy to beat Pacquiao, but then Beard changed the strategy when he re-trained Hatton.
“The guy Lee Beard was training him when he went back home. He went back there and he trained him all over again. A lot of people told me that when he came back they went into a different game plan. So everything I built, he broke it down. You can’t learn from two different trainers. You can only train with one person at a time,” Mayweather Sr. said.
Mayweather Sr. would also make a claim that Hatton's fear of Pacquiao was a factor in the loss. That logic is hard to believe since Hatton tried to engage Pacquiao from the sound of the opening bell.
“I think Ricky Hatton was scared more than anything,” Mayweather Sr. said.
By Mark Vester
During a recent interview with Chris Robinson of The Examiner , trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. blamed Hatton's co-trainer at the time, Lee Beard, for the loss to Manny Pacquiao in May 2009. Mayweather trained Hatton for the fight and Beard served as the co-trainer. Hatton was knocked out by Pacquiao in two rounds.
Mayweather claims that he gave Hatton a good strategy to beat Pacquiao, but then Beard changed the strategy when he re-trained Hatton.
“The guy Lee Beard was training him when he went back home. He went back there and he trained him all over again. A lot of people told me that when he came back they went into a different game plan. So everything I built, he broke it down. You can’t learn from two different trainers. You can only train with one person at a time,” Mayweather Sr. said.
Mayweather Sr. would also make a claim that Hatton's fear of Pacquiao was a factor in the loss. That logic is hard to believe since Hatton tried to engage Pacquiao from the sound of the opening bell.
“I think Ricky Hatton was scared more than anything,” Mayweather Sr. said.
Schaefer Backs The Position of Team Mayweather
By Robert Morales
The negotiations for a November mega-fight, between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., took a bizarre turn on Monday when Mayweather's adviser Leonard Ellerbe released a statement that claimed the fight negotiations had never taken place.
For the last two months, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, claimed there were ongoing negotiations to make a fight with Mayweather for November 13.
Last Friday, Arum held a conference call with the press and disclosed various details about the negotiations. According to Arum, HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg was handling the negotiations between Top Rank and Mayweather's manager Al Haymon. At no time did Arum directly speak to anyone from Mayweather's side. All of the communications were handled through Greenburg.
Ellerbe claimed otherwise in his statement.
"Here are the facts. Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer and myself speak to each other on a regular basis, and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying," Ellerbe said.
When BoxingScene.com spoke with Schaefer, he didn't say much, but he did make it clear that he fully supports the statement made by Ellerbe. Schaefer is the CEO for Golden Boy Promotions, who along with Mayweather Promotions, co-promote Mayweather's fights.
"You read the statement from Leonard and I stand behind that statement, and I have nothing else to add," Schaefer told BoxingScene.com
By Robert Morales
The negotiations for a November mega-fight, between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., took a bizarre turn on Monday when Mayweather's adviser Leonard Ellerbe released a statement that claimed the fight negotiations had never taken place.
For the last two months, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, claimed there were ongoing negotiations to make a fight with Mayweather for November 13.
Last Friday, Arum held a conference call with the press and disclosed various details about the negotiations. According to Arum, HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg was handling the negotiations between Top Rank and Mayweather's manager Al Haymon. At no time did Arum directly speak to anyone from Mayweather's side. All of the communications were handled through Greenburg.
Ellerbe claimed otherwise in his statement.
"Here are the facts. Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer and myself speak to each other on a regular basis, and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying," Ellerbe said.
When BoxingScene.com spoke with Schaefer, he didn't say much, but he did make it clear that he fully supports the statement made by Ellerbe. Schaefer is the CEO for Golden Boy Promotions, who along with Mayweather Promotions, co-promote Mayweather's fights.
"You read the statement from Leonard and I stand behind that statement, and I have nothing else to add," Schaefer told BoxingScene.com
Briggs Hospitalized; Investigation; Bookies Smell a Fix
By Mark Vester
The fallout from the Danny Green-Paul Briggs clash is getting bigger by the hour. On Wednesday at Challenge Stadium in Perth, Western Australia, Green (30-3, 27KOs) retained his IBO cruiserweight title after stopping Paul Briggs (26-4) in 29-seconds of the first round. Green threw a jab that barely hit Briggs near the top of his head. Briggs stumbled for a few steps and fell for the full count. Several replays showed the punch barely touching the head of Briggs.
Fans the arena went wild and began to pelt Briggs in the ring and showered him with objects as he tried to make his way back to the dressing room. The Western Australian Professional Combat Sports Commission announced on Thursday that it plans to investigate the fight because of the numerous accusations that Briggs took a dive.
It was Briggs' first fight in over three years. There were rumors that he retired in 2007 due to neurological problems. The fight with Green had to be moved from Sydney to Perth after the New South Wales Sports Authority refused to sanction it out of concern for the health and welfare of Briggs.
Several betting outfits are refusing to pay numerous "last minute" bets until the investigation is finished. There were several big bets that were placed, at the late hour, for a first round and a second round knockout win for Green.
Briggs' trainer Billy Hussein told thewest.com.au late last night that his fighter was hospitalized after a doctor took a look at him at the hotel.
"The fight doctor came back to the hotel and checked him out and said it was for the best that he went to hospital," Hussein said. "Paul doesn't know what happened in there - he can't remember. I haven't got a clue what happened in there. I know Paul has had problems in the past but I'm speechless. He shouldn't have been in the ring with Danny Green - now people won't remember him as a great fighter, they'll just remember him for this."
By Mark Vester
The fallout from the Danny Green-Paul Briggs clash is getting bigger by the hour. On Wednesday at Challenge Stadium in Perth, Western Australia, Green (30-3, 27KOs) retained his IBO cruiserweight title after stopping Paul Briggs (26-4) in 29-seconds of the first round. Green threw a jab that barely hit Briggs near the top of his head. Briggs stumbled for a few steps and fell for the full count. Several replays showed the punch barely touching the head of Briggs.
Fans the arena went wild and began to pelt Briggs in the ring and showered him with objects as he tried to make his way back to the dressing room. The Western Australian Professional Combat Sports Commission announced on Thursday that it plans to investigate the fight because of the numerous accusations that Briggs took a dive.
It was Briggs' first fight in over three years. There were rumors that he retired in 2007 due to neurological problems. The fight with Green had to be moved from Sydney to Perth after the New South Wales Sports Authority refused to sanction it out of concern for the health and welfare of Briggs.
Several betting outfits are refusing to pay numerous "last minute" bets until the investigation is finished. There were several big bets that were placed, at the late hour, for a first round and a second round knockout win for Green.
Briggs' trainer Billy Hussein told thewest.com.au late last night that his fighter was hospitalized after a doctor took a look at him at the hotel.
"The fight doctor came back to the hotel and checked him out and said it was for the best that he went to hospital," Hussein said. "Paul doesn't know what happened in there - he can't remember. I haven't got a clue what happened in there. I know Paul has had problems in the past but I'm speechless. He shouldn't have been in the ring with Danny Green - now people won't remember him as a great fighter, they'll just remember him for this."
Andre Ward-Andre Dirrell headed to Detroit?
By Stephen Edwards
Boxing talk.com has received strong indications that the stage 3 bout of the Super Six world boxing classic between undefeated WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward and fellow Olympian, former title challenger, Andre Direll, will in fact take place in Dirrell's hometown of Detroit, Michigan on September 25.
By Stephen Edwards
Boxing talk.com has received strong indications that the stage 3 bout of the Super Six world boxing classic between undefeated WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward and fellow Olympian, former title challenger, Andre Direll, will in fact take place in Dirrell's hometown of Detroit, Michigan on September 25.
This is really good news glad to see Rigondeaux got his promotional/management problems ironed out. Hope to see him back in the ring quick hopefully at least 2 more times before the end of the year.
Rigondeaux receives new deal from Top Rank
By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Archive
The stalled professional career of two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux, whom many consider the best amateur in boxing history, is about to get back on track.
Rigondeaux, a Cuban defector, hasn't fought since February because of a tug of war over his managerial and promotional contracts, but they have been sorted out and the junior featherweight has a new three-year deal with Bob Arum's Top Rank.
"We finally got it finished," Arum told ESPN.com. "It had gotten bogged down over some details but finally everybody has signed off on it. No more legal problems over this right or that right."
Rigondeaux's first bout under the new deal is scheduled as an eight-rounder against an opponent to be determined on Aug. 21 in Tijuana, Mexico, on a "Top Rank Live" (FS en Espanol) card, Top Rank's Carl Moretti said.
Along with a new promotional team, Rigondeaux will also have a new trainer. After working briefly with Freddie Roach and Alejandro "Pupi" Torre, the 29-year-old Rigondeaux (5-0, 4 KOs) is relocating from Miami to Houston to train with Ronnie Shields.
The signing makes sense for Top Rank, which is heavily involved in the featherweight division, where Rigondeaux will eventually fight. Top Rank promotes titleholders Juan Manuel Lopez, Yuriorkis Gamboa, one of Rigondeaux's Cuban amateur teammates and fellow Olympic gold medalist, and Orlando Salido, among other top 126-pounders.
"The kid was the greatest amateur fighter ever and fits in with all these great featherweights," Arum said. "A guy like that could fight for a title by his 10th fight. In less than a year, he could be in a big event. I saw him in the gym and he's one of these terrific-trained Cuban fighters, well-schooled, and he technically is better than Gamboa. I don't know if he punches as hard, but he's a marvelous prospect. He's certainly a lot better than a lot of our American kids."
Rigondeaux's manager, Gary Hyde, and promoter Luis DeCubas had been embroiled in a power struggle over the fighter, who had signed with another manager, Tony Gonzalez, after signing with Hyde. Gonzalez then brought Rigondeaux to DeCubas before a judge upheld Hyde's managerial contract. Hyde wanted to look for a better promotional deal and found one at Top Rank.
Pat English, Hyde's attorney, told ESPN.com that Hyde spoke with several other promoters to field offers for Rigondeaux, including Lou DiBella, Golden Boy and Dan Goossen.
"It became obvious that the Arum deal was the best deal," English said. "Arum believed he could reach a deal with the DeCubas group, so then people had to work to get a deal that was acceptable to everybody. It's a deal that is expected to advance Mr. Rigondeaux's career substantially and quickly."
After a couple of months of discussion, Hyde, DeCubas and Top Rank worked out a deal in which Top Rank will become Rigondeaux's promoter and DeCubas will retain a financial interest, Arum and English said.
"One of the attractive things is that he can fight from 118 pounds to 122 and can easily move up to 126, which opens up tons of potential fights. He just fits in," Moretti said. "So we're bringing in a guy who the TV networks like, who clearly can fight and doesn't need a lot of development. One or two fights and you put him into the mix and see where it shakes out."
Shields was approached about a month ago by Hyde and English to gauge his interest in working with Rigondeaux. Shields told ESPN.com that they quickly "hashed out a deal."
Shields, a vastly experienced trainer who has worked with Pernell Whitaker and Mike Tyson among others, said Rigondeaux was supposed to arrive in Houston this week to begin training.
"We found him an apartment and we're going to put a lease on it and he should be here by Wednesday," said Shields, who also trains junior middleweight prospect Erislandy Lara.
Lara was a star Cuban amateur and defector who was one of Rigondeaux's amateur teammates.
Shields has yet to work out with Rigondeaux, but said he has watched videos of his fights and knows all about his big reputation.
"This kid is a really good fighter," Shields said. "He can fight. I'm trying to get everything situated so when he gets here everything will be set. I looked at some tape of him and went over a few fights and, just looking at him, I know what his style is. He's a southpaw, but I worked with Pernell, who was also a southpaw. I don't have any trouble training southpaws. I know what they like to do and what they don't like to do. [Rigondeaux] is 29 years old, and with as many amateur fights as he has had, it's like he's been a professional for a long time. He's ready to go. He knows how to fight."
Rigondeaux won Olympic gold in 2000 and 2004 and was a seven-time Cuban national champion during an extensive amateur career in which he had nearly 400 bouts. He defected in early 2009 after a previous failed attempt with Lara in 2007.
__________________
Rigondeaux receives new deal from Top Rank
By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Archive
The stalled professional career of two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux, whom many consider the best amateur in boxing history, is about to get back on track.
Rigondeaux, a Cuban defector, hasn't fought since February because of a tug of war over his managerial and promotional contracts, but they have been sorted out and the junior featherweight has a new three-year deal with Bob Arum's Top Rank.
"We finally got it finished," Arum told ESPN.com. "It had gotten bogged down over some details but finally everybody has signed off on it. No more legal problems over this right or that right."
Rigondeaux's first bout under the new deal is scheduled as an eight-rounder against an opponent to be determined on Aug. 21 in Tijuana, Mexico, on a "Top Rank Live" (FS en Espanol) card, Top Rank's Carl Moretti said.
Along with a new promotional team, Rigondeaux will also have a new trainer. After working briefly with Freddie Roach and Alejandro "Pupi" Torre, the 29-year-old Rigondeaux (5-0, 4 KOs) is relocating from Miami to Houston to train with Ronnie Shields.
The signing makes sense for Top Rank, which is heavily involved in the featherweight division, where Rigondeaux will eventually fight. Top Rank promotes titleholders Juan Manuel Lopez, Yuriorkis Gamboa, one of Rigondeaux's Cuban amateur teammates and fellow Olympic gold medalist, and Orlando Salido, among other top 126-pounders.
"The kid was the greatest amateur fighter ever and fits in with all these great featherweights," Arum said. "A guy like that could fight for a title by his 10th fight. In less than a year, he could be in a big event. I saw him in the gym and he's one of these terrific-trained Cuban fighters, well-schooled, and he technically is better than Gamboa. I don't know if he punches as hard, but he's a marvelous prospect. He's certainly a lot better than a lot of our American kids."
Rigondeaux's manager, Gary Hyde, and promoter Luis DeCubas had been embroiled in a power struggle over the fighter, who had signed with another manager, Tony Gonzalez, after signing with Hyde. Gonzalez then brought Rigondeaux to DeCubas before a judge upheld Hyde's managerial contract. Hyde wanted to look for a better promotional deal and found one at Top Rank.
Pat English, Hyde's attorney, told ESPN.com that Hyde spoke with several other promoters to field offers for Rigondeaux, including Lou DiBella, Golden Boy and Dan Goossen.
"It became obvious that the Arum deal was the best deal," English said. "Arum believed he could reach a deal with the DeCubas group, so then people had to work to get a deal that was acceptable to everybody. It's a deal that is expected to advance Mr. Rigondeaux's career substantially and quickly."
After a couple of months of discussion, Hyde, DeCubas and Top Rank worked out a deal in which Top Rank will become Rigondeaux's promoter and DeCubas will retain a financial interest, Arum and English said.
"One of the attractive things is that he can fight from 118 pounds to 122 and can easily move up to 126, which opens up tons of potential fights. He just fits in," Moretti said. "So we're bringing in a guy who the TV networks like, who clearly can fight and doesn't need a lot of development. One or two fights and you put him into the mix and see where it shakes out."
Shields was approached about a month ago by Hyde and English to gauge his interest in working with Rigondeaux. Shields told ESPN.com that they quickly "hashed out a deal."
Shields, a vastly experienced trainer who has worked with Pernell Whitaker and Mike Tyson among others, said Rigondeaux was supposed to arrive in Houston this week to begin training.
"We found him an apartment and we're going to put a lease on it and he should be here by Wednesday," said Shields, who also trains junior middleweight prospect Erislandy Lara.
Lara was a star Cuban amateur and defector who was one of Rigondeaux's amateur teammates.
Shields has yet to work out with Rigondeaux, but said he has watched videos of his fights and knows all about his big reputation.
"This kid is a really good fighter," Shields said. "He can fight. I'm trying to get everything situated so when he gets here everything will be set. I looked at some tape of him and went over a few fights and, just looking at him, I know what his style is. He's a southpaw, but I worked with Pernell, who was also a southpaw. I don't have any trouble training southpaws. I know what they like to do and what they don't like to do. [Rigondeaux] is 29 years old, and with as many amateur fights as he has had, it's like he's been a professional for a long time. He's ready to go. He knows how to fight."
Rigondeaux won Olympic gold in 2000 and 2004 and was a seven-time Cuban national champion during an extensive amateur career in which he had nearly 400 bouts. He defected in early 2009 after a previous failed attempt with Lara in 2007.
__________________
check out this koo story on my fam...
Guerrero’s biggest win came outside the ring
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
10 hours, 7 minutes ago
ShareretweetEmailPrintYou can follow Kevin Iole on Twitter at @KevinI
Robert Guerrero put the needs of his ailing wife, Casey, ahead of boxing championship gold.
(Photo courtesy of Shelly O'Neal)
Robert Guerrero had showered and dressed one day in March 2009 when he bumped into his trainer, Bob Santos, as he was preparing to leave the gym.
In a few days, Guerrero would meet Daud Yordan in an important super featherweight bout in San Jose, Calif., that would be broadcast nationally on HBO.
Santos said Wednesday that he recalled watching as Guerrero peacefully strode through the door on his way home, carrying a smile on his face and offering a friendly word for everyone he passed on the way out.
Other Popular Sports StoriesAl Gore's kid has a nice right hook NFL player provides big assist to police More From Kevin IoleGolden Boy controversy rages on Jul 22, 2010 Closed-door policy won't benefit boxing Jul 19, 2010 ADVERTISEMENT
“I’ve been with him for a long, long time and I remember thinking that if I could mold a human being after someone, to make that person I’d want my son to grow up to be, it would be Robert Guerrero,” Santos said. “Just looking at him, watching him leave, he was so relaxed and so at peace and I felt he was ready to put on a tremendous performance.”
Guerrero, 27, is an athletic and courageous boxer with surprising hand and foot speed and a lanky body that has made him a difficult physical match for the world’s finest featherweight and super featherweight fighters. Santos had grown to admire him, both for his athletic skills as well as for the type of person he had become.
“Just a great, humble, wonderful human being,” Santos said of Guerrero. “We’ve shared so much together. I think he’s looked at me as a mentor. We’ve confided so much in each other over the years. That was the kind of relationship we’d built.”
They didn’t share everything, however. Guerrero had kept one secret to himself.
Just days before he was to fight Yordan, a bout which could have significant implications for his boxing career, Guerrero learned some awful news: His wife Casey had leukemia and was in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. There were no donor matches and the sands were quickly escaping from Casey’s hourglass.
Only a few months earlier, doctors had drilled into her brain to give her chemotherapy treatments. But now, less than two full months later, she was facing the bleakest moments of her life.
If a donor wasn’t found quickly, doctors told Robert that his young wife would not survive much longer. The mother of his two young children, the woman from whom he had been inseparable since they met when they were each 14 years old, was fighting for her life and Robert had said nary a word to Santos.
A devoutly Christian man, Robert Guerrero had often spoken publicly of his deep faith. This, he said, was one of the times he had to prove it.
“It was devastating, of course,” he said Wednesday. “I had a lot of sleepless nights where I’d cried myself to sleep. You can’t help but think of what’s happening to this person you love more than life itself. And we were helpless in this. That’s where my faith came in. It was in God’s hands.”
The doctor’s harsh words weren’t the last he’d hear. But Guerrero, who fights Joel Casamayor on July 31 in an important non-title super lightweight bout at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on HBO Pay-Per-View, had long since proved he could handle it.
“You need a lot of mental strength to be a boxer and I’ve been fighting for a long time,” said Guerrero, who was a natural at boxing almost from the first time he pulled on gloves at the age of nine. “The discipline you need to succeed in boxing has helped me. Ninety percent of the people, they’ll turn to drugs, alcohol, something like that, to get them through something like this. But fortunately for me, I had the discipline to know that this was going to be hard but that it was something I was going to have to do.
“This was going to be my most important fight.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert and Casey Guerrero grew up in Gilroy, Calif., and attended Brownell Junior High School together. By the age of 14, Guerrero’s boxing exploits were well known around town and he was a popular figure in school who had little trouble attracting attention from the girls.
Casey lived around the corner from Robert. The daughter of a roofer, she’d noticed him. “I pretty much had this really serious crush on him from the minute I’d seen him,” Casey said giggling.
Robert felt likewise, but Casey was different from the rest of the girls in his school. She didn’t approach him. She didn’t fawn over him because of his boxing achievements.
“At that point, I was in the local newspaper a lot and a lot of people in town knew who I was and pretty much everyone in school did,” Robert said. “Everybody wants to be around you and be next to you and be your friend. But Casey, she was different.”
Of course, the one playing hard to get was the one he wanted to meet. A mutual friend introduced them and they have been together ever since.
Almost from their first days as a couple, all of their thoughts about the future always included the other. Robert was less than a month past his 18th birthday when he turned professional, and Casey was always there for him, cheering him on at his bouts and encouraging him to train hard.
“She never said, ‘Oh, you’re always training, always at the gym. You never have time for me,’ ” Robert said. “She was great. She understood right away what a boxer needed to do. Nobody could have given me more support.”
With only a few minor obstacles slowing his ascent, Robert zoomed up the rankings. He was beating tough guys early in his pro career and convincing Santos that what he’d seen years earlier in the amateurs was still there.
“He was in just his 10th pro fight and he was still just a baby, just [20] years old and he fought David Vasquez, who was coming off a fight with Paulie Ayala, who had just been the Fighter of the Year,” Santos said. “He was a hard, rough guy, especially for a young kid just getting going. A couple of fights later, he fought Enrique Sanchez, whose only two losses were to (world champions) Nestor Garza and Marco Antonio Barrera.
“He didn’t have it easy. They put him in there with a lot of really good guys and he just kept knocking them off, one after the other. I knew he’d be special.”
Robert won the International Boxing Federation featherweight title on Sept. 2, 2006, when he stopped Eric Aiken in Los Angeles. He was just 23.
“He was so excited,” Casey said. “He dreamed of winning a world title for I don’t know how long. That was like he’d accomplished the goal of a lifetime.”
He lost the belt in his first defense, but the defeat to Orlando Salido was changed to a no-contest when Salido failed his postfight urinalysis and tested positive for the anabolic steroid Nandrolone. The IBF vacated the title and Robert won it right back, reclaiming it in Denmark after stopping Spend Abazi on Feb. 23, 2007.
And then, almost a year to the day after the Salido fight, Robert was set to defend his title against Martin Honorio in Tucson, Ariz., on Nov. 3, 2007. During the last month of his training camp, Casey wasn’t feeling well. He said it was like she had the flu and couldn’t get rid of it. She said it felt like she had an ulcer.
“My stomach hurt badly,” Casey said. “I was tired all the time. I didn’t want to eat.”
About a week before the fight against Honorio, Robert had enough of Casey’s illness. He decided to take her to the emergency room and have her examined thoroughly. Her white blood cell counts were extremely elevated.
“[The doctor] sat me down and told me she had leukemia,” Robert said. “In boxing, you take a lot of abuse, deal with a lot of aches and pains. But nothing really could help you deal with that. It felt like the hardest punch I had ever been hit with. I was literally sick to my stomach. A million thoughts go through your mind at that point, but I knew I was going to do whatever I had to do to be there for Casey.
“It didn’t matter to me what it would be, I would do it. She’d always been there for me and I said to myself, ‘You know what, Robert? It’s time to pay her back. You have to be there for her.’ ”
Later that week, Robert retained his world title by knocking out Honorio in the first round. He vacated the belt in June 2008 and soon was making a run up the rankings at super featherweight. The Yordan fight would be a tough test in front of a national television audience. A win could lead him to another title bout.
But days before that fight, disaster struck again when he learned of the desperate nature of Casey’s condition. Without a bone marrow donor, she was living on borrowed time.
Robert fought Jordan, but was cut badly when he and Yordan inadvertently clashed heads. When the bout was stopped, Robert came under intense criticism from many who said he’d quit after the ringside physician asked him how he was and he said he couldn’t see.
“I would have fought on and I know I’ve received a lot of criticism for what happened,” Robert said. “But after what I’ve been through, that kind of stuff doesn’t matter and it doesn’t affect me. If I had the opportunity to keep fighting, I would have. The doctor made the decision to stop the fight, not me. But whatever criticism came my way was fine.
“I recognize everyone has the right to their own opinion, but what anyone else thought about it didn’t affect me because I had a lot more important things to worry about.”
Robert eventually got the opportunity at the super featherweight belt and claimed it when he beat Malcolm Klassen in Houston on Aug. 22, 2009. Golden Boy Promotions saw a star in the making and planned a March 27 fight this year for him against highly regarded Michael Katsidis. A win in that bout would have propelled him to big-time status.
Robert Guerrero, though, was forced to make the decision he wished he’d never have to make.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The chance to have a championship belt wrapped around Guerrero’s waist was the one thing that kept pushing him every day. But in January, as the fight with Katsidis was looming, he was conflicted.
A bone marrow donor in Europe had been found for his wife. She was preparing to undergo the transplant surgery, which was the only way her life could be saved. Yet doctors told the couple that Casey Guerrero’s chances of surviving were no better than 50-50.
Robert instantly decided to surrender his championship. The title had no meaning – he had to be at his wife’s side in her darkest days.
“I really didn’t have a choice,” he said. “My fight wasn’t going to be with Katsidis. It was going to be against [Casey’s cancer]. I couldn’t be away, I had to be there for her and with her. I needed to do what I did.”
Robert would commute 50 miles from their home each day to Stanford Hospital, taking care of their children, Savannah, 5, and Robert Jr., 3, and sitting by his wife’s side.
“I knew the kind of guy he was and I knew he would be with me,” Casey said. “I was really scared and having him there with me made it a lot easier.”
The surgery was a success. A little more than six months since the surgery, Casey, 26, has been declared cancer-free and her doctors have cleared her to travel to Las Vegas next week to watch her husband fight.
The couple does not have health insurance and their medical bills have soared beyond $1 million. Friends have held fundraisers for them and they get some financial assistance from Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program.
They’ve paid what they can out of their own pockets, but haven’t let the bills consume their lives.
“It might sound a little weird when I say this, but I feel I’ve been truly blessed,” Robert said. “I have Casey and she’s the most amazing person. She’s cancer free now. That’s more important to me than any fight, any title. We have a chance to grow old together and raise our children and live our lives.
“God has blessed me in so many ways. I’m thankful to him for what he’s given me and for the fact that he’s given Casey her health. And on top of this, I have a fight against a great champion like Casamayor that could do so many good things for me.”
He paused for a moment before continuing.
“Casey is a special person and she means more to me than I could ever tell you,” Robert said. “To see her now, and for her to have her health back and be cancer-free, I couldn’t ask for anything more. I am really and truly a blessed man.”
Kevin Iole covers boxing and mixed martial arts for Yahoo! Sports. Send Kevin a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Updated 10 hours, 7 minutes ago
Email Print Buzz up! 803 digg add to facebook del.icio.us Twitter Boxing Commission to hold inquiry into IBO title fight
Brooklyn arena positioned to host boxing events
Guerrero’s biggest win came outside the ring
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
10 hours, 7 minutes ago
ShareretweetEmailPrintYou can follow Kevin Iole on Twitter at @KevinI
Robert Guerrero put the needs of his ailing wife, Casey, ahead of boxing championship gold.
(Photo courtesy of Shelly O'Neal)
Robert Guerrero had showered and dressed one day in March 2009 when he bumped into his trainer, Bob Santos, as he was preparing to leave the gym.
In a few days, Guerrero would meet Daud Yordan in an important super featherweight bout in San Jose, Calif., that would be broadcast nationally on HBO.
Santos said Wednesday that he recalled watching as Guerrero peacefully strode through the door on his way home, carrying a smile on his face and offering a friendly word for everyone he passed on the way out.
Other Popular Sports StoriesAl Gore's kid has a nice right hook NFL player provides big assist to police More From Kevin IoleGolden Boy controversy rages on Jul 22, 2010 Closed-door policy won't benefit boxing Jul 19, 2010 ADVERTISEMENT
“I’ve been with him for a long, long time and I remember thinking that if I could mold a human being after someone, to make that person I’d want my son to grow up to be, it would be Robert Guerrero,” Santos said. “Just looking at him, watching him leave, he was so relaxed and so at peace and I felt he was ready to put on a tremendous performance.”
Guerrero, 27, is an athletic and courageous boxer with surprising hand and foot speed and a lanky body that has made him a difficult physical match for the world’s finest featherweight and super featherweight fighters. Santos had grown to admire him, both for his athletic skills as well as for the type of person he had become.
“Just a great, humble, wonderful human being,” Santos said of Guerrero. “We’ve shared so much together. I think he’s looked at me as a mentor. We’ve confided so much in each other over the years. That was the kind of relationship we’d built.”
They didn’t share everything, however. Guerrero had kept one secret to himself.
Just days before he was to fight Yordan, a bout which could have significant implications for his boxing career, Guerrero learned some awful news: His wife Casey had leukemia and was in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. There were no donor matches and the sands were quickly escaping from Casey’s hourglass.
Only a few months earlier, doctors had drilled into her brain to give her chemotherapy treatments. But now, less than two full months later, she was facing the bleakest moments of her life.
If a donor wasn’t found quickly, doctors told Robert that his young wife would not survive much longer. The mother of his two young children, the woman from whom he had been inseparable since they met when they were each 14 years old, was fighting for her life and Robert had said nary a word to Santos.
A devoutly Christian man, Robert Guerrero had often spoken publicly of his deep faith. This, he said, was one of the times he had to prove it.
“It was devastating, of course,” he said Wednesday. “I had a lot of sleepless nights where I’d cried myself to sleep. You can’t help but think of what’s happening to this person you love more than life itself. And we were helpless in this. That’s where my faith came in. It was in God’s hands.”
The doctor’s harsh words weren’t the last he’d hear. But Guerrero, who fights Joel Casamayor on July 31 in an important non-title super lightweight bout at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on HBO Pay-Per-View, had long since proved he could handle it.
“You need a lot of mental strength to be a boxer and I’ve been fighting for a long time,” said Guerrero, who was a natural at boxing almost from the first time he pulled on gloves at the age of nine. “The discipline you need to succeed in boxing has helped me. Ninety percent of the people, they’ll turn to drugs, alcohol, something like that, to get them through something like this. But fortunately for me, I had the discipline to know that this was going to be hard but that it was something I was going to have to do.
“This was going to be my most important fight.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert and Casey Guerrero grew up in Gilroy, Calif., and attended Brownell Junior High School together. By the age of 14, Guerrero’s boxing exploits were well known around town and he was a popular figure in school who had little trouble attracting attention from the girls.
Casey lived around the corner from Robert. The daughter of a roofer, she’d noticed him. “I pretty much had this really serious crush on him from the minute I’d seen him,” Casey said giggling.
Robert felt likewise, but Casey was different from the rest of the girls in his school. She didn’t approach him. She didn’t fawn over him because of his boxing achievements.
“At that point, I was in the local newspaper a lot and a lot of people in town knew who I was and pretty much everyone in school did,” Robert said. “Everybody wants to be around you and be next to you and be your friend. But Casey, she was different.”
Of course, the one playing hard to get was the one he wanted to meet. A mutual friend introduced them and they have been together ever since.
Almost from their first days as a couple, all of their thoughts about the future always included the other. Robert was less than a month past his 18th birthday when he turned professional, and Casey was always there for him, cheering him on at his bouts and encouraging him to train hard.
“She never said, ‘Oh, you’re always training, always at the gym. You never have time for me,’ ” Robert said. “She was great. She understood right away what a boxer needed to do. Nobody could have given me more support.”
With only a few minor obstacles slowing his ascent, Robert zoomed up the rankings. He was beating tough guys early in his pro career and convincing Santos that what he’d seen years earlier in the amateurs was still there.
“He was in just his 10th pro fight and he was still just a baby, just [20] years old and he fought David Vasquez, who was coming off a fight with Paulie Ayala, who had just been the Fighter of the Year,” Santos said. “He was a hard, rough guy, especially for a young kid just getting going. A couple of fights later, he fought Enrique Sanchez, whose only two losses were to (world champions) Nestor Garza and Marco Antonio Barrera.
“He didn’t have it easy. They put him in there with a lot of really good guys and he just kept knocking them off, one after the other. I knew he’d be special.”
Robert won the International Boxing Federation featherweight title on Sept. 2, 2006, when he stopped Eric Aiken in Los Angeles. He was just 23.
“He was so excited,” Casey said. “He dreamed of winning a world title for I don’t know how long. That was like he’d accomplished the goal of a lifetime.”
He lost the belt in his first defense, but the defeat to Orlando Salido was changed to a no-contest when Salido failed his postfight urinalysis and tested positive for the anabolic steroid Nandrolone. The IBF vacated the title and Robert won it right back, reclaiming it in Denmark after stopping Spend Abazi on Feb. 23, 2007.
And then, almost a year to the day after the Salido fight, Robert was set to defend his title against Martin Honorio in Tucson, Ariz., on Nov. 3, 2007. During the last month of his training camp, Casey wasn’t feeling well. He said it was like she had the flu and couldn’t get rid of it. She said it felt like she had an ulcer.
“My stomach hurt badly,” Casey said. “I was tired all the time. I didn’t want to eat.”
About a week before the fight against Honorio, Robert had enough of Casey’s illness. He decided to take her to the emergency room and have her examined thoroughly. Her white blood cell counts were extremely elevated.
“[The doctor] sat me down and told me she had leukemia,” Robert said. “In boxing, you take a lot of abuse, deal with a lot of aches and pains. But nothing really could help you deal with that. It felt like the hardest punch I had ever been hit with. I was literally sick to my stomach. A million thoughts go through your mind at that point, but I knew I was going to do whatever I had to do to be there for Casey.
“It didn’t matter to me what it would be, I would do it. She’d always been there for me and I said to myself, ‘You know what, Robert? It’s time to pay her back. You have to be there for her.’ ”
Later that week, Robert retained his world title by knocking out Honorio in the first round. He vacated the belt in June 2008 and soon was making a run up the rankings at super featherweight. The Yordan fight would be a tough test in front of a national television audience. A win could lead him to another title bout.
But days before that fight, disaster struck again when he learned of the desperate nature of Casey’s condition. Without a bone marrow donor, she was living on borrowed time.
Robert fought Jordan, but was cut badly when he and Yordan inadvertently clashed heads. When the bout was stopped, Robert came under intense criticism from many who said he’d quit after the ringside physician asked him how he was and he said he couldn’t see.
“I would have fought on and I know I’ve received a lot of criticism for what happened,” Robert said. “But after what I’ve been through, that kind of stuff doesn’t matter and it doesn’t affect me. If I had the opportunity to keep fighting, I would have. The doctor made the decision to stop the fight, not me. But whatever criticism came my way was fine.
“I recognize everyone has the right to their own opinion, but what anyone else thought about it didn’t affect me because I had a lot more important things to worry about.”
Robert eventually got the opportunity at the super featherweight belt and claimed it when he beat Malcolm Klassen in Houston on Aug. 22, 2009. Golden Boy Promotions saw a star in the making and planned a March 27 fight this year for him against highly regarded Michael Katsidis. A win in that bout would have propelled him to big-time status.
Robert Guerrero, though, was forced to make the decision he wished he’d never have to make.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The chance to have a championship belt wrapped around Guerrero’s waist was the one thing that kept pushing him every day. But in January, as the fight with Katsidis was looming, he was conflicted.
A bone marrow donor in Europe had been found for his wife. She was preparing to undergo the transplant surgery, which was the only way her life could be saved. Yet doctors told the couple that Casey Guerrero’s chances of surviving were no better than 50-50.
Robert instantly decided to surrender his championship. The title had no meaning – he had to be at his wife’s side in her darkest days.
“I really didn’t have a choice,” he said. “My fight wasn’t going to be with Katsidis. It was going to be against [Casey’s cancer]. I couldn’t be away, I had to be there for her and with her. I needed to do what I did.”
Robert would commute 50 miles from their home each day to Stanford Hospital, taking care of their children, Savannah, 5, and Robert Jr., 3, and sitting by his wife’s side.
“I knew the kind of guy he was and I knew he would be with me,” Casey said. “I was really scared and having him there with me made it a lot easier.”
The surgery was a success. A little more than six months since the surgery, Casey, 26, has been declared cancer-free and her doctors have cleared her to travel to Las Vegas next week to watch her husband fight.
The couple does not have health insurance and their medical bills have soared beyond $1 million. Friends have held fundraisers for them and they get some financial assistance from Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program.
They’ve paid what they can out of their own pockets, but haven’t let the bills consume their lives.
“It might sound a little weird when I say this, but I feel I’ve been truly blessed,” Robert said. “I have Casey and she’s the most amazing person. She’s cancer free now. That’s more important to me than any fight, any title. We have a chance to grow old together and raise our children and live our lives.
“God has blessed me in so many ways. I’m thankful to him for what he’s given me and for the fact that he’s given Casey her health. And on top of this, I have a fight against a great champion like Casamayor that could do so many good things for me.”
He paused for a moment before continuing.
“Casey is a special person and she means more to me than I could ever tell you,” Robert said. “To see her now, and for her to have her health back and be cancer-free, I couldn’t ask for anything more. I am really and truly a blessed man.”
Kevin Iole covers boxing and mixed martial arts for Yahoo! Sports. Send Kevin a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Updated 10 hours, 7 minutes ago
Email Print Buzz up! 803 digg add to facebook del.icio.us Twitter Boxing Commission to hold inquiry into IBO title fight
Brooklyn arena positioned to host boxing events
Vic Darchinyan reveals UFC dream
VIC Darchinyan wants to fight in the UFC - convinced a childhood spent Greco Roman wrestling could earn him a world title inside the famed Octagon.
Sport Confidential can reveal Darchinyan - whose father was an Olympic wrestling coach - has already been approached by four American MMA gyms. And despite having limited mixed martial arts experience, the undisputed super flyweight champion says the move could take place within the next two years.
"I would like to fight in the UFC, definitely," Darchinyan said. "Prove there's more power to me that just what's in my hands. My father was a wrestling coach and I've grown up with that. I'd just have to learn a few kicks. I think three or four fights would be perfect."
VIC Darchinyan wants to fight in the UFC - convinced a childhood spent Greco Roman wrestling could earn him a world title inside the famed Octagon.
Sport Confidential can reveal Darchinyan - whose father was an Olympic wrestling coach - has already been approached by four American MMA gyms. And despite having limited mixed martial arts experience, the undisputed super flyweight champion says the move could take place within the next two years.
"I would like to fight in the UFC, definitely," Darchinyan said. "Prove there's more power to me that just what's in my hands. My father was a wrestling coach and I've grown up with that. I'd just have to learn a few kicks. I think three or four fights would be perfect."
Team Cotto Schedule Meeting With Mayweather in PR
By Jhonny Gonzalez
The team of WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto are planning to meet with Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is on vacation in Puerto Rico. Attorney Gabriel Peñagaricano, who is Cotto's adviser, confirmed the meeting to reporter Joseph Sanchez.
“We have communicated (with Mayweather Jr.) and knew of his visit. We plan meet and talk about a little matter that I am not at liberty to discuss," Peñagaricano added.
Before rumors start running wild in the media, Peñagaricano was very quick to point out that a face to face meeting between Cotto and Mayweather does not suggest the two boxers will discuss a potential fight.
BoxingScene.com spoke with several sources in Puerto Rico about the details of the meeting. From what it appears, the two boxers are going to discuss co-promoting events.
Last month Cotto cut a deal with Golden Boy Promotions to co-promote events in Puerto Rico. The deal shocked many in the sport because Cotto is promoted by Golden Boy's rival, Top Rank. Mayweather has his own promotional company, Mayweather Promotions, and has interest in promoting events on the island. Mayweather works in a very close manner with Golden Boy.
"These are separate issues," said Peñagaricano. "He (Mayweather), besides being a boxer in a division similar to that of Miguel, is a promoter, like Miguel, and is interested in developing fighters. And he also came here for other issues, apart from business. He's on vacation."
Cotto himself made it clear that he has two years remaining on his contract with Top Rank and any fight, including Mayweather, would have to go through his promoter.
By Jhonny Gonzalez
The team of WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto are planning to meet with Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is on vacation in Puerto Rico. Attorney Gabriel Peñagaricano, who is Cotto's adviser, confirmed the meeting to reporter Joseph Sanchez.
“We have communicated (with Mayweather Jr.) and knew of his visit. We plan meet and talk about a little matter that I am not at liberty to discuss," Peñagaricano added.
Before rumors start running wild in the media, Peñagaricano was very quick to point out that a face to face meeting between Cotto and Mayweather does not suggest the two boxers will discuss a potential fight.
BoxingScene.com spoke with several sources in Puerto Rico about the details of the meeting. From what it appears, the two boxers are going to discuss co-promoting events.
Last month Cotto cut a deal with Golden Boy Promotions to co-promote events in Puerto Rico. The deal shocked many in the sport because Cotto is promoted by Golden Boy's rival, Top Rank. Mayweather has his own promotional company, Mayweather Promotions, and has interest in promoting events on the island. Mayweather works in a very close manner with Golden Boy.
"These are separate issues," said Peñagaricano. "He (Mayweather), besides being a boxer in a division similar to that of Miguel, is a promoter, like Miguel, and is interested in developing fighters. And he also came here for other issues, apart from business. He's on vacation."
Cotto himself made it clear that he has two years remaining on his contract with Top Rank and any fight, including Mayweather, would have to go through his promoter.
Victor Ortiz: Amir Khan, Bradley, Maidana "I'm Waiting!"
By Mark Vester
Junior welterweight contender Victor Ortiz is wondering why none of the big names at 140-pounds are mentioning his name. Ortiz tells AOL's Fanhouse that he's ready for all comers at junior welterweight, including WBA champion Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana and WBO champion Timothy Bradley.
Ortiz returns to the ring on the Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora undercard on September 18 against former world champion Vivian Harris. Ortiz would like to avenge last year's TKO loss to Marcos Maidana. He says Maidana has not shown any interest in a rematch.
"There's Timothy Bradley. I'm number one in his division. What's going on man? I'm waiting. Amir Khan, you're my boy...a lot of respect and love but I'm waiting. I just see so many more people getting more play than me now. I'm not scared of anyone. Maidana, I've been waiting for a while for you man. Where you at? I'm coming for you. I stay offline, but everyone says I'm scared and I was exposed. It is what it is, but to each his own," Ortiz said.
By Mark Vester
Junior welterweight contender Victor Ortiz is wondering why none of the big names at 140-pounds are mentioning his name. Ortiz tells AOL's Fanhouse that he's ready for all comers at junior welterweight, including WBA champion Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana and WBO champion Timothy Bradley.
Ortiz returns to the ring on the Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora undercard on September 18 against former world champion Vivian Harris. Ortiz would like to avenge last year's TKO loss to Marcos Maidana. He says Maidana has not shown any interest in a rematch.
"There's Timothy Bradley. I'm number one in his division. What's going on man? I'm waiting. Amir Khan, you're my boy...a lot of respect and love but I'm waiting. I just see so many more people getting more play than me now. I'm not scared of anyone. Maidana, I've been waiting for a while for you man. Where you at? I'm coming for you. I stay offline, but everyone says I'm scared and I was exposed. It is what it is, but to each his own," Ortiz said.
Arum, Schaefer Trade Words Over "Mayweather Talks"
By Robert Morales
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has ripped his promotional rival, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, for supporting the Team Mayweather statement that was circulated last week by Leonard Ellerbe, the adviser to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Ellerbe, in his statement, claimed Mayweather and manager Al Haymon were never involved in any form of negotiations for a November fight with Manny Pacquiao.
"Here are the facts," Ellerbe wrote. "Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer and myself speak to each other on a regular basis and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on November 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying."
According to Arum, HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg was handling the negotiations between him and Haymon for the last two months. Schaefer told BoxingScene.com several days ago that he backed Ellerbe's statement.
"You read the statement from Leonard and I stand behind that statement, and I have nothing else to add," Schaefer said.
Arum is very disappointed that Schaefer is backing the statement of Ellerbe and Team Mayweather.
"I am really disappointed in him," Arum told BoxingScene. "He knows it's not true. But he's doing whatever he can to cling to the Mayweather boat. I really feel sorry for him. People shouldn't do that. They shouldn't panic. They shouldn't join something so preposterous as to defy imagination."
Schaefer shot back, and threw down a lie-detector challenge. The Golden Boy CEO is willing to take a lie-detector test, along with Arum, to prove which of the two promoters is actually telling the truth about the Mayweather negotiations.
Said Schaefer to BoxingScene: "It's unfortunate Arum feels like that. But I tell you what, I would make myself available for a lie-detector test and let's see who's telling the truth and who's lying. If I say I stand behind Leonard's statement ... it's because it's the truth."
By Robert Morales
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has ripped his promotional rival, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, for supporting the Team Mayweather statement that was circulated last week by Leonard Ellerbe, the adviser to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Ellerbe, in his statement, claimed Mayweather and manager Al Haymon were never involved in any form of negotiations for a November fight with Manny Pacquiao.
"Here are the facts," Ellerbe wrote. "Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer and myself speak to each other on a regular basis and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on November 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying."
According to Arum, HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg was handling the negotiations between him and Haymon for the last two months. Schaefer told BoxingScene.com several days ago that he backed Ellerbe's statement.
"You read the statement from Leonard and I stand behind that statement, and I have nothing else to add," Schaefer said.
Arum is very disappointed that Schaefer is backing the statement of Ellerbe and Team Mayweather.
"I am really disappointed in him," Arum told BoxingScene. "He knows it's not true. But he's doing whatever he can to cling to the Mayweather boat. I really feel sorry for him. People shouldn't do that. They shouldn't panic. They shouldn't join something so preposterous as to defy imagination."
Schaefer shot back, and threw down a lie-detector challenge. The Golden Boy CEO is willing to take a lie-detector test, along with Arum, to prove which of the two promoters is actually telling the truth about the Mayweather negotiations.
Said Schaefer to BoxingScene: "It's unfortunate Arum feels like that. But I tell you what, I would make myself available for a lie-detector test and let's see who's telling the truth and who's lying. If I say I stand behind Leonard's statement ... it's because it's the truth."
Martinez vs Angulo: HBO Balks, Demand Paul Williams
By Lem Satterfield
Promoters Gary Shaw and Lou DiBella have expressed interest in matching WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez against Alfredo Angulo. Martinez is willing to move down to 154-155 pounds to face Angulo. Both promoters face a big problem in making that fight because HBO is standing their ground on making a rematch between Martinez and Paul Williams.
Last December, Martinez and Williams traded knockdowns in the first round and fought hard for the entire twelve round contest. Williams won a close majority decision. HBO wants to make the rematch for October 2. Not the easiest rematch to make. Williams wants to move back down to the welterweight division, and to even consider a rematch with Martinez for the tentative October date - he wants more than 50% of the money. HBO is not giving Martinez any alternatives, only Williams.
"I understand why HBO wants a rematch of Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez. They're two of the most talented and two of the top 10, pound-for-pound fighters in the world. And I thought their last fight was the Fight of the Year. It was a war fought at such a high skill level. But at the same time, you've got two, pound-for-pound guys and it seems like the desire is to have them kill each other," DiBella said.
"Sergio Martinez just went from Paul Williams to Kelly Pavlik, and he looked spectacular in both fights. Why is he the odd man out, being forced to fight a guy that towers over him for the second time? How can he have to fight Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik and then not be given the respect that he deserves? And by the way, you don't have any leverage when the network only gives you one choice of an opponent."
Dibella admits that a Williams rematch would not be his first choice, but he's willing to make the rematch if Williams returns to the middleweight division.
"Honestly, that wouldn't be my first choice. But like I said, I'm sitting here and I have to explain to my fighter why he has to fight that's going to be World War III after fighting World War I, and, World War II [against Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik] in HBO fights," DiBella said. "If Paul Williams is going to happen, then it's going to have to happen at 160. That's Sergio's comfortable weight now, and that's where he's the linnear champion
By Lem Satterfield
Promoters Gary Shaw and Lou DiBella have expressed interest in matching WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez against Alfredo Angulo. Martinez is willing to move down to 154-155 pounds to face Angulo. Both promoters face a big problem in making that fight because HBO is standing their ground on making a rematch between Martinez and Paul Williams.
Last December, Martinez and Williams traded knockdowns in the first round and fought hard for the entire twelve round contest. Williams won a close majority decision. HBO wants to make the rematch for October 2. Not the easiest rematch to make. Williams wants to move back down to the welterweight division, and to even consider a rematch with Martinez for the tentative October date - he wants more than 50% of the money. HBO is not giving Martinez any alternatives, only Williams.
"I understand why HBO wants a rematch of Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez. They're two of the most talented and two of the top 10, pound-for-pound fighters in the world. And I thought their last fight was the Fight of the Year. It was a war fought at such a high skill level. But at the same time, you've got two, pound-for-pound guys and it seems like the desire is to have them kill each other," DiBella said.
"Sergio Martinez just went from Paul Williams to Kelly Pavlik, and he looked spectacular in both fights. Why is he the odd man out, being forced to fight a guy that towers over him for the second time? How can he have to fight Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik and then not be given the respect that he deserves? And by the way, you don't have any leverage when the network only gives you one choice of an opponent."
Dibella admits that a Williams rematch would not be his first choice, but he's willing to make the rematch if Williams returns to the middleweight division.
"Honestly, that wouldn't be my first choice. But like I said, I'm sitting here and I have to explain to my fighter why he has to fight that's going to be World War III after fighting World War I, and, World War II [against Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik] in HBO fights," DiBella said. "If Paul Williams is going to happen, then it's going to have to happen at 160. That's Sergio's comfortable weight now, and that's where he's the linnear champion
Pacquiao vs. Margarito will do at least 1 million PPV buys
By William Mackay: As much as the hardcore boxing fans are angry and upset about Bob Arum saying that Manny Pacquiao will be fighting Antonio Margarito on November 13th, I think the fight will still end up doing incredibly well on pay per view, and possibly almost as good as the Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto PPV numbers.
That fight generated 1.25 million buys, which was a big success for a Pacquiao fight. Margarito-Pacquiao may not come all the way to that number, but I think it’s going to be very close. I’ve seen where a lot of hardcore boxing fans are saying that they won’t bother purchasing the Pacquiao-Margarito fight and that they’ll boycott the fight because they’re turned off towards Margarito because of his hand wrap scandal, because he’s not licensed to fight in the United States, and mostly because he just doesn’t seem to have earned a title shot since being stopped last year by Shane Mosley.
However, this fight will do incredibly well for a couple of reasons. Number #1, Pacquiao’s loyal fans will purchase this fight in just as high numbers as they’ve always done. They really don’t care who Pacquiao fights. They’ll back him against anyone no matter what. So right off the bat, Pacquiao is going to have at least 500,000 to 700,000 buys just from his loyal fans. Margarito, for his part, will then draw at least 300,000 from the Mexican community in the United States.
I don’t think Margarito is as popular as Juan Manuel Marquez, but I think he’s popular enough to bring in good numbers on his own.
As for the backlash for Margarito due to the hand wrap scandal, I don’t see this being a factor at all. Most casual boxing fans don’t have a clue about things like that. I speak them all the time and they only have scant knowledge about difference fighters. The only thing they’ll know is that’s told to them by the HBO analysts after they order the fight, and by then it will be too late. The HBO Pacquiao/Margarito 24/7 series, which will likely be put together to hype the fight, won’t be talking about the Margarito scandal.
The fight and the 24/7 series is going to attract a ton of casual fans, who just don’t have knowledge about who Margarito is, what he did in the past, the fact that he’s struggling now and not looking as good as he used to. Fans will just purchase it based on the fact that the fight is being hyped
By William Mackay: As much as the hardcore boxing fans are angry and upset about Bob Arum saying that Manny Pacquiao will be fighting Antonio Margarito on November 13th, I think the fight will still end up doing incredibly well on pay per view, and possibly almost as good as the Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto PPV numbers.
That fight generated 1.25 million buys, which was a big success for a Pacquiao fight. Margarito-Pacquiao may not come all the way to that number, but I think it’s going to be very close. I’ve seen where a lot of hardcore boxing fans are saying that they won’t bother purchasing the Pacquiao-Margarito fight and that they’ll boycott the fight because they’re turned off towards Margarito because of his hand wrap scandal, because he’s not licensed to fight in the United States, and mostly because he just doesn’t seem to have earned a title shot since being stopped last year by Shane Mosley.
However, this fight will do incredibly well for a couple of reasons. Number #1, Pacquiao’s loyal fans will purchase this fight in just as high numbers as they’ve always done. They really don’t care who Pacquiao fights. They’ll back him against anyone no matter what. So right off the bat, Pacquiao is going to have at least 500,000 to 700,000 buys just from his loyal fans. Margarito, for his part, will then draw at least 300,000 from the Mexican community in the United States.
I don’t think Margarito is as popular as Juan Manuel Marquez, but I think he’s popular enough to bring in good numbers on his own.
As for the backlash for Margarito due to the hand wrap scandal, I don’t see this being a factor at all. Most casual boxing fans don’t have a clue about things like that. I speak them all the time and they only have scant knowledge about difference fighters. The only thing they’ll know is that’s told to them by the HBO analysts after they order the fight, and by then it will be too late. The HBO Pacquiao/Margarito 24/7 series, which will likely be put together to hype the fight, won’t be talking about the Margarito scandal.
The fight and the 24/7 series is going to attract a ton of casual fans, who just don’t have knowledge about who Margarito is, what he did in the past, the fact that he’s struggling now and not looking as good as he used to. Fans will just purchase it based on the fact that the fight is being hyped
Angulo vs. Cotto: Would Miguel take this fight?
By Joseph Hirsch: It’s hard not to like Alfredo Angulo. He is the definition of crowd pleasing, and he has given us some of the most violent knockouts in recent memory. Compare his official HBO highlight reel to those of other top fighters, and you get the picture. He has one loss, to the flaky but very talented Kermit Cintron. It’s too bad that “El Perro,” encountered that earlier Cintron, and not the one who likes to fly out of the ring; and it’s also too bad that he faced him so early in his career, when he wasn’t even fifteen fights deep into the game. Angulo has been asked about a potential rematch with Kermit, a chance to wipe the slate clean and redeem his loss, and he rightly said he would have nothing to gain from that fight. There are talks now that Cintron will be heading on to greener pastures, to a real “Who Cares” battle against German Felix Sturm.
As for Angulo, the world is his oyster at Junior-Middleweight. The recent fight between Miguel Cotto and Yuri Foreman has shaken up the rankings somewhat, and Angulo should be climbing toward the title. Most ranking systems have Alfredo in or near the top three spots, right below Miguel Cotto, Paul Williams, and Margarito, but above Kermit Cintron. So which one of the three names sounds the most appetizing?
Not Paul Williams. “The Punisher,” would not give Angulo fits so much stylistically. Williams is a great sharpshooter who knows how to use his range, but there is a passive element to his game. If the other fighter wants to bang in the pocket, Williams stops dictating the terms of the fight and obliges, most of the time. He has a high punch output, but there is no number of punches one can throw that would take Angulo off his trajectory. He would stalk his opponent to the end of the Earth, never mind the circumference of a twenty-by-twenty ring.
But southpaw Paul would stand a good chance of giving Angulo his first stoppage loss, and it doesn’t seem fair to give a man with only twenty fights a taste of that kind of defeat so early. That leaves Margarito and Cotto.
Margarito and Angulo not only hail from the same country and have similar styles, they resemble one another physically. This would look like a sort of mirror match. To simulate the action of this fight, please go outside now, pick up two rocks, and bang them against each other until they crack. This fight not happen because Margarito, somehow, after breaking the law was rewarded a fight with Pacquiao, and Angulo’s management should be fired if the fight comes to pass at this stage.
Even if Angulo won the war of constant back and forth attrition, he would accumulate far too much damage in the process. There is a good chance that he would be left with a fair amount of scar tissue, which might reopen and cause him to lose some future matches, since it’s not impossible that he could be trailing on a card where he might otherwise be headed for a knockout victory. Maybe if Margarito bucked the odds and managed to beat Manny Pacquiao, this fight might be worth it for the money and glory involved. As it stands now, there’s too much pain and suffering for not enough profit.
That leaves Miguel Cotto, and that is the wisest path to take. Cotto endured two shattering, bloody defeats before going on to beat an essentially one-legged, feather-fisted opponent via a stoppage that should have happened earlier than it did. Referee Arthur Mercante’s intercession in the Foreman-Cotto fight was so suspicious that one wonders whether or not he had bet on the underdog Yuri.
Foreman is a more talented fighter than people give him credit for, and his win over a bloated Daniel Santos said more than some care to admit. He has heart, great ring generalship, and speed. But he also has a bad knee and no power. His knockout percentage is Malignaggi-esque. Angulo has plenty of power and the will to win.
For his part, Miguel Cotto still has power, his devastating left hook to the body, and a belt. It’s doubtful however that he has the same will to win that he had earlier. It is not bad enough to declare him a shadow of his former self, but he is living on borrowed time, and on a borrowed belt. All Angulo has to do to remind him of this fact is to do what he has always done. Get in the pocket, apply pressure in the corners and along the ropes, and then stalk whenever it comes to the center of the ring.
We have all seen Cotto’s will broken. Angulo is nothing if not a will-breaker. He would turn over his heavy punches, absorb Cotto’s return fire better than Margarito did, and Angulo’s counters would be heavier than Margarito’s, with or without cement in the gloves. There is very little doubt that El Perro would get that belt.
After he got it, there would be very few dangerous opponents. If he could make a defense against Paul Williams (not probable, but possible), he could destroy mandatories and gatekeepers for more than a year before any other serious opposition presented itself. Who would take the belt from him? A thrice-beaten Cotto? The new and improved Kermit Cintron?
Many men have gotten titles with fewer fights than Angulo. It’s time for him to tap Miguel Cotto on the shoulder and politely ask for his
Share and Enjoy:
By Joseph Hirsch: It’s hard not to like Alfredo Angulo. He is the definition of crowd pleasing, and he has given us some of the most violent knockouts in recent memory. Compare his official HBO highlight reel to those of other top fighters, and you get the picture. He has one loss, to the flaky but very talented Kermit Cintron. It’s too bad that “El Perro,” encountered that earlier Cintron, and not the one who likes to fly out of the ring; and it’s also too bad that he faced him so early in his career, when he wasn’t even fifteen fights deep into the game. Angulo has been asked about a potential rematch with Kermit, a chance to wipe the slate clean and redeem his loss, and he rightly said he would have nothing to gain from that fight. There are talks now that Cintron will be heading on to greener pastures, to a real “Who Cares” battle against German Felix Sturm.
As for Angulo, the world is his oyster at Junior-Middleweight. The recent fight between Miguel Cotto and Yuri Foreman has shaken up the rankings somewhat, and Angulo should be climbing toward the title. Most ranking systems have Alfredo in or near the top three spots, right below Miguel Cotto, Paul Williams, and Margarito, but above Kermit Cintron. So which one of the three names sounds the most appetizing?
Not Paul Williams. “The Punisher,” would not give Angulo fits so much stylistically. Williams is a great sharpshooter who knows how to use his range, but there is a passive element to his game. If the other fighter wants to bang in the pocket, Williams stops dictating the terms of the fight and obliges, most of the time. He has a high punch output, but there is no number of punches one can throw that would take Angulo off his trajectory. He would stalk his opponent to the end of the Earth, never mind the circumference of a twenty-by-twenty ring.
But southpaw Paul would stand a good chance of giving Angulo his first stoppage loss, and it doesn’t seem fair to give a man with only twenty fights a taste of that kind of defeat so early. That leaves Margarito and Cotto.
Margarito and Angulo not only hail from the same country and have similar styles, they resemble one another physically. This would look like a sort of mirror match. To simulate the action of this fight, please go outside now, pick up two rocks, and bang them against each other until they crack. This fight not happen because Margarito, somehow, after breaking the law was rewarded a fight with Pacquiao, and Angulo’s management should be fired if the fight comes to pass at this stage.
Even if Angulo won the war of constant back and forth attrition, he would accumulate far too much damage in the process. There is a good chance that he would be left with a fair amount of scar tissue, which might reopen and cause him to lose some future matches, since it’s not impossible that he could be trailing on a card where he might otherwise be headed for a knockout victory. Maybe if Margarito bucked the odds and managed to beat Manny Pacquiao, this fight might be worth it for the money and glory involved. As it stands now, there’s too much pain and suffering for not enough profit.
That leaves Miguel Cotto, and that is the wisest path to take. Cotto endured two shattering, bloody defeats before going on to beat an essentially one-legged, feather-fisted opponent via a stoppage that should have happened earlier than it did. Referee Arthur Mercante’s intercession in the Foreman-Cotto fight was so suspicious that one wonders whether or not he had bet on the underdog Yuri.
Foreman is a more talented fighter than people give him credit for, and his win over a bloated Daniel Santos said more than some care to admit. He has heart, great ring generalship, and speed. But he also has a bad knee and no power. His knockout percentage is Malignaggi-esque. Angulo has plenty of power and the will to win.
For his part, Miguel Cotto still has power, his devastating left hook to the body, and a belt. It’s doubtful however that he has the same will to win that he had earlier. It is not bad enough to declare him a shadow of his former self, but he is living on borrowed time, and on a borrowed belt. All Angulo has to do to remind him of this fact is to do what he has always done. Get in the pocket, apply pressure in the corners and along the ropes, and then stalk whenever it comes to the center of the ring.
We have all seen Cotto’s will broken. Angulo is nothing if not a will-breaker. He would turn over his heavy punches, absorb Cotto’s return fire better than Margarito did, and Angulo’s counters would be heavier than Margarito’s, with or without cement in the gloves. There is very little doubt that El Perro would get that belt.
After he got it, there would be very few dangerous opponents. If he could make a defense against Paul Williams (not probable, but possible), he could destroy mandatories and gatekeepers for more than a year before any other serious opposition presented itself. Who would take the belt from him? A thrice-beaten Cotto? The new and improved Kermit Cintron?
Many men have gotten titles with fewer fights than Angulo. It’s time for him to tap Miguel Cotto on the shoulder and politely ask for his
Share and Enjoy:
Ricky Hatton Renews Boxing License
By Shaun Campbell: Ricky Hatton has been granted a new boxing license after it had previously expired last month.
he decision by Hatton is thought to have only be done to “give him options”, but it had already reignited speculation that the Hitman will fight again against fellow Brit and World Boxing Association light-welterweight champion Amir Khan.
Gareth Williams, who is chief executive of Hatton Promotions stated that the Mancunian favourite is still undecided whether he will fight again, and applying for a license should not be taken as a clear sign that Hatton will return to boxing. Hatton gave the clearest sign that he will not fight on last month in a interview with a British newspaper saying “I don’t think I’ll fight again. The fire in the belly just isn’t there anymore”.
It seems that Hatton is following in the footsteps of former victim Kostya Tszyu. Tszyu never formally announced a retirement, and it doesn’t look like the former 2 weight world champion (Hatton) ever will. Without the passion for boxing, Ricky will never come back as he clearly understands boxing is a sport that dominates your life for 12 weeks building up to the fight. If Hatton doesn’t find the dedication to continue, he has nothing to be ashamed of after an impressive career.
By Shaun Campbell: Ricky Hatton has been granted a new boxing license after it had previously expired last month.
he decision by Hatton is thought to have only be done to “give him options”, but it had already reignited speculation that the Hitman will fight again against fellow Brit and World Boxing Association light-welterweight champion Amir Khan.
Gareth Williams, who is chief executive of Hatton Promotions stated that the Mancunian favourite is still undecided whether he will fight again, and applying for a license should not be taken as a clear sign that Hatton will return to boxing. Hatton gave the clearest sign that he will not fight on last month in a interview with a British newspaper saying “I don’t think I’ll fight again. The fire in the belly just isn’t there anymore”.
It seems that Hatton is following in the footsteps of former victim Kostya Tszyu. Tszyu never formally announced a retirement, and it doesn’t look like the former 2 weight world champion (Hatton) ever will. Without the passion for boxing, Ricky will never come back as he clearly understands boxing is a sport that dominates your life for 12 weeks building up to the fight. If Hatton doesn’t find the dedication to continue, he has nothing to be ashamed of after an impressive career.