Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Mayweather Must Fight or Leave The Country, Says Roach

By Mark Vester

Trainer Freddie Roach has challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. to face Manny Pacquiao. While waiting for a Mayweather opportunity, Pacquiao has fought three opponents and gave all of them a one-sided beating. Roach thinks the times has come for Mayweather to step up to the plate. He says Mayweather needs to take the fight or leave the country, because the boxing public in the United States would never forgive him if the fight doesn't happen.

“He (Mayweather) has got to do something,” Roach said. “After this great performance by Manny, Mayweather just has to put up or shut up now and move out of the country."

Roach thinks Pacquiao has by far eclipsed the legacy of Mayweather. If Mayweather continues to refuse a Pacquiao mega-bout, Roach thinks "Money" should retire.

“Let’s face it. Manny’s way above him at this point because I remember when he (Mayweather) was ducking Margarito and he wouldn’t fight him either. If he doesn’t fight Manny now, we know this guy should retire,” Roach said.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Harrison’s purse in jeopardy?

The British Board of Boxing of Control may withhold some or all of the estimated £1 million purse due heavyweight Audley Harrison, who disappointed 22,000 in attendance and the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester and millions watching on worldwide TV by hardly throwing a punch against WBA heavyweight titlist David Haye before being kayoed in round three. “Rescinding some of Audley Harrison’s purse is something which we will have to consider,” said BBBC secretary Robert Smith. “The board have rescinded purses when we feel a fighter has not tried. Myself and the BBBC chairman Charles Giles will watch the fight again then make a decision, but we have the authority to rescind purses and we would not be afraid to use that. Audley Harrison has not been paid yet, so it is something we can do.”

 

[heyzel]

David Haye: I Won't Go To Germany To Fight Klitschko

By Mark Vester

WBA heavyweight champion David Haye has sent a message to both Klitschko brothers, that he is refusing to fight them in Germany. If a unification fight were to happen, Haye wants it to happen in London. The South London Press reports that Wembley or the Greenwich’s O2 Arena would be the most likely venues. Haye's demand should not be a problem as both Klitschko brothers have expressed their willingness to fight him in London with a 50-50 deal across the board.

“I want the fight in London - I don’t want to go to Germany,” said Haye. “I went out to Germany to win my title and I want my defining fight to be on British soil. They’ve had enough fights in Germany. This is my last year in the sport and there is no doubt it is going to be my best year - I want to go and clear out the heavyweight division

 

[heyzel]

Tomasz Adamek vs Roy Jones Jr. in Talks For March Bout

By Przemyslaw Osiak

Respected Polish journalist Janusz Pindera has been informed that heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek (42-1, 27 KO), and former four division champion Roy Jones Jr. (54-7, 40 KO) are very close to to reaching an agreement for a March fight.

"The conctract with Jones will be signed this week. The bout is nearly certain and will take place in March. We don't know the place yet. Maybe the arena will be Madison Square Garden in New York, maybe Prudential Center in Newark" - confirmed Ziggy Rozalski, the manager of the 34-year-old Polish heavyweight.

Rozalski was also asked about Adamek's fight against the WBC champion Vitali Klitschko (41-2, 38 KO), which was widely discussed in recent weeks.

"The fight against Klitschko can wait," Rozalski said

 

[heyzel]

Arum thinks Pacquiao-Margarito will get 1.4 million PPV buys

By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is projecting that the Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito bout from last Saturday night will bring in 1.4 million pay-per-view buys, according to the Dallas Morning News. Arum says the Pacquiao-Margarito bout will end up with twice the numbers of the Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey fight produced last March. That fight ended up with 700,000 PPV buys, which was a drop off of from the Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto bout, which drew 1.2 million buys.


It’s hard to imagine a fight between Pacquiao and Margarito resulting in better numbers than Pacquiao-Cotto, because Margarito doesn’t have a big fan base in the U.S. Of course, this could be wishful thinking on Arum’s part. He’s the one that projected the Pacquiao-Margarito fight would sell more than 60,000 tickets at the Cowboys Stadium. Unfortunately, it only ended up with 41,000, and it’s still unknown how many of them were complimentary give away tickets that artificially boosted the numbers.

1.4 million buys would equal what Floyd Mayweather Jr., boxing’s cash cow, did for his fight against Shane Mosley this year. Those fighters are both stars, but you can’t say the same thing for the Pacquiao-Margarito fight. That was a fight that only had one star and one fighter that was pretty well disliked. I think Arum is likely inflating his numbers by two. My guess is the Pacquiao vs. Margarito fight will draw around 600,000 to possibly 700,000. I just hope there’s some accurate numbers we can trust once they do get announced. I don’t want to see some fake numbers to make the mismatch seem better than it was. I do compare it with the Mayweather-Mosey fight in one area and that’s the way it ended in a mismatch like the Mayweather-Mosley fight.

 

[heyzel]

Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton has been offered a comeback fight against ‘The Golden Boy’

By Tommy Graves: The offer was made to the mancunian during Haye v Harrison fight week in Manchester by an executive of Golden Boy promotions, Robert Diaz.


Of course Hatton will have to reapply to the British Board of Control for his boxer’s license back since it was revoked due to the cocaine scandal. Not only that but Hatton recently completed rehab dealing with depression and drug abuse and would have to get back down to around his fighting weight (light-welter/welterweight) and commence training after a long period of inactivity in the sport or even keeping to a healthy BMI. Hatton has just started losing weight and exercising at his gymnasium and health club in Hyde.

Obviously De La Hoya would have to be tempted out of his own retirement from the sweet science in which he said “goodbye” to in April 2008 after being stopped by Pacquiao when the two met a few months before in December.

Hatton has fought at Light-Welter and Welterweight during his career where as De La Hoya has been from Super Featherweight to Middleweight during his pro years.

Realistically this bout would have to be at welterweight or a catch-weight which is more common in prize fighting recently.

Both are now past the big three-zero! but have previously taken interest in fighting each other, so it’s not like they haven’t considered going to war against one another in their minds before.

Comparing boxers statistics can be useful in looking for an outcome of a fight but with this match up nothing is certain.

Hatton is 5 years younger than De La Hoya but the American is taller and has a much longer reach. Hatton is far more aggressive than De La Hoya but then again ‘The Golden Boy’ is a more rounded boxer. You can’t forget Hatton’s speed and body punches in the past shows he is a dangerous puncher.

You can go on all day comparing these guy’s attributes and boxing characteristics and please do so as below are some of their statistics.

But who will truly know the better fighter at this current time unless the two really meet face to face in the ring.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Ok...Adamek vs Roy Jones, seriously?? Someone needs to put a stop to that fight, that's borderline criminal.

Harrison just sucks ass. He got his title shot he was "destined" for after 10+ years or however the hell long and froze like a little bitch. Fight wasn't fixed harrison is just a terrible fighter. It was a mismatch from the start and everyone knew it except the British.

Hatton vs Oscar? LMAO. No. Fishnets vs Cokehead.

 

[heyzel]

Fishnets vs Cokehead that should be the name of the event lol

 

[408mobsta]

Ok...Adamek vs Roy Jones, seriously?? Someone needs to put a stop to that fight, that's borderline criminal.

Harrison just sucks ass. He got his title shot he was "destined" for after 10+ years or however the hell long and froze like a little bitch. Fight wasn't fixed harrison is just a terrible fighter. It was a mismatch from the start and everyone knew it except the British.

Hatton vs Oscar? LMAO. No. Fishnets vs Cokehead.

fuckn weak ass fights...smh

 

[heyzel]

Vitali Calls Out Haye Again

Vitali Calls Out Haye Again
Posted by Jamie Mitchell on 11.16.2010

Big brother calls dibs as “Wladimir will kill him”.



WBC heavyweight champ Vitali Klitschko has wasted little time in expressing his desire to thrash out a deal for a unification match with David Haye.

So keen is Vitali to make this fight happen, that he told BBC Radio 5 live that he will face the brash Brit anywhere in the world, and offer a 50-50 purse split for the privilege:

"Let's make a contract. Straight away, we are ready to sign the contract. I want to fight David Haye."

"Let's discuss where we would fight. Let's fight in the United States. I listened to a great proposal for Madison Square Garden. I'm ready to fight in the US, Germany or Great Britain,"

This latest call-out comes off the back of Haye's humbling of gun-shy fellow Londoner Audley Harrison at the weekend, enabling the Bermondsey bomber to retain his WBA strap.

Klitschko's latest successful defense was a one-sided battering of an equally reluctant puncher in Brooklyn's Shannon Briggs.

"No excuses any more, he talks too much, he's a great talker, but the question is, is he a good fighter or not?.... Stop talking. I'm ready to sign any time, let's make the fight in springtime.

"He's world champion by talking. Let's fight. Let's go."

 

[heyzel]

Klitschko is Planning To Stage Three Fights in 2011

By Ruslan Chikov

WBC world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is planning to fight three times in 2011. The first meeting will be a mandatory defense against the winner of December's final eliminator between Odlanier Solis and Ray Austin. Klitschko is picking Solis to win. He hopes his prediction comes true because the cable networks will not little interest in a fight with Austin. Klitschko wanted to fight Polish boxer Tomasz Adamek. The WBC turned down his request and ordered him to make his mandatory against next month's winner.

"Austin is 40 years old and Solis is 30. In this case, I think youth will win. Although even here it's not really about age, but the kind of opponent. Solis is a fighter with an excellent amateur background. He was an Olympic champion and triple amateur world champion. But a possible future fight with him does not draw as much interest as a meeting with Adamek," Klitschko told Bleek.

That is going to be fight number one. Klitschko aims to fight twice more in 2011. He only fought twice in 2010, but says the reason for that was due to several factors.

"In professional boxing, a fight is made with several factors in mind - the interest from television, the location of the fight, etc. And don't forget that champions usually fight twice, or a maximum of three times per year. But next year, I think I will be able to enter the ring three times," Klitschko said.

 

[heyzel]

Cotto's Return Likely in March, But Not With Margarito

By Rey Colon

Miguel Cotto's first defense of the WBA's 154-pound championship should occur in the month of March but it won't be a rematch with Antonio Margarito, or a unification with WBC champion Manny Pacquiao - which once again leaves Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. as a possible name being kicked around.

Margarito has an automatic stay of 120 days from the beating he received last Saturday from Manny Pacquiao, which makes a March rematch with Cotto impossible. And he will possibly need several months of recovery from the required surgery for the broken right orbital bone.

There is also the issue on whether or not they can actually stage the rematch in New York. The New York State Athletic Commission may choose to honor the recent decision from California's athletic commission, who denied Margarito's application for a boxing license. Margarito was later approved for a license in Texas for the Pacquiao fight.

Chavez Jr. will face Alfonso Gomez on December 4 in California. It remains to be seen if Chavez can make the required weight of 154 for a Cotto fight.

 

[heyzel]

Golden Boy's Diaz: No Truth To De La Hoya vs. Hatton

By Rick Reeno

Robert Diaz, matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions, reached out to BoxingScene.com to set the record straight on the widespread story which claimed Diaz had approached Ricky Hatton with an offer to fight Oscar De La Hoya. According to Diaz, not only is the story not true, but the statements, attributed to Diaz in the British press, were never made.

Diaz did attend last Saturday's fight between David Haye and Audley Harrison at the MEN Arena in Manchester, and he did spend time with Hatton during the fight week of Haye-Harrison, but the two of them never discussed the possibility of a ring return.

"There is no truth to it. I did spend some time out there for the David Haye fight and I did spend a lot of time with Ricky. We spoke about family and soccer and food and we joked around, but we never spoke about boxing. We never discussed him coming back. There were even reporters who came up to me and asked me if I want to see Ricky back. As a fan, I said that I would like to see Ricky come back, but that decision can't be made by me. Ricky is the one who has to make that decision," Diaz told BoxingScene.com.

 

[heyzel]

Haye wants the Klitschko fight in London – News

By William Mackay: World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) wants no part of fighting Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko in Germany. Instead, Haye, 30, wants to fight one of the Klitschko brothers in London, England. This could be a big problem in making the fight happen, because Haye isn’t calling the shots and if he’s unwilling to fight anywhere else but London, it could make this fight unlikely ever to happen.


Although the Klitschko brothers are open to fighting in England if it means the most money compared to other venues, they’re not willing to fight there if there’s better money that can be made elsewhere. There’s probably only two real locations where this fight would be huge and that’s in Germany or England, but the fight should go to the location where the most money will be made.

Speaking to the southlondonpress.com, Haye said “I want the fight in London. I don’t want to go to Germany. I went out to Germany to win my title and i want my defining fight to be on British soil. They’ve had enough fights in Germany. This is my last year in the sport and there is no doubt it is going to be my best year. I want to go and clear out the heavyweight division.”

I don’t the Klitschkos really care about Haye’s threats of retiring. That’s Haye’s issue. But he’s going to have to step back and realize that he’s not negotiating with Audley Harrison or one of his other local fighters. The Klitschko brothers are the best heavyweights in the division, and Haye needs to try and work something out that will be agreeable. Besides this issue, there’s also the problem of the television money that needs to be solved. The Klitschkos won’t fight Haye until he puts his British pay-perv-view money into the pot for this fight. Haye wants to keep 100% of his British PPV money, but the Klitschkos want half of it before they’ll fight him. Unless Haye agrees to that his last year in boxing – if he’s truly serious about retiring next year – will be spent fighting guys like Ruslan Chagaev instead of the Klitschkos. Haye will make a lot less money against Chagaev or anyone else, need less to say.

 

[heyzel]

Bob Arum: Desperately Seeking Mayweather

By Ryan Dunn: At the post fight conference following Manny Pacquiao’s surgical destruction of Antonio Margarito, Bob Arum wasted no time getting back to business. We boxing fans are all intimately aware of the previous two negotiations to put Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. inside the squared circle together. We know them intimately, even though they both failed.


Third time’s a charm? Maybe. Here’s what Bob Arum had to say.

“I will have Todd Duboef place a call directly to Floyd. Todd will ask one question and one question only, and that is whether Floyd wants to fight Manny.”

It looks like he is avoiding mediation this time, and going directly to the source. This is a good first step. He went on from there.

“If Floyd’s answer is yes about fighting Manny, then Todd will ask for Floyd’s expressed permission to call his criminal lawyer. Todd will ask the lawyer if he can be sure if Floyd will be available, not on trial or otherwise occupied, on specific dates.”

For those not in the know, Mayweather has been charged on eight criminal counts, including four felonies (robbery, grand larceny, and two counts of coercion for threatening his children). Arum wants to be sure that he can put a date in the books, and not have Mayweather end up at a courthouse or (worse) in prison.

Floyd has been seen gallivanting with Don King of late, which created some questions as to where Floyd’s loyalties lie. Arum didn’t seem to care.

“If Todd gets a good answer from the lawyer, then Todd calls Floyd directly one more time. Todd will ask Floyd: ‘Who is your chosen representative? Who should we sit down with to to put this fight together?’”

If we are to take Arum at his word, the chatter should begin shortly. I appreciate the simplicity of his approach this time around, but as with anything to do with Pacquiao or Mayweather, nothing is ever that simple.

So sit back, kick up your feet, and let’s all watch the soap opera unfold for the greatest fight that hasn’t even happened yet.

 

[heyzel]

Has the Super Six Tournament Lost Credibility?

By Ed Hoyle: When the Super Six was originally announced, boxing fans were literally salivating at the prospect of the best Super Middleweight’s going toe to toe. The original participants consisted of the hard hitting and undefeated Arthur Abraham, Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch, a rejuvenated Jermain Taylor, Mikkel Kessler the Viking warrior and two other guys I don’t really care for.


However, after the first round of fights it became apparent that one of the tournament’s fundamental flaws was to be exposed; in that fighters could and have just walked away from the tournament when they pleased. Taylor in particular highlighted this after his knockout defeat to the talented Arthur Abraham. He was eventually replaced by one of the most feared and infamous fighters in the whole of the Super-Middleweight division. Allan Green!

The incredible, amazing, fabulous Froch won a convincing split decision against some other guy. I forget his name. Kessler meanwhile realised he was fighting in a place where head butting wasn’t prohibited, so rather than fight, he went to Disney Land Paris.

The Second round of fights saw a similar pattern emerge. Kessler and Froch decided that they were simply too awesome to fight one another and therefore instead had a cheeky game of tic tac toe. Kessler proved victorious, the scamp! He then realised he was too good for the tournament and decided leave. He was replaced by soon to be Grandfather Glen Johnson.

Meanwhile for the first time in boxing history, an Oscar was handed out for Andrew Dirrel’s (I remembered his name) fantastic performance of a man being knocked out. It was sublime. Subsequently Andrew left the tournament to pursue his new founded career in acting. It should also be noted that he hasn’t been replaced.

The outrageously good Allan Green also had a fight. I think he did anyway; Food for thought.

From a personal perspective it seems that since half the original competitors have left the tournament, the spark of excitement that originally clung to the air has disappeared and since has been replaced by the foul stench of B-tier fighters. What could’ve been a great tournament, has now descended into an average spectacle at best. Hopefully handsome fighters like Froch and Abraham can keep the tournament afloat.

 

[heyzel]

Klitschko's Manager Furious: Haye Doesn't Give Orders

By Rick Reeno

Bernd Boente, manager of heavyweight champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, is furious after reading BoxingScene.com's recent news brief regarding David Haye's refusal to fight either Klitschko in Germany. According to Haye, the fight must take place in London, England.

“I want the fight in London - I don’t want to go to Germany,” said Haye to the South London Press. “I went out to Germany to win my title and I want my defining fight to be on British soil. They’ve had enough fights in Germany. This is my last year in the sport and there is no doubt it is going to be my best year - I want to go and clear out the heavyweight division."

Boente tells BoxingScene.com that he, along with the Klitschkos brothers, believe the British champion is making additional demands in order to sabotage a potential deal. The Klitschkos are willing to fight Haye in any location where the most money can be generated. And if that location is England, then the fight will happen in England. But if the most money can be generated elsewhere, whether it's Germany or another country, then it doesn't make financial sense to make the fight in England.

"I spoke with Wladimir and Vitali and we believe that David Haye is just looking for another excuse. He is setting up so many pre-conditions that making the fight will be impossible. If you remember last year he asked for no options, so we gave him no options. Then he complained that he wanted 50-50, so we gave him 50-50. Then he comes back and says he wants all of the money from English television. And now he wants the fight in England," Boente said to BoxingScene.com.

"I told you before, that if we don't get 50% of the English television, a fight with Wladimir or Vitali will never happen. He doesn't tell us what to do. I want to be 100% clear, we will never agree to anything David Haye sets up or tells us to do. We said England is an option for the fight, but the fight will take place where we can make the most money. And it doesn't necessarily have to be Germany. It could be anywhere.

"If England is where we can make the most money, then we'll go there. But the fight will happen where we can make the most money. If Haye is going to tell us that it can only happen in England, then we will never agree to start negotiations. A negotiation is where everyone comes to the table with open minds and together they make a deal. But if he is going to start telling us what to do, the fight won't happen."

Boente, and the Klitschkos, have a feeling that Haye is buying time to eliminate his fight options with Sauerland Event. Sauerland obtained options on Haye from last year's title fight with Nikolai Valuev. They expect Haye to move forward with a lesser opponent, or make his mandatory defense against Ruslan Chagaev.

"Our feeling is that Haye is not going to do the fight [with either Klitschko] until his last option with Sauerland Event is finished. Sauerland has one option left. They get a piece of the income and I don't think he wants to give them any of the income from the biggest fight of his career. He will look for another easy opponent, like Audley Harrison, or maybe he'll fight [WBA mandatory] Ruslan Chagaev, but that is what our feeling is," Boente said. "Wladimir called me and said Haye's fight with Audley Harrison was the most thrilling three rounds of boxing that he's ever seen."

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Marvin Hagler advises Pacquiao

Berlin: The former undisputed world middleweight champion ‘Marvelous' Marvin Hagler warns Manny Pacquiao is destined to a similar career fate as his, if Floyd Mayweather won't agree to a legacy-cementing showdown with the Filipino fighter.

Speaking to Gulf News on the sidelines of the ongoing three-day Laureus Academy Forum in Berlin — where 17 living sports legends are meeting to review the direction of the foundation, its next awards ceremony and its stable of social projects worldwide — Hagler said, "His [Pacquiao's] legacy will probably be the same as mine in the sense that he waited around for this guy [Mayweather] and he doesn't want to fight."

Like Pacquiao, Hagler was also 32-years-old when in 1987 Sugar Ray Leonard fresh out of retirement like Mayweather, refused to offer Hagler the fight everyone wanted to see.

The only difference was it would have been a re-fight to settle the earlier controversial showdown that saw Leonard steal Hagler's world title with what Hagler still describes as a "pitty-patty", "flashdancy" amateur show.

Leonard landed soft touches for points. Hagler connected fewer, but more crushing blows. Leonard won.

"I hung around for another year hoping Leonard would give me the same opportunity [rematch] I gave him, unfortunately he didn't. He was playing the same kind of game as Mayweather's doing."

In the public eye

In support of Pacquiao, Hagler praised the Filipino Congressman for doing all the right things by staying active, still fighting and remaining in the public's gaze.

But Hagler believes the ‘Pac-man' only has one more fight left and he can't wait around for Mayweather forever.

"I always used to say you got to fight me now at my best [or] else what you going to say afterwards, you beat an old man?"

Hagler suggested Mayweather's just waiting for Pacquiao to lose before he comes out of the woodwork. But with Pacquiao, the best pound for pound fighter on earth still on winning form with a 12- round points defeat of Antonio Magarito this week, it looks increasingly unlikely.

"Something is a little nervous about that fight. I think its more Mayweather if he wanted to fight he could make it happen tomorrow."

Hagler has resigned himself to the fact that "Pacquiao will just wipe it off and say well I offered it to you and you didn't come out. I'm not hanging around in this game too long so ciao."

This would be a strikingly similar retirement to Hagler's, leaving fight fans divided over the subject for decades to come.

"He won't get that big legacy until the fight with Mayweather comes off. But in time that fades away and people tend to forget. Fans remember me as a fighter a true champion. That Leonard fight don't bother me no more," Hagler mused.

 

[drunkaholic707]

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=5817099


Top three pound-for-pound fighters

Who is the world's best fighter regardless of weight class? See my Top 20 below.

And don't forget to check out the divisional rankings, which are updated weekly.

For a list of the current champions in all weight classes, click here.

Note: Results are through Nov. 16.


1. MANNY PACQUIAO
Welterweight and junior middleweight titlist
Record: 52-3-2, 38 KOs
Age: 31

Hits: Does it get better than Pacquiao's performance against Antonio Margarito? Despite being outweighed by 17 pounds on fight night and facing significant disadvantages in height and reach, the PacMan laid waste to Margarito for a near-shutout decision in an exciting fight that netted him a title in a record-extending eighth weight division. Sorry, Floyd Mayweather Jr. fans, but there isn't even a reasonable argument anymore for Pacquiao not to own the top spot on the pound-for-pound list. In fact, he is beginning to put distance between himself and the man who refuses to fight him. Pacquiao stays active destroying much bigger men, but the same can't be said for Mayweather.

Misses: The only negative is something Pacquiao can't control, and that's the fact that he is running out of legitimate opponents as long as Mayweather won't fight him. Promoter Bob Arum has mentioned a possible fight with Shane Mosley, but that is not at all attractive at this point given Mosley's poor performances in his most recent two fights.


2. FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR.
Welterweight
Record: 41-0, 25 KOs
Age: 33

Hits: When Mayweather actually has fought, he has been flawless throughout a career that will land him in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won titles in five divisions and rarely has been in a competitive fight -- even if he has not always fought the opponents the public has demanded to see him face.

Misses: In a word, Pacquiao. If Mayweather doesn't face Pacquiao, he might, as Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach suggested, have to leave the country because of all the animosity against him for refusing the fight. If Mayweather wants his legacy to mean anything, he needs to man up and take the fight -- although with a Jan. 24 court date pending because of the eight charges against him stemming from an alleged domestic incident, the choice might be taken out of his hands. If that happens, he has nobody to blame but himself.

3. PAUL WILLIAMS
Middleweight
Record: 39-1, 27 KOs
Age: 29

Hits: 2010 has been a down year for big fights and fight of the year candidates, but with Williams due to challenge Sergio Martinez for the middleweight title in a rematch of their December 2009 barn burner, we could get the best of both worlds -- a legitimately major fight that also could be action packed.

Misses: Because Williams and Martinez know how tough their first fight was, you never know whether they will play it a bit safer this time around, which could mean the rematch will fall short of the expectations for another slugfest.

 

[Tony]

Hagler still mad about that ass whoopin Sugar Ray gave him? Ray came out of retirement and whooped him... the samething is gonna happen to Pacquiao...