Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Schaefer stands behind letting Mayweather work out his legal problems before he fight

By Dan Ambrose: Bob Arum, the promoter for Manny Pacquiao, is anxious to try and line up a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao for April 16th next year at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Arum has already booked the Grand for Pacquiao’s next fight, be it Mayweather or someone else like 39-year-old fading star Shane Mosley.

Although Arum wants Mayweather to be Pacquiao’s next opponent, he’s failed to speak up and accept the offer for a fight. The problem is that Mayweather has some serious legal problems he’s dealing with and he still doesn’t even have a court date. With these legal hassles, Mayweather could possibly do a lot of time in prison. It may be that there never will be a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao if Floyd ends up serving time in prison.


In an article at the LA Times, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, the promoter for Mayweather, said “I don’t care how much money this is [referring to the money that Mayweather and Pacquiao would make for their mega fight]. There’s no price on doing things the right way, and if Floyd wants to let this legal process play out before he agrees to the fight, I support him.”

Arum wants to line up an opponent with for Pacquiao quickly, but it looks like he’s going to have to select Mosley instead of Mayweather, because Floyd obviously has too much on his plate right now to commit to a fight with Pacquiao. You can’t blame Mayweather for wanting to wait until he finds out what’s going to happen with his case. Trying to train for a bout as important as the Pacquiao bout without knowing what lay ahead of him in his future would be a terrible distraction for Mayweather. It would be nearly impossible to train properly no matter how much money that he might win in the fight by beating Pacquiao.

Mayweather could end up doing a lot of time in prison if he’s convicted of the charges against him and he needs to be left alone to work out his legal case before he can think of a fight with Pacquiao. Before all these problems came up, Mayweather was taking the rest of 2010 off after easily beating Shane Mosley last May. Things changed when Mayweather got into some problems with the mother of his children. Now, he’s got his hands tied up with this legal mess for the time being.

 

[heyzel]

Berto's Promoter: What Does Pacquiao Gain From Mosley?

Lem Satterfield

New York-based promoter, Lou DiBella, doesn't understand the reasoning for Manny Pacquiao to select Shane Mosley as the opponent for April 16 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. According to DiBella, Pacquiao should forget about Mosley and fight unbeaten WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto.

DiBella believes Mosley, 39-years-old, has seen better days. He was dominated in May by Floyd Mayweather Jr., and then fought Sergio Mora to a lackluster twelve round draw in September. If Pacquiao wants a real challenge, with a young ubeaten champion, DiBella says the only option is Berto.

"Manny Pacquiao wants a challenge and wants to stay at welterweight, well, here is a challenge. Shane Mosley was a great fighter, but what does he prove by fighting Shane Mosley?" said DiBella to FanHouse. "What does he [Pacquiao] prove by beating Shane Mosley, who lost every round but, you know, one, to Mayweather. What's to gain?"

DiBella believes Berto is more of a dangerous opponent than Mosley.

"It's a very dangerous fight for Manny," said DiBella. "It's young blood and it's new blood and it's somebody with a huge punch, and I think that it would be a helluva fight. [Top Rank CEO] Bob Arum, it's a better fight than Mosley

 

[heyzel]

Carl Froch: After I Beat Ward, Pascal Super Fight is Next

By Mark Vester

WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch has planned out his career path for 2011. Froch will defend his title against Glen Johnson in the semi-finals of the Super Six Boxing Classic. That fight should take place in the first quarter of 2011. Froch expects WBA champion Andre Ward to be his opponent in the Super Six finals. He picks Ward to beat Arthur Abraham in the semi-finals.

Froch is a little worried about facing Ward in America. The final bout of the Super Six is going to take place in the United States. Froch would prefer to fight Ward in England, but he knows that won't happen.

"Fighting in America is definitely a problem because you're going over to America to fight an American, and he's a big star on American television and they want him to win the fight. At the end of the day it's down to the judges and my performance. I would much rather it be in England but that's not going to happen." Froch said to Sky Sports.

Froch is not overlooking Johnson, or Ward, but he already has his sights set on a big rematch with WBC/IBO light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal. Froch won a twelve round decision over Pascal in December of 2008. It's the only defeat on Pascal's record. Provided Pascal defeats Bernard Hopkins on December 18, Froch appears confident the rematch will happen.

"Once I get the Ward fight out of the way. I'm not looking past Johnson or Ward, but you may see me at light heavyweight in a super fight with someone like Jean Pascal, as long as he does his job with Hopkins. I'm the only blemish on Pascal's record and he's the best light heavyweight in the world," Froch said.

 

[trips]

Lem Satterfield

New York-based promoter, Lou DiBella, doesn't understand the reasoning for Manny Pacquiao to select Shane Mosley as the opponent for April 16 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. According to DiBella, Pacquiao should forget about Mosley and fight unbeaten WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto.

DiBella believes Mosley, 39-years-old, has seen better days. He was dominated in May by Floyd Mayweather Jr., and then fought Sergio Mora to a lackluster twelve round draw in September. If Pacquiao wants a real challenge, with a young ubeaten champion, DiBella says the only option is Berto.

"Manny Pacquiao wants a challenge and wants to stay at welterweight, well, here is a challenge. Shane Mosley was a great fighter, but what does he prove by fighting Shane Mosley?" said DiBella to FanHouse. "What does he [Pacquiao] prove by beating Shane Mosley, who lost every round but, you know, one, to Mayweather. What's to gain?"

DiBella believes Berto is more of a dangerous opponent than Mosley.

"It's a very dangerous fight for Manny," said DiBella. "It's young blood and it's new blood and it's somebody with a huge punch, and I think that it would be a helluva fight. [Top Rank CEO] Bob Arum, it's a better fight than Mosley

He gains a whole lot of cashflow, what the fuck u think! Nice try lou dibella lol!

 

[Tony]

Pacquiao vs Mosley would flop worse than the Clottey fight did. I think Berto would knock Pacquiao out... Arum knows what's up, that's why they're going to pick old as Mosley. They don't want it with a "top” contender at 147, just like the Mayweather critics claim Mayweather does.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

tony you really think mosley/pac does less than 750k buys? I don't think so man

 

[heyzel]

Cotto-Margarito II: May in Las Vegas, June in New Jersey

By Ryan Burton

BoxingScene.com caught up with trainer Robert Garcia at Friday's weigh-in for his pupil Nonito Donaire's clash versus Wladimir Sidorenko. Robert Garcia also has Mikey Garcia on the card and trains former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito among others.

When asked for his thoughts on a potential rematch between Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto, Garcia told BoxingScene - "That is a fight that Tony wants. The timing would work too. We just spoke to Bob (Arum) and he said the fight would happen in Las Vegas for Cinco De Mayo weekend or in New Jersey in June for the Puerto Rican Day parade. Either date fits our time table."

Margarito defeated Cotto via TKO in a highly entertaining bout in July of 2008. After Margarito was caught prior to his subsequent fight with Shane Mosley with loaded handwraps in January 2009, the validity of his win over Cotto came into question. I asked Garcia if proving that the first fight was a legitimate win is a motivating factor for a rematch and Garcia said - "Absolutely. Margarito wants to beat Cotto again so this time there won't be any doubt."

 

[heyzel]

Golden Boy Has Superstar Aspirations For Saul Alvarez

By Jake Donovan

‘Win today, look good the next time’ need not apply in the search for a future superstar.

Though just 20 years young, Saul Alvarez already gets it.

Merely looking good today means less interest the next time you appear. Alvarez (34-0-1, 26KO) always wants to put on a show for his fans – and to date has yet to disappoint in that regard.

In that vain, there is perhaps a little extra pressure to look good against Lovemore N’Dou, a former titlist who doesn’t always place entertainment value at the top of his priority list. In addition to his normal televised showcase on Mexico network giant Televisa, the rising young Mexican contender will also be available to stateside viewers, as the bout will air live on HBO Latino from Veracruz, Mexico.

Alvarez has appeared on the network before, but only via tape-delay. This will be his first test run in real time, paving the way for big plans that promoter Golden Boy Promotions has in store for him in the near future.

“I was happy to see HBO Latino agree to televise this fight,” states Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “They are on board to have him appear three times in the next year – at least once or possibly twice in Mexico, but also live from the United States. His bouts from Mexico will continue to air on Televisa. We plan to build him up in the states, but it’s also important to showcase his talents in his home country.”

The decision to persuade HBO Latino to enter the fold came from the overwhelmingly positive feedback generated from a tape-delayed airing of his sixth round knockout over former lineal welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir this past September.

“The fight pulled in unbelievable ratings,” Schaefer reveals. “It was a no-brainer for everyone involved to put him on in a live showcase.”

Alvarez and Golden Boy have enjoyed a working relationship for the past couple of years, including a premium undercard slot on the May 1 PPV headlined by Floyd Mayweather’s whitewash of Shane Mosley, an event that sold 1.5 million units. The marriage became official earlier this summer, with the announcement that he would serve as chief support to another pay-per-view event.

This time around, Alvarez wasn’t just along for the ride, but flat out stole the show. His knockout of Baldomir was impressive in that the moment came in highlight reel fashion, not to mention that the iron-chinned Argentinean had only been stopped once before in a career that has spanned 17 years.

But well before Alvarez flattened Baldomir in jaw-dropping fashion, Golden Boy already knew that they had in their stable something special.

“When you look back to September 18 at the Staples Center, that’s when it really hit everyone just how big this kid truly is,” Schaefer recalls of Alvarez’ ringwalk on a night headlined by a stinker between Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora.

Given the lack of entertainment provided by the main event, it wasn’t hard for a fighter of Alvarez’ ilk to steel the show. But even more telling was the revelation of how many people were there in support of the undefeated welterweight more so than either of the main event participants.

“Everyone talks so much about Saul Alvarez before and after that fight,” Schaefer states. “When he walked into the ring, you had those 13,000 people cheer as if he were the main event.

“We knew that a superstar was born on that night.”

Alvarez already enjoys star status in Mexico. The plan now is to make him a crossover star in the United States, although it doesn’t necessarily mean a mad dash towards the title picture.

“He’s 20 years young, and there is no need to rush,” states Schaefer, spoken like a man who learned from past mistakes. A series of circumstances led to their taking a chance on rushing Daniel Jacobs into a title shot, and it failed miserably.

The difference between the two fighters, though, was that Jacobs’ leap in competition was massive, whereas Alvarez has enjoyed a steady upgrade, including his stiffest test to date when he faces N’Dou this weekend.

When the right time comes, Golden Boy is confident that their young stud will be ready. That time just doesn’t have to be now, although plans are already in motion for a big year in 2011.

“As (Alvarez) states, he wants to fight everybody. He wants the biggest names in the sport. I see a big year for him. He wants his first belt at 2011. That is definitely the plan and we would like for it to be at welterweight before he grows out of the division.

“For now, he has a tough test in front of him this weekend. But assuming he wins, we will sit down with his team and see what we can do at welterweight to fight for a title when the time is right.”

His longing to fight everybody aside, Alvarez is content with the direction in which Golden Boy plans to take his career.

Both agree that 2011 is the year in which he fights for his first major title, but it doesn’t have to be his first fight of the year. In fact, this time next year might be the most ideal time, after he has celebrated his 21st birthday and officially make the transformation from boy to man.

Whenever that moment comes when he’s ready for the absolute best, Alvarez is confident that his stateside promoter will come through.

“I’m really happy with Golden Boy. They’re a big company and know how to put on a big event and get behind their fighters.”

As long as both entities continue to do what they do best, there’s no question that Alvarez will soon become that fighter headlining their big events.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

This is what I'm talking about! Hopefully Gamboa gets the W and JuanMa later in the year for a mini-mega event.



Chris John-Yuriorkis Gamboa Eyed For March, Says Arum

By Lem Satterfield

Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum is planning to pursue a featherweight showdown between unbeaten boxrs Chris John (44-0-2, 22KOs), of Indonesia, and, Cuban-born, former Olympic gold medalist, Yuriorkis Gamboa (19-0, 15KOs). John is the WBA's "super champion in recess" in the featherweight division. Gamboa, promoted by Top Rank, is the IBF champion and the current "super champion" of the WBA.

The sanctioning body has ordered both boxers to fight by April 19.

"We're reaching out to make the Chris John fight as soon as [John's adviser] Sampson Lewkowicz gets back [from Indonesia]," Arum said. "We would like to make that fight happen in the beginning of March on HBO."

Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.

 

[bigface]

Wow didn't see that fight coming. Very good fight..

 

[heyzel]

Khan says Roach will continue working with him after Pacquiao retires, but will he if

By William Mackay: World Boxing Association (WBA) light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) says that his trainer Freddie Roach will continue to train him after his number #1 fighter Manny Pacquiao retires in the near future. Roach supposedly was going to retire when Pacquiao retired but says he’ll stick around to continue to train Khan after that. However, you have to wonder whether Roach will stick it out with Khan if he gets knocked out by Marcos Maidana (29-1, 27 KO’s) this Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.


This is Khan’s first real test since he was knocked out two years ago by the hard hitting Breidis Prescott in 2008 and many people think Khan will once again get knocked out now that he’s finally facing another puncher after all this time. The question is whether Roach will stay with Khan after yet another knockout loss for him.

Right now, Roach thinks the knockout defeat Khan suffered two years ago was a fluke and not an indication that Khan has a weak chin, despite Khan having been down and staggered against fighters with moderate power. But a knockout loss to Maidana would pretty much make it clear that Khan’s chin isn’t up to the task of getting hit by big punchers. In that case, it will be interesting to see if Roach decides to stick it out with Khan, and if so, how long before he abandons the task and gives it up as a lost cause. Roach mostly trains fighters that are going somewhere, at least to the paper title stage. However, if Khan is exposed by Maidana and then by whoever comes after Maidana, will Roach stick it out with him when it’s clear that Khan doesn’t have the chin to beat really good fighters?

Speaking with the thesun.co.uk, Khan said “Manny has won all his world titles with Freddie and Freddie had said he would quit when Pac-Man retired. But he’s told me he wants to carry on because he enjoys working me so much. For him to say that to me shows he must have a lot of confidence in me. It gave me a big lift and Freddie has told me that he believes in me like he believes in Manny. I’m sure he could call it a day whenever he wanted and he has achieved so much in his career and produced so many champions.”

I think Khan doesn’t realize that people change their minds. What Roach is saying right now could change in the future if things change with Khan. I’d like to think that Roach would stick it out with Khan as his trainer, but for how long would he if Khan starts getting knocked out left and right, even by weak punchers? I think Maidana is going to blast him into oblivion this Saturday night and he could very well seriously hurt Khan and make him more susceptible to experiencing future knockouts. I think Roach might not feel so good about training Khan when he starts getting beaten over and over again.

Khan says “I’m in boxing to fight the very best out there and that means Floyd [Mayweather] right now for me. Ricky [Hatton] went to Vegas and met the best to try and prove that he was the best and I will continue where Ricky failed. It’s why we fight. Manny knows that Floyd will never fight him and it could be me that gets in the ring with Floyd. That is a real fight.”

Khan sounds seriously deluded about him fighting Mayweather. I can’t see that fight happening in this lifetime unless Khan takes a backdoor way there by facing only weak punchers after Maidana knocks him out. If Mayweather is okay with facing a guy that was knocked out twice and who failed to unify the light welterweight titles, then I can see Khan facing Mayweather. However, that’s about the only way I can see Khan and Mayweather fighting

 

[heyzel]

Khan’s golden road to Mayweather?

By Shaun Campbell: World Boxing Association (WBA) light-welterweight champion Amir Khan has expressed his desire to fight former WBC welterweight champion and pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather before he retires. Khan, who is set to clash with Argentina’s Marcos Maidana on Saturday night, has said, “I’m in boxing to fight the very best out there and that means Floyd right now for me. Ricky (Hatton) went to Vegas and met the best to try and prove that he was the best and I will continue where Ricky failed – it’s why we fight. Manny knows that Floyd will never fight him and it could be me that gets in the ring with Floyd – that is a real fight.”


Hopefully the ever-confident champion is not looking past the dangerous Maidana. Obviously his ambition is unquestionable, which for a young fighter is needed. People forget he is still only 23. He has been open about his plans to unify the light-welterweight division before moving up to eventually face Mayweather. One question is will he have time to unify the division before fighting that man who calls himself “Money”. Mayweather has not fought since a unanimous points win over Shane Mosley, and with current legal problems, it is uncertain when his next fight will be.

One thing that is for sure is that Khan will have to beat a few more big names before he will get a chance to fight the unbeaten Mayweather. Although everyone seems to be determined to see Juan Manuel Marquez square off for a third time with Manny Pacquiao, why shouldn’t be get a shot at the Bolton man first? If Marquez wants to face Pacquiao, then becoming WBA light-welterweight champion can only help. For Khan it would be another impressive name on his ever growing record. It could be a really good fight, with Marquez’s amazing warriors heart, brilliant counter-punching ability, and sharp technique. Where as Khan obviously has the speed.

Obviously the public will want to see a unification match between Khan and either Timothy Bradley or Devon Alexander. With Roach in his corner, Khan is more than capable of beating either of those fighters, but anyone with a half decent punch always has a chance of putting him on the deck.

So the golden road to Mr ‘Money’ Mayweather is probably as follows: Marcos Maidana, Timothy Bradley/Devon Alexander, Juan Manuel Marquez? Then possibly a warm up fight at welterweight, and then maybe if he is still boxing and not fallen into yet another retirement, Floyd Mayweather.

As for Khan winning that fight, unfortunately I just don’t think he is quite good enough. Floyd is accurate, quick, and punches harder than people think. But Amir is quicker than any opponent Floyd has ever faced and could cause him problems. However there is a long way to go before this fight materialises.

 

[heyzel]

Marquez thinks Arum and Pacquiao are avoiding him for third fight

By Chris Williams: WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez has previously fought Manny Pacquiao twice in his career, and given all he could handle in both fights. Many fans believe that Marquez won both of the bouts, and I’m in agreement with that. However, Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum don’t appear to be willing to fight Marquez a third time, perhaps knowing it’s wise not to attempt fate against the bruising Mexican counter puncher. Marquez has shown the ability to make Pacquiao look bad and nothing has probably changed on that end despite Marquez being two years older at 37 since they last fought in 2008.


In an article by Ricardo Lois at examiner.com, he quotes Marquez as saying this in his weekly ESPN program Deportes Golpe a Golpe: “Arum and Pacquiao’s comments are illogical. They are saying that for their possible opponents [Floyd] Mayweather is number one, [Shane] Mosley is number two, [Andre] Berto is number three, and I’m number four. That does not bother me, because I can see I’m a nail stuck in their shoe and I won the first two fights. Their avoiding me for a third fight.”

It’s pretty clear that they’re avoiding Marquez. It makes no sense for Pacquiao to be matched up against guys like Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey, neither of which were popular fighters in terms of pay-per-view and fans, which is what Arum is suddenly focused on, and both of them had been beaten up not long before going into their fights with Pacquiao. They weren’t looking like world beaters at the time they were put in with Pacquiao. Right now Marquez is looking great, having beaten Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis in his last two fights. However, Marquez may have blown his chance at a fight with Pacquiao by looking too good in his his win over Katsidis.

Pacquiao’s next opponent is going to be 39-year-old Shane Mosley, who has looked horrid in his last two fights. It’s hard to believe that Pacquiao is being matched up against Mosley at this point because Pacquiao just finished beating up on two fighters that many people felt didn’t belong in the same ring with him. Now it’s going to be an old guy. Why not Marquez? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[heyzel]

Wladimir Klitschko Rips Haye: "He's All Alone in London"

By Mark Vester

This coming Saturday, IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will defend his titles against Dereck Chisora in Germany. The next move for Klitschko, if everything falls into place, is a unification with WBA champion David Haye. Klitschko told British paper The Guardian that he's not impressed with Haye's recent performances.

"It's very questionable Haye will dare face Vitali or me. It's ridiculous with this guy. He did sign a contract to fight me [last year] but then he didn't show up. He pulled out of the fight. The same thing happened with Vitali. Haye pulled out of negotiations and went instead to Nikolai Valuev. Against Valuev I wasn't impressed by Haye. He was running around like a scared chicken. It was the same against Audley Harrison. I guess it would be funny if it wasn't so ridiculous," Klitschko said.

Klitschko thinks Haye is buying his time by fighting in London to prevent his promotional partners from taking a good slice of a major fight. He wants the fight to happen but feels Haye is not reliable.

"Against Harrison, Haye did his show and got away with it. But he needs us more than we need him. He can't fight in the US because [Oscar De La Hoya's promotional company] Golden Boy will be on his neck. He can't fight in Germany because [promoter] Kalle Sauerland will be on his back. So he is sitting alone in London, trying to be smart, but, little by little, he's putting himself in a corner. It's enjoyable to see," Klitschko said.

"The man lies a lot. He and his manager are trying to be super smart but their options are running out. I can't take this guy seriously – he might never show up. We can't even rely on a signed contract with Haye. So who can say?"

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao's Adviser: Mayweather Waiting For Manny To Age

By Mark Vester

Michael Koncz, adviser to WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, had a few choice words regarding a possible mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Koncz told BoxingScene.com's Ryan Burton that Mayweather is likely waiting for Pacquiao's abilities to decline. Negotiations to make the fight have failed twice.

"Do I personally think it will ever happen? I believe that it will only happen under one condition - Mayweather will wait until he sees Manny decline in his abilities and then he may do it, and I don't even know how certain that is," Koncz told BoxingScene.com.

Shane Mosley is the frontrunner to face Pacquiao on April 16 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank, tried reaching out to Mayweather. They never heard back. Pacquiao is not going to wait on Mayweather any longer.

"We're not even looking at Mayweather. We tried in good faith to negotiate two times with him. He made fools out of us twice. He has [Top Rank CEO] Bob Arum's number. They have my number. If they are interested in the fight, they are welcome to call us," Koncz said.

 

[heyzel]

Pascal in no-win situation against 45-year-old Hopkins on 12/18

By Jim Dower: WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1, 16 KO’s) has a fight against 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins (51-5-1, 32 KO’s) on December 18th at the Pepsi Coliseum, in Quebec, Canada. Pascal, 28, is 17 years younger than Hopkins and much faster than him. Pascal is in the prime of his career right now with recent wins over Chad Dawson and Adrian Diaconu. For his part, Hopkins peaked as a fighter over 10 years ago and has been coasting downhill slowly, still doing will by picking and choosing his opponents carefully.


Hopkins has been able to extend his career much longer than normal fighters because he’s always been a fighter that depends on mugging his opponents on the inside to get the better of opponents with better hand speed, power and raw skills than him. Hopkins has added the clinch and grab technique to his already frustrating mugging style. Hopkins is quite good at slowing down a fight to a crawl by bullying his opponents into the ropes and focusing on being the first one to throw and then immediately grabbing them as soon as he lands or missed a shot. I

t’s whole different way of fighting because it takes away the ability of his opponent to fire back with anything before he’s grabbed by Hopkins. If his opponent tries to fight while being held by Hopkins, this plays into Hopkins style of fighting because he is very good at fighting in close and he’ll win those kinds of fights. The best way that you deal with a fighter like Hopkins to defeat his punch and grab style is to move constantly, throwing fast shots and try to be first with fast combinations.

You can’t stand in front of Hopkins because he’ll land his single shots and immediately grab for a clinch. He’s hard to beat and it’s going to be a fight that Pascal likely won’t look good in. It’s not that Pascal couldn’t make Hopkins look like an old man if the referee was doing his job and warning and penalizing Hopkins for his constantly clinching, but there probably isn’t any referees that are going to do that. Hopkins will be able to clinch as much as he pleases without being penalized. As such, Pascal will still win the fight because of his better hand speed, but it won’t be very impressive and he’ll take criticism afterwards for not dominating the 45-year-old Hopkins.

But the real reason Pascal won’t look good is because it’s a whole different type of boxing that Hopkins does. It’s kind of a spoiling way of fighting and it’s effective, but ugly. Ideally, a referee would warn, take points away and if need be disqualify Hopkins for the clinch and grab stuff, but that won’t he happening. Hopefully, Hopkins limits his clinching so the fight doesn’t end up being too much of a stinker, but I’m not counting on it.

 

[heyzel]

Timothy Bradley vs. Devon Alexander on January 29th

By Dan Ambrose: WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (26-0, 11 KO’s) has an important fight coming up against World Boxing Council (WBC) light welterweight champion Devon Alexander (21-0, 13 KO’s) on January 29th at the Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan. This was supposed to have been a unification bout but Bradley wasn’t interested in paying the sanctioning fees for the WBC title, so if he beats Alexander, the WBC title will go vacant but it won’t go to Bradley. It seems that Bradley doesn’t care about winning one more title because it would likely slow him down by forcing him to fight uninteresting contenders from time to time.


Bradley and Alexander have bigger things on the horizon. The winner of this fight will take on the winner of the Marcos Maidana vs. Amir Khan fight sometime next year for a unification bout, which will get a lot of attention and make a big star out of the winner of that fight. All of this could in theory end with the winner of those fights possibly facing someone like Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. It would be hard to see those fighters ignoring the eventual light welterweight winner, because of how popular they will be. But at the same time, the eventual winner of all these fights won’t necessarily need to fight Mayweather or Pacquiao to make good money. They’ll do fine against other opponents like Saul Alvarez, Andre Berto and Shane Mosley.

Alexander looked bad in his last fight against Andriy Kotelnik last August. Alexander, while fighting at home in Saint Louis, won the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision but the bout ended up being very close and Alexander got hit a lot in the fight. This wasn’t the kind off performance that boxing fans were expecting from Alexander when he signed on for the Kotelnik fight. Alexander was expected to win the fight with ease, but instead he went life and death with him. Kotelnik exposed Alexander as being vulnerable to getting hit with jabs and counter shots. This obviously won’t escape the attention of Bradley, who has an excellent jab is good at firing back at his opponents when hit.

 

[heyzel]

Roach wants Pacquiao to fight Sergio Martinez next, says it would have to be at the “

By Dave Lahr: I was totally shocked to hear today that Freddie Roach wants Manny Pacquiao to fight WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez next. Speaking with fightnews.com, Roach said he would like for Pacquiao to fight Martinez rather than the other list of fighters that have been bandied about recently for Pacquiao. But the Roach said a fight between Pacquiao and Martinez would have to be at the “right weight,” and that could mean some kind midevel, strength draining catch weight number that would leave Martinez too weak to put up much of a fight.


Depending on how low Roach is thinking about, it could have the same effect of stunning Martinez and then sending him out to fight. Under the right kind of strength draining catch weight, I can see Martinez coming out against Pacquiao looking like death warmed over the way that Oscar De La Hoya did in his eighth round loss to Pacquiao in December 2008. Let me guess what kind of catch weight Martinez would have to come in for a fight against Pacquiao.

I can see something like 142-144. I can’t see Bob Arum, Roach or Pacquiao agreeing to a fight with Martinez at 147 or above. I think he would still be deemed too dangerous for Pacquiao, even though I can’t see Martinez making 147 without starving himself to near death. But I think he would be expected to come in even lower than that for a Pacquiao fight. My guess is 144 would be the final number in a take it or leave it offer. Of course, Martinez will probably agree to it and come into the fight looking like hell, nothing but skin and bones waiting to be slaughtered

 

[heyzel]

Wladimir says he can’t take Haye serious, doubts he would show up for a fight

By Sean McDaniel: With his inability to land a unification bout against WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) has to settle for fighting undefeated Brit Dereck Chisora (14-0, 9 KO’s) this Saturday night in Germany in what amounts to be a stay busy fight. Wladimir and his brother would like to fight Haye for the payday and to punish him for his constant name dropping of their names for the past two years, but Wladimir is skeptical that the fight can happen.


Speaking to the guardian.co.uk, Wladimir said this about Haye “I can’t take this guy seriously. He might never show up. We can’t even rely on a signed contract with Haye. Yes, I do want to fight Haye and it would be very personal. But, right now, I’m more focused on Chisora because he is much more dangerous than Haye.”

Wladimir could be selling Haye short, because he does look more dangerous than Chisora because of his better hand speed, power and his tendency to open up with power shots when in close. On the outside, Haye would have little chance against Wladimir or his brother Vitali. But Haye would have a shot if one of the Klitschko brothers missed with one of their punches and left him able to counter. Also, Haye would have a great chance at beating either of them if he could get inside close enough to land shots.

Since Wladimir likes to clinch a lot more than Vitali, Haye would have a better chance against Wladimir to land his shots. Also, Wladimir has the weaker chin than Vitali, and that would be another thing going for Haye. Adam Booth, the manager/trainer for Haye, says that Wladimir is the one that they would like to try arrange a fight with starting on December 12th, the day after Wladimir’s fight against Chisora.

Wladimir added this in the Guardian article, “He [Haye] needs us more than we need him. He can’t fight in the U.S. because Golden Boy [Promotions] will be on his neck. He can’t fight in Germany because Kalle Sauerland will be on his back. So he is sitting alone in London, trying to be smart but little by little, he’s putting himself in a corner. It’s enjoyable to see. The man lies a lot. He and his manager [Booth] are trying to be super smart but their options are running out.”

As we’ve seen on Haye’s fights against John Ruiz and Audley Harrison, he really doesn’t need a big-named opponent for him to make huge money on pay-per-view in the UK. While certainly Haye didn’t do himself any favors by choosing the 39-year-old Harrison for his last opponent because of how Harrison ended up making him look bad by throwing only one punch in the three rounds of the fight, but the British public has a short memory. They’ll back him no matter who he faces.

 

[heyzel]

Bernard Hopkins: "I'm Going To Take Jean Pascal Apart

By Chris LaBate

Former champion Bernard Hopkins has issued a warning to boxing fans. He plans to destroy WBC/IBO light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal when they face off on December 18 at the Pepsi Coliseum, Quebec City in Quebec.

"I want to go on record and say it now. I’m warning you. I'm gonna take this guy apart and I'm gonna take him to school," Hopkins said. "I’m gonna reach down deep in my bag a bring it on December 18th! Bernard Hopkins is going to Canada to win and win big."

Hopkins is not worried about the physical advantages of Pascal. The veteran is planning to use his vast in-ring experience to overcome any of Pascal's abilities.

"[Pascal's] biggest asset is that he’s fighting in Canada. In 17 years I've seen and heard everything. Pascal has to be ready for what I bring to the table because it’s a whole encyclopedia. Look at the people I've fought compared to the people he’s fought and you tell me who’s the Harvard graduate," Hopkins said.

The fight takes place Canada, where Pascal is a star, but Hopkins is not worried about the judges.

"I didn’t even look at the judges because Golden Boy Promotions is a promotion I respect and I know they are always watching out for Bernard Hopkins," Hopkins said.