The only reason Manny fought Marquez was because they thought Marquez was old and couldn't fight at 144lb, but he was wrong. One guy came back from a 21-month lay-off and slapped Marquez around the ring like it was sparring. Respect real boxing skills. Manny has took so many risk that he has not fought another 147lb champion since winning the belt in 2009. Marquez and Bradley are the only champions that dude has fought since 2009. Lol . Big risk taker.
Boxing News Thread
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Oscar De La Hoya's Sexual Assault Suit Ruled Frivolous
A sexual assault lawsuit against Oscar De La Hoya has been thrown out in New York. (Photo by Scott Heavey/Getty Images)
Scott Heavey - Getty Images
A sexual assault lawsuit against Oscar De La Hoya has been thrown out in New York. (Photo by Scott Heavey/Getty Images)
A judge in New York has ruled the sexual assault lawsuit against Oscar De La Hoya to be frivolous, and ordered Angelica Marie Cecora to pay a $500 fine for filing it, according to the New York Daily News.
You likely remember this first coming up in November. Here's a brief from then:
"It was beyond kinky," New York model Angelica Marie Cecora, 25, told The Post in an exclusive interview. "Things that I don’t even know how to explain were done with him."
... "He started to put my stuff on, my underwear. I had a skirt with me. He put that on," she said. ... "We had intercourse . . . He wasn’t taking no for an answer, as if I could leave.
"He ordered drugs to be delivered to the room. I tried to hide them from him to keep him under control, but he just wanted more and more."
Now, De La Hoya's lawyers and the fighter himself are quite satisfied, offering this quote today:
"The case was a disgrace and the judge saw that it was a disgrace," said Judd Burstein. "[Cecora] thought it was her moment in the sun. It turned out to be a very cloudy day."
Star-divide
Here's how the judge put it:
"She never claims that he threatened her with force," the judge said of Cecora. "Her claim that she was ‘afraid to leave the hotel room because she feared that the defendant would attempt to have sex with her again against her will’ is belied by her voluntary conduct from evening through the following morning."
So it's good news for De La Hoya, and the holes in Cecora's claim were -- and I know, it's a sensitive subject, but this is just my opinion -- seen by the judge.
A sexual assault lawsuit against Oscar De La Hoya has been thrown out in New York. (Photo by Scott Heavey/Getty Images)
Scott Heavey - Getty Images
A sexual assault lawsuit against Oscar De La Hoya has been thrown out in New York. (Photo by Scott Heavey/Getty Images)
A judge in New York has ruled the sexual assault lawsuit against Oscar De La Hoya to be frivolous, and ordered Angelica Marie Cecora to pay a $500 fine for filing it, according to the New York Daily News.
You likely remember this first coming up in November. Here's a brief from then:
"It was beyond kinky," New York model Angelica Marie Cecora, 25, told The Post in an exclusive interview. "Things that I don’t even know how to explain were done with him."
... "He started to put my stuff on, my underwear. I had a skirt with me. He put that on," she said. ... "We had intercourse . . . He wasn’t taking no for an answer, as if I could leave.
"He ordered drugs to be delivered to the room. I tried to hide them from him to keep him under control, but he just wanted more and more."
Now, De La Hoya's lawyers and the fighter himself are quite satisfied, offering this quote today:
"The case was a disgrace and the judge saw that it was a disgrace," said Judd Burstein. "[Cecora] thought it was her moment in the sun. It turned out to be a very cloudy day."
Star-divide
Here's how the judge put it:
"She never claims that he threatened her with force," the judge said of Cecora. "Her claim that she was ‘afraid to leave the hotel room because she feared that the defendant would attempt to have sex with her again against her will’ is belied by her voluntary conduct from evening through the following morning."
So it's good news for De La Hoya, and the holes in Cecora's claim were -- and I know, it's a sensitive subject, but this is just my opinion -- seen by the judge.
Denis Lebedev's Team Looking to Make Fight With Jean-Marc Mormeck
Jean-Marc Mormeck was so bad against Wladimir Klitschko that he might be perfect for Denis Lebedev. (Photo by Tim Groothuis/Witters Sport via US PRESSWIRE)
Witters Sport-US PRESSWIRE - PresswireMore photos »
Jean-Marc Mormeck was so bad against Wladimir Klitschko that he might be perfect for Denis Lebedev. (Photo by Tim Groothuis/Witters Sport via US PRESSWIRE)
According to a report at BoxingScene.com, Denis Lebedev's manager is looking to make a fight between the interim WBA cruiserweight titlist and former cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck for the first week in June. Lebedev knocked out Shawn Cox in two rounds yesterday in Russia.
Is there any way to really respect this fight? Lebedev and his team have become really difficult to take seriously. If this fight happens, that means that Lebedev's most recent four opponents would be Mormeck (40 when this fight takes place), Cox (37 and totally unproven), James Toney (43 and a decade past what could be generously described as his prime), and Roy Jones Jr (42 and we all know his story).
What about Mormeck's recent embarrassing loss to Wladimir Klitschko makes this fight attractive to anyone but the stupidest of non-fans? Mormeck can't fight anymore. He also may or may not be able to make the weight. It's easy to say that Lebedev isn't Klitschko and Mormeck's really a cruiserweight, and that's true, but the reality is he's just not any good anymore and he's old. James Toney and Roy Jones Jr at one point would have whipped Lebedev, too. Not when Lebedev actually fought them, though.
Star-divide
Who's next after Mormeck, or who could sub for Mormeck should Mormeck say, as he might, "No thank you"? Let's run down some options and then laugh later if he actually fights one of them on his Senior Bash Tour 2011-12.
Montell Griffin (41), Danny Green (39), Firat Arslan (41), Silvio Branco (45), Giacobbe Fragomeni (41), Rob Calloway (42). Any of those could work.
Maybe he'll call on a young, hungry American bruiser such as Mike Marrone, Adam "Swamp Donkey" Richards, Matt Godfrey, or Brian Minto.
Maybe he'll pull a legend such as Herbie Hide or Vassily Jirov out of retirement.
There is an off chance he will fight someone who really, truly belongs in the ring with him
Jean-Marc Mormeck was so bad against Wladimir Klitschko that he might be perfect for Denis Lebedev. (Photo by Tim Groothuis/Witters Sport via US PRESSWIRE)
Witters Sport-US PRESSWIRE - PresswireMore photos »
Jean-Marc Mormeck was so bad against Wladimir Klitschko that he might be perfect for Denis Lebedev. (Photo by Tim Groothuis/Witters Sport via US PRESSWIRE)
According to a report at BoxingScene.com, Denis Lebedev's manager is looking to make a fight between the interim WBA cruiserweight titlist and former cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck for the first week in June. Lebedev knocked out Shawn Cox in two rounds yesterday in Russia.
Is there any way to really respect this fight? Lebedev and his team have become really difficult to take seriously. If this fight happens, that means that Lebedev's most recent four opponents would be Mormeck (40 when this fight takes place), Cox (37 and totally unproven), James Toney (43 and a decade past what could be generously described as his prime), and Roy Jones Jr (42 and we all know his story).
What about Mormeck's recent embarrassing loss to Wladimir Klitschko makes this fight attractive to anyone but the stupidest of non-fans? Mormeck can't fight anymore. He also may or may not be able to make the weight. It's easy to say that Lebedev isn't Klitschko and Mormeck's really a cruiserweight, and that's true, but the reality is he's just not any good anymore and he's old. James Toney and Roy Jones Jr at one point would have whipped Lebedev, too. Not when Lebedev actually fought them, though.
Star-divide
Who's next after Mormeck, or who could sub for Mormeck should Mormeck say, as he might, "No thank you"? Let's run down some options and then laugh later if he actually fights one of them on his Senior Bash Tour 2011-12.
Montell Griffin (41), Danny Green (39), Firat Arslan (41), Silvio Branco (45), Giacobbe Fragomeni (41), Rob Calloway (42). Any of those could work.
Maybe he'll call on a young, hungry American bruiser such as Mike Marrone, Adam "Swamp Donkey" Richards, Matt Godfrey, or Brian Minto.
Maybe he'll pull a legend such as Herbie Hide or Vassily Jirov out of retirement.
There is an off chance he will fight someone who really, truly belongs in the ring with him
Floyd Mayweather: Speaking Out" debuts Saturday, April 21 on HBO
HBO Sports continues its tradition of innovative programming with FLOYD MAYWEATHER: SPEAKING OUT, a profile of one of boxing’s most intriguing and controversial figures. Hosted by acclaimed author and academic Michael Eric Dyson, the special debuts SATURDAY, APRIL 21 (10:30-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)
“With his extraordinary record (42-0, 26 KOs), Floyd Mayweather has proven himself one of the ring’s all-time greats,” says Ken Hershman, president, HBO Sports. “Now, we are giving viewers an opportunity to see another side of the man. Michael Eric Dyson is an exceptional journalist and he’ll explore what Floyd has to say on a number of issues.”
Other HBO® playdates: April 23 (8:15 a.m., 7:00 p.m.), 25 (8:30 p.m., 2:15 a.m.), 28 (10:30 a.m., 1:00 a.m.), 29 (8:30 a.m.) and 30 (11:30 p.m.), and May 1 (12:30 a.m.) and 3 (2:00 p.m., 12:45 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: April 26 (5:15 p.m.) and 29 (12:25 a.m.), and May 2 (5:45 p.m.), 4 (11:00 a.m.) and 5 (4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT)
The special will also be available on HBO On Demand® and HBO GO®.
Produced by HBO Sports’ award-winning production team, FLOYD MAYWEATHER: SPEAKING OUT includes a one-on-one interview with the 35-year-old Grand Rapids, Michigan native, who now calls Las Vegas home. Mayweather has begun training for boxing’s first mega-fight of 2012, his May 5 super welterweight title bout with Miguel Cotto.
Michael Eric Dyson is an acclaimed public intellectual and bestselling author. The author of 16 books, he is currently University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. Dyson has also appeared extensively as a TV commentator and hosted his own syndicated radio program.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER: SPEAKING OUT debuts immediately after the debut of episode two of the all-access reality series “24/7 Mayweather/Cotto” at 10:00 p.m.
HBO Sports continues its tradition of innovative programming with FLOYD MAYWEATHER: SPEAKING OUT, a profile of one of boxing’s most intriguing and controversial figures. Hosted by acclaimed author and academic Michael Eric Dyson, the special debuts SATURDAY, APRIL 21 (10:30-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)
“With his extraordinary record (42-0, 26 KOs), Floyd Mayweather has proven himself one of the ring’s all-time greats,” says Ken Hershman, president, HBO Sports. “Now, we are giving viewers an opportunity to see another side of the man. Michael Eric Dyson is an exceptional journalist and he’ll explore what Floyd has to say on a number of issues.”
Other HBO® playdates: April 23 (8:15 a.m., 7:00 p.m.), 25 (8:30 p.m., 2:15 a.m.), 28 (10:30 a.m., 1:00 a.m.), 29 (8:30 a.m.) and 30 (11:30 p.m.), and May 1 (12:30 a.m.) and 3 (2:00 p.m., 12:45 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: April 26 (5:15 p.m.) and 29 (12:25 a.m.), and May 2 (5:45 p.m.), 4 (11:00 a.m.) and 5 (4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT)
The special will also be available on HBO On Demand® and HBO GO®.
Produced by HBO Sports’ award-winning production team, FLOYD MAYWEATHER: SPEAKING OUT includes a one-on-one interview with the 35-year-old Grand Rapids, Michigan native, who now calls Las Vegas home. Mayweather has begun training for boxing’s first mega-fight of 2012, his May 5 super welterweight title bout with Miguel Cotto.
Michael Eric Dyson is an acclaimed public intellectual and bestselling author. The author of 16 books, he is currently University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. Dyson has also appeared extensively as a TV commentator and hosted his own syndicated radio program.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER: SPEAKING OUT debuts immediately after the debut of episode two of the all-access reality series “24/7 Mayweather/Cotto” at 10:00 p.m.
Indonesia boxer dies after brain surgery
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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- The Indonesian Boxing Commission says a professional boxer has died after undergoing brain surgery following a title fight Friday.
Indonesian Boxing Commission chairman Anton Sihombing said Muhammad Afrizal died early Wednesday at the Christian University (UKI) Hospital in eastern Jakarta.
Afrizal, a former Pan Asia Boxing Association featherweight champion, was rushed to the hospital when he vomited one hour after a junior-lightweight bout.
The 30-year-old Afrizal was knocked down once during the 12-round bout against countryman Irvan Marbun, who won in a unanimous decision.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...onesia-boxer-dies.ap/index.html#ixzz1rDUAA7zl
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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- The Indonesian Boxing Commission says a professional boxer has died after undergoing brain surgery following a title fight Friday.
Indonesian Boxing Commission chairman Anton Sihombing said Muhammad Afrizal died early Wednesday at the Christian University (UKI) Hospital in eastern Jakarta.
Afrizal, a former Pan Asia Boxing Association featherweight champion, was rushed to the hospital when he vomited one hour after a junior-lightweight bout.
The 30-year-old Afrizal was knocked down once during the 12-round bout against countryman Irvan Marbun, who won in a unanimous decision.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...onesia-boxer-dies.ap/index.html#ixzz1rDUAA7zl
Emanuel Steward: “Cotto’s going to have to have a definite solid plan because Floyd Mayweather Junior is one of the best all around boxers I ever saw”
by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - The latest edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward who provided his views on a wide variety of topics including James Kirkland’s controversial disqualification win against Carlos Molina, Danny Garcia’s points win against Mexican legend Erik Morales, the cancelation of the fight between Yuriokis Gamboa and Brandon Rios, Sergio Martinez’s recent victory over Matthew Macklin, whether or not Edwin Rodriguez is ready for the best at 168, and whether he believes that strategy is the most important thing for Miguel Cotto going into his fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
His views on the controversial disqualification victory James Kirkland had against Carlos Molina:
“Well if you noticed I didn’t say anything during the broadcast because I was just totally, totally, totally confused. I know the referee is supposed to complete the count even if the bell rings, but when the corner man got into the ring he was proper in doing that if the bell had rung. I was just so confused when the referee looked like he was going to get a scorecard. I don’t know what he was doing. After talking to somebody on the other side of the arena, he comes over and motions that the fight was over. It looked almost like some of the Golden Boy people were telling him to disqualify him, and he did what he was told to do. That’s what it seems like it appeared to be. It’s bad regardless that it ended that way, and I really have so much respect for Kirkland himself and for Anne Wolf for saying they didn’t want that type of ending. They would rather have taken the chance on getting the knockout in the next round or so or losing it. But they were willing to take that risk. They wished the fight had continued. So I have much respect for them for that.
I was very surprised with the referee. You know he’s one of my favorite referees, but I was surprised he never caught on early to the pushing and shoving and holding being applied by Carlos Molina. He got away with it all night, and then he stops and disqualifies him for the corner man! It was not good for boxing. Let’s just put it that way. We had which was a big upset really, but I myself personally had always had the fight 50-50 because of the experience I had with Molina sparring at the gym. For Andy Lee’s fight with Bryan Vera he was the main sparring partner, so he’s been at the Kronk Gym a lot with us. He’s a tricky guy to fight. He moves back, moves back, and then he runs in and punches, and sometimes he’ll start and then he’ll change his mind and pull back. He’ll smother you, clinch you, and when you least expect it he’ll throw punches. He’s a very hard guy for anyone to fight, but nevertheless I thought there was a good chance he would do what he did and beat Kirkland.
I think they should have let it go on. In my opinion, it was a bad call the way they stopped the fight, and there was a good chance possibly that Kirkland would have won maybe by knockout, because he did have Molina kind of fatigued and worn out at that stage. Nevertheless it was not good for boxing. If I was Kirkland’s people I don’t know if I’d want to fight him again, because I don’t think they’ll do much better. I think Kirkland did the best he could have done, but I think in the next fight Molina would be a little bit more confident and more comfortable, and he would always be a problem for Kirkland. He may even beat Kirkland convincingly in the next fight.”
His views on Danny Garcia’s unanimous decision victory against Erik Morales:
“I was really disappointed with Garcia. He had a little bit too much respect and admiration for Morales. That’s my opinion. I thought that Garcia was winging his punches too wide, to the point where Morales was even trying to imitate him and making a mockery of him throwing all those wide punches. I thought that he should have jabbed a little bit more and I thought he should have stepped up the pace. Even if they had to have exchanges, I think with him being the younger fighter and physically stronger and bigger, that the exchanges would have favored Garcia. Even if they exchanged punches, with the weak legs of Morales he would have still been falling all over the ring and falling back and stuff. I think with the blows Garcia took, I think his nose may have been hurt. All of that was in the last half of the fight, but if he would have fought a more aggressive type fight I think the fight could have been over sooner. Out of that I thought Morales was somewhat like the fight with Maidana, he came out with more respect from me than the guy that he lost to.”
His views on the fact that the fight between Yuriokis Gamboa and Brandon Rios fell through:
“If the fight would have been made and everything would have continued on the course that it was on, I would have been satisfied that training him properly he would have had a really great chance because of his great speed, and I would have improved his punching power a little bit more. But I think his boxing ability and his speed and all of that extensive experience that he has, the fight really would have been like a tossup. Rios is always going to be a tough guy because of the mental makeup and physically. I think it would have been a good fight. I was kind of disappointed when it was called off, because as a fan I was really looking forward to the fight even more so than as a trainer because it was going to be our first, at least on paper, big exciting fight in 2012. So I was looking forward to April 14 whether I would have been broadcasting, or watching it in my living room here at home, or even working the corner. It was a fight I really wanted to see for the sport of boxing.”
His views on Sergio Martinez’s recent eleventh round stoppage victory against Matthew Macklin:
“Well his performance was good, but the caliber of his competition hasn’t been the best in his recent fights. Nevertheless he did what was necessary of him. But what I’ve been impressed by was that he made adjustments in the fight, in this fight in particular. He was throwing punches early and he couldn’t really get his range. When Macklin came out I saw an intensity and a desire to win that I hadn’t saw in that last fight with Barker. He realized that he was missing his left hand because of the way Macklin was keeping his right hand in position, and I guess Buddy and him were working, where Buddy was saying, ‘Stay low baby, stay low!’. He was bending over to his right and the left hands were going over his head. I saw Martinez make an adjustment and he started shooting his left hand at the place where he figured Macklin’s head was going to go to, and he started hitting him with his left hand continuously. He made the adjustment that he needed to do, and then his footwork and his rhythm and his great eye and hand coordination was just too much for Macklin, who has not been in the deep waters in the big leagues so to say to me. I mean his biggest claim to fame was losing a controversial fight to Felix Sturm. Beyond that there was not too much.
When I spoke to him just as I was leaving the arena, I asked him how he felt, and he said, ‘Mr. Steward, those last three rounds I was just confused and I couldn’t get myself organized’. I said, ‘Yeah, I mentioned that on the air if you ever see the tape. You were just totally drained both physically and mentally, and disoriented’. He said that’s what it was, because the pace that Martinez sets with his in and out footwork. It demand you be in physically good shape, but also mentally you have to be prepared otherwise he’s punching you from angles that you cannot time when he’s coming at you, and he makes adjustments. I thought Martinez fought a beautiful fight. It seemed to me after Macklin got his knockdown it was like that was his victory to some degree. I hate to say that, but as the fight went on he just disintegrated.”
Regarding Edwin Rodriguez’s victory against Donovan George and whether he believes Rodriguez is ready to face the best at 168:
“I definitely think he’s ready! I say that for two or three reasons. One, you go back and he had a great amateur background. I was there when he started winning quite a few National Championships. I don’t mean Chicago championships or New England championships. No! He’s very good and had a solid amateur background. I think another great asset is he’s working with one of the greatest trainers that I’ve ever saw in my life, Ronnie Shields, who’s now starting to get his recognition because for so many years he was working with Georgie Benton and all of the guys from Main Events. But now that Ronnie has his own stable, you know he’s getting his recognition. I think Ronnie’s been extremely good for him. I think he has just a lot of natural coordination and things that you can’t give. He has a certain arrogance and cockiness about him. So I think with that background he has and that training situation he has right now, he would hold up and be a very tough fight for any super middleweight in the world.”
On whether he believes the most important thing for Miguel Cotto is a good strategy going into his fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior:
“I think he definitely needs a good strategy to win the fight. I don’t know what strategy he and his trainers are using. I know in the last fight when he beat Margarito he just simply was really using the same thing he did the first time. He was just out-speeding Margarito because he’s slow. But he’s going to have a much more defined fight plan. The fact that Margarito was getting to him at the end, and really had almost started duplicating the first fight, meant that he was going to have problems going down the stretch over those last two rounds.
Cotto’s going to have to have a definite solid plan because Floyd Mayweather Junior is one of the best all around boxers I ever saw. He’s been good all of his life! It’s not like he just started. Since he was a baby he was always a good fighter. I know that for this fight Floyd is going to be very sharp with his speed, very selective, and he’s going to try and make a statement. As a matter of fact, I have so much respect for Floyd Mayweather for taking this fight, because he wants to do something big and spectacular. Since it wasn’t Pacquiao, to me the biggest and best fight he could have made, and maybe one of the riskiest, was Miguel Cotto. Cotto still is a puncher. He’s a seasoned fighter, and all the way around a pretty decent fighter. Also he draws. He draws them in for just live gate attractions. A lot of people may not realize that the following Miguel Cotto has is phenomenal. The Puerto Rican fans are maybe the best and biggest fans in the world. We talk about the Mexicans, but the Puerto Ricans are right there. They just haven’t had that many stars. The amount of people who are going to be watching on pay-per-view and live in terms of Puetro Ricans is going to be phenomenal because he’s a big draw.
If Cotto fights the right fight, one of the keys is going to be a good jab and he’s going to have to maintain balance at all times. I saw some highlights of him working out. I don’t know if that’s what he’s really doing, but it was almost like he was getting back to the same things he was doing before I got involved with him. But he cannot be fighting with his head down too far, and his elbows out, and his feet spread apart while he’s trying to bob and weave, because Floyd is too crafty for that and Floyd will systematically pick him apart. A lot of the intangibles favor Floyd. You know Miguel has to be careful because his face swells and busts up very easily. I was fortunate in the two fights I had with him he didn’t have any problems at all, but usually as a rule he busts up and swells up, and going down the stretch Floyd Mayweather is one of the most intelligent thinkers in the ring. He reminds you of Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, and he’s like Michael Jordan was in basketball. He thinks! His mind is clear, and this was all illustrated when all of the chaos broke out in the Zab Judah fight. Everybody involved was going crazy but him. So he’s got a big task on his hand, and strategy is going to be so, so important in this fight.”
by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - The latest edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward who provided his views on a wide variety of topics including James Kirkland’s controversial disqualification win against Carlos Molina, Danny Garcia’s points win against Mexican legend Erik Morales, the cancelation of the fight between Yuriokis Gamboa and Brandon Rios, Sergio Martinez’s recent victory over Matthew Macklin, whether or not Edwin Rodriguez is ready for the best at 168, and whether he believes that strategy is the most important thing for Miguel Cotto going into his fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
His views on the controversial disqualification victory James Kirkland had against Carlos Molina:
“Well if you noticed I didn’t say anything during the broadcast because I was just totally, totally, totally confused. I know the referee is supposed to complete the count even if the bell rings, but when the corner man got into the ring he was proper in doing that if the bell had rung. I was just so confused when the referee looked like he was going to get a scorecard. I don’t know what he was doing. After talking to somebody on the other side of the arena, he comes over and motions that the fight was over. It looked almost like some of the Golden Boy people were telling him to disqualify him, and he did what he was told to do. That’s what it seems like it appeared to be. It’s bad regardless that it ended that way, and I really have so much respect for Kirkland himself and for Anne Wolf for saying they didn’t want that type of ending. They would rather have taken the chance on getting the knockout in the next round or so or losing it. But they were willing to take that risk. They wished the fight had continued. So I have much respect for them for that.
I was very surprised with the referee. You know he’s one of my favorite referees, but I was surprised he never caught on early to the pushing and shoving and holding being applied by Carlos Molina. He got away with it all night, and then he stops and disqualifies him for the corner man! It was not good for boxing. Let’s just put it that way. We had which was a big upset really, but I myself personally had always had the fight 50-50 because of the experience I had with Molina sparring at the gym. For Andy Lee’s fight with Bryan Vera he was the main sparring partner, so he’s been at the Kronk Gym a lot with us. He’s a tricky guy to fight. He moves back, moves back, and then he runs in and punches, and sometimes he’ll start and then he’ll change his mind and pull back. He’ll smother you, clinch you, and when you least expect it he’ll throw punches. He’s a very hard guy for anyone to fight, but nevertheless I thought there was a good chance he would do what he did and beat Kirkland.
I think they should have let it go on. In my opinion, it was a bad call the way they stopped the fight, and there was a good chance possibly that Kirkland would have won maybe by knockout, because he did have Molina kind of fatigued and worn out at that stage. Nevertheless it was not good for boxing. If I was Kirkland’s people I don’t know if I’d want to fight him again, because I don’t think they’ll do much better. I think Kirkland did the best he could have done, but I think in the next fight Molina would be a little bit more confident and more comfortable, and he would always be a problem for Kirkland. He may even beat Kirkland convincingly in the next fight.”
His views on Danny Garcia’s unanimous decision victory against Erik Morales:
“I was really disappointed with Garcia. He had a little bit too much respect and admiration for Morales. That’s my opinion. I thought that Garcia was winging his punches too wide, to the point where Morales was even trying to imitate him and making a mockery of him throwing all those wide punches. I thought that he should have jabbed a little bit more and I thought he should have stepped up the pace. Even if they had to have exchanges, I think with him being the younger fighter and physically stronger and bigger, that the exchanges would have favored Garcia. Even if they exchanged punches, with the weak legs of Morales he would have still been falling all over the ring and falling back and stuff. I think with the blows Garcia took, I think his nose may have been hurt. All of that was in the last half of the fight, but if he would have fought a more aggressive type fight I think the fight could have been over sooner. Out of that I thought Morales was somewhat like the fight with Maidana, he came out with more respect from me than the guy that he lost to.”
His views on the fact that the fight between Yuriokis Gamboa and Brandon Rios fell through:
“If the fight would have been made and everything would have continued on the course that it was on, I would have been satisfied that training him properly he would have had a really great chance because of his great speed, and I would have improved his punching power a little bit more. But I think his boxing ability and his speed and all of that extensive experience that he has, the fight really would have been like a tossup. Rios is always going to be a tough guy because of the mental makeup and physically. I think it would have been a good fight. I was kind of disappointed when it was called off, because as a fan I was really looking forward to the fight even more so than as a trainer because it was going to be our first, at least on paper, big exciting fight in 2012. So I was looking forward to April 14 whether I would have been broadcasting, or watching it in my living room here at home, or even working the corner. It was a fight I really wanted to see for the sport of boxing.”
His views on Sergio Martinez’s recent eleventh round stoppage victory against Matthew Macklin:
“Well his performance was good, but the caliber of his competition hasn’t been the best in his recent fights. Nevertheless he did what was necessary of him. But what I’ve been impressed by was that he made adjustments in the fight, in this fight in particular. He was throwing punches early and he couldn’t really get his range. When Macklin came out I saw an intensity and a desire to win that I hadn’t saw in that last fight with Barker. He realized that he was missing his left hand because of the way Macklin was keeping his right hand in position, and I guess Buddy and him were working, where Buddy was saying, ‘Stay low baby, stay low!’. He was bending over to his right and the left hands were going over his head. I saw Martinez make an adjustment and he started shooting his left hand at the place where he figured Macklin’s head was going to go to, and he started hitting him with his left hand continuously. He made the adjustment that he needed to do, and then his footwork and his rhythm and his great eye and hand coordination was just too much for Macklin, who has not been in the deep waters in the big leagues so to say to me. I mean his biggest claim to fame was losing a controversial fight to Felix Sturm. Beyond that there was not too much.
When I spoke to him just as I was leaving the arena, I asked him how he felt, and he said, ‘Mr. Steward, those last three rounds I was just confused and I couldn’t get myself organized’. I said, ‘Yeah, I mentioned that on the air if you ever see the tape. You were just totally drained both physically and mentally, and disoriented’. He said that’s what it was, because the pace that Martinez sets with his in and out footwork. It demand you be in physically good shape, but also mentally you have to be prepared otherwise he’s punching you from angles that you cannot time when he’s coming at you, and he makes adjustments. I thought Martinez fought a beautiful fight. It seemed to me after Macklin got his knockdown it was like that was his victory to some degree. I hate to say that, but as the fight went on he just disintegrated.”
Regarding Edwin Rodriguez’s victory against Donovan George and whether he believes Rodriguez is ready to face the best at 168:
“I definitely think he’s ready! I say that for two or three reasons. One, you go back and he had a great amateur background. I was there when he started winning quite a few National Championships. I don’t mean Chicago championships or New England championships. No! He’s very good and had a solid amateur background. I think another great asset is he’s working with one of the greatest trainers that I’ve ever saw in my life, Ronnie Shields, who’s now starting to get his recognition because for so many years he was working with Georgie Benton and all of the guys from Main Events. But now that Ronnie has his own stable, you know he’s getting his recognition. I think Ronnie’s been extremely good for him. I think he has just a lot of natural coordination and things that you can’t give. He has a certain arrogance and cockiness about him. So I think with that background he has and that training situation he has right now, he would hold up and be a very tough fight for any super middleweight in the world.”
On whether he believes the most important thing for Miguel Cotto is a good strategy going into his fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior:
“I think he definitely needs a good strategy to win the fight. I don’t know what strategy he and his trainers are using. I know in the last fight when he beat Margarito he just simply was really using the same thing he did the first time. He was just out-speeding Margarito because he’s slow. But he’s going to have a much more defined fight plan. The fact that Margarito was getting to him at the end, and really had almost started duplicating the first fight, meant that he was going to have problems going down the stretch over those last two rounds.
Cotto’s going to have to have a definite solid plan because Floyd Mayweather Junior is one of the best all around boxers I ever saw. He’s been good all of his life! It’s not like he just started. Since he was a baby he was always a good fighter. I know that for this fight Floyd is going to be very sharp with his speed, very selective, and he’s going to try and make a statement. As a matter of fact, I have so much respect for Floyd Mayweather for taking this fight, because he wants to do something big and spectacular. Since it wasn’t Pacquiao, to me the biggest and best fight he could have made, and maybe one of the riskiest, was Miguel Cotto. Cotto still is a puncher. He’s a seasoned fighter, and all the way around a pretty decent fighter. Also he draws. He draws them in for just live gate attractions. A lot of people may not realize that the following Miguel Cotto has is phenomenal. The Puerto Rican fans are maybe the best and biggest fans in the world. We talk about the Mexicans, but the Puerto Ricans are right there. They just haven’t had that many stars. The amount of people who are going to be watching on pay-per-view and live in terms of Puetro Ricans is going to be phenomenal because he’s a big draw.
If Cotto fights the right fight, one of the keys is going to be a good jab and he’s going to have to maintain balance at all times. I saw some highlights of him working out. I don’t know if that’s what he’s really doing, but it was almost like he was getting back to the same things he was doing before I got involved with him. But he cannot be fighting with his head down too far, and his elbows out, and his feet spread apart while he’s trying to bob and weave, because Floyd is too crafty for that and Floyd will systematically pick him apart. A lot of the intangibles favor Floyd. You know Miguel has to be careful because his face swells and busts up very easily. I was fortunate in the two fights I had with him he didn’t have any problems at all, but usually as a rule he busts up and swells up, and going down the stretch Floyd Mayweather is one of the most intelligent thinkers in the ring. He reminds you of Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, and he’s like Michael Jordan was in basketball. He thinks! His mind is clear, and this was all illustrated when all of the chaos broke out in the Zab Judah fight. Everybody involved was going crazy but him. So he’s got a big task on his hand, and strategy is going to be so, so important in this fight.”
Emanuel Steward: “Cotto’s going to have to have a definite solid plan because Floyd Mayweather Junior is one of the best all around boxers I ever saw”
by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - The latest edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward who provided his views on a wide variety of topics including James Kirkland’s controversial disqualification win against Carlos Molina, Danny Garcia’s points win against Mexican legend Erik Morales, the cancelation of the fight between Yuriokis Gamboa and Brandon Rios, Sergio Martinez’s recent victory over Matthew Macklin, whether or not Edwin Rodriguez is ready for the best at 168, and whether he believes that strategy is the most important thing for Miguel Cotto going into his fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
His views on the controversial disqualification victory James Kirkland had against Carlos Molina:
“Well if you noticed I didn’t say anything during the broadcast because I was just totally, totally, totally confused. I know the referee is supposed to complete the count even if the bell rings, but when the corner man got into the ring he was proper in doing that if the bell had rung. I was just so confused when the referee looked like he was going to get a scorecard. I don’t know what he was doing. After talking to somebody on the other side of the arena, he comes over and motions that the fight was over. It looked almost like some of the Golden Boy people were telling him to disqualify him, and he did what he was told to do. That’s what it seems like it appeared to be. It’s bad regardless that it ended that way, and I really have so much respect for Kirkland himself and for Anne Wolf for saying they didn’t want that type of ending. They would rather have taken the chance on getting the knockout in the next round or so or losing it. But they were willing to take that risk. They wished the fight had continued. So I have much respect for them for that.
I was very surprised with the referee. You know he’s one of my favorite referees, but I was surprised he never caught on early to the pushing and shoving and holding being applied by Carlos Molina. He got away with it all night, and then he stops and disqualifies him for the corner man! It was not good for boxing. Let’s just put it that way. We had which was a big upset really, but I myself personally had always had the fight 50-50 because of the experience I had with Molina sparring at the gym. For Andy Lee’s fight with Bryan Vera he was the main sparring partner, so he’s been at the Kronk Gym a lot with us. He’s a tricky guy to fight. He moves back, moves back, and then he runs in and punches, and sometimes he’ll start and then he’ll change his mind and pull back. He’ll smother you, clinch you, and when you least expect it he’ll throw punches. He’s a very hard guy for anyone to fight, but nevertheless I thought there was a good chance he would do what he did and beat Kirkland.
I think they should have let it go on. In my opinion, it was a bad call the way they stopped the fight, and there was a good chance possibly that Kirkland would have won maybe by knockout, because he did have Molina kind of fatigued and worn out at that stage. Nevertheless it was not good for boxing. If I was Kirkland’s people I don’t know if I’d want to fight him again, because I don’t think they’ll do much better. I think Kirkland did the best he could have done, but I think in the next fight Molina would be a little bit more confident and more comfortable, and he would always be a problem for Kirkland. He may even beat Kirkland convincingly in the next fight.”
His views on Danny Garcia’s unanimous decision victory against Erik Morales:
“I was really disappointed with Garcia. He had a little bit too much respect and admiration for Morales. That’s my opinion. I thought that Garcia was winging his punches too wide, to the point where Morales was even trying to imitate him and making a mockery of him throwing all those wide punches. I thought that he should have jabbed a little bit more and I thought he should have stepped up the pace. Even if they had to have exchanges, I think with him being the younger fighter and physically stronger and bigger, that the exchanges would have favored Garcia. Even if they exchanged punches, with the weak legs of Morales he would have still been falling all over the ring and falling back and stuff. I think with the blows Garcia took, I think his nose may have been hurt. All of that was in the last half of the fight, but if he would have fought a more aggressive type fight I think the fight could have been over sooner. Out of that I thought Morales was somewhat like the fight with Maidana, he came out with more respect from me than the guy that he lost to.”
His views on the fact that the fight between Yuriokis Gamboa and Brandon Rios fell through:
“If the fight would have been made and everything would have continued on the course that it was on, I would have been satisfied that training him properly he would have had a really great chance because of his great speed, and I would have improved his punching power a little bit more. But I think his boxing ability and his speed and all of that extensive experience that he has, the fight really would have been like a tossup. Rios is always going to be a tough guy because of the mental makeup and physically. I think it would have been a good fight. I was kind of disappointed when it was called off, because as a fan I was really looking forward to the fight even more so than as a trainer because it was going to be our first, at least on paper, big exciting fight in 2012. So I was looking forward to April 14 whether I would have been broadcasting, or watching it in my living room here at home, or even working the corner. It was a fight I really wanted to see for the sport of boxing.”
His views on Sergio Martinez’s recent eleventh round stoppage victory against Matthew Macklin:
“Well his performance was good, but the caliber of his competition hasn’t been the best in his recent fights. Nevertheless he did what was necessary of him. But what I’ve been impressed by was that he made adjustments in the fight, in this fight in particular. He was throwing punches early and he couldn’t really get his range. When Macklin came out I saw an intensity and a desire to win that I hadn’t saw in that last fight with Barker. He realized that he was missing his left hand because of the way Macklin was keeping his right hand in position, and I guess Buddy and him were working, where Buddy was saying, ‘Stay low baby, stay low!’. He was bending over to his right and the left hands were going over his head. I saw Martinez make an adjustment and he started shooting his left hand at the place where he figured Macklin’s head was going to go to, and he started hitting him with his left hand continuously. He made the adjustment that he needed to do, and then his footwork and his rhythm and his great eye and hand coordination was just too much for Macklin, who has not been in the deep waters in the big leagues so to say to me. I mean his biggest claim to fame was losing a controversial fight to Felix Sturm. Beyond that there was not too much.
When I spoke to him just as I was leaving the arena, I asked him how he felt, and he said, ‘Mr. Steward, those last three rounds I was just confused and I couldn’t get myself organized’. I said, ‘Yeah, I mentioned that on the air if you ever see the tape. You were just totally drained both physically and mentally, and disoriented’. He said that’s what it was, because the pace that Martinez sets with his in and out footwork. It demand you be in physically good shape, but also mentally you have to be prepared otherwise he’s punching you from angles that you cannot time when he’s coming at you, and he makes adjustments. I thought Martinez fought a beautiful fight. It seemed to me after Macklin got his knockdown it was like that was his victory to some degree. I hate to say that, but as the fight went on he just disintegrated.”
Regarding Edwin Rodriguez’s victory against Donovan George and whether he believes Rodriguez is ready to face the best at 168:
“I definitely think he’s ready! I say that for two or three reasons. One, you go back and he had a great amateur background. I was there when he started winning quite a few National Championships. I don’t mean Chicago championships or New England championships. No! He’s very good and had a solid amateur background. I think another great asset is he’s working with one of the greatest trainers that I’ve ever saw in my life, Ronnie Shields, who’s now starting to get his recognition because for so many years he was working with Georgie Benton and all of the guys from Main Events. But now that Ronnie has his own stable, you know he’s getting his recognition. I think Ronnie’s been extremely good for him. I think he has just a lot of natural coordination and things that you can’t give. He has a certain arrogance and cockiness about him. So I think with that background he has and that training situation he has right now, he would hold up and be a very tough fight for any super middleweight in the world.”
On whether he believes the most important thing for Miguel Cotto is a good strategy going into his fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior:
“I think he definitely needs a good strategy to win the fight. I don’t know what strategy he and his trainers are using. I know in the last fight when he beat Margarito he just simply was really using the same thing he did the first time. He was just out-speeding Margarito because he’s slow. But he’s going to have a much more defined fight plan. The fact that Margarito was getting to him at the end, and really had almost started duplicating the first fight, meant that he was going to have problems going down the stretch over those last two rounds.
Cotto’s going to have to have a definite solid plan because Floyd Mayweather Junior is one of the best all around boxers I ever saw. He’s been good all of his life! It’s not like he just started. Since he was a baby he was always a good fighter. I know that for this fight Floyd is going to be very sharp with his speed, very selective, and he’s going to try and make a statement. As a matter of fact, I have so much respect for Floyd Mayweather for taking this fight, because he wants to do something big and spectacular. Since it wasn’t Pacquiao, to me the biggest and best fight he could have made, and maybe one of the riskiest, was Miguel Cotto. Cotto still is a puncher. He’s a seasoned fighter, and all the way around a pretty decent fighter. Also he draws. He draws them in for just live gate attractions. A lot of people may not realize that the following Miguel Cotto has is phenomenal. The Puerto Rican fans are maybe the best and biggest fans in the world. We talk about the Mexicans, but the Puerto Ricans are right there. They just haven’t had that many stars. The amount of people who are going to be watching on pay-per-view and live in terms of Puetro Ricans is going to be phenomenal because he’s a big draw.
If Cotto fights the right fight, one of the keys is going to be a good jab and he’s going to have to maintain balance at all times. I saw some highlights of him working out. I don’t know if that’s what he’s really doing, but it was almost like he was getting back to the same things he was doing before I got involved with him. But he cannot be fighting with his head down too far, and his elbows out, and his feet spread apart while he’s trying to bob and weave, because Floyd is too crafty for that and Floyd will systematically pick him apart. A lot of the intangibles favor Floyd. You know Miguel has to be careful because his face swells and busts up very easily. I was fortunate in the two fights I had with him he didn’t have any problems at all, but usually as a rule he busts up and swells up, and going down the stretch Floyd Mayweather is one of the most intelligent thinkers in the ring. He reminds you of Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, and he’s like Michael Jordan was in basketball. He thinks! His mind is clear, and this was all illustrated when all of the chaos broke out in the Zab Judah fight. Everybody involved was going crazy but him. So he’s got a big task on his hand, and strategy is going to be so, so important in this fight.”
by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - The latest edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward who provided his views on a wide variety of topics including James Kirkland’s controversial disqualification win against Carlos Molina, Danny Garcia’s points win against Mexican legend Erik Morales, the cancelation of the fight between Yuriokis Gamboa and Brandon Rios, Sergio Martinez’s recent victory over Matthew Macklin, whether or not Edwin Rodriguez is ready for the best at 168, and whether he believes that strategy is the most important thing for Miguel Cotto going into his fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
His views on the controversial disqualification victory James Kirkland had against Carlos Molina:
“Well if you noticed I didn’t say anything during the broadcast because I was just totally, totally, totally confused. I know the referee is supposed to complete the count even if the bell rings, but when the corner man got into the ring he was proper in doing that if the bell had rung. I was just so confused when the referee looked like he was going to get a scorecard. I don’t know what he was doing. After talking to somebody on the other side of the arena, he comes over and motions that the fight was over. It looked almost like some of the Golden Boy people were telling him to disqualify him, and he did what he was told to do. That’s what it seems like it appeared to be. It’s bad regardless that it ended that way, and I really have so much respect for Kirkland himself and for Anne Wolf for saying they didn’t want that type of ending. They would rather have taken the chance on getting the knockout in the next round or so or losing it. But they were willing to take that risk. They wished the fight had continued. So I have much respect for them for that.
I was very surprised with the referee. You know he’s one of my favorite referees, but I was surprised he never caught on early to the pushing and shoving and holding being applied by Carlos Molina. He got away with it all night, and then he stops and disqualifies him for the corner man! It was not good for boxing. Let’s just put it that way. We had which was a big upset really, but I myself personally had always had the fight 50-50 because of the experience I had with Molina sparring at the gym. For Andy Lee’s fight with Bryan Vera he was the main sparring partner, so he’s been at the Kronk Gym a lot with us. He’s a tricky guy to fight. He moves back, moves back, and then he runs in and punches, and sometimes he’ll start and then he’ll change his mind and pull back. He’ll smother you, clinch you, and when you least expect it he’ll throw punches. He’s a very hard guy for anyone to fight, but nevertheless I thought there was a good chance he would do what he did and beat Kirkland.
I think they should have let it go on. In my opinion, it was a bad call the way they stopped the fight, and there was a good chance possibly that Kirkland would have won maybe by knockout, because he did have Molina kind of fatigued and worn out at that stage. Nevertheless it was not good for boxing. If I was Kirkland’s people I don’t know if I’d want to fight him again, because I don’t think they’ll do much better. I think Kirkland did the best he could have done, but I think in the next fight Molina would be a little bit more confident and more comfortable, and he would always be a problem for Kirkland. He may even beat Kirkland convincingly in the next fight.”
His views on Danny Garcia’s unanimous decision victory against Erik Morales:
“I was really disappointed with Garcia. He had a little bit too much respect and admiration for Morales. That’s my opinion. I thought that Garcia was winging his punches too wide, to the point where Morales was even trying to imitate him and making a mockery of him throwing all those wide punches. I thought that he should have jabbed a little bit more and I thought he should have stepped up the pace. Even if they had to have exchanges, I think with him being the younger fighter and physically stronger and bigger, that the exchanges would have favored Garcia. Even if they exchanged punches, with the weak legs of Morales he would have still been falling all over the ring and falling back and stuff. I think with the blows Garcia took, I think his nose may have been hurt. All of that was in the last half of the fight, but if he would have fought a more aggressive type fight I think the fight could have been over sooner. Out of that I thought Morales was somewhat like the fight with Maidana, he came out with more respect from me than the guy that he lost to.”
His views on the fact that the fight between Yuriokis Gamboa and Brandon Rios fell through:
“If the fight would have been made and everything would have continued on the course that it was on, I would have been satisfied that training him properly he would have had a really great chance because of his great speed, and I would have improved his punching power a little bit more. But I think his boxing ability and his speed and all of that extensive experience that he has, the fight really would have been like a tossup. Rios is always going to be a tough guy because of the mental makeup and physically. I think it would have been a good fight. I was kind of disappointed when it was called off, because as a fan I was really looking forward to the fight even more so than as a trainer because it was going to be our first, at least on paper, big exciting fight in 2012. So I was looking forward to April 14 whether I would have been broadcasting, or watching it in my living room here at home, or even working the corner. It was a fight I really wanted to see for the sport of boxing.”
His views on Sergio Martinez’s recent eleventh round stoppage victory against Matthew Macklin:
“Well his performance was good, but the caliber of his competition hasn’t been the best in his recent fights. Nevertheless he did what was necessary of him. But what I’ve been impressed by was that he made adjustments in the fight, in this fight in particular. He was throwing punches early and he couldn’t really get his range. When Macklin came out I saw an intensity and a desire to win that I hadn’t saw in that last fight with Barker. He realized that he was missing his left hand because of the way Macklin was keeping his right hand in position, and I guess Buddy and him were working, where Buddy was saying, ‘Stay low baby, stay low!’. He was bending over to his right and the left hands were going over his head. I saw Martinez make an adjustment and he started shooting his left hand at the place where he figured Macklin’s head was going to go to, and he started hitting him with his left hand continuously. He made the adjustment that he needed to do, and then his footwork and his rhythm and his great eye and hand coordination was just too much for Macklin, who has not been in the deep waters in the big leagues so to say to me. I mean his biggest claim to fame was losing a controversial fight to Felix Sturm. Beyond that there was not too much.
When I spoke to him just as I was leaving the arena, I asked him how he felt, and he said, ‘Mr. Steward, those last three rounds I was just confused and I couldn’t get myself organized’. I said, ‘Yeah, I mentioned that on the air if you ever see the tape. You were just totally drained both physically and mentally, and disoriented’. He said that’s what it was, because the pace that Martinez sets with his in and out footwork. It demand you be in physically good shape, but also mentally you have to be prepared otherwise he’s punching you from angles that you cannot time when he’s coming at you, and he makes adjustments. I thought Martinez fought a beautiful fight. It seemed to me after Macklin got his knockdown it was like that was his victory to some degree. I hate to say that, but as the fight went on he just disintegrated.”
Regarding Edwin Rodriguez’s victory against Donovan George and whether he believes Rodriguez is ready to face the best at 168:
“I definitely think he’s ready! I say that for two or three reasons. One, you go back and he had a great amateur background. I was there when he started winning quite a few National Championships. I don’t mean Chicago championships or New England championships. No! He’s very good and had a solid amateur background. I think another great asset is he’s working with one of the greatest trainers that I’ve ever saw in my life, Ronnie Shields, who’s now starting to get his recognition because for so many years he was working with Georgie Benton and all of the guys from Main Events. But now that Ronnie has his own stable, you know he’s getting his recognition. I think Ronnie’s been extremely good for him. I think he has just a lot of natural coordination and things that you can’t give. He has a certain arrogance and cockiness about him. So I think with that background he has and that training situation he has right now, he would hold up and be a very tough fight for any super middleweight in the world.”
On whether he believes the most important thing for Miguel Cotto is a good strategy going into his fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior:
“I think he definitely needs a good strategy to win the fight. I don’t know what strategy he and his trainers are using. I know in the last fight when he beat Margarito he just simply was really using the same thing he did the first time. He was just out-speeding Margarito because he’s slow. But he’s going to have a much more defined fight plan. The fact that Margarito was getting to him at the end, and really had almost started duplicating the first fight, meant that he was going to have problems going down the stretch over those last two rounds.
Cotto’s going to have to have a definite solid plan because Floyd Mayweather Junior is one of the best all around boxers I ever saw. He’s been good all of his life! It’s not like he just started. Since he was a baby he was always a good fighter. I know that for this fight Floyd is going to be very sharp with his speed, very selective, and he’s going to try and make a statement. As a matter of fact, I have so much respect for Floyd Mayweather for taking this fight, because he wants to do something big and spectacular. Since it wasn’t Pacquiao, to me the biggest and best fight he could have made, and maybe one of the riskiest, was Miguel Cotto. Cotto still is a puncher. He’s a seasoned fighter, and all the way around a pretty decent fighter. Also he draws. He draws them in for just live gate attractions. A lot of people may not realize that the following Miguel Cotto has is phenomenal. The Puerto Rican fans are maybe the best and biggest fans in the world. We talk about the Mexicans, but the Puerto Ricans are right there. They just haven’t had that many stars. The amount of people who are going to be watching on pay-per-view and live in terms of Puetro Ricans is going to be phenomenal because he’s a big draw.
If Cotto fights the right fight, one of the keys is going to be a good jab and he’s going to have to maintain balance at all times. I saw some highlights of him working out. I don’t know if that’s what he’s really doing, but it was almost like he was getting back to the same things he was doing before I got involved with him. But he cannot be fighting with his head down too far, and his elbows out, and his feet spread apart while he’s trying to bob and weave, because Floyd is too crafty for that and Floyd will systematically pick him apart. A lot of the intangibles favor Floyd. You know Miguel has to be careful because his face swells and busts up very easily. I was fortunate in the two fights I had with him he didn’t have any problems at all, but usually as a rule he busts up and swells up, and going down the stretch Floyd Mayweather is one of the most intelligent thinkers in the ring. He reminds you of Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, and he’s like Michael Jordan was in basketball. He thinks! His mind is clear, and this was all illustrated when all of the chaos broke out in the Zab Judah fight. Everybody involved was going crazy but him. So he’s got a big task on his hand, and strategy is going to be so, so important in this fight.”
Getaway driver convicted in murder of boxer Vernon Forrest
ATLANTA (AP) – A Georgia jury has found a man guilty of murder in the death of former professional boxing champion Vernon Forrest.
The Fulton County jury on Monday convicted 28-year-old Jquante Crews, and a judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole plus 10 years. Forrest was fatally shot in July 2009.
Prosecutors say Forrest was robbed at gunpoint by Demario Ware, who has already been convicted in the case and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors say Ware fled with Forrest's championship ring and Rolex watch. As he chased Ware, Forrest encountered Charmon Sinkfield, the alleged gunman.
Prosecutors say Crews drove the getaway car. They are seeking the death penalty against Sinkfield.
Forrest, a native of Augusta, Ga., who lived in Atlanta, was a member of the 1992 Olympic team along with Oscar De La Hoya. Forrest later won welterweight and junior middleweight titles and compiled a professional record of 41-3 with 29 knockouts.
ATLANTA (AP) – A Georgia jury has found a man guilty of murder in the death of former professional boxing champion Vernon Forrest.
The Fulton County jury on Monday convicted 28-year-old Jquante Crews, and a judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole plus 10 years. Forrest was fatally shot in July 2009.
Prosecutors say Forrest was robbed at gunpoint by Demario Ware, who has already been convicted in the case and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors say Ware fled with Forrest's championship ring and Rolex watch. As he chased Ware, Forrest encountered Charmon Sinkfield, the alleged gunman.
Prosecutors say Crews drove the getaway car. They are seeking the death penalty against Sinkfield.
Forrest, a native of Augusta, Ga., who lived in Atlanta, was a member of the 1992 Olympic team along with Oscar De La Hoya. Forrest later won welterweight and junior middleweight titles and compiled a professional record of 41-3 with 29 knockouts.
Roach thinks Pacquiao deserves a 50-50 deal with Mayweather; doesn’t see the fight ever happening
April 6th, 2012
By Chris Williams: Despite WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao not looking impressive in his last three fights, and struggling to eek out a questionable 12 round decision against Juan Manuel Marquez last November, trainer Freddie Roach still believes that Pacquiao deserves an even 50-50 deal with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) in a proposed mega fight. This obviously isn’t something that Mayweather agrees with nor will he likely ever agree with it as long as he’s putting in more impressive performances.
Roach told the Manila Bulletin that he doesn’t see the fight happening, and he feels that Pacquiao still deserves that 50-50 deal that offered two years ago when Pacquiao was fighting at a high level.
The 50-50 deal was understandable back when Mayweather was coming off of a long layoff and Pacquiao having recently beaten Miguel Cotto back in 2009. Had the fight been made in early 2010, when the two fighters were looking to put together a 50-50 split of the revenue, then the fight easily could have been a fair money split. However, Pacquiao wouldn’t agree to the Olympic style random blood tests that Mayweather wanted for the fight and stuck to the idea of having no blood testing for performance enhancing drugs within 24 days of the fight. That took the fight off the shelf, because Mayweather wanted drug testing at least up to 14 days before the fight.
Really, Mayweather wanted it all the way to the fight but he was willing to agree to have a small holiday of no testing two weeks before the fight because Pacquiao reportedly had problems having blood drawn from his body due to it weakening him. If they had stuck it out with the negotiations at that time, then I could understand the 50-50 deal. However, Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter ended the negotiations and quickly ushered Pacquiao into a March fight against one of his Top Rank fighters Joshua Clottey, who Pacquiao easily beat in a very boring fight.
April 6th, 2012
By Chris Williams: Despite WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao not looking impressive in his last three fights, and struggling to eek out a questionable 12 round decision against Juan Manuel Marquez last November, trainer Freddie Roach still believes that Pacquiao deserves an even 50-50 deal with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) in a proposed mega fight. This obviously isn’t something that Mayweather agrees with nor will he likely ever agree with it as long as he’s putting in more impressive performances.
Roach told the Manila Bulletin that he doesn’t see the fight happening, and he feels that Pacquiao still deserves that 50-50 deal that offered two years ago when Pacquiao was fighting at a high level.
The 50-50 deal was understandable back when Mayweather was coming off of a long layoff and Pacquiao having recently beaten Miguel Cotto back in 2009. Had the fight been made in early 2010, when the two fighters were looking to put together a 50-50 split of the revenue, then the fight easily could have been a fair money split. However, Pacquiao wouldn’t agree to the Olympic style random blood tests that Mayweather wanted for the fight and stuck to the idea of having no blood testing for performance enhancing drugs within 24 days of the fight. That took the fight off the shelf, because Mayweather wanted drug testing at least up to 14 days before the fight.
Really, Mayweather wanted it all the way to the fight but he was willing to agree to have a small holiday of no testing two weeks before the fight because Pacquiao reportedly had problems having blood drawn from his body due to it weakening him. If they had stuck it out with the negotiations at that time, then I could understand the 50-50 deal. However, Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter ended the negotiations and quickly ushered Pacquiao into a March fight against one of his Top Rank fighters Joshua Clottey, who Pacquiao easily beat in a very boring fight.
Humberto Soto vs. Lucas Matthysse on June 23rd on Berto-Ortiz 2 undercard
April 6th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: The fight between former WBC lightweight champion Humberto Soto (57-7-2, 34 KO’s) and Lucas Matthysse (30-2, 28 KO’s) has found a place on the June 23rd undercard of the Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz 2 rematch at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Soto, 31, must first get by former lightweight Claudinei Lacerda (14-2, 10 KO’s) in a scheduled 10 round bout at the Oasis Hotel Complex, in Cancun, Mexico.
This continues Soto’s trend of facing former lightweights for his fights instead of light welterweights since moving up to the light welterweight division in September 2011. Soto has twice since moving up in weight, beating Jose Alfaro and Adailton De Jesus.
I like Soto as a fighter, but I think he’s going to be in over his head when he faces Matthysse, who isn’t a lightweight nor a pumped up lightweight like the guys that Soto for some reason keeps fighting, as if he’s still not sure whether he wants to get his feet wet against a legitimate light welterweight. It’s going to be a huge shock for Soto when he does end up facing Matthysse, because he’s bigger and stronger than anyone Soto has fought in a long, long time.
Soto went life and death with Urbano Antillon in a narrow 12 round decision in December 2010. The fight begged for a rematch, but Soto instead went another direction, facing lesser names and easier opponents. Mattysse would likely blast out and make easy work of Antillon. He could beat him slugging him into submission or out-boxing him. Matthysse can do either, because he’s got great boxing skills and excellent power.
Although Matthysse has lost two out of his last five fights in defeats against Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, you can still consider him undefeated because he handled both of those fighters and appeared to win both of those fights. However, Matthysse’s mistake was to fight Judah and Alexander in their home arenas, where it put him in a situation where he may have needed to do even more than just beat them to get a decision.
Soto will likely lose this fight by knockout if he tries to slug with the stronger Matthysse. If he tries to box him, that’ll also play in Matthysse’s hands because he’s an arguably better boxer than Soto.
April 6th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: The fight between former WBC lightweight champion Humberto Soto (57-7-2, 34 KO’s) and Lucas Matthysse (30-2, 28 KO’s) has found a place on the June 23rd undercard of the Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz 2 rematch at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Soto, 31, must first get by former lightweight Claudinei Lacerda (14-2, 10 KO’s) in a scheduled 10 round bout at the Oasis Hotel Complex, in Cancun, Mexico.
This continues Soto’s trend of facing former lightweights for his fights instead of light welterweights since moving up to the light welterweight division in September 2011. Soto has twice since moving up in weight, beating Jose Alfaro and Adailton De Jesus.
I like Soto as a fighter, but I think he’s going to be in over his head when he faces Matthysse, who isn’t a lightweight nor a pumped up lightweight like the guys that Soto for some reason keeps fighting, as if he’s still not sure whether he wants to get his feet wet against a legitimate light welterweight. It’s going to be a huge shock for Soto when he does end up facing Matthysse, because he’s bigger and stronger than anyone Soto has fought in a long, long time.
Soto went life and death with Urbano Antillon in a narrow 12 round decision in December 2010. The fight begged for a rematch, but Soto instead went another direction, facing lesser names and easier opponents. Mattysse would likely blast out and make easy work of Antillon. He could beat him slugging him into submission or out-boxing him. Matthysse can do either, because he’s got great boxing skills and excellent power.
Although Matthysse has lost two out of his last five fights in defeats against Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, you can still consider him undefeated because he handled both of those fighters and appeared to win both of those fights. However, Matthysse’s mistake was to fight Judah and Alexander in their home arenas, where it put him in a situation where he may have needed to do even more than just beat them to get a decision.
Soto will likely lose this fight by knockout if he tries to slug with the stronger Matthysse. If he tries to box him, that’ll also play in Matthysse’s hands because he’s an arguably better boxer than Soto.
Roach likes the idea of Pacquiao facing Berto-Ortiz II winner
April 6th, 2012
By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach is cool to the idea of his fighter WBO welterweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time. Roach instead prefers that Pacquiao go after the winner of the June 23rd rematch between Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz. Roach sees it as a fight that draw a lot of interest from boxing fans, according to the Manila Bulletin. However, some fans might see this as a cherry-picking move by Roach by having Pacquiao go after the arguably weaker Berto or Ortiz rather than facing Juan Manuel Marquez again and maybe losing this time.
Roach doesn’t make the decisions on who Pacquiao fights, however, as that job belongs to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. He’s looking at putting Pacquiao back in with Mexican warrior Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time in November. A fourth fight between Pacquiao and Marquez will likely do A LOT better than a fight between Pacquiao and the winner of the Ortiz-Berto fight.
The reason is Berto and Ortiz have already been exposes recently in defeats. Berto doesn’t have much of a fan base in the U.S, while Ortiz is mostly popular in the West Coast. Marquez is much better known and has a lot of Mexicans nationwide in the U.S, on top of all of his Mexicans fans at home in Mexico. It’s a much bigger fight than what Roach wants by having Pacquiao fight Berto or Ortiz.
Of course, it makes Roach’s job that much harder if Pacquiao fights Marquez again because many fans thought Pacquiao got a gift decision over Marquez last November in Pacquiao’s highly questionable 12 round majority decision victory. Right now, Roach is on then top while Pacquiao is still winning, but if he gets beaten by Marquez in a fourth fight, Roach could lose some of his rock star luster. He’s already had some problems recently with his fighters Amir Khan and Jorge Linares both losing. A loss for Pacquiao obviously won’t help matters any. Putting Pacquiao in with the Berto-Ortiz winner would be a lot easier option than putting him back in with Marquez. The judges might actually pick Marquez next time.
April 6th, 2012
By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach is cool to the idea of his fighter WBO welterweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time. Roach instead prefers that Pacquiao go after the winner of the June 23rd rematch between Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz. Roach sees it as a fight that draw a lot of interest from boxing fans, according to the Manila Bulletin. However, some fans might see this as a cherry-picking move by Roach by having Pacquiao go after the arguably weaker Berto or Ortiz rather than facing Juan Manuel Marquez again and maybe losing this time.
Roach doesn’t make the decisions on who Pacquiao fights, however, as that job belongs to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. He’s looking at putting Pacquiao back in with Mexican warrior Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time in November. A fourth fight between Pacquiao and Marquez will likely do A LOT better than a fight between Pacquiao and the winner of the Ortiz-Berto fight.
The reason is Berto and Ortiz have already been exposes recently in defeats. Berto doesn’t have much of a fan base in the U.S, while Ortiz is mostly popular in the West Coast. Marquez is much better known and has a lot of Mexicans nationwide in the U.S, on top of all of his Mexicans fans at home in Mexico. It’s a much bigger fight than what Roach wants by having Pacquiao fight Berto or Ortiz.
Of course, it makes Roach’s job that much harder if Pacquiao fights Marquez again because many fans thought Pacquiao got a gift decision over Marquez last November in Pacquiao’s highly questionable 12 round majority decision victory. Right now, Roach is on then top while Pacquiao is still winning, but if he gets beaten by Marquez in a fourth fight, Roach could lose some of his rock star luster. He’s already had some problems recently with his fighters Amir Khan and Jorge Linares both losing. A loss for Pacquiao obviously won’t help matters any. Putting Pacquiao in with the Berto-Ortiz winner would be a lot easier option than putting him back in with Marquez. The judges might actually pick Marquez next time.
Tavoris Cloud signs to fight Pascal
April 6th, 2012
By Allan Fox: Unbeaten International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-0, 19 KO’s) has signed a contract to fight former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KO’s) in a fight later on in 2012 on Showtime. The venue and the date still has yet to be determined. Pascal, 29, has yet to sign his part of the contract, and hopefully he does end up signing to make the fight happen.
According to RingTV, Pascal, 29, was offered over $1 million to take the fight, which if true is a really big payday for a challenger in a light heavyweight division fight. This isn’t the glamor division, and Cloud still doesn’t have a huge fan base, although his fights are televised on Showtime.
Pascal hasn’t fought for the past 11 months since losing his WBC light heavyweight title to 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins in their rematch last May. Pascal was out-boxed by the aging Hopkins and looked poor in the second half of the fight. In their first fight in December 2010, Pascal and Hopkins fought to a highly controversial 12 round draw in a fight where many boxing fans thought Hopkins won.
Cloud, 30, is coming off of a controversial 12 round split decision win over Gabriel Campillo last February. The decision wasn’t a popular won, as a lot of boxing writers thought Campillo had done enough to deserve the decision. But ignoring the outcome of the fight, you can’t argue the fact that Cloud looked like a poor champion in that fight and basically was fought to a standstill by Campillo. Cloud wants to show that his wasn’t the real him when/if he faces Pascal. However, it’s pretty clear that Cloud can be out-boxed by fighters that stick and move. He’s also highly susceptible to taking shots, as his defense is really his offense. Each time Campillo would flurry on Cloud, he’d catch over and over again. Cloud had a bad habit of stopping his punching when he was getting hit and it looked bad. Campillo was able to light Cloud up with uppercuts all night long until the later part of the fight when Campillo seemed to stop punching for some reason.
Pascal is hoping to fight the winner of the April 28th fight between Hopkins and Chad Dawson. That’s the only thing that might in theory prevent Pascal from signing the contract to fight Cloud. If Pascal loses to Cloud, then he can forget about what might be the bigger payday against the Hopkins-Dawson winner. Pascal has already beaten Dawson, who figures to be the one that will come out on top in the Hopkins fight. Pascal might be better off waiting on the Hopkins/Dawson fight to get a likely chance against Dawson, who he matches up better against, then he would if he faces the nonstop punching machine Cloud.
April 6th, 2012
By Allan Fox: Unbeaten International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-0, 19 KO’s) has signed a contract to fight former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KO’s) in a fight later on in 2012 on Showtime. The venue and the date still has yet to be determined. Pascal, 29, has yet to sign his part of the contract, and hopefully he does end up signing to make the fight happen.
According to RingTV, Pascal, 29, was offered over $1 million to take the fight, which if true is a really big payday for a challenger in a light heavyweight division fight. This isn’t the glamor division, and Cloud still doesn’t have a huge fan base, although his fights are televised on Showtime.
Pascal hasn’t fought for the past 11 months since losing his WBC light heavyweight title to 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins in their rematch last May. Pascal was out-boxed by the aging Hopkins and looked poor in the second half of the fight. In their first fight in December 2010, Pascal and Hopkins fought to a highly controversial 12 round draw in a fight where many boxing fans thought Hopkins won.
Cloud, 30, is coming off of a controversial 12 round split decision win over Gabriel Campillo last February. The decision wasn’t a popular won, as a lot of boxing writers thought Campillo had done enough to deserve the decision. But ignoring the outcome of the fight, you can’t argue the fact that Cloud looked like a poor champion in that fight and basically was fought to a standstill by Campillo. Cloud wants to show that his wasn’t the real him when/if he faces Pascal. However, it’s pretty clear that Cloud can be out-boxed by fighters that stick and move. He’s also highly susceptible to taking shots, as his defense is really his offense. Each time Campillo would flurry on Cloud, he’d catch over and over again. Cloud had a bad habit of stopping his punching when he was getting hit and it looked bad. Campillo was able to light Cloud up with uppercuts all night long until the later part of the fight when Campillo seemed to stop punching for some reason.
Pascal is hoping to fight the winner of the April 28th fight between Hopkins and Chad Dawson. That’s the only thing that might in theory prevent Pascal from signing the contract to fight Cloud. If Pascal loses to Cloud, then he can forget about what might be the bigger payday against the Hopkins-Dawson winner. Pascal has already beaten Dawson, who figures to be the one that will come out on top in the Hopkins fight. Pascal might be better off waiting on the Hopkins/Dawson fight to get a likely chance against Dawson, who he matches up better against, then he would if he faces the nonstop punching machine Cloud.
Yamanaka defeats Darchinyan; Hasegawa stops Felix; Ao defeats Kokietgym
April 6th, 2012
(Photo: Sumio Yamada) By Jim Dower: 36-year-old former two division world champion Vic Darchinyan (37-5-1, 27 KO’s) suffered his second consecutive loss on Friday night losing to unbeaten WBC bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka (16-0-2, 11 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Tokyo International Forum, in Tokyo, Japan. The final judges’ scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 117-111, all for Yamanaka.
Darchinyan was loading up with everything, but getting out-boxed by the slick Yamanaka. At bantamweight, Darchinyan doesn’t carry the same kind of power he had at flyweight and super flyweight. He wasn’t able to hurt Yamanaka with any of his shots and was pretty much out of his element once it was clear that he wouldn’t be able to do anything with Yamanaka.
Darchinyan has lost four out of seven fights at bantamweight, and he needs to think hard about whether it’s the smart thing for him to continue to try and fight at this weight or if he somehow get back down to super flyweight or even flyweight where Darchinyan was virtually unbeatable. Since moving up in weight, he’s had mixed results and in hindsight Darchinyan likely would have been much better off had he stuck it out in the lower weights.
***
Hasegawa defeats Felix
Former WBC bantamweight and WBC featherweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa (30-4, 13 KO’s) rebounded from a knockout loss to Jhonny Gonzalez and a year layoff to defeat Felipe Carlos Felix (18-1, 10 KO’s) by a 7th round TKO. Hasegawa, 31, knocked Felix to the canvas with a right hand in the 7th.
After he got up, Hasegawa unleashed a storm of punches ending with the referee stepping in to halt the fight. Hasegawa dominated the earlier rounds, catching Felix again and again with hard right hooks as he was coming forward trying to land. Offensively, Hasegawa looked very good, reminding one a little of Nonito Donaire the way he catches his opponents with hooks when they’re tying to get in range.
Hasegawa needs to stay busy if he wants to get another world title shot. He can’t afford to be taking year-long layoffs.
***
Ao decisions Kokietgym
Making his third defense, WBC super featherweight champion Takahiro Ao (23-2-1, 10 KO’s) defeated challenger Terdsak Kokietgym (46-4-1, 31 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision. The judges’ scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110.
April 6th, 2012
(Photo: Sumio Yamada) By Jim Dower: 36-year-old former two division world champion Vic Darchinyan (37-5-1, 27 KO’s) suffered his second consecutive loss on Friday night losing to unbeaten WBC bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka (16-0-2, 11 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Tokyo International Forum, in Tokyo, Japan. The final judges’ scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 117-111, all for Yamanaka.
Darchinyan was loading up with everything, but getting out-boxed by the slick Yamanaka. At bantamweight, Darchinyan doesn’t carry the same kind of power he had at flyweight and super flyweight. He wasn’t able to hurt Yamanaka with any of his shots and was pretty much out of his element once it was clear that he wouldn’t be able to do anything with Yamanaka.
Darchinyan has lost four out of seven fights at bantamweight, and he needs to think hard about whether it’s the smart thing for him to continue to try and fight at this weight or if he somehow get back down to super flyweight or even flyweight where Darchinyan was virtually unbeatable. Since moving up in weight, he’s had mixed results and in hindsight Darchinyan likely would have been much better off had he stuck it out in the lower weights.
***
Hasegawa defeats Felix
Former WBC bantamweight and WBC featherweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa (30-4, 13 KO’s) rebounded from a knockout loss to Jhonny Gonzalez and a year layoff to defeat Felipe Carlos Felix (18-1, 10 KO’s) by a 7th round TKO. Hasegawa, 31, knocked Felix to the canvas with a right hand in the 7th.
After he got up, Hasegawa unleashed a storm of punches ending with the referee stepping in to halt the fight. Hasegawa dominated the earlier rounds, catching Felix again and again with hard right hooks as he was coming forward trying to land. Offensively, Hasegawa looked very good, reminding one a little of Nonito Donaire the way he catches his opponents with hooks when they’re tying to get in range.
Hasegawa needs to stay busy if he wants to get another world title shot. He can’t afford to be taking year-long layoffs.
***
Ao decisions Kokietgym
Making his third defense, WBC super featherweight champion Takahiro Ao (23-2-1, 10 KO’s) defeated challenger Terdsak Kokietgym (46-4-1, 31 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision. The judges’ scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110.
Boxing Politics killing the sport?
By Jonathan Elliott: "Boxing Politics" a phrase which is heard more often than not, a phrase which many believe is killing the sport which so many fans adore or at least once did. So why has the popularity of boxing dropped to an all time low, much of the blame has to lie with the promoters who seem to dictate the sport and are to afraid to let their up and coming prospects etch a loss on their record at least until they can cash in on them.
Now I'm not stating that fighters early in their careers shouldn't be protected, they should to a certain degree until they gain experience and learn their trade, but being protected for such a long time and then suddenly thrown in at the deep end will do nothing for their chances at world or even European level.
Fighters need tests along the way and need to learn from their mistakes in order to make it to the top, i was one of the few people that believed George Groves would beat James DeGale why? Because Groves had been in the trenches with Kenny Anderson and had to learn how to dig deep and show heart so he knew what to do if that situation arose.
DeGale however had never been there, he was sailing through his opposition and you could say that's because he's so good he'll never be troubled but those boxers are far and few between, of course both these fighters are still learning but as I said they need tests and they certainly gave each other that and now DeGale is European champion and Groves will be fighting shortly for a world title.
Bob Arum is an example of the dark side of boxing as I genuinely believe he is holding Pacquiao back from the richest fight in history with Mayweather, he Knows Pacquiao is coming to the end of his career so will probably wait until his last fight and then let him have it, Pacquiao's his cash cow and he will want to squeeze every penny out of him before risking him with Mayweather.
This however is a dangerous game as if he is beat before the Mayweather fight (if it ever happens) the fight will instantly lose it's appeal and the money that goes with it. Take Pacquiaos next fight against Timothy Bradley a shrewd move by Arum as both are part of his stable so he'll reap all the benefits and even if Pacquiao does lose which he won't want to happen he'll have a new superstar in Bradley, If Pacquiao wins he's still in line for the mega bucks showdown and Bradley can still go on to big things as losing to Pacquiao is nothing to be ashamed of.
As fans we deserve better, in every sport we see the best take on the best so why should boxing be any different?
The best in every sport get beat and a few career losses shouldn't mean the end of a boxers career, which seems to be what is happening so I do sympathize with the boxers, however there is no excuse for well established and world level fighters to be avoiding each other.
As for boxers worrying about their legacies, Ali had losses Calzage didn't, but who is known as the greatest?
Article posted on 08.04.2012
By Jonathan Elliott: "Boxing Politics" a phrase which is heard more often than not, a phrase which many believe is killing the sport which so many fans adore or at least once did. So why has the popularity of boxing dropped to an all time low, much of the blame has to lie with the promoters who seem to dictate the sport and are to afraid to let their up and coming prospects etch a loss on their record at least until they can cash in on them.
Now I'm not stating that fighters early in their careers shouldn't be protected, they should to a certain degree until they gain experience and learn their trade, but being protected for such a long time and then suddenly thrown in at the deep end will do nothing for their chances at world or even European level.
Fighters need tests along the way and need to learn from their mistakes in order to make it to the top, i was one of the few people that believed George Groves would beat James DeGale why? Because Groves had been in the trenches with Kenny Anderson and had to learn how to dig deep and show heart so he knew what to do if that situation arose.
DeGale however had never been there, he was sailing through his opposition and you could say that's because he's so good he'll never be troubled but those boxers are far and few between, of course both these fighters are still learning but as I said they need tests and they certainly gave each other that and now DeGale is European champion and Groves will be fighting shortly for a world title.
Bob Arum is an example of the dark side of boxing as I genuinely believe he is holding Pacquiao back from the richest fight in history with Mayweather, he Knows Pacquiao is coming to the end of his career so will probably wait until his last fight and then let him have it, Pacquiao's his cash cow and he will want to squeeze every penny out of him before risking him with Mayweather.
This however is a dangerous game as if he is beat before the Mayweather fight (if it ever happens) the fight will instantly lose it's appeal and the money that goes with it. Take Pacquiaos next fight against Timothy Bradley a shrewd move by Arum as both are part of his stable so he'll reap all the benefits and even if Pacquiao does lose which he won't want to happen he'll have a new superstar in Bradley, If Pacquiao wins he's still in line for the mega bucks showdown and Bradley can still go on to big things as losing to Pacquiao is nothing to be ashamed of.
As fans we deserve better, in every sport we see the best take on the best so why should boxing be any different?
The best in every sport get beat and a few career losses shouldn't mean the end of a boxers career, which seems to be what is happening so I do sympathize with the boxers, however there is no excuse for well established and world level fighters to be avoiding each other.
As for boxers worrying about their legacies, Ali had losses Calzage didn't, but who is known as the greatest?
Article posted on 08.04.2012
James Toney Has Enough Left To Halt Bobby Gunn, “Lights Out” Scores 5th-Round Retirement Win
By James Slater - Well, a 43-year-old, 248-pound version of James Toney had more than enough left to be able to halt a brave but outclassed Bobby Gunn last night in Mississippi. “Lights Out” showed he still has some quick reflexes and a few of his old classy moves as he slowly broke Gunn down over five-rounds.
Finally, after giving it his best shot, Gunn, the reigning bare-knuckle heavyweight champ, remained on his stool at the end of the 5th-round. The official reason given was that of a broken hand sustained by “The Celtic Warrior” in the 4th-round..
Toney, who scored his first stoppage win in almost three years, and his second in over eight years, picked up the vacant IBU heavyweight bauble with his win. “Lights Out” is now 74-7-3(45). 38-year-old Gunn is now 21-5-1(18).
Toney, despite the stoppage win he was able to pick up, looked light years removed from the great fighter he once was. Tagged on more than one occasion by Gunn’s hooks to the head, the former multi-weight king relied on his still-excellent chin to take what did get through. At other times, an advancing Toney showed decent head movement and a pretty fast jab. Toney’s right hand, totally nonexistent in his awful fight with cruiserweight Denis Lebedev, was also a fairly effective weapon against the easy-to-hit Gunn.
Toney, his usual boisterous self after the win, claims he is THE best heavyweight in the world and that “The Bitchko Sisters” are avoiding him. That is utterly ludicrous, but Toney will move ahead to what he hopes will be a bigger fight against a name fighter. Last night’s fight had no TV coverage, a sign of how far the future Hall of Famer has fallen. Should he somehow land himself another major title fight (and don’t bet against it happening, as crazy as it sounds), Toney may wind up back on our screens this year.
Before last night’s victory, Toney said he wanted the Klitschkos, David Haye and then Lebedev again. “Ain’t nuthin’ changed,” he said, with regards to his humbling loss to Lebedev. Toney MAY get himself a few more paydays, but the chances of either the three fights he spoke of taking place are slim to none at best.
There have also been whispers that suggest Toney and 1990s rival (and conqueror) Roy Jones Junior may meet in a return. Gunn wanted a shot at Jones (himself a badly faded version of his former greatness), but Bobby got Toney instead. Just what Toney does next may not be of too much concern to fans who remember him at his dazzling best, but Toney is not going anywhere near retirement quite yet!
James still has enough left to be able to win every round against a tough, but overmatched fighter like Gunn.
By James Slater - Well, a 43-year-old, 248-pound version of James Toney had more than enough left to be able to halt a brave but outclassed Bobby Gunn last night in Mississippi. “Lights Out” showed he still has some quick reflexes and a few of his old classy moves as he slowly broke Gunn down over five-rounds.
Finally, after giving it his best shot, Gunn, the reigning bare-knuckle heavyweight champ, remained on his stool at the end of the 5th-round. The official reason given was that of a broken hand sustained by “The Celtic Warrior” in the 4th-round..
Toney, who scored his first stoppage win in almost three years, and his second in over eight years, picked up the vacant IBU heavyweight bauble with his win. “Lights Out” is now 74-7-3(45). 38-year-old Gunn is now 21-5-1(18).
Toney, despite the stoppage win he was able to pick up, looked light years removed from the great fighter he once was. Tagged on more than one occasion by Gunn’s hooks to the head, the former multi-weight king relied on his still-excellent chin to take what did get through. At other times, an advancing Toney showed decent head movement and a pretty fast jab. Toney’s right hand, totally nonexistent in his awful fight with cruiserweight Denis Lebedev, was also a fairly effective weapon against the easy-to-hit Gunn.
Toney, his usual boisterous self after the win, claims he is THE best heavyweight in the world and that “The Bitchko Sisters” are avoiding him. That is utterly ludicrous, but Toney will move ahead to what he hopes will be a bigger fight against a name fighter. Last night’s fight had no TV coverage, a sign of how far the future Hall of Famer has fallen. Should he somehow land himself another major title fight (and don’t bet against it happening, as crazy as it sounds), Toney may wind up back on our screens this year.
Before last night’s victory, Toney said he wanted the Klitschkos, David Haye and then Lebedev again. “Ain’t nuthin’ changed,” he said, with regards to his humbling loss to Lebedev. Toney MAY get himself a few more paydays, but the chances of either the three fights he spoke of taking place are slim to none at best.
There have also been whispers that suggest Toney and 1990s rival (and conqueror) Roy Jones Junior may meet in a return. Gunn wanted a shot at Jones (himself a badly faded version of his former greatness), but Bobby got Toney instead. Just what Toney does next may not be of too much concern to fans who remember him at his dazzling best, but Toney is not going anywhere near retirement quite yet!
James still has enough left to be able to win every round against a tough, but overmatched fighter like Gunn.
Roger Mayweather not impressed with Cotto, thinks he would beat him in his prime
April 8th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: Roger Mayweather (59-13, 35 KO’s), the trainer and uncle for WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., isn’t that impressed with his May 5th opponent WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, according to examiner.com writer Chris Robinson. Roger thinks he would take Cotto if he were in prime. It’s hard to argue that point with Roger, as he was dangerous in the ring in his prime, winning two division world titles before retiring.
Roger said to examiner.com “I can’t see why Cotto is making that money. Why? He ain’t done s***. What has he done?”
When asked whether he thinks he could have beaten Cotto while in his prime, Roger said “Hell yeah, I’d take him.”
Roger does have a point in asking what has Cotto done. In looking at Cotto’s record, he’s beaten some fighters but he’s struggled against the good fighters like Zab Judah, Manny Pacquiao, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley. Those are by far the biggest wins of Cotto’s career, and things were pretty bleak in most of those fights. Cotto turned around the Judah fight after being staggered by him by landing a hard low blow that took the air out of Judah.
Cotto was beaten by a prime Margarito, and looked to be on the verge of being beaten again by him last December when the fight was halted after the 9th due to Margarito’s right eye swelling up. Cotto won a questionable 12 round split decision against Clottey, a fighter that was completely out of his league against Manny Pacquiao.
When you look at Cotto’s resume, he really hasn’t dominated the good fighters and has those questionable wins over Clottey and Mosley. You can’t really say that Cotto has had a spectacular career. He’s been more like a better version of Marcos Maidana. Cotto brings excitement to the ring because of his brawling style of fighting, and he also brings a lot of drama due to his vulnerability. He’s someone that can win but there’s always the treat of him losing as well.
I do think a prime Roger “Black Mamba” Mayweather would beat him. Roger was a very good fighter in his prime and beat a lot of tough guys like Livingston Bramble, Vinny Pazienze, Terrance Ali, Harold Brazier, and Miguel Gonzalez. He lost to a lot of guys as well, but the fighters that Roger lost to where really good. He was beaten by the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez Sr, Pernell Whitaker, Rocky Lockridge, Tony Baltazar, Freddie Pendleton and Kostya Tszyu.
April 8th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: Roger Mayweather (59-13, 35 KO’s), the trainer and uncle for WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., isn’t that impressed with his May 5th opponent WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, according to examiner.com writer Chris Robinson. Roger thinks he would take Cotto if he were in prime. It’s hard to argue that point with Roger, as he was dangerous in the ring in his prime, winning two division world titles before retiring.
Roger said to examiner.com “I can’t see why Cotto is making that money. Why? He ain’t done s***. What has he done?”
When asked whether he thinks he could have beaten Cotto while in his prime, Roger said “Hell yeah, I’d take him.”
Roger does have a point in asking what has Cotto done. In looking at Cotto’s record, he’s beaten some fighters but he’s struggled against the good fighters like Zab Judah, Manny Pacquiao, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley. Those are by far the biggest wins of Cotto’s career, and things were pretty bleak in most of those fights. Cotto turned around the Judah fight after being staggered by him by landing a hard low blow that took the air out of Judah.
Cotto was beaten by a prime Margarito, and looked to be on the verge of being beaten again by him last December when the fight was halted after the 9th due to Margarito’s right eye swelling up. Cotto won a questionable 12 round split decision against Clottey, a fighter that was completely out of his league against Manny Pacquiao.
When you look at Cotto’s resume, he really hasn’t dominated the good fighters and has those questionable wins over Clottey and Mosley. You can’t really say that Cotto has had a spectacular career. He’s been more like a better version of Marcos Maidana. Cotto brings excitement to the ring because of his brawling style of fighting, and he also brings a lot of drama due to his vulnerability. He’s someone that can win but there’s always the treat of him losing as well.
I do think a prime Roger “Black Mamba” Mayweather would beat him. Roger was a very good fighter in his prime and beat a lot of tough guys like Livingston Bramble, Vinny Pazienze, Terrance Ali, Harold Brazier, and Miguel Gonzalez. He lost to a lot of guys as well, but the fighters that Roger lost to where really good. He was beaten by the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez Sr, Pernell Whitaker, Rocky Lockridge, Tony Baltazar, Freddie Pendleton and Kostya Tszyu.
Cotto’s trainer faced with tough task of finding plan to beat Mayweather
April 9th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: WBA Miguel Cotto’s trainer Pedro Diaz has the tough task ahead of him to try and put together the perfect plan for his fighter Cotto to try and beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5th. Diaz is a great trainer but he can only do much.
Putting together a plan for a limited fighter like Cotto to beat a star like Mayweather is going to be pretty much impossible. I know Diaz has got great credentials in training the Cuban amateurs, but this is professional boxing, not the amateur ranks. And Mayweather has all the advantages in this fight. Diaz has a short slugger on his hands with skin problems. Even the best of Diaz’s plans won’t be able to keep Cotto from taking a lot of head shots and getting cut up.
Diaz really only has a couple of options available for putting together a plan for Cotto to defeat Mayweather. It’s either going to be the old usual Cotto stuff with him lowering his head like a little bull, jabbing his way inside and looking to throw body and head shots from close range OR Cotto moving around the ring to try and box Mayweather. Either one of those plans are doomed for failure.
Cotto isn’t going to out-box Mayweather and he’ll look silly if he tries. And he’s not going to be able to destroy Mayweather by bum rushing him in the way that Cotto used to fight. Mayweather specifically picked out Cotto because he was so easy to figure out with his old style of fighting. If Cotto goes back to the way he used to fight, he’s going to get clowned by Mayweather. If Cotto tries to box Mayweather, it’ll be too easy because Cotto moves around the ring like he’s got a set of weights attache to each angle. He’s really slow and sluggish.
April 9th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: WBA Miguel Cotto’s trainer Pedro Diaz has the tough task ahead of him to try and put together the perfect plan for his fighter Cotto to try and beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5th. Diaz is a great trainer but he can only do much.
Putting together a plan for a limited fighter like Cotto to beat a star like Mayweather is going to be pretty much impossible. I know Diaz has got great credentials in training the Cuban amateurs, but this is professional boxing, not the amateur ranks. And Mayweather has all the advantages in this fight. Diaz has a short slugger on his hands with skin problems. Even the best of Diaz’s plans won’t be able to keep Cotto from taking a lot of head shots and getting cut up.
Diaz really only has a couple of options available for putting together a plan for Cotto to defeat Mayweather. It’s either going to be the old usual Cotto stuff with him lowering his head like a little bull, jabbing his way inside and looking to throw body and head shots from close range OR Cotto moving around the ring to try and box Mayweather. Either one of those plans are doomed for failure.
Cotto isn’t going to out-box Mayweather and he’ll look silly if he tries. And he’s not going to be able to destroy Mayweather by bum rushing him in the way that Cotto used to fight. Mayweather specifically picked out Cotto because he was so easy to figure out with his old style of fighting. If Cotto goes back to the way he used to fight, he’s going to get clowned by Mayweather. If Cotto tries to box Mayweather, it’ll be too easy because Cotto moves around the ring like he’s got a set of weights attache to each angle. He’s really slow and sluggish.
Ariza thinks Pacquiao can stop Bradley in less than five rounds if he trains correctly
April 9th, 2012
By Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning trainer Alex Ariza sees his fighter destroying unbeaten Timothy Bradley within five rounds if Pacquiao follows his training regimen to the letter during his training camp for Pacquiao’s June 9th fight against Bradley in Las Vegas.
Ariza said to Philstar.com “How he [Pacquiao] trains will impact on how he does against Bradley. If he trains properly, Manny could blow that guy [Bradley] in less than five rounds.”
That’s pretty amazing given that Ariza also thought Pacquiao would blow out Juan Manuel Marquez. I wonder if the bad results of that fight was because he didn’t follow Ariza’s training regimen to the letter.
I think it’s beyond training for Pacquiao. You can take an aging fighter like Pacquiao and put them through some kind of military boot camp with 8 weeks of grueling exercises and the most perfect diet, and you’re still likely going to get a fighter that does well in the early rounds and then start to fade when the legs go in the 2nd half of the fight. He’ll likely get just as tired as he would if he had gone through an easier came. In my experience, when you get an aging fighter, you need to back off with the exercises by slowing things down. You can’t overdo it with a fighter that is starting to show age because you get diminishing returns. It’s like someone exercising two hours a day and then figuring they’ll look three times as good if they work out six hours a day. What you get a drained looking person who looks like a long distance runner with little body fat.
I don’t see Pacquiao stopping Bradley no matter what he does in training. No way is he going to stop him within five rounds. The best he can hope for is if Bradley gets cut and you get a doctor’s stoppage. But in a fight where cuts are an issue, I’d be more inclined to seeing Pacquiao as the one that gets stopped rather than Bradley because Pacquiao has the scar tissue around his eyes and Bradley likes to lead with his head. Pacquiao has the better chance of being cut than Bradley.
April 9th, 2012
By Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning trainer Alex Ariza sees his fighter destroying unbeaten Timothy Bradley within five rounds if Pacquiao follows his training regimen to the letter during his training camp for Pacquiao’s June 9th fight against Bradley in Las Vegas.
Ariza said to Philstar.com “How he [Pacquiao] trains will impact on how he does against Bradley. If he trains properly, Manny could blow that guy [Bradley] in less than five rounds.”
That’s pretty amazing given that Ariza also thought Pacquiao would blow out Juan Manuel Marquez. I wonder if the bad results of that fight was because he didn’t follow Ariza’s training regimen to the letter.
I think it’s beyond training for Pacquiao. You can take an aging fighter like Pacquiao and put them through some kind of military boot camp with 8 weeks of grueling exercises and the most perfect diet, and you’re still likely going to get a fighter that does well in the early rounds and then start to fade when the legs go in the 2nd half of the fight. He’ll likely get just as tired as he would if he had gone through an easier came. In my experience, when you get an aging fighter, you need to back off with the exercises by slowing things down. You can’t overdo it with a fighter that is starting to show age because you get diminishing returns. It’s like someone exercising two hours a day and then figuring they’ll look three times as good if they work out six hours a day. What you get a drained looking person who looks like a long distance runner with little body fat.
I don’t see Pacquiao stopping Bradley no matter what he does in training. No way is he going to stop him within five rounds. The best he can hope for is if Bradley gets cut and you get a doctor’s stoppage. But in a fight where cuts are an issue, I’d be more inclined to seeing Pacquiao as the one that gets stopped rather than Bradley because Pacquiao has the scar tissue around his eyes and Bradley likes to lead with his head. Pacquiao has the better chance of being cut than Bradley.
Leonard: Me and Hearns would KO Pacquiao and Mayweather
April 8th, 2012
By Allan Fox: Boxing great “Sugar” Ray Leonard has a lot of respect for both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao as fighters. However, he thinks they both would have been in deep, deep water had they been around to face him in his prime as well as Tommy “Hitman” Hearns. Leonard thinks he and Hearns would KO both Mayweather and Pacquiao.
Speaking with RingTV, Leonard said “I don’t think he [Pacquiao] has ever fought anybody who is 6-foot-2. I don’t think he’s ever faced someone with that kind of height and that power with that type of speed…I think Tommy knocks both of those guys [Mayweather and Pacquiao] out.”
Leonard went on to say that he too would knockout both Mayweather and Pacquiao if he were in his prime still. He sees things in their fighting style that he feels would enable him to score a knockout. I’m not sure what it is but you can’t doubt the man because when Leonard was in his prime, he was next to unbeatable when he was fighting smart and not just looking to brawl.
Hearns would be a very tough opponent for both Mayweather and Pacquiao, especially with Pacquiao because he’s so easy to hit. Hearns had one punch knockout power at welterweight, and if he was facing an opponent with flawed defensive skills like Pacquiao, he would knock them out when he was at welterweight. Hearns had problems later on in his career when he moved up to middleweight and light heavyweight. His power was so good that he was still a huge puncher even in the higher weight classes. But at welterweight, Hearns was a monster and if put in with a fighter that was easy to hit like Pacquiao, Hearns would likely have destroye
April 8th, 2012
By Allan Fox: Boxing great “Sugar” Ray Leonard has a lot of respect for both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao as fighters. However, he thinks they both would have been in deep, deep water had they been around to face him in his prime as well as Tommy “Hitman” Hearns. Leonard thinks he and Hearns would KO both Mayweather and Pacquiao.
Speaking with RingTV, Leonard said “I don’t think he [Pacquiao] has ever fought anybody who is 6-foot-2. I don’t think he’s ever faced someone with that kind of height and that power with that type of speed…I think Tommy knocks both of those guys [Mayweather and Pacquiao] out.”
Leonard went on to say that he too would knockout both Mayweather and Pacquiao if he were in his prime still. He sees things in their fighting style that he feels would enable him to score a knockout. I’m not sure what it is but you can’t doubt the man because when Leonard was in his prime, he was next to unbeatable when he was fighting smart and not just looking to brawl.
Hearns would be a very tough opponent for both Mayweather and Pacquiao, especially with Pacquiao because he’s so easy to hit. Hearns had one punch knockout power at welterweight, and if he was facing an opponent with flawed defensive skills like Pacquiao, he would knock them out when he was at welterweight. Hearns had problems later on in his career when he moved up to middleweight and light heavyweight. His power was so good that he was still a huge puncher even in the higher weight classes. But at welterweight, Hearns was a monster and if put in with a fighter that was easy to hit like Pacquiao, Hearns would likely have destroye