Mayweather vs. Mosley on May 1?

According to boxing writer Kevin Iole on Yahoo, a super fight between undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr and WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley is imminent. The welterweight title fight is on the cusp of being signed, sealed, and delivered for May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV.

Mosley was originally slated to face undefeated WBC titlist Andre Berto tomorrow night, but Berto who is of Haitian descent, understandably withdrew from the contest almost two weeks ago due to the tragic loss of his loved ones in the Haiti earthquake disaster.

For the past couple months, Mayweather and his team were in heated negotiations for his highly anticipated showdown with pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao, but that mega fight eventually collapsed over controversial disagreements on drug testing. Pacquiao declined Team Mayweather's request for USADA Olympic-style drug testing that included random blood tests, but Mosley has stated that he is more than willing to comply with such a request. Those who follow boxing are well aware that Mayweather and Mosley have been long time rivals, ever since the late 1990s when Mosley was a lightweight title holder and Mayweather was champion at super featherweight.  At the time, both boxers were undefeated.

To his credit Money May has remained undefeated as a professional, having won world titles in several different weight classes from 130lbs all the way up to 154lbs. Mosley, on the other hand, has suffered a few set backs in decision losses to the likes of the late and great Vernon Forrest, who gave Mosley the first loss of his professional career in January of 2002, Winky Wright, and Miguel Cotto. Mosley resurrected his career a year ago when he won the title with a memorable and arguably career-best performance, a scintillating 9th round TKO of Antonio Margarito.

Twelve years later, both combatants still remain two of the best pound for pound fighters in the world today. Many would argue that this showdown is long overdue.  Credit to Mayweather for agreeing to face a foe as formidable as Mosley, as he deserves praise for his selection of opponent following the fall out of the Pacquiao fight, circumstances for which many observers vilified and blamed the undefeated pugilist from Las Vegas. Having been off for over a year, this commentator thinks it would serve Mosley well to have a tune up prior to the Mayweather fight. In all fairness, Mayweather facing Mosley would competitively weigh heavier than Pacquiao meeting Joshua Clottey, who lost to Miguel Cotto in his last fight, on March 13.

Expect a press conference in New York City to officially announce the fight, possibly as early as next week.

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Brinkley, Stevens duke it out tonight on ESPN FNF!

Press Release: The final press conference for the upcoming showdown between Curtis "Showtime" Stevens (21-2, 15KO) and Jesse Brinkley (34-5, 22KO) was held today at the Extreme Sports Bar in the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada. The bout, scheduled for twelve rounds in the super middleweight division, is for the #2 spot in the IBF's ratings. ESPN2's popular "Friday Night Fight" series will broadcast the event live, Friday January 29th, starting at 10PM ET.

CURTIS STEVENS

Stevens was the first of the main event fighters to speak. "I have trained eight hard weeks for this fight and I'm just ready to go. As I have already said, I can't stress enough that Jesse has never been in with a fighter like me. He has never been in with someone who has as much power or skill as me, and come Friday night you will see that. This fight is scheduled for twelve rounds, but I don't plan on it going that far. I'm ready to die in that ring, he better be ready too."

JESSE BRINKLEY

Last to the podium was Brinkley. "I know this is definitely going to be a tough fight, Curtis is a very tough fighter. But I have been training since October and I couldn't be more ready for this. I plan on coming out of this fight victorious. I never have backed down from anyone and I don't plan on it now, so Curtis better know he is in for a real fight."

The fight, taking place Friday night, is promoted by Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing and Let's Get It On Promotions. Kicking off the press conference was Terry Lane of Let's Get It On, who thanked everyone for coming and showing their support for what has shaped up to be a huge fight. "We are very excited we were able to put this fight together," stated Terry. "This is a huge fight for Jesse, a huge fight for Reno, and a huge fight for boxing. This is going to be exciting fight. You have two big punchers, who are going to come forward and leave everything they have in the ring come Friday night."

Next to the podium was Terry's brother Tommy. "We have been trying to put this fight together for a few years now and finally it's here," said Tommy. "This is a very intriguing fight because both of these guys are the gatekeepers to each other's future. The winner of this fight will be in line for a world title opportunity, while the loser will have to take a hard look at their future in the sport of boxing. With both Jesse and Curtis' power you just know there is going to be fireworks come the 29th."

Next to address the audience was Joe DeGuardia, CEO of Star Boxing, and President of the newly formed Boxing Promoters Association. "It's a pleasure to be here in Reno, and it has been a pleasure working with Terry and Tommy and everyone at Let's Get It On Promotions," began DeGuardia. "This fight between Curtis and Jesse is what boxing is all about. On Friday night you will see two warriors putting everything on the line and leaving it all in the ring, and as a true boxing fan, you couldn't ask for more."

Tickets are available at http://www.grandsierraresort.com/ or by calling (800) 648-3568. Tickets for a King's Row Booth for four are priced at $1,000. Included in your V.I.P. ringside booth are light appetizers and one bottle of premium alcohol.

ABOUT THE GRAND SIERRA RESORT AND CASINO:

Grand Sierra Resort and Casino is located in the heart of Reno/Tahoe - America's Adventure Place. GSR is northern Nevada's most complete resort destination with nearly 2,000 guest rooms and suites. The property offers a wide variety of accommodations for the every day business traveler to the complete family vacation with amenities that include 200,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, branded retail shopping, headliner entertainment, a cinema, a 50-lane championship bowling center, outdoor thrill rides, aqua golf driving range, an 85,000 square foot casino with 24 hours of heart- pounding action plus so much more. GSR is a proud member of Summit Hotels and Resorts, a prestigious brand of Preferred Hotel Group. For more information, please visit http://www.grandsierraresort.com/ or to make reservations call 800-648-5080.

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Mickey Bey Jr: I definitely plan to be one of the next great PPV fighters!

Boxingchronicles.com is extremely proud to bring you the first ever one-on-one interview with a professional fighter.  The following is the interview I did yesterday with junior lightweight contender Mickey Bey, Jr, who is 15-0 with 8 knockouts.  Definitely not lacking for confidence, Mickey looks forward to anybody and everybody who stands in his way of becoming a lights-out, multi-division champion and PPV superstar. 

Bryan Bradley: Mickey Bey Jr, I understand you compete in the lightweight division, currently boasting a professional record of 15-0 with 8 knockouts. Can tell me a little bit about yourself – how you got into boxing and the drive behind your ascension into the professional ranks?

Mickey Bey: I got into boxing. I tried a lot of sports when I was young.  I played football, tennis, baseball, ran track.  Really, I did it all, but boxing was kind of in my blood. My grandfather used to fight.  He never turned pro, but he used to fight.  My dad was the huge boxing fan.  He had all the tapes in the house. So when I found the gym, locally, I started boxing, and since day one, you know I've been a boxer ever since and that was when I was 12 years old back in 1996.

BB: I understand you were a Golden Gloves champ as well?  You fought in the Golden Gloves?
MB: Yes, yes, I won the Golden Gloves. Nationals.  Actually, I was on the 2004 Olympic team.  I caught pneumenia in training camp, and I wasn't able to compete in Greece, but I won the Olympic Trials and everything.

BB: You won the Olympic Trials.  I think Showtime at one point said you had about 200...maybe a little over 250 bouts.

MB: Yea, well close to 200 amateur bouts.

Tell me what it was like to even compete in the trials and what it meant to you as an athlete in the United States.

MB: Oh it means everything, especially to me, the big thing is that the olympic trials were in my hometown of Cleveland, OH.  So that made it even bigger than family and friends got to see me fight.  Winning it from there made it even bigger, but, that's the biggest thing that you can do actually as an athlete.  That's just as big, or even bigger, than winning the world championship - making the olympic team, you know, that's every athlete's dream. A dream come true.

BB: Alot of the boxers I hear from say, what's bigger?  Winning a world title, a world championship or fighting in the olympics, or even fighting in the olympic trials?  The olympic trials, a lot of them say, is so much bigger of a buzz.

MB:  Right, because you got more than one chance to win a world title, you know, you got so many hundreds of thousands of people that's competing to make the Olympics, you know, when you make that, it's a big thing.

BB: For the readers who are learning about Mickey Bey Jr and looking out for him as he moves up in professional rankings, can you tell me what you feel your greatest strengths are as a boxer?

MB: Really, my greatest strengths are I can do everything in the ring.  I can mix it up. I got all the tools and I know how to use them and when to use them.  I'm a smart fighter.  I fight different every fight, according to the opponent that I am fighting. And my determination and discipline outside of the ring.

BB: So you mix it up a little bit.  What you're saying is, you're unpredictable to the opponent.

MB: Right, I'm unpredictable.  It would be hard for anybody to study me throughout my whole career because you might see one fight, I might do one thing, but the next fight I'll do the complete opposite.  I could just get in the ring and adapt and know what to do when I'm in there, so I never go into the fight with the same game plan.  I go in the ring and can carry out a game plan when I'm fighting.

BB: You know, the Mayweathers are a pretty deep pack in the sport of boxing.  They're a long time family of fighters.  You have Roger, who won the world championship.  You have Floyd Mayweather Sr, and then you have Jeff Mayweather.  How is the experience of working with Floyd (Jr's) uncle Jeff Mayweather?

MB:  Oh it's great.  Jeff was a really good fighter himself.  He just decided to go to college and manage his nephew and help him with his career.  But, it's great because he did it on a high level.  His brothers are great fighters and trainers and he knows the game. He knows everything that's needed to know, and by me being able to pick up on it and actually perform and all, I think we're definitely going to be big duo in boxing for some time to come.

BB: Has he ever brought Floyd in to work with you?

MB: Yea actually, Floyd Sr, he trained me first when I first turned pro.  That was my first trainer.  He was great too. After training with those guys, I can't see myself training with anybody else for the rest of my career.

BB: Good boxing family.  No doubt; very knowledgable people.

MB: Yeah they are.  They're very knowledgable.  They know it all.  When it comes to boxing, that's their God given talent is to be great trainers, you know, for all of them to be able to train at that level that they train on.  That's their calling definitely.

BB: You know, you're in the lightweight division.  Just a year ago, the lightweight division had some stars.  It had some guys like Juan Manuel Marquez, Juan Diaz, Marquez and Diaz had a fight that was a candidate for Fight of the Year last year...

MB: ....Actually, I'm competing at junior lightweight. I usually fight a lot of fights at lightweight because it's hard to get fights, but I eventually will be moving up, probably a few weight classes, but I'm going to compete for my first world title at junior lightweight sometime this year.  Hopefully the first half of the year. I'm looking to fight any titleholder.  Me and Jeff both know that we can come out victorious against any of them.  We're looking at Robert Guerrero, Roman Martinez, and the WBC champ, and whoever. Whichever one of these guys that I get to first, I'll definitely fight them.

BB. Maybe Humberto Soto?  Humberto Soto is the guy who's got the WBC.

MB: Oh yea, me and Soto, we can definitely do it.  I'll fight Soto tomorrow.  I'd love to fight Soto.

BB: In your view, who is the best pound for pound fighter in the world today?

MB: Well I think Floyd Mayweather is, because he's been on top for the longest. and the way he handled Juan Manuel Marquez was great.

BB: That was definitely the Comeback of the Year.

MB: Yeah, that was big for him to beat him the way he did.  When you look at Manny's fights, he had a draw and a split decision.  Even though styles make fights.  I definitely think with Manny it's arguable, but I will say Floyd just because he still hasn't lost and he beat everybody he fought hands down, and especially if he fights Shane and beats him, I think you really can't even make an argument then.

BB: Well that's true.  Floyd fighting Shane vs. Pacquiao fighting Clottey.  It would definitely be bigger.

MB: Yeah that's a lot bigger and that's almost closed for May 1, so hopefully both of them win and they still get to fight sometime this year.

BB:  Getting back to your training regimen, would you say you're one of those types of fighters who reviews video tape or video coverage of your opponents or are you the type of person that just likes to learn what your opponent is giving you hands on when you get into the ring with him that night because what he does in the ring with you may not be the same as what he's done in the past?  Like you said, you're unpredictable.

MB:  Yeah exactly, that was a  good way you put it.  Mainly I would let Jeff look at it because Jeff can pretty much adapt and break down the game plan, and I'll do just like you said, just get in the ring.  You know, it's just like me, I fight different every fight so, you don't want to look at a fighter for what he did in the past, but I look at the basic things that I think they can't change that they've been doing and look at some bad habits, but other than that I just get into the ring and just let it flow.

BB: Coming up in April, as you know, Bernard Hopkins is going to be fighting Roy Jones, Jr. on April 3rd.  This is after Jones got knocked out by Danny Green in one round in Australia which was kind of embarrassing.  The fact that it's a PPV headliner, what do you think of that?  Do you think this fight should even be happening still, or...

MB: I don't even think they should fight.  I don't even think Roy should fight anymore. It's just damaging what he did in the past.  In his career Roy was one of the best fighters in the last 20 years, but if people look at the way you go out, I don't know what it's going to take for him to stay out.  He keeps getting brutally knocked out, and he's 41 years old, I don't understand.  It's not like he can get better at this point than he was before.  I don't understand why he's fighting, and Bernard Hopkins, I don't know why he's even fighting Roy. I guess he's looking at it as an easy pay day, but he already made a ton of money, so if I was Bernard, there's a lot of other fighters out there that he can fight like Chad Dawson and guys like that, but I guess he doesn't want to fight those kinds of guys.

BB: Or maybe even move up to heavyweight and fight David Haye.

MB: Right.  Yeah. David Haye, yup.  But obviously he just wants the easiest pay day out there.

BB: You're at 130lbs right now.  You'd like to fight Guerrero. Humberto Soto.  When you move up lightweight, like I was saying, last year you guys like Nate Campbell, Juan Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez holding down the lightweight division. Now they've kind of gone North. Right now you got guys like Undefeated Edwin Valero, whose opponents can't seem to get out of the first round with him.  You got guys like Joan Guzman and Ali Funeka, who fought to a bizzare draw last November.  Personally I feel Funeka won 10 of the 12 rounds in that fight.  When you move up to lightweight, would you consider any of those guys potentially?

MB: Oh yea, definitely.  When I move to a weight class, I want to fight the best that's there. So whoever's the best, whether it's any of those guys, that's the one I'm definitely going for.  I'm going straight for the titles and straight for the biggest fights out there.  I definitely plan to be one of the next great PPV fighters, so I'll fight guys like that in order to get to that status.

BB: This question is the perfect segway to PPV, you brought up PPV and that you want to become a PPV star.  If you could take one fight.... You go to bed every night thinking to yourself if I could fight that one guy, if I could have this one fight which would propel me to the level of being a PPV superstar, fighting for a world title, all the marbles are on the line for this fight, and it's going to make a superstar if I beat this guy and beat him in spectacular fashion, what fighter could you dream being in the ring with?

MB: I'm going to be totally honest, and it might sound crazy, but Manny Pacquiao. *laughing*

BB: *laughing* That doesn't sound crazy.  That doesn't sound crazy.  I mean he's gone up from 106lbs and now he's 147lbs.  You're a young man, you're still at 130lbs, so you could very well move up to that weight and fight him some day perhaps.

MB:  Right. Definitely.  I wouldn't say Floyd, because we're really close and great friends, so I would kind of exclude him, so I would say Manny Pacquiao. I would love that one. And I wouldn't be suprised in the next few years if that might be one of the matchups that the world wants to see hopefully.

BB: How do you think a fight between you and Pacquiao plays out?

MB: Oh I'll definitely win.  I wouldn't guarentee a knockout or anything because Manny is just relentless himself, but I think I at least beat him by unanimous decision.  I think I'll outsmart Manny because I feel like, especially,  in two or three years I think I'm going to be unstoppable once I get that world championship experience. It'll be hard for anybody to beat me at that point but I think I'll outsmart Manny because I think I'll be able to match anything he can do, and he'll even do a lot more at that point in two years or so.

BB: The first Erik Morales fight from 2005 is a blueprint.

MB: Oh exactly right.  Right.  That was the one that really showed the way to beat Manny.  And Floyd, I think he'll be the next one to beat Manny, but you know, Manny definitely is at the top of his game right now, so you know, he's dangerous for anybody.

BB: Any closing thoughts for the fans?  Any words you'd like to give to the fans or the people around the world?

MB:  Oh yeah, I definitely just want to let everybody know to be on the look out for Mickey Bey.  Anybody from boxing fans, hardcore fans, and just the casual fans, you know I'm getting ready to bring a lot of excitement and do my part in the ring to bring a lot of excitement and a lot of flair, just like the fighters in the 70s and 80s, and bring a nice decade of world championship, world class performances.

[Editors note: When talking about the junior lightweight champions, I mentioned Juan Carlos Salgado's 1st round upset KO of Jorge Linares for the WBA title last year, but I had a mind block when trying to think of the name!  Off the record, Mickey correctly informed me that Salgado, himself, had just been stopped and detroned of his title.  On January 11, undefeated Takashi Uchiyama stopped Salgado in the 12th and final round to win the title.]

Boxingchronicles.com sincerely thanks Mickey Bey, Jeff Mayweather, and Jeanette K of Boxingladiators.com for this golden opportunity.  Thank you very much! 

Boxingchronicles.com looks forward to seeing Mickey Bey quite frequently in the future as his young and promising career blossoms.

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Lopez, Gamboa win big over the weekend, but they won't be fighting each other just yet!

This past Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York, undefeated featherweights Yuriorkis Gamboa and Juan Manuel Lopez scored big wins in separate showcases. 

Gamboa stopped Rogers Mtagwa, best known for giving Lopez all he could handle in a 122lb title challenge last fall, in two rounds to retain his WBA featherweight championship.  In the main event, Lopez stopped defending champion Steve Luevano in seven rounds to win the WBO featherweight title in impressive fashion.  One would believe that the two rising stars are on a collision course to meet one another very soon, but promoter Bob Arum says, not so fast. 

In an interview conducted by Greg Leon at Boxingtalk earlier this week, when asked about HBO's interest in a Lopez vs. Gamboa showdown, Arum was quoted as saying, "Put them against all of the tough featherweights, have them beat all of the tough featherweights, and then make a big event, maybe at the Meadowlands, in the spring of next year. Where I can put 30,000 people in the place, that's doing my job as a promoter of these two fighters. That's what, as a promoter, I have to do. It's not necessarily pleasing the sports writers, or pleasing HBO, or pleasing the fans, who want instant gratification, it's about positioning the fight so that it makes the most money for two wonderful young fighters, for when they finally fight each other."

Aside from Chris John, who is universally recognized as the featherweight champion of the world, who else is there to fight in the featherweight division?  Most of the big name talent and competition is campaigning in either the junior featherweight, junior lightweight, or lightweight divisions respectively.  Many fans and experts longed to see Lopez fight Celestino Caballero, the unified IBF and WBA junior featherweight champion, prior to moving up to 126lbs.  That fight never happened at 122lbs, so perhaps Caballero would be obliged to chase Lopez up to featherweight and make things more interesting in that weight class. 

Other than John or Caballero, Lopez and Gamboa would appear to have nobody else to fight but one another.  This commentator understands the promoter's desire to make as much money as possible as well as his vested interest in his fighter's monetary compensation, but it is we the fans who pay to see the fighters perform.  As a result we the fans deserve gratification, period, whether it is instant or not.

A fight between Lopez and Gamboa would likely produce an exciting knockdown, drag out type of affair.  I still have vivid memories of the hurt and staggered Lopez who was trying to survived heart and guts alone in rounds 11 and 12 against Mtagwa. Replace Mtagwa with Gamboa, and Lopez could potentially find himself in serious trouble. Gamboa has talent as well as a gradually improving skill set, but Lopez is no pushover as he showed against Mtagwa.  He can also punch, as was illustrated against Luevano.

photo courtesy: Examiner.com

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Boxingchronicles proudly brings you Mickey Bey Jr!

Boxingchronicles.com has a special update for you.  Recently, I conducted the first ever BOXINGCHRONICLES.COM one-on-one interview with undefeated junior lightweight contender Mickey Bey, Jr. 

Let me say that it was both an honor and a privledge to be able to speak with the young boxer from Cleveland, OH; he was a gracious gentlemen and a class act.  As a result, Boxingchronicles.com personally extends a very special thanks to Bey, his trainer Jeff Mayweather, and Jeanette K of Boxingladiators.com for giving me such an opportunity. 

Bey spoke about his experience in the 2004 Olympic Trials, his training regimen, who he wants to fight as he moves up in the professional rankings, and a dream fight he admitted he would love to have with a popular fellow by the name of Manny Pacquiao.  The interview itself will be published later this afternoon.  Stay tuned!

photo: fightwriter.com

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JuanMa Lopez, Yuriorkis Gamboa featured in featherweight title doubleheader tonight!

New York, New York, it's a wonderful town once again tonight.  In what is the first big fight card of the new year and decade, HBO Boxing After Dark will televise a featherweight championship doubleheader, featuring two of the sport's fastest rising undefeated stars, WBA champion Yuriorkis Gamboa and WBO super bantamweight Juan Manuel Lopez. 

Most of the knowledgable fans and experts in the world of boxing regard Indonesia's Chris John as the universally recognized featherweight champion of the world.  In a division that was most notably populated the previous decade by stars such as Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Prince Naseem Hamed, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Manny Pacquiao, the four young contestants on tonight's card are eager to establish their own respective legacies in the featherweight division, as they squared off at the Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Gamboa will defend his title against Rogers Mtagwa, who was last seen giving Lopez all he could handle in a spirited challenge for his title last October.  Lopez is moving up from super bantamweight to featherweight to challenge WBO titlist Steve Luevano in the main event.  HBO would like to match Lopez and Gamboa against one another later this year, but as we learned this past week when Scott Brown upset Martha Coakley for the US Senate seat in Massachusetts, sometimes the best laid plans can be derailed.  Both undefeated stars are matched pretty tough tonight. 

Lopez exploded on the scene in June of 2008, when he scored a devastating first round KO of defending champion Ponce DeLeon to win the WBO super bantamweight champion.  He's made a number of defenses, including the win over Mtagwa, as well as a 10th round TKO over Gerry Penalosa in his native Puerto Rico in April of 2009.  Reminiscent of a young Mike Tyson, Lopez can be extremely dangerous early and his professional record proves just that.  In his 27 fight career, the 26 year old residing in Caguas, Puerto Rico has scored a total of 10 first round knockouts. Where Lopez has looked particularly vulnerable is when he's taken into the late rounds.  We could very well see that vulnerability tonight, as Luevano is a durable guy who can take a punch and has never been stopped.

Luevano won the vacant title with an eleventh round knockout of Nicky Cook in July of 2007.  He has been relatively inactive with only one fight in 2009, that being a 7th round DQ win over Bernard Concepcion. A skilled technician whose only loss was a 10 round decision to Martin Honorio in November of 2005, Luevano has been in his own share of exciting fights, including a twelve round war with Mario Santiago in June of 2008, which ended in a draw. In his next fight in October of 2008, Luevano outclassed Billy Dib to retain his title.

Perhaps it is Gamboa who is the most gifted fighter on tonight's card. A native of Cuba who won the 2006 World Cup Championship, and is also a four time national champion, Gamboa is a talented young fighter with fast hands and feet. After scoring a 10th round TKO over Jose Rojas in April to win the interim title, Gamboa became the full-time titleholder following a 4th round TKO of Whyber Garcia in his last outting this past October. Having been knocked down couple of times, Gamboa does have a questionable chin and probably gets hit just a little too much for the liking of his immediate backers. 

Mtagwa, who is challenging Gamboa in the preliminary bout, survived the early rounds of his fight against the hard punching Lopez and managed to hurt a tiring Lopez in the closing rounds of their title fight this past fall.  Mtagwa ran out of time and rounds, as Lopez held on to win a unanimous decision. 

What we have here is two outstanding match ups; the main event could exceed expectations especially if it goes into the late rounds. As I stated earlier, Luevano was in a barnburner against Santiago on the Pacquiao vs. Diaz undercard. Put Lopez, a guy who's not afraid to take punches in order to deliver,  into the ring with Luevano and things could get exciting.  This commentator believes Luevano is a live underdog and is actually leaning towards him to pull off the upset.  Gamboa should get past Mtagwa, after some rocky moments and perhaps even suffering a knockdown. 

Wouldn't it be something, though, if the year kicked off with two upsets??

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Pacquiao vs. Clottey set for March 13

A press conference was held yesterday at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas to publicly announce the WBO welterweight title fight between titlist and pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao and former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey taking place on March 13. 

Of course, the fight everyone wanted to see was Pacquiao vs. Mayweather. Due to the fact that Pacquiao and undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr simply could not come to terms over the drug testing controversy, both parties have elected to move on.  Pacquiao is the one who retains the March 13 date for his next outting.  As Hopkins vs. Jones II will inexplicably be filling HBO's PPV time slot of April 3, Money May must wait until the month of May before securing a PPV date for his next fight.

Clottey, to his credit, is a viable opponent who is probably the next best available challenger for Pacquiao.  In June of 2009, Clottey fought Miguel Cotto to a hotly contested and questionable split decision at Madison Square Garden that was awarded to the Puerto Rican native.  To this day, Clottey firmly believes he deserved the verdict from the judges, but points out that they gave the decision to Cotto because the people wanted to see him in a super fight against Pacquiao.

Although he has posted significant wins over the likes of the late and great Diego Corrales in April of 2007, as well as Zab Judah in August of 2008 to claim the IBF title, he lost the two biggest fights of his career by the slimmest of margins - a razor-thin unanimous decision to Antonio Margarito in December of 2006, followed by the split decision loss to Cotto this past June.  Clottey is a skillful technician, but he has also shown a reputation for choking at this level of the game.  Might the third time be a charm??

Pacquiao vs. Clottey will be televised on HBO PPV.

photo courtesy: Robert Hughes

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Berto has withdrawn from Mosley fight

As a result of having lost loved ones the Haitian earthquake disaster, WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto has withdrawn from his January 30 title unification bout with WBA kingpin Shane Mosley. 

Boxingchronicles.com offers its sincere condolences to Mr. Berto as well as family members of the thousands who have lost their lives in Haiti.  I support and respect Berto's decision in this case. For any human being who is not totally void of emotion, family comes before any sporting event. 

As Berto steps down and devotes his attention to Haiti as well as the process of rebuilding what has been destroyed as a result of the earthquake, this opens doors for a potential Mosley vs. Mayweather clash.  Sources are saying that Mosley vs. Mayweather could potentially take place in May 1 in Las Vegas.

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Andre Berto devastated by earthquake travesty in Haiti!

PRESS RELEASE: WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (Winter Haven, Fla.) is devastated by the catastrophic earthquake, which hit the island nation of Haiti on Tuesday. The former Haitian Olympian had the following comments about the tragedy and rescue efforts he will be developing to assist the people in the island nation:

“I’m devastated by everything currently happening in Haiti. As everybody knows, I have a lot of family members in Haiti and proudly represented Haiti in the 2004 Olympic Games. Like many other Haitian-Americans, my family and I are working to reach my loved ones. From what we have learned to this point, some of my family members are still missing and we have already been informed that members of my family have passed away in the earthquake.

"We are currently working on starting our own Haitian relief efforts, and I will be releasing additional information on how everyone can help very soon. I am asking everyone for their continued thoughts and prayers for the people in Haiti during this devastating time.”

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Hopkins vs. Jones II set for April 17 - on PAY PER VIEW. Why, Bernard????????

In what can only be summed up as a sad and rather unfortunate monetarily-influenced fiasco, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr will proceed to meet each other in the proposed rematch that has been 17 long awaited years in the making. 

Hopkins vs. Jones II is set for April 17 and will take place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV.  The event will be televised on PPV.  A little over a month ago, an old looking Jones was embarrassed and stopped in the first round of his fight against Danny Green in Australia.

Hopkins, in hometown of Philadelphia, scored a unanimous decision over Enrique Ornelas.  So why is this rematch still happening?  Boxingchronicles finds it obsurd that Hopkins would still go through with the Jones rematch.  Hopkins claims that Jones is the only man in his long career who has ever truly defeated him, so obviously he's looking to avenge that defeat - 17 years later.  What Hopkins fails to comprehend is that the version of Jones he will be facing on April 17 is far cry from the young and gifted pugilist who outclassed him in 1993.  On the contrary, Jones is a merely a shell, of the shell, of his former self.

Following 45-year-old George Foreman's 10th round knockout of Michael Moorer in 1994 to win the heavyweight championship in what was a historical achievement, how ridiculous would Foreman have been to challenge Muhammad Ali to a rematch of their 1974 Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight title classic in which Ali knocked Foreman out eight rounds???  Exactly, that's what I thought too. 

This commentator firmly believes that Hopkins vs. Jones II is absolutely unnecessary at this point.  Jones would be well advised to retire, as those around him should be greatly concerned about the man's mental health and physical safety.  Hopkins should definitely be targeting prime, elite-level competitors such as Paul Williams, Chad Dawson, or cruiserweight champion Tomaz Adamek.   Hopkins has absolutely nothing to gain (other than millions of dollars) and everything to lose by fighting Jones at this stage of his career.  Should Jones manage to defeat Hopkins on April 17, it would absolutely spell devastation for The Executioner's legacy.

Fighthype's Andre Zurbrug accurately noted that fighters have lost tune-up bouts in the past, prior to contractually binded superfights that were set to take place.  Zab Judah and Floyd Mayweather had an agreement to face each other in 2006, but Judah lost his welterweight championship by unanimous decision to unheralded journeyman Carlos Baldomir in January of 2006.  Judah went on to meet Mayweather in April of that year, losing a unanimous decision to the undefeated multi-division champion.  Prior to his rematch with Manny Pacquiao, Erik Morales was completely outboxed by spoiler Zahir Raheem enroute to a unanimous decision loss.  Morales still fought Pacquiao in his next fight and the Pacman stopped El Terrible in 10 rounds.

However, there is a distinguishable difference between those situations and the circumstances surrounding Hopkins vs. Jones II: the losers did not get knocked out in their tune-ups!  They sure as hell didn't get knocked out in one round!  Boxingchronicles.com wishes both fighters a successful promotion and a great fight, but a meaningless fight like this could ONLY EXCEED EXPECTATIONS.

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Boxingchronicles.com 2009 - Upset of the Year!

Amidst the long hiatus due to the holiday season, Boxingchronicles continues its awards for the year 2009.  The next award is Upset of the Year.  From time to time you tend to come across a young superstar in the making who seems to be on the expressway to the top of the boxing world, by way of electrifying knockouts and dazzling ring performances.

Every now and then, when you least expect it, a guy like that gets blown away in much the same way that he has blown away his previous opponents. Which result in the year 2009 was the most shocking and least expected?  One major upset comes to mind.  Marco Maidana's TKO win over a broken-willed Victor Ortiz was rather stunning, but the real winner for Upset of the Year is...

Juan Carlos Salgado TKO1 Jorge Linares
WBA super featherweight championship

Many respected fight fans and columnists viewed young Linares as someone special who was up and coming.  The kid had the makings of a star and packed quite a wallop along with hand speed.  Salgado shockingly derailed the Linares express, but there is still plenty of time for redemption for the 24 year old currently residing in Tokyo, Japan. 

Current WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan found himself in the same predicament in 2008, when he was knocked out in similar fashion by Breidis Prescott (a fighter who went on to lose a couple of fights since the big win over Khan).  Khan, however, rebounded nicely with a technical decision win over Mexican ring legend Marco Antonio Barrera last March.  He also won the title with an impressive unanimous decision win over Andriy Kotelnik in July, followed by a 76 second knockout of previously undefeated Dimitriy Salita last month. 

As you can see, others have successfully come back from such low points in their careers.  We will see what 2010 has in store for El Niño de Oro.

photo courtesy: fightwriter.com

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Jermain Taylor elects to withdraw from Super Six Tournament

Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a while since I posted anything on this website.  Happy New Year. The holiday season was wonderful, but now it's back to the business of the boxing.  Former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor has announced that he is withdrawing from Showtime's Super Six Tournament. 

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Press Release: Jermain Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) has made a decision regarding his future boxing career. Taylor, who was a participant in Showtime's Sports World Boxing Classic last fought on October 17th in a losing battle against Arthur Abraham in Berlin, Germany. "I'm going to take some time off from the sport of boxing and take myself out of Showtime Sports World Boxing Classic tournament. It's important that I give my body and mind some much needed rest, because I have been boxing for nearly 20 years," said Taylor. "I plan on keeping myself in shape and making a return to the sport sometime in the future. This was not an easy decision for me, having discuss it with my family, trainer, friends and my adviser Al Haymon, because I'm a very competitive person-but I know this is the smart road for me to take. I want to thank Showtime Sports for everything and I wish the best for my 5 counterparts who will continue on in the Super Six tournament. Most of all, I want to thank the many fans for their continued support."

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Yours truly believes that is a wise decision on Mr. Taylor's behalf. Following his devastating 12th round knockout loss at the hands of former IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham this past October, Taylor would be well advised to retire from the sport of boxing rather than simply taking a break.

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