Pacquiao vs Hatton set for May 2

Pacquiao, Hatton agree to 52-48 split in the Philippino superstar's favor. Fair split, and I will tell you why!

According to Dan Rafael at ESPN, Manny Pacquiao has signed a contract to face world jr welterweight champion Ricky Hatton for a purse split of 52-48. After frantic negotiations, both fighters compromised as to the split they were demanding. Pacquiao initially requested a 60-40 split, yet Hatton felt that he was worth more than due to his vast British fan base and the fact that he is the champion. Hatton demanded parity with Pacquiao and threatened to exercise other options if he got anything less. After an extended period of negotiation between the two parties, they came to an agreement of 52-48 and got the fight signed, which is what was best for the boxing world. I believe a split of 52-48 is as fair as the two parties can get at the negotiating table.

Whether the purse split was 60-40, 55-45, or even the 52-48 that they finally agreed upon, Pacquiao deserves the larger portion of the pot as I see it. He put his life and career on the line by moving way up in weight to dominate and possibly retire Oscar De la Hoya, boxing's fatest cash cow, when virtually nobody gave him a chance to do so. Pacquiao is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Pacquiao is likely the only reason why Floyd Mayweather, Jr would even consider coming out of retirement and stepping foot in a prize fight ring again. Mayweather does not need Hatton. Mayweather already knocked out Hatton in his last fight back in December of 2007.

Hatton would like nothing more than to get a rematch with Mayweather; he must also keep in mind that he needs Pacquiao [not so much the case the other way around], and he needs to defeat Pacquiao if he's even going to have a chance to be the man whom Mayweather considers coming out of retirement to fight. Pacquiao became the cash cow when he beat De la hoya, ane he retained his pound for pound crown while doing so. If Hatton doesn't defeat Pacquiao, there is no chance of a rematch with Mayweather ever happening.

Pacquiao can dismiss the notion of fighting Hatton entirely, and he would still provide Money May with another multi-million dollar payday and the fans with another big super fight. Without a Pacquiao fight on the horizon, Hatton would probably be reduced to fighting likes of a Nate Campbell, Juan Manuel Marquez, or Juan Diaz in a soccer stadium somewhere Great Britain. While those are all intriguing fights for The Hitman that would draw thousands of his British fans, they are all high risk and low reward pursuits.

Everyone wants to see Pacquiao vs Mayweather - that is by far the biggest event in boxing right now as well as one of the biggest over all sporting events that can be made. Pacquiao vs Mayweather serves as the ideal Superbowl of boxing. We do not necessarily want to see Mayweather vs. Hatton II at this moment, sorry Ricky! While a Pacquiao vs Hatton fight is a good fight, it is not the biggest boxing event that can be made. However, it is the biggest and best fight that is realistically capable of being made as long as Mayweather remains retired. Taking that into consideration, Hatton needs this fight more than Pacquiao does, and it appears he has come to terms with such reality by agreeing to the 48-52 split.

There you have it ladies, gentlemen, and boxing fans - Pacquiao vs Hatton for the jr welterweight championship of the world, likely taking place at the MGM Grand Garden, on May 2.

photo: GETTY IMAGES

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Great welterweight kickoff to boxing in 2009!

First few weeks of 2009 have already produced worthy Fight of the Year, Fighter of the Year, and Upset of Year candidates!

Happy New Year boxing fans! It's been a while since I last posted an update for you, but we've witnessed two significant welterweight title fights in the past couple of weeks, so I would say an update is warranted.

Lets start with the WBC welterweight title fight between undefeated champion Andre Berto and challenger and former WBA champion Luis Collazo.

Andre Berto W12 Luis Collazo
Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Biloxi, Mississippi
January 17, 2009

This was a mildly entertaining fight; a great fight to start off the new year. After Collazo's showing against Mosley back in February of 2007, I figured Berto would have his way with Collazo for the most part. I was pleased to see Collazo give such a spirited effort, as well as seeing Berto in a tough challenging fight for the first time in his career. Yes, for the first time, viewers saw Berto in a real fight - a fight in which his undefeated record was placed in serious jeopardy. Collazo staggered Berto in the first round with a straight left hand and had some success early, as he drew Berto into a fire fight and outworked him in the early going. In the middle rounds, Collazo seemed to stop throwing punches and Berto's punchout and accuracy increased, particularly in rounds six through eight.

The tide of the fight once again turned in round nine, as Collazo threw over 100 punches. Outworking and stunning Berto, Collazo once again resumed control of the seesaw battle that was ensuing. Berto showed championship heart by becoming more aggressive and outworking a fatigued Collazo in the final two rounds to seal the deal on the scorecards. Two of the judges scored the fight 114-113, while the third judge submitted a ridiculously wide score of 116-111 for Berto. Boxing Chronicles also scored the fight 114-113 for Berto, which is definitely a more accurate depiction of what happened in the bout.

For those who point to the unanimous decision in favor of Berto and label it a robbery, I would advise you to take into consideration that a fight which could've gone a point or two either way is no robbery. Collazo clearly outworked Berto in a few rounds, I would say mostly in rounds three, four, nine, and ten, with little shoe shine flurries to the body on the inside. Rounds six and and were rounds that HBO's unofficial ringside judge Harold Lederman [who scored the fight 115-112 for Collazo] gave to Collazo and Collazo did absolutely nothing in those rounds from my view point. Moving around the ring, sticking your chin out, and dropping your arms down to your waist for most of the round (the seventh) is not a point getter.

The rounds that Berto won, from what I could see, were huge. Collazo could have closed the fight stronger and sealed the deal in the last two rounds, but by the 11th round, Collazo was spent. Berto outworked him in those rounds, and certainly closed the show stronger than Collazo and even staggered him in the 12th round. I give Collazo a ton of credit for even making it that competitive and thrilling of a fight. I would not even mind seeing a rematch because I believe a lot of people are questioning the decision and this fight was mildly entertaining. This certainly was not an 8-4 fight for either combatant. To be honest with you ladies and gentlement, the fight could've gone either way by about a point and I'm not mad at the decision.

What I gathered from watching this fight, other than the fact that this year already has a worthy candidate for Fight of the Year honors, is that Mosley certainly outclassed Collazo moreso than either Berto and Hatton. Unfortunately Berto still has that leaky defense. He's suseptible to body shots as well as straight left hands from southpaws, or even straight right hands from conventional fighters for that matter. Berto's handlers should certainly consider moving him along very carefully. From what I have heard from some pretty reliable sources, an immediate rematch with Collazo is in order for Berto.

One of the ringside announcers during the telecast, I believe it was Max Kellerman, said that Berto is a lot like a young Meldrick Taylor. That was a very accurate comparison. Berto possesses really good handspeed, utilizes exceptional ring generalship, and could probably use those facets of his game to beat his opponents without having to take too many risks. But much like Taylor, the guy can be drawn into a fire fight and he will take unnecessary punishment on the inside when he does not have to. When Berto steps up to the elite level, against the likes of a Mosley, Cotto, or Williams, we may indeed see Berto on the losing end of some exciting fights resulting in brutal knockouts.
television: HBO Boxing After Dark

That brings us to WBA welterweight championship fight, one week later, at Staples Center. This fight, in many of the viewer's and expert's eyes, was for the universally recognized welterweight championship of the world. Furthermore, it was the first major upset of the year, as 4-1 underdog and former three division world champion Sugar Shane Mosley dominated and stopped defending champion Antonio Margarito.

Shane Mosley TKO9 Antonio Margarito
Staples Center; Los Angeles, CA
January 24, 2009

At 37 years of age, Shane Mosley proved that he could turn the clock back one more time in a significant fight on the big stage, as he outworked and outclassed a slow and lethargic Antonio Margarito en route to a 9th round TKO.

From the outset, Mosley attacked Margarito at close range and fired hard punches to Margarito's body. Not only did Mosley land telling shots to the body, but his jab was also on point when fighting from a distance. I felt the body punching was a vital key to victory for Mosley going into this fight. An old adage in boxing implies that a fighter who kills the body will also kill the head. Kill the body and the head will die. Cotto, who had as much success landing punches to Margarito's head and upper body, was not punching downstairs at all.

By the seventh round, the accumulative punishment that Mosley had delivered was beginning to tell on Margarito. Margarito's punch output was deceasing and Mosley was landing his overhand right with stunning regularity. In the eighth round, Margarito attempted to take Mosley out with a wild hay maker, missed horribly, and Mosley launched him across the ring with a brutal right hand that spelt the beginning of the end for the defending champion. Mosley proceeded to bully the wounded Mexican warrior on the ropes with fast flurries and scored a knockdown at the end of the round. Margarito barely made it to his feet, but was clearly dazed and looked worse than Cotto looked in the eleventh round of their fight last July.

Mosley continued to punish Margarito with flurries in the ninth round, when the referee mercifully jumped in and brought a halt to the bout. With the win, Mosley became the WBA welterweight champion of the world with an outstanding performance. The win over Margarito is probably the most monumental win for Mosley since he defeated Oscar De la hoya back in June of 2000 - also at the Staples Center.

I still do not understand how Margarito was being designated so quickly as the best welterweight in the world, head and shoulders above everyone else, when Williams was in fact still at the top of the division himself and still had the belt that he took from Margarito. Margarito never avenged his loss to Williams. I'm not saying that Margarito was trying to avoid Williams (not saying he wasn't either). I do think Arum was doing everything he could to keep Williams far away from him. Had Williams continued to campaign at 147lbs following his loss-avenging destruction of Quintana, instead of drifting around from 147lbs to 160lbs, he would have had as much of a claim to being the best fighter at welterweight as Margarito did. Margarito's dramatic come from behind stoppage of Cotto last summer was great; clearly the biggest win of his career in a fight that was an instant classic.

Other than that, Margarito won close decision over Joshua Clottey in December of 2006, knocked out Kermit Cintron twice, and practically decapitated Andre Sixheads Lewis in a two round blow out back in February of 2003. Those who disagree with my assessment would be quick to point out that Williams lost a close decision of his own to Carlos Quintana, but Williams also came back and destroyed Quintana in less than a round months later. That's more than Margarito did with Williams after he lost a close decision to him in July of 2007 .Upon Williams absence from the welterweight division, the title of world champion at 147lbs was determined last Saturday night when its top two contenders remaining - Antonio Margarito and Sugar Shane Mosley - fought for it. Mosley is now the Welterweight Champion of the World.

Following the contest, there was some controversy regarding the wrapping of Margarito's hands in the dressing room. Supposedly his gloves were loaded with hard plastic shells, What's difficult to determine is whether or not Margarito has assumed this pre-fight tactic in other fights throughout his career. Such dirty tactics are reminiscent of reminiscent of Panama Lewis's removal of the padding from his fighter Luis Resto's gloves prior to a 1983 bout against Billy Collins, Jr . If in fact Margarito has been fighting with loaded gloves throughout his career, it will cast a dark shadow on what has been perceived as a noteworthy career in boxing.
television: HBO World Championship Boxing

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W.Klitschko vs Rahman today in Germany, but boxing fans still thinking Pacquiao!

The buzz and excitment over Manny Pacquiao's triumph last weekend still remain more than luminous one week later. In case you missed the live telecast last Saturday night, HBO subscribers will be able to view the replay today immediately following the live heavyweight title fight between champion Wladimir Klitschko and former two time heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman.

Wladimir Klitschko was originally set to defend his title against undefeated 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Alexander Povetkin, but Povetkin had to pull out of the fight due to a foot injury. Enter Rahman, a former champion who is still best known for knocking out Lennox Lewis in South Africa on April 21, 2001. Lewis, however, would regain his title by knocking Rahman out in four one sided rounds several months later.

In his last fight on July 12 of this year, Klitschko was seen stopping Tony Thompson in the 11th round of a fight that was tougher than expected in the early going for Dr. Steelhammer. After the first five rounds, I actually had Thompson winning three of them, as a result of his awkward style and southpaw stance giving Klitschko all he could handle. Thompson landed some scoring blows, mostly to Klitschko's body, but it was Klitschko who began to pump his jab and target Thompson with the right hand as the fight went into the middle and late rounds.

A few years ago, Rahman was set to challenge WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, brother of Wladimir, on three different occasions, but Vitali withdrew each and every time due to injury.

Rahman was last seen in the ring against James Toney on July 16, days after Klitschko's successful conquest of Thompson, in what was a rematch of their heavyweight title fight from March of 2006. One could not really gain any solid insight on how that fight was going to turn out, due to a clash of heads that opened up a cut over Rahman's left eye and brought an end to the fight after inconclusive three rounds.

The initial result was a TKO win for Toney, after the doctor had stopped the fight due to the cut hindering Rahman's vision. The commission overturned the result of the fight and changed it to a no contest.

In a rather extensive career mixed with a few decent wins, one historic win, and a few bad knockout losses, this may in fact be Rahman's last chance to reach the top of the pinnacle where he happily resided for several months in 2001. Klitschko, who doesn't necessarily have the sturdiest beard in the heavyweight division or even boxing for that matter, is one of the better tacticians of the sport.

When Klitschko gets into a rhythm and utilizes his height and reach, there's very little his opponents can do to get out of the way of his jab. Most of them just have no answer for the Klitschko jab, and once Klitschko finds his range with the jab, opponents can expect to feel the wrath of the straight right hand shortly there after.

Rahman has the proverbial puncher's chance against Klitschko, but I expect Klitschko to establish dominance with his left jab and catch Rahman with enough right hands to stop him within seven or eight rounds.

To be precise, give me Klitschko by way of an eighth round TKO.

Klitschko vs Rahman can be seen live on HBO World Championship Boxing today at 4:45 PM ET/ 1:45 PM PT. The fight will be replayed at 10PM ET / 7PM PT.

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Pacquiao's unexpected destruction of De la hoya - what it means to the sport and where the sport goes from here!

Boxing analysts and experts were right - this was a MISMATCH!

Manny Pacquiao TKO8 Oscar De la hoya ... When I went to Miami Mike's Sport Zone on a snowy Saturday night last week to watch the Pacquiao vs De la hoya PPV fight, which is where I go to watch all of the PPV boxing matches, what I witnessed was a virtuoso performance.

Manny Pacquiao was devastating as he beat Oscar De la hoya from pillar to post, with lightening fast counter punches and beautifully executed ring generalship. Getting inside to fire quick combinations and getting out of harms way, Pacquiao did not give De la hoya a chance to land his bigger but slower punches from long range. By the third round, De la hoya's left eye was already beginning to swell up - product of the Phillipino's punching accuracy. After eight one sided rounds, De la hoya's left eye was practically swollen shut. His trainer for this fight, Nacho Bernstain, had seen his fighter take more than enough punishment and decided to mercifully call a halt to the bout in between rounds. De la hoya, a beaten man, did not disagree or object to the decision of his trainer.

Skills pay the bills and speed kills. This match up was not going to be determined by who was the bigger man. Going into the fight, fans and experts may have had much more to be concerned about with De la hoya dropping nine pounds at the advanced age of 35 rather than Pacquiao going up a few pounds or so. Yes indeed, Pacquiao went up a few pounds. Big deal it turned out to be. Pacquiao, when he made his lightweight debut against David Diaz this past June, he weighed 142lbs on the night of the fight.

Now that the fight is all said and done, I think we can all come to the conclusion that coming down in weight was not necessarily going to benefit De la hoya. Weight decrease certainly was not a benefit to five division world champion Sugar Ray Leonard when he came all the way down to 154lbs, after fighting in super middleweight and light heavyweight title matches, to square off with Terry Norris in 1990. Roy Jones, Jr looked anything but spectacular, after thoroughly outclassing John Ruiz in a fight at the heavyweight limit, when he came back down to 175lbs to fight Antonio Tarver in 2003. When former two-time heavyweight titlist Chris Byrd came down from heavyweight to 175lbs to fight Shaun George earlier this year, he looked unsteady, wasn't throwing punches, and was inevitably embarrassed by George who stopped the former heavyweight titlist in nine one-sided rounds. History once again repeated itself for De la hoya against Pacquiao.

Pacquiao has also been improving skill wise ever since the loss to Morales in 2005. How the odds makers could have had De la hoya as such a substantial favorite is beyond me. Judging from this viewer's perspective, Pacquiao is the best Pound for Pound fighter in the world today. It's no mystery to me whatsoever that Juan Manuel Marquez fought two hotly contested and debatable twelve round fights with Pacquiao. Marquez is obviously is closer to his natural size, is a full time fighter, and he in his own right, is also currently one of the best Pound for pound fighters in the world.

So what's next for the Philippino sensation?

If Pacquiao wasn't such a mild mannered gentlemen and instead decided to challenge Floyd Mayweather by verbally abusing the former pound for pound king, much like Ricky Hatton did after the Castillo fight, we might see Mayweather come out of retirement to fight Pacquiao in a real Dream Match. Logic says Pacquiao will meet Hatton at 140lbs next year - I fully expect him to do something very similar to Hatton as he did to De la hoya.

Keep in mind that Pacquiao is a fighter who used to compete at 112lbs! He's now looking to challenge the best of the 140lb and 147lb weight division. Two scenarios could unfold in Mayweather's mind now. He's either way too prideful to see this so-called little man from the Philippines show him up with his achievements, that he wants to come back and meet Pacquiao in a big mega showdown to settle the score and satisfy his own pride and dignity. Either that, or he's satisfied with the millions of dollars he's earned and hanging out with his family and rap friends, is afraid to lose that 0 on his record, and does not want to risk getting hit more in one fight than he has the 39 others. Mayweather might just find it easier to say to himself "I don't have to mess with a guy who just devastated the man that I sweat out a split decision against last year."

Coming out of retirement could be risky business for Mayweather, but it's also lucrative business. We'll see what happens. I may or may not be subjecting myself to criticism from many of you about this, but as of right now, I would pick Pacquiao to defeat Mayweather. I call them like I see them, but I doubt we'll ever see that fight. Arum is most definitely going to try to make the Hatton fight, as I firmly believe that fight is doable. I think both Hatton and Pacquiao want that fight. It represents a big event in it's own right and it's also a big payday for both champions. Pacquiao will probably meet Hatton. Should Pacquiao emerge victorious against Hatton, it's inevitable that Arum matches Pacquiao with whoever comes out the winner of Margarito vs Mosley vs Cotto.

As for De la hoya, he's been an ambassador to the sport of boxing, carrying the sport on his shoulders for over fifteen years. Credit to De la hoya for doing so, but now is the time for him to retire and focus on the power house that Golden Boy promotions has already become.

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The Bobfather wants to no part of Paul Williams!

Williams vs Margarito II improbable as long as Margarito is fighting under the Top Rank banner!

Who can blame Bob "the Bobfather" Arum and WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito for going after Sugar Shane Mosley, who is 10 years older than Paul Williams and hasn't already beaten Margarito? Speculating the reasons why a Williams vs Margarito rematch is irrelevant and unnecessary, I've heard all the excuses in the world. Williams isn't exciting. Williams isn't a big name. Williams won't make a Margarito fight the 'event' that guys like Mosley or Miguel Cotto would make it.

Margarito is also making two million dollar for a title defense against Mosley on January 24, where he would've made four million for a rematch with Williams. In this case, less money and an older fighter who might make the fight a bigger event was the preferred alternative for Margarito rather than trying to avenge his July 2007 loss to Williams (for twice as much money!). Sugar Ray Leonard did it against Roberto Duran. Lennox Lewis did it against Hasim Rahman. More recently, Williams did it against Quintana, in spectacular first knockout type of fashion. Mosley, another warrior, tried to make it happen with Forrest and Wright after losing to both of them - but was unsuccessful in his attempts.

This is no disrespect to Margarito, he's still a very good fighter and his war with Cotto this past summer is definitely in the running for Fight of Year honors. However, it is crystal clear that Margarito and Arum have absolutely no intentions of establishing that type of loss-avenging legacy for Margarito. Other than taking half the purse he would've taken for a Williams fight (which doesn't make sense), the rest of it all pretty much makes sense to me. There's always somebody out there who has your ticket. Always somebody out there who has your number.

When I look at Williams, I see a freak of a physical specimen. The man is a 6'0" 154lber who throws a high volume of punches from all angles. He doesn't slap as much now a days. As of late, he's sitting down on his shots more than he used to, hence adding more power to his punches. Even with the additional power, the man still throws a lot of punches. He beat Margarito fair and square the first time. In the later rounds of that fight, particularly round 11, Margarito managed to connect quite a bit on Williams and Williams did not budge.

Margarito either has to hurt you or wear you down. He's been effective when taking that approach against smaller opponents. He's never done that with a bigger opponent. Williams is a natural 154lber who could easily fight at 160lbs. He's bigger than Margarito. He'll beat Margarito again if the Bobfather ever has a change of heart and allows his fighter to tip toe into the ring with The Punisher. But we all know Margarito isn't going to fight Williams ever again.

At the Williams vs Phillips post-fight press conference, it was clearly noted that Arum doesn't ever want to be contacted about doing business with 'Mr Williams' again! It's not like Arum is merely trying to keep a Margarito vs Cotto rematch alive. It's Margarito, or at least Arum, steering clear of having face Williams again. If Arum was just being an experienced businessman trying to set a path for Margarito/Cotto II, he'd tell Paul William's promoter Dan Goossen...

"Here's the deal. The rematch with Cotto is going to happen. Margarito is going to fight Shane Mosley in January. Then a rematch with Cotto afterwards if Margarito is victorious against Mosley, as he should be. No disrespect to you or Paul, but Margarito vs Cotto is a Fight of the Year candidate. A rematch is in order - that's what the fans really want to see first. We'll be in touch as everything unfolds, with a possibility of your guy getting the winner next, provided both fighters stay unbeaten, at the end of the year in 2009 either at 147lbs or 154lbs."

But no, he has cut off all possibilities and avenues to negotiation because he knows his fighter can't beat Williams. Margarito might not know it, but Arum certainly has to know as much. He does not want to give Williams the opportunity to show Margarito that Margarito can not beat him. They clearly want to duck Williams. Arum appears to have a special radar - he knows when other fighters can beat his fighters. That's why he's kept Winky Wright away from all his stars over the years - and it's been an ongoing trend! Wright was never able to land a fight with Oscar De la hoya when he was with Arum. Arum has also keeping Winky away from world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.

Knowing what I know, I have to admit that Margarito is not on the level of Sugar Ray Leonard, Lennox Lewis, or any of those champions for that matter who even attempted to avenge their losses. But by the same token, Margarito is not stupid, either. He doesn't want to lose that momentum or that image that he's re-established for himself and neither does Arum. Margarito will never get into a ring with Williams, as long as he's with Arum.

It's a shame, but that's just the way it is. That's the truth.

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Williams, Arreola win in Ontario over the weekend!

Paul Williams TKO 8 Verno Phillips ... This past Saturday night at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, Paul "The Punisher" Williams claimed the Interim WBO Super Welterweight Championship with a dominating 8th TKO of former three division titlist Verno Phillips. Williams was in command from the opening bell, despite a laceration over his right eye caused by an accidental headbutt. After eight rounds, Williams had savagely attacked Phillips with body shots and all but the beat the fight out of him. That's Phillips' corner had seen enough and signaled the referee to call a halt to the bout in between rounds.

Chris Arreola TKO3 Travis Walker... On the televised undercard, Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola remained unbeaten, after a slow start and rising from a 2nd round knockdown, to drop Travis Walker three times en route to a third round TKO. Arreola stated to Max Kellerman in the post interview that he's ready for the Klitschko brothers. I'm not sure whether or not I agree with that, but it'll be interesting to watch Arreola's young career unfold nonetheless.

television: HBO Boxing After Dark

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Phillips, Williams meet tonight in jr middleweight title fight!

Tonight from the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, Verno Phillips and Paul Williams will meet in a twelve round jr middleweight contest. Phillips has lost to the likes of Kasim Ouma and Ike Quartey, but he currently holds a world title and is 3X world champion. Phillips was last seen in the ring dethroning Cory Spinks for the IBF jr middleweight championship. Williams biggest win to this date is still his unanimous decision conquest of Antonio Margarito for the WBO welterweight championship July of last year. Williams would lose his title by a close unanimous decision in his first defense to Carlos Quintana, but rebounded well in a return match against Quintana by regaining his title with a devastating first round knockout. In his last fight in September, Williams moved up to middleweight and stopped an overmatched Andy Kolle in two rounds. On the undercard, heavyweights Cristabol Arreola and Travis Walker meet in a 12 round IBF elminator.

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Mosley stops Mayorga in 12th round!

Last Saturday night, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, Former three division champion Sugar Shane Mosley stopped a game but outgunned Ricardo Mayorga in the final second of the fight. Mayorga got off to a strong start in the first few rounds, as Mosley appeared gun shy and cautious.

As the rounds progressed, it appeared as though Mosley was letting Mayorga burn himself out; he fired punches from his usually awkward angles. The middle rounds were back and forth, but by the 9th round, it looked like Mosley had Mayorga figured out and was really beginning to beat down the Nicaraguan slugger. In the twelfth and final stanza, Mosley dropped Mayorga twice with the referee calling a hault to the fight after the second knockdown. The stoppage official came at 2:59 of round twelve.

At the time of the stoppage, judges Tony Crebs and Nelson Vasquez each had Mosley ahead 107-102 and 105-104 respectively, while Pat Russell had Mayorga ahead 105-104 on the third scorecard. Boxing Chronicles agreed with the scorecard of Nelson Vasquez, with Sugar ahead 105-104.

Round by Round Scorecard

Round 1: 10-9 Mayorga
Round 2: 10-9 Mayorga Total: 20-18 Mayorga
Round 3: 10-9 Mayorga Total: 30-27 Mayorga
Round 4: 10-9 Mosley Total: 39-37 Mayorga
Round 5: 10-9 Mosley Total: 48-47 Mayorga
Round 6: 10-9 Mosley Total: 57-57
Round 7: 10-9 Mosley Total: 67-66 Mosley
Round 8: 10-9 Mayorga Total: 76-76
Round 9: 10-9 Mayorga Total: 86-85 Mayorga
Round 10: 10-9 Mosley Total: 95-95
Round 11: 10-9 Mosley Total: 105-104 Mosley

Mosley TKO Mayorga 2:59 of Round 12.

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Shane Mosley: I feel like this is the beginning of my new career!

Thanks to Ben "TheHype" Thompson at top boxing website Fighthype, I was able to have a nice chat with Former three division champion Sugar Shane Mosley in the Fighthype chatroom session that took place yesterday. Mosley shared his thoughts on training camp for his September 27 date with Ricardo Mayorga, as well as where he feels he stands in the welterweight landscape!

Bryan B-Money Bradley: Sugar Shane welcome to the Fighthype chat! I've been a fan of yours for many years. Against Cotto this past November, I thought you deserved a draw at the very worst. How has training been going for the Mayorga fight and are you ready to deal with any foul play he might have to offer?

Shane Mosley: Workouts are going great. I'm in tremendous shape. I feel like I'm two to three times better than I was against Cotto. It's funny to say, but I feel like this is the beginning of my new career.

Bryan B-Money Bradley: Shane, there's no question the welterweight division is the hottest division in boxing. You're clearly one of it's top contenders. We see fans and media already labeling Margarito as the king of the welterweights (prematurely, I feel); they forget that Paul Williams beat him 13 months ago and that loss has gone unavenged by Margarito. Do you feel he needs to beat Williams to earn that distinction?

Shane Mosley: I feel he needs to beat me to earn that. Styles makes fights and Paul has the style for Margarito.

Bryan B-Money Bradley: Shane, do feel Mayorga makes it the distance?

Shane Mosley: No!

Bryan B-Money Bradley: woooo hoooooo!

Bryan B-Money Bradley: Shane, you are a fighter who keeps his boxing life professional and clean. You stay in the gym, work out, stay in shape, and have pretty hardcore training camps from what I hear and read. What do you make of Mayorga's out of the ring habits such as the smoking and drinking? That's crazy!

Shane Mosley: I think alot of it is an act. I think he smoke a little bit because he puffs a cigarette too well not to smoke. I'm not innocent I take a sip on my off time, but my cleanness will be the difference.

-----

The opportunity to chat with Sugar Shane was truly a pleasure of mine. I was about to ask him for clarification as to whether or not the rumors regarding a third fight with Oscar De la hoya were indeed true, but he was leaving the chatroom at that point. Shane is class act, as well as the type of fighter who is easy to root for. In terms of where he stands in the welterweight division, I think he is still one of the elite contenders in that weight class. However, Margarito just stopped Cotto and Mosley dropped a very close and questionable decision to Cotto this past November and hasn't fought since that time. In this boxing observer's opinion, the guy whom Margarito needs to fight to validate his claim as the universally recognized welterweight champion of the world is Paul Williams, the man who beat him 13 months ago.

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Margarito vs Cotto round by round!

I just watched the replay of the Margarito vs Cotto last weekend. That was a great fight, an instant classic, between will and skill. There was also a lot of cheerleading going on at ringside by Jim Lampley.

Listening to the commentary, one would've thought that Cotto won seven of the first eight rounds. This clearly wasn't the case, as Margarito beat Cotto up on the inside with hard flurries and battered him along the ropes. This fight reminded me of Chavez vs Taylor, where Taylor was winning rounds early by outboxing Chavez but it was Chavez who was gradually brutalizing Taylor. Cotto was outboxing Margarito early, but Margarito kept chasing and stalking Cotto, reigning down flurries and eventually punishing and stopping Cotto.

Here is my scorecard, round by round, leading up to the time of the stoppage:

Round 1: 10-9 Cotto
Round 2: 10-9 Margarito Total: 19-19
Round 3: 10-9 Cotto Total: 29-28 Cotto
Round 4: 10-9 Cotto Total: 39-37 Cotto
Round 5: 10-9 Cotto Total: 49-46 Cotto
Round 6: 10-9 Margarito Total: 58-56 Cotto
Round 7: 10-9 Margarito Total: 67-66 Cotto
Round 8: 10-9 Margarito Total: 76-76
Round 9: 10-9 Margarito Total: 86-85 Margarito
Round 10: 10-9 Margarito Total: 96-94 Margarito

Margarito wins by TKO in the 11th round when Cotto's uncle, Evangelisto, throws in the towel after the 2nd knockdown.

When it comes down to the aftermath of this sensational super fight, Antonio Margarito is once again a beltholder, and his stock goes up considerably after beating Cotto in that fashion. Lately, fans and media have been quick to label Margarito as the universally recognized welterweight champion of the world. That's premature, as he is not yet the welterweight champion of the world. Especially since Williams holds a victory over him, is still a titlist himself, and Margarito does not yet have a victory over him.

By that token, I rank Williams as the #1 welterweight and Margarito the #2 welterweight in the world right now. But for the sake of having one universally recognized champion, Williams and Margarito must rematch.

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Judah vs Clottey & Margarito vs Cotto replay!

Tonight Boxing Chronicles will be covering the live IBF welterweight title fight between Joshua Clottey and Zab Judah on HBO Boxing After Dark at 9:30 PM ET/ 6:30 PM PT. I'll also be reviewing, analyzing, and commenting on Margarito's 11th round TKO of Miguel Cotto in the classic WBA welterweight title fight that took place one week ago tonight.
Stay tuned for live updates.

JUDAH vs CLOTTEY

Round 1

Judah busier, firing away with his jab. Most of his shots are blocked, but he's more active than Clottey.

10-9 Judah

Round 2

Judah doubling and trippling up on his jab. Clottey has not done enough in the first two rounds. He should be stepping in and throwing more punches of his own, trying to trap Zab on the ropes.

10-9 Judah Total: 20-18 Judah

Round 3

Much better round for Clottey. He landed some left hooks to the body and straight shots to the head. Judah pulling back and getting hit.

10-9 Clottey Total: 29-28 Judah

Round 4

10-9 Clottey Total: 38-38

Round 5

10-9 Clottey Total: 48-47 Clottey


Round 6

10-9 Judah Total: 57-57

Round 7

Judah showing a lot of heart in this fight. He's getting hit clean by Clottey. Clottey staggered him in the corner at one point; Zab was hurt. To his credit, Zab is fighting back and showing a lot of heart. Big right hands from Clottey.

10-9 Clottey Total: 67-66 Clottey

Round 8

Clottey certainly isn't flashy or fast, but he's strong and when he throws punches, he manages to land cleanly. Zab tried to steal the round at the end with a fast flurry as he had Clottey in the corner, but hardly any of it landed.

10-9 Clottey Total: 77-75 Clottey

Accidental clash of heads in round 9. Judah bleeding badly from the cut above Judah's right eye.

Scoring the partial nineth round, I gave Clottey round nine. My scorecard reads 87-84 (6-3) for Clottey. The doctor examines the cut and Judah says that he can't see. Replay, it looks like the cut was caused by a PUNCH. Nonetheless, they go to the scorecards.

Judges scored it 86-85, 86-84, and 86-85 for the winner by unanimous decision... and the new IBF Welterweight Champion of the World....

Joshua Clottey!

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Judah vs Clottey this weekend; Brooklyn faces off against the Bronx!

This weekend at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas, NV, Former Undisputed Welterweight Champion Zab Judah of Brooklyn NY will face Bronx native Joshua Clottey for the vacant IBF Welterweight Championship.

This weekend's title fight marks Clottey's 2nd attempt to challenge for a world title, with the first opportunity coming against Antonio Margarito for the WBO welterweight title in December of 2006. Clottey got off to a tremendous start, clearly winning the first rounds, but hurt his hands in the middle rounds, allowing the defending champion to rally down the stretch and retain his title with a close decision win.

Following the disappointing loss to Margarito, Clottey faced off against the late and great Diego Corrales. Clottey won a convincing unanimous decision over Corrales, who passed away in a tragedy almost a month later. Clottey has also amassed victories over Richard Gutierrez, Felix Flores, and Shamone Alvarez, in what was an IBF welterweight title eliminator that earned him this title shot. In his last fight in April, Clottey looked impressive dismantling Jose Luis Cruz and stopping him in five rounds.

Judah, who won the undisputed title with a knockout over Cory Spinks in February of 2005, has been in three welterweight title fights in over two years and lost three of them. In January of 2006, Judah lost his welterweight title to 15-1 underdog Carlos Baldomir by unanimous decision, in what was Ring Magazine's "Upset of the Year." A few months later, Judah would lose another decision to the guy who was regarded as the best pound for pound fighter in the world at the time --Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

The year 2006 was clearly one to forget for the Brooklyn native, who was suspended for a year after a scuffle that transpired in the ring in the 10th round of the Mayweather fight. After a year of inactivity, and a one-round no contest with perennial contender Rubin Galvan, Judah would get another title shot against defending WBA champion Miguel Cotto. Cotto punished Judah and stopped him in eleven rounds. Since the loss to Cotto, Judah has returned with a couple of wins over the likes of Edwin Vasquez and Ryan Davis.

That's brings us to this weekend's showdown between two of the top welterweight contenders in the world. Being that this is Brooklyn vs Bronx, why is this fight taking place in Las Vegas rather than Madison Square Garden in New York???? In any case...

Prediction: Clottey by unanimous decision

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Lujan defeats Castillo on ESPN Wednesday Night Fights!

Last Wednesday at Sycuan Resort in El Cajon, California on ESPN2, Jose Luis Castillo was outworked and beaten up by former welterweight title challenger Sebastian Lujan, who picked up a unanimous decision win over the former two time lightweight champion. Castillo is clearly a shell of the fighter who fought Diego Corrales in one of the greatest lightweight scraps of all time, as he failed to let his hands go and got hit frequently in the process. Official scores were 98-92 and 99-91 twice for Lujan. In this observer's eyes, it looked like a shutout for Lujan, who threw over 1200 punches throughout the ten round welterweight contest. Hopefully that was the end of a fine career for Castillo.

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Jose Luis Castillo returns to action tonight!

Tonight on ESPN Wednesday Fights, Former two time lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo will face Sebastion Lujan in a welterweight fight scheduled for 10 rounds. A few years ago, Lujan challenged defending champion Antonio Margarito -- you may recall Margarito tearing a piece of Lujan's ear off. Last time I saw Castillo, he was challenging 140lb World Champion Ricky Hatton and he was stopped in four rounds. Castillo should have probably retired by now, as he looked flat and listless in the Hatton fight. However, Castillo is fighting in a new weight class so maybe that will help him. Perhaps the choice of the opponent for tonight's fight will help Castillo, as well. The fight will take place at Sycuan Resort in El Cajon, California.

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Lacy unretires: Lacy vs Taylor set for November 15!

According to Fightnews, Jeff Lacy's attorney and advisor Jim Wilkes has confirmed that Lacy vs Taylor is a done deal for November 15.

Jim Wilkes, Jeff Lacy's attorney and adviser, has confirmed to St. Peterburg Times boxing writer John Cotey that Lacy will return to the ring against Jermain Taylor on November 15. "I'm telling you, as Jeff's attorney, a deal has been reached," Wilkes said. "It took a lot of work, a lot of effort, a lot of discussion, but we got it done."

That was one of the shortest lived retirements I've ever seen in boxing. Smart move on the part of the Lacy camp. Lacy needs a Taylor fight at this stage of his career, which appears to be slowly dying. A win over Taylor would surely revive the Floridian's career. The fight will probably be televised on HBO.

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Jeff Lacy retiring: Views $550,000 offer for Taylor fight as an insult!

This past week, news has been circulating that Former IBF super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy is going to be retiring. Last Wednesday on ESPN Wednesday Night Fights, Lacy won a lackluster, razor thin majority decision over Epifanito Mendoza. Lacy was hurt a couple of times in the fight, but gutted it out in the tenth round of a very close fight and won the tenth round to win a very close fight. Upon reading Fightnews this morning, I was made aware of Lacy's reasons for the abrupt retirement. The following was taken from Fightnews:

Former IBF super middleweight Jeff Lacy has revealed that he's retiring from boxing because he is insulted by a $550,000 offer to fight Jermain Taylor. "What do I look like fighting a fight of that caliber for $550,000 when I have more to risk than anything?" Lacy commented to the Tampa Tribune. "I feel like Taylor needs me more than I need him and what do I look like fighting that fight for $550,000 and risking my life in there like I did Wednesday night because the referee is not on top of this guy hitting me in the back of the head?"

Jermain Taylor needs Jeff Lacy more than Jeff Lacy needs Jermain Taylor??? I really don't think so, Mr. "Left Hook".

The general public would appear to know who Taylor is more so than Lacy.

Taylor is the one who has headlined PPV cards.

Taylor has actually been in a few exciting fights.

Taylor is the one who has two wins over the legendary Bernard Hopkins, even if you choose to call them controversial.

Even though Taylor got knocked out the first time and lost a narrow decision in the rematch, he's been in there with Kelly Pavlik (one of boxing's P4P elite) two times and both fights were crowd pleasing affairs.

Taylor is the one who has been in there with Wright (another crowd pleasing fight) and fought to a draw with Wright (whom Pavlik still hasn't fought).

Lacy's greatest quality of opposition happens to be Calzaghe, who schooled the young and inexperienced pugilist -- and to be bluntly honest -- beat his ass from pillar to post in an easy shutout decision win over two years ago. Since the one-sided loss to Calzaghe, Lacy's had three fights, against mediocre opposition, and he's barely beaten all three and looked bad doing so.

Following the sequence of events that have transpired in Lacy's career from March of 2006 to present, Lacy would be well-advised take a $550,000 to face Taylor and attempt to pull off the upset and revive his dying career. Even if he doesn't, he can still retire $550,000 richer following the defeat.

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Margarito stops Cotto in 11 rounds!

In what can be considered a mild upset, Antonio Margarito won the WBA Welterweight Championship with an 11th round TKO of defending champion Miguel Cotto. This marked the first loss in the career of the young Puerto Rican superstar. Two facts I must admit to the readers of Boxing Chronicles. My prediction for this fight was totally off. I just had my Margarito crow and eggs for breakfast this morning and I wasn't even aloud to marinate it in butter! =( Secondly, I did not see the fight live, nor have I seen a recording of it. I have not seen the fight at all. From what I have been hearing and reading, the fight was a classic -- a clear-cut candidate for Fight of the Year -- just as it was promoted to be. Next weekend, on the Clottey vs Judah telecast, I will be watching the fight for the first time. I was down at the shore partying this weekend with some of the old college buddies, so I will be able to give you my own exclusive full-blown detailed analysis of what happened in the fight this weekend. Major props to Antonio Margarito for his victory over Cotto.

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Preview and prediction: Cotto vs Margarito

In what can be defined as latest summit in the welterweight division following the retirement of former welterweight champion and pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather, Jr, WBA champion Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito will meet this Saturday night in a hot summer blockbuster event that has hotly anticipated.

The Battle, which is being televised on HBO PPV, will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NJ. At the weight limit of 140lbs, Cotto appeared to be a top contender who's pension for providing fireworks and setting up explosive knockout victories was a sight to behold. By the same token, less than stellar boxers the ilk of Ricardo Torres and a shopworn DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley both seemed to fall just short of stopping the vulnerable Puerto Rican sensation.

Struggling to make the weight in the jr welterweight division was visably hurting Cotto and hindering his performances in the ring. His final outting at that weight class was a entertaining twelve round unanimous decision over Paulie Malignaggi at Madison Garden in June of 2006. Malignaggi, a current titlist at 140lbs and not known for his punching power, gave Cotto all he could handle, but Cotto mustered up the determination to hand Malignaggi his first defeat as a professional. Following a tougher than expected tussle with Malignaggi, Cotto's move to welterweight wasn't only warranted -- it was long overdue.

Cotto's ascension to the top of the welterweight division has been meaningful, admirable, and inspiring. Making his debut in the division back in December of 2006, he faced the dangerous and equally undefeated Carlos Quintana for the vacant WBA Welterweight Championship. Quintana, a slick boxer who had just upset Joel Julio a few months prior, was actually favored by some to foil the Cotto express into the welterweight picture. Cotto had other plans in mind, beating Quintana and forcing him to surrender inside six rounds. This is the same Quintana who was able wrestle the WBO title from Paul "The Punisher" back in February of this year. That goes to show just how much of force Cotto has become at welterweight as well as in the boxing world as a whole.

Cotto followed up with a spectacular knockout victory of Former Undisputed Welterweight Champion Zab Judah, stopping the Brooklyn native in 11 punishing rounds at Madison Square Garden in June of 2007. At the same venue five months later, Cotto met former three division champion Sugar Shane Mosley in a matchup that was deemed virtually even going into the fight. The contest itself was a crowd pleaser and almost as close as spectators predicted it would be, with the official judges awarding Cotto a close unanimous decision victory.

Cotto and Margarito came pearlessly close to meeting each other last year, but those plans were derailed when Margarito lost his WBO title to Williams by unanimous decision in July of 2007. It was a setback that Margarito was quick to bounce back from, scoring a first round knockout of Golden Johnson on the undercard of Cotto vs Mosley at Madison Square Garden this past November.

In his last fight at Boardwalk in Atlantic City, Margarito rematched Kermit Cintron for Cintron's IBF welterweight title in a rematch of their fight from April of 2005, in which Margarito devastated and stopped an overwhelmed Cintron. Surely, Cintron would be more experienced and seasoned with three more years of experience and the guidance of Hall of Fame trainer Manny Steward. Nonetheless, Margarito proved that he had Cintron's number, beating up the Puerto Rican power puncher once again and stopping him in six rounds of yet another one sided fight to claim the IBF title. On the same night, Cotto made yet another successful defense of his title with a 5th round technical knockout of Alfonso Gomez.

Just four days shy of July 26, 2008, Cotto and Margarito are back on the collision course that was all but set to transpire last year. The question becomes, who is going to emerge victorious?

Looking at the quality of opposition for both combatants, it is crystal clear that Cotto's opposition is way better than that of Margarito's. Margarito's best opponents to date are Clottey and Cintron. Cotto, on the other hand, has only been fighting at welterweight for approximately a year and half, and he's managed to defeat Quintana, Judah, and Mosley in that time frame. Even at junior welterweight, Cotto has beaten the likes of Torres and Malignaggi -- Malignaggi being a current titlist and Torres being a former champion who just lost his title to Kendall Holt.

Margarito is probably the strongest welterweight Cotto has faced to date, but it remains uncertain as to whether Margarito has faced someone who punches as precise and with the power that Cotto does. Cotto has been known to get into exchanges and trade with his opponents, but he's also shown the ability to box his way out of some critical moments. In no other Cotto was this more evident than his sea saw battle with Mosley.

There will be moments when this fight is fought toe to toe and both fighters will get into exchanges. At the end of the day, I believe it will be Cotto's ability to box and counter punch his way out of nervous moments. We may even see see Cotto in the same type of jeopardy that he was in against Mosley late in their fight. Margarito has never been hit by a puncher like Cotto either, so this is going to be interesting. I'll take Cotto by a close and exciting unanimous decision, in a fight in which both guys are hurt and possibly even on the canvas.

Cotto by unanimous decision

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Should Julio Cesar Chavez Jr retire?

It may seem as though I am coming down hard on him, but perhaps Julio Cesar Chavez Jr should consider hanging up the gloves. The undefeated 22 year old hinted at retirement following his lackluster and controversial split decision win over journeyman Matt Vanda this past Sunday.

It would appear as though Junior is really just living off his legendary father's name by consistently facing limited opposition. He's not doing anything to build up his own legacy. When you have a father who is an all-time great as Julio Cesar Chavez Sr is, it can be cumbersome to try to fill your father's shoes. I won't deny that at all, but at least attempt to make some kind of serious noise or splash of your own in the sport! Not only does Junior continue to fight these low caliber opponents, but he's just barely scraping past them. That's not how you improve as a boxer.

Junior has yet to show me that he's trying to improve or get to the next level whatsoever. His own supporters were booing when he was awarded the split decision against Vanda, throwing beer cans and other objects in the ring. His father, the legend, had to calm the angry Mexican crowd that was booing his son for such a dreadful performance. To his credit the fight was a terrific action fight, but he shouldn't be getting into wars like that against such limited and sub par opposition.

When you continue to fight sub par opposition, you grow accustomed to fighting down to the level of your opposition and you become sub par. That tells me that Junior really needs to shit or get off the pot. While I would like to see him retire at the rate he's going, his handlers should test him, once and for all, by putting him in with somebody world class. Put Junior in a title fight with WBC Super Welterweight Champion Sergio Mora, in a shit or get off the pot type of fight. Might even be a decent promotion. Hell, I'm not sure it wouldn't be a decent fight. The undefeated Latin Snake and Contender Champion, turned World Champion vs The undefeated Son of a Mexican Legend.

Nobody thought Mora was any good before he beat Forrest. He was held to a draw against an unranked and unknown opponent prior to the Forrest fight. Chavez needs to do something of value if he is going to stick around. He's 37-0... and who's he fought???????

By the time you're 37-0, or even 30-0, one should really know whether or not one is something special, somebody who is credible, or somebody with the potential to be something special who is making progress. Junior hasn't even fought anybody credible in 37 fights. Does he have the desire to fight somebody world class and make a name for himself, or is he living off his father's name?

The time is now for Chavez Jr to either make a move to get to the next level, or retire as he hinted at following the fight with Vanda.

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Soto vs Lorenzo now a no-contest, Cotto vs Margarito, and September lightweight fights!

Yesterday, the WBC ruled that the 130lb elimination title bout between Humberto Soto and Francisco Lorenzo be ruled a no-contest. Originally, Lorenzo was declared a 4th round DQ winner by Joe Cortez in what was a highly controversial result. For the first three and a half rounds, Soto beat Lorenzo from pillar to post, dropped Lorenzo twice, and on the second knockdown, grazed the back of Lorenzo's head with one of his punches. The fact that the WBC decided to overrule the original decision is good news. It is nice to see that justice can be served in boxing as well as anywhere else. Cortez made a terrible call in that fight. There's a place for the likes of Francisco Lorenzo; it's called Hollywood. He did a great acting job and unfortunately Cortez was like a guest at the theater watching and justifying his performance.

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On Saturday July 26, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, undefeated WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto will defend his title against two time welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito. This is a match up that has fight of the year written all over it. I believe this fight will be very interesting and at times exciting. But when it comes down to who I believe is going to win this fight, I think Cotto has more tools, he's the better boxer, and he's fought the better level of opposition up to this point. Cotto has only fought at welterweight for a year and a half, and he's beaten Carlos Quintana, Zab Judah, and Shane Mosley in that time frame.

Margarito has been at welterweight forever, and he's only beaten the likes of Kermit Cintron and Joshua Clottey. Margarito did fight Paul Williams, just a year and a day ago, but got outhussled in that fight and ended up losing a unanimous decision, along with his WBO title belt, to Williams. Overall, the two levels of opposition just don't equate. Margarito knows one way. Come forward at a fast pace and throw a lot of punches. Cotto can box AND brawl. There will be moments when these guys are going to have to brawl toe to toe, but it's going to be Cotto's ability to box his way out of trouble that makes the difference in the fight.

Cotto was able to outbox Shane Mosley, a guy with fast hands who is rather elusive, in a lot of the rounds they fought. Margarito is not as fast as Mosley. Margarito is the strongest and possibly the hardest hitting welterweight Cotto has faced to date, but I'm not sure Margarito has faced anyone that hits as hard as Cotto either (and hits as hard with that hand speed). Good fight.

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In September, there are a set of significant lightweight fights happening on HBO and HBO PPV. On September 6 on HBO Boxing After Dark, Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis are set to square off. Both fighters are coming off losses in world title bouts, with Diaz losing his titles to Nate Campbell via split decision this past March in Mexico and Katsidis losing in a bid for the linear championship to champion Joel Casamayor via 10th round KO. Both fighters, who happen to have come forward - seek and destroy styles, are looking to battle their ways back into another title shot. The road begins in the fight that they have against one another. This fight should be a crowd pleaser, and on paper, it resembles the type of match up that prompted the evolution and idea of Boxing After Dark.

One week later on September 13, Joel Casamayor and Juan Manuel Marquez will meet in a fight for the linear lightweight championship live on HBO PPV. Casamayor showed a lot of heart and grit in coming from behind to knock out Katisidis this past March. Marquez is coming off a split decision loss to Manny Pacquiao in a fight that was extremely close and hotly contested. Should a Casamayor vs Marquez fight be on PPV? No way. Neither Marquez or Casamayor are well known enough by the general public to face each other in a PPV headliner. They are the types of fighters who need a household name or a cash cow in the opposite corner to be able to headline a PPV card. Marquez has only headlined a PPV twice, against Barrera and Pacquiao.

Casamayor has never been in a PPV headliner. His biggest fights (Campbell, Freitas, Corrales I-III, Castillo, Katsidis, etc) were HBO World Championship Boxing undercards, main events on Showtime, or PPV undercards respectively. Outside of the Katsidis fight, his fights haven't exactly been crowd pleasers. Although the Campbell fight five years ago wasn't too shabby, but it wasn't the most exciting fight I have ever seen in my life. Nonetheless, it is a significant fight in the lightweight division and I want to see who wins it.

Even more to come tomorrow!

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Boxing chronicles is back, and there is plenty to cover!

Boxing Chronicles is back and we're back with bang baby! Plenty has happened in the sport of boxing since my last update back in April. My last update was the aftermath coverage of the Calzaghe vs Hopkins fight. DAMN, it's been a long time. Let's get to boxing news!

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Floyd Mayweather Jr has retired from the sport of boxing. We all know about it already. He's also fired some choice words as well as hasty accusations at HBO ringside announcers Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant. More to come regarding that story later on.

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Wladimir Klitschko made another defense of his version (IBF, IBO, and WBO) of the heavyweight championship with an 11th round KO of WBO mandatory challenger Tony Thompson. Surely this was a more conclusive result for Klitschko than was his last outing, uneventful and uninspiring unanimous decision win over Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden. Thompson did manage to puzzle Klitschko early on with his southpaw style and sneaky body attack, but as the rounds progressed, Klitschko got more aggressive, started landing more right hands, and lowered the boom in the 11th round. Next up for Klitschko could very well be the undefeated Alex Povetkin, who is the mandatory challenger in the IBF.

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It looks like WBC Heavyweight Champion Sam Peter will be defending his title against Klitschko in October, but it's not the Klitschko we want to see him against. It's elderly brother Vitali Klitschko, that's right. The Klitschko who hasn't fought in four years. The Klitschko who [when he was the champion] pulled out of a number of mandatory defenses against Haseem Rahman.

Vitali can't possibly be the same fighter he was before. That's my opinion, anyway. He's 36 years old and hasn't been able to make it through a solid training camp since 2004. Peter is younger, in his prime, and he's shown some improvement technically. Lets see if Vitali can make it through a good long training camp.

With all of the WBC mandated fights that this guy has withdrawn from in the past 3 years, I don't know why the WBC continues to praise this guy and keep bringing him back for fights in their organization. What did he do for the WBC that was so special? He lost to Lennox Lewis in a shot for their title in a classic heavyweight fight that took place in June of 2003. Following the defeat at the hands of Lewis, he knocked out Kirk Johnson in an eliminator for that title several months later. He beat Cory Sanders for the vacate title the following year, and then defended it once against *drum roll* Danny Williams.

After that, Vitali pulled out of a number of defenses against Rahman and also pulled out of a comeback fight last year (if I'm not mistaking). I won't hold my breath on this guy coming back or even making it through a training camp.If the fight were to happen, my money is on Peter.

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The light heavyweight championship fight between champion Joe Calzaghe and former pound for pound king Roy Jones Jr appears to be set for September 20 at Madison Square Garden. HBO PPV will televise the event. The way Calzaghe was able to overwhelm and outwork Hopkins, it's difficult for me to see Jones doing any better. Nonetheless, it's still a big fight and folks want to see if Jones can turn the clock back, regain his old dazzling form, and upset the undefeated Welshmen.

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Manny Pacquiao won his fourth world title in as many weight classes by dominating, punishing, and stopping defending champion David Diaz in nine rounds back on June 28 in Las Vegas. Granted the fact that he wasn't exactly facing the utmost stiffest competition in the division, or at least the most skilled guy available, Pacquiao looked sensational in his lightweight debut. Rumor has it that Pacquiao will now face Humberto Soto in November 15. That would be a hell of a fight given the styles and punching power that both of these combatants carry in both hands. With Mayweather retired, at least for now, Pacquiao becomes the number one pound for pound fighter in the world.

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More to come tomorrow!

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Calzaghe -vs- Hopkins official scorecard, as well as that of Boxing Chronicles!

OFFICIAL CALZAGHE vs HOPKINS SCORECARD

Listen ladies and gentlemen, I'm probably the biggest Hopkins supporter you will ever come across or meet, but I have to keep it real when I watch a fight. I love Hopkins, but when I see some people's scorecards that actually had Hopkins edging this fight out, I really have to question why. While it is clear that I do not have 20/20 vision, I can still view and analyze what's happening in a boxing match from round to round. This probably should've been a unanimous decision for Joe Calzaghe. I scored it 116-111, as did HBO's unofficial ringside judge Harold Lederman and one of the three official judges, so even if you gave a couple of the swing rounds to Hopkins, Calzaghe is still the winner by one point. That's the farthest you can stretch the scoring in Hopkins favor.

BOXING CHRONICLES SCORECARD

Round 1: 10-8 Hopkins
Round 2: 10-9 Calzaghe Total: 19-18 Hopkins
Round 3: 10-9 Hopkins Total: 29-27 Hopkins
Round 4: 10-9 Calzaghe Total: 38-37 Hopkins
Round 5: 10-9 Calzaghe Total: 47-47
Round 6: 10-9 Calzaghe Total: 57-56 Calzaghe
Round 7: 10-9 Calzaghe Total: 67-65 Calzaghe
Round 8: 10-9 Calzaghe Total: 77-74 Calzaghe
Round 9: 10-9 Calzaghe Total: 87-83 Calzaghe
Round 10: 10-9 Hopkins Total: 96-93 Calzaghe
Round 11: 10-9 Calzaghe Total: 106-102 Calzaghe
Round 12: 10-9 Calzaghe

Total: 116-111 Calzaghe (9-3)

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Calzaghe dethrones Hopkins in U.S. debut!

How wrong I was regarding my prediction going into this fight. As one of the biggest Hopkins fans in the universe (as you might've suspected with my posts leading up to this fight), that fight was very difficult for me to watch. Although it was not an artistic masterpiece by any means from either pugilist, Joe Calzaghe was the more active fighter and did more than enough to seize Bernard Hopkins' light heavyweight championship with a narrow split decision.

Hopkins managed to drop Calzaghe with a straight right hand in the first round. Calzaghe was not hurt by any means, but he was squared up and caught off balance by the punch. From that point forward, it was Calzaghe would got into a workman like rhythm, much like he did against Mikkell Kessler, and basically out hustled Hopkins for the remainder of the fight.

Calzaghe hit Hopkins with a low blow in round 10, at which point Hopkins took a few minutes time out to recover. He probably took more time that he actually needed just to break up the momentum that Calzaghe had built up. It didn't work, however, as Calzaghe continued to press Hopkins in the championship rounds. Calzaghe hit Hopkins with another low blow in round 11, but on that occassion, Hopkins resumed the action rather quickly.

At the end of the day, Hopkins probably landed the cleaner punches throughout the fight, but Calzaghe landed so many more punches and completely out worked the 43 year old Hall of Famer. Hopkins certainly didn't embarrass himself with his performance in the fight. For a man who is 43 years of age, he showed that he could still compete on the top level with a younger undefeated champion, but he just didn't have enough in the tank of hold off the high punch output of Calzaghe.

Official scores for the fight were 114-113 Hopkins, 115-112 and 116-111 for Calzaghe. Boxing Chronicles also scored the fight 116-111 for the new champion.

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Roy Jones, Jr: If Calzaghe wins, I want Calzaghe. If not, my next move will either be Anderson Silva or Glen Johnson!

Last night on ESPN Friday Night Fights, Roy Jones, Jr was with Brian Kenny in Las Vegas to preview the light heavyweight showdown taking place tonight between Hopkins and Calzaghe, but also to discuss the action that took place on Showtime last Saturday night in the light heavyweight doubleheader between Antonio Tarver, Clinton Woods, Chad Dawson, and Glen Johnson.

At this time, being that Tarver and Dawson, the IBF and WBC titleist respectively, are on course to meet each other this fall, that still leaves Johnson open as a possible opponent for Jones. Johnson, who lost a highly controversial decision to Dawson last weekend, still remains the only guy on Jones record that Jones hasn't scored a victory over as of yet. Back in September 2004, Johnson scored a ninth round KO of Jones in Memphis, Tennessee. Although Jones did lose two fights to Tarver, one by knockout and the other by points, he still scraped past Tarver by the skin of his teeth with a majority decision win in November of 2003.

While talking with Brian Kenny, Jones stated that the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championships disapproved of a boxing match between Jones and Anderson Silva. Jones went on to suggest that Dana White, the UFC president, called Floyd Mayweather all types of derogatory names for not coming over to the UFC, but when he tried to make a fight with Silva (who is a big fan of Jones and would love to box against him in the square circle), White turned it down immediately.

In terms of his next move, Jones stated that his next fight could be against Calzaghe if Calzaghe defeats Hopkins. According to Jones, Calzaghe is certainly an easier fight for him to make because both he and Calzaghe have expressed mutual interests in facing each other. Making a fight between Hopkins and Jones has been a greater complexity than pulling teeth in a dental office for more than seven years now. Don't expect Hopkins vs Jones II ladies and gentlemen.

If Hopkins were to upset Calzaghe, however, Jones went on to say, "It will either be against Silva, if that fight can still be made. If not, my biggest preference would be a rematch with Johnson"

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Hopkins -vs-Calzaghe: Pre-fight analysis and prediction!

Tune into HBO World Championship Boxing at 9:45pm ET/ 6:45pm PT to catch the light heavyweight championship fight between champion Bernard Hopkins and undefeated super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe, who is coming up in weight to challenge Hopkins.

Joe Calzaghe is a highly skilled southpaw boxer with a high volume output. Nonetheless, he is still a southpaw. Bernard Hopkins is 12-0 with 8 KOs against southpaws, with his last two victims being Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright. Both of those fighters were favored to defeat Hopkins. Tarver was heavily favored.

Wright is another guy - another southpaw - who was favored to win and known for throwing a high volume of punches. The crafty Hopkins used his high boxing IQ in that contest to reduce Wright to a punch output averaging 50 punches a round. As I said, Wright was a southpaw, probably smarter in the ring than Calzaghe is, and he was about the same age.

Tonight, Calzaghe is the third southpaw in a row who is favored (5/2) to beat the light heavyweight champion of the world. In terms of quality of opposition, one can name five great fighters on Hopkins record. Look at the fighters he has fought over the past ten years. Roy Jones, Jr. Felix Trinidad. Oscar De la hoya. Jermain Taylor. Antonio Tarver. Winky Wright. Those are some world class fighters and champions!

Calzaghe's best opponent to date has been Mikkell Kessler, whom he defeated rather handily in his last fight this past November. The fight was in Wales.

Before Kessler, Calzaghe's best opponent was Jeff Lacy. Lacy was perceived to be the future of the super middleweight division, and perhaps the future of boxing in general, but he had approximately half the amount of fights that Calzaghe had when they fought each other. Lacy was favored to win, however, and Calzaghe upended him in an impressive shutout type of performance. That fight took place in England.

Do you see the pattern here? Because I do. Calzaghe has yet to come to the states. He will be making his US debut tonight when meets Hopkins in the ring at Planet Hollywood at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV.

Other fighters, who looked remarkable across the pond, have also come over here to the states to challenge our world champions and world class fighters. Prince Naseem Hamed and Ricky Hatton are two of the most recent examples.

Hamed made his debut in the US in 2001, also in Las Vegas, against the accomplished and very capable Marco Antonio Barrera. Hamed just didn't look the same in that fight as he did when he was scoring knockouts over lesser opposition in the comfort of his own backyard. Hatton, when facing the slick American southpaw Luis Collazo in his US debut, was exposed a bit technically, when he was faced for the first time with an American style of boxing and not just the straight up European style, and won a close and controversial decision back in 2006.

Go back to the 90s, Lloyd Honeyghan could be another example. He knocked out Donald Curry in Atlantic City, but when he met Marlon Starling and Vinny Pazienza, the same magic wasn't quite there the way it was when he was racking up KO victories in England.

In terms of strategy, Calzaghe is going to try to throw over 100 punches a round in order to keep Hopkins in a defensive mode. Hopkins job is to try to keep the fight in the center of the ring, work Calzaghe's body from the outset to reduce his punch output when or if the fight reaches the later rounds.

So what happens in the fight?

I see Hopkins biding his time in the early rounds, trying to gage Calzaghe's work rate and get a look at the punches Calzaghe will be throwing at him. Calzaghe is the faster guy, so look for Hopkins to take a few rounds to get accustomed to the man's handspeed. Early on, this fight will look a little bit like Hopkin's first fight with Antwun Echols. Hopkins will be using the early rounds to adjust to the onslaught of his younger and faster opponent. The key to Hopkins success will be timing and making this fight a rough fight. I'd say after about 4 or 5 close rounds, Hopkins will begin to accumulate punishment with body shots and Calzaghe will show signs of a reduced punch output, slowing down considerably in rounds six and seven. From about round eight, the fight will get a little rougher, if not more crowdpleasing or exciting, as Hopkins will be able to throw more punches and land more punches to Calzaghe's head and upper body due to the body shots he invested in in the earlier rounds. Hopkins outworks Calzaghe in rounds nine through twelve, manhandles him, outboxes him, and completely befuddles him the way he's befuddled the rest of his southpaw opposition.

Due to caginess, being the smarter and more experienced fighter against top flight opposition, and having more experience on the big stage in the US, Hopkins gives Calzaghe is first L by means of a unanimous decision. 116-112 on all three scorecards sounds about right.

Hopkins by unanimous decision

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Tarver dethrones Woods, Dawson survives Johnson

TAMPA, Fla. - Antonio Tarver climbed into the ring with one light heavyweight title Saturday night. He departed with two championship belts and a roaring crowd behind him.

Tarver handily defeated Clinton Woods with a unanimous 12-round decision to retain his lightly regarded IBO crown and seize the IBF title from his British foe.

Tarver (27-4, 19 KOs) thrilled his hometown fans by rocking Woods with a solid left jab to the head in the 11th round. The Tampa resident carried the momentum into the final round, then thrust his hands upward at the final bell as Woods dropped his head and returned to his corner.

Judge Howard Foster scored the bout 119-109 for Tarver. John Rupert had it 117-111, and Steve Marshall called it 116-112.

Tarver immediately turned his attention to the future.

"It's all about the belts. I want all the beltholders," said the 39-year-old southpaw, who brazenly claimed to be the only champion among three light heavyweight titleholders at a news conference Thursday.

The trio includes Chad Dawson, who earlier in the night defended his WBC title with a unanimous 12-round decision over former IBF titleist Glen Johnson.

"Chad Dawson right now is easy pickings," Tarver said. "He's not the fighter that he was before tonight. He got hit by Glen Johnson. Getting hit by Glen Johnson is different than getting hit by Antonio Tarver."

Woods (41-4-1, 25 KOs) was seeking his fifth defense of the belt he captured three years ago with a technical knockout of Rico Hoye. The Sheffield, England, native was coming off a unanimous decision over former champion Julio Gonzalez last September in his hometown.

The 25-year-old Dawson (26-0, 17 KOs) withstood a serious challenge from the veteran Johnson (47-12-2, 32 KOs), more than the scorecards indicated. Johnson and his supporters openly shared their frustration with the decision of the judges, who each scored it 116-112.

"Of all the tough losses I've had, this is the worst one. At my age, I can't afford to lose fights like this anymore," said Johnson, who turned 39 in January. "I hurt him many times. He hardly landed any good punches on me."

Dawson felt every bit the undefeated champion, but gave the challenger his due.

"Glen is a great fighter," Dawson said. "He caught me with some good shots, but I took them."

Source: Associated Press
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B-Money's thoughts:

The light heavyweight division is almost as good as the welterweight division. Tarver convincingly beat Woods to retain the IBO title and gain the IBF strap. Tarver's win was legitmate. The other victor on the card, WBC champion Chad Dawson, didn't have as easy of a time against former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson. Easy or not, the two winners were officially Tarver and Dawson. What does this mean? There will likely be a Dawson vs Tarver matchup later in the year - probably sometime in the fall. These guys have belts, but they're missing something. The real light heavyweight championship of the world. That is beginning contested on Saturday night between light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins and super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe, who is moving up in weight to 175lbs to challenge Hopkins.

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Cotto, Margarito victorious in Atlantic City last weekend!

Cotto vs Margarito on July 26?

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) _ After two lopsided welterweight title fights, it's time for Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito to get it on in the ring.That likely will happen this summer, and both champions can expect tougher outings than they had Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall.

Cotto battered Alfonso Gomez for five rounds to retain his WBA welterweight title and set up the fight with new IBF champion Margarito. Earlier, Margarito dominated Kermit Cintron for the second time, then knocked him out in the sixth round to win the IBF crown.

"I want to be prepared for anyone, especially Margarito," Cotto said of a projected July 26 meeting. "He is a champion and so am I, and it should make for a very good fight."

Margarito agreed.


"Yes, it will be a very hard fight for both of us," he said. "We will both come ready."Cotto had no trouble with the outmanned Gomez and ran his record to 32-0 with 26 knockouts when Dr. Mark Schaber stopped the fight after a lopsided fifth round. In that round, Gomez went down for the third time. Gomez's face was swollen almost from the first time the Puerto Rican star hit him in the mismatch.

By the end of the fifth, with the crowd chanting his name, Cotto was backing off, seeing that the one-time participant in "The Contender" TV show couldn't contend with his power and precision."I wanted to work and do it the right way," Cotto said of his fourth defense of the title he won here on Dec. 2, 2006, against Carlos Quintana.

In the third and fourth rounds alone, Cotto outlanded Gomez 108-23, and two of the knockdowns came on body shots. A straight left to the face late in the fifth provided the third knockdown, and Cotto landed 59 percent of his power punches.

"You always worry before you go into a fight," added Evangelista Cotto, the fighter's trainer and uncle, "but we knew we had the superior fighter. That was a real beating in there." Evangelista Cotto reportedly has been feuding with his nephew and others in the Cotto camp. But there were nothing but smiles for all of them after this fight.

Gomez was disappointed he wasn't allowed to continue.

"The doctor said I couldn't see out of my right eye," he said.It was a one-sided night in perhaps the strongest division in boxing, which also boasts WBC champion Floyd Mayweather. Gomez, of Mexico, never had a chance against the relentless Cotto and, surprisingly, Cintron put up almost no resistance against Margarito."They promised me Cotto and they'd better deliver," said Margarito, now 36-5 with 25 knockouts.

Promoter Bob Arum has targeted July 26 for that bout.Margarito handed Cintron the only previous loss of his career three years ago in the fifth round in a WBO championship bout. This time, the Mexican pummeled the champion from the opening bell, then ended the lopsided fight with a devastating left to the body at 1:57 of the sixth.

Margarito had a cut over his left eye for the last three rounds, but it never seemed to bother him. And he opened a cut under Cintron's left eye in the fifth. By that time, Cintron already was battered.The fight ended quickly in the sixth after Margarito landed a dozen solid punches, then sent the uppercut directly into Cintron's ribs. The Reading, Pa., native, who was born in Puerto Rico and represented the island in the fight, went down on all fours and never came close to getting up."My hands were up high and he hit me with an uppercut and I couldn't breathe," said Cintron, 29-2. "I should have tried to box more and stayed on the outside, but I wanted to prove something.

"I'll be back."

Cintron had won five in a row by knockouts since the loss to Margarito, including beating Mark Suarez two years ago for the title Margarito took away in such strong fashion.

Margarito landed 207 power punches to only 89 for Cintron, and also landed 257 of 611 total punches (42 percent) to only 30 percent for Cintron.

Source: Associated Press

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B-Money's thoughts:

As I stated in the preview post for the Cotto/Margarito doubleheader, the general public pretty much knew who was going to emerge victorious in those two fights. This was a preview show to set up a bigger event later this summer between Cotto and Margarito. It was a chance for Cotto to make a title defense in HBO and excit both television viewers and viewers in attendance with an exciting knockout victory against an overmatched opponent. It was a chance for Margarito to become a two time welterweight titleist and set up his opportunity to face Cotto.

The welterweight division is one of the hottest divisions - probably THE hottest division in boxing right now. All of these welterweight contenders and titleholders are fighting and vowing for the chance to land a big mega buck showdown against the winner of Mayweather vs De la hoya II on September 20. For now, it appears as though we may have big welterweight title fight between Cotto and Margarito. Bob Arum says it could happen on July 26, but nothing is set in stone as of yet. I would love to see that fight. Their styles are the perfect foil for an all action shootout.

There's already one welterweight fight on the horizon on May 31. Shane Mosley and Zab Judah are going to lock heads in Las Vegas. Maybe, if the winner of Mayweather and De la hoya is not yet ready for the winner of Cotto and Margarito, the Mosley vs Judah winner will get a shot at a big payday.

I highly doubt the the IBF is going to allow Margarito to keep that title going into a fight with Cotto. If Margarito does indeed face Cotto in his next fight, the fight will only be for Cotto's WBA title. In that case, Joshua Clottey, who stopped Jose Luis Cruz a couple of weeks ago, get his shot at the vacant IBF title.

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The return of Ricky Hatton on May 24!

Paulie "The Magic Man" Malignaggi rematching N'dou in the co-feature.
Hatton vs Malignaggi in the fall?

At the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England on May 24, Jr Welterweight Champion Ricky Hatton returns to the ring for the first time since losing to Floyd Mayweather on a 10th round TKO this past December in Las Vegas. Hatton will be defending against former lightweight title challenger Juan Lazcano.

On the undercard, IBF Jr Welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi makes the second defense of his title against the man he won the title from in convincing and dominating fashion last June, Lovemore N'dou. Prior to their first match, there was a rematch clause in the contract, but Malignaggi outclasses N'dou every minute of every round of that fight that it makes fans and media wonder why they would even want to see a rematch of that. What could possibly different in a return engagement?

This 140lb doubleheader is being shown on the free cable network, Versus, during the afternoon due to the fact that it's coming to you live from the United Kingdom. Therefore, think of this whole scenario as a treat for boxing fans to see two of best fighters in the jr welterweight division, or any class in boxing for that matter, fight in showcase matches on free television. Should both combatants emerge victorious, as they are favored to do, there is a possibility that we see a big showdown this fall between Hatton and Malignaggi for the legitimate jr welterweight championship of the world.

Hatton is still widely regarded as the champion as well as the man to beat at 140lbs, but Malignaggi has been calling him out for some time now. That's the fight that Malignaggi really wants. It's a great payday and opportunity to shine for Malignaggi, but also a chance for Hatton to redeem himself for the loss to Mayweather and score yet another career defining win at 140lbs. Career defining win at 140lbs - something Hatton hasn't really accomplished since dethroning Kostya Tszyu in June of 2005.

A win over Malignaggi would be a notable achievement that could give Hatton's career the boost it could seriously use at this time, as Malignaggi's only loss to this day is still the close and competitive one at the hands of Cotto from two years ago.

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Saturday night welterweight title twinbill: Cotto -vs- Gomez, Cintron -vs- Margarito II

Undefeated WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto is set to make the fourth defense of his title against Season One Contender Alfonso Gomez at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this Saturday night. Cotto, the undefeated Puerto Rican sensation won the vacant title with a 6th round TKO of Carlos Quintana, who later went on to dethrone Paul Williams for the WBO version of the title, in December of 2006 in the same Boardwalk Hall.

Since winning the title, Cotto has defended it with impressive wins against Zab Judah and Sugar Shane Mosley at Madison Square Garden. Gomez biggest career win to date is the upset victory he scored over Atlantic City's favorite blood and guts son Arturo Gatti. Although Gatti was favored to defeat Gomez, he was clearly in the twilight of his career. Gomez crushed Gatti in seven brutally one sided rounds. While Gomez has elected to make this a competitive and exciting fight, and firmly believes that he will emerge victorious, this fight is being seen as a stay busy showcase fight for Cotto.

Bob Arum, Cotto's promoter, is really using this event as a chance to preview a big fight later this year between Cotto and the winner of the welterweight title rematch, between IBF titlist Kermit Cintron and Antonio Margarito, on the undercard. Should Cotto take care of business, as is heavily expected, look for him to face the winner of Cintron/Margarito later this year in a much bigger fight.

In terms of the undercard fight, Cintron views his fight with Margarito as a chance to redeem himself for the one sided he defeat he was dealt at the hands of Margarito three years ago in Las Vegas. Back in April of 2005, Margarito who was defending his WBO title at that time, dominated Cintron for four rounds and dropped him four times enroute to an embarrassing fifth round technical knockout. Since that time, Margarito lost his belt to Paul Williams in July of 2007, while Cintron picked up the vacant IBF strap in a fight against Mike Suarez.

Cintron defended his title this past November with a 10th TKO of Jesse Feliciano in a less than inspiring performance on the undercard of Mayorga vs Vargas, while Margarito rebounded from the loss to Williams with an impressive one round blowout of Golden Johnson on the undercard of Cotto vs Mosley at Madison Square Garden. That leads up to the big welterweight rematch, which probably bares more significance than the showcase in the main event. This welterweight twinbill will be televised on HBO World Championship Boxing.

My predictions are as follows:

Cintron vs Margarito

I'm going with Margarito, either by a late stoppage or clear UD. Margarito is fully capable of dissecting Cintron and stopping him AGAIN but something tells me that Cintron just might play it safe and slip into survival mode if there comes a moment when he feels that his chances of finishing the fight are once again in jeopardy. Cintron won't want to get KOed again, but I'll go out on a limb and take Margarito by a 10th round TKO.

Cotto vs Gomez

No disrespect to Alfonso Gomez, who is a good fighter in his own right, but he is by no way, shape, or form, ready for this level of opposition. At least not at this time. A fight with an up and coming contender like Andre Berto, or even former champions Luis Collazo or Sharmba Mitchell, may have been better looks for Gomez. But the beauty of boxing is that fighters under these circumstances have opportunities to step into the square ring and prove critical skeptics like me wrong. Nonetheless, this fight has mismatch written all over it. Cotto throws bombs and Gomez has feather dusters at the end of his wrists. Cotto is several stratospheres above the "Contenders" and the shopworn, recycled and regurgitated Arturo Gatti that Gomez has faced to this point. Once Cotto hits Gomez, Gomez is going to start wondering, "What has Jeff Wald gotten me into here?" This fight is not going to last very long at all. Fortunately for us, I believe Gomez will come to fight. Unfortunately for him, it will be an exciting, yet very short night when he runs into Cotto's power punches in the process. Short but sweet!

Cotto by a third round KO.

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Clottey, the most feared welterweight in the world, fights Cruz tonight on Versus!

Tonight at the Aviator Sports Arena in Brooklyn, New York, IBF number one welterweight contender Joshua Clottey will defending his mandatory spot against Jose Luis Cruz in a welterweight fight scheduled for 12 rounds.

Since dropping a close disputed twelve decision to then WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito in Atlantic City in December of 2006, Clottey has amassed a string of notable wins. In April of 2007, he defeated the late and great Diego Corrales by a 10 round unanimous decision. Clottey has also beaten Felix Flores and earned the number one spot he currently holds in the IBF by defeating Shamone Alavarez over the course of the twelve rounds in his last outing this past December. You may recall seeing Cruz before against Sugar Shane Mosley in September of 2005, dropping a unanimous decision against the former three division champion on the undercard of Marco Antonio Barrera's super featherweight title fight with Robbie Peden.

This appears to be a stay-busy fight for Clottey, as he continues to push to get his mandatory title shot enforced against the reigning title holder Kermit Cintron. There were talks earlier this year of staging a unification fight between Cintron and WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto. Cotto's promoter Bob Arum, who also promotes Clottey, refused to make that match due to the fact that Clottey is the mandatory challenger in the IBF and Cintron must first face Clottey.

So what happened shortly there after? Arum chose to match Cotto with - get ready - Season one Contender Alfonso Gomez! On the the undercard as part of a welterweight twinbill, Cintron will defend his title, but not against his mandatory challenger Clottey! Cintron will instead defend against Margarito, who remains the only fighter who has beaten him as professional. Hence, a stay busy fight tonight for the frustrated Clottey who is desperately trying to get that mandatory enforced.

Cruz is a pretty durable guy, so look for Clottey to get some rounds in and probably cruz to a unanimous decision. The fight will be televised tonight on Versus, starting at 9pm E/T.

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