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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Hopkins -vs- Calzaghe only weeks away: Pound for pound, where should the winner be placed?

Over the course of the past year, the race for the position of best pound for pound fighter in the world seems to be narrowing. Floyd Mayweather, with his wins over Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Carlos Baldomir, Oscar De la hoya, and Ricky Hatton rightfully earned him the position at the top of Pound for Pound lists.

However, Bernard Hopkins, having lost controversial decisions to Jermain Taylor in 2005, returned in 2006 and 2007 to defeat betting favorites Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright. Tarver and Wright were both respectively top five pound for pounders at the time that Hopkins beat them.

Should Hopkins prevail against reigning undefeated Super Middleweight king Joe Calzaghe in their light heavyweight showdown on April 19, that will mark the third top five pounder for pounder he has defeated. That would mark the third consecutive time the 43 year old, a betting underdog, has defied logic and beaten one of boxing's outstanding performers.

Where does Calzaghe rank if does what's expected on paper and beats Hopkins? However, if Hopkins upsets Calzaghe and gives him his first loss, does he deserve to replace Mayweather as the Pound for Pound best fighter in world?

In terms of the fight on April 19, I've been back and forth quite a bit on who I'm picking to win. Watching Calzaghe in his performance against Kessler last November, and Hopkins less than inspiring victory over Wright last July, I was initially picking Calzaghe. But after weighing experience and their history, Hopkins has so much more experience over Calzaghe in every facet of the game. He's fought in America, he's fought overseas, and I can name five great fighters (win or lose) that Hopkins has been in the ring with. I can't name one on Joe's record. Calzaghe is an excellent fighter, don't get me wrong. The man can fight, but he's shown that how well he fights against the quality of opposition that he's faced up to this point, in the comfort of his home town and country.

Calzaghe is going to throw a lot of punches, which will leave him OPEN for many shots in return. Hopkins throws more punches than people give him credit for (he outworked Wright, when many felt it would be the other way around), and his defense is underrated as well. Look for Calzaghe to take the first few rounds or so, as Hopkins adjusts to his activity level, but as the fight progresses, Calzaghe will get sloppier and sloppier, as Hopkins (who will actually be the puncher in this fight) begins to counter with crisper and more accurate shots that will take their toll on the Welshmen.

As this happens, you will see 43 year old begin to outwork the workman-line Welshmen in the championship rounds (similar to Nate Campbell vs Juan Diaz). Hopkins won't stop Calzaghe, but it is my belief at this time that he will whoop him over 12 rounds.

Calzaghe is an excellent fighter - with potential for greatness.
Hopkins is an excellent great fighter - with potential for all-time greatness and is a guaranteed Hall of Famer.
Hopkins is going to take Calzaghe to Hell and back.

While Hopkins is the ripe old age of 43, Calzaghe is no spring chicken himself at 36 and he doesn't have the punching power to hurt Hopkins. Calzaghe is just going to be latest of a series of southpaws that Hopkins feasts on. Might not necessarily be the cleanest, prettiest or most pleasing thing to watch, but Hopkins will get the job done. Welcome to America, Joe.

Just weeks away from the fight, I like Hopkins by unanimous decision.
116-112 on all three cards.

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Differences between Mosley and Judah: Why Mosley should emerge victorious come May 31!

Throughout the week, Shane Mosley and Zab Judah have been promoting their fight on their press tour. This fight is a 12 round welterweight bout (but no title on the line!?) and it's being televised on HBO PPV.

Both fighters are coming off losses to Miguel Cotto in the last big fight that they have had. Each combatant is fully capable of selling a PPV fight against a bigger name or superstar in the sport (such as Oscar De la hoya, Floyd Mayweather, or Miguel Cotto), but it remains questionable as to how well they'll do at the box office in a PPV against one another in the absence of those bigger names.

HBO World Championship Boxing or even Boxing After Dark may very well have been the better looks for the telecast of this event, as it is definitely not a PPV quality fight, but I won't complain either way due to the fact that I rarely pay to watch PPV boxing matches. I usually watch them for free at my local sportsbar, which is by far the best sportsbar in my state and probably one of the top sportsbars in the country.

I view this fight as an opportunity for Mosley to make one last great stand for a run at greater opportunities, as the clock is ticking on the career of the 35 year old Hame of Famer. He wants another run at a championship or a big money fight, so he knows he has to beat Judah impressively. I believe he is going to do just that. Mosley is on another level from Judah in almost every facet of the game except for age and power.

Judah's power might be be neutralized by Shane's toughness and how well Shane can take a punch. Cotto hit Mosley with some murderous shots both to the head and body and he still couldn't break Mosley's will. With the shots that Cotto did land on Mosley in the first seven rounds, he still found himself hurt, on the receiving end of some fire that was coming back at him, and he was in retreat the last four rounds trying to run out the clock and finish the fight.

With Judah, it was just the opposite against Cotto. Judah had a good first round when he rocked Cotto with an uppercut and was hit with a low blow shortly thereafter, but after that Cotto pretty much assumed full command of the fight. By the 6th round, Judah's will was broken, he was taking a beating, and had the look of a discouraged and defeated fighter by round 9. When the going was getting rougher and rougher, the tough certainly did not get going. Instead, it crumbled to the canvas in the eleventh round.

I'm not just using the Cotto fight as my basis for picking the winner here either. History does not tell lies. Look at Judah's recent big fights. From Baldomir, to Mayweather, to Cotto, they all have the same pattern. Judah gets off to a good start, the opponent adjusts to what Judah has done in order to start so well, and Judah doesn't have a plan B, C, or D after that. He then loses focus and is broken down as the fight goes progresses.

Mosley is the exact opposite. If what he is doing is not working for him in a tough fight, he will move to other plans to get himself back into the fight. He did it against De la hoya both times, coming on in the 2nd half of those fights. Particularly in the first fight with Oscar, Mosley switched to southpaw in the eighth round and confused Oscar for the remainder of that fight by fighting from a new position and switching up. Against Cotto as well, he was taking a beating in the middle rounds, but got up on his toes at about the 7th round, moved around a little bit, and started setting Cotto up for the power shots that hurt Cotto in rounds 9 and 10.Judah is more skilled and more athletically gifted than most fighters who are active in the game today.

Judah can talk to Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright all he wants in order to get tips on how to beat Mosley, but skills are one thing and intelligence is another. Judah has some tools to work with, but we've seen what happens when his opponents take away his toolbox. What happens? He can't work and doesn't know what to do, and in essence, slips into survival mode and gets broken down. Judah's weaker mindset and limited ability to adapt in a challenging fight are made to order for Mosley in this case.

My impression early on is that Mosley should knock Judah out in about eight rounds or so.

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Bundrage outpoints Ouma; gives former champion third straight loss!

SALAMANCA, N.Y. (AP)—Cornelius Bundrage unanimously outpointed Kassim Ouma in a 10-round light middleweight bout Friday night.

Bundrage had winning scores of 96-93, 95-94 and 96-93 from the judges.

After three rounds of relative inactivity, save for a low-blow warning on Bundrage (28-3), the action intensified when Ouma (25-5-1-1), born in Uganda and living in West Palm Beach, Fla., opened up a large cut above Bundrage’s left eye with an inadvertent head butt. Ouma tried to work the cut but could not force a technical knockout.

Bundrage, from Detroit, took control of the fight in the seventh round with a big right hook and several more direct punches to Ouma’s face. Bundrage’s victory appeared in jeopardy after he received a point deduction for holding in the eighth round, but he continued to land big punches until the fight’s end.

Sources: AP, Yahoo

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My two cents worth:

For K9 Bundrage, this marks the biggest win of his career to date. Coming off the KO loss to Joel Julio, Bundrage needed a signature win to keep him in contention. Coming off two straight losses, perhaps it was the former IBF Jr Middleweight Champion, Ouma, who needed to come out victorious even more so than his opponent. The loss puts Ouma's career in serious jeopardy, as he must now go back to the drawing board. Bundrage, on the other hand, may be able to capitalize on this win and get himself a big fight (by his standards) down the road in this 154lb wasteland division. The fight was televised live on ESPN Friday night fights.

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Verno Phillips dethrones Cory Spinks for IBF Jr Middleweight Title!

Phillips regains title, in a jr middleweight division that has become a wasteland.

I didn't actually see the fight, but it remains shocking that Verno Phillips went into defending IBF Jr Middleweight Champion Cory Spinks' backyard and left the Scottrade Center in St Louis with the title by a split decision. Live feed of this title fight was broadcast on Don King's website. If Phillips won a split decision in Spinks' backyard, then there's a chance he won the fight convincingly. Spinks' fight against Karmazin in 2006 was debatable in some people's eyes, but I would have to see last night's fight for myself before I make any assumptions.

Spinks may have seen better days, as he's been an inactive fighter as of late who has gone 0-2 in his last couple of fights. He labored in obscurity for months waiting for guys like Vernon Forrest (WBC champion) and Joachine Alcine (WBA) to unify, believing that they should be doing all of the work to unify the division. Spinks had basically been looking for reasons NOT to fight.

Add to the fact that he previously fought the defending Undisputed Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor in May of 2007 at 160lbs, remained inactive for nearly a year following the split decision loss he suffered to Taylor, and then probably had to work extra hard to shred the accumulated weight gain to come back down to 154lbs to defend his title there. It's not exactly an appropriate formula for victory.

Having said that, the 154lb division has really become a wasteland - it's what the cruiserweight division used to be. Cruiserweight, 200lbs, was either a wasteland to stop off at on fighter's treks from 175lbs to heavyweight, or a wasteland that was to be skipped all together. Recently, the cruiserweight division has seen some good action from its champions and top contenders such as Steve Cunningham, David Haye, Jean Mormeck, and O'Neil Bell. What the cruiserweight division used to be, prior to the comeuppance of the names mentioned, is exactly what the jr middleweight division has become.

At welterweight, we have Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, Carlos Quintana, Paul Williams, Antonio Margarito, and Kermit Cintron. Middleweight does not have nearly as much of an adundance, with Kelly Pavlik, Arthur Abraham, Felix Sturm, Winky Wright (coming back down) and Giovanni Lorenzo, but there's more there than there is at 154lbs, which is a division that has practically nothing.

At this time, the titleholders are Forrest (WBC), Phillips (IBF), and Alcine (WBA). That combination does not make for lucrative mega fights by any means. Perhaps when Cotto grows out of the welterweight division and moves up to 154lbs, and he'll have those three guys waiting for him.

In any case, congratulations to Verno Phillips.

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Boxing Chronicles Q/A: Roy Jones, Jr!

Thanks to Boxingtalk having him as a guest in the chatroom, Boxing Chronicles had the chance to get share a few words with Former Pound for Pound King Roy Jones, Jr. The following is what he had to say about his proposed UFC battle with Anderson Silva, Hopkins vs Calzaghe, the upcoming light heavyweight fights on Showtime, and more!

Bryan Bradley: Roy, welcome to the chatroom. Great to see you in here with us. I’ve been a fan of yours since I was in high school. Obviously you have interest in a proposed UFC fight with Anderson Silva. In boxing, however, we got the Showtime light heavyweight tournament coming up. We got Hopkins/Calzaghe. You’ve mounted a nice little winning streak since the third Tarver fight. What are your goals for the remainder of the year? Where do you want to be, lets say mid 2009? Light Heavyweight Champ of the world?

Roy Jones, Jr: My main goal is to first fight Silva, then move on to fight the winner of the Hopkins-Calzaghe fight. If it's Calzaghe I could make the fight, if it's Hopkins he don't really fight me. And then maybe I'll fight the winner of the Showtime light heavyweight tournament next year. I also heard Danny Green gave up his title and I might be in the running for that right now too.

BB: Roy, in the Showtime light heavyweight round robbin, I recall you saying that the result of that could be a big mess, because we could potentially get Woods/Johnson IV or Tarver/Johnson III which is are fights that the people don’t necessarily care to see. Who do you believe comes out of that on top? Who do you want to come out of that on top, because Johnson is probably a rematch you really want from a revenge standpoint. Thanks!

RJ: Not just for revenge, I just want the rematch with him. If you look at the big picture none of those guys are the former heavyweight champion of the world.

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Boxing Chronicles Scorecard: Casamayor -vs- Katsidis

Round 1: 10-7 Casamayor
Round 2: 10-9 Casamayor Total: 20-16 Casamayor
Round 3: 10-9 Katsidis Total: 29-26 Casamayor
Round 4: 10-9 Katsidis Total: 38-36 Casamayor
Round 5: 10-9 Katsidis Total: 47-46 Casamayor
Round 6: 10-8 Katsidis Total: 56-55 Katsidis
Round 7: 10-9 Katsidis Total: 66-64 Katsidis
Round 8: 10-9 Casamayor Total: 75-74 Katsidis
Round 9: 9-9 Total: 84-83 Katsidis
Round 10:

Casamayor wins by KO.

Officials:
84-83 Katsidis
84-83 Katsidis
85-82 Casamayor

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Casamayor stops Katsidis in an exciting war!

Joel Casamayor turned back clock a bit tonight against Michael Katsidis, stopping the younger fighter in the 10th round of what was a sensational crowdpleasing affair. In the first round, Casamayor stunned Katsidis with straight left hands and managed to drop him twice. A brave Katsidis rose from both of the flash knockdowns and managed to finish the round.

Casamayor displayed his cageyness in dealing with the incoming rushes of Katsidis by settling down into more of a counterpuncher's role in round two and catching Katsidis as he would attempt to close the distance. Katsidis showed more effort in rounds three through five, as he applied constant pressure and fired hooks to Casamayor's body. His style, the way he applied pressure and threw shots in this fight, somewhat reminded me of Ricky Hatton. Casamayor looked to be gradually slowing down (due to the body shots, from my view) by the 6th round, when Katsidis stunned and off balance Casamayor, hurt him with a body shot, and knocked him through ropes!

Casamayor made his way back into the ring by the count of the nine and made it out of the round. In rounds eight and nine, experience and skill became major factors in the fight as Casamayor began to turn the tide back into his favor by utilizing the space in the ring and outboxing Katsidis. Referee Jon Schorle docked Casamayor a point for low blows in round nine. In round 10, Casamayor dropped Katsidis and had him in on wobbly legs when Schorle opted to rescue Katsidis from taking any further punishment and declared Casamayor the winner by TKO. As it turns out, I was wrong in my analysis. I was very very very wrong.

Official scores prior to the knockout were 84-83, 84-83 Katsidis and 85-82 Casamayor. Boxing Chronicles had it 84-83 Katsidis at the time of the stoppage. The scoring was irrelevant, however, as Casamayor retained his linear lightweight championship. The only fight that matters at lightweight right now is Casamayor vs Campbell II for all of the marbles!

On the undercard, former world title challenger and television favorite Librado Andrade stopped Michael Stieglitz in the eighth round of a twelve round IBF super middleweight elimination fight.

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Casamayor, Katsidis square off tonight for linear lightweight title

Greetings, fight fans. We are faced with yet another lightweight fight of significance this month. Two weeks ago in Cancun Mexico, we saw Nate Campbell upset previously undefeated lightweight titleholder Juan Diaz for three of the lightweight titles in a fight that is already a candidate for fight of the year. Coming off such a big win, Campbell is now widely regarded as the best lightweight in the world. Who exactly holds the title as the people's lightweight champion of the world is still up for debate at this moment. Tonight, the linear lightweight championship is on the line in a fight between Champion Joel Casamayor and Michael Katsidis.

Casamayor looked horrifically faded when he fought Santa Cruz this past November. He clearly lost that fight, but was awarded a gift split decision (you may recall I put this in the highway robbery category and rightfully so). It may have been an off night, but I don't think that's the reason for his performance. Casamayor is a mere shell of his old self. Lately when I look at Casamayor, I see an old fighter whose skills have erroded considerably. If it was the younger Casamayor, who beat the likes of Roberto Garcia and Diego Corrales, the result of tonight's showdown might indeed be a different story. But against Santa Cruz, Casamayor looked like an amateur who was fighting on spaghetti legs. He couldn't pull the trigger, either, and those are the signs of an aged fighter.

Dating back to his fight against Lamont Pearson in July of 2006 on an edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights, in what was supposed to be a tune up for a proposed title fight against Corrales, Casamayor looked very ordinary and flat. Pearson was actually winning rounds early. Casamayor stopped him late. Prior to his fight with Pearson, Casamayor was probably fortunate to get a draw with Almazbek Raiymkulov in a fight that he probably should've lost. That was the same guy whom current lightweight titlist Campbell smacked around, dominated, and stopped on the Tarver/Jones III undercard. Against Corrales in October 2006, Casamayor barely won their third fight on a split decision and looked flat doing so. Corrales, rest in peace, had not the been same since he fought Castillo in their first fight in May of 2005.

Katsidis, the younger and stronger fighter, will put an exclamation point on what Santa Cruz previously exposed. The jury is still out as to whether Katsidis is the next big thing in the lightweight division. He might be just a bit overrated, so I don't know he's the next special fighter to emerge on the scene, but he could very possibly be the next big attraction in the lightweight division!

Maybe Katsidis is the next Arturo Gatti??? He cuts and bleeds like Gatti, and he's fun to watch, but he's also won all of his fights up to this fight (even if it's been against somewhat limited opposition) and he can punch. Hopefully we get just as exciting of a fight tomorrow night as we got 12 years ago when Gatti fought for and won his first world title against Tracy Harris Patterson.

Surely Casamayor will come into this fight more motivated than he was for Santa Cruz, knowing that Katsidis is a strong relentless brawler who is young, undefeated, and hungry to win a world title. Motivation only does so much to strengthen the mind, but when the flesh is weak and worn down at the end of a long career, the mind has limited capabilities. Casamayor did handle a skilled slugger in Corrales in three fights (taking two of the three in their memorable trilogy), but unfortunately for him, he's all the more shop worn as a result of those tough fights and it was painfully obvious in his fight against Santa Cruz.

Lets face it. Santa Cruz, who was such a substantial underdog in a fight of that magnitude, practically shut out Casamayor! Casamayor was tripping all over himself as he ran aimless around the ring, and mostly importantly... NOT throwing punches. Casamayor's only chance, in my honest opinion, is to stop Katsidis on cuts.

Prediction: I have to pick Katsidis by split decision is an excellent fight, that should probably be unanimous. In this case, will beats skill being that the will is greater and the skill is substantially diminished.

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Mosley -vs- Judah done deal for May 31 in Las Vegas!

On Saturday May 31, former welterweight champions Shane Mosley and Zab Judah will meet in a 12 round welterweight contest that will be televised live on HBO PPV. Both fighters are coming off failed title challenges to undefeated WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto. Judah stunned Cotto in the first round of their title fight in June of last year, but was twice hit below the belt, and was gradually punished as the fight wore on. Eventually Cotto dropped Judah and stopped him with a barrage of punches in the eleventh round. Mosley was the next opponent for Cotto in November, in a fight in which Mosley was much more competitive against Cotto than Judah was. In what was a great welterweight championship battle that provided fireworks and high volume contact, Cotto won a close unanimous decision. Some viewers scored the fight a draw (such as yours truly) while others even believed that Mosley did enough to win the fight. For now, Cotto is in the past for both Mosley and Judah, as the two former champions prepare to square off against each other in hopes of landing another big mega fight of significance.

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Boxing Chronicles Scorecard: Pacquiao -vs- Marquez II

Tonight on HBO Boxing After Dark, linear lightweight champion Joel Casamayor will meet undefeated WBO interim champion Michael Katsidis in lightweight fight scheduled for 12 rounds. Prior to the live telecast, however, those who did not see the rematch on HBO PPV from last week between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will have a chance to see the replay on HBO tonight. As we all know, Pacquiao emerged victorious by a razor thin split decision victory that has been debated amongst boxing experts, media, and fans all week. The three official judges scored the fight 115-112 Marquez, 115-112 and 114-113 for Pacquiao. If you are watching the fight for the first time and would like to score it for yourself, feel free to compare your score to mine. Here is how I scored Pacquiao/Marquez II, round by round, in what was a see saw battle with a number of hotly contested close rounds.

Round 1: 10-9 Marquez
Round 2: 10-9 Marquez Total: 20-18 Marquez
Round 3: 10-8 Pacquiao Total: 28-28
Round 4: 10-9 Pacquiao Total: 38-37 Pacquiao
Round 5: 10-9 Marquez Total: 47-47
Round 6: 10-9 Marquez Total: 57-56 Marquez
Round 7: 10-9 Pacquiao Total: 66-66
Round 8: 10-9 Marquez Total: 76-75 Marquez
Round 9: 10-9 Pacquiao Total: 85-85
Round 10: 10-9 Pacquiao Total: 95-94 Pacquiao
Round 11: 10-9 Marquez Total: 104-104
Round 12: 10-9 Marquez

Total: 114-113 (7-5) Juan Manuel Marquez

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Pacquiao edges out Marquez for Super Featherweight Championship

Pacquiao says no to third fight with Marquez!

Last night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV Manny Pacquiao won a disputed split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez for the WBC Super Featherweight Championship.

Pacquiao scored a knockdown of Marquez in the third round, which is what made the difference in the decision for the Philipino superstar. The judges scored the fight 115-112 Marquez, 115-112 and 114-113 Pacquiao. Boxing Chronicles gave Marquez a slight edge, scoring the fight 114-113.

This fight was a rematch of their classic battle from May 2004, which ended in a questionable draw. Following their first fight, it was my belief that Pacquiao deserved the decision based on the three knockdowns he scored in the first round. In the rematch, however, I felt as though Marquez was the one who had done enough to win the fight. You won't hear me cry robbery, though, as this was fight was extremely close and the decision could have gone to either fighter.

In reality, this fight was a one point, two points at the most, win for either fighter. It all depends on what style you preferred. You either liked Pacquiao's clearer power shots and Marquez's counterpunching style. In any case, this was a terrific seesaw battle that will surely be a fight of the year candidate for 2008. The fight was televised on HBO Pay Per View.

Pacquiao made it clear in the post fight interview and press conference that he will not give Marquez a rematch. His business with Marquez is finished and he looks forward to moving up to 135lbs. Pacquiao is tentatively scheduled to face Lightweight titlist David Diaz on June 28 later this year.

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Playing catchup: Results from Cancun, Mexico last weekend!

Sam Peter KO6 Oleg Maskaev
Wins WBC Heavyweight Championship.

Decent win for Peter, who firmly and confidently chanted after the fight, "Who's next" to Max Kellerman. The WBC will probably push for a fight between the newly crowned Peter and WBC Champion Emeritus Vitali Klitschko. In my opinion, that is the wrong Klitschko. I don't see Vitali coming back any time soon. If he does, I want to see him make it through a training camp injury free. Give us Wladimir Klitschko vs Sam Peter, the rematch, for all the marbles at heavyweight. That's the only heavyweight fight that matters at this moment. Although Peter lost a unanimous decision to Wladimir over two years ago, in a fight in which Peter dropped Wladimir three times in the fifth round, Peter created a mandate for a rematch by twice defeating James Toney for the WBC mandatory spot and knocking out Maskaev for the title. With the win, Peter becomes the first Nigerian to win a heavyweight title belt.

Nate Campbell WSplit12 Juan Diaz
Wins IBF/WBA/WBO Lightweight Championship

What a career defining performance and upset title-winning victory by Nate Campbell. This man came to Mexico on a mission, which had been documented months leading up to the fight in interviews with a bunch of journalists. He appeared to be super confident going into the fight and did everything he said he would do. He threw more punches than Juan Diaz, worked Diaz body from the outset, and virtually took Diaz out of his element over the course of the last six rounds. After five give and take rounds, Campbell pretty much dominated the fight from the sixth round on. Campbell was deducted a point in round six for a headbutt. In the end, the point deduction was immaterial as the judges awarded Campbell a close split decision. Scores: 114-113 Diaz, 116-111, 115-112 Campbell. While I failed to score the fight round by round, it appeared to me as though Campbell won the fight handily. I probably agree most with the score of 116-111 for Campbell.

Both fights were televised on HBO World Championship boxing.

Next weekend, on HBO Boxing After Dark, linear and WBC Lightweight Champion Joel Casamayor is scheduled to defend his title against Michael Katsidis. Whoever wins that fight should be mandated to face Campbell. While Casamayor is the linear champion, Campbell is clearly the number one guy in the division based on his win over Diaz last weekend. Give us the winner of Casamayor and Katsidis against Campbell. That's the only fight that matters in the lightweight division.

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Duddy's chances (or no chance) of victory against Pavlik?

On the undercard of Klitschko/Ibragimov, middleweight contender John Duddy fought Walid Smichet (I had to check fightnews to get his exact name right, which indicates just how unknown he is) and was lucky to escape Madison Square Garden with a W according to many of the journalists and viewers at ringside. During the telecast of Klitschko/Ibragimov, HBO showed some highlights of Duddy's fight and it appeared as though he was taking a really bad beating. He had suffered a number of lacerations on his face and had a really badly busted up left eye.

However, being the a NY fighter and knowing that a potential title fight with middleweight king Kelly Pavlik could potentially be on the horizon for June in that very same ring, the official judges awarded Duddy with a majority decision. The official scores were 95-95, 98-92 (twice). A fight between Pavlik and Duddy will draw the masses from the metropolitan area, possibly Ireland (knowing that Duddy is an Irishman who resides in the NY), and Youngstown OH, but judging from the highlights of Duddy's performance last night, that match up is also going to produce a one-sided massacre!

Kelly Pavlik is a world champion and the jury is still out as to whether Duddy is even world class. He's a hype job who has been carefully protected throughout his career, and taking on Pavlik would be going from a small mud puddle to the ocean. Such a move can almost be classified as career suicide. Based on the cuts on the Duddy's face, and the time it will take for them to heal, a June showdown with Pavlik is likely in jeopardy for the time being.

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Klitschko outclasses and outpoints Ibragimov!

Wladimir Klitschko retained his IBF/IBO heavyweight titles and won the WBO belt by defeating Sultan Ibragimov with an extremely cautious, yet dominant unanimous decision win at Madison Square Garden.

Klitschko's primary weapon was the left land; he couldn't miss Ibragimov with that shot. So much for Ibragimov taking Klitschko's height away. As I said before the fight, Wladimir Klitschko is a tall man with amateur experience. Paul Williams is a tall man with no amateur experience and gave his height away when he lost to Carlos Quintana. Ibragimov was not as fortunate to accomplish the same feat tonight.

Occasionally Klitschko would fire his signature right hand that has put so many previous victims to sleep, but rarely did he fire that punch tonight. Even trainer Manny Steward expressed his disenchantment, implying, "you shouldn't even be going twelve rounds with this guy." Had Klitschko thrown as many right hands at Ibragimov as he did against Chris Byrd two years ago, my prediction of a 9th round knockout may have very well come true. Yet, Klitschko elected to fight a safety first fight and won on points instead.

Official scores were 119-110, 117-111, and 118-110. Boxing Chronicles scored it 119-109, giving Ibragimov round 1.

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Heavy weight house cleaning Part I: Klitschko, Ibragimov meet tonight to unify two titles!

First heavyweight title unification fight since 1999!

Tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the universally recognized #1 heavyweight in the world, Wladimir Klitschko, will put his IBF/IBO belts on the line in a unification match with undefeated WBO titlist Sultan Ibragimov. Ibragimov is coming off two back to back wins over Shannon Briggs and Evander Holyfield. Klitschko has beaten the likes of Samuel Peter (who is challenging WBC champion Oleg Maskaev on March 8 in Cancun), Chris Byrd, Calvin Brock, and Lamon Brewster.

This fight marks the first heavyweight unification in nine years, the last one taking in 1999 between Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. For Klitschko, this is an opportunity to advance his status as the best heavyweight in the world on his march to the legitimate world heavyweight title. Ibragimov, on the other hand, hopes to use his amateur experience as well as his awkward southpaw style to derail the Dr Ironfist Express and make his own noble climb to the championship. Maskaev and Peter might have something to say about this, but first they must handle their own business on March 8.

Take the Klitschko/Ibragimov winner and put him against the winner of Maskaev/Peter and that, ladies and gentlemen and boxing fans, will give you the Universally recognized heavyweight champion of the world. First thing is first, Klitschko and Ibragimov must settle their business tonight at Madison Square Garden. Let's call it chapter one in what is so far two part saga to attempt to clean up the heavyweight division.

On ESPN Friday Night Fights last night, Teddy Atlas shockingly picked Ibragimov to win this fight. The reasons behind his prediction were his beliefs that Ibragimov would take away Klitschko's height and reach and force him to fight a little man's fight, using the method and strategy of the Carlos Quintana's upset win over Paul Williams a couple weeks ago as his analogy.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that is not always going to happen in fights between tall and short fighters. I would remind you that Williams also had no amateur experience, whereas Klitschko was a 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist. Ibragimov had an extensive amateur background as well, so that truly makes this a case of good big man against good smaller man.

As I look at the one common opponent both of tonight's combatants share on their respective professional records, Ray Austin, I recall Ibragimov struggling to a split decision draw against Austin in July of 2006, while Klitschko virtually crushed Austin and made him look like an over matched sparring partner in less than two rounds. That is one of the many reasons why Klitschko is the favorite going into this fight. Not only for that reason, but also for the fact that he's faced the better quality of opposition and he has more professional experience than his opponent.

When two pugilists have extensive amateur experience, it can sometimes come down to size and professional experience. That is where Klitschko has an edge over Ibragimov. Klitschko is the bigger man. Bigger man, bigger punch.

Prediction: Klitschko by KO9.

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Boxing Chronicles Scorecard: Pavlik/Taylor II

Here is how I scored the fight Pavlik/Taylor fight last weekend, round by round. If you have not yet seen the fight, be sure to tune in to HBO tomorrow night. The fight will be rebroadcast as part of a doubleheader with the live heavyweight title unification fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov. While watching, feel free to compare your score with that of the official judges, unofficial ringside score keeper Harold Lederman (who scored the fight 115-113 for Pavlik), and yours truly who scored the fight a draw:

Round 1: 10-9 Pavlik
Round 2: 10-9 Taylor Total: 19-19
Round 3: 10-9 Taylor Total: 29-28 Taylor
Round 4: 10-9 Pavlik Total: 38-38
Round 5: 10-9 Taylor Total: 48-47 Taylor
Round 6: 10-9 Taylor Total: 58-56 Taylor
Round 7: 10-9 Pavlik Total: 67-66 Taylor
Round 8: 10-9 Taylor Total: 77-75 Taylor
Round 9: 10-9 Pavlik Total: 86-85 Taylor
Round 10: 10-9 Taylor Total: 96-94 Taylor
Round 11: 10-9 Pavlik Total: 105-104 Taylor
Round 12: 10-9 Pavlik Total: 114-114

TOTAL: 114-114 (6-6)

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Back from a long hiatus: Pavlik/Taylor II post fight wrap up!

Boxing fans, I have been away from this site for a while, but a new year has been upon for a month and a half now. Guess what? This year is picking up where 2007 left off in terms of big intriguing fights.

Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor fought their rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last weekend. The fight, which will be shown on HBO tomorrow night, was televised live on HBO PPV.

Let me start off by saying that I knew this fight was going 12 rounds. Very rarely do you see a great fight, which ended in a KO, end within the distance a 2nd time in a row. Usually, a rematch of a crowdpleasing fight that ended in a brutal stoppage is not as exciting and it goes the distance based on the improvements of both combatant's defense (especially Taylor is this case). As it turned out, Pavlik defeated Taylor for the second consecutive time. This time, however, it was by means of unanimous decision. The official scores were 117-111, 116-112, and 115-113. Watching this fight at my favorite local Sports bar Miami Mike's, I thought the fight was closely contested. Boxing Chronicles scored the fight a draw at 114-114. This fight was pretty much witin the neighborhood of 7-5 for either guy or a draw.

While Pavlik virtually outworked Taylor down the stretch in the final two rounds, Taylor boxed better the first nine rounds than he has in the last three years of his career. Scoring of the fight depends on whether the viewers liked Pavlik's sheer activity or Taylor's cleaner punching. I liked both respective attributes on the part of two world class pugilists. Hence, the draw on my scorecard. The official judges obviously went with the busier fighter. No argument on my end, nor should there be any argument from any of the fans or media. Even though he lost two in a row, the effort Taylor put forth to exact revenge did nothing to dampen or reduce his credibity.

I thought both guys fought a tremendous fight. In terms of a rematch living up to an original classic, that is about as close as it gets to matching the intensity, drama, and action as the fight. While it didn't quite match the brawl that they staged in Atlantic City last September, it was a highly entertaining and crowd pleasing rematch from my stand point.

Taylor's chin was never as weak as some people wanted to believe it was. It was not as though Taylor lost the first fight to Pavlik by stoppage because he had a weak chin. That's completely inaccurate. He lost because he was worn down by an accumulation of punches. Anybody who gets hit with about 20 right hands, clean on the noggin, is inevitably going to collapse. If Taylor's chin was ever as weak some people suggested, he would've been blown out by one punch. Pavlik landed a lot of punches over the course of the 19 rounds he fought with Taylor. Taylor would not have gone 19 rounds with a puncher like Pavlik if his chin was made of glass.

Where do both boxers go from here?

For Pavlik, it's a return to middleweight. His 166lb tussle with Taylor was merely a one night stand. According to Pavlik's promoter Bob Arum, Pavlik's next outing will be a defense of Middleweight Championship that will likely take place at Madison Square Garden in NY in June, either against John Duddy or Felix Trinidad. Pavlik vs Trinidad for the Middleweight Championship? So soon after Trinidad lost a fight to Roy Jones Jr at 170lbs last month? Knowing that Trinidad has fought three times in the last six years? We'll see if the governing bodies are willing to sanction that contest as a championship fight under those circumstances.

As for Taylor, he could find himself in the ring with Jones later this year. Either way, we can all be assured that Taylor's days at 160lbs are long gone. Look for him to campaign as a super middleweight when he does return to the ring again. After two grueling fights with Pavlik, Taylor is probably served taking some time off. From 2005 up until last weekend, Taylor has fought Hopkins twice, Winky Wright, Kasim Ouma, Cory Spinks, and Pavlik back to back. A rest is long over due for Taylor.

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Mayweather vs Hatton: The preview and prediction!

Boxing has had an amazing year in 2007, with a number of super fights taking place. Fights such as Barrera vs. Marquez, De la hoya vs. Mayweather, Hopkins vs. Wright, Taylor vs. Pavlik, Pacquiao vs. Barrera II and Calzaghe vs. Kessler all happened much to the pleasure of boxing fans and experts.

The conclusion of this magnificent year is no exception, as Pound for Pound King and World Welterweight Champion “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather and Jr Welterweight Champion Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton square off in a twelve round championship battle tomorrow night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight will be contested for Mayweather’s World Welterweight Championship, as Hatton is coming up in weight for this fight.

Two years ago, Hatton sprung to the top of the boxing ladder with his upset win of defending Jr Welterweight Champion Kostya Tszyu in Manchester, England in June of 2005. Hatton stopped Tszyu inside eleven grueling and punishing rounds when the defending elected not to come out of his corner for the twelfth and final round. Later that year, he unified the IBF and WBA Jr Welterweight belts by stopping defending WBA titlist Carlos Maussa.

Hatton previously made a trip up to 147lbs to face defending WBA Champion Luis Collazo in Boston back in May of 2006. Hatton out pointed Collazo for the title via a controversial decision. Following that victory, Hatton moved back down to 140lbs where he felt more comfortable and beat previously undefeated Juan Urango this past January.

Hatton followed up on the Urango win with an impressive fourth round stoppage for Former Two Time Lightweight Champion Jose Luis Castillo. In the ring immediately after his victory, Hatton called out Mayweather, siting that his fight with Castillo was more exciting than any performance or showing Mayweather had ever produced in his ten year career.

While watching the fight at home, Mayweather was provoked to instruct his advisor Leonard Ellerbe to, “make the f&*$ing fight.” Considered to be the consensus Pound for Pound best fighter in the world, Mayweather has won six different titles in five different weight classes in less than a nine year span and remained undefeated in doing so. Rather impressive, to say the very least. From 130lbs to 154lbs, Mayweather has defeated a who’s who of champion pugilists, such as Genaro Hernandez, Angel Manfredy, the late Diego Corrales, Jesus Chavez, Jose Luis Castillo, Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Carlos Baldomir, Oscar De la hoya, and the list goes on and on.

Acknowledging a fighter with such credentials, Hatton is fueled to rise to the occasion and pin the first loss on the record of his reputable opponent. Hatton himself is no push over, as he has won four titles in two weight divisions and has remained undefeated throughout his professional career. Together, Mayweather and Hatton boast a combined professional record of 81-0. The match up features a contrast of styles, pairing a boxer with speed of hand and foot against a relentless body punching brawler.

With over 50 million dollars in prize fight money banked away, does Mayweather still have that motivation and determination to give 110% of himself? Will his hands and body hold up, amidst the surgery he's gone through as seen on HBO's reality show 24/7? Is Mayweather just to fast and skilled for Hatton to deal with? Will Hatton's relentless aggression and grappling style frustrate and eventually shut down Mayweather as it did to Tszyu over two years ago? Will Hatton be susceptible to cuts?

Both men have promised a toe to toe battle. Both men have promised to emerge victorious inside the twelve round distance. The fight will be pretty even through the first eight rounds, with Mayweather and Hatton going back and forth taking rounds from each other. In some rounds, Hatton will be pressuring Floyd on the ropes and winning rounds by throwing more punches and keeping him on the defensive. In other rounds, Mayweather's defensive prowess, ring generalship, and accurate counterpunching will seize the momentum for him.

The championship rounds will tell the tale here in my opinion, and Mayweather, who has been in championship fights for almost ten years in various weight classes, will begin to showcase his experience. He may even have to dig down deep to put the fight out. Hatton throws those wide winging shots. That will keep Mayweather on his heels in the first half of the fight, and the British fans will be going "ahhhhhhhhhhh", but as the fight wears on, I see Hatton getting sloppier with that style and Mayweather coming down the middle with straighter and crisper shots catching Hatton coming in. Hatton, motivated and urged on by thousands of his countrymen in the crowd, will surely be putting forth his greatest effort, but technique, experience, and for once, being the bigger man, win this contest for Mayweather down the stretch.

Prediction: Mayweather by split decision.

Tune in to see "Undefeated" Mayweather vs Hatton live on HBO PPV at 9pm ET/6pm PT tomorrow night.

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Guzman defeats Soto, but will he get a crack at Pacquiao?

Guzman wants Pacquiao, but he might have to wait in a line for that one. The whole world from 122lbs to 140lbs wants Pacquiao, but some challengers in that world command more money and attention than others!

Last night at the Borgota in Atlantic City, NJ, WBO Super Featherweight Champion Joan Guzman retained his title and kept his undefeated record in tact with a unanimous decision over Humberto Soto. Guzman utilized beautiful ring generalship at times to outbox and offset the powerful Mexican challenger. Soto had his moments when he would trap Guzman on the ropes and fire combinations and flurries to Guzman's body.

Guzman controlled the fight in the middle rounds for the most part, but seemed to coast down the stretch when Soto mounted a late round comeback out of desperation. In the eyes of the official ringside judges, it was simply too little too late for Soto. The judges awarded the fight to Guzman by scores of 117-111 (twice) and 118-110 (twice). I didn't score the fight round by round, but HBO's unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman scored the fighter closer at 115-113 for Guzman. The Associated Press scored the fight a draw, which may have been stretching it by just a little. Had I scored it round by round, I probably would've had it somewhere in the middle. Not as wide as the three judges, but maybe not as close as the unofficial scorers. The fight was probably 7-5, maybe 8-4 for Guzman.

In any case, this was a very good win for Guzman. Not only his best win at 130lbs, but also his career-best win to this date. Guzman would love to fight Manny Pacquiao, and he made a strong case with this win last night, but who doesn't want to fight Manny Pacquiao right now? The man brings money and a monster-sized fan base. He's helped to turn the public's attention from the heavyweights to the featherweights. Would I like to see Pacquiao/Guzman? Absolutely! I'd also like to see J.M.Marquez/Pacquiao II. In all fairness, Marquez should be Pacquiao's next fight, due to their unfinished business from three and a half years ago.

Marquez is the legitimate world champion at 130lbs, and being one of the two top pound for pound fighters in the world, that's a title that Pacquiao would probably love to take. The winner of Marquez/Pacquiao should face Guzman, who is respectably the number three guy at 130lbs right now. In all likelihood, Pacquiao will either face Marquez or move up to lightweight to face Juan Diaz in his next fight, or face Marquez and then face Juan Diaz. Those matches are where the money is at. Guzman, as good as he is, will probably have to play the waiting game - much like Winky Wright had to do for a number of years when he labored in obscurity.

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Updated Pound for Pound rankings!!!

It has been a while since you saw an update of the Boxing Chronicles Pound for Pound List. With all of the significant matchups that have taken place throughout this fall, I wanted to wait until just about all of them happened. And guess what? There are some changes.

Significant changes, following middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik's title winning knockout victory of Jermain Taylor and Joe Calzaghe's successful quest to unify the super middleweight championship with a unanimous decision over Mikkell Kessler.

Where do they rank now? Click here to check out the new rankings. Feel free to comment!

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