Williams meets Martinez tonight in Atlantic City

Originally Paul Williams was supposed to be meeting middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City tonight, but Pavlik withdrew from his fight with Williams for the second time.  Enter WBC super welterweight champion Sergio Gabriel Martinez, who is not quite as big of a household name as Pavlik, but may very well pose a greater threat to Williams. 

Williams and Martinez will meet tonight in what is a compelling battle between two southpaws. The twelve round middleweight fight, which will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, is still a pretty decent save. Martinez is a far cry from your average replacement.  He poses more of a stylistic threat to Williams than Pavlik ever did. Possessing that same slippery southpaw style as Carlos Quintana, the only man to pin a loss on the record of Williams back in February of 2008, he is capable of reminding Williams of the trouble he had against Quintana.

Not to discredit Quintana, but I feel as though Williams may have underestimated Quintana when he lost to him.  Such a feeling was proven to be true when Williams met Quintana four months later, in a return engagement, to exact revenge by scoring an impressive first round knockout.  Both combatants have one common opponent; he happens to be former three-time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito. Williams seized the WBO welterweight title with a unanimous decision over Antonio Margarito in July of 2007, while Martinez lost by way of a 7th round TKO against the Tijuana Tornado in February of 2000.  To this day, the loss to Margarito remains Martinez's lone defeat.

In his last fight, Williams proved his worth in the middleweight division, outhussling former junior middleweight champion Winky Wright. Williams' overwhelming work rate kept Wright in a defensive posture for the duration of the twelve round fight, earning him  a lopsided unanimous decision.  Prior to the win over Wright, Williams scored a 8th round TKO over the rugged former two-time junior middleweight champion Verno Phillips in November of 2008.

Back in February, Martinez was held to a highly controversial majority draw against Kermit Cintron, who went to upset undefeated Alfredo Angulo in his next outting.  In what was an extremely awkward and bizzare affair, Martinez dropped Cintron with a straight left hand in the seventh round of their fight and appeared at the time to have scored a knockout. Cintron's knee didn't come out off the canvas until the referee counted ten.  The referee called off the fight, Cintron protested, and the referee allowed the fight to continue.  In any case, Martinez won at least nine clear cut rounds in that fight and was inexcusably held to a draw.

Tonight's matchup is certainly a compelling contrast of styles.  I expect Martinez's speed and ring generalship to give Williams some tough moments throughout the fight, but also believe that Williams is coming into his own at 160lbs and he showed against Wright that he could move pretty well and throw over 100 punches a round.  We'll have to see how the 160lb weight limit effects Martinez, who campaigns at 154lbs by nature.

Williams by unanimous decision.

In the co-feature, Chris Arreola returns from his TKO loss to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in September to take on Brian Minto.

Tonight's doubleheader airs live on HBO World Championship Boxing at 9:30 PM ET/ 6:30PM PT.

photo courtesy: boxingvid.com

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Pacquiao vs. Mayweather a done deal for March 13!

Official press announcement of super fight expected this coming week!

Various news outlets are now reporting that pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao has agreed to face undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr on March 13. Both parties are content with their monetary compensation as well as the date of the fight.  While the only matter left to officially decide upon is the venue itself, there's a better than average chance that the super fight will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas NV.

According to Ronnie Nathanielsz of Philboxing.com, Pacquiao and his advisor Michael Koncz met with his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, early this morning at the New World hotel in Makati City. Supposedly Arum made Pacquiao an offer that he simply could not refuse. “I am very excited and it was a good meeting and Michael (Koncz) was very constructive in the meeting," Arum continued. "Manny was very alert and showed a tremendous knowledge of what he was doing and his problems of running for office and the March 13 date solves those to some extent.”

On Fightnews.com moments ago, Arum was quoted as saying at a press conference, "You guys can interpret that anyway you want. But you see a smile on my face so I’m not disappointed. Now my job is to go back to the United States, sit with Richard Schaefer (CEO of Golden Boy Promotions) and the Mayweather people… so that we can make an announcement in a short term.” When questioned during a newscast about facing Mayweather on March 13, Pacquiao replied, "He’s been trash talking too much and I want to put a stop to it. I don’t want kids who are watching us to emulate him." Those sound like some brash fighting words to this observer!

Based on what has been reported by Ben Thompson of Fighthype.com, boxing fans can expect Arum to make an official announcement this Tuesday which happens to be his 78th birthday. Doesn’t it feel so satisfying to know that two opposing teams, who are not known for being able to do business with one another, can come together in a professional manner to do what's right for the common good of our sport?

Boxingchronicles.com was particularly critical of Mayweather for requesting that Pacquiao openly challenge him to the fight. Everyone knows that it takes two to make a mega fight of this magnitude. Not since the late and great Diego “Chico” Corrales nine years ago has there been a worthy adversary, currently in his prime and universally recognized as the best in the world, capable of bringing out the best in the Grand Rapids, Michigan native.

When listening to the mainstream news, it becomes clear that the media and the fans that have openly criticized Money May [myself included], left him absolutely no choice but to take the fight with the pride of the Philippines. To a certain extent he had been vilified lately as a fighter who was cherry picking his opponents -- up until now. No other fight, for either contestant, would be acceptable at this time. Respect must be paid, both to Arum and Mayweather, for putting their differences aside in order to make this fight possible.

At the end of the day, we the fans are the ones who will emerge as the real winners from the pending materialization of this extravaganza. It must be the happy holiday cheer that is in the air. Should this fight be announced on Tuesday, as Arum has been hinting, consider such a landmark an early holiday gift to all of you.

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Gary Shaw:" I'll offer Hopkins and Jones $200K EACH to fight on the undercard of Chad Dawson's next fight!"

Just a little bit of sarcasm detected by Mr. Shaw, wouldn't you say???

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JuanMa Lopez vs. Steven Luevano on HBO January 23

PRESS RELEASE: World champions JUAN MANUEL “JuanMa” LOPEZ, STEVEN LUEVANO and YURIORKIS GAMBOA, and Top-10 contender ROGERS MTAGWA will kickoff the new decade in separate world featherweight title fights, Saturday, January 23, in the WaMu Theater in the “Mecca of Boxing,” Madison Square Garden. Lopez, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight champion, will be moving up to challenge WBO featherweight titlist STEVEN LUEVANO, while Gamboa defends his World Boxing Association championship belt against top-10 contender ROGERS MTAGWA. Both fights will be televised live on HBO on the 2010 premiere telecast of Boxing After Dark, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast.) These four sluggers boast a combined record of 106-14-3 (71 KOs), a winning percentage of 86% and a victory by knockout ratio of 67%.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Arena Boxing U.S. and PR Best Boxing, tickets, priced at $200, $100, $75 and $50, go on sale Today! Thursday, December 3 at Noon, and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, and online at www.thegarden.com.

“These four exciting fighters are about to usher in a new era at the “Mecca of Boxing” in one of boxing’s flagship divisions,” said promoter Bob Arum. “Like Henry Armstrong, Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler before them, these four gladiators will reunite Madison Square Garden and the featherweight division to their former glory.”

Lopez (27-0, 24 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, is in the second year of his world title reign, which began on June 7, 2008 when he ended the three-year tenure of defending champion Daniel Ponce De Leon via a first-round knockout. Lopez, already a Top-10 pound for pound favorite, has successfully defended his title five times since, four by knockout. In his last defense, an exciting 12-round unanimous decision victory over Mtagwa, Lopez’s impressive victory by stoppage streak ended at 14. Lopez was named Puerto Rico’s 2008 “Fighter of the Year” where he went 4-0, (4 KOs), including three first-round knockouts, all in world championship fights. Looking to repeat, he posted another perfect year in 2009, having stopped two-time world champion Gerry Peñalosa and undefeated North American Boxing Association (NABA) super bantamweight champion Olivier Lontchi in 10 and 9 rounds, respectively, this year in addition to his points win over Mtagwa.

A native of East Los Angeles, Luevano (37-1-1, 15 KOs), of La Puente, Calif., captured the vacant WBO featherweight title in London in 2007, knocking out undefeated Englishman Nicky Cook in the 11th round. Since then, Luevano has successfully defended his title five times during his two-year reign against top-rated, world-class opposition, including Bernabe Concepcion (21-1-1, 17 KOs), Billy Dib (21-0, 11 KOs), Mario Santiago (19-1, 14 KOs), Terdsak Jandaeng (29-2, 19 KOs), and Antonio Davis (24-3, 12 KOs). Combined, his world title challengers had a combined record of 114-7-1 (73 KOs) – a winning percentage of 93% with a victory by knockout ratio of 64%. In short, Luevano gets his business done. Trained by former world champion Robert Garcia, and Robert’s father Eduardo, Luevano and his corner boasts a team that is poised, confident and experienced against very good opposition.

Gamboa (16-0, 14 KOs), a native of Guantanamo who now hails from Miami, Fla., has been considered one of boxing’s brightest lights dating back to his amateur days, which included winning Olympic gold at the 2004 games. Since making his professional debut in 2007, Gamboa has sought – and defeated – the toughest and most experienced opposition available. In only his second year as a professional he collected the NABF and WBC International super featherweight titles and then moved down in weight to collect the NABO featherweight title in three consecutive fights, with victories over Johnnie Edwards, Darling Jimenez and Al Seeger, respectively, destroying Edwards and Seeger in the first round while winning a 10-round unanimous decision over Jimenez.. He captured the WBA featherweight title on April 17, knocking out four-time world title challenger Jose Rojas in the 10th round. He successfully defended the title on October 10 at The Garden, knocking out Panamanian strongman Whyber Garcia in the fourth round. The two-fisted Cuban KO artist boasts a lethal combination of power and speed, an amateur background second to none (he is a four-time Gold Medal winner in the Cuban National Championships) and a victory by knockout ratio that’s on par with JuanMa Lopez.

Mtagwa (26-13-2, 18 KOs), a native of Dodoma, Tanzania, who has been compared to the great Dick Tiger because of his heritage and his improvement with age, has made Philadelphia, Penn. his base since moving to the U.S. in 2000. The former African Boxing Union super bantamweight champion has incrementally advanced his career by fighting and defeating some of the best competition at 122 and 126 pounds. But his “coming out party” on the world stage occurred in his last fight when he challenged world champion Juan Manuel Lopez for his WBO junior featherweight title at The Garden in October. Mtagwa was the star of the night, trading leather with JuanMa for 12 exciting rounds, pushing the champ to the brink before the final bell rang. Though the judges’ scores reflected a decision loss for Mtagwa, the fight proved he was a winner, earning him another world title shot, this time against Gamboa. Mtagwa’s career highlights include winning the vacant U.S. Boxing Association (USBA) featherweight title in 2005 via a 10th-round TKO of Joe Morales. He successfully defended the title twice, knocking out Art Simonyan and Alvin Brown, both in the fourth round. His come-from-behind 10th-round TKO victory over Tomas Villas last year, ending Villa’s three-year, 12-bout unbeaten streak, was considered a 2008 Fight of the Year candidate. Currently world-rated No. 7 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 10 by the WBO, Mtagwa is trained by Bobby “Boogaloo” Watts, one of only three men to have beaten Marvelous Marvin Hagler. For fight week updates, log on to http://www.toprank.com/ and www.hbo.com/boxing.

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Hopkins still contemplating Jones rematch, but has that rematch lost all signficance?

Less than 24 hours prior to Bernard Hopkins' unanimous decision win over Enrique Ornelas, living legend and former pound for pound king Roy Jones Jr. had been stopped in 122 seconds by Danny Green in Australia. What's next for Hopkins? In the televised post fight interview on Versus, it appeared as though Hopkins was still trying to sell his proposed rematch with Jones.

Hopkins spoke about Jones' stunning loss to Green, as he explained in his televised post-fight interview, "Roy Jones Jr. lost on his feet, not on his back...knocked out and TKO'd are totally different. It was a TKO and there was some punches thrown. I seen more of them miss than more of them hit. It was more of a flurry. The referee was watching everything and the man's in his hometown. I mean, my whole thing is for a legendary champion like Roy Jones Jr., I think the public don't want to see him hurt, but in the same token, I mean, let the man at least defend himself to the point where he either going down, down or basically quit." Unfortunately, a loss is a loss, especially one that comes by way of a stoppage. A Hopkins vs. Jones rematch was probably coming twelve years too late, before Jones even lost to Green.

Hopkins continued, in a blatant attempt to try to promote the now meaningless rematch with Jones, "My thing was how did he get knocked out? Was it on the canvas? Was it like Tarver? Was it like Glen Johnson? They said, 'no he was on the ropes like he normally do and the guy was pounding him away, got some shots in there. He was a little wobbly but the referee stopped it.' I mean, I think for a guy like that, I don't think they would've stopped the fight like that based the punches that I just seen. Listen, I was ringside when I seen Joe Calzaghe wailing on Roy Jones Jr with a cut and the referee gave him the benefit of the doubt because of his legendary status. I mean, he didn't get pounded from post to post, but Roy wasn't throwing no punches and the guy was throwing punches. Say a percentage got through, but most of them were missing."

Even though Jones didn't get knocked out cold, as he did in the rematch with Antonio Tarver and the fight against Glen Johnson, the point of the matter is he was not throwing any punches against Green following the knock down. He rose to his feet, the referee allowed the fight to continue, and Green wailed away at Jones with a series of unanswered punches for almost a minute. At one point, when the referee broke the two fighters apart, it even looked as though Jones' legs were unsteady as he wobbled back into the ropes. Whether Jones was stopped on his feet or on his back, the point of the matter is that he was in no condition to win the fight and he was not fighting back at all.

Does Roy's loss jeopardize the chances of the Hopkins vs. Jones rematch occurring? Hopkins replied, "No, because my whole thing is everybody knows what happens when you go over to Europe. That's why I would never go over there." What Hopkins should take into account is that everybody also knows what happens when the referee lets a fight go on for too long, especially when that fight involves a man who has twice been knocked out cold, and was knocked down and disoriented in the fight that he is trying to make excuses for.

This commentator would rather see a fight of that nature stopped a couple seconds too soon rather than a few rounds too late. Hopkins pointed out that Jones was taking a beating against Calzaghe with a cut over his eye and blood pouring down his face. While that remains entirely true, Calzaghe didn't drop Jones in the first round of that fight, nor did he have Jones on queer street at any point. One must also take into account that we are one year removed from Jones' fight against Calzaghe, and sadly enough, Jones is yet another painful year older.

Should Hopkins decide to go through with the rematch against Jones, I think it would be a disservice to the sport of boxing. At this point, Hopkins vs. Jones II would be extremely difficult to sell. In my humble opinion, Hopkins would have absolutely nothing to gain from fighting or beating the deteriorated version of Jones who lost to Green. Hopkins wants to exact revenge on the only man he believes to have legitimately beaten him, but that was a young undefeated phenom who beat him in 1993!

It is not considered genuine revenge, when one beats his nemesis 16 years later, after he's been knocked out three times and beaten a total of five times. Imagine if George Foreman decided in 1990 that he wanted to fight Muhammad Ali in a rematch in order to 'settle the score'? The world would have down right laughed at him! At a certain point in time, a rematch losses its significance. Hopkins would be well advised to skip the Jones rematch and look else where.

At the end of his post-interview, Hopkins pledged that he would be heavyweight champion of the world in 2010. How about WBA heavyweight champion David Haye? Hopkins is a partner with Golden Boy Promotions and Haye recently signed with Golden Boy, so that's a pretty easy fight to make. I happen to think it's an excellent fight that would attract a lot of attention in the United States as well as the United Kingdom.

photo courtesy: hbo

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Hopkins outpoints Ornelas

Bernard Hopkins W12 Enrique Ornelas...Former middleweight and light light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins, who hadn't fought in his hometown of Philadelphia in over six years, made his return to the ring a successful one on Wednesday night, winning a lopsided twelve round decision over the game but outclassed Enrique Ornelas. 

The fight pretty much went as many had anticipated, as it was a typical Hopkins performance that consisted of in fighting, brawling, mauling, and a couple bolo punches.  In the early rounds, Ornelas was able to catch Hopkins with a few clean right hands and uppercuts, but they did not seem to phase the future hall-of-famer.  Ornelas put forth a spirited effort, taking three of the first five rounds on the Boxingchronicles.com scorecard, but Hopkins settled into a groove as the fight progressed, even trying to go for the knockout in the twelfth of final round.  The light heavyweight fight went to the scorecards.  Official scores were 118-110, 120-109, and 119-109, all in favor of The Excecutioner.  Boxingchronicles.com scored the bout 117-111 for Hopkins.

Give Ornelas the ton of credit that he deserves. In all due respect, he did keep the fight kind of close in the first four or five rounds; he exhibited a tremendous amount of spirit. Tough cookie. Having said that, I do not believe that Hopkins took him quite as seriously as he's taken his last few high-profile opponents.  How on Earth could he?  From Tarver, Wright, Calzaghe and Pavlik, to a 13 month hiatus that ends with a guy named Ornelas...I'm sure one is going to distinguish the difference.

television: versus

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Jones vs. Green result

IBO cruiserweight champion Danny Green faced former pound for pound king Roy Jones Jr moments ago at the Acer Arena, Homebush, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Green was a substantial betting underdog going into this fight. Jones has already agreed to face fellow ring legend Bernard Hopkins in their long-awaited showdown this spring.


Danny Green TKO1 Roy Jones Jr...Green shockingly spoiled those plans in just 122 seconds, as he upset the established order by scoring a first round knockout. Green came out aggressively at the sound of the bell, pinning Jones on the ropes and landing a right hand to the temple that put Jones on the canvas. Jones was noticeably hurt, but still managed to rise to this feet. Green pursued Jones immediately, once again trapping the former champion on the ropes, nailing him with combinations of unanswered punches that prompted referee Howard Foster to stop the contest. Hopefully this is the last we have seen of Jones competing inside the squared circle.

With demand for a Jones vs. Hopkins rematch shot down completely due to this stunning result, perhaps we will now see a match between Green and Hopkins this spring provided that Hopkins can win his fight against Enrique Ornelas tonight at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA.

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In a sudden turn of events, Pacquiao vs. Mayweather nearly finalized!!!

News outlet ABS-CBN reported today that undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr has agreed to face pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao on either March 13 or May 1. The bout would be contested at the weight limit of 147lbs for Pacquiao's WBO welterweight title.

HBO has already reserved the date of May 1, 2010 for the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather super fight to take place, but could also schedule the fight for March 13th, which has been reserved for Pacquiao's next fight regardless of who it is against. According to Nowboxing, the bout would air live on HBO PPV, with venue still yet to be determined. Front running candidates to stage this extravaganza are Las Vegas (probably at Wynn's temporary outdoor stadium), New Orleans Superdome, or Dallas Cowboys stadium.

Where the challenge lies in scheduling the date for the fight is Pacquiao's upcoming congressional bid in Sarangani Province for the May 10, 2010 Election in the Philippines. Pacquiao would prefer to have the fight in March, which would steer clear of his congressional campaign. Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach recently announced that Pacquiao would be ready to fight in March and would possibly move up to 154lbs to challenge WBA champion Yuri Foreman. On Tuesday evening, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum flew out to Manilla to finalize the deal with Pacquiao, so the ball to make this fight happen remains in his court.

The magnitude of this event is bigger than any purse split. Mainstream media, including the most casual sports fans, have not spoken so passionately of a boxing match since the 1980s, when stars the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, and Marvin Hagler were all facing each other. Should the world receive an announcement in the near future that Pacquiao vs. Mayweather is a reality, that would be a major victory for the sport of boxing, silencing naysayers who claim that boxing is dying because the biggest fights can not be made between its elite level, high profile competitors.

Apparently Mayweather is pleased with the offer that he has been made, or else he wouldn't have given Team Pacquiao the green light to agree to the fight. Arum must also be content with the deal, or else he wouldn't be flying all the way out to Manilla to meet with Pacquiao in order to get this fight signed, sealed, and delivered.

Boxingchronicles.com was rather critical of Mayweather for considering other opponents, such as Matthew Hatton, Dimitriy Salita, and Carlos Quintana, less than 24 hours after both combatants agreed that their teams would enter opening stages of negotiation. Should Pacquiao fail to accept the challenge in front of him, and still proceed to face Foreman in March instead of Mayweather, he too will be subject to similar criticism.

Pacquiao vs. Mayweather is the fight that must happen. No more tune ups on either side are necessary, nor should they be acceptable. The moment of truth awaits; situations in which they may both dare to be great are knocking at their doorsteps.

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Negotiations stall for Pacquiao vs. Mayweather!

Pastures were looking green just a week ago, when Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and Golden Boy Promotions C.E.O. Richard Schaefer agreed to meet one another for lunch in Las Vegas to begin negotiations for the fight between pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao and undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Just when the sun appeared to be shining bright with chances of the $80 million fight possibly coming to fruition, negotiations completely stalled over the holiday weekend. Perhaps the color green in the monetarily influenced disparities between the two parties shined just a little more vividly, and as result, brought an end to negotiations for the time being?

According to Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach, Arum stated that a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight would probably happen in September at the earliest. Originally Roach was not keen on the idea of Pacquiao fighting Mayweather in March, due to injuries that he incurred in the Cotto fight (most notably a punctured right ear drum). Pacquiao recently insisted that he would still be ready to fight in March, even thought HBO had set aside the date of May 1, 2010 for the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather super fight to take place.

Team Mayweather does not want the fight to happen so soon, so they may be pursuing other options, including but not limited to a showcase fight in the United Kingdom. According to Golden Boy Promotions partner Bernard Hopkins, there is also a good chance that Mayweather would face WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley if he successfully wins his unification title fight against undefeated WBC titlist Andre Berto on January 30. Mayweather's advisor Leonard Ellerbe echoed the same sentiments with the Los Angeles times last week, implying that Mayweather would pursue the Mosley fight if he beats Berto and the Pacquiao fight can not be made.

Roach claims there's a possibility that Pacquiao's next fight will very likely take place in March, with or without Mayweather. On Boxingscene.com, Roach was quoted as saying, "Mayweather doesn't want to fight in March, so we might fight for the 154lb title in March and move up for that eighth world title. I'm thinking about that still and its something that I'm kicking around in my head right now."

Pacquiao could move up to 154lbs to challenge newly crowned WBA super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman. Foreman won the title by unanimous decision over Daniel Santos on November 14, on the televised under card of Pacquiao vs. Cotto. Roach continued, "Yuri Foreman might be the opponent. It is a possibility, and then Mayweather in September. If they guarantee me that, we'll do that, but I need more of a commitment from Mayweather because he's not negotiating too well."

Although this is not exactly the course of action that boxing fans were hoping for, such a course would appear to be the logical path for each respective party to take. Mayweather vs. Mosley would be relatively easy deal to make, given the fact that Team Mayweather has successfully worked with Golden Boy Promotions to negotiate and finalize his last three fights against Oscar De la hoya, Ricky Hatton, and Juan Manuel Marquez. Each of those fights were successful at the boxing office, generating record high PPV revenue. Mosley is yet another fighter who is represented by the promotional power house; logic says that match up is a no brainer.

While Pacquiao vs. Foreman is not exactly the highly anticipated showdown that the boxing world is clamouring for, it is a fight that Top Rank should have no problem putting together given the fact that both Pacquiao and Foreman are represented by Top Rank. Promoters usually prefer to keep as many fights within their stable as possible, due to the fact that the success of the promotion will result in more income for them.

One must wonder if the negotiations stalled because both parties are going to require additional time to iron out their differences, or did they prefer to go with a back up plan so they could put off having to deal with each other all together? Yours truly sincerely hopes that option number one was really the case.

Pacquiao is the man that the world wants to see Mayweather against, but this commentator will not exactly be shaking his head in disapproval if Mayweather vs. Mosley were to become a reality.

photo courtesy: therandomtopics.blogspot.com

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Bute KOs Andrade!

No controversy in the rematch last night at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec Canada, as it was IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute who knocked out Librado Andrade in the fourth round to retain his title. Bute was in complete control from opening round, knocking Andrade's head back with fierce combinations. On the few occasions at which the fight was at close quarters, Bute wisely held Andrade to prevent him from working on the inside.

In the fourth round, Bute dropped the tough and rugged Andrade with a left hook. Andrade, who clearly wasn't hurt, rose from the knockdown. The bodyshot that Bute landed seconds later, however, was a completely different story. Andrade, practically paralyzed from the pain, stayed down for the count. Time of the KO was 2:57. Bute's knockout was not unlike other memorable knockouts produced by bodyshots, such as Roy Jones Jr's knockout of Virgil Hill, Bernard Hopkins' knockout of Oscar De la hoya, or even Floyd Mayweather Jr's knockout of Sharmba Mitchell.

The win for Andrade was quite impressive, taking into account that Andrade was known for his ironclad chin and had never previous been knocked out. Furthermore, the Bute that this commentator saw last night certainly deserves to compete in the Showtime Super Six Tournament. How about replacing Jermain Taylor with Bute??? Taylor at this point in time, having lost four of his last fight fights, should not remain in that tournament.

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Funeka badly robbed against Guzman!

Something was woefully rotten in Quebec, Canada last night in terms of the officiating, but it wasn't a referee this time and it certainly did not take place in the Bute vs. Andrade rematch. Waiting to hear the announcement that Ali Funeka would be declared the winner by unanimous decision, and new IBF lightweight champion of the world, two of the judges found some way to score his lopsided beating of Joan Guzman an even fight. As a result, the bout was inexplicably ruled a majority draw. Funeka vs. Guzman was being contested for the vacant IBF lightweight championship.

Guzman started off on the right track in the first two rounds, smothering the taller man and digging body shots at close range on the ropes. Showing his crafty defense, Guzman was initially able to duck beneath Funeka's long jab. Funeka began to find his range in the third round as kept his distance and his right hand started finding its target on Guzman. An unintentional headbutt opened a cut over Guzman's right eye, but it was Funeka's punches that did the damage to Guzman's bloodied nose. Funeka outboxed Guzman in the center of the ring, landing jabs and straight right hands. In the eighth round, Guzman was hurt when he got caught coming in with a straight right hand by Funeka.

From rounds nine to eleven, Funeka became increasingly dominant as he was teeing off combinations on a bloodied and battered Guzman. Guzman, looking like a beaten man, was practically in retreat and could not find a way to avoid taking the right hand punishment that Funeka was dishing out. Guzman showed more life, perhaps out of desperation, in the 12th and final round when he went on attack and once again began firing shots to Funeka's long body. Too little and too late for Guzman, I thought to myself, until I heard the official scores, which took a while to tabulate, from the ringside judges.

Joe Pasquale scored the fight correctly, 116-112 for Funeka, which was identical to that of Boxingchronicles.com. HBO's unofficial ringside judge Harold Lederman scored the fight even wider at 117-111 for Funeka, disagreeing with yours truly on the final round. Judges Alan Davis and Benoit Russell, however, both managed to score such a one-sided fight 114-114. Such a result almost leads one to believe that the scores were penciled in ahead of time prior to the fight.

Guzman, whose face and red-colored trunks at the end of the night really told the tale of a beating, gets a draw and remains undefeated. The IBF lightweight title remains vacant. Unbelievable.

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Alexander vs. Maidana in March of 2010?

Earlier this month, it was reported that HBO would be hosting junior welterweight tournament early next year between WBC champion Devon Alexander, WBA king Amir Khan, WBA interim titlist Marcos Maidana, and Victor Ortiz.

Unlike Showtime's Super Six tournament taking place, the junior welterweight tournament would only consist of three fights. Therefore, it more so resembles Don King's World Middleweight Series from 2001 between Bernard Hopkins, Felix Trinidad, William Joppy, and Keith Holmes. Hopkins emerged as the victor in that tournament, as well as the undisputed middleweight champion, with a memorable 12th round TKO of the previous unbeaten Trinidad.

There are already talks of kicking off the junior welterweight tournament in March with a match on HBO Boxing After Dark between Alexander and Maidana, which would present an intriguing contrast of styles. Alexander has the classic boxer style, whereas Maidana is a heavy handed slugger as he showed in his 7th round TKO of Ortiz this past June. Let it be known that other titlists in the division, IBF champion Juan Urango and WBO kingpin Timothy Bradley, are not included in this tournament. Urango could be facing former two division champion Zab Judah at some point this spring, while Bradley is set to defend against Lamont Peterson next month.

Boxing fans might even witness a second junior welterweight tournament taking place between the winners of Urango vs. Judah, Bradley vs. Peterson, and whoever wins the proposed HBO tournament taking place this upcoming spring. With pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao having moved up to the welterweight ranks, the junior welterweight division is once again wide open and full of viable contenders who are determined to assume the position of world's best in that weight class.

Who would've thought there would be enough talent at 140lbs to necessitate not one, but two tournaments??

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Bute vs. Andrade II on tap tonight in Canada!

Hopelessly behind on points, super middleweight Librado Andrade was merely seconds away from a knockout victory that would've gained him his first world title.

However, a controversially extended count administered to IBF super middleweight champion and Romanian native Lucian Bute, in the final seconds of the fight by Canadian referee Marlon Wright, prevented Andrade from seeing that fate last October in Quebec, Canada. Instead of proceeding with the count to Bute, who was down and badly hurt, Wright twice interrupted the count to turn around and warn Andrade move to the neutral corner. The final bell sounded, the result of the contest was put in the hands of the official ringside judges, and Bute retained his title by unanimous decision.

Andrade will once again get an opportunity to take the title from the Bute, but unfortunately the cards are once again stacked against him. Tonight's rematch is staged in Quebec, Canada where the controversy ending of their previous encounter occurred. There's no question that Andrade hurt Bute in the final seconds of that fight and that Bute looked withered by about the ninth round, but Andrade will have to get off to a quicker start this time around if he is going to have any chance of victory. It is incumbent on Andrade to understand that he must apply constant pressure to Bute in the early rounds in order to make him tired, rather than waiting nine or 10 rounds for him get tired on his own.

Considering the fact that tonight's contest is also in Canada, I'm leaning towards picking Bute to win the rematch as well. In this commentator's estimation, Bute will be a bit more weary of Andrade's punching power. Bute will likely be inclined to go into this fight with every intention of winning a decision and nothing more. While he won't attempt to stop Andrade (he's simply too tough) and he won't put himself in harms way either. As the better boxer who is the more technically sound of the two combatants, Bute will pace himself, try to win on points, and that will make it very difficult for Andrade to have the same success he had at the end of the first fight.

On the televised under card, former super featherweight champion Joan Guzman will meet Ali Funeka for the vacant IBF lightweight championship. Funeka was last seen in February, dropping a razor thin close decision to Nate Campbell. Guzman has been relatively inactive since his title defense against Humberto Soto in November of 2007, in what would be his final outting at the weight limit of 130lbs.

Scheduled to meet Campbell in a lightweight title fight in September of 2008, Guzman disappointed many by weighing in well over the lightweight limit of 135lbs. As a result, the fight was cancelled. Guzman has had one fight in the last two years, that being a unanimous decision win over the unheralded Ameth Diaz last December (that fight itself being almost a year ago).

Knowing the difficulties that Guzman faced in making weight for the Campbell fight, coupled with the facts that Guzman has been inactive for almost a year and tonight's fight will contested in the lightweight division, it makes one question just how effective Guzman will be against Funeka, who himself is a tall, rangy guy with a high punch outpoint.

Tonight's HBO Boxing After Dark doubleheader will begin at 10PM ET/ 7PM PT.

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Chagaev vs. Meehan for interim title: Could the WBA sink any lower?

Fightnews.com has reported that the World Boxing Association ordered an interim title fight between former heavyweight titlist Ruslan Chagaev and former WBO title challenger Kali Meehan. The WBA, according to Fightnews.com, summoned up this not so brilliant idea at their annual convention in Medellin, Columbia.

Meehan earned the mandatory spot in the WBA when he defeated DaVarryl Williamson by a sixth round TKO at Madison Square Garden in October of 2007. Chagaev fought heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in his previous outting back in June, but was dominated and stopped in the 9th round of their title fight in Germany.

Call me crazy, but I always thought the purpose of an interim title fight is to have a champion ready to crown, in the event that the actual champion himself remains inactive or vacates. David Haye just won the WBA title by majority decision over Nicolai Valuev on November 7, so why has the organization already ordered an interim title fight? Why are they ordering Meehan to face Chagaev, a man who was just stopped in his last fight, for this ridiculous interim title?

This commentator says, the WBA should allow Haye to defend his title before they begin searching their ever so dense list of contenders for another champion. Haye is supposed to fight continuously recycled heavyweight contender John Ruiz in his next fight. How exactly is Ruiz granted so many opportunities, after losing in consecutive attempts for the sanctioning body's title?? That, too, is quite troubling and indicative of just how shallow the heavyweight division has truly become.

How about Meehan and Ruiz agree to fight each other in order to fairly cement the number one spot in the WBA, while Haye celebrates the title he just won a few weeks ago??? Such a scenario might be just a little too logical for the WBA to bring to fruition. We should all be well aware by now that the corrupt sanctioning bodies feel the need to have multiple champions in each weight class.

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Manny Pacquiao tests free of steroids!

Pound for Pound king Manny Pacquiao has once again, for the tenth time in the state of Nevada, tested free of steroids according to today's report at ABS-CBN News. According to Executive Director Keith Kizer of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), Pacquiao underwent urine tests, before and after the fight, and both tests came back negative.

There have recently been rumors of steroid usage drummed up by disbelievers in the sport, such as world renowned trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., former IBF welterweight champion Kermit Cintron, and former IBF junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi.

Of course Malignaggi shares two common opponents with Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton, but Malignaggi lost to both of those fighters in the two biggest fights of his professional career thus far. Pacquiao, on the other hand, dominated and stopped both of them in impressive fashion. Therefore, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Pacquiao's success would result in skepticism from the outspoken Magic Man of Bensonhurst Brooklyn.

Malignaggi was quoted by Fighthype.com, suggesting to the hosts of the radio podcast at Onthegrindboxing.com, "There's something fishy about Manny Pacquiao, man, for a lot of reasons...if the situation is what I think it is, God, Manny Pacquiao will not lose to any of these welterweights. It's unfortunate. The level of drug testing in boxing is not really that deep. I mean, we have urine tests on the day of the fight and we don't have much else... there's things that don't come up in drug tests. There's ways to beat drug tests."

No Paulie, forget about ways to beat drug tests for just a moment. In the sport of boxing, the name of the game is for one to find a way to beat opponents rather than beating drug tests. One can not test ten times and turn in negative results each and every single time if he is generally regarded as a dirty fighter. Not everyone who defeats Miguel Cotto is necessarily going to be committing foul play. Maybe, just maybe, the haters and skeptics should give the man some credit for his accomplishments.

Malignaggi continued, "I know a lot of people are going to hate what I think. But it's what I think. I'm not telling anybody that it’s a fact." Well the more important fact remains, Pacquiao has passed ten drug tests in Nevada. I doubt anybody is hating what Malignaggi thinks. In all due respect, perhaps it is Mr. Malignaggi who is the one spewing hate towards Pacquiao for defeating the foes, who have legitimately pinned two losses on the Magic Man's professional record, in such spectacular fashion.

As for Mayweather, Sr., he is well aware that the pride of the Philippines could very well be facing his son in one of the most hotly anticipated fights of all time, so this commentator would expect Mayweather Sr. to start talking trash especially if he is at all concerned about his undefeated son's chances of victory.

Mayweather Sr. was quoted as saying in a report by Nowboxing.com, "Full blown welterweights don’t take those types of punches from Miguel Cotto the way he (Pacquiao) took them with total disregard for his power nor do they hurt him with every punch they hit him with… There is something that seriously makes me feel weird about Manny Pacquiao. I am going to leave it at that." In all due respect, Pacquiao is not the first fighter to move up in weight and take punches better than he did in the lower weight classes. Perhaps somebody should remind Mr. Mayweather that Chris Byrd began his professional career at 160lbs, moved up to heavyweight years later, and went twelve rounds with current heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko [weighing 238lbs at fight time!] in October of 2000.

Felix Trinidad also got stronger as he moved up in weight, from 147lbs all the way to 166lbs. Trinidad, when he campaigned as a welterweight, was dropped by a number of lesser opponents. As he moved up in weight, he was able to take punches better than he did at the lower weight classes. Nobody in their right mind would've guessed that a man who was knocked down by welterweights Anthony Stephens, Luis Ramon Campas, Oba Carr, and Kevin Lueshing would go almost 12 rounds with middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins, much less last the distance with former light heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. at a catch weight of 166lbs.

Pacquiao, who for the tenth time turned in a negative test result for steroids in Nevada, has always dismissed the claims and has insisted that he is a clean fighter who has never taken any performance enhancing drugs. Pacquiao told Fanhouse.com, "Maybe all of them -- they're using the steroids, and not me. You know what? I don't even know what a steroid is. I've never done that."

Steroids will not enhance one's ability to take solid punch to the chin, nor do they necessarily boost a fighter's stamina. Steroids certainly did not help Shane Mosley in his September 2003 rematch with Oscar De la hoya, nor did they benefit Fernando Vargas in his September 2002 title unification against De la hoya. If anything, it appeared as though Vargas tired as the fight progressed before De la hoya inevitably stopped him in the 11th round. Hopefully this dispels any rumors of foul play by Pacquiao.

How many times will a fighter be expected to return negative test results before one rightfully accepts him as a clean fighter who competes fair and square? Can the haters finally accept Pacquiao for the great fighter that he has become through hard work, dedication, and a desire to continuously face the best fighters in the world as he moves up in weight? Regardless of the matter, rumors of Pacquiao using performance enhancing drugs should be discarded.

The boxing world will continue to await finalization of the much anticipated Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight, for which HBO has already reserved the date of May 1, 2010 should the epic showdown come to fruition as a reality. Mainstream media is already buzzing about the prospects of such an event taking place.

photo courtesy: pinayheaven.com

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Negotiations for Pacquiao vs. Mayweather have begun!

Dan Rafael of ESPN recently reported that negotiations for Pacquiao vs. Mayweather have recently begun.  On Monday morning, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer flew from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to meet with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum for lunch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV.  Both parties have agreed to keep the negotiations private and out of the media. 

Schaefer was recently quoted as saying, "As part of the negotiations both Bob and I had to agree to keep all discussions confidential.  No further comments will be made until such time that we either have a deal or the negotiations fall apart."

While Schaefer does not currently have a promotional contract with Mayweather, the two maintain a friendly working relationship and have successfully worked together to negotiate Money May's last three fights.  Schaefer further elaborated, "Floyd and me want to see if we can get the fight done.  The fact that I am flying to Las Vegas to meet with Bob shows you how serious our side is about making the fight. Bob and I will approach this without egos and try to get it done under fair terms. Floyd gave me his marching orders and I will see today how it goes and report back." 
 
In his last outting on September 19 at the MGM Grand, Mayweather returned from a 21 month retirement to face Juan Manuel Marquez.  Mayweather unanimously outpointed Marquez, in a PPV event that generated approximately 1.05 million buys.  The Pacquiao vs. Cotto PPV produced 1.25 million buys and generated $70 million in revenue.  Arum also confirmed the meeting with Schaefer, as he informed ESPN, ""I can confirm I am meeting with Richard, but I'm not going to talk about the specifics.  It's a meeting where we will try to make the fight. Whether it can be made or not in this meeting, I don't know. We'll see what we will see."
 
As this commentator stated in a previous post, the idea of Schaefer negotiating this fight with Arum rather than Mayweather's advisors Leonard Ellerbe or Al Haymon, is an intelligent business decision.  Schaefer's job is to effectively communicate Team Mayweather's position to Arum as fairly and professionally as possible.  Talks between Schaefer and Arum, who have also developed a sound working relationship, are not likely to envoke as much ego or tension as talks between Arum and either Ellerbe or Haymon would.
 
However both sides end up spliting the money, this is still going to be the biggest pay day of both fighter's careers. As far as ideas for purse splits, how about adding the incentive of an additional bonus for the fighter who emerges as the victor?  Perhaps they split the initial purse 48/48 with the additional four percent being awarded to the winner?  How about 50/50, with a greater percentage of the PPV revenue being issued to the winner?  Mayweather probably maintains an edge in domestic popularity, whereas Pacquiao enjoys the greater international fan base.  I recently read the idea of an initial purse split of 50/50, with 55/45 of the domestic PPV revenue going to Mayweather and 55-45 of international PPV going to Pacquiao.  That is a brilliant idea. 

There are a number of reasonable ways to get this fight signed.  Let us hope that Schaefer and Arum realize them throughout their meetings with one another.  As a hardcore boxing fan, I sincerely hope they can find some way to get Pacquiao vs. Maywaether sealed and delivered. After all it is the first time, in God knows how long, that the top two universally recognized pound for pound best fighters in the world are campaigning at the same weight, in their respective primes, and could conceivably meet each other.   Remember, Mr. Schaefer and Mr. Arum - common sense, good faith negotiations while keeping the fans and the sport of boxing in mind. Find a way to make everyone happy.

Both combatants are already wealthier than Rockefeller.  The magnitude and significance of this event far outweighs the ever so common dollar sign. 
 
photo courtesy: golden boy

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Ward dominates Kessler to win WBA super middleweight title

Press Release: OAKLAND, Calif. (Nov. 21, 2009) — The United States is alive and well in the Super Six World Boxing Classic.
In a scintillating performance, undefeated hometown favorite Andre Ward (21-0, 13 KOs) captured the World Boxing Association (WBA) super middleweight title with a dominant 11th-round technical decision over Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs) in the Group Stage 1 Super Six World Boxing Classic bout for both boxers Saturday on SHOWTIME®.

An exciting, one-sided match was stopped at 1:42 of the 11th round by the ringside physician, Dr. Smith Ketchum, due to cuts around both of Kessler’s eyes. After 10 completed rounds, Ward was ahead by the scores of 98-92 on two of the scorecards and 97-93 on the other.

A raucous, pro-Ward crowd of 10,277, which included Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Hall of Famer Herschel Walker, Metallica drummer and Kessler fan, fellow Dane Lars Ulrich, Super Six fighter Andre Dirrell and Strikeforce Mixed Martial Arts stars Scott Smith, Josh Thompson and Gilbert Melendez, turned out at the Oracle Arena for what became a virtuoso performance by Ward..

Kessler entered the scheduled 12-round fight as a co-favorites to win the tournament and a 3:1 favorite to beat Ward, but after a career-best performance, Ward has perhaps stamped himself as the one to beat.
“This was my dream come true and right now I’m dreaming,’’ said an ecstatic Ward, who won an Olympic Games gold medal for the United States in 2004. “It may take a while for all of this to sink it, but I am enjoying it all. This is a moment I’ll never forget.’’

Heading into Saturday, the tournament had been an all European affair with Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch defeating Americans Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell in Germany and England, respectively, in their Group Stage 1 fights last Oct. 17 on SHOWTIME.

But the U.S. is now on the board, thanks to Ward, who made it three consecutive hometown favorites to win in the Super Six.

Standings after one round of the six-fighter, round-robin tournament: Abraham (three points), Ward and Froch (two points apiece) and Kessler, Taylor and Dirrell (zero points). Scoring in the first three Group Stages of the tournament are as follows: Win – 2 points (with a 1-point KO/TKO bonus); Draw – 1 point; Loss – 0 points.

Upcoming Group Stage 2 matchups (dates to be announced): Abraham vs. Dirrell; Froch vs. Kessler; and Ward vs. Taylor.

At the post-fight press conference, representatives from the city of San Francisco, speaking on behalf of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom officially presented a letter of proclamation that Saturday, Nov. 21, was officially Andre Ward day.

But this was Ward’s night, too, as he effectively switched from orthodox to southpaw, consistently beat Kessler to the punch, never gave the Dane a moment to relax and bloodied the defending champion around both eyes to the delight of the fans who chanted “USA, USA’’ on several occasions.
“He never hurt me,’’ Ward said. “I was a little surprised that they stopped it when they did. I had just connected with a big right hand and would like to have seen what would have happened if the round had continued.

“I felt like it was my time. We were not intimidated by Kessler's record. Everyone felt that we got the bad draw in the first round. We never believed that. We beat the top guy.

“This win is as much for me as it is for Virgil Hunter. He has an Olympic gold medal with me and now he has a world championship.
“There were two accidental butts. I am not a dirty fighter. Everyone knows that. I’m ready to go and take the next step.

Kessler, who’s only pro loss was to Joe Calzaghe, said, “He was the better man tonight, but I wish the fight could have gone on. I wanted to continue. The cuts were not dangerous.

“He was going in with his head all the time. He was punching in the clinch. I am not used to this and I got off my rhythm. I don’t know why he never received a warning.

“After the butt (in the eighth round) I could not see anymore. If I fight Andre Ward again, I cannot go straight forward or stay in the middle. I have to go side-to-side.’’

Regarding his next tournament fight, Kessler said, “I have to go back and see what I can improve and see if I still have it.’’

Gus Johnson (blow-by-blow), Al Bernstein and Antonio Tarver (analysts) called the action from ringside with Jim Gray and Jenn Brown serving as roving reports. The executive producer is David Dinkins, Jr., with Bob Dunphy directing.

Saturday’s bout will re-air:

DAY CHANNEL

Wednesday, Nov. 25, 11 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME 2

The fight will be available On Demand beginning Tuesday, Nov. 24.

SHOWTIME Boxing Schedule: In seven days, promising undefeated lightweight John Molina (18-0, 14 KOs) will face Martin Honorio (26-4-1, 14 KOs) in the 10-round main event on a special Saturday edition of ShoBox: The New Generation on Nov. 28 (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast). In the co-feature at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., Rico Ramos (13-0, 8 KOs) will be opposed by Alejandro Perez (14-1-1, 9 KOs) in an eight-round super bantamweight bout.

On Friday, Dec. 4, at Chumash Resort Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif., hard-hitting, unbeaten junior middleweight Tyrone Brunson (20-0-1, 19 KO) will be opposed by Carson Jones (23-7-1 14 KOs) in the ShoBox 10-round main event. In the eight-round co-feature, undefeated Mauricio Herrera (13-0, 6 KOs) faces Mike Anchondo (29-2, 19 KOs) in a super lightweight bout.

In a terrific battle of unbeatens in the Saturday, Dec. 12 main event at Aqua Caliente Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast), World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior welterweight champion Timothy “Desert Storm’’ Bradley (24-0, 11 KOs) of Palm Springs, Calif., will defend against Lamont “Havoc’’ Peterson (27-0, 13 KOs) of Washington, D.C. In the co-feature, Vic Darchinyan (32-2-1, 26 KOs) will risk his WBC and WBA 115-pound belts against Tomas Rojas (31-11-1, 22 KOs).

For information on all SHOWTIME Sports telecasts, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries from its events and complete information on the Super Six World Boxing Classic, please visit the website at http://www.sports.sho.com/

photo courtesy: betus.com

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Kessler and Ward meet tonight in continuation of Super Six Tourney!

WBA super middleweight champion Mikkell Kessler will meet undefeated 2004 US Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward in a 12 round title affair at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA.  In what is acknowledged as a home town fight for the challenger, Kessler has been in the ring with stiffer competition and has only one professional loss at the hands of Joe Calzaghe from November of 2007. 

Ward's claim to fame was his upset victory over the Russian world champion, Makarenko, to secure Olympic Gold in Athens Greece for the 2004 US team.  Early in his professional career, Ward had some question moments, when journeyman Daniel Boone managed to score a knockdown of Ward, but Ward went on to win that fight and has remained undefeated.  Kessler has fought  Calzaghe, as well as former super middleweight titlist Anthony Mundine, whom he managed to dominate.  Ward's biggest win came against Edison Miranda, whom he outscored to win win a unanimous decision this past May. 

Though one can never underestimate and undefeated young pugilist who brought a Gold medal back hom with him from the Olympics, this commentator believes Kessler holds a substantial edge in the experience as well as durability.  Both combatants have decent punching power, but Kessler carries the bigger wallup.  As mentioned previously, Ward has been hurt a few times before and was cut against Miranda in the first round of their fight.  Miranda was able to land some of his shots against Ward, yet Kessler's hand speed is classes above that of Miranda's.

Prediction: Kessler TKO 11.

Tonight's title fight will air on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING.

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Team Mayweather will negotiate with Top Rank through Golden Boy Promotions CEO!

Floyd Mayweather Jr's lead advisor and confidant Leonard Ellerbe recently informed the Los Angeles Times that Team Mayweather is open to negotiating the Pacquiao fight through their co-promoter's CEO, Golden Boy Promotions Richard Schaefer.

Ellerbe told The Times during a telephone interview, "Team Mayweather/Mayweather Promotions have been discussing our options and when we're finished, we'll let (co-promoter) Richard Schaefer express our position to Top Rank." This commentator supports that idea and believes that this is a fair and productive step, creating positive momentum that could possibly lead towards good faith negotiations in order to finalize this historic confrontation. Schaefer, who represents former super lightweight champion Ricky Hatton, is the gentlemen who effectively worked with Arum in arranging a deal to put together Pacquiao vs. Hatton.

Ellerbe continued, "It's no secret the camps don't see eye to eye, but this is bigger than boxing. We understand the magnitude of this." Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, whose relationship with Mayweather has deteriorated ever since their split in 2006, clearly does not see eye to eye professionally with Mayweather Promotions.  Ellerbe is correct in noting the magnitude of this fight; I believe he is sending a good message.  Such a potentially historical event is indeed considerably greater than any feud or discrepancy that might be ongoing. Golden Boy Promotions, on the other hand, has a constructive working relationship with Mayweather. Golden Boy has been successful in coming to terms with Top Rank, after a prolonged dispute between Arum and Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De la hoya had been preventing those two promotional companies from doing business.

Ellerbe failed to disclose the purse split that Mayweather is requesting, but assured The Times that if a fight with Pacquiao can not be made, Team Mayweather would purse a match with welterweight champion Shane Mosley if he is successful against WBC welterweight titlist Andre Berto on January 30.

photo courtesy: Las Vegas Review Journal

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Are negotiations for Pacquiao vs. Mayweather over before they even began?

Following pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao's scintillating 12th round TKO of Miguel Cotto this past Saturday night, the boxing world has shifted its attention to the prospects of the long-awaited clash between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. In a recently televised statement on KTLA, Mayweather was quoted as saying, “Tell Manny Pacquiao to be his own man and stop letting everyone including his loud-mouthed trainer talk for him. If Manny Pacquiao wants to fight me, all he has to do is step up to the plate and say it himself."

Forgive me if I'm mistaking, but didn't that same tactic fail previously for both Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley? In 2006, if memory serves this commentator correctly, Margarito challenged Mayweather to a fight during the De la hoya vs. Mayorga post-fight press conference in Las Vegas while Mayweather was doing an interview, but Money May dismissed the challenge, claiming that Margarito had to win a few big fights and establish a reputation for himself before such an event could become reality.

Exactly two months ago this very day, following Mayweather's come back win over Marquez, Mosley was in the ring with Mayweather during his post-fight interview with Max Kellerman and he also confronted Mayweather in front of thousands in attendance as well as 1.6 million PPV television viewers. Mayweather, in a defensive manner, hastily replied, "I don't come up here and interrupt you when you're doing your interview. Don't disrespect me. Respect me as a man."

Taking those hypocritical responses into consideration, how exactly will Pacquiao be any more successful in landing a fight with Money May, by categorically stating that he is eager to face Floyd Mayweather, whereas an identical approach failed for both Margarito and Mosley? Hypocrisy at its finest, ladies and gentlemen. As of Monday afternoon, there were reports in the Manilla Times that Pacquiao was fully aware of Mayweather's request that he express an interest in fighting him. Pacquiao called Mayweather's bluff, as he declared, "OK, let's do it."

Pacquiao once again articulated his interest in facing Mayweather, when interviewed by Cher Calvin of KTLA, as you can also see for yourself in the following video.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who represents Pacquiao, has expressed his willingness to enter negotiations amidst his ongoing feud and soured relationship with the undefeated braggart. Arum admitted, “Maybe I prefer not to deal with him, but if your fighter wants a fight, you deal. Mayweather is not one of my favorite people, and I’m sure I’m not one of his. What difference does that make?” USA Today also reported on Monday that Mayweather would enter negotiations within 24 hours of Pacquiao's agreement to face him.

What exactly is the status of the negotiation process for Pacquiao vs. Mayweather at this time? According to Ben Thompson of Fighthype.com, Mayweather is already considering fights with Matthew Hatton (brother of Ricky), Dimitry Salita, and Carlos Quintana (whom Paul Williams knocked out in less than a round last year). Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Salita have a fight coming up with WBA super lightweight champion Amir Khan? Isn't Quintana penciled in for a meeting with former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey on December 5 in Atlantic City, on the under of Williams vs. Martinez?

When questioned by a member of the media about a possible meeting with Mosley at the post-fight press conference following the Marquez fight, Mayweather replied, "Mosley has a fight scheduled. He should be in training right now." That being the case, why is Mayweather wasting his time considering other opponents who also have fights scheduled on the horizon? More importantly why are those options not Manny Pacquiao, less than 24 hours after both parties agreed to come together in good faith to produce the showdown that the world is clamouring to see? One can only hope that this is a petty ploy on behalf of Mayweather to gain greater leverage at the bargaining table for the Pacquiao fight.

Earlier this year, you may recall a post I published on this website, questioning Mayweather's willingness to face Pacquiao when the time came for the two superstars to meet in a big showdown to determine boxing's best pound for pound competitor. During that period of time, many may have felt as though I was being too critical of the former pound for pound king. Noticing the sequence of events that have unfolded over the past four days, perhaps the question once again resurfaces. Is Floyd Mayweather, Jr going to avoid a fight with Manny Pacquiao?

Boxingchronicles.com will continue to follow this story as it develops.

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Pacquiao sensational in 12th round stoppage of Cotto!

Last Saturday night Boxingchronicles.com was once again on hand at Miami Mike's Sports Zone in East Hanover, NJ, when pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao scored a 12th round TKO over defending champion Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV to claim the WBO welterweight title. Pacquiao's triumph could best be described as historic, as the pride of the Philippines has risen from 110lbs, and has now become a volatile force to be reckoned with in the welterweight division.

Criticism that Pacquiao is a little lightweight who can not take a powerful welterweight punch has been dispelled. In the first round, Cotto was able to keep Pacquiao at bay with his jab and land a number of telling blows that had the Pacquiao contingent concerned. From the second round on, Pacquiao turned up the tempo and began to find his punching range as he settled into a rhythm.

Pacquiao scored a flash knockdown of Cotto with a right hand in round three, but Cotto was not seriously hurt. In fact, Cotto seemed to be winning the fourth round, when Pacquiao stunned him with a left uppercut with only ten seconds remaining in the round. From that point forward, Pacquiao proceeded to gradually wear the Puerto Rican down with brutal power shots, particularly when he had Cotto on the ropes.

By the eighth round, it was apparent that the bloodied and battered Cotto had put forth a courageous effort, but at that time he was in complete retreat and trying his best to play out the clock and survive until the final bell. Pacquiao reigned a series of explosive flurries on his beaten foe in the twelfth and final round, prompting referee Jay Nady to call a hault to the contest 0:55 seconds into the round. With the monumental win, Pacquiao picks up his seventh world title.

The attention of the boxing world now turns to the long awaited clash between Pacquiao and undefeated Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

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Hopkins faces Ornelas on December 2; televised on VERSUS!

Press Release: PHILADELPHIA, PA - Long synonymous with the fighting city of Philadelphia, future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins' remarkable career will continue in his hometown on Wednesday, December 2, when "The Executioner," who will be fighting in Philly for the first time since 2003, faces hard-hitting Enrique Ornelas at theLiacouras Center at Temple University. The 12-round light heavyweight bout will be televised live on VERSUS, the fastest growing sports cable network in the country, at 8 p.m. ET.

In addition to fighting for his fans, Hopkins will be fighting for charity as he has committed to donating one dollar from each ticket sold to three select charities. Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Philadelphia & Susquehanna Valley, to which Hopkins will donate in memory of Shaun Negler, one of his biggest fans, whose last wish was to attend Hopkins' fight against Joe Calzaghe before succumbing to brain cancer in late 2008 at the age of 18, will be one beneficiary. The second recipient of the fight's proceeds will be The Hero Thrill Show, an annual day of events designed to raise money for the education of relatives of deceased police and fire personnel killed in the line of duty while protecting Philadelphia. Finally, one dollar will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. in memory of Hopkins' deceased mother Shirley who suffered from breast cancer and in recognition of all those who are currently battling the disease.

"I'm thrilled about the opportunity to once again bring a fight to the city of Philadelphia," said Hopkins, the former middleweight champion who owns a perfect 10-0 record in Philly. "A lot has changed in my career since I fought here six years ago and I want to give my fans the chance to see me fight again at home. To top it off, a portion of the proceeds from this fight will go to three charities that are extremely important to me. December 2 is going to be a great night for boxing and a great night for Philadelphia."

"Fighting Bernard Hopkins is an honor and I thank him for the opportunity," said Ornelas. "But once the bell rings, I'm going to do everything in my power to beat him and show the world what I can do when the spotlight is shining brightest."

"Broad Street Brawl": Hopkins vs. Ornelas is presented by Golden Boy Promotions East and will be televised live on VERSUS beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the first bell rings at 6 p.m. ET.

Tickets, priced at $200, $100, $75, $50 and $25, will go on sale on Thursday, October 15 at 10 a.m. ET exclusively through ComcastTIX on line at ComcastTIX.com, by calling 1-800-298-4200 or in person at the Liacouras Center box office.

A man who needs no introduction to fight fans, Philadelphia native Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KO's) already assured himself a spot in the boxing Hall of Fame with his more than 10-year reign as champion atop the middleweight division with a record 20 successful title defenses. Never one to rest on his laurels, in 2006 Hopkins moved up in weight and recorded a huge win over Antonio Tarver to win the light heavyweight title. With his subsequent win over Winky Wright and his destruction of the younger and then undefeated Kelly Pavlik in his most recent bout in October of 2008, Hopkins is showing the world that life begins at 40. Now 44 years young, Hopkins is back in action and eager to continue to show the young guns how it's done.

Hard-hitting, Enrique Ornelas (29-5, 19 KO's) has emerged from the shadow of his older brother, super middleweight contender Librado Andrade, and carved out his own niche in the fight game with his aggressive style and fight-ending power. Fresh off of a fourth round stoppage of Roberto Baro in July, the 29-year-old Los Angeles based native of Jesus Del Monte, Guanajuato Mexico is eager to put his mark in the history books by becoming one of the few fighters to own a win over Bernard Hopkins.

Despite being home to such legendary fighters such as "Smokin" Joe Frazier, Matthew Saad Muhammad, Meldrick "The Kid" Taylor, Jeff Chandler and Tommy Loughran, Philadelphia may be known to fight fans mainly for the great middleweights it has produced over the years, including Bernard Hopkins, Bennie Briscoe, Willie 'The Worm' Monroe and Bobby "Boogaloo" Watts. These 160-pound warriors made their names in such storied venues as the Blue Horizon and the Spectrum and with their never surrender attitude in the ring, they let the world know just what it meant to be a "Philly Fighter". Hopkins is modern day Philadelphia boxing's link to that tradition and will look to prove it on December 2 in front of his hometown fans in what could be his last fight in the City of Brotherly Love.

A full slate of exciting undercard bouts will be announced shortly.

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Diaz vs. Malignaggi December 12 rematch close to a done deal!

Boxingchronicles.com has been informed that Diaz vs. Malignaggi is very close to being a done deal. While the fight is not yet officially set, it has been determined that the agreed upon weight is 139lbs, the date will be December 12, and the fight will be televised on HBO.

In terms of venues at which the rematch will take place, it comes down to Las Vegas, NV and Chicago, IL. Should both parties agree to have the fight in a neutral location, they'd be better served to put it in Chicago.

Las Vegas is probably a little too close to Houston to suit the comfort of Team Malignaggi. According to reliable sources, Team Malignaggi is waiting on a signed contract from the Diaz camp. Stay tuned for more to follow.

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Can Taylor spoil Abraham's debut at super middleweight?

Over two years ago, Jermain Taylor was the undisputed middleweight champion of the world enjoying his lofty status in the top ten of most pound for pound ratings.  All of accolades would come to a crashing halt in the 7th round of his title defense against Kelly Pavlik at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, when he was beaten the canvas by Pavlik and mercifully saved by the referee. 

Since the knockout loss to Pavlik, Taylor has gone 0-2 in his last couple of fights, including a dramatic knockout loss to WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch in the final seconds of his last fight in April. Tayler, ahead on the judges scorecards, was merely seconds away from victory before it was painfully snatched away from him. Funny how such a scenario could literally be taken as déjà vu, as yours truly recalls another memorable fight with a shockingly similar conclusion, involving another fellow named [Meldrick] Taylor. Leading on two of the official ringside judge's scorecards, Meldrick was also knocked out by the great Mexican champion Julio Cesar Chavez in the closing seconds of their classic title fight in March of 1990! 

This Saturday night at the O2 World Arena, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany, Taylor will attempt to revive his career when he takes on undefeated former IBF middleweight champion King Arthur Abraham who is making his debut in the super middleweight division. Abraham vs. Taylor is one of the opening bouts, in a series of intriguing matchups that will be taking place in Showtime's Super Six Classic tournament. The tournament is intended to match the best super middleweight titlists and contenders against one another, in what will hopefully produce the universally recognized super middleweight champion of the world - the first since Joe Calzaghe defeated Mikkell Kessler for the distinction back in November of 2007.

Abraham had been a middleweight titlist for nearly four years, winning the vacant IBF title belt with a fifth round knockout of Kingsley Ikeke in December of 2005.  Since winning the title, Abraham has scored a series of title defenses against the likes of Kofi Jantuah, Edison Miranda, and Lujuan Simon.  In the last two years, three of Abraham's victories have been stoppages that occurred in the final three rounds [KO 11 Khoren Gevor; KO12 Elvin Ayala (brutal); TKO 10 Mahir Oral in his last fight].

 Following the announcement of the Super Six Classic, as well as the contenders who were to be involved, this reporter did not view Taylor as worthy candidate.  Cynics had endlessly criticized Taylor for his performances throughout his title reign, in his title winning effort over Bernard Hopkins as well as his less than stellar title defenses, claiming that he failed to live up to the tradition of great middleweight champions before him.

What many had dismissed was the notion that he faced his two biggest threats immediately upon winning the title, which happened to be Hopkins in a rematch and Wright immediately following.  What remains in question is how successfully the battle-tested Taylor will be able to perform, following two devastating knockout defeats, when entering the much anticipated and highly competitive super middleweight tournament.

Such statistics are sure to pose a concern to Team Taylor, realizing that their charge has shown a tendency to tire in the late rounds. While Abraham is favored to defeat Taylor on Saturday night, one can not deny that Taylor has faced far more credible opposition in Pavlik, Hopkins, Wright, and Cory Spinks.  One can not count Taylor out, not in this fight or the tournament in general, as he may very well be the Super Six Classic's dark horse.  Taylor has faced the best opposition of all the candidates, but he has also taken the most punishment and suffered the most humiliating experiences of all of them as well. 

There are many questions to be asked:  Can Abraham carry his punching power up with him eight pounds north of his previous weight class? How much does Taylor have left following the knockout loss to Froch?  Have the knock out losses to both Pavlik and Froch taken a toll on Taylor psychologically as well as physically?  Such questions will be answered on Saturday night when these two fighters meet in Germany on Showtime Championship Boxing. 

Logic tells this reporter that Abraham should be able to break Taylor down in the later rounds, as he has done against previous opponents, after experiencing some nervous moments of his own in the early rounds.  A precise prediction is soon to follow.

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Salgado stops Linares in first round; scores upset to win title!

Juan Carlos Salgado TKO1 Jorge Linares...Over the weekend in Tokyo, Japan, Juan Carlos Salgado won the WBA super featherweight championship, upsetting the previously unbeaten Jorge Linares by way of a first round technical knockout. Salgado dropped Linares with a quick left-right combination less than a minute into the round. Linares seemed to hit his head as he fell to the canvas from the first knockdown, which discombobulated him when he rose to his feet and beat the initial eight count. As the action resumed, Salgado wasted no time as he sprinted across the ring and fiercely attacked Linares, prompting the referee to stop the contest 1:13 into the first round.

Such a loss spells devastation early in the career of Linares, who joins Amir Khan and Victor Ortiz in the latest of young fighters who have suffered disappointing upset losses by way of stoppage. Perhaps what is most unfortunate about this defeat is the fact that this was Linares' Golden Boy Promotions debut, as the 24 year old was recently the latest of a series of prize fighters to sign with the promotional power house.

Linares had been showing promise as a young titlist and rising young star in the game, ever since his 10th round TKO of Oscar Larios in July of 2007. Where Linares goes from here, and how well he is able to rebound, remains to be seen. Possibly with careful matchmaking and an ability to learn from this set back, Linares will be able to fight his way back into contention and garner another title shot down the road. Others have lost fights in a similar fashion and have been able to climb back into contention to win world titles.

Khan, the current WBA super lightweight champion who was stopped in 52 seconds by the power punching Columbian Breidis Prescott in September of 2008, has since been able to sustain a successful return to prominence under the tutelage of trainer Freddie Roach. Khan scored a five round technical decision over Marco Antonio Barrera last March, further adding to the foundation of that win by securing his first world title with an impressive unanimous decision over Andriy Kotelnik this past July in Manchester.

Years ago super bantamweight Oscar Larios was hurt and stopped in similar fashion when he fought Israel Vasquez, who is currently one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport of boxing. A few years later, Larios and Vasquez would have a rematch in which Larios exacted revenge by beating up Vasquez and stopping him in the 12th and final round of a sensational fight that was televised on ESPN Friday Night Fights. Therefore anything is possible in rematches, should a rematch between Salgado and Linares materialize in the future. After all, it was not as if Salgado issued an extended beating to Linares or even knocked him out in brutal fashion.

This was a case of Linares being caught cold and stopped early. What remains to be seen is how well Linares is able to recover from such a loss, moreso mentally than physically.

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Clottey set to face Quintana on December 5!

Former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey finally has an opponent for his December 5 bout.  In the HBO televised opening bout  to the Pavlik vs. Williams middleweight title fight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Clottey will face Former WBO welterweight champion Carlos Quintana in a battle of former welterweight champions.  Quintana is best known for his upset unanimous decision victory over Paul Williams in February of 2008 to win the title, but Williams would knock Quintana out in the first round of their June 2008 rematch to reclaim to it.  Clottey two biggest fights to date have come in title challenges against former two time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito and WBO welterweight Miguel Cotto.  Clottey dropped close decisions in both  fights.

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Floyd Mayweather Jr: "God doesn't want me to lose."

As you're content to renounce your two most credible tests, while sporting a record of 40-0, you have nothing to worry about in terms of losing - inside the ring.

Floyd Mayweather confirmed in yesterday's interview with David Skretta of the Associated Press, that he is not going to wait around for the winner of the November 14 Pacquiao vs. Cotto mega fight, nor is he interested in challenging welterweight champion Shane Mosley. Mayweather returned to the ring last month, scoring a lopsided unanimous decision over lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Mayweather proceeded to tell the Associated Press, “I sit back and think sometimes, God doesn’t want me to lose.”

Mayweather is reluctant to face the two or three of the top contenders currently campaigning in his weight class. Taking that fact into account, Money May's most critcal yet logical detractors will continue to question why he chose to return to the ring for any motive that excludes monetary compensation.

On numerous occasions, Mayweather was quoted in saying that he's the face of boxing, he is the cash cow, and he is his own boss who can call his own shots on who he elects to fight. Additionally he claims that he continues to fight for the love of the sport. He continues to fight because he wants to; not because he has to. Given such passionate implications, what exactly prevents the undefeated, former pound for pound best fighter in the world from solidifying the super fights that can further cement his legacy as an all-time great?

Assuming Mayweather does in fact control his own business endeavors [being his own boss, as he often likes to boast], fights with Mosley and Pacquiao should be relatively easy to make based on the sincere self-proclamations that he, not anybody else in the sport, is the face of boxing. Given his love for the sport and his firm belief that he is greatest fighter of all time, one would think he has more than enough internal devotion to prove such greatness against the world’s best.

During his interview with the Associated Press, Mayweather elaborated, "“I wonder, 20 years from now, what are they going to say?” “What are my grandchildren going to say?” Perhaps it was his advisor and confidant, Leonard Ellerbe, who had the best answer to those questions. “Once you reach this level that Floyd’s at, he’s hands down the best." Ellerbe continued, “Can you just imagine if boxing was a mainstream sport, and we had the same opportunities that the NBA does, that the PGA Tour does? When you look at Floyd, he can generate $30 million or $40 million or $50 million in one night, and that’s just plying his craft.”

While Mayweather's undefeated professional boxing record is still intact, and his penchant for generating record high PPV revenue remains unscathed, there are sure to be historians twenty years from now who will question his inclination to face the best available opposition anywhere north of the super lightweight division.

Earlier in his career, young Mayweather appeared more than willing to square off with the best fighters available. At the weight limit of 130lbs, Mayweather defeated Genaro Hernandez and Angel Manfredy. He took on Hernandez based on the face that many viewed Hernandez as the best at 130lbs. Following Manfredy's win over Gatti, he too had emerged as one of the best fighters in the world at 130lbs, so Mayweather fought him and scored a 2nd round TKO. At this point, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Mayweather was the best fighter in the world in that weight class. Upon entering the lightweight ranks Mayweather fought the champion Jose Luis Castillo in what was his debut fight at that weight class, twice defeating the tough Mexican in consecutive bouts.

Once Mayweather arrived at the 140lb weight limit, his tendency to face perceived threats would gradually begin to dwindle. Rather than face Miguel Cotto or Ricky Hatton at 140lbs, Mayweather chose to fight DeMarcus Corley, Henry Bruselles, and Arturo Gatti (God rest his soul). Later in his career, from welterweight to super welterweight, Mayweather's biggest wins would come against Zab Judah, Carlos Baldomir, Oscar De la hoya, and Ricky Hatton who was coming up in weight from 140lbs.

In the golden era of boxing back in the 1980s, when rivals such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran, and Marvin Hagler were actively competing, fans were consistently treated to the spectacle of exciting, highly anticipated showdowns between these warriors. These fights did not only take place for the millions of dollars earned, but because each fighter was determined to prove to himself, given his own respective level of pride, that he was the very best in a group of proud, evenly-matched competitors.

Let's fast forward to the present day, shall we? In the last two years, this reporter has seen several fights between the elite world-class welterweights [which happens to be Mayweather’s weight class]. Allow yours truly to name a few of those fights. Margarito vs. Williams. Cotto vs. Mosley. Cotto vs. Margarito. Margarito vs. Mosley. Cotto vs. Clottey. On November 14, Pacquiao will be facing Cotto. There is one fighter whose name does not appear in any of those matches. Can you guess who it is?

While Mayweather was accurate in his statement to ESPN's Brian Kenny that all of these guys are fighting each other but nobody has ever beaten him, he fails to acknowledge that they are beating each other up because they are proving their willingness to face one another!

Following Hatton's publicly televised challenge to Mayweather after his win over Castillo in 2007, Mayweather quickly answered Hatton's call and made a fight with Hatton. Soon after Marquez pursued the retired Mayweather following his win over Juan Diaz earlier this year, Mayweather came out of his extended retirement to face the lightweight champion of the world at a catch weight of 144lbs. Mosley, the welterweight champion, approaches Mayweather about the prospects of putting together a fight with him that the fans want to see, yet Mayweather is not interested? There lies an inconsistent pattern of behavior on the part of Mayweather.

Boxing fans will not have to worry for much longer, as Pacquiao who is currently the pound for pound king at Boxingchronicles.com would be happy to oblige Mosley, should he emerge victorious against Cotto. Both of their promoters, Golden Boy and Top Rank respectively, have ironed out their fundamental differences and would appear to have the capacity to put together such a match up. 

What makes matters even easier is when the promoters are fortunate enough to have two foes who are more than eager to face one another, as it takes two to tango.  That is the reason why the consensus rate Pacquiao as the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Such a designation has even been approved by none other than Money May himself. According to an article on GMANEWS.TV, Mayweather was quoted as saying, “Pacquiao can be called the best pound-for-pound, you can just call me the cash king. You know stats don’t lie. I don’t fight for bragging rights, I fight for checks!"

Message to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

At the end of the day, Mr. Money May, you’re right. God probably does not want to see you lose. Not in the square ring, or life in general. After all, does God really care to see anybody lose? Is our God a vengeful God? This reporter doubts as much, but winning and losing are necessary facets of life. People in this world can not have one without the other. However, it is quite likely that God wants to see you make the most of your ability in your craft. God may or may not want to see you lose, but God does want you to learn a lesson just as well as anybody else. We fall so we can learn to pick ourselves up, but such a lesson can never be determined if one renounces the most legitimate tests within his craft. Greatness is not necessarily measured by one’s ability to remain unbeaten, but the degree to which one rebounds following adversity.

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