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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

UFC's White Man tells truth, MMA may knock out Floyd Mayweather Jr.


I carry no brief for UFC bossman Dana White or his so called sport.

Yeah, I know I am old fogey who goes out for those Early Bird dinners and plays shuffleboard with blue hair ladies of a certain age.

I prefer curling, either on ice or in a hairdressing salon, to MMA. It's not a real manly sport like mmy beloved golf.

Send your hate screeds and other rips to mlcmarley@waitingtodie.com.

Let’s get past that.

The White Man, as I call the outspoken Bostonian, is 1000 percent right in saying that the Sept. 19 Juan Manuel Marquez-Floyd Mayweather Jr. PPV bout in Las Vegas is not a “big fight.”

I got nearly 18,000 emails on the hot button issue of whether Manny Pacquiao should be fighting for the WBO welterweight title on Nov. 14. One gentleman named M. Guzman, who has a Filipino social group and a website called Greatpinoy.com, informed he had 6,000 members ready to “Mannycot” the Bob Arum promoted bout if it was not for the title belt.

I don’t think Mayweather, who is an exquisite talent, has 6,000 fans on the planet.

He may he some on Uranus, I can’t be sure and I hesitate to look.

Sure, the White Man is chopping up Marquez-Mayweather for selfish reasons. He has a show the same night and is fearlessly going head to head with Pretty Boy and the Mexican count puncher.

On the same night, the UFC 103 show rolls in Dallas and if guys named Swick and Kampmann draw more live viewers and TV eyeballs than Mayweather and Marquez do, boxing will be bleeding and bleeding bad.

White has not played his TV card yet, meaning there's been no indication if he will put the American Airlines Arena show on regular cable or bang heads with boxing on PPV. If White puts his show on Spike, many people will opt for the Juan Ma-Mayweather "free replay" on HBO and keep half a hundred in their battered pockets.

New flash for L'il Floyd: although you claim UFC is only for honkies, crackers, ofays and Whitey Bulger types, the key color in the viewers choice on 9/19 will be green as in saving or spending green.

If boxing and MMA go head to head on PPV, that might be Armageddon.

I will have to check with TV genius Brian Ricco, the former Showtime brain, on this.

But whether he’s selfish or just a shellfish, it doesn’t matter.

Whitey speaks the truth here because, while I am interested to see if Midget Marquez can be competitive against the jab and dash tactics of a rusty Money Must Pay IRS, it is in no way, shape or form a big fight by any measurement.

It’s not a hot ticket, nobody’s talking about it except for some Maynuthuggers and there is no way in hell it will deliver the mayhem of Pacman against Cotto.

On this topic, the White Man is the right man.

Ask your neighborhood scalper how Marquez-Mayweather tickets are moving and he will laugh at you.

The only way the Golden Boys will have a sellout is to buy thousands of ticket themselves.

This was a stupid match and whoever came up with the idea first should be embarrassed.

It’s two great ring talents in a match that will never get hot.

I don’t necessarily see Sept. 19 as the ultimate confrontation between boxing and MMA. I just don’t buy into the idea that MMA is going to put boxing out of business any time soon.

But the White Man does not speak with forked tongue.

The selling of this match is pathetic.

Latest example is Mayweather turning up in massive UK tabloid, The Sun, today saying he left Ricky Hatton as a mere shell of himself and that’s the reason Pacman feasted on the plucky Mancunian.

Isn’t this backward, folks? Why is Mayweather chatting to the press about a guy he fought rather than his upcoming opponent

I guess the ready answer is, to use an Arum expression, that “nobody cares” about JMM-PBF in England.

I won’t say “nobody cares” in the USA but you could fit the number of people who are stimulated by this event into a thimble.

Marquez comes off a scintillating, and it was, victory over Juan Diaz. They are trying to rehabilitate Diaz with a bout next month against Paulie Malignaggi.

Come to think of it, Malignaggi and Mayweather have something in common now.

All they both talk about is a physical wreck named Hatton.

White is driving forward, both feet hammering the gas pedal.

Mayweather is occupied with his rear view mirror.

Wake up, Floyd, it may not be too late, the sport you save may be your own.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-5699-NY-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m7d29-UFCs-White-Man-tells-truth-MMA-may-knock-out-Floyd-Mayweather-Jr

Forget Manny, I finished Hatton


FLOYD MAYWEATHER JNR claims he is the man who effectively ended Ricky Hatton's career.

Hatton's unbeaten record bit the dust when Mayweather KO'd him in December 2007.

The Hitman bounced back from his first defeat by recording victories against Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi before Manny Pacquiao destroyed him inside two rounds.

But Mayweather reckons Hatton, who is still weighing up his future, was finished the day he stepped in the ring with him in Las Vegas.

Money said: "Ricky fought everyone. Until he came up against me, he'd reached the highest plateau in boxing — and then he failed.

"But it's OK because at least Ricky tried.

"In life, you need to take the big risks to know who you are."

Hatton's younger brother Matthew will appear on the undercard of Mayweather's comeback fight against Juan Manuel Marquez in September.

And Mayweather insists there is no bad blood between him and the Mancunian.

He added: "I don't think he holds a grudge against me for effectively ending his brother's career."

* For the full interview with Floyd Mayweather Jnr, pick up a copy of the September issue of FHM, available from Thursday.

Nostradamus - Interview with Freddie Roach Pt. II (Roach on Pacquiao vs Mayweather and More!)

This is a continuation of an interview with boxing’s legendary trainer (See link at bottom for Part One), Freddie Roach that took place in the WildCard gym, Hollywood, California
, July 23 and 24. Previously, Freddie had predicted the results of upcoming fights and gave us his P4P picks. Not afraid of looking around the corner, Freddie dissects a possible 2010 super mega fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the P4P champ, Manny Pacquiao.

David T. - Fred you have already predicted that Floyd Mayweather Jr. and your Ninja, Manny Pacquiao would win their next fights. Would you like to discuss a possible Mayweather/ Pacquiao super-mega fight?

Freddie Roach – Dave, everywhere I go that’s all that I am asked, when will Manny fight Mayweather?

DT – Kayo?

FR – Easily. He presents no problem for Manny. He is too small and fragile for Manny. He doesn’t have the skills to hurt my fighter. Manny will break him apart before he knocks him out.

DT – What exactly do you mean by “break him apart.”

FR – The key to beating Mayweather is literally beat him up. You take what you can get. He is elusive but he can’t move his body. He is very quick with head movement. You break his body down, he has bad hands, bad ribs, bad knee and he’s had rotator cuff surgery. This is not a guess it’s the facts, period.

DT – He has won all of his fights and maybe the best two wins were against Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton…..

FR – Dave, hold it there for a moment. I question that ….I think below 140 lbs. he was great and anything above that has been problems. Let’s face it, the De La Hoya fight was at least a draw. Mayweather looked very sluggish. Same with Hatton at 147 lbs. After six rounds Ricky was ahead and then Mayweather took over and won the fight.

DT – The point being?

FR – Look what Manny did to both De La Hoya and Hatton. His victories looked very easy. Mayweather struggled and Manny blitzed through both opponents. You can’t say either fighter was over the hill or a shot fighter. These were the same two opponents that gave Mayweather fits especially early in the fight. Marquez is a very clever opponent that will give Mayweather a tussle. Even though I pick Mayweather to win the fight, it would not surprise me if Marquez won. After all, Mayweather has been off for two years.

DT – So Manny will apply pressure and never let up?

FR – Now you’re beginning to see what will happen in the fight. That’s exactly why Mayweather will be, an easier opponent than Cotto or Mosley or even Marquez. Manny will be applying pressure from the beginning and never let up. He will use both hands and he is certainly the faster fighter. The difference will come in the middle of the fight. Manny is continuing to throw shots from all angles and Mayweather will feel the Kayo.

DT – How did you turn Manny into the best fighter in the sport today?

FR – With a ton of hard work. He now has lots of confidence and by that I mean he is not afraid to stand “toe to toe” without backing out of an exchange. Hard to believe but he now hits just as hard with the right hand as he does with his left hand.

DT – Any weaknesses on Manny’s part?

FR – Not really. He used to rely solely on the left but he will not revert back to his old habits.

DT – If you were Mayweather’s trainer, what advice would you give Floyd against Pacman?

FR – Don’t take this fight! Even though this is the fight that all boxing fans want to see, it would not surprise me to see Mayweather fight Mosley instead of Manny. Why fight a guy you can’t possibly beat?

DT – Anything else?

FR – Manny will be here next week. We can talk then. I would like to say one more thing about the “Pay for View” fights.

DT- Go ahead.

FR – I would like to thank all the fans who support boxing by paying their hard earned cash to purchase these fights. We are all aware that we live in tough economic times and boxing is just one of many venues out there vying for the fans to spend money. Also, I and the crew at WildCard have received a lot of positive feedback from the fans. I would like to thank them for their kind words of support.

Thank you Freddie for giving us such an insightful interview. Good luck with Manny and Amir in their upcoming fights.

Source: http://www.doghouseboxing.com/DHB/Tyler072909.htm

What if UFC decides to launch heavy artillery at Mayweather-Marquez?


Not ten minutes after I posted this article, the Los Angeles Times reported that Fedor will be announced as signed by the UFC on Friday. This could be more real than I expected:

A long-awaited agreement between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the man considered the world's best mixed martial arts fighter, Fedor Emelianenko, is expected to be announced by UFC President Dana White on Friday, a source with information about the negotiations told The Times today.

The source, who asked not to be identified because he's not authorized to speak publicly about the dealings, called negotiations between the UFC and Fedor "very civil" just days after Fedor's scheduled Affliction Trilogy fight Saturday against Josh Barnett was canceled.

* * * * * * * * * *

MMA superstar Fedor Emelianenko will hold a press conference on Wednesday in Anaheim to discuss his future in the wake of Affliction's death as an MMA fight promoter, and the cancellation of his proposed August superfight with Josh Barnett. If UFC signs Fedor -- who is considered the #1 heavyweight by everyone in the world except the UFC, officially -- and, say, puts him at UFC 103 against Brock Lesnar, then Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez will have a serious problem selling their fight. UFC 103 and Mayweather-Marquez both fall on September 19, and it would not remotely surprise me if Dana White tries to load up that card to embarrass Mayweather at the bank, which is really Mayweather's own fault for being so dumb lately.

This is all total "what if?" on my part admittedly, but Dana's that kind of "go for the jugular" promoter, which has been a part of what's made him so successful. Fedor is no lock to go to UFC no matter what, since his manager Vadim Finkelstein is (as Bloody Elbow puts it) something of a Russian Don King who is demanding that the world's biggest MMA promotion "co-promote" Fedor fights with M-1 Global. There have been other sticking points in past negotiations, too, including Fedor's genuine love of participating in sambo tournaments. I don't even actually expect a Fedor-UFC deal to get done, just as an observer, at least not right now.

But for the sake of argument: If Lesnar-Fedor went head-to-head with Mayweather-Marquez, the boxing show would get slaughtered. UFC is doing huge business these days, including a reported over 1.5 million buys for UFC 100 in July. If we assume Mayweather-Marquez might cut into their audience a tiny bit, a low-end estimate might be 850,000 buys for that show. Assuming UFC cut into the boxing PPV (which is more likely), who's going to buy the Mayweather show? The Mexican audience is an incredibly loyal PPV demographic, and Marquez currently stands as the king of the Mexican fighters, plus it's on the weekend of Mexican Independence Day, which will help. But there's only so many Mexican fans that are going to buy the show. The promotion relies heavily on them as it is.

This would be the test of Mayweather's drawing power to end all tests. If he could even compete with that hypothetical UFC show, it'd be huge at the bargaining table. If he can't, who's he going to blame? He's the star, he says, and he's the lead promoter, too. I wouldn't be stunned in this scenario to see Mayweather pull up with another injury. It's impossible to verify, but a lot of the swirling winds around the postponement that put them on September 19 said that tickets weren't moving too well and the buzz wasn't there, rather than the rib injury to Floyd that served as the official reasoning.

I'm starting to find the potential business of Mayweather-Marquez to be more intriguing than I am the fight itself, and I'm pretty interested in seeing JMM try to beat Floyd, personally. Mayweather has talked so big about being The Man at the box office. A lot of folks believe that it was Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton drawing the houses and the buys for Mayweather's two biggest fights, and they have their reasons to think that. Absolutely Oscar was the superstar that drew for the first fight; it was "The Golden Boy" trying to dethrone the unbeaten pound-for-pound king. But as much as I think Mayweather is overestimating his own star power, Floyd is surely a bigger star now than he was before then, and part of that is his own hard work building a character, essentially. HBO's "24/7" gave him opportunities he never had before, and he ran with them. Mayweather-Hatton was a feather in the cap for both of those fighters, I believe.

But now you have Marquez, a great fighter and a star, but not a mega star, and there are a lot of people that just think the fight either won't be very good or won't even be close, some of whom see this as Mayweather taking a "gimme" fight against a smaller man and ducking stiffer challenges like Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto.

A lot of times it's easy to make a fair guess at what kind of business a fight will do. The last two boxing megafights -- Oscar-Manny and Manny-Hatton -- weren't too hard. I was fairly close in my estimate for both fights' PPV business. But Mayweather-Marquez is a mystery right now, and a potentially huge UFC show (perhaps driven by Dana White going out of his way to grind an ax against Mayweather) could really throw it for a loop.

Source: http://www.badlefthook.com/2009/7/28/966700/what-if-ufc-decides-to-launch

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Defending the Floyd Mayweather Jr "Chip"


It’s no secret that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is both the most beloved and hated character in professional boxing today. If you were to ask Floyd whether this distinction was acceptable or even relevant in his life, I would imagine that he would relish in his detractors hatred and bask in their ignorance. The reason I say ignorance is because no matter what side of the fence you tend to stand on in reference to Mayweather Jr. and his career, one thing is clear and that is that the man in a phenomenon. He can box your ears off, and he can back up everything he says. When a fighter has that much clout they tend to become a target. Fans cry foul because anyone you put in front of the man basically gets demolished. Love him or hate him, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is undefeated and he’s willing to make sure you remember that fact. Sometimes when a boxer is truly the best out there everyone resents him. Floyd Mayweather Jr. falls into this category unfortunately.

I’ll be honest with you here; I didn’t used to like Floyd for that very same reason. Fighters that I was a fan of and liked would get crushed under his leather in the ring. At first I couldn’t help but dislike him, but he represented everything that is actually great about professional boxing, and I came to realize that the only reason I didn’t like him as a fighter is because he beat all the fighters I liked. I disliked Oscar De La Hoya for the same reason, but with time and insight, and a true love for the sport of boxing, I realized that Floyd, much like De La Hoya, were just men doing their job and doing it proficiently, amazingly, and most importantly far better than the boxers who I admired. You have to swallow your pride and call it like you see it. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is one of the best fighters if not the best fighter of our generation. There is no question that he is the number one Pound-For-Pound fighter out there.

I agree with Mayweather and his having a “chip” on his shoulder and I’m going to tell you why. He has every right to have one. He’s stated that he no longer fights for bragging rights and he has a point. There is basically nothing left for Floyd to prove in the ring. He could drift off into the sunset still very young and very rich without a care in the world and a bank account that is overflowing. But that wouldn’t be fair to Floyd the boxer and it wouldn’t be fair to the fans who need to witness his brilliance in the ring once more. I admire and respect Floyd Mayweather Jr. for his boxing prowess and his defense of not only his career but the legend that he has built in its wake. I have read on message boards from fans that his fights are boring, which is a ridiculous assumption. It’s just that his skill level is so incredible and that the critics watching his bouts are so ill-versed and unknowledgeable about boxing that when any type of skill or mastery is displayed in the ring they find it boring.

You can’t help but tune into a Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. His numbers and earnings over the year prove it. Even when someone who doesn’t like the fighter knows he has a fight coming up they’ll be sure to watch it. Deny him as you must, but Mayweather Jr. has to be one of the most accomplished and intelligent boxers of our generation that’s still in action today. He speaks his mind and gives fans a performance in the ring and we criticize him for it, which to me is a little selfish and discourteous. And I agree with him also about his comments about the UFC. I’ve actually been saying that for years about the UFC. Truth be told, they are unskilled and look ridiculous dry humping one another for 20 minutes. Boxing takes true discipline and true talent, not clown colored hair and a few lucky shots placed here and there. And you can quote me on that, I’ll always defend boxing and its fighters. Just remember that without boxing there would be no UFC. That’s enough on that circus; don’t want to give them any more press as it is.

Back to Mayweather. He has every right to have an enormous “chip” on his shoulder, and I’ve been watching his verbal sparring online with Brian Kenny which I find not only hilarious but entirely true from the angle of Floyd. He’s honest in what he says and he’s right, there are always excuses made by the press and media in regard to certain fights and who fights who. One guy fights another guy and they call the victor brilliant. But another fighter fights that very same guy and beats him and maybe they call the loser old, or past his prime. Judgments are passed down so frequently and persistently by writers who don’t really know boxing. Floyd Mayweather made an excellent point when he told Kenny that he doesn’t know anything about boxing, in a way he’s right. I have nothing against sports commentators but who are they, or we for that matter, any of us, to tell a fighter who he must fight or how well he did in our eyes? What right do we have? Isn’t that almost like trying to be somewhat elitist and talking out of your ass about something you haven’t experienced yourself? I think it is.

So if Floyd or any of his people are reading this, I support you man and everything you do in the ring. You made me a believer a long time ago, but I have to be honest here and tell you that I will be rooting for Marquez in your fight with him. I’ve been a fan of Marquez for awhile, and I wrote an article a few years back saying that I thought Marquez beat Pacquiao as well; it’s just that with time most people don’t acknowledge the truth. I knew Hopkins would school Pavlik too, even when no one wanted to listen. This doesn’t make me knowledgeable or better than anyone else, what it makes me is honest and a boxing fan. Nothing more. Best of luck in everything you do, I know I’ll be watching.

Source: http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Jason/Petock072809.htm

Mayweather/Castillo I: the Night “Money” Got a Bailout (Was Marquez Watching?)

By Giancarlo Malinconico: Throughout many of his promotional tours throughout his career, Floyd is quick to criticize his opponents for receiving gift wins, while touting his undefeated record. Mayweather claims Pacquiao lost to Marquez both times. He also said De La Hoya lost to Ike Quartey. But Mayweather seems to neglect his own controversial decision victory against Jose Luis Castillo in April 2002.

Mayweather was moving up to challenge the WBC 135-pound champion Castillo after dominating the super featherweight division. Mayweather was an overwhelming favorite coming into the fight; Castillo had four losses all by TKO. So the consensus was that Castillo was selling his title to the younger, hotter rising star, Mayweather. But the pundits failed to consider that Castillo had developed into a better fighter, a ferocious body puncher who can take a licking and keep on coming. The pundits were not the only ones writing off Castillo in this fight; his opponent, “Money” Mayweather, was as well. Mayweather hardly mentioned Castillo in any of the prefight interviews, preferring to discuss his growing wealth and exposure.

Although Mayweather seemed overly confident in his ability to win, he seemed to be in very good shape for his big fight. Mayweather would outbox Castillo effectively using his jab to take rounds 1 and 2. Castillo would start landing more in the 3rd, taking the round by landing power shots downstairs.

Round 4, would go to Mayweather, as he effectively landed lead-left hooks and right hands. The 5th round leaned Castillo, as he out landed Mayweather 15 to 7 in power shots. Castillo would have his best round in the sixth, pinning Mayweather to the ropes, and continuing the assault to the body.

Castillo would have another big round in the 7th with a sustained body attack, occasionally landing upstairs as well. Castillo continued to land power shots to the body and win round 8, but the ref (Dracula as I like to call him) deducted a point from Castillo for hitting on the break. It was a very questionable call. Larry Merchant continually criticized the ref for being overly involved in breaking up the action. The ref’s judgment was questioned further by the commentators when a frustrated Mayweather blatantly threw a punch after the bell in round 9, but was not deducted a point. It was a close round to score; I have no argument if you wanted to give it to Mayweather.

In the 10th, the ref, probably trying to justify his mistake in the previous round, deducts a point from Floyd for a forearm. Castillo, nevertheless, won the round pounding the body of a backpedaling Floyd (10-8 round for Jose Luis). In round 11, Mayweather surprisingly decides to stay in the pocket and exchange with Castillo, which turned out to the make the fight exciting, but it was the wrong strategy. Although Mayweather landed some nice shots, he allowed Castillo to impose his will and pound Floyd to the body, outworking him to win the round. Castillo started the 12th round fast and never took a break. Castillo ended the fight big, clearly out working Floyd up until the final bell.

Harold Lederman scored the bout 115-111 for Castillo. But the scorecards read (a laughable): 116-111, 115-111 and 115-111 in favor of Floyd. Castillo had been the aggressor, threw more and landed more, especially when it came to power shots. Floyd was clearly defeated on this night, but the judges granted “Money” Mayweather a bailout. I understand Floyd complained of shoulder and hand trouble throughout the fight, and Floyd won a very close decision in the rematch, which ironically was closer on the scorecards than the first fight. That does change what happened on the night of April 20, 2002 nonetheless.

With the Mayweather/Marquez match looming perhaps many are wondering if Juan Manuel can have the same success that Castillo had. Marquez is not as big, does not have the chin, and does not have the power to the body that Castillo had. Marquez, nevertheless, is an excellent fighter who has stated he will target Floyd’s body, keying in on those recently injured ribs.

My head says Mayweather will convincingly win. But we will wait and see if Marquez can prove me and the odds makers wrong (as he is listed as a 4-1 underdog), and cause Mayweather to experience the déjà vu of the first Castillo fight.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Floyd Mayweather and the World Welterweight Crown

In the most recent display of what is becoming an almost Ali-Cosell relationship, ESPN’s Brian Kenny and Floyd Mayweather briefly touched on the topic of the Welterweight championship. Mayweather went after a previous Kenny assertion of Mosley as the ‘real’ champion right now, referencing his 2006 win over Carlos Baldomir. The inference was that Mayweather, having defeated the lineal champion of the division at that time, should somehow still be seen as the champ at 147 lbs.

Does he have a point?

The obvious answer is no. Mayweather (39-0, 25 KO) retired after his lone title defense, versus then-Jr. Welterweight Ricky Hatton. Even accepting no one took his retirement seriously, his management made quite public his vacating of the WBC and Ring Magazine belts. When he steps in with World Lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KO), he will be a few months shy of two years off. There is no case to be made for him as the current Welterweight champion.

There is a case to be made that no one else can be until he has his say.

Upon his return, the most fair answer to the question ‘who’s the champ?’ is, simply, no one.

While he may have the strongest claim, even recognized as the rightful champion by the Cyber Boxing Zone already, the WBA titlist Mosley (46-5, 39 KO) finds the claim in a single win over Antonio Margarito earlier this year. Margarito of course was riding the high of a career-best win over the man who appeared heir apparent to Mayweather, Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KO). Margarito, tainted by an attempt to load his gloves prior to the Mosley loss, finds the validity of his Cotto win under a cloud. Cotto was the last man to beat Mosley and has, post-Margarito, added a WBO belt and a win over top Welterweight Joshua Clottey.

Follow the bouncing ball and it ends at high-level parity and plenty to argue about. The easiest answer to crowning a new outright Welterweight champion, based solely on recent results, remains a rematch between Mosley and Cotto, a fight not in the sights of anyone at the moment. Cotto is locked in for a showdown with World Jr. Welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in the fall; Mosley’s slate remains open.

And Mayweather complicates the road to easy answers.

There have been occasions in boxing’s history where champions have retired their crowns only to return later on. While new men had laid claims in their absence, conquering the man who had been king conferred the direct lineage, and legitimacy, of the championship. Three of the most notable examples happened at Heavyweight.

Jim Jeffries, Joe Louis, and Muhammad Ali all retired at the top of their class but none could stay away from the ring. They were replaced by Jack Johnson, Ezzard Charles, and Larry Holmes, all men who the public questioned as successors and then resented after the newer, fresher models thrashed the vain attempts of old idols to find their youth again.

Sugar Ray Robinson, like Mayweather, also went through a brief retirement though under different circumstances. Enjoying his second reign as Middleweight champion, he attempted to lift the Light Heavyweight title from Joey Maxim and famously collapsed ahead on the cards with heat stroke. Robinson decided to become a traveling dancer and when the money turned out to be less than desired, the ring called him home.

A two-plus year layoff meant ring rust and Robinson embarked on a shaky six-fight comeback featuring a tough loss to Tiger Jones and an off the floor decision over rugged Rocky Castellani. His name still being what it was, it was enough to merit a shot at the man who replaced him, previous rival Carl “Bobo” Olson. Olson didn’t have a chance to legitimize his claim as Johnson or Charles had at heavyweight, stopped brutally in two frames.

Unlike any of these legendary names, and their equally storied replacements, Mayweather returns to a title still vacant after his absence. With schedules being what they are, a win in September puts Mayweather firmly back in the mix at Welterweight. Should Cotto lose to Pacquiao in their catch weight affair, Mayweather could be considered as high as second in the division.

The biggest money would be in Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Mayweather-Mosley might be easier to make before it happens.

A fight long talked about in boxing circles, it could provide Mayweather the rare opportunity to take years off and return to reclaim his crown without anyone causing a definitive skipped beat between reigns. If Mosley could take the win, even in the shadow of a Cotto win over Pacquiao, he could make firm his claim in the same fashion Holmes did a generation ago.

There’s plenty of road to travel before any of these scenarios become truly relevant but they are worth considering as they impact the top of one of boxing’s most storied classes. Floyd Mayweather is clearly not the Welterweight champion of the world today, but it may be there can’t be one at all without him going forward.

Source: http://www.boxingscene.com/index.php?m=show&id=21249

Saturday, July 25, 2009

THE IMPOSSIBLE IS POSSIBLE FOR MARQUEZ


On September 19 two of boxing greats, Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather and Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez will face off in a battle that will help establish who is boxing's pound for pound king.

The question boxing fans are now asking themselves is: what chance does Juan Manuel Marquez have against a fighter as talented as Mayweather, who will hold advantages over the Mexican warrior in terms of speed, strength and power. Not to mention that Floyd is looked as an equal to Marquez in terms of technique and professional experience.

But before we completely rule out a Marquez victory, let’s consider some facts that favor the Mexican fighter.

Mayweather has been retired for the last two years while Marquez has remained active and fighting top competition. In the time Mayweather was away, dancing with the Stars and chilling with his homies, Marquez was having tough fights against the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Joel Casamayor, and Juan Diaz. Top notch opponents for any fighter.

We also need to take into consideration the fact that Marquez’s trainer is Nacho Beristain. Nacho has trained many of Mexico’s great fighters, including Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzales, Daniel Zarazoga and Ricardo “Finito” Lopez. Nacho is considered by many to be one of the best trainers, not only in Mexico, but all-of-the world.

Also, Marquez may be the smaller fighter, but that may play a smaller role in this fight then people imagine. It is my opinion that this fight will be determined more by skill then it will be by strength and power. Mayweather will be the bigger guy, but he’s not a fighter who’s ever beat his opponent based on bullying them inside the ring. Mayweather will look to counter Marquez (who is also an excellent counter puncher) and land his lead right which is his favorite punch. Mayweather will look to utilize his speed and technical abilities as he has against all his other opponents. The question that we really need to be asking ourselves is will Marquez be able to counter the counter puncher or will he find a way to lead in this fight and be effective.

Lastly, Marquez will be fighting not only for himself, but for the pride and glory of his country. At 35, Marquez is a veteran of the sport, but with so much of his career spent in the shadows of popular Mexican greats Marco Antonio Barrera and Erick Morales, Marquez is still hungry to prove his place as one of Mexico’s all-time greats.

There is no doubt that Marquez is the underdog and rightfully so. No amount of writing can change the fact that Mayweather should be able to win this fight as he has the advantage in almost a very category, but in a year in which so many of the Mexican champions, and top prospects have lost some tough bouts, Mexican boxing fans are hoping Marquez can pull of the upset and put a bright spot on their 2009 boxing year.

Source: http://boxeomundial.net/boxeo.php?category=english&id=12929

Floyd Mayweather in the Fight of His Life ... with the UFC


On September 19, Floyd Mayweather will make his return to boxing after almost a two-year absence. He’ll be fighting two hungry and motivated opponents that night – Juan Manuel Marquez in the ring, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the ratings. And though no one in boxing would dare to challenge the skills of the great Marquez, given the fact that he’ll be fighting a good three weight classes above his natural weight, well, the UFC just may prove to be Floyd’s more formidable foe.

Mayweather’s fight with Marquez was supposed to go off at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on July 20, but Mayweather postponed the bout due to what remains a mysterious rib injury. Many boxing pundits opined that Floyd might have manufactured the injury in order to push the bout back due to sluggish ticket sales and the overall malaise that has surrounded Vegas during this recession summer.

So the bout was rescheduled at the MGM Grand for September 19, when it will be broadcast live on HBO pay-per-view. Of course, there will be another big-time PPV fight card that same night, UFC 103, which is taking place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas and headlined by Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson.

It’s the first time in history that a major mixed martial arts card will be competing with a big-time boxing match on pay-per-view. Granted, neither event is gigundous. It’s not as if you have UFC 100 going up against De La Hoya/Mayweather. But the fact of the coinciding pay-per-view cards will still garner a lot of media investigation, especially because the plotlines involved are thick, and all center on that enigmatic, tempestuous braggart known as Money May.

After a dubious stab at retirement, Mayweather is returning to boxing purportedly to reclaim his status as the sport’s pound-for-pound king from the upstart Manny Pacquiao, who is currently boxing’s consensus pound-for-pound best. Since the announcement of Mayweather/Marquez, which came at a press conference on the morning of Pacquiao’s stunning knockout of Ricky Hatton in May, even casual boxing fans have been electrified at the eventual possibility of a winner-take-all pound-for-pound showdown between Pacquiao and Mayweather.

To this point, there have been no formal negotiations between the two camps about making this fight (none reported anyway), but the informal negotiations that have taken place via the media have been hot and heavy, with both sides insisting that their man is the best fighter and biggest draw in the sport and therefore should command the lion’s share of the money when and if a Pacquiao/Mayweather fight goes down.

In terms of the actual boxing, each has a compelling claim to top dog status, but when it comes to the question of drawing power, right now Floyd would seem to have the better argument. After all, Pacquiao and Mayweather share two prior opponents – Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. Each fought them back-to-back, respectively – Mayweather in 2007 and Pacquiao in December of ’08 and then May of this year. All four bouts were broadcast on HBO PPV, and a comparison of the numbers gives a decided advantage to Mayweather. His bout with Oscar did a record 2.4 million PPV buys (making it the biggest boxing match of all time) while Pacquiao’s did 1.25 million, and his bout with Hatton did 915,000 buys while Pacquiao’s did 850,000.

Of course, even more than most things, boxing is a “what have you done for me lately?” universe, and while Mayweather has sat out his dance card since December of 2007, Pacquiao has turned himself into a marquee pay-per-view draw. Once could even argue that Pacquiao’s 850K against Hatton is more impressive than Floyd’s 915K when you adjust the scale for the down economy.

Either way, it goes without saying that the numbers for their next fights are going to be very significant to any negotiations that might take place between them. And on that front, Floyd appears to be skating on thin ice. Pacquiao’s next fight was announced this past week – he’ll face Miguel Cotto on November 14, also at the MGM Grand in Vegas. This news was greeted with almost universal exhilaration from the boxing community and the fight is already a hot topic of debate all over the internet.

Meanwhile, Mayweather/Marquez has failed to capture the imagination of even the hardcore boxing audience. While no one connected with boxing in any way would ever disrespect the skills of Marquez, the fact that he is facing such an oppressive weight disadvantage in the fight makes it a less than compelling narrative. Granted, there are nearly two months left until fight night, but still, this event is simply not generating the kind of buzz that presages a massive PPV bonanza. HBO’s Mayweather/Marquez 24/7 likely will help with that, and no doubt Floyd has some crazy antics up his sleeve to draw attention to the fight, but nevertheless, if I were to wager on the pay-per-view over/unders right now, I’d put Pacquiao/Cotto at a mill and Mayweather Marquez at 500K, with the caveat that 500K is a very generous number.

Especially when you factor in the x-factor of UFC 103. September 19 promises to be a watershed night for both boxing and MMA, because it’s a night that will provide some hard numbers toward an investigation of whether the two sports are directly competing for fans or not. There’s been some low-level, ill-defined war of words between boxing and MMA for years now concerning who’s tougher, who would beat who in what, which is more popular, etc. And it’s fitting that Mayweather should be at the center of the upcoming storm, because he has a long history of shooting off his mouth about the UFC, questioning the skills of its combatants, likening them to “animals,” and most recently making this bizarre racial argument for the entire existence of mixed martial arts:

“In boxing, we know who's dominating. Black fighters and Hispanic fighters is dominating in this sport. And this is not a racial statement but no white fighters in boxing that's dominating, so they had to go to something else and start something new."

I’m not going to go into the reasons that this is a ridiculous, ignorant and offensive thing to say (and Floyd, if that’s not “a racial statement,” then what the hell is?). It’s not worth wasting my precious typing energy refuting something so plainly stupid. I only bring it up to illustrate the ways in which Floyd has shown himself to be more than willing to hit below the belt where mixed martial arts is concerned.

But now, MMA has a chance to hit him back, and hit him where he lives. Maybe it will turn out that there is no relative impact on the pay-per-view numbers of Mayweather/Marquez and UFC 103, and we can all conclude that the much ballyhooed competition between boxing and MMA for the fight fan’s dollar is a red herring. Or maybe not – maybe each event will take a perceived hit at the box office, or one more than the other. Or maybe, as has been suggested on the blogs for a few weeks now, the UFC will move UFC 103 to Spike and really mess with Floyd’s world.

As it stands right now, the UFC 103 card is relatively weak, and it’s hard to imagine many boxing fans that generally would buy Mayweather/Marquez deciding to jump ship to the UFC for such a lukewarm roster of fights. But if it were free? If fans can save 50 bucks in this economy, still get a good Saturday night of bloodlust, and then check out the May/Marquez replay on free HBO the following week? That seems like a situation that definitely could negatively impact the PPV numbers for Mayweather/Marquez.

And those numbers aren’t shaping up to be that good to begin with. The fact is that if Floyd/Marquez does somewhere in the neighborhood of 200-300K in PPV buys, it’s a tremendous embarrassment to Mayweather win, lose or draw, and a huge obstacle to his future success at the negotiating table. On that score, Marquez is only one of the fights Floyd will be waging come September. The other is with those “animals” in the cage, and right now, I got that fight at even money.

Source: http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/28783/floyd_mayweather_in_the_fight_of_his_life_..._with_the_ufc_

Friday, July 24, 2009

Quick Jabs: Juan Manuel Marquez Bulks Up; Kelly Pavlik - Paul Williams Back On?; Lennox Lewis Defends His Mic Skills; More


There are many things besides those mentioned in the headline in this edition of Quick Jabs -- like the dreamy Edwin Valero-Humberto Soto fight that may be on the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto undercard, notes on this weekend's fights and a good deal more -- but we start with Juan Manuel Marquez. Although his Sept. 19 bout with is at a weight that is being kept secret for no good reason, since we'll all find out eventually, it is according to ESPN's Dan Rafael at 144 pounds. That means bulking up for the lightweight champ is a must. And, based on the pictures Golden Boy released, I'd say the results are mixed. Looking at the picture above, Marquez looks more muscular and broader than I might expect. I've attached another picture, though, where muscular isn't what he looks like. What does it mean? To be continued momentarily below. [And, per last week's procedure -- because I don't feel like waiting around for it -- when Rafael posts his notebook to ESPN.com.com/boxing today, I'll just comment on its many newsy items via the Twitter feed to your right.]

Quick Jabs

This weekend isn't much of one for boxing. There's a decent Friday Night Fights headlining bout on ESPN2, when the hot junior featherweight Antonio Escalante takes on Cornelius Lock. I haven't seen much of Lock, but he's promoted by Mayweather Promotions, which means he's as good as that outfit has -- a guy who's competent enough to be a B-side on an FNF/ShoBox card. The featherweight Velasquez brothers will be in action, and I'm interested to get a longer look at those prospects. The Saturday night pay-per-view is increasingly in tatters after junior middleweight Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. pulled out with a "rib injury" (not being able to make weight) and featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa had to pull out, too. Lightweight Urbano Antillon is now the biggest star of the show, and junior flyweight Giovanni Segura this week got a replacement opponent, Juanito Rubillar, although that's potentially an upgrade because he's a top-10 guy in the division...

Didja see how Derek Jeter was trying to get tickets to the 145-pound bout between Pacquiao and Cotto in November? That says more to me than Kobe Bryant saying nice things about Manny, since, as Nike stablemates, Kobe was probably just being a good corporate shill. Still, I bet that tickets for that fight will be ultra-hot with the celebrity set. They should be...

Cotto has signed a two-year deal with Top Rank, so those rumors of him leaving his promoter for Golden Boy were evidently bunk. I've been hard on Top Rank's Bob Arum for how he's handled Cotto vis-a-vis the controversy over Antonio Margarito getting busted this year with loaded gloves and whether those gloves were loaded for the Cotto fight; Arum just flat took Margarito's side in the whole thing, and based on that, I thought Cotto would have been wise to leave Top Rank. But overall, if you take out that one very major exception, it's hard to say Cotto has been ill-served by Top Rank. They've handled his career wonderfully, doing so many things right to turn him into a star...

R.I.P., Marco Nazareth. Always makes me wince when a boxer loses his life because of something that happened in the ring...

If you haven't caught it yet, world class trainer Freddie Roach is profiled in the latest edition of HBO's Real Sports. It's a good feature, one that that focuses on his Parkinson's but sheds light on why he isn't married, among other things. Boxing news-wise, the headline for me was that Roach has encouraged bantamweight Gerry Penalosa to retire after his latest loss, a terrible beating in a brave stand against Juan Manuel Marquez. Previously, I'd opined that if Penalosa wanted to fight on, there was no direct evidence to suggest he shouldn't. Now there there's reason to think he should call it a day. If Roach thinks Penalosa needs to retire -- and Roach has been wrong about that before, granted -- then I think he should, too...

The Joey Gamache case has progressed a good deal of late, and this article ought to catch you up on it if you're not familiar with some of the details about what happened in 2000 when Gamache fought the recently deceased Arturo Gatti and ended up terribly injured. I didn't follow the sport as closely then as I do now, so I haven't had much to say about the case; nor am I an expert in the laws that pertain here. There are a great many things that are fishy about the incident, to say the least, but it's hard to see how some of that can be established for legal purposes in some of those instances. For example, I do think that it's damning that Gatti exceeded the next-day weigh gain limit -- he was at 15 pounds, more than the 11 pound margin -- but I worry that because that 15 pound figure came from HBO's unofficial scales, the word "unofficial" will trip things up. Still, if the argument is negligence, perhaps Gamache can reach the standard. It's my personal view, based on what I've read, that Gamache was wronged. I hope he gets the justice he deserves...

Back to the Mayweather-Marquez weight. The latest reason given for why it won't be disclosed is because both sides signed an agreement not to release it. But I still don't understand why it would be the kind of thing that even should be a secret. ESPN's Dan Rafael just chalks it up to Mayweather being a "prima donna." I guess that's as good an excuse as any. (And I did notice Mayweather's ridiculous racial remarks about mixed martial arts, but I've used up all my outrage against the guy in recent weeks. Suffice it to say that his remarks are racist, wrong and disingenuous)...

Noteworthy in the second picture of Marquez, just below, is that he looks a tad soft. That might be indicative of how he usually looks going into training camp; I simply don't know. But if he's gained weight he wouldn't usually have walking around in order to get into the right range, that bodes even more poorly for his chances than I currently rate them. Here's what the news release said about what Marquez was doing in camp:

Eyewitnesses say it is evident that not only is Marquez bigger, but his training includes a special focus on body work and technique as he looks to defeat the undefeated Mayweather, a six-time World Champion in five weight divisions.

"I know where he's been hurt and I'm going for it," said Marquez. "He is vulnerable now and I will take advantage of his weakness with a body attack that emphasizes two things-the right and the left."

Another testament to this new resolve are his grueling two-hour runs in the mountains of Nevado de Toluca at a staggering elevation of 13,500 feet.

"The mountain is a magic place and gives me the freedom to visualize the night of the fight and how I am going to beat him," said Marquez. "It is also building my endurance, making my legs stronger and building muscle across my whole body."

Marquez has also been adding weight as he works through technique in training.

Marquez finished, "I've been working gradually with the extra weight, which is going to be pure muscle and make me stronger than ever by the time I step in the ring September 19. Mayweather is going to be the first one to feel the difference."

We'll end here before going into Round and Round on what Lennox Lewis had to say in Ring magazine this month about his commentating on HBO. I spend a lot of time badmouthing the guy on that, and I think he's missed the point with what he said; it's not that he didn't go to broadcast school or that he doesn't express his opinion enough. It's that he conveys almost no useful information at all, and that the opinions he does express are often groundless and wildly off the mark. But since I've never seen him defend himself, I figured his remarks bore repeating. It's from the Sept. issue, if you want to see the rest of the interview.

The Ring: You've received some criticism for your work with HBO. Do you think it's fair?

LL: I'm getting used to the role. I've found commenting is like skateboarding, because you're surfing all the time, like in the ring. It's obviously not easy. People went to school for broadcasting and all of a sudden I'm placed into a role. At first, I'll admit, it was a difficult adjustment. I wasn't comfortable because I never did it before. I think I've grown into the role. I understand what I'm supposed to be doing and I understand my worth. I talk about things I used to experience in the ring. As far as opinions go, everyone has an opinion and they want to know my opinion. That's slowly coming out. At first, I admit, it wasn't. I'm not out there to slam boxers. It's what I used to hate when I fought -- commentators slamming fighters, calling them bums and this and that. I understand what fighters had to do to get to this level. It's like a fighter's code. It's why I hate when other fighters trash talk about other fighters. I'm thinking, Dude, you know what these guys ahve been through because you've been through the same thing. How stupid! You have to show some tact. Overall I do think I'm getting better as a broadcaster, and that comes from hard work, and I feel a lot more comfortable.


Round And Round

As far-fetched as the bout sounded last week, talks for middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik to fight shapeshifter Paul Williams in the fall are reportedly renewed. BLH also says Pavlik trainer Jack Loew told a Youngstown radio station they'd be fighting someone who wasn't on their original list for a September or October bout, which Williams wasn't on, of course. This doesn't jive with what Williams promoter Goossen Tutor was saying just a couple days ago, that they still wanted to put him on an HBO doubleheader where he'd fight junior middleweight Sergei Dzinziruk. Pavlik, in my opinion, is the most dangerous opponent available at 160 or below for Pavlik, because the size difference isn't so pronounced as it is for most Williams opponents and Williams has never fought anyone who punches as hard as Pavlik. It would be another great addition to the packed fall lineup if it happened.

Heavyweight Chris Arreola was going to be the other man on the Williams doubleheader in September or October, fighting Oleg Maskaev, but with Vitali Klitschko now searching for an opponent, he's looking at Arreola as his top choice. Vitali's timeframe is also September or October. Still feel Arreola gets beaten up in that one, but he makes sense as Vitali's opponent because he's exciting and American and he won't punk out the way David Haye did. As for Haye, his November fight with Nicolay Valuev may get stalled by John Ruiz, the mandatory title challenger to Valuev who is threatening legal action. The other option is that Valuev could drop his title, I guess.

Weird report out there that Arthur Abraham might fight the winner of Lucian Bute-Librado Andrade II early next year. Abraham is tied up with Showtime's super middleweight tournament, and neither Bute nor Andrade are involved. There are a few things that would have to happen, though. Abraham would have to win his opening fight in the tourney against Jermain Taylor, and his expected January fight against the winner of Carl Froch-Andre Dirrell would have to be delayed. If Abraham beat the winner of Bute-Andrade II, it would increase the odds that the division could crown a lineal super middleweight Ring champion, so I'm in favor of it for that reason and, naturally, the likelihood that it would be an excellent bout. But if Abraham lost, it would do some damage to the tourney unless for some reason his conqueror was able to then replace Abraham in the tournament. Weird.

Golden Boy Promotions wants former junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton to keep fighting, and the idea is to put him in against Marquez if Marquez can't beat Mayweather. I'd still rather see Hatton in a tune-up fight that shows me he is capable of fighting on at all after a pair of huge knockout losses in 2007 and this year. Until then, I'm skeptical of Hatton fighting anyone who's world class.

Bob Arum is talking about putting Edwin Valero in a lightweight fight against Humberto Soto on the undercard of Pacquiao-Cotto. Arum (like so many other promoters) has led us down this road before of talking about top-notch undercard fights, but Valero-Soto is must-see TV however it happens. If it happens on the Pacquiao-Cotto undercard, I'd do three backflips in a row, and I've never done one backflip in my life. It would be that inspirational.

After a brief flirtation with not being on, Zab Judah-Matthew Hatton now looks like it's back to being on. The junior welterweight sacrifice of Hatton would be on the Mayweather-Marquez undercard.

Featherweight Rafael Marquez wants another tune-up fight Aug. 22 before he goes into his fourth bout against Israel Vazquez. Makes sense. He really only was beginning to work off the ring rust in his last bout. If only Vazquez could be talked into doing his own tune-up, because I remain gravely afraid that he is damaged goods.

Lightweight Anthony Peterson has been added to the August "Pinoy Power" card. One bout without a Pinoy in it -- like the heavyweight clash between Kevin Johnson and Odlanier Solis -- is fine. At a certain point, though, after two or more, maybe it shouldn't be called "Pinoy Power" anymore. Howsabout "Pinoy Power And Friends?"

Source: http://queensberry-rules.com/2009/07/quick-jabs-juan-manuel-marquez-bulks-up-kelly-pavlik---paul-williams-back-on-lennox-lewis-defends-hi.html

Who needs Floyd when you've got Nate Campbell?

Nate Campbell, who helped Tampa, Fla., police chase down a couple of suspected purse snatchers last month, stole the show Thursday.

Campbell knocked the mundane out of a conference call and talked Timothy Bradley into a freewheeling exchange, which is something the favored Bradley promises won't happen when they meet for the World Boxing Organization's version of the 140-pound title in a Showtime-televised bout on Aug. 1 at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

The junior welterweights were still talking -- or at least Campbell was -- when promoter Gary Shaw said goodbye to a long-distance preliminary that could get interesting at opening bell in a ring about 10 miles from where Bradley grew up in the California desert east of Los Angeles.

The entertaining give-and-take erupted just when the call seemed to be ending. That's when Campbell, who had said he was sick of talking about the fight, talked a lot, stirring up placid waters with a rhetorical lure that got the businesslike Bradley to drop his usual cool.

"I'm going to bust his ass," said Campbell, who went on to say a few more things, including "I'm going to take you to the abyss," and "I'm going to stop you."

Who needs Floyd Mayweather Jr. when Campbell is on the line?

Actually, Campbell's trash talk is a lot more likable than the variety delivered by Mayweather, who is defensive in the ring and out of it when confronted by a threat. In the irreverent tone of a Bernard Hopkins, Campbell seemed to be having some fun and it sounded as if even Bradley enjoyed at least some of it.

Bradley laughed when Campbell recounted a chase on June 26 when he and advisor Terry Trekas followed a couple of alleged purse snatchers from a Tampa supermarket to an apartment, where the suspects were eventually arrested.

"What if they had a pistol?" Bradley asked Campbell.

No problem, Campbell said. No hesitation either.

"I had one too," Campbell said.

Campbell's timing -- bada boom, bada bing -- was perfect. But whether the former lightweight champ will have all the right counters on Aug. 1 might simply be a question of too much time. Campbell, 37, is more than a decade older than the unbeaten Bradley (24-0, 11 KOs), who at 25 looked like he had the durability to be a star when he got up from two knockdowns to win a decision in April over Kendall Holt.

It's no surprise that Campbell dismisses the age issue, which he also has predictably turned into a source of personal motivation.

"I really don't understand why media people make all of these God-awful statements about my age," said Campbell, who said he didn't begin to pursue a fight career until he was 25. "Hey you know, fighters are fighting longer and better than ever these days."

On that one, at least, there was no counter from Bradley, who was at ringside in Cancun for Campbell's stunning split decision against Juan Diaz in March 2008.

"I couldn't believe it," Bradley said. "When I was sitting there in Cancun, I really just couldn't believe it. I actually lost money on it. What was it, five pesos? That's why I'm taking this fight. I want to fight the best."

Bradley went on to issue a warning of sorts. He told the conference-call audience and Campbell not to confuse him with Diaz, or at least the Diaz who showed up in Cancun on that fateful night.

"I'm not Juan Diaz," said Bradley, who argues he is more versatile. "I'm not one dimensional."

But it is Campbell who is convinced he has a superior mix of skills. It is a versatility, he suggests, acquired through experience that also has resulted in valuable frustration.

"I'm an angry guy when I realize over the last few years how people did me dirty in the fight game," said Campbell, who took the IBF, WBA and WBO 135-pound title in his victory over Diaz. "... I couldn't get fights. How in the world can I hold three lightweight titles and not get fights. Now, I just want to ruin the fighters they put in front of me."

Bradley sympathizes. Kind of.

"At 135, I thought he [Campbell] was the best," said Bradley, who says he was drawn out of his fight plan by a trash-talking Holt in a dangerous mistake that he says he won't repeat against Campbell. "Nate just didn't get a chance to fight Manny Pacquiao. Yeah, Manny Pacquiao is the best. He's the poster boy in this business. But now he's catching guys as they're getting weak, dropping down in weight."

Even if you subtract Pacquiao from the equation, Campbell and Bradley look around and all the way to the UK, where the World Boxing Association's newly minted light-welterweight champ Amir Khan completed a comeback from his September loss to Breidis Prescott with a decision over Adriy Kotelnik. In Kahn, they see another reason to wonder whether they aren't getting their share of respect, if not money. Khan rhymes with con, and Campbell will tell you they mean same thing, too.

"Is Khan spelled with a C?" Campbell asked. "He took that boy's [Kotelnik] lunch money."

Campbell figures he can take a lot more than just that. But be ready for a long lunch and a longer listen.

Source: http://www.cbssports.com/boxing/story/11982474

Oddly, marquee fight’s catch weight still unknown


Floyd Mayweather Jr., above, will fight Juan Manuel Marquez Sept. 19 at the MGM Grand.

When it was revealed this week that Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao will fight Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand, it was hard not to notice one particular aspect of the announcement.

Both men agreed to meet at a “catch weight” of 145 pounds, two pounds below the welterweight limit. The 145-pound mark was an acceptable compromise for Cotto, a welterweight for the past three years, and Pacquiao, who has never weighed more than 142 pounds for a fight.

Of course, the weight limit attached to a big boxing match is typically considered a piece of rudimentary information, like the date of the fight, or the venue — or the name of the tequila company that’s sponsoring the event.

Yet the promoters of another major bout scheduled for the second half of the year — Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Juan Manuel Marquez, Sept. 19 at the MGM Grand — have been unable, or unwilling, to state the weight limit for the fight.

This has created an air of mystery around Mayweather-Marquez that’s either intriguing, troubling or downright bizarre, depending on how you look at it.

Mayweather, returning to the ring after a layoff of nearly two years, made it sound as if he’s planning to push the 147-pound welterweight limit. Training at 149 to 150 pounds, Mayweather dismissed a suggestion that he’ll be required to reach a lighter catch weight.

“I’m not weighing in at 143,” Mayweather said on a teleconference. “It’s a welterweight fight. I’ll weigh what welterweights weigh. Whatever I come in weighing, that’s what I’ll come in weighing. I don’t have to weigh 143.”

A higher weight limit would suit Mayweather’s purposes. Before entering a temporary retirement, Mayweather fought twice in 2007, in title fights against Ricky Hatton at welterweight and Oscar De La Hoya at junior middleweight. Marquez moved up to the lightweight division (135 pounds) only last year.

Underscoring the notion that every pound counts in negotiating a fight’s weight limit, Mayweather took a mild shot at De La Hoya, suggesting he was too skinny in his loss to Pacquiao last year. (Mayweather Promotions and De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions are promoting Mayweather-Marquez.)

“De La Hoya was focused on losing weight instead of focusing on fighting,” Mayweather said. “I think De La Hoya was only training when the camera was on him. You’ve got to take this sport seriously. You can’t train just to lose weight. It can mess your whole career up.”

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, took the risky — or perhaps disingenuous — tack of claiming the shroud of secrecy was designed to build interest in the weigh-in for the fight.

“It will be the most covered weigh-in ever because everybody wants to know what the weight is,” Schaefer said. “So make sure you don’t miss it. Don’t miss the weigh-in.”

Strange indeed.

Marquez stuck to the party line, saying in Spanish only that the bout will be a welterweight fight. While that might be technically accurate, it leaves open the nontrivial question of whether the limit will be 141 pounds, 147 pounds or somewhere in between.

“There’s an agreement between us and it’s a welterweight fight,” Marquez said. “Anything over 140 is considered a welterweight fight. Everyone’s going to find out come weigh-in day.”

It’s easier to digest the other riddle linked to the fight: a rib injury suffered by Mayweather that forced the bout to be moved from its original July 18 date.

Mayweather, who has refused to divulge details of the injury, can plausibly maintain that doing so could give Marquez an advantage in preparing for the fight.

“It happened in training,” Mayweather said. “It didn’t even come from sparring. Freak accidents happen in training ... When it happened I tried to work through it. I was fine for a while but then it happened again. I can’t try to be a superhero. It was best to take a little time off, let it heal and come back so when I do come back I’ll be able to perform to the best of my ability.”

De La Hoya, who predicted a victory for Marquez and said he believes Mayweather’s injury could play a role in the outcome, was as cryptic as Schaefer in discussing the fight’s weight limit.

“I think the whole world is going to be tuning in to make (the weigh-in) an event in itself,” De La Hoya said.

This is an odd strategy, and one that could backfire. Instead of whetting the appetite of boxing fans this summer, it could make them think the architects of this promotion don’t quite have their act together.

Source: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul/24/oddly-marquee-fights-catch-weight-still-unknown/

Rumor: Hatton wants Marquez if Marquez beats Floyd


Robert Morales learned from Golden Boy's Eric Gomez this week that Ricky Hatton still has serious interest in Juan Manuel Marquez as an opponent should he return to boxing. Gomez also said that Hatton has told Richard Schaefer that if he does return, he wants to do so with a big fight, which doesn't match the type of names that have been mentioned in rumor for a supposed November Hatton return (Steve Forbes and Vyacheslav Senchenko).

Any possible Marquez-Hatton fight would hinge upon Marquez beating Floyd Mayweather Jr. on September 19. Gomez also said Marquez has desired a fight with Hatton for about a year now.

As for Hatton being knocked out in two of his last four fights, Gomez isn't too worried about it:

"I know that many fighters have been knocked out cold, and they come back and they win titles. So you never know. Amir Khan, you have guys like Arturo Gatti. How many times did he get knocked out?"


The answer, for the record, is five. Gatti was stopped five times inside the distance, although twice his corner threw in the towel (Mayweather, Oscar) and once the fight was stopped on a cut (Angel Manfredy). Only Carlos Baldomir and Alfonso Gomez, in Gatti's last two fights, really "knocked him out."

Taking this both at face value and as an absolutely hypothetical scenario, I think you have to admire Hatton's guts. A Marquez win over Mayweather could have a lot of people calling Marquez the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, no matter what happens in Cotto-Pacquiao. And that would mean that Hatton would again be trying to knock that guy off his perch, which is really something.

Say Marquez and Pacquiao both won. The obvious biggest money idea would be to do Marquez-Pacquiao III, but "obvious" and "what happens in boxing" don't always go hand-in-hand. Marquez-Hatton would surely be a money fight, though I doubt you could really sell it on American PPV after what happened to Ricky against Manny, and to a lesser extent against Floyd. It could be one hell of an HBO World Championship Boxing headliner, though.

Right now it's all just talk, but it's fun to think about.

Source: http://www.badlefthook.com/2009/7/24/961133/rumor-hatton-wants-marquez-if

Thursday, July 23, 2009

MARQUEZ: "I KNOW WHERE HE'S BEEN HURT AND I'M GOING FOR IT!"


Mexico City, Mex. (July 23) -Reports out of Mexico City, where five-time World Champion Juan Manuel Marquez is back in training for his scheduled September 19 bout (at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View®) against Floyd Mayweather (Mayweather vs. Marquez "Number One/Numero Uno"), confirm that Marquez is bigger, stronger and punching "to the body" harder than ever as he pushes his training regime to new heights in preparation for his ultimate challenge against Mayweather.

Eyewitnesses say it is evident that not only is Marquez bigger, but his training includes a special focus on body work and technique as he looks to defeat the undefeated Mayweather, a six-time World Champion in five weight divisions.

"I know where he's been hurt and I'm going for it," said Marquez. "He is vulnerable now and I will take advantage of his weakness with a body attack that emphasizes two things-the right and the left."

Another testament to this new resolve are his grueling two-hour runs in the mountains of Nevado de Toluca at a staggering elevation of 13,500 feet.

"The mountain is a magic place and gives me the freedom to visualize the night of the fight and how I am going to beat him," said Marquez. "It is also building my endurance, making my legs stronger and building muscle across my whole body."

Marquez has also been adding weight as he works through technique in training.

Marquez finished, "I've been working gradually with the extra weight, which is going to be pure muscle and make me stronger than ever by the time I step in the ring September 19. Mayweather is going to be the first one to feel the difference."

Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number One/Numero Uno," is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions in association with Marquez Promotions and is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, Quaker State, Dewalt Tools, Affliction Clothing and Southwest Airlines. The 12-round bout will take place Saturday, September 19 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV.

The Mayweather vs. Marquez pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $49.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View® and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View®, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Mayweather vs. Marquez fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.

HBO's Emmy®-Award-winning all-access reality series "24/7" returns to HBO® with an all new edition as "Mayweather/Marquez 24/7" premieres Saturday, August 29 at 10:15 pm ET/PT. The four-episode series will chronicle the preparations and back stories of both fighters as they train for their September 19 pay-per-view showdown.

Tickets priced at $1,000, $750, $600, $300 and $150, not including applicable service charges, are on sale now and limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $150 are limited to two (2) per person with a total ticket limit of 10 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets previously purchased for the July 18 date will be honored.

Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-25949.html

Will Pacquiao and/or Mayweather let the (under)dogs out?

Which dog will bite the hardest?

Which underdog, Juan Manuel Marquez or Miguel Angel Cotto, will make the most noise and get the best results in the two biggest bouts left in 2009?

Can Cotto, who is showing signs of wear and tear despite being just 28, recharge himself so greatly that he can stop the Manny Pacquiao Express?

Or will it be Juan Ma, a nettlesome counterpuncher who may have to rev up his natural aggression, who can ruin the comeback of speed merchant Floyd Mayweather Jr.

A victory by the Mexican and/or by the Boricua Bomber would either destroy of devalue a Mayweather-Pacman Lolapalooza.

Right now, with the big dates coming up Sept. 19 and Nov. 19, I lean towards Marquez as the non-favorite who is most likely to do some damage.

Marquez looked sharp in spining, folding and mutilating Juan “Baby Bull’ Diaz while Mayweather has a rib injury and accumulated ring rest to contend with.

Mayweather’s got the attitude but Marquez has the altitude.

Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number One/Numero Uno," is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions in association with Marquez Promotions and is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, Quaker State, Dewalt Tools, Affliction Clothing and Southwest Airlines. The 12-round bout will take place Saturday, September 19 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV.

The Mayweather vs. Marquez pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $49.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View® and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View®, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Mayweather vs. Marquez fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.

HBO's Emmy®-Award-winning all-access reality series "24/7" returns to HBO® with an all new edition as "Mayweather/Marquez 24/7" premieres Saturday, August 29 at 10:15 pm ET/PT. The four-episode series will chronicle the preparations and back stories of both fighters as they train for their September 19 pay-per-view showdown.

Tickets priced at $1,000, $750, $600, $300 and $150, not including applicable service charges, are on sale now and limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $150 are limited to two (2) per person with a total ticket limit of 10 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets previously purchased for the July 18 date will be honored.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-5699-NY-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m7d23-Will-Pacquaio-andor-Mayweather-let-the-underdogs-out

Top 10 fights for the rest of 2009


In light of the boxing lull right now, I am going to play amateur matchmaker and give you my top 10 fights that can be made this year. Keep in mind that Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, a host of super middleweights and others will not be included because of current fight obligations. All of the fighters on my list have nothing scheduled as of the date of this column. Here you go:

Number 10. Tomasz Adamek v. Steve Cunningham. Adamek's split decision victory over Cunningham in December added a little bit of drama to what may well be the weakest division in boxing. They should fight one more time and then consider moving up to the second weakest division in boxing, heavyweight.

Number 9. Sergio Martinez v. Kermit Cintron. Most observers thought that Martinez won the first fight and Cintron is coming off a nice win over Alfredo Angulo. Time to throw down again boys.

Number 8. Ricky Hatton v Amir Khan. Okay, this is the one that I'm going to get the most comments on, which I understand, but hear me out. There comes a time when a closure fight is needed. Khan is not a big knockout artist and he is a British subject. This fight is a good one for Hatton to say good-bye to the sport on his home turf. After Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Pacquiao, Hatton fans deserve a final home game.

Number 7. Vitali Klitschko v. Eddie Chambers. I have a furrowed brow about this one too, but the older Klitschko isn't going to fight his brother and David Haye is now going to fight Nikolay Valuev.

Number 6. Chris Arreola v. Wladimir Klitschko. HBO can broadcast it and do a co-featured main event with the other fight being Vitali Klitschko v. Eddie Chambers. Listen, the K brothers need to be tested and we have to learn if Chambers and Arreola are for real or merely Calvin Brock impersonators.

Number 5. Celestino Caballero v. Juan Manuel Lopez. There are many other names that I prefer to put in front of JuanMa, but this would be a Ring Championship fight at junior featherweight. Anyone else but me notice that The Ring has only six champions for the seventeen divisions in boxing? I understand that Lopez has a fight scheduled in September, but he is young and can squeeze this one in before the year is out.

Number 4. Israel Vazquez v. Rafael Marquez. If there can be a clause in the contract that neither man will die in the ring or suffer any subsequent disability, then why not let the two warriors give us a fourth fight? If Marquez wins, then tee it up a fifth and final war.

Number 3. Shane Mosley v. Joshua Clottey. Cotto is unavailable and it is highly unlikely that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. will fight anyone but Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao in 2009. Sugar Shane needs to stay active and Clottey can hang with anyone at 147.

Number 2. Kelly Pavlik v. Paul Williams. Arthur Abraham would be the ideal choice to fight Pavlik, but Abraham grew tired of waiting for him. Since Abraham has officially moved to super middleweight, and with Pavlik showing an interest in junior middleweights, then fight Paul Williams. Somebody fight Paul Williams!

Number 1. Michael Katsidis v. Edwin Valero. Katsidis' heart is bigger than his skill level and Valero has knocked out everyone who has stood in front of him. 2009 Fight of the Year candidate, easy.

There is my 2009 wish list. Tell me yours.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-8370-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m7d23-Top-10-fights-for-the-rest-of-2009

Floyd is an “exciting” talker, but needs to be a more exciting fighter

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is known for his tactical, defensive style when he fights. He might not be a crowd pleaser in the mold of the late Arturo Gatti or current pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, but you have to give credit where credit is due. The guy is one of the true master practitioners of the Sweet Science.

However, in contrast to his subdued and safety-first attitude inside the ring is his brash, offensive, and loud nature outside of it. Mayweather. is most especially adept at trash talking, and one would be hard put to distinguish between pure theatrics for the purposes of fight promotion and real insulting behavior.

Take Mayweather 's latest comment for instance, from a recent Cagewriter report: "In boxing, we know who's dominating. Black fighters and Hispanic fighters is dominating in this sport. And this is not a racial statement but there's no white fighters in boxing that's dominating, so they had to go to something else and start something new."

Let’s take a look at the current champions in several weight divisions to see if there is any truth to Mayweather’s claim.

In the heavweight division, Ruslan Chagaev and Nikolay Valuev currently share the WBA heavyweight title. Wladimir Klitschko currently holds the IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine world heavyweight titles. His elder brother, Vitali Klitschko, is the current WBC world heavyweight champion. All four are white. Going down to cruiserweight, we have a couple of white fighters, Tomasz Adamek, the IBF titleholder, as well as Giacobbe Fragomeni, the WBC champion. Over at super middleweight, we have a trio of white boxers, namely WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler, WBC super middleweight titlist Carl Froch, and IBF super middleweight titleholder Lucian Bute. Felix Sturm and Kelly Pavlik, both white, hold most of the alphabet belts at middleweight. Vyacheslav Senchenko is the current WBA welterweight champion. And, you guessed it, he is white as well.

I’d like to go on and on but I guess I’ve already made my point. Those are already 12 Caucasian boxing champions that I mentioned. So, needless to say, Mayweather’s latest comment about black guys “dominating” boxing is really baseless. Remember, this is the same guy who criticized HBO and their broadcast team in an interview with Grand Rapids Press' David Mayo last year.

"Even a guy like Jim Lampley, he praises Kelly Pavlik -- who has won some good fights, he beat Jermain Taylor twice, we have to give him credit for that -- but they talk about Kelly Pavlik, a white fighter, like he's the second coming or they go crazy over Manny Pacquiao. But I'm a black fighter," Mayweather. said.

"Is it racial? Absolutely. They praise white fighters, they praise Hispanic fighters, whatever. But black fighters, they never praise. I've noticed it for a long time but I couldn't say anything because I had to do business with them. I'll still do business with them, but I'm done holding my tongue.”

The HBO team did not praise Pavlik because he is white. They commended him for his fan-friendly fighting style. The HBO people go gaga over Pacquiao not because he is Filipino, but because he fights like there’s no tomorrow. HBO aired an Arturo Gatti tribute not because he was white, and fight fans mourn Gatti’s loss because he was the consummate blood and guts warrior, because of his fights with Micky Ward, and because he ignored pain and physical injury, leaving everything in the ring.

Truth is, maybe Mayweather is just unpopular with boxing fans, especially the casual boxing fans, because he isn’t that exciting to watch.

Ouch.

The truth hurts, but hey, it’s the truth. Mayweather can’t fault the fans if they don’t find him exciting enough. So, as you see, this is not an issue of race at all.

I cover both the MMA and boxing beat for this website and I don’t see a problem at all with both sports coexisting. The last thing we need is negative comments that could fuel hatred and bigotry.

One of my favorite fighters in MMA today is Anderson “The Spider” Silva. He is black. But I wouldn’t have cared any less if he were of another skin color. I really don’t care. I like Silva and respect him irrespective of his race. I follow his fights because I enjoy watching them.

I wish I could say the same thing for Mayweather. I wish I could say that I really enjoy watching his fights.

But then I remember his fight against Carlos Baldomir where a lot of fans left the stadium out of boredom long before the final bell rang.

I hope Mayweather does something soon, before it’s too late. I’m sure he wants to be remembered more as an exciting fighter rather than an “exciting” (with emphasis on the quotation marks) talker.

Source: http://www.8countnews.com/news/125/ARTICLE/1768/2009-07-22.html

Insider Notebook: Pacquiao-Cotto Fever, Floyd's Weight


Freddie Roach had just received the news Monday that Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto would be getting it on Nov. 14 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. By the sound of his voice during a telephone conversation, Roach was already rife with anticipation.

Roach - Pacquiao's legendary trainer - is partially responsible for the fighter Pacquiao is today. Eight years ago he took the vicious, yet wild-swinging and relatively unknown Filipino and helped turn him into a power-boxing superstar.

Pacquiao is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and a national hero - to put it mildly - in the Philippines. Don't mind Roach, then, if he gets a little charged up when he is about to embark on another journey with Pacquiao that figures to be filled with the ultimate in big-stage hype.

"I think it's a good fight and I'm glad we have something scheduled," Roach said. "The thing is we have the press tour that is going to start in September. The Puerto Ricans are great boxing fans and very knowledgeable.

"And the Filipinos, they are very proud of Manny. It makes for good excitement for the fight, and the fight is going to be in Vegas. Cotto won't have the Puerto Rican audience he would have in New York, but I think he will have a lot of people come out and support him for the fight."

Roach said he is looking forward to the beginning of the process of getting Pacquiao ready for yet another big challenge.

"Cotto is a strong guy," Roach said. "He beat Shane (Mosley). His last fight (against Joshua Clottey) was a close fight; I think he had the edge. We are looking for some weaknesses. I'll get all the tapes together this week and start doing my homework."

Arum: This One A No-Brainer

Staging Pacquiao-Cotto is Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters. He said it won't be difficult to get the public to buy into this fight. He didn't say it, but we're assuming he meant buy as in HBO pay-per-view.

"One guy is a powerful, strong welterweight," Arum said of Cotto. "And then the other is a bit less strong because he is not as big a man, but he makes up for it in speed.

"It is going to be a highly entertaining fight. Everybody knows that. You don't have to sell it that way."

Twin Bill Almost Set

We caught promoter Dan Goossen during a layover on his way to the Caribbean on Wednesday. He said he was headed there to work on some fights other than the proposed doubleheader featuring two Goossen Tutor Promotions fighters - interim junior middleweight champion Paul Williams and No. 1 heavyweight contender Chris Arreola.

On tap would be Williams taking on Sergiy Dzinziruk of the Ukraine for his world title and Arreola squaring off with former champion and fellow top 10 contender Oleg Maskaev.

Goossen said the date would probably be Oct. 3. The event would likely be held at either Home Depot Center in Carson (near Los Angeles) or Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario - which is about 45 miles from downtown L.A. Williams stopped Verno Phillips and Arreola knocked out Travis Walker there in November in the first boxing card at the new arena.

"I could have everything done by tomorrow," Goossen said. Asked if the fights would be televised by HBO, Goossen said, "Yeah, that's what we're working on."

Roach: Hatton Should Hang 'Em Up

One thing about Roach, he is never afraid to speak his mind, no matter whose feathers he ruffles. Even though there has been a bit of talk about a fight between Ricky Hatton and junior welterweight champion Amir Khan - who is trained by Roach - it was therefore not surprising to hear Roach's feelings regarding the future of Hatton.

A fight between Hatton and Khan - both of the United Kingdom - would most likely do very well at the box office and on television. But Roach is of the mind that Hatton should not fight any longer based on what has happened to him in two of his past four fights - a 10th-round technical knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and a second-round knockout loss to Pacquiao.

"I think Ricky should retire," Roach said. "Getting knocked out like he did against Floyd and Pacquiao is unhealthy. He has been a (three-time) world champion. I don't don't think he has anything else to prove in boxing. But if he should fight again, I think he has a good style for my guy. I think it is at least a possiblity.

"It's a fight I hope doesn't happen because I think he should retire. But if he does fight again I think he's going to come our way."

Hatton-Marquez?

Eric Gomez is the matchmaker at Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Hatton. He said this week that he does not necessarily agree with Roach.

"Look, Oscar is like my brother and I know what it feels like, through him, when people tell you that you shouldn't be doing it anymore," Gomez said in reference to De La Hoya, who recently retired. "It's something you've done since you were a kid and that's all you know how to do. And you know how to do it well and sometimes it's those demons inside that want you to come back.

"I know that many fighters have been knocked out cold and they come back and they win titles. So you never know. Amir Khan (is one). You have guys like Arturo Gatti. How many times did he get knocked out? He came back and won big fights. At one point he was considered the top 140-pounder in the world after Oscar knocked him out and Ivan Robinson had knocked him out. So you can never count anybody out. There are guys that Ricky can still beat."

Actually, Robinson never knocked out the late Gatti, but he did win two decisions over him in 1998. And Gatti did become a 140-pound world champion after those losses and his fifth-round technical knockout loss to De La Hoya in a 147-pound fight in 2001.

Anyway, Gomez said he recently read somewhere that Hatton is not all that interested in Khan. Apparently, there is someone else on his mind.

"What he has told (Golden Boy CEO) Richard (Schaefer) in the past is that if he ever comes back, he wants it to be a meaningful fight," Gomez said. "He doesn't want to be anybody's steppingstone. He has expressed interest that if (Juan Manuel) Marquez can pull off the fight against Mayweather (on Sept. 19), he would want to fight Marquez. And Marquez has been wanting to fight him for a year now. That's a possibility."

Hatton is just 30.

Promoters Mum on New Group

This week a bunch of promoters got together in New York City and announced they had formed an association that included all the major companies as well as those considered mid-level.

We asked Gomez on Tuesday what it was all about. And he said that for now, it's hush-hush.

"It's confidential," Gomez said. "Everybody was made to sign a confidentiality agreement, so I can't really go into it. But all I can say is, it was very, very positive. It's basically, you know, looking at the state of boxing and wanting to work together with other promoters and making the big fights and the fights that the fight fans want to see."

One of the things big-time promoters have complained about in the past is that it seems any boxer who wants to start a promotional company, can. Promoters have intimated that boxers want to find a way to cut out the big man so they can pocket more money for themselves.

Since neither Mayweather Promotions nor Marquez Promotions were in attendance in New York, we asked Gomez if this association was formed as a way of keeping companies like them at bay.

"I can't comment on that," Gomez said. "Look, it's confidential. But I can say this: any guy out there who wants to start a promotional company, they have the right to do it. They're realizing quick how tough it is. It's not the easiest thing. But they have the right to try.

"We feel that working with these other promoters, even Mayweather Promotions, there's a lot of business to be made. Mayweather has got a couple of fighters signed. We are doing a fight with him this Friday (in El Paso) - (Antonio) Escalante versus (Cornelius) Locke. That's a hell of a fight. He (Locke) is under contract with Mayweather Promotions.

"A guy like Mayweather, he's got an eye for talent. Whether he's going to build up his company to become something like Golden Boy, more power to him. If he can get it done, great."

(Mayweather's company is the lead promoter for his fight with Marquez; Golden Boy has second billing).

Same with Marquez of Marquez Promotions, Gomez said.

"He's already looking at a couple of prospects and he wants to get a series done in Mexico," Gomez said. "He's having talks with Televisa out there. Look, the more boxing, the better for everyone. As long as they follow the rules and do things the right way, that's what we're going to look at.

"If we're going to work with other promoters, there are certain rules that can't be broken and there are certain things that you gotta do right. Pretty much everybody agreed that no more slandering or talking bad."

Gomez was asked if, considering the recent war of words between Golden Boy and Top Rank Inc. regarding Victor Ortiz, that was possible.

"I think so," he said. "I think so."

Two companies present this week started by fighters who are or were still fighting when their entities were born were Golden Boy and Roy Jones Jr.'s Square Ring Inc. But they have both been around a while now.

Just Running a Game

Much has been made of the contracted weight for Mayweather-Marquez. Most believe it to be 143 pounds, four under the welterweight limit. But every time Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's top executive at Mayweather Promotions, is asked to be more specific, he says, "It's a welterweight fight."

Gomez was asked again this week, and he said the same thing.

Here's why: He said both fighters signed an agreement not to talk about any numbers regarding the fight.

"That's why we really can't say," Gomez said.

What the hell is going on here? We have promoters signing confidentiality clauses not to discuss their new association, and fighters doing the same so they can keep people in the dark about the weight at which they are going to fight. Pretty darn galling, and not good for the sport. We contacted Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He was asked if the contract for this fight had been filed with the commission. Since it is public record, he would have no choice but to divulge the information. It had not.

"We expect to see that in about a month and a half," Kizer said.

And what about the fight itself?

Gomez would say one thing - Marquez is just the man to beat Mayweather.

"I'm in constant contact with Marquez," Gomez said. "The guy is working good, man. Very sharp. He is working on speed, combinations. The way he is going about the game plan, I like it.

"Mayweather has never fought a guy like this guy. He's fought typical Mexican guys who think they're just going to go at him and run him down. That never works. But this guy's going to give Mayweather something to think about."

Judah-Matthew Hatton Still Possible

There has been conflicing information regarding the status of Matthew Hatton, younger brother of Ricky. One minute he is supposed to fight Zab Judah on the undercard of Marquez-Mayweather. (Some websites have that on their respective schedules). The next minute Hatton is supposed to challenge Lovemore N'dou for his fringe IBO title in South Africa.

Gomez said Wednesday everything is up in the air in this regard.

"It's not 100 percent yet because something came up with Matthew," Gomez said said of a Judah-Hatton bout. "They offered him a title fight with Lovemore N'dou. We are trying to work through that right now. It's a little bit of a bump in the road. We are trying to keep it together. We should know shortly."

Source: http://www.boxingscene.com/index.php?m=show&id=21172