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Judah, Casamayor notch wins

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:41:21 PST

Former welterweight champ Zab Judah (38-6, 26 KOs) blasted journeyman Ubaldo Hernandez (22-20-2, 10 KOs) in two rounds in the main event of stacked card at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas on Friday. After dropping Hernandez with a body shot in round one Judah overwhelmed the Mexican veteran at the start of the second round. In the co-featured bout, former lightweight champ Joel Casamayor (37-4-1, 22 KOs) outboxed Jason Davis (11-5-1, 3 KOs) to an eight-round unanimous decision in a welterweight bout. Casamayor, who was a sluggish 146 pounds, won by unanimous scores of 79-73. The 38-year-old vet had not fought since losing his RING lightweight title to Juan Manuel Marquez last September.

Valuev, 314.6; Haye, 216.7

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:36:03 PST

Heavyweight beltholder Nikolai Valuev outweighed challenger David Haye by 97.9 pounds at Friday's weigh-in for their showdown that takes place at the Versischerung Arena in Nuremberg, Germany on Saturday. Valuev (50-1, 34 KOs), of St. Petersburg, Russia, weighed in at 314.6 pounds, while Haye (22-1, 21 KOs), of London, England, tipped the scales at a much-lighter 216.7 pounds. Valuev, who is at least 9 inches taller than the 6-foot-3 Haye, is a slight betting underdog to the former cruiserweight champ, but late money has come in for the Russian giant, who is the far more experienced boxer. A broadcast of Valuev-Haye is being distributed in the United States and Canada by Integrated Sports beginning at 3 p.m ET / 12 p.m. PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, TVN, DISH Network, Viewer�s Choice, Shaw PPV and Bell TV. A replay will be shown that same night at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

Arum: De La Hoya blog "outrageous"

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:10:59 PST

Oscar De La Hoya suggested in his latest blog that promoter Bob Arum arranged to have a relatively big ring for the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas because it would favor Pacquiao, his top fighter. The fact is, Arum pointed out, that ring size is standard in Nevada: 20 feet by 20 feet. Thus, he couldn�t show favoritism even if he wanted to. Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, confirmed that the ring will be 20 by 20, according to Yahoo! Sports. �The idea that I�m bringing in a big ring to favor Pacquiao, who he said I want to win, is absolutely outrageous,� Arum said. �� Everybody who has fought in Nevada the last 10 years has fought in the same-sized ring, including Oscar.� Arum said the standard ring size evolved from the Riddick Bowe-Larry Donald fight in 1994, in which the size of the ring became a point of contention. Not long after that, to avoid that situation, Nevada officials decided to go with a standard ring. The portion of De La Hoya's blog in question was removed in light of the standard ring size. Arum promotes both Pacquiao and Cotto.

Dougie's FAT Friday Mailbag

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:24:57 PST

STICKS & STONES� Hey Dougie, So here's the deal... if Nikolai Valuev lets Daivd Haye get under his skin then more fool him. I don't know Haye personally, but I can tell you now that 90% of stuff that comes out of his mouth is more bravado then his true personality. I don't think anything Haye has done, or said, has been particularly personal, or offensive. Maybe it's a London thing, but that Lord of the Rings comment is the kind of comment my friends and I would throw at each other on a night out down the pub, all in the name of a bit of banter, to get a laugh. Maybe the Eastern Europeans don't have a sense of humor and, okay, that infamous T-Shirt may have been taking things a step to far, but come on guys lighten the f___ up. Haye wears a T-shirt with two decapitated Klitschkos, get over yourselves, Mike Tyson wanted to eat babies. Speaking of Tyson I'm so glad he seems to be getting himself straight. I grew up watching Iron Mike and he is no question a legend and a true mark of what heavyweight boxing is all about. With this in mind, what's your opinion on having a super heavyweight division? Because, lets be fair, this fight really should be a no contest. Haye would win this fight hands down, if they were on a level, because lets be honest we all know why Valuev is champion, (would he even be a contender if he weren't a giant of a man?) but there is a very good chance Haye could get KTFO, or may not be able to come to terms with the vast difference with regards to their physical attributes. David Haye is giving away 100 pounds. There needs to be a big shout for a super heavyweight division, I think you should start banging the drums for it so these giants can go fight each other in Germany. If a super heavyweight division were to happen then maybe the heavyweight division could become exciting, once, again with some great match ups between the likes of Haye, Arreola, Chambers, Johnson and even Adamek if he decides to move up. Now doesn't that list of fighters and possible match ups get you a little excited. Loved the R.A.-Mayweather interview. I feel really embarrassed to say this, especially if I'm lucky enough to make your mailbag with the possibility of other people reading this, but after the interview had finished I look down and noticed a tiny pee stain on my jeans! Take care and if possible give us a shout back. -- Cheers, Chris, East London Wow. That last bit was a little too much info, my man, but thanks for the email. Regarding a super heavyweight division, I�m not going to beat the drum for that yet. If there were four or five heavyweight giants as talented and technically sharp as the Klitschkos I would probably be in favor of the creation of a new division for big men who weigh more than 240-250. But the fact is, apart from the Klitschkos, all the other guys who are taller than 6-foot-6 are ordinary. They can be beat by heavyweights who are under 6-foot-2 and under 230 pounds. Exhibit A) Eddie Chambers W12 Alexander Dimitrenko. Exhibit B) Most of Valuev�s fights. The giant lost to Ruslan Chagaev, went life and death with John Ruiz twice, and struggled with a 45-year-old Evander Holyfield. These heavyweights that troubled Valuev are not very big guys. In fact, they�re smaller than the pumped-up heavyweight version of Haye. However, I don�t think Haye will do as well as they did. I favor Valuev in tomorrow�s contest, and it�s not because the big man has 100 pounds on Haye (although that is a factor). I like Valuev by late stoppage or unanimous decision because he�s got better fundamentals than Haye and he�s used to going the 12 round distance. I don�t think Haye can box a disciplined stick-and-move fight the way Chagaev and Holyfield did, and I don�t think he�s got the stamina of the Quietman. Regarding Haye�s sometimes boorish behavior, I�m fine with most of it. I thought the decapitation T-shirt was in poor taste, but if he takes out the giant and then actually gets in the ring with the Klitschkos and knocks them out, I�ll give him a pass. If loudmouth fighters can back their big talk up in the ring -- and actually do what they say they will -- I don�t have a problem with them. VALERO VS. DEMARCO Hello Dougie, How's it going, hope the family is doing great. I just have to say the Rugged Man interview with Fraud Mayweather is the best damn thing I've herd on the Internet all year. Rugged Man deserves to get some kind of award for that awesome interview. Now I just need to figure out which is the best 60 seconds of that interview so I can make it my new ring tone, haha! How bout that Antonio DeMarco? I been driving his wagon since the Kid Diamond fight. Unfortunately, he has to challenge your son Edwin Valero and in his hometown. If there's any fighter I wouldn't mind him seeing him lose to, it�s Valero. Still man I'm gonna call an early Upset Special, DeMarco via late-round TKO or decision. One thing is certain, it will be a candidate for fight of the year. It may even match the Corrales/Castillo, Marquez/Vazquez and Morales/Barrera fights, I mean action, blood and guts-wise. Every time Manny Pacquiao trains in the Philippines his performance isn't up to its usual standards. Against a bigger and hungrier man in Miguel Cotto it may backfire. Nobody has ever dominated Cotto so I will be impressed if Manny is the first. I have a hunch Cotto will upset Pacquiao but I been wrong before to pick against Manny, so this time I'm going with Manny. Man I don't know, I cant wait. Yours truly -- Jorge, San Diego Pacquiao looks like he�s 100 percent, Jorge. I think his performance will be to his usual standards but I still see a tough fight. I don�t think Valero-DeMarco would be a fight of the year candidate. If DeMarco is going to beat �my son� he needs to box from a distance and make it as uneventful a fight as possible. I don�t believe the kid is durable enough to exchange punches with Valero. I could be wrong, but that�s my thinking. DeMarco is a very good young fighter, a bona fide lightweight contender, but I think he lacks the power and starts too slow to take Valero out of his game. And as nice as his technique is, it�s not like DeMarco is hard to find. ROACH SAYS HAYE WILL KO VALUEV http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxingandmma/6487535/David-Haye-will-flatten-Nikolai-Valuev-says-Freddie-Roach.html Freddie seems confident in the pick....I'm not so sure....I have never seen the giant buzzed....Haye is going to have to fight 12 disciplined rounds......I don't think he can knock that big lug over...... -- JP Roach is a genius when it comes to Manny Pacquiao and his other fighters. But fighters he doesn�t train? Mmmmm, not so much. Here�s the deal: Haye is aptly nicknamed because he lobs quick haymakers without setting them up with a jab. He rarely makes use of lateral movement and he keeps his hands down. Now, add his questionable chin and stamina to the fact that he�s got shoddy technique and a porous defense. That doesn�t look like a guy who�s gonna topple the giant. To be honest, I�m not so sure Haye�s a puncher at heavyweight. He dropped Monte Barrett four times and the shot vet got up after each knockdown. This is a guy who got blasted out in two rounds by Cliff Couser. I think Barrett would have got up from even the final knockdown if the ref had allowed it. Another thing I noticed about Haye was that many of his cruiserweight knockdowns and knockouts were produced by looping right hands to the back of the his opponents' heads. He got away with that mess in England, but now he�s fighting in Germany against a guy whose head is too high up for him to reach around. FLOYD'S VERBAL ASS WHIPPING Dougie, THANK YOU!!! I had never heard of R.A., but that was epic. The fact that Mayweather was shrieking was hilarious. I'm a very happy boxing fan right now. -- Matthew R.A. doesn�t mess around. Check him out. He�s a good rapper and really funny columnist (especially when it comes to the film industry). I can�t believe I�m still getting emails commenting about R.A. checking Mayweather on the radio, but I guess more fans are fed up with Floyd�s bulls___ than I thought. Good. Maybe R.A. should get an award from THE RING or the BWAA. IN FLOYD'S DEFENSE (SORT OF) Hi Doug, Just read your mailbag and all the response to Floyd's "interview" with the Rugged Man and though I agreed with the Rugged Man's points of contention (you can't really argue them) I did not like the manner in which he went about them. I know it was on a hip-hop radio show with little restrictions but it was childish with the insults and what not. Also although I would like to see Mayweather take a chance and fight Manny, Mosley, Cotto, even any top 10 welterweight who isn't coming of a loss (Judah) or a guy who got his position by beating a guy who had a bad night (Baldomir), I don't think someone like Rugged is in any position to bad mouth Floyd or any other boxer for that matter. Will he be paying their bills when they are in the dementia ward in 20 years? Floyd takes the least risk for the most money we all know that, but to channel Chris Rock I don't like it but I understand. If he can make boatloads of money and still talk well 20 years from now more power to him. I do understand as well however that Floyd makes it easy to act in the manner that Rugged Man did but I did not like it. Dougie, like it or not Floyd will continue to make millions not fighting the best. Floyd "Easy Money" Mayweather that's who he is. I don't like it but I understand. Thank you and all the best. -- David Green (Warner Robins, Georgia) I think you�re right. I think Mayweather will continue to fight guys he knows he can beat and he will continue to make the biggest purses in the sport, at least for another two or three bouts. At some point everyone will get a little tired of his act, but he�ll be ready to retire by then anyway. So we can all expect him to fight Ricky Hatton again (hopefully) in Manchester (Lord knows, I don�t want cover that crap), and then maybe that freckle-faced teenager that Golden Boy Promotions is so high on, Saul Alverez, in Mexico. We can forget about Floyd fighting the Cotto-Pacquiao winner, Mosley, or even guys like Josh Clottey. Hey, if he doesn�t want to fight a real threat, we can�t make him. However, he -- and the people around him (which includes HBO, Al Haymon and Golden Boy Promotions) -- need to understand that fans and media (who don�t jock-ride) are not going to give him credit for smacking around non-threats. If he doesn�t want to live up to his potential and prove his talent he can�t expect the boxing press not to criticize him or drop him in the ratings. As beloved as Joe Louis was in America (particularly post-WWII) the boxing media of his day referred to the majority of the guys he smashed in title defenses as the �bum of the month club.� Hey, those grumpy old white guys who wrote that were just keeping it real, and to Joe�s credit he never cried about it. I totally understand if Mayweather wants to play it safe, but he loses his right to bitch about not being respected when he chooses to only face no-hopers. VITO ANTUOFERMO Hey Mr. Fischer, Big fan of your blogs on RingTV.com! Question: my dad and I were wondering whatever happened to Vito Antuofermo? Is he still active in the boxing world? Thanks tons! -- SD The former middleweight champ is alive and well in New York City. He�s at least �well� enough to have participated in a rap video produced by our good friend R.A. the Rugged Man a few years ago. Check it out, the name of the song is �Lessons�. That�s Vito and Mitch �Blood� Green playing the doormen of a club at the start of the video. R.A., BOOK AND COLUMBUS Doug, Isn't the truth a powerful thing? The Rugged Man spoke the truth and completely shut down a douchebag. I've been reading your stuff for years and I know you write the truth, so when I wiki'd RA and saw mention that you two were collaborating on a book, I was intrigued. First, is it true, and if so, do you have an anticipated publication date? Hey you've written that you lived in Columbus for a few years, do you remember Nancy's at the corner of High & California? Greatest little diner I've ever been in. I went to OSU (and U. of Dayton too) and lived in UA and German Village for 20 years before the cold drove me out here to LA.....take care and keep up the good work! -- DJA My childhood was spent in Columbus, on the campus of OSU, where my parents were grad students. I do remember Nancy�s, and I occasionally ate there during my college days (at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio) whenever I visited the High Street area with friends for concerts and the like. My wife (who I met at Antioch) grew up in Dayton, and even attended U. of Dayton, where her father taught, one semester, so Ohio is definitely in the house. Regarding the book with R.A., it was something we worked on for a few years, and we probably completed 50- or 60-percent of it, but it�s on the shelf for now. Hopefully, it�s a project that can be revisited one day. Dougie can be reach at AFROhio@antioch-college.edu

Diaz-Malignaggi II set

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:30:53 PST
The Juan Diaz-Paulie Malignaggi rematch is set for Dec. 12 in Chicago on HBO, Golden Boy Promotions has announced. The two met on Aug. 22 in Diaz�s hometown of Houston. Malignaggi, from Brooklyn, N.Y., had said going into the fight that he wouldn�t get a fair shake in Texas. And while the fact Diaz won a unanimous decision isn�t outrageous, judge Gale Van Hoy�s score of 118-110 for Diaz was. Almost everyone thought it was a close fight, although most experts apparently thought Malignaggi won. THE RING magazine polled 21 boxing writers. Thirteen scored it for Malignaggi, three had Diaz winning and five believed it was a draw. Diaz welcomes the rematch, a 12-round junior welterweight matchup. �I enjoyed beat Malignaggi the first time and I�m more than willing to do it again,� he said. �This time, though, I�m looking for the knockout so I don�t have to hear his mouth anymore.� Malignaggi, whose eloquent post-fight diatribe about corruption in boxing played a role in the controversy, won�t have to worry as much about biased judges in the neutral location.. �The public demanded this rematch and I am looking forward to fighting Diaz for the second time,� he said. �This time I�m going to get the win on my record not just from the boxing community and the fans.� In the co-main event, Victor Ortiz, coming off a knockout loss to Marcos Maidana in June and surgery on his wrist, faces veteran Juan Diaz in a 10-round junior welterweight fight.

Williams to fight Martinez

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:12:19 PST
Paul Williams will fight Sergio Martinez in a 12-round middleweight bout on Dec. 5 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., on HBO, ESPN.com reported. Williams, rated No. 1 at junior welterweight and No. 3 at middleweight by THE RING, had been scheduled to fight Kelly Pavlik but Pavlik pulled out because of a persistent staph infection in his hand. Heavyweight Chris Arreola also will fight on the card, although an opponent has yet to be selected. He is coming off a knockout loss to Vitali Klitschko last month in Los Angeles. Williams (37-1, 27 knockouts) hasn�t fought since he dominated Winky Wright en route to a 12-round decision in a middleweight bout in April. Martinez (4-1-2, 24 KOs) is coming off a controversial draw against Kermit Cintron in February, a fight most observers believed the Spain-based Argentine won. Martinez is THE RING�s No. 4 junior middleweight. Among those being considered for Arreola are Derrick Rossy and Brian Minto.

Pacquiao's fame continues to grow as he readies for Cotto

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:11:09 PST
If you�re an American fight fan who questions Manny Pacquiao�s ability to become a crossover star in the United States, consider this: � He was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week. � This Monday, he will be on the cover of Time magazine�s Asia edition (as a finalist of the �2009 Time 100,� the publication�s list of the world�s most influential people). � His mug, partially covered by Nike�s new AW77 Hoodie, is on one of the bigger billboards in downtown San Francisco (as part of the sportswear company�s advertising campaign that includes such celebrity-athletes as Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Maria Sharapova). Still not convinced that the Filipino icon, who challenges Miguel Cotto for the Puerto Rican�s welterweight title on Nov. 14, can become a household name in America? Allow me to give you one more example of his ever-growing popularity. As I walked to my car following Cotto�s media workout in L.A. on Tuesday, I was stopped by two elderly African-American women in an SUV. They were curious about all the commotion outside of the Pound4Pound Gym. I told them that "the boxer Miguel Cotto had just held an open workout for the media." The lady in the passenger seat replied: �Miguel who?� �Cotto,� I told her. �He fights Manny Pacquiao next Saturday.� Her eyes lit up with the mention of Pacquiao�s name. �Oh!� she said as she turned to the driver, �he�s the one who�s fighting Manny Pacquiao!� Folks, the crossover has already begun. That begs the question of how big can Pacquiao get? �Every time he beats the odds, he gets a little bigger,� said Pacquiao�s trainer, Freddie Roach, who has witnessed his star fighter�s rapid evolution from a hero in the Philippines to one of the best known boxers worldwide following one-sided victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. Roach isn�t surprised that the two women I encountered, and scores of other folks who don�t fit the profile of the typical fight fan, are familiar with Pacquiao. �It�s because of the popularity of the fighters he�s just beat (De La Hoya and Hatton) and because of HBO�s 24/7 shows that led into those fights,� Roach said before Pacquiao�s media workout at the Wild Card Boxing Club on Wednesday. �The exposure of 24/7 brings Manny outside of the boxing world. It�s brought me out, too. The other day the manager for KISS and Bon Jovi called the gym. He asked if some of the members from both groups could drop by this week. I told him that Manny needs to focus on the fight and that it�s important that we wind up the camp without distractions. �He told me �They don�t want to meet Pacquiao, they want to meet you.�� If Jon Bon Jovi or Gene Simmons happened to drop by the Wild Card during Wednesday�s media workout, it wouldn�t have been that strange of an occurrence. Roach�s gym is every bit as famous as its owner. Notables from the entertainment industry pop in as often as hardcore fans from around the globe do. During Wednesday�s open workout, the Wild Card seemed almost like a popular nightclub, complete with its own doormen, chief of security Rob Peters and gym photographer Miguel Salazar, screening fans from the working media. �We try to control it as much as we can and we accommodate it as much as we can,� Roach said of the constant flow of fans to his gym. �Manny signs autographs for 2� hours every day after his workouts. I�ll take pictures with people all day if I have the time. �It�s a fine line we�re walking right now. We don�t want to turn away fans. They�re the ones who buy the tickets and buy the pay per views, but I admit that it�s getting harder and harder to run the gym.� Has the daily presence of HBO�s 24/7 film crew and the endless interview and appearance requests become detrimental to Pacquiao�s preparation? Not yet, Roach maintained. �Manny�s always got a lot of things going on but once he�s in the gym he�s all business,� Roach said. �Despite having to be in the Philippines for four and half weeks and all the distractions, from the typhoon to having to move from Baguio to Manila, he never missed a day of training. �Even those four days in Manila when he was being pulled in every direction by the politicians, he still worked his ass off. �Yesterday we worked 16 rounds on the mitts with no rest. I think he�s in better shape for Cotto than he was for Hatton.� Urbano Antillon, one of Pacquiao�s main sparring partners in this camp and for the Hatton fight, backs Roach�s claim. �In the middle of his camp for Hatton I remember him getting winded when we sparred,� said Antillon, who spent four weeks in the Philippines and continues to work with Pacquiao at the Wild Card. �That hasn�t happened in this camp, not even during our first week of sparring. He was in fighting shape before he left the Philippines. Right now, I think he�s in the best shape I�ve ever seen him in. �I was in the gym when he worked 16 or 17 rounds with Freddie. Manny wanted to go more rounds, but Freddie held him back. I did my entire workout while they were doing mitts with no breaks. I can honestly say I�ve never seen anyone work as hard as Manny does.� Pacquiao�s Spartan work ethic is obviously one of the keys to his success, but his ability to chill out and have a good time once he leaves the gym is part of what makes him special. He�s as easy going in public as he is intense in the gym. Nothing seems to stress him out. Between fights he�ll shoot two movies and cut an album. During camp, he�ll sing on a nationally televised talk show and think nothing of it. Pacquiao enjoys these outside endeavors. �I�m having fun,� Pacquiao told a dressing room full of boxing writers before his Wednesday workout. �I had fun on Jimmy Kimmel�s show. He�s a funny guy. I sang on the show and I thought I did alright.� Maybe Pacquiao has the kind of personality that enables one to endure or even rise above the many pitfalls that accompany fame and success. No matter how busy or complicated his life becomes, he remains a simple man, happy-go-lucky by nature. His spiritual beliefs also keep him grounded. Pacquiao, a devout Catholic, says he handles his success because he accepts everything that happens in his life as God�s will. �Everything that has happened to me in boxing has been a gift from God,� he said. �The fame and the wealth is all from Him.� If Pacquiao is victorious once again on Nov. 14, his profile will continue to increase in the U.S. and elsewhere, but he appears to have the right mentality to deal with it. If he defeats Cotto in the spectacular fashion that Roach predicts, his star might rival that of the best known American boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- which would, of course, set up the inevitable showdown between the two pound-for-pound kings. However, Pacquiao refuses to count his chickens before they�ve hatched. He wouldn�t comment on Mayweather when asked about the potential matchup. �I�m not thinking about that fight,� Pacquiao said. �I have to concentrate on this fight. This is not an easy fight for me. Cotto will be tough.� Those who believe that De La Hoya was ripe for the taking and that Hatton was overrated view Puerto Rico�s two-time welterweight titleholder as Pacquiao�s most formidable foe since he left the junior lightweight division. Roach concedes that Cotto�s size will be a challenge. �Manny�s best weight is 140 pounds,� he said. �We put on weight because the biggest fights are at welterweight. If there were big fights at junior welterweight, that�s where we would be. He�s on protein shakes to be at 149 pounds now. As we take him off the protein, the weight comes off. �He�ll have two meals before the weigh-in and come in at 145 on the dot. There�s no doubt that Cotto is the naturally bigger man. He�s bigger and he�s physically stronger, but that doesn�t win fights.� Strategy wins fights, and Roach believes he has the right game plan to enable Pacquiao to dissect Cotto. �Cotto�s got a good left hook,� Roach said. �That�s the danger punch. He�s a converted southpaw like Oscar, so we have to take that out of the fight.� Roach said he�s happy with the work that Shawn Porter, a stout junior middleweight prospect with a powerful hook, has given Pacquiao. �Manny and Shawn going at in the 12-by-12-foot ring we had in Manila was exciting stuff,� Roach said. Porter, a 2008 U.S. Olympic alternate from Akron, Ohio, said Pacquiao is ready for Cotto�s money punch. �He�s aware of the hook,� said Porter, who holds a 10-0 (8) record. �He always kept his right hand up no matter what he did in the ring.� Porter said Pacquiao�s a lot harder to hit than he appears. �It�s not just his speed and footwork that makes him elusive, he�s also hard to predict,� the 22-year-old prospect said. �You never know what he�s going to do next because he�s kind of unorthodox and he throws a lot of off-angle punches.� Porter interrupted a busy fight schedule to travel to the Philippines with Team Pacquiao. He�s fought 10 times since he turned pro last October and it was his goal to fight 12 times in his first 12 months in the pro ranks, but said the opportunity to spar with Pacquiao was too good to pass up. �It was an honor to be a part of Pacquiao�s training camp and I think it�s paid off in exposure,� he said. �I think some of his fame rubbed off on me. I just started boxing but I�m already getting e-mails from Filipino fans.� Doug Fischer�s column appears every Thursday. He can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com

Oscar De La Hoya blog: Pacquiao-Cotto

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:37:01 PST
Oscar De La Hoya knows what it�s like being in a mega-fight like Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas, having been in more than anyone since the early 1990s. And he knows what Pacquiao is capable of first hand after being stopped by the Filipino icon last December. He has also closely followed the career of Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto. Here is his take on the fight: Now that the fight is getting closer, I�ve changed my mind about who I think will win. At first, I had Manny Pacquiao. I was a firm believer that Pacquiao�s speed was going to neutralize Miguel Cotto, especially after Cotto�s performance against Joshua Clottey in June. Then, as the fight was getting closer and closer and I thought more about it, I�m now convinced Cotto will win. The reason is, first, nobody looks good against Clottey. He�s a difficult, strong, in-your-face type of fighter. And Cotto had that gash over his eye the whole fight. I thought he did an excellent job in light of that. Cotto has a good chin and a big heart. He�s a natural welterweight who hits hard and is also smart and fast. Pacquiao doesn�t hit hard enough to knock anyone out in the welterweight division. I�m basing that on my fight against Pacquiao. I could�ve stood there and put my face in front of him and he couldn�t have hurt me. I think Pacquiao will come out strong and try to surprise Cotto. If that doesn�t work, I believe (trainer) Freddie Roach will tell Pacquiao to wait for Cotto to come in and then counter, to stay on his toes. I think Cotto is a smart fighter. I think he�ll get through those first few rounds and in a smart way he�ll walk down Pacquaio and possibly stop him in the later rounds. I know that would surprise a lot of people. A lot of people are counting him out after his last performance. I think he�s the real deal, though. I�ve seen his skills and I�ve seen his power. He�s proved himself against tough, rugged guys. He�s proved himself against slick boxers. Cotto is one of those fighters who can surprise anyone.

RING Theory: Raskin-Dettloff audio show

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:30:05 PST
RING Theory, a new feature at RingTV.com, is an audio boxing talk show featuring columnists Eric Raskin and Bill Dettloff. They will review recent events, look forward to coming fights and discuss the quirky side of the sport. The show will appear twice a month. This is the second installment.

Here is alternate player in case the one above does not work:

Cotto confident only three fights after Margarito beating

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:34:58 PST
Miguel Cotto got in some serious mitt work with trainer Joe Santiago at a workout for the media on Tuesday at Pound4Pound Gym in West Los Angeles. Photo / Chris Farina-Top Rank LOS ANGELES � Miguel Cotto sat on the edge of the ring at a sweltering Pound4Pound Gym on Tuesday, surrounded on one side by dozens of reporters and photographers, and answered questions as sweat trickled down his shirtless torso after a workout. He was largely expressionless. Cotto is 10 days away from the biggest fight of his life �- against Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas �- but exuded a calm confidence, as if Pacquiao�s amazing run the past year and a half means nothing. One reporter suggested that Pacquiao would be the toughest opponent in his eight-plus-year career and Cotto politely but firmly took exception. �I don�t see it that way,� he said in his increasingly good English. �I know the fight is the most-important fight in my career but I don�t know if Manny Pacquiao is the toughest opponent I�ve ever had. We�ll find out in the ring. The guy who is better prepared to win that night is going to win.� Cotto�s confidence shouldn�t be surprising in one sense. The Puerto Rican, who is 29, is one of the most-accomplished fighters in the world over the past five years, with victories over a long list of top-flight opponents on his resume. He�s been through this many times, albeit not quite on the scale of this fight. However, his demeanor is intriguing in light of the mauling he took against Antonio Margarito only three fights and 15 months ago. The imposing Mexican delivered the kind of beating for 10-plus rounds that can cause permanent damage, both physically and psychologically. Six months later, Margarito was found to have plaster in his hand wraps before his fight against Shane Mosley, for which he was later suspended, and everyone immediately wondered whether Cotto was the victim of foul play. Regardless, a beating is a beating. Cotto bounced back with a fifth-round knockout of overmatched Michael Jennings in February and a split-decision victory over durable Joshua Clottey even though he fought with a ghastly cut over his eye for eight-plus rounds in June. Still, many wonder whether Cotto has fully recovered from the beating. Cotto doesn�t really want to go there, almost to the point where he seems to get irritated when it�s brought up. Someone asked him whether his psyche was damaged. His response: �Ask Manny that question. He�s lost three times; I�ve lost once.� Cotto�s handlers dismiss the notion that he�s damaged goods. Phil Landman, his physical trainer, said Cotto�s performance in the Clottey fight proved that he is perfectly fine even if some doubters suggested afterward that he didn�t look like the fighter of old in that fight. �Clottey is a big, strong welterweight,� Landman said. �People don�t want to fight him for a reason. For Miguel to get cut in the third round and then fight eight, nine rounds like that pretty much right after the Margarito fight says a lot about his courage. �Miguel has no ill effects after Margarito. He�s ready for this fight.� Cotto still won�t directly accuse Margarito of having used illegal wraps when they fought. He prefers to leave that up to the fans, who he called �the judges in this case.� He won�t make any excuses; a loss, he said, is a loss. He does acknowledge, though, that the speculation has eased the pain of the setback to some degree. At the same time, he learned something from the setback: He doesn�t want to go through anything like that again. Cotto said his greatest strength has always been his commitment to succeed, which he said he demonstrated against Clottey. He said he could have quit at any time after he received the cut �- and many fighters would have -� but fought on against one of toughest customers in the sport. And the commitment, he said, only got stronger after the Margarito fight. He has never had more resolve. �Sometimes when you lose you won,� he said. �Since the loss to Margarito, great things have come to my career, including this fight. I�m grateful for that. I�m approaching this camp with all the responsibility of what this fight means, not just for me but also to my team, the fans, the press, all the public. �� The loss gave me more focus in my mind and my body. Maybe (such a loss) isn�t the best way to do that but it put me in the right place.� So the loss to Margarito was actually a positive? �You can answer that yourself,� Cotto said. �Where is Margarito now and where is Miguel Cotto?� NOTES Respect but �: Cotto gives Pacquiao credit for his success the past several years, saying the Filipino has earned everything he�s received. At the same time, he said clever matchmaking has played a positive role in Pacquiao�s life. �He beat Ricky Hatton and he beat Oscar De La Hoya,� Cotto said, �but now he�s going to face Miguel Cotto. You can�t compare me with the last two fighters. � Oscar De La Hoya was a great boxer but Manny chose the right time to face him, in the last part of his career. And everybody knows Hatton doesn�t have good defense. Manny proved that the night of the fight.� In other words, maybe we should keep those victories in perspective. Cotto is kosher: A small tattoo on Cotto�s right shoulder caught my eye. It�s a U inside a circle, which would be familiar to all observant Jews in the U.S. The symbol means a rabbi has determined that a food item is kosher, or within Jewish dietary laws. Cotto was asked about it. �I have a Jewish friend in New York,� he said with a smile. �It�s in honor of him.� Must be a close friend. Ironically, tattoos aren�t allowed in the Jewish religion. Wishful thinking? Promoter Bob Arum believes Pacquiao-Cotto could approach the record 2.2 million pay-per-view buys that Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr. did in 2007. The Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez fight in September did a little over 1 million. �This will far exceed Mayweather-Marquez,� he said as Cotto was finishing up his workout. �We�re hoping it approaches the 2.2 million De La Hoya-Mayweather did. The interest is so great and it�s a competitive fight. C�mon, 2.2 million? �That�s what the cable systems and DirecTV and Dish Network are predicting,� Arum said. �There�s no tracking yet. We can tell by the amount of money and resources that have been thrown into this. We�re anticipating those kind of numbers.� Arum said Cotto brings in about 400,000-500,000 buys mostly from hardcore boxing fans, Puerto Ricans and other Latinos. The rest, he said, will be the result of Pacquiao�s growing popularity. �Manny Pacquiao is bigger than life,� he said, �They�re intrigued by Pacquiao. He�s unlike any boxer they�ve ever seen. The guy keeps getting better as he goes up in weight. The guy has so many talents outside of boxing �- politics, music, everything. People just can�t get enough of him. He�s really crossed over into the mainstream. �What fighter in recent years ever dreamed of getting his picture on the cover of Time magazine? His picture will be on the Asian edition of Time. That never happened with De La Hoya or Mayweather.� Arum said the sports editor of the New York Times told him he�ll be covering the fight himself. �And the New York Times,� he said, �hasn�t covered a fight in five years.� Must be a big fight. Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

Ring Ratings Update

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:45:11 PST
Glen Johnson (right) cracks Chad Dawson with a right in their first fight last April. Johnson, who lost the first bout, is an underdog in their rematch this Saturday but the veteran remains a threat because of his considerable experience. Johnson, who has 334 consecutive weeks in THE RING's light heavyweight rankings, is one of the magazine's longest-ranking contenders. Photo / Fightwireimages.com. Two major fights involving four RING-ranked contenders take place this Saturday. Former cruiserweight champ David Haye challenges 7-foot-tall heavyweight beltholder Nikolai Valuev in Nuremberg, Germany, while light heavyweights Chad Dawson and Glen Johnson meet up for their rematch in Hartford, Conn. Odds makers have made the lesser-experienced fighters the favorites in both matches. Haye (22-1, 21 knockouts), THE RING�s No. 8-rated heavyweight, is a 2-to-1 favorite over Valuev (50-1, 34 KOs), the magazine�s No. 5-rated heavyweight. Dawson (28-0, 17 KOs), THE RING�s No. 2-rated light heavyweight, is a 3-to-1 favorite over Johnson (49-12-2, 33 KOs), the magazine�s No. 3-rated 175 pounder. Valuev and Johnson aren�t just more experienced than their younger opponents, they�ve both been RING-rated fighters for a lot longer. Valuev, 36, has been in the THE RING�s heavyweight rankings for 203 consecutive weeks (170 more than Haye). The Russian behemoth is one of 28 RING-rated fighters with 200 or more consecutive weeks in the magazine�s rankings. Among the 200-plus-week fighters are heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko (232), No. 1-rated cruiserweight Steve Cunningham (281), No. 1-rated super middleweight Mikkel Kessler (257), No. 1-rated featherweight Chris John (275), No. 1 rated-junior featherweight Celestino Caballero (243) and No. 1-rated bantamweight Hozumi Hasegawa (236). Johnson, 40, has been in THE RING�s light heavyweight rankings for 334 consecutive weeks (155 more than Dawson). The former light heavyweight champ is one of 10 RING-rated contenders with 300 or more weeks in the magazine�s rankings. Among the contenders with more than 300 weeks in THE RING's rankings are No. 5-rated light heavyweight Antonio Tarver (581), No. 1-rated middleweight Felix Strum (320), No. 2-rated junior welterweight Ricky Hatton (342), No. 2-rated flyweight Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (451) and No. 3-rated junior middleweight Verno Phillips (377). It�s no accident that these fighters have remained in THE RING�s ratings for as long as they have. They are among the best active boxers. This Saturday, fight fans will find out whether youth will be served or whether Valuev and Johnson can utilize their experience to score minor upsets. THE RING RATINGS UPDATE CRUISERWEIGHT: Guillermo Jones (No. 3 last week) has been dropped because of inactivity. Jones� last fight was on Sept. 29, 2008. Everybody rated No. 4 or below last week moves up one spot each, while BJ Flores returns at No. 10. LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS: �Providing there is a definitive winner, look for a major shakeup at 175 (pounds) next week following the Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson rematch,� said Nigel Collins, editor of THE RING magazine. �By signing for a light heavyweight fight against Enrique Ornelas, Bernard Hopkins (No. 1) will not be dropped for inactivity, even though he last fought on October 18, 2008.� BANTAMWEIGHTS: Joseph Agbeko (No. 4 last week) and Yonnhy Perez (No. 5 last week) switch positions following Perez�s 12-round decision victory over Agbeko.

Haye's biggest test -- in more ways than one

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:03:18 PST
The promoters played up the size difference between Nikolai Valuev and David Haye in the official fight poster. It was April 2008 and one of those Friday nights on the Las Vegas Strip for which the time-honored catch phrase was invented: What went on here this evening, would most certainly stick around. A mini-community of those who make their living from the fight game and those who follow it had congregated at their adopted watering hole, the Heart Bar at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. The following day, Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins would square off down the road at the Thomas and Mack Center. For now, though, another challenge was afoot for the primarily British band of travelling boxing followers, namely finding out if the two scantily clad females were, as suspected, ladies of the night. Suddenly, into this raucous mix strode David Haye, the world cruiserweight champion. �What�s everyone talking about, a bit of brass?� said Haye, using London slang for a woman of dubious reputation. �How much is it?� When the assembled group expressed surprise that the boxer who once boasted of bedding more than 500 women should need to pay for company, he responded with a cheeky grin. �I love a bit of a haggle,� he said. �I�ll talk her down to nothing, then tell her to (expletive) off.� When Haye left the group an hour or so later, a consensus of opinion was reached that the most remarkable aspect of the scene wasn�t his outlandish comments. Instead, it was that for the first time in recent memory, every word that left Haye�s mouth hadn�t been about how he was destined to take the heavyweight division by storm. *** It didn�t take Haye long to start talking trash to the world�s best heavyweights again, and 18 months later he is finally ready to embark upon what he feels is the path to superstardom. Ever since unifying the cruiserweight belts with a victory over Enzo Maccarinelli in March of last year, Haye has targeted the biggest names in the heavyweight division and on Nov. 7 he takes on the biggest of the lot. Nikolai Valuev stands 7 feet and while the Russian behemoth is far from having the skills of the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, he does hold one of the four belts and poses a mighty challenge for Haye. Some have been surprised by Haye�s decision to thrust himself straight into the heavyweight mix, taking only one tune-up fight, a fifth-round stoppage of Monte Barrett last November. Yet Haye argues that the weakened state of today�s heavyweight class has spurred him to move quickly. A bout with Vitali Klitchko scheduled for the summer was scrapped when a deal between the parties proved elusive. Instead, he takes on Valuev in the German city of Nuremberg. The 28-year-old, with a record of 22-1 (21 knockouts), wastes no opportunity to extol his own virtues and he has already angered Valuev with some of his comments. �Valuev is the ugliest thing I have ever seen,� said Haye. �I have watched Lord of the Rings and films with strange looking people but for a human being to look like he does is pretty shocking. �I knew he was going to be big and he was exactly what I was anticipating when we stood next to each other. But he is beatable, he can be knocked down. He is a heavy guy and if he goes down, it will be hard to get his huge frame off the floor.� Part of the reason Haye has so often crossed into sensationalist waters with his pre-fight comments has been an attempt to beef up the pay-per-view ratings, which will be his primary source of income from a contract that favors Valuev. Occasionally, just occasionally, Haye has broken off from his hyperbolic pattern to offer some real boxing insight. �This is an obstacle I've never come close to facing before,� he said. �Valuev can take a shot better than anyone that I've fought. He can punch harder than anyone that I've fought. He's got a better record. He's superior in every way to anyone I've ever fought. �I'm going to have to fight better than I've fought before. I'm going to have to take a shot better than I've ever done before. I'm going to have to hit harder. My reflexes have got to be faster. I've got to be able to cover more distance, be quicker on my feet than I've ever been. �I've got to change the whole biomechanics of how I throw a punch. But I don't think this guy will have seen anything like what I'm looking to dish out on him. Once Valuev is out of the way, I can move on to bigger and better things.� *** Haye may have taken some spirit from Evander Holyfield�s narrow points defeat to Valuev in Zurich last December. Holyfield, himself a former cruiserweight star, hung tough with the Russian at the age of 46 before losing a contentious decision. While Haye has more speed than the veteran, his ability to take a shot has been questioned and Holyfield himself feels Valuev may be able to exploit Haye�s low left hand. �Haye's a very skilful fighter but he's fighting against a giant, a guy who's heavier and has a huge reach advantage,� said Holyfield. �He has hardly boxed as a heavyweight and it will only tell you how good he is by how well he does in the fight against Valuev.� *** With Ricky Hatton fading and Joe Calzaghe retired, Haye is seen as something of a poster boy for British boxing. His brash nature is not to the liking of all, but his good looks � he turned down a lucrative career in modeling � has attracted a reasonably broad fan base. Victory over Valuev would further open the window of opportunity, with a showdown with a Klitschko then surely inevitable. Haye generally keeps himself tucked away at his home on the island of Cyprus, claiming the warm Mediterranean weather and lack of distractions offer a more suitable training environment. However, promotional commitments for the Valuev bout have largely kept him in wintry London, and speculation is rife that his preparation has been less than ideal. While such a move may make financial sense, it is a big risk to take. Defeat to Valuev leaves him in limbo, just another one of myriad unconvincing heavyweight hopefuls. Such an outcome would be the antithesis of his ambitiously stated claim to become the best boxer in the world. His path through cruiserweight was solid, a bizarre defeat to Carl Thompson in 2004 notwithstanding, when he pummeled Thompson mercilessly before running out of gas and being knocked out himself. In winning three of the four major belts he toppled a fading Enzo Maccarinelli and Jean-Marc Mormeck but did not clash with O�Neil Bell, Steve Cunningham or Thomas Adamek, and despite boasting knockout power, is still untested in deep rounds. His success in Germany may depend on having the strength to repeatedly hold off Valuev, and the nous to get inside his jab and pound away. On Saturday, Haye will truly find out if size matters, as he faces what is in every way the biggest test of his career. Martin Rogers is a columnist with Yahoo! Sports

10: 7-footers

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:55:28 PST
Gogea Mitu of Romania, who was 7-4, boxed professionally three times in 1935. A weekly boxing list compiled by Michael Rosenthal. This week: In honor of Nikolai Valuev, here�s a list of 7-footers who boxed professionally. Valuev fights David Haye on Saturday in Nuremberg, Germany. 7-4 (224cm): Gogea Mitu, Romania (2-1, 1935) -- Lost to highly regarded African-American heavyweight George Godfrey. One Web site listed him at 7-9. 7-4 (224cm): John Rankin, New Orleans (1-0, 1967) � Fought only once, in his hometown, and won a four-round decision. 7-2 (218cm): Jim Cully, Ireland (1-2, 1942 and 1948) � It�s long man from Tipperary. 7-2 (218cm): Ewart Potgieter, South Africa (11-2-1, 1954-57) -- Fought only journeymen in southern Africa, the UK and the U.S. 7-1 (216cm): Carl Chancellor, El Paso, Texas (4-6-2, 1988-90) -- Once fought at 430 pounds. 7-1 (216cm): Julius Long, Detroit (15-12, 2001-present) � Has lost to some big names, including Ray Austin, Sam Peter and Audley Harrison. 7-1 (216cm): Tom Payne, Napa, Calif. (2-2, 1984-85) � Former NBA player went to prison for multiple rape convictions. 7-0 (213cm): Nikolai Valuev, Russia (50-1, 1993-present) � The greatest 7-foot boxer in history. 7-0 (213cm): Marcellus Brown, Louisville, Ky (26-17-1, 1989-2008) � Has lost to Trevor Berbick, Tommy Morrison and Lamon Brewster. 7-0 (213cm): Luis Alberto Gonzalez, Colombia (NA) � Reportedly fought out of Miami in the mid-1980s. 7-0 (213cm): Gil Anderson, Richmond, Calif. (2-0, 1954) � Fought only his hometown. Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

Dougie's MASSIVE Monday Mailbag

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:30:54 PST
AGBEKO-PEREZ Doug, Congrats on your prediction of the fight. You were right on. I was wondering, however, what you thought of the scoring. The fight seemed closer. I really wish Showtime would use CompuBox like HBO does, because I think the numbers would have been off the charts. I would have like to seen who threw more punches and power punches, as well as the connect percentages. I have no problem with Perez getting the decision, but Agbeko fought like a champion throughout the fight, and he certainly did not seem to "bank" any points for being the champion, like a lot of champions seem to do in close fights -- Froch against Dirrell, for example. I will say another thing about Agbeko, though, he certainly won the battle of who had the toughest face. Because after the fight, who looked like they won the fight? I know that one could say that Perez's cuts were due to head butts, but Agbeko was butted as well, with no cuts. Maybe that is why he calls himself King Kong. Great fight. Great pre-fight analysis. I hope we see a rematch. Good candidate for Fight of the Year, I think. Neither fighter could break the other fighter down. They both had indomitable wills. -- Robert R. I knew the Agbeko-Perez fight wouldn�t disappoint. We had two seasoned, aggressive boxer-punchers who are always in 100-percent condition and have sacrificed a lot to get to where they were Saturday night. I knew that neither man was going to back down and that both would give everything they had. I favored Perez because of his better technique and combination punching, but he surprised me by matching Agbeko�s punch output. I thought Perez clearly won seven rounds, but I agree that the official scorecards were too wide in favor of the Colombian, especially the 117-110 tallies. I can live with the 116-111 scorecard, but I think 115-112 would have been more realistic. I don�t know if I needed CompuBox to tell me that they both threw and landed a butt load of punches. Regarding Perez�s face, you should get used to him looking like the loser after extended, tough fights. Unlike Agbeko, who is blessed with a round-shaped skull, Perez has an oval-shaped head with protruding orbital ridges and cheek bones that predispose him to facial cuts and lacerations. Anyway, my hat�s off to both Perez and Agbeko, and to their teams (promoters, managers, trainer, etc.) for not being afraid to seek out the toughest challenges in the bantamweight division. The great thing about this fight is that the fighters have no fear of doing it again. Before the fight, both Perez and Agbeko spoke to the media about their desire to unify the 118-pound division. Agbeko specifically called out Hozumi Hasegawa, who I believe will step up to the 122-pound division after his next title defense. If Perez can�t get a fight with fellow belt holders Anselmo Moreno or Fernando Montiel, I�m sure he�d welcome a rematch with Agbeko and I�m certain Showtime would welcome the return bout on their network. If Agbeko can�t get an immediate shot at Perez, I�d love to see him butt heads with undefeated young guns like Neomar Cermeno, Abner Mares, and Sasha Bakhtin. There�s also veterans like Eric Morel and Wladimir Sidorenko (who I�m sure King Kong would like another crack at), who would give both Agbeko and Perez a good fight. I love the bantamweight division. HALLOWEEN NIGHT OF BOXING Hi Doug, With Saturday being Halloween and also the night of World Series Game 3, I don�t know how many people actually got a chance to see Agbeko-Perez, but whoever didn�t missed a good one. While the scorecards may have been a bit wide, I do think the right guy got the decision. I definitely wouldn�t mind seeing a rematch. It was also nice to see Mike Tyson with a smile on his face (I liked the �fat and out of shape� line). Overall, he seemed to be in a really good state of mind and I hope that he stays that way in the years to come. After watching the latest 24/7 episode, I think it�s quite clear that rift between Alex Ariza and Michael Koncz isn�t simply an internet creation, as Koncz had labeled it. Speaking of Koncz, is he officially in the running against Leonard Ellerbe for the award for Most Annoying Entourage Member? Thanks. -- Jesse, New Jersey Are you kidding? Koncz isn�t just in the running, he might be leading Ellerbe as this year�s M.A.E.M. I�ve dealt with both Ellerbe and �Mullet Mike� before and I can tell you right now that Koncz gets my vote. Just like Manny and Floyd are No. 1 and No. 2 pound for pound, Mikey and Leonard are No. 1 and No. 2 M.A.E.M. I don�t think most fight fans realize how hard Tyson has worked over the past four or five years to deal with his inner demons and conquer his various vices/addictions. He�s checked himself spiritually and he�s put the work in with rehab and probably a dozen different 12-step groups since his last fight, and the result is the grounded, at-peace version of the man interviewed on Showtime. I think Tyson is going to upset the many �burn-out�/ �tragic-ending� predictions that were made of him over the past two decades and wind up living a long, happy life. Anyway, anyone who missed Agbeko-Perez should make a point to catch Wednesday�s replay on Showtime 2 (11 p.m. ET/PT) or view it once it becomes available On Demand, Tuesday through Nov. 30. Perez and Agbeko, and the fight they put on Saturday, epitomize all that's good about the sport of boxing. ONLY IN AMERICA Doug, Pretty solid Saturday double hitter on Showtime... It seems like every time I watch a fight on the cable network Antonio Demarco is fighting. He's got solid skillz and always puts on a good enough show (no pun intended) but the only way the 'interim' will get removed from his WBC championship is if the sanctioning body strips Edwin Valero for failure to defend. If they were to get in the ring together �your son� stops him inside of three rounds. As for the main event, it was a dandy, though I thought Albert and Bernstein oversold it slightly. I don't think it matched the drama of Gatti-Ward, Marquez-Vasquez or Corrales-Castillo, the fights they seemed to be comparing it to, only because in all of those contests you got the distinct impression any punch could end those fights. I never felt either guy was ever on the verge of stopping the other guy Saturday night. Still, it was a hell of a fight... Kudos for picking Perez. King Kong is strong as a bull and has an impressive work rate, but despite his fearsome reputation, he's not an exceptional puncher. If he was Perez would have lasted about two rounds trying to stand in the pocket with a volume puncher like Agbeko. Saturday night he ran into a guy with better technique, who threw even more combinations than he did and was just as resilient. I know he screwed over A LOT of fighters and was as crooked as they come, but I'm not a fighter I'm a fan, so I fully support Don King not fading away yet. I'm pretty critical of Golden Boy Promotions for a litany of things, so I want to go on the record by first saying Oscar and Co. are the perfect business model, morally and figuratively, compared to King. Yet for all of the bad he did (and don't get me wrong, the bad will eternally outweigh the good) I thought he usually put together the best fight cards for your PPV buck. Sure you might have been paying $60 for Tyson-Seldon, but you usually got three solid fights underneath it. One last question Doug, the WWE just ran a �bragging rights� PPV, where wrestlers from both their shows competed in a tag team match. Do you think we could ever see the day where HBO and Showtime could run A cross-promotional tournament, you know, make it he Elite Eight or something with fighters from both networks competing against themselves and each other? The fighters selected would sign contracts giving both networks their rights with each channel telecasting half of the tourneys fights. Obviously HBO would never allow Pacquiao or Mayweather to appear on Showtime, but I was thinking along the lines of Danny Jacobs, Paul Malignaggi, Juan Diaz, Kermit Cintron or even Chad Dawson; those types of guys. The finals could be a dual PPV provided by HBO/SHOWTIME... Am I smoking crack? -- Tom G. The only time I recall Showtime and HBO coming together to produce/distribute a PPV show was for Lewis-Tyson (HBO had Lennox; Showtime had Not-So Mighty Mike). They did it, I think, because both networks knew how big of a promotion it would be and both realized that Tyson�s days were numbered (at the time it looked like Mike was going to completely self-destruct before the end of 2002). Just like when your boy Don King and Bob Arum would get together during the height of their rivalry (the 1990s), I think HBO and Showtime would do it, but there would have to be A LOT of money to be made for them to work together again. Here�s a scenario: Let�s say Mikkel Kessler wins Showtime�s Super Six, becoming �the man� at 168 pounds and then signs an exclusive deal with network. Meanwhile, let�s suppose HBO decides to invest in more than just Chad Dawson, let�s say they run their own mini- four-man single-elimination tournament for the 175-pound division that pits Dawson (assuming he wins his rematch with Glen Johnson), Tavoris Cloud, Jean Pascal and Adrian Diaconu (or the winner of Hopkins-Jones II, ugh!) against each other, and Bad Chad comes out on top. Then let�s say Kessler wants to challenge Dawson at light heavyweight, and this potential matchup is something that boxing writers and fight fans worldwide get behind. Maybe, juuuuust maybe, HBO and Showtime could come together with some kind of deal. (It would probably help if Joe Calzaghe agreed to un-retire and fight the winner.) There�s no doubt about it, Don King is the undisputed king of quality pay-per-view shows. �The Don� hasn�t had a good one in years, but I�ll never forget those early-to-mid-�90s Julio Cesar Chavez-headlined PPV shows that featured the likes of Felix Trinidad, Terry Norris, Azumah Nelson, Julian Jackson, and Gerald McClellan among others (once he even had Lennox Lewis defending his WBC title against Tony Tucker on one of those cards) in the co-featured bouts. I agree that Agbeko-Perez didn�t quite match the drama of the wars you brought up, but it�s still one of the best 12-round fights of the year. I wouldn�t assume that Agbeko is an overrated puncher. Maybe Perez has an underrated chin. It does seem like DeMarco is on Showtime every other month. That means Gary Shaw is doing a good job with his lightweight contender. I think DeMarco can go more than two rounds with �my son�, he might even be competitive, but I believe �the V-nom� would eventually wear the Los Mochis, Mexico native down to a mid-to-late rounds stoppage. FMJ TAKEN TO TASK Doug, This is the way Brian Kenny should have destroyed Floyd and I wish more people could hear this interview. http://www.zshare.net/audio/676796581a1c2a9e/ I knew that Floyd's fake "I want to be more positive and respectful" shtick the day after the Marquez fight was rehearsed. This is the real FMJ... Disclaimer: There is a bit of profanity in the interview. -- Jeff Thanks Jeff. The guy who smacked Floyd silly with the truth is R.A. the Rugged Man, a talented rapper/columnist/filmmaker who happens to love boxing and its rich history. Kenny does a fine job interviewing Mayweather. He brings up all the things that R.A. brought up, but in a good-natured manner (and without the f-word, of course). I enjoyed R.A.�s �interview� more than Kenny�s sessions with �Money� because 'the Rugged Man' did away with all the usual pleasantries (I think mainstream media guys go out of their way to kiss Floyd�s ass) and got right into truth about Mayweather�s carefully matched fight schedule over the second part the decade. I'm not surprised that Floyd got defensive and resorted to insults. The truth hurts sometimes, and R.A. let him know that more members of the Hip-Hop world know the truth about him than he allowed himself to believe. MAYWEATHER VS. R.A. THE RUGGED MAN What's happening Doug? I know you're just as tired about hearing about Floyd as I am, so I fully expect this email not to make your mailbag, but you had to have been laughing when you heard your boy R.A. get all up in Fraud's ass. I always loved RA for keeping it real in his music, but this took my level of respect for him to another level. Brian Kenney always kept it real but being on ESPN, he understandably has to keep it on the PG level. God bless satellite radio... and RA for saying to Floyd what everyone was already thinking. -- Reggie, Vancouver I was laughing when I listened to the MP3 of the interview because I don�t think Mayweather ever expected to run into a hardcore boxing fan on a Hip-Hop radio show. It was also extremely satisfying listening to someone dissect all of Floyd�s usual bulls__t excuses and hit him with the kind of real boxing logic that many of my fight scribe peers either lack or are simply afraid to write. When Mayweather tried to compare his performance against Marquez with Pacquiao�s two fights with the Mexican master, R.A. reminded him that the PacMan fought JMM two and three divisions below welterweight, where the natural featherweight was quicker and stronger. When Mayweather started whining about beginning his career at junior lightweight, R.A. basically said (and I�m paraphrasing here): �Yeah, you started out in the lighter weight classes like most fighters do, and over the years you�ve grown into a welterweight; it�s not like you jumped from junior lightweight to welterweight in two or three months�� When Mayweather said he�s been calling Mosley out for years, R.A. replied: �Yeah, you wanted to fight him after he lost twice to Vernon Forrest, when he was looking like s__t�� When Mayweather tried to sneak Ricky Hatton�s name in a list of potential opponents, R.A. sneered, �Hatton, of course you'll fight Hatton again, that seems like a Floyd move...� R.A. told Mayweather the truth. He told him that he used to be special at 130 and 135 pounds, but he�s been milkin� it in recent years. He told him that he didn�t give a s__t about business decisions or whatever beef he may have with Bob Arum. He told him that he ducked Antonio Margarito and that Carlos Baldomir sucked. He told Mayweather that he was lying when the fighters said he made $8 million to fight Sharmba Mitchell and $12 million for Baldomir. He told Mayweather that he�s been fighting old guys (Marquez, De La Hoya and Baldomir), guys coming up in weight (Hatton, Marquez) and guys coming off of losses (Judah). Beautiful stuff. I wish more of my colleagues had R.A.�s knowledge and guts. FLOYD GETS HIS FIRST LOSS Doug, all I have to say is wow! I haven't seen someone get in Floyd's narrow behind like this before! Yikes� and I am a Floyd fan! Ha ha, but the truth is the truth... This is a must listen. Warning: Contains explicit language... http://hiphopgame.ihiphop.com/index2.php3?page=ra -- Jerome, Hartford, CT The only reason I posted this is to give my readers an idea of how many emails with various links to R.A.�s verbal sparring session with Mayweather I�ve received over the weekend (probably 20, with four or five different links to the audio file). You�re are absolutely right, Jerome, �the truth is the truth�. If R.A.�s interview made Floyd�s fans finally see it, then I owe him one. BOOK COMING OUT? Hey--I read somewhere that you were co-writing or editing (or something) a book with a rapper and huge boxing enthusiast, RA the Rugged Man out of Long Island...if so--man superb! One of my favorite boxing writers and favorite rappers together is a can't miss! Tell me it's true! -- David Well, it was true. R.A. and I started working on a boxing book a few years ago but fatherhood and my MaxBoxing duties got in the way, while the debut of R.A.�s album (�Die, Rugged Man, Die�) and his various other projects (I think he shot and directed a movie during that time) slowed him down on his end (although, he managed to finish more chapters than I did). I try to keep in touch with him (we exchanged emails after his undressing of Mayweather this past weekend) and I think it�s still possible that we can collaborate on a book at a later date, but as of right now the project is still on the shelf. WHAT BOXER WOULD YOU... Doug, hope all is well... Most of your Monday mail bag will be covering 24/7 and some post fight analysis on the Agbeko vs. Perez fight, so I thought I would mix things up... From the current boxers around which would you rather: - 1. Have a discussion with about the current economic crisis? 2. Punch in the face? 3. Give a hug to? 4. Box? 5. Match them up with any other boxer of your choice? 6. Sit them on your knee and give them a father to son discussion on why they should stop boxing? 7. Take out for dinner in the hope their missus comes along... 8. Play golf with? (which gives you around about a 3 - 4 hour long walk to discuss whatever you want) 9. Go down the pub with to get 2 parts pissed? 10. Work their corner? Add any you feel necessary... Thomas - Croydon, England Hmmm� I don�t know what I could add� I must admit these are things I haven�t given much thought to, but I�ll try to answer the 10 you�ve given me. 1. Vitali Klitschko 2. Edwin Valero 3. Edwin Valero 4. James Toney or Bernard Hopkins (because I think they could teach me the most) 5. Floyd Mayweather (he ain�t gonna fight anyone decent on his own) 6. Jermain Taylor or Israel Vazquez (without the knee sitting); Mia St. John (definitely with the knee sitting, and maybe a light spanking�) 7. Carl Froch 8. David Haye (he can be boorish but he definitely has a personality worth exploring and it might be interesting to get to know him outside of the boxing world) 9. Wladimir Kitschko (he�s always seemed like a fun guy to me) 10. Once again, �my son� (I�m not qualified to work anyone�s corner and I�m also really lazy, so I figure I won�t have to do much with Edwin) ELLERBE - PART 2 Dougie, I agree that the video Asim sent is just... wrong. So is this: http://cheezburger.com/View.aspx?aid=2601425152 Okay, it's juvenile... but dammit it's funny! -- John, Irvine, CA Shame on you, John. Dougie can be reached at D.F.@theruggedwriter.com

Weekend Review: Perez's big night

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:40:55 PST
Joseph Agbeko went down largely because of a head butt but the night belonged to Yonnhy Perez. Photo / Chris Cozzone-FightWireImages.com BIGGEST WINNER Yonnhy Perez: Everyone knew Perez was good � just not this good. The California-based Colombian turned in a break-through performance against an extremely tough opponent in Joseph Agbeko on Saturday in Las Vegas. Perez outboxed and outslugged the fierce Ghanian in a brutal fight to win a comfortable decision, his second straight victory over a Top 10-rated African opponent. (He stopped Silence Mabuza in the 12th round in May.) Thus, Perez takes Agbeko�s alphabet title and moves up the list of best bantamweights in the world. Perez�s success must be particularly gratifying for him. He turned pro late, at 26, because of military service and won his first title at 30. He�s just getting started. BIGGEST LOSER Joseph Agbeko: This is a case in which it�s inappropriate to call the loser a loser. �King Kong� proved again that he�s one of the fiercest, best-conditioned, fun-to-watch warriors in the sport. He simply ran into a better boxer who also is as tough and fit as he is. He seemed to be devastated immediately after the fight, which was understandable. He had considerable momentum after dominating Vic Darchinyan in his previous fight and had his sights set on the pound-for-pound list. Agbeko is the type to bounce back, though. He works extremely hard and believes in himself. Whether he gets a rematch with Perez or ends up fighting someone else, I don�t envy his next opponent. MOST LOGICAL A rematch: The judges got the Agbeko-Perez fight right in terms of the winner but I think it was closer than the official scores of 116-111, 117-110 and 117-110. That means that one judge had it eight rounds to four and the other two nine to three. I had it 115-112, or seven to five. Keith Kaiser, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, has pointed out that a close fight can look one-sided on the cards because one fighter can win many close rounds. That appears to be the case on Saturday. The point here is that Agbeko probably deserves another shot at Perez in spite of the lopsided decision. BIGGEST OVERSTATEMENT Don King: King claims that his international broadcast team sold the Agbeko-Perez fight to more than 200 countries, according to Yahoo! Sports. And, in effect, he used that figure as evidence that he remains a force in the boxing business. One problem, though: There are fewer than 200 countries in the world. The actual number of countries apparently is 192 to 196, depending on the source. So it appears that King lied, exaggerated a bit or was misinformed. It wouldn�t be the first time a promoter played around with the facts. King also said that the promoters of Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto would be happy to reach 100 countries. How could Agbeko-Perez do better than Pacquiao-Cotto? Maybe it�s that crack international broadcast team that sells fights to countries that don�t exist. WORST CONCEPT Tyson comeback: Interviewer Jim Gray asked Mike Tyson before the Agbeko-Perez fight whether he would consider a comeback at 43. Tyson had the right instincts, indicating that he had no intention of fighting again, but he did say that nothing is out of the question. Gray then asked Don King whether he would play a role in the comeback and the old promoter � dollar signs glistening in his eyes � said it was possible. Terrible idea. Tyson was 38 when he was beaten up by journeyman Kevin McBride in his last fight, in 2005. He couldn�t fight then; what makes anyone think he can fight now? Tyson at this point would be more circus act that athlete, which is the last thing he needs at a time when he seems to be getting his life in order. BEST NEWS, WORST NEWS Antonio DeMarco: DeMarco outclassed Jose Alfaro on the Agbeko-Perez undercard, continuing a nice run of quality performances. The Mexican southpaw is both skilled and tough. That�s the good news. The bad news is that he might travel to Venezuela to challenge lightweight titleholder Edwin Valero. DeMarco will tell you that any title shot is good, which is hard to dispute. However, he probably has neither the speed nor brute strength to hang with a monster as quick and hard-punching as the unbeaten Valero. And, of course, his task would be doubly challenging if he goes to Valero�s native land. Valero can�t fight in the U.S. at the moment because of visa problems. WORSE CONCEPT II Vargas comeback: Fighter-turned-promoter Fernando Vargas reportedly challenged Hector Camacho Jr. after Camacho�s split-decision victory over Yory Campas on Saturday night. Vargas had a fine career but his decline was pronounced. The fighter who was outpointed by Ricardo Mayorga in his last fight, two years ago, wasn�t half as good as the fighter who won titles at junior middleweight. Plus, Vargas, who predicted during his prime that he�d be a hefty guy because he loves food, would drain himself trying to make weight for a middleweight or super middleweight fight. I�ve always said that Vargas is one of the brightest fighters I�ve ever known. I'd be surprised if he fought again. MOST TRANSPARENT Manny Pacquiao: Pacquiao knows Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn�t afraid to fight him even though that�s what he told the Associated Press. Pacquiao undoubtedly was doing some early goading in an attempt to lure Mayweather into the ring for what would be the most-lucractive matchup possible, assuming Pacquiao beats Cotto on Nov. 14. Rest assured that Mayweather has no doubt that he would beat Pacquaio. Indeed, fear will not stand in the way of this fight taking place but intransigence during negotiations might as both fighters are going to demand the lion�s share of the profits. They�ll probably reach an agreement because of the money at stake but negotiations won�t be pretty. CLASSIEST MOVE Chad Dawson: The resident of New Haven, Conn., who faces Glen Johnson on Saturday in Hartford, plans to honor slain UConn football player Jasper Howard on fight night by wearing his No. 6 on his trunks and wearing his jersey during his ring walk if he can get permission from the university. �It was a horrible tragedy for his family and his football team, and we definitely want to pay our respects to him and the whole UConn football team,� Dawson told the Associated Press. Dawson doesn�t have the charisma of some of his rivals � in or out of the ring � but he has always been a class act. BEST QUOTE Manny Pacquiao, about Floyd Mayweather Jr. (from the Associated Press): �Boxing for him is like a business. He doesn�t care about the people around him watching. He doesn�t care if the fight is boring, as long as the fight is finished and he gets (plenty of) money. � I want people to be happy. You have a big responsibility as a boxer.� Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

Valuev just latest in infamous line of giants

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:12:26 PST
Contrary to both evidence and popular belief, Nikolai Valuev, who fights David Haye in Germany on Saturday, holds as his rightful lineage not a mostly extinct tribe of mysterious, giant, hirsute half-humans. In truth, the 7-foot St. Petersburg, Russia native is, like many European prizefighters, cerebral, philosophical and well read, and as such a poor target for the juvenile barbs and insults thrown at him with such glee by smarmy, shallow American boxing writers. The men with whom Valuev shares a sort of over-sized lineage are the lumbering heavyweight giants who dwarfed opponents in bygone eras, and who, merely by virtue of their great size, were the villains in any good-guy, bad-bad guy promotion. Frankenstein monsters in short pants. The first giant-sized fighter of note in the modern era was Jess Willard, who is remembered still mostly as the recipient of one of the great beatings ever taken by a heavyweight champion in futile defense of his title. Whether or not Jack Dempsey was aided by plaster in his gloves is another question entirely and isn�t explored here. Willard, at 6 feet, 6 inches, would be considered a big heavyweight even today, but in 1911, which is when he turned pro at an improbable 29 years old, he was a freak of Biblical proportions. Most historians consider his size his only real asset, as it permitted him a psychological advantage over his much smaller opponents. Those who fought him took a different view. �He looked like a big stiff. I�ll knock him out in a round,� Gunboat Smith, who decisioned Willard in 1912, recalled to author Peter Heller. �But the dirty bum could take it. And how he could take it, and how he could hit. I found that out. �I threw my best punch at him and his hair wiggled a little bit. That�s all. I said, �Holy Jesus, that was my best punch � no detours, right from the floor, right on the chin.� I says, �Wait a minute, I�ll have to try that again.� I tried it again. Nothing happened. And he hit me with a right-hand uppercut, by God, he cracked a couple of ribs in me.� The great Jack Johnson�s claim that he threw his fight with Willard, which netted Willard the heavyweight title in 1915, is generally regarded as hogwash, the thinking being that if one is going to throw a fight, he isn�t likely to wait until the 26th round to do so � especially in 103 degree heat. Primo Carnera was the next giant to capture the attention of fight fans, not to mention the heavyweight title, which �The Ambling Alp� held for just under a year. At 6-5 and 260 pounds, he was slightly shorter than Willard but much thicker, and, as it tuned out, far better connected. It is no secret that Carnera�s early career was controlled almost entirely by the mob. He was discovered working as a circus strongman and turned pro in 1928 under the guidance of manager Leon See. When he was brought to America in 1930, the mafia found him an irresistible commodity and fixed virtually all of his fights, a circumstance of which history suggests Carnera was not entirely aware. This was known in the fight community but more or less danced around by the boxing press. On the eve of Carnera�s fight with Jack Sharkey for the heavyweight title, The New York Times� James P. Dawson reported, �The (other) matches in which Carnera has participated can be disregarded in the main because nobody has ever taken them seriously. �So it is that Carnera tomorrow will be on trial, and, alive to skepticism and disquieting rumors which have attached to the impending match, the state athletic commission realizes that boxing as a sport will be, to a great extent, on trial along with Carnera.� Carnera stopped Sharkey in the sixth round with a single uppercut, which came as something of a surprise considering Sharkey�s well-earned reputation as a rugged, if inconsistent, fighter. Not to mention the easy decision win Sharkey scored over Carnera in their first match, which appeared up to the point of the knockout to be repeating itself. Not everyone judged the outcome arranged. Writing for The Ring, columnist Jack Kofoed opined, �The Italian�s rise to the heavyweight championship of the world was due not to size alone � but to his vast improvement in boxing and hitting.� We all know what happened soon after. Max Baer destroyed Carnera in a manner not unlike the way Dempsey tortured Willard. Carnera toiled on in service to the mob, who got one last payday out of him when a young Joe Louis tore him to pieces in June 1935. Cue �The Harder They Fall,� the Budd Schulberg-authored screenplay based on Carnera�s hapless story. Carnera was not the only giant heavyweight Louis chopped down. Buddy Baer, Max�s younger brother, stood 6-6 and weighed 237� pounds and towered over Louis when they met in Washington, D.C, in 1941. In the first round Baer knocked Louis out of the ring with a left hook. Louis climbed back in and beat Baer around the ring, flooring him twice in the sixth. A right hand that landed right after the bell dropped Baer again and Baer�s manager, Ancil Hoffman, refused to let Baer answer the bell for the seventh, demanding that Louis be disqualified. Referee Arthur Donavan disqualified Baer instead. The rematch, held eight months later in New York, ended in the first round with Baer, this time at 250 pounds, out cold. He never fought again. Abe Simon, though a bit smaller than Baer at 6-4, outweighed Louis 254� to 202 when he met Louis in Detroit in 1941. After getting floored in the first round, Simon, according to the Times� Joseph C. Nichols, �� weathered the first round, survived several stormy exchanges in subsequent sessions and proceeded to give The Brown Bomber a slashing, all-out battle that went 13 rounds.� �(Simon) bothered Louis no end with his long, pole-like left, which he stuck into the champion�s face steadily. So effective was the fire that it puffed up the area around Louis� left eye as early as the seventh round,� wrote Nichols. In the 13th, a volley of punches from Louis finally ended it. It was the highlight of Simon�s career. He�d lost to most of the better heavyweights of the day, including Buddy Baer and Lou Nova, but did sport a knockout win over future champion Jersey Joe Walcott. Like Baer before him, Simon got a rematch with Louis and was stopped in the fifth. And, like Baer, he never fought again, succumbing to several disturbing medical reports and the pleas of his long-suffering wife. According to his manager, Jimmy Johnston, Simon had about $50,000 in fights lined up when he retired at just 27 years old. Other ring giants, most more sizzle than steak, have come and gone. Lee Canolito, Ed �Too Tall� Jones, Mike �The Giant� White, and, from the old days, Vittorio Campolo and Al Palzer, are a few. Journeyman Julius Long, who is wonderfully named given that he stands 7-1, gets about as much business as he wants. In a different era, fighters such as Jameel McCline and Tye Fields certainly would have qualified as giants. Among today�s fighters only the Klitschko brothers can be considered both giant and talented � hence their success Valuev, for all his flaws, would like to be named among them. Alas, he is almost certainly more Carnera than Klitschko. Some random observations from last week: Arthur Abraham visited Valuev�s training camp recently, which occasioned a publicity shot of the two sitting together on the ring apron. Or, rather, Valuev sitting on the ring apron and Abraham sitting in Valuev�s lap. If you haven�t seen it, it looks a lot like this: http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-947824-man-with-his-puppet.php Kudos to Yonnhy Perez and Joseph Agbeko for the excellent scrap they put on Saturday night, and to Showtime for bringing it to us. One complaint: With Barry Tompkins still drawing breath, why are we stuck with Gus Johnson or Steve Albert? � Antonio DeMarco is the goods, but he should hope Edwin Valero stays in Venezuela or crashes his motorcycle again. Valero is too fast for him. � Good news: The winner of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight will be the obvious choice to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Mayweather�s next fight. Bad News: To face either of them, Mayweather will demand $100 million in cash and controlling interest in a third of the planet�s oil reserves. � Bad News: Hector Camacho Jr. beat Yory Boy Campas Friday night. Worse News: Fernando Vargas, resembling a bald, tanned Peter Griffin, was hoisted into the ring afterward, where he challenged Camacho to a bout. And he was serious. ... In case you missed it, a second autopsy conducted in late September on the body of Arturo Gatti concluded that Gatti was indeed hanged, which effectively cleared his wife of any wrong doing. That shut us all up, didn�t it? � Hey, where were all you �size matters� guys when Tomasz Adamek beat the bejesus out of Andrew Golota? Golota had 2� inches and 42 pounds on Adamek. � It�s good to hear Chris Arreola is getting back in the ring so soon after his abysmal showing against Vitali Klitschko. The question is, will anyone fear him after the way he bawled when Klitschko beat him? I thought I was seeing George Costanza watching the end of �Home Alone.� � I want to say Kevin Johnson has the tools and the confidence to make things difficult for Klitschko when they meet in December, but I�m getting tired of Vitali making me look dumber than a lobotomized Ashton Kutcher. Bill Dettloff can be reached at Dettloff@ptd.net

Dougie's FAT Friday Mailbag

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:43:15 PST
AGBEKO-PEREZ, MY 2nd BET OF 2009 Alright big D, After my 'bet of the year' going wrong by backing the one-geared Jermain Taylor over Arthur Abraham, it's now Yonnhy Perez�s turn to be cursed by me putting some � on him.... Joseph Agbeko beat, for me, a poor version of Vic Darchinyan. The guy didn't look particularly great at bantamweight, or it could have just been an off-night for him. On the other hand, I'm more impressed, from what I've seen of Perez rather than Agbeko. He's the technically better, quicker fighter and I reckon could be destined for pretty big things. Agbeko, on the other hand, I reckon is going to be relieved of his belt and then probably fade into relative obscurity. With Miguel Cotto v Manny Pacquiao only a couple of weeks away I may as well throw my hat into the ring regarding this one. Cotto is proven against the likes of Mosley, Clottey, Judah & Quintana. Who has Manny fought above 140? Hasty Hatton & Hungry de la Hoya (I'm not even going to bother mentioning David Diaz @ 135 lbs, he should fight Andres Kotelnik to decide who really was the s____st belt holder from 2009). Hatton had the tools to really give Manny hell, but much like the Mayweather fight went charging round like a bull with no game plan. Cotto on the other hand doesn't get huge rushes to the head and is a bit more measured in his approach; that and he's a beast @ 147 (I think starting training early shouldn't hinder him getting down to 145 either) and has a severely underrated jab - and for me that's the key to beating Pacman, the jab. Knock him off balance when he starts coming in and his balance goes AWOL as he's trying to throw umpteen ruddy punches in 0.24 seconds. I really do think Manny is going to walk onto something big, and I really do hope so, as well, as Cotto is now my official '3rd best bet of the year'... and the little nuthuggers get their comeuppance!!! One last thing, what's this I've heard about Bradley fighting/challenging Hatton? Assuming he gets past Peterson, etc. If that does happen I just hope to God that Hatton gets with a decent trainer, sorry but Lee Beard has to go. Still, I could have a go - tell him to stop cocking his hand before throwing, hold his gloves up somewhere near his chin rather than down by his ankles and that when an opponent isn't within range it doesn't mean he has to do his Usain Bolt impression in hunting him down. Ta. -- Geoff, London Sounds like your advice for the Mad Hatter is worth more than 100 of Floyd Mayweather Sr.�s speed drills on the mitts, Geoff. I haven�t heard anything about a potential Hatton-Bradley showdown. It would be great for Timmy, should he get past Lamont Peterson (and I think he will), but I don�t think Ricky wants to go out against a dangerous but low-profile fighter. I believe a rematch against Floyd Mayweather Jr. is much more likely. It�s a rematch that no hardcore fan asked for, and personally, I could care less about it, but it would likely do huge numbers (live and PPV) in your neck of the woods. I have the utmost respect for Cotto (in fact, I�ve never picked against the Puerto Rican star) but I�m still on the fence concerning my prediction for the Nov. 14 showdown. I agree with you, that Cotto is the most proven opponent Pacquiao has faced since leaving the 130-pound division. I also agree that Cotto�s key to victory is his jab, but I�m not certain that he will be able to get off with it against Pacquiao, who will be the quickest (of both hand and foot) fighter the Puerto Rican has ever faced and probably the most mobile. I know Cotto�s handled fast guys before (Mosley and Judah) but they possess orthodox offense. Manny�s offense is very unpredictable these days. He comes at his opponents, lightning fast, at odd angles, and I can see him catching and hurting Cotto with that shot a fighter just doesn�t see. I think your second big bet of the year will pay off, Geoff. I also like Perez to outbox Agbeko over 12 heated rounds and score a minor upset. I agree the 30-year-old Colombian is the far better technician (although I believe Agbeko has the quicker hands), and I think Perez�s tighter form, defense and punch-accuracy is what will win the fight. Agbeko is hell on wheels but the gutsy Ghanaian gets a little wild with his offense. He got away with it vs. Darchinyan, a smaller guy who was looking for a one-punch KO, but I don�t think he will vs. Perez. RANDOM THOUGHTS Dougie-Fresh, What do you think about the �welterweight� fight between Pacman and Cotto being at a catch weight? If Freddie Roach was so impressed w/ the way Pacquiao destroyed De La Hoya at welterweight, why not make 147 to fight Cotto? Do you think the weight will effect Cotto if the fight goes into the later rounds? What�s the best way for one to describe the career of Yory Boy Campas? The guy just doesn�t go away and he�s fought a lot of good fighters. Thanks. -- MikeSam I think the best way to describe Campas is �popular Mexican fighter; second-tier former titleholder.� Campas had an amazing ability to pack fans in small arenas in Mexico, Southern California, Arizona and Texas throughout the various stages of his lengthy career (undefeated prospect/contender, the rebuilding stage after the Trinidad fight, his title days, and post-title days), but he�s definitely a second-tier guy because he never beat a world-class opponent, beginning with Tito. I used to watch him (as a fight fan, not a boxing writer) in the mid-1990s at the Olympic and the Forum and even when he was in with Midwest journeymen, he delivered fun and excitement. I think Roach noted that Pacquiao was able to eat a big breakfast the day of his weigh-in for the De La Hoya fight and still only weighed 142 pounds. Likewise before the Hatton bout, and this time he came in at 138 pounds for the junior welterweight title bout. So I think Freddie looks at Pacquiao as a natural junior welterweight at this stage of his career. I don�t believe Raoch views Manny as a welterweight, but he knows against the right-sized welterweight opponent that his star can hang. The 145-pound catchweight doesn�t bother me because I know Cotto can make it without draining himself. If it was 143 or even 144, I wouldn�t be as into this fight as I am, but knowing that Cotto often weighs in at 146 pounds for his welterweight bouts and knowing that he started his camp early and is on track, I�m OK with it. In fact, I�m wondering if the catchweight was a bad idea for Roach & Co., because it forced Cotto to work even harder and be even more focused than he normally is. COTTO/MORALES SIMILARITIES Hi Dougie, Considering the build up to Pacman/Cotto so far, is it possible that Pacman may be making the same mistake that he did against Erik Morales for their first fight (i.e. letting his 'outside' distractions effect his preparation)? Even Roach himself admitted that the Morales camp did not go particularly well due to Manny being distracted and perhaps underestimating Morales (Like Cotto, Erik was perceived to be 'damaged goods' by many fans and media before the fight) And let�s be honest, Cotto never comes underprepared, always looks ready come fight night. Plus he proved that he is still a badass against Clottey, gotta respect how he handled that cut (be interesting to see how Manny would cope if similar thing happened to him on the night). Don�t get me wrong, I love Pacman but I think he may have bitten off too much with Cotto. Close fight but I see a late TKO (Round 10/11) from Cotto. No way will Cotto get blasted out early... even Margarito, plaster or not, had to beat Cotto down with consistent pressure not single shots (and no way in hell does Pac have Margarito�s iron chin in order to stand and trade all night like he did with Cotto) Final thought. In the past Manny used to get more erratic/hittable as a fight goes into later stages... particularly if he has not significantly hurt his opponent beforehand. (Particularly true in his early days as a one arm bandit) Could this happen again? Keep up the good work. -- Si, Bristol, UK I don�t think Pacquiao will lose his head with Cotto if the fight goes into the late rounds the way he used to when he struggled with hardasses (like the late Agapito Sanchez and El Terrible in their first bout). Pacquiao has matured and advanced technically since those fights, which took place in 2001 and 2005. Regarding your comparison of the Cotto fight with PacMan�s first bout with Morales, it never helps when a training camp is interrupted with site changes and outside distractions, but I think the situation is different. The distractions that Pacquiao had to deal with before the first Morales fight included a bad promotional situation (with Murad Muhammad) and a training camp that was 100 percent open to the public. The Wild Card gym was literally packed, wall to wall, with Filipino fans every single day of that camp. It was insane. It�s nothing like that now. Even media big shots like myself (I hope you pick up my sarcasm) are kept out of Manny�s training sessions these days. And as far as I know, Pacquiao is very happy with promoter Bob Arum, so I think he�s in a much better place going into the Cotto bout than he was the Morales fight. NO MORE WEIGHT HOPPING! Hey Doug, First let me say that I love reading your work. You are a young fresh voice that doesn't drive me to drink the way Max Kellerman used to, and sometimes still does. I pose a question, am I the only one who is tired of the weight-class jumping? I want to see champions win titles and stick around to defend them. I love watching Tomasz Adamek fight, but would rather see him finish his business with Steve Cunningham, then take on some other guns like Marco Huck and Troy Ross. I want to see Paul Williams fight at 154, which I think is his best weight (although I am dying to see the Pavlik fight if it ever happens). I want to see Mosley stay at 147 and fight Mayweather (I think he is the man to beat him). I want Pacquiao to fight at 140 and clean out a very talented division (which I think he can). And I want to see Marquez vs. Valero more than anything else at 135 (except Valero vs. Katsidis, that would be awesome while it lasted). Your thoughts? � Dan Marvin, Dothan, AL I�m with you. I know why fighters jump up in weight (and sometimes down) in weight (for money) but the best fights and the most worthy challengers are often in their natural weight classes. Adamek can become the most entertaining and dominant cruiserweight champ since Evander Holyfield if he stays at 200 pounds. Williams can be the star that 154-pound division has lacked for the last few years. Pacquiao vs. Bradley or Marcos Maidana (or eventually Victor Ortiz) would be excellent fights, and if Roach would allow it, Pacquiao vs. Khan would be a monster event in the UK. Mosley vs. Mayweather would attract more attention to the welterweight division than De La Hoya-Trinidad did, and it would crown a universally recognized 147-pound champion (and cause many to remember the glory days of the weight class when Ray Leonard was its king). Valero vs. any top 135 pounder is must-see TV. THE �IT� FIGHTER Dougie, I feel like I am the only person who remembers what Cotto represented before the Margarito fight. Everyone is only talking about Mayweather-Pacquiao, and HBO already has a date for it in March! That's ridiculous. A little over a year ago, Skip Bayless on ESPN was saying De La Hoya and Mayweather were afraid of Cotto. And Pacquiao wasn't Oscar's first choice of an opponent anyway, he said he wanted Cotto for his Dec. 2008 fight. As a fan of Cotto, I think the Pacamaniacs are underestimating Miguel, or maybe over estimating the PacMan. Imagine if Margacheato hadn't been hitting Cotto with bricks and Miguel won? He would've done the same or worse to the Golden Boy and everyone would be crazy over him. I'm not lecturing you at all, you know how it is. I'm just venting. But in my opinion, the fight to be made is the same one it was two years ago, Mayweather-Cotto. � Homer (Oxford, OH) I�d love to see that fight, Homer. Maybe it can still take place. All Cotto has to do is �upset� the Pac-Monster. It�s certainly within his ability. Of course, the Pacmaniacs are underestimating Cotto. That�s why they�re PACMANIACS! They�re nuts, and they�re all gonna cry of Cotto gets the job done on Nov. 14. I wouldn�t worry about them if I were you. I�d worry about Arum and Little Floyd�s crappy relationship preventing that showdown from taking place if Cotto does regain his pre-Margarito form in two weeks. LEONARD ELLERBE Hey Dougie, you gotta see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeNGpSIUni0&feature=player_embedded Enjoy! -- Asim I did not enjoy that, Asim. That�s� just� wrong. Dougie can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com

Head to head: Agbeko vs. Perez

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:53:21 PST
JOSEPH AGBEKO vs. YONNHY PEREZ When: Saturday, Oct. 31 Where: Treasure Island, Las Vegas, Nev. TV: Showtime, 9 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. PT (delayed) Weight: Bantamweight (118 pounds) Title(s) at stake: Agbeko�s bantamweight title Also on the card: Antonio DeMarco vs. Jose Alfaro, 12 rounds, for vacant WBC interim lightweight title; Ray Austin vs. DaVarryl Williamson, 12 rounds, heavyweights. AGBEKO The essentials Age: 29 Height / Reach: 5-5� (166 cm) / 65� (166cm) Hometown: Bronx, New York (from Accra, Ghana) Turned pro: 1998 Record: 27-1 (22 knockouts) Trainer: Adama Eddy Fight-by-fight: http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=22761&cat=boxer The Ring rating: No. 4 bantamweight Titles: Bantamweight (2007-present) Biggest victories: Luis Alberto Perez, Sept. 29, 2007, TKO 7 (wins title); William Gonzalez, Dec. 11, 2008, MD 12 (retains title); Vic Darchinyan, July 11, 2009, UD 12 (retains title). Only loss: Wladimir Sidorenko, May 18, 2004, MD 12 PEREZ The essentials Age: 30 Height / reach: 5-7 (170 cm) / 68 (173 cm) Hometown: Santa Fe Springs, Calif. (from Cartagena, Colombia) Turned pro: 2005 Record: 19-0, 14 KOs Trainer: Danny Zamora Fight-by-fight: http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=324300&cat=boxer The Ring rating: No. 5 bantamweight Titles: None. Biggest victory: Silence Mabuza, May 29, 2009, TKO 12 (title eliminator). Losses: None. HEAD-TO-HEAD Skills: Despite their high knockout percentages, both Agbeko and Perez are essentially boxers who look to set up their power punches. Perez does so with better technique and fundamentals than Agbeko, who relies more on timing and athleticism to land his shots. All of Perez�s punches are delivered with textbook form. The Colombian also defends well with his high guard. Edge: Perez Power: Both fighters possess heavy hands. Perez�s power comes from his physical strength and technique. Agbeko�s power is more the result of his quick-twitch muscles. The Ghanaian is the more explosive of the two. Edge: Agbeko Speed and athletic ability: If Perez has a weakness, it�s his lack of speed and mobility. Agbeko, on the other hand, is very strong in this category. His energetic style is complimented by quick reflexes, very good hand speed and excellent hand-eye coordination. Edge: Agbeko Defense: One of the drawbacks of Agbeko�s aggressive style and athleticism is that he tends to get carried away with his offense, and in doing so, he often leaves himself open to counter punches. When boxing from a distance, Agbeko is able to avoid punches with his upper-body movement. Once he commits to launching his own attack, though, he often lunges forward and into his opponent�s shots. Perez is a more reserved boxer-puncher. He keeps his hands up and seldom over-commits with his offense. He�s also a very economical puncher, which reduces the opportunity to counter him. Edge: Perez Experience: Agbeko, a 10-year pro, has nine more pro bouts than Perez, a pro for only four years. However, their experience level is very close due to the titleholder�s inactivity (he didn�t fight at all in 2005 and 2006) and the Colombian challenger�s extensive amateur career. However, Agbeko has fought at least three world-class contenders (Wladimir Sidorenko, Luis Perez and Vic Darchinyan), while Perez has only faced one (Silence Mabuza). Edge: Agbeko Chin: Both fighters sport solid whiskers as neither has ever been down in the pro ranks. Agbeko�s chin, which survived the best shots of southpaw sluggers Luis Perez and Darchinyan, is slightly more battle tested. Edge: Agbeko Conditioning: Both bantamweights are ultra-dedicated gym rats who literally have to be held back by their trainers in order to prevent them from overtraining. Both have proven the ability to fight hard, fast-paced 12-round bouts, and both have come on strongly in the final rounds of such fights. Edge: Even Wear and tear: Neither fighter has ever taken a beating in the ring, but both push their bodies very hard in training and have absorbed a degree of punishment in their bouts against veterans (Oscar Andrade for Perez; William Gonzalez for Agbeko) and world-class fighters (Mabuza for Perez; Darchinyan for Agbeko). Agbeko, however, has more years as a pro, more pro rounds and more pro fights under his belt than Perez. Edge: Perez Corner: Both fighters have young, underrated trainers guiding them into Saturday�s fight. Both Agbeko�s trainer, Adama Eddy, and Perez�s coach, Danny Zamora, make sure their fighters always show up in tip-top shape (but never over-trained) and are equipped with a solid game plan. Edge: Even Outcome: Although Agbeko was impressive in his last fight, against Darchinyan, fans haven�t seen the best of the Ghanaian in recent months because his last three opponents have been southpaws. Agbeko should start fast with blazing combinations that we didn�t see in his recent bouts. The titleholder�s hand speed, upper-body movement and in-and-out movement will enable him to out-hustle Perez in the early rounds. However, Perez�s tight defense and counter-punching ability will keep the fight competitive and spare him serious damage. By the middle rounds, the challenger will begin to time Agbeko�s aggressive (sometimes wild) lunges with textbook straight rights followed by compact left hooks. Don�t be surprised if Perez stuns or wobbles Agbeko during one of their mid-to-late rounds exchanges. Agbeko�s heart and conditioning will enable him to survive any scare and the final rounds of the bout will be fought toe-to-toe, either in the center of the ring or with Perez�s back to the ropes. Even if Perez does back up, he will do so intelligently and effectively. The Colombian knows how to box in retreat and how to fight off the ropes with economical efficiency. Perez will land the cleaner punches down the stretch of a terrific 12-round fight. Prediction: Perez wins a close (perhaps majority or split) decision in a minor upset.

Agbeko and Perez have a lot in common

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:52:27 PST
Judging by their personalities, Joseph Agbeko and Yonnhy Perez are as different as night and day. Agbeko, the bantamweight titleholder from Ghana who burst into fan consciousness with his upset victory over Vic Darchinyan in April, is a brash and gregarious sort who isn�t afraid to predict a KO victory. Perez, a former Colombian amateur standout who quickly developed into a pro contender, is a quiet and humble man who prefers to do his �talking� in the ring. But don�t let their demeanor at press conferences and media workouts fool you. The two bantamweights, who will clash in a 12-round bout for Agbeko�s 118-pound belt at the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas this Saturday, have much in common, which is why their Showtime-televised fight is must-see TV. Agbeko and Perez are strong-willed, battle-tested boxer-punchers who left loved ones in their native countries to pursue their boxing careers in the United States. Agbeko, a free-swinging stalker with an iron chin, leaves behind his wife and two girls -- 5-year-old Beyonce and 3-year-old Keira -- whenever he travels from Accra, Ghana to John�s Gym in the Bronx, where he�s trained for the last three years. Perez, an aggressive-but-versatile technician, leaves behind his wife and two boys -- 9-year-old Yonnhy and 2-year-old Mateo -- whenever he travels from Cartagena, Colombia to Santa Fe Springs, Calif., where he has trained since he turned pro in 2005. Both fighters spend more time training in the U.S. than they do with their families, which is why they are always in superb condition and hell-bent on winning. Agbeko (27-1, 22 knockouts) took the best shots Darchinyan could launch en route to out-boxing, out-working and out-punching the junior bantamweight bomber over 12 rounds in July. Perez (19-0, 14 KOs) went toe-to-toe with top contender Silence Mabuza for 11 intense rounds before stopping the two-time title challenger in the 12th round of their slugfest in May. Perez, 30, believes he�s in the same position Agbeko was prior to the Darchinyan fight, that of the unheralded challenger. Although it was Agbeko�s title that was on the line when he fought Darchinyan, the media spotlight was on the favorite who had earned pound-for-pound status with his consecutive knockouts of Dmitri Kirillov, Cristian Mijares and Jorge Arce. Now it�s Agbeko, still sky high from his unanimous decision over Darchinyan, who is garnering most of the media attention with his bold predictions of a knockout victory. Despite his impressive stoppage of Mabuza in the South African�s native Johannesburg (a fight that wasn�t televised in the U.S.), Perez is still an unknown to most American fans and boxing media. �Nobody expects the guys who are climbing up the ladder to win,� Perez said at a media workout at his Santa Fe Springs gym last Thursday. �People always expect it to be the guys at the top. I really don�t care what people think about my chances in this fight. I�m going up the ladder and I�m going to win.� Perez, isn�t without his believers. Alex Camponovo, matchmaker for Thompson Boxing Promotions, the 30-year-old Colombian�s co-promoter along with Gary Shaw, says Perez proved his world-class potential when he scored a first-round knockout of Samuel Lopez in May of 2007. �That fight told me that Perez had the goods to go all the way,� Camponovo said. �Lopez is a rugged southpaw with a very good punch. He was 17-4 when Yonnhy fought him. �I expected a tough fight because we had brought Lopez to California two months before the fight, so we knew Lopez was ready.� Perez was 5-0 when he signed with Thompson Boxing. The Southern California-based promotional company kept him busy on their monthly club shows in Ontario and Corona, Calif., fighting him three times in 2006 and six times in 2007. Shaw was brought in mid-way though 2007 and the co-promoter immediately added Perez to his cards that were televised on Showtime�s ShoBox: the Next Generation series. Perez�s quick rise to world-title contention mirrors the path of 140-pound beltholder Timothy Bradley, who jumped straight from the Southern California club circuit to a title fight that he won in England last year. Bradley, who is also co-promoted by Thompson Boxing and Shaw, has a lot in common with Perez, according to Camponovo. �They are similar in that they both work their asses off in the gym,� he said. �The don�t take any shortcuts in their training and because of their work ethic they aren�t afraid to challenge themselves. �We were aggressive with how they were developed in the beginning of their careers. They fought often and they weren�t built up with �walk-throughs,� at least not on paper. If they blew through an opponent, it was because they earned it, not because the opponent laid down. It helped that they were already confident fighters, but I think the way they were developed built that confidence up even more and they were ready to win the world title when they fought for it.� We will see whether Perez has what it takes to dethrone a titleholder who is as hungry and dedicated as he is. Agbeko appears to relish Perez�s challenge. �I enjoy fighting the best boxers,� he said at last Thursday�s workout. �Perez is a very dedicated boxer. He is strong, skilled, and undefeated in 19 fights. I bring out everything for fighters like him. �I�m going to enjoy this fight, and after I knock him out, he will congratulate me. He will thank me for helping him see the light that I am the best bantamweight in the world. I�m the only one who can beat him. I�ll tell him to keep training hard so he can beat the other bantamweight champions.� Regardless of who prevails on Saturday, fight fans are going to be treated to a fight worth watching. GYM SCENE Thursday�s media workout was my first visit to Perez�s gym in the Santa Fe Springs Activity Center. I wish I had taken the time to check it out years ago. I�m told Perez has engaged in many memorable sparring sessions with good friend and amateur rival Abner Mares before his fellow bantamweight contender moved to Mexico City to train with Nacho Beristain for a few years. In recent years, Perez�s main sparring partner has been featherweight prospect Ronny Rios. Perez beat Mares, who represented Mexico at the 2004 Olympics, at a tournament in Venezuela before the two met at the 2003 Pan American Games, where Mares out-pointed the older Colombian. Perez is co-managed by Mares� father. Perez isn�t the only fighter who trains at the small two-room gym. Bantamweight prospect Efrain Esquivias (6-0, 4 KOs) of Carson, Calif., and junior featherweight prospect Walter Sarnoi (4-0, 2 KOs) of Monterey Park, Calif., also train there. WILD CARD WITHOUT MANNY AND FREDDY I dropped by the Wild Card the day before the Agbeko-Perez media workout and the famous boxing club was eerily quiet without the presence of owner Freddy Roach and his star fighter, Manny Pacquiao. Roach�s brother Pepper and assistant trainers Jesse Reid, Eric Brown and Paul Mayorquin appeared to be holding the fort quite well. Mayorquin has been working the mitts with 140-pound beltholder Amir Khan, who just began camp for his Dec. 5 defense against Dmitriy Salita, while Reid has looked after undefeated junior middleweight Vane Martirosyan and former Cuban amateur star Guillermo Rigondeaux, who was there Wednesday. Cruiserweight contender Ola Afolabi also popped in while I was there. For years Afolabi�s only claim to fame was that he was one of the best gym fighters in Southern California. That changed when he cold-cocked Enzo Macarinelli in the ninth round of their fight on the Khan-Marco Antonio Barrera undercard in March. If the Afolabi wins his Dec. 5 bout with Marco Huck in Germany, the London native will become a major player in a division that may have lost yet another champ to the heavyweights. (By the way, Afolabi thought Andrew Golota was too big for Tomasz Adamek. Reid, who trained Lamon Brewster for the former heavyweight contender�s one-round destruction of the Foul Pole in 2005, correctly assumed that Adamek�s speed would bewilder the bigger man.) I love talking boxing with fighters and trainers. I had a really good time chatting with Reid�s super middleweight prospect Jason Douglas, a former Canadian amateur standout who is scheduled to fight Aaron Pryor Jr. on Dec. 12 at The Orleans Casino in Las Vegas. AZTECA BOXING CLUB I missed the sparring at the Wild Card gym but made up for it by stopping by the Azteca Boxing Club in Bell, Calif., last week and this week. Welterweight fringe contender Jesus Soto Karass and junior flyweight titleholder Giovanni Segura are throwing down in their sparring sessions. Karass, who takes on The Contender grad Alfonzo Gomez in the opening bout of the Cotto-Pacquiao pay-per-view broadcast, has been putting it on Jose Armando Santa Cruz, the former lightweight contender now campaigning at welterweight. Segura, who defends his 108-pound title against Sony Boy Jaro in Mexico on Nov. 21, has been getting excellent work from former bantamweight title challenger Nestor Rocha and Japanese flyweight prospect Takashi Okada. Despite having only one pro bout under his belt, Okada hung tough with Segura, who relentlessly pressed forward and ruthlessly attacked his body. However, the former national amateur champ (I�m told he finished with a 85-15 record) displayed good balance, nimble feet and a fast one-two combination that he put to good use whenever he was able to establish some distance. Okada, who is being trained by Rudy Hernandez during his Southern California stay, has potential. I�m glad I got to witness the start of his pro education. Doug Fischer�s column appears every Thursday. He can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com

Grand Opening of De La Hoya school Thursday

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:25:31 PST
The ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the official grand opening of the permanent Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High school is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday. The school was established at a temporary location in 2003 with a $1 million donation by De La Hoya with another $3.8 million donated to Green Dot Public Schools, which operates public schools in L.A. After five years of construction and $26 million state bond funds, De La Hoya will cut the ribbon to officially open his namesake school. The school, at 1114 South Lorena St. in Los Angeles, has graduated 332 students with 72 percent going on to four-year universities. It also is a California Distinguished school, ranked No. 53 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, and has been recognized by Newsweek. De La Hoya has twice delivered the commencement speech at the school.

Pacquiao seeking title in record seventh division

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:04:00 PST
Manny Pacquiao has a chance to win a major title in a record seventh weight class when he faces welterweight titleholder Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, or 41 percent of the 17 weight divisions. That probably doesn�t rival Henry Armstrong�s feat of holding the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight titles simultaneously but it certainly is remarkable. Pacquiao has won titles as a flyweight (1998), junior featherweight (2001), featherweight (2003, THE RING), junior lightweight (2008), lightweight (2008) and junior welterweight (2009, THE RING), which equals Oscar De La Hoya�s six-division record. And boxing historian Cliff Rold pointed out that Pacquiao is the only fighter in history to win four lineal titles (112 pounds, 126, 130 and 140), which descend directly from the original champions. �It would be unbelievable,� Pacquiao�s trainer, Freddie Roach, said on a conference call Wednesday. �Manny is a throwback, like a Henry Armstrong type of guy. You don�t have guys moving up to win championships in all these different weight divisions. He�s carried his punch, power and speed up with him. He�s getting better and better. �This is one of the greatest achievements ever. � He�s in the elite category. He�s in the Top Five best fighters of all time of any era.� Pacquiao was typically understated when asked about the prospect of a title in a seventh weight division. �It�s a good honor for me and to my country, bringing history to my country,� he said. Could he make it eight divisions one day? Probably not. �I don�t think so,� Roach said when asked whether Pacquiao could fight above the welterweight division. �We�re close to our limit at 147. We have to feed him five times a day to keep weight on him. I think this will be his final stop. �You never know, though. The right guy might come along at 154 and maybe we�ll go there.� Revisionist history? A reporter suggested that Cotto might be the first true welterweight Pacquiao will have faced. That includs Oscar De La Hoya, who many believe was a shell of what he had been. Roach bristled at that perception because of how it reflects on Pacquiao�s victory over De La Hoya. �Before the fight, they said he�d kill Manny,� he said. �Manny would�ve beat him on his best day. Why do people say Oscar had a bad night? Why not look at it as Manny having a good night? That begged the question: If Pacquiao destroys Cotto, who most observers believe is a legitimate threat to the Filipino icon, will the critics then say, �Well, he was damaged goods because of the beating he took from Antonio Margarito?� �Of course you will,� said Roach, referring to the media. �� That�s the way the world is. I look at it in a different way. I look at Manny as the greatest fighter in the world today and I think he�s going to prove it again.� Pacquiao wouldn�t get into the fray, saying simply, �It�s their right to think what they want.� KO coming? Roach stuck by his prediction that Pacquiao will knock out Cotto. �Working the mitts with Manny this week � he�s punching much harder than he has,� Roach said. �He�s getting used to the weight; he�s very used to it now. He�s just punching fast and hard. I think Miguel Cotto�s defense is not good enough; he�s hittable. And people Manny can hit he knocks out. Roach said he believes Cotto has bounced back nicely from his knockout loss to Antonio Margarito in July of last year, building confidence in victories over Michael Jennings and Joshua Clottey in his subsequent two fights. He doesn�t want to allow Cotto to build any more confidence against Pacquiao. �The fight with Margarito, he did take a beating in that fight,� he said. �In his first comeback fight, he fought an average guy and didn�t look great. Being knocked out for the first time takes confidence away, though. He looked better in the Clottey fight. � That gave him more confidence back. �We want to take that away from him right away. That�s why we�re going to start quick.� That might also be why Roach has boldly predicted a first-round knockout, although he didn�t state a round in the conference call. Pleasantly surprised: Roach had been leery of training in the Philippines because of distractions but was satisfied with the work he and Pacquiao did over a month in Baguio in spite of typhoons. That wasn�t the case when they moved camp to Manila, where distractions abounded. However, Roach liked what he saw from Pacquiao in his first sparring sesson in the U.S. on Tuesday. �There�s still a little bit of jet lag,� he said. �I didn�t expect a great day (from Pacquiao) with the jet lag. He gave me 10 great rounds yesterday, though. He�s back on track. He�s very close to being ready for the fight.� Pacquiao agreed. �I feel I�m in 100 percent condition,� he said. �I can�t wait until Nov. 14.� Roach has dismissed sparring partners Jose Luis Castillo and Urbano Antillion but will continue to use Shawn Porter. He also brought in once-beaten welterweight Rashad Hollway and junior middleweight Ray Beltran. �I think Manny was getting a little bit too used to the sparring partners he had, Castillo and Antillon,� Roach said. �They went home. We got some fresh guys to liven it up a bit, to keep Manny focused.� Pacquiao vs. Ali and De La Hoya: Arum was asked how Pacquiao�s popularity compares to that of Muhammad Ali and Oscar De La Hoya, both of whom he also promoted. �Ali was a proponent of a political position and also � became a spokesman for the civil rights movement at a time when it was really emerging into everyone�s vision,� he said. �So Ali had tremendous political impact, particularly his stance on the Vietnam War. He was able to come back and fight. People idolized him. �Manny Pacquaio doesn�t have that major political statement; he�s not controversial. But he�s engaged in politics in the Philippines. And everything that he does is very pro-humanity. So he�s really loved by the people of the Philippines and the U.S. and all over the world. To that extent, he�s really crossed over into the American public. People know who Manny Pacquiao is and he�s genuinely admired. I�ve never, ever seen anything like the adulation, the way he�s treated by Filipinos in the Phillipines and all over the world. That�s something Ali never really had, that type of frenzy, with 90 million people in the Philippines and 11 million Filipino people around the world. �As far as Oscar goes, he was popular in the U.S. He was good looking, charismatic, a good fighter. His popularity was pretty much limited to the U.S. That made him an awful lot of money. But he around the world, he didn�t� have the recognition of either Ali or Pacquiao.� Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

More boxing songs

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:28:52 PST
The 10 list on songs about boxers seemed to strike a chord with many readers (pun intended). Here are more of the seemingly endless number of such songs submitted by you. Song for Sonny Liston: Mark Knopfler � http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to6wwNAqznc&feature=related The World�s Greatest: R. Kelly -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfgHdHfgVyE Kaliphz (featuring Prince Naseem Hamed) -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuhY4EyJJgY Second Round KO: Canibus -- http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=second+round+ko&search_type=&aq=1&oq=second+round+ Sun Kil Moon: Salvador Sanchez -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW3_8Q45xM8 Sun Kil Moon: Pancho Villa � http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxBRqhIHsw0&feature=related Sun Kil Moon: Duk Koo Kim -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMA2gRClDI8 The Warrior�s Cod: Dropkick Murphy -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebHIxQ_zhNY The MGM: Wu-Tang Clan (Raekwon and Ghostface Killah) --http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbY7sHooryA Rally Round the Drum: Paul Kelly -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXBGr-U5PIs No Mercy: Nils Lofgren -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOPiOhb1fDw I. Roy: Don�t Get Weary Joe Frazier -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-FEcvNXkmY The Pugilist at 59: Tom Russell -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkMtNiiRPGI Eyes of Roberto Duran: Tom Russell and Chris Gaffney -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gfzk047ImU For Sonny Liston: RP Verlaine -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLhsLvXX3MA In Zaire: Johnny Wakelin -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbYwBy7BbXE

Jewish fighters Foreman and Salita revive an old tradition

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:58:48 PST
Jewish boxers are nothing new. They succeeded in the sport as much as any ethnic group before World War II, Benny Leonard and Barney Ross being only two of many truly great champions who had strong Jewish identities. Since the war, though, when Jews began to drift away from boxing and into safer professions, you could count significant Jewish fighters on one hand. That�s why two upcoming fights only three weeks apart are so remarkable: Two orthodox Jews will be fighting for major world titles, Yuri Foreman against junior middleweight titleholder Daniel Santos on Nov. 14 and Dmitriy Salita against junior welterweight beltholder Amir Khan on Dec. 5. And they share more than that. They�re both natives of Eastern Europe, both now live in Brooklyn, N.Y., both became orthodox during their boxing careers, they once won U.S. national amateur titles on consecutive nights, they turned pro the same year (2002) and they�re both unbeaten. �It�s been a long road to make it to this level and we end up fighting for titles at the same time. It�s pretty amazing,� Salita said over the phone from his training camp in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The best boxers have always emerged from low-income backgrounds, from places like London�s rough East End (which produced pioneer Daniel Mendoza in the 18th century) to the tenements of Manhattan�s Lower East Side (which produced Leonard and many others) in the 20th century. And, very often, they were the children of poor immigrants from Europe. However, after the war, many returning soldiers used help from the government to go to college and better their lives. Thus, a long Jewish boxing tradition came to an end. Allen Bodner, author of �When Boxing Was A Jewish Sport,� is pleased to see that Foreman and Salita will be fighting for major titles -� for nostalgia�s sake, perhaps �- but he believes it�s an aberration. �Jews generally aren�t going into boxing anymore,� he said. �It ended with the (GI) Bill of Rights. Many, many people took advantage of it, a very high percentage of Jews. They found another way to get out (of poverty).� Indeed, Foreman and Salita don�t exactly fit the mold of their Jewish predecessors in boxing. However, there are similarities. Foreman was born in Belarus, then part of the Soviet Union, and immigrated to Israel with his family when he was 10. The Foremans weren�t poor but they had to watch their Shekels. They immigrated, Foreman said, �for a better life.� Meanwhile, Salita was born into an educated, middle class family in Ukraine that sought greater opportunity in the U.S. They are immigrants, though. Foreman went from Belarus to Israel and finally to Brooklyn, N.Y., for his boxing career in 1999. Salita immigrated with his family to New York when he was 9. That might explain, at least somewhat, why Foreman and Salita have emerged as championship contenders while it would never occur to most American Jews to pursue boxing as a profession. Salita said boxing is their �American dream.� �Boxing is a very tough business,� Salita said. �Usually, it�s the sport of the struggling, a way for people to make it, the sport of the hungry. Many Jews were in that position at the beginning of the century. It was the most-dominant ethnic group. � It�s a very hard way to making a living, though, a hard life. Jewish people have always been into education. That�s the way to go. �But for me, this is my way to make it here. I�m like any immigrant in that way.� Or as Foreman put it: �As soon as you stop being immigrants, a little bit of the toughness fades. We�re immigrants.� Foreman and Salita, both of whom are familiar with great Jewish fighters of the past, appreciate the unusual nature of their sudden and simultaneous emergence as contenders. First, there�s their strict observance of Jewish law. They cannot engage in any boxing activity on the Jewish Sabbath �- sundown Friday to sundown Saturday �- and they observe kosher dietary laws. And when they�re not fighting, they wear Jewish skull caps, another tradition rarely seen in boxing circles. An Associated Press photo of Salita wearing a yarmulke during his stare down with Khan last week was striking because it was so unusual. Salita doesn�t believe we should make too big a deal out of it. After all, he pointed out, Muhammad Ali is a devout Muslim and George Foreman is a minister and no one seems to blink an eye at that. �I�m just a religious Jew doing my job,� Salita said. At the same time, he sees his success in boxing as an opportunity to help change the perception of religious Jews and Jews in general. �I think the Jewish culture, Jewish values are underrepresented in pop culture,� Salita said. �I think people just know stereotypes, like Rabbis on the holidays or when something bad happens. I feel there�s a lot of good in playing a role in pop culture; it helps break down barriers. That�s why I think Matisyahu [the orthodox Jewish reggae singer] is the greatest outreach figure today. He�s on MTV. He does concerts throughout the country. He wears a yarmulke, has a beard. �I think he provides a certain sense of pride. It�s very important for Jewish people to have a presence. And maybe it�ll have a ripple effect. Socially, we still have work to do.� Foreman and Salita, who are friends, last saw each other recently while training at Gleason�s Gym in Brooklyn but don�t socialize much. They�re both very busy with their careers, particularly now, and young marriages. However, they do keep in touch by phone. They spoke to wish each other happy holidays this past Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. �I think I called Yuri,� Salita said. �We talked for a while, wished each other happy holidays. And then in passing I said, �We won Golden Gloves together. Now we could win world titles together.' �That would be pretty incredible.� Just like old times. Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

Ring Ratings Update

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:52:22 PST
Saturday�s bantamweight clash between titleholder Joseph Agbeko and Yonnhy Perez is viewed as an evenly matched contest despite the fact that the challenger enters the fight with only 19 pro bouts under his belt. Most fighters with that level of experience wouldn�t have a prayer against a fighter as tough and seasoned as Agbeko (27-1, 22 knockouts). The gritty Ghanaian lived up to his King Kong middle name when he decisively turned back the challenge of Vic Darchinyan in July. Darchinyan, a feared unified 115-pound titleholder, is a veteran of 34 pro bouts but he was still manhandled by Agbeko. However, more than a few insiders give Perez (19-0, 14 knockouts) a solid shot at upsetting the Bronx-based beltholder. That�s because the Southern California-based Colombian, who turned pro at the advanced age of 26 after five years of military service, had an extensive amateur career. Perez, who began boxing at age 8, compiled a 230-17 amateur record on his way to winning seven national titles and earning a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan-American Games. He was developed quickly on the Southern California club show circuit by co-promoter Thompson Boxing Promotions and proved his mettle by stopping former title challenger Silence Mabuza in the 12th round of fierce battle in May. The victory, which took place in Mabuza�s hometown of Johannesburg, South Africa, vaulted Perez to a No. 5 ranking in THE RING�s bantamweight ratings, right below No. 4-rated Mabuza. Perez isn�t the only RING-rated fighter who has less than 20 pro bouts. The 30-year-old boxer-puncher is one of 17 RING-recognized contenders with 19 fights or less currently occupying nine weight classes. Like Perez, some of these contenders are at the top of their divisions. Alexander Povetkin (17-0, 12 KOs) is the best heavyweight whose last name isn�t Klitschko. The 2004 Olympic gold medalist from Russia earned his No. 2 ranking with victories over Eddie Chambers, former titleholder Chris Byrd, Larry Donald and fellow Olympian Jason Estrada. THE RING�s No. 2-rated junior bantamweight Nobuo Nashiro (13-1-1, 8 KOs) burst into the rankings in 2006 when he won his first world title with a 10th-round TKO of highly-rated Martin Castillo. It was the Japanese brawler�s eighth pro bout. He�s stayed on top of the 115-pound rankings with victories over countrymen Kohei Kono and Konosuke Tomiyama, and a hard-fought draw with former 108-pound champ Hugo Cazares in September. South Africa�s Simphiwe Norgay (16-0, 6 KOs) earned his No. 3 spot in the 115-pound ratings with consecutive victories over Julio Ler, Francisco Arce, and a title-winning decision over former two-division titleholder Jorge Arce in September. St. Louis, Mo., native Devon Alexander (19-0 12 KOs) gained his No. 4 junior welterweight ranking with an eighth-round TKO of former titleholder Junior Witter in August. Two other contenders who have less than 20 fights join Perez in the bantamweight division, No. 7-rated Nehomar Cermeno (18-0, 10 KOs), who shocked the boxing world with back-to-back decisions over former unified 115-pound titleholder Cristian Mijares this year, and No. 8-rated Abner Mares (19-0, 12 KOs), Perez�s amateur rival (and good friend) who broke into the rankings with impressive stoppage victories over veterans Isidro Garcia and Diosdado Gabi. THE RING�s other �19-and-under� contenders include No. 9-rated junior middleweight Alfredo Angulo (16-1, 13 KOs), the rugged Mexican Olympian who will try to move up a notch or two by defeating unbeaten Harry Joe Yorgey on Nov. 7, No. 10-rated featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa (15-0, 13 KOs), the 2004 Olympic champ from Cuba who appears headed for a showdown with Juan Manuel Lopez, and No. 9-rated cruiserweight Ola Afolabi (14-1-3, 6 KOs), who will attempt to jump into the top five with a win over Marco Huck on Dec. 5. THE RING RATINGS UPDATE HEAVYWEIGHTS: Cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek�s fifth-round TKO of 41-year-old Andrew Golota was not enough to earn the cruiserweight champ a spot in THE RING�s heavyweight ranking. �As Adamek defended THE RING cruiserweight championship twice in 2009, he is welcome to fight as a heavyweight and still remain our 200-pound champ, providing he defends it by July 11, 2010,� said RING Editor-in-Chief Nigel Collins. JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT: Previously unranked Ryan Rhodes entered the ratings at No. 8 thanks to his knockout of Jamie Moore (No. 8 last week), who exits. Doug Fischer can be reached at dougiefsciher@yahoo.com Homepage photo of Perez by Carlos Baeza/Thompson Boxing Promotions

10: Songs about boxers

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:50:59 PST
A weekly boxing list compiled by Michael Rosenthal. This week: Songs about boxers. Obviously, there are too many to count. Please email me your favorites and I�ll include some of them in a future list. 1. The Boxer: Simon and Garfunkel -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnTa4t-Ssjc 2. Boxers: Morrissey -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFVdmGIZlyc 3. Hurricane: Bob Dylan -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8itFRCpkLg 4. The Hitter: Bruce Springsteen -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3a1bIqQVAg 5. Boxing: Ben Folds Five -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlT4aFDZ-AM 6. Who Killed Davey Moore: Bob Dylan -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62daicHQ9as 7. King Joe, Part 1: Count Basie -- http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/sounds/Gr11t12_king_joe_1.mp3 8. Boom Boom Mancini: Warren Zevon -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCpdkbo-_co 9. I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson: DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t9SCHLRDoY 10. Black Superman: Johnny Wakelin & the Kinshasa Band -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqMk-AuTDZE Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

Dougie's MASSIVE Monday Mailbg

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:51:36 PST
ADAMEK THE HEAVYWEIGHT Hey Doug, Man do I wish that Tomasz Adamek was a real, full blown heavyweight. The way he kicked Andrew Golota's a__ is just what the heavyweight division needs: a guy with a take no prisoners attitude. Very impressive destruction of the Foul Pole. Too bad there is little money in fights with Alexander Povetkin, Eddie Chambers, or Chris Arreola. Those are fights I'd love to see. By the way, if Bernard Hopkins fights Adamek and wins at cruiserweight I think you should cut off your pony tail... It would be an appropriate honor for Bernard. -- Stephen, Montreal If you�ve been reading my comments on Adamek-Golota in the weeks before the fight you know I favored the cruiserweight champ to beat the former heavyweight contender for a number of reasons (Adamek�s speed and youth, Golota�s age and general lack of fortitude), but I didn�t think he�d wipe his a__ with the Foul Pole. I�m happy for Adamek because I think he�s good for the sport regardless of the weight class he decides to fight in. Don�t be surprised if you see him take on the likes of Povetkin (who would make for a big fight in Europe) and Chambers (who make for a big fight at Adamek�s adopted hometown venue, the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.). Adamek�s trainer told RingTV�s Bill Emes that he believes his fighter can beat the young guns of the division (who he considers �prospects�), and he named Povetkin. He said Adamek just needs some time to grow into the division. There might not be Klitschko-sized purses attached to guys like Povetkin and Arreola, but those bouts would make Adamek more dough than any cruiserweight bout. And I tell you what, I don�t know if he can beat those guys, but I know those heavyweight fights would be some damn good scraps. As for my pony tail, I�d rather save it as a betting trinket to use against annoying fans. For instance if Floyd Mayweather ever found the stones to fight Shane Mosley, I�d bet my pony tail that even the 38-year-old version of the Sugarman can decisively beat their hero. If Mosley does what I think he�ll do to Mayweather, the Pretty Girls have to admit that I was right all along and that they no nothing about boxing. If Mayweahter beats Mosley, the pony tail (which I�ve grown quite attached to over the decade) gets chopped off. And just to show that I�m an �equal-opportunity hater�, I�d do the same thing to the Pac-maniacs if �my son� Edwin Valero ever landed a fight with Manny Pacquiao. ADAMEK'S JOURNEY Well I guess part one of the 'Adamek Experiment' went off without a hitch. I didn't see the fight but reports are he was reasonably effective and getting the knockout didn't hurt. At this point if I was Main Events I would freeze him, unless you could come up with some creative matchmaking against a name opponent that he could knockout. But why risk being taken to the limit by Monte Barrett? Who would you place him with Vitali or Wlad? Its funny the way we point out baby bro as the 'weak' one. He moves better, hits harder and since joining forces with Manny Steward, he's improved himself in the same manner as Lennox Lewis. The one difference being, while Lewis could grow lazy and vulnerable, Wlad guards his chin with the zeal of a fanatic. Either way, good luck finding your way thru their reach, Tomasz! I'm expecting Chad Dawson to outpoint Glen Johnson, again. But where does he go from there? There is NO way he gets Jones or Hopkins. Before Adamek moved up I thought he could rematch with him. Can he still make 168? Do you think HBO would match him with Lucian Bute, or eventually a showdown against Paul Williams or Kelly Pavlik (if he ever gets going) down the road? I think Sergio Martinez is all wrong for Williams if that fight comes off. I think he could present the same set of nightmares Carlos Quintana did. -- Tom G. I agree. I think Martinez has the style, mentality and the talent to upset Williams. So does the other opponent P-Will�s promoter Dan Goossen has mentioned, Sergei Dzindziruk. The once-beaten Spaniard and the undefeated Ukrainian are more experienced than Quintana and better athletes. However, Williams won�t be weight drained vs. Martinez or Dzindziruk as I believe he was against Quintana. If Dawson beats Johnson and Hopkins beats Jones, you can expect serious negotiations to begin between Bad Chad�s promoter, Gary Shaw, and Nard�s Golden Boy Promotions. Hopkins wants to fight for a world title at age 45 to emulate what George Foreman did back in 1994. Which is why we can expect Hopkins to step out of THE RING�s 175-pound rankings, or be dropped from the No. 1 spot (as he should be due to his inactivity and the level of opponent he�s fighting on Dec. 2), because with Nard out of the way, Dawson-Johnson will be for magazine�s light heavyweight title. I don�t think Adamek or his team have much to fear from Monte Barrett. If Adamek�s next fight is against a heavyweight, I think it will be a legit fringe contender or even a lower-top 10 guy. Don�t expect Main Events to �freeze� Adamek and wait for a big payday �cash-out� fight with either Klitschko. The New Jersey-based promotional company and Adamek have worked well together because both share the belief that activity breeds success. Both Adamek and Main Events should be commended for the busy, gutsy run they�ve had since the former light heavyweight titleholder signed with the company last January. Tomasz beat favored former champ O�Neil Bell last April, which earned him his RING title-winning showdown with Steve Cunningham, which was a Fight of the Year candidate for 2008. Adamek�s title defense vs. then-undefeated Jonathan Banks was entertaining and his blowout of Golota turned heads around the world. Between those major fights, Adamek stayed busy with tough club fighters Gary Gomez and Bobby Gunn. Main Events is moving Adamek the right way, there�s no reason to slow things down. I don�t think Dawson can make 168 pounds without sacrificing his stamina in the late rounds of a fight. There�s no reason for him to drain himself. All he needs to do is beat Johnson again, make some more money by accepting the challenge of Nard (or Jones), and then wait for the top super middleweights to step up to the 175-pound division, which I believe the bigger studs like Mikkel Kessler and Bute will eventually do. If Bute beats Andrade again, I think the best fight for him is a showdown with 175-pound belt holder and fellow Canada-based standout Jean Pascal. The winner of that fight is a perfect candidate for Dawson. BOXING NEEDS MORE ADAMEK What's up, man? I didn't get to see the fight but it sounds like the Polish fight of the century was exciting for as long as it lasted. I'm on the Adamek�s bandwagon as far as watching his fights. He delivers excitement every time no matter who's the opponent. Every network should be begging to showcase him. I saw him live against Paul Briggs because my dad actually worked Briggs� corner as a cutman. That fight was up there for fight of the year. It was also a fight HBO passed on and instead showed a replay leading in to Lamon Brewster�s KO of Golota. My point is, Adamek makes for tremendous TV. His defense is shaky, his offense is punishing. In my book that equals great TV right? I'm not convinced he needs a dancing partner for the network�s to show him. In my opinion, he dances well with just about everyone, don't you think? Thanks. -- Sam I agree 100 percent, Sam. The networks should know by now that Adamek is the goods. HBO aired his rematch with Briggs and Showtime aired the Dawson and Banks bouts. I think HBO probably hopped off the bandwagon as soon as Adamek lost to Dawson. However, the network might sign off on the cruiserweight champ as an opponent for either Klitschko. I�d love to see Adamek on basic cable again because there�s a bigger potential audience and like you I think the Pole is must-see TV, which can help cultivate new boxing fans. ESPN Classic aired his fight with Bell, and Versus aired his fight with Cunningham, so it�s been done before. Of course, the problem with basic cable is that they don�t write checks as big as the subscription networks. However, Versus might be interested in the right Adamek fight. The basic cable sports network is moving away from airing on-going boxing series, however, they are interested in the occasional �one-off� bout if it has enough star power or significance, such as the Hopkins-Ornelas bout on Dec. 2. So Versus will show significantly less boxing in 2010 and going forward, but it will have a bigger budget to use to bring quality fighters and fights to the network. I think Adamek-Cunningham II or Adamek vs. a decent heavyweight fits that description. HAYE VS. ADAMEK Well Doug, it looks like the most interesting heavyweight fight would be two cruiserweights, David Haye V.. Tomasz Adamek. How do you see that one happening. The only real favorable things that happened with Adamek Vs. Golota appears to be a decent payday for Adamek, and Poland got to see the world's best cruiserweight kick Golota's fat ass. (PS: Whatever happened to Tommy Morrison's comeback and supposedly negative HIV tests?) -- Brandon D. McMorries, Tarzan, Texas Morrison isn�t as dumb as people think he is. My guess is that he thought about the feasibility of his comeback and decided to give it up. If that�s so it was for the best because I don�t believe he is truly HIV negative. I just think his viral load was low enough that it was undetectable to the test he took in Arizona. If he really wanted to prove to the world that he�s free of the virus (or never had it in the first place, as he claims) he would have taken a standard antibody test administered by the medical board of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and presented the result to the media. Regardless of his health status, it was clear by the two �comeback� fights he had -- against total no-hopers in scheduled four- and six-round bouts that took place a year apart, in February of 2007 and last February -- that �the Duke� had absolutely NOTHING left. Shame on Top Rank for even considering promoting Morrison�s return to the ring. It was bad enough that they pushed Tye Fields on boxing fans. Anyway, enough about this heavyweight from the past (and for the record I really enjoyed watching Morrison fight in the 1990s). Let�s talk about the future. If Haye beats Vaulev for the WBA belt next month I think an excellent possible heavyweight matchup for 2010 would be the Hayemaker vs. Adamek. That would be an old-school scrap fought at old-school heavyweight poundage, the 212-to-216 range. Adamek would be right there for the quicker, more athletic Haye to nail with his bombs, but the Pole�s chin is pretty damn sturdy. I can see him outlasting the brash British bomber in a battle of attrition. 2009�s P4P VS. 1999�s P4P Hey Dougie, I really enjoyed the Raskin/Dettloff audio piece. The website has really come on this past year and it is now the first place to go for my boxing fix. Couple of points, I was at the Froch/Dirrell fight. I had Froch ahead on points although as the saying goes Froch didn't win it, Dirrell lost it. Nevertheless, Andre looked like he had a lot of the skills to be a top fighter if he lets his hands go more often. Second point, which is more of a question, I got into a conversation the other night with someone who claims he used to be a big fight fan. He spouted the often heard 'boxing isn't what it used to be� mantra and I did the preaching bit that all fight fans have to do at some point in time. His argument which I thought would be a good debating point was that if you took The Ring�s pound for pound top 10 from today and compared it to the same list 10 and 20 years ago you would see a steep decline in standards. How do you think the P4P class of today would stack up against their counterparts of October �99 & �89? Keep up the good work, sites like this really raise the profile of the sport. Regards. -- Toby, London UK Thanks for the kind words Toby. I�m glad you like the new audio feature. I thought Bill and Eric and did great job, especially for their first show. They�ll get even better in the coming months, and hopefully RingTV.com will continue to grow and improve in 2010. Regarding Dirrell, I think the young man has the talent and physical tools to beat any 168 pounder in the world. He just needs more experience and he needs to show more heart when he�s in the ring. Experience he�ll gain with each bout. Heart is something different. Either he has it or he doesn�t. We�ll find out by the end of this Super Six tournament. It�s hard to compare of the pound-for-pound elite from different decades, because the fighters from the earlier decades are retired and we have their entire careers to evaluate, while the elite from this decade, for the most part, are still building their legacies. Guys we consider �great� today, such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Pernell Whitaker were still trying to prove themselves to fans and the media in the 1980s and the 1990s, respectively. If you asked the top boxing writers of those decades to compare Leonard and Sweet Pea with Benny Leonard or Willie Pep and Sugar Ray Robinson I�m sure the fight scribes would have told you that they don�t belong in the same sentence with those greats of the past. I have RING magazines going all the way back to 1980, and believe or not, every year from �80 to �90, there a few columns or feature stories that basically complained about the �poor� quality of the top fighters of those years. Anyway, just for the heck of it, here�s THE RING�s current pound-for-pound top 10: 1. Manny Pacquiao 2. Floyd Mayweather 3. Shane Mosley 4. Bernard Hopkins 5. Juan Manuel Marquez 6. Nonito Donaire 7. Miguel Cotto 8. Celestino Caballero 9. Israel Vazquez 10. Rafael Marquez And here�s THE RING�s pound-for-pound top 10 for October of 1999: 1. Roy Jones 2. Floyd Mayweather 3. Felix Trinidad 4. Oscar De La Hoya 5. Shane Mosley 6. Mark Johnson 7. Ricardo Lopez 8. Erik Morales 9. Bernard Hopkins 10. Steve Johnston First of all, I gotta tip my hat to Mayweather for sitting in the No. 2 spot 10 years apart. That doesn�t happen often (if ever) and it�s an indication of how precocious and scary talented he was coming out of the 1996 Olympics and how accomplished and well preserved he is now. Props also has to go to Mosley for being in the top five a decade apart, and to Hopkins for being in the top 10 when he was 34 and 44 (and if I�m not mistaken, I think Nard�s stay has been uninterrupted). As for which year had the better top 10, I lean towards 1999, although I think the top fives of both years are practically even in terms of talent and accomplishment. In fact, I think the top five of October 2009 might be a little better than the top five of October 1999. The No. 1 fighters are both explosive, ultra talents -- Jones, who unified the light heavyweight titles in �99, had more savvy than the PacMan, but I�m more impressed with the current version of Pacquiao because he takes more risks with his opposition and during his fights than the late-1990s version of �RJ�, who probably could�ve finished off guys like Reggie Johnson the way Pac wiped out Ricky Hatton but was more than happy to play it safe and go the distance. And I�m sure everybody knows that I was A LOT higher on the 130-pound version of Mayweather than the reluctant welterweight we�re stuck with today. The guys in the No. 3 spot of both 2009 and 1999 are action fighters who wanted to test their mettle vs. the best regardless of the consequences. The undefeated welterweight version of Trinidad was an offensive force, but somewhat one-dimensional as his controversial victory over De la Hoya proved. I thought he improved at junior middleweight. Mosley is the opposite. He was mediocre at 154 pounds (as his controversial rematch victory over De La Hoya proved) and appears more sharp and versatile now that he�s back down at welterweight. I would go with the 2009 welterweight version of Sugar Shane over the weight-drained 1999 welterweight version of Tito. Hopkins of 2009 is an old vet whose hall-of-fame legacy is already secure, but the 1999 version of De La Hoya was still in his prime and had proven his ability in competitive fights with three top-10 P4P-rated fighters, Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey and Trinidad. Like Hopkins, the JM Marquez of 2009 is already a future first-ballot HOF inductee, however, the Mexican technician is probably on the downside of his career. The 1999 version of Mosley was an awesome talent and undefeated competitor, but still largely unproven. It�s the guys rated six through 10 that sway 1999 ahead of 2009, in my opinion. Donaire doesn�t compare with �Too-Sharp,� who is perhaps the most underrated talent of the 1990s. Cotto is one of my favorite fighters. He�s an accomplished three-time titleholder who has my respect and admiration forever, but he�s no �Finito,� who was near perfection (especially in �99). I�ll take the young �El Terrible� over the overrated Caballero, as well as the �young� Hopkins and Johnston over the shopworn 2009 version of Vazquez and Rafa Marquez. I�d would give you THE RING�s pound-for-pound top 10 in October of 1989, but my RING magazines from mid-1986 to �89 are in a box in the storeroom of my garage and I�m not about to brave those cob webs and creepy crawlies on a Sunday night. There was a box that was left outside of the storage room in my garage that contained RING magazines from 1983 to early �86, and guess what? There was no pound-for-pound list in those years, and I presume there wasn�t any in previous years and decades. This pound-for-pound obsession, at least the rating of the top fighters from every weight class, is a recent phenomenon (and an annoying one, at that). Looking at THE RING champions in the ratings of the latest magazine I could find in that box (the March 1986 edition, which was the annual awards issue with Marvin Hagler and Donald Curry, co-fighters of the year for 1985, on the cover), I can see why there was no need for a top 10 list of the elite. The guys who held the titles were not only the kings of their respective divisions, they were proven elite fighters: Hagler at middleweight, Michael Spinks at heavyweight, Tommy Hearns at junior middleweight, Curry at welterweight, Wilfredo Gomez at junior lightweight and Sot Chitalda at flyweight. And among the top contenders were Larry Holmes at heavyweight, Mike McCallum at junior middleweight, Julio Cesar Chavez at junior lightweight, and Dwight Muhammad Qawi and light heavyweight. No matter how you stack �em, I�m sure you could make a good top 10 list with those fighters. By the way, in case you were wondering about the other annual award winners for 1985, the fight of the year was Hagler-Hearns (duh), but the runner up was cruiserweight titleholder Lee Roy Murphy's dramatic final-round KO victory over Chisanda Mutti (who led on all three scorecards after 11 back-and-forth rounds before both fighters were simultaneously dropped by right hands in the 12th and Murphy managed to climb off the canvas). Upset of the year was Spinks over Holmes (duh), but the runner-up was unheralded "Lighting" Lonnie Smith's eighth-round KO of Billy Costello, who was 30-0 at the time. Most Progress (a category the magazine discontinued) went to Smith, who had never faced competition remotely as good as Costello or the veterans the unbeaten beltholder had defeated. Runner-up was J.B. Williamson, who went from California club fighter to a light heavyweight titleholder with his 12-round decision over Prince Mamah Mohammad. Prospect of the year (another award the magazine dropped) was 19-year-old Mike Tyson, who was 15-0 (15) at the end of '85. Runner-up was Michael Nunn, the 6-foot-2 southpaw who finished the year with an 11-0 (8) record. Dougie can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com

Weekend Review: Adamek's big night

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:45:25 PST
BIGGEST WINNER Tomasz Adamek: THE RING cruiserweight champion�s goal is to fight one or both of the Klitschkos and earn the big money that goes with it. He took a nice step in that direction on Saturday in Lodz, Poland, knocking out former contender and fellow Pole Andrew Golota in the fifth round in his first full-fledged heavyweight fight. Adamek beat a big-name opponent who was 42 pounds heavier than he was, did it in front of 17,000 adoring fans in Poland, made a good payday and set himself up for bigger things. Not a bad night�s work. I don�t think he can beat either Klitschko because of his size but he probably wouldn�t do any worse than anyone else and might be tough enough to give them some trouble. And if he fails, he can always go back down to cruiserweight. The man is in a good position. BIGGEST LOSER Andrew Golota: Going into the Adamek fight, a lot of us wondered whether the Foul Pole�s size and punching power would be too much for his smaller countryman and we were a bit surprised that he was taken out in four-plus rounds. In retrospect, we probably should�ve seen this coming. Adamek is a terrific fighter and a very tough guy while Golota, at 41, is just another used up former contender hanging on in an attempt to cash in on his name. Golota certainly gave us numerous interesting moments in his long career. And he could probably continue to make a good living fighting in Poland. However, he said after the fight that he might call it quits. That might be a good idea. BEST DECISION Kelly Pavlik: Pavlik was wise to pull out of his Dec. 5 fight against Paul Williams because of ongoing complications from a staph infection that he said almost killed him. He would�ve been crazy to face a fighter of Williams� caliber at less than 100 percent, as he did against Bernard Hopkins. I believe Hopkins would�ve won anyway because of his savvy and size but a completely healthy Pavlik would�ve given him a better fight. Pavlik should put boxing aside for the time being and allow himself time to heal completely before even stepping back into the gym. He�s only 27. He�ll have plenty of time to make his fortune and fulfill his destiny in boxing when he�s at his best. And, of course, his health is a lot more important than fortune and fame. MOST FRUSTRATED Paul Williams: Williams already had agreed to a postponement of his fight with Pavlik, which was originally scheduled for this month, because he knew how important it was to his career and wallet. Then, suddenly, it was off for good. He and his promoter, Dan Goossen, made the decision to keep the date rather than hope Pavlik is ready to go in January because there are no guarantees the problems wouldn�t resurface and he hasn�t fought since April. However, a new opponent -� whether it�s Sergio Martinez, Sergei Dzindziruk or any other likely candidate -� won�t produce the kind interest or payday Pavlik did. The best-case scenario for Williams might be this: He wins on Dec. 5 and then meets Pavlik in the spring, which would give the middleweight champ plenty of time to heal completely. BEST OPTION Williams vs. Martinez: I like the idea of Shane Mosley taking an enormous gamble by fighting Williams at some sort of catch weight but it won�t happen; it�s just not a good physical matchup for Mosley. In lieu of that, I like Williams-Sergio Martinez. The Spain-based Argentine is a well-schooled, aggressive guy who seems to have a degree of latent star power. I think he would be perceived as a legitimate threat and give Williams good fight, which probably would be entertaining. Also, Martinez deserves the shot after he was screwed out of a victory over Kermit Cintron in February. The remainder of other candidates floating about just don�t sound as interesting. MOST FRUSTRATED II Carlos Quintana: The former welterweight titleholder was originally scheduled to fight on a card in Puerto Rico this past Saturday but pulled out to fight Joshua Clottey on the undercard of the Paul Williams-Kelly Pavlik fight on Dec. 5. However, when Williams-Pavlik fell out, HBO removed Quintana-Clottey from the card too presumably because the promoter of Pavlik, Bob Arum, who also handles Clottey, was out of the picture. Quintana�s promoter, Lou DiBella, said the fighter was �beside himself.� �It�s not fair,� DiBella said. �He had nothing to do with Pavlik getting injured. So not only won�t he get paid for this Saturday, it looks like he also won�t get paid for fighting Clottey on Dec. 5. � He has a family, so does Clottey. Where�s the respect for the fighters?� BEST HOMECOMING Kermit Cintron: The former welterweight titleholder had never fought in the place of his birth, Puerto Rico, until Saturday, when he stopped Juilano Ramos in five rounds in a junior middleweight fight. That�s two consecutive impressive victories since his controversial draw with Sergio Martinez, Cintron having outpointed then-unbeaten Alfredo Angulo in May. And, who knows, things might get even better very quickly. Cintron has been mentioned as a potential opponent for Williams. I don�t see Cintron beating Williams, a bigger man and a superior boxer, but Cintron has the power to hurt anyone. The two experienced markedly different results against Antonio Margarito, who twice stopped Cintron but was outpointed by Williams. MOST-INTRIGUING MATCHUP Arreola vs. Tua: Chris Arreola has agreed to fight on the undercard of Paul Williams vs. TBA, which could end up in Los Angeles. And the matchup that is most intriguing is Arreola vs. David Tua. HBO probably won�t chip in enough money to finance that fight but it sure is fun to think about. Two well-known, aggressive, big-punching heavyweights usually make for an exciting night. And it would be a good risk for both men. A victory by Arreola, which would seem likely, would do wonders for his confidence and give his reputation a boost after his one-sided setback against Vitali Klitschko last month. And Tua, making a comeback, could burst into the Top 10 with a victory. It would be win, win, win situation if the fight can be made. BEST QUOTE Adamek, after stopping Golota: �I will never forget this moment. Fighting in front of almost 17,000 fans against the guy who was the Polish legend and went through many great battles. After this fight, I�m sure I will have more of them. By beating Andrew Golota I wanted to make a statement about my power and wanted to show how good a heavyweight I can be. I got hit couple of times pretty hard, but I was never in danger. Looks like my iron chin will work for me also in the higher weight class.� Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

Arreola set to fight Dec. 5

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:03:49 PST
Chris Arreola is wasting no time getting back into the ring after his technical-knockout loss to Vitali Klitschko on Sept. 26. Arreola has agreed to fight on the undercard of the fight between Paul Williams and whatever opponent replaces Kelly Pavlik on Dec. 5, Arreola's trainer, Henry Ramirez, confirmed. THE RING�s No. 6-rated heavyweight is scheduled to begin two-a-day training on Monday. No opponent has been signed but David Tua, Ray Austin and Oleg Maskaev are among those who have been mentioned. The card, scheduled to take place in Atlantic City, N.J. when Williams was to fight Pavlik, could be moved to the Los Angeles area. Arreola lives in Riverside, Calif., which is near L.A. �The best way to get over a fight is to start preparing for another one,� Ramirez said. �� We�re just waiting to hear the name. This doesn�t give him too time off but, hey, the problem Chris has had is too much time between fights. That�s not going to be a problem now. �Some might feel it�s too soon after a disappointing loss but we don�t feel that way. An opportunity came and we�re getting back into the ring.� Indeed, some will wonder whether Arreola should take more time off after 10 hard rounds against a monster like Klitschko. However, Ramirez said he didn�t absorb the physical punishment one might assume he did. �People want to say he was beaten to a pulp,� he said. �Maybe if I�d allowed the fight to go two more rounds, then he might not be able to fight on Dec. 5. He was over it that night, though. If I thought he wasn�t physically ready, he wouldn�t be fighting.� The most-exciting possible opponent might be Tua, the big-punching former contender who stopped Shane Cameron in two rounds on Oct. 3 in New Zealand. A matchup between the two brawlers might generate more enthusiasm than the Williams fight, regardless of opponent. However, Ramirez doesn�t believe HBO will put enough in the pot to pay both Arreola and Tua what they will expect. Williams and his opponent, as the main-event fighters, would get the lion�s share of money. �Who knows whether it could happen?� Ramirez said. �I have a feeling money will be an issue, though. � I spoke to (promoter) Dan (Goossen) and Tua�s name came up but he doubted it would happen. All I know is that we start training tomorrow. �We�ll start with conditioning and then, assuming next week they have a name, we�ll zero in on who to use for sparring. And we�re not going to relocate; we�re going to train here in Riverside.� Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

Williams: 9 possible opponents

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:37:36 PST
The bad news last week was that Kelly Pavlik had to again pull out of his fight with Paul Williams. The good news is that Williams is going to fight on Dec. 5 anyway. Good for him. At this writing, Williams� promoter, Dan Goossen, has been understandably non-committal about who will replace Pavlik; These things take time. Junior middleweight Sergio Martinez has come up several times and he�s an excellent choice; he�s very good and deserves a big fight after the screwing he got against Kermit Cintron. If that doesn�t work out, Williams can compete reasonably comfortably in three divisions, he says, so there�s no shortage of interesting opponents for him. Here�s a look at eight. SHANE MOSLEY Good News: This is a big fight and that�s what Mosley�s been begging for all along isn�t it? Forget Andre Berto. Any fight that takes as long to put together as that one has isn�t worth it. Not when Williams is available. Bad News: Williams may finally have gotten to the point where he�s not able to get down to 147 anymore, and it�s unlikely Mosley would agree to a weight any higher. Likelihood: Highly unlikely. Williams is a terrible style matchup for Mosley, and Mosley knows it. KERMIT CINTRON Good News: Cintron, who seems an emotional type, should be flying high after wins over Alfredo Angulo and Juliano Ramos. Bad News: I don�t see any. Do you? Likelihood: Why not? Cintron just beat Ramos over the weekend, so he�s in shape. He can take off a week or two then get right back into the gym. FELIX STURM Good News: Sturm isn�t just a middleweight titleholder, he�s also the Ring�s top-rated contender at 160 pounds. Bad News: You couldn�t fill a phone booth with the number of Americans who would know Sturm if they bumped into him on the street, so the fight would have to take place in Germany to make any money. Likelihood: Sturm wouldn�t fight Williams if he could carry a crowbar and three of his burlier friends into the ring with him. Forget it. ALLAN GREEN Good News: You know where I�m going with this: the winner of Williams-Green replaces Jermain Taylor in the Super Six tourney. Bad News: The weight might be too much for Williams, even though he comes into the ring looking like a cruiserweight. Likelihood: Almost certainly not. Not even Williams is ballsy enough to make that move. But wouldn�t it be fun if he was? CORY SPINKS Good News: The Ring rates Spinks right beneath Williams at junior middleweight. And as he�s gotten older, Spinks has gotten a little more exciting. Bad News: It�s Cory Spinks. Likelihood: Very little. And we shall never speak of it again. JOSHUA CLOTTEY Good News: Clottey lost out on a payday against Carlos Quintana when Pavlik bailed. Why not just replace Pavlik with Clottey? Bad News: Clottey would want a big pay increase to move up and face Williams, but he doesn�t bring many fans to the table. Likelihood: Unlikely - it makes too much sense! SAKIO BIKA Good News: Bika, having won the last �Contender� series competition that anyone watched, has some name recognition among American fans. Bad News: Would be viewed as a huge step down from Pavlik. Also, he�s a big 168-pounder. Likelihood: Probably very little, but if it happened Bika would make it interesting. SERGIO MORA Good News: Another former �Contender� champion stymied and inactive, just signed with high-powered manager Cameron Duncan, who might be able to make it happen. Bad News: Not a great style matchup for Mora, who still doesn�t get much credit for his win over Vernon Forrest. Likelihood: Unlikely, but not out of the question. SERGEI DZINZIRUK Good News: Don�t underestimate this guy because you can�t pronounce his name and wouldn�t know him if you married his daughter. He can fight Bad News: He carriers a poor risk/reward ratio: Because no one in America knows him, Williams would get little credit for beating him and a lot of heat for losing to him. Likelihood: We hear Dzinziruk is in the running. Don�t be surprised if it happens. Some random observations from last week: I know Bob Arum has medical reports a half-mile long to prove Pavlik�s infection, but I can�t shake the suspicion that a contributing factor might be a bad case of I-can�t-get-over-getting-my-ass-kicked-by-40-plus-year-old-Bernard Hopkins Syndrome. It�s no swine flu, but there�s a lot of it going around. � Tomasz Adamek had an even easier time with Andrew Golota than I thought he would, so in the absence of another big fight, why not a rematch now with Steve Cunningham? And if not, move up to heavyweight permanently and be done with it. � Just in time for Nicolai Valuev�s upcoming fight against David Haye, biographers have uncovered some old footage of Valuev showing off his considerable musical talent. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lClaQLsBb-4 Seriously, has anyone analyzed this guy�s DNA? � The first installment of HBO�s Pacquiao-Cotto 24/7 was fairly uneventful save for the revelation that Pacquiao pretty much �calls the shots,� according to Freddie Roach. The dismissive look Pacquiao gave Roach after the trainer interrupted Pacquiao�s lunch with a local politician to say he was leaving also was revealing. And not in a good way. � Thank goodness Victor Fonseca stopped Al Seeger in the ShoBox prelim from Laredo, Texas, on Friday night. If he hadn�t, another fighter would have been screwed over by the loathsome scoring of Texas officials, who inexplicably had Seeger ahead in a fight he clearly was losing. A verdict for Seeger would have been almost as objectionable as the one Juan Diaz got over Paulie Malignaggi in Houston in August, a controversy (alert: shameless plug on the way) I cover at length in the December 2009 issue of The Ring, which is on sale now. � Speaking of the ShoBox card, new rule: no more pink boxing gloves, no matter how worthy the cause. It�s unseemly. You don�t see pink footballs flying around every other Sunday, and you shouldn�t see pink gloves on guys trying to bash one another�s brains in. � Antonio Tarver continues to improve as Showtime�s new analyst and is light years better than HBO�s Lennox Lewis. � I just mailed in my hall of fame ballot. It did not include a vote for Donald Curry, the speed of whose tumble from supremacy to mediocrity approximated a streaking meteor. You think Roy Jones lost it all at once? The phrase might as well have been invented for Curry. I didn�t vote for Naseem Hamed either, though I do miss him. Same with Danny Lopez. I did vote for Rinty Monaghan, mostly because I love the name, and Lloyd Marshall, Jose Becerra and Georgie Abrams, and threw up a little when I saw Sven Ottke on the ballot. � Be sure to check out the next edition of Ring Theory, the audio show Eric Raskin and I debuted here at RingTV.com last week. The next show will be available on or about Nov. 5 and along with the usual nonsense, we�ll preview Pacquiao-Cotto and Dawson-Johnson II. Come on, you know you want to. Bill Dettloff can be reached at Dettloff@ptd.net

Adamek not committing to heavyweight division

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:29:30 PST
Tomasz Adamek (right) proved to be too much for Andrew Golota on Saturday in Lodz, Poland. Photo / Zofia Szuster LODZ, Poland -- Tomasz Adamek is leaving his options open. THE RING cruiserweight champion knocked out countryman Andrew Golota in the fifth round of their heavyweight bout on Saturday but won�t commit to fighting only in the sport�s highest-profile division. Adamek weighed in at 214 pounds for the fight, 14 above the cruiserweight limit and 42 fewer than Golota. �I hope I proved tonight to everybody that I can (weigh) 215 pounds and be effective as a heavyweight,� he said immediately after the fight. �But my foes in the cruiserweight division should not be too happy yet. If the major television outlets will offer great fights, I will be back and knock out those guys too. �� I will go to U.S. in couple of days, maybe enjoy myself for couple of weeks, and then eagerly await the next challenge. It�s in my nature not to be lazy for too long.� Adamek couldn�t have more pleased with his performance, especially because it was in front of 17,000 Polish fans. He knocked down his slow, inactive opponent once in the first round and then again in the fifth, after which a flurry of unanswered punches prompted the referee to end the fight. Golota quite simply was overwhelmed. �I will never forget this moment," Adamek said. "Fighting in front of almost 17,000 fans against the guy who was the Polish legend and went through many great battles. After this fight, I�m sure I will have more of them. By beating Andrew Golota I wanted to make a statement about my power and wanted to show how good a heavyweight I can be. I got hit couple of times pretty hard, but I was never in danger. Looks like my iron chin will work for me also in the higher weight class.� Golota, once a top contender but now a relatively slow 41 year old, sat dejectedly in his dressing after the fight. �I really cannot believe how easily I lost this fight,� he said. �I started bad and everything went downhill from there. I let Adamek do in the ring whatever he wanted. How could I wait for him, instead of being an aggressor? Adamek used this to perfection and has a very explosive punch. "I don�t know what will happen now. Maybe boxing is not for me anymore; maybe I should quit this sport. I worked so hard, but could not muster any offense against Adamek.�

Adamek stops Golota in 5

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:06:47 PST
Tomasz Adamek knocked out countryman Andrew Golota in the fifth round of what turned out to be a mismatch Saturday in Lodz, Poland. Adamek (39-1, 27 knockouts) put Golota (41-8-1, 33 KOs) down with a combination in the final round. Golota was able to get up but was absorbing more punishment when the fight was stopped. Golota, 41, also went down in the first round. Adamek, THE RING cruiserweight champion, was fighting as a full-fledged heavyweight for the first time. He has said he wants to fight one of the Klitschko brothers. Adamek weighed 214 pounds, 42 two fewer than Golota.

Pacquiao to land in L.A.

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:02:24 PST
Manny Pacquiao is scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport at 6:55 p.m. today (Saturday). The public is invited to greet him at Terminal 4. Pacquiao, who had been training in his native Philippines, will train at Freddie Roach's gym in Hollywood for the next few weeks and then go to Las Vegas. He fights Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand on pay-per-view television.

RING Theory: Audio show debuts

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:33:16 PST
RING Theory, a new feature at RingTV.com, is an audio boxing talk show featuring columnists Eric Raskin and Bill Dettloff. They will review recent events, look forward to coming fights and discuss the quirky side of the sport. The show will appear twice a month. It debuts today.
Here is another player, in case the one above does not work:

Golota 256, Adamek 214

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:08:44 PST
LODZ, Poland � �I love Polish food. Can you tell?� Andrew Golota said with his usual sense of humor when he arrived for a combined press conference and weigh-in Friday in Lodz, Poland, the site of his heavyweight fight against Tomasz Adamek on Saturday. No one doubts that Golota is telling the truth. Larry Hazard of the IBF checked the scale a couple of times. It stopped at 256 pounds, almost 10 more than Golota has ever weighed for a fight. Adamek was exactly 42 pounds lighter, 214. He looked like Golota�s younger brother. Both of them looked well prepared, without much spare fat, although Golota at 41 isn�t quite the physical specimen he once was. �How will you surprise Adamek,� one of more than 100 reporters who packed �Elektrownia� (Power Plant), a glitzy nightclub in the middle of Lodz, asked Golota. �I will be in the ring,� quipped Golota, responding to those who never believed he would fight his countryman. Nobody will question Golota�s power. He hit the pads held by trainer Sam Colonna so hard that Colonna seemed to escape the ring in fear of his life. Still, Andrew Gmitruk, Adamek�s legendary Polish trainer, was never more confident in his fighter. �There�s something special in Adamek this time,� said Gmitruk, who 21 years ago was in Golota�s corner when he won his Olympic bronze medal in Seoul, South Korea. �He was always a very calm, dedicated fighter. This time he has something in his eyes. I told him that he�s got killer eyes and he just smiled. Even the smile was scary.� Who will win? Golota was continuing a special trip down memory lane, training at an old Polish boxing venue in Lodz. �Last time I fought here was exactly 26 years ago. I won my first tournament here,� said Golota, who behind closed doors was working on some �special ingredient� (his words) to beat his younger rival. �He was never in his life hit so hard like I will hit him Saturday night. And there will be no place to run.� Golota was referring to the small, roughly 19-foot ring at Atlas Arena in Lodz. Adamek, who arrived in town the night before the weigh-in, decided to lay low. �I know what I will do, even more now, knowing how heavy he is,� he said. �I said from the beginning that every pound more is better for me. Nothing changed. You cannot knock down somebody you cannot hit. Whoever said this is right.�

Friday's results: Hernandez, Rhodes, McCall win

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:35:46 PST
Friday�s results: Hernandez outpoints Frias; Rhodes stops Moore; McCall outpoints Whitaker. Once-beaten welterweight Freddy Hernandez took another step toward earning contender status with a 10-round unanimous decision over Damian Frias in the main event of a Showtime-televised card from Laredo, Texas on Friday. Hernandez (26-1, 18 KOs), who won by unanimous scores of 98-92, outworked his lesser-experienced opponent in every round but the 10th, when Frias (16-2, 7 KOs) finally let his hands go. Hernandez was most effective when going to the body of Frias, a late-comer to the sport who was reluctant to engage for most of the fight. At the behest of his trainer, former middleweight titleholder John David Jackson, Frias stepped up his aggression late in the bout, nailing Hernandez with straight lefts in the seventh round and even hurting the Mexico City native in the 10th, but it was too little too late. In the co-featured bout of the ShoBox: The Next Generation broadcast, undefeated junior featherweight Victor Fonseca scored a ninth-round TKO of former title-challenger Al Seegar. Seegar (28-5, 22 KOs), who was ahead on two of the scorecards after eight rounds, was the aggressor for most of the bout but he was not very effective and repeatedly walked into the straight lefts and right hooks of his more technically sound opponent. Although Seegar scored well with his jab and straight right while stalking Fonseca (17-0, 9 KOs) in rounds seven and eight, the Georgia native's face had become a swollen bloody mess by the late rounds. Fonseca, a sharp-punching southpaw from Puerto Rico, pressured Seegar in the ninth, scoring with flush lefts from the outside and mauling the young vet when in close. Seegar quickly wilted under Fonseca's aggression and was badly wobbled by a left hand midway through the round. Fonseca stayed on top of his reeling opponent and measured Seegar for one more big left that sent him into the ropes where referee Ruben Carrion waved the fight off without a count at 1:41 of the round. The tough loss was Seegar's fourth in his last five bouts and his first fight since his tragic stoppage win over Benjamin Flores, who fell into a coma and died five days after their bout in April. *** Former prospect Ryan Rhodes jump-started his career by stopping RING-ranked contender Jamie Moore in the seventh round of a rousing battle of British junior middleweight standouts in Lancashire, England on Friday. Rhodes, a versatile southpaw from Sheffield who began his career with much fanfare, dropped the Lancashire native and crowd favorite with a right hook at the start of the seventh round. Moore, a gutsy southpaw who was riding a 12-bout win streak into Friday's fight, got up and engaged in toe-to-toe exchanges until he punched himself out and had to be rescued by the referee at 2:35 of the round. Prior to the stoppage, Moore's relentless pressure and infighting appeared to be getting the better of Rhodes in the middle rounds of the bout. However, Rhodes, who has fought most of his career at middleweight, where he came up short in all of his step-up bouts, exhibited a new-found resilience and composure in weathering the storm. The scheduled 12-round bout was a title eliminator, which could earn Rhodes a shot at the 154-pound belt currently held by Sergio Martinez. That's a bitter pill to swallow for Moore (32-4, 23 KOs), who was THE RING's No. 8-ranked junior middleweight going into Friday's fight and hadn't lost a fight in five years. *** LAS VEGAS � In a matchup of former heavyweight contenders, Oliver McCall narrowly outpointed Lance Whitaker in a 10-round bout in Las Vegas. McCall (54-9, 37 knockouts) knocked down Whitaker (34-6-1, 28 KOs) in the first round, which proved to be the difference in the scoring. All three judges had it 95-94 for McCall, meaning each fighter won five rounds. I also had it 95-94 for McCall. My card was even after the fifth and seventh rounds but McCall captured two of the final three rounds to win. In the co-main event, Victor Barragan (11-4, 3 KOs) stopped Arthur Williams (46-16-1, 30K KOs) at 1:20 of the seventh round of a six-round cruiserweight fight. The fight was even on all three cards after six rounds. The McCall-Whitaker report was filed by Chuck Giampa, a retired boxing judge from Nevada

Cerdan: 60 years later, legend endures

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:13:12 PST
The French were reeling after World War II. The Germans had occupied their land and stolen their dignity, the latter of which was slow to return even after the Third Reich fell. Then along came the son of a butcher from Morocco with potent fists and an inspirational fighting spirit to help raise the self esteem of a proud people. Marcel Cerdan was a great boxer who arrived on the scene when his countrymen needed him most, winning titles with savage efficiency and millions of hearts in the process. And then, as if the French hadn�t suffered enough, he was taken away at his very peak to become as much a legend as a man. Tuesday marks the 60th anniversary of the plane crash in 1949 that tragically ended the life of France�s greatest boxer and one of its most-important post-war public figures. He was only 33. �France was just coming out of the war,� said boxing writer Aur�lien Bouisset of the sports daily L�Equippe, which his based Paris. �France needed a hero for its self esteem. This little guy, with his fists, went to America, won two, three fights over there and then knocked out Tony Zale. He won the world title in America, the country that freed France. �It was a way to say, �Yes, we can have better days.�� Cerdan was born in Algeria to French parents and moved as a child to Morocco, where his father promoted amateur boxing cards and two older brothers preceded him into the ring. He turned pro at 18 in 1934, winning his first 45 fights first in North Africa and then in France. He won the French welterweight title in his last fight of that streak, in 1939. Later that year, World War II began when Hitler�s army invaded Poland. Cerdan soon enlisted in the French Navy and didn�t box in 1940 but returned to the ring when the Germans, occupying France, disbanded his unit. He boxed a few times in German-controlled territory but fled to North Africa when his first-round knockout of Spaniard Jose Ferrer in 1942 irked the German authorities. He fought in front of American fans, mostly troops, for the first time in Inter-Allied boxing tournaments in 1944 in Italy. Those who saw him would never forget. �I remember soldiers I knew as a kid coming back from the African theater who saw Marcel Cerdan come through and do exhibitions,� said boxing historian Bert Sugar. �They thought he was the greatest fighter they�d ever seen. He was such a great fighter, more than great. I�m sure older people who were there and are still around still feel that way today.� Cerdan was a dominating force after the war ended, winning the French and European middleweight titles. However, his greatest glory came in 1948, when he challenged Zale for the middleweight championship of the world before a reported 20,000 fans at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, N.J. The Frenchman, a 2-1 underdog, wore Zale down with constant pressure � as was his style � and ended it with a left hook that sent Zale slumping against the ropes and onto is backside. The Man of Steel had to be helped to his corner and couldn�t come out for the 12th round, making Cerdan the first non-American to win the middleweight title in the 20th century. Afterward, his countrymen went wild. A large crowd met him at the airport upon his return to Paris and The New York Times reported that 300,000 Parisians lined the streets during a motor parade in his honor, which �brought the city�s business to a standstill.� It was one of the grandest celebrations ever accorded a French hero. As Sugar put it, at that moment, �Cerdan was their Babe Ruth.� �I think we�ve seen something like this only twice in France for a sportsman,� Bouisset said. �The first time was Cerdan. The second time was when France won the football World Cup in 1998. He was the most popular boxer � no, sportsman of his time.� The fact Cerdan had a love affair with iconic singer Edith Piaf in the last year of his life even though he was married and had children only added to his allure, certainly as much as any Hollywood coupling has in the U.S. Cerdan, a simple man, became a member of the artistic community and began to transcend boxing. Sugar said, �She was her country�s voice and he was its strength.� Piaf would be by his side the final year of his life and play an unfortunate role in his death. Cerdan fought only three more times after winning the championship, once in London, once in Casablanca and finally in the first defense of his title against Jake LaMotta on June 16, 1949 in Detroit. The fight in effect ended in the first round, when LaMotta wrestled Cerdan to the canvas and damaged the Frenchman�s shoulder. Cerdan fought bravely with one hand the rest of the fight � against an all-time great, mind you � but searing pain forced him to retire after the ninth round. He finished his career with a record of 111-4 (with 65 knockouts). Two were disqualifications, one was a horrible decision (against Cyrille Delannoit) and the fourth was the result of an injury. Thus, as boxing historian Patrick Myler wrote, �It can be safely stated that he never met his master in the ring.� A rematch with LaMotta was scheduled for late in 1949 in the U.S. but Cerdan never made it there alive. He was booked on a flight to New York to visit Piaf, who was performing there at the time, but she convinced him to fly in a few days earlier than planned because she missed him. The plane he boarded in Paris on Oct. 27, a Lockheed L-749 Constellation, crashed in the Azores � a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean � where it was supposed to refuel. Everyone on board, 11 crew members and 37 passengers, were killed. That night, Piaf, obviously devastated, sang the classic romantic ballad �L'Hymne � l'amour� � The Anthem of Love � for Cerdan and then famously collapsed in tears. Across the ocean, a shocked France and Morocco were plunged into mourning for their fallen hero. Again, tens of thousands of admirers came to see Cerdan, only this time it was for his funeral procession in Casablanca. Sugar compared the loss of Cerdan in the French-speaking world to the loss of John Kennedy in the U.S., at least in terms of its emotional impact. �I just watched the news reel of his funeral,� said Bouisset, who also is working on the story about the anniversary. �Again, thousands and thousands of people were in the streets to follow him to the cemetery. They were in shock. He died at his peak, when everyone was waiting for the rematch with LaMotta. �A national hero died. I�m not sure any other French sportsman ever had the same kind of funeral.� Sugar remembers a French-born man who lived in his Washington D.C. neighborhood openly weeping over the news of Cerdan�s death. The young man understood that a famous boxer had been lost but didn�t fully grasp how much Cerdan meant to his people. Now, 60 years later, he does. �I thought he was just another European fighter, like Max Schmeling,� Sugar said. �He meant so much to so many over there, there. He was symbolic of their nationalism, maybe even more so than (Charles) DeGaulle at that time. He resurrected their belief in the republic, in their Frenchdom, if you will. �I think like Marlene Deitrich in the case of Germany, Cerdan was the standard bearer of freedom for France.� And, apparently, his legend endures. The French film �Edith et Marcel� was a depiction of their romance. And �La Vie en Rose, a biography of Piaf that included scenes with Cerdan, was a huge success. Marcel Cerdan Jr., once a boxer himself, portrayed his father. However, according to Bouisset, Cerdan�s legend goes beyond the rekindling of memories as a result of popular films. French people have never forgotten him. �The young people in France, people between 20 and 30, they don�t know the French boxers that are boxing today,� Bouisset said. �They don�t know the boxers before World War II. I�m sure they do know Marcel Cerdan. Everyone can say he was a boxer and a good one, he had a love affair with Edith Piaf and he died in plane crash. And they know he was someone special.� Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

Funeka-Guzman added to Bute-Andrade

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:31:51 PST
Lightweight contender Ali Funeka will take on former two-division titleholder Joan Guzman in the co-featured bout to the Lucian Bute-Librado Andrade rematch in Quebec City, Quebec on Nov. 28. The 12-round lightweight bout for a vacant 135-pound title will be part of the live HBO's live "Boxing After Dark" broadcast beginning at 10 p.m. PT/ET. Funeka (30-2-2, 25 KOs) is a 6-foot-1 South African boxer-puncher who made his name in the U.S. by knocking out Zahir Raheem in four rounds last year and by giving former unified lightweight titleholder Nate Campbell hell for 12 rounds in February. Funeka, who was dropped twice during his spirited challenge, lost the fight by majority decision, but out-boxed and out-hustled Campbell for much of the fight. Guzman (29-0, 17 KOs) is slick-and-savvy veteran who has held titles in the 122-pound and 130-pound divisions. He hasn't fought since scoring a 12-round decision over Ameth Diaz in his native Dominican Republic last December. "Everyone knows what a great fight Bute vs. Andrade II is and now we've got an equally intriguing co-main event with Funeka and Guzman," said Oscar De La Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Guzman and Andrade. "Guzman has long been established as one of boxing's best, but Funeka is a rising star who will make Joan fight every minute of every round. This is a fight that could steal the show on November 28."

Dougie's FAT Friday Mailbag

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:35:33 PST
ADAMEK-GOLOTA, WHY? Mr Fischer, I read your story about Tomasz Adamek, but I don't see why he is fighting Andrew Golota instead of a rematch with Steve Cunningham. Their fight was exciting and Cunningham closed to make it a closer fight than it should've been. I just think fighting Golota, who is way passed his prime, is a waste of time. -- Joseph I think your opinion is shared by 99.99999 percent of fight fans in the U.S. I certainly feel the same way you do. I was through with Golota 10 years ago. To me Golota = head case. Adamek is an exciting cruiserweight champ and the most deserving contender in his weight class is Cunningham, who happens to match up with the Pole in a way that guarantees fireworks. So obviously, that�s the fight I�d like to see. However, in Poland, Golota does not = head case. He�s probably the best known boxer in his native country, while Adamek has to be the most respected. This fight is happening because both fighters are getting decent paydays and because it�s a big, big deal in Poland. Adamek is going to do his best to win impressively and then he�ll wait to see what kind of heavyweight offers come his way. If he doesn�t receive a lucrative offer from the Klitschkos, or perhaps the Valuev-Haye winner, he�ll drop back down to cruiser and look for the best option at 200 pounds. His team will probably go after the Hopkins-Jones rematch winner, but Cunningham is probably the one real cruiserweight who can make for a Showtime- or HBO-worthy broadcast, so I wouldn�t count out that rematch happening. DOUGIE AND THE CRUISERS Great piece on Adamek and the steep learning curve of success his predecessors have had when venturing into the land of the giants. God, some of those names really brought me back! Rickey Parkey? Holyfield took him out in three, right? I'm not sure ANYONE could have beaten 'The Real Deal' at that weight, I think he would have lit up Jones, Toney, Spinks, Foster, Moore, Charles or Hopkins had they met in a mythical matchup. Agree? Disagree? And boy oh boy it would have been fun watching Adamek bounce right hands off his skull for a few rounds, but I think Evander would grind him down eventually. Anyways, moving on to Adamek. I fully expect him to beat Golota, because, well, I expect Golota to be Golota. If he had Holyfield's mental make-up can you imagine the havoc he could have wreaked? Still, the folks at Main Events don't actually believe Adamek has a chance at beating one of the 'Brothers K' do they? It'll be a great payday, but when you can ONLY fight on even terms with Chad Dawson or Steve Cunningham, how does he expect to match up with those two giants, who unless I'm missing something, are considerably bigger, stronger, better punchers, better defensively and better boxers? People gave Holyfield little chance to succeed but he was clearly the most dominant fighter in that division. His KOs over the other titlists like Parkey and De Leon proved that beyond a doubt. Adamek is no such animal yet, if he were to rematch with Cunningham (why didn't that happen?) can we honestly say there would be no doubt he would win again? What if Dawson decided to climb to cruiser? I know he's a tough, gritty guy. But the idea of him giving either of the Klitschkos a remotely competitive bout is laughable. I'm not even completely convinced he would have handled De Leon or the version of Qawi from the first Holyfield fight. -- Tom G. The cruiserweight version of Qawi would have been in Adamek�s grill for 12 rounds. Nothing the Pole could do would deter the �Camden Buzzsaw.� I think Qawi would outwork Adamek in a tremendous fight. I think DeLeon would have out-boxed Adamek relatively easily, although there�s always the chance that the classy Puerto Rican boxer could get caught the way he was in his first fight with ST Gordon. I don�t think Main Events is suffering from any illusions regarding Adamek�s chances against either Klitschko brother. They know it�s their fighter�s dream to fight for a heavyweight title and they realize it�s the most lucrative option for him. That�s the story. Best case scenario is that he beats Golota in impressive fashion Saturday and then fights one of the brothers in a stadium in Europe for $4-$5 million, doesn�t take too bad of a beating, and then drops back down to cruiserweight by late 2010. I�m glad you liked the cruiserweight feature, Tom. It was a walk down memory lane for me, too. I recall names like Marvin Camel, DeLeon, Gordon, Ossie Ocasio, and Lee Roy Murphy in the mid-1980s. At the time I thought they were average fighters, paper title holders waiting for a monster like Holyfield to sweep through the cruiserweight division the way Mike Tyson was doing in the heavyweight division at the same time. The Real Deal did whup most of their asses, but in doing the research for my article, I was reminded of how talented some of these guys were. DeLeon, Camel, Murphy and Ocasio could box and they could FIGHT. They have very respectable careers. Gordon was not the smoothest brother in the ring, but damn, he could punch! You might be right about Holyfield at 190 pounds. He certainly appeared unbeatable. However, I would go with Ez Charles over Holyfield in a terrific 12- or 15-round tussle, and I can see Spinks putting the jinx on southern badass, too. Moore might have caught him clean and taken him out. You never know. His size, strength, mobility and activity would have made him difficult for Moore, though. Jones� speed would have bothered him, but Holyfield wasn�t exactly slow at cruiserweight. His pressure and more-sound technique would have caught Jones by the late rounds. Toney�s toughness, savvy and counter-punching ability would made for a competitive scrap, but Holyfield�s activity would eventually win out. Foster�s speed, technique and power would make for an explosive fight early but I think Holyfield�s chin could hold out and I�m not sure the Albuquerque native was durable enough to hang with Holyfield over the distance. P-WILL IN THE SUPER 6 Doug- What's up bro? Thanks for printing my previous 2 rants, appreciate it and loved your thoughts as usual. With the unfortunate announcement that the Kelly Pavlik-Paul Williams fight is off again, what about Williams as the selection after the (hopefully) inevitable withdrawal of Jermain Taylor from the Super Six? He's been claiming he'd go up to 168 if need be for the big fights, and I'd rather see that then see him fight another ho-hum fight at 154 or 160. It doesn't look like any of the players at 147 will fight him, and I'm not sure how much longer he'd be effective at that weight anyway with that freakish frame. If not I think the winner of Bute-Andrade deserves the (presumed) spot, and Allan Green and Edison Miranda certainly do NOT deserve it. Very disappointed that Dirrell didn't put it together--I think he's got mad skills, but man was it frustrating to watch him fight the way he did--and still basically fight even if not outright win the fight. Froch looked like he was in there with Sweet Pea Whitaker and was there to be hit. I'm so bummed Dirrell didn't pick him off while moving like he seems capable of. Oh well. Maybe he can put it together next time. Since the Two-Headed Klitschko Monster seems unbeatable (but also unwatchable) for now, my fingers are crossed that David Haye scores a spectacular KO over Valuev, destroys and finally rids us once and for all of John Ruiz in his mandatory, and then goes on to have a series of exciting, multiple knockdown, successful defenses over suddenly motivated and in shape (a guy can dream right?) action fighters like David Tua, Chris Arreola, Sam Peter and even Shannon Briggs. By then the Cloverfield... er, Klitschko monster will have beaten Kevin Johnson, Eddie Chambers (who would make a terrific cruiserweight king), Tomasz Adamek, Alexander Povetkin & Hasim Rahman again and might be ready to be toppled by Haye. Or Tyson Fury. Ha, I kid, I kid. Thanks for listening! -- Chris I�m not sold on Haye as a heavyweight, yet. If he beats the Russian giant I�ll forgive him for that awful decapitation T-shirt he wore to the pre-fight press conferences for the Wladimir Klitschko showdown, and I�ll consider giving him a pass for pulling out of fights with both brothers. If he beats Ruiz, I�ll be on board. (I might even buy one of those awful T-shirts and wear them to his fights.) I might even be convinced that �the Hayemaker� is good for boxing if he takes on the likes of Tua and Arreola (who could fight each other in December, on the Williams-TBA undercard). Dirrell�s still young. He doesn�t even have 20 fights under his belt. Those 12 rounds with Froch had to be a learning experience. I think he�s only going to get better with more fights against world-class opposition. Who knows? He might give King Arthur fits when they fight here in the good ole U.S. of A. where the referee will hopefully penalize the bruiser for his use of forearms and elbows. Although Williams would add a lot of excitement to the Super Six, particularly here in the States, I would rather not see him in that tournament because he�s completely unproven at 168 pounds. If Taylor pulls out, the winner of Bute-Andrade is the best fill-in. I think middleweight is the perfect division for P-Will. Junior middleweight is OK for him if he has a worthy opponent (like James Kirkland when the Texas badass gets out of jail), but like you, I have doubts that he can make 147 pounds without draining himself. Williams, and many fans, like to point out that he weighed 145 pounds for the Quintana rematch, but he got the Puerto Rican out of there midway through the first round, so we never got to see how his body would react to a distance fight after losing all the weight he has to make welterweight. MOSLEY-WILLIAMS ON DEC. 5? Hey Dougie, now that it looks like Pavlik is on the verge of postponing the fight again, isn't it a natural for Paul to go down to 147 (which I think he can still make rather easily given he was 145 for the Quintana rematch and supposedly walks around at 165-170) and fight Mosley? Both guys have been avoided in the past and are searching for that marquee fight. Not only is Williams-Mosley a fascinating clash of styles but it would also be a huge matchup within the boxing community. It might not be a mainstream crossover fight but the winner would seemingly establish such a stronghold as THE guy besides Floyd and Manny (and P4P the #3 fighter in the world) that he could no longer be avoided and would set himself up for those kind of fights down the road. Besides, nobody wants to see Mosley fight Andre Berto (a complete bore), and if he beats Paul Williams, Floyd Mayweather would HAVE to fight him or expect to no longer be taken seriously in the sport. What do you think? Any chance of the fight happening, and who do you think would win? I like Williams by late stoppage in an easier-than-expected fight. Also if this fight ever got made do you think HBO would put it on PPV or World Championship Boxing? -- Dan, NY Mosley-Williams would be on HBO Championship Boxing. Neither fighter has a dedicated fan following. Mosley has been a part of some big PPV events, but as the B-side, not the attraction. Right now, Williams doesn�t even qualify as a B-side. I don�t see this fight happening at welterweight because I really don�t think Williams can make 147. I don�t care what Williams tells the media. He doesn�t make welterweight without a lot of time and sacrifice and he hasn�t walked around at 165-170 pounds since 2003-2004. These days he walks around in the 180s. I agree it�s a better fight than Mosley vs. Berto, but the undefeated WBC beltholder is currently fighting at welterweight and Williams isn�t. If Williams really wants to get down with Mosley, he�s going to have to have a fight at 147 pounds. Regardless of who Williams winds up fighting on Dec. 5, he won�t be fighting under 154 pounds. You better believe that. He�s be fighting at middleweight or at a catchweight (156 or 157 pounds). If Mosley-Williams did happen at welterweight it would be a very hard fight for both fighters. I would give Mosley a very good chance to win that fight even though Williams� height, reach and southpaw stance are all wrong for the Sugarman (and pretty much everyone else). Williams will be right there in front of Shane, more than willing to trade (and he�s no defensive genius), and I think he�ll fade down the stretch as he did in the Margarito fight for the simple fact that he�s outgrown the welterweight division. I have a lot of respect for Williams, and I was one of the first fight scribes to write about the young man, but I think a lot of fans and media are overrating him after wins over a 40-year-old Verno Phillips and 37-year-old Winky Wright (who had been inactive for almost two years). Yahoo! Sports has him listed at No. 3 pound for pound. Hey, I think Williams is an elite fighter, and deserves to be in everyone�s P4P top 10 (it�s a shame he isn�t in THE RING�s), but he hasn�t proved that he belongs in that territory yet. Anyway, I agree that a Mosley-Williams fight would be a huge matchup in the boxing community, but there�s no way Mayweather or Pacquiao would fight the winner. CRUISERWEIGHT CORRECTION & MEMORIES Hey Dougie, first off I have to correct a minor error as I am one of those anal retentive geeks but Carlos DeLeon won versions of the cruiser title five times and not the three that you stated. However it was a trademark well written and interesting article. I thought I knew most boxing facts as I consider myself a bit of a student of the history and although I remember Ossie Ocasio as a ex-cruiser champ losing to the likes of Lennox, Mercer and some South African, I did not know he was a heavyweight first let alone that he beat Jimmy Young and fought the Easton Assassin Larry Holmes. I know plenty about the Holmes career but am gobsmacked that one had slipped under my radar. Good read and a couple other little facts I had previously been unaware of. Some names I had almost forgotten about mentioned, too - DuPlooy, Bodzianowski, Alex Garcia that made me nostalgic and also Robert Daniel who I well remember a Ring or maybe KO story about how he still lived with his mum and was a quiet lad who just so happened to be a boxing titlist. Wow, that sets me off thinking about other fighters who were unlikely champs like Darren Van Horn who was also a student somehow. Off my mind goes, exactly what a good article should make it do!!! -- Toby, Cornwall, England I�m glad you liked it, Toby. You are definitely a hardcore boxing geek to get excited about names like DuPlooy and Bodzianowski, and wonder about Darrin Van Horn. But you�re right that I got the number of titles DeLeon won wrong. He won the WBC cruiserweight belt four times -- the first time was from Marvin Camel in 1980, then lost it to ST Gordon in 1982, and regained it from Gordon in 1983, then lost it to Alonzo Ratliff in 1985, and regained a third time from Bernard Benton in 1986, then lost it to Holyfield in 1988, and then regained the vacant belt (that Evander abdicated when he stepped up to heavyweight) from Sammy Reeson in 1989. Unless I�m missing something, that�s four, not five. I don�t think Ocasio was as good as DeLeon, but like �Sugar� he was a prodigy who had the style of a seasoned veteran when he was in his early 20s. He was cagey even when he was in with Holmes. I remember the trouble he gave Ray Mercer with his constant movement and unpredictable nature. WILLIAMS-MOSLEY ON DEC. 5? Sup Dougie, Disappointing to hear Pavlik-Williams fell through. Can't lie, Kelly's been a disappointment since the Hopkins fight. Why not have Mosley step in and fight Williams on December 5? After all, they are the two most avoided men in boxing and the fight can easily take place in the junior middleweight limit of 154. It would make for a great fight as well! -- Will A junior middleweight bout between Mosley and Williams is more realistic than a welterweight fight, in my opinion, but it would be a big mistake for Sugar Shane to fight P-Will at that weight. Mosley isn�t as good at 154 pounds as he is at 147. Never has been, never will. He slows down and his activity always seems to drop significantly at junior middleweight. Williams might be stronger than Mosley at 154 pounds and he won�t fade in the late rounds the way I believe he would in a welterweight bout. Pavlik�s been worse than a mere disappointment since the Hopkins fight. He�s been a non-issue. Out of sight and out of mind. He�s lived up to his nickname in the worst way since suffering his first loss. It sucks for him and it sucks for boxing. P-WILL VS. MONEY Now it�s time to beat the drums for Floyd Mayweather vs. Paul Williams, Dougie. Beat them hard since Kelly ain�t fighting. Bang the damn drums on this! -- Deric Yes sir! But I should warn you, I can bang the drums �till my hands bleed, Mayweather ain't getting in the ring with Williams. And P-Will is one guy I�ll give him a pass to avoid. Williams is too damn big for Floyd. P-Will is a middleweight. I�ll give Mayweather crap for not fighting top-10 welterweights, but I won�t fault him for not fighting a top-5 middleweight. ANDRE WARD Yo Dougie, I think it is interesting that few fans give Andre Ward any chance of winning this Super Six thing. To me he might be the best pure athlete of the bunch, he has great skills, intelligence and focus, and recently... particularly against Miranda... has shown the ability to bite down when he has to. Also, while he is not a devastating puncher, he packs enough power to command respect. Granted, he got a very tough first draw in Kessler, but I think that is a winnable fight for him. Call me crazy but I truly believe that this tournament could turn into a Ward coming out party. The only other fighter in the tournament who is a real danger to him is Abraham who he won't face until the semis. He will outpoint Dirrell in a close and possibly boring fight, outbox Taylor fairly easily in an exciting fight (if he stays) and if Green is the replacement... well, I don't think that much of Green. He got a lot of mileage off that Jaidon Codrington knockout and he is a good fighter, but I think he has many deficiencies including a chin he likes to hold high while pulling straight back. So while everyone seems ready to crown Abraham or Kessler as shoe ins for the top spot, I think Ward has an excellent chance and maybe the livest underdog out there. If I was a betting man... -- Matt Ernst I think it would be a mistake to count Ward out. He�s just 25 and he�s only got 20 fights under his belt, but he�s one of the most mature fighters I�ve ever spoken to. Right now, I�m favoring Kessler to win on Nov. 21 based on the talented Dane�s experience. However, I�m sure I might change my mind if I talk to Ward before the fight. He�s a very focused and determined young man, and he might turn out to be very special. We�ll see. If he is, this tournament will bring it out in him. I can�t wait to cover the Kessler fight. GREEN IS GOLD Doug, Dude, I have followed your mailbags and have been a fan of your writing for awhile now. You and I usually see eye to eye (especially when it comes to "Money"). In fact I have used an article of yours when arguing with the guys at my barbershop about Floyd (I don't get it man, their argument always comes back to money and not legacy, which makes it hard to argue). Anyway, Michael Rosenthal wrote an article saying that you suggested the next person to be in the Super Six (if Jermain leaves) is Lucian Bute and not Allan Green. Your reasoning behind that is because Green didn't look good in his last fight and because he lost to Miranda. Come on man, let's put this into perspective. When he fought Miranda wasn't he having that issue with his colon but still fought and knocked Miranda down? Also wasn't Simms a late replacement (never mind the fact that he was undefeated)? You know late replacements can be spoilers. Now I am not saying that Bute doesn't deserve to be in the Super six, but he has a rematch with Andrade and didn't he turn it down in the first place? From the start I felt Green should have been a part of this tournament especially if we're going to have American representation, and was really pissed that Dirrell and Taylor (which I understood that pick) got in and he didn't. Seriously, what has Dirrell done to warrant his placement? I really think Green has the tools man. Maybe I'm not seeing something, but I was shocked to read that. Help me see your side? -- Symbol OK, I�ll try but first I need to correct you two things. One, I said the winner of the Bute-Andrade rematch, not Bute, is the best replacement for Taylor should the middleweight champ decide to withdraw from the tournament. Two, the reason I�m not too high on Green as a Super Six substitute is not his performance against Simms, it�s because I don�t believe he�s ever defeated a bona fide super middleweight contender. Like astute boxing writer and young historian Cliff Rold (of Boxingscene.com), I think it�s strange that THE RING rates Green but not Dirrell. The magazine�s editorial board says that despite Dirrell�s showing against No. 3-rated Carl Froch, he hasn�t officially defeated a RING-ranked super middleweight contender. You would agree with that. Fair enough. You could say Dirrell fought a bunch of nobodies before last Saturday. However, I give the undefeated Olympic medalist credit for his fifth-round TKO win over fringe 168-pound contender Anthony Hanshaw, and to a lesser extent, his stoppage of Russian slugger Victor Oganov (who, for the record, I think Green would have smashed had their fight gone through). Who are the best fighters that Green has defeated? Jaidon Codrington was an inexperienced prospect. Is it Jerson Ravelo? The 2000 Dominican Olympian had the tools to be something at 168 pounds, but who did he ever beat? He had won four fights in a row going into the Green bout, but he was beating up on no-hopers, and Green didn�t exactly set the world on fire in that bout. Is Rubin Williams one of Green�s best wins? Perhaps the former title challenger could be considered a fringe contender, but I was ringside for Williams� fight prior to the Green bout, against Antwun Echols. It was a damn good 12 rounder, but Echols had NO LEGS and still managed to hold Williams to a draw. And then Williams was inactive for an entire year before he fought Green, who arguably won every round but once again didn�t make the kind of statement that would excite fans. He looked great vs. Carlos Deleon Jr., but the son of one of the best cruiserweights ever, is a prospect. Maybe you could call Simms a fringe contender, maybe, but I wouldn�t. He had an undefeated record, but who did he beat to compile it? I�ll tell you, has-beens and never-will-bes. Look, I have nothing against Green. I think he�s got talent and personality. He�s a hot and cold fighter, but when he�s on he�s a lot of fun to watch. If he somehow gets in the Super Six tournament, I won�t cry bloody murder. However, I maintain that both Bute and Andrade are more deserving. Dougie can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com

Miranda stops Sierra in 1

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:54:26 PST
Edison Miranda knocked out Francisco Sierra at 2:16 of the first round of a scheduled 12-round super middleweight matchup between two big punchers Thursday in Lemoore, Calif. Miranda, now under the tutelage of trainer Joe Goossen, landed an overhand right on the temple of his Mexican opponent and hurt him badly. The fight was stopped immediately. Miranda (33-4, 29 knockouts) was coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Andre Ward in May. The Colombian, once a prime title contender, was only 6-4 in his previous 10 fights before beating Sierra (20-3, 19 KOs). He believes this victory will lead to greater things. �"This victory puts me right back into title contention," Miranda said. "Joe Goossen is the best trainer in the world. Everyday I'm in the gym I'm learning something new. With Goossen in my corner, nobody is going to beat me. � I can't wait to see what my team has lined up for me next."

De La Hoya Blog: Taylor's decision

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:04:39 PST
Jermain Taylor must decide after his one-punch knockout loss to Arthur Abraham on Saturday whether to remain in the tournament or call it a career. The former middleweight titleholder is only 31 with 33 professional fights. Plus, he was competitive against Abraham until the hard-punching Armenian landed a big right that put Taylor down and out in the final seconds. However, Taylor has been knocked out in three of his past five fights. That�s why many in the boxing community are calling for him to retire. Oscar De La Hoya knows what�s like to mull retirement. He was in a similar position when he was stopped by Manny Pacquiao and ultimately decided to walk away. Here are his thoughts about Taylor�s situation. Jermain�s first instinct is going to be, �OK, that�s it for me.� He probably walked back to the dressing after he was knocked out and was with his family and team. He probably said that he�s finished. I would say that the best thing for him to do is take some time off and think about it, though. He�s still young. Arthur Abraham is one tough guy, one of the favorites to win the (Super Six) tournament. It wasn�t an easy fight but he hung in there like a champ. I�m sure that in a few weeks or a month he�ll once again get that desire to train, to fight. I don�t think he�ll walk away. It�s too difficult to walk away. With me, it�s still difficult to accept that I�m retired. Boxing is like a drug. Right now, I�m going through stages of withdrawal. It�s like I don�t know what to do with myself. I can�t imagine what any other fighter goes through. I�ve been fortunate enough to have a good team around me, to make money. Financially, I�m fine. I still have that desire to get back in the ring and perform, though. It�s just in our blood. It�s a very, very difficult decision to hang �em up. That�s why I don�t think Jermain will do that. With me, it was a physical thing. I was getting beat up in the gym. That never, ever happened to me in my career, in all my years of fighting. I was always the one who dominated sparring partners and I used to have some real good sparring partners. When guys lighter than you who don�t have that much experience are working you over, that was my first sign that I should think about retiring. If I wasn�t able to compete against the best, why do it? I could compete against B-level fighters but I didn�t see the point. Take a guy like Andre Berto, for instance, a young, fast, up-and-coming guy. Back in the day, I�d fight him no problem. Today, with his speed, I�m sure he�d outwork me. I think Jermain is in a different situation. Yes, he�s had the three knockouts. That�s a factor. I think he has to re-evaluate how he�s training, though, how he�s executing his game plan, especially in the second half of the fight. He always does great in the first half of the fight but he falls off the wagon. Something happens. He has to evaluate what�s going on. Is it his confidence? Is he worried about getting tired so he doesn�t want to push his body that hard? He has to do some soul searching because, with him, I think it�s more mental than physical. Physically, I think he�s fine. Against Abraham, he was throwing some great punches, some great combinations. I think he can get past this. As long as you don�t lie to yourself, as long as you don�t listen to anybody else but yourself, as long as you want to search for the answer deep inside, I don�t think it�s too late for him. Hey, he got caught with one punch, a good, solid right down the pipe. Before that, he was snapping that jab. And whenever he snaps that jab, it�s hard to penetrate his defense. Only he has the answer, only he can say if he should retire or not. My advice would be to not read any stories, don�t listen to anybody, even family members. He can figure it out on his own. He can�t be influenced by anyone else. That�s when it gets more difficult to make a decision. We fighters are easily influenced. If we want to retire, people say, �You can do this. You�re still fast, you�re still strong.� Then you get pumped up to fight again. And it works the other way, too. I think Jermain will fight again, I really do. I think he�ll do the soul searching and think, �You know what? I�ve done some things wrong and I need to make some changes but I�m going to fight again.� It�s up to him, though, only him.

RING Theory: Audio show debuts

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:15:50 PST
RING Theory, a new feature at RingTV.com, is an audio boxing talk show featuring columnists Eric Raskin and Bill Dettloff. They will review recent events, look forward to coming fights and discuss the quirky side of the sport. The show will appear twice a month. It debuts today.
Here is another player, in case the one above does not work:

Adamek is lastest cruiserweight champ with big dreams

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:16:26 PST
RING cruiserweight champ Tomasz Adamek is hands down the world�s best 200-pound fighter. That distinction, plus his national background, has earned the native of Poland a strong loyal following in his adopted American state of New Jersey, where his fights pack the Prudential Center in Newark. However, being the man at cruiserweight has not attracted the kind of marquee opponents that would make for major events and earn Adamek the large paydays and worldwide exposure he and his team believe he deserves. That�s why the former light heavyweight titleholder is facing fellow Pole and three-time heavyweight title challenger Andrew Golota in Poland on Saturday in what might be the biggest prize fight in their native country�s history. And though Saturday�s fight is barely a curiosity in the U.S., it can lead to bigger (quite literally) and better things if Adamek�s speed, skill and footwork can overcome Golota�s greater strength and 30-pound weight advantage. Adamek�s promoter Kathy Duva of Main Events has made it clear that they plan to keep their options open if Adamek wins on Saturday. If there are lucrative fights available at cruiserweight, such as a bout against the winner of the proposed Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones rematch, Adamek will return to the 200-pound division and proudly defend his world title. However, if there are no marketable opponents at cruiserweight, Adamek and his team are more than happy to remain in the land of giants. And the two best giants of heavyweight division would be happy to have him, according to Tom Loeffler, the managing director of K2 Promotions, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko�s promotional company. "Adamek is an interesting proposition,� Loeffler told RingTV.com in September. �He�s dominated the cruiserweight division and he brings his fans to the table. If he beats Andrew Golota and decides to stay at heavyweight, that�s a fight I think could be made with either brother and I think it would be an event. �It would be a great fight for Madison Square Garden with the Polish fans from New York and surrounding areas, but I think it could be a stadium fight in Europe.� Adamek would love that. �The Klitschkos are the (heavyweight) champions, but next year, at this same time, I would like to have a fight with (one of them),� the cruiserweight champ told RingTV.com videographer Bill Emes. �I�m excited (to be) fighting at heavyweight. My dream is to become a champion in (in the heavyweight division).� It�s a dream that almost every cruiserweight champ or titleholder has had since the division�s inception in 1979. However, so far, only Evander Holyfield, who most consider to be the greatest cruiserweight ever, has been able to win even a version of the heavyweight title. Holyfield did a lot more than that. After only six heavyweight bouts, he went from being the undisputed cruiserweight champ to the undisputed heavyweight champ with his third-round KO of Buster Douglas in 1990. From that point, Holyfield made history (and millions of dollars) with his pay-per-view title defense against George Foreman, his trilogy with Riddick Bowe, and his two-fight series with Mike Tyson, Michael Moorer and Lennox Lewis. Holyfield was essentially finished by the start of this decade but he somehow had enough fight in his 46-year-old body to give 7-foot, 310-pound beltholder Nikolai Valuev a stern challenge in a controversial decision loss last December. Is it any wonder that former cruiserweight champ David Haye likes his chances against Valuev, who he challenges next month? Haye had the talent, style and brash personality to be the most popular cruiserweight champ since Holyfield, but the British bomber is an ambitious sort who couldn�t resist the lure of the sport�s �glamour division.� He boldly called out the Klitschkos and then found reasons to get out of fights with both brothers before settling on the mammoth but lesser-talented Russian beltholder. Fans will find out soon if Adamek and Haye will be successful in their heavyweight forays, but history is not on their side. Here�s a look at the cruiserweight titleholders who attempted to campaign in the heavyweight division: Marvin Camel The Montana native was the first to hold a �world� cruiserweight title when won the WBC�s newly created belt with a 15-round decision over Mate Parlov in 1980. Camel lost the title in his first defense against Carlos DeLeon later that year, but he rebounded to win another belt in 1983. However, he lost his second title in his first defense via 14th-round TKO to Lee Roy Murphy. After losing a string of bouts to light heavyweight and cruiserweight up-and-comers, including Virgil Hill, Camel tried his luck at heavyweight and was stopped in six rounds by then-prospect Joe Hipp, who outweighed him by 59 pounds. Camel retired with a 45-13-4 (21) record. Carlos DeLeon The talented Puerto Rican boxer, who turned pro at junior welterweight, was a perennial cruiserweight contender throughout the 1980s. He won versions of the title four times and only lost to S.T. Gordon, Alonzo Ratliff and undisputed champ Holyfield during that decade. After losing his third cruiserweight title to Massimiliano Duran in 1990, DeLeon retired for two years before resurfacing as a heavyweight. He went 8-0 fighting awful Midwest club fighters until then-unheralded South African prospect Corrie Sanders zapped him in one round in 1994. DeLeon lost the final bout of his career, a third-round stoppage to Denmark�s then-undefeated Brian Nielsen, in 1995. He retired with a 52-8-1 (32) record. S.T. Gordon The power-punching cruiserweight contender split time between Nevada and California where he held those state titles before he shocked DeLeon and most experts by pummeling the classy Puerto Rican vet to a second-round stoppage to earn a major belt in 1982. However, before the cruiserweight division was established, Gordon often fought at heavyweight, where he lost to hot prospect Gerry Cooney (then 10-0) via fourth-round disqualification and popular Californian Eddie �the Animal� Lopez by 10-round decision. Gordon defended his cruiserweight title once (against a shopworn Jesse Burnett) before scoring a 10-round decision over heavyweight contender and future beltholder Trevor Berbick in a non-title bout. He lost the title to DeLeon in their rematch and retired with a 24-7 (21) record. Ossie Ocasio Puerto Rico�s �other� cruiserweight turned heads in the boxing world by scoring back-to-back 10-round decisions over former heavyweight title challenger Jimmy Young in 1978. The wins earned the undefeated 21-year-old prodigy a shot at the champ, Larry Holmes, who dominated the cagey challenger to a seventh-round stoppage in 1979. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShMVvB8nFv4 Ocasio followed up his game title challenge by holding future titleholder Michael Dokes to a 10-round draw in 1980, however the then-unbeaten contender stopped him in one round in their immediate rematch. After suffering a sixth-round KO to British heavyweight standout John Louis Gardner in 1981, Ocasio was more than happy to give the new cruiserweight division a try. He won a cruiserweight title in 1982 and made three defenses before dropping a 15-round decision to Piet Crous in 1984. Ocasio had one more cruiserweight bout, a 11th-round TKO to Holyfield in a final title challenge, before returning to heavyweight. He fought 12 times at heavyweight, losing nine of those bouts to the likes of Ray Mercer, Tyrell Biggs, and Lennox Lewis, all of whom he troubled with his quirky style. Ocasio�s last fight was an eighth-round TKO to Alex Garcia in 1992. He retired with a 23-13-1 (12) record. Alonzo Ratliff The capable Chicago boxer often moonlighted as a heavyweight during his early-1980s rise up the cruiserweight ranks despite seldom weighing over 195 pounds. However, when Ratliff faced talented heavyweight up-and-comers Tim Witherspoon and Pinklon Thomas in 1981 and 1983 he suffered late stoppages to both future titleholders. Ratliff surprised a lot of boxing insiders when he scored a split-decision victory over to DeLeon to win the Puerto Rican�s cruiserweight title in 1985. That was his last significant cruiserweight victory (unless you count two decisions over one-legged Craig Bodzianowski and a KO of a shopworn Ricky Parkey). Ratliff is best know for his two-round TKO to Mike Tyson in 1986, the bout before Iron Mike beat Trevor Berbick for his first heavyweight title. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGS8NOVDUHQ He was also stopped in the sixth round by popular British heavyweight Gary Mason in 1988 before retiring a year later with a 25-8 (18) record. Lee Roy Murphy �Solid Gold� was a solid pro out of Chicago who won a cruiserweight title with a 14th-round TKO over Marvin Camel in 1984. Murphy defended the belt twice before Ricky Parkey took the title with a 10th-round stoppage in 1986. After that loss Murphy fought eight times at heavyweight, stopping Alonzo Ratliff in four rounds for the Illinois title in 1989 but dropping decisions to South African prospect Johnny DuPlooy in 1990 and Mike Evans in 1991. He retired with a 30-4 (23) record. Dwight Muhammad Qawi The relentless former light heavyweight champ won a cruiserweight title with an 11th-round stoppage of Piet Crous in the unbeaten beltholder�s native South Africa in 1985. He made one defense of his cruiserweight belt (a sixth-round stoppage of former heavyweight champ Leon Spinks) before he lost it to Holyfield in 1986. His 15-round split decision loss to the young 1984 Olympian (11-0 at the time) remains one of the greatest cruiserweight battles ever. A year later Qawi lost a 10-round heavyweight bout to fellow former cruiserweight titleholder Ossie Ocasio before he was stopped in four rounds in his cruiserweight title rematch with Holyfield in December of 1987. Four months later he was back at heavyweight against George Foreman, who stopped him in seven rounds. It was Foreman�s eighth bout after his 10-year layoff and the former champ weighed the lightest (235 pounds) of his historic comeback for the 5-foot-6 Qawi, who was chunky at 222 pounds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HkM1oxYCw8 Qawi started fast and looked good until he gassed out by the middle rounds and basically quit under Foreman�s pressure. His last bout was an eight-round decision loss to heavyweight journeyman Tony LaRosa in 1998. He retired with a 41-11-1 (25) record. Ricky Parkey The cruiserweight contender-turned-heavyweight journeyman scored a 10-round split decision over former heavyweight title challenger Renaldo Snipes in 1984. Parkey won a cruiserweight title with a 10th-round stoppage of Lee Roy Murphy in 1986 and defended the title once before Holyfield relieved him of the belt with a third-round TKO in 1987. Parkey engaged in 15 heavyweight bouts following the loss to Holyfield, going 1-14 against the bunch that included such overseas prospects as Johnny DuPlooy, Gary Mason, Alexander Zolkin and Axel Schulz. He retired in 1994 with a 22-20 (16) record. Glenn McCrory The popular British fighter who now makes a living as a commentator bounced between cruiserweight and heavyweight with mixed results before he got it together in the late 1980s and won a vacant cruiserweight title with a decision over Patrick Lumumba in 1989. He made one defense before losing the title to Jeff Lampkin, who stopped him in three rounds with a body shot. A year and a half after that embarrassing loss, McCrory was served up to an up-and-coming Lennox Lewis. The still-raw future champ (then 16-0) was a bit wild but his size and power was too much for McCrory who was stopped in the third round by a big right hand. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY9HHM64DvY Robert Daniel The powerful Floridian won a vacant cruiserweight title with a split decision over Dwight Muhammad Qawi in 1989. He made two title defenses before losing the title to Bobby Czyz via split decision in 1991. Daniels had 30 heavyweight bouts after his loss to Czyz, mostly against nondescript opposition. In 2000, he faced two heavyweights of note, prospect Lawrence Clay-Bey and contender David Tua, in back-to-back bouts that he lost. He dropped Clay-Bey in the fourth round of their 10 rounder but the 1996 Olympian won every other round. Tua bounced him to the canvas three times en route to a third-round TKO. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mHPSHa_zcI Jeff Lampkin The tough-as-nails fighter from Youngstown, Ohio was a light heavyweight journeyman who got his act together at cruiserweight in the late 1980s. He shocked British fans and media with his third-round stoppage of McCrory in 1989, but only made one title defense before he foolishly vacated the belt at the behest of promoter Don King who was feuding with the IBF at the time. Lampkin never regained his momentum, dropping bouts Marcelo Figueroa and Arthur Williams before going to heavyweight where he was stopped by the then-undefeated prospects Herbie Hide and Andrew Golota in the early 1990s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alRDJecouic Bobby Czyz The popular former middleweight prospect and light heavyweight titleholder won a cruiserweight belt with a hard-fought split nod over Robert Daniels in 1991. He defended it twice before tossing his hat into the heavyweight arena. Czyz was too skilled for journeymen Tim Tomashek and Jeff Willaims and undefeated Texas club fighter Richard Jackson, who he easily defeated in 1995, but he was stopped in five rounds by Holyfield in 1996. Czyz, who stayed on his stool after the fifth round because of a �burning sensation� in his eyes, did well enough against Holyfield that few gave �the Real Deal� a shot against Tyson, who he fought next. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJBogeNiQas Czyz took two years off after the Holyfield fight but was blasted out in two rounds by Corrie Sanders in the final bout of his career. He retired with a 44-8 (28) record. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTK5jESK20Q James Warring The former kickboxing champ registered the fastest KO in cruiserweight history when he stopped James Pritchard in 36 seconds to earn a title in 1991. Warring made two defenses of the title before losing to Al Cole in 1992 and then embarked on a brief heavyweight stint going 4-2-1 against the big men. He held Alex Garcia to a draw in a bid for the NABF heavyweight title but lost a 10-round decision to former contender Alex Stewart in his final bout. Warring, who is now an active referee in Florida, retired with a 18-4-1 (11) record. Alfred Cole The long reigning cruiserweight beltholder had an extended run as a heavyweight gatekeeper and journeyman after he lost his title to Uriah Grant in 1995. Cole engaged in 25 heavyweight bouts going 8-14-3 against mostly prospects and contenders, but also a former champ and two future titleholders. In his first bout after losing his cruiserweight title, he was worked over by former champ Tim Witherspoon in a 10-round loss that should have let him know that he didn�t have the strength and power to hang at heavyweight but his skill, experience and guts allowed him to compete with then-undefeated up-and-comers Michael Grant, who stopped him in 10 rounds in 1997, and Kirk Johnson, who he held to a draw in 1998. Cole was also competitive with Hasim Rahman, David Bostice, and Jeremy Williams, but he was stopped by Juan Carlos Gomez and blown out by Corrie Sanders and Sultan Ibragimov. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE-7kBVRIgE Orlin Norris The older brother of former 154-pound champ Terry Norris is different from other cruiserweight titleholders on this list because he began his career as a small heavyweight and enjoyed a degree of success, compiling a respectable 29-3 record against solid opposition before dropping down in weight. Norris earned contender status at heavyweight with decisions over Renaldo Snipes, Jesse Ferguson, Greg Page and Oliver McCall, but after dropping a split-decision to Tony Tucker, he made his cruiserweight debut with a 10th-round stoppage of Jesse Shelby in 1991. Norris won a vacant title with a sixth-round TKO over Marcelo Figueroa in 1993 and defended it three times before he was knocked out in eight rounds by Nate Miller in 1995. After the loss to Miller, Norris returned to heavyweight where he suffered decision defeats to Henry Akinwande in 1997, Andrew Golota in 1998 and to Brian Nielsen in 2001. That same year Vitali Klitschko destroyed him one round. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1L7N3b1xoU In 1999, he was knocked out by a late punch from Mike Tyson that resulted in a controversial one-round No Contest. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edlGrizK1Jo Norris retired in 2005 with a 57-10-1 (30) record. Juan Carlos Gomez The talented former Cuban amateur star is one of the most successful former cruiserweight titleholders to invade the heavyweight division. The 6-foot-4 southpaw made 10 defenses of the cruiserweight title he won from Marcelo Dominguez via decision in 1998. Gomez stopped Al Cole in a heavyweight bout between his ninth and 10th title defenses before vacating the belt in 2002 to embark on his heavyweight run. His heavyweight record to date is 10-2 (with one No Contest). He out-pointed Turkish prospect Sinan Samil Sam in 2003, former titleholder Oliver McCall in 2007, and contender Vladimir Virchis in 2008, however, he was stopped in one round by fellow Cuban Yanqui Diaz in 2004, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcfN_3TuAZ0 and he was dominated en route to a ninth-round TKO by Vitali Klitschko in a title shot in March. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePyivc_Jicg Vassiliy Jirov The Val Barker award winner for most outstanding boxer of the 1996 Olympic games, where he won a gold medal, made six defenses of the cruiserweight title he won with a seventh-round stoppage of Arthur Williams in 1996. Jirov lost the title to James Toney in a great 12-round battle in 2003, after which he entered the heavyweight division where he effectively ended the career of Joe Mesi with the brutal final two rounds of his 10-round decision loss to the undefeated contender in 2004. In his very next fight, he took on Michael Moorer and was leading on all three scorecards after eight rounds before the former champ caught and stopped him with a left in the ninth. James Toney After losing a light heavyweight bout to Drake Thazdi in 1997, the former middleweight and super middleweight champ jumped to cruiserweight where he went 11-0 before winning a title from Jirov. Toney never defended his cruiserweight belt, opting to go for the bigger money of the heavyweight division, where he�s gone 6-2-1 (with two No Contests). As talented as Toney was at the lighter weight classes, he�s only looked really good against two heavyweights, Evander Holyfield, who he dominated to a ninth-round stoppage in 2003, and fringe contender Dominick Guinn, who he out-pointed in 2005. Toney was woefully out of shape for his title shots against John Ruiz and Hasim Rahman in 2005 and 2006. The decision he scored over Ruiz became a No Contest after he tested positive for steroids. He held Rahman to a draw in a fight most observers thought the former champ deserved to win. After the Rahman fight he lost back-to-back decisions (the first one in controversial fashion) to one-dimensional slugger Samuel Peter. Toney, 41, is still at it in hopes of landing one last heavyweight title shot, as is 36-year-old Gomez. However both veterans will have to take a backseat to Adamek if the current cruiserweight champ fulfills the first part of his big dream on Saturday. Doug Fischer can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com

Golota, Adamek in familiar surroundings

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:34:53 PST
POLAND � Andrew Golota and Tomek Adamek, both residents of the U.S., have gone back to their roots. The two most-accomplished fighters ever from Poland have returned to their native country for what is being billed as �The Polish Fight of the Century� on Saturday, a heavyweight bout between the former contender (Golota) and RING cruiserweight champion (Adamek). The 15,000-seat Arena Lodz has been sold out for some time. Ticket prices on the black market are reportedly reaching astronomical proportions. And all Polish media outlets are providing daily updates of last days of preparation. Golota spent the first two days of his training at the very Spartan facilities belonging to his last amateur team, Legia Warszawa. You can still see pictures of a skinny 17 year old who won six Polish titles, and many of the same trainers are still at the battered facility. Golota ran five miles one morning and then had a two-hour late-evening session with his trainer, Sam Colonna. �I was surprised Andrew wanted to have such a long, grueling session� Colonna said through a translator. �He did 12 full rounds of shadow boxing, with more than 30 punches per round. I told him that if we had half of them on Oct. 24, we are in fine shape. He has to be busy because Adamek is one of the toughest fighters I ever saw in my life. I will never forget the smell of blood when Adamek was fighting Paul Briggs for the first time. He fought 12 rounds with a broken nose, an injury he sustained two weeks before fight. We went through four towels just to get blood from his face between the rounds. But Andrew can be the same way. He fought Mike Mollo with one eye, the other one completely closed, begging doctors to not stop the fight. Ask everybody what it means to not see the punches coming.� From Legia compound, Golota went 250 miles south to Wisla, small mountain town where generations of Polish boxers and national teams prepared for their most important fights. Golota went there a couple of times with the Junior National Team. �I was first time here exactly 25 years ago,� he said. �Everybody knows me here, and I know everybody.� Adamek is in his hometown of Gilowice, just 15 miles from Golota�s camp, but there�s no chance they will meet for a friendly dinner anytime soon. �I feel kind of lonely here, because my wife and two daughters are in New Jersey, but my mom is taking care of me, so everything is fine, I have peace and quiet here,� Adamek said. �I have my own daily schedule: In the morning, there�s a walk, then a run, a good Polish-style lunch (roasted duck and chicken soup), another walk and, at approximately the same time I will fight Golota, I have training with my trainer, Andrzej Gmitruk. We don�t have to go far, just to my basement I made into a small boxing gym. Everything I need is here. I will be back in Lodz the day before the fight.� Adamek was asked about his decision to relinquish his alphabet cruiserweight title. He was the same as he is the ring: He didn�t pull any punches. �I know how important this decision was,� he said. �I�m putting everything on one card and my career as a heavyweight has to start with win over Golota. But I always believed that the world belongs to those not afraid of taking a risk. I�m ready to take my chances, I�m prepared mentally and physically to be a great heavyweight.� Weighty issue: Adamek apparently has not committed to remaining a heavyweight long term. "Nobody can take away my Ring Belt without beating me in the ring," he said. "And that will not happen. I'm open to fight the best cruiserweights in the world if this is what television and the fans want me to do. Can you be the best cruiserweight in the world and try to be the best heavyweight? Why not?" Kathy Duva, Adamek's promoter, agrees. �Tomasz is the RING ... Cruiserweight Champion," she said. "He holds something very valuable and he is not going to give it away. He doesn�t have to make any decisions right now. Tomasz is very comfortable at both weights; it�s a win-win situation. We want to keep all our options open.� Michael Rosenthal contributed to this report

Pavlik-Williams is off, Williams will fight on Dec. 5

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:26:09 PST
Dan Goossen, promoter of Paul Williams, says his fighter will be in the ring on Dec. 5 even though the three-division contender's original opponent for that date, middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, won't be a part of the action due to the persistent staph infection in his left hand. Pavlik's chronic hand problems have forced his promoter, Top Rank, to cancel the anticipated showdown with Williams, which was to take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., and be televised live on HBO. The middleweight title bout had already been rescheduled, after much deliberation, from Oct. 3 to Dec. 5 because of Pavlik's infection, which obviously did not improve sufficiently enough for him to train properly. "This morning we were advised that Kelly Pavlik's recovery of his left hand has not progressed as projected by Dr. Peter J. Evans, Director of the Cleveland Clinic Upper Extremity Center," Todd duBoef, president of Top Tank, said in a prepared statement on Wednesday. "As a result of this, Kelly is unable to close his left hand, which prohibits him from being prepared for a Dec. 5 middleweight championship defense against Paul Williams. "We at Top Rank are disappointed by this unexpected development in his recovery. Once Pavlik is cleared medically by Dr. Evans, we will pursue all avenues with regards to a future bout. We appreciate the understanding of Paul Williams, Goossen Tutor Promotions, HBO and Caesars Atlantic City with regards to this unforeseen occurrence." Goossen is about as understanding as one can be given the situation, but he's not going to wait around for Pavlik to get healthy. He says Williams will fight as planned on Dec. 5 against an opponent to be announced, and HBO is on board with televising the bout along with a co-feature fight. "He's going to fight on that date," Goossen told RingTV.com. "Paul's been off too long because of the Pavlik situation and we want him to fight this year. "We wanted him to fight in September after the (Winky) Wright fight (in April), but the opportunity to fight Pavlik came up. We went into the original date for that fight (Oct. 3) with our eyes wide open, hopeful that it would happen but also hesitantly given what happened with (Sergio) Mora. "When the October date had to be postponed the fight almost didn't happen because we weren't comfortable given what was going on with Pavlik but we agreed to push it back to December because it was a fight that everyone wanted to see. "And here we are today. Still no Pavlik. We can't get him in the ring but rest assured we'll find somebody who wants to fight. I've got three or four names that I'm going to pursue for Paul." Goossen wouldn't divulge the names of the candidates (junior middleweight contender Sergio Martinez is rumored to be in the running) but the site of the Dec. 5 fight, which is currently without a venue, could be determined by who Goossen, Team Williams and HBO agree upon.

Santiago: Pacquiao in for tough night

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:25:53 PST
Some have suggested that Manny Pacquiao�s destruction of his last three opponents is tainted at least somewhat by the quality of the opponents. David Diaz has limited talent and both Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton were on the decline. And someone asked on a conference call Tuesday whether the fact Pacquiao struggled against Juan Manuel Marquez while Floyd Mayweather Jr. thrashed him is a good sign for Cotto. Joe Santiago, Miguel Cotto�s trainer, wouldn�t bite on either suggestion. He has been as impressed with Pacquiao as most of us have. He�s just more impressed with Cotto, who faces the Filipino icon on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas. �I wouldn�t say his opponents haven�t been quality fighters,� Santiago said through a translator from Cotto�s training camp in Tampa, Fla. �We know who they are. We know De La Hoya, Hatton. Maybe they didn�t have the best nights of their careers. The way I look at it Miguel Cotto is at the point of his career where he�s at his best. He�s going to show everyone he�s at his best. �Manny Pacquiao is in for a real tough night. � Cotto is the first true welterweight he�s faced in his career, a young guy who I believe is still in his prime. That�s what Pacquiao�s facing.� And Cotto also has a little extra motivation. He�s the underdog in this fight, as he was when he fought then-unbeaten countryman Carlos Quintana in 2006 for a vacant welterweight title. Cotto won when Quintana quit on his stool after the fifth round. �They were talking about how Quintana would be able to beat Miguel,� Santiagao said. �Miguel took an affront to that. The night of the fight he was so focused on what he wanted to do and was so impressive. This time a lot of people are picking Pacquiao to beat him. He�s motivated by that, no question. �We know he can win this fight. He would love to show everyone what he�s capable of against this type of opponent. � And he�ll come out with a little extra fire because people say he can�t win.� And when he does win, Santiago said, he should get all the credit due him. �One guy is called the best pound for pound,� he said. �We know we have the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world in Miguel Cotto. When the night comes and he wins, everyone will know Puerto Rico has the best fighter pound for pound in the world.� Diplomacy: Bob Arum, who promotes both Cotto and Pacquaio, was asked about trainer Freddie Roach�s reported prediction that Pacquiao will knock out Cotto in the first round. Arum had to be careful how he answered. �I can�t comment on that,� he said. �Yeah, it�s boxing. They fight from the beginning; anything can happen. Miguel can knock out Manny in the first round, and Manny can knock Miguel out in the first round. I don�t think it�s likely. I think Freddie, who is a great trainer, is also a great psychologist. A lot of what Freddie says gets into Miguel�s camp�s head. There�s nothing wrong with that. That�s boxing. �No one knows what the hell will happen in this fight. There are so many different opinions. I can see the fiht going a lot of different ways. That�s why it�s a great fight. Cut above: Santiago said the gruesome cut above Cotto�s left eye, suffered against Joshua Clottey in June, has healed nicely. �We were very lucky on the night of the fight,� he said. �We had two good plastic surgeons there. They did excellent work with him. It all came out very nice. I haven�t seen anything at all with the cut. It hasn�t been an issue in camp and I don�t think it will be an issue in the fight.� Undercard: The two featured televised fights on the undercard are Daniel Santos-Yuri Foreman and Jesus Soto Karass-Alfonso Gomez. Santos, a Puerto Rican southpaw, will be making the first defense of the junior middleweight title he won when he stopped Joachim Alcine in July. Foreman is an unbeaten Belarus-born Israeli who moved to Brooklyn, N.Y. , to pursue his boxing career. Soto-Karass and Gomez are both Los Angeles-based Mexicans who are likely to engage in a slugfest. 24/7: The first Pacquiao-Cotto 24/7 episode will be at 10:15 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. ET/ PT on Saturday night. Arum says it might be the best episode yet of the series, primarily from Pacquiao�s training camp in the Philippines. �They have unbelievable footage from the Philippines that the news programs didn�t have,� he said. �It shows how devastating the floods were, how Manny coped with the flood, the typhoon. It�s well worth seeing.� Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com

When will Golota just go away?

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:03:49 PST
When Micky Ward compares his late friend and rival Arturo Gatti to Jason Voorhees, as he does almost every time anyone interviews him, he means it as a compliment. No matter what Ward hit him with, Gatti just wouldn't stay down. All that "Thunder" was missing was the goalie's mask. Another pugilistic "A.G." from the same era, Andrew Golota, could also conjure up images of Jason Voorhees, but in his case, there's nothing flattering about the comparison. Golota is more like the Friday The 13th movies themselves than the lead antagonist. We enjoyed his first couple of incarnations, but before long we couldn't believe they were still cranking out these sequels and we especially couldn't believe the public still supported them. With the movies, the question was, "How many hundreds of horny teenagers do they have to butcher before moviegoers lose interest?" With Golota, the question was, "How many times does he have to come unglued in the ring before promoters stop trying to bring him back?" In February 2009, yet another Friday The 13th movie was released. This weekend, yet another Golota resurrection takes place. And it's not some insignificant comeback fight, like what we tend to see with Oliver McCall or Henry Akinwande or any of the other 1990s heavyweight misfits who won't go away. Golota keeps getting reasonably meaningful opportunities -- in this case, a fight against the cruiserweight champion of the world, Tomasz Adamek. Nobody's saying Golota, who's a few months shy of his 42nd birthday, should be forced to retire. If he can pass the physicals, he has a right to fight. But a trip down meltdown-memory lane with him makes you wonder how a guy who has seemingly committed career suicide so many times keeps getting offered real money for real fights against live opponents. Here are the lows, in case you've forgotten: two consecutive disqualification losses to Riddick Bowe in 1996, fights Golota was well on his way to winning if his self-destruction instinct hadn't kicked in; a 95-second pummeling at the hands of Lennox Lewis in 1997; a 10th-round quit-job against Michael Grant in 1999 in another fight Golota was winning handily on points; a surprisingly quick surrender against Mike Tyson in 2000, complete with Golota refusing to unclench his jaw and receive the mouthpiece, a fan pelting him with fruit punch and Showtime boss Jay Larkin famously tearing him a new orifice in the locker room afterward; a first-round blast out at the hands of Lamon Brewster in 2005, right after Golota had restored some public confidence with near misses in alphabet title tries against Chris Byrd and John Ruiz; and, just less than a year ago, a first-round TKO loss against the exceedingly ordinary Ray Austin, the result of tendon tears near Golota's left biceps muscle. Let's add it up: seven defeats, only one coming by decision; zero wins over heavyweights rated by THE RING at the time Golota fought them; four alphabet title shots. It just doesn't compute. And here Golota is, coming off a three-minute loss to Austin and a layoff of 50 weeks, being given an opportunity to fight RING champion Adamek (albeit in an over-the-weight non-title fight) in what shapes up as the biggest fight ever held in Poland. "If somebody asks me to dance, I never say no, and this was Adamek's idea, not mine," Golota said recently. "So I said, 'Why not?'" So we have Adamek to blame, eh? Actually, we have Polish fight fans to blame, as they've continued to support Golota with their wallets and keep him in a situation where it means something in the motherland for Adamek to beat him. Promoter Don King compared the interest in Poland to the Super Bowl in America. And even if that's a case of hyperbole from a man who's been known to exaggerate from time to time, the reality is that Golota is still revered in Poland and it would be a career boost there for Adamek to defeat him. "The general public doesn't care about Golota anymore. I think that ship has sailed," said Donald Tremblay, who worked with Golota for several years as the public relations director for promotional company Main Events. "For a while, there was a curiosity factor, but probably what changed that was the Tyson fight. He had so many people upset after that fight. Effectively, that was the end of what the average person wanted to see from him. But I think the big reason why Golota still gets fights is because the Polish people are very supportive of their own, and they don't have many fighters out there that they can really throw their weight behind. If he wasn't selling any tickets, chances are you wouldn't see him again. But because the Polish people support their own the way they do, you keep seeing him out there, because promoters know you can have a relatively successful promotion with him." That explains why Golota continues to receive unearned opportunities. But it doesn't explain the career of a fighter such as John Ruiz. One-time Golota opponent Ruiz has, in his own way, been every bit the blight on boxing that Golota has been and, like Golota, just won't go away. Ruiz is a 230-pound cockroach, and we just can't seen to squash him. And there are plenty of other heavyweights who've worn out their welcome but keep getting decent opportunities whenever they launch a comeback, guys like James Toney and Shannon Briggs. There are also some non-heavyweights we'd like to see disappear who keep hanging around, including two fighters named Hector Camacho. But most of the fighters we're frustrated not to be able to get rid of are heavyweights, and there's little doubt why that is. "The heavyweight division is so bad that I don't know if any heavyweight ever need retire," Tremblay observed. "There are so few good heavyweights out there, so if someone like Golota wants to just hang around on the fringes and get a payday every six months to a year by fighting somebody as a stepping stone, he can do that for years. And he might fight one of these supposed up-and-comers and occasionally wind up winning." Is the Adamek fight one of those that Golota might win? On the one hand, Golota will outweigh the cruiserweight champ by about 30 pounds. On the other hand -- he's Andrew Golota. He's old, he's slow, he's had assorted injury problems, and he isn't the type to persevere if things aren't going his way. Golota will probably lose to Adamek, and it wouldn't be at all surprising to see him get stopped. If that happens, is that the end of Golota at long last? Will he finally be shamed into retiring for good if he loses to a cruiserweight? Or will he at least be unmarketable enough and embarrassed enough in front of the Polish fans to lose his status as a ticket seller? Maybe Adamek will be the one to finally end the long, strange boxing odyssey of Andrew Golota, by taking forcefully from him the mantle of Poland's biggest boxing star. If Adamek batters Golota, maybe "The Foul Pole" will finally quit the sport. And wouldn't that be something -- for once, Golota would be quitting and nobody would be upset about it. RASKIN'S RANTS - Tremblay made an excellent comparison with the Adamek-Golota fight, likening it to Michael Spinks-Gerry Cooney. Sounds about right to me. In case you've forgotten, Spinks, outweighed by 30 pounds, won that fight by fifth-round stoppage. - My hatred for Oprah Winfrey as a talk-show host is well-documented in my household (where my wife insists on keeping her on DVR Season Pass), but I put my intolerance for Oprah aside long enough to watch last Friday's interview with Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Two thoughts: First, I'm tired of everyone trying to provoke tears out of Tyson and if I never hear him get choked up again, it'll be too soon; and second, both Tyson and Holyfield showed tremendous restraint not to beg Oprah for money on the air, since she makes enough in an hour to clear all of their debts. - What's harder to believe: reports that Winky Wright is a big attraction in Puerto Rico, or the fact that Scorpions got the nod for Arthur Abraham's ring walk performance over The Hoff? - Reason number 7,261 to love the Super Six tournament: In the last couple of rounds of Abraham vs. Jermain Taylor, the extra point for a knockout lent some drama to a fight where we already knew who the winner was going to be. Hopefully, this is the last we'll see of Taylor in the tournament, because I suspect after three knockout losses in a little over two years, he'll be an automatic three points for any opponent -- which is unfair to the two guys who aren't scheduled to fight him, Carl Froch and Andre Dirrell. - Speaking of Froch and Dirrell, three observations: (1) Gus Johnson, a popular broadcaster in other sports, continues to leave me unimpressed as a boxing blow-by-blow man, particularly when he called Froch "a modern-day Robin Hood" just because of the Nottingham connection. That was as lazy and contrived a line as I've ever heard. (2) There was a subtly great moment after the fight but before the decision was read, when Dirrell was shaking hands with Team Froch and one of the cornermen said dismissively, "You survived him." Dirrell calmly responded, "No, I won." (3) Thank you, Antonio Tarver. From here on out, I will exclusively refer to the victor in this fight as "Carl Crotch." - Make sure to check back on RingTV.com later this week for the debut of Ring Theory, the new twice-a-month audio show (I'd call it a Podcast, but it won't be available for portable download right off the bat) that I'm co-hosting with Bill Dettloff. Expect fireworks on par with your average Ukrainian city council session attended by Vitali Klitschko. Eric Raskin can be reached at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com

Taylor released from hospital

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:34:05 PST
Jermain Taylor was released from a hospital in Berlin after receiving clearance from doctors on Sunday, a day after he was knocked out cold by Arthur Abraham. Taylor was admitted immediately after the fight as a precaution after displaying concussion-like symptoms, according to a news release. He is now vacationing in Europe. The former middleweight champion, a resident of Little Rock, Ark., was stopped by Abraham with six seconds remaining in the opening-round Super Six Boxing Classic fight. "I want thank all my fans and those concerned and let everyone know I'm doing just fine and feeling good,� Taylor said. �I want to congratulate Arthur Abraham on his victory and wish him well in the tournament. Right now my plans are to relax and enjoy my vacation in Europe with my wife, Erica.� Said Lou DiBella, Taylor�s promoter: �All of us at DiBella Entertainment are grateful that Jermain is feeling better after fighting his heart out on Saturday night. Jermain showed his warrior spirit after working tirelessly to approach the fight in the finest shape of his career. Happily, with the doctor�s blessing, he has been released from the Hospital and is presently relaxing in Europe . This is the best news we could�ve received." DiBella said it�s too early to determine whether Taylor will remain in the tournament. He has lost four of his last five fights, three by knockout.

Showtime deserves the accolades it has received

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:59:18 PST
Showtime should get a trophy for putting together the Super Six Boxing Classic together. This one (pictured) is reserved for the winner of the tournament, though. Photo / Tom Casino-Showtime It has been a very long time since any broadcast station, cable or otherwise, has received as much good boxing press as Showtime has over its Super Six tournament, which debuted on Saturday with Arthur Abraham anesthetizing Jermain Taylor and Carl Froch cave-manning his way to a decision over a skittish Andre Dirrell. HBO, of course, has a warehouse full of industry awards from its various 24/7 and other countdown-type series, and this is as it should be. They are excellent, mostly because they approach prizefighting with the heavy, serious treatment with which everyone covered the game in its salad days. In short, they treat boxing as if it still means something. For obvious reasons this is heaven for the fight community. At the same time, it charms intellectual artsy-types who don�t much care for the sport but hold dear good story-telling, vanishing craft that it is, and that HBO�s documentaries generally exhibit in spades. But for all of HBO�s trinkets, it is Showtime that conceived and put together the tournament that has electrified the fight fan community and that its creators are calling �revolutionary.� Most agree. While the politics of boxing still conspire to delay or prevent altogether the best fights that can be made, Showtime � and in particular head of sports Ken Hershman � got a slew of promoters, managers and fighters in a room and got them to commit to a tournament that will keep them busy for the next two years. In comparison, it�s seemingly taken almost that long for HBO and Golden Boy to put together Shane Mosley-Andre Berto. And that�s one fight. Between two fighters. Two promoters. That�s the least of HBO�s boxing problems. As the writer Thomas Hauser has chronicled elsewhere in a series of in-depth articles, serious problems exist in the management of boxing at HBO. It�s not a coincidence that the boxing budget faces another reduction in the coming year, the result of ratings that are not seen as commensurate with the money being spent to attract boxing consumers. It�s been that way for a good while. So you couldn�t blame HBO suits for crowing about the surprisingly good pay-per-view numbers Floyd Mayweather�s win over Juan Manuel Marquez did. Or about how Vitali Klitschko�s stoppage of Chris Arreola on HBO World Championship Boxing did better than any other HBO fight this year. The last time they had good news to share, it was when the press strong-armed them into extending Larry Merchant�s contract. None of this is entirely recent. Outsiders have been questioning for years Showtime�s frequent knack for putting on high-quality fights on a budget that wouldn�t cover one of HBO�s post-fight parties. The Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez trilogy was better than anything on HBO since Arturo Gatti was at his best. Though broader in scope, this tournament is the type of thing HBO used to do. Remember the night of the young heavyweights, and the middleweight tourney Bernard Hopkins screwed up when he beat Felix Trinidad? (Though to be fair, any tournament that had Keith Holmes as one if its players was doomed from the start). For literally its entire history, Showtime has been playing catch-up to its older, bigger, richer rival, and trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to replicate its better successes. HBO would come out with a blockbuster, �The Sopranos,� for example, and Showtime�s predictable answer, �Brotherhood,� would look like the cheap copy it was. But things might be turning around. HBO has had its flops recently, the regrettable �John from Cincinnati� or �The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency,� while Showtime�s �Weeds� and �Dexter� continue to get good reviews. It�s hard to imagine that anyone at HBO is quaking in his or her boots worrying about Showtime. HBO is still available to about 38 million subscribers, while Showtime is available to around 13 million. But in the boxing arena at least, Showtime has thrown down the gauntlet with the Super Six. For the first time, HBO should feel compelled to respond, as an industry leader should. We�ll see if they do. Some random observations from last week: There�s just one thing to say about the appropriateness of Jermain Taylor continuing on in the Super Six tournament: �Paging Allan Green.� � Taylor shouldn�t go near a boxing ring for the rest of his life, never mind the tournament. If it�s true that every concussion makes you more vulnerable to another, at this point he could get one watching a demolition derby on the country channel. He�s a subdural hematoma waiting to happen and should not fight again. Ever. � If you want a glimpse of Taylor�s future, read this excellent piece in The New Yorker on the long-term effects of repeated concussion: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell Arthur Abraham is an interesting case. I�m not sure whether he�s a mediocre fighter with a very big punch, a mediocre puncher who�s better technically than he looks or something else. By the end of the tournament we should know. � Is it me or does Enrique Ornelas look like a Mexican Keanu Reeves? � The best boxing nickname I�ve heard in a long a while: welterweight prospect James �Keep �Em Sleepin�� Stevenson. � If you�re hoping to see Alfredo Angulo get tested on the Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson undercard, forget it. Harry �Joe� Yorgey will be lucky to see the fifth round. � It�s official: Gus Johnson is everything that should be loathed in a blow-by-blow guy. Newsflash, Gus: A guy can get hit on the chin without being, �STUNNED!!� � I don�t have to see all of the Super Six contestants� wives or significant others to conclude that Carl Froch�s girlfriend is the hottest, any more than I have to see every human on the planet to know that Nicolay Valuev is a Sasquatch. � Bad news: I thought Dirrell deserved the decision over Froch. Good news: He fought like a punk most of the time, so I don�t care that much. � It had been so long since I�d heard Steve Albert I�d forgotten that if they banned clich�s, he�d be mute. Speaking of Albert, hey, Steve, Teddy Duchamp called. He wants his eyeglasses back. http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/arteevicio/teddy_duchamp_feldman.jpg Bill Dettloff can be reached at Dettloff@ptd.net

Dougie's MASSIVE Monday mailbag

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:36:31 PST
ONE GOOD FIGHT, ONE STINKER Hi Dougie! Let me be the first to say the Jermain Taylor vs Arthur Abraham was a real boxing match from two top notch opponents, however, Andre Dirrell vs Carl Froch was a grabfest, ala John Ruiz :) Taylor didn�t throw a single body punch the entire fight. King Arthur hits hard but I have a slight sense it�s easier to wrap yours hands here in Europe? Get the picture? OK Dougie, thanks for your time and I have a smooth Lapin Kulta beer from Finland for you again if you publish my post to your mailbag. -- Thomas J., Finland Thanks Thomas. See what bribing me with beer gets you? Not only will I put your email in the MASSIVE Monday Mailbag, I�ll lead off with it. I don�t think Ulli Wegner is pulling a �Capetillo� with Abraham�s hand wraps, if that�s what you�re trying to suggest. Abraham had plenty of pop when he ventured to the U.S. last year to kick Edison Miranda�s ass in their rematch. Taylor threw and landed a few left hooks to the body. He loaded up with his left hand (jabs and hooks) but he appeared reluctant to let his right go, perhaps concerned about getting countered with Abraham�s hook. As it turned out, he should have been concerned about King Arthur�s right hand in the final round. Man, I didn�t see that one-punch KO coming. (Neither did Taylor.) I did see a potentially ugly bout between Froch and Dirrell. I figured if Dirrell was going to win the fight (and I picked him to do so), he would have to basically stink it out, which he did. However, Froch looked more inept than usual while trying to catch the fleet-footed American and only added the ugliness of the bout with all his roughhouse tactics. For the record I thought Dirrell won the fight, seven rounds to four with one even (the 10th, which I scored for Dirrell but had to make 9-9 because of Hector A-fool�s point deduction). GREETINGS FROM GERMANY Hey Dougie! I was at the O2 World in Berlin and it was really awesome! It�s always the best for the fans to get a knockout at the end of the fight. Like Arthur always does he lost the first rounds but after that he dominated the fight without getting in any trouble. What do you think will happen with Taylor? I hope he won�t quit the tournament but when I look at he next two fights against Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler he has to take many shots more. Froch got his only 2 points in this tournament on Saturday because in his next fights against Kessler and Abraham he won�t earn any more. So he has to hope that at least two of these six will earn less points if he wants to get into the next stage of this tournament. Now I am really looking forward to the Kessler-Ward fight and of course for the new rankings at super middleweight. I guess Abraham will get in at No. 3 because his performance against Taylor was much better than the victory of Froch against Jermain. -- Kossi, B�rger, Germany My guess is that we will see Abraham somewhere in the top four or five of THE RING�s 168-pound ratings. My personal opinion is that he�s the second best super middleweight in the world next Kessler. I can understand if THE RING and other boxing writers and media outlets don�t rank Abraham that high because he�s only had two super middleweight bouts (against fighters who had been KO�d before). However, I believe that he�ll prove himself to be No. 1 by the tournament�s conclusion. I�m also looking forward to Kessler-Ward (almost as much as I am Cotto-Pacquiao). I think Ward has the best hand-eye coordination and overall athleticism of anyone Kessler has faced since Joe Calzaghe (or maybe Anthony Mundine). I�d give the Oakland native a strong chance to upset Kessler if he had more seasoning. However, he�s got home field advantage and as we saw this past weekend that counts for something. I think Ward can give Kessler some trouble with his speed (particularly if he beats the Dane to the jab), his feints and footwork. Mundine was competitive in spots with Kessler when he did this and I think Ward is more focused and confident than �The Man�. However, Kessler has improved since that 2005 fight. I don�t know what�s going to happen to Taylor. I think he and his team should take some time and really assess his health before they make a decision to stay in or withdraw from the tournament. I�d like to see him give it one more shot before calling it quits but if the concussion he suffered against Abraham is really bad and he continues to suffer from memory loss I think it�s best that he retire from the sport. THOUGHTS ON STAGE ONE OF SUPER 6 Hello Doug, A few thoughts on the first two match ups in the Super 6. 1) German boxing shows seem to make a real effort in putting on a show for the paying public. The rock band, the pyrotechnics and national anthems on electric guitar added to the big occasion feel and can it be coincidence that Germany regularly draws in large audiences for boxing (Klitschko/Haye had sold over 50,000 tickets). Make an effort with the product and the fans will come. As for the fight, two things struck me about Arthur Abraham. One is obviously that he carries serious power in both hands and the second is his almost unique peek-a-boo style defense. With the hands in front of the face and elbows ducked just above the waistline it seems a bit crude at first glance but proved surprisingly effective. An area of contention was the �alleged� low blows. With his hands held high the stomach would seem to be an area of obvious weakness, however the high waistband disguises this weakness and accentuates any border line blows. All in all though Abraham was seriously impressive and a serious contender to win the tourney. Jermain, on the other hand, should retire. He doesn't need to prove anything to anyone and no one wants to see him get knocked out again. Allan Green is an adequate replacement and probably provides more interest going forward. 2) After a good opening bout the second fight was a disappointment. Being British I was supporting Froch but couldn't in all honesty say that he won that fight. He didn't land anything of note and all the solid shots were landed by Dirrell. By the way you called the outcome in the second fight perfectly (dodgy decision not withstanding). Keep up the good work. -- Steve in London Hey, I was about 10 seconds away from calling the first fight on the money (Abraham by decision) until King Arthur landed that sick straight right. I knew Dirrell had the talent and the style to outbox and outpoint Froch, but he obviously lacked the seasoning, confidence and guts to �beat� the rugged Englishman. I thought Dirrell won the fight but he was too sparing with his punches and he allowed himself to be taken out of his game too often by Froch to really complain about the decision. However, I think he will learn from his first 12-round experience. He discovered too late in the bout that when he planted his feet every now and then, he could hurt Froch. Next time, maybe he�ll let take a few more chances earlier in the fight. Of course, he�ll be taking chances against Abraham, which is a dangerous thing. Abraham�s high-guard defense isn�t that unique but he�s probably the only fighter who does it as well as Winky Wright. I don�t think Green is an adequate replacement for Taylor but he�ll do if that�s who Showtime wants to go with. The Oklahoma native doesn�t have the world-class credentials that the Bute-Andrade rematch winner or even Sakio Bika has, but he�s talented and he can be dangerous. If Green takes over for Taylor his first fight in the tournament will be against Ward, which is an interesting matchup, and a potentially significant one if S.O.G. upsets Kessler next month. I agree that many of the stomach shots that Taylor was warned about were borderline punches, although Showtime replayed one low blow that was a blatant uppercut to Abraham�s cup. I thought the referees in both fights pretty much sucked. Hector Afu was biased for Froch and Jose Garcia botched the ending of the Abraham fight. Garcia should have waved that fight off as soon as Taylor�s back (and the back of his head) slammed the canvas in the final seconds of the 12th and immediately removed the fallen fighter�s mouthpiece. There was no reason at all to even begin a �10 count�. Good point about the live boxing shows in Germany. They do it right, which encourages fans to buy tickets even though they can watch most of those shows live on free TV. I�ve been told that the German networks pay (or at least contribute some money) to enhance the live arena experience. SUPER 6 & THE WEAK LINK What's up dude? So far things have gone as I thought they would. Andre D. switched back and forth from cold calculated killer with pin point shots to scared school girl jumping into Froch in order to not get hit. Did he show that he belonged? Yeah, I'll give him that much but lets see how much those tactics help him against Mr. Abraham. Speaking of the King, this guy is a tank. He puts up his armor plated defense and lets you spend yourself and then he levels you when you least expect it. How many times have we seen him do this? He's going to be hard to beat, dawg. I think Ward-Kessler is about even but I'm leaning toward Kessler based on experience. Now to my next order of business. Jermain Taylor, lets be honest. This dude has been a different fighter ever since his two fights with Ex. He needs to hang em up before he is permanently damaged. Does he have heart? Yes! Does he have skill? Yes! Does he have staying power? No, in my humble opinion. They need to be seriously considering making a change before something bad happens to this guy. That or keep him out of the ring with big punching white dudes, LOL! Holla back! -- Fleetwood I don�t think Taylor is going to want to pull out of the tournament. It just isn�t in his character. He�s never been one to avoid dangerous or difficult opposition and I don�t think a third KO loss is going to change that mentality. I think he and his team are going to want to wait and see how he heals from the concussion he suffered Saturday before they make a decision. If Taylor hadn�t suffered a concussion I bet they would have allowed him to fight once more to see how he did against Ward before they seriously considered pulling him out of the tournament or calling it quits. Whatever Taylor decides to do, I�d like to go on record and state that I respect him as a fighter. This might sound crazy to some fans and media, but Taylor�s losses made me more of a fan of his than his wins. All four of his losses were entertaining fights in which he did his best and looked very good in spots. Plus, I give him props for taking on undefeated bruisers in their prime. The combined record of Kelly Pavlik (first fight), Carl Froch and Abraham is 85-0 with 70 knockouts. Think about that for a minute. There�s no doubt that those two bouts with Bernard Hopkins took a psychological toll on Taylor but I think if his career had been managed a little better (and he�s as responsible for the course it took as his promoter or manager) after those fights he could have been a much improved fighter. Facing three world-class southpaws (with underrated toughness) after the Hopkins bouts did nothing for his damaged psyche, technical development or his marketability. Had Taylor been moved the way Abraham was after he won his IBF belt -- fighting three times a year with two of those fights being against second- or third-tier opponents and one against a worthy challenger -- I think he would have evolved. I�m also leaning towards Kessler next month for the same reason you are. King Arthur is no joke. When the Super Six was first announced and RingTV.com co-editor Michael Rosenthal and I picked Abraham as our favorite to win the tournament we caught some grief from fans who were unfamiliar with former 160-pound titleholder. As this tournament progresses, I think Abraham is going to make a lot of believers. He did to Taylor what he did to Mahir Oral, Elvin Ayala and Khoren Gevor. He figured out the American�s style in the early rounds and then systematically broke him down in the middle rounds before taking him out cold in the late rounds. Abraham is a baaaaaaaaaaad man. Dirrell better come correct. DIRRELL DID ENOUGH TO WIN I'm bummed that Dre' didn't get the decision. I honestly thought the judges would give it to him until I heard it was a split decision. I'm just not sure why he was deducted a point when Froch hit on the break deliberately four times, threw him to the canvas, and hit behind the head repeatedly. I don't think Dirrell will beat Abraham, but I definitely thought he won this bout. Too bad now all we will hear is how he was "exposed." -- Mike Sam I haven�t heard any cries of �exposed� directed at Dirrell, Mike. However, I haven�t received many emails from fans who were outraged by the decision. The post-fight reaction to this bout certainly isn�t like the Malignaggi-Diaz fight. Of course, part of the reason for this may be because Showtime�s commentators don�t go overboard with stating who they believe is winning a fight during the boradcast, and Dirrell didn�t whine and complain throughout his post-fight interview. I also think the fact that Dirrell initiated many of the clinches caused a few strikes against him in the opinions of many fans, even those who scored the fight for him. KING ARTHUR ABRAHAM This guy is frightening to watch. I believe his physical strength and punching power far exceed that of his Super Six rivals, particularly Ward and Dirrell. That knockout was probably the most shocking and brutal I�ve ever seen. It was downright SCARY. And he looked freakin� HUGE in there. How this guy ever made middleweight I will never know. He might not be tall, but he looked like a full grown light heavyweight in there. I honestly fear for whoever has to fight him in this tournament, and I�ve never felt that way in 15 years as a hardcore fan. What would it take to defeat this beast? -- Ed from UK A lot of speed, patience, durability, and lateral movement. I think it�s a mistake to stand in front of Abraham and engage with him too much for the reasons you listed in your email. I think Kessler has the smarts, the style and the physical tools to beat Abraham, but I can envision the Armenian assassin giving the Dane hell down the stretch of a very intense but mainly tactical bout. I think the Dres (Ward and Dirrell) have the style and athletic ability to out-maneuver and potentially outpoint Abraham, but I�m not sure they have the durability. I agree with you. I think King Arthur�s physical strength and punching power far exceeds theirs. IS TAYLOR FINISHED? Dougie, Is Taylor finished after another last-round KO in a row? Does Showtime have a contingency plan for a fighter pulling out in the event that Taylor's team decides to hang up the gloves? There may be serious concern regarding Taylor continuing to take punishment. I think Kessler also KO's him. Thanks. -- Christian Formby, San Juan Who knows? Taylor may have reached the point where anybody who hits him clean in the jaw will take him out. I hope not, because I think he�s a hell of a competitor and I thought he was competitive with Abraham until the late rounds. Showtime does have a contingency plan to replace any fighter who may pull out of the tournament. Taylor suffered a severe concussion against Abraham and will spend this week in a hospital in Berlin, so I�m sure that even though his promoter, Lou DiBella, and Showtime don�t want to comment on possibly replacing the former middleweight champ, it�s on their minds. Allan Green could step in. ESPN.com�s Dan Rafael reports that Dan Goossen would love to see Edison Miranda, who he co-promotes and his brother Joe trains, enter the tournament. Personally, I�m not crazy about either of those choices. I don�t think either fighter has accomplished enough to merit involvement. If Taylor stays in the Super Six, he won�t fight for at least three months. I think there�s time to assess his health and his desire to remain in the tournament. If he does decide to pull out, that�s a decision he should take some time to come to, and in that time the Lucien Bute-Librado Andrade rematch can take place. I think the winner of Bute-Andrade II is the perfect replacement for Taylor should he and his team decide to withdraw. FROCH-DIRRELL DECISION Hey Dougie, I'm sure you've got plenty of messages like this coming in to you but the Dirrell-Froch decision was just plain wrong. Speaking as a Brit and as a big Carl Froch fan I have to say that Dirrell won at least seven rounds and even shook Froch up in round 10. This was the first time I saw Dirrell live and I couldn't help but be impressed by his head and foot movement as well as his pop late on. I think the only thing that may have swayed the fight in Froch's favour was that, at times Dirrell ran around a bit without throwing much back in the mid rounds and as the challenger, the old adage says you've got to rip the title from the champion instead of 'stealing' it. Anyway, now I'm just contradicting myself. Keep up the good work Dougie, it's refreshing to read articles from a boxing writer who doesn't have his lips planted on Floyd Mayweather's ass. -- Max, Gloucestershire, England It�s small but proud club of boxing writers who don�t kiss Mayweather�s million-dollar buttocks and I like to think of myself as its founder and president. There are no dues or fees for membership, by the way. One only needs a little common sense to join. Speaking of Money May, Dirrell kind of reminded me of Mayweather with his throw-just-enough-punches-to-win-the-round approach to the early part of the match. However, unlike Mayweather the 26-year-old super middleweight lacked an adequate defense, composure under pressure and an inside game. If he ever learns these finer points of boxing, look out! He�ll be unbeatable. Froch found a way to get into the young man�s head, though, proving that the Dirrell is beatable for now. However, I agree with you. I don�t think Froch was able to effectively take advantage of Dirrell�s temporary loss of focus and technical shortcomings, which is why I had the speed demon winning by a few points. ANDRE DIR-EADFUL What's up Dougie, Am I the only one that�s frustrated with Andre and his complaining and clowning? This guy has all the tools to be a great fighter, but doesn't have the focus and/or desire. The guy is so tall and rangy, with excellent reflexes. He has very fast hands and feet, and can crack when he decides to sit down on his punches. He should have won going away, and instead BS'd his way to the wrong end of a decision. He can blame the judges, fans, hometown crowd or whatever else, but when he looks into the mirror, he knows who is to blame for the loss. Himself. I think he has to be one of the biggest underachievers in the last 25 years. He has all the tools to be great, but he can't seem to bring it all together. I guess that�s what makes the truly great fighters so special though huh? -- Mike M, Sonora, CA Well, let�s hold off on even suggesting that he has the potential to be great. Dirrell is an tremendous boxing talent and a superb athlete. However, he doesn�t have a complete game yet, and the way he was matched on his way to his first (and certainly not his last) title shot was not going to force him to correct some of the technical flaw and bad habits he brought into the Froch fight. But hey, he�s young, and he�s not stupid. He can learn from Saturday�s experience and he has time to improve as a boxer and a competitor. He might get his butt kicked in his next fight, he may not come close to winning this tournament but it�s either going to force him to mature in some ways or it�s going to break him. We�ll see what happens, but I wouldn�t write him off as a hot dog or a bust or an underachiever just yet. HOW DO YOU WATCH A FIGHT? Mr. Fischer, Post Froch/Dirrell (and thinking about Cotto/Clottey & Diaz/Malignaggi) I'm curious as to how you feel about judges finding that that the local guy landed the more effective shots. For what it is worth, I had it 115-114 for Froch. I felt that three rounds were a coin toss; two of those I gave to Froch. Obviously, the point deduction didn't matter for the judges. (I'm still curious as to what it was for.) My sole reason for writing is because I'd like to know how you watch fights, because obviously this fight was one of those that comes down to personal taste. Myself, I can't stand watching clinching and bobbing to the extent that one of the guys is coming in with his head aimed at the other guy's cup. I like active, stand-up-and-punch fighters. However, one scoring for pure skill and effectiveness could have easily scored the fight the other way. With Cotto/Clottey & Diaz Malignaggi, it seems like this has been a real issue in scoring. (Though Cotto & Diaz are two of my three favorite fighters, I had them both losing by 1 point.) I was turned off by the way that Froch arrogantly dismissed Dirrell's performance, especially after Dirrell went out of his way to show respect on multiple occasions after the fight; perhaps that's due to the way the promotion went, but come on, grow up. Still, I like the man because he really throws himself out there. Like Taylor, he's taking on both Kessler & Abraham this round. You have GOT to respect that. Anyway, I'd like to know how you feel regarding the way these fights are scored. To the average fan, it may seem like hometown guys are getting extra points for aggressiveness & activity, as opposed to movement and efficiency. Effectiveness is in they eye of the beholder, though the beholder seems to favor the local guy these days. Regardless, excellent start to this tournament, and I'd be happy to join a Ken Hershman fan club for making this happen. Best. -- Matthew, NYC I generally favor aggression over defensive boxing, but that aggression has to be supported by and clean punches landed to legal areas of the opponent�s body for me to give the aggressor credit for his work. Here�s an example, the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight. Some respected members of the media (including Kevin Iole and Steve Kim) scored the fight as a draw because of De La Hoya�s aggression. I�m not Mayweather�s biggest fan but I thought he won the fight by the same margin I scored the Forch-Dirrell bout (for Dirrell), 7-4-1 in rounds. The only rounds De La Hoya won were the ones where Mayweather was 90 percent defense. De La Hoya stalked forward and tried to swarm over Mayweather whenever the smaller man went to the ropes, but he wasn�t landing clean punches, so he wasn�t scoring points with Mr. Fischer. I thought Froch was less effective against Dirrell than De La Hoya was against Mayweather. At least Oscar was able to land a clean jab in spots during his fight. Froch couldn�t land any punches from the outside, and whenever he bulled his way inside most of the clean punches he landed were to illegal areas of Dirrell�s body, so I found it difficult to award the Englishman points. Another factor in the way I watch and score a fight is the impact and effect a fighter�s punches have on his opponent. If both fighters are landing an equal (or close to even) amount of punches I will lean towards the fighter who appears to be landing the harder shots (or whose punches are causing the other guy to back off or change his strategy). Dirrell didn�t let his hands go very much, but when he did, he was accurate (to legal areas of Froch�s body) and he appeared to be the harder puncher of the two. By the way, I think Froch rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way with his arrogance, which is probably a boon to the tournament. It�s always good for a promotion to have that guy-that-everyone-hates as a participant. ORDER OF OPERATIONS After tonight's results, I began to think the order of operations will factor just as much in who wins overall in this tournament. For the record, I favor King Arthur to win from the get go. I'd put the Great Dane next in line, knowing Saturday night's results and finally Froch a distant third. King Arthur goes up against Andre Dirrell next, his most difficult fight style-wise in my opinion, but not one that will add many miles er.. kilometers to his boxing odometer. Mikkel Kessler vs. Froch on the other hand will cause both guys some wear and tear any way you look at it. And for the final stage, I think a weathered Carl Froch is much easier to deal with for King Arthur. No forgone conclusion that Kessler wins, or better still knocks out Andre Ward. Less chances the Dane scores a knockout of Froch (nearly fresh after Dirrell). So less potential points for the Great Dane. I believe Jermain Taylor can regain some confidence against Andre Ward in his next fight, so he'd have some steam going into the last fight against Kessler, making an even more difficult time of things for the Dane. And for Froch.. well, things just get tougher and tougher, don't they? I leave Ward out as a wildcard because I don't give him much chance to pull off a win against Dirrell or Taylor. -- Joseph Really? You don�t think Ward can beat Dirrell or a version of Taylor who might be damaged goods? I think Ward is more focused than Dirrell and possess more sound technique. You make a very good point about the schedule of the Super Six participants. Some of these guys are going to be put through the wringer during the round-robin stage of the tournament. Kessler is the favorite of most boxing writers, but you�re absolutely right that his fight with Froch is going to be a rough one (even if he wins every round). Like Froch said during his post-fight interview Kessler is a sharp boxer but he will stand his ground and fight. That�s absolutely true. The Viking Warrior is very proud fighter and Froch might get under his skin the way he has a lot of fans (both British and American) and get him to open up more than usual. I�m not sure if Ward will be a physical fight for Kessler. I think it�s in Ward�s best interest to keep it real tactical, but what do I know? If Taylor stays in the tournament he better hope that Ward does take it to Kessler and catches a beatdown for doing so. That�s probably the only way anyone will look at their fight as an even matchup. Before Taylor was brutally stopped by Abraham, I was really looking forward to seeing him fight Kessler in an ultimate battle of left jab specialists. Now, I�ll probably be worried about Taylor�s health if that fight takes place. SUPER SIX Hi, Just wanted to give you my quick thoughts on the Super Six tonight. The Abraham-Taylor fight was pretty much what I expected with Abraham starting slow and coming on in the end, I was'nt too impressed with Abraham, but that was a brutal knockout. I really don't know where Taylor goes from here. I know he is still in the Super Six but man it is hard enough to come back from one devastating knockout loss it might be impossible to come back from two in a row. As for the Froch-Dirrell fight, Froch is one rough (not dirty) fighter. I thought Dirrell was doing well and winning the fight with his movement and crisp counters. The point was deducted from the wrong man in my opinion. Froch hit behind the head and on the break multiple times. I scored it 114-114 because of the deduction, it is a shame that Dirrell's best round was in the round in which he was deducted and that was the difference in the fight to me. But overall I thought it was a great night for boxing and for the Super Six, I was watching on TV but could feel the atmosphere of the crowd at home. A great night for boxing lets hope the rest will be as good as this. -- David Green, Warner Robins, Georgia I think the tournament will only get better from here on out. I can�t wait to be covering Kessler-Ward from ringside. Dougie can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougiefischer

Weekend Review: Abraham's big night

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:36:24 PST
Carl Froch (right) deserves credit for doing the only thing he could to beat Andre Dirrell -- rough him up -- but he wouldn't have won the decision outside England. Photo / Tom Casino-Showtime BIGGEST WINNER Arthur Abraham: The Germany-based Armenian�s goal is to prove to the American boxing audience that he�s the baddest dude on the planet. He took a nice step in that direction against Jermain Taylor on Saturday in Berlin, Germany. He took control of the first-round Super Six Boxing Classic fight by the middle rounds and finished it in frightening fashion, with a big right that put Taylor to sleep with only six seconds to go. I wonder whether Abraham�s propensity to start slowly will catch up to him some day. Aside from that, though, the guy is scary. He�s a very good boxer who has both the knowledge and brawn to consistently break down his opponents. And remember: This was his first fight as a full-fledged 168-pounder. BIGGEST LOSER Jermain Taylor: If the one-punch knockout loss were isolated, we might say, �OK, it happens.� However, this is his second straight crushing KO and third in five fights. And he reportedly is in a Berlin hospital for tests after what his promoter called a �severe concussion.� Suddenly, it couldn�t be more obvious that including Taylor in the Super Six field was questionable. He did reasonably well for most of the fight but couldn�t pick up his pace when Abraham did, the apparent result of his inevitable fade and Abraham�s pressure. And fighters can absorb only so many such knockouts. The image of Taylor lying on the canvas temporarily unconscious with one arm extended is haunting. I wonder whether that man is really prepared to continue in this competition -- and in the sport. MOST FORTUNATE Carl Froch: THE RING�s No. 3-rated super middleweight did what he had to do to be competitive against a superior boxer in Andre Dirrell � make Dirrell fight by roughing him up. The tactic worked, as Froch was awarded a split-decision victory to remain unbeaten. He deserves some respect. He also is lucky, though, lucky that Dirrell didn�t have the confidence to fight more aggressively and lucky he was fighting in his hometown of Nottingham, England. Dirrell would�ve won even in hostile territory if he clutched less and fought more; he got the better of most exchanges. And, sorry, but that was a hometown decision. Neither of the judges who scored the fight for Froch were British but the impact of an enthusiastic hometown crowd and other pressures are powerful. Bottom line: Froch has almost no chance against Mikkel Kessler in his next fight. MOST UNFORTUNATE Andre Dirrell: The young fighter�s inability to cope well with Froch�s rough-house tactics and reluctance to fight more aggressively make it difficult to feel too sorry for him. All he had to do to beat his more-experienced opponent was take a few more chances because Froch brought little more into the ring than toughness and desperate, dirty tactics. Still, the Flint, Mich., fighter did more than enough to win the fight; he would�ve been awarded the decision if the fight had taken place in the U.S. or a neutral site. As it is, he�s stuck with his first loss against an inferior boxer. The positive is that he undoubtedly learned a great deal. And he�ll need whatever knowledge he gained; his next opponent is Abraham. WORST REFEREE Hector Afu I don�t have a big problem with Dirrell losing a point because of his constant clutching, particularly after he was warned several times. I do have a problem with Froch NOT losing a point after numerous warnings for his unrelenting dirty tactics, which included throwing Dirrel down, punching on the break and hitting the behind the head. His transgressions were far worse than Dirrell�s. The only fair thing to do in a fight as wild as that is to dock both fighters a point. Clearly, the hometown fighter was given an edge by a referee who was incompetent, intimidated by the crowd or worse. Fortunately, Afu�s failure to deduct a point from Froch played no role in the decision. BIGGEST WINNER II Alejandro Rochin Mapula: The Mexican judge was the only one to get the score right in the Froch-Dirrell fight. He had it 114-113 (including the point deduction) for Dirrell, giving the American fighter seven of the 12 rounds. I had it 115-112 for Dirrell but Mapula�s score is reasonable. The other two judges -- Massimo Barrovecchio of Italy and Daniel Van de Wiele of Belgium � scored it 115-112 for Froch, meaning they gave seven rounds to the Englishman. Seven rounds? What did he do to deserve that? The hometown favorite roughed up Dirrell effectively but followed up with precious few effective punches. Meanwhile, while we were frustrated with Dirrell�s reluctance to mix it up, clearly he landed more and more-meaningful punches. Kudos to Mapula for not being swayed by the pro-Froch crowd. WORST WARDROBE MALFUNCION Abraham�s trunks: Abraham�s drawers had a rougher night than Taylor. First, it became obvious early in the fight that the waist band was either too big or stretched out. It got so bad that a cornerman had to tape up excess material to keep the moon from coming out. And, second, the trunks ripped open in his crotch. Thank goodness he was wearing a cup. Instead, someone should determine what fly-by-night company produced those trunks and expose it. This is the only department in which Abraham struggled, though, which says a lot for his performance. We assume he�ll improve in this regard before his next fight. BEST IDEA Doug Fischer: My astute colleague at RingTV.com suggested that the winner of Lucian Bute-Librado Andrade on Nov. 28 replace Taylor if he drops out. Allan Green, who has been mentioned as a possible replacement, was mediocre in victory against Tarvis Simms on Oct. 2 and has lost to Edison Miranda. And Miranda is 0-3 against Super Six participants, two losses against Abraham and one against Andre Ward. Bute remains unbeaten, albeit barely after surviving a late rally against Andrade last October. And if Andrade wins this time, he elevates himself to truly elite status. He also would provide a Latino presence, which would generate even more interest in the tournament. Of course, the winner of Bute-Andrade would have to agree to take part. And there�s another complication: The Bute-Andrade winner would have only two first-round fights, leaving him at a disadvantage in the points system. We would have to see how Showtime would work that out. BEST QUOTE Leon Lawson, Dirrell�s grandfather-trainer, before the 12th round: �You got to get him out, because you ain�t getting no decision here.� Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com