Hopkins Has No Interest In Jones Jr

It appears after whetting out appetites with the conversation last week Bernard 'The Executioner' Hopkins is not interested in facing Roy Jones Jr after all.

Diaz Targets War With Hatton

After his contentious win over Paulie 'Magic Man' Malignaggi on Saturday, it appears Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz has set his sights on a bout with former junior welter weight king, Ricky Hatton.

Both fighters are promoted by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions and with Diaz looking to make waves at 140 pounds and Hatton coming off a devastating 2nd round kayo at the hands of Manny Pacquiao, it appears that the two would be perfectly matched.

Diaz's trainer Willie Savannah told BoxingScene.com,

"We've wanted to fight Ricky Hatton for a long time. Juan wants this fight because he knows it would be a war. It would be a slugfest with two bulls meeting in the center of the ring. I don't know about fighting him in the UK though. Juan Lazcano trained in my gym for that fight with Hatton. When he hurt Ricky, the referee called time out. I don't know about fighting him out there,"

Savannah went onto tell BoxingScene.Com that a rematch with Malignaggi isn't impossible but only if they are not able to attract Hatton,

"If we don't fight Hatton, we would have no problem fighting Paulie in a rematch but our preference would be Ricky. I'll say one thing, there won't be a match in New York. Maybe it could happen in Las Vegas but not in New York."

Trouble In Texas

Paulie Malignaggi is a colourful character, from his wild hairstyles to his flamboyant ring attire he has always stood out. But now he is the talk of boxing for another reason.

Malignaggi spoke out last week voicing his concerns over his bout with Diaz. He claimed that he bowed over weight, money, location, the venue and even the ring size. He finally lost his temper in a phone call with Rick Reeno about the appointment of officials.
He claimed that Richard Schaffer of 'Golden Boy Promotions' promised him neutral officials but to his surprise Gale Van Hoy of Texas, Raul Caiz, a Mexican American and David Sutherland of Oklahoma, which neighbours Texas were appointed in his bout with Juan Diaz, a Texas based Mexican American.

Malignaggi's fears were realised on Saturday night when he lost, what was seen by most as, an extremely close unanimous decision by margins of 110-118, 113-115 & 112-116.
I, as well as many others, felt that Malignaggi had done enough to win.

Diaz, coming off a knock out loss Marquez in February, was seen as one of Golden Boy's hot prospects. He racked up 30 consecutive wins picking up the WBO, WBA & IBF light weight titles by the age of 23.
He fought at a fast and ferocious pace for all 3 minutes of every round and seemed unstoppable. Until he came up against seasoned Nate Campbell. He fought well until he suffered a cut above his eye and wilted, losing a split decision and his titles. When he faced Juan Manuel Marquez, the same happened again. At first he looked impervious rushing Marquez and hurting him at times but as Marquez began to figure him out he was cut, again he wilted and went on to be knocked out in the 9th round.

Thus the fight on Saturday night was seen as a make or break for him as well as Malignaggi, who had lost to Ricky Hatton in November of 2008 and despite picking up a win in April of this year was in career limbo.

The fight was close let it be told, the light-handed Malignaggi popped his jab, moved and attempted to out box Diaz who constantly came forward with furious energy but at the end of the 12th,I and many other felt Malignaggi had done enough to merit a win. Clearly this wasn't the case as Gale Van Hoy saw the fight as wide as 118-110 in favour of Diaz!

Even Oscar De La Hoya (more in an attempt to save face rather than in genuine outrage) spoke out against the judging at the Golden Boy promoted event,

"The fight was a close fight [Diaz-Maliganggi]. We look at the landslide that one of the judges had, I don't agree with it. I'm not a judge but I don't agree with it. Paulie Malignaggi was right [about getting screwed by the scoring] but it was a close fight. Both fighters gave it their all. You have to give it up to Paulie Malignaggi because he came to fight. He was in tremendous shape and put on one hell of a performance,"

Malignaggi was furious and rightly so at the post fight presser he had this to say:


And he is right. It was a travesty that the scoring turned out how it did, Malignaggi did fight valiantly and to see the result is a discredit to him and boxing itself.
One would have thought that after Malignaggi aired his concerns about such things happening, the robbery would have been a little more discreet. Yet judges like Van Hoy simple didn't care. His scoring of the fight was simply horrible.

Boxing has had its dark days, it is well known that the had its say in the outcomes of fights with fighters, referees and judges alike all playing their part, and this harps back to these times as the home town and in house fighter was presented with a gift.

Malignaggi has bathed himself in glory in how he handled the situation, he took nothing away from Diaz, acknowledging him as a tough and worthy opponent. Yet no one will begrudge his ill will toward Golden Boy or anyone involved in this fiasco. We can only hope that Paulie does not allow this to leave such a bitter taste in his mouth that he doesn't not continue to fight.

Golden Boy, despite Oscar's public attempt to show disgust, has much to explain.

HBO Tribute To Arguello, Gatti & Forrest

During HBO's broadcast of Boxing After Dark last night, (I'll get to the results of the fights later), there was a touching tribute to three of the pugilists that left us this summer. Here it is:

Hopkins/Jones Rematch?

16 years ago two fighters, who would go onto to be amongst the biggest in the sport, met in Washington DC for the vacant IBF middleweight title.
On the night Roy Jones Jr took a 12 round decision against Bernard Hopkins. Now it appears the two would like to do it again.
Hopkins,44 and Jones, 40 both called up the Calvin Murphy show to discuss the possibility of a rematch in what would break down into a furious but humorous exchange, that mirrored their now legendary exchange televised on HBO all those years ago.

Roy Jones offered Hopkins a deal where the winner would get 60% of the purse with the loser getting 40% yet Hopkins refused insisting Jones Jr gets the 40%. Jones Jr pushed with his initial deal and even went as far as offering a winner takes all deal.
At that point Hopkins hung up, having lost interest in Jones Jr's offers.

Jones Jr then told Calvin Murphy that Hopkins had been doing the same thing for 5 years and that it was Hopkins' worst nightmare to see Jones back looking good, in reference to his 10 round destruction of Jeff Lacy. Jones then went on to claim that if he could not get Hopkins then he would be more than happy to pursue both Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson in order to gain revenge over the two fighters who kayoed him in 2004.

I don't think its anything to get excited over yet especially as Jones already has a bout with Dan Green scheduled for the IBO cruiser weight belt and Hopkins has recently offered Paul Williams a fight at 170 pounds but if it does go ahead, with the form both fighters have been in, I expect a fight that mirrors the entertainment of their phone calls!

Diaz/Malignaggi This Saturday

I think Diaz's agression will win him this fight

Pavlik/Williams Postponed Until November 21st

The promising months ahead in boxing have hit a snag as the Kelly Pavlik/Paul Williams clash scheduled for October 3rd has been potponed.
Pavlik suffered a reoccurance of the staph infection that caused his fight with Sergio Mora to be abandoned.
Top Rank spokesman Fred Sternburg has announced the WBC/WBO bout will now take place on November 21st

The Epitome Of What Makes Boxing So Great

Marquez/Mayweather Countdown

Short Clip Of JMM Sparring For The Floyd Fight

Calderon To Help Cotto Train For Pacquiao

Junior fly weight world champion, Ivan 'Iron Boy' Calderon will be drafted in to help Miguel Cotto train for his bout with Manny Pacquiao.
Calderon is recognised as one of the fastest and best pure boxers in the sport and was also brought in to spar with Oscar De La Hoya in preparation for his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Freddie Roach, Oscar's trainer at the time later revealed that Calderon boxed circles around the 'Golden Boy'.
His speed and the fact he fights in the southpaw stance, like Pacquiao, should be of massive benefit to Cotto's training as he prepares for the November 14th bout.
Calderon, also from Puerto Rico, is in training for a September rematch with Rodel Mayol who is from Pacquiao's native Philippines.

Dawson/Johnson Is A WBC Title Bout

The November 7th rematch between 'Bad' Chad Dawson and Glen 'The Road Warrior' Johnson has been approved by the WBC as an interim title fight. The two faced off last year with Dawson winning a close and in the eyes of some dubious decision.
The winner of the light heavy weight bout will then be the mandatory to current WBC light heavy weight champion Jean Pascal who faces his mandatory Silvio Branco on September 266th.

HBO's Warm Up Video For The Return Of Floyd

Pavlik and Williams To Go To War On October 3rd

It is being reported from various sources that a deal is in place for WBC/WBO middle weight champion Kelly 'The Ghost' Pavlik to defend his crown against Paul 'The Punisher' Williams on October 3rd.

This is the second time the fight has been attempted after negotiations fell apart last year. But it appears this time the talks between the two camps has been successful, as they were concluded on Tuesday afternoon.

It is likely the fight will take place in Atlantic City but this, like the fight, is yet to be confirmed.

In Memory Of Salvador Sanchez

27 years ago today, August the 12th, a Porsche 928 crashed along the federal highway from Santiago de Querétaro to San Luis Potosí. The driver of the car, a 23 year old from Santiago Tianguistenco, Estado de México, died instantly. His death would be as mourned as his life celebrated. The driver of the car was Mexican boxing legend Salvador Sanchez.

Sanchez started boxing professionally at a young age after an amateur boxing career that supposedly spanned only 4 fights. Despite his young age he quickly racked up victories over tough Mexican opposition only coming unstuck when the experienced Antonio Becerra defeated him for the vacant Mexican bantam weight title, the only defeat he would suffer in his celebrated career.
Despite this defeat Sanchez kept on moving forward, he went up in weight to feather weight where he defeated Felix Trinidad Sr, Puerto Rican feather weight champion and father of Puerto Rican legend Felix Trinidad Jr, as he edged closer to a world title shot. On February 2nd 1980 this chance came against, Danny ‘Little Red’ Lopez.

Lopez was extremely confident in his abilities and tough to beat but this did not deter Sanchez and he knocked Lopez out in the 13th round. Sanchez defended his title against Ruben Castillo in a 15 round unanimous decision before he faced Lopez in a rematch. Lopez claimed that Sanchez had benefitted from beginner’s luck so Sanchez went about disproving this theory taking an extra round to dispatch of Lopez by TKO in June of the same year.
Sanchez defended his title four more times including a unanimous decision over future champion Juan La Porte before he faced Wilfredo ‘Bazooka’ Gomez in the biggest bout of his career.
Gomez was an undefeated knockout specialist from Puerto Rico had dominated the super bantam weight division, his victims included undefeated at the time, Carlos Zarate who he had stopped in 5 rounds. He moved up in weight to face Sanchez in August 1981 and sparks flew as the two faced off.

Sanchez started fast and dropped Gomez within 40 seconds but Gomez rallied back to take the second round. Gomez’s eyes began to swell in the third round and Sanchez began to target the affected area to maximise the damage. With the weight of Puerto Rico on his shoulder’s Gomez fought back to take the 5th round and had Sanchez hurt on the ropes in the 6th yet by this time his left eye was badly swollen and his right was closed. Sanchez sensed the weakness and battered Gomez in round 7. This was a precursor to round 8 as Sanchez drove a near blind Gomez onto the ropes and landed a combination that
nearly drove a sagging Gomez out of the ring. Referee Carlos Padilla had seen enough calling off the fight and handing Sanchez the 8th round knockout.
Gomez was the betting favourite in the lead up to the fight so his victory was seen as somewhat of an upset. It catapulted Sanchez from obscurity to stardom amongst Mexican and international boxing fans alike.
Sanchez would fight three more times including a war with an unknown Azumah Nelson in July 1982. The fight was a war that ended in the 15th round when Sanchez almost knocked Nelson out of the ring and caused referee Tony Perez to stop the fight.

At the time of his death in 1982, Sanchez was in training for a September rematch with La Porte. There were rumours abound that he would face Gomez in a rematch or move up in weight to face the light weight champion of the world Alexis Arguello. Sadly neither materialised.

Sanchez died as feather weight champion and had shared the 1981 Ring Magazine ‘Fighter of The Year’ award with Sugar Ray Leonard. More importantly he had carved out a legacy for himself and was recognised as Mexico’s greatest ever champion.
When discussed today Sanchez’s name will always be mentioned amongst the best featherweights like Willie Pep and Kid Chocolate.
The real shame lies in that at the tender age of 23 despite having had 44 bouts he had much more ahead of him.

Hopkins Picks Pacquiao Over Cotto

Future boxing hall of famer Bernard Hopkins has become the latest in a line of people in the boxing world to pick Manny Pacquiao ahead of Miguel Cotto when the two face off on November 14th.
Hopkins believes that Cotto's face will not be able to stand up to the fast and powerful punches of Pacquiao.

"I don't believe that his face can take twelve rounds of this fight,"

Hopkins was quoted by Primera Hora.

Hopkins is not the only person to take this view as Floyd Mayweather Sr also expressed a similar concern.
In his June 13th victory over Joshua Clottey, a headbutt opened a gaping wound over Cotto's left eye and both Hopkins and Mayweather Sr believe that Pacquiao can and will reopen the cut.

Rivalry Builds Between Chavez Jr and Alvarez

A rivalry is building between Mexican prospects Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Saul Alvarez. Although the two unbeaten fighters are in different weight classes, Alvarez sees no reason why the two cannot face off.

Alvarez (28-0, 21KOs) feels as a good a fighter as Chavez Jr (39-0, 29KOs) is he has made his way off his father's name stating,

"He's had a good career and he's a good fighter. There has been a lot of talk about a fight between us and if they can make [the fight], then let's do it. I saw some of his fights on TV. He rose up fast because of his father's name, and I've made a career with hard work. I think people realize that when they see me fight. His promoters turned his amateur career into a pro career. I can't deny that I would like to fight him but I am also thinking about bigger things and my plan is to keep growing and growing,"

But these comments did not sit well with Chavez Jr who retorted,

"He is a good fighter, very young. I think he talks about me sometimes. They told me that he wants to fight me. I do not like to talk a lot. He looks strong, and I think, as I said before, that he is a good fighter, but nothing exceptional. This is evident in the ring. He hasn't fought anyone. I was fortunate that my dad was Julio Cesar Chavez. But at the end I'm still the one who is fighting for the opportunity,"

Alvarez faces Carlos Leonardo Herrera on September 15th in a welterweight clash whilst Chavez Jr faces Jason LeHoullier on September 12th in the junior middleweight division.

Cotto: I Am Not Trinidad

Miguel Cotto has spoken out again against the incessant comparisons between himself and fellow Puerto Rican legend, Felix 'Tito' Trinidad.
Cotto has often been criticised for not being fan friendly like Trinidad and has thus earned an a reputation for being cold and almost robot like. But Cotto feels that the comparison is unfair as he is his own man with his own personality,

"You can not compare the way I am with Felix Trinidad. I am not him. Tito came to a place and greeted everyone and was very well liked. But, I am one of those guys who comes and and greets everyone. I get to a site and the less people who know me, the better I feel, I have always been accessible to the press in Puerto Rico."

"I'm not Felix Trinidad. Miguel Cotto is Miguel Cotto. I'm not going to change. If I were participating in a beauty contest, I should be waving and smiling all day. But I'm a boxer."

Also speaking to El Nuevo Dia, Miguel Cotto Sr defended his son claiming,

"Your personality is your personality. People have to understand that, but they can not. People prefer to see Miguel laughing and talking to them, but he is not Tito, that's his personality. If you want to see Miguel Cotto laughing, then tell him a good joke."

Vernon Forrest Video Tribute

I posted some of TheBringer2009's work here before and here is his tribute to Vernon Forrest. A fitting tribute to a great boxer.

Emmanuel Steward Thinks He Can He Can Help Cotto Stop Pacquiao

Hall of fame trainer Emmanuel Steward feels with his help Miguel Cotto can knock out pound for pound king, Manny Pacquiao.
Before the fight was announced it was strongly rumoured that Steward would join Cotto's camp and take over from Joe Santiago, who has just replaced Cotto's uncle Evangelista Cotto. Yet as of now nobody from Cotto's camp has contacted Steward, speaking to Primera Hora,

"Up until now, nobody has communicated with me [from Cotto's camp], but I would love to be able to have the opportunity to work with Miguel. If we reach an agreement,"

Steward then went on to give his opinion on the fight claiming with him in his corner,

I don't have any doubts that Miguel would knock Pacquiao out,I am of the few people who gives Miguel a big shot to win that fight by boxing. Miguel is perhaps the best boxer to go to the body. I have seen some as many things that can improve and I know that he can knock Pacquiao out."

Cotto begins light training early

WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto is taking no chances. With several months to go before his November 14 bout with Manny Pacquiao, the Puerto Rican champion has already begun training for the fight. Cotto returned to the gym on Monday and did five rounds on the heavy bag, 40 minutes of running and several stretching exercises. He wants to hit the gym two to three times per week until August 24, when he plans to start training full time for the fight with Manny. He doesn't want stamina to become an issue in the late rounds.

"I've done other things, but I've yet to return to the gym. The idea is to go two to three times a week until Phil Landman (his conditioning coach) arrives in Puerto Rico on August 22 and then I'll begin to train full-time on the 24th," Cotto told Primera Hora.

Cotto's trainer, Joe Santiago, told the paper that his fighter's training began early because the opponent is considered the best in the sport.

"We want to go to work slowly and get the most out of the following three months to achieve a high level of preparation," said Santiago. "We want to avoid the history of previous fights, like the one with Antonio Margarito. We do not want to arrive feeling tired on the day of the fight and therefore we will moderate the workload."

(Article taken from Boxingscene.com)

New Super Six Video

Mayweather Sr: Cotto Can Win

Floyd Mayweather Sr believes Freddie Roach has made an error in picking Miguel Cotto as Manny Pacquiao's next opponent. Although most are picking Pacquiao to beat Cotto, Mayweather Sr believes Cotto has the power to win.

“I think Cotto has a very a good shot to win. He’s got a good puncher’s chance. If Cotto hits him to the head or the body, he is going to take his ass out. Cotto did not look good against Clottey and I think Clottey beat him. That was a bad cut [suffered by Cotto during the Clottey fight]. I think a cut like that would affect anybody. A cut like that can keep you out of the game,”

Mayweather Sr then went on to claim that Cotto could end the fight with one punch, questioning Pacquiao's previous wins and ability to deal with Cotto's power,

“He whooped on Oscar De La Hoya who was dehydrated and had no liquids in him. Ricky Hatton was suspect before the fight. Cotto is a puncher. If Cotto is in good shape and he hits him to the body or the head, he can take him out, my mark my words. [Roach] made a mistake by thinking Cotto ain’t that good. If Cotto hits him right, he take his head off, remember I told you that. Cotto is going to be ready for this fight, believe me. If Cotto hits him to the head or the body, he is gone"

I personally don't understand why people are writing Cotto off, I agree that Cotto's power is enough to handle Pacquiao and although Pacquiao is fast and powerful himself, Cotto has the ring savvy to cut the ring down as well as the timing to land on Pac. Im a Cotto fan so I may be talking with bias but I expect a hard fought Cotto win.

Just makes me more excited!

Clottey Made WBA Mandatory

Former IBF welter weight champion, Joshua 'Grand Master' Clottey has now been made mandatory challenger to the WBA welter weight championship. With 'Sugar' Shane Mosley as the 'super' champion and Vyacheslav Senchenko as the 'regular' champion, it is to be seen whom the WBA will call upon to face the tough Ghanaian.

Clottey is wasting no time though attempting to bait Mosley into a fight. Clottey has stated that Mosley can run no longer and that his manager Vinny Scolpino will be meeting with Top Rank in order to have them begin the match making process.

“I don’t think Shane (Mosley) can runaway this time since I am the first contender to the title, he has avoided me over the years, but I think this is the right time for us to fight because there cannot be any excuses from anybody anymore."

Cotto/Pacquiao Title Tug Of War Continues

Miguel Cotto still refuses to put his WBO welter weight title on the line when he faces Manny Pacquiao on November 14th in Las Vegas.
The fight is scheduled to take place at a catch weight of 145 pounds but Cotto refuses to defend his title unless Pacquiao meets him at the 147 pound welter weight limit, claiming Pacquiao can have the weight or the title but he can't have both.

Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao's trainer, told the Manila Bulletin Manny doesn't need the fight if the title is on the line. He says that the WBO should force Cotto to defend the title but Cotto has already countered that by planning to vacate the belt if the sanctioning body attempts to force his hand.

"The WBO should make it a title fight. We don’t need the fight if the title is not on the line," Roach said. "I want Manny to do this for a reason. I want Manny to win seven world titles. Titles are overrated but I would like to see Manny do this."