Manny Has Some Powerful Enemies

In a recent conference call for the September 19th bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Juan Manuel Marquez, it appeared that Manny Pacquiao was the topic of discussion rather than the actual fight. Floyd, then promoter Oscar De La Hoya and then Marquez took turns to pour scorn on Manny Pacquiao and his current 'Pound for Pound' status.

Mayweather began pleasantly but then his true feelings came out

"Pacquiao is a good fighter. I don't take nothing from him," Mayweather said. "He hasn't done nothing I haven't done. Where was he when I was dominating in the '90s? He hasn't called me out. I'm not hard to find. I ain't worried about him. With or without him, I'm comfortable. I'm happy. He don't make me (nothing). I don't chase opponents. Opponents chase me. The biggest fight in boxing is Mayweather versus anybody."

Having previously been promoted by Bob Arum and Top Rank, Mayweather then went on to ridicule Pacquiao's current deal,

"Manny Pacquiao has the worst contract in boxing with Bob Arum right now - 27 percent," Mayweather said. "I keep 100 percent of my money. Are you serious - 27 percent? Arum tells Manny Pacquiao the same bull he used to tell me."

Mayweather then talked up his September 19th opponent, Marquez, claiming,

"I would have to rate him over Manny. For a guy to knock him down three times in the first round and he comes back to get a draw, we know who lost,"

Next it was Oscar De La Hoya's turn, having been stopped by Pacquiao last December one would think he would be rather respectful of Paquiao's abilities but instead he claims he 'felt more skill coming from Floyd' in their match than he did from Pacquiao in theirs. He also claimed that if Floyd and Pacquiao were to ever meet, Floyd should definitely get the lion share. He also said,

The winner between Mayweather and Marquez is the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. The fans are the ones who speak and we all know Marquez beat Pacquiao."

Marquez also joined in the 'Manny bashing', claiming that he beat Pacquiao both times they fought,

"Mayweather is the best. He retired undefeated. When I fought Manny I thought I beat him both times,"

Its nice to see them all so friendly now, hopefully the love in comes to an end and they both make a fight of it as I know they can.
And although I don't feel Pacquiao is the pound 4 pound king (Marquez is), they should not all be so quick to poke him because as Oscar found out he is a live wire!

Official Showtime Trailer For The Super Six Tournament

Funny how they didnt use any footage of Froch-Taylor.
Would kind of been a knock to the tournament's legitimacy (I'm in the class that feels Taylor should not be there, Green or Bute could have taken his place!)

Footage From The Super Six Photoshoot

I hope this friendliness goes out of the window once the bell goes

Cotto/Pac In The Balance

It appears the Cotto/Pacquiao fight slated for November 14th is not as certain to go ahead as though Philistar.com is reporting that Pacquiao maybe looking at Mosley at 143 pounds as he refuses to go to 145 pounds to face the naturally bigger Cotto.

Manny Pacquiao’s lawyer, Franklin Gacal, yesterday said if Miguel Cotto insists on the catchweight of 145 lb, the Filipino boxing icon might be forced to consider Mosley as his next opponent.

“We will not agree to 145 pounds. And if Cotto insists, we’ll go for Mosley,” said Gacal from Davao City.

Top Rank president Bob Arum wants Pacquiao to face Cotto, the reigning WBO welterweight (147 lb) champion from Puerto Rico, on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas. But no deal has been forged yet, not on the date, weight or purse.

“No definite date yet or any other details have been agreed upon,” said Pacquiao the other day.

Pacquiao, 30, said he wants to fight on Oct. 17 but Arum explained that it wouldn’t be a good date because of the Major League World Series, and that it would be hard to compete with the mother of all baseball games.

“Regarding the date, maybe we can give in to what Bob Arum wants although Manny really wants to fight in October. But there’s the baseball thing so maybe we can agree on November,” said Gacal.

Both Pacquiao and Cotto are under Top Rank, and it should have been easier for Arum to seal the deal. But again, the weight issue, Gacal added, is turning out to be a real weighty issue.

“Manny will be giving up too much if he agrees to fight Cotto at 145. We want him at 143 and if he insists otherwise, then we’ll look at Mosley if Mosley is still available,” said the Filipino lawyer.

“Cotto is an inch taller than Manny and definitely he’s heavier. He’s got a bigger body, too. I think Manny will be short-changed if he agrees to 145. And it should be us dictating the terms, not Cotto,” said Gacal.

Mosley, the WBA welterweight champion, was so eager to face Pacquiao he said he’d fight at 144 lb, and settle for 40 percent of the purse. But the native of Pomona, California, had given up on the fight when it seemed all’s well for a Pacquiao-Cotto fight.

“Mosley said he’s willing to fight Manny at 144. Maybe we can drag him down to 143. So if Cotto insists on 145, we’ll got for Mosley,” Gacal added.

At 5’9” Mosley is easily two inches taller than Pacquiao, but the American champion will be 39 by September. Cotto will turn 29 in October.

Mosley is under Golden Boy Promotions, whose president, Oscar dela Hoya, recently played a round of golf with Cotto at the Bahia Beach Resort and Golf Club in Puerto Rico.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=486629&publicationSubCategoryId=69

Super Middleweight Tournament Rules and Information

SUPER SIX WORLD BOXING CLASSIC
– The Super Middleweights –

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

ENTRANTS
Arthur Abraham Berlin, Germany (30-0, 24 KOs)
Andre Dirrell Flint, Mich. (18-0, 13 KOs)
Carl Froch Nottingham, England (25-0, 20 KOs) WBC 168-lbs Champion
Mikkel Kessler Copenhagen, Denmark (41-1, 31 KOs) WBA 168-lbs Champion
Jermain Taylor Little Rock, Ark. (28-3-1, 17 KOs)
Andre Ward Oakland, Calif. (19-0, 12 KOs)

FORMAT
• All bouts will be contested under the unified rules of boxing;
• All bouts scheduled for 12 rounds;
• Both the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Association (WBA) titles will be on the line at the outset of tournament competition;

• Each boxer will fight three bouts against different opponents in the Group Stage—
round-robin, points-based competition;
• Points will be awarded after each bout. Scoring is as follows:
Win – 2 points (with a 1-point KO/TKO bonus)
Draw – 1 point
Loss – 0 points

• Following the Group Stage, the top four point scorers qualify for the Semi-Finals with the bottom two eliminated (In the event of a tie on points, a tie-break mechanism is in place);
• Semi-Finals will match the point leader against the fourth place fighter and the second versus the third in single-elimination bouts (In the event of a draw in the Semi-Final bouts, a tie-break mechanism is in place);
• The winners of the Semi-Final bouts advance to the Final.

DATES and VENUES
• Fights will be contested on both American and European continents. Dates and venues will be announced in the coming weeks.

GROUP STAGE MATCHUPS
GROUP STAGE 1
CARL FROCH vs. ANDRE DIRRELL (for WBC World Championship)
JERMAIN TAYLOR vs. ARTHUR ABRAHAM
MIKKEL KESSLER vs. ANDRE WARD (for WBA World Championship)

• Matchups in Group Stages 2 and 3 will be announced in the coming weeks.

Abraham: I want to destroy Kessler

Well that picture posted earlier must have been two other guys because Arthur Abraham told German newspaper, BILD:

I cannot sleep at night. I'm only thinking about Mikkel Kessler. I don't give a shit that he's my colleague on Team Sauerland. I want to destroy him. Defeat him!

The Europeans Have Arrive

Abraham and Kessler in NYC ahead of tomorrow's super middle weight tournament announcement

Agbeko Decisions Darchinyan

With scores of 116-111, 114-113, 114-113, IBF bantam weight champion King Kong 'Joseph' Agbeko defeated WBC/IBF/WBA super flyweight champion Vic 'The Raging Bull' Darchinyan last night in Florida.
The two traded power punches in the first 3 rounds with Darchinyan attempting to over power the bigger Agbeko. Agbeko opened a small cut near Darchinyan's left eye and he thus appeared to slow down in the four.

In the fifth round Agbeko worked Darchinyan's body and busted his nose. Darchinyan improved in the sixth but could do nothing to stop Agbeko's right hand from his southpaw stance. In the seventh, an error on the behalf of the timekeeper meant the round went for a full four minutes in which Agbeko worked well, swelling Darchinyan's face only to have this ruined by a wrongly judged knock down, after Darchinyan pushed Agbeko to the floor.

In the eighth Agbeko rocked Darchinyan only to be rocked himself in the final seconds of the round. But in the ninth Darchinyan successfully began using his right jab to set up his powerful left hand.

In the tenth a clash of heads opened a nasty cut above Darchinyan's right eye as the two fighters brawled. This brawling set the trend for the next two rounds as both sought knock outs. In the twelfth they swung to the final bell with Vic looking the more tired of the two.

Gatti's Wife Made Suspect In Fighter's Death

After Arturo Gatti was found yesterday, Brazillian police have now revealed that Gatti's wife Amanda Rodrigues has been made a suspect in their investigation after inconsistencies in her testimony raised suspicion.

Fellow fighter and close friend of Gatti, Acelino Freitas claimed that the couple were having trouble and were due to split.

What actually happened on the night is still unclear after new elements have been added and stories have changed. A bloody purse strap was found at the scene indicating that Gatti may have been strangled. Also Rodrigues claims she went to sleep and woke up at 6am to take care of their one-year-old child. She thought Gatti was sleeping called for him and when she tried to wake him around 9am, she noticed he was dead. Police authorities say that he could have been dead for up to eight hours prior to their arrival to the scene of the crime.

Arturo Gatti Found Dead In Brazil

Arturo 'Thunder' Gatti has been founded dead in Pernambuco, Brazil. The 37 year old, two time world champion was found by his wife with severe injuries to his head indicating foul play.

Gatti had held titles at super feather weight and light welter weight and was a fighter known for letting it all hang out in the ring. He will be remembered for his extreme courage in the ring characterised by his trilogy with 'Irish' Micky Ward.

King Arthur Vacates Ahead Of Tournament

Arthur Abraham has vacated his IBF middleweight title having defended it 10 times, in order to move up to participate in the up coming super middle weight tournament.
Abraham plans to inform IBF President, Marian Muhammad, in person of his vacating at the IBF cruiser weight clash between Tomasz Adamek and Bobby Gunn tonight in New Jersey.

Abraham claimed,

“It is about time for a new challenge, it was a lot of fun to fight at middleweight but since neither Felix Sturm nor Kelly Pavlik wanted to get in the ring with me I had to move on. Now I want to become the best boxer in the super-middleweight division and I really look forward to making even bigger fights in the future.”

Boxing news 10/7

*The Mexican boxing commission has received application papers seeking a late September, early October in ring return for disgraced former welter weight champion, Antonio Margarito. Although no opponent has been named, Zab Judah and Carlos Baldomir are being touted as possible opponents for the fight, which will be likely to take place in Tijuana.

*Despite recent speculation, it has been confirmed that the Floyd Mayweather/Juan Manuel Marquez bout will most definitely be taking place at 144 pounds. It was thought that the fight had been moved up to the welter weight limit of 147 pounds but Golden Boy Promotions Vice President Eric Gomez says the contracts were signed for a 143-144 pound weight range.

Assault In The Ring

In light of the Margarito incident, its fitting that HBO have made this documentary. After their intriguing 'Thriller In Manilla' documentary, this has much to live up to, and it doesn't seem like it will disappoint!

Agbeko/Darchinyan Press Videos

This card should be getting a lot more attention than it is, Cunningham also fights Braithwaite in an IBF Cruiser weight eliminator on the night

Marquez Honoured

After his meteoric ascension to the top of the Lightweight division, Juan Manuel Marquez has been honoured as Hispanic boxer of the year at the "Tecate Premios Deportes" (Tecate Sports Awards).
After knocking out Joel Casamayor in September and his fight of the year candidate knock out of Juan Diaz in February, Marquez beat off competition from Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Juan Manuel Lopez, Chris Arreola and Victor Ortiz.

Marquez was further honoured as he won the Hispanic athlete of the year beating Carmelo Anthony, Cuahtemoc Blanco, Tony Gonzalez, Rafael Nadal, Guillermo Ochoa, Lorena Ochoa and Francisco Rodriguez to the award.

As Marquez prepares to take on Floyd Mayweather on September 19th, this can only boost his confidence and stand him in good stead.

Mosley Seeks New Challenge

After his one sided thrashing of Antonio Margarito in January, 'Sugar' Shane Mosley has actively chased a bout with current pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao. Relentless in his pursuit, Mosley has offered to take less money and fight at a lighter weight, all to no avail. So finally it appears that Mosley is ready to move on and seek out other challenges.

Mosley told his Golden Boy promoter, Richard Schafer to arrange a fight later this year on HBO from a shortlist that includes WBC welterweight champion, Andre Berto, Paul Williams, Joshua Clottey or Kermit Cintron.

Mosley plans on using this fight as a springboard to cash in against either Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao, assuming both come through their bouts, against Juan Manuel Marquez and Miguel Cotto respectively, victorious.

More Details Of The Super Middleweight Tournament Revealed

The round robin section of the competition will see a fighter awarded 3 points for a jayo win, 2 for a decision and none for a loss. After the round robin section of the tournament is done the fighters with the two lowest scores will be eliminated whilst the top 4 will progress to the semis and then ultimately the finals.

Costs will be covered by being broadcast on Sky Sports in the Uk, ARD in Germany, Viasat in Denmark and Showtime in America.

It appears the intricacies have been finalised as a July 13th press conference is being scheduled to announce the competition and showcase the fighters. A press conference tour is also being planned for London, Berlin and Denmark.

Chambers Decisions Dimitrenko To Become WBO Heavyweight Mandatory

'Fast' Eddie Chambers won a majority decision against undefeated Alexander Dimitrenko in Hamburg, Germany last night to become mandatory challenger to Wladimir Klitschko's WBO Heavyweight title.

6'1 Chambers came in at 208 pounds, the lightest he has ever fought, against the 6'7, 253 pound Dimitrenko and did the job dropping the big Ukrainian twice and making quite light work of him at times.

Chambers dropped Dimitrenko with a body shot in the 7th round but it was a solid left right combination in the 10th round that appeared to wrap up the fight for Chambers. It crumbled the big man and sent his mouth piece flying but Dimitrenko rose to his feet and weathered the storm, survived the round.

The 12th ended with some good exchanges between the two fighters but Chambers getting the better of the action, taking the bout to the score cards.

The judges scored it 113-113 (!), 116-111 and 117-109 handing Chambers the victory, his second of the year after he beat Samuel Peter again by majority decision in March.

Showtime To Hold Super Middle Weight Tournament

It appears American TV network 'Showtime' is to go ahead with a super middle weight tournament featuring all of the weight classes' biggest names in order to crown a new king of the division since the departure of Joe Calzaghe.

The round robin tournament will feature undefeated IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham, WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler, former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, undefeated contender Andre Ward, undefeated contender Andre Dirrell and undefeated WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch.

BoxingScene.Com who unearthed this news, claims these are the fights being discussed for the tournament:

Arthur Abraham vs. Jermain Taylor in October in Germany
Carl Froch vs. Andre Dirrell in October in the UK.
Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward in November.
Arthur Abraham vs. Andre Dirrell in America in January 2010
Mikkel Kessler vs. Carl Froch in Europe in March 2010
Andre Ward vs. Jermain Taylor in America in April/May 2010
Andre Dirrell vs. Andre Ward in America in September 2010
Arthur Abraham vs. Carl Froch in November 2010, with Mikkel Kessler vs. Jermain Taylor taking place around the same time.

After those bouts takes place points will be tallied up and there will be semi-finals and a final tournament bout.

If this tournament can rival Don King's 2001 middleweight competition which culminated in Bernard Hopkins one sided thrashing of Felix Trinidad, boxing fans the world over are definitely in for a treat!

Fight With Vitali Will Go Ahead Says Haye

After the collapse of his bout with Wladimir Klitschko, David Haye is certain a September 12 bout with Vitali, Wladimir's brother, will go ahead.
Speaking to Steve Bunce, former Undisputed Cruiserweight champion of the world Haye said,

"This fight is closer now than it has ever been, I'm confident all the people involved will agree terms in the near future. It would be great if the fight was live on the BBC at 10 on a Saturday night. When the Klitschkos fight in Germany over 12 million people watch and I would get the same for such a massive fight."

Despite this assertion, Haye's manager Adam Booth feels that the BBC is not showing any interest in what would be one of the Heavyweight divisions biggest fights in years,

"It seems the BBC can find money for private flights and iPods but not a great British sporting event like this."