Sons of Peter McNeeley- Boxing Thread
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I'll have to watch it again on DVR to be sure, but I thought I heard Zab clearly say "I can't see." to the doctor, which at least gave the appearance that he was looking for the fight to be stopped. I'll have to replay that part though.
Yep, August tends to be the unofficial "offseason," and the 4-5 weeks without fights always feels like an eternity. Although this year it's helped a little bit by the fact that there will be 3 hours of Olympic boxing on TV everyday. At the very least, I'll make a point to watch all of Andrade's fights.
From what I gather, here's how the fall looks on HBO and Showtime (and PPV):
9/6
Diaz-Katsidis
Barrios-Juarez
9/13
Casamayor-Marquez
Mora-Forrest II
Campbell-Guzman
Bradley-Cherry
9/27
Mosley-Mayorga
Berto-Forbes
10/4
Gamboa-TBA
10/11
Dawson-Tarver
Peter-Klitschko (this will get cancelled of course when Vitali gets injured in training camp)
10/18
Pavlik-Hopkins
11/8
Calzaghe-Jones
11/15
Taylor-Lacy
11/22
Hatton-Malignaggi
12/6
De La Hoya vs. ?
Word is that negotiations will take place Wednesday to try to finalize De La Hoya- Pacquiao. That's obviously a huge PPV fight if it comes together. I don't see it reaching Floyd-Oscar proportions, because Manny as a non-English speaker can't promote the fight like Floyd did, but it will be a big seller nonetheless.
Margarito-Clottey II and Haye's heavyweight debut have to fit somewhere in that schedule too.
Overall, not a ton to be ultra-excited about. Calzaghe-Jones, Hatton-Malignaggi, Pavlik-Hopkins... those are all big name fights that will likely be rather ugly because of the style matchups. Casamayor-Marquez will be a great fight for the purists, but not for the average fan. At least on paper, late '08 pales in comparison to late '07, when you had fights like Taylor-Pavlik, Calzaghe-Kessler, Mayweather-Hatton, and Cotto-Mosley.
Granted, Frank Warren has an axe to grind, but I thought this was an interesting take on Ricky Hatton's recent split with career-long trainer Billy Graham:
Let me tell you, if this is how it ends up playing out, then it's not even accurate anymore to say Zab has 9 lives. He'd be up to about 12 lives.
Zab would have essentially done this in the past few months:
...Signed to fight Mosley in a non-title fight, punched his arm thru a sheet of glass, earned a title eliminator fight against Clottey, lost the fight... and earned a shot at the true welterweight champ (Margarito) in the process. Only in boxing.
Take with a grain of salt, but according to this article, there's a chance that Klitschko-Haye happens as soon as early 2009.
Haye still has to prove that he is a legit heavyweight, but at the very least, a Wlad-Haye fight would create some buzz and get people talking. And when's the last time a heavyweight fight accomplished that?
Haye still has to prove that he is a legit heavyweight, but at the very least, a Wlad-Haye fight would create some buzz and get people talking. And when's the last time a heavyweight fight accomplished that?
Margarito-Clottey II and Haye's heavyweight debut have to fit somewhere in that schedule too.
from what I've heard Margarito/Clottey is expected to be on ppv on November 1st. Also, HBO has apparently passed on Haye's first heavyweight fight due to budget issues.
from what I've heard Margarito/Clottey is expected to be on ppv on November 1st. Also, HBO has apparently passed on Haye's first heavyweight fight due to budget issues.
Per Rafael at espn.com, the Oscar-Pacquiao talks have broken up.
Link
They agreed on weight and glove size, but Oscar wanted a 70/30 purse split, Manny and Arum wanted 60/40. Neither would budge.
I have to say, I'm with Oscar on this one. He's the big name and the moneymaker. Floyd agreed to a 70/30 split when he fought Oscar, and Floyd had more cache than Manny has now. Floyd, as a native English speaker, also had the ability to promote and build up the fight thru the media in a way that Pacquiao can't. For Pacquiao, 30% of a fight against Oscar would make him exponentially more money than he's ever made for a fight in his career.
Word is Pacquiao will fight Humberto Soto. Soto might not be a big name, but he's a very legit opponent and that could be an interesting matchup. In some ways, Soto is like a lightweight version of Margarito.
Not sure where Oscar goes looking for his new opponent. I don't think he wants any part of Margarito. Maybe he calls Trinidad again, maybe he even takes another stab at trying to get Floyd out of retirement. Who knows.
EDIT: Looks like Oscar is talking to Sergio Mora.
Link
Link
They agreed on weight and glove size, but Oscar wanted a 70/30 purse split, Manny and Arum wanted 60/40. Neither would budge.
I have to say, I'm with Oscar on this one. He's the big name and the moneymaker. Floyd agreed to a 70/30 split when he fought Oscar, and Floyd had more cache than Manny has now. Floyd, as a native English speaker, also had the ability to promote and build up the fight thru the media in a way that Pacquiao can't. For Pacquiao, 30% of a fight against Oscar would make him exponentially more money than he's ever made for a fight in his career.
Word is Pacquiao will fight Humberto Soto. Soto might not be a big name, but he's a very legit opponent and that could be an interesting matchup. In some ways, Soto is like a lightweight version of Margarito.
Not sure where Oscar goes looking for his new opponent. I don't think he wants any part of Margarito. Maybe he calls Trinidad again, maybe he even takes another stab at trying to get Floyd out of retirement. Who knows.
EDIT: Looks like Oscar is talking to Sergio Mora.
Link
Ya, I think there's a good chance it gets worked out.
Pacquiao is going to realize that a 30 or 35% share against Oscar will make him exponentially more money than a 65% or 70% share against anyone else.
And Oscar, after a career of facing the biggest names over and over again, isn't going to want to finish his career against Sergio Mora. They both have incentive to work it out.
Looks like the Margarito-Clottey rematch will take place Nov. 1 at Dodger Stadium. The rematch between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Matt Vanda will alos be on the card, but I just don't see this as a stadium fight, even with L.A.'s Mexican population and even with Margarito's newfound popularity. In fact, I kind of smell a fiasco in the making and I'm kind of surprised at Bob Arum for taking this route. A Staples Center fight, sure. But even if they put 20K in Dodger Stadium, the place is going to look desolate.
I also have to assume this will be an independent Arum PPV. Unless Arum is willing to put this card on "free" HBO, which I doubt, it would give HBO a PPV just one week before its Calzaghe-Jones PPV. Unless they think the Mexican PPV audience doesn not overlap at all with the Jones-Cal audience, I think it would be crazy to have $50 PPVs on cinseutive weeks. They're competing with themselves and probably it would be the Jones-Cal card that would suffer, since the Mexican audience which makes up a good part of the PPV crowd would completely tune out Jones-Calzaghe -- a fight which HBO has invested a hell of a lot in promoting. They're even doing a "24/7" series to hype it.
I don't know, this whole thing seems like a waste of Margarito's commercial potential -- especially because Clottey actually has a chance of beating him!
I also have to assume this will be an independent Arum PPV. Unless Arum is willing to put this card on "free" HBO, which I doubt, it would give HBO a PPV just one week before its Calzaghe-Jones PPV. Unless they think the Mexican PPV audience doesn not overlap at all with the Jones-Cal audience, I think it would be crazy to have $50 PPVs on cinseutive weeks. They're competing with themselves and probably it would be the Jones-Cal card that would suffer, since the Mexican audience which makes up a good part of the PPV crowd would completely tune out Jones-Calzaghe -- a fight which HBO has invested a hell of a lot in promoting. They're even doing a "24/7" series to hype it.
I don't know, this whole thing seems like a waste of Margarito's commercial potential -- especially because Clottey actually has a chance of beating him!
Exactly. Arum is out of his mind if he thinks Margarito can draw a huge crowd.
The fight that should be taking place in Dodger Stadium is De La Hoya-Pacquiao. That would be a legit stadium fight in LA and could probably even approach a sellout.
According to Rafael at ESPN, Margarito-Clottey II won't be at Dodger Stadium, it'll be at a normal-sized venue. Which is where it belongs.
Supposedly, Oscar-Pacquiao negotiations are getting closer. Like I said before, if that gets done, that should be the fight that lands at Dodger Stadium. They could probably sell the place out, and the crowd would be nuts. Seems like they're looking at Vegas though, which is disappointing.
Whenever there's a big dead spot in the boxing schedule, like there is right now, I tend to kill a disturbing amount of time watching old fights on youtube. I figured I'd post links to some of my old favorites, in case anyone else here needs some time-wasters.
Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera I
Salvador Sanchez vs. Azumah Nelson
Lupe Pintor vs. Wilfredo Gomez
Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto Gonzalez
Felix Trinidad vs. Fernando Vargas
Supposedly, Oscar-Pacquiao negotiations are getting closer. Like I said before, if that gets done, that should be the fight that lands at Dodger Stadium. They could probably sell the place out, and the crowd would be nuts. Seems like they're looking at Vegas though, which is disappointing.
Whenever there's a big dead spot in the boxing schedule, like there is right now, I tend to kill a disturbing amount of time watching old fights on youtube. I figured I'd post links to some of my old favorites, in case anyone else here needs some time-wasters.
Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera I
Salvador Sanchez vs. Azumah Nelson
Lupe Pintor vs. Wilfredo Gomez
Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto Gonzalez
Felix Trinidad vs. Fernando Vargas
Some unbelievable fights. Regarding Pacman, I think it'll be a rout ala Leonard vs. Norris. Adding on pounds may do little to slow Pacquiao down enough for Oscar to box. Vegas would be disappointing - Dodger Stadium, with the fervent local fans, will make it historical.
According to ESPN's Dan Rafael, De La Hoya v. Pacquiao is now a done deal. Neither Bob Arum or Golden Boy's Richard Schaeffer confirm it yet, but the official announcement is supposed to come tomorrow.
My interest in this fight might grow somewhat as the Dec. 6 date approaches, and I'm sure the PPV will do phenomenal business. But I find it a bit sad that Oscar De La Hoya, who is a genuine boxing legend, doesn't seem to give a crap about his legacy. He just wants to go out with the biggest money fight possible. He has nothing to gain in this fight. If he manhandles Pacquiao (as I expect), he beat up on a little guy. If he doesn't win decisively or actually manages to lose, he's an over-the-hill chump.
Of course, unless we count the health of his brain and skull, Pacquiao has nothing to lose. A lightweight -- one who has fought only once AT lightweight! -- jumping up to 147 to fight a guy coming down from 154 and who happens to lose, well, shoot, there's no shame in that, really. And if he wins, it's a huge upset and it makes him at least to some degree a marketable media star in this country as well as in the Philippines.
The more I think about it, the more I think that when Mayweather retired, De La Hoya should have just retired along with him. They both could (and probably would) come out of retirement next year and fight each other then, which would make a marketable storyline. Instead, Oscar's tarnishing himself, at least a little bit, by making his "farewell fight" into kind of a joke. But then again, he told Larry Merchant earlier this year that his goal is to become a billionaire, and I'm sure this fight alone will put him about $40 million or $50 million closer to that goal.
So there it is. Sounds pretty solid.
My interest in this fight might grow somewhat as the Dec. 6 date approaches, and I'm sure the PPV will do phenomenal business. But I find it a bit sad that Oscar De La Hoya, who is a genuine boxing legend, doesn't seem to give a crap about his legacy. He just wants to go out with the biggest money fight possible. He has nothing to gain in this fight. If he manhandles Pacquiao (as I expect), he beat up on a little guy. If he doesn't win decisively or actually manages to lose, he's an over-the-hill chump.
Of course, unless we count the health of his brain and skull, Pacquiao has nothing to lose. A lightweight -- one who has fought only once AT lightweight! -- jumping up to 147 to fight a guy coming down from 154 and who happens to lose, well, shoot, there's no shame in that, really. And if he wins, it's a huge upset and it makes him at least to some degree a marketable media star in this country as well as in the Philippines.
The more I think about it, the more I think that when Mayweather retired, De La Hoya should have just retired along with him. They both could (and probably would) come out of retirement next year and fight each other then, which would make a marketable storyline. Instead, Oscar's tarnishing himself, at least a little bit, by making his "farewell fight" into kind of a joke. But then again, he told Larry Merchant earlier this year that his goal is to become a billionaire, and I'm sure this fight alone will put him about $40 million or $50 million closer to that goal.
When the Oscar-Pacquiao rumors started months and months ago, I completely blew them off and said it was a stupid fantasy matchup with no actual chance of happening. But now that it's actually true (reportedly), I'm less critical of this matchup than I think a lot of other people will be.
Here's why:
What were Oscar's options?
Cotto seemed like the most logical opponent, but that went out the window when he lost to Margarito.
A rematch with Trinidad seemed like a good farewell fight for both Oscar and Tito, but then Tito claimed he couldn't get below 165 pounds or so, so that went out the window.
Floyd retired and bailed on the agreed-upon rematch. Supposedly Oscar called him back recently, and Floyd still wasn't interested.
A Sergio Mora fight just had no buzz to it, and it hinged on Mora winning the upcoming rematch with Forrest, so that wasn't a real option.
So realistically, it was Margarito or Pacquiao. Sure, Margarito is a more legit and dangerous opponent since he's a full-sized welterweight, but I can't blame Oscar for choosing Pacquiao.
An Oscar-Pacquiao fight will be a huge event. It won't do Floyd-Oscar numbers, because Pacquiao can't promote and hype the fight like Floyd did, but I could see it beating the Oscar-Tito PPV numbers in 1999, which I believe was around 1.5 million. When it comes to potential matchups, I try to ask myself "What will do the most for the sport?"... and Oscar-Pacquiao will generate much more attention and buzz than Oscar-Margarito would have.
I've never been an Oscar fan. I think he's always been overrated and I thought he got some gift decisions early in his career. But the one thing I can't criticize him for is his choice of opponents.
Whitaker, Chavez (twice), Quartey, Trinidad, Mosley (twice), Hopkins, Vargas, Mayweather.... I mean, he has fought virutally EVERYONE. There's no fighter of the last 20 years (at least) who has faced a better list of opponents.
So if there's one guy who deserves the benefit of the doubt, it's Oscar, especially when the smaller guy he's facing is the #1 PFP fighter in the world. And regarding Oscar's legacy... Margarito is the hot name at the moment, but 20-30 years from now, people will only remember Margarito as a good tough fighter who won a great fight with Cotto, if they remember him at all. Whereas Pacquiao might actually be looked back upon as one of this era's historically great fighters.
I make Oscar the solid favorite in the fight, but I think Pacquiao has a very legit chance, a much better chance than I would have given him a few months ago. I've always been skeptical of his style, but he's impressed me the last couple fights by being much more disciplined, and he seems to have filled out weight-wise. He weighed right around 147 in the ring in his last fight.
Now, who knows what will happen the first time Pacquiao gets hit with Oscar's left hook, which will be by far the hardest punch he's ever been hit with. But that's what makes this fight interesting!
(much more long winded than I intended)
Here's why:
What were Oscar's options?
Cotto seemed like the most logical opponent, but that went out the window when he lost to Margarito.
A rematch with Trinidad seemed like a good farewell fight for both Oscar and Tito, but then Tito claimed he couldn't get below 165 pounds or so, so that went out the window.
Floyd retired and bailed on the agreed-upon rematch. Supposedly Oscar called him back recently, and Floyd still wasn't interested.
A Sergio Mora fight just had no buzz to it, and it hinged on Mora winning the upcoming rematch with Forrest, so that wasn't a real option.
So realistically, it was Margarito or Pacquiao. Sure, Margarito is a more legit and dangerous opponent since he's a full-sized welterweight, but I can't blame Oscar for choosing Pacquiao.
An Oscar-Pacquiao fight will be a huge event. It won't do Floyd-Oscar numbers, because Pacquiao can't promote and hype the fight like Floyd did, but I could see it beating the Oscar-Tito PPV numbers in 1999, which I believe was around 1.5 million. When it comes to potential matchups, I try to ask myself "What will do the most for the sport?"... and Oscar-Pacquiao will generate much more attention and buzz than Oscar-Margarito would have.
I've never been an Oscar fan. I think he's always been overrated and I thought he got some gift decisions early in his career. But the one thing I can't criticize him for is his choice of opponents.
Whitaker, Chavez (twice), Quartey, Trinidad, Mosley (twice), Hopkins, Vargas, Mayweather.... I mean, he has fought virutally EVERYONE. There's no fighter of the last 20 years (at least) who has faced a better list of opponents.
So if there's one guy who deserves the benefit of the doubt, it's Oscar, especially when the smaller guy he's facing is the #1 PFP fighter in the world. And regarding Oscar's legacy... Margarito is the hot name at the moment, but 20-30 years from now, people will only remember Margarito as a good tough fighter who won a great fight with Cotto, if they remember him at all. Whereas Pacquiao might actually be looked back upon as one of this era's historically great fighters.
I make Oscar the solid favorite in the fight, but I think Pacquiao has a very legit chance, a much better chance than I would have given him a few months ago. I've always been skeptical of his style, but he's impressed me the last couple fights by being much more disciplined, and he seems to have filled out weight-wise. He weighed right around 147 in the ring in his last fight.
Now, who knows what will happen the first time Pacquiao gets hit with Oscar's left hook, which will be by far the hardest punch he's ever been hit with. But that's what makes this fight interesting!
(much more long winded than I intended)
DLH-PacMan is now official.
Also, De La Hoya is no longer calling this his farewell fight. He says he's not talking about retirement anymore.
I'm sure I'll warm up to the idea of this fight as it gets closer. Right now, I just can't get excited, especially for the $55 (at least) price tag I expect. I imagine I'll go out and catch this one at a sports bar.
Also, De La Hoya is no longer calling this his farewell fight. He says he's not talking about retirement anymore.
I'm sure I'll warm up to the idea of this fight as it gets closer. Right now, I just can't get excited, especially for the $55 (at least) price tag I expect. I imagine I'll go out and catch this one at a sports bar.
DLH-PM match will sport 8oz gloves. Pacman so far has handled every weight jump with more power and little loss in speed. If he can continue the pattern, this maybe a fairly short fight.
I don't know... I would say of all the possible scenarios, an early KO by Pacquiao is by far the least likely. Pacquiao hasn't been a one-punch KO guy since 122 pounds. Plus, Oscar's got an iron chin and has faced plenty of guys who are bigger and stronger than Manny is.
If you can afford 7 million in jewerly, you'd think you could also afford a good enough security system to prevent someone from breaking in thru your window and stealing it.
Right now, I think the most likely scenario that would bring Floyd out of retirement is if Manny can pull off the upset of Oscar. If that were to happen, a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight would be worth a whole lot of money, and Floyd wouldn't have to worry about fighting a naturally bigger man.
reminder.... Diaz-Katsidis and Juarez-Barrios tonight on HBO. It's been a looooong 5 weeks since Clottey-Judah.
After watching all those head-scratching Olympic fights, it'll be very very nice to get back to the good old 10-point-must.
After watching all those head-scratching Olympic fights, it'll be very very nice to get back to the good old 10-point-must.
Amir Khan was knocked out in 54 seconds earlier today by someone I've never heard of.
Pumped for Diaz/Katsidis in a little over one hour.
Pumped for Diaz/Katsidis in a little over one hour.
I forgot he was fighting today.
Here's the full fight on youtube.
Obviously, Khan isn't going to be in the #1 spot on many Top Prospect lists anymore.
Harold Lederman is in rare form tonight going off on this ref for the Barrios "low blows" on Juarez's beltline. Highly entertaining.
What a way to end that fight! Welcome back, HBO Boxing!
"The next round he would have been drinking his blood." ~Lennox Lewis
What a way to end that fight! Welcome back, HBO Boxing!
"The next round he would have been drinking his blood." ~Lennox Lewis
I wonder how Sky Sports feels right now? They spent an enormous amount of money tearing Khan away from his exclusive deal with 'free to air' ITV, put every fight he's having on PPV, he gets dusted inside 1min and bang goes there star for the future. I lost a lot of respect for Khan when he signed that deal, cos he called himself a 'man of the peole' but then expected everyone to pay a fortune to watch him, which very few people actually did, apparently. Oh and so much for him and his trainer working on his leaky defence, he left his chin out to dry again and this time got hit by a guy who could hit him properly, unlike Michael Gomez who was a blown-up Featherweight.
Entertaining night of boxing on HBO. I've always liked Rocky Juarez, so I was glad to see him pull that one out of fire. Barrios's transformation was fairly amazing. The other few times I've seen him, he's been an all-out brawler. But he came into this fight like a skilled boxer and really stymied Juarez for a while. Rocky always has a problem letting his hands go. But that cut lip on Barrios was really grotesque, and I think that Lennox Lewis and Max Kellerman had it right. Rocky's body work tired out Barrios to the point where he was fighting with his mouth hanging open, and that's dangerous.
The Diaz-Katsidis fight, measured against the expectations of most hardcore fans (including my own) and the boxing media was a letdown. Diaz just proved to skilled, and Katsidis proved that the limitations he showed against Joel Casamayor were for real. I don't think Katsidis will ever be anything other than what he is and he's going to come up shirt every time he faces an experienced fighter who boxes him at all. Good fight, but not the classic that was expected. And some very odd scorecards -- I think Kellerman went a bit overboard. It shouldn't have been a split decision, but at least the right guy won and I've seen just as bad and even worse. Kellerman made it sound like this was one of the greatest travesties in boxing history. It was strange, but sadly, nothing we haven't seen before.
PS -- I checked out that all-too-brief Khan fight on YouTube. So, I know that Colombia for whatever reason breeds great punchers, but was that guy as great a puncher as he seemed, or does Khan just have an all-time terrible chin?
The Diaz-Katsidis fight, measured against the expectations of most hardcore fans (including my own) and the boxing media was a letdown. Diaz just proved to skilled, and Katsidis proved that the limitations he showed against Joel Casamayor were for real. I don't think Katsidis will ever be anything other than what he is and he's going to come up shirt every time he faces an experienced fighter who boxes him at all. Good fight, but not the classic that was expected. And some very odd scorecards -- I think Kellerman went a bit overboard. It shouldn't have been a split decision, but at least the right guy won and I've seen just as bad and even worse. Kellerman made it sound like this was one of the greatest travesties in boxing history. It was strange, but sadly, nothing we haven't seen before.
PS -- I checked out that all-too-brief Khan fight on YouTube. So, I know that Colombia for whatever reason breeds great punchers, but was that guy as great a puncher as he seemed, or does Khan just have an all-time terrible chin?
That busted lip was pretty gross. The one Corrales had against Casamayor was bad, but this one was definitely worse.
Speaking of Casamayor, I'm going to show some restraint for once and skip next week's PPV. I'll watch the free Showtime card instead.
Speaking of Casamayor, I'm going to show some restraint for once and skip next week's PPV. I'll watch the free Showtime card instead.
Yes Khan has got a pretty brittle chin, but if you watch the fight closely those are two absolute BOMBS that Prescott landed. As I said in my post earlier, so much for Jorge Rubio working on Khan's defence - once again he left his chin out to dry, as he did against Limond and Gomez and went down both times, the difference this time was Prescott made sure there was no coming back by cleaning his clock!
Oh and talking of Jorge Rubio, how long before he is sacked as Khan's Coach? It was a strange decision in the 1st place to to bring him in, when they had World renowned coaches like Mayweather Sr and Roach queueing up, but the fact that he actually recommended the big-punching Prescott as an opponent, against Frank Warren's wishes I might add, that probably signals his death knell.
Looks like Paul Williams is going to fight at middleweight on Versus this fall against some guy I've never heard of. Then, word is he'll drop back down to 154, not 147.
Makes sense, Williams is too big to make the welterweight limit for much longer, and considering what a complete suckfest 154 is right now, he can probably win belts there rather quickly. I could see Margarito-Williams II at 154 at some point down the road.
Makes sense, Williams is too big to make the welterweight limit for much longer, and considering what a complete suckfest 154 is right now, he can probably win belts there rather quickly. I could see Margarito-Williams II at 154 at some point down the road.
I was happy for Rocky. He's been through some tough times and I felt he was pressured and pushed more by a marketing plan than by his skills. Good gutty win for him, stuck with the game plan and it paid off.
I'm skipping it too (myp2p.eu should have it)
Katsidis/Diaz turned out to be what I expected. The difference between an A-dog and a B-dog. Diaz is world class. If he gets another chance at Nate, I have no doubt he'll beat him.
Ya, he weighed 138.5, and he didn't even try to sweat it off and weigh in a 2nd time. Considering that Guzman is coming up from 130, the fact that he's so far over 135 makes you wonder what the hell he's been doing (or hasn't been doing) during training camp.
In other news, Margarito told Arum that he's not ready to fight again this year, so Margarito-Clottey is off, which is too bad. Looks like both Margarito and Cotto will fight easy opponents in early '09, and then maybe have Cotto-Margarito II next summer. At least that's the plan.
Also, Showtime has added Mijares-Darchynian on November 1. I know the 115-pounders don't get a lot of publicity, but that's a really good matchup.
Marquez with a KO over Casamayor - even with the KO, Marquez looked slower and had a tough early going against Casamayor. Now let's see if Pacman vs. JMM III happens at 135 or 140. I say this time Pacman finishes the job and knocks out Marquez.
Casamayor's only hope last night was his counter left hand which he landed almost every time for about 5-6 straight rounds when Marquez came in. But when Marquez made the adjustment, you could see the end coming soon. The most interesting thing about this fight was that Casamayor was supposed to be the "bigger" guy but his power (and he did get in clean shots) did little to JMM. On the other hand, JMM's power hurt Casamayor a few times and bloodied him up pretty good.
Victor Ortiz was on the undercard, I've seen him a few times and he looks like a legit prospect for Golden Boy.
Victor Ortiz was on the undercard, I've seen him a few times and he looks like a legit prospect for Golden Boy.
Oscar has hired Nacho Beristain (trainer of the Marquez brothers, among others) to work his corner in the Pacquiao fight. I have to say, with Floyd Sr. out of the picture, I just lost the vast majority of my interest in the Oscar-Manny 24/7 episodes. I have no idea how they're going to fill four 30 minute episodes. Manny barely speaks English and Oscar is pretty damn boring. We've already heard the story about how he won a gold medal for his dead mother about 3,469,213 times.
Paul Williams is fighting at middleweight on Versus on Thursday night.
As for saturday night on HBO, I'm actually much more interested in the Berto-Forbes undercard fight than I am in the main event. Forbes will be an interesting test for Berto, and if Berto looks impressive, hopefully we see him against a legit top 10 welter in early '09.
Mosley-Mayorga is just a matchup of two "name" fighters with no real significance to it. Mosley will outclass Mayorga just like De la Hoya and Trinidad did.
Paul Williams is fighting at middleweight on Versus on Thursday night.
As for saturday night on HBO, I'm actually much more interested in the Berto-Forbes undercard fight than I am in the main event. Forbes will be an interesting test for Berto, and if Berto looks impressive, hopefully we see him against a legit top 10 welter in early '09.
Mosley-Mayorga is just a matchup of two "name" fighters with no real significance to it. Mosley will outclass Mayorga just like De la Hoya and Trinidad did.
Amir Khan has, somewhat unsurprisingly, dumped his trainer Jorge rubio after his demolition at the hands of Breidis Prescott. He is expected to join up with the Freddie Roach or Mayweather Snrs of this World - Just as he should've done in the 1st place. I suspect he was too cocky to sign up for one of those two guys before, but now he's been humbled maybe he will be more ready to learn from the best.
I bet the number of tickets that were actually made available to the public was incredibly small. Most of the seats will be VIPs or people that know someone.
I still think they should've had this one at Dodger Stadium. That crowd would have had a World Cup-esque atmosphere, and it would have been a real boxing crowd, as opposed to the corporate wine-and-cheese crowd they'll get in Vegas.
Yup, it's been confirmed on the BBC's Website (Click here) this morning.
Pretty much what I expected for Haye's 1st dip into the big boys. Barrett should put up a decent showing, but Haye's hand speed and accuracy should be too much for him. If he was to KO him though, that would be quite an impact to make on the Division, as Barrett is fairly durable even at 37.
Interesting interview with David Haye ahead of the Barrett fight on the BBC Website this morning
Basically Haye says that he's going up against Barrett as he wants to find out whether he is good enough to fight in the 'Big Boys' class or not, and if he can't beat a 'borderline Top-10' (debatable I know) guy like Barrett he may as well call it quits, as he won't be able to challenge the likes of Klitchko if he can't get through the Barrett's of this world. Different attitude from some fighters I guess, but we'll see how it goes...
Basically Haye says that he's going up against Barrett as he wants to find out whether he is good enough to fight in the 'Big Boys' class or not, and if he can't beat a 'borderline Top-10' (debatable I know) guy like Barrett he may as well call it quits, as he won't be able to challenge the likes of Klitchko if he can't get through the Barrett's of this world. Different attitude from some fighters I guess, but we'll see how it goes...
Entertaining BAD card this past Saturday.
Martinez (who I'd never heard of) was very impressive. But as they pointed out, at his age and with that style, no one of note is likely to fight him.
Angulo's fight was entertaining. He seems too slow to ever reach an elite level, but he definitely has the style to make some good money as an all-action TV fighter in the Gatti mold. I assume HBO will make him a staple of BAD cards and WCB undercards.
As for Gamboa... well, at the very least, you can't accuse him of being dull. He's definitely exciting to watch, but I still feel the same about him. He's a very talented guy with way too many flaws to ever reach his potential. Does he really think he can get away with diving in with his hands at his waist when he's facing a real opponent? I just feel that the first well-schooled veteran pro he faces will pick him apart.
I've been having a very hard time getting excited for the fall schedule this year. First there was the 4-5 weeks with no fights. Then Mosley-Mayorga was an ugly boring fight for the most part. Pavlik-Hopkins and Calzaghe-Jones are two big fights that both have the chance to be very ugly because of the styles involved. And the PPV undercards look absolutely terrible, I actually saw Derrick Gainer's name listed on the Calzaghe-Jones undercard, I thought he retired about 5 years ago.
Hopefully Showtime can come through this weekend, since they've got 2 fights (Peter-Klitschko, Tarver-Dawson) that actually do have some real significance. I'll be rooting hard for Peter and Dawson.
Martinez (who I'd never heard of) was very impressive. But as they pointed out, at his age and with that style, no one of note is likely to fight him.
Angulo's fight was entertaining. He seems too slow to ever reach an elite level, but he definitely has the style to make some good money as an all-action TV fighter in the Gatti mold. I assume HBO will make him a staple of BAD cards and WCB undercards.
As for Gamboa... well, at the very least, you can't accuse him of being dull. He's definitely exciting to watch, but I still feel the same about him. He's a very talented guy with way too many flaws to ever reach his potential. Does he really think he can get away with diving in with his hands at his waist when he's facing a real opponent? I just feel that the first well-schooled veteran pro he faces will pick him apart.
I've been having a very hard time getting excited for the fall schedule this year. First there was the 4-5 weeks with no fights. Then Mosley-Mayorga was an ugly boring fight for the most part. Pavlik-Hopkins and Calzaghe-Jones are two big fights that both have the chance to be very ugly because of the styles involved. And the PPV undercards look absolutely terrible, I actually saw Derrick Gainer's name listed on the Calzaghe-Jones undercard, I thought he retired about 5 years ago.
Hopefully Showtime can come through this weekend, since they've got 2 fights (Peter-Klitschko, Tarver-Dawson) that actually do have some real significance. I'll be rooting hard for Peter and Dawson.
