Is Cotto On a Downward Spiral?

by Dafs117

“Is Cotto on an irreversible slide?” I wondered after his entertaining bout with the durable Ghanaian Joshua Clottey, on June 13.

In my opinion, Clottey is good, but not a great fighter. He was born to be a difficult opponent, not a Hall of Famer. And winning a split verdict over that type of fighter is usually what happens when a fighter is on the way out, not on the way up.

It made one wonder, if Cotto is on the wane. The theory starts with his personal issues, with his uncle and former long time trainer Evangelista Cotto, which resulted in the promotion of Joe Santiago. With lawsuits hired and fired, Evangelista never gave up in his pursuit of suing the welterweight titleholder. Cotto also split up with his wife on countless times, for reasons I’m not aware of.

His training camp has switched to Florida, which was allegedly a fraction of the rift with Evangelista. He’s fallen a few paces behind Top Rank’s cash cow and next opponent, Manny Pacquiao. Arum had never imagined of holding a bigger attraction than Cotto a few years ago, but after discovering the rough diamond, the Phillipino has stamped his presence all over the sport. Cotto can still make money, but Pacquiao is making history.

He’s had a personality makeover since the Antonio Margarito fight. He was such a dead-pan character for so many years that it’s strange to see him covered in tattoos and sneering a bit.
We’re also seeing more of his children, as if Cotto is trying to re-build the person that had been shattered by Margarito. The stoic, somewhat robotic Cotto, has been replace by a family man, that’s trying to reclaim what Margarito had taken.

Cotto has been dismissive of Margarito’s loaded gloves controversy. As we all know, Margarito was later suspended for the use of illegal handwraps against Shane Mosley, and could well have been armoured against Cotto.

But even if Cotto dismisses the “L” on his record, and us fans place an asterisk next to that bout, you cannot dismiss the physical toll dealt out by Margarito. The demons in Cotto’s mind may have been put to rest by surviving the 12 stanzas against Clottey, but demons still lurk in his body, in his bones and his gray matter.

If the ‘Ghost of Margarito’ is still tap-dancing in Cotto’s skull, Pacquiao may be victorious before the first bell. Fear or no fear, Cotto needs to start trekking if he wants to climb the Pac-Mountain. That trek starts at the press conferences, to gain a psychological advantage over the smaller man. The question “Is Cotto on an irreversible slide?” will be answered on November 14.

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The Masters Of Ducking

by Dafs117

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, well you know the rest. In boxing though, identifying a duck is never that simple.

Currently in the boxing world, we have two mind-boggling fighters that are head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. Although they have supreme abilities and absurd confidence, both fighters have major defects in their game, like any P-4-P star. That major defect, is their choice of victims.

Someone will be disappointed when Team Pacquiao or Camp Mayweather announce their next opponent. Many will disagree, and for that reason alone, they are touted as “duckers” by the haters.

A Pacquiao hater would argue that he has avoided his kryptonite, Juan Manuel Marquez, since he scraped a victory from the Mexican counterpuncher in the sequel. Others would say that his ridiculous weight demands give his opponents a major disadvantage heading into the fight. For this reason, Pacquiao is simply “ducking” the best opponents out there.

Before Mayweather retired, Pretty Boy’s haters disputed that Mayweather was using De La Hoya to duck Cotto. Clearly there’s more money in a De La Hoya fight, and purely on that reason, Mayweather chose to fight the Golden Boy. Is Mayweather spinelessly ducking his toughest challengers? Or is he using that thing right above his spine and showing his marketing brilliance in letting fighters like Cotto, to build himself up into a bigger attraction by fighting guys like Margarito?

You can’t use the dreaded “D” word in the same sentence as these two quality boxers. If you look back at the calibre of opponents they have faced, it’s incredible. Why would fans want to disrespect a boxer that performs in such a convincing and truly magnificent manner?

As these “ducks” get older, they will one day be ruffled up by a lesser known up and coming fighter. The ducks are currently calm on surface, but in 2010, they’ll be paddling like hell underneath. To avoid being humiliated, they surely must turn towards each other?

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Has Kelly Pavlik Become a Laughingstock?

by Paul Magno

Back when Kelly Pavlik first won the Middleweight title against Jermain Taylor, any sane fan would pretty much have to force himself not to like "The Ghost."

How could you dislike a power-punching, blue-collar champion whose very presence on the world stage seemed to fly in the face of every modern boxing convention?

This kid had grit, heart; A real throwback to when fighters only fought and fans loved them for it.

Now, fast forward to today's announcement by Pavlik promoter, Bob Arum, that Pavlik would be fighting journeyman and former cast member of "The Contender" reality show, Miguel Espino, on PPV from Pavlik's hometown of Youngstown, Ohio on December 19th.

Fine, a tune-up...perfectly understandable if not for the fact that Pavlik had just finished withdrawing from a bout with Paul Williams on December 5th, citing medical complications from a staph infection in his left hand.

Apparently, the two week difference between the bouts will do wonders for a Kelly Pavlik who was reportedly near death due to complications from the infection.

I guess, at this point, everyone can see through the charade. Pavlik's hand is not infected (or at least not to the degree that his people wanted us to believe), his plans never really included Paul Williams and, saddest of all, he simply is not the champion, or man, we thought him to be.

Kelly needs to take a major personal inventory and think about the real low-class, bush league way his career has been handled. He obviously needs a new team around him that will not bother signing fights that he plainly doesn't want to take.

Not only has Pavlik wasted the time of Paul Williams, who was assured that the fight would take place after Pavlik passed a pre-signing physical, but he's wasted the time of the fans who kept expected to be treated to a potentional Fight of the Year, but kept getting disappointed as the delays and postponements from Pavlik stacked up.

The biggest loser in all of this, though, is Pavlik himself, who will be making a fraction of what he was to make against Williams and now has to take the unforgiving lashing about to be unleashed by boxing fans around the globe.

Pavlik has it coming...

Now, let the conversion from blue-collar legend to laughingstock begin.

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Ruiz Next In Line For Hayemaker Homecoming on April 24

The new WBA heavyweight champion, David Haye, has still generated much media attention following his slaying of Goliath Nikolay Valuev. He has already been debating with Vitali Klitschko on British radio about the date of their highly anticipated unification bout.

However, on the undercard of their title contest was John Ruiz, the WBA’s mandatory challenger for the new champion after he stopped journeyman Adnan Serin in the seventh round. A new-look Ruiz team fought with different tactics to their usual boring hugging style. Ruiz came out throwing flurries of punches that forced his opponent back onto the ropes. Ruiz was cut on his forehead, similar to Zab Judah’s cut against Ernest Johnson last year, and as a result of that, the fight date has been moved to April.

David Haye has also broken his right hand, but not to the severity that was first feared from the Englishman’s camp and loyal fans, who travelled out in great number to watch their fighter capture his childhood dream.

This fight does nothing for me and is one prime example of how sanctioning bodies damage boxing. Ruiz is a decent fighter but is not by any stretch of the imagination the top heavyweight contender on the planet. Plus he’s a boring fighter to boot. Who wants to see that fight? No one outside of Ruiz’s family and camp.

Haye on Saturday pumped a miniscule drop of life into the shallow heavyweight division that will be sucked right back out when he fights Ruiz. Haye should be allowed to build on his momentum by facing an Ukranian with the surname Klitschko or Tomasz Adamek in fights the fans would fully embrace. Why torture fans when the sport is struggling to build its fan base?

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You Watt? Sky Sports Gave It To Valuev!

by Dafs117

One of the talking points that got my attention after watching Sky Sports’ coverage of the David vs. Goliath PPV in Nuremberg on Saturday night, was how on earth did Jim Watt gave that fight to Nikolay Valuev. I have to share the wonder and amazement that such an articulate and intelligent commentator can use clichés to brainwash the naive casual boxing public to believe that the fight was competitive.

Watt, who was a fine world champion in his day, in my humble opinion, got this one wrong. His argument that you could not award rounds to the Brit as he was throwing one shot at a time ignored the fact that, while Valuev was throwing more, he was landing nothing. In my fight report and on the forum, I said that Adam Booth landed more punches than Nikolay Valuev, and I still believe I’m right.

But it's much more complicated than that. Haye's single shots were landing most of the time and the Russian was missing. Haye said in the pre-fight press conference that he was going to make Valuev look silly, and he matched up to his comment. The Russian was clueless, clumsy and bamboozled. If you watched the action again and asked yourself who was doing the boxing, there was only one answer. If Valuev would’ve been knocked down in the final round, he wouldn’t have got up. He knew he was truly beaten on the night.

There are many meaningless clichés in boxing. You have to catch the judges' attention by going forward and the challenger has to take the fight to the champion are just some examples of the crap that most writers use to back up their argument.

There is no logic to any of those previous clichés. A boxing match is a boxing match. Another cliché is hit and don't be hit. This should mean something to every judge. It's what Haye executed with a lot of success, from the first bell to the last. There were some moments where he went too long without landing a scoring shot, but nowhere near as long as that lumpy giant Valuev.

Long ago, judges took note of boxing ability into context as well as sheer aggression. Valuev showed a lot of the latter and very little of the former.

Another point I picked up is no-one gave any praise for Haye’s trainer, Adam Booth, who layed out the perfect tactical fight for Haye to execute. Did Haye need to change tactics any time in the fight? No. You could say that every trainer would’ve given him that particular game plan. But not to the extent that everything went Haye’s way throughout the twelve stanzas despite his broken hand.

I can guarantee you that Haye truly frustrated the Beast From The East into submission. Sorry Mr Watt, Haye boxed his heart out and that’s why he’s the new WBA Heavyweight Champion.

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The "Firepower" Timeline

by Dafs117

When Manny Pacquiao dropped Ricky Hatton helpless for the third and final time, boxing fans immediately gossiped about his next demolition.

With Floyd Mayweather announcing his comeback against Juan Manuel Marquez just before the mega fight, we all assumed it would be two eliminators for the highly anticipated fight of the decade.

Logic and fate are two completely different things as a Mayweather rib injury resulted in another Summer postponement, and ultimately burnt any hopes of a Marquez-Pacquiao trilogy or the fight of all fights happening.

Next down on the list was Shane Mosley. After giving Antonio Margarito a battering, he was again a name regularly featured on many Pound-4-Pound lists and was back in the big time where he belonged.

With Mosley willing to come down to 144 to fight the Phillipino, negotiations broke down between the two promotional giants and boxing fans dwelled on what could’ve been.

The names of Paul Williams and Timothy Bradley were branded out, but nothing materialised as Pacquiao was looking for a bigger name to slay.

Out of the background and into the light came Miguel Cotto. A likeable figure in boxing, Cotto had always been considered as a top contender at 147 pounds, before he lost to Margarito.

He quietly went about re-building what he had taken away from him by Margarito, with a win over Michael Jennings in 5. In his real comeback bout, he answered his critics’ attacks about his lack of heart, by fighting through a 20 stitch cut and splitting the judges with Ghanaian Joshua Clottey ahead of the Puerto Rican Day parade.

And that’s it. The timeline of how this bout came the talk of our ever growing community, without the dirty politics, ridiculously over-priced negotiations and a game of golf.

Tomorrow, I’ll be discussing the masters of ducking.

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Magno vs. The Machine (Stage 2 Results)

Stage 2 Results:

After an even first round, The Boxing Tribune editor-in-chief Paul Magno, is still level pegging in his personal battle to top the computer simulator Title Bout Championship Boxing 2.5, in the modern day boxing related battle Man vs. Machine.

With Magno trying to emulate American folk legend John Henry, he could edge into a lead next week with the super bout between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto.

Nikolay Valuev vs. David Haye: With an impressive performance for someone with one hand, David Haye squeezed out a majority decision in Germany of all place, to win the WBA heavyweight belt and to become the first Brit since Lennox Lewis in 2003 to hold an alphabet trinket at the big guys.

Magno: Haye TKO 7 Valuev
Machine: Haye UD 12 Valuev

Result: David Haye MD 12 Nikolay Valuev

Chad Dawson vs. Glen Johnson: With another perfect execution of the real sweet science, Chad Dawson showed America his full repertois of boxing skills by defeating Glen Johnson via unanimous decision in an uncompetitive bout. As you can see below the outcome was pretty predictable.

Magno: Dawson UD 12 Johnson
Machine: Dawson UD 12 Johnson

Result: Chad Dawson UD 12 Glen Johnson

Next Stage: Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto, November 14

Current Scores: Magno (3-1, 1 KO); Machine (3-1, 1 KO)

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Boxing Tribune Comment of the Day/Week/Month

Madcow's most recent article, "Boxing Fans are Morons and The Fighters Can't Fight" apparently caused a stir among the internet troll community. Here is the one comment of the bunch that didn't blow up our spell check:


Your "article" (and I use that term very loosely) would have been better served had you not resorted to childish insults, yourself.

I mean, on the one hand you're sitting there bitching about the state of the sport, and it's fans, in particular.....

Yet in the same breath you're calling the fans who participate in active boxing discussions all over the internet, on a daily basis childish insults as well ; things such as "human driftwood", "complete and total morons", etc...

Why don't you try taking your head out of your ass for a moment, and stop being such a hypocrite.

Maybe then people would actually start paying attention to what you say.

If not, I got some solid jokes about Floyd Mayweather's sexual orientation I could toss your way, to ease the blow.

Your opinion on this sport (or it's fans) isn't any more valuable than the next fuckwit with an internet connection.

In summation ; Fuck off.

Love,

Boxingscene.com


I guess you really showed us...

Well, thanks for your comment, but I think you missed the point. You see, the point of the article was to start an initiative to take back the sport from those who, day in and day out, show no respect for it by wasting valuable time on lies, half truths and absolute, off-topic, BS.

Boxing has already become so marginalized...and the little space that is devoted to it is often hijacked by idiots living out some adolescent rage behind the safety of the computer screen.

While you may not agree with Madcow, nobody is forcing the article down your throat the way internet trolls force themselves into real discussions that destroy logical debate in most major forums.

So, I'll file this under "Comments from those who don't, can't or won't understand" or "The Beginning of the Troll Rights Movement."

By the way, lest you think that boxingscene.com was actually behind this comment, the author of this letter to the editor is actually a member of the boxingscene forum, named "The Bringer."

Well, "Bringer," there's more to boxing than finding a cool avatar and funny sig...Your knee-jerk defense of the mentally challenged in your own forum and childish pride in announcing this comment in a boxingscene thread, leads one to believe that you are also of the troll-minded variety...So, kindly Fuck off as well and next time I'm at Burger King, please "Bring" me my fries while they're still hot...

The Boxing Tribune and The BTBC forum are for "big boys" who actually care about the sport and want to talk about issues pertaining to boxing and its advancement back into the mainstream. This community, obviously, is not for you...stay where you're at...

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Pacquiao vs. Cotto: Is The Fix In?

by Paul Magno

With Cotto-Pacquiao staring us in the face, I can’t shake this cynical feeling that the fix may be in.

I’m not talking about the fight being fixed, pro-wrestling style.

There won’t be a room full of greasy old men chomping on 10 dollar cigars, planning out the details of a bogus fight. No, it’ll have to do with the tidal wave of sports history washing over and beating down a bonafide warrior from the island nation of Puerto Rico.

Reigning WBO Welterweight champ, Miguel Cotto, hasn’t caught too many breaks lately. He’s been beaten with allegedly illegal wraps by Antonio Margarito and, in his most recent fight, he was cut badly and pushed to the edge by tough African welter, Joshua Clottey.

Even when signing for the fight of his career and his largest payday to date, Cotto has been on the receiving end of less than fair treatment for a fighter considered to be one of boxing’s biggest names.

First, a catchweight stipulation was forced on him as a condition for making the Pacquiao bout. A catchweight of 145 lbs., on the surface is not all that brutal for Cotto, a fighter who weighed-in at 146 for his last contest.

However, for Team Pacquiao, the poundage, itself, was never the issue. The real reason behind the catchweight stipulation was to get inside Cotto’s head and possibly force Cotto to over train out of fear of being financially penalized for coming in over the agreed weight.

The result of this head game seems to have worked to some degree as Cotto opened camp several weeks earlier than normal and has made adjustments to lifestyle and diet…all for that one, “inconsequential,” pound.

Next, came Team Pacquiao’s insistence that Cotto put up his welterweight title in the bout, something that Cotto was squarely against. When the reigning champ balked at putting up the title to an unranked challenger in a catchweight bout, the WBO stepped in and instantly made Pacquiao the number one contender while informing Cotto that he would either put up the title or be stripped.

Again, score another one for Team Pacquiao’s quest to get inside Cotto’s head.

To add insult to injury, if you scour press reports, you’ll find Bob Arum, head of Top Rank and promoter of both Cotto and Pacquiao, discussing Pacquiao’s next fight and upcoming plans; No such talks take place regarding Cotto.

Also, as Pacquiao attempts to “make history” by being the first fighter to win seven titles in seven different weight classes, don’t think that the weight of history isn’t already weighing heavily on the officials of this bout.

It’s basic boxing knowledge that officials often have a tendency to lean towards what should happen in such important encounters instead of what’s actually happening. The desire to be part of history is strong; the desire to not impede history is even stronger. Coming into the November 14th battle, Pacquiao will find a group of officials who are, at the very least, willing to give all things Pacquiao the benefit of the doubt.

So, with a catchweight stipulation on his mind and after having conceded every possible advantage during pre-fight negotiations, Cotto steps into a ring full of Pacquiao-friendly officials, a solitary man, belittled by his own promotional company and bullied by the sanctioning body he represents.

Then, after suffering these indignities and mind games, he has to go up against the Filipino Buzzsaw, boxing’s current pound-for-pound champ, Manny Pacquiao.

If Miguel Cotto doesn’t prove to have a will of iron and a resolve of solid steal, he’s lost this one before the opening bell even rings.

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Pacquiao's Hollywood Send-Off

by Charles R. Horgan

7 November 2009

Montalbán Theatre, Hollywood, CA.

Fans of junior welterweight champion, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao were treated to a free, albeit short, send-off for the "people's champ" a week prior to his catchweight title-fight with WBO welterweight champ, Miguel Cotto.

The wait for the start of the event did not exactly prove worthwhile as the entire send-off lasted exactly thirty minutes. The rest of the time, from the opening of the doors to the closing was used to enjoy free beer and wine (for VIPs, and strangely lacking in San Miguel) and to purchase Nike brand Pacquiao jackets and hoodies that averaged in the $75 price range.

What was billed as a Question and Answer session with the Pacman and his team came out to about ten questions total: five from online sites like Twitter and Facebook, and five from the audience. As can be expected, the fans asked hard hitting questions such as: "If you [Pacquiao] weren't a boxer, what would you like to do?" and "What was your [Roach] best moment working the corner with Manny?" The microphones and their handlers were kept away from the press who were stuck in the SRO section in the back, far from the stars on the stage.

The Lows: In between introductions from host Quddus and Pacquiao actually taking the stage, the audience was treated to a lackluster dance performance by a team that danced like 1st round eliminations from Step Up.

The Highs: Although the audience cheered when video was shown of Emile Hirsch, Mario Lopez and Mark Wahlberg wishing the Pacman good luck during his fight, the highlight of the evening was a live performance of Manny Pacquiao singing a duet with a young Filipina singer introduced as Melissa R. I don't know Tagalog, but I think the song was "Pilipino Ako." In any case, Pacquiao was left on the stage as the song started, and the guy could hardly keep himself from immediately breaking into song.

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Boxing on HBO: Dawson Shines; Angulo Destroys

On an HBO televised card at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, Chad Dawson won the WBC interim Lightheavyweight belt in a rematch against veteran Glenn Johnson.

Dawson was in control throughout the bout and, unlike their first fight, encountered no real resistance from the rugged Jamaican. Dawson used his speed and reflexes to win a unanimous decision on the judges' scorecards, despite two oddly-close scores. The final tallies were: 115-113, 115-113 and 117-111. The BTBC had it 119-109.

After the bout, Dawson called out Bernard Hopkins. but said that he'd be willing to settle for Jean Pascal.

In the televised opener, Alfredo Angulo, steamrolled the game Harry Joe Yorgey and scored a brutal third round stoppage.

Yorgey seemed to be trying to use lateral movement to confuse Angulo, but "El Perro" was not confused or amused as he bullied his way in and dropped Yorgey with a barrage at the end of round two and finished the job at 1:03 of round three via one of the most brutal knockouts of the year.

With the victory, Angulo claims the WBO interim Jr. Middleweight title, oddly, a title that Paul Williams is still in possession of.

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Come of the Hour, Come Of The Cliche, Haye Disappoints On PPV

David Haye MD 12 Nikolay Valuev

For the heavyweights, boxing’s circus act, the venue seemed wonderfully apt. The centrally located Nurenberg Arena, a major concert venue with a soccer stadium next door, built in the shape of the circus tent that once occupied this site, according to Don King’s folklore.

Nikolay Valuev might have been fed up of being touted as the modern day Primo Carnera, but David Haye was definitely no modern day Joe Louis. As the two squared up in a woeful bout, Haye made little to suggest that he could topple either Klitschko.

It was definitely not first rate entertainment, as both boxers failed to excite in any form until Haye landed a left hook that wobbled the giant in the twelfth. With Valuev the aggressor, he plodded forward throwing occasional jabs that never landed, with Haye sliding left and right, occasionally throwing a punch himself.

Haye had a slight lead after 4, but Valuev came on strong in the middle rounds to gain a substantial lead in front of his adopted home crowd. With some home cooking expected for Valuev, Haye upped the pace a bit, throwing more punches in the later rounds to answer the question marks over his stamina.

With the trainers giving us more excitement than the fighters, few even argued that nobody deserved to claim the belt. Judges Tom Miller and Stefano Carozza scored the fight 116-112 in favour of the challenger, with Spaniard Juan Manuel Garcia Reyes scoring it a draw, 114-114. Haye the winner by majority decision and now holding the WBA version, he might be qualified to fight a Klitschko.

Whether he is ready for such an adventure is a different matter. Unquestionably, the 29 year old Londoner has the mouth to talk up the fight, but he has only had three fights at heavyweight and he showed the lack of experience that is required to topple a 6’ 6’’ Ukranian. He out-landed Valuev, but was frustrated in his efforts to produce a suitably stirring climax and his power was a long way short of awe-inspiring.

On the undercard, John Ruiz stopped Adnan Serin to solidify his position as #1 challenger with WBA. He is likely to face champion Haye on April 24, at the O2 Arena London next year.

Haye cited an injured right arm in round 2 or 3 and blamed his quieter performance on the injury. With Haye likely to move on to bigger and better things, retirement beckons in the future for Valuev, even though 46 year old heavyweights can still compete in a title fight!

So much for rejuvenating the heavyweight division. Come of the hour, come of the man. Definitely not the case tonight. Maybe Adamek takes over the reigns as the great hope. Or maybe Haye will prove that he had forgotten his slingshot and stones at home this time.

Did David Haye impress you in any form tonight? Or did Valuev forget that he was in a boxing ring? Discuss on our brand new board....

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Zab Judah Stops Journeyman...Charges 25 bucks to see it.

Boxing's most un-anticipated PPV in history is now officially done and in the books.

In the gruesome main event, Zab proved that he still had what it takes to beat an inactive, 22-19-2 journeyman by slaughtering Ubaldo Hernandez in 2 pathetic rounds.

Hernandez had the look of the first skinny dipper at Camp Crystal Lake in any Friday the 13th movie... Just asking to be killed.

Zab obliged and got rid of him in round two, but he could've ended it in the first fifteen seconds if he had wanted to.

On the undercard, Joel Casamayor played second fiddle by beating journeyman Jason Davis in a tougher than expected eight round UD.

I don't know what the official attendance was, but I've never seen the Palms Casino look so dark as the production crew did their best to black-out the crowd and not allow any empty seats to be seen on TV.

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Sexton Breaks Rogan in Belfast

In a packed and noisy Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, reigning British Commonwealth heavyweight champ, Sam Sexton managed to prove that his first win over former champ, Martin Rogan was no fluke.

Sexton stood his ground against the motivated and hard-charging hometown favorite, doing his best work in the sixth by staggering Rogan with shots straight up the middle.

Rogan didn't answer the call for round seven, claiming an injured arm.

Up until the stoppage, the fight was on a pace to match their first encounter, a similarly see-saw battle which also ended in Rogan being forced to throw in the towel.

After the bout, Sexton dreamed aloud by calling out the winner of the Haye-Valuev fight the following night.

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Kardashian Family Gets KO'd

from Spike.com:

The Kardashian family walked out on charity boxing event last night after one family member was KO’d and another received a nice shiner.

Kim Kardashian was left black and blue after participating in a charity boxing event for the Dream Foundation, an organization that grants wishes to terminally ill patients. Kim took to her blog after the fight to show off her black eye.

Kim nearly didn’t make it into ring and threatened to pull out of the event after her brother Rob was knocked out in the first fight of the night. Kim and the entire Kardashian family were angered at the size of Rob’s opponent. The man, who had won his chance to fight at a charity auction, was some 35 pounds bigger than Rob. The charity had promised the Kardashian family that their opponents would be within 5 pounds of their body weight.

Rob suffered quite a beating and Kim demanded that the fight be stopped. Rob ended up with a concussion and the family retreated backstage for an hour, keeping fans waiting until Kim and stepfather Bruce Jenner decided to fulfil their commitment and return to the ring. Kim says, “We were all really angry and upset about what had happened to Rob, but I hadn't even fought yet and I didn't want to let the charity down, so I decided to get in the ring.”

Kim says the event was “absolutely insane” and that no one in the family was a professional fighter. She says the family had only three days of training to prepare for the event. Even so Kim put up a good fight, but was clearly the weaker boxer. Of her opponent, Kim says, “My girl was a good sport, but she was tough! I knew I had to do it for charity, since that's what it was all about, but man, my girl could throw a punch! Look at my black eye!!!”

Kim ended up losing the fight, but we all know that at the end of the day the charity was the real winner. [Cue warm, fuzzy feelings, and rainbows]

Yeah...Not boxing news...but I'll make any excuse to talk about Kim Kardashian...

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Magno vs. The Machine (Stage 2)

Stage 2: David vs. Goliath and Dawson – Johnson II

Boxing Tribune editor-in-chief, Paul Magno continues his toe to toe battle with Title Bout Championship Boxing in a 21st century boxing-related battle of man vs. machine.

After an equal opening stage, both Magno and Machine are looking to gain a slight advantage ahead of a jam-packed November schedule.

With another doubleheader, both contestants will be predicting David Haye’s first heavyweight title shot and Nikolay Valuev and a rematch at light heavyweight between Chad Dawson and Glen Johnson.

Can the modern day John Henry take a slight lead against a multi-functional, mega-powered computerized opponent?

Nikolay Valuev vs. David Haye

Magno: More science experiment than real, competitive fight, this one could get ugly.

Evander Holyfield made Valuev look painfully slow at times...Imagine what's going to happen when a quick-fisted, converted Cruiserweight is matched up against the gentle giant!

If Valuev had a lick of speed or was dedicated to working a decent jab, Haye could be in trouble. But, as it is now, Haye will be able to do whatever, whenever and he will easily maneuver around Valuev's massive size advantage.

Haye will be able to land at will and, by the third round, Valuev will become a tragic figure, similar to the misunderstood Kong at the end of King Kong.

Valuev's people will mercifully throw in the towel after the seventh to spare their likable freak of nature a further beating. Haye will then call out the Klitschko brothers and several million people across Europe and the United States will collectively roll their eyes...

Machine: Despite holding a 7 inch reach advantage and nearly a foot of height advantage, Nikolay Valuev still goes into Saturday’s fight as an underdog.

David Haye made his name as a Cruiserweight and will be fighting for the third time as a heavyweight. Nikolay Valuev is the biggest heavyweight champion ever and will be using every inch of his advantage against the mouthy Brit.

Despite having the stats stacked against him, Haye holds a gigantic speed and athletic ability over the beast from the east. His athleticism tops Valuev’s slight power advantage.

Valuev’s only defeat came to a much smaller man, similar to Haye. Ruslan Chagaev simply parried Valuev’s jab and countered with a stiff right hand. Evander Holyfield used the same tactics but not half as effective. He should have got the decision, but that’s boxing.

Haye’s only defeat came to a bigger man in only his eleventh pro fight, to Carl Thompson. He was comfortably ahead on every scorecard until he punched himself out and got caught by a couple of heavy blows. He was also down in the Mormeck fight until he picked himself up to stop the Frenchman.

Haye’s major defects have been his defence and his chin, with both becoming legit liabilities as a fight progresses. As his career’s progressed, his stamina has improved and his lateral movement is pretty impressive for a big man. His chin has solidified to some extent but it’s a whole different ball game at heavyweight.

Valuev is dull, slow and massively unimpressive in his victories. He jabs, sometimes goes wild and throws a combination. And somehow, he still manages to get a decision. Haye however, will not allow Valuev to out-box him. He promises a knockout but can he deliver?

The questions in this fight will be whether Haye can avoid Valuev’s overhand right so that his chin will never be an issue. Will the judges at ringside rob Haye of a victory if the fight goes to the scorecards?

This should be a walk in the park for Haye and he should cruise to a unanimous decision, 117-111, 117-111 and 116-112 despite Valuev’s biased friends at ringside.

Chad Dawson vs. Glen Johnson

Magno: Dawson won the first fight, no matter what some people say.

Johnson gave Dawson some major problems at various points in their first fight and don't think that being shook and wobbled didn't serve as a great learning experience.

Dawson has a habit of losing focus in his bouts when he's well ahead, precisely the reason Johnson was allowed to turn the boxing clinic he was getting early into a competitive encounter later. Expect Dawson's focus to be impeccable for this fight.

It won't be as exciting as their first fight, but Dawson stays focused and uses his physical advantages to cruise to a UD with Johnson maybe winning 2 or 3 rounds, tops.

Machine: A post prime Glen Johnson and a fresh unbeaten Chad Dawson with complete opposite skill sets and fighting philosophies do battle in the sequel of their 2008 fight.

Dawson, already a two-time light heavyweight champion, can be seen as an unbeaten champion waiting to be exposed by a bigger contender. He’s seen as a big man’s Paul Williams, massive punch output, no real knockout power and quick sharp hands.

By far the more accomplished of the two, Johnson has already earned his place with the elite of the modern era with wins over athletically gifted fighters Roy Jones Jr. and Antonio Tarver.

Johnson’s success depends on his ability to mix it up on the inside with Dawson and into a fight not a boxing match. Chad Dawson can be seen as the most athletically gifted in the division but also the least experienced of the elite.

Dawson is a quick-fisted fighter, who has only recently, started dominating fights against the bigger names of the division.

If the older Johnson can’t lure Dawson into a battle, he will not be chasing the American all day and catching enough counters to lose rounds. In their first fight, Dawson dominated from the opening bell, before tiring and losing concentration in the final half of the fight. Dawson was wobbled and close to being stopped in the penultimate round.

Despite his wobble in the first fight, Dawson will prove to be too fast and too athletic for Johnson in an identical fight to the Tarver contests. Dawson wins this via unanimous decision, 118-110 on all three judges’ scorecards.

Current Scores: Magno 1-1 (0 KOs), Machine 1-1 (0 KOs)

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WBC to Shane Mosley: "Apologize to us if you want shot at Berto"

The latest gem coming from the annual WBC convention involves the humiliation of a future Hall of Famer.

The WBC has ruled that in order for Shane Mosley to get a shot at Andre Berto's WBC Welterweight title, he must first publicly apologize for abandoning his WBC interim title in order to fight Antonio Margarito for the WBA strap in January of this year.

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Where does Williams go next?

by Dafs117

Four-weight fighter Paul Williams has been waiting for Kelly Pavlik since September. The bad news is he’s still waiting and after news broke out that Pavlik wanted to further delay his fight, Williams and his team stood firm and cancelled Kelly Pavlik off the December 5 list. In a follow up from Tomasz Adamek, we assess Paul Williams’ current options and possible paths, judging fighters he should challenge, and the fighters he should definitely avoid.

Firstly, we estimate that Williams’ goal is to get a fighter that brings him recognition, money and most importantly victory. We then looked at who’s called out Williams, who’s in a better position than Williams and who Williams needs to get his reputation up to world class.

Headhunters:

Sergio Gabriel Martinez: The Argentine WBC light middleweight titleholder has been a candidate from the start and is a name that many feel would prove if Williams has the bottle to cut it at the top level. Many have even gone as far and mentioned the ‘D’ word, ducking to suggest that Williams will fight an older American to avoid fighting Martinez. It would be a cracking contest, with Martinez playing the spoiler countering hard at any occasion. It would be interesting to see if Martinez does try and attack Williams’ body as he’s done with previous opponents as the rangy American could easily pick him off with that jab. It’s an interesting bout that most fans on our forum would prefer to see over any other possible opponents. If Williams wants to enhance his recognition further at light middleweight, Sergio Gabriel Martinez is certainly the guy to do it. Does Martinez bring money on to the table? Probably not enough for the Punisher’s liking and for that reason the fight is in jeopardy.

Sergio Gabriel Martinez: AVOID

Joshua Clottey: The former welterweight belt-holder thought he had won the lottery when he landed a fight with Shane Mosley on December 26. The cancellation curse struck again and Clottey was forced to search for a new opponent. Up came the chance to fight former Puerto Rican welterweight titlist Carlos Quintana at a catchweight of a 149 pounds, but the cancellation curse got the better of the fight as Pavlik pulled out of the main event. As Clottey doesn’t have an opponent and as Williams doesn’t have an opponent, surely logic and fate points them towards each other, right? The Ghanaian brings money to the table, recognition and an opponent Williams should beat at a higher weight. Clottey would demand more money than the rest of Williams’ opponents. It would be a more gripping contest with Clottey absorbing punches on his guard and probably easily getting out-pointed by the mystery of Paul Williams. Probably has the skill set to put up a fight against Williams, but as we saw against Cotto, not that adrenaline rush to throw punches at will in the dying stages of a very close fight. This makes too much sense for the fight to happen.

Clottey recently turned down a 650K payday to fight Williams in December. Williams should offer more money to Clottey and beat him. He's there for the taking for Williams.

Joshua Clottey: CHALLENGE

Kermit Cintron: After a ridiculous draw against Sergio Martinez, Cintron turned the tables with an impressive points victory over the monster Alfredo Angulo. In his homecoming last week, Cintron stopped Juliano Ramos in 5 to send his home-crowd into raptures. After more than a little tussle in the post fight press conference with WBA light middleweight champion and fellow countryman Daniel Santos, that fight will surely happen in 2010. That means that Cintron would probably fight once more in 2009, could that be against Paul Williams? Another former welterweight titlist, Cintron has suffered with a bad guy reputation that has hindered his fanbase considerably. So he’s in good shape after a win at the weekend. He can go and rest with his family for two weeks and then train hard for a major payday. However, Cintron might bring money, recognition and more than a beatable opponent if he is put under pressure, but the Puerto Rican star might have a few tricks up his sleeve to defeat the American. He might fight for half the fight, but Cintron does possess serious knockout power in both hands, an ability to move around the ring and uses enough lateral movement to confuse the Punisher. A fight I would certainly want to see.

Kermit Cintron: AVOID

Sebastian Sylvester: Who’s Sebastian Sylvester I hear you ask. He’s the IBF middleweight champion that’s the most wanted fighter in the world right now. Over half the division have spotted Sylvester as the major weak link in the division’s titlist and are all queuing up desperate for an opportunity against the German. What makes Paul Williams so special in front of Anthony Mundine, Daniel Geale and Matthew Macklin? He brings more money than all three of them put together. What would Williams do with Sylvester? Take his title, use it in the future as an advantage in any purse bidding. Ok, you couldn’t fill a phone booth with the number of Americans who would recognize Sylvester if he walked down the street, even though he looks like something from ET. That means the fight would have to take place in Germany to make any money. Williams would stop Sylvester inside 6 despite the bias officials. Sylvester’s team wouldn’t fight Williams if he could carry a crowbar in the ring and Williams would have to throw gallons of milk up and down in the minute interval between rounds. But they must realise he’s just another useless asset to their promotional company.

Sebastian Sylvester: CHALLENGE

Sergiy Dzinzurik: This fight was supposed to happen in September, but a certain Kelly Pavlik got their first. Following his promotional company’s failure to land him this fight, Dzinzurik quit his suit and left in his bid to land his major fight. He must have felt like a donkey when Pavlik pulled out the first time and he was leading the race with Sergio Gabriel Martinez to replace the Ghost. Anyway 3 months down the line and it’s the situation. In need of a smaller challenger that will put up a fight for eight rounds and then crumble under his hard work and lose the last four rounds. Dzinzurik doesn’t crumble. That’s why he’s unbeaten. Don’t underestimate him because you can’t pronounce his name and wouldn’t know him if you married his daughter. He can fight. He has a poor risk/reward ratio, similar to Adamek-Cunningham II situation. Williams would get little credit for defeating the tough Ukrainian.

Sergiy Dzinzurik: AVOID

The Boxing Tribune Pathway Too Success: If you want to make yourself a world class name in the sport, Williams would fight Joshua Clottey, probably the highest ranked fighter in contention. A Williams’ win would set up numerous fights from junior middleweight to super middleweight. With Jermain Taylor rumoured to be pulling out of the Showtime Super 6 Boxing Classic, could Paul Williams be his replacement?

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WBC Suspends Chris Arreola...Nigga, Please!

In one of the first actions taken during this year's WBC convention in South Korea, President Jose Sulaiman proposed that Heavyweight prospect, Chris Arreola, be suspended from all WBC sanctioned activities and bouts for a period of six months due to his use of profanity in the post-fight interview following his loss to Vitali Klitschko in September.

The WBC board of governors approved the sanction, backdating the suspension to the date of the infraction.

The Boxing Tribune is still hoping for the day when Sulaiman and the WBC suspend themselves for the profane way that they've treated the sport over the last two and a half decades.



Dedicated to the late, great Ol' Dirty Bastard, the heart and soul of the Wu Tang Clan, the "Nigga, Please!" award will be given to a fighter, event or situation that is just plain stupid enough to garner ODB's famous phrase of disgusted disbelief, "Nigga, Please!"

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Boxing Fans are Morons and The Fighters Can't Fight

by Madcow

Boxing Tribune Editor in Jefe ,Paul's, been bugging me for a column ever since someone had the bright idea to send him a Magic Jack long distance phone thingy. Now I get odd calls at odd hours with odd requests for stories. Today I decided to crank something out because I had a moment of clarity this past Sunday.

I was checking out the BTBC's new board and ran across an internet radio show called The Boxing Truth on the new forum's main page. I guess The BTBC and this show have some sort of relationship, I don't know or care. But, Paulie, if you're reading this and not just running it blindly through a spell check, you may want to reconsider.

I tuned in early to catch some white rapper verbally raping Floyd Mayweather, Jr. during an interview at a hip hop station. The confrontation between an Everlast replacement in a House of Pain reunion and a bumbling Mayweather was like every internet argument concerning Mayweather- dumb Mayweather haters and goofy Mayweather lovers. It was like the typical garbage you'd find at most other boxing forums, brought to life through the magic of the internet.

The accompanying chat room was not any better. It was filled with the typical crew: Internet tough guys, wanabe experts and lonely, lonely men who occupy mothers' basements all across the nation and/or world.

I thanked god when the show finally began...until the hosts started talking. They were just like the rest of the morons in the chat room! Maybe a couple of years older, maybe a half-step up the cerebral food chain, but they were clearly cut from the same deficient fabric as the morons hurling mother jokes at one another in the chat. If you've never heard The Boxing Truth, imagine if HBO Boxing were hosted by Max Kellerman, but when Kellerman was trying to make it big as a rapper. Yo, sup?

Ok, so here's the point of this rant:

Everything sucks in boxing right now.

We have boxers who really don't know how to box; Fighters who work their way inside and just fall into a sweaty embrace because they really don't know what to do. Or, look at Wladimir Klitschko, who is keeping an entire division in check by just sticking his arm straight out.

"Duh...He's got his arm out...Now what do I do? I know. I'll run face-first into his outstretched glove...Duh."

The sanctioning bodies are stealing from the fighters and the promoters are squeezing every single cent from the consumer and, in the process, draining the sport of its very life; Trainers don't train anymore and, at this point, there are more champions who don't speak English than those who do.

The sport is in terrible shape and the only ones who can possibly turn things around are the fans...but the fans are complete and total morons.

Just look at the human driftwood that occupied the chat room of the Boxing Truth radio show as they went on and on about the helpful topic of who is gayer and who did what to the other guy's mother. Look on the message boards of places like Boxingscene and Maxboxing. Look at the upstart websites that are springing up everywhere, complete with massive typos and wonderfully insightful headlines like, "Is Mayweather Gay?" or "Jermane [sic] Taylor gets Knocked the F*ck Out!"

This is the fan base of boxing right now...second in stupidity to only the UFC in the sporting community. This is what happens when we continue to let the sport get marginalized and allow it to get pushed to the side.

In the movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Jack Nicholson's character works his way out of a prison sentence and gets put into an insane asylum. He proceeds to turn the place upside down, eventually leading to chaos for the other patients and to his own eventual demise.

Well, the boxing promoters fit the Nicholson character perfectly, fostering ignorance among the fans and dumbing down the sport's base so that they can be sold a bag of turds that they don't even realize they're buying.

The fans fight amongst themselves, the fighters start acting like the fans and even the journalists adopt the same stupidity.

"Yo, sup?"

I'm about ready to play the role of the big Native American mental patient in the movie and smother a lobotomized Nicholson before tossing a big hunk of equipment through a window and getting out of this asylum...and that's a Boxing Truth, boyeeeeee!

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UK Beat Report (11/2/09)

by Dafs117

In the most detailed UK Beat Report to date, the November edition takes a look back over the great domestic battle last month, plenty of news analysis and a look at the action packed month that awaits us.

We’ll begin at the top, the heavyweights. David Haye (22-1, 21 KOs) heavily hyped quest for heavyweight supremacy finally heats up this month as he challenges 7ft giant Nikolay Valuev (50-1, 34 KOs) on November 7. In a bout that’s touted David vs. Goliath for obvious reasons, the Russian giant will defend his WBA crown for the second time in his second reign as champion. He returns to a venue where he outpointed former WBO titlist Sergei Lyakhovic (23-3, 14 KOs) in 2008 in a lethargic WBA Eliminator. The Nuernberg Arena should be full of 10,000 fight fanatics come November 7.

Questions will always rise about Haye’s size disadvantage and china chin at heavyweight, but can he be the first Brit since Lennox Lewis in 2003 to capture a heavyweight trinket? Tune in on Sky Box Office on November 7.

Last month saw the year’s most anticipated event kick-off, Showtime’s Super 6 Boxing Classic. The unique tournament features are very own Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) in his journey for 168 pound supremacy. He and speedy American switch-hitter Andre Dirrell (18-1, 13 KOs) split the judges at the Trent FM Arena. Luckily, with some home-cooking, Froch emerged thewinner and collects precious two points into the next stage of the tournament, where he will face Calzaghe foe Mikkel Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs) in a possible unification bout if the Dane defeats unbeaten Olympian Andre Ward (19-0, 12 KOs) on November 21.
Ryan Rhodes (43-4, 29 KOs) and Jamie Moore (32-4, 23 KOs) gave us a cracking light middleweight contest and proved the winner duly merited a crack at the WBC title. Moore was defending his European belt for the second time after impressively winning the belt against former world titlist Michele Piccirillo (50-5, 29 KOs). Moore won the first four rounds before the slow starting Rhodes gained confidence and began to counter effecitively in the fifth. Moore’s weight problems were on show in the sixth as he ran out of gas. In a thrilling seventh round, Rhodes stopped Moore to clinch the European belt and most importantly he’s involved in a WBC eliminator with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KOs) and belt-holder Sergio Gabriel Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs).

In the British Super Bantamweight title contest, Nottingham’s Jason Booth (34-5, 14 KOs) was eventually much “2 Smooth” for his challenger Michael Hunter (29-2-1, 13 KOs) Hartlepool, who retired after the fifth round of their contest in Sunderland. Booth could move on to the European stage in 2010.

The Olympians made another successful return beginning with light heavyweight bronze medallist Tony Jeffries (4-0, 3 KOs) who outpointed Artem Solomko (10-18, 3 KOs) in four rounds. Heavyweight David Price (3-0, 2 KOs) made up for his previous inactivity by stopping previously unbeaten Liridon Memishi (0-1-1, 0 KOs) and outboxing Bulgarian Yavor Marinchev (5-16, 3 KOs) the following week to a four round points victory. Frankie Gavin (4-0, 4 KOs) successfully stopped Steve Saville (19-7, 8 KOs) in the second round of their contest. James De Gale (4-0, 3 KOs) stopped previously unbeaten Ally Morrison (2-0-1, 0 KOs) in three rounds. 3 time ABA champion Tony Bellew (11-0, 8 KOs) stopped journeyman in the first round Jindrich Velecky (16-7, 15 KOs). Michael Jennings (36-2, 17 KOs) made the most of a late replacement in the shape of Laszlo Komjathi (35-27-2, 13 KOs) winning every round of their eight round fight.

Paul Smith (28-1, 15 KOs) narrowly defeated Tony Quigley (13-2, 6 KOs) by split decision in a derby fight to win Quigley’s British Super Middleweight belt. A rematch is a certain. Welterweight prospect Jamie Cox (13-0, 8 KOs) retired Manoocha Salari (4-10-3, 3 KOs) in the third round.

Welterweight prospect Adnan Amar (23-1, 7 KOs) won the vacant English welterweight title by stopping Jon Thaxton conqueror Tom Glover (9-7-3, 0 KOs) in the fifth round. Glover had a broken nose in the third.

Aberdeen’s Lee McAllister (30-2, 7 KOs) continued his rise from the flames after his defeat to unbeaten star John Murray (28-0, 16 KOs) by defending his Commonwealth lightweight crown against Charlie Paul King (15-2, 0 KOs) by stopping him in the seventh round with a crushing overhand right.

Slickster Ian Napa (19-7, 1 KO) scraped past Gary Davies (9-3-1, 7 KOs) and stole his British bantamweight belt via a majority decision victory. Mongolian born Shinny Bayaar (14-4-1, 4 KOs) survived a nasty cut over his right eye to win the British flyweight title against Chris Edwards (13-14-3, 4 KOs) by split decision. Unbeaten light middleweight Brian Rose (14-0, 4 KOs) stopped Jason Rushton (18-10, 2 KOs) in the tenth round. Shortly after the fight, Rushton collapsed in the changing room and slipped into a coma. Thankfully the 26 year-old is out of the coma and on the road to recovery.

In the news last month, Danny Williams (41-8, 31 KOs) is allowed to keep his British belt despite his humiliating points defeat to Carl Baker (9-4, 6 KOs) in the most recent edition of Prizefighter. This news has put a spark in his step and he won’t retire from the sport.

Amir Khan (21-1, 15 KOs) will defend his WBA crown against Dimitri Salita (30-0-1, 16 KOs) on December 12, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle. It’s a massive date for the 140 pound division as WBO titleholder Timothy Bradley (24-0, 11 KOs) also defends against his mandatory challenger Lamont Peterson (27-0, 13 KOs) and on the same card Juan Diaz (35-2, 17 KOs) and Paulie Malignaggi (26-3, 5 KOs) will fight in a rematch of their controversially scored fight in August. Khan and Salita are adamant that race and religion will not be a topic discussed in their pre-fight interviews.

Kell Brook (20-0, 13 KOs) had to pull out of his welterweight contest with Chorley’s Michael Jennings (35-2, 17 KOs) due to a viral infection. The bout is likely to be re-scheduled.

Light welterweight prospect Chris Evangelou, wanted by many promotional companies across the pond, has decided to sign his services to Calzaghe Promotions. He’s the biggest prospect so far to sign under the Calzaghe banner. He’ll make his debut on November 20 in Newport.

The newest line-up of Prizefighter has been released with the light welterweights taking the stage on December 4. The competition is headlined by former WBA champion Gavin Rees (28-1, 14 KOs) and also features former European titlists Ted Bami (26-5, 13 KOs), Colin Lynes (31-6, 12 KOs) and Jason Cook (25-2, 12 KOs) in another star studded and competitive field promoted by Barry Hearn.

Undefeated light heavyweight student Nathan Cleverly (18-0, 8 KOs) will have to travel to Italy to face his opponent Antonio Brancalion (32-7-2, 8 KOs) for the vacant European light heavyweight title. A date and venue has not been announced.

Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KOs) hinted on Soccer AM that he will make his comeback to training in the New Year and that he would love another crack at Floyd Mayweather Jr. (40-0, 25 KOs).

Joe Calzaghe is off out TV screens when he was booted off BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing losing out to actress Zoe Lucker in a dance off. Not to worry, as a new TV show Calzaghe Clan has hit our TV screens in Wales.

And to round-up the news, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard made a brief visit to Wales last month.

In a bout that could possibly be ignored by Sky, the heavily anticipated rematch between Irish cab driver Martin Rogan (12-1, 6 KOs) and Norwich’s Sam Sexton (12-1, 5 KOs) will take place on the 6th of November at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast. In the first fight, Sexton was out on his feet when the doctor stopped the fight due to excessive swelling on Rogan’s left eye. He’ll be trying to re-capture his Commonwealth belt. On the undercard, Scotland’s Alex Arthur (27-2, 20 KOs) will continue his run at lightweight against an unnamed opponent.

On the same night, Paul McCloskey (19-0, 9 KOs) fights Daniel Rasilla (15-2, 4 KOs) for the European light welterweight belt also in Northern Ireland. On the undercard, Martin Lindsay (14-0, 6 KOs) will fight against an unknown opponent and Steve Williams (8-0, 3 KOs) and Michael Grant (12-0-1, 1 KO) will compete for the vacant English light welterweight title.

Hopefully on a lucky Friday the 13th, Matthew Hatton (37-4-1, 14 KOs) will challenge against Lovermore N’Dou (47-11-1, 31 KOs) for the IBO light welterweight belt. Robert Norton (31-4-1, 19 KOs) will defend his Commonwealth cruiserweight title.

Rendall Munroe (19-1, 8 KOs) will defend his European Super Bantamweight title for the fifth time against Simone Maludrottu (30-2, 11 KOs) in Nottingham on the 20th. Olympian Tony Jeffries (4-0, 3 KOs) and heavyweight prospect Tom Dallas (7-0, 5 KOs) fight on the undercard.

Bradley Pryce (28-7, 17 KOs) tops the show in Newport on the same night as Munroe’s defence. Pryce will fight journeyman Sergejs Savrinovics (7-15-1, 4 KOs) in a stay busy fight. Welterweight Tony Doherty (21-1, 9 KOs) will fight for the first time in 20 months as the chief support. Prospects Chris Evangelou and Lee Lewis will make their debuts on the same bill.

Charismatic light middleweight Anthony Small (22-1, 16 KOs) defends his British and Commonwealth belts in Wigan on Friday 27 against Thomas McDonagh (34-2-3, 7 KOs). In the neighbour county, Curtis Woodhouse (10-1, 5 KOs) makes his comeback fights since his shock points defeat to Jay Morris (11-14, 3 KOs) and will face lightweight brawler Graham Earl (26-4, 12 KOs) in Hull.

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The Decline of Ivan Calderon

by Dafs117

Over two years ago, when it came to junior flyweight icon Ivan Calderon’s fights, the details were not a necessity. The 5 foot southpaw jabbed, moved, boxed, barely got hit and won decisions. Often, those decisions were of the near shutout variety and against respected ex-titlists such as Nelson Dieppa and Alex Sanchez, there was nothing ‘near’ about it.

As the “Iron Boy” gained popularity and pound-4-pound recognition, TV networks kept rejecting him. In their opinion his manner of his victories was not in their interest.

In August 2008, the much owed rematch between the Puerto Rican and Hugo Cazares took place in front of his home crowd. With the pressure of a big performance needed and a TV contract possibly on the line, Calderon carelessly tried to put on a show, humiliating Cazares on some occasions with his slippery defence quickly turned into offence. Cazares as the bigger guy, walked through Calderon’s punches and in the 7th round of their WBO light flyweight title fight, an accidental head-butt severely lacerated Calderon’s forehead forcing the ringside doctor to immediately stop the fight. Calderon won the decision, but the severity of the cut forced him out of action for 10 months.

His comeback fight was against Phillipino Rodel Mayol, on the undercard of Cotto-Clottey. The undercard was unaired and Calderon missed out once again on a chance to earn a bigger payday. On the night however, he was frustrated by the reach advantage of Mayol and he was cut again by another accidental head-butt. Calderon’s spotless record had a minor tweak, as the fight was awarded a technical draw.

In their rematch the unthinkable happened, another cut caused by an accidental head-butt. Calderon did win a split technical decision in the 7th round but his performance wasn’t of the usual ease and grace that we were used to see from the ‘Iron Boy.’

Is it his style that causes the frequent clash of heads? It must have something to do with it. Three technical decisions in a row don’t happen often. What’s caused the recent dip in his high standards? Could it be a lack of confidence after being slashed across his forehead? He’s getting older and his reflexes have been slowing down recently. Will Calderon ever get a chance to show his flair on HBO? Probably not. But the Puerto Rican star has added a much needed kick up the backside to Strawweight and the Junior Flyweight divisions. Not since the departure of Ricardo Lopez have we ever taken an interest in these quiet divisions, but with names like Calderon, Roman Gonzalez and Brian Viloria attempting to take the mini guys to the mainstream, we could be taking even more of an interest than the Lopez days.

Discuss this topic on our brand new board!

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Perez Beats Agbeko in Halloween Treat

The fans at the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas were treated to a Fight of the Year candidate when Joseph Agbeko (27-2, 22 KOs) put his IBF Bantamweight title on the line against underrated Colombian challenger, Yonnhy Perez (20-0, 14 KOs).

The bout was evenly-fought throughout all twelve rounds with the action shifting in favor of each fighter at various points of the contest.

Perez scored an official knockdown in the eleventh when a clash of heads caused Agbeko to stop throwing punches and Perez capitalized by pummeling him to the ground. At the end of the evening, the knockdown didn't factor into the decision as the judges had the fight scored 117-110, 117-110 and 116-111 in favor of the new champ. The BTBC had the fight a lot closer with a mark of 114-113, also for the Colombian.

On the undercard, Antonio DeMarco (23-1-1, 17 KOs) scored a TKO 10 over Jose Alfaro to claim the WBC Interim Lightweight title and move towards a bout with reigning WBC champ, Edwin Valero.

Also:

Ray Austin TKO 4 over DaVarryl Williamson

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Boxing's November to Remember

by Paul Magno

As boxing fans, we're the easiest sports fans to please. We're given so little that when a rarity like November, 2009 comes along, we are liable to become absolutely giddy.

Imagine the prospect of an entire month stacked with quality match-ups and nary a cancellation in sight...It's the stuff of legends; Boxing's equivalent to a winning lottery ticket.

After a very sparse Summer and a fairly lackluster 2009 overall, boxing is closing out the year with a bang and about to unleash one of the best months for the sport in my recent memory.

Just look at what awaits us:

Martin Rogin vs. Sam Sexton II (a UK rematch of the Heavyweight Fight of the Year)

Alfredo Angulo vs. Harry Joe Yorgey (Angulo's always fun and Yorgey will make it a war)

Chad Dawson vs. Glen Johnson (Best fight to be made at 175)

Nikolay Valuev vs. David Haye (More science experiment than fight, but will be fun)

Matthew Hatton vs. Lovemore N'Dou (Evenly-matched means evenly-fought)

Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao (Mega fight...I will speak about this more next time)

Daniel Santos vs. Yuri Foreman (I don't care what anyone says, I think this might be interesting)

Alfonso Gomez vs. Jesus Soto Karass (Good action and maybe Karass' coming-out party)

Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward (Two prime, elite fighters in Super 6 Classic)

Edgar Sosa vs. Rodel Mayol (For sure FOY candidate)

Lucian Bute vs. Librado Andrade (A score to settle for both, plus crazy Canadian fans)

Ali Funeka vs. Joan Guzman (A real, major test for both)

Plus, Zab Judah, Joel Casamayor, Marcos Maidana, Jason Litzau, Jorge Barrios, Andy Lee, Alexander Dimitrenko, Mike Jones, "Gato" Figueroa, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr...

It's enough to make even the most bitter of fans take note...and only one PPV among the bunch! (okay, one and a half if you count the Valuev-Haye fight's PPV status in the US)

I hope that boxing's powers that be take notice and realize that by giving us actual fights, they aren't losing potential PPV dollars, they are reminding the loyal fan base of exactly why they are fans in the first place.

As fans, we don't need big-named mega-bouts and we don't even really need months as stacked as November '09.

What we do need is quality match-ups and fights that actually mean something.

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