Sons of Peter McNeeley- Boxing Thread

BGrif21125

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Gotta give Showtime a lot of credit for picking up Haye-Maccarinelli this weekend. They have almost no incentive to air it... it's a weight class Americans don't care about, and the fight features two guys from the UK that most Americans have never seen before.

I expect the Showtime fight to get bad ratings, yet be the most exciting fight of the night. I'm rooting for Haye. If he moved up to heavyweight as the reigning cruiserweight champ, that could bring some much-needed spark to the heavyweight division.
 

letsgosox

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I don't think this has been mentioned yet but even without the knockdown I don't know how you couldn't score that last round 10-8 for Vasquez. It was a beatdown from the minute the bell sounded. You could argue that it was so bad it could of been scored 10-7.

Anybody have thoughts on the rumored matchup of Barrera/Vasquez? I think Barrera wins that fight quite easily even at his age and diminishing skills.
 

BGrif21125

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Anybody have thoughts on the rumored matchup of Barrera/Vasquez? I think Barrera wins that fight quite easily even at his age and diminishing skills.
I don't see that one happening. Barrera is strictly a 130 or 135 pound fighter at this point. That's a huge jump up from 122 for Vazquez, and there is money for him to make at 122 right now against someone like Ponce de Leon (among others).

Both Barrera and Morales need to stay retired. Unfortunately, I bet we see both of them back in the ring at some point.
 

inter tatters

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The hype machine for Haye-Macca is in full swing over here and I'm absolutely loving it! Both fighters know that they could easily knock the other cold with one punch and haven't hesitated to say so. They used to like and respect each other too, but that has changed in the last week. So much so, that Haye has started complaining about a Macca and Frank Warren 'dirty tricks campaign', after Warren changed the time of the pre-fight press conference when he knew that Haye has been keeping US time so he's completely in tune when the fight starts (around 2-3am UK time). Haye didn't turn up and Warren is calling him 'unprofessional' and threatening to sue for breach of contract.

Haye has also said that he won't use the weight argument if he gets knocked down this time. He didn't inflate himself after the Mormeck fight and won't have to drop from 220 to 200lbs for this fight like he did then and, in his words, 'starve myself for the 17 days prior to the fight' - He blamed losing all the weight for the way his legs went when he got knocked down by Mormeck.
 

inter tatters

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One from the 'I wasn't prepared for that' locker...

Lockett in line to face Pavlik?

I am shamed to admit I've never heard of Gary Lockett! :) However, if he's coming out of the Calzaghe stable, he's going to be well prepared I suppose. Facing Pavlik is a somewhat different prospect than facing any challengers for his WBU 'World Middleweight' title, however!
 

BGrif21125

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I am shamed to admit I've never heard of Gary Lockett!
That makes two of us.

Btw, I read that regardless of who Pavlik fights, it's no longer going to be in New York at MSG. Arum came to his senses and realized that without Trinidad or Duddy as an opponent, it wasn't worth it to have Pavlik fight there, he can't draw that big of a crowd on his own.

So it's looks like MSG is dormant at least until the potential Cotto-Margarito/Cintron fight.
 

shawnrbu

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No, Shane was Oscar's sparring partner leading up to the Mayweather fight. Since then Mayweather has used that as ammo in refusing to fight Mosley by saying "he doesn't fight sparring partners."
 

ElUno20

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No, Shane was Oscar's sparring partner leading up to the Mayweather fight. Since then Mayweather has used that as ammo in refusing to fight Mosley by saying "he doesn't fight sparring partners."
That is recently but before the DLH, Floyd wanted Shane after his Baldomir fight. A fight SHANE avoided because of a "toothache"
 

Naehring11

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Anybody watch Friday night fights? Two robberies by the judges in my opinion. I could see the second decision, but Gonzalez clearly won that first fight.

In the second fight Cruz set a record with 1580 punches thrown. Amazing!
 

BGrif21125

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Anybody watch Friday night fights? Two robberies by the judges in my opinion. I could see the second decision, but Gonzalez clearly won that first fight.
Speaking of judging.... word is that the HBO fights in Cancun tonight will use the horrific open-scoring system. How any commission thinks that it's a good system is completely beyond me.
 

BGrif21125

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Also, regarding Mayweather-Mosley... I think it's safe to say that both of them could have done more to make a fight between them happen if they had really wanted to. But the most famous avoidance was Mosley saying that he couldn't fight because his tooth was loose and because his wife wanted him to take a few months off.

Fwiw, while I certainly would've loved to see the fight, I have very little doubt that Mayweather would have won. They're very similar in terms of raw athletic ability, but Mayweather took his talent and applied it to defense, Mosley took his talent and focused it around offense. Boxing is no different from every other sport, defense beats offense everytime.

To make a cross-decades comparison, I've always felt that Mosley is this decade's Meldrick Taylor (although Mosley has had the better career) and Mayweather is this decade's Whitaker. The Taylors and Mosleys of the world might produce the more entertaining fights, but the Whitakers and Mayweathers win the titles.
 

shawnrbu

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Anybody watch Friday night fights? Two robberies by the judges in my opinion. I could see the second decision, but Gonzalez clearly won that first fight.

In the second fight Cruz set a record with 1580 punches thrown. Amazing!
I watched FNF. The first decision was a joke. I used to think Clark Sammartino was a respectable judge. I'll have to check up on his past. As soon as the majority decision was announced, Teddy Atlas says: "Put handcuffs on those judges right now!"

The main event was a good scrap, probably the highlight of this season of FNF. I didn't have a problem with Cruz winning. I felt sympathy for Mashaba when I saw the pained expression on his face when it was announced he lost the split decision. I'd be happy watching them fight again.
 

Gene Conleys Plane Ticket

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Wow. Well, Haye is a hell of a puncher and a finisher, but that was about as shitty a job of refereeing as I've ever seen. Mac was clearly down, the ref did nothing, so Haye just pounded the guy into submission. I don't blame Haye of course, he did everything he should have done and was almost certainly going to win this fight anyway, the way things were shaping up. But that's a disgraceful job by the referee.

And I have to say, every time I've watched a fight from the UK, the officiating has been crap. The Hatton-Tszyu fight was another example. For a big fight like this, can't they bring a pro over from Vegas or New Jersey? That was garbage.

Anyway, "Big Mac" looked nervous and tight from the outset . Haye was a bit tentative himself, but when the opportunity presented itself, he took it. Not sure how he's going to fare at heavyweight, but he's clearly the dominant cruiserweight in the world. But unless we can get some better officiating in these British fights I'm gonna have a hard time watching another one.
 

shawnrbu

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This ring announcer in Mexico is the worst of all time. I am actually preying Peter-Oleg goes the distance so I can hear this guy try to spit out the scores again.

Fantastic win for Nate Campbell tonight over Juan Diaz. I love when the "old" guy whips the supposed unstoppable young lion's ass (Campbell/Diaz, Foreman/Moorer, Hopkins/Trinidad and Morales/Pacquiao to name a few off the top of my head). We are certainly seeing more upsets this year with Campbell over Diaz and Quintana over PWill.
 

Gene Conleys Plane Ticket

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First off, what an inspiring performance from Nate Campbell. I've never quite been on the Baby Bull Bandwagon the way a lot of the boxing writers have. I always considered him a bit overrated and one-dimensional. Nonetheless, for a guy like Campbell who started boxing very late, who's always been a talented but never-quite-over-the-top type, to come out at age 36 and put on that kind of a show against a fighter that the boxing media pretty much unanimously hailed as the top lightweight in the world and the future of the division, well, that's why boxing is such an incredible sport. Good for him!

I thought Diaz's corner should have stopped the fight after the 10th round. At that point, only a "highway robbery" type of decision could have won the fight for him, he was taking alot of clean, hard head shots and that cut was moving into Vitali Klitschko vs. Lennox Lewis territory. As it is, his eye was a pulpy slit after the fight and I'm concerned for the kid's vision. Why let him take another six minutes of beat-down? I don't get it.

I also wonder how Diaz reacts to this kind of a loss going forward. Let's face it, he's had things pretty easy up until now. And despite the rather ridiculous split decision, this fight wasn't really close. Diaz had a few decent rounds early, but was taking heavy shots to the body and head from the opening seconds of the fight. In addition to the gruesome cut, which as Manny Steward pointed out his corner seemed oddly ill-equipped to handle, he had welts around his waistline from the beating Campbell was dishing out to his body -- just as Campbell promised he would. As has been well-publicized, Diaz unlike most fighters has other options in life besides boxing. So does he even continue from here? And if he does, is his heart really in it?

Also, I earlier complained about the referee in the Haye-Maccarinelli fight. But the ref in this fight made that guy look like Mills Lane. Did anyone else notice that almost every round started five to 10 seconds AFTER the bell. I'm not sure there was a single three-minute round in the entire fight except maybe the first one.

Anyway, moving on, I was quite impressed with Sam Peter and not just because of the solid TKO stoppage he scored. I've seen, I think, all of his fights for the past three years and from the very start of the fight, he seemed different to me here. He was much more relaxed, much more in control of his body and his punches. He seemed, for the first time, to be fighting with a game plan and he executed it against a much more experienced and pretty solid fighter. The HBO announcers were, rightly, touting Maskaev's advantage in the technical aspects of the game. But in this fight, Peter looked like the more polished fighter. It wasn't a classic heavyweight fight by any means, but it wasn't a stinker like the one two weeks ago. And, hey, it was good enough and it ended in picturesque fashion. But most importantly, I think it signalled the arrival of Samuel Peter as a true heavyweight force.

If he keeps up that level of maturity, I think he ices Vitali Klitschko, in the fight no one wants to see, rather easily. And then in the fight everyone wants to see (at least everyone who still cares at all about the heavyweight division) I think Peter gives Wladimir Klitschko the fight of his life. I still favor W. Klitschko in that fight due to his superior size, jab and technical ability. But a Peter upset would not shock me at all. So maybe, in at least some small way, the heavyweights are interesting again. And with the impending arrival of David Haye, they may soon get even more interesting.
 

BGrif21125

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Last night was a mixture of thrilling action, head-scratching moments, and unintentional comedy that only boxing can provide.

Haye-Maccarinelli: Great, explosive performance by Haye. The ref didn't do a great job there, but I do think the stoppage was legit. Maccarinelli was stumbling all over like a drunk and was badly hurt. If the fight continues, Maccarinelli probably lasts about another 5 seconds until Haye would have annihilated him with another huge right hand.

Maccarinelli made the mistake that a lot of fighters make, especially when they get knocked down early in fights, in that he was so intent on proving that he wasn't hurt, that he jumped right up instead of taking a few seconds on the canvas to regain some of his equilibrium. It's the same thing Zab Judah did against Kostya Tszyu. A smart veteran fighter will sit up for 4 or 5 seconds, look at the ref's count, and stand up at 7 or 8.

Regarding UK refs... is there some type of minimum age limit to be a ref in the UK? It seems like everytime I watch a fight over there, the ref always looks old enough to have served in the War of 1812.

Also, did anyone catch the music they were playing in the arena prior to the fight? First they played Who Let the Dogs Out, then they went really bizarre and played that 500 miles song by these guys. If ever there was a song that I didn't associate with a boxing match....

Anyway, Haye is probably moving to heavyweight now, and while I'm not sure how effective he'll be, I do know that I'm very interested to find out. Everyone's been clamoring for an American heavyweight to burst onto the scene, but maybe an English-speaking fighter from the UK with an outgoing personality is the next best thing.

Diaz-Campbell: Phenomenal fight. As Gene noted above, the ref in this fight made the UK ref look like a combo of Mills Lane, Arthur Mercante, and Joe Cortez. Every single round started 10-15 seconds late because there was one guy in Diaz's corner who would take 100 years to step out thru the damn ropes. And every round, the ref wouldn't reprimand him or yell at him, he would just stand there and watch him!!
Now 99% of the time, that would be the dumbest thing a ref could do all night, but this guy outdid himself by calling time in the middle of a round and letting Diaz's cutman work on the cut! Just when you think you've seen everything.... Lederman almost went into cardiac arrest when he saw that.

Diaz is a short fighter with short arms and limited punching power. Those guys always have a shelf life, I just didn't think Campbell would be the guy to expose him. How much of a mess is the lightweight division right now? Several months ago, it looked like Diaz and Casamayor were headed for a showdown. Now Casamayor looks like a corpse and Diaz just got the crap kicked out of him by a 36 year old. Several months ago in this thread, I said that I thought Pacquiao was in for a rude awakening if he moved up to lightweight, now it looks like everything is lining up for him to win belts.

Peter-Maskaev: Not much to add on this one, except that Peter did what he needed to do and what we wanted him to do... win in definitive fashion and establish himself as the clear #1 contender. He did that. It was very impressive (as the HBO guys correctly noted) that when Peter got Maskaev hurt, he didn't go wild and start winging punches, he took his time and clinically finished him. I think the two fights with Toney may be the best thing that ever happened to Peter. If you spend 24 rounds in the ring with James Toney, you're getting a PHD in the art of the sweet science. I think Peter learned a lot in those fights.

Now, onto by far the most important topic of the night.... the Mexican Michael Buffer. My favorite aspects of his performance:
1. Did you notice the shirt he was wearing? It looked like a hotel uniform. Gave me the impression that they didn't have anyone to fill the role of announcer, so they just grabbed one of the local bellboys last minute and threw him in the ring.
2. Loved how for the Diaz-Campbell fight intros, he didn't recite their record, hometown... anything. He just said "in the blue corner.." paused for about 20 interminable seconds, then said.... "Nate Campbell!!"

You could tell the HBO guys were dying to make fun of him on-air, but instead they held it in and just repeated over and over that he was "inexperienced." It's nights like this where I miss Merchant, because there's no way he would've made it thru the whole night without making some type of sarcastic comment.

Two final notes:
1. I still have no idea what Sam Peter said in any of his answers during the postfight interview, and I'm usually very good at deciphering the indecipherable (for example, I understand everything Floyd Mayweather Sr. says). HBO might want to spend a couple hundred bucks and hire an interpreter for his next fight.
2. For the first time, I thought the Lampley/Max/Steward booth worked well together, and I thought Max made a lot of good points.

Wow, that's a long post.
 

Gene Conleys Plane Ticket

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Is it bad that I'm rooting for Vitaly to suffer another injury during training? The Peter/Wlad fight needs to happen this fall.
Root for it? Hell, I'd bet on it!

V. Klitschko has been injured in five straight training camps and he's not getting any younger. It would be a miracle if he ever actually steps in the ring with Peter. If he does, as I said, I think Peter gets him out of there pretty easily. The real problem with making the V. Klitschko-Peter fight is that it puts that particular share of the heavyweight title in limbo. I don't know what Vitali's thinking, but I just wish his brother, his family and everyone else around him would tell him that the show's over and he needs to call it a career. For real this time.
 

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Not sure how to put this but the ref in the Campbell/Diaz bout sure seemed to be a Diaz fan. Spanish ref favoring the Spanish fighter in the Spanish venue... look at the clinches in the fight -- after nearly every one of them the ref glared at Campbell. Couple that with the extra rest Diaz got at the beginning of each round (he stayed on his stool until the ref signalled for him) and the mid-round cut treatment... well, Campbell was definitely fighting the house and when I heard it was a split decision I was praying they wouldn't rob him.
 

Gene Conleys Plane Ticket

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Not sure how to put this but the ref in the Campbell/Diaz bout sure seemed to be a Diaz fan. Spanish ref favoring the Spanish fighter in the Spanish venue... look at the clinches in the fight -- after nearly every one of them the ref glared at Campbell. Couple that with the extra rest Diaz got at the beginning of each round (he stayed on his stool until the ref signalled for him) and the mid-round cut treatment... well, Campbell was definitely fighting the house and when I heard it was a split decision I was praying they wouldn't rob him.
All true, and I think the lesson is, don't hold major fights in Mexico. Especially WBC-sanctioned major fights.

In fact -- and I'm not being jingoistic here, just calling 'em as I see 'em -- I'm not a big fan of holding major fights in any foreign country. As chaotic, upside-down and often sleazy as the boxing business can be here in the good ol' USA, it is still better regulated and more professionally run than anywhere else in the world that I've seen or heard about. At least in the most active boxing states, namely Nevada, New Jersey, New York and California as well as a few others. Nevada and the Northeast corridor have the best referees in the sport -- and even they screw up plenty. To have officiating like we saw in Britain and, much worse, Mexico on Saturday really doesn't do the sport much good, to put it politely.
 

ElUno20

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To me Campbell's performance had a little bit of a Tony Delk going for 50 type feel to it. While Diaz took a good beating I think questioning his future is pretty tough. He's 24, has an attractive style, and is fighting in an era where losses don't really derail you as much.
 

BGrif21125

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In fact -- and I'm not being jingoistic here, just calling 'em as I see 'em -- I'm not a big fan of holding major fights in any foreign country.
That's an interesting point, and you've now got me racking my brain for non-US fights that were managed correctly. And I'm having a hard time coming up with any.

Off the top of my head, Calzaghe-Kessler comes to my mind as a fight without any problems. However, that fight had a US ref and two US judges. Plus it featured two fighters who are pretty clean overall and not likely to cause many problems. So that example actually reinforces your point.

I can understand a 2nd or 3rd world country not having the time/resources to recruit and train quality officials. But the UK has no excuse. The UK has a full-blown professional sports infrastructure and should be able to quality control its refs/judges. Plus, with the sport enjoying a huge resurgence there right now, there figures to be more and more big fights there in the next several years, so this might keep popping up.

I didn't think the Haye-Enzo ref was that bad (although he hardly shined either), but the Calzaghe-Manfredo stoppage was premature and I'm convinced that Hatton could've brought a 2x4 into the ring against Tszyu and the ref would have allowed it.

Like you said, the US is hardly perfect, but for the most part things are run much smoother than we're given credit for. There's a certain "inner-circle" of refs that I feel very comfortable with, guys like Bayless, Smoger, Mercante Jr., Cortez, Weeks, Esteves, and a few others I'm forgetting.
 

inter tatters

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What a great night. Maccarinelli hardly landed a significant blow and Haye dusted him good and proper. As for the Ref, no-one over here mentioned that the Ref should've started counting, they all seem to reckon that Macca should've put his hand down first and the Ref called it right. Must be something in the way Fights are done over here?

Anyway, it's a shame you guys missed the undercard as the Kevin Mitchell-Carl Johanneson British/Commonwealth Super-Featherweight Title bout was a cracker. Both guys were landing big punches and it looked like Mitchell was done when Johanneson almost put him down in the 6th, but he sucked it up for a couple of rounds, then got a 2nd wind, knocking Johanneson down in the 9th and then battering him until the Ref had to stop it.

Kevin Mitchell is only 23 and already has a record of 26-0 - admittedly built on some pretty poor opposition, but Johanneson was a big step up in class - so he has a big future in the Sport. Remember the name! :rolling:

Another great few weeks for us Brits, as all the major fights are starting to be snapped-up by Setanta Sports, which means no PPV. We get all these title fights for free in the next month - Pacquiao-Marquez, Gavin Rees-Andreas Kotelnik, Clinton Woods-Antonio Tarver, Chad Dawson-Glenn Johnson and JoeC-B-Hop.
 

Gene Conleys Plane Ticket

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What a great night. Maccarinelli hardly landed a significant blow and Haye dusted him good and proper. As for the Ref, no-one over here mentioned that the Ref should've started counting, they all seem to reckon that Macca should've put his hand down first and the Ref called it right. Must be something in the way Fights are done over here?
My complaint is that Maccaranelli went back into the ropes and it was more than obvious that the ropes were holding him up. I'm not sure whether his glove touched the canvas or not, but that's clearly a knockdown regardless. The ref did nothing. So then Haye, as he should as a fighter, pounced all over the fallen fighter and beat him senseless. I didn't have any problem with the stoppage. When you hit a man when he's down you tend to do a lot of damage so at that point Enzo was beyond repair.

Not to take a thing away from Haye. It looked practically from the start (never having seen wither of them before) that Haye was the bigger, stronger, quicker guy who would have won the fight anyway. But just as with Calzaghe-Manfredo, I'd like to see a fight play out properly. I also don't like allowing a fighter to hit a downed opponent. Save that for MMA.
 

inter tatters

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My complaint is that Maccaranelli went back into the ropes and it was more than obvious that the ropes were holding him up. I'm not sure whether his glove touched the canvas or not, but that's clearly a knockdown regardless. The ref did nothing. So then Haye, as he should as a fighter, pounced all over the fallen fighter and beat him senseless. I didn't have any problem with the stoppage. When you hit a man when he's down you tend to do a lot of damage so at that point Enzo was beyond repair.
I suppose coming the week after a Ref did start counting when a guy used the ropes to support himself (Marquez), and the controversy that caused, I'm not surprised it was fresh in people's memories that it is classed as a knockdown. Ah well, at least we can all agree that there was no doubt who the better fighter was, despite Macca claiming he made a 'mistake'!
 

BGrif21125

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Is it bad that I'm rooting for Vitaly to suffer another injury during training?
Here's how this thing is going to play out....

Vitali is going to spend the next several weeks saying he wants to fight Peter, that he's 100% healthy, that it's his right, blah blah blah

Peter-Vitali will sign to fight 4-5 months down the road. 3 or 4 months into training camp, Vitali will blow out his knee or knock out his back or break his hip or whatever, and the fight's going to be off.

Then Peter will need to search for another opponent, probably have to wait a few more months, and the end result is that Peter will have sat idle for 8-9 months because Vitali felt the need to force his way back into the heavyweight picture.

If Vegas were taking bets on this scenario, I would put one of my paychecks down on it.
 

Ahriman

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Here's how this thing is going to play out....

Vitali is going to spend the next several weeks saying he wants to fight Peter, that he's 100% healthy, that it's his right, blah blah blah

Peter-Vitali will sign to fight 4-5 months down the road. 3 or 4 months into training camp, Vitali will blow out his knee or knock out his back or break his hip or whatever, and the fight's going to be off.

Then Peter will need to search for another opponent, probably have to wait a few more months, and the end result is that Peter will have sat idle for 8-9 months because Vitali felt the need to force his way back into the heavyweight picture.

If Vegas were taking bets on this scenario, I would put one of my paychecks down on it.
I hate Vitaly. Yet, somehow, I like him more than Wlad.
 

BGrif21125

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Looks like it's official... Lockett will be Pavlik's opponent.
Link

Per the article, Ponce de Leon will be in the main undercard bout. If HBO is willing to air 3 fights instead of the customary two, then Andy Lee will featured in another undercard bout. Let's hope that happens.
 

inter tatters

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Ricky Hatton is to face Juan Lazcano, outdoors at his beloved Mancher City's football ground on May 25th.

Of course, Ricky couldn't help but throw a dig at Junior Witter, claiming Lazcano is a better boxer than him. That'll be the Lazcano who lost on points to Vivian Harris, who was then subsequently knocked silly by Witter? Come on Ricky, you can do better than that. I've lost so much respect for Ricky Hatton over the last year it's untrue.
 

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Word is that Showtime is trying to put together a fight between Kessler and Miranda for May 10. I think Kessler blows out Miranda, but it'd be a fun fight while it lasted.
 

BGrif21125

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It also looks like Showtime on March 7 will have the rematch between Carlos Quintana and Paul Williams on a doubleheader with Sergio Mora vs. Vernon Forrest.
Showtime is rebounding very nicely from a bad 2007. They've also got Dawson-Johnson coming up next month.

Also, news that I'm sure will not go over well with our resident Junior Witter fan, inter tatters:
Malignaggi is fighting on the Hatton undercard, and if they both win, Hatton will be fighting Malignaggi (not Witter) later this year.
 

Gene Conleys Plane Ticket

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Showtime is rebounding very nicely from a bad 2007. They've also got Dawson-Johnson coming up next month.

Also, news that I'm sure will not go over well with our resident Junior Witter fan, inter tatters:
Malignaggi is fighting on the Hatton undercard, and if they both win, Hatton will be fighting Malignaggi (not Witter) later this year.
And of course I meant MAY 7, not March 7. Sorry...
 

Gene Conleys Plane Ticket

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Actually, it's June 7. :c070:
Sheesh. I must be on drugs.

Anyway, in addition to JUNE 7 being one of those possible HBO vs. Showtime nights (unless the Kelly Pavlik-Gary Lockett bout is moved to June 14, which last i read is still a possibility), May 24 will also feature two shows. Showtime is picking up the Mikkel Kessler-Edison Miranda fight that night (which should be a fun one) and it's also the date of Ricky Hatton's return against Juan Lazcano. The thing is, apparently the Hatton fight will not air on HBO or Showtime, though according to Richard Schaefer (of Golden Boy, Haton's new promoter) the fight will air in the U.S. Now, I'd also read somewhere that because this fight is seen as a "gift" to Hatton's British fans, the timing of the fight won't be affected by U.S. prime-time scheduling. In other words, it won't start at 2 a, UK time. So in this case, the Hatton fight, wherever it airs, will not got head-to-head with Kessler-Miranda, instead airing on Saturday afternoon in the U.S.

I always kinda like that. I miss Saturday afternoon boxing on TV, which for years was a network staple here in the good ol' USA. I wonder where Golden Boy will air this fight, though. My guess is it'll end up as an "indie" PPV card with a (hopefully) low price. But wouldn't it be nice if they could sell the fight to a "free" TV outlet here, even if it's ESPN Classic?

Also, I wonder what out British compatriots here think about Amir Khan calling out Nate Campbell. I don't think that fight will happen anytime soon -- Campbell needs to get by the winner of Casamayor-Katsidis first. But hypothetically, what do the folks who've seen Khan more often that we have here in the US think about that one? Khan's a speedy little devil and certainly a hell of a talent. But as we saw last week, Campbell isn't a guy who like to take no for an answer and my guess is, Khan's never faced anyone that tough or hard-hitting, who's going to bring the "street" mentality into the ring that Campbell will.

Is Khan ready for that? Will he be ready by the end of this year or early next?
 

BGrif21125

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I always kinda like that. I miss Saturday afternoon boxing on TV, which for years was a network staple here in the good ol' USA. I wonder where Golden Boy will air this fight, though. My guess is it'll end up as an "indie" PPV card with a (hopefully) low price. But wouldn't it be nice if they could sell the fight to a "free" TV outlet here, even if it's ESPN Classic?
Wasn't ABC looking to air an Antonio Tarver fight last year, but then it fell thru? If they still want to air a fight, this would seem like a natural. Hatton's got the recognizable name after the Mayweather fight, and let's be honest, it never hurts to have a white guy involved in a fight that you're trying to market to the casual fan.

Is Khan ready for that? Will he be ready by the end of this year or early next?
I've watched Khan's last several fights on youtube, and he's certainly a top-notch prospect. But I'd be VERY careful if I were his handlers. He just turned 21, so there's no need to rush him.
But you can't hold back talent forever, so if he scores a couple more dominating KOs like he did against Earl, then maybe 12 months from now he's ready for a Campbell fight (or someone else of that caliber). But if I'm Frank Warren, I'd take the same route Arum took so well with Cotto... one stepping stone at a time, slowly increase the quality of opponents, expose him to all different types of opposing styles, etc.
 

mrcleanwell

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Anyone watching the undercard? Fareneas dropped Baudel Cardenas with a low blow. It's unfortunate for Cardenas as he was not able to continue and had to take a loss by TKO.
 

allaboutthesox

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Not sure if this was mentioned or expected but it appears Hatton has joined Golden Boy Promotions.

Hatton, who joined Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions on Friday, was beaten in 10 rounds by Mayweather in Las Vegas on Dec. 8 after moving up to welterweight.
Hatton joins Golden Boy

I am still hoping that after Cotto fights Gomez on April 12, 2008 that we may start to hear stronger talk of Mayweather -Cotto. Possibly a fight in early 2009 would be nice, but it appears Mayweather has no intention of fighting Cotto anytime soon.
 

BGrif21125

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Not sure if this was mentioned or expected but it appears Hatton has joined Golden Boy Promotions.
Golden Boy has cornered the market on big names who are headed for the downside of their career.

I do like their prospect Abner Mares though. I think when he fills out, he'll be a 122-pounder. Marquez and Vazquez are both in their early 30s, but they're both going on 50 after their 3 wars. Mares could step in and fill a void in that division in a couple years, alongside Ponce De Leon and Juan Manuel Lopez.

I am still hoping that after Cotto fights Gomez on April 12, 2008 that we may start to hear stronger talk of Mayweather -Cotto. Possibly a fight in early 2009 would be nice, but it appears Mayweather has no intention of fighting Cotto anytime soon.
No chance of happening anytime before May/June 2009, unless Oscar gets shocked by Forbes. However, if Floyd and Cotto both emerge from 2008 undefeated, I think it has a very good chance of happening next summer. Too much money involved for it not to happen.

I was pretty disappointed when it became clear that Floyd-Cotto wasn't happening in '08, but if you look back thru history, the biggest fights generally take much longer than expected to come together. They tend to be years in the making.
 

BGrif21125

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More Mayweather family drama:

Pound-for-pound king and welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., already estranged from his father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., now has a festering problem with Roger Mayweather, his uncle and trainer, that is so severe that he said Thursday he is considering firing him.

Mayweather Jr. is upset because his uncle is training Steve Forbes for a 150-pound bout against Oscar De La Hoya on May 3. If Forbes beats De La Hoya, it would kill Mayweather Jr.'s Sept. 20 rematch with De La Hoya, depriving him of a $20 million-plus payday.

"Lately, I've been upset with my uncle, Roger Mayweather," he said. "My uncle Roger has been training Steve Forbes and if Steve Forbes beats Oscar, it's taking money out of my pocket. [If he continues], I'll have to move on and get another trainer."

Mayweather Jr. went so far as to say that he might even try to lure his father back to his corner, although Mayweather Sr. -- who also is estranged from his brother Roger -- trains De La Hoya.
Rafael
 

mrcleanwell

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http://www.boxingconfidential.com/articles.php?id=4168

Looks like Peter vs. Wlad might not be too far away

Vitali Klitschko, the so-called WBC heavyweight champion Emeritus, is opting for politics over pugilism.



How do I know? Because Vitali said so, in plain Ukrainian in a newspaper story (the publication is known as GPU) passed on to Boxingconfidential by our roving German correspondent Thomas “Tommy Boy” Schlabe. Wladimir’s older brother makes it clear that he going to bypass his mandated shot at WBC champion Samuel Peter.
 

mrcleanwell

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Lee is getting worked on the inside. This match is much closer than expected.

Wow that stoppage seemed quick
 

Gene Conleys Plane Ticket

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I'd seen Andy Lee only once, on some PPV undercard I think where he smoked some fall guy. Now, Brian Vera's no better than a B- fighter, albeit with a hell of a heart and a pretty damn good chin, but he was the best guy Lee had ever fought going in and frankly, Lee looked like shit all the way through to me. Even though he dropped Vera in the first round, I was looking at him and thinking, "THIS guy is the 'future of the middleweight division'? This is the guy who, according to Emanuel Stweard is 'ready to fight Kelly Pavlik right now'?" I thought his hands looked slow, his defense was Duddyesque, he had no inside game at all and he couldn't even properly tie up his opponent when Vera got in close.

Hell of an upset, but when the fight was stopped, I can honestly say I wasn't surprised. I mean, the stoppage seemed a little quick at the time, but at that point, Lee was taking a lot of hard head shots and his whole face was hamburger. He was going to get knocked out that round or the next anyway. If Vera had a little more power, he would have taken Lee out a couple of rounds earlier.

I'm really baffled as to what Steward sees in this kid.
 

BGrif21125

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I can see why the crowd reacted negatively to the stoppage, and it did seem like awkward timing since Lee landed a punch right before the ref stepped in, but I think the ref was justified. I'll never fault a ref for stepping in a second too soon to protect a young fighter.

Lee's defense was just horrific. Non-existent. His idea of blocking punches was to block them with his face. He also seemed obsessed with throwing that quick counter right hook, when he should have been pumping a straight right jab instead.

So, Lee's the first big prospect of 2008 to fall, let's see how Khan fares in 2 weeks.