Official 2012 Boxing Thread: JMM/Manny IV - FOTY.

Originally Posted by MrBen23

Mayweather vs. Guerrero? 
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Slacking off a bit lately.

Abraham dusts off after Super Six loss.
Spoiler [+]
When Showtime's recently concluded Super Six World Boxing Classic began in late 2009, Arthur Abraham was undefeated, and the former middleweight titlist -- who had moved up to super middleweight for the tournament -- was favored to reach the final along with Mikkel Kessler.

That was then and this is now, as Abraham (32-3, 26 KOs) is trying to put his career back together at age 31 after a miserable performance in the tournament.

He got off to a strong start by knocking out former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor in the 12th round of their opening-round bout. Then it was all downhill for Abraham, who lost his next three tournament fights in lopsided fashion, mainly because he just didn't throw many punches. He was outclassed by Andre Dirrell in a one-sided fight that ended when Abraham was disqualified for hitting Dirrell while he was down. Then Carl Froch and Andre Ward manhandled him in blowout decisions in title bouts.

[h4]Rafael's boxing blog[/h4]
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Get the latest scoop and analysis on the world of boxing from ESPN.com's Dan Rafael in his blog.

On Saturday, Abraham, who won one fight outside of the tournament against a journeyman last February, will fight for the first time since being outclassed by Ward in the Super Six semifinals in May. Abraham will face Argentina's Pablo Oscar Natalio Farias (19-1, 11 KOs) in a super middleweight bout in Offenburg, Germany. Also on the card, super middleweight titlist Robert Stieglitz will defend against Henry Weber in what is supposed to be a tune-up for a spring defense against Kessler.

Abraham said he is ready to move past the tournament and was highly motivated to train through the holidays.

"I trained all the time," Abraham said. "No matter whether it was Saturday, Sunday, Christmas or New Year's Day -- I did not miss a single training session. On the days when [trainer] Ulli Wegner was not available, his assistant, Georg Bramowski, took care of me. I did not complain about the hard training. It's part of an athlete's life. It's not that bad to skip the sweets and the good food during Christmas time."

Abraham said he has put the Super Six debacle behind him.

"Well, if you lose, you get criticized," he said. "That's fine with me, and that is something you have to live with. But I am not thinking about it any more. I have put it behind me. I am focusing on the future now. You cannot change the past. You just have to accept it and try to improve in the future. I would not say I boxed poorly or committed a lot of mistakes. I just was too passive in the fights. I have prepared well for the fight in Offenburg, but that is not any different from the last bouts. However, I will try to be more active, try to punch more."

Judah-Paris title eliminator.

Spoiler [+]
Main Events, which promotes Zab Judah, won a purse bid this week to promote a junior welterweight title eliminator between former titleholder Judah and Vernon Paris, the winner of which would become the mandatory challenger for one of the belts held by Lamont Peterson.

Main Events' winning bid was $70,110, which topped the only other bid, which was a $51,000 offer made by Don King, who promotes Paris.

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Dwight McCann/Fightwireimages.com Vernon Paris, right, could make a statement and become Lamont Peterson's mandatory with a win against Zab Judah.

As the higher-rated fighter in the IBF's rankings, Judah is entitled to 60 percent of the winning bid ($42,066), while Paris is entitled to 40 percent ($28,044).

Main Events promoter Kathy Duva told ESPN.com that she intends to make the bout the main event of her NBC Sports Net card on March 24.

"I really like the story of the young, undefeated fighter [Paris] facing the charismatic veteran in what is truly a crossroads fight for NBCSN," Duva said.

The 34-year-old Judah (41-7, 28 KOs), a former undisputed welterweight champion from New York, is also a former three-time junior welterweight titleholder. He lost his belt in July, getting knocked out in July by a body shot from Amir Khan in their unification bout. Khan then lost the belts to Peterson in December on a controversial decision.

Paris (26-0, 15 KOs), 24, of Detroit, scored the biggest win of his career in August when he knocked out Tim Coleman in the seventh round on "Friday Night Fights" in an exciting fight.

Kennedy-Martin headlines FNF.

Spoiler [+]
Junior featherweights Teon Kennedy (17-1-1, 7 KOs) of Philadelphia and Chris Martin (23-1-2, 6 KOs) of San Diego will square off in the main event of this week's "Friday Night Fights" (ESPN2 and ESPN3.com, 9 ET) at the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. Both are in need of a victory as they try to rebound from their first career defeats.

Kennedy dropped a 12-round decision loss to Alejandro Lopez in August and Martin lost a far more surprising 10-round split decision to journeyman Jose Angel Beranza in October.

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Chris Farina/Top RankBoth Chris Martin and Teon Kennedy will be anxious to put their first career losses behind them when they meet Friday in Las Vegas.

"I've wanted to fight on ESPN for such a long time," Kennedy said. "I have seen Martin on a lot of video, so I know what he's all about. I've been training really hard for this fight and am well-prepared. He has a lot of skills, but I also see a lot of mistakes that I can capitalize on. My approach is to keep the jab out there and see what he can do with it."

Martin said he has learned about Kennedy's style because he went to Mexico to spar with Lopez after he defeated Kennedy.

"I know Kennedy doesn't like a lot of pressure," Martin said. "He'll see a lot of that on Friday. The key to fighting this guy is the jab and movement. I think Kennedy's a straight-forward fighter, and that's what we're working on -- lateral movement and combinations."

Welterweight prospect Yordenis Ugas (10-0, 5 KOs), a crowd-pleasing Cuban defector who was a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, will face Esteban Almariz (10-3, 4 KOs) in the eight-round co-feature.

Also on the card in a scheduled six-rounder is Top Rank blue-chip junior featherweight prospect Jesse Magdaleno (7-0, 5 KOs) of Las Vegas against Shawn Nichol (5-7, 5 KOs). Magdaleno is the younger brother of junior lightweight contender Diego Magdaleno.

Quick Hits.

Spoiler [+]
[h3]Quick Hits[/h3]
• For the past few years, Golden Boy has had an exclusive hold on all of the dates for Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate" series, but that is changing this year. The series, which has moved from Friday nights to Saturday nights and resumed a 90-minute format beginning with the season premiere on Jan. 7, will feature multiple promoters. Although Golden Boy will remain the primary dateholder, it will have far fewer cards than last year. According to Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer, his company will promote 25 of the 42 live fight cards on the Spanish-language network this year. Last year Golden Boy had all of the live cards, plus filled in other dates with fights from its extensive library. Telefutura executives are talking to a variety of promoters. The next live card will be held Jan. 21 -- fights to be announced -- which will be promoted by Peter and Ivan Rivera's PR Best Boxing in Puerto Rico. Golden Boy's first show of the year will be Feb. 4, headlined by junior lightweight prospect Ronny Rios (16-0, 7 KOs). The next live card after that will be a Feb. 18 show promoted by Miguel Cotto's company in Puerto Rico featuring his cousin, lightweight Abner Cotto (12-0, 5 KOs), against Guillermo Sanchez (13-4-1, 5 KOs).

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Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty ImagesRicky Burns ran through Michael Katsidis to earn an interim lightweight belt, which he'll put on the line against Paulus Moses in March.

• Promoter Frank Warren announced Thursday that Ricky Burns will make the first defense of his interim lightweight belt against former titleholder Paulus Moses of Namibia on March 10 at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, Burns' home country. "I don't think Moses will be bothered about coming to Scotland," Burns said. "He won the title in Japan [in 2009], so he'll be looking to make a big upset in Scotland against me. He's a good fighter, he's a former world champion with a good record and he's lost only once in 29 fights. This is just the kind of fight I wanted to make me perform to my best." Burns (33-2, 9 KOs) vacated his junior lightweight title, moved up to 135 pounds and won a clear decision against Michael Katsidis for the vacant interim belt. Moses (28-1, 19 KOs) has won three straight since losing his belt via sixth-round knockout to Miguel Acosta in May 2010 in Namibia. "Make no mistake, I'm coming to Scotland to win the [interim] world title by knockout," Moses said. "I've beaten better fighters than Burns before. I know I can beat him easily." • Sacramento, Calif., middleweight prospect Brandon Gonzalez (15-0, 10 KOs) was forced to withdraw from a Jan. 20 fight against Caleb Truax (18-0-1, 10 KOs) because of a slight tear in his right hamstring. The bout was supposed to be part of a "ShoBox: The New Generation" card on Showtime headlined by junior featherweight titlist Rico Ramos' mandatory defense against interim titleholder Guillermo Rigondeaux at The Palms in Las Vegas. Virgil Hunter, the 2011 ESPN.com trainer of the year, who trains Gonzalez and fighter of the year Andre Ward, told ESPN.com that Gonzalez suffered the injury doing sprints. "And it happened on the very last lap," Hunter said. "It took him to the ground. We taped it heavily and I thought we were going to make it, but he just couldn't run, couldn't do much of anything, and then the inflammation spread to his buttocks." Hunter said the doctor advised Gonzalez would need about a month of rest and that he would probably be able to resume training in about six weeks.

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Marco Perez/Mpsportimages.comEdison Miranda won't get a chance to avenge a disputed loss to Yordanis Despaigne after the latter fighter pulled out of their Feb. 3 rematch.

• Despite signing a contract, light heavyweight Yordanis Despaigne pulled out of his Feb. 3 "Friday Night Fights" rematch against Edison Miranda. Despaigne defeated Miranda on July 29 by controversial fifth-round disqualification when referee Vic Drakulich ruled Miranda had hit Despaigne with low blows. Despaigne and Miranda agreed to a rematch, but each took an interim bout and fought Dec. 17 on the Andre Ward-Carl Froch undercard. Although Miranda knocked out Kariz Kariuki in the fifth round, Despaigne was upset by Cornelius White, losing a lopsided six-round decision. ESPN and Warriors Boxing promoter Leon Margules still planned to put on the rematch, until former Cuban amateur star Despaigne (9-2, 4 KOs) pulled out this week. Miranda (35-6, 30 KOs), a former middleweight and super middleweight title challenger, will now face Isaac Chilemba (18-1-1, 9 KOs) of South Africa. The fight will be Chilemba's third in the United States in his past four.

• An undisclosed medical problem has forced junior welterweight prospect Pier-Olivier Cote to withdraw from his Feb. 3 "ShoBox" main event on Showtime against Mauricio Herrera (18-1, 7 KOs). Promoter InterBox has postponed the entire show in Quebec City and Showtime has canceled that night's boxing programming, although it hopes to air the card when InterBox reschedules. According to InterBox, Cote (18-0, 12 KOs) has been informed by his doctor that he must immediately cease training for an undetermined period of time while doctors perform a battery of tests. "We are less than a month out of the most important fight in Pier-Olivier's career and he could not train adequately in the gym," trainer Francois Duguay said. "He wasn't feeling well. I really do not want to speculate what could be wrong with him until he undergoes the necessary medical tests. The first doctor he saw told him he has to stop training and rest. Until we know more, we are following his recommendations." Cote was disappointed about postponing the bout, saying, "I was really looking forward to fighting Herrera. This is the first time in my 18 fights that such a situation arises. I will follow the recommendations of the doctor and undergo every test that I have to. My goal right now is to get better and return stronger than ever." • Middleweight titlist Daniel Geale (26-1, 15 KOs) of Australia and mandatory challenger Osumanu Adama (20-2, 15 KOs) of Ghana came to terms and avoided a purse bid. They will meet March 7 in Hobart, the capital of the Australian island of Tasmania, where Geale originally hails from. Featherweight titlist Billy Dib (33-1, 20 KOs) is also due to make a defense on the undercard. Geale will be making his second defense. Adama became the mandatory challenger in October when he knocked out former titlist Roman Karmazin in the ninth round. If Geale wins, promoter Gary Shaw hopes to bring him to the United States for a bigger fight. "After the Adama fight, I want to bring Danny to the United States and try to do a Sergio Martinez fight or a Dmitry Pirog fight or a [Gennady] Golovkin fight," Shaw said. "In a perfect world, I'd like to do a four-man tournament."

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Thorsten Wagner/Getty ImagesFormer junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton will now call all the shots for his Hatton Promotions after taking over as CEO of the company.

• Former junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton is taking over day-to-day operations of Hatton Promotions, his promotional company. Hatton has taken the title of CEO, replacing Gareth Williams, Hatton's longtime attorney, who will remain as a legal adviser. Hatton said he has recovered from the depression that hampered him following his retirement, along with a drug problem, and that he is ready for a hands-on role with the company. "This is just a structural change within the group, and Gareth will only be a phone call away for any issues we have," Hatton said in a statement. "Once I officially announced my retirement last summer, my plan was to gradually have a bigger role in our progress. My battle with depression was well-documented, and this is further evidence that I have bounced back. Gareth is a close, personal friend of mine and that will continue despite this change, and I cannot thank him enough for the job he has done apart from legal matters."

• Former junior middleweight titlist (and former undisputed welterweight champion) Cory Spinks (38-6, 11 KOs) will face Sechew Powell (26-3, 15 KOs) on Jan. 28 in Springfield, Mo., in a title eliminator that will make the winner the mandatory challenger for titlist Cornelius "K9" Bundrage (31-4, 18 KOs), who will be forced to fight one of the two opponents he defeated decisively in his past two bouts. Bundrage, who has been on the shelf for long stretches because promoter Don King hasn't lined up anything for him, easily outpointed Powell in a June title defense and blew away Spinks in five lopsided rounds in August 2010. Cruiserweight B.J. Flores (26-1-1, 16 KOs), who is from Springfield, will headline the card against an opponent to be named. • NBC Sports Network -- formerly Versus -- announced its broadcast team for the new Main Events-promoted "Fight Night" series that debuts Jan. 21 (9 p.m. ET) in Philadelphia with former heavyweight titlist Sergei Liakhovich facing Eddie Chambers in the main event. Calling the action will be blow-by-blow man Kenny Rice, whose duties for NBC have included serving as Olympic boxing reporter and covering horse racing. Newly elected International Boxing Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach and cruiserweight B.J. Flores will serve as analysts, with Sports Illustrated boxing and NBA writer Chris Mannix serving as ringside reporter.

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• Middleweight titlist Felix Sturm (36-2-2, 15 KOs) has retained his belt on controversial decisions in his past two fights, first a split decision against Matthew Macklin in June (in a fight widely viewed as one of the worst decisions of the year) and then in a split draw against Martin Murray in December (a fight for which many believed Sturm deserved the decision). Sturm wouldn't give Macklin a rematch -- Macklin wound up with something better, a March 17 shot against recognized champ Sergio Martinez -- and he hasn't shown interest in fighting Murray again. But England's Murray would like a rematch, and he is willing to go back to Germany to get it. Sturm is tentatively slated to fight April 13. "Felix has been a great champion, but both me and him know that night in Mannheim he did not beat me," Murray said in an open letter to Sturm. "Felix cannot beat me. He knows I am the better fighter, and so I am not expecting him to offer me a rematch. I don't think that the Sturm team [is] confident that you can win this one, and as a result they and you will avoid me. Please be fair to yourself, to me and the German people who have supported you to get this fight on. ... I won't ask for silly money, just give me a fair price. I will even come to your own city of Cologne and bring double the fans I did last time."

• Bantamweight titlist Jorge Arce (59-6-2, 45 KOs) is due to face Lorenzo Parra (31-3-1, 18 KOs) on Feb. 18 in Mexico, in a rematch of their September 2010 draw in a junior featherweight title eliminator. However, the WBO may decline to sanction the fight, meaning Arce would have to look for a new opponent. ... Hot Puerto Rican prospects Thomas Dulorme (13-0, 10 KOs), a welterweight, and Jonathan Gonzalez (14-0, 13 KOs), a junior middleweight, will fight in separate bouts against opponents to be determined on the Feb. 17 edition of Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation" at the Chumash resort in Santa Ynez, Calif., according to Gary Shaw, who co-promotes both. ... The IBF has set a Jan. 24 deadline for a purse bid on the vacant welterweight title bout between Mike Jones and Randall Bailey, if the sides don't make a deal before then. ... Lightweight contender Kevin Mitchell of England was supposed to face Stephen Ormond on Feb. 10 in London, but Ormond withdrew. Promoter Frank Warren is looking for a replacement to face Mitchell (32-1, 24 KOs), who rebounded from a knockout loss to Michael Katsidis (and dealt with a drinking problem) to stop John Murray in the eighth round of a rousing battle in July. ... According to PR Best Boxing Promotions, former strawweight and junior flyweight champion Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon (35-2-1, 6 KOs) of Puerto Rico will challenge strawweight titlist Moises Fuentes (14-1, 6 KOs) of Mexico for his old belt, likely in April.
[h3]Quotable[/h3]
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Hunter

"Khan blames everyone and everything but his performance and lack of ability to make adjustments in the ring for his loss. He claims that the ring announcer privately stated he won, then that the referee's discretionary actions [of two point deductions for pushing] should be overruled, then a mystery man in a black hat with no association to the Peterson camp somehow affected the outcome of the bout, and also that the judges did not score the bout correctly. Each claim is boldly false, but because Golden Boy and Khan have the financial resources to file protests and lawyers to create questionable accusations, we are forced to address these issues. We will not let these foul tactics take away from Lamont's hard work, dedication and monumental victory."
-- Barry Hunter, manager, trainer and father figure to junior welterweight titlist Lamont Peterson, on his disgust for the ongoing complaints and protests of Amir Khan and promoter Golden Boy since Khan's Dec. 10 loss to Peterson

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Macklin

"As I have done throughout my entire career, I will go up a notch for this fight. Sergio is going to bring the best out of me, and I am very confident in my mind that I will be the new middleweight champion come March 17. Fighting at the Garden on St. Patty's Day, it's going to be like I'm fighting in Dublin. The Irish are coming from all over the world to see this. The atmosphere is going to be electric."
-- Middleweight contender Matthew Macklin, at a press conference this week in New York to formally announce his HBO fight against champion Sergio Martinez at the Madison Square Garden Theater
 
Showtime rejected the proposed 2 fight deal between Bute & Froch because they prefer Bute fight an American. By American I assume they mean Bernard Hopkins. Non merci.
 
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at Ghost saying he can hurt Mayweather

Sit your *$$ down; this dude deserves NO shot against PBF
 
Originally Posted by JD214

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

i knew that was going to happen. didnt see any shot Golden boy let floyd kill canelo this early in his career


I'm a Canelo fan and agree with this, His comments were just stupid, I still don't see why he did it.
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Robert Guerrero though?
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Floyd vs Canelo would be pretty boring too IMO.
 
Originally Posted by Scott Frost

Showtime rejected the proposed 2 fight deal between Bute & Froch because they prefer Bute fight an American. By American I assume they mean Bernard Hopkins. Non merci.


   %%#!$!$ stupid.  They want Bute to fight Hopkins because he drew well against Pascal.  One thing British fans do is travel well so even if they somehow didn't manage to sell out the Bell Centre with Bute fans, I'm pretty sure Froch's fans would have been there to scoop up the scraps.

Showtime's new head of the boxing department is one of Ross Greenberg's old workers so not surprised they're starting off the year with a stupid decision.
 
Figures
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Fights from this weekend.

Spoiler [+]
Saturday at Offenburg, Germany

Arthur Abraham TKO5 Pablo Oscar Natalio Farias
Super middleweight
Records: Abraham (33-3, 27 KOs); Farias (19-2, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: From 2005 to 2009, the Armenia-born, Germany-based Abraham held a middleweight title, made 10 defenses (including winning some by spectacular knockout) and was a feared fighter. But when he vacated his belt and moved up to super middleweight to join Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic, Abraham's career went off the cliff. Widely viewed as a favorite to make it to the finals, along with Sauerland Event stablemate Mikkel Kessler, Abraham instead crashed and burned in the tournament. After knocking out faded former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor in the 12th round of their opening-round bout in October 2009, Abraham did not win again in the tournament. And it is not so much that he did not win again, it is that he lost his fights in lopsided, uncompetitive fashion that really did the damage. He barely won more than a few rounds after the Taylor fight.

In the second group stage, Andre Dirrell dropped Abraham and was on his way to a lopsided win when Abraham was disqualified in the 11th round for hitting Dirrell while he was down after he had slipped to the canvas. Abraham then lost overwhelmingly noncompetitive decisions in title bouts to Carl Froch and eventual tournament winner Andre Ward, although Abraham snuck in a nontournament win against a D-level opponent.

Making his return to the ring for the first time since losing so decisively to Ward in the Super Six semifinals in May, Abraham, 31, looked terrible despite scoring the knockout victory. Farias, 24, of Argentina, was much smaller than Abraham and way less experienced. He was there because he was supposed to be outclassed. Yet there he was winning early rounds against Abraham, who, like he did in the tournament, simply would not -- or could not -- throw punches at a halfway decent rate. Abraham picked up the pace a little bit near the end of the third round, when he finally landed a few shots and began to work Farias to the body. In the fifth round, Abraham landed a right to the body and a left to the head to drop Farias for the first time. Moments later, a pair of right hands put Farias on the deck for the second time. Soon after, Abraham landed a right to the body and, although it did not look like a big punch, Farias went down to a knee and then fell backward in an exaggerated manner as though he had been hit with the biggest punch in history. Referee Manuel Maritxalar immediately waived it off at 2 minutes to give Abraham the victory.

Although Abraham got the knockout, it really was a shaky performance at best and he was haunted by the same old issue of not throwing punches. If Abraham cannot correct that flaw, he is seemingly doomed to losing if he steps up to face another top super middleweight in the future. He is still quite popular in Germany -- he sold out the 4,000-seat venue -- which is why he was in the main event instead of super middleweight titlist Robert Stieglitz's defense, which was on the undercard. Sauerland Event knows that and probably will want to match Abraham with a few more soft touches before cashing him out. Abraham, at this point, is an attraction in Germany but not a legitimate super middleweight contender.

Robert Stieglitz W12 Henry Weber
Super middleweight
Retains a super middleweight title
Scores: 119-109, 118-110, 116-112
Records: Stieglitz (41-2, 23 KOs); Weber (15-1-1, 3 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: It was easy work for Stieglitz in the fifth defense of his 168-pound title. Stieglitz, 30, who was born in Russia but lives in Germany, was originally supposed to defend his title against former titlist Mikkel Kessler on Nov. 5 in Kessler's native Denmark. However, Kessler suffered a right hand injury and rather than wait until the spring for the fight to be rescheduled, Stieglitz took on Weber to stay busy. The vastly inexperienced Weber, 23, of Germany, showed toughness and the ability to take a shot but little else as Stieglitz dominated. Frankly, it looked like a shutout. The judge who gave Weber four rounds needs to go back to judge school. Weber was lost in the ring and did nothing but get strafed with shots for the entire fight. His face was getting marked up in the first round and Stieglitz never encountered a moment of worry. He worked well with his jab from the outside and landed a ton of right uppercuts when they were fighting at close quarters. One of those uppercuts rocked Weber in the second round and Stieglitz continued to use the shot throughout the bout. Weber was taking so many clean head shots throughout the final few rounds of the fight that a stoppage would not have been inappropriate, but he was allowed to continue to the final bell, where the only surprise about the decision was that the judges all found at least one round to give him. Stieglitz is supposed to move on to a rescheduled April 14 defense against Kessler. However, even though Kessler's handlers at Sauerland Event -- which also promotes Weber -- have talked about April 14, there is a good chance that Kessler won't be ready until May or June. So Stieglitz got in 12 solid rounds, looked sharp and now waits for the big fight.

Also on the card, 30-year-old Bulgarian heavyweight prospect Kubrat Pulev (15-0, 7 KOs) stopped British veteran Michael Sprott (36-18, 17 KOs) in the ninth round. Pulev dominated what amounted to a glorified sparring session and was on his way to a clear points victory when Sprott retired on his stool after the ninth round with an apparent shoulder injury. Sprott, 36, who has faced numerous name opponents, lost his third fight in a row.



Friday at Las Vegas

Teon Kennedy D10 Christopher Martin
Junior featherweight
Scores: 95-95 (twice), 97-93 Kennedy
Records: Kennedy (17-1-2, 7 KOs); Martin (23-1-3, 6 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Kennedy and Martin were both coming off their first career defeats and were obviously both quite desperate to win this main event of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights," and the fight turned out to be a good, entertaining match. Kennedy, 25, of Philadelphia, had dropped a unanimous decision to Alejandro Lopez in August while Martin, 25, of San Diego, was edged via split decision against Jose Angel Beranza in October. So with that backdrop, they tried to get back in the win column and wound up with a draw, which is at least not another loss. It was a closely contested fight, although it seemed as though Kennedy, who was more aggressive, had done enough to deserve a close decision. Two of the judges disagreed. Martin's argument for winning was that although he threw fewer punches, he landed at a higher percentage. Martin also looked as though he should have been credited with a knockdown seconds before the end of the seventh round. He landed a right hand and Kennedy went to the canvas. Referee Jay Nady ruled that Kennedy had tripped over Martin's foot and while he was correct that their feet did get tangled, Martin landed a solid punch during the sequence. Both fighters, of course, thought they deserved the decision. A rematch should not be out of the question, but neither fighter hurt themselves with a draw and each should be viable for another televised fight when they return to the ring.

Yordenis Ugas W8 Esteban Almaraz
Junior welterweight
Scores: 80-71, 79-72 (twice)
Records: Ugas (11-0, 5 KOs); Almaraz (10-5, 4 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Ugas, 25, was a decorated amateur on the powerhouse Cuban national team before defecting in 2010 and settling in Miami. He won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics, and was a 2005 world amateur champion and a four-time Cuban national champion. With all the experience of around 400 amateur fights, Top Rank can move Ugas quickly in the pro ranks. Getting some nice national television exposure on "Friday Night Fight," Ugas won easily in a methodical and dominant, albeit not overly exciting fashion. But he whipped.

Almaraz, a 31-year-old from Harlingen, Texas, and a veteran of the Iraq War, was game, but not nearly at Ugas' level. The only real moment of excitement came a little over a minute into the fight, when Ugas touched Almaraz with a left jab to the body and then came upstairs with a right behind it to drop Almaraz. He went down to his rear end and into the ropes, but was not badly hurt and hopped to his feet immediately. From there, Ugas worked the jab, kept a nice defense and picked Almaraz apart for the easy victory. Ugas boxed very well, but if he wants to make fans, he needs to be a bit more aggressive. Against limited opponents such as Almaraz, that should not be too much to ask for.

Also on the undercard, 20-year-old Las Vegas junior featherweight prospect Jesse Magdaleno (8-0, 5 KOs), the younger brother of junior lightweight contender Diego Magdaleno, routed Shawn Nichol (5-8, 5 KOs), 23, of Thornton, Colo., in an six-round decision. Magdaleno, who was facing a southpaw as a pro for the first time, pitched the shutout, winning 60-54 on all three scorecards, although it took a little time for Magdaleno to settle into the fight. He is one to watch.
 
I wish Sergio wasn't fighting Macklin in March, would love to have seen him and Floyd fight instead. Now It looks line Floyd has no one to fight, that's why he has been calling out Pac so much lately. Smart move by Canelo's people to keep him away from Floyd
 
At 150, no thanks.  A) I hate catch-weight fights B) Sergio would probably be a zombie at the weight. 
 
Originally Posted by mco85

I wish Sergio wasn't fighting Macklin in March, would love to have seen him and Floyd fight instead. Now It looks line Floyd has no one to fight, that's why he has been calling out Pac so much lately. Smart move by Canelo's people to keep him away from Floyd

I don't get this sentiment at all.  Macklin/Martinez is a great fight at 160.  Mackln has a legit shot to win that fight.  In an exciting venue at MSG on St. Patty's Day?  IDK, should be a great fight and I'd much rather see him defend against worthy opponents than kill himself down to 150 to make a payday.

News.

Spoiler [+]
The plan for troubled former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik to leave behind his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, and part ways with Jack Loew, the only trainer he had ever known, was hatched in late October.

Now it's in motion, as Pavlik has left Youngstown and Loew and has been in Oxnard, Calif., for more than a week working with new trainer Robert Garcia.

Pavlik is looking forward to a spring comeback, manager Cameron Dunkin told ESPN.com.

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GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty ImagesKelly Pavlik made a mildly successful return in May, but he will have to get in shape under a new trainer and mend some fences after bailing on his last scheduled fight.

Pavlik (37-2, 32 KOs), who has admitted to a drinking problem and was in rehab for two months until early 2011, was arrested recently on a DUI charge in Ohio.

But that hasn't stopped him from trying to get back in shape and begin anew with Garcia, one of boxing's hottest trainers, whose stable also includes top fighters Nonito Donaire, Brandon Rios and Miguel Angel "Mikey" Garcia (the trainer's younger brother).

"Kelly is doing great," Dunkin said. "He's happy, he's laughing and jovial. He loves it in Oxnard. He's been there a little over a week now and been training hard. He has a nutritionist working with him on his weight and he is boxing with Robert. Kelly weighed 173 pounds the other morning."

If everything continues to go well, Dunkin said, he anticipates that Pavlik, 29, would return to action in March or early April.

"One day at a time," Dunkin said. "Whenever anybody makes a change they say, 'Oh, this is the best training I've ever had' and two weeks later everything blows to s---. So I'm not getting carried away. But right now it's going better than we expected. Robert says he's so easy to train and that there are so many things he can do. Robert said, 'He's a good athlete and I think he has a lot left in him.'"

Dunkin said Pavlik hasn't sparred yet, but that he will work with junior middleweight prospect Alfonso Blanco, a 2008 Venezuelan Olympian who is managed by Dunkin, in the coming days.

Since losing the title to Sergio Martinez in April 2010, Pavlik has fought just once (in part because he was in rehab), a decision over Alfonso Lopez last May. Pavlik was supposed to return in August, but he pulled out of a Showtime "ShoBox" main event just days ahead of the fight simply because he was unhappy with the deal. With that withdrawal, Pavlik also threw away a $1.35 million deal to challenge super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute on Nov. 5.

In October, Pavlik, his father and co-manager Mike Pavlik and Dunkin met with Top Rank officials in New York to try to work things out when they decided he would leave Youngstown and Loew to train with Garcia.
[h3]Epix becomes heavyweight central[/h3]
Premium cable network Epix has cornered the market on upcoming heavyweight title bouts, securing U.S. television rights to three of them in a three-week span beginning next month.

Epix will televise live -- and stream as part of a free trial on EpixHd.com -- title defenses by Ukrainian brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, along with Alexander Povetkin's.

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On Feb. 18, Vitali Klitschko (43-2, 40 KOs) will make his eighth title defense, against England's Dereck Chisora (15-3, 9 KOs) at Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany. Epix televised Chisora's controversial split-decision loss to Robert Helenius in Helenius' native Finland in December. The decision was widely regarded as one of the worst of 2011, and Chisora's performance was good enough to land him the shot against Klitschko, who scored a first-round knockout of Odlanier Solis in March 2011 on Epix's first boxing card.

On Feb. 25 at Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, Povetkin (23-0, 16 KOs), of Russia, will make his second defense (and appear on Epix for the third consecutive fight) against cruiserweight titlist Marco Huck (34-1, 25 KOs) of Germany. He is stepping up in weight for the opportunity.

Finally, on March 3, Wladimir Klitschko (56-3, 49 KOs) will make his 11th defense, against France's Jean-Marc Mormeck (36-4, 22 KOs), the former cruiserweight champion, at ESPRIT Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany. The fight was originally scheduled for Dec. 10 but was postponed because Klitschko needed surgery to remove a kidney stone a week before the bout.

Epix will also present a closed-captioned simulcast of the three bouts on a JumboTron in Times Square in Manhattan.

"Epix was pleased with the fan reaction to its exclusive live U.S. telecasts of Vitali Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin's heavyweight title fights last year," Epix executive producer Travis Pomposello said. "Now, to be able to televise live an unprecedented three-week block of the best in the heavyweight division is as exciting to Epix as it is to U.S. boxing fans."
[h3]Chisora skewers Haye[/h3]
British heavyweight contender Dereck Chisora, who will get a crack at champion Vitali Klitschko on Feb. 18 in Munich, Germany, took some hacks at countryman David Haye, a former titleholder who could be next for Klitschko if he gets past Chisora.

Haye, of course, lost his belt in one-sided fashion to unified champion Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali's younger brother, last July. Haye has since said he will reclaim a title if and when he faces Vitali Klitschko, for whom he would come out of retirement to face.

[+] Enlarge
Alexandra Beier/Getty ImagesDereck Chisora says he won't make like countryman David Haye and enter the ring "like a scared rabbit" when he fights Vitali Klitschko on Feb. 18.

"Haye had his chance to back up all the prefight bull he came out with against Wladimir, but he put up that embarrassing performance and then topped it by blaming it on an injured little toe," Chisora said. "I can't see how the British public will forget about that, and now he's coming out with the same bull again by saying that he will go to war and win his title back if he gets Vitali. I think it's just embarrassing. Wladimir made a laughingstock out of him and Vitali would knock him out. Haye should just stay retired and out of the sport. He had his time and failed on his biggest night. Now I'm going to go out there and show him how to fight a Klitschko.

"One thing's for sure: I won't be going into the ring like a scared rabbit like Haye did. I'm going to give it everything I've got to win the world title."

Chisora landed the title opportunity after losing a massively controversial decision while challenging Robert Helenius for the vacant European title in Helenius' home country of Finland on Dec. 3.

Chisora (15-2, 9 KOs), 29, plans to bring home an even more significant title when he faces the 40-year-old Klitschko (43-2, 40 KOs).

"This is the most focused and prepared I've been for a fight and I'm looking forward to it," Chisora said. "It's a big job, but I'm going out to Germany with the aim of ending the Klitschko reign of heavyweight boxing, starting with Vitali."
[h3]'Fight Night' debut facelift[/h3]
NBC Sports Network's new "Fight Night" series, which it is putting on with Main Events as its exclusive promoter, kicks off on Saturday night (9 ET) at the Asylum Arena in Philadelphia. However, the main event was downgraded after heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers withdrew last weekend because of fractured ribs. He was supposed to face former heavyweight titleholder Sergei Liakhovich.

However, when a suitable replacement couldn't be found on such short notice to face Liakhovich, Main Events and partner Russell Peltz put together a new main event between unbeaten but unknown heavyweights. Chambers didn't tell Main Events about the diagnosis until a week after he had suffered the injury, costing it valuable time to find a worthy substitute to face Liakhovich.

The new main event matches Philadelphia natives Maurice Byarm (13-0-1, 9 KOs) and Bryant Jennings (11-0, 5 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder. Byarm is the son of Lionel Byarm, who lost to Evander Holyfield in Holyfield's professional debut.

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"I am really excited to get the chance to show what I can do on national television," Jennings said. "I've wanted to fight Byarm for a long time. I'm not worried about dealing with a southpaw. This is a perfect match for me."

Said Byarm, who now lives in Washington, D.C.: "I am so excited to be coming home to Philadelphia and fighting in front of my parents and so many friends and family. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I plan on making the most of it."

Main Events promoter Kathy Duva was not thrilled to have to make a new main event on short notice for the debut of the series, but she said she had to do what was necessary.

"This series is about giving the fans exciting, action-packed fights where the outcome is in doubt," Duva said. "It is truly a shame that Chambers and Liakhovich cannot fight on Saturday, but athletes get injured. We tried all [last] weekend to find a suitable replacement to face Liakhovich, but truly competitive opposition could not be found on such short notice. [Monday] night, we decided that it would be in the best interests of the fans and the series to go in another direction and present a fight that will live up to the standards that we have set for this project."

Peltz said the main event will give viewers a chance to see a pair of undefeated American heavyweights, whose ranks are thin.

"I often hear people say that there are no American heavyweights," Peltz said. "We are presenting a terrific fight on Saturday night at the Asylum between two promising American heavyweights who are willing to test themselves sooner rather than later."

On the televised undercard, Philadelphia junior middleweight Gabriel Rosado (18-5, 10 KOs) will face Mexico's Jesus Soto Karass (24-6-2, 16 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder. A six-round bout between light heavyweights Damar Singleton (7-0, 3 KOs) and Sullivan Barrera (8-0, 6 KOs) is also scheduled to be televised.

Welterweight Joel "Love Child" Julio (37-4, 31 KOs), who was scheduled to face Chris Fernandez (19-14-1, 12 KOs) in an untelevised bout, is off the show. He withdrew because of an undisclosed injury, according to Duva.
[h3]Quick Hits[/h3]
[+] Enlarge
Esther Lin/SHOWTIMEVictor Ortiz is participating in the latest installation of Showtime's "Fight Camp 360" reality series ahead of his Feb. 11 rematch with Andre Berto.

• Showtime announced that it will produce a two-episode edition of its reality series "Fight Camp 360" in support of the rematch between former welterweight titleholders Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto. They will meet Feb. 11 (on Showtime) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in a sequel to their action-packed fight last April, which Ortiz won via unanimous decision to claim a 147-pound title. The fight featured four knockdowns, with both men hitting the deck twice each, including one apiece in the sixth round. This will be Showtime's third edition of "Fight Camp." It also produced a series following the buildup to Manny Pacquiao's fight with Shane Mosley and produced episodes throughout the Super Six World Boxing Classic super middleweight tournament. The first 30-minute episode of the new series will debut on Feb. 1 (10 p.m. ET/PT). The second 15-minute segment, which will serve as a wrap-up of the fight, will debut Feb. 18 (9:45 p.m. ET/PT) prior to the network's "Showtime Championship Boxing" card headlined by Paul Williams against Nobuhiro Ishida. There will be multiple replays, including on Showtime Extreme and CBS Sports Network, plus Showtime On Demand availability.

• Junior welterweight contender Lucas Matthysse (29-2, 27 KOs), hoping for another significant fight in the United States, will stay busy in his home country of Argentina against Silverio Ortiz (23-13, 11 KOs) on Feb. 10, Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions, Matthysse's promoter, told ESPN.com. It will be Matthysse's second fight in a row in Argentina following his controversial split-decision loss to Devon Alexander in Alexander's hometown of St. Louis in June. Matthysse's only other loss also came in the United States in his opponent's home area when he dropped a split decision to Zab Judah in Newark, N.J., in November 2010. Matthysse lost close calls in both fights despite scoring knockdowns of both Alexander and Judah.

• Former undisputed welterweight champ and three-time junior welterweight titlist Zab Judah has fought many times in New York during his 15-year career, but never in his home borough of Brooklyn, with which he is so closely identified. That will change when he faces Vernon Paris in a junior welterweight title eliminator that will make the winner a mandatory challenger for one of the belts held by Lamont Peterson. Judah (41-7, 28 KOs) will face Detroit's Paris (26-0, 15 KOs) at the Aviator in Brooklyn when they meet March 24 in a "Fight Night" main event (NBC Sports Network), Main Events promoter Kathy Duva told ESPN.com. "We made the decision to go to a smaller arena, fill it up and have a lively crowd," she said. Duva also learned her lesson from having to change main events for Saturday's "Fight Night" debut. "I'll put a very good, competent junior welterweight on the card in case there is an injury," Duva said. "That has to be the game plan because of the schedule on NBC [Sports Net]; we can't just postpone the show if there is an injury."

• When British super middleweight prospect George Groves (14-0, 11 KOs) faced Scotland's Kenny Anderson (15-1, 11 KOs) in a Commonwealth title fight in November 2010, Groves won by sixth-round TKO -- even though Anderson scored a hard knockdown in the third round. That result was spicy enough for them to set up a rematch, this time for Groves' British title. They will meet March 16 at Wembley Arena in London in as part of promoter Frank Warren's lineup of fights on new boxing subscription network BoxNation in Great Britain. Warren won the purse bid for the rematch. "Anderson did well to get to the mandatory position and I'm more than happy to take him on again," Groves said. "I'm really going to relish it this time around and I'll do a much better job on him. Since I beat him I've faced a much higher caliber of opponent than he has and picked up much more experience against the likes of James DeGale and Paul Smith. With the tougher fights, my confidence has come on loads -- especially after the way I won my last fight against Smith -- and I believe that I'm a much better fighter now. It will be far more one-sided this time. He's a strong man, but I won't let him get in the fight at all. It will be all one-way traffic. That doesn't mean I'm underestimating him. He'll be out to beat me and I'll be training harder than ever against him."

• Cruiserweight titlist Yoan Pablo Hernandez (25-1, 13 KOs) is looking forward to his rematch with two-time titleholder Steve Cunningham (24-3, 12 KOs). They will meet Feb. 4 in Frankfurt, Germany, in a rematch of Hernandez's controversial sixth-round technical split-decision win to claim the belt in October, also staged in Germany. "It was a great feeling to become world champion," Hernandez said. "However, the ending was a bit unfortunate. I am the better fighter and I am happy to prove it again to erase any doubts. I have a lot of respect for Cunningham. He is a great fighter, very skilled and very fast, but he will not get his title back." Their first fight was stopped and sent to the scorecards after Hernandez was cut by an accidental head-butt. Although many believed Cunningham had clearly won, despite being knocked down in the first round, the rematch was ordered by the IBF because it said the stoppage was incorrect based on the fact that Hernandez's cuts weren't interfering with his ability to compete and that neither cut was bleeding much when the fight was halted. "I think it's a 50-50 fight, with Hernandez being the favorite because he is the world champion," said Chris Meyer of Sauerland Event, which promotes both men.

• Manager Cameron Dunkin said he has signed interim junior middleweight titlist Anthony Mundine of Australia to an advisory/agent deal and that Mundine plans to come to the United States in search of a major fight. Mundine (43-4, 25 KOs), 36, is one of the biggest and most controversial names in Australian boxing. A former super middleweight titlist, he dropped down to junior middleweight in 2010 and claimed a vacant interim 154-pound belt in October when he outpointed Rigoberto Alvarez, the older brother of titleholder Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. "I want to get him active or into a big fight or both," Dunkin told ESPN.com. "If we can't land him a big fight right away, then I just want to get him on a show and get him active." Dunkin said he would speak to Top Rank's Bob Arum, with whom he does a lot of business, about finding a spot for Mundine on a Top Rank card. Dunkin said Golden Boy told him it wasn't interested. "Maybe just get him on a Top Rank show and then maybe we can get a big fight and do a two- or three-fight deal with Top Rank. But he definitely wants to fight in America. He hired me to get him some sort of big fight, like a Miguel Cotto or 'Canelo' Alvarez. I just want to direct him in the right direction." Mundine might find U.S. fight fans hostile because of the infamous anti-American comments he made following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

[+] Enlarge
Robyn Beck/Getty ImagesOn Saturday against Mexican countryman Omar Estrella, Daniel Ponce De Leon hopes he will be able to raise his hand in victory for the first time since 2010.

• Former junior featherweight titlist Daniel Ponce De Leon (41-4, 34 KOs) will try to rebound from back-to-back losses (to Yuriorkis Gamboa and Adrien Broner, both on HBO) when he faces Mexican countryman Omar Estrella (15-3-2, 10 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round featherweight bout in Ensenada, Mexico, on Saturday night. The fight is available in the United States via AT&T's U-verse platforms (9:30 ET), including at www.att.net/boxeo. Ponce De Leon lost both of his 2011 bouts against top opposition and knows he needs a victory. "I trained really hard physically and mentally for this fight," he said. "Losing is not an option. I see myself winning, but I also know that my opponent has trained really hard and it's going to be a very competitive fight." Estrella is equally motivated. "We all know the quality of fighter that Daniel Ponce De Leon is, and so I trained harder than ever," he said. "I have a family and I have to win this fight for them so I can bring food home. Because of that, I know I'm going to win."

• Heavyweight Audley Harrison, last seen in the ring embarrassing himself by throwing almost no punches in a third-round knockout loss to then-titlist and British countryman David Haye in November 2010, is returning. The 40-year-old Harrison (27-5, 20 KOs), who won the 2000 Olympic super heavyweight gold medal, never came close to living up to his pro potential, but he will be back in the ring April 14 in Brentwood, England, to face Ali Adams (13-3-1, 5 KOs), an Iraq native living in England. Harrison, who recently appeared on the British version of "Dancing with the Stars," hopes to redeem himself for his admittedly woeful performance against Haye, a fight that was so bad and poorly received by the British public that it prompted Britain's Sky Sports to stop doing pay-per-view boxing. "I've never been more disappointed in myself as I felt that night," Harrison said of the Haye fight. "Anyone can lose, but I didn't lose with dignity, so I was never going to retire off that performance. I've been sitting on the shelf for 15 months, so I'm grateful for this opportunity. With my right arm now healed, I'll have too much for Ali Adams. I intend to show I still have a future in the game." Said Ali: "Audley is a joke. His fight with Haye was an embarrassment, and he still wants to make a comeback. I will give him such a beating that Audley will see he does not belong in a boxing ring again."

• Russian junior welterweight Ruslan Provodnikov (20-1, 13 KOs), who headlines ESPN2/ESPN3's "Friday Night Fights" on Jan. 27 against David Torres (21-1-1, 13 KOs) at the Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights, Wash., has been training with Freddie Roach at his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif. "I've been working with Ruslan in the gym," Roach said. "I can't be in his corner that night, but he's a great kid and a great prospect, and I plan to work with him in the future." Said Vadim Kornilov, Provodnikov's co-manager: "Ruslan has a lot of respect for Freddie and he thinks Freddie will bring a lot of success to the team. Freddie can't get away to come to the fight -- he's in camp with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. -- but he'll probably send one of his assistants to work Ruslan's corner that night. Ruslan's very happy with the way his preparation has been going, and he's looking forward to working with Freddie again."

• Promoter Lou DiBella's "Broadway Boxing" series returns for a ninth year on Saturday night at Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan. The series has become a staple of the New York boxing scene and the cards are televised on tape delay on regional cable outlet SportsNet New York, but fans around the country can see the shows because SNY is on satellite services. In the season kickoff, Brooklyn junior welterweight Gabriel "Tito" Bracero (18-0, 3 KOs), who has received national exposure on Showtime's "ShoBox," will face former titlist DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley (37-10-1, 22 KOs) in the main event. The card will also feature former cruiserweight title challenger Ran Nakash (25-1, 18 KOs) of Israel and standout featherweight prospect Luis "Orlandito" Del Valle (14-0, 11 KOs) of Puerto Rico.

• Interim super middleweight titlist Brian Magee of Northern Ireland will make his first defense in Copenhagen, Denmark, the hometown of challenger Rudy Markussen (37-2, 24 KOs), on Feb. 18. Markussen hasn't fought in his hometown since 2006, when he suffered a seventh-round knockout loss to Sergey Tatevosyan and then retired for 3½ years. Since returning in mid-2010, Markussen has won four in a row. Magee (35-4-1, 24 KOs) has lost only twice since 2006, both against top 168-pounders. Carl Froch, who would go on to win a world title, stopped him in the 11th round in 2006 in a British and Commonwealth title fight, and world titleholder Lucian Bute stopped Magee in the 10th round in March 2011. In his next fight, Magee claimed an interim belt -- Andre Ward is the real champion -- by outpointing Jaime Barboza in his native Costa Rica in July. "Magee is a tough champion who has proven his class in a lot of battles," Markussen said. "But I am the hardest-hitting fighter at super middleweight, and when Magee finds out about my power, it will be too late for him."

• Quebec super middleweight Adonis Stevenson (16-1, 13 KOs) will meet Jesus Gonzalez (27-1, 14 KOs) of Phoenix on Feb. 18 at the Bell Centre in Montreal in an elimination bout for the IBF's No. 2 rating, moving the winner one step closer to a mandatory shot against titleholder Lucian Bute, promoter Yvon Michel announced. Stevenson is coming off a ninth-round knockout of Aaron Pryor Jr. on Dec. 10. Gonzalez will be coming off a much longer layoff. He hasn't fought since a bloody 12-round decision win in July against Francisco Sierra on "Friday Night Fights."
  
 
^ I see what you're saying, but I was planning on going to Vegas in may and wanted to see Floyd fight. I agree that Macklin has a decent shot at winning but for my own selfish reasons I wish they weren't fighting
 
Originally Posted by Proshares

Originally Posted by mco85

I wish Sergio wasn't fighting Macklin in March, would love to have seen him and Floyd fight instead. Now It looks line Floyd has no one to fight, that's why he has been calling out Pac so much lately. Smart move by Canelo's people to keep him away from Floyd

I don't get this sentiment at all.  Macklin/Martinez is a great fight at 160.  Mackln has a legit shot to win that fight.  In an exciting venue at MSG on St. Patty's Day?  IDK, should be a great fight and I'd much rather see him defend against worthy opponents than kill himself down to 150 to make a payday.

  
QFT

Martinez had a bunch of lesser name (in the US) dudes in the middleweight division that can give him great fights.  Macklin, Pirog and  Sturm all would make great fights with Sergio.
 
Anybody catch the Ramos fight last night? I thought the fight was supposed to happen tonight.

Why would Showtime schedule a title fight on Friday?
 
Originally Posted by maddog345

Anybody catch the Ramos fight last night? I thought the fight was supposed to happen tonight.

Why would Showtime schedule a title fight on Friday?

I saw it Ramos got dropped early in the 1st round lost his confidence and was KO'ed with a body shot in the 6th.
 
Rigo is nasty.  He hasn't been the most entertaining fighter but I think part of that is the opponents.  Cordoba and Ramos wouldn't open up as they seemed to want to counter and/or were afraid of being countered themselves.  Put him in there against a solid come forward opponent and I see him look a lot more spectacular.  He called out Donaire and that's a fight I'd certainly like to see but it would be a high level chess match which is fine by me. 
 
Hopkins/Dawson rematch.

Spoiler [+]
Light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins and former titlist Chad Dawson, who fought to a controversial second-round no-decision last fall, will meet again April 28 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, both camps told ESPN.com on Wednesday.

Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer, Hopkins' promoter, and Gary Shaw, who promotes Dawson, came to terms as they faced a Friday afternoon deadline for a WBC-ordered purse bid in the mandatory fight.

"I have a chance to settle the bull---- from the first fight and straighten that all out," Hopkins said. "A real athlete don't want to win something on a disqualification or a no-decision or get something handed to them without doing the work. I'm ready to go.

[+] Enlarge
Stephen Dunn/Getty ImagesBernard Hopkins, injured in the controversial end of his first fight with Chad Dawson last fall, is eager for the rematch.

"Dawson has a chance to prove to the world what he thinks he can do to me and I have a chance to prove that he's not going to do what he thinks he's going to do."

The first fight, Oct. 15 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, ended in a storm of controversy when it came to a sudden end in the second round.

After Hopkins missed with a right hand, he wound up draped over Dawson's back and Dawson grabbed Hopkins by the leg, lifted him and shoved him down to the canvas. Hopkins landed awkwardly on the edge of the ring, suffering what was later diagnosed as a dislocation of the joint connecting his left shoulder to his collarbone.

Although Hopkins told the ringside doctor and referee Pat Russell while he was on the canvas that he could go on using one arm, the fight was halted. Instead of ruling a no-decision because an unintentional foul had ended the fight, Russell said no foul had been committed and awarded Dawson a TKO victory.

Despite the outcome, the WBC kept Hopkins as its champion and later ordered a rematch. But Hopkins appealed the decision to the California State Athletic Commission and the result was overturned to a no-decision at a hearing on Dec. 13. Russell testified at the hearing and said he made an error.

Schaefer and Shaw said that HBO has agreed to buy the fight and that they are negotiating the specific rights fee.

The first bout was a dismal failure on HBO PPV after the network, which has Hopkins under contract, elected to "flip" the fight to pay-per-view in a budgetary move. HBO paid $3 million for the first fight. Schaefer and Shaw both conceded that the license fee for the rematch would be considerably less.

"Richard and I have made a deal and we have presented the fight to HBO," Shaw said. "We're working on the numbers but I congratulate Hopkins on his willingness to take a fight that a lot of people said he would not take again. As for Chad, he can't wait for the rematch. He believed he was going to beat him in the first fight and he believes he will stop him in this fight."

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Schaefer said he and Shaw have Boardwalk Hall on hold and expect to finalize the deal with HBO shortly.

"We haven't agreed on the number yet, but HBO is would like to do this fight and they told us they are OK with April 28," Schaefer said.

He said they have proposed to HBO that the card be a doubleheader and also include as the opening television bout lightweight titlist Antonio DeMarco, who is promoted by Shaw, against the Golden Boy-promoted Michael Katsidis, a longtime contender who has been in numerous action-packed fights.

Hopkins said his left shoulder feels good and that he will begin to hit the heavy bag in about two weeks.

"The shoulder is good," Hopkins said. "I wouldn't be going in this early to start getting ready if it wasn't."

Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs) is from Philadelphia and Dawson (30-1, 17 KOs), 29, is from New Haven, Conn. When the first fight landed at the Staples Center, where neither fighter had any constituency, it died at the gate. It sold only 3,888 tickets for a gross of just $285,677. It wound up there because the Northeast venues that the promoters looked at were unavailable.

In Atlantic City, the rematch figures to fare much better.

"I think it's a perfect place for the rematch," Schaefer said.

Said Hopkins, in the final bout of his HBO contract: "This is where it should have been the first time."

In May 2011, Hopkins, at age 46, became the oldest fighter in boxing history to win a world championship when he went to Jean Pascal's hometown of Montreal and won a decision in their rematch of a prior draw.

Now, Hopkins, who turned 47 on Jan. 15, is looking to make a historic defense at that age.

"Since 2001, when I was 35 and I beat (Felix) 'Tito' Trinidad (to become undisputed middleweight champion in 2001), I've been hearing I was too old," Hopkins said. "Now it's 12 years later and I'm older, heavier and feel little things I didn't feel 10 years ago, natural things that are supposed to happen to you. But I'm ahead of the game against any 47-year-old who took a punch or never took a punch. I'm in great shape and ready to do this again.

"It's time to correct the first fight and let people get what they paid for, this time not on pay-per-view. They paid for a fight. They didn't come to see a round-and-a-half and then have that ending. It happened. You move on and you go ahead and give the people what they want and I'm pretty sure Dawson thinks the same thing and that he will be overconfident and think I will be easy to beat."

Hopkins pointed out his history of big upsets in Atlantic City, where he beat Antonio Tarver to win the light heavyweight title for the first time in 2006 and defeated Kelly Pavlik in another major upset in 2008.

"Both big fights and I was the underdog," Hopkins said of those upset wins. "I'm going out guns blazing in this fight, trust me. I will pull off my best performance in Atlantic City, and that's saying a lot. I have a history of making history in Atlantic City."

P4P 1-3.

Spoiler [+]
FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR.


Hits: The world wants to see Mayweather fight Manny Pacquiao, and, at long last, Mayweather has put the hard press on to try to make boxing's biggest fight by calling out Pacquiao repeatedly on Twitter, including his classic "Step up punk" quote. It was the most vociferous he has been in saying he wants the fight on May 5, the date Mayweather said he is committed to fighting on before reporting for an 87-day jail sentence on June 1.

Misses: Arguing about the date of a potential fight with Pacquiao is one thing. But Mayweather's apparent demand for more than 50 percent of the pie is ridiculous and a clear deal killer. If Mayweather is truly demanding the lion's share of the money, he knows the fight will never get made and it is akin to his saying he doesn't really want to face Pacquiao. Demanding more than half the money from this bout, when both fighters bring enormous money to the table, is patently absurd. If ever there was a 50-50 fight, this is it. Either do it 50-50 or put your money where your mouth is and do it 45-45 and let the winner take the extra 10 percent.
MANNY PACQUIAO


Hits: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum went to visit Pacquiao in the Philippines armed with a list of four potential opponents to discuss related to Pacquiao's probable June 9 return -- Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez, Lamont Peterson and Timothy Bradley Jr. -- so it was nice to see Pacquiao instead seemingly get serious about making a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., which is the bout the world wants to see. Everything else is a distant second place. Good for Pacquiao for realizing that.

Misses: Although Pacquiao and Arum say they hope to work out a deal with Mayweather, they have put up a lot of obstacles to actually making the match, such as insisting on moving the date three weeks later in May (to Memorial Day weekend and opposite a UFC event) and claiming that the construction of a temporary outdoor facility in Las Vegas for the fight is needed. When will it end?
SERGIO MARTINEZ


Hits: Although he hasn't been able to land a fight with a big-name opponent and has been blatantly ducked by paper titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Martinez will at least face the best available opponent in his next fight on March 17: uncrowned titleholder Matthew Macklin, who was ripped off by the judges in his previous fight, against Felix Sturm. Martinez will face Macklin, an Irishman, on St. Patrick's Day in New York, where the crowd will be heavily pro-Macklin. But Martinez, so professional and poised, probably will be unmoved by it all. He just goes in the ring and gets the job done.

Misses: While Martinez complains that he can't get Chavez to fight him (or Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr., for that matter), he should realize he is doing the same thing to other worthy fighters in his division. For instance, Martinez hasn't looked to titleholders Dmitry Pirog and Gennady Golovkin, who would love a crack at him. It works both ways.

P4P 4-20.

Spoiler [+]
JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ


Hits: Yes, Marquez is now 0-2-1 against Manny Pacquiao after losing a controversial majority decision to him in a Nov. 12 welterweight title bout. But you can easily make the argument that Marquez should be 3-0 in the series after their three terrific fights. Marquez believes he was robbed in each fight and certainly deserves a better record against Pacquiao than he is saddled with, but going winless in the trilogy hasn't hurt his reputation as one of this era's best fighters or tarnished the three-division champion's rÃ[emoji]169[/emoji]sumÃ[emoji]169[/emoji] as a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Misses: A fourth fight with Pacquiao has been one of the possible matches Top Rank's Bob Arum has talked about for Pacquiao's next bout, but it seems unlikely that Marquez will actually get the fight, which he obviously deserves.
ANDRE WARD


Hits: Ward continued his 15-year winning streak, dating back to when he was a 12-year-old amateur, by thoroughly dominating Carl Froch to win a Dec. 17 decision in the final of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic. In fact, Ward dominated every opponent he faced in the tournament. His superb performance against Froch -- made even more impressive by the fact that he suffered a prefight left-hand injury -- allowed him to unify a pair of 168-pound belts and earned him the vacant Ring magazine championship and wide recognition as the best super middleweight on the planet (not to mention ownership of that sweet, pure silver Super Six championship cup). Ward has all the makings of a future No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. He has that much talent and focus.

Misses: It's unfortunate that Ward has downplayed the worthiness of titleholder Lucian Bute as his next possible opponent. The whole reason Showtime signed Bute was to fight the Super Six winner, and now that bout appears unlikely, at least right away. Ward-Bute is obviously the most significant fight in the division and a match that would draw a lot of interest. It should be the fight on the drawing board, but Ward and his team simply aren't interested at this point. It's a shame.
NONITO DONAIRE


Hits: Donaire was a dominant flyweight titleholder, won an interim belt at junior bantamweight, then knocked out Fernando Montiel in spectacular fashion in February to win a pair of bantamweight titles. He then defended them with ease Oct. 22 against previously undefeated junior bantamweight titlist Omar Narvaez. Donaire is taking the next step up the scale by moving to junior featherweight, and he isn't looking for a soft touch. The "Filipino Flash" will face former titlist Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. for a vacant title on Feb. 4 on HBO in what should be a highly entertaining fight against a quality opponent.

Misses: In a perfect world, Donaire would have stuck around at bantamweight for one more fight to face titleholder Abner Mares, who won Showtime's four-man tournament, then beat fellow finalist Joseph Agbeko again in their Dec. 3 rematch. It's a real shame Donaire-Mares didn't happen.
BERNARD HOPKINS


Hits: Hopkins, who turned 47 on Jan. 15, remains one of the best in the business at a time when his inevitable future Hall of Fame contemporaries (such as Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney) have already faded into sad, also-ran status. Despite a style that doesn't always thrill the crowd, Hopkins continues to get the job done against quality, younger opponents.

Misses: There has been some talk of a rematch between Hopkins and Chad Dawson after their aborted two-round no-decision in October. Does anyone really want to see that, though? Don't all raise your hands at once.
WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO


Hits: The best heavyweight on the planet has been a machine since 2004, winning a title in 2006, unifying two belts in 2008, claiming the lineal title in 2009 and further unifying titles in July with his domination of gasbag David Haye. All told, Klitschko has powered through 10 title defenses (winning eight by knockout) and barely lost a round along the way. As dominant as Klitschko has been, here's the scary part: Nobody looks even remotely ready to seriously challenge him.

Misses: Although Klitschko rules the heavyweight roost, he hasn't been as active as he should be because of injuries (shoulder and abdominal tear) and ailments (kidney stones). He fought only once in 2009, fought twice in 2010 (which is typical) and was limited to one fight in 2011. To begin 2012, Klitschko will take on former cruiserweight champ Jean-Marc Mormeck, a 39-year-old who has looked awful in his brief appearances at heavyweight and who has virtually no chance to win.
TIMOTHY BRADLEY JR.


Hits: After a layoff of nearly 10 months after his unification victory against Devon Alexander, Bradley finally returned to action Nov. 12 on the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III HBO PPV undercard. Bradley cruised to victory against Joel Casamayor, dropping him three times en route to an eighth-round knockout victory and setting himself up for a bigger fight in early 2012. By the way, as good as Bradley's dominant decision win against Lamont Peterson looked in late 2009, doesn't it look even better now that Peterson has dethroned titleholder Amir Khan?

Misses: Bradley did nothing to enhance his marketability by facing completely shot Casamayor, who made it an unwatchable fight because of his constant fouling -- then tested positive for marijuana after the fight. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has talked about Bradley as a possible Manny Pacquiao opponent in June, but the performances Bradley has turned in his past two fights -- despite his winning both -- haven't shown he should be mentioned yet for a major fight of that level.
MIGUEL COTTO


Hits: After three years of stewing over his tainted 11th-round TKO loss to villainous Antonio Margarito, who many believe defeated Cotto wearing loaded hand wraps, Cotto got sweet, sweet revenge on Dec. 3 at New York's Madison Square Garden in front of a crowd of more than 20,000 (mostly Cotto's Puerto Rican fans) who cheered wildly for him. Cotto dominated, beat down Margarito and mashed up his bad right eye, which was swollen shut by the time the fight was called off a few seconds into the 10th round. It was the most glorious victory of Cotto's tremendous career.

Misses: What's there to pick on when a guy comes to fight every time out, gives fans their money's worth time and again, and has spent his career regularly facing the best opponents available, all while staying humble? Boxing could use 100 Miguel Cottos.

The next 10

11. Lucian Bute
12. Vitali Klitschko
13. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam
14. Lamont Peterson
15. Amir Khan
16. Yuriorkis Gamboa
17. Chad Dawson
18. Toshiaki Nishioka
19. Chris John
20. Brian Viloria
 
Fights from this past weekend.

Spoiler [+]
Saturday at Philadelphia

Bryant Jennings W10 Maurice Byarm
Heavyweight
Scores: 97-93, 96-94 (twice)
Records: Jennings (12-0, 5 KOs); Byarm (13-1-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Heavyweight contender Eddie Chambers and former titlist Sergei Liakhovich were supposed to hook up in a 10-rounder in the first main event of NBC Sports Network's new "Fight Night" series is it putting on with promoter Main Events. However, Chambers withdrew eight days before the bout with fractured ribs he had suffered a week earlier but did not tell anyone. That left Main Events in a tough spot. It tried to find a suitable replacement for Liakhovich on short notice but that was an impossible task. So to save the show, it turned to two heavyweights who are totally unknown, but were unbeaten and willing to fight. Handed the grand stage of national television, Jennings and Byarm knew this was a chance to make a name for themselves. What they did was turn in a solid heavyweight scrap that made the decision to go with unknowns look like a good one.

Jennings, 27, of Philadelphia, and Byarm, 29, a Philly native living in Washington, had wanted to fight each other anyway in a turf battle, and it was Jennings who came out on top in a nice fight to win the Pennsylvania state title. It was a competitive match, which is exactly what Main Events and promotional partner Russell Peltz wanted for the debut show. But Jennings was a bit more skilled as he landed some solid shots and countered very nicely to maintain general control against Byarm, a southpaw who happens to the son of Lionel Byarm -- the man who lost a six-round decision to Evander Holyfield in Holyfield's professional debut in 1984, on a card that was also promoted by Main Events.

Gabriel Rosado TKO5 Jesus Soto-Karass
Junior middleweight
Records: Rosado (19-5, 11 KOs); Soto-Karass (24-7-2, 16 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Rosado, 26, continued his nice recent run, winning his fifth bout in a row and doing it in front of his hometown fans in Philly. And he'll be a nice footnote as Rosado also won the first bout on the kickoff edition of NBC Sports Net's new "Fight Night" series. Rosado was too big, too strong, too quick and, frankly, looked in a lot better shape than Mexico's Soto-Karass, 29, who dropped to 0-4 with a no contest in his last five bouts and was stopped for the first time in his career. Soto-Karass' previous two losses came against another Philadelphia fighter, welterweight contender Mike Jones; now Soto-Karass was moving up in weight and did not look as if he belonged. Rosado pressured Soto-Karass and nailed him repeatedly with uppercuts and right hands and worked his body. Rosado opened a bloody cut over Soto-Karass' left eye in the third round. Rosado teed off during a dominant fourth round and referee Steve Smoger looked to be very close to stepping in. According to CompuBox statistics, Rosado landed 59 of 102 power shots (58 percent) in the round. That is an absurdly high percentage. In the fifth round, Rosado continued the punishing attack and was teeing off against Soto-Karass, who was not throwing anything back, when Smoger stepped in for a perfectly timed stoppage at 2 minutes, 6 seconds. It was quite an impressive performance for Rosado, who is at the top of his game right now and might be able to parlay this win into something a bit more notable.



Saturday at Ensenada, Mexico

Daniel Ponce De Leon TKO6 Omar Estrella
Featherweight
Records: Ponce De Leon (42-4, 35 KOs); Estrella (15-4-2, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Former junior featherweight titlist Ponce De Leon had a rough 2011, losing both his fights on HBO and in the United States. First, he lost a debatable decision to Adrien Broner at junior lightweight, then a lopsided eighth-round technical decision to Yuriorkis Gamboa at featherweight. But Ponce De Leon, 31, a southpaw from Mexico, returned home, took a step down in competition and took out Estrella, his 24-year-old countryman, for a nice knockout win. But it was not without some struggles: Estrella landed a clean right hand and dropped Ponce De Leon to his backside late in the second round. Ponce De Leon did not appear hurt and began to turn up the heat on Estrella. In the sixth round, Ponce De Leon was hammering Estrella with right-left combinations until Estrella finally crumpled to the canvas near the ropes. He was on all fours as referee Tom Taylor counted him out at 1 minute, 31 seconds. Good rebound victory for Ponce De Leon, who is still a dangerous puncher, despite his limitations against top opponents.

Also on the card, bantamweight Leo Santa Cruz (19-0-1, 11 KOs), 23, a Mexico native living in Southern California and one of Golden Boy's top prospects, scored a fourth-round knockout of Mexico's Alejandro Hernandez (24-9-2, 13 KOs), 25, who lost a decision to Omar Narvaez in a 2008 flyweight title challenge.



Saturday at Liverpool, England

David Price KO1 John McDermott
Heavyweight
Records: Price (12-0, 10 KOs); McDermott (26-8, 17 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The 6-foot-8, 246-pound Price, 28, won a 2008 Olympic bronze medal for England and is one of the top heavyweight prospects in boxing. Since turning pro in early 2009, however, he has moved rather slowly. So he needed to make a statement against McDermott, 31, also of England, who is experienced and probably Price's most notable opponent so far. Although McDermott lost for the fifth time in his last six fights, he had lost to worthy opponents. He lost two apiece to Danny Williams (a former title challenger who also knocked out Mike Tyson) and Tyson Fury, one of England's rising heavyweight contenders. In three of those four losses, McDermott went the distance. In his second fight with Fury in June 2010, he was knocked out in the ninth round. Price, however, made that statement by destroying McDermott (6-3, 271 pounds) in 73 seconds. Price dropped him three times for the rousing victory, which makes mandatory for Fury's British championship. That's a huge fight in England, but Fury probably won't take the challenge and would forfeit the belt. Price looked as good as he ever has, blowing McDermott away. He dropped him with a combination against the ropes 25 seconds into the fight. McDermott did not seem too hurt but he was a few moments later, when Price landed his calling-card right hand and dropped him again. He was shaky and made it to his feet, but Price ended it with the next punch, another right hand that dropped him for the count. Very nice win for Price, whose size, power and amateur credentials make him a big man to keep an eye on.



Saturday at Guadalajara, Mexico

Miguel Vazquez W12 Ameth Diaz
Lightweight
Retains a lightweight title
Scores: 120-107 (twice), 119-108
Records: Vazquez (30-3, 13 KOs); Diaz (30-11, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Vazquez, 25, returned to his hometown to make the third defense of the vacant belt he claimed when he easily outpointed Ji-Hoon Kim in August 2010. Making his mandatory defense against Panama's Diaz, 28, Vazquez gave his fans a lopsided exhibition. Vazquez, a southpaw, totally outboxed Diaz -- who had been knocked out in one round by Kim in a May 2010 title eliminator -- as he rolled to the shutout decision. Diaz won three in a row after that defeat to become Vazquez's mandatory.



Friday at Las Vegas

Guillermo Rigondeaux KO6 Rico Ramos
Junior featherweight
Wins a junior featherweight title
Records: Rigondeaux (9-0, 7 KOs); Ramos (20-1, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Ramos, 24, of Pico Rivera, Calif., claimed a world title in July when he scored a huge knockout of Japan's Akifumi Shimoda in the seventh round to rally from a hopeless-looking deficit on all three scorecards. He had been easily outboxed, but never gave up and found the power. Rigondeaux, 31, was a whole different kettle of fish; Ramos found that out in his first defense, when they met in a long-delayed mandatory bout on a special edition of Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation." Rigondeaux, who lives in Miami, was a two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist and is widely considered one of the greatest amateur boxers ever. He was the clear favorite and did a number on Ramos to join a select group of fighters to win a major world title inside 10 pro fights.

Rigondeaux can do basically whatever he wants, whenever he wants inside the ring. He is so poised, fast and effective in every area of boxing that it is scary. He doesn't always make for exciting fights, one of the knocks on him, because he just does not need to get into a battle. It's sort of the same thing with Floyd Mayweather. Rigondeaux, however, did create some excitement in the first round when he dropped Ramos with a left hand without about 40 seconds left. Ramos was clearly hurt and Rigondeaux nailed him with several additional left hands before the round ended.

While Rigondeaux was in total control, Ramos went into a shell and would not throw many punches. Rigondeaux was not throwing a lot of leather either, but it was a ton compared to Ramos' output. The restless crowd let them know they weren't pleased and began booing. In the sixth round, however, Rigondeaux put Ramos and the viewers out of their misery when he landed five consecutive left hands to force Ramos into a corner. Then a digging left to the body knocked him to the canvas, where referee Joe Cortez counted him out at 1 minute, 29 seconds. It was a horrible performance from Ramos, who was never in the fight for a minute. For Rigondeaux, it was the culmination of what many believed would happen when he finally escaped Cuba and arrived on U.S. shores -- that he would win a world title. The question now is who will promoter Top Rank match him with because, love his style or hate it, Rigondeaux is going to be dangerous against anyone from bantamweight to featherweight. Top Rank, of course, could try to match him with the winner of the Feb. 4 vacant junior featherweight title bout between Nonito Donaire and Wilfredo Vazquez, among other notable fighters it promotes in those weight classes.

Joel Diaz Jr. TKO7 Guy Robb
Junior lightweight
Records: Diaz Jr. (7-0, 6 KOs); Robb (7-1, 3 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: This was an unexpected mini-classic slugfest and the fight of night on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation" tripleheader. They were not even originally meant to be on television, but when middleweight prospect Brandon Gonzalez suffered a hamstring injury and dropped off the card, Diaz, 19, of Palmdale, Calif., and Robb, 22, of Sacramento, Calif., were matched and elevated to television. Turned out to be a great save by matchmaker Tom Brown as they went at it hard and fast in a very exciting shootout. Diaz got knocked down in the second round with a right hand that he never saw and Robb hit the deck twice in the third round as they hammered away at each other. It was all action round after round. There were several momentum swings until the seventh round, when Diaz hurt Robb and was landing a lot of punches, and referee Vic Drakulich stepped in to call it off at 2 minutes, 20 seconds. Diaz was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage as the young prospects saw the seventh round for the first time in their careers.

Matt Villanueva TKO7 Michael Ruiz Jr.
Junior bantamweight
Records: Villanueva (7-0-1, 7 KOs); Ruiz Jr. (8-2-1, 3 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Villanueva, 25, of Burbank, Calif., turned in a strong performance when he got the opportunity for some national television exposure on Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation" in the opening bout of a tripleheader. Coming off a third-round technical draw in June, Villanueva displayed a crowd-pleasing style as he threw a lot of punches against Ruiz, 22, of Fresno, Calif., who dropped his second fight in a row. Villanueva was clearly the heavier puncher, which he showed in the second round when he dropped Ruiz. Villanueva continued to pound him in the third round, but Ruiz is tough. He was determined to hang in there as long as he could, so it's a credit to Villanueva that he could maintain his poise and not get too excited about gunning for a stoppage. He kept chopping the tree down and finally, at 1 minute, 4 seconds of the seventh round, referee Russell Mora stepped in to stop Villanueva's continued assault.
 
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