Official 2013 Boxing Thread: 5/18 Peterson/Matthysse + Alexander/Purdy Showtime. Mosley/Cano...

MAY



May 2


At Corona, Calif. (ESPN2/ESPN Deportes): Mauricio Herrera vs. Ji-Hoon Kim, 10 rounds, junior welterweights; Miguel Acosta vs. Miguel Gonzalez, 10 rounds, lightweights




May 3


At Las Vegas (Fox Deportes/FSN): Francisco Vargas vs. Jose Aguiniga, 10 rounds, junior lightweights; Anthony Dirrell vs. TBA, 8 rounds, super middleweights; Errol Spence Jr. vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior middleweights; Joseph Diaz vs. Eric Gotay, 6 rounds, junior featherweights; Anthony Orozco vs. Jose Reynoso, 8 rounds, junior welterweights; Brandon Bennett vs. TBA, 8 rounds, junior lightweights; Carlos Velasquez vs. Giorgi Mtchedlishvili, 6 rounds, junior lightweights; Dominic Breazeale vs. TBA, 6 rounds, heavyweights; Jose Gonzalez vs. Alex Chavez, 4 rounds, junior featherweights



At Srisaket, Thailand: Yota Sato vs. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, 12 rounds, for Sato's WBC junior bantamweight title; Suriyan Sor Rungvisai vs. Edison Berwala, 6 rounds, junior bantamweights; Yodchanchai Nakornluang vs. Pansak Sor Ratidech, 6 rounds, bantamweights; Nawaphon Por Chokchai vs. Michael Rodriguez, 6 rounds, flyweights; Chaiyong Sithsaithong vs. Jen Yu Jia, 6 rounds, junior lightweights



At Aruba: Hector Camacho Jr. vs. Arturo Crespin, 10 rounds, junior middleweights



At Accra, Ghana: Albert Mensah vs. Ben Odamettey, 12 rounds, welterweights; Helen Joseph vs. TBA, 10 rounds, female featherweights




May 4


At Las Vegas (Showtime PPV): Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero, 12 rounds, for Mayweather's WBC welterweight title; Daniel Ponce De Leon vs. Abner Mares, 12 rounds, for Ponce De Leon's WBC featherweight title; Leo Santa Cruz vs. Alexander Munoz, 10 rounds, junior featherweights; J'Leon Love vs. Gabriel Rosado, 10 rounds, middleweights; Ronald Gavril vs. Roberto Yong, 4 rounds, super middleweights; Badou Jack vs. Michael Gbenga, 8 rounds, light heavyweights; Luis Arias vs. Donyil Livingston, 6 rounds, super middleweights; Lanell Bellows vs. Matthew Garretson, 4 rounds, super middleweights



At Mannheim, Germany (Epix and EpixHD.com): Wladimir Klitschko vs. Francesco Pianeta, 12 rounds, for Klitschko's IBF/WBO/WBA heavyweight title; Mike Perez vs. Travis Walker, 10 rounds, heavyweights; Christina Hammer vs. Zita Zatyko, 10 rounds, female super middleweights; Michael Wallisch vs. Tomaz Mrazek, 8 rounds, heavyweights; Hizni Altunkaya vs. Gyuli Bozai, 6 rounds, cruiserweights; Moritz Stahl vs. TBA, 4 or 6 rounds, super middleweights



At New York: Juan Dominguez vs. TBA, 10 rounds, junior featherweights; Frank Galarza vs. Jason Thompson, 8 rounds, junior middleweights; Joe Smith Jr. vs. Hamid Abdul-Mateen, 8 rounds, light heavyweights; Angel Garcia vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior lightweights; Bryant Cruz vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior lightweights; Allan Phelan vs. Jonathan Caban, 4 rounds, featherweights; Ryan Ramayya vs. Daniel Hernandez, 4 rounds, junior featherweights; Shawn Cameron vs. Jose Angel Ortiz, 4 rounds, junior middleweights; Vanessa Greco vs. TBA, 4 rounds, female junior bantamweights




May 6


At Tokyo: Takashi Uchiyama vs. Jaider Parra, 12 rounds, for Uchiyama's WBA junior lightweight title; Kohei Kono vs. Liborio Solis, 12 rounds, for Kono's WBA junior bantamweight title




May 8


At Osaka, Japan: Kazuto Ioka vs. Wisanu Kokietgym, 12 rounds, for Ioka's WBA "regular" junior flyweight title; Ryo Miyazaki vs. Carlos Velarde, 12 rounds, for Miyazaki's WBA junior flyweight title




May 10


At Detroit (ESPN2/ESPN Deportes): Vernon Paris vs. Manuel Perez, 10 rounds, junior welterweights; Joel Diaz vs. Cornelius Lock, 10 rounds, featherweights



At Miami, Okla. (Showtime): Dierry Jean vs. Cleotis Pendarvis, 12 rounds, IBF junior welterweight eliminator; John Thompson vs. Geovanny Rodriguez, 8 rounds, middleweights




May 11


At Laredo, Texas (UniMas): Vic Darchinyan vs. Javier Gallo, 10 rounds, junior featherweights; Oscar Valdez vs. TBA, 4 rounds, featherweights



At Glasgow, Scotland: Ricky Burns vs. Jose Gonzalez, 12 rounds, for Burns' WBO lightweight title; John Simpson vs. Choi Tseveenpurev, 12 rounds, junior lightweights; Stephen Simmons vs. Michael Sweeney, 10 rounds, cruiserweights



At Doncaster, England: Jamie McDonnell vs. Julio Ceja, 12 rounds, for vacant IBF bantamweight title



At Huntington, N.Y.: Vinny Maddalone vs. Richard Carmack, 10 rounds, heavyweights; Alan Gotay vs. Bryan Acaba, 6 rounds, lightweights; Anthony Karperis vs. Carlos Nieves, 4 rounds, junior welterweights; Dave Meloni vs. Soumana Abdoulaye, 4 rounds, featherweights; Carlos Lopez vs. Marcus Beckford, 4 rounds, middleweights; Yathomas Riley vs. Lionell Thomson, 8 rounds, light heavyweights



At Albuquerque, N.M.: Holly Holm vs. Mary McGee, 10 rounds, female junior welterweights




May 15


At New York: Lamar Russ vs. TBA, 8 rounds, middleweights; Tor Hamer vs. TBA, 8 rounds, heavyweights; Delen Parsley vs. TBA, 8 rounds, middleweights; Neuky Santalesis vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior lightweights; Louis Cruz vs. TBA, 4 rounds, lightweights; Angel Suarez vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior lightweights; Jay Rodriguez vs. TBA, 4 rounds, cruiserweights; Eduardo Alicea vs. TBA, 4 rounds, middleweights




May 17


At Gatineau, Canada (WealthTV): James DeGale vs, TBA, 12 rounds, super middleweights



At Moscow: Alexander Povetkin vs. Andrzej Wawrzyk, 12 rounds, for Povetkin's WBA "regular" heavyweight title; Denis Lebedev vs. Guillermo Jones, 12 rounds, for Lebedev's WBA cruiserweight title



Lincoln, R.I.: Vladine Biosse vs. Latif Mundy, 8 rounds, super middleweights; Shelito Vincent vs. Christina Ruiz, 8 rounds, female bantamweights; Joe Gardner vs. Alex Amparo, rematch, 6 rounds, super middleweights; Maceo Crowder vs. Paul Gonsalves, 4 rounds, super middleweights; Jon Smith vs. Oscar Diaz, 4 rounds, welterweights; Kevin Cobbs vs. TBA, 4 rounds, light heavyweights; Noemi Bosques vs. TBA, 4 rounds, female flyweights; Jesse Barboza vs. TBA, 4 rounds, heavyweights; Thomas Falowo vs. TBA, 4 rounds, middleweights




May 18


At Atlantic City, N.J. (Showtime): Lamont Peterson vs. Lucas Matthysse, 12 rounds, welterweights; Devon Alexander vs. Lee Purdy, 12 rounds, for Alexander's IBF welterweight title; Shawn Porter vs. Phil LoGreco, 10 rounds, welterweights; Anthony Ogogo vs. TBA, 4 rounds, middleweights



At Cancun, Mexico (Fox Deportes): Shane Mosley vs. Pablo Cesar Cano, 12 rounds, welterweights; Sergio Thompson vs. TBA, 10 or 12 rounds, junior lightweights; Roberto Manzanarez vs. Oscar Arena, 10 rounds, lightweights



At Trujillo, Puerto Rico (UniMas): Gamalier Rodriguez vs. Alicio Castaneda, 10 rounds, featherweights; Felix Verdejo vs. Corben Page, 6 rounds, junior lightweights; John Karl Sosa vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior welterweights; Bernard Lebron vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior welterweights



At Legionowo, Poland: Krzysztof Zimnoch vs. Oliver McCall, 8 rounds, heavyweights



At London: "Prizefighter: Cruiserweights III: One-night tournament (all bouts 3 rounds, draw TBA), Wadi Camacho, Nathan Owens, Shane McPhilbin, Hari Miles, Conall Carmichael, Tony Conquest, Neil Dawson, Danny McIntosh




May 24


At Uncasville, Conn. (ESPN2/ESPN Deportes): Delvin Rodriguez vs. Freddy Hernandez, 10 rounds, junior middleweights; Issouf Kinda vs. Chris Howard, 10 rounds, junior welterweights; Michael Moore vs. Doel Carrasquillo, 8 rounds, junior middleweights; Constantin Bejenaru vs. Excell Holmes, 4 rounds, heavyweights; Alexander Juarez vs. TBA, 4 rounds, junior middleweights



At Walsall, England: Ameth Diaz vs. Martin Gethin, 12 rounds, IBF lightweight eliminator




May 25


At Montreal (HBO): Jean Pascal vs. Lucian Bute, 12 rounds, light heavyweights; Eleider Alvaraez vs. TBA, 12 rounds, light heavyweights; Kevin Bizier vs. TBA, 8 rounds, welterweights; Sebastien Gauthier vs. TBA, 8 rounds, bantamweights



At London (HBO): Mikkel Kessler vs. Carl Froch, rematch, 12 rounds, WBA/IBF super middleweight unification; George Groves vs. Noe Gonzalez Alcoba, 12 rounds, super middleweights; Tony Bellew vs. Isaac Chilemba, rematch, 12 rounds, WBC light heavyweight eliminator



At Zihuatanejo, Mexico: Juan Carlos Sanchez vs. Roberto Sosa, 12 rounds, for Sanchez's IBF junior bantamweight title



At Buenos Aires, Argentina: Omar Narvaez vs. Daniel Rosas, 12 rounds, for Narvaez's WBO junior bantamweight title

Yes, 2012 is in the books, but beyond last week’s daily annual awards for fighter, knockout, round, prospect and fight of the year, here is part 1 of some additional awards:

Trainer of the year: This was a slam dunk: Robert Garcia had a huge year as head trainer for fighter of the year Nonito Donaire, who moved up in weight, won two junior featherweight belts and went 4-0 against four quality opponents. But Garcia had more going for him than just Donaire. He also trains Brandon Rios, who was in tremendous shape for his ultra-exciting knockout win against Mike Alvarado in the fight of the year runner-up (after being massively weight drained for a gift decision against Richard Abril in April), and younger brother Mikey Garcia, who stayed undefeated and will challenge for a featherweight world title against Orlando Salido on HBO on Jan. 19. Garcia also took over as trainer for former junior welterweight titlist Marcos Maidana, who is 2-0 with Garcia after a switching to him after a loss, and continues to work with former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, who won his three 2012 fights, albeit against lesser opposition.

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Manager of the year: I’m calling a tie between Cameron Dunkin and Frank Espinoza, who compete for talent and even used to work closely with each other. Both did extremely well in 2012, moving their fighters and generating career paydays for them without the benefits the networks give Al Haymon because of his relationship with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Dunkin is a candidate year in and year out, but had a particularly strong 2012. He was a major factor in getting fighter of the year Donaire on HBO four times for the biggest purses of his career. Although Timothy Bradley Jr. fought only once, Dunkin was a big part of getting him a fight with Manny Pacquiao for a career-high payday of $5 million. Dunkin also guides the careers of Rios, Garcia and Pavlik, among others. One thing about Dunkin: He’ll fight for his clients with the same passion that they do in the ring.

Espinoza guided Abner Mares to a junior featherweight world title (after he moved up from bantamweight) and Daniel Ponce De Leon to a featherweight title. He also got Carlos Molina, a decent lightweight prospect, a career payday against Amir Khan and signed talented two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez to a stable that also includes other prospects.

Upset of the year: There were several surprising results but I thought Sonny Boy Jaro’s sixth-round destruction of future Hall of Famer Pongsaklek Wonjongkam on the road in Thailand to win a flyweight title was as shocking as any outcome in recent years. Wonjongkam was not what he was at his best during his first reign (2001 to 2007, with a division-record 17 defenses) but he had reclaimed the title and had made four defenses before meeting Jaro, a journeyman from the Philippines. Jaro dropped him in the first and fourth rounds and twice more in the sixth to take the title and hand Wonjongkam only his second loss since 1996.


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Josesito Lopez broke Victor Ortiz's jaw in a great and surprising fight this past year.There were a slew of other upsets too, including: Josesito Lopez, in his “Rocky moment,” breaking Victor Ortiz’s jaw and stopping him after nine rounds; Mario Rodriguez’s knockout of Nkosinathi Joyi in the seventh round to claim a strawweight title; Austin Trout outpointing Miguel Cotto in his house at Madison Square Garden to retain a junior middleweight belt; heavyweight Johnathon Banks drilling Seth Mitchell in the second round; journeyman Gamaliel Diaz outpointing Takahiro Ao in Japan to win a junior lightweight belt; Danny Garcia rallying for a fourth-round knockout of Amir Khan to unify junior welterweight belts; Carl Froch’s fifth-round knockout of then undefeated Lucian Bute to win a super middleweight title; Paulie Malignaggi going to Ukraine and not only handing Vyacheslav Senchenko his first loss, but doing so by TKO to win a welterweight belt; light heavyweight Denis Grachev’s stunning eighth-round rally to knock out heavily touted Ismayl Sillakh.

Worst stoppage of the year: If you follow boxing you know that former cruiserweight titlist Enzo Maccarinelli has a glass chin. But his second-round stoppage loss to Ovill McKenzie in a Commonwealth light heavyweight title bout in November had nothing to do with his chin and everything to do with incompetent referee Ian John-Lewis, who stopped the fight because of, well, absolutely nothing.

Robbery of the year: Hands down, Pacquiao-Bradley. Judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross were on another planet with their scores that gave Bradley a spit decision. Then Ford made himself look even more foolish when he told HBO’s Jim Lampley that Bradley had given Pacquiao a “boxing lesson.” Somebody should give him a judging lesson.

Worst fights of the year: 1. As I fully expected, lightweight titlist Miguel Vazquez’s defense against Mercito Gesta was putrid and stunk up the Marquez-Pacquiao undercard. 2. Devon Alexander’s welterweight title win against Randall Bailey also stunk out loud. How bad? CompuBox has tracked punch statistics for 27 years covering thousands of fights. Bailey landed just 45 of 198 punches, the fewest ever landed in a 12-round fight that CompuBox has tracked. 3. The fight between Sergiy Dzinziruk and Jonathan Gonzalez (who showed up nine pounds overweight for what was supposed to be a junior middleweight fight) was agony. It was ruled a draw. Nobody won, not either fighter and certainly not the HBO viewers.


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Returning to boxing after beating cancer was a great accomplishment for middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs.Comeback of the year I: Middleweight Daniel Jacobs, the 2009 ESPN.com prospect of the year, made a triumphant return in October after being idle for 19 months because of a battle with cancer that nearly killed him. Forget about boxing, Jacobs was lucky to be alive, so when he fought in his hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y., and knocked out Josh Luteran in the first round it was quite emotional.

Comeback of the year II: Yeah, Ricky Hatton got knocked out by Senchenko but how can you not be impressed by what Hatton did? The former junior welterweight champ came back 3½ years after being severely knocked out by Pacquiao and a descent into depression, drug and alcohol abuse, significant weight gain and multiple suicide attempts. But he got his life together, got in great shape mentally and physically and was winning before getting caught by a ninth-round body shot. Hatton retired again, but fought well and looked like he could still contend if he wanted to fight on.

Yes, 2012 is in the books, but beyond last week's daily annual awards for fighter, knockout, round, prospect and fight of the year, I handed out some additional hardware on Wednesday. And now, here is Part 2:

Most important business development: The return of boxing to network television. Boxing was essentially banished from network TV in the late 1990s, with a few exceptions. But in back-to-back weeks in December, it returned to Saturday afternoons on CBS (Leo Santa Cruz versus Alberto Guevara in a bantamweight title fight) and NBC (Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham in a heavyweight rematch) thanks to the hard work of promoters Golden Boy and Main Events, respectively. Both cards performed very well in the ratings, meaning you can probably count on seeing more network action in 2013 and, hopefully, beyond. Boxing on free TV can be a game-changer for the sport.

Event of the year: Begrudgingly, I'm going with the night of Sept. 15 in Las Vegas. I was very clear from the outset that I despised the idea of two major cards competing in the same city on the same night when Top Rank/HBO PPV and Showtime/Golden Boy went head-to-head with Sergio Martinez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at the Thomas & Mack Center and Canelo Alvarez-Josesito Lopez down the street at the MGM Grand on Mexican Independence Day weekend. It caused a lot of unnecessary issues and a lot of hurt feelings for a lot of people in the business. But ultimately the fans turned out for both events. The HBO PPV was a huge success, Showtime's ratings were robust, and both cards produced quality entertainment. That said, I hope we don't see another conflict like that this year. (But I won't hold my breath.)

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Non-event of the year: Same as the past few years -- a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. And now the whole thing is down the drain after Pacquiao's knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez last month. Only in boxing could the ego, greed and stupidity of some of those involved blow up one of the biggest potential events in history. Even if the fight does happen someday, it will never be what it should have been -- easily the biggest money fight ever and the ultimate summit meeting of the two best fighters on the planet. But that ship has sailed for what will instead go down as one of the most disappointing situations in sports history. No matter what happens from here on out, there will always be a gaping hole in the legacies of both fighters.

OMG moment of the year: Has to be Marquez's stunning one-punch KO against Pacquiao with one second left in the sixth round. I thought at that point in the fight that Pacquiao was closing in on his own stoppage win, and then all of a sudden ... boom! Runner-up: Chavez dropping Martinez in the final 90 seconds of what had been a one-sided Martinez domination. Both moments were electrifying.

Best experience of the year: Thanks to my side gig as an analyst for Epix boxing telecasts, I traveled to Nottingham, England, Carl Froch's hometown, to call his upset knockout win against Lucian Bute in May. It was my first trip to England and one of the best experiences of my career covering boxing. Working with fellow announcers Bruce Beck, Sugar Ray Leonard, Chris Mannix and our whole crew on the show was a pleasure, and riding around Nottingham (on the other side of the road for the first time) as executive producer/driver Travis Pomposello navigated more roundabouts than any road system should have was quite an experience. I still regret that I was unable to convince Travis to stop at the Porsche dealership we kept passing, but at least the atmosphere on fight night was incredible. I rate it No. 2 on my all-time list behind the atmosphere at the MGM Grand for Mayweather-Ricky Hatton.



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Hector "Macho" Camacho passed away in 2012 after being shot in Puerto Rico.R.I.P.: 2012 was a particularly tough year in terms of losses in the boxing community, including the great Angelo Dundee, good pal Bert Sugar, Johnny Tapia, Hector Camacho Sr., Goody Petronelli, Carmen Basilio, Julio Gonzalez and Corrie Sanders. They will all be missed. But the passing of Emanuel Steward, a dear friend and a wonderful ambassador for the sport, was particularly hard to take.

Misery award: The 2012 U.S. Olympic men's boxing team, which didn't win a single medal for the first time ever. This is rock-bottom status for a U.S. amateur system that has been driven into the ground for years. Runners-up (tie): HBO buying Keith Thurman-Orlando Lora and Showtime buying Jayson Velez-Salvador Sanchez II. Neither had any business airing on premium cable.

Quickest rise of the year: Leo Santa Cruz went from a prospect known only among hard-core fans (he was on my 2011 year-end top prospects list) to one of the sport's most notable young talents. He went 5-0, won a bantamweight world title, became a Showtime regular, headlined the return of boxing to CBS and, most important, made one action-packed fight after another.

Shame on you award: We have four winners, Lamont Peterson, Andre Berto, Antonio Tarver and Erik Morales, all of whom were busted for using banned substances. Performance-enhancing drugs are a major problem in boxing, and commissions badly need to beef up testing. Three of these fighters were caught by either VADA or USADA, which were contracted for specific fights outside of commission oversight. Only Tarver's test came from a postfight California commission test. Amazingly, after Morales failed multiple tests, New York still allowed him to fight.

Welcome award I: The beautiful new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., which opened for boxing in October, is a welcome addition to the fight circuit. Golden Boy will promote there regularly and already has cards slated for February, March and April.

Welcome award II: WealthTV, the upstart cable network, is in very few homes, but every boxing fan should be calling their cable or satellite provider to ask for it. WealthTV showed a number of notable fights, including those involving Bute, 2012 ESPN.com prospect of the year David Price, Tyson Fury and Adonis Stevenson. And in the programming move of the year, when the premium networks wrongly ignored it, WealthTV smartly bought a fabulous November card featuring two fights that wound up rating as fight of the year candidates: the Brian Viloria-Hernan Marquez flyweight unification match (which we all knew would be a barn burner) and the Roman Gonzalez-Juan Francisco Estrada junior flyweight title fight, which was a pleasant surprise.



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Miguel Cotto was the heavy favorite but he was outboxed by Austin Trout for 12 rounds at Madison Square Garden in December.Bad luck runs in threes award: Three of the most important fighters in recent boxing history suffered clear-cut losses on consecutive Saturdays: Hatton got knocked out Nov. 24, Miguel Cotto lost a decision to Austin Trout on Dec. 1, and Pacquiao got drilled on Dec. 8.

Winky Wright School of Boxing Business valedictorian: Congratulations, junior middleweight contender James Kirkland. Forget about the fact that he nearly ruined his life and career a couple of years ago when he was sent back to prison for getting caught with a gun as a convicted felon on parole. Forget that he got waxed in one round in a comeback fight by an opponent who usually can't break an egg. In March, Kirkland was given the gift of a 10th-round disqualification win against Carlos Molina, who was winning easily before the highly suspect DQ. So when Golden Boy then offered him nearly $1 million to challenge titlist Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 15, Kirkland should have kissed CEO Richard Schaefer's feet in thanks. Instead, he accepted the fight but dropped out the next day, citing a shoulder injury that he said still hadn't healed after surgery. But Kirkland also tried to shake down Golden Boy for a larger purse to go through with the fight with a bad shoulder. Needless to say, the promoter didn't offer him another dime, instead making a new fight for Alvarez. Kirkland hasn't fought since March and is suing Golden Boy and his managers, who have done nothing but bend over backward to give him opportunities.

There’s more good news for boxing fans: the return of live Saturday afternoon boxing to NBC was a hit.

In ratings released by the network on Wednesday -- they were later than usual because of the holidays -- the Main Events card headlined by the rematch between heavyweights Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham on Dec. 22 did a 1.2 rating and a 3 share.

The 2-hour telecast averaged 1.6 million viewers and peaked at 2.2 rating and 3.2 million average viewers, quite an impressive showing considering its lead-in was snowboarding, which did a 0.5 rating. Another positive for the boxing telecast: the audience steadily grew throughout the show.

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NBC also said the show had an “audience reach” of 3.9 million. It defines “audience reach” as any viewer who watched at least six minutes of the program.

The only network sports program to do a better rating on Dec. 22 was the Kansas-Ohio State college basketball game (1.4) on CBS, which aired opposite the fight card.

“We are pleased with the rating of the show on Dec. 22 and the overall performance of the ‘Fight Night’ series in its first year,” said Gary Quinn, senior director of programming for the NBC Sports Group.
NBC was so pleased with the performance that Quinn said there would be “at least” one more show on the network this year. NBC Sports Net, NBC’s all-sports cable channel, televises the “Fight Night” series, but as part of the renewal of its deal with Main Events, the Dec. 22 show went on NBC.

“We are very happy,” said Main Events promoter Kathy Duva.

She should be. She and her staff worked their rear ends off promoting the card and it paid off with strong viewership. It turned out to be a heck of a fight too, although Adamek won a highly suspect split decision.

It was the second consecutive week with a strong performance for boxing on network television, which had not had regular boxing since the 1990s. On Dec. 15, boxing returned to CBS for the first time in 15 years for a fight between bantamweight titlist Leo Santa Cruz and Alberto Guevara, and it generated a 1.3 rating, a 3 share and had about 1.5 million households tuning in. It also had a far superior lead-in with an overtime NCAA basketball game between then-No. 1 Indiana and unranked Butler.

CBS was happy with the ratings for its fight and now we have NBC also very pleased with boxing’s performance. That bodes well for more network boxing, which is huge for the long-term health of the sport.

LOS ANGELES -- Manny Pacquiao could return to action in September, in a card to be held during Mexico's Independence Day weekend, and all signs point to a fifth fight against Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez.


"He's indicated he will fight again. Bob (Arum) has indicated (that it would be) September," said Fred Sternburg, spokesman for Top Rank, Arum's promotion company. "Between the suspension and the election and campaign in Philippines, we think we can do it."


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Manny Pacquiao, left, and Juan Manuel Marquez fought Dec. 8, and promotion company Top Rank is already talking about a fifth bout between them.

Pacquiao was knocked out by Marquez in the sixth round of their December fight in Las Vegas. The Nevada Boxing Commission suspended the Philippine fighter afterward as dictated by its rules.


Sternburg said a fifth fight could be on the horizon for the fighters, saying that after the economic success of their Dec. 8 card it would be the logical move for Arum's company, as well as both athletes.


"I think they can do it. Bob has stated it over and over. The fight did so well financially, it is a no-brainer," Sternburg said.


Marquez's representative, Fernando Beltran, told ESPNDeportes.com in Mexico City that they would be willing to take a fifth fight with Pacquiao. He also denied reports that Pacquiao had any early symptoms of Parkinson's disease.


"Logically, we will find what's most lucrative for him, in order to be an important fight," Beltran said. "Juan Manuel Marquez and myself are gentlemen and we know that Pacquiao gave us an opportunity, and he didn't have to, and most probably we will give it to him."


Pacquiao has been in the public eye since the Marquez fight. Friends and family members repeatedly have asked him to retire after back-to-back defeats -- the first one against Timothy Bradley Jr. in September and then the stunning KO against Marquez. Pacquiao was unconscious for a few minutes after the fight was stopped.



Sternburg said Arum will take Pacquiao to the Lou Ruvo Center of the Las Vegas Cleveland Clinic for further exams to make sure he's fine even before the multiple former champion makes a call on his future. The clinic specializes in brain health, including diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's.


"They will examine him as a precaution," Sternburg said.


Pacquiao has not issued any statements because he is in Israel, according to Sternburg.

Junior welterweight titlist Lamont Peterson will return to the ring for the first time in 14 months to make his mandatory defense against former titleholder Kendall Holt on Feb. 22 in the main event of an ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" card, promoter Gary Shaw told ESPN.com.


The fight, agreed to on Friday, will take place at the Washington, D.C., Armory in Peterson's hometown. ESPN confirmed the fight will take place.


Shaw, Holt's promoter, won an IBF purse bid last month for the right to promote the fight with an offer of $50,000. But he said he is partnering with Barry Hunter, Peterson's manager/trainer and father figure, to put the fight on in Washington.


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Under the terms of the bid, Peterson would earn $37,500 (75 percent of the winning bid), with Holt slated to make $12,500 (the remaining 25 percent), but Shaw said both fighters would make more.


"I've been talking to Barry all along trying to work this out. We went to a purse bid so we could protect the fight and make sure we had time to get it all worked out," Shaw said. "Barry and I are partners and we're gonna split up the money and make our own deals with the fighters. Kendall will make more than $12,500 and Lamont will make more than $37,500."


Besides the license fee from ESPN, the fight figures to generate a mid-six-figure gate in Washington, where Peterson drew more than 8,000 fans in December 2011, when he won two world titles from Amir Khan by controversial split decision in an action-packed fight at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.


Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs), who will turn 29 on Jan. 24, has not fought since. He was scheduled to face Khan for a seven-figure purse in a rematch on May 19, but tested positive for synthetic testosterone, a banned substance, in a random pre-fight urine test performed by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. During negotiations for the fight, Peterson asked Khan to participate in VADA's strict random testing leading up to the fight.


The positive test forced the rematch with Khan to be canceled and eventually cost Peterson one of his sanctioning organization belts, which was stripped. But the IBF allowed him to keep its version of the 140-pound title and ordered him to face mandatory challenger Zab Judah. But when Judah, a former titlist, elected to take a fight against Danny Garcia, another titleholder in the weight class, Peterson was ordered to face Holt, the next leading available contender.


"I think it's a wonderful fight for Kendall," Shaw said. "These are two fighters who are both going to come to win. I don't think the fight is going to go to a decision. Kendall can really punch. I've always believed he was the biggest puncher in the 140-pound division. And I have a lot of respect for Lamont Peterson. Look what he did to Khan. At the end of the day, he won the fight.


"Stylistically, I think it will be a terrific fight. Neither guy will back down from each other."


Holt (28-5, 16 KOs), 31, of Paterson, N.J., held a version of the junior welterweight title from 2008 to '09. He won it in July 2008 with a violent first-round knockout of Ricardo Torres in a rematch of a Holt loss. After winning a split decision against Demetrius Hopkins in his first defense in December 2008, Holt lost his belt by unanimous decision to Timothy Bradley Jr. in an April 2009 unification fight, even though Holt scored two knockdowns.


Holt is just 3-3 in his past six fights, including the loss to Bradley and a decision loss to Garcia in a title eliminator. But Holt is coming off a strong performance in a second-round knockout of Tim Coleman in March.


The signed contracts for Peterson-Holt were due back to the IBF by Friday, but because Hunter had a death in his family, Shaw said the organization was allowing him until early next week to return a signed contract for the bout.

Hunter could not be reached for comment.