Don King, on Mike Tyson


"Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter?
He went to prison, not to Princeton."



"To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music
and the dancers hit each other."

Monday, December 8, 2008

Fightnews

Fightnews

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Pacquiao defeats De La Hoya in eight lopsided rounds



Pacquiao defeats De La Hoya in eight lopsided rounds


By J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS — Oscar De La Hoya walked across the ring at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night and uttered the most poignant words of his career:
"You were right, Freddie," he said to Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao's trainer, "I just don't have it anymore."

Roach trained De La Hoya for one fight, and that was a decision loss last year to Floyd Mayweather Jr. The two bantered back and forth before this bout, with De La Hoya saying that it was Roach's strategy — not himself — that was at fault for the Mayweather loss.

After eight of the most one-sided rounds in De La Hoya's 16-year career, Pacquiao accomplished what elite welterweights Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley and Mayweather could not. He stopped De La Hoya.

And he did it by coming up from the featherweight and lightweight divisions (122-135 pounds) to dominate De La Hoya at 147. In modern boxing history, what Pacquiao did — he started his career at 106 — is unprecedented.

"I knew right away in the first round. I controlled the fight right away," Pacquiao said. "I was able to defend against his jab and I was able to move around."

Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) did it all. The southpaw landed his right jab at will, and every variety of punches imaginable. By the second round, De La Hoya's face was blood red. Then the Filipino started attacking his body with great success.

"Oscar was in good condition but he couldn't control the southpaw stance or Manny's style," said Nacho Beristain, in his first fight as De La Hoya's trainer. "He just didn't seem to have the strength to stop him."

Story of the Fight

Pacquiao TKO's Oscar De La Hoya

If Pacquiao wins, get ready for Pacquiao versus Hatton in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

When they announce the outcome of Saturday night's fight at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, no matter whose name is called, the winner will be Hatton. "I guess we might all be finding ourselves in Hatton Wonderland pretty soon," said Richard Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions and partner of the company president, De La Hoya.

There had been talk of De La Hoya retiring after Saturday's fight, but that seems increasingly unlikely, especially if he wins. So when Schaefer waxes eloquently over the quality and quantity of Hatton fans and says things such as, "Oscar and Hatton in Wembley Stadium, 100,000 fans, maybe break an attendance record -- now that would be a mega event," you know it's more than daydreaming.

Bob Arum, another huge player in the sport and Pacquiao's promoter at Top Rank, sees the next big thing differently.

"You can't do Wembley," he said. "That makes absolutely no sense.

"I just got back from Dubai. It's like Fantasyland. Huge, new, spectacular buildings everywhere.

"Think of Pacquiao-Hatton. There is a large Filipino population in Dubai, and the biggest tourism comes from England. Because I'm Pacquiao's promoter, I got recognized as much there as Michael Jordan would in the States."

So, apparently, what happens in Las Vegas won't be staying there after Saturday.

Friday, December 5, 2008

The Price of a Thrilling Fight

Vazquez recovering

Huntington Park's super-bantamweight world champion, Israel Vazquez, says he has undergone three surgeries to repair a detached retina in his right eye he suffered in his thrilling third fight against Rafael Marquez in March.

Vazquez underwent the latest surgery in August. He said the eye "should be OK" for him to fight Marquez in the spring. For now, he said his sight in the eye is "like looking through a bag filled with water.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

From: Gordon Wright
Date: 12/3/2008 2:00:49 PM
To: 'bob lewis'
Subject: RE: Big Fight


Very insightful, Bob… engaging comments.



G






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: bob lewis [mailto:buddhha@shaw.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 4:27 PM
To: Gordon Wright
Cc: Paul Mitchell
Subject: RE: Big Fight



Manny's trainer Freddy Roach thinks he sees some weakness in Oscar that Manny can exploit. Speed and youth versus aging fighter who can't pull the trigger. Oscar's response time has slowed. By the time Oscar's brain sends the message to punch, Manny will have moved away. This happens to older fighters. Hopkins just showed us that an older fighter who has lived a very clean life and is a master boxer can overcome the youth gap. Bernard had too many dimensions for Kelly Pavlik.



Oscar is just plain bigger and stronger and a great fighter in top shape. Manny might look much better at first but Oscar's size and punching will slow Manny down and Oscar should be able to dominate and KO the smaller guy.



-------Original Message-------



From: Gordon Wright

Date: 12/3/2008 6:34:48 AM

To: 'bob lewis'

Subject: RE: Big Fight



That’s perceptive Bob, and I think you are right. So, the question is, why is Manny fighting Oscar, other than for the money?



G




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fl
Subject: Big Fight

Just showed Oscar and Manny training again. I go with the old adage that a good big guy beats a good small guy. Manny turned pro at 105 pounds so fighting Oscar at 147 is a quantum leap for the human body. Oscar has fought at middleweight and looks really comfortable at 154. He will probably be 160 on fight night and Manny will be lighter probably than the 147 limit. He is going to need to be wearing deep- sea-diver boots at the weigh in to make it up to 147 pounds!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

We will hear lots of good things and see great fights involving Williams and Arreola.

Chris Arreola is one tough guy who beat a puncher named Travis Walker. Arreola prevailed in a slugfest and knocked Walker out with a short left hook.

Paul Williams fought a technically perfect fight against a great fighter in Verno Phillips, wearing Verno down with terrific body punches.

Great Card of Boxing


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Williams, Arreola Speak!

November 30, 2008

By Edgar Gonzalez / Photos: Big Joe Miranda


Paul "The Punisher" Williams (36-1, 26 KOs) scored an eight round TKO over 39-year-old three-time champion Verno Phillips (42-11-1, 21 KOs) to claim the vacant WBO interim 154lb title on Saturday night at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.

After Phillips received numerous punches with no response, the ring doctor stopped the bout after eight rounds due to the punishment administered by Williams.

“I came to fight, I have been doing this since 1988 I think two more fights and I am done,” stated Phillips. “It’s been over 20 years since anyone stopped me at the stool.”

Paul Williams, with blood dripping over his right eye since the first round due to an unintentional clash of heads, still dominated the fight.

“He is a tough guy, but I had to be in control,” said the former welterweight king. “I hope you enjoyed my performance, I am willing to fight anyone.” Promoter Dan Goossen interrupted “We wanted to fight Margarito, we offered four million dollars and Bob Arum turned it down.”

During the post fight conference, copies of the offer made to Top Rank by Goossen Tutor Promotions to face Paul Williams were distributed.

“Now Margarito has agreed to fight Shane Mosley for close to two million dollars, less than the offer to challenge Williams,” said Dan Goossen. “For the betterment of our sport, the fans, the networks and especially the fighters, our sport needs to have the best fighting the best.”

Dated August 05, 2008 a response from Top Rank to Goossen Tutor Boxing stated:

“after the terrible experience I was subjected to by Paul Williams, his camp, and advisor in connection with a Pavlik fight, I have absolutely no intention whatsoever to be involved in any fight with Mr. Williams. Accordingly your proposal is in all respect rejected and I would request that you do not contact me again regarding Mr. Williams.” Signed by Bob Arum.

“The question remains,” stated Goossen “do you believe Bob did the right thing to turn down our four million dollar offer and now leaving millions on the table to fight an opponent ten years older than Williams and not considered to be in his prime?”

In an IBF eliminator for the #2 position, unbeaten heavyweight Cristobal Arreola (26-0, 23 KOs) scored a comeback third round TKO over Travis Walker (28-2-1, 22 KOs).

“I love to fight, I am willing to fight 4-5 times a year,” said Arreola. “I didn’t throw a whole lot of punches in the first round because I wanted to see how he fights and how hard he hits.”

“ I was trying to find his weak points,” Arreola continued by saying, “he freaking hits hard, I had to take a knee, but I regained and came back. I am willing to fight anyone; I am willing to fly to Germany to take on Klitschko, I am ready.” The bout was for the NABF and WBC Continental Americas belts.

The press conference ended with Paul Williams saying he might be back early May. He was then taken away as a plastic surgeon was waiting for him.

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Sunday, November 23, 2008

Ann Wolf's fighter James Kirkland in Fight News




Kirkland stops Vera in absolute slugfest




"The televised co-feature bout of the evening featured two heavy-handed boxers in a scheduled 10-round middleweight contest. With a combined 31 knockouts in 40 fights between the two of them, Fort Worth’s Brian Vera took on favored fellow Texan James Kirkland of Austin."

I watched on T.S.N. and thought Kirkland is a one handed fight but hits very hard. Vera is very tough but could not take Kirkland's terrific shots to the body. Vera's face was like a catcher's mitt absorbing Kirkland's best punches.

Jack

Saturday, November 15, 2008

David Haye

Haye destroys Barrett!
Barrett knocked down 5 times in bout
Former unified cruiserweight champion David Haye (22-1, 21 KOs), was impressive in his first bout as a full time heavyweight, over two-time world title challenger and division gatekeeper Monte Barrett (34-7, 20 KOs) on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London. Haye showed star potential as he spectacularly dropped Barrett twice in round three, and twice again in the fourth. The round five Barrett was deducted a point for hitting Haye when Haye was on the deck after slipping, but moments later Haye floored Barrett again and referee Richie Davies ended it. Time was 1:28. One interested spectator looking on was current WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Teddy Atlas and Russ Amber have taught me lots.




The guy in the picture is Stanley Ketchel who was an oldtime champion. Watching newsreels of his fights demonstrate the changes in techniques and training methods in our modern era of boxing.













Emile Griffith, who turned professional in 1958 and fought frequently in New York City, is best remembered for his televised third fight against Benny "the Kid" Paret on March 24, 1962. Fighting for the welterweight title, Paret and Griffith boxed a close fight until round twelve, when Griffith knocked Paret unconscious, yet stood, still propped up against the ropes. The referee failed to stop the fight, and Griffith struck Paret thirteen more times. Paret never regained consciousness, and he died nine days later. I saw this fight as a young boy. This says to you that I have watched many fights over the years.

Ring Magazine was my Bible of Boxing for many years. Now I learn lots watching fights on television. My favorite commentators Teddy and Russ. There are numerous good sports writers following the fights today. We took a big loss losing George Plimpton and Norman Mailer who were both rabid fans and great writing about boxing.

They are great talking in the film about "The Rumble in the Jungle"....When We Were Kings!