2011 Official Boxing Thread: 12/30 Jermain Taylor + Andre Dirrell return on ShoBox.

[thacapt]

@danrafaelespn Dan Rafael
Been told Jorge Linares begins training with Freddie Roach on Tuesday at Wild Card. #boxing

Good stuff.

I think it's time for a Linares-Broner fight.

 

[proshares]

Originally Posted by thacapt

Originally Posted by ShaunHillFTW49

^Definitely possible. See proshares and Ortiz

Damn, forgot about pro and ortiz...

No comment.

  

 my hate towards the kid has softened lately.  It just got amplified by him telling everyone Maidana never knocked him down and never knocked him out

.

Wrap-up.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler [+]

Spoiler

[h4]Saturday at Hamburg, Germany[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Wladimir Klitschko W12 David Haye​

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Heavyweight
Unifies three heavyweight titles
Scores: 118-108, 117-109, 116-110
Records: Klitschko (56-3, 49 KOs); Haye (25-2, 23 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: As a cruiserweight, England's Haye, 30, was a legitimate champion. At heavyweight, he has been nothing more than an overrated, loudmouthed paper titleholder whose bark turned out to be all he had -- because there was no bite. After spending most of the past three years calling out Wladimir Klitschko and his older brother, fellow titleholder Vitali, insulting them at every turn and disrespecting them time and again, Haye finally got in the ring after twice pulling out on them. He had bailed on a signed fight with Wladimir in 2009, citing an injury nobody believed, and then later in the year agreed to fight Vitali but signed to fight Nikolai Valuev for his belt instead. Finally, however, Haye showed up in the ring to fight Wladimir in a much-anticipated bout, mostly because of Haye's outrageous boasts about how he was going to brutally destroy Klitschko and send him to the hospital.

Instead, he was a toothless tiger, who did nothing to remotely back up his talk. Klitschko, with three inches and 30 pounds on him -- not to mention being better than Haye in every aspect of boxing, with the exception perhaps being speed -- took him apart. He jabbed, threw left hooks and right hands and moved forward throughout the fight. But Haye, who accused Klitschko of being boring, ran away the entire fight and turned in one of the most awful big-fight performances in history. Before the bout, HBO's Larry Merchant nailed it when said of Haye, "He's blown the trumpet. Now, will he charge?" The answer was a resounding no. Haye was the boring one because he refused to engage. He seemed utterly petrified to taste Klitschko's tremendous power. He was defensive and rarely let his hands go, connecting on a pathetic 72 of an even more pathetic 290 punches (which means he threw an average of just 24 punches per round). Klitschko, meanwhile, stalked him and landed 134 of 509 blows, according to CompuBox statistics.

What Haye seemed to do more than punch was look for help from referee Geno Rodriguez and flop to the mat because of phantom pushes. After a few flops, Rodriguez bought the con job and docked a point from Klitschko for pushing Haye down in the seventh round. In the 11th round, with Haye already out of it on the scorecards, he flopped again. This time, Rodriguez was hip to Haye's act and ruled it a knockdown. It was one of the more inventive makeup calls from a referee you'll ever see.

Klitschko, 35, racked up round after round as he rolled to the lopsided decision, unifying three of the major belts and leaving no doubt that he is clearly the No. 1 heavyweight in the world. The only fighter even close is Vitali, and the brothers and best friends have, for obvious reasons, vowed never to fight each other. Complain about Klitschko's style all you want, but it's damn effective. There is nobody to even give him a challenge right now as he moved to 10-0 with eight knockouts during this, his second title reign. He is 17-2 with 14 knockouts overall in world title bouts and hasn't been in a remotely competitive fight since his first fight with Samuel Peter in 2005.

Haye's excuse for the putrid performance was a broken pinkie toe on his right foot that he supposedly suffered three weeks before the fight. The jokes to be made here are endless. But let's take Haye at his word and believe he really was injured. Still, to hear him blame his loss on a three-week-old small toe injury was laughable. Think about Arturo Gatti fighting through horrible cuts and busted hands. Think about Tomasz Adamek fighting a blood-soaked war with Paul Briggs despite having broken his nose a couple of weeks before the fight. The list of true warriors is endless. Haye simply got his butt whipped by a better, bigger, smarter, more talented fighter and had to have an alibi for his woeful performance. So he blamed it on the toe, which he eagerly showed off after the fight. (Frankly, it only looked a little swollen.) The toe excuse is destined to go down among the all-time best excuses in sports. Haye put himself in this position. He was in a (toe?) jam here because, had he pulled out because of the injury, he would have been a laughingstock for ducking the Klitschkos for a third time. So he went through with the fight, got routed and then made up excuses that made him a laughingstock anyway. All the while, the classy Klitschko, a native of Ukraine who has fought mostly in Germany, added yet another notch on his surefire first-ballot Hall of Fame résumé. Who's next?
[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]

Ola Afolabi KO1 Terry Dunstan​

[/th][/tr][tr][td]

Cruiserweight

Records: Afolabi (17-2-3, 8 KOs); Dunstan (24-4, 14 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Afolabi, 31, of England, has become a staple of the Klitschko brothers' undercards since signing with their promotional company K2. Fighting in the co-feature of Wladimir Klitschko's lopsided win against David Haye, it was Afolabi -- one of Wladimir's sparring partners -- who turned in the knockout of the night, not the heavyweights. Afolabi, who briefly held an interim title, had lost a competitive decision to Marco Huck in a world title bout in December 2009. But he won his third in a row since the defeat. It was a massive knockout, too. Afolabi peppered Dunstan with some hard shots in the opening round, but nothing compared to when he dropped the hammer -- a huge and flush right hand to the jaw that sent Dunstan's mouthpiece flying and dropped him like a sack of rocks. Referee Stanley Christodoulou, who could have counted to 100, called it off at 2 minutes, 40 seconds. It was a tremendous knockout for Afolabi, who is a very good fighter. Dunstan, 42, of England, is a former European champion, but he was out of the ring from 1999 until returning in 2008, in part because of a five-year prison sentence. He had won the first six fights of his comeback until running into Afolabi's big right hand that separated him from his senses.
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[h4]Saturday at Hermosillo, Mexico[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Hernan "Tyson" Marquez TKO3 Edrin Dapudong​

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Flyweight
Retains a flyweight title
Records: Marquez (31-2, 24 KOs); Dapudong (22-4, 13 KOs), ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: On April 2, Mexico's Marquez traveled to Panama and stopped hometown hero Luis Concepcion in the 11th round of a brutal, all-time slugfest that is a clear fight of the year front-runner. It was an epic battle that featured multiple knockdowns and all kinds of wild swings of momentum until Marquez finished the fading Concepcion. Making his first defense since that memorable fight, Marquez was back home in Mexico to headline "Top Rank Live" against Dapudong, 25, of the Philippines, who took the fight on just two weeks' notice and then had a long trip to make to the fight site. He had very little to offer Marquez, who rolled through him with ease. Marquez peppered him with punches and gave him angles, so Dapudong never seemed to know what was coming at him. In the third round, they went toe-to-toe but Marquez was getting the better of the action, landing body shots and head shots with both hands. Finally, he landed a crisp straight left hand that dropped Dapudong. The challenger beat the count but didn't respond well to the questions of referee Raul Caiz Jr., who stopped the bout at 1 minute, 49 seconds. Thankfully, we got to see most of the fight on a replay because Top Rank's production was horrible, sending us to commercials from roughly the beginning of the fight until a few seconds before the knockout. The taped fight was shown later on the broadcast, but this is getting old. The production is so poor week in and week out. During the previous show, headlined by Mike Jones, a huge chunk of the telecast was botched because of some production issue. Get it straight, please.
[/td][/tr][/table]


[h4]Saturday at Mendoza, Argentina[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Jonathan Barros W12 Celestino Caballero​

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Featherweight
Retains a featherweight title
Scores: 116-111, 114-112 Barros, 115-111 Caballero
Records: Barros (33-1-1, 18 KOs); Caballero (34-4, 23 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Caballero, 35, of Panama, was coming off a hideous loss to Jason Litzau in a junior lightweight bout on HBO in November. Caballero, the former unified junior featherweight titlist and featherweight contender, was frustrated by his inability to land a meaningful fight at featherweight, so he moved up to face Litzau under the bright HBO lights. But Caballero showed up in bad condition and unfocused, and was whipped by the one-dimensional Litzau, who authored one of 2010's biggest upsets. In his first bout since, Caballero got a mandatory shot at Barros and his flimsy paper title (one of those excessive WBA belts for which there are multiple ones in the same division). He went to Panama against the advice of some of his handlers, including co-promoter Lou DiBella, and suffered a highly controversial decision loss -- something nobody should be all that shocked by given the history of that happening to fighters going to their foe's hometown. Making his second defense, Barros, 27, had a tough night, despite what two of the judges had to say in giving him the fight by split decision. Caballero, who towered over Barros, dropped him with a sneaky right uppercut in the first round and appeared to get the better of him for most of the fight. In the ninth round, Caballero, with trainer Jeff Mayweather in his corner, dropped Barros for the second time, sending him to his knees with an awkward right hand for a flash knockdown. Caballero did a good job throughout the fight of countering Barros, who tried to bull him constantly, with little success. Not sure what those two judges were watching. Even the broadcasters on Argentina's TyC had Caballero winning 115-112. Frankly, it could have been even wider. A bitter pill to swallow for Caballero, who looked much better than he did in the legitimate loss to Litzau.
[/td][/tr][/table]


[h4]Friday at San Antonio, Texas[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Sebastian Lujan KO9 Mark Melligen​

[/th][/tr][tr][td]

Welterweight
Records: Lujan (38-5-2, 24 KOs); Melligen (21-3, 14 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Melligen, 25, of the Philippines, was supposed to fight fringe contender Freddy Hernandez, but Hernandez dropped out of the fight about a week ahead of time because of a cut suffered in sparring. So in came Argentina's Lujan, 31, on short notice. Frankly, the substitute fight was a better fight on paper than the original one for the ESPN2/ESPN3 "Friday Night Fights" main event. Lujan, who lost a welterweight title bout to Antonio Margarito in 2005 and a junior middleweight title fight to Sergiy Dzinziruk in 2006, is a solid contender. He abused Melligen to win his 12th consecutive fight, dating to 2007. Melligen got off to a nice start, outboxing Lujan for the first several rounds, but then Lujan, who enjoyed taunting Melligen by dropping his hands and shaking his head at him when he got hit, really got going. In an all-action brawl, Lujan's strength and chin took over. He walked through Melligen's punches and dropped him in the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds before finally putting him away with another knockdown at 45 seconds of the ninth round.
[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]

Mickey Bey TKO4 Alejandro Rodriguez​

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Lightweight
Records: Bey (17-0-1, 9 KOs); Rodriguez (12-4, 6 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: In February, Bey, 28, of Cleveland, was lucky to escape with an eight-round draw against Jose Hernandez on the Nonito Donaire-Fernando Montiel undercard. In his first fight since, Bey looked much, much better. With Floyd Mayweather Sr. in his corner as his trainer, Bey had his way with Rodriguez. He was quicker, stronger and tagged him throughout the fight. But he hit him ultra-hard in the fourth round, when he clocked Rodriguez with a flush right hand to the side of the face. Rodriguez dropped to his knees and looked like he was in a daze. He made it to his feet at eight and referee Mark Calo-Oy allowed the fight to go on, but after Rodriguez took a couple of steps, he fell to his knees again and into the ropes, clearly still a mess from taking that right hand. Calo-Oy immediately waved it off at 2 minutes, 10 seconds, giving Bey (a 2004 U.S. Olympian who didn't compete in Athens because he came down with pneumonia) the knockout win. Rodriguez, 23, of Mexico, dropped his third fight in a row, including his second in a row by knockout.
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[h4]Friday at Indio, Calif.[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Frankie Gomez KO4 Khadafi Proctor​

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Junior welterweight
Records: Gomez (10-0, 8 KOs); Proctor (7-6-1, 2 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

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Rafael's remark: Gomez, the 19-year-old East Los Angeles product, is one of Golden Boy's most heavily hyped prospects. As an amateur, Gomez was superb, turning pro last year after winning a 2009 U.S. national amateur title and silver medal at the world championships. Gomez would have been a heavy medal favorite in the 2012 Olympics, but he decided to get a head start on his pro career. Golden Boy, which has a big investment in Gomez, has not, however, been overly pleased with his work ethic and increasing weight. It was the cause for a sitdown meeting with him and his team earlier this year -- a little bit of tough love. Gomez seems to have responded, as he came in at 137¾ pounds -- the lightest so far in his pro career -- for this main event on Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate." Gomez was aggressive and accurate with his shots against Proctor, 26, of Hesperia, Calif., steadily breaking him down throughout the fight. Gomez dropped Proctor with a left hand in the third round and finished him at 2 minutes, 25 seconds of the fourth round after sending him staggering into the ropes with a right and a left and then connecting with another right and left that forced referee Eddie Hernandez to step in. Proctor's three-fight winning streak came to an end.
[/td][/tr][/table]


[h4]Saturday at San Luis Potosi, Mexico[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Edgar Sosa KO1 Julio Paz​

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Flyweight
Records: Sosa (43-6, 26 KOs); Julio Paz (12-2, 4 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

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Rafael's remark: With Sosa positioned for a mandatory shot at titlist Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, there was no way Sosa and his team were going to do anything to jeopardize his position. That's why, in this final tuneup before the title shot, they brought in Paz, 28, of Uruguay, a virtual no-hoper, to compete with Sosa, a well-respected former junior flyweight titlist and legitimate top flyweight contender. Paz's opponents had a combined record of 35-72-6 before he faced Sosa, who took him out quickly. He rocked Paz with an overhand right to the temple that immediately sent Paz reeling into the ropes. Another right hand followed and Paz dropped to his knees. He made it to his feet slowly and didn't look as though he wanted to go on as his corner threw in the towel, prompting referee Rocky Burke to stop the bout a few seconds after the round would have ended (you can't be saved by the bell). Sosa, 31, of Mexico, won his sixth in a row since losing his junior flyweight title to Rodel Mayol in November 2009 on a controversial second-round knockout that came just after a bad head-butt.
[/td][/tr][/table]


[h4]Friday at Hatyai, Thailand[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam W12 Takuya Kogawa​

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Flyweight
Retains a flyweight title
Scores: 118-110, 117-111, 116-112
Records: Wonjongkam (81-3-1, 44 KOs); Kogawa (17-2, 10 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Wonjongkam, 33, the Thai legend, is supposed to face Edgar Sosa in a mandatory defense, but each man was allowed to take an interim bout before their showdown. They both fought and won on the same weekend, with Wonjongkam taking a clear decision in a spirited battle against Kogawa, 26, of Japan, whose 12-fight winning streak dating to 2006 came to an end. Wonjongkam just keeps winning. He made 17 defenses in his first historic reign, from 2001 to 2007. He regained the belt in 2010 and made his second defense against Kogawa. Next up will be the long-awaited bout with Sosa, although the specifics of when and where are not worked out yet because it could be a tough negotiation or wind up at a purse bid, with Wonjongkam's team wanting to bring the fight to Thailand and Sosa hoping to make him travel to Mexico.
[/td][/tr][/table]

 

[proshares]

Originally Posted by thacapt

Originally Posted by ShaunHillFTW49

^Definitely possible. See proshares and Ortiz

Damn, forgot about pro and ortiz...

No comment.

  

 my hate towards the kid has softened lately.  It just got amplified by him telling everyone Maidana never knocked him down and never knocked him out

.

Wrap-up.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler [+]

Spoiler

[h4]Saturday at Hamburg, Germany[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Wladimir Klitschko W12 David Haye​

[/th][/tr][tr][td]

Heavyweight
Unifies three heavyweight titles
Scores: 118-108, 117-109, 116-110
Records: Klitschko (56-3, 49 KOs); Haye (25-2, 23 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: As a cruiserweight, England's Haye, 30, was a legitimate champion. At heavyweight, he has been nothing more than an overrated, loudmouthed paper titleholder whose bark turned out to be all he had -- because there was no bite. After spending most of the past three years calling out Wladimir Klitschko and his older brother, fellow titleholder Vitali, insulting them at every turn and disrespecting them time and again, Haye finally got in the ring after twice pulling out on them. He had bailed on a signed fight with Wladimir in 2009, citing an injury nobody believed, and then later in the year agreed to fight Vitali but signed to fight Nikolai Valuev for his belt instead. Finally, however, Haye showed up in the ring to fight Wladimir in a much-anticipated bout, mostly because of Haye's outrageous boasts about how he was going to brutally destroy Klitschko and send him to the hospital.

Instead, he was a toothless tiger, who did nothing to remotely back up his talk. Klitschko, with three inches and 30 pounds on him -- not to mention being better than Haye in every aspect of boxing, with the exception perhaps being speed -- took him apart. He jabbed, threw left hooks and right hands and moved forward throughout the fight. But Haye, who accused Klitschko of being boring, ran away the entire fight and turned in one of the most awful big-fight performances in history. Before the bout, HBO's Larry Merchant nailed it when said of Haye, "He's blown the trumpet. Now, will he charge?" The answer was a resounding no. Haye was the boring one because he refused to engage. He seemed utterly petrified to taste Klitschko's tremendous power. He was defensive and rarely let his hands go, connecting on a pathetic 72 of an even more pathetic 290 punches (which means he threw an average of just 24 punches per round). Klitschko, meanwhile, stalked him and landed 134 of 509 blows, according to CompuBox statistics.

What Haye seemed to do more than punch was look for help from referee Geno Rodriguez and flop to the mat because of phantom pushes. After a few flops, Rodriguez bought the con job and docked a point from Klitschko for pushing Haye down in the seventh round. In the 11th round, with Haye already out of it on the scorecards, he flopped again. This time, Rodriguez was hip to Haye's act and ruled it a knockdown. It was one of the more inventive makeup calls from a referee you'll ever see.

Klitschko, 35, racked up round after round as he rolled to the lopsided decision, unifying three of the major belts and leaving no doubt that he is clearly the No. 1 heavyweight in the world. The only fighter even close is Vitali, and the brothers and best friends have, for obvious reasons, vowed never to fight each other. Complain about Klitschko's style all you want, but it's damn effective. There is nobody to even give him a challenge right now as he moved to 10-0 with eight knockouts during this, his second title reign. He is 17-2 with 14 knockouts overall in world title bouts and hasn't been in a remotely competitive fight since his first fight with Samuel Peter in 2005.

Haye's excuse for the putrid performance was a broken pinkie toe on his right foot that he supposedly suffered three weeks before the fight. The jokes to be made here are endless. But let's take Haye at his word and believe he really was injured. Still, to hear him blame his loss on a three-week-old small toe injury was laughable. Think about Arturo Gatti fighting through horrible cuts and busted hands. Think about Tomasz Adamek fighting a blood-soaked war with Paul Briggs despite having broken his nose a couple of weeks before the fight. The list of true warriors is endless. Haye simply got his butt whipped by a better, bigger, smarter, more talented fighter and had to have an alibi for his woeful performance. So he blamed it on the toe, which he eagerly showed off after the fight. (Frankly, it only looked a little swollen.) The toe excuse is destined to go down among the all-time best excuses in sports. Haye put himself in this position. He was in a (toe?) jam here because, had he pulled out because of the injury, he would have been a laughingstock for ducking the Klitschkos for a third time. So he went through with the fight, got routed and then made up excuses that made him a laughingstock anyway. All the while, the classy Klitschko, a native of Ukraine who has fought mostly in Germany, added yet another notch on his surefire first-ballot Hall of Fame résumé. Who's next?
[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]

Ola Afolabi KO1 Terry Dunstan​

[/th][/tr][tr][td]

Cruiserweight

Records: Afolabi (17-2-3, 8 KOs); Dunstan (24-4, 14 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Afolabi, 31, of England, has become a staple of the Klitschko brothers' undercards since signing with their promotional company K2. Fighting in the co-feature of Wladimir Klitschko's lopsided win against David Haye, it was Afolabi -- one of Wladimir's sparring partners -- who turned in the knockout of the night, not the heavyweights. Afolabi, who briefly held an interim title, had lost a competitive decision to Marco Huck in a world title bout in December 2009. But he won his third in a row since the defeat. It was a massive knockout, too. Afolabi peppered Dunstan with some hard shots in the opening round, but nothing compared to when he dropped the hammer -- a huge and flush right hand to the jaw that sent Dunstan's mouthpiece flying and dropped him like a sack of rocks. Referee Stanley Christodoulou, who could have counted to 100, called it off at 2 minutes, 40 seconds. It was a tremendous knockout for Afolabi, who is a very good fighter. Dunstan, 42, of England, is a former European champion, but he was out of the ring from 1999 until returning in 2008, in part because of a five-year prison sentence. He had won the first six fights of his comeback until running into Afolabi's big right hand that separated him from his senses.
[/td][/tr][/table]


[h4]Saturday at Hermosillo, Mexico[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Hernan "Tyson" Marquez TKO3 Edrin Dapudong​

[/th][/tr][tr][td]

Flyweight
Retains a flyweight title
Records: Marquez (31-2, 24 KOs); Dapudong (22-4, 13 KOs), ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: On April 2, Mexico's Marquez traveled to Panama and stopped hometown hero Luis Concepcion in the 11th round of a brutal, all-time slugfest that is a clear fight of the year front-runner. It was an epic battle that featured multiple knockdowns and all kinds of wild swings of momentum until Marquez finished the fading Concepcion. Making his first defense since that memorable fight, Marquez was back home in Mexico to headline "Top Rank Live" against Dapudong, 25, of the Philippines, who took the fight on just two weeks' notice and then had a long trip to make to the fight site. He had very little to offer Marquez, who rolled through him with ease. Marquez peppered him with punches and gave him angles, so Dapudong never seemed to know what was coming at him. In the third round, they went toe-to-toe but Marquez was getting the better of the action, landing body shots and head shots with both hands. Finally, he landed a crisp straight left hand that dropped Dapudong. The challenger beat the count but didn't respond well to the questions of referee Raul Caiz Jr., who stopped the bout at 1 minute, 49 seconds. Thankfully, we got to see most of the fight on a replay because Top Rank's production was horrible, sending us to commercials from roughly the beginning of the fight until a few seconds before the knockout. The taped fight was shown later on the broadcast, but this is getting old. The production is so poor week in and week out. During the previous show, headlined by Mike Jones, a huge chunk of the telecast was botched because of some production issue. Get it straight, please.
[/td][/tr][/table]


[h4]Saturday at Mendoza, Argentina[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Jonathan Barros W12 Celestino Caballero​

[/th][/tr][tr][td]

Featherweight
Retains a featherweight title
Scores: 116-111, 114-112 Barros, 115-111 Caballero
Records: Barros (33-1-1, 18 KOs); Caballero (34-4, 23 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Caballero, 35, of Panama, was coming off a hideous loss to Jason Litzau in a junior lightweight bout on HBO in November. Caballero, the former unified junior featherweight titlist and featherweight contender, was frustrated by his inability to land a meaningful fight at featherweight, so he moved up to face Litzau under the bright HBO lights. But Caballero showed up in bad condition and unfocused, and was whipped by the one-dimensional Litzau, who authored one of 2010's biggest upsets. In his first bout since, Caballero got a mandatory shot at Barros and his flimsy paper title (one of those excessive WBA belts for which there are multiple ones in the same division). He went to Panama against the advice of some of his handlers, including co-promoter Lou DiBella, and suffered a highly controversial decision loss -- something nobody should be all that shocked by given the history of that happening to fighters going to their foe's hometown. Making his second defense, Barros, 27, had a tough night, despite what two of the judges had to say in giving him the fight by split decision. Caballero, who towered over Barros, dropped him with a sneaky right uppercut in the first round and appeared to get the better of him for most of the fight. In the ninth round, Caballero, with trainer Jeff Mayweather in his corner, dropped Barros for the second time, sending him to his knees with an awkward right hand for a flash knockdown. Caballero did a good job throughout the fight of countering Barros, who tried to bull him constantly, with little success. Not sure what those two judges were watching. Even the broadcasters on Argentina's TyC had Caballero winning 115-112. Frankly, it could have been even wider. A bitter pill to swallow for Caballero, who looked much better than he did in the legitimate loss to Litzau.
[/td][/tr][/table]


[h4]Friday at San Antonio, Texas[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Sebastian Lujan KO9 Mark Melligen​

[/th][/tr][tr][td]

Welterweight
Records: Lujan (38-5-2, 24 KOs); Melligen (21-3, 14 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Melligen, 25, of the Philippines, was supposed to fight fringe contender Freddy Hernandez, but Hernandez dropped out of the fight about a week ahead of time because of a cut suffered in sparring. So in came Argentina's Lujan, 31, on short notice. Frankly, the substitute fight was a better fight on paper than the original one for the ESPN2/ESPN3 "Friday Night Fights" main event. Lujan, who lost a welterweight title bout to Antonio Margarito in 2005 and a junior middleweight title fight to Sergiy Dzinziruk in 2006, is a solid contender. He abused Melligen to win his 12th consecutive fight, dating to 2007. Melligen got off to a nice start, outboxing Lujan for the first several rounds, but then Lujan, who enjoyed taunting Melligen by dropping his hands and shaking his head at him when he got hit, really got going. In an all-action brawl, Lujan's strength and chin took over. He walked through Melligen's punches and dropped him in the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds before finally putting him away with another knockdown at 45 seconds of the ninth round.
[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]

Mickey Bey TKO4 Alejandro Rodriguez​

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Lightweight
Records: Bey (17-0-1, 9 KOs); Rodriguez (12-4, 6 KOs) ​

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​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: In February, Bey, 28, of Cleveland, was lucky to escape with an eight-round draw against Jose Hernandez on the Nonito Donaire-Fernando Montiel undercard. In his first fight since, Bey looked much, much better. With Floyd Mayweather Sr. in his corner as his trainer, Bey had his way with Rodriguez. He was quicker, stronger and tagged him throughout the fight. But he hit him ultra-hard in the fourth round, when he clocked Rodriguez with a flush right hand to the side of the face. Rodriguez dropped to his knees and looked like he was in a daze. He made it to his feet at eight and referee Mark Calo-Oy allowed the fight to go on, but after Rodriguez took a couple of steps, he fell to his knees again and into the ropes, clearly still a mess from taking that right hand. Calo-Oy immediately waved it off at 2 minutes, 10 seconds, giving Bey (a 2004 U.S. Olympian who didn't compete in Athens because he came down with pneumonia) the knockout win. Rodriguez, 23, of Mexico, dropped his third fight in a row, including his second in a row by knockout.
[/td][/tr][/table]


[h4]Friday at Indio, Calif.[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Frankie Gomez KO4 Khadafi Proctor​

[/th][/tr][tr][td]

Junior welterweight
Records: Gomez (10-0, 8 KOs); Proctor (7-6-1, 2 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Gomez, the 19-year-old East Los Angeles product, is one of Golden Boy's most heavily hyped prospects. As an amateur, Gomez was superb, turning pro last year after winning a 2009 U.S. national amateur title and silver medal at the world championships. Gomez would have been a heavy medal favorite in the 2012 Olympics, but he decided to get a head start on his pro career. Golden Boy, which has a big investment in Gomez, has not, however, been overly pleased with his work ethic and increasing weight. It was the cause for a sitdown meeting with him and his team earlier this year -- a little bit of tough love. Gomez seems to have responded, as he came in at 137¾ pounds -- the lightest so far in his pro career -- for this main event on Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate." Gomez was aggressive and accurate with his shots against Proctor, 26, of Hesperia, Calif., steadily breaking him down throughout the fight. Gomez dropped Proctor with a left hand in the third round and finished him at 2 minutes, 25 seconds of the fourth round after sending him staggering into the ropes with a right and a left and then connecting with another right and left that forced referee Eddie Hernandez to step in. Proctor's three-fight winning streak came to an end.
[/td][/tr][/table]


[h4]Saturday at San Luis Potosi, Mexico[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Edgar Sosa KO1 Julio Paz​

[/th][/tr][tr][td]

Flyweight
Records: Sosa (43-6, 26 KOs); Julio Paz (12-2, 4 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: With Sosa positioned for a mandatory shot at titlist Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, there was no way Sosa and his team were going to do anything to jeopardize his position. That's why, in this final tuneup before the title shot, they brought in Paz, 28, of Uruguay, a virtual no-hoper, to compete with Sosa, a well-respected former junior flyweight titlist and legitimate top flyweight contender. Paz's opponents had a combined record of 35-72-6 before he faced Sosa, who took him out quickly. He rocked Paz with an overhand right to the temple that immediately sent Paz reeling into the ropes. Another right hand followed and Paz dropped to his knees. He made it to his feet slowly and didn't look as though he wanted to go on as his corner threw in the towel, prompting referee Rocky Burke to stop the bout a few seconds after the round would have ended (you can't be saved by the bell). Sosa, 31, of Mexico, won his sixth in a row since losing his junior flyweight title to Rodel Mayol in November 2009 on a controversial second-round knockout that came just after a bad head-butt.
[/td][/tr][/table]


[h4]Friday at Hatyai, Thailand[/h4]
[table][tr][th=""]

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam W12 Takuya Kogawa​

[/th][/tr][tr][td]

Flyweight
Retains a flyweight title
Scores: 118-110, 117-111, 116-112
Records: Wonjongkam (81-3-1, 44 KOs); Kogawa (17-2, 10 KOs) ​

[/td]

​

[/tr][tr][td]
Rafael's remark: Wonjongkam, 33, the Thai legend, is supposed to face Edgar Sosa in a mandatory defense, but each man was allowed to take an interim bout before their showdown. They both fought and won on the same weekend, with Wonjongkam taking a clear decision in a spirited battle against Kogawa, 26, of Japan, whose 12-fight winning streak dating to 2006 came to an end. Wonjongkam just keeps winning. He made 17 defenses in his first historic reign, from 2001 to 2007. He regained the belt in 2010 and made his second defense against Kogawa. Next up will be the long-awaited bout with Sosa, although the specifics of when and where are not worked out yet because it could be a tough negotiation or wind up at a purse bid, with Wonjongkam's team wanting to bring the fight to Thailand and Sosa hoping to make him travel to Mexico.
[/td][/tr][/table]

 

[scott frost]

Rafael is a clown. Reminds of people that have no friends. Just fat and bitter.

 

[scott frost]

Rafael is a clown. Reminds of people that have no friends. Just fat and bitter.

 

[proshares]

Berto is back September 3rd to fight for another title against Jan Zaveck. Cotto/Margarito II signed for December 3rd.

 

[proshares]

Berto is back September 3rd to fight for another title against Jan Zaveck. Cotto/Margarito II signed for December 3rd.

 

[bigmike23]

i hope cotto kills dude in the middle of the ring

 

[bigmike23]

i hope cotto kills dude in the middle of the ring

 

[jking0821]

Cotto Margarito should be solid. I hope Cotto does well not a margarito fan.

The Haye Klitchko fight was a joke....was pretty hyped...for nothing. Another bad outing for boxing in general.

Excited to See how Paul Williams bounces back this weekend as well.

Sort of excited for Khan vs Judah...not really though.

And really hope ortiz shows well against mayweather regardless of the outcome.

 

[jking0821]

Cotto Margarito should be solid. I hope Cotto does well not a margarito fan.

The Haye Klitchko fight was a joke....was pretty hyped...for nothing. Another bad outing for boxing in general.

Excited to See how Paul Williams bounces back this weekend as well.

Sort of excited for Khan vs Judah...not really though.

And really hope ortiz shows well against mayweather regardless of the outcome.

 

[thacapt]

Check out Wlad's response to David Hayes pre-fight antics.

http://www.telegraph.co.u...e-with-silent-video.html

Wlad is that dude.

 

[thacapt]

Check out Wlad's response to David Hayes pre-fight antics.

http://www.telegraph.co.u...e-with-silent-video.html

Wlad is that dude.

 

[jewseejay]

Originally Posted by Jking0821

Cotto Margarito should be solid. I hope Cotto does well not a margarito fan.

The Haye Klitchko fight was a joke....was pretty hyped...for nothing. Another bad outing for boxing in general.

Excited to See how Paul Williams bounces back this weekend as well.

Sort of excited for Khan vs Judah...not really though.

And really hope ortiz shows well against mayweather regardless of the outcome.

 

[jewseejay]

Originally Posted by Jking0821

Cotto Margarito should be solid. I hope Cotto does well not a margarito fan.

The Haye Klitchko fight was a joke....was pretty hyped...for nothing. Another bad outing for boxing in general.

Excited to See how Paul Williams bounces back this weekend as well.

Sort of excited for Khan vs Judah...not really though.

And really hope ortiz shows well against mayweather regardless of the outcome.

 

[da doc03]

Originally Posted by thacapt

Check out Wlad's response to David Hayes pre-fight antics.

http://www.telegraph.co.u...e-with-silent-video.html

Wlad is that dude.

  

 

[da doc03]

Originally Posted by thacapt

Check out Wlad's response to David Hayes pre-fight antics.

http://www.telegraph.co.u...e-with-silent-video.html

Wlad is that dude.

  

 

[milkman dead]

I like Paul's attitude in this video...I hope he comes back well and he gets that third fight with Sergio...

 

[milkman dead]

I like Paul's attitude in this video...I hope he comes back well and he gets that third fight with Sergio...

 

[proshares]

Gamboa/Ponce is official for 9/10. First GBP/TR fight since Hatton/Manny

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler [+]

Spoiler

The Top Rank-Golden Boy cold war, which has robbed boxing fans of several marquee matchups during the past two years, is effectively over now that boxing's leading promotional companies, long bitter rivals, have reached an agreement to match featherweights Yuriorkis Gamboa and Daniel Ponce De Leon on Sept. 10 in Atlantic City, N.J., in an HBO main event.

The fight pits the speedy and powerful Gamboa (Top Rank's fighter) against the slower but huge-punching Ponce De Leon, a former junior featherweight titlist, in one of the better matchups that can be made at 126 pounds.

Top Rank's Carl Moretti and Golden Boy's Eric Gomez negotiated the deal, and now the sides are exchanging paperwork.

"We sent them a provision of services agreement for Ponce De Leon," Moretti said, "and they will send it back with their comments, but I don't see any major changes."

But making the deal -- even discussing a deal for this fight or any other -- was not possible until the companies put to rest their nasty feud, which they did in late May.

[h4]Rafael's boxing blog[/h4]

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

That is when, for the second time, mediator Daniel Weinstein, a retired federal judge, helped them settle many of their issues.

The key one was the settlement of the defamation lawsuit filed by Manny Pacquiao, Top Rank's biggest star, against Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya in December 2009 regarding their alleged accusations that Pacquiao used performance-enhancing drugs.

Gamboa-Ponce De Leon will be the first fight the companies have done together since the Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton junior welterweight title fight in May 2009. After that, it was all downhill, culminating in Pacquiao's lawsuit and an inability for the companies to finalize a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight.

When the parties met with Weinstein in late May to finalize the terms of the settlement, which included an apology to Pacquiao and the dropping of the lawsuit, Schaefer and Top Rank's Bob Arum agreed they would once again make fights together.

"Frankly, before the resolution and the apology, I had no interest in dealing with them because I thought it would be disrespectful to Manny Pacquiao, who I really admire," Arum told ESPN.com. "But once there was an apology and the settlement of the defamation suit, there was no longer an impediment. We shook hands and we will deal with them like we deal with any other promoter. If they need one of our fighters and the management of that fighter is willing, we are very happy to do it, and vice versa if we want to use one of their fighters and they are willing. Why not?"

Schaefer, who has exchanged brutal words with Arum through the media, took the same tone.

"I am looking forward to working with Top Rank on this promotion," Schaefer said. "Bob and I shook hands and made a commitment to work together again if the right fight presents itself. This is the case here. With Gamboa you have a young, emerging star with considerable talent, and with Ponce De Leon you have one of the hardest-hitting guys in the sport, who is always involved in exciting fights. Styles make fights, and I am sure that this will be an all-out slugfest. Can't wait!"

Even after the settlement, Moretti still wasn't sure if he could pursue a fight with Golden Boy, but he knew he had a date for Gamboa on HBO and wanted to make a strong matchup.

"Really, the only question was to ask Bob and [Top Rank president] Todd [duBoef] if they had any issues with me offering the fight to Ponce De Leon and Golden Boy," Moretti said. "They said, 'Not at all, just do it the same way we do any deal. If they agree, fine. If they don't, fine.' But it had nothing to do with them being Golden Boy and us being Top Rank. I got the green light and reached out to Eric, and I know Richard called Bob and said, 'It's great we're going to do this fight together.'"

Moretti said there are plenty of other fights the companies could do together. One he would like to make is between junior welterweights Mike Alvarado, who is with Top Rank, and Golden Boy's Lucas Matthysse.

"Hey, we're getting good money from HBO and we wanted to put on the best fight that is possible, and when we looked around, Ponce De Leon was preferable to almost anybody we could get," Arum said. "Orlando Salido and Juan Manuel Lopez are tied up. Mikey Garcia, I think, needs a couple of more fights before he fights Gamboa, so Ponce De Leon was the best guy around, and he happens to be with Golden Boy."
[h3]Bute returns home[/h3]
Super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute (28-0, 23 KOs) is a star in his adopted hometown of Montreal, but he will return to action against mandatory challenger Jean-Paul Mendy (29-0-1, 16 KO) of France on Saturday in Bucharest, Romania -- his native country.

"This is my dream come true," Bute said. "The Romanian people have followed my career very closely since the very beginning, and to share this joy of defending my title in front of them gives me goose bumps. I always felt their support from afar, but on [Saturday] they will be right there, in the arena, to encourage me."

Romanian officials have called it the biggest boxing event in the nation's history. Former lightweight titleholder Leonard Dorin, also a native of Romania based in Montreal, defended his title in Romania in 2002.

"It was important to Lucian to fight in Romania," InterBox promoter Jean Bedard, who promotes Bute, said. "We worked extremely hard, took the time necessary to close out a very fair deal with [Mendy's promoter] Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing. This event will mark another milestone in Lucian's career and in the history of InterBox."

If Bute is successful in his eighth title defense, he likely will return to Montreal to defend against former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik on Showtime in November. The fight with Mendy is outside of his deal with Showtime, although the network plans to show highlights of the fight during its telecast headlined by the Brandon Rios-Urbano Antillon lightweight title bout on Saturday night (10 ET/PT).
[h3]DeGale comeback[/h3]
Super middleweight James DeGale (10-1, 8 KOs), the 2008 British Olympic gold medalist who suffered his first pro loss via majority decision to rival George Groves in May, will return to challenge Piotr Wilczewski (29-1, 10 KOs) of Poland for the European title in September, promoter Frank Warren announced. The date and location have yet to be determined.

[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Akira SuemoriJames DeGale will try to rebound from his first pro loss when he faces Piotr Wilczewski for a vacant European title in September.

Wilczewski -- whose only loss came via third-round knockout to American Curtis Stevens in 2009 on a Tomasz Adamek undercard in Newark, N.J. -- claimed the vacant European title in March when he knocked out Amin Asikainen in the 11th round on Asikainen's turf in Finland.

"Challenging for the European title is a fantastic opportunity to get myself back in the big picture in my first fight back," DeGale said. "I've been hard in training since my last fight and I'm ready to box tomorrow if I need to. Come September, I'll be in great shape.

"The fight with Groves is in the past. I still believe I beat him, but I'm a positive person and now I'm focused on the future, and a win will put me in a great position for a world title. My promoter, Frank Warren, has done a great job in getting me home advantage for this title shot and now I've got to go out there, do the business and win it in style. In fact, I'm about to sign a new three-year deal with Frank and I'm really happy that he will continue to build my career as he has done since I turned professional. He brought Amir Khan back from a devastating knockout loss to a world title in only three fights, so I know that he can do it for me."

Said Warren: "This is a make-or-break fight for James. He's got a big opportunity in front of him against Wilczewski and now has to go out there and deliver the goods and show the fans what he can do."
[h3]Quick hits[/h3]
• Middleweight champ Sergio Martinez's third title defense, against England's Darren Barker (23-0, 14 KOs) on Oct. 1 (HBO), will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com. DiBella had been weighing an offer from a site in Houston, as well, but instead he made a deal with Caesars Atlantic City consultant Ken Condon for the fight. DiBella said it will take place in the main arena at Boardwalk Hall, which will be scaled for a crowd of about 6,500. DiBella said he expects more than 1,000 Barker fans to make the trip for the fight. "Sergio has really developed a relationship with Caesars, and Atlantic City is like his East Coast home," DiBella said. "He'd like to fight in California, because that's where [the native of Argentina] lives, but there was no availability. And Atlantic City is home to the biggest nights of his career." Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KOs), the 2010 fighter of the year, scored the two biggest wins of his career in the arena, a unanimous decision against Kelly Pavlik to win the title in April 2010 followed by his massive second-round knockout of Paul Williams seven months later to retain the title.

[+] Enlarge
Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesBrian Vera, right, could parlay a potential rematch with Andy Lee into legitimate "Contender" status.

• DiBella also told ESPN.com that he signed 29-year-old middleweight Brian Vera (19-5, 12 KOs) of Austin, Texas, to a promotional contract on Wednesday. The former "Contender" participant is an action fighter who has scored some notable upsets, including a seventh-round knockout of heralded prospect Andy Lee in 2008, a third-round knockout of Sebastien Demers on Demers' turf in Montreal in 2010, and a decision win against former junior middleweight titlist Sergio Mora in February. DiBella has designs to match Vera and Lee in a rematch that would open the Oct. 1 Martinez-Barker HBO telecast. However, DiBella said other possibilities could arise for Vera, including a possible shot at middleweight titlist Felix Sturm if there is no Sturm-Matthew Macklin rematch this fall. "Vera is one of the most exciting guys at 160 or 168 [pounds]. He's proved himself lately and he makes fun fights. A rematch with Andy [whom DiBella also promotes] is a meaningful fight. He will fit in some major situations. If he winds up fighting Andy again, the winner propels himself into a major fight. But I also signed Brian because he's my kind of fighter. He has balls and he makes fun fights."

• Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.'s Nov. 19 defense on HBO will likely be against Peter Manfredo (37-6, 20 KOs), the former "Contender" star and former super middleweight title challenger who is riding a six-fight winning streak. "We made a good offer to Lou [DiBella, Manfredo's promoter] for the fight," said Arum, who added that the fight likely would take place in Houston. The Manfredo side is interested. "Top Rank made it clear that Manfredo is the No. 1 choice for Chavez," DiBella said. "We're not going to blow the fight. I've never had a problem making a fight with Top Rank if they want to make a deal. If this is the fight they want, I'm sure we will make a deal."

• Junior welterweight Erik Morales, who has committed to fighting on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Victor Ortiz HBO PPV undercard on Sept. 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will face England's Anthony Crolla, Golden Boy's Erik Gomez told ESPN.com. Morales (51-7, 35 KOs), the former three-division champion, will be fighting for the first time since suffering a majority decision loss to Marcos Maidana in April in a fight of the year candidate. Crolla (20-2, 9 KOs), a former British junior lightweight and lightweight champion, will be taking a huge step up in competition.

• Representatives for junior middleweight contenders Vanes Martirosyan and Deandre Latimore are negotiating an eliminator that would make the winner the mandatory challenger for titlist Cornelius "K9" Bundrage. Martirosyan is already in position to become the mandatory challenger for titlist Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, but that fight isn't due for about a year. Carl Moretti of Top Rank, Martirosyan's promoter, and Latimore's co-promoters Steve Smith and Lou DiBella accepted the IBF's invitation for the box-off. They need to make a deal by July 21 or a purse bid will be ordered. "Both sides said they would take the fight and we're trying to make the fight," Moretti said. "Making it is not hard. Placing it [on TV] is hard because there aren't dates." Martirosyan has also expressed interest in possibly challenging titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk rather than facing Latimore.

[h4]Tweet, tweet[/h4]

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• Mexico's Humberto Soto vacated his lightweight title this week and is moving up to junior welterweight. Soto (56-7-2, 32 KOs), also a former junior lightweight titlist and interim titleholder at featherweight, claimed a vacant 135-pound title by outpointing former titleholder David Diaz on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard at Cowboys Stadium in March 2010. The 31-year-old made four defenses, including a lopsided 11-round technical decision against Japan's Motoki Sasaki on June 25. But between his trouble making weight and the lure of big names and bigger money at 140 pounds, he decided to move up. "Now it's time to take another step in my career and aim for new goals," Soto told Notimex. "My team will study all the options and we will see what is the most convenient option for me." Soto suffered a minor knee injury when he slipped on the wet canvas in the 11th round of his fight with Sasaki, causing the fight to be ruled a technical decision. But Antonio Lozada, Soto's manager, said he was OK after massaging and icing the leg. The leading contenders who could vie for the vacant WBC belt are Antonio DeMarco (Soto's cousin) and Jorge Linares.

• Venezuela's Jorge Linares (31-1, 20 KOs), a former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist, has relocated to Los Angeles to work with trainer Freddie Roach at his Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif. Linares arrived this week to begin training with Roach and strength coach Alex Ariza. Roach and Ariza also work with Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Linares has won four fights in a row since losing his 130-pound belt via shocking first-round knockout to Juan Carlos Salgado in October 2009. Linares scored a seventh-round knockout of Adrian Verdugo in May, and Roach believes he'll be ready for his next fight in August. Golden Boy, Linares' promoter, does not have a fight set for him yet, but plans to put him on a card later this summer.

• Junior lightweights Argenis Mendez (18-1, 9 KOs), a Dominican Republic native living in New York, and former titlist Juan Carlos Salgado (23-1-1, 16 KOs) of Mexico are due to meet for a vacant belt Aug. 20 at a site to be determined in Mexico now that the sides have reached an agreement to avoid a purse bid, Mendez promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com. DiBella said he had secured an Aug. 12 date on Showtime's "ShoBox" for the bout, but then Salgado promoter Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions came in with an offer for more money to bring the fight to Mexico. DiBella said he is still waiting for Mendez to sign the agreement and hasn't yet received notification of the exact venue, but he said he believed Mendez would accept the offer.

• Cruiserweight titleholder Marco Huck (32-1, 23 KOs) of Germany is expecting this to be a big month for him. First, he will make his seventh title defense, against former light heavyweight beltholder Hugo Hernan Garay (34-5, 18 KOs) of Argentina, on July 16 in Munich. Two weeks later, Huck is getting married. "The next weeks will be huge for me," Huck said. "Of course, I want to get married as world champion. That's why I have to take care of business against Garay." So which is making him more nervous, the fight or the wedding? "That's tough to tell," Huck said. "I must confess that both events make me a little nervous. In boxing, that's nothing new -- everybody is nervous ahead of a world title fight. But my experience will help me. Even though I am just 26, this will already be my seventh title defense. I am getting stronger every day. I have not reached my peak yet. The best is yet to come." Huck has let his family take care of most of the wedding preparations while he focuses on his training. "I let my family handle the organization. I only have to make sure I bring the belt," he said.

• Featherweight contender Juan Carlos Burgos of Mexico will return to action to face countryman Gilberto Sanchez Leon (29-10-2, 11 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder July 22 on a Thompson Boxing card in Ontario, Calif. Burgos (26-1, 19 KOs), 23, is seeking his second win in a row since losing a competitive decision to Hozumi Hasegawa for a vacant world title in a fierce slugfest in Japan in November. In his first fight back, Burgos blew out Frankie Archuleta for a second-round knockout on ESPN2/ESPN3 in February.

Klitschko
[h3]Quotable[/h3]
"He was very careful. At times, he was throwing powerful punches, but he wasn't landing and he was frustrated and cautious to not get hit. I wish I could have knocked him out impressively. He was scared to fight me. I was expecting more of a challenge in the ring, more aggression. He was super-defensive, like all of them." "
-- Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, on his rolling to a near shutout of David Haye in their title unification bout Saturday

Guerrero

"Words can't describe how I feel knowing that I'll be fighting Marcos Maidana as the main event on HBO at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Bringing a championship fight to the Bay Area is a dream come true, and it excites me most that Bay Area boxing fans will get to witness one of the most anticipated fights of the year."
-- Robert Guerrero, who is from Gilroy, Calif., and will be fighting in his hometown Aug. 27

 

[proshares]

Gamboa/Ponce is official for 9/10. First GBP/TR fight since Hatton/Manny

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler [+]

Spoiler

The Top Rank-Golden Boy cold war, which has robbed boxing fans of several marquee matchups during the past two years, is effectively over now that boxing's leading promotional companies, long bitter rivals, have reached an agreement to match featherweights Yuriorkis Gamboa and Daniel Ponce De Leon on Sept. 10 in Atlantic City, N.J., in an HBO main event.

The fight pits the speedy and powerful Gamboa (Top Rank's fighter) against the slower but huge-punching Ponce De Leon, a former junior featherweight titlist, in one of the better matchups that can be made at 126 pounds.

Top Rank's Carl Moretti and Golden Boy's Eric Gomez negotiated the deal, and now the sides are exchanging paperwork.

"We sent them a provision of services agreement for Ponce De Leon," Moretti said, "and they will send it back with their comments, but I don't see any major changes."

But making the deal -- even discussing a deal for this fight or any other -- was not possible until the companies put to rest their nasty feud, which they did in late May.

[h4]Rafael's boxing blog[/h4]

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

That is when, for the second time, mediator Daniel Weinstein, a retired federal judge, helped them settle many of their issues.

The key one was the settlement of the defamation lawsuit filed by Manny Pacquiao, Top Rank's biggest star, against Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya in December 2009 regarding their alleged accusations that Pacquiao used performance-enhancing drugs.

Gamboa-Ponce De Leon will be the first fight the companies have done together since the Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton junior welterweight title fight in May 2009. After that, it was all downhill, culminating in Pacquiao's lawsuit and an inability for the companies to finalize a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight.

When the parties met with Weinstein in late May to finalize the terms of the settlement, which included an apology to Pacquiao and the dropping of the lawsuit, Schaefer and Top Rank's Bob Arum agreed they would once again make fights together.

"Frankly, before the resolution and the apology, I had no interest in dealing with them because I thought it would be disrespectful to Manny Pacquiao, who I really admire," Arum told ESPN.com. "But once there was an apology and the settlement of the defamation suit, there was no longer an impediment. We shook hands and we will deal with them like we deal with any other promoter. If they need one of our fighters and the management of that fighter is willing, we are very happy to do it, and vice versa if we want to use one of their fighters and they are willing. Why not?"

Schaefer, who has exchanged brutal words with Arum through the media, took the same tone.

"I am looking forward to working with Top Rank on this promotion," Schaefer said. "Bob and I shook hands and made a commitment to work together again if the right fight presents itself. This is the case here. With Gamboa you have a young, emerging star with considerable talent, and with Ponce De Leon you have one of the hardest-hitting guys in the sport, who is always involved in exciting fights. Styles make fights, and I am sure that this will be an all-out slugfest. Can't wait!"

Even after the settlement, Moretti still wasn't sure if he could pursue a fight with Golden Boy, but he knew he had a date for Gamboa on HBO and wanted to make a strong matchup.

"Really, the only question was to ask Bob and [Top Rank president] Todd [duBoef] if they had any issues with me offering the fight to Ponce De Leon and Golden Boy," Moretti said. "They said, 'Not at all, just do it the same way we do any deal. If they agree, fine. If they don't, fine.' But it had nothing to do with them being Golden Boy and us being Top Rank. I got the green light and reached out to Eric, and I know Richard called Bob and said, 'It's great we're going to do this fight together.'"

Moretti said there are plenty of other fights the companies could do together. One he would like to make is between junior welterweights Mike Alvarado, who is with Top Rank, and Golden Boy's Lucas Matthysse.

"Hey, we're getting good money from HBO and we wanted to put on the best fight that is possible, and when we looked around, Ponce De Leon was preferable to almost anybody we could get," Arum said. "Orlando Salido and Juan Manuel Lopez are tied up. Mikey Garcia, I think, needs a couple of more fights before he fights Gamboa, so Ponce De Leon was the best guy around, and he happens to be with Golden Boy."
[h3]Bute returns home[/h3]
Super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute (28-0, 23 KOs) is a star in his adopted hometown of Montreal, but he will return to action against mandatory challenger Jean-Paul Mendy (29-0-1, 16 KO) of France on Saturday in Bucharest, Romania -- his native country.

"This is my dream come true," Bute said. "The Romanian people have followed my career very closely since the very beginning, and to share this joy of defending my title in front of them gives me goose bumps. I always felt their support from afar, but on [Saturday] they will be right there, in the arena, to encourage me."

Romanian officials have called it the biggest boxing event in the nation's history. Former lightweight titleholder Leonard Dorin, also a native of Romania based in Montreal, defended his title in Romania in 2002.

"It was important to Lucian to fight in Romania," InterBox promoter Jean Bedard, who promotes Bute, said. "We worked extremely hard, took the time necessary to close out a very fair deal with [Mendy's promoter] Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing. This event will mark another milestone in Lucian's career and in the history of InterBox."

If Bute is successful in his eighth title defense, he likely will return to Montreal to defend against former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik on Showtime in November. The fight with Mendy is outside of his deal with Showtime, although the network plans to show highlights of the fight during its telecast headlined by the Brandon Rios-Urbano Antillon lightweight title bout on Saturday night (10 ET/PT).
[h3]DeGale comeback[/h3]
Super middleweight James DeGale (10-1, 8 KOs), the 2008 British Olympic gold medalist who suffered his first pro loss via majority decision to rival George Groves in May, will return to challenge Piotr Wilczewski (29-1, 10 KOs) of Poland for the European title in September, promoter Frank Warren announced. The date and location have yet to be determined.

[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Akira SuemoriJames DeGale will try to rebound from his first pro loss when he faces Piotr Wilczewski for a vacant European title in September.

Wilczewski -- whose only loss came via third-round knockout to American Curtis Stevens in 2009 on a Tomasz Adamek undercard in Newark, N.J. -- claimed the vacant European title in March when he knocked out Amin Asikainen in the 11th round on Asikainen's turf in Finland.

"Challenging for the European title is a fantastic opportunity to get myself back in the big picture in my first fight back," DeGale said. "I've been hard in training since my last fight and I'm ready to box tomorrow if I need to. Come September, I'll be in great shape.

"The fight with Groves is in the past. I still believe I beat him, but I'm a positive person and now I'm focused on the future, and a win will put me in a great position for a world title. My promoter, Frank Warren, has done a great job in getting me home advantage for this title shot and now I've got to go out there, do the business and win it in style. In fact, I'm about to sign a new three-year deal with Frank and I'm really happy that he will continue to build my career as he has done since I turned professional. He brought Amir Khan back from a devastating knockout loss to a world title in only three fights, so I know that he can do it for me."

Said Warren: "This is a make-or-break fight for James. He's got a big opportunity in front of him against Wilczewski and now has to go out there and deliver the goods and show the fans what he can do."
[h3]Quick hits[/h3]
• Middleweight champ Sergio Martinez's third title defense, against England's Darren Barker (23-0, 14 KOs) on Oct. 1 (HBO), will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com. DiBella had been weighing an offer from a site in Houston, as well, but instead he made a deal with Caesars Atlantic City consultant Ken Condon for the fight. DiBella said it will take place in the main arena at Boardwalk Hall, which will be scaled for a crowd of about 6,500. DiBella said he expects more than 1,000 Barker fans to make the trip for the fight. "Sergio has really developed a relationship with Caesars, and Atlantic City is like his East Coast home," DiBella said. "He'd like to fight in California, because that's where [the native of Argentina] lives, but there was no availability. And Atlantic City is home to the biggest nights of his career." Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KOs), the 2010 fighter of the year, scored the two biggest wins of his career in the arena, a unanimous decision against Kelly Pavlik to win the title in April 2010 followed by his massive second-round knockout of Paul Williams seven months later to retain the title.

[+] Enlarge
Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesBrian Vera, right, could parlay a potential rematch with Andy Lee into legitimate "Contender" status.

• DiBella also told ESPN.com that he signed 29-year-old middleweight Brian Vera (19-5, 12 KOs) of Austin, Texas, to a promotional contract on Wednesday. The former "Contender" participant is an action fighter who has scored some notable upsets, including a seventh-round knockout of heralded prospect Andy Lee in 2008, a third-round knockout of Sebastien Demers on Demers' turf in Montreal in 2010, and a decision win against former junior middleweight titlist Sergio Mora in February. DiBella has designs to match Vera and Lee in a rematch that would open the Oct. 1 Martinez-Barker HBO telecast. However, DiBella said other possibilities could arise for Vera, including a possible shot at middleweight titlist Felix Sturm if there is no Sturm-Matthew Macklin rematch this fall. "Vera is one of the most exciting guys at 160 or 168 [pounds]. He's proved himself lately and he makes fun fights. A rematch with Andy [whom DiBella also promotes] is a meaningful fight. He will fit in some major situations. If he winds up fighting Andy again, the winner propels himself into a major fight. But I also signed Brian because he's my kind of fighter. He has balls and he makes fun fights."

• Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.'s Nov. 19 defense on HBO will likely be against Peter Manfredo (37-6, 20 KOs), the former "Contender" star and former super middleweight title challenger who is riding a six-fight winning streak. "We made a good offer to Lou [DiBella, Manfredo's promoter] for the fight," said Arum, who added that the fight likely would take place in Houston. The Manfredo side is interested. "Top Rank made it clear that Manfredo is the No. 1 choice for Chavez," DiBella said. "We're not going to blow the fight. I've never had a problem making a fight with Top Rank if they want to make a deal. If this is the fight they want, I'm sure we will make a deal."

• Junior welterweight Erik Morales, who has committed to fighting on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Victor Ortiz HBO PPV undercard on Sept. 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will face England's Anthony Crolla, Golden Boy's Erik Gomez told ESPN.com. Morales (51-7, 35 KOs), the former three-division champion, will be fighting for the first time since suffering a majority decision loss to Marcos Maidana in April in a fight of the year candidate. Crolla (20-2, 9 KOs), a former British junior lightweight and lightweight champion, will be taking a huge step up in competition.

• Representatives for junior middleweight contenders Vanes Martirosyan and Deandre Latimore are negotiating an eliminator that would make the winner the mandatory challenger for titlist Cornelius "K9" Bundrage. Martirosyan is already in position to become the mandatory challenger for titlist Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, but that fight isn't due for about a year. Carl Moretti of Top Rank, Martirosyan's promoter, and Latimore's co-promoters Steve Smith and Lou DiBella accepted the IBF's invitation for the box-off. They need to make a deal by July 21 or a purse bid will be ordered. "Both sides said they would take the fight and we're trying to make the fight," Moretti said. "Making it is not hard. Placing it [on TV] is hard because there aren't dates." Martirosyan has also expressed interest in possibly challenging titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk rather than facing Latimore.

[h4]Tweet, tweet[/h4]

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• Mexico's Humberto Soto vacated his lightweight title this week and is moving up to junior welterweight. Soto (56-7-2, 32 KOs), also a former junior lightweight titlist and interim titleholder at featherweight, claimed a vacant 135-pound title by outpointing former titleholder David Diaz on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard at Cowboys Stadium in March 2010. The 31-year-old made four defenses, including a lopsided 11-round technical decision against Japan's Motoki Sasaki on June 25. But between his trouble making weight and the lure of big names and bigger money at 140 pounds, he decided to move up. "Now it's time to take another step in my career and aim for new goals," Soto told Notimex. "My team will study all the options and we will see what is the most convenient option for me." Soto suffered a minor knee injury when he slipped on the wet canvas in the 11th round of his fight with Sasaki, causing the fight to be ruled a technical decision. But Antonio Lozada, Soto's manager, said he was OK after massaging and icing the leg. The leading contenders who could vie for the vacant WBC belt are Antonio DeMarco (Soto's cousin) and Jorge Linares.

• Venezuela's Jorge Linares (31-1, 20 KOs), a former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist, has relocated to Los Angeles to work with trainer Freddie Roach at his Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif. Linares arrived this week to begin training with Roach and strength coach Alex Ariza. Roach and Ariza also work with Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Linares has won four fights in a row since losing his 130-pound belt via shocking first-round knockout to Juan Carlos Salgado in October 2009. Linares scored a seventh-round knockout of Adrian Verdugo in May, and Roach believes he'll be ready for his next fight in August. Golden Boy, Linares' promoter, does not have a fight set for him yet, but plans to put him on a card later this summer.

• Junior lightweights Argenis Mendez (18-1, 9 KOs), a Dominican Republic native living in New York, and former titlist Juan Carlos Salgado (23-1-1, 16 KOs) of Mexico are due to meet for a vacant belt Aug. 20 at a site to be determined in Mexico now that the sides have reached an agreement to avoid a purse bid, Mendez promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com. DiBella said he had secured an Aug. 12 date on Showtime's "ShoBox" for the bout, but then Salgado promoter Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions came in with an offer for more money to bring the fight to Mexico. DiBella said he is still waiting for Mendez to sign the agreement and hasn't yet received notification of the exact venue, but he said he believed Mendez would accept the offer.

• Cruiserweight titleholder Marco Huck (32-1, 23 KOs) of Germany is expecting this to be a big month for him. First, he will make his seventh title defense, against former light heavyweight beltholder Hugo Hernan Garay (34-5, 18 KOs) of Argentina, on July 16 in Munich. Two weeks later, Huck is getting married. "The next weeks will be huge for me," Huck said. "Of course, I want to get married as world champion. That's why I have to take care of business against Garay." So which is making him more nervous, the fight or the wedding? "That's tough to tell," Huck said. "I must confess that both events make me a little nervous. In boxing, that's nothing new -- everybody is nervous ahead of a world title fight. But my experience will help me. Even though I am just 26, this will already be my seventh title defense. I am getting stronger every day. I have not reached my peak yet. The best is yet to come." Huck has let his family take care of most of the wedding preparations while he focuses on his training. "I let my family handle the organization. I only have to make sure I bring the belt," he said.

• Featherweight contender Juan Carlos Burgos of Mexico will return to action to face countryman Gilberto Sanchez Leon (29-10-2, 11 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder July 22 on a Thompson Boxing card in Ontario, Calif. Burgos (26-1, 19 KOs), 23, is seeking his second win in a row since losing a competitive decision to Hozumi Hasegawa for a vacant world title in a fierce slugfest in Japan in November. In his first fight back, Burgos blew out Frankie Archuleta for a second-round knockout on ESPN2/ESPN3 in February.

Klitschko
[h3]Quotable[/h3]
"He was very careful. At times, he was throwing powerful punches, but he wasn't landing and he was frustrated and cautious to not get hit. I wish I could have knocked him out impressively. He was scared to fight me. I was expecting more of a challenge in the ring, more aggression. He was super-defensive, like all of them." "
-- Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, on his rolling to a near shutout of David Haye in their title unification bout Saturday

Guerrero

"Words can't describe how I feel knowing that I'll be fighting Marcos Maidana as the main event on HBO at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Bringing a championship fight to the Bay Area is a dream come true, and it excites me most that Bay Area boxing fans will get to witness one of the most anticipated fights of the year."
-- Robert Guerrero, who is from Gilroy, Calif., and will be fighting in his hometown Aug. 27

 

[japanair21]

WOAH. I totally missed out on the news that Robert Guerrero will fight Maidana. Wow. I saw an interview with him on Chronicle Live (local Bay Area sports show). He was on there talking about boxing in general, the heavyweight division, the battle with Leukemia with his wife, and moving up in weight. He's a local kid (live less than an hour away from him), and so I've always loved the kid growing up and watching him come from nothing and become someone. I couldn't be any happier for him and wish him the best against Maidana, but damn, that's going to be an exciting fight.

 

[japanair21]

WOAH. I totally missed out on the news that Robert Guerrero will fight Maidana. Wow. I saw an interview with him on Chronicle Live (local Bay Area sports show). He was on there talking about boxing in general, the heavyweight division, the battle with Leukemia with his wife, and moving up in weight. He's a local kid (live less than an hour away from him), and so I've always loved the kid growing up and watching him come from nothing and become someone. I couldn't be any happier for him and wish him the best against Maidana, but damn, that's going to be an exciting fight.

 

[shaunhillftw49]

Tickets just went on sale, WWE UFC and boxing all in San Jo

 

[shaunhillftw49]

Tickets just went on sale, WWE UFC and boxing all in San Jo