The Army Boxing Thread

[ALinChainz]

Hatton's ONLY shot at a big fight.

Good vs bad?

*yawn*

[DlocRoth]

A buddy of mine said the fight is ON.

In the fall.

[binnie]

I suppose it'll all come down to the $$$$$.

I'm guessing that Floyd is going to take a lot of "persuading" to come out of "retirement"..lol...

Still rather see him against Cotto.

And there were some rumours that was going to face Mosely, but I can't see that happening, as last i heard Mosely was going to move up to 160lbs.....

[binnie]

From latimes.com

Mayweather expected to fight Hatton
Money remains the big stumbling block to a Nov. 10 fight in Las Vegas.
By Steve Springer, Times Staff Writer
June 28, 2007


Floyd Mayweather Jr. is coming out of retirement, a less-than-stunning revelation that catches absolutely no one by surprise.

Coming off last month's victory over Oscar De La Hoya in the richest non-heavyweight fight ever, Mayweather has entered into negotiations with Ricky Hatton for a pay-per-view bout.

Tentative date: Nov. 10. Logical site: Las Vegas.

Biggest roadblock: Money.

Hatton, whose hometown is Manchester, England, is coming off his biggest triumph in America, a fourth-round knockout of Jose Luis Castillo last Saturday in Las Vegas to retain his International Boxing Organization junior-welterweight title. Hatton received $2.5 million for that match. Mayweather got approximately $15 million for the De La Hoya fight.

"If we can reach agreement on the money, there's no reason it can't happen," said Art Pelulo, Hatton's American promoter.

Another potential obstacle to a November match was cleared Wednesday when Ray Hatton, Ricky's father, and promoter Frank Warren reached a settlement of a libel suit that could have tied up the Hattons in an English courtroom into the fall.

Nobody took Mayweather seriously when he insisted he was going to walk away from boxing at 30, at the peak of his game, at a time when he is almost universally acclaimed the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

"What prompted [negotiations with Hatton] is, over the last couple of weeks, Ricky Hatton has been saying a lot about Floyd Mayweather," said Leonard Ellerbee, Mayweather's manager. "He's used Floyd's name to promote himself, and then he said … Saturday night that he had more excitement in four rounds than Floyd had in his career. To say that … is very disrespectful. Floyd heard him say that on HBO, and said, 'OK, be careful what you ask for.' He's calling Hatton's bluff, and now the whole world will see if this guy wants to fight and sign a contract now. … We can definitely make it happen this year. The ball's in their court."

Presumably Mayweather also heard that De La Hoya called Hatton after the fight to congratulate him. That might have spurred Mayweather to end his much-ridiculed retirement.

De La Hoya hasn't decided if he'll retire. But he said Monday, "Ricky Hatton and I could fill [England's] Wembley Stadium."

[binnie]

According to this article, De La Hoya wants a piece of Hatton too. This is a really interesting read, could review of the fightm IMO. From foxsport.com

Hatton has big options ahead
Michael Katz
BoxingScene.com, Updated 6 hours ago STORY TOOLS:

print
send
blog LIKE THIS STORY?







Noted boxing writer, Michael Katz, recently joined BoxingScene.com and will regularly share his thoughts and insight.

It was only five weeks that I was AWOL from the 'Net, but in that time, obviously Jose Luis Castillo got very old.
Hasim Rahman and Antonio Tarver didn't look so fresh, either.

There will be an attempt to catch up some later on what happened while I was so rudely interrupted, for now, Topic A must be Castillo and the man who knocked him out with a liver shot just below the arm pit, Ricky Hatton.

Losers are usually more interesting, even without rising livers, but for this fight we should obviously concentrate on the Brit Man who will undoubtedly play a starring role in boxing's near future. The 43-0 (31 knockouts) Hatton, the first man to drop Castillo, immediately replaces Miguel Cotto as the hot flavor of the month.

Hatton may be a tough brawler inside the ring, but outside, he's a smooth operator. He says all the right things. He dedicated the bout to Castillo's late rival, Diego Corrales. He told the Mexican fans "I'm sorry I put it to one of your heroes" and asked them, since he fights like one of them, to give him their allegiance. After the fight in loud and raucous — but not sold-out — Thomas & Mack Arena, he was asked who's next.

He said he was up for battling Mr. Guiness, probably more rounds than he gave Castillo, after all, it's a "real smoooooth drink." He called out Floyd Mayweather Jr., whom he imitated on the way to the ring by wearing a large sombrero and his crew sporting the same kind of "I Love Mexico" shirts used by Pretty Boy on the way to his victory last month over Oscar de la Hoya. The flattery stopped as soon as the bout started — he's no Mayweather inside the ring. But the smoothie soon had the No. 1 pound-for-pounder quickly ready to end his "retirement" for the Mancurian candidate.

Hatton goaded the Pretty Boy rather neatly. He said it would be an "honor" to fight him, especially after a fourth-round stoppage of the man who gave Mayweather his two toughest fights, but added, "If I fought Mayweather, he'd run like Forrest Gump."

He said that his brief time with Castillo produced more excitement than all of Mayweather's fights. And, lo and behold, Tiny Tim Smith, my linear successor at both the New York Times and New York Daily News (but my predecessor at boxingscene.com), reported Sunday that Leonard Ellerbe, who has all along maintained Floyd's retirement was "real," was ready to sign contracts "now."

Was it just something Hatton had said? Or was it, perhaps, the fact that in his dressing room he received a congratulatory call from an even bigger possible opponent, Oscar de la Hoya? Suddenly, the Mayweather clan wants Hatton to take out the pen.

He's too smooth for that. If there is a chance of facing de la Hoya next year, Hatton probably will go on a four-corner attack. The supply of opponents that could fill the MEN Arena in Manchester is endless. Already, fighters from Joel Casamayor to Vivian Harris are calling him out. The winner, however, will probably be Paulie Malignaggi. As one Mayweather camper told me, "Hatton wants to fight at Madison Square Garden."

Malignaggi may not be an "elite" fighter, but he is a huge local attraction and New York is a hell of a better attraction than most American burgs for the wild Manchester fans who follow Hatton.

Many of my colleagues seem bemused by the group. Frankly, by the time the bell finally rang to start the highly anticipated match, I was rooting whole-heartedly for Castillo, though I was wise enough to not follow my instincts and take the almost 2-1 odds on him. Ian Darke, the genial British TV voice of boxing, cast a rather unflattering eye, or ear, on the full-throated chanters and muttered something about, "They're soccer fans."

Okay, they were having a good time, singing along to the five-piece brass band that sat in their midst, singing the British national anthem and other ditties through the tedious Art Pelullo undercard.

It seemed like something else when the Brits booed the Mexican flag, the Mexican anthem and, finally, the "Star-Spangled Banner." Sore losers. Mind you, I was the first kid on my block to get married in Birmingham, which makes my daughter half-English.

(The worst though was when Pelullo's favorite ring announcer, preceding the great Michael Buffer, introduced the singers of the three national anthems. When it came to the singer from Sheffield, announcer Mike Williams said, "Here to sing the world's greatest national anthem..." Surprisingly, she did "God Save the Queen" and not the "Marseilles.")

The question of the day was just how much of Hatton's dominant performance was Hatton and how much was the faded Castillo. I was not among the many who thought El Terrible would show up empty, excusing last January's struggles with Herman Ngoudjo as just another rust-ridden, unenthusiastic performance thrown in by good fighters who still somehow manage to win on off-nights. I thought his aggressive counter-punching style would give Hatton trouble.

Even at first, when Castillo seemed to be on rather shaky legs, stumbling around the ring, seemingly no match physically for the bigger and yet quicker Englishman, I did not jump to the obviously correct conclusion that he was terrible, not El Terrible. He was often a slow starter and I was willing to give him time to sort things out. In the third round, he seemed to be coming on — he would later say "the fight was getting more interesting" — landing a couple of nice uppercuts that momentarily backed up Hatton. At the end of the third, I marked "close, close round" in my notebook and, like two of the judges, scored it for Hatton (the capable Duane Ford gave the round to Castillo).

But in the fourth, well before Referee Joe Cortez (who had another bad night) undeservedly took a point from Castillo for allegedly low blows, well before the left hook that would end it, Hatton had already shown he could make adjustments. I don't know what trainer Billy Graham told him between rounds, but Hatton showed much more agility on his feet to start the fourth and, giving himself lovely angles from which to punch, took complete control.

Then came the shot to the high liver. Maybe it was to the ribs, maybe it was Castillo saying to himself, "What's the point of going on, I have no chance against this tiger?" He spun around, went to one knee and listened to Cortez count.

"He got me good," he would say in the ring afterwards. "It was a perfect shot. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't get up. It was a good shot."

His promoter, Bob Arum, said he hoped Castillo would retire and again blamed the state of Nevada and its athletic commission for sounding "the death knell" by suspending the Mexican for a year and fining him $250,000 for showing up overweight a second time for a match with Corrales.

"You can't take a fighter his age and lay him off that long," said Arum, quite reasonably.

Castillo, it now seems clear, was an "old" 33. He had been boxing pro since the age of 16 after starting as an amateur at age 12. He fought some of the best — beating Stevie Johnston, Cesar Bazan, Joel Casamayor, Julio Diaz, Juan Lazcano and, of course, the fourth-rounjd KO of Corrales in their rematch. Then there were the 24 rounds with Mayweather, the closest Pretty Boy has come to losing.

And let us not forget the four years of grueling work as the chief sparring partner for Julio Cesar Chavez. Yes, he was ready to get old overnight.

"I thought the wars with Diego took a lot out of him," said Gary Shaw, Corrales' last promoter. "I also believe he'd had trouble making 140. Maybe he should give 147 try."

Maybe not. Even Shaw conceded that there was a reasonable argument that Castillo was past it.

"Hatton is wide open for uppercuts and a good stiff jab," said the promoter. "Hatton has a lot of openings, he probably saw them but couldn't pull the trigger."

Then there was the thought, also not unreasonable, that Castillo just quit, much like Kostya Tszyu, the other big name on Hatton's resume. When a fighter reaches the end, sometimes discretion takes over. There was Alexis Arguello, sitting on his haunches, his arms wrapped around his knees, as they counted him out in his second try at Aaron Pryor. He gave it his best shot, right on Pryor's granite chin, and finally realized the futility of persevering.

Castillo, it is argued, had little incentive to get up because he was not going to take home much of his $500,000 purse. Bollocks, as the Brits would say. Yes he needs the money after Nevada's "Draconian" — as Arum called the punishment — $250,000 fine. Getting up was the ONLY way he'd ever be able to earn back that kind of money in boxing.

There was a story going round that all he was going to take home was $41,700, another that Shaw had attached a lien to his purse because of his suit against Castillo for damages when he didn't come close to making weight for the aborted rubber match with Corrales.

Well, $100,000 was deducted to pay Arum back for taking care of the fine. But last week, Castillo received an advance of $125,000 — which must be added to his take — the $183,000 deduction from the IRS could be lowered after the accountants get through. Plus, there'll be $25,000 if he passes his post-fight urine test. That raises his take to at least $182,000. And remember, it's his own fault for the way he handled his inability to make 135 pounds twice against Chico, insisting all along he was on weight when he wasn't.

Anyway, Shaw said he wasn't the one who tried to get Castillo's purse attached but Corrales's widow, Michele, and possibly her good friend, Jin (Mrs. Sugar) Mosley. Shaw said when he heard Castillo would be getting maybe ONLY $130,000, "I couldn't do that (ask for a lien) — I've got to sleep with myself." On that straight line...

[binnie]

Anthony Mundine retained his WBA super-middleweight belt last night and wants Kessler or Calzaghe. Much as I like watching him, I think he's living in a dream-world, as Kessler's already beaten his ass once.

From the Sydney Morning Herald

Briggs doubts whether Mundine believes he can beat the best
Email Print Normal font Large font June 28, 2007 - 1:17PM

Advertisement
AdvertisementAustralia's world-ranked light heavyweight Paul Briggs has questioned whether Anthony Mundine has the self-belief to defeat champion international boxers Mikkel Kessler or Joe Calzaghe.

Mundine earned a unanimous points decision over tough Argentinian Pablo Zamora Nievas to retain his WBA world super middleweight title on the Gold Coast last night.

In the lead-up to the fight, former rugby league star Mundine spoke confidently about challenging WBO titleholder Calzaghe or undefeated WBC and WBA champion Kessler in a "super fight".

But Briggs told AAP today he doubted whether Mundine, 32, really believed he could beat Denmark's Kessler or Welshman Calzaghe after struggling to put away a courageous Nievas over 12 rounds last night.

"Anthony will talk it up but the reality of the situation is completely different to what he thinks in his head," said Briggs, who watched the bout in his role as a pay TV commentator.

"It'd be great to see him fight like this against the elite guys because I truly think he's got the goods to be able to beat them but does he believe that?

"He's got the skills and he can do it but every time he's really stepped up to the elite guys he's got beaten.

"He talks about never getting beaten again and that's great. It's easy to carry on when you're fighting blokes like he fought last night."

Mundine used his lightning jab and evasive skills in the ring to wear down Nievas, who had never previously gone beyond six rounds.

"It was a frustrating fight in the sense that he (Mundine) couldn't put the guy away and they're the fights that you learn from," Briggs remarked.

"It's only going to do him benefit and no harm at all."

Mundine last night described Nievas as "definitely the toughest fighter I've fought in my career".

"It goes to show these so-called experts, they don't know shit," added Mundine, who improved his record to 29-3 (22KO).

"They don't know nothing about the real professional elite stage of sport."

Despite straining a right biceps muscle early in the fight, Mundine was able to outclass his plucky opponent, who was at long odds of $10 to cause an upset.

"I won pretty much every round and I proved I'm one of the superior fighters in the world and I'm only going to get better," boasted Mundine.

"My jab is the key. I'm super quick."

[binnie]

Hatton camp makes a $10million offer to Mayweather

From sportinglife.com

HOBSON MAKES OFFER TO MAYWEATHER
E-mail Article Print-Friendly Subscribe to RSS Feed
Post to del.icio.us

By Mark Staniforth, PA Sport

Ricky Hatton's promoter Dennis Hobson has upped the stakes in his bid to secure a super-fight with Floyd Mayweather by offering the American $10million to come to Britain.

Hobson is convinced he can put together an offer to tempt the 'Pretty Boy' to come out of his short retirement to fight Hatton in the first big fight at the new Wembley Stadium.

Mayweather has already said he would be willing to come back to fight Hatton, who looked hugely impressive in his fourth-round stoppage of Jose Luis Castillo in Las Vegas last weekend.

Hobson said: "I've offered Floyd $10million to come to Britain and find out who is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

"Mayweather is saying he wants to put pen to paper and this is his big chance to do so. It is a very substantial offer so if Mayweather is serious it is there for him to agree.

"I have already spoken to some of his people and they have been very receptive. Now I am just waiting for them call back and indicate their level of interest."

Hobson insists the expected huge attendance figures could bankroll the fight, for which Hatton would expect a similar-sized purse.

He added: "There is no reason we can't do it over here. We would be happy to align it with pay-per-view time in the States so it could suit both sides of the Atlantic."

Hobson, who is currently negotiating with Hatton to extend his own promotional contract, has revealed he has also been in talks with representatives of IBF light-welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi.

Hobson added: "Talks with Malignaggi's camp have been encouraging but that is definitely a Madison Square Garden fight. Ideally we would like to get the next one secured in this country for Ricky."

[binnie]

Hobson is delusional if he thinks Hatton is in the running for pound ofr pound fighter, top ten maybe.

At Wembley Stadium, which seats 120,000+, that would be an incredible event.

[ALinChainz]

I'd bet the farm Floyd won't fight in Britain and be subject to those judges.

Hatton makes all this noise about making big fights here in the states, and then tries this.

[binnie]

Yeah I thought that too, but they want to put it at a time to coinicde with American PPV.

I suppose they're going for Wembley because of the seating capacity, which perhaps they need to generate the $10 million dollars? That's a complete guess.

No, I can't see Floyd coming to England either; although only one of the three judges would probably be British, with the other two been American.

The reason I don't see him travelling is because Hatton needs him, not the other way around.

Personlly, I think a Hatton-De La Hoya fight is much more likely to happen....

[binnie]

July 7th: Vlad Klitscho vs Lamont Brewster.

Now Brewster beat him in 2004 (maybe 2005) with a TKO right? Having said, that Vlad has to be the favourite.

It's better for boxing is an American gets the belt (especially since Shannon Briggs has lost his), but I just don't see it happening....

Thoughts?

[ALinChainz]

Nope. Klitschko with Manny Steward in his corner has been much improved. Brewster is a journeyman, has a nice punch but he's not elite.

Puncher's chance, no more ...

[ALinChainz]

Sidorenko retains WBA bantamweight title

June 29, 2007

MARSEILLE, FRANCE (TICKER) -- Wladimir Sidorenko would not settle for a draw this time.

Making his fifth defense of his WBA bantamweight title, Sidorenko scored a seventh-round knockout of local product Jerome Arnould to retain his crown at the Palais des Sports on Friday.

Since winning a unanimous decision against Julio Zarate for the vacant belt on February 26, 2005, the 30-year-old Sidorenko (20-0-2, 7 KOs) has held on to the title despite battling to draws in two of his previous three fights. But on Friday, the Ukrainian was too much for Arnould (14-3-1), knocking down the challenger in the fifth round before finishing him off two rounds later.

With the impressive performance, the 5-4 champion handed the 22-year-old Arnould his first defeat in eight bouts. The Frenchman had not lost since December 16, 2005, when he was outpointed by Algerian Cherif Saki in a six-round tussle.

Arnould took on Saki in a rematch in May 2006 but was forced to settle for a draw.

http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slu...orenkoarnould& ;prov=st&type=lgns

[ALinChainz]

Pacquiao vs. Barrera rematch on after dispute ends

June 29, 2007

LOS ANGELES (TICKER) -- Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera will fight in Las Vegas on October 6 after a settlement was reached on Friday between two of boxing's most influential promotional companies.

Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank have agreed to settle various legal disputes, including one involving Pacquiao.

That paves the way for the rematch to take place at Mandalay Bay. Pacquiao won the first meeting, Barrera's corner throwing in the towel in the 11th round.

[ALinChainz]

Current Boxing Champions

June 29, 2007