APRIL, 2008
Mayweather vs. Arum: Business Very Personal
MON April 28, MICHAEL HERRON - In the world of boxing, styles make fights, dollars make sense, and business is never personal. Well maybe the first two statements are true but as for the latter it appears that promoters and fighters have made business more personal than ever. How often do we read the latest headlines only to see that Golden Boy Promotions wont work with Top Rank, or Don King won’t work with Bob Arum, or Mayweather Promotions refuses to do business with DKP and Top Rank?
The Future at 175 lbs. (Besides Calzaghe-Jones)
THU April 24, CLIFF ROLD - What’s that old cliché about lions and lambs in April? Take a look at Light Heavyweight in April 2008, and traditional thinking holds true to form. In a span of just eight days, almost the entire top ten in the division saw action, climaxing with last Saturday’s anticlimactic Joe Calzaghe-Bernard Hopkins bout for The Ring magazine belt. The Spring denouement for the weight class comes this weekend with Germany-based Zsolt Erdei stepping to scratch. [Link Takes You To MaxBoxing.com]
Is the Welterweight Division really all that it is Cracked Up to be?
Instructional Guide on How to Dethrone Mayweather
WED April 23, ANTONIO ANDRES CARRIEDO - An oft-repeated criticism of current pound for pound kingpin, Floyd Mayweather Jr. in recent years revolves around his chosen career path. Mayweather is fighting less frequently and against non-welterweights at a time when his critics contend that the 147 lb. welterweight class is the deepest division in boxing. These folks allege that Mayweather’s perceived reluctance to fight his top challengers who consistently fight within the 147 lb. weight class should be just cause for stripping Mayweather of his mythical pound for pound title...
White Boy Beats Bernard Hopkins, Takes Ring Title
SUN April 20, FRANK GONZALEZ JR. - Undisputed Super Middleweight (WBA/WBC/WBO) Champion, Joe Calzaghe (44-0, 32 KO’s) made his debut fight in the USA, as a Light Heavyweight Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, against America’s legendary, former undisputed Middleweight Champion and current (IBO/NBA, no, not basketball) Light Heavyweight Champion, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (48-4-1, 32 KO’s).
The lead up to this fight there was a lot of emphasis on Hopkins’ age and his workouts with his conditioning coach as well as Calzaghe’s methods of training with his father...
Most-Feared: Mythical Title or Pure Fantasy?
THU April 17, MICHAEL HERRON - To compete in a boxing ring one must possess heart, determination, strength, and above all, courage. With that understanding, is it feasible to suggest that any fighter literally fears another? To simply choose prizefighting as a profession denotes a certain degree of fearlessness; and to actually engage in battle is something that only the chosen few can do.
Tarver Picks up IBF Belt, Dawson Outpoints Johnson in a War
WED April 16, ANTONIO ANDRES CARRIEDO - For the better part of the last year, WBC 175 lb. titlist Chad Dawson has been
calling for a fight with former linear 175 lb. champion Antonio Tarver. Unlike the 147 lb. cat and mouse game being played out on HBO’s airwaves involving Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto, Tarver had opted to fight club fighters as opposed challenging the young upstart Dawson. Saturday night’s fight card at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL was the first major step in the direction...
> Carriedo: HBO Lays an Egg, but Gets Compelling July PPV
VIDEO: Post-Fight Reaction from Cotto, Margarito, Gomez and Arum
MON April 14 - After cleaning up on Saturday's HBO Championship Boxing scoring impressive knockouts, WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and newly crowned IBF champ Antonio Margarito discuss their impressive wins and looming summer unification super-fight. TalkingBoxing also caught Alfonso Gomez' post-fight comments along with promter Bob Arum's thoughts. Video by Bill Emes and is in .wmv format.
Thoughts about Cotto, Gomez, Margarito, Cintron and Questionable Match Making
MON April 14, FRANK GONZALEZ JR. - Saturday night in Atlantic City , New Jersey , Miguel Cotto (32-0, 26 KO’s) made easy work of Alphonso Gomez (19-3-2, 8 KO’s) winning by TKO after the fifth round when the ringside doctor stepped in and stopped it. Even though Gomez was in way over his head and getting floored three times in five rounds, he wasn’t incapable of continuing. That stoppage, while merciful, was totally premature.
After Dawson Gets Gift, Glen Johnson Speaks Truth
MON April 14, FRANK GONZALEZ JR. - Saturday night at the St. Pete’s Forum in Tampa Florida, WBC Light Heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (26-0-1 NC, 17 KO’s) defended his title against one of the toughest guys in all boxing, former IBF Light HW champ, Glen Johnson (47-12-2, 32 KO’s)...
In Defense of "Money" Mayweather Part II:
Eyes On The Prize
TUE April 8, MICHAEL HERRON - Since writing "In Defense Of "Money” Mayweather: A True Prizefighter," many boxing fans have sent emails questioning how as a writer and a boxing fan could I support the antics of Floyd Mayweather Jr. I decided to create a response that encompasses several arguments and point-of-views posed by readers.
> SweetSci: Tarver, Woods, Dawson, Johnson: 70s Deja Vu?
Why Does Boxing Have 17 Weight Classes?
THU April 7, ANTONIO ANDRES CARRIEDO - Many ideas have been thrown around over the years about how to improve the sport of boxing. One that I'd like to address is the subject of weight in fights. We all fundamentally understand the fact that boxers rarely fight at the advertised weight limit. They weigh in 24+ hours before the fight and then add some weight before the fight actually starts. This is not only anecdotally accepted; any empirical study will back this up...
Transplanted New Yorkers all Post Wins on Versus Fight Night
SUN April 6, ANTONIO ANDRES CARRIEDO - All of the hometown favorites took care of business on the Versus televised card from the Aviator Sports Arena in Brooklyn, NY on Thursday night. The wins placed some of Top Rank’s lesser known, but still very talented fighters potentially on track for the proverbial “bigger and better things.” IBF 147 lb. mandatory contender Joshua Clottey defeated Jose Luis Cruz by 5th round TKO...
> Estrada and Williams Notch Career Best Wins on FNF
What ESPN's "The Contender" Could Be
FRI April 4, ANTONIO ANDRES CARRIEDO - I hate to rain on the reality television series, "The Contender's" parade. However, even in light of the recent wins by "Contender" alums Brian Vera over much-hyped 160 lb. prospect Andy Lee and Cornelius Bundrage over former IBF 154 lb, titlist Kassim Ouma, I find it necessary to point out that "The Contender" still has a long way to go before it begins to truly live up to its potential...
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