By Norm Frauenheim–

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao stood side-by-side in what was the third time they have ever been seen within a few feet of each other. They looked uncomfortable, almost awkward.

Mayweather raised his right hand and pointed his index finger toward the ceiling as if to remind anyone in the theatre and the heavens that he – and only he – is No. 1.

Pacquiao raised a left hand that was clenched into a fist that seemed to say he intends to pound some humility into Mayweather and his lofty claim.

Their fight on May 2 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand is about a lot of things, of course. There’s legacy and celebrity, business and bragging rights. All of it is attached to an unprecedented bottom line.

But there’s something else. In watching the HBO/Showtime live feed Wednesday of a news conference- turned-show biz, two very different personalities stood on that stage at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. It set ups an intriguing collision, one that promises personal drama in a fight past its physical prime.

It’s a modern version of The Prince-versus-The Pauper. They have been rehearsing their respective roles for as long as they have been answering an opening bell. For each, it’s as much of an identity as a role.

There’s The Prince, the ostentatious Mayweather, who likes to flash his money and brag about his A-side power.

“When you get to this level, making nine figures for 36 minutes of work, you have to be a winner,” Mayweather told reporters in a Q-and-A session before he lived onto the Nokia’s stage.

Then, there’s The Pauper, the born-again Pacquiao, who is known to give away his money to fellow Filipinos still trapped in the third-world squalor that was once his home.

“God,’’ Pacquiao said in an interview with HBO. “I want people to know that he can raise someone from nothing to something. That’s me.’’

Those are comments that say Mayweather and Pacquiao believe in different things.

Maybe, that difference will mean nothing in the welterweight fight.

Maybe, it’s just as simple as Mayweather’s five-inch advantage in reach, which was so apparent Wednesday when they stood warily next to each other at center stage and in front of the world’s cameras.

Still, it’s part of the pre-fight psychology. Pacquiao says he’s very comfortable as the underdog. He’s at the sort end of 2-to-1 betting odds. The underdog has been is best role since he arrived at the Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym from the Philippines. It was a key to his motivation beating Erik Morales after losing to him in their first fight.

He understands loss and how to deal with it, although Mayweather suggested Wednesday that defeat will be a weakness for Pacquaio.

“One thing I do know about in any sport is that if you lose, it’s in your mind,’’ Mayweather told Showtime. “If you lose twice, it’s in your mind. All my life, I’ve fought be winner.’’

It’s no coincidence that Mayweather is unbeaten at 47-0. Staying that way has been a key motivation and defines one of his nicknames, TBE, The Best Ever. There’s even a theory that a loss would destroy his confidence. A masterful defensive tactician, he fights not to lose.

Flip the coin and you’ve got Pacquaio, whose 64-fight record includes five defeats — two over his last five. He understands defeat, which can be a component in knowing how to win.

It depends on the personality, which in the end might be remembered long after all that money gets spent.

FORT MCDOWELL, Ariz. – Bronco Billy Wright is a late bloomer. He has to be.

Wright (46-4, 37 KOs) is a 50-year-old heavyweight who wants to be the oldest champion in the division’s long history.

His quest continues Friday night against a man who could be his son, 29-year-old Gilberto Domingos (22-2, 20 KOs) of Brazil in a bout scheduled for 10 rounds on a six-fight card at We Ke Po Casino. First bell is 6:30 pm. (PST).

Wright, of Las Vegas, returns to his home state. He was born in Morenci, an Arizona mining town. His record includes losses to Michael Moorer and Frans Botha.

The card also included unbeaten middleweight Milorad Zizic (11-0, 5 KOs) of Montenegro against Lionel Rose (11-2, 3 KOs) of Lynwood, Calif.

LAS VEGAS – Blood, guts, skill and will made for a powerful mix. It was a shot of prime time, just what NBC ordered.

Keith Thurman and Robert Guerrero delivered Saturday night at the MGM Grand with a compelling welterweight bout full of more drama than the story told by scores on one-sided cards.

Thurman was the winner. The 120-107, 118-109, 118-108 scorecards seemed to say that it was easy. It wasn’t. That was as plain as Thurman’s battered face. There was a huge welt on the left side of his forehead from an apparent head butt in the third round. Streaks of blood and bruises framed his weary eyes.

Thurman won, all right.

In the ninth round, he knocked down Guerrero and cut him above one eye with a successive right uppercuts and a glancing left hand. Guerrero was flat on his back, blood streaming across his face and onto the mat from a deep gash across his left eyelid. It looked as if he wouldn’t get up, as if he was about to get stopped for the first time in his long career. But there’s no if in his courage.

“Robert Guerrero was a tremendous warrior,’’ Thurman (25-0, 21 KOs).

Was and is.

Guerrero (32-3-1, 18 KOs) got up and took the fight to a tiring Thurman. It was if Guerrero knew he needed a knockout and Thurman was protecting the victory he knew he had on the cards. Thurman backpedaled. Guerrero moved forward.

In the 10th, there was a collision. Guerrero’s pursuit put him with range and he capitalized, landing straight right hands that seemed to stun Thurman. The crowd of 10,107 went wild. NBC had the round it wanted in its first prime-time telecast of boxing in three decades.

“I fought my heart out,’’ Guerrero said. “That’s the the kind of performance that wins over the hearts of fans, even if you don’t win.’’

Adrien Broner has a fast jab, a faster mouth and collection of nicknames. The jab was enough to a score a 120-108, 118-110, 120-108 decision over John Molina Jr., whose only real counter was an awkward lunge.

But the speed in Broner’s jab was absent in his feet. Broner (30-1, 22 KOs), who landed 141 jabs, was often as flat-footed as Molina (27-6, 22 KOs) was off-balance. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t even competitive. Molina landed only 54 punches throughout the 12 rounds.

Yet, Broner never displayed a finishing touch. He calls himself AB. But Broner’s performance put some new meaning into the acronym. About Billions? Not quite. About Boring was more like it.

It was a junior-welterweight fight that took the prime out of time. The MGM Grand crowd booed. NBC can only hope that the viewers didn’t reach for their remotes, especially after Broner repeated a version of a slur that insulted a pay-per-view audience in May, 2014.

That’s when Broner said: “I’ve beaten Afri-cans and I just beat the bleep out of a Mexi-can” after a victory over Carlos Molina on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s decision over Marcos Maidana.

This time, Broner tried to offend a network audience.

“Anyone can get it,’’ he said to as the crowd tried to silence him with boos. “African’cans, Mexi-cans.’’

At least, nobody in the NBC audience had to pay to hear that one.

In the wake of a knockout loss to Jhonny Gonzalez, nothing has been easy for Los Angeles featherweight Abner Mares (29-1-1, 15 KOs), who won his third straight since the defeat, yet continued to look less than spectacular in a unanimous decision over Arturo Reyes (18-5, 5 KOs) of Mexico.

Mario Barrios (8-0, 4 KOs), a 6-foot featherweight from San Antonio, employed every inch of his advantage in height and reach against overmatched and overwhelmed Justin Lopez (5-3, 5 KOs), a fellow Texan who was down late in the second round and finished at 1:53 of the third.

With Robert Guerrero’s volatile dad, Ruben, in his corner, Mexican featherweight Jorge Lara (27-0-1, 19 KOs) was a buzz saw, walking through and over fellow Mexican Mario Macias (25-15, 13 KOs) for a first-round TKO

First, there were the lights. Then, there was the music. Then, there were Ladarius Miller and Ryan Picou, who were the first fighters to walk across a new stage, down ramps and into a ring beneath the brightest high def this side of Jerry Vision at the Dallas Cowboys home stadium.

Miller and Picou must have been tempted to look at themselves on screens that cost $3.5 million apiece.

But they couldn’t. They had to keep an eye on each other in the opening bout on Al Haymon’s first card in his new circuit, Premier Boxing Champions, at the MGM Grand.

Miller, a Mayweather-promoted junior-welterweight, and Picou battled through four crisp rounds Saturday night in the first non-televised bout on a card featuring Keith-Thurman and Adrien Broner-John Molina Jr. in NBC’s first primetime telecast of boxing since a Larry Holmes’ victory over Carl “The Truth’’ Williams in 1985.

With Floyd Mayweather Sr. in his corner, Miller (6-0, 1 KO) employed his superior reach and quick hands, scoring a four-round unanimous decision over Picou (2-7), who lost every round on each of the scorecards.

On the card’s second bout, lightweight Robert Easter (13-0, 10 KOs) of Toledo didn’t leave it up the judges. He knocked down Alejandro Rodriquez (22-16-1, 13 KOs), three times in the second for a TKO victory at 1:15 of the round.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) begins Saturday on NBC in prime time amid anticipation and some skepticism. It’s risky. It’s gutsy. It’s a lot of things. Above all, it’s necessary.

It’s the first step in an attempt to re-create the game after Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2. Pacquiao has already hinted at retirement. With two fights left on his Showtime contract, Mayweather has also talked about the possibility.

It’s only a question of when. Haymon’s PBC series is a business plan, a path for beyond that imminent inevitability. Without one, boxing is left with fighters who have little, if any, name recognition among casual fans.

“There’s been a lot of buzz about this,’’ Al Michaels, the studio host for Saturday night’s telecast, said Wednesday during a conference call with analyst Sugar Ray Leonard, blow-by-blow announcer Marv Albert and executive producer Sam Flood. “…I’m as curious as anybody to see if this provides a resurrection of sorts for a sport that became a pay-per-view sport and didn’t enable a lot of guys to become particularly well known.

“It’s an opportunity for a lot of these fighters to get in the mainstream, and perhaps help to resurrect the sport.’’

Over the last year, the so-called casual fans have been exiting the pay-per-view audience faster than the PPV inflationary rate.

They know two names and two names only: Pacquaio and Mayweather. Ask them if they know Keith Thurman or Robert Guerrero, and you’ll probably get a blank look. The PBC’s introduction is an opportunity to introduce the compelling Thurman and the blue-collar Guerrero to that audience in a welterweight bout on an NBC telecast (8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT) without the PPV price tag.

Thurman and Guerrero might have been buried on a PPV card or premium network if not for a Haymon plan that showcases them, along with Adrien Broner-versus-John Molina Jr. at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

Put Thurman-Guerrero on the Mayweather-Pacquaio PPV card and who would really watch? All the attention — all the air in the room — will be consumed by the Mayweather-Pacquiao anticipation.

If you’ve ever been in the arena for a big PPV event, two guys could be engaged in a Fight of the Year. If the main-event stars are entering the arena at the time, however, all eyes are on them, focused on the video-screen that shows their every step from the limo, down the hallway and into the dressing room.

The ongoing drama within the ropes at that moment is overshadowed and quickly forgotten. It’s not fair, but boxing has never been confused with fairness. It’s theater, which means the undercard is little bit like the supporting cast. Nobody pays to see it.

The PBC series is about making stars, successors to Mayweather and Pacquaio. Without them, the game gets pushed even further from the mainstream. Haymon is making a huge investment on the bet that he can. In addition to NBC, he’s got deals with CBS, Spike TV and Bounce TV. There are plenty of platforms, many stages, for his fighters to test their aspirations and for Haymon to turn a profit.

“Without question these young boxers, these future champions, they are totally aware that more eyes will see them than they receive on pay-per-view,’’ said Leonard, the Hall of Famer and the defining face of the welterweight/middleweight heyday of the late 1970s and ‘80s. “The fact of the matter is that they know it’s all about showing up. This is a huge audition for these boxers. ‘’

The NBC card Saturday night has been called a debut. But it’s not. Not really. It’s more of back-to-the future, back to a business model that was a key component in the creation of Leonard. Leonard became a household name because of the 1976 Montreal Olympics, televised by ABC with Howard Cosell at ringside.

“One of the reasons Ray Leonard became an American icon, was because they could see him,’’ Michaels said. “Turn on Channel 7, Channel 4, whatever it was in those years. That’s what I think boxing was then. Obviously, it’s in a different place right now.

“But if it’s going to be resurrected this is one giant step for doing that.’’

The guess here is that Leonard would have become a major star anyway. He was at the right weight. Welter and middle have rich histories. It was also the right time. From 147 to 160 pounds, there were great rivals in Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Wilfredo Benitez.

Free TV’s power to create stars was never more evident than in some of the lightest divisions. Michael Carbajal might be the best example. The Mexican-American from Phoenix fought at a weight, 108 pounds, that had always been ignored. But NBC paid attention to him in 1988, where he was robbed of gold in the second worst theft of the infamous Seoul Olympics. For outrage, nothing rivals the gold robbed from Roy Jones, Jr.

Carbajal emerged from those Olympics with a compelling story, which was a lot more valuable to him and boxing than a silver medal. He was the first from that U.S. Olympic team to win a major title in an afternoon bout televised by NBC, which also signed him to a 3-fight deal in 1990.

Despite being lighter than a lot of jockeys, those NBC cameras made him look much bigger. Imagine what they could do with flyweight Roman Gonzalez, the Nicaraguan who has been fighting in Japan and is an American star only on YouTube.

There’s never been a bigger star at 108 pounds than Carbajal. Without NBC, would the Hall of Famer been known as a major, pound-for-pound star? Dumb question.

Then again, there’s never been a long-term commitment to boxing on traditional, free-TV networks since then. For Haymon’s PBC, NBC is a beginning, complemented by social media, state-of-the-art technology and big-name broadcasters. But it’s an old model — proven, updated and maybe back at ringside just in time.

PHOENIX – It was a heavyweight main event. But a lightweight stole the show.

Victor Castro, an emerging Phoenix prospect, displayed poise and precision, a combo that overwhelmed Ivan Zavala and offset ranked heavyweight Charles Martin’s sloppy stoppage of Raphael Zumbano Love Saturday night at Celebrity Theatre.

With junior-featherweight legend Israel Vazquez as his trainer, Castro (14-0, 7 KOs), moved forward with tactical skill and a patient awareness. Zavala never had a chance.

Castro dropped Zavala (6-9-2, 2 KO), of Tijuana, with a body shot in the second round and finished him with a right hand at 2:45 of the third.

It wasn’t exactly clear who, where or when Castro would fight next. But a main event in the next Iron Boy Promotions card might be a good bet.

The cheers from a near-capacity crowd quickly turned into boos for the heavyweights. Martin (20-0-1, 18 KOs), the World Boxing Organization’s fifth-ranked heavyweight, gained an early advantage. But he could never get any leverage on his punches until an exhausted Love (35-10-1, 28 KOs) finally collapsed in the 10th.

Martin threw a succession punches, shoved Love into the ropes and then continued punching until Love went to his knees, finished aty 1:47 of the 10th and final round. Love got up and smiled. It was as if he was relieved that it had ended. Everybody else was.

On the Undercard

The Best: Phoenix junior-featherweight Francisco C De Vaca danced and smiled. Bled a little, too. In the end, he also won, scoring a unanimous decision over Saul Hernandez (6-6, 4 KOs) in an entertaining six-round bout.

De Vaca, who had former Oscar De La Hoya trainer Robert Alcazar in his corner, suffered a bloody nose in a toe-to-toe exchange midway through the third. It seemed to wake him up.

De Vaca mocked Hernandez with a wicked smile. He waved him in for another exchange. He dropped his hands. He also landed most of the punches, displaying unique precision from a variety of angles for a 60-54 advantage on one card and 59-55 on the other two.

The Rest: Albuquerque featherweight Jesus Pacheco (2-5) overcame hometown judges and fans, using patience and precision to score a majority decision over Edgar Brito (3-1-1, 2 KOs) of Phoenix.

Welterweight Daniel Garcia (2-0) of Surprise, Ariz., was no surprise, doing what he does best in outworking Stephan McCray (0-6) for a unanimous decision.

Albuquerque welterweight Brian Mendoza (4-0, 2 KOs) got in four rounds of solid work, winning a unanimous decision while dropping Javier Rivera (0-1) of Yuma, Ariz., onto his back with a quick counter in the second round of a one-sided bout.

Featherweight Jose Herrera (1-0, 1 KO) was a knockout in his debut, overwhelming Fernando Alvarez (0-1) of New Mexico with a stinging succession of punches for a stoppage at 1:26 of the first round.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Jean Pascal is called quick for hands that can put punches together in rapid succession. He’s called quick for graceful feet that are a human version of rapid transit. But a quick thinker? Not so much.

At least, Pascal’s sudden-strike agility in hands and feet was not evident in anything he said Tuesday during a conference call with Sergey Kovalev for a HBO-televised bout on March 14 in Montreal.

Maybe Pascal didn’t get the memo. But if Kovalev is vulnerable, this might the time. He’s coming off the November 9th demolition of Bernard Hopkins in a fight significant because it represents a changing of the guard at the top of the light-heavyweight division, if not the sport itself. He is The Ring’s Fighter of the Year. He’s first-time father.

If there’s a chance at upsetting Kovalev, this is the time. Maybe, the unbeaten Russian is distracted or content. That’s doubtful, but it’s a possible hedge, and Pascal needs every one he can find if he hopes to beat Kovalev. Instead, he only managed to eliminate that possibility with cheap trash talk during a conference call last week that was mostly a disagreement about drug testing.

Pascal rattled the lion’s cage.

Pascal, Kovalev promoter Kathy Duva of Main Events said, “is clueless, quite clueless.’’

Duva was expressing her exasperation at Pascal for the reasons he said no to more stringent testing by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.

VADA has no credibility because it tests only boxers, Pascal said repeatedly during a call gone free-for-all.

“We had been approached by the Pascal camp about doing drug testing,’’ said Duva, who argued that Kovalev had the right to dictate the protocol because Kovalev is the defending 175-pound champion. “We agreed to go to the people at VADA. Jean Pascal said he did not agree to VADA. He originally offered to pay for it. He wasn’t going to pay for VADA. We decided that since he didn’t want to pay the lower fee for the much more credible organization, then he must not have been serious about that, so there will be no drug testing.”

Greg Leon, CEO of Jean Pascal Promotions, then stepped into the rhetorical scrum.

“VADA didn’t come into the game until the 11th hour,” Leon said. “I was negotiating with Main Events attorney Patrick English, and we were trying to land in a place that Pascal originally planned on with the protocol he’s had in place since 2013. Out of the two athletes fighting on March 14, only one of them has been tested randomly over 10 times, and that’s Jean Pascal. It’s unfortunate we could not land on a mutual organization, but it is what it is. Main Events shouldn’t be caring what Pascal is spending on a test if he’s willing to pay for all of it.”

According to Leon, Pascal has been tested by the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) for the last two years.

It’s an argument the figures to go on – and on – until opening bell, mostly because Angel “Memo” Heredia is Pascal’s strength-and-conditioning coach. Heredia, who was involved with disgraced track-and-field Olympian Marion Jones, also works for Juan Manuel Marquez, who has never tested positive, yet has been suspected of PED use ever since he knocked out Manny Pacquiao in the fourth fight.

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Main Events had in fact said okay to WADA. Maybe, they should have. Heredia in Pascal’s corner, however, guarantees that he’ll have to deal with the suspicions no matter what happens against Kovalev. He could have eliminated them had he said okay to VADA.

Then again, Duva was right. Pascal has been clueless. Pascal, of Montreal, said a victory would make him TBE in Canada. No world on how much rent he had to pay Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the right to use that acronym. Then, Pascal suggested that the fight against Kovalev would play out like the Rocky sequel that takes Balboa to Russia for a fight against Drago. He referred to a 2011 bout in Russia when Roman Simakov lost a seventh-round TKO to Kovalev. Simakov lapsed into a coma. Three days later, he died.

“This fight reminds me of Rocky IV and I think it’s going to be like a remake,” Pascal said. “You have the North American guy versus the Russian. You’ve got the East versus the West. You’ve got Drago, who killed Apollo Creed in the ring. Sergey Kovalev did the same thing, maybe a couple of years ago.

“I am a huge underdog like Rocky was in the movie. The odds I think are about 4-1, but in this movie I’m not going to be Apollo Creed. I’m going to be the Black Balboa.”

Yo, Jean. Wake up. Kovalev has already faced the best trash-talker in the business. Word-for-word, nobody rivals Hopkins. Kovalev never blinked. There’s a lesson there, but Pascal missed it, because he was too busy with talk that has turned him into a target.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Unbeaten American heavyweight Charles Martin (19-0, 17 KOs) faces Raphael Zumbano Love (35-9-1, 28 KOs) of Brazil Saturday night Celebrity Theatre in the main event of a 10-fight card staged by Iron Boy Promotions.

Martin, of St. Louis, is ranked No. 5 by the World Boxing Organization. He won a national Police Athletic League title in 2012.

The Iron Boy card also will feature promising Phoenix lightweight Victor Castro (13-0, 6 KOs), who is trained by junior-featherweight legend Israel Vazquez. Castro is scheduled to fight Ivan Zavala (6-8-2, 2 KOs) of Mexico. First bell is scheduled for 5 p.m. (MST).

By Norm Frauenheim-

A week-long celebration of the 25-year anniversary of Buster Douglas’ upset of Mike Tyson is a revealing look at where boxing has been and where it is, or perhaps isn’t these days. Nostalgia is a good thing. It’s a personal attachment to dramatic moments in a rich history that the UFC will never have.

But nostalgia is also a refuge and I suspect that’s why there’s been so much of it in the days before Wednesday’s anniversary of a stunner that rivals hockey’s Miracle on Ice and New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath’s upset of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

Douglas-Tyson comes with that inevitable question: Where were you? Anywhere is better than the ongoing uncertainty of the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. talks. A trip into the past is as good an escape as any.

For the record, I was in Miami at a silly Slam Dunk Contest that precedes the NBA All-Star Game. I didn’t see a single dunk and I’m sure my newspaper story reflected that. Douglas-Tyson was a pretty good escape on the night it happened, too.

There have been other great upsets, of course. Other fights are remembered with that defining, where-were-you question. My late dad would always tell me about Joe Louis’ first-round knockout of Germany’s Max Schmeling in a 1938 rematch of Schmeling’s 1936 victory. He was in the barracks, in basic training for a much bigger fight.

Louis-Schmeling was the fight that captured the collective imagination of my dad’s generation. It represented his attachment to boxing. For my generation, it’s been Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier and increasingly, Ali-George Foreman. The 40-year anniversary of Ali’s upset of Foreman in Zaire on Oct. 30, 1974 was celebrated just a few months ago in a wave of nostalgia that, by the way, was also an early escape from a resumption of the Pacquiao-Mayweather talk.

For younger generations, it’s Douglas-Tyson. Douglas’ upset, a 10th stoppage in Tokyo, was so unscripted — so unthinkable — that has become unforgettable. There’s a great anecdote this week in an Associated Press story about Douglas. Legendary AP boxing writer Ed Schuyler landed in Tokyo and was asked at customs how long he would be working in Japan.

“About 90 seconds,’’ Schuyler said.

Schuyler summed it up as only he could. Tyson was the most feared fighter since Sonny Liston. Over time, the magnitude of Douglas’ upset has multiplied simply because Douglas never did anything else. Douglas’ triumph on the night of Feb. 11, 1990 stands alone. In his next fight, he surrendered to Evander Holyfield in a bout that was preceded by reports that Douglas had pizza delivered to him while he sat in a sauna trying to sweat off excess pounds.

Then, it began to look as if Douglas’ victory was an aberration. Tyson was as feared as ever. Even after three-and-a-half years of lousy food and no sparring during three-plus years in prison, Tyson scared the fight out of just about anyone who dared step in the ring with him. Everybody, that is, but Holyfield.

On this list of great upsets over the last 25 years, Holyfield’s 11th-round TKO of Tyson in 1996 before their Infamous Bite Fight in 1997 ranks as a close second to Douglas-Tyson. It was thought that Holyfield was shot. There was even fear for his life.

He had suffered a reported heart condition in a 1994 loss to Michael Moorer. He opened as a 25-to-1 underdog at some of the Las Vegas books. Holyfield wasn’t as big a long shot as Douglas, whose fight with Tyson was off the board at every book but The Mirage. But the opening odds added up to the same conclusion: No chance.

Holyfield did what Douglas had done before him. He didn’t let Tyson bully him. Douglas showed Holyfield that Tyson couldn’t think through adversity. The rest is history, which is a lot more interesting than anything we’ve heard – or not heard – in the here and now.

By Norm Frauenheim –

Wladimir Klitschko’s return to America coincides with talks that are holding a sport hostage all over again. The heavyweight’s April 25 bout with Bryant Jennings at New York’s Madison Square Garden arrives in time to take attention off the paralysis-by-analysis of you-know-what.

It’s impossible to know what’s happening, or who’s to blame, or if the reported talks are fact, fantasy or futility.

It’s also hard to know whether frustration will lead to further erosion in the pay-per-view numbers if Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. does not happen. Renewed speculation and anticipation are symptoms. But of what? An imminent backlash? The cancer is back? Or resiliency in a sport that outlives its obituaries?

There’s no safe answer here, but Klitschko’s appearance Wednesday at a news conference in New York offered hope and certainty to what has otherwise been an exercise in exasperation. The Pacquaio-Mayweather tease could continue for another three weeks and that’s if we’re lucky. The first Mayweather-Marcos Maidana fight last May wasn’t announced until Feb. 24.

The only thing anybody knows for sure at this point is that Mayweather-Pacquiao won’t happen in Australia, which denied Mayweather a visa on Wednesday.

In Klitschko, however, there’s reliability in an intriguing pursuit of what has become today’s most over-used word: Legacy. Mayweather advertises it with TBE, The Best Ever, on shorts and caps. If he never fights Pacquiao, will an asterisk be attached to the acronym?

Meanwhile, Klitschko is fighting for his place in history with a steady, patient career. Too patient, too steady for some. Nevertheless, he is closing in on Joe Louis’ reign of eleven successive years as the heavyweight champ. It’s a record that would allow him to be mentioned alongside others in the TBE debate. There’s more than one and there always will be.

Klitschko knows that his longevity and record (63-3, 53 KOs) are generating comparisons to Louis, Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes.

“I hear this once in awhile,’’ he said. “…I don’t want to put myself in line with those legends. I respect and love them. I cannot put myself with others. You can do it, but it’s not my job.”

It’s an ambitious job, part political and unmistakably dangerous for a fighter who will be 39 years old on March 25. It’s no coincidence, perhaps, that he’s back in the U.S. for his first fight in seven years. He’s in the country and city that has produced so many of the best moments in the heavyweight division’s fabled history.

“It’s kind of incredible to me to think that I’m coming back now as the champion and still doing this,” he said. “Fortunately, knock on wood, I don’t feel my age. I’ll be 39 by the time we fight but I don’t feel that way. I feel good and I want to show the people here in the U.S. how far I’ve come since I was last here.”

Klitschko’s return to the U.S. market makes business sense, too. There are signs that of renewed interest in American-born heavyweights. The television audience for Alabama-born Deontay Wilder’s one-sided decision over Bermane Stiverne for the WBC’s slice of the title was a hit.

The Showtime-telecast of the bout drew an average audience of 1.24 million, fourth highest in the network’s history of non-PPV bouts. It was a surprise, because half of a crowd announce at about 8,400 at Las Vegas MGM Grand had freebies. But the Nielsen numbers said fans are curious about the outspoken, entertaining Wilder, the last American to win an Olympic medal – bronze in 2008.

It’s a number that says they’ll be back, maybe in larger numbers, for a PPV showdown with Klitschko, who has employed Wilder as a sparring partner.

“We need to do it and we have to do it,” Klitschko said of the Wilder possibility. “There is certainly a reason why I’m back here and why I’m fighting on U.S. television live on U.S. soil. (Wilder) is the most valuable opponent for me to fight and the price is the title that he has.

“The demand is here.”

Klitschko, at least, is taking a real step toward fulfilling it.

By Norm Frauenheim

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao went one-on-one in an old-school way almost forgotten by all the methods offered by social media. Face-to-face. Imagine that.

What took so long? It’s a fair question, one that they probably will ask themselves if they finally sign a deal to fight. But Twitter didn’t get in the way of their chance meeting in Miami during and after a Milwaukee Bucks-Heat game Tuesday night.

They looked into each other’s eyes instead of simply engaging in an exchange of taunts through various digital platforms that have become today’s stage. It’s mostly about ego and entertainment, Hits and followers are like laughs and applause. Gain them with jokes and insults. But it’s no way to negotiate.

According to various media reports, Mayweather initiated the meeting by approaching Pacquiao at court side. Then, the real business was conducted in Pacquiao’s hotel suite, according to Pacquiao advisor Michael Koncz. Koncz told the Associated Press and www.ringtv.com that Tuesday’s two meetings were the first between the two rivals. That’s astonishing. They didn’t run into each other at the Ferrari dealership?

Boxing is a small community, after all But it’s also tribal. Fighters stay with those they trust. Loyalty is their first commandment. The second, third and fourth, too. So, yeah, it’s not beyond belief that Mayweather and Pacquiao have been avoiding each other like wary rivals circling the same prey.

Cheers to Mayweather for initiating the night’s first meeting and asking for the second one. Cheers, too, to Koncz for seemingly encouraging the personal exchange.

A snowstorm in the Northeast might have put Mayweather and Pacquiao in the same place for one night.

But the coincidence provided an opportunity and Koncz knew it. It was beginning to look as if negotiations for a May 2 showdown were dead on arrival. But that was before Mayweather and Pacquiao looked at each other during an hour-long conversation that they’ve never had. Suddenly, there’s optimism instead of the same old futility.

According to Koncz and Pacquaio promoter Bob Arum, there’s an agreement between the networks, Time Warner’s HBO and CBS’ Showtime. Each would produce a special on its own fighter – HBO with Pacquiao and Showtime with Mayweather.

It still isn’t clear who will do the blow-by-blow account and ringside analysis. But it sounds as if an agreement is in the works.

Would there be renewed hope — if not a real chance — for one if Pacquiao and Mayweather had not met?

No.

It’s not the first time that the fighters themselves have broken what seems to be an impossible deadlock. Still, it’s a reminder that, in the end, there’s some real leverage in their dangerous hands.

For as long as there has been an opening bell, fighters have talked about taking the judges out of a fight. It’s one way of promising a stoppage. It’s another way of eliminating the subjectivity that has always haunted the sport. Controversial decisions are bad for business.

In effect, the Pacquiao-Mayweather summit is an attempt at exactly that: Eliminate the middlemen. Talks between CEOs, promoters, managers, advisers, trainers, broadcasters and conditioning coaches appeared to be going nowhere other than in the way.

In the end, only the talk between unlikely business partners might matter. In the end, only Pacquiao and Mayweather will throw punches at each other. Only they can agree to do so.

Phoenix junior welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr., who won the WBC’s interim junior-welterweight title in a controversial decision over Mauricio Herrera on Dec. 13, plans to resume training on Monday.

His trainer and father, Jose Benavidez Sr., said he hopes his son’s next fight is in the spring. However, Top Rank, his promoter, has yet to decide on an opponent or a date.

“We still have to meet and talk about that,’’ said his father, whose unbeaten son will train at Central Boxing near downtown Phoenix.

Unbeaten Jessie Vargas, the WBA’s 140-pound champion and also a Top Rank fighter, is at the top of Benavidez’ wish list.

“If everything works out, yes, Vargas is the guy we’d like to fight,’’ the senior Benavidez said.

A rematch was speculated after Benavidez (22-0, 15 KOs) won a controversial unanimous decision over Herrera at Las Vegas’ Cosmopolitan in an HBO-televised bout. In the immediate aftermath of the bout, a frustrated Herrera (21-5, 7 KOs) said he wanted a rematch and Benavidez said he would give him one.

However, it sounds as if Herrera has changed his mind. Instead, he says he wants a shot at Adrien Broner, who faces John Molina Jr. on March 7 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand on the first card in Al Haymon’s deal with NBC.

Herrera, 34, broke into The Ring’s 140-pound ratings at No. 10, despite the loss to the 22-year-old Benavidez, who is not ranked among the top 10.

Benavidez’ father said he had no problem with the ranking.

“Mauricio is good fighter, a good guy and a good story,’’ he said. “My son learned a lot in that fight. With that experience, I think, he’d knock him out in a rematch.’’

Benavidez is the third Arizona fighter in the state’s history to win a title sanctioned by a major sanction acronym. Junior-flyweight Michael Carbajal, a Hall of Famer, held the IBF, WBC and WBO titles during the 1990s. Louie Espinoza won the WBA’s super-bantamweight title in 1987.

By Norm Frauenheim–

It’s hard to recall when there wasn’t talk about Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado are about to fight for a third time. We’re still talking.

Gas prices fall from $5-a-gallon to less than $2. Cheap talk continues. A German Pope quits the Vatican and a pope from Argentina moves in. Still talking. Maybe praying, too.

It’s almost as if the talk has always been there, embedded in the public conversation. When a time capsule buried in a corner of the Massachusetts State House was opened about a month ago, newspapers were found alongside stuff left by Paul Revere in 1795.

Nobody opened up the old newspapers, which is lot like today’s newspapers. But I would love to see the headlines, just to make sure there was no mention of Pacquiao-Mayweather. I’m pretty sure, too, Revere didn’t shout “the fight is coming, the fight is coming’’ on that midnight ride more than two centuries ago. It just seems like it.

In an era defined by 140 characters, little has a shelf life longer than yesterday’s tweet. But Mayweather-Pacquiao is inexhaustible. It’s a virtual commodity, a little bit like Kim Kardashian’s posterior. It just never goes away, which also makes it hard to know what’s fantasy and what’s not.

The talk is as loud now as it was when it started more than half a decade ago. Other than the volume, however, is any of it real? Or is it just more exasperating buzz in another rhetorical sequel to the same old futility?

I was in Las Vegas last week for Deontay Wilder’s heavyweight decision over Bermane Stiverne at the MGM Grand. It was a good fight and a better story. But all of the talk was about you-know-what. There was more speculation in the media workroom than losing wagers in the casino. It’s happening; it’s not happening.

Anticipation has created a bubble and perhaps boxing’s version of Deflate-gate. There’s a growing sense that the air has begun to go out of the talks.

That said, there’s always another rumor, or maybe a daydream. According to one, the bout could be announced in the grandest style possible, say, during the Seattle-New England Super Bowl on Feb. 1. Buy a 30-second spot of advertising for $4 million and announce the Super Bowl of boxing.

A fanciful reach? Maybe. By now, everything about Pacuiao-Mayweather appears to be a reach. In terms of timing, however, it makes some sense. Pacquiao has said his deadline is the end of January. If he doesn’t get an answer from Mayweather by then, it looks as if he’ll move on, perhaps to a bout with former stable-mate Amir Khan.

Meanwhile, Mayweather loves the big stage and nothing is bigger than the Super Bowl.

He said during a radio interview in Australia that talks were ongoing. But red flags are everywhere. In the same interview from Down Under, Mayweather blamed Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum, his bitter rival, for the apparent stall in the reported negotiations.

There’s also plenty of renewed speculation about a Mayweather rematch with Miguel Cotto, whose talks with Canelo Alvarez for a May 2 bout are off the table. Alvarez promoter Oscar De La Hoya said last Saturday before Wilder-Stiverne that Canelo was looking for a different opponent after Cotto failed to accept an offer by Jan. 16. Now, talk is reportedly ongoing for Canelo-James Kirkland.

Going on, but going where? It’s been nowhere for longer than many can remember, or maybe long enough to just hope that it just goes away.

LAS VEGAS – A lot was promised. Return to Glory, the ads said. The glory will have to wait. But there was a return of sorts. An American-born fighter has regained a version of the heavyweight title.

Deontay Wilder did it Saturday night with a unanimous decision, taking the World Boxing Council’s belt from a plodding Bermane Stiverne Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

“I’m so happy to bring the belt back to America, officially,’’ said Wilder, the first American-born champ since Shannon Briggs won a belt in the bout’s final second of a 2006 walk-off knockout of Sergey Liakhovich in a ring above the pitcher’s mound at the Arizona Diamondbacks home field in downtown Phoenix.

Briggs victory didn’t exactly re-conquer an old American possession. Then, the flag went up and came down in Banana Republic time. It’s hard to know whether Wilder’s victory will result in any real permanence. For now, however, it’s a foothold by a young heavyweight still learning his trade

“I want to be around for a long, long time,’’ Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) said over the Haitian-born Stiverne 24-2-1, 21 KOs).

Translation: He wants to make history. He talked about history after the one- sided scorecards – 120-107, 118-109 and 119-108 – were announced.

Wilder dedicated his victory to Muhammad Ali, who turned 73 Saturday. He talked about civil rights leader Martin
Luther King, whose national holiday will be celebrated Monday.

“Martin Luther King, he shocked the world,’’ Wilder said. “I shook it.’’

Truth is, he only shook only Stivrne a few times, once in the fifth round and again in the seventh. It was in the seventh that it looked as if Wilder would keep his unbeaten record perfect. But another stoppage eluded him.

Wilder threw s a straight right, a deadly fastball, which knocked Stiverne on to his heels and backpedaling across the canvas. Only the ropes kept the Haitian’s 239 pounds from crushing a customer or two in the ringside seats. Those same ropes also might have kept him upright. He was dazed. But not done.

Stiverne, blood dripping from a cut above one eye, kept moving forward, yet never throwing, much less landing, more than a punch or two at a time.

“I just wasn’t ready,’’Stiverne said. “I didn’t cut off the ring the way I wanted to.’’

The biggest surprise was Wilder’s ability to go 12 rounds. He had never been beyond four. His elusiveness throughout the bout helped explain why he was a skinny 219 pounds at the weigh-in Friday. Wilder, 6-foot- 6 ½, trained to be quick. He was able to say away from Stiverne.

“Who can’t box, who can’t box?’’ Wilder yelled at press row after the final bell.

Maybe, Wilder can. But the jury is still out on that one.

In the 10th, there were scattered boos from the crowd of 8,453. If Wladimir Klitschko was watching the Showtime telecast from his home n Germany, he probably didn’t lose any sleep at what he saw.

The pace had slowed to a deadly crawl. In the end, however, Wilder had the smarts and conditioning to reach the finish line. He won a significant fight and got a belt for his efforts. But the real test, that test of time, is just a beginning.

WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz defended his crown for the fourth time with an eighth-round TKO of Jesus Ruiz and afterword called out fellow champions Abner Mares and Guillermo Rigondeaux in the co-feature of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING.

The early rounds were close and competitive and Ruiz, a heavy underdog, seemed to be a tougher test than he looked on paper. But it was clear that Santa Cruz was landing the cleaner shaper punches. The former bantamweight world champion landed some meaningful shots and had Ruiz in trouble in the seventh and, for the first time, it appeared that he could finish Ruiz.

Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) came out blazing in the eighth, landed a big right cross to kick off the round and continued to tee-off on the challenger. In trouble against the ropes and not fighting back, referee Kenny Bayless jumped in and stopped the bout with Ruiz (32-6-5, 21 KOs) still on his feet at :29 of the eighth round. The champion landed 43 percent of his total punches and nearly 50 percent of his power punches, while landing an impressive 73 power shots to the body.

“Like I expected, it was a war,” Santa Cruz said. “He came prepared. We hurt him and we didn’t let the chance go away. We kept going after him and we stopped him. I hurt him with the right hand. I knew he was hurt so I went after him. I knew Kenny Bayless would stop it because he wasn’t throwing punches.

“I want the best and I want to please the fans. I want (Abner) Mares, I want (Guillermo) Rigondeaux. Hopefully our next fight is against one of the best.”

Ruiz, who only landed 22 percent of his total punches, disagreed with the stoppage.

“I want a rematch,” Ruiz said. “I don’t feel they should have stopped the fight, but I have to accept it. But I’m fine. Look at me – I’m not cut. He didn’t even drop me.”

In the opening bout of the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast, undefeated super lightweight Amir Imam floored Fidel Maldonado Jr. four times and scored a fifth-round TKO in a brawl that featured five total knockdowns.

Maldonado was the busier fighter, but Imam floored the Albuquerque resident for the fourth time in his career with a short right just a moment before the bell rang to end the second. Then, in an early candidate for Round of the Year that featured three knockdowns, Maldonado responded by knocking down Imam for the first time in his career 30 seconds into the third with a solid straight left. Imam bounced back and sent Maldonado to the canvas with a huge right with 20 seconds left in the third and then again with a straight right as part of a vicious attack with less than 10 seconds left in the round.

The action continued and Imam (16-0, 14 KOs) floored Maldonado for the fourth time in the fight with a short right followed by a left hook just seconds before the bell to close the fifth. Maldonado (19-3, 16 KOs) got up but was wobbling and referee Robert Byrd halted the contest at 2:59. Imam’s power was the difference, landing 50 percent of his power shots.

“It was a tough knockdown, but champions get up and finish the fight hard and that’s what I did,” Imam said. “I just had to stay composed and do what I had to do. “I started timing him. When I hit him with that good shot he was out. I could see it. That was the rope-a-dope. I was swinging for the fences and that was it, baby.

“I’m ready for the title shot right now. I just want to fight for the title.”

Four of the five knockdowns occurred with less than 30 seconds left in each round. After the fight, Maldonado admitted that he simply failed to protect himself when the rounds were winding down.

“I just got caught with a couple of punches,” Maldonado said. “He kept his composure and he came out with the W. I just got caught. I got lazy in there and he capitalized. He was the better man tonight. I got kind of bored at the end of the rounds and I paid for it.”

In the main event of SHOWTIME BOXING on SHO EXTREME, undefeated light heavyweight prospect Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (12-0, 10 KOs) kept his perfect record intact with a thoroughly convincing TKO victory of Garrett Wilson (13-9-1, 7 KOs).

Shabranskyy kept his distance and was very effective; landing 48 percent of his power shot and threw more than 60 punches in each round. The Ukrainian prospect scored a knockdown with a right in the closing seconds of the second and another with a clean right in the final 10 seconds of the eighth, sending Wilson face first to the canvas. Wilson beat the count but was saved by the bell as Shabranskyy unloaded more than a dozen consecutive punches.

The durable Wilson took a tremendous beating in the ninth and seemingly didn’t land a punch, forcing referee Jay Nady to stop the bout after the ninth upon suggestion of the ringside physician.

In the opening bout of the SHO EXTREME telecast, heavyweight Eric Molina (23-2, 17 KOs) defeated Raphael Zumbano (32-9-1, 25 KOs) via eighth round TKO in a one-sided affair.

Molina, who landed 76 percent of his power shots and more than 50 percent of his total punches, was connecting at will when referee Russell Mora halted the contest at 1:28 of the eighth.

In a non-televised swing bout, Cesar Quinonez (1-0, 1 KO), a Las Vegas native and the first fighter to go professional from Fernando Vargas’ gym Feroz Fight Factory, made his professional debut and scored a knockout win over Chula Vista’s Joan Valenzuela (1-2) in the second round at 2:13.

By Norm Frauenheim–

LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez still plans to fight on May 2, but it looks as if he won’t be fighting Miguel Cotto.

In a story first reported by www.boxingscene.com, Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya said Saturday that he is looking for alternate opponents after Cotto did not accept an offer Friday night.

“The deadline has passed,’’ De La Hoya told reporters at the MGM Grand after he and David Lemieux talked about the Montreal middleweight’s new multi-year deal with Golden Boy Promotions.

Timothy Bradley is rumored to be a Canelo option. James Kirkland is another.

Negotiations broke down over money, according to De La Hoya. Cotto, the reigning middleweight champion, didn’t get as much as he wanted.

A bout between Canelo, a popular Mexican, and Cotto, a Puerto Rican, would have been another chapter in the rich Mexican-Puerto Rican rivalry. It also was seen as a good way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday and a traditional time for big fights.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has said he wants to fight Manny Pacquiao on May 2. Pacquiao representatives have said the Filipino has agreed to terms. However, there’s been no response from Mayweather and — as of Saturday – still no agreement.

Cotto-Mayweather has been speculated if Pacquiao-Mayweather breaks down. There’s also a financial motivation for a Mayweather-Canelo rematch. Mayweather’s decision over Canelo in 2013 set revenue records.

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS – The heavyweights undergo more study than a species near extinction. That means everybody has a theory or maybe an autopsy.

They’re either vanishing faster than Arctic ice, or they’ve moved to Germany, or they’re NFL linebackers, or they’ve been eliminated and forgotten by Wladimir Klitschko’s consummate skill.

Take your pick.

None-of-the-above is the hope held by promoters and Showtime for the Deontay Wilder-Bermane Stiverne bout Saturday night at the MGM Grand. Picking the fight’s winner is a tough call, which is also a damning reflection of a division that has fallen from prominence.

Stiverne is said to have more experience at a higher level, but it’s really not enough to proclaim him a clear-cut favorite over Wilder, a former Klitschko sparring partner who has a record of proven power yet doubts about his opposition and chin.

It’s safe to say that neither Stiverne nor Wilder strikes much fear in the Klitschko empire. Wladimir will be happy to fight, either. In a business still consumed by talk about whether welterweights Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr will ever fight, however, there’s unmistakable hope that Stiverne and Wilder will deliver the kind of drama that gets people talking.

The heavyweights have been here before. Too many times. Promoters are calling Stiverne-Wilder a Return To Glory. From Michael Grant through Shannon Briggs, however, it’s been a deadly succession of reasons to forget the heavyweights. More like a requiem than a return.

On Muhammad Ali’s 73rd birthday, however, maybe Stiverne and Wilder can stage the beginnings of a resurrection. The records are there. Stiverne, who holds the WBC belt, is 24-1-1 with 21 KOs, including a solid stoppage last May in a rematch with Chris Arreola, pronounced Orreo-la by promoter Don King. Wilder is 32-0, all by stoppage within four rounds.

Then there’s some edgy talk. Both have played their roles, uttering insults and often in a tone that says they mean it. Just listen to Stiverne. Before Wilder, he was as quotable as a doorknob. Now he has plenty to say.

The words continued after the weigh-in Friday when he looked a little soft at 239 pounds, a half-pound lighter than he was for Arreola. Wilder was 20 pounds lighter at 219.

At Thursday’s news conference, Wilder said a prayer he had written. To Stiverne’s ears, however, it sounded blasphemous.

“An insult to God,’’ Stiverne said. “That prayer was disrespectful.’’

Perhaps that was Stiverne’s way of saying Wilder has no prayer at taking the WBC’s green strap.

“This green belt is staying right here in this green hotel,’’ Stiverne said of the shade that gives the MGM Grand its distinctive look.

Stiverne also said that he detected something less than confidence in Wilder eyes during another nose-to-nose pose for the cameras. After a few seconds, Wilder broke it off, turned and walked to the back of the stage.

“One thing you got to know,’’ Stiverne said. “Eyes don’t lie. I could see it all in his eyes. He ain’t ready for this thing.’’

Then again, Stiverne has to look up to look into Wilder’s eyes. At 6-feet 6 ½, Wilder is four-and-a-half inches taller than the 6-2 Stiverne. Wilder’s advantage in height, according to some analysts, represents a stylistic problem for Stiverne.

If Wilder employs his long jab, Stiverne will have to work his way inside. But that’s when he could run into the huge right hand that Wilder has used to stop 32 straight opponents. But Stiverne has promised he knows a way to win, a way that he says will make everybody forget about Wilder.

“We’ll have to see,’’ Wilder said. “But I’m sure the People’s Champ, soon to be the world’s champ, will be around for a long time.’’

Maybe the heavyweights will be too.

NOTES: Wilder will collect $1 million, $90,000 more than Stiverne’s $910,000 minimum, according to contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Junior featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (28-0-1, 16 KOs) was at 122 pounds at Friday weigh-in. His unknown challenger, Mexican Jesus Ruiz (32-5-5, 21 KOs), was at 121.5. Santa Cruz is guaranteed $750,000. Ruiz will collect $50,000.

Emerging welterweights Amir Imam (15-0, 13 KOs) of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Fidel Maldonado Jr. (19-2, 16 KOs) of Albuquerque meet in 10 rounder in Showtime’s first bout. Imam was 140 pounds at Friday’s weigh-in. Maldonado was at 139.

Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions has already begun to re-build a roster that lost several prominent fighters in the settlement with his former CEO, Richard Schaefer. Golden Boy announced Friday that it has signed middleweight David Lemieux, who was impressive on HBO in December with a stoppage of Gabe Rosado. De La Hoya and Lemieux are scheduled to meet with media Saturday.

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS — At times, it was bizarre. At times, downright goofy. It was also long-winded, sometimes dull. Yet, it was also unpredictable, often entertaining and controversial enough to keep everybody interested.

Welcome to a boxing news conference that has begun to vanish, especially the heavyweight variety. But it was back Thursday, which is another of way saying the bully pulpit witnessed the return of Don King, malaprops and all. He’s an octogenarian, but there’s still a boom in those 83-year-old vocal chords.

For King, talking is like breathing. He exhales strange references, twisted metaphors and unexpected references the way the rest of the world exhales oxygen. Pretty much all of the time. It lasted for at least two hours at the MGM Grand.

Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne were supposed to be the featured performers. After all, they fight for the WBC’s version of the heavyweight title Saturday night in a Showtime-televised bout. Wilder, of Alabama, and Stiverne, a Haitian, played their roles in what was a performance art.

“I’m gonna put the Haitian on vacation,’’ said Wilder, who is as good at the rhyming game as King.

But most of the rest of the show belonged to King, who wore a familiar denim jacket covered in flags, sequins and who-knows-what-all. He talked about former Army General and CIA director David Patreaus, who has been accused of telling classified secrets to a woman in an alleged affair

“Send a national, American hero to jail for a mistake so many people make?’’ King said. “That don’t send out a good message. Pray for Prateaus.’’

Pray, too, King said, for Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who hurt himself on a treadmill.

“Falling off treadmills and things, that’s really disasterly,’’ said King, who also found time to wish Golden Boy Promotions vice president Bernard Hopkins a happy 50th birthday. “Pray for Harry Reid.’’

Pray, too, for those of us who were trying to figure out what King would address next. Global warming? Islamic terrorism? Obama care? At some point, however, the immediate task at hand had to move front and center. Trying to sell a heavyweight fight these days isn’t easy, especially amid talk and only talk about whether welterweights Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr will fight on May 2.

But King hasn’t lost his voice, or his salesmanship, or his ability to counter trash talk with a quip of his own. King promotes Stiverne.

During Wilder’s turn at the podium, he turned to King and said:

“I heard, Don, that if there’s a chance of your guy winning, they’re going to get rid of you,’’ said Wilder, who went on to suggest that Stiverne would sign with Mayweather Promotions.

Wilder’s source? Connect the dots: Wilder’s advisor is power broker Al Haymon, whose No. 1 client is Mayweather.

“Don’t feel bad when you lose,’’ King said to Wilder when he returned to the podium and began a long-winded intro of Stiverne. “I know you think it’s your time, but there’s going to be an interruption for refreshments.’’

The interruption, King promised, would be Stiverne. The guess is that Stiverne will also be the refreshment. We tried to ask King about that, but he was already off and running with some speech about George W. Bush. Or was that Jeb Bush? Maybe both. But you get the idea.

The unflappable Stiverne did his best to answer the rumor posed by Wilder.

Stiverne stood at the podium, turned to King, shook his hand and called him ”my promoter, who I’m staying with. Now, you’ve heard it.’’

We heard a few other things, too.

Wilder’s 32-0 record includes an astonishing 32 stoppages, all within four rounds.

“I’m going to keep your record clean, cause you ain’t getting past four rounds,’’ Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) said to Wilder. “And that’s a ridiculous suit you’re wearing.’’

The rhetoric intensified. Wilder called Stiverne “a tourist with a belt.” Stiverne promised Wilder that he’s “gonna get hurt, hurt bad.’’

After the talking was done, they posed in a news-conference ritual. They stood there, eye-to-unblinking eye, for several minutes. The stare-down ended only when both were pushed away in opposite directions. Then, the talking resumed.

“Heh-heh-heh,’’ King chuckled.

A man, who has seen it all, was happy to see it all over again.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Gennady Golovkin’s stop in Los Angeles Wednesday at the end of an international tour for his Feb. 21 bout with Martin Murray in Monaco was an anti-dote, timely relief from speculation about what’s happening or not happening in negotiations for Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto.

Boxing is stuck in never-never land these days, but at least there’s Golovkin, who brings a clear sense of purpose and direction to what he’s doing.

Some of the best-known names continue to avoid him with a litany of tired excuses. The latest, Peter Quillin, said Golovkin just isn’t a draw. Huh? Didn’t he just sell out the Stub Hub Center in Carson, Calif., for his quick stoppage of Marco Antonio Rubio? Quillin wishes he could draw crowds like GGG.

But with that unflappable, what-me-worry grin, Golovkin moves forward, telling a news conference that he plans to fight four times in 2015. The Murray bout is intriguing and perhaps Golovkin’s toughest to date.

Murray knocked down Sergio Martinez and lost a 12-round decision to the then middleweight champ in Buenos Aires. The durable Murray promises to test GGG. But the guess here is that Golovkin wins in the late rounds for a 19th successive stoppage.

Then what? Some familiar names were mentioned Wednesday. Golovkin trainer Abel Sanchez continues to talk about Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Chavez, he says, has a style that would produce a dynamically dramatic bout with Golovkin. But Chavez’ contract problems with Top Rank could put him on the legal shelf for a while.

Here’s another idea: Go straight to Canelo Alvarez, the popular Mexican who is moving up weight for a shot at Cotto’s 160-pound title. Canelo has said he’s willing to fight Golovkin. Representatives for Canelo and Cotto are reportedly close to a deal for a May 2 bout, another potential classic in the great Mexican-Puerto Rican rivalry.

There was talk that the agreement would be announced Tuesday. Tuesday came and went with no news. As of Thursday, there was still nothing. A snag? Breakdown? Maybe not. But you never know.

If talks stall, Golovkin should let Golden Boy Promotions know that he’s willing and available for the May 2 date that Canelo wants, no matter happens with Mayweather-Pacquiao and Mayyweather’s attempt to take ownership of the Cinco de Mayo celebration. Mayweather, who calls the prized date Cinco de Mayweather, showed up at a Pacer-Lakers game on Jan. 5 at Staples Center in Los Angeles decked out in Mexican colors.

It was his way of courting Mexican fans. But it could backfire. Mayweather in the green, white and red might be seen as trespassing on Mexico’s historical turf. Meanwhile, Mexican fans already have begun to embrace Golovkin. Before GGG’s victory over Rubio in October, some of those same fans arrived at the Stub Hub Center wearing T-shirts that said: “Mexicans for Golovkin.’’

If Canelo-Golovkin gets done and Canelo wins, then a Golovkin bout could be negotiated for the September date that celebrates Mexican Independence. Mayweather wants to own that date, too. Golovkin could help Canelo in his fight to re-claim it.

By Norm Frauenheim-

The New Year gets a quick start, which is another way of saying there’s an early chance to forget about an old – a very old – year summed up by declining pay-per-view numbers.

The message in the PPV trend is unmistakable. The customers want to see something different or they’ll pay to see something else altogether.

Attention on 2015 begins on Jan. 17 at an end of the scale that has been forgotten in the United States. Remember the heavyweights? Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand might re-inject some interest in the Klitschko Division.

For while, at least, Wilder-Stiverne might quiet the ceaseless noise about a welterweight fight that never seems to happen.

More on that later on a 2015 scorecard, a checklist, that includes a few other wishes:

ü Waldimir Klitschko against the Wilder-Stiverne winner in a bout that would get some media attention in the U.S. It also would be a chance for Klitschko to gain some respect and perhaps enhance his place in heavyweight history.

ü No more talk from or about Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. Just fight, please. There are better bouts out there, but a dysfunctional game needs this one just to prove to an eroding fan base that it can still do business.

ü Pacquiao versus Terence Crawford at 140 pounds. If Pacquiao-Mayweather continues to produce only rhetoric and no fight, Crawford could end the talk. Crawford, a leading contender for Fighter of Year, is in his prime and as capable of beating Pacquiao as an aging Mayweather is.

ü A quote from Al Haymon

ü A real fight, instead of a one-sided blowout, between fighters represented by Haymon, who didn’t do anything for his matchmaking/promotional reputation with the Danny Garcia-Rod Salka schlock in August.

ü After an idle 2014, Andre Ward back in the ring, in a fight against somebody, anybody.

ü Gennady Golovkin versus Andy Lee, whose dramatic stoppage of Matt Korobov for the WBO’s middleweight belt transformed him into an intriguing GGG possibility. Maybe one who won’t avoid him, too.

ü A bout in the U.S. for breakout star Roman Gonzalez, the unbeaten Nicaraguan flyweight and pound-for-pound contender who hasn’t appeared in the American market since November, 2012.

ü Roman Gonzalez versus Naoya Inoue, who made a late run at Fighter of the Year with his stunning second-round KO of Omar Narvaez for a 115-pound belt. Inoue, a former 108-pound champion and two-time titlist with only eight pro bouts, skipped 112 altogether, perhaps because that weight class belongs to Gonzalez.

ü No more references to a Mayweather sweepstakes for opponents who are at the short end of a winner-take-all business model, boxing’s wealth gap. For two fights, Marcos Maidana got about $6 million. Mayweather’s minimum for both added up to $64 million. Maidana got less than 10 percent of the total. That’s a lousy tip.

ü A re-appearance of master tactician Mikey Garcia, unbeaten and an ex-junior-lightweight champ who hasn’t fought in almost a year. It’ll be 12 months since we saw him in the ring on Jan 25 in a victory over Juan Carlos Burgos in New York.

ü An end without a bout to the sad story of former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, who suffered a brain bleed in 2009 and now faces a trial in Arkansas on charges of shooting a cousin. Every time Taylor answers another opening bell, it’s scary.

By Norm Frauenheim

It’s a year that will be remembered for what didn’t happen. There was still no Manny Pacquaio-Floyd Mayweather Jr., despite the resumption of tired talk. Andre Ward, in his prime and perhaps the sport’s greatest pure talent, didn’t fight at all.

Take 2014, put it in a hefty bag and bury it where nobody can ever find it. Please. It’s been a forgettable year.

“Fans are fed up,’’ Oscar De La Hoya said during a media round-table before Amir Khan’s victory over Devon Alexander on Dec. 13.

Declining pay-per-view numbers are proof of what De La Hoya said. Fans, who made Mayweather the highest earning athlete in the world, are headed for the exits. They’ve already forgotten 2014. The question is whether they’ve forgotten the sport, too. We’ll find out in 2015.

It was a lousy year, but it did produce resiliency that has always been there. Comebacks define boxing. Terence Crawford, Sergey Kovalev, Gennady Golovkin, Roman Gonzalez and Nicholas Walters are the leading names in what might be the beginning of another one. They displayed poise, power, skill and charisma throughout a year that ends with Pacquaio-Mayweather talk still dominating blogs and twitter.

It’s impossible to know whether Pacquiao-Mayweather will ever happen. It’s also reasonable to wonder why anybody should even care anymore. The good news is this: There’s a lengthening line of fighters who look as if they could beat either. Behind Crawford and Golovkin, there was a resurrected Khan and an emerging Keith Thurman.

A year from now, maybe we’ll wonder why we continued to even mention Mayweather-Pacquiao. Maybe, the troubled business can move beyond futile speculation that is more a symbol of what’s wrong than right.

If it happens, a look back at 2014 will include the seeds of the rebirth. Here’s a quick look back at what was right and what might make 2015 memorable:

Man of the Year: Bernard Hopkins. A fighter nearly 50-years-old did what a younger Mayweather and a younger Pacquiao have not. He took a huge risk, a chance against the feared Kovalev. He took a beating, too, in what stands as a tough lesson from a wise elder in how to do business.

Fighter of the Year: The collective (no pun intended) face of the fighter from the former Soviet Union. Without Kovalev, Golovkin, Wladimir Klitschko, Vasyl Lomachenko, Ruslan Provodnikov and others, the future would look a lot more uncertain than it does already.

Comeback of the Year: De La Hoya. He re-opened doors and renewed hopes for again doing business across promotional lines when the Golden Boy Promotions chief approached Bob Arum in a peace offering. It’s still not exactly clear how it will all shake out, especially when it comes to messy questions about who has legal contracts with which fighters. Golden Boy or Al Haymon? But De La Hoya’s initiative is a potential beginning.

Promoter of the Year: Kathy Duva. She had the courage to stand up to Haymon and then the Main Events chief staged Kovalev’s one-sided victory over Bernard Hopkins in a bout that represents a game changer, a model for a New Year and a way out of a very old one.

An old year ends Saturday night at Celebrity Theatre with prospects thinking about next year and a heavyweight champion hoping to restore lost promise on a UniMas-televised card staged jointly by Top Rank and Iron Boy Promotions.

Andy Ruiz Jr. (23-0, 17 KOs) looks to extend his unbeaten record and nine-knockout streak against Sergei Liakhovich with a victory a performance that might propel him into the ranks of heavyweight contenders next year.

Liakhovich (26-6, 16 KOs), a Scottsdale heavyweight and a onetime holder of the WBO title, is looking for a second straight victory after three successive losses, including a scary knockout at the hands of Deontay Wilder. Five of Liakhovich’s losses have been by stoppage.

The card (6 p.m. MST) also includes featherweight prospect Oscar Valdez, unbeaten light-heavyweight Trevor McCumby and the American debut of David Benavidez, the young brother of Phoenix junior-welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr., who won the WBA’s interim title last Saturday over Mauricio Herrera in Las Vegas.

Valdez (14-0, 12 KOs), a former Mexican Olympian who went to school in Tucson, faces Jean Sotelo (19-13-2, 10 KOs).

Valdez manager Frank Espinoza, who is known for his work with some of the biggest names in the featherweight division, foresees 2015 as a year in which Valdez gets more media exposure as he moves into position for a shot at a title in 2016.

McCumby (17-0, 13 KOs), of Phoenix, faces Milton Nunez (28-11-1, 25 KOs), also of Colombia.

Meanwhile, David Benavidez fights in the U.S. for the first time. He wasn’t eligible for a license until his birthday Wednesday when he turned 18. He has been fighting professionally in Mexico for the last couple of years. His official record is 6-0, all by KO.

He’s bigger than his brother. He’ll be fighting as a light-heavyweight Saturday against Azamat Umarzoda (1-6-2) of Las Vegas.

“Me and my brother, we kind of have different styles,’’ said David Benavidez, who says he often spars with his brother. “Everytime we spar, I try to knock him out. In sparring, I’m about 180 pounds and he’s 150. He takes my punches real well. I’ll hit him with clean shots and he walks right through.

“He’s more of a boxer-puncher. I can be a puncher-brawler. But I can box, too. Depends on who I’m fighting.’’

By Norm Frauenheim

Controversial decisions and interim titles are little bit like scars. If you haven’t got at least one of them, it’s time for a different line of work. It’s a mixed bag, but it’s a sure a way to measure progress in a chaotic game.

Jose Benavidez Jr. returned to Phoenix from his Dec. 13 victory over Mauricio Herrera in Las Vegas with two of them – a controversial unanimous decision and the World Boxing Association’s interim version of the junior-welterweight title. There were no scars. Not yet anyway. But it’s safe to say that they’ll be there in bigger fights for the unmarked and unbeaten 22-year-old.

His career was launched in one night.

There’s been plenty of reasonable debate about the cards. It continued on web sites and in social media for a couple of days after the 116-112, 117-111, 116-112 scores were announced and then booed. Subsequent attention on Benavidez might not have been there had he stopped Herrera.

In this era of short-attention spans, an extra day or two of tweets and blogs add up to potential marketability. Above all, there’s interest in a rematch. Herrera, who argued his work-rate and body- punching were ignored by the judges, said he wants one.

“If he wants a rematch, sure,’’ Benavidez told 15 Rounds while standing in a ballroom outside of The Cosmopolitan’s arena with the interim belt hanging off his right forearm like a charm bracelet. “He’d be easier to fight.’’

Benavidez said it coolly.

Confidently.

That cool, confident persona was there before opening bell and throughout 12 rounds. Despite doubts about his experience and his ability to go the distance, there was never a word, tone or gesture that said Benavidez ever had a doubt about what would happen or how it would happen.

Even in negotiations for the fight, Benavidez raised some eyebrows when he said no to an offer to fight at a catch-weight – 142 or 143 pounds – in a 10-rounder with no title at stake.

But Benavidez didn’t want an interim step.

He wanted an interim title, the first major belt won by an Arizona fighter since Hall of Fame junior-flyweight Michael Carbajal, who held the WBC and IBF titles before retiring as the WBO champ after a victory over Jorge Arce in 1999.

The day before opening bell, there was another surprise. The 6-foot Benavidez stepped on to the scale at 138.5 pounds, lighter than the shorter Herrera. He looked drawn, refugee hungry. It looked as if he couldn’t last eight rounds, much less 12. Maybe, that’s what he wanted Herrera to think.

Then came the biggest surprise of all. In the opening round, his back was on the ropes and his hands were up in a defensive posture. It was a tactic he used throughout the fight. His father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr., kept urging him to get off the ropes and into the center of the ring.

“My dad didn’t want me there, didn’t want me on those ropes,’’ said the junior Benavidez, whose 18-year-old brother, super-middleweight David Benavidez, makes his American debut Saturday night in Phoenix at Celebrity Theatre on a UniMas-televised card (6 p.m. MST) that includes Top Rank prospect Oscar Valdez and heavyweight Andy Ruiz against former champion Sergei Liakhovich. “But I wanted to go 12 rounds. That was important to me. Nobody thought I could do it.’’

He conserved his energy, which allowed him to fight in furious bursts with eye-catching punches, including a jab that is as long and lethal as any. The judges noticed, prompting an argument about whether they were watching at all.

Yes, the punch stats say Herrera outworked Benavidez by a wide margin. He threw 870 punches; Benavidez threw 647. Arguments en behalf of Herrera, however, often exclude accuracy. Benavidez landed 39 percent; Herrera 33 percent.

Stoppages are the result of a punch that lands. Not one that misses. But there are judges whose scoring philosophy favors defense over aggressiveness and vice-versa. It’s not clear-cut and never should be. If Benavidez is as successful as many now expect, he one day will feel as fleeced as Herrera did. Like interim titles, controversy, scars, death and taxes, that’s inevitable.

Against Herrera, however, he displayed an instinctive feel for what, how and when to act. Frustration at the scoring includes complaints that he stole rounds. No doubt bout it. His quick bursts of energy and accuracy won rounds that otherwise might have been even or scored for Herrera. But stealing rounds is a time-honored skill, as fundamental as a jab. Floyd Mayweather Jr. does it. Bernard Hopkins does it.

So does Benavidez, despite his youth and inexperience. Go ahead and argue that Herrera got robbed. Fair enough. But don’t compound the theft by robbing Benavidez of credit for a surprising performance that says this interim champion might be champ for a long time.

LAS VEGAS – A draw?

Timothy Bradley didn’t see it, not from a left eye that was nearly swollen shut and not from an undamaged right eye.

But the judges saw their own way, or three ways to be exact. Put their cards together and the result was a controversial draw with Diego Chaves in an HBO-televised bout at The Cosmopolitan.

“I thought I won the fight clearly,’’ said Bradley (31-2-1, 12 KOs), whose eye was left badly swollen from a couple of head butts in the second. “But the judges saw it different.’’

Only judge Burt Clements agreed with Bradley. He scored it 115-113 for the welterweight from Palm Springs, Calif. Craig Metcalfe had it 114-114. Meanwhile, Julie Lederman had it 116-112 for Chaves (23-2-1, 19 KOs).

The Lederman card angered Bradley promoter Bob Arum, who proceeded to rip the daughter of HBO’s Harold Lederman

Arum would have been okay with a two-point edge for Chaves. He would have argued with a 114-114 score. But, he said, reasonable people can disagree. Lederman’s card, he said was beyond reason.

“The disparity of some of these cards makes all of us look insane,’’ Arum said.

Arum argued that there was incompetency among the judges, because there weren’t enough good ones available because of a busy night when the Nevada Commission had to regulate two major cards, the Top Rank show at The Cosmopolitan and the rival one promoted by Golden Boy at the MGM Grand.

“It shouldn’t have been allowed,’’ said Arum, who also said the Nevada Commission does anything the MGM Grand asks it to.

Arum and the MGM Grand began feuding last April before Bradley lost to Manny Pacquiao. That was a rematch of Bradley’s hugely controversial decision over Pacquiao.

When asked to compare the scorecards from Bradley-Pacquiao I to Bradley -Chaves, Arum said:

“Just as bad.”

But, he also said, that it could be done again.

“Maybe there could be rematch,’’ he said.

But it’s safe to assume it would be without Julie Lederman at a ringside that would be just about anywhere but the MGM Grand.

Before the Bradley-Chaves controversy, Matt Korobov’s own skillset got short-circuited by a sudden surge of power from Andy Lee.

Korobov (24-1, 13 KOs) appeared to be on his way ta o solid decision and the WBO’s vacant middleweight title. Going into the sixth round, the Russian led on all three scorecards. On two, he was pitching a shutout.

What could go wrong? Plenty. Aft a bout a minute in the sixth round had passed, Lee (34-2, 24 KOs) unloaded. First, a left. Then, a right. Boom, double-boom

Korobov hit the canvas and those scorecards landed at the bottom of a nearby trashcan. Referee Kenny Bayless ended it at 1:10 of the round.

“Tough to describe,’’ said Lee, an Irishman from Limerick who once had the late Emanuel Steward as his trainer. “When i thought about this moment, i had a speech in mind. I would like to say thank you to my manager who has done so much for me over the last couple of years.

“But it’s also for the man who made me, Emanuel Steward. We spent seven, eight years together and he said I would win a world title.

“His wife Marie came here today, flew all the way from Detroit.’’

Some of her late husband’s power must have flown with her. For Lee, it landed just in time.

Jose Benavidez Jr. went a distance he had never traveled and to a place he had he had never been. It was trip he had envisioned while growing up in Phoenix. It was a kid’s dream.

But it’s not kid’s stuff anymore.

He’s grown up and the dream is reality.

Benavidez (22-0, 15 KOs) has a world title. It’s interim. But aren’t they all? More significant, the 22-year-old stamped himself as world class.

He did it in a stunner and amid controversy, upsetting Mauricio Herrera (21-5, 7 KOs) for a version of the World Boxing Association’ junior-welterweight title Saturday night in an HBO-televised fight at The Cosmopolitan.

Benavidez’ victory was something of a surprise to everyone but him. He won a unanimous decision that was booed by many in the crowd and condemned by Herrera, who believed he had outworked a young fighter that Top Rank signed when he was a 17-year-old prodigy.

Judges Max De Luca and Eric Cheek both scored it 116-112. Dave Moretti had it 117-111. All for Benavidez.

“Everything I threw – jabs, uppercuts, body shots, — was landing,’’ Benavidez said after going 12 rounds for the first time in his career. “He was aggressive, but I was catching him with everything I threw as he came in at me.’’

Herrara, a Golden Boy Promotions fighter, took the attack to Benavidez from the beginning. In the opening round, Herrera rocked Benavidez with a combination.

But Benavidez, who had never gone beyond eight rounds before Saturday night, appeared to make some subtle adjustments. He was content to sit on the ropes throughout the first three rounds. But he began to circle into the center of the ring in the middle rounds. That’s where he was the most effective, especially with his long photogenic jab.

“I outworked him,’’ said a frustrated Herrera, who had a nasty bruise beneath his left eye. “I did all of the work.’’

Herrera threw more punches, 870 to Benavidez’ 647, according to the punch stats. He landed five more punches, 255-to-250. But Benavidez was more accurate, landing 39 percent to Herrera’s 33 percent.

“I want a rematch,’’ Herrera said. “Of course, I want a rematch.’’

Controversy over the scorecards might lead to one. But that too would be a professional first for Benavidez, a prospect no more.

On the undercard

Egidijus Kavaliauskas, an accomplished amateur in Lithuania now being trained by Robert Gracia in Oxnard, Calif., pushed his pro record as a junior-welterweight to 9-0 with his eighth knockout, a second round stoppage of Jaime Herrera (12-3, 7 KOs) of Frnaklin Park, Ill.

New York light-heavyweight Sean Monaghan, a former bricklayer, continued to build his record, victory-by-victory to an unbeaten 23-0 with is 15th knockout, a second-round KO of Hungarian Daniel Regi (20-12, 9 KOs).

It was a majority draw. It was mostly dull, too. Canadian welterweight Mikael Zewski (26-0-1, 20 KOs) stayed unbeaten, but not untied against Jeremy Bryan (17-4, 7 KOs) of Patterson, NJ.

Junior-welterweight Jose Ramirez (13-0, 10 KOs), a 2012 Olympian, continued his promising apprenticeship, scoring a sixth-round TKO of Anthony Arellano (7-3-1, 3 KOs) of San Ysidro, Calif.

Russian lightweight Denis Shafikov (35-1-1, 18 KOs), now of Los Angeles, kept himself in position for a mandatory shot at the IBF tilte held by Mickey Bey with a unanimous decision over Miguel Angel Mendoza (21-5-2, 21 KOs) of Mexico.

LAS VEGAS — Victor Ortiz is man with many resumes. Movie roles are on one. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is on the other.

Ortiz left the studio and went back to work Saturday on the resume that includes his wild loss to Mayweather

It went off almost as if it had been rehearsed.

Ortiz (30-5-2, 23 KOs) was back at the MGM Grand with a predictable victory, without a head butt and with an impressive third-round stoppage of Manuel Perez (21-11-1, 4 KOs), with whom he knocked heads during Friday’s weigh-in.

But no head games were necessary in the ring. Perez, of Denver, never had much of a chance. Ortiz’ hand speed began to find its mark in the opening round and finished Perez with a succession of blows at 51 seconds of the third.

“If you ain’t first, you’re last,’’ said Ortiz, sounding a lot like the Ricky Bobby character in the film Talladega Nights.

Yeah, Ortiz can act. Maybe, he can still fight, too.

Tokyo junior-middleweight Yoshihiro Kamegai (25-2-1, 22 KOs) walked through Oscar Godoy (13-4, 6 KOs) of San Jose, Calif, Saturday in an early bout on the Showtime-televised card featuring Amir Khan-versus-Devon Alexander at the MGM Grand.

Actually, Kamegai could have walked over him, too. Godoy offered no opposition, hitting the canvas three times, twice in the second round. At 1:58 of the fourth, Godoy was finished, unable to get to his feet before referee Jay Nady reached the count of 10.

Kazakhstan cruiserweight Beibut Shumenov (15-2, 10 KOs), back at work after a one-sided loss to Bernard Hopkins, threw the day’s first punch in front of a lunch time crowd at the MGM Grand, scoring a 5th-round TKO of overmatched Robert Thomas Jr. (14-3-1, 9 KOs) of Beckley, WV.

Tokyo junior-middleweight Yoshihiro Kamegai (25-2-1, 22 KOs) walked through Oscar Godoy (13-4, 6 KOs) of San Jose, Calif, Saturday in an early bout on the Showtime-televised card featuring Amir Khan-versus-Devon Alexander at the MGM Grand.

Actually, Kamegai could have walked over him, too. Godoy offered no opposition, hitting the canvas three times, twice in the second round. At 1:58 of the fourth, Godoy was finished, unable to get to his feet before referee Jay Nady reached the count of 10.

Kazakhstan cruiserweight Beibut Shumenov (15-2, 10 KOs), back at work after a one-sided loss to Bernard Hopkins, threw the day’s first punch in front of a lunch time crowd at the MGM Grand, scoring a 5th-round TKO of overmatched Robert Thomas Jr. (14-3-1, 9 KOs) of Beckley, WV.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – Boxing’s chessboard is full of potential moves Saturday with dueling cards that include 18 bouts televised by competing networks and each promoted by rivals who are learning how to cooperate.

Look for more lessons than solutions, more possibilities than answers, for a business confronted by declining pay-per-view numbers and no resolution to the tired question about Manny Pacquiao-versus-Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Pacquiao-Mayweather is a riddle without an answer. Yet, it’s always there, taking the air out of the game and, worse, diverting attention from a generation of young fighters who might help everybody forget about what hasn’t happened.

Meet Keith Thurman.

Fight fans know him. So do fighters. But their awareness of him includes emerging fear. Thurman, a welterweight, is beginning to fall into that category occupied by middleweight Gennady Golovkin. He’s somebody to avoid.

Consider this judgment: Oscar De La Hoya was asked Friday to pick between Thurman and Golovkin.

Who’s better?

“Thurman,’’ said De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy entity is promoting the Showtime television card at the MGM Grand that includes Thurman in a co-featured bout before the main event, a possible Mayweather eliminator between Amir Khan (29-3, 19 KOs) and Devon Alexander (26-2, 14 KOs).

Thurman (23-0, 21 KOs), who faces Italy’s Leonard Bundu (31-0-2, 11 KOs), is unlike Golovkin in one key aspect. He isn’t shy.

Thurman might be in a secondary role Saturday night. But he was front-and-center at Friday’s weigh-in.

He mocked Mayweather’s power. Why-oh-why, he asked, should anybody worry about getting knocked out by the so-called pound-for-pound king. Mayweather hasn’t stopped anybody in nearly a generation.

“If anybody should be scared, it’s Floyd Mayweather,’’ said Thurman, who tipped the official scale at 146 pounds during a weigh-in in which everybody made the mandatory except Jose Ramirez (24-3-2, 15 KOs) , the opponent for featherweight Abner Mares (27-1-1, 14 KOs).

Ramirez was three pounds heavier than a catch-weight, 128. He faced a fine if he did not lose the excess pounds. Both Khan and Alexander weighed 147. Thurman’s opponent, Bundu, came in at 146.5.

If Thurman can’t talk his way into a Mayweather bout, he hopes for a chance at Timothy Bradley, who is the star at the top of Bob Arum’s promoted card Saturday at the nearby Cosmopolitan.

Thurman said he wants to be the first to knock out Bradley (31-1, 12 KOs), who faces Argentina’s Diego Chaves (23-2, 19 KOs) in an HBO-televised show.

The forthright Bradley might be the most reliable possibility for Thurman. He says he’ll fight anybody and there’s never been any reason to doubt him. His promoter, Top Rank, however, might have some other ideas. Kell Brook has been mentioned. So, too, has a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez .

There are, after all, reasons to avoid Thurman. More reasons than even Golovkin, De La Hoya said.

Both possess dangerous power. But De La Hoya says that Thurman possesses an added dimension in his ability to move. Sure, Golovkin is strong.

“Very strong,’’ De La Hoya said. “When Canelo (Alvarez) was sparring him up in Big Bear (Calif.), he said how strong he was. But a lot of fighters are strong. There are ways of beating strong fighters. But one thing about Keith Thurman is that he knows how to move. He has lateral movement. He throws combinations. He thinks in the ring.

“Golovkin is a fighter who has to beat you with his power. He has to. He can’ beat you by moving side-to-side, or going back. The thing about Golovkin – something that I learned from studying him – is that if he moves back, he can’t fight. He can’t fight. He can’t.

“But try and move him back. Good luck.’’

But at least there’s a chance at doing that. Golovkin still represents optimism at creating new business. Same with Thurman. There’s a potential for good luck in both, unlike the Paquiao-Mayweather riddle. By now, we know where that one leads. Still nowhere.

Notes: Jose Benavidez Jr. came in looking hungry at the weigh-in for his first world-class out against Mauricio Herrara on the Bradley-Chaves undercard. The 6-foot Benavidez (21-0, 15 KOs) was 138.5 pounds Friday for the junior welterweight bout. Herrera (21-4, 7 KOs) was 139.5. “I’m ready, more than ready, ’’ said Benavidez, a Phoenix prospect. “ …Irish middleweight Andy Lee (33-2, 23 KOs) tipped the scales at 19.2. Matt Korobov ((24-0, 13 KOs) was 159.4 Korobov-Lee is on the Bradley-Chaves card. …Unpredictable Victor Ortiz was as unpredictable as ever at the weigh-in for his comeback on the Khan-Chaves card. After some verbal taunts from Manuel Perez (21-10-1, 4 KOs), Ortiz (29-5-2, 22 KOs) began to push his welterweight opponent across the stage with the same forehead he used to head-butt Mayweather.

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS — The ring doesn’t look like much of a refuge. Ropes contain the violence within them. Step inside at your own peril. But Devon Alexander feels more fortunate than ever at his chance to be there Saturday night. It’s his shelter from the storm.

“With all the stuff in Ferguson – the rioting and everything going on, coming here is iike a vacation for me,’’ Alexander said Thursday during a news conference at the MGM Grand before his welterweight bout Saturday night with Amir Khan. “You know, having fun.

“All of that stuff going on back there is crazzzzy. So, I just want to thank everyone.’’

Crazzzzy, all right.

True, too.

Alexander grew up in St. Louis about 15 minutes from Ferguson, which erupted in flames after a grand jury did not indict a policeman for the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

The podium at a news conference is something of bully pulpit. It’s a chance to express an opinion, sell a point-of-view. But Alexander didn’t go there. He didn’t have to. Instead of more talk and more pontification, Alexander has a chance at something real rather than rhetorical.

He can win one for a community desperately in need of one. A sure sign of that intent was there in a Cardinal-red baseball cap stitched with the white SL initials. Alexander didn’t have to wear his heart on his sleeve. It was on his head.

“I want to bring all the positivity,’’ Alexander said in a conference call a couple of days before arriving in Las Vegas. “I know all of St. Louis is going to be looking at me from the Ferguson situation. They’re looking for something positive to come along with all of the rioting and everything like that.

“This win is going to make them feel like they won, too.’’

It’s an added dimension that dramatically multiplies Alexander’s personal stake in the Showtime-televised bout against the narrowly-favored Khan. For some fighters, that might mean more pressure. But not for Alexander, who grew up amid the real-life pressures of living in an impoverished neighborhood.

“Like I said, this is kind of fun, getting away from all of the madness, danger and rioting,’’ he told 15 Rounds after Thursday’s new conference. “All I have to do is focus on Amir.

“Compared to what’s going on in Ferguson, that’s a cakewalk.’’

Alexander’s trainer, Kevin Cunningham, is an ex-cop who grew up in Ferguson.

“Went to Ferguson Junior High and McCluer High School, which is in Ferguson,’’ Cunningham said in a conference call.

Cunningham didn’t attend Thursday’s news conference, because of slight illness, Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya said. Cunningham had announced plans to have Michael Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr., at the fight. But it wasn’t clear Thursday whether he would be able to attend.

“We’ll represent St. Louis the way we always represent St. Louis,’’ Cunningham said Monday.

That means Alexander at his best and no frills attached.

His fight with Khan will be a study in stark contrasts. The UK media reported that Khan will wear designer trunks with 24-karat gold thread woven through the waist band. Off the rack, they’re not. Some reports placed the value at 30,000 pounds. That’s about $50,0000, or $15,000 more than Diego Chaves’ $35,000 purse for his HBO televised bout against Timothy Bradley in another significant welterweight bout Saturday night at The Cosmopolitan

“Where I come from, that’s a lot of money,’’ Alexander said. “It could be spent on something else. It’s not something I’d do. But I’m not flashy guy. I’m a simple man. I just want to show my skills.’’

He let his cap show his heart.

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS – For better or worse, Jose Benavidez Jr.‘s time as a prospect is about to end. It’s his choice. Nobody else’s.

The 22-year-old Benavidez listened to alternate possibilities from Top Rank and his father, yet in the end the 22-year-old decided to take the training wheels off his career for a tough, grown-up test against veteran junior-welterweight Mauricio Herrera Saturday night at The Cosmopolitan in an HBO-televised bout for an interim WBA belt.

Nothing is more interim than a prospect. A moth has a longer shelf life. But a few interim steps were still possible for Benavidez, who signed with Top Rank not long after he won a national Golden Gloves title as a 17-year-old prodigy in 2008.

“I have a lot to prove here,’’ Benavidez said Wednesday during a media workout at the Top Rank Gym. “Everybody says he going to beat me, that he has more experience. But I’m ready to show everybody that I belong here, belong at this level.’’

By any yardstick, however, it’s a big leap. Benavidez (21-0, 15 KOs) has never gone beyond eight rounds. Saturday night’s bout is scheduled for 12, a distance that Herrera (21-4, 7 KOs) knows well. He’s been there in each of his last two fights, winning a majority decision over Johan Perez in July and losing a very debatable one in March to 140-pound champion Danny Garcia in Puerto Rico.

Benavidez could have taken an easier path. He was offered a 10-round bout at a catch weight against the Golden Boy-promoted Herrera.

“Yeah, we were going to fight a 10-rounder at 141, 142,’’ said Benavidez, who will get his first world-class test on a card featured by Timothy Bradley-versus-Diego Chaves. “”We might as well go down two pounds and fight for the title. That’s what I’ve really wanted.’’

Benavidez’ bold confidence is an expression of a maturing fighter and perhaps one who has regained confidence in a problematic right hand that sidelined him a couple of years ago. He underwent surgery to have a bone spur removed from his right wrist a couple of years ago. For at least a couple of fights, the unbeaten he was virtually a one-handed fighter. But that one hand happens to be at the point of a jab as good as any. It allowed him to survive a near knockout in the eighth round of a 2012 bout for a unanimous decision over a tough Pavel Miranda in Carson, Calif.

It’s a jab that figures to score against a tough and resilient Herrera, too. In a 10 rounder, that could have added up to a pivotal difference on the scorecards. But if it goes another two rounds?

“I’ve always trained to go 12 rounds,’’ said Benavidez, who trained for six weeks at nearly 7,000-feet amid the Big Bear ski slopes east of Los Angeles.

The weight also has been no problem, said the lanky Benavidez, who fought as a welterweight in a first-round stoppage of Henry Auraad in Phoenix, his hometown, on July 26.

“I thought 140 might be, but, no, no problem at all,’’ Benavidez said.

Benavidez’ father and trainer, Jose Sr., said he presented all the options to his son.

“I told him about the 10-rounder and catch-weight, but he told me ‘Let’s’ go two more rounds and go after that title,’ ‘’ his dad said. “It’s a chance to fight on HBO. A chance to get known. He thinks it’s a good opportunity and so do I.’’

Benavidez has been at the edge of world-class waters for the last nine months. Top Rank wanted to put him in against Brandon Rios, but HBO balked because he had never gone 10 rounds, much less 12. Benavidez dad said that there was some talk of a fight with Jessie Vargas. But, Jose Sr. said, the Vargas camp said no.

Then, a second opportunity against Rios popped up when there were doubts about whether Chaves, of Argentina, could get a visa in time for the August 2 bout. Chaves got the visa. Got disqualified, too.

“But we wouldn’t have taken that fight anyway,’’ the senior Benavidez said. “HBO called and asked if we were interested. I told them no, because it would have been just one week between fights.’’

But now, father and son say, is the right time.

From Herrera’s perspective, it’s lesson time. During his media session Wednesday, Herrera promised to take Benavidez to school.

“Yeah, he’s been doing a lot talking, saying he wants to make statement and all that,’’ Benavidez said. “But it’s not like I haven’t sparred with great fighters. I sparred with Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan and Shane Mosley. When I was 15, I sparred with Bradley.

“We’ll see, we’ll see who schools who.’’

Who graduates, too.

By Norm Frauenheim–

The arenas and networks will be different.

Nearly everything else about dueling cards on Dec. 13 shares a common theme and the same Strip of tourists, vendors, mimes, pickpockets and Las Vegas neon.

From the Top Rank-promoted show featuring Timothy Bradley-Diego Chaves on HBO at The Cosmopolitan to Golden Boy’s Amir Khan-Devon Alexander on Showtime and about half-a-mile from the MGM Grand, it’s a fight for relevancy.

For the fighters.

For their business.

The two cards are one chance to finish a 2014 that saw a steady decline in pay-per-view numbers and even a dip in a non-PPV bout for the HBO telecast of Terence Crawford’s brilliant decision over Raymundo Beltran last Saturday.

Explanations for the trend abound. Main events start too late. Opening bell for Crawford-Beltran was after midnight in the East. It’s hard to generate interest in the American PPV market for fights in China. As of Thursday, there was no official count from HBO on the PPV audience for Manny Pacquiao’s blowout of Chris Algieri. But speculation made it sound as if there was more of the same in a downward spiral

Take your pick for what to blame, who to blame, in 2014. Blame Obamacare, or climate change, or any of the other convenient targets for anything and everything. But let Bradley get to the heart of what ails his livelihood.

“Pay-per-view is not what it used to be, baby,’’ Bradley said Thursday during a conference call. “These fans are catching on. They’re not buying anymore. They’re not buying the fights like they used to buy.

“You know, some of the best fighters in the world can’t even hit the million buys anymore. So, the best fighters got to fight the best in order to accumulate, get, those type of numbers again, man. For boxing, because people love boxing. But they want to see great fights.”

The cards on the second Saturday in December might – just might – be a move in that direction. Although on the same night and in competition for what appears to be a dwindling fan base, there’s real cooperation — instead of just talk — between the promotional entities. For while, it looked as if the Top Rank-Golden Boy feud would last longer than the 30 Years War.

Then, however, Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya reached out to Top Rank’s Bob Arum in May in a move that shook up the game’s assumptions and hierarchy. Nearly eight months later, there’s tangible evidence of a thaw.

On the Bradley-Chaves card, Top Rank junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. moves into world-class waters for the first time against the Golden Boy-promoted Mauricio Herrera.

Then, there’s Bradley’s trainer Julio Diaz. If the timing is right, Diaz will work Victor Ortiz’ corner in his comeback at the MGM Grand and then make .58-mile trip to The Cosmopolitan for Bradley in his bid to get back into the welterweight division’s championship mix.

It’s fitting, perhaps, that Bradley asked for an end to the feud during a speech at the Boxing Writers Association of America’s annual dinner last May.

“The fact that they’re working together is great,’’ said Bradley, who is coming off a scorecard loss to Manny Pacquiao in a rematch of his hugely controversial decision over the Filipino. “If I had anything to do with it, fantastic. And if I pissed anybody off, I’m proud.’’

Bradley is not exactly in the peace-making business. Like any other fighter, he’s an independent entrepreneur. He’s contract worker. If Top Rank and Golden Boy are on the same page, there are more opportunities for him if he beats Chaves. Only time, however, will determine whether the two can sustain a working relationship.

If so, maybe there would be fight for him against a Khan or Alexander. Kell Brook also as been mentioned.

“I live in the present tense,’’ he said. “I don’t live in the future. I try not to. The thing is, there are still some bridges that need to be crossed. Okay? The Cold War, yeah, they say it’s over, or ‘we’re trying to work together.’ That’s one thing. …I would embrace any of the type of fights that have been mentioned. But there’s still some bridges that have to be crossed. That’s the bottom line.

“Until those things are fixed, hey, I don’t know, I don’t know. But I’m going to stay in my lane. I’m going to do what I do. If these guys want to fight, I’m right here.’’

It’s no secret that Bradley would not be at the top of Khan’s list if – as expected — he beats Alexander. In Khan’s quest to regain relevancy, the UK welterweight hopes to restore his candidacy to be Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s running mate if the been-there, done-that campaign for Pacquiao unravels all over again.

Bradley said Thursday he hopes Pacquiao-Mayweather happens.

“I think it should happen,’’ he said. “I don’t know if it will happen. Right now is the perfect time for it.’’

Bradley predicated that Pacquiao-Mayweather would set the PPV record with 3 million buys. That’s a number, a milestone, that would say the business has won the fight. Relevancy restored.

But is it a bridge too far? In 2015, the answer to that one will be the Story of the Year. Maybe, Fight of the Year, too.

Bradley calls Chaves dirty

More than one headline always comes out of a Bradley conference call. Chaves, disqualified against Brandon Rios in his last bout, is a “dirty fighter,’’ he said.

“Really a dirty fighter,’’ said Bradley, who came to that conclusion after studying video of several Chaves’ bouts.

If Chaves fights dirty, Bradley said he is prepared to counter.

“With stuff of my own,’’ he said. “Everybody knows what that is.’’

Bradley is often accused of his using his bald head as a weapon in intentional butts.

More Bradley: Meat on his vegan bones

Bradley has suspended a strict vegan diet for at least this fight.

“Eating fish, eating beef,’’ said Bradley, who hopes the additional protein will make a difference.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Manny Pacquiao has spoken. Freddie Roach has spoken. Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya have spoken. They’re still speaking. We’ve yet to hear from the Republicans and Democrats, but even they’d agree. The bandwagon demand for a Pacquaio-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight is back at the top of the noise meter. It’s as loud as ever. But it’s hard to say whether that means it’s any closer to reality or just back in the same old echo chamber.

Has anybody heard from Mayweather? Hello, Floyd, are you there? Hello, hello?

As of Thursday, there had been no public response from Mayweather, other than an Instagram mocking Pacquiao’s face-down knockout suffered against Juan Manuel Marquez. Zilch, nada, bupkus. It’s impossible to know why. Maybe, Mayweather is talking through back channels, through Al Haymon. That’s the optimistic take. Or maybe he spent Thanksgiving trying to make room for turkey by extracting the foot that has been in his mouth since September when he was ripped for saying that the NFL should not have increased its suspension of Ray Rice from two games to indefinite for a knockout punch of his then fiancé. That’s the cynical take.

The less Mayweather says to the media these days, the better. Over the last three months, the unbeaten Mayweather’s credibility has taken a beating. It continued when he threw Showtime and his own believability under the proverbial bus with comments to the Nevada State Athletic Commission that some segments in All-Access were more entertainment than real, more fiction than fact.

There’s no change at the top of the pound-for-pound debate. Mayweather is the consensus No. 1; Pacquiao is among the top five, depending on the rating. In terms of their public profiles, however, there’s no comparison anymore. Where there’s mistrust in Mayweather, there’s renewed credibility for Paquiao. Before and after his blow out of Chris Algieri, he picked up endorsements with Foot Locker and AirAsia. Mayweather’s endorsements? Zilch, nada, bupkus.

Pacquiao’s commercial success gives him a media presence that Mayweather doesn’t have. That was oh-so evident in the entertaining Foot Locker ad that gave Pacquiao a subtle, yet effective way of talking about the Mayweather fight without mentioning Mayweather himself. It’s safe to say that one annoyed Mayweather, who was frustrated several weeks ago when a Jamaican woman in a London barbershop didn’t recognize him. The guess here is that she probably would recognize Pacquiao. She, like most people, sees more ads than pay-per-view boxing. The endorsements give Pacquiao a bully pulpit. Mayweather has Instagram.

But it’s hard to judge whether the power in Pacquiao’s endorsements and universal support will finally make the fight. This isn’t a democracy. Without Mayweather’s vote, it stays in never-never land.

The best guess here is that Mayweather, the cautious counter-puncher, is waiting on some leverage. As of Thursday, there had still been no reports on HBO’s pay-per-view number from Pacquaio’s six-knockdown demolition of Algieri in Macao. By the way, has anybody ever witnessed six knockdowns in what was supposed to be a major fight? Howard Cosell, remembered for Down Goes Frazier, would have ruptured a vocal chord. But we digress.

Disappointing PPV numbers would give Mayweather a potential edge at the negotiating table. That’s when he might begin talking. A civil claim by his ex-fiance, Shantel Jackson, is another potential factor. In a suit filed by legal gunslinger Gloria Allred, Jackson alleges assault, battery and invasion of privacy. TMZ reported Wednesday that Mayweather’s attorneys filed court documents asking for dismissal of some claims. According to the documents, Mayweather argues he did not violate her right to privacy when he reported through social media that they split because she had an abortion.

A judge has has yet to rule. Safe to say, however, the suit has the potential to be messy, explosive and expensive. There are unsourced reports in the Philippines that Mayweather could be guaranteed $100 million in a Pacquiao fight. A percentage of that speculated number represents a lot of money in an out-of-court settlement or a judgement against Mayweather for a piece of his future earnings.

Come to think of it, it says more than Pacquiao, Roach, Arum, De La Hoya and the media could ever say. It also might explain why Mayweather hasn’t said anything at all.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Chris Algieri has had tougher fights than Manny Pacquaio, Algieri trainer Tim Lane said Thursday before Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said the Filipino would score a a knockout within three rounds.

From opposite corners, the trainers had widely — wildly too — different views on how things will play out in a 144-pound bout scheduled for midday Sunday in the Chinese gambling mecca of Macao and Saturday night (9
pm EST/6 pm PST) on HBO pay-per-view.

If Lane is right, it’ll be the biggest boxing upset in Asia since Buster Douglas’ 1990 knockout of Mike Tyson in Tokyo. If Roach is right, it’ll be a quick end to what would be Pacquiao’s quickest finish since a third-round stoppage of Erik Morales in 2006 and his first stoppage of any kind since a 12th-round TKO of Miguel Cotto in 2009.

In a conference call from China, there wasn’t much agreement, other than the respective degrees of difficulty. Neither corner is expecting it to be too tough. That wasn’t a surprise from Roach, who all along and in so many ways has been saying that Algieri is overmatched. But it was a surprise from Lane.

Pacquiao is Algieri’s greatest opportunity. But, Lane said in a matter-of-fact tone, Ruslan Provodnikov was a tougher fight.

“What he did to Ruslan, he did with one eye,” Lane said of a June 14 bout in which Algieri got up from two first-round knockdowns and fought with his left eye swollen shut for a stunning split decision over the favored Russian. “I thought he would have a flawless victory against Ruslan. I did not find that to be our toughest challenge. But he wound up getting hurt in the first round. When we were offered the Manny Pacquiao fight, I believed that this was not as tough a fight as Ruslan. Styles make fights. Manny Pacquaio, being a lefty and what he brings to the table, I do not find that to be as challenging as it was with Ruslan.

“So, I believe Chris will dominate Pacquiao more so than he did Ruslan. With two eyes.”

Safe to say, Lane’s bold comment was an eye-opener.

Algieri is at least an 8-to-1 underdog. That’s not quite the 42-to-1 underdog Douglas was nearly a quarter of a century ago. Nevertheless, it still means that Algieri’s chances are thought to be somewhere between slim and none.

“I’m absolutely expecting a KO,” Roach said. “He’s in way over his head.”

Algieri has advantages in height and reach. His educated footwork, Lane said, will allow him to elude Pacquiao’s power, which he launches from countless angles. But Roach said that Algieri has never encountered Pacquiao’s kind of speed.

“Once he gets in the ring, he’ll be shocked,” Roach said. “That’s why it won’t last more than three rounds.”

Pacquiao has beaten fighters bigger than he is. But Lane called them “zombies.” They were tough guys who didn’t know how use their feet in the subtle dance that takes thinking fighters out of harm’s way, Lane said. When asked if would he identify some of the zombies, Lane declined. Then, he was asked if he was talking abut Antonio Margarito, who was bigger than Pacquiao, yet lost a bruising unanimous decision to the Filipino four years ago at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

“Yeah, that’s the guy,” Lane said.

Roach’s confidence in an early KO is rooted in what he saw and felt in training. Pacquiao worked harder than he has in years on the heavy bag, Roach said. Renewed energy and power were so evident in sparring that Roach said that he jokingly warned Pacquiao not to stop Algieri too quickly. Talk about a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather showdown has been re-ignited in the build-up for the Algieri fight. If Pacquiao scores a quick and impressive KO, would Mayweather back away from the rumored possibility?

“Definitely, definitely,” Roach said.

No matter what’s next, however, Pacquaio might not be able to contain his power. Roach said the Filipino knocked him down with a left hand in training.

“Hit me in the chest,” Roach said.

The power, Roach said, was enough to launch him into a somersault, which also might have been one way to
celebrate an old feeling.

PHOENIX — Phoenix lightweight Victor Castro (12-0, 6 KOs) is scheduled Saturday night for a six-round main event against Robert Rodriquez (7-4, 3 KOs) of Greeley, Colo., at Celebrity Theatre on an Iron Boy Promotions card.

Castro is trained by retired junior-featherweight legend Israel Vazquez.

The card is scheduled for 14 bouts. First bell is 6 p.m. (MST).

Iron Boy will resume its partnership with Top Rank on Dec. 20 for a Unimas-televised card, also at Celebrity Theatre.