By Norm Frauenheim-

Bernard Hopkins’ life as street thug, ex-con, Congressional witness, peace-maker, fighter, promoter, pundit, provocateur, butcher, baker and candlestick maker includes different nicknames, a couple of masks and roles only he knows are still within him.

“I’m not human,” Hopkins said in a recent conference call.

But he is.

There’s an endless array of humanity jammed into that one being who over the many years has been called Inmate #Y4145, The Executioner, B-Hop and today The Alien.

It’s what makes him so compelling. So challenging.

He shows us what is humanly possible on either side of those proverbial ropes. He’ll have to do it all over again Saturday night in Atlantic City against Sergey Kovalev in a light heavyweight-fight (HBO 10:45 pm ET/PT) as intriguing as any bout in the last year.

By now, circumstances confronting Hopkins have been documented and over-analyzed. Kovalev’s power and relative youth – he’s 31 – are a couple of factors that some think will finally stop Hopkins’ unprecedented defiance of time’s inevitability. He’ll be 50 in January.

Half-a-century is a long time anywhere. For anybody whose mileage has taken them past that birthday and deposited them in the senior-citizen division, Hopkins’ resilient ability to fight on is science fiction-like.

Hopkins swims as part of his training regimen these days. While watching him in the water during HBO’s pre-fight documentary, I wondered if there was a youth-restoring Cocoon from director Ron Howard’s 1985 Academy Award-winning movie at the bottom of that Philadelphia pool.

It’s alien all right, which explains that silly green mask that Hopkins wears. It’s not because he’s trying to hide a gray beard. He has always understood that boxing is a mix of sport and theater. Maybe, Kovalev will prove to be nothing more than just another vanquished face in his supporting cast. I think not. I predicted a Kovalev victory by decision for The Ring. http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/362819-who-wins-bernard-hopkins-sergey-kovalev

Then again, I picked Hopkins to lose to Kelly Pavlik in 2008. Maybe, I should start wearing a fool’s mask.

Truth is, Hopkins is already a winner. The fight could get ugly, which might diminish what has already been accomplished. Nevertheless, Hopkins has done what you expect of somebody about to turn 50.

To wit: He’s become role model for a sport that badly needs one.

In stepping up to fight an emerging star and one of the game’s most feared punchers, he has embarrassed pound-for-pound contenders who are more than a couple of decades younger.

Hopkins reminds us – and hopefully them – that building a legacy is serious business. It’s a not a mere logo for a souvenir. Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s pursuit of legacy has begun to look manufactured. His TBE — The Best Ever – is on T-shirts and caps. Wonder if Manny Pacquiao has bought one? For a bonfire, maybe.

The Best Ever is not possible with a fight against the best. That’s what Hopkins is doing in his decision to face Kovalev. The build-up to the bout has included much of what is often attached to a Hopkins fight.

Race became an issue when he told ESPN that the fight is not a cover piece for Sports Illustrated or other major media, because he’s black. Because his last name isn’t Marciano or Stern, he said.

The comments, of course, generated some major-media coverage. It also was nothing new from Hopkins, who once said retired NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb wasn’t “black enough” and told Joe Calzaghe that he could never go back to the projects if he let “a white boy’’ beat him.

Any discussion of race these days is on the wrong side of the politically-correct fence. But when has race not been a part of boxing? It is the sport, after all, that created The Great White Hope, a term still used. Agree with Hopkins. Disagree with him.

But thank him for his honesty. He’ll never be able to mask that or anything else in a life full of evolving lessons about what humans shouldn’t do and what they can be. That’s a victory on any scorecard.

By Norm Frauenheim

Drivers pass the Lonnie and Muhammad Ali Pavilion Center near downtown Phoenix all the time. It’s just another building at an intersection full of people en route to and from work, school and the mundane. But on Thursday it was something different.

If you looked up and saw the name that overlooks the traffic from its location at the northeast corner of a busy neighborhood, you were taken back to a day 40 years ago. Call it an intersection of time and place. A crossroads with history.

The anniversary of Ali’s eighth-round stoppage of George Foreman on Oct. 30, 1974 in Zaire has been recalled by those who were there and those who weren’t. My favorite is a column from columnist Jerry Izenberg, who was there.
http://www.nj.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/10/forty_years_ago_muhammad_ali_shocked_george_foreman_and_the_world_in_the_rumble_in_the_jungle_and_i.html

Reading Izenberg made me wish that I had been. Instead, I saw it as rookie sportswriter on closed-circuit in Jacksonville, Fla.
It was captivating then. It still is. It has stayed with us. It is an enduring piece of the public imagination, recalled vividly by those who were there and remembered by those of of us who saw it in black-and-white on tiny screens in dilapidated arenas. I’m not sure that anything in High-Def will ever be remembered the way Ali-Foreman is.

Floyd Mayweather Jr, has made a claim on being The Best Ever with his TBE caps and T-shirts. But will anybody recall his rematch victory over Marcos Maidana 40 years from now? Didn’t think so.

Forty years later, Ali and Foreman are a current lesson in what TBE really means. They were fearless, or at least courageous enough to fight despite countless reasons to be afraid of each other. They were willing to do it on the other side of the world in a locale as unpredictable, potentially volatile and exotic as any. It was a universe away from the MGM Grand, which in hindsight makes it that much more profound.

There was a price and a reward, but it not in the way it might have looked in the immediate aftermath of a right-hand lead that Ali landed in a stoppage heard-round-the-world.

For Ali, the victory ensured him of being the global icon he is today. As you drive past his name on the Pavilion that houses The Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center four decades later, however, you wonder whether the punches he absorbed from one of history’s most powerful heavyweights in in so-called “rope-a-doe” tactic contributed to his condition.

Doctors never link the punches to his Parkinson’s. Yet in the public imagination, the collective mind’s eye, that link is always there. I still remember a moment with the late Joe Frazier. He was in Indianapolis during the 1996 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials for a lunch that the USOC threw to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his 1971 unanimous decision over Ali at New York’s Madison Square Garden. A film of that fight was playing in the corner of the ballroom. I asked Frazier about Ali’s condition.

“You see that left hand?’’ Frazier said as he pointed at the screen just as his potent left crashed into Ali’s face. “That’s why he is the way he is.’’

It was harsh. It was cruel. It was honest. It was 180-proof, an undiluted mix of what boxing has often been called: Life in a shot glass.

Ali, whose speech has been robbed by the terrible disease, has never complained about what the sport might have done to him. It was something he chose to do. The risk was known then. Today’s medical technology has told us more about the dangers that come with concussions. But even forty years ago, fighters knew they were walking straight into the jaws of potential harm. Ailing fighters have always been there, broken-down evidence of what can happen.

But Ali has used his condition and celebrity to further research into the disease that knocks down anybody it strikes. He and his wife, Lonnie, have devoted their time and energy to battling Parkinson’s at The Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. He appears at spring-training games or Suns game while staying at his winter home in Phoenix. People gawk at his condition. They talk. But he’s there, as fearless now as he was 40 years ago.

Then, there’s Foreman. The loser 40-years ago has undergone an amazing transformation. In Zaire, he was as intimidating and scary as Mike Tyson once was.

A favorite story comes from Bill Caplan, Foreman’s longtime friend and the best publicist anybody could ever have. Ali arrived in Zaire as the good guy. He was staying at a string of viilas along a river that Zaire President Joseph Mobutu had built for himself.

Foreman played the opposite role. He was the bad guy, which was exemplified by a German Shepherd that reminded people of the dogs they feared when they were under Belgian rule. He had reservations at a Spartan-like military post.

“A stockade with barb-wired fences, guards and everything else,’’ Caplan said.

Caplan recalls that one day Foreman decided to pay promoter Don King a visit at the InterContinental Hotel. But King wasn’t in an ordinary room. When Foreman knocked on the door, he discovered King was in the Presidential Suite.

“George told Don, ‘You’re moving out and I’m moving in,’ “ Caplan said.

King didn’t argue.

He even got rooms at the InterContinental for Foreman’s entourage of 21 people.

Few argued with Foreman in those days. Few argue with him today, but for a different reason. The onetime bad guy has become as likable as anybody. A senior citizen, he’s become the genial grandfather everybody wants to be around. His hamburger grill made him a lot richer than any fight purse ever did. Younger generations remember him more for the grill than they do for heavyweight titles.

In the end, he’s thankful for the chance to have fought Ali, whom he calls a legend bigger than boxing. His loss to Ali put him on the path to who he is today. Ali’s victory turned him into an icon, yet at a steep price

For Ali and Foreman, that day 40 years ago was a personal intersection. Personal, too, for a lot of us who are reminded of it every time we travel through it.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Chris Algieri is good enough to fight Manny Pacquaio, but he might not be good enough to beat some of his sparring partners.

That, at least, was Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach’s suggestion Thursday in a conference call from the Philippines where the Filipino Congressman is training in his hometown, General Santos City, for a Nov. 22 bout with Algieri in Macao.

“We’ve got some great sparring partners …I think some better than our opponent, but we’ll see,’’ Roach said.

The comment from the ever-honest Roach caused a few ripples. It begged for a follow-up and, sure enough, Roach was asked to explain.

“Sometimes, the truth hurts,’’ Roach said later in the call.

In terms of world-class credentials and experience, two of Pacquiao’s sparring partners, ex-welterweight contender Mike Jones and emerging junior-welterweight Viktor Postol, have more on their boxing resumes than Algieri, who jumped to the head of the line with a victory over Ruslan Provodnikov for a dramatic upset that complements a good back story. The New Yorker magazine portrayed the college graduate with two degrees as a real-life Rocky. It’s hard to predict whether that’s the hook that will bring cross-over fans back into the pay- per-view audience, which Pacquaio promoter Bob Arum says could be between 750,000 and 900,000 for the HBO bout.

Algieri brings something different to the table at a time when PPV customers are heading for the exits. There’s been a decline throughout 2014. Maybe, a guy, a virtual unknown a year ago, can reverse that trend. Everybody is a sucker for the guy not believed to have much of a chance. Algieri has already created his own chances by getting up from two knockdowns against the feared Provodnikov. There’s some doubt about whether he could repeat that kind of drama. Against Pacquiao, however, he’ll get that opportunity. It’s intriguing.

But, as Roach suggested, some of that intrigue is tempered by facts. Consider this: If Algieri were fighting Jones or Postol instead of Pacquiao, who would you pick? Jones beat Jesus Soto Karass twice. The unbeaten Postol (26-0) is a ranked contender at 140-pounds. His record includes victories over DeMarcus Corley and Selchuk Aydin. Combine their records, and they’re 52-2. Compare that to Algieri’s 20-0 resume. There is no comparison.

Postol and Jones, Roach said, are in Pacquiao’s camp because of their height. They are taller than Algieri, who is listed at 5-10 and looks down on the shorter Pacquiao in news conference photos. By the way, Pacquiao has been getting ripped for playing basketball in the Filipino league for the team, Kia, he coaches. Pacquaio says he won’t play again until after the fight. On the floor, however, the 5-7 Pacquaio was competing with guys bigger than even Jones and Postol. In terms of competing with much taller rivals, a few minutes on the basketball floor might have helped. But that’s another story.

Algieri’s advantage in height is a factor, especially in his ability to sustain an effective jab. But there’s more to it than that. Postol, a Ukrainian, might be a key to Pacquiao’s readiness. Above all, Algieri is a thinker. That, he says, will be his advantage. Pacquiao has been an instinctive fighter. If he gets on a roll, he’ll roll over anybody. But Algieri has taken a page out of Juan Manuel Marquez’ four-fight book on Pacquiao. Marquez disrupted Pacquiao’s instinctive rhythm. He threw different looks at him, forcing him to stop and adjust. That was just enough for Marquez to finally catch him wide open for the right hand that knocked out the Filipino in their last edition.

“I’ll make him think,’’ Algieri said Oct. 18 during a news conference at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., before Gennady Golovkin’s knockout of Marco Antonio Rubio.

Postol is also a thinker.

“He makes Manny think and that’s what Algieri will do,’’ Roach said of what might be the real truth as to why a current contender is in Pacquiao’s camp.

CARSON, Calif. – Going ga-ga for Triple-G continued Saturday in Gennady Golovkin’s campaign to discard the most-avoided title for a shot at Miguel Cotto or anybody else with credentials that would prove his pound-for-pound potential.

Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) did it quickly, did it definitively, in a second-round stoppage of Marco Antonio Rubio in front of capacity crowd at Stub Center.

Rubio never had a chance. As it turns out, neither did Nonito Donaire, whom Nicolas Walters knocked out in a sixth-round stunner. For Donaire, it might have been more than a loss. It could have been the end. More on that later.

The card, dubbed Mexican Style, was staged for Golovkin. He was in Los Angeles for his first bout in the West almost as if it were a campaign stop. The job was to win over Mexican fans. He did. His trunks were Dodger blue. Many in a crowd of more than 9,000 wore T-shirts that said “Mexicans For Golovkin.’’ Rubio, a Mexican, was just a prop, a piece in setting up Golovkin’s future.

“I think, first Miguel Cotto,’’ he said when asked what and who was at the top of his wish list. “First, Miguel
Cotto. I respect him.’’

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Canelo Alvarez and UK light heavyweight Carl Froch are also on the list. But Cotto is called the lineal middleweight champ. He beat the man who beat the man. Golovkin wants to be in that line. But he might have to wait on a Canelo-Cotto fight, perhaps in early May.

Whatever happens, Golovkin wipeout of Rubio (59-7-1, 51 KOs) won’t do anything to lessen the fear of fighting
him. Rubio was supposed to be a dangerous puncher. In the opening round, however, Golovkin walked through whatever Rubio threw at him. In the second, it was over.

First, Golovkin landed a beautiful right uppercut that traveled between Rubio’s upraised hands and landed onto the Mexican’s chin with chilling precision. Rubio, who was 1.8 pounds over the 160-pound limit at the weigh-in, stumbled into the ropes. That’s when Golovkin threw a left that traveled like a baseball bat. It bounced off Rubio’s head and sent him bouncing off the canvas. At 1:19 of the round, referee Jack Reiss waved it off .

Moments later, Golovkin waved to the fans who chanted his trademark initials, GGG.

Mission accomplished.

Another mission was accomplished by Walters, (25-0, 20 KOs), who took the WBA’s Super featherweight title from Donaire (33-3. 21 KOs). Walters crushed him with a winging right hook that bounced off the side of his head.

“A wonderful man,’’ Walters said of Donaire, who was left with swollen and bloodied eyes.

For a few seconds, an unconscious one too.

Donaire had no excuses. Not much of a chance, either.

“He beat the shit out of me,’’ Donaire said.

But honesty was still there. Donaire left the ring with all of that intact. He’ll need it. He stepped through the ropes and into an uncertain future after a loss that left him face down for the first time in his career. When he awakened, Walters was dancing to Reggae.

The Jamaican was taking his first steps into the stardom that once belonged to Donaire. In the exchange, Donaire was left to think about retirement.

“We’ll decide,’’ said Donaire, who plans to speak to his wife and review options that include a possible move down in weight, from feather to bantam, or to some place out of harm’s way.

On The Undercard

· It was a unanimous decision. A unanimous snoozer, too. Light-heavyweight Edwin Rodriguez (25-1, 16 KOs) nearly scored a shutout in taking a 100-90, 99-91, 100-90 decision over Azea Augustama (17-2, 9KOs) of Hollywood, Fla. But the crowd reacted as if there were no winners. They only cheered when the plodding 1-rounder was over.

· Middleweight Abraham Han (23-1, 14 KOs) of El Paso was on the canvas once, was on his knees in apparent exhaustion at the end of one round and yet managed to beat Mexican Marcos Reyes (32-2, 24 KOs) in a 97-91, 94-94, 97-91 majority decision. A mystifying one, too.

· Sacramento junior-welterweight Moris Rodriguez (8-3-1, 4 KOs) scored a fifth-round knockdown and applied the finishing touch with a right hand that knocked out Jaime Oceguda (8-1, 5 KOs) of Los Angeles early in the sixth.

· Kazakhstan lightweight Ruslan Madiyev (1-0) got the canvas ready for Golovkin, a fellow Kazak, with a punishing decision over Oscar Rojas (0-1) of Salinas, Calif.

· Neither a low blow nor a hot Southern California sun could slow down Los Angeles featherweight Walter Sarnoi (16-4, 10 KOs), who outworked Mexican Sergio Najera (8-16-2, 2 KO) to win a unanimous decision.

By Norm Frauenheim

CARSON, Calif. – Marco Antonio Rubio lost money instead of weight in failing to make the 160-pound limit Friday for his attempt to upset favored Gennady Golovkin Saturday at sold-out StubHub Center.

Rubio forfeited $100,000 when he chose not to step on the scale for a second time two hours after he was 1.8 pounds heavier than the middleweight mandatory. It was no sweat for Golvkin, who came in one pound light at 159.

According to contracts filed with the California State Athletic Commission, the $100,000 price for being over-weight will be subtracted from Rubio’s $450,000 purse, which had ranked among the biggest in the Mexican’s long career. Golovkin (30-0, 27 KOs) will collect $900,000. If he loses, his title will be vacated, according to the re-done deal negotiated after the weigh-in.

Rubio trainer Robert Garcia was disappointed, yet not surprised. Despite several attempts at shedding the excess weight, Rubio (59-6-1, 27 KOs) couldn’t do it, said Garcia, who told reporters that his body “just shut down.’’

It’s hard to know what that might mean for Rubio’s chances against the heavy-handed, heavily favored Golovkin in an HBO-televised bout (10 p.m. ET/PT).

In the undercard’s featured bout, featherweights Nonito Donaire (33-2, 21 KOs) and challenger Nicolas Walters (24-0, 20 KOs) made weight, 125.6 pounds apiece.

By Norm Frauenheim–

CARSON, Calif. — The GGG at the belt of his waistband isn’t much of a secret anymore. But Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin’s initials might as well be evolving into a marketing acronym. These days, it could be Gennady Going Global.

World class means more than a gaudy piece of tin on a plastic belt worth a lot less than the fee paid to the sanctioning bodies. It also means hitting the road the way Muhammad Ali did when he fought in Manila, Zaire, Ireland and Indonesia. Faraway places are part of the intrigue. More significant, perhaps, they are also part of the challenge. At least, they used to be.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. reigns as boxing current pound-for-pound champ. But when was the last time he answered an opening bell outside of Las Vegas’ MGM Grand? He’s become as much of a regular at the MGM as Cirque du Soleil. His last 10 bouts have been there. Mayweather plays it safe, stays at home mostly because he can.

But Golovkin has been on the move since his days as an amateur in Kazakhstan. There was a 2004 Olympic silver medal in Athens. Then, there were bouts in Germany and Monaco with a stop in Panama before a string of appearances in New York. Stamp-for-stamp, Golovkin’s passport has to be a contender. He must have more frequent-flier miles than a passenger on the old Space Shuttle.

Unlike Mayweather, Golovkin has to travel. The initial challenge was just to indtruduce him to an American audience that would have had hard time finding Kazakhstan on a map. Then, became boxing most-avoided fighter, which might be another way of saying that Mexican stars Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Canelo Alavrez won’t fight him in their backyard.

No problem. Golovkin will still go into that backyard anyway, albeit against a lesser Mexican name in Marco Antonio Rubio Saturday night in an HBO-televised about at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, Calif. It’s Golovkin’s first fight in Southern California and its loyal Mexican, Mexican-American fans. That audience, boxing’ most important demographic, makes this stop as significant as any in the wide, wide world of GGG.

If ticket demand is any indication, those fans are as anxious to see him live as he is to win them over. It’s a sellout. It has been for about month. The 8,000-seat outdoor arena has been expanded three times just to fulfill the demand

Make no mistake, the fans aren’t turning out to see Rubio, who is a competent enough challenger with just enough power to make things interesting. No, this is all about Golovkin and his debut in a key boxing market. If Golovkin (30-0, 27 KOs), the WBA’s 160-pound champion, impresses that crowd with another big victory, public pressure will mount on Canelo and Chavez Jr., to finally fight him. It’s just another piece in the marketing puzzle of turning Golovkin into a world-class star, who can’t be avoided anymore.

In part, Golovkin’s bout with Rubio (59-6-1, 51 KOs) has the feel of a political campaign. He’s making the Southern California stop to unleash the power in his hands, shake a few hands, win over the customers with a shy smile and leave them with no doubt about the world-class credentials possessed by a Gennady Going Global.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Sad spectacles are little bit like jagged scars. They are always there, an uncomfortable reminder that real estate between the ropes is as bizarre as it is dangerous. Jermain Taylor is another chapter in the never-ending tale of a love-affair with stories that unfold like accidents. They are doomed to fail.

Leave it up to others to judge whether Taylor should have been allowed to fight for the IBF version of the middleweight title, which he won Wednesday night with a unanimous decision over Sam Soliman in an ESPN2-televised bout in Biloxi, Miss.

We know about the brain bleed he suffered in a 2009 loss to Arthur Abraham. We know that he is facing two felony charges for allegedly shooting his cousin on August 26 at his home in suburban Little Rock. We know about the Facebook video in which he waves a gun and says he’ll never “lose to another white boy.’’

I should be outraged. But I’m not. We’ve seen it before.

Joe Mesi, who retired unbeaten, fought seven times after it was reported he had suffered two brain bleeds in a 2003 victory over Vassiliy Jirov. Floyd Mayweather Jr., who hopes to retire unbeaten, was allowed to fight and beat Miguel Cotto in 2012 before going to jail for domestic violence. Bernard Hopkins, 0-2 against Taylor, once raced across a crowded press room, confronted Joe Calzaghe and shouted that he “couldn’t go back to the projects if I let a white boy beat me.” Four months later, Calzaghe, who also retired unbeaten, scored a split-decision over Hopkins.

The story lines are familiar, because of compliant commissions, judges, legal loopholes, acronyms and money. In Taylor, however, they have come together in what looks like a perfect storm. The IBF’s 160-pound championship appears to be nothing more than a paper crown. But it’s a piece in a jagged puzzle put together behind the scenes by Al Haymon, who promised Taylor the title shot. Haymon fulfilled the deal by moving another one of his fighters, the young and dangerous Peter Quillin, into a position to take the title from Taylor, who also faces a mandatory IBF defense against Hassan N’Dam.

The light-hitting and hobbled Soliman was one thing. He’s 40-years-old. He had 11 losses in 55 fights before the loss. What qualified him to be the IBF’s middleweight champ in the first place? All of that, of course, mattered little to Haymon. Soliman added up to an easy target and that’s what Taylor has become. What might be easy for Quillin, however, is dangerous for Taylor.

It’s hard to know what to make of his Facebook video. It’s offensive, but perhaps it’s intended to be in what was a misguided attempt to sell the Soliman fight. He’s waving around a gun within seven weeks after he was arrested and charged with shooting his cousin? That’s not salesmanship. That’s stupid. It makes you wonder what Taylor is thinking, or if he’s thinking at all.

Nevertheless, Taylor is moving through a system that has pushed other star-crossed fighters into the cross-hairs they always seek and that the sport regrets after it’s too late. It’s not clear where Taylor is in the legal process. As of Thursday, there was still no court date. It could be months when he faces the only mandatory that should matter. Throw in a couple of delays, and he’ll be facing the unbeaten Quillin before he faces a jury. He has a better chance with that jury.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Dan Goossen’s death this week is a reminder that boxing survives because of the characters who have always understood that theater is as fundamental as a good jab. It’s balancing act that includes just the right mix of salesmanship, comedy, opinion and conviviality.

Goossen is the face of a passing generation that has worked hard to stay in the spotlight. He liked it. The brighter that light, the brighter the sport coat. Goossen’s colorful plumage could make sideline reporter Craig Sager’s blazers look dim. He was colorful because he wanted to be. But it was more than that. He had to be there, beneath a magnifying glare that burns out many and keeps others from ever daring to enter it.

Bob Arum understands the role. Arum never fails to enliven otherwise uneventful news conferences with a blend of jokes and insults that create headlines. Attendance is mandatory. Nothing is sacred when Arum assumes the bully pulpit. Then, there’s Don King. He has faded from the public arena, but there was a time when his malaprops and booming braggadocio were integral to the show and, more often than not, more entertaining than the card. They aren’t there to be believed. Goossen knew that. Arum and King know that. Good theater, after all, includes a lot of fiction.

There’s much to mourn in Goossen’s passing early Monday from liver cancer. He was a master at engineering the successful comeback. I remember James Toney. The media and rival promoters had already assigned Toney to the scrap heap after his career went sideways following a 1994 loss to Roy Jones Jr. Toney was woefully out of shape when he began showing up at gyms and local cards in Phoenix, where I worked for the city’s biggest daily in a forgotten era when newspapers still had fight writers. Toney had signed with Goossen, who proceeded to put together a Phoenix card in 2002 that featured him in a victory over Sione Asipelli. If memory serves, Goossen wore the purple sport coat for that one.

A reason to bring Toney to Phoenix was not without a plan. It was home to Vassiliy Jirov, then considered the world’s best cruiserweight. Goossen and Toney were in Jirov’s backyard to call him out. It worked. In April 2003, Toney scored a dramatic decision in Connecticut over Jirov in a bout the Boxing Writers Association of America voted Fight of the Year. Nobody could take the snoozer out of cruiser, but Goossen managed to with instinct that led to a Toney upset of Evander Holyfield in his next bout.

It was a brilliant one-two promotional punch, But it would not have happened without Goossen’s willingness to wage a public campaign that would have exhausted a career politician. That inexhaustible well of energy went into representing Pete Rose after the gambling scandal and Mister T, who was a bouncer in a Chicago bar when Goossen spotted him and transformed him into an offbeat movie star.

In mourning Goossen, I wonder where the business is headed without him. Can anybody imagine Al Haymon conducting a news conference? Amend that. Can anyone even imagine a Haymon quote in any media outlet? If Haymon is the example of what to expect, the spotlight might as well be a wildfire for the next generation of promoters and managers. They’ll stay away.

The spotlight enforces a level of accountability. An Arum, or a King, or a Goossen might talk, talk and talk around a looming issue or in defense of some indefensible behavior. But they are there. Buyer beware. With Haymon, however, there’s not even a chance for that caveat. The man said to be boxing’s biggest powerbroker is always in the background or in some back room. He doesn’t take questions, hence there are only suspicions.

It’s no way to run a show. Goossen was aways front and center, always in front of the curtain, instead of behind it. The show must go on. Without him, however, you wonder how it will. If it will.

By Norm Frauenheim

Canelo Alvarez’s jump to HBO from Showtime isn’t surprising. He follows Bernard Hopkins, who took the first step in a move that altered the business landscape with his decision to fight Sergey Kovalev on November 8. It’s hard to know what will happen next. A prediction is a fool’s exercise, especially with unresolved questions about who and how many fighters are under contract to Golden Boy Promotions and/or Al Haymon. But it’s safe to say it’s been a tough couple of weeks for Floyd Mayweather Jr., who suffered a fat lip on Sept. 13 against Marcos Maidana and then had his credibility trashed in an appearance before the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The announcement about Canelo’s move to HBO and Mayweather’s appearance in front the of the commission happened on the same, Tuesday. Coincidence? Probably. Still, you have to wonder. This is boxing, after all. It’s a place where coincidence and conspiracy often mean the same thing. Let’s just say that Canelo and HBO celebrated while Mayweather and Showtime squirmed.

There was reason to celebrate the Canelo side of the equation.

It further paved the way for a Canelo-Miguel Cotto fight, probably next year, in a bout as big as any in the tradition of the great Puerto Rican-Mexican rivalry. It resurrected a chance at an all-Mexican showdown between Canelo and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. showdown, although there are doubts about whether Chavez Jr. will ever get his act together long enough to be a reliable partner in any potential venture. It even generated talk about Canelo-Manny Pacquiao, but that one looks unlikely because of the weight disparity. Canelo is growing out of the 154-pound weight class and Pacquiao is considering a move down the scale, from 147 to a more natural 140.

What it took off the table, however, was just another blow for Mayweather and Showtime on an already difficult day. Forget a Canelo-Mayweather rematch. With two fights left on Mayweather’s landmark deal with Showtime, an encore with Canelo had to be at least a consideration. With 2.2 million pay-per-view customers, Mayweather’s majority decision over Canelo set revenue records. For the fighter who calls himself Money, that was the primary reason to do it one more time. Given ho-hum pay-per-view results for the other three fights on his Showtime contract — fewer than one million PPV for Robert Guerrrero and twice for Maidana, the network would have been happy to go back to the Canelo bank.

It’s hard to know exactly where Mayweather and Showtime go now. In his post-fight news conference after his rematch victory over Maidana, Mayweather suggested that he might take off a year, skipping his resumed May date for a fight next September. With talk about an imminent split between him and promotional partner Leonard Ellerbe, that looks to be as likely as any other possibility. Some quiet time might be the only option for Mayweather. The more he talks, the less believable he becomes. If the emperor has no clothes, the pound-for-pound king has no credibility. He said he had a personal goal of knocking out Maidana in the rematch, yet he danced away from the opportunity in the 12th round. He said he had no relationship with controversial conditioning coach Alex Ariza before opening bell and then Ariza tells Filipino media that he has signed a two-year contract with Mayweather.

At the Nevada hearing, he embarrassed Showtime by saying sequences shown on All-Access were staged. Don’t believe, he said, sequences showing 31-minute rounds of sparring in the so-called Dog House at his Las Vegas gym and of women smoking what was assumed to be marijuana at his home.

“That’s all for the reality show,” Mayweather attorney Shane Emerick told the regulator board. “It does not happen.”

Huh? Reality is the new fantasy, or vice versa, or some thing like that.

Then again, maybe there’s a chance at some good news in the Mayweather mess too. Now, more than ever, he needs Pacquiao to restore his credibility. Question is, does he really care about that? If he doesn’t, he might retire unbeaten, but with a legacy defined by Pacquiao, Antonio Margarito, Kostya Tszyu, Sergio Martinez, Paul Williams and everybody else he didn’t fight.

Ben Miranda Boxing Promotions will make its Arizona debut Friday night with a card scheduled for seven bouts at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Phoenix super-middleweight Andrew Hernandez (6-0-1, 1 KO) is scheduled for the main event against Rollin Williams, also of Phoenix. Williams is 48-years old, according to boxrec.com. His 43 pro fights include 23 victories, 18 losses, two draws and eight knockouts, mostly at junior middleweight.

Super-featherweight Keenan Carbajal (4-1-1, 3 KOs) is scheduled to appear on the undercard. The new Phoenix promotional company is named after Ben Miranda, a longtime attorney who represented junior-flyweight Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal in contract negotiations. Miranda died last November

First bell is scheduled for 7 p.m. (PST).

PHOENIX — He is a man of many faces. A baby face. A face of intimidation. He’s man of many styles. Left-handed and right-handed. Heavy-handed, too.

In the end, the many sides of Russian welterweight Konstantin Ponomarev provided to be too much for Cosme Rivera Saturday on a UniMas-televised card

Ponomarev baffled Rivera with a variety of looks and style, scoring a decision that was more one-sided than unanimous at Celebrity Theatre.

Rivera, a well-traveled Mexican with losses to Zab Judah and Alfredo Angulo on his resume, simply couldn’t keep up with Ponomarev’s quick feet. The young Russian (25-0, 12 KOs) moved from southpaw to right-hand leads and back, landed solid shots with both hands from the outside and seemed to baffle Rivera from start finish throughout the 10-round bout.

Ponomarev (25-0, 12 KOs) proved to be a lot of things in scoring a 100-90, 98-92, 100-90 victory on the cards. He danced on agile feet. Despite a baby face, he had undisguised contempt in his eyes. After the fifth round, he at Rivera as if to say the Mexican had no chance. Maybe a younger Rivera would have. But at 38-years-old and 59 fights (37-19-3, 26 KOs), there was just too much wear-and tear for Rivera to have any shot at scoring an upset.

The Rivera who lost to Judah and Angulo might have been able to capitalize on another another side to Panomarev. Roy Jones Jr. employed more defense. The Russian keeps his hands down while moving his head. His energetic feet allow him to dance him of harm’s way, at least from an older fighter. Against a younger fighter, he might not be so hard to figure out.

Two other Eastern Europeans, both trained by Robert Garcia, were impressive on a staged by Top Rank in a partnership with Iron Boy Promotions of Phoenix. Ukrainian Oleksandr Gvozdyk (3-0, 2 KOs), a bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, knocked out Lamont Williams (5-6-1, 2 KOs) with a crushing right hand at 1:38 of the fifth round. Lithuanian welterweight Egididjus Kavaliauskas (8-0, 7 KOs) , a two-time Olympian, scored three knockdown for a first-round TKO of Eduardo Flores (17-15-3, 12 KOs) of Ecuador.

“Both are very, very disciplined,” said Garcia, who also said that both Gvozydk and Kavaliauskas are living with their families near his gym in Oxnard, Calif. “They’ll succeed because of that discpline. They are on a mission to accomplish something in the United States.”

Best of the undercard: Victor Castro, a Phoenix lightweight, had super-bantamweight legend Israel Vazquez in his corner and perfect timing in his left hand. Pablo Becerra never had a chance. Castro (12-0, 6 KOs, who has been training under Vazquez’ guidance for the last several weeks, rocked Becerra (7-6, 6 KOs) with a succession of punches during the third round’s final minute. Then in the round’s final seconds, he landed a left hook, as wicked as it was beautiful. It lifted Becerra off his feet and onto his back. Becerra appeared to be unconscious before he hit the canvas in a devastating knockout at 2:59 of the third. “It’s an honor to to have somebody like Israel training me,” Castro said. “It’s about confidence. He gives me that confidence.”

The rest: Another Garcia-trained fighter, Phoenix light-heavyweight Trevor McCumby (16-0, 13 KOs), scored a first TKO of Martin Verdin ((20-19-2, 11 KOs) of Houma, LA. In noteworthy upset, Shane Mosley son lost in only is third pro bout. Super-welterweight Shane Mosley Jr. (2-1, 2 KOs) lost a split decision to Marchchristopher Adkins (3-1 1 K0) of Dallas.

By Norm Frauenheim–

PHOENIX — Vasyl Lomachenko’s pro resume hasn’t quite caught up with his passport. But give him time. The resume was stamped with a major title, the WBO’s featherweight crown, in only his third trip inside a pro ring. No telling how many stamps are in his well-worn passport.

He’s on the road, all over again, as he prepares to go back to China where he won his first Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games. Last week, the two-time gold medalist was at home, training in the Ukraine.

This weekend, he’s in Phoenix to visit an old Olympic teammate, light-heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk, a 2012 bronze medalist who hopes to go 3-0 as a pro Saturday night against Lamont Williams on a UniMas-televised card at Celebrity Theatre. Next week, he’s in Oxnard, Calif., to train at Robert Garcia’s gym.

Final stop: Macao on Nov. 22 on a pay-per-view card in the first defense of the title he won in June in a majority decision over Gary Russell in Carson, Calif. A first-time defense for a first-time champion is often a gimme. But Lomachenko, who faced and lost to tough Orlando Salido in his second bout, is not in the habit of accepting handouts.

On a Top Rank card featuring Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri, Lomachenko faces a dangerous challenger, who is unknown in West, yet popular in Asia. Ever heard of Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo? Didn’t think so. But here’s an introduction. Piriyapinyo, of Thailand, is 52-1 with 33 knockouts. His lone loss is to one of the few Asian fighters known in the West. He lost a decision in 2012 to Indonesian Chris John, who beat Juan Manuel Marquez in 2006.

“Vasyl wanted to fight another guy with a title,’’ said his manager Egis Klimas, who is also in Phoenix for a card that includes two-time Olympian Egidijus Kavaliauskas (7-0, 6 KOs) of Lithuania in a welterweight bout and Russian welterweight Konstantin Ponomarev (24-0, 12 KOs) in the main against journeyman Cosme River (37-18-3, 26 KOs). “But nobody was available.

“So he went down the list and just asked for the most dangerous guy. For him, it was the guy from Thailand. In his mind, this fight is like a mandatory. He wants these tough fights, because he wants to learn. Then, may we’ll get a shot at (WBC champion) Nonito Donaire or (IBF champ) Evgeny Gradovich.’’

Donaire is scheduled to fight Jamaican Nichols Walters on Oct. 18 in Carson, Calif., on the Gennady Golovkin-Marco Antonio Rubio card. Klimas also manages Gradovich. Meanwhile, there are lessons for perhaps history’s most accomplished amateur. Like stamps in that passport, Lomachenko is trying to acquire as many as he can.

At Friday’s weigh-in Mesa, a Phoenix suburb, Ponomarev was 148.6 pounds and Rivera tipped the scales at 145.6. Gvozdyk, who is trained by Robert Garcia, was 175.2 pounds and Williams (5-5-1, 2 KOs) 175.8. Kavaliauskas, also trained by Garcia, was 147.8 pounds. His opponent, Eduardo Flores (17-14-12 KOs) of Ecuador was 145.6. Phoenix light-heavyweight Trevor McCumby (15-0, 12 KOs) was 173.6 and his opponent, Martin Verdin (20-18-2, 11 KOs) of Louisiana, weighed 176.0.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is boxing’s undisputed Drama Diva.

The latest from The Money Team’s long-running soap opera is an apparent split between Mayweather and his longtime advisor and promotional partner Leonard Ellerbe. So much for the team in TMT.

In comments to FightHype.com , Mayweather complained about a breakdown in communication, a lousy ringside seat for his daughter and his disagreement over the decision to put two of his titles, the WBC welterweight and WBA junior-middle, at stake in his decision last Saturday over Marcos Maidana.

Al Haymon will be back, he said. But he made it sound as if everybody else is as expendable as spit in a bucket. A new team might surround him, he said, if he fights in May, although he suggested during the post-fight news conference that he might not fight again until next September.

Blah, blah, blah.

Yeah, Mayweather and Ellerbe might be headed for splitsville. But this is boxing. There are no friends. There are just associates. Mayweather’s primary loyalty is to money and the manager who generates it for him. In Haymon, he trusts. But it’s the money end of the equation that is forcing him to at least talk about changes. Reports of 925,000 for the pay-per-view telecast of the rematch with Maidana were actually better than expected, especially after a week of noisy controversy surrounding his comments about former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and domestic violence.

It represents a jump of between 25,000 to 75,000 PPV customers. Reports on the first Maidana fight put the PPV number between 850,000 and 900,000.

But better isn’t good.

Showtime, a CBS subsidiary, is paying Mayweather a minimum of $32-million a fight. The contract includes two more fights. Mayweather can count on another $64 million. At that price, the network has a right to expect one million pay-per-view customers per fight. So far, Mayweather has exceeded the one-million mark only once with 2.2 million in his revenue-record setting victory over Canelo Alvarez.

Throughout the week before the Mayweather-Maidana rematch, there were rumblings that CBS President and CEO Les Moonves was pushing for a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight. There was speculation — started by Bob Arum – that there were behind-the-scene talks between HBO and the CBS-owned Showtime about finally putting it together.

When asked about the rumors, Stephen Espinoza, Showtime executive vice president for sports, was cryptic. Espinoza didn’t say no. Didn’t say yes. He joked. But, come on, if you’re the CBS boss and on the hook for another $64 million, you’re demanding Mayweather-Pacquiao.

The real question is whether Mayweather will ever let it happen. He opened the door in the immediate aftermath of his unanimous decision over Maidana, but then began to throw out reasons that it never will. He’s called himself the A side, which means he would demand more than a 50-50 split. A couple of days later, he talks about a split with Ellerbe. It sounds like a feint. Promise a few cosmetic changes, and before you know it, the deal is done and Mayweather’s money is safely in the bank.

But Mayweather’s promises don’t always match up with what he delivers. To wit: He said his goal was to knock out Maidana in the rematch. He had a point to make, he said. He wanted to do it more for himself than even the fans. What happens? In the 12th and final round, he protects his lead on the scorecards by staying away from Maidana. What happened to the point he wanted prove? What happened to the KO? He never even pursued it. That was no goal. It was garbage.

Even his complaints to FightHype.com about the two titles are suspicious. It’s fair to wonder if there was, in fact, a hidden agenda. Putting up the WBA junior-middleweight title alongside his WBC welterweight belt might have been a clever attempt at forcing Maidana to wear 10-ounce, instead of 8 ounce, gloves. The WBA title is 154 pounds, a weight at which both fighters are required to wear 10 ounces. At welterweight, the mandated glove is eight ounces.

A few days before opening bell, there was a potential controversy. Maidana trainer Robert Garcia said 10 ounce gloves were mentioned on a document. He called it a typo. The controversy passed. The fight was contracted to be at welterweight. They fought at eight ounces. At 10 ounces, Maidana would have had less of chance than he had anyway. The 10 ounces might have been a way for Mayweather to avoid the fat lip he sustained.

If the ploy had worked and 10 ounces would have been the weapon of choice, it’s unlikely there would have been a complaint from Mayweather. Mere typo or not, it didn’t work. But it does give Mayweather reason to complain and another reason to make another promise.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Top Rank’s attempt to resurrect a dormant Phoenix market continues Saturday night in a partnership with Iron Boy Promotions in a UniMas-televised card at Celebrity Theatre that includes a couple of ex-Olympians, Shane Mosley’s son and a Russian prospect.

The prospect, welterweight Konstantin Ponomarev (24-0, 12 KOs), faces perhaps his biggest challenge against Mexican Cosme Rivera (37-18-3, 26 KOs), whose well-traveled resume includes a 2005 loss to Zab Judah in a bid for the WBC’s 147-pound title.

Light-heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk (2-0, 1 KO), a bronze medalist for the Ukraine at the 2012 Olympics, will appear in his third pro bout with trainer Robert Garcia in his corner. Egidijus Kavaliauskas (7-0, 6 KO), a two-time Olympian from Lithuania, is scheduled for a welterweight bout.

Shane Mosley Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs) will fight for the third time as a pro as a super-welterweight on an11-bout card. First bell is scheduled for 6 p.m. (PST).

The weigh-in is scheduled for Friday (2 p.m.) at Crescent Crown in Mesa. It is open to the public.

LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather Jr. kept alive his pursuit of an unbeaten legacy. Kept his fingers, too.

In a rematch full of some unusual twists and Marcos Maidana’s mouth full of more than a mouthpiece, the result Saturday night at the MGM Grand was predictable.

Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) shook off some heavy punches from the wild-swinging Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs) in the early rounds, began to exert control midway through the fourth round and landed with precision throughout the rest of the fight for a 116-111, 115-112, 116-111 decision. On the 15 Rounds card, it was 115-113 for Mayweather.

Only a knockout eluded Mayweather in the rematch of his majority decision over Maidana in May. A KO was his goal, he said several times before opening bell.

“I give myself a C, C-minus,” Mayweather said after the fourth fight in a Showtime deal for a possible six fights and a potential $250 million.

A chance at a stoppage for an A might have been eliminated in the eighth round. That’s when Mayweather said Maidana bit him on his gloved left hand.

No, Maidana said. How could he bite anybody with a plastic guard on his teeth? Video of the mount appeared to
inclusive. But Mayweather walked over toward the press section, leaned over the ropes and yelled that Maidana bit him.

“After the eighth round, my fingers were numb,” Mayweather said. “I couldn’t use my left hand.”

His right was more than enough against Maidana, who appeared to grow increasingly wild with each round. In the 10th, Maidana was penalized a point for pushing Mayweather onto the canvas. It almost looked as if Maidana was about to walk over Myyweather like a fallen pedestrian about to get trampled. In the 11th, Mayweather was warned for a low blow. Maidana was given time to recover. Mayweather impatiently waved at him, urging to continue the fight. It was as if Mayweather wanted to finish the business at hand and move on to the next fight.

When it was time to address what was next, he was asked the inevitable. He was asked about Manny Pacquiao. When isn’t he? Pacquiao-Mayweather has been the subject of futile talks and rumors for years. It won’t die. The surprise was that Mayweather kept it alive this time around. He usually dismisses it.

“Manny Pacquiao, if that fight presents itself, let’s make it happen,” he said.

There wasn’t much doubt and Leo Santa Cruz made sure of it with a devastating one-punch demolition of Manuel Roman that strengthened his claim on being one of the world’s best junior-featherweights.

“I want to fight Guillermo Rigondeaux,” Santa Cruz said of the Cuban who is considered to be No. 1 in the competitive weight class.

Roman (17-3-3, 6 KOs) was just an impressive work out for Santa Cruz, who stayed unbeaten (28-0-1, 16 KOs) and retained the WBC version of the 122-pound title. In the second round, Santa Cruz grazed Roman, his former sparring partner and a 50-to-1 underdog at the sports book, with a jab. He followed with a straight right that landed on the soft tissue behind a Roman ear. Roman collapsed. As he tried to get up, referee Robert Byrd ended it at 5 seconds of the round.

It wouldn’t be a fight card without a wild card. It came in Mickey Bey’s split decision over Miguel Vazquez for the IBF’s lightweight title. It was deadly dull, which means it could have been a draw. After the boos, the first two scores were announced. A draw sounded likely. Judge Julie Lederman had it 115-113 for the Mayweather-promoted Bey (21-1-1, 10 KOs) of Cleveland. Adalaide Byrd scored it 115-113 for Vazquez (34-4, 13 KOs) of Mexico. But it was Robert Hoyle who dealt the wild card, 119-109 for Bey, who bloodied Vazquez early, yet was never dominant enough to win by a double-digit margin.

James De La Rosa of San Benito, Tex., celebrated with a back-flip. When he landed, he stumbled. But he didn’t fall. Nothing could knock De La Rosa (23-2, 13 KOs) off his feet. Alfredo Angulo (224, 18 KOs), of Mexicali, tried in a furious finish to a 10-round middleweight bout in the first pay-pr-view fight on the Floyd-Mayweather Jr.-Marcos Maidana card. Angulo landed a couple of wicked left hooks and followed with successive rights, but De La Rosa survived to win a unanimous decision over a bloodied Angulo, who lost the first eight rounds, suffered a knockdown in the second and was penalized one point in the seventh for a low blow.

In a foul-fest, Mexican junior-welterweight Humberto Soto suffered two low-blows and was penalized for throwing one of his own, yet survived to win by unanimous decision over John Molina Jr. of Covina, Ca., in a Showtime telecast before the first pay-per-view fight.

Molina (27-5, 22 KOs), who appeared to throw punches after the bell in the early rounds, was penalized for low-blows in the sixth and seventh. Soto (65-8, 35 KOs) retaliated and it cost him a one-point penalty in the tenth. In the end, however Soto was the stronger fighter and a 95-92, 96-91, 95-92 winner on the cards.

Las Vegas cruiserweight Andrew Tabiti, who promises to take the snoozer out of cruiser, continued to display power and promise, pushing his record to 8-0, all by stoppage, with a sixth-round TKO of Caleb Grummet (3-2, 3 KOs) of Lake Odessa, Mich. Tabiti dominated Grummet for five-plus rounds before Vic Drakulich stopped it at 2:01 of the sixth.

Armando Lopes scored the undercard’s first upset, beating junior-welterweight prospect Damian Sosa of Argentina in the third bout on the card’s non-televised portion. Sosa (8-1, 6 KOs), a Robert Gracia-trained fighter, suffered a knockdown in the second round and never really recovered, losing a unanimous decision to Lopes (5-3, 1 KOs) of Nogales, Mexico.

In the second bout on the non-televised portion of the card, welterweight Fabian Maidana (3-0, 2 KO) got things warned up for brother Marcos with a first-round stoppage of Jared Teer (2-3), an Illinois fighter was knocked twice in the opening moments.

Super-middleweight Kevin Newman and Azamat Umarzoda opened the show two hours after high noon and about five hours before the Floyd Mayweather Jr.- Marcos Maidana Saturday at the MGM Grand. Seats were empty. But there wasn’t much to see, anyway. Newman (0-0-1), of Mayweather Promotions, and Umarzoda (0-5-2) of Tajikistan, fought to a draw through an uneventful four rounds.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – Oscar De La Hoya got a key to the city Saturday and promised major cards in Vegas around each of the Mexican holidays in May and September.

“I have to thank the great Julio Cesar Chavez, because that man got that tradition started,’’ De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions, said to fans and politicians while accepting the symbolic key in front of the old sign that welcomes tourists to Vegas. “I promise to continue the tradition.’’

Over the last couple of years, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has moved into those dates. He fought Marcos Maidana in a rematch Saturday night at the MGM Grandin a bout scheduled to be part of the annual celebration of Mexican Independence on Sept. 16. He also has been fighting in early May as part of the Cinco de Mayo party.

A potential conflict looms if De La Hoya fulfills the promise. In an interview after the ceremony under a hot sun in the Nevada desert, he told reporters from 15 Rounds and the Los Angeles Times that he is obligated to schedule fights for Canelo Alvarez on those dates.

De La Hoya, the promoter of record for the Mayweather-Maidana rematch, said he will meet with Canelo on Wednesday to discuss options, which will include possibilities in May. There’s a lot of talk about Canelo-Miguel Cotto in a bout that would rank among the biggest in the great tradition of the Mexican-Puerto Rican rivalry.

“Canelo-Cotto is the biggest fight out there, other than Manny Pacquaio-Mayweather,’’ said De La Hoya, who was a Vegas headliner in May and September throughout his Hall of Fame career.

For years, Pacquiao-Mayweather has only been a lot of futile talk. There’s no reason to believe it will happen next May or ever. There’s speculation that Mayweather might decide to fight Amir Khan next May. Let’s say the choice is between Mayweather-Khan and Cotto-Canelo.

“Who would you pick?” De La Hoya asked.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana were all business Friday at a weigh-in that sounded like a rap concert with speakers that packed more power than some of the fighters on the undercard.

At 146.5 pounds, Mayweather was a half-pound heavier than Maidana and comparatively understated after days full of off-the-scale controversy generated by Mayweather’s comments about former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and domestic abuse.

If there was potential that Mayweather might be distracted Saturday night at the MGM Grand in the welterweight rematch of his majority decision over Maidana, it wasn’t evident. Mayweather was as cool as the green color on the sweats that he and his entourage wore as the paraded onto the stage.

That green could have meant Money, too. Mayweather is guaranteed $32 million, according to a contract filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission before the formal weigh-in for Showtime’s pay-per-view card (5 p.m. PST/8p.m. EST). Maidana’s guarantee is $3 million. The $29 million difference might say all you need to know about Maidana’s slim chances. It also explains how big an upset it would be if Maidana landed a punch that would knock out Mayweather’s attempt to retire undefeated.

“I know I can make adjustments,’’ Mayweather (46-0, 26 KOs) said after stepping off the scale and posing for a
ritual, face-to-face photo with Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) that was quick and didn’t include any insulting or derogatory gestures.

Despite saying his goal was to knock out Maidana, the common wisdom is that Mayweather will try to exert control with patience and trademark precision. His father and trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr. said he thinks his son was distracted in the May bout, which was preceded by controversy involving his former fiancé, Shantel Jackson, who last week filed suit against Mayweather alleging abusive behavior.

In the early rounds of their first fight, Maidana’s aggressiveness seemed to rattle Mayweather, who suffered a rare cut above his right eye from an apparent head butt in the fourth round. Mayweather, who also talked about knocking out Maidana in May, forgot some fundamentals, according to his dad, who wants his son to rely more on his jab.

“I’m going to take my time and listen to my dad,’’ said Mayweather, whose up-and-down relationship with the senior Floyd has not included too many moments of Father Knows Best.

The biggest news from the weigh-in could be heard in the crowd, estimated to be 8,000. It seemed to favor Maidana, although that might have been the result of noisy fans from his native Argentina. In his parade to the stage and onto the scale, Maidana was serenaded by fans, who sang and chanted, almost as if they were following a bouncing soccer ball.

“I’m here to change history and beat Mayweather,’’ said a thirsty Maidana, who weighed 146-even and looked thirsty as he gulped down a sports drink in an apparent rush to replenish fluid lost in a sauna.

Unlike Mayweather, there’s doubt that Maidana can do anything different in the rematch. Mayweather and his dad accused him of dirty tactics in the first fight. A ringside microphone caught Maidana trainer Robert Garcia urging the Argentine to “fight dirty.’’

It will be interesting to see if Mayweather’s complaints about Maidana’s tactics will affect how referee Kenny Bayless polices the fight. Mayweather was unhappy with referee Tony Weeks’ work in the first bout. He said Weeks let Maidana get away with too much.

“Definitely, I’m going to come out aggressive like I did in the first fight,’’ said Maidana, who enters the encore with as little to lose as he had in the first one.

That might be his biggest advantage.

By Norm Frauenheim-

LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather Jr. has his “May-vinci Code.” Nobody can crack it, he says. And nobody has. His 46-0 record is perfect proof. But impossible puzzles aren’t always confined by the ropes. Mayweather has his own outside of them. Mayweather wants to be liked, a desire expressed in a press-conference rant Wednesday by his promotional partner Leonard Ellerbe. Stop the hating, Ellerbe, said. But without the haters where’s the money?

Call it the “May-vinci Dilemma.”

Mayweather is who he is — The Money Team and at the top of Forbes’ annual dollar-for-dollar list among the world’s highest-paid athletes — because of the haters who pay for a chance to see him get beat. Perhaps, that’s cynical. But as a business model, it’s little bit like the ring style that has produced that unbeaten record. It works.

At 37, however, there are growing signs that Mayweather is tired of being the bad guy. You can almost see it in his face. Lengthening shadows below his eyes are there, evident even on the promotional posters for his rematch Saturday night with Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand in the fourth bout on his six-fight deal with Showtime. Maybe, it’s a distracted look. Or, maybe, it’s just middle-age. Or, maybe, its the look of an aging fighter with an eye on retirement.

Mayweather, in fact, talked retirement this week amid the usual tumult of the pre-fight circus.

“A year from now will be my last fight,” said Mayweather, whose current Showtime deal would probably end with a September fight in 2015.

Even the mention of retirement a few days before an opening bell raises a red flag. It’s often interpreted to mean the fighter is looking past the dangerous task at hand, which in this case happens to be the free-swinging, heavy-handed Maidana. Then again, this is Mayweather, who will say just about anything at anytime. To wit: On Tuesday, he sympathized with former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who was caught on video knocking out his wife with a vicious left hook. A day later, Mayweather was backtracking, saying he meant no offense and that he didn’t condone what Rice had done.

There’s always some kind of craziness swirling around Mayweather. We wouldn’t recognize him without it. But the retirement possibility is a flashing signal that perhaps he’s grown weary of training, controversy and the ever-present danger of the one punch that could beat him. Could he change his mind? Dumb question. He could decide to return to the ring faster than Michael Phelps was back in world-class waters.

“They may come with a contract or I could stop right now,” Mayweather said the day after he he proclaimed that his last fight will be next year.

If Mayweather does the expected, beats Maidana and wins two more in 2015, there’s a lingering question about whether he would want to extend his career by at least one fight for a chance at a milestone 50-0.

“No, two and one,” he said. “Why not? I could walk away right now.”

First, however, he has to make sure he doesn’t walk into a Maidana punch.
Santa Cruz talks Frampton

Super-bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz faces Manuel Roman on the undercard in a featured bout that could be a steppingstone toward a showdown against Carl Frampton, the Northern Ireland sensation who scored a unanimous decision over Koko Martinez last Saturday in front of 16,000 in Belfast. Santa Cruz said he watched the fight. “Frampton really looked great,” Santa Cruz said Thursday after a news conference for Saturday night’s undercard. “Watching him made me want to fight him even more. He has a lot of followers. I have a lot of followers. It think that would make for a great, great fight.”

When asked if he would fight Frampton in Belfast, Santa Cruz said he would leave it up to his management.

“If my management can work it out, if it’s right, I’m willing to go there,” he said.
Another Maidana

Maidana’s brother is on the undercard. Fabian Maidana, a welterweight, hopes to go 3-0 against Jared Teer. “Fabian boxes a little more more than Marcos,” Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez said. “But he’s still got that big punch.”

Notes
There are reports that former Golden Boy CEO Richard Scheafer is in Vegas for the fight. However, he’s been seen about as often as Al Haymon has been quoted. …Potential controversy came and went with the gloves. According to Maidana trainer Robert Garcia, there was some sort of document that said the fighters would wear 10-ounce, instead of 8 ounce, gloves. It was a typo, Garcia said. In the heavier 10-ounce gloves, the heavy-hitting Maidana’s chances would have gone from slim to none.

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his promotional partner Leonard Ellerbe tried to put an end to questions about the domestic abuse scandal engulfing former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice Wednesday after the final news conference for his rematch Saturday with Marcos Maidana.

The questions continued the day after Mayweather said he wished Rice “nothing but the best’’ during a session with reporters following his formal arrival Tuesday to the MGM Grand.

“If I offended anyone, I apologize,’’ Mayweather said Wednesday. “I don’t condone what happened.’’

Ellerbe said: “Floyd doesn’t condone this behavior. Period, end of discussion. No more questions about that.’’

Mayweather served two months in jail for a charge related to domestic abuse. He pled guilty to domestic battery in a 2011 incident involving his former girlfriend Josie Harris.

Mayweather’s ex-fiance is suing him. Shantel Jackson filed a lawsuit last week in Los Angeles Superior Court. Jackson, who is represented by feminist attorney Gloria Allred, alleges Mayweather beat and humiliated her.

In news reports of Tuesday’s media session, Mayweather did not criticize Rice, who was indefinitely suspended by the NFL after video obtained by TMZ showed him knocking out his wife, Janay Rice, with a left hook while inside an elevator at an Atlantic City hotel.

“I think there are a lot worse things that go on in other people’s households also,’’ Mayweather was quoted as saying Tuesday. “It’s just not caught on video.”

He also expressed sympathy for Rice, saying: “I know he’s going through a lot right now, because football is his passion, football is his love. It’s no different than me being in the fight game if they told me, ‘Floyd, you have the biggest deal in sports history’ and a couple months later they said, ‘Your deal is taken away from you.’ It’s not really the money it’s the love for the sport, the passion … I know it’s drastic on him and his wife.”

During the news conference, Ellerbe took the media to task for being too critical of the unbeaten Mayweather.

“All of this hating and criticizing needs to stop,’’ said Ellerbe, who argued that a negative press has prevented boxing from reaching crossover fans and gaining the mainstream popularity enjoyed by the NBA . “…We must find a way to acknowledge greatness when we see it. There have been great fighters, but never anybody like Floyd, who has put the whole package together.’’

Mayweather has always been able to ignore distractions, although many of them were of his own making. Three days before opening bell against Maidana, it was hard to know whether the ongoing controversy over Rice would distract him from what some believe could be a dangerous fight. Mayweather’s goal is a stoppage of Maidana.

“A knockout is important,’’ he said. “I want to make a statement. Not a statement to the world, just for myself.’

By Norm Frauenheim–

Now that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has publicly addressed questions about his reading skills from rapper 50 Cent, here’s another question:

Doesn’t Mayweather deserve a public apology?

It might be foolish to expect one from the musician, promoter and entrepreneur. But 50 Cent’s insult went beyond foolhardy and sunk into obscene depths.

“Making fun of a person because they can’t read is not funny,’’ Mayweather told reporters during a conference call Wednesday, the day after he first addressed the slur at his Las Vegas gym during a media day for his rematch with Marcos Maidana on Sept. 13. “It’s tragic. If I couldn’t read, it would make my accomplishments that much more impressive.’’

It’s hard to turn Mayweather into a sympathetic figure, but 50 Cent managed to do it. From money to attitude, there’s a laundry list full of reasons to dislike Mayweather. His polarizing personality is part of the marketing profile. Take your shots. But don’t mock his — or anybody’s — level of literacy. It’s as much of a no-no as everything else on the isms that dot the out-of-bounds list.

The insult has been kicking around the media ever since 50 Cent promised on August 21 in an Instagram post that he would donate $750,000 to charity if Mayweather could read one page of a Harry Potter novel. Then, the hope in this corner was that it would just vanish. But radio hosts and the twitter mob wouldn’t let it. It could have stayed there, but Mayweather decided to take it on, thoughtfully and fearlessly.

“Would God not let me in Heaven if I didn’t read like a news anchor?’’ asked Mayweather, who went on to say: “Me, myself, I would be perfect at reading if it was how I made a living and how I fed my family, but once again, intelligence and education are two different things.’’

He’s right. Nobody ever questioned whether Jack Johnson or Joe Louis could read. Their hands communicated with power that has lasted a lot longer than words from many authors.

The unanswered question is why 50 Cent did it. After all, the former Mayweather partner continues to say that he still likes Mayweather. He said he cares about him. But mocking a guy’s literacy isn’t exactly an expression of concern. Mayweather’s income says it’s not even accurate.

“Read this $72,276,000.00. God bless,” Mayweather said on his Twitter account.

In the end, Mayweather’s forthright comments about the controversy points the finger at 50 Cent. You’ve got to wonder about his intelligence. Right now, he just looks stupid, which means a public apology would be the smart thing to do.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been called the face of boxing about as often as Caesar has been called the face of ancient Rome. Anybody who has been to the modern Rome and walked around the crumbling Coliseum, knows what happened the Caesar’s version. But more on that later. From tickets to T-shirts, Mayweather is the man in charge. He controls everything. That, at least is the portrayal, which presumably he also controls.

But the build-up to his rematch with Marcos Maidana on Sept. 13 at Las Vegas MGM Grand includes signs of erosion in the power that Mayweather is said to have in a chaotic business.

Let’s start with the idea that he picks and chooses opponents the way a potentate picks a butler.

Maidana trainer Robert Garcia suggests that he had no choice but Maidana.

“I truly believe that he had no other options,” Garcia said during a conference call. “He was forced to take the rematch. He was forced to fight Maidana again. There were no other big names out there that Mayweather could fight in September that made sense. The rematch with Maidana is the only fight that made sense to sell pay-per-view and to please fans. He had no other options and that’s why he took the fight.”

If Garcia is to be believed, there was no else on Mayweather’s list of possibilities. But did anybody ever sense a groundswell of public demand for a Mayweather-Maidana rematch? Didn’t think so. Truth is, Maidana was Mayweather’s choice for September at the very moment his difficult victory by majority decision was announced last May. His motivation for the rematch might be rooted in the fact that the May win was less than convincing. It also fell short of the knockout he seemed to say he was pursuing.

“It was a close fight and he probably wants to prove a point,” Maidana said during the same conference call. “He wants to demonstrate that he can beat me outright.”

True enough. But here’s the problem: If this was an ordinary time, Mayweather’s decision to fight Maidana again would make sense. To wit: Clean up the mistakes and move on. But these aren’t ordinary days and haven’t been since Mayweather signed a landmark deal, reportedly worth a potential $250 million, with Showtime. It’s deal that promises superlatives and surprises. As an attraction, Mayweather-Maidana II doesn’t offer much of either.

The best guess is that Mayweather re-exerts his jab, controls the fight and scores a runaway decision. The expectation is that Mayweather establishes the dominance predicted before the first fight. At a median price of $70- per-view, that represents a tough sell. That kind of price tag screams for something yet unseen, or at least an element that further defines Mayweather as one of the best ever. The rematch promises a lot of the old. But the demand is for something new.

The ongoing decline in PPV sales this year is an indication that potential customers will continue to stay away until there’s fundamental change in the way the business is ruled. Showtime has never announced the PPV numbers for Mayweather-Maidana I. According to various sources, it fell short of one million, a milestone. It’s also a Mayweather expectation, which — fair or not — is built into the The Money Team nickname. Media reports placed it at between 850,000 and 900,000.

In a possible attempt to secure more pay-per-view revenue for the rematch, Showtime altered scheduling for the Mayweather-Maidana II card. It will start an hour earlier, 5 pm PST/8 pm EST. It’s a good move. Maybe, it attracts customers who might have stayed away because of the late start in the East. But there’s also a sense that a scheduling move merely chips away at what is the real problem. The public has always wanted Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather Promotions, which polled fans via social media to pick between Amir Khan and Maidana last February, doesn’t need to conduct another poll or hire Gallup to prove that one. Instead, disaffected customers are offered a second version of Mayweather-Maidana, which left them indifferent the first around.

If there are any doubts about brewing trouble within the game, there’s confirmation in a recent step taken by its most enduring star, Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins agreed to a deal to fight dangerous Sergey Kovalev within a day. Hopkins never sought a rematch of his split decision over Beibut Shumenov. Fans just would’t buy a repeat, despite the split cards. A good businessman has to know when there’s a shift in customer sentiment. The guess from this corner is that Hopkins, also a promoter, understands that the customers are fed up. They don’t want re-runs. They want a whole new show.

A further indication came from Pacquiao came this week in a story reported by Yahoo’s Kevin Iole. Pacquiao is thinking bout moving down in weight, from 147 pounds to 140. It’s also a move that would take him further out of Mayweather’s orbit of possibilities. Or impossibilities, depending on the point of view.

According to the story, Pacquiao is looking for big fight at junior-welterweight. Danny Garcia was mentioned. Garcia also has been speculated as a Mayweather possibility.

Mayweather is still a force, of course. But his rules aren’t everybody else’s. Whether it’s Hopkins or perhaps Pacquiao, there’s an emerging sense that more fighters are looking around and seeing a growing number of empty seats in that proverbial Coliseum. Multiply those empty seats over time and you wind up with ruins. The only way to save the place is by exercising available options. If Mayweather won’t, somebody else will.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Leo Santa Cruz is known for volume. In boxing speak, that means one thing. Translation: Lots of punches. But the traditional definition applies to Cruz, too. To wit: Call up Pharrell Williams song, Happy, and turn it up.

In a sport often known for angry lyrics, Cruz is a happy warrior. Williams’ hit could accompany him on his walk to the ring.

Happy, happy, happy. It’s what he hopes for the fans and it’s what he hopes for himself in a career that some believe is destined make everybody happy.

Cruz, who has the sport’s best smile since Manny Pacquiao stepped through the ropes and into stardom, is anxious to please the customers on the Floyd Mayweather-Marcos Maidana undercard on Sept. 13 against Manuel Roman in a bout he hopes will propel him to new heights.

In about six months since his last fight, Cruz has been trying on new tactics. The lesson plan, he said in a conference call, is to adjust to fighters who have increasingly employed movement as a way to avoid his buzz-saw rate of stinging punches.

“I think that, before, I was knocking out people and everything, but I think that it was their styles,’’ said Cruz, (27-0, 15 KOs)a former bantamweight champion who will defend his super-bantamweight title for the fourth time at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand on a Showtime pay-per-view card. “I was never really used to fighters that box a little bit more. I wasn’t used to those kinds of styles, you know, running and boxing.

“But, now, we’re working on that in the gym. We’ve been fighting boxers that move a lot and we’ve been chasing them. So I think that we’re getting used to them and we’re going to be able to start doing what we were doing before.’’

There’s criticism of the bout with Roman (17-2-3, 15 KO), who is not considered a threat. Roman, who is 3-2-2 over his last seven bouts, is not ranked among the top 10 in any of the ratings. Roman is a former sparring partner for Cruz. Their familiarity, Cruz says, will make the fight more interesting. Roman knows him and his weaknesses. He’ll be good test of what Cruz is attempting to add to his skillset.

“On paper, they might say this is not a tough fight, but I’ve known Roman since the amateurs, and he was really good in the amateurs,’’ Cruz said. “As a pro, too, I’ve sparred with him two or three years ago, and we used to work pretty good in the gym and we used to go to war in the gym with our sparring and everything. So, for all the people don’t know him, he has great punches and great technique and he looks good and everything.’’

Despite the criticism, the Roman bout represents an interesting steppingstone to some potential biggies. Kiki Martinez of Spain has been mentioned. Scott Quigg of the UK is a possibility. There was a lot of talk about Northern Ireland’s Carl Frampton in Belfast, Frampton’s hometown

“Of course, hopefully, everything goes well and we look good in September, and then, we want to look for the harder fights,’’ said Cruz, who expects pressure to look spectacular against Roman. “We want to look for those fights that I want.’’

What he wants, above all, is a showdown with Guillermo Rigondeaux, the unbeaten Cuban who de-railed Nonito Donaire’s career. A sure preliminary is some trash talk between Rigondeaux and Cruz.

“First, I read that he thinks that fighters are running away from him, and that he said that he thought that I was scared to fight him,’’ Cruz said. “But I want to prove that I’m not scared to fight nobody. I’m here to fight the best, and if he is the best, then why not fight him. Like I’ve said, he has a hard style and everything.

“But hopefully, everything goes well on Sept. 13, and hopefully, next year, we can get a fight with Guillermo Rigondeaux and we can have a helluva fight and a helluva war out there. We know that it would be a great fight and a hard fight for me.

“I might lose, but we’ll win if we give the fans what they want.’’

Insert a Pharrell Williams lyric here. It makes for a happy ending.

By Norm Frauenheim–

Getting a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been called a derby and a sweepstakes. There are no rules on how to get in line, if in fact there is one. Still, Shawn Porter and Kell Brook will try to win a chance Saturday at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

They’re fighting for Porter’s International Boxing Federation (IBF) version of the welterweight title. But the acronym-sanctioned belt is window dressing. The real fight is to get into the Mayweather conversation.

Thus far, Porter’s name has been dropped, but a mere mention is a little bit like winning a state lottery. Not much chance there. With an impressive win over the unbeaten and dangerous Brook, however, maybe Porter will be more than just another name in a crowded pool of alternates after Mayweather begins searching for another opponent following an expected victory in a September rematch with Marcos Maidana. Porter (24-0-1, 15 KOs), a slight favorite to beat Brook (32-0, 22 KOs) in a Showtime-televised bout, acknowledges the Mayweather stakes, which are impossible to ignore anyway.

“I don’t consider my fights as auditions,’’ he said in a conference call. “I consider them performances. Again, you know this is boxing. We don’t look ahead. But at the same time, yes, Mayweather, we all know he’s on the clock. We’re all right there, hoping we’re next in line.’’

The confident Porter is bold enough to exhibit showmanship. That’s a fine line and he could pay for it if he loses to the quick and versatile Brook. But showmanship is one way to get noticed, which might keep him in the Mayweather conversation and in headlines that could generate pay-per-view sales.

Porter, also mentioned as a possibility for Keith Thurman, hit the pads blindfolded at a Wednesday workout for the media. Maybe, the blindfold was a pre-fight message, warning Brook that footwork and lateral movement would not take him out of harm’s way. Maybe, it was Porter’s way of saying he was looking only at Brook and not ahead to the Mayweather possibility. Whatever it was, it was a theatrical prop. It was designed to get some attention and it did.

Porter’s showmanship was evident on July 12 when he met a handful of writers at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand before Canelo Alvarez’ decision over Erislandy Lara. Porter talked about how he felt invincible, especially after successive victories over Paulie Malignaggi and Devon Alexander.

A lot of good fighters, Porter said, call themselves Superman.

“But I’m Mister Superman,’’ he said.

He’s just another Mister if he loses to Brook, who is fighting in the U.S. for only the second time. Brook might be the UK’s best-kept secret. It’s the UK connection that could make him a viable Mayweather possibility if he upsets Porter. There are rumblings that Mayweather, who promised a surprise for the next Mayday on his Showtime deal, wants a fight outside of his usual Las Vegas neighborhood in a move that could add to his claim on global celebrity.

A fight in the UK fits the bill and might pay a few too. A World Cup-like crowd of a reported 80,000 was at London’s Wembley Stadium for Carl Froch’s rematch stoppage of George Groves on May 31. If in fact Mayweather has further international ambitions, a Wembley bout with Brook could help fulfill them.

Brook is fighting to be a Mister too.

Mister Next.

By Norm Frauenheim–

A few days after Oscar De La Hoya talked about upsets during a contentious conference call involving Danny Garcia’s perceived mismatch against Rod Salka , Bernard Hopkins scored the biggest one of the year with his decision to fight Sergey Kovalev in a many-sided move that is bold, risky and perhaps a lesson for a balkanized game divided by conflicting interests and colliding egos. Hopkins is taking a chance. Somebody has to.

Leadership is hard to find these days, but it was there in Hopkins, whose contract for a Kovalev bout in November is a declaration of independence from practices that are pushing the business beyond the fringe and into irrelevancy. It’s important, first and foremost, because Hopkins is still a fighter. He has several other roles, of course. He’s a promoter, street-corner philosopher, ex-con, CostCo customer and provocateur. Ex-promoters and feuding promotes, managers and advisors are everywhere with quotes and hidden agendas, yet not much in the way of solutions. They’re in it for themselves. But I can’t help but think that Hopkins is fighting for the craft that has made him wealthy in ways he could never have imagined as an inmate at Pennsylvania’s Graterford prison. He, more than anybody, knows what it has done for him.

An inseparable element is his relationship with Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions. De La Hoya is retired, yet he is a fighter whom Hopkins beat in 2004. They shared a ring and and now share an understanding of all that goes into what defines them. Circumstances surrounding the Hopkins-De La Hoya alignment still aren’t clear. Nevertheless, it has survived the Golden Boy shake-up that led to Richard Schaefer’s exit as CEO. In the wake of Schaefer’s resignation on June 2, there was reason to think the Hopkins, a limited partner in Golden Boy, would also leave De La Hoya’s company. Then, Hopkins told the media that Schaefer could not be replaced. About six weeks later, Hopkins signs for a Kovalev fight that strengthens Golden Boy’s prospects in an HBO fight.

The HBO angle, one of many, is a key. It means Golden Boy and HBO will be doing business again. HBO had not televised a Golden Boy fight since March 2013, when Hopkins beat Tavoris Cloud. In the week after the bout, HBO terminated its relationship with Golden Boy, which proceeded to work with only Showtime. The surprising twist in Hopkins’ return to HBO is that he had been expected to fight Adonis Stevenson on Showtime. Stevenson had jumped the shark, from HBO to Showtime, by signing with manager Al Haymon. Between then and the aftermath of the front office upheaval at Golden Boy, there was an evident change in Hopkins’ thinking. Instead of moving away from De La Hoya, he’s grown closer to him.

Thus far, Hopkins and De La Hoya have shown they can be an alliance with power enough to unify that part of the sport not already tied to Haymon and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The HBO renewal represents a further step in De La Hoya’s promise to re-open doors slammed shut throughout the deadly feud between Golden Boy and Top Rank. First, De La Hoya approached Bob Arum, mending their relationship in a move that apparently enraged Schaefer. Then, Hopkins stepped up and said — through Golden Boy — that he wanted to fight Kovalev, a light-heavyweight promoted by Main Events. Within a day, the deal was done without one word that reminded anybody of the familiar rancor. What feud? The moment was a breath of fresh air for a suffocating business better at producing insults than great fights.

Make no mistake, Hopkins is also motivated by self-interest. A businessman has to be and Hopkins is a good one. Kovalev is an emerging threat, perhaps even more dangerous than Stevenson. Stevenson is powerful, yet emotional. It’s that emotional component that could have been manipulated by Hopkins, a proven master of the head-game tactic, an indispensable part of any good fight plan. Kovalev appears to be more sure of himself and less likely to be lured into a diversion that turns into defeat. Just a few months from his 50th birthday in mid-January, however, Hopkins is in a no-lose situation. The 31-year-old Kovalev will be expected to beat a man two decades his senior. If Hopkins win, a timeless legend marches on.

The fight’s timing, scheduled for Nov. 8, comes amid a decline in pay-per-view numbers and television ratings for non-PPV bouts. There’s not a whole lot on the horizon. Garcia-Salka in New York Saturday night? According to one betting site, Bovada, Salka is a 50-to-1 underdog. Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri on Nov. 22 in China? Algieri is a 16-to-1 underdog. Odds are, not many will watch either fight.

Meanwhile, it’s likely that Gennady Golovkin will retain his informal title as the world’s most feared fighter, which means he’s the one to avoid. It looks as if Puerto Rico’s popular Miguel Cotto will. There’s talk that Cotto, a newly-crowned middleweight champ, will follow up his dramatic stoppage of Sergio Martinez against Andy Lee in December in New York. Lee, an Irishman best-known for a loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., is seen as safe stop before a big money clash in another chapter of the Puerto Rican-Mexican rivalry against Canelo Alvarez next year.

On Sept. 13, there’s Mayweather-Marcos Maidana at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. But it’s a rematch, a remake, of Mayweather’s majority decision in May. It’s a second chance to see if Mayweather can get it right after running into a Maidana whose chaotic style appeared to unsettle him. It’s interesting, but the guess is that Mayweather will prevail in a careful, yet overwhelming fashion. He won’t hurt his claim on the pound-for-pound title. But he doesn’t figure to improve much on the pay-per-view numbers, reported to be between 850,000 and 900,000 for the first fight.

It looked like a dismal fall card, until Hopkins swiftly capitalized, filling a void with a light-heavyweight fight that promises to be a game-changer.

For him, his business partner and his craft.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Roy Jones Jr. continues to fight and we wish he wouldn’t. Andre Ward doesn’t fight and we wish he would.

It’s hard to explain and harder to understand. Then again, business-as-usual has never made much sense in a sport where the primary goal is to render the other guy senseless. In one form or another, it gets repeated, ad nauseam. Ward might not be the worst example. He’s just the current one.

Ward is still included among the top five on those pound-for-pound lists, yet he’s persona-non-grata in discussions about middleweight Gennady Golovkin’s options after a predictable stoppage of Daniel Geale in New York, or speculation about light-heavyweight Sergey Kovalev’s next move after a likely victory Saturday over Blake Caparello in Atlantic City. This was the same Ward who beat Carl Froch and would probably be the pick to beat him in a rematch. Yet, Ward was bypassed without a mention in ongoing discussions for a Jan. 24 bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who once flirted with the idea of Ward, yet moved on.

Ward fought once in 2012. Once in 2013. He hasn’t fought at all in 2014. Shoulder surgery contributed to the inactivity. More problematic, however, is a lawsuit filed last December against promoter Dan Goossen. Ward is attempting to end a contract that ties him to Goossen until November 2016, according to an arbiter’s ruling — one of two that upheld the deal.

In the wake of the filing, Ward said he planned to be active in 2014. He told www.ringtv.com that he hoped to be back in the ring in March or April. The closest he’s been, however, is on the talking side of the ropes. He’ll be there Saturday night as an analyst for HBO’s Boxing After Dark telecast of the Brandon Rios-Diego Chaves from Las Vegas in triple-header telecast that will include Kovalev-Caparello.

Ward is in legal limbo. Amend that. More like legal hell. The lawsuit is a messy web that includes Ward co-promoter Antonio Leonard, who alleges Goossen failed to pay him for his work in Ward’s last fight, a unanimous decision over Edwin Rodriquez in November, 2013. No telling when, if ever, it all gets resolved.

The longer it goes, the more Ward has to lose. He’s 30, his prime. Inactivity also comes with a price to his reputation. He’s unable to prove the naysayers wrong and there are plenty. Fair or not, Ward is known to be difficult in negotiations. He was criticized for not traveling to Europe for a bout in the super-middleweight’s Super Six tournament, which he eventually won. Mention his name as a possibility for Golovkin at 168 pounds or Kovalev at 175, and he’s immediately dismissed as a fighter unable to sell tickets or generate television ratings. Floyd Mayweather Jr. labored under the same assumption until he was allowed to prove it wrong with history’s two highest pay-per-view audiences against Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez.

As long as he doesn’t fight, the unbeaten Ward can’t prove himself as a worthy attraction. Until he can, criticism of him from Golovkin’s promoters or Kovalev’s managers is gratuitous. Until his legal situation is cleared up, few would agree to fight him anyway. That’s not good for him or a business that can’t let a valuable resource waste away. It’s already been a year of declining pay-per-view numbers. In a non-PPV bout, Golovkin’s ratings fell in his third-round stoppage of Geale. According to Nielsen Media Research, the bout averaged 984,000 viewers, down from the 1.41-million average for Golovkin’s stoppage of Curtis Stevens in November.

The decline has been blamed on the quick stoppage. The theory is that there would have been more viewers if the fight had gone beyond just three rounds. Golovkin’s victory over Stevens went into the eighth. A summer lull also been blamed. But both sound like spin. Sure, maybe, many of the usual customers were at the beach instead of in front of their television screens. If they were, however, it might have been because one fighter, Golovkin, is from Kazakhstan, still better-known for Borat than GGG. Then, there was Geale, who is from Australia, better known for Russell Crowe and Crocodile Dundee than middleweights.

The numbers, pay-per-view or non-PPV, would have been a lot higher had Golovkin fought Ward. That’s a safe guess, a slam dunk. If only a Golovkin-Ward, or even Kovalev-Ward, was a sure thing.

It’s not. Without it, the decline in television numbers figures to continue. It makes me think of an old lyric by Jones, who will be in Atlantic City as an HBO analyst for Kovalev-Caprello Saturday one week after his fifth-round stoppage of somebody named Courtney Fry in Latvia.

In 2002, Jones released a rap CD that included Ya’ll Must Have Forgot. Jones re-states his pound-for-pound claim in the old song. More than a decade later, it has a different meaning, yet might be as relevant as ever. Fans might forget Ward in a business that needs him and them.

PHOENIX — Jose Benavidez Jr. didn’t waste time. He had something to say. A message, he said.

Consider it delivered.

A first-round stoppage over Henry Auraad proved to be an explosive statement of what Benavidez hopes to do as soon as possible in a career that began with a bang, yet had been put on hold by hand problems

There were no signs that the hands will give him any more trouble. There was no caution and perhaps not a whole lot of patience in Benavidez, who threw punches at a rate and with intensity that showed no sign of brittle hands. The only one in danger of sustaining a fracture on Saturday night was Auraad.

Auraad, an unknown Colombian, never had a chance. He was just a guy standing in the way of a prospect with something to prove.

Benavidez (21-0, 15 KOs) pounced on the opportunity, overwhelming Auraad (16-9-1, 13 KOs), first with a jab that stunned the Colombian like a lightning bolt. Auraad stumbled forward. As he did, he ran straight into right hand from Benavidez. Somehow, Auraad kept his balance and stayed off the canvas. But not for long.

Benavidez immediately attacked. An avalanche of Benavidez punches buried Auraad beneath. He got up and stumbled forward. At 1:50 of the first, it was over. It was Benavidez in a TKO that said he wants world-class challenges.

Benavidez already has been mentioned as a possibility for some of the sport’s bigger names. He was on the short list for a bout with Brandon Rios, according to Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler. But HBO said no to that one.

“That’s because I’ve never been scheduled for even 10 rounds,’’ Benavidez said after only his second first in his hometown. “But 10 rounds, that’s what I want. Big names are what I want. Fighting a Rios is what I need.

“Hey, it’s time, time for me to step up.’’

A swift stoppage makes it hard to make a definitive judgment on whether Benavidez is ready for the next step. His trainer and dad, Jose Benavidez Sr., had hoped for more work with a few more rounds.

“Five or six maybe,’’ Benavidez Sr. said.

But the son had a different idea all along.

“I just wanted to knock him out,’’ Benavidez said. “What do they say: They don’t pay for overtime.’’

But there would be some extra pay in a bout against a Rios.

In the co-main event, Top Rank prospect Oscar Valdez (13-0, 11 KOs), a two-time Mexican Olympian, scored a unanimous decision over Juan Ruiz (23-15, 7 KOs) that was as one-sided as it was bruising. Ruiz rushed at Valdez, a featherweight who went to grade school in Tucson. He clinched. He was penalized a point and probably could have been penalized a few more, Ruiz did it all, while also taking one big shot after another.

“A tough guy,’’ Valdez said. “But you learn from tough fights, especially from a guy like him.’’

From Valdez manager Frank Espinoza’s perspective, the young Mexican featherweight’s learning curve is ahead of any featherweight he has ever managed. Espinoaza has managed some of the best, including Abner Mares.

“He has a real chance to be great,’’ Espionza said.

Before the Solo Boxeo telecast, Trevor McCumby (16-0, 12 KOs), a Chicago light-heavyweight, fought a no-name Michael Gbenga, whose name wasn’t even on his trunks. No name, no chance either. McCumby landed left after left, winning every round on the cards and knocking down Gbenga (15-16, 15 KOs), of Baltimore, in the fifth round of six.

Best of the undercard:
· With Oscar De La Hoya’s first pro trainer, Robert Alcazar, in his corner, bantamweight Francisco De Vaca of Phoenix stayed unbeaten (7-0, 3 KOs), soring unanimous decision over Ernesto Guerrero (15-12, 10 KOs) of Mexico.

· Featherweight Keenan Carbajal (4-1-1, 3 KOs) threw a left hand that reminded many in the capacity crowd of another Carbajal, Michael, a Hall of Famer best known his left. It took 26 second for Keenan to throw a Carbajal-like left for a first-round knockout of Edgar Pinedo (1-1) of Mexico.

By Norm Frauenheim

PHOENIX –- He was a 16-year-old prodigy. Then, he was a 17-year-old prospect with a contract before he had a high-school diploma. Now, Jose Benavidez Jr. is 22 with something to prove.

“I want everyone to know that I’m ready for tougher fights,’’ Benavidez said. “It’s time for me to step it up a notch.’’

Benavidez (20-0, 14 KOs) hopes to deliver that message Saturday night against Colombian Henry Aurad (16-8-1, 13 KOs) in only his second hometown appearance at Celebrity Theater in Phoenix on a UniMas-televised card that includes two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez (11-0, 11 KOs), a Top Rank prospect and featherweight from the border-town of Nogales with roots in Tucson.

Boxing’s rite of passage is a well-worn path, but there’s no sure way to travel through it. Most don’t. Some get lost along the way. Some get exposed. Some are forgotten. It all starts with the hyperbole attached to any news conference that promises a phenomenon.

For Benavidez, that meant comparisons to the biggest star in today’s game. He was called the next Floyd Mayweather Jr. By now, history is littered with futile examples of the next Michael Jordan. Pity the next LeBron James. For media familiar with the hype, it’s an easy headline. But for an impressionable 17-year-old introduced as an heir-apparent, it’s seductive stuff. Misleading, too.

The fine print always includes adversity, which for Benavidez began with injuries to his right wrist and hand. Pain in a ligament and a bone spur turned him into a one-handed fighter, which Benavidez overcame with his eye-catching jab. It allowed to him to survive in October, 2012 for a decision over Pavel Miranda, who in the eighth and final round landed a left hand that nearly knocked out Benavidez.

There was surgery and rehab. There also was sudden inactivity in an internet-ruled business that quickly moves onto the next heir-apparent. Benavidez had not been forgotten. Not exactly. But the YouTube fascination with him had faded. His dad and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr., worried.

“It was just little things,’’ his dad said. “Sometimes, he was a little late to the gym. That never happened when he was younger. I didn’t know whether he was frustrated, or his body just needed some rest, or what was going on. I just decided not to push him, to let him go his own way for a while’’

His son said there was never any thought about leaving the sport.

“No, boxing has always been there for me,’’ said Benavidez, who was always at ringside for Phoenix bouts staged by Iron Boy Promotions, a Top Rank partner for a card scheduled to begin Saturday at 6 p.m. (PST). “I always knew that.’’

Not fighting, Benavidez said, helped him re-evaluate his commitment to a sport he has been around, in one way or another, since grade school. As a kid, there was no choice. As a grown-up, there is. Watching others fight, he said, made him realize how much he missed it and how much he still wanted to prove.

“Physically, I feel a lot stronger at 22 than I did when I was 17,’’ said Benavidez, who started at junior-welterweight and will fight at welterweight Saturday. “As a person, I’ve just grown up.’’

He says he’s had no problems with his hand in training or in three straight victories since he got rocked by Miranda, an unknown junior welterweight on the undercard of Brandon Rios’ victory over Mike Alvarado in their first fight at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

“It’s just time for me to get back to work and prove I’m ready for the next level,’’ said Benavidez, a kid-no-more. “In my hometown, this is the fight to do just that.’’

Meanwhile, it’s no coincidence that Valdez is sharing a card with Benavidez, who five years ago was seen as a fighter who could re-awaken an Arizona market dormant since Phoenix Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal’s heyday during the 1990s. Valdez, who is scheduled to face Juan Ruiz (23-13, 7 KOs) was a well-known Mexican amateur who fought often in Arizona. Valdez, who is bi-lingual, re-calls going to grade school in Tucson.

“At this point, he’s very good, a terrific prospect,” Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler told reporters after Valdez stopped Adian Perez on the undercard of Manny Pacquaio’s rematch victory over Timothy Bradley last April at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand “We have a credo: Ability and marketability. We think he has both. When a guy can fight, brings an audience from Mexico, Arizona and California, that’s a big fan base.’’

By Norm Frauenheim-

Gennady Golovkin has one title he’d like to keep for as long as possible and another one he’d prefer to shed as soon as he can. Time makes the second of the two problematic. Golovkin is the latest in a long line of fighters who have been called the Most Avoided.

It’s unofficial, yet older than any acronym. It comes with grudging respect and even some popularity among fans looking for a people’s champ. But in terms of a career, it’s best only as a temporary step. For Golovkin, Most Avoided has been an inevitable stage in his move from Kazakhstan to Europe to the United States, from anonymity to Home Box Office.

But now Golovkin is 32.

The clock is ticking on when the middleweight champion gets a big-money shot in a fight that will allow him to relinquish a burdensome mantel inherited from Winky Wright and Antonio Margarito.

His chances at moving on and into a higher income bracket are hard to figure. For now, at least, his career resumes on July 26 at New York’s Madison Square Garden in an interesting bout against Australian Daniel Geale, a former middleweight champ who is among the division’s top five contenders. Geale is competent and clever enough for some to think he could take the fight into the later rounds against the unbeaten Golovkin, whose 26 stoppages in 29 victories give him the best KO ratio among current champions.

Through boxing’s twisted prism, a 12-round decision over the Aussie could turn into a good business decision for Golovkin, despite inevitable criticism that would be there in the immediate aftermath of the unexpected. No stoppage might lessen the fear and finally open the door to an opportunity against Miguel Cotto, or Canelo Alvarez, or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. or Andre Ward. Another stoppage might be just another reason to continue avoiding him.

Golovkin says he doesn’t worry about whether that big opportunity will ever be there. What else can he say?

“I don’t think much about this,’’ he said during a conference call Thursday from his training camp in the mountains of Big Bear, Calif. “But I know, I just heard, that when my team is finding fights, it is sometimes hard to get the fight with some fighters. That’s just what I hear. But I don’t think much about this.’’

Still, Golovkin is at an age when other fighters step into their prime for their biggest money in career-defining bouts. A couple of examples: Floyd Mayweather Jr., now 37, was 30 when he scored a split decision over Oscar De La Hoya in front of history’s biggest pay-per-view audience on May 5, 2007. Manny Pacquiao, now 35, was 11 days from turning 30 when he stepped into big money and international celebrity with his stoppage of De La Hoya on Dec. 6, 2008.

Then, there was Wright and Margarito. Wright was 32 when he shed the Most Avoided tag in March 2004 with the first of two straight victories over Shane Mosley and then a stunner over Felix Trinidad. Margarito was 30 when he got out from under the label with an upset of Cotto in July, 2008.

From Mayweather and Pacquiao to Wright and Margarito, the timing is similar. For Golovkin, it’s becoming urgent.

LAS VEGAS – It wasn’t pretty. In terms of style, it was more of a miss than a hit. More whiff than wow. A lot was expected of Canelo Alvarez and Erislandy Lara. In the end, however, it was exactly what many thought it would be.

Controversial.

Split decisions always are.

Alvarez won it. But he didn’t exactly celebrate it. There was frustration in the wake of his narrow victory Saturday nght. Without unanimity, criticism is bound to follow Canelo, no matter who’s next on his dance card. If anybody came away from the bout looking good, it had to be Miguel Cotto. There’s been a lot talk that Cotto would face the winner. Right now, it looks as if he’d beat the winner.

Even in victory, Alvarez’ liabilities were apparent throughout the 12 rounds against the quicker, more agile Lara.

“He didn’t come to fight,’’ Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs said. “He came to run.’’

But there’s no prohibition on running in any of boxing’s current rule books. Lara (19-2-2, 12 KOs) did what he has done best. He circled Alvarez often enough to make the red-headed Mexican dizzy. The Cuban defector stepped in, stepped out. He ducked and bobbed beneath and around Alvarez hooks that were thrown with enough force to create a breeze that could be felt in at ringside.

“I know I made him look bad in front of his own people,’’ said Lara, who wore the American flag on one side of his trucks and the Cuban flag on the other.

But Lara also had to know that winning a close fight at the MGM Grand was unlikely. The capacity crowd of 14,239 was dominated by Canelo-chanting fans. Lara scored with quick combos, especially in the early rounds. But he never seemed to pursue a knockout, or even a knockdown that could have been decisive on the score cards. Judge Dave Moretti scored it for Alvarez, 115-113. Levi Martinez gave it to Canelo by a wide margin, 117-11. On Jerry Roth’s card, Lara was a 115-113 winner.

There were at least two elements that could have given Canelo an edge. In the seventh, a Canelo uppercut left Lara with a nasty cut above his right eye. Blood from the wound seemed to bother him during the subsequent rounds. Then, there were successive rounds, the sixth through the ninth, when Canelo was effective with a combination of body punches. According to CompuBox, Alvarez landed 73 power shots to the body.

“It was a difficult fight,’’ Canelo promoter Oscar De La Hoya said. “Everybody thought it would be. The message was that he was landing combinations. He was landing solid shots to the body.’’

De La Hoya then smiled, almost in relief. With the Alvarez victory, De La Hoya’s company can expect another chance at big-money maker featuring the popular Mexican. That might have been the real message.

More for the $$$ on the PPV Ticket

The decision was unanimous, but the reviews were mixed for ex-champion Abner Mares (27-1-1, 14 KOs) in beating Puerto Rican Jonathan Oquendo (24-4, 16 KOs) in his first fight since Jhonny Gonzalez knocked him out. Mares, who scored heavily with body punches, appeared tentative and conceded he was sluggish in a 10-round featherweight bout, which left him with a nasty cut over his left eye from head butt in the fourth.

Juan Manuel Lopez, a former champion at two weights, has been in a desperate battle to resurrect his career. Lopez (34-4, 31 KOs) was told he could be one loss away from the end. That loss landed on his future like shrapnel in a fast-and-furious stunner delivered by Francisco Vargas (20-0-1, 8 KOs), a Mexican junior-lightweight whose knockdown of Lopez in a wild third round led to the Puerto Rican’s surrender while still on the stool before the start of the fourth.

The PPV card began with a back-and-forth exchange that Los Angeles junior-welterweight Mauricio Herrera (21-4, 7 KOs) managed to narrowly win by majority decision over Johan Perez (19-2-1, 13 KOs), a lanky Venezuelan whose long, looping punches landed without much impact.

Rest of the Undercard

ON-TV: In a televised intro to Showtime pay-per-view telecast, Tomoki Kameda proved to be more than just a warm-up act. Kameda (30-0, 18 KOs), the World Boxing Organizations’ bantamweight champion, got the show rocking with a liver shot that resulted in a stoppage of Pungluang Singyu that was as abrupt as it was dramatic.

Kameda, a Tokyo fighter who has been banned from fighting in his own country by the Japanese commission, appeared to be in trouble against Singyu (46-3, 31 KOs), a kick boxer from Thailand. The aggressive Singyu rocked Kameda with a body-and-head combo in the fourth. He relentlessly moved forward in fifth and again in the sixth. It looked as if the Thai fighter sensed he had a chance at an upset.

But after a jab and head-butt in the seventh, Kameda landed a paralyzing left to the liver. Singyu seemed to freeze for a brief second and then collapsed as though he had been shot. Singyu was cut above one eye. Blood and anguish covered his face. It was over. One look at Singyu and Russell Mora ended at 1:35 of the round.

OFF-TV: It was a short introduction. Sweet, too. Jason Quigley, an Irish Olympian, was a winner in his pro debut within 90 seconds. Quigley overwhelmed Howard Reece (2-7, 1 KO) of Ocala, Fla., in a middleweight bout stopped by referee Jay Nady at 1:22 of the opening round. . . . Yoandris Salinas (20-1-2, 13 KOs) of Miami got the contender knocked out of him by Enrique Quevedo (16-7-1, 10 KOs), a Los Angeles junior-featherweight who knocked him down three times before Mora stopped it in the fifth. . . .Puerto Rican junior welterweight John Karl Sosa opened the show three-and-a-half hours before the pay-per-view part of the Showtime telecast began. Amid echoes in an empty arena, a handful of ushers watched Sosa (12-0, 6 KOs) win the matinee, battling through an unexpected challenge from Mexican Luis Bello (5-2, 2 KOs) for a six-round split decision. …Quitting time: It arrived after three rounds of a sustained beating from Los Angeles middleweight Yamaguchi Falcao (2-0, 1 KOs), who won a TKO when the corner for Puerto Rican Jesus Cruz (1-2-1) threw in the towel before the fourth.

By Norm Frauenheim=

A catch-weight clause in the Canelo Alvarez-Erslandy Lara contract quickly became a forgotten controversy Friday when each fighter weighed in at 155-pounds at the MGM Grand for a Showtime pay-per-view bout Saturday night with a lot hanging in the balance, yet no significant title at stake.

It’s a mystery why a catch-weight was in the deal at all. Canelo demanded it. Lara was angered by it. There was a theory that it was Canelo’s way of saying he couldn’t make the junior-middleweight limit of 154 anymore. Perhaps, it’s a sign he’s moving up in weight to 160 after Lara, the World Boxing Association’s champion.

Or maybe it was just a question of money. Why pay the WBA a sanctioning fee? It would have cost Canelo three percent of his purse. According to contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Canelo is guaranteed $1.5 million, which doesn’t include an undisclosed percentage of Mexican television revenue. At minimum, he would have paid the WBA $45,000.

Whatever the motivation, Canelo (43-1-1, 31 KOs) saved himself and Lara (19-1-2, 12 KOs) some money. Lara’s contract guarantees him $1 million. Lara also walks away from Saturday night’s fight with his title no matter what happens.

Yet, Lara still looked like an angry young man at Friday’s formal weigh-in. After the fighters stepped off the scale, there was the ritual eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose pose for cameras and fans. Lara, about a 2-to-1 underdog late Friday, rolled his head one way, then another, in Floyd Mayweather-like fashion. It was a menacing bit of theater. But it didn’t seem to affect the ever-unflappable Canelo, who faced Mayweather in the same ritual before his loss to the pound-for-pound king in September. Canelo never blinked then. He didn’t blink Friday.

“I wanted to break his face then,’’ Lara, a Cuban, said in Spanish interpreted by manager Luis DeCubas Jr.

A crowd of about 4,000, dominated by Canelo fans from Mexico, roared its disapproval. Saturday night, Lara said, those fans will change their tone. He seemed to say that in the very least they’ll learn to respect him.

“They will find out exactly what the Cuban school of boxing means,’’ Lara said through DeCubas

But Canelo wasn’t buying into Lara’s school of thought.

“Tomorrow,’’ he said, ‘’we’ll find out who takes who to school.’’

Notes: Abner Mares weighed 126.5 pounds for his comeback in a bout with Jonathan Oquendo Oquendo also weighed 126.5 pounds.. …Ex-WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez was at 130-pounds for his junior-light-weight bout against Francisco Vargas, who came in at 129.