Confidence, too often a bully’s mask or manufactured by insecurity, can sometimes be genuine. Thanks, Carl Froch. From Froch, it sounds like the real thing.

The British super-middleweight spoke during an international conference call Wednesday about his Super Six semifinal on June 4 against Glen Johnson with the self-assured tone of somebody certain of his destination. The scheduled 12 rounds on Showtime might prove to be bumpy, but Froch made it sound as if his victory was one segment in a longer trip. So buckle-up and enjoy the flight.

I’m not sure that Johnson won’t have plenty to say about where all of this is headed. For about 30 minutes, however, Froch had me convinced that it would end with him against Andre Ward in the finale of the longest tournament since the Thirty Years War.

The inevitable question was Ward, who already has secured his spot in the championship of the 168-pound tourney with his victory over Arthur Abraham. Froch could have passed on the question, of course. But he didn’t. I suspect the taciturn Ward would have, saying he would not think beyond the task at hand. But if the long view includes a destination that Froch sees as inevitable, hesitation could be interpreted as doubt. Froch has none.

“He’s got some skills,’’ Froch said, almost as if he knew he would be asked about Ward. “He’s an Olympic gold medalist, but having that doesn’t win world titles all the time and we’ve seen that recently. These top amateurs don’t always make top pros.

“He’s obviously won some great fights and he beat Mikkel Kessler. …But other than that, if you look at his record, I haven’t been too impressed with him as far as who he’s fought or how he’s won. Ward’s definitely a threat and someone I have to take seriously.

“But I know I can beat Ward. One thing he’s lacking is punching power. And that’s a big factor.”

Between him and Ward, there is Johnson, although Froch would have preferred Kessler, who accounts for his only loss.

“I would have rather fought Mikkel Kessler just purely for the revenge,” Froch said. “I’m a warrior myself. It’s a big thing for me to have lost that fight against Mikkel Kessler, because I’m serious about this business and that blemish on my record. I’d love to get that corrected before I retire. Someday after I hang them up, I want to be able to say I lost that decision to Kessler, but I won it back, that I avenged that defeat.’’

Froch voiced some deserved respect for Johnson, whom he called a war horse. At 42, however, Froch believes Johnson, a veteran light-heavyweight, will weaken himself in the battle to make weight.

“Going down to super-middle at his age is brutal,’’ Froch said.

Froch’s confidence also is rooted in a Johnson style that he believes will suit him. Johnson, he says, will be there, in front of him.

“The one thing about Glen Johnson is I don’t think I’ll have to go looking for him,’’ Froch said. “ I don’t think he’s going to be on his back foot looking to jab and pick me off. He doesn’t have the speed or the skill to match me. So, he’s going to come straight ahead.

“…I don’t think it would be wise for him to sit in front of me for too long. If he walks into me, he’s going to be taking on some shots. We’ll see how much the referee thinks he can take. It’s going to be brutal, if he keeps walking forward and taking shots.’’

Johnson scoffs at what Froch says of his style. Johnson says he is no Arthur Abraham, whom Froch defeated in the Super Six quarterfinals.

“People seem to think Abraham and I have a similar style,’’ he said. “We don’t. It’s not a valid comparison. That tells me that Carl Froch is not doing his homework. He’s in for a world of hurt.’’

Johnson also finds motivation in any talk about his age.

“I actually get excited when people mention my age, focus on my age,’’ Johnson said. “That means they are not focused on my skills and what I bring to the table.”

Johnson watched 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins win one against age with his historical victory for a light-heavyweight title in a unanimous decision over Jean Pascal. If Hopkins is Daddy Time Sr., Johnson has to be Father Time Jr.

For now.

If the Froch clock strikes with the inevitability he promises, that Jr. will soon turn into a Former.

Moving plans
Talks about moving Phoenix super-middleweight Jesus Gonzales’ next fight, rescheduled for July 8, against Henry Buchanan (20-2, 13 KOs), to the Coyotes’ NHL home, Jobbing.com Arena, in Glendale, Ariz., are underway. Gonzales’ second bout in a hometown comeback had been set for early June at Celebrity Theatre in central Phoenix. But the date was rescheduled, in part because Gonzales (26-1, 14 KOs) needed more healing time for a cut suffered in a victory over Dhafir Smith on May 18.

The likely move to Jobbing.com might be the first of many for boxing as arena operators and the cities that own them scramble to fill dates that could be left vacant by NFL and NBA work stoppages.

Glendale has been embroiled in a protracted and expensive battle to keep the Coyotes from leaving for Canada. The Phoenix suburb faces an even deeper financial hit if the Cardinals don’t play at nearby University of Phoenix Stadium because of the ongoing standoff between NFL owners and players, who are arguing about lot more money than Manny Pacquiao has ever made.

If NFL millionaires can’t agree on how to divvy up billions, there’s been talk that the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito rematch could wind up at one of the league’s empty arenas, possibly Giants Stadium.
Notes, Quotes

· Any thoughts about a Margarito-Cotto rematch were on hold because Margarito had yet to heal from the nasty eye injury suffered in the one-sided loss to Pacquiao in Dallas last November. But hopes for a sequel to Margarito’s stunning upset of Cotto in 2008 were revived on May 19 when Margarito underwent cataract surgery.

· Just a guess, but former Eagles and current Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb probably wasn’t one of the 1.8 million who watched the HBO telecast of Hopkins-Pascal.

· Watching the sad spectacle of Roy Jones Jr. suffering a devastating, dangerous knockout at the unknown hands of Denis Lebedev in Moscow left me wondering when we’ll hear about plans for Jones-versus-Evander Holyfield.

· Surprising news about Oscar De La Hoya in rehab is an indication that maybe there was something to rumors he was considering a comeback. There had to be frustration in discovering he just couldn’t fight anymore. De La Hoya might have tried to drown his disappointment in substance abuse. He isn’t the first and won’t be the last, but he has already scored a victory in acknowledging the problem. Here’s wishing him the best.

When rivals Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard met for the first time on April 2nd, 2008, they gave a pretty damn good reason as to why their rematch bout on New Year’s Day was deemed as a walk-out bout more so than an anticipated championship fight. In an ironic twist, aforementioned perception altered in a drastic manner following the cancellation of their rubber-match previously slated for this weekend’s PPV.

Defying the stereotype of wrestlers producing boring grapple-fests when pitted against one another, Edgar and Maynard exceeded all expectations creating drama from start to finish of their five round championship affair which resulted in a draw.

Not to anyone’s surprise, the announcement of cancellation (due to injuries on both fighters) was a huge buzz-kill to fans waiting to see these guys lock horns once more. But no worries, credit to four entertaining combatants, two of which whom were former world champions; we still have a darn good show on tap.

Headlining the event this Saturday night at Las Vegas, NV’s MGM Grand, charismatic former light heavyweight champion and part time Hollywood star, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson (31-8) re-enters the Octagon, taking on former cast of the Ultimate Fighter, Matt Hamil (10-2) in a three round light heavyweight tussle. Jackson, who’s coming off a controversial split decision win over Lyoto Machida back in November, is in dire need of an impressive victory against Hamil, who’s aiming to capitalize on his reclaimed momentum after denying long time veteran and former light heavyweight king Tito Ortiz in last fight.

Both fighters will walk down the aisle with deep amateur wrestling background, but when the bell rings, expect fistic fireworks as both guys have more than what it takes to knock each other out. Jackson holds notable wins over Chuck Lidell (2x), Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson and Ricardo Arona. The Memphis native also carries devastating fire power in both hands that once catapulted his stature as one of the best fighters in the game. Hamil, who’s no slouch when it comes to striking, has shown capability of hurting top opposition, demonstrated against the likes of Keith Jardine, Tito Ortiz, and Michael Bisping. In addition, Hamil’s tremendous heart and determination make up for his shortcomings in terms of talent and experience compared to his foe.

However, despite Jackson’s gradual decline, the talent and experience factors play in, which should be sufficient to take the ‘W’. Jackson wins via unanimous decision.

In a bout which could be a headliner on its own, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir (14-5) and former IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson (15-5) will duke it out in pursuant of a future title shot. Mir, whose knee derailed the come-backing Crocop, should have his mind set on regaining his championship belt. Having said that, the Las Vegas native needs to be very alert against the superficially out of shape Nelson, whose overhand right could just about end the night of any other top heavyweight on a given shot. The two BJJ specialists have met once before, but on the grappling met, which was won by Nelson on points. Nelson, who’s looking to bounce back after a gutsy yet losing effort against top contender Junior Dos Santos, needs to bring his ‘A’ game against the experienced Mir in hopes for his quest at a title shot.

This probably is the most difficult fight of the night to predict, but it’s Mir who appears to on the downside while Nelson, despite his physique just may be the fresher of the two. Mir’s vulnerability in taking punches clearly showed in his crushing defeat at the hands of Shane Carwin and Nelson should initiatives early to time his punches and land so with success. Expect a big knockout from Big Country.

The comeback of former welterweight title challenger, Thiago Alves (18-7) of American Top Team, continues against Rick Story, who recently downed NCAA wrestling legend Johny Hendricks in his last outing. Alvarez, after consecutive failed attempts (including one title shot) against elite welterweights Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch, rebounded well in easily outpointing the dangerous John Howard in UFC 124.

Story, who boasts a record of 15-3, is as well rounded as it gets with his collegiate wrestling pedigree and his much improved standup game. Alves, a versatile guy in his own right, brings size, and superior striking with his vicious Muay Thai kicks and underrated takedown defense.

The logical favorite here is Alves, given his world class wins over Chris Lytle, Marcus Davis, Josh Koschek and Matt Hughes to overwhelm Story with powerful leg kicks and punches.

Other televised bouts include Stefan Struve of Netherlands taking on Travis Browne in a heavyweight title and rising middleweight Brian Stann will look to continue his streak against Brazil’s Jorge Santiago. Spike TV will televise preliminary matchups which will showcase Miguel Torres and Kendall Grove in separate bouts.

For the second time in a row Austin “No Doubt” Trout will be heading to Mexico to face a Mexican. It wont be easy but the unbeaten Austin knows what to expect after snearing the WBA Light Middleweight crown from Rigoberto Alvarez last time out when he won a near shut out in Guadalajara back in February. Austin 25, will head to Monterrey on 11 June to square off with David Lopez who despite a modest 40-12(23) record is unbeaten in 6 years and has earned his shot at Austin the old fashioned way. Lopez is the kind of fighter who’s in the who needs him club, to good for his own good. It’s something Austin respects, it wasn’t that long ago he was also a member of that club. He’s an old fashioned kind of fighter too and thinks nothing of travelling across the border for his title defence. If he can turn back the challenge of Lopez he will finally get the attention he deserves and make the other big names sit up and take notice. He’s what the talkative Austin had to say.

Hello Austin, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly congratulations on a terrific win in Mexico, what can you tell us about the fight with Rigoberto Alvarez? Though it’s early when would you like to fight next?

Austin Trout – After my fight with David Lopez I would like to get back in the ring as early as august…Lord willing the fight goes to plan.

Anson Wainwright – How does it feel to of become a world champion? Has winning the title increased the attention you receive & how has it been in New Mexico for you?

Austin Trout – It feels great, I feel proud, accomplished, but also I feel like this just means my job is going to get harder to stay on top. Winning the title definitely has increased my attention. New Mexico has always supported me, but now they are doing it with more excitement!

Anson Wainwright – What was it like fighting in Mexico, were you treated well or did things happen to try to disrupt you in the build up to the fight?

Austin Trout – The people in Guadalajara were wonderful! One thing I love about fighting in Mexico, and just Latin countries period, is their passion and love for boxing. The people although cheered for their man, didn’t care that I was an outsider they were happy to be in the midst of a great fighter regardless race or nationality.

Anson Wainwright – You are heading back to Mexico for your first defense against David Lopez. What are your thoughts on him & the fight?

Austin Trout – David Lopez is a tough guy who is going to bring everything to take my title; I think he sticks to his game plans well. I also believe that I am athletically superior to him and just as strong if not stronger. I am already in good shape and have full confidence that I will be able to take anything he has to give.

Anson Wainwright – Before fighting Alvarez you hadn’t fought in over a year. Can you tell us why this was and what you did in this time?

Austin Trout – Well it was a situation with my mandatory position and after the WBA made a Super Champion there was confusion on what was to happen with the now called “regular” title. Between all that and my new promotion team I was hung up (takes breath). During the layoff I was training and going to training camps with fighters like Margirito, and Sergio Martinez.

Anson Wainwright – Who are members of team Trout, your manager, trainer & promoter? Also what gym do you train at?

Austin Trout – I am trained by Louie Burke, his assistant is Randy Gomez. My strength coach is Shukree Shabazz. Managed by Bob Spagnola and promoted by Greg Cohen Promotions, There you have Team No Doubt!

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your amateur career? What titles did you win and what was your final record?

Austin Trout – I had a decent amateur career I won the US mens title in 2004 and became the Olympic Alternate in Athens Greece. I fought in quite a few international tournaments and duels. My record at the end was 163-42

Anson Wainwright – How did you first get into Boxing?

Austin Trout – When I was about ten I heard about a boxing gym in my town of Las Cruces. I had already been a fan of boxing because my mom was such a fan. She put me in and it was love at first sight

Anson Wainwright – What are your thoughts on the Light Middleweight division including the other champions WBA Miguel Cotto IBF Cornelius Bundrage, WBC Saul Alvarez & WBO Sergei Dzindziruk? Also the top contenders Lara & Martirosyan?

Austin Trout – I feel my weight class is packed full of talented tough guys. I am honored to be a part of it and I am 100 percent sure that I am the top guy in this class! I know I got some backing up to do, but I am fully prepared and willing to do so. So to answer your question I think all the guys you named are good fighters and will pose a challenge but, I’m better than them, and that’s all that matters in the end

Anson Wainwright – The younger brother of Rigoberto Alvarez is Saul Alvarez, he is thought by many to be the future of Boxing. What do you think of that fight?

Austin Trout – I would love the opportunity to bust that myth.

Anson Wainwright – Who were your hero’s growing up & what fighters do you enjoy watching fight today?

Austin Trout – I’ve always enjoyed all the greats since I was a boy I can’t list all my favorite fighters. I am a fan first, the people I like watching today are; Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jnr., Victor Ortiz, Berto, Yuriorkis Gamboa,….i like them all its really not fair to ask me to list them.

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do to relax away from Boxing? What are your hobbies and interests?

Austin Trout – I like video games, movies (all kinds), outdoor activities, longboarding, snowboarding. I try to stay as active as my kids allow.

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for the Boxing world?

Austin Trout – Win Lose or draw I’ll give it my all, and I will give God the glory. I am excited for everyone to get to see what I got!

Thanks for your time Austin, keep up the good work & good luck in your fight with Lopez.

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

Like most weeks in boxing, this one had it’s highs and lows. For one legend, his performance Saturday night was history making. For another, his performance on Saturday should mean his career is history.

After fighting to a draw the first time Bernard Hopkins squared off with Jean Pascal, the two ran it back, this time finding themselves in front of a rambunctious crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec — home to the Montreal Canadiens.

The fifty or so minutes in between Hopkins’ walking to the ring to the tune of Artie Rabin’s customized version of Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ and him raising the WBC Light Heavyweight title were filled with a mix of genuine excitement and tons of foul play.

Like most B-Hop fights, the Executioner started slow and on my scorecard, after five rounds, Pascal was ahead four rounds to one.

But then it started to happen again…the teacher began schooling the student. The middle rounds belonged to the Future Hall of Famer.

To be completely honest, Pascal looked worse than he did the first fight. He seemed to make little adjustments to correct bad habits and to make matters worse, this time around, he seemed mentally on edge.

Two of Pascal’s biggest flaws were once again on display at the Bell Centre: he fought in spurts and he didn’t pace himself, forcing him to take entire rounds off — or minutes off of rounds he should have won.

If suddenly a closer in baseball had to start a game, I would imagine it would be similar to the way Jean Pascal conducts himself inside a boxing ring.

The closer would likely try to blow the lead-off batter away with a 98 mile an hour fastball, instead of trying to paint the black with a 94 mph heater. Or he would juice one up on an 0-2 count, rather than setting the hitter up with junk out of the strike zone.

In other words, when Pascal commits himself to an offensive attack, he goes all-out. He bull rushes you, and lets it all fly. Good if your a closer, bad if your goal is to give seven quality innings.

So by the mid-rounds, the crafty veteran Hopkins, began taking control of the fight.

After stalking Hopkins stalked Pascal back to his corner at the end of round six, Pascal whipped around and began barking back at Hopkins, who calmly strolled to the stool awaiting him across the ring.

A clearly agitated Pascal meant Hopkins had him right where he wanted him. Before the bell rang for round seven, Hopkins dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups in an effort to embarrass his counterpart.

It was once again the professor schooling the student, both inside the ropes, and inside his head.

Pascal clearly let Hopkins’ age old antics get to him, but credit the young champion for showing heart down the stretch. He didn’t make tactical adjustments, but he fought the last two rounds out of sheer desperation, proving that although he can’t fight with necessary urgency for thirty-six minutes, he very much cares and is aware of how a fight is progressing.

After the final bell sounded, my scorecard read 115-113, Hopkins. But much more important than my scorecard was that of the three ringside judges, who all saw the bout in favor of the Executioner.

When Mauricio Sulaiman handed Hopkins the infamous green belt, he handed it to Pascal. While there was a backstory to the gesture — Jim Lampley told us all about it — and while I do believe it was an honest gesture of good will, a friend of mine put it best when he said, “Wow, I just got second-hand embarrassment.”

Co-sign. Pascal visibly was embarrassed and the moment was awkward.

Nonetheless, what a performance by a legend. This certainly was boxing’s bright spot this weekend.

On the flip side, there was a dark cloud over the sport this weekend; specifically over Moscow, where Roy Jones, Jr. squared off with Denis Lebedev.

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I hope Lebedev just authored the final chapter in RJJ’s Hall of Fame career.

It’s the legend’s third straight loss, and going back to 2004, it’s his seventh defeat in his last twelve bouts.

It goes without saying that there is simply too much risk involved in this sport to continue fighting when you are over the hill.

In golf, have at it. Hit the links until you’re fifty. And then guess what? Join the Senior PGA tour until you can no longer whack the ball 110 yards over the pond on the par 3.

In baseball, do what you can to stay relevant, reinvent yourself. Like current Mets pitcher, R.A. Dickey, if you lose your stuff, try throwing a knuckleball, it might by you more time. If you get injured or get sent down to AAA try using steroids to…okay, never-mind that.

But in all seriousness, boxing is not a sport where you can hang around too, winning some here, losing some there. It’s obvious when a fighter is done.

In baseball, former pitcher Ron Darling put it best when answering the question ‘When is it time for a pitcher to call it a career?’ His answer, “It’s simple, the hitters let you know.”

Golf and baseball are, generally speaking, low-risk sports, which is in stark contrast to the sport of boxing, which is perhaps the riskiest sport of all.

Similar to our nation’s past-time, the sweet science has hitters too. But unlike the hitters in baseball, the one’s in boxing aren’t using a bat to smack a ball over a fence four hundred feet away. Instead, the hitters in boxing are using their fists to rearrange your face, from only two feet away.

And Roy, these hitters are letting you know it’s time to hang the gloves up.

So, like most weeks in boxing, there were highs and lows. Bernard Hopkins raised his hands in front of a packed Bell Centre crowd, becoming the oldest champion in boxing history, while another legend, Roy Jones, Jr. crumbled to the ground in scary fashion during the 10th round courtesy of Denis Lebedev.

Ups and downs, highs and lows. The boxing beat goes on….

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

It may have been two years ago but it’s something Jeffrey “Mongoose” Mathebula remembers all to well. He travelled to Panama to face WBA/IBF kingpin Celestino Caballero, who was widely regarded as the best Super Bantamweight on the planet. Despite putting up a career best performance Mathebula was on the wrong end of a close split decision loss. There was no rematch, Mathebula would have to get back in line and earn another shot. The 31 year old won a stay busy fight and was vaulted into a title eliminator against countryman Takalani Ndlovu before again losing a heart breaking split decision. On 11 June he gets his chance to once again secure a title shot when he meets another South African Oscar Chauke in an IBF title eliminator. He will hope that he can get the win that will set up a return with Ndlovu.

Hello Jeffrey, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly it’s been several months since you last fought. When can we expect to see you back in action?

Jeffrey Mathebula – I’m very excited!! I will be fighting on the 11th June. It is IBF # 2 Eliminator against my country man Oscar Chauke. Man, this IBF Jnr. Featherweight Title has always been mine!!

Anson Wainwright – Recently your countryman Takalani Ndlovu who beat you on a split decision last year won a world title when he beat Steve Molitor. It must have been nice to see your countryman/friend do this but also frustrating to see someone who you fought so well against win a world title. What are you thoughts on this and Ndlovu?

Jeffrey Mathebula – You are absolutely correct!! Yes, I’m happy for Taki to finally win, especially after our promoter made such a sacrifice in beating Top Rank at the purse bid. However, on the other hand, I should fought have Molitor and not Takalani. I lost an eliminator on split decision. I hope Branco, who promotes all of us, will give me short at Ndlovu!!

Anson Wainwright – Presumably you’d love a second fight with Ndlovu? What can you tell us about the first fight?

Jeffrey Mathebula – I don’t think he give me chance – even if Branco wants to make the fight. He knows I beat him first time! This is why I’m happy to fight now for IBF # 2, which will bring me closer to Takalani fight!

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about the members of your team; your manager, trainer & promoter? Also what gym do you regularly train at?

Jeffrey Mathebula – I’m with Nick Durandt, who is my manager & trainer. Of course, we all promoted by Branco (Milenkovic).

Anson Wainwright – What are your thoughts on the Super Bantamweight division including the champions WBC Nishioka, WBA Shimoda/Rigondeaux, IBF Ndlovu & WBO Arce? Who do you consider the best in your weight class?

Jeffrey Mathebula – I want Takalani! I want to prove the point, and after I beat him, anybody can come forward. I’m not scared to fight outside the country, I proved it in Panama.

Anson Wainwright – You also fought Celestino Caballero a couple of years ago, only losing a split decision to him in Panama. Can you tell us about the fight and what you thought it was like fighting there?

Jeffrey Mathebula – I was robbed two years ago in Panama, in unification IBF & WBA against local boy Caballero. Lost on split decision!! You know, in Panama if you lose on split decision, it is like you knock out guy 5 times. The day after the fight, Panama newspapers were having headline “ROBBERY”! Everybody knows I won.

Anson Wainwright – You were born in Malamulele in South Africa, can you tell us about your younger days.

Jeffrey Mathebula – We all had tough childhood – tough and poor. This is why I opted for boxing, to give my family better life.

Anson Wainwright – How did you first become Interested in Boxing and then can you tell us the path it took you?

Jeffrey Mathebula – It was only way out of poverty. But the big fights are with big promoters in Johannesburg and not Malamulele, this is why I have relocated.

Anson Wainwright – What Boxers did you look up to when you were growing up? Who do you enjoy watching today?

Jeffrey Mathebula – There were many great champions from Malamulele, but possibly the most known is Cassius Baloyi – he was my idol.

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do with your time when you’re not Boxing or training? What are your hobbies and Interest?

Jeffrey Mathebula – I work in the same time as personal trainer for executive clients, at Durandt gym, so I’m busy all day.

Anson Wainwright – Last year the Soccer World Cup took place in South Africa. What did you think of it?

Jeffrey Mathebula – With out doubt it was event of the life time! Have put on the map not only South Africa, but all continents.

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for the Super Bantamweight division?

Jeffrey Mathebula – I’m still around and I’m coming to get you…but first…Takalani!

Thanks for your time Jeffrey.

Anson Wainwright

15rounds.com

Weekend Thoughts – It was an Interesting couple of days in the Boxing world. In Britain the grudge match between James Degale & George Groves took place in the splendid 02 Arena in London. Going In I thought Degale would beat up “The Ugle kid” as he’d often called Groves in the build up. It was anything but that in actual fact. Groves started well and while Degale came into in the fight in the middle rounds and then late. Groves won a razor thin majority decision by a single point on two scorecards. Full credit to Groves who went to Miami to train and sparred with world rated southpaw Andre Dirrell, the tough love approach certainly seemed to work. He may not be as skilled as Degale but he’s a ballsy fighter who you can’t take anything away from. The rivalry hasn’t been settled and a rematch is almost certain to happen in the future. For my money I though Degale just about eked it out. Nathan Cleverly endured a strange week when first Jurgen Braehmer pulled out, then Tony Bellew stepped in before not being allowed to fight because he was to far off weight only for Aleksy Kuziemski to take the fight at the eleventh hour. Cleverly managed to stop Kuziemski in the fourth and won handily except for a when the game Pole opened up in the third. Strangely the fight was stopped on a cut but in the Degale-Groves fight both guys had worse cuts and that was a British & Commonwealth title fight. Also part of the card Billy Joe Saunders scored his most impressive win to date with an eye opening second round stoppage over Kevin Hammond who’s known to be tough and never stopped previously. Former amateur star Frankie Gavin won a pedestrian twelve round decision as he comfortably handled former British champ Young Mutley… I’m not sure what it is about bad blood in Britain at the moment, there must be something in the water. The Cleverly-Bellew press conference kicked off http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mLiYJMJn-8 , then the much anticipated Kevin Mitchell-John Murray fight scheduled for July got a bit tasty when both guys trash talked each other in the ring ahead on Saturday. At ringside Derek Chisora & Tyson Fury squared up to each other and of course we just had Degale & Groves who even after the fight wouldn’t go near one other…It was a shame to see Roy Jones get stopped in the brutal manner he was against Denis Lebedev, hopefully now the great man will hang them up before he gets an more seriously hurt. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlR5fQqdnyc …In Canada the living legend that is Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins once again turned back father time when he won a close but clear decision over Jean Pascal who was 17 years his junior. With the win Hopkins not only claimed the WBC Light Heavyweight title but also the distinction of being the oldest fighter to ever win a world title. Chad Dawson won a decision over Adrian Diaconu that was devoid of any real action…On Friday in North Wales much hyped Sergei Rabchanka beat former Enzo Calzaghe protégé Bradley Pryce over twelve rounds 117-112, 116-112 & 116-113. Rabchanka is handled by super agent Philippe Fondu who rates him as the best fighter he’s worked with. It is hoped that Rabchanka will fight the winner of Lukas Konecny-Hussein Bayram for the European Light Middleweight title in the second half of the year. If Konecny retains the title and faces Rabchanka that would most certainly be an entertaining fight.

Apropos of my own irreverence last week, 15rounds.com’s indispensible editor Marc Abrams addressed the consequences of Saturday’s fight thusly: “A man winning the lineal light heavyweight title at 46? Yeah, I think that’s pretty (frigging) important.” I thought about that for five days and decided he was right.

It sure could have happened to a nicer guy, though. Hopkins, I mean – not Abrams.

Saturday at Montreal’s Bell Centre before a record-setting crowd of 17,750, American Bernard Hopkins became the oldest prizefighter to win a world title, when he decisioned Canadian Jean Pascal by unanimous scores of 116-112, 115-114 and 115-113.

My scorecard went 115-115. I had Hopkins ahead 88-85 after nine rounds. Then I muted the volume on HBO’s telecast and gave Pascal rounds 10, 11 and 12. Ultimately, Hopkins won rounds 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 on my card. Pascal took rounds 1, 4 and the aforementioned final three. I had rounds 2 and 8 even.

I’m sure a card like that makes me a “hater.” But like the last time I scored a Hopkins fight, I confess that I couldn’t care less what you opine of my card. I tried to be impartial. That meant balancing the conflicting signals sent brainward from my eyes and ears.

Something is a bit less than objective when the host of a telecast allows his eyes to water with joy over a participant’s victory.

The fight did not follow the path HBO’s viewers were promised. Not quite. The plan, of course, was for Pascal to use youth and strength to manhandle Hopkins in the opening rounds. Then Hopkins’ wiles and monkish existence – and let us not forget his time at Graterford – would bring home the final eight rounds, in a boxing clinic, proving the doubters wrong, reasserting his legendary status, and establishing once and for all that quarterback Donovan McNabb is an Uncle Tom.

No, that wasn’t the script? Sometimes it’s hard to keep Hopkins’ self-promotion separate from his fights.

Hopkins has achieved legendary status by winning prizefights at a startlingly ripe age. But because of the way he’s conducted himself while doing it, Hopkins is a legend the way Victor Niederhoffer is a legend. Niederhoffer is permanently enshrined at Yale – home of the United States Squash Hall of Fame. But if he’s known to common folks at all, it is for a 24-hour liquidation of his hedge fund in 1997.

Non-boxing media congregates at Hopkins’ press conferences to see the man sabotage his legacy. His favorite strategy is to punctuate rambling non sequiturs with jarringly Spartan commentaries on race. Joe Calzaghe was a “white boy” and McNabb is “suntanned” – a not-so-crafty way of implying any black athlete from a two-parent home, without incarceration on his résumé, is not black enough.

How the black community chooses to discipline Hopkins – with longterm indifference, likely – is not boxing’s problem. Having a petulant racist as the legendary face of our sport is a different story. Kind of makes you wish we could find an error on George Foreman’s birth certificate and give him back the title of “Boxing’s Oldest Champion,” doesn’t it?

That’s really too bad. What Hopkins accomplished Saturday was more impressive than what Foreman did to Michael Moorer in 1994. Seventeen years ago, Foreman was dominated pillar to post for 29 minutes by Moorer, then lightning struck and Big George landed a 1-2 that made Moorer silly. Hopkins, on the other hand, just won at least 14 of 24 rounds over two championship-length fights against a puncher in his prime and hometown.

Pascal is not a classic boxer or slugger. The man is slop3y and He hts. you, in places th’t my not be legal while he circls & mkes circlz and leaps and fouls. Gosh bt he looks ferrotious, no, when Hs knuckles, and hed, concuss u on teh nck, sholdrs and ears!

Hopkins is precise. His motion efficient. He does not take two steps if one suffices. He strikes more than he punches. His fists go to the place he wants them. He hits you where he desires.

Pascal mde the fite a mess whn he was on. He out-bullyd Hopkins by pnch1ng him on the brainstem, and again.

Several times Hopkins stopped to complain to the referee. When he gained no favorable ruling, though, Hopkins fought. This was a better showing than what Hopkins pulled against Calzaghe, flopping shamelessly to the mat. Saturday, he was fouled by a man who wanted to fight more than he knew how. To Hopkins enduring credit, at age 46, he returned fire without regard for personal safety.

Pascal wnted his fns to sweigh the judges n hs favor. But he didnt’ do enuf to win rounds in the midddl3, holdng, hufing and pufffing.

Afterwards, Hopkins reminded us he was a legend. Ever the gracious winner, he complimented his interviewer and promised that exciting fights at age 46 were part of his master plan. Hopkins’ interviewer didn’t think to ask what part of Hopkins’ plan a 2006 retirement was.

Pascal, meanwhile, did what he did after their first fight: he agreed to the official scores and expressed gratitude.

Yeah, but he’s no legend! Well, no, he’s not and won’t be. But he is able to attract a hometown crowd 400 percent larger than Hopkins can draw. Surely someone else thinks that fact is correlated with the men’s varying levels of sportsmanship?

Pascal’s hometown is Montreal. Saturday it hosted Philadelphia’s Hopkins in its main event and Connecticut’s Chad Dawson in its co-main. Between its showings for Lucian Bute, Librado Andrade and Pascal, Montreal has perhaps garnered more credit as a fight town than it deserves.

There is a way for Montreal to achieve pound-for-pound status, though, and prove its haters wrong with a full house. Host Hopkins-Dawson.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

Bernard Hopkins’ diet apparently has never included a single potato chip or one of George Foreman’s cheeseburgers. Meanwhile, Jean Pascal sounds as if he has his own suspicions about what might be in the Hopkins diet. I’m only certain of one ingredient that Hopkins consumes morning, noon, night and every hour in between.

It’s defiance, a Hopkins’ preservative.

Hopkins finds it everywhere in his quest for the ages. Pascal seems to be a nice enough guy, but he unwittingly provided Hopkins with just enough of that age-old element when he suggested some sort of enhanced drug testing before their light-heavyweight rematch in an HBO televised bout fight Saturday night at Montreal’s Bell Centre. For Pascal, it was the rhetorical equivalent of Michael Moorer walking into a Foreman punch on that long-ago night when Foreman, then 45, became the oldest man to win a heavyweight championship.

Pascal gave Hopkins just enough of that defiant anger to prove them all wrong all over again. Hopkins finds it, manufactures it, anyway. But Pascal just made it a lot easier for Hopkins to seize on slights, imagined or real, which have driven him to maintain discipline that, at 46, could make him the oldest ever to claim a major title.

Hopkins has a chance at history, in part because he understands that a fight begins on the day it is announced. He has worked that psychological angle tirelessly, shamelessly and more effectively than anyone throughout a career that spans at least a couple of generations. Pascal, a Haitian-turned Canadian, was on a grade-school playground at about the time that Hopkins turned the trash-talk trade into a tactic. He was a 5-year-old when Hopkins made his pro debut in 1988. In other words, Pascal has only a learner’s permit in a game that Hopkins has long been a master

Ever since Pascal suggested drug- testing and Hopkins countered angrily in a predictably over-the-top tone, Pascal has been back-pedaling. A big step backward came during a conference call a week ago.
“I don’t think Bernard’s cheating,’’ said Pascal, who escaped 12 rounds against Hopkins with a majority-draw last December. “I said that at the press conference.’’

Then, Pascal said he told Hopkins: “Bernard, I know you’re a clean fighter.”

According to Pascal, Hopkins responded by saying: “Who am I to ask him that?”

Pascal says he wasn’t trying to offend Hopkins.

“I wasn’t going to be disrespectful,’’ he said. “ I just wanted to make sure that the fans’ voices were heard, to let them know that we participate in a clean sport. That’s it.’’

But in going politically-correct, Pascal’s implication was that the fans’ voices have included questions about performance-enhancing drugs. It’s slippery slope. Excellence in any sport these days includes questions about PEDs. From Tiger Woods to Manny Pacquiao, everybody hears them. Hopkins is hardly immune.

But for Pascal to raise the question just isn’t smart, especially when Hopkins is standing there. Above all, it just says that Pascal doesn’t know much about his opponent’s calculating, predatory nature. Hopkins’ vitriolic hyperbole included this shameless sales pitch: “Don’t be surprised if I kill him.’’

Weeks later, Pascal laughed at that one. He also dismissed the possibility of a defamation lawsuit from Hopkins, who implied that might be on the agenda after Saturday night’s closing bell.

“That just makes me laugh, because if he wants to sue me, I will file a complaint because he said he’s going to kill me,’’ Pascal said. “… He’s trying to make me quiet. But, that won’t work. I’m going to bark like a dog.’’
That’s exactly what Hopkins wants to hear.

Joe Calzaghe had it right. In December of 2007, Calzaghe quietly stood by and watched Hopkins taunt him as “a white boy” in a crowded press room in Las Vegas. A few months later, Calzaghe proceeded to beat him on the scorecards. Calzaghe didn’t leave many opportunities for Hopkins to nurture the defiance that has sustained him.

The talented Pascal, still a student, must not have been paying attention. He’ll pay for that inattention. The backpedaling that started in a conference call will continue in the later rounds Saturday night. Look for Hopkins to win a unanimous decision in a defiant, record-setting victory that will whip a younger man and – for now – the oldest one of all, Father Time.

For years, boxing’s hardcore fans and media members have discredited fighters from the Midwest. Whether it’s due to the amount of fighters with subpar records that are used as stepping stones by bigger promoters or the fact that most of their prospects were defeated when they faced tougher foes, there are very few heralded prospects out of the Midwest.

Minnesota middleweight Cerresso Fort is determined to change that while turning doubters into believers.

Fresh out of a St. Petersburg, FL training camp, Fort, 10-0 (8 KO’s), faces fellow Minnesotan Tim Taggart in a six round bout Friday evening at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, MN. 15rounds caught up with Fort just moments after an intense training session.

Matt Yanofsky: What do you know about Tim Taggart? He’s another local fighter. Have you sparred with him in the past?

Cerresso Fort: I don’t know anything about him. I’ve never even seen him before.

MY: You have a perfect record of 10-0 with 8 KO’s and all but one of your fights have taken place locally. What does it feel like to fight at home when many fighters have to hit the road?

CF: It’s a great feeling to fight at home!

MY: There seems to be a misconception of fighters from the Midwest since many boxers from that region are regarded as opponents. Does it upset you at all that even though you’re unbeaten that some will overlook you since you’re from Minnesota?

CF: There were actually a lot of great fighters from the Midwest. Sugar Ray Robinson Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Joe Louis all came out of the Midwest. Some of the greatest fighters ever are from the Midwest.

MY: Is there a fighter that you look up to and try to model your style after or are you striving to be the best Cerresso Fort possible?

CF: I try to be the best I can but I get a lot of remarks saying I’m a Jeff Lacy type fighter, so that’s a regular comparison.

MY: In the amateurs, you competed in renowned tournaments such as the National Golden Gloves. Tell us about your full amateur background.

CF: I started boxing when I was 12 years old. I went to the finals in my first national tournament and finished in second place, which was my first loss. I won the Junior Olympics and Ringside Tournament and had to win five fights in a row to do so. In the National Golden Gloves, I made it to the quarter finals. Overall, I had 121 amateur fights with only 18 losses.

MY: Tell us about your team. Who is your trainer, manager and promoter?

CF: I’m currently unpromoted. John is my manager and that’s really it right now. We’re hoping to link up with a big promoter in the near future.

MY: Why should fans want to watch Cerresso Fort instead of another prospect?

CF: Because I am all about hard work and dedication. I’m an exciting fighter that gives it all I’ve got. I go in the ring to take care of business and haven’t been in a boring fight yet!

MY: Thanks for your time. What do you have to say in closing to your fans and others that may watch you one day?

CF: I thank god and 15rounds.com for interviewing me. I appreciate all of the Team Cerresso Fort supporters. I want to build a winning team not only in the ring, but in the community to help out the kids. I’ve also opened up my own boxing gym Element Boxing & Fitness.

It looked as though Lukas Konecny was destined to be one of Boxing nearly men. He had nearly won the European Union title when he lost a split decision to Ruben Varon in 2004 fighting away from home in Spain. His performance was good enough to see him fight Michele Piccarillo for the European title 18 months later; again it wasn’t to be as he lost a close unanimous decision in Italy despite dropping Piccarillo in the second round. Over the next couple of years Konecny stayed busy while waiting for his next opportunity. It finally came when he got his shot at a world title in the spring of 2008 against then undefeated Sergei Dzindziruk, he gave the champion all he could handle over twelve rounds before losing a majority decision. Many fighters would slip away after coming up short on those occasions, not the mentally strong Konecny he continued to keep busy whilst believing in his own ability. Finally last September the Czech Republic fighter won the big one when he beat Matthew Hall to claim the vacant European Light Middleweight title. He’s already defended the title once and is preparing for his second defence on 27 May when he meets mandatory challenger Hussein Bayram. The 32 year old sports a 46-3(22) record and will hope that he can put on an impressive performance in front of his adoring fans and set himself up for a world title fight, he’s currently ranked WBC 6 & WBO 2.

Hello Lukas, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – You will be fighting Hussein Bayram, what are your thoughts on that fight, what do you know about Bayram?

Lukas Konecny – I have studied Bayram’s videos. He is a strong fighter who uses his wits in the fight. He will not give me the victory as a present for sure. That much is certain.

Anson Wainwright – You have fought many times in Prague but never your hometown of Usti nad Labem, what does it mean to you to fight in your hometown? How many fans do you believe will turn up?

Lukas Konecny – That’s not quite right, I fought Aziz Daari in a EU Championship on 17 October 2003 in Usti. Nevertheless the upcoming fight is something very special for me. I am looking forward to seeing my fans at the arena. This is my 50th professional fight and first mandatory defence and the opportunity to perform in Usti makes me really proud. I am sure that the 6,500 hall will be sold out.

Anson Wainwright – You were supposed to fight Rhodes last September but he was forced to pull out through injury and you fought Matthew Hall. You both have a similar style and met each other in the centre of the ring and neither of you let up fighting until the end when you stopped Hall in six. Can you talk us through this fight?

Lukas Konecny – Mathew Hall was able to keep a good pace in the first rounds but I noticed that he will not sustain the pace till the end. I knew I will have him under control by the half. And of course I took the first chance I got. This was my and my trainer’s strategy.

Anson Wainwright – What did it mean to you to win the European title at the second attempt?

Lukas Konecny – I was the happiest man after the victory. I am the first professional boxer in the Czech history to win such a valuable title in boxing. You probably could imagine how proud of it I am. I made boxing history in the Czech Republic with this achievement. It doesn’t matter that I won the title at my second attempt.

Anson Wainwright – You’re ranked highly by 2 of the main sanctioning bodies, are you targeting anyone in particular? What do you think of the current champions WBA Miguel Cotto, IBF Cornelius Bundrage & WBO Sergei Dzindziruk?

Lukas Konecny – I would immediately fight again Sergei Dzinziruk. I have an old score to settle with him. If one of the judges had kept his eyes really open, I wood have became the new champion. Maybe it is my destiny to sort things out at the second attempt. Anyway the WBO Championship is a declared goal for me.

Anson Wainwright – The Czech Republic isn’t known for it’s Boxers, can you tell us how you first became interested in Boxing?

Lukas Konecny – My father was a boxer. He sparked my interest in boxing. As an amateur I went to Magdeburg and got there a chance to develop further. The then president of the amateur club was Ulf Steinforth. 2000 he founded the professional boxing team SES and I switched to pro boxing.

Anson Wainwright – You are considered the best fighter from Czech Republic, what can you tell us about the Boxing scene in your homeland, are there amateurs coming through?

Lukas Konecny – Since my and other amateur boxers, like Rudolf Kraj for example, big achievements, the Czech boxing sport gained more attention. I am coaching currently the Czech national team and I can say, there are more and more young people getting into boxing.

Anson Wainwright – You were a very good amateur and actually represented Czech Republic in Athens at the 2000 Olympic games. Can you tell us about that experience? What amateur titles did you win and what was your final record?

Lukas Konecny – My training as an amateur was an important and very solid basis for me. Actually I am a man, who seeked and found his own style. I was Czech national champion and won a number of tournaments, especially in my time later in Magdeburg. I got the final touch in Germany but nothing would have been possible without my strong will to win.

Anson Wainwright – Who are your team members, your manager, trainer & promoter? Also what gym do you train at?

Lukas Konecny – I usually train in Usti and Praghe but the last eight weeks before fights I spend in Magdeburg with my coach Dirk Dzemski. My manager is also in Magdeburg. My promoter Ulf Steinforth made for me possible to come to the point where I am now. He is the person I owe a lot because he trusted in me when I lost the European championship.

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do away from Boxing to relax?

Lukas Konecny – In the short free time I take care about my family. I am married and have three children. My family is the most important project for me.

Anson Wainwright – What goals do you have still in Boxing?

Lukas Konecny – It’s quite simple/clear: I want to be a world champion.

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for the Light Middleweight division?

Lukas Konecny – Lukas Konecny boxes his way up, no matter who has the crown I will take it away from him. I want to become the first Czech world champion.

Thanks for your time Lukas, keep up the good work

Anson Wainwright

15rounds.com

Its 10 years since Adrian “The Shark” Diaconu 27-2(15) left his native Romania to turn professional in Canada. In a highly decorated amateur career Diaconu had won bronze at the 1997 World Championships and then two years later at the same event he upgraded to a silver medal before representing his country on the grandest stage of all the Olympics in 2000. He made his debut in 2001 and fought mostly in Canada, honing his skills and getting used to life away from his homeland for the next few years. That is until the spring of 2008 when he headed back to Romania to fight Chris Henry for the vacant WBC Interim Light Heavyweight title which he won on points. After a year out of the ring he lost his crown to Jean Pascal and also lost a rematch. Now Diaconu 32, is on the comeback trail and meets Chad Dawson on the weekend as chief support to the Jean Pascal-Bernard Hopkins 2 fight. He knows that to remain a factor in the division he needs to overcome Dawson. It won’t be an easy task, though he’ll hope to use his pressure & marauding style to smoother the wider skill set of Dawson. Here’s what Diaconu had to say.

Hello Adrian, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly you last fought in October last year when you beat Omar Sheika, how did you feel after 10 months away? Were you happy with your performance?

Adrian Diaconu – After two defeats when I lost the title with Jean Pascal then I tried to get the title back and lost again. So was very hard for me to get back in shape. After two defeats it’s not easy. I came back strong. I fought Omar Sheika, I did a very good fight in my opinion. I’m happy.

Anson Wainwright – You’re fighting Chad Dawson on the Pascal-Hopkins 2 card. Can you tell us anything about that fight any what do you think of Dawson?

Adrian Diaconu – You know this last fight he didn’t prove much. I think he’ll come back strong. Right now I think he’s going to be ready for me.

Anson Wainwright – What do you think of the Pascal-Hopkins fight?

Adrian Diaconu -To be honest, right now I’m focused on my fight. It’s going to be an Interesting fight for sure like the first one. My preparation is to be ready for Chad Dawson. But I hope whoever is best wins.

Anson Wainwright – What have you done with your time since your last fight? Have you trained? What is your walk around weight at the moment?

Adrian Diaconu – No, no. I had one week off after the (Sheika) fight. Then I came back to the gym. Depends around 195-200.

Anson Wainwright – Could you tell us about your team. Who are your manager, trainer & promoter?

Adrian Diaconu – Promoter is Interbox, I manage myself and my trainers are Pierre Bouchard & Stéphan Larouche.

Anson Wainwright – Could you tell us about your younger days growing up in Ploiesti, Romania and how you first became interested in Boxing?

Adrian Diaconu – I was a little kid with a lot of energy and my father and teacher asked me to go and expand that energy in the gym.

Anson Wainwright – You had a very successful amateur career in which you represented your country at the 2000 Olympics and twice in the World Championships. What can you tell us about your amateur career?

Adrian Diaconu – I fought a lot of good boxers Sergio Martinez, Carl Froch. I fought the best in the world. Now I’m involved in something else so don’t look at the past.

Anson Wainwright – Lucian Bute is Romanian & fights out of Canada. Can you tell us about the relationship you share?

Adrian Diaconu – We’re good friends. We work out of the same gym. When we were younger we fought on the same squad.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us what happened for you to end up fighting in Canada?

Adrian Diaconu – There was Interest to go pro so I came to Canada. It wasn’t possible to box there (In Romania) at that time.

Anson Wainwright – How do you see the state of the Light Heavyweight division and where do you think you fit in?

Adrian Diaconu – I have a chance to prove I belong at this level with Chad Dawson. With a big win next weekend I’ll be in the mix.

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do with your spare time? What are your hobbies and Interests? Do you go back to Romania often?

Adrian Diaconu – Fishing. Fishing is a good passion of mine. I go back to Romania every year.

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for your fans?

Adrian Diaconu – Watch the fight!

Thanks for your time Adrian, good luck with your fight on the weekend.

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

Weekend thoughts – You have to give Andre Ward credit he put on a clinic Saturday night, he boxed outstandingly, he’s got speed to burn, his ring generalship was also very impressive. It’s a shame he doesn’t have a big punch, it’s the only thing missing. He’s come on leaps and bounds since the Super Six started. I can’t wait until the final against either Carl Froch or Glen Johnson. I’d favour Ward over either but both guys would bring their own set of problems for Ward. Credit to Abraham for at least having a go this time which is more than can be said for his fight against Froch. It’s tough to see where Abraham goes at 168 from here. It was mentioned he may go back to Middleweight where his strength was much more effective, at 168 he’s not able to bully the top guys. If he can get back down to 160 and get a few wins under his belt I’ll love to see him fight Dmitry Pirog or Sergio Martinez…It was good to see Chris Arreola get into good shape, he looked pretty impressive stopping Nagy Aguilera in three. He got a little wild trying to stop Aguilera but I’m sure his better conditioning helped him not gas out and allow him to keep up his assault. It was the lightest Arreola has been in since 2007…On Friday in England on Friday Prince Aaron won a barburner against Sam Webb to take the British title. Aaron stopped Webb in the final round. he first sprang to prominence last year winning Prizefighter. At 6’3 he holds huge physical advantages over every Light Middleweight.

It should surprise no one that boxing is a plebe-year requirement at the United States Military Academy. West Point’s ultimate purpose is to prepare students to lead men into combat, and striking and being struck in the face isn’t a bad introduction to such training. It should also surprise no one that after four years of unique preparation, West Point graduates possess a unique form of character.

What may be surprising, though, is that unlike in football and basketball – where the post-grad service requirement can chase away the best recruits – West Point still produces some of the finest amateur boxers in the country. These are superstar athletes, then, whose athleticism is leavened by a sense of honor and humility not always common in our beloved sport.

Boyd Melson is a 29 year-old southpaw prizefighter with a record of 2-0 who turned pro, in part, to raise awareness about the need for spinal-cord-injury clinical trials. He fights Thursday at Roseland Ballroom in New York City. He is also a West Point graduate – Class of 2003 – who is making a unique show of character for a friend.

Her name is Christan Zaccagnino, a young woman paralyzed at age 10 in a diving accident, someone Melson met in his third year at West Point. Their friendship led to a 7 1/2-year romantic relationship that survives today as a friendship and motivation for Melson’s young prizefighting career. It has also taken them on an intriguing journey to lands far-flung as China and Jordan and enlisted their impassioned support for the nerve-conductivity work being done by Rutgers’ Dr. Wise Young.

But boxing came first.

Melson, the son of a Creole father and Israeli mother, first laced up boxing gloves at the late age of 19 as part of West Point’s physical-education requirement. Some of us spend freshman year gaming classes like epistemology and theater of the absurd; cadets learn to leverage punches and break noses. Melson did it better than his classmates.

“I was always aggressive growing up,” says Melson of his theretofore undiscovered talent for pugilism. “I liked the contact and the one-on-one element.”

Plebe year at West Point begins with an initiation known as “Beast Barracks.” Before classes begin, cadets spend their summer in a form of basic training more harrowing even than a prizefighter’s training camp.

“Beast Barracks, there’s no break,” Melson says. “In boxing, you get to take a break. Boxing is more mentally exhausting. But Beast . . . Beast just sucks. That’s the word to use. It just sucks.

“I woke up a couple times, in the middle of the night, stood and saluted. I must have been dreaming about it.

“And Beast is all you know. You just got there. It’s all you know. Four years of that?”

Later, Melson’s company entered him in a boxing tournament dominated by upperclassman. They did it for the reason upperclassman at USMA do many things.

Says Melson, “They liked putting plebes in boxing just to haze us.”

Melson startled a number of people in that tournament and caught the eye of the All-Army team’s boxing coach. After graduation, Melson would go on to win the Armed Forces Boxing Championship in 2004, 2005 and 2007. He would also be asked to return to West Point.

“They let me put Officer (Candidate School) off,” Melson says. “West Point let me come back and teach plebe boxing as a second lieutenant.”

Shoulder injuries ended Melson’s amateur career in 2007. Forced to justify a full workday, Army boxers trained thrice daily. Combined with the rigors and dehydration of making weight, that much training for that many years proved to be too much.

Melson went to work in the private sector and found things different from what he was accustomed to, as the son of a career soldier and adherent to the Cadet Honor Code.

“The biggest thing is that people say they’re going to do things and then they don’t,” Melson says. “I had to learn the code language (of corporations).”

The Honor Code is short and direct: A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. The corporate code is short but circuitous: Please the shareholders however you may.

Melson was not the first to grapple with this transition. Without the joint regimens of boxing and West Point in his life, Melson struggled.

“It didn’t work out,” he says. “I was in a weird place.”

He worked as a personal trainer, and his romantic relationship with Christan Zaccagnino came to an end. His return to boxing, though, coincided with a return to the corporate world.

“I’m turning back into my old self now that I’ve got a regular job,” Melson says of his current sales position with Johnson & Johnson. “And Christan laughs and tells me that she told me I’d become a professional fighter. I used to tell her, ‘You’re crazy. I don’t even want to box.’”

Melson has now combined his disparate interests – boxing, spinal-cord injuries, and overall competitiveness – into a compelling package bound with a charismatic ribbon. His father is in a wheelchair. His close friend is paralyzed. And Dr. Wise Young needs funding to conduct clinical trials in the United States.

The work Dr. Young is doing occasionally gets dropped in the unpalatably political stew of stem-cell research. There are compelling arguments to be made on either side of the debate about using cells from fetuses. Those arguments, though, have no part of the cause that Boyd Melson is raising awareness for.

“These cells are coming from the umbilical cord, after birth,” says Melson. “It has nothing to do with abortions.”

According to Rutgers.edu, Dr. Young’s research has “upended concepts that spinal cord injuries (are) permanent, refocused research, and opened new vistas of hope.”

Dr. Young’s work concerns itself with cell regeneration. It’s an idea like this: Few injuries see the spinal cord fully severed. If the right kind of cells can be introduced properly, they can spark a form of healing in the spinal cord not unlike the scar tissue that forms in other organs. And patients can begin to feel sensations in previously insensate parts of their bodies.

“I don’t know what the ‘cure’ is,” says Boyd Melson of this experimental treatment. “But independence is a cure.”

If Dr. Young is able to raise funds enough to continue in this country clinical trials he’s begun in China, a breakthrough is possible in the next 10 years.

“Ten years?” says Melson. “One year! Next year. I’m betting my life on it.”

No one needs a reminder of how dangerous prizefighting can be. What can be equally daunting for a person trying to raise awareness about a medical program, though, is America’s collective attention span. We are a charitable but distractible people, in a recession. While the late Christopher Reeve – a patient of Dr. Wise’s – brought attention to the need for spinal-cord-injury research, Reeve is no longer with us, and our attention has turned to a plethora of other noble causes.

Melson will be donating his prizefighting purses to a clinical-trial fundraiser called JustADollarPlease.org. It is a novel concept put together by the mothers of children afflicted by spinal-cord injuries. Rather than requesting a million dollars from a single philanthropist, the group hopes to raise a single dollar from a million philanthropists.

An undefeated prizefighter championing the group’s cause is a major asset. But that prizefighter had best succeed in the ring. If Melson can continue winning in the junior middleweight division, his story will become an international one. If he makes lackluster showings on the blue mat, though, the merits of his cause will lose nothing, but others’ interest in it will flag; there are 0-3 prizefighters who care deeply about important causes, surely, but nobody interviews them.

“I’m very serious,” Melson says about his prizefighting career. “I love it. I train hard.”

A world championship is what Melson hopes to accomplish. He’s giving himself four years. As a cerebral southpaw, he is fondest of middleweight world champion Sergio Martinez’s style. It is an unorthodox one that relies on athleticism and timing.

“I’m trying to find my space,” Melson says of life in general right now.

The search for that space comprises three important influences. One is boxing. Another is Christan Zaccagnino. And the third will be visible this week.

“Thursday night,” says Melson, “I’ll be wearing ‘West Point ‘03’ on my trunks.”

Bart Barry can be reached at bbarry@15rounds.com

Those interested in making a contribution to the cause Boyd champions should visit JustADollarPlease.org.

Fight fans, an endangered species, will applaud if Golden Boy Promotions does not match Top Rank’s offer to Juan Manuel Marquez, thereby ensuring a Marquez-Manny Pacquiao trilogy. For Pacquiao, it makes sense, which is another way of saying that Floyd Mayweather Jr. never does. It’s also fair to Marquez, whose draw and controversial loss by split decision in two bouts with Pacquiao provide him claiming rights on a third shot at the Filipino Congressman

But this is boxing, which is to say that common sense and fair play are about as endangered as those fans. CBS/Showtime is interested only in the potential numbers. Before Paquiao’s one-sided decision over Shane Mosley, they looked promising. In the aftermath, not so much.

The fine print in sportscaster James Brown’s apology for pre-fight hype about a rejuvenated Mosley has to include a warning that the network won’t be so quick to buy into any Pacquiao opponent other than Mayweather.

That pretty much leaves the business exactly where it was before Bob Arum dumped HBO and pay-per-view’s gilded cage for what Arum calls terrestrial television. Whatever it is, it’s still subterranean for boxing.

Marquez, a consummate pro, is well-known in Mexico. Yet his popularity lags behind emerging star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr, the crown prince of Mexican boxing. Marquez has neither Alvarez’ red hair nor Chavez’ legendary name. He only fights with a style that has given Pacquiao fits. But ask the so-called casual U.S. fan about him and they’re likely to answer with a question: Juan Manuel Who?

During the week before Mosley failed to deliver on the promised drama at Las Vegas MGM Grand, there were sources close to Pacquiao who said Marquez worried the Filipino more than any fighter. For Pacquiao, Marquez might be what Ken Norton was to Muhammad Ali. There’s always somebody out there who can beat you. In Marquez, Pacquiao has an opponent who specializes in counter-punching and has figured out how to time his counters with uncanny precision.

A couple of days before opening bell last Saturday, Mosley trainer Naazim Richardson said he had detected a vulnerability in a Pacquiao assault that includes a high volume of punches from unusual angles. The secret might be in the geometry. If there is form or function or repetition to any one of Pacquiao’s angles, there might be an opportunity to time a counter. Richardson could have seen it, but Mosley couldn’t capitalize because he lacked either the will or had lost the ability or a combination of both.

Perhaps, Marquez and trainer Nacho Beristain saw the flaw before Richardson or anyone else. They were able to implement an effective counter when Marquez was younger and fighting Pacquiao at a lighter weight, first at 126 pounds in 2004 and again at 130 in 2008. But youth and weight are the issues.

If Golden Boy passes on the right to match Top Rank’s offer, Marquez-Pacquiao III is projected for Nov. 12, or more than three months after Marquez turns 38. If a bigger Mosley at 39 had no chance against Pacquiao, it’s fair to wonder whether a smaller Marquez at 38 would fare much better.

Then there’s the weight, potentially a bigger issue. The agreement calls for a fight at 144 pounds. It’s called a catch weight, but it could be a gotcha clause.

Pacquiao, who has the legs of a middleweight, has become more and more comfortable at 140-plus pounds since he moved up the scale for his stunning stoppage of Oscar De La Hoya in 2008. He was at 142 for De La Hoya, 144 ½ for Antonio Margarito, 145 ¾ for Joshua Clottey, 144 for Miguel Cotto and 145 for Mosley.

Compare that to Marquez, whose experience at more than 140 pounds is limited to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September 2009. That’s when the Mexican was 142 pounds and looked about as mobile as a 1965 Chevy, stripped of its tires and left to rust on cinder blocks. Marquez’ one-sided loss by decision to Mayweather was as devoid of drama as Mosley’s weary walkabout against Pacquiao.

A fight? Maybe.

Yeah, Marquez could make it a good one.

But the toughest fight figures to be the sales pitch.

Back at home
Jose Benavidez Jr. was the featured attraction Wednesday at a news conference for his pro debut in his hometown, Phoenix, on June 11 at Wild Horse Casino in suburban Chandler. Arizona’s immigration controversy has kept Benavidez on the road since Top Rank signed him as a 17 year-old.

“It’s been like three years since I fought in front of family and friends,’’ said Benavidez, who is 12-0 as a junior-welterweight after a fifth-round stoppage of James Hope on the Pacquiao-Mosley undercard.

Benavidez’ long-awaited homecoming represents a second stage in his development. It’s a chance for him to create a hometown identity. For the last couple of years, he’s been a fighter without one, although he has been wearing Phoenix on his waistband of his trunk since he turned pro.

Benavidez, who will be 19 when he makes his homecoming, says he still has a lot to learn. On the Pacquiao-Mosley undercard, he sometimes stood too upright, although his jab continued to work with punishing proficiency. The lanky, athletic Benavidez often looks as if he has some of the same physical components of the late Diego Corrales.

“He was my favorite fighter,’’ said Benavidez, who was kid when he saw Corrales for the first time in a loss to Mayweather. “It’s just an honor to even hear my name mentioned in any comparison to Corrales.’’
Notes, Quotes

• Bernard Hopkins has never been afraid to throw race into the argument. But a slur directed at former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, now of the Redskins, is offensive. Hopkins attacked McNabb’s upbringing in suburban Chicago. “He’s got a suntan, that’s all,’’ Hopkins told reporters at his Philadelphia gym while selling his May 21 rematch with Jean Pascal in Montreal. I guess that means Hopkins must not think much of Barack Obama either. President Obama grew up privileged in Honolulu where he went to Punahou, an expensive, predominantly-white prep school. Hopkins’ slur reminds me of Fernando Vargas, who insulted De La Hoya’s roots by saying he failed to fight with the courage of a true Mexican. Ridiculous.

• Andre Ward, who might become a potential Hopkins opponent if he wins the Super Six tournament, figures to beat Arthur Abraham in the 168-pound semifinal in Carson, Calif., in a Showtime-televised bout. Ward likes to say he stays motivated by slights, real or imagined. There might some unspoken motivation for him against Abraham, who hurt his friend and 2004 Olympic teammate, Andrew Dirrell, in March 2010. That’s when Abraham hit and hurt Dirrell when Dirrell was down. Dirrell, who won the bout via disqualification, hasn’t fought since.

• And here’s another fight I guess we’ll never see because of the Top Rank-Golden Boy feud: Heavyweight and former Michigan State linebacker Seth Mitchell against Baltimore Ravens safety and former North Dame star Tommy Zbikowski. Zbikowski is a Top Rank fighter. Mitchell, scheduled for a bout Friday night against Evans Quinn in Primm, Nev., is with Golden Boy. Zbikowski-Mitchell would be a natural on the night before a Michigan State-Notre Dame game.

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

It was a major surprise late last year when it was announced that Glen Johnson 51-14-2(35) would be a late addition to the Super Six, his inclusion only came because other fighters fell out of the tournament through various injury’s. He scored a dominant win over Allen Green to progress to the Semi Finals where he will now meet Carl Froch for the Englishman’s WBC Super Middleweight title. He’ll be the underdog, but that’s nothing new to the affable Jamaican, it’s a role he’s used to and relishes the chance to shock the world again. He started his career brightly back in 1993 going an impressive 32-0(22) before he ran into a certain Bernard Hopkins and unsuccessfully challenged for Hopkins Middleweight title. After that setback he slipped into journeyman status going 7-8-1 before getting a shot at the Vacant IBF Light Heavyweight title in England against Clinton Woods. Though many believed he should of won it was declared a draw. He returned 3 months later to right the previous wrong and set up for a clash with Roy Jones Jnr. Many believed he was just cannon fodder against the unworldly talented Jones. However he shocked everyone by dominating Jones before knocking the great man out. He parlayed that win with a victory over Antonio Tarver to become The Ring magazine’s 2004 Fighter of the year. Since then he’s lost a few but only to the best whilst beating everyone else, he’s given young guns like Chad Dawson & Tavoris Cloud hell before losing decisions. When the 42 year old “Road Warrior” was offered the spot in the Super Six he jumped at it and see’s it as a new way to prove himself. Here’s what the humble Jamaican had to say.

Hello Glen, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – You have the semi finals of the Super Six coming up with Carl Froch on 4 June in Atlantic City. What are your thoughts on that fight?

Glen Johnson – You know obviously the fights going to be a tremendous fight; it’s going to be a great fight. Carl Froch is a real fighter and the world already knows I am a good fighter. So we’re going to give the fans their money’s worth.

Anson Wainwright – What do you think of Froch?

Glen Johnson – Well he’s a good fighter. He fought a couple of fights I saw him in. He fights on the inside and brawls. The last fight (against Arthur Abraham) he kept his distance used his jabs. He’s an excellent brawler and he’s also an excellent boxer, so we prepare for both things. He’s coming to fight a good fight and I’m going to be ready to fight back.

Anson Wainwright – How easily do you make 168? Before the Allen Green fight it had been 10 years since you were that low in weight.

Glen Johnson – The big challenge was making it for Allen Green but I already made that weight and I did it at short notice and it wasn’t difficult it was easier than I thought. With this fight I had plenty of notice. I’m already on my weight now a month from the fight.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us how the deal came about to enter the Super 6?

Glen Johnson – A couple of people got hurt. I believe (Mikkel) Kessler got hurt and they needed a replacement for Kessler & then Andre Dirrell got hurt and they needed a replacement for Dirrell so I believe I replaced Kessler because of the eye and then I needed to knock out Allen Green to make it into the Super Six semi finals just winning wasn’t going to be good enough and when Dirrell got hurt all I needed was just a win but I needed up knocking out Allen Green anyway. So even If I needed a knock out I’d of stayed in.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team; who is your manager, trainer & promoter? Also where do you regularly train for fights?

Glen Johnson – My manager is Henry Foster, my trainer is Orlando Cuellar and my promoter is Warriors Promotions run by Leon Margules and also Di Bella Entertainment there partners on the promotional deal. I live in Miami and train in Miami, I don’t really go anywhere. I keep my training camp here in Miami.

Anson Wainwright – You’re now 42, what do you think are the main reason’s why you have been so successful at an advanced age for a Boxer?

Glen Johnson – I really don’t know, I could be the fact that clean living, genetics or it could be the fact that I work hard and that I take care of myself or it could be a combination of both but whatever it is I’m not questioning it. I’m not changing anything.

Anson Wainwright – How much longer do you think you can keep performing at the highest level?

Glen Johnson – You know hopefully we can find out I don’t make plans.

Anson Wainwright – Who do you think is the best fighter you have fought in your career?

Glen Johnson – The best fighter I fought was Bernard Hopkins. You know when I fought against Bernard Hopkins we were at two different levels. He was great and I didn’t feel like I knew what was going on, the guy was superior to my level at that time. Nobody has ever got in the ring with me that made me feel the way Bernard Hopkins made me feel, he just made me feel I couldn’t win. Nobody else ever made me feel like that when I’m in the fight. Bernard Hopkins let me know right off the bat from the first round that I had no chance of winning the fight.

Anson Wainwright – What is your best win in you opinion?

Glen Johnson – The Roy Jones fight that was the most popular. I would go with that fight but I would say the fight that meant most to me was the fight is Clinton Woods because that’s when I won my championship and that’s the fight that set up the Roy Jones fight was winning the fight, without winning the championship I’d not of boxed Roy Jones. Winning the IBF title meant the most to me but guess the most popular was the Roy Jones fight.

Anson Wainwright – Many years ago you were scheduled to fight Joe Calzaghe but for various reasons the fight never happened. Why was this from your point of view? What did you think of Calzaghe?

Glen Johnson – I just believe Joe Calzaghe was scared of me. I don’t see no other reason for the fight not to happen. We scheduled the fight 3 times and 3 times it didn’t happen and he had an excuse why the fight didn’t happen. What else is there to say. Maybe he could answer it different but that’s from my side.

Anson Wainwright – Tell us about growing up in Jamaica? How were things for your growing up there? Also how did you first become interested and take up Boxing?

Glen Johnson – Growing up in Jamaica was great for me. I enjoyed my childhood. I had a lot of fun as a kid. I had loving & caring people taking care of me, I had great friends and stuff around and I enjoyed their company. It was a great time for me. I love swimming and did a lot of that when I was on the Island. It was a typical childhood, I just grew up enjoying my surroundings. It was a wonderful time.

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do when you’re not Boxing? What are your hobbies and Interests?

Glen Johnson – My hobbies…You know I don’t know if you can write what I like to do outside of Boxing as my hobbies! Haha But yeah spend time with my wife, lets put it like that! Haha

Anson Wainwright – Not to close to fight!

Glen Johnson – No, not at fight time. Outside of fight time it’s my favourite hobby!

Anson Wainwright – How did you start Boxing?

Glen Johnson – I started Boxing because I was overweight at age 20. I started to get overweight I had a lot of overweight people in my family and didn’t want to end up overweight so I started looking around for a gym to work out. They opened a gym in my community. If you lived in the area it was free and free fitted my budget so I went in and started working out, just exercising and the coach took a liking to me and started to teach me the technique of Boxing. He asked me if I wanted to star amateur Boxing and I said “Yeah” so we took if from there. 3 years later we turned pro.

Anson Wainwright – What are your thoughts on the other semi final of the Super Six? Presumably you’ll be following that Ward-Abraham?

Glen Johnson – Oh yeah definitely. I’ll certainly have Interest in that fight, I’m looking to fight the winner. I’m looking to win my fight so I’ll be looking to see who I’ll end fighting. I think it’s a good fight, people aren’t giving Abraham much of chance but I think it’s a tough fight for Ward because of Abraham’s style. I believe Abraham will get off a lot easier than he was with Froch. Froch stayed on the outside away from him, Ward’s not that type of guy. He’s faster, he moves his hands faster (Ward) but I give (Abraham) a chance, a lot of people don’t. I think it’ll be a good fight.

Anson Wainwright – Do you still consider yourself part of the Light Heavyweight division?

Glen Johnson – Not right now, I see myself as a Super Middleweight right now. I don’t think I’ll go back to the Light Heavyweight division there’s nothing in the Light Heavyweight division for me. One of the reason’s I was hanging around the Light Heavyweight division was hoping the guys from the Super Middleweight division would come up. But I came down so there’s no reason for me to. I already fought everyone at Light Heavyweight, there’s nobody else to fight. The Super Middleweight division has a lot of opportunities, a lot of great fighters are here. A lot of fighters I’ve never fought, It’s opened up a fresh chapter and great fights for the fans. I’m looking forward to the future in the weight class.

Anson Wainwright – After the Hopkins fight you lost several fights that many people believe you should of won. What are your thoughts on that?

Glen Johnson – You know for me even though the consensus is I was robbed and I didn’t get the decisions you know I didn’t let it take control of me. For me it was a motivating factor. Even though these fighters couldn’t beat me inside the ring, they had people outside the ring (the judges) beat me. They didn’t because they didn’t have the talent in the the ring to beat me. That was the thing for me it was a whole different factor. I kept my spirits up. Probably if I won that fight I probably wouldn’t of had that drive. It made me tough and more mentally prepared for the future.

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for your fans ahead of the Froch fight?

Glen Johnson – Of course, the message to my fans is their the greatest fans in the world. Most people want to jump on bandwagons of guys who are undefeated and obviously if you look around I’m far from that. So the fans that I have I cherish them. There real Boxing fans, they know what their looking at and seeing and I appreciate that. I get support around the world. So thanks for that.

Thanks for taking time out to speak to us Glen.

Thanks, I appreciate you taking time to Interview me.

Anson Wainwright

There’s not much to write that hasn’t already been penned with regards to the thirty-six minutes Manny Pacquiao spent in the ring with an unworthy Shane Mosley last Saturday night.

To paraphrase ex-NFL head coach Denny Green, ‘Manny is who we thought he was. And Shane is who we thought he was.’ It’s as simple as that, no need to over analyze it.

Predictably, Pacquiao looked as sharp as he looked his last time out, and the time before that, and the time before that…etc.

Also predictable was Mosley’s performance. He looked as sharp — or dull — as his last time out, and the time before that, but unfortunately, not the time before that — his last victory.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the fight, other than the fact that hard-working people had to shell out $60 bucks to watch it, was that for the last half hour of “action”, Mosley hardly took any risks.

As Bart Barry wrote on Monday, “The opening bell rang, and Shane Mosley played himself, too….His career has been a model of what risk-taking makes athletes immortals….And yet, if Saturday was the first time you watched boxing or Shane Mosley, on Sunday morning you woke up hating them both.”

In many ways Mosley was like an old Skipper, whose beloved vessel was on the verge of succumbing to the powers of the sea. His call of distress was never answered — well, because his fists never sent out the SOS. By the fifth round, it was clear the SS Mosley was taking on too much water, and the veteran Captain had already decided he would go down with his ship, he was spent.

While the parallels aren’t perfect, Mosley’s performance reminded me a lot of Arthur Abraham’s dismal display against Carl Froch last year.

While Abraham is certainly no Shane Mosley, he is — or was — a risk taker. He who proved his heart in his first fight with Colombian banger, Edison Miranda, when Abraham fought eight rounds with a broken jaw and blood-filled mouth. When he takes risks, there aren’t many more exciting athletes in the sport. But for what whatever reason, in his last fight, he didn’t.

Abraham doesn’t have much of a jab, and when he uses it, it’s largely ineffective, so he has to take risks to land his infamous wide power punches.

At middleweight, Abraham relied on a strategy that saw his opponents wear themselves out punching his defensive shell for the first half of the fight only to have Abraham flip the script in the second half and finish the fight strong, often times flooring his opponents in the process.

At 168, however, King Arthur is almost always the smaller fighter, with a reach disadvantage. He hasn’t figured out how to get inside his opponent’s reach to land his power punches.

Against Andre Ward, whose Super Six fight’s have almost exclusively featured inside fighting, Abraham might not have to figure out how to get inside, Ward might bring that fight to Abraham.

My guess is he won’t, though. The blueprint on how to beat Abraham couldn’t be clearer. Jab and move. Don’t stop throwing punches because Abraham can’t counter. As long as you are punching, Abraham won’t let his hands go.

So if Ward adopts the Dirrell-Froch blueprint, the only way Abraham will win is if he takes risks. He risked his career and livelihood when he fought eight rounds with a disgusting, dangling jaw against Miranda. He’s done it before, he can do it again.

So similar to the SS Mosley, Captain Abraham’s ship is taking on water. Having lost his previous two Super Six bouts, this is King Arthur’s last chance to assert his status as an “A-side” fighter. He won’t be able to give away the first three rounds like usual; he’s not knocking opponents out with regularity at 168.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. If the Armenian-born, German immigrant’s career is to stay afloat, he needs to advance in the Super Six. Expect fireworks from Abraham Saturday, flares for that matter, as his wailing punches send out the SOS.

If King Arthur acts like Mosley did on Saturday night and refuses to take any risks, expect his ship and career to head straight to Davy Jones’ locker and the gutter, respectively.

Kyle Kinder can be found on Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

Argentinean hard man Marcos “El Chino” Maidana 30-2(27) has been enjoying a well earned rest of late after going life and death with modern day legend Erik Morales back in April. The 27 year old regained the WBA Interim Light Welterweight title when he scored a close majority decision over the rejuvenated Morales. He had lost that very crown when he fought WBA champion Amir Khan last December in a fight that was voted fight of the year at the weekend’s BWAA awards in Las Vegas. After surviving a torrid opening round when he was almost broken in half from a debilitating bodyshot from Khan, Maidana came on and showed how much of a warrior he is going toe to toe with Khan rocking him several times before losing a close decision. He first gatecrashed the world scene when he lost a razor thin decision to Andreas Kotelnik back in 2009; he rebounded with a career best win over new WBC Welterweight champion Victor Ortiz. It was another exciting fight in which both guys were on the canvas 5 times in total before the fight was stopped in the sixth round. If you want excitement Maidana is your man, he boasts knock out ratio of nearly 90% and is regularly in thrill a minute fights. Here’s what “El Chino” had to say in an exclusive interview with 15rounds.com when he kindly took time out from his vacation.

Hello Marcos, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly you recently fought Erik Morales, what are your thoughts on that fight looking back?

Marcos Maidana – Great fight, great rival! It was a close fight in which I made the difference in the last two or three rounds.

Anson Wainwright – Was Morales tougher than you expected? Were you 100% in shape for the fight or did you look past Morales?

Marcos Maidana – If you review all my quotes before the fight I always said he would come tough and prepared for a war. You should never write off a great champ like Morales. No way I underestimated him at all. And yes, I was fully prepared.

Anson Wainwright – What have you done since your last fight?

Marcos Maidana – It was crazy and we were jumping from here to there since we got back to Argentina. Press conference and tons of interviews in Buenos Aires, first. Then, I finally made it back to my home province of Santa Fe, where the governor appointed me as Sports Ambassador. Then, I had the best welcome party ever in my birth-town of Margarita. All the people went out to the streets to greet me. It was great. Now I am finishing my vacation after spending time with my family.

Anson Wainwright – What are your plans for 2011? Do you have a rough idea when you’ll be next in action? Are you targeting anyone?

Marcos Maidana – Our plan is to have the next fight by the end of July or early August. We have a few offers to fight in America and others to fight here in Argentina. My team will weigh them all and make a decision very soon. I am not targeting anyone in particular.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team; who is your manager, trainer & promoter? Also what gym do you train at?

Marcos Maidana – My advisor is Sebastian Contursi, who I worked with since a few years back. My trainer is the well known Mexican Rudy Perez, who formed Marco Antonio Barrera. I worked with him for the first time for the Morales fight. My promoter is Golden Boy Promotions. I usually train in Buenos Aires only for a few days before going to training camp overseas.

Anson Wainwright – You were going to train with Nacho Beristain for the Morales fight however Juan Manuel Marquez wasn’t happy with this and ultimately you didn’t work with Beristain. What are your thoughts on that? Would you like to fight Marquez?

Marcos Maidana – We were quite upset with Beristain’s last minute decision to go back on his word to train me. But things in life happen for a reason. We were already in Mexico City when this happened but we were lucky enough to find Rudy in the same city. I’ll fight Marquez, of course. But I’m not particularly interested on him. If it comes, it comes.

Anson Wainwright – What are your thoughts on the current Light Welterweight champions WBC/WBO Tim Bradley, WBA Amir Khan & IBF Zab Judah?

Marcos Maidana – They are all great champs, no doubt about it. They are skilled and fast. I respect them all and I’d like to face them.

Anson Wainwright – You lost a very close fight with Khan last December, what do you think you’d need to adapt if a rematch took place?

Marcos Maidana – I’d make a only few changes in the tactics. But I’d try to put the same pressure on him in a rematch ‘cause I think he would not take it again.

Anson Wainwright – One fight many people have wondered about is you against fellow Argentinean Lucas Matthysse. You both have very similar records and are both big punchers. You fought in the amateur’s could you tell us about those fights and what your thoughts on Matthysse and fighting him are?

Marcos Maidana – Matthysse is a great fighter. We fought four times in the amateurs, when we used to compete for a spot at the national team. I beat him three times and we had a draw. Three of those fights were tough and close but I came stronger in the end. We could very well fight each other as pros yet I guess he needs to beat a few names out there first.

Anson Wainwright – You currently fight at 140, do you make weight easily enough or do you think you’ll move up to Welterweight at some point? What is your walk around weight between fights?

Marcos Maidana – For the time being I can make 140 lbs. Not easily, but I can still make it comfortably. Between fight I normally go up to 160 lbs. Yet, I feel I have a few more fights before moving up to Welterweight.

Anson Wainwright – You’re younger brother Fabian is a top amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2010 Youth Olympics. Can tell us about him, will he go pro? Are any other members of your family Boxers?

Marcos Maidana – He is the only other boxer in the family. He is tall with long arms and more skilful than me. He will probably go pro next year but he is trying to qualify for the next Olympics first.

Anson Wainwright – You were born in Santa Fe, can you tell us about your early years growing up there? Was it tough for you as a kid and was that how you first became Interested in Boxing?

Marcos Maidana – I was born in a little town called Margarita, which has about 5,000 people. I was raised in a farm and had great memories of my childhood. We were poor but always had something to eat. I started boxing at 14 and then moved to the city of Santa Fe, where it was tougher ‘cause I had to be on my own until I was called up to the amateur national team.

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do away from Boxing to relax? What are your hobbies and Interests?

Marcos Maidana – I am a family guy. I enjoy myself spending time with my 7-year-old son Yoyo, my mom, dad, bros and sisters. I don’t have the chance to be with them often, so I spend good time with them between fights. I love hunting and fishing also. My tattoos don’t have a special meaning for me. Just like the street-style ‘cause I know the streets.

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for your fans?

Marcos Maidana – I always thank my fans for the great support they show me every time I fight. They know I am not the most skilful boxer but I always leave it all in the ring for them.

Thanks for your time “El Chino”

Anson Wainwright

15rounds.com

Weekend Thoughts – Manny Pacquiao has taken a bit of criticism for his performance against Shane Mosley, it’s tough being Pacquiao it seems not even a near shut out is enough against one of the best fighters of the past 20. In truth it wasn’t his best performance and he only fought in spells but when he went through the gears, it was all Mosley could do to get out the way of the firestorm. It was surprising to hear boo’s in the arena during the fight, the Las Vegas crowd is indeed a tough crowd. Perhaps we are seeing the very first signs that Pac Man is actually slowing down but I’m still not sure there is a fighter in the game outside of Mayweather who could live with him…It was good to see Kelly Pavlik return to action after a year out in which he’s gone into rehab for an alcohol problem. He lacked the sharpness though that was to be expected, the ten rounds would of done him good. Hopefully they can keep him active and get him back out in the next few months, perhaps in front of his adoring fans in Youngstown while moving towards something bigger…I didn’t expect Jorge Arce to be much more than cannon fodder against Wilfredo Vazquez, but full credit to the old warrior who joined and illustrious band of Mexicans to win world titles in 3 weight classes. Arce started extremely fast and bullied the young Puerto Rican for much of the first four rounds before walking onto to a huge hook from Vazquez who gamely hung in there and did well in the middle rounds when it looked like Arce was fading. Full credit to Arce who charged out in the eleventh and let his hands go like a human windmill. By the end of the round Vazquez was hanging on, a minute into the final round Arce scored the KO when Vazquez corner called the fight off. Arce’s will to win was humbling. It was a brilliant fight with fantastic two way action. At the time of the stoppage two judges had it all square while the third has Arce up 107-102.

CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS (May 9, 2011)—Undefeated Super Featherweight prospect Jerry “The Kid” Belmontes has reached an agreement with powerful manager Cameron Dunkin to help guide his career towards a world championship.

Belmontes of Corpus Christi, Texas has compiled a perfect record of 14-0 with five knockouts.

The twenty-two year old turned pro in 2008 at the age of nineteen after a stellar amateur career that included winning regional Golden Gloves; State Golden Gloves; Under-19 tournament wins.

He was a quarter finalist at the United States Championships; Runner up at the 2008 USA World Championships and a semi finalist to qualify for the 2008 Olympic team.

He turned pro on January 18, 2008 with a first round stoppage over undefeated Olvin Mejia (3-0-1).

He was with promotional powerhouse Top Rank for much of his early career and appeared on the big Antonio Margarito – Shane Mosley undercard in Los Angeles as well as getting television time for his wins against Morris Chule (11-9) and Gil Garcia (2-0).

Belmontes is coming off a fourth round stoppage over Eddie Eamirez (5-4-1) on December 10, 2010 in his hometown of Corpus Christie, Texas.

“I am excited to be working with Cameron Dunkin”, said the undefeated Belmontes.

“He works with nothing but the best and his knowledge will help me get to where I want to be and that is knocking on the door of a world championship. To be included with his stable of fighters which includes Timothy Bradley, Nonito Donaire and Kelly Pavlik just to name a few of the countless world champions that Cameron has been a part of just gives me more confidence that I can be there too”

When asked about Belmontes, Dunkin was equally excited about his future prospects.

“Jerry is a great kid and was a terrific amateur”, said Dunkin

“He has shown by being 14-0 that he has all the makings of a bright future. We will look to get him in the right fights on his way to competing for a world championship.”

Belmontes is co-managed by Adrian Clark

There is a time of the year in professional golf when the four tournaments collectively known as “the majors” are finished, the Ryder Cup, in even years, is through, and made-for-television and -sponsor events happen. Men pair with women. Seniors play against their peers’ college sons. Celebrities abound. The PGA Tour offers its endorsement sparingly, and while tape-delayed telecasts do end up on network television, they get a fraction of the coverage afforded The Masters.

Professional golf properly refers to this time as its “silly season.”

Many Pacquiao’s career is in the throes of its own silly season. A large difference between professional golf and prizefighting is that our sport affords its silly season Masters coverage.

Saturday the silly season continued apace at MGM Grand – on Showtime pay-per-view, with additional promotional support from CBS! – as Filipino Congressman Pacquiao dominated an old and tired Shane Mosley for 12 listless rounds in a match its judges scored 120-107, 120-108, 119-108. Don’t trouble yourself with the math; it was a whitewash.

The majors of Manny Pacquiao’s career ended in his rematch with Juan Manual Marquez, 26 months ago. Pacquiao had compiled an incredible record of 5-1-1 (3 KOs) against the prime versions of Mexico’s hall of fame triumvirate – Marquez, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.

Then the stadium concerts, made-for-television showdowns, and legislative feats began. Spectacle overwhelmed substance. One fight was about size difference with a faded veteran. Three more were about once-dangerous foes in new weight classes. Two were about Cowboys Stadium. And Saturday’s was about boxing having infomercials broadcast by a terrestrial television network.

That’s putting the “silly” in silly season.

Could Pacquiao have lost any one of his last six fights? Sure. But there’s a reason matchmaker Bruce Trampler is in Canastota. Boxing insiders figured this out a couple years ago. Oddsmakers got the gist shortly thereafter. And now even casual fans have learned their lesson. This traveling circus is out of big tops.

A year ago Shane Mosley lost 11 of 12 rounds to the world’s second-best prizefighter. In September, Mosley made a pay-per-view show so dreadful his longtime fans begged him to retire. Eight months later, without so much as a get-me-over tune-up tussle, Mosley got a chance at the world’s best prizefighter. What qualified him for this opportunity?

He left promoter Top Rank’s rival Golden Boy Promotions. To his credit, Bob Arum didn’t much pretend it was more than that. There was some initial talk about name recognition, but that quickly was replaced by press releases about Pacquiao becoming the new face of a produce company and recording a remix of some 34-year-old ballad.

Shane Mosley feigned outrage at being a 10:1 underdog. His trainer Nazim Richardson performed the street-tough shtick he learned from Bernard Hopkins. Manny Pacquiao gave the same interview he has given before every fight since learning English in 2006. And Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach lent his wit and sense of irony.

Then the big story became the network broadcasting the match. Only boxing could come up with this. Imagine the NFL selling the world a Super Bowl with a tagline like “Watch it on Fox!” We were peddled a Showtime broadcasting team of Gus Johnson (no Jim Lampley), Al Bernstein (better than Max Kellerman) and Antonio Tarver (better than Roy Jones and Lennox Lewis put together). Jim Brown played hype man, and Jim Gray played, well, himself.

The opening bell rang, and Shane Mosley played himself, too. Mosley is one of boxing’s good guys. His career has been a model of what risk-taking makes athletes immortals.

And yet, if Saturday was the first time you watched boxing or Shane Mosley, on Sunday morning you woke up hating them both.

But for a career-reviving effort against Antonio Margarito in 2009, Mosley has been an imposter of his younger self since a narrow loss to Miguel Cotto 42 months ago. He has been given more opportunities than he’s earned because aficionados expect him to lose valiantly.

Those days are now over. Saturday he began the same way he finished with Mayweather. He offered a woodpecker jab to Pacquiao’s gloves. He was savvy enough to make Pacquiao miss for six minutes, but he never imperiled the southpaw Filipino.

Then Pacquiao gambled because that is what he does by feinting a jab then throwing one and finding range with a third before leaping on his piston legs and blasting Mosley with a left cross that hurt him because nothing in Mosley’s first 54 prizefights prepared him to be struck from such a weird angle by such a heavy fist.

And for the 28 minutes that followed, Mosley did his legacy no favors. Apparently the lactic acid in Pacquiao’s calves did the rest of us no favors either; Pacquiao attributed his diminished punch output and accuracy to cramping.

It mattered little. After the opening round, you knew you were in for a violent rout or a dull one. You knew the $54 you had just paid to make a handful of millionaires marginally richer had not gained you a competitive fight.

And now you cry out again for a match between Many Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Do know that your voice is hoarse and barely audible, and that you’re begging for a diminished brand. The time to make Pacquiao-Mayweather was March of 2010 in Cowboys Stadium. Pacquiao had just stopped Cotto – a fighter Mayweather retired to avoid – and Mayweather had just shut-out Pacquiao’s nemesis Marquez.

Today, the demand for that fight is an ultimatum, not a plea: “Make Pacquiao-Mayweather, or find a new idiot to buy your next fight.”

Calm down, tough guy. Boxing is just going to do what it always does. It’ll take the path of least resistance to its next payday. The hunt for a new idiot is already afoot.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

CLICK TO ORDER THE FIGHTS ON DEMAND
Earlier tonight, Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, brought live professional boxing back to the Bronx with the latest installment of the “Punchin at the Paradise” fight series at the historic Paradise Theater on Grand Concourse in the Bronx. The show, which was the first of five scheduled shows at the Theater for 2011, was headlined by much anticipated return of The Bronx’s Edgar Santana as he took on Robert Jones in the eight round main event.

SANTANA (R) VS. JONES

Santana who was returning to the ring for the first time since 2008, needed just one round to shake off the ring rust. After a feeling out round in the first, Santana came out in the second and landed a vicious left, right combination to the body followed by a huge overhand right that sent Jones down hard. Jones beat the count, but was clearly on shaky legs. Santana wasted no time, jumping all over Jones with a barrage of shots, with Jones reeling agains the ropes the referee mercifully called a halt to the contest. Impressive showing for Santana against Jones who had never been stopped before. With the win Santana improves to 25-3, 16KO’s and looks to be on his way to putting himself back into mix of top 147 pounders in the world.

DEGUARDIA’S STARS SHINE ON UNDERCARD

Super Middleweight Jason “Monstruo” Escalera and Super Featherweight Emmanuel “Manny” Gonzalez, both made their Star Boxing debut’s successful ones, as each scored TKO’s over their respective opponents.

The former NY Golden Gloves Champion, Gonzalez, who was born in the Bronx, but now trains out of Puerto Rico, made quick work of his opponent Jacob Thorton, much to the delight of the large contingent of fans that came out to support the Bronx native.

GONZALEZ (R) VS. THORTON

Gonzalez came out looking very sharp and crisp with his punches. Almost immediately a hard right hand staggered Thorton. Thorton covered up, but something seemed to be wrong with his leg, as he winced in pain and was visibly limping. Gonzalez didn’t make things much easier for his opponent as he trapped him in his corner, landing heavy rights and left both to the body and head. With Thorton taking heavy shots against the ropes, the ringside physcian stepped in to check on his leg, and quickly called a halt to the contest. Official time of the stoppage was 1:40 of the first round. With the win Gonzalez improves to 8-0, 7KO’s.

Escalera, also a Golden Gloves Champion, who was fighting for the first time outside of his home state of New Jersey, easily lived up to his nickname “Monstruo” (Spanish for Monster) as he came out in the first and landed some monstrous over hand rights against his opponent Mustafah Johnson. Near the end of the first, two huge rights had Johnson clearly hurt and wobbly against the ropes, but luckily for him the bell sounded ending the round.

ESCALERA WITH PROMOTER JOE DEGUARDIA

It was more of the same for Escalera in the 2nd. With Johnson laying against the ropes Escalera landed a vicious right to the body, sending Johnson crumbling over in pain. The referee started his count but soon waved it off, officially calling a stoppage to the bout at 1:13 of the 2nd round. Escalera improves to 11-0, 10KO’s. Look for both young stars to be back in action on the next “Punchin at the Paradise” card, scheduled for Thursday July 7th.

UNDERCARD ACTION

Stevins Bujaj TKO1 Chuck Dillard

Stephon Owusu W4 Juan Perez

Issouf Kinda KO3 Jorge Ruiz

ABOUT STAR BOXING:

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Superstar Manny Pacquiao(ctr) makes a special appearance at a packed Ron Robinson/Fred Segal on Melrose store in Los Angeles Saturday. Pacquiao was there to launch his very own signature men’s cologne, “MP8 Scent of The Champion”. Pacquiao is in town making final preparations for his upcoming World Welterweight mega fight against “Sugar” Shane Mosley on Saturday, May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao vs Mosley is promoted by Top Rank in association with MP Promotions,Sugar Shane Mosley Promotions,Tecate and MGM Grand. The Pacquiao vs Mosley telecast will be available live on SHOWTIME Pay Per View.

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao has angles. Naazim Richardson has analogies.

Those analogies might not be enough to counter the endless geometry of power and accuracy in Pacquiao’s array of punches. But they are endlessly entertaining and powerful in their own right. Listen to Richardson long enough, and those one-sided odds against Shane Mosley begin to sound like funny money, a counterfeit come-on.

Of course, trainers are supposed to say that their fighters can win. It’s in their job description. It is their job. But Richardson makes you believe that maybe, just maybe, Mosley really will win Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Richardson speaks with the unblinking conviction of a preacher and the common-sense perception of a street-corner philosopher. Fools beware. Richardson doesn’t suffer them lightly, if at all. He only asks for a chance, which might be his way of demanding respect for his fighter. There was a moment Thursday when it appeared that the requisite respect wasn’t there during a media roundtable that Brother Naazim turned into his pulpit at the busy MGM Grand’s Media Center.

Somebody wanted to know how surprised Richardson would be at a Pacquiao victory. The suggestion was that Mosley had no chance, not one at all. For a moment filled with potential for a spontaneous burst of angry frustration, Richardson paused. It came and went, like flash.

“Had to stop for a second there,’’ Richardson said as he exhaled. “The street was about to come rolling out of me.’’

For a man in the business of exerting control over a violent game with tactics designed to give his fighter every possible advantage, a fit of temper would have been uncharacteristic. Anger won’t beat Pacquiao. Poise and a patient, calculated delivery of Mosley’s proven power might.

Richardson has seen, studied and felt the impact of Mosley’s power.

“I keep asking everybody if they’ve ever been hit by Shane Mosley,’’ Richardson said. “I have. I’ve worn the pads. I’ve felt those punches.’’

Richardson is convinced that Mosley’s power can dictate a change in Pacquiao’s style. Richardson has a theory that Pacquiao’s inexhaustible energy has a way of scoring points because it is such an eye-catcher. The judges, like the crowd and the television audience, can’t take their eyes off of him. It was a style, Richardson said, that Sugar Ray Leonard used to his advantage in his 1987 decision over Marvin Hagler.

“I’ve always said that Leonard was masterful in the way he got everybody, including the judges, to just watch him,’’ Richardson said. “Nobody, including the judges, paid any attention to Hagler.

“That’s what Pacquiao does. With his energy and that head bouncing up and down, everybody just watches him. That’s what Shane is going to have to do: He’s have to take away some of that energy.’’

The suggestion is that a Mosley punch or combination in the early rounds will do exactly that, although a cracking right in the second round a year ago wobbled Floyd Mayweather Jr., yet still was not enough for a Mosley victory.

But the Pacquiao and Mayweather styles are as different as the Marines and Coast Guard. Pacquiao attacks; Mayweather defends. Pacquiao’s offensive style and mindset mean he is open to a counter. Richardson says he has studied Pacquiao throughout his career and detected a flaw that he believes could result in a Mosley victory

“I’ve seen something pop up in the tapes,’’ said Richardson, who wouldn’t be more specific. “It’s like one of those things you see when you’re in school. You know, you’re sitting there, the teacher asks a question and you’re still sitting there without an answer. Then, somebody gives you the answer and you think: ‘Damn, why didn’t already think of that?’

“It’s that simple.’’

Simple is not synonymous with easy, however. If it were easy, Richardson probably wouldn’t be in any fighter’s corner. His relationship with Mosley first had to be tested before he knew it would be effective. It was before Molsey upset of Antonio Margarito in January, 2009

“I felt like me and Shane could work together when we had that first dispute,’’ Richardson said. “You know, it’s like that girlfriend. Everything is great until you leave the toilet seat up for the first time.

“The first dispute with Shane was when I started wrapping his hands. Shane wants to fight like it was back in the bare-knuckle days. I’d wrap with the stuff and he’d say: ‘Too much, I like to feel it.’

“I had to tell him: You’re fighting a monster, a guy who is hard to knock out. You got to protect those hands.

“We talked. We worked it out.’’

About two-and-a-half years later, Mosley is confronted by a bigger challenge in Pacquiao, yet still daunting. Few gave Mosley a chance against Margarito, who was coming off a huge upset of Miguel Cotto.
“Right now, Shane looks just like he did before Margarito. The same confidence, he’s doing the same things.’’

If he same things include a Mosley victory Saturday night, it won’t be just another Richardson analogy. It’ll be amazing.

NOTES, QUOTES
• A Top Rank-promoted card featuring Las Vegas featherweight Jesse Magdaleno (3-0) against Jonathan Alcantara (4-3-2) of Novato, Calif., will begin at 5 p.m. (PST) at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay. ESPN’s telecast of the card, scheduled for seven fights, will begin at 7 p.m. Chicago light-heavyweight Mike Lee (4-0, 3 KOs), a Notre Dame grad, faces Gilbert Gastelum (0-1) of Tucson.

• Former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik appeared Thursday at a news conference for the Pacquiao-Mosley undercard Saturday night. Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) faces super-middleweight Alfonso Lopez (21-0, 16 KOs) in his first bout since undergoing rehab for alcohol problems. “The story has already been; everything has been told,’’ said Pavlik, who only wanted talk about Lopez

• Lopez wore a black cowboy hat. He must have bought in his hometown, Cut & Shoot, Tex.

• Phoenix prospect Jose Benavidez, Jr. (10-0, 9 KOs) appears on the Pacquiao-Mosley undercard in a junior-welterweight bout against James Hope (6-7-1, 4 KOs) of Rock Hill, S.C. It is Benavidez’ last fight before he is scheduled for hometown pro debut on June 11 at Wild Horse Pass Casino in suburban Phoenix. A card featuring Benavidez in Phoenix last summer was cancelled because of controversy over Arizona’s proposed immigration legislation.

• And Top Rank’s Bob Arum couldn’t resist a shot Thursday during the undercard news conference at rival Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and its banker-turned CEO Richard Schaefer. In introducing Felix “Tutu” Zabala, promoter for junior-featherweight champion Wilfredo Vazquez, Arum said Zabala was an example of old-school promoters who “don’t steal other fighters.’’ Arum and Zabala have a deal to co-promote Vazquez, who faces Jorge Arce. Both Zabala and Arum have been in court against Golden Boy, Zabala over the contract rights to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Arum over rights to Nonito Donaire.

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

With more and more of the top Heavyweights coming from Europe one man looking to snap that dominance and bring back the Heavyweight title to America is Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola. The 30 year old Californian currently sports a 30-2(26) ledger, he fights on the undercard of Andre Ward-V-Arthur Abraham at the Home Depot, Carson, Ca on the 14 May against fringe contender Nagy Aguilera. He’s looking for an impressive performance to set him up for bigger business in the second half of 2011. Currently Arreola is ranked by all four major governing bodies WBC 3, WBA 15, IBF 5, WBO 12 & The Ring 10.

Hello Chris, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – You will be fighting Nagy Aguilera on the Ward-Abraham card. What are your thoughts on this fight & what are your expectations going into it?

Chris Arreola – Umm the main thing man, I’m going in there and be me. When I say me is come in there an aggressive Chris Arreola but yet smart and throwing a lot of combinations.

Anson Wainwright – Last time out you demolished Joey Abell in a round. Can you tell us about that fight?

Chris Arreola – Well the thing about that fight it was the first lefty I had fought in many years. It was kind of hard getting sparring to imitate him but the one thing Ronnie (Shields) kept on emphasising was when I throw my punches that I step through and follow through. I saw that he threw his left hand and would always pull back so I just timed it when he threw a jab , I countered with a right hand as he was going back and I caught him flush on his chin.

Anson Wainwright – After the fight you leant in and kissed him, can you tell us about that?

Chris Arreola – You know what; it was a spur of the moment thing I was caught up in the moment. I didn’t mean any disrespect with that. I’m sure a lot of people took it that way and I apologise for that. I’m not a poor sport or one of those guys who likes to showboat. It was spur of the moment, that was it.

Anson Wainwright – Though you won’t want to look past the Aguilera fight, what are your plans for 2011? Who are you targeting?

Chris Arreola – My main thing is staying busy man. Right after this fight staying busy, busy, busy, staying active. I want to get one of the top 10 contenders out there, one of the top 5. And prove myself, prove I’m worthy of my top 10 (ranking) with the Ring magazine and other belts (Other organisations rankings) That’s my main thing proving myself this year and by the end of the year if I keep winning I’ll probably get a title shot.

Anson Wainwright – Can you talk to us about your weight? Many people believe you are a few pounds over what would be a better fighting weight for you. How do you respond to them & what sort of weight are you looking at being for the Aguilera fight?

Chris Arreola – Umm you know what, the weight thing is gonna be answered the night I weigh in. I’m very comfortable where I’m at right now. People won’t believe the numbers I throw out there so regardless I’m coming in ready and prepared. People are gonna see a dedicated Chris Arreola. That’s main thing about this year dedication.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team; who is your manager, trainer & promoter?

Chris Arreola – My manager Al Haymon, Wes Crockett and all them. Henry Ramirez (Trainer), Dan Goossen there always behind me they believed in me more than I believe in myself. That’s part of the problem. I probably didn’t believe in myself as much as I should have. And umm now I’ve got to prove to my promoter, manager and my trainer that I am a world class fighter and come May 14th that’s what I’m going to prove everyone that believes in me right.

Anson Wainwright – Where do you train?

Chris Arreola – I train at it’s my cut man’s gym. He built a Boxing gym, It’s in his back (yard) it’s very nice. It’s like a barn type of set up. It’s very nice and there’s not kids around so I don’t have to kick them off the bags Haha

Anson Wainwright – Back in September 2009 you met Vitali Klitschko, though it wasn’t a positive experience as you were stopped in the tenth round, you showed a big heart and gained many fans from your stout performance. What are your thoughts on the fight looking back?

Chris Arreola – You know what, I recently watched the fight for the first time since the day of the fight and honestly he kicked my ass, there’s nothing to it. My trainer did the right thing by stopping it. Of course me being a fighter I am I never wanted the fight to be stopped. But Vitali Klitschko was just a better fighter than me that night. He was smarter, that’s the thing that stood out above everything. He’s such a smart fighter in the ring. I made him fight and he threw an unbelievable amount of punches because I made him throw those punches. He was smart enough to throw those punches at the right time and they kept connecting on me. My hat goes off to him that’s why he’s the champion and he came out victorious that night.

Anson Wainwright – The other loss on your record was to Tomasz Adamek a year ago, it was a very entertaining fight. You rocked him several times. What are your feelings on that fight now?

Chris Arreola – That fight I kicked my own ass! With regards that fight I probably trained 3 weeks for that fight. I was stupid and I was full of myself, I was believing the hype Chris Arreola is the next big thing. I fell into that trap of just believing the hype. Did he beat me? Yes. But the thing that beat me was his preparation and my lack of preparation. If I was prepared better like I am now that fight wouldn’t of lasted as long as it did and I hate myself for that fight it really gets me mad. The loss to Tomasz Adamek no disrespect to him, he came in and beat me because he prepared himself better , that was the bottom line to that fight.

Anson Wainwright – How do you see some of the big upcoming Heavyweight fights coming up like Wladimir Klitschko-V-David Haye how do you see that fight?

Chris Arreola – If I was a betting man, I’d put money on David Haye. David Haye is a very fast fighter, he’s a very active fighter, a hard puncher, he moves around very well. I don’t think Wladimir Klitschko has seen anyone like him. There’s a lot of times I’ve talked crap about David Haye but to me he’s earned his stripes. I believe he’ll beat Wladimir Klitschko.

Anson Wainwright – How about two men you know well Vitali Klitschko-Tomasz Adamek?

Chris Arreola – I see Vitali Klitschko beating him, there wont be much of a fight. Tomasz Adamek isn’t strong enough for someone like Vitali Klitschko. He is fast, I’ll give him that but Vitali Klitschko’s ring knowledge and the way he uses his size and his training and everything. So I’d have to give the edge to Vitali Klitschko easily.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your younger days growing up in Los Angeles, Ca were things tough for you & how did you first became interested in Boxing?

Chris Arreola – You know actually I wouldn’t say I had a tough upbringing because it wasn’t tough. I stayed in the Boxing gym since I was 7 years old. My father never gave me chance or the opportunity to be part of a gang or be a hoodlum on the streets or anything like that. My life since I was a kid revolved around Boxing. I didn’t have a silver spoon in my mouth, I’m very humble, we had beans and rice to eat. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my father which I don’t give enough of. I’m where I am because of him. My toughness in the ring is because of my father. My father used to make me spar with professionals when I was 12, 13 years old. And then If I wanted to get out of the ring he was like ‘get your butt back in there’. So all my toughness, my Boxing balls or cojones come from my preparation as a kid. My father always encouraged me to be a tough , rugged professional boxer.

Anson Wainwright – Who were your hero’s growing up?

Chris Arreola – Actually growing up it was easy to say Julio Cesar Chavez because I saw him many times, he used to come to our gym and train when he was on his tour before fights. When I was in Mexico I met him plenty of times. But the reason he was such a big hero to me was because he was an even better person outside the ring than he was inside. That’s what drew a lot of people to him, he was a real person, what you see is what you get. It’s what I try to emulate , is him inside and outside the ring.

Anson Wainwright – Who do you like to watch today?

Chris Arreola – I love watching Manny Pacquiao and the reason is because I’ve seen him a couple of times training and everything that he works at in the gym with Freddie Roach he does in the Boxing ring. It’s amazing to see someone perfect his craft so well that it translates in the ring in the Boxing fight. That’s probably one of the main reasons I like watching Manny Pacquiao.

Anson Wainwright – When you’re not Boxing, what are your hobbies and Interests?

Chris Arreola – I’m not a hobbies type of guy. I like going to the movies, I watch movies all the time. Every weekend if a new movies out I’ll go watch it. (I like) Playing video games every now and then but mainly watching movies. Like the man that I am going to the pub, going to a club, hanging out and being a man, having a couple of drinks here and there, nothing wrong with that as long as you know when to stop.

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for the Heavyweight division?

Chris Arreola – The main thing is I’m a focused Chris Arreola . I’m coming in here, I’m coming to fight. I mean no disrespect to anyone but the Heavyweight division they better be scared. That’s it they better be scared.

Thanks for your time Chris, good luck on the 14 May.

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

LAS VEGAS – Filipino Congressman Manny Pacquiao will never jump up the boxing scale to heavyweight, but he is beginning to sound as if he might try to make a run at that title in the political ring.

A boxing news conference sounded a little bit like a presidential campaign Wednesday when Pacquiao talked about plans to fight poverty with more evident passion than he did about a welterweight fight Saturday night against Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand.

“All of my life, I’ve had to fight,’’ said Pacquiao, who has eight titles, all in different weight classes. “As a child, I had to fight for food. But the biggest fight of my life is the end of poverty in my country.’’

Pacquiao, still in campaign mode, said he will wear yellow gloves Saturday night and urged a sellout crowd to also wear yellow. For him and his countrymen, it’s the color of unity. Former Filipino President Corazon Aquino wore yellow. It was the color that identified the opposition that chased ex-Filipino strongman Ferdinand Marcos out of office in 1986.

Now, it’s a look at what Pacquiao might be planning for a whirlwind of a life that is always moving forward and at a furious, fearless pace with more angles than punches. On Wednesday, he even sang the title of his recent release, Sometimes When We Touch, at Dan Hill, who is other half of the duet in the recorded melody. There were no babies to kiss. But give him time. Someday, there may even be some broken campaign promises.

Thus far, there have been none, although Mosley hopes to change that with an upset that would send The Philippines into dark mourning. On the betting board up and down the Strip, that doesn’t look likely.

Late Thursday, Mosley was about a 6 1/2-to-1 underdog. If this were politics, Mosley would be Donald Trump. Comedian Seth Meyers said he was surprised to hear that Trump might runs for President as a Republican. Meyers thought Trump was running as joke. Despite odds that are hard to figure, however, this isn’t politics. Mosley is no joke, not even at late comedian Jack Benny’s forever age, 39

“We’re not talking about an ordinary guy,’’ Mosley trainer Naazim Richardson said in the wise voice that is always accented with common sense.

Richardson argues that Pacquiao hasn’t been hit with the mix of power and experience possessed by Mosley, whose 32-0 record, including 30 knockouts, at 135 pounds makes him one of the great lightweights of all time.

“Put a Shetland Pony in there and when Shane hits it, he’s going to wobble it,’’ Richardson said.

The secret to Pacquiao are the thick legs of a bigger man, if not a Shetland Pony. But that’s another story for another day. What is increasingly evident is some newfound focus in Pacquiao on the immediate challenge. He will always multi-task, as he did Wednesday at the news conference/political campaign that included Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and his wife, Carolyn, who is running for the office her husband is about to vacate.

Unlike some of his recent training camps, this one is not about how or if a distracted Pacquiao might lose. Last November, there were more stories about Pacquiao’s distractions than there were about Antonio Margarito. Pacquiao left Margarito battered and badly injured in taking a one-sided-decision.

The reported distractions never mattered and perhaps Pacquiao knew that they wouldn’t. Margarito just wasn’t fast enough to be a threat. If Pacquiao’s reported attention to training over the last two months is any indication, Mosley is.

“From Day One, he told me this is not an easy fight,’’ said Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, who already has said he wants the Filipino idol to be the first to knock out Mosley. “I think this is the best training camp we’ve ever had. Manny is in the best shape he’s ever been in. He has to be. He’s fighting an experienced, crafty guy.’’

Pacquiao said he is as concerned about Mosley as he was about Oscar De La Hoya in 2008.De La Hoya quit after eight rounds against Pacquiao, who exhausted him with relentless energy and a nonstop barrage of punches. De La Hoya never had a chance. Pacquiao’s newfound dedication might mean Mosley won’t have one either. Then again, Mosley beat De La Hoya twice. Unlike Pacquiao, Mosley stopped Margarito.

“Mosley knocked him out …he has that advantage,’’ said Pacquiao, who is smart enough to know that timing dictates that Saturday night’s fight is next and dangerous enough to may be the biggest one he’ll face before he tries to knock out poverty.

“Fool me once shame on you…you fool me, you can’t get fooled again.” — George W. Bush

While the brilliant quote above was provided by the forty-third president of the United States of America, a man whose eight years in office were spent responding to the chaos caused by Osama bin Laden, I wouldn’t dare try draw some sort analogy between the events of Sunday night and the sweet sport of boxing. I don’t want my words to mess with a good thing.

But what I do say to all documentary makers — which include HBO’s 24/7 and Showtime’s Fight Camp 360 — fool me once shame on you…well, you know the rest, ‘W’ put it best.

I’ve touched on this once before, so I’ll make it brief.

I am a sucker for documentaries, plain and simple. I own a documentary about a local mayoral race, an eerie one about people who jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, and one about crossword puzzles. It’s a sad reality that I’ll watch a documentary on pretty much everything.

So just imagine my excitement when my love of documentaries combines with my passion for boxing. Nothing better. I become mesmerized, absorbing every nugget of information like a sponge.

What’s that, Freddie? Manny seems distracted by his other obligations and this camp is slow to start? Hmm…

And Cotto…Margarito…Mosley…is having his most dedicated camp to date?

Thanks, but no thanks, I’ll still take the Filipino Congressman.

In 2009 I was convinced Miguel Cotto was going to handle Manny Pacquiao. After Cotto was obliterated by the quickness of Manny from round 5 on, I ate my words.

In retrospect, I realized it was because I allowed 24/7 to convince me that Pacquiao was distracted and that Cotto’s size advantage and strength would rule the day.

But before the series aired, I thought Manny’s speed would be too much for the Puerto Rican to handle. After the series, my mind had changed. And to be sure, my ability to be influenced by documentaries — and 24/7, in particular — stretches back way before the Cotto-Pacquiao incarnation. But it was the Cotto-Pacquiao series that would mark last time I ever let the smoke and mirrors of television influence my fistic inclinations.

So with that said, I do want to applaud Fight Camp 360 for not creating any false storylines. I also want to applaud them for going beyond the ring and behind the scenes to take a glimpse into the inner workings of the sweet science.

They have done this before with their airing of clips from the Super Six negotiations that took place in New York City. It gives fans a neat insight to the sport that they would otherwise never have.

With regards to the fight, Fight Camp 360 has not swayed my opinion one way or another. I’m casting my vote for the Congressman, along with the rest of you. It’s an easy decision, like Nixon in ’72 or Reagan in ’84.

And like those two far superior candidates, Pacquiao too will win in a landslide.

For one, Mosley’s defense is suspect. He gets hit enough as it is. Put in front him — or to the sides of him — Manny “Angles” Pacquiao, and you’re going to have a Shane Mosley whose face resembles that of Antonio Margarito’s on November 13, 2010.

Unlike Floyd Mayweather, who had his way with Mosley by throwing one punch at a time, Pacquiao throws punches in bunches and believe me, they’ll land.

For what would be the first time in his Hall of Fame career, I think Mosley gets stopped in the championship rounds.

The game-changer of course, is Mosley’s right hand. Will he be able to load up and land it? I doubt it. But he did rock Money May with it, so you never know.

So while I think this is smooth sailing once again for the Pacman, as ’43’ would warn likely warn his fellow politician, ‘Just don’t “misunderestimate” Mosley.’

Kyle Kinder can be found at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

After a 9 month hiatus Deandre “The Bull” Latimore 22-3(17) resurfaced with an 8 round shut out victory over durable veteran Dennis Sharpe on the Andre Berto-Victor Ortiz undercard in Mashantucket, Ct. It helped Latimore 25, get rid of some ring rust, he’s now eager to parlay that win with something much bigger in the talent laden Light Middleweight division. He’s already called out a comeback Paul Williams who is without a dance partner for his has a July date on HBO. Here’s what the St Louis native had to say on various subjects.

Hello Deandre, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly you recently got back in action winning a shut out decision over Dennis Sharpe. What can you tell us about the fight?

Deandre Latimore – I wanted to show the fans and HBO representatives what I can do. I boxed and put on a show.

Anson Wainwright – How happy were you with the performance?

Deandre Latimore – I gave myself an A+ grade because I did everything the way we worked on in training camp

Anson Wainwright – Who are the members of your team; your manager, trainer & promoter?

Deandre Latimore – I’m co-promoted Rumble Time Promotions (Steven Smith) and DiBella Entertainment (Lou DiBella), managed by Chris Watkins, and trained by Ray Franklin and Jacob Chavez.

Steven Smith (CEO & President of Rumble Time Promotions): Ray Franklin trained under living legend trainer Ken Adams. Ray was like a sponge, learning from Ken, and then Ray added his specialty, strength and cardio, to become the complete trainer. Ray Franklin is the best kept secret in boxing!

Anson Wainwright – You’re based in Las Vegas these days. Can you tell us about the move, how it’s helped you and the sparring you get?

Deandre Latimore – I’m based in Las Vegas at the Hit Factory. Everything has been great since I moved to Las Vegas. I’ve been able to focus on boxing 100-percent and that’s helped me focus on where I need to be

Anson Wainwright – Recently you have been calling out Paul Williams for a fight on 9 July. Can you tell us about this and do you have a message for Williams?

Deandre Latimore – I know Williams is looking for an opponent for his July 9th fight on HBO. I think me and him would be a perfect fight for television and fans. I want to fight the best in the division because it’s my time to break through and be a big name and face in boxing. I will do that very soon. Let’s make it happen, Paul. I’m ready for a summer showdown with you.

Anson Wainwright – Outside of Williams there are many other options at 154. What other fights Interest you? What do you think of the champions WBA Austin Trout IBF Cornelius Bundrage & WBO Sergei Dzindziruk?

Deandre Latimore – I would fight anyone in the 154-pound division including K9 (Cornelius Bundrage), Austin Trout, and Sergei Dzinziruk.

Anson Wainwright – You’re 1-1 with Sechew Powell; he’s fighting Cornelius Bundrage in June. Would you like to have a third fight with him to settle the score?

Deandre Latimore – I know Sechew is fighting K9 soon and, of Sechew wins I’d love to settle the score. He caught me at a time in my career when I had a lot going on, but I’m back to being Deandre and have my team back together. I promise I’ll knock him out.

Anson Wainwright – Of course you have already fought for a world title losing a split decision to fellow St Louis fighter Cory Spinks. Can you tell us about that fight & what it was like for you to fight in front of your home fans against Spinks who is also from St Louis so you both probably knew each other before hand?

Deandre Latimore – In my fight with Spinks he was a veteran of the game. I was overanxious and wanted to knock him out. It was a good experience for me and I learned a lot from that fight.

Anson Wainwright – You’re from St Louis, can you tell us about your younger days and what it was like growing up there?

Deandre Latimore – My childhood was tough growing up in the rough, rugged Clinton Peabody Projects in South St. Louis, Missouri. I have seen the worst of the street and been to hell and back.

Anson Wainwright – How did you first become interested and take up Boxing? Can you tell us about your amateur career? What tournaments you won and what your final record was?

Deandre Latimore – I started boxing at the age of eight. I competed in numerous amateur tournaments, winning a National PAL Championship and National Ringside Championship. My amateur record was 250-45.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us a bit about your life away from Boxing; what do you like to do with your spare time and what are your hobbies and Interests?

Deandre Latimore – Outside of boxing I spend time with my kids, hang around playing my Xbox 360 Call of Duty.

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for your fans ahead of your assault on the Light Middleweight division?

Deandre Latimore – 2011 will the year that Deandre Latimore breaks through the boxing headquarters. So keep following me because I’m going to make big things happen this year.

Thanks for your time Deandre.

Anson Wainwright

15rounds.com

Weekend Thoughts – It was very sad to hear yesterday that Sir Henry Cooper had passed away aged 76. He was a hugely popular personality in Britain, best most known for being a punch or two away from changing history and knocking out Muhammad Ali in 1963. He ended his career with a record of 40-14-1(27), he held the British, Commonwealth & European titles through out most of the 1960’s. He was twice awarded British Sports Personality, he was also awarded the OBE in 1969 before being knighted in 2000. Though I never had the pleasure of personally meeting “Enry’s Ammer” he is undoubtably a big loss to Boxing, my thoughts and best wishes go out to his family.

Carlos Molina scored a seventh round stoppage over Allen Conyers in a scheduled ten round Jr. Middleweight bout at The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Molina controlled the first couple of rounds by just touching Conyers. A cut was opened up over Molina’s right eye at the end of round three from an accidental headbutt. Conyers briefly got into the fight as he scored a knockdown in round four when he landed a right hand that made Molina’s glove touch the canvas.

Molina recovered and was the boss through the rest of the fight. In round seven, he landed a hard right that pushed Conyers back that forced referee Tony Weeks to stop the bout at 2:09 of round seven.

Molina, 151 lbs of Chicago, IL is now 18-4-2 with six knockouts. Conyers, 150 lbs of Bronx, NY is now 12-5.

Undefeated Lightweight Hylon Williams Jr. remained that with an eight round unanimous decision over Marcos Herrera.

Williams bloodied the nose of Herrera in round one and showed superior handspeed and landed quick three and four punch combinations to the head and body of the durable and tough Herrera.

Williams, 134 lbs of Houston, TX won by scores of 79-73; 79-73 and 77-75 to go to 14-0. Herrera, 135 lbs of Denver, CO is now 6-5-1.

Glendy Hernandez scored a four round unanimous decision over Ken Frank in a lackluster Heavyweight bout.

Hernandez, 238 1/2 lbs of Guantanamo, CUBA won by scores of 40-36; 39-37 and 39-37 to go to 7-0.

Frank, 287 1/2 lbs of Alberta, Canada is now 4-2-1.

There are prizefights that begin with one participant looking so confident and establishing such a superiority of craft that you wonder if this mightn’t be a genuinely unique experience in the presence of a genuinely unique talent. But then, with a comfortable lead built, the participant takes a middle round off before ultimately showing skill enough to earn a decision victory.

“The Sweetest Thing” by Mischa Merz (Seven Stories Press; $18.95) is a book very much like that sort of prizefight.

Merz, an Australian journalist and masters-division amateur champion, has no want of talent. The book’s opening pages include a wealth of well-shaped insights like this description of the women’s dressing room at Gleason’s Gym in New York City:

“. . . boxing boots stuffed in every spare bit of space, a mirror and bench designed for makeup application, pink bandanas drying off along with hand wraps, and exfoliating sponges and bottles of conditioner jostling for space. It was an object lesson in the human capacity to absorb many conflicting ideas into a complex identity . . .”

“The Sweetest Thing” introduces the sport of boxing in such a joyful first-person voice that a reader sympathizes immediately with the narrator. You do not start by cheering for Merz to trounce a rival so much as find a fight. She has traveled from the other side of the world, combed YouTube.com for footage of opponents, and put herself through the rigors of a training camp. You hope someone grants her the test she seeks.

This is a book about women’s boxing and its search for respectability, but it is not a book of sermons. For being a double outsider – an Australian woman in American boxing – Merz has an uncommon perspective. And her observations about fighting are first rate.

“People assume that pain is what a fighter fears most,” Merz writes. “But actually it isn’t. Pain is familiar and tolerable. Humiliation lurks like a hidden phantom, it can tower over you, it is mysterious and confusing. Very few fighters are willing to sacrifice their trademark style for victory.”

That is a fantastic series of sentences. It explains a great deal about why, despite fans’ and commentators’ urgings, fighters rarely toss caution windward and rush crazily at even light-hitting opponents. It is a sensation anyone who has sparred knows well; you are more willing to take abuse from a sparring partner in an empty gym than a crowded one, which sets the hands on the clock of your true fear – humiliation, not pain.

One page later Merz provides even better writing about the experience of being hit in the face, one that nature prepares none of us for. And in the next chapter – aptly named “Big Hat, No Cattle” – Merz expands on the nature of her own discomfort:

“The turmoil within comprised a potent mix of distress, humiliation, and many different and disorienting facets of existential pain, but no actual physical pain.”

All odes to the writer’s eye aside, there is no alternative path to that insight. You do not write a sentence that good unless you’ve donned headgear and sparring gloves and been struck in the face by someone who knows how.

A little bit before the halfway point of “The Sweetest Thing,” Merz’s fistic adventuring brings her to a boxer worthy of a quick detour. Melissa Roberts, a USMC boxer from New York, is a special combination of talent, ferocity, arrogance and charm.

Merz knows this in part because of renowned trainer and former world champion Anne Wolf’s familiarity with Roberts. Here’s something Merz and Wolf might not know about Roberts (though one suspects they do): In February, Roberts, now known as Melissa Parker, made one of the finest four-round fights, professional or amateur, seen in years.

Fighting in the Regional Golden Gloves tournament held at San Antonio’s Municipal Auditorium, Parker boxed a hellacious 12 minutes with 132-pound local favorite Selina Barrios, beating Barrios by a score of 3-2. The decision was disagreeable to Texans in attendance. But afterwards, Parker was friendly and confident as could be the right woman had won.

Merz’s own championship victory in a Ringside tournament, surprisingly, leads to her book’s least-pleasant chapter, a regrettable 27-page departure from the likable character found in the other 255 pages. Merz trains her prose on a transsexual competitor once named Paul but now calling herself Pauline. Merz comments relentlessly on Pauline’s oddity. As a reader, you play along, anticipating an amiable conclusion to the anecdotes. But there isn’t one. Pauline is a curiosity for curiosity’s sake, a freak, in other words, whose purpose is to illustrate boxing’s eccentricity of characters.

You suddenly stop cheering for Merz. You stop overlooking mishaps like reporting that dogs called Camacho and Hagler “were named after the two greatest welterweights of the modern era.” Or numerous references to the Wild Card Gym’s “Freddy Roach.” And you begin to wonder about the origin of Merz’s mean-spirited fixation on American obesity.

Fortunately, one chapter later, a very interesting treatment of training alongside former world champion Lucia Rijker, Merz is back in form. She returns to being a participant journalist, a narrator who won your loyalty with such descriptive gems as “spank of gloves on bags,” “affirmative action overstatement,” “compelling androgyny,” and “bland microclimate.”

The book ends on a well-written if dubious note, chronicling the unprofessionalism of a Gleason’s Gym fighter named Melissa Hernandez. After weeks of buildup and silly trashtalk Hernandez refuses to fight in a main event because she is not present to see an opponent’s hands wrapped. When some predictable palliation comes from Hernandez’s camp, Merz does her profession a service by gently ridiculing it.

“The Sweetest Thing” is an enjoyable read, finally. It is a book that will please anyone, male or female, who has become a fighter or wondered what it would be like to try.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com @bartbarry

Former two-time world title challenger Richard “Bam Bam” Duran passed away Tuesday, one week after suffering a stroke at the far too young age of 44. Though he had an excellent six-year pro run, preceded by a long and meritorious amateur career, Duran may have touched even more lives in gyms near his Sacramento, California home in recent years. Duran survived by seven children, and their loss is mourned by the large Sacramento boxing community.

Duran turned pro at 22-years-old in 1988 and quickly became a staple on Sacramento boxing cards while running his mark to 26-0. His unbeaten run led to an April 1993 crack at respected IBF Super Bantamweight titleholder Kennedy McKinney. The fight took place at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, but resulted in a unanimous decision defeat. However, Duran’s impressive showing led to another title bout, this time against another respected champion in Tracy Harris Patterson, who turned back the challenge via unanimous decision in Reno, Nevada.

Duran fought once more, three months later, dropping a decision to prospect Eddie Croft in San Mateo, California. In his immediate life after boxing, Duran did encounter some personal setbacks, which included a jail term for manslaughter as the result of a bar fight. However, Duran managed to turn his life around and become a positive example for aspiring boxers in Sacramento.

“I knew Richard “Bam Bam” Duran for a few years,” recalls former California Golden Gloves champion Michael Ortega. “I would usually run into him at local amateur boxing events here and there. I knew Richard as a good coach. I never trained with him, but I knew he looked out for his fighters and was a solid coach who knew the ins and outs of a boxing ring. From what I knew he was a very cool and outgoing dude that always had fun fight stories to tell. I also know he was one bad ass fighter, as I heard great things from my first trainer Angelo Nunez and most every trainer after. Richard “Bam Bam” Duran will always have a place here in Sacramento’s fight scene. May he rest in peace, and his memory live on.”

“Rest in peace champ, my prayers are with you and your family,” says former fighter and current matchmaker Edward Rodriguez, who fought Duran in the amateurs. “We had fun in the ring when we were both fifteen years old in Hayward, California. You will be missed. I still remember what we talked about. You might have beat me, but I beat the guy that beat you, and you said I might have lost but we did get best fight of the night. It put a mile on my face. God bless.”

“I would like to offer my condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of “Bam Bam” Duran,” said world ranked light heavyweight contender Otis Griffin. “ I did not know him close, but I recognize him as one of Sacramento’s historical gym legends. He has passed a great deal of boxing IQ to myself and younger NorCal fighters. My last memory of “Bam” was just this weekend as Gilbert Zaragoza told me of the legendary PAL wars and how so many fighters came before us that never got the spotlight. “Bam” you are remembered, and the stories will never fade from the Sacramento gyms and because of this you will live forever in the heart of the city.”

“I am truly saddened by Richard Duran’s death,” said Sacramento-based lightweight prospect Stan Martyniouk. “He was not only a great boxer but an amazing person as well, who helped out a lot in the boxing community as a trainer and mentor. He will always be remembered. My prayers go out to his family. Rest in peace, champ.”

“I will tell you that Richard has helped his community for many years,” said Sacramento fight legend Tony “The Tiger” Lopez. “He worked at helping keep kids off the streets while never asking nothing from anybody. He was a true warrior in and out of the ring.”

“They don’t men like him no more,” said former Sacramento fight favorite Richard Savala. “He worked to keep kids out of trouble as the boxing coach at Lord’s Gym. He was a great mentor in Sacramento. This guy was always trying to help kids learn the sport of boxing, which kept those kids out of trouble. He was a great man, and he will be greatly missed in Sacramento.”

There will be services held for Richard Duran on Monday at the Lord’s Gym in Roseville, California. For more information, e-mail info@lordsgym.org or call the gym at 916-783-1989.

Richard “Bam Bam” Duran (1966-2011)

Mario Ortega Jr. can be contacted at ortega15rds@lycos.com.

Photo courtesy Greg Huerta/Smash Time Boxing

Knockout talk is pretty standard stuff in the build-up for any fight, especially one that Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley have transformed into an event. But it has a different tone this time around, because Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach hopes a stoppage will either lure Floyd Mayweather Jr. into the ring or provide Pacquiao an edge in an argument for the ages if the much-discussed fight never happens.

“ It would be incredible for Manny to be the first one to stop him and just prove to the world how much better he is than that guy that couldn’t stop him,’’ Roach said Wednesday during a conference call when asked about the chances at a knockout of the durable Mosley on May 7 at Las Vegas MGM Grand.

Not that anybody had to ask, but that guy, of course, is Mayweather, who on Thursday had a preliminary hearing on felony and misdemeanor charges from alleged domestic violence delayed in Las Vegas until July 29.

Translation: The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight isn’t any more likely today than it was a year ago when Mayweather was terrific and resourceful in surviving a rocky second round, yet characteristically cautious in settling for a one-sided decision over Mosley.

For now, Pacquiao has only the fights that can help him build his case while the prosecution for Nevada’s Clark County its own. Common opponents are poor comparisons, made unreliable by time, circumstances and styles. But Mayweather leaves the Filipino Congressman without options or even much of a clue as to what he intends to do.

“It’s hard to judge him,’’ Pacquiao said when asked if he thought Mayweather feared him. “I don’t know what the reason is. I really don’t have an idea. I can’t say something. We don’t know, so it’s hard to judge him.”

Instead, Pacquiao does what he always has done. He moves forward. There is a sense that he already is at work on the finishing touches to a legacy that would be incomplete without Mayweather, yet still as brilliant as any.

News broke in Mexico that Juan Manuel Marquez already has a Top Rank offer to fight Pacquiao for a third time sometime in the fall. Top Rank’s Bob Arum was annoyed at the Marquez questions. He dismissed them twice, first Tuesday in a conference call with Mosley and again on Wednesday.

But it only would be a surprise if Marquez had not been approached by Top Rank. Marquez, who has a draw with Pacquiao and a controversial loss by decision to the Filipino, represents a chance for Pacquiao to eliminate lingering doubts about his ability to beat the accomplished Mexican. It also is another opportunity to further build his case in the potential debate about whether he was better than Mayweather, who outweighed Marquez and dominated him for 12 rounds, yet again settled for a decision in September, 2009.

If Pacquiao could somehow be the first to knock out Mosley and the first to stop Marquez, he would win the debate no matter what Mayweather does or doesn’t do. It’s a risk, first and foremost in terms of the motivation it provides Mosley, who is a better bet to win by stoppage than Pacquiao, especially within the first three to four rounds.

Another cracking right in the early rounds might accomplish for Mosley what eluded him against Mayweather. It might finish Pacquiao in another spring stunner during boxing’s season of upsets, especially if the 39-year-old Mosley can summon up a will, way and maybe a big left hand. Against a stumbling Mayweather, Mosley was curiously unable to capitalize.

The guess here is that Mosley won’t squander that kind of an advantage again. If he does, Pacquiao will be on his way to a significant victory and perhaps a stoppage that could win an argument, which on Thursday looked more likely than a Mayweather fight.

NOTES, QUOTES
• Insightful Al Bernstein offered an intriguing possibility that could surprise Pacquiao. During a Showtime conference call Thursday, Bernstein said Mosley might unleash a potent left that has been dormant lately. “The left-hand,’’ Bernstein said. “I think that’s the secret.’’

• Boxing’s best, hidden on premium networks and pay-per-view for years, goes back to prime time for the first time in generations Saturday night when the third episode in Showtime’s Fight Camp 360, an inside look at Pacquiao-Mosley, will air on CBS at 8 p.m., Eastern and Pacific. There were mixed reviews for the first two episodes. The third figures to attract the biggest audience, meaning there is motivation for Showtime to make it the best of the four.

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

In just over a week’s time Manny Pacquiao will meet Shane Mosley in the much talked about Welterweight clash. The night before Top Rank will put on another show from The Mandalay Bay the headliner will be Las Vegas native Diego Magdaleno 18-0(6), he meets tough Mexican Gilberto Sanchez Leon. Last time out he impressively stopped Marcos Jimenez to win the NABF Super Featherweight title to claim the biggest win of his career. It was also his third stoppage in a row; he’ll have a tough time repeating that against Leon who’s only been stopped once in over 40 previous bouts. Here’s what the 24 year old Magdaleno had to say ahead of the clash.

Hello Diego, welcome to 15rounds.com

Firstly thank you for having me for this Interview

Anson Wainwright – You’re scheduled to fight on 6 May in Las Vegas. You’ll be facing Gilberto Sanchez Leon, what are your thoughts on the fight and what do you know about him?

Diego Magdaleno – About the fight. I know that this guy, I’ve seen one of his last fights at the Palms (Hotel Casino in Las Vegas) when my younger brother was on the card, he fought a well known guy Robert Marroquin and I remember catching glimpses of that fight, he’s a tall fighter but doesn’t fight with his reach, he likes to fight on the inside. He’s got some things that I saw that I can adapt to and cut him down to size.

Anson Wainwright – In your last fight you beat Marcos Jimenez and won the NABF 130 title. Can you tell us about this fight?

Diego Magdaleno – Oh that fight was a tremendous fight. I’m still getting compliments on that one. It was something I’ve looked forward to my whole Boxing career, getting a title shot, hopefully that helps me get a world title shot. I took every possible thing that I can work on to achieve the victory on that fight. It was intense from the beginning. Marcos Jimenez was a good fighter, one of the best one’s out of Puerto Rico. I took that and brought it into the ring. We went in with a plan to basically not let him breath and things that I did like pressuring him from the beginning of rounds and eventually the outcome was I was overwhelming him with punches. That’s what the plan was and it worked.

Anson Wainwright – People would look at your record and say you don’t have a very high KO ratio, obviously the last 3 fights have been stoppages. Have you got any thoughts on that?

Diego Magdaleno – Umm (Laughs) Like I tell everybody else, I’m getting comfortable in the ring, you know it’s not that I wasn’t before but I’m starting to sit down on punches, putting everything together. The work outs have been marvellous. Every fight I have is a learning experience, I learn a lot off every fight. I go back and watch my tapes from the very first fight to the last; I review myself, more than I do my opponent before every fight. I think that’s what’s helping me out that way. That way I can see myself as a fighter and what I’m doing wrong in the ring. I really like to focus on myself and better myself.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team, who is your manager, trainer & promoter? Also what gym do you train at?

Diego Magdaleno – Top Rank is my promoter. My manager/trainer is Pat Barry & Dawn Barry (Pat’s Wife) is also my manager. Augie Sanchez (Former World title challenger) is there I wouldn’t call him an assistant coach, him and Pat work so well together. There’s no real head guy. It’s great cos we all work together on everything we do, it works out well. I train at Barry’s Boxing Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Anson Wainwright – What was it like growing up in Las Vegas. I believe there has never been a fighter born in Las Vegas who won a world title.

Diego Magdaleno – I wasn’t born in Las Vegas. I was actually born in Beverly Hills, California at the famous Cedar Sinai Hospital. I started Boxing out in East L.A I was there for about a year until I moved to where I now call home Las Vegas, I was about 8 years old when I moved here. I started my amateur career here in Las Vegas. This is home to me, but I was born in California. But it’s the capital of Boxing and Boxing has always taken place here. I see all the world title fights, they come to the MGM and Mandalay Bay and all the headliners and I just see how close it is and every fight just drives me to get up there. So everytime I go to the big fights I think I’m not far away. I just have to keep pushing and working hard. I’m trying to show my younger brother Jessie who’s 3-0 with 3 knock outs.

Anson Wainwright – You were a very good amateur, can you tell us about your amateur career and what tournaments you won? Also what was your final record?

Diego Magdaleno – Off the top of my head 130 something fights, like 116 and like 15 loses. I went to the Olympic trials twice, unfortunately the last time I went to the Olympic trails in 07 I lost I think in the Quarter Finals. I always made it to the finals of most tournaments and always came up short. I took Second in the Golden Gloves, I took second in the National PAL’s, and I went over to Canada and won there. I won the USA’s in 07 that was prior to the trials for the Olympics.

Anson Wainwright – Your younger brother Jessie turned pro in late last year. What can you tell us about him?

Diego Magdaleno – We have a good bond, we work hard together and I try to be the big brother and be an example to him, show him hard work can get you what you want . We want world titles. I think I can be a good role model to him. As far as work outs together, we run, we do everything together. We have the same relationship other brothers we bump heads and collide. I’m the more serious type of guy, as Jessie goes I would say he’s more of a character. He likes to joke around and have fun with everything and when I’m in the gym, it’s just a different environment, it’s work to me it’s serious and he likes to have fun and mess around with me and try to get into my head. It works out, we have fun.

Anson Wainwright – What do you think of the Super Featherweight division WBC Takahiro Aoh, WBA Takashi Uchiyama, IBF Mzonke Fana & WBO Ricky Burns? Are you targeting anyone and how far do you think you are from a title shot?

Diego Magdaleno – I’m targeting any of those guys. As far as upcoming fights. They say I’d be fighting for a world title at the end of this year. I’ve seen the guys and there quality guys. There not guys I can take lightly but I think that I have a good chance with the world champions. I work hard in the gym and think when Top Rank gives me the chance to be a world champion I’ll do everything to make it happen.

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do away from Boxing to relax? What are your hobbies and Interests?

Diego Magdaleno – One thing I like is the outdoors, I like to stay active. I love hiking, spending time with my family because when it comes to being serious with Boxing I hide out, I go back into my tunnel and exclude everyone from my world. When I have a chance I love to help people and be with the family. One of my little hobbies I like to do is interior decorating, not many people know about that, like house projects.

Anson Wainwright – Who was your Boxing hero growing up? And who you enjoy watching today?

Diego Magdaleno – There’s a lot of great fighters out there. One of the last fights I watched was Victor Ortiz and Berto that was a tremendous fight. It brings Boxing back to life. I like Manny Pacquiao who’s an intense fighter. There a lot of guys who keep me on my toes and the Boxing game exciting. When I was growing up I liked Chavez he was an animal in his prime. De La Hoya’s another guy I liked.

Anson Wainwright – What are your goals in Boxing? If it wasn’t for Boxing what do you think you’d be doing for a living?

Diego Magdaleno – My plan in Boxing is definitely to win world titles, that’s the ultimate. If it wasn’t for Boxing, I’d always been Interested in Law Enforcement. So I’d probably be doing something like that.

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for the Super Featherweight division?

Diego Magdaleno – I have a big message. It’s gonna be the guy out in the dark who’s gonna get them. So keep in mind Diego Magdaleno is out there.

Thanks for your time Diego.

Anson Wainwright

15rounds.com

Going into the 2008 Olympic Games Felix Diaz was little know and not favoured to bring back a medal. That all changed in the space of a few weeks when he won the Dominican Republic’s only gold of the games. Following that success he elected to turn pro in the summer of 2009 and has progressed well winning all nine fights so far stopping six of his opponents inside the distance. The 27 year old southpaw has picked up important International experience fighting in four different countries to date. He’s next due to see action again in Russia on the 18 June, though no opponent is known as yet.

Hello Felix, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – You were supposed to face Yuri Nuzhenko recently but that fight fell out can you tell us about this?

Felix Diaz – Unfortunately the originally planned opponent, Yuri Nuzhenko, had to be replaced shortly before the bout. My promoter and the opponent were unable to agree on the number of rounds for the bout, so I heard. The opponent that I boxed against instead was in fact too easy. I want to box against strong opponents in order to develop my skills further and win titles. I would have liked to box against Nuzhenko to show the world that I am ready for the big fights.

Anson Wainwright – You have fought in several countries already, can you tell us about this from your point of view?

Felix Diaz – I have already boxed in many different countries. I find it interesting and meeting people from different cultures has helped my personality grow. People are enthusiastic about boxing all over the world, regardless of race, culture or language.

Anson Wainwright – Who are your managers, trainers & promoters? Also where do you regularly train?

Felix Diaz – My management company is Mundo Boxing S.L. from Santo Domingo. They have around ten top prospects under contract. Our legal advisor is the German lawyer Rafael Villena y Scheffler. My trainer is Pedro Luis Diaz Benitez, who also trains Odlanier Solis, David Lemieux and Jean Pascal. As you can see, I have gathered a top team around me, which is without a doubt essential to win World Championship titles and to defend them. I train in the Dominican Republic as well as in Florida and in Canada.

Anson Wainwright – You won Gold for your country at the 2008 Olympics. How did this change things for you? Did you become an over night celebrity in The Dominican Republic?

Felix Diaz – With the Olympic victory, a lot has changed for me. I can’t go anywhere in my country without being recognised, and in the United States and elsewhere, people often come and talk to me, too. I am proud to have won the gold medal for the Dominican Republic and for all Latinos in Beijing in 2008, and hope to be an inspiration to young people. As a professional boxer, I would of course like to earn money in order to provide a better life for my family and myself.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your amateur career? What titles did you win and what was your final record?

Felix Diaz – My amateur record lies at 280 victories, and just under 40 lost bouts. My biggest title was the Olympic victory 2008 in Beijing.

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do in your spare time away from Boxing?

Felix Diaz – Besides boxing, I like to listen to music, and also play basketball, I very much like to eat, and I love spending time with my family.

Anson Wainwright – I believe that your homeland is quite poor what can you tell us about your childhood and how it took you into Boxing?

Felix Diaz – My childhood was not very different to that of other poor children. Life consisted of going to school, eating, playing, and then going to bed. My brother is the reason why I started boxing.

Anson Wainwright – Two of the top fighters from the Dominican Republic are Joan Guzman & Fernando Guerrero. What is your relationship with them?

Felix Diaz – I would call Joan Guzman a friend of mine. I don’t know Fernando Guerrero personally.

Anson Wainwright – Who is your Boxing hero and why?

Felix Diaz – My boxing hero is Oscar de la Hoya. Not only because of his quality as a boxer, but also because of his entrepreneurial qualities. My goals in boxing are to become World Champion quickly, and then part of the top ten of the best boxers of all classes. I would also like to fight Manny Pacquiao, and of course win against him.

Thanks for your time Felix

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com