During his reign as tsar of Russia some three hundred years ago, Peter the Great created his own social experiment with the city of St. Petersburg. Knowing full well that his beloved Russia was technologically and culturally lagging in comparison to powerful European nations, Peter turned St. Petersburg into a modern European city. He made sure that European ideas, goods, and merchandise infiltrated the Russian city so that his citizens could get a glimpse of what the rest of Europe looked like with the hopes that his country would ultimately change for the better. For this reason, St. Petersburg was dubbed the “Window to the West.”

This past Friday, in the Bowery section of Manhattan’s Chinatown, the extravagant Capitale banquet hall served as a modern day St. Petersburg. Except this time it was the Chinese, not the Russians, involved — and this window peered into the East.

Friday’s “Empires Collide” fight card, presented by Dino Duva and Global Sports Entertainment, featured eleven bouts between Team USA and the Chinese national team. Duva, who has traveled to China fourteen times in the past two-plus years, has taken special interest in the development of Chinese boxing, developing a strong working relationship with the Chinese Boxing Federation.

The successful New Jersey-based businessman and promoter certainly senses that the next great generation of fistic superstars may emerge from the Middle Kingdom. He tapped his father, the legendary Lou Duva, as well as accomplished trainer Al Mitchell to help train the Chinese nationals while he showcases them in duals across the United States.

Heading into the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China had earned only one medal in boxing. That medal was a bronze one, earned by Zou Shiming in the 2004 Athens games.

Fast forward to present day and China has added four more Olympic medals to its resume, as well as two bronze medals at the 2009 world championships in Italy. Further, it just bested Team USA in the eleven bout dual by the score of 6-5 at Capitale Friday night.

In Beijing in 2008, Shiming became the first Chinese boxer to ever win multiple Olympic medals when he captured gold in his home country. Xiaoping Zhang also earned a gold medal for the Republic, while both Zhilei Zhang and Silamu Hanati added to their country’s medal count, winning silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Much like the Russian tsar before him, Duva has ‘great’ instincts. Peter wanted to show his country what the rest of Europe had already become. St. Petersburg offered Russian citizens a glimpse into what their country could potentially be.

Similarly, Duva wants to show the world what Chinese boxing has become over the last decade. Seven years ago, China had zero Olympic boxing medals. As the 2012 London games near, China has five — and counting. As Duva continues to showcase the Chinese national team, he offers the rest of the world their “Window to the East.” He gives them a glimpse of what is to come from a country with potential to be the next boxing mecca.

Historically, the Chinese have focused their energies on martial arts such as kung fu or tai chi which honor the country’s rich past. However, with the recent success of Chinese boxing, especially the national team’s success in Beijing, it appears that a boxing undercurrent has been created and it is that is pulling more and more Chinese youth towards the sweet science.

Duva plans to continue to promote the Chinese national team as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics. As he showcases them around the United States and rest of the world, I encourage you to take advantage of watching them fight, take a look through Duva’s “Window to the East.”

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

PHOTO BY CLAUDIA BOCANEGRA

Yes it’s that time of the year again almost, the annual boxing memorabilia fayre.
I attended last year has I did the year before and can say on each occasion as a boxing collector that I was amazed at what was on offer, as I entered the hall and paid my entry fee of hat goes to a worthy cause to the ex boxers charity, I was in awe of the huge amount of various items for sale, everything from old fight posters, program’s art prints, vhs tapes, books, photos….etc….etc…. to everything boxing related that you could imagine and hey it’s very reasonably priced also.

I must say though that the fair that’s run by Chas Taylor is well worth the admission fee alone even if you not interested in collecting, it’s a day out on it’s own and what with the huge amount of collectibles, it would take you the allotted four hours that the fayre’s open for to look through everything that’s on offer.

And there’s always a famous face or four at the fair, for example in 2008 former British and Commonwealth welter champ Slyvester Mittee was in attendance as a guest, and then last year was none other than former World welter champ John H Stracey who even had his own stall believe it or not!
However not only will you see many a famous face from the inside of the roped square, there many boxing personality’s also to be found looking through the many stalls of memorabilia, the usual suspects in attendance are avid collectors like Frank Warren’s longest serving team member, corner man Lennie Lee as well as fellow corner man Mick ‘Red’ Brennan and writers and commentators such has Eurosport’s Steve Holdsworth who himself has a huge fight library for sale via his website that Steve has filmed himself from the ringside, go to www.steveholdsworth.com for more details and his lists, another seasoned collector and true gentleman is George Zeleny who once even produced his own magazine ‘boxing outlook’ so be sure to look not only through the many collectibles but out for a few famous faces also.
I’ve got one problem with the fair, it’s only on once a year!

So the questions you’ll be asking me

WHEN………OCTOBER 23RD 2010
WHERE……ST ALOYSIUS HALL, EVERSHOLT STREET, EUSTON, LONDON, NW1
STARTS……1.30 PM
CLOSES…..5.30PM
PARKING…YES ALL DAY.
BAR AND FOOD…..YES THERE’S A BAR AND SNACKS
ADMISSION…….0

For event information please phone organizer Chas Taylor on 01707 654677 or 07956912741, but please do so at a respectable time.

At six foot eight & nearly 250 pounds David Price 7-0(5) commands respect from his piers. It hasn’t all been plane sailing for the 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist since going pro, he endured a frustrating wait before finally getting started only to find that start was to be stunted while others from the 2008 Olympic team were getting regular action. After Setanta crashed and David Hayes’s Hayemaker company no longer had TV dates Price decided to go with Frank Maloney who had among others successfully moved Lennox Lewis to the Heavyweight title. It’s something Price hopes will rub off on him, since signing with Maloney Price has been kept far busier. He fights this Saturday in London and hopes to use the win as a spring board to a big 12 months in which he hopes he can win his first title’s as a pro.

Hello David, welcome back to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – It’s been awhile since we spoke, how are things? What’s news?

David Price – Things are great my girlfriend just gave birth to our second child, a little boy David. That was August so I’ve been busy over the summer. I knuckled down now in training for my next fight which is 16 October, so I’m working hard in the gym with my trainer Frannie Smith and also my strength and condition trainer James Morton at the John Moore University in Liverpool. It’s going well, I feel I’m progressing in this camp physically & technically.

Anson Wainwright – What about away from the ring?

David Price – I’ve been doing bit’s of work with Liverpool F.C TV going on chat shows, phone in’s & debates little things like that because I’m a big Liverpudlian and have a bit of a profile in the City being an Olympian so they invite me on from time to time. Just that type of thing really.

Anson Wainwright – As you say you’ll be back in action on the 16 October who will you be fighting? Is it a 6 rounder or 8 rounder?

David Price – It’s due to be an 8 rounder so I’m hoping we can get a suitable opponent. We’ll be ready for a 8 rounder but it’s 1 and a half weeks out and still no sign of an opponent. A couple of names have been mentioned but I’ll have to see what happens, but I can’t really mention them.

Anson Wainwright – Will they be a step up for you would you say?

David Price – Yeah definitely. One name that has been mentioned if it goes through will definitely be a step up. Whether it happens we’ll see. All I can do is keep training in the gym and sparring up & train as if it’s a world title fight. I’m leaving nothing to chance no matter who the opponent is. So hopefully I’ll get in and they’ll extend me a bit at least.

Anson Wainwright – Though you don’t want to look past this fight, what are your plan of where you’d like to be in the next 6 months to a year?

David Price – I definitely want to be knocking on the door for the British title. Looking at what’s out there there’s nothing for me to fear at all. So I’m confident that in the next six to twelve months as long as I get there right learning fights. The next two or three fights are going to be important to me as far opponents are concerned because they could stand me in good stead for title fights which I’m expecting in 2011. That’s what I’m looking for British level then move on from there.

Anson Wainwright – You’ve been a pro now for 18 months how do you think you have adapted to the pro game?

David Price – At first it was a big transition, I concentrated on my power base punching and things like that. But the more we’ve delved into things. We’re working on a lot of different things. Some times we even work on the things that gave me success in the amateur’s like my speed, my speed of feet but what we’re trying to maximise my height, that’s a big advantage we’re trying to take a lot on board from what the Klitschko’s do because I’m a similar size and similar build to them. We’re trying to take there good points and bring them into my game. Obviously it’s more of a marathon than a sprint so I’m having to pace myself a lot more. When I first turned pro, in my first fight I think every single shot I threw was a power shot and I realised I can’t do that these fella’s are tough and you can’t just take them out you need to punch pick a bit more. We’re working on a lot in the gym. That’s why I’m hoping for someone who at least stands up a few rounds and show what I’ve worked on in the gym and what’s in store for the future.

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

David Price – Frank Maloney is my promoter & manager, Frannie Smith is my trainer he was head trainer at Salisbury ABC through out 1990’s and early 2000’s and it was the regarded as the best amateur club in the country. The reason I took Frannie on board is because when I first turned pro Adam Booth wanted me to have a Liverpool based trainer at the same time as him being my main trainer so I asked Frannie Smith if he’d do it. Out of all the coaches in the amateur’s he was probably adapted to the pro’s better than most. So I asked him to come back and he did. We ended up working more together after the split with Hayemaker, but it seems to be a great decision he’s got a good boxing brain, he’s forward thinking in his training methods. He’s learning all the time taking things on board off every trainer he speaks too. It’s just me and him, there’s no one else involved so i get a 100% of his attention, it’s working well I think. We use Long Lane ABC the club I very first started with and I’ve kept a good relationship with them over the years. They’ve got good facility’s good full size ring, loads of equipment, showers everything we need really. We just go in there first thing in the morning when no one’s there do our thing. Then later on we use Liverpool John Moore University which has better facilities than most I’d say as regards weights and conditioning equipment so we all use that and James Morton who’s a doctor in sport science, he works for Liverpool FC as a nutritionist so he’s held in high regard, it’s good to work with someone as professional as him. So we use that in the night. We use the track (Running track) at Wavertree.

Anson Wainwright – Do Hayemaker still have any part of you interms as promotional rights etc?

David Price – I’m completely with Frank Maloney now.

Anson Wainwright – You have previously said you have sparred with several top fighters at Heavyweight can you name some of the guys and how did those sessions go?

David Price – I sparred with obviously David Haye, Kali Meehan the Australian Heavyweight who fought for the World Heavyweight title, Vladimir Virchis and I sparred with Albert Sosnowski. Out of all of them David Haye was the best. I’d still say i held my own, i never felt out of my depth with Haye. They all have nice things to say about me, obviously sparrings different but it’s been good scope for the future.

Anson Wainwright – The British scene while not in a age is pretty hot with several interesting fights further down the road including Dereck Chisora, Sam Sexton, Tom Dallas, Tyson Fury, Matt Skelton to name a few how do you see things on that front?

David Price – All those guys aren’t bad fighters, i’d rate Chisora highest out of most of them, i’d put myself above all of them. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a fighter being confident in himself, i think we should all believe. I was number one in the country as an amateur for a long time, i know it’s a different game but i’m going to adapt to what needs to be done. That’s my belief in myself as a fighter.

Anson Wainwright – What are your thoughts on Chisora’s win over Sexton?

David Price – I thought it was a good win. I thought Sexton’s fights with Rogan might of stood him in better stead. But Chisora dug deep and i think it was battle of wits and he was the stronger one on the night. But still the type of fighter Chisora is style wise might suit me but it remains to be seen. I’m confident i could beat anyone at domestic level, which is why it’s important Frank Maloney gets me the right opponent’s in my next fights to get me that learning experience and move on from there.

Anson Wainwright – How do you see the Haye-Harrison fight going & what do you think of that fight?

David Price – When I first heard about it I though maybe this was Audley Harrison’s time but I’ve though about it properly and my conclusion is that David Haye’s going to win the fight within five rounds I think he’s better in every department that Audley Harrison and it’ll show on the night.

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

David Price – Thanks with being patient with things, because a couple of my last opponents have been not up to scratch but keep that little bit of belief, keep the faith. And thanks for the support.

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

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

Heretofore, sincerity has not been a hallmark of the Golden Boy brand. Both as a fighter and promoter, Oscar De La Hoya has often used borrowed words to transport his statements someplace other than where his thoughts would steer them. But that changed last week.

In an interview with Broadcasting & Cable, one that was deeper and more honest than anything boxing writers have come to expect from the man or his company, De La Hoya spoke of a desire to take over boxing. He implied all would be better if he were granted sole authority over the sport.

In his words, and despite the semi-retractions that followed, De La Hoya set the truth free. Lacking an adequate lexicon of meaningless expressions, he spoke without his betters’ nuance. Bless him for it.

De La Hoya’s candor brought clarity. Golden Boy Promotions will no longer be able to hide in the silly, one-for-all costume that aspiring monopolists tend to don. And other promoters will no longer be able to make unsatisfactory efforts, lose to Golden Boy Promotions, and then feign victimhood. They now know De La Hoya wants to eat their children – to borrow another fighter’s timely candor.

Oh, but they were taken aback. “Is this not America!” they thundered. Along with a goodish number of commentators, Golden Boy Promotions’ rivals reached for the flag and free market. It was that reaction – indeed reactionary – that made De La Hoya’s unguarded statements provocative.

While some were boning up on MBA-speak in their twenties, De La Hoya was imperiling, and being imperiled by, others. Today, he wishes to obfuscate better than he’s equipped to do. Undoubtedly, he thinks capitalism is just a cool system for making him rich – like most everyone who prays at the altar of the free market. Frankly, you could name the system “potatoes” and not budge their faith.

And then there’s the idea of competition. Does any businessman ever celebrate it until he’s certain of the outcome? Only the winner erects a monument to competition. That doesn’t make it untenable, of course, it just means you should be suspicious of anyone in business who claims to love the idea.

What may well be untenable, though, is capitalism itself. The very system promoters and writers summoned against De La Hoya’s plot last week is what facilitated De La Hoya’s plotting in the first place. Contrary to 30 years of literature on the subject, capitalism is a great destabilizing force that devours itself and eventually puts us all on the same side of the ledger.

So long as one does not openly speak about driving others out of business, though, so long as his only sin is offering customers a better product – with that rubbery definition of “better” stretching to fit any circumstance at all – he is merely a market participant, blameless for the fate of his competition. Everyone purchases his product because he competes and wins, and we’re all better for it. Look at the innovation!

Except that we are not all better for it. Imbalances beget imbalances until no one is left on the other side of a trade. That is why boxing, for all its unscrupulousness and poor execution, still manages to reward 10 percent of its participants with 90 percent of its revenues.

Then it plays the poor ones off against one another, saying that they, too, could be rich one day. Though of course they can’t be.

De La Hoya’s plans for Golden Boy Promotions are not too dissimilar from Todd DuBoef’s plans for Top Rank.

“We need to sign all the talent and get all the TV dates,” De La Hoya said last week. “Then you can have your own agenda and have a schedule for the fans and the sport.”

“In boxing, virtually all of the publicity is keyed to a specific fight and, on a few occasions, to a specific fighter,” DuBoef said in June, by way of explaining a major impediment to his “brand of boxing” concept.

The biggest difference between those two statements? Polish.

Both De La Hoya and DuBoef cite as a model Major League Baseball, an entity which – as Norm Frauenheim pointed out Friday – enjoys an antitrust exemption. How about those animal spirits!

So let’s consider for a moment this “commission” of De La Hoya’s and “brand” that entices DuBoef, while the two men gaze longingly at professional baseball’s model. MLB is, of course, a league. And that league has a union to protect the interests of its employees.

Now ask yourself, is there a boxing promoter in this life or the next who wants prizefighters to unionize?

Until someone can answer yes to that question, let us have no more talk from promoters about being in the business to help fighters. Promoters are in boxing to enrich themselves, and whatever benefits accrue to outside parties are at best ancillary and usually accidental.

The bad news out of last week’s candor from De La Hoya was that nothing is new in boxing. Golden Boy Promotions is not the transformational entity it said it was years ago. The good news, too, is that nothing is new in boxing. There is little chance of one promoter gaining power enough to deal our sport a deathblow.

Whither Oscar’s vision, then? In 2003, columnist George Will ridiculed our President’s rosy prediction by writing: “Iraq needs only four people to achieve post-Saddam success. Unfortunately they are George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Marshall.”

Well, Oscar needs only three people to achieve his stated goal. Unfortunately they are Bob Arum, Bruce Trampler, and Lee Samuels.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com/bartbarry

Oscar De La Hoya is shortsighted, misguided or just naive, but – please – he isn’t an enemy of the free-market system in comments this week about wanting to sign all of the talented fighters and secure the best television dates.

De La Monopolist, he is not.

In telling Broadcast & Cable that boxing needs to be run more like baseball or the National Basketball Association, De La Hoya is being as American as the New York Yankees. Since when haven’t the major leagues been able to sidestep anti-trust laws? Baseball has an anti-trust exemption.

In 2007, economist Andrew Zimbalist, a professor at Smith College and author of books on the sports business, told The New York Times:

“Each league is a monopoly and exercises significant market power by, (among other things), extracting significant public subsidies for the construction of facilities.

“The players in each league share in the monopoly booty.”

Enough said.

Unfortunately, De La Hoya said a lot more, too much more in the Q-and-A format. First, the Golden Boy Promotions president said he did not want to take over boxing. Then, he said, “in a way, yes, we do want to take over.’’ He wasn’t finished. In the next sentence, he said, “Well, we don’t want to take control of boxing, but we want to do the right thing for the sport.’’

De La Hoya is more of a politician than Congressman Manny Pacquiao. More than annoying, the yes-no-maybe spin is a unifying call for promotional rivals, who are having a tea party of their own in an overreaction to De La Hoya’s comments.

Not to worry. Boxing is the Balkans. Allies are temporary and always an imminent enemy. If it sounds like anarchy, it is and has been. Leave it to somebody else to decide whether that’s good or bad for business.

This week, at least, Paulie Malignaggi will probably says it’s very, very good after Golden Boy signed him to a contract in the wake of his last fight, a loss to Amir Khan, that prompted even him to concede that retirement was a consideration. In an attempt to expand the Golden Boy brand from west-to-east, from Los Angeles-to-New York, De La Hoya needed a well-known New York name to sell a deal to promote at the new Brooklyn arena, the Barclays Center, starting in 2012. There are questions about whether Malignaggi can still fight, but absolutely no doubt about whether he can talk through 2012 and beyond.

Above all, Malignaggi’s signing exposed – all over again – the game’s defining characteristic. He wasted little time and no apologies in a rip of his former promoter, Lou DiBella, whom he said did not market him enough. It was as unfair as it was embarrassing. But it was boxing. It illustrates a business guided more by bitter rivalries that unity.

For three decades, it was Bob Arum-versus-Don King. Now, Arum and King talk like old friends and loom as business partners if an agreement for a Pacquiao fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. can ever be reached.

For Arum, however, the rivalry – a little bit like oxygen – is still there.

In De La Hoya, Arum has another one, which makes some fights tough to make and makes all those worries about a monopoly just look foolish.

Carbajal’s legal fight continues
Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal, a retired junior-flyweight from Phoenix, appeared Thursday in court with companion Laura Hall for a hearing to retain an order of protection against his neighbors, Carbajal niece Josephine and Jose Espinal.

Carbajal alleges that he and Hall were assaulted by Espinal and a couple of unidentified assailants on the night of Sept. 6. Through an interpreter who translated his Spanish, Espinal called the allegation a lie. He said he was not there. No charges have been filed. A criminal investigation is underway.

At the hearing in downtown Phoenix, Hall wore a cast on her left arm. She said two fingers had been crushed in the alleged incident. A bruise from a black eye was still evident. Photos of her injury and cuts to Carbajal’s face and head were provided as evidence.

Josephine alleged that Michael Carbajal had been drinking. Police officers, who answered the 911 call, said that they smelled alcohol. The hearing was continued. It will resume on Oct. 20.

It is just the latest battle in Carbajal’s star-crossed life. Brother and former trainer Danny Carbajal, Josephine’s father, is still in prison for stealing an estimated $2 million from his brother, who earned about $8 million over 49 fights. Danny Carbajal is scheduled for release in October 2011. Danny Carbajal’s wife, Sally, was murdered in Feb. 25, 2005, three days before they were scheduled to be in divorce court. The murder has never been solved. More than five years after Sally after was found dead from a gunshot, the murder is still a cold case.

Josephine entered a guilty plea for her role in the theft from Michael, who is trying to recover what was stolen from him in civil court. She was sentenced to probation. In April, she and Espinal moved into Danny’s former residence next to Michael’s boyhood home. Michael Carbajal said they moved into the house in an attempt to provoke him.

“They’re trying to make me to do something that will put me in jail,’’ said Carbajal, who continues to battle a drinking problem. “That’s what they want. It’s about greed. That’s what it goes back to. That’s what this is all about.’’

Notes, quotes and a couple of counters
· Golden Boy is suing Top Rank for allegedly trying to hide money that De La Hoya’s company says it is owed from three Pacquiao fights. Pacquiao advisor Michael Koncz reacted to the lawsuit suit, telling AOL: “I guess since Golden Boy doesn’t have any boxers to promote that are of any high quality, they have to find a fight somewhere, so they have chosen to fight in the courts through frivolous litigation.” Say what? Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach might disagree. Roach trains the Golden Boy promoted Amir Kahn.

· And the International Boxing Federation is threatening to strip Devon Alexander of its junior-welterweight title if he fights Timothy Bradley instead of South African Kaiser Mabuza, the No. 1 contender. Where is the trash can that Riddick Bowe made so in famous in 1992? That’s where Bowe deposited the World Boxing Council’s heavyweight belt. That’s where the IBF’s 140-bout belt belongs right now.

Earlier this year Leva Kirakosyan came to Britain in a bid to become a two time European Super Featherweight champion it ended up being a successful trip for him. This Saturday Kirakosyan 36, will be looking to retain that title for the second time when he fights former world title challenger Stephen Foster Jr 27-2-1(17) in Bolton, England. Fighting away from home has never been a problem for the battle tested Armenian who is the ultimate road warrior fighting on enemy soil in 32 of his 38 contests posting an impressive 33-5(23) record. He’s currently ranked WBC 3, IBF 4 & WBO 3.

Hello Leva, welcome to 15rounds.com

Hello Anson

Anson Wainwright – Firstly you have a fight with Stephen Foster Jr coming up, what can you tell us about this fight and what are your thoughts on Foster?

Leva Kirakosyan – I’m looking forward to a tough fight; he has good pedigree and is a very slick boxer.

Anson Wainwright – The fight will take place in Britain you have been there 4 times going 3-1 and fought all over Europe in your career, presumably it doesn’t bother you fighting as the away fighter? What can you tell us about how you feel fighting away from home?

Leva Kirakosyan – I get inspiration from being the away fighter.

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

Leva Kirakosyan – I’m self managed Hatton’s will be promoting me from now on i’ve been training in Toulon at the punch group gym with Danny Bischerey i also have a training base at Wodensborough ABC England with Varuch Davyatan and Steve O’Rourke.

Anson Wainwright – Your ranked WBC 3, IBF 4 & WBO 3 if all goes well against Foster Jr presumably you will be looking for a World title fight what would it mean to you to finally get that opportunity?

Leva Kirakosyan – That would be a dream come true but i would leave that to Richard Poxon and Philippe Fondu at Hatton Promotions.

Anson Wainwright – Are you targeting anyone as your rated in the top 5 of three of the sanctioning organisations?

Leva Kirakosyan – Not really all i’m focused on at the moment is beating Steve Foster Junior and retaining my European title.

Anson Wainwright – What are your thoughts on the current World champions at 130 WBC Tajbert, WBA Uchiyama, IBF Fana & WBO Burns?

Leva Kirakosyan – Everyone of them are world class fighters.

Anson Wainwright – What fight would you say was your best performance so far?

Leva Kirakosyan – When i beat Onik Archakyan for the Russian title a few years ago the rivalry was immense but i came good on the night.
(Editors Note it was Kirokosyan’s fifth fight and he beat then unbeaten Archakyan via split decision over twelve rounds)

Anson Wainwright – Who is the best fighter you have fought so far?

Leva Kirakosyan – Urango who Ricky Hatton beat.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your early years growing up in Gyumri, Armenia? How did you first become interested in Boxing?

Leva Kirakosyan – We were very poor Boxing was way out of the poverty my brothers were both Russian champions they took me to the gym when i was 8 years old and i never looked back.

Anson Wainwright – Your homeland has several fighters on the world stage currently including Arthur Abraham, Vic Darchinyan & Vanes Martirosyan. How proud does it make you to see others from your country doing well? Do you know any of those guys?

Leva Kirakosyan – I know all of them very well it makes me very proud that a country like Armenia constantly produces world class Boxers at amateur and professional levels.

Anson Wainwright – What interests and hobbies do you have away from Boxing?

Leva Kirakosyan – I like to relax to music i also like to dance a lot i cant believe i told you that! Haha

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for Stephen Foster Jr ahead of your fight?

Leva Kirakosyan – God bless and may the best man win on Saturday the 2nd of October.

Thanks for your time Leva and good luck with your fight with Foster.

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

Photographer Holger Keiffel has chronicled the living face of boxing in lush black and white portraits which glare off the page, offering a stark but heroic glimpse into the heart of the cruelest sport through the men who have learned its cruelest lesson:

Boxing, ultimately, is Tragedy. Only the how and the when of it remain to be seen.

It shows in their faces, and it is faces that Keiffel focuses on: “I don’t style,” he says. “I document. I want an honest face.”

Keiffel got what he wanted. Boxers fresh from the fight, and many long retired— managers, trainers, promoters, writers, refs and TV announcers— all assembled in close to 200 pages and over 300 photographs accompanied by well chosen quotes from the ringmen themselves.

The younger boxers, often covered in tattooed talismans of one sort or another, gaze defiant, but show a tempered promise born of loss and perhaps the toll of the boxing “business” itself. The course not fully run, many seem to be whistling in the graveyards of their own pyrrhic sacrifice.

The older boxers, many of them former champions, show an unapologetic splayed nose pride in having fought the fight—despite knowing the answer to the tragic questions—their own how and whens already a part of boxing’s well documented history.

And maybe therein lay the quiet dignity in the faces of men like Jake LaMotta, Joe Frazier and Jose Torres. The notion that marked as they may be, they have also left their mark.

Boxer Vito Antuofermo quips in the quote which accompanies his rugged but handsome mug: “Someone counted them all up and told me that I had 345 stitches in my face. That’s a record or something.” But it is not the only record he holds. Antuofermo is the former Middleweight Champion of the World. A pedigree shared with the likes of Billy Conn, the Sugar Rays— Leonard and Robinson— Jake LaMotta, Marvin Hagler, the great Stanley Ketchel, and elite boxers who answered the 160 pound question all the way back to the late 1800’s Jack “The Nonpareil” Dempsey, and beyond. Antuofermo beat the man who beat the man….

With each of us given a lifetime to do what we will, few can boast of such accomplishments.
In the quote which accompanies an alarmingly older but fashionably clad Joe Frazier, he says
“That night at Madison Square Garden; fifteenth round when I put Ali down. I stood where no one else ever stood.”

You can see it in his face.

The photos were taken at times in studio, but most often on the fly at “press conferences, weigh-ins, and fights, using a Mamiya RZ camera with no computer gimmickry.” The book is described by Thomas Hauser, the award winning boxing writer who penned Muhammad Ali’s official biography and contributed text to Keifel’s handsome volume (Chronicle Books, 29.95), as “the most important collection of boxing portraits ever assembled.” I’d have to agree. For the boxing fan, the book is an indispensible nugget of almost voyeuristic eye candy. But more than that, like all great portraiture, Keifel’s work is an intimate study in what it means to be human.

But if boxing is, as Joyce Carol Oates has noted, “a celebration of the lost religion of masculinity, all the more trenchant for its being lost,” this is what it looks like.

It’s possibly no surprise that your wondering why I’m interviewing a guy whose boxed only once in the professional ranks, a points win against Welshman Adam Wilcox, but I felt it needed to be done, what with Margate having few names boxing wise, other than Sven Hamer and Takaloo many years ago, {I know hardly a couple of English men}, however we now have some home reared talent from the famous seaside resort, has there’s Jack “13” Morris who like Woodgate is a super middle, and also you have the Woolford brother’s Scott and Vinnie, who seemingly are more often than not in the role of journeyman status nowadays!
So on a Summer’s evening from home I made the call to Daniel Woodgate, the latest offering from Margate, the interview went good and I liked the way he answered my question’s with truthful answer’s, this guy comes across as down to Earth and is obviously a realist in his view’s on how he hopes his career to pan out, answering my question’s in a direct and positive tone Dan sure seemed a no nonsense type but at the same time a nice chap, with a voice that sounds a little like former W.B.C 168lb king Carl Froch’s and a build more like that of a scaled down Frank Bruno with a similar muscle definition to that of big Frank, obviously Dan would one day like to emulate both in the ring and become a World champion, especially that of fellow super middle Froch, he certainly does’nt seem to be a fancy Dan, but in time Dan could well be the man!!!!!!!

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Mike Serra: So Dan, how did you get started in boxing and why?
Daniel Woodgate: I boxed a little bit here and there as a kid like most kids do and stuff like that and I never got seriously into it until I started playing football, and then I broke my foot and put on load’s of weight and went up to like seventeen stone, I had a friend whom carried on boxing from when I first went with him and I knew I did the training well and he invited me back to the club, I went back there and my coach soon has I got in the gym said I ‘got something, and to get some weight off of you’ and then I got carded and within three months I had my first fight that I lost, but that’s how I got into it really just too lose a bit of weight and I was enjoying it after the first few weeks and {thinking} I’m going to do it properly though I used to smoke, but I gave up smoking and stopped going out drinking and stuff like that.

M S: So how old was you when you had your first competitive fight?
D W: twenty one, twenty two.

M S: Was there any inspiration from anyone in particular?
D W: My all time hero of boxing was Chris Eubank and I used to love Naseem Hamed also, I used to love the way they put on a show, obviously you’ve got all the greats but I was really only into the British scene really, I wasn’t massively into boxing as I only knew only the big stars but I couldn’t tell you anyone who was on the undercard, I liked the Benn, Collins, Eubank era.

M S: Are you a bit of a show man yourself?
D W: I wouldn’t say I put on a show and I don’t want to come across as arrogant, I’m not flash but I’d say I’m a gentleman as a boxer, I always wish a fighter good luck before I fight him and I’m a big fan of people that respect each other in and out of the ring and I know people do the old war of words, but I would do it to sell a fight, but I’d like the guy I’m having the war of words with to know it was part of the business if you know what I mean.

M S: So where was you born?, and what was it like there growing up?
D W: I was born in Sidcup, Queen Mary’s hospital Sidcup and I lived in a area called St Paul’s way, and it was quite a nice area when we first moved there but from then on it went slowly downhill and basically from a kid I was always a fighter and was always out street fighting and stuff like that, I would’nt say I was a tough kid but I never got beat up and could look after myself although I was’nt the type of kid who acted tough, no one ever messed with me and I was quite a tough kid really but I was’nt a bully it was just the way it was around there, I always wanted to be the toughest in school but looking back on it now I’m grown up it seems a bit strange but has a kid that was the main thing with the kids I hung around with, if you wanted to be someone you wanted to be tough and I got thrown out of school when I was fourteen and got moved to four different primary schools, I was a bit naughty and a bit of a rebel and it was mostly because of fighting, {but} I was a frustrated child but I’m really lucky my parents stuck by me, a good family behind me and I turned out to be not a bad person I think. {laughs}

M S: Though you’ve boxed once as a pro, you had a pretty decent amateur career, please could you tell me more about that?
D W: Like I said I lost my first fight but I can’t remember the guy’s name, I fought over in Maidstone {Kent}, and the only thing I remember about the fight that will stay with me forever was when I stood in the corner and went out all confident {walking to the ring} and was joking in the changing room, and I always have a laugh in the changing room’s as I’m not someone who get’s uptight about fighting, and then I got in the ring and the ring announcer went ‘and in the blue corner, Daniel Woodgate’ and I remember thinking ‘oh crap, that’s me! what have I got to do now?’ and I completely forgot everything I learned in training, I mean I got the fight on video and I watch it every now and then and I think I did’nt do has bad as I thought I had on the day, I completely blanked everything out {during the fight} and I did’nt remember anything and that’s all I remember from my first fight and then I went on to have two fight’s with the same guy Tony Barret, a bit of an arch enemy and I beat him twice it was all good fun and we was good friend’s afterwords and then I had my under ten novices and I was fighting at super heavyweight like sixteen stone and I went out to Las Vegas and I met Steve Foster {Commonwealth light middle champ 96}, and a friend who introduced me told Steve I wanted to be a boxer so he {Foster} said ‘lift up your shirt son’ I lifted up my shirt and he told me ‘your too fat, your going to go nowhere’, and I was like ‘oh nice one, thanks’ and that was the changing point in my amateur career and my boxing career as a whole, I went back home and lost two stone and got under fourteen stone within a month and had my under ten championship where I burnt so much weight off, I was so weak on the day but I only lost by one point and still gave it my all but it just was’nt there that day, then after that I went on and had two more fights with that club which was Canterbury, my first club and then I decided I wanted to turn pro so I left and went to a better club that I thought was at the time, but later I found out most clubs are the same you just get out what you put in really, I moved to another club had a few fights with them, did okay then onto another club and when I got stale and thought I were’nt going to learn anymore I decided to make a move because I want to get somewhere and I want to get there quickly because I’m old has I started out boxing at twenty two, and then I ended up training at Sittingbourne but because of commuting back and forth it was too much really, and by this time I’d had seventeen or eighteen fights and I won nine and then went into the championship’s the A.B.A’s a second time, the first time I got into the Southern Counties final on a bye {walkover} and I boxed a guy who had twenty fights, knocked out three hundred {laughs}, he was amazing he was supposed to be this really great fighter and he had a few pro fights as well and I went in there and I’d only had ten fights and I did really well against him, I took him the full three rounds and did myself really proud and everyone was really happy and could’nt expect anymore from them really and then I went in the A.B.A’s not last year but the year before and got to the quarter finals, my hardest fight was in the Southern counties final against a guy called Simon Hopkins, who’d also had a few pro fights and he was the toughest fighter to date I ever fought, he was like only 5″2 but he was an animal, a really tough fight and after that it was the combined services where I boxed Mick Mcgarry who was ranked in the top ten, obviously when I saw his ranking I was a bit wary so I trained even harder and made sure I was on the ball and I stopped him in the first minute of the first round, and I’d never ever stopped anyone like that before, I mean I stopped people but never with a single punch and I was buzzing after that and then I went onto the quarter finals and met a guy called Rob Evans and he beat me on points and went onto win the whole competition, so I did myself proud and I was boxing at 86 kgs and I’m only 5″10, this Rob Evans was 6″3 and built like a brick crap house, he was massive and after that I decided that was enough in the amatuer game for me, so I started searching around for promoters, managers and then I found Mike Aldis on Facebook and I got chatting to him and basically what he said to me was what I wanted to hear ‘if you want to make money out of the game, then find someone else, but if you want to get your head down and go for titles, then I’m the man for you’ so I decided to go with him.

M S: So winning the gold medal, it must have been a proud moment for yourself, on that podium, flag flying and a medal around your neck representing your country, please could you tell me more about what it felt like?
D W: What it was, was it was an international competition over in Denmark representing England but what it was you had to put your self into it, I was’nt picked by an England squad, I boxed a guy from Finland and a guy from Denmark, and when I got there I was a 86 kg and weighed in on the mark but found out in Europe they don’t do a 86kg, it’s under 91kg or under 81 kg so I boxed two guys at 91kg, about a stone heavier than me, the first one I remember looking at this man and thinking ‘this man is an absolute tank, he was huge, so I went on the back foot and outboxed him and I did really well against him, then the next was a tall, spindly boxer and I knew I had to take it to him and I stopped him in the second round, the ref stopped the count and I remember thinking I’d never done anything like that before an international competition and it was massive for me, I know I was’nt picked but to go out there to another country with my six or seven people plus my club as well, it was an amazing feeling to win the competition, it was a gold medal and I’m very proud of it and it hang’s on my wardrobe every day.

M S: Did you actually get onto a podium to receive the medal?
D W: No it was presented in the ring and it was done all in weight classes and skill classes so there was six fighters in each class, two got a bye to the next round and I was’nt expected to do anything has they were a weight class above, I was expected to get beat but it’s were’nt going to happen!.

M S: You mentioned earlier about your age, I don’t consider you being too old as I think you have turned pro at the right age, Jack you know, I won’t keep going on about Jack {laughs} I mentioned him enough in the emails {laughs}, his like twenty eight, and his only had six fights and you have years ahead of you, Jack has’nt done much lately, what with injury’s etc…and sadly he missed the prizefighter but you have both boxed in your last fight’s Adam Wilcox, I mean Wilcox is a good guy to have your first fight against has his been around, and fought everyone, and you comprehensively beat him 40-36 and Jack beat him 40-37, so you went one better than Jack. {laughs}
D W: The thing is I don’t want to wait around, I don’t want to waste no time, I saw a video of him {Wilcox} and me and my dad sat down and watched it together and my dad looked at me afterwards and said ‘you sure son?’ {laughs} and I turned around and said ‘if he comes out fighting like that, I promise you I’ll beat him’ because he fought a guy under Hatton promotions and watching the fight Adam Wilcox definitely won but did’nt get the decision and pretty much won every round I think, but I knew with his style {I’d win} I have always said I’ll beat anyone my height or smaller than me, because I think I got an excellent jab and I use it really well and effectively, I don’t waste shots so someone like that who comes forward is perfect for me really and I went out there and he was a tough guy, I don’t want to take anything away from him but I think I did a really good job on him and I was really pleased afterwards, obviously it was my first pro fight and I did a few little thing’s wrong but it ain’t going to be perfection in the first fight, but we will get there.

M S: How many fights did you box as amatuer and what were your honors?.
D W: I only had twenty one has an amatuer, I was Southern Counties finalist twice, A.B.A quarter finalist, I won a gold medal out in Denmark in the H.S.K box cup, the Danish cup.

M S: Your sweetest victory?
D W: Obviously the feeling of getting my arm raised in my first pro fight because that’s what I’d been aiming for, basically since I met Steve Foster I actually thought it was a possibility that’s what I been aiming at, being a pro just to get my hand raised in that ring, that was the most amazing feeling, my best victory as an amatuer would possibly be a loss actually, it was a Monday night I travelled up to Northampton and boxed a guy ranked number twelve and I’d had eleven or twelve fights and I went up there and I remember the first round he absolutely boxed my head off and I went back to the corner and my trainer turned around and said ‘what are you doing Dan?, what are you doing?’ so I said ‘I ain’t got a clue, I were’nt expecting this!’ {laughs} I were’nt expecting him to be this good so he said ‘get out there and take it to him’ and I had two more rounds of me basically beating him up for two rounds, I mean he’d had seventy fights and he was so awkward and tricky and he knew every time I had him in trouble he just tied me up and he knew all the little tricks but I boxed really well and I thought I might have nicked a decision on an home show but I would’nt take anything away from him, he was a brilliant fighter and that was at another point that a change come across me as well, where I thought I’m getting somewhere again against someone much better than me and I’ve done okay!.

M S: So have you found the switch over okay from amatuer to pro?
D W: Yeah I always think I was set better as a pro anyway, I’m not a quick in and out puncher, I’m an agressive counter puncher, I punch hard, like I say I don’t waste punches and every punch I throw I try and knock them out with it, whether it’s a jab or a right hook, I’m always trying to hurt someone with my shots!.

M S: Who are your favourite boxer or boxers?
D W: Yeah Eubank, obviously I travelled about to watch Ricky Hatton because I liked the crack, there was always a great atmosphere at a Hatton fight and he’s a genuinely nice guy and someone you don’t mind paying good money to go and watch, but I always say there’s two type of boxing fan, you either like Mayweather or Pacquio! I’m a Mayweather {fan} I like a classy stylish boxer but some people like Pacquio who goe’s out and throw’s has many punche’s as he can and put’s his heart on the line for every single fight really, some people find Mayweather boring but I find Pacquio quite boring because he just throw’s punches all the time, he’s an amazing fighter don’t get me wrong, but it’s Mayweather all day long.

M S: Mayweather v Marquez was just a boxing clinic?
D W: It was just amazing, I could’nt believe how he could be that good, Marquez has just beat Diaz and showed he is’nt past it and he gave Pacquio a good fight.

M S: your favourite fight?
D W: Eubank v Benn, the first one.

M S: Looking back on your amatuer career, are there any regrets?,
D W: No I would’nt change a thing, the person that beat me in the under ten’s I wanted a rematch with him because I knew I could have beat him, and then there was a little bit of bad blood between us and there was a little bit of a slanging match, not so much that I got involved in it but there was a lot of going’s {on} in between, a lot of things said about me, then a fight {rematch} was arranged and there was alway’s an excuse not to fight me, but by the time I’d had ten, fifteen fights I was way past him, I could have beaten him with one hand tied behind my back, there was just a lot of noise coming from him.
It was a bit like the professional game, where you hear one person slagging off someone all of the time, he tried to build a fight {rematch} up but never really wanted to fight me, I would have liked to have beaten him but it’s not a worry to me I’ll get to spar him one day!.

M S: Is he a professional now?
D W: No he’s still an amatuer but I keep trying to arrange a spar with him so I can beat him up!

M S: He sounds a bit like David Haye with the Klitcsko’s?
D W: it is a bit like that.

M S: So you’ve just turned 27, and you have one fight behind you a points win against Adam Wilcox, what are your future plans?
D W: I’m hoping to be fighting on October 16th at the K2 leisure centre.

M S: How far would you like to go?
D W: I think I’m good enough to go somewhere with it and I’m going to try, I don’t want to be a ‘coulda been’ man, I want to be a ‘was never good enough’ you know what I mean? people can say ‘he were’nt good enough, but he tried’ rather than ‘he could been there, but he did’nt try’ I think I’m good enough and I think I’ll win a title one day but we’ll see.

M S: Has you know, there’s also another super middle from your area called Jack Morris and strangely enough you are not only from the same place but also in the same division and you faced the same opponent last time out Wilcox, do you think you two will feature some time soon up there along the likes of the Degale’s and the Groves in the division?
D W: Jack’s a massively talented boxer, I remember the first time I saw him in the gym and I thought to myself ‘bloody hell, he’s really good’ and I know fullwell that if he keeps his head down he’ll go as far as he want’s because he is massively talented, I’m not sure what weight his going in at now, I know his talking about going up to a different weight but I think if I could make super middleweight I would’nt have any trouble in time with any of them, I mean there brilliant fighters and they’d obviously wipe the floor with me now, but I’ve not seen anything from them that’s made me think that I could’nt beat them in the future, I rate myself quite highly, Im not arrogant and cocky about it, but I believe in myself if you know what I mean, I could surpass them, will it happen? it depends whether I get the right chance’s or not, getting the right fight’s and see if I get my oppurtunity.

M S: With Jack Morris, as I know him personally has I have done a few interview’s with himself, he simply does’nt get the publicity and credit he deserves has the other names are getting, please tell me has you told me you guys once sparred a few times, what you think of him has a boxer?
D W: His a brilliant boxer, I have done sparring session’s with him, the first time I sparred him I was still an amatuer and I was surprised with his power and his speed and being the size he is, his quite a big guy and he was so fast and powerful I was just going away and I just basically covered up really and threw my jab out a couple of times, the last time I sparred him was a few months back and we had a really good sparring session, okay he probably got the better of me has his quite experienced, he’d be an excellent fighter if he could get a bit more in really {fights}

M S: And where would you like to be in say twelve months time fistically speaking?
D W: In a year’s time I’d like to have about five or six more fights, obviously all wins, and just keep safe really, keep on the straight road and all the way to the top time allowing, and see where it takes me.

M S: Although I’ve never seen your fight v Wilcox, you seem too be a rather strong robust type, has it look’s has if your continuosly backing Wilcox up, which speaks volume’s as he’s fearsomely strong at super middle, if you will please describe your style?
D W: I would say I’m an aggresive counter puncher, I come forward all the time plus I got a good jab and use my jab effectively, I like to throw powerful shots, I’d consider myself as far as professional boxing goe’s has a bit of a mix between like a Eubank, obviously he’s my hero but I don’t try and emulate him but that’s how I saw boxing as a kid and that’s just how I box now and maybe a bit like a David Haye, just sit outside and search for the right shot and throw the right shot and hopefully it connects.

M S: So what did you weigh for the Wilcox fight {Woodgate’s pro debut}
D W: It was down at thirteen stone, but I was twelve twelve.

M S: So what will you be from now on, super middle or light heavy from now on?
D W: Well it’s something I got to discuss with Mike Aldiss, whether he thinks it’ll be worth me making super middle or if light heavy will be the right weight for my style, if I can make super middle strong then I’ll be massively dangerous because I’ll be a big super middle, not tall but I’m quite big and strong if not light heavy has I’m more than capable of holding my own against light heavy’s.

Michael Angelo Serra reporting from home

BOX: A New View On The Faces Of Boxing

Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr.? For those reluctant to let go of boxing past, perhaps Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson?

These boxing notables above all can pass as “the face of boxing” in some capacity.

But whoever or whatever comes to mind when you hear the four words, “the face of boxing,” it is unlikely that it mirrors that of Holger Keifel.

The German-born, New York based photographer has managed to capture “the face of boxing” in the literal sense in the form of over three hundred black & white photos bound together by glue and protected by a shiny gold cover.

Keifel’s new book, “BOX: The Face of Boxing,” (PQ Blackwell, $29.95) with text by the esteemed boxing scribe, Thomas Hauser, is currently available online through all major bookstore websites and is due to hit the shelves on Friday, October 1.

With regards to Keifel’s mission, Hauser quotes him as saying, “A lot of fighters start with the traditional pose, putting their fists up. I tell them, ‘No, I’m not interested in that. I’m interested in your face.’”

Once immersed in the first few pages of “BOX”, you too will be interested in the fighter’s faces. Every unnatural bump, accumulation of scar tissue, and crooked nose is revealed by Keifel and his camera lens.

The book jacket of “BOX” showcases two of Keifel’s most powerful images. The front cover features a photo of the side of Evander Holyfield’s face, exposing the remainder of his ear, while the back of the book jacket shows the injured and scarred hand of the lesser-known Tokunbo Olajide. The pictures on the 200 plus pages between Holyfield and Olajide readers an unconventional and fresh look at the sport of boxing.

“BOX” is a must-have for boxing and photography fans alike. “BOX” not only is a work of art, it is also a book that documents an era in boxing history. Over 275 hundred faces of the current boxing scene are represented in Keifel’s first book. Countless boxers, trainers, referees, and promoters were unable to escape Keifel’s lens over the past six-plus years and their photos have combined to create his work of art.

For fistic fans, “BOX” will only help you further appreciate the sacrifices fighter’s make every time they step through the ropes and into the boxing ring. Referee Randy Neumann sums it up best when he is quoted in “BOX” as saying, “Hitting other people is easy. Getting hit in the face is hard. Most athletes believe the won’t get hurt in competition. Boxers know they will.”

Every page in “BOX” is a reminder of that. From the aged, scarred face of Jake Lamotta to the relatively unmarked face of Mayweather, Jr., “BOX” forces fans to reassess what they might have perceived “the face of boxing” to be.

At the start of September Branco Milenkovic promoted a star studded bill in South Africa that contained two world titles fights & two world title eliminators. In one of the World title fights current IBF Flyweight champion Moruti “Babyface” Mthalane 26-2(17) made a successful first defence against compatriot Zolani Tete. Mthalane 27, hails from Johannesburg and is now a 10 year veteran of the ring. In the summer of 2008 he won an IBF title eliminator against the more experienced Hussein Hussein that win catapulted him into a title fight with Nonito Donaire. Despite putting up a good performance it wasn’t enough against Donaire who forced the stoppage on cuts in the sixth. Full credit to Mthalane after one more fight he once against challenged for the then vacant IBF title this time he wasn’t to be denied turning back Julio Cesar Miranda comfortably on points before his his recent defence against Tete. Now Mthalane wants a rematch with Miranda who since losing to Mthalane has won the WBO 112 crown. Perhaps a unification beckons.

Hello Moruti, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly congratulation’s on your win over Zolani Tete, what can you tell us about the fight & how happy you were with the performance?

Moruti Mthalane – I was very happy with my performance. I always said, I will win the fight and although Tete is great prospect and was a puncher (13-0 11KO), he didn’t fought the same quality opponents as I did (Nonito Donaire, Julio Miranda, Hussein Hussein and ect).

Anson Wainwright – What can you tell us about your title winning performance against Miranda? How did it feel to become World Champion?

Moruti Mthalane – Going it that fight against Miranda, I known I have to win and this is my last chance. It felt really great!! Miranda is now WBO World Champion makes me even better as the man I beat is very credible fighter.

Anson Wainwright – Thought its early days any idea when you maybe back in action?

Moruti Mthalane – I hope to fight end of the year, or early in the New Year. I would like unification.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team, who is your manager, trainer & Promoter? Also what gym do you use for training?

Moruti Mthalane – My trainer manager is Nick Durandt and the promoter of course Branco Milenkovic. The gym we using is “Durandt Boxing World”

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your early years in Johannesburg, were things tough? How did you first get involved in Boxing?

Moruti Mthalane – I’m originally from the cost city Durban. My older brother Innocent Mthalane was National Champion. I always had a dream to be national champion, and I never thought I would go far as IBF World Champion.

Anson Wainwright – You travelled to America and fought Nonito Donaire you lost when the fight was stopped on cuts in the sixth. What do you think of that fight looking back? How highly do you rate Donaire he’s now up at Super Flyweight and on Pound for Pound lists?

Moruti Mthalane – I was very unfortunate the way I lost first challenge for IBF Flyweight against Donaire in Las Vegas in November 2008. After losing first two rounds, I was getting on top of Donaire, but unfortunate cut at the beginning of round 6, have forced experience referee Cortez to stop the fight. I was very sad, and thought of giving up the boxing. I work hard over the years in order to challenge for Legitimate World Championship, and to lose on cut was very sad.

In the change room after Donaire fight, my promoter Branco Milenkovic promise me that he will work hard and get me another shot at the title with in one year. As always, Branco kept the promise and year later in November 2009 I challenged very experience fighter in Julio Miranda. I would love to fight Donaire again, but I don’t think he will be in hurry to give me a chance again.

Anson Wainwright – What do you think of the Flyweight division at the moment? There are several top fighters in Asia WBC Pongsaklek WBA Daiki Kameda plus Koki Kameda, Sakata & Naito what do you think of all those guys?

Moruti Mthalane – I would be very confident to take on any of those. I would not mind to give Miranda rematch, but now for both titles IBF and WBO.

Anson Wainwright – Away from Boxing what do you like to do with your time? What are your hobbies and interests?

Moruti Mthalane – I spend most of the time in the gym. Not only as a professional fighter, but I’m assisting executive clients in improving they health. I’m personal trainer for executives. The day is long and I don’t really go out – I spend any free time home reading, I love to read.

Anson Wainwright – If you weren’t a boxer what do you think you’d be doing?

Moruti Mthalane – I’m sure I will still be in Sport, maybe soccer player?!

Anson Wainwright – What has winning the title done for you? Has it raised your profile making you more popular in South Africa etc

Moruti Mthalane – With out doubt have changed my life! My family is very proud of me and the country as well. There weren’t many South African boxers who won Legitimate World Championships.

Anson Wainwright – What are your future goals in Boxing? Unification’s, fighting abroad move up to Super Flyweight?

Moruti Mthalane – For now I would like unification, but if opportunity comes to go division up and fight Donaire – I will take with both hands.

Thanks for your time Moruti.

Best Wishes

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

Eight years ago Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post’s longtime book critic, mentioned his policy about reviewing friends’ works. He doesn’t do it. He didn’t explain why, but his reasoning must reduce to a fear of losing readers, or friends. The policy struck me as too strict, then.

It still does. A disclaimer in the form of a disclosure should suffice for interested readers. To wit: Thomas Hauser is a friend and mentor of mine. He is also a colleague of sorts; next month a book we wrote together, “The Legend of Muhammad Ali,” will be published. There, now let’s get to it.

On Friday, Oct. 1, Hauser’s 2010 collection “Boxing Is . . .” (The University of Arkansas Press; $22.50) will go on sale. It is 270 pages of articles written about boxing in 2009. It comprises four self-explanatory sections – “Fights and Fighters”, “Curiosities”, “Issues and Answers” and “Non-Combatants” – and captures a year of prizefighting well as any of Hauser’s collections has.

Reading “Boxing Is . . .” subjects you to one theme more than others. Quiet validation. The articles, arranged as they are, validate one another much the way time has validated them since they were written.

After an opening biographical piece about Sugar Ray Robinson, Hauser profiles two New York prospects. The second such profile, about Danny Jacobs, bursts with confident proclamations from its subject and ends on a prophetic note from the author: “Time will tell.” It did, indeed, when Jacobs got comprehensively undone by an unknown Russian in July. But that’s not the crafty part.

Hauser’s craft comes through in the next article, the first of four dedicated to Manny Pacquiao. And that craft is juxtaposition. An American who has accomplished almost nothing while speaking brashly sits beside a Filipino who has accomplished almost everything while speaking modestly. Is that an accident?

I can’t imagine it. Hauser is meticulous – in the sense that he will never have to revisit his work and wonder what the hell he was thinking when he wrote something (or arranged it).

There are other points of subtle craft. Take this passage from an article about light-hitting Israeli Yuri Foreman:

“The English equivalent of ‘Yuri’ is ‘George.’ When it comes to punching power, George Foreman and Yuri Foreman are vastly different fighters.”

That’s a fun bit of miscellany, but it’s also worth reviewing. The more you play with those two sentences – rearranging them, eliminating surnames, trying pronouns – the more you see the author’s fingerprints; Hauser considered other deliveries before settling on the right one.

Another feature of Hauser’s writing this year, as in past years, is his exceptional access to fighters. In the prologue to a different book, due in November and for which Hauser provided text – “Box” by photographer Holger Keifel (Chronicle Books; $29.95) – Hauser shares the philosophy of access that brought him to prizefighting:

“But one can’t just walk into Yankee Stadium and talk with the New York Yankees. . . . Boxing, by contrast, is the most open of all sports. A fan can walk into virtually any gym in any city in the world and talk with the fighters who are training there.”

The boxer whose accessibility Hauser wisely makes the most of is Manny Pacquiao. Granted dressing-room passes before and after Pacquiao’s 2009 fights with Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, Hauser unfurls two of his last-word treatments of the matches. He complements these with two other articles, “Tina Meets Manny” and “Fighter of the Decade.” We now know Hauser intends to surround Pacquiao with eyewitness accounts the way he surrounded another iconic figure, Muhammad Ali. Don’t bet against him.

Especially if you’re a fellow writer. Hauser works within a different timeframe. Nowhere is this clearer than in a short tribute he does to Nathan Lee and La Mont Starks, two men who sit at a table outside MGM Grand’s media center every fight week.

That is, Hauser paused to chat with those two guys then wrote 500 words about Lee and Starks while the rest of us dashed past them to jockey for promoter-canned quotes.

But the most important contribution of “Boxing Is . . .” likely will be Hauser’s treatment of HBO. Along with offering a worthwhile thought experiment in boxing’s long-term prospects without the cable network, Hauser provides a 10-point manifesto for improving HBO’s coverage of our beloved sport.

By my count, five of those 10 recommendations have been addressed since Hauser confronted the president of HBO Sports directly. Three have been checked-off, and two have been considered.

More important, though, is the tone. In January of 2009, “Memorandum for Ross Greenburg” appeared at Hauser’s online home, SecondsOut.com. I later criticized the piece as “unnecessarily harsh and personal.” Well. I just reread the letter last week, and – to borrow Twain’s satire – I was astonished at how much Hauser had learned in 22 months.

Hauser’s ferocity in the 35 pages he devotes to HBO is one summoned from a love of boxing and well-hidden optimism. He genuinely thinks HBO can be improved if not fixed. His criticism has aged well.

Lastly are Hauser’s instructive features on two figures in the final section of “Boxing Is . . .” Seth Abraham, former president of HBO Sports, presents himself as a learned and content individual. And the late Arthur Curry, former manager of sports-talent relations at HBO, is presented as a heroic figure bringing contentment to others. An inquiry of Abrahams’ portrait – can I say this about my life? – and of Curry’s portrait – can others say this about my life? – provide two guideposts for good living.

Online, some of us don’t read Hauser’s serious pieces because they are long. Others don’t take his short pieces seriously because they’re under 5,000 words. Both problems are solved by revisiting him in book form. “Boxing Is . . .” belongs on your shelf because it encapsulates 2009, but buy it because you’ll enjoy the read.

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

The last month has been about Floyd Mayweather Jr,’s arrest and racist rant, Ricky Hatton’s trip to rehab after looking like a drug cartel’s favorite customer and another lawsuit in the Golden Boy-Top Rank war-without-end.

I didn’t mention Sergio Mora-Shane Mosley. I didn’t see it. I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was tempted to look for the closest exit. Then, November appeared without a turkey on the calendar.

It begins on Nov. 6 with the rescheduled Juan Manuel Lopez-versus-Rafael Marquez bout at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand, followed by Antonio Margarito-Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13 beneath the Jerrytron at Dallas Cowboys Stadium, then Paul Williams-Sergio Martinez II on Nov. 20 at Atlantic City and Juan Manuel Marquez-Michael Katsidis, also at Vegas’ MGM.

If that’s not enough, the banquet continues on Dec. 11 with Amir Kahn-Marcos Maidana at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay.

The sudden sequence of compelling fights, a timely relief to mounting frustration, is also a timely reminder of the game’s inexhaustible quality. Resiliency defines the business, keeps it in business, a lot like the Mickey Ward or Aruro Gatti or Michael Carbajal or any of the other stubborn legends who got up from knockdowns and came back from defeat. .

Make no mistake, nothing in November will mend the damage left by the fractious and failed negotiations for Pacquiao-Mayweather. That’s the one fight that could push the sport off the fringe and back into the mainstream for a few days or maybe a week. But it wouldn’t have won over casual fans or newspaper editors who have never liked it anyway. They would have gone back to ignoring it altogether.

Pacquiao-Mayweather might still happen one day, although reasons for doubt lurk in the four felony counts facing Mayweather, who also was charged with four misdemeanors more than a week ago and within days of a racist video directed at Pacquiao. Meanwhile, an apparent political career is just beginning for Filipino Congressman Pacquiao. Elements are falling into place for a change, which was also evident Saturday in 39-year-old Mosley, whose age seemed to be as much of an opponent as Mora in a dull draw.

The good news about November is that the business can move past Pacquiao-Mayweather, which has been sucking the wind out the sport for all of this year and some of last. The new guard is there, poised to step into the vacuum with a restoration of punches and promise instead of criminal charges and lawsuits.

Martinez promoter Lou DiBella said it best Thursday during the formal announcement of the rematch with Williams.

“We’re fading as an industry,’’ DiBella said. “There are some days I wake up and wonder if the sport is going to be around five years from now. This is the kind of fight the sport needs.”

This is the kind of month it needs, a November which is an appropriate time to say thanks for resiliency that so far has always been there.

CLICK TO ORDER THE FIGHT
Teon “The Technician” Kennedy (15-0-1 6 KOs) of North Philadelphia, PA looks to improve on his undefeated record while Alex “The Diablo” Becerra (20-8 9 KO’s) out of the West Texas town of El Paso will try to regain the form that propelled him to a 17-2 pro start as they headline this Saturday’s card from Bally’s Grand Ballroom in Atlantic City, NJ.

The scheduled 12 rounder for the vacant NABA title will cap a 7 bout card that begins at 7:30 and can be seen worldwide on gofightlive.tv.

Kennedy, ranked sixth in the world by The International Boxing Federation (IBF), is no stranger to Bally’s. The 2004 National Golden Gloves Champion has victories over Lucian Gonzalez and Jose Angel Berranza and drew with Lante Addy at the same venue where he will lace up Saturday evening. The scrappy Philadelphian also holds The United States Boxing Association (USBA) super bantamweight title.

The card also features two more sons of the City of Brotherly Love, Dennis Hasson (10-0 3) and Tommie Speller (5-4 3 KOs), who square in the 8 round super middle weight co-feature.
In what some people think is the best match up of the evening, Ronald Cruz (9-0 6KOs) of Bethlehem, PA takes on Dillet Fredrick (7-3-3 4KOs) out of Fort Meyers, FL in a 6 round light welterweight matchup.

New Jerseyans Chris Green of Asbury Park and meets Toms Rivers’ Deroy Beaton in a four round lightweight contest, while Atlantic City’s very own Lindwood Hurd battles Millville’s Julio Dejesus. Camden’s Jason Sosa is also appearing on the card.

This Saturday European Champion John Murray 29-0(17) will make the first defence of his title against grizzled veteran Andriy Kudriavtsev 34-7(15). It wont be an easy for Murray 25, Kudriavtsev started out his career with 5 loses in his first 9 fights and has turned his career around since a bad start to his career. Manchester based Murray will be looking to do something that only former world champion Paulus Moses has so far achieved in stopping the tough Ukrainian. He hopes that if he can take care of business and extend the longest unbeaten current run in British Boxing that he can get a world title fight in the next 12 months. Currently Murray is WBC 3# & WBO 9#.

Hello John, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – This weekend you make the first defence of your European title against Andriy Kudriavtsev what do you know about him? How good do you think he is?

John Murray – I think he’s very good, I watched plenty of tapes and DVD’s on him. Yeah he’s a good fighter. He’s very good at what he does. He throws good bodyshots and he’s very strong. So I’ve got to make sure I’m at my very peak condition, which I have done. I’ve had a great training camp and looking forward to the fight more than anything.

Anson Wainwright – How do you see the fight going?

John Murray – I think he’s going to be competitive early but as the fight wears on my extra level in class should take over and I’m thinking I’ll stop him him around the mid round rounds. Round 8.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about the training you have done for this fight? How long you have been in camp, what sort of things you concentrated on?

John Murray – I’ve had a good 10 week camp. It’s gone really well it’s been one of the best I’ve had in two or three years. I’ve had good quality sparring with my stable mate Anthony Crolla (An 18-2(6) Super Featherweight who’s in training for an English title fight on 2 October against Andy Morris) he’s at our gym. It’s gone well and I’m looking forward to the fight. We used the normal routine. We got a set plan, set structure we use everytime. We’re expecting a really good performance from myself.

Anson Wainwright – In your last fight you won the vacant European title against Gary Buckland stopping him in eleven. What can you tell us about that fight? Looking at that fight how happy were you with that performance?

John Murray – Yeah i was very happy. That fight i only had 3 weeks notice so you know i had to cram a lot of work into them 3 weeks to get myself in shape in time. I went in there, it was a bit rushed (The training) but on the night i broke Gary down steadily over the 11 rounds and considering the late notice it was a very good performance.

Anson Wainwright- How easily do you make Lightweight?

John Murray – I make weight easily. I think i showed that last time. Considering i had 3 weeks i was down on weight and over the 11 rounds i showed how strong i am.

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

John Murray – I’m managed by Michael Marsden from up Leeds way. My trainer is Joe Gallagher and i’m currently promoted by Mick Hennessy.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your amateur career?

John Murray – I only had 24 amateur fights i was 16-8. It was a very short amateur career the first year i went to the school boy final. In the second year i went to the Junior ABA final and in the third year i went to the North West finals of the ABA’s i also boxed for England twice.

Anson Wainwright – Though you obviously don’t want to look past this fight what are your targets for the next 6months to a year?

John Murray – I think i’m knocking on the door for the world title shot. The WBC have me at number 3 now. So it wont be long before i get my chance. I just have to take care of business Saturday and you know after that hopefully i’ll get a world title shot and i’m sure i’ll bring it home.

Anson Wainwright – There is a bit of rivalry between yourself and Kevin Mitchell and Amir Khan what are your thoughts on them and a fight with them?

John Murray – I think me and Khan would be a massive fight down the line. I think Kevin after losing to Katsidis is looking to rebuild. You know down the line maybe we could get it on.

Anson Wainwright – You’ve been a pro now for 7 years and had 30 fights after this one, how far from a World title do you think you are?

John Murray – I’d like to be a world champion in the next twelve months. I don’t know any reason why I can’t be. I’ve just got to make sure I do a good job Saturday. And after this fight I’m going to hopefully be fighting for a world title or one of the big names & get myself a title eliminator. I’m really excited about the next 12 months.

Anson Wainwright – When your not Boxing what do you like to do with your time? What are your hobbies and interests?

John Murray – I just like to chill out really. I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend we go for meals and stuff like that. I enjoy going to the pictures or me and Joseph (younger brother) will go play some pool. When I’m not training I go for a drink with my mates.

Anson Wainwright – You just mentioned your younger brother Joe, he was a very successful amateur fighting in the Worlds and Olympic games. How he doing at the moment?

John Murray – Yeah he’s fighting on the undercard of my fight on Saturday. He’s looking razor sharp in the gym at the minute. So I’m sure he’s going to be spectacular Saturday night.

Anson Wainwright – What do you think of the Lightweight division at the moment?

John Murray – I think the Lightweight division on the world stage is wide open. You know it’s there for the taking. If I can get myself in a fight with Marquez or Katsidis I’ll takeover and become the dominant figure in the Lightweight division.

Anson Wainwright – Who do you think will win when Marquez fights Katsidis?

John Murray -I think Marquez will win it, I think he’s a bit to cute, a bit to clever for Katsidis.

Anson Wainwright – Do you have a message for the Kudriavtsev and the Lightweight division in general?

John Murray – I’m just working hard, training hard and coming for a world title. I’m looking at fighting for a world title in the next 12 months and I’m sure I’m going to bring it home.

Thanks for your time John, good luck on Saturday.

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.

The powerful rags to riches story of Kassim Ouma has been well publicized in print, television and most notably in a documentary feature film. Kidnapped at the age of six to be part of the National Resistance Army in Uganda, Ouma beat immeasurable odds to realize his dream of becoming a world champion at 25. Now a veteran 31-year-old, five years removed from his title reign, Ouma has set out to realize the dream a second time. His journey begins Saturday night, in an important crossroads bout against Joey Gilbert at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada.

If one were to take a quick look at the official ledger of Ouma (26-7-1, 16 KOs) of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida by way of Kampala, Uganda, they may think he is a fighter on the decline. Ouma has dropped five of his last six contests and has not won a meaningful fight in over four years. But if you were to look a little deeper, you would notice that there is more to that story.

The first of those five losses was suffered at the hands of Jermain Taylor, who was defending his unified middleweight title. Ouma was coming up in weight, having never fought as a 160-pounder before, and was more or less overpowered by a larger, skilled fighter. “As you can see, since I fought Taylor he has been getting knocked down,” Ouma points out. “He has not been the same.”

Ouma’s next three losses take a little more explaining. Ouma at his best probably does not lose to Saul Roman or Gabriel Rosado, which he did in split decisions in 2007 and 2009 respectively. In his first fight after the loss to Roman, Ouma was upset by then-lightly regarded Cornelius Bundrage, who went on to claim a title from Cory Spinks earlier this year. “There were some fights that maybe I should have won, but maybe I was not prepared,” admits Ouma. “But now I am ready to do it again.”

Exhibit A that Ouma is in fact ready to do it again would be his last performance, a controversial decision defeat suffered at the hands of rising contender Vanes Martirosyan this past January. Ouma downed Martirosyan in round nine and it was the belief of many sitting ringside and watching on television that he deserved the nod on the scorecards. However, the judges gave him little credit and scored the fight wide for Martirosyan. “I have fights that I did not really lose, they were just controversial,” explains Ouma. “I don’t think they really beat me.”

For the fight against Martirosyan, his best performance in years, Ouma was trained by former world champion Livingstone Bramble, who is not training him for this fight. “We didn’t get along,” Ouma explains simply. “He was a good trainer, but we just couldn’t get along. I am with a different trainer, a different gym.” Ouma trained for this fight under the guidance of respected trainer Ruben Castanon out of the Capital Punishment Boxing Club in Riverside, California.

For this fight against Gilbert, Ouma is moving back up to the 160-pound middleweight division. The change seems to be a result of circumstance more so than a plotted path for the former IBF Light Middleweight Champion. “I was looking for fights all over everywhere,” says Ouma frustratingly. “I could not get nobody to give me a fight. Thanks to Joey for giving me this fight. This fight is big. If I win, I have decided that I am going to stay middleweight.” While making weight is not likely to be much of an issue for the career junior middleweight, Ouma did not alter his training regimen based on the elevated weight class. “It does not change my preparation,” claims Ouma. “I just train like I have been training, and just have more speed than ever.”

Much as was the case when he stepped up in weight to meet Taylor (his only other fight at middleweight), Ouma will be taking on a naturally larger opponent. Gilbert was a ranked middleweight three years ago and has been campaigning recently as a 168-pounder. In Gilbert’s last fight, he weighed in officially at 172-pounds, roughly fourteen pounds more than Ouma has ever weighed. Despite those facts, Ouma does not seem too concerned about any size or strength advantages Gilbert may have in the bout. “I don’t know [how it affects] him. I just know he has been a middleweight before, says Ouma. “It does not matter. We are just going to fight.”

Ouma has studied previous Joey Gilbert fights, but refuses to read too much into what he saw in the footage. “I think he is a tough guy, but watching him doesn’t mean he is going to bring it in the fight, because he is fighting a different cookie,” says Ouma. “When he fights me, he is not going to have the same plan.”

The outcome of Saturday’s fight, which is for the WBA-affiliated NABA Middleweight title, will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on the career of both fighters. “I am focused on becoming champion of the world again. That is what I want,” says Ouma. “But right now I am just focused on Gilbert and that is it.” Should Ouma move past Joey Gilbert Saturday, fight fans ringside may have witnessed the beginnings of Kassim’s second dream run. No matter the outcome, Ouma has a promise. “The people are going to see Kassim Ouma back in the ring, bringing what I always deliver and I will deliver that night.”

Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank

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

“Atlantic City is dying.”

That’s if it’s not already dead.

The proclamation that the east coast gambling hub is “dying” passed through the lips of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose administration is planning a massive government overhaul of Atlantic City’s gambling and entertainment district.

Steadily on the decline for the past decade, Atlantic City’s revenue has dropped at alarming rates of late; rates that have declined exponentially since 2006 when slot parlors were first introduced in neighboring Pennsylvania. Couple that with the recent legalization of table games in the Keystone State and sports gambling in Delaware and suddenly Atlantic City looks as unattractive as ever.

But no matter what surrounding states do in their efforts to compete with the gambling capital of the east, Atlantic City will invariably have its rich history on its side. A rich history that, of course, includes the sport of boxing.

Setting aside the fact that “AC” has our country’s oldest and longest boardwalk — since 1870, in fact — for the last thirty years it has served as boxing mecca, along with a gambling one.

Once gambling was given the green light by New Jersey legislators in 1976, casinos soon started popping up on the familiar of street of Monopoly fame.

With the casinos came the gambling and entertainment, boxing included. With the gambling and entertainment came the tourists. With the tourists came the money.

In the 80‘s and 90‘s when Atlantic City was operating like a well-oiled machine, it was the Historic Atlantic City Convention Center, now known as Boardwalk Hall, that hosted some of the best fighters to ever step through the ropes and into a boxing ring: Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio Cesar Chavez, Roberto Duran, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, George Foreman…etc, etc. Further, Boardwalk Hall played a part in what was arguably the greatest boxing trilogy in the last thirty years, hosting the final two fights between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward.

While Atlantic City still hosts boxing on a consistent basis, no big promoter has attempted to continually showcase their fighter in “AC” in recent times. Even Main Events, who put together countless cards at Boardwalk Hall have showcased its prized possession, Tomasz Adamek, some 120 miles up the Garden State Parkway in Newark. In years past, the Duva-led promotional company virtually sent all its fighters down the coastline at some point: Pernell Whitaker, Evander Holyfield, Fernando Vargas, and the like. Atlantic City even had an adopted “hometown” fighter courtesy of Main Events in one Arturo Gatti. Towards the end of his career, Gatti could have filled half of Boardwalk Hall if he were shadowboxing.

But recent trends have seen a decline in interest with regards to the once-lively Atlantic City fight crow. When Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams fought on HBO last December, a measly gathering of about 5,000 fans were in attendance. Undoubtedly, there will be more to witness their rematch on November 20, but the numbers from their first bout are telling.

“AC” was mentioned — almost in passing — by Bob Arum as a possible site for the November 13 PPV bout between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito but once the Texas Athletic Commission licensed Antonio Margarito, Arum took his business back to Cowboys Stadium, where upwards of 70,000 boxing fans are expected to show up.

The Atlantic City boxing scene has much more of a pulse than the city itself. However, what the two do have in common is a decline in quality over the past few years. While fewer and fewer fights that would qualify as “super” fights or PPV worthy events come to Atlantic City, one can argue that the quality of fights occurring at Boardwalk Hall has declined greatly since the “Glory Days,” with a few outliers here and there (the upcoming Martinez-Williams II being one of them).

It is possible that if Atlantic City begins to thrive once again that the boxing industry will take notice and major PPV events and mega-fights could return to the Jersey Shore.

So it is up to Governor Christie and his team to construct the plan to resurrect this “dying” city.

According to Business Week, Governor’s Christie’s plan would allow the state to “direct the agency that runs Boardwalk Hall…to attract more meetings and shows.”

The plan also includes funding to create multiple entertainment districts, outdoor amphitheaters, waterparks, and new sports complexes — perhaps one that will host the next slew of big fights to pass through the oceanfront city.

It is still Las Vegas, however, that is the go-to spot for the big fights and big PPV events, despite the trend toward stadiums that has emerged over the last year or so.

But in order for Atlantic City to once again compete with Sin City for the biggest fights the sport has to offer, it needs the makeover that Christie has in mind. For a desperate city whose casinos are struggling to stay in the black, a fresh approach to the entertainment aspect of the city might just be what the doctor ordered.

Then, and only then, will Atlantic City transform into “Las Vegas East.”

One thing is for sure, the Christie administration is counting on the wise words of one Terrance Mann as portrayed by James Earl Jones.

If you “re-build” it, they will come.

With regards to both tourism and to boxing’s biggest fights: at least that is the hope.

You can reach Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

Recently Mzonke “The Rose of Khayelitsha” Fana 30-4(12) won the IBF Super Featherweight title for a second time when he beat countryman and former nemesis Cassius Baloyi. It was a rematch from 2008 when Baloyi won, this time Fana got off to a better start and won convincingly. Over the past few years the South African quartet of Fana, Baloyi & Malcolm Klassen have all taken turns in holding the IBF title. With the win over Baloyi, Fana hopes that he can fight Klassen and repeat his previous victory in what would be a big fight in South Africa. At 37 Fana is a 16 year veteran at 130 and is considered the number 1 Super Featherweight by many including The Ring magazine & Boxrec. Here’s what Fana had to say when 15rounds.com recently spoke to him.

Hello Mzonke, welcome to 15rounds.com

Thank you! Nice to talk to your reputable website for the first time!

Anson Wainwright – Congratulations on your recent win over Cassius Baloyi for the vacant IBF Super Featherweight title. What can you tell us about that fight? How happy were you with your performance?

Mzonke Fana – I was very happy about my performance. This was the second time I fought Cassius. In our first fight two years ago, somehow I started “too late” and give away first 5 rounds. On the end, I lost my IBF title on majority decision. I could not afford the same again, so I started putting pressure from the opening bell and maintain it in all 12 rounds. Cassius is great fighter. He had many fights in USA and he never lost. It is great for me to be two times IBF World Champion.

Anson Wainwright – What does the future hold for you? When can we expect to see you back in action next? Who may you be fighting?

Mzonke Fana – Well, I’m no very young and at age of 37 I need two, three big fights in order to make same money. I will be waiting on my Promoter, and possibly end of the year I should be making the first defence.

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

Mzonke Fana – My manager is Butityi Konki and trainers Vuyani Bungu and Gert Strydom. You should remember Bungu. He defended his IBF Jnr. Featherweight Title 13 times and against some very big names at that point and time. Of course, my promoter is Mr. Branco Milenkovic. I have been with Mr. Branco for the past 10 years.

Anson Wainwright – There is a rivalry between yourself and Baloyi and more recently Malcolm Klassen. What can you tell us about this rivalry? Are you all good friends or not?

Mzonke Fana – Yes, we are all good friends but this is business. I would like to fight Klassen again, whom I already have beaten for the IBF World Title. It is big local match and as he has beaten Cassius as well, this fight does make sense.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your early years and how life first took you into Boxing?

Mzonke Fana – You are going to laugh. After I was given very bad split decision against my “homeboy” Mkhuseli Kondile for the National Title in 1997, I was so disappointed and I left the boxing for almost two years. I went to play soccer for Cape Town Ajax, and I never wanted to go back to boxing – I was very good soccer player!!

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do away from Boxing? What are your hobbies? What can you tell us about yourself that we wouldn’t know?

Mzonke Fana – I like soccer very much and music but as a professional fighter, most of the time I spend is something what have to do with boxing.

Anson Wainwright – You’ve been a pro for 16 years, what is your proudest moment and why?

Mzonke Fana – I receive the most prestigious award – The State President Award for Sport Excellence, and this was my proudest moment. Of course, I was voted two times as a Boxer of the Year as well, and my fight against Randy Suico for WBC Mandatory eliminator was voted fight of the year.

Anson Wainwright – How popular are you in South Africa? Do you do commercials and appear on tv? The Football World Cup takes place in June what are your thoughts on that?

Mzonke Fana – I’m popular as I been around for very long time. I do charity TV commercials by making awareness of HIV for young people. HIV has been major problem in Africa.

Anson Wainwright – You fought Marco Antonio Barrera, though it didn’t go well for you can you tell us about the experience of fighting a legend & being in America?

Mzonke Fana – Yes, with out doubt was very big experience to fight legendary Barrera. I thought I could do better, but Barrera is Barrera.

Anson Wainwright – What do you think of the Super Featherweight division at the moment? WBC Vitali Tajbert, WBA Takashi Uchiyama & WBO Ricky Burns?

Mzonke Fana – I would love to fight any unification with any of those three. Maybe Vitali Tajbert would be option. I will talk to Branco about.

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

Mzonke Fana – Keep punching and keep reading 15rounds.com!!!

Anson Wainwright – Thanks for your time “The Rose of Khayelitsha”

Mzonke Fana – The rose is blooming!!!!

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

SAN ANTONIO – There was an excellent festival here called “Jazz’Salive,” downtown, Saturday. Some rain and lots of clouds, too. The rain was unwelcome but the clouds weren’t. No charge, though. Anyone who followed his ears to Travis Park got free jazz. And while that happened, a half mile down West Travis Street a whole lot of boxing happened for only $8 more.

That’s why it was so easy to forgo “200” later that night.

For a little less than 1/6 the price of “200: Celebrate and Dominate,” a four-fight Golden Boy Promotions pay-per-view card that certainly should not have been, a boxing fan round here could see 30 amateur bouts in a club show presented at San Fernando Gym by the South Texas Amateur Boxing Association.

The name of Saturday’s other card referred to the 200-year anniversary of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s famous “Grito” of death to the Gachupines and long life for the Virgin of Guadalupe. The shout launched Nueva España’s battle to become México and sufficed for 100 years till something like a Mexican civil war, oddly called “La Revolución,” led to another anniversary and sundry schoolhouse-renaming efforts.

San Antonio Parks and Recreation’s card featured more than a few kids whose lineage traces back to Spanish rule, too. Most names on the bout sheet that didn’t end in ‘s’ or ‘z’ went Guajardo or Garcia.

San Fernando Gym, itself, had a celebratory feel. Or maybe that was just the air conditioning. Some members didn’t know the basement could boast temperatures below 100 degrees; a heater blows year-round at the gym, even when it’s 95 outside. There was yellow tape across the heavy bags, and the speed bags, slip bags and double-end bags were in storage. In their stead were hundreds of aluminum folding chairs, convenient if not comfortable for five hours of boxing.

And it’s boxing, not fighting, by the way. The distinction is often a pedantic one, but there is a difference. Amateurs are boxers that outpoint one another in bouts. Professionals are prizefighters that hurt one another in fights.

There are some other differences. Amateurs wear headgear and heavy gloves and punch for shorter durations. Fatigue takes its same effect, though. That’s where it gets interesting. If you have less time and fewer means of inducing fatigue in your opponent, what do you do? Try harder. That means more punches and less defense. And that means quicker pace.

Quicker pace than, say, Saul “Cinnamon” Alvarez and Carlos Baldomir? Indeed. That fight on the “200” card featured an under-proven Mexican hopeful and a worn-out Argentine, and opening reviews were not positive. Then Alvarez stretched the hard-headed former welterweight champ, and hope was restored.

Alvarez is not the next great Mexican prizefighter. But he’ll suffice until Bob Arum finds him.

Hundreds of punches fly every couple of minutes in an amateur bout. Knockouts are few. Not many kids have the skill or strength to render another boxer unconscious. Too, there is a focus on process – one kid was penalized twice Saturday because his mouthpiece protruded – as much as on winning. And that’s a good way to build upstanding citizens if not future prizefighters.

Even with all the extra cushioning, though, future stars separate themselves. Saturday, that was Jairo Castaneda – a San Fernando product who knocked his opponent out hard. You can tell right away; some kids have a certain poise, regardless of fighting style. It’s impossible to fake. Castaneda measured his opponent for a round then exploited his every weakness.

Sounds like Victor Ortiz did the same thing to “Vicious” Vivian Harris in Staples Center later on. Good. Harris should not have been allowed back in a prizefighting ring after the stunt he pulled in Tucson 13 months ago. Realizing Mexican Noe Bolanos was going to beat him, Harris used an accidental collision of heads to fake a brain injury. His gurney ride from the ring actually drew taunts from the crowd at Desert Diamond Casino. When have you ever heard a gurney booed?

Worse yet, out of concern for Harris’ health we spiked a great lead that night:

“Vivian Harris entered the ring wearing ‘Vicious’ as his nickname and ‘Sugar Factory’ on the back of his trunks. The trunks won.”

That brings us to the Saturday bout that, for personal reasons, comprised the most interest: San Fernando’s Jimmy Martinez Jr. against Cutting Edge’s Henry Arredondo in a 119-pound bout of three, 90-second rounds. See, Jimmy Jr. and his father Jimmy Sr. train every weeknight at San Fernando. And they are a picture of class.

“I’m teaching him boxing because that’s what I know,” says Jimmy Sr., once a local amateur standout. “If I knew tennis, I’d teach him tennis.”

He’s also going to have to teach him not to cock his jab before throwing it. Arredondo read this hitch in Jimmy Jr.’s swing early and managed to slip every jab thrown his way. Still, the bout was excellent and worth the wait. And that’s saying something about less than five minutes of boxing that came in a card’s 325th minute.

Anyone think the main event of “200” was worth the wait? Then forgive but don’t forget. That goes for Golden Boy Promotions, of course, but more for HBO – who lent its dwindled credibility to the card.

Oh, let me guess. If it weren’t for pay-per-view, Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora would have had to split the gate – a fraction of their Saturday purses – and those of us not in Los Angeles would have missed the chance to see them. Such a bad deal?

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter.com/bartbarry

Nearly one year ago Allan Green was featured by Showtime in what many considered a “bullpen” type of fight, before Green was asked to enter the Super Six Tournament. Green’s opponent that night, Tarvis Simms was brought in on short notice, and expected to play the role of a tune up. Simms had other plans.

“I proved I can compete with anyone that night. I went into his promoter’s show, in his backyard, and I thought I won the fight” Simms said of his performance that night.

Scorecards aside (Green won a decision), Simms looked impressive, especially considering the situation he was up against. Given his performance that night one would have imagined Simms would be poised for another opportunity in the coming months. That assumption would prove to be deadly inaccurate. Simms is approaching 12 months of inactivity and he insists that has not been by choice.

“Believe me it has nothing to do with me. I’m ready able and willing to get in there and fight the best of them”

Simms says that his promotion has dropped him by the wayside, while he remains in top notch form, and is physically and mentally prepared for a premiere fight. While a rematch with Green doesn’t seem to be written in the stars Simms has said he would have liked to have done battle with a fighter like Kelly Pavlik.

“We wanted Green again but they didn’t want to entertain the idea. I’d like to fight Pavlik, I think the fans would love it, I do well with bigger fighters” the Connecticut native said.

Tarvis also told me a story of a fight being presented to him with a purse offer intact, Tarvis referred the offer to his management, who later suspiciously presented it back to him with a smaller purse attached. It’s no secret that boxing is home to some ill practices behind the scene, but Tarvis seems to be a case that simply cannot catch a break. With Green remaining his only loss, Simms holds impressive wins over Marcus Upshaw and Carl Daniels, but can’t seem to get the attention of fighters at the next level.

Simms’ situation seems to be another example of boxing’s all too familiar dark side. After putting forth an impressive effort in October of last year, perhaps he drove opportunities away by proving to be a riskier opponent. Either way, his performance has not been rewarded and Simms has been stung by the business of boxing.

While talking with Tarvis Simms I got the impression that he is sincere in his message to the boxing community, that he is ready to fight anyone at any time or place. If you said boxing was struggling, you may be right, you may be wrong, but you wouldn’t be the first. You could search for flaws within the game all day long, but Tarvis Simms is not one of them. If there were more fighters like Tarvis Simms there would be fewer fights that should have but didn’t happen. While Tarvis Simms current situation is difficult to understand, for anyone familiar with him, he is not difficult to root for.

The self-proclaimed face of boxing was captured last week in a booking photo. Floyd Mayweather Jr. looks as if he has a chance to go to the senior prom instead of prison. He’s smiling.

Or is that a sneer? Whatever it is, it’s no joke.

It turned deadly serious Thursday with news that the Clark County Attorney’s office in Las Vegas has charged Mayweather with four felony counts of coercion, robbery and grand larceny in addition to four misdemeanor counts on battery and harassment for an alleged incident involving former girlfriend Josie Harris on Sept. 9.

Just a couple of months ago, it looked as if Mayweather, who faces 34 years behind bars if convicted on all charges, would be busy in early November. He will be, but not against Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather is scheduled for arraignment in Las Vegas on Nov. 9, four days before he was supposed to have Pacquiao on his schedule.

Instead, Pacquiao faces Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. Instead of a record-setting payday against Pacquiao, Mayweather has a chance at being O.J. Simpson’s roommate. Why-oh-why is he smiling? There’s a theory that none of this would have happened if Mayweather had agreed to the fight. He would have been in training. The regimen would have keep him busy and out of trouble.

It’s a good argument, but not convincing, at least not from this corner. He is always training. It’s routine, Mayweather’s lifestyle. So, too, is trouble, which has always lurked like a bad rumor. Yet, Mayweather has been able to elude serious consequences, including assault complaint in 2003 from Harris, who backed off the allegation at a trial in 2005. Oscar De La Hoya, a regular target of Mayweather’s trash-talk, has taken the high road, expressing sympathy for his former rival and current promotional client.

Maybe, Mayweather’s troubles are a cry for help, De La Hoya said while promoting the Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora fight Saturday night at Los Angeles’ Staples Center in a week-long celebration of the 200-year anniversary of the Mexican Revolution.

Maybe, but Mayweather’s self-destructive spiral might be a symptom of something predicted a couple of years ago by Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum, Mayweather’s former promoter. Months before two rounds of failed negotiations, Arum said Mayweather wouldn’t fight Pacquiao because the welterweight didn’t want to take a chance at jeopardizing his unbeaten record.

Late last year, Mayweather suddenly shattered an apparent agreement for a bout in March by parroting unconfirmed gossip that Pacquiao used performance-enhancers. The deal fell apart with Mayweather’s demand for random, Olympic-style drug-testing.

A couple of months ago, there was a flurry of speculation, including a midnight media call with Arum. Again, there was no deal, yet many denials from the Mayweather camp about whether there were any talks at all.

A couple of weeks ago, Mayweather unleashed a racist, homophobic video directed at Pacquiao. The alleged incident at the Harris’ residence in Las Vegas quickly followed.

If there is a parallel, maybe it is Mike Tyson. During his days of rage, commentator Teddy Atlas, who also trained the retired heavyweight, theorized that Tyson’s behavior was the expression of a fighter doing everything he could not to fight.

Sound familiar? It’s beginning to.

Mayweather acts as if he is doing all he can not to fight Pacquiao.

Maybe that explains the smile.

In what may be the most ambitious move in boxing since an Attorney General told Frankie Carbo that the sport would be better off without him, a world league has formed.

And it pays. Scheduled to begin in November of 2010, it calls itself the World Series of Boxing (WSB) and with 12 teams scattered across the globe in places like Azerbijan, China, Los Angeles, Paris, India and Milan it may, unlike its Americentric baseball namesake, actually live up to that billing.

There are three divisions: Europe, Asia and the Americas, with four teams in each—though the exact location of the would be teams has been somewhat fluid. Sites in London, New York, Chicago and Boston have fallen through, but the current lineup of American cities does include Los Angeles, Miami, Mexico City and Memphis, Tennessee.

Boxers in the WSB are required to sign three year contracts and salaries are said to range around $25,000 per year, with an additional $5,000 for each win, $1000 for each loss—though there is talk of adjustments to take account of the cost of living differences across the world that sound like significantly less dollars if you live in Bombay: “We have been struggling to regulate salaries and a salary cap. India’s money is worth different from the United States and France. It will be about $25,000 a year not including prize money per boxer,” said a Mr. Ivan Khodabakhsh, the Chief Operating Officer of the WSB in a recent interview. There is also talk in some of the dailies about a pay ceiling of $300,000—but it is not clear to me how one would get there from here—unless the championships pay big.

Participation is limited to boxers who have yet to fight a pro bout, and, with the league owned primarily by the International Boxing Association (AISA)— the governing body of Olympic boxing—perhaps not surprisingly, participation will not exclude a league boxer from later fighting in the Olympics. The league is a for profit affair— or at least it seeks to be.

The bouts are scheduled for 5 rounds, three minutes apiece without headgear. Scoring is on a ten point must system and will be visible after each round. There will be no draws and Olympic anti-doping rules will be in effect.

The four teams in each division are scheduled to engage each other (teams or not, no one “plays” boxing) four times during the course of the regular season, which will run from November 19th to March 19th—which equals out to twelve matches over the course of 14 weeks. The top two teams from each division enter the playoffs, culminating in a championship match scheduled in the Chinese city of Macau—gambling capital of The East.

The league will also hold individual championships—7 rounds— at each of its only five weight classes. That’s right, only five: bantamweight , 54kg/ 119lbs; lightweight 61kg/135lbs; middleweight 73kg/160lbs; light heavyweight 85kg/187lbs; and heavyweight 91kg/201+ lbs. The five individual champions will be awarded automatic berths into the Olympics.

Having seen Olympic boxing, or more pointedly, the judging in Olympic boxing, I’m a little reluctant to throw my proverbial hat into the league’s ring. But truth be told, I’ve seen judge’s cards in a number of pro fights these last few years that might have made even Frankie Carbo blush. Having said that, if there were a match anywhere closer to Newark, New Jersey than Memphis, Tennessee I’d find a way to get ringside.

Exercising what the poet Keats called “negative capability,” or the capacity for accepting uncertainty and the unresolved (yes, I’m thinking about the judges again), I find myself intrigued and heartened by the prospect of the WSB.

Even beyond the fact that winning will be at least five times better than losing for a boy wearing gloves, the league has a number of things to recommend it— not the least of which is that it’s the culmination of an idea uttered back in the 1950’s by the denizens of Stillman’s Gym and the Neutral Corner, the famous New York boxing bar a few blocks down from Stillman’s.

The great A.J. Liebling wrote:

“The immediate crisis in the United States, forestalling the one high living standards might bring on, has been caused by the popularization of a ridiculous gadget called television. This is utilized in the sale of beer and razor blades. The clients of the television companies [advertisers], by putting on a free boxing show almost every night of the week, have knocked out of business the hundreds of small-city and neighborhood boxing clubs where youngsters had a chance to learn their trade and journeyman to mature their skills. Consequently the number of good new prospects diminishes with every year, and the peddlers’ public is already being asked to believe that a boy with perhaps ten or fifteen fights behind him is a topnotch performer. Neither advertising agencies nor brewers, and least of all the networks, give a hoot if they push the Sweet Science back into the period of genre painting. When it is in a coma they will find some other way to peddle their peanuts.”

Fifty some-odd years later with Liebling’s coma circuit complete, the Heavyweight Champion of the World is fighting only on the internet here in the United States. Peanuts peddled decidedly elsewhere.
And the managers, trainers and ex-fighters at Stillman’s and the Corner? Liebling writes:

One school of savants holds that if the television companies are going to monopolize boxing they should set up a system of farm clubs to develop new talent. Another believes the situation will cure itself, but painfully. ‘Without the little clubs, nobody new will come up,’ a leader of this group argues. ‘The television fans will get tired of the same bums, the Hooper will drop, the sponsors will drop boxing, and then we can start all over again.’”

And maybe that’s what the World Series of Boxing is: a system of farm teams looking to start all over again.

Rocky Graziano’s manager, Irving Cohen, put it well: “Fighting is like education. The four-round fights are elementary school. Six rounders is high school. Feature bouts is college, but nowadays without the small clubs we got too many boys in college without sufficient preparation.”
So maybe we can look at the WSB as a kind of global prep school— teaching sweet science.

This Saturday several of the best fighters in Britain appear on a bumper Frank Warren promotion called “The Magnificent Seven” Though a few weeks back we had Darren Barker & Ryan Rhodes pull of there respective fights some good work behind the scene’s saw both fights saved with replacements stepping in. Here we look at the fights that make up an exciting night of Boxing that kicks off at 6pm on SKY PPV.

Nathan Cleverly –V- Karo Murat

WBO Light Heavyweight Title Eliminator.

http://www.15rounds.com/q-a-with-nathan-cleverly-031610/

http://www.15rounds.com/q-a-with-karo-murat-072710/

Hometown; Cefn Forest. Wales Kitzingen, Germany

Record; 19-0(9) 22-0(13)

Rounds boxed; 101 121

KO% 47 59

Age; 23 27

Height; 6’3 5’10

Rankings; The Ring Cleverly 8 Murat 6, Neither fighter rated in the top 15 by WBC or WBA. IBF Cleverly 4 & Murat 11 & WBO Cleverly 2 & Murat 3.

Betting 1/4 11/4

This fight is see’s both guys fighting the best fighter they have to date. Cleverly will look to dominate with the jab and put Murat on the back foot using his height and reach advantages. By the mid rounds Murat will become marked up and frustrated at being repeatedly caught trying to get inside. To Murat’s credit he’ll continue to try, while Cleverly will build up the points on way to a comfortable decision.

Enzo Maccarinelli –V- Alexander Frenkel

European Cruiserweight Title

http://www.15rounds.com/q-a-with-enzo-maccarinelli-082610/

http://www.15rounds.com/q-a-with-alexander-frankel/

Hometown; Swansea, Wales Wurzberg, Germany

Record; 32-4(25) 22-0(17)

Rounds Boxed; 128 74

KO% 69 77

Age; 30 25

Height; 6’4 6’1

Rankings; Neither fighter ranked in the Ring top 10; WBC Maccarinelli 8 Frenkel 7; WBA Maccarinelli 3 Frenkel 2; IBF Maccarinelli 11 Frenkel 6 & WBO Maccarinelli unranked Frenkel 12.

Betting 4/7 11/8

One thing that you can always guarantee with a Maccarinelli fight is fireworks. Both guys will start cautiously of the others power. That wont last long as they’ll quickly engage. I’d be surprised to see this one go beyond half way with Maccarinelli’s edge in power seeing him score an impressive stoppage.

Matthew Macklin -V- Shalva Jomardashvili

Vacant European Middleweight Title

http://www.15rounds.com/q-a-with-matthew-macklin-091410/

Hometown; Birmingham, England Gori, Georgia

Record; 26-2(18) 27-2-1(19)

Rounds Boxed; 133 139

KO 64 63

Age; 28 23

Height; 5’10 5’9

Rankings; The Ring Macklin 5, WBC 5, WBA 5, IBF 9, WBO 8. Jomardashvili unranked by any of the organisations.

Betting 1/25 10/1

The always professional Macklin wont have a problem finding Jomardashvili who’s a come forward brawler. Look for Macklin who can be a quick starter to get off to a good start and make an impression by pushing Jomardashvili backwards from there he’ll methodically breakdown the tough durable Georgian until finally around the fifth or sixth he’ll bludgeon his brave but outgunned opponent to the canvas before seeing the fight called off.

Matthew Hall –V- Lucas Konecny

Vacant European Light Middleweight Title

Hometown; Manchester, England Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic

Record; 23-2(16) 44-3(21)

Rounds Boxed; 91 287

KO 64 45

Age; 26 32

Height; 5’7 5’8

Rankings; Both unranked by The Ring, Hall is also unranked in any of the organisations while Konecny is ranked 8 by the IBF & 6 WBO.

Betting 6/5 8/13

Pocket dynamo Hall was already in training for a fight when Ryan Rhodes pulled of this fight so sharpness shouldn’t be a problem Konecny could be a whole different ball game though. Konecny is battle hardened and has two wins over Khoren Gevor (who went on to challenge for world titles at 160 & 168) & only lost a split decision to the super talented Sergei Dzindziruk. The signs all point to Konecny being a bit to seasoned and having to much no how for Hall who will start well but fade by the middle rounds before coming on down the stretch before losing a spirited unanimous decision that will raise his profile while Konecny will be able to push for a second World title fight.

Kell Brook –V- Michael Jennings

British Welterweight Title

http://www.15rounds.com/q-a-with-kell-brook-081010/

Hometown; Sheffield, England Chorley, England

Record; 21-0(14) 36-2(17)

Rounds Boxed; 78 213

KO 67 45

Age; 24 33

Height; 5’9 5’9

Rankings; Both unranked by The Ring, WBO Brook 1 & Jennings 10.

Betting 1/6 4/1

Arguably the fight that most people are looking forward too on the card. A battle of youth (Brook) verses experience (Jennings) could be a changing of the guard of sorts with Brook’s star ascending while Jennings could be perhaps on the wane. Brook is very confident and to some may come across as brash even arrogant it’s not though it’s complete belief in his ability, he see’s this as a fight that can help him break out and make a statement. For his part Jennings is a very proud warrior who was out of his league against Miguel Cottobut is determined to prove many wrong and cause the shock. Though he’ll have his moments slowly but surely Brook will chip away until around the ninth Brook will put the shots together and get the stoppage.

Derek Chisora –V- Sam Sexton

British & Commonwealth Heavyweight Title

Hometown; London, England Norwich, England

Record; 13-0(8) 13-1(6)

Rounds Boxed; 54 70

KO; 62 43

Age; 26 26

Height 6’1 6’2

Betting 2/5 15/8

In a rematch two and a bit years after they first met both guys have improved considerably. It looks nicely poised, however Chisora has been more active of late he possess the better chin and knows he can hurt Sexton having previously stopped him in 6 that makes me think he can repeat it probably around the same time.

James Degale –V- Carl Dilks

WBA International Super Middleweight Title

Hometown; London, England Liverpool, Eng

Record; 7-0(5) 14-2(5)

Rounds Boxed; 20 84

KO 71 31

Age; 24 26

Height; 6’0 5’11

Betting 1/9 11/2

Last time out Degale fought very aggressively walking down Sam Horton as soon as he realised he couldn’t be hurt. This fight wont be much different Dilks doesn’t have the fire power to make Degale respect him though he is very tough and that should see him give Degale the rounds he needs. Degale will either force a late stoppage or coast to a comfortable decision.

Frankie Gavin –V- Michael Kelly

Vacant Irish Light Welterweight Title

http://www.15rounds.com/q-a-with-funtime-frankie-gavin-090210/

Hometown; Birmingham, England Dundalk, Ireland

Record; 7-0(6) 8-2-1(2)

Rounds Boxed; 24 41

KO 86 20

Age; 24 35

Height; 5’10 5’8

Betting 1/50 12/1

Fighting at home is an added pressure, that doesn’t seem to phase Gavin in fact he thrives on it. He’ll get some good work in an entertaining fight before scoring a stoppage in the seventh while comfortably ahead.

The weight in will take place at 2pm at the LG Arena on Friday 17 September.

The Running Order

Gates open at 4.30 with the first bell at 5.15

Joe Selkirk-V-TBA 4×3 Light Middleweight
Ronnie Heffron-V-Billy Smith 4×3 Welterweight

PPV Starts at 6pm

James Degale-V-Carl Dilks 12×3 Super Middleweight
Matthew Hall-V-Lucas Konecny 12×3 Light Middleweight
Nathan Cleverly-V-Kuro Kurat 12×3 Light Heavyweight
Kell Brook-V-Michael Jennings 12×3 Welterweight
Derek Chisora-V-Sam Sexton 12×3 Heavyweight

Swing Bout to be used before 10pm
Craig Evans-V-Mickey Coveney 4×3 Super Featherweight

After 10pm

Enzo Maccarinelli-V-Alexander Frenkel 12×3 Cruiserweight
Matthew Macklin-V-Shalva Jombardashvili 12×3 Middleweight
Frankie Gavin-V-Michael Kelly 10×3 Light Welterweight
Don Broadhurst-V-Najah Ali 10×3 Super Flyweight

“Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole” — Oscar Wilde.

Simply put, to date, 2010 has not been a great year for the sweet science. Much has been made — and written — about what could have been. The superfight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. never came to fruition. David Haye settled for bouts with John Ruiz and Audley Harrison instead of taking on one of the Klitschko brothers and one of boxing’s bright spots, Showtime’s Super Six tournament, has hit monumental speed bumps, perhaps discouraging promoters and fighters from entering tournaments in the future.

Further, negative press has cast a shadow over boxing in recent weeks as a direct result of misguided actions by boxers outside of the ring. We can hope it has all come to a head with the recent Mayweather debacle and Ricky Hatton drug-binge.

With regards to the action, like any year, there have been entertaining brawls and there have been snooze-fests. Recently, in back-to-back weekends, two Fight of the Year candidates took place outside of the United States. Ricky Burns upset Rocky Martinez in a twelve round slugfest in Scotland that saw Burns overcome a first round knockdown and ultimately capture the WBO super featherweight title in front of his hometown fans. The other took place a week prior when Giovanni Segura — playing the role of hunter — went into Ivan Calderon’s backyard of Puerto Rico where he stalked his prey for seven-plus rounds until the formerly undefeated Calderon was unable to continue after eating a barrage of devastating body shots. As a result, Segura and his team traveled back to Mexico with the WBO light flyweight and the WBA Super World light flyweight titles in tow.

Unfortunately, recent media coverage — including my own — has not focused on these two superb bouts. Rather, the recent focus on the sport of the boxing has primarily been dominated by the negative actions of both Mayweather and Hatton.

I, for one, do not subscribe to the theory that all press is good press. That is why the rest of this article will be dedicated to shining a light on fights to look forward to before the year’s end.

This upcoming weekend’s HBO Pay-Per-View card at the Staples Center in Los Angeles is a decent fight card that is being marketed toward Mexican fans with the lure that on the weekend that celebrates Mexican Independence, three fighters of Mexican decent will look to provide their Mexican brethren with one more reason to celebrate.

Victor Ortiz looks to continue on the comeback trail after he was stopped by Marcos Maidana in June of last year when he faces off against veteran Vivian Harris, who in his last fight was the victim of an extremely premature stoppage in Mexico at the hands of Argentinian, Lucas Matthyse. Prized Mexican prospect Saul “Canelo” Alvarez confront his toughest challenge yet when he fights aged veteran Carlos Baldomir and the main event will feature Sergio Mora against Shane Mosley.

By no means is this a card to be thrilled about, but there is some intrigue with regards to both the Alvarez and Mosley bouts. Alvarez was rocked in the first round of his last fight against Jose Miguel Cotto, but ultimately recovered to get the TKO victory. We’ll have the chance to continue to watch him mature and see if he can stop the grizzled veteran Baldomir for the first time in sixteen years.

The Mosley fight is interesting because Las Vegas says it is interesting. The Sin City betting lines for this fight opened with Mora a +280 underdog. Since then, the action has moved in the “Latin Snake’s” direction changing the line to Mora a +220 underdog — meaning a majority of the betting public believes Mora pulls off the upset.

On Oct. 15, arguably the best super middleweight in the world, Lucian Bute, squares off against his mandatory challenger, Jesse Brinkley in a bout that can be seen on ESPN3.com. That same night, boxing fans can witness Antonio Tarver’s foray into the heavyweight division when he faces Nagy Aguilera in a fight televised on Showtime.

The next day, ESPN3.com will air Vitali Klitschko’s title fight with Shannon Briggs, live from Hamburg, Germany.

Nov. 6 is a big day for boxing when Juan Manuel Lopez (JuanMa) takes on Rafael Marquez live on Showtime from Las Vegas. If JuanMa successfully navigates by Marquez, it will hopefully set up a bout between him and Yuriorkis Gamboa for sometime in early 2011.

That same night, HBO will televise a “Boxing After Dark” card live from Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center that will be headlined by Zab Judah against Lucas Matthyse. Judah looked extremely impressive on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” earlier in the year and one or two more dominating performances can make him a player at 140 lbs.

The Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito bout from Cowboys Stadium speaks for itself. HBO’s 24/7 will certainly drum up drama and help create storylines leading up to the November 13 PPV. Kelly Pavlik will battle with Daniel Edouard on the undercard. This marks Pavlik’s first time in the ring since he donned a stomach-churning crimson mask courtesy of Sergio Martinez back in April when he lost his title. We’ll get another glance at Cuban sensation Guillermo Rigondeaux and also get a peak at highly-touted welterweight prospect, Mike Jones.

On Nov. 27, Juan Manuel Marquez returns to the ring to take on battle-tested Michael Katsidas in a bout that should feature great action. An exciting Panamanian fighter, Celestino Cabellero will be featured on the undercard, and rumors continue to swirl that Andre Berto may be placed on this card as well, making it a triple-header.

A Nov. 20 fight in Atlantic City that has yet to be finalized would feature Sergio Martinez-Paul Williams II and be shown on HBO.

Dec. 4 may play host to an interesting bout between Miguel Cotto and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Chavez Jr. is fresh off arguably his most impressive performance of his career against John Duddy and a win over Cotto will finally earn him the respect he has insisted he deserves.

Dec. 11 may mark the biggest night of all as Showtime kicks off the semi-finals of it’s bantamweight tournament when Abner Mares faces off against Vic Darchinyan and Yohnny Perez takes on Joseph Agbeko. This date is also a tentatively scheduled date for what would be a much talked about fight between Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana.

Finally, scheduled to take place on Dec. 18 in Quebec City is a bout between Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. Pascal is fresh off his upset victory against Chad Dawson, while the “Executioner” looks to regain relevancy and prolong his outstanding career.

Perhaps it’s foolish to view the remaining 2010 fistic schedule as whole doughnuts. The doughnuts would have been the Super Six proceeding flawlessly, a bout between a Klitschko brother and David Haye, as opposed to Klitschko-Briggs and Haye-Harrison, and of course, the elusive super fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather, among other wishes.

It is equally foolish to view the remainder of 2010 as the empty hole in the doughnut, failing to acknowledge the interesting fights that have yet to take place, and instead choosing to dwell on what could and should have been.

The remaining 2010 boxing schedule is the equivalent to munchkins — made popular by doughnut chain, Dunkin Donuts. They are not the whole doughnut, nor are the empty center of the pastry. However, they are born from the center of the doughnut and serve as a sample of the whole doughnut — an appetizer of sorts. They are enjoyable, but not filling. They are enough to hold you over until the bigger meals arrive.

You can reach Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

The eagerly awaited clash between Matthew Macklin & Darren Barker was disappointingly cancelled when Barker was forced to pull out with a hip injury a couple of weeks ago. It was seen by many in the trade as a 50-50 battle that as well as being for the European title would also before British bragging rights. Thankfully some nifty work by Frank Warren has seen Barker be replaced by Shalva Jomardashvili 27-2-1(19) who will now meet Macklin for the now vacant European Title. Macklin 28, enjoyed a big 2009 when he demolished both Wayne Elcock & Amin Asikainen. Both wins firmly established him in the top 10 of the world rankings at 5 in both the WBC & WBA 6 with the IBF & 10 with the WBO. After being beset by cancellations finally the force of nature that has been “Mack the Knife” gets back to what he does best. Here’s what he had to say.

Hello Matthew, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly you have a big fight coming up on the bumper 18 September show against Shalva Jomardashvili. What are your thoughts on him and that fight?

Matthew Macklin – I’ve not seen a lot of him. I’ve just heard he’s very tough, very strong and keeps coming basically. He gave Martin Murray (20-0(7) Current Commonwealth champion) a very tough fight. It was very close, some people thought he was unlucky not to get the decision (Murray won a six round decision 58-56) I didn’t see the fight myself so I don’t know a great deal. But I’m in great shape, I trained hard for the Barker fight. He (Barker) was more of a mover, this guy is more come forward type. I’ve boxed all over the world as an amateur in multi tournaments and boxed different styles, I had four fights in four days. I’m pretty experienced & seasoned now, you just have to be professional. The main thing is obviously not to be deflated after the Barker fight (was cancelled), it was then back on for a European title that was a boast. I’ve gotten over the disappointment of the Barker fight, I can’t dwell on it now it’s in the past. I have to focus on this guy because I don’t want it to be a banana skin.

Anson Wainwright – Obviously this fight is a late replacement for Darren Barker, what are your thoughts on what happened with that fight?

Matthew Macklin – People were saying the fight wasn’t going to happen but from my point of view it was 100% going to happen. With regards the injury I couldn’t answer, as far as I know he signed the contract, said he wanted the fight and I was going he was good to his word. But he pulled out and you think mmm it’s a bit coincidental. But at the same tune I’ve had injury’s in the past and had to withdraw from fights, so I don’t want to accuse him of anything without really knowing the facts. At the end of the day he’s pulled out and has his reasons whatever they are.

Anson Wainwright – It’s almost as if you scared everyone off with two very impressive performance when you demolished Wayne Elcock & Amin Asikainen last year. Is that how you feel and what has happened regarding other fights because you last fight was just before Christmas? Pirog/Barker/Mora etc

Matthew Macklin – Not even just that when I was European champion Dmitry Pirog was my mandatory challenger. He actually withdrew from the fight to sit on his WBO ranking. In fairness to him it ended up being a smart move because he’d of fought me and gotten beaten and where would he of been then. He was number 2 with the WBO (Gennady) Golovkin moved in for the WBA title that elevated him to fight Jacobs for the vacant belt, fair play to him what a performance. That was one fight, (Khoren) Gevor was mandatory when he withdrew. I was going to make a voluntary defence injured my nose but ended up vacating and parting with Hatton Promotions. There was a deal on the table with Golden Boy to fight Winky Wright then Sergio Mora. Winky Wright agreed then changed his mind, Mora just flat refused the fight. So it was getting to the stage where some fighters gather hype and momentum and everybody wants to fight them because there not as good as the hype. I’m one of the fighters all the other fighters know I can really fight and they don’t want to fight me. When I was European champion 2 mandatory’s withdrew. Whenever I’ve fought for a title Elcock, Jamie Moore, Asikainen I’ve always been mandatory. When I was champion the mandatory’s did want to fight me. Winky Wright & Mora whatever there reasons I’m not saying they didn’t think they could beat me who know what there reasons were but they pulled out of the fight or they refused to fight me. Now we have Barker saying he can’t wait for the fight blah blah blah the proof is in the pudding. Low and behold people said he was gonna pull out and what happens he pulls out. It’s frustrating, I put myself out there. I believe I’ll do any Middleweight in the world. In all honesty I think there’s 4/5 of us there’s me, Gennady Golovkin, Dmitry Pirog, Sergio Martinez & Sturm. On any given day we could probably all beat each other. But I’m certainly in the mix. I can beat all of those and I will beat them when it comes down to it. I’ll want it more than them & I will be in better shape. I just want the opportunity to prove I can be the best Middleweight in the world. I’m prepared to put myself out there and have been putting myself out there, it’s other people refusing to step up to the plate and fight me is preventing me proving myself.

Anson Wainwright – You didn’t mention Kelly Pavlik or Sebastian Sylvester?

Matthew Macklin – I didn’t mention them because I believe even though Sylvester is a world champion I don’t believe he’s as good as Pirog, Martinez, myself or Sturm. Sturm beat him. To be honest I don’t believe he beat Gevor. Gevor was unlucky against Sylvester not to get the decision. I’d say its between Golovkin, myself & Martinez the best 3 Middleweights in the world. If we could do the old box offs if you add Pirog. Pavlik had the big profile, he beat the man who beat the man but for whatever reason he’s not quite firing on all cylinders or maybe he’s had better days.

Anson Wainwright – Looking back at those fights with Elcock & Asikainen from your point of view what clicked into place for you on those nights?

Matthew Macklin – Yeah well if you go through my record the best people I’ve fought I’ve blew away. When I fought Alexey Chirkov he was 17-1(11) it was on the Hatton-Maussa card. I didn’t have a promotional agreement with Dennis Hobson so that was thrown in as a 50-50 fight, a good undercard fight. I wasn’t the house fighter because they had no interest in me. That was supposed on paper to be 50-50. He’d only lost once over 8 rounds to Khoren Gevor on points. I knocked Chirkov out in a round, I was up for a really hard fight same with Asikainen and I knocked him out in a round. I knew I’d do Elcock to be honest. I thought I’d knock him out in 5 or 6 rounds (Macklin ended up stopping Elcock in 3) It was a big local derby, a good local fight. Sometimes you fight a guy and hit him with a few good shots in the first and they go into a shell, they go into survival mode and you beat them on points, it’s almost like you go through the motions. I’m one of those fighters the better the opposition the better I fight. I’m like that in sparring that’s why I take better guys. If I spar guys a level below me I drop to there level. That’s why I don’t want easy fights. Ask Golden Boy, Richard Schaefer will tell you I wanted these fights with Winky Wright & Mora. I’ll fight anyone, you ask my manager Brian Peters a couple of years ago I wanted to fight Andy Lee & John Duddy. I never shied away from any fights. I could of fought in June against Giovanni Lorenzo but I wanted the Barker fight. Barker pulls out, I believe in myself and that I’d beat any Middleweight in the world.

Anson Wainwright – Word was that you were going to America to train at the Wild Card under Freddie Roach’s tutelage, what happened?

Matthew Macklin – I have trained there. Freddie maybe coming for the fight I’m waiting to here back from my manager Brian Peters. I did four and a half weeks at the Wild Card for this fight. I sparred over 70 rounds over there between “Kid Chocolate” Peter Quillen 21-0 Middleweight, Michael Medina he’s lost a couple in twenty odd, he lost a split decision to John Duddy on the Pacquiao undercard. I also sparred with the 28-0 Ukrainian (Stanyslav Kashtanov) who’s mandatory for Brian Magee (Current European Super Middleweight champion) and another kid called Rashad Holloway who’s 11-1-2 Welterweight. So I was over there, great sparring. I was doing pads with Freddie every other day. It’s a case of Freddie’s a great trainer, we work well together when he’s training me. But he does train Manny Pacquiao and fights can clash. It’s also important Joe Gallagher’s still part of the team. I’m happy and comfortable with Joe but I’m always going to be going to Freddie for fights.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team who is your manager, trainer & promoter? Also what gym and where will you base yourself for the Barker fight?

Matthew Macklin – Manager is Brain Peters, my trainer is Freddie Roach but Joe Gallagher is very much involved. I did 4/5 weeks with Joe. I was over there 4 1/2 weeks and Joe came over for 2 weeks with me. A lot of fighters go there to work with Freddie. Senchenko was working with Freddie but also had his trainer from the Ukraine who’s a fundamental part of his training.

Before I went to America I got myself nice and fit with Joe Gallagher in Manchester and Joe came over (To America) with me and when I came back I was working with Joe as well. In between a 10 week training camp I just tick over.

Anson Wainwright – Your big friends with Ricky Hatton, can you tell us about how you first became friends? How close are you these days?

Matthew Macklin – Well like you said we were good friends we sparred a lot together. I was in his corner when he fought Mayweather and lots of fights. He worked my corner with Billy Graham on a few of mine and we were good buddy’s. I signed a 3 fight promotional deal, I only had the one. It didn’t quite work out I think for me or them and we agreed to part ways.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your early years growing up in Birmingham and how it took you into Boxing?

Matthew Macklin – I played a lot of sports when I was younger. I played Football (Soccer), Rugby, Gaelic Football, Hurling. I was into all sports but I also started Boxing at the age of 10. I think I started watching a few of the fights Larry Holmes against Tyson the Benn-Eubank kind of fights and just wanted to Box.

Anson Wainwright – When your not training for a fight what do you do with your time? What are your hobbies?

Matthew Macklin – I just enjoy not having to diet, get up and go running. I could do with getting a few more Hobbies, I have Boxing on the brain! I like Hurling & Gaelic Football in Ireland there sports I follow through the summer. This year believe it or not I haven’t fought since last December I was out in America for 7 weeks in February & March when I came back every week there was something new happening, this fight, that fight, this deal, that deal. I was over for the Khan fight, the Cotto fight. Literally every week there was something going on so it was hard to switch off from it because I was constantly thinking this fight or that fight might happen. So I was ticking over and on the phone talking to my manager all the time.

Anson Wainwright – At the start of your career you were a Light Middleweight, you struggled massively. What can you tell us about that? How comfortable are you at Middleweight? What is your walk around weight?

Matthew Macklin – I walk around about 185-190 which is around 13.3/13.4 when I go up there it’s when I’ve had a long break and you’ve over indulged in the fridge. Otherwise i walk around somewhere between 12/13 stone otherwise. I’m strong a Middleweight i feel strong and comfortable, at Light Middleweight it was just a bridge to far. I made the weight but couldn’t perform at it. I think even in the amateur’s I was at Light Middleweight I was winning gold medals all over. When the World Junior’s came about I brought myself down to Welterweight. Won my first fight, lost my second and although it was a bad decision I didn’t perform particularly well. When I won the Senior ABA’s I moved to Light Middleweight and went to a tournament in Greece I lost in the final to the number one in the world and he only beat me by a couple of points. Before the Moore fight the 8 rounder’s the signs were there I was doing 4 pounds in the sauna to make 11.3/11.4 so common sense would tell you move up 3 pounds not down 3. But sometimes your so in the zone that you just ignore it “I’ll be ok, I’ll do 10 weeks” But you live and learn.

Anson Wainwright – Who was your favourite fighter growing up?

Matthew Macklin – Sugar Ray Leonard, though completely different in styles Roberto Duran. I remember watching the DVD “The Fabulous Four” and loved all four fighters. All very different but Leonard was probably my favourite. I’ve come to like Mayweather. Obviously Manny Pacquiao is very exciting. Umm Marquez he’s coming to the end of the road but he’s been a very underrated fighter, he’s a great technian. David Haye’s very exciting to watch. I watch them all really.

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

Matthew Macklin – Just shame the Barker fight didn’t happen but I’m in great shape and we’ve had great sparring. This guy comes to forward and comes to fight. He’s not going to take a backward step and neither will I. I’m going to make sure it’s exciting. A win first and foremost. Because of my nature and style I don’t think I’m ever going to be in a really bad fight. I’m pretty aggressive, I throw punches and this guy doesn’t take a step backwards so it should be exciting. I hope everyone enjoys it and continues to watch my progress because I’m ranked in the top five by I think the WBC, WBA & IBF and with The Ring. It’s not a case of if, it’s a case of when. I’m going to take it with both hands. Other fighters might have the hype but I’m the real deal. I don’t only think I can win a title but dominate for 3 or 4 years to come.

Thanks for taking the time to speak to us Matthew.

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

Fourteen-year veteran Orlando Salido rode an up-and-down career en route to winning the IBF Featherweight title earlier this year – a win that has netted him a high profile bout against flashy offensive wizard Yuriorkis Gamboa at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada tomorrow. Though he does carry the tag of champion into this unification bout, his role as of now is that of a supporting player. Gamboa is the attraction, and few give Salido much of a chance of pulling off the upset.

The last time Salido (34-10-2, 22 KOs) of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico found himself inside a Las Vegas ring was also the last time he had an opportunity to springboard himself into the spotlight as a major player in the featherweight division. Fighting in the main supporting bout underneath the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Carlos Baldomir main event at the Mandalay Bay in November 2006, Salido completely outfought rising star Robert Guerrero to claim the IBF title. Finally, after a long journeyman’s career, Salido had broken through.

So it seemed.

Two days after scoring the biggest win of his career, Salido’s post-fight urinalysis, as conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, tested positive for the banned steroid Nandrolone. The result of the bout was changed to a no decision, and Salido’s title was stripped. Salido had a follow-up test taken at the nationally known blood lab LabCorp, which found him negative of any steroids. It should be noted that Nandrolone is an anabolic steroid that may be present naturally in the human body in minute quantities. “I said I never took steroids or any performance-enhancing drugs and the lab tests prove it,” Salido was quoted as saying by the SportingLife.com after the second test.

While Salido may have felt vindicated by the second test, he remained suspended for nine months and did not fight again until scoring an eight-round decision over journeyman Marty Robbins the following September. In his next fight, Salido knocked out Hector Julio Avila in an IBF sanctioned title eliminator. Salido, who had publicly called for a Guerrero rematch in the aftermath of their first encounter, appeared set to get his wish granted. At the time Salido was made the mandatory challenger, Guerrero had already regained the IBF title.

Two months after Salido stopped Avila, Guerrero successfully defended his belt against Jason Litzau and soon thereafter vacated, stating his desire to move up in weight. Salido would not get the chance to prove the legitimacy of his victory over Guerrero, and was instead matched with fellow longtime Mexican journeyman Cristobal Cruz for the vacant title. In an exciting fight, Salido would drop a twelve-round decision that could have easily gone his way.

After Salido posted two wins over nondescript opposition, Cruz granted him a rematch this past May. In a fight that took place in Ciudad Obregon, far from the bright lights of Las Vegas or American television cameras, Salido dropped Cruz twice and scored a decisive decision win to claim the title. It was a big win, a title-claiming victory no less, but not one the magnitude of the triumph that slipped through his fingers in November of 2006.

Not until this Saturday has Salido had the kind of opportunity he had against Guerrero four years ago. Gamboa, the WBA Featherweight title holder, may have even more cache in the sport now than did Guerrero when Salido had his crack at him. Gamboa has made a swift rise from touted former Cuban amateur star to HBO headliner. He has a skill set and physical tools like few others we have seen in recent years. “I know how good he is,” said Salido at a Wednesday press conference. “But I also know I am capable of winning this fight and that is why I am here.”

It is hard to envision a scenario in which Salido, in spite of how rugged and willing he is, finds a way to unseat the Cuban virtuoso Saturday. However, boxing history tells the tale of many who have taken advantage of similar second chances. Four years in the making, Salido has his.

NOTES

-Several big fight nights have taken place in Las Vegas on the Saturday before Mexican Independence Day over the years, but one would think that there may not be an influx of Mexicans headed to Sin City to support Sonora’s Orlando Salido this year. Part of the reason being that Mexican icon Erik Morales goes for his 50th win against Willie Limond in Mexico City on the same day.

Morales (49-6, 34 KOs) ended a 31-month sabbatical looking much pudgier with twelve-round decision over former lightweight belt holder Jose Alfaro. That fight took place at 147-pounds, while Saturday’s will have a limit of 140-pounds. Curiously the WBC issued a press release stating that should Morales win, he will be implemented as the mandatory challenger for their lightweight title, which has a limit of 135-pounds.

-Integrated Sports will distribute the Morales-Limond pay-per-view event in the United States. Holding down the commentary duties will be long tenured play-by-play man Colonel Bob Sheridan and analyst Benny Ricardo. Three weeks ago, Sheridan and Ricardo held those same positions ringside in Puerto Rico for the Ivan Calderon-Giovanni Segura title unification bout. In the opening moments of the broadcast, the duo gave a puzzling endorsement for Javier Capetillo, the trainer who had his license revoked for the Antonio Margarito hand-wrapping controversy.

Capetillo is now a part of the Segura training team, and had attempted to gain a license to work the corner in Puerto Rico. Capetillo was eventually denied a license and therefore not allowed to work the corner, as he had done for Segura recently in Mexico.

Shortly after stating that if Capetillo were indeed guilty of what he is accused, they could “hang him,” Sheridan introduced Ricardo who took the time to defend the disgraced trainer. “I had the bandages right up on top, they were all together. I accidentally grabbed the old ones and ended up wrapping them,” said Ricardo, paraphrasing what Capetillo had told him earlier. “We have to put a rest to this thing,” Ricardo proclaimed. “We looked at Javier Capetillo eye-to-eye and said ‘tell us your story’. I believe him in this. Margarito has been a great guy, a great champion and this has never popped before. It has been addressed and we can put this to rest.”

Sheridan, who would call his 890th world title fight when Segura knocked out Calderon later that night, followed up Ricardo’s explanation. “I believe this guy, I believe this guy whole-heartedly. I think he has been duped by a lot of people. I take my hat off to Javier, and I hope you get your license back.”

I wish I could say that if it’s good enough for the Colonel and Benny it’s good enough for me, but I cannot. The fact is that Margarito’s hand wraps, admittedly wrapped by Capetillo, contained two primary elements of plaster of Paris, sulfur and calcium. There is no reason that any “old” wraps should have had those elements either. Segura has stated publicly that Capetillo has never wrapped his hands, an answer to a question he will likely have hurled at him as long as Capetillo remains a part of his team.

Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank

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

Boxing and decorum have always been strangers, but even by standards of a sport without one, the last seven days have been staggering.

Within a week, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and David Haye managed to offend more people than Mike Tyson did at the height of his ear-splitting rage. First, Mayweather offended all of Asia with his racist video Friday about Manny Pacquiao. Then, Haye offended women Tuesday at a London news conference by saying his heavyweight bout with Audley Harrison on November 13 would be “as one-sided as a gang-rape.’’

Somehow, Mayweather and Haye didn’t include middle-aged white guys or the handicapped, but they’ll get around to both sooner than later if their recent capacity to offend most of the people on this planet is any indication.

I’m not sure who is more offensive, Mayweather or Haye. You decide. Mayweather’s problems might just be starting with news Thursday that Las Vegas police want to question him about domestic battery alleged by the mother of three of his children, former girlfriend Josie Harris, who said she lied about a Mayweather assault in 2005. On Thursday, he was a suspect. Tomorrow or next week, law enforcement may get answers that will clear Mayweather.

In the court of public opinion, however, suspicions will stay with Mayweather like a scar. His video went viral in the worst way. It has infected his career and, to a lesser degree, the sport which he says he defines. In the public mind, Haye’s remark about a gang-rape raises the disgust by another outrageous octave or two. You can hear what people are thinking: What’s wrong with these guys? You can also anticipate their next move: That sport won’t be getting my pay-per-view money.

Speaking of money, Mayweather might as well be amending his nickname to Money Lost. In calling Pacquiao “a yellow chump,’’ maybe he was trying to call the Filipino gutless. But it is safe to say that any Asian will hear it and think only of a racial slur, no matter how many times Mayweather apologizes. The only chump here is Mayweather, who knocked out any chance he might have had at a rich endorsement from a Chinese company.

What Mayweather, the self-proclaimed face of boxing, and Haye fail realize is the potential devastation left in the wake of their attempt at some headline-grabbing rage. Boxing, once an American pastime and now mere nostalgia, is increasingly sustained by international interest. Sorry Floyd, but Pacquiao is the face of that market. The Filipino Congressman also knows not to offend it. Publicly, at least, Pacquiao did not express outrage at the Mayweather video. He was smart not to. Wade into that cesspool, and he’d only get dirty.

What’s more, it was a further display of Pacquiao’s consistent respect for opponents in game that sometimes is a clash of cultures. After beating one Mexican hero after another, Pacquiao was the first to ask that, please, don’t call him The Mexican Assassin.

Pacquiao still might get a chance to take Asia’s collective rage out on Mayweather in a fight that increasingly seems unlikely. If Mayweather hasn’t been talking himself out of it, he is talking the public into looking somewhere else for an event without the ugly edges, which now includes an unapologetic Haye and – as of Thursday – Mayweather as a police suspect.

Mayweather is unbeaten. Haye has been beaten only once. But a D should be attached to each of their records. We’re not talking about a draw here. With some luck, the damage in that D will be limited to only Dumb and Dumber.

NOTES, QUOTES

· Oscar De La Hoya says junior welterweight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez gets rock star-like television ratings in his hometown, Guadalajara, and throughout Mexico. A rock star deserves a big stage and it sounds as if that’s exactly where Alvarez wants to be after his date on Sept. 18 with Carlos Baldomir at Staples Center in Los Angeles on the Shane Mosley-Sergio Moro card. “This fight has me so motivated, so hungry for the bigger fights, that I’m talking a little bit,’’ said Alvarez, who during a conference call asked De La whether the winner of the Baldomir bout would get a title fight. De La Hoya sounded as though he was taken aback by Alvarez’s bold query. Said De La Hoya: “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.’’

· Jose Benavidez Jr. (7-0, 7 KOs), a junior-welterweight prospect from Phoenix, stays busy Saturday night against Manuel Delcid (4-2) of Los Angeles on the Yuriorkis Gamboa-Orlando Salido card at The Palms in Las Vegas. Benavidez had been scheduled to fight Sept. 18 on the Rafael Marquez-Juan Manuel Lopez card, which was postponed until November by a hand injury sustained by Marquez. The promising Benavidez, who turned 18 in May, is still at the apprenticeship stage, which figures to proceed without interruption against Delcid, who lost his last bout and 1-2 over his last three.

Just last week it was rumoured that Argentinean power puncher Lucas Matthysse 27-0(25) 1 No Contest would make a quick return after his impressive first round destruction of Rogelio Castaneda Jr by taking the biggest fight of his career to date against Zab Judah on 6 November in Newark, NJ. While it is all just talk at the moment, it shows what kind of statement Matthysse 27, sent out after his recent drilling over the usually durable Castaneda. He’s from a fighting family which includes his brother Walter who fought the likes of Paul Williams & Kermit Cintron, both grew up in the small town of Trelew in the South of Argentina roughly 800 miles from where he now resides in the nations capital of Buenos Aires. Currently ranked at number 3 by the WBO, 8 by the IBF & 12 by the WBC.

Hello Lucas, welcome to 15rounds.com

Anson Wainwright – Firstly congratulations on your win over Rogelio Castaneda Jr what can you tell us about the fight?

Lucas Matthysse – The fight was faster than I hoped, but I was trained to do 12 rounds. I am very happy.

Anson Wainwright – It looks impressive because you stopped him in one whereas normally he goes rounds with other contenders he’s fought like like Lamont Peterson, Francisco Bojado & Demetrius Hopkins to name a few. How pleased were you with the performance?

Lucas Matthysse – All of them are great boxers. I’m very pleased with my performance because I won easy to a hard opponent.

Anson Wainwright – Now that you have gotten the fight with Casteneda out of the way, what are your plans next? Who would you like to fight next?

Lucas Matthysse – I would like to fight with the big names. But I will fight anyone my manager indicates me to.

Anson Wainwright – You had fought Casteneda before but it was a Non Contest, you went back and cleaned that up with this win, do you intend to do the same with Vivian Harris? What are your thoughts on the first fight and fighting him again?

Lucas Matthysse – I don`t know, but I believe that I was going to knockout Vivian. I don’t have any problem in giving him the rematch.

Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team, who is your Manager, Trainer & Promoter? Also what gym do you use regularly? What other pro’s train with you?

Lucas Matthysse – My manager is Mario Arano, my trainer is Luis “Cuty” Barrera (a former South American welter champion), an my promoters are Arano Box and Golden Boy Promotion. I train in the Arano Box Gym, in Junin, Buenos Aires. Some pro’s who train with me are Carlos Ponce (former Argentine Jr Flyweight champ), Rogelio Rossi (new SA cruiser champ), sometimes Carlos Baldomir (former WBC welter champion) and others.

Anson Wainwright – Your older brother Walter was also a boxer fighting Kermit Cintron & Paul Williams, what is he doing now? Do you have any other brothers or relatives who are or were Boxers?

Lucas Matthysse – Walter is retired and he has a gym in our native city of Trelew, Chubut. My younger sister is a pro boxer and she`s good. My father (Mario) was a great boxer and my mother (Doris) also was boxer (she fought one time as an amateur). All my family involved in boxing!

Anson Wainwright – Could you tell us about your early years growing up in Trelew?

Lucas Matthysse – My childhood was hard. We were poor but we haven’t needed anything. I walked in gangs. I liked the streets and in my 11 years I fought much in gangs. My mother introduced me to go to a boxing gym.

Anson Wainwright – How did you first become interested and then involved in Boxing?

Lucas Matthysse – Like I say, my mother induced me to go a Gym and after, the boxing likes me so much. I follow the Walter’s career and years later, all the people said to me that I was very good and I was chosen for the Argentine Boxing team. I fought in a lot of cities and countries with the Argentine team. As an amateur my career was very large I fought near of 100 times

Anson Wainwright – What do you like to do when your not Boxing? What are your hobbies & interests?

Lucas Matthysse – I like to be with my family. I ‘ve a four years old daughter and she’s my treasure. I also like music (Cumbia)

Anson Wainwright – Who was your hero growing up?

Lucas Matthysse – I don’t have any hero

Anson Wainwright – Finally do you have a message for the talent packed Light Welterweight division?

Lucas Matthysse – Take care at all!!! The Lucas’ time is coming !!!

Thanks for your time Lucas.

Best Wishes

Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com

We are, in a sense, in between bouts at the moment and I find myself thinking about Charlie Goldman and the rantings of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Best known as Rocky Marciano’s trainer, Goldman fought as a bantamweight and pushed his mashed nose into more than 400 fights back around the early 1900’s.
Sporting a derby hat and always good for a quote, when asked about women and marriage, Goldman replied that he preferred to live “a la carte.”

In a picture which graced a trading card from the Mecca Cigarette Company, 1910, Goldman looks small and tired as he rests, legs splayed, on the stool in his corner—which is propped on what appears to be a wooden plank floor. It is not surprising that he looks tired, roughly 22 years old in the card, by his own account Goldman began to box professionally at the age of nine. A citizen of Brooklyn, he fought Terrible Terry McGovern’s brother in a series of three round smokers orchestrated by Sam Harris—George M. Cohan’s partner in the theatre. Of the fights, Goldman is quoted by the great A.J. Liebling as saying: “We learned a lot that way… they always had a bet going so you had to take it serious.”

Liebling goes on to give a bit more of Goldman’s chronology: “By the time he was fourteen he was traveling around the country, arranging his own fights and collecting his purses whenever possible.”
With what were said to be brittle hands (who can know, 400 fights!), Goldman never won a championship himself. He did, however, train five.

When asked about the problem of a lack of “artistic competence” in boxing, many during Marciano’s reign blamed TV, which had killed the farm system of the neighborhood fight clubs. Goldman, however, told Liebling that

“It is compulsory education,” he says. “You take a kid who has to stay in school until he is sixteen, he is under a disadvantage. All the things he should have learned to do when he was young he has to start at the beginning. How to move his feet, slip a punch, throw a hook—like finger exercises on the piano. A fighter shouldn’t have to think about those things, he should think about how to use them. A kid learns them before he begins to think about girls, they are the most important things in the world to him. Sixteen is too old, especially the way kids are today.”

Norman Mailer, speaking of the great boxers of his era, wrote of a kind of non-intellectual or kinesthetic intelligence—a brilliance of the body—a knowing of the nerves. Mailer also suggested that intellectual learning could impede that bodily brilliance— books and words essentially getting in the way of synaptic cognizance.

Or perhaps it’s just a zero sum game: time doing homework is not time in the ring, and vice versa.
Either way, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has been boxing since he was 7. And it is, perhaps, safe to say that his recent comments about Manny Pacquiao prove that outside the ring, he simply was not the victim of a compulsory education.

A few months back I penned an article focusing on the upside that new media has presented the boxing industry. I encouraged athletes and fans alike to embrace new media (Twitter, Facebook, Ustream, YouTube, etc.) and realize the potential these outlets possess to help keep the fistic flame alight while traditional media continues to sweep boxing under the rug. While I wrote almost exclusively about new media’s upside, I only scratched the surface when describing the potential dangers that it presents athletes — citing an ill-advised tweet by Andre Berto calling women “motherf***ers” after Edwin Valero killed his wife, then himself.

However, last week, with one ten minute racist and homophobic rant, Floyd Mayweather exemplified the dangers that new media presents to athletes.

“We’re going to cook that little yellow chump…Once I stomp the midget, I’ll make that motherf***er make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice,” Mayweather said about the Filipino Congressman, Pacquiao.

He continued, “Step your game up, f****t…That mother f***er Pacquiao, he can’t speak no English…Mother f***er signed with two companies. Look it up. And then this mother f***er with Nike only got 70 Gs. How stupid can a mother f***er be? Reebok gave me a million dollars for three weeks. I wore Reebok s**t for a week for a million dollars. This mother f***er’s name is Emmanuel. He got a fake name, taking power pellets.”

The following day Mayweather issued an apology in which he claimed he was just “having fun.”

The National Federation of Filipino Americans Association rejected Mayweather’s apology and issued a powerful statement condemning PBF’s “uneducated” remarks.

“This disgusting diatribe against Pacquiao is a racial slur against all Filipinos and Filipino Americans and an embarrassment not only to the boxing community, but to all Americans,” said Greg Macabenta, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) national chairman in a statement.

In addition to the backlash Mayweather has received from the Filipino community, there are also various petitions circulating online aimed at alerting adidas and Reebok that the companies stand to lose customers if they do not reprimand their client.

When thinking of the dangers new media presents public figures, I could only think of one analogy. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

Similar to the way that guns can serve as collector’s items as opposed to weapons, new media can be used as a promotional tool, or a platform to broadcast hateful messages. Unfortunately for Mayweather, he logged onto Twitter to direct fans to his Ustream page where they witnessed a cringe-worthy tirade against Pacquiao and all Filipinos.

While the immediate reaction was and still is one of disgust, it is not necessarily one of shock. Mayweather’s narcissistic attitude has been well-documented, whether it be through interviews, news stories, or even HBO’s 24/7. He lives a lavish lifestyle and flaunts his money and material items whenever he gets the chance. Since new media removes traditional communication barriers between public figures and the general populous, it is the responsibility of the public figure to create his or her own filter,and understand the raw access that new media provides.. New media websites such as Twitter allow individuals to broadcast messages without anyone telling them what to do or say. All who participate in social media websites are responsible for their own words and actions — anything that is written or said can potentially reach millions of eyes and ears.

The less-than-humble Mayweather occasionally allows for a sneak peek into his lavish lifestyle by posting pictures on his Twitter page. By doing so, he also exposes his disconnect with the world around him — especially to boxing fans, who have historically been a blue-collar group.

In the past two weeks alone, Mayweather has posted pictures of himself standing next to his Cadillac golf cart, a picture of himself holding a luxurious watch in front a briefcase full of banded $100 bills (which until then I only thought existed in movies), and a picture of himself posing in front of a large portrait of…HIMSELF.

Considering that most users of new media are teenagers and young adults, Mayweather’s narcissism along with that of celebrities and athletes from other sports, can have a profound impact on the impressionable youth in America and abroad. For example, here are some of the comments on the Mayweather’s twitter pictures:

“Everything you own is the greatest, just like you.”

“You always have stacks of money in your hands.”

“I’m trying to be just like you when I grow up.”

According to Leonard C. Groopman, M.D. and Arnold M. Cooper, M.D.’s work on Narcissistic Personality Disorder, two potential triggers for the disorder are “excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic feedback” and “being praised for perceived exceptional looks or talents by adults.”

Further, board certified physician and addiction medicine specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky (from Loveline and VH1’s Celebrity Rehab fame) co-authored a book with Dr. S. Mark Young, titled The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism Is Endangering Our Families And How To Save Them.

In the book, Dr. Pinsky writes, “I can’t help but conclude that there are many more individuals suffering from unhealthy levels of narcissism than there are patients diagnosed with narcissism as a psychological disorder…Another reason Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) can be difficult to diagnose is that narcissism, even at NPD levels, doesn’t stop people from attaining positions of power, wealth, or prestige. Narcissists often develop attractive or persuasive social skills to help them maintain the persona they have constructed to get what they want from the world.”

Pinsky continues with a revealing fact, “Any challenge to a narcissist’s unrealistic self-image is likely to provoke rage, disdain, denial or other protective behaviors, as the individual struggles to protect the pseudo-self at all costs.”

Perhaps the backlash and disappointment aimed at Mayweather after he refused to accept Pacquiao’s latest challenge humbled Mayweather a bit and made him resort to taking cheap-shots and name-calling.

Whatever the reason for Mayweather’s rant — whether he truly believes the things he said or if he was just “having fun” — it all can be traced back to a lack of filter – a lack of filter that is a common trait found in most narcissists.

When you feel that you don’t have to answer to anyone, you are more willing to speak what is on your mind. Most of the time, new media can act as a positive vehicle for the athletes that use it — giving them the opportunity to share their story and connect with fans on a human level — without managers and publicists intervening. For the most part, boxers on Twitter have understood and embraced this concept. I hope to see more boxers join new media sites and allow fans to interact with them on levels that were nonexistent even five years ago.

I further hope that Mayweather’s rant on Ustream won’t discourage other athletes from joining new media websites, as I truly believe it can be integral part of boxing’s future. In addition, I think it is important to take what Mayweather says with a grain of salt. You can make of it what you want, but I’ll stick to my gun analogy.

Similar to guns, the potential for new media to be used as both a force of good and evil exists. However, it is important to remember that new media doesn’t harm people, narcissistic people exposed by new media harm people.

You can take Dr. Drew Pinsky’s Narcissistic Personality Test here. The average score for non-celebrities is 15. www.jimpham.com/2009/04/dr-drews-narcissism-test.html

You can follow Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

It didn’t bode well when last Christmas the entire Boxing world’s focus was on whether or not Floyd Mayweather Jr & Manny Pacquiao could work things out for them to fight in May. As we know it didn’t turn out well with arbitrations and law suits being thrown around ever since not to mention relations between the lead promoters of both fighter Golden Boy (Mayweather) & Top Rank (Pacquiao) are at an all time low.

We hoped that after both Pacquiao took care of business with Joshua Clottey in Texas & Mayweather put on a clinic against Shane Mosley that the two best practioners on the planet at the moment would settle there difference’s in the ring and not the court room this fall.

Unfortunately once again Mayweather-Pacquiao hasn’t come to fruition with all sorts of rumours spread. We can only hope things finally work out for next spring…don’t hold your breath though, if we’ve learnt one thing in the last year or so it’s that if one thing can stop two superstars meeting for around $40M apiece it’s ego’s.

Another unfortunate casualty of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is that the two promoters are one again engaging in a bitter battle that has some in the media dubbing it “The Cold War”. Of coarse the one’s who really suffer is the fans who don’t get to see both promoters pit there other best fighters together which they had done for a couple of years prior to the latest setback.

As if the break downs in negotiations that has marred 2010 between Mayweather & Pacquiao aren’t enough and believe me there pretty bad. Things have steadily gotten worse as the years gone on. Though it was completely understandable after the tragic lives of many in Haiti were lost (Including 8 relatives of Andre Berto) the first big fight of the year Mosley-Berto was cancelled a week out.

At Middleweight Paul Williams priced himself out of a Championship fight with number then one Kelly Pavlik. On the back of several impressive performance’s Sergio Martinez fought and beat Pavlik. While you would think a good looking, talented personable guy would find acquiring future dates relatively easy, however the dearth in contenders at 160 made that difficult and then neigh on impossible when Williams initially baulked at a rematch, thankfully he has since come to his senses and looks like accepting parity for the 20 November clash.

The Middleweight division isn’t likely to make anyone forget the Golden years of the 60’s and 80’s which is all the more reason the few top fights that can be made need to be made.

When one of the possible future stars Edwin Valero lost his life in a tragic turn of events back in April it taught us once again how you should cherish every moment of your life because you never know quite what is around the corner. It was reported that Valero had battled both drink & drug addiction, it was to see him completely unravel almost in front of our very eyes with various pictures and reports coming from South America. Many in Boxing believed Valero was the man to not only take down Pacquiao & Mayweather but also earn legendary status. Sadly that wasn’t to be the case and even more tragically Valero & his also deceased wife left behind two young children who will have to deal with the loss of there mother & father for there whole lives.

The Featherweight class is on the cusp of a Golden era like it has in the mid to late 90’s into the 2000’s. With any combination of Chris John, Celestino Caballero, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Elio Rojas, JuanMa Lopez & Rafael Marquez highly entertaining fights. As the fall calendar fills out it doesn’t look like any of them will of fought each other. John hasn’t fought in 2010 as yet, nobody wants to fight Caballero who is the most avoided fighter in Boxing. Cuban Gamboa has won two fights and looks to unify with tough Orlando Salido. Elio Rojas recently picked up and injury that will keep him out for several months meaning his one appearance so far in 2010 is likely to be his only fight in this year. It looked as if Lopez & Marquez would clash in a much anticipated fight on 18 September, however that was postponed when Marquez injured a thumb.

A couple of weeks back we heard that not only was Mikkel Kessler pulling out of his fight with Allen Green which was scheduled for the end of September but he was withdrawing completely from the Super 6 which has been beset by postponements in the past year since Ken Hershman’s brain child started. The sad news came through that Kessler would be on the sidelines due to an eye injury for 9 months.

We’ve also had talented fighters spend time on the sidelines in the prime of there career’s for no apparent reason. One of the names that springs to mind is Tim Bradley who had done so well in fights at 140 last year that he ended up waiting until July for a fight and then he had to head to Welterweight for a fight with the stronger but not as versatile Luis Abregu. Another who had to wait around was Chad Dawson who went without a fight until the middle of August when he lost to Jean Pascal.

Over the past 2 years we’ve all watched David Haye talk the talk but fail to back it up with a fight with either of the Klitschko brothers. Even when he cleared the way beating mandatory challenger John Ruiz in April rather than seek out a Klitschko it appears as though he fight Audley Harrison.

After the doom and gloom that has been 2010 a year that has no clear candidate for fight of the year that honour would probably go to Mikkel Kessler & Carl Froch who took part in a scintillating battle in April. What can we expect from the remaining part of the year or even 2011.

Just to prove I’m a half glass full type of guy here’s a few things that may light up the Boxing calendar over the next few months.

While the Klitschko brothers look light years ahead of the completion any combination of David Haye, Alexander Povetkin, Tomasz Adamek & Chris Arreola would prove entertainment.

It looks as though we could have a Super 6 at Cruiserweight which if word is true will kick off with Steve Cunningham fighting Marco Huck in a rematch from 2007.

Jean Pascal changed the Light Heavyweight landscape when he beat Chad Dawson it now looks like he will not satisfy himself by just staying busy and enjoying his new found fame as he will take on Bernard Hopkins on 18 December.

The fall will hopefully see the two Andre’s Ward & Dirrell square off and Carl Froch & Arthur Abraham meet in what could be a fight of the year type of fight with neither guy taking a backward step. The two winners then meeting in a huge fight which will also unify the WBC & WBA titles. It was agreed when Kessler pulled doubt that he would fight the winner of the Super 6 in late 2011.

Finally Martinez-Williams will rematch on 22 November. Dmitry Pirog came out of the shadows when he stunned Daniel Jacobs hopefully he’ll be kept in the spotlight and let us not forget a come backing Kelly Pavlik.

Any time Manny Pacquiao fights it’s cant miss TV and he’ll be looking to become a 7 weight world champion fighting Antonio Margarito on November 13. Miguel Cotto reinvigorated the Light Middleweight division when he moved up 7 pounds stopping Yuri Foreman looks like he many face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on 4 December. The winner of that could face Pacquiao-Margarito next year. Alfredo Angulo & a come backing James Kirkland also make there home at 154.

Traditionally one of Boxing stronghold division’s is Welterweight and that shows no signs of slowing down. We can all hope that Pacquiao-Mayweather can come together finally next year. Shane Mosley may not be getting any younger but he’s still more than capable. Andre Berto looks the future at 147.

Seems like Amir Khan may face Marcos Maidana on 11 December and six weeks later Tim Bradley could face Devon Alexander. Cross everything that the two winners clash by next summer.

Wisely Juan Manuel Marquez decided not to move up from Lightweight for a fall clash with Khan instead it looks as though he’ll face Michael Katsidis in a fight that could be a fight of the year candidate.

Scotland’s Ricky Burns became his countries twelfth ever world champion following in the footsteps of Benny Lynch, Ken Buchanan & Jim Watt when as a 3-1 underdog he showed considerable resolve to take the title from Roman Martinez in a thrilling fight.

JuanMa Lopez will square off with Rafael Marquez on 6 November in what could be a changing of the guard fight or further enhance Marquez stature as one of the best lighter weight fighters of his generation. Cuban whirlwind Gamboa fights Saturday, one thing with Gamboa is that he’s always in exciting fights.

Since Israel Vazquez, Marquez & Caballero moved up to 126 the Super Bantamweight division hasn’t been as strong as in bygone years Thailand’s pocket dynamo Poonsawat Kratchingdaeng always provides entertaining fights as does Toshiaki Nishioka who meets Rendall Munroe in what has the makings of a brilliant fight. Coming through in the next six months or so will be legendary Cuban amateur Guillermo Rigondeaux who has signed with Top Rank who are sure to give him the opportunities to show his considerable talent.

There is talent galore at 118, we hope to see Fernando Montiel meet Nonito Donaire in the next half year or so. It’s a fight that would likely see the winner move into the top 5 on many pound for pound lists. Showtime is putting up the money for an exciting clash between Vic Darchinyan-Abner Mares & Yonnhy Perez-Joseph Agbeko on 4 December with the winners meeting further down the line.

As you can see while 2010 hasn’t quite been the year we had hoped it maybe there are still plenty of things going on and in the works for this fall and early next year.