LAS VEGAS –Things did not go according to plan for Manny Pacquiao. He was more aggressive than he had been in years. He threw with abandon, luring his opponent into maniacal exchanges. He fatigued only slightly down the homestretch. And he lost for the first time since 2005.

In an enormous upset whose scorecards will remain hotly debated, Californian Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley (29-0, 12 KOs) decisioned the Philippines’ Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KOs) by scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 113-115, Saturday at MGM Grand, to become recognized as the world’s best welterweight.

The 15rounds.com ringside scorecard concurred, marking 116-115 for Bradley – scoring rounds 1, 5 and 8 even.

While there were almost no rounds that one fighter won clearly on a neutral card – and only five rounds, of 12, were scored unanimously on the official cards – a number of patterns emerged early that appeared destined to favor Pacquiao. Las Vegas judges, long known to reward activity over effectiveness, were expected to see all close rounds for Pacquiao, who was nothing if not the more active fighter.

But Bradley, throughout the fight, landed the cleaner, and usually harder, punches. Most of the Pacquiao punches that brought feral howls from the partisan-Pacquiao crowd were grazing, at best, and clean misses at worst. Neither fighter was dominant. Either fighter might have won all but the final round, and that round, with the fight on the line, was Bradley’s, unanimously.

JORGE ARCE VS. JESUS ROJAS
The match intended to save Saturday’s undercard began well, with a knockdown in the first round, but ended in profound disappointment and ultimately a no-decision caused by an unintentional foul.

Mexican Jorge Arce (60-6-2, 46 KOs) versus Puerto Rican Jesus Rojas (18-1-1, 13 Kos), a 10-round featherweight scrap that started with Arce dropping Rojas in the opening minute, ended at 0:09 of round 2, when Rojas, lunging-in and trapped under Arce’s elbow, threw what became a low blow, and followed it with a crisp right hand behind the left ear of Arce’s turned head.

Arce went straight down, later citing disequilibrium, and remained on the mat for the entirety of what five minutes referee Kenny Bayless allotted for his recovery. The match was declared a no-decision when Arce was unable to continue. Both fighters expressed interest in a rematch afterwards.

MIKE JONES VS. RANDALL BAILEY
Mike Jones came to Las Vegas wearing the IBF welterweight belt and hoping to change people’s minds about what many considered a dull style. He took care of the dull part. But he’ll be going home without his belt.

In Saturday’s most dramatic knockout, Floridian Randall “The Knock-Out King” Bailey (43-7, 37 KOs) stopped Philadelphia’s Jones (26-1, 19 KOs) at 2:52 of round 11.

Jones began the fight in a fashion so timid that boos rained down from the half-full Garden Arena before the bell to end the first round h’d had a chance to clang. Rounds 2, 3, 4 and 5 saw more of the same, as neither Jones nor a man who calls himself “Knock-Out King” engaged one another in even a moment of sustained combat.

In round 6, having landed nary a telling blow between them, Jones and Bailey began to feint at each other – and react to one another’s feints – as though hard punches were somehow on the way. Finally, in round 9, Jones landed a balance-shot right hand that made Bailey appear to stumble, but rather than press his advantage, Jones quickly retreated, hands high, to ensure he didn’t get caught with any of the punches Bailey had not thrown for 26 minutes.

Everything changed at the end of round 10, though, when a perfectly leveraged right cross from Bailey stretched Jones on the blue mat. Jones leaped to his feet in time for the bell to ring and end the round and then came out moving tentatively in the 11th. But it took the “Knock-Out King” only 2 1/2 minutes to find him again, this time with a counter right uppercut that sent Jones, splayed and ruined, to the canvas.

Referee Tony weeks began a 10-count over Jones’ writhing, rising, falling and rolling body but soon saw the futility of it and waved the match off at 2:52 of round 11.

“I just put it in God’s hands,” Bailey said afterwards, choking on tears of joy, “and did what I had to do.”

GUILLERMO RIGONDEAUX VS. TEON KENNEDY
Cuban super bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux appears to have every tool except fan-friendliness, and that’s nothing a few knockouts can’t cure.

Rigondeaux (10-0, 8 KOs) took apart Philadelphian Teon Kennedy (17-2-2, 7 KOs) in the first fight of Saturday’s “Pacquiao-Bradley” pay-per-view telecast, dropping him several times with a left cross thrown from his southpaw stance, and eventually causing referee Russell Mora to wave an end to the WBA title match at 1:11 of round 5.

If Rigondeaux can continue blitzing good, if light-hitting, challengers like Kennedy, the Cuban may soon see his following get on track with his evident talent.

UNDERCARD
Doing his best to entertain what Filipino fight fans gathered hours before their hero’s arrival, General Santos City’s Ernie Sanchez (13-3, 5 KOs) decisioned Minnesota featherweight Wilton Hilario (12-3-1, 9 KOs) by scores of 78-74, 78-74 and 79-73. The fight was a lackluster affair that saw uneven contact and bursts of activity from Sanchez followed by long stretches of neither guy chancing anything.

Before that, undefeated Canadian welterweight Mikael Zewski (15-0, 11 KOs) turned an initially tentative affair into a decisive victory, stopping Coloradoan John Ryan Grimaldo (8-2, 5 KOs) at 0:59 of round 3.

Saturday’s second bout saw undefeated California junior welterweight Andrew Ruiz (2-0, 1 KO) stun but not stop Nevadan Taylor Larson (0-3-1) in a four-round match Ruiz won by unanimous scores of 39-36, 40-35 and 39-36.

Highly touted Top Rank prospect Jesse Hart (1-0, 1 KO), a middleweight Philadelphian, made a definitive debut in the evening’s first bout, drilling New Mexico’s Manuel Eastman (0-2) with a right cross that was followed by a few more right crosses, and brought referee Joe Cortez racing in to end Hart’s assault, at 0:33 of round 1.

Saturday’s opening bell echoed through MGM Grand Garden Arena at 3:17 PM local time.

Follow all the action LIVE as Manny Pacquiao defends the WBO Welterweight title against undefeated Jr. Welterweight champion Timothy Bradley. The action begins at 7pm eastern / 4 pm in Palm Springs and 7 am in Manila with a five fight undercard that will feature two world title bouts including Mike Jones battling Randall Bailey for the IBF Welterweight title and Guillermo Rigondeaux defending the WBA Super Bantamweight crown against Teon Kennedy plus an appearance by Jorge Arce.

12 ROUNDS–WBO WELTERWEIGHT TITLE–MANNY PACQUAIO (54-3-2, 38 KO’S) VS. TIMOTHY BRADLEY (28-0, 12 KO’S)

Round 1 Bradley lands 2 body shots…Pacquiao lands a jab…Good left..another lefts..straight Left…10-9 Pacquiao

Round 2 Pacquiao lands a straight left..Bradley lands a body shot..Pacquiao lands a looping left…Bradley drives Pacquiao on the ropes…Left from Bradley….20-18 Pacquiao

Round 3 Pacquiaio lands a straight left on the chin…Body shot from Bradley..2 lefts on the ropes…Bradley gets in one but Pacquiao responds with a hard left….30-27 Pacquiao

Round 4 Bradley lands a left to the body..Right hook from Pacquiao as Bradley gets in a body shot…hard combination has Bradley off his kilter..Pacquiao lands a hard left and Bradley gets in a right at the bell…40-36 Pacquiao

Round 5 Pacquial lands a left…Hard counter left rocks Bradley…50-45 Pacquiao

Round 6Pacquiao lands 3 shots on the ropes..Good left uppercut..60-54 Pacquiao

Round 7 Great back and forth…Pacquiao lands a left…70-63 Pacquiao

Round 8 Pacquiao lands a right and a left…Bradley lands a right…Pacquiao a left..80-72 Pacquiao

Round 9 Pacquio landing straight left and and another..left over the top..90-81 Pacquiao

Round 10 Good left hook from Bradley..straight left from Pacquiao…100-91 Pacquiao

Round 11 Straight left from Pacquiao..Right hook and left..110-100 Pacquiao

Round 12 Pacquiao lands a left…120-109

115-113 Pacquiao; 115-113 Bradley; 115-113 in what maybe the worst decision in boxing history

10 ROUNDS–SUPER BANTAMWEIGHTS–Jorge Arce (60-6-2, 46 KO’s) vs. Jesus Rojas (18-1-1, 13 KO’s)

Rounds 1 HARD LEFT AND DOWN GOES ROJAS…Rojas uppercut…Left hook…10-8 Arce

Round 2 Arce goes down from a low blow and headbutt and remains downs….FIGHT

12 ROUNDS–IBF WELTERWEIGHT TITLE–Mike Jones (26-0, 19 KO’s) vs. Randall Bailey (42-7, 36 KO’s)

Round 1 Not much,..10-10

Round 2 Just backing up.,.Bailey not throwing...20-20

Round 3 Bailey lands a body shot…Bailey lands a right…30-29 Bailey

Round 4 Right from Bailey..40-38 Bailey

Round 5 Jones lands a right…mouse under left eye of Bailey..49-48 Bailey

Round 6 ..Jones lands a right over the top…58-58

Round 7 Jones lands a combination…68-67 Jones

Round 8 Jones countering with jabs…78-76 Jones

Round 9 Good right buckles Bailey…88-85 Jones

Round 10 Jomes lands a combination….BIG RIGHT AND DOWN GOES JONES…96-95 Jones

Round 11 BAILEY LANDS HUGE UPPERCUT AND DOWN GOES JONES AND THE FIGHT IS OVER

12 Rounds–WBA Super Bantamweight Title–Guillermo Rigondeaux (9-0, 7 KO’s) vs Teon Kennedy (17-1-2, 7 KO’s)

Round 1:..Hard shots from Rigodeaux AND DOWN GOES KENNEDY…10-8 Rigondeaux

Round 2 STRAIGHTLEFT AND DOWN GOES RIGONDEAUX…STARIGHT LEFT AND DOWN GOES KENNEDY..20-15 Rigondeaux

Round 3 Rigondeaux getting through with the left hand…30-24 Rigondeaux

Round 4 Rigondeaux lands a straight left (AND FEET GET TANGLED) BUT SCORED A KNOCKDOWN..40-32 Rigdoneaux

ROUND 5: Straight LEFT FROM RIGONDEAUX AND THE FIGHT IS STOPPED

8 Rounds–Super Featherweights–Ernie Sanchez (12-3, 5 KO’s) vs Wilton Hilario (12-2-1,9 KO’s)

Round 1 Sanchez lands hard body shots..Good left staggers Hilario…Big right from Hilario..10-9 Sanchez

Round 2 Sanchez lands hard body work..Hard right from Hilario…20-18 Sanchez

Round 3 Right from Hilario…29-28 Sanchez

Round 4 Sanchez pinning Hilario against the ropes…39-37 Sanchez

Round 5 Sanchez opening up in the corner…Hilario counters his way out…49-46 Sanchez

Round 6 Sanchez landing some shots that is forcing Hilario southpaw…59-55 Sanchez

Round 7 Sanchez landing combinations where Hilario is landing 1 at a time..Sanchez working the jab...69-64 Sanchez

Round 8 Hilario walks away and Sanchez jumps on him..79-73 Sanchez

78-74; 78-74 and 79-74 UNANIMOUS DECISION ERNIE SANCHEZ

8 Rounds–Welterweight–Mikeal Zewski (14-0, 10 KO’s) vs. John Ryan Grimaldo (8-1, 5 KO’s)

Round 1 Double jab from Zewski…Grimaldo working the body..10-9 Zewski

Round 2 Sharp jab from Zewski…20-18 Zewski

Round 3 Right by Zewski wobbles Grimaldo AND DOWN GOES GRIMALDO AND JOE CORTEZ COUNTS TO 10 AND THE FIGHT IS OVER

4 Rounds–Jr.Welterweights–Andrew Ruiz (1-0, 1 KO) vs Taylor Larson (0-2-1)

Round 1 Ruiz Jabbing..Mounder under right eye of Larson…Good straight right..Larson Jabbing..HARD LEFT AND DOWN GOES LARSON…Ruiz working the body… 10-8 Ruiz

Round 2 Ruiz lands a hard jab…Larson working hard…19-18 Ruiz

Round 3 Left from Ruiz…good left…hard left..Good Right..29-27 Ruiz

Round 4 Good action in middle of the ring..Hard right from Ruiz..Larson throwing combinations…uppercut from Ruiz…39-37 Ruiz

39-36; 40-35; 39-36 UNANIMOUS ANDREW RUIZ

LAS VEGAS – When Kelly Pavlik fought in March, his first time in a prizefighting ring in 23 months, the match was about seeing where he was. Friday, Pavlik was in a prizefighting ring for the second time in three months to answer the same question.

And the answer went: About the same place as before.

In the main event of ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights,” broadcast from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Pavlik (39-2, 35 KOs) put in solid work and went rounds with super middleweight Scott Sigmon (22-4, 12 KOs), a Virginia opponent who was initially afraid to punch but later proved himself possessed of a better chin, and heart, than set of fists. Ultimately, Pavlik did what was expected of him, if a little less, left-crossing and right-hooking his way to a second consecutive victory – this time a seventh-round technical knockout caused by his opponent’s profuse bleeding.

“He did a lot of good things,” Pavlik’s manager Cameron Dunkin said after the fight. “He just worked. He didn’t want to load-up.”

With little more than a timid punching bag before him in the fight’s opening round, Pavlik did initially load-up on left hook-right cross combinations – right wrist flipping back whenever he landed – and supplied a fair number of emotional moments for the Vegas fight crowd.

“I’m not heard-headed,” Pavlik said afterwards about stylistic adjustments made under new trainer Robert Garcia. “I’m learning.”

As the rounds grinded along, though, and Pavlik’s occasional left-hook leads to the body brought no decisive end to the fight, Pavlik’s mouth gradually opened, his spacing gradually worsened, and his punching power gradually lessened. Pavlik had too much of everything for Sigmon, in the end, but Pavlik did not show the same head-snapping power he once used in terrorizing the middleweight division.

“Any of the top guys,” Pavlik said about future opponents, after the fight. “As long as it’s a better guy.”

Time will tell if a better guy is what Pavlik’s career actually needs.

MIKE LEE VS. ELISEO DURAZO
Fighting before a crowd that was almost all his – a gaggle of ringside dwellers in navy blue and gold t-shirts – Chicago light heavyweight Mike Lee (9-0 5 KOs) was prepped to make a sensational statement against soft Mexican setup man Eliseo Durazo (3-3) in the opening bout of ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” program. But the statement Lee made was less than hoped for, winning by three unanimous-decision scores of 59-54, in a fight that exposed more defects in Lee’s attack than planned.

Appearing to struggle with a belly-jiggling opponent who nevertheless did not know he was there to lose by spectacular knockout, Lee committed well to his punches and defended best he was able throughout.

If Lee is destined to show himself as more than a novelty act, though, he did not bring himself any closer to doing so, Friday.

UNDERCARD
Friday’s last pre-television bout was its most entertaining, as undefeated California super middleweight Rudy Puga (3-0, 3 KOs) made a hellacious five-minute scrap with hardnosed Idahoan Tommy Turner (2-2, 1 KOs). Despite being dropped with right hands thrown from most every angle, Turner continued to rise and fight on until a Puga right uppercut violently ended his night at 2:19 of round 2.

Before that, in the card’s largest surprise, unheralded Kansas lightweight Gerardo Robles (18-10, 9 KOs) dropped Californian Roger Gonzalez (27-6, 18 KOs) in each of the first two rounds of a fight whose round count showed “8/6” on the night’s bout sheet, and sneaked his way to a majority-decision victory: 76-74, 76-74, 75-75. The match’s oddest turn came after round 6, when Robles, believing the fight had reached its conclusion, mounted the turnbuckle in triumph, only to be told he would have to fight two rounds more. Those rounds were ultimately academic, though, and Robles won an upset victory.

The evening began with a good four-round scrap between two undefeated super featherweights – Californian Saul Rodriguez (4-0, 3 KOs) and Washington’s Kevin Davila (1-1) – in a fight Rodriguez won by unanimous scores of 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37. Despite losing most rounds by narrow margins, Davila, trained by 2000 U.S. Olympic head coach Tom Mustin, caught Rodriguez with enough quality punches to make ringsiders speculate about what could happen the first time Rodriguez is matched with a heavier-handed foe.

Opening bell rang at The Joint in Hard Rock Hotel at 5:31 PM local time.

Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao is a heavy favorite. Heavier than ever.

Pacquiao was at 147 pounds, a career high, at the official weigh-in Friday for his welterweight fight Saturday night at the MGM Grand with a chiseled Tim Bradley, who looked bigger across the shoulders, yet was a pound lighter at 146.

It’s impossible to know whether Pacquiao’s weight was by design or just the result of a late snack.

“It just means he ate breakfast and ate lunch,’’ Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said. “That’s all it means.’’

In the never-ending rounds of gamesmanship in the hours before opening bell, however, one pound is worth tons of speculation. Perhaps, Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) intends to augment his power in an attempt to score an early stoppage of Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs). Maybe, Pacquiao is out of shape. Maybe, the white socks he wore on to the scale accounted for that pound. Before anybody calls Jenny Craig, maybe it’s all just 16 ounces of hot air.

Whatever the theory, the famed Filipino Congressman was two pounds heavier than at weigh-ins for Shane Mosley last May and Joshua Clottey in March, 2010. He was at 145 pounds both times. For Antonio Margarito in November, he was at 144.6.

“I’m happy,’’ said Pacquiao, who in his last appearance at the MGM Grand talked about “a not so happy fight” after his controversial decision over Juan Manuel Marquez last November.

Pacquiao, often enigmatic, can be hard to read before any opening bell. For those who like to interpret body language – and there are plenty of those up and down the Vegas Strip, there’s talk that Pacquiao is headed for a defeat, despite 4-to-1 betting odds that favor him over Bradley.

HBO commentator and Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward is one who expects an upset. He is picking Bradley, who will be fighting as a welterweight for only the second time in his career. Steward likes Bradley’s smarts, overall competence and ability to adjust.

“He is tough, tough, tough and, unlike a lot of guys Manny has fought, he’s his own man,’’ Steward said. “He thinks for himself.’’’

Pacquiao’s has had trouble against fighters who think and adjust from round to round. Just go back to November. In Pacquiao’s last fight, Marquez, a thinking man’s fighter, threw subtle change-ups at Pacquiao, an instinctive fighter who is at his devastating best once he is allowed to establish a rhythm. Marquez’ adjustments and counters forced Pacquiao to hesitate just long enough to keep him out of his comfort zone.

But if he’s worried, it wasn’t apparent when he flashed a friendly smile at Bradley during the stare-down in the ritual pose for the cameras after the weigh-in. Bradley wore the mask of an angry man. He urged the Pacquiao fans in the reported crowd of 4,000 to boo, please, boo some more. Bradley bounced his glistening head at Pacquiao menacingly, almost as if it will be a weapon, which is what it has been in many of his fights.

“I’m ready for war,’’ he said. “It don’t matter, these boos. I’ve been here before.’’

Truth is, however, Bradley really hasn’t. His bid to upset Pacquiao, the World Boxing Organization’s welterweight champion, is his first appearance on a major stage. His inexperience is a factor in the odds stacked against him. His inexperience also means he is a relatively anonymous. He has none of the star power possessed by Floyd Mayweather, Jr., or Miguel Cotto, or even Marquez. That might explain a somewhat subdued scene for the weigh-in. The crowd actually did the wave, which is often a sign of boredom in baseball or football. It also might explain why there were still about 1,500 tickets available late Thursday.

Doesn’t matter, Bradley said. At opening bell, only two people will count anyway, he said.

“That’s when I’m going to prove all these people wrong,’’ he said. “I’m going to shock the world, baby.’’

Pacquiao was asked why Bradley appeared to be so angry.

“I don’t know,’’ he said, almost laughing.

Then, Pacquiao pressed his hands together and looked up in an expression of his born-again faith. Bradley has called his training camp “hell,’’ as if that is where he intends to take Pacquiao throughout a scheduled 12 rounds. Pacquiao called his camp “heaven.’’ Maybe, that’s why he prayed at the weigh-in. He prays he’ll still be there late Saturday night.

LAS VEGAS – Timothy Bradley says he has worked hard to eliminate the head-butt from his attack Saturday night in bid to upset Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand.

Not to worry, says Manny Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach.

Roach said it won’t happen if Pacquiao remembers to do what he has practiced throughout endless hours of training for the welterweight bout.

“Lateral movement,’’ Roach said.

There’s a scenario that the fight will end in controversy if a Bradley head butt bloodies Pacquiao enough to force a stoppage. A scar is evident above Pacquiao’s right eye from a cut suffered in his last fight, a controversial decision over Juan Manuel Marquez in November. Pacquiao got 28 stitches for that one.

Bradley, who often leads with his head, vows to upset Pacquiao, about a 4-to-1 favorite. But he said he doesn’t want controversy to tarnish the victory. That’s why he says he has worked to eliminate the head butt, however unintentional.

Notes, Quotes, Anecdotes
· Bradley’s dad, Ray, recalls when he knew son was a fighter. It was 1998 in Los Angeles. His son was a 12-year-old amateur, fighting one of the best amateurs of that timer, Jesus Gonzales of Phoenix. Ray Bradley said his son bloodied the nose of Gonzales, who then as an amateur beat Andre Ward. Ward hasn’t lost since. Bradley saw the blood and continued to batter Gonzales nose, his dad said.

· Yuriorkis Gamboa is expected to be at the fight Saturday night, a Top Rank promotion. Gamboa is being sued by Top Rank for breach of contract. There were reports he would jump to Floyd Mayweather’s promotional company after his failure to appear at news conferences led to the cancellation of an April fight with Brandon Rios. It’s not clear whether Gamboa’s appearance at Pacquiao-Bradley means he’s back on good terms with Top Rank.

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

LAS VEGAS — Antonio Margarito is retiring.

Margarito announced the decision Thursday on his Facebook page.

“After much thought and extended conversations with my family and team, we have all agreed that the time to hang up my gloves and begin a new chapter in life has arrived,’’ Margarito wrote in a nine-paragraph statement. “I always told my family and team that I would walk away from boxing when I felt I could no longer compete at the level I believed I needed to be, in order to be successful. Although the passion and drive are still there, I have to accept that my time to walk away has arrived.’’

Margarito is the third fighter to retire within the last week. Winky Wright and Shane Mosley retired on Sunday. The former welterweight champion had been considering the decision for several days. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to fight in a ceremonial farewell bout for his Mexican fans. His promoter, Top Rank’s Bob Arum, said he heard last week that he wanted to walk away from the sport.

“He should be remembered as a real warrior, a guy who was afraid of nobody, whose athletic skills were limited, but never quit,’’ said Arum, who defended Margarito in the controversy about whether he knew his former trainer had tried to put altered wraps on his hands before a loss to Mosley in 2009. “I think he’s a great guy. I wish him luck with whatever he’s going to do.
Margarito had been scheduled for a fight on July 20 at Casino Del Sol in Tucson against Abel Perry of Colorado Springs in his first bout since a 10th-round TKO loss in December to Miguel Cotto, who left Margarito’s surgically-repaired right eye badly bloodied and swollen during a dramatic rematch at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The bout against Perry, which Margarito saw as a potential step toward a middleweight fight with fellow Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., had been postponed from May 26 to July 7 and then July 20 because of a reported injury to an Achilles tendon that Margarito sustained while training in Tijuana, his hometown.

There were also fears that his problematic right eye might sustain further damage, especially against Chavez, a 160-pound champion who reportedly has been as heavy as 180 pounds at opening bell for his last few fights. That could have given Chavez a powerful advantage of at least 20 pounds against Margarito, who has fought at 154 since 2008.

Margarito underwent surgery to correct the vision after the orbital bone was fractured in his 2010 loss to Pacquiao. But scarred skin surrounding the eye was vulnerable to further cuts, said his manager Sergio Diaz. In the Cotto rematch, those cuts led to a stoppage that Margarito and Diaz believed was premature.

Questions about the condition of the eye led to doubts about whether the New York State Athletic Commission would license him for Cotto. It finally did on Nov. 22, 12 days before the fight.

Margarito underwent surgery to correct the vision after the Pacquiao loss, but scarred skin surrounding the eye was vulnerable to further cuts. Those cuts led to the stoppage against Cotto. Arum had his family opthamologist do the surgery to correct any problems in the eye itself.

“The eye is 100 percent,’’ Arum said in a media room for the Pacquiao-Tim Bradley fight Saturday at the MGM Grand.

There was speculation that Margarito was considering retirement on May 26 when he accompanied his brother-in-law, Hanzel Martinez, to Tucson for a victory over Felipe Rivas for a minor bantamweight title, also at Casino Del Sol. Margarito did not make himself available for comment. His former trainer Robert Garcia, who was in Martinez’ corner, said he had spoken to Margarito, but had not been working with him. Garcia then hinted that retirement was a possibility. He said that “Margarito had a lot to think about.’’

Margarito earned about $22 million over a 46 fights (38-8, 27 KOs). His career as a tough, stubborn brawler took a controversial turn in January 2009 when altered hand wraps were found before losing to Mosley at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The California State Athletic Commission banned his trainer, Javier Capetillo, and revoked his license.

Margarito, re-licensed in Texas for the Pacquiao fight at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, has always said he didn’t know that Capetillo tried to tape his hands with the wraps – which reportedly included plaster-like inserts. There was never any evidence of altered wraps in any bout before they were discovered by Mosley trainer Naazim Richardson. Nevertheless, it was suspected that Margarito used altered wraps in his 2008 upset of Cotto, who got his revenge in the rematch.

“I’ve always strongly believed in his innocence,’’ Arum said. “So, I’m happy that I helped make him financially secure with the Pacquiao fight and then the Cotto fight. We feel like we did our responsibility for Margarito. ‘’

ShowDown Promotions still plans to stage a card at Casino Del Sol in late July, possibly with Top Rank junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. of Phoenix. If not July 20, the card might be scheduled for July 27.

LAS VEGAS – Born-again Manny Pacquiao has been more of a diplomat than a preacher for the last few days. He played the peacemaker Wednesday in an attempt to ensure a unified front instead of civil strife in his corner Saturday night against Tim Bradley at the MGM Grand.

After a formal news conference, Pacquiao planned to talk with trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning coach Alex Ariza about their differences and how to get beyond them, at least for one night. It appeared that Ariza had been banished by Roach, who said Saturday on HBO’s 24/7 that he wouldn’t be in the corner. A few days after Roach’s comments signaled a significant shuffle and perhaps turmoil, Ariza was back.

“Manny’s call,’’ Roach said.

Pacquiao, who confirmed that it was his decision, made it clear that there won’t be any confusion. If you want democracy, go to a voting booth. In this corner, Pacquiao will listen to only one voice.

“Freddy’s,’’ he said.

Roach repeated his criticism of Ariza, who was seated on the stage for Wednesday’s news conference. The outspoken Ariza left Pacquiao’s training camp in the Philippines a few weeks ago to work with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who is in training for Andy Lee in El Paso, Tex.

“I thought it was a bad choice,’’ Roach said.

Another trainer was hired, Filipino Marvin Somodio, who was introduced Wednesday as Ariza’s assistant.

Pacquiao’s corner includes another subplot, also involving Ariza. Miguel Diaz will work as the cut man. Diaz and Ariza exchanged insults during a post-fight news conference following Amir Khan’s victory over Marcos Maidana in December, 2010. Diaz was Maidana’s trainer. Ariza, then Khan’s conditioning coach, called Diaz a “fraud.” Ariza repeatedly mocked Diaz, a former maître ’d at a Las Vegas restaurant, by yelling “table for four.’’

For Bradley, reports of potential discord in the corner represent just another distraction for Pacquiao.

“I knew, sooner or later, it would catch up to him’’ said Bradley, who was confident and relaxed despite being a 4-to-1 underdog just days before the biggest fight in his career.

Notes, Quotes, Anecdotes
· Bradley again said he has been working hard to eliminate the head-butt from his arsenal. “I definitely want to keep my head out of the mix,’’ said Bradley, who promises to win, yet doesn’t want a victory to be tarnished by controversy.

· Top Rank promoter Bob Arum introduced Bradley manager Cameron Dunkin as “Cameron Diaz” during the news conference. “I wish he looked like Cameron Diaz,’’ Arum in a quick comeback from his own misstep.

· Bradley is a practicing vegetarian, which he says gives him strength and endurance. He said he heard about the diet from a physician. “This doctor tells me, “You know, those 300-pound gorillas don’t eat meat,’ ‘’ he said. “That’s when I decided I’m going to go vegan. I’m going to eat grass, trees, bark, whatever.’’

· Roach is scheduled for induction to the International Boxing of Fame in Canastota, N.Y. Sunday, the day after Pacquiao-Bradley. “I rented a plane,’’ said Roach, whose overnight jet to nearby Syracuse will cost him $26,000. “I’m not happy about that.’’ Roach should be able to afford it after he collects his share of Pacquiao’s guarantee, $6 million, according to contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Bradley is guaranteed $5 million.

· And Pacquiao has shed at least one diversion. Basketball isn’t exactly a distraction. But Roach said he has quit playing pick-up games after training. “I asked him why he gave up basketball,’’ Roach said. “He told me, ‘After training all morning, maybe I shouldn’t play basketball.’’ Maybe without the basketball, Pacquiao won’t suffer from further cramps in his calves. The cramping bothered him in his last two fights – a controversial decision over Juan Manuel Marquez and a one-sided decision over Shane Mosley. After hearing Pacquiao’s answer, Roach said “Thanks, Manny, that’s the best answer you ever gave me.’

Photo by Chris Farina / Top rank

Manny Pacquiao can be beaten, but this is not news because any man who ties gloves on his fists and makes combat with large and good enough men will be beaten eventually. Manny Pacquiao can be beaten by the man he faces Saturday, and this is news. It is not an outcome aficionados have allowed-for in a Pacquiao fight since at least Miguel Cotto but probably Oscar De La Hoya – and nobody knew what the hell was going to happen in that fight.

Pacquiao was unofficially beaten by Juan Manuel Marquez in November, yes, but you couldn’t find three people to predict it aloud in the MGM Grand Media Center during fightweek. It will be different this week. Pacquiao has not looked sensational against another prime fighter since his second tilt with Marquez in 2008 – another fight he may have lost with every scorecard in an honest hand. None of his recent opponents, not even Marquez seven months ago, prepared him for what he’ll see Saturday, when he faces Timothy Bradley at MGM Grand for the WBO welterweight title.

Bradley, 7-0 in world title fights, is an undefeated 28-year-old volume puncher who leads with his head. That sentence comprises everything needed to beat a subprime Pacquiao.

It has been more than five years since Pacquiao faced someone who had no idea how to lose, and that was the overmatched Jorge Solis at Alamodome in a fight with more anxious moments than one infers today from its boxscore. Those moments came behind a collision of heads that caused a cut to drop blood in Pacquiao’s eye, much as had happened two years before in the last prizefight Pacquiao lost – when Erik Morales took notice of the queasy look Pacquiao showed him after a visit to the ringside doctor. The Solis cut, too, brought a queasy look, one followed immediately by Pacquiao thrice making the Sign of the Cross – forehead to breastbone, left shoulder to right – in rapid succession, before tearing into Solis with a savageness unpredicted by any previous act in the fight.

The Sign of the Cross is a thing young Catholics learn to make in anxious situations, an emergency petition of sorts: I could be in over my head, here, so please watch over me. Pacquiao learned to do it as a child, like millions of others, and has continued to do it through a career that, as discovered in this match’s promotion, saw him occasionally eschew the teachings of Rome. Pacquiao’s rededication to his Catholic faith is sincere, but like other sincere initiatives Pacquiao has launched – like eradicating world poverty with yellow gloves – this one looks flighty.

It should be a private matter, either way, Pacquiao’s born-again Catholicism during a prizefight promotion, but as a matter that exploits Americans’ dual fascinations with evangelism and salesmanship, it was too rich for HBO not to shine its documentary light on – as part of a “24/7” programming concept, once innovative in 2007, that now covers mostly itself and predicts storylines it once discovered.

Pacquiao’s unconventional conversion is a bit relevant, too, because a fighter is not supposed to “feel empty inside” during training camp. If he is not too physically exhausted and mentally obsessed with another man’s injury to partake of such flummery, he’s likely not throwing hard enough at the heavybag. Or is that too ungentle for this era? Well. Can you imagine Marvelous Marvin Hagler, cloistered at the Provincetown Inn – the better to marinate in hatred and rage – having a telegenic advisor to ensure his spirit felt fulfilled? Heavens.

Just another part of the Pacquiao mystique, we are told. The soap-operatic entourage, the constituents in Sarangani Province, record deals, lawsuits and countersuits, the feuding corner, training breaks for Bible study; none of these is a distraction because Pacquiao has preternatural focus in the prizefighting ring. Or he’s been well-matched.

Inherent in most aficionados’ Pacquiao fight predictions has been a wager like this: Too much money to be made in a Floyd Mayweather fight for promoter Top Rank to risk it with a miscue. This has been a well-placed bet on the legendary marriage of matchmaker Bruce Trampler’s prowess and promoter Bob Arum’s business acumen, and their continued assumption a superfight with Mayweather is still doable.

Timothy Bradley’s one other showing at welterweight, an unimpressive 2010 outing with Luis Carlos Abregu, also indicates a prime Pacquiao will have his hand raised Saturday. Bradley is special in his way, special in both style and character, but he is not quite special as a guy who went 4-1-1 (3 KOs) against the primest versions of his era’s three best Mexican champions, as Pacquiao did. When was that prime-Pacquiao last seen, though? Pacquiao is the variable, Saturday, not Bradley; if the Pacquiao who has been showing up since he decked Ricky Hatton makes a pre-concert appearance at MGM Grand later this week, he will get conclusively outworked.

We already know what a volume puncher like Bradley brings: a glorious sort of shamelessness. Bradley doesn’t care much where he hits you and cares even less if you stretch him; so long as he surrenders himself fully to his intensity and does what his corner tells him, he is contented. Bradley doesn’t have to worry about losing because he has never done so as a professional, and because a volume puncher knows quickly when someone is decisively better than he is, as Pacquiao will be, and finds euphoria in breaking that man’s spirit with a want of polish, an enchanting rudeness.

I’ll take Bradley, SD-12, then – with a dissenting 112-116 scorecard filled-out the day before.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

CARSON, CALIFORNIA — Returning from an eleven month layoff, former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver failed to muster up enough offense to claim victory over a still raw cruiserweight contender in Lateef Kayode at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night.

Excluding Tarver’s lone foray into the heavyweight division, Kayode (18-0-1, 14 KOs) of Hollywood, California by way of Lagos, Nigeria presented the largest and strongest opponent the veteran had met in his career. However, one might think it was a challenge a younger Tarver (29-6-1, 20 KOs) of Tampa, Florida would have surpassed.

Tarver, 198, started out tentatively as he refused to let his hands go at all in the opening rounds. Kayode, 199, put those rounds in the bank based on output alone as none of his shots did any damage.

Tarver, the WBO #6/IBF #10/WBC #12 ranked cruiserweight, came out of his shell in the third, as he loaded up and landed a left uppercut. Kayode took the blow well, but Tarver came back to land a straight left, punctuating the round.

Again the WBA #2/WBO #8/IBF #9 ranked Kayode took the fourth and fifth rounds on his output, but the Nigerian did not hurt Tarver with anything as the former champion seemed to put his offense in his pocket.

Tarver sprung back into action in the sixth, as a short left counter for Tarver made Kayode’s legs stumble back. Another left counter for Tarver landed clean in the follow-up, but Kayode did land one back late in the round. Tarver decided to let go with a nothing shot after the bell, which prompted Kayode to go after him for a second before referee Wayne Hedgepeth separated them.

Kayode strangely implemented some shuffling footwork to start the seventh. Tarver began landing left hand counters with great regularity as the round continued. One short left in particular rocked Kayode back. The Nigerian came back with some body blows while Tarver covered up before the bell.

Tarver went back to his left hand in the eighth, landing it mainly as a lead rather than a counter. Tarver landed another straight left that seemingly had Kayode briefly in trouble. Kayode did come back late in the round with a cracking right that may have broken through the guard.

Kayode slapped at Tarver’s body to start the tenth. Tarver retorted with a light-hitting flurry after a Kayode fall was ruled a slip. The final two rounds lacked action, as neither fighter acted as though the fight was on the line. Kayode especially went into run mode to start the twelfth. In the end, one judge had it 115-113 for Tarver. Another judge had it 115-113 the other way. The third judge forced the draw with a 114-114 tally.

“Everybody knows I won this fight,” proclaimed Kayode after the fight. “He won because he works for Showtime. Let’s go to HBO or my country and fight again.” Tarver was even more adamant that he won, “I beat the guy all night. I dictated every round. I landed clean shots and he was sloppy and slapped all night.” Hinting that he may have underestimated Kayode, Tarver said, “Maybe I fought down to his level, but I don’t know.”

In the co-main event, middleweight contender Peter Quillin (27-0, 20 KOs) of Hollywood, California may have booked himself a crack at the 160-pound title with a clear-cut ten-round decision over light middleweight champion Winky Wright (51-6-1, 25 KOs) of Saint Petersburg, Florida.

After a throw away first round, Wright continued to block most of Quillin’s leads and follow-ups in the second round. Towards the end of the round, Quillin backed into a corner, which enabled a conservative Wright to land one or two clean blows.

Wright, 159, had his moments in the third round as well, landing left hand leads. Quillin, 159.6, still struggled to get off as the round came to a close. Quillin, the WBA #5/WBO #7 ranked middleweight, walked into a stiff jab early in the fourth. However, by the end of the round Quillin began to land, mostly with the second or third punches of his combinations.

Early in the fifth, a straight left landed for Winky to set up combination with Quillin in the ropes. Quillin fired back as Wright gave ground an dropped the former champ with a right hand. Outside of a strong ninth for Wright, the fight was Quillin’s the rest of the way. Late in the eighth Quillin hurt Wright with a right uppercut, as the Floridian’s vaunted defense struggled to protect against a strong middleweight.

Wright came out throwing to start the ninth and outworked Quillin to sweep the round with the judges. But it was far too late to think about taking a decision, and Wright never did have the power to pull out a fight late, especially at 160-pounds. Quillin, who appeared to be holding back on his right, which he had fractured late last year, stil managed to land over the top of Wright’s jab over and over.

In the end, all three judges gave the fight to Quillin by the deservedly wide scores of 97-92 and 98-91 twice. The win could make Quillin a marketable option for the most recognized middleweight Sergio Martinez if his team feels he is ready for such a fight. Obviously after a three-year layoff, the loss puts Wright’s career in doubt. “I think I need to be at 154 if I fight again,” admitted Wright after the fight.

In defense of his WBA 154-pound title, Austin Trout (25-0, 14 KOs) of Las Cruces, New Mexico boxed his way to a somewhat lackluster twelve-round decision over WBA #3 ranked light middleweight Delvin Rodriguez (26-6-3, 14 KOs) of Danbury, Connecticut by way of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.

After a feeling out round, Rodriguez, 151, had one of his better rounds in the second as he landed the only telling blow. Trout, 152.8, settled in and found his range by round four, as Rodriguez struggled to find his way around the jab and long reach of the champion.

Trout continued to peck away at Rodriguez from the outside in the fifth and sixth. Finally in the seventh, Rodriguez found his way in, but Trout proved to be an elusive target with his upper body and head movement. After avoiding Rodriguez’ shots upstairs, Trout would get back out at range.

Rodriguez found a bit of success as he stepped with Trout to land some of his better shots in the ninth. However, without going back downstairs, Rodriguez allowed Trout out of danger. Trout unloaded more of his arsenal in the tenth with a quick combination followed by a straight left that snapped Rodriguez’ head back.

Unfortunately for the fans watching ringside and on television, both fighters saved their best for the last 30 seconds of the fight. The first big exchange was won by Trout with a hard right hook. Another good exchange closed the fight which ended with a chorus of boos. Scores read 117-111, 118-110 and 120-108 for Trout.

Despite controlling the majority of the fight, Trout did little to endear himself to the mostly Hispanic crowd on hand. With Mexican star Saul Alvarez seated ringside and on the hunt for a September opponent, it was the Hispanic audience that Trout needed make an impression on in order to make that fight a financial possibility.

With a near perfect performance, Leo Santa Cruz (20-0-1, 11 KOs) of Lincoln Heights, California by way of Huetamo, Michoacan de Ocampo, Mexico claimed the IBF Bantamweight title recently vacated by Abner Mares with a near shutout over a game but outgunned Vusi Malinga (20-4-1, 12 KOs) of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

What turned out to be a fairly one-sided contest actually began with some entertaining and competitive rounds. Both Santa Cruz, 117, and Malinga, 117, had their moments in the first three rounds.

Santa Cruz, the IBF #4/WBO #14 ranked bantamweight, appeared to have a clear edge in power over the IBF #1 ranked Malinga while the two landed punch-for-punch to open the fight. The battle was fought on the inside for the majority of the early rounds, which both fighters seemed to welcome.

Santa Cruz continued to place hard shots effectively while maintaining a solid defensive guard against Malinga’s counters in the fourth. Most effectively, Santa Cruz’ left to the body began to slow down Malinga’s offense.

As the rounds progressed, Malinga continued to have problems getting around the Winky-like guard of Santa Cruz. With the sting and velocity out of Malinga’s punches, Santa Cruz began to unload with four and five-punch combinations by the middle of the fight.

Midway through the eighth, Santa Cruz’ unrelenting body attack forced Malinga to pause for thought and perhaps make him think twice about his dedication to the bout. Further evidence of such was Malinga’s late exit from his stool to start the ninth.

After concentrating almost solely on Malinga’s body, Santa Cruz opted to mix in some head shots late in the fight. The stubborn Malinga continued to be a willing foe despite the punishment. No one will ever accuse Malinga of being quitter, as the South African stood his ground until the final bell, firing back everything he had. Too bad for him he ran into an emerging bantamweight star in Santa Cruz. Scores read 119-109 and 120-108 twice for the new IBF 118-pound champion Santa Cruz.

Former super middleweight title challenger Sakio Bika put himself back on the map with a tenth-round stoppage of streaking Dyah Davis (21-3-1, 9 KOs) of Coconut Creek, Florida to claim two regional titles.

Bika (30-5-2, 21 KOs) of Los Angeles by way of Douala, Cameroon controlled the bout at the outset, landing clubbing blows and utilizing his usual roughhouse style. Davis, 167.6, finally landed one clean blow to end the round, but Bika, 166.6, followed back with a clean overhand right that may have hurt the son of Howard Davis Jr.

The WBC #16 ranked super middleweight Bika continued to time his wild right hands to great effect in the second. Davis, WBC #4/WBA #10/IBF #11 ranked 168-pounder, tried to box more, but had trouble avoiding Bika’s long arms and wide swings.

Davis began to show the signs of Bika’s punishment as the Cameroonian pounded away at him to close round five. Even when he missed, Bika managed to hurt Davis with his left hand while falling inside.

After his best round in the ninth, Davis’ fortune reverted back to form as he as cut from an apparent Bika right hand. Bika seemed to be gathering himself for a second wind, as he shut his output down for the most of the three minutes.

Rejuvenated to start the tenth, Bika quickly pressured Davis into a corner before uncorking a huge overhand right that began problems anew for Davis. Bika continued to swing away and landed another right that almost dropped Davis. Finally after chasing Davis across the ring to another corner, Bika flurried for a stoppage at 1:40 of the tenth and final round.

With the win, Bika claimed Davis’ NABF Super Middleweight title as well as the vacant WBO Intercontinental Super Middleweight belt, which almost guarantee him top ten rankings with the WBC and WBO.

In the last fight before the televised portion of the show, lightweight prospect Sharif Bogere (23-0, 15 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada impressively dismantled Manuel Leyva (21-7, 12 KOs) of Downey, California by way of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico inside of two rounds.

Bogere, 137.2, dropped Leyva, 137.4, with a straight right on the inside late in the first. Leyva moved just enough to avoid a first-round stoppage, but all he did was delay the inevitable. In the opening moments of the second, Bogere dropped Leyva again, this time with a left hook. Leyva gamely rose, but found himself against the ropes on the receiving end of a Bogere flurry. With referee Zac Young looking in, Bogere landed a clean uppercut that prompted a stoppage at 38 seconds of the second.

To no great surprise, Omar Figueroa (17-0-1, 14 KOs) of Weslaco, Texas made short work of career opponent Tyler Ziolkowski (14-16, 8 KOs) of Saint Joseph, Missouri in the second fight of the evening. The Golden Boy promoted-Figueroa, 138.4, ended matters with his first clean shot, a left hook to the body. Ziolkowski, 137.6, writhed in pain on the mat as referee Thomas Taylor counted him out at 2:00 of round one.

In the opener for tonight’s marathon card, Juan Reynoso (1-0) of Tampa, Florida hammered out a four-round unanimous decision in his pro debut over game Beau Hamilton (0-2) of Montague, California. Reynoso, 153.2, promoted by Antonio Tarver’s A.T. Entertainment, was clearly the better schooled and conditioned fighter. Hamilton, 154, was never in any trouble, but failed to land anything telling in the twelve minutes. Scores read 39-37 and 40-36 twice for Reynoso.

Photos by Esther Lin/Showtime

Aldwayne Simpson contributed to this report.

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

If defiance is an art form, Winky Wright is an artist. He might not practice it in quite the style of a Bernard Hopkins, who has applied it in broad strokes for an identity all his own. But Wright uses it in a careful, almost subdued tone that has made fools of many who didn’t see it or doubted it was even there.

Whether it can still help him is either a question of time — he’s 40 – or Peter Quillin (26-0, 20 KOs), who Saturday night on a Showtime-televised card in Carson, Calif. will attempt to do what Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley couldn’t.

Wright’s initial challenge rests in whether he can overcome a problematic combination. There’s his age, although Wright (51-5-1, 25 KOs) won’t even be the oldest on a card labeled “Four Warned.’’ The senior citizen on this one is Antonio Tarver (29-6, 20 KOs), who at 43 faces Lateef Kayode (18-0, 14 KOs) in a cruiserweight fight. Wright’s biggest problem might be a long layoff. He’s had only one fight in the last five years and only two in the last six-and-a-half. His last victory was over Ike Quartey in 2006.

But, Wright said in a conference call, he never retired. OK, maybe he was on an extended vacation or gone on a long recess. Whatever it was, Wright says he never planned to quit. That, he says, is why he’s coming back.

But, he said, “If I’m going to do it, I’ve got to do it now.’’

If not retirement, inactivity often erodes reflexes and dulls muscle memory. Wright played a lot of golf. But a tee time isn’t opening bell. In perhaps a concession to that possibility, Wright trained in Phoenix at the Athletes Performance institute where the best from all sports often go to rehab from injuries or to resurrect old skills.

Wright, who is back with trainer Dan Birmingham, conceded that it took him a while to re-adapt to the Spartan-like regimen that dictates a fighter’s lifestyle in the weeks before a bout.

“I’m not going to say I stayed in boxing shape,’’ said Wright, who got up to 185 pounds and will fight Quillin at 160. “I wasn’t fat. But I wasn’t in boxing shape.’’

The layoff, he said, was a result of not getting the kind of fights he wanted.

“No one significant wanted to fight me,’’ he said.

Significant fights eluded him for years. In large part, that was his story before he emerged as the first undisputed junior-middleweight champion in nearly three decades. Wright fought in Europe, winning yet ignored in the United States during the late 1990s. In the U.S., Wright, the American expatriate, got little respect for a record perceived to be built on opponents who – the joke went – could only get licensed to drive a cab in Las Vegas.

Wright filed it away, used it as motivational chip and as a weapon for those who laughed at the jokes, yet looked like the punch line once they got into the ring against the lefthander with a precise jab and defensive knowhow. In 2004, he beat Shane Mosley twice, the first time after Mosley was coming off his second victory over Oscar De La Hoya. Yet, Wright was still the underdog in 2005 when he met Felix Trinidad at middleweight. Trinidad had no chance in losing a one-sided decision in what was Wright’s finest performance.

But victory didn’t temper the defiance, which was sometimes reflected in failed negotiations. In 2006, Wright and Jermain Taylor fought to controversial draw. Taylor has the middleweight title, but balked at giving Wright financial parity, a 50-50 split, because Wright didn’t have a title. The rematch never happened.

Wright is often asked about the fights he turned down, including one with Oscar De La Hoya proposed in 2003. He was asked about it again in the conference call that included Quillin.

“All these idiots always talk about what I turned down,’’ Wright said in a flash of anger that said time hasn’t tempered that defiance either.

It’s a sign that Wright has a chance on a night when few give him any at all against the 28-year-old Quillin. From the beginning, it’s why he’s always had a chance.

Notes, Quotes
· The sad death Sunday of Johnny Tapia marks the passing of a star-crossed personality and a character as colorful as any in a sport full of them. He was as ferocious a fighter as there ever was. In the end, he will be remembered more for his story outside of the ropes – Mi Vida Loca – than for what he did within them.

· Say a few prayers for Paul Williams. His fight is just beginning after a motorcycle accident Sunday in Atlanta that will likely leave him paralyzed from waist down. He was scheduled to undergo surgery Friday.

· Wright’s last opponent was Williams, who beat him by unanimous decision in April 2009 at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay.

AZ Notes
Phoenix junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. is thinking about a different model of Everlast gloves after extending his unbeaten record to 15-0 last Saturday in Tucson in his first bout since surgery on his right wrist in January. He emerged from the six-rounder over Josh Sosa without pain in the wrist. But there was a swollen knot on the middle knuckle of the left hand. It’s a problem he’s had over the last three-to-four fights. Benavidez’ bone structure might not be able to withstand power from his own punches. One solution might be an Everlast model with more padding above the knuckles.

“I’m very tough, you know,” Carl Froch said Saturday, after he ruined Lucian Bute. “I’m a bit of an animal.”

It was the sort of self-assessment that, when unleavened by criticism, comes off as boorish and predictable sales-speak intended to preclude fisticuffs more than promote them. But from Froch’s mouth, which bears a frank tongue that quickly, and consistently, conceded the man who decisioned him in December, Andre Ward, was, is, the better man, the statement had exactly the right panache. In Froch’s Nottinghamshire, that is, in a place Ward has not been and will not be seen, Froch is the world’s most ferocious 168-pound man.

He proved that by tearing through IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute, Saturday, in England’s Capital FM Arena, and stopping the undefeated Romanian-born Canadian southpaw at 1:05 of the fifth round, when American referee Earl Brown, shaken by the sight of Bute’s head nearly touching his shoulder blades, waved-off the fight, restarted the fight, and had his authority usurped entirely (and appropriately).

There is plenty to be said for making fights to please fans, to fill arenas, to ensure future generations’ writers shake their heads at modifiers’ inadequacies as they happen off the fingers. But there’s one other thing to be said for making fights, and it is a thing that is occasionally lost for good reason. Because prizefights weaken their participants – alter their motor skills, shorten their lives, reduce their abilities to associate thoughts that aren’t immediate familiars – it is intuitively advisable to have an athlete make few of them as possible en route to comfortable a retirement as possible, with comfort defined in realms both physical and financial. This is truer the older a fighter gets; who would begrudge Evander Holyfield or Roy Jones Jr. a retirement party now?

But when an athlete is still prime, there’s a different strategy to consider: Fight more because you will fight better. Most arguments for increased volume are made by aficionados for self-interested reasons. We wish to see better spectacles more often while enjoying an ancillary chance at converting laymen to devotees. Nothing wrong with a little self-interest, of course, but in Carl Froch’s case, it misses the point – as Froch reminded us while uttering this clause at the end of a postfight answer, Saturday: “Most importantly, that’s what I want.”

What Froch wants is to be a great prizefighter, an international item, an immortal – a thing over which he has almost no control. Barring that, he wants to be an improving prizefighter, and in a twist that is proper, not ironical, Froch’s activity has brought that very effect. He has matched himself as a prime fighter against other prime fighters, and he is a better fighter right now, this very moment, than he was before he did. All clichés about styles aside, there is a very good chance the Carl Froch who engaged in that aesthetic disaster of a Super Six opener with Andre Dirrell 31 months ago would not have done to Lucian Bute what Froch just did.

The lesson of that fight with Dirrell, that some men who place a premium on trap-setting and reflexes are athletes not fighters and need to be gone-through not abided, changed the way Froch approached his opening minutes with Bute – a man superior in both reflex and athleticism. And the fight that came after Froch-Dirrell, the close decision loss to Mikkel Kessler that put a first blemish on Froch’s record and saw Froch, in its fifth round, land a buckling right hand then do a moment’s showboating with his right glove, taught Froch a hurt man is more interested in his continued consciousness than you are, and must be treated accordingly.

At a fundamental level that stylists often shun, a choice must be made in a prizefight that is otherwise even. It is a calculation of what a man will sacrifice – what percentage of his dignity and health – to undo an opponent. From the opening round, when Froch swam at Bute, throwing the right hook then crossing his feet over and crunching misplaced limbs one against the other, Froch proclaimed: All of it; I will sacrifice all of it in my hometown, right now, in the next instant even.

It has been written of Froch that he badly wants to fight even if sometimes he does not appear to know how. There were moments of that, too, in Saturday’s match. But the hardiness of his offense and the thrill Froch evinced in round 1 when Bute caught him with what Froch might call “something sweet” and both men paused to mark how comparatively little it affected the Brit, those were things for which Bute, whatever his class, was unprepared. Or so he looked – unprepared, uncomfortable, overwhelmed.

We must honor Froch as a bulwark against the rising and increasingly persuasive tide of the hypothetical. Had Froch not swapped blows unsuccessfully with Andre Ward six months ago, right now, on the virtue of what Froch did to Bute – widely considered no worse than the world’s second-best super middleweight – we’d be making a hypothetical Froch-Ward match in which even Ward’s supporters would concede that, if in the unlikely event their man could steal a decision from Froch, Ward would be hurt worse by Froch than any opponent before or after.

Instead we know exactly where we stand. Froch, to his resounding credit, fought both Ward and Bute and stated rather plainly before and after both occasions he was at his very best. Ward is definitively better than Froch, and he will be tomorrow. Froch is definitively better than Bute, and he will be until the men retire.

We do not believe that, or present persuasive arguments about its likelihood – silly rhetorical exercises that disintegrate into ad-hominem suspicions if not attacks – rather, we know it. Bless Carl Froch for providing that knowledge.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

TUCSON – There was no comeback from Antonio Margarito. That will have to wait. But there was a split decision, a couple of split lips, controversy and a tentative comeback from a leading prospect whose fight with fragile hands continues.

Margarito could only watch Saturday night, first from a seat and then from a corner behind trainer Roberto Garcia at Casino Del Sol’s outdoor arena where the former welterweight champion is expected to fight on July 20 in his first bout since his dramatic loss to Miguel Cotto in December.

Margarito, who had been scheduled to fight Abel Perry Saturday night, was there for his brother-in-law, Hanzel Martinez (18-0, 15 KOs), who won a minor World Boxing Council bantamweight title when Felipe Rivas (13-10-1, 7 KOs) suddenly quit before the seventh.

Rivas, who agreed to the fight only two days before opening bell, scored a third-round knockdown and was leading on the scorecards when he abruptly checked out. Rivas said he decided he couldn’t continue because of the difference in weight.

“The pounds were just too much,’’ Rivas, a Mexican, said through an interpreter.

Rivas weighed in on Friday at 116.2 pounds. Martinez’ official weight was 118.

Rivas, whose compact punches left Martinez bleeding from the nose and lip, said he knew he was winning.

“But it wasn’t worth for me to continue in a fight like this,’’ said Rivas, who is from the border town of Nogales, about 60 miles south of Tucson.

Martinez’ corner believed that Rivas, penalized a point in the third for spitting his bloodied mouthpiece at Martinez, just ducked the inevitable. Martinez, who appeared to get stronger in the sixth, would have scored a knockout within the next two rounds, said Garcia and Sergio Diaz of ShowDown Promotions.

The in-laws, it turns out, fight the same way. Both Margarito and Martinez are notorious slow starters.

Diaz said he hopes to have Martinez back at Casino Del Sol on a card scheduled for July 20, when Margarito’s comeback has been re-scheduled for a second time. It was postponed the first time, from May 26 to July 7, because of a strain to an Achilles tendon suffered while training in Tijuana about a week after the fight with Perry was formally announced. It was re-scheduled again, this time to July 20, to accommodate TV Azteca, which has other bouts scheduled for July 7.

“Tony’s been running and is in good shape,’’ said Diaz, who said Perry is still Margarito’s opponent.

However, It’s not clear who will train Margarito, who was in Martinez’ dressing room and not immediately available for comment. Garcia was in Margarito’s corner for losses to Cotto and Manny Pacquiao. Some have urged Margarito to retire because of damage suffered to his right eye, which was surgically-repaired after the orbital bone was fractured by Pacquiao. Margarito said in March that he hopes for a shot at fellow Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in September.

“He’s still working out in Tijuana,’’ Garcia said. “This is not just about me. He has lot of thinking to do.’’

In a main event put together after Margarito’s injury in early May, Mexican super-welterweight Jesus Soto Karass (25-7-3, 16 KOs) battled to a split decision over Said El Harrack (1-2-1, 4 KOs) of Henderson, Nev.

“It was tough fight,’’ said Soto Karass, who rocked El Harrack, a Moroccan, with uppercuts to the stomach. “That guy is a good fighter. My body assault won it for me.’’

Before Soto Karrass-El Harrack and the Martinez-Rivas controversy, Phoenix prospect Jose Benavidez Jr.’s tested his right wrist for the first time since undergoing surgery for a misplaced bone in January. Benavidez (15-0, 12 KOs) was cautious early, throwing only three right hands in the first round en route to a unanimous decision over Josh Sosa (10-3, 5 KOs). Benavidez relied on a powerful jab, head to body and body to head, throughout most of the next five rounds, until rocking Sosa with rights in the bout’s final moments.

There was no further pain in the right hand or wrist, Benavidez said. However, there was swelling and bruising on the middle knuckle of the left. Benavidez has had problems with both hands. The 20-year-old junior-welterweight will have a physician look at the left hand sometime within the next week, his dad-and-trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr. said.

Best of the undercard

Super-lightweight Abel Ramos (4-0, 3 KOs) of Arizona City displayed a prospect’s power with a second-round stoppage of Cassius Clay (0-4,), a Las Vegas fighter who has the legend’s original name and a photo of himself as an infant in the arms of the heavyweight champ better known as Muhammad Ali.

In the first, Ramos threw an overhand right that lifted Clay up and dropped him on to the canvas as though he had fallen off a one-meter diving board. At 1:54 of the second, Ramos threw another right. Clay spit out his mouthpiece in a gesture that needed no interpretation. He was finished.

The rest
· Lightweight Javier Garcia (8-2-1, 7 KOs), of trainer Robert Garcia’s gym in Oxnard, Calif., scored four knockdowns, forcing Juan Jaramillo (8-11-2, 3 KOs) of Salem, Ore., to quit after the fifth round.

· Lightweight Eric Flores (3-1-1, 1 KO) of Los Angeles scored a unanimous decision over Rudolfo Gamez (1-2) of Tucson.

· Lightweight Andrey Klimov (14-0, 7 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a unanimous decision over Alejandro Rodriguez (13-6, 6 KOs) of Mexico.

· Phoenix super-middleweight Andrew Hernandez (4-0-1 scored a unanimous decision over Katrell Strauss (2-2, 1 KO) of Denver.

Photo by Phil Soto / Top Rank

Jose Benavidez Jr.’s apprenticeship will move on to another stage, from patient prospect to potential contender, if he can get through a test Saturday at Tucson’s Casino del Sol that is critical and perhaps necessary in the development of the 20-year-old junior-welterweight.

Benavidez (14-0, 12 KOs) is coming off surgery for a troublesome right wrist that forced him out of a couple of fights and gave him a hint at what he can expect. The Phoenix fighter has yet to encounter much adversity from the opposite corner, although that surely awaits him if he fulfills all that has been forecast. But surgery creates its own adversity. It leaves a scar and sometimes questions.

Questions might be there are at opening bell at Casino del Sol’s outdoor area on TV Azteca against Joshua Sosa (10-2, 5 KOs) of Leavenworth, Kan., on an eight-fight card (6 p.m. first bell) featuring junior-middleweight Jesus Soto Karass (24-7, 16 KOs) of Mexico against Said El Harrack (10-1-1, 5 KOs) of Henderson, Nev. Benavidez father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr., is confident his son will answer in a fashion that will leave only the scar.

The wrist, he says, has withstood long hours of pounding mitts, speed bags, heavy bags and sparring partners at trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif., and Central Boxing in Phoenix.

There were some predictably tentative moments in the early going. The senior Benavidez could see it. His son would wince.

But five days before Benavidez’s first fight since a victory in November on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s controversial decision over Juan Manuel Marquez, that wince was gone, replaced by confidence.

“We were working the mitts,’’ Jose Sr. “The first time he hits the mitts with the right hand, I looked up into his face. There was no expression. He just kept on working. Then, he sparred eight, nine rounds. He’s ready to go. Everything is good.’’

Jose Benavidez Sr. works to balance the various, sometimes conflicting tasks that go into being a dad and his son’s trainer. It’s not easy. Many fail to separate emotions from business. But there have been dads and sons who have managed, including retired welterweight and middleweight champion Felix Trinidad and his father, Felix Trinidad Sr. The senior Benavidez has tried to learn by quietly watching others.

His son turned 20 on May 15. That’s the good news. Somebody who was 19 just a month ago has a short memory for surgery that happened in January. Concern is for old guys. That’s his dad, CEO of the family business.

Jose Benavidez Sr. looks at the rest of 2012 and sees a year in which his son is going to have to further prove himself to Top Rank, which signed him as a 17-year-old.

“I’m sure there are some doubts in a lot people’s minds,’’ said Jose Sr., who hopes a first or second-round stoppage without further trouble to the right wrist will put his son into a bout on the June 9 undercard of Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. “That’s just the way the business is. Over the next year, the level of competition will be stepped up. He’s ready for that. But we have to show improvement.

“Right now, it’s about how you win.’’

Bute might have to steal one in Nottingham
Lucian Bute might have to be a modern-day Robin Hood to steal a victory Saturday in Nottingham, England, from Carl Froch in an EPIX-televised super-middleweight bout.

Bute has the title — the International Boxing Federation’s version, but few advantages in going to Froch’s hometown. Bute, a Romanian living in Canada, tried to duplicate the expected atmosphere by even training while listening to a tape of crowd noise that included the voice of Froch’s wife.

Meanwhile Froch, who lost to Andre Ward in his last bout, has been predictably forthright and confident. Bute, he says, is out of his league.

“We’re going to find out if he’s good enough to fight at the next level,’’ Froch (28-2, 20 KOs) said in a shot at Bute’s unbeaten record (30-0, 24 KOs) during an international conference call. “Lucian Bute, on paper, is overrated.’’

Notes, Quotes
· During a conference call with Pacquiao, Top Rank’s Bob Arum said he doesn’t believe that Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto are drug cheats. Both have tested positive. Arum asked for further research before a rush to judgment. “Unless everybody sits down and works through this, we’ll have chaos,’’ he said.

· And Antonio Tarver started slowly and picked up steam in an angry rant directed at Lateef Kayode during a conference call for their Showtime-televised cruiserweight bout on June 2 in Carson, Calif. Apparently, Kayode is upset that Tarver criticized him while working as a TV analyst. “”He told me what’s he’s going to do me when he sees me in the street,’’ said Tarver, who promises to break down Kayode. “This man has threatened me.’’

Inside the double blue doors, old wood with matte aluminum handles, the heater is off because with all the bodies inside and the humidity outside even the innocently sadistic traditions of the sport, ways for fighters to make weight by stretching them on a rack of dehydration, cannot find purchase in raising the temperature.

The stairs that descend from the entrance are rows of concrete, thick and soft with layered gray paint. Folding aluminum chairs, their legs scuffed by cheap polish off cheap brown and black shoes, line the stairs’ levels – a few dutiful mothers lying across them, bored by spectacle and tired from downtown-hotel housekeeping jobs, their phones in their right hands for emergencies or texting. A fibrous-patterned slip rope that sees little action in a gym with little head movement stretches wall to wall as a border to complement its handwritten sign: “Only registered fighters past this point.”

The walls sparkle with gold and black paint, oil on cinderblock, in a lost tribute to a crew of handymen boxers lost to a reduced schedule. Spongy black mats at the base of the sparkly walls float on stacked plywood that floats over the once-gleaming hardwood lanes of a collegiate bowling alley from the 1950s. Every so many meters, sporadically placed, stand borrowed trash receptacles, some tin and others blue plastic, one bearing partially a white recycling cartoon of circled arrows. The ring is elevated, four steps above the floor, its bungee-tightened canvas blue, its ropes taped red and white, and its new spit funnel crowned by a metal tray slick with petroleum jelly.

Two boys, grammar-school kids whose small heads take on alien, lopsided shapes under their red headgear, push 10-ounce gloves harmlessly at one another. Both have begun young enough to take punches on the nose impersonally. Ricky, the shorter, slower of the two, carries his lead hand low, mostly because he is tired but partly because his dad took him to see the Mayweather fight on a movie screen a few weeks back, and Mayweather made the low lead hand look more promising than Ricky’s trainers say it is. The boy will be fat someday – a fortune told in his chin and cheeks – but Dad will force the day out far as possible with strenuous hobbies like boxing, which despite their strenuousness are almost helpless to the boy’s fantastic aptitude for detecting, in every venture, the road most traveled.

Skipping rope before a wall-sized shadowboxing mirror is Temo, a youth champion, one of the gym’s best and necessarily cockiest kids, marking time till the yellow metal timer above the mirror makes its electronic enh-enh-enh sound. He floats a centimeter above the spot his leather rope slaps and may never be big enough to make a living at prizefighting, whatever others’ outsized and not-selfless hopes. Temo’s beauty and charisma will take him to an affluent place in 20 years, though his slight frame will doubtfully bear others’ piling on it.

Squared to the softest of the new 75-pound leather bags the gym got for Christmas is Clarence (everyone calls him “C”) tapping with hybrid left and right hooks the low part of the sack where red leather was stitched to black reinforcement and its inner sand is compacted tightest. C repeatedly puts his middle knuckles on the exact places where he can apply greatest force but make the bag swing least. His shirtless back, wet with exertion, is hard and dark and shiny like the wood of an oboe. The Christmas bag’s tight, noisy chain extends 10 feet in the air where it wraps round an exposed metal beam. Upstairs on the basketball courts, pickup games happen on one side and a women’s roller-derby practice on the other, and their exertions come through the gym’s ceiling like base thumps and zipping marbles.

Behind the double-end and heavy bags hangs an ovoid chunk of puke-yellow foam and crusted silver duct tape, its leather entirely shed. It glares resentfully across the floor at a new Everlast – heavier and harder, shapelier – into which boxers now drive their uppercuts and not this old bag, merely the X on a map where instead of buried treasure lies a broken board of floating floor that’d been twisting careless kids’ ankles.

On the second wooden bench, soft with layered gray paint in front of strewn dumbbells with rusted-over poundages and a heavy creaking Universal machine, copper with age and abuse, sits a pudgy kid named Victor. He’s in his twenties and 300s. Promised sparring, he’s been gloved-up and waiting, the toe of his right Ringside boot planted while its misshapen heel vibrates in the air just off the mat, hours now. His supposed partner, a thirtyish guy with a beard who wears a fat-burner belt under dark t-shirts and says he fought in a faraway place years ago and recently declared too loudly that he wanted sparring because he needed to say it to believe it, won’t be in. Tomorrow, there’ll be tendonitis or car problems or food poisoning to blame, and the day after that too.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

Boxing and politics are impossible to separate. Proof rests in Muhammad Ali’s opposition to the Viet Nam war. But the ring and political office are an impossible mix. The furor surrounding Manny Pacquiao’s opposition to same-sex marriage in a misleading, examiner.com story is just another example of why the Filipino Congressman would have been better off if he had postponed his political career.

From this corner, it’s a mystery as to why Pacquiao would even comment about the issue. I’m a lot more interested in how he plans to deal with Tim Bradley’s head-butts on June 9. I also suspect the controversy will quickly subside, a forgotten tempest. An athlete’s opinion about anything outside of the arena is a little bit like going to the window at a Vegas book in March with wagers based on President Barack Obama’s NCAA bracket.

It’s foolish.

Pacquiao’s seat in Congress has always seemed to be something of a sideshow. It’s an intriguing element, just one among many in the make-up of a compelling story. Put it this way: Pacquiao is not going to be judged on what legislation he proposes, but only for whom he beats and how he beats them. If he loses to Bradley, he loses more votes than he would with an opinion about gay marriage.

The trouble with his political office is that he has become fair game, an easy target, for unseen shots he can’t counter when all of his time and energy are needed in the challenge posed by the dangerous Bradley. Politicians without enemies are ex-politicians.

From an issue with Filipino authorities to a controversy with customs about goods imported by his charitable foundation, Pacquiao’s office and his aspirations beyond Congress have created a complicated landscape full of fronts that will confront him all at once at a time when only one fight really matters.

From the Twitter front
Is anybody taking Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s latest tweet seriously? Mayweather tells his 2.8 million followers: “I stand behind President Obama & support gay marriage. I’m an American citizen & I believe people should live their life the way they want.’’

I guess that means few remember Mayweather’s internet video about Pacquiao a couple of years ago. Mayweather repeatedly used a homophobic slur to describe Pacquiao.

Dates, Quotes, Anecdotes
· Happy Birthday, Sugar Ray Leonard. He turned 56 Thursday.

· With a Chad Dawson-Andre Ward fight possible in September, Lucian Bute was asked for his pick Thursday in a conference call that included Carl Froch in the build-up for their EPIX-televised fight on May 26 in Nottingham, England. “A very good fight,’’ said Bute, who agreed to face Froch when Ward said no. “Probably 50-50. I would give a little edge to Dawson right now.’’ Leonard will work as an EPIX analyst for Bute-Froch.

· And Froch, on Bute’s contention that a succession of punches can crack his durable chin. “The best chin in the business is the one that doesn’t get hit.’’

AZ Notes
· Happy Birthday, Jose Benavidez, Jr. The Phoenix junior-welterweight prospect turned 20 Tuesday while training for May 26 at Tucson’s Casino del Sol in his first bout since surgery on his right wrist for an injury suffered in a November victory on the Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez undercard. “He looks good, looks strong,’’ said his dad and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr., who said his son knocked out a sparring partner last week with a left hook.

· Tijuana super-flyweight Hanzel Martinez, Antonio Margarito’s brother-in-law, will get a shot at a minor title, the North American Boxing Federation’s version, on the May 26 card. Margarito had been scheduled for the main event, but his first fight since a December loss was postponed until July because of foot injury suffered a few days after it was formally announced.

FAIRFAX, VA – It was a pro-Korean Zombie crowd in Fairfax, VA and their man surely didn’t disappoint. Fighting in front of a supporting group of Korean Americans and hardcore MMA fans, Chan-Sung Jung (13-3) of South Korea put on a heck of a show, going toe-to-toe with the technically sound Dustin Poirier (12-2) over four scintillating rounds before emerging victorious with a perfectly executed d’arce choke.

After a quick clinch in the opening seconds, Jung secured a takedown and drew blood on the American’s head with sharp elbows from the top. Poirier’s tricky guard got him the reversal for a bit before the two stood back up in the final seconds to trade blows.

Jung dropped Poirier again in the beginning of the second and hurried to go for a ground and pound. Poirer pulled guard and eventually got back up. A flying knee followed by a series of uppercuts and a scramble led to Jung gaining full-mount. In another fast paced scramble, Poirier almost got caught in an arm bar, but managed to escape. Seconds before the bell, Jung nearly ended the fight again with a triangle lock.

Poised to box in the third, Poirier threw jabs and found his mark with well timed right hands. But call him the Arturo Gatti of MMA if you will, the man they chanted, ‘Zombie’ can’t seem to stay out of a brawl if he wanted to. Forcing the action against his tiring foe, Jung walked through punches to dish out punishment of his own, hurting Poirier against the cage before the bell.

The fourth saw another flying knee from Jung that had Poirier collapsing to his knees. Jung then immediately locked up a d’arce choke, which rendered Poirier unconscious. The referee stepped in at 1:07 to call a halt to the contest.

In the post fight interview, Jung alluded that his last win against Mark Hominick could’ve been a fluke, so he was reluctant on calling out the champ. But this time around, he begged to differ.

‘I want to thank all the Korean fans. He (Poirier) had me in trouble in the beginning of the third, but I just kept going and came up with the win. I want Jose Aldo!’ said Jung .

SADOLLAH EDGES LOPEZ

The main supporting bout evening saw a duel between welterweights Amir Sadollah (7-3) of Richmond, VA and Las Vegas, NV’s Jorge Lopez (11-3), won by Sadollah after three close, competitive rounds. Official scores were 29-28, 28-29, and 29-28.

After a feel out start to the round, Lopez was able to takedown Sadollah and attempted to maneuver a kimura. Sadollah got back to his feet and escaped the submission attempt, but didn’t do much else to take the round.

Lopez, a Wanderlei Silva’s protégé based out of Las Vegas, NV, went for the takedown again in round two, but was countered by a guillotine attempt from Sadollah, followed by a scramble that led both guys back to their feet. Just when Sadollah appeared to be in control of the final minute, Lopez caught a leg and finished with a takedown.

The third frame saw another arduous effort from Lopez to take Sadollah down, but the Ultimate Fighter 7 winner displayed solid defense against the cage. Sadalloh was briefly taken down and pull guard before standing back up. It was almost seemed like a stall tactic for Lopez to push his foe against the cage, garnering a loud jeer of boos from the crowd in the closing seconds. To Sadollah’s credit, he tried to keep the fight standing and contributed more in the striking department.

CERRONE BREEZES THROUGH STEPHENS

Fan favorite Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone (18-4-0, 1NC) didn’t disappoint the crowd, pounding out an easy yet still exciting unanimous decision (30-27 3x) win over San Diego, CA’s Jeremy Stephens (20-8). Cerreone, an Albuquerque, NM product, goofed and danced around in round one, but landed some sharp punches and leg kicks in the process. By the end of the round, the shorter Stephens appeared battered as his face was already busted up. In the second, Cerreone landed a crisp one two combination and launched a series of leg kicks that hurt his opponent. The third and last round was no different as the Greg Jackson trained fighter continued to dissect Stephens in every aspect of the game.

This was Cerrone’s first comeback fight since the disappointing loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 141. With the win, Cerrone keeps himself relevant in the lightweight picture.

With the great Georges St. Pierre nearby his corner, Montreal’s Yves Jabouin added himself to the red hot bantamweight mix with a brutal, impressive three round beat down of Enumclaw, WA’s Jeff Houghland.

Jabouin initiated action with a quick right hand and a spinning back kick that kept Hougland at bay. Towards the end of the round, Jabouin landed a hard kick to the midsection, dropping Hougland hard before relentlessly going for the finish with a series of hammer fists. The Washington native showed tremendous heart in absorbing the furious ground and pound attack before getting saved by the bell. Hougland regrouped in the second round, but Jabouin was the one on the offense, scoring with jabs and kicks to the body. A hard left hook dropped Hougland again and another assault from the top ensued. Managing to scramble out of position, Houghland hung on from half to full guard and eventually heard the final bell. Still, it was a dominant performance by Jabouin, who improves to 18-7. Scores were 30-27 (2x) and 30-26. ‘It feels awesome. Once that back kick sinks in, a lot of guys can’t withstand it. UFC does a great job matching me up with tremendous opponents.’ said the victorious Jabouin.

In a thrilling light heavyweight war, Croatia’s Igor Pokrajac (25-8) outlasted pro boxer Fabio Maldonado of Brazil (18-5) over three heated rounds.

The opening stanza saw Pokrajac quickly taking his boxer foe to his back, sustaining top position for the first half of the round. Maldonado eventually escaped and unleashed a barrage of unanswered combinations to the head that had Pokrajac in trouble. However, the Croatian was no slouch when it came to striking, coming back in the second round with combination punching of his own, staggering Maldonado and then going for a double leg, followed by a strong knee during a clinch. But the better boxer was Maldonado, who has an unbeaten professional boxing record of 22-0, 21KOs. Maldonado was landing hard shots to the body before stealing a takedown in the final seconds before the bell.

Maldonado was adamant in digging deep to the body in the third, something not commonly seen in the game of MMA. Pokrajac was more than just game, being able to fight off the fence and land hard shots of his own. The two hitters exchanged furiously in the closing seconds, but it was Maldonado who landed the cleaner shots with his superior boxing technique. Decision was met with a jeer of boos from the crowd as Pokrajac escaped with a controversial but unanimous scores of 29-28 (2x) and 30-27.

The animated Tom Lawlor (8-4, 1NC) of New England kicked off the FUEL telecast with an explosive first round stoppage win over rugged veteran Jason MacDonald (26-16) of Canada. Lawlor wasted very little time forcing the engage before landing a hard left and followed by a right to send his Canadian foe to the canvas. Before any further damage was inflicted, the referee stepped into call the bout to a halt at :50. Along with the win, Lawlor also celebrated his twenty ninth birthday. ‘It feels great (the win). I came back here started signing the checks — forgot what it was like to win and almost walked off without it. I really needed this win coming off a bad loss, a long layoff, switching camps and moving basically my whole life. I really needed something to validate that I’m making the right decisions in life.’ said Lawlor following the win.

In a crossroad bout between two fighters desperately in need of a win, Brad Tavares (7-2) of Las Vegas, NV edged Seoul, Korea’s Dongi Yang (10-3) in a three round middleweight contest. In round one, Yang was the aggressor, but Tavares was more versed in his attack, able to land leg kicks and cleaner punches. On three occasions, the bout paused abruptly, due to thumbing from both fighters. Yang was more composed in the second, landing a crisp front leg kick on the chin of Tavares. Both guys traded and checked leg kicks. Yang hurt Tavares with a straight left and moved forward with hard leaping hooks. The last two minutes of the round saw some clinching against the cage although neither guy held the clear upper hand. Tavares scored the first effective takedown of the fight in the opening seconds of the third. Yang was held down for nearly two minutes, which appeared to have taken some steam out of the South Korean. Tavares then followed with a kick to the groin, making matters worse for the fatiguing Yang. Not much happened in the final two minutes, but Tavares may have won that round based on the takedown early on in the round. When Bruce Buffer announced the decision, Brad Tavares was awarded with the unanimous verdict of 29-28 (3x).

‘It feels good to get back in the win column. It wasn’t the prettiest fight but I really did try to take his head off. I kicked him a lot and my shins are sore from kicking his elbows. He’s no chump, no walkover. Look at his record — he’s never been stopped and has only stopped people. I’m just glad I got the victory.’ said Tavares who was relieved with the unanimous decision win.

The first bout of the evening saw bantamweights Alex Soto (6-2-1) and Francisco Rivera Jr. (8-2) go head to head in a battle of Californians. From the opening round, Rivera was the aggressor, trying to time his right hand while Soto moved and circled to pick his Muay Thai kicks. Soto was wild in his attempt to shoot in for a takedown and paid the price when Rivera countered with punches. Rivera was more methodical in his approach in the second frame, still playing the aggressor, but effectively landing leg kicks. Soto was persistent in going for takedowns and Rivera seemingly took the round with harder shots. Soto briefly secured a takedown in the first minute of round three, but Rivera rose back shortly after and resumed in control with constant pressure and more accurate striking. All three judges at cageside scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Rivera.

Long time veteran Jeff Curran (35-15-1) is still winless in the UFC, after dropping a decision loss to Brazil’s Johnny Eduardo (26-9). Both veterans fought cautiously in the first round, but it was the Brazilian who consistently landed low kicks throughout. A lot of bobbing and weaving took place, but no major punches were landed in the first two rounds. In the third, Curran showed urgency by throwing more punches and was able to land something that seemingly bothered Eduardo. Eduardo briefly stopped engaging, claiming he was thumbed, but the ref did not intervene. Regardless, Eduardo kept landing his right kick while Curran continued to press the attack and headhunted. Neither guy was able to score a takedown. After three rounds, scores were 29-28 (3x), all in favor of Eduardo.

Northern Virginia’s own Kamal Shalorus (7-3-2) was looking to put on a showcase in front of his home crowd, but a left kick to the head from Brazil’s Rafael Dos Anjos (16-6) sent him crashing to the canvas, followed by a tight rear-naked choke to seal the deal. With another explosive first round win, Anjos again keeps himself relevant in the lightweight picture.

GRANT OUTHUSTLES PRATER

In a collision of two seasoned combatants, Nova Scotia’s TJ Grant (18-5) emerged victorious after out-working Brazil’s Carlo Prater (30-11-1) over three rounds. Grant worked the clinch early on, but the Brazilian defended well against the cage. After a quick scramble, Grant secured the top position and transitioned to side control seconds before the round had ended. Grant gained side control again in the second and landed some punches and elbows in a crucifix-like position. The Canadian quickly went for the takedown in the third but got caught in a guillotine choke. The choke was not fully sunk in and Grant was able to pop his head out. Prater’s back was then exposed and Grant went in for a rear naked choke and later, an arm bar, but to no avail. In the end, Grant’s superior work rate and dominant grappling earned him the unanimous nod. Scores were 30-27 (3x).

MCKENZIE STUNS LEVESSEUR

The anticipated UFC debut of former NCAA standout Marcus LeVesseur (21-6) turned out to be disastrous as Cody McKenzie (13-2) survived a furious onslaught in the opening minutes before turning the tide to claim victory in the first round. A determined McKenzie charged across the cage as soon as the bout began, but LeVesseur demonstrated his wrestling prowess with an immediate takedown to retaliate. Levesseur also displayed quickness on his feet, tagging his awkward foe with hard shots and got on top before going for a modified guillotine choke. McKenzie weathered the storm and moved to full guard and locked in a guillotine of his own, forcing the former unbeaten four time NCAA champion to tap.

‘He was really strong. It’s a fight. I kind of blacked out. ‘, said the jubilant McKenzie in the post fight interview.

We must learn to see in boxing’s story the energy and cruelty our rapturous drive demands, like the drum and swish and smack and scuff and grunt of a boxing gym. The faintest frown of fortune sends some boys back to well-paid labor, but those of us enraptured by the dulcet art, we who are beastly creatures in whom all the horror of sex is blatant, must overcome what dilettantism is rife in boxing, because an ox without a rope can lick himself just fine.

What’s above is a paragraph I wrote in November. It was part of a column that elevated me from a workaday boxing writer to a champion sportswriter. Before I attended any awards dinners to see the work honored, though, I voluntarily submitted my work to a readability test because I want to see the craft of sportswriting cleaned up. Last week, my column came under scrutiny after a writing laboratory at UCLA found the following:

WRITER: BART BARRY
RESULTS: PLAGIARISM; CONSISTENT WITH THE USE OF OTHERS’ WORDS.

The lab results, which I do not dispute, found in that paragraph elements of Philip Roth, Hugh McIlvanney, A. J. Liebling, Somerset Maugham and Miguel de Cervantes, a compound known in writing laboratories as “RMLMC-Identical Letters.”

I want to state unequivocally that I did not plagiarize. I look forward to the day when my side of the story, and its requisite obfuscation, overwhelms what information currently circulates about me. To that end, I am assembling a team of lawyers and publicists to ensure the actions I took are forever misunderstood. In the interim, though, I’d like to provide a self-serving and confidentiality-protected version of events:

After failing to meet my potential in a number of important columns over the years, I noticed, last November, while readying for the most important column of my career, that I was unable to form sentences with the speed or élan employed by a great writer. This concerned me deeply because I am unable to make money doing anything but writing. I spoke to my editor, and he recommended a writing workshop in Las Vegas called Desert Mirage. I submitted numerous samples of my work, and Desert Mirage returned with a diagnosis of Low Vocabulary, commonly known as “Low V,” and prescribed the RMLMC-Identical Letters treatment mentioned above.

(I would encourage you to visit the Desert Mirage website and read about this for yourself, but the page that describes the revolutionary treatment is coincidentally now under construction.)

My workshop leader, a “conventionally trained” linguist “who also has extensive knowledge and experience with less traditional yet highly effective approaches,” assured me he had worked with a vast number of student essays and ghostwritten white papers in the past. After reading a blog about the treatment, I was satisfied that RMLMC-Identical Letters is completely different from the “representing of another author’s work as one’s own” that readability tests were created to detect. Just to be on the safe side, though, my workshop leader injected others’ words in my column at a ratio about six percent below the threshold used in Nevada plagiarism tests.

I wish to reiterate that no part of this treatment made me a better writer. Instead, this was a treatment necessary to my regular employment in any professional field, not just writing. In fact, when my workshop leader reviewed the samples I submitted to Desert Mirage, he was “literally shocked” – not figuratively, mind you; a charge of electricity shot through his body – that my vocabulary was so low. In routinely treating both illiterates and folks who’ve not read a full-length book in 50 years, he had never seen a vocabulary low as mine.

This was not a case of writer’s block brought on by deadlines, as happens naturally to both writers and non-writers alike. This was an incidence of Low V and part of a trend my workshop leader has seen accelerate in the last few years, one he successfully cures with his literary-based treatment. Again, these words were taken from actual literary works. They were not words created by lexicographers manipulating letters into artificial patterns. Using others’ naturally occurring words to help reestablish my vocabulary at normal levels didn’t make me Shakespeare by any means; it merely allowed me to use my innate ability to write a championship column.

I applaud readability tests and all they are doing. I am, of course, sorry they so misunderstood what I was doing. I’m confident that once my side of this story is parsed, processed and repackaged by my legal and publicity team, there will be reasonable doubt enough in your mind about my culpability in this matter that further analysis of my previous work will represent for you such a needless loss of time that you will forget this happened and consider paying to read me in the future.

(To underscore the seriousness of my commitment to using my own words, I admit my legal team helped with that last sentence.)

*

That is satire, yes, but barely more absurd than the explanations athletes’ spokespersons now regularly feed us. Lamont Peterson’s case, of which we began to learn Tuesday, is but another lamentable example. How cognizant Peterson was about the legality of what “Bio-Identical Hormone” treatment he underwent in November is debatable.

This is not: Testosterone is a hormone that causes the development of male sex characteristics such as facial hair and musculature and when taken in excess leads to increased aggressiveness.

A person who suffers from low testosterone may be capable of many things, but professional fighting is not one of them. If today Lamont Peterson – fully bearded and rather muscular – does not have even normal levels of naturally occurring testosterone, that is life speaking to him in one word: Retire.

A prizefighter without testosterone, after all, makes no more sense than a writer without a vocabulary.

Author’s note: Special thanks to Lem Satterfield’s extensive reporting on the matter, and a special recommendation of Gabriel Montoya’s exhaustive “Floyd Mayweather and the new wave of drug testing in boxing.”

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

Vicente Escobedo tuned for a potential world title opportunity with a ten round unanimous decision over Juan Ruiz in a Jr. Lightweight bout in Woodland, California.

Escobedo was very aggressive and was in control from the outset.

Escobedo, 129 lbs of Woodland, CA won by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 99-91 and will now look for a Summer world title bout with WBO champion Adrien Broner with a record of 26-3. Ruiz, 129 lbs of Santa Clarita, CA is now 23-10.

Oscar Godoy scored a stoppage over Jamie Del Cid did not come out for the third round of their scheduled four round Middleweight bout.

Godoy, 152 lbs of Watsonville, CA is now 5-2 with three knockouts. Del Cid, 156 lbs of Sonoro, MX is now 5-7

Ulises Soriano and Gabriel Pineda fought to a four round majority draw in an entertaining Lightweight bout.

The two traded heavy shots during the fight with Soriano, 136 lbs winning a card at 39-37 while the two other cards read 38-38.

Soriano is now 2-0-1. Pineda, 136 lbs is now 1-0-1.

Lamont Peterson’s camp must not have been reading websites, Twitter or Facebook when ESPN reported just two days after Peterson’s upset on Dec. 10 of Amir Khan that Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun had tested positive.

Either that or Peterson’s management was partying on a planet where there is no social media. Braun’s positive test was for elevated levels of testosterone. A second test showed that the testosterone was synthetic, meaning that Braun, the National League’s 2011 MVP, had either injected it or ingested it.

Braun’s positive test was a cautionary tale in what not to do. Peterson went ahead and did it anyway, setting off a fast-moving chain of events that led to the cancellation Wednesday of a May 19 rematch with Khan at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay. Peterson’s test samples also revealed a testosterone that had been injected as pellets into the junior-welterweight’s hip.

Expect lots of legalese in the argument about whether the testosterone in the Peterson sample was synthetic. His Las Vegas physician, Dr. John Thompson, said it was soy-based, calling it “bioidentical testosterone’’ administered after Peterson complained about fatigue brought on by what Thompson said were low levels of the natural stuff.

Even if those pellets were veggie burgers, they had to be injected in a procedure not reported to VADA, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, which conducted the tests in an agreement with both camps. If there was in fact a legitimate medical reason for the testosterone treatment, VADA should have known about it. That it didn’t before a positive test on March 19 raises a red flag.

Peterson, a nice guy with a compelling story, said he was told that soy-based testosterone was not on the banned list. He said he researched on-line and decided it was natural. He said there no reason to worry. If not, why not report it on a VADA form that asked each fighter to disclose medications? Sorry, but to call its absence on the document an inadvertent slip just doesn’t explain it. Even his own camp says the treatment started about a month before his controversial decision over Khan in Washington D.C.

Questions raised by Braun’s positive test should have alerted Peterson to the peril of continuing it without disclosing it. Unlike Braun, the unfortunate Peterson doesn’t have a Player’s Union or an appeal process that can protect him and his livelihood. Braun’s 50-game suspension was overturned in February on an appeal that disputed only the process in which the sample was delivered and not the result itself.

Braun got off on a technicality.

Peterson didn’t.

He already has lost a payday in a cancellation also costly to Khan and Golden Boy Promotions. He’ll lose a few more if he can’t explain to various state commissions why he wasn’t more transparent about his use of a substance long controversial in other sports but just becoming an issue addressed by boxing.

In some ways, Peterson has become the personification what boxing must do: Pay attention, or else there will be cancellations in a business that can’t afford them.

AZ Notes
Phoenix junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. (14-0, 12 KOs) is expected to test his surgically-repaired right wrist on May 26 at Casino Del Sol in Tucson against Josh Sosa (10-2, 5 KOs), a Leavenworth, Kan., fighter who has lost has last two. The fight will be Benavidez’s first since injuring the wrist during a victory in November on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s controversial decision over Juan Manuel Marquez.

Benavidez is scheduled for an undercard that will feature Mexican welterweight Jesus Soto Karass (24-7-3, 16 KOs) against Said El Harrack (10-1-1, 5 KOs) of Henderson, Nev. Karass-El Harrack replaces the Antonio Margarito-Abel Perry bout, which was moved to July 7, also at Casino Del Sol, because of an Achilles tendon injury suffered by Margarito last week while training in Tijuana for his first bout since a loss in December to Miguel Cotto.

On a Tuesday conference call, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer updated the media on the situation regarding Lamont Peterson testing positive for a banned substance which puts in doubt his May 19th IBF/WBA 140 lb title defense with Amir Khan in Las Vegas.

Schafer said it was Nevada Commission head Keith Kizer who informed him the commission had just received the letter from VADA outlining the issues, including the revelation that Peterson’s “A” sample and “B” sample both had tested positive for a banned substance.

Schaefer claimed neither he nor anyone from team Khan was notified until this week and the “A” Sample was reported dirty on April 12th and the “B” sample came back April 30.

There was no news on what the status of the bout is at this time

SAN ANTONIO – Suspended above a bullring on a wire-mesh floor below a cinema-size screen, one story and 50 yards from where Cowboys Dancehall’s dancers danced, 75 or so aficionados gathered to look up to a gigantic image of Floyd Mayweather looping right crosses off Miguel Cotto’s left temple. They had arrived round 6:00 PM and sat through seven local-talent fights co-promoted by Jesse James Leija, and a pay-per-view co-main as well.

Although their view was front row of a movie theater that made customers stand, these aficionados enjoyed certain uncommon benefits: they were in a lively if respectful group comprising more serious observers than the folks downstairs keeping one eye on the Spurs game, there was instead of HBO’s audio feed the odd musical assortment that explodes from cowboy-bar speakers – Sir Mix-A-Lot opening for Garth Brooks – and there was the unexpectedly good event that went off above them.

Floyd Mayweather decisioned Miguel Cotto by unanimous scores, Saturday, in MGM Grand. The scorecards, while wide, were about what prognosticators expected, when in a reflection of bookmakers’ opinions, they favored Mayweather nine or so to one – with the one in that ratio usually having an ethnic or financial stake in picking the loser. Writers at ringside had the fight closer than the official judges, and ringside writers and official judges composed the matter’s sole authorities.

Nobody sincerely believed Cotto would win Saturday’s fight, and he did not. But Cotto made a fight more satisfying for spectators than any he had made since Manny Pacquiao stopped him 30 months ago. And make no mistake, it was Cotto who made Saturday’s fight. In round 2, he put Mayweather on the ropes – and Referee Tony Weeks left him there – and it led to a heap more abuse than Mayweather expected, all postfight protestations to the contrary.

In implying afterwards that his initial trip to the ropes was voluntary, that allowing Cotto to whale on his arms and sternum was plan A, Mayweather struck a curiously familiar note; those were Roy Jones’ words immediately after he sneaked past Antonio Tarver in 2003: I went to the ropes to entertain my fans. But in actuality, as the world soon learned, Jones went to the ropes because his diminishing reflexes and footwork allowed Tarver to put him there.

A similar hollowness accompanied Mayweather’s words because his fans, like Jones’ before them, generally want no part in a competitive spectacle. They do not watch a Mayweather fight to see their guy endangered or struck on the face a hundred times. They watch for a transcendent display, for proof that super heroes happen off the pages of their comic books.

What little vocal reaction happened above the bullring at Cowboys Dancehall, Saturday, came just as the bell rang to end round 8, Cotto’s best.

“He ain’t doing nothing!” somebody barked.

“He ain’t nothing!” agreed a second voice, its volume proportionate to its nervousness.

Then Mayweather gave them a rebuttal that was articulate (since that word has come out of hiding): I am a fighter, not an entertainer. It was what Mayweather said in the third round of his match with Shane Mosley, when he put his hands in a classic, high position and attacked the older man. It was a phrase he spoke in his fourth round with Victor Ortiz when he exploited the younger man’s weakness to cut his consciousness. And it was what he said for 30 of Saturday’s 36 minutes with Miguel Cotto. I am this, primarily this, and not what most of you think I am.

Something often missed by Mayweather’s detractors and ever missed by his devotees: Before he was “Money May,” master of the era’s race-baiting nuances, before he made pundits who should know better assign unprecedented import to his undefeated record, he was a fighter – a man who collected blows for a living.

There was a touch of requited love in the way Mayweather handled Cotto’s head on a break in round 4, something almost tender about it. Another man was speaking to him fluently in their first language – not hip hop’s Ali-copycat speak, not the cloyed and serenaded words the mercenaries sing to Money, not those adverbial clauses everyone spits at video cameras – but the language of professional combat in a proper tongue. It betrayed for a moment what most observers do not realize: Other fighters genuinely adore Floyd Mayweather because he is, at root, exactly as they are.

But other fighters also know what historians will uncover: There is a reason you must fight the fights. Mayweather beat Cotto, yes, but does any knowledgeable observer think he is, today, a stronger man for doing it? He is not. Mayweather was brutalized, softened, his health compromised, his life likely shortened some, in those 12 rounds with another professional puncher. It was what both men signed up for, of course, and if Mayweather was not enthusiastic about paying the tariff, he was still, and absolutely, good for it.

Historians, those plodding, careful men who assess records not hand speed, will note Mayweather never fought or beat, in his prime, a man who was favored over him. It’s too late to change that, and subsequently Mayweather’s legacy is for the most part settled. But then, respectfully, so is this: Floyd Mayweather was and is more of a fighter than he was or ever will be anything else.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

LAS VEGAS — There were a lot of surprise, but only one upset.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. did the expected Saturday night at the MGM Grand and beat Miguel Cotto with a decision that was as bruising as it was unanimous. Then, there was the upset.

Mayweather did an interview with HBO’s Larry Merchant after saying he wouldn’t after the two engaged in a war of words following his controversial stoppage in a September stoppage of Victor Ortiz. Merchant said Mayweather apologized Friday for the rhetorical brawl.

The bet was that an apology from Mayweather would happen before immortality and an end to taxes. The way things are changing, anything looks possible, maybe even a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight. More on that later.

Nevertheless, there have been hints for at a least week that Mayweather is a changed man even before he has to report on June 1 for an 87-day jail sentence for domestic abuse. At news conferences and other public appearances, he had begun to behave more like a diplomat and less like an ill-mannered rapper.

In Cotto, he said, he expected a tough fight.

“He came to fight,’’ said Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs), who collected a minimum of $32 million, a record guarantee. “He didn’t come for survival.’’

No, he didn’t. Cotto came for a significant upset. He didn’t get it. On the scorecards, his loss was one-sided. Judges Patricia Morse Jarman and Dave Moretti scored 117-111 each for Mayweather. The third judge, Robert Hoyle, had it 118-110. Cotto (37-3, 30 KOs) left the ring without speaking to the media, which might be a sign of his frustration at the scoring.

But there are no points for determination and the guts to sustain an attack throughout 12 rounds. A key element to Cotto’s tactical plan took shape early. Mayweather often uses distance like a puppeteer uses strings. From about the length of a jab, he pushes, pulls, leads, twists and, in the end, turns ordinary opposition inside-out. But Cotto refused to let him maintain the distance so fundamental to his reign.

In the second, it was evident Cotto would not follow Mayweather’s calculated lead. Cotto shoved him up and against the ropes as if to say that Mayweather should have picked a different dance partner. Cotto returned to the blueprint again and again throughout the next 10 rounds, driving Mayweather into the ropes with a bruising jab and a physical attack that bloodied Mayweather’s nose.

The blood was a surprise. If anybody was going to bleed, the guess was that it would be Cotto, whose eyes are surrounded by scar tissue from old wounds. This time, however, the unmarked Mayweather was the only one to bleed and sight of that blood elicited cheers from that part of the crowd that lusts for him to lose.

He didn’t, because in the ring, at least, he never changes. He is never without resources or an infinite ability to adjust. He scored by getting Cotto out in the center of the ring and landing shots, some unlikely. In the fourth, he rocked Cotto with a right that circled around his upraised hands. The punch found its mark, almost like a curve ball. Even when pushed up against the ropes, he rolled his shoulder and managed to deflect many of Cotto’s blows.

What’s next? For now, there’s only June 1 and time in Nevada’s Clark County Jail.

“That comes with the territory,’’ Mayweather said. “Things of life. You are faced with certain obstacles. You take the good with the good and the bad with the bad. …When June 1 comes, I’m going to accept it, like a true man would do.’’

And after his release?

“I don’t know,’’ said Mayweather, who went on to rip Pacquaio’s promoter, Bob Arum. “I was looking to fight Manny Pacquiao. I didn’t think that fight would happen because of Bob Arum. Bob Arum stopped the Manny Pacquiao fight. Let’s give the fans what they want to see. Let’s get that fight together.’’

Otherwise, Mayweather might have to apologize again. Once is enough.

It was the end of a beginning for a 21-year-old Mexican who might finally begin to be known for something more than his red hair.

“This is the beginning of my career,’’ Saul “Canelo” Alvarez said. “Thank you, Shane Mosley, for giving me this experience.’’

Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KOs) might also have said thanks to Mosley (46-8-1, 39 KOs) for letting him add a legendary name to his unbeaten resume. He could also have said good-bye and good-luck to Mosley.

Mosley never had a chance. He was pounded to the body, pounded to the head, pounded from pillar-to-post in losing a unanimous decision to Alvarez, still the World Boxing Council’s junior-middleweight champion and more ambitious than ever to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Miguel Cotto or Manny Pacquiao.

A sign, perhaps, that Canelo is growing up and beyond his Howdy Doody days happened at the moment when he encountered the only potential adversity in an otherwise one-sided fight.

Blood, Canelo red, poured from a cut above Alvarez left eye after a head butt in the second. But it didn’t seem to bother Alvarez, who is said to have never suffered a cut before the inadvertent collision with Mosley.

If it really was Alvarez’ first wound, the 21-year-old Mexican responded as if he had always known how it would feel. How it would color his vision. How it would taste. It was a moment when he looked as if he had been born for the blood sport.

“He can go a long ways,’’ said Mosley, who collected $650,000 on a night when Alvarez earned $2 million.

The totality of Alvarez’ victory, however, might be hard to judge in terms of how he will do against younger, more dangerous opponents. The 40-year-old Mosley did nothing to dispel mounting evidence that he’s more shot than Sugar. He endured 12 rounds. He would not quit Saturday night. After sustained punishment that has left his face puffy and some say his speech slurred, however, it looks as it is time to quit the long, legendary career that will one day land him in the Hall of Fame.

“It can look that way,’’ said Mosley, who in the immediate aftermath of the loss didn’t say he would retire.

Mosley had no defense for the heavy hands that ricocheted off his midsection, rocked his head and echoed with an almost sickening thud throughout the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“Maybe, he’ll be one of the next kings of the ring,’’ Mosley said.

Maybe.

Las Vegas welterweight Jessie Vargas (19-0, 9 KOs, a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-promoted fighter, is still unbeaten, but there wasn’t anything unanimous about his performance after a unanimous decision over shop-worn Steve Forbes (35-11, 11 KOs), also of Las Vegas.

There were scattered boos from a crowd gathering for the Mayweather Jr.-Miguel Cotto fight for the dull 10 rounder. Vargas won at least eight of the rounds, but wasn’t dominant in any of them over Forbes, who has lost six of his last eight fights.

With Miguel Cotto watching from a ringside seat, super-welterweight Carlos Quintana (29-3, 23 KOs) scored a sixth-round knockout of DeAndre Lattimore (23-4, 17 KOs) of Las Vegas in the first bout on the pay-per-view part of the card.

Cotto must have liked what he saw from Quintana, a fellow Puerto Rican, in a victory that might have been a good sign for his chances at an upset of Floyd Mayweather in the main event. Quintana swarmed Lattimore with a barrage of punches — head to body, body to head.

Midway through the sixth, Quintana stunned Lattimore in a neutral corner. A dazed Lattimore slid along the ropes. Quintana pursued, hitting Lattimore with a succession of left hands that finally dropped him near his own corner at 2:19 of the round.

“A great day for Puerto Rico,’’ Quintana said of a night that he hoped would end in a Cotto encore.

Puerto Rican featherweight Braulio Santos (6-0, 5 KO) employed explosive quickness for a unanimous decision over Juan Sandoval (5-9-1, 3 KOs) of San Bernardino, CA, in the last fight before the pay-per-view telecast.

Santos’ array of punches came at a blinding rate, especially in the fourth when Sandoval was knocked into the ropes by combo capped by a stinging left.

Lightweight Omar Figueroa (16-0-1, 13 KOS) of Weslaco, TX, could have been swinging a bat at a ball poised on a tee with a wide left hook that lifted Robbie Cannon (12-7-2, 6 KOs) of Pevely, MO, up and almost out of the ring.

Somehow, Cannon got up, but only to see that referee Vic Drakulich had ended it, declaring Figueroa a TKO winner at 2:08 of the second round.

Welterweight Keith Thurman (17-0, 16 KOs) of Clearwater, FL, turned the card’s second fight into a display of the reasons why Golden Boy Promotions signed him.

Thurman’s foot speed, power and quick jab overwhelmed Brandon Koskins (16-1-1, 8 KOs) of Hannibal, MO. Referee Russell Mora stopped it at 25 seconds of the third with a defenseless Koskins hanging on the ropes after a head-rocking right hand from Thurman.

Antonio Orozco and Dillet Frederick fought in front of referee Kenny Bayless, three judges, cornermen, a few ushers and nobody else in the first fight on a card Saturday that would end hours later with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto in the main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The arena was filled only with echoes, mostly from body punches landed by Orozco (14-0, 10 KOs), a San Diego welterweight who won a third-round TKO over Frederick (8-6-3, 5 KOs) of Fort Myers, Fla.

Follow all the action from the MGM as Miguel Cotto defends the WBA Super Welterweight championship against Floyd Mayweather. The action begins at 7pm est/4pm Pac with a FIVE fight undercard featuring Canelo Alvarez defending the WBC Super Welterweight championship against the Legendary Shane Mosley. Jesse Vargas takes on former world champion Steve Forbes as well as DeAndre Latimore battling Carlos Quintana. Also bouts involving prospects Keith Thurman & Omar Figueroa Jr.

12 Rounds–WBA Super Welterweight title–Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KO’s) vs Floyd Mayweather (42-0, 26 KO’s)

Round 1 Trading body shots..Cotto lands a combo inside..Mayweather lands a couple body shots at the bell…10-9 Mayweather

Round 2 Right from Mayweather…Right from distance..Right from Cotto…Right from Mayweather…20-18 Mayweather

Round 3 Hard right from Mayweather…Right to body and head from Cotto..Jab..Counter right from Mayweather..lead right..Hard jab from Cotto..29-28 Mayweather

Round 4 Hard right from Mayweather…3 more sweeping rights…another right…2 shots from Cotto..39-37 Mayweather

Round 4 Great combos from Mayweather..Straight right hand…Right from Cotto..Mayweather lands a solid ..49-46 Mayweather

Round 6 Good right from Mayweather…jab from Cotto..another Jab..Left hook..Good right from Mayweather…58-56 Mayweather

Round 7 Uppercut from Cotto..2 body shots…3 punch combo from Mayweather…Left to the body for Cotto…67-66 Mayweather

Round 8 Body head combo from Mayweather…Cotto lands a right..Right to body..Uppercut from Mayweather…big uppercut..Good left from Cotto..Great action in the corner…77-75 Mayweather

Round 9 Right from Mayweather…Left hook and jab from Cotto,..Mayweather lands a body shot..87-85 Mayweather

Round 10 Cotto lands a left…right from Mayweather..left..Good uppercut from Cotto…97-94 Mayweather

Round 11 Straight from Mayweather..Good combination..quick left hook…107-103 Mayweather

Round 12 Hard combination from Mayweather…Huge upper cut wobbles Cotto another huge shot…117-112 Mayweather

117-111; 117-111; 118-110 FLOYD MAYWEATHER

12 Rounds–WBC Super Welterweight Saul Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KO’s) vs Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KO’s)

Round 1 Alavrez lands a body shot..Mosley lands a body…Jab from Alvarez..Left hook..Body shot…another body shot..Left hook…Mosley lands a right..Left hook from Alvarez…10-9 Alvarez

Round 2 Jab…left.Hook body then upstairs…body..20-18 Alvarez

Round 3 Good right from Alvarez..Headbutt causes cut over left eye of Alvarez…30-27 Alvarez

Round 4 Hard 3 punch combination from Alvarez…Hard right..40-36 Alvarez

Round 5 Hard left from Alvarez, snapped Mosley’s head back..50-45 Alvarez

Round 6 Right from Alvarez..Ripping 3 shots for Alvarez…60-54 Alvarez

Round 7 Hard head combo from Alvarez…70-63 ALvarez

Round 8 Mosley lands a combination on the ropes…Alvarez landing hard punches..79-73 Alvarez

Round 9 Short right from Alvarez…Hard body and head shots…right from Mosley..Wicked left from Alvarez…89-82 Alvarez

Round 10 Hard right drives Mosley back…4 punch combination…99-91 Alvarez

Round 11 Big Left hook from Alvarez…109-100

Round 12 Mosley trying…too little too late..Alvarez 3 punch combo…119-109

119-109; 118-110; 119-109 SAUL CANELO ALVAREZ

10 Rounds–Welterweights—Jessie Vargas (18-0, 9 KO’s) vs. Steve Forbes (35-10, 11 KO’s)

Round 1 Vargas lands a jab…10-9 Vargas

Round 2 Vargas lands a good left hook..20-18 Vargas

Round 3 Good combination work form Vargas…30-27

Round 4 Forbes sneaks in a right,,,39-37 Vargas

Round 5 vargas back to boxing…49-46 Vargas

Round 6 Good right from Forbes… 58-56 Vargas

Round 7 Trading body shots…Vargas lands a body shot and lead left hook…68-65 Vargas

Round 8 Forbes lands a looping right …Vargas 77-75

Round 9 Vargas landing good jabs,,,87-84 Vargas

Round 10 Vargas lands a jab…..97-93 Vargas

100-90; 97-93; 98-92 for Jesse Vargas

10 Rounds Super Welterweights–DeAndre Latimore (23-3, 17 KO’s) vs Carlos Quintana (28-3, 22 KO’s)

Round 1 Battle of Southpaws…Quintana working the body…10-9 Quintana

Round 2 Latimore lands a low blow…Right hook from Latimore..Latimore bleeding over left eyelid…20-18 Quintana

Round 3 Left from Latimore…Quintana lands a hard right..hard shots from Quintana against the ropes…30-27 Quintana

Round 4 Quintana lands a hard shot...40-36 Quintana

Round 5 Quintana lands hard shots on the ropes…50-45

Round 6 HARD STRAIGHT LEFT AND DOWN GOES LATIMORE….KENNY BAYLESS STOPS THE FIGHT

10 Rounds–Lightweights–Omar Figueroa (15-0-1, 12 KO’s) vs Robbie Cannon (12-6-2, 6 KO’s)

Round 1 Figueroa going to the body…BODY SHOT HURTS CANNON AND HE TAKES A KNEE…Nice 1-2…10-8 Figueroa

Round 2 Good body shot from Figueroa…Jab..Hard left..HUGE LEFT AND DOWN GOES CANNON…UP AT 9 AND FIGHT IS STOPPED BY RUSSELL MORA

8 ROUNDS–Super Welterweights–Keith Thurman (16-0, 15 KO’s) vs Brandon Hoskins (16-0-1, 8 KO’s)

Round 1 Thurman lands a left…right lead to the body…jab..Left hook to the body..Hard jab hurts Hoskins..Good body and head combo..Nice 1-2…10-9 Thurman

Round 2 Hoskins is hurt AND TAKES A KNEE…Nice left hook from Thurman..Left hook..Good right..20-17 Thurman

Round 3 BIG RIGHT HAND AND REFEREE RUSSELL MORA STOPS THE BOUT

LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather Jr. generated cheers, boos and even a reaction from the stoic Miguel Cotto after a stare down Friday that lasted longer than anybody can remember in a ritual that has followed weigh-ins for as long as there has been an opening bell. For 70 seconds, they looked into each other’s eyes, maybe looking for a weakness or maybe looking for another clue to the outcome of Saturday night’s junior-middleweight fight at the MGM Grand.

Those dangerous eyes stayed locked, without a single blink, like lasers onto a target in a break from expectation and perhaps a sign that the Mayweather-Cotto fight will end in a surprise.

The biggest, of course, would be a Cotto victory. That’s the most unlikely outcome. Mayweather leaves very little to chance. Proof of that is in his unbeaten record (42-0, 26 KOs). He picks his opponents these days. In fact, he hires them, which helps explain why he will collect a $32 million before anybody even begins to count his cut of the pay-per-view revenue, concessions and ticket sales. According to contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs) will get $8 million. Not bad, but it’s a fraction, a quarter, of the record guarantee that further confirms Mayweather’s nickname, Money.

Maybe, that’s why Mayweather has been acting as cool and calm as any CEO with Wall Street-like wages already in his wallet. For him, there have been no worries. He weighed in at 151 pounds, his heaviest ever and one more than his official weight before his victory over Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.

“I feel comfortable at any weight,’’ Mayweather said.

Cotto was three pounds heavier at 154, the junior-middleweight mandatory.

No matter what the scale, the hired help is never supposed to have an advantage, no matter how minimal. From Mayweather’s perspective, Cotto looked as if he had struggled to make weight.

“He looked kind of dry, kind of drawn to me,’’ he said.

If anything, Cotto looked out of character after stepping off the scale and onto a side of the stage for a stare down that almost lasted past sundown. He started talking at Mayweather. From a man whose meals outnumber his words over any given day, it was unusual.

“I told him, he has never faced anybody like Miguel Cotto,’’ the Puerto Rican said. “That’s the reason he’s undefeated and that’s the reason I will win on Saturday night.’’

The unusual stare down was punctuated by a backstage controversy that erupted behind curtains that hid the scale from the weigh-in crowd of about 6,000. Mayweather and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who faces Shane Mosley on the undercard, will have to get new gloves for Saturday night’s fight. The gloves they had planned to wear included thumbs made in plastic. Mosley trainer Nazim Richardson said that plastic cuts more easily than leather. Richardson spotted plaster-like inserts in the gloves Antonio Margarito tried to wear before he lost to Mosley in 2009. When Richardson complains about gloves, regulators listen. The Nevada Commission ordered that Mayweather and Alvarez get gloves with thumbs made in leather. New Grant-made gloves are expected to arrive in Las Vegas from New York some time before Saturday night’s card.

What else can happen? Anything.

Everything, said Cotto, who was asked whether his best chance at upset rested with his proven arsenal of body punches.

“I can’t just go to the body,’’ he said. “I have to be on top of everything.

“If he wants to fight, I’m ready. If he wants to run, I’m ready for that. I’m ready for everything.’’

Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KOs) wasn’t ready for the scale. At least, not the official one. He was a half-pound heavier than the mandatory 154 for his shot at the World Boxing Council junior-middleweight title held by Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KOs). After a run, he returned to the scale an hour later and made weight.

“I was on weight, but on a different scale,’’ Mosley said. “I ran, sweated it off. No problem.’’

The 21-year-old Alvarez, who is 19-years younger than Mosley, had no problem in his first trip to the scale. He was 154 pounds.

In a welterweight bout on the HBO telecast, Jessie Vargas (18-0, 9 KOs) of Las Vegas weighed 146 pounds. Steve Forbes (35-10, 11 KOs), also of Las Vegas, was 146.5. In the first bout on the pay-per-view telecast, junior-middleweight DeAndre Latimore was 154.5 pounds and Carlos Quintana (28-3, 22 KOs) was at 154.

Antonio Margarito’s comeback against Abel Perry of Colorado Springs has been postponed from May 26 to July 7 at Casino Del Sol in Tucson because of a foot injury sustained Thursday while training in Tijuana, Gerry Truax of Showdown Promotions said.

Truax said Margarito hurt an Achilles tendon. Physicians told the three-time former welterweight champion to rest the tendon for three weeks, said Truax, who said he reserved Casino Del Sol for July 7 for Margarito’s first fight since a loss to Miguel Cotto in December in New York.

The May 26 card, a Top Rank and Showdown promotion, is still scheduled. A Top Rank spokesperson said a new main event for May 26 will be announced sometime next week.

Margarito, who was at a news conference Monday at Casino Del Sol, is hoping for a shot at fellow Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the World Boxing Council’s middleweight champion. He plans to fight Perry at 160 pounds.

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

LAS VEGAS – It sometimes sounds as if Mexico looks at Saul Alvarez’ red hair and sees a halo. Jose Suliaman, president of the Mexico City-based World Boxing Council, called the young fighter his Godson Thursday during a news-conference filibuster about a search for heroes in a nation known for drug violence. Suliaman sees the halo and thinks he has found one. A Mexican idol, the Godfather said. But halos can be targets, too. They get knocked off all the time.

Whether that halo is a real crown or just an illusion is the question at the center of a career crossroads for Alvarez Saturday night against Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Miguel Cotto pay-per-view card. Consider just two circumstances: There’s the date, May 5, Cinco de Mayo, a major Mexican holiday that celebrates the nation’s victory over the French in a battle, a fight. Then, there’s Mosley’s unbeaten record against fighters of Mexican descent.

There’s enough pressure there to turn an ordinary redhead gray. But Alvarez addresses it in a style straight out of Charles Barkley’s guide on how to make it work for you. Pressure, Barkley said, is for tires. Use it the right way, and you’ll reach your destination a lot faster.

“It’s a motivation,’’ said the 21-year-old Alvarez, whose confidence includes hopes of a bout against the Mayweather-Cotto winner some time next year. “On May 5, the only thing I want to end is that Mosley streak.’’

The guess is that Alvarez will do exactly that. A www.RingTV.com panel of writers, fighters and broadcasters pick Alvarez, 19-to-1. But there are a couple of assumptions baked into that one-sided cake. There’s Mosley age. He’s 40. Then, there are his last two fights, a dull draw with Sergio Mora and a loss by unanimous decision to Manny Pacquiao on a night when Mosley survived 12 rounds, yet did nothing dispel talk that he was shot.

There’s speculation that Mosley is fighting only for the money, because of an expensive divorce a couple of years ago. His purse is $650,000 before taxes and expenses. After the IRS and everybody else get their cut, there might not be much left. But there is his reputation, which was run through the media shredder after the Pacquiao loss.

“There’s motivation in showing the way Sugar Shane really fights,’’ said Mosley, whose son, Shane Jr., is the same age as Alvarez.

Mosley has no illusions about what he has to do. Alvarez’ popularity is evident in Suliaman’s remarks and even on the Ring Kings’ fight poster. There’s no mention of Alvarez. Just Canelo. That’s his nickname, which is Spanish for Cinnamon and universal for the halo that many of his countrymen see in his distinctive hair. Against the Word Boxing Council’s 154-pound champion, Mosley can’t risk a fight that goes to the scorecards. With widespread talk of Mosley being shot, he also says he can’t let Alvarez’ heavy hands get him into trouble with a knockdown or cut that might lead to a TKO loss.

“I’m not even thinking about a decision,’’ said Mosley, who has promised a stoppage.

Mosley’s quiet confidence suggests that he will re-enter the ring more Sugar than shot. He says there were injuries before his loss to Mayweather and distractions before Pacquiao. Against Mayweather, he said he suffered from blisters on his feet that were sustained while snowboarding. He didn’t elaborate about distractions before Pacquiao. Instead, he referred to a comment made by Steve Forbes, who faces Jessie Vargas in a welterweight bout on Saturday night’s undercard. Forbes has struggled. He’s 2-4 since losing a decision to Oscar De La Hoya in May, 2008.

“Glad to be back on the biggest stage,’’ Forbes said at Thursday’s news conference. “Had a lot of problems, but, thank God, she packed up and moved out.’’

Enough said.

LAS VEGAS – It was a different day and a very different Floyd Mayweather Jr.

About twenty-four hours after Mayweather played the bad cop in an impassioned rant at Manny Pacquiao, Bob Arum, drug cheats and unfair media, the good cop showed up Wednesday at a news conference armed with only polite respect for Miguel Cotto and not a single word of profanity for anyone.

It was a surprise for just about everybody other than perhaps Cotto at the MGM Grand.

“He has been a gentleman with me all the way,’’ said the granite-faced Cotto, whose body language is impossible to interpret because there is so little of it. “I have been a gentleman to him all the way. That’s the way it has to be.’’

But it’s a way not expected from Mayweather. Ask his dad, Floyd Sr., how often he sees the gentleman in his son. Ask Larry Merchant, who should have received a Boxing Writers award for Comeback of the Year in the aftermath of the crazy climax to Mayweather’s victory over Victor Ortiz in September when the HBO broadcaster told him he would have kicked his butt if he had been 50 years younger.

But the unexpected is also part of the Mayweather attraction, which some predict will break the pay-per-view boxing record with more than 2.4 million customers Saturday night for his junior-middleweight fight with Cotto. There is no drama without surprise. Mayweather seems to understand he can’t be ho-hum predictable. He’s not selling appliances. If you’re shopping for reliability, buy a warranty. Mayweather is selling himself, selling show biz, which means he has to play a different role for different crowds.

“When it’s all said and done, I’m making smart business decisions,’’ Mayweather said during a conference call 10 days ago. “I understand when I’m on 24/7 it’s about the viewers; it’s about ‘You Must Watch TV’.

“When I’m on TV I want to keep people glued to the television, because that’s what it’s about. So even people that aren’t boxing fans are going to say, ‘You know what, we got to tune in and watch this guy. He’s very, very interesting. He has a great story.’ ‘’.

Mayweather doesn’t care if the audience likes the story, or hates it. Silence is worse than boos. Mayweather wants to hear them as much as the cheers, just so long as he hears them as loudly and as often as possible.

“I don’t ever go out there and talk about how many things I have done for the people less fortunate, those things me and my team have done,’’ Mayweather said. “But that’s not important. I do it for myself. I do it because I feel it’s the right thing to give back to certain public schools, give back to children less fortunate, Habitat for Humanity, Three Square Meals. It’s very, very important.

“But on 24/7 we don’t always talk about those things or on TV we don’t always talk about those things, because a lot of time the feedback we get is that that’s not entertaining, that’s boring. We want to see the Floyd Mayweather with the flashy money; we want to see Floyd Mayweather with the diamond necklace; we want to see Floyd Mayweather with the nice cars. And the response we get from that it is that they love it, they love it. We get more viewers. But then on the flipside, they say, ‘All the guy does is show off.’

“So it’s a Catch 22. It’s like damn if I do, damn if I don’t.’’

It also means being a villain one day and a gentleman the next.

After his official arrival to the MGM Grand Tuesday, Mayweather met with a handful of reporters and unloaded familiar vitriol, mostly at Arum and Pacquiao. He called Arum “a professional liar.’’ He said again that Pacquiao isn’t a clean fighter and he challenged anybody in the media who thought otherwise.

Wednesday in a room appropriately named the Hollywood Theatre, he played the good guy. There was only one testy exchange. But it didn’t involve Mayweather. Instead, it was initiated by his advisor, Leonard Ellerbe who chided Cotto trainer Pedro Diaz. First, Diaz said that talking doesn’t win fights. Then, he predicted a Cotto victory.

“You’re right,’’ Ellerbe said as he looked at Diaz. “Talk doesn’t win fights. Fighters do. Last I checked, Miguel Cotto is fighting Floyd Mayweather Saturday night, so keep your opinion to yourself.’’

It was a moment to turn up the volume, fill the speakers with trash talk that has long defined boxing news conferences. But Mayweather didn’t.

Cotto “has done something to get this far” the understated Mayweather said as he and Cotto sat in red-and-gold thrones that looked as if they were discarded stage pieces from the set of Excalibur, a 1981 film.

In a session with reporters after the news conference, Mayweather remained low key. He was asked about jail. On June 1, he is scheduled to report for a 90-day sentence at Las Vegas’ Clark County jail for domestic abuse. No worries, at least not for Mayweather.

“I’m here to fight,’’ he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Me going to jail is just another day, another day.’’

So is Thursday, another day for still another Mayweather.

Somewhere in the 11th round of Saturday’s HBO main event one man’s lovely face expressed wholly what viewers wished to see. It was Oscar De La Hoya’s. Once a great fighter, now a promoter of sorts, De La Hoya, sandwiched between the man who runs his company and his evening’s co-promoter, gazed at the ring, and therefore the camera, with a look that said: “Will they forgive us for this?”

To De La Hoya’s right his co-promoter, Gary Shaw, a more complete manifestation of the American entrepreneurial spirit – If it makes me money, it is good! – showed no remorse for what happened before him. Shaw’s guy was stumbling, holding and fading his way towards another big payday because somewhere it is written in HBO’s charter the winner of Saturday’s eyesore will be paid again and again according to a compensation scale made of durable pixie dust.

But De La Hoya, for all his recent fruitiness, remains a former fighter and a fan. As his autobiography implies, he is the product of two cultures, and one of those cultures watches a confrontation between two men with expectations greater than an accountant’s. And so the best description of what De La Hoya’s handsome countenance showed Saturday was sheepishness.

There was a feeling of quiet embarrassment to the entire main event that was Chad Dawson decisioning Bernard Hopkins for light heavyweight titles at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., in a rematch to an October fight considered an embarrassment by both casual fans and aficionados.

Pay-per-view receipts, or at least rumors about them, implied there was no appetite for Dawson-Hopkins II. However unfinished the business from their first meeting, a disqualification that ended in a tangle of limbs, winces and recriminations, Dawson and Hopkins’ business together was clearly and shamefacedly finished. The rematch happened anyway.

Chad Dawson fought as a young man embarrassed that his path to celebrity required him to beat on a 47-year-old. Mauling someone born in 1965 seemed to offend Dawson’s sense of decorum, and so he chose not to. In defiance of everything Joe Calzaghe showed the world four years ago, Dawson waited for perfect opportunities – which even at 70 Hopkins would never afford him – and when they didn’t come, Dawson chose not to risk the embarrassment of swinging at and missing a man so much older. Which led Dawson to suffer a greater fear indeed: What if my conditioning fades, and after doing nothing I actually find myself physically incapable in front of this guy? What will people say about me then?

A question of others’ opinions hung limply over the ring from the opening bell. For all Hopkins’ bluster, he is fantastically preoccupied with others’ opinions of him – a preoccupation sometimes dandied up with words like “legacy.” Dawson lies awake at night with the same preoccupation, though without the same chamomile of achievement to soothe him. Dawson fights like a man very much afraid of humiliation.

How delicious might it have been had referee Eddie Cotton played on these men’s capacities for shame? Any round of the middle eight or so, Cotton might have seen them come together in an embrace and shuffled himself to a neutral corner and stood there, shoulders shrugged. After what duration of clinching and playacting at violence – 90 seconds? 110 seconds? – would either Hopkins or Dawson have become ashamed enough to detach himself and throw a punch? Perhaps the embarrassing job would have devolved entirely to the timekeeper’s bell.

There was a moment in the final minute of round 9, though, a three-second intermission from a 30-minute hug, when each man threw more than a single punch at the other. An exchange ensued. Each man took the other’s punches personally and cared more about avenging them than avoiding the embarrassment of missing or being hit. And within that moment came a reminder for posterity: Were this an actual fight rather than a spectacle, were this a private affair not to be stopped until either Hopkins or Dawson had what honorable men once called “satisfaction,” Hopkins, even at age 47, would have prevailed.

Lowering his chin and head and tearing forward to catch his opponent with an accidental right cross or an intentional headbutt, Hopkins was, during most of Saturday’s 12 rounds, still more interested in confrontation than “Bad” Chad Dawson. Hopkins’ performance was unbefitting a man who calls himself “The Executioner” – hell, it was unbefitting an executive order – but it was often as not a representation of the best Hopkins could do. There was not one round about which the same could be said of Dawson’s effort.

After the judges’ tallies were read, after a first card of 114-114 tantalizingly predicted he might have gotten away with something, Hopkins flashed a perfunctory look of disbelief about his loss. It was not shock but obligation. His theatricality retired, or just tired, Hopkins made a tiny down payment of insincerity on the possibility of grifting HBO one more time. Why couldn’t an “On Graterford” special set the table for a retirement match, complete with another contract extension in the event of a win or honorable loss?

Dawson showed less shame still. He summarized Saturday’s incident thusly: “(Hopkins) came back, he fought his heart out, and it was a great fight.” No, Chad, it was a breathing antonym for “great fight.”

Whatever promoters and publicists next try to do with the spectacle of Dawson-Hopkins II, however much obfuscation gets heaped on this thing, there will happily remain the image of Oscar De La Hoya’s beautiful face to tell Saturday’s story all too eloquently.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com.

Follow all the action LIVE from ringside as the legendary Bernard Hopkins defends the undisputed Light Heavyweight championship of the world when he takes on Chad Dawson. The action gets underway at 10:15 pm est with a heavyweight showdown featuring undefeated Seth Mitchell and Chazz Witherspoon

12 Rounds WBC Light Heavyweight Title–Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2-2, 32 KO’s) vs Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KO’s)

Round 1: 10-10

Round 2 Dawson lands a jab…20-19 Dawson

Round 3 Good right from Hopkins…Dawson lands a combination..Good left hook from Hopkins..30-29 Dawson

Round 4 Bad cut around the left eye of Dawson…accidental headbutt..Hopkins lands a combination..left and right..39-39

Round 5 Good right from Hopkins..Good left from Dawson…49-49

Round 6 Dawson lands a nice uppercut…59-58 Dawson

Round 7 Dawson lands a left..2 more lefts..69-67 Dawson

Round 8 Dawson lands a combination on the ropes..Good right hook..79-76 Dawson

Round 9 Dawson lands an uppercut..89-85 Dawson

Round 10 Quick right hook from Dawson..99-94 Dawson

Round 11 Hopkins lands a right…the fighters tackle each other in middle of the ring..108-104 Dawson

Round 12..118-114 Dawson

114-114…117-111….117-111 for Dawson

12 Rounds Heavyweights–Seth Mitchell (24-0-1, 18 KO’s) vs Chazz Witherspoon (30-2,22 KO’s)

Round 1Witherspoon Jabbing…Mitchell lands 2 rights to the body…Witherspoon wobbles Mitchell with a right,,,Mitchell is hurt…Mitchell lands a left hook..10-9 Witherspoon

Round 2 Witherspoon jabbing…Mitchell lands body and head shots…good right…good body shot…19-19

Round 3 HARD RIGHT AND LEFT TO THE BODY AND DOWN GOES WITHERSPOON…Hard body punching…WITHERSPOON GETS A STANDING 8 COUNT AND THE FIGHT IS STOPPED

MITCHELL WINS VIA TKO 3

ATLANTIC CITY–Chad Dawson won the WBC Light Heavyweight title with a twelve round majority decision over legendary Bernard Hopkins in a lackluster fight at Boardwalk Hall.

Neither guy had any sustained flurries but Dawson won the fight because he punched and landed slightly more than the forty-seven year old Hopkins.

There was alot of clinching and rough house tactics with Dawson suffering cuts around both eyes due to accidental headbutts.

Dawson, 174 1/2 lbs of Hartford, CT won by scores of 117-111; 117-111 and 114-114. Hopkins, 173 1/2 lbs of Philadelphia is now 52-6-2-2.

Seth Mitchell remained perfect by taking out Chazz Witherspoon in round three of a scheduled twelve round Heavyweight bout.

Witherspoon dominated the first round as landed some hard rights that startled Mitchell. Mitchell righted himself in round two as he started landing his own power shots and that started the downfall for Witherspoon. Mitchell came out in round three and started bouncing Witherspoon around the ring and then put him down with a hard left hook. Witherspoon showed his fighting spirit but it proved to be his undoing and Mitchell lived up to moniker and began landing some shots that caused “Mayhem” for Witherspoon. Mitchell landed some hard shots on the ropes that caused referee Randy Neumann to first administer a standing eight and with blood dripping down the right eye eventually stopping the fight at 2:31 of round three.

Mitchell, 241 ½ lbs of Brandywyne, MD is now 25-0-1 with nineteen knockouts. Witherspoon, 231 1/2lbs of Philadelphia is 30-3.

Mikey Faragon remained perfect by scoring an eight round unanimous decision over Sergio Rivera in a Jr. Welterweight bout.

Faragon, 137 1/2 lbs of Albany,NY won by scores of 79-73; 78-74 and 78-74 and is now 18-0. Rivera, 139.6 of Mexico is now 16-10-2

Lavarn “Baby Bowe” Harvell made it a perfect ten when he annihilated Anthony Pietrantonio in round three of a scheduled four round Light Heavyweight bout as part of the Bernard Hopkins – Chad Dawson II undercard at Boardwalk Hall.

Harvell dropped Pietrantonio in round one and the continued to dominate until a vicious left hook knocked Pietrantonio down and out at thirty-one seconds of round three. Pietrantonio was momentarily unconscious but fortunately he was able to leave the ring under his own power.

Philadelphia Jr. Middleweight pounded out an eight round unanimous decision over Hector Rosado.

Scores were 79-73,79-73 and 78-74 for Williams, 154 1/2 lbs and is now 9-0-1.Rosado, 155 1/2 lbs of Gunabo, Puerto Rico and is now 7-2-2.

Phil Lo Greco survived a first round knockdown to come back and win the remaining five rounds over Hector Orozco and win a six round unanimous decision in a Welterweight bout.

Scores were 59-54; 58-55 and 58-55 for Lo Greco, 149 lbs of Toronto and is now 23-0. Orozco, 149 lbs of Minneapolis, MN and is now 5-11.