Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. retained the WBC Middleweight title with a hard fought twelve round unanimous decision mandatory challenger Marco Antonio Rubio in front of an enthusiastic crowd as the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, Texas.

Chavez swept through early rounds by landing the crisper shots inside. It was a solid performance for Chavez as he was dealing with struggling to make the 160 pound weight limit and the recent reports of an alleged DUI charge in Mexico.

The fight heated up in the last three rounds with the two guys standing to toe with Chavez landing some solid head shots which was a deter from his noted body assault.

Although Rubio threw over 400 more punches he landed about twenty less and the less powerful shots then the son of the legend.

Chavez, 159 1/2 lbs of Cuilcan, MX won by scores of 118-110; 116-112 and 115-113 and is now 45-0-1. Rubio, 159 lbs of Terron, MX is 53-6-1.

Nonito Donaire claimed the WBO Super Bantamweight championship with a twelve round split decision over former champ Wilfredo Vazquez Jr.

Donaire controlled the fight with power shots as he worked the body and head. In round three he had Vazquez against the ropes as he landed a hard left hook and followed up with a flurry on the ropes. That caused a mouse under the left eye of Vazquez which was visible as early as round four. Vazquez had good round’s five and six as he started popping the jab that he followed with some straight rights.

Donaire started landing some hard shots in eight and nine that culminated with a huge uppercut that was followed by a left hook that sent Vazquez to the canvas for the first time in his career. Donaire coasted down the stretch as he switched between orthodox and southpaw picking Vazquez apart from distance.

Donaire, 121 1/2 lbs of General Santos City, Philippines won by scores of 117-110 on two cards while a third judge somehow saw the fight 115-112 in favor of Vazquez.

Donaire is now 28-1-1. Vazquez, 122 lbs of Bayamon, Puerto Rico 21-2-1.

SAN ANTONIO – The final undercard match of Alamodome’s “Welcome to the Future” card featured Mexican super bantamweight Raul Hirales (16-0-1, 8 KOs) against Colorado’s Shawn Nichol (5-9, 5 KOs), in a six-round match that was the evening’s least-inspired, one in which Hirales prevailed by curious split-decision scores of 59-55, 55-59 and 58-56.

ALEX SAUCEDO VS. JEAN COLON
The undercard’s best knockout was scored in its sixth bout when Mexican-born Oklahoman Alex Saucedo (2-0, 2 KOs) stretched Florida welterweight Jean Colon (0-2) at 1:03 of the first round, with a devastating left hook.

ADAM LOPEZ VS. RICHARD HERNANDEZ
In the night’s biggest match of local interest, San Antonio amateur superstar Adam Lopez (1-0, 1 KO) made his professional debut and did it emphatically, stopping fellow Texas bantamweight Richard Hernandez (0-2) at 2:53 of round 1. Lopez showed the speed and technique that made him a finalist for the U.S. Olympic team, snapping Hernandez’s head leftwards with hooks and dropping him twice.

VANES MARTIROSYAN VS. TROY LOWRY
Saturday night, undefeated perma-prospect Vanes Martirosyan (32-0, 20 KOs) of California knocked out oft-defeated Minnesotan Troy Lowry (27-12-0-2, 15 KOs) at 2:53 of round 3, successfully hoisting the WBC Silver super welterweight belt overhead.

WALE OMOTOSO VS. NESTOR ROSAS
In the evening’s third match, Nigerian welterweight Wale “Lucky Boy” Omotoso (21-0, 18 KOs) remained undefeated if not particularly enthralling, stopping Texan Nestor Rosas (9-3, 6 KOs) at 0:55 of round 6. After establishing a superiority of craft early, Omotoso gradually wore Rosas down until the referee could abide no more.

IVAN NAJERA VS. DAVID CASTILLO
Before that, local lightweight Ivan Najera (6-0, 6 KOs) of host city San Antonio remained both undefeated and unchallenged, scoring a technical knockdown at 2:54 of round 2 over New Mexico’s David Castillo (2-4).

JEREMY LONGORIA VS. RICARDO VALENCIA
Saturday began with an exciting four-round featherweight match between two Texans. In a mild upset, theretofore un-victorious Ricardo Valencia (1-2-1) of Houston decisioned theretofore unbeaten Jeremy Longoria (3-1, 1 KO) of Corpus Christi by unanimous scores of 38-37, 39-36 and 39-36, dropping him with a body shot in round 2.

First bell sounded on a half-full Alamodome at 6:15 PM local time.

He was a trainer by trade. He was called an ambassador by everybody who knows that boxing desperately needs one. Angelo Dundee was all of that and yet so much more.

“That one minute with Angelo between rounds was like coming home to your mother and father,’’ said Bill Caplan, who worked in 1974 for George Foreman when he lost in Zaire with Dundee in Muhammad Ali’s corner and again when Dundee was there two decades later for a 45-year-old Foreman in his 1994 knockout of Michael Moorer for his second heavyweight title.

Mom-and-dad’s wisdom passed Wednesday night with Dundee’s death at his home near Tampa, Fla. Foreman mourns. Caplan mourns. Boxing mourns. Ali got the news while at home in Phoenix, less than a month since a reunion with Dundee at Ali’s birthday party in Louisville, said Jimmy Walker, the founder of Celebrity Fight Night, Ali’s annual fund raiser in the battle against Parkinson’s Disease.

The 90-year-old Dundee was there, confined to a wheelchair after undergoing hip-replacement surgery. Ali, confined by Parkinson’s terrible symptoms, sat next to him. Time marches on and often over. But Ali and Dundee remain inseparable. They have a corner on history.

“You could see, really feel, this chemistry between them,’’ said Walker, a Phoenix businessman who joined Ali in Louisville, his hometown, for his 70th birthday.

Other than Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach, it’s the kind of chemistry you don’t see much of anymore, perhaps because Dundee was always more loyal to people than money. Sounds quaint today. Then again, boxing was at its best when Dundee was in a corner. He was with Sugar Ray Leonard after Ali and Carmen Basilio before him. But it was his time, a lifetime, with Ali that defined his generosity and gentleness in a sport not known for either.

Ernest Hemingway once said that courage is grace under pressure. Few have been able to put that one into action like Dundee. Hemingway’s definition defines Dundee. He was there to guide a fighter through the rigors of training and the subsequent adversity of a fight, yet he never interfered with their lives outside of the ropes.

He knew all the tricks. One of them saved Ali from a loss to Henry Cooper in 196 at London’s Wembley Stadium. Ali was on the mat and in trouble in the fourth round. Dundee bought some time by alerting the referee to a tear in Ali’s gloves. Officials searched for a new pair and never found them, allowing Ali to regain composure and confidence. Years later, Dundee acknowledged he saw the tear before opening bell. It was there to use, just in case. That’s part of the game. Interference in Ali’s decision to become a Black Muslim and change his name from Cassius Clay, his opposition to the Vietnam War and his public bravado during the polarized ‘60s was not.

In a sport and time loaded with controversy, Dundee was never a controversial man. In boxing, only the back-stabbers outnumber the low blows. If anybody has ever had a bad word to say about Dundee, I’ve never met him. Caplan remembers a man who just liked people.

“He genuinely cared about everybody he met,’’ Caplan said. “In the days before e-mail and cell phones, Angelo would send post cards to the boxing writers of the day from where ever he was in the world at the time. He was just that kind of guy.’’

He’s gone. But his example lives on. Like Ali, I live in Arizona where we talked about civility after the shooting of Tucson Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, but practice it rarely in our politics, or on our streets. I cover boxing, a business in which trash-talk passes for civil discourse. Listen to the never-ending talks for a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight. Then, listen to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich debate in the Republican race for the presidential nomination. Different games, same insults.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Pacquiao, Mayweather, Romney, Gingrich and the rest of us could spend that minute in Dundee’s corner? Mom and pop always knew what to do, how to do it.

AZ NOTES
The 2012 Celebrity Fight Night is scheduled for March 24 at the Marriott Desert Ridge and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz. Last year’s event raised $6.6 million in Ali’s annual fight against Parkinson’s.

Las Vegas super-featherweight Diego Magdaleno replaces Dallas super-bantamweight Roberto Marroquin on the Mach 23 ShoBox-televised card at Tucson’s Casino del Sol. Magdaleno (21-0, 7 KOs) is scheduled for the main event against Miguel Beltran Jr. (26-1, 17 KOs) in the main event for a North American Boxing Federation title. The fighters are scheduled to be at a news conference Wednesday (2 p.m. MST) at Casino del Sol.

SAN ANTONIO – “Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire is already celebrated among boxing insiders for his hand speed, footwork, power and charisma. Now insiders have one more gift of Donaire’s to celebrate: an eye for talent.

Wednesday at ChampionFit Gym, Donaire conducted an open workout for fans and media, as part of promotional festivities for his Saturday super bantamweight title fight with Puerto Rican Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. at Alamodome. After light stretching, Donaire invited two local boys to join him in the ring. The first one demurred, but the second bound through the ropes.

Seeing the boy was a southpaw, Donaire held his right hand aloft and ordered jab, double-jab, and jab-cross combinations. After four combos, Donaire had seen enough, looked at the ringside crowd, and said, “He’s going to be good!”

Turned out, he already is. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez was the youngster Donaire thrilled and complimented Wednesday, not knowing that in offering his bare hand to the diminutive Rodriguez, Donaire was absorbing blows from a 2012 National Silver Gloves finalist. Rodriguez was in the gym with his dad to see Donaire – Rodriguez’s favorite fighter – before leaving later in the day for Missouri, where he will compete for a national title.

Also present to supervise Donaire’s open workout was former world champion Jesse James Leija, owner of ChampionFit Gym. Leija watched Donaire work with trainer Robert Garcia and spoke about his own experience of a handpad workout with Donaire earlier in the week.

“He kicks like a mule,” Leija said. “He has power and speed, and what I really like is that he says, ‘I love trying new things.’”

Asked if he thought Donaire had a high ring IQ, Leija was emphatic.

“Very!” he said. “You can’t do the things he does without knowing.”

For his part, Donaire was confident but humble, answering questions for local media before climbing in the ring and entertaining gathered fans. Unsurprisingly, based on his roots and promoter, Donaire was asked several times to compare himself to Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao.

“If you ask me (who’s better), I am going to tell myself that I am,” Donaire said, before clarifying that such self-belief is essential to any successful prizefighter.

Asked about trash-talking and being disrespectful of opponents, Donaire was animated.

“I respect my guys,” he said. “I respect everyone. I don’t do that sh-t.”

Donaire and Vazquez Jr. will join headliners Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Marco Antonio Rubio for a Friday weigh-in, before Saturday’s event. Friday’s trip to the scales will be held in front of the Alamo at 2:00 PM CT. It is open to the public.

At today’s Licensing hearing for Pound for Pound king Floyd Mayweather, it was revealed that he will take on Miguel Cotto May 5th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Part of the licensing hear for Mayweather was to make sure he had an opponent and when asked, Mayweather responded with Cotto.

The hearing took place due to Mayweather’s plea to a assault charge that will land him in jail for eighty-seven days.

If granted the License, the fight will bring in major revenue for Las Vegas, which was part of the rationale for Mayweather’s delayed sentence.

It’s official. Boxing superstar Floyd “Money” Mayweather will return to the ring, step up in weight and challenge three-division World Champion Miguel Cotto for his WBA Super Welterweight World title in what will be a gargantuan showdown between two future Hall of Famers who bring excitement and fierce competition every time they step into the ring. Mayweather vs. Cotto will take place on Saturday, May 5 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. and will be televised live on pay-per-view.

Mayweather, a seven-time world champion in five weight classes, is excited to be facing the heavier, much-tested Cotto, who is the pride of Puerto Rico and has the experience, heart and determination to give pound for pound king Mayweather the toughest fight of his career.

“Miguel Cotto is a world class fighter who can never be taken for granted and continues to prove he is one of the best in boxing,” said Mayweather, whose only other fight at super welterweight came in a World Boxing Council (WBC) world title win over Oscar de la Hoya in May 2007. “It will be a challenge for me to compete with him at this weight, but this is the type of test I thrive on and gives me the motivation to train even harder. I have no doubt in my mind that my title belt collection will increase once again and Cotto’s reign as champion will come to an end on May 5.”

Cotto, coming off of the second defense of his title, a spectacular tenth-round technical knockout win over Antonio Margarito in December 2011, is ready to face Mayweather and believes he is Mayweather’s most competitive career challenge to date.

“I am here to fight the biggest names in boxing,” said Cotto who true to his warrior spirit that has distinguished his entire career has accepted this challenge to face the undefeated Mayweather. “I’ve never ducked anyone or any challenge in front of me. I have accepted everything to give the fans what they like…great and exciting fights. That is what the sport of boxing is all about; making the fights that the fans want and deserve to see. On May 5, stay tuned, because I will convincingly beat Floyd Mayweather.”

In addition to agreeing to the terms of the bout which will take place on Cinco de Mayo, one of boxing’s biggest weekends, both fighters have agreed to Olympic-style drug testing for the fight.

“Floyd always asks us to find the best available competition for him to fight and we have found that in Miguel Cotto,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO, Mayweather Promotions. “This is a very risky fight for Floyd as Miguel is a solid 154-pound champion who has already proven to have great boxing abilities and to be a very competent and strong puncher. This is a big test for Floyd, but as always I believe, he is the superior fighter with unmatched skills. This will make the difference and lead to another Mayweather victory the night of May 5.”

“What we have here are two champions of amazing caliber set to meet in the ring on May 5 and give boxing and sports fan one of the most compelling match-ups in the sport’s history,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO, Golden Boy Promotions. “Floyd Mayweather has already achieved worldwide recognition as one of the best fighters ever and Miguel Cotto is one of the greatest fighters of this era. I commend both fighters for agreeing to the fight each other on one of the biggest weekends for boxing and also commend them for agreeing to participate in Olympic style drug testing, a precedent set by Floyd, which continues to uphold the integrity of the sport.”

The undefeated Mayweather, (41-0, 25 KO’s), a seven-time world champion in five weight divisions, remains boxing’s biggest attraction, wowing crowds and generating record pay-per-view numbers each time he steps into the ring. During his extraordinary career, he has amassed wins over world champions such as Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley. His last fight against then WBC Welterweight World Champion Victor Ortiz on September 17, 2011 not only showed his boxing skills, as he took the younger Ortiz to school in the first three rounds before knocking him out in the fourth stanza. He is also no stranger to appearing on the classic Mexican celebratory weekends such as Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day as his fight with Cotto will mark the fifth fight of his career to land on one of those weekends. Mayweather returns to face Cotto in an attempt to capture his eighth world championship.

Cotto (36-2, 29 KO’s), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, has held a world title every year since 2004 while winning 16 of the 18 world championship bouts in which he has fought. Puerto Rico’s most exciting fighter and one of its greatest of all time, Cotto held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Junior Welterweight crown from 2004-2006, successfully defending it six times before vacating it to capture the WBA Welterweight title at the end of 2006, a title he held for nearly as long. After losing the WBA title to Margarito in July 2008, Cotto won his second welterweight belt in February 2009, knocking out Michael Jennings in the fifth round to become the WBO Welterweight champion. He lost the title in his second defense in November 2009, but captured the WBA Super Welterweight title in June of 2010 at Yankee Stadium in New York by stopping then-undefeated defending champion Yuri Foreman. Cotto successfully defended that title by stopping Two-Division World Champion Ricardo Mayorga in the 12th round in March of 2011 and, in his last fight, finally avenged his loss to Margarito, once again retaining his title and giving him true peace of mind.

Mayweather vs. Cotto, a 12-round fight for Cotto’s WBA Super Welterweight World title, is presented by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Miguel Cotto Promotions. More information on Mayweather vs. Cotto, including ticket prices, pay- per- view information as well as press tour dates and cities, will be announced shortly.

SAN ANTONIO – I can see Alamodome from my window. It’s a mile southeast of where I sit, and its southwestern spire is visible between Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and Tower of the Americas. Alamodome’s history is interesting in a way that enkindles barbershop dialogues. Indulge me a bit.

Before he became the 10th secretary of Housing and Urban Development – and inadvertently fired the starter’s pistol on policies that brought economic ruin 15 years later – Henry Cisneros was a mayor enchanted by the idea of professional football in Alamo City. Build a stadium, his thinking went, and the NFL will come.

The city built Alamodome, but professional football never came (unless one counts the Saints’ 2005 refugee appearance after Hurricane Katrina). The local branch of University of Texas began its inaugural football season last fall, and Alamodome will have an Arena Football League team later this year. But you get the picture.

Saturday, happily enough, Alamodome will return to doing what it does well as any stadium in the country: host prizefighting. Two upcoming stars – one by inheritance, the other ingenuity – will headline the card. Nonito Donaire, the ingenious one, will make his super bantamweight debut against Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. And Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will defend a middleweight title against Marco Antonio Rubio, using the patronym that set an attendance record at Alamodome five months after it opened in 1993.

Or perhaps Chavez-Rubio will be 2012’s best fight. Nobody knows how these things go. This city certainly does not and even if it did would be reticent to say so. That’s part of San Antonio’s special character. Its downtown area is an intriguing, maddening, wonderful snarl of Mexican culture and German industriousness – the sort of place that can provoke a comfortable type of marvel.

If you’re in town for fightweek, spend some time off the well-worn track. You’ll get a chance to see the Alamo, fear not; the weigh-in will happen in front of the place once known as Misión San Antonio de Valero, Friday. But there are four other founding Spanish missions within five miles of the Alamo, and each is a picturesque history unto itself.

If you travel with any sort of frequency, you’ve no doubt before made this proclamation: “I want to go someplace tourists never go!” Here’s a suggestion, then. Once you finish dutifully marching the commercial loop of River Walk, head west to the part of San Antonio River that locals use. Make a right and go north. You’ll find yourself beneath the country’s seventh-most populous city, surprised by its tranquility. Under each bridge you’ll see a unique installation by a local artist. Eventually you’ll come to historic Pearl Brewery where you can catch a ride home on a river taxi.

You’ll be back in your hotel with time for a nap before Saturday’s card. Get to Alamodome before 6:00 PM, though. Adam Lopez, our city’s best amateur, will make his professional debut on the undercard, beginning an adventure that will try to fill the prizefighting void Jesse James Leija left when he stopped fighting and started training. There’s another good place to visit, actually: Leija’s Championfit Gym is five miles up San Pedro Avenue and worth the drive.

The portion of the card televised by HBO – the first major event of the year – should be a pleasant departure from what the words “HBO Boxing” have come to connote with aficionados recently.

Nonito Donaire is what baseball scouts call a five-tool player. He is very large for a 122-pound fighter. He has speed, technique, and power in both hands. He must have a chin, too, though he rarely needs it.

That might change Saturday. Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. comes to fight. He is not large, quick or confident as Donaire, but he is the son of a Puerto Rican super bantamweight who made some history of his own in this city when, in 1995, he upset WBA world champion Orlando Canizales. Vazquez Sr. will be in his son’s corner, exactly where he was when Vazquez Jr. made one of 2011’s best fights against Jorge Arce. Expect Donaire to win, but expect him, also, to know he was in a fight.

Whither the main event? It will be entertaining because Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. makes entertaining matches. He is not a natural like his father, but he is better than you think. He is technically adequate and improving under trainer Freddie Roach. He understands how combat works from having watched his father do it during the 10 years of Chavez Sr.’s prime. And best of all, Chavez Jr. gets pissed off when he’s hit.

Marco Antonio Rubio should test Chavez early the way John Duddy did in Alamodome 17 months ago. Round the gyms down here, folks give Rubio a chance. That’s good; it’s what they’re supposed to do. We all did it with Duddy, Sebastian Zbik and Peter Manfredo. These were serious men, remember, more serious than Chavez anyway, we assumed, and they’d test his whiskers and balls. And they did, too.

And Chavez passed, too. Rubio’s talent is likely a day beyond its expiration date. His reflexes, canniness and desire to win probably went sour in 2011, but we don’t know it yet and won’t till Chavez opens the carton and takes a sniff. Chavez doesn’t know it either, and at the kick-off press conference he seemed unusually peevish about Rubio’s calling him out. Rubio is a fellow Mexican fighting before a partisan-Mexican crowd, too, so you never do know. But it says here Top Rank’s master matchmaker would never have Chavez postpone a reckoning with world middleweight champion Sergio Martinez to lose a fight with Marco Rubio.

Let’s end here: If you’re staying downtown this week and wish to visit a legendary local spot, come by San Fernando Gym any weeknight and honor the memory of the late Joe Souza.

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

Just a year ago, Victor Ortiz was accused of having no heart. Turns out, everybody was wrong. Just the opposite has been revealed in two very different ways about a personable fighter impossible to predict. The only thing we know for sure about Ortiz is that he has too much heart.

Within nine months, it propelled Ortiz to a dramatic triumph which was followed by a bizarre series of events in a bout as controversial as any.

So who is he?

The Ortiz who gained sudden popularity and a healthy measure of personal vindication in beating Andre Berto last April? Or the Ortiz who butted, hugged and kissed Floyd Mayweather Jr., then dropped his hands and took his eyes off the world’s most calculating fighter before he was knocked out in September by a combination he never saw?

I have no idea.

Ortiz is that restless kid in the back of the class. He’s likable, funny, precocious, and thoroughly exasperating. The teacher has to constantly remind him to concentrate on the task at hand. That kid was there in a conference call Wednesday in the build-up to his rematch with Berto in a welterweight bout on Feb. 11 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

“I am me,’’ Ortiz said. “If you don’t like it, change the channel.’’

Ortiz made the remark while addressing a question about his appearance a couple of weeks ago before the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which had ordered him to explain comments that, yeah-oh-yeah, he was trying to break Mayweather’s nose with that infamous head-butt.

Nevada heard him, granted him a conditional license and Ortiz has moved on. Changed the channel, if you will. Now, I’m beginning to wonder whether Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KOs) can stay focused long enough to channel his abundant energy and emotion with the maturity he needs to master a brutal craft. In large part, that will be the story of Ortiz’ Showtime-televised encore with Berto (28-1, 22 KOs) in the first major bout of 2012.

Ortiz’ heart-on-the-sleeve demeanor is as genuine and spontaneous as it is good box-office. Without discipline to keep it in check, however, it is a combustible source of potential trouble. Ortiz’ record includes a habit of saying and acting before thinking.

His comment about trying to break Mayweather’s nose is as hard to understand as dropping those hands while standing in front of a fighter who never misses an opportunity. In the noisy aftermath of his September loss, Ortiz, promoter Oscar De La Hoya and manager Rolando Arellano condemned Mayweather’s fight-ending combo.

They had support from that side of the media that called the shots legal, yet devoid of sportsmanship. Then, Ortiz undercuts his own argument by saying he wanted to break Mayweather’s nose???? Okay, then Mayweather had good reason to throw that combo while Ortiz was looking at referee Joe Cortez. Those two punches were a pre-emptive strike. Mayweather prefers a nose that remains intact. Hard to blame him.

The guess here is that Ortiz simply did what he has always done: He said what his heart told him to. He didn’t stop and think about consequences. On Tuesday, he turns 25. Time to grow up and become the consummate pro he’ll have to be against Berto.

AZ NOTES
Phoenix super-middleweight Jesus Gonzales (27-1, 14 KOs) finally signed a contract Wednesday for a fight on Feb 18 against Canadian Adonis Stevenson (16-1, 13 KOs) at Montreal’s Bell Centre. The bout, an eliminator for a possible shot at the International Boxing Federation’s title, had been rumored for a couple of weeks. Gonzales and his Calgary-based promotional team, Fan Base, had second thoughts. Stevenson has a criminal past. In 1998, he was arrested. He was linked to a Quebec gang that forced girls into prostitution. Gonzales and his promoter were uncomfortable at a business deal with a fighter who has a notorious past. On Gonzales’ trunks, there will be a sign he is fighting for abused women. He plans to wear a logo for Natalie’s House, a Goodyear, AZ, organization that helps youth exploited in the sex trade.

News that Phoenix junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez, Jr. underwent surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles for a troublesome injury to his right wrist means he probably won’t fight on March 23 at Tucson’s Casino del Sol. “The doctor said we could get back in the gym, maybe as early as next week to work on the left and other things,’’ said Benavidez’ dad and trainer, Jose Sr., who said Thursday that his son’s right hand is in a cast. Initial projections indicate that the 19-year-old Benavidez won’t be able to fight for two months. “At his age, it’s important and a good time for us to get it fixed now,’’ his dad said. The ShoBox-televised card in Tucson, a Top Rank and Showdown promotion, will go on as planned with super-bantamweight prospect Roberto Marroquin in the main event, said Gerry Truax, Showdown’s promoter in Phoenix. Undercard plans include Cuban welterweight Yordenis Ugas (11-0, 5 KOs).

Pontiac’s Business district wasn’t. Early on a Saturday afternoon nothing was open. I parked the Kia well off the curb of a sidestreet, confident there would be no traffic to impede, and ambled up and down Saginaw and Pike Streets. There were what appeared to be panhandlers, but as they shuffled along, in lieu of risking their bare hands in the cold, they shrugged and frowned. Why the hell bother? A few of the buildings in the Business District had silhouettes of their last occupants’ names on them, but most had been bare long enough to be unhaunted.

There was no place to eat, and after the previous evening’s Coney dog it felt unsporting to sit in the Marriott bar with the boxing folks, discussing yet again who would win this mythical matchup or that. A mile of driving brought me to Chili Bowl. The establishment sat 12 within the concrete blocks of its yellow façade. Chili Bowl was in its 59th year of business. Its interior featured pictures and newspaper writeups. Its put-a-good-face-on-itness brought the queasy sort of sympathy one feels for a person oblivious of his plight – though its grillman was in no way oblivious.

I sat at the counter, read “Theatre of Fish” – a travelogue cum history of Newfoundland – and wondered at John Gimlette’s talent. The book was accessible for another writer, it wasn’t untouchable as “At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig” had been, but it was remarkable enough in its styling to send an aspirant to places both cold and forgotten, in search of adventures to recount.

In the Courtyard elevator, I chanced on Timothy Bradley’s Mexican father-in-law. Bradley’s suegro was delightful. Somewhere between the lobby and floor 3, though, Spanish failed us; a language born in the Mediterranean lacked sufficient words for “snow” and “frigid” and “hopelessly blanketed” to imply what we both wished to say about Pontiac. So we gave each other the “alli se va” smile, a Mexican salute these days, and offered wishes of good fortune.

The next elevator was not so amiable. Tucked off a corner of a hidden staircase at Silverdome preceded by a tiny sign reading Credential Pickup, the service elevator that brought a few of us and a security-guard escort to the back entrance of the kitchen was a reminder how little preparation had been done after the kick-off press conference. Nobody knew where anything was. The security guide said as much; his first time in the building was yesterday.

I strode round the mezzanine, hoping to find a souvenir t-shirt that would someday prove I’d attended the last prizefight ever held in Pontiac. There were more makeshift barriers along the unlighted hallway than vendors and fight fans. Nary a poster or commemorative plastic cup could be found. There would be no evidence of “The Super Fight.” But that was no harbinger; it was not so mysteriously worded. It was boxing speaking in a short, declarative sentence: Nobody gave a fuck.

There was a single staircase open from the mezzanine to the floor of a venue that once accommodated 93,000 wrestling fans. On the other side of the curtain were parked eight trailers and a medium-sized yellow crane, with room enough for 10 other such combos. Inside the curtain were plenty of available seats.

The temperature along press row never rose above 55 degrees. Silverdome, despite its long-lost pretensions, was not outfitted with a heating system that could warm so many empty acres, and there weren’t live bodies enough to lend a hand. Writers paused before the laptops that illuminated their red cheeks to dab at runny noses. Many filed copy that night in winter coats.

None of our winter coats, though, rivaled Cornelius “K9” Bundrage’s. The IBF light middleweight champion in exile patrolled the aisles in a black getup with copious amounts of fur. If you’d never before met Bundrage – and thanks to his promoter, few of us had – he was a great surprise. Bundrage handed out media kits about himself that should have said: “I’m from Detroit, my promoter is Don King, we are 30 miles from Detroit, at a Don King show, and I am not on this card, FYI.”

I sat beside a handsome, friendly guy from HBO. Through the night, he received a number of other handsome, friendly visitors from HBO. The network covered itself doggedly; it surrounded the story of HBO and reported the hell out of it.

The main event ended with a cut caused by an accidental headbutt. Devon Alexander, by all accounts a role model and good guy, had not fought well, and the word “quitter” got whispered along press row. The words “dirty fighter,” too, plagued the main event’s victor, Timothy Bradley.

I don’t know what Bradley or Alexander said at the postfight press conference, because propelled by an unexpected burst of disgust, I quit my search for the service elevator after 10 minutes, marched up a blocked staircase and began throwing my shoulder against doors till one opened. I was five steps in the snow before I realized I was perhaps a half mile from where I’d parked the Kia. And the door clicked behind me a moment before I learned an eight-foot chainlink fence stood between me and the parking lot. With the help of a snow bank, I scaled the fence, hurled my laptop case at a 12-inch cushion of white and stomped a lap round Silverdome in a tanglefooted dance called Good Riddance.

Five hours later, I walked the Southwest Airlines terminal of Detroit’s Metro Airport. Not far behind me was Timothy Bradley, fully anonymous. His face was a swollen mess because the headbutts had gone both ways. It was not yet dawn, and the new unified champion of the 140-pound division was flying home to California on a discount carrier. Were you surprised when Bradley later forwent a fight with Amir Khan – a match he would have won – to escape his promoter?

I wrote my Monday column in an empty kiosk of Southwest’s Nashville terminal because there were no direct flights from Detroit to San Antonio. I wrote with abandon, pissed off, letting the words fly. Sometimes that works. Other times it’s dreadful. This time it worked.

Editor’s note: For Part 1, please click here

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

This week brings an ignominious anniversary for our beloved sport. Sunday will mark a year since “The Super Fight” – Timothy Bradley versus Devon Alexander – happened in Pontiac, Mich. The fight itself was inconsequential; neither man has done anything in the junior welterweight division since. But the consequences for HBO Sports were noteworthy, and perhaps more importantly, it still feels as though there is more to impart about the event, its city and arena, and Detroit.

A week or so before “The Super Fight,” sources learned Showtime would broadcast Manny Pacquiao’s next match. HBO had lost Pacquiao. The brass at HBO, who’d ignored the toy department for much of the preceding half-decade, suddenly went on notice. Their antennae went up. And with those antennae erect and tingling, “The Super Fight” went off in an abandoned airport hangar of a building in a depressed city.

What follows is a brief memoir of snow, dilapidated edifices, hidden service elevators, endless concrete expanses, a hopped chainlink fence, more snow, and an encounter in the Southwest terminal of Metro Airport. It will include some boxing.

*

About 10 days before “The Super Fight,” circumstances converged to make my trip possible. I procured a weird tangle of crisscrossed flights and rental car accommodations and wrote a preview of Bradley-Alexander that included a first-person conclusion assuring readers I would be there to see it. In the two days that followed, a goodish number of persons whose minds I admire called or wrote to ask me what the hell I was doing. I had two reasons for my trip to Pontiac in January: To honor Timothy Bradley – who was and remains one of my favorite active fighters – and to see if Detroit could be bad as accounts said it was.

My rental car was a Kia that when loaded with my laptop case and travel bag weighed perhaps a hundred pounds more than I did. The Kia and I set off for Pontiac in quickly accumulating snow. I had learned to drive in snow as a native New Englander, but in the 18 years since my departure for the Southwest I had not improved at the craft. The car slid all over the road, occasionally even working the oncoming side of where the yellow line would be found in April.

Friday morning I arrived on the outskirts of what my phone’s GPS said was Pontiac and surveyed the local FM dial in search of local flavor. One Motown station featured The Supremes followed by a familiar cackle and faux interview in which promoter Don King rattled off a handful of other Detroit-founded groups and invited locals to come to Silverdome tomorrow night for a super fight.

There was King, later that afternoon, in a private club on the end of Silverdome opposite where the ring would be constructed for Saturday’s fight. Or was the ring already constructed? A few of us gathered at the enormous glass wall where the weigh-in was held, and we peered and squinted at what could have been a black pocket square floating in a gray blazer. That was the curtain that both hid Saturday’s ring and marked the nearest point of Saturday’s converted arena – across hundreds of yards of empty concrete. Boxing’s chutzpah is at times extraordinary; who else would prod a hibernating venue to life then cordon off 90 percent of it?

King was alive if tired. When you speak with him he violates personal space till you realize how enormous a man he is. Your ears fit between his eyebrows, and his voice shakes your hair and scarf. He knew you would be there because you appreciate what is great in this sport, nay this land, and it thrills him the love he has for you, my brother, because as Shakespeare said, in his grandiloquence of verbositous garrulity, “If she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer fisticuffs, score me up for the lyingest knave in Michigan!”

Promoter Gary Shaw, shorter and paler and rounder, was there too. A study of contrasts, King and Shaw. King is twice himself in person as he is on television, while Shaw is half. Shaw is softspoken and reasonable and willing to explain his talent lies in logistics more than spectacle. In his prime, King would have treated Shaw as an employee – Alan Hopper as publicist, Shaw as matchmaker – but King was by then far from his prime as he could be and still renew a promoter’s license.

Friday night brought an ill-advised drive to Detroit proper, a few bars, a rave, and an early morning Coney dog at the second-best Coney dog eatery in the city because the very best was being used that night as a set for some cop show starring Tony Soprano’s tequila-sipping protégé. The night is a not a blur for the reasons you think. It is a blur because of what followed: Somewhere just north of 8 Mile Road on I-75, when my phone’s battery died with its GPS and the falling snow became a white wall seen from the driver’s side window as my Kia went sideways toward Pontiac, I became suddenly aware of how easy it would be to get lost, run out of gas and not be found till springtime.

And like that I was lost. Snow was accumulated on the freeway signs. The sky was a dark pillow gently shaking one feather-like flake after the next. I had been driving 30 miles per hour for an hour but knew I had not gone 30 miles. The entire episode was not frightful in its actuality – I located the Marriott village in Pontiac before the gas light went out – but frightful in its manufacturing. A terrible time to have an imagination.

Saturday morning I went looking for downtown Pontiac.

***

Editor’s note: Part 2 will be published on Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Optimism is hard to find these days. Dumpster-diving is easier. From embarrassing talks about a fight still in never-never land to cancellations and hollow controversies, there’s just a lot of garbage beneath the headlines. But there is some good news. Really, there is.

Just when it looks as if the rot will finally bury the business, along comes a film that reminds us of its resiliency. It is about surviving and that’s what Freddie Roach does, day-to-day, in a compelling mix of grit and common decency in HBO’s six-part portrayal, On Freddie Roach, which begins Friday (9:30 p.m. ET/PT).

It starts with Roach training Amir Khan for his victory over Zab Judah. There is none of the hyper-active hyperbole that has become the tone of HBO’s 24/7. Instead, it’s is about an ordinary guy confronted by extraordinary challenges. If you ever wonder why boxing survives, there it is. Much has been said and written about Roach’s advancing struggle with Parkinson’s.

With shots of Roach’s shaking hands and arms, however, filmmaker Peter Berg’s documentary reminds

us that it is more than a good story. It’s every day. Roach has often said he wouldn’t know what to do without his work at his Wild Card Gym, without a schedule that takes him from Manny Pacquiao’s corner, to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., to the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, to Khan and so many others. In the hard work, Roach defines himself and forgets about the terrible disease.

Roach’s unflinching honesty is there for Berg’s cameras, seemingly from dawn to dusk and even when Roach falls asleep. It’s been called reality television, whatever that is. It’s not. It’s a lesson about life. Watch it, and you’ll see why the business fights on.

Headlines & Counters
News item: Sergio Martinez at a catch weight has emerged as an opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr. if talks (insert your own joke here) for a fight in May with Pacquiao continue to fail. Reaction: Martinez at 150 pounds is a tougher opponent for Mayweather than Pacquiao.

News item: The so-called mystery man, Mustafa Ameen, tells the BBC that, yes, he did tell WBA supervisor Michael Welsh to correct his scorecard in the controversial decision that went against Khan in his loss to Lamont Peterson in Washington, D.C. Reaction: How and why was Ameen allowed to approach the judge? Welsh should be banned from judging, Ameen should be banned from ringside and the D.C. Boxing & Wrestling Commission should be subjected to a federal investigation.

AZ NOTES
Sergei Liakhovich’s anger at Eddie Chambers for his late withdrawal from Saturday’s NBC debut of a boxing series because of fractured ribs is fair and understandable. Chambers wasted everybody’s time and money. For Liakhovich, it was just the latest in an unending string of misfortune that started with his 2006 knockout loss to Shannon Briggs in a ring above the infield at the Arizona Diamondbacks home park in Phoenix.

In an interview a few days before Chambers abruptly forced the cancellation of their bout, Liakhovich, a Scottsdale resident, talked about renewed hopes.

Retirement was never a consideration, said the one time heavyweight champ, who said a fractured nose in a loss to Robert Helenius in August left him choking on his own blood.

He refused to look past Chambers. Now, he has to. He says he wants to fight Chris Arreola. Here’s hoping he gets a shot.

Sources have told 15rounds.com, that after much scrambling, two undefeated young Heavyweights will be the co-feature this Saturday night as Bryant Jennings will take on Maurice Byarm as one of the featured bouts on the inaugural NBC Sports Network Broadcast from Philadelphia.

The bout was made only after the original bout between Eddie Chambers and Sergei Liakhovich was scrapped because of a rib injury to Chambers. Several scenarios were kicked around with end result being that the two undefeated Heavyweights agreed to fight.

Jennings, 11-0 with five knockouts ids a Philadelphia resident and Byarm, 13-0-1 with nine knockouts of Washington, D.C but grew up in Philadelphia, where his father Lionel was the first man to oppose Evander Holyfield

The other scheduled television bout will pit Jr. Middleweight Gabriel Rosado and Jesus Soto-Karass

“This series is about giving the fans exciting, action-packed fights where the outcome is in doubt,” said promoter Kathy Duva of Main Events. “It is truly a shame that Chambers and Liakhovich cannot fight on Saturday, but athletes get injured. We tried all weekend to find a suitable replacement to face Liakhovich, but truly competitive opposition could not be found on such short notice. Last night we decided that it would be in the best interests of the fans and the series to go in another direction and present a fight that will live up to the standards that we have set for this project. We are thrilled to have come up with such a compelling bout. The fans in Philadelphia and those watching on TV will have plenty to cheer about on Saturday night.”

“I often hear people say that there are no American Heavyweights,” said Russell Peltz of Peltz Boxing, matchmaker for the NBC Sports Network “Fight Night” Series. “We are presenting a terrific fight on Saturday night at the Asylum between two promising American heavyweights who are willing to test themselves sooner rather than later.”

“I am really excited to get the chance to show what I can do on national television,” Jennings said about the sudden turn of events. “I’ve wanted to fight Byarm for a long time. I’m not worried about dealing with a southpaw. This is a perfect match for me.”

SAN ANTONIO – Another deadline comes and goes in the silly saga of whether the two best fighters in our sport in 2009 will fight one another in 2012. It’s all bad faith now. A promoter goes to the Philippines to present his fighter four options no fan asked for. A fighter gets on Twitter to make a faux demand he didn’t make years ago, when it might have mattered.

If there is solace to be found in the tired spectacle this time round, it’s how comparatively little folks care. The truth of the Great Recession now touches every American. Quibbles between millionaires about purse splits don’t have the traction they did years ago. The parties are no closer to making this fight than last time, but at least there was no midnight conference call.

Casual fans have given up on the Fight That Would Have Saved Boxing. When they ask about it these days, it’s to change the subject rather than make an honest inquiry. They hear you talking about Andre Ward or Sergio Martinez, men they wouldn’t recognize if watching a Ward-Martinez fight, and interrupt you to say: “What I want to know is when are Mayweather and Pacquiao gonna fight!” You start to explain the latest cramp in negotiations. Then you find no one listens; hey, what do you think of Tebow Mania?

Promoter Bob Arum appears, now, to be the party who does not want the fight to happen while he wrestles with lesser evils: Do I dislike Golden Boy Promotions enough to guarantee Mayweather a gargantuan purse and make the fight without them, or do I dislike Mayweather enough to deny him the fight his resume needs? The likely answer is: Arum dislikes more whomever he just spoke to.

People round boxing no longer believe Floyd Mayweather is afraid to lose to the guy they saw fight Juan Manuel Marquez in November. In a better world for Mayweather, that would be enough; he won the fight without having to make it. One senses, though, Mayweather’s financial situation is precarious enough he’ll soon need the Pacquiao purse.

Boycott both of them, then, and to hell with it!

No, not so fast. There is an interesting balance that must be struck, especially as it pertains to Arum. His company, Top Rank, is the country’s preeminent promoter. It is an excellent outfit that makes its fighters and employees available. Top Rank does the best kick-off press conference in the business.

That’s what went through my head a couple Tuesdays ago at Alamodome. We were gathered before a very large stage and sound system for an otherwise intimate affair. The field behind us was being transformed from Alamo Bowl host to All-American Bowl host. If you looked far enough northwards and used your imagination, you could see where the black curtain would hang for February’s HBO “World Championship Boxing” fight card.

Arum was there. Hall of fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler was there. Trainer Freddie Roach was there. HBO’s Peter Nelson was there. Puerto Rican great Wilfredo Vazquez Sr. was there. Future great Nonito Donaire was there. And yet, we all waited for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. – still known as “Son of the Legend.”

Chavez was the reason for our gathering, whatever we might opine of him. In three Saturdays, Chavez will headline 2012’s first big fight card, in this city. Unbeknownst to him, probably, he’ll begin quite a stretch for Texas boxing, one that will see a Showtime card 150 miles southeast of here, in Corpus Christi, a couple weeks later, and then an even bigger HBO card 200 miles east of here, in Houston, a few weeks after that. But it all starts with Chavez.

That is a sentence difficult to write as it is to read.

Chavez’s fanbase is gaining some authenticity, though. Chavez is fighting bigger, better, darker men, little by little, while projecting more of the spoiled-rich-kid resentment ridiculed by those who do not understand it despite its historical ferocity and effectiveness.

It’s a funny thing, ticket sales. Nobody I’ve ever spoken to – in what is becoming a tradition of covering Chavez Jr. fights – ever names him as a favorite fighter. Most Mexicans pay homage to the patronym while humoring the epigone. And yet.

Sitting on the same side of the podium as Chavez was Nonito Donaire, who appears to have every tool. Donaire will make an exciting fight with Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. on the same night Chavez fights fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Rubio. Donaire is enormous even for his new weight class. He is well-spoken. He gives every appearance of sincerity. He’s not classically handsome, but he has a great sense of style. He’s an incredibly talented prizefighter. And yet.

Chavez is the main event here on Feb. 4, not Donaire. They will fight in Lone Star State because Chavez sells more tickets here than Donaire would in the Bay Area (and because Texas is a right-to-work state, with all that implies).

Which brings us to the mystery of ticket selling. It’s easier, at times, to celebrate those who sell tickets than to explain those who do not. Donaire is an offensive force of the first rate who’s made a habit of winning his biggest fights by knockout. He also has the best promoter in the United States. And yet.

If it were tenable, one might suggest, the premium networks, HBO and Showtime, ought to offer licensing fees that are a percentage – whatever percentage – of a fight’s paid gate. This wouldn’t change the networks’ rosters of fighters, necessarily; it would change the compensation systems they use.

Where would that leave Nonito Donaire? Hard to say. But it’s also a good yellow light for aficionados looking to cure boxing. Ridding ourselves of corrupt sanctioning bodies, alone, won’t do it. But it may also not be simple as rewarding ticket sellers.

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

The ever-unpredictable Floyd Mayweather Jr. has given Manny Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum another reason not to use his Twitter account.

There might be some unreported negotiations going on somehow, on some planet, for the fight always under discussion, yet still in never-never land Thursday. But I’ll believe that Mayweather is fighting Manny Pacquiao only at the very moment they answer an opening bell. Everything else about this process without end is sad comedy.

Anybody laughing? Actually, I did the other day when Mayweather resorted to Twitter in an attempt to say he’s serious about fighting Pacquiao on May 5. “Step up, punk,’’ Mayweather tweeted. He might as well have broadcast his message on a back-alley wall with a spray-can full of paint. Mayweather’s tweet was digital graffiti.

If negotiations for the richest fight in history can be conducted via Twitter, President Tweet will move into the White House next January. Come on Floyd, be serious. As social media, Twitter is fun. It’s also a good way to see what’s trending, which the Pacquiao-Mayweather won’t be if negotiations are limited to 140 characters.

QUOTES, ANECDOTES & COUNTERS
The Mayweather-Pacquiao mess and ad nauseam qualify as a redundancy. Blame everybody, including the media.

It’s hard to believe Arum’s latest warning that Pacquiao’s can’t fight until early June instead of early May because of a cut above an eye suffered against Juan Manuel Marquez in November. The bigger wound might have been to Pacquiao’s confidence after he escaped with a controversial decision over Marquez. Pacquiao might need a tune-up to recover from that one.

In saying a fight with Mayweather would be better in late May instead of early May, Pacquiao advisor Michael Koncz says he want to maximize financial opportunities by holding the fight in a temporary, 40,000-seat arena on the Las Vegas Strip. Apparently, it’ll take more time to build the outdoor arena. Okay, but there’s a college football venue, Sam Boyd Stadium and Nevada-Las Vegas’ home field, available right now. The stadium’s record crowd is 44,165. After all, major fights already have been staged at Thomas & Mack Center, where UNLV plays basketball.

AZ NOTES
The bad news is Phoenix junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. was forced to cancel a scheduled fight on Feb. 3 because of a troublesome injury to his right wrist. The good news is that he is only 19 years old. He might have to deal with hands vulnerable to injury throughout his career. It’s not uncommon. Whether he needs to wear different gloves or have his hands taped differently, Benavidez has time to find a solution that could save a promising career.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, former Welterweight champion Victor Ortiz received a one-fight license in Nevada for his February 11th rematch with Andre Berto.

Ortiz had to appear before the commission due to the tactics he used during the September 17th bout with Floyd Mayweather. In that fight, Ortiz repeatedly headbutted Mayweather and stated after the fight the he purposely tried to break Mayweather’s nose.

“I was trying to break his nose, 100 percent,” Ortiz said in the interview. He later added, “Although I take (the loss to Mayweather) as a learning lesson, a learning experience, next time it ain’t gonna be that. If I’m gonna head butt you, I’m gonna break your nose (on the) next head butt.”

During questioning by the commission, Ortiz was contrite about both incidents.

“I won’t make any excuses,” said Ortiz, who was accompanied to the hearing by David Itskowitch of Golden Boy and manager Rolando Arellano.

Of the head butt, Ortiz said, “I acted in a very inappropriate manner. I don’t know what I was thinking. I want a chance to redeem myself and show you guys I’m not a dirty fighter and never have been. … In the heat of the moment, I lost it. That will not happen again, I assure you.”

He said he made his remarks at the end of a long day and that “questions were coming from left and right” and that there were “repetitive questions. Frustration took over. It was a question that had been asked all day of me.”

When a commissioner asked Ortiz how he would react if he felt like he was being fouled — he claimed Mayweather had repeatedly elbowed him — he said, “Next time, I’m not going to commit anymore fouls. … I was very embarrassed by this whole thing.”

Arellano also was allowed to address the commission, saying, “Victor takes full responsibility. There’

“It would be very limited license where you have the opportunity to prove yourself,” he said.

Commissioner Pat Lundvall also supported the one-fight license idea. “Do not let it happen again in this state,” she said.

“I’m thrilled that he got the license,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said. “When I talked to Victor, like he said in front of the commission, he apologized about what happened. I think sometimes you get carried away and you do or say things you regret. I know Victor is a clean fighter, not a dirty fighter. You can look at his record.

“This fight with Berto will be a hard and exciting fight, but it will also be a clean fight. And after the fight, the commission will see this was a one-time glitch for Victor and he will be issued a permanent license.”

One of the rumored opponents for Floyd Mayweather’s May 5th fight in Las Vegas, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero has been penciled off the list as per Richard Schaefer according to Dan Rafael.

“It’s not going to be Guerrero,” Golden Boy promoter Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com on Wednesday night.

Junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. won’t fight on Feb. 3 at Wild Horse Pass Casino near his hometown, Phoenix, because of persistent pain from a lingering injury to his right wrist, said promoters, who canceled the card.

Gerry Truax of Showdown Promotions said Wednesday that the wrist continued to trouble Benavidez (14-0, 12 KOs) when he resumed training after he was medically cleared to fight last week.

Physicians told him to avoid contact for one month, according to Truax, the Arizona representative for Showdown, which had been planning the card in a co-promotion with Top Rank. Truax said he canceled the card because local sponsors withdrew support after being told that Benavidez would not fight.

“It wouldn’t be fair to ask Jose to fight at 50 percent,’’ Truax. “We want him to be healthy for a fight in March.’’

Benavidez, a Top Rank fighter, is scheduled to fight on March 23 on a ShoBox-televised card in Tucson at Casino del Sol. Dallas super-bantamweight Roberto Marroquin, another Top Rank prospect, is scheduled for the main event.

The 19-year-old Benavidez has been struggling with a wrist injury since he made his pro debut in his home state with a fourth-round stoppage in June of Corey Alarcon at Wild Horse Pass Casino. He aggravated the injury in November during a unanimous decision on Nov. 12 over Samuel Santana on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s controversial victory over Juan Manuel Marquez at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

According to TMZ.com, Manny Pacquiao could decide today or tomorrow whether he will fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5th — this according to Manny’s trainer.

Freddie Roach just told TMZ Manny and promoter Bob Arum are in the Philippines, figuring out if they can put off several deals to fight other boxers … to clear the decks for a Mayweather fight in May.
Roach is scoffing at Mayweather’s tweet, in which he calls Pacquiao a “punk,” saying, “He should look in the mirror. He’s been ducking us for 2 years.”

As for what weight class Pacquiao will fight Mayweather … Roach said 147 lbs — that’s the upper limit of welterweight.

Of course, even if Pacquiao can rearrange his schedule, both sides have to agree on a financial deal. Roach says, “We’ll do it on even terms.”

There is no such thing as an objective scorecard in boxing. Using that assumption, let’s take a look at – wait, what’s that? No consensus on the point above. Shucks. Let’s work it over a bit, then, break it in and see if we can use it later.

Where do you look while scoring a fight? “In the neutral plane exactly between the combatants, following each punch from its entry into the unoccupied space to its conclusion.” In that case, maybe you are capable of rendering an objective scorecard. It’s not too practical, though, is it?

Official scorekeepers are just about the only people situated at a prizefight in a place that allows them perfectly neutral eyes and minds. If a person is on press row, he is already too far from the fight and necessarily watching a panorama of sorts that features both fighters in a shifting focus that depends on whatever narrative steers it. If a person is watching on television, he is subjected to a number of narratives, both his own and others’, that affect the very texture of what his mind does with the images his eyes send it.

Do official scorekeepers unfailingly employ their unique position to render perfectly objective tallies? Well. These are people with opinions and narratives of their own, and considerations more than the rest of us. That is, if a Clark County Justice of the Peace can be persuaded by economic considerations to delay a prizefighter’s sentence, as Melissa Saragosa did in the case of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Friday, do believe an athletic commission official is more persuadable still.

This is not written to or about official scorekeepers, though. This is for a more important observer: the boxing aficionado. Our beloved sport needs this person to be a thinker, not a knower, and a constant skeptic, checking his own objectivity as often and vigorously as he checks others’.

American boxing fans, like Americans in general, can be well-divided into thinkers and knowers, with an unseemly majority being knowers – folks who pursue consensus more than discovery. You are familiar with such people; every argument comprises an obscure anecdote recently heard and devolves into personal challenges. Most conversations are Shakespearean in nature, as the parties talk past one another, speechifying more than inquiring. Rarely is a phrase like “I’m not sure” or “That might change my mind” or “I hadn’t considered it” uttered.

Thinkers tend to make better company. They have postmodern moments when the very gears of language grind and consensus on something slight as the word “apple” might seem impossible, but they serve the valuable function of undermining others’ certainty. And if there is a lesson to be mined from the Great Recession it is likely that certainty benefits very few of us.

More pertinent to the boxing aficionado’s experience, though, is this: Most of what you know about boxing is probably wrong anyway. There is consensus, of course, lots of it. There are opinion shapers. But those of us in that racket are often as unwitting a group of pawns as can be found in any field. Boxing is a stew of dissembling free agents, seasoned by short-sighted greed. The truth is not out there, Agent Mulder; the only trustworthy place in boxing is between its ropes.

How we look at what happens between the ropes, then, is probably the most important skill we can cultivate as interested observers. We bring filters galore to the act, yes. (Who among us isn’t predisposed to cheering for a fighter who looks like we do?) We should be skeptical of those filters, going in.

There may be no better act of skepticism in the observation of boxing than scoring a round even, 10-10. It is a way of saying you did not know who would win the round when it began, you approached your task of observation innocent of narrative, and neither combatant did enough to convince you someone won the round by its end. That’s not indecisive; it’s skeptical. It’s also a heck of a sight better than knowing who won the round, before reviewing the round a week later and knowing the other guy won the round, and then reviewing the round a year later and knowing that either guy may have won the round.

Maybe your peers on press row will call you irresolute. Maybe your friends gathered round the television will think you inept at the manly art of deciding. But you may also find the stress of awaiting discovery is not bad as the stress of contorting yourself into consensus.

What the hell does that mean?

Round 1 of Pacquiao-Marquez III should suffice as an example. The thinker began the round saying, “Neither guy will win this round unless someone decisively wins this round.” And he marked the round even, 10-10, when he found himself entirely unconvinced by the fight’s opening three minutes.

The knower, his mind already rent with the pressure of having to pick a winner, came to his seat under the spell of a narrative that likely went: Manny Pacquiao will win this fight, maybe by knockout, and most every act Pacquiao takes will bring him closer to this outcome. Did the knower score round 1 for Pacquiao? Not necessarily. He may well have seen his narrative confirmed; Pacquiao’s lack of aggressiveness evincing a calculated measurement of Juan Manuel Marquez. Or he may have found his narrative disproved and decided Marquez’s remaining upright and unmarked was reason to give Marquez the round.

Point is, no aficionado should watch the first round of any fight burdened by a need to score it for either fighter. Most opening rounds in most championship prizefights are uneventful, even affairs.

I believe this to be true, but I might be wrong.

Greater authority returns next week.

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

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is scheduled Friday to begin a 90-day jail sentence that represents a term of uncomfortable uncertainty for a part of the business that dislikes him, yet needs him.

Like it or not, Mayweather’s pay-per-view revenue adds up to proof he has created an audience and anticipation for more from a gifted fighter who controls everything within the ropes, yet seemingly very little outside of them.

It’s the contrast that makes the next three months impossible to predict. Who will step inside the walls and bars of Las Vegas’ Clark County jail? The calculating fighter always able to dictate timing, placement and style in the ring? Or the mercurial personality charged with losing control in a confrontation with an ex-girlfriend?

He’s been reserved a room without a view in a place without personal choice. Mayweather will be told when to eat, what to eat, when to shower, what to wear and when to sleep. One of the few things anybody knows for sure about Mayweather is that he hates being told what to do. He rebels at what he can’t control.

I’m guessing that terse comments and no comments about him from Top Rank’s Bob Arum, Mayweather’s estranged promoter, and Golden Boy’s Richard Schaefer, his recent representative, are guided by that realization. But there’s more to it than that. Both know how the public, blow-by-blow accounts of talks for Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao drove the futile negotiations into the ditch. Any kind of speculation from either promoter might further endanger Mayweather’s chances at winning the biggest fight of his life.

I applaud them for saying as little as possible. Let Mayweather do his time without it becoming what I fear could become another chapter of HBO’s 24/7, which became one of television’s most popular reality shows because of its portrayal of his dysfunctional family. Unfortunately, Mayweather’s celebrity probably means he won’t be left alone, inside and out. How long before TMZ gets a collect-call from an unidentified inmate offering a salacious anecdote? Chances of that call getting made and reported are a lot better than a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.

If Mayweather is allowed to come to terms with what he has done and why, he can walk out of jail with newfound maturity and a much better chance at achieving the potential he has always possessed. He would prosper. Pacquiao, Arum and Schaefer would prosper. But if he surrenders to the demons that put him there, he loses. Everybody does. Let him win. Hope that he does.

A COUPLE OF COUNTERS
· Arum says he will discuss four possible opponents – Lamont Peterson, Tim Bradley, Miguel Cotto and Juan Manuel Marquez — for Pacquiao during a visit next week to the Philippines. Leg cramps also figure to be a talking point. Cramps in his last two fights, first over Shane Mosley and then over Juan Manuel Marquez, were the one opponent he couldn’t beat.

· New Year’s resolutions are like fighters’ nose. They’re there to be broken. But here’s one resolution I wish could be kept. At a San Antonio news conference for the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Marco Antonio Rubio news conference, Chavez was quoted as saying he’d be willing to die in the ring. Please, no more talk of dying. We only want to see a willingness to win.

AZ NOTES
· Top Rank and Showdown Promotions are planning a March 23 card for Showtime’s “ShoBox” at Tucson’s Casino del Sol featuring super-bantamweight prospect Roberto Marroquin of Dallas in the main event and 19-year-old junior-welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr. on the undercard. The initial date had been March 9, a month and a few days after Benavidez fights on Feb. 3 for only the second time in front of a hometown audience at Wild Horse Pass Resort & Casino in Chandler, a Phoenix suburb. Benavidez has been given final medical clearance for the Feb. 3 bout. He had been bothered by pain from a strained right wrist suffered in November during a victory before Pacquiao’s controversial decision over Marquez at Las Vegas MGM Grand.

· And Phoenix super-middleweight Jesus Gonzales, who has been searching for a fight since an impressive victory on July 8, is staying busy by sparring with Canadian junior-middleweight Janks Trotter. In the biggest Canadian showdown not on NHL ice, Trotter (7-0, 7 KOs) faces Adam Trupish (9-0, 6 KOs) on Jan. 13 in Calgary. On the July night that Gonzales got off the canvas to beat Francisco Sierra at US Airways Centre in downtown Phoenix, Trotter scored one of the knockouts of the year with a second-round punch that lifted Arturo Crespin high enough and long enough for some real hang time in the NBA arena.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, former Welterweight champion Victor Ortiz will have to explain himself to the Nevada commission about the antics and post fight statements he made during and after his fourth round knockout loss to Floyd Mayweather before he could be granted a license for his February 11th rematch with Andre Berto.

Ortiz purposely headbutted Mayweather and later made a statement that he tried to break Mayweather’s nose during the fight.

Head of the Nevada Commission Keith Kizer said that commission chairman Raymond “Skip” Avansino Jr. directed that Ortiz’s application for a license be put on the agenda for the next meeting. Ortiz applied for his license Wednesday.

“Chairman Avansino wants the commission to be able to question Mr. Ortiz about his actions in the ring on Sept. 17 and issues related thereto,” Kizer said. “This is Mr. Ortiz’s first fight since then and it’s a new licensure year, but (the comments) definitely sealed it.

“I was trying to break his nose, 100 percent, because (Mayweather) nailed me 16 times with his elbow on my right eye,” Ortiz said in the interview. “It was wrong, it was very wrong. But given the fact that I had asked the ref to keep an eye on that and I told him (watch the) ‘elbow’ (and) he kept saying, ‘Keep fighting Victor, keep fighting.’ All right, you want to get dirty? I got dirty.

“I let the best take over. I let the best of me get away and for that I started feeling bad. And that’s why I was like, ‘Yo, Floyd, my bad bro, I apologize, man.’ So I gave him a hug. They got me to feel human once again in the ring, and when I felt human I paid for it. Although I take it as a learning lesson, a learning experience, next time it ain’t gonna be that. If I’m gonna head butt you, I’m gonna break your nose (on the) next head butt.”

Said Kizer, “The apparent willingness by Mr. Ortiz to head butt an opponent in the ring according to his own words is definitely a cause for concern for the commission. This is pretty blatant and Mr. Ortiz made it pretty easy for the chairman to have a hearing by saying those comments.”

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Ortiz’s promoter, declined comment, but manager Rolando Arellano told ESPN.com that Ortiz would welcome the opportunity to answer the commission’s questions, and that he was willing to appear in person even though it meant breaking his Southern California training camp for the day.

“The commission’s mission is to help protect the safety and welfare of all fighters,” Arellano said. “They’re taking action to make sure that this type of conduct doesn’t occur in the future. We appreciate the opportunity to go in front of them to discuss any and all of their concerns and to answer all of the questions they may have.

“When we step into that ring, we want to display the highest standard of sportsmanlike conduct, so we’ll fly out and listen to them and address any of their concerns. We’re not bothered by their request. They’re doing their job and we have to assure them that we will do our job in accordance to the rules and conditions of the Nevada commission while participating in a boxing event.”

“Victor did something wrong that day and was apologetic and showed remorse,” Arellano said. “He was reprimanded that day and the commission wants to make sure nothing goes afoul again.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum will be flying to the Philippines to present pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao with a list of four options for his next fight in either May or June.

The options include a rematch with WBA Super Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto; WBO Jr. Welterweight champion Timothy Bradley; A fourth fight with bitter rival Juan Manuel Marquez and a fight with newly crowned WBA/IBF 140 lb champion Lamont Peterson.

“I’ll sit with Manny and explain everything to him, tell him what I think each of these fights would do on pay-per-view,” Arum told ESPN.com on Wednesday. “We’ll talk about what (trainer) Freddie (Roach) thinks and about what (Top Rank matchmaker) Bruce (Trampler) thinks. Then I’ll let Manny make the decision on which opponent he wants to fight, which I am sure he will do while I am there.”

“Besides the opponent, the other thing we need to discuss is whether he’ll fight in May or June,” Arum said.

“I’m not married to May 5, so Manny could fight on another date in May,” Arum said. “If Manny’s opponent is Marquez, I’d be much more married to the date.”

The reason is because Marquez is from Mexico and May 5 is the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo, traditionally a day when major bouts involving Mexican fighters are held.

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

SAN ANTONIO – Mexican middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., known as much for his father’s exploits as his own, is fully aware of what made him famous. He knows he is known for his father’s achievements in boxing more than his own, and he knows he’s known it for a long time too.

Difference is, he no longer accepts, with a frown and a shrug, others’ pointing it out.

Tuesday at Alamodome, Chavez (44-0-1, 31 KOs), in town to announce his Feb. 4 title defense against fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Rubio (53-5-1, 46 KOs) – as part of an HBO “Boxing After Dark” card that will also feature “Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire (27-1, 18 KOs) and Puerto Rico’s Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (21-1-1, 18 KOs) in a super bantamweight title match – was at times nonchalant and at times animated, and a little frustrated throughout.

“First they told me that I have to fight Rubio because he is the (WBC) mandatory (challenger),” Chavez said in his native Spanish, in response to a question about his rumored reluctance to fight recognized middleweight world champion Sergio Martinez. “And Rubio says that I will never make that fight because I fear him. I agree to that fight, and now they say that I fear Martinez.

“I fear no one!”

The increased aggressiveness in Chavez’s tone Tuesday marked a frustration born of his last visit to this city in June 2010, a visit that saw him decision John Duddy at Alamodome in an excellent fight Chavez considered a gateway of sorts.

“The night against Duddy was the best of my career,” Chavez said. “I proved that I can be known for more than just the name of my father.”

A title-winning effort, and HBO debut, followed 12 months later, with a match against Sebastian Zbik. Five months after that, Chavez returned to Texas and stopped Peter Manfredo in Houston. Immediately following Chavez’s November win over Manfredo, though, Sergio Martinez stood silently at the postfight press conference, asking lots of questions by his presence alone.

“They want to make money with my name and my fame,” Chavez said of those fighters who have called for a match with him. “Of course I am frustrated.”

For his part, Marco Antonio Rubio was more anxious to right previous wrongs than take Chavez’s name or celebrity.

“We are going to try to correct many errors that we have made in this career,” Rubio said in Spanish, from the press-conference podium.

Rubio’s promoter, Mexican Osvaldo Kuchle, went a few steps further.

“I’ve heard fans say, ‘Maybe Rubio is just here for a payday. Maybe Rubio’s going to take a dive,’” Kuchle said from a press-conference stage overlooking the Alamodome football field that on Saturday will host the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. “No, this is a fight that is cultural.”

If super bantamweights Nonito Donaire and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., who both preceded Chavez and Rubio to the podium, were not animated or frustrated as their co-headliners, they were decidedly more charismatic and respectful to one another.

“You become an elite by fighting elite fighters,” Vazquez said in Spanish, before turning to face his February opponent. “Men like Mr. Nonito Donaire.”

“He’s a good person, a great guy, but I know that he comes to fight,” Donaire said about Vazquez, when Donaire’s turn at the dais came. “This is what makes boxing great: Two guys that respect each other but go out there to tear each other’s heads off.”

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

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that WBO Light Heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly will defend his title against Pennsylvanian Tommy Karpencey on February 25th in Cleverly’s home country of Wales.

“This is my first fight in Cardiff for a long time, and I’m looking forward to putting on a good show for my fans against Karpency,” Cleverly said. “My return has created a big interest in Wales and it’s going to be a fantastic welcome home.

“I’ve trained over Christmas and I’m in great shape already, and we’re still over seven weeks away from the fight, so I’ll be spot on come fight night.”

Karpency (21-2-1, 14 KOs), of Adah, Pa., is a bit of a surprise challenger. He has never beaten a top opponent, and the only time he stepped up to face a world-class opponent he was knocked down and lost a clear decision to Karo Murat in Germany in May 2010.

The 25-year-old Karpency has won two fights in a row since the loss to Murat, whose only defeat was a 10th-round knockout to Cleverly in a September 2010 title elimination bout.

“Karpency looks like a tough fighter and he took Murat the distance last year, and Murat gave me a hard fight,” Cleverly said. “I’ve got big plans for this year that I hope will include a unification fight, so I’ve got to keep busy and beat Karpency in style.”

Editor’s note: For Part 1, please click here.

***

The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas gazed upon its empty MGM Grand Garden Arena for most of the undercard matches because that is what it does. Friday weigh-ins are for serious fans. Saturday nights sadly are not.

Pacquiao fought Marquez a third time for several reasons. Marquez had traversed the Philippines immediately after their second match, one whose official decision went to Pacquiao and unofficial decision went mostly to Marquez, chiding the Filipino hero, and Pacquiao wanted to end that for posterity’s sake. The other idea was that Marquez, an all-time great featherweight-cum-lightweight, would, at welterweight, make an excellent scalp to toss on the table when negotiations for Pacquiao-Mayweather returned: Not only is Manny a bigger pay-per-view draw, but he obliterated Marquez the way Mayweather could not.

Marquez’s class and pride were such that nobody would blow through him. Not at 126 pounds, not at 143. Pacquiao was a whirligig of oddly canted aggressiveness, one that loudly struck opponents from angles that surprised other prizefighters and made commentators ecstatic. Marquez had no such flair but greater audacity. Where Pacquiao threw jab, jab, leaping cross, Marquez threw uppercut leads, moving forward, in world championship prizefights – just about the ballsiest thing a man can do.

Marquez’s greatness as a counterpuncher, the quality that made his violent defeat essential to the Pacquiao résumé, was too large, finally, and cast shadows on the subject it was there to brighten.

*

The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas shined and sparkled with its usual charm and timeless (clock-less) efficiency. Put everyone off schedule, the city plotted, then charge them to catch up.

Pacquiao had not improved a fraction so much as his publicists declared. A coming documentary about his trainer put a burden on Pacquiao’s technical improvement. If, after all, Pacquiao were but a hyperagressive southpaw who won with activity more than class, any monuments erected to his and his trainer’s greatness would come under scrutiny. Deeply interested parties, then, declared Pacquiao’s technical imperfections innovative, rather than call them what they were: a regression to form.

By the ninth round of his rubber match with Marquez, Pacquiao was aware of his technical inadequacy. He fooled Marquez less this time than the previous two because Marquez promised his trainer he would not look for a knockout and wander into what maniacal exchanges Pacquiao always won. If Pacquiao won his third fight with Marquez, he did it the brute’s way and was simply busier.

A compliant and unimaginative print media paused for a moment at what it saw in rounds 7-11, got the judges’ confirmation all was actually well, and went back to his its prefight narrative. Maybe Marquez did better than expected, perhaps the fight could be called a draw, but, ah, for not closing the show, Marquez did not deserve to win.

No one was fooled, but deadlines were not missed either.

*

The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas assured the country it was not in hard a place as Detroit or New Orleans, the country’s other two depressed cities. Vegas was back, baby! Look at the room prices.

The American economy was rebounding, too. Perhaps growth was illusory, maybe underemployment was nearing record levels, but the job creators were getting some of their wealth back, and that would trickle down to the rest of America eventually. Yes, idiot, it would; didn’t you know anything about economics?

The media area at MGM Grand Garden Arena had the usual dynamic. The first five rows of tables were a cutthroat assembly of the names everyone knew, with most working on deadlines, their laptop monitors guarded closely as poker hands. Then came the girlfriends of Spanish- and Tagalog-language network executives. In the back were the online and magazine writers whose names you didn’t know. They were the most convivial bunch – happy to help one another with the result of the fourth undercard bout or a recollection of that time, somewhere in Mexico, the press had to stand and hold their seats overhead because cups of beer and urine rained on them.

Some of the guys in the back had scored the second half of the fight a whitewash for Marquez and were happy for the Mexican great, happy he might finally have his due, whatever the consequences. Those guys wore stunned, betrayed looks as they shuffled off to the postfight press conference where Pacquiao would have time for only two questions because it was getting late.

*

The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas did the existential dance entrepreneurs often do, promising things were good as they’d ever been, might even be better, sales were up – while expecting others to cheer its fortune-seeking with the same enthusiasm it did.

Nacho Beristain told Marquez he had the fight won during the championship rounds for a couple reasons. As a sculptor of 16 world champions Beristain knew what his eyes told him and hadn’t a doubt his man was winning. And Beristain knew with mathematical certainty Marquez would have been 2-0 against Pacquiao were it not for those four knockdowns in their first two tilts, and then there would have been no reason for a rubber match, or the Pacquiao legend.

After the initial disgust of the 116-112 card wore off and we settled into writing our fight reports, the photocopied scorecard tallies got handed out. When it was revealed Judge Glenn Trowbridge saw Marquez win the 12th round but not the eighth, ninth, 10th or 11th, a secondary, harder-to-dismiss disgust set in.

*

The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas marched on. “See you in May!” it said, with a big grin.

The umbrage passed. Pacquiao lost a few fans. His myth lost genuine and serious-minded advocates, the sort of men who write history. Marquez gained a few fans and returned to Mexico, assured in his greatness. The umbrage passed.

I was in Houston the following week to cover Julio Cesar Chavez’s son and had already forgotten a large part of what happened at 2011’s biggest fight.

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

A year ends with memories of those who are gone, optimism for those who are emerging and hope for those who are back. There are lessons from unresolved controversies and controversy that never ends. Farewell Joe Frazier, Genaro Hernandez, Ron Lyle, Henry Cooper, George Benton, Nick Charles and George Kimball. It won’t be the same without you. Hello Andre Ward, Nonito Donaire, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Seth Mitchell, James Kirkland, Gary Russell Jr. and Jose Benavidez Jr. You’re the future.

Those new calendars in the mail are an empty canvas. Opinions and predictions are as irresistible as they are frivolous and about as forgettable as graffiti. Here are a few – the good, the bad and the tongue-in-cheek. But, first, a warning. For anybody who takes any of them seriously, remember that I picked Alfredo Angulo to beat Kirkland, who got up from a first-round knockdown and made the prediction game look foolish with a sixth-round stoppage.

Now, a look at what might – and might not — unfold:

Opinion: There’s a better chance of Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather in 2012 than there is of a fourth fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao-Marquez IV would look a lot like II and III. What’s the point? It would end in just another noisy controversy about who won. Fair or not, Marquez’ legacy rests on the brilliant way he made Pacquiao look beatable. In subtle adjustments from round-to-round last November, he forced Pacquiao to hesitate and think. It was enough to prevent Pacquiao, an instinctive fighter, from establishing a rhythm. Allow Pacquiao to get on a roll, and there’s no stopping him.

Prediction: Marquez, who keeps his promises, retires

Opinion: Somebody needs to convince Mayweather that his 90-day jail sentence on reduced charges for his role in domestic abuse is a chance to think about a legacy he has put in jeopardy. If he stays out of trouble and vows to devote the next few years to his evident talent, he still can achieve the respect he always believes has been denied him. That respect isn’t an entitlement. It’s won by fighting through adversity. For the first time in his career, he is facing some that he can’t trash-talk or side step. It’s the biggest fight of his life.

Prediction: Mayweather beats Lamont Peterson three months after his release.

Opinion: Mayweather advisor Al Haymon is the elusive powerbroker, whose influence is there, yet hard to quantify. There is power, perhaps, in the mystery. Mayweather has called the publicity-shy Haymon “The Ghost.’’

Prediction: Ghosts will get quoted more often than Haymon.

Opinion: Pacquiao will have to restore some lost confidence after getting a majority decision over Marquez in fight he halting called “not so happy.’’ He also has to find a way to solve troublesome leg cramps, which he says affected him in victories over Shane Mosley and Marquez. The fractured confidence should be easy enough to repair for the Filipino Congressman and lieutenant colonel. But the cramping is another issue. It might be a sign, an early symptom, of a fighter one step past his prime.

Prediction: Pacquiao beats Tim Bradley, then Miguel Cotto in a rematch and gets promoted to major general.

Opinion: World Boxing Council chief Jose Sulaiman is issuing statements and clarifications faster than interim titles. This time, he’s trying to say he didn’t really mean to tell the Filipino media that “beating a lady … it is not a major sin or crime.” In a subsequent statement, he said that he “developed female boxing.’’ Memo to women who hold one of the WBC’s lime-green belts: Do what Riddick Bowe did in 1992 and dump it in the nearest garbage can.

Prediction: Sulaiman will say something stupid.

Opinion: We’re just beginning to see how good Ward can be. With news that he beat a Carl Froch with a left hand fractured in two places, we’re also beginning to see how tough he is. A reported audience of fewer than 500,000 watched his victory on Dec. 17 over Froch in Showtime’s final of the Super Six Tournament. That was disappointing.

Prediction: After the hand heals, he’ll win two in 2012, pushing his record to 27-0. This time, more than 500,000 will watch his patient, yet sure path to pound-for-pound contention.

Opinion: Questions loom as to whether Canelo-Chavez Jr., will ever happen because Chavez Jr. a junior-middleweight, is said to be at about 180 pounds at opening bell. If Chavez Jr. is too heavy for Canelo, he’s too heavy for Miguel Cotto. The weight issue might force Chavez Jr. into a fight with Sergio Martinez late in 2012.

Prediction: Martinez wins a late-round stoppage.

Opinion: People close to Antonio Margarito have urged him to retire. Even if his surgically-repaired eye can withstand further punches, the tissue around it cannot. After years of sustained punishment, it doesn’t take much for it to lacerate and swell. That was evident early in his loss on Dec. 3 to Cotto.

Prediction: A defiant Margarito continues to fight, bleed and lose in Mexico.

Opinion: Referees struggled throughout 2011 to get it right. Russell Mora missed 11 low blows in Abner Mares’ first victory over Joseph Agbeko. Joe Cortez was looking away, toward the timekeeper, when Mayweather dropped Victor Ortiz, whose hands were down and his eyes on Cortez. Joe Cooper took two points from Amir Khan for pushing off Peterson. If Cooper warned Khan, it was only evident after careful review of the tape long after Khan’s loss on the scorecards was announced. Cooper’s penalties were the difference.

Prediction: More instant replay. It works in the NFL. Nobody has a tougher job than boxing’s lone ref. Let technology be his ally.

Opinion: Top Rank and Golden Boy, Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya, will continue to exchange insults instead of letting their respective fighters exchange punches.

Prediction: A year from now, we’ll be talking about whether Pacquiao-Mayweather will happen in 2013.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that the WBA Super Bantamweight title bout between regular champion Rico Ramos and Interim champion Guillermo Rigondeaux that was originally scheduled for New Years Eve will now take place on January 20th.

The bout will headline a tripleheader on Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, promoter Dan Goossen said Thursday.

“It is nice to get it rescheduled,” said said Ramos Promoter Dan Goossen, who promotes Ramos. “It certainly was one of the most challenging matches to finally get settled.”

“We’ve got an experienced professional in Ramos against an experienced amateur in Rigondeaux,” Goossen said. “But I believe that the power and strength of Ramos will beat the great amateur pedigree of Rigondeaux.”

Also on the televised portion of the card in scheduled eight-round bouts, middleweight prospect Brandon Gonzales (15-0, 10 KOs) faces Caleb Traux (18-0-1, 10 KOs) and junior bantamweights Matt Villanueva (6-0-1, 6 KOs) and Michael Ruiz Jr. (8-1-1, 3 KOs) square off.

Dan Rafael od espn.com is reporting that the postponed bout between WBC Super Lightweight champion Erik Morales and undefeated Danny Garcia has been rescheduled for March 24th with the bout remaining in Houston.

The bout was postponed earlier this week from the original January 28th date after Morales had to have emergency Gallbladder surgery last week in Mexico.

“We were able to get a date from Reliant Arena. The idea was to keep the card in Houston,” Said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. “The Houston fight fans enthusiastically embraced the card and we already had a tremendous amount of tickets sales. We were able to work out something with the arena because they had another event there on that date, but they were able to clear the date. They worked that out on their side and they were very excited about keeping the event there. I coordinated the date with HBO. The fighters have been informed and they’re excited about it.

“Morales is going to be in perfect shape. He could have fought in the second half of February but there were no dates,” Schaefer said. “Now that it’s going to be on March 24, Erik very much likes the time to prepare as well. It worked out. I’m happy that over the holiday, when most people were gone, we were still able to put the show back together and keep it in the same place because when you have an event which the local boxing community really embraced you want to keep it there.”

Dan Rafael of espn.com reports that the entire January 28th HBO televised doubleheader that would have saw WBC Super Lightweight champion Erik Morales defend against undefeated Danny Garcia and James Kirkland – Carlos Molina Super Welterweight clash from Houston has been postponed to a later date.

“I talked to HBO and we are looking at different dates in February and March, so the card as a whole will just be postponed,” Said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com. “It’s still going to be Morales-Garcia and Kirkland against Molina. The only thing changing is the date and maybe the venue depending on the availability. We’ll check in Houston first. We want to just make sure that Erik Morales is going to have enough time to be fully healed from his surgery. So my feeling is that March is more likely when we’ll reschedule the fight.

“We are looking at different venue availability and we hope to have something to announce on that soon. But we’ll still do this card. HBO wants to do it, just on a different date than Jan. 28. Everybody is on board.”

The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas was in recovery. The city tried to pull itself from the depressed conditions every cabbie was willing to describe during trips to McCarran Airport, in 2009 and 2010. Vegas’ new line was taxi traffic; record-setting or record-tying or something.

Pacquiao-Marquez III was about money and “Money.” The first governs everything in prizefighting, as the second, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, once explained to Shane Mosley. Pacquiao, always quick with his fist when signing contracts as punching, was a market unto himself, hawking defunct tablet computers, imported veggies and iTunes singles. And Pacquiao-Mayweather (whose promotion Pacquiao-Marquez III would help) would be the most important fight in a century or two when it happened.

The media was in a frenzy of Pacquiao celebration, spurred and lashed by promoter Bob Arum, for whom Pacquiao was the final masterpiece of a historic sales career.

The masterpiece underwent a withering inspection, though, and came out lusterless and resented.

Or so I remember it.

*

The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas readied to host an event with the reflexive trickery it has patented: Big events go to Las Vegas because Las Vegas hosts only big events.

With the world economy still receding, prizefighting watched its pay-per-view receipts plummet. There were two or three major events every year that yielded considerably less revenue than the 10 smaller events that happened five years before. It meant even the sport’s two biggest promotional outfits were now humbled in their wares if not their oratory.

Pacquiao would blow through Marquez, the older, smaller, slower opponent whom he’d already officially beaten and drawn with, and after stopping Marquez violently and abruptly – something Money May did not do while dominating Marquez in 2009 – Pacquiao would redeem the sport and his handlers’ coffers, with The Fight to Save Boxing, then approaching its third year of marination.

The print media picked Pacquiao overwhelmingly enough to wonder not if Marquez could win or even remain conscious but if Marquez could escape Pacquiao’s ferocity with any remnants of his health intact. And by night’s end, when the ring announcer read “and still champion!” and Pacquiao raised his hands, we all felt a little sheepish and disgusted.

*

The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas said it was coming back, of course, but was it really? Strolls through the basement mall of MGM Grand substantiated none of the rosy reports one heard in the restaurants above.

There were dark tones beneath the rubber match, and they began to glow. Manny Pacquiao, accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, agreed unconditionally to prefight testing if Money May demanded it for their match, the one to come after Pacquiao blew through Marquez. Or Pacquiao didn’t agree. No one was clear about this. The facts changed hourly. Obfuscating insiders fed reports to websites that copied, pasted and published anything emailed their way. Then Juan Manuel Marquez revealed a theretofore-concealed sense of irony and hired a former PED distributor as his strength coach. And he sure wasn’t smaller when he hit the scale at the weigh-in, that tired prefight event used to promote the next day’s match to those unable to afford a pre-sold/post-scalped ticket for Saturday. There, the only memorable thing was a line from a fellow scribe who treated the week’s PED controversy and concluded: “Hell, they’re all probably on something, so I say, ‘Smoke’em if you got’em!’”

So many questions. How would Pacquiao fare against Mayweather when they fought after Pacquiao ruined Marquez? Would Mayweather, frightened by the way Pacquiao blitzed Marquez, find a new reason not to make the fight? Would Pacquiao retire from boxing before becoming president of the Philippines?

And then in the hour after the fight: Did any knowledgeable spectator still think Pacquiao could win more than a round against Money May, if The Fight that Might Have Saved Boxing ever did happen?

Thanks a bunch, Juan Manuel.

*

The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas felt a little tired. Such straining had been done so hopelessly for so many months, a churning through so many new valets and carving-station chefs. Was it still any use?

Pacquiao approached his third fight with an unusual savageness. He wanted to stop Marquez and all the witless banter about Marquez winning one if not both of their previous matches. Pacquiao went to work on the handpads and heavybags at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in a way that left Roach and others taken aback. This one was personal for Manny.

Many kilometers south, in Mexico City, Marquez mostly did what he always did. It was a system that worked fine. His trainer, Nacho Beristain, prophesied that this new, refined Pacquiao, this two-handed puncher with improved footwork and a right hook perilous as his left cross, was, if anything, an easier mark for Marquez – for being predictable. If Beristain was fearful, or even aware, of the ferociousness Pacquiao planned for his charge, Beristain did an excellent imitation of a trainer who was not.

In round 6 of their third match, Marquez began to undress Pacquiao before a full MGM Grand Garden Arena. He revealed the masterful job Pacquiao’s promoter had done of building the Pacquiao brand against increasingly bigger and more shop-worn opponents. Pacquiao had seen no one with Marquez’s understanding of another man in combat since the last time he fought Marquez. That was no accident. Making a third fight with Marquez sure as hell was.

We were assembled at our press tables to help lift Pacquiao-Mayweather from longshot to inevitability in the days after Pacquiao leveled Marquez. But after what Marquez did to Pacquiao, we quietly awaited justice, however unpalatable. When the 116-112 scorecard came in, we accepted Marquez’s victory and spent five or so seconds plotting our sport’s next step.

When “and still champion” followed the 116-112 scorecard, most of us shook our heads, and the rest muttered “bullshit.”

***

Editor’s note: Part 2 will be published on Jan. 2.

Next year’s major boxing highlight has been arranged: WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (34-1, 25 KOs) will challenge the WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (23-0, 16 KOs) in Stuttgart’s Porsche-Arena on February 25, 2012. Both rivals have now struck an agreement.

“This will be the Heavyweight Fight of the Year without a doubt,” commented Kalle Sauerland. “There will be more action in this fight than we have seen in Heavyweight World Championship fights in many years. Two real gladiators with both speed and power: Huck has proven himself as the number one Cruiserweight in the world with hands of steel; Povetkin as the most exciting Heavyweight prospect seen since a young Tyson, and who last year crushed Chagaev to realise his dream of becoming World Champion. Speaking as a boxing fan who has missed big action heavyweight championship fights – the waiting is over!! I am not sure how long the fight will last but this will be an absolute must-see!”

For Marco Huck, it is a dream come true. After Alexander Povetkin defended his title against Cedric Boswell in Helsinki on December 3, Huck announced at the subsequent press conference that he wanted to challenge Povetkin. “Afterwards, we sat down and discussed the terms, and now we have reached an agreement,” said the 27-year-old. “I want to do what no other German has managed since Max Schmeling: I want to be heavyweight world champion. I am totally motivated and will give everything I have got to reach this goal.”

Sauerland’s General Manager Chris Meyer has welcomed the outcome of the negotiations. “I am delighted that we have been able to fulfil Marco’s dream of fighting for a world title in the heavyweight division,” he said. “But it is going to be a very tough fight for both of them, and it cannot get much more dramatic than this – it is a real highlight.” All that is now missing to seal the WBA World Title fight is the Association’s consent. “Usually, Alexander Povetkin would now be due for a mandatory title defence, but since both fighters have agreed, we will be asking the WBA for a special permission to be made for this voluntary title defence.”