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Written by Ron Borges
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Friday, 07 October 2011 11:42
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 photo by Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment In boxing you can’t always get what you want and you often don’t get what you deserve. No one has to remind middleweight champion Sergio Martinez of that. Martinez won the WBC and WBO versions of the 160-pound title by dominating former champion Kelly Pavlik and then destroyed highly-regarded (at least by himself and some of the media) former champion Paul Williams in two rounds in his first title defense. His reward for those bravura performances was to be stripped by the WBO and given two low-interest title defenses on HBO against Serhiy Dzinziruk and Darren Barker. If your response to those last two names was who, join the crowd. If you are wondering why the photogenic and powerful Martinez hasn’t earned a more lucrative fate, consider two things – who in the division would qualify as a mega-fight opponent for him and outside the division... Read more...
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Written by David A. Avila
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Thursday, 06 October 2011 17:29
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 BEVERLY HILLS-Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley brought the thunder and rain to the luxurious greenery surrounding the historic and still majestic Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard.Top Rank recently signed Bradley and held a small party for the Palms Springs prizefighter to introduce him officially to a few journalists from Southern California on Wednesday.Now after several months of contractual limbo, Bradley is free to fight and will meet former world champion Joel Casamayor on Nov. 12, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It’s the semi-main event to Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III.“I’m just happy to be on the other side,” said Bradley, who attended the lunch party along with his wife Monica and two-month-old Jada. “My job is to fight now.”Bob Arum said Bradley’s former contract with Gary Shaw Productions and... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Wednesday, 05 October 2011 22:24
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 In many sports today, the great athletes are getting younger. In boxing, the other end of the age spectrum is being extended. Sergio Martinez is 36 years old. In a sport with multiple phony beltholders, he’s the real middleweight champion of the world. On October 1st, Martinez defended his championship against Darren Barker in Atlantic City. Sergio was a 20-to-1 betting favorite. The prevailing view was that it would be just another night’s work. Then things got complicated.Martinez won “Fighter of the Year” honors in 2010 by virtue of victories over Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams. He began 2011 by knocking out Sergei Dzinziruk in impressive fashion.But too often in boxing, the right connections matter more than ring performance. The supersized purses continued to elude Martinez. He was placed on a back-burner by HBO. In May of this year, he was approached by third parties... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Wednesday, 05 October 2011 08:26
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 Between the new fall season of television, baseball playoff games that last into the wee hours, NFL football in full swing, seven hours of televised boxing over the weekend, and this whole child-rearing thing I’m supposed to be doing, my leisure-time schedule is getting awfully tight. So to cut corners, I’m keeping this intro short. I might even remove one letter from Darren Barker’s last name to save time. Let’s get right to this week’s reader email:Hi Eric,I know you’re a fan of Max Kellerman and his Face Off show, and so am I … but you have to admit, the show totally jumped the shark tonight. That s--- with Pacquiao and Marquez sitting in front of a giant movie screen, with Kellerman making them diagram plays together, I dunno, man, none of it worked. That was HBO’s worst prefight hype attempt since Calzaghe-Jones 24/7. What did you think?Love the columns and the rants,BradHi Brad,On... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Tuesday, 04 October 2011 15:28
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 Manny Steward is out, and a man unknown to most boxing fans is in as Miguel Cotto's trainer.Cotto released a letter alerting all to the switch, from Steward, who worked with him in his win against Yuri Foreman last summer and Ricardo Mayorga in March, to Pedro Luis Diaz Benitez, a Cuban teacher. Steward replaced ex nutritionist Joe Santiago, who worked with Cotto in the June 2009 Joshua Clottey fight, and the November 2009 Manny Pacquiao fight, after the Puerto Rican boxer had a nasty fallout with his uncle/trainer Evangelista Cotto before the Clottey clash.Here is Cotto's statement:Today I am very happy to announce that my trainer for my December 3rd fight [against Antonio Margarito] in New York will be legendary Cuban boxing trainer and expert Pedro Luis Díaz Benítez. Pedro Luis is a Doctor in Pedagogical Sciences. He holds a Master's degree in sports training and... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Monday, 03 October 2011 16:41
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 Floyd Mayweather helped himself stay relevant with an interview with DJ Whoo Kid. He took aim at Manny Pacquiao, and chided the interviewer for bringing up Pacquiao, implying that doing so is unpatriotic, because Pacquiao makes money in the US, but then brings it back to the Philipines.Mayweather told Kid when asked if he'd be watching Manny Pacquiao meet Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12, "I'm not really concerned with him, a guy got somethin' to hide, you know what I'm saying I do what I do, he do what he do. I beat fighters when they're undefeated, when they're at the top, and he beat my leftovers, he fights my leftovers. We say be the best, take the test, that's the only thing we're saying, be the best take the test."DJ then asked why Larry Merchant always hates on him. Floyd reiterated that he believes Merchant doesn't know boxing. The fighter said he doesn't know... Read more...
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Written by Frank Lotierzo
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Monday, 03 October 2011 14:45
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 Recently former junior welterweight title holder Ricky Hatton was quoted saying that he went into a depression and considered suicide while trying to come to grips with his loss to Manny Pacquiao in May of 2009. Since being devastated by Pacquiao in the second round Hatton hasn't fought. Sports writers, broadcasters and coaches repeat how the NFL is a game of inches and how one or two plays usually determine the outcome of the game. In boxing one punch can not only be the difference between winning and losing, but it can also make one fighters' career and ruin the others,' and that's not even considering if one fighter sustains a serious injury or in the worst case scenario is killed. When Manny Pacquiao caught Ricky Hatton with an over-hand left on the chin that was heard around the boxing world, it launched one career and ended another. Prior to fighting Pacquiao, Hatton... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Monday, 03 October 2011 09:00
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 “The worst part is, I don’t even feel bad about the days that I hated Bartman … I know it’s irrational, but I think most of us can’t help it.”—Michael WilbonThe new ESPN Films documentary Catching Hell spins off of the case of Steve Bartman, the Chicago Cubs fan who interfered with a foul ball and indirectly sparked the 2003 Cubs’ playoff collapse, to examine the psychology behind scapegoating in sports. In an interview that was tangentially attached to the documentary, Chicago native Michael Wilbon captured the essence of the sports fan’s need to find a scapegoat with one word: “irrational.”Everybody knows it wasn’t really Bartman’s fault that the Cubs didn’t go to the World Series, not with the team holding the same 3-0 lead after that play that it held beforehand. Everybody knows it wasn’t Bill Buckner’s fault... Read more...
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Written by Zachary Levin
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Sunday, 02 October 2011 10:25
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 While the main event between Argentine WBC middleweight champ Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez and contender “Dazzling” Darren Barker of England was not a “barnburner,” it was much better and certainly more competitive than most expected—at least on this side of the pond where most paid the Brit short shrift, including the oddsmakers who had him a 15-1 underdog. If you appreciate elite-level chess, this was a fight for you. Barker made an excellent account of himself against one of the pound for pound best and the “real” middleweight champ but it was not enough. At 1:29 of round 11, a gorgeous right hook to the temple dropped him hard to the canvas. He had no chance of beating the ten-count. Scores at the time of stoppage were all in Martinez’s favor: 96-94, 99-91, 97-94. But don’t let the numbers fool you; this was a nip-and-tuck... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Friday, 30 September 2011 15:09
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 Two weeks on, and people are still talking about the shocker of an ending to the Mayweather-Ortiz. I just came across a video of Victor Ortiz making his case for a rematch, to videographer Igor Frank, in Burbank, California. "It's not about money, to me it's never been about money," Ortiz said in a video that was shot on Friday. "If it means that much to Floyd, he can keep the money, I just want a rematch. Period. It's unfair. I will show that Mayweather is not the best pound for pound fighter. I'm not convinced. At all.So, was the "two piece" legal? "It may have been legal," Ortiz said. "But at the end of the day it's like if you're really that great of a fighter you could at least respect the fact that someone wasn't ready. Let them get ready. It's like two kids in karate class go to the center to do this and one just kicks the other in the face. That's just unfair. ... Read more...
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