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Saturday, January 20, 2007
EEC - January 20, 2007
Vlad Klitschko and Ray Austin are going to clash on March 10th. Is this fight the beginning of the next wave of heavyweight bout signings? We will find out next week…
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- Is Junior Witter going to stop talking? Honestly, he hasn’t stopped once this week. I normally would go ahead and post away with the gossip but it’s different with Witter. See it’s just like he’s come out of nowhere, trying to steal the spotlight from the other three big fights this weekend.
He’s not even on the same level as the names he is throwing out there and the best thing about this - He has a fight tomorrow night. With his mind elsewhere I hope Witter loses and then cries like a little girl, serves him right for going Hollywood and not focusing on his opponent…
- Joe Frazier’s left hook is still just as fast, I promise…
Smokin’ Joe is still quick with a counterpunch.
Asked if he had any birthday wishes for Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier came right back.
“Whose birthday?” he said.
Never mind that Frazier was appearing at Madison Square Garden to help promote a documentary about the 50 greatest moments in Madison Square Garden history and that his first fight with Ali on March 8, 1971, was listed among the top five.
After good-naturedly pointing out that he also deserved birthday greetings for having turned 63 last Friday, Frazier wished Ali, “Happy birthday.”
- It’s offical: Manny Pacquiao will face Injin Chi of South Korea on April 28…
- Reports are saying that the price for the De La Hoya-Mayweather PPV on May 5th may be as much as $54.95.
- Anyone wondering what Hasim Rahman is up to? Here’s the latest…
Former two-time heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman (41-6-2, 33 KOs) will fight once-formidable contender Ray Mercer (34-6-1, 25 KOs) on Feb. 22 (Versus) at Mountaineer Race Track in West Virginia in his first fight since losing his belt via 12th-round knockout to Oleg Maskaev in August. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said Rahman was going to fight Mercer rather than go to Germany in March for a proposed bout with former title challenger Luan Krasniqi. Arum said the fight in Germany might be made for late spring if Rahman beats Mercer, who hasn’t fought since Shannon Briggs knocked him out in the seventh round in August 2005.
Some Good Reads:
TSS: Is Boxing More Dangerous Than Football?
FOX Sports: Hatton’s Vegas tango with Urango
MaxBoxing: Compubox Analysis - Hatton vs Urango
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Sunday, January 14, 2007
EEC - January 14, 2007
Early Eight Count - It’s catchy isn’t it?
Basically this is going to be a daily morning post focusing on a variety of boxing news, gossip, articles, videos, and whatever interesting things myself or David will be able to find.
I’m going to try my best to post it every morning at 8:00 AM, genius I know… However if you don’t see it up one day for some reason, please don’t uppercut me too hard.
We’re doing something similar over on our sister site, MMA on Tap as well.
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- Ricky Hatton seems to be taking Floyd Mayweather Jr. off of his radar screen because of Mayweather’s future plans for this year which include a superfight with Oscar De La Hoya in May and possible retirement right after the bout. That didn’t stop Hatton from discussing alternate plans for this year however…
“I have no problem with fighting up at welterweight again. But the only fight I’ll probably look at that might tempt to me to welterweight would be certainly Floyd Mayweather, maybe Miguel Cotto. I’m not soon to be back on the welterweight division even though I’ve made back down to junior welterweight. I have got to put on an exciting performance against Juan Urango. Hopefully win my title back which I’m confident that I can do, and hopefully lead to a fight against José Castillo and then if Floyd is still fighting, if he chooses not to retire then that would another fight I’d love.”
I’m sure that Hatton won’t be the only one voicing their displeasure about Floyd opting to retire soon, crushing the hopes of many welterweights out there that wanted a crack at him.
- Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer will be traveling to Florida next week to visit with Roy Jones Jr. and attempt to get him to sign a contract that will allow him to fight Bernard Hopkins in July. According to Hopkins, he is already signed for the fight and it is now up to Jones Jr. to make the fight happen.
- Just like I reported yesterday, Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent will most likely be Jin Chi as Top Rank’s Bob Arum is supposed to be finalizing the contract for the fight at some point this week.
One thing I’m considering is moving the usual ‘Weekend Fights’ and ‘Weekend Results’ posts to the EEC post for that day. I think it will work out a lot better and allow more time for news and events that occur which deserve more coverage. As always, feel free to leave a comment or contact us with your opinion about this decision or anything else that your little heart desires…
Weekend Results:
- Travis Simms won the WBA Super Welterweight Title on Saturday night, stopping Jose Antonio Rivera in the 9th round. Simms was in control for the entire fight, dominating Rivera in every aspect until the referee halted the bout in the middle of the 9th round after Rivera was knocked to the canvas for a second time.
Simms actually held the WBA Super Welterweight belt from December 2003 until June 2005 when he was stripped of the belt due to inactivity. Simms was holding out because he wanted a fight with Winky Wright who obviously had other plans. However Simms now guarantees that his mind is set on defending his title:
“I’m coming back, and I’m looking to get back in the mix with the top champions in the divison,” Simms said. “I cannot be denied. I stayed in the gym, stayed diligent, stayed focused.”
Don’t believe in newspapers? Don’t worry, I have you covered…
Some Good Reads:
ESPN: Dan Rafael’s January Division Rankings
I actually plan on starting some rankings of our own by next month possibly so stay tuned…
FOX Sports: Unified heavyweight title can save boxing
MaxBoxing: When to Hold and When to Fold: Toney’s March Memorable, but Uphill from Here
The Sweet Science: Looking For More In The New Year
Last but not least, Jim Amato (neverlast on this site) will have a new piece being posted at some point this afternoon for those of you looking to check back in later on for new material…
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Friday, January 12, 2007
The Barrera-Pacquiao Fiasco Continues
Well while I was gone, Top Rank and Golden Boy apparently sued the shit out of each other…
Anyone want an update?
Well even though there is a lawsuit currently between the two sides, they still tried to come to some kind of agreement to have Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao. That didn’t work out.
Yesterday Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer announced that they have come to terms on a fight between Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez that will take place on March 17th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
So what about Pac-Man?
The WBC is stating that Pacquiao most likely will take on Jin Chi, who is moving up from featherweight to super featherweight, in Macau on April 28th.
The WBC has also decided not to get in the middle of things between Top Rank and Golden Boy since they could run into litigation problems. The expectations after the two fight is that talks will start up again attempting to pair Pacquiao and Barrera together again.
WBC President Jose Sulaiman breaks it down for us:
Sulaiman said he will allow “both fighters to have the opportunity to have one fight.” He said that once those fights are done the WBC will “immediately proceed with free negotiations, purse offers and all of that” setting a three-week deadline for a purse offer should negotiations fall through even in the midst of the legal battle between contending promoters Golden Boy and Top Rank.
Sulaiman also added that the fighters are eventually going to have to fight or else there will be consequences. What kind of consequences?
If Barrera is victorious over Marquez and decides that he no longer wants to fight Pacquiao, he will be stripped of his title. If Pacquiao no longer wants to fight Barrera, he will no longer be the mandatory challenger for Barrera’s belt.
I’m glad to see the WBC taking action and making things a bit clearer among all of this mess. Hopefully things can be settled quickly in court between De La Hoya and Arum’s promoting monsters…
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Thursday, January 11, 2007
Morrison Awaits Fate
The Arizona Republic is reporting that Tommy Morrison is waiting for the results of a blood test he recently took for the Arizona State Boxing Commission in an attempt to get a license to fight.
Even if the results are negative for HIV, ASBC boss John Montano still wants to watch Morrison workout in a gym to prove he is still physically fit to compete. This will be followed by multiple commission meetings featuring boxing experts, doctors, and various other officials.
Morrison’s possible return could actually happen on January 19th as promoter Peter McKinn would like to compete on a Top Rank and Bob Arum card to start things off.
If the blood work produces a negative result, commission head John Montano wants to watch Morrison sparring in the gym.
Local Phoenix promoter Peter McKinn is shooting to have Morrison return in a four-round bout on a Jan. 19 Top Rank-promoted card and two opponents are apparently ready to fight him on that date if necessary.
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Monday, November 20, 2006
What’s Next For Pacquiao?
What is next for the recently victorious Manny Pacquiao? A lot more than people might think…
Before Pacquiao can even contemplate his next opponent, he needs to fight out who is going to be promoting him next year: Top Rank or Golden Boy?
So let’s break down the facts…
Top Rank promoted Pacquiao for Saturday night’s fight - it should have been the last fight under the Top Rank banner for Pacquiao, who signed with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions in September.
However Bob Arum and Top Rank have already stated that Pacquiao signing with Golden Boy before his contract with Top Rank was up is a violation and needs to be dealt with. The matter where mostly likely end up in court with a hearing that will determine who exactly Pacquiao will be working for next year.
Either way, it’s going to be interesting to see how things turn out. Pacquiao’s contract with Top Rank is over the minute the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. Even if his current contract with Golden Boy is terminated, it’s almost certain that he will just go ahead and sign a similar one as soon as he can in 2007.
Well hold on a minute here… Arum has thrown a wrench into the mix…
When asked about the situation last week, Arum has said that he should have a say in Pacquiao’s future as well and that Manny tried returning the check for his signing bonus back to Golden Boy, who wouldn’t accept it.
Is Pacquiao running back to Top Rank? Only time will tell at this point…
So who might be his next opponent?
Well right now two names are being thrown around: Marco Antonio Barrera and Edwin Valero.
Pacquiao signed with Golden Boy earlier in the fall with the idea that if he was victorious against Erik Morales, he would take on Barrera in a rematch at some point in 2007. Arum however wants Pacquiao to take on Edwin Valero.
A lot will be riding on a judge’s decision, there’s no doubt about that…
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Friday, November 03, 2006
Pavlik Stops Pierre; Remains Undefeated
Middleweight contender Kelly Pavlik remained undefeated after stopping Lenord Pierre in the fourth round of their schedule bout last night in Youngstown, Ohio.
Is it just me or does it seem that there is a whole lot of boxing going on in Youngstown these days?
Pavilk destroyed Pierre in every aspect of the fight, knocking him down in the second and fourth rounds and landing power shots at will throughout the rest of the fight.
It was in the fourth where Pavilk floored Pierre with a left hook just 46 seconds in the round. Randy Jarvis was then forced to stop the bout and save Pierre from any further damage.
So what’s next for Pavilk? Any future opponents in mind?
“I am just hoping to get my shot at Taylor or Wright or they should vacate the belts”, said a happy Pavlik about future opponents.
That’s some pretty big thinking there kid…
Everyone’s favorite promoter Bob Arum stated after the fight that Pavilk’s next bout will be January 27th on HBO…
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Golden Boy Signs Yet Another
Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions have made yet another transaction: the acquisition of former WBC Flyweight Champion Gerry Penalosa.
Penalosa signed the contract at De La Hoya’s office in downtown Los Angeles this past week. The contract is a seven-fight deal that will most likely get Penalosa a title shot in the near future.
Penalosa also announced that he will be managed by famous trainer Freddie Roach and the recently signed Manny Pacquiao, who made headlines last week in signing with Golden Boy over Bob Arum and Top Rank Inc.
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Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Oscar Confirms Manny Signing
“Yes, we have signed Manny Pacquiao,” Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya told ESPN.com from his home in Puerto Rico on Monday.
That pretty much confirms all of the reports that are floating around out there. Even though there are other fighters with Golden Boy Promotions who Pacquiao may eventually fight, De La Hoya reassures that this is a great decision…
“It was basically us out-thinking the competition,” De La Hoya said. “I had a goal and that goal was to sign Manny Pacquiao. We strategized and we figured it out and we were willing to do whatever it took to sign him.”
This whole ordeal is far from over however, especially with Bob Arum in the mix. If you don’t already know, Arum and Top Rank were heavily banking on being able to resign Pacquiao without a problem. Now that they have lost him, Arum is claiming that him signing with Golden Boy is a violation.
“If he signed with Golden Boy, it violates the contract we have with Manny for this fight,” Arum said. “I have a specific provision against it. It says you can’t sign until after this fight with any other promoter. It’s specific and says it clearly.”
“Golden Boy has torturously interfered with our contract. Under the specific language of the contract, they had to wait until after the fight was over to sign,” Arum said. “I’m not going to let it slide. What we do is up to the attorneys. I don’t like my contracts to be violated. Manny’s lawyer [Jeng Gacal] went through my contract with a fine-toothed comb. I negotiated with him and specifically this paragraph.”
The worst that could come out of this is Arum continuing to press the issue and De La Hoya having to agree to some kind of settlement, possibly in court. The bottom line - Pacquiao is with Golden Boy now and after the fight. Top Rank can go through whatever legal troubles they want, but at the end of the day, Pacquiao won’t be signing with them again…
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Saturday, September 23, 2006
Another Report: Pacquiao Signs With Golden Boy
Well if this holds to be true, that was pretty quick…
Oscar De La Hoya visited Manny Pacquiao a few days ago to discuss the possibility of signing with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Now Dan Rafael is reporting that multiple sources have said Pacquiao has signed with the promotional company.
“It’s done. It is signed,” said one source, who said he has seen the executed contract.
“Oscar basically kidnapped Manny from the airport,” said another source, who attended the dinner. “It was a substantially better deal than the one Manny was offered by Top Rank.”
As always, one of Top Rank’s top guys, Bob Arum, had some comments regarding the whole situation…
“If he signed with Golden Boy, that’s part of the business,” he said. “I don’t give a [expletive]. I really don’t care. We have enough on our plate to occupy us. It would have been nice to promote Manny but if we can’t, we can’t. Life goes on.”
It was noted many times by different people that Top Rank and Arum were gunning especially hard for Pacquiao, being that he probably has the most potential to succeed out of all of the contenders in the featherweight division. Well it’s certainly obvious that they are upset about him possibly getting away from them. You never know though, he could pull a Juan Diaz...
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Thursday, July 20, 2006
Pretty Boy is Pretty Stubborn
As of right now, Floyd Mayweather Jr. still doesn’t have an opponent for his scheduled November 4th fight date. Will he by this weekend? It’s possible, but his opponent might make him look like a complete fraud.
Mayweather: ‘I’ll beat Mosley, then De La Hoya’
Floyd was gracious enough to lay out his plans for us…
“Shane don’t understand, but he’s just the bait,” Mayweather said. “First, I’ll beat Shane and then I’ll beat his boss. Oscar is not going to retire. How are you going to retire when you haven’t fought the best? I am the face of boxing and without me it’s a dud.”
Two things…
First off, Mosley has already said that he will not fight Mayweather until at least 2007. This does absolutely nothing to solve the problem of Floyd not having an opponent for November. Also, will De La Hoya wait that long to fight Mayweather if he even accepts?
Secondly, when did Mayweather become this brash? It makes all of the reporters who threw praise at him earlier this year for staying in his corner during the Judah incident look like they didn’t even know who they were talking about. It’s surprising to see Mayweather speak those kind of words.
So why did I say Mayweather is going to look like a fraud?
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has reported today that officials from both the Spinks and Mayweather camps are in heavy talks about setting up a possible fight between the two later this year. Why in the world would you fight Cory Spinks next? How is that going to raise your stock? Millions of questions come to mind that one could currently ask Floyd Mayweather.
FYI: Mayweather had a $8 Million offer to fight Antonio Margarito on the table. Noticed I put the word had in italics. Why do you ask?
Winky Wright put out a challenge to Antonio Margarito late last week about setting up a possible super-fight. When discussing Margarito, all things go through Bob Arum who told Winky’s camp that he was busy at the moment and to call back later on. Arum originally made a $4 million offer that was turned down by Winky. Now Winky is offering $1.5 Million. Confused? Chris Lighty explains:
“I tried calling him (Arum) yesterday with the offer and he said he was busy and for me to call him back tomorrow. We have been trying to reach him all day to put this (fight) together,” Lighty said. “From what I hear Margarito has one more fight with Arum, so I know he wants to put him in the ring with a big opponent. I don’t know what’s going through his head. I think maybe there are just looking at what options are out there for Margarito.
Originally we wanted more money, but we wanted to see what was going to happen with Jermain Taylor,” Lighty said. “Now that Taylor is taking another fight, we want to take another fight and then meet Taylor. Margarito would be happy to fight Winky Wright for $1.5 million. He would be happy to fight him for $1 million.”
Jermain Taylor!? Ah, this must mean that his possible bout with Sergio Mora is a go.
All things aside, it’s going to be a pretty interesting next few weeks as to what fighters end up fighting whom and so forth. Mayweather still has the option of either Spinks, Margarito, and even Wright who also stated he was interested. Hopefully Floyd ends up picking one of the latter two, for his sake.