merce77's Classic Boxing Thread, tape them hands up before you enter!!!!

[Ready2Rumble82]

Weights from Chengdu, China

Marco Antonio Barrera 137.5 vs Sammy Ventura 137.5

Mike Mollo 227 vs. Jameel McCline 272

Ray Austin 228 vs. Andrew Golota 242

​

Marco Antonio Barrera 137.5 vs Sammy Ventura 137.5
Juan Palacios 104 vs Teruo Misawa 104
(Interim WBC strawweight championship)
Devon Alexander 140.5 Vs Sun-Haeng Lee 139
Wang Ya Nan 157 Vs Akondaye Fountain 158.5
(WBC female middleweight championship)
Weighed in yesterday:
Andrew Golota 242 vs Ray Austin 228
Jameel McCline 272 vs Mike Mollo 227
Promoter: Don King Productions

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Kirkland to face Vera

Before Ricky Hatton and Paulie Malignaggi step into the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to settle their score on November 22nd, two junior middleweight bangers will light up the Las Vegas night with their explosive attacks when unbeaten James Kirkland takes on 'The Contender's" Brian Vera in a 10-round All-Texas co-feature. A two-fisted knockout artist who is on a tear through the 154-pound division, 24-year-old Austin native Kirkland (23-0, 20 KOs) has no reverse gear when he's in the ring, a quality that has rapidly made him a fan favorite. Vera (16-1, 10 KOs) made a splash on the world scene as a member of "The Contender's" third season. In March of this year when he halted the rise of unbeaten phenom Andy Lee via a seventh round TKO. The 26-year-old hopes to issue a similar boxing lesson to Kirkland. HBO will televise.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Heavyweight titlist Vitali Klitschko (36-2, 35 KOs), who came out of retirement after almost four years and stopped Samuel Peter in a dominant performance in October to reclaim a belt, was ordered this week at the WBC's annual convention in Chengdu, China, to face mandatory challenger Juan Carlos Gomez (44-1, 35 KOs) in his next fight. If the sides do not make a deal, a Dec. 19 purse bid will be ordered. "This is exactly what we wanted," Gomez promoter Ahmet Öner said. "This is a great day for Arena Box-Promotion. We got Gomez vs. Vitali."

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

The WBC is at it again. At its annual convention, which is going on this week in Chengdu, China, the council ordered middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik to face his No. 1 contender, Marco Antonio Rubio. The fight is already in the planning stages for Feb. 21 in Pavlik's native Youngstown, Ohio. However, the WBC said it will strip Pavlik of its belt if he doesn't pay sanction fees for his last two fights, neither of which were title bouts. He faced Jermain Taylor and Bernard Hopkins above 160 pounds in matches the WBC was not affiliated with, yet it is still demanding fees.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

The WBC is also demanding payment of sanctioning fees from Manny Pacquiao for his last fight, when he knocked out David Diaz to win the organization's lightweight title. If Pacquiao, who faces Oscar De La Hoya at welterweight on Dec. 6 in a nontitle match, does not pay the WBC within in 15 days, he will be stripped. Former junior lightweight titlist Edwin Valero, who is serving as one of De La Hoya's sparring partners, will face Antonio Pitalua for the interim belt. If no agreement is reached, a Dec. 1 purse bid was ordered. If Pacquiao is stripped, the winner of Valero-Pitalua would become the organization's titleholder.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Joan Guzman (28-0, 17 KOs) will face Ameth Diaz (25-7, 19 KOs) on Dec. 20 in Guzman's native Dominican Republic in a lightweight title eliminator, Sycuan Ringside Promotions' Sean Gibbons told ESPN.com. The fight will be at lightweight even though Guzman failed to make the 135-pound limit for a fight against unified titleholder Nate Campbell in September, which forced the fight to be canceled hours before the first bell and sent Campbell into bankruptcy because neither fighter was paid.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

With Paulie Malignaggi having given up his alphabet junior welterweight title to face lineal champion Ricky Hatton Nov. 22, the IBF's leading contenders, Herman Ngoudjo and Juan Urango, will meet for the vacant belt. Urango promoter Leon Margules of Seminole Warriors Boxing and Ngoudjo promoter Yvon Michel made a deal this week and avoided Thursday's scheduled purse bid. They'll meet Jan. 30 in Montreal, where Ngoudjo is based. Urango, a former titleholder, lost his belt to Hatton. Ngoudjo lost a tight decision to challenging Malignaggi in January. Ngoudjo-Urango likely will be televised on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Former junior middleweight titlist Roman Karmazin (36-3-1, 23 KOs), idle since his 10th-round upset TKO loss to Alex Bunema in January, has secured a release from promoter Don King and is scheduled to return to action against an opponent to be named on Dec. 20 in Los Angeles, where he lives, according to adviser Steve Bash. Karmazin will fight at middleweight and plans to stay there, but Bash said he'd return to junior middleweight for a meaningful fight.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa (12-0, 10 10 KOs), the 2004 Cuban Olympic gold medalist who defected and is now one of boxing's fastest rising contenders, will have a shot to win a title in just his 13th fight, albeit an interim title. With titleholder Oscar Larios sidelined because of a severe cut suffered in his Oct. 16 defense against Takahiro Aoh, Gamboa will face Elio Rojas (20-1, 13 KOs) for an interim belt. Rojas earned a shot by winning a title eliminator against Hector Velasquez in his last fight in September.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Junior lightweight titlist Nicky Cook (29-1, 16 KOs), who upset Alex Arthur in September to win the belt, makes his first defense Dec. 6 in London. Cook will face British countryman Stephen Foster Jr. (24-2-1, 16 KOs), who lost a tight decision to Arthur in a slugfest in his only previous title bout in December. "It's fantastic to be fighting for the world title again and this time I won't let the opportunity pass me," Foster said. "It won't be a case of third time lucky, this time I'm going to win it. I came so close to beating Arthur last year and I'm still kicking myself about it now. If only I had followed up when I hurt him in the 11th round with some more big punches then I could have been crowned champion. That was a year ago. I'm ready to give Cook a real fight for his title." Also on the card, lightweight Amir Khan aims to rebound from his stunning first-round knockout loss to Breidis Prescott in September when he faces Oisin Fagan.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Although Cook-Foster headlines promoter Frank Warren's Dec. 6 show in London and there will also be a lot of attention paid to Khan's comeback fight, there is also another title bout on the bill. Enzo Maccarinelli (28-2, 21 KOs) will attempt to reclaim his old alphabet cruiserweight title, which he lost by knockout to David Haye before Haye vacated it to move up to heavyweight. Maccarinelli will face Johnathon Banks (20-0, 14 KOs), who is trained and managed by Emanuel Steward. Maccarinelli hasn't fought since suffering a second-round knockout loss to Haye in March. "It's been a while since my fight with Haye and I'm not going to dwell on it. What happened, happened and it's in the past," he said. "Since the fight I've just had my head down and been putting the hours in the gym correcting what I did wrong and I believe that I'm better than before. I've got to prove a lot of people wrong."

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Top Rank's much-discussed card in Macau, which has moved around and had been most recently slated for Dec. 13, has been pushed back at least until late January, Top Rank's Bob Arum saidl. He said the move was made at the request of the host Venetian resort. Among the bouts that had been talked about for the card, which has been on the drawing board for months, was junior flyweight Ulises Solis defending his title against Brian Viloria.

 

[jms]

Does anybody have this fight?
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[merce77]

I'll look for this Mancini fight, but I haven't come across it, I know this is the fight where he kills the Korean dude but I don't have it.

 

[merce77]

So who do you guys have this weekend? Taylor or Lacy?

 

[tp2001]

So who do you guys have this weekend? Taylor or Lacy?

I got Taylor. Lacy has done little to nothing since his loss to Calzaghe, and should have retired after fuckin up his shoulder. I would not be surprised if Taylor KOs him.

I'm glad that there is a rest period for PPVs, as HBO has three straight weeks of boxing this month. The match I am waiting on, however, is the Arreola-Walker matchup. The winner of that is one or two fights away from a major title shot.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Arreola-Walker was a fun lil scrap for as long as it lasted, but he's nowhere near ready to take on the Klitschko's yet. He needs to lose another 15 lbs before he can even take himself seriously as a major contender.

 

[tp2001]

Arreola-Walker was a fun lil scrap for as long as it lasted, but he's nowhere near ready to take on the Klitschko's yet. He needs to lose another 15 lbs before he can even take himself seriously as a major contender.

Not only that, but he got caught by Walker on a punch which could've been blocked. The reason he got Walker was because he knew what to do when Travis was in trouble by getting out of clinching attemots and continuing to attack. If Walker was able to respond to trouble correctly, then Chirs probably would not have KOd him that early.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

I'd like to see Arreola in there with someone like Lamon Brewster.

 

[merce77]

Gott DAMMMMM!!!! Manny just won me a nice chunk of change. I NEVER expected Manny to win. GREAT performance by Pacman, he looked like a lil' Floyd in there!

 

[Q-vo]

This has to be one of the most monumental years for boxing in recent times (And they keep sayin the shit is dead......Fuckouttahere)

Still a few weeks away from the end of the year (With a few more high profile matches ahead like Holt/Torres III,Cunningham/Adamek) but I aint waitin' to recap '08.

Favorite fight of the year: Vasquez/Marquez III (Runner-Up: Casamayor/Katsidis---Can't believe how many folks forgot or missed out on this one!)

Favorite mega-hyped fight of the year: Cotto/Margarito

Favorite KO of the year:
[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/v/pWKID8KJqj8[/FLASH]

Favorite Round of the Year:
[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/v/-hO7t3vvoxM[/FLASH]

Favorite comeback performance: Hopkins against Pavlik

(And Don't sleep on Andre Direll too. You gotta remember that HBO kicked his @$$ to the curb after a terrible performance about a year ago. Since then, he's had 3 straight KO victories on Showtime)

Fighter of the Year: Paul Williams

Old fighters who still got a lot left in the tank: Bernard Hopkins, Nate Campbell, Juan Manuel Marquez

Old fighters who need to go: Oscar, Roy, Antonio Tarver, Holyfield (I'M BEGGIN' YA! PLEASE)

A bunch of undefeated superstars and prospects took a risk this year and got dealt with their first blemish:

Miguel Cotto
Paul Williams (Avenged it like a mugg though!)
Kelly Pavlik
Juan Diaz
Amir Khan
Michael Katsidis
Sergio Mora (Hard to believe he stayed unbeaten for so long!)
Andy Lee
Rey Bautista
Giovanni Segura
Pawel Wolak
Steve Molitor

'08 was the year of the power-puncher---And I get a feeling it'll continue well into '09. You got fighters like Pacman,Paul Williams, and Vic Darchinyan moving up in weight and carrying all their power with them. Not only that, but, since PBF's disappearing act, the powerpunchers are starting to dominate the sport while the stlyish, slick boxers (Like Malignaggi,Spinks,Mijares,Quintana) are getting demolished.

Fighters I can't wait to see more of: James Kirkland, Alfred Angulo, Juan Manuel Lopez, Jorge Linares, Sergio Martinez, Edwin Valero (We keep on hearing that he'll fight in America one of these days, '09 better be the time)

Dream matches for '09:
Bernard Hopkins/Chad Dawson
Pacquiao/PBF
Juan Manuel Marquez/Nate Campbell
Andre Berto/Joshua Clottey
Israel Vazquez/Juan Manuel Lopez
Vic Darchinyan/Fernando Montiel
Vernon Forrest/Paul Williams

First prediction of '09: Yuriorkis Gamboa will get KO'd in his first big step-up....But John Duddy and Julio Ceasar Chavez Jr will still be undefeated.

 

[tp2001]

Nice review, Q-vo!

I also believe that 08 had a lot of highlights in boxing, and the matchups were great, like your FOTY candidates...Those fights were great, and I'd add Marquez/Casamayor to that list, too...

A couple of those matches for 09 look intriguing, with the Berto/Clottey matchup the one that looks the most probable IMO. That would be a great one to see, which could happen by the mid-point of the year...

Marquez/Campbell would be one I'd like to see, too

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer moved a step closer to putting together a fight between lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez and former titleholder Juan Diaz on HBO for Feb. 28 or in March. "Marquez has accepted the fight and Diaz has accepted the fight," Schaefer said. "Now, it's a matter of finding the money. Assuming they each get paid X, they have agreed to fight. Now, I need to find X." Schaefer is working with HBO, but they are a bit off on the money. If the fight happens, it won't be in Diaz's hometown of Houston, where he drew a big crowd for his September win against Michael Katsidis. Schaefer said part of his deal with Marquez is that the fight won't be there.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Featherweight titlist Steven Luevano (36-1, 15 KOs), who has spent his entire nine-year professional career with Top Rank, has signed a five-year contract extension, manager Cameron Dunkin told ESPN.com. Dunkin said Luevano received an undisclosed signing bonus and that Top Rank is negotiating his mandatory defense against Golden Boy's Rocky Juarez, a bout HBO is interested in. "Steven said he wanted to stay with Top Rank, so great," Dunkin said. "He's very happy and just wants to fight, and Top Rank is keeping him busy." Next up for Dunkin is negotiating an extension with Top Rank for middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, who has also been with the company since turning pro the day before Luevano did in 2000. Pavlik's contract still has time remaining, but Dunkin said they've begun discussing a new deal.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

When Nikolai Valuev (49-1, 34 KOs) defends his version of the heavyweight title Dec. 20 in Zurich, Switzerland, against the long-faded ex-champion Evander Holyfield (42-9-2, 27 KOs), the bout will be available in the United States as a $24.95 Integrated Sports PPV after a last-minute deal between the company and Sauerland Event. The PPV begins at 3 p.m. ET.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

The winner of Valuev-Holyfield will owe Ruslan Chagaev, the WBA's so-called "heavyweight champion in recess," a mandatory fight. Chagaev (24-0-1, 17 KOs), who pulled out of a July 5 fight with Valuev because of an Achilles tendon tear in his left ankle, was stripped of the title and named "champion in recess" because of the injury. Now, he's ready to return before facing the Valuev-Holyfield winner, although whether the belt will be at stake is unclear. Chagaev will face Carl Davis Drummond (26-0, 20 KOs) on Feb. 7 in Germany after the sides made a deal this week. However, the WBA has not yet approved the bout as a 10-round special attraction or as a title bout.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

James Toney (70-6-3, 43 KOs), coming off a dominating third-round no contest against Hasim Rahman in July, returns to action Saturday night (Versus, 9 ET) at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, Calif., against Fres Oquendo (29-4, 18 KOs), a two-time title challenger. Toney was supposed to face Tony Thompson, but he withdrew last week because of bronchitis. "I was training for a fight that was recently cancelled, and when I was informed that I had the chance to fight Toney, there was zero hesitation," Oquendo said. "This was the opportunity I was looking for. It gets me right back into a position to challenge for a world title." Also on the card: Super middleweight and 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward (16-0, 11 KOs) returns to action against Esteban Camou (23-4, 19 KOs), Ward's first bout since knee surgery earlier this year. Promoter Dan Goossen believes Ward is poised for a breakout year and has pitched fights against Edison Miranda and Allan Green to Showtime, which turned them both down.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Andre Berto's mandatory welterweight title defense against ex-titleholder Luis Collazo came together when Berto promoter Lou DiBella won a purse bid for $675,000, beating Collazo promoter Don King's bid of $427,000. They'll meet Jan. 17 on HBO. DiBella said the likely site is Vancouver if HBO approves. The telecast will open with interim junior middleweight titleholder Sergio Martinez (44-1-1, 24 KOs), so impressive in his dismantling of Alex Bunema in an eighth-round knockout in his October HBO debut, against prospect Joe Greene (20-0, 14 KOs). Martinez-Greene wound up on the card after a proposed fight between junior middleweight John Duddy and Ronald Hearns imploded because of Duddy's falling out with his handlers. When that fight fell apart, DiBella moved the card out of New York.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Promoter Gary Shaw, who handles junior middleweight titleholder Vernon Forrest, has talked to German promoter Universum about Forrest moving up to middleweight to challenge titleholder Felix Sturm in early 2009. But Universum, which is looking for a potential unification bout against Kelly Pavlik, declined.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Rising lightweight prospect Antonio DeMarco (19-1-1, 13 KOs) will battle the more established "Kid Diamond" Almazbek Raiymkulov (27-1-1, 15 KOs) in a 12-round bout Feb. 7, DeMarco promoter Shaw told ESPN.com. The bout will open Showtime's telecast headlined by Vic Darchinyan's junior bantamweight title defense against Jorge Arce in Anaheim, Calif. Both fights pit Shaw fighters against Top Rank boxers. DeMarco was scheduled to face Wes Ferguson Jan. 16 on "ShoBox," but with DeMarco moving to the new date, Shaw will fill the "ShoBox" card with another headliner.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

With Winky Wright's left hand injury forcing him to withdraw from a Dec. 4 Versus bout, which would have been his first since a loss to Bernard Hopkins in July 2007, he won't return to action until early next year, either Feb. 28 or March 14 on HBO. Golden Boy says it is talking with three potential opponents, all of which are notable: middleweight titleholder Arthur Abraham, super middleweight titlist Mikkel Kessler and interim junior middleweight belt holder Paul Williams. If it's Williams, the bout could be pushed into April because Williams is healing from a severe cut suffered in his Nov. 29 win against Verno Phillips.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Former undisputed cruiserweight champion O'Neil Bell (26-3-1, 24 KOs) makes his heavyweight debut in an eight-rounder against journeyman Domonic Jenkins (13-10-1, 6 KOs) Jan. 14 in Hollywood, Fla. Also on the Seminole Warriors Boxing card: Edison Miranda (30-3, 26 KOs) looks to bounce back from his knockout loss to Arthur Abraham against Manuel Esparza (20-7-1, 5 KOs) in a 170-pound bout and junior middleweight contender Sechew Powell (24-2, 14 KOs) faces Jose Arosemana (12-2, 12 KOs).

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Two of the welterweight division’s most exciting fighters, three-time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito and three-division world champion Shane Mosley, plan to open 2009 with an explosive world championship fight. Margarito’s WBA welterweight title defense against Mosley will take place on Saturday, January 24 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be televised live on HBO’s World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

Pacquiao-Judah in the near future

Manny Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum have already had preliminary disucssions relating to a potential Pacquiao-Judah fight for 2009. "Manny Pacquiao put on a fabolous performance against Oscar De La Hoya last weekend. Like I told you, I was rooting for Pacquiao because I know he would fight me. He always looks for the best fights at 140 it gets no bigger than me and Pacquiao giving the fans what they want to see," said Judah. More to follow from Judah, Roy Jones Jr (Judah's promoter), John Wirt and the Bob Arum.

 

[Ready2Rumble82]

TAYLOR TO FACE FROCH NEXT?

You should not be surprised if former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, challenges undefeated WBC super middleweight Carl Froch in his next bout. Froch captured the vacant strap by decisioning previously unbeaten Jean Pascal last weekend.