24.3.10

We've Moved!

Yep, it was time!

If you've found your way here through one of our old posts, welcome. But we've packed our bags and moved to a slightly nicer piece of internet real estate.

Come check us out at the new BoxingWatchers.com to see what's new.

22.3.10

20/20 Hindsight: Trying Really Hard to Think of Someone Who Could Beat Wladimir Klitschko... and Failing

I don't think Wladimir Klitschko is unbeatable. I'm just having a difficult time trying to figure out who might be able to disprove that notion.

I know he's lost before, because I remember shaking my head in disbelief as he went down at the hands of Lamon Brewster, or even worse, Corrie Sanders. It's just that those fights seem like a lifetime ago.

In some respects, Klitschko is like Manny Pacquiao in that they honestly aren't the same boxers they were five or six years ago. Both have improved dramatically, so it really shouldn't come as any surprise that neither has lost in years despite fighting top competition.

And make no mistake about it, Dr. Steelhammer is fighting the best heavyweights this era can produce to send against him. It's not his fault that the current crop of contenders is particularly poor.

It's also not his fault that he's bigger and taller than all of his opponents. Size isn't everything, but when married to skill and power, it's pretty damn tough to beat.

That was proven once again this past Saturday when Klitschko took on Eddie Chambers. Fast Eddie spent a lot of time dressed down in defense, as Antonio Tarver would say, blocking and slipping punches.

When Chambers tried to attack, though, he had few options. Klitschko's jab was in his face all night, keeping him outside of effective punching range and forcing him to jump in just to get anything off.

He tried to counter over the jab a few times too, but when your opponent is five-plus inches taller than you, it simply doesn't work. Comically, he actually had to jump to try a right hand at one point.

Klitschko wore him down with relentless jabbing and just enough right hands and left hooks to hurt him on occasion. It was one of the latter punches that knocked out Chambers just seconds short of going the distance, a wide left that didn't look that devastating live but appeared very powerful in replays.

It wasn't the sexiest performance ever, which is often the case with Wlad. Trainer Emanuel Steward was begging for more activity from him even after a win on the cards was in the bag. It's understandable that Klitschko starts off cautiously, given his history, but somewhat mystifying when he doesn't open up more after the other guy has proven not to be much of a threat.

Still, Wlad did win, making it 12 in a row since the April 2004 loss to Brewster, nine by stoppage. Anyone waiting for him to revert to his old underachieving form has got to be pretty frustrated at this point.

What will it take for someone to upset Klitschko? Quite possibly a set of traits that doesn't exist in any current contender.

It's hard to see anyone out-pointing him, because he's a skilled boxer whose patient (some would say boring) style just makes it that much tougher to get to him. Guys who are slick enough to do it (like Chambers) can't get inside the powerful jabs and spend most of their time getting discouraged.

So testing Wlad's sometimes questionable whiskers is in order. The problem for power punchers is still the same, though: how do you get close enough to land any bombs without getting pummeled on the way in.

The U.S. is out of candidates to try it for the time being. The top three American heavyweights according to BoxRec are Tony Thompson and Chambers, both of whom Klitschko has already knocked out, and Chris Arreola. The Nightmare had little success against big brother Vitali, so no one is clamoring to see him get a shot at Wladimir.

David Haye certainly seems like he would have a puncher's chance with his heavy hands. But even at 6-foot-3 he's looking up at Dr. Steelhammer, and his defense (or lack thereof) suggests he'd be just as likely to end up on the canvas as Wlad even if he could force the issue.

Tomasz Adamek also has power and the right mindset to bring the fight to Klitschko, but he's even smaller than Haye. Let's see how he does against Arreola before dubbing him the Wlad-killer.

If there's a guy who's at least 6-foot-5 with long arms, a solid technical background and knockout power, please make yourself known. Otherwise, it's starting to look like Klitschko will continue his reign atop the heavyweight division simply because there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Posted by The Franchise

20.3.10

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Eddie Chambers: Round By Round

The ESPIRIT arena in Dusseldorf, Germany is the site for tonight's heavyweight title fight between champion Wladimir Klitschko and challenger Eddie Chambers. A crowd of roughly 51,000 fans is on hand.

"Fast" Eddie Chambers hears some jeers from the fans before his introduction video. He looks fairly calm as he steps in the ring accompanied by a short burst of fireworks.

As you may expect, Klitschko's entrance is a bit more elaborate in front of the adoring Germans. A video is shown of a bunch of his knockouts, and he gets the full light show and pyrotechnics treatment.

Klitschko is 53-3 with 47 knockout victories. His last loss came nearly six years ago when he was KO'ed by Lamon Brewster.

Chambers is 35-1 with 18 KOs. He has won his last five bouts, though the most recent three were all by decision.

The national anthems for both the United States and the Ukraine are played. Michael Buffer does the introductions, and we are set to go a scheduled 12 rounds for Klitschko's IBF and WBO heavyweight titles.

Round One

Chambers bounces on his feet as he circles. Klitschko tries to measure some jabs. Eddie feints but doesn't throw. Wlad connects with a jab through the guard. Klitschko bounces a left hook off Chambers' forearms. Eddie throws a right hand and some of his own jabs. Klitschko comes in and is literally picked up by Chambers. Klitschko connects with a right that is answered in kind by Chambers. Left hook by Eddie right before the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round Two

Eddie tries to swat Wlad's lead hand away so he can jab. Klitschko marches forward and works on penetrating Chambers' guard. The fighters tie up, and Chambers body slams Klitschko to the mat. Eddie sneaks a right hand over the top. He uses some quick taps to the body to stay busy. Chambers throws a right and quickly clinches. Klitschko scores with a big right hand that has Chambers wobbly. Another one lands along the ropes. Eddie has to dig in to make it out of the round.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round Three

We'll see if Chambers was able to shake off that shot. Klitschko pumps his jab to create openings for his straight right. Eddie isn't throwing much right now. The fans chant to try to get Klitschko going. Chambers ducks a jab and lands a left to the body. A counter right connects as well. There's more wrestling with 10 seconds to go. More jabs by Wlad, probably enough to win him the round.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round Four

Klitschko finds the mark early with a right hand, forcing Chambers to try to retaliate. Wlad simply peppers him with jabs to back him off. Eddie has a brief moment with his own right hands. Klitschko throws more jabs with a wicked right behind it. Chambers' corner is begging for more head movement. Eddie attempts some roughhousing on the inside, but he doesn't seem to have many answers right now.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round Five

The fighters trade jabs with Klitschko coming forward. Chambers works on the inside before the ref steps in. Klitschko uses a left hook to set up a straight right. Not much happening in the middle of this frame. Chambers blocks several shots but is not throwing back. He tries a jumping right hand to get something started. Both men swing and miss wildly in the closing seconds.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round Six

Chambers' trainer did his best to try to motivate his fighter to take more chances/ Like so many before him, he can't figure out a way inside Klitschko's jab without getting nailed with a right. Wlad marches forward with consistent jabs, answered only intermittently by Chambers' own. Klitschko tries to mix in a left hook from time to time. Klitschko lands a right with about 10 seconds left.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round Seven

It's tough to imagine Chambers has won even one round on any of the official cards. He's been retreating even when he's been landing punches. The fans clap to try to inspire a flurry from Klitschko. He obliges with three straight rights that more or less land clean. Eddie is covering up but he can't block everything. Chambers' only hope would seem to be one huge punch, but he's not the right boxer to pull that tactic off.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round Eight

Even Klitschko's jabs have plenty of force behind them. Chambers slips a left hook and comes in without success. A left-right combination thuds home for the champ. Wlad works his left hook and Eddie tries to fire back. The announcer wonders if the cumulative effect of even the blocked punches are wearing Chambers out. It's a fair question at this point.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round Nine

Klitschko comes out aggressively to start the round. Emanuel Steward told him Chambers was getting tired. Eddie smacks Wlad with a counter right and ties up. He's leaping in and clinching a lot. Klitschko measures two right hands and has left hooks coming behind them. Chambers throws a series of mostly harmless left hands. Klitschko is patiently waiting for one big shot.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round 10

Eddie has a problem with his right glove, and it needs to be changed before the round can get underway. The delay lasts roughly four minutes, which doesn't make the fans too pleased. Chambers did get a nice rest out of it, and he's bouncing around. Klitschko mostly ignores him and goes back to work. He lands a right as the crowd urges him on. Chambers has to scurry out of the way as Wlad moves in. Wlad teases a big uppercut and keeps stalking. Nothing too exciting in the final minute.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round 11

It's nice to hear Steward asking for more punches even though his man is winning easily. Will Klitschko listen? Chambers is showing some slick defense, for what it's worth at this point. Klitschko attempts to get untracked but is having some trouble. He reaches with two right hands, forcing Chambers back into the corner. A quick exchange breaks out, but this round has been largely short on entertainment value.

Franchise: 10-9 Klitschko

Round 12

Emanuel was very blunt, telling Wlad he doesn't need another decision win. Eddie has three more minutes to survive. Klitschko uses a left hook and a right to try to trap Chambers along the ropes. Neither man looks particularly gassed. A right hand knocks Chambers back and Wlad at least looks to seal the deal. He just misses a big right hand. Eddie ducks and grabs but gets thumped by a left hook. The fans chant with 30 seconds to go. A left hand crumples Chambers with about 12 seconds remaining, and Chambers is face down and not getting up. It took forever, but that was the dramatic finish the fans wanted.

The winner by KO at 2:55 of Round 12... and still IBF and WBO heavyweight titleholder... "Dr. Steelhammer" Wladimir Klitschko.

Klitschko acknowledges the huge crowd by climbing all four corners of the ring to salute the fans. Wlad is interviewed in German first, thanking Dusseldorf for its support.

The champ says he knew it would be a tough fight and a awkward one in which to look good.

Wladimir Klitschko-Eddie Chambers Undercard Live Blog

The Klitschko-Chambers undercard is underway from the ESPIRIT arena in Dusseldorf, Germany. Action has already commenced between Alexander Ustinov and Ed Mahone, with Ustinov comfortably winning the first three rounds.

About 30 seconds into Round 4, Mahone's corner throws in the towel. Nice catch by the referee who literally catches the towel coming from his left. Pretty boring stuff as Ustinov wins by TKO, taking his record to 20-0 with 16 KOs.

The next opponent for Vitali Klitschko, Albert Sosnowski, enters the ring. He talks about looking forward to beating Vitali on May 29 and having his next fight against Wladimir.

The announcer discusses how several Americans have claimed to have had a plan for coming to Germany and beating Wladimir but always find the reality tougher than the theoretical exercise. Some video is shown of Chambers doing his final training, and the announcer says he feels Eddie was a bit intimidated even at the weigh-in.

Weigh-in footage is shown of Travis Walker and Johnathon Banks. We're killing time until those two men hit the ring.

Apparently there are going to be fireworks during the ring walks for Klitschko and Chambers. European sites always pull out all the stops for big boxing cards, which is fun to see.

It's time for the last undercard fight as Travis Walker and Johnathon Banks make their way to the ring. Walker is from Florida but fights out of Houston and is 34-3. He has some power but got smoked by Chris Arreola in late 2008 after some moments in the early going.

Banks is 23-1, his lone loss coming to Tomasz Adamek in February 2009.

Walker is stalking Banks, trying to use his jab to set up something big. Banks has clearly superior footwork and is tricky to track down. Not too much of real consequence lands for either man in the first two rounds.

The announcer is correct in saying these rounds wouldn't be fun to score. Walker is the aggressor, but Banks' defense is blunting most of his attacks. Banks begins landing some nice left hand counters and is just missing with some right hands. Walker is bleeding just a tad from his nose as Round 4 comes to a close.

The fans are beginning to whistle to express their displeasure with the lack of sustained action. In the middle of Round 6, Banks connects with a right hand that has hm so off balance that he slips down, but Walker goes down from the force of the punch. Walker gets up but is clearly out on his feet, and the fight is over.

Banks wins by TKO in Round 6. Not bad when you can get the stoppage by landing just one serious punch.

Plenty of time until the main event, so there's more undercard action in the meantime. Next up is a heavyweight title between 31-14 Michael Sprott, who has fought some pretty good competition over the years, and 7-13 Werner Kreiskott.

Sprott ends this one early, knocking Kreiskott silly less than a minute into the action. Sprott wins by first round TKO.

We're going to taped action from the undercard with Domonique Dolton facing Omar Siala. Dolton is just 20 years old and hails from Detroit, and he is 5-0 in his young career.

Dolton looks pretty good in the opening round. His opponent is 11-10, for what it's worth.

Domonique has quick hands and isn't afraid to let them go in combination, though he isn't facing much return fire from Siala. His movement is also good considering his youth.

Siala gets hurt from a series of body shots late in the third, and the referee decides he's seen enough. Dolton wins by TKO.

More heavyweight action to fill the remaining time with Nenad Boravcanin taking on a late replacement, Johnathon Pasi. Boravcanin is 24-0 with 17 KOs.

Pasi is fairly game but Boravcanin is clearly out of his league. Boravcanin wins by stoppage in Round 2.

The announcer tells us we are about 10 minutes away from the main event ring walks. More weigh-in footage is shown. I'm signing off on this post and getting ready for the main event post.

Posted by The Franchise

Wladimir Klitschko-Eddie Chambers Live Round By Round Updates Today

For anyone wondering if it was possible for you to view today's heavyweight title match between Wladimir Klitschko and Eddie Chambers, the answer is... yes you can. Just head to www.klitschko.com and indicate your willingness to part with $14.95 of your hard-earned money.

If that option isn't available to you, allow us to present another. Bookmark our home page and return here later today. Starting at around 4 pm Eastern, I'll be doing a live blog of undercard action. And shortly after 6 pm Eastern, I'll have a live round by round post of the showdown that may very well draw a crowd of 51,000-plus fans.

And yes, I'm well aware there is a basketball tournament going on in the U.S. that is taking up a lot of your time and attention. Surely you can set aside just a little time for the sweet science this afternoon, right?

Thought so. See you later today.

Posted by The Franchise

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Eddie Chambers: Predictions

The Franchise says...

Man, I really want to see Eddie Chambers win a world title. He was born in Pittsburgh and fights out of Philly, and it's hard to get any closer to the BoxingWatchers' hearts than that (unless he was also part Filipino, perhaps!).

That said, I just can't pick him to beat Wladimir Klitschko. I agree with the consensus opinion of many other observers, which is that Chambers can really box for a big guy... but maybe not quite as well as Klitschko.

In power it's no contest, with Eddie knocking out about 50 percent of his opponents and Wlad close to 84 percent. Then there's the size difference between the two men, which was very apparent at yesterday's weigh-in.

Freddie Roach is fond of saying that it's skill and not size that wins fights, but with all other things being equal - and that's not the case here, but humor me - it sure helps the bigger guy. If Chambers can't out-point Klitschko from the outside, and he dare not fight him toe-to-toe, then... what exactly?

I feel pretty confident Chambers will give a game effort, and he may give Wlad a tougher time in the early going than we have grown accustomed to seeing over the last few years. But all of the champ's advantages will show the longer the fight goes, and that's bad news for Fast Eddie.

Since I can't logically figure out a way for Chambers to win, I have no choice but to pick Klitschko by either unanimous decision or very late (11th or 12th round) TKO.

Uatu says...
I am not picking against Wlad until at least 2013.
Klitschko by unanimous decision.

Posted by The Franchise

19.3.10

Wladimir Klitschko Vs. Vitali Klitschko... On Your Cell Phone

I'm going to do a more serious Wladimir Klitschko-related post later today, seeing as he's defending his heavyweight titles against Eddie Chambers tomorrow and everything. But this was just too good to pass up...

The Klitschko brothers may not be huge stars in the U.S. like they are in Europe - and maybe there are some good reasons for that - but they do have something no other boxer has: their own mobile phone game.

That's right, for just $5.99 (and if you have one of the supported phones) you can bring Klitschko Boxing - The Official Mobile Game, right to your phone. Play as either one of the brothers and dominate the heavyweight division with your own thumbs!

Even better, and this is a direct quote: "Attention: This is the only place where you can compete as Klitschko vs. Klitschko!"

It also has a career mode and some pretty attractive virtual ring girls, by the looks of it. Plus virtual Wladimir versus virtual Vitali is apparently okay with the Official Mother of the Klitschkos, so how can you pass it up?

Posted by The Franchise

17.3.10

March 26 Friday Night Fights Card Featuring Cunningham, Spinks Now Off

Unfortunately for boxing fans, 2010 is turning into the year of the postponement.

One of the better Friday Night Fights cards in recent memory was slated for March 26, with Steve Cunningham battling Matt Godfrey for the vacant IBF cruiserweight belt and Cory Spinks taking on Cornelius "K-9" Bundrage for Spinks' IBF junior middleweight strap underneath. Sadly, that card is now off, at least for the time being.

The culprit? It looks like Don King, as the AP piece says he could not agree on terms with ESPN. Not that it's a big shock, frankly, as King seems to be unable or unwilling to comprehend that he's not the promotional force he once was.

It doesn't appear that there will be any FNF broadcast on that date now, but the loss of this particular one stings for boxing fans. It's not often one can see even one title fight on basic cable these days, much less two.

Spinks also joins a growing list of boxers who have had fights postponed multiple times this year. Spinks-Bundrage was originally slated to be on March 6 on HBO's Devon Alexander-Juan Urango broadcast, then it was pushed back to ESPN2 on the 26th and now... maybe never, who knows?

Andre Ward is also in that club after having his fight with Allan Green moved from April 17 to 24, then postponed at least two more months due to a knee injury.

Posted by The Franchise

15.3.10

Knee Injury Postpones Andre Ward-Allan Green Fight, No New Date Set

I'm pretty sure the rest of the Super Six World Boxing Classic will eventually take place. But it sure is having a difficult time getting through the second batch of round robin fights.

ESPN's Dan Rafael reported today that the Andre Ward-Allan Green fight set for April 24 has been postponed due to continuing problems with Ward's right knee. No new date has been set, though the fact that Ward's doctor is recommending four to six weeks of rest suggests June may be around the right ballpark.

Read the entire piece if you want to be more worried about the health of the Super Six, with plenty of stereotypical boxing BS between promoters Lou DiBella and Dan Goossen. The other tournament fight scheduled for that same date, between Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler, will still take place.

In case you're keeping score at home, this fight has already undergone a change in participants (from Jermain Taylor to Green) and two postponements, first from April 17 to 24 and now to an undetermined date. The other two bouts in this phase of the round robin have also been delayed, though hopefully we're less than two week away from seeing Andre Dirrell and Arthur Abraham do battle.

For what it's worth, I don't put too much stock in DiBella's assertion that Goossen would want Ward out of the tournament. Andre had his biggest win to date when he defeated Kessler in the first phase of the Super Six, and many observers consider him a favorite to make the finals. With every serious contender at super middleweight except for Lucian Bute also taking part, it wouldn't make much sense for Ward to quit.

That being said, the tournament is running a serious risk of losing its momentum and the goodwill it's earned with boxing fans. Let's cross our fingers and hope that all six fighters are in the ring before the end of June.

Posted by The Franchise

14.3.10

20/20 Hindsight: Clottey Had the Right Idea But Was the Wrong Fighter to Beat Pacquiao, Plus More Thoughts on Saturday

Can a boxer lay out the right game plan to beat a top-ranked opponent even while suffering a lopsided loss?

That's not a rhetorical question after what just went down in front of nearly 51,000 fans at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday night. Joshua Clottey didn't even manage to win three total rounds on the judges' scorecards while losing to Manny Pacquiao, and yet I couldn't help but think he did the right thing, given the tools at his disposal.

Ridiculous, you say? Bear with me here a moment.

Clottey obviously wasn't going to beat Manny at his own game. You simply don't beat Pacquiao to the punch, and the Grand Master's strengths are his tight defensive shell and accurate counterpunching.

So he stayed covered up and took his shots when and where he could. Clottey's real problem is that he doesn't have strong single-shot power, which is what you'd need to successfully pull off that strategy. Add in the fact that Manny really has a pretty decent chin and Clottey basically had no chance to win.

He certainly could have taken more chances and thrown caution to the wind a bit more, especially in the later rounds when it was clear there was no way he could win on the cards. But anyone who thinks he could have won the fight simply by throwing more punches is fooling himself.

The only time Manny hit Josh flush was when Clottey was throwing his own shots. Had he gone out of the guard more, there's a decent chance he may not have made it to the final bell.

Still, I think the combination of a tight guard (which did take Pac Man about four rounds to figure out) and legitimate power exercised at the right times could be the formula to beating Pacquiao. Looking at his potential opponents, though, I'm not sure there's someone out there with the correct combination of attributes to carry it out.

Floyd Mayweather has the correct defense/countering tools, though his defense is focused on slipping and avoiding punches more than picking them off. If he fights and beats Manny, I think it will be because his physical gifts are even more impressive than Pacquiao's own.

Shane Mosley would be the boxer to most likely fight fire with fire, trying to get off first at times and engage in more trading of punches. He's certainly knowledgeable on defense but not the type to make that a focus of his game plan.

In the end, I guess I think the criticism of Clottey's effort is a bit harsh. Some people are acting like he made a choice to lose, when honestly it seemed more like a choice between fighting his own fight and losing by decision or trying to be something he wasn't and getting knocked out.

Clottey had the right idea, but he wasn't the right man to take out the current version of Pacquiao.

More closing thoughts on "The Event":

* I'll add my voice to the chorus hoping that boxing will return to Cowboys Stadium. It just looked like a phenomenal atmosphere for a big fight, even though the view from some of the seats wasn't too sweet.

* Speaking of the cheap seats, Max Kellerman went out into the standing room section to demonstrate how hard it was to see from there. He also mentioned it was $50 for parking, which is flat out robbery. Yet as the Official Stepdad/Dad of the BoxingWatchers pointed out, it cost $85 combined for tickets and parking in standing room. That's still a lot cheaper than the worst seats at the MGM Grand for PPV cards.

* The undercard was rightfully panned. It didn't help that John Duddy has decided to forsake his action-first style or that Jose Luis Castillo was obviously there just to pick up a check. It's shameful, but the economic structure of boxing doesn't make it likely that undercards will improve any time soon, no matter how much lip service promoters pay to fixing them.

* Kellerman said during the broadcast that it would be a "crime against boxing" if Antonio Margarito is allowed to fight Pacquiao this fall as a Plan B for negotiations with Mayweather falling apart again. I agree with him in theory, because Margarito doesn't deserve the spotlight and the payday. But in practice I'm warming up to this idea because I'd just like to see Manny knock him around.

* Jim Lampley had his pompoms out big time during his soon-to-be-infamous "Bang! Bang!" call describing Pacquiao's non-stop punching. Thank goodness Emanuel Steward is there to balance things out, though I felt he almost went too far giving credit to Clottey for clean punching at times when it was clear the Grand Master was still losing rounds.

* It's easy for us to call for Clottey to go out on his shield from the safety of our own couches. But when other boxers are saying he should go for it, like Andre Berto was on Twitter during the fight, I take that a little more seriously.

* I'm not sure if Lenny De Jesus was the right trainer to get Clottey prepared for Pacquiao, but at least he gave Joshua the honest picture during the fight. De Jesus correctly told his fighter he was losing every round and that he would have to go for the KO at the end to have any chance of winning.

Posted by The Franchise

13.3.10

Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey: Round By Round

We're about 15 minutes away from the main event at Cowboys Stadium featuring Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey. Over 50,000 people are on hand in a truly spectacular setting.

There are three national anthems to get through. Soraya Simons sings the anthem for Ghana and Arnel Pineda does the same for the Filipino anthem. Three of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders sing "The Star-Spangled Banner." They look like they may be lip-synching.

The tale of the tape shows that Pac Man is one year younger, but Clottey has small and reach advantages. Clottey weighed in at just over a pound more yesterday but did not allow HBO to weigh him today.

Clottey heads for the ring first. He is 35-3 with 20 KOs, though his last fight was a narrow loss to Miguel Cotto. It's a long walk to the ring through the mammoth stadium.

The noise picks up from the fans as Manny makes his way out, smiling as usual. He has "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC playing, a tribute to the late Arturo Gatti, which then turns into "Eye of the Tiger." Pac Man is 50-3-2, with his last loss coming narly five years ago.

Rafael Ramos is the referee in charge of the action. Michael Buffer handles the introductions, and we're set for a scheduled 12 rounds for the WBO welterweight title.

Round 1

Both men miss their first punches. Clottey has his guard tight as expected. Manny tries a weak punch to the body. Pac Man lets go, but Clottey blocks most of the shots. Manny bounces back, then comes forward with both hands. Jab by Clottey is answered by a flurry. Clottey finally lands and eats an immediate counter. Pacquiao tries the body again. Nothing huge lands in the final 30 seconds.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 2

Pac Man bangs away off Clottey's forearms. Both men score with jabs. Clottey comes forward with two shots upstairs. Manny picks away from the outside. The crowd tries to get Pacquiao into it. Good right hand by Clottey. He tries to come forward with a body shot or two. Manny unleashes a combo to the body, then a left to the head. More body work by Manny. Clottey finds the mark with two punches upstairs. Clottey blocks more shots right before the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 3

The ref cautions Pacquiao for leading with his head. Manny goes to the body with multiple shots. Uppercut by Clottey. Pac Man backs up his foe with another flurry. Clottey digs in and tries his own body work. Manny goes right back to work with 60 seconds to go. Clottey lands a hard right hand that makes the fans gasp a bit. Clottey is forced to cover up in the corner as Manny hits the gas. Clottey is landing some clean shots, but not enough of them right now.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 4

Clottey comes forward but not behind any punches. A right hand is answered by several punches from Pacquiao. The Grand Master leaves a brief opening and has to right back on defense. The ref pulls the men apart for an unknown reason. Clottey tries a body shot and an uppercut. Joshua slows down for a moment and the fans react. Clottey weathers a storm and lands two to the body.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 5

Manny circles as Clottey applies pressure. Clottey lands about four shots in his best sustained offense to this point. He reaches over Pacquiao's jab but also gets hit with a counter. Jab by Clottey. He tries to close in and is quickly tied up. Manny has his guard up right now as well. Clottey is warned for low shots as he tries the body. Manny finally turns it around and tries a flurry. Best round for Clottey, but probably still not enough to take the round.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 6

Lots of circling to start this round. Clottey opens up with a nice combination. He goes back to the guard as Pacquiao fights off the ropes. Clottey tries more combo punching and Pac Man simply moves away. Both men score in a quick exchange. Manny flurries along the ropes, and even though Clottey blocks much of it, it probably looks good for the judges.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 7

Clottey's corner asked him to take some more chances. We'll see if he does. He has a little spark at the beginning of this frame. A minute in, Manny flurries again. Josh reaches with a nice right hand. Pacquiao is actually blocking some punches too. Multiple Manny lefts open up a right to the body. The pace slows as Clottey keeps his arms up. Manny picks with the jab. Clottey rushes in and is tied up at the waist.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 8

Pacquiao looks for an opening between Clottey's gloves. Body shots fly from both of Manny's hands. Clottey bounces and tries to respond in kind. The ref calls a halt to the action for a low blow from Clottey. Manny is sneaking a shot through the guard every so often. Pac Man unleashes a six-punch combination and keeps pouring it on right after that. Clottey is warned for holding and hitting right at the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 9

Clottey's trainer told him he has lost every round. Manny keeps Clottey at bay with jabs. It will probably take a knockout for Clottey to win at this point. He is scoring with the occasional right, but Manny is simply too busy. Pacquiao gets in, fires and backs away. Nice right hook by Manny after he blocked a few shots. A vicious combination along the ropes seems to make Clottey wince a bit.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 10

The HBO crew thinks Clottey looks discouraged. Manny circles around and throws right hands. Left to the body by Pac Man; left upstairs from Clottey. Right hooks flowing from Pacquiao. There is a little swelling underneath Manny's right eye. More shots to the head and body by Pac Man. Clottey gets in some offense of his own, but Pacquiao responds in kind. Manny hooks around the guard ans fires to the body.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 11

De Jesus is being very honest with Clottey, almost begging him to take a chance and try for the KO. He lets his hands go a bit as the round begins, but it quickly returns to its old pattern. Manny can see punches coming and is covering up when necessary. Clottey lands a right, but Pac Man pummels him to the body. Manny turns up the volume again, throwing about 12 punches in succession. The fans love it. Clottey scores with uppercuts in tight. Pacquiao goes right back to work. He is simply a machine.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 12

The fighters hug before the final round. Both men try some hooks. Clottey gets a left hook in flush. The action starts for a clash of heads. Two two-punch combinations crash home for Pacquiao. Clottey scores with his own combo. Manny fires left hands and rights to the body. More body work by Manny before they clinch. Thirty seconds left. Some nice action down the stretch, but this should be a shutout or pretty darn close.

Franchise: 10-9 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 10-9 Pacquiao

Franchise: 120-108 Pacquiao
Spartan117: 120-108 Pacquiao

The judges score it 120-108 and 119-111 twice, all for the winner... and still WBO welterweight titleholder... Manny "Pac Man" Pacquiao.

CompuBox had Pacquiao throwing over 1200 punches to just under 400 for Clottey. That's most of the story right there.

Max Kellerman asks Manny for his thoughts, and Pacquiao says it was a tough fight. Pac Man talks about the importance of using his jab and gives Clottey props for his toughness and power.

The boxers hug before Kellerman talks to Clottey. At the risk of understatement of the year, Joshua says Manny has a lot of speed. Clottey says this is the first time he really felt like he lost a fight.

Turning back to Manny, Kellerman asks the inevitable Floyd Mayweather question. Manny says he wants Floyd because it's the fight the people want to see. He also blames Mayweather for the fight not happening yet.

Pacquiao says if Mosley wins, maybe he'll fight Sugar Shane instead.

Freddie Roach makes a plea directly to Floyd to make the fight. Roach feels like his man can crush the vaunted Mayweather defense.

Pacquiao doesn't think Floyd's style is as difficult to solve as Clottey's was. He ends by thanking the fans and dedicating the win to his fellow Filipinos.

Posted by The Franchise

Humberto Soto vs. David Diaz: Round by Round

The last fight on the undercard is between Humberto Soto and David Diaz. No time being wasted tonight, as both fighters are in the ring already.

Round 1

They touch gloves in the center of the ring. Soto works the jab. He gets in a nice uppercut as Diaz comes forward. Good first round so far for Soto. He's looking sharp, fast, and accurate. There is already a cut over the right eye of Diaz. It's not clear whether it was caused by a punch. Soto lands a great right hook that caught Diaz off balance, and his glove touched the canvas. 10-8 round for Soto.

Spartan117: 10-8 Soto
Franchise: 10-8 Soto

Round 2

Diaz is coming forward now, trying to get some jabs in. Soto lands a fast combo upstairs. Now he lands a counter uppercut. Pretty boring second round. There's a lot of cheering going on, most likely from something being shown on the big screen. It should be a round in the bank for Soto.

Spartan117: 10-9 Soto
Franchise: 10-9 Soto

Round 3

They are trading power shots now. Diaz has Soto against the ropes and got a good right hook in. Soto is still trying to counterpunch, which has been effective thus far. Diaz lands a right to the body. Soto misses with an uppercut. Tons of cheers from the crowd, but it's only due to the wave that's being performed. Diaz is trying to bully Soto into the ropes, but Soto is handling it pretty well.

Spartan117: 10-9 Diaz
Franchise: 10-9 Soto

Round 4

Diaz's eye is starting to swell. He misses with a right uppercut. Soto is using great movement and is getting out of the way of most of Diaz's punches. Diaz lands a left upstairs, then a right hand. Then he gets ahead of himself and misses badly with a right uppercut. Soto lands a left hook and straight right to end the round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Diaz
Franchise: 10-9 Diaz

Round 5

Diaz keeps the jab going. Soto comes in and lands a good right hand. Diaz misses with a wide right hook. Diaz gets Soto against the ropes again and lands a hook to the body. Soto unleashes a flurry that gets mostly blocked. Diaz looks like he might be getting tired. He's doing a lot of leading in there. Not much action down the stretch of the round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Diaz
Franchise: 10-9 Soto

Round 6

They go in to trade power punches in the center of the ring. It looked like they could've clashed heads there, but they come out of it unharmed. Soto lands a jab. Now a right hook. Diaz gets Soto against the ropes again and loads up on a right hook to the body. Soto lands a triple jab. They trade punches to end the round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Soto
Franchise: 10-9 Soto

Round 7

Diaz is trying to get in some body shots but looks like he's getting really tired. Soto lands a right hand. Diaz grazes Soto with a left upstairs. Soto lands a left hook. Diaz lands a straight right hand that looked strong. Soto gets a left hand in after the bell.

Spartan117: 10-9 Diaz
Franchise: 10-9 Diaz

Round 8

Soto gets a left hand in. They've both been throwing a good number of punches, but most are either missing or being blocked. There isn't much landing cleanly. Soto sticks a jab and moves out of the way. On a side note, the official attendance numbers are in. There are nearly 51,000 people currently in Cowboys Stadium.

Spartan117: 10-9 Soto
Franchise: 10-9 Soto

Round 9

Diaz gets Soto against the ropes and gets warned by the ref for using his elbow. Soto lands a good five-punch combo. He drops his hands below his waist now and dodges with his upper body movement. Diaz lands a left and a right. This has been a better round for Diaz.

Spartan117: 10-9 Diaz
Franchise: 10-9 Diaz

Round 10

Soto is letting this fight slip away. Soto slips and falls and gets up slowly. He may be tired. Diaz gets him against the ropes once again and lands a good right to the body. They exchange punches and Soto gets tangled in the ropes, forcing the ref to break them up. Soto blocks a big left hook. Diaz lands a left hook.

Spartan117: 10-9 Diaz
Franchise: 10-9 Diaz

Round 11

You have to hand it to Diaz. He seems to be fighting with a sense of urgency and is trying to steal this one away from Soto. Diaz continues to come forward and tries to land some good power shots. He gets Diaz against the ropes again where he's had some success and lands a combo upstairs.

Spartan117: 10-9 Diaz
Franchise: 10-9 Soto

Round 12

Diaz is swinging away in there and lands a shot under the belt. The ref stops the action to warn him, and Soto gets a break. Diaz lands two hooks. Soto lands two big shots to the head. Diaz slips and falls. This has been a good last round for Soto. Soto landed a big left, right hook combo and Diaz goes down in the last 10 seconds. That's really going to cost him.

Spartan117: 10-8 Soto
Franchise: 10-8 Soto

Spartan117: 113-113
Franchise: 116-110 Soto

The judges score the bout 115-111, 117-109 and 117-109, all for the winner by unanimous decision... and new WBC lightweight titleholder... Humberto Soto.

Posted by spartan117

Pacquiao v. Clottey Undercard Live Blog

The first fight of the night is between Michael Medina and John Duddy. Duddy is pressing the action, trying to beat Medina to the punch. Duddy is looking quick and strong, but his defense is lacking. Medina is landing some good shots upstairs in round 1.

This fight is heavy on the offense. Neither fighter is showing much defensive prowess. Medina is landing some good right hands that could add up as the fight progresses.

The crowd is still filing in to Cowboys Stadium. Right now, it's pretty quiet.

Lederman has it two rounds to one for Duddy after three rounds in the books. Duddy is the more active fighter, but Medina is getting in some good shots.

This is really cool. Max Kellerman is in the tunnel where visiting teams usually enters the field and it's packed with people. Tonight the fighters will be coming to the ring from that tunnel. The view of the giant screen is truly amazing.

In the ring is more of the same. Duddy is winning the rounds by staying active. Medina is getting a punch in here and there.

The HBO crew just commented that this fight is not very exciting. Neither fighter looks tired, as they're still swinging away. Duddy gets wobbled by a right hook at the end of round 7. He's lucky that it didn't land earlier in the round. Duddy seems to have his legs back under him, coming out for the 8th round.

Not much happened until the final round. Medina had Duddy against the ropes and tried to close the show with 10 seconds left. Duddy didn't look like he was in too much trouble. This should be a Duddy win by decision.

Actually it was a split decision, but still for John Duddy.

___________________________

The second fight is between Jose Luis Castillo and Alfonso Gomez.

Gomez is staying active and keeping up the jab. Castillo looks to be waiting to land a bit shot. Gomez is looking good at the end of round 1. The crowd is still relatively quiet.

Castillo is taking Gomez's punches well, and he's gotten some solid punches in there too. Gomez is winning the early rounds due to his work rate.

Kelly Pavlik is in the crowd.

Gomez is still looking good in there. He's staying active and landing some great combinations to the head and body. Castillo is staying active too and is landing the harder punches.

We have a victory in between rounds for Alfonso Gomez and the fight ends about as abruptly as any fight could possibly end. Apparently Castillo simply ran out of gas.

Posted by spartan117

Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey Live Round By Round Updates Tonight

Manny Pacquiao is back in action tonight, so you know there's no way we would miss this one.

Pac Man has reached the point where people will tune in even with a relatively unknown opponent. But don't sleep on Joshua Clottey, a big, tough welterweight who is likely to present some brand new challenges to the Filipino superstar.

If you're unlucky enough not to be able to see the fight tonight, no worries. We'll keep you updated with posts throughout "The Event," including a live blog for the televised undercard fights and a round by round post for the lightweight title fight between David Diaz and Humberto Soto. And, of course, we'll have another live round by round post for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight.

Bookmark our home page and watch for posts starting shortly after 9 pm Eastern time tonight.

Posted by The Franchise

12.3.10

Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey: Weigh-In Report

The Pacquiao-Clottey weigh-in is live on various outlets around the internet. Michael Buffer is on hand right outside Cowboys Stadium. He just announced the presence of Antonio Margarito to lukewarm applause. Buffer says it will be about 10 minutes until the fighters come out for the two featured bouts.

It's an interesting set-up for the people who are at the weigh-in in person. A bunch of people (one would assume the media) are up close to the stage. Then there's an empty aisle with no people and a bunch of on-lookers in another tier a bit further back,

Rich Marotta and Darren Woodson are on hand for Top Rank. Yes, that Darren Woodson, the excellent former Cowboys safety. He's apparently a big boxing fan, and he gives his opinion on the development of Pacquiao over the course of his career.

Buffer calls the Stadium the "Eighth Wonder of the World." He introduces Jerry Jones for a quick bow.

Time for David Diaz and Humberto Soto to hit the scales. Diaz weighs in at 134 pounds. He looks like he's in good shape.

Soto weighs in at 134 1/4 pounds. He looks a little less cut than Diaz but still in great fighting form. They bring the fighters to the front of the stage to pose with the vacant lightweight belt for which they will be competing. They also shake hands.

Buffer brings out Robert Duvall for some reason. I love weigh-in time fillers.

You didn't think this was going to end without Jerry Jones getting a chance to talk, did you? He keeps it short, saying how proud he is to have boxing at Cowboys Stadium and thanking the fans.

Now it's time for a video package hyping the fight.

Bob Arum grabs the microphone to say his piece. He also thanks the fans and makes a prediction, in passing anyway, of a million buys for the PPV broadcast. He says the worldwide audience will be 80 million people, and I guess there's no way to really challenge that assertion.

Woodson hits the stage and gets the fans going for a second. Not surprisingly, there sounds like more Pacquiao fans are in attendance.

Down to business now. Buffer introduces the Grand Master first, followed by Pacquiao.

The challenger gets ready to step onto the scale first. Clottey weighs in at 147 pounds on the button. He is ripped as always.

Manny gets a lengthy introduction from Buffer and there is a throng of people around him as he makes his way out. Pacquiao weighs in at 145 3/4 pounds, and you never have to worry about him looking like he is ready to fight.

Arum steps in for the boxers to pose face to face. They certainly don't seem to have any personal dislike for each other as both of them laugh and joke around.

Woodson gets to talk to Clottey for a second. He's so soft spoken that it's hard to hear him give his answers. The gist is that he feels ready for the fight. Props to Woodson for asking about the visa problems of Joshua's trainer.

Weigh-ins for other fighters are proceeding in the background as Woodson tracks down Pac Man. Woodson asks about the various distractions, and though Manny says they aren't an issue, he immediately segues into talking about the after-party. He thanks the fans on his way out.

Posted by The Franchise

Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey: The Event Plus Undercard Predictions

The Franchise says...

It took a long, winding path to get to this point, but Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey will do battle in front of roughly 50,000 fans at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday. It's not the fight everyone expected to see, but it's got the potential to offer its own kind of intrigue.

Not much needs to be said about Pacquiao, the choice of many observers as the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world and winner of his last 11 bouts. His explosive offense and ever-improving movement and ring awareness combine with the wisdom of trainer Freddie Roach to form a package that has simply overwhelmed most of his recent foes.

But if Pacquiao is the proverbial unstoppable force, Clottey may be the immovable object. The Ghana native uses an airtight guard to blunt his foes' attacks before responding with his own array of accurate punches.

Clottey also should be the biggest man Pacquiao has ever faced once both boxers rehydrate for fight night. Though Manny has carried the extra weight well as he's risen through the weight classes, Clottey is a true welterweight that could easily outweigh him by 10 pounds or more when they hit the ring.

Manny will have the advantage in speed and raw power, but those don't count for much if his punches don't find their mark. Clottey's challenge will be to ensure he doesn't give away early rounds on activity level alone as he looks for his opening.

There is some danger in this fight for Pacquiao, and not just the kind that is manufactured to sell the pay-per-view broadcast. If he allows Clottey to hang around in a close fight, the difference in bulk could show up in the championship rounds.

The guess here is that it won't go down like that. Clottey will block many, possibly most of the incoming fire, but some shots will be delivered at speeds and angles that surprise even him.

Expect Clottey to earn the respect of many viewers who never heard of him before he took this fight. But also look for Pacquiao to continue his winning ways, with the cumulative effect of his punches earning Manny a late-round TKO.

The undercard is anchored by an interesting if not spectacular lightweight title fight between Humberto Soto and David Diaz. Both fighters come in off victories over the same man (Jesus Chavez), but Soto had a much easier time in his win.

Diaz is a solid, disciplined boxer with a strong amateur background. His problem is when he runs into opponents who simply have too much for him physically, as was the case in his lopsided eight-round TKO loss to Pacquiao in the summer of 2008.

While it won't be to the same degree, Soto has some of those same troublesome qualities. Watch for him to display the faster hands and more damaging power punches as Humberto pounds out a unanimous decision.

Also on the undercard, look for Jose Luis Castillo to have just enough left to get past Alfonso Gomez and John Duddy to slug his way by Michael Medina.

Uatu says...

Manny by UD. I see Manny being much more active and banging away at the guard of Clottey, while Josh goes into the shell and fires back infrequently.

Posted by The Franchise

11.3.10

Franchise Thoughts: To Watch Tape or Not to Watch Tape, and Are Cutmen the New Secret Weapons?

When he was doing our round by round blog for the Vic Darchinyan-Rodrigo Guerrero fight last Saturday, my brother Uatu mentioned that Vic watched no tape of his foe leading up to the fight. Perhaps rhetorically, my brother asked what the downside of watching tape would be. Why not at least familiarize yourself with what your opponent likes to do?

In Darchinyan's case, the thinking may have been that he was the better, more experienced fighter, so it made sense for him to focus on what he wanted to do, assuming he would dictate the way the fight unfolded. For the most part, that's exactly what happened.

Ah, but what if the roles are reversed and you are about to face one of the top boxers on the planet? Wouldn't it make sense to do some film study in the hopes of gleaning any little tidbit or tendency that might help you pull off the upset?

Apparently not. Or at least not for Joshua Clottey as he prepares to fight Manny Pacquiao this weekend. ESPN's Dan Rafael did a feature today on Clottey and trainer Lenny De Jesus, who revealed that he watched no tape of Manny while formulating a strategy.

Part of the reason is because De Jesus served as Pacquiao's cutman in the past, a point I will come back to in a minute. But even more telling is this quote:

"You can teach a fighter certain things, and when you get hit and get hurt you go back to your style."


I'm not a boxer or a trainer, so I don't know how much truth there is to that statement. I do follow the logic, at least.

Still, I go back to the question my brother posed on Saturday, "What would it hurt?" It seems to me that for the biggest fight of your boxer's life, you don't want to leave anything to chance. If you watch the tape and learn something, even something tiny that may help, it was worth it. If you watch the tape and learn nothing, you're no worse off than you were before.

Now back to the whole cutman issue. Not only does De Jesus supposedly have some insight into the Pac Man from serving in his corner, but the same thing is also true in reverse, as Pacquiao cutman Miguel Diaz worked for Clottey in the past. It's high espionage on the part of the cutmen!

I'm going to have to go into full skepticism mode here. Yes, the cutman may see into the boxer's psyche a bit when he works on the guy between rounds, and he is watching the action from a pretty good seat. But the next time I see a fighter knock someone out and say, "Yeah, my cutman told me to look for that" will be the first.

I can't see the cutman having much input into a fighter's game plan either. Oh, unless the trainer is off watching tape, I suppose.

Posted by The Franchise

9.3.10

Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey: In-Depth Preview of The Event



Manny "Pac Man" Pacquiao

Born: Bukidnon, Philippines
Resides: General Santos City, Philippines
Height: 5' 6 1/2"
Reach: 67"
Current World Titles Held: WBO Welterweight (147 lbs.), Ring Magazine Junior Welterweight (140 lbs.)
Former World Titles Held: WBC Lightweight (135 lbs.), Ring Magazine, WBC Super Featherweight (130 lbs.), Ring Magazine Featherweight (126 lbs.), IBF Super Bantamweight (122 lbs.), WBC Flyweight (112 lbs.)
Professional Record: 50-3-2, 38 KOs
Record in World Title Fights: 10-1-2, 9 KOs
Record at Welterweight: 2-0, 2 KOs
Record in Fights Going 12 Rounds: 3-1-1

Notable Wins: TKO12 Miguel Cotto, TKO2 Ricky Hatton, TKO8 Oscar De La Hoya
Notable Losses: UD12 Erik Morales I, KO3 Medgoen Singsurat

Joshua "Grand Master" Clottey

Born: Accra, Ghana
Resides: Bronx, New York, United States
Height: 5' 8"
Reach: 70"
Current World Titles Held: None
Former World Titles Held: IBF Welterweight
Professional Record: 35-3, 20 KOs
Record in World Title Fights: 1-2
Record at Welterweight: 10-3, 1 No Contest
Record in Fights Going 12 Rounds: 2-2

Notable Wins: TD9 Zab Judah, UD10 Diego Corrales, MD12 Richard Gutierrez
Notable Losses: SD12 Miguel Cotto, UD12 Antonio Margarito, DQ11 Carlos Baldomir

Analysis:

Boxing fans worldwide had March 13, 2010 circled on their calendars as the night when Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather would do battle to determine supremacy of the ring and the box office. The former fell apart, leaving the first part of the latter to proceed on the same date with a much different opponent in the form of Joshua Clottey.

You can excuse some observers for comparing Clottey to someone hitting the lottery, because in some ways, he really did hit the jackpot by landing this fight. Coming off a loss to Miguel Cotto, albeit a narrow one that went to the scorecards, there was no logical reason to think the man known as Grand Master would end up facing the top draw in the sport.

Clottey is well respected in the boxing community but a relative unknown to the mainstream sports world. His profile will get a huge boost if he manages to find a way to upset Pacquiao, but that could be easier said than done since the Filipino fireball hasn't tasted defeat in almost five years.

Pacquiao took some hits to his image for his unwillingness to submit to Mayweather's drug testing demands, and there are legitimate questions about whether his mind may be more focused on Floyd or his political ambitions than Clottey. But even if his mental game isn't at 100 percent, he has the widest safety net of any boxer alive thanks to his natural talent, extensive world title fight experience and the savvy planning of trainer Freddie Roach.

The venue almost deserves mention as a third personality for this fight as it happens to be Cowboys Stadium, Jerry Jones' billion-dollar sports palace. Over 45,000 fans are expected to be on hand to watch the action unfold, most of whom will be pulling for Pacquiao to add another win to his ever-growing total.

Pacquiao's Winning Strategy: Push the Pedal Down and Keep It There

With his victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Cotto, Pacquiao provided definitive answers to anyone who doubted whether he'd be able to handle himself at welterweight after campaigning at much lower weight classes for most of his career. Even so, he's going to be facing an opponent who has height and reach advantages and is naturally bigger to boot.

Manny has been able to neutralize similar edges in the past by utilizing his superior hand speed and movement, dictating the tempo and the range of the action. Pacquiao will want to do that right from the opening bell against Clottey, as Cotto proved it's easier to get to the Grand Master early before he has time to get settled in.

That doesn't mean it should always be a race to see who gets off first for the Pac Man. Clottey can be susceptible to counters when he tries to set up his shots, and Pacquiao can deliver them from times and places that no one else can manage.

Regardless if he's taking the lead or countering, Pacquiao should push the pace high and not let up. When he combines the power of a true welterweight with the activity level of a smaller guy, it poses a problem that no one has been able to solve.

Clottey's Winning Strategy: Cover Up, Then Muscle Up

Mayweather's elusiveness may have given Pacquiao fits, but Clottey may present an equally tough defensive challenge thanks to his high, tight guard. He is very effective at picking off punches with his arms, causing opponents to waste energy on shots that never reach their target.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that Clottey should use his longer arms to jab and keep the fight on the outside, but standard operating procedure can pretty much be thrown out when it comes to a boxer like Pacquiao. Instead, Clottey should use the jab to move closer, as his uppercut is one of his more impressive weapons.

The Grand Master isn't known as a vicious knockout puncher, but he is strong and accurate and can really wear opponents down over time. He's got to pick his spots carefully against Pacquiao, but he seems heady enough to stay patient and look for his openings.

Weathering an early storm and going for the win later isn't easy against a whirlwind like Pacquiao. But it beats the alternative, which is trying to match Manny punch for punch and having the referee say he's seen enough.

Posted by The Franchise

6.3.10

Vic Darchinyan vs. Rodrigo Guerrero: Round by Round

The fighters are in the ring.

This is a 115-pound fight for Darchinyan's WBC and WBA super flyweight belts.

Vic has watched no tape of Rodrigo, according to him. Rodrigo has watched every fight of Vic's. That always makes me nervous. Why not watch the tape? Where's the downside? Seems foolish.

Round 1
Vic looks bigger. Vic not flying in recklessly. Nice right from Vic. Guerrero is being aggressive. Interestingly, Guerrero backs Vic to the ropes. Rodrigo is in it to win it early. Now Vic takes the lead. Rodrigo isn't being careful. Could mean fireworks. Vic closes the round with straight lefts. Intriguing round.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 2
Rodrigo aggressive early again. Vic landing the left. And another nice left from Vic. And again. Vic is very quick. He is underrated in that department. Trading good shots. Vic is also good at working in and out. Rodrigo is out of distance on his shots. Vic gets in and does work. Lazy Vic jabs. Rodrigo banging the body and pushing Vic back.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 3
Nice mini hook left from Vic. Wild shots from Rodrigo out of range. Vic trying to fake his way in. Vic has nice feints. You can see Vic looking for that straight left laser. Rodrigo not doing much. There's a Vic left. Missed uppercut from Rodrigo. Wild miss from Vic. Rodrigo switches to southpaw. Vic with some overhands and Rodrigo gets chased back to righty.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 4
Vic is good with keeping his head low as he lunges in. Rodrigo coming forward. He may not be strong enough. Jab from Rodrigo. Left and right from Vic. Vic trying to bomb away in the middle of the ring. He wings that left from different angles. The Vic jab is weak, but it keeps Rodrigo at bay. Rodrigo lands an uppercut. The crowd seems pro-Guerrero. Nice left from Vic coming up off the ropes.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 5
It has been an entertaining yet one-sided fight. A couple Vic lefts early. Steve has it all Vic so far. Guerrero is bleeding. Vic also changes up speeds on the left. Not every left is 100 percent. Rodrigo attempts to press the action. Vic lands a combo. Rodrigo sneaks a few in. Vic gets in another medium-strength left. A straight Vic left. Every round ends with some two-way action.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 6
Antonio Tarver is an excellent announcer. Rodrigo stays in Vic's face. Steve says Vic lets Guerrero in on purpose to get him in range. Vic isn't throwing many combos. Guerrero just lacks the starch on his punches. He is a good fighter, but the strength and power difference is obvious. And he isn't a super-active pressure fighter either. Guerrero wades his way in and gets hit.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 7
The fight is only halfway done, but it seems unlikely Guerrero can win. Guerrero doing the same: working his way in without landing, and either missing or getting hit. Steve has Vic winning every round. Nice straight left from Vic and out goes the mouthpiece of Guerrero. Beating a dead horse, but Vic is much snappier on the punches. Guerrero is still trying, but Vic evades the punches. Tarver says a KO was inches away for Vic. Jab from Rodrigo. Left from Vic. Big left from Vic, but somehow Guerrero stands. One wonders how much longer he can or should go on.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 8
Can Vic close the show so I can watch the WEC? Vic bombing away with no worries. Guerrero not quitting. Pretty amazing display of forward momentum from Rodrigo. Everyone in the place thinks Vic is playing possum. And he is. The old rope-a-dope. Another big left from Vic. Lefts to the head and body from Vic. Could be close to a 10-8 round with no knockdown. Guerrero isn't really wobbled, but he certainly is getting tagged repeatedly. Could be stopped by his corner and no one would blame them.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 9
Guerrero starts out aggressive. Vic bounces off the ropes to come forward with a punch. Nice lefts again that are short from Vic. Lead left from Vic. Somewhere in there Rodrigo landed a body shot. Vic looks plenty fresh. Doubtful he fades down the stretch. Vic sneaks in the uppercut. This Guerrero guy is a very tough fighter. He hasn't even gotten close to giving up.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 10
Will Vic and Nonito Donaire ever fight again? I would like to see a replay of the first fight again sometime. It's been a while since I've seen it. Rodrigo was aggressive but ineffective. Vic landed some big punches again. Same as the last few rounds.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 11
I guess Guerrero's corner should stop this fight? I don't know. He really has no chance. He hasn't been super wobbled, but he just took some monster shots for no reason. He is only 22; would hate to see him affected for the future for little purpose. Vic seems to be opening up a little more, but he is still fighting a notch below completely going balls out. Tarver thinks Vic is setting up the KO punch. Antonio has been saying that for rounds now. Guerreo amazingly stays active till the bell.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Round 12
If you saw the last 10 seconds of Round 11 only, you would think it crazy to throw in the towel. Guerrero is fighting with a lot of pride. It is an impressive display. Hopefully he can develop in the future and make a return to the States and TV. Rodrigo landed nothing big. Vic got in some big shots, but no KO.

Uatu: Vic 10-9
Franchise: Vic 10-9

Uatu: 120-108 Vic
Franchise: 120-108 Vic

Official Scores:
118-110
117-111
120-108

The winner by unanimous decision... and still WBC and WBA super flyweight titleholder... "The Raging Bull" Vic Darchinyan.

Vic says this was his last fight at 115 if he does not get a rematch with Donaire.

Posted by uatu

Devon Alexander vs. Juan Urango: Round by Round

Tonight's Boxing After Dark main event is between Devon Alexander and Juan Urango in a junior welterweight unification bout.

HBO is taking its time before the fighters make their way to the ring. Right now they're showing a piece about Devon Alexander's life.

Urango is walking to the ring now. Alexander is in the ring as well. He came out to "On to the Next One" by Jay-Z.

Urango is 22-2-1 with 17 KOs, while Alexander is 19-0 with 12 KOs.

Here we go.

Round 1
They meet in the center. Urango starts with a strong jab. Alexander is the more active fighter right now, throwing quick jabs regularly. Urango misses with a wide right hook. Urango's punches look on the slow side to start. Alexander is showing great movement and has gotten out of the way of many of Urango's punches. Alexander connects with a nice left hook. Urango backs Alexander up with a right hand upstairs.

Spartan117: 10-9 Alexander
Franchise: 10-9 Alexander

Round 2
Urango goes on the offensive quickly and gets Alexander in the corner. Alexander gets out of danger. Urango lands a straight right. Urango misses with another right hand. Alexander keeps up the pace and lands a couple nice shots. Urango lands two hooks to the body. Urango lands another left to the body. Now he misses with a wide left hook. Alexander lands a left uppercut and catches Urango coming in. That was the best punch of the fight so far.

Spartan117: 10-9 Alexander
Franchise: 10-9 Alexander

Round 3
Urango lands a hook right on the beltline at the start of Round 3. Alexander lands a great right hook that gets the crowd into the fight. He's doing a great job scoring and dodging. They trade power shots now. Alexander gets the better of the exchange. He has also had great success with the uppercut. Urango seems to be getting frustrated and is charging in now with some success. Blood is coming from his nose and he also has a cut above the left eye.

Spartan117: 10-9 Alexander
Franchise: 10-9 Urango

Round 4
Alexander is keeping up the pressure. He is still dodging punches well. Now he lands a combo to the head and body. Urango is coming forward now, leading with the right hand. Urango lands two hooks upstairs and Alexander gets away. Urango lands another hook. Alexander may win this round just for being busier.

Spartan117: 10-9 Alexander
Franchise: 10-9 Alexander

Round 5
Urango continues to come forward. Alexander is jabbing and counterpunching well. His jabs are also finding their home. Urango gets Devon against the ropes and lands two hooks to the body. Alexander catches Urango coming in with a right hook. Urango's punches aren't very accurate; most of the punches have been grazing. Alexander blocks three Urango punches.

Spartan117: 10-9 Alexander
Franchise: 10-9 Alexander

Round 6
Alexander comes out swinging. He lands a right to the body. Urango is trying to land punches, but Alexander is making it difficult. Alexander lands a straight right. The difference in speed is evident. Alexander is is punching and getting out of the way with ease. This has been a better round for Urango. He has landed more power punches.

Spartan117: 10-9 Urango
Franchise: 10-9 Urango

Round 7
Urango lands two hooks. Alexander lands a fantastic left hand. Urango comes back with a right hand. Now Alexander gets out of the way of a big right. Urango is landing more power punches now. Alexander lands a great combo upstairs. Urango throws a combo of body shots and backs Alexander up. Urango lands the last punch of the round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Urango
Franchise: 10-9 Alexander

Round 8
Alexander is staying active. He lands an amazing right uppercut; Urango goes down and he is in some trouble. Alexander barely touches him and Urango goes down again. He makes it up but he's not all there. The ref stops the fight.

The winner by TKO at 1:12 of Round 8... still WBC light welterweight titleholder and new IBF junior welterweight titleholder... Devon Alexander "The Great"

Posted by spartan117

Lenny Zappavigna vs. Fernando Angulo: Round by Round

For the first fight, I will forgo the punch by punch.
This is a 12-round lightweight bout, live on Showtime.

Round 1
Uatu: Angulo 10-9

Round 2
Uatu: Zappa 10-9

Round 3
Very good action round. Trading with big punches both ways. Zappa got the best of it. He landed a few that wobbled Angulo.
Uatu: Zappa 10-9

Round 4
Another entertaining round towards the end.
Uatu: Zappa 10-9

Round 5
Uatu: Angulo 10-9

Round 6
Steve has Zappa up one round.
Uatu: Angulo 10-9

Round 7
Cut over Zappa's eye ruled to be from a punch.
Uatu: Angulo 10-9

Round 8
Steve has Angulo up one.
Time out to have a doc look at a cut over the eyelid of Zappa.
This nasty cut ruled to be from a butt.
Blood flowing freely.
Uatu: Angulo 10-9

Round 9
Point deduction to Angulo for holding and hitting.
Uatu: 9-9

Round 10
Deduction may have been more for hitting after the break than holding and hitting.
Thought Zappa was going to take this round. Angulo brought some heavy leather in the last minute to wobble Zappa a little and take the round.
Uatu: Angulo 10-9

Round 11
Steve has 96-93 Angulo.
Uatu: Zappa 10-9

Round 12
Uatu: Zappa 10-9, though it easily could have gone to Angulo.

Steve has 115-112 Angulo, and all three announcers said Angulo won.

Uatu: 114-113 Angulo
I believe Angulo won and I scored it how I scored it. 114-113 is giving Zappa the benefit of the doubt in 11 and 12.


The official cards are:
114-113
116-111
116-111

The winner by unanimous decision... Lenny Zappavigna!

Eh, it's possible that it was a draw, at best, for Zappavigna.

Posted by uatu

Live Darchinyan-Guerrero and Alexander-Urango Round By Round Updates Tonight

Here at BoxingWatchers.com, our live round by round blogging skills are getting a tad rusty. It's not our fault, or anyone's really, just a reflection of a year in boxing that has gotten off to a slow start.

That starts to change tonight with Showtime and HBO both broadcasting title fights. Always entertaining Vic Darchinyan steps in against Rodrigo Guerrero on ShoBox, while Devon Alexander squares off with Juan Urango on Boxing After Dark.

If you are like us, you are hungry for live boxing action and will be in front of the TV tonight. If circumstances don't allow that, allow us to propose an alternative: bookmark our site and come back here tonight so we can fill you in on the action as it happens.

We'll have individual round by round posts for the Alexander-Urango (starting around 9 pm Eastern) and Darchinyan-Guerrero (shortly after 10, perhaps) out on our home page. And if we're able, we'll do one for the Showtime opener between Lenny Zappavigna and Fernando Angulo too, because that's just how we do.

See you tonight...

Posted by The Franchise

5.3.10

Vic Darchinyan-Rodrigo Guerrero and Devon Alexander-Juan Urango: Predictions

This weekend was supposed to mark the beginning of Phase 2 of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, with Andre Dirrell taking on Arthur Abraham. A back injury to Dirrell moved that fight back a few weeks, but fight fans won't be left empty-handed thanks to televised cards on both Showtime and HBO.

The departure of the Abraham-Dirrell fight means Vic Darchinyan moves up to main event status on Showtime. That's not a bad thing, as having Darchinyan in action usually means something interesting is going to happen, whether it be physically, verbally or both.

In Rodrigo Guerrero, he's facing an unknown quantity to American fans. Just 22 years old, the undefeated Mexican has nine KO victories in his 14 pro fights, but he's been in just one bout scheduled for more than eight rounds and looks to be making a huge jump up in competition.

Guerrero has told reporters he plans on slugging it out with Darchinyan, which is brave but not necessarily smart. Vic has vicious power in both hands as just about every one of his opponents at super flyweight can attest.

He can also box, but he chooses to do so only on occasion. If Guerrero can't force him out of his comfort zone, he's in for a painful night.

Darchinyan seems to be more and more occupied with thoughts of revenge on Nonito Donaire, who handed him his only knockout loss in the summer of 2007. That means he may be his own worst enemy, as he can certainly get caught if he's looking past the business at hand.

Assuming he's focused, Darchinyan should be able to slug his way to victory, which is how he prefers it. Look for Vic to register a mid-round KO and give one of his typically entertaining post-fight interviews after the final bell.

On HBO, WBC 140-pound titleholder Devon Alexander looks to stay undefeated in a clash with hard-nosed Juan Urango. At 23, Alexander is one of the youngest American boxers wearing gold, and he comes in off an impressive performance in beating tricky Junior Witter last August.

Urango is the type of fighter who is good enough to make it to the top of the hill but not quite special enough to beat the best. His only two losses came to Ricky Hatton and Andre Berto - no shame there - but he was badly outclassed in both contests.

Alexander doesn't have Berto's lightning-fast hands or Hatton's pop, though he's above average in both areas. It's hard to look good against Witter, but Devon did so for the most part, showcasing strong right hooks to complement his straight lefts.

He won't have quite as much of a puzzle in Urango, who has the power to end things if he lands flush but can be out-boxed and out-hustled. Berto was criticized for fighting a boring style against him, but in all honesty, that may be Alexander's road map to success.

Urango has never been knocked out, so he's going to be gamely battling until the bitter end. I just think Alexander's star is still on the rise, and I expect the St. Louis native to win by unanimous decision.

Posted by The Franchise

4.3.10

Fresh Manny Pacquiao Silver Star Tees Just in Time for "The Event"

Can't make it down to Cowboys Stadium next weekend to see Manny Pacquiao take on Joshua Clottey in what's unimaginatively been dubbed "The Event?" I feel your pain, because I won't be headed there either. And I had my heart set on watching the action on the world's largest HD screen too.

Well, thanks to Silver Star we may be able to fool people into thinking we were there. That's because the company has rolled out two new t-shirts just in time for the big fight, and they're actually pretty understated by Silver Star standards.



First up is a shirt featuring both fighters and the fight's catchy (ahem!) nickname. It's blue and has a Cowboys Stadium logo at the neckline on the back.

For those of you who don't care for the Grand Master, there's also a red tee with just Manny's image, plus a facsimile signature and a stylized version of his name on the back. It's apparently available only at Cowboys Stadium and through the Silver Star website.



The shirts are $40 each. I've always had prompt shipping from Silver Star, so if you order now, I'd say you could be wearing one of these shirts while watching the fight on March 13.

UPDATE: Apparently I forgot about the ladies. Mea culpa.

The thing is, Silver Star didn't forget about you. See, they've also got a women's signature tee for "The Event" with a spiffy light blue and black logo on white, plus the Cowboys Stadium logo on the reverse.

Just like the men's shirts it is $40 and said to be available only online and at the fight.



Posted by The Franchise

3.3.10

Not A Dream! Not an Imaginary Story! James Toney Signs UFC Deal

I kind of vaguely recall Dana White taking every opportunity to dis other MMA promotions for signing fights featuring guys who don't belong in the sport (like, say, Jose Canseco). To this point, White has avoided doing that himself, so love him or hate him, at least you couldn't say he was a hypocrite.

That may no longer be true. Steve Cofield and Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports are reporting that White has confirmed a UFC deal for James Toney. As far as I can tell, it's not a joke or hoax of some sort.

I'd love it if the whole interplay between boxing and MMA would go away, or at least quiet down for a while. I'm a bigger boxing fan, but I appreciate and follow both sports.

This is going to stir everything right back up again. It's hard to see exactly why White would do something like this, but here are a few possibilities:

1. The UFC brass actually thinks Toney will be able to hang with MMA fighters

This is too ridiculous to believe. I dismissed this idea as soon as it entered my head.

2. White wants to shut Toney up and can't think of any other way

At the end of Cofield's post, he includes a tweet from Bloody Elbow's Luke Thomas suggesting that Dana might be doing this to teach Toney, and likely other boxers by extension, a painful lesson. I'd say that's very likely. White is also excellent at rationalizing things to the media, so I'm sure he can spin it somehow so that having Lights Out in the octagon is different from every other fighter with dubious credentials employed by other promotions.

3. Toney has somehow tricked the UFC

Well, he's a champion talker. Maybe James confused them into agreement!

As I've said before, I don't blame Toney for this. He's entitled to try to make money any way he wants, and his constant pestering of White has shown he's pretty serious about this.

There's no point getting all stirred up about this yet, as we don't even know exactly what the UFC has planned for Toney. I just know I'll be pretty sad watching him get choked out in the first minute of his MMA debut.

Posted by The Franchise

2.3.10

I'm Not Sure I Knew Arturo Gatti and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Were Such Good Friends

I knew they were friends, yes. I believe I recall Dale Jr. accompanying Gatti to the ring. But it appears they were better friends than I knew, and that Junior took Thunder's death pretty hard.

I got this new impression from the most recent piece from Fox Sports' national columnist Mark Kriegel. The meat of the column is an examination of what's wrong with Earnhardt and why he's struggling so badly now compared to the early part of his racing career.

Of interest to boxing fans is the story Kriegel tells to start off the piece, which involves Junior challenging Gatti to teach him how to fight... by fighting him. There's also a contrast drawn between how a boxer is exposed for the whole world to see while a driver, even one as famous as Earnhardt, is literally hidden away.

I won't spoil it by giving away how either tale turns out. It's worth a read if you have a few spare minutes.

Posted by The Franchise

1.3.10

BoxingWatchers.com Boxer Power Rankings: March 2010

Since the boxing schedule is set to explode with bouts featuring top-ranked fighters over the next two months, this seemed like an appropriate time to update our power rankings. There wasn't a ton of movement among our top 10 since our last edition at the end of 2009 simply because only a few of those boxers have fought, and only Juan Manuel Lopez took on someone (Steven Luevano) who could be considered a truly accomplished opponent.

Making his first ever appearance in the rankings this month is Venezuelan sensation Edwin Valero. While our formula (which is described in somewhat more detail here) probably gives him more credit than one would like for his Japanese opponents with great but dubious win-loss records, Valero certainly qualifies for this list based on the three main criteria: staying active over the last three years, beating boxers with good records and winning decisively - in his case, always by KO.

Falling out is Felix Sturm. Don't worry Felix: Spartan117 still loves you!

On to the list:

1. Arthur Abraham - 26.13 - No changes for the man who has made the top spot in our rankings his home for quite some time. We'll find out in just a few weeks if Andre Dirrell can change that.

2. Juan Manuel Lopez - 24.16 - Juanma rebounded from some anxious moments in the late rounds against Rogers Mtagwa last October to look excellent in his victory over Luevano. Rumors have him headed to Yankee Stadium on the Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman card in June.

3. Edwin Valero - 20.00 - A nice round score seems fitting for this knockout machine. Valero has made no bones about his wish for a fight with Manny Pacquiao, which would be awesome but still rates as wishful thinking at this point.

4. Manny Pacquiao - 18.99 - Speaking of the Pac Man, my brother Uatu asked a fair question the other day: what do the commercials mean when they say Joshua Clottey is his "biggest challenge?" Perhaps it's height; the Grand Master is a tough, talented boxer, but he hasn't proven he rates with former Manny foes like Juan Manuel Marquez or Oscar De La Hoya.

5. Nonito Donaire - 18.60 - The Filipino Flash makes it back-to-back Pinoy boxers on this month's list. My personal wish is that a rematch with Vic Darchinyan is in Donaire's near future.

6. Celestino Caballero - 17.49 - Caballero is in danger of dropping out of the rankings soon due to inactivity. He hasn't fought since last August, and that was against somewhat questionable opposition in the form of Francisco Leal.

7. Kelly Pavlik - 17.46 - The Ghost loses some ground since the last list because one of his victories has moved outside the three-year window. His upcoming bout with Sergio Martinez will be his most difficult middleweight title defense in... well, ever, really.

8. Wladimir Klitschko - 17.07 - While Wlad certainly can't overlook Eddie Chambers, there's a more intriguing question on the horizon: might older brother Vitali fight him before retiring? The Klitschkos have always said they'd never do it, but never doesn't have the same meaning in boxing that it does elsewhere.

9. Tomasz Adamek - 15.94 - Adamek has looked pretty comfortable as a heavyweight so far, but neither of his fights in the division have come against top caliber foes. That will change in April when he takes on Chris Arreola in what could potentially be a slugfest.

10. Lucian Bute - 15.62 - No Super Six? No problem for Bute, who will stay busy by fighting the always dangerous Edison Miranda in mid-April.

The next 10: Felix Sturm, Vitali Klitschko, Andre Ward, Timothy Bradley, Robert Guerrero, Chris John, Carl Froch, Fernando Montiel, Vic Darchinyan, Paul Williams

Posted by The Franchise

27.2.10

Mike Jones vs. Henry Bruseles: Round by Round

Tonight, Comcast SportsNet brings us undefeated slugger Mike Jones against Henry Bruseles. Jones is an up and coming prospect, while Bruseles is most famous for his bout against Floyd "Money" Mayweather.

Fair or not, Bruseles is often mentioned in the list of fights that Floyd took in succession that were big paydays for Floyd but less than compelling matchups. That list includes Victoriano Sosa, Phillip N'Dou, Demarcus Corley, and Bruseles. I am not saying I disagree or agree with the contention that Bruseles was or wasn't worthy of a Floyd fight back on January 22nd of 2005, just letting you know what I have read over the years. But this night is not about Floyd, so we will put that eighth-round TKO aside and view tonight's fight on its own merits.

The first fight being brought to us courtesy of tonight's Top Rank card is a 10-round, 154-pound fight between Saul Roman and Gabriel Rosado.

This fight is being billed as a super welterweight fight. Is there any standard for when a fight is called super welter as opposed to junior middle? Is that a marketing decision, a state commission decision or sanctioning body decision? I have always gone:

130 - junior lightweight
135 - lightweight
140 - junior welter
147 - welter
154 - junior middle
160 - middle
168 - super middle
175 - light heavy

But whatever. On to the action.

Actually, away from the action. A quick look at the sometimes reliable Wikipedia makes me think that it is the sanctioning bodies that name the classes differently. For what it's worth, it looks like the only sanctioning body that would jive all the way with what I believe the labels to be from 105 to heavy is the IBF.

If I am going to sit through a co-main or undercard fight between two dudes I don't know or know little about, this is the type of fight I like to see. There's good action from both men, and they both look to be in shape, relatively skilled, evenly matched and in it to win it. So early round kudos to both Roman and Rosado.

I have been to a good number of fights in Atlantic City over the years. This fight is being billed as in Bally's, but I am not sure if this is actually a ballroom IN Bally's or the smaller upstairs space in the Boardwalk Hall and sponsored by Bally's (which is right next door to Boardwalk Hall). The major fights in A.C. over the last few years, such as the Holyfield, Gatti, and Pavlik fights, have been in Boardwalk Hall's main space, but the Hall has an additional room used for smaller fights, just like the WaMu Theatre does in Madison Square Garden. On TV the space looks fairly small, but completely full, which always makes for good seats for the fans and a fun, loud, and lively atmosphere.

A quick look at the net shows that this fight is actually in Bally's in the Hotel Event Center. Immediately following my lookup, the announcer announced that it is indeed in Bally's itself.

In Round 6, Rosado lands a very good uppercut. There is a lot of blood in the ring right now. Hard to tell if both men are cut or if it is all from the same cut. There was a headbutt to Roman, and blood is streaming right down the middle of his face between the eyes. Very good two-way action and trading continues to the end of Round 6.

The cut was ruled to be from an unintentional headbutt received by Roman. Interestingly, Rosado is cut as well, and that cut was ruled to be from a punch. Roman is mostly coming forward and Rosado is on his bike a bit to start Round 7. Both men are landing significant jabs. Nice right by Rosado to end the round. It moved Roman around a bit.

Round 8 starts with a nice land by Roman. At this point, it looks like anything could happen to end this fight: a decision either way, a cut stoppage or a KO. It's a fun fight. Kudos to Top Rank and their matchmakers for this one.

The Top Rank graphic on the screen at the beginning of Round 9 listed the fight as "Junior Middle" if you care. Round 9 was another good action round. Nothing to be jumping up and down out of your seat about, but just a good honest fight.

Rich has Rosado up by one point going into Round 10.

And the fight is over. Not going to be a Fight of the Year candidate but was surely worth watching.

Rich has it 96-94 for Rosado.

Officially:

96-94 Rosado
97-93 Roman
96-94 Rosado

Gabriel Rosado wins by split decision.

Good stuff all the way around.

Sounds like Jones-Bruseles is up next, which is great.

Jones is a nice 5'11" for a welterweight. The crew told us that Jones' camp says he is actually over 6-foot.

Bruseles is in the ring. Bruseles is on a five-year, seven-fight win streak. His last loss was actually to Money May. Bruseles is still under 30, so this is not like he is an old piece of meat just being tossed into the fight.

Here comes Jones. Jones has a top ten ranking from the WBA. I really enjoy Dan Rafael's ESPN rankings. Jones is not yet top ten there.

Bruseles is 28-3. Jones is 19-0.

Jones is still employed full time. I love those types of stories. Good for him.

Round 1

Jones as expected looks much bigger. Slow start. Both men feeling their way in. Bruseles is unafraid early, trying to come forward and use different levels. Nice jab from Bruseles. Bruseles got a nice body shot in there. Jones being economical. Jones blocking everything for the most part. A jab lands here and there. Jones is just not throwing a lot. Nothing landed of consequence either way, but on activity, I don't see how anyone could give that round to anyone but Bruseles.

Uatu: Bruseles 10-9

Round 2

Jones throwing more jabs in this round. Good right from Jones. Bruseles is undeterred, but Jones is dodging and ducking. Bruseles is having a little success with the jab. Overhand from Jones. Bruseles throws more combos, but they don't really land without Jones getting the gloves up. Even round, but I will go Jones.

Uatu: Jones 10-9

Round 3

Jones double jabbing. Jones jabbing away. Bruseles still coming inside and trying body work. Jones throwing more and harder combos than in the previous rounds. Jones is staying calm and not reckless. Bruseles has a nice right. Jones may be tall for his weight, but he is a sturdy looking fighter. He does not look overly skinny or drained at all.

Uatu: Jones 10-9

Round 4

Jones really opening up to start the fourth. Surprising. Didn't blow Bruseles away. It was flashier though. Bruseles is fighting well, but I wonder if he has another gear. If this is all he has, than Jones can probably coast to the win. As if on cue, the announcers refer to Bruseles as a by-the-book fighter, a 1-2-3 fighter. That sums it up. Jones slowly getting in the power shots. They are not knockout blows, but they look much harder and more explosive than anything that Bruseles has brought.

Uatu: Jones 10-9

Round 5

(Is Clottey Manny's "biggest bhallenge" as the commercials say? Biggest in size? What about Barrera I or Morales I and II? Hatton or Oscar?)

Jones circling and jabbing. He isn't in any trouble. I like the uppercuts and combos Jones tosses in the mix. He has a more varied attack than Bruseles. Bruseles is still trying. Jones has a lead left that isn't quite the full hook but is more looping than a normal jab. Similar round to the previous two or so. Jones is flashier but isn't exactly crushing Bruseles. Bruseles is giving it a game effort but isn't landing anything major.

Uatu: Jones 10-9

Round 6

The announcing crew wonders if Jones will take it to another gear at any point. Right hook lead and left to follow from Jones. I wonder what the punch numbers are at this point. It doesn't matter much, just curious if Bruseles has thrown and landed more. He appears to be a smidgen more busy, but not overwhelmingly so. And Bruseles lands a nice shot. Nothing leg wobbling, but effective. Not sure about this round. Nothing much landed either way of consequence.

Uatu: Bruseles 10-9

Round 7

Jones nicely lands in the opening seconds. The crew still wants another gear from Jones here. Jones stepping forward more and certainly throwing with more authority. Bruseles not getting tagged though. Bruseles has not provided a ton of openings. Jones wings from the outside of the tight guard of Bruseles. I think Jones is trying more this round but within himself. He is picking Bruseles apart more this round. Could be considered Jones' best round of the fight. Not quite close to getting Bruseles out of there, but this round showed the disparity in talent between the two. You never know, but Jones looked so in control this round that it would be hard to see any way Bruseles can take this fight.

Uatu: Jones 10-9

Round 8

The crew has it 6-2 Jones. Jones continuing where he left off. He is throwing quick and snapping punches. Nice jabs from Jones. Nice right from Jones. Bruseles may finally be discouraged. The Jones jab stops Bruseles a few times from moving in. I love that around-the-corner left from Jones. He follows it up with straights from both hands. Another round for Jones conclusively.

Uatu: Jones 10-9

Round 9

The crew announces that Bruseles looked discouraged between rounds. Jones slowing down a little bit. Bruseles works the body on the inside. I doubt Jones is in trouble, but he is being careful so far. With a minute left, Jones finally goes combo. Jab from Bruseles. The crew laments that no one is going to say "wow" about Jones after this fight. I suppose Bruseles could have taken that round on activity. He certainly did not have Jones in trouble.

Uatu: Bruseles 10-9

Round 10

Well, somehow I lost my entire post from this round. Anyway, Bruseles came out hard, but he just didn't ever explode on Jones. At one point, Jones threw a huge punch but missed by a half mile. There was some holding on the inside. There may not have been one break-up the entire fight, which is greatly appreciated. This round was hard to score in that neither man landed anything big, or much that wasn't partially blocked. Jones will get the round. Basically even in punch output, Jones a little harder and flashier with some combos. Close round.

Uatu: Jones 10-9

Uatu: 97-93 Jones

Official Scores:

98-92
98-92
97-92

The winner by unanimous decision... Mike Jones!

A clear win for Jones.

Jones says he likes to watch what his opponent likes to do, and he has to take his time in there. He says the training camp was important, and he had a good performance.

He is not disappointed when he does not get a KO. He likes to get the tough rounds in for his future fights.

I liked Jones in his post-fight interview. He sounded thoughtful and analytical regarding his performance.

I failed to mention this at the top, but the announcing crew was Rich Marotta and Alan Massengale.

That's it. Jones has skills and physical tools to work with. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here. He somewhat easily beat a sturdy veteran fighter with much more experience. However, he thought he was going to fight Joshua Clottey instead, and Clottey is another matter altogether. Clottey has fought Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, Zab Judah and Diego Corrales, which is a light-years difference in experience.

I am unsure if Jones is ready for a Clottey-type fight yet, but he has a game that will give him at least a chance against a lot of the top level fighters. I can't favor him over anyone in Rafael's top 10 welters yet, although I have never seen numbers 9 and 10 from Turkey and Slovenia.

Jones is 26 and turns 27 in April, so he isn't out of time, but one would have to think that his big bouts would have to come sooner than later.

Good night.

Posted by uatu