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Will Floyd Mayweather be better with his father training him?

floyd2By Robert Jackson: Taking nothing away from Roger Mayweather former world champion and current trainer for P4P #1 fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr, a change of trainers to his father Floyd ‘Joy’ Mayweather may be a good thing.

Uncle Roger as he’s known in the Team Mayweather camp suffers from ‘sugar’, i.e. diabetes which demands constant attention and lifestyle changes to remediate the harmful effects. Diabetes is a bigger killer than AIDS and Cancer together – worldwide. Roger Mayweather other than being a great trainer is probably the best ‘mitts man’ in the boxing business. But as far as boxing technique, tactics, and know-how, Floyd Jr. knows how to fight and doesn’t need much tutoring during training camp.

Floyd Mayweather Sr., former welterweight contender and trainer of several fighters is a great tactician, technique trainer and has a knack for improving fighters under his tutelage. Case in point, Bad Chad Dawson hasn’t been ‘Bad’ since he parted ways with Mayweather Sr. who saw him to a dominant championship victory over Tomas Adamek. He also oversaw a championship run by Joan Guzman a few years back. Currently Mayweather Sr. is training Andre Dirrell and Philadelphian Mike Jones.

Transnational Boxing Rankings December Update!

Transnational Boxing Rankings December Update!by Matt McGrain: Another busy month for boxing has seen fewer changes to the Trans Boxing Rankings than November but drama abounded at the top of more than one division, not least lightweight where a new #1 contender was installed. Adrien Broner isn’t to everyone’s taste as a man, but as a fighter he was deemed deserving of the #1 spot after his one-sided domination of former #1 Antonio DeMarco on the 17th of last month.

DeMarco slips to fourth and everyone below him drops a spot with Mercito Gesta’s tenancy of the #10 spot limited to just a month as he makes way for Broner’s sensational entry at #1. With Ricky Burns sticking at #2 the mooted meeting between these two would crown a new Champion at the weight.

Also vacating a #10 spot is Diego Magdaleno at Junior Lightweight, pushed out by a resurgent Yuriorkis Gamboa who is introduced at #7 after his win over Michael Farenas. The other mover below lightweight is Juan Francisco Estrada who debuts at #10 based upon his worthy effort versus Roman Gonzalez.

Above lightweight, the big news was at welterweight and junior –middleweight. At 147lbs. Robert Guerrero overhauls Zaveck, Ortiz and Lopez to gatecrash the top 5 whilst Juan Manuel Marquez batters his way into the #2 spot just as he battered perennial rival Manny Pacquiao to the canvas this past Saturday night. He also replaces Pacquiao as the only fighter that can crown a genuine welterweight Champion in a contest with Floyd Mayweather, although there may be no appetite for that rematch based upon the one-sided drubbing Floyd handed Juan Manuel in their original meeting. Pacquiao drops to #3.

Final Press Conference: Donaire VS. Arce, Rigondeaux VS. Poonsawat

Final Press Conference: Donaire VS. Arce, Rigondeaux VS. Poonsawatby Steve Lopez– Photo: Chris Farina – Top Rank- The stage is set for Saturday’s Jr. Featherweight showdown between highly favorite WBO Champion Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire and Jorge “Travieso” Arce. Wednesday marked the final press conference where fighters addressed the members of the media and to reinforce what to expect in their performances. The co-featured bout will feature Cuba’s up and coming rising star Guillermo Rigondeaux against Thailand’s Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym.

To show boxing’s global presence with fighters and fans, Wednesday’s conference featured a rather interesting mix of fighter backgrounds: Mexico, Cuba, Thailand and the Philippines. It was no surprise that each fighter, with the exception of Donaire, required a translator to get their points across. I had the privilege to attend the conference and captured some visuals and quotes from each fighter:

Guillermo Rigondeax was a man of few words ready to fight.

“Nothing much to say. We’re ready to get this going.”

Let’s Get Ready For Donaire-Arce: Media Workout In Houston, TX

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By Steve Lopez: As the Pacquio-Marquez IV aftermath begins to slowly fade, we have another fight that will portray that Philippines-Mexico rivalry.  The two Filipino and Mexican fighters are set to take the center stage this December 15, 2012 in Houston, TX: WBO Jr. Feather Champion Nonito Donaire and challenger Jorge Arce.

On Tuesday, both fighters were scheduled to take part in media/public workouts to begin the fight week festivities.  Although neither fighter partook on mitt work or shadow boxing to say the least, both were open to answer many questions from the media.  I had the privilege to be part of the workout, capture visuals and ‘Q & A’ transcripts from the day.

Wednesday will be the official Final Press Conference.  Coverage and visuals will be provided as well.

Jorge “Travieso” Arce was beaming with Mexican confidence.  Here are his answers to some of the questions posed to him by media members and fans:

Pacquiao a Fallen Hero – Sadness and Disappointment

Pacquiao a Fallen Hero - Sadness and DisappointmentBy Paul Strauss: For fear of being maudlin, there are plenty of us out there with feelings of sadness and regret. It’s the kind of feeling we get when one of our hero’s does something we thought impossible. They lose. It’s often unexpected and painful. We knew all along it was possible, but still we refused to believe it. It’s the kind of feeling that overwhelmed people when Gene Tunney beat Jack Dempsey, or when Rocky Marciano beat Joe Louis. “It can’t be!” That is the thought that flashes across our mind’s eye. It won’t go away. It like the image is stuck on “play”! We want to awaken from the nightmare, but reality has just given us another smack up side the head.. There’s no way to shake it off. Our hero is human after all.

Saturday night at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV, Manny Pacquiao was the victim of a sensational kayo at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez (JMM). It was a decisive finishing blow that ended a sensational fight. Referee Kenny Bayless saw no need to administer a count. Some so called experts thought the fight shouldn’t occur. They boo hoo’d it, fearing it might prove to be less than thrilling. What foolishness. We can only hope they’re ashamed of themselves for even thinking such thoughts…

The fourth and greatest of their fights was action packed from beginning to its dramatic conclusion. The end was in doubt right up until JMM’s final punch landed. It was a powerful short right landing flush on the nose and chin of Pacman.

Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV: Mainstream Media, Get Off Our Mountain!

Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV: Mainstream Media, Get Off Our Mountain!By Marc Livitz: Apologies are due and professional journalism has been thought through its proper course. The “Big Fights Only” crowd may provide the dollars to tip the financial scales, yet their input as innocent but uninformed bystanders has reached the point of torture akin to water boarding.

Most are able to quickly picture in their minds the ones who continue to bash the sport and its methods of business, yet they are the ones who cannot wait to come invade your couch to see the popular match ups. No different are the individuals who grace our respective TV screens, laptops, mobile devices and the like come Monday morning. They cannot wait to dissect the weekend’s big fights, which in itself means that they only can be counted upon to do as such about three times a year.

This is written from an American’s point of view. More to the point, the opinions and observations offered are based on American sports television.

And the biggest loser is….Floyd Mayweather Jr

And the biggest loser is....Floyd Mayweather JrBy Robert Jackson: Shocking KO Saturday night that saw Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez take down Manny Pacquiao for the 10 count! Revenge is sweet but success is sweeter! The latest fight in this series evens things up if you consider the outcome. Marquez no longer needs to complain about being robbed or denied victories he felt he legitimately earned but was never given – this win erases all of that.

So where does this leave the superfight we are all waiting for? Mayweather/Pacquiao?

IMHO, a Mayweather/Pacquiao fight was never the ‘end all’ fight that ALL boxing pundits claimed it was. And to say that Floyd ‘waited out’ Pacquiao’s prime would be a ludicrous statement considering Floyd is about 2 years older than Pacquiao – so he’d be waiting out his own prime also. The biggest fight(s) out there for Floyd Mayweather Jr. involve Canelo Alvarez and Sergio Martinez. The Martinez fight is much more makeable now with Pacquiao out of the way. Id’ much rather see this fight than a Pacquiao fight anyway.

Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV – A Fistful of Zeal

Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV – A Fistful of ZealBy Marc Livitz: Boxing received a cattle prod to the backside on Saturday evening and amazingly, it took but one bundle of dynamite from a certain “Dinamita”.

It was the sweet science’s rendition of a Saturday night special which likely sent one nation into hysterical levels of celebration and another into a deep sadness. To further illustrate the significance of Manny Pacquiao’s knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez: the news of the Filipino Congressman’s defeat as posted on the website of the Manila Times took brief (and hopefully very brief) precedence over the destruction unleashed upon the Philippines by Typhoon Bopha, which has left the country in a state of utter devastation.

Simply because the nature of Marquez’s savage gift of unconsciousness passed on to Pacquiao was delivered in the style that it was, the dying seconds of round six from the MGM Grand will do more than just remain etched in the hearts and minds of boxing fans worldwide. This is a flash bulb memory moment to be sure.