Ariza: Pacquiao always looks good in training camp, but then falls apart against Marquez in the fights

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza thinks Pacquiao is looking really good in his training camp for his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez next month on December 8th. However, Ariza doesn’t see that as having a real meaning because he’s seen how Pacquiao looks good in training and then struggles when he gets in the ring with Marquez.

Ariza said to the Boxing Channel “I think Manny always looks good in camp, but then it comes to fight night, he falls apart.”

Roach needs to change Pacquiao’s game around to make his fighting style a little less predictable because Marquez has said that he knows what Pacquiao is going to do in the ring. Pacquiao does the same things over and over again, and that is part of his problem in his fights against Marquez.

Ariza says that Pacquiao isn’t following the old strength and conditioning program that Ariza had for him in the past when Pacquiao was at his best. Pacquiao stopped following the program after his win over Miguel Cotto in 2009, and since then he’s stepped back and not had the full program.

Should Robert Guerrero get Fighter of the Year for beating Berto and Aydin?

By Bill Phanco: WBC interim welterweight champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s) is being considered for Fighter of the Year honors for his 12 round decision wins over previously unbeaten #1 WBC Selcuk Aydin, and his decisive 12 round decision victory over former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto.

I think Adrien Broner is more deserving of the Fighter of the Year award than Guerrero because Berto has some fine wins over solid fighters Eloy Perez, Vincente Escobedo and Antonio DeMarco this year. I see those opponents as being better than the two guys that Guerrero has beaten.

It’s hard to imagine Guerrero getting that award based on wins over Aydin and Berto because both fighters were limited. Aydin was someone that had never really proven that he deserved to be ranked #1 by the World Boxing Council. His power was very real, but he’d never really faced anyone good before until the Guerrero fight. Aydin had struggled in fights against Said Ouali and Jo Jo Dan before he got to the Guerrero fight.

Showdown: Cotto vs. Trout Analysis and Prediction

by Chip Mitchell & Robert Uzzell

Analysis of Showdown: Miguel “Junito” Cotto vs. Austin “No Doubt Trout” scheduled to take place December 1, 2012 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY.

Tale of The Tape

Age: Miguel Cotto 32, Austin Trout 27
Current Status: Miguel Cotto – Challenger, Austin Trout – WBA Champion
Professional Record: Miguel Cotto – 37-3-0, 30 KOs, Austin Trout – 25-0-0, 14 KOs
Height: Miguel Cotto – 5 ft 7, Austin Trout 5 ft 9½
Reach: Miguel Cotto – 67 in, Austin Trout – 72 in
Knockout Percentage: Miguel Cotto – 75%, Austin Trout – 56%
Previous Fight: Cotto 05/05/2012, Trout 06/02/2012
Common Opponents: None of Note

Miguel “Junito” Cotto

The body snatcher returns! Miguel Cotto is the former WBA Super Welterweight (Light Middleweight) Champion. As stated in past analysis, Miguel embodies a fight-until-I-die brashness that has won him respect from fight fans and journalists. He’s a champion in the ring and win or lose, fans know that they always get their money and times worth of action.

Schaefer working on Mayweather-Guerrero bout

By Bill Phanco: Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions is trying to put together a fight between WBC interim welterweight champion Robert Guerrero and Floyd Mayweather Jr. WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez wants a fight with Mayweather too, but Schaefer is looking to put Guerrero in with Mayweather instead for some reason. It could be that Mayweather isn’t all that eager to get back in with another junior middleweight after taking a lot of punishment in his win over Miguel Cotto last May.

Schaefer told RingTV “Robert [Guerrero] really wants that Mayweather fight, and so I’m going to see what I can do. I’ve already started negotiations for the Guerrero fighting Mayweather, so we’ll see where it’s going to end.”

Let’s hope that Schaefer can put that fight together because it could be a huge one due to Mayweather’s big fan base and the large amount of fans that Guerrero captured with his win over Andre Berto last Saturday night.

Kevin Johnson: I don’t need my ‘A’ game to beat Tyson Fury

By Michael Collins: American heavyweight Kevin Johnson (29-2-1, 13 KO’s) figures he won’t even need to switch on his ‘A’ game this Saturday night in order to defeat unbeaten #3 WBC heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KO’s) in their fight at the Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. Johnson sees the 24-year-old Fury as a doofy, we-punching heavyweight without experience against quality heavyweights.

Johnson said in his conference call with Fury “Height is not a problem. I know a lot of guys that don’t know how to use their key element. It don’t matter if you’re tall or short, I can break you down in 0.5 seconds, especially if your level of opposition..This guy [Fury] isn’t championship level. It’s not as if I’m going against an ‘A’ fighter. That’s not the case for me to bring out my ‘A’ game. So my ‘A’ game will really kill this dude. So what have I learned from fighting tall guys? You really don’t learn much. The tall or the short games are the same thing. It just depends on how skillful. This [Fury] is the most doofiest I’ve met in boxing. This is the most feeble-handed guy I’ve ever seen in boxing history, and you’re going to come in and make a mistake against me? When the bell rings I’m going to go and get him. I haven’t done that in a long time.”

Roach suspicious about Marquez’s muscle growth

By Rob Smith: Freddie Roach is suddenly suspicious about the muscle growth of Juan Manuel Marquez as he heads towards a fourth fight with Manny Pacquiao on December 8th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Roach suspects that Marquez may have built his impressive physique by other than natural means.

Roach told usatoday.comK/u> “If [Marquez’s body] is natural, I will kiss his a**. [Marquez] has gotten bigger and gained weight. It throws up a red flag.”

Roach has nothing to go on with this, and seems to be just reaching out of nowhere on this. Marquez has never failed any tests in the past for performance enhancing drugs, and he’s really not put a whole of muscle. He started at 135, and has merely put on less than 10 pounds in the past year. That’s hardly the sign of a fighter using performance enhancing drugs.

Marquez hired a strength and conditioning coach Angel Hernandez, who has done a good job of helping Marquez build up his physique with resistance exercises. Hernandez is quite good at his job, and he’s worked wonders with Marquez.

…read more

Schaefer looking for an opponent for Malignaggi’s next fight

By Bill Phanco: WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi is in need of an opponent after his desired rematch against big British star Ricky Hatton fell through due to Hatton getting blasted out by Vyacheslav Senchenko last Saturday night in the UK. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is now looking at picking out Malignaggi’s next opponent from one of these fighters: Danny Garcia, Amir Khan, Andre Berto, and Adrien Broner, according to RingTV.

Malignaggi, 32, wants a big name for his next title defense and this may be his last chance to get a big name before gets beaten. Malignaggi almost lost his title in his last fight against fringe contender Pablo Cesar Cano, who Malignaggi barely beat by a 12 round decision last October in a 12 round split decision win. That fight showed that Malignaggi is vulnerable even against fringe level opposition, and that puts more pressure on Schaefer to try and get the biggest name he can because Malignaggi is so vulnerable.

Khan: He’s already beaten Malignaggi and Khan has his own problems right now having lost twice in a row.

Berto: This is winnable fight for Malignaggi but not an easy one because of Berto’s superior power. This wouldn’t be big fight for Malignaggi.

Robert Guerrero moves to #3 in Ring 147 rankings

By Bill Phanco: WBC interim welterweight champion Robert Guerrero’s 12 round unanimous decision win over former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto last Saturday night has earned Guerrero a new #3 rankings with Ring Magazine’s welterweight rankings. Guerrero is now below only 1. Manny Pacquiao and #2 Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Berto to be given another title shot next year, says Schaefer

By Rob Smith: Andre Berto (28-2, 22 KO’s) may have been soundly beaten and may have looked horrible in losing to WBC interim welterweight champion Robert Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s), but that’s not going to get in the way of Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer of giving Berto another world title shot next year against possibly WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi.

Schaefer said to RingTV “He [Berto] will be back, bigger and stronger. I am convinced that he will be back fighting for a world title again in 2013.”

Berto is going to have to raise his game if he wants to keep getting world title shots, because he didn’t look good in losing to Guerrero. Berto’s footwork, stamina, decision making and defense were all flawed against Guerrero. Berto looked really stiff, and was easily pushed to the ropes by the slender Guerrero.

Peter Quillin vs. Jermain Taylor possible for February 9th in Brooklyn, New York

By Paul Grunich: Golden Boy Promotions is reportedly looking to make a fight happen between former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (31-4-1, 19 KO’s) and WBO middleweight champion Peter Quillin (28-0, 20 KO’s) on the undercard of the Danny Garcia vs. Zab Judah fight on February 9th at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Taylor, 34, has the recognizable name that Golden Boy wants for an opponent for Quillin, and Taylor has a #8 ranking by the World Boxing Organization.

This is a fight that Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy wants to make. Quillin looked really vulnerable in winning the WBO title against Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam last October. Although Quillin knocked N’Dam down six times, in between those knockdowns Quillin was getting out-boxed and outworked, and he didn’t look very special at all.

WBA World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin was hoping to get a unification fight with Quillin, but Quillin and Golden Boy aren’t interested in that fight at all. It’s not surprising because Golovkin would likely knock Quillin into the next century if given the chance. That would be mismatch because Quillin is a pretty limited fighter and is going to need to be matched very carefully by Golden Boy if they want to keep him a champion for more than just one defense.

Taylor won his last three fights since coming off of a two year layoff from boxing from 2009 to 2011. Taylor has looked awful in all three fights, and nothing like his prime years of his career. Of all the middleweights, Quillin is probably the only one that Taylor has a small chance of beating but that doesn’t mean he will. Taylor has already been knocked down in his comeback and hurt, and Quillin, if nothing else, can punch. He’ll likely knock Taylor out cold at some point in this fight unless Taylor lands something big on Quillins’ chin.