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

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.

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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.

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A Trout win over Cotto could mess up Saul Alvarez’s plans

By Bill Phanco: WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be attending this Saturday’s fight between Miguel Cotto and WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout at Madison Square Garden with the hopes of facing Cotto if he wins the fight. That’s the opponent that Alvarez badly wants, but he may not get him of Trout has something to say about it.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said this to RingTV about a Trout victory over Cotto: “I think we have to see what fashion in which Trout wins, and then we’ll make an assessment on it, and I will have to talk with Canelo.”

In other words, Alvarez may not fight Trout if he beats Cotto. I suspect that it doesn’t matter how good or bad Trout looks in the fight. If he beats Cotto, I don’t see Golden Boy allowing Alvarez to take the fight with Trout, because he’s all wrong for their young, flat-footed, easy to hit champion Alvarez. If you look at the types of fighters that they’ve been putting in with Alvarez – slow, older, stationary and smaller fighters – it’s clear that Trout is not the ideal opponent. In fact, Trout is the opposite of the types of guys that Golden Boy has fed to Alvarez, which is why I don’t see Trout getting the fight even if he destroys Cotto.

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Trout needs to give Cotto a real pounding to ensure he gets the decision

By Paul Grunich, photo by Robert Tibuni – WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (25-0, 14 KO’s) may be the champion as he enters his fight this Saturday night against former three division world champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s), but Trout is going to be fighting in front of pretty much mostly Cotto’s fans at the Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA.

What this means is that the fans will be cheering every punch that Cotto throws, even the ones where he misses his target. The judges will no doubt be influenced by the pro-Cotto fans, and this could lead to Trout losing a lot of rounds where he appears to win them. This could be big problem for Trout int his fight. He’s also starting off as the much less popular fighter of the two, and that’s a potential problem as well.

Cotto is the recognizable name, the star if you will, whereas Trout is just a young, slick fighter with a ton of athletic skills going for him. Think of Trout as the future of the junior middleweight division, along with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Even if Cotto wins this fight on Saturday, he’s not going to be fighting for too much longer because the competition is catching up to him, and he mainly wants to fight just the big names in the sport.

It’s surprising that he’s taking the Trout fight, because Trout isn’t well know. But the likely reason that Cotto is taking this fight is so that he can try and pick up a title, and then use that title to get a bigger cut of the financial pie in a unification bout against the WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez in 2013. Cotto may need a title in his possession to get a bigger cut against Alvarez.

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Juan Manuel Márquez / Nacho Béristain Interview Transcript

TODD duBOEF: Welcome everybody. Welcome champion Juan Manuel Márquez, Fernando Beltran and Hall of Fame trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Béristain. Juan Manuel’s media day was in México last week and the reports say that Juan Manuel has never looked this good. We all know what has happened over the years and how this is a legendary match-up and I think it’s really important for everyone to speak to Juan Manuel and Nacho about their strategy and before I do that I would like to introduce Fernando the co-promoter of Juan Manuel

FERNANDO BELTRAN: Welcome and I think what Todd says is absolutely true. This is a unique rivalry and the most important match of the year without a doubt. We are going to close the year on the right foot. Juan Manuel is world champion in four weight classes and has never looked this good. Everybody knows about the controversy in the last fight. It was good for Manny Pacquaio to take this fight to clear everything up and let’s see who the best man is on December 8.

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David Price targeting Chisora after bout against Skelton on Friday

By Michael Collins: After unbeaten heavyweight David Price (14-0, 12 KOs) dispatched with 45-year-old Matt Skelton (28-6, 23 KO’s) this Friday night in their fight at the Aintree Equestrian Centre, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The fight isn’t expected to be much of a fight because Skelton is in his mid 40s and he doesn’t have much power.

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Robert Guerrero: Could “The Ghost” Be “The Great”?

By Marc Livitz: Some called it a battle while some called it a brawl. Some complained that they don’t like their sweet science so sour, while others hailed this past Saturday’s meeting between Robert Guerrero and Andre Berto as a masterful production within a phone booth.

The bottom line should be all that really counts. Each fighter showed the utmost amount of grit and determination, yet the detractors didn’t wait to start dissecting the bout staged for the interim WBC welterweight title.

Additionally, much scrutiny was thrown in the way of Berto due to the fact that he hadn’t fought in over a year for reasons within and beyond and his control. In contrast, the stories of family, pain and triumph, which Guerrero brought with him to the broadcast, made some forget all about the fact that he had been able to amazingly jump two weight classes after a year plus break from the ring of his own.

They met and they clashed. Win ugly, but get it done.

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Guerrero stands no chance against Mayweather

By Bill Phanco: WBC interim welterweight champion Robert Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s) will stand little chance of beating WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s) if this fight gets made in early 2013. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is in the beginning stages of trying to put this fight together, but it’s not going to be a good fight unless you like mismatches.

This is really lowering the bar for Mayweather. He’s going from fighting the likes of Miguel Cotto and Victor Ortiz to the slow-handed Guerrero and it’s going to be a huge drop off. Guerrero doesn’t have the speed or power that those guys possess and he’s going to be way out of his league Mayweather. I didn’t see much from Guerrero that I was impressed with in his win over Andre Berto last weekend.

I saw Guerrero get away with holding and hitting for one of his knockdowns in the the 1st round that should resulted in Guerrero being penalized. Guerrero also did a lot of shoving, holding and throwing punches after the bell. I felt those things should have been penalized as well.

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Fury vs. Johnson will be WBC heavyweight title eliminator on Saturday

By Michael Collins: This Saturday’s fight between heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KO’s) and Kevin Johnson (28-2-1, 13 KO’s) will be a WBC heavyweight title eliminator, according to the visitor.co.uk. The fight will take place at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

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IRON JAWS – Pick 10

By Paul Strauss: It makes sense to hold off on this list until early next year, and then limit it to fighters currently active in 2012, but the hell with that. Live a little and have some fun doing it now. Step up and give us your list of fighters who you believe have the best jaws. Think of it as being boxing’s version of Madden’s Team.

As you’re making picks, think about what makes for an iron jawed hero or better yet the ability to remain conscious when struck? Does it have something to do with the way the jaw looks or is structured? In other words, does the jaw have to be chiseled and strong looking, such as a comic book character? Does it require a thick neck? Are tough guys smarter or less smart? Are their brains wired differently? The answers have always been debatable and somewhat of a mystery, at least for the general public. It’s kind of like trying to figure out why someone gets air sick or suffers from motion sickness when others don’t? Can you explain why a fighter pilot can withstand tremendous amounts of “G Force” when the rest of us pass out? Is it an inner ear problem? Is the ability contained in part of the brain or bone structure? Some unfortunate folks actually suffer from a medical condition called a “rock slide”, which is a type of vertigo problem. Most of us don’t. Why? Can the reverse of problems like that be related to “good chins”?

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